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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1968_10_09L 24f MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, OCTOBER 9, 1968; A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the Council Chambers , 12 W. Loudoun Street , Leesburg , Virginia on October 9 , 1968 at 7 :30 P.M. The meeting was called to order by the Mayor , with Councilman Murray offering the prayer . Those present were: Mayor Ken- neth B. Rollins , Councilmen C. Maloy Fishback, 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. The Minutes of the meeting of September 25, 1968 were approved as written. Town Manager Ritter reported that we now have in hand the Deed and Agreement and the consent Decree prepared by Mr . Engle in regard to the Children ' s Center Sewer Line . He said it had been reviewed by him and the Town Attorney and would be referred to the Utility Committee for the next meeting. With regard to the Bond Issue , he said Council should decide very soon whether they wished the State or Craigie and Company to do the work. He said that he had found that the work formerly done by Mr . Gordon Bennett ' s office is now being done by the State Treasurer ' s Office and there would be no charge to the Town , so it would seem that this would be the course to follow. He said we will have to get a legal opinion from Reed, Hoyt , Washburn & McCarthy and it looks as though we will need some of this money' . by January. He reported that a letter from the Water Control Board as- sures us we will receive $134 ,000 in addition to the $56 ,000 promised in April. This, together with the previous grant of $446, 100, makes a total of $636,000. He said we are very fortunate in having this, it amounts to approximately 30 per cent of the $2 , 120,800 for which we are eligible . He also explained the appropriations on the Agenda. Mr . Moody reported on the Sewer Projects as follows: On S-I , he said they are progressing better than before, that the contractor has hired extra help and it is now going faster . He said Mr. Ritter wrote a letter to the contractor , to which we have not re- ceived a reply , and , if none is received by next Tuesday, it will be reported to the Project Manager when they come up for regular weekly inspection. He said they got some 260 yards of concrete poured in the last couple of days on the clarifiers and the men are laying pipe. On S-II , this is moving very satisfactorily, they are now pouring the encasement for the last creek crossing. Also, the rock seems to be running less and less , which leads him to believe that they will not run over the 7,000 yards estimated by the engineer . He said he could foresee no bad obstacles unless they would run into bad weather . On S-III , there is about 1400 feet of pipe in the groud out of a total of about 5600 feet . He said right now they are running into rock in bad places , where there is not much maneuvering room. When they get past Hirst , it should go much faster . Mayor Rollins called attention to the letter received by all Council members regarding a meeting between the Board of Supervisors and the Coun- cilmen of all Towns and other County department heads , this meeting being set for the consideration of water and sewer planning for the County as a whole. This meeting will be held on October 14th at 7 :30 P.M. and Mayor Rollins designated Councilman Fishback to attend this meeting. He said the County would probably be setting certain Standards outside the corporate limits and he wanted to make sure our Standards meet thei Councilman Howard commented on the improvement at the Woodberry Road intersection with Edwards Ferry Road. Councilman Murray said that it was his understanding that the County School Board would be willing to finance school crossing guards if the Town and/or County Sheriff 's Office would be willing to undertake this. He asked that we let the School Board know that we would be interested in something of this kind . Councilman Orr concurred in the dangerous condition existing at the intersection of Dry Mill Road and Loudoun Street 247:. MINUTES OF OCTOBER 9, 1968 MEETING. during school hours and, asked that a centerline be painted on this corner in order to try to keep the school busses within their turning radius . Mr. Murray asked that Mr . Ritter contact the School Board' about this prob- lem. He also stated that this should be a joint Town and County project . Mayor Rollins asked Councilman Fishback to report on the meeting with Johnson and Williams in regard to the amount of money required to start on the project of going to the Potomac River for water . Mr . Fishback re- ported that , in order to get off the ground and make some progress before our year is up, plans and surveys for the ground work would cost about $25,000, of which Mr. Williams said they would be willing to carry all except the surveying cost , for which we would have to pay. This survey work would amount to approximately $5,000 to $6,000 and would have to be paid immediately. This would be based on approximately' $400,000 for the whole thing - $280,000 for the water line and $122 ,000 for the intake tower. We would put about 75 per cent of this into the Bond Issue so that we could pay him. To be safe , we would have to have about $6,000 to $7,000 to pay the survey fees . Mayor Rollins said that the additional money we will receive on the Sewer Plant will help to cut this down . N The Mayor also said that we must decide whether the State will handle 0.1 this Bond Issue for us , or whether Craigie and Company will. It was the CV general consensus of Council that this work be done by the State , es- pecially since there would be no charge. Mayor Rollins asked the Finance Committee to go over the schedule of repayments on this Bond Issue very carefully. He said that Craigie' suggests that they be started in 1971 or 1972. Mr . Crickenberger addressed Council with regard to a Bond„for Sec- tion 1 of Leesburg Country Club Subdivision . He said they want to get started on this subdivision and it is impossible for them to get a Per- formance Bond, Mr . Hammerly says the bonding companies are "gun-shy” since the _ tiots of 1967. Mr . Crickenberger wondered if the Council might consider their