It is quite rare that I can become speechless, as I am sure most of you would concur. However, I found myself, having been sent an e-mail by Supervisor Stirrup’s office, in that exact frame of mind…speechless!

For those of you who have been following the saga of Silver Lake, 233 acres donated by Toll Brothers, there was a tug of war between Bull Run Conservancy vs The Park Authority. At one point, there was a suggestion, either by Board Members or the Park Authority that the donor from BRMC should just give the additional 263 acres to Prince William County and that we would control the 500 acres. Well, the donor did NOT want to relinquish control (one can see why now), and eventually, this “gift horse” fell flat on its butt. Bull Run Conservancy withdrew their offer and to this day, Silver Lake, has YET to open to the public.

Here is the latest on what is happening at Silver Lake, direclty from Supervisors Stirrups office:

The FBI will be conducting a training exercise in the vicinity of Antioch Road on June 10, 2009. Residents may hear two to three pops between 9 and 11a.m. This is a controlled training exercise and there is no danger to citizens or surrounding property. Lieutenant Bill Cox (Prince William County Police Department) can answer any questions regarding this training. He can be reached at 703-792-4951.

Please let the homeowners in your community know about the FBI training exercise at Silver Lake.

Kind regards,
Carol Ferguson
Assistant To Supervisor John Stirrup
Gainesville District Supervisor

Here is what was agreed upon when Toll Brothers donated Silver Lake:

7/10/2006 – Silver Lake to become conservatory

Toll Brothers has plans to donate more than 280 acres of open space to Prince William County in return for approval of some 400 new homes in a 2,800-home community. … In response to the community’s concerns, the developers said they would donate 282 acres surrounding Silver Lake to the county for a school, nature conservancy and a therapeutic horseback riding facility, according to a letter from Michael Lubeley, a Toll Brothers attorney. Washington Examiner

This is NOT about a training exercise, this is about almost three years of citizen participation being ignored, in fact, not just ignored, but given the proverbial middle finger in my opinion. There have been several public hearings, multiple meetings, and county attorney involvement in order to discuss the fate of Silver Lake. Overwhelmingly citizens wanted passive recreation. THIS is not passive recreation, in fact, for citizens, there is nothing but a locked gate, saying “keep out”. So much for Prince William’s county desire to provide quality passive recreation and a commitment to land conservation.

Update: The following statement has been issued

Supervisor Stirrup’s Office asked that I reply to your concerns about the Silver Lake property being used for a joint County Police Department/FBI training exercise this week. The Public Works Department has been responsible for protecting the Silver Lake property until it can be opened for public use. Public Works approved the use of Silver Lake for a joint exercise between the FBI and the County’s Police Department, and as such, I am responsible for this decision.

The exercise is a one-time event which will be held during this week and will conclude on Friday, June 12. The quarry at the site provides an ideal location for this type of exercise because it involves underwater activity by several dive teams. The Prince William County Police Department Dive Team has in the past been approved to use the quarry on a case by case basis as a training location. The exercise this week was originally planned for last summer, but was not conducted as planned. At that time, Public Works and other County agencies had evaluated potential impacts to the lake/quarry, the Silver Lake property and surrounding communities and it was determined that there would be no adverse impact as a result of the exercise. The operational benefit of having this joint exercise with the FBI will be of significant value to the County’s Police Department and the larger community.

The Board of County Supervisors is scheduled to have a Public Hearing to consider conveying the Silver Lake property to the Park Authority at their meeting on June 23 at 2PM. It is my understanding that the Park Authority will provide you with more information about future plans for Silver Lake, as well as a time frame for when it could be opened to the public. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional questions you may have.

Thomas Bruun
Director of Public Works
(703) 792-6253

So, now we discover this one day event is actually a three day training exercise.

89 Thoughts to “Silver Lake…the new training ground for the FBI? So much for “passive recreation” !”

  1. Moon-howler

    The fact that Silver Lake has not been settled is a disgrace. Shame on the supervisors. They have dodged the issue and passed the buck.

