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From YouTube: County Board Wrap-Up: November 2017
Description
ATV's monthly chat with Arlington County Board members on actions they've taken in the most recent Board meeting. This month, Board Chair Jay Fisette and his colleague Christian Dorsey discuss Long Bridge Park, accessory dwellings, affordable housing, and the budget process.
A
Welcome
to
County
Board
wrap
up
our
look
at
some
of
the
important
decisions
the
Arlington
County
Board
takes
at
its
monthly
meetings.
I'm
your
host
Cara
O'donnell
joining
me
today
is
County
Board,
Chair,
Jeff
Fassett,
as
always,
and
joining
him
is
board
member
Christian
Dorsey
today.
Thank
you
both
gentlemen
for
talking
with
us.
Today's
show
we're
gonna
be
talking
about
a
contract
to
expand
Long,
Bridge
Park
and
build
the
aquatics
and
fitness
center
guidance.
A
The
board
gave
the
county
manager
as
he
prepares
his
proposed
budget
for
fiscal
year,
19
some
important
actions
the
board
took
to
preserve,
affordable
housing
and
a
lot
more
Jay
and
Christian.
Thank
you
both
for
being
here.
Let's
it's
a
busy
month.
So
let's
dive
right
in
with
Long
Bridge
Park
contract.
This
has
been
a
long
time
in
coming,
which
I
think
is
the
understatement
of
the
year.
But
let's
give
folks
a
little
bit
of
background.
What
had
kinda
has
been
the
timeline
here
right.
It's.
B
Actually
hard
to
remember
when
it
started
and
and
what
you
consider
the
start,
because
this
is
a
25
30
acres
of
property
that
we
didn't
own
and
came
into
county
ownership
free
through
the
transfer
of
density
to
the
other
end
of
Crystal
City
that
deal
with
all
those
property
owners
took
many
many
years
back
in
the
began
in
the
80s
and
ended
in
the
90s.
Essentially,
and
then
there
was
a
consideration
of
what
to
do
with
the
property
and
the
commitment
was
made
to
use
it
for
open
space
for
recreation
and
park
purposes.
B
Then
a
master
plan
then
a
needs
assessment.
The
needs
assessment
has
been
revisited
and
in
fact,
over
the
years
back
in
the
ten
years
ago,
eight
years
ago
we
actually
finished
the
first
phase
we
put
in
the
playing
fields.
We
built
an
Esplanade,
we
did
rain
gardens
and
we
did
a
playground.
The
master
plan,
however,
had
another
face
to
it,
and
that
was
a
facility
aquatics
fitness
facility,
continuation
of
an
Esplanade
and
more
so
there's
still
a
few
things
to
do.
B
But
a
big
hurdle
was
was
passed
this
past
month
when
the
board
approved
a
contract
to
do
the
next
phase
of
the
of
the
park.
That's
the
facility
itself
and
the
continuation
of
the
Esplanade
and
about
ten
point,
five
acres
of
the
park
to
be
finished,
with
whether
it's
with
meeting
areas
and
rain,
gardens
or
or
the
parking
lot
and
other
thing
so
big
deal
after
I
ton
of
community
engagement
over
many
years.
Yes,.
A
B
The
good
news
years
we
tried
a
new
procurement
method,
the
design-build.
So
this
is
a
cap.
The
dollar
amount
is
set,
and
then
we
had
for
our
teams.
Design-Build
teams
put
forward
proposals,
and
then
we
had
a
very
rigorous
process
with
some
some
a
lot
of
staff
effort,
citizen
effort
to
make
a
choice
and
that
choice
is
what
we
approved.
The
board
really
didn't
get
into
that
level
detail
with
some
minimum
expectation
set
and
then
a
lot
of
negotiation
to
make
sure
this
facility
is
functional
and
meets
the
goals
and
needs
of
the
community.
B
B
Voters
in
Arlington
voted
for
two
bonds.
There
was
a
budget
set
when
the
bids
went
out
several
years
ago.
The
bids
were
higher
than
anticipated,
went
back
to
the
drawing
board
sort
of
did
a
scaled-down
version
of
the
facility.
