Good evening, Mary Gaskins.

How are you?

I'm well.

How are you?

Doing great.

I can hear and see you perfectly.

Oh, good.

Um, I was just looking to see what are we missing?

Three people?

Uh the only one um participant I don't see is uh council member uh green.

Okay.

Again, good evening to all staff, council members, and city manager.

Uh we will go live around about six fifty-nine.

At that point, the public will have access to uh the Zoom feed.

So just wanted to give you a heads up.

Um if there are any questions, feel free to ask now.

Otherwise, uh we will be going live at six fifty-nine.

I can see you.

I can hear you.

Okay.

It is 7 PM, so we are going to officially call tonight's city council meeting to order.

Before we want to begin, I just want to state that due to the declaration of emergency related to winter weather issued by Governor Spanberger on January twenty-second, twenty twenty-six, and the local declaration of an emergency as declared by the city manager on January twenty-fourth, twenty twenty-six, uh, through the January twenty-fourth, twenty twenty-six.

That tonight's legislative meeting on January twenty-seventh, our meeting of the Alexandria City Council is being held electronically, pursuant to the Virginia Code section two dot two-three seven zero eight dot two A3 to discharge the city council's lawful purposes, duties, and responsibilities.

All members of the city council and staff are participating from remote locations through video conference on Zoom, and this meeting is open to the public via Zoom.

With that, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mayor Gaskins here.

Hi, Samar Bagley.

Here.

Councilman Aguirre.

Here.

Councilman Chapman.

Here.

Councilman L.

Newby.

Here.

Councilwoman Green.

Here.

Councilman McPike.

Okay, Madam Clerk, next item.

Moment of silence and pledge of allegiance.

Okay.

It is our practice that we begin every council meeting, every legislative meeting, with a moment of silence followed by the pledge.

We ask that all who are able please join us and I guess um stand where you are.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

Okay.

Next item.

Presentation of a proclamation recognized in February as Black History Month.

Okay, and I have asked, I think we have three guests joining us.

Um Rose Dawson, our director of libraries, uh Audrey Davis, our uh director of the Black History Museum, and I think there may be one other person.

So I apologize of not seeing your name just yet, but we'll work uh to get you on.

And then I have asked Councilman Chapman to read this proclamation.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, and uh we are a couple of days away from another Black History Month.

Um, and uh it is our custom with proclamations uh to go ahead and read the proclamation and then um allow the guests to kind of speak and usually they tell about uh some of the activities uh that we will have during uh black history month.

So I'll go ahead and read the proclamation.

Uh whereas in 1915, Dr.

Carter G.

Woodson of Virginia founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Asala.

And whereas in 1926, the Salah originate originated the original annual observance of Negro History Week, which has continued and is now celebrated throughout the month of February as National Black History Month.

And whereas the City of Alexandria observes and hosts a series of events to honor Black History Month, this year's following Asala 2026 theme, a century of Black History Commemorations.

And whereas during Black History Month, the Alexandria Black History Museum with the Office of Historic Alexandria and the off and the Alexandria Library draw on the richness of their resources and collections to collaborate with and cooperate with various city agencies in highlighting and interpreting the rich history and achievements of African Americans in Alexandria.

And whereas the Office of Historic Alexandria and the Alexandria Library continue to document, preserve and disseminate African American history through exhibit exhibitions and programs, which include performances, film screenings, storytellings, and lectures.

And whereas the Alexandria Library Special Collections will host programs and events that showcase prominent Alexandrians who are African American through the Earlish Murphy exhibit and the many oral histories collected during the Black Family Reunion.

And whereas the Alexandria Health Department supports the health and well-being of all of its BRAC residents, recognizing that Black Alexandrians have higher rates of preventable hospitalizations and chronic illnesses compared to the general population as a result of systemic racism.

And whereas to address the disproportionate impact of HIV AIDS in the Black community and the broad-ranging challenges this poses.

And whereas the City of Alexandria with support of the Office of Historic Alexandria, the Alexandria Library, the Office of Human Rights, and the Department of Recreation and Parks and Culture Activities.

Alexandria Police Department, Alexander Sheriff's Department, Alexandria Commonwealth Attorney's Office, the Office of Race and Social Equity, and the Alexandria City Public Schools have dedicated to supporting the city's Alexandric Community Remembrance Project and the All Alexandra Equity Initiative, which includes a commitment to educate the public about Alexandria's lynching history and to promote racial equity throughout the city.

Now, therefore, our John Taylor Chapman, on behalf of Aliyah Gaskins, Mayor of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, and on behalf of Alexandria City Council and the citizens of Alexandria do proclaim the month of February 2026 as Black History Month in Alexandria, Virginia.

And I call this observance to the attention of all of our citizens and witness whereof I have here into set my hand and cause the seal of them.

The City of Alexandria to be affixed this 27th day of January 2026.

Now I guess Madam Mayor, we'll turn it over to uh the guests that we have.

And I don't know what orders you want them to speak in, but I see the first person on my screen is uh the director, uh Ms.

Davis.

Okay, let's go in the order on your screen because I'm having trouble seeing anybody.

So uh let me address that.

Oh, good evening, everyone.

Thank you.

It's a pleasure to celebrate another Black History Month uh proclamation with the mayor and city council of the City of Alexandria.

We are looking forward to the month of February, where we encourage all citizens to explore Alexandria's rich and varied Black history.

We'd like our citizens to remember that Black history is American history and celebrate it 365 days of the year.

We invite you to visit our Freedom House Museum and the Alexandria Black History Museum.

And if you're down by the waterfront to go on our African American Heritage Trail walk, we will offer this year our annual uh poster exhibition, MLK poster exhibition, which has been moved to the Charles Houston Rec Center.

And this year we have a record number of posters, over 130 submissions from Alexandria City Public School students.

So we're very excited about that.

We will also be offering a concert again.

Last year it was a sellout with the Washington Rebels Jubilee Voices.

We'll have book signings and we'll also have a community conversation.

So again, it's I'm so pleased to be here and to share the wealth of Black history that we have in the city.

And now it's my pleasure to turn it over to Rose Dawson, director of the Alexandria Libraries.

Thank you, Audrey.

Um behalf of the Alexandria Library and its library board, I'd like to first of all thank the council and the mayor because we do not take for granted this proclamation.

Given the times in which we live, it is something it is amazing and impressive that this council recognizes and still honors the celebration of black history in this way.

And so we thank you.

Um we want to thank you and the city for supporting the library as we try to offer programs and services that meet the educational information and recreational needs of all Alexandria.

And so for the Black History Month, we have uh a variety of programs ranging from story times, such as the story time um at the Beatley Library on Mondays of this month, at which our little people will be introduced to um uh black authors and illustrators books written by black authors and illustrators, or you can venture over to the Duncan Library where the Creatives Club is celebrating black innovation at the Duncan Library.

Um, our national African American read-in is taking place at the Barrett Library.

And so for those who are interested, they are still looking for readings, so please feel free to visit our website and sign up.

Or you can go to the um Burke Library where they're having quilting and showing folks how to do quilting.

And last but not least, um uh the opening of the Elric Murphy exhibit was mentioned in the proclamation, and it is um a major exhibit that's featuring the photographs of a local black photographer, um, and that shows all of the African American life and living in Alexandria from the 40s uh up and through the 60s.

Um Char McCargo Ba and Rita Harris, his um Elric Murphy's daughter, will be doing a program on um the 21st of this month.

And if the weather does not cooperate, please join us for several virtual author programs that you'll be able to get online.

So once again, I'd like to thank you all for this proclamation.

Thank you.

And it is tremendous.

Every year we seem to have more and more activities and opportunities for folks young and old to come out and learn uh about uh our local African American history.

And so uh Madam Mayor, with that, I want to go ahead and move the proclamation.

Okay, there has been a motion by Councilman Chapman.

Is there a second?

Uh I think I heard Vice Mayor Bagley, so there's been a second by Vice Mayor Bagley.

Is there any further discussion?

Uh okay.

Seeing no hands and hearing none, let me just say this.

First, I want to thank uh Miss Dawson and Miss Davis for your leadership and your work to make sure that as a community we continue to tell our full history and also that we continue to find ways to celebrate the achievements and the resilience of not just black Americans but black Alexandrians.

I also want to thank just the many staff, other staff that aren't on this call, but I also know are working behind the scenes to ensure that the multitude of events that we have, not only at the museum and the library, but there are a number of other community events where the city has been asked to partner.

So just thank everybody for all your work and making sure that these events are a success and that they provide people with the history, the connection and the engagement that we want to see across our community.

And lastly, I'll just put in a second plug for story time.

My kids have been uh almost every year since they have been born, and it is really, really a special occasion.

So with that, there has been a motion and a second to approve the proclamation recognizing February as Black History Month.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Okay.

Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

And the proclamation passes.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Cog Board of Directors, Mayor Gaskins.

Okay, uh, this one's me.

So we had our first meeting of the year for the Council of Governments.

We did um, we started by thanking the honorable Rodney Les for his leadership as chair, and then we elected Ruben Collins, the Honorable Ruben Collins as chair, um, the honorable Charles Allen in DC as vice chair, and then myself as the second vice chair.

And so really looking forward to the year ahead and the work um on the board of directors.

We also spent some time thalk talking through COG's um legislative agenda.

I know tonight we will hear from Director Mercer uh talking about the um priorities that we have as it relates to transit funding and the work that is happening, not just in Virginia but in Maryland and DC to make sure that we are able to provide Metro with a sustainable and reliable funding source.

We also talked about other legislative priorities such as ticket reciprocity across the jurisdictions and um priorities around talent, um, particularly a new initiative called Talent AI, which is really focused on how we connect, especially many of our displaced uh federal workers, how we connect them to the um jobs that are here in the in the region.

And so um I will save most of my comments because I know we're gonna have a full present presentation later, but that is the summary for COG.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Help and safety coordinating committee, Mayor Gaskins and Councilwoman Green.

Okay, um, Councilwoman Green, do you want to kick us off?

I will.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

And it is an honor to serve on this committee with you and all the directors of the departments that touch health and safety in our city.

We met in our new location last Friday at the Lease Center, and we are happy um that the Lee Center is accommodating us while City Hall is being renovated.

Um we talked um a lot about um the data that was in front of us, particularly around crime numbers as it relates to retail and um retail and domestic violence.

Uh we also had an update from our safe housing team, which we are focusing on at the Mason at Van Dorn and Brent Place, and then a lot of discussion on what do we do once these properties are kind of at a place where we could add other properties on um to make sure that uh we spread the wealth and the resources throughout the city.

So more information to come from that.

And then we had an update from our housing team who updated us on all the housing bills that are coming out of the General Assembly this year.

And I'm happy to say there are so many that are in review that would be um protecting tenants um across the state and Virginia.

Uh our next meeting will be March 6th at 8:30 a.m.

Uh at the uh Lee Center, and we look for we would you know love for others to join us for this meeting.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman Green.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Legislative subcommittee, Mayor Gaskins and Councilman McPike.

Okay.

And I'm going to ask Councilman McPike to kick off this one.

Yes, absolutely.

So the mayor and I have met with uh most of city staff it seems like uh each Friday evening for the last few weeks uh going through the lists of bills that are being filed uh down in Richmond.

We've also been giving instruction to uh Wendy Ginsburg and uh Sarah Taylor who've been on the ground in Richmond representing the city uh as bills uh aligning with or aligning poorly with uh the city's legislative uh package have come up for consideration in um committee the recommendations on support oppose and watch that the mayor and I have put together are being sort of finally collated by staff uh as we just passed the bill filing deadline a couple of days ago and we'll be presented to the full council for uh formal adoption I believe at the next uh city council meeting so we've been having uh a lot of discussion uh there's been a great number of bills regarding many of our top priorities including housing uh transit responses to uh the impacts on federal workers that we've been considering and uh look forward to seeing the full council consider the package uh when staff has it prepared uh for the next meeting thank you councilman McPike the only thing that I would add is this Thursday January 29th the majority of city council will head to Richmond for Alexandria's lobby day we'll continue to fight for all of the priorities that we have listed in our legislative package so if anyone's curious that package is online um but our purpose will be to go down to testify on some important bills and legislation impacting the city but also to meet with different delegates and senators to make sure that they are aware of um key issues in the city and key priorities that we have Madam Clerk next item City Council School Board subcommittee Mayor Gaskins and Councilman Chapman.

This meeting was actually canceled due to snow yesterday so uh we have no report to give Madam Mayor Clerk oh um councilman Chapman uh just a quick thing for anybody that's online if you get bored of our meeting and you want to pop over and look at um I think the the school board is having their public hearing on their budget uh right now online uh I believe you can go to their website for that link um that is the only thing uh that I would um let people know about our meetings are never boring councilman chapman uh madam clerk next next committee children youth and families collaborative commission vicemor bagley okay vice mayor hello everybody good evening um I was uh fortunate to be able to attend um the Children Youth and Families Commission meeting on the 20th um at that meeting they broke into goal groups to talk about three specific areas as focuses for the year ahead one was affordability one was safety and belonging and one was supportive school conditions and they broke out into those groups and basically wanted to focus on what are specific actions that the commission can take and advocate for with city council um to further those goals um I also was fortunate enough to stay after um and have a like a subcommittee meeting with um with the committee members um talking about advocacy to city council talking about our budget and you know I'll mention it here since we're heading into advocacy and budget season that um everywhere I go these days I'm hearing repeated refrains about sort of third pay third spaces for youth and after school activities for youth and um in and especially from middle school youth and making sure that we're thinking about those safe um inclusive spaces and availability of them throughout the city so um that was um the the bulk of the meeting there they were um Alan Lomax was a guest uh visitor from um Alan serves on lots of in lots of capacities but here he was um on behalf of the substance abuse prevention coalition and speaking on behalf of CHIP and the healthcare programs in the city and uh that so it was a good start to the year um and um doing that goal group work and that was um children youth and families thank you madam clerk next committee Virginia Railway Express Vicemair Bagley sure on um January 16th uh VRE met bright and early as usual at 9 a.m down in Woodbridge um we actually had a pretty quick meeting this year uh that that month um we voted on a few grant programs um and funding issues and I'll just highlight there was a funding uh vote on the VPRA project involving the replacements of the bridge at King and Commonwealth I know we've been getting some questions in the community about that those are hundred year old plus bridges that are often struck by things underneath them causing not only potential damage to the bridge but um delays for everybody around them so there is now funding and a project plan to replace those bridges in the two years ahead um it will improve not only the bridges for the trains going over them but for the people passing under them um widening the footers to allow for more space for everybody.

Those are hundred-year-old plus bridges that are often struck by things underneath them, causing not only potential damage to the bridge, but um delays for everybody around them.

So there is now funding and a project plan to replace those bridges in the two years ahead.

Um it will improve not only the bridges for the trains going over them, but for the people passing under them, um, widening the footers to allow for more space for everybody.

Um we also uh talked about the new train that was stood up.

VRE added a new train at the end of 2025.

Um, and it saw a 251% increase in ridership.

So to say it was uh long sought after and much awaited.

Um, the ridership was immediate um and people were riding it.

And um I also just want to flag for people.

Um we have started sort of the shuffle now as a result of the long bridge project, which will take about five years.

Um depending on when you're coming through in the afternoon from DC, headed back to the Fredericksburg line or the Manassas line, you may have to get off in Alexandria and shuffle onto a different train.

Look for the um the staff in the bright yellow high vis uh blazers with the trains or cool logo on the back, and they can help you get where you need to be.

Um, lastly, I ended my chairmanship of VRE at that meeting and was very pleased to hand the gavel over to Supervisor Andrea Bailey, who was unanimously success um selected from Pittsburgh County to chair VRE this year.

That's my report.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Next committee.

Waterfront Commission, Vice Mayor Bagley.

I'm just back.

I'm just leaving it on muted for a moment.

Um so the waterfront um commission met on the 20th.

It was a long busy day.

I had a couple of commissions that day.

Um there was a uh prolonged uh deep conversation that I do want to flag for this body and for my council members.

Um the our subcommittee on boards and commissions obviously came to us with a recommendation which we approved to sunset the waterfront commission at sort of a date to be determined based on the conclusion of flood mitigation and um you know pending projects on the waterfront.

Um the waterfront commission has sort of responded to that news by um to their credit, deciding to sit down, form a subcommittee, and really evaluate um what their role could be beyond that point in time, beyond sort of the flood mitigation work, which we hope to resolve in 29 and 30.

And so uh they are very focused on what they can bring to the table moving forward that other boards and commissions don't do.

Um, you know, they're aware that we have an arts commission, they're aware that we have a parks, you know, commission.

Um, and so they are sitting down to look at you know the things that they do that that really are unique to the waterfront and and and valuable to the city.

They're also going to examine their bylaws.

Uh the bylaws, if if um interestingly, are hyper-specific on this commission, um, down to like the exact you know, organizational seat rather than sort of a general seat.

So they're gonna look at those items.

Um, and I expect we'll see a letter or we'll see some other communications from them along those lines um before or when further um ordinances and stuff come before us related to this.

The other thing that there was some lengthy conversation about that I just wanted to highlight was um they had a deep dive on the transit peer usage and and generally the usage of our peers um along the waterfront.

And the revenue has been going down over time to those peers.

Um of that is due to this, the size shape design um of them and the cost that would be involved in significantly changing them, making them larger.

Um, it's essentially an 80s era marina is is the language that was used.

Um, we don't have Wi-Fi and some other some other things that people look for in a marina, but um, I thought it was a good and useful conversation in in context of the economic development that we're trying to do along the waterfront and the people we're trying to attract and the opportunities for you know more eyes and more people um to be moving along our waterfront.

Um those were the two major items that I highlighted, and then I wanted to um assure them that I would pass along.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, next committee.

Gang prevention community task force, Vicemare Bagley and Councilman El Nubi.

