HomeMy Public PortalAbout2015_tcmin0609 COUNCIL MEETING June 9, 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: None.
Staff Present: Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Deputy Town Manager Keith Markel, Town
Attorney Barbara Notar, Assistant Town Manager Scott Parker, Director of Economic
Development Marantha Edwards, Director of Public Works Tom Mason, Director of
Capital Projects Renee Lafollette, Deputy Director of Capital Projects Tom Brandon,
Acting Information Technology Manager John Callahan, Director of Finance and
Administrative Services Clark Case, Senior Management Analyst Lisa Haley, Senior
Management Analyst Jason Cournoyer and Clerk of Council Lee Ann Green
AGENDA ITEMS
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. INVOCATION: Mayor Umstattd
3. SALUTE TO THE FLAG: Council Member Fox
4. ROLL CALL: Showing all present.
5. MINUTES
a. Regular Session Minutes of May 12, 2015
On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the
regular session minutes of May 12, 2015 were approved by a vote of 7-0.
b. Regular Session Minutes of May 26, 2015
On a motion by Council Member Hammier, seconded by Vice Mayor Burk, the
regular session minutes of May 26, 2015 were approved by a vote of 7-0.
6. ADOPTING THE MEETING AGENDA
On the motion of Council Member Hammier, seconded by Council Member Butler, the
meeting agenda was approved after removing Items 15a and 15b, by the following vote:
Aye: Burk, Butler, Dunn, Fox, Hammier, Martinez and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7-0
7. PRESENTATIONS
a. Certificate of Recognition—Pam Butler, Supporter of Public Arts in Leesburg
On a motion by Council Member Butler, seconded by Vice Mayor Burk, a Certificate of
Appreciation was approved for Pamela Butler for her valuable contributions to the development
of public arts in Leesburg as a member of the Commission on Public Arts as well as the co-
founder of the Friends of Leesburg Public Arts(FOLPA)and the Loudoun Lyric Opera.
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b. Presentation—Technology and Communication Commission—Proposed
Transparency Initiative
Eric Byrd, member of the Technology and Communication Commission, and
John Binkley, Chair(Technology and Communication Commission) gave a brief
presentation regarding the Commission's proposal for a Transparency Initiative.
Key Points:
• Information is being saved in digital form.
• Openness is important for democracy; making data available to the public is
an important part of good governance in the 21"century.
• The Town should adopt a policy to release as much legally available data as
possible to the public in a way that citizens have access in an open format.
• Challenges include:
o Make sure to keep legally protected data private.
o Protect information related to the privacy of citizens and employees.
o Staff hours to ensure that legally protected and sensitive data remains
private.
o Successful implementation requires a policy that creates minimal impact
to staff.
• Recommendation that Council approve the proposed policy.
• Technology and Communication Commission can then develop an action
plan for Council to discuss.
• Action plan would provide realistic goals that recognize budget limitations
while seeking incremental long-term progress.
• Policy would foster open, accountable, and transparent government which
would enhance legislative decision making by allowing staff, Council, and
residents to review and analyze trends in the data that they have access to.
• Making data available fosters citizen engagement and increases public trust in
how the town operates.
• To be taken seriously as a home for technology business, the town needs to
show leadership— data transparency is a growing trend across the country.
Council consensus was to hold a work session to get more information and
discuss this initiative further.
8. PETITIONERS
The Petitioner's Section was opened at 7:56 p.m.
