HomeMy Public PortalAbout2011_tcmin0726COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Umstattd presiding.
Council Members Present: David Butler, Thomas Dunn, II, Fernando "Marty"
Martinez, Katie Sheldon Hammler, Kenneth "Ken" Reid, Kevin D. Wright, and Mayor
Umstattd.
Council Members Absent: Council Member Dunn arrived at 7:35 p.m., Council
Member Martinez arrived at 7:37 p.m., Council Member Butler arrived at 7:40 p.m.,
Council Member Reid arrived at 7:56 p.m.
Staff Present: Town Manager John Wells, Town Attorney Jeanette Irby, Director of
Public Works Tom Mason, Deputy Director of Utilities Aref Etemadi, Human
Resources Director Nancy Fixx, Capital Projects Manager for Design and Engineering
Tom Brandon, Land Acquisition Manager Keith Wilson, Economic Development
Manager Marantha Edwards and Clerk of Council Lee Ann Green
AGENDA ITEMS
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. INVOCATION: Council Member Hammler
3. SALUTE TO THE FLAG: Council Member Martinez
4. ROLL CALL: Council Member Hammler, Vice Mayor Wright, and Mayor
Umstattd present. Council Member Dunn arrived at 7:35 p.m., Council Member
Martinez arrived at 7:37 p.m., Council Member Butler arrived at 7:40 p.m.,
Council Member Reid arrived at 7:56 p.m.
5. MINUTES
a. Work Session Minutes of June 27, 2011
On a motion by Council Member Butler, seconded by Vice Mayor
Wright, the minutes of the June 27 work session were approved 6 -0 -1 (Reid
absent)
b. Regular Session Minutes of June 28, 2011
On a motion by Council Member Butler, seconded by Vice Mayor
Wright, the minutes of the June 28 regular session were approved 6 -0 -1 (Reid
absent)
6. ADOPTING THE MEETING AGENDA
On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Vice Mayor Wright, the
meeting agenda was approved as presented by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Martinez, Wright and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 6 -0 -1 (Reid absent)
7. PRESENTATIONS
COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
a. Certificate of Appreciation Judy Craun
On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member
Hammler, Judy Craun was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for her
service to the Town of Leesburg and its citizens as a member of the Commission
on Public Art.
b. Proclamation National Payroll Week
On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member
Hammler, the following was proclaimed:
PROCLAMATION
National Payroll Week
September 5 -9, 2011
WHEREAS, the American Payroll Association and its 23,000 members
have launched a nationwide public awareness campaign that pays tribute to the
more than 156 million people who work in the United States and the payroll
professionals who support the American system by paying wages, reporting
worker earnings and withholding federal employment taxes; and
WHEREAS, payroll professionals in Leesburg, Virginia play a key role in
maintaining the economic health of Leesburg, Virginia, carrying out such diverse
tasks as paying into the unemployment insurance system, providing information
for child support enforcement, and carrying out tax withholding, reporting and
depositing; and
WHEREAS, payroll departments collectively spend more than $15
billion annually complying with myriad federal and state wage and tax laws; and
Whereas payroll professionals play an increasingly important role ensuring the
economic security of American families by helping to identify noncustodial
parents and making sure they comply with their child support mandates; and
WHEREAS, payroll professionals have become increasingly proactive in
educating both the business community and the public at large about the payroll
tax withholding systems; and
WHEREAS, payroll professionals meet regularly with federal and state
tax officials to discuss both improving compliance with government procedures
and how compliance can be achieved at less cost to both government and
businesses; and
THEREFORE PROCLAIMED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg
in Virginia that the week in which Labor Day falls as National Payroll Week in
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the Town of Leesburg and the Council gives additional support to the efforts of
the people who work in Leesburg, Virginia and of the payroll profession.
PROCLAIMED this 26 day of July, 2011.
c. Certificate of Appreciation Randy Shoemaker, Retiree
On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member
Hammler, Randy Shoemaker was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for
his service to the Town of Leesburg.
8. PETITIONERS
The petitioner's section was opened at 7:43 p.m.
Kelly Burk, Leesburg District Supervisor, stated that as soon as Mr. Hemstreet
receives the letter from Mr. Wells regarding making Edwards Ferry Road a
scenic /historic road, the Board of Supervisors will get started immediately. She
encouraged the Council to note that the west end of Edwards Ferry Road is also historic
and recognizing those would help her. She encouraged Council to allow the 9 -11 bikers
to go through town. She stated this event is a reminder of how precious liberty is. She
requested that Council not let their fear of inconvenience to keep them from going
through town. She stated freedom isn't free and this is a prime example. She stated it
will be inconvenient, it will be loud, but it most certainly will be something significant
and very important.
Richard French, 1204 Periwinkle Way, president of Fairway Manor
Homeowner's Association, a small HOA in the back of Country Club. He stated they
strongly object to the access road between Linden Hill and Country Club. He stated it is
a much better option to make a right hand turn south and make a U -turn at Greenway.
He stated they have never had the opportunity to come to a Council meeting. Further,
he stated they are against the spending of additional money to purchase the home. He
stated there are already three homes on Country Club in foreclosure.
Allison Jenkins, P.O. Box 492, Leesburg, stated she understands the concerns
being expressed about the 9/11 ride. She stated she comes from a first responder family
with Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, firemen, paramedics, and police officers in active
service at the moment. She stated the 9/11 ride is not only about honoring those that
perished on September 11, but honoring those that perished in the line of duty, like her
uncle Tim, who's name is on the National Fallen Fire Fighter's Memorial. She stated
the ride is a rolling memorial that honors the heroes among us and she is honored to be
able to participate in an event and organization such as this. She stated this foundation,
without hesitation, has helped across the nation without question. She stated Leesburg
should be proud to know that this national foundation is in Leesburg's back yard. She
stated the downtown area closes for many things including political rallies, car shows,
homecoming parades, holiday parades, and two day festivals. She stated she cannot
think of anything more important than honoring the past and present heroes. She asked
that the memorial ride be allowed to continue with tradition and travel through the
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July 26, 2011
downtown area. She thanked the Council, the Leesburg Police and the state police for
their time and consideration for their safety.
Doris Kidder, stated she is here for three reasons tonight. She expressed her
appreciation for the resolution regarding the 9/11 ride. She stated when she heard it
might not go down King Street, she felt badly because these kinds of memorials, the
purpose is to remind people and get as much visibility as possible. She stated she likes
the resolution regarding preserving the historic and natural beauty of Edwards Ferry
Road. She stated two of the objectives in the 2005 Comprehensive Plan for Land Use
are very appropriate to the motion to protect Edwards Ferry Road. She stated two of
those objectives are as follows: "The wetlands located near the intersection of Edwards
Ferry Road and Battlefield Parkway should be preserved as a unique natural resource"
and "Preserve and protect the integrity of historic and archeological resources She
stated it would be fabulous to protect the Red Rock overlook area and the civil war
buildings. She stated she loves the shade from the trees on Edwards Ferry Road. She
stated the third reason for her attendance, is she found out at 4 p.m. this evening that the
issue for the contract for Woodberry Drainage Project would be on the agenda. She
stated she got a few signatures on a petition requesting that the sidewalk to be installed
on Woodberry Road be installed at a four foot width, not including the curb. The
sidewalk that winds around to Woodberry from North Street at the north end of the
block is four feet wide. The section to be built at the end of the block towards Edwards
Ferry Road is scheduled to be 4 feet to mitigate the damage to the property at the end of
the block. She stated it makes sense for the sidewalk to be the same width for the entire
one block and in addition to consistency, there would be a savings of $7,500.
Scott Warner, Downtown Saloon, asked the Council to support the 9/11 ride to
come through the downtown area. He stated it makes a statement for the town to be
patriotic and show support for the ride. He stated his belief that not all of the 1700 who
have signed up for the ride will come through town. He stated they have spent a lot of
time and effort to obtain funds to support the ride. He stated people coming out to
watch shows that the community supports them. He stated by putting them on the
bypass going around Leesburg, they will not get the opportunity to see the citizens
supporting them.
Tom Toth, 40863 Robin Circle, stated he supports the 9/11 ride coming through
the center of town. He stated it sends a bad message for the tenth anniversary to put it
on the bypass. He stated he brings greetings from Chairman Boykin who is in Oshkosh.
He commended Kaj Dentler for a fantastic job out at the airport. He stated this is the
first year that Parks and Rec will be involved in the air show which will be held on
October 1. He stated they have a budget of $60,000, which is a significant increase. He
stated this will set a template for future years. He stated they have raised almost
$55,000. He stated Rachel and Kate are phenomenal. He asked each Council member
to find a business that is interested in being a sponsor. He stated the website is going to
be spectacular with links to the sponsor's websites.
Don Richards, 130 Chesterfield Place, stated he has been a resident for over 10
years in downtown Leesburg. He stated he supports the 9/11 ride coming through
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Leesburg. He stated he lives in downtown Leesburg for this very reason as the shows
are part of the charm. He stated he recently became involved with the America's 9/11
foundation and co- hosted a barbecue with them this weekend. He stated one of the
things he has heard was the concern over the numbers. He stated he recalls 2008 when
Obama came to Ida Lee, 35,000 people came to Leesburg and this ride will not be as
large.
Jimmy Czimadia, 115 Carleton Street, stated he is with the foundation and
would like Council to let them come through town. He stated there is no other feeling
like coming through Leesburg.
