City Council Work Session

Catherine Readby voiceThank you. Good evening. I would like to call the work session of June 2nd, 2026 to order. Welcome to all of our guests here tonight. I think we have something special tonight, Ms. Shinneberry. Perhaps you could tell us what is our first agenda item.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkSo we have the Katherine Johnson Middle School students doing a presentation focusing on sustainability for North Facts and Courthouse Plaza Shopping Center. I'm going to recognize Amy Lynn Denny, our city planner, for the introductions before their presentation.

Amy Lynne DennystaffHello, Mayor and Council. So, yes, tonight you'll be hearing about redevelopment in North Facts and for Courthouse Plaza. This is a group of students who are doing this completely voluntarily. Over the years, we've done this. We had a group of students with Miss Alum back in 2021, 2022, when Camp Washington Small Area Plan was being developed. when the Fairfax Circle small area plan was being developed. Now we have all the small area plans, but we still wanted to do a redevelopment project. And so the students were doing a similar thing for Northfax and then also to have a site-specific example. We did Courthouse Plaza before the applicant had submitted a proposal that started last fall. And the students were challenged to envision redevelopment

considering stormwater issues, pedestrian connectivity, and economic development. And I will pass it along to Ms. Alum.

Ms. AlamGood evening, Mayor and Council. It's a delight to always be here. And the honor is that being a city school and being such easy access to the council and the public works, it's a blessing. It's a blessing to be city school. I've been there for 20 years now. I won't trade it unless they kick me out, right? So it's working with Paul and prior to that Kelly O'Brien and the name goes on since 2016 Getting these projects that these kids can look at where they live and plan and present and you are willing to listen to them. I think this is the This would be definitely their best opportunity that they will remember from middle school. I hope so What do

Catherine Readby voiceyou guys think? Yeah,

Ms. Alamall right it would be a miss if I did not introduce Ms. Conley here Ms. Conley teaches the leadership class in addition to the art that she teaches the electives and through the leadership class I always like these projects have come through during the after school or the science classes but this year I wanted to incorporate it through the leadership class because it fits there so met with Paul and Amy in the pipeline and what would be a fit for these guys, we chose and gave the students the opportunity to choose from. So different students chose different projects. So a group chose North Facts, then many other kids chose Courthouse Plaza. And it started with giving them the maps, Amy coming to the classroom and explaining

how it all works, what is the map, what are you limited to, and then they were left alone to figure out what to do. Connelly to say something how this all folded up in her classroom?

Ms. ConleyI did not know I was speaking. Good evening. So it was wonderful to see them in action. Amy and Paul brought in these big giant maps and they were able to like get in their maps and have them they individually came up with their ideas but then they were wonderful to be able to come together as groups and have some common ground to be able to develop it but it's been a wonderful process and they are wonderful. I'm going to miss them so much.

Ms. AlamAnd I told them that, you know, this is just the beginning. You're going to high school. This needs to continue, right? And so I'm going to hand over to the North Facts first, and they're going to begin. So it's all yours.

Speaker 10Okay. Wait, wait. It's all off. Is it this one? It's all off. Is it this one?

Speaker 7Right? Don't

Speaker 10go. Don't go. It's all. It's all.

Ms. AlamOh, this one.

Speaker 10Which one? It's the bottom one.

Ms. AlamWait. Which one is it? I think... It's going forward. Let's do it from here for now. Go ahead, get started. Is it this one? It is this one, very well. You have to try it. Okay. What do I say?

Speaker 10Good evening, council members and mayor. I'm Claire. I'm Mohana. And I'm Halima. And we're here to talk about the redevelopment proposal for North Facts. Okay, it works. So here, as you can see, there's two maps. On the left side of the slideshow is the outline of North Facts. North Facts sits on Road 123 and has Fairfax Boulevard through the middle. On the right side is the same duplicated map, but you might be asking, what are those brown spots on the map that are covered that are not on the left side? Well, these are sites that are not going to redevelop. These sites include assisted living, Mazda's dealership, a motel, office buildings, and Amazon Fresh. Mazda's dealership has recently redeveloped, so they will not be redeveloping.

And Amazon Fresh has closed down, so we will be putting something else in its place that we will talk about in a few slides.

Speaker 8As we can see, there's three environmental issues here to address. that we need to dream big, set goals, and take actions. First, we have stormwater management. There's a lot of impervious surfaces that leads to runoff and flooding. As we can see on the map, there's just too much concrete and little grass. There's also a heat island effect, which I'll be talking about in later slides. Second, we have car center designs. As I mentioned, there's just too much concrete and roads here. This can increase carbon emission and runoff. It's also difficult for people to walk safely. Third, we have lack of greenery. This leads to heat exposure, lack of carbon absorption, and also a lack of common friendly environment.

OK, so we see that there is multiple colors here on this map. And you might be asking, what is this? This is a heat island. A heat island is basically an area which which is warmer than the space around it. Here we can see the yellow part is hot. The orange part is a little bit hot, but the dark red spot is the hottest. Since the shopping center takes place near the dark red spot, we know that there's large roads surrounding that place. Since the heat gets absorbed into the asphalt and the asphalt rises into air Who breathes the air? Us Okay, so let's talk about terms What is urban planning and zoning and why is it so important? Basically, urban planning decides how lands, roads, and public spaces are used in a city

You wouldn't really want your house to be next to a factory us organize where houses, schools, businesses, parks, and transportation should go. This also keeps the city growth organized and efficient overall. It's also for us, for Fairfax, it preserves city character and also protects the green spaces. It reduces traffic, supports the local economy, and keeps the community friendly and accessible. So how do we manage stormwater and runoff? We need to use green infrastructures like rain gardens, bioswales, green roofs, permeable surfaces. This just reduces flooding and stops the runoff before reaching the streams. As we can see in that picture, that is an example of a bioswale. We can also plant more trees which will increase the green spaces and also cools the area down generally.

How can we improve pedestrian safety in the area? I would suggest that we should add proper sidewalks so people can walk safely, shared use paths with bike lanes for people who like to bike, improves crosswalks and intersections, slow down vehicle traffic and enhance traffic calming, better lighting and signage, especially at dark since people can't see properly, ADA access for people who need it, and also increasing community awareness and enforcement. Lastly, how can we facilitate a strong local economy? We need to promote a mixed-use plan, like residential units, commercial sites and offices for people who work, dining venues for people to dine in and relax, network that is walk-friendly,

providing access to campus services for people who usually don't have cars, underground parking, and promoting small and locally owned businesses.

Speaker 10So this is our idea. Our idea of Green North Facts is adding more pervious surfaces, bringing the stream above the ground, adding more greenery to the area, and adding more solar panels. On the right is a picture of an example picture of bringing the stream above the ground. This is San Antonio, Texas, where they brought the stream above the ground and added places like probably like where people can like relax and have fun with family or friends next to it. We want to bring this idea to North Facts. So currently the stream is underground. In the picture, you can see if you can see the dark blue is the stream that is currently underground. And we would like to bring that up. So this is near the residential area.

Here we would like to add gym, fitness, where people can work out, a park, 24th Central Store, maybe something like 7-Eleven, a wellness office for adults, lots of trees, and sidewalks where cars can also pass on. So the sidewalk where cars can also pass on, it will be pervious surface, like the pervious surface parking lots that is the example picture, which reduces runoff and heat, like heat islands, there will be also trees to reduce the heat islands the wellness office and gym can be connected so people can either work out or you could like work out and like do like other tasks that you might need to complete for work like bring your computer along do some gym exercise and also finish your work the park will be divided into two and this is where the stream comes into

play. The park will be separated into two, like I said. It will be used for kids and families to enjoy and for dogs and pets to enjoy, and the stream will come above. The 24-7 essential store, I think we think that we need here is because what if you need something at night and not a lot of stores are open at night, so you need some store that's open all the time that you can go really quickly to. And currently there is a essential store there, but we were wondering if we could either break it down, make a new one, make it better, or just keep the one there. So this is the Amazon Fresh area. Like I said earlier, the Amazon Fresh has currently closed down so they can focus on Whole Foods. So in their place,

we would ask to put Whole Foods there. Here we would also like to add coffee and dessert shops, Restaurants and previous parking obviously the previous parking is for the heat islands, so they don't increase The restaurants could be like a food court with like three to four different type of restaurants and the dessert shop as well That could be also either three to four different dessert shops or just one big dessert shop where people can enjoy food so here we would like to add green space here we would also like to add a smoothie bar board game cafe yoga art studio salad or a sandwich spot a bookstore and definitely the grass area with trees and picnic areas so here is like a spot where you can come like either for your lunch

break or for dinner after your work kids can also come here and they can have lots of fun

Speaker 7So this is our second proposal for bringing the water on surface. We would like to add a sushi restaurant right next to the Mazda. And as you guys can see, those are our endspos. Those are from Japan. And yeah. North Park should be for people, not just cars. Right now, it's too loud and hard to get around. We can fix this by adding planting more trees for shade, adding more light so people can see at night, and adding real painting crosswalks clearly so we can cross streets safely. adding real bike lanes will also keep kids and families away from fast traffic by making those small changes will make Norfolk a beautiful place where we actually want to live relax and work bus shelters with solar panels we would like to propose the idea of having bus shelters on top

having solar panels on top of the bus shelters. Bus shelters keep people dry while it's like raining outside. There could be like a bus shelter where you sit there. And fewer cars reduce carbon emission. And traffic flows much better when there's like less cars and you can get around like faster. And a street will feel more like a community, less like a parking lot. and energy from solar panels will generate power to the area. Solar panels. So solar panels are beneficial for residential and commercial. So for residential, it will lower the bills. You can just keep your money instead of giving it to the utility company and it will higher the value of your property. And you will have backup power even when the grid is down.

For commercial, same thing, it will lower the costs. And green branding attracts eco-conscious customers who love green shops. Tax breaks take big advantage of government incentive and write-offs.

Speaker 10So these are our global connections or sustainable development goals. We have three goals that tie into our project. There are Goal 11, 13, and 7. Their targets are sustainable cities and communities, climate action, and affordable and clean energy. So this is how these goals are addressed in our project. For Goal 11, we are planning sustainable urbanization, building safe, inclusive, accessible green public spaces. For Goal 13, we are reducing global warming by reducing the heat islands as mentioned earlier. For goal 7, we are providing clean and efficient energy by installing the solar panels. Civic Action and Ask Reduce your carbon footprint. We ask that you please require green infrastructure standards in redevelopment,

like enforcing the green building policy which exists but has never been enforced, prioritizing walkable bike-safe design elements, and increasing tree canopy. Please establish youth consultation requirements before project approval. We bring essential lived experience and we are the future. Civic engagement. We have outreach to authorities in power. We have already met with City Planning Commission and City School Board. And now we are here with you, City Mayor and Council Members, who are the final decision makers. Bringing our voice to the redevelopment process is a good thing so that you don't have to waste time, money, and taxes on implementing small site-based fixes later. We are

Speaker 7the

Speaker 10future. the future.

