Enjoying the lovely weather? Here's some ways to protect yourself while enjoying outdoor festivities

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department would like to share these helpful safety tips to help protect yourself while enjoying outdoor activities.

• Always be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are. Never feel that you are unsusceptible to an attack.
  
• Stay in groups. A group of people are less vulnerable then one individual just by themselves.
  
• Be sure to tell someone where you are going and what time you will be back. If plans change, make sure you let that person know.
  
• Always carry your cell phone and some type of picture ID with you.
  
• Limit outdoor activities to daylight hours whenever possible.
  
• If you walk or run, vary the paths you travel.
  
• Note any suspicious activity and report it immediately.

Have any more questions about saftey? Contact the Sheriff's Office on their non-emergency line (703) 777-1021 or (703) 777-0445.

At the Public Hearing last night Mon. 2/9, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously 9-0 to approve the use of proffer funding for River Bank Street sidewalk between Algonkian Parkway and Rivercrest. More to come from the Loudoun County Office of Transportation Services (OTS) re: planning & design, bid, and construction process and timeline.

The County Staff did not quote us any specific time frame, but we can estimate the work should be started in the next 6 - 12 months if the process goes as expected. I did bring up the concern with the lack of lighting along this same stretch. This is something our 3 HOAs need to request through Dominion Virgina Power and pay for independent of Loudoun County. However, the County Staff agreed to work with Dominion to lay the wiring and other prep work at the same time that Loudoun county is digging the ground for the sidewalk.

And for those of you who were concerned where this money is coming from in this tough economic times. The money has been sitting there for many years in the proffers that the developers have paid for the overall improvement projects of the neighborhood. There's still more funding left in this proffer and it is being advertised to be used on other critical pedestrian or transportation projects. So the sidewalk funding is not coming out of people's general tax funds or gas tax money.

All of this is GREAT NEWS for pedestrian & bicycle safety and connectivity of Rivercrest and our neighboring HOAs to Great Falls Plaza, Algonkian Regional Park, and Loudoun Transit!!

THANK YOU for signing the Rivercrest petition - 150 signatures and other Rivercrest residents who signed the River Bank Woods Petition!

Please take the time to email a note of Thanks to Supervisor Buckley and her hard working Staff (use either of these addresses): "Debra Jenkins" "Pam Lettie"

Many thanks to President of Riverbank Woods HOA, Mike Morgan, for his continued hard work on this every step of the way since 2006! We all need to thank Sue Wilkinson for sitting out there in the cold gathering signatures for the petition, it was a huge boost to our cause. And finally, thanks for the Board members for passing and signing the resolution to support the installation of the sidewalk.

Shiva Chen
Communications and Safety Committees volunteer