Falls Church City Council members appear ready to push ahead with plans for the city’s newest park.

As they determine what to do with the city government’s $5.3 million fiscal surplus by 2024, Council members appear eager to allocate $1.5 million to complete the design and move forward with construction of what they call the Interns site.

In 2019, the city government acquired the 1.9-acre property, located at 604 S. Oak Street, near Oak Street Elementary School. The parcel had previously been the home of town resident Lydia “Betty” Fellows.

TO master planning effort It was carried out to determine the appropriate uses of the park. A 2020 resident survey found that 51% of respondents wanted passive recreation uses on the site, 31% wanted it preserved as open space, and 18% wanted it used for active recreation efforts.

A Monday (October 28) council meeting where budget surplus issues were discussed, Councilwoman Marybeth Connelly said she was pleased that the park project, as well as funds to create more bike lanes in the city, had been added to a list to receive some of the surplus funds .

“There is a community movement behind these two,” he said. “We have made the decision to move forward and not stop.”

Council members have scheduled a public hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 12, on the plan for the surplus funds before taking a final vote on how they are allocated.

Falls Church is currently home to 14 city parks.

Tree inventory may have to wait: Despite a request from its Urban Forestry Commission, Falls Church leaders appear unwilling to spend surplus funds hiring a consultant to inventory the condition of trees on public lands.

The commission asked City Council members to use $95,000 of the $5.3 million available surplus to hire a certified arborist who would examine the condition of approximately 12,000 trees.

Council member Erin Flynn, who wants continued attention to the city ​​tree landscapeseemed to acknowledge that the funding would not come as part of the budget close.

But he asked city staff to study the possibility as the city enters its next budget cycle early next year.

Falls Church is a member of the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments, which in April set a goal to achieve a minimum of 50% tree cover throughout the region.

In 2023, an estimated 49.6% of the region’s 2.2 million acres of land were covered by tree canopies, according to data from the Chesapeake Bay Program. But that figure was lower than the 51.3% estimated in 2014.

COG officials estimate that nearly 4,400 acres of tree canopy are lost each year in the region due to development and other factors.

Dinner with other elected officials proves a success: Falls Church City Council members recently hosted a dinner for elected officials from Arlington and Alexandria.

And top city leaders said it was a worthwhile effort.

“It was very beneficial to get to know people better and also discuss our commonalities, the way we each approach different issues,” Vice Mayor Debora Schantz-Hiscott said at Monday’s (Oct. 28) county meeting.

“The same thing happens,” added Mayor Letty Hardi.