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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1997_10_22SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 22, 1997 A special meeting of the Leesburg Town Council was held on Wednesday, October 22, 1997 at 4:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, Virginia 220175, Municipal Government Center. Notice having been delivered to all members of Council prior thereto. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss blasting. COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT J. Frank Buttery, Jr. Jewell M. Emswiller Joseph tL Trocino (absent) Kristen C. Umstattd B. J. Webb William F. Webb, Jr. (absent) Mayor James E. Clem STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT Town Manager Steven C. Brown Director of Engineering and Public Works Thomas A. Mason Deputy Town Attorney Deborah Welsh Loudoun County Fire Marshal Jeff Flippo Mr. Ed Walter, a blasting consultant with Dr. Edward J. Walter & Associates, Inc., hired by the Town of Leesburg Mayor Clem opened the meeting by stating there are two issues pending. One is the motion to declare a 30 day moratorium on blasting. Mayor Clem asked that discussion be held on this motion before voting. The second issue is the appointment of individuals to the blasting committee. Mayor Clem stated he would like to appoint individuals today, so that the committee can begin reviewing the town's blasting ordinance. Mr. Brown provided a brief statement regarding the nine current, active blasting permits in the town. Mr. Doug Fleming representing Arcadia Development, addressed the Council introducing Mr. Neil Reinhardt, President of Arcadia Development, Mr. Don Miller, Director of Development for Arcadia and Mr. David Miller, Senior Geologist with Schnable Engineering who serves as Arcadia's expert consultant on the issues of vibration and blasting with regard to the blasting activities occurring at Potomac Crossing. Mr. David Miller, Senior Geologist with Sclmable Engineering, addressed the blasting concerns in Potomac Crossing. Ms. Emswiller stated, the issue is not that the blasting, taking place in Potomac Crossing, is not in conformance with all the guidelines. The issue is, that if blasting is taking place within the guidelines set by the State of Virginia, then why are the residents who live on two different sides of the town having damage to their homes? Mr. David Miller stated, this is a two-fold issue. There is structure response and human response to blasting which are two entirely different matters. One is objective and one is subjective. In the Potomac Crossing project, the objective data shows that the cracks in the homes are considered normal. Any home built these days will have cracks. The fact there is blasting, and that you can feel the blasting, does not mean damage is ocom'ing from the blasting. One cannot regulate or control blasting based upon human response to blasting because then you could not virtually do any blasting. Ms. Emswiller stated her motion for a 30 day moratorium was made to allow the town time to try to find the answers to the Council's questions. Ms. Umstattd stated Mr. Miller was not specific as to whether there were additional cracks in the Potomac Crossing homes after the blasting. If Selmable Engineering cannot tell, based on the pre and post-blast reviews whether the blasting caused any damage, are these pre and post blast surveys useless? Mr. Miller stated, no. It is a tool to evaluate the whole picture. The pre-blast survey is not a stand along do~unenT In conjunction with the vibration measurements and the seismic data to evaluate the whole picture and make a determination. Ms. Umstattd asked, is there a certain wave pattern in the cracks and can it be determined if that is the pattern seen after the blast? Mr. Miller stated, yes. The most common cracking pattern would be in the weakest building materials of the home and in the above ground portion of the home. -2- Ms. Umstattd asked, if Arcadia has an effective claims process for the citizens of Potomac Crossing? Mr. Miller stated, his firm tries to address the claims from a complaint standpoint and docmnents the Mr. Butter/asked, what is the main way to reduce the frequency of vibrations? Mr. Miller stated, the particle velocities can be controlled through the mount of explosive-fired per delay interval. The frequency of the ground vibration is largely controlled by the geology - sub-surface conditions. It can be controlled slightly by the timing of the blast. Mr. Fleming addressed Ms. Umstattd's questions by stating no claims have been made against Arcadia. Mr. Fleming addressed Ms. Emswiller's comment regarding the moratorium by stating