A consideration to limit the height of flag poles and monuments in Stafford County is making its way to the Board of Supervisors’ agenda. 

At the July 7 Community and Economic Development Committee, committee members Garrisonville District Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer and Rock Hill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch voted to send the item to the general Board. Chairman of the committee, Gary Snellings of Hartwood, was not present at the meeting. 

Right now, flag poles and monuments are exempted from count height restrictions. To limit the height of flag poles, this wording would have to be removed from the code. 

Should the Board pass this resolution, the maximum flag pole height in residential/agricultural zones would be 35 feet, and the maximum height in commercial areas would be 65 feet. Each individual zoning district has a max height restriction for structures. 

Requests for taller flag poles would require a Conditional Use Permit that can be obtained after public hearings with the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission.

Existing flag poles that exceed the height regulations, if passed, would still be allowed to exist as they were up before the policy was put in place. 

A confederate flag that is visible from Interstate 95 near Falmouth is on an 80 foot-tall pole. While the flag has drawn the ire of residents over the years, the pole is protected by a grandfather clause and would not have to be removed should the height restrictions be passed.

Regulations on flag pole heights vary across different localities. 

In Prince William, the maximum height is 40 feet in all zones. In Spotsylvania, there are no restrictions in residential areas and a 25-foot max in commercial zones. 

A storage shed in Manassas Park caught on fire after a lightning strike hit the private property, totaling over $25,000 in damage.

On Monday, July 6 at 11:32 p.m., firefighters arrived to take care of a structure fire call that occurred at the location of 131 Holden Drive, in Manassas Park.

Keith Nguyen, the assistant to the city manager, told PLN that a lightning strike had hit a shed that contained storage for the residents living in the private property and set the structure ablaze.

When discussing damages and whether or not the city will have to be involved, Nguyen stated the following:

“As this was a naturally occurring event on a private property, the typical homeowner insurance claim process between the residents and their insurance company is expected to occur. The city is not involved in that process,” Nguyen said.

According to Nguyen, the damages were determined to be between $25,000 to $30,000 in worth.

No one was inside the structure at the time of the fire, and no one was hurt, according to Nguyen.

The Prince William County School Board is making plans to reopen schools, a process teachers at a recent rally have claimed is lacking transparency.

With the coronavirus pandemic still ongoing, and the new school year starting August 25, the Prince William County School Board has been holding meetings to discuss how to safely reopen schools.

So far, they assembled a 90-person panel and a task force to discuss plans for reopening schools. The task force consists of principals, assistant principals, and lead teachers.

However, some teachers say they were given very little information about the panel, regarding who is on it or what its plans are.

“My concerns are how was this put together? Why can’t we know the members of this panel and email them with ideas or concerns? And does this panel have diverse representation on it?” said Oveta Scott, a sixth-grade math teacher at Fred M. Lynn Middle School in Woodbridge. “When [Superintendent Dr. Steven L.] Walts presents his plan to the school board, will the discussion from this panel be included?”

The school board has sent surveys to teachers asking if they are comfortable with virtual or traditional schooling. However, music and physical education teachers did not receive a survey, Scott claims.

In addition, the budget has been greatly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, money has been going into the community in the form of small business loans, a housing assistance program, and food campaigns. 

“The challenge now is that we were doing well in this first wave of COVID-19, but now we see that there’s a resurgence, and we don’t know how that’s gonna affect us,” said Board of County Supervisor Victor Angry, Neabsco District. 

The Prince William County School Board has asked the Board of County Supervisors for $42.5 million to safely reopen schools this fall. Prince William County School Board Chair Babur Lateef presented these cost estimates on June 16.

Discussions about the budget are ongoing as the Prince William County School Board monitors the situation.

In response to the alleged lack of transparency, teachers, parents, and representatives rallied outside the Edward L. Kelly Leadership Center near Manassas to voice their concerns and desires on Friday, July 3, 2020.  

At the rally, multiple teachers and representatives spoke up about their grievances, and their desire to be more involved in the reopening plans.

“When certain decisions are made and teachers are left out of the process, it doesn’t seem like there’s much accountability on the part of the superintendent and his staff. So, they have asked for more accountability, so that when something is not done in the correct way, people are called out for it and reprimanded for it, and they have a plan on how to change that,” said Occoquan District Supervisor Kenny Boddye.

Teachers asked elected officials to serve as intermediaries between them and the school board.

“Every time I get a comment or concern from a parent or staff member, I have a list that I’m synthesizing of their concerns so that I can bring it up if their questions don’t get addressed,” said Lisa Zargapur, who represents the Coles District on the Prince William County School Board.

Some plans that teachers and these officials discussed include having a teacher representative on the school board and having more support staff and funding for if schools reopen this fall. They have also asked for an open-door policy, where teachers can go directly to the school board and tell them their concerns. 

“Today’s rally was more about hearing from the teachers and staff of Prince William County. Just providing them with an opportunity to share their vision of returning to school safely. I think that there could have been better transparency and inclusion in the process, and I think that today begins a new day to hopefully ensure that that happens,” said the Prince William Education Association President-elect, Maggie Hansford.

At a meeting on Wednesday, July 8, the school board will announce its plans for the upcoming school year. 

Obituary Pending

Commuters traveling down the intersection of Courthouse and Mine roads in Stafford County will see a new traffic signal activated this week.

