City Council Meeting

Good evening I would like to call the regular meeting of November 12th 2024 to order I would like to welcome everybody to the chamber we have a lot of proclamations this evening and it's great to see people here engaged in that part of our process if you are able and so choose please rise for a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America into the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all I'm going to now invite the Fairfax Village in the City Advisory Board and Senior Center to come down to accept the National Family Caregivers Month proclamation and now to proclaim whereas during National Family Caregivers Month we recognize more than 53 million

people in the United States who serve as caregivers for family friends and neighbors with generous hearts and faithful devotion and whereas it is estimated that the number of caregivers will continue to increase as a result of an increase in the number of older adults who wish to remain in their own home and need assistance and whereas millions of older adults and people with disabilities could not maintain their independence without the help of unpaid caregivers estimated to cost nearly 470 billion dollars a year nationwide if purchased and whereas many caregivers are women with one third of caregivers providing at least 20 hours a week of care for by providing physical and emotional support managing medications ensuring personal care

shopping and providing transportation for activities of daily living and whereas family caregivers are the back bone of our nation's long-term care system doing essential work often at great physical emotional and financial cost to themselves and whereas the villages a nationwide initiative that connects members to a full range of support services to help with non-medical household tasks services programs and transportation that can serve as an additional support to caregivers and whereas Fairfax Village in the city is committed to supporting caregivers throughout our community and improve the quality of those who improve the quality of those who need a additional support through the generous gift of their time

now therefore I Catherine S. Reed Mayor of the City of Fairfax do hereby recognize the month of November 2024 is National Family Caregivers Month in the City of Fairfax and I urge the community to take time to recognize those among us who provide so much care to those in need and to say thank you offer our help to lighten their own burdens and to raise up the often in the visible labor upon which so many residents in our city depend on a daily basis and with this I would like to turn it over to Anita Light thank you mayor Reed and members of City Council on behalf of the Fairfax Village in the city our members our volunteers and our staff we really appreciate the opportunity to recognize family caregivers this month we you know I just like many of you have experienced family care giving and the stress that it creates on the person's physical and mental health

and what we really hope all of you do is to pay attention as the mayor said to those in our community who either are doing care giving or are providing it for their family or you're aware of that in the community one of the first lady first lady Rosalyn Carter said that there are four types of people in the world those that have been caregivers those who are caregivers those who will be caregivers those who will be caregivers and those who will need a caregiver so it seems like to me all of us will fall into that somehow some way somewhere along the line so we encourage you to listen and look for caregivers in the community and offer some respite either a listening ear or a break of some type so that these people who are giving their time totally to the caregiving of those people that they love and also

encourage you to look for resources in the community that might be available to them one resource that you might want to look at is the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging they have a family caregiver support program on the website there are webinars and information that you can access and you can share that with the caregiver that you're aware of or use it in your own family so with that I'll turn it back over to you and say thanks again all right I think it's time for a photo all right all right all right I'm going to ask Amini Bonani who is was the chair of the homeless business task force to join me down here along with Mark light who is the interim and inaugural chair of the housing and healthy communities advisory board and Susan

Lacroix who is the interim vice chair of the new housing healthy community advisory board and all of our advocates please all of our advocates who work in our community providing help and assistance please come forward good to see you good to see you Heather Leslie we have a lot of people in our community who provide services to the people who live in our city and who need help in our city and I'm very appreciative of everyone coming out tonight come on in come on in come on in okay so whereas for over 25 years the National Coalition for the homeless and national student campaign against hunger and homelessness has sponsored national hunger and homelessness awareness week and whereas the purpose of the proclamation is to educate the public about the many reasons people are hungry and homeless including the shortage of affordable housing here in the city of Fairfax for very low income residents and to encourage the

support for homeless assistance service providers for community service community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community community

and school service organizations. And whereas we continue to educate the public about the many contributing factors around pervasive hunger and homelessness in our own city and across the country, acknowledging that programs are needed to address workforce training and living wage jobs, transportation, affordable childcare, access to healthcare, including mental healthcare, treatment for substance use disorder, surmounting language barriers, and creating and preserving housing that residents can afford. And whereas there are many organizations committed to sheltering and providing supportive services, as well as meals and essential supplies to people experiencing food insecurity and homelessness, including the Lamb Center, facets,

shelter house, a place to stand, Bright Paths, food for others, food justice DMV, Wesley housing, and pathway homes. And whereas we are fortunate to have a network of nonprofits, government agencies, faith communities, and volunteer networks that work within our city to provide necessary services, addressing hunger and homelessness for people of all ages and in many different circumstances. And whereas the city of Fairfax created a homelessness task force in 2023 to study the root causes of homelessness and to make recommendations to the city council on how to address them, including the establishment in July 2024 of the housing and healthy communities advisory board, H cab. This permanent advisory board brings together both residents

and professionals who are currently working within the city, providing services, programs, and housing to our community. They will be focused on helping the council and staff with developing strategies, policies, practices, programs, services, and projects to support a healthy and thriving community for all who live and work here. Now, therefore, I, Catherine S. Reid, mayor of the city of Fairfax, do hereby proclaim November 17th to 23rd, 2024, as National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week in the city of Fairfax, and encourage all of us to think about the ways in which we can contribute to the health of our community through volunteerism, outreach, and direct services. Too many around us are without adequate food, safe shelter,

or the services they need to live their best lives. Let us commit to bring, to being the change we want to see. And with that, I'm going to turn it over first to Amini Burani, and then to Mark Light. Amini. Thank you so much, Mayor Reed. It's okay. Y'all can hear me, right? Okay, awesome. Thank you so much to Mayor Reed and city council for approving the second annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. As you know, solving this problem, it's a multifaceted issue, so it takes a village. So I'm really grateful for this village, and I'm also grateful for the work of the task force. It was not easy getting a group of 15 individuals to agree, but we agreed, but not only once, but 38 times on these recommendations.

