As she stood on the front porch of her Fredericksburg home, Mayor Mary Kathrine Greenlaw delivered some grim news earlier this month in a video posted to the city’s YouTube page as the city battles the financial strain of the coronavirus pandemic.
Greenlaw announced that the city would be furloughing roughly 41 city employees effective May 2. Twenty-eight of whom are currently listed as part-time employees, while 13 full-time employees will, unfortunately, be furloughed as well.
The employees affected will be placed on furlough status until July 31.
“It’s now time for us to take aggressive action to address the pending financial crisis here in the city,” Greenlaw said in her video announcement. “These feel like drastic actions, and they are. We must pull back and regroup on our budget now, so that we can move forward again on a strong financial footing.”
Some of the positions and departments affected by the furloughed employees include:
- One full-time and three part-time police department workers
- Four full-time public works employees
- Three full-time and one part-time parks and recreation employees
- One part-time sheriff
On a more positive note, though, the city will pay for all insurance premiums for the furloughed full-time employees, including the employee’s share, to maintain health, dental and eye care benefits until July 31. Those furloughed will still be eligible for unemployment benefits, thanks in part to guidelines that were recently revised by the federal government.
Fredericksburg, along with just about every locality across the country, will face budget cuts from lost revenue after states imposed stay-at-home orders during March and April to limit the spread of coronavirus. Virginia’s stay-at-home order is set to expire on June 10.
“Our community is doing a good job of staying at home and doing your part to flatten the curve,” Greenlaw said. “While case numbers are still increasing, they are showing promise that all of our hard work to practice social distance is indeed working here locally.
In addition to budget-cutting efforts, Greenlaw also announced that the city will be implementing a salary reduction for all employees that won’t be affected by the furlough.
All employees that make under $70,000 per year will see a 2% reduction in their pay. Meanwhile, a 3% salary reduction will be applied to all non-public safety employees that make more than $70,000 per year. The temporary salary reduction will begin on May 2 and will last until the furlough date expires on July 31.
“These actions represent only a small part of the reductions we need to make on the current budget,” Greenlaw said.
As for the bigger picture, some of the other budget cuts include a freeze on city hiring, retracting some pending plans for the Central Rappahannock Regional Library, city schools, the Buffett Pool at Dixon Park and other parks, and many planned capital projects.
“Our work may be slowed a little, but it does not stop,” Greenlaw said. “We will come back ‘Fredericksburg Strong.’”
As toilet paper shelves sit empty, flushable wipes are in demand across the region. The one catch is that the wipes aren’t supposed to end up in the sewer.
Those ‘flushable wipes’ that residents are sending down the toilet are starting to clog the system.
Kathy Bentz of the Prince William Service Authority is urging residents to stop flushing wipes and hygiene products down the toilet as well as dumping oil, fat, and grease down the sink. When those products get into the pipes, it creates a clog in the pipes that county workers have to manually clean.
“There shouldn’t be any circumstance where these products can be flushed down the toilet,” Bentz said.
Wipes and other products that get into the system can not only clog the community pipes but they can also clog pipes that are in your home.
“These are costly repairs for your system as well as the county’s,” Bentz said. “You don’t want to deal with those plumbing costs.”
The sewer systems are built to deal with small amounts of wipes through devices called grinders and channel screens that grind up and catch non-flushable items.
“When the flows are heavy, it’s difficult for the system to keep up,” Bentz said.
For fat, oil, and grease, Bentz says not to throw the cooking waste down the drain, but rather let it cool and then throw the waste away in a garbage bag.
The county has dealt with this issue in the past. They’ve had to shut down certain pipes to clean and replace the grinders and channel screens which is ‘costly’ according to Bentz.
Not only are the backups costly, but they also harm the environment. The pipe can burst and unsanitary water can pollute the environment if it were near a manhole.
“Dont flush those wipes,” Bentz said “The only things you should flush are the three P’s. Pee, Poo and Paper.”
Surrounded by Marvel action figures and posters on the bedroom wall behind him, all while sitting in the comfort of his own home, Del. Josh Cole (D-28, Fredericksburg, Stafford) hosted a virtual town hall Wednesday evening with Stafford County Schools Superintendent Scott Kizner and Fredericksburg City Public Schools Superintendent Marceline Catlett.
Both superintendents answered questions from the public about each school systems’ plan to continue educating its students from home after the coronavirus closed school buildings statewide until at least June 10.
Two weeks ago, Gov. Ralph Northam closed school buildings across the commonwealth for the remainder of the school year citing his concerns about the virus. The sudden change left school systems scrambling to create virtual lesson plans to continue educating Virginia’s students.
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Tapping his foot once, twice, and third time against the rough grey carpet in the School Board chambers, Stafford County Schools superintendent Scott Kizner looked back at the small crowd that faced the School Board meeting Tuesday night.
Immediately after his glance back, Kizner calmly addressed the School Board on his staff’s response to the ongoing fears of the spread of the Coronavirus.
Recently declared a ‘global pandemic’ by the W.H.O., the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, made its way to Virginia last week. The number of positive cases sits at nine, including one in Spotsylvania County, Stafford’s neighbor to the south.
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With Opening Day on the horizon, fans around the Fredericksburg region are getting ready to welcome in the newly formed Fredericksburg Nationals at their new ballpark on Thursday, April 23.
When preparing to spend your evening at the ballpark, keep in mind the team’s latest backpack policy which will be in effect come Opening Day.
