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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1983_09_28 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL, SEPTEMBER 28, 1983. 330 A regular meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held in the Council Chambers, 10 West Loudoun Street, Leesburg, Virginia on September 28, 1983 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. Beckham Dickerson (in the audience) . Present were: Mayor Robert E. Sevila, Councilmembers Charles A. Bos, Edgar L. Coffey, Jr. , Reginald K. Gheen, Marylou Hill, John W. Tolbert, Jr. and Howard M. Willis, Jr. ; also Town Manager John Niccolls, Deputy Manager Jeffrey H. Minor, Assistant Manager for Planning and Development Marc Weiss and Town Attorney George M. Martin. On motion of Mrs. Hill, seconded by Mr. Tolbert, the minutes of the regu- lar meeting of September 14, 1983 were approved with one correction - page 325 - change "swamp" to read "swap": Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Sevila. Nay: None. PETITIONERS: Mr. Peter Dunning, Executive Director of the Bluemont Concert Series, gave a review of the 1983 Sunday Courthouse Concerts. Their objective was to present a fine series of outdoor family concerts on the steps of the courthouse in coop- eration with the Town of Leesburg and other community groups. It was felt the program was a great success. Six concerts were presented, as opposed to five last year, with an average attendance of 840, as opposed to 400 last year - a total of 5,000. Income was around $11,000, with a total of $12,000 in ex- penses. They had some specific goals for this year: (1) to present highest 1 quality performances - a variety of traditional and classical music - a mix of different things appealing to different people; (2) they wanted the presenta- tions to be suitable to families and to be performances that people would not normally see without going into Washington; (3) there was increased participa- tion by the county this year and from other community groups (the museum and some of the restaurants) - all four of them made contributions to the series to help pay printing costs; (4) they were able to get an award from the Vir- ginia Arts Commission - they gave 100 percent match of the monies put up by the town and the county; (5) they had presentations at the hospital and the long term care unit in the afternoon before the concert with all six concerts; (6) there was increased volunteer support and membership this year; (7) they keep clipping files on the responses they receive to the press releases on the programs - people are starting to look for these in the various papers distri- buted in the area; (8) continued partnership with the town - they are very grateful for the support from the Council and from Mr. Niccolls and his staff, particularly Jimmy Kidwell, who had people there as needed. He felt the fi- nancial review presented was self-explanatory. If Leesburg wants to continue this series, he urged that we get the process going so they can know the mini- mum levels of participation for next year - we are now sharing these programs with people in Warrenton, Winchester and Berryville - each of this year's pro- grams was presented in either Winchester or Warrenton. While they are not get- ting the crowds yet, there was some real positive response - there is a lot of room for growth for this sort of thing. Leesburg is the leader for this gene- ral area and they appreciate it. Mr. Bos felt the program was an outstanding success this year and he would like to see it continue to prosper and grow in a quality way. He felt a resolu- tion of appreciation would be appropriate at this time. 83-148 - RESOLUTION - EXPRESSING APPRECIATION TO BLUEMONT CONCERT SERIES FOR SUMMER CONCERTS AND OFFERING COOPERATION IN THE FUTURE. On motion of Mr. Bos, seconded by Mr. Tolbert, the following resolution was proposed: WHEREAS, the Town of Leesburg has partially supported the Bluemont Concert Series in providing the community with a series of summer concerts during the past two years; and WHEREAS, the growing popularity of these summer concerts has contri- buted to the cultural well-being of the community and has improved the quality of life in Leesburg; and WHEREAS, such cultural events are an investment in Leesburg's future as a pleasant place to live; and MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1983 MEETING. q 9r� WHEREAS, one of the goals of the Town of Leesburg is to promote Lees- 331 burg as the cultural center of Loudoun County: THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: SECTION I. The Council of the Town of Leesburg extends its thanks and appreciation to the Bluemont Concert Series for providing an outstand- ing series of summer concerts during the past two summers. SECTION II. The Town of Leesburg and the Bluemont Concert