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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1980_10_08 31 2 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, OCTOBER 8 , 1980 . i A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the Council Chambers, 10 West Loudoun Street, Leesburg, Virginia on October 8, 1980 at 7 : 30 p.m. The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with Mr. Tolbert giving the invocation, and followed with the Salute to the Flag led by Mr. Herrell . Present were : Mayor Kenneth B . Rollins, Councilmembers Charles A. Bos, Stanley D. . Herrell, Jr. , G. Dewey Hill, Jr. , Marylou Hill , John W. Tolbert, Jr. and Howard M. Willis, Jr . ; also Town Manager John Niccolls , Assist- ant Manager Jeffrey H . Minor, Director of Engineering Andrew G. Shope and Town Attorney George M. Martin . The minutes of the regular meeting of September 24 , 1980 were approved as written. PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION : Certificates of Appreciation were presented by Mayor Rollins . to former Councilmembers Glen P . Cole. and Walter F. Murray for service on the Town Council . Bronzed ;name plates were presented as a further token and reminder of their service to this body . Mayor Rollins expressed his personal appreciation, as well as that of the present members and the Town. Both Mr. Cole and Mr. Murray responded with their appreciation and pleasure for having served as members of the Council. PUBLIC HEARING: A public hearing was held on Rezoning Application #ZM-29 by SRL Properties-,' Inc. Mr. Charles Ottinger, attorney representing SRL Properties, said the present zoning is F-1 , Flood Plain, and they are proposing to have this property rezoned to M-1, Industrial . In order to accomplish this rezoning, they are making a proffer to the Town to eliminate the 100-year flood plain. They are willing to install an additional pipe under Catoctin Circle to take the flow from Town Branch and to install a berm, which will hold the water and direct the flow to the culvert. The engineers say that, with this berm, the flood water would be two feet below the top of the berm. This would eliminate the flood problem in not only this approximately two acres, but will make this valuable land for in- dustry, and will raise the tax base for the Town of Leesburg . In addition, it will assist in eliminating some of the problems above up to the area around the presently located J. T. Hirst & Company . Mr. Ottinger introduced Mr. Richard Hurney of Bengtson, DeBell, Elkin & Titus , engineers, who distributed copies of their report and exhibits . The major exhibits illustrate the existing flood plain and what the proposed improvements will do to eliminate the problem. He explained in detail the present flow through the channel-the three culverts in existence are sufficient to handle it at this time. However, for the 100 year _storm, the flood waters cross the area that would be Harrison Street Extended, which is lower than Catoctin Circle, and flood to the east, topping Catoctin Circle approximately 400 to 500 feet downstream, then :flooding the ad- jacent property south of Catoctin Circle. To eliminate this prob- lem, they propose to put an additional culvert under Catoctin Circle and to put an earthen berm along the side of Harrison Street Extended. This would contain the flood water in the natural Town Branch chan- nel and direct all the flow through the culverts and into what the natural channel way should be south of Catoctin Circle. This will help not only the properties on Catoctin Circle, but will benefit some of the properties immediately upstream. It will also benefit the town so that Catoctin Circle could be used as a major access road in the time of 100 year storm. It would not adversely affect any other property . Mr. Hill assumed they are taking into con- sideration the work :the town is doing at J. T. Hirst ' s and the fact that the water will get down there faster. Mr. Hurney said they are aware of this - the work proposed at Catoctin Circle will also get it down to Tuscarora Creek faster, which will tend to help the properties down below on the creek. Mayor Rollins asked what they are proposing under Catoctin Circle?4r. Hurney said they will be putting in a culvert approximately the same as those presently there now (142"x91" - a pipe arch) . Area-wise, the four pipes at Catoctin Circle will be larger than those at Hirst ' s. 313 MINUTES OF OCTOBER 8, 1980 MEETING. Mrs . Hill said the Planning Commission has unanimously recommended that this rezoning request be approved with the proffer provisions . Mr. Ottinger said they have nationally coordinated all of this with the Town ' s engineering staff . Mayor Rollins asked what the proposed use of the land is? Mr. Ottinger said this is just for the rezoning , but they will be coming back for a four-lot subdi- vision. These lots will be approximately a half acre each and will be available for industrial use. They already have one in terested party who will probably take two of the lots - Tommy Heskett will have a body shop. In Section 1 , two of the lots have been sold to people by the name of Horne, who own an auto- motive parts business in Vienna. They will probably be building within the next year for that purpose. Mr. Shope said he and Mr. Forbes reviewed the application and it all seems to prove out what they have stated. Mr. Hill asked who designates land as being in a flood plain, and do they have to give approval when it is no longer a flood plain? Mr. Shope said the people doing the flood insurance do this , however, the actual field work has been contracted out to USGS . They have already se- cured this data from Bengtson, DeBell, et al and are aware of it. We control the zoning and they adjust their map according to what type of improvements we allow on it. Mr. Reginald K. Gheen ,said he has been aware of flooding in 4. downtown Leesburg for many years, particularly on the town park- ing lot and at the intersection of Market and King Streets . He asked if the project on King Street down by Hirst ' s is Federally funded, and if this proposal on Catoctin Circle is a part of the overall project? Mayor Rollins said this is all being done with Town funds . Mr. Gheen then understood that elimination of flood- ing problems in this rezoning request is the responsibility of the applicant. He asked what the plans are for the future extension of Harrison Street? If this is developed, there will be other development on the west side of Town Branch. Additional paving and disturbing of that land must, of necessity, cause additional run-off . This will compound the flooding. Some day Brandon is going to be worse than it is now. Mayor Rollins said the Master Plan does call for construction of this street, but there is no immediate plan to do so . Mr. Niccolls said this street has been generally located on our maps for many years . Mr. Gheen felt that what is being done upstream will concentrate the situation down- stream. Mr. Hill said this was started many years ago - we set aside so much money each year for this project . The Public Works committee will be looking at this from the Tuscarora on down. Mayor Rollins did not know of anything on down the "Creek. "Mr. Gheen said his main concern is what happens to Catoctin Circle now? Mr. Dick Hurney said these improvements , as well as those up by Hirst 's , are all designed for the ultimate flow, which would come when the watershed is completely developed. These improvements will not affect the flow on Tuscarora that much . Mayor Rollins asked Mr. Niccolls what has ever happened to the Tuscarora Creek situation in Brandon? Mr. Niccolls said the site plan was approved at least two years ago for construction of three warehouses at the southeast corner. As part of the public improvements , the Town -required that the developer post a bond to straighten out the bend in Tuscarora Creek. The easement was se- ll from Virginia Knolls Community Association. There was a law- suit among the three owners of the project. The suit has been . settled and the land is now for sale, with the development plan attached to it. When that land is developed, that one bend will be straightened out. A buyer of that land, however;-might not want to put warehouses on the land. In that case, the land would revert to the F-1 zone, and no development would be permitted. The former application was approved before the amendment to the Zoning Map. He hoped this land will be developed as planned be- cause it will be a benefit to the Tuscarora flooding problem. He did not believe this rezoning would have any negative impact on the flooding situation in Brandon. It is not true, however, to say 314 MINUTES OF OCTOBER 8 , 1980 MEETING. that we are building the ultimate facilities in town - we are build- ing an earthen channel - a grass lined channel , with a design ca- pacity for the 25-year storm. The bridge structure is designed for 50 years . The engineers talk about 50 - 100 year storms - those are theoretical design calculations for design purposes . It could be possible for anybody to take into account conditions that occur in the winter where the land is frozen with a sheet of ice or snow on it and then it starts to rain. All the storm sewers fail, the water runs over land quickly, gets into the creeks quickly and you can have flash floods that no structures can accommodate. Nature doesn 't let us solve flooding problems that easy, so we are doing the standard things . Mayor Rollins declared the public hearing closed and referred this rezoning matter to the Finance and Administration Committee for action at the next Council meeting. MANAGER'S REPORT : (1) Mr. Niccolls called attention to the written Activity Report distributed tonight. Also, there is a monthly financial report, setting out expenditures and revenues through September 30 , 1980 ; a schedule of cash and investments as of today and a Capital Projects summary for September. (2) The street resurfacing is expected to start on Friday. Mr. Shope says they have to "square off" each day . ( 