Andrew Borgquist, "So, I am here continuing to speak on the issue that I have been
bringing up on numerous, numerous, numerous occasions before the Council and for the
record, I did ask Mr. Dentler if I could have a meeting with him and he said he is not
willing to discuss this issue with me. That is his choice. So, anyways, I found this
presentation that you had before coming to speak very interesting because—but I am going
to change up what I was going to say a little bit, because I believe that, you know, obviously
what I am talking about relates to it somewhat directly in terms of openness and
transparency and accountability and in this particular instance, we already have a policy in
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place, we are just not using it. So, basically what it comes down to is, you know, I
encountered a situation, you know, information was, I would say intentionally and
deliberately withheld in a manner that resembled or would be inappropriate—a lack of
propriety. This situation then ended up having rather large repercussions for me and the
decision that was made—and I would say that on a scale of 1-10 for openness and
transparency, you guys scored below a 5. It was pretty bad. Of course, let me go to
accountability which is what happens when something like this happens, like how is that
person held accountable—how is there a direction that can change or where we can
implement some, you know, basically enforce the policy and to me it seems like the only
thing that can be done really is that people just need to take a serious stance so the situation
basically is that there is a policy in place and it is there for a reason, but it can be carte
blanche disregarded. So it doesn't relate to employment, it relates to the fact that, you
know, I think that to be a merit based employer, it means that you go appropriate reasoning
and justification for employment actions within the town of Leesburg, but unfortunately
Virginia is an employment at will state, so adverse actions can be taken against employees
for as has been told to me many times by Town of Leesburg for no reason including no
reason at all. Of course, this isn't true because there are federal protections that extend to
protected classes. In addition, there are also other considerations for a public employer that
relate to free speech and so forth, so that part by example the statement actually isn't true,
but if a person within the Town of Leesburg wanted to do something that either lacked the
legality or simply was inappropriate because all of that other stuff aside, that obviously isn't
the policy of the Town of Leesburg, a merit based employer, which means that it shouldn't
be arbitrary, it shouldn't be capricious. It shouldn't be retaliatory in nature. There is a
whole other host of things that really need to be respected and observed, but like I said, if
someone can carte blanche throw those away because there is no legality to them or there is
no contractual obligation and just say, hey, you know what? At the end of the day, we can
fire you for no reason including no reason at all. I'm going to paraphrase—you can go
pound sand. Then of course, that would also mean, that by using that kind of logic things
can occur which shouldn't occur. So, those are controls that are place for the protection, so
it is merit based employment and if we don't use them then you really can't say that you are
a merit based employer and obviously, that's not the best for the citizens. That's not the
best for services. These are just not things that should occur within the Town of Leesburg
and there is subjectively an argument being made that what happened was extremely
inappropriate and yet nothing has been done. Mr. Dentler won't meet with me. I keep
coming back. It's okay. But, please do something".
Kimberly Hise, Walsh Colucci on behalf of Mobile Hope, "I am working with them
on the land use and zoning issues. This evening Donna Fortier, who would absolutely love
to be here—had some minor surgery today and so she could not be here. I wanted to speak
on her behalf and ask the Council to support the amendment moving forward for the zoning
ordinance text amendment. This serves a very strong need in our community and Mobile
Hope is doing some great things and hopes to do more. Thank you so much."
Christine Gleckner, Walsh Colucci, "I'm speaking with regard to the initiation of the
zoning ordinance amendment for the Crescent Design District for Davis Avenue. I know
that Council Member Butler has explained this to you all and I want to reinforce that the
action to initiate the zoning ordinance amendment is not a statement of support or non-
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support for such an amendment. What it does, is allow the amendment to be considered
and that is what we are asking—if you would initiate this, then the amendment could be
considered along with the other Crescent Place applications. It would be <not audible> at
the time that those applications all come forward to you to demonstrate the merits of it and
you can make your judgements at that time, whether or not you want to actually amend the
zoning ordinance, but tonight's action that is being requested is merely to initiate the
amendment to allow it to be considered and we would appreciate that very much. Thank
you".
Hobie Mitchel, "I'm here to reiterate what the previous speakers talked about. What
we would like you to support the text amendment—zoning amendment for Mobile Hope. I
have spoken several times—it is a great cause and we would like to see you move that
forward so that we can proceed with the project, hopefully. Second is the text amendment
for the Crescent District on Davis Drive. I would ask that you move that forward and have
it considered, as Chris Gleckner mentioned. There is no guarantee of any outcome up or
down, but at least it should be discussed. I would like you to support that for that
discussion. Thank you very much".
Sola Palotta, "I own a small business in downtown Leesburg called the Very Virginia
Shop. It is at 16 South King Street, downtown. Okay, so I came to speak about the
downtown improvements. I'm just asking that you guys please continue and stay the
course. I sent an email—this really is a surprise at 4:30-5 o'clock I got an email from the
Leesburg Today saying that this whole vote may come up again, it may be cancelled, it may
be changed. It is really surprising after like eight years we are still trying to get this done.
We desperately need this. So, I'm trying to come up with things I've been working on to try
to get business people to come down to support small local business. This just now started—
just started last week—a downtown walking tour. It starts at the Very Virginia Shop—it's a
35 minute walking tour that tells people the history and takes them past sites and buildings
and all that kind of stuff. This is going into the hotels—downstairs in the town hall. It is
going to the Visitor's Center. I'm trying to get the word out—if you could help spread the
word. I put a <inaudible> . We usually walk around downtown <inaudible>. Visits
locally owned small shops, dress boutiques, antique stores, art galleries and unique
restaurants, so it is on Saturdays and Sundays at 11 and 2 o'clock. So, that's something and
then another thing I'm working on is this magazine goes into 15,000 hotel rooms for
visitors. So people visiting from Boston, Ohio or wherever, they don't know downtown
Leesburg. Because it's not in this book. If you live here, you know to go to Reston, you
know to go to downtown Leesburg, you know to go to Tysons Corner and those places.