Counseling you want me to call a councilman on nearby first.

Let's give the country councilman on me.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor.

So gang prevention task force met on January 21, and we focused on youth safety and belonging.

Uh we discussed the Alexandria Youth Needs Assessment from the fall of 2024 that took place from the fall of 2024 to February 2025.

That work included input from about 1,800 middle schoolers and high schoolers.

137 youth listening sessions were held, and roughly 90 youth were directly engaged.

The TK, the key takeaway from that assessment was that we have needs for upstream prevention.

Many students don't consistently feel safe and don't have a sense of belonging, especially for Latino students.

The assessment identified six prevention strategies.

Those are expand access to safe after school and enrichment, improve community level safety conditions, built conflict resolution and coping skills, elevate youth leadership and peer-led solutions, expand mental health and therapy supports, and strengthened reporting, uh follow-through and trust.

We did break into groups to dive deeper into some of those strategies.

My group dove into the after school, the safe expanding access to safe after school programs.

And we're going to have follow-up conversations in the next meeting.

We also have a couple of memberships, one for representative from ARHA and one for representative from the high school.

Okay, thank you.

Madam Clerk, next committee.

I couldn't hear the clerk.

Madam Clerk.

Oh, I think you're muted, Madam Clerk.

Sorry.

Okay, can you hear me now?

Yes.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

Alexandria campaign on adolescent pregnancy.

Councilman Ageary and Vice Mayor Bagley.

Okay, we're going to start with Councilman Akiri.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, it was a busy meeting, uh, but there was not a lot to share because we uh basically met, gave a couple of quick updates, and then immediately went into our breakout groups uh to talk a little bit more about what we're going to be doing this year and how to be moving some policy.

Uh so I think at the next meeting we might have a little bit more details um from the readouts from the each meeting, the smaller breakout groups that we have.

Thank you, Councilman Agiri.

Uh Madam Clerk, next next committee.

COG Transportation Planning Board, Councilman Ageary.

Uh so at COG we welcome the new slate of officers.

Uh we have Neil Harris from the City of Gathersburg as the TPV chair as the first vice chair from DC.

We have Matt Frumman, and uh I have stepped into the second vice chair role uh representing Virginia.

We also discussed the unified plan, which happens uh every couple of years.

And it's uh basically explaining what the purpose of TPP is as a metropolitan planning organization for the National Capital Region.

Uh so there'll be a lot of work uh coming forward, uh, but it's always a good conversation.

Uh, we of course also spoke about the DMV moves uh effort and uh voted in support.

We passed a resolution in support of DMV moves and what our role will be.

And uh the last thing that I wanted to mention because there's actually some decent press coverage on this, is uh TPB State of the Commute Survey.

So uh the commuter connections program celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024 and uh has been conducting the survey in the region uh of our commuters and always uh is interesting to take a look at.

And you could, of course, uh with the digital toolkit be able to uh drill down by jurisdiction, which is very, very helpful.

And uh several times they used us as a good example.

Um, and of course, in Alexandria, we love utilizing transit, and hopefully we'll continue to do so.

Thank you, Councilman Agiri, and congratulations on your new uh leadership role.

Madam Clerk next committee, which I think is our final committee for updates.

Alexandra Workforce Development City Center, Councilman Al Nubi and Councilman McPike.

Hey, um, I see Councilman McPike.

Or actually, no, Councilman Al Nubi has been.

Councilman Al Nubi, yeah, we need to.

Oh, thank you.

Um, so the workforce development uh committee met uh on the 21st of January.

We discussed uh the summer youth employment program annual report um that covered the summer of 2025.

Some highlights of the report, um71 youth were participating in the program.

Um they were paired for paid work experiences with structured training and mentorship.

Um some of the things that were done this year that are new, um, age-specific cohort model, upgraded career readiness training and new career exposure field trips with Dash supporting transportation to sites like the Smithsonian Exhibit in Nova and Dominion Energy.

Um, for the next year um program, the application is open right now and it's open until January 31st.

So we encourage our youth to apply.

And that is it.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, next item.

General City Council General Member Updates.

Okay, we will now turn to general member updates.

Seeing uh Councilman Green has raised her hand.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, as we approach March, um, well, going gotta get through February 1st.

But as we approach March, uh, which is women's history month, I wanted to announce that myself and uh in conjunction with the city, we'll be sponsoring a women's health summit, which will happen on Sunday, March 8th at the Charles Houston Center.

We'll have wonderful health advocates and panelists and vendors that are passionate about bettering the lives of women in Alexandria.

There's more to come on this, but we hope that you will join us on Sunday, March 8th at 11 a.m.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, Councilman Green.

Other oral reports.

Uh Councilman Aguirre.

I feel like uh Councilman Pike had his uh hand raised first.

I'll come to him last.

I'll come to him last.

Sorry, one second.

Um screen's a little bit bigger here.

Um yeah, I think so, right?

13.

Um, just want to give a shout out to the uh newly inaugurated governor.

Uh several of us were down in Richmond for the inauguration activities.

Um it was a lot of a lot of fun and uh historic moment in all three positions.

We swore in the first uh woman governor, we swore in the first um statewide uh Muslim in Ghazala Hashmi, and uh the first African-American attorney general in uh Jay Jones.

And uh on Sunday I had the opportunity to stop by the executive mansion for their open house, and I was uh happily surprised.

Uh the governor was actually there taking pictures with folks.

So it was like, oh wow.

Although I was dressed very down and felt a little bit bad, but still, it was a good time.

Um, very happy for it.

And um what happened next.

Um, I also had uh opportunity to go into DC to celebrate um five years of Grupo 21, which is uh a Puerto Rican group, which uh helped support uh folks going into the administration at the federal level.

Um, and was actually utilizing some of those uh ideas to try and do some similar initiatives here in Virginia.

And um I think that's about it actually.

Yep, that's all from Nate.

That means in February, you're gonna have a lot of updates for us.

Uh okay, other oral reports.

I see Councilman McPike.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you to my colleagues.

Um, I have an announcement to make uh as you all and I imagine the folks watching at home are aware.

Uh the people of Alexandria are giving me the opportunity to embark upon a new adventure.

And while I'm excited about what is hopefully to come, it's also a bittersweet moment because moving into a new place means leaving a place that I really love, which is the city council.

Uh Alexandria is an amazing city, made so not just by its history and its architecture and the policies that it embodies, but by the people who live here.

And it has been such an honor to have the opportunity to serve this community on the city council for the last four years, working amongst such an incredible group of people as my colleagues here tonight and Justin and Amy who were on the council uh before.

I'm very proud of the accomplishments we've had over the last four years on housing.

We reformed our zoning code, and I actually got to make the motion to approve the zoning for housing package, which uh I hope will serve as a model for statewide efforts to increase housing supply across Virginia.

Uh, we created the Office of Climate Action and actually put it to work, culminating in last weekend's adoption of a green building plan.

In transit, we've maintained free Fair Free Dash.

We've expanded thus rapid transit to include Duke Street, at least we're putting that in motion.

We'll see.

Um and uh on the budget, we've held the line in really difficult times, trying to doing our best to not burden our residents too heavily with new taxes while still providing the services so many people in our city depend upon.

And we've only been able to do this because of the incredible staff that work in our city.

And I hope the residents of Alexandria realize how dedicated and hardworking the people who work for Alexandria are our city manager Jim, our city attorney Sharon, our clerk Gloria, our police author Amaratu, you are the four people that work directly for the council.

And I cannot tell you how much I've relied upon you and look to you for guidance over the last four years and how thoughtfully I've seen you do your work on behalf of the people of this city.

The deputy city managers, departments like Tess and Planning and Climate, budget and finance, and so many others worked every day to keep Alexandria running.

And it was a real honor to be a small part of uh that work.

I was only able to do that because of the tireless commitment of two other people, Carl Bach, my council aide, who is the hardest working man in the city of Alexandria and uh hopefully will be for a long time to come, and my amazing husband, Jason, uh who gave me permission to run for council in 2020 when I think he was a little skeptical and supported me all the way through and is now uh joining me on this next step.

Alexandria has an incredibly bright future because it's led by people like my colleagues here and driven forward by the people who call Alexandria home.

And though I will not be working on the council any longer, uh I hope to be have the opportunity to continue working with you, Madam Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, and my colleagues in a different capacity.

And so this evening I've submitted to the mayor and to my council colleagues a letter of resignation effective on February 9th, that I will be leaving the Alexandria City Council for parts unknown or perhaps known.

We will find out uh in about a about two weeks.

But thank you for this opportunity, uh, Alexandria.

It has been an honor to serve you.

And I cannot wait to see what this uh council, the person who replaces me and our incredible staff do to make Alexandria's future even brighter than its present.

Well, Councilman McPike, let me say this.

As much as you have loved being here, we have loved having you here.

And serving with you has truly been an honor.

We are the team and the impactful council that we've been able to be because you have been a part of it.

And I know you said you're going for parts unknown, but I think we know where you're going and we know how to find you, and you won't be able to stop working with us.

At this point, I do want to take a point of mayoral privilege and present you with an official proclamation on behalf of the council, which I'm gonna read.

Uh, had we been in person, I think we had a we had a whole surprise planned for you.

But I hope you feel as celebrated, as loved um, and as valued as as we want you to feel as our colleague, and as we know the many people that you've served and represented feel about you as well.

Well, I was sworn in at a virtual meeting, so it does fit that I'd be departing uh in a virtual meeting.

Just keeping the tradition going.

Uh, this proclamation is in recognition of the exemplary service of Councilman R.

Kirk McPike on the Alexandria City Council.

Whereas our Kirk McPike was first elected to the city council in 2021 and re-elected in 2024, and has served the City of Alexandria, Virginia and its residents, helping shape Alexandria's future.

And whereas prior to his election to council, Councilman McPike spent many years serving on Alexandria boards and commissions with a focus on affordable housing and budget issues.

He is the former chair of the Alexandria Economic Opportunities Commission, which works with the city to support services for lower income Alexandrians.

And in 2017, he was appointed to the Alexandria's Budget and Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee.

On BFAC, he worked with representatives from communities across Alexandria, business leaders, policy experts, and city staff to advise the city council on budgetary issues.

Whereas Councilman McPike grew up in Dallas, Texas, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Southern Methodist University.

He came to Alexandria in 2010 to run Adam Evans campaign for the Virginia State Senate.

He is also a graduate of the Political Leaders Program of the Sorenson Institute of Political Leadership at the University of Virginia.

And whereas Councilman McPike is a chief of staff to Congressman Mark DeCano, the chair of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, and a leading progressive voice in in Congress.

As chief of staff, he advises the Congressman on issues ranging from LGBTQ rights to foreign affairs.

On Capitol Hill, Councilman McPike is a member of the Congressional LGBTQ Staff Association and the House Chiefs of Staff Association.

Whereas Councilman McPike has represented the City Council on multiple boards and commissions, including the Workforce Development Center Committee, the Eco City Alexandria Environmental Action Plan Steering Committee, the High School Project Advisory Committee, the Legislative Subcommittee, the Economic Opportunities Committee, the Eisenhower Partnership Board of Directors, the Audit and Finance Committee, the George Mason Superintendent's Advisory Team, the ANOVA Hospital Task Force, the Subcommittee for the Review of Standing Committees, the Subcommittee on Personnel, and the Cog Air Quality Committee.

He has also been an alternate member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, the Cog Climate Energy and Environmental Policy Committee, and the Washington Metropolitan Council of Government's Board of Directors.

Whereas during his four years serving on the City Council, Councilman McPike has also worked with Mayor Wilson evaluating proposed legislation in the General Assembly.

In his first term on City Council, he introduced budget amendments to increase tax relief for seniors and address retention and recruitment challenges by increasing pay for first responders prior to the adoption of collective bargaining.

Councilman McPike helped to pass zoning updates to protect reproductive health clinics.

Councilman McPike has been a strong voice in increasing the supply of housing in leading efforts for the LGBTQ plus uh community and celebrating the diversity of our community with the installation of two rainbow crosswalks.

Whereas Councilman McPike and his husband, Cantor Jason Kaufman, live in the Seminary Hill neighborhood of Alexandria's West End with their Beagle Jenny.

Now, therefore, I, Aliyah Gaskins, mayor of the City of Alexandria, and on behalf of the Alexandria City Council, do hereby recognize, celebrate, and show the deepest appreciation for the many works of Councilman R.

Kirk McPike with special recognition for his remarkable service to our city as a member of the council and his tireless advocacy on behalf of current and future Alexandrians.

And I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens, in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Alexandria to be a fixed this 27th day of January 2026.

Thank you, Kirk.

With that, I do want to open it up in case any of our colleagues have words that they would like to share in honor of your service as well.

I see Councilman Al Newby, and then I see Vice Mayor Bagley.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Sorry, Vice Mayor, we're both his seatmates, but uh Councilman McPike, Kirk, um, congratulations.

Um, you'll be missed.

I truly enjoyed working with you, um, being your seat mate, um, being friends.

Um, I saw firsthand your dedication, your love for the city, but also how we also showed up prepared, how you put your tremendous legislative knowledge to work and help this body and help our city.

Um I could all I could always rely on you for advice.

Um, I know we worked on things together as well.

Um, I really appreciated working with you.

Um, you'll be missed.

Congratulations.

Good luck, my friend, and looking forward to continue working with you in your capacity.

Thank you, Councilman Newby, Vice Mayor Bagley.

Uh, thank you.

Um, to my my podcast co-host, um, you know, I this is um a day too soon, uh, you know, but um a very exciting one for you, and I'm I'm so proud of you and excited for what's ahead.

Um, I I wanted to express uh what a lot was in the proclamation, but just you know, a lot of people don't realize that we didn't know each other until we were on the campaign trail together.

And I think that's a very formative thing.

I think everybody here on the screen, you know, can acknowledge that.

And it's I think it's a real credit to who you are and and how your love of the city that meeting in that way led to a really valuable friendship and working relationship rather than anything else.

And um, I know how much I will miss your budget spreadsheet.

Um, you know, to my colleagues, uh, there's a very active Kirk is very good at Excel.

He knows all the tricks and can work it quickly.

And I will absolutely miss that from a practical perspective moving forward, um, knowing that uh Kirk could always track the smallest.

We never lost a thousand dollars anywhere, you know, if Kirk was tracking the spreadsheet, and I really did appreciate that and enjoy working with him.

And, you know, I I also just appreciated what I saw as Kirk's willingness to try new things and to and to get involved.

And you know, Kirk topped on an e-bike, I think his second year in office, and it was great showing up, you know, with another council member uh together and people seeing us out on the streets together, you know, riding bikes and participating.

Um, and I just uh I know we've only been sitting next to each other for the last year, but I think maybe that's a good thing because the humor that Kirk brings to this job uh is gonna get me in trouble if he doesn't move on and move away from me.

So um I just I I will miss certainly being made to laugh in very serious moments, um, being made to think, you know, very seriously and very deeply um in in serious and important moments.

And um I'm just so so proud to have been a part of the Beagle caucus together many years ago and um the work that we can all continue to do together again.

So congratulations to you and to your husband and to Jinny.

Um and best of luck to you in the future.

We will absolutely miss you.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Uh, let me go to Councilman Chapman, then Councilwoman Green.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um Councilman McPyke.

Um, it has been an honor to work with you as a another alum of the BFAC uh committee.

Um it's always great to see uh folks that come from BFAC and really roll up their sleeves and look at the numbers in the city.

And I I would say um and hearing the proclamation, knowing the work that you've done, uh a number of seniors can thank you for your work, uh, a number of employees can thank you for your work, and uh everybody in the city that cares about infrastructure um can thank you for your work uh among other things, uh, because you have put that budget knowledge to work in ensuring that uh we make changes for the positive for our residents.

Um I'm not gonna say, you know, uh uh we're gonna miss you because you're not going anywhere.

Um we're gonna see you maybe not as often.

Um, but we are uh I am extremely delighted to hopefully help you get to that next place that you're going.

Um, because in my eyes, having somebody uh that has been at the local level uh is essential to what we need in Richmond.

Um and so it is exciting to see you uh move to that area.

We will miss you, but um, we will be down, as you know, down in Richmond, uh bugging you, uh bugging your colleagues down there for things that localities need.

And so it's great to have uh another uh local official uh moving to Richmond to be able to tell the story of localities like ours.

Uh so much success.

We look forward to working with you and towards your uh move to a delegate uh on February 10th.

And so um this is not goodbye.

This is uh seeing a little bit.

Uh and thank you for your service to the city.

Thank you, Councilman Chapman.

Uh Councilman Green and then Councilman Akire.

Thank you, Madam Mayor Kirk.

I've known you since.

Let's see.

I think it was Mayor Wilson's very first campaign.

I think we met maybe before that.

I'm not sure.

But uh it's been I knew then you had a bright future, and I now know that it's even brighter.

Um it's been a pleasure working with you.

Goodness.

Sarah's right.

We're gonna miss your spreadsheets.

I don't know, maybe we can still get some of them.

I don't know if you have a little extra time.

But uh, I have sent you a text message on all the things that I want to work on at the state level.

I know where to find you.

I will definitely do that.

And I know you're just a phone call away.

So thank you for everything and good luck.

We're gonna need a volunteer for all these spreadsheets.

So somebody has these skills.

Councilman Nikier.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um yeah, like uh Councilwoman Green, I had the opportunity to meet you a while back, uh, not as far back as Councilwoman Green.

Um, but we did get to serve uh on the EOC together.

I served as your vice chair when you were chair, and then for a small stint, you served as my rep on BFEC.

And uh with with respect to Councilman Chapman.

Sure, BFAC alums are okay, but EOC is where it's at.

Uh plus, you know, I remember all the stuff we did around housing, sitting at the council meetings is, you know, we both the first time we we spoke before the council.