Catherine Readby voiceThank you very much. That was a lovely presentation.

Speaker 8Thank you for your time. Many thanks to Ms. Conley, Ms. Salam, and also Ms. Denny.

Catherine Readby voiceWell, you have wonderful teachers, and this is a wonderful program, and I'm so glad that we have city staff like Amy Lynn and the other members of our CD&P who are willing to work with your leadership program and your teacher to give you the opportunity to practice these things. You're right. You live here. You have an opinion, and so It's important for us to help you continue to do this well beyond this class, this grade. I hope well into your adulthood you continue to think this way. All right. Should we have the next team? Any questions for these guys? If they move back or any comments for these guys? Okay. Council Member

Stacy HallHall? I want to thank you for all the time and energy that went into this. I love that we are doing this and we continue to do this. You have great teachers. Worked with both of your teachers over there at some point in time. And I actually love this. I was very disappointed when the creek kind of went underground in certain areas. And I love some of your ideas. I live right near the shopping center in this area that is going to be redeveloped at some point. And I would really love to see some of your ideas incorporated into what is somewhat in the works at this point. So thank you so much for bringing a youthful perspective to it. and I actually think that what you said about bringing kids and students in to

kind of you know think through some of what is going on is a really really great idea and I hope that you as you continue through high school can bring your friends and other students in to help us take a different perspective on things and I would encourage you there's so many ways as you get in high school to get involved in the city be it with other boards organizations commissions things like that so please stay involved and stay active thank you

Catherine Readby voicecouncil member amos i

Anthony Amosjust got to say y'all are so much better than i was in eighth grade oh my goodness uh i am just kind of geeked to hear you talking about zoning and drawing the connections between transportation infrastructure and environment to focus on the bus shelters and solar panels bike pedestrian but also connecting that with the need for trees to provide shade and the heat island effects y'all did a phenomenal job to the point where i don't have questions and and that's a rare thing, so appreciate that.

Speaker 7Thank you.

Anthony AmosCouncil Member Hall? I mean, Council Member Peterson.

Thomas PetersonAre you all available to redesign the property yard? Or to come work for my organization? I think probably the city would probably jump at the gun before I could, but this is really great and so appreciated. Thank you, the teachers who are involved here. So to me, this is the magic of design, get together and collaborate. Two heads are better than one, and they come up with these, you know, really not just creative, but practical and doable things that make a difference. And so what I see and what you've done tonight is exactly that. And it is a great breath of fresh air, and I'm looking forward to the next presentation. Just a quick note or two, I have walked the Riverwalk in San Antonio. The picture is from the Riverwalk there, and it is an anchor asset for

THAT CITY THAT HAS CHANGED IT. AND PEOPLE GO TO SAN ANTONIO NOT JUST FOR THE DAY, BUT THEY GO TO LIVE THERE BECAUSE OF WHAT THE RIVERWALK HAS DONE FOR THAT CITY. IT'S TURNED IT INTO SOMETHING THAT IT WAS NOT BEFORE. SO HATS OFF. THAT'S JUST A REALLY WONDERFUL IDEA. THE OTHER THING IS I HAVE NOT SPENT AS MUCH TIME IN JAPAN AS COUNCILMEMBER MCQUILLAN HAS. BUT I WAS IN KYOTO FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS ONE TIME. and when I went out for dinner at night I found myself feeling like a very impatient hungry American I just couldn't get enough food fast enough going out to the regular restaurants and so in desperation I walked into 7-eleven and what I discovered was that at 9 o'clock at night at 7-eleven and Lawson's

was right next door all of a sudden a flood of people came in because that's and they stocked the shelves with just-in-time fresh sushi and everybody went in. I just say this because I think when it comes to retail, we ought to be creative in the way we think about retail and how it can help a location like this kind of broaden out what it's doing to help an area and maybe get past some of the limits we have to thinking about brand images. It reminds me of the conversation about Draper Drive AND THE FACT THAT INDUSTRIAL AREAS ARE ALSO THINGS THAT IN OTHER COUNTRIES THEY'VE REALLY TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF TO TURN INTO VERY CREATIVE, WONDERFUL ASSETS. SO IT'S JUST WONDERFUL TO SEE THE SEEDS OF THESE THINGS REALLY

BEING PLANTED HERE. SO GREAT, GREAT WORK. WOULD LOVE TO CONTINUE TO HARNESS YOUR CREATIVITY AS WE GO FORWARD HERE. THANK YOU.

Rachel McQuillenTHANK YOU.

Catherine Readby voiceCOUNCIL MEMBER MCQUILLAN.

Rachel McQuillenTHANK YOU. GREAT JOB, EVERYONE. THAT WAS WONDERFUL. I too love the idea of bringing the stream above ground. I have a lot of neighbors that joke that when it storms really bad, they have waterside property when in fact they really don't. So I think that would be a really nice feature to have here in the city. Did you guys have any ideas or recommendations that you didn't bring forward or you thought about but then decided not to present it?

Speaker 10um i'm not sure but i'm sure there was a couple but i can't really think about it right now at the top of my head so

Rachel McQuillenthat's fine that's fine if there was just one of those recommendations that you would prioritize which one would you prioritize first um

Speaker 8definitely like bringing the water above ground because like everyone likes water so we just want to emphasize on that.

Speaker 7And we will love a sushi restaurant if we bring the water above the thing then we I'm pretty sure all of us love sushi restaurant and you know we have sushi restaurants around here but they don't look like that so I feel like you'll keep the place more appealing and pretty.

Rachel McQuillenDefinitely with the sushi restaurant. Got it. Thank you. Councilmember Bates.

Billy BatesI was around your age when I first started getting interested in urban planning and local policy. So keep it up, and you're doing amazing work. Also thought it was interesting that you had a board game cafe on there. I was just thinking earlier today that that's something that we're kind of missing in Fairfax. You know, they have Manassas, College Park, where I am in grad school, and Arlington, I believe. And we just don't really have anything like that around here. So I'd love to see that somewhere. but yeah keep it up and there are going to be a lot of opportunities to get involved both career wise and volunteer wise advocacy wise for you to continue this work thank you

Speaker 10thank you

Catherine Readby voicethank you very much and we will hear our next presenters

Ms. AlamAll right, so we have the courthouse plaza here. So as I said before, so there were a lot of students in the leadership class and there were multiple groups that there were students who kind of picked on courthouse plaza and then this was the group who kind of brought their ideas together. So you will see a few plants out here.

Kamala Michaelpublic commentAll yours.

Ms. AlamJust starting.

Kamala Michaelpublic commentAll right. Good evening, mayor and council members. Today we're going to be reimagining Fairfax, specifically Courthouse Plaza. I'm Kamala Michael.

Adele Wisemanpublic commentI'm Adele Wiseman.

Henry Streetpublic commentI'm Henry Street.

Milana Camillapublic commentI'm Milana Camilla.

Adele Wisemanpublic commentso this is just the table of contents everything we're going to be going through today we are going to talk about urban planning building inspiration zoning concerns designs sustainable solutions and of course our conclusion this is the courthouse plaza shopping center as you can see it's a lot of empty space a lot of asphalt there's not a lot of greenery around the area yet kids come here a lot of the times to just hang out with their friends a lot of people go by e-bike electric scooter and hang out in this area so we would love to bring something new to this community and give kids and adults alike a place to go

Milana Camillapublic commentso what is urban planning urban planning is basically the process of rebuilding and redesigning certain areas to make it enjoyable for people. Urban planners have to take in a lot of consideration when they're rebuilding. For an example, land use, transportation, environmental concerns, and economic development.

Kamala Michaelpublic commentIn the top left of our slide over here, you're going to see our land value legend. Land value just essentially means how little or how much a piece of land is worth. You can see the courthouse plaza is in the red, which is less than 20%, meaning that when we're reimagining this area of Fairfax, can't have very luxury businesses here but that also doesn't mean we have to have very low-end businesses either we can find a nice middle. Zoning.

Milana Camillapublic commentZoning is basically a set of rules of what you can build in certain areas. For an example you would not want your house next to a factory because factories are for commercial use and houses are for residential use. The zoning for a courthouse plaza is commercial use. And then I also want to further explain that in our ideas, there is no type of housing or anything like that because one, there's housing nearby. And also, like I said, the courthouse plaza is for commercial use. But recently we talked to the property owners and they talked about how they wanted to change it to mixed use, BUT WE DID NOT KNOW THAT BEFOREHAND. I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT THERE

Speaker 10IS NO HOUSING

Milana Camillapublic commentFOR THAT REASON.

Adele Wisemanpublic commentWE TOOK A LOT OF INSPIRATION WHEN WE WERE DESIGNING OUR FIRST IDEA. SO THERE IS A FEW SHOPPING CENTERS THAT WE LOOKED AT. THE FIRST ONE IS THE MOSAIC DISTRICT. I GO THERE WITH MY FRIENDS A LOT. EVERY SINGLE TIME I WALK AROUND THERE, I SPOT AT LEAST ONE PERSON I KNOW. It kind of unifies all of the different kind of interests and things to do, and I just love going there. Fairfax Corner is very similar in the way that it's a square, and it's mixed with shops and restaurants. My sister works there, so I go there quite a lot, and I also really love that area. And Tyson's Corner has almost every single shop I can think of. whenever I need to go back to school shopping or just go shopping in general.

Tyson's is where I go. It's got everything. And lastly, there's a little bit of a story behind this one, but The Grove. The Grove is a neighborhood that I used to live in in Kenya. I lived overseas for two years, and one of the missions in Kenya is to try to make it as green as possible. So our neighborhood had lots of pervious surfaces, lots of greenery, and it was just a nice place to live, not only because I knew that we were surrounded by green space, but it was also just a beautiful place to be, and now every single time I think of Kenya, I think of that wonderful place. We also do have to consider a few issues when we were designing. The first one is managing stormwater and runoff. We wanted to add underground parking.