3) The town is recruiting for a police officer position. ( 4) Concerning the planning seminar, we have proposals from George Mason University and the University of Virginia to conduct this program in November. He needs to meet with councilmembers as to how to meet with and make a selection from these two pro- posals. ( 5) A preliminary report on the Plaza Park site selection is due tomorrow and should be on !the agendas for committee meetings next week. (6) The MICA study on refuse collection services is due soon . There will be some recommendations for action. (7) A report on activities at Potter ' s Field will be pre- sented by one of the workers tonight. Mayor Rollins suggested that this be done after completion of agenda items . ( 8) The Engineering Department has completed a public facility repair survey of the entire town. The last segment of that report involves the area downtown. He has asked the Engineering Department to have each block of sidewalk , curb and gutter segment, each storm drain, catch basin, etc . physically inspected and make an evaluation to determine whether or not repairs are needed and to rate the priority of those repairs on some kind of scale so that the Public Works Department can decide which should be done first. We have dangerous conditions, conditions that may lead to flooding, etc. There is enough work to keep two Public Works Departments busy for more than a year. They will report on progress of this work. Copies of the survey can be made available to councilmembers if they so desire them. COUNCILMEMBER INQUIRIES AND COMMENTS : Mr. Herrell asked why it has taken so long on the Plaza Street park site? Mr. Niccolls said he and Mr. Minor have been busy on the cable project. Mr. Niccolls said both he and Mr. MinorL.did not meet as often with the consultant as much as he would have liked. There was an extensive delay in getting the appropriate report from "Mac" Downs (2 to 3 weeks) and they wanted to have a competent appraisal on the land options before they made a recommendation. It was not the consultant, but there were other factors. 315 MINUTES OF OCTOBER 8 , 1980 MEETING. Mr. Tolbert said he had asked sometime ago that a screen of some kind be placed to keep the trash from blowing down on the neighbors at First and Wirt Streets (this trash coming from stores in the Village Square Shopping Center) . Mr. Niccolls said a work order was issued, but the Public Works Department has not gotten to it. He will get_ back`to it. DISCUSSION CONCERNING CABLE TELEVISION CONTRACT: Mayor Rollins said the first two items on the Agenda for to- night concern the cable TV ordinance and the acceptance and ap- proval of the contract between Storer and the Town of Leesburg. Mr. Niccolls said, following last night ' s committee meeting, he talked with Lee Ruck, counsel for Catoctin Cable, with whom we have been negotiating , and explained to him the changes suggested by councilmembers . He promised to take these back to officials of Catoctin Cable and get in touch with him. He said they had a problem with the annexation issue and on the 5-hour issue on the mobile van. He asked for more time and said the whole contract is down in Florida, the corporate headquarters for Storer, and those in authority to sign are either on vacation or attending business meetings, and have not had time to review the contract thoroughly for tonight ' s meeting. A letter has been written to Mr. Ruck this afternoon telling him all these things (with a copy to Mr. Ottinger) . That is where it stands now. Mr. Ottinger said most of what Mr. Niccolls has said has been related to him by Mr. Ruck also, the primary reason being that there are some new proposals suggested from last night ' s committee meet- ing. They had hoped to get in touch with Storer today, but several people were not available. They, therefore, feel they need some more time and request that this be deferred for two weeks and give them time to address these issues. There are no major issues so far as he knows, but they have to have an answer from Storer. Mr. Herrell understood these changes are minor and he would like to move a recess at the end of this meeting and vote it up or down. One of the things about this was the fact that they had local repre- sentation so that decisions could be made. Mr. Ottinger said he cannot make this recommendation - there are issues from last night that they need answers on from Storer. - He again requested that it be deferred until next sessionof Council . Perhaps it could be done in a week. Mayor Rollins felt that Storer should exe- cute this agreement first. On motion of Mr. Willis , seconded by Mrs. Hill, it was moved to defer Items 1 and 2 on the Agenda and to meet in special ses- sion next Tuesday night at 7 : 30 p. m. Mr. Ottinger asked if they would like to have another committee meeting? Mr. Niccolls said he could report to councilmembers, either in person or by phone, Friday on the progress and, if we come to agreement, with Council 's wishes on those three sections, and if the Storer