    Now, some people are notified that the FBI is holding training exercises at Silver Lake? WHY? There is a perfectly grand lake over at the FBI Training Facility at Quantico. There are thousands of acres at their disposal.

    Who has given them permission to use the land? What a slap in the face to all those who have spent hours, days, weeks, months on this issue, only to be ignored.

  2. Elena

    Exaclty how we feel Moon-Howler, a slap in the face. BRMC would have donated adjacent land of almost 270 acres, bringing Silver Lake to a grand total of 500 acres of Parkland for all citizens to use. Now we have 233 acres of CLOSED parkland only being used by the FBI. THAT is truly a disgrace. Why would ANY private donor, intersted in real land conservation trust this county? So much for private public partnerships.

    John Stirrup bears most of the responsibility for this the failed result of Toll Brother donation of Silver Lake.

  3. Chris

    Well, I’ll just call this PWC’S black-eye of the day. Silver Lake has been neglected for years by just sitting there. Why doesn’t the board for once and all piss or get of the pot with regards to Silver Lake. Everytime there’s to be a vote it just gets put off. Just vote and be done with it Supervisors!!!

    I many great memories at Silver Lake, and so do many others that grew up here. It’s too bad the children of the county today, may never have that opportunity at this rate. Our families in the county are missing out family fun, and close to home. Crying shame.

  4. Alanna

    Argh. So annoying. Who’s idea was this? What will the pops be, gunfire? Why couldn’t we have had the Conservancy Plan?

  5. From PWCA website:

    “The June 2 public hearing and vote on Silver Lake is cancelled and rescheduled for June 23 at 2:00 p.m. Pencil in the date! We’ve already spent two years talking about what will happen at Silver Lake. Do you want to spend another two years going over the same old ground or do you want to take a hike at Silver Lake? The PWCPA’s plan for Silver Lake initially showed intensive recreation uses. They later responded to citizen input and revised the plan to focus on passive recreation uses and equestrian trails. However, their current proposal provides no information about what recreation uses will be developed at Silver Lake property.”

    From their email updates: “Silver Lake has been closed to the public since the land was transferred to the County in December 2006. During that time citizens provided input on Silver Lake on multiple occasions.

    In response to community input, the intensive uses featured in the PWCPAs original plan were revised to focus on passive recreation and horseback riding.

    Now, instead of moving forward with their plan as presented to the public, the PWCPA proposes to begin a Master Planning process to develop a new plan (we’re back to the beginning).

    Before Silver Lake is transferred to the PWCPA, Supervisors could ensure that previous commitments are honored by authorizing deed restrictions that limit the range of recreation uses at Silver Lake to those included in the plan the Park Authority presented to the public.

    It’s time to stop talking about Silver Lake and concentrate on opening the park for public use, as supported by 2+ years of community input.

    Decisions are made by the people who show up. Share your views with Supervisors at the June 23 public hearing (no need to sign up in advance) or click here to email Supervisors.”

  6. Elena

    PAP,
    The ONLY way to influence this Board is to create the momentum that will force the right action in the eyes of the “media”. Silver Lake is another embarrassment for this county. We turned our noses up at at FREE land for ALL its citizens to enjoy. Now, Silver Lake, sits, gates closed, only trespassers getting through to vandalize or party it up at night. That there is a training excersise instead of a real Park for all citizens to enjoy is simply unacceptable.

  7. Elena, I agree that letting the FBI use SL is a slap in the face, especially after the ridiculous discussions that have led nowhere. We still do not have a park! Wouldn’t it have been nice to have a lake to swim in this summer?

    So…how do you propose to get momentum going in the media? Are you contacting people?

  8. Elena

    We will see what Monday will bring. I am hoping that citizens will start writing and we’ll see what happens from there!

  9. Moon-howler

    What is wrong with the FBI’s own training site down at Quantico? They even have a lake, a very nice lake in fact.