It helps stormwater issues by creating space below the surface. We could add a stormwater runoff system that could capture, store, and slowly release our runoff. We also wanted pervious sidewalks, which means there is grass coming out of the sidewalk. So then it could not only add a natural feel, but also consume all the water from rain. For pedestrian safety, we want it to be that the only way to get to the shopping center would be through elevators from a parking garage. So no cars would be near the shopping center. It would be nice to have a car-free shopping center because cars cause more stress when you're shopping, and it's nice to have a more quiet area. And lastly, for facilitating a strong local economy, we want to focus on hosting community-centered events,

creating partnerships with local businesses, and creating a vibrant walkable space, even bikeable and scooterable. the biggest concerns we faced were environmental concerns the first concern is impervious surfaces in the area this leads to heat island effects excessive heat air pollution stormwater runoff and it causes flooding for lack of green space it leads to heat island effect excessive heat lack of carbon absorption stormwater runoff it causes flooding and it also causes erosion

Kamala Michaelpublic commentThe last group already elaborated on the heat island effect a little bit, so I'm not going to go too in depth with it, but as I said, essentially when the sun hits an impervious surface that's dark and it absorbs the heat and it rises into the air, which is very bad for us to breathe in and very bad for the environment. So when we're reimagining parts of Fairfax, we're trying to add more pervious surfaces for this reason because there is a lack of trees and grass in these areas. So when we're thinking of eco-friendly solutions, we have to keep a few things in mind. How we're managing stormwater and runoff as the area redevelops, the amount of pervious areas that are currently there, how we're improving pedestrian safety,

and also our green building solutions policy that's been implemented by the government that will give us incentives for people that are going to be rebuilding and just adding more eco-friendly solutions to these places. Some of these incentives are tax reductions. So that's one of the benefits of adding more eco-friendly solutions along with reducing emissions. We also wanted to put an emphasis on the fact that Fairfax is part of Green Tree USA, which is a title we hold very proudly. It essentially just means that we have a lot of green space in our area, And we want to keep this title going with just adding more pervious surfaces and more green space in the area. In our bottom right over here on this slide, you'll see the pervious versus impervious surfaces in the area.

The green is the pervious. The gray is the impervious. If you look at Courthouse Plaza, very much gray. And that's not a good thing, as we've said before. And we want to change this when rebuilding and reimagining Courthouse Plaza. So what are some sustainable solutions that we could implement? Solar panels would be great. There's a lot of wasted space on roofs, and they're very nice, eco-friendly, green energy. More pervious surfaces, just making it more eco-friendly and prettier to look at. And then stormwater and runoff detention systems so that we can prevent flooding in the future.

Adele Wisemanpublic commentokay so this is design a or our first design before i get started on the idea we just want to say that due to the changes in the land use they are currently proposing making courthouse plaza mixed use instead of commercial use but it is still commercial use as of right now we weren't able to update our projects before this presentation. So keep in mind that this is our ideas before we knew this information. And also all of these shops are recommendations and we understand that some of them can be mixed around and changed. So in this area we wanted to add a mix of all of the age groups and all of their interests. So for young adults, a lot of young adults are getting into athletics, so Pilates is a very big thing right now.

Having something where people can do physical activity and be around shops and food would be a great thing to have. For children or teens, shopping has become a big thing, especially clothing shopping. Stores that have been getting a lot of foot traffic lately are Aerie, PacSun, Addicted, and Brandy Melville. These are also mostly multi-gendered brands, so boys and girls can go there and shop. We already have a Safeway in our area, and since there are apartments nearby this area, we would like to keep the Safeway. We feel it is just kind of needed in the area, and we wouldn't want to move that away. It's also one of the biggest shops in the area. And then another thing for teens is a lot of them need to study during SOL prep season, during SATs.

So my sister and her friends, a lot of teens that I know go to Capital One Cafe. It has got tons of rooms filled with outlets, TVs, different kinds of seating. It's a great place to study. You can also do your banking there if parents want to teach their kids how to bank. There's also a restroom and, of course, the cafe, which who doesn't love a nice drink? And for children, there's a skate and fun zone. I went there when I was really young, and I love it. It's just a really fun place to be, and it's also got freeze tags, stuff like that. And for our local stores, we have Bard's Alley, which is a local bookstore. I went there once. It was really cute and comfy, and I got a few books. and of course there's Ted's Bulletin because it's a great dinner place

and she's going to go more into Fairfax Surf Shop. So

Kamala Michaelpublic commentFairfax Surf Shop is one of our local businesses that we've had here for a very, very long time and it's a business that our group really thinks we should keep because not only has it been there a long time, it's a great sense of community for a lot of teenagers in the area. I mean really people of all ages but specifically in our age group. a lot of my friends I've met through there, and I can say the same for a lot of people I know. Skateboarding is a very big thing in Fairfax. I know from being around other kids around my age, and adding to the fact that it's been there for a long time, it's a very multi-generational place. My dad, he lived in Fairfax when he was my age, and he would go there to get his skate supplies,

so I think that it's a nice place to get out of your house, and just explore the outdoors on a skateboard and meet some friends there.

Adele Wisemanpublic commentSome more ideas are raising canes. There is no raising canes in our area. I have to drive almost 45 minutes to get to the closest raising canes. My family loves it, and we love it to be closer. So that is something to consider. We also wanted to do a few things to connect our community through ways that we could all work together to create the shopping center. such as local gardens around the sides for people to come in, maybe kids from schools or people that just have interest in gardening. And a street art wall on the side that is facing the street. Nobody wants to see a blank wall while they're driving past. So having a street art wall, especially by local artists, would be something to remind us of our community

and also something to look at when you're passing by. Some more ideas are shuttle stops with solar panels on top. We also want solar panels on top of shops to utilize all the space and have green energy, community gardens, and water fountains, drinking, and to look at, which Henry will get more into.

Kamala Michaelpublic commentOne of our focuses when we were creating these ideas of how we can maybe reimagine Corral's Plaza was how we can facilitate a strong local economy. First, we can do this by incorporating a strong sense of community, by having more DIY independent small businesses, so that a larger amount of money is being spent by residents, staying in the community, benefiting local businesses. Two, having more diverse businesses, because there's a lot of different people in Fairfax, and no matter who you are, you should have a place to go in the area, no matter what. And then three, job opportunities. There's a wide range of ages in Fairfax, especially in our age range of teenagers and young adults. So maybe we're starting to maybe want to get a job at a certain point.

Having more job opportunities would be nice, but this can really benefit people of all ages that are looking for jobs. Just some specific developments that I would like to see as a 14-year-old living in Fairfax. First could be maybe a music venue. A small venue for artists to play could give people in my age range something to do, keeping them out of trouble. I say my age range because we're the ones creating this presentation, but really anyone of any age range. art and share it with our community. People from out of town can share their art for our community and also there's a lot of very talented music programs in our schools nearby such as George Mason University Fairfax High School. Some inspiration we could have for these are some

independent music venues that are nearby. Black Hat is in DC. It's a very nice independent music venue. Jam and Java is in Vienna. It's more of a cafe by morning music venue by night but still Another development could be a youth center. This could keep Fairfax youth out of trouble and help create that further sense of community. As I said before, there's a lot of different people in Fairfax that have a lot of different interests, and a youth center doesn't really center around certain interests. It just brings communities together and brings friends together.

Henry Streetpublic commentSo this is our second design. One of the big things that I had thought of for this one was changing the name WANT TO HAVE A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION WITH COURTHOUSE PLAZA. LIKE, OH, PARKING LOT, LOVE HANGING OUT AND ABANDONED PARKING LOTS. SO I THOUGHT ABOUT CHANGING IT TO LORD FAIRFAX PLAZA BECAUSE LORD FAIRFAX WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL FOUNDERS OF THIS FAIRFAX AREA. SO I THOUGHT THAT COULD BE A FUN, UNIQUE NAME AND KIND OF BRING A NEW LIGHT TO IT. OVER ON THE LEFT WOULD BE MORE OF A RESTAURANT AREA. It would have pervious surfaces with public seating over in the blank area there. And it would be kind of like hexagonal tiles with grass in between because no one wants to walk on just grass and mud, of course.

There would be all kinds of different restaurants, sit-down restaurants, fast food. There might be a Chick-fil-A because we all know it's one of the best chicken places to go. over there would be the pre-existing Safeway because along with the things mentioned before it is also one of the biggest revenue generators for Courthouse Plaza and so we didn't really want to get rid of that over on the right top there would be a kind of a unique area with different booths that small businesses could rent out so let's say I make art and I want to share my art, I want to sell my art, but I don't have enough money to buy a storefront. I could start from here and maybe move up to a storefront at some point

once I grow my business enough. Along both sides of the Safeway, there would be kind of like a strip mall, sort of, with all kinds of different shops, all kinds of different things. My example there is Nike because they sell sports equipment, clothing, shoes, all that kind of stuff. on the bottom right and left of that area, there would be some elevators with trees and benches around them that lead up from the underground parking. And there would be glass all the way down because it's cool to see the layers of ground as you come up, changing materials maybe, see supports, all that. In the middle, there would be a green space with a fountain. You could take your kids there, have a picnic, hang out.

And along both sides of the walkway, there would be many trees. Many trees. And over in the bottom left, there would be a bioretention pond. But unlike a normal bioretention pond, which is just kind of fenced off well in the ground, this one would be a bit different. It would have kind of like boardwalks over it. It would be a much quieter, calmer area. You could take a walk, enjoy the pond, which might have plants, fish. And in the center, there would be a nice covered pavilion with benches and tables, so you could check out a book from the library next door. You could bring a board game to play with your family. And over on the right, there would be a fountain, which not only looks and sounds nice,

but it helps to keep the water moving, which helps to fight against mosquitoes and other things that like to lay eggs in non-moving water.

Adele Wisemanpublic commentSo we looked at the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The ones that were connected to our project were Goal 11, Goal 13, and Goal 7. For sustainable cities and communities, we wanted to work on building safe, inclusive, and accessible green spaces. So a lot of the pervious surfaces and walking areas. For climate action, we are going to be reducing heat island by planting green areas, planting more trees, and a walkable place with low carbon emission. So the trees, mini trees, stuff like that. And for affordable and clean energy, of course, the solar panels. Our civic asks for change. We ask that we increase our tree canopy. We want to add shaded seating areas. We want inclusion for green infrastructure and pervious surfaces, and we want a safe area to walk and bike.

Why? Students are daily users of this public space, and we also want to bring our essential lived experience to redevelopment decisions. We really do want participation in all future planning approval processes. We want to have our voice heard because in this area, we are going to be here for a very long time throughout high school and maybe after. to see our ideas went through with. We've already talked to a bunch of decision makers. We've talked to planning commission members, city school board, owners of the property, and now you, city mayor and council members. We want to strengthen civic clarity by presenting to above authorities because we want the most influence for change. we also were shown in the newspaper

along with the North Facts project if you want to see more into it there's an electronic link and there may be some copies on paper thank you and we also wanted to of course thank Ms. Alam and Ms. Conley for making this all happen

Catherine Readby voicewell thank you for the presentation and I'm sure we probably have questions and comments from the council as well

Ms. AlamAnd before we go there, I would just like to say that these guys got a curveball at them. And when they presented to the Planning Commission, and it was very nice of the Planning Commission to give that idea to them that you need to talk to the property owner. At that point, they had no idea what they were going to go into. And obviously, thanks to Amy and Paul, we were able to coordinate that. And they came right before the long weekend, last Thursday, before the Memorial Day. And they presented to the property owner. And they have us a big Q&A in the evening. And they were told that they may be going for a little change. So these guys didn't have the idea of what a little different proposal is coming.