The people who are staying here from out of the area, don't know that. So, I worked with
this magazine and I got a whole section listed—it says best shopping. We are now listed in
the best shopping area— it says Historic Downtown Leesburg—stroll the beautiful sidewalks
of historic downtown, browse unique boutiques, grab a quick bite to eat—it's really
adjective driven and very descriptive. I spent a lot of time running around to all the
different businesses encouraging them. I've got three pages, 30 different businesses all
grouped together to try to bring business downtown—this magazine mostly goes to tourists
and out of state people —people who are staying in hotels. So, there are 30 businesses on
these group pages. Other people did a little bit bigger ads, like Lightfoot and Taipan, Very
Virginia Shop, the Brew Kitchen, Windy City Red Hots—the businesses are really doing a
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lot to try bring people downtown and we are asking that you guys please stay the course and
approve this plan as it has already been approved three times. Okay? Thank you very
much".
The Petitioner's Section was closed at 8:10 p.m.
9. APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA
On a motion by Council Member Butler, seconded by Council Member Hammier, the following
items were moved for approval as the Consent Agenda:
a. Performance Guarantee and Water Extension Permit for Jerry's Ford of Leesburg
(TLPF-2014-0018
RESOLUTION 2015-064
Approving a Performance Guarantee and Water Extension Permit for Jerry's Ford of
Leesburg(TLPF2014-0018)
b. Initiating a Zoning Ordinance Amendment—Mobile Hope Life Skills Center
RESOLUTION 2015-066
Initiating Text Amendment(s)to the Town of Leesburg Zoning Ordinance Related to
Shelters for Young Adults
c. Initiating an Expansion of the Arts and Cultural District
RESOLUTION 2015-067
Initiating an Amendment to the Town Code to Expand the Boundary of the Arts and
Cultural District to include the West Side of Liberty Street between Loudoun Street
and the Liberty Street parking lot.
Aye: Burk, Butler, Fox, Dunn, Hammier, Martinez, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7-0
10. PUBLIC HEARINGS
a. None.
11. RESOLUTIONS AND MOTIONS
a. Initiating a Zoning Ordinance Amendment— Crescent Design District for
Davis Avenue
On a motion by Council Member Butler, seconded by Council Member Hammier, the
following was proposed:
RESOLUTION 2015-065
Initiating an Amendment to the Town of Leesburg Zoning Ordinance Related to the
Extension of Davis Avenue in the Crescent Design District
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Council Comments:
• Butler: Regardless of what happens with Crescent Parke, this is, I think a
good amendment to initiate because right now— and staff can correct me if
I'm wrong, but right now in the zoning ordinance, Davis Avenue is required
to be a four lane road pretty much between its initiation at King Street and
Gateway Drive. Gateway Drive is a two lane road so I think even the
residents of Gateway Drive might have opinions as to whether it should be
four lanes all the way up to Gateway Drive. So, by initiating the amendment
and if we pass the amendment, all it would do is take language out of the
zoning ordinance that requires Davis Ave. to be four lanes. It could still be
four lanes, but it could be two lanes, if we take those words out. So, at any
rate, all this does is just initiate it to let it be vetted at the planning
commission and talk about it, have public hearings to allow the people from
Gateway Drive to come up and express their opinion. So, I think it is a good
idea for Council to pass the initiation.
• Hammler: I also support initiating this zoning ordinance amendment. As
staff has stated, it will not take them additional time. In fact, it will save time
and effort for all. They have already mentioned it is important relative to the
process and transparency for the Planning Commission, Council and public.
Most importantly, it will ease the understanding of the proposal.
• Burk: Well, I was the one that asked for it to be taken off because to me it
seems that this is unneeded because the Crescent Design District calls for
business/commercial development in this location, which would be
appropriate to have a four lane boulevard. Accepting a smaller road only
happens if we are willing to change the Crescent District Design Plan, a plan
that took almost 10 years, was lauded by the business community, took a
great deal of work and vision and the very first application to this district, we
are now asking to change the Crescent Design District moving it from
commercial to a residential idea. The planning commission recommendation
to deny the plan amendment at their last meeting should give us pause to
think about this. If we have confidence in our appointees to the commission,
we must take that decision into consideration. In the DCSM, the functional
roadway classification section, 7-3001D Street Design Requirements says "In
no instance shall a reduction in the right of way be granted for properties
located in the Crescent Design District." So, is there a reason to change the
zoning? In my opinion, only if we are willing to give into the desire to move
from commercial to residential. To change this area, that could have been a
great commercial development, I think would be a shame and not what we
should be doing. We have a plan in place. We should follow the plan. If this
Council's vision is to make Leesburg increasingly residential—residential
which burdens the local taxpayer, then I guess this would make sense to
change it to a two lane road. I don't think that Leesburg should become the
center for higher taxes and even more congestion, which is the result of poor
planning and continued residential development. So, for those reasons, I will
not be voting for this amendment tonight.
