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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2015_tcmin0324 COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Umstattd presiding. Council Members Present: Kelly Burk, David Butler, Thomas Dunn, Suzanne Fox, Katie Sheldon Hammler, Marty Martinez and Mayor Umstattd. Council Members Absent: All present. Staff Present: Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Deputy Town Manager Keith Markel, Acting Deputy Town Attorney Liz Whiting, Director of Parks and Recreation Rich Williams, Assistant Town Manager Scott Parker, Economic Development Director Marantha Edwards, Director of Utilities Amy Wyks, Director of Capital Projects Renee Lafollette, Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning Brian Boucher, Senior Planner Mike Watkins, Senior Planner Irish Grandfield and Executive Associate I Tara Belote. AGENDA ITEMS 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. INVOCATION: Council Member Dunn 3. SALUTE TO THE FLAG: Vice Mayor Burk 4. ROLL CALL: Showing all members present. 5. MINUTES a. Work Session Minutes of February 23, 2015 On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the work session minutes of February 23, 2015 were approved by a vote of 7-0. b. Regular Session Minutes of February 24, 2015 On a motion by Vice Mayor Burk, seconded by Council Member Butler, the regular session minutes of February 24, 2015 were approved by a vote of 7-0. c. Work Session Minutes of March 9, 2015 On a motion by Council Member Hammier, seconded by Vice Mayor Burk, the work session minutes of February 23, 2015 were approved by a vote of 6-0-1 (Dunn abstaining). d. Regular Session Minutes of March 10, 2015 On a motion by Vice Mayor Burk, seconded by Council Member Butler, the regular session minutes of February 24, 2015 were approved by a vote of 6-0-1 (Dunn abstaining). 6. ADOPTING THE MEETING AGENDA On the motion of Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the meeting agenda was as presented, by the following vote: Aye: Butler, Burk, Dunn, Fox, Hammier, Martinez, and Mayor Umstattd Nay: None Vote: 7-0 1 iPage COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 7. PRESENTATIONS a. Certificates of Recognition—Leesburg Garden Club 100th Anniversary On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, a Certificate of Recognition was presented to representatives of the Leesburg Garden Club on the occasion of their 100th Anniversary. b. Certificates of Recognition—Every Citizen has Opportunities (ECHO) On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, a Certificate of Recognition was presented to representatives of Every Citizen Has Opportunities (ECHO)on the occasion of their 40th Anniversary. c. Proclamation—Keep Leesburg Beautiful Month On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, a proclamation declaring April to be Keep Leesburg Beautiful Month was presented to Vice Mayor Kelly Burk. PRO CLPROCLAMATION KEEP LEESBURG BEAUTIFUL MONTH APRIL 2015 WHEREAS, the Town of Leesburg, Virginia, is committed to environmental stewardship and to maintaining the appearance of Town road corridors and public places; and WHEREAS, many volunteers come forth each April to clean up and beautify the Town; and WHEREAS, the Town Council also appreciates the fine work of the Town staff to keep the Town's roadways, right-of-ways, public spaces and parks clean and attractive year round. THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED that the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia hereby declares the month of April 2015 to be Keep Leesburg Beautiful Month. BE IT FURTHER PROCLAIMED, the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia encourages all Leesburg residents, businesses, youth groups, churches and service organizations to participate in Keep Leesburg Beautiful during April 2015 by organizing clean up and beautification activities. 2 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 PROCLAIMED this 24th day of March,2015. 8. PETITIONERS The Petitioner's Section was opened at 7:52 p.m. Diana Reed, 240 Roanoke Drive, Virginia Knolls Community Association. "I am here to ask for your continued support, full funding and timely completion of the water project concerning Tuscarora Creek. Since this issue surfaced, many hours have been expended on the part of the town, the Virginia Knolls Community Association (VKCA) and consultants, all working together for an acceptable solution. Now, finally, all the parties are on the same page and have reached an agreement and come up with a plan to protect our homes, keep our children and grandchildren safe and enhance, not devalue our homes. But, for some reason, the town now wants to decrease the budget and/or table the project until 2017. Meanwhile development plans upstream from our neighborhood are progressing. This development will significantly affect the creek erosion and flooding and pose a threat to our neighborhood and the safety of its residents. Please do not block this vital project and in effect waste all the time and effort that has been made and the resultant project. Please make the needs of the current town residents, some of them who have lived in these townhomes for nearly 50 years, a top priority. Don't leave us dealing with the flooding risk and other issues that will threaten us from upstream development if no action is taken on this creek project. You have a golden opportunity to state your position loud and clear to your constituents. Serve the current residents of Leesburg first. Take care of our needs first before the development is in place. In that way, current residents along with potential future residents will all benefit. I am asking you to fully fund the creek project and continue working with the VKCA to address our concerns and implement this project this fiscal year. This action will speak volumes to the residents of Leesburg. Not only that, it is the right thing to do. Thank you for your time and consideration. I would like to yield the balance of my time to Victoria Yergin." Sarah Richardson, 349 Shenandoah Street, SE. "I am here to make a statement about the Tuscarora Flood Mitigation Project. First, let me say that I do not understand why . That being said, the Leesburg Town Plan states that the goal of flood mitigation is to protect natural resources, streams, and trees and properties, such as homes from the hazards of flooding. Virginia Knolls Community Association, built in 1966 is the oldest subdivision in Leesburg. Tuscarora Creek and Town Branch border our common grounds creating an attractive park-like atmosphere . A neighbor who grew up in the community remembers when the streams filled with aquatic life and fish. Today the stream is dead and at times the water runs so rapidly that it not only overflows the stream banks and threatens homes, but scours the sides of the bank and jeopardizes the root system of mature trees along the banks. I can think of at least three trees that have toppled over because of severe erosion in the past several years. highlights the risk of increasing runoff to our neighborhood. I did not have to buy flood insurance when I moved in as the flood plain was nowhere near me but the new floodplain maps showed potential flood waters reaching my property. This_map was created using the existing conditions—that means including run off from construction that did not exist in 2001, when it was created. No one can dispute that Leesburg has experienced phenomenal growth over the past 20 years and increased run off is the one unmistakable result. What's more, the calculations 3 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 for this new FEMA floodplain map were made without taking into account any future development plans that are now under discussion . In short, the increasing run off and the accelerated erosion it causes are not problems that our homeowner's association created. They are the result of construction taking place up stream without adequate measures to control run off. The flood mitigation project for Tuscarora Creek is designed to solve this problem and recent preliminary plans created in collaboration with our community are consistent with up to date engineering standards for stream restoration and management and conform with aesthetic standards and the town. Moreover, the project addresses what the town needs to do to meet new stringent requirements governing run off that ultimately flows into the Cheseapeake Bay ecosystem. Thus, the project addresses far more problems than just the flooding of a handful of townhouses as one Council Member