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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1969_08_27 44 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, AUGUST 27 , 1969. A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the Council Chambers , 10 W. Loudoun Street , Leesburg, Virginia , on August 27 , 1969 at 7 :30 P.M. The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with a prayer being offered by Councilman Wallace. Those present were : Mayor Kenneth B. Rollins , Councilmen G. Dewey Hill, Frederick R. Howard, Walter F . Murray, Robert A. Orr, John W. Pumphrey and John A. Wallace, Jr. ; also Town Manager James W. Ritter, Jr. and Town Attorney George M. Martin. The Minutes of the regular meeting of August 13 , 1969 were approved as written. Town Manager Ritter reported the following : it - 67 (1) The amount of $162 .8 7 in interest is due on the Airport Bonds September 1st . This is something that comes up each year. We receive $27 ,400 the 1st of September each year from Mr. Wallace, et:als , and pay the same amount to the Bank . The principal is paid on July 1st and the interest on September 1st and January 1st of each year. (2)' Mr. Lee Phillips will be here on September 3rd to meet with • the Street Committee to discuss the downtown storm drainage problem. He has a lot of background information on this and should be able to give us approximate costs , etc . (3) He went over the Clark property with representatives of John- son and Williams last week, with the idea of perhaps locating the Po- tomac River facilities on this property . They found the Clarks very receptive and don ' t believe there will be any problems in locating these facilities on this property . They found two possible sites , one down- stream and one upstream, the latter being on Mrs . Carr 's property. John- son and Williams feel both are possible sites , and they will write a letter on this . On either site , we would have to cross the island that belongs to Miss Mary Conrad. f (4) He talked with Mr. Huntsberger in the Highway Department Of- fice in Richmond today regarding the southwest quadrant of the By-Pass . He said they will be making a considerable study on the railroad corri- dor all the way to Purcellville . The administrative staff will study this and then hold a Public Hearing . He said they will get together with us before this Hearing is set . (5) He met with Mr . Wiggins of the Highway Department and traffic engineers from Culpeper a couple of weeks ago in an effort to correct the traffic problems on Route 7 east . It was suggested that the pave- ment could be widened between the service stations , and also west of the west entrance into Leesburg Plaza . This would make provision for turns into the Plaza and into Gino 's . Something will have to be done about the corner of Route 7 and Catoctin Circle too, but they are still working on this . On motion of Councilman Orr, seconded by Councilman Pumphrey, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that the request of Capitol Area Soaring School for the leas- ing of one acre of land at Leesburg Municipal Airport be de- nied because of the uncertainty of the best use of this land at this time . Mayor Rollins commented that he has heard several compliments on the present operation of the Airport . 0 On motion of Councilman Murray, seconded by Councilman Orr, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that the following appropriations be made : $5 ,675 .00 - Johnson and Williams , for topographic surveys for the Potomac River Water Supply Project , through May 2 , 1969. 1969 Bond Issue . 1 ,800.00 - Walter L. Phillips , for drainage study on the Hospital Watershed, in accordance with Council resolution. Drainage Study-Hospital Shed (in Budget) 60 MINUTES OF AUGUST 27 , 1969 MEETING. Mr. Ritter commented that the Street Committee is still studying Mr. Phillips! report . On motion of Councilman Wallace , seconded by Councilman Murray, the following resolution was placed on the floor for discussion: BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that the Town fully commits itself to the one-way operation of Market Street Westbound and Loudoun Street one-way East- bound, and II BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Highway Department be re- quested to proceed with construction plans on an Urban Proj - ect on Route 7 , from the intersection of Loudoun Street to the East Corporate Limits , and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Leesburg commits it- self for 157 of the cost of construction of the Urban Project and the One-Way System aforementioned, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that , in the event the project does not CO reach the construction stage through any fault whatsoever of O the Town, the Town of Leesburg will reimburse the Highway De- ^, partment 100% for all costs incurred on the project up to that p time . Ca Councilman Orr said that this resolution came from the Finance Committee , with the hope that something can be done to correct the traffic problems that exist in the eastern end of Town. He said they would like to have the ideas of Council, meeting all at one time , and hear what everybody has