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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1971_04_28 ZWE 305 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, APRIL 28, 1971. A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the Council Chambers, 10 West Loudoun Street, Leesburg, Virginia , on April 28, 1971 at 7 :30 P.M. The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with Councilman Howard-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. and Town Attorney George M. Martin. The Minutes of the meeting of April 14, 1971 were corrected by Coun- cilman Wallace on Page 301, the last paragraph, as follows : "but found that II . we do have an old one,that was up-dated as late as January of 1970. " The Minutes, 'as corrected, were then approved. Mayor Rollins called attention to the fact that the Times-Mirror had made an error in reporting last week with regard to the Airport, wherein they stated that the Town had no Master Plan. The Town has entered into a contract to have a Master Plan prepared. Mr. Randall DeHart asked that a Bond, or certified check in lieu thereof, for- physical improvements in Raefield Subdivision be approved tonight . After some discussion and explanation by Mr. Ritter that: this CO involves the building of duplex apartments on Washington Street and Ed- CD wards Ferry Road adjacent to the Clark property, and that there are cer- - tain items to be clarified by Mr. DeHart, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: Q ' BE IT RESOLVED by the Council for the Town of Leesburg, Virginia , that the certified check of Randall W. DeHart, in the amount of $4,438.50, be accepted in lieu of a performance bond to cover im- provements required in Raefield Subdivision. Mr. Ritter said the check is enough to cover the improvements , along with some changes that need to be made , however, the Town will hold the check - until these improvements have been made. IMr. Frank Caldwell, Manager of the C & P Telephone Company, addressed Council and explained the proposed rate increases , emphasizing that this is the first increase the CCompany has asked for since 1958. He explained the advantages afforded by this increase in rates and answered questions of Council members with regard thereto. Rates may not be changed by the Company without approval of the State Corporation Commission, and this Commission will hold a Hearing on this matter on September 27 , 1971 in Richmond. Until that Hearing , the rates will remain the same as they are now. Mayor Rollins submitted for the files a copy of the application of the C & .P Telephone Company to the State Corporation Commission, and said that the Town Attorney was served with a copy of this application. The Town can oppose this if it so desires . Mr. Jack Williams addressed Council regarding the application for Federal Assistance on the Water Treatment Plant program. He explained that the Town 's application has been held in abeyance by HUD because the Council of Governments has not been certified as an approved planning agency. They have now given their certification to COG and they (Johnson and Williams) will immediately send a follow-up letter on this to see if they will now take some action on this application. He said he would let the Town know when he thinks the time is right to make a trip to Phila- delphia on this . He also reported that they have gone as far as they thought they should on the plans until the Town definitely acquires the land - the plans are approximately 25 per cent complete. Councilman Hill asked why the Northern Virginia Planning District Commission has no au- ' thority over COG. Mr. Williams explained that this Commission is sub- ordinate to COG. He also said that COG had not complied with the regu- lations of HUD prior to this time . Councilman Murray explained to Council basically what COG is . Town Manager Ritter reported the following: 1. We. have received a reply from the Rust heirs on our offer for their land for the Water Treatment Plant, and they have turned it down, as was expected. They will consider anything close to the figure they proposed in the beginning (over a year ago) , which is far more than we offered them this time. Perhaps Council might wish to discuss this tonight. 306 - MINUTES OF April 28, 1971 MEETING. (2) Mr. Bryant of Yount, Hyde & Company called the other day and said, if their firm is selected to audit the Town 's records for the past fiscal year, they would like to get started early. This is the reason for the resolution on the Agenda with regard to this matter. " ' (3) The $500.00 appropriation for Sewer Plant Maintenance is asso- ciated 'with laboratory equipment needed. (4) The $2 ,000 appropriation for Bridge Repair is for the bridge on Evergreen Mill Road, which fell into the creek a couple of weeks ago. This bridge was very old and would not support much weight, so it did not take much to make it crumble . This appropriation is for four (4) I-Beams and these will be used, along with existing deck material and a guard rail. Councilman Howard "asked Mr. Ritter to check with the Virginia Mu- nicipal League with regard to the price of motorcycle license stickers . Councilman Pumphrey asked if anyone has a Commission Permit for a Sanitary Landfill within the corporate limits, citingwhatused to be the old Davis Junk Yard, which is being used by various citizens . Mr. Ritter . said he was not aware of this problem and he will check into this situ- • ation. Also, Councilman Pumphrey asked about the junk cars kept by Mr. Leonard Parker on his land on Catoctin Circle . Mr. Ritter said Mr. Parker claims he sells parts from these old cars , but he will make an effort to do something about this . Councilman Pumphrey said he believed two weeks: was ample time in both the above cases . . Councilman Howard commented that, with regard to the anti-litter campaign being conducted in the Town and County, the streets and lots seem to become littered again as fast as they are cleaned up. He sug- gested that the Police keep their eyes open and try to make some ar- rests and get convictions against a few of these people - perhaps this would help change this situation. Councilman Murray reported that the Northern Virginia Planning District Commission has been asked to chair a meeting next Monday in- volving Airports, specifically mentioning Manassas , Fairfax and Wood- bridge. -He said he has contacted Mr. Rawls and they, in company with Mr. Moody, will plan to attend this meeting. This is in regard to funds for the next five years and he would like some assistance to tell these people that we have an Airport here and that we would like to get in on these funds . Mayor. Rollins readda;'letter to Council from Dr. J. T. Jackson re- garding a 4k-foot unobstructed right-of-way adjacent to his property, on which he is claiming the Town has planted shrubs and a tree and has a small piece of fence obstructing this right-of-way. Mr. Ritter ex- plained to Council that, as soon as he received Dr. Jackson 's first let- ter of complaint about the shrubs and the tree , these items were moved that same day. He was not aware that the fence was on his property - the Town put up this small piece of fence to keep people from wearing a path over the Town ' s property. He also said that Dr. Jackson was al- lowed to have ladders and paint supplies on our property last spring, with the risk of killing our grass . Councilman Howard said he was aware of this problem too. Town Attorney Martin said he believed this fence was on his property. In accordance with the letter, Mr: Ritter will write Dr. Jackson that the piece of fence will be removed when he asks for it to be done. ' Mayor Rollins asked Mr. Ritter to reply "at the direction of the Council . ' Mayor Rollins asked if anything further has happened insofar as Ayr Street and the new Hospital construction is concerned. Councilman Hill said nothing further has been done, that Colonel Valentine indi- cated he would get in touch with members of the Committee . He said he believed the Planning Commission should have a hearing on this matter. On motion of Councilman Wallace, seconded by Councilman Orr, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that the firm of Yount, Hyde & Co. be selected to audit the Town of Leesburg records for fiscal year ended June 30, 1971. 307 MINUTES OF APRIL 28,- 1971 MEETING•.- - - On motion of Councilman Murray, seconded by Councilman Howard, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg , that the following appropriations be made : $ 2.35 - A & E Blueprinters for• printing during the month of March, 1971. (1969 Bond Issue) 500.00 - Supplemental Appropriation - Sewer Plant Maintenance . 2 ,000.00 - Bridge Repair on Evergreen Mill Road. (General Fund-Capital Outlay) • Town Attorney Martin asked if Council had given any thought to the possi- bility of liability on the part of the Company that knocked down the • Bridge. Councilman Howard said the Committee discussed this. English Construction will furnish all the labor and we will have a much better bridge, a $10,000 one for $2,000, the cost of the I-Beams . All English was required to do was to put back what they knocked down. p Mayor Rollins asked Mr. Williams if he has made an inspection of the Sewer Plant recently. Mr. Williams said he had been out there last week and he thinks it is operating very well. There are still some things that need to be adjusted and worked out. The BOD tests are running about 85 per cent on the final clarifier . The Plant has a design capacity to come up to 92 or 93 per cent . He feels that we will get better operation as it goes along. Mr. Williams said he did not look at the Plant from the point of operation, but he thinks care should be exercised. He was anxious to have an operator there while the Plant was being constructed, but that was not possible . He knows the Plant has the capability of operating properly. The Mayor asked how the new Chief Operator is get- ting along. Mr. Ritter and Mr. Moody both said they think he is doing very well. He has had about 15 years ' experience in this work and seems to understand the Plant very well. Councilman Hill asked if he has made any substantial changes . Mr. Moodysaid he has on the digestors. Coun- cilman Howard asked if they have developed enough gas yet. Mr. Moody said they have, but the controls need to be adjusted, as do the flow meters . Mayor Rollins asked Mr. Williams how far they propose to bring the 16-inch water line from the River up Edwards Ferry Road. Mr. Williams said he believed all the way into Town, but he cannot recall for sure. Mayor Rollins said he remembered some discussion as to whether it should be stopped at Washington Street or brought all the way into the center of Town. Mr. Ritter said there is a 12-inch line on North Street, and he thinks some study should be given as to where this new line would tie in. Mr. Ritter commented on the proposed Policy Guidelines for Off-Site Drainage or Storm Sewer, Sanitary Sewer Construction and Water Main Ex- tension. He said there is a Master Plan being prepared by Greenhorne & O 'Mara, but it will probably be another two years before we get this Land Use Master Plan, so all they have to go on is the existing zoning map. It is impossible to look at a big piece of ground which could be changed insofar as zoning is concerned. He said there are a lot of open ends on these Policy Guidelines and a lot of questions, but he be- lieves we are taking a step in the right direction on them. On the sanitary sewer, this is based on the highest density possible . This is fictitious . We do not know what kind of zoning we might have on some of these vacant lots. The size of the sewer line is based on the water use. Here again, zoning comes into play. He cited as an example a piece of ground zoned for B-2 use. This could eventually be rezoned for apart- ments, which would use three times more water per acre per day than that shown for Business . A very lengthy discussion on the Policy Guidelines was held by Coun- cil, with Mr. William D. Chamberlin and Mr. William W. Wilson, local engineers ; Mr. Alfred L. B. diZerega, III, local builder; Mr. Frank How- ser, engineer from Fairfax County ; Mr. John Patteson, engineer for METRO and formerly with Fairfax County and Dewberry, Nealon :& Davis , engineers ; Mr. Terry Titus , Leesburg resident and future Council member; Mr. Moody; Mr. Forbes and Mr. Ritter all participating. 308 MINUTES OF APRIL 28, 1971 MEETING. On motion of Councilman Howard, seconded by Councilman Pumphrey, it was voted to recommit to Committee the "Policy Guidelines for Off-Site; Drainage or Storm Sewer Requirements. " On motion of Councilman Wallace, seconded by Councilman Murray, it was voted to recommit to Committee the "Policy Guidelines for Off-Site Sanitary Sewer Construction. " On motion of Councilman Wallace, seconded by Councilman Murray, it was voted to recommit to Committee the "Policy Guidelines for Off-Site Water Main Extensions . " Mayor Rollins announced that an informal session will be held by Council members on Monday, May 10, 1971 at 7 :30 P.M. to consider the Proposed Budget presented by the Town Manager, the place of meeting to be determined later. There being no further business , the meeting adjourned at 10:20 P.M. j9 Mayor Clerk of 'he Conci1 • 1 • • • • • • • • • • 1