Falls Church Seeks Volunteers To Serve On New Public Utilities Commission

FALLS CHURCH, VA — The City of Falls Church is seeking volunteers to serve on its new Public Utilities Commission, a panel that will provide advice and guidance to the city council and city manager about the city’s stormwater and sanitary sewer systems.

The reconstituted PUC will have five members who will be appointed by the Falls Church City Council. Anthony Dudley, stormwater project manager for the city, will serve as the staff liaison to the commission.

The previous PUC would meet quarterly to advise the city council on the operations, investments and rate-planning of the city's water utility. But when the city's water system was sold to Fairfax Water in 2014, the PUC stopped meeting.

With the new PUC, members will serve staggered four-year terms, except for the first slate of appointees, in which two appointees will have two-year terms and three appointees will have four-year terms.

The commission, which will meet at least four times a year, will provide recommendations to the city council on capital improvement programs for the city's stormwater utility and its sanitary sewer utility, customer rate structures for the two utilities, and other utility-related policies and programs.

In particular, the commission may be tasked with considering how to strengthen city regulations to require more stormwater detention and water quality improvement at the time of property redevelopment. PUC members also may be asked to assess the causes of sanitary sewer backflows and regulations or capital investments that could lessen their frequency.

Falls Church is now accepting applications for the commission. Interested residents should fill out an online application or download a PDF application form. Members of the commission must be residents of Falls Church.

Completed applications can be submitted online, via email, in person, or by mail to City Clerk's Office, 300 Park Ave., Falls Church, VA 22046.

The City Council Appointments Committee is responsible for reviewing all applications for boards and commissions, including the new Public Utilities Commission. Interviews are conducted the second Wednesday of each month and usually last about 15 minutes each.

Staff will contact the applicants about a week before the meeting to schedule interviews. Following its review process, the City Council Appointments Committee makes recommendations for appointments to the full Council, which then votes on nominations at a city council meeting.

Since this is a new commission, applicants are not required to attend any city commission meeting before applying.