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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1981_11_11 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, NOVEMBER 112 481. A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the Council Chambers, 10 West Loudoun Street, Leesburg, Virginia on November 11, 1981 at 7 : 30 p.m. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Pro-Tem G. Dewey Hill, with the invocation given by Mr. Tolbert and followed with the Salute to the Flag led by Mr. Bos. Present were: Mayor Pro-Tem G. Dewey Hill, Jr. , Councilmembers Charles A. Bos, Stanley D. Herrell, Jr. , Marylou Hill, John W. Tolbert, Jr. and Howard M. Willis, Jr. ; also Town Manager John Niccolls, Director of Finance Donald O. Taylor and Town Attorney George M. Martin. Absent from the meeting was Mayor Kenneth B. Rollins. The minutes of the regular meeting of October 14 , 1981 were ap- proved as written. PUBLIC HEARING ON ZM-35 - S . D. , JR. AND BETTY H. PHILLIPS : A public hearing was held on ZM-35 - S . D. , Jr. and Betty H. Phillips. The notice of public hearing and the proffer were read into the record by the Clerk. Mr. Hill stated there is a letter from Leesburg Builders accompanying the proffer. N Mr. Stan Colson, President of Huntland Homes Town House Associ- CD ation, said the association originally had an objection, but if the Nt proffer is accepted by Council as a part of the over-all applica- tion for rezoning and becomes a part of the record and is recorded Q as such, then they will withdraw objection to the rezoning. Q Mr. S. D. Phillips, Jr. introduced Mr. Gore of Leesburg Builders and said the property is under contract with him. One of the condi- tions of the contract is that this body rezone this property to B-2 and eliminate everything except multi-family dwellings. He asked for B-2 because the surrounding area is all B-2 . Mrs. Hill turned this rezoning down because the proffer was not in order the night they turned it down. Rather than delay it, they turned it down that night, assuming it would be in order when it came to the governing body. Mr. Hill asked if she felt the Planning Commission would have voted for it as proffered? She replied Yes, but it was not specific - it didn ' t get rid of a bowling alley and some other things. Rather than delaying their decision and waiting for him to come back to the Planning Commission, they felt they should turn it down at that point. As it is done now, they would have been in favor of it and it has not delayed Mr. Phillips on his sale. Mr. Bos understood the request for rezoning is only half of the property he is going to sell , and the other half is already zoned B-2 . Mr. Phillips said this is correct. Mr. Bos also asked what Mr. Gore ' s specific plans are? Mr. Gore said he intends to build apartment buildings - approximately 12 units . Mr. Hill asked if this would encompass the other half that is already B-2? Mr. Gore said it would. There will be two 6-unit apartment buildings. Mayor Pro-Tem Hill referred this matter back to the Finance and Administration Committee for recommendation at the next Council meet- ing. The public hearing was closed. MANAGER' S REPORT: Mr. Niccolls commented on items on the Activity Report as fol- lows : (1) The first franchise payment from Storer Cable Communica- tions has been received. The next one will be much larger. There is a status report on construction of the system - all of these projects are moving along. There are almost 1, 000 services con- tracted for, which indicates they will easily achieve the penetra- tion rate projected for the end of the first year (65% of avail- able homes) . They are straightening out some of the frequency problems they have had. He believed that they solved today some of the transmission problems on the town' s Channel 15. We are putting silent automated programming over Channel 15 giving infor- mation on town activities. They do not feel this should be limited to just town activities , but to those of :. civic non-political ac- tivities. For example: Bloodmobile, Kiwanis parade, Lions Club program, etc . Jeff is working on a program guide which will be used to fill the available time and space of this channel . If MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 11, 1981 MEETING. 