Council uh around the Ramsey homes, you know, we were both planted there for hours.

Um, and then also trying to put things into the legislative packet, which we were very successful with, and the ELC has always been very successful with.

And so it's just uh gradual accumulation of what you've been doing.

Um, not just in your personal life, but also your professional life and and really bridging all three levels of government, right?

And and did it to what councilman Chapman said.

I mean, it is so crucial to have the folks at the state and federal level really have a good understanding of what's happening at the local level.

And you just bring such an amazing lens that you're going to have now at that state level, knowing the federal stuff, knowing the local stuff, um, knowing the boards and commissions, and just uh I'm I'm really excited for you.

Uh and you know, again, this isn't goodbye because we know where to find you.

Plus, I know you live, so I'll just walk, you know, through the through the forest in the hospital, come find you.

So I love you, Rant.

To be clear, we live about 800 feet away from each other.

Well, Councilman Rick Pike, I hope you uh know just how proud and excited we are for you.

Um, how much we like really are just excited, excited for you.

We know what you're gonna bring to this role because we've seen what you've done in this role.

And personally, I just want to thank you for your friendship.

I appreciate you welcoming Riley into the Beagle Caucus.

No, he wasn't always the most well-behaved uh member.

Uh, but we thank you and for just the way you've welcomed my whole family.

I I know my kids are gonna want to make a trip to Richmond to see Mr.

Kirk and to see you in action.

So, with that, I cannot move this proclamation.

So I will accept uh volunteer to move and second this proclamation.

So move.

Second.

There's been a motion by councilman Chapman and a second by councilwoman Green to move the proclamation recognizing the exemplary service of councilman McPike.

Um, any discussion?

I see Kirk trying to do one final word.

No, but uh Buster just jumped into Sarah's frame.

So that was very exciting.

Yes, but no, thank you.

Another member of the caucus.

Okay.

You all know how much I love all of you, and uh yes, I do hope to be continuing to work together very closely into the future.

I know.

Okay.

Well, uh, seeing no additional discussion, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed.

All right, the ayes have it, and the proclamation pass.

All right, Madam Clerk, next item.

City manager's oral report.

Okay.

Uh to begin tonight, we have asked the manager to provide a uh oral report on the state of our city's snow response.

We recognize that there have been a number of questions about how we're responding.

How did we plan?

When is your street going to see a plow?

And so we want you to know as transparently as possible the work that happened pre-storm, the work that is going on now, and the work that will continue to go on.

And so, with that, I'm going to turn it over to the city manager to provide that update.

Great.

So thank you, Mayor and Council, uh, to the community.

Uh, this has been a very difficult several last couple days.

Um what I would like to do tonight is is really uh sort of reflect some of the things that have happened, uh, as the mayor said, as well as where we're headed.

Um, this has been a very unusual and severe and complex winter event for our region.

Um the Northern Virginia region, the Maryland, DC uh corridor, uh Capitol region, we all experienced a significant event that we have not seen in decades.

Uh we have not seen sleet of this magnitude for over 30 years, uh combined with such a prolonged stretch of below freezing temperatures.

The storm began as a as a heavy snow, as we all are aware, over seven inches of of light snow, shifted to sleet and ice, and then rapidly refroze once the precipitation ended after a 24-hour period, which is a very, very long period of time for that type of precipitation.

This was one of the most challenging scenarios for snow and ice operations that one can encounter.

Uh, this is a regional event.

It's not unique to Alexandria and all of our jurisdictions across the national capital region are drawing from the same limited pool resources as we work to restore safe conditions.

And I want to highlight because of the significant ice con icy conditions, typical plow uh equipment is not necessarily terribly effective.

And I'll cover some of that as we go into it.

Um, but before discussing operations, I do want to recognize our city employees and our contractors that worked outside uh since Saturday night.

They've been out in the elements, often overnight, operating heavy equipment on icy roads, working extended shifts, and responding to as conditions have changed rapidly.

Their dedication to keeping residents safe deserves our recognition, and I really appreciate and want to recognize that.

We know people are very frustrated, especially those who need to get to work, care for family members, or attend medical appointments.

When you can't leave your streets safely, that's not a minor issue.

That affects your daily life, and we clearly hear that.

We are trying everything possible to recover from this unique and difficult storm event, and we'll continue to do so until the full recovery is met.

Ahead of the storm, after the National Weather Service issued its forecast, city teams prepared snow removal equipment was checked, storm sewers cleared, staffing plans finalized, contractors and additional equipment were brought in, and we identified additional nine locations throughout the city for snow storage, which is very unusual.

We also focused on pre-treating and brining of our primary and secondary and intermediate streets.

Our residential streets were not pre-treated because the brine is only effective for a short period.

And once the snow begins to melt, water dilutes it, reducing its effectiveness.

Again, uh mayor and council, I'm confident that our teams were well prepared for this storm and did all the things possible to put us in a strong position to respond in the aftermath of this unique and historic event.

Emergency shelters were readied, prepared, staffed, ready to go.

Food supplies were collected.

Our public safety staffing was increased across the city to keep our residents safe during this.

We also activated the city's emergency operations center.

And that's a really significant measure.

What that means is our command control is in a very singular way.

They focused solely on the storm event as it's happening.

And that's a that's a critical measure that we take sparingly.

And our regional partners do the same.

So on that Saturday night, uh we brought in at 7 o'clock p.m.

Our emergency operations center was activated and served as a central hub for coordination throughout the duration of the historic storm, bringing together staff across the entire organization to ensure unified around the clock response.

And we did have a 24-hour round-the-clock response, and we continue to have that until we get a full recovery, and we are not at a full recovery yet.

So the storm was really unlike anything that we've experienced since the mid-90s, 1990s.

The primary challenge was not the snow itself.

We've had larger snow events and we've been able to recover within 48 hours or so of that event.

But there were several hours of freezing rain and sleet immediately after the approximately seven inches of snow.

That freezing rain and sleet turned the snow into solid ice, limiting the effectiveness of a traditional snow plowing operations.

And that is critical for why this event is taking longer than a normal typical snow event.

Alexandria maintains over 600 lane miles of roads along with sidewalks, pathways, municipal parking lots.

Clearing all the streets takes time and requires continuous operations, which we are doing.

Since Saturday morning, crews have worked around the clock in 12-hour shifts to respond to changing conditions, and particularly refreezing every night because, as you know, our temperatures have not risen and continue to be below freezing.

Ongoing precipitation and freezing temperatures have forced crews to repeatedly clear primary routes.

And primary routes are critically important for us to provide the safety to our residents to get to a hospital, to our emergency responders to get to the necessary things that we need to do to keep people safe.

For example, during a typical snow event, and it could be a heavy snow event, 10, 12 inches of snow during freezing temperatures, Duke Street, for example, can be cleared in a couple passes, one or two passes.

In this storm, crews had to continually clear it just to keep it passable because of the ice and because of the 24 hour precipitation.

So we've made passes on Duke Street in a typical snowstorm one or two times.

We had to do this multiple times over and over again over a course of multiple days.

That has delayed us from getting into some of the residential streets.

Crews prioritize primary routes, snow emergency routes, our dashed bus routes, our school areas, our school sidewalks, our metro station sidewalks and areas, and emergency access corridors.

Due to the unprecedented amount of sleet and phrasing freezing rain, the city deployed over 100 pieces of snow removal equipment, over 200 staff directly involved in the snow plowing operations, and more than eight private contractors supported by an additional 200 contract staff.

Hundreds of other city employees continue to work behind the scenes to support the recovery efforts.

So we had hundreds of staff and contractors deployed, and we will continue to deploy all of those resources until we are at a full recovery.

Residential streets are often the hardest to clear.

They receive less traffic to break up the snow, they have parked cars, and they do limit plow access and the ice bonds quickly to the pavement.

Even streets plowed that we've plowed earlier, have refrozen, requiring crews to return repeatedly, which slows the progress into our neighborhoods.

As a result, we are required to use alternative snow removal such as bobcats and backhoes.

Again, when you see a typical large scale snow event without the type of ice that we have, you'll see the typical plow equipment, and they're able to go quickly and efficiently through the areas.

What that is done is that requires us to use backhoes and bobcats, which are heavy equipment that go much slower and a much more methodical pace.

Additionally, the volume of ice that is generated by this storm required crews to physically remove and haul ice out of the city.

To date, to date, approximately 200 dump trucks loads of ice have been removed from Old Town, and another 100 dump truck loads have been removed from Del Ray.

That is that is a unique event.

We just that does not happen in uh is not happened in a long, long, long time.

Uh in a snow sleep to ice event like this, you know, unlike a typical snow event where within 24 to 48 hours, excuse me, we're into the residential streets and making significant progress.

For a snow sleet to ice event, you know, to make things safe and passable and continue to make sure our primary and secondary roads are passable and clear for emergency vehicles.

That takes a longer period of time.

And we continue to work through that more than 24, 48 hours.

And to our residents, I'm sorry about that.

We are working as fast and as hard around the clock as we can to get to your streets so you can get safely out of your neighborhoods.

Crews will are continuing to plowing and treatment on our residential routes now, and we'll continue to address the refreeze that happens literally every night.

Once all the roads are treated and passable, crews will then widen intersections, travel lanes, parking lanes, bike lanes, and trails.

I also want to make a note that our Alexandria Snow Report Tracker app is currently experiencing technical issues.

It is not accurate at this point.

And that is that is due to a series of things, but it's on us to make sure that that is an accurate depiction of the progress that we're making.

And we are working uh closely with our teams to try to fix that and make sure that you have accurate information available to you in terms of the progress we're making.

When residents contact the city or a council member or 311, we make sure that that information is shared with our operations teams that are working around the clock.

It helps us identify trouble spots and adjust our response as conditions allow.

In fact, I was out numerous times today, and there are areas that uh perhaps have been identified as passable that are not passable.

So uh we are continuing to readjust our operations so that we can make sure that all of our streets in the city, particularly the residential that are are at our worst condition right now, uh, are not just passable but are at full recovery over the next couple days.

We understand the frustration and we don't take it lightly.

This was a very difficult storm, and while we prepared and responded aggressively, ice events like this real limits on what we can achieve in a short time frame.

Uh, we'll continue working until the conditions improve and all of our neighborhoods are addressed.

You have that as a commitment to from our city.

So, mayor and council, I know that was fairly quick.

I have several of our technical staff here that are certainly able to answer any detailed questions that you might have.

Um I have a couple questions, but I'm gonna start first with questions from my colleagues.

So I see Councilman Chapman's hand first.

Uh thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you, um, Mr.

City Manager for that update.

Um given I've seen a number of winter storms, whether they be uh snowstorms or various ice storms, uh, I would I would definitely agree with you that ice is our biggest challenge.

Um ice and anything over a foot and a half of snow are the two things that I've seen that have really challenged our ability to uh clear um clear streets and and sidewalks in an efficient manner.

Um I would ask if if staff could um investigate the opportunity to see if there is any opportunity to partner um or a contract with VOT.

Um they have obviously they have a lot more territory to cover across the uh the Commonwealth, but I think it is um particularly on some of our western uh uh streets that uh connect with uh our Fairfax County neighbors, uh, it might be in a more efficient use of resources if there is an opportunity to contract with them and allow them to do some of that clearing, um, particularly on main, some of those western main thoroughfares that we might not be able to get to.

Um and uh Mr.

Manager, I I did want to clarify when you were talking about clearing um Duke Street.

Uh, I had heard a couple of numbers about the passes that it took uh to clear, you know, uh a main primary road like Duke Street.

And I want to, if you do have that number, I do want to to kind of get that public because I do want our our residents to understand the major difference between the regular clearing, like you said, is one or two passes on the entire stretch of Duke Street versus as I've heard, maybe nine different passes initially with Duke Street, which uh as everybody knows how long Duke Street is to do that nine times over and over again and still not have it to the level that we might need it.

I think that is a challenge.

And then if I remember correctly, in some of the uh news reports I saw, I believe there was a water main break in the 4600 block uh that uh also disrupted traffic and probably disrupted uh service and uh that part.

And so um as we I say all that to try to get us to a place where um as we are communicating out, I think we we are lucky to have this meeting to be able to connect with you.

But one of the things that I would love to see in the future is how how we can provide more timely information to people.

I I certainly understand that people are frustrated, but I think one of the the things that I think may help is um our continued communication with them when things are slowing, when things are bad.

I I think with you know, we have heard a lot from people, um, but I do think there is an opportunity to make communicate a little bit more aggressively than than we have this uh this particular time.

Thank you, Councilmember Chapman.

Um, yeah, so again, in a typical heavy snow event without the type of ice that we're talking about, we might um make one, two passes on Duke Street.

I think under this event, and I I know we have our deputy director of tests and our deputy city manager who have been helping lead the effort.

I do believe that on Duke Street we did uh at least eight or nine passes, but uh if if one of you could confirm that, that would be helpful.

Um I'm gonna call on Deputy Director Terrence Moore.

This is Torrance Moore, Deputy Director uh for Transportation Environmental Services.

Um we have done a significant amount of passes on Duke Street.

I would probably suggest more than nine.

Um at any given time, we may have had several different vehicles at several different segments along Duke Street.

Um it was a significant effort on all of our main arterials and primary roads.

Um it was constantly coming down, and a lot of times we have to make multiple passes on a lot of our major primary roads.

So it wasn't just Duke Street, it was all of those roads.

Um, and obviously it may have been more than nine, but we have different segments, we have different trucks.

Um, but likelihood is is more around the 20s, to be honest.

Um, and that's the significance of this storm.

Um, because while we were in the storm, we were plowing, we were treating, we also did that after during recovery.

So it's up in the double digits for a lot of our primary streets.

We spend a lot of time on those roads.

Can I ask a follow-up before I go back to Councilman Chapman?

Sometimes we get the question of, well, why keep going over that road over and over?

I know it's a primary route, but it was passable a long time ago.

Can you talk a little bit about like the standard we have, particularly for the primary roads as to why we'd want to get them in a certain condition before we move on?

Those primary roads are what that we typically use for fire, public safety and safety and security.

We want to make sure that they're clear and that not only are they passable, but that they're safe.

Um, if we were to make them just passable an hour later, it could you know continue to come down, it could be a situation in which they would no longer be passable and they would no longer be safe to travel on.

So if we moved off a primary road that we would need for public safety or security, um, that would be a problem.

Thank you.

All right, let me go back to Councilman Chapman.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I think um one of the other things I wanted to bring up, and I know we've been we have our snow report.

Um we do um a number of residents reached out to me about uh VDOT's um uh map.

I guess they've got their GPS on uh a number of their um vehicles, being able to see that.

Um obviously with us not using VDOT uh trucks and having our own their map does nothing to show kind of where we are.

Um, and I know council has talked about this in the past about the ability to have GPS on um some of those snow plows.

Um if if only to even show uh what the deputy director was showing uh was telling us about the consistent work that had to be done on our primary roads.

I think that is another communication tool uh that uh our community can really see in real time about the strategy.

Uh I had a number of people reach out to me concerned about the strategy that we use.

And I think uh as the deputy director said, focusing on those primary roads, making sure they were consistently passable and cleared, I think is what um what this uh an opportunity to have GPS on our material on our snow plows would do.

Uh and so we're being able to show people in real time that yes, we're not uh might not be coming to your resident, uh your residential area right now, but because we are continuously working on primary air to keep them uh secure and available, shall we say?

Um so I would love to, and you know, Mr.

Manager, if there's any way to get an understanding of the financial kind of commitment to um to move in that direction, or if there are any current plans uh of the city to do so.

Thank you.

Yeah, I I will work towards that and share that with uh the city council.

Okay.

Uh Councilman Green.

Thank you, madam mayor, and thank you, Mr.

Um, Mr.

Manager.

Just a question about I understand um what we need to do for continue to do for the primary roads, and I know that the schools are also a priority.

Can we talk a little bit about what has been done for um the school parking lots and what will be done moving forward so that we when we're at a situation where we're back up to temperatures above freezing, that we can get the kids back into school.

Great.

Uh uh Torrance, you want to touch take that.

So we've done a lot of work with the schools.

We've been working very closely with them.

Um example is that we've been helping them actually relocate their buses and uh actually clear a lot of their parking lots, a lot of their sidewalks.

We've been um helping in that regard.

So we operate in a unified command when we're in snow operations, so all of the primary departments, general services, parks and recreation, uh, transportation environmental services, and we look we're looking at facilities, we're looking at parks, we're looking at schools, we're looking at um roads, and we tend to do them in a certain priority, but we're doing them at the same time.

So we're operating in that unified command, and we work very closely with schools on a lot of their facilities, and we prioritize them based upon information from them, as well as our own strategy in-house based upon our snow and ice control plan.

But we often work very closely with schools.

We had multiple meetings with them, but we've collaborated very closely on a lot of those uh areas for schools.

And just if I could just add to that, so uh school, the school building, the this the school facilities and the adjacent sidewalks are high priorities for the city.

They're they're in the first set of tiers of improvement of work that we need to do in line with with other things before we get into some of the residential areas.

So that is a high priority for us.

We certainly recognize the need to get the kids back to to school as quickly as we can.

So uh thank you, Mr.

Manager, um, and Mr.

Deputy Director.

But I I heard that the schools were lumped in with the parks.

I hope that we're prioritizing the schools over the parks.

Yes, ma'am.

We are definitely prioritizing the schools over parks.

And right now, I think as of um, I want to say around three this afternoon, we were at 80% complete on all of our uh school clearance of sidewalks and parking lots, and we have not started on parks.

So it is up there with our priority routes and our primary collectors for streets.

So we have a different team that's doing that that's called the pedestrian group, but they are focused on schools and is just as high as a priority as we would consider a primary room.

Okay, thank you.

Um other questions.

Okay, I don't see any additional hands.

I have three quick ones.

Mr.