Series shall cooperate in the future to continue the Summer Concert Series and ex- plore ways in which this series can be enhanced and improved. Mr. Bos said he attended all but one concert this year - the crowds increased this year and it has become almost an expected event - it has changed the whole atmosphere of the downtown area on the week-end. People from outside Leesburg are coming to the concerts - people from quite a distance. He has heard requests that we try to do this weekly or at least more often. He cautioned, though, that the event not become self-destructive in the fact that there is not enough room for everyone to sit on the courthouse lawn. There was one concert where there really wasn't any decent space left. This is a tribute to the quality OD and popularity of the concerts. He was very pleased. Mayor Sevila echoed Mr. Bos' sentiments and expressed his personal interest and pride in the series. VO He too has been approached by people from out-of-town (McLean)as to when the next concert will take place. This shows how widespread the series has become - this, in part, accounts for the increased attendance. It is a very successful W program and one that we can all indeed be proud of. The resolution was unani- Q mously adopted: Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Sevila. Nay: None. COUNCILMEMBER' COMMENTS: Mr. Bos said the town, a few years back, used to sweep both sides of North I King Street and have days when vehicles couldn't be parked there. A few resi- dents have requested that we re-institute this practice. At the Fort Evans Road- Route 7 intersection construction, it looks like it is going to be almost im- possible for a car to make a proper left turn going south on Fort Evans and east on Route 7 - the divider strip protrudes too far into the intersection. Mr. Gheen said his attendance at the VML meeting was very enjoyable and enlightening - he felt he learned a great deal. It was certainly worth his time and he hoped the money expended. He has noticed there is quite a little bump in Davis Avenue at Valley View where they are building the new apart- ments - the rock has been tossed out by passing vehicles. Mrs. Hill said a committee has been appointed and a new administrator is being sought for the museum - Jeannie Klitgaard has gone to a job in Fairfax. Mr. Coffey felt it is certainly appropriate to thank the town staff and those responsible for planning the picnic - he felt it was enjoyed by everyone. He too learned a great deal at the VML conference - he thought it was one of the best organized conferences he has ever attended - it was very well exe- cuted. A couple of officials from the Leesburg Methodist Church asked that he convey their appreciation to the town for changing the loading and unload- ing signs on Wirt Street to the west side of the street. The Town Plan Task Force has not met since last council meeting. However, on October 11 at 7:00 p.m. the element on land use will be considered and, on October 25 at 7:00 p.m. they will consider the element of public services and probably a portion of the transportation element. Mr. Tolbert felt the highlight of this year's VML conference was the speech given on annexation by our town manager - this was a very good job. Mr. Gheen seconded this - it was the most concise description that has been presented any- where, outside of reading. Mayor Sevila said Mr. Niccolls did an excellent job of summarizing the whole process of annexation and he (the Mayor) received compliments from many people he had neither seen nor met before. It was an excellent talk and all of those attending felt a great deal of pride in the manner in which he presented this - he made a very complicated matter seem almost simple. MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1983 MEETING. 332 MAYOR'S REPORT: (1) Mayor Sevila said there is a report in the Activity Report on the current status of annexation. He talked with Mr. Finnegan, County Attorney, today - he says everything went very smoothly at the pre-trial and he is mov- ing forward with the preparation of a Decree which he hopes to present in ad- vance of the trial. If it is acceptable to all counsel and the court, hope- fully it would be entered by the court on that day. (2) On September 26th the Board of Supervisors unanimously took action to repeal the tax on aircraft, which was a matter supported by council in a resolution at a previous meeting. After presentations by members of the Air- port Commission, Janelle Aviation, et al, a great deal of concern was expressed that we are losing a lot of business as a result of the imposition of this per- sonal property tax. He was happy to see that this potentially political issue - in this political year received the unanimous support of all the supervisors and he feels this will have very good results for us. '(3) The