When drivers head out on Manassas streets might want to take it slower, and be extra cautious.

The number of traffic crashes is at a five-year high in the city. When comparing 2019 to the previous year, the number of crashes rose 7%, from 648 in 2018 to 648, respectively.

One of those crashes involved a fatality, according to newly released data from the Manassas City Police Department.

Chief Douglass Keen made his annual report to the City Council this week, adding the most crashes in the city occur between 4 and 5 p.m. on Thursdays.

While the fatal crash occurred at the intersection of Sudley Road and Godwin Drive, the most dangerous intersection in Manassas in 2019 was Liberia Avenue and Centerville Road.

Other troubled intersections include Liberia and Euclid avenues, Liberia and Signal Hill Road, Liberia Avenue and Prince William Parkway, Liberia Avenue and Mathis Avenue.

City leaders in December approved new traffic speed cameras to be installed at 10 intersections, including Liberia and Route 28.

By far, drivers not having the right-of-way was the largest factor in crashes in the city last year, followed by following too closely and failing to maintain proper control of the vehicle.

University of Mary Washington has several performances of the play “Ordinary Days” left this month.

University of Mary Washington Theatre will continue its 2019-20 season with “Ordinary Days”, music and lyrics by Adam Gwon. Remaining performances are Feb. 20-22 at 7:30 p.m., and Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. in Klein Theatre, duPont Hall at the University of Mary Washington. The box office opens at 5:30 p.m. and tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tickets are $25 for standard admission, $20 for students, senior citizens, alumni, and military. Groups of ten or more can receive a discount as well.

“Ordinary Days” is a musical about four young people living in New York City. When Deb loses a very important notebook, she becomes connected with Warren, who found it and is very excited to meet its owner. Jason and Claire are moving in together, and trying to navigate this major change in their relationship. Throughout this story, Deb, Warren, Claire, and Jason struggle to communicate as they search for connection, love, happiness, and purpose. Despite the vastness of the city, these four lives intertwine, celebrating the uniqueness of New York and both the extraordinary and ordinary moments of life.

“Ordinary Days” is directed by Gregg Stull, professor and chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance with musical direction by Kristin Baltes.

For further information, call the Klein Theatre Box Office at (540) 654-1111 or visit the FredTix website.

Stafford County says it’s going to use fish to attack its growing aquatic weed problem.

Hydrilla, an aquatic weed, is a problem for many bodies of water in Stafford County, including the 520-acre Lake Mooney resorvoir. Stafford County officials are implementing a recommendation of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) to introduce white amur or “grass carp” into Lake Mooney to help combat the issue. Because of hydrilla’s high growth rate, it can quickly take over a water body and impede recreational activities and aquatic habitats. To ensure the establishment of the newly introduced population of fish and to give the fish time to manage the weeds effectively, Stafford County asks residents to release these fish, if caught.

Hydrilla is proliferating at Lake Mooney and has the potential to create a serious issue, particularly along the shoreline. Listed as a federal noxious weed, hydrilla is a perennial aquatic plant that looks similar to the herb thyme and is found in many freshwater habitats around the world, according to Stafford County officials. This plant can grow up to 30 feet long and has a growth rate of up to one inch per day, officials say.

Introducing grass carp, a type of herbivore fish, is a more environmentally friendly move as well as a more economical solution. The advantages of using grass carp to manage aquatic weeds include constant feeding activity against growing weeds, low costs and longevity of the maintenance method once it has become established.

Carp must be stocked in sufficient numbers so that their consumption rate exceeds the growth rate of the plants to remove aquatic weeds. John Odenkirk, a biologist with DGIF, will help the County determine the number of grass carp needed, per acre, to keep hydrilla at an acceptable level while also allowing native vegetation to survive. Again, to help a successful establishment of the fish, residents are asked to release any carp they catch while fishing, Stafford County says.