• Dunn: I am always open to the public process and should the Planning
Commission not be desirous of this, then they can deny it and it can come to
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Council and we can approve or deny it based on what we have been charged
with by the public to look out in their best interest. I am open to listen to
ideas and I don't think this is any ways definitely saying we are heading in
one direction or another.
• Mayor: I appreciate Vice Mayor Burk's comments and concerns and
certainly share some of them; however, I will be supporting this tonight in
part because I think there is potentially less impact on the existing residents
along Gateway Drive from a two lane road coming out of Crescent Parke
than we would see with a four lane road and I am concerned about too much
traffic moving too fast through a residential community. So, I will support it
at this time to initiate it and we will see what the analysis shows.
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Fox, Hammler, Martinez and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: Burk
Vote: 6-1
b. Initiating Amendments to the Town Code from 2015 General Assembly
Actions and Batch Code Amendments
On a motion by Council Member Butler, seconded by Vice Mayor Burk, the following
was proposed:
RESOLUTION 2015-068
Initiating Amendments to the Town Code to Address Amendments to the Code of
Virginia Enacted During the 2015 General Assembly Session;and Batch Amendments
to the Town Code
Barbara Notar gave a brief presentation regarding the proposed Town Code
Amendments:
• Some items should be done; others must be done.
• Electronic summons system—cost will be assessed by the courts on each case.
Clerk's office is not quite ready to implement, but should be approved so it
can be implemented as soon as practical.
• Real property tax exemption for surviving spouses of members of the Armed
Forces killed in action—mandated by the General Assembly—takes effect
January 1.
• EDC has discussed at length that they would like to change their duties—this
cleans them up.
• Technology Commission has requested a change to the Code to eliminate
policing the franchise agreements.
• Parks and Recreation department would like to add radio controlled aircraft
to the things that can be done in town parks with a permit. Administrative
rules will control where this activity can occur. They would also like to allow
petting zoos with a permit.
Council Comments:
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• Dunn: Last night we added to a future work session of Council a discussion
of the H-2. Is that in the Town Code?
Staff answer: It is not. It is in the Zoning Ordinance.
• Dunn: So, guidelines for the H-2, who reviews projects within the H-2 —none
of that is in the Town Code. None at all?
Staff answer: That is in the Zoning Ordinance. That would have to go
through the Planning Commission and standard procedure.
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Burk, Butler, Fox, Dunn, Hammier, Martinez, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7-0
Barbara Notar gave a brief presentation on the General Assembly changes to
the Conflicts of Interests Act.
• Current law is unchanged that you may not accept graft or bribes.
• There is considerable confusion even amongst municipal attorneys.
• These changes are effective January 1, 2016.
• The definition of gift is anything worth more than $100 within a calendar year
given to yourself or anyone in your immediate family from anyone who is a
lobbyist or people who have contracts with the town or want to have a
contract with the town.
• Exception is a widely attended event(more than 25 persons) open to
individuals who share a common interest who are members of a public civil,
charitable, or profession organization who are from a particular industry or
profession or who represent persons interested in a particular issue.
• Travel paid by the town is not a gift, unless it is outside the state. You may
accept paid travel by lobbyists if it is disclosed.
• Forms are due twice yearly and filed with the locality's clerk.
• Failure to file or making false statements could be fined.
• Advisory opinions can be provided by both the Town Attorney and the
Commonwealth's Attorney.
c. Downtown Improvements—King Street Construction Contract Award
On a motion by Council Member Butler, seconded by Vice Mayor Burk, the following
was proposed:
RESOLUTION 2015-069
Awarding the Construction Contract for the Downtown Improvements Project for King
Street to Madigan Construction, Inc. in the Amount of$603,099.94
Council Comments:
• Butler: For some of the folks, the reason that we are taking another vote
tonight—it would have come up anyway because we have to make a motion
to let the contract for construction projects. Normally, this is on the consent
agenda and so they are barely noticed—they just kind of run through. This,
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under normal circumstances, may have been on a consent agenda as well, but
we did find out that there are a variety of reasons, that I won't go into tonight
—there is not enough money to do the entire project so this resolution is to
widen the sidewalks and do all the improvements between Market Street and
Loudoun Street only and the rest of the project will be on hold and be bid at
another date.
• Burk: This process has been going on for quite a while. We have put people
through a great deal of distress and concern over this whole thing—going
through all these different votes on it. We made a promise—we were going to
do it and it is important that we get it started and begin the process. That is
why I am very much in support of this.
• Hammler: I will also be supporting this resolution just to clarify because
anyone in the public who may have read the staff report may have had as
many questions as the Council did and I know we have gotten quite a number
of emails. This resolution that we are approving, which is a million dollars
less than the other resolution that staff brought forward allows Council to
award the construction contract for all the improvements we have already
approved between Loudoun and Market on King including the widened
sidewalks, the street trees, everything we have fully vetted as a Council. So,
that needs to be clarified. There certainly are some important things that we
as a council will continue to delve into. There were clearly cost overruns
throughout different sections of implementing the construction projects in the
downtown and we need to understand why we weren't alerted when those
were over budget and quite frankly why we didn't do a better job on a number
of issues dealing with what has been brought forward tonight, but I am
comfortable that we are going to focus on this priority. In hindsight, we
probably should have done this sooner just to get it done before even other
elements of the project and you have our full faith that we will move forward
and follow back up with staff so we kind of do a recap and make sure that this
doesn't happen again.
• Fox: I was not on the initial conversation with this entire project and about a
month ago I had brought up some concerns that I had safety wise. In light of
what happened along King Street between Market and Loudoun Street just
this past week, I still have some safety concerns, so I don't think I could
support this.
• Dunn: Just a couple of things. Is this part of the original contract?
Staff answer: No, this is separate.
• Dunn: So, it's new. I ask because it was part of the original contract, I didn't
want it to be confused that we are voting on something that really was already
in effect. This wasn't an effort to try and get additional funding. I think it is
important that we have made a decision to move forward with the
improvements downtown. We voted on an amount for those improvements.
We went back and forth for many years about what it would cost. We were
willing to spend...it is not funds that should be taken lightly and I don't think
adding an additional million dollars to taxpayers for improvements. The only
question I would have is the—what other options could there have been that
we could have used the remaining funds for as far as other improvements—
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what could they gone to or is this the portion of the contract that was going to
come next?
Staff answer: King Street was the next and final section that Council has
approved.
• Dunn: I'm fine with voting for this and going forward I would be very, very
hesitant to want to throw another million dollars at this project. I would have
to see some real justification for doing that. But, I'm fine moving forward the
amount we originally agreed upon.
• Mayor: I will be voting against this. I have consistently opposed the removal
of parking off of King Street, because I think that will do significant damage
to the businesses along King Street. I also do not expect the widening to
accommodate anything more than perhaps a very small café table for one or
two people. I don't think it is going to be a transformational change in the
downtown and for the same reasons I have always opposed this, I will
continue to do so.
• Butler: I would just like to echo the Vice Mayor's comments that we have
been working on this for about eight years. It would be really good to see it
come to fruition.
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Burk, Butler, Dunn, Hammier, and Martinez,
Nay: Fox and Mayor Umstattd
Vote: 5-2
12. ORDINANCES
a. None.
13. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. None.
14. NEW BUSINESS
a. Letter to the Loudoun County School Board regarding a Possible Skate Park
Partnership
On a motion by Vice Mayor Burk, seconded by Council Member Hammier, the
following was proposed:
MOTION 2015-007
I move to approve the letter to the Loudoun County School Board regarding a possible
partnership for the Skate Park
Council Comments:
• Burk: This letter has two components to it— one to thank them, the School
Board, for meeting with us, but more important to get some specific answers
that in the 30 minute meeting we were not able to get direct, specific answers.
It is just a clarification and it is going to make it clearer as to where the School
Board stands on relocating the Skate Park.
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• Hammier: I did send an email as soon as we received the draft this afternoon
at 4:30 with my proposed changes to the letter. I don't know if anyone got a
chance to re-write the letter. So, if I may be brief—in the letter there are four
itemized questions. I would suggest we strike 3 and 4, specifically, because
they go into this question that quite frankly derailed part of the discussion
while we were in the meeting talking about what is happening to Douglass in
ten years. We need to know if they are willing to have the Skate Park in the
short term and that needs to be the purpose and sole purpose of this letter. I
would also suggest we strike the rest of the sentence that says "with the
expectation that this facility be completed no later than June 2016". We will
be able to assess that ourselves, but I think that is going to basically derail
them even looking at the letter if we are saying either you accommodate our
time line or don't even look at this letter. So,just in the interest of asking the
open ended questions, I would strike that. I would also ask that we request
that the power point that we presented at the meeting be available when we
send this. I had asked the question, and hopefully Rich already has the
answer—we don't have to ask it, but at some point we need to understand if
they have it on the park, the related question is if so, where. That is
something that staff can figure out, in terms of if it is the inline skating park—
who makes that decision and what the process is. I think just those edits that
I just mentioned, will get an answer from the school board. But in the
meantime, if we can be vetting that, that would be very helpful.
Striking#3 and#4 were accepted as a friendly amendment as well as adding the
power point as an attachment.
Council Member Hammier made a motion to delete the last part of the sentence "with
the expectation that this facility be completed no later than June 2016". The motion was
seconded by Council Member Dunn and approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Fox, Dunn, Hammier, Martinez, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: Burk
Vote: 6-1
Council Comments:
• Dunn: I don't know if it is needed now, but I am just a little concerned that
we are not talking about the financing of the park. I know this is going to the
school board, so they would really not be involved with the funding aspect of
it. It would come—unless of course the board were funding it through school
funds and then the school board would have the right to dictate where the
funds were going but ultimately it would be the board of supervisors who are
deciding that those funds are allocated. I would like it to be known that we
are seeking county funds for this. I don't know if it is necessary at this point,
but at some point that is a make it or break it for me. Because I, in no way,
am going to have town taxpayers put a skate park on county property and
then flip the whole bill for it. In fact, I don't think they should pay anything
for it. It is a regional facility and it is on County property and the county
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should be paying for it. So, if we don't put it in here now, it needs y g p eeds to go in
there as soon as the school board decides they are going to work with us.
The amended letter was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Burk, Butler, Fox, Dunn, Hammier, Martinez, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None.
Vote: 7-0
15. CLOSED SESSION
On a motion by Mayor Umstattd, seconded by Council Member Butler, the following was
proposed:
Pursuant to Section 2.2-3711(A)(7)of the Code of Virginia, I move that the Leesburg Town
Council convene in a closed meeting for the purpose of discussion and receiving information
regarding:
a. Litigation -Kim Del Rance vs. TOL et al.
The motion was approved by the following roll call vote:
Aye: Burk, Butler, Fox, Hammier, Martinez and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None.
Vote: 6-0-1 (Dunn abstaining)
Council moved into closed session at 8:52 p.m.
Council reconvened in open session at 9:21 p.m.
On a motion by Mayor Umstattd, seconded by Council Member Butler, the following was
proposed:
In accordance with Section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia, I move that Council certify that to
the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open
meeting requirements under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and such public business
matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard,
discussed or considered in the meeting by Council.
The motion was approved by the following roll call vote:
Aye: Burk, Butler, Dunn, Fox, Hammier, Martinez and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None.
Vote: 7-0
16. COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS:
Council Member Butler: Just a couple of disclosures. I met with Sung Hee Kim
regarding the changes to the Arts and Cultural District boundaries. I also talked with folks
about the Friedman property and a potential rezoning. The Service Awards was fantastic. I
loved seeing everyone get their five and ten year and all that. We have a lot of people that
have been here for a very long time, which says great things about the town. So, it's just a
lot of fun to be there. And First Friday—we had a ton of people down there. It was like, I
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think everybody was, you know, stuck in their houses for the rain the rest of the week and
then the rain stopped and everybody was like "woohoo". So, they all went out on First
Friday.
Vice Mayor Burk: On the public service awards, I just wanted to comment that
Kristen, you did a great job making all the departments and all the people feel very welcome
and very important to the town. On that same day, I attended the seminar that was held by
<inaudible> an energy advocate and it was on sports facilities leading the way in energy
efficiency. It was fascinating. The things that the sports facilities are doing now to save
money using solar and other things —it might be something we would like to hear, but it
was a very good presentation and the innovation that is going on at the sports level—I was
just shocked. But there are some things that as a town we could take up too. On the 28th, I
attended a health fair at the homeless shelter. It is a great opportunity to see all the different
services that are available through the homeless shelter and it just struck me how lucky we
are to have such dedicated individuals who work there. They are so in love with their
clients and they work so hard—it was really impressive. June 4, I met with the School
Board and the County about partnering with the town on the Skate Park. I presented the
history of the Skate Park and answered questions with facts, not opinions or emotions. I
asked for information back from members. It was a good meeting that might open doors for
future partnerships. On June 5, congratulations to Strategy Solutions, because we did their
ribbon cutting for their opening of their consulting center. Congratulations to Todd Wright
on opening the 13 1/2 and for Cerphe on opening his business. They are great additions to
the downtown. I was fortunate enough to be asked to read a proclamation from the town
for the Relay for Life. Having lost a family member last year to cancer and having a new
family member diagnosed with cancer this year, it was very touching to see so many people
there to raise money to find a cure. We can only hope that comes soon enough.
Congratulations to Swetness Fitness, that's a new fitness studio on Catoctin Circle. Thanks
to Parking Commission for the walking tour. It was a very good view of our streets and side
street scapes. As much as I walk the town, I was very surprised at some of the things that
they showed us. I met with Nasir Consulting today about the site of the Leesburg—where
the cars are crushed - the scrap place. I want to thank all the responders to the fire on
Saturday night. It was great to have that car show here—every year it gets bigger and bigger
and it is really cool, but the cars being there—all of them parked the way they were parked
made it so that there was only one lane of traffic going through the town so it made it a little
difficult, but boy they got out of there pretty quickly, so that was really good. I want to
acknowledge Mary Harper, because Dale Goodson and Mary Harper operate Leesburg
Dogs. And when they learned that a dog and two cats perished in the downtown fire on
Saturday night, they decided it was the right thing to do to return their pets to their broken
hearted owners. The owners truly were broken hearted. With the help of Mark Stacks,
Animal Control Officer from Loudoun County Animal Services and the Colonial Funeral
Home, Leesburg Dogs paid for and made arrangements to have the animals cremated. We
just everyone to know that Leesburg is a town that pitches in even with bad things happen
to good people and we care about all of our citizens, even our four legged ones, said Mary
Harper. So, I appreciate her for doing that and it really did—the gentleman was very, very
touched that somebody would do that, so appreciate that.
