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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1968_02_14 169 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, FEBRUARY 14, 1968. A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the Council Chambers, 12 W. Loudoun Street , Leesburg, Virginia on February 14, 1968 at 7:30 P.M. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Rollins , with Councilman Pumphrey leading silent prayer. Those present were : Mayor Kenneth B. Rollins, Council- men- G. Dewey Hill. Frederick R. Howard, Walter F. Murray, Robert A. Orr and John W. Pumphrey; also Town Manager James W. Ritter, Jr. and Town Attorney George M. Martin. Absent from the meeting was Councilman C. Maloy Fishback. The Minutes of the regular meeting of January 24, 1968 were approved as written. Mr. Ritter reported the following : (1) There is still no final word on the Federal Grant for the sewage treat- ment plant. He has had a number of telephone conversations with Mr. Tom Faery, Director of the Division of Construction Grants in Washington, and who is in the office of Mr. Morgan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Department. It seems that Mr. Edwards, Assistant Secretary, is constantly in meetings on Capitol Hill and his assistant is familiar with the facts in this case and says it is being held up in this office until Mr. Edwards is free to study it , however , he hopes to get an answer to us before the week is out. CqN (2) He talked with Mr. Dew today about the plans for the new Town Office Cub Building and he will come over next Monday with some of the plans. However, he C.� says he believes it will be at least the end of March before we will be ready V to advertise for bids. (3) He wrote to Westinghouse , making a proposal on the sewage treatment facilities, and has received an answer from them, stating that they are agree- able to our proposition, and that now they would like to discuss the water situ- • ation at the earliest possible time. Mr. Ritter said this will be discussed with the Utility Committee next Monday. Councilman Howard commented that an article in the Washington Star indicated that Westinghouse was not satisfied with our proposal. (4) A letter was received today from Mr. Stirling Harrison, requesting that his property (house and office on E. Market Street) be rezoned from Commer- cial to Residential. . This would have to go through the regular channels and the cost would be $100 for this rezoning and Mr. Ritter said he did not know whether Mr. Harrison was aware of this fact or not. Mayor Rollins asked Mr. Ritter to inform him of this procedure. (5) With regard to the Airport , Mr. Ritter said he has been out there on numerous occasions since two months ago , when tonight was set as a deadline on this situation, and he finds that there is activity out there and they seem to be functioning as an Airport. He said he could find no discrepancies, they seem to be following through with the lease , with the exception of the construction of T-hangars. He said he had checked with the State Corporation Commission today to see if they could tell us who the stockholders are , however , the Commission does not have this information, but .did furnish us with other valuable informa- tion, such as the officers , directors and authorized stock, etc . Mr. Zebley was here this afternoon and Mr. Ritter said he checked the Minute Book, Stock Book and other papers and finds that everything seems to be in order. (6) Regarding the proposed resolution to be considered tonight on group hospitalization for Town employees, he said he had -made an extensive study of this matter over the last several months. He wrote to 15 of the top companies and received answers from six who were interested, the rest were not interested because we are too small. The present policy with American 'Casualty Company does not give adequate coverage at all. After study of the propositions offered ' by these various companies, it was narrowed down to three, and then the committee decided that Aetna has the best coverage for the money, including life insurance on the employee. The employees are willing to pay the difference in cost for the protection of their families, with the Town paying the full cost for the em- ployees. This policy also provides $20,000 major medical insurance benefits. The cost to the Town will be approximately $243.00 per month, which is a good deal more than we have been paying, however , Mr. Ritter said this is something that everybody needs, and he strongly recommends the adoption of this resolution. • I_7'O MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 14, 1968 MEETING. Mayor Rollins read and presented to Council a letter from Firs. Frank Osburn, submitting her resignation from the