But they were on their feet, too, with the question answers and everything. So that was really a good experience for them that you plan something and it may change. And then how do you respond to it, respond to the change? So hats off to these guys to kind of take that and then present it to you all. It

Catherine Readby voicewas a big deal. on your kudos to Combined Properties as well. So Combined Properties is probably the largest commercial property owner in the city. They have four developments and they've actually been in the city for more than 60 years. So Courthouse Plaza goes back to the 1970s. But they scout on the circle, which is that new apartment complex. That is a mixed, that's a good example of a mixed-use development. That is a combined properties project. And so you have restaurants, you have a giant, and you have apartments upstairs. But they own other properties here, too. And combined, it has a long-term commitment to the city. And it doesn't surprise me that they were interested in hearing your ideas and talking to you

because they are as interested in the future of the city as you are for different reasons. You live here. They own property here. But it's important to be able to open those doors. I appreciate your teachers and the staff in CDMP saying this is something that might they might be open to. And so I appreciate the fact that a development entity in the city was willing and able to do that with you. So I agree we should all work together. I'll start with Councilmember Amos.

Anthony AmosSo either one of y'all or all of y'all is going to be an architect one day. because I have to admit, especially with design B, but in general, some of what you presented, I'm an affordable housing developer by trade, and literally some of what you presented is what I see from architects when we're trying to apply for something. So that was really good work, especially the bio-retention pond with the boardwalk. Nice. I really dig that. Overall, from both presentations, I love the theme and the main focus on just bringing more greenery to concrete, and that's conversations that we've had as a council is how can we redevelop some of these underutilized parking lots to reduce heat island effects,

but also just make it more pleasant for folks to walk through, add green space, develop our tree canopy more. So seeing what y'all have presented and having these actions is really cool. I've got to ask, whose idea was it for Raising Cane's? Respect. I respect that. Other thing I will throw at you, I used to live in Hawaii. zippies. They do Hawaiian barbecue. Please, please pitch that at some point. I will die on that hill to have the best Korean chicken ever. So I'm just going to say that. Two more things. Actually, no, one more thing. I've never heard of Black Cat or Jamin' Java, I've got to admit. and I genuinely thought I was going to wow, okay well well gasp okay, my bad I will I will say then

you should definitely have a conversation with economic development at some point, we would love to have a place like that, especially we've had that are open later and create more of a nightlife in the city because that is something we're lacking that the previous group also mentioned but great work as always good job y'all

Catherine Readby voicecouncilmember Hall

Stacy Hallthank you for the presentation and for your energy and for all that you put into this I I probably shouldn't say this but I will anyway I love this so much more than what is actually being considered I am NOT a fan of what is being considered right now and I think that this is exactly something along the lines of I think we need some better shopping. I actually had to look up a couple of your stores because I was not totally familiar. I've been doing Pilates for two and a half weeks at Club Pilates, so I would be thrilled to have one in the city. But I just, I think what you put in here is just so pedestrian friendly. It makes people come and want to have a place to spend their time. You know, bring a picnic, like you said.

Explore the bio, what was it called, the bio retention pond. I loved all the garden ideas. Bringing in stores, I like that it's safe. It's kind of walled off, essentially, so that, you know, it's kind of like a mosaic or like a Merrifield, like that kind of vibe to it, which I think people go there for a reason. And I just think that there's so many opportunities here. I think I do have to check out the Capital One Cafe. I was not aware of that. So I will be looking into that. But I just think there was some really, really great things in here. And the boardwalk thing, I think, is super cool, too. I just, there was a place like that when we used to live up in Maryland, out in like Gaithersburg area, and it was just, it's just calming, right?

It's relaxing to just sit there and have the water be there, and even if you're not like in it or right at it, it just makes you feel a little bit more calm, and I think it also elevates a space in so many ways. And I do think that if I could redesign Courthouse, it would look something a lot like this. So thank you for all of your work on this. Thank

Catherine Readby voiceyou.

Thomas PetersonWONDERFUL WORK. I DO LIKE THE IDEA OF CREATING A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE WANT TO BE AND ATTRACTING THEM. THIS PROPERTY IS NEXT DOOR TO OLD TOWN WHICH IS A PLACE PEOPLE WANT TO BE. IT MAKES SENSE TO DO MORE OF THAT BECAUSE THAT'S A BIG PART OF WHAT MAKES THE CITY TICK. so it's really wonderful to see all these kinds of ideas that would help accomplish that. I'm a bicycler, and I'm wondering what your thoughts were on making this a place where bikes want to be. Did you have any thoughts around that?

Henry Streetpublic commentMy dad is also a very big biker. He's watching right now from home. Hi, Dad. And I'm pretty sure both of you would be very happy to have bike lanes, and that's definitely something that all of us probably want. My dad's going to get me more into biking this summer, and so bike lanes around the city would be great for making it safer to get around instead of either on a sidewalk with risk of hitting pedestrians or in a road with risk of getting hit by cars.

Adele Wisemanpublic commentAnd also our pedestrian walking areas could be kind of split in half, so half closer to the side of the road would be where the bikes are, and then kind of on the inside would be where people walk. I've seen lots of those places in D.C., so maybe something like that would be considered.

Thomas PetersonWell, it's wonderful to hear. So I'm sure many of you have been to Rehoboth Beach, and you've probably gone down the long strip that has shops. Of course, it's right next to the ocean, which is a lucky thing. But one of the nice things about being there is you can ride a bicycle right up to the place you shop, and you can either park it there or there are lots of places to park your bikes and park them safely So you don't so you can get off your bike and you can wander around and it's okay Did you think about anything along those lines a way for people to be able to do that in this new area?

Adele Wisemanpublic commentWe did think about like having bike rails for people to park their stuff and maybe put a lock around it so I Think that most like Bikes and scooters could probably fit in elevators so maybe when people went up they could park their stuff somewhere close maybe somewhere next to the youth center where it could be supervised since it's a square the reason that we had the grass area right in the middle is because there's you can see everybody from every shop so people would also be able to see their items such as their bikes and scooters

Thomas Petersonin

Henry Streetpublic commentthe underground parking there a bike lock area like a bike rack to put your bike something.

Thomas PetersonSo let me ask a dangerous question. When everybody comes to hang out, where do they go to the restroom?

Adele Wisemanpublic commentSo I don't know if we can go back to the map on this but there is I did do research on which stores normally have bathrooms. Capital One Cafe has a bathroom and I forgot the other shop. Could you go to MY DESIGN SIDE? TED'S BULLETIN DOES. TED'S BULLETIN DOES AND ALSO ARIE DOES. SO THAT'S THREE RESTROOMS.

Thomas PetersonI HAD TO ASK.

Adele Wisemanpublic commentOF COURSE IT'S A NECESSITY.

Catherine Readby voiceCOUNCILMEMBER BATES?

Billy Batesum yeah just again wanted to thank you for your amazing work on this and regardless of whether this ends up being a or what's proposed as a mixed use project or not most of the concepts here are applicable you know increasing tree canopy and green space increasing walkability reducing surface parking these are all things that are applicable regardless and additionally I recall at some point you talked about a space where you know you can have a little bit of space reserved to sell your crafts and what have you without a full storefront that reminded me of a program that the city's economic development office used to do in a vacant retail space had been vacant for some time until it was reoccupied where it was basically exactly that you know the

space was rented out to multiple you know local artisans and vendors and they could reserve their own space in there to have some of their items sold and then they'd have just a common you know front counter person who would just handle all the sales and I would really love to see something like that happen again at some point in some form. So really was glad that that you all were thinking along the same lines.

Catherine Readby voiceCouncil member McQuillan.

Rachel McQuillenI'm just so impressed by you all. I'm always impressed whenever we have students come and present. But this is the the depth of detail that you all included in this presentation was so impressive. I mean, even to the thought of the mixture of the stores, your boardwalk over the stormwater retention, that's amazing. So smart to have a little area that people can go, nice and quiet. I'm just very impressed. Keep it up. Good job.

Catherine Readby voiceSo thank you very much to everyone, the students, the staff, everyone that was involved. You all have done a lot of work, and not only that, you've really spent a lot of time making presentations to people maker so I applaud you for your extra effort to do this and we hope we this is not the last time that we see you so and enjoy your summer thank

Ms. Alamyou could we take a picture with you all is it possible or will we take too much time we are going to take a picture all right thank you so much thank you so much for all this because this really helped them apply what they're learning in the classroom and just to get it in their own backyard nothing like it thank you

Rachel McQuillenThank

Gwen Riddlestaffyou.

Stacy HallThank

Catherine Readby voiceyou.

Ms. AlamThank

Catherine Readby voiceyou. It worked out better to actually do it at the beginning instead of a long meeting. It was better to do it as a lighter, much better agenda. No, this is great. I appreciate it.

Kamala Michaelpublic commentWe're

Catherine Readby voicestill

Kamala Michaelpublic commentnot going

Catherine Readby voiceto play.

Kamala Michaelpublic commentI know.

Ms. AlamAll

Catherine Readby voiceright. We're now going to

Ms. Conleymove on to the next portion.

Catherine Readby voiceOkay, is this thing on? Okay. So we are now moving on from our presentation to the work session agenda. Ms. Shinneberry.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkOur first item is a discussion of a grant supplemental appropriation resolution in the amount of $1,815,512 for FY2026 federal, state, local, and use of balance sheet funds for expeditious. I can't see the words. Yes, thank you. Administrative action to align the budget with actual revenues and expeditions in preparation for year-end close and the upcoming financial audit. I'm going to recognize Gwen Riddle, our budget director, for the presentation.

Gwen RiddlestaffGood evening, Mayor and Council. So on the screen, I don't have a full presentation, but on the staff report, pages 3 and 4, we list out all the accounts that are affected. We are talking about an appropriation of about $1.8 million, of which the majority is coming in from revenue of other sources or money that the city has already received in prior years. And we're just asking for the authorization to spend those funds in FY26. The first top of the section is revenue accounts. That's a lot for us on accounting, so I'm going to go to the second section, side. The first one is our arbitrage expense, which unfortunately is a use of city unassigned fund balance. Arbitrage is based on when we have tax-exempt

bonds and our interest that we earn is greater than the yield that we've gotten when we took the bonds out. So this was for the 2020 bonds that we recently retired. The next piece is for AED replacements for our risk management department and we received in $14,000 and we will this fiscal year for returning our AEDs that are no longer viable. We also got a grant for public works chainsaw program which is another program under risk management where there's bags ready to go so when we're using chainsaw all the necessary safety equipment is ready to go for our workers in a bag, and they have their safety glasses, their gloves, everything they need. Fire gets money for different reasons. One of them, the fire and life safety grant that they got for $9,000.

