What does the future hold for transit and traffic as Reston continues to grow?

That’s the subject of a legislative forum hosted by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

State and local transportation officials will share updates on transportation improvements in Reston. Some of the topics addressed include:

• State priorities, flow of money to localities and 6-year plan
• Challenges facing the regional authority and impact on Fairfax/Reston projects
• Fairfax County’s six-year plan and collaboration with the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance to prioritize regional projects

Panelists include Nancy Hiteshue Smith, Policy Director, Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance; Jim Dyke, Attorney, McGuireWoods LLP and Member of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Board; and Marty Nohe, Chairman, Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

There will also be representatives from the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, Dulles Area Transportation Association, Comstock Partners and Reston Association.

The forum is 8 to 10 a.m. at Reston Station. Visit the chamber’s website for more information and registration.

Photo: Traffic on Wiehle Avenue / Credit Reston 2020

Reston Association is considering entering into a multi-year agreement with Fairfax County that will authorize RA to remove snow from county-owned trails in Reston.

Snow removal on the 1.5 miles of county trails will cost Reston Association $15,000 a year, RA CEO Cate Fulkerson says in a Board of Directors item that will be discussed at Thursday’s board meeting. RA would receive no money from the county for plowing the county’s trails.

RA is already responsible for plowing its own 55 miles of paths. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is responsible for snowplowing major roads, but does not shovel sidewalks on those roads.

RA’s 2015 budget allows for spending more than $800,000 on pathway maintenance and anticipates a 3 percent increase for 2016 and ’17.

RA and the county have been talking about teaming up on snow removal since early 2014. In February of 2014, the RA board authorized staff and legal counsel to move forward in their discussions with Fairfax County to develop and enter into an agreement for RA to plow certain portions of trails.

Without such an agreement, RA could not plow or shovel those trails without significant legal liability, RA’s legal counsel has previously said.

RA officials said at that time that plowing county-owned trails would help pedestrian connectivity in Reston, particularly near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. The proposal does not cover sidewalks.

Under the proposed agreement, RA would be responsible for routine maintenance will include general debris removal, minor asphalt patching, pruning/edge mowing, leaf removal as necessary, and snow plowing. The county will be responsible for major repairs and capital replacement.

The county-owned trails would include:

• The entire frontage of the real property located at Tax Map No. 11-2((8))(1B) (Reston Parkway at Route 7)
• The western side of Wiehle Avenue from Center Harbor Road to the southern intersection with Longwood Grove Drive
• The western side of Wiehle Avenue from Baron Cameron Avenue to North Shore Drive
• The western side of Wiehle Avenue from North Shore Drive to Inlet Court
• The western side of Wiehle Avenue from the Lake Anne dam embankment to Isaac Newton Square South
• The western side of Reston Parkway from Dulles Access Toll Road to Sunrise Valley Drive
• The northern side of Sunrise Valley Drive from Wiehle Avenue to Soapstone Drive
•  The entire frontage of the real property located at Tax Map No. 27-1((16))(3) parcel 1 along Sunrise Valley Drive immediately adjacent to Campus Commons Drive
• The northern side of Sunrise Valley Drive from Alexander Bell Drive to the western intersection with Preston White Drive
• The northern side of Sunrise Valley Drive from approximately 80 feet west of the northern side of Sunrise Valley Drive from approximately 80 feet west of Hunter Mill Road to Alexander Bell Drive.

The agreement says Reston will only care for the county trails if there are available funds within its current maintenance budget and the availability of adequate funds to apply to such routine maintenance shall be determined at Reston’s sole discretion. In the event such funds are not currently available, Reston must tell the county.

The agreement says the the trails will be plowed upon the accumulation of two inches of snow and plowed clear after the snow storm has ended; trail shoulders should be mowed monthly in growing season; and potholes should be reported to the county. RA will not be responsible for making major repairs to county trails.

Photo: RA trail plows/file photo

If you look into the sky on Tuesday and see a large Chinook helicopter, don’t be alarmed.

The Fairfax County Park Authority says the Chinook and associated crews will be taking part in a rescue training exercise at Lake Fairfax Park from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Chinook is a large helicopter mostly used in the United States by the military for troop movement and supplies.