Never
will
added
any
more
money
and
that
money
is
the
cap,
and
now
we
will
get
to
continue
the
completion
of
the
facility,
but
also
the
rest
of
the
park
within
the
originally
approved
budget.
You.
C
Know
traditionally
you
you
know
what
we've
done
in
the
past
is
just
like.
If
you
were
dealing
with
your
home
you'd
work
with
an
architect
to
design
your
dream
home,
and
then
you
figure
out:
what's
it
gonna
cost
to
build
it?
This
approach
says
you
know
what
we're
gonna
work
with
the
architect
at
the
outset,
along
with
a
contractor
to
say,
here's
what
I
need
this
house
to
be
here
all
of
my
requirements
right.
What
can
you
do
for
me
right,
and
this
is
what
we're
pursuing
here
right
and.
B
Folks
going
to
see
what
are
the
cool
things?
Are
we
gonna
see
with
this?
Well,
it
takes
advantage
of
the
architects
creativity,
so
each
one
of
these
proposals
was
quite
different,
one
from
the
other,
but
it
all
included
the
minimum.
A
50
meter
pool
a
play
pool
for
four
kids
with
a
little
warm-up
area
as
necessary
places
where
kids
can
have
their
birthday
parties,
and
you
know
a
fitness
area
which
is
a
good
way
to
help
generate
revenue
for
the
facility
meeting
rooms
for
the
community
night
parking
again.
B
The
continuation
of
the
Esplanade,
the
few
pieces
left
for
the
master
plan
are
connecting
that
Esplanade
over
to
the
Mount
Vernon
trail
for
cyclists
and
pedestrians
and
the
other
one
is
finishing
the
fourth
field.
Those
are
things
that
will
have
to
come
in
later
phases:
the
fourth
playing
field.
On
top
of
the
current
parking
lot
and.
C
You
know
there's
also
a
5
meter
dive
tower
that'll
have
increments
below.
At
one
point,
it
was
conceived
that
we
could
possibly
look
at
a
10
meter,
dive
pot
tower.
We
weren't
able
to
do
that,
but
five
meters
is
still
a
substantial
improvement
over
any
existing
aquatics
infrastructure
we
have
and
what
I
love
most
about
it.
Jay
is.
The
design
really
makes
a
whole
lot
of
sense.
It's
elegant
in
its
simplicity,
everything
works
and
flows.
C
A
To
look
forward
to
and
something
I'm
sure
we'll
be
talking
about
now,
one
thing
about
the
aquatics
is:
it
is
going
to
be
lead,
certified,
correct,
LEED,
Silver
I
believe,
but
that's
not
the
only
environmental
sustainability
thing
that
happened
this
month.
Another
is
a
very
interesting
cosmical
sea
pace.
Yeah.
C
C
So
we
partner
to
help
that
happen,
providing
a
line
of
financing
to
get
existing
buildings
to
be
more
efficient,
but
also
to
provide
substantial
financing
for
new
buildings
as
well
as
long
as
they
exceed
energy
standards.
So
it's
a
great
public-private
partnership
that
actually
costs
Arlington
taxpayers
zero
and
it
produces
great
value
for
the
community
and.
B
I
think
30-some
states
have
it,
but
in
Virginia
we
had
to
work
years
to
get
the
authority
from
the
General
Assembly.
A
lot
of
localities
are
now
watching
Arlington
as
we
implement
this
new
tool
to
help
facilitate
the
private
sector
to
do
these
energy
retrofits
and
actually
help
us
meet
our
community-wide
energy
goals.
Okay,.
A
B
We
do
so
much
good
planning
in
Arlington
and
we've
got
plans
and
we
revisit
them.
This,
particularly
just
north
of
the
Virginia
square
sector
plan,
had
not
really
been
replant.
It
needed
attention,
especially
as
several
property
owners,
were
interested
in
redeveloping
the
YMCA
being
one
of
them,
the
American
Legion
being
another.
So
what
we
do
traditionally
is
we
step
back
from
there
their
proposal
explicitly,
and
we
say
what
planning
principles
apply
here.