Board of Architectural Review. He said that, under the Ordinance, the Mayor appoints members to this Board, so he accepted Mrs. Osburn's resignation and appointed Mr. Maurice R. Lowenbach, Jr. to serve the un- expired term of Mrs. Osburn, which term will expire in June of 1969. Mr. Lowen- bach has accepted this appointment. Councilman Hill said he had received several calls on the parking situation downtown and that , in talking to some of the merchants, he finds that they are in favor of a 2-hour limit on King Street and in favor of this type of traffic control. He also said Mr. Herbert Pearson had voiced objection to the "No Parking" sign placed on the south side of North Street beside Mrs. Rust 's house Mr . Ritter explained that he and the Chief of Police had taken parking off of the south side of North Street quite some while back and that there is a sign about 100 feet away from where Mr. Pearson parks, but none in that exact loca- tion. Mrs. Rust complained about the muddy condition beside her house and, upon investigation, it was decided that , from a safety standpoint, there should be no parking at this location and another sign was added here. Councilman Howard called attention to a hole in the sidewalk in front of the Post Office which should. be repaired right away. Councilman Pumphrey asked if "No Parking" on the south side of North Street applied on. week-days only, noting that on Sundays they seem to park every place, sometimes blocking tpe street almost entirely. Mr. Ritter said that on Sundays, there is no place else for those attending the Episcopal Church to nark. Council man Pumphrey said he believed this should be enforced on Sundays as well. . Dis- cussion followed on this matter and Mr. Ritter explained that , a while back, cars were blocking the garages belonging to the Misses Hammerly, and that, with additional hazards on this street , more signs were put up. He said he had re- ceived no complaints until the sign was put up where Mr. Pearson has .been parking. Mayor Rollins asked Mr. Frank Hyde , who represents the Poston Estate , if something could be done about the porch- on the Poston house at the .corner of Loudoun and Wirt Streets , stating that it is in a bad state of repair. Ir. Hyde said he knows that this probably should be fixed, but it has not been condemned. Town Attorney Martin said it encroaches on the sidewalk, however, Mr. Hyde refuted this. Mayor Rollins again asked that it be remodeled or re- paired in some way. Mr. Hyde gave no assurance that anything would be done about this situation. Mayor Rollins also reported that Mrs. Fitzgerald on S. King Street had re- quested stone in front of her house. Mr. Ritter said he thought this had already been taken care of. Also, Mayor Rollins asked that the street in front of Saffer 's Mill be scraped again , and also the street in front of the Livestock Market. At the request of the Police Department , Mayor Rollins read the following proposed Ordinance concerning abandoned automobiles parked along the streets or on property in areas which are zoned Residential , and referred this Ordinance to the Laws and Administration Committee for study : BE IT ORDAINED by the Council for the Town of Leesburg, Virginia, pur- suant to Section 15.1-11.1 of the 1950 Code of Virginia, that it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to keep, except within a fully enclosed building or structure, on any property located within the corporate limits of the Town of Leesburg toned for residential pur- poses, any automobile , or automobiles, the condition of which is such that it is economically impractical to make it (them) operative; and any person, firm or corporation violating this, Ordinance shall be fined not less than $25.00, nor more than x500.00, for each day that such automobile , or automobiles, is (are) kept on any property so located and so defined. Mr . Thomas W. Zebley reported on the status of Chantilly Aviation, Inc. , at this time , stating that they have taken' over operation of the field and they think everything is going along very satisfactorily. There 'was a stckholders ' meeting last night , with 67 per cent , or 5 out 7, stockholders, voting. He said that he feels that everything is under control and that he has submitted •a more lengthy report to Mayor Rollins, with the necessary documents attached thereto. He reported that the .following were elected Directors of the Corporation at this meeting: Thomas W. Zebley, Jacquelyn F. Zebley and Frank E. Hanson. A Board of Directors ' meeting followed this , with the following officers being elected : Thomas W. Zebley , President and Treasurer Jacquelyn F. Zebley, Vice-President Frank E. Hanson , Secretary • tit_ MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 14, 1968 MEETING. Mr. Zebley