Manager, you mentioned that currently our snow tracker system isn't working or the information's not accurate right now.

I'm curious when do we expect it to be fixed?

And if we can't provide that update, what is the best way for residents to stay in touch uh with the city about um their street?

Yeah, so we we are working right now.

Part of the challenge that we have with this storm is we have so many contractors out that are not as familiar with names of streets and things like that.

So uh the accuracy is not what it needs to be in the work that's being done.

And that's not a uh uh it's not a uh an issue other than uh we need uh to put some things in place to ensure that the accuracy of that information is correct.

Um if we are unable to ensure that the accuracy of that is able to be fixed over the next 24 hours, then we will have an alternative way for to report the progress that we're making on our streets, and we'll be sharing that on our city web page.

Um I think that's that's sort of the driver of things.

We're trying to do things very much real time, but uh bluntly the tracker has led to some misunderstandings and frankly inaccurate information about what's passable and what is not passable, and that makes it very difficult for our residents to make decisions.

So we want to stop it right now and try to fix it over the next 24 hours, and if we can't, if we can't, we will find an alternative way to report the progress we're making on the residential streets.

Um recognizing sort of not just what we're learning with the tracker, but I'm sure there's a lot that's coming to light about our response that we learn from every response.

Can you talk a little bit about once we get through this?

How do our teams you know review what has happened?

How do we shift and adjust for the next set of weather?

Thank you for that.

That's a great question, and I appreciate the opportunity to share that.

So after every snow event, big, small, unique, not unique.

Uh, we will do an after-action uh review um to try to determine what worked, what didn't work, uh, everything from the logistics of getting staff and contractors to did we have the right equipment?

Was the equipment well uh well prepared in a way that uh lasted through the storm event?

Uh did we have the right tools to manage an event uh like this?

Um do we need to supplement those those tools?

A good example is uh the the amount of treatment that we have.

Uh you know, obviously this storm dissipated, uh took took some of our uh uh resources down sub substantially.

So, how quickly are we re-replenishing that?

In that case, we're replenishing it, I think by Friday.

Um so we would do an after-action uh review and then make uh necessary adjustments.

I can tell you right now uh the storm tracker is probably a really good example where we're gonna need to really think about a different way to approach that.

Uh as council member Chapman talked about, you know, perhaps in in some of these unique storms, is there a way to contract with VDOT or have them on some type of uh retainer opportunity for us where uh particularly in the ice can ice conditions or around roads that connect in in regional uh jurisdictions, we can do that.

Um so those are the types of things that we would do.

Um I think on the communication, uh, you know, we we continue to try to improve that.

And I think uh, you know, the after action report will probably point to those three areas as a need for improvement.

Um on the V dot point, I just want to plus one what my uh colleague uh Councilman Chapman had raised.

I think honestly, for the border streets like Eisenhower, Van Dorn, ones that are touching other jurisdictions, like we could clearly use some additional support, and those are wide enough where those bigger plows and bigger pieces of equipment could go down.

So if there is a way to explore some kind of contracting relationship, I think that would be great.

I also wonder, you know, there are a number of communities that have HOAs or private contractors that they've hired.

If we're in a situation where we get slammed, is there a way to explore contracts with them where maybe some surrounding roads they can help um coordinate with?

But I think those just maybe opportunities we want to think about.

Hopefully, we're not gonna have more events like this, but when we do, how can we mobilize those that might already be familiar um with uh our areas?

I had one more question, and then I do see two more hands, so I'll go there.

Uh we had a lot of questions or um comparisons to our neighbors in Fairfax and Arlington.

I'm just curious, I know there are regional calls happening like every few hours.

Do you have any updates or a sense of what you're hearing in terms of neighboring jurisdictions and their response as well?

Yes, and I can I can speak directly to this.

I I've been in contact with uh Loudham County, Fairfax County, Arlington County, um, and then certainly Cog has regional calls as well as the state uh has regional calls in regard to uh a deployment across the entire region, which includes uh uh DC and Maryland as well on some of those calls.

I can tell you definitively all of the jurisdictions have have been incredibly challenged by this unique storm event that had the snow to the sleeve to the ice.

And that that to me uh is really the driver.

So all of the uh Lavin County, Fairfax County, Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, we've all been in the same posture that we've been close to operations.

Uh all of those jurisdictions had to continuously uh work on primary routes and primary streets.

Now they did have uh V DOT assistance in some of those cases, obviously, which we do not, uh, given that we're not a county, we're an independent city.

Uh but the reality is they were all in the very similar conditions, and anecdotally, from what I can tell, we were as hard as this is this is difficult to hear for someone that doesn't have the street plowed.

We actually been ahead of those jurisdictions in regard to how we've been able to maintain primary and secondary uh street uh clearing.

Uh so that's that's really I think where the region is.

Um, you know, we're we're really hopeful that with some uh positive temperature days and the sun coming out that nature will will help us tremendously, but we're gonna continue the the types of equipment that this requires, you know, is unusual.

It's unusual to see a bobcat or a steer skid breaking up ice uh in our jurisdiction or any jurisdiction.

And so that's we're not the only ones dealing with that.

All those other jurisdictions are as well.

All right, let me go to Councilman Aguirre and then back to Councilman Chapman.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh, first of all, I just want to reiterate with what the city manager started with by um thanking all the staff.

People have been putting in 12-hour, 18-hour, 24-hour shifts.

And um it's just amazing work that we're able to do here in the city of Alexandria, uh, especially given the conditions.

You know, folks are saying, well, why don't you have more trucks and why don't you have the specialized trucks?

Well, we don't have specialized trucks because we don't get sleep like this.

We don't get ice like this.

We don't have a larger fleet because we don't typically get that many inches of snow in Alexandria.

You have to purchase those trucks, you need gasoline for those trucks.

Um, you need a place to store those trucks, and of course, you need someone to drive those trucks.

Uh so there's a lot of different logistics to go into this.

And I don't say that to poke fun or to minimize the situation that people are in, because it is it can be a life or death situation if you're stuck on your road and you cannot pass.

But there's a lot of uh factors that go into this, and I want to make sure the public's aware of that.

Um, secondly to my colleagues speaking of contracting with V Nut, I would only caution that uh one of the V dot plows did turn over on Van Dorn and Eisenhower and block the area for a long time.

So uh I don't know.

Um hopefully everything turned out okay.

Um I I definitely agree with uh the concept of wanting to perhaps find some more contracts to bring in when we need them, but again, unprecedented storm that we had.

Um the last thing I have to be clear, the city is not in charge of private streets.

Um, but we will inevitably get questions about this.

And so, Mr.

City Manager, if there are uh any private organizations, um apartment groups, uh condo groups, uh HOAs that their streets are not being plowed.

Uh, do we have any type of mechanism to enforce with those private organizations to say, hey, you need to clear these streets, you need to provide the service for your residents who are also our residents.

Yeah, I I think given the nature and the seriousness of this storm, uh we can certainly uh implore them to do that.

If they don't, um I think that we would go ahead and try to take care of some of that if it was of a critical connection, um, and then make sure that uh it's compensated by that association.

But really, what we would hope for is try to pressure the the private organizations, the private entities to take care of their own private streets.

Thank you, Mr.

Member.

And I may need to be in touch with you uh further with some of that.

Okay.

All right, Councilman Chapman.

And thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, just jumping on where my colleague left off, uh, Mr.

Manager.

I know in the past, um, two things in the past that I remember.

Um we've done some HOA um and condo association workshops uh in the past, I think maybe through the Office of Housing, but um that might be a great um avenue to kind of re-educate folks about um you know, finding out who or what company is supposed to be um coming to do uh some of that service uh during the winter, so that uh the leaders, which usually with a lot of homeowners associations I've come into contact with leadership changes after a couple of years, and so they don't kind of always update some of the contacts that they might need uh for incidents like this, and so that might be something uh that we can hopefully communicate uh to some of those leaders if we do have their information, just saying, hey, the winter's coming, just prepare, make sure you understand uh what your responsibilities are to my colleagues' point, but also um the contacts you may need to uh rely on if there's a winter event.

Um, one of the other groups that and this just popped in my mind, so I apologize if this is not uh a perfect answer.

Um, another group that we might want to see if there's uh an opportunity to partner with is Virginia Paving.

One of the things I um heard from a number of residents was that they had some smaller tow trucks try to come down into their area, but because of the ice, they just weren't powerful enough uh to get through, and maybe that's another opportunity uh of an organization that has some big trucks uh that probably could uh be fitted with some uh plows to try to help us out.

Uh and then lastly, I remember, and I don't know if we still do this.

We do, um, but every year uh I know one or two members of TESS would go to, I think it was snow school um to kind of prepare uh and get acquainted with uh some of the strategy, but also some of the work uh that could be done pre- and post uh and during the storms.

Uh and I hope we're continuing to invest in uh our uh employees to be able to do that and provide uh a higher quality of um snow strategy and execution.

Thank you.

Um, I guess the last thing I know we are continuing to get through this response, but there are reports calling for additional um bad weather this weekend.

Can you just talk a little bit about how we were are are also planning and bringing in that information as well?

Yeah, so uh, you know, frankly, we're we're in the throes of this event.

Um, but what we're trying to do is make sure that all of our resources are ready to go.

Should we have a second event shortly thereafter?

Um one of the challenges we have is is our staff staffing.

Um they've been working essentially around the clock for several days.

Um, you know, we will probably need to try to bring in more contractors uh to give some relief if we do have a storm, say on Saturday, um, that is of significant nature.

Um so we're looking at those things and starting to prepare.

It's kind of multitasking.

We're trying to recover from this event while at the same time making sure that uh we are ready for the next event.

Um, and some of the lessons learned on this event uh translates to how we be prepared for the next event.

Thank you.

Oh, I just saw a hand go up.

Um, Vice Mayor Bagley and then Councilman Chapman.

I can't tell if your hand ever went down.

This is a new hand.

Okay, so Vice Mayor Bagley and then Councilman Chapman.

Um, just to that end, um, Volunteer Alexandria still has a list of sort of unclaimed homes for the snow buddies work, which is super valuable and gets um just this afternoon.

I we you know I was working with someone um to help uh clear steps for an older citizen in our city um at their home.

So if you want to visit Volunteer Alexandria, um, they can match you up um with one of the homes in the city that has asked for help um to help clear their steps and the area right adjacent to their house.

I completely support the larger discussion here about the city addressing roads, but um there are always going to be people in our city who have an increased need um to their doorstep.

Um so would encourage everybody to visit Volunteer Alexandria and consider being a snowbuddy.

They'll hook you up with a shovel and some salt.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Councilman Chapman.

Um thank you, madam.

Um my last little comment um was for how we're communicating as well.

One of the areas where uh we can increase or kind of better align our communication is for the business community.

I know we have certain kind of business areas, um, downtown, old town, Delray, parts of the West End.

Uh, and I know those business owners are eager to get back and uh especially ones that are kind of neighborhood serving uses, be able to be open for neighbors that can potentially walk or uh a quick ride over to a restaurant or something like that.

And so as we are um communicating out, can we make sure that we kind of align some communication for our business owners as well?

Yeah, thank you.

And and to that end, uh today we opened up uh three of the city parking garages uh available to the public uh in the along the King Street corridor.

And we're we're also uh as we uh uh get further along on the recovery, looking to continue to do some additional uh clearing to provide some assistance for businesses to have patrons park should they need to.

But one of the the things I didn't mention fully is uh because we prioritized uh our dash routes, uh the the dash service has been able to run uh either at a full service or modified service for most of this this storm event.

Uh and that's been I think also helpful.

All right.

Well, thank you, Mr.

Manager.

And again, uh thank you to um Tarnes and Deputy City Manager Emily Baker and everyone who's been involved in this response.

I know we're in for another 24-7 night of staff working around the clock.

And so just want you to know it's a it's appreciated.

Um, and we are gonna get through this.

Uh Mr.

Manager, anything else for your oral report?

No, that was it.

Okay, then I'm gonna move to the roll call consent.

I oh, actually, Madam Clerk, next item.

I don't think I can.

Okay, I'm gonna pull 10.

Is there a motion to move items nine and then 11 through 13?

So moved.

Second.

All right.

There's been a motion by councilwoman Green and a second by Vice Mayor Bagley to move items nine and then 11 through 13 of the roll call consent.

Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Councilwoman Green.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Aye.

Mayor Gaskins.

Aye.

Councilman Gary.

Aye.

Councilman Chapman.

All right.

Councilman El Nubi.

Councilman McPike.

All right, Madam Clerk, next item.

Consideration of a resolution regarding the transfer of unencumbered appropriations by the city manager or designee.

Okay.

Um I pulled this.

I don't want to spend a long time on it, but there's been some inaccurate reporting about the purpose of this particular item.

This item is for a resolution that is designed to provide greater transparency on how the manager moves money and how the council affirms the movement of money across our departments.

And so, Mr.

Manager, I just wanted to give you a few minutes to just explain like what this is, why it's on the docket and how this process has been happening.

So it's very clear to the public.

This is a critical function of the city government.

Now it as you said, this is a critical function of any city government.

And what this really involves is those instances where there is a need to transfer funds from uh one department to another to cover a circumstance or a situation where there's not enough funds in a particular thing to in that department to be able to manage, and you can't wait for an annual budget appropriation or uh a mid-year budget appropriation.

Uh, this does not happen uh a lot, but it does happen uh enough that it allows the city to run operations effectively.

Uh it is it is a very typical practice for cities and counties around the country.

Um I want to give you a couple examples.

Well, first of all, let me tell you what the process is.

So the process, the proposed process and the process that we uh would follow is uh if we were in a situation where we had to transfer uh some funds from one department to another, we would then docket that information to the city council, and you would have the ability to either affirm that or uh uh direct me to reverse that decision and uh adjust the budgets appropriately.

Um that is a very transparent, it's a very normal thing.

Uh we also use our supplemental ordinances that are that are on uh our dockets at least a couple times a year where we are reconcile the movement of some of the the money money from different departments or within departments.

Uh a couple examples is uh the receipt of a uh of a grant that uh we we need to have a local match for uh where we might need to uh quickly apply some funding so that uh we have the ability to collect that.

Another example uh fairly recent one is say in the city attorney's office where uh due to uh uh defending uh uh city action, such as uh zoning for housing or other actions uh that that uh that exceeds the money that was allocated in the budget for uh attorneys, and we need to supplement those funds and then reconcile that and affirm that with the city council.

Uh those are typical practices uh that happen.

Another example is you know, with the storm event.

Uh, it is possible we have multiple storm events uh that in say the transportation environmental services, they may have uh have an overrun of a need for some additional funding.

And this allows me to quickly move those monies over to maintain operations and address those those serious issues.

Uh and what it but what it does do is it requires me, it doesn't give me more authority, it just gives me a timing issue to address it, and that goes directly to the city council for your action.

So hopefully that helps explain things.

And I just would highlight this is a very doing this a long time.

This is a very normal and uh needed thing that uh city managers, county executives uh have throughout the country.

It's not it's it's also not new to the city of Alexandria.

We've been doing this for years.

Thank you, Mr.

Manager.

I think that's the critical point that it's something we have been doing, but also this step really clarifies the process, makes it very clear what our role is and the council's role in making sure that we affirm, deny or whatever uh modify any transfer requests, um, but also clearly delegates um the different types of authorities that we have and the work that we need to do in order to be flexible to fund the operations of the city government.

Um I don't have any additional comments or questions, just wanted to make sure that that was clear for the public.

I see a hand from Vice Mayor Bagley.

Madam Mayor, I move uh to approve item number 10.

There has been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley, and I think that was a second by Councilman McPike uh to move action item.

Well, to move consent item number 10.

Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote, please call the roll.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Aye.

Councilman McPike.

Aye.

Mayor Gaskins.

Hi.

Councilman Geary.

Councilman Chapman.

Councilman El Newby.

Councilwoman Green.

Aye.

The eyes have it.

Then motion passes.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Metropolitan Washington Council of Government's presentation on DMV moves.

Okay.

I'm gonna turn it over to the city manager to introduce our guest while we go ahead and pull up their.

I think there's a presentation.

Well, it it truly is my pleasure to introduce uh uh Clark Mercer, who is the uh director, uh executive director of COG.

Um Clark is played a critical and important role uh in my time with the city uh in terms of making sure that our regional partnerships, our regional understanding is is solid and we're aligned together.

Um the great example he's about to talk about is how we've managed our regional transportation system that is critically important to our economy and our movement of uh jobs and personnel.

So uh Clark, I really appreciate you taking time uh with uh council and the community today to share DMV moves and uh the resolution that's in front of them.

Uh thank you, manager Parajan.

And my video uh the host needs to unbeat you guys don't want to see me, which is fine.

I'll share my uh my my screen in a moment, but but thank you very much for the um for the introduction.

And um I will go ahead and share the screen here in a moment.

But it's um if you guys want to see me, if the host can just take uh take me, let the video show for me, that would be good.

Um there we go.

Start my video.

All right, there I am.

See, let's go.

See, I see now Kirk McPyke, there you go, smile on your face, you get to see me.

Um, I'm gonna try to be brief here uh tonight with this presentation.

You have a resolution in front of you supporting the work of DMV moves.

I'm gonna share my slide deck in a moment, kind of hit the highlights, but uh a lot of great support during the DMV moves process by members of council, by the city manager, Mr.

Parajan, who served on the government working group, and by Josh Baker from Dash, who was an excellent partner.

And I will say that this effort to kind of look at our transit system writ large, which includes Dash, it includes Metro, it includes passenger rail like VRE.

Uh, we worked in concert with um uh Senate uh joint committee 28, SJ28, which uh was led by Senator Adam Ebben and work closely with our friends at the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and Kate Mattis and the Transportation Authority and kind of made sure we're MVTA as well, made sure that all of our data and work that our we were doing was shared and was um was vetted uh with those partners that I know the city works uh closely with.

