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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1971_09_22 31, MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, SEPTEMBER 22, 1971. A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the Council Chambers, 10 West Loudoun Street, Leesburg , Virginia , on Sep- tember 22, 1971 at 7 :30 P.M. The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with Councilman Titus offering the prayer. Those present were : Mayor Kenneth B. Rollins, Councilmen G. Dewey Hill, Walter F . Murray, Robert A. Orr, John W. Pumphrey, C . Terry Titus and John A. Wallace, Jr. ; also Town Manager James W. Ritter, Jr. The Minutes of the meeting of September 8, 1971 were approved, with one correction noted by Councilman Titus , that being the elimination of I the word "back" in the second paragraph on Page 5 . Mrs. Helmi Carr introduced Mr. Anthony Musolino, who presented and explained to Council the drawings for the remainder of the proposed restoration of the complex for the Chamber of Commerce, which includes restoration of the old log cabin and the erection of a new building be- tween that and the present Museum. It was explained that the three • buildings would incorporate three centuries of architecture and these drawings show how they -have been tied together to have some computa- bility about them and to be something that the Town can be proud of. e The new building in the center would house exhibit space, office space, 0storage and a vault, with outdoor exhibit space, including parking in r the rear, and an entrance both from the front and the rear. The pro- jected cost would be around $45,000 for this building alone, with the A over-all projected cost of the entire complex estimated by Mrs. Carr at Q between $75 ,000 and $100,000. It was pointed out that these drawings were a contribution by Mr. Musolino to the project. Mrs. Ted Moody added that artist John Irvine from Paeonian Springs is contributing the structure of the fountain and she described it briefly. Mayor Rollins expressed the Council 's appreciation for this contribution of time and work on the part of Mr. Musolino and added that he believes what has been done so far on the complex has added to the Town. Mrs . Carr expressed appreciation to the Councilforthe use of the buildings • and for the use of the parking lot . ' Mr. John Wallace addressed Council with regard to the size of the sewer line to be installed on the old Airport property belonging to him . from Giant Food Store to Edwards Ferry Road. He quoted the last para- graph of a letter from Mr. Ritter in June, asking that he secure bids on both a 12" sewer and an 18" sewer in order that the Town could de- termine the amount of reimbursement to him. He said he had turned these bids over to Mr. Ritter last week and he is anxious to get this line in. He understands that there now exists a problem in that the Town now wants to lower the -line and increase the grade, which would mean he would have to drop down around 3 feet lower at Route 7 . Also, if the Town 's line • from Route 7 to the Interceptor is not finished in • time , he will be liable for suit from his tenants . His purpose in being here tonight is. to ask the Council, with great haste, to get the Town into position where he can • go ahead and award the bid for this sewer line without argument. He said he would be running up against a considerable amount of rock if he has to put the line in deeper and this would be more expensive. If they keep the line at the same grade, he has been informed that the line will have to be larger. He would prefer that the same grade be maintained and that the Town pay the difference between the 12" line and the 21" line. The difference between the 12" and the 18" was estimated to be between $6 ,000 ifidt$9,000: Mr. Chamberlin, engineer for the project, said that Perry Engineering said it would be approximately $1.50 a foot to increase • it to a 21" wxxax2iR sewer line . Mr. Moody explained how they found out about this and Mr. Ritter said that Dewberry, Nealon and Davis have sized this line twice and recently found they made a mistake . Mr. Moody said it is satisfactory at the present grade - it is a question as to whether the Town wants to approve a 21" line. Mr. Ritter said the Douglass Re- lief Sewer plans should be ready within a week and they received the easement plats today. There was some discussion as to the possibility of this line being coordinated with Mr. Wallace 's line , perhaps making it cheaper for the Town- on the Douglass Relief Sewer. There was_,further discussion on this matter, with the general consensus of Council being that a 21" line be put in, regardless of the cost, and that Mr. Wallace be given the go ahead on his line , with a formal resolution to be adopted at the next session of Council . g2 • MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 22 , 1971 MEETING. Town Manager Ritter reported the following : (1) He