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Home My Public Portal About1963_02_11 1. 12. Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Leesburg Town Council, February 11 , 1963. A Regular Meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the Council Chambers , Leesburg, Virginia on February 11 , 1963. Mayor Frank Raflo called the meeting to order at 7:30 P .M. Councilmen present. were Stanley F . Caulkins, George P. Hammerly, Lynwood Lay, Hunter M. Leach, Maurice R. Lowenbach and John W. P.umphrey. In the absence of the Recorder , Robert C. Forbes was appointed Recorder pro-tem. Upon Motion of Councilman Caulkins; seconded by Councilman Pumphrey the minutes of the previous meeting were approved as read with the general consent of the Council Members. The Acting Town Manager gave his report to the Council. The Mayor read the following letter to the Council. February 4, 1963 Members of Council Town of Leesburg Leesburg, Virginia Gentlemen: There are varying opinions andprophecies as to the ultimate growth and the rate of growth of our Town, but there is no doubt that this growth will ultimately be, and much of it is alreadry on the way. At the moment , whether the 1970 population will be 8 ,000 or 10,000 or 15,000f'is a question, but the fact that it will with- in the next several years add thousands of people to those looking to Leesburg for water and sewer facilities is a fact of record , 11 evidenced by the building plans either completed , under construction or before this body or its Planning Commission. This Council has within the past twelve months taken an inter- mediate remedy to be in the position to supply water to those requesting it. The rate of capacity of our sewer system, however, is only for 4000 users. All signs indicate that it will not be long before that point is reached and passed . The Wollman Geyer Report issued for the Washington Metropolitan Reginal Sanitary Advisory Board in June, 1962 , includes the needs of Leesburg and of Loudoun County in its projections. In its summary and recommendations it specifically states and I quote: "A joint -program should be planned to provide service to the Leesburg area of the Goose Creek water shed through integration with the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority system." The report further states that the Goose Creek water shed , which will include Leesburg, will have a served population of at least 15,000 by 1980 and over..36,000 by the year 2000, aid urges that "provision of sewers to connect the expected flows from this population to the Dulles Intercepter should be planned at once." The estimated cost of the Leesburg connection to the Dulles Inter- cepter, based on 1962 figures , is $1 ,750,000. This cost , naturally will not solely be that of the Town but the report further points out "no panacea for financing sewer systems has appeared on the horizon anywhere in the world . The use of general taxation, special assessments , connection and usage charges has stood well the test of time and they must be utilized , often in joint application, in this region. The report continues "it is hoped that the Board will not escape respon- sibility by the popular and easy recourse to Federal Funds , in them- selves limited to essential and stimulating purposes. Strong local autonomy so validly claimed for this area ( in Virginia) cannot subsist without strong local fiscal responsibility."' 143. Gentlemen, I point these facts out now and it is my further re- commendation that one of the first orders of business before this Council andone of the first problems for study and action by our new Town Manager coming on February 16th will be to assess this report , to re-evaluate our present system, to project our growth needs for the immediate and long range and finally to decide on a policy which this Council can initiate before the summer is over to bring our sewage capacity at least in line now tith our water . capacity . At this time no more important problem of any nature is before you. . IIWhile the matter of sewage is the number one problem facing the Council directly, as your Mayor I do want to point out several other problems which concern the people of the Town of Leesburg and for that reason should at least indirectly concern this Council. These items are tied with the growing need for Town and County under- standing and cooperation. The first of these is the matter of the development of avail- able land immediately adjacent to the Town or within the Town. As the rate of population growth excellerates it will become more and more necessary for the Town and the County to reach a definite under- pp standing whether this development is going to be a part of the ex- d: isting Towns or whether new communities will spring up elsewhere. t- Fundamental in this decision is whether or not the municipalities , [-= who undoubtly will be called on to provide the utility services and CC other wanted functions , w•;ill at the same time have the responsibility to plan adequately and effectively for the development around the • Towns. I have today addressed a letter to the Chairman of the Planning Commission for the Town of Leesburg and asked him to have his group study in detail the County' s proposed Master Plan as it will effect the Towns orderly growth. I understand that a meeting to discuss this matter is proposed by County officials with our Planning Commission and I certainly want them to be knowledgeable about it prior to such ' a meeting. The second matter which I merely call to your attention, and likewise to the attention of all citizens of Leesburg , is that of the Leesburg Elementary School. As of lest week, this school had one of the highest pupil-teacher loads in the County and almost all available physical plant room was being used . The enrollment last week was 579. This represents a growth of about 10% over last year. Even if our rate of growth does not excellerate faster in the next seven years the present speeded up growth rate will require and fill within that time approximately another school the same size as the present Leesburg Elemtary School. • It is my further understanding that at least two years will be necessary to plan, finance , and build such a school for our Town if the decision to dhso would be made today. Although this school need is not one on which the Council can act directly , I think it encumbent upon this Council to point out this need now to the people of the Town so that the motivations necessary to get something done about it can be put into action. I zp preciate your time in consuming this lengthly report but periodically it is necessary for the people of the Town to be re- alerted to the major and overall problems that will be facing them so that they can express their views as a guide to you in the decisions IIwhihh you will be called upon to make. FR/mj; Petitioners appearing before the Council this session were: Carlton Penn, representing W. R. Phillips ; Lucas Phillips , representing Dr. Baily; Robert Sharp and Carlton Penn representing Mrs. Robert Wilson. 144 - Upon Motion of Councilman Hammerly; seconded by Councilman Pumphrey and there being no further business to come before the Council at this time the meeting was adjourned with the General Consent of the Counci lm Members at 10; 15 P .M. /2 p , v ,( • %_/ _ Mayor • Recorder Pf'o=rem • • 1 • • • • • • •