corporate office doesn 't raise any additional problems, iit wouldn ' t be necessary to have that kind of meeting. If not, the Council needs an opportunity to go over this instrument, either at the meeting Tuesday or pre- ceding that . Mayor Rollins felt that Storer 'has the .agreement we want as a result of committee action. If that is agreeable, then they should execute it and Council can act on it. Mr. Herrell said the document the committee came out with is what the Town wants . He sees no sense in another committee meeting. Mr. Hill understood that this agreement was just done on Monday. Mr. Niccolls said there were two meetings involved, but the completed agreement came out Monday . Local counsel for Catoctin Cable, Lee Ruck, approved the document and the Town ' s counsel approved it. Mr. Ottinger said it was his impression ( from Lee Ruck) that there was an acceptable document there. The motion to defer these items until next Tuesday at 7 : 30 p.m. was unanimously adopted: Aye : Councilmembers Bos, Herrell, D. Hill, M. Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Rollins. Nay: None. 316 MINUTES OF OCTOBER 8 , 1980 MEETING. Mayor Rollins emphasized the fact that the document should come to the Town fully executed by Storer as an offer, and then the Town would accept that offer. If it is unacceptable, then it will have to be taken up : that, night. He advised ;that Storer have someone here to speak and sign for that company. Mr. Herrell asked if decisions will be made locally by Catoctin or will they have to be made by Storer in Miami? Mr. Ottinger said decisions will be made by Catoctin and the three-State of- fices in Fairfax - it is a direct line. Mr. Tolbert asked why the document had to go to Florida then? Mr. Ottinger said Florida is the nationwide headquarters of Storer. Their corporate counsel and their chief executive offices are down there, insofar as he knows. There will be a local manager who will live here. 80-106 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AN AGREEMENT, APPROVING A PER- FORMANCE GUARANTEE FOR INSTALLATION OF PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND APPROVING WATER AND SEWER EX- TENSIONS FOR BROWN ' S MEADOW SUBDIVISION. On motion of Mrs. Hill, seconded by Mr. Bos, the following resolution was proposed : RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg, Virginia, as follows : SECTION I. The manager is authorized and directed to exe- cute the standard agreement for public improvements for Brown ' s Meadow Subdivision. SECTION II . The extension of municipal water and sewer works for Brown ' s Meadow Subdivision is approved. SECTION III . A performance guarantee in the amount of $167 , 960 guaranteeing installation of public improvements in Brown ' s Meadow Subdivision in accordance with plans ap- proved by the Director of Engineering and the set-aside agreement reviewed by the town attorney is approved. Mr. Hill said this is another and a fourth method of guaranteeing improvments . He has asked Mr. Shope to review the procedure for the future. Perhaps there should be some changes made. Mr. Shope said this amount is set aside at the Bank and is there if abso- lutely necessary. Mayor Rollins asked if this is one of the three methods that the ordinance provides for? Mr. Niccolls said the ordinance says "any method that the council approves is acceptable. " It says the security to be posted by developers shall be in a form approved by the Council. There used to be only three methods ,•but the State law was changed to broaden the number of methods available. The Town followed suit. Since then, we have approved several dif- ferent types of guaranteeing methods . Since Mr. Hill raised this question, he has asked Mr. Martin to analyze the methods we are using and to come up with something that can be standardized. Council could then adopt some policies on when, where and how they are to be used. Whether or not this method tonight is approved is entirely in Council ' s immediate domain . Mr. Hill said he likes this method better than taking a first trust on real estate. Mr. Bos asked Mr. Brownell to explain further on this matter. Mr. Bruce Brownell said that from the Town 's point of view it is basically the same as cash . The loan is irrevocable. The funds are directly available to the Town if the Town calls for them, so there would be no problem if they went out of business or whatever. It is actually a development loan that they take from the bank . In this case, the development loan is actually more than this because it includes sewer taps and other things that are not really a part of the bond. When they draw this loan down :to this $167, 960 figure, any additional release from the bond has to be approved by the town . It is very much like a construction loan - you negotiate the loan but you draw it only as you need it. They do not pay interest on it unless they draw it. This way you don 't have to go through the premium of the bonding company, etc . and it is lot quicker. Mr. Niccolls said this is similar to a letter of credit, and we have used these before. Mr. Martin said this is also supporting the deed of trust on the apartment. Mr. MINUTES OF OCTOBER 8, 1980 MEETING. 