mistakenly described it. In conclusion, the common grounds of Virginia Knolls Community Association have been used as a free stormwater management system for years. It is time to fix this situation and in a manner that does not detract from the residential park like nature of the HOA as it was established 50 years ago. Our community should not be regarded as expendable for the sake of other development up stream or even other town projects not yet made, funded or approved." Victoria Yergin, Virginia Knolls Community Association Treasurer. "I need to start by asking you not to mistake my passion and my commitment to my community as disrespect for the council or any member of Council. My initial response to last evening's budget discussion was a strange brew of astonishment, a fair degree of exasperation, and an utter sense of disbelief. It is clear that many members have not availed themselves of walking the stream for a firsthand look at the sheer devastation uncontrolled, violent water flow has caused for surely the perspective offered would be inconceivable with experiential knowledge of the problem. Firstly, I would like to clear the record regarding what I felt to be several implications: The Town of Leesburg is not doing the Virginia Knolls Community Association a favor. This flood mitigation project is the town taking responsibility for stormwater run off due to its own rapid growth and development. There seems to be some misconception that the private property of a homeowners association is somehow a de facto water storage facility for the town. The commentary implied a more favorable solution would be to require townhomes on the creek be exposed to flooding on a continual basis at which time the town would repair or replace flood damaged lower levels. Nowhere in this almost vitriolic commentary was an understanding these homes are the investments of the owners. What language would a potential sale contain? "Plan to be flooded but don't worry about it. The Town of Leesburg will handle all the damage? Their property value should never be predicated on a constant threat of destruction because of insufficient infrastructure. As for the notion of a proffer of flood insurance payments on behalf of the residents? There is no comfort in knowing your insurance premiums are paid as your home fills with water, compromising the structural integrity of the building, running the risk of mold growth and your possessions destroyed. Another alternative hinted at just buying up the offending properties presumably to dispose of the matter entirely. There are 39 properties on the section of the creek in question. Recent sales value them between $235,000-$275,000. For the sake of discussion 39 properties at a median price of$250,000 would bring the members proffer to $9,750,000. This represents $1.7 million dollars more than your current undesignated funds account. Bear in mind the entirety of the Virginia Knolls Community consists of 140 townhomes valued at approximately $31 million. Let's 4 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 understand the budget history. There is a $641,000 Commonwealth of Virginia grant on this project that the Town must match. So there is the $1.3 million former budget for the project with$641,000 attenuated by the grant. $300,000-500,000 has already been spent on studies without managing one drop of water. Every year this project is delayed, the volume, velocity,hydrology, Town growth& expansion changes the engineering. Please don't make your constituents the victim of your procrastination and regret this in this regard. The additional$lmillion on this budget must now be viewed as what it takes to finally get the job done especially in light of the huge upstream development. There is no credibility in the assertion this project is to protect five townhomes located on 100% FEMA designated floodplain. The developer upstream is building more than 300 townhomes on 100% FEMA designated floodplain. The only way he can protect the property is to elevate the development high enough over the creek to cause him to install a bridge connecting one side to the other. He is going to great lengths to guarantee the safety, integrity and value of the properties. Notice he isn't offering to pay their flood insurance or repair flood damaged townhomes. Instead, he spends a ton of money to implement the perfect and permanent solution. You agreed to the deforestation of 60 acres above us. You wanted all the townhomes the developer is about to build. You wanted the mixed use office space and retail space. You wanted the proffered revenues extrapolated to 2033. Now, you have to want the infrastructure that goes hand in hand with development and expansion. You have to realize you are using private property as a town storm management solution. I've brought some photographs. This isn't just a little bit of water. This isn't a whim. This isn't a townhome community trying to extract the last vestige of financial solvency from the Town of Leesburg. Last evening, we bumped into Renee Lafollette and Bill Ackman in the parking lot on our way out. I wasn't very pleasant last night and inquired as to why they didn't go to the podium to explain the detail of the project last night. I ask that you allow them the opportunity to speak before this body before the vote so you can understand this project addresses the severe constriction downstream in addition to more engineering they are infinitely more qualified to present. Very stern warnings were advanced last evening relative to impending budgetary doom if debt management continues to be pushed into the future without a verifiable revenue stream. I applaud that level of fiscal responsibility, visionary budgeting and that ever so delicate balance between "projections" and "reality". There is no discernable revenue stream for many of the items on the budget totaling millions of dollars already spent and millions more poised to be spent. I won't use this time to highlight all of these areas. Our development has represented a revenue stream since 1965. We pay real estate tax, sales tax, and personal property tax. We spend our money in the Town of Leesburg and we raise our families here. We are not a proffer, a theory, a wish or a projection. We are now. This problem is now. Your approval is required of the budget as it stands now. Last night I heard lamentations implying lack of foresight and the consequences of skewed priorities. Tonight you are hearing the plaintive wail of a community continuously devastated by lack of foresight and skewed priorities. This photograph is the common grounds of the Virginia Knolls Community Association before what we call a flood event. This is not a 100 year flood, it is not a hurricane, it is not a tropical storm. It is a spring storm with a lot of rain. This is what we look like. There was something last night said about how we rejected a formal plan. The formal plan deforested this entire area. It created a six foot berm close to the townhomes and then dished out another eight feet below it to build and construct an enormous hole. There would be no trees on this property at all. The town's plan was to dig a hole and allow it to fill with water 5 1 Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 and we would be a reservoir. We summarily reject that. We are private property. This is what our townhome community looks like after a flood event. This isn't during the flood event. These waters have receded. This was the property, all the way down to the Dulles Car dealerships from our townhome community. It is a veritable lake from one end to the other. This is your sanitary sewer, completely eroded by fast running water. It is totally visible and totally compromised. This is that same sanitary sewer here. Notice the white caps on the water. This is after the storm has ended. We watch deer fighting for their lives because they slipped into the creek and after the end of the storm, we call the town to pick up the carcasses. Imagine if one of our children was caught. This is a bench in order to give some orientation on our common grounds. Behind that is a stream bed. This very same bench can be seen here in the photograph. The water is up to our parking lot and those waters have receded. Residents are out walking the common grounds. That water was up to the rear of the residences before it receded. This is not a little bit of water. This is not five townhomes. This is not a project to be ignored". Richard Wolfe, 103 Old English Court, SW. "I am the president of the Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company. I