So I'm gonna share uh my my screen now and pull up the PowerPoint um here, and just to remind folks of kind of what DMV moves is an 18-month uh process um to do two things to um to one look at funding of those transit um organizations across the region and see what we need for sustainable funding moving forward.

And when I say sustainable funding, it seems like every five or ten years we have a discussion as a region in terms of what metro, particular metro needs um uh to be sustainable to to achieve a state of good repair.

And I don't think that's a conversation the region wants to have every five to ten years.

We want to be able to provide a level of funding that's predictable uh for the folks paying the bills and that uh metro can manage from one year uh to the next so that we don't have to to come come back every five years and ask the region for for more money.

Um and then two was uh was uh was uh a deep dive on all of our various uh bus companies like Dash, like the Connector, um, working with Metro's bus system uh to answer some some questions about how we can work more efficiently uh and effectively to provide a better service to uh to to the users, the folks taking uh the bus and the transit systems throughout the region.

So this is uh kind of a summary slide here.

Um and on the left uh is uh is the the amount of money.

This this started out when we looked at kind of what Metro needed for state of good repair and to be able to invest on the capital side.

That number started um at one billion or higher that they they articulated that they needed additionally from one year to the next.

And due to the really good work of City Manager Perjan and and the other city managers, this that group was led by Fairfax City Manager Brian Hill.

It included the CFO from the District of Columbia.

We really ran those numbers down with Metro and to try to understand what it what it means to achieve and maintain a state of good repair, understanding that you're always going to have a healthy backlog.

You're never going to get down to zero on your deferred maintenance.

No other major transit agency is.

So what number uh do we need to get to where they can issue bonds, pay off those bonds, and then reissue bonds and have a revolving program on the capital side.

And that 460 million is the number that is in legislation in Maryland and Virginia right now.

And the important thing, two things about that number, one, that that money needs to flow starting in FY29.

So July 1st, 2028.

And two, um the the index to growth at 3% a year.

Metro did receive some some extra capital funding, a significant amount of extra capital funding in 2018.

That money was flat.

It didn't grow from one year to the next.

And I don't have to tell anybody that's running a business or running the city government that your goods and services and your personnel don't grow at 0% a year.

And we've had inflation and cost of goods have skyrocketed since 2018.

So part of this is to recover the lost buying power on the capital side for Metro since 2018.

The other big piece is to replace Metro's signaling and communication system.

It's original to the system, it's been around for many, many decades.

And Metro spends tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars a year to patch that system.

It's very similar when you hear Secretary Duffy talk about the FAA and some of our communications equipment that our airlines and airplanes use, needing to replace that.

I'll say on the funding for Metro, we started looking at capital and operating and operating at the beginning of this process 18 months ago, there was a bit of a gap that Metro was going to come back and ask the region to help fill.

But due to their own belt tightening, um, the new gates that they've installed, which is uh decreased fare evasion by over 80%, and their continual increase in ridership, that uh operating ask um came to zero as a result of DMB move.

So the ask um here is just on the capital side.

And that 460, if you run the current capital formula, uh, comes out to 173 million uh a year for the District of Columbia, 152 for Maryland, and 136 for Maryland.

And typically that bill and Virginia is split between the localities and the state.

So that would be 68 million uh for the localities that are compact members and 68 uh for the state.

I it's worth noting that in Maryland, the bill goes to Annapolis and their bill is paid in full out of state tax dollars.

So the CAOs are all paying attention to this across the region, but I will say the the Virginia CAOs um pay particular interest because there is a bill that is sent directly uh to the locality.

The middle there, there's a much discussion of uh bus rapid transit and and bus um um uh corridors throughout the region.

And this is probably the one area that we worked on where we had the most back and forth, uh perhaps the community partners group, and I should say the community partners group included most of our chambers, the Greater Washington Partnership, the Board of Trade, our environmental groups, our advocates for uh bikes and pedestrians, uh, our advocates uh for uh for uh folks that take the the rail on metro, um our unions were represented there.

And this is one where we probably had the most um spirited debate.

Uh and and and and the discussion was look, there's there's corridors throughout this region where buses leave one jurisdiction and go into another.

And we need to figure out a way to treat the roads in such a way that the buses move uh so folks aren't sitting all day.

Um, and and and we need to have a discussion about who operates those buses when they go through multiple jurisdictions.

And at the beginning of DMV moves, there was a discussion about putting money into a regional bus fund.

Um, I will say there was there was some pushback because there just weren't enough details thought through of how that fund would work.

And ultimately, the task force said, look, we we want to identify a handful of these corridors and and through this resolution which you have in front of you, commit to working with our partners uh to treat these roads, um, whether it's through dedicated bus lanes or through it's through better signaling to make a more seamless and um and and expeditious trips for our our our transit riders.

The bus corridors in Alexandria include Duke Street, includes um Columbia Pike and Route 7, and and essentially over the next six to eight years working to effectuate those routes in a smart way.

The pushback from the community partners group was that these corridors have been discussed and debated for 10, 20, 30 years, and we haven't seen as much movement on them as we'd like.

And they were a little disappointed with this with this resolution that it didn't have more of a hook to make sure that these corridors would be finished in the timeframe articulated.

But as you get into who owns the roads and who can actually effectuate making them bus only or work on some of the timing of signals and things, it includes multiple departments of transportation, multiple jurisdictions, and the resolution does speak to all of those groups working together through the transportation planning board.

On the right, um, we did look at kind of what it would take to make sure we have sustainable funding for all of our transit partners.

So the local bus operators and VREMARC.

And that number 65 to 80 million is across the district, Maryland and Virginia.

I'll get you, I don't have in front of me the breakout for what Dash articulated they need moving forward.

We don't articulate for any of the localities a solution for funding their own local transit uh moving forward, and that was intentional at the beginning of DMV moves.

Um there was a robust discussion as to how the states wanted to fund transit moving forward.

And right now the bill is given to the three states, DC, Maryland, and Virginia, and they go back and figure out on their own how they will pay that bill, versus having, let's say, like one sales track tax across the region that could pay for metro and transit.

And uh the task force was very clear that they wanted to continue to figure out paying the bill on their own.

And if that was the case, each of the respective localities would obviously figure out what levers you want to pull uh to pay for your own uh transit um operators within your jurisdictions.

This next slide up here, we we there's a lot of recommendations that you've probably heard over the last 20 or 30 years about how the various bus systems and and operators can can work uh better together.

And we did a scrub of all those recommendations and kind of asked the call the question if these are such great recommendations that make sense, why haven't they been implemented?

And uh my goal with working with our staff and metro staff on DMB Moves was to assign each of these recommendations uh a partner um that needs to implement it and there needs to be folks held accountable moving forward.

And so I've asked the transportation planning board, they've passed this resolution as well, uh, at least from for my shop to be accountable for many of these recommendations.

Some of them do require coordination with the city of Alexandria with Dash.

I'll give you a couple examples.

I'm not gonna go into all of them, but you know, you could have the same bus stop in Alexandria serviced by a Dash bus and by a Metro bus.

And on the back end, that that um stop would have two different IDs or tags, numbers associated with it.

Y'all were talking earlier about the getting the the IT accurate for the snow plows.

Well, the the apps we use for buses are whether they're on time and arriving, if they're two different numbers, it's hard for the systems to sync up and show you whether a bus is arriving on time or not.

So getting an agreement, for example, for all of us to use the same back end numbering system.

Seems easy enough and something that everyone uh agreed to work towards on fair integration.

Obviously, Dash is free for residents to ride across the region.

Not all of uh your regional partners, it's uh free ridership.

So can we agree that students, 1800 ride free?

Can we agree that uh if there's a discount for senior citizens that that it's the same discount and same age?

Can we agree on a transfer policy that's discounted and makes sense?

Um the um shared resources, COG runs uh a joint procurement uh um program where we buy road salt for the entire region, we buy bottle water for the region, we buy diesel gas for the region.

And um if the city of Alexander is buying road salt and they team up with Fairfax and Montgomery and Prince George's economies of scale, you end up paying less.

So we brought all the procurement folks uh together, including Dash to have a conversation about the types of things our Dash and their equivalents purchased throughout the region and COG TPB has made a commitment to standing up a database uh with all of the different contracts that are our our transit operators use and and and and for folks to use joint contracts and rider the rider clauses kind of moving forward.

So these you have the full report.

Um it gets pretty granular pretty quickly.

Um, but I think the the the headline for me at least for each of these recommendations, we articulate a path forward with someone who's responsible for actually implementing uh the recommendation.

That's kind of summarized as well.

And we have a series of kind of reporting back to TPB, making sure that we're comparing bus routes in a way that's apples to apples for Dash for Metro, so that we can we can make sense of kind of how well our bus routes are doing throughout the region.

The next uh slide here is it's I'm trying to wrap this up, being cognizant of of the time that I'm taking here.

Um the path forward for that 460 million a year that's that's growing at 3% a year.

There's legislation in Maryland introduced by uh Senator Malcolm Augustine from Prince George's County and delegate Mark Corman from Montgomery County.

Um that would that would fulfill Maryland's uh piece of of that puzzle, that 152 uh million from Maryland.

And in Virginia, that legislation is carried um by delegate Rick Sullivan and delegate Kathy Tran in the House and by Senator Serval in the in the Senate.

And we have been going around myself, Conti, who's uh my my deputy who runs the transportation planning board and making this presentation to all the the Metro Compact members and asking them to consider the same uh resolution uh that the Metro Board and the COG board passed.

And this resolution that you have in front of you uh has been passed by your partners in Loudoun County, in Fairfax County, uh in Arlington County, um Montgomery County, uh we presented to Prince George's today, and we'll present to Greenbelt and Rockville, City of Fairfax and Falls Church within the next week.

So we have uh almost all, I believe, of the the DM of the Metro Compact members have either pass the resolution that's in front of you, or we will present within the next week um to ask them to consider passing it.

And and essentially it's one of those long resolutions where lots of whereas clauses, but it essentially in in summary says that the the city will work in good faith to uh to accomplish the goals enumerated in the DMV moves report.

And there's some qualifying language there that certainly recognizes city does not operate in a vacuum and the state needs to step up and and other partners need to step up as well, and and that and that budgets are uh are always uh working documents, but that uh that you will work in good faith to make good on the on the recommendations that are coming out of the DMV moves process.

That's it.

I'm happy to to take any questions that you you might have.

Okay, well, thank you, Mr.

Mercer, for your presentation and to my colleagues.

The actual resolution is the next item, but we do have time to ask questions on the presentation.

Are there any questions?

Okay.

Uh Councilman Alnuby.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, thank you, Director Mercer.

Uh, very helpful.

Um, excited about this.

I'm glad that this is moving forward.

Certainly a long-term challenge for our region, and I appreciate all the work that went into it.

Um, my question is about um the 460 million dollar funding, and especially when it comes to the state level right now, this bill in the state.

Um what happens if down the line one of the states, you know, changes legislators, changes governors, whatever, and decides I don't want to hold up my end of the deal anymore.

Has that been contemplated?

Sure.

I mean, that's been contemplated since Metro was what started, right?

That's always um, and that's what makes this Metro system, as you know, like so unique, and that there's essentially four board of supervisors, four four different boards of directors that Metro has to go to every year to get funding.

Uh Maryland, DC, Virginia, uh, the District of Columbia and Congress all pay monies.

And you know, one of the questions I was asked at the beginning of this is well, do we want to wait for, shouldn't we wait for there to be um four folks leading each one of those governments that's that's uh super into Metro and supportive.

And I don't think necessarily those stars you should wait for those stars to ever align.

I mean, obviously, Metro has been funded through administrations that are very pro-transit and administrations that aren't as pro-transit.

There's been stable and committed funding for the last you know 40, 50 years for Metro.

I will say that the goal of that 460 million um from a policy perspective is to make sure that that money is unencumbered so that it goes directly to Metro.

So when Virginia passes its commitment, it doesn't add a lot of requirements to that funding.

Maryland doesn't add a lot of requirements to that funding.

Once requirements start getting added to this funding, it makes that money less bondable and less bondable at favorable rates for Metro.

And that's why the discussion of having one tax that could could go directly to Metro because that's the quickest and easiest way for that money to then be bonded.

The more the more hands tax dollars uh touch from one entity to the other, the less bondable it is.

So the goal in that 460 million uh councilman is to make sure that it's bondable on the capital side.

And and the split in Virginia, um, and uh don't won't get too too wonky with the answer, but the state bonds a lot of other things, particularly colleges and higher ed.

So there needs to be kind of a discussion about what the state half would go to.

Does that go to the operating share and then the local share might go to capital, which is which is more bondable once metro kind of gets up against competing with uh um higher ed for bonding, um it tends to be some competition that um is it's difficult because there's a binding cap for the state.

So there's a discussion about the the shades of dollars we're trying to to get from the state and what the the shades of dollars will come from locality if that if that makes sense.

So but no, it's uh it's a it's a good question.

Um but it's one that's not um just focused on Metro.

I mean, anytime city council makes a commitment to fund something moving forward, there's there could be a different council in a few years that thinks differently.

But Metro has had the support of this region uh for many generations now, and and and I would hope and expect that it does moving forward.

So that's helpful.

Appreciate it.

Again, thanks for all the efforts that went into this.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you, Councilman O'Nuby.

Are there any additional questions?

Okay, then on this item.

Um I'm looking at Madam City Attorney and um Madam City Clerk, but I believe we don't have to take any formal action and can proceed right to the next.

Correct.

Okay.

Madam City Um Clerk, can you please call the next item?

Consideration of a resolution endorsing the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority, boards DMV moves plan.

Okay, um, before we discuss the resolution, I need to have Councilman Al Nubi make a disclosure.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, Madam Mayor, I'm advised that the current transaction involves support for regional transit projects and agencies, including Walmata.

Based on guidance from the city attorney's office, I have determined I have a personal interest in this transaction due to my employment with WAMATO.

However, because this transaction impacts WAMATA and at least two other agencies, I am able to participate in this transaction fairly objectively and in the public interest due to an applicable legal exception, which allows members of a business profession, occupation or group of three or more people, the members of which are affected by the transaction to participate in the transaction despite having a personal interest.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Alnubi.

Um I saw Councilman Ageary.

All right, there has been a motion to move uh approval and a second by councilman Shatman.

This well, any further discussion.

Okay, seeing none, Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Councilman Geary.

Councilman Chapman.

Aye.

Mayor Gaskins.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Aye.

Councilman El Nubi.

Uh Councilwoman Green.

Aye.

Councilman McPike.

Aye.

All right.

The ayes have it.

Thank you, Mr.

Mercer.

Thank you to the team at COG and Bomana.

Um, we are really excited to be able to pass this resolution in support.

We're grateful.

Thank you.

Have a good rest of your evening.

Uh, Madam Clerk, next item.

Consideration of modifications to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority funding agreement for the Potomac Yard Metro Rail Station.

Okay.

Uh, before we turn uh talk to staff for an overview of this item, I need to turn to Councilman Alnubi for another disclosure.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Due to my employment with Womatta, I have a personal interest in item 16.

This matter applies solely to WMATA, a business or governmental agency in which I have a personal interest and the enumerated legal exceptions are not applicable in this instance.

As such, I am disqualified from voting on this matter and will abstain.

All right.

Thank you, Councilman Alnewby.

Uh, since we can't formally have you, I guess, leave the room.

I think what we'll do is just have you turn your camera off for a portion uh to signal to the public.

Thank you.

And then let me turn it over to Deputy City Manager Emily Baker.

Good evening, Mayor Gaskins, Vice Mayor Bagley and members of city council.

I'm Emily Baker, Deputy City Manager.

The item before you this evening is the third and final amendment to the funding agreement between WAMATA and the city for the funding of the Potomac Yard Metro Rail Station.

As you are well aware, the station opened in May of 2023.

We have this has been uh was identified years ago as a major economic generator for this part of the city.

And we're very excited that it's there and operating.

The station um currently sees about 50,000 entries and exits every month.

So definitely seeing ridership, and we're um we're very happy to have it there.

Umada has notified us that um as part of the closeout of this project, there's a need for 35 million dollars to be um added to the funding agreement, which will to completely close out the project.

This funding is um sort of in three buckets.

It's really remaining um change orders that the the city and WAMATA have agreed have merit for the contractor to finish it up.

There are um some negotiations, there's a negotiated claim between the contractor and WAMATA for um an escalator substitution during the project um and other um claims from the contractor for delays and other things that have been negotiated um between the parties.

This um is the final request for additional funds.

Walmata has um executed uh a modification with the contractor for these additional changes, which indic which um requires that there will be no further claims on the project.

So um with that, uh this will make the change the entire budget from the for the project to 385 million dollars.

So I'm happy to answer any questions that you have.

Okay, thank you.

At this point, I'm gonna open it up for questions, and I'll start with Councilman Chapman.

Thank you, madam mayor.

And I I just want to um Ms.

Baker, if for the public that are just tuning in or folks that were paying attention when we initially built a station and now are gonna kind of question this.

What's the what's the summary?

And I think you you may have already said it, but I just want to be clear for for folks that are listening.

What is the summary of why this change has happened?

Sure.

Um, there are really three categories um of changes that um have been resolved.

This pro the station, as we mentioned, has been um open for almost for two and a half years and it's been operating.

This is the last um sort of financial changes for any large project of this magnitude, but get things that get worked out with the contractor at the end, going through all the claims that um the contractor brings forward for things that may not have been covered in the contract, but were that were spent on money that they are are claiming that they spent and change orders that were made by um WOMATA to what was what was initially in the contract.

So there is a um items um revolving around change orders that umada and the city agreed or legitimate changes.

Some of these have to do with um with um electrical conduits that was more that was required, some enhanced wetland mitigation that was required by the um Army Corps of Engineers, some storm drainage and other work that was not included in the initial design of the project.

