I would be remiss if I did not finish up on the Vienna pool.
You may or may not recall earlier, when I likened Town of Vienna decision-making to a splinter.
Without taking that analogy one step further, this post will tersely explain what’s fundamentally wrong with the Town of Vienna decision-making process, in this case.
Last time, 2014, recall, the key reasons for a no vote, identified by two separate Town Council members, boiled down to competition in the form of the three nearby Fairfax County REC Centers.
And, so, ultimately, what did Town Staff come back with?
Gotta call it as it looks like to me:
So for 2024, they just got rid of those pesky REC Centers entirely. Town staff offered forward a proposal that is, in essence, for a world in which Fairfax REC Centers didn’t exist. As-pictured, in the market area map above, from the Town’s consultant’s proposal. Not merely ignored as to “hey, those exist”, but they ignored Fairfax’s pricing, as well.
And the resulting proposal is fundamentally deficient. Because you don’t get to wish away the Fairfax REC Centers. They are the major players in the market you hope to enter. There are three of those within a reasonable driving time of the proposed new Vienna facility.
And as icing on that cake, Town Staff provided no summary, that I could find, to apprise the 2024 Town Council of the rationale for the 2014 decision. Nothing in the Town’s materials led me to look at that, I just stumbled across some ten-year-old news reporting.
You know how they say that the left hand should not know what the right hand is doing? Here, it’s more like the left hand forgets what the right hand has done.
This whole round of “pool” talk should have started with the 2014 discussion, and moved that forward. Logically speaking. But, my bet remains that this is wired. So logic may not have the deciding vote here.
