HomeMy Public PortalAbout1969_02_25 14 �':
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, FEBRUARY 25, 1970.
A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the
Council Chambers , 10 W. Loudoun Street, Leesburg , Virginia , on Febru-
ary 25 , 1970 at 7 : 30 P.M. The meeting was called to order by Mayor
Rollins , with Councilman Wallace . offering the prayer . 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.
The Minutes of the regular meeting of February 11 , 1970 were ap-
proved as written.
Town Manager Ritter reported the following :
(1) He explained the appropriations on the Agenda , particularly
the supplemental ones and the need for these .
(2) He also explained Items 3 and 4 on the Agenda , the crediting
of the Treasurer with business licenses that are uncollectible .
(3) We still have not heard anything from the Rust heirs on our
$15 ,000 offer for their land for the Potomac River Filtration Plant ;
CC nor have we heard anything from Mr. Lucas Phillips regarding our offer
CD for the land for the Hospital Road.
a.'' (4) Regarding the Edwards Ferry Road project , there have been a
couple of meetings with Mr. Wilbourn of Tri-County Asphalt and Mrs . Carr,
= and he and Mr . Bozel have put together some of the information that has
resulted from these meetings in order to bring Council up-to-date on
this proposed project . The increased cost to the Town would be approxi-
mately $10,000 due to the fact that there are some items required in the
way of construction that were not contemplated originally . The original
figure quoted by Tri-County Asphalt was $32 ,791 . 70 but , after Mrs . Carr
got into the picture , this project was redesigned and the estimated fig-
ure from Tri-County now is $ 117 , 137 .40. Subtracting what Mr. Wallace
* will pay for his curb and gutter in the amount of $ 15 ,000, the Town
would still have to pay $42 ,848 .00 . Some of this is due to the fact
that curb and gutter will have to be built in front of those properties
on the far end. Mr. Bozel can explain this more thoroughly. The copy
of the draft of proposal from Mrs . Carr needs some clarification, it
doesn ' t pin down any facts .
Mayor Rollins read a letter from a Mr . Glen J . Koepenick, Inc . ,
who offered to donate 10 acres of land for a future water supply for
the Town , if the land is located in the proper place . He also called
attention to a notice of a meeting to be held on February 27th at 8 :00
P.M. by the County to discuss a water and sewer report prepared for the
County .
Councilman Howard asked if Mr: Ritter had talked with Town Attor-
ney. Martin about docketing water and sewer bills . Mr. Ritter said it
was discussed at Committee meeting, but not with Mr. Martin. Mr. Howard
asked that Mr. Martin be consulted about passing the necessary ordi-
nance for this purpose .
Councilman Pumphrey said he had talked with Mr. Phillips and he
said he had not had time to get togehter with the other two owners , how-
ever, he doubted that Mr . Brown would be agreeable to this .
Bids for the Cablevision Franchise were opened by Mayor Rollins
at this time .
/ Mr. Samuel D. Engle spoke at this time , presenting the bid of The
Loudoun Times Publishing Company, as follows :
The payment to be the greater of these amounts , as determined and
payable yearly :
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Either: 1 . Gross revenue from all cable television rentals
under the franchise within the Town of Leesburg ,
based upon :
142
MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 25 , 1970 MEETING.
3% up to $25 , 000
4% from $25 ,000 to $50,000
5% from $50,000 to $100,000
6% from $100 ,000 to $200,000
• 7% from $200 ,000 to $300,000
• 8% from $300,000 to $500 ,000 •
• 9% from $500,000 to $750,000 •
10% from $750 ,000 to $1,000,000
11% from $1,000 ,000 to $1,500,000
12% from $1,500,000 and over •
Or : 2 . A guaranteed minimum fee of $20,000 payable in
annual installments of $500 the first year of
broadcasting, $750 the second year and $1,042
each year following the remainder of the franchise .
Mr: Engle said they have submitted a Supporting Statement also,
showing the need for Cablevision in Leesburg, the number of stations
they propose to offer, the stations presently available , proposed local
weather and community news station, an emergency alert system which would
be installed if it is believed it would be useful•, also the anticipated
cost of installation and how they proposed to do this .
Mayor Rollins referred all bids to the Laws and Administration Com-
mittee for analysis and report back to the next session of Council as
to which, if any, bid shall receive the •franchise . Councilman Wallace
said he is CPA for the Loudoun Times-Publishing Company , therefore, he
will not enter into the Committee meeting on this .
