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Home My Public Portal About1954_04_27SPEC 1 119 • said Council which is to be held in the Council Chamber, Loudoun Street, Leesburg, Virginia, at 5 :20 o' clock P. M. , on the 23rd day of April, 1954, for thepurpose of passing upon the advisability of selling-the Leesburg Town Hall property and for contracting to sell the Fire House and land on which the Fire House Building is located, being the same property acquired by the said Town by deeds of record in the Clerk' s Office of the Circuit Court of Loudoun County, Vir- -- ginia, in Deed Book 6 N' s , Page 289; and Deed Book 6 Z' s, Page 407, respectively. • - Given_ under our hands this 23rd day of April, 1954." After some discussion regarding the above proposal and upon motion of Frank Raflo, seconded by Reginald K. Gheen, and carried by a vote of four to two, Gheen, Raflo, Gill and Lowenbach,for, Riddle and James against, the following resolution was adopted : BE IT RESOLVED, :by the Council of the Town of Leesburg, in - Virginia, that the proposed contract of Mr. C. B. Ritchie for the purchase of the Town Hall property be tabled until a. special meet- ing to be held on Tuesday, April 27th, at 7 :30 o' clock P. M. , There being no further business upon motion of Morton Riddle, • III, 'seconded by Emmerson H. James , and unanimously carried, Coun- cil adjourned. ina-(1444vb' 4 Mayor Recorder • SPECIAL APRIL 27, 1954 • ' At a special meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Town of Leesburg, in Virginia, held in the Council Chamber on Tuesday, April 27, 1954, 'at 8 :00 o' clock P. M. , there were present William AgJjCy ankglali iyoemm 8ge gletkanalegrOlrioRsiggia %r.Gheen, ink-Raflo, aAd or on dd e, II, ounci en. Mayor Nickels read a report of the planning commission and also a report from the Board of Zoning Appeals regarding the re- zoning -of..a tract of land owned by Messrs. Beans and Thompson. Mr. Francis L. Patton appeared before Council and stated his objection to the rezoning of this property giving his reason; that the entrance to the said tract of land would construct a street or highway too close to his property and that the said street would not have the adequate width, as reauired' by the Town zoning ordi- nance. - Mrs. Francis L. Patton appeared before Council and stated . that she had measured several streets in the Town that were not more than 30 to 32 feet in width, and she felt the Town was well aware that these streets were causing a great deal of trouble so far as traffic conjestion was concerned, and that the' said street to the said proposed subdivision would be one additional narrow -width street in the Town of Leesburg. ' Mr. Ahalt stated that present plans were to install a 30 foot street, exclusive of any sidewalk entering the proposed subdivision. Upon motion of Emmerson H. James, ' seconded by Howard B. Gill, and unanimously carried, the following resolution was adopted : • BE IT RESOLVED, by the Council of the Town of Leesburg, in - Virginia, that the Council does hereby rezone the property in question of Beans and Thompson from "Resident District No. 1" to ',Resident District No. 2". Upon motion of Howard B. Gill, seconded by Morton Riddle, III, 120 and carried by a vote of four to two, Gill, Riddle, Gheen and James for, Lowenbach and Raflo against, the following resolution was a- dopted : • BE IT RESOLVED, by the Council of the Town of Leesburg, in Virginia, thaYthe Council does and hereby rejects the report of the planning commission and accepts the plans as submitted by Messrs . Ahalt and Lowe for the proposed subdivision with a 30 foot street and a 4 foot sidewalk. • Upon motion of Reginald K. Gheen, seconded by Frank Raflo, the S' following amendment to the above resolution was defeated by a vote of four to three, Raflo, Gheen and Riddle for, James , Lowenbach and Gill against, the Mayor casting his vote against. The said amendment was in words as follows : "That provided there 'be a 26 foot street and a 4 foot space between the northern boundary of the property and the street to provide for a sidewalk, curve, and gutter." - Mayor Nickels 'read a letter from the Division of Planning and Economic Development regarding a meeting to be held in Williams- burg 'on May 9, 10, and lltki, in which it was requested that as manymembers as possible of the Town Planning Commission be pre- ' sent at this meeting, and upon motion of Morton Riddle, III, se- conded by Emmerson H. James , and unanimously carried, the follow- ing resolution was adopted : " BE IT RESOLVED, by the Council of the Town of, Leesburg, in Virginia, that the Auditor-Treasurer .be, ,and he. isHhereby;auth- -- orized -and directed to-pay the expenses of- any-member' of the Town of Leesburg Planning Commission' attending the meeting of the Division of Planning and Economic Development at Williamsburg on May 9, 10, and 11th, and that the said expenses of each member shall not exceed the sum of $35.00. • There being no further business, upon motion duly made, seco ded and carried, Council mourned. • ILIZA4..4.4:1274.91/440' Mayor Recorder The following is a true copy of a letter received by. Horace M. Hallett, Recorder, of the Town of Leesburg on April 16, 1954. • • "On Monday, April 12, 1954, upon motion of Frank Raflo, se- conded by Howard B. Gill, and unanimously- carried, the following resolution was adopted : 'BE IT RESOLVED, by the Council of the Town of Leesburg, in Virginia, that Officers Venable, Athey and Turner be retained by the Town on a permanent status beginning, on the 1st day of May, - 1954, to continue until the 31st' day of August, 1955, at a stip- end of $250.00 per month for Venable, and 6225.00 per month for Turner and Athey. I hereby veto the foregoing!.resolution, and assign my reasons and grounds therefore as follows :" (1) The aforesaid Officers, until the 1st of May, are on probation, and until May 1, 1954, or thereafter, this action is ' premature, unwise- and not feasible under the existing town ordi- nances. (2) The ordinances adopted •by the Council in September, 1937, give the Mayor, as Chief of Police, the right and power to employ officers additional to those tht$cworking for the Town, as well as supervision and control over all officers. The afore- said resolution is in conflict with these ordinances , and the said right and power cannot be usurped by 'the Council until and unless the said ordinances are first rescinded. Upon motion of Frank Raflo, seconded by Emmerson H. James, 121' and unanimously carried, the following resolution was adopted : 'BE IT RESOLVED, that if charges of failure to properly per- form their duties or charges of conduct detrimental to the best interest of the Town be raised against any one of the police officers , the said charge will be told at a meeting of the full Council andthe officer in question be granted an opportunity to speak and defend.himself. ' I hereby veto the foregoing resolution, and assign my reasons and grounds therefore as follows : (1) The aforesaid resolution puts in issue before public the character and reputation of the police officer in question, and invites and encourages public criticism of Town employees. (2) It opens ,the. door. for providing the same rights to all employees of the Town,. and prohibits the discontinuance of the services of Town employees without first inviting such employee to contest action o•f .the, Town in such case. (3 ) To offer and. provide the opportunity for character assassination in such a matter is inherently wrong. (4) The matter ,of hiring and firing employees of the Town should be an executive, and administrative as distinguished from a legislative matter. - (5) ' To that require •that employees of the Town to be hired and fired by the legislative instead of the executive branch of the Town would, (a) , be an inasion of the executive branch of the Town government by the legislative branch, and • II (b) . it would discourage worthy employees from seek- ing Town employment. Very truly yours, • • .: .; . /S/ William W. Nickels • William W. Nickels Mayor" SPECIAL May 5, 1954 At a Special Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Town of Leesburg, in Virginia, held in the Council Chamber on Wednesday, May 5, 1954 at 8:00 o'clock P. .M., there .were .present Emmerson H. James, 'and Frank Raflo Councilmen f¢4$e444 . The purpose of the meeting was-to-allow any citizen of the Town of Leesburg • to.present their views.on the proposed budget for the fiscal year begining July 1,1954 and ending June .30, 1955. There being no.one present for the aforesaid meeting, and purpose, the meeting was adjourned. • L4G) . ' , ' Mayor. Recorder. REGULAR May 10, 1954 At a regular meeting of.the .Mayor .and .Council .of the Town of Leesburg, in Virginia, held in the Council Chamber on .Monday May, .10, .1954 at 7:30 o'clock P. M., there were present William W. .Nickels, Mayor, .Horace M. Hallett, Recorder, .Reginald K. Gheen, Emmerson H. James, Maurice R. Lowenbach Jr; Frank Raflo, and Morton Riddlelll Councilmen. The minutes for the regular meeting for April 12, 1954, the special meet- ings for April, 14, 1954, April, 20, 1954, April, 23; 1954, April 27, 1954 and May 5, 1954, were read and upon motion of Morton Riddle, /111, seconded by Emmer- son H. James, and unaminously carried the following resolution was adopted: