Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout1973_12_12 carp 194 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF •LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, DECEMBER 12 , 1973 . A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the Council Chambers , 10 West Loudoun Street , Leesburg , Virginia on De- cember 12 , 1973 at 7 :30 P.M. The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with Councilman Murray offering the prayer. Present were : Mayor G. Dewey Hill , Councilmen Walter F. Murray , Robert A. Orr, John W. Pumphrey , Herbert L. Ridder, C . Terry Titus and John A . Wallace , Jr. ; also Town Manager James W. Ritter, Jr. and Town At- torney George M. Martin . • The Minutes of the regular meeting of November 28, 1973 were approved as written. Mayor Hill recognized Col. Michael C. Grenata , Chairman of the Committee for a Safe Leesburg By-Pass . It is noted here that there were some 17 or 18 interested members of this Committee in attendance at this meeting . Colonel Grenata read to Council a prepared state- ` ment, pointing out certain items of importance on two maps (a copy of this statement may be seen in the Town files) . In essence , the purpose of presenting this statement was to ask the Town Council to reconsider the Leesburg By-Pass and take such action as to stop the present construction. It was pointed out that Line A Modified, pres- ently under construction , would cost about $1,500 ,000 more than Line B Modified, .this being the line preferred by most of the people in this area , as well as by the Town Council of Leesburg. A new Gover- nor, Mills E . Godwin, Jr. , will be installed in January and he has expressed interest in the location of the By-Pass . Colonel Grenata stated that , if the Town Council and the Board of Supervisors would adopt resolutions asking that the present construction be stopped and Line B Modified be reconsidered, he believed the new Governor would review this whole situation and ask the Highway Commission to reconsider this . He then read a proposed resolution to be considered by Council . Mr. Frank Heckel of Waterford felt that the present line under construction is an "ab amination, " particularly the bottleneck that would be created at the foot of the hill coming into Leesburg . Mr. Terry Dunigan , the 1973-74 President of • the Loudoun Land- owners Association, stated that this organization adopted a resolu- tion in November opposing Line A . He said they support the resolu- tion presented tonight , with the one exception that they do not favor Line B Modified, but they do support the immediate cessation of Line A and would like a study, with public hearings , to choose a-proper By-Pass , if one is needed for Leesburg . Mr. Jim Arnold believed anybody _with common sense could see that Line A is the wrong road. He believed that it is time that a By-Pass be built somewhere , but he felt that this is in the wrong location and did not want to see such a mistake made if it can be helped. Councilman Titus asked Mr. Arnold if he felt that the Board of Super- visors would support a resolution of this type . Mr. Arnold said he could not speak for the entire Board, only for himself . . Col . Grenata believed the Board would adopt such a resolution if the Town would do so . He pointed out that this By-Pass will affect people• in Loudoun County , as well as Leesburg , and he understood Mr . Arnold told Senator Scott that 95 percent of the people in the County oppose Line A. Senator Scott has said that , if we can get a resolution from both the Town and the County , he will forward them to Governor-Elect Godwin and ask that the entire subject be reviewed. Mr . Morton Riddle , III, a resident of Leesburg for 27 years , stated that he thought the Line A being constructed is perfectly ri- diculous and he believed the Council, Mayor and Board of Supervisors should do everything in their power to prevent this . He questioned the view of the opponents to Line B , stating that they were constantly talking about what that line would do to the 4-H grounds - he cer- tainly did not feel that this was as important as the safety of peo- ple going up and down Route 7 . Councilman Pumphrey stated that he had a couple of reservations about the proposed resolution, the greatest one being the time ele- ment . Last February , it was stated that "it would take a year to 15 months to build this segment of the By-Pass and that has been almost 95 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 12 , 1973 MEETING. a year ago . If you add another year or more onto this , he did not feel that the Town could stand the traffic that much longer. Also, he did not think too much of paving all of the eastern part of the County - the Highway Department stated that , if they choose Line B , they would still have to four-lane Route 7 into Leesburg . This would take too many acres of land off of the tax rolls , plus the access roads that would be needed - we would have to provide a way for these people to get out . He did not believe anybody knows the cost of Line B in detail. Colonel Grenata said that they have speeded up Line A and, if they use the same speed on a new line , they could do it in 18 months . As to Line B Modified being a limited access road with service roads , he did not think this would take that much land off the tax rolls - the important thing here is safety . Mr. Pumphrey asked how long Route B is . Colonel Grenata said it is 3.. 