Wellbeing Page 5 ‘We Have Much To Learn from History’ News, Page 3 Wearing period dress for the re- membrance ceremony at Ox Hill Battlefield Park are (from left) John Myers, Mario Lucero, Debbie and Mark Whitenton, Drew Pallo, Pat- rick Sullivan and Jon Vrana. Classifieds, Page 6 Classifieds, v Entertainment, Page 8 v Opinion, Page 4 New Water Facility 10-3-19 in home home in Planned for Chantilly Requested material. material. News, Page 2 sensitive Time Postmaster: Postmaster: Attention Attention permit #322 permit Easton, MD Easton, Westfield Improves to 4-0 PAID U.S. Postage U.S. Sports, Page 6 STD PRSRT Bonnie Hobbs/The Connection October 2-8, 2019 online at www.connectionnewspapers.com News Photos by Bonnie Hobbs/The Connection Photos Architect Greg Lukmire with a map of the proposed site plan. The site layout of the new water-maintenance facility in Chantilly. New Water Facility Planned for Chantilly should take until summer 2020. And, added It’s slated to be built Lukmire, “We hope to start construction in 2021 and be completed in 2022. Construc- on Willard Road. tion cost is an estimated $32 million to $35 By Bonnie Hobbs million.” “To me, you need to add more The Connection trees,” said Terpak-Malm. “We’re having problems with erosion, and this runoff goes airfax Water wants to build a new, into Cub Run – which goes into the water-maintenance facility at Occoquan – which is our drinking-water F14925 Willard Road in Chantilly. supply.” But Gleason said they believe the It would replace the existing one pond will be adequate to deal with it. in the Sullyfield Business Park. On Sept. 18, the Fairfax County Planning PANEL MEMBER Jay Johnston also sug- Commission approved the proposed gested making the 65-space parking area a facility’s compatibility with its new location pervious surface, instead of impervious. and with the county’s Comprehensive Plan. “We’re committed to making this a LEED or It also recommended approval of the re- equivalent project, so that’s one of our op- quired, special-exception permit when the tions,” replied Lukmire. “We’re also discuss- matter goes to the Board of Supervisors on ing having charging stations for electric Oct. 15. vehicles.” First, though, the issue went before a joint Terpak-Malm asked what their peak vehicle meeting of the Sully District Council and times are, and Lukmire said workdays there West Fairfax County Citizens Assn. A detailed look at the water facility’s site plan. would be from 6 a.m.-3 p.m., but there (WFCCA) Land-Use Committee. There, de- would be vehicle trips throughout the day. tails about the proposal were revealed. about 60 feet of grade change on the site.” ing metal fence at the entrance on Willard. Terpak-Malm then cautioned the propo- “This facility will be for maintenance of The proposal shows 30 percent – 3.8 acres And there’s a 50-foot, undisturbed area and nents to “just be aware of the [nearby our water-distribution network in western – of open space, which is twice what’s re- a buffer between us and the church. Regard- Westfield] high-school schedule.” Fairfax County, and we’ve been working on quired. And the building would be nearly ing stormwater management, there’s an At-Large Planning Commissioner Jim Hart this plan with county staff,” said 70,000 square feet, with 65 spaces in front existing dry pond – and this, and other uses asked if they needed to put something un- for staff parking, plus some visitor parking in that area, drain into it.” derneath the piles of materials so wouldn’t TRACY GOLDBERG with Fairfax Water. for contractors. There would also be park- Architect Greg Lukmire said the ware- leech into the water system. Gleason replied “In 2015, we began looking at our water- ing for fleet vehicles – some of which would house portion of the one-story building that “The water will be conveyed into a pipe distribution needs, shortly after we acquired be under a canopy. would be some 35,000 square feet. The rest and into a special, hydrodynamic separa- the City of Fairfax water system.” The building would be multipurpose, with of the space would be used for vehicle main- tor that removes some of the pollutants She said Fairfax Water acquired the pro- a warehouse and loading dock, administra- tenance, shop storage and incidentals. before they reach the pond.” posed Chantilly site in 2017. “The facility tive offices and a vehicle-repair/mainte- “The building would be in the middle of Panel member Jeff Parnes asked if slow- will have six vehicle-maintenance bays and nance area. Storage of materials such as the site and is designed to be upscale and moving traffic making a right turn from outdoor pipe storage,” said Goldberg. sand, salt, mulch and gravel would be