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Friends of Stafford creeks donated 70 wetland plants to Tri-County Soil & Water Conservation District for their annual plant sale to benefit environmental education.  The three species were:  lizard’s tail, pickerelweed, and manna grass.  We collected these plants from thinning at a wetland garden, potted them up in clay soil, and took care of them for 6 weeks prior to the sale.  We even got them a kiddie swimming pool!  Here are the plants ready to be sold.

Friends of Stafford Creeks monitors a 16-box bluebird trail on Marlborough Point.  These boxes are designed to deter snakes from feeding on bird eggs and fledglings. This is the third year we have visited each box one time per week and recorded what we saw.  Is there a nest, any eggs, what kind of bird, how many young, when will they leave the nest?  Sometimes our monitoring can make the difference between fledging healthy birds and no birds.

Friends of Stafford Creeks will make a presentation to the Fredericksburg PC Users Group on November 12, 2009, 7:00 PM at the Falmouth Fire House, 250 Butler Road. The presentation is about the condition of Stafford’s waters in the Potomac River Watershed and volunteer citizen monitoring.

Comprehensive Plan public hearing will be held October 13, 2009 at the Board of Supervisors Chambers. This document guides future development of our county. Stafford's plan has not had a major overhall for 20 years. Major issues are (1) number of residential development units that will be allowed on the zoning and land use maps and (2) location of the urban development area. These two items affect your pocketbook! The 2009 Board, after 4 years of work, failed to pass the Comprehensive Plan.

Recertification for existing water quality monitors was held Friday, September 11, 2009. All monitors attended at the event. New chemicals were supplied. Thank you, monitors, for being so conscientious.

EPA has a new Administrator who has articulated "clean water" as one of five major Administration goals. Read Friends of Stafford Creeks letter to the new administrator here.

Purchase Development Rights (PDR) Committee will be asking the Board of Supervisors to consider a bond referendum for the purchase of development rights. If approved, this will allow Stafford County to retire lots from development in the agricultural area. The lot's owner will be paid a fixed payment and in addition will be eligible for State and Federal tax benefits. Land owners place a permanent conservation easement on the land in exchange for the payment and tax benefits. Approving this plan will mean saving taxpayer dollars in the long run.

On June 16, 2009, the Board of Supervisors voted NOT to allow a PDR referendum on the November 2009 ballot.

After many years of trying to pass some kind of protection for the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, on October 7, 2008 our elected leaders finally voted 4 to 3 (with Woodson, Crisp, Brito, and Schwartz in favor) for the Potomac River Resource Protection Overlay. In a very limited but environmentally sensitive area of Stafford, this legislation will enhance protection of waters with additional buffers. Buffers help maintain and improve the quality of water flowing from our tributaries to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. Buffers remove toxics, nutrients, and other pollutants from surface flows. Forested buffers shade the creeks thereby regulating water temperature and dissolved oxygen.

HB 3202. This legislation was passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 2006 and, if adopted by our Board of Supervisors, will require residential developers to pay for infrastructure costs of building in our agricultural areas. Right now YOU pay for infrastructure every time an agricultural lot gets developed. The estimated cost for infrastructure is $43,000 per lot and roughly 300 lots get developed every year. This is 18 million dollars per year that EXISTING Stafford taxpayers contribute for increased traffic, crowded schools, inadequate park and rec facilities as well as understaffed fire and rescue service. To be able to charge developers, Stafford must take over some of our urban road maintenance and receive a payment for this which is twice what VDOT currently spends for maintenance.

On October 7, 2008, our elected leaders voted 5-2 (Woodson, Crisp) to kill the possibility of collecting impact fees from developers in our rural areas. This means taxpayers will continue to pay this cost. Only Woodson and Crisp were in favor of making developers pay.

Rock Hill Ruritan Club and Stafford County partnered for the 2008 Cardboard Boat Regatta on Saturday, July 19th. The event was held at beautiful Aquia Landing on the Potomac River. Children and adults had a laughter-filled Saturday. See photos of the event here.