Tom Wright, Gleedsville Road, he stated to see the tears and the smiles on the
riders and citizen's faces is worth the 15 minutes to half hour delay of traffic. He stated
his wife and Scott Warner have been sponsoring people and buy flags to hand out to
citizens. He also put up patriotic banners on the courthouse fence and take them back
down. He stated the town and county should be proud that this is the only town that the
ride goes through.
Cheryl Wright, 20247 Gleedsville Road, stated she is opposed to rerouting the
motorcycle parade to the outskirts of town. She stated the 9/11 foundation founder who
live in Loudoun have tirelessly planned this ride through his own hometown to honor
the victims of the brutal attacks on 9/11. She stated the police department's plan to
reroute the parade to avoid delays in traffic is disgraceful and disrespectful. She stated
the spectators enjoy seeing how many folks take time out of their busy lives to ride their
motorcycles and visit landmarks of the fallen. She stated the riders feel a great sense of
pride knowing that they are raising money to assist in a great memorial tribute to those
that lost their lives. She stated it is ashame that we can take time out for other various
holiday parades, but not to remember those that lost their lives on 9/11.
Raymond Jones, 33 Linden Hill Way, stated he appreciates that there is some
action that could be taking place tonight with respect to Linden Hill and asked Council
to continue its prior commitment to the residents. He stated they have a lot of friends in
Country Club and don't want to impact them. He stated they will get a second left hand
turn lane, which will improve their access to town. He stated they pay taxes, but don't
get town road maintenance services.
Chris Martin, 132 Pine Crest Lane, stated he supports his fellow friends and
riders for the 9/11 ride. He stated there are all kinds of people where who have spoken
up in support; however, no one has objected. He stated if it were important for them to
reroute the ride, they should have spoken up.
Gary Katz, 24 Linden Hill Way, stated he is a new resident to Leesburg. He
stated he came to support the access road for Linden Hill Way, but feels also that it is
important for Leesburg to allow the 9/11 ride to go through Leesburg. Further, he
added that no one has objected to that. He seconded what Mr. Jones said about the
importance of the access road. He stated it was his understanding that the decision had
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been made about the road, and that affected his decision process to purchase a house in
Linden Hill.
Steve Tesla, 10 Linden Hill Way, stated he is one of the residents who is in
support of the bypass for Linden Hill. He stated it is important for the 36 families that
live there. He stated the amount of traffic is minimal, especially with the suggested
design of two left turn lanes.
Council Member Reid read the following into the record:
July 26, 2011
Unfortunately I will not be able to attend your meeting regarding the issue of
America's 911 Foundation ride through your city. If you would be so kind to read
my e -mail into the record at the public portion of your meeting I would be
grateful.
My name is Master Sergeant Jim Vigilante; I have served on the Parsippany
Troy -Hills Township Council for over 12 years. I am born and raised in
Parsippany, NJ. I am a member of the United States Air Force Reserves
stationed out of Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst, NJ. My Airmen and I are
Aerial Porters (2T2's). Basically what we do is we load those big cargo planes
you see, whether it is people, equipment or vehicles. We work in a place called
"The Port" similar to any commercial airport you have traveled through.
I have participated in Americas 9/11 Ride for the last several years; unfortunately
I will not be able to participate this year because I am currently serving in the war
against terrorism in Afghanistan. As disappointed and upset as I am not being
able to ride in this year's event, I am equally proud to be serving my country with
so many great men and women of the Armed Forces. I have been tracking this
ride from the trenches of southern Afghanistan and it was brought to my
attention that the city of Leesburg, VA is considering not allowing the ride
through the center of town and may have them use the bypass. I would strongly
and respectfully request that you keep to the tradition of allowing them to ride
through the center of town. One of the highlights of this ride is riding down the
center of King Street to see the doctors who stand there wearing their scrubs,
office workers, city workers, employees from all types of businesses, the faces of
the children, and just ordinary folks from your wonderful town. Being a former
councilman I truly understand the costs and time that burdens the city for those
few moments. The whole reason your Armed Forces are making the daily
sacrifices and for some the ultimate sacrifice in this war is due to the horrific
events of 9/11. Please keep the tradition of the ride through the center of town,
especially on the anniversary of this life changing event. I will be flying a flag on
a bombing mission of our enemies on 9/11/2011 in an A -10 Thunderbolt II
fighter plane in honor of "America's 911 Foundation, Inc." if you would
reconsider and allow the ride through the center of your town, it would be my
honor to do the same for the City of Leesburg and present it to you at a council
meeting upon my return from the war.
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So what does half -mast mean; it means when I get to work that I will have the
honor of loading an airplane with the body of an Airmen, Soldier, or Marine that
made the ultimate sacrifice. There is always a transfer ceremony unless there are
only body parts then it is what we call a DE (Dignified Effects). They will send
all the Transfer cases to Dover, DE. That is where they will prep the HR (Human
Remains) to be delivered to their respective funeral parlors throughout the
country. The DE will be identified by DNA. The Transfer Cases are treated with
the up most respect and there is protocol to be followed and it is our job to make
sure of it. IT IS ALWAYS OUR HONOR.
Basically my job consists of getting people on airplanes that are returning from
their deployment and heading home to be with their families and friends (that is a
good part) or sending people down range that will be on the front line fight to
fight the Taliban. Wondering if I will ever have the chance to send them home
without a transfer ceremony. Twice I have loaded HR (Human Remains) on an
airplane and recognized their names from when I sent them a few days down
range earlier. That is hard and I am trying to learn to adjust to that, not easy. The
rest of the time I am basically a customer service rep, putting out fires and solving
people's problems.
Sorry to give you the harsh reality but it is what it is!!!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.
Proud to Serve,
MSgt. Jim Vigilante
Nightshift NCOIC PAX Terminal
Kandahar Airfield
The petitioner's section was closed at 8:16 p.m.
July 26, 2011
9. APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA
On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Vice Mayor Wright, the
following items were moved for approval as part of the Consent Agenda:
a. Delegation of Authority to the Town Manager During August Recess for
Performance Bonds
MOTION 2011 -023
I move the Town Council delegate authority to the Town Manager for the
Acceptance of Performance Guarantees, Reduction of Performance
Guarantees, and Acceptance of Work and Release of Performance
Guarantees for Land Development Projects from July 28 until August 30,
and that the Town Manager will report to the Town Council any
Approvals Granted under this Temporary Authority at the August
meeting.
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b. Contract Award Navigational Aids Upgrades Construction
July 26, 2011
RESOLUTION 2011 -096
Awarding the Construction Contract for the Airport Navigational Aids
Upgrade and Authorizing the Town Manager to Execute the Grant
Agreements from the Federal Aviation Administration and Virginia
Department of Aviation
c. Authorizing Task #1 Under Talbert Bright's Construction Management
Services Contract
RESOLUTION 2011 -097
Authorizing Talbert Bright's Task #1 for the Navigational Aids
Upgrade Project Inspection and Construction Management Services
Under the Professional Airport Planning, Engineering, and Architectural
Services for the Leesburg Executive Airport Contract
d. VDOT Revenue Sharing Agreement Turn Lane at Sycolin Road
Tavistock Drive Project
RESOLUTION 2011 -098
Approving Turn Lane at Sycolin Road and Tavistock Drive Intersection
Improvement Project Town /VDOT Administrative Agreement and
Authorizing the Town Manager to Execute this Agreement
e. Approving the Next Art Exhibit for the Town Hall Art Gallery
RESOLUTION 2011 -099
Town Hall Art Gallery Approval of the Next Art Exhibit by Tom
Lussier and Amy Dykovsky
f. Making An Appointment to the Commission on Public Art (Butler)
g.
RESOLUTION 2011 -100
Making an Appointment to the Commission on Public Art Deborah
Cooke
Edwards Ferry Road Protection of Natural and Historic Resources
MOTION 2011 -024
I move that the Town Council direct the Town Manager to write a letter
to the County Executive to request that the Loudoun County Board of
Supervisors consider the establishment of an Historic Access Corridor
District along the 1.13 mile stretch of Edwards Ferry Road from the Town
Corporate Limit Line east to River Creek Parkway due to its association
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
with events that have made a significant contribution to local and national
history
The Consent Agenda was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Martinez, Reid, Wright and Mayor
Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7 -0
10. PUBLIC HEARINGS
a. Authorization for Acquisition of Easements Required for the South King
Street Widening Project
The public hearing was opened at 8:19 p.m.
Keith Wilson: Good evening, Madam Mayor and Council Members,
Keith Wilson, Land Acquisitions in Capital Projects. The Route 15, South King
Street, Widening Phase 1 project is a funded capital project for the widening of
the roadway to a four lane divided street with a multi -use trail along the west side
of the road. Utility relocations are currently underway on the east side of Route
15, South King Street, for the project. Land rights were needed from 12 land
owners along the west side of Route 15, South King Street, for the widening
project. Eleven of the 12 land owners have agreed to the acquisitions of the
necessary land rights and signed the deed of easement agreements. The
remaining property is subject to a foreclosure sale and is scheduled for the first
part of August 2011 with the land owner appearing to have moved from the
dwelling. Capital Projects is currently working with the mortgage lenders on four
of the 11 parcels where the land owners have agreed to the acquisitions. These
parcels are subject to a mortgage lien where the lender holds a prior security
interest in the property. The mortgage lenders have been contacted requesting
the area of permanent easements be released from the mortgage liens. The
mortgage holder will need to subordinate the mortgage lien to the permanent
easements releasing the permanent easement from the mortgage lien prior to
consent to the acquisition. We are requesting Council to authorize
condemnation on the properties where the land rights cannot be secured by
negotiations and /or release or consent of the mortgage lien holders cannot be
obtained.