putting up some security instead of the Bond , such as a deed of trust on property. He said they have located some land that is unencumbered . Councilman Fishback said the Town would have to have ap- praisers to see if the property would be worth the mortgage value . Mr . Crickenberger said they have one piece of 143 acres in Hillwood Estates in Round Hill , which has been appraised by Phillips-Heilman at $1 , 250 an acre. Also , there are some lots in Country Club Hills in Purceliville that are worth around $5 ,000 apiece. After discussion , it seemed to be the general consensus of Council that a first moitgage on unencumbered land would be acceptable . Mr . Crickenberger said they would be willing to work with somebody on this. Mayor Rollins designated the Utility Com- mittee to work with him to see if this is enough security. Town Attorney Martin stated that State law takes precedence over local ordinances , so he would , therefore, see no reason why this could not be done. However , upon looking at the Subdivision Ordinance , he said that it does not pro- vide for this type of security , it states "surety company.? He said he believed it could be amended in order to accept a first deed of trust as bond. Councilman Howard asked that the Town Manager check with Fairfax to ' see how they handle this type of situation . Mayor Rollins asked that Town Attorney Martin and Mr . Ritter draft a resolution to incorporate this . On motion of Councilman Fishback, seconded by Councilman Murray , the following ' resolution was unanimously adopted: BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg , that the following appropriations be made: $4, 360.00 - New 1969 G.MC . Flat-Bed Truck. Pocahontas Pontiac- Low Bidder . General Fund-Capital Outlay. 1 ,000.00 Johnson and Williams - Study of Big Springs as a Water Supply. Authorized by Council October 27, 1964. Utility Fund-Capital Outlay . 2,817. 73 - Johnson and Williams - Engineering Services on Sewer Projects . 1967 Bond Issue Account . 2A8 MINUTES OF OCTOBER 9 , 1968 .MEETING. On motion of Councilman Pumphrey , seconded by Councilman Murray, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : WHEREAS , the Town of Leesburg has gotten a Waterway Obstruction • Permit and Water Use Permit from the State of Maryland for the purpose of securing water from the Potomac River, and WHEREAS , both Permits state that "The Permit shall become null and- void if the privilege granted by the Permit is not exercised within one year from April 1 , 1968 , except that this time limit may be extended for good cause at the discretion of the Depart - ment , "and WHEREAS , the Town of Leesburg will take such necessary steps to safeguard the Permits aforementioned , NOW, THEREFORE , BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the' Town of Leesburg , that Johnson and Williams be authorized to proceed with the development of plans for' the construction of a Water Intake Tower and Water Line from the Town of Leesburg to the Potomac River . Councilman Fishback suggested that , before Johnson and Williams starts on these plans, the Utility Committee and Town Manager meet with them to see just what they intend to' do so that a definite amount to be included in the Bond Issue can be determined . The Town Manager concurred in this. Mr. B. C. Lawrence , a resident of Leesburg Estates , addressed Council with regard to the high rates paid by him and other residents of that subdivision for water and sewage . He said that his water and sewer bills over a period of a year run higher than the taxes he pays to the County. He also asked if there was any chance that these rates might be reduced when additional houses are built in Country Club Estates. Councilman Fishback pointed out that they are outside the corporate limits, thereby making these bills half again as much as those in Town and that the rates must be sufficient to meet the bond payments . Councilman Orr pointed out that residents of this area could petition the Court for annexation Mayor Rollins pointed out that the law has been changed with re- gard to the issuance of commission permits , thereby making it necessary that the Council must rule on the recommendation of the Planning Commis- sion in this regard . On motion of Councilman Pumphrey , seconded by Coun- cilman Howard , Council voted unanimously that the action of the Planning Commission concerning the County Parking Lot be affirmed . Mayor Rollins said that Mr . Leach had appointed a committee to look into rezoning of that property and regarding government buildings . Mayor Rollins:asked Mr . Ritter to inform Mr . Charles Turner of this action tomorrow. The second recommendation from the Planning Commission regarding the vacation of certain lots in Leesburg Estates was also discussed and it was the general consensus of Council that this be vacated along the lines recommended by the Commission . Mr . Ritter was asked to inform Mr. Penn of this fact and ask him to prepare the Ordinance of Vacation . • Mr. Dew presented to Council a list of proposed changes in the new Town Office Building , these changes having been made by Mr . Gregory of Gregory Construction Company and Mr. Dew. He went over each item indi- vidually and these changes were discussed by Council. The over-all prob- lems in connection with building this Town Hall were discussed at length and it was decided that it would be impractical to raise the tax rate at this time to an amount large enough to include this building in the proposed Bond Issue . ' Mayor Rollins, 'however , pointed out that the Town could eventually sell the land on which the present sewage treatment plant is located , along with other land which the Town owns , and this would produce enough money to pay for the better part of ' this building . Council told Mr . Dew that he would be paid and these plans would be kept for use in the future; also , that he would be kept advised of any changes the Council might consider . Various other means of enlarging space for the Town Offices werediscussed and Mayor Rollins asked Councilman Fishback to look into the possibility of using the building next door to the pres- ent Town Hall. There being no further business , the meeting adjourned at 9 :30 P.M. /J i Mayor Clerk of t Counc