Who’s Who

Who is on the THA Working Group and how was it formed?

It consists of Dave Curtis (Parkland Committee Chair), Lynn Daft (THA Board), Brandon Lucado, Ray Luckenbach, Paul Pitera, Maggie Stehman, and Vivian Watts. It was formed from Board and Parkland Committee members supplemented by Truro residents who expressed interest during or after the publicly attended June 2012 THA Board meeting.

How is this managed by Fairfax County?

Justin Pistore of the Watershed Projects Implementation Branch, in the Stormwater Planning Division of the Dept of Public Works and Environmental Services is the Project Manager. All THA interactions on the project will go through him.

What contractors are involved?

The Williamsburg Environmental Group is the design contractor. Construction contracts have not been awarded yet.

Purpose and Scope

Why does the project stop at Wakefield Drive?

The decision about the boundaries of the project was the County’s decision, not Truro’s decision. The County has told us the decision was primarily to draw a rational boundary around the scope of the project. Other factors that might have been involved include:

• There is generally less severe undercutting of the streambanks downstream of Wakefield Drive.
• There are fewer stormwater outfall tributaries in THA parkland downstream of Wakefield Drive and they are not as degraded as those upstream of Wakefield Drive.
• The stream passes back and forth from THA parkland to homeowners’ lots several times downstream of Wakefield Drive so obtaining access would be more complex.

What will happen to the trees?

Several trees along the streambanks that are currently being undercut will be removed. Some other trees must be removed for the construction equipment to access the stream. The specific access paths are being designed minimize loss of mature healthy trees by the following methods:

• The existing (asphalt) pathways will be used for primary access to the work areas.
• Short access paths cleared from the asphalt pathways to the streambed will be located to avoid as many mature healthy trees as possible.
• Protective matting will be used to protect the root structure of mature trees that are close to the access paths.

What will happen to the asphalt paths?

Asphalt paths in the areas used for access will be destroyed during construction. They will be restored at the completion of construction.

Is anything being done to lessen the quantity or velocity of stormwater influx to the stream?

Yes, but the details of this are still being developed.

Why should we expect that the stream won’t just revert to the current unstable situation with an incised streambed and undercut banks?

The current streambed was not specifically engineered when the neighborhood was developed and the stormwater drains were directed to the stream. Only in very few places, does the streambed go to bedrock. As a result, in most areas, the channel is susceptible to erosion and incision. The renovated streambed will have a solid base of large rocks prevent the problem from recurring. In certain areas the streambanks may also be armored with large rocks. (The large rocks providing this structural support will largely be covered by smaller rocks that will be visible from the surface. The “riffle and pool” design of the channel also will enhance the stability of the streambed.

Since the stream is being designed to overflow onto the floodplain during significant storms, will homeowners’ yards and houses be more likely to be flooded?

No, the community was developed so that the 100-year floodplain does not encroach onto individual lots. The design for the restored stream will maintain this constraint. That is a specific feature of the design that is carefully reviewed by the design contractor and the governmental agencies involved with granting permits for the project.

Decision Making and Transparency

Who makes the decisions?

The County decided to put this project on the schedule for 2013 and determined the scope of the project. The THA Board will decide whether to grant the County the necessary easement for the project, but intends to do so only after receiving community input. The County approves the design of the project.

What input does Truro have?

Both the design contractor and the County have expressed willingness to receive input from Truro. The working group has been set up to be the vehicle for providing that input. The working group will endeavor to represent input from the community in their interactions with the County and the design contractor. The Community Outreach page on this website discusses opportunities to communicate with the Working Group.

Are meetings public and announced?

There have been and will continue to be some meetings with the County that are announced and open to all Truro residents. Two specific meetings to explain the project to the entire Truro community have been announced and will be heavily promoted. Working meetings between the Working Group and the County to discuss details are generally not announced publicly.

Timing

What are the stages of the design process?

The design contractor is presently doing the Conceptual Design. That will be completed in December 2012 and reviewed with the Working Group. The Preliminary Design, will be done in February 2013. After that the Final Design will be done by May 2013. Truro will have input to the process after the Conceptual Design and the Preliminary Design are done and part way through the Final Design. The Final Design will also incorporate or resolve any issues raised by the permitting process.

What happens after the design is done?

The County will solicit bids for the construction contract and select a contractor by the standard contracting methods. That will likely take until about August 2013. The physical work would begin shortly after the construction contract is let and take four to six months.

Planning Phase

Personnel from the design contractor and Fairfax County are surveying the current conditions of the streambed, the adjacent floodplain, the major tributaries from the stormwater outfalls, and the trees. All trees in the project area more than 12 inches in diameter at chest height (almost 700) have been individually characterized. About the only visible change is that some survey stakes and flags have appeared.

