February 27 — March 4, 2020
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d e d 1991 • V ol. XXX No. 2
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Council Barely OKs $1.207M Cost Overrun on City Hall Project By 4-1-2 Vote, $ Already Spent Approved to Finish Job
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
In a vote with the narrowest possible margin for approval, the Falls Church City Council Monday night scraped together a four “yes” vote majority to approve the expenditure of an additional $1.207 million to finally complete
by mid-May what’s wound up being a $20.3 million project over the last decade for the renovation and expansion of City Hall. This was the second such close vote this month, coming after the Mary Riley Styles library renovation project was OK’d two weeks ago by a similar margin. Council member Letty Hardi
‘Super Tuesday’ Dem Primary in Virginia Attracts Hopefuls Here by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Candidates in next Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary in Virginia are zeroing in on Northern Virginia, including Falls Church directly, as their campaigns reach a fever pitch this weekend. With 14 “Super Tuesday” primaries around the U.S. Tuesday, the logistics of all the campaigns are being pressed to the max, with plenty of lastminute changes included. Shortly before press time Wednesday, the campaign of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced a rally at Falls Church’s iconic State Theatre at noon tomorrow, Friday. This is following what turned into a mass rally for former Mayor Pete Buttigieg in North Arlington last Sunday that drew almost
9,000, nearly identical to the number that showed up for him in Colorado the night before. The campaign of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders also announced late yesterday that a rally originally scheduled for Loudoun County has been moved to the St. James Sports Complex in Springfield at 4 p.m. this Saturday to, the campaign says, accommodate a larger crowd. The campaign of former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced yesterday that its candidate will participate in a Northern Virginia rally Saturday morning titled, “Women for Mike Get Out the Vote” at 9 a.m. at a location yet to be determined. Bloomberg’s campaign says it has seven offices open around the state and over 80 staffers on the ground here.
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voted “no” and her colleagues Ross Litkenhous and David Snyder abstained to reduce the margin of approval to four for OKing what is essentially money already spent to finish the project, the final $1.207 million coming on an agreement between the City and Hitt Construction. In a bold move, City Manager Wyatt Shields told the Council just before the vote was taken Monday that he accepts personal responsibil-
ity for the problems that led to the need for the City to cough up the additional $1,207 million, confessing that as the person overseeing the project manager on the effort, he was ultimately responsible. “The plans were not as fully vetted in advance as they should have been,” he said, leading to a “long list of change orders on the need for IT networking capability, low voltage security, the sally port in the garage and masonry mold in
the 70-year-old original building. Hitt “absorbed costs as well,” Shields said. While the official cost of the project grew by the $1,207 million to $14,557,800, when the 10 years of preparation, staff time, rent for the temporary location while the renovation work was being done and moving and storage costs were added in, the price tag came to $20.3 million, Shields reported.
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Beyer Surveys F.C. Shelter
U.S. CONGRESSMAN Don Beyer (left) took a tour of the Falls Church Homeless Shelter last Friday to get better acquainted with the facility’s offerings and challenges. He was joined by shelter executive director Julene Jarnot (center) and board member John Krotzer. (Photo: J. Michael whalen)
Inside This Week Officials Schedule Urgent Call After News of Metro Closures
Former Resident Has a Message For the World: ‘Be Kind’
Press Pass with Rockin’ the Suburbs
See News Briefs, page 9
See story, page 15
See Press Pass, page 14
Falls Church’s Assistant City Manager will be on an urgent conference call with WMATA officials and officials in Arlington and Fairfax in response to the report of Metro parking closures months ahead of the closing of several stations for platform repairs this summer.
Former City of Falls Church resident Gini Bonnell is a creator of worldly signs which, over the short two-year life of her mission, populate 30 Virginia school districts – including the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County – all 50 states and even 35 countries.
Northern Virginia’s own “Rockin’ the Suburbs” podcast from Falls Church’s Patrick Foster and Ashburn resident Jim Lenahan will take their show to Jammin’ Java’s stage next Wednesday.
Index
Editorial........................................................ 6 Letters.......................................................... 6 News & Notes.....................................10–11 Comment........................................7,12–13 Sports........................................................16 Calendar.............................................18–19 Classified Ads............................................20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword..................21 Crime Report.............................................22 Critter Corner.............................................22 Business News..........................................23