The Planning Commission will hold an open house on the Comprehensive Plan update on Tuesday, August 31, 2021 from 5:30-6:30 pm in the Council Chambers and lobby area of Rouss City Hall. The casual format will allow attendees to talk with staff and view exhibits of potential scenarios and character drawings for areas identified for redevelopment in the plan.
The Winchester Fire & Rescue Department (WFRD) is proud to announce five employee promotions (listed below) that will be recognized at an accommodation and promotions ceremony on August 28, 2021.
“We’re excited to be able to recognize the accomplishments of our personnel in our combination system, and on top of that, celebrate five internal promotions,” stated Chief Jon Henschel.
The City of Winchester and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) are monitoring the harmful algal bloom (HAB) currently affecting the North Fork Shenandoah River where the City obtains its water supply. The City is taking every precaution to prevent impacts to drinking water. At this time, the City’s water is safe to drink and there are no restrictions on drinking water use while monitoring continues.
On Sunday, July 18, 2021 at 12:45 p.m., Winchester Police responded to a parking garage at Winchester Medical Center for a report of a carjacking. The owner of the car reported that a male brandishing a knife and a female approached him in the garage. After an altercation, the suspects took the victim’s 2016 Jeep Cherokee. The victim sustained minor injuries.
On Saturday, July 17, 2021 at approximately 6:23 p.m., a Utility unit from Winchester’s Friendship Fire Company was flagged down by an East Street resident who reported a vehicle entrapment. As firefighters arrived on scene, they found the metal roof of 200-220 East Street had been blown off of the building and wrapped around several vehicles, with four residents trapped in a van. Firefighters were able to extricate the occupants with no injuries, and no injuries or deaths were reported as a result of the roof damage.
Following a nation-wide search resulting in 54 applicants, Winchester City Manager Dan Hoffman has appointed Christopher Konyar, of Winchester, as the City’s new Parks and Recreation Director. Christopher, who has over 20 years of experience in the field, served the past 14 years as the Superintendent of Recreation and the prior seven years as Program Supervisor both with Frederick County Parks and Recreation. He has also been a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional since 2006 and is currently a Recognized Clinician with the American Sports Education Program.
In observance of the Memorial Day holiday, the City will follow the below schedule for the week of May 31, 2021:
The City’s Percy D. Miller Water Treatment Plant received the 2020 Virginia Optimization Program Gold Award for its high-quality drinking water treatment from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Office of Drinking Water. This is the highest possible ranking in operations excellence for water utilities and is based on a 12-month analysis of data. The plant first achieved the Gold Award in 2018, and received the Silver Award in 2019 and 2012-2017.
On Saturday, May 15, 2021, the Winchester Fire and Rescue Department (WFRD) will partner with the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association and the International Association of Fire Chiefs to produce a statewide volunteer recruitment and retention video through an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG).
Virginia’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will again release emergency allotments of benefits to eligible households this month. Benefits will be automatically loaded to recipients’ Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards on Sunday, May 16, 2021.
The emergency allotments raise each household’s monthly allotment to the maximum allowable based on household size as follows: