MANASSAS — The city of Manassas will soon be getting a much-needed upgrade to its traffic signals which are using software that is over a decade old.

“We actually just had our kickoff meeting this morning with the contractor to get started.” Deputy City Manager Bryan Foster said on Thursday.

There are currently 62 signal lights in the city, with the 63rd light being installed near the new Landing at Cannon Branch at the intersection of Godwin Drive and Gateway in the next few weeks.

The new controls will be installed inside the silver control cabinets at signalized intersections.

The signal lights that hang above streets won’t change, and traffic shouldn’t be affected while during the installation process.

Foster explained that the city will also be doing “signal timing optimization” – how long a green light is in one direction and green light in another direction. Foster explained that the end result is improved timing.

“We do get complaints,” Foster said, about traffic in the city.

He cited the citizen survey and said that one of the biggest complaints is traffic and ease of getting around town.

The city’s current traffic controllers are old and have gotten out of date, Foster explained, and this is just a normal upgrade process. Foster said this is the first time the city has had new timing optimization since 2005.

The project is being funded by an $825,903 grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Foster said a new portion of the upgrade is something called “adaptive technology.” The city can use this for a maximum of 17 intersections.

This technology recognizes changing traffic conditions and volumes and will change the timing of the signals to adapt. Foster predicts that this technology will be used on the major corridors in the city such as 28 and Liberia.

Foster projects that the majority of the controllers and software will be online by this fall.

MANASSAS -- As Manassas continues to grow, many are calling for new rules to limit building heights in downtown in hopes to retain the city’s small-town charm.

On March 19 at the City of Manassas Economic Development Authority meeting, a discussion was had about the height of buildings in the city.  EDA Secretary Miguel Pires expressed concern over the outcry he has heard from citizens about the height.

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MANASSAS -- The developers of a new Tru by Hilton Hotel will receive a $10,000 grant from the Manassas Economic Development Authority once the new hotel opens.

The $10,000 check from the EDA to hotel developer Holladay Properties amounts to a quarter of the organization's total budget for economic incentives for 2018. The money will go to help offset the cost of development permits and fees and will be given after the hotel obtains its occupancy permit from the city.

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MANASSAS — Despite ample seating, there were plenty of empty chairs.

“This room should have been filled with people,” said Manassas Councilwoman Michelle Davis Younger.

Those residents who came to a town hall meeting had the opportunity to have their voices heard by members of the Manassas City Council and city staff on Monday night at the Center for the Arts at the Candy Factory.  

Mayor Hall Parrish II said that the two biggest things that city council does are develop the city budget and hire the city manager. Parrish held up the thick 500-page budget document for the fiscal year 2019 which takes effect July 1, saying everyone was welcome to come up and read it after the meeting.

Parrish briefly ran through the details of the $244.5 million budget – such as a 3 percent funding increase for schools, a 2 percent debt service increase, and a proposed 2-cent tax increase that would raise the average homeowner’s property tax bill by $219, as well as a continuation of the city’s triple-A bond rating and competitive pay for the city’s employees.

The first questions were predominantly answered by city staff, the first of which focused on crime and safe neighborhoods. One woman asked if she’s safe in her neighborhood at night.

City police Chief Colonel Douglas Keen told her to call the 911 dispatcher and if the dispatcher doesn’t answer her questions, to ask for the duty supervisor. He said if the duty supervisor doesn’t answer her, to call him directly.

The conversation then turned to traffic and roadways. One man asked about the status of the city’s efforts to install new traffic control software that will be used to manage signal lights on city streets. Deputy City Manager Bryan Foster said this joint project with VDOT should be implemented in the next six months. The new software and timing optimization will provide a “marked improvement” in the city’s corridors, Foster said.

As the city continues to add more people and more development, like Micron’s anticipated 1,100 new jobs over the next 10 years, a woman asked if signs used around the city to advertise public hearings could have larger text to read easier. She also asked if Downtown Manassas could have fewer high rises and the buildings could be kept to a lower height, an apparent reference to the new Messenger Place building that will house 94 new apartment homes.

Matt Arcieri, Planning and Zoning Manager for the city, said city staff has “actually looked at increasing the sizes” of the public hearing signs.  

Arcieri took the Downtown building size comment as a chance to “plug” a series of ongoing meetings about city’s comprehensive plan, which serves as a comprehensive roadmap for how the city is developed, where citizens are welcome to provide input. Phase 1 of the Comprehensive Plan Committee Planning is set to wrap up in June. The committee’s next meeting is Wednesday night, March 20, 2019, at the Manassas Museum.

Tom Osina, of Georgetown South, talked about an ongoing parking problem in the neighborhood of townhomes. He said a combination of the streets being too narrow and too many parked cars make it difficult to navigate the streets.