reported that, at this Board of Directors ' meeting, it was resolved that the President is the Chief Executive Officer. Also, the date of the annual meeting was changed from July to the first Monday in February and it is pro- posed to change the tax reporting year to a calendar "year. For one thing, the work load is lower in the winter and, also, the stockholders ' meeting would fol- low the closing of the books. This could be advantageous to the Town, inasmuch as there would be full income for the year to Chantilly, thereby creating the possibility of the Town recognizing some premium. He said the Corporation would like to have approval of this change. Also ; they authorized the removal of any corporate records from Mr. Hyde and Mr. VanGulick. Mr. Zebley also reported that 111 things are going along fine at the field and that they have been approved for student training under the G. I. Bill , with 8 to 10 men waiting to sign up under this program as soon as Chantilly has been cleared by the Town. He also com- mented that Mr. VanGulick still owns less than one-third of the stock of the Cor- poration. Councilman Hill asked if Mr. VanGulick had been advised of the outcome of this meeting. Mr. Zebley said he did not know where to reach him. He also said that the Stock Record Book and Minute Book of the Corporation are available for anyone who would like to look at them , adding that he had gone into considerable Cq detail on these items with Mr. Ritter this afternoon. Councilman Murray asked C4 if this meeting had been made a matter of record in the official minutes, to Cit which Mr. Zebley replied "Yes" and gave the Minute Book to Mr. Murray for his C:3 perusal. V Mayor Rollins asked what plans Chantilly has for the construction of T-hangars. Mr. Zebley said that he has a letter from one contractor offering him a contract to build six T-hangars , however , he believes he can make better arrangements with someone else and that he is now in a position to enter into such a contract. Councilman Orr asked if the deficiencies in the lease had all been corrected. Mr. Zebley said all had been, with the exception of the T-hangars. Councilman Orr asked what would happen to Mr. VanGulick. Mr. Zebley said he is a minority stockholder. Councilman Orr also asked if there is anything left that will bring this Corporation back to harass us , to which Mr. Zebley replied "No." Mr. Frank Hyde addressed Council at this time , stating that he was appearing as Counsel for Mr. VanGulick. He said he has had no correspondence nor any con- versation with Mr. Zebley with regard to turning over any corporate records, and that he does not have , nor has he ever had or seen, any corporate records of Chantilly Aviation. He said he was advised to come here in behalf of Mr. Van- Gulick inasmuch as the two-month deadline was up on this date. Mr. VanGulick made an offer to sell his interest two months ago and Mr. Zebley had given no answer at that time. Mr. VanGulick revoked his previous offer and made a new offer , to which he has received no response. I4r. Hyde said the inference is that the stockholders ' meeting was a regularly called meeting and that Mr. Van- Gulick stated that he had received no notice of this meeting. The by-laws of the Corporation provide that notice shall be mailed to the last known address of the stockholder and Mr . Hyde said that , had this notice been mailed, Mr. VanGulick would have received it. Finally, Mr. VanGulick has directed that he advise that, inasmuch as no settlement has been made to sell his interest to Chantilly, he will proceed to put the Corporation into bankruptcy. Councilman Murray asked Mr. Hyde if he is representing Chantilly Aviation. Mr. Hyde explained that , when these two gentlemen were engaged in lawsuits against each other and their respective counsel withdrew from the case , he was appointed as a disinterested party to try to reach a compromise and entered in the Court record as Counsel of Record, however , he said this does not mean that he is counsel for Chantilly Aviation. He said that all the Corporation has to do is follow the procedures for having him removed as Counsel of Record. Councilman Murray said he could not understand then why he had never seen any of the records of the Corporation and asked if he knew where Mr. VanGulick is. Mr. Hyde said he is somewhere in Florida, but he does not know exactly where. Councilman Orr asked why he is not here tonight. Mr. Hyde said the resolution did not specify that he had to be here , only Mr. Zebley. He said Mr . VanGulick is willing to sell out, but nobody will buy his stock. He said it was his understanding that this two month time limit was given so that the financial difficulties could be worked out and that there has been no attempt to buy Mr. VanGulick's stock, therefore , he is ready to take his loss and throw the Corporation into bankruptcy. Councilman Orr read from the Minutes of the Corporation a copy of a letter sent to all stockholders and noted that a copy was sent to Mr. VanGulick at ?Waterford by Certified Mail. He said it would seem that someone received it. Mr. Hyde said he could not contest what is in the minutes, only that Mr. VanGulick said he has not had any communication from Mr. Zebley, nor has there been any attempt to work out their difficulties. 