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From YouTube: Board Wrap Up, May 2015
Description
ATV’s new program providing insight on all the actions and activity of the most recent County Board meeting. Current Board Chair Mary Hynes joins us to talk about the May 2015 Board meeting focusing on the Resident Satisfaction Survey
In addition to a detailed discussion of the survey, the Chair also discusses Bond sales, some new real estate opportunities, the Board's decision regarding the old Reeves' farmhouse, and volunteers in Arlington.
A
Hello,
welcome
back
to
County
Board
wrap
up
I'm
Diana
Sun
director
of
communications
for
Arlington
County
with
me.
Here
again
today
is
Mary
Hines,
chairman
of
the
Arlington
County
Board
welcome
Mary.
Thank
you
for
joining
us.
I
was
great
to
be
here
each
month
following
the
county
board
meetings,
we're
taking
a
half
hour
to
talk
about
some
of
the
actions
the
county
board
took
and
what
those
actions
mean
for
you,
your
family
and
our
community.
A
B
Overall,
pretty
well,
you
know
we
continue
to
have
some
of
the
highest
ratings
in
the
country
around
resident
satisfaction.
So
we
were
really
pleased
to
see
that
we
had
that
again
that
the
county
is
continuing
to
move
in
many
right
directions
and
we
heard
from
people
all
across
the
county
that
that
was
how
they
felt.
B
A
great
question:
you
know
it's
a
statistically
valid
sample.
That's
done.
We
heard
back
from
about
1,500
few
more
than
1500
residents
out
of
4,000
who
were
invited
to
participate.
So
it's
about
a
twenty-seven
twenty-eight
percent
response
rate,
which
is
pretty
good
and
when
they
looked
at
ethnic
distribution,
it
mirrored
very
closely
to
what
the
ethnicity
is
of
the
people
who
live
here
in
the
county.
When
they
looked
at
geographic
distribution,
it
was
a
nice
representation
of
all
the
various
parts
of
the
county.
B
B
Of
ways
that's
exactly
right
and
the
nice
thing
is
these:
things
are
going
to
be
up
on
the
web,
so
people
can
go,
explore
them
themselves
and
they
geocoded
all
there
respondents
this
this
time,
so
you
can
really
see
it
on
the
map,
which
is
a
I,
think
a
new
feature
for
us.
This
time.
Interesting
could.
B
You
know
about
ninety
percent
of
the
people
said
they
were
satisfied
or
very
satisfied
with
the
overall
quality
of
life
in
our
county
and
eighty-nine
percent
said
they
were
satisfied
with
the
quality
of
services
provided
by
the
county,
and
one
of
the
things
we
were
really,
I
think
pleased
to
see
is
there's
not
variation
in
those
numbers
based
on
where
people
live
in
the
county.
It
was
pretty
consistent
across
the
entire
county,
so
that
makes
us
feel
like
we're
doing
a
good
job
of
spreading
those
opportunities
well
across
the
county.
B
B
We
typically
have
done
it
every
four
years,
starting
in
2004.
We
did
it
a
little
bit
earlier
this
time,
so
this
would
be
your
three
again.
There's
there's
been
a
lot
of
change
in
the
county
over
the
last
few
years,
with
the
downturn
of
the
economy,
with
our
the
impact
of
our
vacancy
rate
and
also,
quite
honestly,
with
the
infusion
of
new
transportation
funding
that
has
allowed
us
to
move
forward
a
lot
of
road
projects.
A
A
B
Whole
issue
of
do
you
think
the
quality
of
the
streets
are
good
and
how
do
you
feel
about
thing
about
moving
around
in
and
through
the
county?
We
lost
ground
in
both
of
those
areas
and
we're
below
the
national
average,
which
is
not
usual
for
Arlington
at
all,
in
this
kind
of
a
survey.
Now
the
good
news
about
that
is
beginning
in
2012,
the
County
Board
started
to
put
a
lot
more
money
into
street,
paving
and
Street
rebuilding.
B
We
got
too
big
bridge
projects
funded
through
the
Commonwealth,
the
one
here
at
courthouse
and
50
and
then
the
other
one,
which
is
still
so
disruptive
the
bridge
over
columbia,
pike
at
washington
boulevard.
So
we
got
a
ton
of
work
going
on
that's
well
funded,
but
people
are
there's
a
little
bit
of
fatigue
about
driving
through
places
that
are
under
construction,
whether
it's
from
road
rebuilding
or
from
you
know,
development
projects
and
then
I
think.
B
The
other
factor
is
that
we're
doing
a
lot
of
road
diet
and
complete
Street
work
where
people
perceive
that
it's
may
perceive,
and
we
need
to
do
more
work
on
this.