Their coloring identifies these fish: an olive green or dark gray hue on top with a light gold or pale yellow side. Their belly is silver and their fins are light green or gray. They also have unusually large fish scales. The carp introduced into Lake Mooney in May 2020 will be 10 inches long. Carp can grow up to four feet long and have an average life span of 10 years, officials say.

Music from Broadway is coming to Prince William County for one night only this spring.

On March 7, 2020, at 7:30 pm at the Hylton Performing Arts Center, the MSO, under the baton of Music Director, James Villani, takes the stage for a concert titled “American Idols”, with music from three of America’s greatest composers: Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and Howard Hanson.

The highlight of the evening’s performance is one of Bernstein’s most popular works, Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story.”  The score brings together the musical’s most famous songs (“Somewhere,” “Maria”) and dances (“Mambo,” “Cha-cha,” “Rumba”), as well as the opening confrontation of the Jets and Sharks in the “Prologue” to the tragic “Finale.”

Tickets are available from the Hylton Center Box Office or by calling 703-993-7759. All children and student tickets (through college) are free.

Founded in 1992, the Manassas Symphony is the winner of the 2015 American Prize for Orchestral Performance, Community Division, as well as the winner of 2019 Kathleen Seefeldt Award for Outstanding Arts Organization.  The MSO is an Arts Partner of the Hylton Performing Arts Center near Manassas. The all-volunteer orchestra plays five concerts a year and is involved with many educational and civic events throughout the community. For more information on the Manassas Symphony, visit its website.

If you’re looking for summer employment, Prince William County Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism may be able to help you.

The parks department announced the dates of their summer job hiring events for the 2020 summer recreation programs. Hiring managers will be holding open interviews at each of the following events:

Saturday, February 29, 2020 – SplashDown Job Fair, 9 – 11 a.m., at Stonewall Jackson High School, 8820 Rixlew Lane, Manassas.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020 – Lifeguard Hiring Event, 6:30 – 8 p.m., at the Chinn Aquatics and Fitness Center, 13025 Chinn Park Dr., Woodbridge.

Saturday, March 7, 2020 – SplashDown Job Fair, 9 – 11 a.m., at Sinclair Elementary School, 7801 Garner Dr., Manassas.

Thursday, March 19, 2020 – Lifeguard Hiring Event, 6:30 – 8 p.m., at the Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center, 9100 Freedom Center Blvd, Manassas.

The SplashDown Waterpark hiring events at Stonewall Jackson High School on February 29, and at Sinclair Elementary School on March 7, will be accepting applications for Concessions, Cashiers and Guest Services for the waterpark only.

The Lifeguard hiring events at Chinn Aquatics & Fitness Center on March 4, and at Freedom Aquatics & Fitness Center on March 19, are for lifeguards only.

Lifeguard applicants must apply online before you attend either lifeguard hiring event. Applicants at these events will take swim tests, so bring your swimsuit to the hiring event.

For more information on the hiring events and positions available, please visit their website.

Those who are opposed to taller buildings spoke out at Monday’s Manassas City Council meeting.

A public hearing for the city’s 2040 compressive plan was advertised, and it what drew residents to come to speak on the matter. The city plan calls for a more urban downtown, with more apartments centered around the city’s train station used by Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express.

It also calls for more pedestrian paths, lanes on city streets for bicyclists, and more transit bus service.

Many residents who are opposed to such growth point to the 5-story Messenger Place apartment building, a structure built last year to house new homes and ground-level retail stores. It replaces the old Manassas Journal Messenger newspaper building.

“I like bikes. I had to see us use congested streets to put bike lanes. There’s got to be another way,” said Bill Briscoe, of Bristow.

“I’m really worried about any high-density housing that adds more parking, tears into green space, and is problematic to our sewers,” said Lynn Forkell Green, a city resident.

City Mayor Hal Parrish recused himself from the discussion. He’s a business owner that owns the Manassas Ice and Fuel Company in Downtown Manassas.