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Council Member Martinez: That's very kind of Mary and Dale. I was at the Car
Show, unfortunately my car couldn't get in there because I couldn't fix the short in the
electrical system, but it was absolutely wonderful—a lot of neat cars. I apologize for
missing the service awards—that's one of my favorite things to go to see all the people who
have been around for a while and I did have some disclosures. I talked with Hobie Mitchel
and Christine Gleckner in two separate phone calls talking about the text amendment. I
talked with Bob Sevila about a discussion on the O'Connor property. I went with the
Mayor—we talked with the Rescue Squad. Other than that, you all have a nice evening and
we will see you in two weeks.
Council Member Hammier: I, too, am sorry I couldn't make it to the Service
Awards. I had another conflict. I absolutely had it on my schedule—it is always a
wonderful event and I know, in particular that Adam was given his pin, wasn't he, because
he told me he was looking forward to that. I was very, very sorry I missed it. I, too, have
several quick disclosures. I had a meeting on the Friedman property, which is the junk
yard, if you will. I also had a meeting— an actual meeting with Suzanne and Mr. Sevila
about the O'Connor property on June 3 and I had several phone calls on the 8th and 9th with
Hobie Mitchel also dealing with the initiation and Crescent Parke. I participated in a new
sub-committee with the Loudoun County Economic Development Advisory Committee.
They asked me to be part of the Nightlife Committee, because really Leesburg has taken the
lead on so many elements of that. As part of that, I did have a follow-up initial meeting
about reviving the performing arts center idea and bringing that hopefully to Leesburg.
Kelly wasn't able to make it. Suzanne was able to stay because she and I were at a meeting
prior to that. We are looking forward—Bruce Gemmill has a strong relationship with Peter
Levine and Del Reeder of the Levine School downtown in DC and George Mason,
respectively. We are looking forward to another follow-up discussion that hopefully that
will tie into, you know, what we need for an anchor—even structured parking. There is
another meeting on the last Monday of this month, that I was going to hopefully put on
Kelly's calendar as our EDC liaison and I will have more information about that, but I
wanted to mention that our initial meeting was with Ara, Stilson, and with Bruce. I
attended, with Marty and the Mayor and with Officer Bill, the Exeter Homeowner's
Association Annual Meeting. Obviously, Marty and I were there, so we had another reason
for being there and representing— our Town Manager was also there. I just appreciate also
Senator Wexton being there for the community, giving kind of public service
announcements, legislative updates and our support for our shared frustration with
unfunded mandates and our partnership moving forward on seeking grants and so forth.
With the Three K's (Kelly, Kristen and Katie) we were at a number of awesome ribbon
cuttings to include the ones that Kelly already mentioned. I was just tickled to see all the
passion of all the employees and the CEO, Daniel Rankin, at Strategy Revolution right here
on King Street. Just wonderful to see that kind of passion and entrepreneurial energy. They
are a marketing company. Absolutely was inspired by the Todd Wright and Music Planet
ribbon cutting last Friday. It is incredible what is happening in terms of being
nationally/internationally known songwriters, musicians to our downtown and I know
Stilson, for one among others is just convinced that this is just the beginning of so many
other private sector important things that are happening downtown. That being said, I was
so sorry to hear that they already suffered smoke damage because of what happened in the
fire. I was very proud to hear that those of us on Council that we better stay away because
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there is too much going on downtown with police who are our first responders and
obviously Fire and Rescue, but our own Mayor and Vice Mayor where trying to move
music equipment and helping which ended up in the Town Manager's office. Thank you
for representing our town and helping in all sorts of ways. With that, like all of us, I am just
so very sorry for Mike O'Connor, Stanley, everybody who has been just directly impacted
because of that fire— I know Marantha just updated us and in fact, Stanley has to close
Caulkin's Jewelers due to the fact that the fire did cause significant ceiling damage and so
we are going to hopefully help him get a temporary space. He has been in every physical
and in spirit way that we can, but that's kind of community we have. We are all here for
him and everybody impacted. Mike has been doing everything getting generators, getting
Leesburg Diner back open, so just really appreciate everybody's help on that. And then
finally, there is a national maker faire in DC this Thursday. I know that Pat Scannell will be
down there and obviously he is making great progress with his maker organization in
Leesburg. I wanted to mention that because now VML is very interested in profiling that as
a great leadership element so that the whole state can know about how important that
movement is and the leadership that Leesburg took with zoning amendments to support
that great trend.