78 miles , about .3 shorter than Line A. Mr. Pumphrey said that , if they have to dual-lane Route 7 , they could not do it on the present right-of- way. Colonel Grenata said this is what the Highway Department said but, according to the traffic count shown him by Mr. Forbes , Route 7 from here at the present time carries 12 ,000 vehicles per day . The traffic count projected by the Highway Department for 1988, if they build Line B, is only a little short of 9,000 - they are telling every- body they will have to dual lane if they build Line B, that 's why they added on another million dollars to Line B. This is some of the mis- -"J information they have been spreading around . The basic issue is to get the Highway Department to give us the road we want . cm Councilman Wallace stated that he supports this resolution. He felt that the Highway Department has ignored the people of Leesburg . The Council has gone on record two or three times since he has been on the Council concerning the By-Pass and, unfortunately , one time when it was very critical, we did not get the support of the Board of Supervisors . He hopes they will unite and possibly back this resolution. With no objection to considering this tonight, on motion of Councilman Wallace , seconded by Councilman Ridder, the following resolution was proposed, this being the resolution suggested by Col- onel Grenata , with one addition : WHEREAS , The Leesburg Town Council has , since 1964 , always opposed Line A as the Leesburg By-Pass , Southwest Quadrant, and has alwaysfavored a line in Dry Mill Valley ; and WHEREAS, Mr. J . E . Yeatts , the Highway Location Engineer at the Location Hearing held in Leesburg on April 8 , 1970, stated in substance that Line B in Dry Mill Valley was shorter, ' safer, straighter , less hilly , more permanent and better for Leesburg than Line A ; and WHEREAS , The Honorable Douglas B . Fugate , the Virginia High- way Commissioner, at the hearing before the Senate Transportation Committee in Richmond on February 8 , 1973 , stated "I certainly admit that Line B would make a superior road, " which remarks also apply to Line B Modified, which avoids the 4-H grounds . NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Leesburg Town Council requests the Highway Commission to stop the construction of Line A and expedite the construction of Line B Modified, or an alternate line , as the Leesburg By-Pass , Southwest Quadrant , but only in the event that such action will not unreasonably prolong the construction of the Leesburg By-Pass ; and. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be 111. sent to each member of the Highway Commission, to the Gover- nor of Virginia, to Governor-Elect Mills E . Godwin, Jr. , to each member of our representatives in the Virginia General Assembly and to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors , re- questing that the Board of Supervisors also adopt a similar resolution and give it similar distribution. Mr. Wallace said that he dislikes rehashing this matter again, but he is not opposed to giving it another try . For purposes of clarifica- tion, he said that he meant in the general time frame of 18 months to two years . We need this road. very badly, however, he did not feel that they have destroyed enough land so far to make that much differ- ence in changing the location . T96 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 12 , 1973 MEETING. Councilman Orr agreed wholeheartedly with Colonel Grenata 's di- rection• and that Line B is a superior road, but he said he could not vote for this resolution for the reason that the traffic situation is so critical on Route 7 east of Leesburg now that a number of acci- dents have occurred and people have been hurt seriously because of this delay . It is practically impossible to go through this Town between the hours of 4 and 6 P.M. Council has voted three times in favor of Route B, which he feels is a good and superior line, but he has to weigh the present situation as it is , he has to feel for the individuals travelling this road daily and think of the energy crisis , with gallons of gasoline being wasted. VEPCO people have said they had to wait 30 minutes with trucks to get out on Route 7 . The traf- fic situation now is deplorable and we are well over our possible means of control . He appreciated the work done. by Colonel Grenata and he is not against better government , but he feels that the time for a By-Pass is now, and a By-Pass must be had before more people are hurt , more property is damaged and people are killed . Mayor Hill said they have fought this battle through many