The park authority says Fairfax County Fire and Rescue is participating with Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission in a mock deployment to neighboring state locations. Deployment requires a Landing Zone for a C-47 (Chinook Helicopter) to deploy a Pennsylvania swift water team supported by National Guard in the Fairfax County area.

Photo: Chinook/Wikimedia

Reston Town Center has a new salon, and this one is just for men.

Joe Grooming, a McLean-based men’s hair, shaving and skin care line, recently opened its first dedicated retail store and salon at 11944 Market St. The location formerly housed PR at Partners salon, which moved to a larger space on Democracy Drive, also in Reston Town Center.

The men’s salon sells Joe Grooming products, as well as offers hair cuts and shaves.

“When you step into the shop you will notice the welcome mat which reads, HELLO RESTON, as we are thrilled to be in Reston Town Center,”  Joe Grooming founder Dan Kliska said in a release.

Kliska has teamed with Reg Laws, owner of the 16 PR at Partners salons, to open the first Joe Grooming store.

“You’ll see a blue bathtub, a symbol of our social responsibility movement, and the USA signage that represents our American pride,” said Kliska. “You’ll begin to feel the vibe of the Joe Grooming brand. It’s a place where men can relax, experience high-quality professional grooming services, and simply feel part of the Reston community.”

Joe Grooming says its products are made with a core of natural ingredients. It also participates in a “Get One, Give One” program, where for every product purchased, one is donated to charity. Local charities include Cornerstones, FamilyPASS, Northern Virginia Family Service and SHARE of McLean.

The salon is open seven days a week. Visit Joe Grooming’s website for appointments and more information.

Joe Grooming will have a grand opening/ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015 at 5:30 p.m.

Several Reston Now readers inquired Monday afternoon about the Fairfax County Police helicopter circling over Glade Drive and Soapstone Drive.

They were looking for a stolen golf cart, Fairfax County Police said.

Police said a pedestrian on the Reston Association trail near Reston National Golf Course called police about 2:55 p.m. to say a golf cart with two teenage boys and a teenage girl nearly hit him on the path before making a U-turn on Soapstone.

Police said Reston National has experienced a series of stolen golf carts recently and the chopper was dispatched to see if it could help find the stolen cart quickly.

By 3:30 p.m. the chopper was called back. No word yet on whether the suspects had been found.

Photo: Golf carts at Reston National/file photo

Do you know someone who is truly the Best of Reston?<

Then nominate them for the annual Best of Reston Awards.

Nominations for the Best of Reston are being accepted through Nov. 6 at 5 p.m.

This is the 25th year Cornerstones and the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce have teamed to organize individuals and businesses who have worked to make an impact in the community.

The awards will be announced in early 2016 and presented at a gala at the Hyatt Regency Reston on April 7. The awards are a major fundraiser for Cornerstones, raising more than $500,000 in each of the last two years.

Click to see criteria and nominate businesses and leaders in the categories below.

Individual/Family Community Leader(s)

Civic/Community Group(s)/Nonprofit Organization

Employee-Owned Company/Small Business Leader(2-100 employees)*

Corporate Business Leader (101+ employees)*

Vade Bolton-Ann Rodriquez Legacy Award-Entrusting Our Community’s Future (Special Award) 

Download a PDF of the nomination application, though online nominations are preferred.

The following are not eligible for a Best of Reston award:

• Elected officials holding federal, state, or county office
• Individual schools or congregations (individuals/groups working within institutions may be considered)
• Posthumous nominations
• Current employees of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce or Cornerstones

Read about last year’s winners in this previous Reston Now article.

Photo: Best of Reston 2015/Credit: Chip McRea

The 14-member Tetra Working Group met last week to talk about what the future should hold for the building purchased by Reston Association over the summer.

RA closed in July on its $2.65-million purchase of the former Reston Visitors Center. RA members narrowly approved the purchase in a referendum last spring. The referendum capped a busy few months of community discussion, debate and opposition to the purchase.

RA purchased the building in order to preserve green space, stave off potential commercial development and add a community event space.

The acquisition gives the association 98 acres of contiguous space at Brown’s Chapel Park and Lake Newport Tennis. During community meetings, RA said it expects to use the space for events and rentals, after-camp care, a conference center, among other suggestions. Preliminary plans also call for a park on the shore of Lake Newport.