am also a resident of the community. I live at 103 Old English Court, S.W. I understand that as part of this year's budget process questions have been raised about funding traditionally provided to my company. As a town resident and taxpayer, I appreciate the diligence of your budgetary discussions. In my fourth year as president of Company 1, I am sensitive to the need for funding this critical service. Thank you for your past and continued support. Striking the right balance between funding provided and value received will help ensure the continued ability of Company 1 and our sister, Company 13, to provide best in class services to the town. As such, I encourage the Council to assign a committee to 1)review the financial needs of our companies, 2) audit the expenditures of funds provided, and 3) as appropriate work with the county to replace any reduction in town funding. I, and Glen Kaupin, president of Company 13 will be happy to assist this committee. Company 1 has a long tradition of serving the town. Founded in 1803 as a bucket brigade, it has evolved into the modern fire fighting force that this town, a town such as this deserves, and rightfully demands. We could not have done so without the continued support of this town. Our history is replete with examples of such support. In fact, at one point we were a department of the town many years ago. Our first mechanized fire engine, purchased in 1925 was purchased by the town on our behalf. This was after the high school had burned down for the second time in 51 years and in response to the fact that Purcellville showed up with a mechanized fire engine much to our collective shame. Funding for Company 1 is derived from four sources, Loudoun County provides the most from an allotment annually debated, negotiated and approved by the Board of Supervisors for the volunteer fire and rescue companies. In fiscal year 14, Company 1 received$462,000 from the county allotment. The Town of Leesburg provides roughly $270,000 after adjusting for the $130,000 that is a pass through from the state grant. Fundraising, including rental of the hall behind Station 1 provides another$125,000 and that is sorely earned. Donations yield another$12,000. These funds are critical to our survival. It takes a million dollars a year to run a fire company such as ours. From paying for, maintaining and operating the apparatus and stations to equipping and training staff and this sum does not include the training of and compensation for the 12/7 career staffing that we receive from the county during the day. At present, the county is engaging in tapping a new source of funding for fire and rescue towards its EMS reimbursement 6 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 initiative. That program is designed to provide funding for EMS services delivered by county or volunteer rescue companies. First revenues are not expected until late FY 16 or early FY 17. A significant portion of these funds will be used to pay for the initiative's management and administration. Remaining funds will be distributed, primarily to transport agencies. Only 10% is allocated for nontransport agencies such as mine. As such, nontransport agencies such as Company 1 will not receive any meaningful revenue from this initiative. As the town that bears our name, Company 1 prides itself on the fiscal and operational responsibility. Our books are open for inspection on request. In fact, I encourage the Council to come see your funding dollars at work. In return for the continued support of the town, Company 1 has and will continue to provide meaningful contributions, including remaining on scene of accidents on high volume, high traffic, high speed roads in and around Leesburg to protect police and tow truck drivers during clean up. Providing the aerial, which is our ladder truck to assist police investigations such as removing bullets from the side of a building, gaining access to a third floor balcony or lighting up crime scenes. Lending facilities, specifically Station 20 for the annual recertification of police equipment, ensuring extra staffing for various events in the town from visits by politicians to parades, air shows, sporting events, and the fire works displays. I approved this as a lieutenant last year, pumping 250,000 gallons of water last summer off of the eastbound side of the bypass just under Children's Center Drive at the request of VDOT when they were unable to do so and as a result, we were able to unclog the drain and open the roadway at least 12 hours before VDOT would have been able to and finally securing the required trash truck at the last year's airshow, which saved the town $28,000. In closing, I would like to reiterate our thanks for the support provided by the town. Your grant accounts for 27% of the funds required for Company 1 to function. Any reduction in town funding that is not covered by the county would necessitate increased fund raising efforts to the detriment of service provision. Company l's members are deeply committed to our community. Each year, we contribute thousands of hours of volunteer service answering emergency calls, providing public education, even bringing Santa Claus to the community. Continuing this tradition of service is our primary goal, but we need your continued support. Let's work together to ensure another 211 years of service". Glenn Kaupin, president of the Loudoun County Volunteer Rescue Squad. "Personally, I live in the Potomac Station neighborhood at 18691 Drummond Place. On March 14, 2015, the Town Council met during a budget work session and had a discussion on how the town should address fire/rescue services and the funding that our station and the Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company receives from the town in the form of grants. I would like to take a few minutes of your time to provide you with a history of our organization, explain what type of services we provide and specifically show examples of the services we uniquely provide to the town and finally discuss the results that reduced town funding has on our budget, the way we provide capability and service. First, I would like to say thank you first of all for the years of financial support to our station and to Leesburg Fire. Without those funds, there would have been a capability gap here. We would not have been able to provide those services that we do today. We are greatly appreciative of that. For your information, Loudoun County is a combined system—I am sure you are aware of that. We work alongside of career professionals to provide a fire/rescue capability to not only the Town of Leesburg but to the County of Loudoun. This system, the Loudoun County combined fire/rescue system was codified by the Board of Supervisors in 2014. It is 7 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 made up of the Department of Fire/Rescue and Emergency Management as well as 16 independent, privately owned volunteer companies that provide fire/rescue services made up almost of more than half volunteers. LCVRS, or call it Loudoun Rescue for short is one of these 16 companies and we are located right here in the Town of Leesburg. In 1952, our organization was established by—and we are the first rescue station in the County and we are located right here in town and not only was —we are located here but our primary focus was here as well as the county and as quickly as the county grew up around us we remained here in our first to is the Town of Leesburg. Over the years, technologies, training and challenges of our services have changed greatly. Our members—however, our Member's absolute commitment to the people we serve and our dedication to service have not changed. Today, LCVRS has over 80 operational members and a dozen apparatus of various types and a multi-million dollar facility on Catoctin Circle working along side our career colleagues from the DFREM, our volunteers contribute 10,000 hours every year running calls, training, doing public service, fundraising, and all the other functions necessary to operate as a modern rescue squad. Every hour of every day we are prepared to provide not only basic medical care and emergency transport, but also advanced life support, water rescue, and a wide variety of technical rescues for the citizens of Leesburg and the surrounding areas. Loudoun Rescue Squad is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Since a large percentage of our funds are from public sources, our financial records are available for public viewing. Any citizen, town, or county official or employee wishing to examine our financial records, practices, or processes are welcome to request such an examination. In 2016, Loudoun Rescue will be publishing an annual report which will provide details on our finances of the squad along with other relevant information that could be made available upon your request. Loudoun Rescue squad provides several services to the Town of Leesburg that are beyond the services we provide the County, such as on a yearly basis we cover what are called special events by providing stand up services—what we call standby services which are emergency medical and rescue services, such as the Flower and Garden Show, Leesburg Airport show, July 4th parade, civil war reenactments, running, walking events, etc. These events usually draw large crowds and we are there to provide that emergency care and response immediately as requested as opposed to having to call 911 and cause a delay in supplying services. This is not a service the county will provide you. This is a service we provide you as a volunteer organization. As a volunteer we are able to upstaff our station in the form of inclement weather. Again, not necessarily a service that the county provides to you. Again, we do it as volunteers. We also provide an intrinsic benefit to the service to the County. Our trucks are stamped with Leesburg right on the back. We do public safety days to inform and educate the public of our services and we more often than not help out with girl scouts, boy scouts and all their wonderful events." Doug Skinner, board member/lieutenant for Loudoun Rescue Squad, 430 West Market Street. "As a member of the Board at the Loudoun Rescue Squad, I get to put together all the wonderful statistics to give you that Mr. Kaupin had started to talk about. The statistics for special events over 2014,just to give you a quick number, we ended up having over 1043 hours of volunteer man hours put in for all these events like the Flower and Garden Shows, all the races around the area—the Easter Saturday, the Public Safety Days, and we actually did the Fourth of July—you see us every year, Ms. Mayor, up there hanging out with everybody providing a service at the same time and also doing community 8 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 type efforts with the people to get it out there to our community. With that, it is about a cost, if you look at the manpower and how they base rates to pay people, we are saving $70,000 with that and another $25,000 in just supplies and equipment being there. I say that in this part, but I also go on to say that every year you do give us a quantity of our budget, about a third or a quarter of our budget, about$245-244 thousand. We take that every year. We take that, put it in the bank and that purchases an ambulance. The ambulances, we have five ambulances that are stationed. We have to rotate them out. We have it on a rotation process because we are one of those groups that like to budget properly and do things appropriately business wise. So, every year we buy one new ambulance. It is bought with that money specifically from the town because by the county rules, every five years we get one new ambulance or we are supposed to get a new ambulance to replace—so we can't have anything over five years. So that money basically goes right into a new ambulance. So, every year one of those ambulances is replaced in our system and that is replaced with your funding. The other part of it is somebody come out and asked questions about the new budget and the current budget process. Our current budget process for 2016 is coming up with an overall operation for Loudoun County Rescue Squad of about$867,000. That is our operational budget for 2016, which starts in July. Of that, the county is going to give us $360,000. The town's funding usually comes to about$244. That leaves about$262,000 every year that we have to go out and fund through fundraising and donations. And now, you are talking about a quarter to a third of what our regular budget is, on a regular basis we are looking for. It is unfunded municipal-wise, but we are still providing all the services there. Now, like Mr. Kaupin had said, we do work with paid services, mostly day time- our paid staffing at night is volunteer. We still have to upkeep the station and all the vehicles to run them because we pay for them. They are ours. They are our piece of equipment. So, basically the remainder of that money, we have to make up. That is why it is very important that's part of it we go into that. Somebody had a question and it came through about the funding and how it was going to actually affect us. The effect is if you look at the system in the county with the county budgeting system, the new algorithm that is out there, they are going to take that-they are going to say okay we don't have that money anymore and they are going to equate it across the board. Now, like Mr. Wolfe said earlier, the funding for the new billing hasn't started yet. That ain't going to probably start until 2016, maybe 2017 because they have still not received their licensure through the CMS, which is the council on Medicaid and medicare through HHS and the Feds. So, they are not going to be able to start billing yet. Once it does start, there will be some type of financial flow back into the stations. We do not know what that is going to be yet, okay. So, it is very unstable where it sits. For 2016, though, the budget we are not showing that even bring anything into us. So, that's a big concern, right off the bat. Later on though, if we do get that share, you are looking at an issue of how much are we really going to get? The average collection in the United States, being in my past life that I worked for 20 years doing EMS billing as part of managing an EMS system, 50 percent of the average collections are actually brought in on ambulance billing, which is transports only. They are only going to charge for transport. If you go out to a regular standby or somebody has a crash and we don't transport anybody, we don't get paid. That is the federal government's process. You are not supposed to do it. Every insurance company is going to say the same thing. You are going to base it on demographics here. In this county, you are looking at about 60% collection. Then 80% medicare is a wonderful thing because Medicare goes 80 percent of 80%. So really what we are going to be getting from them is not what they are all 9 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 saying. You brought out some questions earlier, Ms. Hammler, and actually I wanted to send it and I will send you a copy of it, but actually the money that is going to come is probably going to be a little bit less than what they are talking and we need to worry about the budget process now because we are not getting any money in. So, I think after 2016, there should be more discussion as we discussed earlier and I sent out the, maybe for further years in 2017-2018 we could cut that down. That is a possibility that we need to start looking at that way. The numbers are there showing it. Anthony Milne, Chief, Company 13, Loudoun County Rescue Squad. "President Kaupin and Lieutenant Skinner were just talking at the macro level of what our budget is and how we operate as an organization. I want to focus my discussion just a bit more on the operational sense of what we do because that's my day to day job—operational readiness and what that means to me is people and equipment—boiling it down very basically. Providing the crews, providing the people to go do EMS job and the rescue job and providing equipment that supports that and all those things come with a price tag and not everyone—no one is arguing with that. There is a price tag with everything we do and whatever our budget is year to year will drive how we implement the operational readiness of our organization. From a training perspective, one of the things—yeah, we train. We have to maintain our certification through basic levels of things that we have to do—that the commonwealth requires, that the county requires. There are very basic things that we all have to do. Then, there is training above and beyond that. Just for an example, there is an advanced airway class that one of my officers is putting together that is making it available to us that will allow ALS providers, medical providers to do training in a real life environment, things that we wouldn't do in the field, things you can't do on plastic mannequins. That comes at a cost of about$350 per person who does it. So, the more opportunities—the way our budget lays out— or the better our budget lays out will