244 you have suggestions, please tell him. We will also be figuring out a way to get an audio signal on the cable. He feels this channel can turn out to be a very useful information medium for the town. , He hoped councilmembers will make suggestions. Mr. Tolbert asked if we could have a community calendar similar to what WAGE has? Mr. Niccolls said Yes, this would supplement the other media available. Mr. Herrell suggested that the members of council be included with the agenda. Mr. Tolbert suggested list- ing all the town commissions, etc . (2) On the Plaza Street Park, they think it will be completed in about two weeks . They are running close to the end of the pav- ing season but think they can still pave for the next two or three weeks. ( 3) The Activity Report includes what the Highway Department will be doing at the Market Street - Plaza Street traffic light - these signal changes will be a noticable improvement. These changes will be made at cost against the future project - there will be no immediate capital outlay but, at the time the final calculations are made on the highway project, we can expect some billings. Our share would be 15 percent. (4) They are moving along on the South Harrison Street project. There are appraisals and surveys going on and the planners have now begun work - this was kicked off in our offices last Wednesday. The initial phase is gathering a lot of information for the planners, including individual surveys of each business in the project area, and there are six or seven, as well as surveys of physical condi- tion and land use in the area. We are doing a lot of this work our- selves in order to keep the cost down. (5) There is a report on a seminar Mr. Minor attended concerning employees ' rights. This includes affirmative action, nondiscrimina- tion, sexual ;:harassment, equal opportunity, etc . Mr. Minor is Per- sonnel Director and he advises him concerning certain things that are prohibited. (6) There is a report on Planning Commission activity and Board of Zoning Appeals . On the latter, there will be a public hearing on Mr. Brownell ' s request for a variance concerning drive- way entrances. (7) The leafloader is running and we are continuing to work on some other little sidewalk repairs, etc. He called attention to an error concerning sidewalk work - it should read North Church Street. (8) The airport work is moving along - the designs have been completed and Mr. Shope is beginning work with the contractor on the I/I abatement program. Mr. Hill asked how much more has to be done on the mini-systems? Mr. Niccolls said we have done about one-third of them. Mr. Shope wanted to have a re-evaluation per- iod to see if the priorities established earlier are still correct. This is what he is talking with Penetryn about - they will be do- ing a flow analysis to learn if the areas we have worked on in the past three years have really improved or not and what other mini- systems are in desperate need of work. COUNCILMEMBER INQUIRIES AND COMMENTS : Mr. Bos said Peter Dunning talked with Mr. Niccolls last week concerning the summer concert series. Apparently there are some grant funds available through the Virginia Commission for the Arts if certain qualifications are met. He understood Mr. Niccolls will be preparing an application for this when we get more details. He (Mr. Bos) and Mr. Dunning have been talking with some various groups that might want to participate and are enthused about it. They should be back to Council in a week or two with a more formal proposal . Mr. Bos said one of his daughters needed a video cassette for a scholarhsip application and Storer was very cooperative on this. They did not charge for this and said it was part of their community relations . MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 11, 1981 MEETING. 245 Mrs. Hill said the Planning Commission committee is meeting every Wednesday morning on the updating of the Comprehensive Plan. They will try to meet more than this to try to get it out. The Commission will set aside one meeting for just this purpose and they hope to get it finished soon. Mrs . Hill reported that the Museum has appointed a committee consisting of Mrs . Frost, Mrs. Herrell and her to talk to builders about the possibility of making an entrance-way from the original Museum into the second building under the stairway - they will be getting bids to see how much it would cost. Before they do any- thing, they will come to Council for approval to break through the wall . Mrs . Hill also requested the Finance and Administration Com- mittee to look into the possibility of accepting credit card pay- ment for personal property and real estate taxes . According to an article she read, in 1979 the General Assembly passed legis- lation enabling this. One of the stipulations is that the ser- vice charge must be paid at the time the taxes are charged to the credit card. Virginia Beach is the only area that has started do- ing this. The town would not pay this service charge. Mr. Herrell said he would like a report from the town staff on this. There O was discussion concerning this, with the request that it be dis- cussed further at the Finance and Administration Committee meeting. Mr. Hill asked why they couldn ' t pay taxes twice a year? He asked Q Mr. Bolen if the Board of Supervisors has discussed a biennial pay- ment of taxes? Mr . Bolen said there has been much discussion con- A cerning this - the problem is the ability to physically handle the bi-payments in terms of additional manpower, computerization and the budgeting process. It is conceivable that some