Mr. Frank Heckel expressed Mr. Arundel 's regrets that he could not
be here personally tonight .
The second letter was from Donald A. Perry and Associates , who said
they did not wish to bid but would like a list of those who did bid.
The third bid was from American Tele-Systems Corporation, who bid
as follows :
Sum offered for the franchise - $5 ,000 payable in 20 equal an-
nual installments, with a percentage of the gross revenues to
be paid to the Town of Leesburg each year at 5%.
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They outlined charges to individuals , etc . and said the service would
include schools, library, police and fire stations , etc . Their Chief
Executive Officer is Mr . Irwin A. Fern and this is a Virginia corpora-
tion, presently engaged in preliminary engineering for Cambridge,' Mary-
land and Gordonsville , Virginia CATV systems .
Councilman Orr asked Mr. Engle if they are offering only D.C .
stations . He said they offer Baltimore, but there is legislation in
the offing that may take it away, this is controlled by the FCC .
A fourth bid was from TransAmerican Airports , Inc . , who bid as
follows :
I . Cash Payments .
1. Option A
(a) A rental payment of $750 .00 at the end of the
first year of operation.
(b) $1 ,250 at the end of the second year. •
(c) $1,500 at the end of the third year.
(d) $2 ,000 at the end of the fourth year and there-
after, including the end of the eighth year.
(e) A sum equivalent to 5% of the net profit after
taxes of the operation of the cable and closed
circuit system after the eighth year.
2 . Option B
A rental payment , payable at the end of each year of opera-
tion and continuing throughout the period of operation
under the franchise , consisting of a sum equivalent to
5% of the net profit after taxes of the operation of the
cable and closed circuit system.
143
MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 25 , 1970 MEETING.
They also listed additional payment in services .
Mr. Jeff Jordan said that Mr. Rawls woul like to have the opportunity
to discuss this with Council before a bid/awarded.
On motion of Councilman Wallace , seconded by Councilman Howard,
the following resolution was offered :
BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg ,
that the following appropriations be made :
$ 231 .33 - Johnson & Williams - Engineering Coordination
on Sewer Projects . 1969 Bond Issue .
12 , 500.00 - Frank Myers for purchase of Well. Utility
Fund - Capital Outlays .
100.00 - Police Miscellaneous - Supplemental Appropria -
tion .
500.00 - Payment to Paxton Home for Water. Supplemental
Appropriation .
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500.00 - Other Services & Supplies - Advertising and
Printing . Supplemental Appropriation.
2 ,000 .00 - Street Dept . - Equipment Maintenance . Supple-
mental Appropriation.
1,000.00 - Utility Fund - Electricity . Supplemental Ap-
propriation.
' 200 .00 - Utility Fund - Purification Supplies . Supple-
mental Appropriation .
• 100 .00 - Utility Fund - Fuel . Supplemental Appropriation.
1,000 .00 - Utility Fund - Equipment Repairs . Supplemental
Appropriation .
Councilman Pumphrey asked what happened to the water today . Mr. Ritter
explained that Mr. Beaver finally came to repair the small tank and it
was necessary to cut the pressure off and drain it down by opening a
fire hydrant in order for him to work on it. The water was off for
approximately 30 minutes . They expect to look at the tank again to-
morrow morning , it was built in 1903 and he is very much concerned about
it . We can do without it if we can find a way to bypass it , however,
when we painted the 12 m.g . standpipe two years ago , we had to depend
on the small tank for pressure - it holds 60,000 gallons , so we can-
not take a chance . We may have to build another one . It may be possible
to eliminate this one when we have another storage tank on the east end
of Town. Councilman Howard suggested that we notify the Radio Station
when water is going to be cut off. It was pointed out that this is
done when we know about it ahead of time , however, -this was a situation
where it was not known until the water was off.