B
How
do
look
at
this
area
with
the
community
with
the
professional
staff
and
determine
what
is
the
appropriate
density
and
heights
in
this
particular
area
as
defined
and
then
which
we
did
we
looked
at
it?
We
made
some
decisions
in
the
middle
of
the
block.
It
may
be
six
or
seven
stories
as
it
tapers
down
to
the
neighborhood
three
or
four.
B
So
the
next
thing-
and
we
came
to
an
agreement
on
that-
we
adopted
something
each
of
the
property
owners,
then
will
come
in
within
that
newly
designated
general
land-use
plan
proposal
and
put
their
projects
forward
and
we'll
be
able
to
board
we'll
look
at
those
and
refine
those
a
question
those
and
make
sure
that
they
fit
within
the
broader
vision.
That's
been
adopted,
okay,.
A
That
a
lot
of
things
to
look
forward
to
all
of
which
I
think
we'll
be
saying
down
the
line,
but
we're
gonna
take
a
short
break.
Now
before
we
take
a
closer
look
at
some
of
the
other
important
actions
the
board
took
at
its
November
meeting
when
we
return
we'll
discuss
several
housing
decisions
that
were
made
by
the
board
stay
with
us.
A
We're
back
now
with
County
Board,
wrap
up
our
monthly
chat
with
the
board
members
about
some
of
the
important
decisions
they
took
during
their
monthly
board
meeting
today,
we're
talking
with
County
Board,
Chair,
Jeff,
Fassett
and
board
member
Christian
Dorsey.
Gentlemen.
Thank
you
once
again
for
being
here
now.
It
would
not
be
a
County
Board
meeting
without
some
kind
of
affordable
housing
element.
A
C
Or
mother-in-law
suites
and
help
until
ten
years
ago,
these
were
not
legally
possible
in
Arlington,
but
the
board
undertook
an
extensive
process
a
decade
ago
and
and
figured
out
how
to
legalize
accessory
dwellings
up,
but
as
a
way
to
sort
of
ease
this
into
the
community.
It
was
fairly
restrictive
in
terms
of
how
one
could
go
about
making
an
eligible
area
suitable
for
what
we
call
the
accessory
dwelling,
and
we
only
saw
about
twenty
of
them
over
ten
years.
So
this
board
undertook
the
the
process
yet
again
to
engage
the
community
to
figure
out.
C
That's
right-
and
you
know
so
what
we
were
able
to
do
this
this
past
month
were
to
come
up
with
ways
of,
or
at
least
making
it
easier
for
basements
to
be
used
for
accessory
dwellings,
not
requiring
people
to
put
up
walls
unnecessarily.
They
can
utilize
their
whole
basements
for
accessory
dwellings,
hopefully
creating
the
opportunity
for
people
to
create
more,
and
then
we
also
with
existing
buildings
that
may
be
currently
used
as
garages
or
sheds
or
accessory
buildings
in
their
backyard.
They
can
also
take
those
existing
buildings
and
make
them
accessory
dwellings.
C
Well,
we
have
yet
to
do
is
to
figure
out
how
we're
going
to
look
at
new
accessory
buildings
and
determine
where
they
fit
within
within
this
whole
process.
We
want
the
manager
to
give
us
some
options
on
whether
they
should
be
treated
differently
than
current
buildings.
As
far
as
how
far
away
they
are
from
a
neighboring
property
and.
A
C
You
know
I
would
say
first
of
all,
it
serves
a
few
different
reasons.
Affordable
housing
is
one.
You
know
we
found
through
market
studies,
that
least
cost
less
and
then
typical
housing
in
Arlington.
So
that's
a
great
way
to
provide
affordable
housing
with
no
subsidy
from
taxpayers,
but
also
this
is
about
giving
homeowners
flexibility
to
use
their
properties
for
changing
circumstances.
B
Any
one
can
invite
someone
to
rent
a
room,
but
then
you
share
the
kitchen.
You
have
these
common
spaces.
What
this
was
ten
years
ago
and
now
we're
improving,
is
an
opportunity
to
create
really
a
separate
little
unit
with
a
kitchen,
bathroom,
etc
of
your
own,
and
these
are
small,
so
they're
500
to
750
square
feet.