allow us to do more and more of those types of things, which allows us as a service to provide better skills, better honed skills out to the community when they are needed. Another aspect of the people part of this job are uniforms and personal protective equipment. The jacket the President Kaupin's got, EMS gear. That stuff doesn't come cheap. We need to provide those types of things to our members regardless of what our budget it because it's a safety thing. It's a people safety thing. And putting our folks or President Wolfe putting his folks out there in a hazard situation with fire gear, EMS gear, whatever. It comes with a price and we need to maintain those things. They all have certifications on them and they go out of date at various intervals so all that is obviously important to us. The other end of it is equipment. Like, Lieutenant Skinner said—ambulances, $250,000 for an ambulance. We don't buy the most expensive thing on the street, but we don't go skinny cheap either. Part of that is buying the right equipment for what we need to do, but it is also providing the necessary things that we feel will make us a better service. Just for example, we purchased on the last two ambulances, as well as retro-fitting our other—the rest of the fleet, power cots. Stretchers that have hydraulics to them that allow them to raise and lower without messing with our backs. You know, it's a safety issue for us, it's a safety issue for our patients. Those are each$14,000 though, so you know it comes at a trade off. If we didn't have the budget to support it and like Lieutenant Skinner was saying, the county algorithms as well as CMS billing, all that will affect budget. The more we get, the more we obviously can do. Better things from an equipment standpoint for the community and vice versa. Just a few other things that we spend considerable amounts of money on in the sense of patient 10 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 safety, crew safety—we just purchased a new rescue boat at$15,000. You know, we don't do that every year, but we do that periodically because we have a responsibility to provide swift water services and in order to do that, we need the equipment that goes along with it. We recently just purchased, or are purchasing a Gator, an ATV type vehicle that will allow us to service the bike trail better than we currently do. Currently, we basically have to hoof it down the bike trail, so we will be able to take our six-wheeler down the bike trail to better access patients. Again that was —we haven't gotten the final spec or final billing—bills done for that, but that is going to be somewhat on the order of about$20,000 to $25,000 out of our pocket. Again, not something we do every year, but you have to factor it into the big picture budget as we are budgeting—as we are planning things out. So, you know, in general my focus is operational readiness of what we do, EMS services, Rescue services and the people aspect and the equipment aspect of it are the things that are the most important in my mind. The better we are able to meet our operational budget like Lieutenant Skinner and President Kaupin said- $800,000+ a year budget—the better we are able to do that, the better I am—the better resourced I am to provide the services to the community. Last thing is, as President Wolfe said, you know, we, as Company 1 does as well, look forward to working with Council and seeing where this all goes forward. Seeing what CMS billing has to provide. Seeing what the county is —how the county algorithms and provisions go in the future and working together with Leesburg in coming up with the right answer for all of us. Any questions for me?" Andrew Borgquist, 1108 Huntmaster Terrace, #301. "Unfortunately, I did not bring prepared remarks tonight so it might not be as concise as I might have been on other times although I have been here a number of meetings speaking about an issue that I had been bringing to the Council now for quite time which basically just wanted to continue to show up and continue to speak on that issue much of the details of which are already known and to encourage you to potentially find some form of action that could be done that would bring about some kind of resolution. So, basically what I wanted to kind of again speak about with respect to that was that I just hope that there isn't a certain amount of indifference that might have set in with the fact that I have been coming here a fair number of times and you know some times I think that eventually it just kind of—you know the issue maybe becomes stale or something, but I still think it is a relevant issue and something that has been unaddressed and that needs to be because you know basically I had brought forth an action— or I had brought forth a concern and I had initially approached Mr. Dentler with my concern and had been rebuffed to some extent—he wasn't interested and that was on two separate occasions and about an action was taken within the Town of Leesburg management that I didn't think was appropriate or within the you know was basically was contradictory towards the policies and procedures that the Town of Leesburg has in place. And then there was also some other concerns that had kind of all come together into the issues that I had been bringing forward and again that I believe are unresolved and not addressed and I would like to have them addressed and resolved so that's why I keep coming. Have a good evening." Evan Harrison, 702 Hetzel Terrace. "I am here to speak on behalf of myself and other skateboarders in the area concerning the budget for the skate park. I do a lot of skating. I skate to get around. I use public transportation. I work at Northern Virginia Community College—I am currently working on a bachelor's degree in psychology. I am 11 Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 also a founder of a national and starting to become global, organization where we help hook up less privileged kids with skateboards and gear and we hook them up with mentors. It has been a little bit more difficult getting it implemented in the Town of Leesburg and Loudoun County,but currently I have chapters in two parts of Florida, Texas, two different counties in California, and also Alberta, Canada, and we have seen a large improvement as far as grades are concerned within students who are getting into drugs and gangs and then they just kind of got a big brother, started skating or riding bikes, things like that. And a lot of it comes from their families working multiple jobs. But anyway, the skate park in Leesburg is not frequently used as much as it used to be and a lot of that is due to renovations being made. I know it is $400,000 is the estimate for it to be renovated, but I would be more than willing to put in as much time as I have to canvass the community, to try and get donations to have a better park built. One with a roof, one that was out of cement so that the wood wouldn't have to continually be replaced as it is right now wheels get caught in the transitions— it can be very painful. Just being honest. We get to see you guys a lot and we may or may not pay the bills, so that affects you alls' budget. Another thing we could also do to help raise money is have events. I, myself, am a professional longboarder—it is starting to become a little bit more progressive, but I have reached speeds up to 60 mph on the skateboard. I have multiple sponsors. I work at the local shop here in Leesburg and help promote safety in riding. Sometimes I ride open road where there is no sidewalk. I can keep up with traffic and can actually control my board better than a bicyclist or a motorcycle and this has actually been proven in three university studies, one of which was done in France and that was at 50 mph with a 180 pound rider, so it is possible. Some of the events that I go to have an upwards of 250 people coming to the event, so that would cause them to spend money on gas. We also have to employ EMS and also police to make sure that the roadways stay clear, and properties are respected and things like that. Also, if somebody gets hurt and needs to be escorted, we would have EMS on standby and the events that I know of right off hand that I attend and I attend at least 16 per year, they pay the EMS anywhere in donations from$500 to $1500, which they can put back into their salary and if everything goes correctly, we really don't need their services. The people who participate in the downhill skating events are trained and well skilled. We spend a lot of time on the hill and we know a lot about Bacitracin. They