Reid: I am just concerned about the timing because this project was
approved by stimulus in the spring or summer of 2009 and I am concerned as to
whether in fact these... why weren't the easements and stuff brought to Council
earlier? I guess that's my question. It's a process question.
Wilson: Council only authorized negotiations of the easements in April of
2011 and we have only at that time had the plans designed that we were in a
position to be able to acquire and recognize the easements needed.
Reid: But this is not going to hold it up?
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
Wilson: No, this is not going to hold it up, right.
Reid: Okay, thank you.
Hammler: For the sake of the public, this is an interesting scenario as it
relates to another property that is in foreclosure in which we are seeking
condemnation. Jeanette, could you clarify why, for instance, we wouldn't seek
acquiring the property and then reselling it as we are for, say, the Linden Hill
easement road versus in this case just seeking the condemnation. In other words,
perhaps, specifically dealing with there is not a significant impact on the property.
Irby: This is the same property, but this is a much smaller area that is
needed outside of the Linden Hill Access Road. This is a narrow strip that we
are requesting from all of the property owners. I believe it is less than 200 square
feet, so what we are working with this bank and other banks of the same
property, is they have to subordinate their interest to the town. So, it's a
deminimus taking that does not really materially affect the value of the property.
Hammler: As it relates to it being related, why wouldn't it be aggregated
as one act of the town?
Irby: Because the design portion for this acquisition is completed with
respect to South King and we know what we have to take. The design process for
the rest of it just began at Council's direction a couple of weeks ago so we don't
know the complete amount that we are going to need to take should we pursue
condemnation against the rest of the property.
There were no speakers wishing to address Council with regards to this
public hearing.
The public hearing was closed at 8:25 p.m.
On a motion by Vice Mayor Wright, seconded by Council Member
Butler, the following was proposed:
RESOLUTION 2011 -101
Declaring that a Public Necessity and use Exists, Authorizing an offer to
Acquire Permanent and Temporary Easements PIN 273 -49- 6457 -000,
PIN 273 -49- 8582 -000, PIN 273 -49- 8096 -000, PIN 272 -19- 9401 -000, PIN
272 -19- 9809 -000, PIN 272 -10- 4060 -000, PIN 272 -10 -3151, PIN 272 -10-
5379 -000, and PIN 272 -20- 7005 -000 For Route 15 (South King Street)
Widening Phase I Project, and Authorizing Condemnation if the Offer is
not Accepted
The motion was approved by the following vote:
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July 26, 2011
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Martinez, Reid, Wright and Mayor
Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7 -0
b. Authorization for Acquisition of Easements Required for the Virts Corner
Improvements Project
The public hearing was opened at 8:26 p.m.
Keith Wilson: Madam Mayor and Council Members, the Virts Corner
Improvement Project is a funded capital project to improve the intersections of
Gleedsville Road and Mason's Lane and Mason's Lane and South King Street.
There is little or no separation at the intersection of Gleedsville Road and
Mason's Lane at South King Street. To provide for better traffic flow, it is
necessary to realign the intersection of Gleedsville Road and Mason's Lane to the
east of its current location. The realignment of the intersection of Gleedsville
Road and Mason's Lane will provide for vehicle storage at the intersections of
Mason's Lane and South King Street and allow for the installation of a traffic
signal at this intersection. Land rights were needed from six land owners for the
Virt's Corner Improvements Project. Four of the landowners have agreed to the
acquisitions of the necessary land rights and signed the deed of easement
agreements. Negotiations with the two remaining property owners will continue
to try to reach an amicable solution. The town must acquire utility easements if a
capital project requires the utilities to move from an existing utility location onto
private property. Existing overhead Dominion Virginia, Verizon Virginia and
Comcast utility lines along South King Street and Masons Lane and existing
underground Verizon Virginia utility lines along Gleedsville Road will need to be
relocated as a part of the Virts Corner Improvements Project. Replacement
utility easements are required for the utility relocations. We are requesting
Council to authorize condemnation if negotiated settlements cannot be
concluded for the remaining parcels.
Reid: How long did it take to negotiate the Dominion and Verizon
easements?
Wilson: I have been negotiating on these parcels for the better part of five
months.
Reid: Well, something has to give on this Is this the last hurdle for this
project? This is a very important project. I mean the intersection is dangerous
and Mason's Lane has become the defacto Battlefield Parkway for folks in
Woodlea and Greenway trying to get over there. So this is it. We are going to
see construction, but not until next year.
Wilson: We are expecting with the acquisition of the remaining land
rights to be able to commence utility relocations in the fall of this year, which will
allow construction to begin in the springtime.
COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
Reid: At the appropriate time, John, I would like to have a memo or
some kind of a briefing on what it was like to negotiate this and why it took so
long because VML tomorrow, when we adopt our transportation policy
statement, we are going to be asking the legislature for a study commission to
look at utility relocation in the state and how we can accelerate it and make it
easier for municipalities and VDOT to get these projects moving. But, I would
like to maybe talk to you off line about it or get a memo. Thank you.
There were no speakers wishing to address Council on this public hearing.
The public hearing was closed at 8:29 p.m.
On a motion by Council Member Reid, seconded by Council Member
Butler, the following was proposed:
RESOLUTION 2011 -102
Declaring that a Public Necessity and Use Exists, Authorizing an Offer to
Acquire Right -of -Way Dedications and Easements from PIN 273-18 -0838-
000, PIN 273 -18- 6256 -000, PIN 274 -47- 3967 -000, PIN 273 -18- 2708 -000,
and PIN 274 -47- 8862 -000 For the Virts Corner Improvements Project, and
Authorizing Condemnation if the Offer is not Accepted
Reid: I would just like to let the media and others know that this is an
important project and I am very happy that we are going to be... this is a hurdle
that as Mr. Armstrong is it? I forgot your last name... Wilson, I'm sorry. Mr.
Wilson has been negotiating for five months. I am hoping that we can see dirt
pushing very soon. Thank you.
11. ORDINANCES
a. None
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Martinez, Reid, Wright and Mayor
Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7 -0
12. RESOLUTIONS AND MOTIONS
a. September 11 Memorial Ride
On a motion by Council Member Reid, seconded by Council Member
Hammler, the following was proposed:
MOTION 2011 -025
I move that the Town Council direct the Town Manager to work with
Leesburg Police Department to inform the Virginia State Police of the Council's
strong support for the 9/11 Ride on August 19, 2011 along Business Route 15
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July 26, 2011
and to coordinate appropriate resources within the town to mitigate the impacts
of the road closures to the degree possible and coordinate with other public safety
agencies in the region. The Town Manager is further directed to take the
necessary proactive public relations actions to inform the public of the Ride and
its impacts.
Reid: I want to thank the members of the 9/11 foundation, which is
based here in Leesburg for bringing this to our attention, but more importantly
bringing to the attention of the public the importance of keeping alive the
memory of the victims of September 11 The fact that you each spend an
average of $1,000 of your own money and take this ride from Shanksville where
United 93 crashed through Leesburg... and we are honored you go through
Leesburg... down to the Pentagon and up to New York is really very, very heroic
and it is wonderful because when the folks see you riding, they hopefully will
remember and keep remembering and will never forget and never forgive what
happened that day. Even though this is the tenth anniversary, I am certain that
once the media coverage is over, a lot of folks are going to forget that this county
is still at war with the terrorists. As the Mayor and others mentioned last night,
yes, there is going to be some inconvenience factor here... no question, but the
country was also terribly inconvenienced and the Washington area was terribly
inconvenienced on 9/11. So were the people in New York. This is what... but I
am very appreciative... we have done this. Madam Mayor, I think we should all
be proud. I would like to just say that it is going to be extremely important for all
of us as the leaders of this community to get the word out and for the foundation
to get the word out and also to help us deal with the complaints afterward,
because we are going to get some. There is always going to be a couple of people
who are going to be extremely frustrated and upset and they are going to want to
blame the official authorities, so I hope you will be there and stand with us after
August 20 or August 19 when this happens. But communication is going to be
very, very key ahead of time, but also we are going to have to deal with some
folks afterwards, but I am prepared to take the heat and I think my colleagues are
too. I am confident that the state police and our Leesburg police are going to be
able to deal with the street closings and so forth. Again, thank you all for
pressing your case with us. Thanks to Sgt. Vigilante, who in addition to sacrifice
in Afghanistan spent 12 years on the Parsiphany /Troy Hills Town Council. I
can tell you, being from New Jersey, that is also a sacrifice. Not the same, but it
is... trust me... that is an interesting town and interesting Council.
Hammler: It must be epidemic in New Jersey, because I read a lot of local
papers about a lot of the antics of councils up there. If I may build on Council
Member Reid's comments. I appreciate everything you said, Ken, in terms of the
importance of everything. The sacrifice of the riders and very much helping us to
remember the victims and their families. If I may, though, you are also helping
us to recognize the importance of some really important heroes, which were the
first responders who were there on the scene, 9/11, who also lost their lives as
well. Not just those in the twin towers or at the Pentagon. First of all, I too want
to say thank you to the state police as well as our local police and everyone
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
involved in helping to prepare for the logistics. I think, as Council Member Reid
was pointing out, certainly there will be impacts from a traffic perspective, but
what I heard last night was a red flag being raised relative to heightened security
and the security concerns as relates to this being the 10 anniversary. That would
be the reason that we would even consider moving this to the bypass. My
reaction to that and I know others concurred last night, such as our Mayor, if we
were to move it to the bypass, that is really us kind of succumbing to a fear,
which I don't believe is in our hearts as Americans. We are standing against that
and really standing against the fear of any terrorist act because this is the
wonderful part of the nation that we live in. So, I appreciate the fact that you
have got wonderful people such as our town manager who will really be setting
the expectations from a communication perspective so that certainly those that
may need to be alerted before that day that there will be traffic concerns, that they
can make other plans. It is certainly not our intention to keep people in traffic, so
that they may think long and hard about the sacrifices that certainly those in
uniform continue to make on a daily basis in the heat of the summer and
throughout the year. We try to avoid those types of annoyances, but in particular
it's actually not on 9/11, it's on a different day so obviously it won't be intuitive.