Council Member Fox: Just a few disclosures I have. On the 2', I was invited by a
<inaudible> about the Friedman property and Commissioner Harper and Babbin were there
as well. That is about, I suppose the junkyard off Depot Court there. On the 8th, which was
just yesterday, had a meeting along with Katie with Bob Sevila and another meeting I was
invited to because I was already there—it was kind of a half meeting with Bruce Gemmill
and Stilson as well for the performing arts center. I did attend the Public Service Awards. It
was my first one. It was a really special thing. I enjoyed that. It was heartwarming and it
was really neat to see Adam get his pin. He was quite proud of that. I also attended the
Skate Park meeting on the 4th with Katie and with Kelly and we all know where that is
going with the letter. I agree with that course of action, so I am really happy about that. I
just wanted to also mention, you know, that I wasn't able to be in town on Saturday night.
I was actually at a wedding on Saturday night. Came into town, smelled some smoke, was
wondering what was going on. Found out quickly what was going on, but I heard our first
responders were amazing and just the thought that it could have been so much worse than
what it was, is a testament to that. So, I'm really happy that we have the resources here in
town that are needed for this kind of occurrence and I am really happy to see that Stanley
and Mike and those who were affected by this had the support from the community that
they needed as well.
17. MAYOR'S COMMENTS
Well, Kaj will probably mention that we've got another best place to live. Leesburg
has been listed as the Fifth Best place for Young Couples to Move to, according to
MoveTo.com. Congratulations, Leesburg. That's because Marty is here. Everybody wants
to be wherever Marty is. I want to congratulate the organizers of this year's car show
because they raised a record amount of money for Monroe Technology Center. This year,
they raised over$10,000. That's more than they've raised in past years. We had superb
turn out for the show and then superb responses, every body has mentioned, by our first
responders to the fire. Ted Garber, who will be playing at Acoustic on the Green, July 11
posted on my Facebook page that it takes a village and Leesburg is an awesome village and
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that was in response to what Katie pointed to —the community support for those that had
been struck by the fire. Todd Wright will be playing, I think it is June 27th. John Carroll is
this Saturday night on the Town Green, 7-9. You can come down and see where the hole in
the wall in the garage is because of the flying truck. We have a lot going on down here. We
are hoping that everybody comes in to our Acoustic On the Green Concert Series that is all
summer long every Saturday night 7-9, except for July 4 and that's when we will have our
parade and fireworks.
Hammler: I thought we should mention where Svetness Fitness is because it was so
hard to find for those of us who just had the address.
Mayor: Svetness Fitness is by Village Lanes Bowling Center on Catoctin Circle,
right across Harrison Street from both Middleburg Bank and BB&T. And Svet, the owner,
moved here from Bulgaria, speaking no English, having no money in his pocket whatsoever
and has built a thriving personal fitness company up out of nothing. He was very much
taken back in Bulgaria by the promise of the American Dream and he is living it.
Congratulations to him.
Butler: You mentioned the truck crashing through. I just wanted to say I think the
Town Staff came and cleaned that up quickly. I got a couple of messages and just the
pictures changed really fast. It was just a great job by staff on that.
18. MANAGER'S COMMENTS
Very quickly, I just wanted to also say how proud I am of our first responders, even
though Fire and Rescue is not the town. They did a tremendous job. There were three of us
who were here for a long time that night. I was very proud of them. I am also extremely
proud of our police department, who were the first ones to arrive on the scene. Of course, it
helps that they were right here, but they did go into the structures to take care of that. I also
want to recognize Chief Price specifically. The Mayor and I attended a Town Association
meeting last week and it is very comforting to see our leaders, how they operate and
function in the region, and how well respected. Of course, we are the largest town in the
Commonwealth, so you would expect our personnel to perform at the highest level, but
watching him and communicate to the various mayors in attendance at this meeting and the
other police chiefs, is quite impressive to see the stature and the knowledge and respect he
has with his peers. I think— although you weren't there outside of the Mayor, you are very
well represented and taken care of under the leadership of Chief Price. With that being said,
Mr. Markel and I will be leaving town for a conference for City and Town Managers. We
will be out of town for the next three days. Mr. Parker will be here and he will be fully
supported by Chief Price. The very last thing, I was asking if you were available on for a
session on June 29. I decided to cancel that because Council Member Fox cannot make it.
Since you have not had a similar session, it would be very important for you to be there. I
would not want you to miss that. I will find another date to do such a session and provide
you information.
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19. ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Vice Mayor Burk, seconded by Council Member Martinez, the meeting was
adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
10*11*1._
Kristen C. mstattd, Mayor
Town of Leesburg
B(ATS
Clerk of C• n,it
2015 tcmin0609
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