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Preservationists have been clamoring for it.
Politicians have been promising it.
And finally, after two false starts, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors is set to vote tomorrow on a bond referendum to buy the pristine Crow's Nest peninsula.
With an affirmative vote from the Board of Supervisors tomorrow, the referendum would take place in late August, according to Kandy Hilliard, the supervisor whose district includes Crow's Nest.
The board could also determine how much needs to be raised through the sale of bonds, Hilliard said in an interview.
Based on three widely divergent appraisals, Hilliard said she is advocating $25 million--an amount that would require a 2- to 3-cent increase in the real-estate tax rate. That might not be enough to pay for all of Crow's Nest, she said.
But there is also another roughly $5 million in state funds earmarked for Crow's Nest, and Hilliard believes the county could also obtain $1 million to $2 million in federal funds for Crow's Nest.
With all that money, Hilliard said, the owner of Crow's Nest would know the county could realistically afford the property.
"If the opportunity to make an offer on this property comes forward, I want us to have a funding source in place," she said. "We have to show we are serious as we can be, and part of that is showing we have money in hand."
Save Crow's Nest, the preservation organization that asked for the bond referendum in February, said there may still be a glitch in the supervisor's plan.
The Board of Supervisors must ask for a referendum at least 90 days before the election is to be held to give the Circuit Court it.
Referendums held as special elections cannot be held too close to the November presidential election because the Stafford voter registrar needs time to prepare the voting machines.
Having the referendum and the presidential election concurrently is possible, but many preservationists say that's not advisable because the presidential election would overshadow the vote for Crow's Nest.
Tuesday will be the last chance for supervisors to send a resolution in support of a referendum to the Circuit Court in time for a special election.
Save Crow's Nest members say they're worried that the resolution Hilliard is proposing doesn't go far enough. It merely authorizes county staff to begin work on the referendum.
Instead, Save Crow's Nest is urging the the board to pass a much more comprehensive resolution that specifies the special- election day, Aug. 24, and spells out the exact wording that would appear on the ballot.
Save Crow's Nest is also advocating a bond amount of $35 million--$10 million more than Hilliard.
"If the board is serious about acting to save Crow's Nest on Tuesday, they will pass two resolutions: one to hold a special election for a bond referendum to purchase Crow's Nest, and another expressing their support for saving all of Crow's Nest," said Save Crow's Nest member Anne Little.
"We'll know how serious they are by whether or not they stand up and act on these resolutions."
The ecologically fragile peninsula between Potomac and Accokeek creeks is one of Stafford's last large tracts of undeveloped land. It holds one of the region's last stands of virgin forest, many endangered and threatened plant and animal species, and a large heron rookery.
The state had planned to use the $5 million it earmarked for Crow's Nest as a down payment toward buying the 3,800-acre tract for a nature preserve. But that plan fell through late last year, sparking a grassroots plea for supervisors to save it instead.
The preservation group Save Crow's Nest sprang from that plea.
The board's three Republicans asked to put the referendum on the agenda in March.
But instead, County Attorney Alda White advised board members in closed session not to make any more public statements about Crow's Nest while the tract's zoning was under litigation.
When news broke in April that luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. had a contract to buy Crow's Nest, Hilliard went against White's advice. She held a news conference to announce her intention to get the ball rolling on a bond referendum at the board's next meeting.
Then, after another closed session, she said the bond proposal was indefinitely deferred while the county investigated another way to buy Crow's Nest--without a referendum.
Paul Milde, who runs a preservationist group called SaveCrowsNest.com, said he was disappointed by the two broken promises.
"We have no choice but to trust them," he said. "We're not deterred. We still expect action from the board, and we will hold supervisors accountable if we lose this."
Hilliard said Saturday that she is still pursuing a funding source that wouldn't require a referendum. She wouldn't identify it because she said she hasn't had a face-to-face meeting to discuss whether that source would be willing to loan the county money to buy Crow's Nest. It's far from certain, she said.
"I'm not sure it's a valid funding source," Hilliard said. "I've not been able to ascertain if funding is available or if it would be available in time, or even if we qualify."
She said she asked the board to vote on a referendum even as she pursues an alternate funding source because time is running out to schedule a special election for Crow's Nest.
"It all comes back to, does the community feel this is a wise and prudent way to spend our money?" Hilliard said. "I believe it is."
To reach RUTH FINCH: 540/720-1622 rfinch@freelancestar.com