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Fauquier County

With good schools and low taxes on their minds, Virginia's counties and cities are balancing budgets

Schools across the commonwealth are trimming their budgets where they can, even as they plead with county and city boards to provide more funds. Local government officials are left with the difficult task of balancing the needs of the schools -- and other departments -- with the urgent call to keep taxes low during the economic downturn.

Read more in your local press....

Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 6:17pm

Local governments pinched by declining revenue, climbing expenses

School and county Boards of Directors are struggling to balance budgets amid declining tax revenues, cuts in state funding, and rising expenses. What they choose to do could affect homeowners for years to come.

Read more in local news....

Posted on Thursday, April 1, 2010 - 10:42pm

New lanes open on I-66 in Gainesville

photo by aimhelixI-66 commuters on Tuesday will enjoy two new lanes on the westbound side of the highway. The new lanes were built as part of a $75 million project to increase the highway's capacity from four to eight lanes between Prince William Parkway and Route 29 in Gainesville.

Free-flowing highways are a high priority for Northern Virginia home buyers looking for easy commutes into the Capitol.

Read more in the Manassas News-Messenger....

Posted on Monday, March 29, 2010 - 9:18am

NOVA Homeowners Invited to Economic and Housing Forecast Summit

For the fourth year, the Dulles Area Association of REALTORS® will sponsor an Economic and Housing Forecast Summit to discuss what’s in store for the housing market and local economy.

This event is for any member of the community who is interested in learning about the local housing market. The speakers will dicuss the importance of improving the housing market to infuence the economy, and how the market in NOVA has been improving over the last few months.

The Summit will be held on Friday, October 30th from 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. at the Loudoun County School Administration Building, 21000 Education Court, in Ashburn, VA.

The Summit will include a panel of top national, regional and local economic and housing experts who will discuss recent trends and the outlook for housing and the economy for Northern Virginia and the nation.

The $25 non-member registration fee ($20 DAAR members) includes program and breakfast.

To sign up, go to DAAR's website.

Posted on Monday, October 26, 2009 - 8:28am

Work Starts on Virginia Piece of Multistate Line

Work has started on the 65-mile stretch of high-voltage multi-state line that will run through part of Northern VA, according to Philly.com.

The line will help meet the growing power needs in the area.

"Dominion Resources says work has started in Virginia on a 65-mile stretch of a high-voltage line that would run 265 miles from Pennsylvania to Loudoun County.

Dominion spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson says work is ongoing in the Culpeper and Fauquier areas. The $243 million portion of the line from Meadow Brook to Loudoun is expected to go into service by June 2011.

Richmond-based Dominion and Greensburg, Pa.-based Allegheny Energy claim the $1.3 billion, 500-kilovolt transmission line is necessary to meet growing electricity demand in the region.

The line would run from Washington County, Pa., across northern West Virginia to Loudoun County."

Read the original story.

Posted on Monday, October 19, 2009 - 11:46am

VA Court Considering Power Line Challenge

Dominion Virginia Power and Pennsylvania-based Allegheny Energy want to build a 500-kilovolt transmission line through part of Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia according to a story recently published in the Culpeper Star-Exponent.

Dominion says the power line is necessary to statisfy the growing demand for electricity, but opponents have taken their case to the state Supreme Court stating there are better alternatives.

Property owners in Loudoun County, Fauquier, Prince William and Culpeper can certainly benefit from having a stable source of electricity, but should still make sure their rights are not violated in this effort.

"Opponents of a multistate power line that would run through northern Virginia will plead their case to the state Supreme Court.

Oral arguments are set for Tuesday morning.

The Piedmont Environmental Council, the counties of Fauquier, Prince William and Culpeper, and a citizens group called Power-Line Landowners Alliance are challenging the State Corporation Commission's approval of the project.

Dominion Virginia Power and Pennsylvania-based Allegheny Energy want to build the 500-kilovolt transmission line from Washington County, Pennsylvania, to Loudoun County, Virginia. The line would cross northern West Virginia.

Dominion says the power line is needed to satisfy growing demand for electricity, but opponents say there are better alternatives."

Read the originial article.

Posted on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - 10:56am

Chesapeake Bay Reports Call For More Livestock, Runoff Regulations

Last week federal officials released parts of a strategy to restore the Chesapeake Bay, according to NewsDay.com.

The report focuses on expanding regulation of large-scale animal farms and municipal stormwater runoff. Although details of the expanded regulations have not been decided, the report did mention that federal leadership and "muscle" would be used when necessary to enforce the new regulations.

This report, along with others wll be used to develop a bay restoration strategy scheduled for release on Novemeber 9th.

Because many of the Virginia localities in the Chesapeake Watershed are heavily farmed areas, many Virginia property owners could be affected. Property owners will need to ensure that their rights are protected in the process of restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

"Federal officials on Thursday began revealing the building blocks of a strategy to restore the Chesapeake Bay, using federal leadership to encourage states to cut pollution and federal muscle, when necessary, to ensure it happens.

