HomeMy Public PortalAbout1970_05_27 181-
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, MAY 27 , 1970.
A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the
Council Chambers , 10 West Loudoun Street, Leesburg, Virginia on May 27 ,
1970 at 7 :30 P.M. The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with
Councilman Howard offering the prayer. Those present were : Mayor Ken-
neth 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 May 13 , 1970 were approved
as written .
Mr. Leonard W. Parker addressed Council, requesting an extension
of time to pay his long overdue water bill for his Motel in the amount
of $953 .20. He stated that this bill had grown this large due to many
leaks in his system, which he has tried to have repaired, but he has been
unable to secure the services of any plumber to repair these leaks . This
matter was discussed and studied by members of Council, with members ask-
ing Mr. Parker why he has not paid more on this bill in the past (it has
been in arrears for six months and more) and with Councilman Orr sug-
gesting a plumber that he might get to fix these leaks . Mr. Ritter stated
that his paying a smaller amount on the account is not acceptable under
the new Ordinance adopted by Council on April 22 , and his action to cut the
water off by June 1 if the bill is not paid in full by that date is based
on this -latter action. On motion of Councilman Wallace, seconded by
Councilman Hill, Council voted by a roll call vote of 5 to 2 , with Coun-
cilmen Murray and Orr voting against it , not to grant any extension of
time for payment of this bill.
Representatives of Lease-a-Plane International addressed Council 1
with regard to their request to lease 3 to 5 acres of land at the Air-
port. They explained that their basic operations would be to operate
an aircraft rental' and -flight training program. Questions followed by
Council members as to their proposed operations , particularly in relation
to those operations being performed by the present fixed base operator ,
with the representatives of Lease-a-Plane explaining their position and
thoughts on these questions .
Mr. Frank Caldwell addressed Council regarding the rate •increase
to go into effect in June . He explained that, at the present time, resi-
dents of the Leesburg area can call 22,000 phones free.:of charge - growth
has been phenomenal. Leesburg alone has added 1,000 phones and, where
it was formerly in the 10,000 to 20,000 bracket, it is now in the 20,000
to 40,000 bracket . A rate change is , therefore, required and he believed
Council members should be made aware of this fact before the general
public is advised. He said he believed that it would not be long before
we can dial anywhere in the County free of charge , with the exception of
the connecting company -existing in some parts of the County. There has
not been a basic rate change since 1958. He also said they expected to
start construction of the tower on the Telephone Building the latter part
of June . -
Town Manager Ritter reported the following :
(•1) The water and sewer extension policies have been incorporated
into the existing Water and Sewer Ordinances of the Code and have been
approved by the Town Attorney. The Utility Committee examined the one
on Sewer at its last meeting and both of them will be studied next Monday.
• (2) The Hospital Board has agreed to pay one-third of the cost of
the land needed for the Hospital Road. The Board of Supervisors had ap-
pointed two members to meet with the Hospital Board and report back to
the meeting on May 19th in this regard, but we have heard nothing from
the Board of Supervisors regarding this .
(3) A meeting has been set up for June 5th with Johnson and Williams ,
a representative of Dewberry , Nealon and Davis , Mr . Jimmy Schull of Fair-
fax City and the Utility Committee to discuss the comprehensive plan for
water for Loudoun County, which study has been prepared for the County by
Dewberry, Nealon and Davis .
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MINUTES OF MAY 27 , 1970 MEETING.
(4) Edwards Ferry Road construction was resumed this week after
being idle for about a month due to wet weather. About 90 per cent of
the drain pipe has been put in this week. Now Tri-County will have to
wait on the Telephone Company to complete the moving of their lines .
Councilman Hill reported that he had presented the Resolution adopted
by 'the Council at its last meeting regarding the Redistricting of the
' County at the Public Hearing held by Judge Snead last week . He thought
the points made by the Council were well taken by the Judge .
Councilman Wallace asked about the traffic counters on Route 15 , iF
they were a result of Council ' s request . Mr. Ritter explained that
this was being done by the Highway Department in accordance with plans
made sometime ago. However, he reported that he had discussed with Mr.
Wiggins the Council ' s wish for another traffic count at 'Catoctin Circle
and Mr. Wiggins said we could go ahead with this any time . He said it
' takes two men five days straight to do this job and we do not have the
manpower at this time and the Highway Department does not either.
Councilman Hill suggested that perhaps we could get some high school
labor on this .
Councilman Howard reported that the County Planning Department has
redesigned the reapportionment so that it does not split Leesburg and
this is on display for anyone who would like to look at it.
Councilman Pumphrey commented that, in the Evening Star, there ap-
pears an article stating that the Town of Manassas offered Prince William
County water at 32 cents per thousand gallons , but the County has just
signed a contract with Fairfax County at 37 cents a thousand gallons .