coalition for Loudoun rural plan discussions on Saturday was ex- tremely well attended. He served on a panel with several members of our com- munity - one designated as a "sending area type farmer", one as a "receiving area type farmer" and a developer (Mr. Brownell) . Each gave their views on the rural plan to the extent that it discusses Transfer Development Rights - he thought it was an enlightening experience - he learned a lot about it. (4) He has received numerous comments this week about the appearance of our town - it looks good. MANAGER'S REPORT: (1) Mr. Niccolls reported that Mr. Minor has arranged with Congressman Wolf's office and the Mayor's office a groundbreaking ceremony for the Automated Flight Service Station construction, to be conducted at the airport at 4:00 p.m. , Friday, October 21. Though construction may or may not be underway by that date, -- he suspects there will be some activity by then. (2) There is a progress report on the sewer line at councilmembers' places, as well as some expense data. (3) He spoke with Mr. Wagner of the Highway Department yesterday about the traffic signal studies underway - East Market-Fort Evans; Catoctin Circle at Harrison and Catoctin Circle at Dry Mill. The report is almost completed and will be available next week. The. East Market-Fort Evans Road almost meets exist- ing warrants for traffic signal installation (there is more traffic than four years ago, even during the present construction) , so they are going to see if they can get some additional emphasis to have signals at this location. The traffic volumes for Catoctin Circle-Harrison Street don't even come close to meeting the criteria for a signal. Catoctin Circle-Dry Mill appears to meet the warrants and they are adding more recent estimates of school traffic flows, so there should be no question. If it doesn't warrant signals, we will receive State aid for it - it's our responsibility. (4) Bid opening on the Flight Service Station is October 12. We have posted a tentative date for a special meeting for Monday, October 17th - this allows the architect and our staff to review the qualifications of the bidders. There is a great deal of interest being shown. Mr. Minor said about 40 sets have been sold, but some of them are sub-contractors. Mr. Niccolls said this is a lot of interest and should be a harbinger of a good competitive situation. Mayor Sevila suggested that those picking up plans might be advised that that many have been picked up. (5) The Board of Supervisors has agreed to ask VDH&T to continue the al- location of almost $300,000 remaining on the Route 654 improvement projects. They agreed to do this as a result of the annexation - it will mean these funds will be available after annexation for an in-town project when we get around to it. Mr. Coffey asked how long they will retain these funds? Mr. Niccolls said this will be an indefinite allocation, subject only to reasonableness. If we took no action over a five-year period, they might question it. There will be plenty of advance warning. (6) Mr. Brownell and Mr. Dickerson are here and copies of the final re- vised lease are available. They would like to have a workshop with the appli- cants if it is possible. MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1983 MEETING. 333 On motion of Mr. Tolbert, seconded by Mr. Coffey, the following reso- lutions were proposed and unanimously adopted: 83-149 - RESOLUTION - INITIATING AND REFERRING A PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF THE LEES- BURG ZONING ORDINANCE TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION FOR PUB- LIC HEARING AND RECOMMENDATION UNDER CHAPTER 11, TITLE 15.1 OF THE CODE OF VIRGINIA WHEREAS, the state legislature amended Section 15.1-491(a) of the Code of Virginia, 1950 amended to provide increased proffer authority for the Town of Leesburg; and WHEREAS, the rate and scale of development in Leesburg will require the use of this authority: RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: SECTION I. An amendment of the Leesburg Zoning Ordinance is initiated to change Section 11-8-4 to read as follows: Those proffer provisions provided for in Section 15.1-491(a) and Sec- tions 15.1-491.3 through 15.1-491.6 of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as CO amended, are incorporated as part of this Zoning Ordinance as if set out fully herein. Proposed proffers shall be presented to the Council O and Planning Commission at any time prior to the Planning Commission's m recommendation on the proposed map amendment to the Council. CO SECTION II. The Planning Commission shall conduct a public hearing on Q this amendment and submit a report to Council in accordance with the provisions of Section 15.1-493 of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as amended. 