• Regarding the Myers Well , Councilman Wallace asked if we have se-
cured clearance -from the U . S .G.S . Mr. Ritter said he has written them
and told them we bought it, but we have not heard from them yet . He ad-
vised them that we would be glad to assist them in any way possible to
keep a record of the readings at the Well . He had the Town Attorney check
the Agreement Mr. Myers has with U . S .G . S. and thinks we should be in the
clear if we have a copy of Mr . Myers,' -letter to them. However, Mr. Myers
takes the position that he will -sell the Agreement with the Well . Fur-
ther discussion continued on this matter and it was the consensus of
the Council that we do nothing further toward buying this Well until
this matter is cleared up. On motion of Mayor Rollins , seconded by Coun-
cilman Wallace , the resolution was amended to delete the $12 ,500 appro-
priation for the Myers Well until such time as it can be determined that
we do legally have fee simple title to it . This was unanimously carried
and the resolution, as amended, was then unanimously adopted.
144
MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 25 , 1970 MEETING .
On motion of Councilman Wallace , seconded by Councilman Orr, the
following resolution was adopted by a vote of 5 to 2 , with Mayor Rol-
lins and Councilman Hill voting against it :
BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg ,
that the Town Treasurer be credited with $26 .49, representing
penalty on business license of L. W. Parker for year 1959-60.
On motion of Councilman Pumphrey , seconded by Councilman Howard,
the following resolution was adopted by a vote of 6 to 1 , with Council-
man Hill casting the dissenting vote :
BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg,
that the Town Treasurer be credited with $47 . 62 , represent-
ing Business license and penalty of Leesburg Service Station
(Howard Gill) for 1962 .
Councilman Hill explained that he was against the above resolutions be-
cause he did not believe in taking action to collect licenses on some
people and writing off others . It was pointed out that both of these
accounts were quite old and they were merely to clear the books . Coun-
cilman Wallace suggested that the Finance Committee be brought up-to-
date on the current back due licenses .
Mr. Bozel explained to Council that , due to a change in the drain-
age structures and the amount of curb and gutter to be built in front
of properties on the south side of Edwards Ferry Road, .the Town 's cost
for this project has increased by approximately $10,000. It is felt that
the Town should bear the cost of curb and gutter in front of certain
properties on this side of the road since the owners are donating the
right-of-way needed to widen the road. The proposed draft of Agreement fro'
Mrs . Carr offering to pay $66 ,300 towards this project was discussed and
it was pointed out that this is only a first draft of agreement offered
by Mrs . Carr. On motion of Councilman Wallace , seconded by Councilman
Hill , it was moved that this matter be referred back to the Street
Committee, with instructions that they negotiate further with Mr. Wal-
lace
and Mrs . Carr. Mr. Ritter pointed out that the time factor is
of great concern on this , since Tri-County had hoped to get started on
this project during the winter when his men had no other work, this be-
ing the reason for his low bid of $32 , 791 . 70. The longer we put this
off, the higher the price is going to be . He thinks we should get to-
gether with Mrs . Carr and Tri-County Asphalt to see if we can ' t get this
nailed down. Mayor Rollins suggested a three-way split on the excess
amount of $10,000 and Councilman Hill agreed with this . Further dis-
cussion continued and the above motion to .refer this matter back to the
Street Committee was adopted by a unanimous roll call vote .
Mr. Moody reported that some progress has been made at the Plant
since the last meeting , although there has been a lot of bad weather.
The whole crew is working on the raw sewage pumping station now - a total
of about 10 to 12 men. They are still shooting for April 15th to get
the Plant in operation . They have had pretty good results ,from an ad
placed in a magazine and now have 6 to 8 applications from experienced
plant operators . The two men already hired are in school in Hagerstown
and doing very well ..
On the Rt . 654 sewer line, they are blasting rock right now. Mary-
land Excavators is concentrating on work on the Rt . 15 By-Pass line now,
with one more section to get across Route 15 . He has had a bad time
with rock there , but should have this job finished by the end of the
week . The contractor should be ready to start the 21-inch line in
Leesburg Country Club Subdivision about the 1st of the month and he
will watch this line closely. Councilman Pumphrey asked where they
store the dynamitefor these jobs . Mr. Moody said they have a magazine
at the trailer that is kept under lock and key and it has not been broken
into as far as he knows .
14.E
MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 25 , 1970 MEETING.
Councilman Hill asked if we have made another application for
Federal Grant money. Mr . Ritter said it is being held up , pending
receipt of insurance policies from the contractors , but he believes
we should get it in the next week or so. Fortunately , we do not need
the money yet .
On motion of Councilman Murray , seconded by Councilman Wallace , and
there being no further business , the meeting adjourned at 8 :30 P.M.
' Mayor
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Clerk of/the Council -
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