This season and in the coming seasons, the FredNats will only allow clear bags and small purses into the new ballpark. Diaper bags will not be an exception and will need to remain in the car or at home according to the team.
“With the Fredericksburg Nationals moving into a new state of the art facility we took this opportunity to update our safety procedures to adhere to the policies that the NFL, collegiate conferences and some MLB teams have adopted to ensure the highest level of safety for our fans,” the team wrote in an email.
The Nationals know that this new policy may be initially viewed as an inconvenience to fans but the priority here is on safety. The team has included a free 12″x12″x6″ clear bag as a promotional item that will be given out to fans at the third home game of the season on Saturday, April 25.
In addition to the promotional bag, the team will sell a drawstring backpack that is 14″x17″ and another clear bag that will be different than the giveaway bag that will also be 12″x12″x6″ in the team gift store.
The Washington Nationals, the FredNats’ parent club, announced their clear bag policy just prior to Opening Day 2019. None of the other Minor League teams in
Washington’s Minor League system has implemented guidelines for a clear bag policy.
Clear bag policies have seen an uptick in usage in recent years as the NFL implemented a no-backpack policy just after the Super Bowl in 2018. MLB, the NBA, and the NHL, meanwhile, allow for each team to decide its own backpack policy.
The FredNat’s new stadium will be located in Fredericksburg, next to the city’s convention center, at 2171 Carl D. Silver Parkway.
Stafford County Schools superintendent Dr. Scott Kizner announced that he will resign from his position just two-and-a-half years after taking the reins. He will step down about a year from now.
Kizner, 62, announced his decision with a statement he wrote prior to the School Board meeting on Tuesday night.
“After much personal reflection, I have decided to end my superintendency in Stafford effective Jan. 1, 2021,” Kizner said. Kizner told board members that he has “no definite plans’’ about what’s next for him in his career.
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A new policy from Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Kizner means they can’t take pictures of athletes during school sporting events.
Professional photographers Sandie Waters and Jen Mulenbruck are the inferred subjects of the new policy. The duo had been hired to take photos of athletics teams at Stafford and Colonial Forge high schools, respectively. They’ve been shooting team photos since 2013.
“I am saddened by the decision, I also feel for the Colonial Forge wonderful photographer that this has affected also,” Waters wrote in an email to Potomac Local. “The tremendous outpouring of affection and support from all over has been totally overwhelming! I appreciate everyone’s kind words and comments as they have shared memories they treasure that I have captured for them.”
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STAFFORD — Starting in October, Ferry Farm Elementary School will be home to eight modular classrooms that will not be built with restrooms.
It is the first time trailers will be used as classrooms in Stafford County.
The School Board held a special called meeting Wednesday evening to discuss and take action on using four double-modular classrooms and a single modular building for administrative staff.
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FREDERICKSBURG — Fredericksburg baseball fans are one step closer to seeing Minor League Baseball in their city — construction on the new stadium is set to begin in July.
Currently, the site stands dormant with rocks, trees, dirt, and even a local business sign that needs to be excavated before construction can begin.
The Potomac Nationals, the Nationals’ Single-A Advanced affiliate, plan to make the move down from their current stadium in Woodbridge to Fredericksburg by 2020.
“Site work is set to begin in early July on the stadium to be located in Celebrate Virginia South,” the team wrote in a press release.
The $35 million state-of-the-art stadium is slated to open in time for Opening Day 2020 which broke ground back in February where over 1,000 fans were on-hand to participate in the festivities.
Even if the team weren’t able to open the stadium due to construction delays, they wouldn’t be in violation of the agreement with the city.
The agreement states that Fredericksburg would have the right to terminate the contract if the stadium weren’t ready by April 1, 2021.
In the agreement, the city will pay the ballclub $1.05 million every year for the next 30 years. In return, the ballclub will privately fund the stadium.
The team has already sold all 13 suites in its stadium and has more than 1,250 members of its Founders Club. These members will have priority season ticket seating when it becomes available in July.
“[It’s] unheard of to sell every suite a year before the stadiums opening,” part-owner Seth Silber said back in February.
The stadium will also include a family-fun pavilion, a water park, a homerun porch, an ice-skating rink, a year-round restaurant and 5,000 seats.
The team will also discount tickets to military members every Sunday in their partnership with SimVentions. They will also include a “Hats off to Heroes” with the playing of God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. The Washington Nationals participate in the same ceremony every home game.
The team had more than 2,400 responses in its “Name The Team” contest that was conducted during April.
Fredericksburg residents provided input on the name, mascot, and colors.
The team plans to unveil the team name and logo to fans at a public event in the early fall.
“Based on this incredible response, Fredericksburg Baseball is moving forward with finalizing the team name, developing a new logo and uniform designs,” Fredericksburg Baseball said. “The team plans to unveil the team name and logo to its fans early this fall at a public event.”
Fredericksburg Baseball plans to open its downtown store on July 5 located on the first floor at 601 Caroline Street. The team plans to have the store open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. that day.
Fans will be able to buy all types of Fredericksburg merchandise, including hats and t-shirts.
Fans can see the progress on the stadium’s construction at the team’s official website and follow the team on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
The Potomac Nationals won the Carolina League Mills Cup as recently as 2014.
They won the Northern Division last year but ultimately fell short in a one-game, shortened series against the Buies Creek Astros.
