HomeMy Public PortalAbout2011_tcwsmin0124Council Work Session January 24, 2011
Ida Lee Recreation Center, 60 Ida Lee Drive, NW., 7:30 p.m. Mayor Kristen
Umstattd presiding.
Council Members Present: David S. Butler, Thomas S. Dunn, II, Katie Sheldon
Hammier, Marty Martinez, Ken Reid, Kevin Wright and Mayor Kristen Umstattd.
Council Members Absent: Council Member Dunn left the meeting at 8:17 p.m.
Boards and Commissions Members Present: Airport Commission Steve Axeman,
Stanley Caulkins; Thomas Balch Library Commission Jim Hershmann;
Commission on Public Art Pam Butler, Board of Architectural Review Dieter
Meyer, Richard Koochagian, Planning Commission Mary Harper, Betsy Mayr,
Doris Kidder; Economic Development Commission Ara Bagdasarian, Jim Sisley,
Butch Porter, Sandy Kane; Technology and Communication Commission JB
Anderson, Sandra Smallwood, Oliver Peters; Parks and Recreation Commission
Rob Fulcer; Environmental Advisory Commission Neely Law; Tree Commission
Tom Seeman; Standing Residential Traffic Committee Liz Whiting, Ned Kiley.
Staff Present: Town Manager John Wells, Director of Planning and Zoning Susan
Berry Hill, Director of Parks and Recreation Rich Williams, Airport Director Tim
Deike, Director of Information Technology Wendy Wickens, Director of Human
Resources Nancy Fixx, Economic Development Manager Marantha Edwards,
Environmental Planner Irish Grandfield, Preservation Planner Annie McDonald,
Transportation Engineer Calvin Grow, Arborist Jay Banks, and Clerk of Council Lee
Ann Green
AGENDA ITEMS
1. Work Session Items for Discussion
a. Boards and Commissions Work Session
John Wells stated that there are six areas of focus on the Council
Strategic plan which is a fairly long list of particular projects that Council is
focusing on. He stated that part of objectives for this meeting is to get broader
sense of what commissions and committees are working on.
Kaj Dentler stated there are three questions the Council would like
answered: 1) What are you doing that are in support of the Council's goals
and objectives. 2) What are other key initiatives or projects that your group
wants Council to be aware of. 3) What are suggestions on how Council can
help you achieve your goals.
Liz Whiting, Chair of the Standing Residential Traffic Committee,
stated that one of the immediate things they are doing is updating the
Residential Traffic Management Plan that Council adopted by formally
updating the text and scoring data. She stated that they need Council support
to find and develop for approval the Leesburg model of a scoring system so
that when there are a lot of competing requests seeking traffic improvements,
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Council Work Session January 24, 2011
everyone will get measured by a transparent matrix with like review and
standardized scoring.
Steve Axeman, Vice -Chair of the Airport Commission, stated the newly
built hangars are almost fully rented out. He stated they reduced fees because
there were four left and no one was interested. Further, he stated they will
continue to look at rates and fees based on similar airports in the region and
make adjustments. He stated they are looking forward to participating in the
Transportation summit because as a transportation hub, they feel they have an
interest. He stated while they are looking forward towards completion of the
Sycolin overpass, signage to the airport needs to be redone as it caused some
confusion during the airshow. He stated they are continually working with the
BOS and are fortunate to have dialog with the county. He expressed concern
over the Lincoln property next to the airport, adding they would like to see it
annexed into the town.
Dieter Meyer, Chair of the Board of Architectural Review, stated they
have seen a first look at the proposed Downtown Improvements and will be
prepared to get through the approval process as efficiently as possible. He
noted that the process improvements have helped a vast majority of cases get
through the approval process on the first shot while still maintaining a
standard that protects the town's historic resources.
Mary Harper, newly elected Chair of the Planning Commission, stated
they are working on five year review of the Town Plan which will continue
through May. She noted they will take each element in the Town Plan and
have the corresponding commissions speak in order to get input. Further, she
stated they will also have a status report in council packets as each element is
completed and hold a public input session after all elements have been
reviewed. She stated that currently they are working on providing proactive
input in the Capital Improvement Program rather than reactive input and will
review a draft in February and make final recommendations to Council. She
noted they are looking at land development process improvements by working
with the zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations.
Jim Hershmann, Vice Chair of the Thomas Balch Library Advisory
Commission, stated they are concerned about the institution as a great cultural
asset in the town because of budget sustainability. He noted that the
employees at the library perform highly technical work, while responding to
questions from researchers and general public who are interested in the history
of the area. Further, he noted they have managed to absorb staff cutbacks
while remaining highly professional. He noted they have significant outreach
to youth through a highly successful internship program for college and high
school students and participating in a number of eagle scout projects. He
stated that each year the commission awards a prize to a student of local
history and further performs outreach to teachers by conducting workshops on
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Council Work Session January 24, 2011
local history. He noted that many of the homeowners associations use the
meeting room at Balch.
Ara Bagdasarian, Chair of the Economic Development Commission,
stated their approach over the last several years has been to focus on the map
which brings things down to task forces which are targeted to achieve the
visions of the group. He stated they conduct interviews with developers and
applicants on process improvements to gauge how things have progressed and
where improvements can be made. He stated that the Downtown
Improvements project is one tactic to bring about goal of becoming a
destination for arts entertainment and dining. He stated they have formed a
joint task force with the Commission on Public Art on the proposed language
for the arts and cultural district ordinance will support branding for the
downtown. Further, he stated the location of the Mason Enterprise Center in
Leesburg will act as a hub for small business entrepeneurs. He stated they
have launched a task force to review different tools and mechanisms that can
attract business to the town.