He also asked what the city is doing regarding the opioid crisis, and he also requested Spanish translators be present at city council and school board meetings.

Keen said that there “there’s not going to be a good fix” for the parking situation because it’s a public street. He said that if people want to improve the street parking they can talk to their homeowners association and try to assign a number to individual parking spots, but it’s “not an easy fix.”

As for opioid abuse, Keen said  Prince William County Health Department has educational outreach campaigns directed at the opioid crisis. Keen said that, regionally, “health departments are all working together” to address the “global” aspect of the crisis. He also said that the Manassas police will address high school students about the opioid crisis.

City Manager William Patrick Pate added that the opioid crisis it’s “not a city problem – it’s a regional problem.” Pate said that the whole Washington, D.C. region is looking at how to best address the opioid crisis.

Councilman Ken Elston added that “there’s a large social conversation [about the opioid crisis] that has to happen, and it is happening.” Councilwoman Theresa Coates Ellis said that the opioid crisis isn’t just in Georgetown South or Wellington neighborhoods – it’s everywhere. She said that it’s important to educate students on how to avoid opioid abuse.

Some residents wanted to speak about the potential of multiple families living in single-family homes.

Businessman and former city council candidate Amalfi Arias spoke about a house for sale on Liberia Avenue that has three front doors and three locks. He said that “The only way that house makes sense is if you’re an investor looking for tenants.”

“These are egregious violations,” he added, urging the city to address these issues.“We’ve become a magnet for this type of housing.”

Arias asked how does the city school division plan and budget “when you have three families living in one house? You can’t.”

Patrick Geary asked about the future of the E. G. Smith Baseball Complex near Micron. Pate said the city intends the land to remain a park, but it could be used for development — although he doesn’t see it happening now.

Manassas Economic Development Director Patrick Small said if private individuals want to invest in the property, they are welcome to do so. Wolfe added that there is a million in the budget now for the parks that will be put before council in April.

MANASSAS — A Meineke Car Care Center will not be built at Wellington Station shopping center has planned.

“It’s not happening,” Rob Lucas of Wellington Station Owner, LLC, said. He provided no further information.

Manassas Mayor Hal Parrish II said the car repair shop had rescinded its application at the March 11 city council meeting.

Meineke was originally slated to be located in the Wellington Station shopping center at 10024 Dumfries Road in Manassas. The 4,005 square-foot center was slated to have six bays, and be located on the end row of the shopping center which sits near a retirement community, The Gatherings at Wellington Village.

Meineke proposed planting 12-foot tall evergreen trees that would eventually grow to as tall as 20 feet, according to a company spokesman who spoke at a city council meeting in December. The trees, he said, would block the view of the auto shop.

According to the city, representatives from Meineke  “met with the Gatherings at Wellington Village (multi-family units) on May 9, 2018, and again with both the Gatherings and the Villages at Wellington (townhouses) on June 21, 2018.”

Despite the meetings, local residents still weren’t happy.

In a letter from residents of the Gatherings at Wellington dated December 2018, residents urged members of the city council to prevent Meineke from opening its doors. Residents cited fears of noise, increased traffic, bad smells, and an ugly view from their balconies.

The letter also noted that Meineke said they would keep their doors down while doing work to prevent noise and fumes from reaching their nearby homes. But how likely would that actually be, residents asked.

Wellington Village residents searched Google Earth and reviewed Meineke shops in 12 cities nationwide. Their letter states that out of the 41 doors they saw, only one was in the down position.

Residents said that they feared this closed-door policy would be hard for the city to police, and they also expressed sympathy for the mechanics working in stuffy auto shop conditions without the doors being open.

“Does anybody have the heart to force them to close it?” The letter asked.

“How long will Meineke’s commitment to keep their doors down at the Wellington site be valid? What will this installation look and smell and sound like four weeks after opening day or even two or three years later?” the letter states.

The residents also noted that out of all the shops they saw on Google Earth, none of them were located in residential areas.

“We also understand that the owner of the Wellington Station property, with a long-vacant store, was anxious to renew a rental stream. While their decisions may or may not be good for them, it is certainly not good for the hundreds of us who have to live with the consequences of their choices.” The letter states.

After announcing Meineke’s withdrawal, Parrish said, “…those that live in that neighborhood I’m sure are happy with that.”

WOODBRIDGE — Prince William County needs a new place to toss its glass.

China’s recent recycling ban has led to a slowdown in recycling processes, and for the need for an alternative place to send recyclable materials. The country no longer accepts glass, plastic, paper,  and other materials it once imported from the U.S.

That left recycling processing plants searching for other buyers for the materials that need to be processed for reuse. And it’s got county officials seeing wondering if they can now turn the unwanted glass into something that can be used at a construction site.  

“Glass generally has fairly low value,” said Solid Waste Division Chief at Prince William County Tom Smith. “It’s made from the sand so it’s not like a product that has value intrinsically.”

Add in the fact that glass is expensive to transport, since it’s so heavy, that all makes recycling glass very difficult. “The glass is also very difficult to pull, separate, and keep clean for a recycling market,” Smith explained.

Some of the glass that leaves the county, actually, comes back because it’s too dirty.

Smith said his new plan is to try to have some drop off points at the county’s landfill on Route 234, and a composting facility on Balls Ford Road where they can keep the glass clean and then crush it up and make it into a stone that can be used for construction.

“We’re in the process of evaluating all these options and hopefully by the end of the month we’ll have a recommendation going to our board [to] make the changes,” Smith said. The Prince William County Board of County Supervisors will need to approve this change. Smith said will make his case before the Board on March 19.

More than glass, his staff is reviewing all recyclables being collected in the county, and looking at how they’re sold to recycling firms, and who wants to buy it.

“We’re looking right now to kind of determine what actually should be going in the recycling bins,” Smith said. “A lot of glass has been going to the landfills, even the past few years.”

Because of growth, the county also needs more drivers to transport recyclable materials. Smith hopes the county’s 2020 budget to be approved in April funds the new jobs.

“…We’re just having more material delivered to the landfill, even garbage.” Smith said. “…Just the volume of people and trash coming to those facilities has gone up.” Smith said this is due to more people living in the county. “…in order to keep up with the hauling and moving of material we ask for those two additional drivers.”

Currently, county residents who don’t otherwise have at-home trash service may take recyclables to the county landfill or a compost facility on Balls Ford Road.

That material then goes to the landfill and the recycling goes to the two recycling facilities that the county uses – American Recycling on Residency Road in Manassas, and Waste Management Recycling on Notes Drive near Manassas.

MANASSAS — Vikings will return again to the most unlikely city: Manassas.

“I’ve just always wanted to do something Nordic,” said Erna Pomrenke, a city resident and founder of the Manassas Viking Festival.

Downtown Manassas will be visited by Vikings once again this May. Last year, close to 4,000 people attended last year’s inaugural event. The number of attendees “really took all of us by surprise,” Pomrenke said.

She expects more people to come out to the Downtown Manassas festival this year.

“I’d always had this Viking thing in the back of my head,” Pomrenke said. “We have all the Nordic countries represented.”

Born and raised in Iceland and now a board member of the Icelandic Association of Washington D.C., Pomrenke chose Vikings as the festival theme in appreciation of her Nordic culture.

This year, they’ll have all the same 50 vendors as last year – plus some new ones. The vendors hail from all over the U.S.

“It really is quite amazing,” Pomrenke said. Pomrenke added that all of the vendors did well last year.

“It makes you feel really good that people are not going home broke,” Pomrenke said. Some of the vendors from last year doubled the size of their booths.

Pomrenke said that while there are some Viking Festivals in the Midwest and the West Coast, and some of the Viking re-enactment groups have small reenactment festivals. The next closest festival is VikingCon in Charles County, Md., a place for fans of the Discovery Channel show “Vikings” to congregate.

Some of this year’s attractions will include:

• Nordic dancers of Washington D.C.
• Icelandic Horse Riding Club for the Mid-Atlantic States
• Hawks and owls
• The Phoenix Irish Dance Academy
• Swordsmen

A new attraction this year will be a Nordic dog breed show called “Val-howl-a Hall”, which will feature Norwegian puffin dogs and Icelandic sheepdogs, among others.

Perhaps the biggest star of the show is the Norseman, a 40- foot Viking Ship replica that comes from Leif Erickson Viking Ship, Inc. in Philadelphia.

There will also be re-enactors and battles on the Manassas Museum Lawn.

Manassas Police will provide security for the event. “This is a family-oriented, educational event,” Pomrenke said.

Twenty four Icelandic folk dancers won’t be coming back this year. Unfortunately, it is just too expensive, and Pomrenke can’t hire them because they would need to have work visas, she said

The budget for the festival is tight Pomrenke estimated that all the costs total at least $6,000 and while some of that is paid for by vendor fees, she has also had to reach into her own pocket for funding.

Originally when planning the festival, Pomrenke had looked at Fairfax but they were expensive and unaccommodating. Manassas, on the other hand, was extremely helpful from the get-go, Pomrenke said.

The festival is free to the public and goes from 10 am to 5 pm on May 11.

MANASSAS — Heritage Brewing no longer plans to build and operate its anchor brewery at the Landing at Cannon Branch.

