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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2008_03_24 Council Work Session March 24, 2008 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Umstattd presiding. Councilmembers Present: Katie Sheldon Hammier, Susan Horne, Marty Martinez, David Schmidt, Ken Reid, Kevin Wright, and Mayor Umstattd Councilmembers Absent: None Staff Present: Town Manager John Wells, Town Attorney Jeanette Irby, Deputy Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Assistant to the Town Manager Kathy Leidich, Assistant to the Town Manager Scott Parker, Chief of Police Joe Price, Director of Planning, Zoning and Development Susan Swift, Director of Engineering and Public Works Tom Mason, Airport Director Tim Deike, Recreation Programs Manager Kate Trask, Zoning Administrator Brian Boucher, Senior Planner Chris Murphy, Transportation Engineer Calvin Grow, Economic Development Manager Marantha Edwards, Economic Research Analyst Betsy Fields, and Clerk of Council Lee Ann Green AGENDA ITEMS 1. Questions on Tuesday Agenda Items Council Meeting of March 25, 2008 a. Approving Special Exception TLSE 2007-0005 Offices at Georgetown Park LLC to permit a private structured parking facility at the northeast quadrant of Wirt Street and South Street, S.E. Council Member Schmidt questioned whether the applicant had given permission for an archeological dig. Ms. Gillis-Snow stated that the archeologist who made the proposal does not have the necessary equipment to perform the dig; however, they were not opposed to working with him. b. Approving Special Exception TLSE 2007-0011 All God's Children Daycare Center which seeks to amend the conditions of Special Exception SE-2002-02 to permit children up to age 12 at the facility Jeanette Irby stated the applicant had voluntarily agreed to limit the ages at the daycare center. She noted this is not a limitation the Town Council has the authority to require and is, therefore, legally unenforceable. Vice Mayor Horne confirmed that nothing else about the special exception had changed and questioned what type of neighborhood outreach had been performed. Chris Murphy stated nothing else had changed except for the ages of the children. He stated the required mailings and posting had been performed. Council Member Reid questioned whether 49 children could be accommodated in the house. Mr. Murphy stated the number of children in inside and outside play areas are state regulated. He stated the daycare meets or exceeds current Town Council Work Session of March 24. 2008 Page 2 parking standards. He stated there is a neighbor who has concerns about the drop off of children; however, there has been no police reports for the facility. Council Member Reid stated this location is not visible from King Street but is still within the H-2. He stated he did not wish to absolve daycares from special exception requirements. c. Budget Public Hearing Council Member Reid stated he was surprised that non-departmental groups wanting to receive Town funding are sent letters inviting them to ask for funds. He stated he was disappointed the only people who come to budget public hearings are those that want money. He expressed his hope that the public will come out and weigh in on the budget. d. Making an appointment to the Planning Commission There was no discussion regarding Council Member Martinez' nominee, Doris Kidder. f. Immigration Coalition Council Member Reid his interest in this coalition is that it is a clearinghouse for ideas. He stated joining this coalition does not commit the Town to anything. He assured Council he did not support this group because he disliked immigrants noting that he is a member of one of the most mistreated immigrant ethnic groups. He stated illegal immigrants can bring other illegal activities to Town. He noted there is a meeting on April 3. Council Member Wright questioned whether there is an official membership document of the Coalition. Council Member Reid stated he would distribute a list of the members of the Coalition to Council. He stated the membership lists Bruce Tulloch as the member from the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, but he is no longer the representative. Mayor Umstattd stated she noted that the proposal is that Bruce Tulloch be the executive director of the group. Council Member Reid stated he did not attend the last meeting so had no information on that. g. Authorizing the Mayor to Sign the Ritz Camera Contract Jeanette Irby stated they are working on finishing up the final negotiations. Tim Deike stated Ritz Camera was interested in a fuel farm in conjunction with their new facility. This contract is for the Fuel Farm. He stated Ritz Camera will install improvements to the Town's Fuel Farm in addition to lease payments and a per gallon pumping fee. Council Member Hammier questioned whether the Airport Commission had seen the lease and had opportunity to comment. Mr. Deike stated they are still negotiating the final points and expect to have the final lease for the Council meeting on Tuesday night. Town Council Work Session of March 24, 2008 Paoe 3 Mayor Umstattd clarified that this lease is only for the Fuel Farm area. Mr. Deike confirmed it is only for the 2,000 square feet of the Fuel Farm and the per gallon pumping fee. Council Member Martinez questioned how much revenue the Town could expect from the per gallon pumping fee. Mr. Deike stated it would depend on the type of planes that refuel and how often they refuel. g. Request for Funding - Confederate Soldier Statue 100th Anniversary Becky Fleming stated the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy have raised over $10,000 for the restoration of the statue. She stated they will have a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the statue on May 31. She stated they were surprised by how much it will cost to close the streets for their celebration. She stated they are $3,300 short. Vice Mayor Horne questioned how much it would cost on the Town side, including closing the street. Kate Trask stated the Town services would be $1,930, which includes closing the streets and providing police support. She stated use of the Citizen Support Team would reduce the cost. Mayor Umstattd stated Council can consider a seed money donation much like that given Smart's Mill for their road race. Council Member Wright questioned what the impact on the event would be if the streets were not closed, utilizing appropriate crossing control. Mayor Umstattd asked Ms. Fleming to consider not closing the streets for their celebration. 2. Work Session Items for Discussion a. Commission on Public Art Guidelines Judy Craun stated the Guidelines would be used to accept public art. She stated they had used Arlington's guidelines as a template, thus saving the Town a lot of money. She stated that it took six years for Arlington to develop their Guidelines and Master Plan. Further, she stated the next step is to develop the Master Plan. Council Member Hammier questioned whether current valuable artistic assets owned by the Town are part of the inventory. She suggested adding long term maintenance costs as part of the master plan. Ms. Craun stated the inventory will be part of the master plan. Council Member Wright questioned what efforts the Commission has made in securing outside support. Town Council Work Session of March 24, 2008 Page 4 Ms. Craun stated the outside support will come from a number of areas. She cited the CIP, proffers, and private donations. She stated they will need some seed money to get started. Council Member Wright stated he was concerned that the scope of the Commission seems larger than the original scope set out in the enabling legislation, which gives him concern. Ms. Craun stated these are the guidelines with which the Commission will look at art. Council Member Wright stated the review criteria do not contain enough guiding principles to keep objectionable items from being put on public display. Ms. Craun stated a review panel would be created to make recommendations, then the art will go to the BAR and Zoning Departments, then the Commission and finally to the Council. She stated there are more layers of control than in most jurisdictions. Council Member Reid questioned whether Ms. Irby has reviewed the Guidelines. Ms. Irby stated she had reviewed an earlier version of the guidelines. Council Member Reid stated Council should not act until the Town Attorney had reviewed the current version. Mayor Umstattd stated she felt that public art should not have to be reviewed by the government, unless it is considered obscene by public standards. She stated she shares Council Member Wright's concern about the use of the word "shall". She stated when art is on public property, Council should have the right for final approval on any project, but if the Town is responsible for documentation, maintenance, conservation and restoration, Council should have that information. Mayor Umstattd asked Jeanette Irby to review the final version of the Guidelines and give Council her comments. Council Member Wright asked for tangible examples of what is allowed to be built under current zoning that would be considered art. He stated he wanted to be assured that the Town would not be inserting a new level of approval. b. George Mason University Business Incubator Mr. Wells stated a number of people in the Town and a number of people at George Mason are working on the Business Incubator project. Vice Mayor Horne stated George Mason University may be looking to expand into this area of Northern Virginia. Council Member Hammier stated she hoped working with George Mason on this project could be a preview to a George Mason University Campus in Leesburg. She stated a private sector leader would be needed. Town Council Work Session of March 24, 2008 Page 5 c. Development Activity Report Betsy Fields went over the most recent Development Activity Report. She pointed out a number of things that had been changed and added to make the report more understandable. Council Member Schmidt thanked her for making the report easier to u ndersta nd. Council Member Hammier asked for a column for the timing process. d. BAR Joint Meeting FOllow-up Susan Swift stated her memo outlined suggestions on how to close the enforcement loop. Council Member Reid suggested only major projects go through review. He suggested holding off on changes to H-2 Corridor regulations, including administrative review of applications. There was discussion over narrowing the H-2 Corridor to only include parcels which are adjacent to Market Street or King Street. Council Member Wright stated it would be helpful to have a map with current parcels in the H-2 and what would be in the H-2 if the corridor was na rrowed . Council Member Schmidt stated he would be supportive of loosening up either the regulations or narrowing the corridor. Ms. Swift stated Council needs to be cognizant of the Planning Department work plan. She stated work to narrow the corridor or change the Guidelines may slow down work on the Crescent District Form Based Code or changes to the Zoning Ordinance. She recommended waiting until the Form Based Code is finished to make any changes to the H-2 Corridor. e. Meade Drive Stop Signs Council Member Schmidt