  10. Gainesville Resident

    I too am puzzled over this. I’ve been to Quantico – the FBI has a very large spread there complete with fake town and other stuff. Not sure why they need Silver Lake. I’ve followed Silver Lake off and on and can’t understand why it is taking so long for the county to set up this new park for the residents. As I don’t live all that far from it, I’m kind of looking forward to using it – but from the sounds of it not this summer – at the rate things are going.

    I agree though – let the FBI stay down in Quantico – they’ve got a massive amount of acreage there in their “piece” of Quantico.

  11. Juturna

    Maybe the FBI is paying. Lord knows we need the money. Might be helping keep a few summer pools open.

  12. Moon-howler

    I never thought of that, Juturna. I still wonder why they don’t use their own lake? Too many FBI agents?

  13. Elena

    The problem with that theory though is that parks and opens space are SORELY lacking in this county. Silver Lake was established for passive rec for citizens, NOT a training ground.

  14. Gainesville Resident

    I agree, who let the FBI use our park anyway. Why can’t we use it this summer? And, is the FBI paying for its use? I doubt it. If they are, then I guess that’s a little bit good – but I still agree with this thought: if they are using it – why can’t WE be using it this summer?? That is very puzzling to me. And, as has been said above, the FBI has tons of property at Quantico – since when did they need to expand their training up to Silver Lake??? Very very strange to me – this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I’d like to know who approved their use of Silver Lake, and what the arrangement is, exactly. I just don’t get this at all. I hope though, at least we are getting some revenue from it – but that still doesn’t really make it “right”. I look forward to being able to use Silver Lake as a resident of this part of PWC.

  15. Elena

    Gainesville,
    The only way to rememdy this is for citizens to appear, either on June 23rd at 2:00 p.m. or a Tuesday night and speak at citizens time. Silver Lake just demonstrates, on so many levels, the disfunction in this county.

  16. Gainesville Resident

    Well, Tuesday at 2 PM is out for me. Tuesday night – happens to conflict with HOA meeting in my neighborhood, which I’m fighting a battle there over common property that adjoins my lot – which is unmowed and has 3 foot tall grass on – right next to my property. For reasons unknown the HOA claims the builder owns it, and the builder claims the HOA owns it, meanwhile no one is mowing it. So have to fight that battle. Anyway, I’m not much for public speaking – or getting myself put on the county cable TV channel, so I’ll leave that to others. I might blast an e-mail to the bocs on the subject, however – that I’m plenty good at doing. I’ll should be able to do THAT, before Tuesday (as in this weekend).

  17. Gainesville Resident

    Actually, I meant to say this Tuesday night is no good for me, other Tuesday nights might be OK, but then again I’d rather not speak at citizen’s time. It’s just not my thing.

  18. Elena

    GR,
    E-mail is great!

  19. Gainesville Resident

    OK, will fire off an e-mail this weekend for sure. I’m an expert at sending e-mails on issues – let’s just put it that way! That’s an easy way for me to do my part in this debate.

  20. […] ANTI-BVBL has this story, Silver Lake…the new training ground for the FBI? So much for “passive recreation” !  Is this some kind of joke?  I hope so, but the BOCS keeps postponing its decision.   […]

  21. Gainesville Resident

    I sent an e-mail to both Stewart and Stirrup – asking them 1) who approved the FBI’s use of the property and is the county being paid in some way for this and 2) the more general question of why the park is still closed to residents – at the very least why can’t it be opened up for use such as hiking or other similar activities that don’t require any infrastructure other than land – this summer.

    If I get any sort of reply I’ll post it here.

  22. Moon-howler

    GR, I hope you aren’t holding your breath.

  23. Anonymous

    GR, Stewart and Stirrup are just two votes on the Board. You need to send your email to all Supervisors.

  24. Gainesville Resident

    Anonymous – Well, Stirrup is my supervisor, and Stewart is chairman of the board. So I started with those two. Besides, I had another matter to e-mail Stirrup about – a dispute with my builder about the flooded unbuilt lot next to mine, that I’ve been battling them on since shortly after I moved in and the rain picked up last fall.