The $9 million, 35,000 square-foot brewery was going to be the company’s second location and the centerpiece of the mixed-use development just off Godwin Drive in Manassas.  Retail shops, office space, a Tru by Hilton Hotel, and 294 condominium and townhomes are still planned for the site, with the homes already under construction.

According to a December 2018 report from property developer Buchanan Partners, Heritage Brewing faced financial troubles that caused them to put their plans on hold. According to the report, “To date, the developer has invested $420,000 and three years of time on this project.”

Heritage Brewing was named to be a recipient of a $250,000 state agricultural grant in August 2017 by then Governor Terry McAuliffe who attended a groundbreaking for the facility. Since the brewery won’t open, Heritage won’t see any of that cash, officials say. The brewer was to create 66 jobs as a condition of the grant.

Manassas Economic Development Director Patrick Small confirmed the brewer won’t expand at “Cannon Branch,” and with Heritage out, the “city and developer are actively seeking tenants for the retail and office portions of the project.”

If Heritage’s plans had stayed on track, it would have entered a crowded brewery market. The Landing at Cannon Branch sits near the $8 million Farm Brew Live complex just across the city line at Innovation Park in Prince William County. Its brewery, 2 Silos, said it planned to make more than 15,000 barrels of beer per year when it opened in 2017.

The Landing at Cannon Branch is the last large, developable piece of property in Manassas. It’s billed as waterfront property because it sits alongside a large stormwater retention pond next to Routes 28 and 234 (Prince William Parkway).

With the region’s wet weather over the past year, construction for a second phase of the housing project was bumped back several months. Buchanan Partners requested a six-month extension of the construction start date for lots 28 through 106, extending the construction extension through September 26.

The Manassas Economic Development Authority voted to grant the extension at its meeting Tuesday, February 19.

City officials remain excited about the 100-room Tru by Hilton hotel. The final design plans are in and the project is expected to close in April, Small said.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Three priests who served in Prince William County are suspected of sexually abusing minors, according to the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, which encompasses Catholic parishes in Prince William County and Fredericksburg.

Reverend Kevin Downey, O.F.M., served as Pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Triangle from July 2011 to May 2016.

According to a statement from Franciscan Friars Holy Name Province in New York from April 2017, Reverend Downey was placed on a leave of absence in May of 2016. Downey was accused of abuse outside of the Arlington Diocese, though it’s unclear where it allegedly occurred.

Father William J. Erbacher served at Sacred Heart Catholic Church near Dale City from 1993 to 1997. He’s been accused of sexual abuse of a minor in 1974 when he was serving at Brothers of the Holy Eucharist church in Louisiana, according to the Diocesan website. The Arlington Diocese was not aware of the allegations when he was made an ordained priest in 1987.

Erbacher was removed from active ministry in 2001. In 2010, he was directed to live a life of prayer and penance. Since then, Erchacher has been banned from Mass, administering sacraments, or wearing clerical attire to represent the church.

When asked about the time between 2001 and 2010, when Erbacher removed from ministry to then being directed to live a life of prayer and penance, Catholic Diocese of Arlington spokeswoman Angela Pellerano states, “In canon law cases, the process of gathering evidence, assembling the case, and deliberation and resolution by the [Vatican] can be time-consuming.”

Father Andrew W. Krafcik also served at Sacred Heart from 1991 to 1996 and retired from the church. He was removed from the ministry in 2002 and then defrocked two years later.

Father Tran Dinh Nhi served at Holy Family Catholic Church in Dale City from  2000 to 2005. He is accused of sexually assaulting a minor in 2006 and was removed from the ministry, according to the diocese. A review board found the accusation of sexual abuse against him was credible, though Nhi denies it.

“He remains removed from public ministry pending a final determination of his canonical status,” a press release states.

In Fredericksburg, three priests who served at Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church are accused of sexual abuse of minors. Father Christopher Buckner is accused in a 2007 incident and has since been removed from public ministry, according to a press release.

A review board found the accusation credible. Since then Buckner has fallen ill and was allowed to retire.

Father John J. Munley served at Saint Mary’s from 1987 and died in 1995. The date of the abuse is not being provided by the Arlington Diocese in order to protect the victim.

Reverend Robert Hermley, OSFS, also served at St. Mary’s in Fredericksburg from 1991 to ’92 and was accused of abuse that occurred outside the Diocese. The church declined to provide further details. “To avoid unintentionally revealing personal information regarding victims, we feel it is best to not publicize this information,” Pellerano wrote in an email to Potomac Local.

No priest who is still practicing in active ministry has been credibly accused of sexual abuse, the Diocese says.

Anyone who has been the victim of sexual abuse should contact local law enforcement.