To allow motorists to adjust to the presence of the new traffic signal, it will be activated and placed in flash mode starting today, July 6, and continue to flash through early Thursday, July 9.

According to a press release from the Virginia Department of Transportation, the signal will go into full-color operation between 10 a.m. and noon on Thursday.

The new traffic signal was funded and installed under permit as part of a development agreement in Stafford County. The signal is located on Courthouse Road at its intersection with Mine Road near the Embrey Mill subdivision entrance and Jeff Rouse Swim and Sport Center.

Stafford County Public Schools (SCPS) is collaborating with local area businesses to collect and provide new school supplies for students in need through its Collect for Kids drive. Supplies are going to be collected through July 27 and will be distributed to schools on August 4.

Community members are encouraged to drop off school supplies at one of the following locations throughout the month of July:

• Alvin York Bandy Administrative Complex  located at 31 Stafford Avenue Stafford, VA 22554
• Fire Headquarters located at 1225 Courthouse Road Stafford, VA 22555
• Fire Station 12 located at 20 Sebring Drive Fredericksburg, VA 22406
• Fire Station 14 located at 53 Shelton Shop Road Stafford, VA 22554
• Jeff Rouse Swim and Sport Center located at 1600 Mine Road Stafford, VA 22554
• Staples Store #1264 located at 295 World Avenue Stafford, VA 22556
• Sweet Frog Store #35011 located at 315 Garrisonville Road, Ste 101 Stafford, VA 22554
• The Giveback Team at Coldwell Banker Elite located at 100 Parkway Boulevard Stafford, VA 22554
• Triton Fitness 30 located at Blackjack Road Fredericksburg, VA 22405

For donors who would prefer a virtual option because of times of the coronavirus or otherwise, SCPS has provided an Amazon Wishlist. Individuals and businesses may send school supplies directly to the school division without leaving their homes.

On August 4, volunteers will fill donated backpacks with the collected supplies and deliver them to SCPS schools. Volunteers will be needed to sort and distribute supplies.

Walden University will provide a Chick-Fil-A breakfast for volunteers. Face coverings are required and social
distance procedures are in place during the sorting event.

For more information on Stafford County Public Schools and how you can participate in Collect for Kids, to include hosting a collection site, please visit staffordschools.net.

Computer engineer wins over $700,000 after choosing between two lottery tickets from his mom after she bought them from a local gas station.

George “Leo” Cayetano was driving his mother home from the grocery store when they stopped for gas at SAI Express at 17164 Jefferson Davis Highway in Dumfries. His mother went inside the store and bought one Scratcher ticket for each of them. When she returned to their car, she let him choose which ticket he wanted.

When they both scratched their tickets, his ticket choice turned out to be a $777,777 winner. Cayetano is the second top prize winner in the Lucky 7s Multiplier game from the Virginia Lottery.

“It feels unreal,” he told Lottery officials as he claimed his prize.

Lucky 7s Multiplier is one of dozens of Scratcher games available from the Virginia Lottery. Its prizes ranges from $10 to $777,777. There are still two more $777,777 prizes unclaimed in this game.

The odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 734,400. The odds of winning any prize in this game are 1 in 3.27. Mr. Cayetano, who is a computer engineer, said he intends to use his winnings to help his family.

“Of course, I’m going to share it with my mother,” he said.

Authorized by Virginia voters in a successful 1987 poll, the Virginia Lottery generates more than $1.7 million per day for Virginia’s K-12 public schools.

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors wants input from county residents to help develop the county’s 2021-2024 Strategic Plan. Residents will have the opportunity to participate in several ways, including via an online survey and virtual community conversations.

“Community engagement is a vital component of the strategic planning process, and the input provided will be key in selecting goals and priorities that will guide the county’s vision for the future,” said Kaye Wallace, the county’s strategic plan coordinator.

The online survey is available now through Aug. 30 at surveygizmo.com in English and in Spanish surveygizmo.com.
It asks county residents about the issues they think are important to include in the strategic plan.

In addition to the survey, individual members of the board will hold virtual town halls to give residents a chance to provide input on the strategic plan. The community input will allow the 2021-2024 Strategic Plan Team, consisting of board appointees and county staff, to sharpen the focus on what people want from county government, Wallace said:

“In July and August, we’re going to be asking people to take the survey
and participate in the community conversations. That is what’s going to help us hone down and figure out the community’s goals and priorities.”

Dates of the community conversations will be set as the survey continues. For more information about the strategic planning process, visit the county’s website at pwcgov.org/strategicplan or email [email protected].

Wallace said the team is looking for as much participation as possible.

“We want broad-based input from the community, so we would really like as many people as possible who live and work in Prince William County to complete the survey and participate in the community conversations.”

Once the strategic plan team identifies and analyzes the community’s priorities using the information gleaned from the survey and the community meetings, it will work on creating a draft strategic plan. In December and January, the board and the community will have opportunities to provide feedback on the initial draft, with final adoption of the 2021-2024 Strategic Plan set for February 2021.

Wallace said the adopted four-year plan will help the board in its decision making.

“The strategic plan is a guiding policy document that lets the Board of County Supervisors know what issues and goals are important to the community. The board then uses that guiding policy document to help make decisions on where to spend taxpayer dollars.”