And so I'm really looking forward to the work of the permanent board that we were able to create to continue on this work, because as you know, it doesn't happen overnight. And so I'm really grateful to live somewhere where people care about the most vulnerable members of our community, and I really want to celebrate the nonprofits and the people who work for them and the volunteers who work for them, for just being boots on the ground for those who can't speak for themselves. So without further ado, I'd love to invite Mark to say a few words. Thank you. To begin with, I'd like to thank this city council for having the foresight to put together the homelessness task force, particularly Councilmember Lim,

who was the spark that took that and made it into what it is today. As Amini said, we came up with 38 recommendations, and 10 of those were considered priority. And one of those was to form the permanent group, which is called the Housing and Healthy Communities Advisory Board. I was honored to be selected to be the interim chair for that group, along with the vice chair of Susan LaCroix. And I think that as we've looked at it, what was done with the task force kind of set a lot of lofty goals and a lot of things to be considered. But I think when you look at making that into policy and making it a reality, that's where a real heavy lift comes in. And it will continue to take the support of city council,

our businesses, our residents, to make that happen. We have almost the entire board has been appointed. And in conversations with those people that have been appointed, I can say I am in awe. It is truly a first string group of people, each bringing a tremendous amount of expertise in different fields. All of it, which together will go to, I think, give us some really good direction and be able to bring some really great things to city council. We're working with the city manager to plan our first meeting, which is scheduled for December the 2nd. That will be a public meeting. And that will begin our process of meeting about once a month. So we thank the city council for this continued support.

And we look forward to some great things that will allow us to address this issue, improve service we have, enhance services that we may have, and maybe start some new ones along with making it better for our residents, our businesses, and the visitors that come to Fairfax City. Thank you. I think we're going to have a photo. Everybody switch in. Yeah. The second star's coming on over. Is Jordan going to front? Just a meeting. I don't know. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. All right, great. I'm now looking for planning commissioner and George Mason University professor, Dr. Matthew Rice. Patrick Remsen. Public Works, Amy Lynn. Denny, community development and planning, and Maurice Rue, IT.

Come on, all the people. Come on. Come on. We're going to nerd out here. I mean, we really are. I mean, I can tell these people are up to it too, right? Just look at them. I think this is our first ever proclamation on this subject. And we would, I would be remiss not to give a nod to Jim Feather who helped to put this together. So, whereas geographic information systems, GIS, technology is a vital tool for collecting, analyzing, and visualizing geographic and spatial data, which enhances decision-making processes in urban planning, environmental management, public safety, and other fields. And whereas GIS technology supports the efficient delivery of public services, improves community engagement, and fosters economic development by providing valuable insights into the geographic

and demographic characteristics of our city. And whereas the city of Fairfax recognizes the importance of and leverages GIS through its professional staff in promoting sustainable development, enhancing disaster preparedness and response, improving the overall quality of life for its residents. And whereas professionals on city staff actively promote and have utilized GIS technology to the advantage of the city in the areas of community development and planning, public works, the fire department, elections, and environmental sustainability, which contribute significantly to the advancement of this technology and its applications, thereby benefiting our community and beyond. And whereas the city of Fairfax is in close proximity to and in partnership with George Mason University, which has a robust and

recognized GIS program supported by city resident and planning commission member Professor Matt Rice. And whereas the third Wednesday of November is celebrated globally as GIS Day, providing an opportunity to educate the public about the benefits of GIS and to inspire future generations to pursue careers in this field. The theme for 2024 is mapping minds shaping the world. 25 years of GIS excellence reflects the profound impact of GIS on how we perceive, navigate, and shape our planet. And whereas George Mason University is hosting an event on November 20, 2024 to highlight the importance of GIS technology in our daily lives. Now, therefore, I, Catherine S. Reed, Mayor of the City of Fairfax, do hereby proclaim November 20, 2024 is GIS Awareness Day in the City of Fairfax and encourage residents to explore the myriad of GIS tools available and to acknowledge and appreciate all the great work the staff puts into creating and utilizing them.

And with that, I will turn it over to the much celebrated Dr. Matt Rice. I'm not sure I've ever been called the most celebrated or anything like that, but thank you very much. I want to introduce you to a few people I brought with me who are really important in helping GIS impact the city's work. So, on the academic side, Dr. Dieter Fosser, who's our department chair, and he runs the show. He's in charge. Lori Mandible is another faculty member in our department who teaches field mapping and GIS, and she's essential in educating the next generation of students. We have two students here tonight, very lucky to have them. John in the back. And, John, why don't you just come up? John's been very busy digitizing features for Maurice.

And, John will remember in class, I encourage the students, be very careful about digitizing because it can really cause repetitive stress injuries and it can burn you out. So, then ask Maurice afterwards whether he's helped John, you know, become a good GIS technician through his digitizing activity. Ty is in the back as well. And, Ty is another Mason student, a part of student government. And, tonight is going to hurry back to campus for Night Walk, a field mapping exercise to identify hazards and problems on campus. And, the department, including students that work closely with Lori, have built some applications to allow them to crowd source information on the GMU campus. So, just very quickly, the story started about 22 years ago with Maurice.