83-150 - RESOLUTION - CONSENTING TO APPOINTMENT TO THE CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMISSION WHEREAS, Mary Lou Seekford, an appointee to the Cable Television Advisory Commission by Catoctin Cable Communications, Inc. , has resigned effective July 1, 1983: THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: The consent of the council is given to Catoctin Cable Communications, Inc. 's appointment of Paul E. Smith to the Cable Television Advisory Commission for a term to expire June 30, 1987. 83-151 - RESOLUTION - CONCERNING SELECTION OF ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS FOR THE SEWAGE TREATMENT EXPANSION AND UPGRADE PROJECT. WHEREAS, the State Water Control Board is expected to award Leesburg a $6,037,500 grant under U. S. Public Law 92-500 for construction of ex- panded and upgraded sewage treatment facilities for the town; and WHEREAS, services of a qualified engineering firm are necessary during preconstruction, construction, start-up and testing and training phases of the project; and WHEREAS, the town's purchasing policies call for the competitive nego- tiation process to be used in the selection of professional consultants: THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: The selection of an engineering consultant for the preconstruction, con- struction, start-up and testing and training phases of the sewage treat- ment expansion and upgrade project shall proceed under the competitive negotiation procedures of the town's purchasing policy. The manager shall prepare and make available to interested firms request for quali- fications and thereafter request proposals from qualified firms and prepare a report and recommendation to the council pursuant to the pur- chasing policy regarding selection of an engineering consultant for the work. MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1983 MEETING. 334 83-152 - RESOLUTION - AUTHORIZING NOTICE OF PUBLICATION OF PUBLIC HEARING ON REZONING IIZM-44 BY THE TOWN OF LEESBURG. RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: A Notice of Public Hearing to consider Rezoning OZM-44 by Brownell, Inc. & Sycolin Forest Associates to have rezoned from R-3 to R-2 parcels of land containing 13.1 acres located on the east side of Shenandoah Street, as shown on sketches on file in the office of the Director of Planning and Zoning, shall be published in the Loudoun Times-Mirror on October 6, 1983 and October 13, 1983 for public hearing on October 26, 1983 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 10 West Loudoun Street, Leesburg, Virginia. Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Sevila. Nay: None. 83-153 - RESOLUTION - ACCEPTING PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS, RELEASING A PERFORMANCE BOND AND APPROVING A MAINTENANCE BOND FOR 45 SOUTH KING STREET. On motion of Mrs. Hill, seconded by Mr. Coffey, the following resolution was proposed: WHEREAS, Bernard Carlton, developer of the office addition at 45 South • King Street, has completed public improvements in accordance with town standards and specifications and these have been inspected and approved: THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: SECTION I. The public improvements for 45 South King Street are accepted for public use by the town. SECTION II. Cash performance bond in the amount of $22,605 guaranteeing installation of public improvements is released and a cash maintenance bond in the amount of $1,130 is approved. SECTION III. This resolution is conditioned upon review and approval of the public improvement as-built construction drawing by the Director of Engineering. Mayor Sevila asked if the public improvements have been inspected by our engineer- ing department and found to be acceptable? Mr. Niccolls said they have been. The amount of the maintenance bond is stipulated by ordinance - it is five per- cent of the original performance bond. Mr. Bos asked if this building is to be used by the County for Social Services or something of that nature? The answer was "Yes." The resolution was unanimously adopted: Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Sevila. Nay: None. 83-154 - RESOLUTION - MAKING A THIRD REDUCTION IN THE PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE FOR PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS INSTALLATION FOR CEDAR WALK SUBDIVISION. Mayor Sevila asked Mr. Bos to chair the meeting for this item since his firm has done some work for Cedar Walk. Mayor Pro-Tem Bos assumed the chair. On motion of Mrs. Hill, seconded by Mr. Coffey, the following resolution was proposed: WHEREAS, the developer's engineer, Bengtson, DeBell, Elkin & Titus and the town's Director of Engineering have reviewed the public improvements installed to date in Cedar Walk Subdivision and certify that the value of work performed is $104,009 and the remaining amount of work is less than $414,145; and WHEREAS, a $412,235 Round Hill National Bank set aside letter and $99,354 Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland surety bond have been provided by the developer and approved by Council to guarantee installation of public improvements in Cedar Walk Subdivision; and MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1983 MEETING. 