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.
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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. Â EDA Secretary Miguel Pires expressed concern over the outcry he has heard from citizens about the height.
Pires said that during a recent meeting about the Comprehensive Plan, there “were a lot of people” that spoke out against tall buildings in the city’s downtown. About 20 to 30 people spoke don’t want to see buildings over three stories tall.
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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.
The hotel will be located at the Landing at Cannon Branch development on Gateway Drive, behind the Manassas DMV office. The planned 98-room Tru by Hilton hotel is now the commercial anchor of the center after Heritage Brewery announced it would not build a new distribution center and restaurant.
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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. Â
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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.
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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. Â
“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.
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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.”
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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.