RA also forecasts earning revenue of more than $100,000 annually in rentals for events and groups.

RA recently organized a Tetra Working Group made up of community members to come up with specific uses for the building. Here’s an update of what the group discussed at its first meeting, according to an RA statement:

By December 2015, identify short and long-term indoor community use programming opportunities for the building.

By February 2016, propose concept plans that increase outdoor community use opportunities with the goals of: a) preserving and enhancing the existing green space; b) exploring the feasibility of reducing impervious surfaces in the parking lot that contribute storm-water runoff to Lake Anne.

During the meeting, group members were asked by Intec Group, the architectural firm selected to renovate the interior building space, to respond to the following comments/questions:

• Describe what RA is to you and what you value about the association.
• How do you want RA’s identity/brand/reputation reflected within the space?
• How should this space reflect what you believe are RA’s values?
• Think about other public spaces you have been in and what kind of programming you see that could fit in this space.

During its next meeting (Oct. 28), Intec will present to the working group concept drawings based on the capacity of the space and input provided by the working group.

Also, as part of the settlement agreement when the association purchased the property, $275,000 was put into an escrow account by the seller (Tetra Partners, now called Lauer commercial) for exterior maintenance on the building.

Repairs to the brick wall, siding, painting, and door and window replacement will begin before the end October.

In early November, the skylight and cedar shake roof will be replaced, RA says. In preparation for these repairs, the association’s arborist team used a lift to cover the skylight with a tarp to protect the building’s interior from rainwater leaks.

RA’s landscaping and arborist teams have also removed dead trees and invasive plants on the property in August.

The building may also get a name change. Comstock earned 10 years of naming rights for the site as part of a developer contribution deal. Comstock gave RA $650,000 as part of a development deal concerning BLVD apartments at Reston Station.

“At one extreme you have the hermit — he gets his kicks out of solitude. I’m anti-Hermit. I get my kicks out of people.”

That’s the late Reston founder Bob Simon talking in this trailer for Another Way of Living: The Story of Reston, VA, a documentary about Reston.

The documentary makes its film festival debut at the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville on Nov. 7.

Award-winning filmmaker Rebekah Wingert-Jabi, of Reston, has been working on the film for more than two years.

The documentary explores founder Robert Simonʼs unique vision for American life. While 1950s post-war suburban sprawl prioritized single-family homes, Simon dreamed ʻanother way of livingʼ that valued community, nature and social equity.

Simon set out to build a suburban town that integrated citizens across racial and economic divides. It wasn’t always an easy ride.

“When you built a suburb, you weren’t building a bedroom, you were building a community,”says one of the architecture experts in the trailer and movie. “What Simon got was a thing that had been missing in suburban development.”

Check out the trailer for more highlights.

Fairfax County Police are investigating the death of a prisoner Saturday night.

Police said Paul Guida, 68, of Falls Church, was found unconscious and not breathing in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center’s medical unit around 11 p.m. Saturday. Jail staff performed rescue procedures on him until paramedics arrived at 11:06 p.m., a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Guida was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital at 11:28 p.m. and was pronounced dead 20 minutes later.

Detectives are required to investigate all in-custody deaths, FCPD says.

The Office of the Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of death pending an autopsy.

Police said they will provide an update on the investigation within 30 days, or as soon as it becomes available.

Guida was jailed on charges of violating of a protective order and was being held without bond since Oct. 1. Guida suffered from extensive medical conditions, police said.

The sheriff’s office said they knew of no physical altercation or other conflict that would lead to the prisoner’s death.

Guida’s is the second in-custody death in the Fairfax jail this year. In February, Natasha McKenna, a 37-year-old who suffered from schizophrenia, died at Inova Fairfax Hospital after being tasered several times by deputies.

The Virginia medical examiner later ruled McKenna’s death was due to “excited delirium” due to physical restraint and use of the taser. The Fairfax Commonealth’s Attorney said last month that no criminal charges would be filed against the deputies involved in McKenna’s death.

Photo: Paul Guida/Credit: FCPD

Offloading. Trains out of service. Delays. Complaints about the Wiehle-Reston East Kiss-and-Ride.