And, Maurice is the city's enterprise GIS manager. He was hired at a time when most cities were not even thinking about this kind of technology. But, there was a very insightful IT director who had the insight to get Maurice on board. Maurice was early career. And, GIS was just growing at that time. Her name, Gail Bohan. Is that correct? Bohan. Bohan. She had the insight to start this. 22 years later, Maurice runs one of the very best open data portals in the region. I routinely have my students reach out and get data from it. It's used widely. All city kind of contractors and people who do business with the city can access geospatial data through that portal. Running the city's GIS infrastructure is a difficult job, but he's done it very ably.

I want to just recognize very quickly two other staff members that are essential in keeping the city going. First, Amy Lindeni. And, she's been on the staff for a year and a half to two years. And, it's hard to get the correct date in my head because she's had such a big impact over that time period. Jim Feather and myself benefit from her briefings to the Planning Commission. She's also an essential part of the city's fact book, which most of us consider to be kind of the crown jewel document. We refer to it constantly as a way of setting context for the city. 122 different figures, maps, and graphics produced by Amy and some of her predecessors, Lindsey Clouart, Kelly O'Brien, and then with her colleague, Eric Foreman, who is just a wizard with demographic and economic analysis.

So, that document's extremely valuable. And, she does a great job in community development and planning helping us on the Planning Commission. And, her supervisor Paul Nabte is in the back, a big supporter and someone that's very helpful in this regard. I want to also recognize Patrick. Patrick Remsen is the city's utilities project manager. And, he works with Satoshi Ito and with David Summers, both in the audience tonight, and can vouch for the innovative nature of his work. So, simply put, Patrick uses GIS field data collection in an innovative way to keep track of the city's assets related to stormwater and figure out which ones need repair immediately. If you can't do that, you end up repairing things at the last minute at four, five, six times the cost.

He's able to do it in a very efficient way that not only identifies infrastructure that needs work, but also allows the city to collect huge amounts of data to support reporting and regulations by the state of Virginia. So, Patrick's innovative use of GIS will be a part of our GIS Day celebrations on November 20th. And, I'd like to invite anybody who would like to attend the activities to please join Dr. Fosser and myself and Lori, our two students and the GIS staff who will all be there presenting. So, that's it. Thank you. I said we would geek out, did I not? All right, I think a photo now, much simpler. All right, crowd in. I'm going to be a couple of times short. We're going to go one, two, three, three, three, three.

Thank you. All right. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All righty then. This is always a favorite proclamation. I'm going to ask the Fairfax City Economic Development staff, Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, and Old Town Fairfax Business Association to come on down as we proclaim one of the most important days of the year. Everybody in? Okay. So, what is one of the most important days of the year in Fairfax City? I will tell you, it is Small Business Saturday. It is Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday, which follows Thanksgiving and that thing called Black Friday. Save it for Small Business Saturday.

All right. Whereas. Whereas. The government of the city of Fairfax, Virginia celebrates our local small businesses and the contributions they make to our local economy and community. And whereas, according to the United States Small Business Administration, there are 34.7 million small businesses in the United States. Small businesses represent 99.7% of firms with paid employees. Small businesses are responsible for 61.1% of net new jobs created since 1995. And small businesses employ 45.9% of the employees in the private sector in the United States. And whereas, $0.68 of every dollar spent at a small business in the U.S. stays in the local community. And every dollar spent at small businesses creates an additional $0.48 in local business activity as a result of employees and local businesses purchasing local goods and services.

And whereas, 59% of U.S. consumers aware of Small Business Saturday shopped or ate at a small independently owned retailer or restaurant on Small Business Saturday 2023. And whereas, the city of Fairfax supports our local businesses that create jobs, boost our local economy, and preserve our neighborhoods. And whereas, advocacy groups as well as public and private organizations across the country have endorsed the Saturday after Thanksgiving as Small Business Saturday. And whereas, Fairfax City Economic Development, the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, and the Old Town Fairfax Business Association remain committed to cultivating the strongest business community possible here in the city.

And have developed programming to support the community of small businesses this year. Now, therefore, I, Kathryn S. Reed, Mayor of the City of Fairfax, do hereby proclaim November 30, 2024, a Small Business Saturday, and urge the residents of our community and communities across the country to support small businesses and merchants on Small Business Saturday, celebrating its 15th year in 2024, and shop small throughout the year. And I will now turn it over to Tara Borway. Tara Borway. What's up for this community? What's up for this community? What's up for this community? What's up for this community? What's up for this community? What's up for this community? What's up for this community?

What's up for this community? What's up for this community? What's up for this community? What's up for this community? What's up for this community? What's up for this community? businesses. This event has gone on for 15 years and we have for several years been neighborhood champions along with our partners, the Fairfax City, no, the Old Town Fairfax Business Association and the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce. Thank you so much for being our wonderful partners in this. For Small Business Saturday this year, we will once again be hosting a buy one get one 40% bonus card with the Fairfax City Flex card. Those will go live on Small Business Saturday. Those cards are redeemable at 51 participating businesses citywide. You can see where to spend those and

purchase them at fairfaxcityconnected.com slash flex. We will also be hosting three welcome stations around the city asking for our residents to come visit us and shop small on Small Business Saturday. You can keep up with us and what the businesses are offering specials and deals and discounts throughout the holiday season by following our social media at Go Fairfax City. We have lots in store. Businesses are really embracing this holiday shopping season and they know they would love to see you. I would thank everyone for considering our small business community the Saturday after Thanksgiving and when you go to do your retail therapy do it right here in Fairfax City. What's up for this community?

