The city council unanimously approved Fredericksburg Model-A Tours, which will provide sightseeing rides around town in Ford Model-A cars dating back to 1927.
It will offer visitors a 15-to 20-minute car ride for up to six people at $20 per passenger. The council approved the city and private firm agreement late last month. The cars should start rolling in early August 2023.
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In late May/Early June we heard about the possibility of commercial air service coming to Manassas Airport. Finally, in late June the Airport Commission Board Chair confirmed the dream could become reality in mere months if the city council and the mayor find it acceptable.
Thousands of small airports across the country would be expressing gratitude for any air service planning to come to their facility. Air transportation is a major employer, providing vital economic benefits and boasting high occupancy rates. Air transportation is a major contributor to the economy, bringing in outside businesses and consumers.
The economic impact and social benefits of bringing commercial air flights are too innumerable to list, but what can be summarized is that bringing tourism and trade to any new area will foster the growth of that area significantly.
Avports, the experienced operator behind this application, is very optimistic, and they have indicated they will entrench themselves in this area much the same way as Omniride has, caring about our residents and being a pivotal part of the community.
That said, like all businesses, Avports measures its success by profitability, of which load factor plays a major part. Load factor is how full the airplanes are arriving to and departing from Manassas Airport. Avports has stated that Florida and other popular East Coast destinations will be the primary targets for testing.
Air service is a “use it or lose it” form of transportation to our community. Airlines serving the greater Washington market need to make money, or they will move their assets to other markets.  We are not just in competition with surrounding airports for our air service; we are in competition with every other community in the nation that wants air service. If an airline thinks its aircraft can make more money in another market, they will likely move that aircraft asset.
It is imperative that we support Avports and the air service that they are providing our community. At times, there may be seats available at less cost in other close-by markets; but every passenger leaving the Manassas market to fly from another airport further restricts our ability to grow our services and to get additional air service.
The Prince William Chamber of Commerce and our 1,300 members stand proudly in support of this project.  As its CEO, I would challenge the greater Washington region to commit to flying from the Manassas Airport.
Avports view our market favorably, but the future of expanded commercial air service in Manassas depends on the community’s commitment to fill the service they are going to provide.
Thank you, and Let’s fly.
Robert Sweeney
CEO, Prince William Chamber of Commerce
Please welcome our newest meeting documenter, reporter Jacqueline Vontersch, who comes to us from Elon University and lives in Prince William County. PLN meeting documenter reporters are a community of trained and paid residents who report on local government meetings in PLN's coverage area.
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The Manassas City Council deferred a decision on allowing commercial airline services at its airport during its next meeting on July 24, 2023.
The city aims to contract with Avports, LLC to bring as many as 30 commercial flights daily to the airport in jets, accommodating nearly 200 passengers.
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Colonial Downs, Rosie's Gaming Emporium operator in Dumfries, wants to max out the number of video slot machines at its gambling venue in the Triangle Shopping Center.
The Dumfries Town Council will take up the measure during its meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the town hall, 17739 Main Street, Suite 200, in Dumfries. Here's the agenda.
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The Stafford County Board of Supervisors is split on how much information it needs to decide where to approve data centers.
During its meeting on Tuesday, June 27, Supervisors voted 5-2 to send back a list of recommendations on where to allow data centers back to its planning commission for further study. In March 2023, the supervisor asked the planning commission to make a list of recommendations for a new chapter of the county's comprehensive development plan focusing on data centers, similar to a new chapter focused on solar farms.
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Press release: "Karla Justice ...[is] condemning the extremely racist remarks made by Supervisor Kenny Boddye. While being interviewed by the Prince William Times about the recent primary election results, Supervisor Boddye seemed to suggest that the Democrat nominee for Board Chair, Deshundra Jefferson, only won because she was black."
"During the interview, Boddye is quoted as saying, “I think it speaks to the support on the Democratic side to elect candidates of color; she is poised to be the first Black and Black woman chair.” Jefferson, the Democrat victor in the primary upset cited Boddye’s remarks as “extraordinarily racist.” Karla Justice said 'I'm joining Deshundra Jefferson and a host of other leaders in condemning my opponent's remarks as extremely racist and out of touch. I am so proud of our very diverse community for making their voices and concerns heard on Primary Election Day. I resent the idea that any of our candidates were elected simply because of their race.'
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My name is Verndell Robinson. I am an award-winning realtor of seven years who is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Maritime Law. I am running for Potomac District Supervisor because we deserve transparency and accountability from our elected officials.
For instance, most other major counties in our region maintain a lame-duck session policy. A lame duck session is the period between Election Day in November and December 31. Instituting a lame-duck session policy to prevent political games and contentious votes is routine during election years. In particular, focusing on avoiding contentious land use matters during the lame duck session. Instituting this policy gives the public confidence and ensures that Board members and elected officials do not engage in any political games or “pay to play” backroom deals.
But here in Prince William County, it’s clear that some of our current supervisors do not care to uphold that level of transparency and trust with voters. At the center of this issue is their continued push for rampant data center developments.
A lame-duck policy has been proposed in Prince William County to specifically prevent any major land use matters, including data center development applications. Supervisor Bailey remains silent on whether she’ll support the resolution to protect Potomac District residents from political games in the July 11th vote.
I question the motives of her silence. Is she indebted to the data center industry? Did she not hear the cries of the 254 registered constituents saying they do not want more data centers during a two-day Board of County Supervisors meeting?
Why hasn’t she shared the intended Potomac Tech Park on Rt 234 near Forest Park, even though there are already 11.7 million square feet of dedicated data center space elsewhere? Prince William County has a crescent that was not supposed to be touched, but now it seems that our pro-data-center supervisors want to turn it into a concrete jungle.
Maybe her political donations give us a better understanding of her motives. According to her reported donations to the Board of County Elections, most of her donations come directly from landowners who are selling to developers, unions that support data center developments, those who stand to profit from data centers, and the data center developers themselves.
Andrea Bailey has never voted against any data center project, and now she wants them right here in our district. As you know, data centers in residential areas bring with them a host of problems: noise, lower residential tax value, and electrical overload. With the approval of the master plan in December of 2022 for the rezoning of the Potomac Tech Park, data centers are now a Potomac District problem.
To compound the issue, initial applications only bring more applications in return. Now, there are proposals for the land directly across from the intended Potomac Tech Park. This is an area where developers have already shown interest in expanding their current proposal to neighboring residential subdivisions, namely Minnieville Manor, Mallard Overlook, and Ashland.
Potomac District residents: We must fight back now! We deserve a voice that will listen, and that will act in the best interest of the public and not themselves or the data centers. We must stop the political games of lame-duck sessions and prevent applications like Potomac Tech Park from being forced through.
I urge you to support candidates like me, Verndell Robinson, that will listen to the voices of the people. ACT NOW to help pass the lame-duck resolution. Demand Supervisor Bailey makes her position clearly known and demands that our Board fully supports this resolution by emailing [email protected].
Verndell Robinson
Candidate, Prince William Board of County Supervisors Potomac District
Editors note: Potomac Local News aims to share opinions on issues of local importance from a diverse range of residents across all our communities. If you’ve recently spoken at a Board of County Supervisors meeting, send us a typed copy of your remarks for publication to [email protected].
The Prince William County Police Department welcomed 27 recruits.
Prince William police: "Welcome #PWCPD Session 55. Our new Police Officer Recruits have embarked on their journey in our Criminal Justice Academy. We wish them well during their training & for a safe & successful career. Good luck all!"
