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Stafford Choir concert celebrates America in song
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Legion baseball Forge grad has a home thanks readies for to a man’s dedication another season VOL. 29 | NUM. 17
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JULY 7, 2017 | NORTHERN VIRGINIA MEDIA SERVICES
Roussell runs for supervisor of Aquia District
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TRACY BELL
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Adventure Brewing Company bar manager Heidi Reed draws a glass of the brewery’s Session IPA at the mid-county location on Perchwood Drive. The brewery opened in May 2015 and is the first one in Stafford County since pre-Revolutionary War days. For more about the brewing business, see pages 2 and 3. ALEKS DOLZENKO | INSIDENOVA
Supervisors OK talks on Aquia Towne Center TRACY BELL
tbell@insidenova.com
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plan is in motion to negotiate with Mosaic Aquia Capital Realty, which seeks to bring a Harris Teeter anchor store to Aquia Towne Center and help revive the long-struggling plaza. The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted 5-2 to approve a resolution only to negotiate. Supervisors Meg Bohmke, R-Falmouth, and Wendy Maurer, R-Rock Hill, cast the dissenting votes. Discussion surrounding the negotiation has centered on potentially agreeing to award future incremental tax relief as an incentive to the plaza’s redevelopment. The board will hold a closed-session negotiation with Mosaic, the developer of ATC, to potentially bring the 76,000-square-foot Harris Teeter to the plaza. It will take place between now and Sept. 5 and the public will have chances to address the terms of what’s negotiated, if anything, afterward.
The amount of total incentives now on the table is $16.5 million for a 20year term, as opposed to a previously discussed $18.5 million over a 30-year term. Supevisor Paul Milde, R-Aquia, said, of Harris Teeter: “I think we have an opportunity if this works to bring in a different level of retail services than we’ve seen.” But Bohmke, who did not support the resolution, spoke about the life span of grocery stores changing in today’s world and said that the deal doesn’t make economic sense. She added that she would support honoring the original deal before tax incentives came into play. “The growth in this area is going to be dramatic,” Bohmke said. “Any business that goes here will need to support itself.” Maurer, who also dissented, said that it’s not even worth negotiating, will set an awful precedent and would create competition among all of the grocery stores. Supervisor Laura Sellers, who leads the Garrisonville District, said that
she would like to at least negotiate and that the board owes it to the taxpayers to do so. “It is a blight, right out there off the highway,” she said of the plaza, but noted, “It’s more than just about Harris Teeter. …If you got off the highway and that’s what you saw, what would you think of Stafford County?” Supervisor Jack Cavalier, R-GriffisWidewater, said that he couldn’t care less about Harris Teeter and that’s not what he’s voting for. “I’m voting to revive this shopping center,” he said, adding that the people in his district and neighborhood want this. Earlier in the meeting, about 20 people including a group of grocery store workers from Giant Food and Shoppers Food Warehouse, spoke to the board about the deal. Some pointed out that other grocery stores didn’t receive such a deal, so why should Harris Teeter? One speaker said that the money that would go toward BOARD Harris Teeter could be PAGE 13 used in the county for
olanda Roussell, an 11-year resident of Stafford, is running for supervisor from the Aquia District on the Democratic ticket. Originally from New Orleans, Roussell currently resides in Aquia Harbour and works with special needs students in Fairfax County, she announced in a news release. Roussell earned her B.A. degree in communications from YOLANDA ROUSSELL the University of New Orleans. She worked in marketing for the corporate world and would bring business experience to the board of supervisors, she said. Roussell decided to run when she realized that area residents shared her concerns about the lack of proper planning of new developments in the district, particularly the destruction of Aquia Towne Center, school funding, roads and transportation and housing construction, she said. “We’ve been dealing with worsening traffic along Route 1 and Garrisonville Road. Traffic is backing up into neighborhoods,” she said. “As a member of the board of supervisors, finding a resolution to congestion will be a top priority. Putting a “pause” on construction for new housing will help as we examine how these developments will coordinate with road traffic, schools, parks and rec, public utilities and the like.” Regarding the schools, Roussell believes the board of supervisors needs to work with the school board and provide the needed funding. She says that Stafford schools produce excellent students. “However, excellent teachers and support staff, who are responsible for developing “excellent” students, in concert with bus drivers who are tasked with safely transporting them, are made to believe they are not worthy of excellent pay,” she said. “I am convinced that they are, and I will be an outspoken supporter for them and our schools.” STAFFORD COUNTY SUN
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