We get funds from the state for 4-4 life, and then we're using balance sheet funds this year for some capital outlays. for fire equipment of $12,000. Code had some life safety donations that they received, and those funds were used about $1,300. The police department has balance sheet funds that were received in prior years, about $9,000 used for electronic ticketing. Those are restricted funds and can only be used in certain areas. They also received a grant through the HEAT program and for travel and training for $5,000. Works in the environmental area received $100,000 grant for energy efficiency and conservation block. So that's being used on looking at the, we have a temp that's being used to cover that,

as well as looking at the audits of the homes. Human resources receives opioid, human services, excuse me, opioid funds from different legal output. on the balance sheet and as we have them we have to ask for use of those in out years and this $7,400 was granted to the Chris Atwood Foundation in FY 26. They also received a wave grant funding of $10,000 and that is to support the village and it's a pilot program to combat social isolation so hopefully it would be something that maybe if the pilot goes well, we might be able to get other grants in future years. And then Parks and Rec received a Versa grant for some travel and training. So in that, asking for $600,000, of which for $450,000 from the general fund. Those funds will be transferred to

the debt service fund. So you'll see that on the next page. Skipping to the bottom, debt service just shows the transfer and the arbitrage expense for the debt service fund. The top portion is our capital projects. The fire department received from the volunteer fire department $250,000 to overhaul the aerial truck that was recently replaced to extend the life of the replaced truck to help us extend the current truck's life. And then when there are issues, we have a backup truck and one that we can also loan out to other jurisdictions when they have issues as well. There's roadbed reconstruction for $462,000, and that is funds coming in from the state for regional surface transportation program.

and then the QBUS has a TDP update which is being funded by NVTC which is money that we hold they NVTC holds for us that comes in from the state and then we ask for reimbursements when needed that total 735,000 so in total we're looking at the 1.8 million of which 1.2 million is coming in from other funds. So happy to take any questions. Questions?

Catherine Readby voiceCouncil Member Amos.

Anthony AmosI only have one question, which is probably not a tonight question and more of a comment, really, related to the debt service and arbitrage expense. Just moving forward, just kind of tapping into what is our recovery plan or replenishment plan for unassigned fund balance? I hate to see savings just dwindle over time and we don't have a plan to eventually add funds back into the unassigned fund balance?

JC Martinezstaffby voiceSure. So I think in the strategic plan on the city, we have an attainable goal or I guess an aspirational goal of trying to increase the unassigned fund balance of about 1% per year. specifically touching on the arbitrage rebate. So a little bit of clarification that those interest funds were realized on an annual basis sort of swept like we would probably do in our own personal account every month every year whenever you have excess interest or interest that grows you get swept and then it went to the unassigned fund balance. We've collected it and held it AND UNASSIGNED FUND BALANCE BECAUSE THAT WAS THE APPROPRIATE BUCKET TO HOLD IT. NOW WHEN THE PAYMENT CAME DUE BECAUSE I THINK AS I COMMUNICATED THE INTEREST ON THAT LOAN WAS ABOUT 1.5%.

IN THAT TIME AFTERWARD INTEREST RATES WENT UP TO ABOUT 5%. SO THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT VARIANCE BETWEEN HOW MUCH WE WERE MAKING AND WHERE WE BORROWED AT. WE HAD TO PAY THAT DIFFERENCE. IT IS AN EXPENSE BUT WE HAD REALIZED THAT INCOME OVER THE COURSE OF FOUR OR FIVE YEARS.

Anthony AmosExcellent. Thank you

Catherine Readby voiceAny other questions or comments on this Well, all right, you've knocked it out of the park again, Ms. Riddle

Melissa ShinaberryclerkAll right, our last item is Discuss the future agendas and meeting topics. So I'm gonna recognize Daniel Alexander our city manager for the discussion Thank

Daniel Alexanderstaffyou. Good evening mayor council. The intent tonight is really to have an expanded discussion around what we typically talk about as it relates to future City Council agenda items this will be interactive want to allow you to ask as many questions it also be expansive in the sense that we'll try to get to the end of the year to the degree that we can and that we know the items that are coming up now certainly many of the staff reports and information it's not going to be available in the immediate but we have staff here it's I hope about some of the things that we have coming up and, um, you know, a couple of significant, um, items that, that we'd like to cover with you too. Um, I know Brooke would like to stay probably where he is right now,

but I'll ask him to come up too, because I think we'll probably have, you know, a couple of questions on land use and or development items that are coming down the pike. So I, as we go, happy to answer any questions, hope this is more interactive you know as we go through this and certainly would would be happy to take any questions uh and and frankly get input

JC Martinezstaffby voicefrom you

Daniel Alexanderstaffum june 9th as we get into the the core of this you've already received um the full agenda we've covered some of this up to this point and again of of note we just went over the grant piece talked about the cmar items that are coming up for both Providence and Daniels. Compensation for council will be on here a couple of times as we move forward. I know the city attorney is continuing to work through noise-related issues, so there will be some additional information brought up for a public hearing related to that. And I'm looking forward to having our discussion on the sustainability matrix and green building policy and see some progress relative to both of those items. Again, you have that material to include the staff reports that have been emailed to you,

and that will be coming to us next week. Looking a little bit ahead, we have the CEO of NVTA coming in to talk about their rapid transit action plan. as a presentation on the 23rd we have some changes that we will need to make i believe but by virtue of commonwealth changes on our purchasing items and the resolution associated with that we'll have a resolution to sign a standard project agreement with nvta for blenheim and the improvements there. We'll have the public hearing scheduled for green building, and then we'll have some code changes that we will need to make based on, again, action out of Richmond on Chapter 86 that's scheduled, and compensation is here again. On the work session, we will talk about potential reviews and updates to small area plans.

for each of the small areas. This will be largely a discussion around not only the plans, but how we want to look forward to reviewing the plans as we move forward. So we'll have a presentation on that. We've added recently a discussion on the North Facts Linear Park Design Guidelines just to talk about what guidelines might be associated with that greenway that was envisioned for that small area. So more to follow on that. I just got briefed on it today. Not necessarily something we typically bring, but we want you to have visibility, the public to have visibility on that project, just so they can see what is getting connected in the work and design guidelines that will go into the work relative to that connection.

So that is, in essence, the 23rd. I'll pause there to see if Council has any questions. about

JC Martinezstaffby voicethat meeting looking forward.

Catherine Readby voiceAny questions so far up through the agenda on the 23rd?

Thomas PetersonCouncil Member

Catherine Readby voicePeterson.

Thomas PetersonPublic hearing item two, could you clarify that a little bit?

Daniel AlexanderstaffI'm going to ask Brooke to give us a little more detail on that.

BrookestaffThere was a piece of legislation in the 2025 session of the Virginia General Assembly that was adopted that the requirements for timelines associated with various plan reviews site plans and subdivisions being included and so this amendment would bring the city subdivision ordinance chapter 86 up to date with that change and so previously the standard was 60 days for an initial review of subdivisions plans that are submitted to a local jurisdiction that's now changed to 40 and so the amendment is to to make that change. The city has been operating in accordance with that state code change since last year when it became effective. This would update the city's ordinance to reflect that.

Thomas PetersonAnd it would be helpful to understand if that the degree to which that affects public involvement in those periods of time. I'm not sure where it stands right now what we currently do, but it shortens the period of time so that could have an impact on the degree to which we do some kind of public involvement and input there. So it'd be great to know about that because it's shrinking this you know by a third.

BrookestaffIt certainly could. By and large subdivision actions in the city are administrative item that's handled by staff. Larger subdivisions, and to put that into context, 50 lots or more, those do go forward to the Planning Commission. And so in terms of those review, we would certainly want to focus on making sure we get the word out, and that's visible there. But yes, to your point, that's something we'll keep an eye on going forward.

Thomas PetersonI appreciate that. I mean just generally anytime we modify a timeline and we're accelerating in this case that has implications It would just be good to know what that full set of implications are so we can be aware of them as we're responding to that

Daniel AlexanderstaffVery good

Catherine Readby voiceOkay, any other questions on the 23rd?

Daniel AlexanderstaffAll right. All right. So this is a good time. I think we talked about the 27th to talk a little about where we are. Efficiency study should be happening in earnest, starting in earnest, I should say, around that time, not yet into performance in the strategic plan at that point, as we have kind of sequenced that. And I think around that time, there's likely to be a significant demand associated with boards and commissions. And so this is an opportunity we wanted to take to talk about process moving forward, really at this point of what we're looking at in terms of what's happened with boards and commissions only to say that, you know, I'm suggesting maybe we don't do the retreat because I think the council could be very busy either with interviews or processes

and around boards and commissions for the remainder of the year. I'm just framing it so Melissa now can talk a little bit about more what the detail looks like and the potential volume looks like as we proceed this year. Melissa.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkThank you, Mr. Alexander. So, Mayor and Council, the second packet you have is the list on the front page. It's the vacancies that I just submit to staff that's going to be advertised for the city scene, so you can see all the different boards and commissions that we're advertising. And that includes also people who are coming up for reappointment just ahead in case we get any applications for those boards as well. The second page is a list of the boards that I do have the applications for. be interviewed. So I have about 15 names on here. That would be as a, whenever date we plan on doing interviews, if they're available, they'll be going on for that evening. So on the next page, you will see a long list, and it's all the people who are going to be coming

up for the end of their term for 2026, which a big chunk is our Housing and Healthy Communities Advisory Board. So I plan on getting on with Jamie Ergus, our Housing Program Manager, the staff liaison, just to kind of see, like, if they will all be seeking reappointment or if there's some who will be resigning and trying to figure out all those logistics with those vacancies or reappointments. That will be coming up. And then on the last page, because the list is two pages, but on the last page, I just have just a breakdown of potential interview dates for 2026. So as you see, there's two dates in June. We have a fifth Tuesday in June. September as well. We have a fifth Tuesday, so there's two dates for September.

And then in the column next to it, I have, so if we did interviews on the June 16th, those appointments would be considered on July 14th meetings, because just the way we do our staff reports and agendas now, it would just be on for that evening. So I just want to put that for awareness that we will need to schedule some interviews, and they could be on Tuesdays, unless you want to make the Saturday retreat interview, but that is up to you.

Catherine Readby voiceCouncil Member Hall.

Stacy HallThank you. I think June 16th is too soon if we're just putting out for the July city scene additional vacancies and trying to gather more people.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkSo they always wanted ahead of time. So I always have to

Stacy Hallplan

Melissa Shinaberryclerkahead. I mean, if we did appointments in July, I'm trying to think when they would ask me for the August city scene.