It is clear we will have get that word out that in particular the hospitals that may
really need to have contingency plans as relates not being able to get to Cornwall.
I will look forward to getting one of those flags, being on the roads cheering you
on as you are coming through our downtown, but I do hope those that do take
the time, will realize that it is a really important day that you have allowed us to
pause and to reflect for everyone and all of us who will always and continue to be
impacted by 9/ 11.
Dunn: I did have a question for staff. Maybe John will be able to answer
this How would we manage, for example, I don't think we have anyone from
Parks and Recs here. With Ida Lee being there and I don't know what type of
kids programs and even adult programs, that seemed to come into my mind.
Other than the hospital, and the hospital has a way around town, but Ida Lee is
kind of stuck there. What are we going to do to manage that process.
Wells: Actually, Council Member Dunn and Council Members, there is a
number of different facilities we are going to have to be looking at in town.
Certainly Ida Lee, the library, the hospital, the schools that are along King Street
in town. We will get into August football practice. Other sports will start to have
practices at the athletic fields. Marching band usually starts in August. There
will be a number of activities that go on. At Ida Lee, we are checking on camp
and the camp registrations. Pool will be open. We will be coordinating with all
of the different leadership groups, school administration, hospital administration,
our own parks and recreation staff. We may be looking at potentially early
closures that day or rescheduling, but I don't want to say too much at this point
because we have to pull all these people together. I didn't want to get ahead of a
Council vote at this point and begin to make those preparations, but what we are
doing is developing the inventory of who we will need to work with. This is a
community wide effort. We are going to be talking to the Chamber of
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COUNCIL MEETING
July 26, 2011
Commerce, the different business associations, the HOAs, because it's not just a
business issue. It's also going to be residential as well. I know a number of the
complaints that I receive regarding parades in town are from those residents who
live on streets that have one access to King Street, so they have a difficult time
getting out. We are going to pool all of our knowledge from all of those events
and take appropriate steps. There may be different action plans for each of those,
but we are on it and assuming a vote tonight to the positive, we will be
coordinating different teams around the organization. I spoke to Mr. Dentler and
Chief Price today in terms of getting ready for that starting tomorrow.
Dunn: I just wanted to say, as I mentioned last night, I had a good friend
of mine, who was on his way to a business trip in California, leaving out of
National when the terrorists turned the plane around they probably thought they
were just going to go back to National They came down a little short of that.
They hit the Pentagon. His family had three young children and the thought of
him, his family, doesn't often pass my memory. I just say that because I do
appreciate the work and the effort that you all do and put into this. I would say,
though that the ride is what is most important because of the way that it
remembers 9/11. That is what we really have to keep in mind through this whole
process. The ride is what is most important. I think that is recognized by the fact
that there are a number of towns on the route that you may not be going through.
To me, one road over another it doesn't mean a whole lot one way or the other.
Whether this ride was originally on the bypass, would it be then to say it would
have been much better if it had gone through town, no. Because the ride is what
is most important. After that, are you folks. The people who are taking the time,
the effort, even your finances to be a part of this ride and those people who are
supporting you for this ride. Next, what is most important are those people along
the route that are recognizing you for your efforts and the time and commitment
that you have done and who are taking the time out of their day to remember
what is most important about the efforts that you are doing and reminding us that
9/11/2001 was not too long ago. I am often reminded that when I drove into
town that night, coming back from work and seeing a heavy construction
equipment blocking the FAA center and realizing that was our best efforts at first
responding. That next, the people that I can't take too lightly, though, the police
officers who were here last night advising us about the safety of this. After all,
those are the people who you are riding for. Those are the people who you are
recognizing. They are still here and many of those people are the ones that were
there on 9/11 providing first responder assistance. I can't take too lightly their
advice and I think that the message I took from last night was that our chief was
saying I'm going to be spread pretty thin and I'm going to need a lot of help from
the state police to get this done. I think John has shared a little of that in just a
few weeks, we are going to have a lot to do to be able to make this happen for
you all. For me, it was more of a management issue and we should not take
those comments by the police too lightly. Again, I do support your efforts and I
thank you all for what you do. For me personally, again 9/11 is still a tough day.
That is still tough. Thank you very much.
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July 26, 2011
Wright: Thank you, Madam Mayor. It has been an interesting couple of
weeks as this issue came up as the town manager will remember when I first got
the first email on this, I was actually on travel on business and I got it and I
forwarded it to John. I'm like this is a mistake, right? He was like, no. And then
the conversation continued. In looking at this issue. We got our briefing last
night and obviously a lot of public feedback and kind of as I have been working
through it, one of the things that I took note and kind of in addition to the some
of the other comments that we have already had is the past practice. This ride
has gone through downtown. It had been the expectation. I am always a kind of
a process person, so the other thing that kind of stood out in my mind is the 9/11
foundation comes through the town of Leesburg, had filed a special event permit,
had noted the higher number of riders and that was approved. So it was a little
bit of a change in process based on other things. So, that was there. One of the
overwhelming things was the public feedback and I had a concern that maybe
they were only responding to the emotion of it. So, I put on my Facebook page
and other communications, hey, worst case scenario and I acknowledge this is
the worst case scenario in that the foundation has indicated probably a much
shorter time period, but worst case scenario is we are talking about a two to three
hour window and the responses I got back including from some core downtown
businesses was "yah, and... So, the public has been very firm in we want this
ride to come through downtown. I did a poll, which was nonscientific but the
last count was 250 to 7. It's not one of those where you have to do a whole lot of
struggling to understand where the public stands. In acknowledging the impact, I
think one of the things that was the most helpful from the common stand... I
definitely appreciate everyone coming out. What was reminding us about the
Obama political rally and the impact to drivers for that and that was an
inconvenience and remembering 9/11 is certainly far more important than any
political events or anything of that nature. That helped really put this whole
discussion into a better perspective. I think it's important that we acknowledge
the impact, we prepare for the impact and we communicate. I know in years
past, our communications have maybe focused day of. I think all of us have had
conversations with the town manager that we need to be communicating much
more aggressively starting tomorrow. That would have been the same regardless
of the route. I am still in my mind... even the bypass route has its cons as well as
far as from a traffic impact standpoint and delay standpoint. I think there are
ways that route could have almost been worse. So, for me the overwhelming
thing when you kind of weigh all of that is the public feedback and the desire for
the community and the importance of what the ride and the folks that are taking
the time represent. So, that's where I am at.
Martinez: One of the things that I wanted to mention about the ride was
that no sooner had this story broke that there then started being dialogue on
Facebook. I want to thank Deena for coming out right away. The story
had no sooner broke than she wrote a comment "what is going on here?". I have
the same feeling. I have looked at this ride more as it's bigger than just the ride.
It is a symbol for our anger, our sadness at the horrible event that happened. For
me when I see the ride and I see the people on the sidewalk, what I am looking at
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
is the coming together of our patriotism, our community and the fact that we are
proud to be Americans. For me, I really am at a loss at all of this dialogue and all
this conversation. For me, from day 1, I had no problem supporting this. I had
no problem having it go through downtown Leesburg. I am going to be on the
sidewalk watching these guys go by. I may have some tears thinking about all
the things that happened. I would bet, just as a lot of us older folks who knew
where we were when President Kennedy was assassinated, we all remember
where we were when 9/1 1 happened. So, as our flag and one of the reasons I
talked about our flag before we said the pledge of allegiance, it is a symbol for us.
It is bigger than just the words we speak. It is embedded in us. As this ride has
become a symbol for 9/1 1 as the flag is a symbol for our patriotism and for our
freedom. Again, I don't think this was something we needed to talk about a lot.
For me it's a no brainer and I am going to support it.
Butler: I have a little bit different perspective on this issue. First, I reject
the notion that we will be honoring the 9/1 1 victims less because we picked a
different road to go through town. The analogy with a political event is false
because the choice with a political event is to hold it or to not hold it. In this
case, we are not stopping the 9/11 riders at the border. They would still be
coming through either way, it is just an alternate route that our police, both at the
state level and at the local level say is a much safer route and would cause far less
disruption. Now I appreciate the people in town, businesses and residents, saying
that sure they love this 250 to 7, or whatever it is. But we also have a
responsibility as a council to look at other people who will be affected and the
risk with bringing it through town is there is a number, many more riders than
there have been normally. The police estimate they may have to close the roads
for up to three hours. If that happens, we are into Friday rush hour. What we do
in Leesburg is going to affect potentially hundreds of thousands of people that
will be coming home from work on a Friday afternoon. Because this ride doesn't
end in Leesburg, it continues on through Leesburg and goes into Alexandria. So,
potentially there are roads all along there that will have to be closed, but not in a
convenient time in mid afternoon, but at an inconvenient time in the middle of
rush hour so there may be many, many people that will spend hours more in
traffic because of a decision we made and they will not have the benefit of seeing
9/1 1 riders or spending time in their cars and they will not be thinking about
9/1 1 victims. The will be thinking about who are the Einsteins on Council that
did this on a Friday afternoon, the worst possible time of the week. So, this is not
a no brainer. It is not a simple solution when we have state and local police men
that are all coming out and saying this is not the right decision for us to make.