317 Brownell said this is true . He re-emphasized that this $167 , 960 1 is essentially held in escrow by the Bank and cannot be released until the Town has given its approval . Mayor Rollins asked what kind of houses he plans to build on this property? Mr. Brownell said they plan to build houses similar to those in the Colvin Run.; area in Fairfax County . They don 't plan to build this subdivision very fast - there are only 18 lots - probably only two or three houses in a year. Mr. Hill said he likes this procedure better than some of the other methods. Mr. Martin said they have seen the fi- nancial statement of the Equitable Savings and Loan in Maryland and it seems to be a right strong institution. The resolution was unanimously adopted: Aye : Councilmembers Bos, Herrell, D. Hill, M. Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Rollins . Nay : None. 80-107 - RESOLUTION - MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30 , 1981 . On motion of Mr. Tolbert, seconded by Mr. Herrell, the follow- CO ing resolution was proposed : ; CO RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg, Virginia," CO as follows : aSECTION I. A supplemental appropriation is made from the Q General Fund to Account No . 10110 . 221 Traffic Maintenance, in the amount of $1 , 000 .00 for the fiscal year ending 1981 . SECTION II . An appropriation is made from the Utility Fund to Account No. 20600 . 807B Rehabilitation, in the amount of $14 ,400 . 00 for the fiscal year ending June 30 , 1981 . ' Mrs . Hill said the $14 , 400 is for Penetryn Systems - it is a re- appropriation. Mayor Rollins asked when they plan to install the traffic light? Mr. Niccolls said they should start work on this any day. Mr. Hill said this is also a re-appropriation - they are still under their contract price, and they did some extra work for the town . The resolution was unanimously adopted: Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Herrell , D. Hill, M. Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Rollins . Nay : None. PRESENTATION ON POTTER ' S FIELD: Mr. Niccolls introduced Mr. Charles Sparrow, one of the workers on the Potter 's Field project. Mr. Sparrow presented several slides of the work done thus far, explaining the procedures used to remove the remains found in these graves and the types of caskets used. Most of these burials have occurred from about the 1830 ' s to the early 1950 ' s . Prior to 1837 , when this land was deeded to the Town, itwas used as a family cemetery for the Shreve family. The bones they have found (and there are not too many of them in very good shape) are wrapped individually in foil and labeled. They will be sent to California to be studied by Leonard Winter. To date, they have excavated 80 graves - they have located 70 to 80 more impressions . This does not include the lower portion of the lot by the road . The bones will be sent back to Leesburg after they have been studied - the artifacts will be kept separate and will be stored at the Loudoun Museum. They include some but- tons , some beads and one sterling silver wedding band - this is the only jewelry found. He stressed that there is no "treasure" out there. A number of bodies have been found in crudely fashioned shipping crate-type boxes, which they feel acted much the same as today ' s vault. They have speeded up the work somewhat by renting a backhoe to remove the top two to three feet of grade fill - this is being done at their expense and will enable them to conclude the project as quickly as possible. With this tool , he and Doug Hollingsworth can each excavate one or two burials per day. Even MINUTES OF OCTOBER 8, 1980 MEETING. 318 though using heavy equipment has its dangers, they are still trying to obtain as much data as possible. He estimated that they have a couple of months ' work yet . Mr. Hill asked if they are funded by some endowment? Mr. Sparrow said they are not. Some of the equipment is coming out of their paychecks now. The last heavy equipment for removal of topsoil was paid for by the town as per the contract. They have been here since about the 6th or 7th of June. Mr. Niccolls said the question comes up when we contemplate the extra work on the job as to whether it is worth it - or is it something that we must do? You can 't stop now because we know there are additionar. gCereves and, if the land were to be sold, it wouldn 't bring 'anyniess those graves were identified and removed. He felt this is as good a deal as we could make, certainly better than hiring commercial undertakers to ac- complish the job. Mr. Niccolls said this is the right way to do this job. Mr. Sparrow asked councilmembers and staff members to come out to the site sometime. On motion of Mr. Tolbert, seconded by Mrs. Hill, Council voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8 :25 P.M. �iY Kenneth B . Rollins , Mayor Clerk of t - Council