The City Council took no vote to approve the 2040 plan. Instead, it retreated into a closed session following the public hearing.

High school students are losing valuable time during their education because they’re tired, according to Benjamin Kim, a student representative on the Prince William County School Board.

Kim pushed for a later start time for high schoolers at the January 22 county School Board meeting. He cited both California and neighboring Fairfax County which both mandate schools begin classes after 8 a.m., he said.

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Traffic is moving again on Prince William Street in Manassas.

The project that began in late 2018, to widen the two-lane street, install new curb and gutter along the street to handle stormwater, and to add new bike lanes and a new sidewalk is finally complete.

“Don’t avoid it anymore. Use it,’ exclaimed Mayor Hal Parrish II, referring to the street that links Grant Avenue to Wellington Road.

For over a year, drivers were told to avoid the street was work progressed via the city’s website and e-notification system.

The $9.7 million project was in the works since 2000 and had an original start date of December 1 of that year, accordion to the city’s capital improvement plan.

City officials hope the new street upgrades will help to improve traffic and drainage problems. The project completion comes as the city is reviewing its comprehensive plan for 2040, which will help guide growth and development for the city.

Much of that growth could be centered along Prince William Street, as the plan calls for more urban housing located near the Manassas Virginia Railway Express / Amtrak station.

At about 10 square miles, Manassas isn’t a large city. And when it comes to the available on which to build, there’s not much left.

At Monday night’s City Council meeting, this fact was highlighted as city leaders reviewed the Manassas Comprehensive Plan, a document that will outline and guide development in the city of the next 20 years.

While much of the attention has been placed on the city’s downtown area, formerly known as Old Town before a 2015 rebranding effort by the city government, one resident says a piece of land between the city’s famed railroad tracks and Liberia Avenue, an industrial corridor, is ripe for development.

“It’s strategically located, and we think that development should be a vibrant mixed-use area to compete with town centers we will see in [neighboring] Manassas Park, and near George Mason [University Science and Technology Campus],” said Mike Vanderpool, of the law firm Vanderpool, Frostick, and Nishanian, P.C.

For years, Vanderpool and his Manassas-based firm have provided legal advice to city leaders. He says as the city runs out of developable land, “…the best place for us to be able to go is up.”

Going up could mean increasing the allowable height of which a building may be built. Many who spoke to the Council on Monday don’t want to see that happen in the downtown, instead of hoping to keep the neighborhood’s red brick, small-town charm.

The point to the Messenger Place apartment building that opened last year. At five stories, with 94 apartments, it’s the tallest building in downtown. “Taller buildings like Messenger Place should be somewhere else,” said Judith Molinelli, who asked city leaders to include a cap on building heights in its new 20-year plan.

The comprehensive plan proposes allowing buildings just as tall, but to build them with a “step back” configuration so the portion of the building that abuts the street is three stories, and then it gradually gets taller as the building rises.

This building style makes it feel as if the buildings aren’t towering over you as you walk down the sidewalk, say city officials.

Parking in downtown is also a concern. Increasing the density in downtown will mean developing all open lots, and a planned parking garage on the north side of the railroad tracks.

Parking lots in downtown will become rarer than they are today. And that may be by design, as the city’s plan also calls for more local bus service, bicycle, and pedestrian pathways, and a heavier reliance on the city’s downtown train station served by Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express for regional commuters.

If all goes to plan, Manassas will become a city of fewer vehicle drivers and more transit users.

City officials spent two years formulating the comprehensive plan, a document the city is required to have, and to update every three years, according to state law.

More than 1,300 residents participated in a series of town hall meetings called “Let’s Talk Manassas” to share their vision of how the city should look by 2040.

Many of the residents’ comments and suggestions were incorporated into the plan, said Manassas Planning Commission Chairman Harry Clark.

The City Council is expected to adopt the plan during its February 10 meeting.