A
C
Yes,
Park
charlington,
you
know
Cara,
we
have
fewer
than
3,000
what
we
call
market-based,
affordable
units
left
in
our
county.
You
know
we
all
know
about
the
affordable
housing
crisis
about
10%
of
them
are
located
in
this
Park
Shirlington
development,
and
it
it
it
was
on
the
market
and
potentially
going
to
be
purchased
by
someone
who
would
knock
them
down,
knock
them
down.
C
Fortunately,
there
is
a
affordable
housing
developer
that
was
interested
and
successfully
or
was
engaged
in
bidding
for
the
property.
In
order
to
be
successful,
they
needed
a
partnership
with
the
county
we
put
in
a
relatively
low
amount
of
the
equity
required
for
them
to
purchase
the
property
so
that
we
can
come
up
with
a
plan
over
the
coming
years
to
to
keep
those
existing
buildings.
We
returned
decent
shape
and
to
preserve
them
as
affordable
and
and
and
make
that
the
case
for
the
next
several
decades.
At
least
we.
B
Have
some
great
local,
affordable
housing
developers?
This
one
is
a
new
one.
This
is
a
more
national
group.
They
have
units
all
over.
The
country
and
they've
been
wanting
to
work
in
Arlington
and
the
good
news
is
we
put
in
a
six
million
in
this
case
they
are
what's
leveraging
a
lot
more
than
that
from
their
sources,
which
is
really
helpful
to
allow
us
to
preserve
these
into
the
future
of
these
units
into
the
future.
Very.
C
A
B
We've
been
working
really
closely
with
the
schools
and
everyone
remembers
a
year.
A
couple
of
years
ago
we
had
the
community
facility
study,
which
made
it
clear
that
one
of
our
biggest
challenges
as
we
grow
and
expand
students
population
that
land
is
our
biggest
challenge.
It
is
the
asset
we
need
to
manage
the
best.
So
we
work
closely
with
the
schools
as
they
try
to
meet
their
population
growth.
B
They
have
made
a
commitment
to
add
eight
hundred
high
school
seats
over
the
next
number
of
years
and
they
are
looking
to
split
those
seats
between
the
existing
ed
center
right
next
to
Washington,
Lee,
High,
School
and
seats
over
at
the
Career
Center
site.
So
it's
one
of
the
larger
sites
in
the
county.
It's
in
a
pretty
strategic
location
at
the
crossroads
of
some
really
good
transportation
systems,
and
we
have
jointly
pulled
together
with
them
a
work
group
to
look
at
sort
of
conceptually
the
master
plan
for
that
site.
B
How
do
we
take
that
site,
which
is
very
valuable
and
do
more
with
it,
including
and,
most
importantly,
in
the
short
term,
these
extra
high
school
seats
yeah?
So
this
will
be
a
sort
of
a
phased.
Probably,
what
will
develop
is
jointly
looking
at
some
phase
development
processes
and
options,
leading
to
maybe
more
beyond
these
400
high
school
seats
down
the
road
interesting.
B
The
working
group
will
do
it
to
work
in
a
relatively
short
period
of
time
within
a
year,
but
there
will
be
more
steps
after
that,
they'll
be
doing
the
larger,
broader
conceptual
work,
but
each
phase
then
has
to
you
have
to
dig
into
an
each
building
that
goes
in.
There
is
a
county
library
on
that
site.
We
have
to
figure
out
how
to
integrate
or
replace
the
Columbia
Pike
library,
which
now
sits
on
that
property.
So.
B
Working
group
includes
many
citizens,
it's
it's.
Essentially
all
citizens
representing
some
of
the
local
neighbors
representing
subjects
some
of
the
larger
community
advisory
groups
and
they
will
work
through
with
I.
Think
Kathleen
is
the
chair.
We
have
identified
Kathleen
McSweeney
as
the
chair
and
the
schools
in
the
county
of
both
jointly
appointed
all
these
folks
and
they'll
begin
their
work
in
the
month
of
December
and
then
really
get.
You
know
hard
to
work
in
January.
A
Interesting
to
see
what
they
come
up
with,
we're
gonna
take
another
quick
break
now
and
when
we
return
we'll
take
a
look
in
our
final
segment
of
the
guidance.