    I suppose I can forward my e-mail to the other supervisors.

  25. Gainesville Resident

    I agree MH, I’m not holding my breath. Although I was actually going to e-mail Stirrup about my dispute with the builder (which you & I have talked about offline). In Stirrup’s case I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone – as I had planned on e-mailing Stirrup about my builder dispute this weekend anyway (I have an unbuilt lot on the right side of my property that has been a disgusting muddy pond since a few weeks after I moved in last fall – although for some of the winter it has been an ice skating rink – MH knows what I’m talking about). For Stewart – I just addressed the Silver Lake issue.

  26. Chris

    Gainesville, please, forward that email to other six supervisors too. They represent the districts, but their vote does effect all of us in the county. Their constituants probably would like to enjoy Silver Lake too. Silver Lake should be open to the public. There’s no good excuse for the board having not voted on the matter, and moving forward.

    Juturna, excellent point. I’m glad SplashDown will be open all summer, and it means more work hours for the lifequard in my house. 🙂

  27. Gainesville Resident

    OK, I will forward the e-mail sent to Stewart (subset of the one to Stirrup which addressed my other issue) to the other 6 supervisors. That is just a cut/paste and a couple of button clicks so easy to do.

    I do not understand why Silver Lake can’t be open this summer, at least for things like hiking, or maybe even horseback riding for those who do that sort of thing (not me – but I know lots of other people in this area would like a place like that to do such an activity). It would seem low cost to open up the park for those sorts of things – so I don’t understand it. Very puzzling.

  28. Elena

    Yes GR, it is VERY puzzling!

  29. Gainesville Resident

    Just to keep this discussion going – here’s what i sent to the entire bocs:

    Subject: Use of Silver Lake by FBI – Still not Open to PWC Residents!

    I live in Gainesville – having recently moved there from Manassas this past October. I have been made aware that this week Silver Lake is being used by the FBI for training purposes!! I have several questions about this that I’d like answers to:

    1. Why does the FBI need to use Silver Lake? They have a MASSIVE amount of acreage at Quantico for their training ground there.

    2. Who approved the use of Silver Lake by the FBI? Is the county getting some reimbursement for this use?

    3. Why is Silver Lake STILL closed to the public. This is really outrageous. If the FBI can gain access to it, why can’t the public for uses such as hiking this summer. I think the whole thing with Silver Lake is ridiculous, and I am not happy to hear this latest news. It makes no sense, none at all.

    4. WHEN IS SILVER LAKE GOING TO BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC? If not this summer, yet the FBI is allowed to use it, I just think that is a slap in the face to county residents.

    Sincerely yours,

    XXXXX (my name, address, phone number, e-mail address).

  30. Moon-howler

    Great letter, Gainesville. Let us know what type of response you get.

  31. Gainesville Resident

    I’ll definitely let you know if I get any response. Should be interesting, although I’m not holding my breath!

  32. Gainesville Resident

    Got a response from Michael May – here’s what he said:

    Dear Mr. XYZ-

    Thank you for your email. I appreciate you taking the time to write.

    I was unaware of this matter until you and a few other citizens brought it to my attention. To be of assistance, I have a call in to the County Executive’s Office to try to get some more information. I’ll be back in touch as soon as I have more information.

    Again, thank you for your email.

    Thanks,

    -Mike

    Michael C. May
    Occoquan District Supervisor
    2241-B Tackett’s Mill Drive
    Woodbridge, Virginia 22192
    (703) 792-4643 (phone)
    (703) 792-4833 (fax)

  33. Moon-howler

    It sounds like several supervisors were caught off guard with this one. It would seem to me that this Silver Lake issue is just too sensitive, considering how long decision-making has been postponed, to start renting it out.

    I have nothing against the FBI and certainly don’t know the entire story. THAT is the problem. Why were they allowed to use the space? What’s wrong with their lake?