They
may
perceive
that
it's
more
difficult
for
them
to
get
from
where
they
live
to,
where
they
need
to
go
because
we
have
bike
lanes
and
we
have
pedestrian
refuges
and
we
have
nubs
Park
protected
parking
lanes.
So
all
of
that
may
be
contributing
this.
We're
going
to
do
some
more
work
to
understand
this
better.
A
B
B
Of
the
things
they
say
about
infrastructure
construction,
is
it
almost
always
gets
worse
before
it
gets
better,
and
when
we
upped
the
level
of
investment
in
2012,
we
actually
said
that
at
the
board
table,
it's
like
everybody
was
saying
you
need
to
fix
the
roads
and
in
fact
that
the
2012
survey
said
roads
are
an
issue
not
like
this
time.
So
I
think
in
some
ways
this
validates
what
what
we
thought
would
happen,
which
is
you
start
investing
your
rip
stuff
up.
You
have
a
bad
winter
and,
let's
not
you
know,
ignore
the
winter.
B
B
Goodness,
no,
of
course,
everybody's
welcome
to
come
to
the
Saturday
board
meeting
where
we
have
public
comment,
usually
30
to
40
minutes
of
people
telling
us
things
that
they're
concerned
about,
and
we
also
have
a
number
of
other
ways.
People
can
email
us
people
can
and
people
do
stop
us
all
of
us,
executive
leadership,
people
to
in
grocery
stores
and
at
church
and
other
places
and,
of
course,
open
door.
B
B
A
Involved
and
give
feedback
absolutely
absolutely
to
learn
more
about
Arlington's
resident
satisfaction,
survey
visit
the
county
website,
w
WR,
ellington
VA
us
search
2015
survey,
you'll
find
lots
of
information
on
the
methodology
and
the
findings
of
the
survey
and
lots
of
easy
to
understand.
Charts
and
graphs
will
be
taking
a
short
break
and
when
we
come
back,
we'll
talk
with
chairman
hines
about
the
board
approving
a
77
million
dollar
bond
sale.
C
Starting
this
summer,
you
won't
need
to
feed.
The
meter
went
archaean
arlington.
Now
you
can
pay
by
cell
thanks
to
the
park
mobile
app
and
park
at
any
metered
space
throughout
the
county.
It's
easy
to
get
started.
Download
the
app
from
the
Apple
or
Android
store,
then
sign
up
for
your
free
account.
You'll
need
your
license.
Plate
number
and
a
credit
card
launch
the
app
when
you
park
at
a
meter
key
in
the
zone
number
listed
on
the
park.
C
A
C
The
app
allows
you
to
get
text
messages
showing
you
when
your
time
is
about
to
expire,
and
you
can
add
more
time
within
the
posted
duration
from
anywhere
there's.
Even
a
find
your
car
function.
In
case,
you
forgot
where
you
park,
Arlington's
Park
mobile
app
is
the
same
as
DC.
So
if
you
use
it
in
the
district
you're
covered
Park,
my
balls
pay
by
cell
app
is
available
for
iphone
android
and
blackberry
smartphones
for
more
information
about
pay
by
cell
and
where
it's
available
visit,
arlington,
VA,
us
and
search
park.
Mobile.
A
B
Did
and-
and
this
is
sort
of
breaking
news
we
heard
about
one
of
the
rating
agencies
on
Tuesday,
but
actually
all
three
of
the
rating
agencies
who
govern
how
we
can
borrow
money,
have
come
back
and
said
once
again,
Arlington
has
received
a
triple
triple
a
rating.
The
best
you
can
get
from
all
three
agencies
that.
B
B
So
when
we
got
that
that
highest
possible
credit
score
the
triple
triple
a
from
all
three
rage
aid
agencies,
it
means
that
next
month,
when
we
go
out
to
sell
bonds,
we
will
be
able
to
sell
them
at
a
low
rate,
because
consumer
confidence
will
be
high
in
our
capacity
to
repay
these
monies
on
a
schedule.
That's
predictable!
So
that
actually
saves
us
money
it
does.
It
does
save
us
money.
You
know
people
say
it's
a
tiny
little
bit
of
an
amount,
but
when
you're
talking
about
borrowing
millions
of
dollars,
a
tiny
amount
actually
is.
A
B
A
bond
is
a
debt
that
our
community
and
really
every
taxpayer,
who
pays
into
the
revenue
of
our
community
that
we
agreed
to
stand
behind
and
pay
back.
So
we
sell
bonds
that
we
pay
back
generally
over
about
every
20
years,
and
so
we
pay
a
little
bit
every
every
time.
We
make
a
payment,
we're
paying
a
little
bit
of
interest
in
a
little
bit
of
the
principal
and
as
part
of
our
budget
process
each
year
we've
got
it
planned
out.
B
B
B
So,
first
of
all,
I
have
to
start
out
by
saying
we're
selling
bonds
that
the
voters
have
approved.