Stacy HallI don't have a problem with putting them in the August city scene, but what I'm saying is like today's June 2nd. If there's a potential to interview on the 16th, like that's in two weeks. I think that's too soon to get a fresh wave of people unless you have a lot more applicants sitting.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkI mean, I have the 15 on the second page that we could break in.

Stacy HallA good chunk of those are reappointments.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkYeah.

Stacy HallSo I just want to make sure that fresh faces and voices have an opportunity to be considered as well for those if they have not been previously heavily advertised.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkWell, if I can make a suggestion. So, like, we don't have to bring all these people in the one night of the 16th. Like, we could say, like, the grievance panel, they have five vacancies. Only one of them is a reappointment. And right now, I believe with the reappointment, there's only five people on the board. So I think the max is, like, ten people. So, I mean, we can knock that one out. And in even historic Fairfax, both of these people, they couldn't make it to the last time we did interviews, and they've kind of been sitting in the queue to be interviewed. So, I mean, we don't have to do all these, but we could do some, hopefully, that we can bring in an interview that's been waiting.

Stacy HallOkay, I think those specifically make

Melissa Shinaberryclerksense for what you're saying. Yeah, because looking at the list right now, like I could tell you so like grievance panel historic Fairfax and then even the Planning Commission because she was not available that night as well back in March those would probably be the three that like they've been sitting for a while to bring in so we could if you would like I don't have anybody yeah I I know Mr. Lovekman likes us to stress that we are looking for people to serve on our Board of Zoning Appeals because we only have three people right now, and the max is five people, but he says it's kind of getting hairy for us, and if the county wants to, they could appoint somebody who doesn't even live in the city just to have people on our board.

So if you all know anybody who might have real estate background or zoning backgrounds to apply, that would be helpful.

Catherine Readby voiceCAN

Stacy HallYOU REMIND ME HOW IS THAT AN AS NEEDED ONE OR IS THAT IT'S

Melissa ShinaberryclerkONLY FOR APPEALS SO IF THERE'S AN APPEAL THAT COMES THROUGH TO THE ZONING, THEY WOULD HAVE TO GET TOGETHER FOR A MEETING.

Stacy HallI

Melissa ShinaberryclerkJUST DIDN'T KNOW HOW FREQUENTLY THEY MEET. THERE ARE LIKE FOUR OR FIVE-YEAR TERMS TOO. YEAH.

Thomas PetersonCOUNCIL MEMBER PETERSON? I DON'T SEE THE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE ON THE LIST AND YET I UNDERSTAND THERE IS SOME TURN OVER THERE.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkSO I JUST HEARD RECENTLY SOMEBODY WAS RESIGNING AND I HAVEN'T GOTTEN A RESONATION LETTER YET BUT I DON'T HAVE ANY APPLICATIONS RECENTLY FOR ESC.

Thomas PetersonOKAY.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkYEAH.

Thomas PetersonBE GOOD TO KEEP AN EYE ON THAT. AND JUST AS A GENERAL MATTER, THERE IS A LOT OF VOLUME HERE. AND I JUST AT A BIG PICTURE LEVEL WOULD BE CURIOUS TO KNOW HOW MUCH of that is driven just purely by the schedule of appointments and their expiration dates, et cetera, and how much of this is driven by turnover? And I'm not suggesting there's an issue with turnover. I'm just saying it would be nice to know. And, in fact, if turnover is a manageable number, it would be good to know that also. I don't know the answer of it all. I'm saying this is a long list, and when you get the size of a list, you kind of want a little bit of pattern analysis here to know what's going on, right?

Daniel AlexanderstaffYeah, I think we talked about today, you know, you may recall in better detail trying to stagger these things a little bit more. I think that was the crux of the issue for particularly the housing, right?

Melissa ShinaberryclerkYeah, so with HCAB, they got established two years ago, so it's the time of getting everybody on there. But, yeah, we had talked to possibly, like, staggering their terms so that way we don't run into this in another two years, especially during election season.

MelaniestaffThis list is the reappointments. These aren't vacant positions. This is in addition to any vacant positions.

Thomas PetersonThat underscores my point more. Thanks.

Catherine Readby voiceSo any thoughts about when to do any kind of interviews, reappointment or otherwise?

Melissa ShinaberryclerkWell, if I want to confirm kind of what we discussed, for the 16th, if you would the grievance panel, historic Fairfax City, and the Planning Commission applicants since they've been sitting.

Catherine Readby voiceCouncilmember Amos?

Anthony AmosI won't be in town, but y'all can do those without me. It doesn't matter.

Catherine Readby voiceCouncilmember Hardy Chandler isn't here either. So maybe that's an inquiry you could make when we know how many people are going to be in the room. Yeah. So knowing Councilmember Okay, so and okay, great. So no one's here June.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkNo

Catherine Readby voiceone's here.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkWe can shoot for the 30th Okay, the fifth list in

Catherine Readby voicethe month. So let's think about the fifth Tuesday of the month I think that's great and that gives us more time.

Billy BatesYeah

Catherine Readby voiceto see who is available for vacancies and Okay, we'll work with it We'll work with it. We do need to get these interviews going. Yes, Councilman Bramus

Anthony Amosuntil it looks like or I don't know if you're waiting for feedback we're not doing the retreat?

Daniel AlexanderstaffWell I was the next question I was going to ask is is there consensus for us not doing the retreat on the 27th and

Anthony Amosif that's

Daniel Alexanderstaffthe case then

Anthony AmosI am cool with that okay and I guess gonna just based off of head nods we would prefer not to do interviews on that Saturday to stick with Tuesdays Okay, then, yeah. All right. Sounds good.

Catherine Readby voiceOkay. So there we have it.

Melissa ShinaberryclerkThank you. Okay.

Catherine Readby voiceCouncil Member Peterson. So on the

Thomas Peterson27th, we would be discussing the finance and efficiency.

Daniel AlexanderstaffYeah, I think what I was trying to frame to you is a lot of the work that we're probably going to move into November, which would also coincide, I think, at that time with budget, would be an opportunity for us to discuss that. up only to say that we've not started that work we'll probably start that work in earnest this month and certainly be able to either workshop that work session that or bring it to a later retreat where we don't have that available to us right now to discuss it

Thomas Petersonthis early

Daniel Alexanderstaffin

JC Martinezstaffby voicein

Daniel Alexanderstaffthe year

Thomas Petersonis november the earliest we would have a chance to discuss

Daniel Alexanderstaffcertainly not i think you know i'm going to we're going to discuss also our work sessions as we go and they're ample opportunities for us to bring, you know, those items or other items to you from a work session standpoint.

Thomas PetersonWell, it's a big enough issue. I think it's not a one-and-done kind of approach. Absolutely. I think, you know, you're going to want to do this a couple times as we work through it. Want to get some presentation feedback framing and all that as we continue. So I don't know how that falls out in our schedule, but would just encourage us to see if we could find a way to stage it like that.

Daniel AlexanderstaffYeah, we'll start. We talked about this today. You know, we'll start meeting and laying out a schedule and cadence around the consultants work and then certainly be coming to you as we go and frankly Have a regular cadence around performance management and these items as you know, we've talked about

Catherine Readby voiceAll right, so we're clear on retreat Oh Councilmember Amos did you have something else?

Anthony AmosI that it's probably not worth bringing up. I mean, we have the tentative for the special election, obviously related to the 1%. Do we want to have potentially a backup work session in case for some reason the budget were not to? I mean, I don't even know what that would look like.

Daniel AlexanderstaffWe'll get into the potential for bringing that item forward. We'll have a little bit of discussion on that. Yeah, I don't think

Anthony Amosit's going to happen, but I don't know if we need to have a slot tentatively prepared for a discussion if we need it.

Daniel AlexanderstaffIf you'd like, we could get into kind of the sequencing on that. JC, you want to pick that up?

JC Martinezstaffby voiceCouncilman Remus, just for my clarification, a work session if we don't, if the General Assembly does not pass a state budget, which includes a 1%? Correct. So I think as long as the General Assembly passes a state budget that incorporates a 1% sales tax ability specifically ties to school renovations as long as that is passed by July 21 which would allow us enough time to advertise and it's already on the agenda so as long as we it sort of stays and we would be okay. There is no formal requirement for the school board to pass a resolution. It would bring a lot of weight if they do, but there is no legal requirement for them to do that. So really the only action would be on city council to do that on the 28th

and for us to submit that resolution and request to circuit court by August 14th or 15th. That's really the hard deadline.

Anthony AmosThank you.

Catherine Readby voiceSure. Council Member Hall.

Stacy HallI feel like I should know this, but I've been living under a rock with work and stuff these past few weeks. Are we still concerned about a budget not being passed at the state level? Is that

Daniel Alexanderstaffgetting

Stacy Hallmore and more concerning?

Daniel AlexanderstaffI think the 22nd is when they first start to convene. There is a potential that they don't and we're in a shutdown situation.

MelaniestaffOkay. I

Stacy Hallkept thinking that was like a what if this isn't going to happen, but okay. Thank you.

Catherine Readby voiceAny other questions on this part? Okay. That is a good question. I think they're actually reconvening on June 18th, but that does not leave a lot of time before July 1st. So it is what it is.

Daniel AlexanderstaffOne group shows up for another.

Catherine Readby voiceYeah. One branch

Daniel Alexanderstaffor house,

Catherine Readby voiceas you say. That's true. So, you know, it is what it is, and we'll do with what we have to do with it. All right. questions along the line before we move on

Daniel Alexanderstaffso on the seventh right now we have scheduled land use application for gallery at city center and also at that time we'll bring back to you a discussion on level of service and dynamic capital impact model so those are things that we have introduced to you before and we'll be bringing back to you on the 7th. Any questions about those items?

Catherine Readby voiceQuestions? I don't see any.

Daniel AlexanderstaffI'm going to let Melanie get into the next couple of items on University Drive, transportation-related on the 14th, or they may show up on the 28th. Hopefully it's one or the other and not both, but I'll let her kind of run down what's involved with those items.

MelaniestaffSure. So the university drive bike lanes, that is, you'll remember, or you will see outside the, the road diet that's from Armstrong to South street. This is continuing that project from university on university drive from North street to Layton hall drive. this this project will implement the bike facilities on University Drive between those two streets it will also take away the the lane the right turn lane that goes on to Leighton Hall Drive and straightens out that intersection it will provide a pedestrian refuge on University the pedestrian crossing in that area. This was something that we held the public hearing back in February. So now we're in the construction phase of that project. The second one

is I forgot that I don't have a touch screen. The second one is a cancellation of the signals at that intersection of Leighton Holland University. At one time, staff thought that they would need signal intersection for traffic. So they requested the additional funding for that. After the funding was awarded, they did a more in-depth evaluation of the projected traffic volumes to include any traffic volumes that would come from the Willard Sherwood project. And it was determined that the signal is still not in fact needed for that intersection. So staff is requesting that we cancel that project, return the funding back. Or, no, cancel it, yeah, and return the funding. Nothing has been spent at this point.

