Prince William leaders to send list of $41 million in outdoor parks projects to voters

WOODBRIDGE — Outdoor parks projects won favor with the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.

On Tuesday, the Board of County Supervisors voted 4 to 3 to put forward a list of projects totaling $41 million to voters for approval on the November 5 General Election ballot.

At Howison Park on Minnieville Road near Spriggs Road, Supervisors said they would spend  $6 million to add trails, bathrooms, spectator seating, and parking improvements to what largely is a soccer park used by leagues, and is home of Prince William Soccer Incorporated.

The list also includes up to $20 million for trials improvements for Broad Run, Dale City, Lake Ridge, and the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail which runs along the Potomac River.

Supervisors said also said up to $3 million should be spent on adding artificial turf fields to George Hellwig Park at the intersection of Dumfries and Bristow Roads near Independent Hill, and up to $6 million on new fields at Fuller Heights Park in Triangle.

Supervisors Jeanine Lawson, Peter Candland, and Frank Principi voted against the plan.

The vote came after Supervisors decided to split up an original list of $200 million in parks projects into two separate ballot questions. The second — whether or not to authorize up to $5 million for a new Occoquan Boat House used by crew teams, and up to $47 million for a new indoor aquatic and fitness center in Woodbridge — failed in a four to three vote with Supervisors Ruth Anderson, Victor Angry, and Corey Stewart voting yes.

As for the “Mac Daddy” of projects on the original park bond list, an $84 million indoor sports complex to be located in the eastern part of the county, Supervisors directed Parks and Recreation chief Seth Handler Voss to continue to pursue building the center as a public-private partnership with a private business with financial support from taxpayers.

The same goes for an indoor field house to be located in the western area of the county. Both indoors centers will not be on the November ballot.

Throughout the evening, Candland protested the effort to the list of bond projects to the voters and said the need for the Board to raise taxes for the projects would be inevitable. He denounced what he called a process of the Chairman widdling down the list of projects to win votes and approval from fellow Supervisors.

“This night stopped being about the county’s needs and became about you creating some type of legacy,” Candland told Stewart, who is retiring from the Board at the end of the year.

A $6 million project for improvements at James S. Long Park in Candland’s district was removed from the list without objection.

“We don’t have a district supervisor who is willing to fight for it,” said Stewart.