Um that kind of is the sense of what were these change orders that were um added.

There were also claims that the contractor made for additional costs that were entitled to them relating to um some of the COVID impacts that happened during this project because as I recall, this um was happening, a lot of this construction happened during COVID.

Um, some delays related to the switchover, as you recall the station, the tracks had to be switched between the new, the um the existing tracks and the new tracks and other delays um that were unforeseen by the contractor.

And then the third bucket, as I mentioned, was a claim that the contractor made um about uh over an escalator substitution that was denied by WAMATA that was actually in um litigation, but Wamada and the contractor came to agreement on settling that so we can close the entire project out.

And um, the the sum total of all of those categories is 35 million dollars.

And the um the contractor has agreed that with this um amendment that this will completely close out all of the um financial obligations for this project.

Thank you.

Um I had one follow-up question.

Just can you just speak to the process that Tess and DPI and the manager go through and probably even legal to review that every time we see these change orders, these requests and things like that.

So what do we do internally to review these things and to protect the city to make sure that we've done like a I guess a diligent evaluation of whether or not these are valid requests.

Yes, I'm I'm happy to speak to that.

So under the terms of this funding agreement, Womata is like the is identified with the responsibility of managing the project.

They have sole responsibility um for managing the construction and all of the umplementation of this project because they will ultimately they ultimately do operate and maintain the station.

Um the city is responsible for paying for the station because this was something that we wanted to add to the system outside of the regular of any process of um of WAMATA actually do, you know, going through their system, their process through their system to pay for this.

It was not in their plan, and so the city agreed to fund this as an economic development investment.

So while we're not responding, the city is not responsible for managing the project.

We do have responsibility um outlined in the um in the the authority outlined in the agreement to review um all of the change orders to um review all of the um negotiations between the womata and the contractor, and we have a team of staff and a third party who has helped us throughout the duration of this project to make sure we're reviewing every financial transaction to make sure we're in agreement with it before WAMATA approves it, and we have to sign off on any change order before WAMAT is allowed is able to pay the contractor.

In addition, um, through out um at different stages in this project, we have had uh outside auditor come in and review the work that Walmata has done and the charges WAMATA has made because as part of this, WAMATA's had a lot of their own staff involved in implementing this project, which is reimbursable under this agreement.

And so we have reviewed all of their um internal processes and charges to the project um to make sure that that is being done appropriately um and that is also where so which is allowed under this funding agreement.

So we have had a very close um watch and partnership with WAMATA throughout the duration of the project.

Thank you.

Uh councilwoman.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, and thank you, Deputy Manager uh Baker.

Can you just reiterate why we are certain and for sure that nothing will come back to us after this $35 million is paid?

Sure.

Well, the agreement, what we're asking you to approve um, you know, is uh is includes the fact that this is the final payment, and um you're not authorizing us to fund anything beyond this additional 35 million dollars.

Walmata, um, I just found today has um executed the modification with the contractor for um what we call the global settlement, which is for all of the outstanding change orders, and they are um and the only other outstanding piece is the claim for the elevator, which they have the parties have agreed and are just awaiting signatures on that.

So I think in um uh everyone has agreed to the terms of this, all of the parties.

Um, most of it has been sort of signed and sealed.

There are a couple of last signatures awaiting, but um, but we are staff is confident that this is going to be the last um the last change order, the last modification to this agreement.

Okay, thank you.

Um seeing no additional hands, is there a motion on this item?

Move to approve uh item number 16.

Okay, there has been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley and a second by councilman pike to approve item number 16.

Any additional discussion?

Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll?

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Aye.

Councilman McPike.

Aye.

Mayor Gaskins.

Aye.

Councilman McGee.

Councilman Chapman.

Aye.

Councilman L Newby, excuse me, councilwoman Green.

Excuse me, Councilwoman Green.

Aye.

All right.

The ayes have it, and the item passes.

Madam Clerk, X item.

Consideration of the city strategic plan for FY26 through FY28.

Okay.

At this time, I'm going to turn it over to Ms.

Dana Wettles for a brief presentation.

All right, good evening.

Is everybody able to see my screen?

All right.

Good evening, Mayor and members of City Council.

I'm Dana Wettles, Strategic Initiatives Officer in the Office of Analytics, Innovation, and Data.

I'm here tonight to discuss and seek your approval of the city's draft strategic plan.

First, I'll start by discussing how we got to the point of having an updated plan.

A year ago, we held a city council retreat to determine top priorities for this council's three-year term.

We then took the priorities and looked at city resources, other council discussions, input from surveys, community plans, boards and commissions information to identify how we are going to achieve those priorities going forward.

We also looked at how we can ensure that the plan is iterative and a living document over time.

In the past year, our strategic or in the past, our strategic plans have been a five-year effort, which did not align with council terms and made it somewhat awkward in terms of updating those plans.

So we've changed the format of how we're approaching strategic planning in terms of the cadence and timing.

We've also identified ways to make it more focused on organizational needs, which I'll talk about in a moment.

So this is the strategic framework going forward.

You'll see it's broken into three sections, which again make it more iterative to align with council with community needs while also being flexible and accountable.

On the left, you'll see our why.

This is our mission, vision, and values.

The mission and vision values don't change often.

It's our purpose and what we intend for our future as an organization, serving the needs of the community.

We have our mission, vision values on a cadence to update every 10 years.

And the last time it was updated was 2018.

So we'll be looking to update the mission, vision values again in 2028.

Our what will be updated every three years going forward.

And this is meant to align with city council terms and is focused on how we can achieve our mission and vision.

So it starts with our principles where we look to promote community connection, equity, and environmental justice.

And I'll point out that in the previous city council priorities, there was a specific priority focused on community engagement.

We've shifted a bit and changed that focus to promote community connection as part of a principle with the idea that it is overlaid on top of every priority we do and embedded within it.

So looking down on the map here, we have four council priorities that were identified at the council retreat last year.

Advancing housing opportunities, reducing community disparities, strengthening our economy, and recruit and retain a thriving workforce.

On the right, we have two additional organizational priorities.

These were added as a way to ensure that we are focused on upgrading and maintaining our systems and processes while also being creative in our approaches to problem solving.

And that's where you see you see in the improve and innovate bullet.

These two are meant to really be the backbone to how we get the council priorities done.

Finally, on the right, you see our annual work plan, and this captures how our projects and initiatives are guided by council priorities, our what and our why.

So these are updated on an annual basis by each department and departments provide updates each quarter.

So the big big takeaway from this is yes, it's one strategic plan, but in three separate sections to ensure that we have an iterative and living document over time that aligns with the community needs at that moment.

So I'm not going to go through each detail of all the priorities, um, but really focus here on the structure of how we're looking to achieve them.

So starting with advanced housing opportunities, you'll see a guiding question.

The guiding questions were developed at the council retreat and then revised and wordsmithed over time.

Um, and an objective for each uh of those priorities is also provided.

So in this case, the objective focuses on both quality and quantity of housing, and the measures respond to achieving that objective.

So percent of complaint cases responded to within seven days.

That's a measure that comes from code administration and speaks to quality.

On the right, you see a change in number of housing units, speaking to quantity.

There are many measures that we could have selected, and there's an appendix in the back of the strategic plan with more measures.

These are the ones that we felt have a big impact, and we can see change over a three-year time period.

You'll also see a representative initiative.

And again, these are their many initiatives as part of these work plans, but these highlight the major projects over the next three years.

Moving on to reduce community disparities.

This is probably the priority that changed the most over the past year since the council retreat.

We have changed it to really focus and align with the community health assessment, the CHA, and also hone in on how we are prioritizing our time, effort, and resources to provide our community services where they are needed most.

So we could cast a wide broad net of all of our services, but what we're saying here is that we are laser focused on really looking at where they're needed most to ensure that we are best utilizing our resources.

Objective one is directly from the CHA, and that is about evaluating and strengthening our trauma-informed support services in a coordinated effort with measurements also from the CHA.

Objective two is about the delivery of our safety support services, such as housing assistance, child care, and workforce development.

This the measurement here is decreasing percentage of households earning less than 75,000, but spending more on 30% more than 30% on housing.

Next is strengthen our economy.

This is one you've heard about many times in presentations through the state of the economy and aligns with the Alex Forward plan that came to you earlier this month.

So objective one is about attracting catalytic revenue generating industries to lessen the gap between the residential and commercial real estate that's shown in the measurement here.

And objective two is about strengthening our local economy by reducing barriers to establishing businesses.

And we're measuring that in the amount of time it takes to get plans approved.

Recruit and retain a thriving workforce.

So how do we ensure that we are attracting and retaining our diverse talent in the in the public sector?

Objective one is focused on our workplace culture, and objective two is really more focused on competitive compensation and improving workplace conditions.

Moving on to the two organizational priorities.

The first is to streamline systems and processes, looking at how we improve our workflows and efficiency.

So the first objective here is about simplifying our administrative tools, and this is to make sure that it is easy to do business with the city, whether you're a resident, business, or visitor.

And the second about increasing our interdepartmental relationships and knowledge sharing.

This is very much focused on customer service to ensure that staff are able to resolve questions and requests from the community regardless of the department that they're in, and they're able to share information across departments and have a real sense of what we do through interagency coordination.

Lastly, we have continuously improve and innovate, and this is really focused on how we uh problem solve in creative ways to find new solutions.

And that could be through technology, the use of AI as an example.

It could just be from different perspectives that how we look at approaches to problem solving.

The initiative here is the digital traffic management and smart mobility program, exemplifying how we are looking for creative technology uses to improve our city services.

There are red boxes just to point out that we have added new measures since the strategic plan was printed.

Of course, you don't have the printed copies in front of you tonight, but the new versions will have these measures added to them as well, which include the city uh position vacancy rate and decreased decreasing the posting date from start to start date for new hires.

The second one, uh, we only have this calendar year of data for the new hires, but we'll continue to monitor that one over time and the data set will grow.

Um the next set of measures here reduce community disparities and strengthen our economy.

Again, I want to highlight that we have added some additional measures.

Uh, one is about decreasing our poverty rate.

This was something that was brought up in the retreat last year, and we've added added in.

Um, and the other two increase new business licenses and increased business retention percentage.

Um, moving on to implementation and accountability.

We are looking at updating the work plans annually and then reviewing the initiatives quarterly to ensure that we are constantly aligned.

We have a dashboard on the city's website where we are tracking the measures.

Um, we are also looking, as I said, it's this being an iterative strategic plan, so continuous improvement from residents, boards, commissions, employees that we hear from over time, um, and ensuring that we can adapt and have adapt to new needs going forward.

And ensuring that we can adapt and have adapt to new needs going forward.

And then again, reassess on a regular cadence of 10, three, um, 10 years, three years meannually.

We've started to discuss the uh draft plan with employees through department town halls and team meetings so that there's an understanding of what the what the plan is and how it connects, um how every employee connects to it, emphasizing that every employee in this organization has an impact on moving the needle as we work together to foster a thriving Alexandria through our short and long-term operations.

You also have in your packet tonight a six-month look ahead that shows how we are using information to plan and identify the big initiatives and what we uh that we're looking towards, and this helps us communicate and understand um what's ahead.

Um, an example would be um looking at communications.

How do we say, okay, this is the initiative that's six months out?

How do we step back and start to plan for that storytelling and understanding for the community now?

Um so it's it's it will be updated quarterly and sent to you at that on those intervals.

Um and with that, I will open it up for questions.

Okay, well, thank you for the presentation.

Let me just say uh this before I go to Councilwoman Green.

Um, thank you for all the work that you and staff have put in into this process and for your leadership.

I think something that I'm particularly excited about is the way in which the strategies have evolved to better connect with some of the other things that are happening across our different departments, whether that's the community health assessment or zoning for housing, and I think just really making sure that everything we do, we're really looking at the intersections across departments and being intentional about how the work uh complements each other.

Councilman Green.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and Will said.

I I too am very excited about the plan and thank you for your work, uh, Ms.

Weddles.

And I would like to know as we as we deploy the plan.

You you talked about current employees and how they will be engaged.

Can you tell me how often this would happen and how it's really going to be implemented to get feedback from them?

Sure.

Um, so we have, as I said, started to go out and hold um uh employee meetings.

Um in some cases it is with leadership in a department, in other cases we've had entire town halls um with I'll give an example of the rec staff where you know we had two uh 200 people in the room um asking questions about the plan and how they directly relate to it.

Um we are um we now have an internal city uh website about the plan um where we will be able to post um on initiatives that are directly related and um the quarterly updates you see as council will also be shared internally um and really promoted internally so that staff can use it as a way to plan ahead and um coordinate across departments.

Um as an example in um in our office, we're looking you know at that six-month look ahead to say, okay, which one which of these initiatives involve data and where can we be of help in cross-collaboration?

Um there'll also be communications um and posters going up throughout the build of the city facilities to really um help communicate what the plan means and how it relates to each staff person.

Thank you.

Okay, councilmanubi.

I just want to thank you for adding those metrics.

I know it's something we talked about in our briefing and some of these metrics we actually came up with during our retreat because we thought they were important to measure some of these things that we're putting together.

Um so thank you for adding those and listening to us.

Appreciate it to me.

Thank you.

Okay, are there any questions, additional questions or comments?

All right, seeing none is there a motion.

Second ready, Miss Green.

Uh because there's a motion by Councilman Chapman and a second by councilwoman Green to move approval of item number 17.

Any additional discussion?

All right, seeing none, Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Councilman Chapman.

All right.

Councilwoman Green.

Councilman Green.

Aye.

Mayor Gaskins.

Aye.

Icemar Bagley.

Aye.

Councilman Aguirre.

Aye.

Councilman El Nubi.

Aye.

Councilman McPike.

Aye.

All right.

The ayes haven't, and the motion passes.

And we are now on our second to final item.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Housing 2040 plan work session.

Okay.

I still see the last presentation, so I can't see the rest of staff.

So I'm trying to see.

But I do see Director McLean.

So that's who I'm going to turn it to to start.

And she can get us to the right team person.

Oh, I think you're muted.

There we go.

I was.

Thank you very much.

Good evening, Mayor Gaskins and City Council.

I'm Helen McIlvain, Alexandria's housing director, and I'm pleased to be with you virtually tonight with other members of the housing team to provide an update regarding the city's housing 2040 plan.

Those presenting or participating as subject matters tonight include our tireless housing program manager, Tamra Yovovich, who is leading the plan, housing analysts Chris Doe and Kim Kadina, Division Chiefs Mary Horner of Landlord Tenant, and Gypsy Roberts of Finance and Program Implementation, and Housing's Deputy Director, Ospasia Zapolia.

Besides those who are here tonight, I would note that all 17 housing staff are deeply involved in the 2040 process, leading projects, supporting outreach events, and coordinating meeting logistics.

The process is also supported by dozens of colleagues from different departments and agencies, multiple city boards and commissions, including AHAC and a variety of community partners.

Your keen interest and the inputs you have provided so far have guided our work and will inform its future implementation.

Would you be surprised to find out that you each brought different ideas and priorities to us?

Tonight, I'd also like to acknowledge the ongoing guidance we've received through dialogues with the city manager, Jim Parajan and Deputy City Manager Emily Baker.

Alexandria's 2013 plan was the first housing plan undertaken in our region.

The connection it established between the city's future economic growth and the adequacy of its housing supply, including committed affordable housing for a diverse workforce, became the blueprint for the city's successful partnership with Arlington in landing Amazon HQ2 and the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, as well as for COGS 2019 Regional Housing Initiative.

Creating a matrix to track our project progress on the housing master plan's goals, not only allowed us to report to you, our stakeholders, when we were on track in meeting its goals.

New dedicated resources were enabled through the meals tax through the placement of housing in the city's 10-year CIP through addition the addition of $1 million in the annual budget to address uh the impact of Amazon on our local housing market through partnerships with funders, funders like JBG Smith and Amazon's housing equity fund, as well as the creation of a pilot rental subsidy program, just to name a few of the ways that we have regrouped to meet the evolving housing needs of Alexandria residents.

Besides these, new regulatory tools were developed and implemented to maximize supply, including the RMF zone, the co-living and ADU recommendations to increase supply through the zoning for housing initiative.

Together today, we can boast that the city exceeded its 2013 housing goals and it begins 2026 with a pipeline that as funded will deliver three times plus the number of units comprising our regional housing target.

How will the 2040 plan be different?

Data from the housing needs assessment confirms that the 2040 plan must more fully explore protections for the tenants, protections for tenants, and supports for property owners, since 60% of city households are renters.

It must provide options to meet the housing and care needs of Alexandria's seniors, our fastest growing segment of the population.

It must offer more varied and affordable housing options to retain the cohort of persons aged 18 to 34, our future, which is currently shrinking faster than other groups.

It must help leverage third party sources to address the capital needs of Alexandria's aging condominium stock, which comprises one half of all of our ownership units.

And it must create pathways for both renters and homeowners to achieve housing stability and greater self-sufficiency.

Achieving the plan's many potential recommendations will require both accountability and flexibility in the years ahead.

We welcome our discussion with you tonight.

And with that, I'm passing the baton to Tamara Yovovich.

Thank you, Helen.

Good evening, Mayor Gaskins and members of the city council.

My name is Tamara Yovovich, obviously also with the Office of Housing.

Tonight, we're going to kind of walk you through where we are currently in the housing 2040 process and provide an update on some of our key community engagement opportunities that are coming up in February and in March.

We'll be sharing our current revised draft of the Housing 2040 principles, which really are our kind of guiding kind of North Star.

We'll be sharing some quick updates on kind of the range of projects that fall under the Housing 2040 umbrella, but in particular focusing in on three projects and a couple of different points within those that we wanted to discuss with you tonight.

And then we'll be discussing at a higher level some approaches to addressing our affordable housing pipeline.