Construction Phase

Stream Channel

• Although much of the stream channel will follow the current channel, it will be relocated in some areas to move it from locations where it is threatening homeowners’ lots, to eliminate some tight meanders that are inherently unstable, to avoid specific obstacles, to protect mature healthy trees, or to provide better connectivity to the natural floodplain.
• Major stormwater outfalls may be relocated slightly toward or away from the main stream to accommodate design of the immediate discharge areas.

Paths & Bridges

• Paths used for access will be damaged by the construction equipment and replaced at the completion of construction. Details of the replacement paths are not yet determined.
• Some paths might be rerouted. A few alternative path routings are being considered.
• All bridges in the project area (all of the bridges upstream of Wakefield Dr.) will be removed during construction. Bridges will be replaced as necessary. The replacement bridges will be different than the current design. The replacement bridge design has not yet been selected.

Trees

• There will be some loss of existing trees. Trees currently toppling into the stream due to undercut streambanks will be removed. The inventory of mature trees will be used to minimize the loss of healthy trees by careful routing of access paths and protection of the root structures of healthy trees as much as possible.

Access

• The construction contractor will establish four or five points for access to the project area from public streets. These will likely be:
  • In the TCC parking lot near the tennis court gazebo
  • Along Elizabeth Lane below Mary Lee Lane
  • Wakefield Drive near the stream crossing
  • At the path into the parkland from Ossian Hall Lane
  • Along Ann Fitz Hugh Drive near Golden Gate bridge
• The construction contractor will also establish staging areas in relatively cleared areas of the parkland near the access points, above.
• During construction, areas of the parkland will be closed to the public. These will be staged so the entire project area will not be closed simultaneously. As much as possible, there will be public access across the parkland at all times.

Noise

• There will be noise from the construction equipment operating in the parkland during weekday daylight hours.

First Several Months after Construction

• Areas that were cleared for access will be replanted with native trees and shrubs. The seedlings will initially be only a few feet high. Some may be protected by screens from deer grazing.
• Streambanks will be planted with native vegetation through biodegradable matting that protects the banks from erosion until the vegetation can be established.

The Working Group is taking the following actions to allow the Truro community to have an informed discussion on the proposed project and ultimately to provide the THA Board with input for the decision about whether to grant the easement that would let the project proceed:

• A special meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 7:30 pm at the Wakefield Forest Elementary School cafeteria, to discuss the Preliminary Conceptual Design that will have just been developed and delivered. We consider it important for all THA homeowners, not only those adjacent to the proposed project, to attend this meeting so we will meet at the school to be able to accommodate the entire community. At this meeting we will also discuss ways for the community to learn more the details of the project as they are developed and provide feedback to the Working Group.
  • A letter will be sent to all Truro homeowners informing them of this meeting and encouraging participation.
• The proposed project and the process will be outlined briefly at the THA General Meeting on November 14, but at that time, we won’t have even the preliminary conceptual design and this subject warrants the more thorough discussion planned for the special meeting discussed above.
• As the design details are developed, there will be opportunities for Truro residents to see in the parkland itself the scope and likely impacts of the project.
• We will arrange for tours of other completed stream restoration projects in Fairfax County, including one completed in April of this year, so community members can see what completed projects look like, less than a year after completion and several years after completion.
• A special e-mail address stream@trurohomes.org has been established to receive comments and questions from THA homeowners regarding this project.
• Following completion of the Final Conceptual Design, we will have a second special meeting Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 7:30 pm, also at the Wakefield Forest Elementary School cafeteria. Following further discussion of the project, attendees at this meeting will vote as to whether to proceed. Although not a formal binding vote, the Board intends to weigh this vote strongly in their decision as to whether to grant the easement necessary for the project to proceed.

If the project proceeds, the Working Group will continue to provide an interface between the Truro community and Fairfax County and its contractors during and following the construction phase. The specific actions in this regard have not yet been determined.

References on the Web

• “Accotink Creek Watershed Management Plan (Final)” dated January 2011 (Turkey Run is in the Mainstem 3 area. See projects AC9211, AC9212, and AC9213.)
• “A Function-Based Framework for Stream Assessment & Restoration Projects” dated May 2012 (This is a lengthy technical document with good background for stream restoration. The Table of Contents is helpful at finding specific topics of interest.)
• Reston Association website with background information on stream restoration. Various links on that page lead to related information.