335 WHEREAS, the town has agreed, when appropriate, to decrease the per- formance guarantee by reducing set aside bank funds by 90 percent of the value of work completed on the public improvements: THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: SECTION I. The Round Hill National Bank set aside letter originally in the amount of $412,235 is reduced to $314,791. The Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland surety bond in the amount of $99,354 re- mains unchanged. SECTION II. The manager shall notify Cedar Walk, Inc. that liability for set aside funds has been reduced as outlined in Section I of this resolution, and that this reduction not constitute acceptance of pub- lic improvements by the town or relieve the developer of responsibilities outlined in the contract for public improvements for Cedar Walk Subdivi- sion. Mr. Gheen asked if this is the third release? Mr. Niccolls said it is .- there will probably be many more. Mr. Bos saidb�thhhh t, based on last week's suggestion by Mr. Martin, the set aside letter wiQi]not�ge used in the future. The reso- lution was adopted by a vote of 6 to 1 abstention: O Aye: Councilmembers Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor mPro-Tem Bos. CONay: None. Abstention: Mayor Sevila. Thereupon, the Mayor assumed the Chair. 83-155 - RESOLUTION - AUTHORIZING ACQUISITION OF HORROCKS SANITARY SEWER EASEMENT. On motion of Mrs. Hill, seconded by Mr. Tolbert, the following resolution was proposed and unanimously adopted: WHEREAS, construction of the gravity portion of the airport sanitary sewer extension requires acquisition of an easement through the Pa- t tricia Ann Horrocks property; and WHEREAS, the value of the Horrocks easement, which consists of approxi- mately 3500 square feet of permanent and 18,500 square feet of temporary construction easement, has been determined to be $1,500: THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: The manager shall acquire and accept on behalf of the town at a cost to the town of $1,500 the Patricia Ann Horrocks sanitary sewer easement which is necessary for construction of the gravity sewer portion of the airport sanitary sewer extension. Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Sevila. Nay: None. PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDING THE LEESBURG SUBDIVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT REGU- LATIONS TO PROVIDE FOR BOUNDARY LINE ADJUSTMENTS. On motion of Mrs. Hill, seconded by Mr. Gheen, a proposed ordinance amend- ing the Leesburg Subdivision and Land Development Regulations to provide for boundary line adjustments was unanimously deferred until the next regular meet- ing of Council: Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Sevila. Nay: None. 83-156 - RESOLUTION - APPROVING A TEMPORARY REDUCTION IN LOCAL ORIGINATION RE- QUIREMENTS FOR STORER CABLE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. On motion of Mrs. Hill, seconded by Mr. Willis, the following resolution was proposed: MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1983 MEETING. 336 WHEREAS, Section 5.1-26 of the Town Code permits the Town Council to grant waivers of local origination broadcasting by its franchisee; and WHEREAS, the Leesburg Cable Television Advisory Commission at a special meeting on August 19, 1983, unanimously recommended to the Council such a temporary, conditioned waiver; and WHEREAS, various conditions outside its control in the operation of Storer Cable Communication's (hereafter Storer) Leesburg cable system have resulted in significant annual financial losses which have con- , to the need for recent cable service rate increases; and WHEREAS, the Council considers it in the public interest to take appro- priate measures to reduce the operating costs of the Leesburg cable fran- chise which offer the least returns to system subscribers : THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: SECTION I. A one-year reduction in the minimum locally produced cable- casting requirements of Section 14 of the franchise contract between the town and Storer to require a revised minimum of six hours monthly of lo- cally produced original programming is approved subject to the follow- ing conditions: a. The temporary programming reduction is not transferrable nor assign- able. I ' b. The current inventory of local origination and public access equip- ment shall be retained in Storer's Leesburg Studios . c. The six hours of monthly programming shall be supplemented by special local