City Council Meeting

Anita Lightpublic commentGood evening, Mayor Reed and members of City Council. My name is Anita Light, and I'm here tonight in three capacities. First is the chair of the Fairfax Village in the City Advisory Board, resident of Fairfax City, obviously, and as an older adult. As chair of the Fairfax Village and the City Advisory Board, we wanted to emphasize our support for the Willard Sherwood Center, as noted in our letter to you all dated April the 6th. In that letter, we noted that supporting the new Willard Sherwood Center would help make accessibility for older adults easier and safer. We also noted that this project was a community partnership effort with the county as well as the residents of both the city and the county.

And finally, we highlighted that this project is a long-term investment for the future of the city. And as an additional note on the advisory board, and for a more important reason, we really support advancing the Willard Sherwood Center to help enhance the Villages Expo that we had this past Friday, which was a huge success. And if we had even better facility with better parking, it would help that event even better. And as a resident of the city, I support the Willard-Shorewood Center because this facility will afford a generational opportunity for programming for older adults and children and support the health care needs of our city. The partnership with the county has been longstanding, and as a result, the city is able to do more for the residents than they would otherwise be able to do.

for instance, on social services, emergency dispatch, libraries, court services, and schools, to name a few. Without these partnerships, the cost to our residents would be significantly more if we had to provide these basic services on our own. I've been a lifelong proponent of continuous improvement in organizations, and while the Willard-Sherwood Center is not an organization, it is a joint partnership with the county that needs to be continuously improved and nurtured to avoid even further costs. As an older adult, which I'm getting older and older by the minute, I support the Willard Sherwood Center project because participating in programs at Green Acres is potentially hazardous to my physical well-being.

Kevin Andersonpublic commentI want to thank you for this opportunity. I'm a county resident and a member of the Young at Heart Senior Center Council. And I'm here to speak in favor of the Willard Sherwood Project. Now, Green Acres is an apt name when you consider the ball fields and the surrounding grounds, but the building, the HVAC system, and the utilities can hardly be considered green. Since I don't have access to the specifics of Green Acres, I utilized AI to assist me with my research. and I could have used the AI to write my comments for me, but I was thinking that might be a little bit of cheating. Plus, I didn't want to sprout a six-finger on my hand either. So my research found that a 41,000-square-foot school built in 1961

Douglas Stewartpublic commentGood evening. Douglas Stewart, 10822 Maple Street. I'm here to also voice my support for moving forward with the Willard Sherwood Center. I appreciate the discussions you've had about this project. My wife and I have lived here for 22 years and I realize this project has both operating reckon with and that we'll see in our tax bills. The costs are significant, but I believe the benefits will far outweigh them. And really, we're talking about a multi-generational community center, something for all ages with first-class preventive health services. We're talking about a new third place for our youth and people of all ages. We're talking about outstanding facilities that the whole community can congregate in and enjoy,

Janet Jaworskipublic commentmayor reed and members of the city council i also am here to janet jaworski 3621 heritage lane for the record um i also am here to lend my support to the willard sherwood project um i do wear a number of hats in the city as you know so these are my comments as a resident and not representing any organization or department for which i volunteer um pete and i have lived here for 26 years and honestly i think the need for a community center has been part of the dialogue for the entire time that we've lived here. In fact, during my six-year tenure on the planning commission from 2014 to 2020, including a three-year stint on PRAB, this was a huge topic of conversation, and this is going back more than 10 years from now,

Janice Millerpublic commentI'm a little shorter than Janet. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Mayor Reed, members of council, staff, residents, and guests. Anna Smiller, and I am here to support moving forward with the Willard Sherwood project, and I support council members authorizing the EDA to sell revenue bonds to finance this project. Questions have been raised recently regarding the economic advantages of this proposed project. Please consider the following. Willard Sherwood would be a long-term economic anchor. it would strengthen downtown vitality due to its central location. It would generate consistent weekday activity that will support downtown retail and services. It would increase pedestrian activity in the downtown area.