found out today that the street sweeper was not shipped from • California until September 15th. Shaffer Equipment Co. has received the • invoice and the bill of lading , so it should be here any day. (2) We started the valve inserting .program today at the corner of King and Union Streets . This is something we have been wanting to do for a long time. The purpose is to install these valves in strategic locations so that, if someone should hit a hydrant or other circumstance of this nature, it would not be necessary to cut off the entire Town to repair it. There will be a total of 10 of these valves installed at this time. The factory has sent a man here to oversee the installation of these valves . He then explained what has to be done to install thes valves . $5,000 was set up in last year 's Budget for this program and $12 ,000 is set up in the new Budget. It is hoped to continue this pro- gram until all of these valves have been installed - 28 in all. The men installed only one today but as they learn, this should be stepped up. Each:valve •costs -$500 -to $60b;;_prj around $3,400 for 12 of them, including . the rental of the machine and other equipment to install them. (3) We received the plans from Johnson and Williams today on the Rust condemnation, so this should move right along . . (4) He referred to the copy of a letter from the FAA in answer to our inquiry about low-flying planes over Leesburg. They talk about noise. . more than .anything else and it looks like the situation, will probably get worse as time goes on. They are changing the elevation of their flying pattern, which should help in some way, but it looks like we are stuck with it. (5) All items on the Agenda, with the exception of the Performance Bond on Virginia Knolls , Section 3, have been discussed by one or the other of the two committees . This was just presented yesterday and they want to get started very quickly. The Town Attorney has approved the Performance Bond and $64,311.00 is sufficient to cover the cost of the physical improvements . They have not yet been billed for their share of the cost of checking the plans and they will have to pay their pro- portionate cost of the sewer line from their line to the Tuscarora In- - terceptor. (6) He talked to Dewberry, Nealon and Davis today and we should receive all the plans on the Hospital Road, storm sewer and sanitary sewer, as well as the Douglass Relief Sewer very soon. It might be a good idea to pass a resolution authorizing them to go ahead with bids on this project. (7) Jack Williams is making the necessary arrangements for the trip to. Philadelphia on Friday , October 1st. There are four planning to go. (8) It looks like there is going to be a considerable amount of building here . There are a total of 1036 lots and/or units proposed, which includes houses and apartments . Of these, . 134 are outside the Town limits. We believe all of these will be built. This would require 104,000 gallons of water per day, which we can take care of. It will take at least two years to get water from the Potomac. In the meantime, we will get more requests for zoning permits, etc . We decided not to sell the $1,500,000 Bonds until we. find. out whether we can get this HUD Grant. If we cannot get this. Grant, it looks like we should take some definite action. on selling these Bonds so that we can go ahead with building this Plant . Councilman Hill reported that the Committee appointed by Mayor Rollins regarding the two-mile subdivision jurisdiction appeared before the Board of Supervisors and presented their rebuttal to the Board 's denial in as soft pedal manner as possible . They thought the two-mile radius should be reconsidered. The Board discussed this to a certain degree, with Mr. Huntington Harris pointing out a technicality in the Order that was recently signed by Judge Penn to relieve some of the problems encountered by our Zoning Administrator. Due to new develop- ments pointed out by our Committee, the Board voted to refer the matter back to the County Planning Commission for further study. At least, 33 MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 22 , 1971- MEETING. they took no definite action yesterday . He felt the Committee did the best they could. Mr. Forbes said he checked the Court Order thoroughly, which contained three amendments to the original Court Order. He then compiled and sent a letter to Mrs . Miller, with copies to the Common- wealth 's Attorney and the Town Attorney, pointing out that he could find absolutely nothing in the Order that would preclude her from issuing per- mits in the one-mile jurisdiction. In fact, the entire Order has nothing at all to do with zoning , but deals with subdivisions . He said this is his personal opinion. Councilman Titus said he felt the Committee should go before the County Planning Commission at its next meeting and then perhaps back to the Board. Councilman Wallace asked if we have heard any more from Michie on