Catherine Readby voiceCouncilmember Hall?

Stacy HallIf there is additional redevelopment at, oh, my gosh, my brain, thank you, courthouse and then also the one next to courthouse that's on Leighton Hall Drive that we had some information on previously, were those numbers considered with regard to the lights as well?

MelaniestaffThe courthouse was also considered, I heard from our traffic engineer, that that was also considered in their traffic study and that it would also not require lighting that intersection or signalizing that intersection.

Catherine Readby voiceOther questions on that? Council Member Peterson?

MelaniestaffThe

Thomas Petersonseparate one of the issues here. We're done with that.

MelaniestaffTrustee Lee Cross. Yep. Going down to a work session.

Thomas PetersonIs that

Melaniestaffwhat

Thomas Petersonyou're Maybe I'll just sort of hop ahead to see how the dots connect here. But we've got the bike lanes that you just described in that segment. We have then on June 28 also an award for construction, University Drive bike lanes. Is that for the segment that goes from there then down to Fairfax Boulevard? No.

MelaniestaffIt will either happen on the meeting or the other meeting. We

Thomas Petersonjust need to figure out from a certain perspective. I am curious to know the status of the segment that does go from Fairfax Boulevard up almost, if not to this point. I think we had a session on this some months ago where we said grace over an approach that would be taken there. Is that entering in construction into a construction phase? Do we know? Because there was discussion about whether or not and how to construct barriers and all sorts of things like that.

MelaniestaffOn University

Thomas PetersonDrive? On University Drive, yeah.

MelaniestaffI will have to

Thomas Petersonget back to you on that. Okay, we could check that. It'd be great.

MelaniestaffAnd you're saying from Fairfax Boulevard up to Layton Hall?

Thomas PetersonYes. Very good.

JC Martinezstaffby voiceI'll get it for work sessions. Yeah, cool. Thank you.

Daniel AlexanderstaffAll right. Any other questions up to this point on the 14th I'll get into the work session as we I think committed to you when we brought you the urban forest master plan we will update you on the plan and outlook relative to to that item we'll also have an update on the housing trust fund we will bring another discussion ahead of public hearings on potential small area zone ordinance amendments at that work session and then we'll have the follow-up discussion scheduled for that time on code of ethics so there's a lot in that we'll try to move that that as long as along as quickly as possible but a lot of substance for that from a work session perspective any questions on those items

Catherine Readby voiceany questions on the 14th.

Thomas PetersonCouncil Member Peterson. Item number three, potential small area plan zoning ordinance amendments. How does that relate to the June 23rd discussion which is also discussing amendments to some of the small area plans?

Daniel AlexanderstaffI think that the work session that you cited on the small area plans on the 23rd is different from this. So what this is designed to do, and I think I finally got it, but Brooke is going to explain it if not. We've developed our small area plans and we're in a process now of developing text amendments that are associated with those small area plans from a sequencing standpoint. At the same time, on the 23rd, we're going to introduce to you is also this idea of how we're going to study those small area plans as we move forward. standpoint we've developed our smaller area plans and now we're developing the amendments that go along with those plans at on the 23rd we're going to talk generally be it generally as a process and

as we're looking down the line at how we're looking at those small area plans is there anything that you want to add to that that would make more sense that

Thomas Petersoncovers it all

Daniel Alexanderstaffright

Thomas Petersoncan i just see if i got that. I can't promise that I did so I may need.

Daniel AlexanderstaffI need it. I need a diagram but okay. Go ahead.

Thomas PetersonWe're going to on the 23rd talk about how we study it and on the 14th we're going to talk about how we actually amend it. Did I get that right?

BrookestaffOn the on the 23rd is an initial discussion to talk about potential amendments or examination of the small area plans. potential amendments to the small area plans moving forward what would be what would be reviewed what wouldn't be reviewed direction that council may have on that the discussion on the 14th is the implementation step for the the small area plans as they exist now and this would amend potentially amend the zoning ordinance regulations as an implementation step of those plans.

Thomas PetersonSo again, if I understand it, on the 23rd, we're talking process and scope. And on the 14th, we're talking proposed amendments. Does anything happen in between those two? Because we talk about scope and process, and that results in a set of proposals that then are under consideration on the 14th. When do those proposals get developed and how? Is that what we decide on the 23rd that we'd like the following kinds of proposed amendments to consider for action on the 14th? Is that what we're doing?

BrookestaffGenerally at a high level talking about what would be included in a scope moving forward examining those plans. the intention that as you recall for example with the comprehensive plan every five years we're in the process of reviewing and potentially amending those plans the smaller

Daniel Alexanderstaffyeah no i'm sorry i didn't interrupt you i i look at it correct me if i'm wrong more of a tactical and strategic type of of approach and so we're dealing with the existing plans and making the changes that are necessary, you know, to move projects along, right, as

JC Martinezstaffby voicethose text amendments.

Daniel AlexanderstaffThe thing we're talking about on the 23rd is broadly the plans and how we want to look at how we're going to adjust them and move them forward from a strategic perspective

Ms. Conleyas we go through the whole process.

Thomas PetersonI hate to be slow on this, but looking at it from a strategic standpoint on the 23rd, does that mean at that stage we are expected to give direction on the types of changes that we want to see as a part of this? Okay. Thank you. You're giving me some feedback here.

Brookestafflevel introductory discussion and we can have multiple discussions and likely there will be multiple yeah

Daniel Alexanderstaffand i didn't get a really clear picture obviously not articulating it as well but really clear picture until i saw it you really kind of have to see it to understand that which is again why it's a work session and frankly and i'll say this about all these things that as we go through you know we're going to spend some time with you ahead of this as we have in the past make sure you're clear on what we're doing ahead of this, even if it's a work session item.

Thomas PetersonI'll just take my last shot at it. So I think on the 14th, we'll be wading into it a little bit deeper.

BrookestaffAnd the 14th is zoning. Zoning ordinance

Thomas Petersonamendments. Zoning ordinance amendments

Brookestaffas opposed to the plans.

Thomas PetersonRight, but there's connective tissue between the two, And that's, I think, what's kind of underlying my line of questions here to understand how that process connects and unfolds. So, okay. I will look forward to our further discussions of this. Thanks.

Catherine Readby voiceCouncil Member Bates.

Billy BatesSo I think that what you're getting at, if I understand it, is first, we have small area plans as they are now. and that's the current guidance that is informing the process of the developing the small area plan zoning ordinance amendments and then this discussion on the reviews and updates of the small area plans is more about establishing a process for what we might want to see reviewed and potentially updated in the future on a regular recurring basis similar to what the comprehensive plan goes through?

BrookestaffVery well said. Better.

Billy BatesThanks.

Catherine Readby voiceOkay. Are we are we settled on that? Are we ready to move on? I think we are.

Daniel AlexanderstaffAll right. So as we mentioned as we we talk about the 28th, the two items you see there are either going on the 14th or 28th not both at the public hearing we would be doing a public hearing and council action on the zoning text amendments for adu so that's when that comes back again as we've talked about so um

Stacy Hallcouncil

Catherine Readby voicemember hall

Stacy Hallum potential council action depending upon what we hear from the public if i recall properly thank you

Daniel AlexanderstaffAnd then as we talked a little bit about before, we have a resolution for the 1%, if indeed things move forward as we anticipate that they will. I don't know if there's questions we didn't answer there or you want to walk through generally a timeline of how that might

JC Martinezstaffby voicework. Sure. So, again, council would need to take an action by the end of July or at the last meeting in July. That would give us enough time to submit the appropriate paperwork to the circuit court by the middle of August to ensure that we can get the ballot question on the ballot for the referendum. We will work very closely with schools on communicating the facts on the referendum request for the ballot question, not for or against. then on November, November 3rd, I think it's November 3rd, the election day, the residents would vote on what whether to pass whatever that percent is up to 1% for school renovations. If that is the case, the elections were to get certified by the middle or end of November we would bring back a request for council to

approve an ordinance in December which if approved would take effect 120 days from that approval date so potentially the soonest that we would potentially see revenue coming from the 1% up to 1% sales tax for schools would be about April of 2027. But this council may have the ability to go ahead and implement that before the end of the year.

Catherine Readby voiceOkay. That seems like an aspirational timeline, and it could happen or not. Anything else on that particular item?

Daniel AlexanderstaffAll right. From a work session standpoint on the 28th, pre-application briefing for 35-1 Chain Bridge Road, proposed redevelopment of office space to mixed-use development of townhouses and retail uses, and also the discussion on the land use application for Courthouse Plaza is scheduled for that work session. So potentially busy night that night. Looking forward on September 1st, I think I've spoken to some of you about a concept that we're looking for consensus on potentially to begin from a pilot perspective our first Tuesday work sessions at 4 p.m. The idea behind that would be to try to schedule as many work session items on that date. Also, maybe have somewhat of the discussion we're having tonight on schedule,

how we're moving forward for the month, what the agenda looks like for that month. Then hopefully free up time on our business meetings to focus primarily on council business at those times. Um, many jurisdictions, uh, from a work session, workshop standpoint, uh, would start earlier. Some start as early as one o'clock or two o'clock. Um, I think, you know, we're looking for, from a pilot perspective, something that's a little more reasonable, suggesting maybe a 4 PM to get started. There's certainly items that we could schedule later. Um, if need be, if we feel like there, there's a need from a work session standpoint to do that. I would suggest that we look at the end of this year, starting in September, October.

Obviously, November, we don't, with the election, don't have something scheduled for that month. But then December will be a three-month trial, in essence, to see how that goes. And, you know, hopefully, again, be able to bring a lot to you on those times for discussion and have manageable, aspirational, but manageable sessions on the Tuesday nights that we have regular business meetings.

Catherine Readby voiceThoughts on an early start time for work session?

Daniel AlexanderstaffFirst Tuesday meeting.