day this will hap- pen and they are moving in that direction, but there are many hur- dles to cross before they reach that point. There is no plan for this in the next two or three years . Mr. Tolbert said he pays his this way in Charles Town - he receives a discount. Mrs . Hill said they also send both envelopes in the same mail to save postage. Mr. Hill said Fairfax does this. Mr. Willis commented that Storer seems to be improving its public image - the Fire Company was informed that basic service would be provided to them at no charge. Mr. Tolbert asked if the Highway Department ever made a study of the traffic situation at Sycolin Road and Market Street? Mr. Niccolls said there have been several discussions with them and we have asked the possibility of installation of a light there. Each time they find that the statistical measures of need are not met at that intersection - they are saying that the traffic on Sycolin Road, the number of accidents , etc. don ' t justify a sig- nal . MAYOR' S REPORT: Mayor Pro-Tem Hill read to Council a letter from Mr. William Whitmore, Principal of the Leesburg Elementary School, stating the week of November 16th is American Education Week, asking mem- bers to visit the school on November 19th between 9 : 00 A.M. and 12 Noon and to share lunchon `that day. He felt all schools wel- come visitors during that week. 81-0-28 ORDINANCE - AMENDING SECTION 12 . 1-49 . 2 OF THE TOWN CODE. On motion of Mrs . Hill , seconded by Mr. Bos, the following ordinance was proposed: ORDAINED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows : SECTION I . Section 12 . 1-49 . 2 of the Town Code is amended to read as follows : MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 11, 1981 MEETING. 248 Sec. 12 . 1-49 . 2 . Employee option benefits program. The town council may from time to time make appro- priations for an employee option benefits program under which a specified amount of money is provided annually for each full time employee for benefits selected by the employee from the following list of benefits . The em- ployee option benefits program shall be administered by the manager under the following general policies: (1) Employees shall elect from among the optional bene- fits shown below on an annual basis. New employees are eligible for optional benefits after six months service. (2) Benefits and payments shall be prorated on a monthly I/ service basis. Not more than twenty-five percent of the annual allotment earned may be carried over to the ensuing fiscal year . (3) The health, athletic condition and physical fitness of town employees is of interest and benefit to the town as employer. Therefore, the manager is author- ized to enter into group or master agreements with providers of health, athletic and physical fitness services to employees electing such services. The agreements may provide for payments by the town to the providers for health, athletic and physical fit- ness services rendered employees. (4) Each employee may elect to receive any number of the optional benefits available. The aggregate expenditure by the town per employee shall not exceed the amount of money specified by the council . Employees may pur- chase with their own funds additional optional bene- fits above the amount provided by the town. (5) Optional employee benefits are approved as follows at rates and terms to be approved by the town manager : (a) Term life insurance up to $40, 000 per employee in increments of $10, 000. 00 . • (b) Medical (including mental health) , dental and optical (including eye glasses and corrective lenses) expense reimbursements made semi-annually to the employee provided, however, no payments shall be made which duplicate benefits provided under the town' s group health insurance plan or for expenses incurred for services to any depend- ent not covered by the town ' s group health insur- ance plan. (c) Employees may elect as an optional benefit to have the town pay for spouse, family or other dependent coverages up to the amount authorized by the council for optional benefits. SECTION II . This ordinance shall be in effect upon its pas- sage. Mrs. Hill explained that there was an error - "optional" should have been "optical" in paragraph (b) . The ordinance was unani- mously adopted : Aye : Councilmembers Bos, Herrell , M. Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Pro-Tem D. Hill . Nay: None. 81-155 - RESOLUTION - AUTHORIZING A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH LOUDOUN COUNTY FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A STORM SEWER OUTFALL ON EAST CORNWALL STREET. On motion of Mr . Bos, seconded by Mr. Willis, the following resolution was proposed: MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 11 , 1981 MEETING. 