stated he did not think this needs to go back to the Standing Residential Traffic Committee. Vice Mayor Horne stated she did not believe the five stop signs on Meade Drive were the best approach to traffic calming. She stated this caused a lot of negative behavior and feelings in both neighborhoods. Council Member Reid noted that stop signs are not supposed to be used for traffic calming. Mayor Umstattd questioned the necessity of reopening this discussion considering how divisive it had proved to be in the past. Vice Mayor Horne asked staff for a recommendation at for the April 7 work session. Town Council Work Session of March 24, 2008 Page 6 f. City Status Mayor Umstattd stated the State has given a small window of opportunity from July 2010 to December 2013. She stated this comes from a discussion on how to lower the combined tax rate for Town property owners. She stated Council needs to evaluate this from a financial standpoint noting the Town may elect to pay the County to provide some services. Council Member Schmidt stated he did not feel this was worth pursuing. Vice Mayor Horne stated she would not be opposed to looking at the financial considerations. Council Member Martinez stated he is interested. Council Member Hammier stated she would be interested in an analysis. She stated we have a lot of duplication of services that could be eliminated. Council Member Wright stated the window is small and we are still unsure of whether the State would approve any conversion to City status. He questioned whether the Town is in a position to acquire the school properties and advised proceeding cautiously. Council Member Reid stated he is against City status as the Town would need to assume a large amount of debt to take over the school system, but did not mind taking a look at it. Jeanette Irby stated she would check into how receptive the State would be to an application. Mayor Umstattd asked for a preliminary financial analysis. Council concurred. g. Bluemont Concert Series Funding Request Milt Herd, Peter Dunning, Bob Sevila and Jim Sisley spoke on behalf of Bluemont Concert Series. Mr. Herd thanked Council for the Town's part in the 27-year partnership and asked them to renew their commitment to that partnership. He asked that the definition of Bluemont Concert Series as a tourism product be revised to something more general and inclusive. Council Member Schmidt stated the reduction in funding was a conscious effort to reduce funding of social services and tourism agencies that should receive more funding from the County. Mr. Dunning stated they were surprised by the reductions as they had no warning. Mr. Wells stated emails had been sent to all non-departmental agencies who regularly request funding. He noted that Mr. Dunning had responded to the email. Town Council Work Session of March 24, 2008 Page 7 Vice Mayor Horne questioned whether Bluemont had made an effort to get more private sector support since the downtown businesses receive benefit from the concert series. Council Member Martinez stated he has been trying to get the Council to revisit the issue of funding for non-departmental agencies. Council Member Hammier stated she fully supports Bluemont Concert Series adding it is one of the reasons people love living here. Council Member Wright stated it would be useful to understand what level of funding Bluemont has received in the past, both in terms of money and in-kind support. Mr. Wells stated Bluemont receives in-kind support in the form of storage for their equipment, public safety for their events, waived event fees, and mailings. staff. Council Member Hammier stated Bluemont fills a need not provided by Council Member Reid questioned whether Bluemont could be considered a social services agency and thus receive Uran funds. Mr. Dunning stated that many of the businesses downtown are closed on Sunday evenings during the concert performances. Mayor Umstattd stated it is difficult to keep the tax rate down. She stated she is reluctant to diverge from a path that saves the taxpayers money. h. 250th Celebration Update Kathy Leidich reviewed the plans for the birthday celebration. She stated there would be an event on September 14 from 2-5 p.m., which is the actual anniversary of the date the Town came into existence. She stated Vintage 50 is going to commemorate a beer for the occasion and asked for assistance in coming up with a name for the beer. Council Member Reid stated Court and Market Days should be moved to September to achieve an economy of scale by combining the two events. i. Keep Leesburg Beautiful Vice Mayor Horne stated that Supervisor Kelly Burk is the co-chair. She urged the Environmental Advisory Commission to get involved. She stated the event would kick off April 12. Council Member Martinez volunteered to take the reins next year. Council Member Hammier requested the SAGE program follow-up be put on the agenda for a later meeting. j. Council Liaisons Town Council Work Session of March 24, 2008 Page 8 Council Member Schmidt stated he did not see a need for changing the ordinance or policy. Council Member Wright stated there is a misconception of the definition of a liaison. He noted there are 50 Boards and Commissions on the County side and attendance for the Board of Supervisors has not been questioned. Council Member Reid stated he liked the proposed language. Mayor Umstattd stated her concern is that there is a continuing perception that could be changed by amending the language in the ordinance. Adjournment On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Wright, the meeting adjourned at 12: 15 a.m., March 25, 20 2008_tcwsmin0324