Among recommendations in draft reports from federal agencies: expanded regulation of large-scale animal farms and municipal stormwater runoff, and requirements that increases in pollution be offset by reductions from other sources.

The details, such as how many more animal feeding operations would be regulated, have not been decided, but 'the message here is that there will be, there is a commitment at EPA to increased enforcement and increased oversight of state programs,' EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Thursday.

The reports will be used to develop a bay restoration strategy, scheduled for release Nov. 9, that was mandated by an executive order issued earlier this year by President Obama.

The EPA said it was working with Chesapeake Bay states and the District of Columbia to establish limits for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediments. States would have to develop detailed plans on how to reduce levels of those pollutants from sources such as farms, highways and lawns. The EPA said it would step in if states don't take sufficient action.

While large operations such as industrial chicken farms would be regulated, the EPA said it would also expand regulation of municipal stormwater programs to include high-growth areas.

Jackson said the goal was to use federal leadership, and 'federal muscle when necessary.'

Agriculture is responsible for about half the pollution entering the bay, but Jackson noted there is more turf grass in the bay watershed than corn acreage and the region is much different from when bay restoration efforts began decades ago."

Read full story.

Posted on Monday, September 14, 2009 - 10:50am

Northern Virginia Housing Market Shows Signs of Stabilizing

There have been a number of signs to show that the housing market in Northern Virginia is stabilizing, according to a recent article in The Washington Post.

Some encouraging facts include:

-  Being on pace to have half the number of foreclosures as last year
-  Average price of homes is stabilizing
-  Properties are moving faster
-  The number of homes being sold is increasing

Real estate experts are very happy to see these kinds of stats, and area homeowners should be too. An improving real estate market means more security in home values.

"Real estate agents and county officials in Northern Virginia say the local housing market is showing signs of stabilizing.

Carolyn Capalbo, a real estate agent in Manassas who works in Prince William, Loudoun, Fairfax and Fauquier counties, said she has noticed a 'sharp shift' in the past six months, as a swell of buyers, many looking to purchase their first home, have been jockeying for a smaller pool of houses.

'It's a seller's market,' Capalbo said. 'We have a lot of relocation people who they feel like can come in and get the deal of the century but find themselves in competition over property, and they're shocked.'

The number of foreclosures in each county is down from last year, according to county data. In Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park, foreclosures through the first half of this year numbered 2,200, on pace to total far fewer than the 8,300 last year, said Bill Vaughn, county economist and demographer.

Read full story.

Posted on Friday, September 11, 2009 - 4:20pm

Believe It or Not, Traffic is Getting Worse in the D.C. Region

According to The Free Lance-Star's transportation reported, traffic is getting worse in the Northern VA/DC region. A recent study showed that traffic issues around the country decreased in most major cities, but got worse in the DC area.

Future tansportation plans like high-speed rail could help to alleviate some of the congestion on the major roadways around the DC region.

"NO, it is not your imagination. Traffic really is worse than it was six months ago.

Real-time traffic information provider INRIX found congestion in most U.S. cities stayed level or shrank this year, growing nationwide at only 0.5 percent. That's not surprising, given the recession, high unemployment and a downward trend in vehicle miles driven. Washington, of course, was an exception. Despite all of these factors, traffic in the D.C. area got 9 percent worse.

Another way D.C. is different: The worst travel hour nationally is Friday from 5 to 6 p.m., but in Washington it's Thursday night from 5 to 6.

INRIX considers Washington the fourth-most-congested city in the nation for the first six months of 2009, after Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, in that order. It beat Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Seattle."

Read full story.

Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 8:40am

NOVA Commuters Anxiously Awaiting VRE Express Trains

According to InsideNova.com federal stimulus money might help advance railroad services in NOVA, and pave way for the Virginia Railroad Express.

Commuters are anxious for the express trains, which could get them to work faster (and with less of a headache) than driving. Homeowners can jump on the bandwagon of supporting this project because in the long run it will do wonders in improving quality of living and increasing property values.

"Virginia will apply for $72 million in federal stimulus money this month to build a third set of rails between Prince William and Stafford counties.

The state is expected to file for the money Aug. 24, and if approved, it will go to fund a third set of train tracks between Powell’s Creek in Dumfries and the Widewater area of Stafford County.

The project is part of the state’s comprehensive vision to bring high-speed rail to the Northern Virginia from Petersburg, and in part will pave the way for Virginia Railway Express to start running express trains on their Fredericksburg line.

The express trains will be 10 cars long and originate during the mornings in Fredericksburg and from Washington in the evenings. The trains would run during peak travel times and stop at only two stations along the route before reaching the end of the line, said VRE spokesman Mark Roeber.

'Those trains would take as much as one lane’s worth of traffic off the highway in one fell swoop, and anyone who boarded the express service would be guaranteed to beat any car on the road and get to work faster,' said Roeber.

The trains would travel at speeds of 90 mph, which is considered the standard for high-speed rail in the U.S. But officials are working to increase the speeds to 110 mph while negotiating with the company, which currently owns the tracks, CSX."

Read full story.

Posted on Thursday, August 13, 2009 - 1:16pm