con- ferences and meetings , but he has to agree with Dr . Orr in that the time is now. From a residential standpoint, he is probably being hurt more than anyone on the Council, this Line A will come right in back of his house , however, as a Councilman, he has had to put this out of his mind and look at a safe road. The problem is that he doesn ' t knowhow muc- safer it can be if they do not get something done. There are times when people are defeated and he felt this is one- of them. He said he took no pride in being defeated, but he had to accept the issue as a compromise - it is the lesser of many bad evils . He has accepted it in this light and feels he must vote this way. Councilman Murray said he felt he had been defeated too . Seven years and some months ago, when he was a junior member of the Council, there were two items that he felt the Town urgently needed. One was one-way streets , which he believed would have helped tremendously in getting traffic through, but this has never materialized. The other was having addresses printed in the Telephone Directory . Finally , in the last bill, they have included a little slip of paper to be filled out by users for this purpose . He said he has always been in favor of a By-Pass route other than Line A and no-one can convince him that it will be safer when you have two bottlenecks at Clark 's Gap. He could recall a hearing on this matter, when we did not have the full support of the Board of Supervisors and one member stated that they could hunt foxes under high power lines , but they could not hunt foxes across dual highways . He felt that, when this County gets to the point that fox-hunting is more important than saving lives , we had better take a better look at ourselves . He said he is in favor of a By-Pass that is safe , and it might be his life that it saves . Councilman Titus felt that Colonel Grenata has done unending work on this project and he , personally , does not agree with Line A. He had hoped that , with the election of Governor-Elect Godwin, we might have some voice in the State Government. He also felt that the traf- fic problem in Leesburg is bad now and it is not going to get any bet- ter. He recalled several months ago that someone in the audience had said, concerning the traffic problem, that most people are a victim of habit - they use Route 7 unalterably when there are other roads to be used in Town . He felt the delay this might cause could be well worth it . Councilman Ridder was in favor of Line B also . The fact that we will have new administration in Richmond may change things and, if Governor Godwin is sympathetic to this problem and sees the ne- cessity for a little bit of speed, we might optimistically look for a little better time-table than 18 months . He believed we might be remiss if we did not give this one more chance and we would be sorry if we later found that the Governor was sympathetic to our problem. He felt that the Council should adopt this resolution and let it have one more try. A roll call vote was then taken on the above resolution, that vote being 4 to 3 , with Mayor Hill , Councilman Orr and Councilman Pumphrey casting the dissenting votes . Mayor Hill assured the audi- ence that he would work just as hard for it , even though he voted against the resolution . 497 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 12 , 1973 MEETING. Town Manager Ritter said he had presented a written report , rather than an oral one . Councilman Titus asked for a five-minute recess to study this report , and Mayor Hill decreed such a recess at 8 :23 P.M. The meeting reconvened at 8 : 28 P.M, and Mayor Hill asked if-anyone had any questions concerning this report . Councilman Titus asked if the Water Report would go before the Street Committee . Mr. Ritter said it would. Mr. Titus asked if Mr . Ritter has heard anything from Johnson and Williams concerning the Environmental Impact Study or from the FAA concerning the stand tank for the Water Facility . Mr. Ritter said he asked Johnson and Williams to handle both of these matters . Councilman Titus said he had heard some comments concerning the proposed display at the Dulles Marriott , particularly with respect to not being able to do this on a zero budget . He asked Mr. Forbes to tell Council what is being done about this display . Mr. Forbes reported in detail what he and John Gibbs have investigated concern- ing such a project and what they have accomplished thus far. It is planned at this time to display a large map, which has been donated by Air Photographics from Purcellviltb , with "still" photos around it , and with flags on pins on the map/designate the areas represented r..10by the photos . Across the top, it will be entitled "A Sketch of Leesburg . " He believed that the film, the frame for the map, the easel and the mat board and backing would cost probably about $100 - there is no way of doing anything without some cost involved. They have someone taking the pictures for the cost of the film and the processing will take some