September 19 — 25, 2019
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. XXIX No. 31
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Famille, El Patron Take Top Taste of F.C. Honors A rebranded Falls Church Festival was still buoyed by the traditional Taste of Falls Church competition this past Saturday where Famille Cafe and El Patron Bar & Grill earned the top prizes on the day. See News Briefs, page 9
F.C. Still Recycles Wide Variety of Items
It’s Official! As New High School Rises, F.C. School Board OK’s Final Terms
With some area jurisdictions ditching the one-size-fits-all mentality when it comes to recycling, the City of Falls Church is continuing to accept all kinds of items — including glass — at the curb. See page 8
Library Parking Lot to Become ‘Park’ Friday This Friday, the parking lot of Falls Church’s Mary Riley Styles Public Library will be transformed into a small park as the City participates in the worldwide event Park(ing) Day. See News Briefs, page 9
Mason Football Earns 1st Win in Almost a Year For the first time in nearly a year and after 10 straight losses, George Mason High School’s football team has snapped their losing streak. See sports, page 16
Index
Editorial................6 Letters..................6 News & Notes.10, 11 Comment...12, 13 Business News.15 Calendar..... 18,19
Classified Ads... 20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword........ 21 Crime Report.... 22 Critter Corner.... 22
INKING THE FINAL PACT for the construction of the new George Mason High School, currently under construction, at Tuesday’s School Board meeting were (left to right) Board members Justin Castillo, Vice Chair Greg Anderson, Chair Erin Gill and Superintendent Peter Noonan. (Courtesy Photo) by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
The Falls Church City Public Schools’ elected school board voted unanimously at its Tuesday night meeting to authorize Superintendent Peter Noonan to sign a watershed “Guaranteed Maximum Price 2” agreement with the Gilbane Building Company to complete the full construction of the new George Mason High School where work is already well underway. The new “GMP 2” establishes that the cost of the project will not exceed the $120 million dollar total that voters approved by a wide margin in a general referendum in November 2017. Construction has been proceeding at breakneck speed since the first shovel went into the ground in late June, and all hands are optimistic that the new school
will be ready for occupancy by December 2020 in time for students to move from the existing building to the new one by that winter break. The early deadline comes a good six months before the time such projects usually take. It helps with the process of moving to phase two of the overall plan for the school site, which is to vacate and demolish the old school in early 2021 to make way for a dense 10.3 acre mixed-use project that is projected to generate sufficient new revenues to the City to completely pay for the new high school and more. Noonan provided an upbeat update to the Falls Church City Council at its meeting Monday on the eve of the signing of the GMP2.
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City Scores $2.6 Million Surplus in Fiscal Year ‘19 by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
The City of Falls Church scored a whopping $2.4 million surplus over budget for the Fiscal Year 2019, which ended June 30, the City’s Director of Finance Kiran Bawa reported to the F.C. City Council at its work session Monday night. The actual numbers for the year were $92,983,636 in revenue (compared to a budgeted estimate of $91,076,688) and $89,368,305 in expenses (compared to $89,918,131 expected) for a net surplus of $2,456,774, on the
plus side by 2.1 percent. Big winners were sales taxes, which came in 11.7 percent higher than the previous year. Meals taxes were also 7.4 percent higher than Fiscal Year 2018. Licenses and permit revenues were 42.6 percent above projections due to early partial payments on the new high school, Founders Row, City Hall and the Railroad Cottages construction projects. Business “gross receipts” (BPOL) taxes were up 2.6 percent.
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