a 30 day moratorium, if he owned a business, would be like closing his business down for 30 days. Mr. Reinhardt can excavate about 30 basements in 30 days. Essentially, Potomac Crossing would shut down. Mr. Fleming stated he could not begin to estimate the thousands of dollars a 30 day shut down would cost. Ms. Emswiller referenced Arcadia's letter of last week and stated, she was under the impression that Arcadia had volunteered to not blast until such time as the concerns were addressed, therefore her motion for the 30 day moratorium was not addressed to Arcadia. Mayor Clem reviewed the circumstances that took place on the l0th of October with regard to the blasting at Potomac Crossing. Mr. Brown stated, blasting is not an issue the town regulates therefore the town does not have any expertise on staff in this field. The Council has chosen to evaluate the concerns of the citizens and has hired a consultant with the technical expertise to assist the town in this matter. Ms. Welsh introduced Dr. Ed Waiter with Edward J. Walter and Associates, Inc. Mr. Walter stated he was contacted to review the Fire Marshal's code and town's code and the general situation at both the Linden Hill and Potomac Crossing projects. Mr. Walter compared the Fire Marshal's law and compared the damage criteria to the Bureau of Mines Research and the standard of the industry today. The Fire Marshal's regulations regarding vibration are on target. They are current. Mr. Walter stated he did not agree with everything about the section dealing with explosives technology but the section dealing with vibration and noise damage is very cutting edge. Leesburg having adapted this, mining the responsibility over to the Fire Marshal's office is fair - its where it should be. Mr. Walter performed a site visit at the projects, however, he was unable to review all the seismic data, as well as the pre or post blast surveys. He is familiar with Schnable and Vibra Tech and stated, he has never known of any circumstances where their data was "cooked", because it does eventually get into the public arena or court. Adjusted data is very readily apparent. Mr. Walter stated he did review the blasting reports that were made available to him and looked at much of the alleged damage. He stated he did not see anything that he could say precisely was blasting damage. He saw things that he could say were settlement, long, poured concrete walls with insufficient structural reinforcement. He stated he witnessed things that were unequivocally was due to temperature differentials but nothing due to blasting. Mr. Walter stated he would like to see quicker dissemination of seismic data and the pre-blast survey data and the town be able to obtain records from the Fire Marshal's office within 48 to 72 hours. The town does not want to be responsible for inspecting the blasting. It does not have the manpower, as well there are liability issues. The municipal presence should be there to protect the interest of the citizens. It is not the municipality's job to make decisions concerning damage and amount of damage. It is the municipality's job to make decisions regarding equitable legislation to minimize the possibility of damage. Ms. Emswiller withdrew her motion proposing a 30 day moratorium because a Blue Ribbon Committee will be appointed and will meet in a timely fashion. Ms. Emswiller stated she is not withdrawing the motion because it is a bad motion or because 30 days is too much to ask the development community to live up to nor is she withdrawing her motion because she is afraid of liability. Ms. Emswiller continued by stating she does not believe there is any good developer in Leesburg who would use the 30 days against the town when the town is basing their decision on the health, safety and weffare of the citizens in Leesburg based on precedent in Linden Hill. Ms. Webb withdrew her second to the motion. MOTION: On motion of, and duly seconded, the following resolution was proposed and adopted. 97-247 - RESOLUTION - APPOINTING A BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE RESOLVED by thc Council of thc Town of Leesburg in Virginia as follows: -3- Jeff Cowart, Ms. Karen Richardson, Loudoun County Fire Marshal Jeff Flippo, Bruce Clendenin, Mr. Peny Lee, a representative of the NVBIA and Mayor Clem with Dr. Edward J. Walter to serve as a consultant to the town are appointed to serve on the Blue Ribbon Committee to review the Town of Leesburg's blasting ordinance. VOTE: Aye: Councilmembers Buttery, Emswiller, Umstattd, B. J. Webb and Mayor Clem Nay: None Absent: Councilmembers Trocino and William F. Webb, Jr. On motion of, and duly seconded, the meeting was adjourned. Clerk of Council es E. Clem, Mayor