Read the full Fairfax Now Article here or below.
An additional $9.2 million in federal funds is coming to Fairfax County, raising the county’s total earmarks to nearly $17 million for this fiscal year.
Rep. James Walkinshaw announced today (Tuesday) that he had helped procure approximately $13.4 million for the county in the minibus appropriations package that passed last month.
Last week, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine had highlighted $7.7 million that they got earmarked for a Springfield transportation study and other local projects.
Walkinshaw called the money an investment in “protecting families, strengthening our economy and preparing Northern Virginia for the challenges ahead.”
“Whether it is modernizing 911 infrastructure, keeping our drinking water safe, improving campus reliability for working students or advancing cybersecurity research, this funding reflects responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars and a clear commitment to results,” he said.
Approximately $5 million will aid public safety projects, including enhancements to local law enforcement agencies’ emergency responses:
- $1,031,000 for the Fairfax County Public Safety Communications Critical Infrastructure Project, which will fund technology to support continuity of operations of emergency communications during disruptions.
- $1,031,000 for enhancements to the Fairfax County Real Time Crime Center for emerging threats.
- $1 million for a 7,000-square-foot addition to the City of Fairfax Police Station, allowing to “strengthen training capacity, specialty vehicle storage and community policing resources.”
- $850,000 to install emergency vehicle preemption equipment at certain traffic signals to improve response times
- $741,000 to George Mason University for a training program to help law enforcement agencies “implement evidence-based practices that prevent crime, strengthen community trust and improve organizational effectiveness.”
- $175,000 for a virtual reality incident command training platform that “helps emergency responders practice complex scenarios in a safe, realistic environment.”
- $150,000 for the procurement of a sterile wet-vacuum DNA recovery system that can collect DNA from surfaces that “traditional methods often miss.”
The remainder of the funding will the planned Washington & Old Dominion Trail visitor center, a regional drinking water research center and more:
- $2 million for the Town of Vienna to acquire deteriorated properties along the W&OD Trail, allowing for the construction of a welcome center and the expansion of public green space.
- $1,031,000 to establish a regional research center that helps drinking water systems mitigate contamination of widely-used, long-lasting chemicals called PFAS.
- $1,000,000 to support George Mason University’s Internet Namespace Security Observatory, which researches security of the Domain Name System (DNS).
- $750,000 to retrofit area rights-of-way for street tree planting.
- $500,000 to replace “aging underground utilities” at Northern Virginia Community College’s Annandale campus.
“I was proud to put forward many of these priorities as Braddock District Supervisor,” Walkinshaw said, “and I was equally proud to support the funding bills in Congress that delivered for our community.”