After that, we really want to open up the conversation with you, see what questions you may have and what feedback you may have for our next steps.

So this timeline will look very familiar.

So I'll only walk you back to the timing of our last work session last year.

The Housing 2040 team is Helen indicated.

It's an all-hands on deck approach, and we've been working really closely with our colleagues in the health department and in planning and zoning and the Department of Community Human Services in particular.

So as part of this process, we've been leveraging their community engagement events as well as doing targeted outreach ourselves.

And we've been using that input to help shape the revisions to our draft principles and goals, which we uh we provided a second draft in September, and we'll be sharing another graph, another draft at our upcoming meeting in February.

Um, we are also been using the continuing to use the Alexandria Housing Affordability Advisory Committee as a platform to vet ideas, um, to brainstorm um new considerations.

Um, but we've also taken uh an even more um intentional attention and intentional um effort to engage with other boards and commissions.

Um, some have been working with us lockstep, but we've also been working increasingly with the commission on aging, um, the commission on persons with disabilities, um, certainly the EOC all along.

Um, recently we've engaged with a senior services advisory board and our colleague Chris has also been working with a subcommittee on the EPC as part of our sustainability goals.

Um, I'm really excited to share that we have um a major milestone coming up.

Um, that is our February 28th meeting.

And I won't have done my job well tonight if I don't mention this meeting at least three times.

Um, so you'll you'll hear you'll heal me bring it up a couple of times.

Um, but this is a milestone moment for us.

We are going to be releasing um our full package of recommendations and strategies in addition to the revisions to the principles and goals.

Um, uh, we'll have more details on how to register and what and what information is going to be provided on what structure we're going to be following a little bit later in the presentation.

Um, you'll also note that um following um the release of our draft recommendations, we'll have a 30-day comment period, um and that'll help to inform kind of the final draft plan, um, which would be docketed um tentatively for public hearing in June.

Um, and then our work doesn't stop there.

Uh, we have phase two, which for us really is implementation of the housing 2040 process.

So that is establishing kind of our work program, our priorities, and then we'll be highlighting um in a little bit a couple of select projects that is not an exhaustive list, but it'll give you a flavor for the work sort of that's that's to come.

Um, our community engagement process um is ongoing.

I don't really anticipate it really stopping.

As we talked about last year, it's taken many different forms and three really follow three different approaches.

One is starting out a kind of that educate education and awareness building stage, which involves everything as simple from making sure that we have understandable definitions on our website to doing educational webinars, having printed materials and making sure that at all of our community engagement events we have resource materials readily available to members of the public along with staff who can explain what those materials mean and how they relate to our attendees.

We've had engagement that is targeted really at raising awareness about the overall process.

And that's involved attending pop-ups and really leveraging events that our colleagues in the Department of Planning and Zoning and the Health Department have been hosting.

And then we've had more targeted kind of intentionally organized outreach that is also pursued different formats, but that has been focused on individual projects or topics.

And those have been some of those have taken kind of that broader approach and having a meeting.

Some of them have been targeted conversations or one-on-one discussions.

I think we had discussed that we had done our housing survey back in 2024.

So, you know, we're still building off of those roughly 20 uh 1200 responses that we got.

Um and we sort of paired that with the data that we got from our quantitative housing needs analysis.

Um, and then I'm excited to report that two of our projects had active working groups, I think that were really informative.

Um, both my colleagues um Chris and then uh our deputy director Esposia will talk about how those working groups have helped to inform our preservation work and our work that strengthened our common interest um communities.

So I've listed here our draft principles.

Um I won't uh I won't read through them verbatim, but I did want to make two points here.

Um, one is that um in particular, um, there have been some revisions to principle number one.

Um, and uh the the thought process here was to, with greater intentionality reflect that an important way of advancing um and supporting the city's existing um diversity is looking at housing stability, anti-displacement initiatives and really expanding housing choice.

So we've clarified that, we've clarified that language in response to community feedback.

And also I wanted to kind of circle um uh circle back to number five, um, which is one that was uh maybe not exactly controversial with the public, but did raise some questions.

Um, some of the feedback that we've gotten was well, isn't that redundant?

And um, staff's position is that it's really not.

The housing 2040 process, well, yes, it's printed in ink and will be published.

Um, it is a living breathing document, and we do anticipate it being um uh nimble over that 15-year period and being able to kind of gradually pivot if our market conditions change or housing needs experience a significant shift.

So this slide kind of reflects the uh range of projects that have fallen under our housing 2040 umbrella.

You know, we loosely use the term projects.

You could also uh refer to them as major themes.

Um again, I won't I won't go through these individually, but I did want to call out um kind of one kind of big distinction among some of these.

And that is that um, I think as Helen alluded, uh, under the housing 2013 plan, uh, we were able to kind of carry carry over some of the some of the goals and recommendations to our plan.

We we would we reviewed them, we tweaked them, but we were generally like looking more at those um initiatives or projects as an update.

However, there are also certain larger topics that were not a focal point in the original plan.

So those are landlord tenant resources, um looking at recommendations and models to strengthen our senior housing options, um, as well as um uh incorporating um health um uh healthy housing um uh within our work.

With respect to healthy housing, we've been able to leverage again the work that our health department is doing with the Healthy Homes Initiative and then subsequently with the community health assessment and community health improvement plan with our senior housing plus care.

Um we've been working lockstep with our commission on aging and our colleagues in the division of aging and adult services as they update their age-friendly plan update.

And then uh our division chief with landlord tenant will be talking about our landlord tenant resources and rights.

And then this leads us to roughly what I'm calling uh phase two.

Um, but this is really the implementation of our housing 2040 process.

Um, first and foremost, um, following adoption, we would be looking at kind of what what our major priorities are.

Um, one of our first uh anticipated action items would be the development of a housing 2040 dashboard.

Uh, you may be wondering what that's gonna look like.

And I'd say that we um we initially had considered developing that as part of the process, and we realize that it is uh it's a larger effort that requires a lot of thought, and we want to make sure that whatever is created is um is useful to the public.

Um, so as part of this process, um, we'll be looking at what we want to accomplish with the dashboard and what um what types of material would be most helpful to the public.

We do at a minimum anticipate having kind of a summary of the plan and then um being able to track our our indicators and our progress towards implementation.

Um, but I think it'll be really helpful to look at some of the best practices that other city departments have been using, uh, how they've been using their dashboard and how those dashboards have been functioning.

Um, other select projects include um developing uh really prioritizing the development of a displacement risk index to help um uh in our decision making process with respect to the developed policies or programs or initiatives or uh preservation work, um, looking at some amendments to our bonus density program in particular, making it a little bit more nimble when it comes to different lane use types, um in particular of senior housing, also looking at some updates to our housing contribution policies and procedures again to um improve some clarity there.

Um, and then uh looking at our accessory dwelling unit ordinance, which has been working great.

Um, but we'll be looking to see whether or not there are ways to um build in some opportunities to either extend uh enhance either accessibility or uh affordability.

Um we'll be examining some best practices across the country.

And I think that's going to lead me to our affordable housing preservation work, and I'll pass the microphone over to my colleague Chris.

Hi, I'm Christow, the housing analyst and project lead for preservation.

Um thanks for the opportunity to kind of give us some context and background on how this project um got started and what we're looking at.

So the top three statistics at the um in the slide kind of highlight the challenges that we see um in our existing housing.

So we took a look at our existing affordable housing, and that includes both committed affordable, uh, which means it has restrictions or covenants, um, usually through LITEC or through HAP Contracts Section 8 project-based vouchers that keep it affordable, and then also with our market rate affordable um housing, which is naturally occurring, has no restrictions, um, is affordable just uh without any restrictions.

Um so on the committed affordable side, we have assessed um there's 2100 plus units that are committed um that are at risk of expiration by 2040.

Um, so that is one of the issues that we looked at and the data, another issue that we've heard about from residents um throughout our engagement process was you know, things are getting more expensive, rent increases.

Um, and so the data kind of backs that up.

Um, what you see here is the decrease in market affordable units below 60% of intermediate income.

Um so in 2000, that number was 18,000.

In 2025, it's 6,900.

Um, a lot of these units probably still remain from what we have gathered, remain affordable below 80% in that 61 to 80% range.

Um, but what you're seeing is you know, as housing costs have increased, it's outpace people's incomes.

Um, so it becomes less and less affordable.

Um, and the third issue that we've seen the data um and have heard from property owners and residents is um a lot of the affordable uh buildings have issues related to age um and livability.

So we have issues with HVAC, typing, infrastructure, um, and other features of buildings that make it uh that pose living um habitability issues for residents.

Um so with these kind of three issues in mind, we set about tackling this first by listening.

Um we do a lot of interviews with developers, policy experts, staff uh from other jurisdictions, um, to the advocates seeing what else is being done elsewhere and what people would like to see.

Um, and then we hosted a preservation panel.

Um our engagement throughout this middle process was aimed at getting everyone in the room who had an interest um or expertise or lived experience with preservation.

So developers, property owners, tenant advocates, policy experts, funders, um, property managers, um, tenant groups um and uh landlords.

So um with that in mind, we did assemble um a work group in the fall to kind of vet some of these recommendations, see what everyone could agree on and um you know assess people's feedback and their reservations and we try to come up with a policy that addresses all of these issues and is something that people can agree on and implement together.

So um that being said, I think we can turn it over to Aspasia and talk more about something our key recommendations.

Great.

Good evening.

I'm as new deputy director at the Office of Housing.

It's great to be with you today and picking up of where crazy left.

Uh some of the things we are prioritizing is starting to investigate a little more and start to work on are how are we gonna maximize uh the opportunity that the new legislation at the state level offers around the preservation of already existing existing affordable housing.

So we will be looking to create a programmatic structure that will allow us to take the state level legislation and make it impactful and workable at the local level.

And like any other policy, policies are great, but alone can get you that far.

So in order to really hone in on preservation, we're going to look also at the possibility of tax exemption parameters and also certain criteria around that.

How can the city look at providing certain amount of tax exemptions for certain levels of affordability during preservation efforts?

And we're going to explore the possibility of also creating a preservation fund that will be able to be coupled with the tax exemptions and with the policies to address preservation, both at the properties that have affordability covenants, but are about to expire, and also the properties that are more widely known as market affordable properties.

Next slide, please.

One of the other things that Tamara also mentioned is the work our team has been doing around the common interest communities.

And as you can see, 50% of the homeowner homeownership opportunities in the city are condominiums.

And the condominiums are on an average 45 years old.

And one other thing that we also learned through the work group is that there are also a lot of the condominiums are also known as NORCs naturally occurring in retirement communities because of the way the housing stock is, it just becomes conducive to seniors living and aging in place.

And the things we're also learning is that you know a lot of times people are not able to plan really well for the capital improvements, um, are facing a special assessment issues.

And so we have been very fortunate to have the proponent of uh services of Mercer Triggiani and from our team.

Uh, Kim Kadena has been orchestrating and facilitating orderly meetings uh where that have been very helpful in giving information out to condominium uh owners and helping them navigate the regulatory processes.

And also, as Tamara mentioned, that that was another work group that was formed to explore recommendations of how we should be addressing and moving this work forward.

And so on the next slide.

Uh deeper.

And one thing I want to preface this is uh very much like the market affordable units, the condominium units do not fall nicely under a very specific affordable housing tool or program because when people bought their homes, they're not necessarily income qualified, they're not necessarily income qualified today.

Some of them may, some be, some of us, some others may not.

But it but because of uh how many condominiums are in the city, it is very important for us to figure out how to facilitate the discussion with financial institutions and partners that can help fund some of the deferred maintenance and capital improvement needs of the condominiums.

And what is also very critical is that the boards of those condominiums are qualified and they have the capacity to navigate that process and secure the funding available.

So we're looking for ways to incentivize condominium boards becoming um uh increasing their capacity to address those needs in their communities.

And with that, I will pass the baton to Mary Horman.

Um my name is Mary Horner.

I am the division chief of the landlord tenant division, and I'll be talking about um some of our landlord tenant rights and resources and the project that we've undertaken uh to tackle landlord tenant issues.

Um, as Tamara mentioned at the beginning, uh, unlike some of our other housing 2040 projects, we did not have um landlord tenant issues were not incorporated in the last plan.

So although we um are not, we don't necessarily have something to update.

Um, as most of you are aware, the city of Alexandria is incredibly active and engaged, especially when it comes to tenant issues and advocacy.

So we're not necessarily starting from scratch either.

Um, obviously we've uh focused on data, but um both from our quantitative housing needs analysis and eviction data and other data um sets throughout the city.

Um we've used um information from public surveys and meetings, we've had a variety of stakeholder focused groups of about over two dozen with those who are involved, uh you know, both tenant advocacy advocacy groups and landlord groups as well.

Um, we are obviously as well looking at our small area plans and some of our regional plans, including our COG Fair Housing Plan.

A lot of our small area plans have included landlord tenant recommendations.

So that's been incredibly helpful to refer to as well.

And then, of course, we've really thrown ourselves into looking at targeted literature from across the country.

We are not the only place that is focused on landlord tenant issues and different ways to tackle this.

And so we are trying to learn best practices from not only those in Virginia, but also across the country who are dealing with these.

Thank you.

And a little bit of information on all the great work that has been happening already.

You heard Helen at the beginning saying that we have outpaced the production of the Coke goals.

Right now, there are over a thousand units with public assistance that are under construction in the city.

And there are many more that could be in construction, but for the resources.

So right now, and it says 47 million, but it is a little more because we don't have the gap funding requests for the Old Tony West project.

But we're looking for a good amount of money to be able to move forward all the projects that already have a DSUP.

And then there are other projects that are do not have a DSUP yet, but they're well underway in their plan review process that will require possibly another 60 million dollars.

So we're looking for a lot of city resources to be able to move forward our existing pipeline.

And we think that is important for all of us to be aware so we can level set uh, you know, how far we can stretch our resources.

And the next slide, please.

And uh today we're not having a budget conversation because we're nowhere close to any of that, and we're very clear uh of how this budget year looks and how next budget year looks.

Uh but we're also um, as uh Camara mentioned at the beginning, one of the phase two projects will be to start looking at what kind of tools and resources we will need to move this uh plan 2040 forward, uh, the next not just one or two years, but uh the next five to ten years and beyond.

And so we want to start exploring again what does it mean to refresh the bonding for affordable housing.

20 years ago, uh the city issued bonds for affordable housing that are about to repaid.

We will be working very closely with the city manager's office on that.

Um we want to be able to leverage possible tax payment for uh preservation and acquisition funding and have that sort of avenue for preservation, so then we can untap the other city money for new construction.

Uh preservation is always urgent because people are already here and we have to do something about it.

And it is very true that we also need to be continuing to produce a new housing at the same time in order for the pressures of housing overall to subside or to be more manageable of what people are experiencing at any given time.

And so we will be looking at the options of expanding the existing dedicated funding sources in the future to bring this uh uh this plan to fruition.

And I will pass it back to Tamara.

Uh well, this is going to be our last slide.

Um, and I I've only mentioned our February 28th meeting once, I think, so now I might have to repeat this twice, but we're really excited to invite the members of the public to our open house that's on a Saturday from 10 a.m.

to 3 p.m.

Um it's structured as an open house, but it will be sort of punctuated by smaller presentations that are topical in nature.

So we'll have a presentation on our landlord tenant work, uh, on our resources for homeowners and um those that are strengthening common interest communities and our preservation work and um some of the recommendations that we've been looking at to support um our um seniors and persons with disabilities.

Um invite the members of the public, please come, ask questions, provide feedback.

Um, it's it's a great opportunity to interface directly with our project managers and also hear from each other.

And then uh we do anticipate releasing the draft recommendations and strategies a couple of days prior to this, so they will be out.

Um, and there'll be a roughly 30-day comment period with an online comment form.

So for folks who aren't able to attend or prefer not to attend and provide feedback via um via our website, they're welcome to do so as well.

Um, we also will have interpretation um at the event.

Um, and um at this point in time, uh, we welcome your questions um and your feedback.

Hey, well, first, thank you to the entire team for your presentation.

It's really helpful to hear about the journey we've been on, but also where we are headed with this work, um, as well as the multiple opportunities uh for residents to continue to engage, including February 28th.

I got the message, Tamara.

Uh, with that, let me open it up to my colleagues for questions.

This time I am um Vice Mayor Bagley.

Sorry, I was trying to we can't see each other, you know, when the when it's not when the thing is on the screen.

Um, is it possible to put the put this presentation back up and go back to the slide that sort of had the like seven projects, I think is what they're called.

Um looks like somebody's doing that.

Thank you.

Um, yeah.

Oh this, yes.

Um I forget who the speaker was.

Maybe it was Tamara at this point, um, who was going over the projects.

Um what I wanted to ask is these are all uh specific and very useful ways.

Um I appreciate sort of sustainability and health and seniors being called out.

I'm curious where sort of the general concept of supply, just increasing supply, you know, uh you know, of all kinds, um, in our housing types, just broadly.

How do I you know reconcile that or where does that sort of because I I heard one of the the um one of the last speakers was speaking at, you know, sort of addressed that I think they said, you know, we have to continue to produce new housing, just yeah, you know, to relieve the pressure of simply not having enough.

So I'm curious like where do I see that reflected in these projects?

Sure.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Bagley, for that question.

So that directly falls under goal number one.

Um so what this trade-off here is that you're sort of looking at these like narrower topics, um, but we have a number of other themes that kind of permeate the work.

So, goal number one specifically talks about expanding um uh housing supply and housing choice as a way to make sure that um the city is working to meet the needs of our current and future population.

So there are a series of recommendations there that look at everything from encouraging different housing typologies at different price points to make sure that we're um providing for individuals sort of from like um uh birth through their education, their you know, their uh uh their work and and retirement, um, and then looking at uh uh different ways in which we can continue to explore uh ways in which we can help to reduce construction costs, right?