What's up for this community community community community community community community community photo it's hard to believe we're talking about the holidays already all right right do the adoption of the agenda is there a motion to approve the agenda council member Staley thank you mayor Reed I move to approve the agenda as presented with the following change to add a line that states appointments to boards and commissions following item 11 which is items not recovering requiring a public hearing second the motion has been made and seconded a roll call vote council member Greenfield all right council member Ross aye council member Lim I council members daily aye council member Dolan Feingold aye council member Bates

aye motion passed unanimously the next time is an initial general public comment I'd had nobody sign up by 5 o'clock p.m. today so we can move on to consent agenda all right is there a motion to prove the approve the consent agenda council members daily thank you Mary I move adoption of a consent agenda for agenda number 8b consideration of the November 12th 2024 regular meeting minutes agenda number eight sorry it was general 8 a consideration of number 12 2024 regular meeting minutes agenda number 8b consideration of award of construction contract for an estimated amount of five hundred seven thousand seven hundred and fifty two dollars to Galicia construction corporation for the City Hall landscape improvements project agenda item number 8c consideration of

award of construction contract for an estimated amount of three million two hundred ninety nine thousand five hundred eighty eight dollars and ninety cents to meet the land service Inc for Stafford Drive stream restoration agenda item number 8d consideration of award of construction contract for an estimated amount of eight hundred thirty four thousand eight hundred ninety two dollars to Jay Fletcher creamer and son Inc for the Andes Drive pump station force main lining agenda item number 8e consideration of reaffirming the comprehensive set of financial policies and the suggested FY 2026 budget guidelines agenda item number 8f introduction of an ordinance amending chapter 90 parentheses taxation and

parentheses article 2 parentheses real property taxes and parentheses division three of the code of the City of Fairfax Virginia pertaining to tax relief program exemptions for the elderly and disabled agenda item number 8g introduction of a supplemental appropriation resolution in the amount of six hundred fifty thousand dollars for FY 2025 fall non-discretionary and council authorized expenditures I move to approve the consent agenda items number 8a through g and the motioning accompanying consent agenda item as printed second a motion has been made by councilmember Staley and seconded by council member Lim are there any items council would like pulled for additional discussion councilmember Ross yes mayor thank you I would like to

pull item number 8g which is the introduction of the supplemental appropriation for further discussion thank you all right item 8g will be removed for discussion roll call vote on the consent agenda minus item 8g I think there's maybe a minor change to 8a I think you said November 12th but it should have been October 22nd for a meeting minute approval and and then just clarification on 8e is it consideration of updates to the fiscal year 2026 financial policies and council budget guidelines is that what we're approving because I think it was slightly different I can confirm 8a is it's going to be October 22nd I can confirm 8a supposed to be October 22nd okay so maybe pull 8e and we can clarify what it is okay

so item 8g and item 8e will be removed for discussion any other items okay a roll call vote on the consent agenda minus agenda items 8g and 8e council member Bates aye council member Doyle Feingold aye council member Staley aye council member Lim aye on everything except the ones that are pulled and 8a I abstain since I was not here thank you council member Ross aye council member Greenfield aye okay motion passed unanimously for 8a through d and f okay council member Ross I think you got 8e first oh 8e okay so we will go back to uh 8e okay 8e is consideration of reaffirming the comprehensive set of financial policies and the suggested FY 2026 budget guidelines I'll recognize JC Martinez chief financial

officer for that staff report thank you mayor council the correct wording would be to consideration for reaffirming the comprehensive set of financial policies and the suggested FY 2026 budget guidelines staffers proposing no changes to the current financial policies we are asking council again to reaffirm these policies and the listed guidelines for staff to use in preparation of the proposed FY 2026 budget of note and as briefed in an earlier presentation during October 22nd we will be funding the budget stabilization fund within the assigned portion of the general fund balance for the first time in FY 24 and hope to continue this practice in FY 25 until accumulations reach three percent of the general fund revenues and then additionally as also stated on October 22nd we look

forward looking to FY 2027 we may recommend a change to the debt policy specifically increasing the current nine percent limit of annual debt service versus expenditures and then also potentially the current three percent limit of the debt versus assessed value again to account for planned debt issuance happy to take any questions do we have questions for mr. Martinez from the dais on 8e no hearing none uh council members staley i think you may i read i'm going to read the motion that's in the staff report i move to adopt the presented financial policies and suggested budget guidelines to be used in the preparation of the fiscal year 2026 budget budget all right uh a motion has been made by council member staley and seconded by council member limb

a roll call vote council member greenfield council member ross all right council member lim council members staley council member doyle feingold aye council member bates aye motion passed unanimously next item 8g is the introduction of supplemental appropriation resolution and the amount of 650 000 for fy 2025 fall non-discretionary and council authorized expenditures i'll recognize jc martinez to financial officer thank you again mayor council summarize on the staff report staff is recommending fy 2025 fall supplemental appropriations totaling 650 000 for all funds the capital improvement program the cip fund will be receiving an additional 50 000 from nvta 30 percent and applied towards a transit development plan for q

the net impact of the proposed general fund appropriations results in a reduction of 600 000 to the fy 2025 general fund balance the proposed general fund supplemental appropriation is about 0.3 of the fy 2025 adopted general fund budget of about 180 million dollars 763 548 were there any specific questions council member ross that you have yes um thank you um mr martinez for that my particular question that i understand we're introducing this tonight and i'm supportive of that and expect to vote in favor of that motion um and we will actually be approving this on december 10th uh as a as a specific item on our agenda that night my question was regarding two of the items that are included as the city manager's work plan um and i'd like to get some additional information on that