Mayor Rollins said he understood that the Town of Leesburg would pay Fair-
fax City the same amount that it costs Fairfax itself for water delivered
in the City - 21 cents per thousand gallons . Mr. Ritter said there was
no set price mentioned - it would be arrived at by joint agreement at the
time we would want to take water from Goose Creek .
Councilman Orr asked Mr. Ritter if he told Jesse Randolph about
the change in our contract with him to 'use his dump on a month to month'
basis . Mr. Ritter said this was perfectly agreeable with Jesse .
Councilman Murray explained why he voted against the motion not to
' extend Mr. Parker 's time to pay his bill. He would have suggested per-
mitting him to pay it in three installments over the next month, particu-
larly since the usage went up so quickly .
Also, Councilman Murray said he had complaints from people coming
out of Catoctin Circle and heading east on Route 7 and finding themselves
in radar and being ticketed for going too fast in a 25 mile per hour
speed zone . There is only one small sign in this area indicating the
speed limit. He said he did not think Leesburg should acquire the name
of a "radar trap. " Also, it would seem logical that our signs are either
too small or there are not enough of them and he thinks we should have
enough signs to warn the people . Mr. Ritter said he heard about this
at 4 o 'clock this afternoon and he has already given the order to put up
a sign between Reed Johnson 's Restaurant and Douglass School.
Mayor Rollins asked the Utility Committee to consider what should be
done in the way of widening Route 7 in front of the First and Merchants
Bank construction on the Howard property. He thinks it should be a tranr-
sition to fit in with the future four-laning down at Gino ' s . Mr. Ritter
said the Bank job has been advertised and we have a set of plans . They
are going over these plans now and there are several things to be dis-
cussed with the Committee on Monday .
Councilman Orr called attention to a bad hole in Loudoun Street
between Ayr Street and the west triangle .
Mr. Moody reported that a good bit of progress has been made at the
Plant since his last report a month ago. The brick work on the raw sewage
pumping station is done all but about one day ' s work and they are making
installations of equipment , which shouldn ' t take too long to complete .
The main thing now is to get the metal beam across the door for the 1-ton
chlorine room. As soon as this arrives , they can complete operations
there . In the meantime, the electrical work is being completed. There
is a crew here from Manassas working on the digestors . They are still
shooting for the 1st of July to get the plant in operation, although not
all of the work will be finished by then.
183
MINUTES OF MAY 27 , 1970 MEETING.
He made a personal inspection on the Route 15 By-Pass Sewer Line
and found two joints that might be troublesome . There is some corrective
work to be done . The pipe is to be cleaned out this week=end, so that he
can go in and find out how bad this section is .
The Route 654 line has been completed and he is repairing a couple
of leaks right now. When these are completed, the line will be dry from
Route 7 to our Contract S-II line .
Councilman Hill asked if final payments have been made on the S-II ,
S-III and S-IV lines . Mr . Moody said the main holdup is the contractors
themselves - the paper work has to be completed in order to make the fi-
nal payment . He has made another final - inspection on the S-III line,
which has a May 30th deadline, and the maintenance contract will be up
on the S-II and S-IV lines on June 30th - he has to inspect these again.
When Johnson and Williams approves all of this , then we can make the
final payments .
Councilman Orr reported that the Laws and Administration Committee
considered the two requests to lease land at the Airport at its meeting
last week. He said they- called Mr. Hammerly and he said he represents a
group of people who would like to build t-hangars and operate a mainte-
nance shop and a radio shack . Realizing that bids would have to go out
in order to lease any more land, they decided to bring it back to the
CZ Council as a whole to see if they wish to lease any more land, or if they
would like to talk to the fixed base operator before such bids would go
w . out . Councilman Murray said all has been quiet at the Airport for almost
a year now and most of the comments heard have been complimentary during '
that time , with the exception of the financial report . He said he would
be the last one to say that private enterprise should be limited to one
individual , but he does believe that any proposition that would benefit
the Town should go through the fixed base operator first . He said he
would hope that either one of these two individuals would lease land
through the fixed base operator .
Councilman Wallace asked Mr. Rawls for his comments on this subject.
Mr. Rawls said the operation has had a lot of problems , but it is going
along fairly well, although they are still losing around $2,000 a month.
He said they expect it will take another year before they will break
even . He said they are adding business , but it is true that there is
substantial competition already on the field. There is another flight
school there , so this is competition. He said to add any more competi-
tion at this time would make quite a hardship on them. He said he be-
lieved they have a good flight school and they have more than doubled it
since they have been there . He said he has a lot of faith in the Air-
port, but reiterated that additional competition at this time would be
very damaging to them.