247 WHEREAS, the County of Loudoun proposes to pay 65 percent of the costs of construction of a storm sewer outfall on East Cornwall Street estimated to cost $28 , 823 required to accommodate additional storm waters resulting from improve- ments on county owned land; THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows : The manager shall enter into a cooperative agreement with Loudoun County for construction of a storm sewer outfall on East Cornwall Street under which the town will construct the required improvements as shown on construction plans prepared by DeLashmutt Associates and the county will pay for all the costs of onsite work and 65 percent of the costs of offsite work and 65 percent of stakeout and as-built sur- vey costs. Mr. Niccolls said the plan is to have a cooperative project under which the town undertakes the actual work and the County pays 65 percent of the actual cost as incurred. It is of sufficient gene- ral benefit that the 35 percent of our effort, labor and equipment, O materials, etc . is an appropriate expenditure. A letter has been received from Mr. Bolen saying that they are in agreement with the CT proposals . Mr. Hill assumed that, once we get started on the project, 7 we can expect their share to come pretty quickly. Mr. Bolen said the a money has been appropriated and authorized for expenditure - they Q can cut a check any time the town demands. Mr. Bos assumed the County will proceed with the parking lot almost immediately. Mr. Bolen said the contractor is on site now and has started the curb and gutter work. The resolution was unanimously adopted: Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Herrell, M. Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Pro-Tem D. Hill . Nay : None. 81-156 - RESOLUTION - MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30 , 1982 . On motion of Mr. Tolbert, seconded by Mrs . Hill, the following resolution was proposed and unanimously adopted: RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows : An appropriation is made from the General Fund to Account No. 1203 . 701, Office Equipment, in the amount of $250. 00 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1982 . Aye : Councilmembers Bos , Herrell, M. Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Pro-Tem D. Hill. Nay: None. 81-157 - RESOLUTION - AUTHORIZING NOTICE OF PUBLICATION OF PUBLIC HEARING ON APPLICATION #ZM-36 BY JOHN A. WALLACE, TEE . • 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 : A Notice of Public Hearing to consider Application Number ZM-36 by John A. Wallace, Jr. , Tee to have rezoned from M-1 to B-2 approximately 6 , 192 square feet of land located on the south side of East Loudoun Street shall be published in the Loudoun Times-Mirror on November 19 , 1981 and Novem- ber 26 , 1981 for public hearing on December 9 , 1981 at 7 : 30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 10 West Loudoun Street, Lees- burg, Virginia • 4 MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 11, 1981 MEETING. 24 Mrs. Hill explained that this is the back end of the old Francis property across from the old A & P Store. The front end is zoned B-2 and this end is zoned M-1 - this will make the entire piece of property B-2 . No-one spoke against it at the Planning Commis- sion meeting. The resolution was unanimously adopted: Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Herrell, M. Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Pro-Tem D. Hill. Nay : None. 81-158 - RESOLUTION - APPROVING A COMMISSION PERMIT. On motion of Mr. Willis, seconded by Mr. Bos, the following resolution was proposed : WHEREAS, Section 15. 1-456 of the Code of Virginia requires approval by a local planning commission and governing body for construction, establishment or authorization of any street, park or other public area, public building or pub- lic structure; and WHEREAS, the County of Loudoun on November 4 , 1981 requested approval of construction of a 26 car parking lot on the rear of 30, 34 , 38 and 42 Edwards Ferry Road; and WHEREAS, the County of Loudoun on November 4 , 1981 requested approval of construction of a 26 car parking lot on the rear • of 30 , 34 , 38 and 42 Edwards Ferry Road; and WHEREAS, the Leesburg Planning Commission on November 5, 1981 approved the proposed construction with the following motion: The request of the County of Loudoun for approval , under Sec- tion 15 . 1-456 of the Virginia Code, of the construction of a 26 car parking lot on the rear of 30 , 34 , 38 and 42 Edwards Ferry Road, as described in a November 4 , 1981 letter from Philip A. Bolen, County Administrator, is approved as being substantially in accord with the Comprehensive Plan of the Town of Leesburg, subject, however, to the following condi- tions : (a) The approval is valid for five years; and (b) The county shall submit an engineering plan of the project to the Director of Engineering for review and approval before construction begins: THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows : The request of the County of Loudoun for approval, under Sec- tion 15 . 