DCRA Honors Congressman Tom Davis at 2008 Annual Meeting On November 19, 2008, members and friends of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association gathered to honor retiring Congressmen Thomas M. Davis. The occasion was the 11th Annual Meeting of the DCRA, which was hosted by Capital One at its headquarters in Tysons Corner. DCRA also recognized the accomplishments of the Tysons Land-Use Task Force and its Chairman Clark Tyler.
Mark remembered that several years ago when he was Chairman of the Fairfax Little League, on opening day, he invited elected officials to say a few words after the parade into the stadium. With more than one thousand fidgety 11-year olds, the officials were encouraged to keep their remarks brief. As the ranking official, Congressman Davis was always asked to be first. Mark said when I asked him to keep his remarks brief, he walked up to the podium, looked around and said "play ball," turned around, walked back and sat down. Two thousand anxious parents went nuts in support. After that, all the elected officials who followed spoke briefly and sat down. Mark noted that this was an apt metaphor for Tom Davis's stay in Congress. "It was too brief but it was very effective." DCRA Chairman Delegate Ken Plum said it was hard to believe that it has been 11 years that the group has been meeting. After acknowledging a number of elected officials who were in attendance, he noted that in the beginning of the year of the project was on life support but that now we were on the verge of a Full Funding Grant Agreement. Plum asked Jim Bennett, President and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to provide an update on the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.
As to the status of the project, Bennett noted that utility relocations were under way along Route 7 where the work is actually beginning to increase in intensity, as well as in the Route 123 corridor. In the next few days, the public will see more work in the area around International Drive and Route 123 as the project team starts to do utility relocations and prepare a major staging area for full construction, as well as construction of the tunnel section that goes under the intersection of Routes 7 and 123. Bennett said that the Dulles Toll Road had been transferred as of November 1, 2008, to the Airports Authority. They are now in a position to be able to access that revenue stream and use a it to leverage financing of the local share of the project. All of the documentation has been submitted to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in support of the Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA). They are waiting for FTA to submit this documentation to the Office of the Secretary of Transportation and the Office of Management and Budget with the recommendation to proceed with a FFGA for the project.
If they keep to the schedule, Bennett anticipates that the FFGA would be executed sometime in February and they would be in a position to issue a notice to proceed on construction. The actual start date is programmed for March 2, 2009. They think this is a very achievable date. If the notice to proceed is given in March, they anticipate revenue service for Phase 1 of the rail line by the end of 2013. Once they get a decision on Phase 1, the Authority's Board of Directors will begin to consider the delivery method and schedule for Phase 2. In closing, Bennett thanked the group for its outstanding and continued support of the project and noted that it could not be accomplished if not for this community support. After thanking the sponsors of the Annual Meeting, Plum noted that the important business of the meeting was to give credit to individuals and organizations that have made particular contributions during the year, in fact during many years to move this project forward. Plum said that tonight, DCRA would be honoring one of the project's strongest supporters, Congressman Tom Davis. He noted that Davis was no stranger because we have recognized him as part of the northern Virginia congressional delegation at previous DCRA events. And he is well-known in our community having served as an effective Fairfax County Supervisor and later Chairman of the Board of Supervisors for 12 years. During his 14 years in the House of Representatives, Tom supported two reauthorizations of the surface transportation act to include the Dulles Metrorail project. In the past year, he, along with other members of the northern Virginia delegation, vigorously supported the project moving forward when it looked as though the project might be in real trouble. His most recent and very significant achievement for the future of the Dulles Metrorail project was in securing passage of legislation that authorizes $1.5 billion for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (to be matched by funds from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia). Congressman Davis thanked the group and said he was inclined to say "play ball" and leave it at that. Davis noted, "As with anything else I have achieved, it is with the help of a lot of other people and on the Metro funding bill, Maryland legislators Steny Hoyer and Chris Van Hollen and, of course, my friends Jim Moran and Frank Wolf played a key role in breaking up the filibuster. I want to thank Virginia's Senators and the Maryland delegation, as well. When we work together as a team there is very little we cannot accomplish." David thanked his friends through the years on both sides of the aisle. "We worked together on a lot of projects. It just shows that when we work together what we can get done."