It would reinforce Old Town as a hub for daily life and not solely as a spot for dining out, nightlife, and or special events. Willard Sherwood would demonstrate capital leverage and fiscal efficiency. The capital costs are divided between the county and the city based on programmatic usage. The city avoids land acquisition costs, demolition costs, and site preparation costs. The shared infrastructure and parking reduce capital duplication. Energy efficient design lowers operating costs. Willard Sherwood will support workforce and talent competitiveness. It will help attract and retain public and private sector employees and professional households. It will reinforce the city's identity as a service-rich community.

this project will deliver sustained economic value that will ultimately far exceed its direct fiscal cost. There are many in the audience who support Willard Sherwood. Would those who support this project are willing to pay reasonable fees for usage and approve of their tax dollars paying both capital costs and operating costs, please stand up. Our next speaker is Dale

Becky Ragerpublic commentGood evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. My name is Becky Rager. I'm a member of the city advisory board. I spoke to you last month in overall support of the Willard Sherwood health center and the community center. I'm here today to briefly express how the village and the city could enhance services as a result of the new facility. I'm mentioning a few possibilities today. As we move forward, the advisory board members, village members, and volunteers can brainstorm other possibilities for expanded services that directly support older adults and those with disabilities beyond what is currently available. We will also work with the Willard Health Center and the Green Acres staff to create

where members bring in their vintage collections and show them and then discuss the stories behind them. proposed suggestions could be done without additional staffing costs as members are not just consumers they are staff our village consists of members and volunteers with an extensive variety of backgrounds and experience for example a member might receive a ride to the doctor one day and facilitate a workshop the next this creates a sustainable model for future programs without additional costs. I believe the new Willard Sherwood facility with all the infrastructure enhancements will provide is necessary to continue to deliver modern equitable services for the entire community. Thank you.

Toby Sorensenpublic commentGood evening. Toby Sorensen, 101-37, Spring Lake Terrace. Mayor Reed and council members, the reason I am once again here to speak about supporting the Willard Sherwood Health and Community Center is because many of us still do not know whether you are going to vote to fund it on April 28th or not. If any of you are still undecided to vote, please consider the following. If you vote for the funding, there are many things we do know. We know what the city's share of the joint project will be, thanks to the guaranteed maximum pricing contract. We know what the operating costs will be, thanks to the research done by the project consultants. We know the basic level of class and rental fees that will cover operating expenses.

We know the higher level of class and rental fees that will cover operating expenses, plus provide a surplus that can be put toward the yearly bond payment. We know what the bond payment will be if the city goes to bond this spring. We know that we will be able to keep a senior center and have it located in a modern facility with better services. We know that we will be able to keep a much needed preschool in the city. We know that we will have a well located community center that will draw people and businesses to the downtown area. We know that we will have continued access to important health department services right Finally, we know when this project will be completed. If you do not vote to fund Willard Sherwood, there are many things we will not know.

planning and design process anew. Would the county choose a different location for the health center, one that would not be in the city? If the county chose a different location, what would they decide to do with the land that they own next to the Sherwood Center? We want to continue to have a senior center and a preschool and community spaces for our residents as well as to have a health the city if you believe you have a hard decision to make about funding Willard Sherwood think think also about the really hard decisions you will have to make if you don't vote to fund it thank you for listening

Mary McDanielpublic commentI'm Mary McDaniel, a resident of the Fairfax City, and my comments tonight are unrelated to my role on the city's electoral board. I'm speaking in support of the Willard Sherwood Center, and I'm asking that the City Council advance this project. It's an essential facility for our growing city. attended a ton of open houses on this and have always supported the project. As I look at it, it seems very obvious that we should move ahead. And I started thinking about why would you maybe cancel the project? And one might be that the services that are going to be covered are not needed anymore. But in fact, the services are needed more now than 10 years ago when project planning started. Speaking to a few of them, the daycare center.

Daniel Alexanderstafflooking ahead to the 28th we've had a lot of conversation And so, you know, much of this will be focused on public hearings related to the budget. There will be some items not requiring a public hearing to include significantly the Blenheim Boulevard project. And then, as we mentioned before, we'll be talking about Willard Sherwood and the items that we've talked about tonight. and also on there is the consideration of bond resolution for general obligation bonds for the school project work session wise we are again planning the third quarter financial review so we're looking forward to that and then as we've discussed the budget draft changes presented and deliberated on on that night also May 5th committed to budget in its entirety and

Thomas PetersonSo it's just one more reason to do this. And I would reach back also to the earlier conversation we had about health care. We're very fortunate. This area has, bar none, the best health care anywhere. really fortunate to live in an area that has the kind of advanced accessible health care we do but it comes at a price not everybody can get access and we'll talk a bit more about the willard sherwood center and the health center there but public health is an incredibly important part of our his of our system but then the commercial health care system and the insurance based system as well but it's not equally accessible to everybody and this is a pretty tough time right now because we haven't gotten reimbursements for Obamacare a lot of