We need to give a due and I don't believe the council is doing that. Nevertheless
with all of this, I will stand with my colleagues and accept both the credit for
doing this as well as the criticisms that will certainly come our way.
I will be supporting this and I appreciate Dave's comments. I just want to
say that for the minority of citizens and businesses that have asked us to support
the bypass route, the emails and conversations that I was either privy to or
received were very thoughtfully crafted. Even those that prefer the bypass route
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COUNCIL MEETING
July 26, 2011
are very supportive of the cause that everybody is riding for, but it occurs to me
that the route through downtown Leesburg is the route through small town
America all across this country and the riders who are taking time out of their
work schedule to ride, I think deserve to be able to see hometown America out
there waving flags for them. I have been extraordinarily impressed with the
businesses and residents of Leesburg who support the downtown route despite
the inconvenience that will occur because they want to sacrifice. Because they
understand how important this cause is and sometimes I think it is important to
let Americans say we are willing to give up our convenience, we are willing to
band together and support a cause greater than ourselves. This is for freedom
and this is for the American way of life so it will be my great pleasure to vote
tonight to support the downtown route.
Reid: Thank you Madam Mayor. I don't want to belabor this, but I think
that what Council Member Hammier said is just so beautiful that yes, it was a job
of the police and state police to give us the worst case scenario. Some of us were
wincing when they started talking about the potential for terrorists but what Ms.
Hammier said is we can never, ever, ever show fear. We must look them in the
eye and we should go on with what we have planned. Besides, I can't imagine
how terrorists would want to take on 1500 guys and women on bikes, most of
them wearing goatees like the guys in this room here tonight.
Mayor: Well, the women aren't.
Reid: The women aren't, that's true, but still...
Mayor: I know some members of your family and none of the women
have goatees.
Reid: 1500 folks wearing leather, zooming along on Harleys. I think you
guys are going to work it out with the police fine. I think it's going to work out.
God is watching over you. God bless you. Let's fire up those engines.
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammier, Martinez, Reid, Wright and Mayor
Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7 -0
b. Easement Authorization for Alleyway and the East End "Triangle" Area
Capital Project
On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Vice Mayor
Wright, the following was proposed:
RESOLUTION 2011 -103
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
Declaring that a Public Necessity and Use Exists and Authorizing an
Offer to Acquire Permanent and Temporary Easements for the East End
Triangle Area and Alleyway Capital Project
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Martinez, Reid, Wright and Mayor
Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7 -0
c. Contract Award Woodberry Road Improvements
On the motion of Vice Mayor Wright, seconded by Council Member
Reid, the following was proposed:
RESOLUTION 2011 -104
Awarding the Construction Contract for the Woodberry Road Drainage
and Street Improvements Project to Madigan Construction, Inc., in the
Amount of $698,551.26
Wright: Where we are at on this project is we have got a design, time to
move forward.
Reid: I would like to offer a friendly amendment at the end of where it
says project to say "Further Resolved, that the entire sidewalk on Woodberry
Road shall be 4 ft. wide
Mayor: Kevin, do you accept that as a friendly amendment?
Wright: I do not.
Mayor: Ken, do you want to make a motion to amend?
Reid: Yes, I would.
Mayor: Ken has made a motion to amend this to decrease the width of
the sidewalk from I believe five feet to four feet. Is there a second to that. Okay,
second by Tom. Ken, do you have any initial comments?
Reid: If you have looked at your emails the last week or so, Doris Kidder
has talked to the residents on the street. What she wants to do is essentially... the
residents support a four foot wide sidewalk for the entire sidewalk length. As you
will recall, when we approved the sidewalk in 2009, we agreed to a four foot
width towards the end of the block on Edwards Ferry Road so it would not
impact the Kemp and Patton properties and I think one other property. Ms.
Kidder raised a very good point that the sidewalks in the Lowenbach subdivision
are 4.5 feet wide. But a lot of the sidewalks... as you will recall Woodberry Road
has sidewalks here and there already and they are four feet wide. All we are
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COUNCIL MEETING
July 26, 2011
doing here is making a 4 foot wide sidewalk. The staff has argued that this won't
meet ADA requirements, that Lowenbach was approved during that period of
time when it was allowed, but the fact is that the town council can approve it.
There are several driveways along there that allow for turn arounds for... the
reason they have a five foot wide width is because of wheelchairs. Potentially
someone coming down with a wheelchair cannot get by if it is four feet wide, but
there are driveways throughout Woodberry Road. So, it's not like a lot of streets
in the historic district where there are no driveways and curb cuts. So, all we are
doing here is just responding to citizen requests to make the sidewalk uniform
and I wanted to propose it at four feet wide.
Dunn: Just a question and I was willing to second just for discussion
purposes, but I do realize that there is the ADA and having a son with special
needs and knowing that there are people on that street with special needs that we
should consider that. I would think that the ADA has good reason for having
five foot wide sidewalks. However, I would ask anyone from staff who could tell
me what are the consequences of going with four foot wide sidewalks When will
the ADA cops be coming to John's door?
Irby: Council Member Dunn, I don't know that the ADA cops will be
coming to the door, but certainly reducing the sidewalk from five foot to four foot
violates the spirit and intent of the law. The ADA has given specific guidelines
with respect to recommendations. I think there is a confusion among some.
There is a clear width minimum that is fit for passage and that is not considered a
sidewalk width recommendation by the ADA. Particularly with respect to
children who may be using the sidewalk, their minimum width with
recommendation for children using sidewalks in residential areas is five feet.
This sidewalk was designed for five feet and there is no reason for us to design to
a minimum. The minimums are in the ADA guidelines in case there are
impediments and inability to make a sidewalk wider but that is not the case here.
The conditions warrant a five foot sidewalk, we have planned for it, we have paid
for it. Even if Council decides to go to a four foot sidewalk, we don't get our
money back from the residents where we have acquired the land rights to those
properties and I think we have acquired most of those land rights already and we
have already designed it, so we will not be saving $7,500.
Wells: You will save, Council Member Dunn... that's just one aspect of
the cost. There are other costs that will be associated with making the change in
terms of design and lost value in terms of the easements that have already been
acquired, so the net effect is something less than half of that.
Dunn: I guess just to follow -up for further clarification is are there legal
consequences... fines that could be imposed upon us by not following ADA
requirements.
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COUNCIL MEETING
July 26, 2011
Irby: There could be a suit that is brought, but I am not going to say that
somebody would do that; however, it does violate the spirit and intent of the
ADA law.
Wright: So, it's my understanding this has been designed so... I also
remember having this discussion before and making this decision before when we
had you go design it. If we were to make this change now, having been in the
construction business from time to time, we are talking about a change order.
You are not going to get the full value of the change order. We are also talking
about a design change and if we are going to be trying to document we are
somewhat meeting the spirit of the ADA, it is not just going to be someone doing
a post it note on the drawings, we are going to need a new set of drawings. All
due respect, John, I don't usually disagree with you, but you are going to spend
$7,000 getting a new set of drawings. So, there is no money to be saved here.
The other thing I would remind Council is when we felt we had a pulse of the
whole community, we usually don't. I just envision we make this decision, we
get a line of people here in September. We do this again. I think we have put
this neighborhood through enough. We made the decision. This is just simply
the administrative act of awarding the construction contract. It is not the time to
be redesigning the project.
Martinez: I have to agree with Kevin. When we went back and voted on
the sidewalks, the reason we voted on the sidewalks was residents came and
wanted the sidewalks and there was a lot of discussion. I have to agree with
Kevin also that it is going to cost more than $7,500 and I am talking about staff
resources. Here is what I envision. We change it to four. Somebody comes in
and wants 4 and a half. Somebody else wants 5. We end up spending another
two to three Council sessions discussing what is the right width. We made the
decision. I sympathize with Doris. She is a favorite person of mine, but on this I
have to disagree. I think we need to stick with the drawings that we have. Also
one of the things that is different between Lowenbach area and Woodberry Road
is that if we could have put five foot there, we would have. The problem was the
width of the street itself. We have to look at we are doing this because, one, we
are complying and the street can handle the width. In this case, we need to
continue on. This is just another vote to complete the design and move forward.
Hammler: The only thing I would add to the discussion because I concur
that we should move forward as planned is that it would even be contrary to all
of the time, effort and Council priorities as it relates to increasing pedestrian
walkways, ultimately narrowing street widths to create traffic calming and I
wholeheartedly support wide sidewalks.
Butler: I had a question for staff. If we change the sidewalks to four feet,
are there major trees or shrubbery or anything else that may be saved that now
would be removed?
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
Dentler: Narrowing the sidewalk will not save any trees that have already
been identified. No sidewalk will save it, but with the sidewalk four feet or five
feet or anywhere in the middle doesn't save anything.
Butler: Okay. So we are really talking about... about the only thing we
are talking about is the width of the sidewalk. The change in the streetscape
will... that's the only difference.
