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Home My Public Portal About2002_03_25 Council Work Session March 25, 2002 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:00 p.m. Mayor Webb presiding. Councilmembers Present: George Atwell, Mervin Jackson, Leonard McDonald, David Schmidt, Kristen Umstattd, and Mayor Webb. Councilmembers Absent: Robert Zoldos Staff Members Present: Town Manager Bob Noe, Town Attorney William Donnelly, Deputy Town Manager Phil Rodenberg, Director of Engineering and Public Works Tom Mason, Interim Director of Planning, Zoning and Development Lee Phillips, Finance Director Paul York, Assistant to the Town Manager Nicole Ard, Traffic Engineer Calvin Grow, Deputy Director of Utilities Aref Etemadi, Capital Projects Administrator Nagi Elsewaissi, Planner Nancy Kitchens, Management Intern Larry DiRe, and Clerk of Council Judy Ahalt. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Agenda for Council Meeting of March 26, 2002 Councilmember Schmidt asked that item #2 on the consent agenda be discussed. a. Leesburg Station Car Wash - SE-2001-08 - Public Hearing Nancy Kitchens outlined this special exception application for a single tunnel car wash, a detailing pavilion, and five vacuum islands located on Catoctin Circle between the Loudoun County Rescue Squad and the W&OD Trail. Mayor Webb asked if the current water restrictions will have an impact on the proposed car wash and for the number of gallons per day used by the car wash. Vice-Mayor Umstattd verified that all remaining issues have been resolved with the applicant. Mayor Webb verified with Ms. Kitchens that stacking on Catoctin Circle should not be a problem with the site as the applicant has provisions for stacking of 27 vehicles on site. Ms. Kitchens added that staff and the Planning Commission are recommending conditional approval of this application. b. Accepting public improvements, releasing the performance guarantee and approving a maintenance guarantee for public improvements at the Woodlea Hills Subdivision. Councilmember Schmidt verified with Tom Mason that the proposed bond release is for sanitary sewer only. He also asked for clarification as to whether the homeowners association had been notified prior to the releasing the bond. Town Council Work Session Minutes for March 25. 2002 Paqe 2 Mr. Mason stated that is customary to notify the management companies prior to a bond release. c. Selecting an architect for the West Loudoun Street addition to Town Hall Deputy Town Manager Phil Rodenberg stated that two qualified architectural firms would be making presentations to Council. Councilmember Atwell verified the Town would be following the Virginia Procurement Act in negotiations with the selected firm. Hanno Weber Associates of Chicaao Hanno Weber and associate, Kathleen Hess, gave a brief overview of some of their past projects including the current Leesburg Town Hall. Mr. Weber stated they have experience in adaptive reuse of sites and in merging buildings with the current environment. He stated the proposed 27,000 square foot building addition would increase parking and traffic demands. Further, he would not proposed to compete with the existing building. Mr. Weber stated that since he was the architect for the current Town Hall he would have an advantage with respect to the reuse of the vacated space. Councilmember Atwell confirmed that there might be a possibility of connecting the upper floors as well as a garage connection. Councilmember Atwell discussed excluding furniture and fixtures from any contract for an addition. Bowie Gridlev Architects of Washinaton. D.C. Mr. William Gridley and Tim Lovett gave a brief profile of their firm citing their experience locally and in the area of historic adaptive reuse. Further, Mr. Gridley explained their programming process and how the client would be involved. They provided a conceptual drawing of a proposed building footprint, which included pulling the building facade around to the town green and relocating the Loudoun Street entrance. Additionally, they proposed another bay of parking on the Market Street side of the garage. There was further discussion about the expansion of Loudoun Museum and a possible conflict with this building footprint proposed on the town green. Councilmember McDonald suggested the Town and Loudoun Museum work together on their expansion plans. Council further discussed whether a decision on this should be deferred until after completion of the FY-03 budget. Town Council Work Session Minutes for March 25. 2002 Paqe 3 Phil Rodenberg asked that Council allow negotiations to continue with the chosen architectural firm. Councilmember Atwell clarified this building addition would be constructed from the Utility Fund with a lease back from the General Fund. He also suggested that we not delay because of the rise in construction costs and the overcrowding in Town Hall. Town Attorney Bill Donnelly verified that the wording of the resolution to select an architect would comply with Virginia Procurement Act procedures. Councilmembers Schmidt, Umstattd, McDonald and Jackson agreed their preference for an architect selection would be Bowie Gridley Architects. Vice-Mayor Umstattd added that she could not justify going forward with the addition at this time. 2. Fairview Street Improvements contract award Nagi Elsewaissi recommended award of a construction contract to Tessa Construction and Technology for the Fairview Street Improvements project. He added this contract includes placing the overhead utilities underground and the installation of six streetlights. Councilmember McDonald expressed concern with the fact that a final contract price has not been determined. Mr. Elsewaissi stated this contract was bid by unit price and the final contract amount will be determined by the actual work performed. Mayor Webb discussed the fact that the Johnson property has a sketch plan under review by the town staff and the implications on the Fairview Street improvements. Councilmember McDonald verified that the Johnson property already has a sewer connection in place. Vice-Mayor Umstattd clarified the distance between the proposed streetlig hts to be 100-150 feet. 3. Video of Balls Bluff Park/Harrison Island Council viewed a walking tour of the Balls Bluff Park. Councilmember Zoldos provided a written narrative of the site. 4. Broadcast of Planning Commission meetings Councilmember McDonald acknowledged problems with Adelphia broadcasts of Council meetings. However, he encouraged Council to move forward with requesting Adelphia to broadcast the Planning Commission meetings. Town Council Work Session Minutes for March 25. 2002 Paqe 4 Phil Rodenberg advised Council that the RFP for Council Chamber Audio/Visual improvements closed March 22nd. Mayor Webb asked that bid results be returned to Council at the next work session. Councilmember Schmidt expressed concern with the infringement on property owners and lack of restoration of damages to the property during Adelphia's installation of fiber-optic cable. Nicole Ard advised that Adelphia is required to give two-days notice to residents before going on to the property and property is to be restored to its original condition. Mayor Webb asked the status of seeking damages for franchise violations from Adelphia Cable. Ms. Ard stated that the Town is in the process of invoking liquidated damages against Adelphia Cable for franchise violations. 5. Russian Leadership visit Bob Noe discussed a request to participate in the Open World Leadership Program, sponsored by the National Peace Foundation. Participation in this program would require community participation in the hosting of eight Russian officials. Councilmember McDonald expressed support for this program as it would provide good exposure for Leesburg. Mayor Webb stated she had participated in a similar project before and would recommend the Town's participation. It was the consensus of Council to have staff proceed with participation in this program. 6. Virginia Transportation Development Plan (formerly VDOT Six Year Construction Program Traffic Engineer Calvin Grow stated that VDOT would hold their annual Virginia Transportation Program Hearing on April 15th at Fairfax City Hall and asked that Council appoint an elected official to speak at the hearing. He outlined the urban and primary system projects in this year's request. He stated a resolution would be required to submit this request to the Commonwealth Transportation Board for funding highway projects. Mayor Webb stated that Rt. 28 and tax referendum issues are still unresolved and it is unlikely that Virginia will get any help from the Federal Government. 7. New Business Councilmember Schmidt asked Council to consider rescheduling the groundbreaking ceremony for Freedom Park and proposed a date of April 13th. He also discussed the issue of coordination with Council when scheduling various functions. Town Council Work Session Minutes for March 25. 2002 The meeting adjourned at 9:33 p.m. Paqe 5 c;;~ tU aM (gerk of Council