Just another morning on Metro these days. Fifteen months after the Silver Line opened in Reston, it seems many daily commuters have joined the chorus all over the DC area bemoaning the many rail service issues.

There has been no shortage of headlines lately about problems with the Metrorail system, not to mention real-time tweets of frustration during rush hour. A Metro riders union has also recently formed.

Metro says it’s trying to catch up, but even the maintenance is causing problems. This weekend alone, “reconstruction of the Metrorail system” will result in “service adjustments” on every line other than the Green Line. The Orange, Silver, Blue, Yellow and Red lines will all see 24 minute lags between trains.

Metro acknowledged last week that service breakdowns may be responsible for steadily decreasing ridership.

The rail system also announced Thursday it has formed Amplify, a “customer community” where riders can share opinions and help shape the direction of Metro, WMATA said in a statement.

Are you sticking with Metro or are you driving to work more often this year as a result of less reliable service? Take our poll and tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Photo: August Metro offloading at Arlington Cemetery/Credit: Katie Watson via Twitter

Comstock, which announced on Thursday that Founding Farmers will open at Reston Station in 2016, is also planning a pop-up retail project called Urban Pop on the Reston Station Plaza.

Urban Pop will host retail and food vendors in some of the areas of the plaza that are currently fenced off, said Comstock spokeswoman Maggie Parker. The construction fencing will come down to expand the plaza enough for outdoor retail space.

The market concept is similar, but smaller in scale, to The Stock Market @ Reston Station that Comstock discussed last year, said Parker. That plan was shelved a few months ago.

Parker said Urban Pop will bring a curated mix of shops and artisans to “that would be of benefit to commuters,” said Parker.

No vendors have been signed yet, but Comstock plans to have the project open in Spring 2016. Founding Farmers will likely open in late 2016, Farmers Restaurant Group said Thursday.

Meanwhile, look for Smartmarkets, which operates the Wednesday farmers market on the plaza, to return in 2016. The market, which had space at two locations off Sunrise Valley at Reston Parkway the last five years, moved to Reston Station last spring. Parker said Comstock and the farmers were both pleased with the plaza location in 2015.

The vendors will be on the plaza Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m. through November, said Parker.

Reston Town Center is turning 25, and everyone is invited to celebrate on Sunday.

Reston Town Center — which opened on Oct. 18, 1990 — is hosting Reston Town Center Day from noon to 4 p.m.

There will be free refreshments, live music, entertainment, games, pumpkin decorating, hayrides and more at Fountain Square and in the Pavilion. VIP remarks will take place at 1 p.m.

When Reston Town Center opened, it was about four blocks of shops and restaurants anchored by the multi-screen movie theater and the Hyatt Regency Reston. It moved away from the popular concept at the time — indoor shopping malls — and created a downtown from scratch and setting in motion a wave of “lifestyle centers” built nationwide in the ensuing years.

Several original tenants remain, including the Hyatt, Clyde’s, Talbot’s and Ann Taylor. RTC’s current footprint is 2.8 million square feet of office space, 50 shops, about 30 restaurants and three residential high-rises. Office space, meanwhile, is 100 percent leased, officials have said at several commercial real estate events.

RTC will soon develop the surface lot, the last undeveloped parcel on the site.

In the market for a new home? Check out these weekend open houses. For complete real estate information, including more open house listings, visit Reston Now’s Real Estate section.

1531 Scandia Circle
3 BR, 2.5 BA TH
$439,900
Open Saturday and Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

11476 Waterhaven Court
4 BR. 3.5 BA TH
$750,000
Open Sunday 2 to 4 p.m.

12000 Market Street
3 BR, 3 BA Condo
$599,000
Open Saturday and Sunday 12 to 3 p.m.

2400 Jackstay Terrace
5 BR, 3.5 BA SFH
$659,900
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

1514 Poplar Grove Drive
3 BR, 2 FB, 2 HB TH
$430,000
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

2015 Sarazen Place
3 BR, 2.5 BA TH
$419,000
Open Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

11586 Greenwich Point Road
5 BR, 4.5 BA SFH
$894,900
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

1927 Upper Lake Drive
5 BR, 3.5 BA SFH
$884,989
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.