out- blend in with its surroundings,” he said. “It Stonecroft Boulevard onto Willard would “We’ve reached out to all the adjacent prop- doors, as would be a fuel island and vehicle- will be brick, with metal roofing, and land- have an adverse effect on traffic. Lukmire erty owners and have heard no concerns washing area. scaping in the front. And from the road and replied that county staff hasn’t asked for a from them.” Steve Gleason, a planner with “There’s a sidewalk on one side and an 8- shared-use path, it would be set back and turning lane there, but that, ultimately, that Gordon & Associates engineering firm, said foot trail on the side closest to the Church look like a brick building, so we think it’ll decision is up to VDOT. it’s a 10.8-acre, wooded site zoned for in- of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” said fit in quite well with the area.” Parnes then told the applicants that the dustrial use. “Access and frontage are on Gleason. “The sidewalk would become a 10- WFCCA’S Chris Terpak-Malm asked if the land-use committees had no objections or Willard Road, near the Bowl America site,” foot-wide, asphalt, shared-use trail. There’ll facility would be constructed in phases, but concerns about the project. But, he added, he said. “There are three existing entrances, be a secure, perimeter fence around the Lukmire said they’d prefer to do it all at “If county staff does, then we’ll ask you to but we’ll just use two of them. There’s also entire site, but a more aesthetically pleas- once. Gleason said the site-plan process come back again to address them.” 2 ❖ Chantilly Connection ❖ October 2-8, 2019 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com News Photos by Bonnie Hobbs/The Connection Photos Laying a wreath at the generals’ markers are (from left) Dawn Roddy The Ancient Order of Hibernians Color Guard. and Mary Concannon. ‘We Have Much to Learn from History’ Remembrance ceremony at Ox Hill Battlefield Park. By Bonnie Hobbs Centre View he Battle of Ox Hill/Chantilly, on Sept. 1, 1862, was the only ma- Tjor Civil War battle fought in Fairfax County. It happened dur- ing a torrential rainstorm and, by the end, it took the lives of two, key Union generals and killed or wounded more than 1,500 sol- diers. Years later, the county preserved almost 5 acres of the 500-acre battlefield, creating Greg Wilson Keynote speaker Ed Wenzel Blake Myers Ox Hill Battlefield Park at the corner of West Ox Road and Monument Drive in Fair Lakes. THE FIGHTING was triggered by Confed- north and crossed the Potomac River into And on Sept. 1, area residents and histori- erate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s attempt to out- Maryland. ans gathered there to commemorate the flank the retreating Union army. “Both Con- “From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, historic battle on its 157th anniversary. federate and Union forces were moving east a different war was waged to save and pre- “We ask Your blessing upon those who fell to Jermantown, just west of the Fairfax serve this land,” said Myers. “This park for- here,” said the Rev. Robert Ruskamp dur- Courthouse,” said Blake Myers, with the mally opened, Sept. 1, 2008, and its pres- ing his invocation. “And let us continue the Bull Run Civil War Round Table. “The race ervation was the impetus for the preserva- fight for freedom for all Americans.” was on to determine which force would first tion of other Civil War battlefields.” The ceremony also included a description reach and gain control of the ridgeline at Greg Wilson, with the Fairfax County His- of the battle, the laying of a wreath at the Ox Hill and the key crossroads at tory Commission, noted that his great-great- Ox Hill monuments, presentation of the Jermantown.” grandfather, Jonathan Roberts, was a scout Colors, and Fairfax High band member En route, he said, “Union divisions com- for the Union Army and Fairfax County’s Siobhan Murray playing “Taps” on the manded by Brigadier General Isaac Stevens sheriff when the battle was fought. Roberts bugle. The event sponsors were the Ancient and Major General Philip Kearny clashed also met Kearny a year before his death Order of Hibernians (Father William Corby with Stonewall Jackson’s Confederate forces here. “We have much to learn from our com- Division), the Bull Run Civil War Round near Ox Hill. Some said the lightning flashes mon history – especially the local, regional Table (BRCWRT) and the Fairfax Station and continuous thunder drowned out the and national conflicts that eventually Railroad Museum. sounds of the battle.” erupted into the American Civil War,” said The battle took place on farmland and in Dry ammunition became soaked, and the Wilson.