programming of local community events selected by Storer and/ or the Cable Television Advisory Commission. d. Storer shall retain one full-time local origination specialist on its Leesburg staff. e. Storer shall maintain or improve its current vocational technical arrangement with the Loudoun County school system. SECTION II. The Council expresses its intent to extend this reduction in local origination services for an additional one-year period if the conditions which currently justify this action still exist at that time. SECTION III. This approval shall be in full force and effect at the time Storer acknowledges its acceptance of these conditions in writing. Mr. Bos said he supports this resolution - it was shown pretty clearly at the last meeting that six hours of quality scheduled publicized new programming is much preferable to re-running some of the old items. This is a reasonable thing for Council to do. Mr. Bodner has indicated he will provide Council a log of actual hours of original programming after a few months or so and at our request at any time. Mayor Sevila said he will support the resolution but he didn't believe it was intended that the local origination requirements be satisfied by 21 hours of programming that was up to a year old being repeatedly run. However, he understands this is being done because of the inordinate and almost unexpected costs relating to the operation of the system and the cost di- rectly attributable to local origination. He feels it inappropriate at this time to consider Section II - he would give it open-minded consideration if Storer came back in a year's time to request an extension of the reduction - he hopes they will be able to resume 21 hours of quality local origination. He seriously asked that Council consider the adoption of this resolution deleting Section II and renumbering Section III. Mr. Bodner said the history of this particular local origination operation and the intent to continue this for another year is because of the projections presented some months ago (which included 1984 and 1985) showing heavy losses through 1985. This allows them to be able to plan a little further ahead with rate increases and perhaps to hold them down a little for next year. They project their operating costs will be slightly lower next year. Concerning the repeat programming, up until the suspension of the producing of a regular daily show (six weeks ago) , they have been presenting in excess of two hours of origi- nal programming weekly that has been running on the cable system since November MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1983 MEETING. q 9 of 1981 - this is brand new original programming - in fact, they have been 3 3 7 doing daily programming on the system and it has not all been the repeat pro- gramming. They have had a lot of repeat programs in the last three weeks while waiting to gear up again. For almost two years prior to that they have been running at least two hours of locally produced original programming per week, which is in excess of this new requirement. This is one of the reasons they need to pull back a little - so they can produce less original programming and make it of a more quality product. Mayor Sevila said he understands that, but he has repeatedly expressed his satisfaction with Storer's operation of the franchise, but his concern is that Storer got this franchise on representations made to this council several years ago and now they are back requesting a rate increase on one occasion and now a reduction in local origination service re- quirements. He still believes this is directly attributable to the fact that they did not get the franchise for the county. This disappoints him because he knows that Storer, as well as the other applicant, were asked if their sys- tems would stand alone - if it was a system designed for the town or whether or not it was designed in anticipation of a county franchise. Mr. Bodner said the Leesburg system was designed to stand alone - it was never intended to be supported by the county system. When it became apparent they were losing a great deal of money in Leesburg and they were generating less revenues than had been projected, it also became apparent that, had they won the county fran- chise, it would have helped solve many of the problems they had encountered in I co Leesburg. However, at the time they were a contender for the franchise, there was no intent to tie Leesburg to the county. It was a matter of trying to save O Leesburg by using the county that they were attempting. Had they been success- ful in the county franchise, it would have immediately reduced their operating m expenses in Leesburg - it would have had the effect of charging out a lot of m expenses of running a local system to the county - a lot of the overhead would Q have been taken over to reduce their