Truro Trails Articles

There have been brief mentions of this proposed project in June, July, August, and September 2012 Truro Trails and the following articles published in:

• October 2010—”Accotink Watershed Management: Draft Plan Unveiled”
• November 2010—”Truro Comments to Fairfax County on Stream Restoration Projects”
• October 2012—”Turkey Run Restoration Project”
• November 2012—”Turkey Run Restoration—Status and Process”
• November 2012—”Turkey Run Restoration—What You Need to Know”

Correspondence

• THA Board letter to Fairfax County dated October 21, 2010 commenting on the projects in Truro that were identified in the Draft Watershed Management Plan.
• Rees Broome, PC letter dated October 8, 2012. This letter from the THA attorney to Fairfax County provides a legal opinion about what is needed before the County can perform this project on THA-owned land.

September 2010

Draft Watershed Management Plan issued by Fairfax Co.

October 13, 2010

Truro community attends open meeting to discuss the draft plan and the possible implications of the projects in Truro

October 21, 2010

THA comments on the possible projects in Truro identified in the Draft Plan

April 2012

THA advised that a project for restoration in the Truro parkland is in the plan for calendar year 2013

June 13, 2012

Fairfax County staff brief THA Board and residents on the potential project

July 2012

A Working Group of Truro residents is formed to be the interface between THA and the County for this project.

August 27, 2012

Meeting between the Working Group and the Fairfax County officials to discuss proposed approach and schedule

September 2012

Survey work begins in Truro

September 22, 2012

Members of the Working Group tour stream restoration projects previously completed in Reston

October 8, 2012

Letter from THA legal counsel discussing legal procedures necessary for the project to proceed

October 15. 2012

Members of the Working Group walk the Turkey Run stream in Truro with Fairfax County and design contractor personnel to review and discuss the existing stream conditions

October 16, 2012

The Working Group, Fairfax County, and the design contractor hold a pre-design meeting to discuss goals, objectives, design considerations, plans, and schedules

October 20, 2012

Members of the working group tour the recently completed restoration project on the grounds of the Fairfax Co. government center

November 8, 2012

Meeting among the Working Group, Fairfax Co., and design contractor to discuss preliminary conceptual design being developed

November 16, 2012

The Preliminary Conceptual Design is delivered by the design contractor

November 28, 2012 at 7:30 pm in the Wakefield Forest Elementary School cafeteria

Open meeting for all Truro residents to be briefed on the scope and plans for the project

December 4, 2012

Fairfax County and the design contractor to meet with the Working Group to discuss resolution of matters discussed in the November 28 meeting

December 21, 2012

The Final Conceptual Design is delivered by the design contractor

January 16, 2013 at 7:30 pm in the Wakefield Forest Elementary School cafeteria

Open meeting for all Truro residents to discuss and vote on the project based on the Final Conceptual Design

January 23, 2013

THA Board meets to decide whether to grant the easement necessary for the project to proceed

PRESUMING THE PROJECT PROCEEDS

Spring 2013

Preliminary Design completed and reviewed with the Working Group

Spring 2013

The 95% Final Design is reviewed with the Working Group

Summer 2013

Final Design completed. Permitting & construction authorization is obtained by the County

Fall 2013

Public bid process is completed for the construction contract

Winter 2013-2014

Construction complete

LONG TERM MONITORING

2-Year Plantings Warranty

Quarterly site visits by County

1-Year Contractor Workmanship Warranty

Quarterly site visits by County

County Maintenance Thereafter

Site visits annually and after significant storms or flood events.

The purpose of the project is to improve the water quality and reduce the stream flow into the downstream creeks, rivers, and eventually the Chesapeake Bay. The way to do this is to stabilize the streambed and improve the connection between the streambed and the floodplain. The extent of this project is for the entire length of the streambed upstream of the crossing under Wakefield Drive. In addition to the main streambed, several stormwater outfalls that feed into side streams joining the main stream will also be part of the project. The most visible of these tributary streams are crossed by Golden Gate, Natural, and Tappan Zee bridges.

The objective is to do this in a manner that preserves the natural ambiance of the parkland. There are several side benefits to a project such as this. The renovated streambanks are better vegetated with native plant species. Fish and other aquatic animals can have improved habitat and repopulate restored streams fairly rapidly after the construction is complete.

Several remediation concepts will likely be applied to this project, including:

• The areas immediately downstream of the stormwater outfalls will be reshaped to dissipate some of the flow energy.
• The streambed will be substantially raised using large rocks and fill and the remaining smaller streambanks will have a much more gradual slope so that significant stormwater will overflow the streambanks into the natural floodplain.
• Native species will be planted along the gradually sloped streambanks. Biodegradable matting is applied to stabilize the streambanks for the first year until the vegetation takes hold.
• A series of riffles (shallow areas with turbulent water flowing over rocks) and pools will be created in the main stream.

Some of the design objectives include:

• Minimize the loss of healthy mature trees.
• Minimize the width of the swath necessary for construction equipment access.
• Maintain the current natural ambiance of the parkland. Materials brought in will be compatible with the current parkland environment.