City Council Meeting

Susan DeManiapublic commentSurely you all know that the city's slogan is Live Life Connected. What could encourage connection more than a place such as the Willard Sherwood Health and Community Center? Thank you. Our next speaker

Mike Fabiopublic commentyou keep your property. Do whatever you wish with it. No strings attached. However, there's one catch. After 99 years, I'm going to take the property back unless you pay me a dollar. That's the situation we have right now with the Willard Sherwood project. Yet there are real concerns that city council will turn this deal down. It's wasted money to continue to repair green acres with no plan in sight. When the time comes that the new building is the only choice, how long will it take for you to plan, get public support for that project? Another 10 years? And what will it cost? Certainly much more than it's on the table right now. Don't look this gift horse in the mouth. for the Willard-Shilwood project. Thank you.

Barbara Careypublic commentGood evening. I'm Barbara Carey. I live and own property at 3695 Blenheim Boulevard. First I'd like to thank Mayor Reed for her hard work and dedication to our community. Also I want to thank all of the current council members for their dedication and hard work. I'm speaking tonight to convey my support for the Willard Sherwood Center. Our community has been blessed with great mayors and council members. I want to applaud two of our former mayors Dave Meyer and Scott Silverthorne and the previous council members for their hard work, planning, research, and especially for listening to the citizens regarding their wishes for the planned Willard-Sherwood Health and Community Center. I have been speaking about this project for many years with many people.

Among the people that I have spoken with, the consensus is that they want the Willard-Sherwood Health and Community Center to be a first-class modern facility where the citizens can exercise, gather and enjoy all of the many services that will be offered at the center. These citizens truly believe that the Willard Sherwood Center is exactly what is needed in the city of Fairfax. Furthermore, there are nothing but positives about the center because of its location, walkability, and access to the queue and metro bus. The services that will be offered and the many citizens who will benefit from the center and services. Of course, you pay for what you get, and myself and the citizens that I've spoken with are aware of the cost,

Sandy Slappy-Brownpublic commentGood evening. I'm Sandy Slappy-Brown, and the clerk has my address. I'm also here about the Willard Sherwood Center and I'm concerned about the uncertainty around the April 28 vote Continued uncertainty isn't good for our city While I wholeheartedly support this project I understand that others have continuing questions and concerns and I'd like to better understand them in the hopes that we can find a path forward that We can all agree on One of the biggest questions I have for those who are considering terminating the project is what alternatives are being considered The information I've heard from city staff tells me that the possible alternatives are more expensive, less environmentally sound, and less aligned with our transit goals.

and I understand there are many factors to weigh in doing that. I'm concerned that if we don't move forward on April 28th, whatever option we do choose will cost us more, unless we choose to move the services out of the city, but I don't think that's what the people want. So how do we ensure fiscal responsibility in managing construction and operating costs in a way that keeps us moving forward? We've heard there are concerns that people have not been educated adequately about the process, and I understand how challenging it is communicate with thousands of city residents? Is there a path forward that includes better education of our residents? Reviewing the city's comprehensive plan, the Willard Sherwood Center is fully in alignment

Doug Coxpublic commentHit it. Doug Cox, Fairview Drive, Fairfax, Virginia. You know, I'm actually coming around on the Willard Sherwood, which I know is abrasive as I am, most people would be shocked about. But I am. But let's be honest here. It's not because green acres has fallen down. this area from Robinson, Fairfax, my old Edison. They were all built in the 60s, guys, just like Green Acres. The problem with Green Acres is our politicians for many, many years decided they didn't want to do anything. Plain and simple. Didn't maintain it, and that's how we got here. And let's also be very, very clear. We're all talking about this $50 million bill hanging over the head and all that. Dude, I am cheap as can be and hate that. Hate it,

there needs to be a price that says the project goes to referendum because right now as much as anyone hates to hear this this group could go ahead and do a firehouse willard sherwood property yard sign up the voters of fairfax city for oh i don't know 350 million dollars and just tell us tough no referendum they'll just finance it because that's where we're at so let's do that Next, let's get the big politics out of Fairfax City. That's another part of the problem. Again, colluded votes. I hate to say it, when Davies Property went from zone for, what was it, nine units per acre and was approved at 102, I started looking around at VPAP.org to see if any developers had paid politicians. The answer was no.

Becky Ragerpublic commentgood evening i'm becky rager i've lived for 31 years at 4141 evergreen drive in the city I'm one of your members at large on the Fairfax Village in the City advisory board also. I'm here to express my support of the Willard Sherwood Health and Community Center. First let me say I understand your concerns. There's a tax impact. A major driver of the real estate tax increase is the Willard Sherwood Center and that affects me directly. Will overspending on this project affect other major projects, including the property yard redevelopment and the fire station three? Is this project an overreach? Is Fairfax City taking on a big city debt for a small city footprint? Do we have that problem? In spite

of those concerns, I believe we must look to and invest in the future. As everyone said, Willard Sherwood will replace the aging Green Acres that was built in 1961 and the Willard Health Center built in 1954. I myself took a class at Green Acres and it was raining outside. I fell flat in the class because the tiles in the gymnasium were so sticky that my feet stuck to the floor. In addition, the health center has already relocated. Patching these facilities I believe would be a sunk cost and that cost would continually increase as the years go by. I do believe that the new project could be successfully managed to budget. I also understand that the city relies on the county for a number of services.

