Council Members:

Lewis Grimm – 2nd Vice President, Franklin Farm Foundation

Jay Johnston – Treasurer, Virginia Run

Mark McConn – President, Bull Run Civic Association

John Moore – Brookfield Civic Association

Jim Neighbors – Sully Station

Jeff Parnes – 1st Vice President, Chantilly Highlands Homes Association

Presenters:

Dave Marsden – State Senator, 37th district

Mark Herring – State Senator, 33rd district

Tom Rust – State Delegate, 86th district

Chap Petersen – State Senator, 34th district

Guests:

Lisa Brown – Chantilly Patch

Mary Ann Cannon – Congressman Frank Wolf's Office

Al Francese – Little Rocky Run

Judith Heisinger – Bull Run Civic Association

John Litzenberger – Sully Planning Commissioner

Will Radle – Lee District

1. 7:00
   • Report form Richmond
     Presented by Senators Mark Herring, Chap Petersen and Dave Marsden and Delegate Rust
   • Presentation notes
     • Senator Mark Herring
       • Virginia's Economy is growing - 55,000 new jobs - many from major companies
       • Transportation:
         • Construction and Maintenance funding was short $1.8 million
         • Recent state action issued bonds on anticipation of federal funding - $650 Million state, $1.2 Billion federal, will fund 900 projects over the next 2.5 years
         • Funding for Rt 50 widening from Rt 28 to South Riding
       • Education:
         • 100,000 graduates
         • Getting more NVA students in Virginia Universities
         • Undocumented immigrants do not qualify for in-state tuition
         • College funding depends on the mix of in state and out of state students
       • It was a productive session
         • Budget passed unanimously
         • Economic revenues once again higher
         • Public education brings a skilled workforce - businesses benefit
         • Innovation drives economic growth, research and development in NO VA
         • Redistricting still underway

     • Senator Dave Mars den
       • The Federal contribution to Virginia's transportation funding is not a long term fix
       • Last year Virginia showed a $400 million surplus, with some of the money going back to public education

     • Senator Chap Petersen
       • Citizenship has to mean something - why he's in favor of redistricting in state tuition and medicare to legal residents (The US Government requires K-12 education to be made available to all)
       • VA law mirrors federal law - must be present to get benefits
       • Hirers are responsible for checking legal status

     • Question and Answer Session
       • Redistricting will yield the outer suburbs more seats in No VA in Loudoun and Prince William counties
       • The state's Local Composite Index for determining education funding was revised with 29 beneficiaries. No further formula change is expected
       • VA must balance its budget each year - previous budgets were balanced by efficiencies and cuts to public education which hurts smaller jurisdictions
       • The Commonwealth Transportation Board will allocate funds not by formula but by need
       • The metro gas tax of 7 cents a gallon goes to Metro (WMATA), to have it stay in VA would require agreement by all three entities - VA MD and DC - highly unlikely
       • There isn't enough funding to support subdivision repaving (for instance, some roads in Rocky Run are over 25 years old)
       • State funding is directed to primary roads to the detriment of secondary roads
       • The state allocated $530 million for maintenance, which is still not sufficient
       • There are two stops proposed for Dulles rail in Loudoun County - if Loudoun pulls out it will hurt them
       • There's no retail/commercial density along I66 to support a tax district to fund rail on 66 as in the Dulles corridor, Bus Rapid Transit is being explored
       • BRT might cost $250 Million, with 5-6 stops with dedicated ramps. BRT buses might be equipped with wifi and bathrooms
       • The legislature would probably not support giving the Governor more than one term - it likes the fact that it is more powerful because of the one-term limitation
       • The gas tax is not indexed. We may need to explore taxing based on miles driven rather than gallons used
       • Although VA is in favor of off shore drilling, the royalties go to the Federal government not the states, and it is unlikely that the US Senate, with a majority of non-coastal states being represented, would allow a change to the funding
       • Congestion affects quality of life - the legislature tries not to touch core expenses - gas, food and medicine
       • Another way of raising transportation funding would be to enact a user fee based on miles traveled -- the information is already gathered during the annual state inspection
       • In No VA we have relatively short distance commutes that take long times, in the rest of Virginia they have short commuting times but longer distance commutes
       • Any solution would have to consider both situations,
       • It will take vision and guts to resolve the transportation funding issue

• No presentations

• June 22 - State of Sully by Supervisor Mike Frey
• July and AUgust - No summer presentations - land use metings will be called as necessary
• September 28 - State Legislature Candidates Night
• October 26- Sully County (Supervisor and School Board) Candidates Night

Respectively submitted by,

Jeffrey Parnes
1st Vice President
Sully District Council