Reid: I'm just a little surprised because I brought this forward because
Ms. Kidder said she had neighbor support. In her email, even said that Council
Members Butler and Martinez were going to support it, so I really thought I had
the support for this. If there is no support for this on Council, I'm going to
withdraw it. But I thought... I swear that I saw the email that there was other
Council Members who were behind it. If Kevin is saying that members of the
community... that there are some members of the community that are not going
to like this and if Mr. Dunn says there are folks on that street who have
disabilities, then I am not going to bring this forward and I am sorry to waste
everyone's time. I will withdraw the motion because... I am just surprised.
Mayor: We are back to the main motion. Ken has withdrawn his motion
to amend. Is there anybody that wants to speak to the main motion?
Martinez: I had talked to Doris about it and maybe I misunderstood her.
Maybe my perceptions were wrong. I apologize if she thought I was leaning one
way versus another. I just wanted to make...
Reid: Hey Marty, I apologize for wasting everyone's time.
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Martinez, Reid, Wright and Mayor
Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7 -0
c. Mason Enterprise Center Memorandum of Agreement /Membership
Change and Advertisement
On a motion by Vice Mayor Wright, seconded by Council Member
Butler, the following was proposed:
MOTION 2011 -026
Whereas, according to the Memorandum of Understanding between the
Town of Leesburg and George Mason University, be it therefore resolved
that the MOU reflect a Board of Advisors for the Mason Enterprise Center
(MEC) Leesburg be represented by four members of the Town of
Leesburg, three from Loudoun County, three from George Mason
University, two from the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce and
three At -Large
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Martinez, Reid, Wright and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 6 -0 -1 (Hammier abstaining)
13. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. None
14. NEW BUSINESS
a. Linden Hill Access Road
On a motion by Council Member Reid, seconded by Council Member
Dunn, the following was proposed:
MOTION 2011 -027
The Town Council authorizes the Town Attorney or her designate to
attend the auction of 1 Country Club Drive at the Loudoun County Court
House on August 8, or an alternative date and bid on the respective
property
Dunn: I would say that while I was not at the closed session discussing
this last night, I have a pretty good handle on the issue. I would think that our
probability of securing the property is pretty good, unfortunately though it is an
auction. You do have the public there. You have representatives of the banks
there. You are putting at risk the possibility that we do not secure this property
because it is a public auction. We have limited the amount that the Town
Attorney can spend and if somebody chooses to spend more than that, then they
can secure the property and we have to deal with these issues all over again. I
had hoped that what originally brought this on was the Meadowbrook purchase,
which brought on the South King Street widening, which resulted in having to do
this. I was not for either one of those. I wish that we had gone ahead and had a
majority on Council if only to offer full price for this. We opted not to do that.
We opted not to go into a joint purchase with another interested party. The
majority of Council opted not to do that. Now we are putting this project still at
risk by going to a public auction. I wish that we weren't having to do this, but
these are the cards that the majority of Council is willing to operate under. So, I
am supporting it because we have to, but I wish we were taking a more direct
route to get this moving forward.
Wright: I will not be supporting this. As I have said throughout this
process, I don't think this is a wise use of taxpayer dollars. I don't think once this
is built and utilized... it will be utilized as much. I think the Linden Hill
residents will ultimately migrate to making the right turn and the U -turn as that
being more convenient than this cross property. I continue to think that the cost
of this will continue to climb as this moves along or drags along, depending.
Martinez: I am kind of... I wasn't at the closed session so I really don't
know exactly what is going on. I hate abstaining. I also mentioned that I
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
thought we were out of the real estate business and that we were going to go
ahead and put the design in. When it came time to take care of the property, we
take care of it then. It seems like we trying to do all these stop -gap provisions and
so I am really uncomfortable doing this. I just don't feel comfortable. I don't
think it is the right thing to do. Like I said, we have the access road in the plans.
As far as I am concerned, I would rather go ahead and just see what happens and
whoever owns it, we just go after the easement. I am concerned.
Hammier: I will be supporting this and I appreciate everybody coming
out. I know last time you were here, it seemed like there was a lot of discord on
Council as far as that more convoluted way. But, there has been a dramatic
change, which is this time around there actually is an auction, so we will be
participating in it. Yes, there is a risk. This has not been a simple process, but we
are going to hopefully move forward this evening. Council Member Wright said
something earlier tonight that struck me. He is a process person. This is part of
the process at this point. As it relates to the fact that we all agreed we would be
widening Route 15, that there were impacts to Linden Hill. It is not an ideal
scenario as it relates to any number of things. Certainly you wish you could
continue to turn left, which you no longer can. We will be getting a bike trail
down there for all of our troubles as well. As it relates to specifically us getting
into the real estate business, clearly one needs to question that, but as it relates to
my perspective as we have debated, this will minimize ultimately the easement
costs, so to me it makes sense to move forward as best we can with the auction
and be well assured that there will also be a plan B as necessary because the other
thing in our favor is the market value of that home.
Butler: I want to let everybody know that we are not going down to this
auction because we initiated it. This got initiated by the bank, as it always does.
We really should participate in it. I think the chance of... how should we say it...
somebody who wants to acquire the property long term is probably somebody
other than us, is unlikely to win the bid. That is my guess, but of course anything
can happen. Who knows? In any case, I am satisfied with this resolution.
Mayor: Thanks Dave. Before I turn it back to Ken for final comments, I
will be supporting this. I want to say to Mr. French, I really appreciate your
coming out. But the reason that I have to vote against the concerns you have
raised and we have heard those concerns, as you know from other members of
the Country Club community, is I do support the widening of South King Street.
We are anticipating significant increases in traffic on South King over the years to
the extent that it may be impossible for Linden Hill residents to make a left onto
South King Street even if the widening project weren't going forward. Because
the widening project and our cutting off Linden Hill from their long standing
access on South King, on their ability to make a left I feel that they are now at a
disadvantage, or they will be at a disadvantage when the widening project is done
and I feel that we have an obligation when a new public works project puts a
community at a disadvantage and takes away some of the rights they are used to
relying on, that we have to try to mitigate the damage that is done to that
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community. I appreciate Mr. French, you have expressed your sympathy for the
Linden Hill residents. I am sure they appreciate it as well. But this is while not
an ideal situation, I think it is the only solution we can come up with to try to
make it easier for them to carry out their day to day business. The risk of going
forward and only condemning an easement is that the courts could say sorry, but
that easement is going to cost you the value of the entire property but you don't
get the entire property, all you are going to get is that strip. At least this gives the
town the opportunity to re -sell the home and Mr. French, you are an expert in
real estate, as I am not and I know you are skeptical of the ability of the town to
resell it should we be able to acquire it. But we would make back some level, I
think, the majority of what we spend. I have supported this proposal from the
beginning. It has been very frustrating for Linden Hill to have to come back and
back to meeting after meeting, but I do appreciate the residents of Linden Hill
who took the time once again to join us here. I will be voting for this tonight and
Ken, you get final remarks.
Reid: Again, this is not what we really wanted to do this and go through
all of this. We wanted to have a median break so folks could take a left. We
were confounded by our engineers. They would not work on the project or
approve it because it did not meet the VDOT design. That would have been the
best solution. So, this is what we are left with. I just hope that we can resolve
this on August 8. What time is the auction?
Irby: It is one or two o'clock.
Reid: Very good. Thanks again to folks for coming out and also to Mr.
French for being here tonight.
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammier, Martinez, Reid, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: Wright
Vote: 6 -1
15. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Council Member Dunn: had no comments.
Council Member Reid: I really appreciate my colleagues supporting the 9/11
ride and again I stress the importance of advance communication. But that means the
Council members should also be communicating with constituents that week on your
Facebook pages, emails and so forth. I think it is going to work out. I attended a very
interesting conference. I wanted to hand this to Mr. Dunn, if you will look at that. That
is pervious concrete. I went to a meeting at... Mike Rolhband from Wetland Solutions
sponsored a conference with the Virginia Redi -Mix Concrete Advisory Council. You
have seen pervious concrete before? It is actually not new. At Wetland Solutions, they
actually have a whole parking lot made of this. I discovered at the meeting how
concrete is not the favored material for a lot of the state highway departments, but it is
something that has come down in price tremendously because of the cost of oil going up
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
and asphalt going up in price and concrete lasts a lot longer. You can pave a road or a
street with concrete and it will last maybe 20 years. It will have to be patched. What I
have in my hand is really only good for parking lots and streets with maybe only 25 mph
speed limits, but this could be a solution to our situation with trying to keep the
phosphates and other chemicals from getting into the system. It is going to take a major
cultural change with VDOT and local public works department to try to get away from
$800,000 a year milling and paving and instead resurface streets with concrete or major
highways. Concrete does take a while to settle, unlike asphalt, but it is longer lasting
and it is coming down in price. So, again that was a very interesting conference that I
attended. Our town staff was there too. Tom Rust and I, Delegate Tom Rust and I
were the only elected officials there. He was there primarily because he is in the
engineering business and he was getting continuing education credit, like all others. So,
with that, I just want to wish everybody a very happy August. If you happen to be
driving any roads with concrete, please tell me where they are because I am curious.
Because they used to buckle. They used to jump up. We used to drive these roads in
New Jersey and you are going up and down, up and down. They have apparently fixed
that problem. So anybody who wants to learn more about concrete, please come over
here. Thank you.