get the joke. So, another good thing about the skate park is if kids don't really get into team sports, they just don't fit in there. I was one of them when I was growing up. I'm 28 now. Skate boarding kind of saved my childhood because it gave me somewhere to go, so it would be a centralized location for kids to meet other people, other friends who have like-minded ideas just so that they would be able to stay out of trouble better. If it comes to tearing down the skate park, building a better one would be amazing or even just renovating it to where it would be safer to where more kids would use it, because as it is now, it is a little bit safer and easier to use places throughout the city to skate and a lot of residents and also police really don't like that and it's not our goal to cause trouble, we are just looking to express ourselves because to us it is a form of art and people who don't skate might not understand, but I would be more than willing to help out and give as much time as I have to try and drum up donations, canvass the community to get donations—kind of like in baseball fields, you see the sponsors on the back fence, we could do the same thing. It could be great for the town and also the county as far as bringing in more people because this is a lovely area." 12 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 Matthew Webner, Alpine Skate Shop, Fairfax. "I am no longer a resident of Leesburg. I was for many years. I was a member of the Friends of Ida Lee Foundation back in the 90s to raise the funds to open the park. I participated in construction. I worked for Ida Lee conducting camps for many years and I am currently the manager of Alpine Skate Shop in Fairfax, previously Sterling. So, I know a lot of the skaters in the area. As far as non-usage of the park, many of the local residents, including myself have ventured to Fairfax and Front Royal to parks that are in better conditions. When I was doing the camps, a lot of the coping was falling off the ramp. There were large holes. As Evan said, there were potholes, actual potholes at the bottoms of the ramp catching people up and it just pushed the skating community out of the Leesburg area. I just wanted to come—Mr. Brown is one of my close friends—asked me to be here tonight to come up, say a few words. I just wanted to show my support—keep this park around. Thank you". Jim Kershaw, "I am a 28 year resident of Leesburg, 15 years in the Town and now I live just a mile outside of the town. I was part of the original group that raised the money and constructed the skate park in 1997. And I just wanted to thank the Town Council and Parks and Rec, and especially Kaj Dentler for maintaining the park for all these years. It has been a great addition to the town. For those of you who were not around at that time, you should know that Leesburg was a real pioneer amongst municipal skate parks. The only municipal skate parks that existed back then were Long Beach and San Diego and Los Angeles and Ocean City. Rural municipalities were not building skate parks. Leesburg truly was one of the first in the country. I know this because shortly after we opened it, I started getting calls from municipalities all over the country—how did you do this, how did you raise the money, who designed it, how did you get it built and for months I answered questions and sent information and now municipalities all over the country have skate parks. It has been a great addition to the town. I am really happy that you have supported it all these years, especially Rich and the Department of Recreation has maintained it all of these years. But, in skate park years, it is an antique. It really does need to be upgraded. I thank you for your support and I think if you implement it as planned, you will see a resurgence. I would be happy to provide any assistance I can. I am an antique in skate park years too,but I will put forth any effort I need to help bring it to fruition". Eric Brown, (read into the record by Mayor Umstattd) "Dear Leesburg Town Council, it was a sunny day back in 1995, when I was skating with a good friend, Steve Pangle, in a nearly vacant parking lot at the time at Royal and Liberty Street. This is just down the street from my house where I grew up,just a two minute walk up the hill from where tonight's meeting is being held. That day, as we were having a blast, skating, laughing and at the same time getting our exercise, a town police officer approached me and kindly let us know we cannot skate here. By this time, we and many others had been told this countless times at various public locations throughout the town; however, this time was my tipping point. I went home and shared the frustration with my mother, Wanetta Langley, that it seems there is no place welcoming the sport that I and my friends and many other kids around like to do. She suggested I contact my baseball coach, who at the time was on the Leesburg Town Council. The Council Member suggested that I come to a meeting at Town Hall and express this. I made phone calls and gathered a group of kids and their parents, wrote a speech and read it to the Council Members expressing the need for a safe place for the youth to practice our sport of inline skating, skateboarding and BMX 13 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 biking. Long story short, a town resident, Jim Kershaw, who has since become a life-long friend, worked with us youth to form a nonprofit Friends of Ida Lee. After a few years of town meetings and fund raising, the group of youth, supportive adults, and the Town Council brought the Catoctin Skate Park to fruition in October 1998. With it now being 2015, 17 years later, the skate park is in need of an update. I had the opportunity during a visit with my family in Leesburg to speak with a group of about 10-15 kids at the Catoctin Skate Park. They expressed the park needs an update as well as in the ramps. Their wheels get caught and it is not a smooth or forgiving surface to fall on and that does happen. They suggested a concrete park would be smoother and they would be more excited about the park if it were updated. I spoke with Dan, the director of the Loudoun County Parks and Recreation, which built a concrete skate park that has received very positive feedback and requires less maintenance and upkeep. I hope that you see that the Catoctin Skate Park is a great asset to the community and with a much needed upgrade could ensure the park continues to provide a fun, safe environment for the ever-growing population of Leesburg to enjoy the sport the park facilities, which provides another avenue of physical activity and exercise for the town youth. From the movie, the Field of Dreams, if you build it, they will come. This part happened in October 1998. Now the quote has changed to "if you update it, they will return". Town Council members, thank you for your service to the town and to those of you from the community who showed up tonight to support the park. I hope the Catoctin Skate Park is there for many, many years to come". Wanetta Langley, "I would like to thank Jim and a couple of the young guys that spoke out tonight. He, Eric, himself, which Steve Pangle's mom is here to, she is a realtor. But anyhow, I have known her like Eric and her son was in sixth grade, pretty much. Now they are both adults. Eric, he is an outdoorsman, which everybody knows that who knows him. He is an outdoorsman. He likes the outdoors. That's why he is always skating where he wasn't supposed to be skating. He used to jump up and go down stairs and lots of pictures of every_breaking something, even on snowboards he did crazy stunts. But anyhow, he wrote that letter from-right now, he is in Hawaii. Like I said, he likes the outdoors, so. It happened in December, since Eric when to school with her son since elementary, she like saw me when I was working. I work at Home Depot . She gave me her card and I took a picture of it right on my—right after Ito call on my next break texted it to Eric and told him all the stuff and he said okay, I will be right home. Like I said, he liked skating, that's why he helped the skate park. and yeah, he was glad they Some kids, they would rather skate , but like I said any questions that anybody has He just wants the kids to have something to do. That's the main reason why he did it while he was here. The truth is he is still trying to help people in whatever kind of way he wants to help. He likes helping kids too. Kids don't have any . He goes over there when he comes to visit. and talk to the kids. So that is what he did. I just want