Arlington board approves consent agenda including $4.8M neighborhood bonds, arts and digital equity grants

The Arlington County Board unanimously approved its consent agenda at the Sept. 13 meeting, advancing more than 40 mostly noncontroversial items that county staff and advisory panels had vetted.

Board Chair Tackis Carantonis summarized notable actions before the board vote: $4,800,000 in Arlington Neighborhood Program bond funds for sidewalk, curb and streetlight projects across Bellevue Forest, Bluemont, Yorktown and Arlington Mill neighborhoods; $365,000 in fiscal‑year 2026 arts grants recommended by the Arlington Commission for the Arts; and $500,000 in digital equity grants supported by earlier agreements on public dark fiber in the county’s innovation district.

Other items adopted included acceptance and appropriation of state and federal grants: $50,000 to support restoration work at the historic Hume School (Arlington Historical Society), $150,000 in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funding for placement and coaching services for federal contractor employees laid off, and a $150,000 Virginia Homeless Solutions Program grant for homeless prevention services administered through the Community Assistance Bureau. The board also accepted more than $135,000 in state kinship navigator funding for the County’s child and family services division and approved $20,000 in opioid settlement proceeds to supply Suboxone for first responders.

The board approved two deeds of easement enabling sidewalk and curb improvements and authorized staff to advertise a future public hearing on expanding stormwater utility credits to homeowners associations; if adopted, the stormwater credit change would be heard Oct. 18, 2025. County staff said the proposed change would allow about 181 homeowners associations (roughly 3,800 residential properties) to qualify for voluntary stormwater credits under updated eligibility rules.

Why it matters: The consent agenda consolidates smaller capital outlays, grant appropriations and administrative items that advance projects on sidewalks, stormwater, arts programming, digital equity and homelessness prevention. Several items are bond‑funded or state‑funded appropriations that will support near‑term construction and program delivery.

Board action: The consent agenda was moved by Chair Tackis Carantonis, seconded by Vice Chair Matt Ferrante, and adopted unanimously (5‑0).