Vice Mayor Wright: Sorry, that I missed you guys last set of meetings. I did hear
you managed to get out in record time, so I didn't feel too guilty for you all, because I
think my training class which started in the morning was still going by the time you all
had wrapped up your council meeting, but I did miss you guys. I think that is the first
set I have missed. I am looking forward to the August break. My daughter does not
appreciate my current approach as we walk by the Back to School section and I'm like
"oh yeah, next month you go back to school She doesn't like the way that is worded
but obviously the summer is a little shortened since they moved the start of school back
into August. I do know that our town staff will be very busy, specifically our capital
projects department working to close out some capital projects and I won't steal all of
John's thunder since he has got that coming up. I wish all you guys a good break. I
have been out... the Mayor and I have been busy cutting ribbons. There are times we
are both out at the same time. We have definitely been welcoming a lot of new
businesses to town as well as I had the honor of being there along with Dave for the
Vintner's ribbon cutting after their reinvestment and refurbishing of their business, which
was very nice as well.
Council Member Martinez: Just remember, Kevin, they get older, they go to
college, then they come back home. Then they eat all the time. I have got a full house
and our food bill has gone up tremendously, but what is even worse is the water bill has
gone up because they love to take showers. It is a good thing... it could be worse, I
guess. The Mayor and I went to the Little League banquet, which was absolutely
fantastic. You would be amazed at the kids and people who are there, families. John, I
did want to mention something. I have been watching over... it caught my eye about
two weeks ago and I have been watching... every time I make a left turn on King Street
and approach Ida Lee, there are a lot of rolling stops. A couple of times, I almost hit
somebody going left and the guy is going right. What they do is they see me coming and
they judge "oh he's going about 35" and they take off. They don't even stop. They
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
rolling stop. Either we put a sign or we put a cop car parked there or something. I'm
just thinking about all the kids who are using that crosswalk going back and forth and
somebody not seeing it. So, if you could just keep an eye out there. I apologize for not
being here last night. For the last week I have been score keeping, pitch counting,
announcing and I even volunteered to sign the National Anthem, but they said "no
thank you I have been doing that... I did it all weekend and last weekend. Last night
I was doing the score book. I came back home not feeling good because of the heat so I
watched you guys on TV. Kevin and Jeanette got my emails. They probably wish they
didn't, but they did. I will say on this state tournament, we have had nothing but praise
for our fields, and for our staff and also for the Little League organization that did it and
the Little League organization is very appreciative of us helping them out. It has been a
fantastic tournament and I threw out the first pitch today. Like I said, it was a fast ball
down the middle. Actually, it broke a little to the left, but everybody was just like "wow,
he really threw the ball So, there you go. The last thing is a really sad note. One of
our fields is named for Bob Huber. He passed away last night. Bob Huber was
instrumental in Little League doing fields, umpiring, coaching, being on the Board. He
is going to be sorely missed. If anybody knew Bob Huber, they know why we named
the field after him. Like I said, he will be sorely missed. My condolences go out to the
family.
Council Member Hammier: Just one last comment on the 9/11 ride, which Ken
just reminded me. As it relates to communications, I know we mentioned this, John,
but just the importance of safety precautions from a heightened security perspective for
citizens, those who maybe participating on the parade route just as those who go to
airports and other heightened security areas that we clearly are taking security concerns
to heart. A couple of quick things... one is a quick disclosure. I was invited by a
business partner to actually visit something I didn't really know existed in Leesburg
which is the information security... the information systems cybersecurity management
center of the FAA at our airport and that Christopher Garcia, the director and Mr.
Ward, the deputy director. I bring that up because they were aware that I do wear a
second hat which is the Council hat and a raised concern about something that had
happened that I just want everyone to be aware of because I was there for a different
private reason which is that a group of autistic children had come to take a special
helicopter ride and in fact they were not able to because town staff deemed that they
could not. It was not clear to them why from a regulatory perspective and so there was a
great deal of frustration at the town at that point. I know that John is working directly
and will be rescheduling it. But, Madam Mayor, to the extent that you may be available
or our Vice Mayor, that we really put our best foot forward with the proper Leesburg
tone when that is rescheduled. I know they would deeply appreciate that. Also, how
remarkable that FAA facility is. They are expanding and some tremendous ideas for the
future of the airport and are just a wonderful partner of ours in the town. A couple of
other comments and I'll be brief. One, we talked about H -1 parking and I just wanted to
follow -up on that topic as it relates to the fact that I really love the new parking signs in
downtown Leesburg. The ones that, you know it's not just this strange looking word
like what the name of the parking lot is, that anyone from out of town would have no
idea what that is. It's finally, see a big P. It's obvious. Sets that tone that there is
parking available. So, I love that. It did remind me that I am often stopped when I am
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
just taking a walk down 15 by people who are just plain lost who are looking for the
outlets. It is quite obvious to me that the sign that people see either coming from the east
or west into the town or even north into town from the north, is that sign that gives this
broader premium center doesn't really make it obvious that the outlets are take the
bypass, it's up... in other words, if there was a single sign that could help visitors given
that we have so many visitors coming from different directions, I think would be a
wonderful and appreciated set of progress. Very quickly, I am heading with Dave down
to the Coffee with U.S. Senator Warner tomorrow morning. I know we don't have an
official national set of objectives, but I am sure things like the Chesapeake Bay costs and
things will come up and we will do a debrief. That is awesome that we were invited for
coffee and we will do our best to represent all of us collectively. I will be attending the
VML committee meetings. I chair the economic one and I know there was an update to
via email about our city status issue which did not in fact pass the legislative committee,
so John will be updating us on that and some related types of key issues such as the
status of annexation plans, so we will debrief everybody on that as well. I wanted to just
finally say two things. One, congratulations to Olivia Corso who is going to be in tenth
grade at Tuscarora High School and she did win the Balch Library Commission History
Fair award. I know she is going to hopefully be coming to Council to receive that. She
is a delightful person. I have known her since she was in kindergarten at Leesburg
Elementary and she was as bright as a daisy then and obviously continuing to do
amazing things. So, congratulations, Olivia. She has a wonderful family. I must end
on one of the most important notes, which is to say happy 20 anniversary to my dearly
beloved husband, Rich.
Council Member Butler: It would be hard to top that. This past Saturday, I gave
blood again. I like to mention that each time, if it even encourages one person to go and
give blood, I think that's a good thing. I want to encourage everybody to maybe do
some YIP deals. I don't know if you have heard of that, but there have been a number
of Leesburg establishments that have specials on the YIP deals. I personally have taken
advantage of ones from Palio, Milwaukee Frozen Custard, and Tally Ho, at least a
couple of times each, probably. So, that's a good thing. Also, near Milwaukee Frozen
Custard, I visited the Subway. They were having 2 for 1 deals on Saturday. The new
Subway that is over there. I also went to, as Vice Mayor Wright mentioned, I was at the
Leesburg Vintner grand reopening but unlike Vice Mayor Wright, I did partake in the
free wine tasting from Tarara that was there and it was all very good and I recommend
that people shop there and buy some wine. Last, it reminded me when Council Member
Hammler was talking about Parking that as I was coming in tonight one of the reasons
why I was a couple of minutes late was because a car was driving into the parking
garage and it had a bicycle vertically mounted on the top of the car, so there was no
accident with the bike, but it was like "brrrp, wait I have a bike here so they had to get
the bike down from the car and load it in and then pull into the parking garage. A good
time of all the bystanders was had by all. So, in any case I am not going to recommend
that we increase the height of the parking garage opening, but I just thought that was an
amusing moment of the week.
Martinez: I have two addendums that I forgot to mention. One was Chris
McCarthy who did our national anthem was fantastic. She must have done a half a
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
dozen or more games over the weekend and everytime she did a fantastic job.
Championship game for the 12U state tournament is tomorrow at 7:30 at Reavis.
Everybody should go. It is going to be a good game and it is fun watching all the
dynamics, it really is.
16. MAYOR'S COMMENTS
I want to thank Kevin for doing all the ribbon cuttings he has been doing lately.
I think this has been the busiest few months for ribbon cuttings we have ever seen in the
history of the town, so we have a lot of new businesses. We have another one coming
up tomorrow morning at 11:30, Loudoun Learning has moved to Fort Evans Plaza II,
so they will be having their ribbon cutting there. Other success stories in the town,
Stilson Greene's Acoustics on the Green concert series. This has been the most
successful season ever for that and we are typically running over 400 people there every
Saturday night. So, thank you to Stilson for his hard work. Marty did a great job with
the Little League folks. It was a great banquet. We had 16 teams from around the state,
all the way from Abingdon all the way up to Loudoun County. They were all thrilled.
As I put in an email to John and Council, they just are so impressed with our Parks and
Rec staff and with the quality of the fields in Leesburg. They said there is nothing like
this anywhere else in the state. I want to thank Frank and the other members of the
Loudoun County disability services board for their hard work getting the Village at
Leesburg to put in additional non required handicapped parking spaces. We did the
ribbon cutting on that last week. It has been a very, very busy season. I have one
disclosure to make which is this morning John Wells, Barbara Notar, and I met with
Tom Magazine. He is debating a special exception expansion of the Station Car Wash,
which has been, as you know, a very successful business in town.
Reid: Madam Mayor, if you don't mind. I want to introduce my neighbor, Chris
Bisecker, who is in the audience.
Martinez: John, I did on my Facebook root for the Pirates when they broke 500.
17. MANAGER'S COMMENTS
Thank you, and Madam Mayor, actually the first comment I was going to make
was when Council Member Martinez mentioned that he could not be at the meeting last
night and he "watched I thought what he was going to say he watched was actually
the Pirates playing on National TV for the first time in nine years against the Atlanta
Braves. He watched the Council meeting instead. Understood. A couple of quick notes
before I go into a couple of minutes of a presentation for some materials I think will be
helpful. One is you have all received an email from Jason Seibel from the Utility Rate
Advisory Committee. Based on the Council's direction to that committee to work on
some ideas regarding what the overall policy direction might be for the town before a
utility rate consultant was engaged, you all received a survey from that committee to
solicit information from you that can then be put together and brought back for further
discussion. Just be aware that is there. There is some question as to whether all the
appropriate FOIA regulations have been met. The short answer to that is yes. So, the
current survey that you have in your current email is okay to follow -up on and part of
what you all had directed as part of your motion on URAC a few meetings ago.