The
board
gave
the
county
manager
for
that
proposed
fiscal
year
2019
budget
and
why
we've
decided
to
rename
the
county
government
office
building
we'll
be
back.
C
A
C
A
C
You
know
our
guidance
was
really
in
the
form
by
by
things
that
we
know
and
things
that
we
don't
know,
but
we
are
concerned
about,
and
what
we
know
is
that
there
is
a
gap
on
the
county
government
side
between
revenues
and
expenditures.
It's
a
modest
gap,
but
it's
a
Gatton
on
the
list.
So
we
we
know
that
we
have
that
issue.
C
We
expect
that
the
Arlington
Public
Schools
is
going
to
have
a
budget
gap
as
well,
but
what
we've
directed
the
manager
to
do
is
to
deliver
a
budget
to
us
that
balance
is
fully
without
raising
the
property
tax
rate.
We
recognize
that
in
an
area
where
our
citizens
face
rising
assessments
every
year,
even
if
we
do
nothing
to
the
tax
rate,
their
tax
bill
increases,
and
you
know,
there's
certainly
a
degree
of
insecurity
that
that
places
on
our
residents.
C
So
we
want
to
make
sure
we
can
deliver
government
in
a
way
that's
affordable
to
them,
but
also
that's
high-quality.
So
the
manager
has
some
tough
work
to
do
to
figure
out
how
to
deliver
that
program.
With
those
constraints-
and
you
know,
let
me
just
be
very
clear-
we've
got
some
clear,
you
know
issues
it's
it's
a
PS.
We
have
challenges
with
Metro
and
transportation.
C
There
is
the
federal
conversation
of
tax
reform
and
how
that
will
impact
funding
to
the
state,
also
the
security
of
our
residents,
so
those
unknowns
really
put
us
in
a
fairly
uncomfortable
position
and
at
the
same
time
we
recognize
that
the
cost
of
delivering
core
government
goes
up
every
year,
inflationary
costs.
We
can't
do
anything
about
so
we
have
to
figure
out
how
to
do
all
of
that.
This
year,
it's
going
to
require
some
really
deft
work
by
the
manager,
but
rest
assured,
it's
gonna
mean
changing
some
priorities.
C
A
Challenging
year
now,
but
I
know
that
we've
already
started
talking
with
the
community
about
this
kind
of
thing
focus
on
Syria,
you
had
a
series
of
kind
of
focus
group
discussions
to
talk
about
private
budget
priorities.
Those
can
went
through
the
fall,
I
believe
how
what
were
some
of
the
outcomes
that.
B
And,
to
some
degree
the
superintendent
you
know
got
the
pulse
of
the
community
helped
for
help
them
understand,
as
the
managers
trying
to
explain
to
us
as
well.
What
his
framing
of
the
you
know,
outlook
for
next
year
would
be
and
I
think
it's
important
too,
to
say
that
the
tradition
here
and
it's
this
year
as
well-
is
conservative
and
a
conservative
approach
to
this.
The
projections
of
revenue,
or
it's
a
long
way
out
before
you
know
what
they're
yet
going
to
be.
But
you
have
to
make
projections
to
build
a
budget.
B
We
have
traditionally
made
very
conservative
projections
so
that
I
don't
remember
time
in
20
years
where
we
got
to
the
spring
and
we
had
less
revenue
than
we
anticipated.
That's
a
good
thing:
you're
conservative,
that
in
January
you
get
the
real
property
tax
numbers.
Then,
as
you
move
through
the
next
months,
you
get
a
little
bit
better
information
on
each,
but
traditionally
you'll
get
a
little
bit
more
revenue.
B
As
you
go
to
the
spring,
we
have
uncertainties
at
the
federal
level
that
hard
to
it
hard,
don't
know
how
that
will
play
out,
but
the
the
process
now
is
to
the
manager
got
guidance
from
this
board
about
how
to
frame
and
what
they
were.
The
cap
on
that
budget
was,
and
it's
keeping
the
tax
rate
steady.