to say about this . Councilman Pumphrey retorted that this problem was before the Street Committee at its last meeting and the Committee is certainly not yet ready to report on it ; he was shocked that the Finance Committee had taken the authority to present this . He also said he knew that Mr. Wallace was aware of this because he attended the Street S Committee meeting . At that meeting, Mr. Ritter had reported that the Department of Highways was working up a cost estimate to alleviate some of the traffic on the east end of Town, but they had not even gotten to the point of discussing one-way streets . Mr. Pumphrey said he did not see how one-way streets could possibly be worked out to the satisfaction of anybody in Leesburg ; that it looked like- they would just be moving the traffic problems from the east end of Town to the middle of Town and, when the westbound traffic came into the triangle at the west end of Town, this would create an even bigger problem. Parking would all have to be changed to the opposite sides of the-streets involved and one-way streets going north and south would have to be changed to handle the cross-over traffic . Also, not many of the cross-over streets are wide enough to handle large trucks , etc . Councilman Pumphrey elaborated further on other problems that one-way streets would create and was ve- hemently opposed. Councilman Orr said that , when he first became a mem- ber of this, Council, he had pledged to do something about the corner of West Loudoun and Ayr Streets , where school busses cross and turn in. He pointed out that there have been many accidents on this corner, one just this afternoon, and most all of them are caused because people can- not see over the hill . Perhaps one-way streets might not be the answer to this problem, but something must be done at this corner before some- body is killed. Councilman Pumphrey pointed out that a number of things have been studied on this corner,- but Councilman Orr said none of them had helped. Councilman Hill said he had suggested at one time that per- haps this situation could be eliminated by making Ayr Street one-way II going north, but he did not get far with this suggestion . Councilmen Murray and Pumphrey continued their discussion regarding the one-way streets and the hill on Loudoun Street at Ayr, with Council-. . men Orr and Wallace adding their comments . Mr. Wallace expressed his '- concern in that , if the Highway Department will not do anything unless the Town pledges itself to one-way streets , the Town will have to do it itself, and it will be far more expensive that way . 4 t • MINUTES OF AUGUST 27 , 1969 MEETING. Spectators present who spoke against the one-way street system were Mr . Stanley Reed, Mr. Clarence Jewell, Mr. Milton Myers and Mr. R. K. Gheen. Mr. Gheen 's main point was that there are several items which should be given priority in the Town, the first being to correct the storm drainage problem in downtown Leesburg . The next would be the By-Pass , if this is completed, then the most of the vehicular traffic would be taken out of Town. After this is completed, then the Council can consider urbanization and one-way streets . He said he believes the Town will come to one-way streets some day , but does not believe it is necessary yet and he does not think this will solve the problem all at one time . Also , the matter of financing the $150,000 to $200,000 it would take for this project is of importance to the Town. He presented some sketchy figures on the bonded indebtedness of the Town at the pres ent time . ' He said he believed these problems would all take the coop- eration of the Council , the citizens and the Highway Department . Mr. Wallace brought out the fact that the completion of the southwest quadrant of the By-Pass would take possibly three years and that we have to do some- thing with the traffic problem in the east end of Town for this period. Mr. Gheen asked how long it would take to complete urbanization and one- way-streets . Councilman Hill said he and Mr. Ritter had discussed this . Mr. Ritter said he has had experience with this type of thing before - an application has to be filed with the Highway Department and you have to wait your turn. Some communities have had applications in for years and this is done on a priority basis and basis of need. He believed this need would be recognized by the Highway Department, however, the Nelson County flood could cost $10,000,000 or more and this is going to affect a lot of construction projects already set up. He said he would guess that, if this resolution were passed tonight , it would take a minimum of two years before they would be ready to advertise , and possibly as much as five years . Mr. Wallace pointed out that there is nothing in this resolution to say that one-way streets would be put into effect until the project is started. Councilman Murray asked Mr. Bozel for his feelings on this . Mr. Bozel said the Highway Department has always said that one-way streets would have no effect on the By-Pass ; but the Town would have to commit itself to one-way streets before we could get an urban project . Mr . Murray brought out the fact that all the people in Town are