1-456 of the Virginia Code, of the construction of a 26 car parking lot on the rear of 30, 34 , 38 and 42 Edwards Ferry Road, as described in a November 4 , 1981 letter from Philip A. Bolen, County Administrator, is approved as being substantially in accord with the Comprehensive Plan of the Town of Leesburg, subject, however, to the following condi- tions : (a) The approval is valid for five years; and (b) The county shall submit an engineering plan of the project to the Director of Engineering for review and approval before construction begins. Mr . Bos understood this is to be a gravel parking lot. Mrs. Hill said it doesn ' t say this and one of the requests was that it be gravel. The Zoning Ordinance requires that it be paved. Mr. Bos assumed that we are talking about a gravel lot. Mr. Niccolls said their proposal is for gravel - he felt the requirements for a com- mission permit will have to be dealt with outside the framework of such a permit. Mr. Hill asked if the town ' s engineer would have any problem with gravel . Mr . Niccolls did not feel so, but he felt there are some issues of drainage and grading that he is con- cerned with. The drainage problems can be resolved, but the question MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 11, 1981 MEETING. 249 is at what expense? They have been advised that we are concerned about drainage onto the lower property and they have said they feel this can be resolved very easily through grading. It is a technical problem - there is a storm sewer structure nearby and it may be possible to use it if needed. Mrs. Hill said Mr. Nic- colls ' memo of November 5 stated that lighting should be directed away from any residential lots - that this should be stated in the permit. Mr. Bolen said if the lighting goes in, they would proffer that they would comply with the town ' s ordinance and with the wishes of the county engineer. The lot is not proposed to be used at night and, if there is any lighting, it would be some type of night light. The only time would be if the jury is working late in the winter - there would be no need for it in the summer. As to the gravel lot, II they don ' t want to do the engineering for a paved lot without a complete project determining the expansion of the jail. When that decision is made, they will comply with the requirements of the town for substantial grading, storm sewer, paving, lighting, shrubbery and necessary landscaping. They are interested in as minimal as possible of compliance just because of the nature of the project. If the cost exceeds what they consider to be reasonable, then they will scrap the idea and wait for the planning process . The parking lot was one of the attempts they had to provide parking for citizens N when they come to pay their taxes . There have already been several O discussions and he feels they can satisfy Mr. Shope ' s concerns and Ct get on with the project. It is a question of whether they do the temporary project now or just delay the complete project. The reso- lution was unanimously adopted: Q Q Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Herrell , M. Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Pro-Tem D. Hill . Nay: None. Mr. Herrell asked if the County takes VISA and Master Card for taxes? Mr. Bolen said there has been no decision on this - he did not feel Mr. Titus would be willing to do this since these companies take their share off the top. He said the Board has not addressed this and it may be one of the discussion items they have with regard to the budget process . There has been no staff initiative to insti- tute that practice. 81-159 - RESOLUTION - SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION TO UTILITY FUND. There being no objection to considering tonight, on motion of Mr. Herrell, seconded by Mr. Tolbert, the following resolution was proposed: WHEREAS, the K-2 saw engine used by the Utility Lines Divi- sion to cut pipes requires repairs almost equal to the cost of a new saw, and the saw is now four years old; RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows : A supplemental appropriation is authorized to Account Number 5100 . 711, Utility Lines, Equipment in the amount of $595 . 00 for the fiscal year 1982 . Mrs. Hill asked if there is a better saw that would last longer? Mr. Niccolls said he will ask, but he assumes they are satisfied with the quality of the machine. It is heavily used by this de- ' partment. The resolution was unanimously adopted: Aye : Councilmembers Bos, Herrell, M. Hill , Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Pro-Tem D. Hill. Nay: None. Mr. Niccolls said Mr. Chaves has completed a survey of the Odd Fellows Building - it is not at all bad. Also, Mr. Chatelain brought over the plans for the upstairs of this building and he and Mr. Chaves are figuring out how to get this work underway, hopefully in December. On motion of Mr. Tolbert, seconded by Mr. Willis , the mee ing was adjourned at 9 : 38 p.m. 7 May0,s„ Pro-Tem / Clerk of t 'e Council