our Town Code Supplement . Mr. Ritter said we have not. Councilman Titus asked how the cover sheet is coming along for site plans and subdivisions . Mr. Moody said it should be ready in the next day or so. Mr. Titus also said he believes we should get going on securing a Q Director of Public Works - he thinks we should actively pursue this in CD all haste. Mr. Ritter said we have ads in two magazines , the Virginia rn Municipal League and the ICMA. He said he talked to a number of• people (y in Virginia Beach and he has interviewed two men from the Fairfax area, C both of whom are now making $16 ,000 and will probably go to $18,000 in G another year. We are competing with that area and they pay much more than Leesburg can possibly pay. He believes we will have to try to get someone from another part of the State . Councilman Pumphrey asked what has been done about VEPCO 's request to cut down a tree on Cornwall Street. Mr. Ritter said he wrote them, telling them that we won 't allow them to cut down the tree until the poles are placed on Dry Mill Road. Mr. Pumphrey said he was not in favor of leaving the stump, we could create a drainage problem there. He said he talked with VEPCO about this and they have no provision for removing the stump. Mayor Rollins said he does not know what can be done about the situa- tion at the Episcopal Church, but all the water from the parking lot will be coming off of it into North Street and there will be a steady stream running down the street until the curb and gutter is taken all the way down to King Street and into a catch basin. This is true out at the Ceme- tery entrance too. He said the Church is spending three-quarters of a million dollars that the people of Leesburg are going to have to pay for. Mr. Ritter said the Town has never required anybody to take curb and gut- ter beyond their own property , even though he agrees with the Mayor 's statement. Our policy requires it now,tptptp Undmh pa¢aed after these papsp4apsonyerg lrr ggntegfi wo y�r2cilman Titus sai t a Subdivision Ordinance / lui es thig, ho°*ever, nts is not in a subdivision . Mayor Rollins asked if the plans did not show this . Mr. Moody said it is on private property and we don ' t have much jurisdiction over this . Mr. Ritter said they were not required to get site plan approval - all• they are doing is putting in curb and gutter and entrances . Mayor Rollins said they are creating a storm drainage problem of great magnitude . Other construc- tion projects were discussed in this connection, and Mr. Moody said we should have an amendment to require a bond to make developers put in the necessary items needed to take care of such situations . He believed this could be done by a Policy Statement , to be enforced by the Town Manager and the Public Works Director. Councilman Orr left the meeting at this time . On motion of Councilman Wallace, 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: $510.00 - Instrumatic Products Corp. for capacity change of flow meters at Sewer Plant. (1969 Bond Issue) 2. 75 - A & E Blueprinters for printing during June and July. (1969 Bond Issue) 1,554.01 - Perry Engineering Co. - 10% retainage on Valley View Sewer. (Utility Fund-Capital Outlay) 4< MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 22, 1971_ MEETING. On motion of Councilman. Pumphrey, seconded by Councilman Hill, the following resolution was offered: BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that the Town Manager be authorized to purchase a 1971 Inter- national - Model 1310 truck at a price of $3,441.63, to be appropriated from the Utility Fund. On motion of Councilman Wallace, and there being no objection, the last phrase was amended to read "and an appropriation from the Utility Fund is hereby made in this amount. " The resolution, as amended was then adopted by a vote of 5 to 1, with Councilman Wallace casting the dis- senting vote. On motion of Councilman Pumphrey, seconded by Councilman Murray, the following resolution was offered: BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that Johnson and Williams be authorized to proceed with the elimination of the mercury seals at the Sewer Plant at an estimated cost of $15 ,000. Mr. Moody said he was checking on another price on this job. On motion of Mayor Rollins, seconded by Councilman Murray, the resolution was amended and unanimously adopted as follows : BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that Johnson and Williams be authorized to proceed with plans for the elimination of the mercury seals at the Sewer Plant. On motion of Councilman Pumphrey, seconded by Councilman Hill, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that Dewberry, Nealon & Davis be authorized to proceed with the design of four-laning Rt . 