172 MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 14, 1968 MEETING. Mr. Zebley addressed Mr. Hyde at this point and said that he certainly was under no requirement to find some accommodation with Mr. VanGulick with respect to the stock he owns and that Mr. VanGulick is asking that $15,000 be paid for $45,000 worth of debts. He said the only alternative was to obtain control of the Corporation and to operate and manage it out of its problems and he felt he had accomplished this, that he is managing the field and operating a very good business, he has a new chief mechanic , the shop is full of work and he expects to continue to improve the situation. Councilman Hill asked Mr. Zebley if he is concerned about Mr. VanGulick's threat of putting the Corporation into bankruptcy. Mr. Zebley said that there are a number of other individuals who are involved in the Corporation who could put the company into bankruptcy and they have done nothing, therefore, he believes if they show that they are making progress, this would be an argu- ment that the Courts would look upon with favor. He said he is not worried about this, that it is not as easy to place the company in bankruptcy as Mr. VanGulick imagines. He also said that, when he took over at the field on Janu- ary 1st , there was absolutely nothing there, Mr. Colgan took almost all of the customers with him to Manassas. Now he is starting to rebuild and he believes it can be done ; also that the G. I. bill will help. Motion was made by Councilman Murray as follows : That the Council accepts the report of the Chantilly Aviation Cor- poration as submitted by its present Board of Directors and will continue the lease on a month to month basis, with monthly progress reports being made through the chain of command, the Town Manager to the Town Council. Council takes note of the communication received from Mr. VanGulick, a minority stockholder in Chantilly Aviation Cor- poration. Mayor Rollins ruled this motion out of order on the basis of the fact that the lease has not been changed , Council merely gave them two months in which to straighten out matters at the Airport. Mr. Murray then changed his motion to read as follows : That the Council accepts the report of the Chantilly Aviation Cor- poration as submitted by its present Board of Directors and will withhold taking action involving the• cancellation of the lease on a month to month basis. Council takes note of the communication re- ceived from Mr. VanGulick, a minority stockholder in Chantilly Avia- tion Corporation. This motion was seconded by Councilman Howard. However , Mr. Max Clarke stated that , if this resolution is passed , the Council might just as well cancel the lease because this would run everybody away. He said they have any number of people waiting to see whether they are going to switch from Colgan to Chantilly, and they are waiting on the outcome of this meeting. Councilman Orr asked the opinion of those connected with the field at this time. Mr. Clarke said that he believes Chantilly, under the proper management , should be given an opportunity to try or else fall on their faces. He said he believed that, even in the threat of bankruptcy, they will succeed. He said he thought it was working fine now, that everyone is attempting to help, that they are busy mending fences, and that some of the old ones are coming back. There is gas in the tanks and the only thing lacking in the lease is the T-hangars. He is a flying instructor and Assistant Director of the Flight School and is managing the Airport . Mr. Zebley said that Mr . Clarkeis doing an outstanding job as Manager. Councilman Fumphrey said he feels there is no need for this motion. II/Mr. Larry Aldrich said he is one of approximately 30 people waiting to start flying and that they are waiting for approval of the continuation of Chan- tilly Aviation. He said they cannot apply for school until there is a school. He also said he believes it is being run better than he has ever seen it. Mr. Zebley said he would be willing to come and report each month, but Dr. Orr said they would certainly not want that. Councilmen Murray and Howard then withdrew their previous motion and Councilman Murray offered the following: That the Council accepts the report of Chantilly Aviation Corporation and takes note of the communication received from Mr. VanGulick, a minority stockholder of the Corporation! This was seconded by Councilman Orr and a roil call vote showed 5 for and 1 against, that being Mayor Rollins because he does not believe a resolution is necessary. 