Are there are there creative types of um construction uh alternative construction techniques that can hopefully you know lead to a moderation in housing costs.

Um so goal number one would would ultimately end up at helping to address supply it also um continues to endorse um our small area planning work um which is really the the city's vehicle through which we look at you know where density is appropriate how we're concentrating density near our um uh more intense um transportation centers activity centers um and then it also is looking at um you know continuing to support um you know streamlining of our development and review process you know in in the hopes again that that helps to moderate costs um over time as we as we deliver new units thank you i i appreciate that and like i said i could sort of feel it permeated throughout the presentation you know throughout the dialogue I just um while the presentation was on this slide um it it struck me and then I guess the the co-related comment or question is this point about health and housing and preservation I'm just aware of the tension sometimes in our community between wanting to preserve something because it's affordable sort of in quotes but knowing you know we often know the condition of those units um and why it's affordable um and I think we went through this even with the heritage debate and why it was the better choice to you know recognize the end of service life so those units and so I I'm wondering if the relevant housing expert here can sort of speak to how are y'all evaluating that balance between preserving what is you know market affordable but also recognizing we're not interested in sort of just maintaining older aging stock be because simply the rent can't be raised you know because it because it is sort of in poor condition.

So I'm gonna direct that question to my colleague Chris who is specifically has been looking um how to prioritize um uh and what and what factors to use when deciding um what should be prioritized or where city funding should be invested um thanks for that question Vice Mayor Bagley um so this is something that the city uh our office has worked with our partners to do already and something we're looking to continue to do is partner affordability um livability and financial viability um together um I think people often find that they're conceptualize affordable housing and think of the naturally occurring world stock that is older um so one of some of the things that we have done and look to continue to do is to invest in uh rehabilitation um there are financial tools for our committed affordable housing um that exists with LITEC like resyndication uh we have we're looking at tax abatement as a tool um and potentially leveraging other financial tools to help with rehabilitation of our existing um affordable housing and then also coupling that with ways to keep that affordable having affordability commitments uh we have the voluntary rent increase policy uh which suggests that rents are capped at five percent um we have adherence to um and a lot of this is done uh we have the shout out our nonprofit partners as well who have done a lot of this work um and they've acquired uh existing affordable housing both market and keep it affordable and then they've invested it in it um with rehabilitation kept it affordable and improve the livability um so preservation that's all to say preservation is looking at it in a combined lens of recognizing that you know we want things to be affordable but they also have to be livable and they also on the property owner and we want them to be financially viable because a lot of the property owners who are in the nonprofit or in this market for affordable housing are mission driven um and they face a lot of challenges because of just the lot the less revenue that they earn so they're not able to address a lot of these issues.

So that's the kind of three the three prints uh principles of um preservation that we're looking at no I appreciate that mayor gas if I could ask one quick final follow-up um you mentioned sort of the five percent um you know right now it's advisory and we can't really enforce it and and I understand there's larger dialogues in enrichment and elsewhere about about that issue but I'm curious is our approach to that recognizing you know a policy that acknowledges capital investments versus just raising rents because you can because the market is competitive and are we because we don't want to do things that like to this point about preservation and reinvesting and and improving the condition of something um have we given thought to or does our housing office have a comment or a perspective sort of on how do you balance you know sort of cap you know deep capital investments that that might be made in a property that that necessitates sort of a rent increase to to facilitate them versus just uh I know there's a market you know and and I can I can raise the rent 5% 6% each year because there is an I don't have any competitors nearby or there hasn't been any new development is our policy sort of cognizant or trying to sort a way through that so that we we we do reinvest um in these units in these sort of aging 45 plus you know units.

Is our policy sort of cognizant or trying to sort a way through that so that we we we do reinvest um in these units in these sort of aging 45 plus you know units?

So, Vice Mayor Bagley, I think I'll take a crack at that one.

Our policy has always had room to consider uh, as you say, very you know, strategic or uh extensive um capital improvements and allow uh rent increases to take that into account.

I think we obviously don't have a way to um you know enforce that, but we know uh this year I think we are committed to looking at our voluntary uh rent increase policy and make sure it's on track.

We we heard uh both during the preservation work group, but it also as a matter of course, for example, how much insurance costs and other costs have risen over the last few years since the since the pandemic.

Um, but our our our voluntary policy has always actually allowed for um you know property owners to sort of defend higher increases based on investments in properties uh that were needed.

And uh to your earlier question, Chris Chris answered it beautifully.

I would say that part of you know, any kind of uh preservation project in which the city would be involved would require close coordination with the property owner on a capital needs assessment and ensuring that over time any items identified were addressed.

Um that's you know, that's just one of the things I think as you made the point.

We don't want to um have properties continue through their useful life without um tremendous investment.

And I think there's there's always doing that due diligence to determine um that uh a property, you know, can be uh habitable and comfortable is very important.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you for that.

And thanks for sort of reiterating what the policy already was.

Um I I want I want, you know, uh our commercial developers and our uh current owners in the area to know we're mindful, you know what I mean?

And when we don't want to have policies that disincentivize new elevators, you know, new roves, new HVAC, things like that.

Like, you know, we're keen to see those kind of reinvestments in in properties in the city.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Gaskins.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Bagley.

I'm gonna go to Councilman Green and then Councilman Chapman.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you to our housing team for all the work that has gone into the 2040 plan.

Um there's a there's a serious issue in our city when it comes to our workforce being able to live here, our teachers, our firefighters, our police officers, and I'm not seeing where this is specifically identified in this plan.

Um, is it embedded within the affordable housing um component?

I would just like to hear more about how are we going to work to alleviate the problem of people that work in Alexandria and not being able to live here.

Thank you, Councilwoman Green.

Um, so this is this is another one of those topics that kind of permeates a number of the different goals.

Um and one of the points that we make um well that we will be making in the plan is looking not only at kind of the needs of current Alexandria residents, but also thinking about where our workers live, right?

For those, especially for those workers who want to live in the city and may not have the opportunity to do so.

So we end up kind of addressing this challenge through a couple of different ways.

Um one is looking through the different housing typologies that we'd be encouraging, whether it's through deliberate policy or through our small area plans.

Um a second one is to make sure that we have a range of price points available for in our rental housing stock, both on the committed affordable side and on the kind of uh market affordable workforce affordable side.

And by that I mean that's kind of that income level that's either up to 60% of the area median income or up to 80% of the area meaning income.

We are fortunate in the city to have a substantial portion of our rental housing stock already be affordable up to 80% of AMI.

Um, but it will, you know, we'll fully acknowledge that there also are some um habitability and housing quality issues that you know that we are that we're working to address with the health department.

So I guess so on the rental housing side, one portion of our housing stock is affordable, which is not to say that um we shouldn't continue to strive to both you know augment that supply and also better market opportunities that are available.

A theme that you'll be able to see in our recommendations is efforts that we need to make to better advertise the units that we do have available, whether it's through heightened social media or a better presence on our website or more targeted engagement with some of our sister departments or ACPS in particular to let them know when units become available, how to how to access them.

On the homeownership side, I think there are a couple of different ways that we're approaching this.

Um one is continuing to actively market the affordable set aside units that we've been generating through the development process and also doing the same with our resale restricted units, um and also better promoting um some of the resources that we have through the state.

For example, the Spark program, which helps to reduce um our mortgage interest rate, um, and also helping to better promote um eHIP, which is our employee homeownership assistance program.

Um but with that said, we definitely hear your concern.

And I think um, you know, making sure that we're better marketing what we currently have on hand and working to better expand kind of that range of affordability, both on the rental and on the homeownership side will be really important, I think, to addressing some of those um workforce needs.

Okay, thank you.

Councilman Chapman and then Councilman McPeck.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, I just wanted to go down a quick list of things I was thinking.

Um the first one was uh I didn't see, and maybe maybe this is a broader discussion, kind of uh some kind of points about the use of municipal land or uh potential opportunities to evolve policy around co-location.

Uh I think it's still uh a meaningful opportunity for us with not a lot of space here in the city.

I think we we need to call upon our partners to really look at that.

I also think we have in the past kind of taken an assessment of uh what we have available to us and said these are some potential options for the future.

I think the future and planning for that future is now.

And so as we look at this plan, how do we use, and I'll I'll give uh one that hopefully will come up sooner rather than later.

How do we use things like the ACPS transportation site uh to look at redevelopment and potential for housing on that site?

Um, how do we look at what's happening in the Witter uh Wheeler area uh to see what sites have that potential for uh for use as housing opportunities?

Um as we continue to work with uh our ACPS partners uh and develop a school in Potomac Yards some down sometime down the road, uh we have already expressed the interest of having uh that site kind of be combined with housing as well.

And so continuing to look at those opportunities and um make changes either within our organization or potentially within or other organizations to make sure that happens.

Um, how do we call that out in a plan like this?

And then we'll have a couple other questions.

Yeah, uh absolutely.

And I think the challenge with this type of presentation is that I think our instinct was to share everything with you, but it's it's impossible within the scope within the scope of this meeting.

But um we do specifically call out um under our um affordable housing uh rental housing uh production goal, which is goal number four, um, to explore basically all possible tools.

Um so continuing to explore opportunities for co-location um and looking at um uh city remnant parcels as well.

Those might be in particular, while they might be on the smaller side, they might be particularly well suited to smaller homeownership projects, um, sort of a scale-down version of Housing Alexandria's cardinal path, right?

So there could be some exciting opportunities there.

And I think a Spacia um briefly was able to mention kind of the projects that are in that uh larger kind of CDD pipeline, right?

So one of those is absolutely the potential co-location of you know, a potential future school site with affordable housing in Potomac Yard.

Um, and then Helen is working um really closely with planning and zoning on the potential co-location of the fire station with rental housing uh in the landmark mall area.

But absolutely, I don't think that we're foreclosing any opportunity for a public-private partnership to basically try to meet a multiple community needs um through one development.

Okay, perfect.

And uh I'll follow it up.

One of the one of the other conversations I think we probably need to have as it relates to housing goals for 2040 is you know, what do we see as the role of a partner like ARHA?

Um, you know, historically ARHA has really focused in on 60 to 30 and below AMI.

And it seems increasingly that they're kind of moving away from that.

Um obviously we understand some of the financial needs of the organization to not only remain solving, but uh keep some of their housing programs stable.

Um, but I I want to I do want us to have a conversation uh around the role of our partners.

Um if our partners are moving kind of in a different direction, how are we um communicating that to the public?

Because many of these partners aren't necessarily doing that uh in the same way that the city could or maybe should.

Um and so if ARHI is taking uh a push to have more and more units be 60% to 80% or above AMI, um there's a conversation there on how how we together with them serving those of lower AMIs um because they've had in the past the resources to do such.

Um, and so kind of what is that future hold for uh I think as my colleagues said, those for folks that work in the city but would not you know have enough money to hit 60% or AMI or or higher.

Helen, if I could uh direct that question to you.

Uh thank you, Councilman Chapman.

That's that's an excellent question.

Uh I think in our first housing master plan, we refer to um RHI units as sort of priority housing units.

And that is we are not necessarily restricting that to ARHA now because we know that uh as you've as you've said, ARHA is producing some of those, but we're looking to our other partners to produce those by our investment and deeper affordability or their ability to cross-subsidize deeper affordability with some higher affordability units.

I I think it's a real conundrum because the obviously the need for those units is not going away.

The federal government is uh less involved in uh providing funding to keep these going.

I think um, you know, we are clearly when it comes to preservation, we're very concerned and very committed to making sure that uh all of the city's properties with HAP contracts uh are preserved to the greatest extent possible.

But I think you you bring up an excellent point.

And as part of the ARHA reset, and I, you know, that is still so new.

I didn't feel uh we were at a point to uh talk to you at length about that, but I think this is an important conversation for um council and ARHA and uh your staffs to have about um ARHA's role and ability to uh to continue to deliver deeply affordable units.

But I think we are, you know, I think that that is that is their plan with some of their projects.

I think it's going to be increasingly challenging and looking at tools like RMF and hoping that more of our private development partners will uh potentially be able to do that, or or looking at tools like tax exemption to um provide some benefits to induce more deeply affordable housing.

I think uh as Tamara said, we're going to have to look at all of our tools and figure out how to stitch them together to uh get meet some of these, especially the needs of deeply affordable units.

Thank you.

Okay, councilman McPyke.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, and thank you all for your work on the on the housing plan so far and the update here this evening.

This is uh obviously a Herculean task that you're taking on, and I appreciate the thoughtfulness that is going into uh this work.

Um slide six, when you highlight the various uh topics and projects and communities that you're looking at, uh you called out and you mentioned uh a couple of times in the presentation, senior housing.

Um, and what of course weighs on me is the need not just for senior housing, but a committed affordable housing available for folks who can't live independently who need assistance.

And of course, in that sort of housing, you have two challenges.

The first is the challenge we have for all affordable housing, which is building it and subsidizing the rents on it.

But then there is, of course, subsidization of the care that has to be provided to people living in um committed affordable assisted living.

And I know that's a that's a big challenge.

It's one that we've grappled with for the four years I've been on council and well before that.

I'm sure you've heard from the commission of aging about it.

I'm curious how staff is thinking about this.

Uh, what tools might be available to Alexandria, um, what regional partnerships we might be able to form with other jurisdictions who are facing the same changing demographics and challenges with folks who want to stay in this community but need more support in living than then they can get in independent housing.

And what frankly could uh the Commonwealth be doing better to help places like Alexandria provide for this growing population.

Thank you for that question.

Um, so I'd say yes, the commission on aging and our colleagues at the division on aging and adult services um have been working really closely with us and it's uh uh both during this process, but also honestly, uh ever since we started to get um uh committed affordable units through the development process.

Um, there's been, I think, a lot of learning um on our end.

Um what uh what we've been doing under housing 2040 is um first making sure that we um understood what the commission on aging's priorities were in the age-friendly plan.

Um and then uh we're working with a um a third party uh to help us um evaluate different models of providing senior housing plus care.

So sort of sort of looking at that spectrum from like aging in place all the way through um uh mixed income assisted living, or you could call it committed affordable assisted living.

Um, and they're looking at different models um the both in the city and in the region and sort of the the uniqueness of those projects that have been successful and also some of the challenges that the communities that have not been so successful have been facing.

Um so we're actually anticipating of receiving their report um in just about um just about two or three weeks now.

But um, they have been interviewing uh a range of stakeholders, including executive directors, um, uh, to get a better feeling of those communities.

But they've also um been interfacing with senior services of Alexandria and the Commission on Aging directly to kind of hear their uh hear their priorities.

Um, one of the things actually that Espatia mentioned um are our NORCs are naturally uh occurring retirement communities as well.

Um, so you'll see in our in the plan that um we're gonna be continuing to um endorse uh kind of strengthening existing partnerships of senior services of Alexandria, for example, has been doing some targeted um engagement um at uh I believe it's the it's the Clarage House and it's looking to kind of expand that model um to uh better connect residents that are aging in place with existing services.

Um you are right, though, it is incredibly challenging to uh create sustainable um mixed income assisted living facilities because of the heightened levels of care as your needs progress.

Um so we are hoping that our consultant report will be able to shed some light on that.

Um, it it could be that there are um some hybrid models or public-private partnerships where we're leveraging a tax credit community and um again, better linking the residents there with um current service providers, um, in particular with those of nonprofits, but it is admittedly a very, very challenging field.

Um, I think we've been thankful that through the development process, we've generated units.

Um, but I think that's just helped to amplify the level of unmet need in the city right now.

Yeah, as we as we generate more units that sort of folks can age into, and we're just increasing our people are going to age into that like extra care need over time.

Um, so I appreciate the thought that you're putting into this.

I look forward to seeing um the report and uh how you all incorporate its its guidance and even if I'm merely a resident of Alexandria, I'd love to uh continue to work with you on this.

Thank you.

I do think this is an area where the state can be helpful.

I know the places that are more successful have other views of how to pair um, you know, Medicare and Medicaid with housing supports.

And uh I find I have an interest in knowing what other states might be doing in this space and would love to uh loop back with you on that in a couple of weeks.

Glad to do that.

Thank you.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman McPike.

Uh, any other questions or comments?

Councilman Onubi.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um comment.

Um, I would uh just I know a lot of the conversation has been revolving around affordable housing.

Um, but I also um heard one of my colleagues earlier talk about new housing.

So I just stressed that you know, part of solving the affordability problem is just building new housing, but making it easier to build.

So the intersectionality of this work with the work that planning and zoning is doing and how we make it easier to approve new buildings and how do we make our like my colleague mentioned in the meeting on Saturday.

How do we improve our design guidelines to make it easier to build and look at where we may have issues in our old processes just to make it easier to build more housing because the supply side is what's important.

I mean, affordable housing to me is is a band-aid.

It's not going at the root cause.

The root cause is building more housing and making it easier and cheaper to build.

So I'll just stress that um as we continue this work.

Thank you for that feedback.

Okay.

Any additional comments?

All right.

Well, thank you again for the presentation.

This item does not require a formal motion.

Uh it's simply informational.

So we'll continue to keep getting updates as you move through the process and look forward to adopting a future plan at a later date.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Move approval of the schedule.

Second.

Okay, there's there's been a motion by Councilman Aguirre and a second by councilwoman Green to move approval of the council schedule.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right.

The ayes have it.

Um I will now take a motion to adjourn well.

Councilman McPike wanted to do that one.

All right.

I'll I'll give Councilman McPike the motion to adjourn and Vice Mayor Bagley the second.

Yes.

I'll move to those.

Oh, wait, somebody's still talking.

Okay.

I didn't actually say it, so I can second it.

Okay.

It's been said, it's been seconded.

It is done.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Yeah, and keep Kirk around.

After we end the meeting.

Okay.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed.

All right.

The ayes have it.

We are adjourned.

Hi.