Arlington's 2008 real estate assessments show an overall increase in value of 5.3 percent. This increase reflects a 12.3 percent increase in commercial property value and a slight dip in average assessments for single-family homes and condominiums.

Con artists never give up in finding new scams to victimize the public. All too often, they prey on the most vulnerable — older people on fixed incomes worried about home upkeep and security. Spring brings a new batch of door-to-door solicitors to the Forest. Best simply to politely but emphatically refuse to listen to their spiels. If they persist or seem to linger in the vicinity, report them to police on the non-emergency line, 703-522-5888.

Be particularly wary of those who see "problems" from the street with your driveway or other structures on your property. The driveway resurfacing scam has visited Arlington Forest before. And never pay for anything in advance or give out credit card or other personal information.
Here are a couple of new scams to look out for:

• One older citizen received a call promising him $200 worth of Home Depot vouchers. All he had to do to claim the vouchers was provide his checking account or credit card numbers for verification. The local Home Depot managers said he had received a dozen calls about the scam in the last few months and that Home Depot would never make calls requesting such information.
• Another Virginia county reports that thieves have found an easy way to steal personal vehicles. They peer through the windshield, write down the vehicle identification number (VIN) from the label on the dash, and go to a local car dealership and request a duplicate key from the VIN. The parts department makes the key and charges the thief, who then returns to the car and drives away. Prevent this by putting a piece of tape across the metal VIN label on your dash board. By law, you can not remove the label, but you can cover it.

Arlington's newest historical marker is at 400 N. Manchester Street noting the site of Reevesland, the County's newest local historic district. The 168-acre Reeves farm was the last operating dairy farm in Arlington and closed in 1954.

Today, Reevesland consists of the historic family farm house, a historic milk shed, a modern garage, and 2.4 acres of open space. These historic buildings and landscape are a rare reminder of Arlington's agricultural past.

NOTE: In 1950, the Barcroft Elementry School second grade visited the "Sealtest Chestnut Farms Dairy" located on the Reeves farm.
[See Arlington Forest History 2000, Appendix C.]

Interested in an item on the Arlington County Board's meeting agenda but not sure when it's coming up? The Board has instituted several new services and procedures to make it more convenient for residents to learn more about the County Board meeting process and how they can participate in making decisions on matters that affect their community.

To provide more public access, the Board has established a new phone number to call during its meetings to find out what item the Board is currently discussing: 703-228-5715. The number will be staffed during Saturday regular meetings from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Tuesday recessed meetings from 1:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. As always, you can watch the meeting live on County Cable Channel AVN 71 or view the webcast at the Arlington County web site.

Additionally, at the Board's Jan. 29 meeting, the Clerk to the County Board began a pilot program allowing the public to send an instant message to County Board Office staff to ask brief questions about an agenda item during the meeting. You will need to download free instant messaging sofware from Yahoo!. The screen name to send questions to is ArlingtonBoardMeeting. Staff may not be immediately available to answer questions; therefore your patience is appreciated while this option is being tested.

Another new feature allows those who intend to speak on an agenda item to download a speaker slip at home, print and fill it out, and bring it to the meeting to submit to the Clerk. Previously, slips could only be obtained at the meeting. To get a slip, go to the Arlington County web site under Local Government, click County Board Meetings and then select the meeting date. The form either can be prefilled online or handwritten but should be submitted to the Clerk the day of the hearing. No slips are taken in advance of meetings. Slips will still be available the day of the meeting. There are three different speaker slips for: 1) Public Comment Period; 2) Consent Agenda Items; and 3) Regular Hearing Items.

You can also submit a comment online about specific agenda items at the same web address. Your comments will be shared with the Board in advance of the hearing and made a part of the public record. E-mails can still be submitted to countyboard@arlingtonva.us.

During meetings, an information desk is staffed in the Board Room 307 foyer to answer meeting-related questions. You can find out your agenda item number, pick-up speaker slips, learn about speaking procedures and other information.

A new brochure has been created that briefly describes the speaking procedures for addressing the County Board on agenda items - whether during Public Comment Period, or on a Consent Agenda or Regular Hearing item. You can view or download a pdf version of the brochure at Arlington County Speaker Brochure.

Former Forester Vinnie Del Guidice maintains a Web "Blog" devoted to telling the history and story of Arlington fire and rescue workers.

If you are at home and don't want to keep a radio or TV on all day, you can still be alerted if an emergency occurs in Arlington. The County has a new service to contact your phone, email or pager.

Arlington County's Community Alert System uses the Roam Secure Alert Network to immediately contact you during a major crisis or emergency. Roam Secure is an emergency communication system used by governments, emergency management agencies and first responders to send emergency alerts, notifications and updates to registered devices. This system delivers important emergency alerts, notifications and updates to you on all your devices and email accounts: email account (work, home, other), cell phone, pager, blackberry device, and PDA.

The Arlington County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) has passed the 250 mark as more than 25 new members completed their training and joined the team last month. CERT members are trained to assist in the event of a major disaster when first responders are unable to respond, are otherwise engaged, or desire assistance from trained members of the community. To date, 17 CERT classes have completed training in Arlington.

Arlington began its CERT training one year after the 9/11 attacks and, since that time, has trained residents from almost 50 of the County's 60-plus neighborhoods. Neighboring jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia, Alexandria, Fairfax and Montgomery Counties, have also begun training residents and business people to assist in disasters via the FEMA-sponsored CERT program that originated in California in the 1980s.

Arlington County CERT members retain and enhance their skills and knowledge by attending advanced and continuing education courses. In October, 15 members of the group participated in special training provided by the Metro Transit Police where they learned to evacuate Metro trains and cross live third rails. And in September, five members of the Arlington CERT were deployed by FEMA to Georgia, Florida and North Carolina to assist in the aftermath of this year's string of hurricanes.

Arlington residents interested in becoming part of the County's CERT should visit the County's website at Arlington County, click on Emergency Preparedness, and follow the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) links.

The Arlington Chamber of Commerce has published the eighth edition of the Street Map of Arlington. Each edition of the full-color map has a distribution of 175,000, making it the largest map produced by any Chamber of Commerce in the United States. Single copies of the map are available at the Chamber office. For information, call 703-525-2400 or visit the Arlington Chamber of Commerce website.

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Commemorating September 11, 2001.

Page under continuous construction.
Reviewed/updated 14 February 2008