whatever it is for the skate park on behalf of him because he is for helping everyone, like I said. He will give you the shirt off his back. Thank you for listening and thank you for reading his letter". Gwen Pangle, "My son is flying a helicopter and all of our children came up together. Kelly's child, and Wanetta's and mine and these boys I have a picture from Loudoun Times Mirror asked Steven to jump a barrel up on the roof of the garage back before the park was done and I have that picture still. Yeah, on top of the garage,jumping a 14 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 barrel as I am going like this. These young men have grown up to be wonderful older gentlemen who have families who are doing wonderful things and Leesburg really doesn't have a lot things for our youth to do and I have a great deal of respect for all of our children who have now grown up in this area and believe that keeping the skate park and updating it or upgrading it would be good for Leesburg, good for our citizens and good for the future, because those children grow into older people who stay around and they have jobs here and they contribute to our community. As an aside, I was sitting at the FOLPA meeting the other night (Friends of Leesburg Public Art) and we were brainstorming public art projects and things we could do and we thought, what a great idea to have some public art at the skate park and let the kids really do and express themselves in another way and really have it be nice art—not graffiti or anything like that, but there is other groups out there, not just the people supporting the skate park who feel like we could do things with that and we could keep our youth entertained and keep them here in Leesburg". The Petitioner's Section was closed at 8:51 p.m. 10. APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA On a motion by Council Member Butler, seconded by Vice Mayor Burk, the following items were moved for approval as the Consent Agenda: a. Performance Guarantee and Water and Sewer Extension Permits for Lowes of Leesburg RESOLUTION 2015-036 Authorizing an Agreement and Approving a Performance Guarantee and Water and Sewer Extension Permits for Lowe's of Leesburg(TLPF2014-0008) b. Participation in the Mayor's Makersmith Challenge RESOLUTION 2015-037 Town Council Support of the Mayors'Maker Challenge Sponsored by the Manufacturing Alliance of Communities c. Awarding a Contract for the Replacement of the Existing Roof on the Ida Lee Park Recreation Center RESOLUTION 2015-038 Awarding the Contract for the Replacement of the Ida Lee Park Recreation Center EPDM Roof Project to Select Construction Company, Inc. in the Amount of$120,000. d. Lower Sycolin Pro-Rata RESOLUTION 2015-039 Amending and Establishing Pro-Rata Fees for the Lower Sycolin Sewershed Sanitary Sewer Conveyance System 15 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 e. Sewer Agreement and Sole Source Procurement for Construction of Phase II of Lower Sycolin Sanitary Sewer Conveyance System by Peterson Companies RESOLUTION2015-040 Authorizing the Execution of an Agreement Between the Town of Leesburg and Peterson Companies for Construction of Phase II Gravity Sanitary Sewer Main of the Lower Sycolin Conveyance Sewer System;and Authorizing a Sole Source Procurement for the Construction of Phase II Lower Sycolin Gravity Main and Authorizing the Town Manager to Procure these Services f. Downtown Improvements—Loudoun Street Construction Contract Award RESOLUTION 2015-041 Awarding the Construction Contract for the Downtown Improvements—Loudoun Street,from Church Street to East Market Street Project to Madigan Construction, Inc., in the Amount of$817,731.00. g. Fiscal Year 2016 Local Government Arts Challenge Grant RESOLUTION 2015-042 Authorizing Staff to Apply for the Local Government Challenge Grant Through the Virginia Commission for the Arts and Providing for the Distribution of the Grant Funding and Town Matching Funds to Certain Independent Arts Organizations Council Questions: • How much town money is being spent on Phase I? Staff answer: Phase I is in operation and cost approximately $5.3 million to date. There is a portion that cannot be recovered because existing town customers that used to use the Airport pump station now are using the Lower Sycolin Pump Station, so we don't recover that, but the rest can be recovered per the pro-ratas. The Phase II construction (Area B) also benefit from the pump station and the force main which were part of Phase I. • Do you expect cost overruns? Will the $10 million cover this? Staff answer: We are getting ready to do the final pay out for the $5.3 million for Phase I and there is maybe a little bit for engineering. The Phase II project is a fixed construction cost at$4 million with the Peterson Companies, so there can be no overrun on that. The Consent Agenda was approved by the following vote: Aye: Burk, Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Martinez, Wright and Mayor Umstattd Nay: None Vote: 7-0 10. PUBLIC BEARINGS a. Crescent Place Plan Amendment The public hearing was called to order at 8:57 p.m. 16 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 Michael Watkins gave a brief presentation on the Concept Plan and Proffer Amendment application to the Crescent Place application. Key Points: • Amends TLZM 2012-0003 Rezoning. • Reduces building setbacks • Seeks a modification for architectural setbacks. • Approved plan included design guidelines and setbacks. • Approved plan allows decks, stoops and steps to encroach in the setback for architectural features. • Modification will allow porches to articulate the front facades of the buildings. • Modification will allow balconies, bay windows, and steps closer than 5 feet to the property line. • Only change to the proffers reflects change to the Concept Plan. • Planning Commission voted 6-0-1 (absence) to recommend approval. Council Comments/Questions: • Footprints stay the same and there is no encroachment into public property. • Unanimous recommendation from the Planning Commission ensures the item has been properly vetted. Christine Gleckner, Land Use Planner with Walsh Colucci, representatives for the applicant, summarized the application. • Applicant agrees with the staff report, staff recommendation and the Planning Commission recommendation. There were no members of the public wishing to address this public hearing. The public hearing was closed at 9:06 p.m. On a motion by Vice Mayor Burk, seconded by Council Member Dunn, the following was proposed: ORDINANCE 2015-0-007 Approving TLZM2015-0004 Crescent Place, Reduce Certain Building Setbacks and Modify the Requirements of TLZO Sec. 10.4.5.C.4 Regarding Balconies, Chimneys, Bay Windows and Steps and Landings Council Comments: • Changes are architectural and will not make any difference in density or placement of buildings. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Burk, Butler, Dunn, Hammier, Martinez, Wright and Mayor Umstattd Nay: None 17 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 Vote: 7-0 b. Amending the Zoning Ordinance—Revisions to Defmitions and Performance Measures for Office and Industrial Uses The public hearing was opened at 9:07 p.m. Irish Grandfield presented a description of the proposed amendment. Key Points: • Initiated in August 2014. • Cleans up discrepancies between definitions and uses. • Updates practices to reflect more current manufacturing methods. • Expands opportunities for business and job growth, particularly in the technology field. • Five main objectives: o Implement Town Plan policies for economic development. o Simplify and clarify the ordinance for ease of use. o Promote job growth. o Update terminology and regulations. o Protect neighboring uses. • Will update and refine land use categories. o Establishes a land use category—production. o Light industrial and light intensity industrial will be deleted as part of this amendment. o Remove undefined and non-permitted uses that are currently in the ordinance. o Establish performance standards to ensure there are proper safeguards in place to protect neighboring land uses. o Add flexibility to provide for by-right development in some cases. • Key terms are "finished" or "semi-finished" product—not converting raw materials. • Different from conventional manufacturing. o Uses previously prepared materials rather than raw materials. o Focus is on customization, not mass production. • Use standards ensure that the impacts of the use are offset and mitigated for neighboring uses. • Must have access to an arterial road—not through a neighborhood. • Makers movement would be allowable under these regulations in any of the B districts, the I district and three sub districts of the Crescent Design District (Commercial, commercial corridor, mixed use). • Economic Development Commission supports these amendments. • Planning Commission recommended approval on a 6-0-1 (absent) vote. There were no members of the public wishing to address this public hearing. Council Comments/Questions: 18 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 • Would Council have to readvertise if they wished to move this to a work session for further discussion? Staff answer: Only if the public hearing remained open. • Is there a timeline that needs to be met with respect to these amendments? Staff answer: No, there is no applicant. • Would prefer to have time to get questions answered since the scope of these amendments is more broad than initially anticipated. It was Council consensus to ask staff questions via email so that most questions would have been asked prior to the next Council meeting. The item will be put on the next Council meeting's agenda for action. The public hearing was closed at 9:36 p.m. It was noted by counsel that if substantial changes are made from what was originally advertised, re-advertisement will need to occur. 