time - this display must be up in January . Various members of Council seemed to feel that this would be of last- ing value and could possibly be placed in the Museum or in the Town Office after it has served its purpose at Dulles . Mayor Hill re- ferred the matter of the $ 100 to cover cost of this project to the Finance Committee . Mr. Titus said he had spoken with Mr . John Wallace , Sr . concern- ing the dedication of Plaza Drive and it seems that he is waiting on the Town and the Town on him. Councilman Pumphrey asked if this street has been built in accordance with Town specifications . Mr. Ritter said we have an Agreement that we will accept it when it is built to specifications , but it is not at this time, although it is being used. He said he would try to have either Mr. Wallace or his attorney come to the Street Committee meeting to see if this can be resolved. Councilman Pumphrey asked how the last rain affected the flow at the Sewer Plant . Mr. Chaves said he did not have any figures on the rainfall , but he knew the flow increased tremendously : Mayor Hill said the average flow through the Plant Sunday went up to 800,000 + gallons , whereas the average flow is about 500 ,000 gallons . There was -a peak flow of about 1 . 5 million gallons , so this sh2ws that we still have some more work to do. It is believed there is/major leak somewhere , but the ground level has to build up before it hits this leak . We can handle a normal rainfall now, but when we get a heavy one , then we hit this problem. He believed that what has been done has shown tremendous results , but we will have to keep looking for this major leak . Councilman Wallace thought perhaps this was due to downspouts and Councilman Murray, believed there are underground cav- erns . Mayor Hill said there is a good comparison of last years 's fig- ures over this year 's flow at the office and he feels that we are handling the situation. Mayor Hill read a letter of commendation to Lt . Tommy Lloyd and the Police for services rendered at Elgin 's Hallmark Galleries on Plaza Drive, this letter being from Mr. Charles Elgin, owner. Mr. Chewning , News Director of Radio Station WAGE read a letter which quoted action taken by the 'Council at its last meeting concern- ing distribution of Council Agendas prior to the meetings ; he also said he had been allowed to listen to the tape recording of that meet- ing insofar as it pertained to this matter, and he asked for a clari- fication as to just what is meant by this action and what the radio station might expect in the future . This was all in view of the fact that they were not sent an Agenda for this meeting prior to the meet- ing and were refused a copy of it in the Town Office today . Council- man Orr explained what had been discussed at the previous meeting . 198 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 12 , 1973 MEETING. Councilman Wallace said that , although he was not present at the last meeting , he understood why this change had come about . He felt that the Agenda could be given coverage in general terms , but not mislead the public by swing that some particular item would definitely be adopted. Councilman Murray said it was his interpretation that they would go back to the original way of handling this, that is , the press would receive copies of the Agenda as they had in the past . He felt that the good• of publishing what was to happen at the meeting far out- weighed the possibility of something being pre-announced and then not happening . There was other discussion on this matter and it was de- cided that a resolution would not be necessary. Mr. Ritter said then _that he understands that the office staff will mail a copy of the forthcoming Agenda to Radio Station WAGE on Friday as we has dfways done , and that we will make the Agenda available to the news ifthey want it ahead of time - Additions will not be presented until the time of the meeting itself. Council agreed that this is the way it will be handled. On motion of Councilman Titus , seconded by Councilman Murray, the following resolution was proposed: BE IT RESOLVED, that the following appropriations be made : $ 169.40 - Deo Reporting - Depositions on Shor Suit . Utility Fund-Capital Outlays . 702 .00 - USDA, Soil Conservation Service - Preparation of Flood Plain Study Report . General Fund- Capital Outlays . 819.71 - Duncan Industries - 6 Parking Meters . General Fund-Capital Outlays . 1 ,000.00 - DND - Sanitary Sewer Design - Children ' s Center. 1971 Bond Issue . 920 .00 - DND - Sanitary Sewer Design - Dry Mill Relocation. 1971 Bond Issue . 1 ,760 .25 - DND - Old Waterford Road Topo Survey . 1971 Bond Issue . 923 . 30 - DND - Old Waterford Road Preliminary Plan . 1971 Bond Issue . 2 ,480 .00 - DND - Myers Well Rehabilitation. 1971 Bond Issue. 5 ,380 . 75 - DND - Town Branch Topo . Revenue Sharing Fund . 10,500.00 - Johnson and Williams - Water System Study . 