Rusty Russellpublic commentgood evening i'm rusty russell tonight i'm speaking to you as a member as a resident of the city of fairfax a place where my wife and i have chosen to spend our retirement and i'm speaking in support of the planned willard sherwood community center a collaborative City and the County of Fairfax. I want to highlight why the replacement of the aging green acres facility is not only a long overdue investment in our residents of all ages, but also an environmentally superior replacement for a building that has reached the end of its life. Our current facility was never designed to serve as a modern community center. It's reliance on fossil fuels, it's outdated mechanical systems that waste energy and drive up operating costs year after year.

And it's plumbing, which is prone to leaks and inefficiencies, all limit the renovation options, increase maintenance costs, and pose long-term health and liability concerns. And the site has no stormwater management features whatsoever, meaning every raindrop that comes down on that property will run off into our local waterways. In contrast, the proposed Willard Sherwood Community Center represents a generational step forward. It will be the first LEED Gold Certified Resiliency Hub for the City of Fairfax that will provide trusted community facility that is specifically designed to support residents, build cohesion, and coordinate resource distribution during natural disasters and extreme weather events, a major achievement that reflects both environmental leadership

and practical preparedness. The Willard Sherwood Community Center provides a high-performance building envelope, all electric systems that will reduce energy costs and eliminate our current dependence on fossil fuels. This means lower operating costs for decades and a smaller carbon footprint on day one. Stormwater controls include bioretention, permeable surfaces, green infrastructure, solar ready design and backup power allow this building to function as a true resiliency hub. Efficient lighting, HVAC and water systems reduce long-term utility costs and free funds for programming rather than repairs. Green Acres does not meet these standards, not structurally, not environmentally, and not safely.

Jennifer Rosepublic commentGood evening, Mayor and members of Council. Jennifer Rose, Executive Director of the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce. I'm here this evening to express the Chamber's support for the Willard Sherwood Community Center project, not just as a community amenity, but as a strategic investment in Fairfax's long-term economic strength. From a business perspective, this project is about workforce competitiveness and stability. Today, employers are not just competing on salaries, they are competing on quality of place. Families choose communities where they can access youth programming, wellness opportunities, and services that support daily life. When those supports exist, workforce participation increases.

Kyle LuxThe component of that CIP that is planned to be borrowed for in the upcoming year, has been planned for for a number of years here. It's that first portion of the Willard Sherwood Center in terms of $22 million. The way we would go about doing that is the issuance of what we call public facility revenue bonds. Those are bonds that you as a city council can authorize moving forward with. They're very commonplace across the Commonwealth and certainly the region. And it's also a financing structure that the city's used most recently back in 2023 with a high level of success. And so that's the way that program would move forward. And again, that's the first of the two $22 million of the general government CIP.

I mentioned this previously. We continue to be in a very favorable position. when the city borrows you're borrowing a fixed rate basis and the ability to bid that competitively means that you're going to get the lowest interest rate available in the marketplace on the day of the sale as we move to this slide on page 14 we're really showing is how the different components fit together so dark green bars are the existing city debt service before you add anything new and then the light green and the light blue is simply adding the payments on the public facility revenue bonds that's at Willard Sherwood portion in green and then the blue component is the first phase of those school bonds and so you

million dollar issuances we stay well below that 14 million and so as an sort of bite at the apple if you will in terms of this next round of capital funding you have plenty of capacity relative to those ratios we know that a going-forward basis so certainly additional series to be added in and so we're going to continue watching that on an annual basis but for purposes of taking the initial bite at the apple here in terms of Willard Sherwood in the schools we have plenty of capacity relative to those updated ratios that That goes to say also on the right-hand side debt to assessed value, again, all of this part and parcel of the planning that's been done to make sure we recognize we're in this

J.C. MartinezstaffYeah, it is. Mayor, if I could. Yes, Mr. Martinez. Sorry. So, Council Member Peterson, correct. It does not affect our potential rating. Yet, issuing a referendum or not issuing a referendum, there is a defined time frame when a referendum is approved. when debt has to be issued against that. It's eight years is typically what the range is, with the potential two-year extension that you would need to get the circuit court involved and ask them for another two years beyond that. Once that, that's the window that's established. So similarly, because we're kind of talking about Willard Sherwood, I think in a previous presentation, we're at year 12 right now. So we would have potentially issued a referendum at the beginning

could add really quick, just to clarify in detail, and I think council member Hall you probably remember this better than myself at times so we did not let me say that one more time we did not issue any 2025 bonds the previous council got us ready to do it I think last year if you all recall during budget deliberations we held and did not issue bonds we had the authority that authority expired we did not any issue any bonds Those bonds would have been specifically for Willard Sherwood. That's sort of where we are now, redoing this process. Additionally, as Mr. Lux mentioned, our current unassigned fund balance percentage is 17.7, dropped ever so slightly from 18% the previous year. We are working on trying to maintain, if not grow that.

Stacy HallThank you. And yes, we did not issue debt. You are correct. There's another statement down here at the bottom that says increase in long-term liabilities nearing 350% of revenue, factors that could lead to a downgrade, recognizing we didn't issue debt in 25. Do we still have that concern that I'm not doing the math in my head right now, but are we, when they say nearing 350% of revenue, does that include the full school bond as well as the full Willard Sherwood?

Mr. Alexanderstaffrelated to the budget. 28, as we move closer to May 5th, of note, a number of public hearings all related to the budget. Items not requiring a public hearing will have Blinnem Boulevard improvements and consideration of a contract for that. We did push out some public information on that. We'll have consideration on a resolution Willard Sherwood will have two bond items that are related to that project and also the schools that night. And then the work session will involve the third quarter financial review and an additional discussion on the budget and draft changes presented. And as you know, May 5th would be a special meeting largely around, specifically around budget adoption. lot in a very short timeframe.