Pre-Vote Comments on Federal Community Project Resolutions

Mayor Derrick Wood
April 2025

Before we take this important vote tonight, I want to highlight what these two Community Project Funding resolutions represent—not just for us as a Council, but for the future of Dumfries.

The first resolution supports funding to bury the overhead power lines along Route 1, both north and south through town. This isn’t just an infrastructure project—it’s a chance to significantly improve public safety, reduce outage risk, and open up new possibilities for how Route 1 looks and functions. If we’re serious about Main Street revitalization and future growth, this is a foundational step.

The second resolution supports our request to fund revitalization efforts at Quantico Creek—transforming it from an underused asset into a community destination, rooted in history and designed for families, recreation, and environmental restoration.

I’m proud to report that we’ve already secured letters of regional support from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and Prince William County’s Transportation Department, backing our funding request for burying the power lines. That kind of support adds real weight to our application—and shows that our region believes in what we’re trying to do here in Dumfries.

But regional support is only part of the equation. We need our residents behind this, too.

If you’re watching tonight or following along this week, and you believe in what we’re working toward—we are asking you to submit a letter of support by this Friday. It can be as simple as a few lines saying you support the project and want to see Dumfries invest in its future.

The more letters we have, the stronger our voice is when we submit this request to our federal partners.

So tonight’s vote moves us forward—but we’ll only go as far as our community is willing to go with us. Let’s take this vote as a unified step forward, and let’s bring the people of Dumfries with us.

Thank you.