7 from Catoctin Circle to Sycolin Road, which shall include transitioning of pavement west of Catoctin Circle , the widening of Catoctin Circle to a point approximately in line with Reed Johnson ' s south prop- erty line, the design of necessary storm drainage facilities in the above-described area and any other work necessary in connection with the. above, at a price of $2,500 to $3,000. On motion of Councilman Pumphrey, seconded by Councilman Murray, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: WHEREAS, the State Highway Department has under construction a By-Pass in the southeast segment of Leesburg , which provides for a transition of traffic into an existing two lanes on Rt. 15, and WHEREAS, anticipated development will generate a considerable amount of traffic on Rt . 15 , which, added to existing traffic conditions in this area, will create a condition that it will be impossible for the existing two lanes to handle, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that the State Highway Department be re- quested to set up an "Urban Project, " from the By-Pass inter- section at Rt . 15 to the intersection of Catoctin Circle, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town of Leesburg will acquire /I/ sufficient rights-of-way and guarantees its 15 per cent share of the cost of construction. On motion of Councilman Murray, seconded by Councilman Wallace, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : BE IT RESOLVED by the. Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that the Performance Bond submitted by K & M Engineering Co. in the amount of $64,311.00 for physical improvements on Vir- ginia Knolls , Section 3 , be accepted, and • BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that their application for water and sewer extension be approved. . 35. • • . MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 22, 1971 MEETING. On motion of Councilman Pumphrey, seconded by Councilman Hill, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : • BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, that the application of. Southeastern Builders for extension of water and sewer in Sattley Subdivision be approved.. On motion of Councilman Pumphrey, seconded by Councilman Murray, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: I BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of. Leesburg, that approval be given for the filling in of the Lucas Phil- lips , et al, property in connection with the dedication to the Town of a 70 right-of-way for the building of a street between Market and Cornwall Street, at a cost of $7 ,000. On motion of Mayor. Rollins, seconded by Councilman Wallace, the following resolution was offered: . BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Leesburg, VP that the Town Manager be authorized to proceed with the neces- c sary arrangements with Reed, Hoyt, Washburn & McCarthy and the r State Treasurer 's Office for the advertisement and sale of P.. $600,000 General Obligation Bonds for the improvement of the Gstreet, storm sewer and sanitary systems of the Town . There was discussion as to whether this was enough money to accomplish the necessary projects . On motion of Councilman Wallace, seconded by Councilman Titus , Council voted by roll call vote of 5 to I, with Mayor Rollins casting the: dissenting vote, to amend the above resolution by making the amount $650,000. The resolution, as amended, was then unani- mously adopted. On motion of Councilman Wallace, seconded by Councilman Pumphrey, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : I BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town. of Leesburg , that the Annual Audit for year ended June 30, 1971, prepared by Yount, Hyde & Co. , be accepted. . Mayor Rollins asked Mr. Ritter if he expected to proceed immediately on the sale of the bonds . Mr. Ritter said it would take Reed, Hoyt, Wash- burn & McCarthy some time to. make up a list of the projects. Mayor Rol- lins believed it could be done without a definite list . He asked that - the plans , etc . on the Hospital Road be ready for the next meeting. Councilman Murray said he would like to see the Douglass Relief Sewer bids go out as soon as possible . There was some discussion re negotiation with Perry Engineering Company on this . Mr. Ritter said there are at least three easements between Route 7 and Sycolin Road to be secured. It was decided that Mayor Rollins would call a Special Meeting if it looked like it would be too long to wait for 3 weeks to send out the bids on this project. Councilman Wallace asked if there would be any action taken on the bond sale very soon, he expected to be gone from September 30th. until . October 12th. Mr. Ritter said this would be soon enough for action on this . . IIICouncilman Hill wondered if his Committee might be able to help in locating a Public Works Director. Mr. Ritter said he would appreciate anything anybody might do in this regard.- Councilman Murray suggested contacting the Army Engineer Corps , perhaps at Fort Belvoir. On motion, duly seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 10:40 P.M. *:,, /1 /0"------ Mayor Clerk f the Council .