173 MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 14, 1968 MEETING. • Mr. Hyde said that one of the prime issues is who is the major stockholder and that nobody can decide this but the Court , so that this question is still not resolved at this point. Councilman Orr commented that what Council has done is to note that the deficiencies have been reported as corrected, and this re- lieves Council of the obligation of cancelling the lease. If the Corporation is thrown into bankruptcy, this will come later and will be dealt: with at that time. At the present time, nothing is held over anybody and Council has accepted the report. On motion of Councilman Howard, seconded by Councilman Hill , the following I resolution was unanimously adopted , after explanation by Councilman Murray,. and Mayor Rollins pointed out that these proposed amendments could have far-reaching effects: BE IT RESOLVED by the Council for the Town of Leesburg, Virginia, that the Town Manager be and he is hereby authorized and directed to have inserted in the Loudoun Timee4Trror , for publication on the 22nd and 29th days of February, 1968, the following advertisement : PUBLIC NOTICE N Notice is hereby given that a Public Hearing will beheld by the N Council for the Town of Leesburg, Virginia, on March 13, 1968, at r.. P.M. in the Council Chambers , 12 West Loudoun Street, Lees- () burg, Virginia, to consider proposed amendments to the Leesburg V Zoning Ordinance. Said proposed amendments are to provide definitions for a one- family detached dwelling; a . two-family detached dwelling; a two- family semi-detached dwelling; to change the definition of a town house dwelling; to change the table of requirements to pro- vide for a minimum lot size of 10,000 square feet in the R-1 Dis- trict; to provide for a minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet for a two-family semi-detached dwelling in the R-2 District; to provide for increased front yard depths in the R-1 , R-2 , R-4, B-2 and M-1 I Districts and to provide for increased side yard widths in the R-2 and R-4 Districts. Said proposed amendments may be viewed in the Office of the Town Manager, 12 West Loudoun Street , Leesburg, Virginia. At this hearing, all persons will be heard as to their views perti- nent to said proposed amendments. BY: Kenneth B. Rollins, Mayor Town of Leesburg, Virginia Mayor Rollins said that consideration had been given for quite some time to the redrawing of both the Subdivision and Zoning Ordinances and that the Planning Commission is well aware of the need for correlation of the two Ordi- • nances. - He said he thought Mr. Forbes was well qualified to perform this work, then present it to the Planning Commission for their presentation to the Council. It was the general consensus of the Council that this should be done and Mayor • Vollins-directed Mr. Forbes to be responsible for this. Mr. Carleton Penn was present and stated that he believed this a wonderful idea and that he believes Mr. Forbes has a better grasp of this situation than any member of the Bar. Mayor Rollins also called attention to the recommendation of the Planning Commission that electric and telephone service lines be placed underground, and that the Town Standards be amended to include this Provision. Mr. Ritter said i he believed the Commission had appointed a committee to work with him on the wording of a resolution to so amend the Town Standards. Mr. Herbert Pearson addressed Council , stating that he had been parking in the same space on the south side of North Street next to Mrs. Rust 's house for eight years and he would like parking to be continued here and some rock put in to eliminate the mudhole that Mrs. Rust has complained about. He said this was done in an arbitrary manner and that he understands it was never discussed by the Street Committee. Councilman Hill said he understood from Mr. Ritter that there has been "No Parking" on the south side of this street for some time. Mr. Pearson said there had been "No Parking between Signs" in front of Miss Hammerly's garages, but the sign beside Mrs. Rust 's house was just placed there the other day. Councilman Murray suggested that this be referred to the Street Committee for recommendation and Mayor Rollins directed that this be done. 174 • MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 14, 1968 MEETING. . On motion of Councilman Pumphrey, seconded by Councilman Murray, the fol- lowing Ordinance was unanimously