B
There
was
an
assumption
in
there
about
Metro
that
any
of
metros
additional
needs
that
you
read
about
in
the
paper
will
be
dealt
with
elsewhere.
We
do
not
have
the
capacity
to
deal
with
those,
so
that's
an
assumption,
built
in
there's
an
assumption
built
in
that
our
affordable
housing
investment
fund
will
remain
level,
there's
an
assumption
that
the
schools
will
make
do
with
the
additional
revenue
coming
from
those
projections
of
around
sixteen
million
or
so
so.
B
B
C
C
Public
engagement
even
right
now
carry
you
reference.
The
budget
roundtables
that
were
conducted
in
the
fall.
There
is
a
report
on
the
the
output
of
those
conversations
that's
available
online
I
believe
if
you
type
budget
into
the
County
website,
which
gives
a
sense
of
what
the
community
is
prioritized
up
until
now,
and
then
throughout
the
the
spring
budget
season,
there
will
be
myriad
opportunities
for
the
public
to
engage
culminating
in
in
hearings,
public
hearings
that
the
board
will
conduct
on
both
the
budget
and
the
tax
rate
before
we
go
ahead
and
adopt
it.
C
Continuing
conversation,
but
you
know
one
of
the
great
things
I
think
about
the
way
we
do
it
in
Arlington
is
we
really
are
transparent
and
upfront
with
our
community
from
the
earliest
possible
stages,
because
one
of
the
worst
things
is
to
get
to
the
spring
when
we're
making
these
decisions
and
for
people
to
have
been
in
the
dark?
Okay
right.
C
A
C
B
B
In
fact,
when
I
ran
for
office
myself,
it
was
her
seat
that
I
ran
for
so
she
left
in
1997
73
to
97,
and
her
name
is
well
known
in
local
government
circles
in
regional
circles
in
Arlington
she
has
had
a
lot
to
do
with
many
of
the
wonderful
assets
and
and
the
what
this
community
has
become.
She
was
a
civil
person
who
believed
that
government
had
a
positive
role
to
play
in
people's
lives.
She
was
thoughtful.
She
was
determined
she
engaged.
B
The
community
I
think
she
created
that
Arlington
way
concept
and
the
opportunity
to
sort
of
carry
that
name
forward
and
put
it
in
a
prominent
place
so
that
people
will
never
forget
sort
of
from
where
we
came
and
one
of
those
great
families
that
had
so
much
to
do
with
creating
today's
Arlington
and
a
lot
of
our
success.
The
found
you
know
the
fundamentals
that
that
we
keep
building
on
was
really
I
think
exciting
for
all
of
us.
We
had
a
great
crowd.
C
C
We
can
name
our
County
office
building
and
we
can
have
yet
another
celebration
of
Ellen
and
you
know
Cara
I,
don't
know
if
you've
sort
of
picked
up
on
what
Jay
was
alluding
to,
but
between
Jay
and
Ellen,
the
seat
that
he
occupies
has
been
held
by
two
people
over
the
last
44
years.
I
mean
this
is
a
really
big
deal
when
you
think
about
the
evolution
and
continuity
of
Arlington.
C
B
A
Well,
that
brings
us
to
the
end
of
another
county
board
wrap-up.
Thank
you,
Jay
and
Christian
for
walking
us
through
some
of
the
board's
decisions.
Now,
if
you
want
to
watch
the
County
Board
meetings,
they're
live
streamed
and
archived
on
the
county's
website.
Arlington
Va
us
just
search
county
board
and
remember
to
tell
us
what
you
think
about
these
issues
and
more
by
going
to
topics
dot,
Arlington
Va
us
slash,
engage
we'll
be
back
again
next
month
for
the
final
show
of
2017
enjoy
the
holiday
season.
In
the
mean
time
and
we'll
see
you
then.
D
D
For
the
first
time
had
the
downtown
stores
department
stores
moving
out
to
Arlington
Clarendon
was
was
a
good
part
of
the
shopping
it
had
pennies.
It
had
a
movie
theater,
it
had
Sears.
By
doing
the
planning,
as
Metro
was
being
constructed,
I
think
we
put
ourselves
in
a
much
better
position
than
other
counties
around.