before we actually take action on this on december 10th so i i'm not asking for this tonight but i think before that vote um in particular questions i had regarding the historical assets inventory update uh and also the lien six sigma process improvement evaluation for city permitting um i am supportive of both of those um specific actions that we're going to be taking in terms of work um i do recall that we had previous work started on some of those items um and i think we actually had a contract with blue heron to look at the permitting process um and i want to make sure in my mind and i think it'd be helpful to understand what this is as an additive to that work um and any additional things that will be done because

i think there was a fair amount of work done on that back prior to your arrival here last year um and i want to make sure that we're not spending money on something that we've already done um in the interests of of fiscal um uh concerns and then secondly on the historical assets inventory i support that again i do think there was some work done by staff again prior to your arrival and i just want to make sure that we've looked into what's already been done making sure that we're not going to be repeating something that we already have some data on and so i look forward to that either being presented on december 10th as part of staff report or offline having some further discussions on that so i can be

comfortable with voting on that on december 10th thank you mayor okay any other questions or discussions around 8g okay hearing none council members daily thank you mayor reed i move to introduce an appropriation resolution in the amount of 650 000 to fund the fy 2025 fall recommended supplemental expenditures i further move to waive the first reading and set the public hearing for december 10 2024. second a motion has been made by council member staley and seconded by council member limb um are there any others is there any other discussion hearing none a roll call vote council member bates aye council member doyle feingold aye council member staley aye council member lim aye council member ross aye council member greenfield motion passed unanimously we'll go to public hearings

there's only one tonight and that is a public hearing on the city of fairfax 2025 legislative program i'll recognize melanie zip assistant city manager to provide a staff presentation evening mayor and city council tonight is just a public hearing on our legislative program there is no council action tonight that will be on december 10th just to go over really quickly our city of fairfax delegation is senator saline and delegate full of it will both be with us on december 3rd to go over our final proposed program um so very quickly how we build our program tonight we are going to review some of the edits that have been made to the program some additions that staff is requesting be added to our program then on december

3rd we would like to bring forward our priority focus areas which is the center page those would be any kind of policies oh i'm sorry i thought i sounded funny i apologize i'm not starting over though our priority focus areas would be policy statements or code sections that we would like to highlight for our delegation and then on december 3rd we would ask the council to designate their one page priority action items anywhere from three to four items that they would like the delegation to focus on again this is how we build our program we go through the council's goals for their term we look at our values that we have selected as a city staff and then we also look to our strategic plan for suggestions of additions to our program partners that we work with they are regional they are

across the state we work with our boards and commissions our regional partners include fairfax county of course especially in the areas of human services jails um our court system our schools and anything else that we contract with fairfax county to provide those services for us as well as um alexandria arlington falls church loudon county and prince william county and then all the associations that our staff belong to we also incorporate their our legislative programs as well this year we have one addition which is the village collective and we have a new statement in our program that we would hope the council would be favorable of and we will get to that shortly so of the requests that we had previously these are the additions that we included in the program

um i won't go through this list because i will go through it in later slides but these are the the items that staff has requested or council members have requested there were a few other items that did not get incorporated into the program either because there was already um enabling um enabling legislation uh for like the attorney general to provide consumer affairs complaint processes and then some other items as well that i had emailed the council about i can go over those if you would like me to um if you look at our program what you have in your packet is a clean copy and then a red line copy the red line copy is kind of hard to read through because a lot of things got moved around or deleted and replaced with large sections of of new language

um but what staff would request is rearranging the priority list it at the very least with k-12 funding being number one and local authority being number two whether or not you want to include transportation and wamata obviously these are all up to you but um wamata we have received some movement from the general assembly on that so we don't have a lot of changes as it relates to our requests for wamata funding as well as our transportation we don't have a lot of changes from the previous year either k-12 funding is still a high priority for the entire region we have refreshed that language with the language that we received from fairfax county and fairfax county school board um our local authority the additions that we added there was to address an equitable tax structure

sorry excise taxes to be established for vape products cannabis products and skill games property tax exemptions that are to be at the local discretion not at the state's discretion no new restrictions on local taxing authority and revenues letting the local jurisdictions decide how they're going to use their taxing authority and the revenues that they bring in and then increased state funding for car tax relief in our land use section for local authority we've had no changes and under local flexibility we have the request to allow localities to prohibit or regulate gas-powered leaf blowers and then as i said we had no changes in our transportation or our wamata funding sections when we move to the policy statements the policy statements

don't change over the years except to be updated by language unless the council wants something removed out of the policy statements i did however move the cannabis section out of the economic development section of our policy statements and just put it under local authority under the excise tax just to make sure that we we get the the taxes that are due to the city so for economic development and diversification we asked to fund statewide technology research and innovation commercialization assistance activities a lot of the requests for economic development are related to early seed funding for tech startups especially in areas where the founders are traditionally receiving less venture capital so

small businesses women-owned businesses veteran-owned businesses and businesses owned by people of color and then supporting initiatives to stimulate these startups through education for investors and entrepreneurs under environmental sustainability we have no changes no significant changes in our our control of invasive plants there were a few minor edits but nothing that changes the the flavor of the language under greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy we are requesting to expand the authority for local jurisdictions and support energy efficient energy efficiency incentive programs we're asking to establish a penalty for electric distribution companies that delay a customer generator's ability to connect to the grid