taxpayers and will be paying for the correction of ._thestorm drainage problem downtown, as well as those merchants who own property in this area . Councilman Howard said that he is not an advocate of either, that he finds the problem is not as simple as it sounds and he believes the situation should be studied further. He believes we should find out what it would cost to alleviate the problem at the Shopping Center and that possibly to make Ayr Street one-way north might help the situation at the corner of Loudoun and Ayr Streets . He said he believes it would be precipitous to pass this resolution tonight. Councilman Pumphrey asked again that his committee be given more time to study this problem and said that he could not promise that they would have a decision in two weeks , two _months or two years . On motion of Councilman Orr, seconded by Councilman Pumphrey, Council voted by unanimous roll call vote that this resolution be referred back to the Street and Utility Committee for its further study and, at its earliest convenience , to give us further guidance for the health and welfare of the people of the Town. Councilman Orr also asked that the Committee check on the feasibility of making the speed limit from the Fire House to the triangle 15 miles per hour. On motion of Councilman Hill , seconded by Councilman Howard, the following resolution was placed on the floor for discussion : BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that English Construction Co . be awarded a contract to build a sewer line to serve the Arl Curry property on E . Market Street , in accordance with plans prepared by the Town of Lees- burg , at their low bid of $3 , 700.00 . 7•T MINUTES OF AUGUST 27 , 1969 MEETING . Mayor Rollins stated that there is no sewer line serving the present Highway Department Residency and, if this one to serve Mr. Curry 's land is put in at this time , it will cross at approximately Tri-County Electric and this would mean two crossings . He asked if this could not all be done in one . Mr. Ritter said it could be done at Catoctin Circle, but will be difficult to construct due to the traffic problem, however, it will probably have to be done in order to serve this building with sewer. Mayor Rollins asked that this be sent back to Committee for fur- ther study and report back at the next session of Council as to where this crossing should be made . There was no objection from Council members to referring this back to Committee . On motion of Councilman Orr, seconded by Councilman Wallace, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that the $100,000 due from First National Bank of Purcellville on August 27 be reinvested for a period of 120 days at 6% interest. On motion of Councilman Orr, seconded by Councilman Pumphrey, and LrJ there being no objection to considering this tonight, the following. O resolution was unanimously adopted : BE IT RESOLVED by . the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that an appropriation of $182 .67 be made to pay the interest on the Airport Bonds from July 1 to September 1 . Mr. Moody reported on progress at the Sewage Treatment Plant . They are working on the digestors at the Control Building and have finished practically all of the underground piping . The watwAines , meters and vaults are all in and they are completing the sanit ry ine. They are staking out for grading so that we get a little better drainage in that area . They are still having their share of labor problems and it is going to be difficult for them to make the October 31st deadline , how- ever, English Construction Company has been written, stating that we expect them to meet this deadline . The Superintendent is doing the best he can and is doing a lot of the work himself. Mr. Moody also gave a report on his trip to the Sewage Treatment Plants at Liberty , New York and Hazelton, Pennsylvania , both of which operate by incineration of raw sludge . Mr. Moody explained how this works , and its values because, after incineration , you have only a fly ash left, which eventually goes into the air as odorless steam. He said this was a test project for the State of New York and the cost was $190,000, where the cost of our two digestors is $200,000. Itis hoped that the State Health Department will approve this so that , when we ex- pand this plant , we will not have to build two more digestors , but can put in this type of operation. Front Royal is trying to get this approval now. He believes this to be the only answer to the problem of disposing of raw sludge . Councilman Howard asked about the boiler for the plant that had to be changed. Mr. Moody said they are in the process of trying to find out something about this now and hope to have it by next meeting. Councilman Orr asked Mrs . Moody about the upcoming Antique Show. Mrs . Moody said they have 21 dealers lined up, however, it is designed., . for 100 . Waterford is cooperating fully and referring those they can ' t • handle to them. Councilman Pumphrey thanked those citizens who came tonight with regard to the one-way street question . There being no further business , the meeting adjourned at 8 :55 P.M. 40. 61d,.:" Mayor A ..��q_1 451 Clerk o /the Council •