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Council Member Wright has mentioned to me and Council Member Hammler
mentioned this evening, publically, the new parking signs as part of the some of the
efforts. I know that Council has a list of issues we have tried to look at in terms of
improving parking both around town and at the garage. The new signs are progressing
up as you begin to see them. Some of them are more noticeable than others. There have
been a few up for quite a while that I know that folks haven't seen, but some of the
others are much more noticeable. Second one, the other thing is we had a number of
complaints about the noise from the fans in the garage. If you happen to walk by there,
you will not hear them quite as loud as you did before. Staff worked on the fans
themselves, new motor, different size blades, change in the rpms, still meeting all the
regulations for the removal of carbon monoxide, but a significant difference in terms of
noise, so as we are looking at potential uses of the alleyway, you will actually be able to
walk next to somebody and talk to somebody and they will be able to hear you as
compared to the fairly loud fans that we had out there before. Next, up in the garage,
you should see some additional lighting come in. We are putting in the brighter lights
and the safety lights, will be coming up later this fall. So, as funds permit and as we are
able to work through those matters, you will continue to see some progress along the
way dealing with parking both on and off the streets. One of the things that I wanted to
share with you... we didn't go over it last night. I will make it very brief. Under tab 15
in your binders. You don't need to pull it out tonight, but you are welcome to. You can
also review it later on is going to be the document that I will be updating for Council on
a regular basis that identifies your work program for FY 12. It was the format you had
seen a couple of weeks ago. We have now started to fill in some status as work is
underway into July and now into August. Where projects have been completed, we will
be noting that. If there are any changes in the status, or as we are moving along with
those, those are noted on... again on that report on Tab 15 and we will be adding to the
July /September list of significant projects the effort on the 9/11 ride since that will
probably be our big project for August in many ways. CIP, as Council Member Wright
mentioned and I appreciated him not giving all the secrets away. We did have some
significant projects moving forward in our CIP this year and we know, I think it has
been about seven years ago since I first worked here and we had about... I think the
number was 88 projects in our CIP at that point. We are now down into the 30s and we
are making some very significant headway on those. I have a chart. If I can get the
microphone... a little differently last night, but I think timing wise, it was better to save it
for this evening. We will be providing to the Council updates on our capital program on
a regular basis and I know one of the important notes that Council has made is if
anything falls off the track to be sure to let you know that right away so if project costs
are going up because of some particular change, don't wait until the end or wait until the
budget to bring that up. So, I don't have any of those to bring up for you this evening.
What I do have for you is our short list of projects. This map is usually sitting inside my
office.
Hammler: Madam Mayor? I'm sorry to interrupt, John. I would assume that if
anyone is watching or is planning to watch, if you could turn that around, we have
already seen it. I thought the cameras where over there that they are using. Kevin
knows all.
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COUNCIL MEETING July 26, 2011
Wells: On the capital sheet, we have all the projects listed. There are six projects
we will finish this year. We are going to be working on most all of them in one way,
shape or form, but we will be working on six that will actually finish and not appear in
next year's capital budget when we propose the CIP. A couple of them are coming up
fairly shortly. The Battlefield Parkway extension, Sycolin Road widening, the three
drainage projects, Dry Mil Wage and Anne, the Turner Harwood Project, the
Woodberry Road Drainage project and the Nav -Aids project out at the airport. Two of
those construction awards were made this evening. That will put then all six of them
into some phase of construction effectively tomorrow morning. Progress is being made
on all of those. We are doing fairly well on Battlefield Parkway, Lowenbach is also
moving along. We will keep you posted on these on a very regular basis and keep you
up to date. There will be a lot of opportunities for ribbon cuttings this fiscal year.
Reid: I just wanted to remind you that if the interchange... if the intersection at
Battlefield and Edwards Ferry is not opened on the 26 of August, you are going to
notify the community in advance?
Wells: Certainly will and we are tracking fairly closely what the time line is on
that. I know with the Council being on break, probably expect to see a number of emails
from me on a regular basis kind of letting you know what's going on in town so you
don't have to wait until next month to find out "oh, what happened while I was gone
So, if I appear to be annoying. I am not looking for responses to anything. More so just
to let you know what is going on so...
Reid: No, it's a good thing because some residents, they are skeptical. They
don't know how construction works and they think that it is going to take longer.
Wells: Right now, we are at or ahead of schedule right now. So, I don't want to
get ahead of myself. Anything can happen on a daily basis, weather being a big factor.
We will keep you posted as we go along the way. This is something we will be tracking
very closely. Again, expect to see those six projects finished this fiscal year. The other
thing that I wanted to highlight for you. This is one that is a little complicated to look at
and I'll leave it around the Council Chambers for the Council and the public to see. It is
a two part... it's kind of like our class project. I wanted to provide the Council an
opportunity to really get a look at... more so it's more the concept as opposed to what
you are actually going to be able to read. What we did is to try to give the Council and
the public the opportunity to get a good perspective of what the town government does.
A lot of times if folks are just simply watching what is going on TV, what happens in the
town is what happens at the dais... or maybe if they only go to Ida Lee, their perspective
is limited by just based on what they do. A lot of times, I know Council members I'm
asked what am I getting for my tax dollars? What does the town do? A lot of times, I
know when the Mayor and I will talk to Scout troops when they come in, we will talk
about what... did you see a traffic light this morning? Did you see a policeman? Did
you have a drink of water? All of those things are town services. So what we did was
for a time period of between 9 and 11 o'clock on Monday, July 18, I had every member
of the organization through their supervisor identify what they were doing so that
throughout the town government, this was what the entire organization was doing town
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wide. Ida Lee, water treatment plant, water pollution control, Balch Library, virtually
every operation in the town is represented by this map and where they are at. Our staff
at the airport that morning happened to be mowing and fixing a light on the runway.
Detectives were doing a number of different things, but they are all listed on here and as
you get a chance to look at these, I think it gives you a broader perspective of what we
do and what the organization does at all levels. There is a whole lot more people that
work for the town than who you see here. A lot of them do work but never get thanked
or never get identified. This was a way to really kind of bring that out and we will want
to highlight this and use this in a number of different settings. To highlight again, this
was a snapshot of what the entire organization was doing. I couldn't fit... Town Hall is
kind of a concentrated group. This is the entire effort at Town Hall in terms of working
with meetings on bonding and project review, a management team meeting in the
Planning Department, reviewing our fee documents. Jeanette was reviewing the town
code, so we know what she was doing. I was meeting with the Administrative
Associates that morning. So, basically, if you want to know what we were doing at that
point, it shows you the full width and breadth of what the organization does at any point
in time and it's changing all the time. When you look at Ida Lee, the tennis lessons, the
different camps that go on. I had an opportunity to work the front counter at Ida Lee a
few weeks ago. I only do that a couple of hours. I was there from 8:30 until 10.
Martinez: I heard they had to crack the whip to get him to stop socializing.
Wells: They had to crack the whip. They had to teach me how to answer the
phone properly, but...
Reid: That's what Herb Kelliher used to do with Southwest Airlines. He was the
chairman of Southwest and just out of the blue just work the counter. He would work
baggage. He instilled this culture.
Wells: You learn a lot by doing that. There are some things I am not allowed to
do anymore. I have been showing up in all departments. I am not allowed to mow
grass anymore since I got the mower stuck in the ditch at Ida Lee. So, public works....
Hammler: John, we want to follow you on Twitter, so you could set up an
official account.
Wells: The John Cam. I think there is some really good information. I know
Council gets asked a lot of times, at the grocery store, hey, what am I getting for my tax
dollar? What am I doing? Take the opportunity to look at this. I haven't duplicated
this. It isn't electronic. It almost crashed Chip Umbaugh's computer just because of the
amount of memory with all the pictures and everything. Take an opportunity to look at
it. I'll leave it up in the Council Chambers and you can really see the depth of what is
going on in the organization and how much public contact goes on... not just from the
folks at the front counter, but the front counters all around the organization. Again, you
can learn a lot from doing that. It's a good experience. I can really say I haven't been
everywhere yet. Some people are afraid if I come by for fear of what I might break when
I get there. This is a really good organization.
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July 26, 2011
Reid: How about Ida Lee?
Wells: I don't swim because I can't float. If I am coming to save you, it's not a
good thing.
Reid: I'd love to see that when I go swimming. See John Wells as a life guard.
Wells: It's some really good information. I'm really proud of the work the staff
does. More importantly, it's not just for a pat on the back. It's just a good opportunity
to see what all happens. It's not just in Leesburg. We have people out of town...
whether it was a... I think Susan Berry Hill was at a training session. The Police
Department was doing some things down at the Criminal Justice Academy that day.
So, while you might be wondering, "Gee, what all is happening it is a fairly expansive
list. Again, I will be happy to answer any questions later as you look at that. I don't
want to stand between me and vacation for all of us. I will be disappearing at midnight
tonight and I will be out until next Tuesday.
18. ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Vice Mayor Wright, the
meeting was adjourned at 9:52 p.m.
2011 tcmin0726
Kristen C. Umstattd, Mayor
Town of Leesburg
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