beyond the regular regulatory notice period this has to do with the solar interconnectivity issue that we have seen fairfax county has had with putting solar on their schools and then the the program is stopped by dominion so this is this will help that situation we're also asking to advance legislation to provide local authority authority to regulate or ban the use of the gas powered leaf blowers and possibly impose a civil penalty the extended producer responsibility this is um basically what this says is it except establishes where am i here we go um the extended producer responsibility the concept is that the producer has the most influence over the design of products and packaging and if they're partially responsible for the cost of recycling or disposal

they'll design their products to be more easily recovered and or disposed of so that is what the epr framework is all about because as we know um when it comes to recycling our prices for the city are going up and up waste reduction and recycling we're asking to support greater and more explicit local authority to manage solid waste this has to do with granting local authority to regulate food waste and then we have no significant changes in our water quality funding and no changes in our virginia litter control and recycling fund in our community section we have several changes community section deals with behavioral health early childhood older adults medicaid and mental health parity for behavioral health we're just asking that the medicaid reimbursements cover the full cost of care

the removal of the barriers that exist in alternate transportation and alternative custody options for individuals in need of psychiatric hospitalization this is a burden on our pd or sorry our police department when they have a order to take somebody to the hospital to be evaluated they are required to stay with that patient which means we can have a police officer that is out of um rotation off of our streets for several hours dealing with one um one situation in early childhood services we're asking that state funding for child care for economically disadvantaged families who are not participating in the tanf program so these are people who are above the the income limit for tana as we know that income limit is very low and even if you're above that you still have

challenges paying for child care because it is not cheap for independence and self-sufficiency self-sufficient sufficient sufficient sufficiency for older adults and people with disabilities we're asking um for support and funding for the virginia village collective there is a new section in your program that talks about the village our village obviously is funded by you and the city of fairfax but not all villages are are funded that way a lot of times they are volunteer programs and so the village collective is requesting support from the state and staff is asking the council to support that that request as well when it comes to medicare waivers we did have some good movement on the priority one wait list and we're

asking that they continue to work through that priority one wait list we're also asking that the reimbursement rates are the reimbursement rates are increased to reflect the true cost of providing quality health care and then sustained funding for new waiver slots every year to ensure access to essential support in the parity barriers for mental health we're asking that mental health benefits be included in the dsm the diagnostic statistics manual or that the mental health benefits for all mental health conditions that are listed in the dsm be included in mental health benefits we're asking that nurse practitioners be approved as treatment providers and that the bureau of insurance be required to require all health carriers the bureau of insurance covers those smaller health care providers

providers not like the city's health care providers these are much smaller systems but requiring them to submit comparative reports that include their denial rates the utilization review rates the complaints the appeals and the claim payment rates they'll bring their bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias bias

This is a new section we're asking for legislation to allow local governments to post legal notices on their .gov website in lieu of having to expend taxpayer funds to publicize it in a newspaper of general circulation and all of the requirements that are required to put it into a newspaper. Collective bargaining, there's not a whole lot of change here except that we're asking the language to be to support the local authority to approve or deny a request that is made by a group of public employees. For Freedom of Information Act, we are asking for support to allow our local city councils, boards of supervisors, school boards, whether elected or appointed, to participate in all virtual meetings at the current frequency of our other boards and commissions.

We've seen through COVID that the public's business can be done in a virtual setting, and so we're requesting that the council be allowed to do that at least at the rate that they're allowing other boards and commissions to participate, which I believe is about 50% of their meetings. For land use, we are asking for land use. We are asking to preserve local authority to regulate and manage the use and construction of accessory dwelling units through our zoning process. Another new section is our mobile ID. We're requesting support legislation to allow the use of mobile ID in lieu of a physical driver's license or ID in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This is actually a pilot program right now that Virginia is doing, and you can voluntarily sign up to be part of this.

There are some TSA locations that allow it. There are some states that allow it. There are some states that allow it to be part of the public's office, and we're asking for support of last year's SB 14 and HB 805, which was the 1% sales and use tax for city and county schools. So we're asking that that just be put back into place. That is all the changes that I have for the program for this year. Right now we are on November 12th, so we are doing our public hearing, getting feedback from the public. November 25, if there's any legislation that we want specifically to go forward for certain statutory sections of the code, we need to get those in by November 25. At this time I don't have any that we want to push forward.

And so our next meeting will be on December 3rd with our delegation in the work session, and we will go over the final proposed legislative program. And then on December 10th, I'll be asking for council's consideration of our 2025 legislative program. And then the program begins on January 8th. So next steps tonight, we're just asking for council consensus on the new policy statements and on the language revisions in the existing policy statements. And then on December 3rd, I'll be asking for your consensus and prioritization of the focus areas. And that is it. I will happily take any questions. Are there questions from the dais about the legislative agenda? No? Really? Okay, well, so this whole mobile ID thing, which I think is great, I didn't realize that was already available voluntarily in Virginia.

Like, how are they promoting that? Like... So I had to actually just go to their website, and I found it on there. Really? Yep. Let me see. This is like a function of the DMV? Yep. Virginia's mobile ID is currently a voluntary, secure, and digital version of an existing Virginia-issued driver's license or ID card that can be carried in an app on a smartphone. Virginia mobile ID was developed to provide a convenient way to prove identity or age in a private, secure manner. No data leaves the device without user consent, and the user controls what information is shared. So the mobile ID is actually a...it's an app. So it's not just, you know, you take a picture of your ID and it's in your photos.

It actually has to be part of the app. Well, that makes sense. The reason I'm just...I don't know why this has not been really elevated since we have so many people who are unhoused who constantly have to replace their driver's license. I mean, it's just a constant, constant thing, and most...many, many people have phones. So this is something worth looking at for that particular community of people just to try and see if that helps to mitigate the loss and the replacement over and over and over again of driver's license. But if we...if it gets adopted statewide, I mean, I think that's a benefit to many people for many reasons. Yes. Do. So I hope my colleagues will support that on the dais because I think it's a...it's an upgrade.