    Someone needs to start spinning this one in the right direction real fast.

  34. Gainesville Resident

    I receive an e-mail from another supervisor – who forwarded it to a bunch of people in the county gov’t demanding answers on this. Indeed, apparently the supervisors were caught off guard on this. It will be interesting to see if any of the huge list of people he sent it to will respond to his inquiry. He basically asked for the answers to the first two questions I posed above (the ones directly related to the FBI’s use of the park).

    Maybe the FBI didn’t want those explosions going off on their Quantico property, for whatever reason. I kind of am curious what those explosions are from, but that might be information considered classified, perhaps. The FBI is very secretive about what goes on at their facility in Quantico. At this point, I’m still more interested in who gave them approval to use the park, if the county is being paid for it, etc. etc. than what it is they are actually doing there – that is just a point of curiosity for me. Hopefully they won’t be blowing up the lake and making it unusable for the rest of us….

  35. Elena

    How can all members of the BOCS not be aware of what is happening at Silver Lake? Is John Stirrup acting as Overlord?

  36. Alanna

    It does seem odd that Supervisor May wasn’t aware of the event. The parcel is owned by the Supervisors, it hasn’t been deeded or conveyed to anyone. So why wouldn’t Supervisors know? Who authorized this?

  37. Gainesville Resident

    It isn’t Stirrup – his staff is unaware of that too. We should not be jumping to conclusions here – Stirrup’s staff is the ones demanding answers from others in the county gov’t. I’m not sharing that specific e-mail as I want to keep my identity private. Hats off to those who publicly identify themselves on here, but that’s not me, especially given what happened to me in the past on this blog.

  38. Gainesville Resident

    I posted at the same time as Alanna. I would guess it is owned by the county, not the supervisors specifically. From what I can tell, the supervisors appear to have been blindsided by this. The question is – who in the county authorized it – the e-mail from Stirrup’s staff member was sent to a whole list of county people – and the one who knows the answers was asked to respond both to me and to Stirrup. That is why I’m not divulging anymore details at this point, for my own privacy’s sake. It is interesting though – and will be interested to see what the answer is – as right now it is a mystery who authorized this, etc.

  39. Alanna

    It says PWCBOS in the gis mapping service. It’s their decision as to what happens with the property. I suppose, it could be the County Executive’s Office who made the decision. Maybe Supervisor Stirrup didn’t like it but didn’t want to push the issue with anybody, so instead sent this email to Elena in the hopes that a little publicity would stop the process.

    Elena, Should we chain ourselves to the front gate of Silver Lake tomorrow? 🙂

  40. Moon-howler

    Wasn’t the original memo of notification from Stirrup’s office?

  41. Alanna

    All I have seen is the email to Elena from Carol in Stirrup’s office.

  42. Gainesville Resident

    I got an answer, that exonerates the bocs (some posters on this blog tend to blame certain supervisors for everything):

    Mr. XYZ,

    Supervisor Stirrup’s Office asked that I reply to your concerns about the Silver Lake property being used for a joint County Police Department/FBI training exercise this week. The Public Works Department has been responsible for protecting the Silver Lake property until it can be opened for public use. Public Works approved the use of Silver Lake for a joint exercise between the FBI and the County’s Police Department, and as such, I am responsible for this decision.

    The exercise is a one-time event which will be held during this week and will conclude on Friday, June 12. The quarry at the site provides an ideal location for this type of exercise because it involves underwater activity by several dive teams. The Prince William County Police Department Dive Team has in the past been approved to use the quarry on a case by case basis as a training location. The exercise this week was originally planned for last summer, but was not conducted as planned. At that time, Public Works and other County agencies had evaluated potential impacts to the lake/quarry, the Silver Lake property and surrounding communities and it was determined that there would be no adverse impact as a result of the exercise. The operational benefit of having this joint exercise with the FBI will be of significant value to the County’s Police Department and the larger community.