1972 Bond Issue . Mr. Ritter said that the items to Dewberry, Newlon & Davis on the Old Waterford Road Project should be held up in view of the fact that he discovered today that this is an over-run of about $376 on what we authorized them to do . They are sending a revised bill , which will be within the amount agreed upon . These two items are , therefore, de- leted from the resolution above . Also , on motion of Councilman Titus , seconded by Councilman Orr, and after discussion as to when they might meet to discuss the Water System Study with Mr . Williams , Council voted unanimously to delete this item at this time . Also, Councilman Wallace suggested that the three items in connection with the By-Pass construction be appropriated from the Utility Fund-Capital Outlays , in view of the fact that it is not known just how soon the Highway Department will reimburse the Town for these projects . This was agreed to by Council members . Mr . Wallace also asked that the Town Manager have a list of ite sh tathavetbeen paid from the 1971 Bond Issue and to be reimburREd7a” therR�vxe finance Committee meeting . The resolution above, as amended and changed, was then unanimously adopted. 199 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 12 , 1973 MEETING . On motion of Councilman Ridder, Seconded by Councilman Murray, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : BE IT RESOLVED, that authorization be granted to purchase 2 double parking meters and 4 single parking meters for the lot in the rear of the property purchased from Dr . London , with the same time allotment as those meters on Municipal Parking lot. On motion of Councilman Wallace , seconded by Councilman Murray, ' the following resolution was unanimously adopted : RESOLVED, that Town of Leesburg offices be closed on December 24th and December 31st , 1973 . On motion of Councilman Orr, seconded by Councilman Ridder, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: RESOLVED, that parking meters on the Municipal Parking Lot be bagged effective December 13th through December ZD 25th . S a) On motion of Councilman Orr, seconded by Councilman Titus, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : C WHEREAS , at a regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council held on October 10 , 1973 the following resolution was tabled: RESOLVED, that the Town Manager be, and he is hereby authorized and directed to have published in the Metro- Virginia News on October 21st and 28th, 1973 the fol- lowing: PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that a Public Hearing will be held by the Leesburg Town Council on November 14, 1973 at 7 :30 P.M. , in the Council Chambers , 10 West Loudoun Street , Leesburg , Virginia , to consider proposed amend- ments to the Leesburg Zoning Ordinance . Said proposed amendments are to delete Section 9-2-1 ; to add a new Article entitled "Site Plans" ; and to add, delete and change certain definitions in Article 15 of the Leesburg Zoning Ordinance , all of which proposed amendments may be viewed in the Planning and Zoning Office , 15 West Market Street, between the hours of 9 :00 A.M. and 5 :00 P.M. Mondays through Fridays . At this hearing all persons desiring to express their views pertinent to said proposed amendments will be heard. G. DEWEY HILL, MAYOR Town of Leesburg WHEREAS , at a regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council held on November 28 , 1973 the above resolution was brought out of tablement and amended to change the publication dates to December 2 , 1973 and December 9, 1973 ; and WHEREAS, the advertisement was published on December 2 , 1973 but inadvertently omitted on December 9, 1973 . NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the above resolution be further amended to change the publication dates to Decem- ber 16 and 23 , 1973 for Public Hearing on January 9, 1974 . Mayor Hill asked that Mr. Lind ask his paper to absolve this first publication and print a retraction , so that the public will know that there will be no Public Hearing on December 26th on this matter. 200 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 12 , 1973 MEETING. • Councilman Murray expressed his wishes for a "Merry Christmas" to all employees of the Town and to all members of the Council. Mayor Hill asked that Mr. Ritter pass this on to the employees from the Council . Mr. Ritter said that the action taken by Council at last meeting pertaining to speed limits in Town seems to be in conflict with High- way Department regulations and confusion has resulted. He asked Mr . Martin to explain the situation and advise what the Police can or cannot do, particularly when working radar. Mr. Martin explained in detail what the Code of Virginia says , however, it also seems to be in conflict with what Mr . Connock, Resident Engineer of the Highway Department , has stated in correspondence to the Town . After dis- cussion, Mayor Hill referred this matter back to the Laws and Adminis- tration Committee for report back to the Council. On motion of Councilman Orr, seconded by Councilman Wallace, the meeting adjourned at 9: 26 P.M. Mayo' 47/ Clerk of • e Council i • I