All right. I know questions for the staff and I will open the public hearing. Ms. Shinneberry, has this public hearing been advertised? Yes, it has. And I have two speakers who signed up prior to the meeting. I will call the first speaker up, Anita Light. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the importance of supporting legislation that will help current and future villages to be a viable source of support for older adults within our community. As you know, our village has been very successful since April of 2022 and we've grown to have over 110 members and almost 50 volunteers. We continue to grow every day and have helped our members to get to the doctor, the grocery store, to church, to the bank, to get your hair cut.

We've been raking leaves and shoveling snow. And more importantly, each one of these interactions for our members helps to reduce social isolation in some small way. Also, because our village structure and success in getting established and operational, we've been asked to be a mentor in another to another community to help them get their village off the ground. It's a formal program with the village to village network. Our ability to provide assistance in this way speaks to the wisdom and commitment of this council to give us the support needed to keep our village successful. Other communities in Virginia need this same support to get organized or to be sustained, but may be challenged to find the resources to do so.

This proposed legislation will help these start up villages to get organized as well as to help those already started to stay in operation. Our village is a member of the Virginia Village Collective and this collective has been working diligently to gain support for the proposed legislation included in your program tonight. Carol Paquette, who is with the Arlington Neighborhood Village, is a member of the steering committee of the collective and is here tonight to share with you a brief outline of what that legislative proposal would do for Virginia. I've provided you with the full proposal that gives background information that you may need in order to help make a decision about including this in the legislative package.

So I encourage you to be supportive of this and we'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have at a later time. So I'll turn it over to Carol. Good evening, Mayor Reed and the council members. Thank you. I'm Carol Paquette. I'm one of the founders of the Arlington Neighborhood Village. I'm a former president of the Village to Village Network and I'm currently the convener of the Virginia Villages Collective. The collective is an informal collaboration among 18 Virginia Villages. It was created about two years ago by representatives from five of the Villages. Our purpose is to enable more older Virginians to safely age in place by increasing awareness of the Village Model and its benefits, promoting the development of new Villages and fostering the growth and sustainability of existing Villages.

Why are we proposing this legislation? Many surveys show that the vast majority of older adults want to age in place. Some older adults need professional services and skilled assistance, but most can safely remain in their homes with just a little unskilled help. All older adults need opportunities to socialize, engage in meaningful activities, and pursue their personal interests. Villages are a cost-effective solution to meet these needs. But here's the catch. It typically takes a minimum of two years and about $10,000 to start an independent, stand-alone village. This is a really slow way to expand access to village supports. However, Fairfax City, along with dozens of other entities around the country, has shown that working with a sponsor can dramatically reduce the time and effort to start a village.

And sponsored villages also tend to be more robust and sustainable in the long run. How will this legislation help? It will strengthen existing villages by providing expertise and funding to build capacity, to enable response to evolving community needs, including such things as volunteer training, data management, programs for caregiver respite and frail member support. It will also promote the development of new villages by providing technical assistance to identify locations for villages, recruit sponsors, establish an incubator program to guide development, and provide funding for start-up expenses when needed. In closing, I'd like to note that the collective has obtained a grant to do research on sponsored villages and prepare guidance on how to set up various types of sponsorships.

We will soon be interviewing right here in Fairfax City to learn from your experience. Thanks very much for the opportunity. Thank you. We appreciate your time. Thank you. Is there anybody else in the room that would like to speak on this item? All right, then. I will close the public hearing. The City Council will take action on December 10th of 2024. We can move to the second general public comment. I had nobody sign up prior to the meeting starting this evening. If there's anybody that would like to speak on general public comment, you can come forward. Okay. Moving on to items not requiring a public hearing. First, I am consideration of a resolution requesting the issuance of revenue bonds by the City of Fairfax Economic Development Authority for the benefit of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, and a maximum aggregate principal amount of $54,500,000 to finance general government capital project costs.

I'll recognize JC Martinez, Chief Financial Officer, to provide the staff report. Thank you. Mayor, Council, as presented during the October 22nd, 2024 City Council work session, review of the City's capital funding plan confirmed the necessity to finance a portion of its capital improvement projects by issuing bonds. City staff in collaboration with Davenport and Company LLC in its capacity as the City's financial advisor proposes that the City request the EDA issue the 2025 bonds via sell in the public market. Issuance of these types of bonds requires the City's economic development authority to serve as a conduit issuer. This option was determined to be the most efficient, cost effective, and provides flexibility regarding the use of bond proceeds, allowing the city to utilize funds as necessary for various city capital improvement projects.

Anticipated capital expenditures include the following without limitations. Fire, police, and other public safety projects such as Fire Station 3, the parks and recreation and cultural Willard Sherwood Community Center. The proposed financing was anticipated in the adopted FY 2025 budget and in the FY 2025 through FY 2029 capital improvement program. Given the City's very strong credit ratings, the 2025 bonds are not expected to require any collateral and the revenues of the City's general operation subject to annual appropriation shall be pledged as backing for the proposed revenue bond issuance. We do have Austin Sachs from Davenport, Chris Culp, the City's bond attorney, and I along are more than willing to answer any questions you may have.