So
lots
of
people
will
remember
that
in
even-numbered
years,
when
they
go
to
vote
in
Arlington,
there's
often
a
question
about.
Do
you
want
to
invest
more
in
schools?
How
about
money
for
Metro
money
for
our
water
sewer
streets?
Often
a
park
bond
or
a
neighborhood
conservation
bond?
B
Those
are
the
four
areas
we
typically
bond,
so
we
ask
people
that
last
year
in
2014
and
we're
getting
ready
to
sell
at
seventy
seven
point
four
million
dollars
with
a
worth
of
bonds
next
month.
The
projects
that
are
likely
to
be
funded
will
include
land
acquisition,
something
we
know
everybody's
anxious
about
these
days.
School
renovations,
another
really
important
and
expansions
another
important
aspect
of
this
community,
some
improvements
at
our
water
pollution
control
plant,
as
well
as
funding
for
parks
and
facilities
and
Metro
things
which
are
essential
to
us.
B
We
also
taken
the
opportunity
to
find
out
whether
we
might
refinance
two
hundred
million
dollars
of
bonds
we've
sold
previously.
The
interest
rates
are
so
low
right
now
that
we
may
be
able
to
save
the
county
even
more
money
by
refinancing,
but
we'll
only
do
it
just
like
a
homeowner.
You
only
refinance
when
you
can
get
a
savings
that
matters
we'll
only
refined
finance.
If
we
can
get
that
much
better
right.
So.
B
A
B
Know
Diana,
that's
a
really
great
point,
because
we
only
bond
things
that
have
a
life
longer
than
the
life
of
the
bond,
because
the
theory
is
that
the
community
can
pay
something
back
over
time
that
it's
going
to
be
able
to
use
over
time.
Other
things
with
much
shorter
lives
like
like
computers,
we
fund
in
an
entirely
different
manner.
A
Different
needs
right:
he
has
to
operate
as
a
community
and
in
this
last
month
the
county
board
dealt
with
two
very
exciting
real
estate
opportunities.
Let's
talk
about
the
first
one,
which
is
a
parcel
across
the
street
from
Washington
Lee
High
School
on
Quincy
Street
I,
understand
that
was
the
board
took
an
option
to
purchase
I
sound
a
little
unusual.
Well.
B
It's
six
acres,
the
purchase
price
is
30
million
dollars
and
we
didn't
have
30
million
dollars
just
sitting
around
waiting
to
be
spent
on
land,
but
this
really
was
an
opportunity
too
good
to
pass
up
I've
been
in
elected
office
20
years,
I
would
say
for
15
years
either
the
school
border,
the
county's,
had
their
eye
on
that
property
belongs
to
lot
to
longtime
families,
the
buck
family
and
mrs.
buck
was
actually
a
cooper,
and
it
was
her
family
that
owned
this
property.
B
It
has
five
buildings
on
it
and
it's
the
only
land
north
of
route,
50,
that's
zoned
for
industrial
use
in
the
whole
county,
which
means
we
could
park
buses
on
it.
We
could
use
it
for
a
number
of
things.
Now.
We
could
also
using
County
processes
potentially
place
a
building
on
it
or
some
other
things,
but
the
by
right
use
would
allow
us
to
store
buses
and
I.
Don't
know
if
people
in
the
community
know
this,
but
both
the
county
and
the
school
system
are
running
out
of
places
to
put
buses.
Could.
B
The
purchase
right
so
we've
put
some
money
down
and
we'll
put
some
more
down
in
2016
and
by
2017.
We
need
to
have
a
plan
to
pay
the
balance,
which
is
about
27
million
dollars
by
our
agreement,
and
as
we
develop
our
capital
improvement
program
next
year,
the
board
will
be
figuring
out
whether
in
fact,
we
should
put
bonds
out
to
vote
to
help
pay
that
27
million
or
whether
we
have
another
strategy.
So.
B
A
B
Adrian
Stanton,
who
is
the
chief
operating
officer
for
the
hospital,
came
to
our
April
meeting
to
tell
us
publicly
that
they
really
would
like
that
five
acres.
They
are
running
out
of
hospital
beds
almost
every
day
and
they
really
are
an
important
piece
of
being.
A
sustainable
community
is
to
have
a
really
good
Hospital
and
we've
got
one
of
the
best,
so
they
own
property
in
two
other
parts
of
the
county.
D
B
A
D
Arlington
is
a
safe
community,
but
when
it
comes
to
your
kids,
you
can't
be
too
careful
if
your
kids
are
spending
time
home
without
you
make
sure
they
know.
These
safety
rules
do
not
have
friends
over
without
an
adult
in
the
house
to
supervise
okay,
fine,
keep
your
doors
closed
and
locked
when
you're
home
alone.