    The Board of County Supervisors is scheduled to have a Public Hearing to consider conveying the Silver Lake property to the Park Authority at their meeting on June 23 at 2PM. It is my understanding that the Park Authority will provide you with more information about future plans for Silver Lake, as well as a time frame for when it could be opened to the public. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional questions you may have.

    Thomas Bruun

    Director of Public Works

  43. Gainesville Resident

    Again, this proves it is not a good idea to jump to conclusions about who owns or approves the use of county property for such things. The bocs did not appear to be consulted in this at all, from what I can tell. They were probably notified about it after it had been planned, to let people who lived near the park know about the exercise and the “loud boom” sounds that might be heard. It also appears to be a joint exercise with the county police – although that was indeed left off the memo sent out about this event. I got a copy of that e-mail that was sent out – apparently it was sent out to people who lived around the park, NOT just to Elena – as Stirrup’s office sent me it with this correspondence and indicated as such. Again, there’s a lot of untrue speculation on here surrounding motives and so on by certain bocs supervisors.

  44. Gainesville Resident

    I will say this – at least Thomas Bruun owned up to the fact he is the one responsible for this decision. Also, the fact that the county police are involved in this “joint exercise” should alleviate some concerns, that the FBI was just using PWC property for their own purposes. It makes me feel a little bit better about it – I think we all want to see our local police get proper training. As long as they don’t blow up the lake i think this ia an entirely separate thing from the bigger issue, of why Silver Lake is not open to the public. That of course is still a topic of concern, obviously.

  45. Elena

    my response to Supervisor Caddigan’s office:

    Hi Lynne,

    The isssue is not that the FBI is having a training session there, the issue that upsets so many PWC residents is that citizens, after two and a half years, are still unable to enjoy this proffered piece of property. However, I can tell you, people trespass anyway, especially kids, and swim in the lake.

    Originally, Toll Brothers had profferd money for an indoor swim facilty, that however, was nixed in lieu of Silver Lake and ITS swimming and passive recreation amentities. To this day, citizens on the west end have NO public pool or anywhere to hike or enjoy passive recreation opportunities like picnicing etc. The only way to ensure proper use of Silver Lake is to through a deed restriction or a conservation easement, comprable to what the BRMC has proposed. Had BRMC been given this property to manage and oversee, we would not be dealing with any of this, and Silver Lake would be open to all and not just the FBI.

    Warm Regards,
    Elena

    ——————————————————————————–
    Subject: RE: FBI Training @ Silver Lake June 10
    Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 16:24:25 -0400
    From: [email protected]
    To: [email protected]

    Good afternoon;

    I wanted to forward to you the reply that was received concerning the FBI using Silver Lake. I hope this helps explain why they were there.

    Have a great evening!

    Lynne D. Grasso

    Assistant to Supervisor Caddigan

  46. Elena

    GR,
    The only three Supervisors that voted correctly, in my opinion, were May, Nohe, and Caddigan. They all voted in favor of BRMC. Has the Conservancy been given stewardship, we would all be enoying this gem, not just the FBI!

  47. Gainesville Resident

    Well, I’m sure that’s true – I did not follow the vote closely at the time, other than reading it in passing in the news. I still think though as far as the FBI (and PWC police – we can’t overlook that) the supervisors didn’t directly have anything to do with it – it was the county public works office.

  48. Moon-howler

    The FBI isn’t really the issue. It seems that everyone can use the facility except those for whom the land was intended. Trespassers go in, kids, go in, the FBI uses the land, But not one damn family who wants to have a picnic is allowed in the place. What’s wrong with this picture? It should not take 2.5 years to decide how to use a gift horse. This gift horse has been looked in the mouth for way too long.

  49. Gainesville Resident

    Agreed, the whole FBI thing is really not the important issue here. The real issue is why can’t the citizens of PWC use it already? Indeed, there’s no good reason why it should have taken so long to decide who is going to run it – which is what I take it has been holding up everything. Seems like a huge missed opportunity, that’s for sure. I guess what happens on June 23 will be interesting.

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