expenses. In fact, the company was on the verge of not bidding for the county franchise, because it was a marginal situa- tion as far as they were concerned. So he doesn't believe it was the company's intent to support Leesburg by the use of Loudoun County. On motion of Mr. Gheen, seconded by Mrs. Hill, Council voted unanimously to delete Section II and renumber Section III to Section II: ' Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Sevila. Nay: None. • Mr. Bodner asked if there is some way to tie this reduction in expense into expiring on December 31, 1984 to allow it to run with their budget year? This would help in having the funds allocated for the operation of local origination next year - he felt Council will be pleased with what they have planned for next year. On motion of Mr. Willis, seconded by Mr. Coffey, Council voted unanimously to amend Section I to read "A reduction until December 31, 1984 in the Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Sevila. Nay: None. The resolution, as amended, was unanimously adopted and reads as follows: WHEREAS, Section 5.1-26 of the Town Code permits the Town Council to grant waivers of local origination broadcasting by its franchisee; and WHEREAS, the Leesburg Cable Television Advisory Commission at a special meeting on August 19, 1983, unanimously recommended to the Council such a temporary, conditioned waiver; and WHEREAS, various conditions outside its control in the operation of Storer Cable Communication's (hereafter Storer) Leesburg cable system have resulted in significant annual financial losses which have con- tributed to the need for recent cable service rate increases; and WHEREAS, the Council considers it in the public interest to take ap- propriate measures to reduce the operating costs of the Leesburg cable franchise which offer the least returns to system subscribers: MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1983 MEETING. 338 THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: SECTION I. A reduction until December 31, 1984 in the minimum locally produced cablecasting requirements of Section 14 of the franchise con- tract between the town and Storer to require a revised minimum of six hours monthly of locally produced original programming is approved subject to the following conditions: a. The temporary programming reduction is not transferrable nor as- signable. b. The current inventory of local origination and public access equip- ment shall be retained in Storer's Leesburg Studios . c. The six hours of monthly programming shall be supplemented by special local programming of local community events selected by Storer and/ or the Cable Television Advisory Commission. d. Storer shall retain one full-time local origination specialist on its Leesburg staff. e. Storer shall maintain or improve its current vocational technical arrangement with the Loudoun County school system. SECTION II. This approval shall be in full force and effect at the time Storer acknowledges its acceptance of these conditions in writing. Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Sevila. Nay: None. 83-157 - RESOLUTION -MAKING APPROPRIATION FOR POLICE. VEHICLE FOR FISCAL YEAR 1984. I On motion of Mrs. Hill, seconded by Mr. Tolbert, the following resolution was proposed: I WHEREAS, a 1983 Chevrolet police vehicle, fully equipped, is available from Radley Chevrolet of Fredericksburg, Virginia under State bid: j THEREFORE, RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: An appropriation is made from the General Fund, unappropriated fund balance, to Account No. 3101.701, Automotive Equipment, in the amount of $9,900 for fiscal year 1984. Mr. Niccolls said this vehicle is fully equipped and was specified by the State Police. It was in the budget as adopted. The resolution was unanimously adopted: Aye: Councilmembers Bos, Coffey, Gheen, Hill, Tolbert, Willis and Mayor Sevila. Nay: None. SOUTH HARRISON STREET LEASE: Both Mr. Gheen and Mrs . Hill felt the proposed South Harrison Street lease should be discussed in depth before any action is taken on it. Mr. Bos suggested a brief review of the philosophy of the grant and the town's participation and subsidy toward this proposed operation - he felt they should move forward with it. The developers are here and he felt they should go ahead and at least discuss it with them. On motion of Mr. Gheen, seconded by Mr. Willis, Council voted unanimously to take a five-minute recess. The meeting was reconvened, with Mayor Sevila stating that the suggestion has been made to adjourn this meeting and convene a public workshop session to consider the lease with the applicants present, along with counsel for the town. He invited the press to join this meeting. . "� On motion of Mr. Tolbert, seconded by Mr. 9{7lis, t e eetinng as adjourned. jA 7 /Y/ / J i (�� Mayor Clerk of th'/Council