Are there any questions of staff? Questions on this issue? Okay. Is there a motion, Councilmember Staley? Thank you, Mayor Reed. I move the City Council to adopt a resolution requesting the City of Fairfax Economic Development Authority to issue revenue bonds for the benefit of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, and the maximum aggregate principal amount of $54,500,000 to finance general government capital project costs. Second. A motion has been made by Councilmember Staley and seconded by Councilmember Lim. Is there any discussion on this motion? Seeing none, a roll call vote. Councilmember Bates? Aye. Councilmember Doyle Feingold? Aye. Councilmember Staley? Aye. Councilmember Lim? Aye. Councilmember Ross?

Aye. It's passed unanimously. Next item is the consideration of board and commission appointment. Is there a motion, Councilmember Staley? Thank you, Mayor Reed. I move to reappoint Myron Miloski for a three-year term extending through November 30th, 2027, to the board of equalization. Second. A motion has been made by Councilmember Staley and seconded by Councilmember Lim. Any discussion on this motion? Seeing none, a roll call vote. Councilmember Greenfield? Aye. Councilmember Ross Aye Councilmember Lim Aye Councilmember Staley Aye Councilmember Doyle Feingold Aye Councilmember Bates Aye Motion passed unanimously Next item is the manager's report out Good evening Mayor and Council just want to highlight an important win for our city and specifically a win for our economic development team many who are here tonight and our partners the Economic Development Authority

announced today the retention of Fairfax City's largest private employer and office user Zeta Associates Incorporated Zeta will maintain its 225,000 square feet of office space in Willowood Plaza supporting hundreds of high skilled jobs with planned building renovations facilitated by the EDA This commitment strengthens both Zeta's future in our community and Fairfax City's standing as a prime destination for leading industry so we want to thank Zeta and its parent company for continuing to work with the to invest in in our city and more importantly we want to thank our economic development team for doing such a great job and keeping our city economically strong thank you All right I will ask our council members if they have anything they would like to share I think I'm gonna start with Councilmember Staley

Thank you Mayor Reed just a quick shout out to many of our city staff today for their work at the career day at Katherine Johnson Middle School It was awesome to see so many of our team there and supporting our middle school and then I want to give a huge shout out to the Fairfax field hockey team earlier this evening they made it to the state semifinals defeating Cosby 3-0 They will play on Friday evening against Yorktown on the other side of the bracket is Oakton and Glen Allen so a big shout out to Bode and her entire team for an excellent job well done Lions All right congratulations Councilmember Doyle Feingold No comments thanks Councilmember Bates No comments Councilmember Lim No comments thank you Councilmember Ross

Yes thank you Mayor yesterday was Veterans Yes it was yesterday it was Veterans Day throughout our country and I had the opportunity along with the Mayor to participate in this ceremony at the American Legion which honored those Veterans who are in our community and nationwide who have been on the forefront of protecting our country and serving in the military and in so many distinguished ways I think one of the messages that came out of that was critically important and that was not just saying thank you for your service but on a regular basis checking in with Veterans One of the speakers yesterday was a gentleman who had lost his son he was a had been a Navy SEAL the father and is now very active on a nationwide basis building support for veterans who have experienced trauma coming out of their service his son unfortunately committed suicide a number of years ago he was also a Navy SEAL as a result of trauma coming out of their service his son unfortunately committed suicide a number of years ago he was also a Navy SEAL as a result of trauma and

trauma and his experience of serving, I believe, four or five combat missions overseas. And just the dramatic impact that that can have on the human brain and on the human personality was pointed out by this gentleman. And he recommended, and I believe it's this weekend, but I think it's something we should all remember, reach out to veterans and just check in with them. Let them know you're thinking of them and checking in and saying, how are you doing? And everything okay? Because we're learning more and more about the trauma that can occur. And it's veterans, but it's also other people that serve in public safety and other emergency services who face trauma. And we are just beginning to learn the impact on that and the human psyche and what that

occurs. So, and on a personal note, I am celebrating 50 years retirement from my three and a half years in the Air Force. December of 74, I was discharged from the Air Force in McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. And just, I did not go in with a desire to serve, but it was an incredible experience and I was very fortunate to benefit from that. And I want to recognize all those who are veterans. Secondly, following up the presentation we heard on the importance of village and the city and the services they provide, there was a wonderful article in the paper today, the Washington Post, about our growing aging population and many people who are aging in place but are in need of occasional assistance.

And it's a really heartwarming story about how neighbors and people have reached out just going to do a few errands with someone or helping them out or reaching out to them and being a friend and a neighbor. And again, I think that's the premise of this village and the city and I certainly will be very supportive of that as being a priority in our legislative program as we go forward in 2025. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Greenfield? No, Council Member. So before we go into a closed meeting, I just want to say this is the last meeting before Thanksgiving. I want to wish everybody a very happy Thanksgiving holiday and remind all of us that this holiday was created for us to examine all the many ways in which we are thankful.

Gratitude is a good place to start. I feel we in the city are very fortunate in so many ways. I'm grateful every day to be sitting on this dais and serving this community. And for all of the challenges we may have in the city, this city is a great place to live. And so I hope people will have a very safe and happy Thanksgiving with their family and counting their blessings. Now, I will make a motion to go into a closed meeting. I move that the city council convene a closed meeting under section 2.2-3711.81 of the Code of Virginia to discuss personnel matters. Section 2.2-3711.83 of the Code of Virginia to discuss possible acquisition of property for public purposes. And section 2.2-3711.8 of the Code of Virginia for consultation with legal counsel for legal advice.

All council members in favor of the motion please signify by voting aye. Aye. Those opposed to the vote please vote nay. The vote is unanimous in favor of the motion. The city council retired into a closed meeting at 8.16 p.m. What's up?