adopted : BE IT ORDAINED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that Sec- tion 13-146 through Section 13-149 of the Town Code of the Town of Leesburg be amended to read as follows : Sec. 13-146. The word "decal" to be inserted in lieu of "Plate. " Also , "one dollar" to be inserted in lieu of "fifty cents. " Sec. 13-147. Continue after the last word in this section : "When a vehicle is replaced, a fee of One Dollar will be charged for trans- fer or reissue of licenses. Affidavit must be filed with the Munici- pal Treasurer , certifying original license has been destroyed. The original receipt must be presented for transfer or duplicate license. " Sec. 13-148. The word "decal" to be inserted in lieu of "plate. " Sec. 13-149. After the word "procured, " add "on the windshield, adjacent to inspection sticker , and no higher than 3 inches from the bottom. " On motion of Councilman Orr , seconded by Councilman Hill , the following Ordinance was unanimously adopted by roll call vote, after discussion, during which the possibility of increasing overtime parking fines was referred to the Laws and Administration Committee : BE IT ORDAINED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that Sec- tion 13-117. Overtime Parking - be amended .to read as follows: After the last word in the last sentence : "When meters are so designated, giving notice thereof, no person shall park a vehicle for longer than the posted permitted time , at any time between the hours designated on such meter. " On motion of Councilman Howard, seconded by Councilman Pumphrey, the follow- ing resolution was unanimously adopted by roll call vote : BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that -Park- ing Meters be installed on the north side of Loudoun Street , between King Street and Church Street. On motion of Councilman Hill , seconded by Councilman Pumphrey, the follow- ing resolution was unanimously adopted : BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that the Highway Department be requested to accept for mileage payments -in the Secondary System the two streets shown below, having a total mileage of 0.31 miles : (1) Catoctin Circle, from Dry Mill Road to Bradley Circle, 70 ' R/w, 46 ' surface , 7" stone base with 2" of plant mix, length 0.25 miles. (2) Bradley Circle , from Catoctin Circle to Prospect Drive, 50' R/W, 36 ' surface, 7" stone base with 2" of plant mix, length 0.06 miles. On motion of Councilman Murray, seconded by Councilman Howard, the following resolution was placed on the floor for discussion : . WHEREAS, the present Group Hospitalization Policy covering Town of Leesburg employees is unsatisfactory, and WHEREAS, studies have been made and information has been received from other group carriers showing benefits that would be derived, and WHEREAS, the Finance Committee has met with representatives from Aetna Life Insurance Company, which Company seems to offer the most benefits for approximately the same amount of premium as other companies that were studied, NOW, THEREFORE, 3E IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Lees- • burg, that the Town adopt the Group Hospitalization Policy offered by Aetna, with effective date February 25, 1968 , and • BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town pay the monthly cost of the em- ployee only , which cost will be $10.57 for each employee. 175 MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 14, 1968 MEETING. Councilman Orr reiterated the procedures followed on this matter, just as Mr. Ritter had explained earlier in the evening, and stated that it seemed to be the consensus of the Committee that Aetna offers the most for the least money. Mr. Tom Rand, representing Aetna, explained a few of the details in connection with this policy and answered some questions posed by Council members, and stated that the rate would be guaranteed for one year. The resolution was then unani- mously adopted and Councilman Hill suggested that American Casualty Co. be noti- fied of the cancellation of their policy with the Town. Mr. Ritter said that he has the Alberts easement and that it will be dis- cussed at the Utility Committee meeting next week. Mayor Rollins asked Town Attorney George Martin what the ToWn's position is with reference to the Dog Ordinance just passed by the County. After some dis- cussion it was his opinion that the County 's Ordinance. would be in effect in the Town and would be enforced by the County Dog Warden. Councilman Pumphrey said that he had received complaints about parking on both sides of E. Royal Street between King and Church Streets. This matter will be taken up at .the Street Committee meeting next week. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9 :25 P.M. CqN U Mayor ! y� Clerk of the ouncil • • • •