The Tysons Coordinating Committee, now the Tysons Land Use Task Force, is a diverse mix of stakeholders in the community including citizens, businesses, and major employers established in May 2005 and charged with providing recommendations to update the 1994 Comprehensive Plan. After more than three years of intense work supported by the work of subcommittees and with an extensive public outreach program, the Task Force produced what most people and we recognize as an outstanding report and recommendations. The report titled "Transforming Tysons: Vision and Area wide Recommendations" was submitted to the Board on September 22. It was accepted unanimously and referred to the Planning Commission and planning staff for the expeditious development of detailed plan language. Plum noted that the Task Force has provided a compelling vision of a vibrant, sustainable Tysons Corner that will make it a global leader in advancing sustainable community design and a highly desirable place to live work and play with high quality design and amenities and a forward looking cutting edge economic base. Plum said that the DCRA Board of Directors approved a resolution in support of the study and its recommendations at its October 10 meeting. The resolution supports a priority schedule for the adoption of plan language effective May 1. Clark Tyler in accepting the award noted that it was with difficulty that he filled the shoes of former task force Chairs Kate Hanley and Jim Scott (both of whom were in attendance). Tyler said he served with 36 outstanding people who gave a lot of time and attended hundreds of meetings. He and the task force appreciated DCRA’s support. Patty Nicoson provided a brief summary of her 2008 President’s Report. Noting that DCRA had started the year with a near death experience for Dulles rail, Nicoson complimented members of her board. They sprang into action and in January 2008. DCRA undertook a major campaign to turn the Bush Administration around. There were two advertisements in the Washington Post and two in the Washington Times; hundreds of letters were sent; and a special website was created. Thousands of calls were made to the White House and the Secretary of Transportation’s office. Their fax machines were jammed. By April 30, the situation was turned around and Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters announced that she was forwarding a notice to Congress that FTA had approved Phase 1 entering final design. DCRA worked with anumber of business groups on this effort including the Washington Airports Task Force, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the Fairfax and Dulles Regional Chambers of Commerce.
Nicoson closed by thanking all the community groups that DCRA has worked with over the past year and told Jim Bennett that she was looking forward to March 2nd and to having a really big party. Plum closed the meeting and invited the 2008 board members to join him for a quick meeting to elect the 2009 members as indicated below. 2009 DCRA Board of Directors Daniel S. Alcorn, Esq. |
In his welcoming remarks, Barry Mark, Senior Director of Corporate Real Estate, noted that it was fitting for the meeting to be held at Capital One because the starting point for the rail line is right outside the front door. Mark noted that back in 1999, when they chose the Tysons location, they did so for a number of reasons: great visibility from a number of major highways, close proximity to our employment base, and perhaps most importantly, there was going to be a Metro station at the front door. 
Bennett noted that the progress that had been made on the project this year would not have been possible if it were not for the group of people in the room and DCRA. This was a community effort, not just the effort of one organization or one community. "It took the community and a lot of work done by this group to get that corrected and get the project back on track.” He acknowledged the efforts of DCRA, Patty Nicoson, President, and Delegate Ken Plum, Chairman. 
Chairman Plum said that the organizations DCRA wanted to recognize this year was the Tysons Land-Use Task Force and its Chairman Clark Tyler.
Nicoson announced that the first President’s Award was going to DCRA Board Member Jonathan Cherner for his outstanding efforts on behalf of the Dulles Metrorail Now! Campaign. Nicoson also mentioned that she chaired the Reston Metrorail Access Group, a group appointed by Supervisor Hudgins that over the last year developed station access plans for the Wiehle Avenue and Reston parkway stations. She is working with civic and business groups in the corridor on Phase 2 funding and planning issues and on the Reston Center for Industry and Government Covenants issue in Reston where most of the land is covered by covenants that prohibit residential and hotel use. Nicoson has been working with the Dulles Area Transportation Association on a new series of seminars on TOD. The first two were held on September 30th and October 30th.