The McLean Governmental Center at 1437 Balls Hill Road, will soon be undergoing a major renovation effort to expand the facilities for the McLean District Police Station. Consequently, while the renovation is underway, the McLean office of Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust will be temporarily relocated. The renovation is estimated to take two years.

Effective Monday, May 7, the temporary site of the Dranesville Supervisor’s office will be 6649-A Old Dominion Drive, McLean 22101, in the McLean Square Shopping Center (also known as The Balducci’s Shopping Center). This is the same location that housed the Dolley Madison Library during its renovation in 2010 and 2011.

From an article in Fairfax Times:

School board votes to shift students from Freedom Hill Lemon Road
Move marks ‘beginning of some of the change that will occur’ as Tysons grows

School Board members also had questions about nearby Pimmit Hills school, which originally was an elementary school that had been converted to an alternative high school. It was closed two years ago to cut $1 million from the school system’s $176 million budget gap for the 2010-11 school year. The facility still is being used for community education programs.

Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia is seeking applicants for its A Brush With Kindness program. The program is dedicated to helping families in need inNorthern Virginias with exterior home repairs.

Habitat will help low-income homeowners impacted by age, disability, and family circumstances who struggle to maintain the exterior of their homes to revitalize their homes and improve their communities. Able-bodied homeowners are encouraged to work alongside the volunteers in a cooperative effort.

We're starting up an informal Pimmit Hills Garden Club where we meet once a month at someone's garden in Pimmit Hills and talk plants. Our first 'meet-up' will be at Deanne Eversmeyer's beautiful garden on Leonard Road, Saturday, May 19, time to be determined (in the afternoon so it won't conflict with the Green Springs Garden plant sale). Deanne is a Horticulturalist at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC and is a professional expert on plants and gardens. To get on the Pimmit Hills Garden Club list, contact us.

National Cathedral Flower Mart
Friday, May 4, 10:00 am
Saturday, May 5, 10:00 am

For those of you at last night's PHCA meeting listening to Wolf Trap Master Gardener Phil Goetkin, here is more information about Virginia native plants:

Native Plants for Conservation, Restoration, and Landscaping (Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation)

List of VA native plants (wildflowers.org)

List of VA-DC-MD native plants (PlantNative.org)

From the The Connection:

Back when Clark Tyler was running meetings of the citizens group planning the redevelopment of Tysons Corner, the transformation of this traffic strangled cross roads seemed a glorious vision.

The ambitious plan grew during one of the hottest housing booms of Fairfax’s history. Housing prices soared and equities grew. The boom in turn was fed by millions of dollars of federal and defense expenditures in Northern Virginia. Typical family real estate taxes grew as well from $2,400 a year to $4,800.

The next PHCA community meeting is Tuesday, May 1 at 7:30 pm at the Pimmit Hills Center on Lisle Avenue (see map below). The special speaker will be Phil Goetkin, a horticulturalist and native plant specialist who works at the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts.

Goetkin will be speaking about topics such as: when is the best time to plant grass, what can grow under the shade of the large trees in Pimmit Hills, why native plants are important and what he recommends, the importance of composting and mulching, what to do with a bare front lawn and more. He'll also answer your questions.

Sent out to those on our mailing list on Thursday:

The Pimmit Hills Earth Day Cleanup last Saturday, April 21, was a big success! Organized and run by PHCA's new Environment & Parks Committee, over 40 people showed up to help clean up our area parks and creeks. Over 1,000 pounds of trash was collected and all seven parks in Pimmit Hills were cleaned. A huge thank you to all who volunteered to help out! It was a beautiful day, we had fun and many people discovered great parks they didn't know about.

We've just posted the photos of the event. Click here to see photos of the volunteers working in the woods of Olney Park and Pimmit View Park, and click here to see photos of volunteers at the base camp. Links to these photos are also on our website, https://migration.pimmithills.org/.

Planning on going to Home Depot or Merrified Garden Center this weekend? Be aware that the intersection of Lee Highway (Route 29) and Gallows Road intersection in Merrifield will be closed from 9 p.m. Friday, April 27 until mid-afternoon Sunday, April 29 for crews to repave the intersection as part of the ongoing construction project.

Drivers will not be able to cross the intersection and are encouraged to use alternate routes. Signs will be posted detouring drivers around the intersection via Prosperity Avenue, Gallows Road, Providence Forest Drive, Hartland Road, Lee Highway and Porter Road.

Earth Day Clean-Up
Saturday, April 21, 2012
9:00 am - Noon
Meet at Olney Park (map)
Register

Dear Pimmit Hills Neighbors,

Please join us in celebrating Earth Day by picking up trash, litter and other debris from our neighborhood parks in Pimmit Hills. This is a great opportunity for us to work together to make our community cleaner, our parks prettier, and our neighborhood a better place to live and play!