Relocation of a portion of the W&OD Trail is just one part of the Vienna Community Center expansion and renovation project – but it’s an important part. So the Town Council dealt with this issue at its July 7 meeting.
“This comes at my request,” said Town Attorney Steven Briglia. “It appears to me that we haven’t formally asked the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority [NVRPA] to incorporate this in the plan.”
By doing so, he explained, the Park Authority would know “the Council endorsed, at least in theory, this plan. And then we’ll work with the Park Authority to come up with the particulars of the site plan.”
Vienna Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Salgado said the NVRPA actually presented the original concept for the trail realignment in early spring. “This is the one that [the renovation project’s architect] Lukmire worked on with [Town] staff,” she explained. “And we sent it on to the NVRPA as a means of kick-starting this project, to get it moving down the road a little quicker than it has been.”
“But then there are adjustments wanting to be made and safety issues to consider,” said Vienna Mayor Laurie DiRocco. “So, therefore, we’re going to be working [toward] what works with the renovation, as well as addressing the safety concerns.”
Salgado agreed, and then DiRocco noted that the Town Council has discussed this matter during several work sessions, but didn’t officially vote on it.
Councilman Emil Attanasi then made a motion that the Council approve of the W&OD trail-realignment concept and authorize town staff to negotiate an agreement regarding it with the NVRPA. Following a second, the Council members approved unanimously.
BZA’s Potter Resigns
In other business, longtime member of Vienna’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), Marshall O. Potter Jr., has resigned from his position. In his official letter of resignation to DiRocco, he acknowledged all the cooperation he’d received over the years from the Town Council and Town Officials during his tenure on both the BZA and Planning Commission.
He also gave high praise to Vienna Planning and Zoning Director Greg Hembree, calling him the “guiding light” of the BZA and Planning Commission. Potter said Hembree’s “expertise relative to the workings of both entities has always been and continues to be exceptional.”
Potter served the Town for 30 years and lived here for four decades, but said he was tendering his resignation because, as of Aug. 1, he’d be moving away.
“I am extremely sorry to be leaving the town where I have been a resident for approximately 40 years,” he wrote. “It is truly a wonderful place to live and I have so many pleasant memories of my residence here. The town deserves its reputation as being one of the finest towns in the country in which to live.”