Catherine Readby voiceThe first Tuesday meeting, which is like this meeting, the first Tuesday, which is just work session, starting earlier, trying to move more things on a work session day. we are relieving having long work sessions during the regular meetings. Like lighten up the schedule so our meetings aren't going into the wee hours by moving more things to the first work session meeting of each month and starting earlier. And I think we're suggesting a pilot program to see if that works. It's not necessarily a commitment to do that but but to see if it could work and if it really does make our other meetings a little more efficient, especially with the amount of business that we're going to be asked to decide between now and the end of the year,

which is going to be a lot of things are going to be pushed to October, November, December, because we only have one meeting in November and we only have one meeting in December. So a lot of things just roll down to the last two meetings, and a lot of them are big issues. so having an earlier start time in the work sessions and moving work session things to that first meeting earlier in the day to maximize the amount of time together we're together in a work session is to try to I think just be more efficient on what we're going to be able to do between now and the end of the year

Stacy Hallso

Catherine Readby voiceit's it's always the first Tuesday of the month so we're looking at September 1 would be the first time we did this, yes? And if that works out pretty well, then it would be October 6th. And then we don't have a work session in November because of the election, but we have a work session December 1, which would be the last work session. So we're not talking about a lot of work sessions. But again, I'm not making a long-term commitment. It's saying, is everybody willing to give this a shot on September 1st to see if it produces the desired result of having more time, being able to put more things on the schedule, and being more prepared when we go into a meeting? Councilmember Hall.

Stacy HallI am definitely in favor of this. I do think we need a few months to try it out before we say if it's working or not. I think if September feels like it wasn't great, that doesn't mean it's not a good solution. and you also mentioned that we'd be getting some dinner. So for those that get concerned about food, we will be eating. So don't worry about that.

Catherine Readby voiceWe were talking, I think, 4 o'clock was the time that was thrown out there. Council Member Bates, you have thoughts?

Billy BatesSo if I have another 2 p.m. class on Tuesdays again, then I wouldn't be able to be here until around 5 or 5.30. but I've never tuned in virtually before, so just for those three meetings or so that we have left this year, I can maybe do that on my way home until I get here.

Catherine Readby voiceWill you also make an excellent point? I mean, obviously the engagement part of the work session, but we don't take votes. So it's just like Council Member Stacey Hardy-Chandler is not here, but she can watch the archived work session discussion before we have a meeting. That's always something to consider because of the format of work sessions. If you're not here at 4 o'clock, you're not participating in the discussion but you would have the opportunity to hear everything that was said during the work session.

Billy BatesYeah.

Catherine Readby voiceCouncil Member Peterson?

Thomas PetersonAm I correct that part of the purpose for these is to do long-term agenda planning and a little bit more thought about how we go about structuring all that?

Daniel AlexanderstaffYeah, I think it's somewhat similar to the discussion I think we're having tonight, and I would also hearken back to what you said earlier relative to items like efficiency, you know, and as we can hit these things. I also think about we had, I remember, a PD, human service presentation that was great to have. It's kind of a focus area on operations, which is wonderful, but it definitely pushed us into the evening. So it really opens opportunities for us to take a hard look at the program's effectiveness, efficiency of our operation.

Thomas PetersonWell, I also am in favor of this. I think we should give it a try. I do think it's helpful for us to get a beat on which of these discussions and decision sets we're, you know, encountering that can be done in a rapid manner. You know, we do a work session, a public hearing, we take action. And how many of them require more iterations than that? Some of these big issues really do. And I think we can scope that in advance so that it's not a surprise that when we get in these things, we know that it takes a couple steps to get to where we want to be. so I would support us bringing that kind of thought into this discussion. For sure.

Catherine Readby voiceOkay. It sounds like we have consensus on giving this a shot for September 1 and tentatively scheduling it to Council Member Hall's point for a second time to see how the first one and then what it does the second time. So I think we have consensus on doing that. And everybody, I'm looking for o'clock. Doable? Four o'clock doable. Provided

Thomas Petersonthat there's food.

Catherine Readby voiceWe'll figure out the dinner hour. We'll get that settled.

Daniel AlexanderstaffAll right. So moving on for the first, and I would say that things will get more tentative as we move later in the year, to include the fact that we'll need to add items that currently are on here. We have a pre-application briefing on a mixed-use development for Circle Gateway 520 Blenheim Boulevard. And then we have a discussion on youth sports. That's been on here listed as tentative I know there was a recent meeting and some conversation I know a lot of this is a function of Maybe the work that's going to come out of that But we're certainly willing to have that that discussion if council is interested into September. So it's on here, continues to be on here. I think we'll still need to track

progress before then, but happy to keep this on here if that's the will of the Council.

Catherine Readby voiceYes. Is that because there was a community meeting and one assumes this is an opportunity for like a report out and anything that might have bubbled up after the meeting. So this would just be a good wrap up for people I think who weren't at the meeting to hear what So at minimum, I think this would be a good opportunity to do that. I wasn't at the meeting, so this would be a good report out and discussion, I think, to

Billy Bateshave.

Catherine Readby voiceYes, Council Member Bates.

Billy BatesA quick question since Brooke's still here. The Circle Gateway project that we're going to be looking at on the 1st of September, Is that, you know, same developer, same similar project to what we've seen before or something different?

BrookestaffIt's an affiliated developer, similar project that was proposed previously with some modifications. All right. Thanks.

Catherine Readby voiceI think one of those things when we saw the original pre-application whatever year that was they had not consolidated two parcels which I think are now part of this new submission

Brookestaffyes it would include the home the home furnishing store there south of Fairfax circle as well as the former 7-eleven

Catherine Readby voiceokay

Brookestaffparcel so both of those would be included okay okay the proposal

Catherine Readby voiceokay

Daniel AlexanderstaffExcellent. I mentioned it gets a little more sparse as we move along, but of note on the 22nd public hearing and council action on redevelopment of existing office complex into 14 townhouses at Highlands at Mantua, 94-95 Silver King Court. So that's scheduled for a public hearing at that time. as we move into the next few months October work session we have penciled in our discussion on the legislative program so we'll start that process as we move forward on the 7th I'll have JC talk briefly about kind of budget we've made some tweaks and the tentative scheduling around that so I want him to if he would address that for us

JC Martinezstaffby voiceSure. So even though we just adopted FY27, we are already talking about FY28 because two things never cease in finance, that's budget and audit. Tentatively right now we are thinking and it's on the calendar, I think if we flip to the next page in November, we do have a budget retreat on November 7th that's currently scheduled. More than likely we are wanting to hold that date but prior to that we're wanting to have and this is still in the development stage but similar to what we did this past April of a hybrid open house Fairfax engagement where it was both virtual and in person. Try to do that on the Thursday before poll some of our both residents and vendors and businesses within the city get their input to bring to council

on that saturday budget retreat and then also do a second one post city manager proposed budget probably in mid to late march of 2027 to get their feedback the residents and business owners to get their feedback on what the manager proposed as well to incorporate those discussions while budget sort of maintain the same cadence where once budget starts after the manager proposes have a work session every single council meeting that is developed or associated with a specific topic like we did this last time whether it's CIP whether it's wastewater stormwater whether it's the general fund other topics of that discussion. So any questions?

Thomas PetersonCouncil Member Peterson. Just remind me when we get the first revenue forecast, including what assessments look like.

JC Martinezstaffby voiceSo at a high level with about 80% certainty, that's brought forward to Council at the budget retreat. We would have about a good two quarters going to the third quarter. Third quarter is still a little fuzzy, but we can try to and then by the end of January when we're locking in the budget we have an entire year and then we know with about 99% uncertainty where we're going to be.

Thomas PetersonWhat about the forecast for property assessments?

JC Martinezstaffby voiceAbout the same time frame so it all it all kind of relates. We'll get a sneak

Thomas Petersonpreview in November?

JC Martinezstaffby voiceCorrect at the budget retreat.

Thomas PetersonOkay.

Catherine Readby voiceCouncilmember Amos?

Anthony AmosI just had a clarification question. When you say the Thursday before for the potential hybrid open house, do you mean November 5th as in two days before? Oh, correct. All right. That is a quick turnaround. Appreciate that.

JC Martinezstaffby voiceWe're good.

Daniel AlexanderstaffYeah, we had that conversation earlier. They're good over there. I think, frankly, if we poll and collect some data as we do it, it's going to be a little bit easier, and certainly we'll aim to increase participation and, you know, craft the polling what the priorities are for community. So put some thought into that for sure.

Catherine Readby voiceAnything else on the budget retreat? I've got a question on the legislative agenda work. Are we sending staff to VML this year? Because, you know, that's, you know, I went last year because we vote on the legislative agenda and normally our staff goes to that. So our

Melaniestafftravel and training has been restored. That is in our list of travel. If the manager approves it, then yes.

Catherine Readby voiceWell, I would just say, you know, we belong. It's kind of the foundation of our legislative agenda has always been the Virginia Municipal League's legislative agenda. but there's discussion and there's votes on that too that take place from the member municipalities. And so it seems to me that it would be in our best interest to make sure we have staff there this year as we decide what we're going to adopt that is that and things that we will add to that. So I hope that actually happens.

Daniel AlexanderstaffIt's a great comment point. And I think we do have to be thinking not only in terms of our engagement there but also continuous staff development and investing in our employees.

Catherine Readby voiceWell, I hope you will look with favor upon the request, Mr. Ciddi. Thank you. Anything else on this?

Gwen RiddlestaffOkay.

Daniel AlexanderstaffI think as we finish the year out, it's largely centered around legislative programming. I think you'll see, obviously, other items fill in as we go. we'll have the ACFER, which I'm sure we typically do at the last regular meeting of the year, the annual comprehensive financial report presented to you. And so I think that hits the highlights from our perspective. Would certainly like to thank Mayor and Council for this discussion. Hope it's been useful for you as we go through this, something we would like to continue doing to ensure that you're prepared and have the information you need. So thank you again.

Catherine Readby voiceThank you. And of course, we will be adding things. Obviously, things are going to come up. There will be things that come up that need attention from the council between now and the end of the year, but I think it helps for us to have a really broad idea of the ones that we know are coming, when they're coming, and what they are. I just... We're counting down. We really are counting down to see what we're going to do between now and the end of the year. If there's nothing else for the good of the body, yes, Council Member Hall.

Stacy HallI know you probably want to highlight some of the things that are going on this weekend in the city, but if you can also just put a plug in for the city blood drive on Monday at the fire station from 10 to 3. I know we don't get, like, comments.

Catherine Readby voiceOkay, sure.

Stacy HallThanks.

Catherine Readby voiceYeah,

Stacy Hallthe blood drive at what date and time? Monday from 10 to 3. 10 to 3, Monday. At the fire station on 403.

Catherine Readby voiceThat is good for the public to know. Fairfax High School graduation is tomorrow morning, so be aware there's traffic, and just be aware that all the high school graduations are starting this week at Eagle Bank Arena. Be patient because there will be a lot of traffic. And with that, I am adjourning. The Pride Festival is 11 a.m. at the Sherwood Center on Saturday, June the 6th, and there is a proclamation at 7.30 in Old Town Square for gun violence awareness. So, all important. And with that, I will now adjourn the meeting at 9.04 p.m. on Tuesday.

Stacy HallThank you.