Prince William Times - 03/28/2024

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SPORTS: Brentsville girls soccer team hopes to repeat as state champs. PAGES 23, 25

March 28, 2024 | Vol. 23, No. 13 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $2.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

County’s tech corridor stretches into mid-county Commerical properties along Dumfries Road seek rezonings for data centers

add at least three more 80-foot-tall data centers at Colchester Industrial Park and surrounding properties about three miles south on Dumfries Road. The latter project, dubbed the “Mid-County Industrial Park,” was unveiled Thursday, March 21 by Corey Stewart, the former chair of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, who is the lawyer representing the landowners in their rezoning application. The project is proposed for 64 acres northeast of Minnieville and Dumfries Roads near the county’s landfill. It would encompass The Colchester Industrial Park to the west and would stretch east toward the back of Potomac Reserve, a newer development of large, million-dollar homes off Minnieville Road.

By Peter Cary

Piedmont Journalism Foundation

Prince William County is poised to add yet another “data center alley” to its already burgeoning tech industry — this time in the mid-county area. The Prince William Board of County Supervisors moved Tuesday, March 19 to allow 85-foot data centers on 90 acres known as Parson’s Farm, a former landscaping outlet along Dumfries Road. In April, the planning commission will hear another application to PHOTO BY ROGER SNYDER

The Mid-County Industrial Park is one of two large projects in the mid-county area slated for 80-foot-tall data centers.

See MID-COUNTY, page 4

School Board appoints local Moms for Liberty leaders to key advisory committees By Cher Muzyk

Times Staff Writer

The Prince William County School Board recently appointed three leaders of the local Moms for Liberty chapter to key school division advisory committees at the request of school board member Erica Tredinnick. At the board’s March 20 meeting, Tredinnick nominated Merianne Jensen, chair of the Prince William County Moms for Liberty chapter, to the Gifted Education Advisory Committee; Jen Donnelly to the Safe Schools Advisory Committee; and Chris Funderburg to the Superintendent’s Advisory Council on Equity. Donnelly is vice chair of the local Moms for Liberty chapter, while Funderburg is a founding member. Moms for Liberty is a national organization comprised of local chapters of typically conservative parents. The organization was first formed in Florida in 2021 to challenge mask rules and other pandemic-related restrictions. It has since spread to dozens of states with the stated goal of supporting “parental rights” in public education and electing like-minded

MOMS FOR LIBERTY FACEBOOK PAGE

Left: Leaders of the Prince William Moms for Liberty chapter at a recent school board meeting, from left, Merianne Jensen and Jen Donnelly. Right: Moms for Liberty founding member Chris Funderburg candidates to public office. The group has sometimes spurred controversy, including asking to remove school library books they find offensive. The board initially approved all three appointments unanimously during part of the agenda where many items are considered at once. But the vote created some tense moments for the

Spring planting tips: Home & Garden, page 22

school board. At the end of the meeting, board member Loree Williams asked to rescind her “yes” vote. Williams said there were several items the board approved that she did not agree with. See SCHOOL BOARD, page 5

Occoquan Peep Show, other holiday events, page 9

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