Councilman Howard asked if he has sufficient aircraft to handle leas-
ing requests now. Mr. Rawls says they have, but there are rare occasions
when you do run short of planes . You cannot afford to carry an overload
for these few occasions , they would eat you up in insurance and carrying
charges . Councilman Orr asked if they have sufficient facilities for
mechanical work and radio work. He said they would like to make a radio
shop out of the small shop and are refurbishing the large hangar at this
time for mechanical work. They run three (3) mechanics now and have run
as many as four at times . He said they need the big shop very badly for
this work. Councilman Hill asked, percentage wise, what they are operat-
ing at . Mr. Rawls said they could double without increasing their over-
head costs more than 20 per cent . It should start to be profitable about
this time next year. Mr. Hill also asked at what point a fixed base
operator could take a lease-a-plane organization. Mr. Rawls said Mr.
Colgan at Manassas would be able to take this type of thing in his opin-
ion. Councilman Murray said he did not believe Leesburg is large enough
for this now.
On motion of Councilman Murray, seconded by Councilman Pumphrey, it
was moved that both of the requests for leasing of additional space at
Leesburg Airport (Godfrey Field) be denied at this time . Councilman Hill
asked Town Attorney Martin if the FAA has any stipulation as to our regu-
lating competition. He said he would have to check the leases , but he
thinks we agreed to allow competition. Councilman Murray said he thinks
we are bound to permit competition and that we are duty-bound to see that
this is in the best interest of the community . Councilman Pumphrey said
he would not feel too sure that we may not want to acquire more land at
the Airport eventually.
484
MINUTES OF MAY 27 , 1970 MEETING.
The gentleman representing Lease-a-Plane International addressed
Council again, pointing out that competition is a healthy situation in
any business - it will raise the level and quality ' of any good business .
There is no basis for comparison without competition for what should be
given to the general public . He believed Mr. Rawls was being short-
sighted. They would be working to bring the Washington people to Lees-
burg , this would be their Washington base , in other words . He also
said there is no restriction placed upon competition in the FAA Act. The
motion :was then unanimously adopted by roll call vote .
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 following appropriations be made :
$ 94. 26 - Johnson and Williams - Engineering Coordination
on Sewer Contracts . (1969 Bond Issue)
6,449. 22 - English Construction Co . for work on Project
S-I-Payment #19. (1969 Bond Issue)
10,507 .00 - McLeod Construction Co. - Town 's share of cost
in construction of 21" Sewer, in accordance with
agreement with John Wright . (1969 Bond Issue)
8 , 914.68 - Maryland Excavators for work on Rt. 654 Sewer.
(1969 Bond Issue)
Mayor Rollins asked if a percentage of Mr. Nicholson 's payments are
being withheld. Mr. Ritter said Mr . Nicholson was mistaken on one of
these checks and, on another, there was,a mathematical error. Mr. Moody
said this is not the final estimate on Route 654 .
On motion of Councilman Orr, seconded by Councilman Howard, the•
following resolution was unanimously adopted :
BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg ,
that the license be waived on the VFW Carnival held during
week of May 11, and also on the Little League Carnival held
during week of May 25 .
A request from Mr. C . Herbert Pearson for rezoning of all proper-
ties facing on the south side of E. Loudoun Street from the East Triangle
down to M & J Auto Body Shop was presented to Council . Councilman Orr
disqualified himself on this matter since he has a conflict of interest .
Mr. Pearson explained his request and said there was no form available
for this particular situation and he is asking for this for all of the
properties inasmuch as the area in the remainder of the block is all
zoned for Business and faces on a Major Thorofare . He explained that
he expected to get signatures of the other property owners involved that
he has not already secured. Mayor Rollins pointed out that this is an
unusual` case since Mr. Pearson is asking for land to be rezoned other
than his own. Councilman Murray said the Planning Commission would not
take any action on any land other than his own . Mr. Forbes explained
that the way this ' is worded, it could leave some 50 feet still zoned R=2
and he believed the Council could instruct the Planning Commission to
consider to the centerline of Loudoun Street, which would take care of
this . It could not be added on after the advertisement of the Public
Hearing . After further discussion, on motion of Councilman Murray,
seconded by Councilman Pumphrey, a roll call vote of 4 to 2 referred
this rezoning request to the Planning Commission.
Councilman Orr left the meeting at this time , leaving only six mem-
bers present .
On motion of Councilman Pumphrey, seconded by Councilman Murray, the
following resolution was unanimously adopted :
185
MINUTES OF MAY 27 , 1970 MEETING.
BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg,
that the Town Manager be authorized to advertise for bids for
the Resurfacing Schedule for 1970 .
On motion, duly seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 9: 50 P.M.
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