A
Welcome
back
to
County
Board
wrap
up
with
Mary
Hines
as
we
work
our
way
through
the
actions
the
board
took
at
this
month's
meeting
Mary,
the
board
voted
to
authorize
the
manager
to
sell
the
former
Reeves
farmhouse.
Could
you
start
off
by
just
explaining
to
us
why
the
Rees
land
is
historic?
What
is
it
about
it?
Well.
B
You
know
first,
let's
get
it
in
our
geography
right,
it's
in
north
arlington,
near
bloom,
actually,
an
extension
of
blumont
park,
part
of
the
boulevard
manor
civic
association
and
its.
We
we
bought
in
2001
about
2.4
acres
of
the
last
remaining
dairy
farm.
Mr.
Reeves
and
his
family
ran
a
dairy
farm
there.
Originally
they
owned
more
than
200
acres
in
Arlington
and
over
the
years
it
had
shrunk
up.
The
farm
house
was
built
in
the
night
18th
century
and
was
where
the
Reeves
family
lived.
B
Didn't
have
modern
systems
and
back
then
so
14
years
ago,
or
so
the
cost
was
estimated
at
more
than
a
million
dollars
and
the
county
just
really
kind
of
didn't
have
a
million
dollars
at
that
point
in
time
and
so
set
set
the
issue
of
what
to
do
about
the
farmhouse
aside.
In
2010
we
convened
an
ad
hoc
group
of
citizens.
Our
historic
affairs
and
landmark
Review
Board
led
this
and
worked
with
nearby
neighbors.
B
Looking
at
a
number
of
options
to
really
take
better
care,
I
guess
would
be
how
I
would
characterize
and
and
figure
out
what
to
do
about
the
farmhouse,
because
the
more
something's
empty
and
sitting
it
doesn't
do.
Well,
they
recommended
everything
from
you
know:
finding
a
partner
who
would
run
a
Nature
Center
to
an
urban
agriculture
center
to
selling
it
to
an
individual.
They
felt
all
of
those
things
were
acceptable.
We
have,
over
the
ensuing
five
years,
tried
twice
to
find
a
private
partner
and
failed.
B
The
cost
now
to
get
it
up
to
the
kind
of
standards
is
over
two
million
dollars,
and
in
these
tough
times
the
board
really
felt
that
the
highest
value
was
preserved.
What
we
all
can
see
from
outside
so
the
way
the
farm
house
sits
on
the
land,
though
its
relationship
to
the
land,
and
that
the
best
way
to
do
that
was
actually
to
move
to
a
sale
to
to
a
buyer.
B
Oh,
my
goodness,
no
don't
know
about
two
acres
will
remain
in
the
county's
control.
With
this
decision
and
the
move
toward
a
sale,
we
will
actually
then
come
back
and
put
our
s3
a
zoning
on
top
of
it,
which
will
piss
the
stoning
we
use
for
most
parks,
so
no
more
houses.
Our
goal,
as
I
said,
is
to
protect
how
people
perceive
this
place
and
we
think
actually
having
someone
love
the
house
and
use
it
for
for
a
purpose
would
be,
though,
is
the
right
way
to
get
there
for
it.
B
So
sure,
well
we
had
six
great
volunteers.
We
got
who
got
honored
who'd
offered
time
and
talent
in
libraries
and
parks
in
the
jail
and
oh
gosh.
One
other
place
that
I'm
just
blanking
out
on
one
of
them
was
a
teenager,
gabriel,
sora
sora,
so
so
who
volunteers
with
arlington
gymnastics
and
is
encouraging
in
support
of
young
people.
We
also
had
volunteers
at
the
Columbia
Pike
library,
a
young
women
helps
folks
find
what
they
need.
So
it
was
a
great
event.
You.
B
Volunteers
in
our
gosh,
you
know
I,
think
of
volunteers
as
as
part
of
the
glue
that
holds
us
all
together.
People
who
have
time
who
have
talents
who
have
an
interest
to
decide
they're
going
to
reinvest
that
in
our
community
in
order
to
help
people
make
connections
find
what
they
need
open
new
doors.
It's
really.
Volunteering
is
really
really
important
if.
A
B
A
Thank
you
so
much
Mary
for
being
with
us
here
today
and
thank
you
all
once
again
for
joining
us
for
the
county
board
wrap
up.
We
heard
this
month
that
Arlington
ians
overall
are
satisfied
with
county
services.
We
also
learned
about
some
of
the
county's
future
plans
and
about
how
we
finance
some
of
our
big
projects.
Remember
if
you
have
more
questions
about
the
topics
we've
discussed,
email
them
to
us
at
a
TV
at
Arlington,
Va,
us
or
tweet
them
with
the
hashtag
Arlington
board,
wrap
and
we'll
try
to
answer
them.