March 18 – 24, 2021
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FOU N D E D 1991 • VOL. XXXI N O. 5
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Nega�ng Net Tax Increase Now Up For Discussion Among F.C. Council Beyer: Federal Rescue plan WIll Gift $13.2 MIllion to City of Falls Church BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
The American Rescue Plan $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package that Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law last week will provide an estimated $13.28 million to the City of Falls Church, U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr. reported in
a press release breaking down the money coming our way Wednesday. Virginia overall will get $4.4 billion, including $2.9 billion for fiscal relief to local governments, Beyer said. “On the day we passed it, I said my vote for the American Rescue Plan was the most consequential vote I had ever cast. Now people are
Founders Row’s 2nd Phase Plans To Break Ground in Spring 2022 BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Are you ready for another Founders Row? The Mill Creek Residential Trust development group that is pressing ahead with its giant 4.3 acre development at the intersection of W. Broad and N. West Streets — the biggest ever in the City of Falls Church to date — came before a work session of the City Council here with its first public presentation on plans for a second phase of its project right across the street. Most keen to the development scene in the City have been aware of Mill Creek’s plans for some time, but this was the first televised public airing of the plan and it appears to have considerable but not unanimous Council support so far. The Founders Row Phase 1 cur-
rently under construction was the subject of attention in the NewsPress last week as an impactful contributor to the tax revenue base of the City, allowing for the City Manager to recommend a one cent reduction in the real estate tax rate citywide. Catty corner from where the immense Founder Row project has currently risen out of the ground and moves to completion, in the area now occupied by a carpet store and former Rite Aid that is closed, and its large parking lot, is where Mill Creek has already put preliminary holds on the land and wants to construct another 319 apartments in a mostly-residential plan that needs the City OK for a variance on its height limit to seven levels at 85 feet. The proposed 319 residential
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beginning to see why we pushed so hard to get a big, ambitious relief bill through Congress. The pain and suffering of this pandemic have not been evenly distributed, and the American Rescue Plan will get aid to those who need it most as quickly as possible,” Beyer said. “The assistance in this bill is going to be huge for communities in Northern Virginia.”
For Falls Church, as an example, the aid will amount to about $1,000 for every man, woman and child living here. This is not counting the $1,400 per person stimulus checks that are due all eligible citizens (5,118,900 in Virginia) and aid coming through still other forms, such as child tax credits, and earned income tax credits.
Falls Church City Councilman Ross Litkenhous was quick to jump on the news Wednesday in comments to the News-Press, redoubling the call for a larger tax rate cut than recommended by City Manager Wyatt Shields for the coming fiscal year budget. Shields has recom-
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A MOMENT WORTH CELEBRATING took place last Friday when regional leaders cut the ribbon on the new bridge connecting the Washington & Old Dominion Trail on the Falls Church-Arlington border. F.C. Mayor David Tarter (fourth from left) and Councilmember David Snyder (fourth from right) were among those in attendance. See Story, page 14 (P����: C������� C������ C����)
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SEE STORY, PAGE 2
SEE STORY, PAGE 9
SEE STORY, PAGE 9
Falls Church native Eric Lin and one of his classmates at Harvard University found the state websites with necessary Covid-19 vaccine information to be confusing and not very userfriendly — so they decided to do something about it.
Students are returning to school after nearly a year of virtual instruction since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and teachers at all levels of Falls Church City schools are bringing some of the new tricks they’ve learned while away back into the classroom.
Students are returning to school after nearly a year of virtual instruction since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and teachers at all levels of Falls Church City schools are bringing some of the new tricks they’ve learned while away back into the classroom.
INDEX
Editorial............................................... 6 Letters................................................. 6 Comment ................................ 7,12,13 News & Notes.............................10-11 Crime Report .................................... 12 Business News ................................. 15 Calendar .....................................18-19 Classified Ads ................................... 20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ......... 21 Critter Corner.................................... 22