11. RESOLUTIONS AND MOTIONS a. None. 13. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. None. 14. NEW BUSINESS a. None. 15. COUNCIL COMMENTS Council Member Dunn wished everyone a good St. Patrick's Day. He stated that there needs to be a better sound system because it was not good on the phone. He requested that a YouTube video of"It's Friday, but Sundays coming" be played as his comments. Council Member Butler disclosed he spoke to Walsh Colucci about Crescent Park. He agreed with Council Member Dunn that there are technical solutions to the audio problems that council members are experiencing when participating remotely. He encouraged the IT department to look at the issue. Vice Mayor Burk disclosed attendance with the Mayor on March 12 at the Beat the Odds event. She stated it is very inspiring as this group raises money for scholarships for youth that are getting into trouble. She stated she attended the school/business partnership breakfast on March 13. She stated that Parks and Recreation and Marantha Edwards in Economic Development hosted a wonderful job fair on March 21 with 50 hiring businesses and almost 300 students. She stated she appreciated Council Member Butler's assistance with registration. She thanked staff for allowing her to go over her concerns about the Lower Sycolin Pro-Rata. She stated the changes that she proposed, while not significant, were numerous and staff was very helpful. Council Member Martinez thanked the skate park petitioners for coming to the meeting. He pointed out the importance of skate boarders wearing helmets. He stated in 19 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 2002, Council worked hard to make sure that what was put on the Capital Improvements Plan(CIP) stayed on the plan and didn't get removed after promises were made to residents. He reaffirmed as far as he is concerned whatever projects are on the CIP, will stay on the CIP. He disclosed a meeting with Molly Novotny and the applicant about Leegate. He stated he met with Hobie Mitchell about Crescent Place. He apologized to Vice Mayor Burk for not being able to attend the Job Fair. Council Member Hammier disclosed a meeting with Council Member Butler and Lansdowne Development representatives, Hobie Mitchell and Chris Gleckner regarding Crescent Park. She stated they discussed the impacts on the Virginia Knolls subdivision. She thanked Ms. Reid, Ms. Richardson, and Ms. Yergin for attending tonight's meeting. She stated it ties into petitioner comments as Council has not been involved in every step of the project with staff, so it was very helpful that the citizens came out to show pictures and be willing to answer questions as well as Fire and Rescue as relates to a new funding source. She stated it helps so that Council can do its due diligence and feel very comfortable and confident that they are making the best decision for everyone. She stated they all made excellent points. She thanked the chair of the Parks and Recreation commission for all of his time and willingness to discuss skate board issues with her as well as staff members who responded to her questions. She stated she thoroughly enjoyed the petitioners coming to speak about how wonderful the benefits are of having a skate board park like the town's pioneering facility. She stated she looks forward to moving the upgrades forward. She reiterated that the actual project plan should make sure that proper feedback is received from across the town in terms of the target constituency as to what is the best location so that Council can do its due diligence and evaluate what is the very best option for what is going to be a long term, important project. She stated one of her favorite things to do is speak to Civics classes and she was invited to Smarts Mill to speak to a group that meets after school in conjunction with the Civics Action program with Abby Fister, the director of the program at Morven Park. She stated the synergy between Morven Park and the civic education outreach in the schools is amazing. She stated the kids gave great feedback about the crosswalk across Rt. 15 and the skate board park and they might come to Council as petitioners. She thanked the Mayor for coming to the Tuscarora Unity Event on very short notice last week. She stated everyone received the invitation late, but Mayor Umstattd was able to come on just a few hours notice. She stated it was very impactful as it is truly amazing to have this kind of opportunity to appreciate all of these different cultures and the fact that the kids appreciate all the cultures within their school. She stated the performances and cheers for all the different countries were really heart warming. She noted that Adam Bell's team participated in a state competition and are looking forward to certificates for their achievements. She stated that April 9 is the 150th anniversary of the ending of the Civil War. She stated hopefully everyone will find a way to participate in the bell ringing. She congratulated everyone on the AAA bond rating. Council Member Fox disclosed a meeting with Michael Banzhaf of Reed Smith about the Potomac Station project on March 19. She stated she had an opportunity to attend the LCPS Business Partnership Breakfast as well as Vice Mayor Burk and it was very heartwarming to see how businesses connect with the youth. She stated on March 17 she attended the ECHO 40th anniversary event, which was very heart warming and she was proud to attend. She stated her daughter and two of her friends benefited from the job fair. 20 I Page COUNCIL MEETING March 24, 2015 She thanked Vice Mayor Burk for the wonderful event. She petitioned staff to use some of the technology budget for a new microphone cover. 16. MAYOR'S COMMENTS Mayor Umstattd praised Capitol Productions TV for broadcasting the Council meetings. She stated they were among the award recipients at the School Business Partnership event. She stated it is a real joy to work with them. She stated a group of German students visited Town Hall last week. She stated they were from the County's sister region. She stated they were partnered with students at Monroe Vo-Tech. She thanked Council Member Hammier for the heads up on the Unite at Tuscarora High Schoo, which was a wonderful event. She noted there are 70 different countries represented by the student body and the students made traditional dishes and dressed in traditional garb. She thanked Vice Mayor Burk and Council Member Fox for attending the ECHO 40th anniversary, which a wonderful event. 17. MANAGER'S COMMENTS Mr. Dentler congratulated Council on the AAA rating. He stated some towns have a single AAA rating, but Leesburg is the only town in the Commonwealth that has AAA ratings from all three rating agencies. He formally issued the challenge from staff for the Keep Leesburg Beautiful clean up. He stated the downtown parking task force has been selected and the first meeting will be set in early April. He stated the target is to return with a report on June 8. He stated that some of the petitioners at tonight's meeting were teenagers at the time the skate park was originally built. 18. CLOSED SESSION None. 19. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the meeting was adjourned at 9:57p.m. . ' - C. mstattd, Mayor Town of Leesburg AT ' • `1 ♦♦ Clerk of Cou 2015 tcmin0324 21IPage