Pam Butler, Chair of the Commission on Public Art, stated their duties
include expansion of public arts and access to the arts. To further that goal,
she stated some initiatives are a proposal for a rotating indoor art exhibit
gallery at the Mason Enterprise Center, much the same as the one that
currently exists at Town Hall. She stated they are providing artistic guidance
and an aesthetic eye on several of the projects in the Downtown
Improvements. She stated that the establishment of an arts and cultural
district, will allow the town to provide tax incentives for arts related districts
and to further that, a draft ordinance will be discussed at the next Council
work session meeting. She noted some of their key projects include a proposal
for an aviation themed photography exhibit at the airport and review of the
Town Plan. She stated that Council can assist them by voting to move
forward on the arts and cultural district noting that Harrisonburg's brought in
ten new businesses that have sustained and thrived. Further, she stated the
Council can assist through the creation of a matching grant budget fund to
assist the Commission in seeking out its own funding.
Tom Seeman, Chair of the Tree Commission, stated they work quite a
bit with neighborhoods and homeowners associations as they control the
largest number of privately held trees in the community. He stated they hold
an HOA Summit, which will be held this year on March 15 and invite HOAs
in and around Leesburg, arborists, management companies, etc. to hear
information on tree selection and care followed by a question and answer
session. He stated that the town's arborist, Jay Banks, does an outstanding job
and in the past, over 50 people attended to hear the lecture. He stated they are
working on a Community Canopy project, which are still formulating and
hope to roll out at the HOA summit, which is a program to encourage HOAs
to increase and maintain the tree canopy.
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Council Work Session January 24, 2011
Rob Fulcer, Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, stated they
are focused on increased availability of field space within the town limits and
have gotten a lot of feedback that there are open space areas that are
underutilized. He stated to that end, they are seeking out partnerships for field
opportunities. He stated they would like to see the reinclusion in the CIP for
the third athletic field at Ida Lee, improvement on the existing trail network to
include residents living outside the bypass and partnering with local athletic
leagues to fund improvements at various town facilities. He stated that parks
provide a quality of life for people in the town and asked that Council
reconsider the equipment for the fitness center.
Council Member Katie Hammler stated she plans to bring a vote to
rescind the fitness equipment decision at an upcoming meeting with a revised
proposal for a reduction in the number of video screens on the treadmills.
Neely Law, Chair of the Environmental Advisory Commission and the
Watershed committee, stated the EAC has taken a very inclusive definition of
the environment and what aspects of town operations go beyond quality of
life. She stated though quality of life is the primary driver of many initiatives,
process improvements can bring about operational efficiency and fiscal
benefits. She stated they are actively involved in following the initiation of
ordinances and ordinance amendments that affect natural resources in the
town and seek to have a compromise and balance between environmental
improvements as well as economic development. She stated they are looking
forward to input on the upcoming stream valley and creek buffer ordinance
and have commented on the flood protection ordinance. She stated in terms of
land development and economic development, one of the goals of improvimg
environmentally friendly development practices can also provide economic
benefits to the town. She questioned how the town will pay for the new
regulations and stated they will be looking at funding altneratives, not just
grants, to see how resources can be spent most effectively to cover the cost
from public and private land development.
JB Anderson, Chair of the Technology and Communication
Commission, stated that behind every government is a group of specialists that
can make the town look good. He stated they have been working on Comcast
negotiations since the middle of last year, which are now signed, sealed and
delivered. He stated they are working with C.S. Monroe's technology
department towards video development and other items. He noted that Sandy
Smallwood has taken charge of public seminars, including an upcoming one
on router safety. He stated they are rewriting their mission statement and
objectives.
Mr. Dentler stated that the next question focuses about what other key
projects each group wants to talk about.
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Council Work Session January 24, 2011
Liz Whiting stated the SRTC has been used as a referral agency during
the comprehensive plan updates and really proud of that work. She stated they
will be bringing a proposal that the Residential Traffic Management Plan
become the statement of policy on traffic management issues by reference in
the Town Plan. Further, she stated they would like to be a routine referral
agency because of crossover on transportation issues and trails as recreational
assets of the town. She noted that a number of neighborhoods are built out, but
are not getting the evaluation that they need in terms of pedestrian mobility.
Ara Bagdasarian stated they have a customer service focus with one of
the new objectives not being a good place to do business, but the best place to
do business. He stated they have launched a communications plan including a
newsletter monthly to the business community which will contain news,
ribbon cuttings, statistics and indicators and have launched Facebook and
Twitter. He stated a new component is Biz Buzz, which showcases successes
of local businesses on the website.
Steve Axeman stated the hangars are a big thing along with land
acquisition on the left side of the airport. He stated they have a need for 56
feet for a fence. He noted that Crosstrail is back with a commercial
development, which is good and that community outreach is a big thing with
the airshow as the primary tool for that. He stated the ILS will be up and
running on March 10 of this year and they will hold another Open House on
October 1. He noted that the airport sign is small and they would like a new
one. He stated they are putting a grant proposal together for that as there is
grant money available for this.
Mary Harper stated the Planning Commission has received steering
committee recommendations on the form based code and held two public
hearings, two public input sessions and 13 work sessions. Further, she noted
that there will be a public input session on January 31 and a public hearing on
February 8 on Form Based Code.
Jim Hershman stated they are working on a series of lectures, programs
and book signings throughout the year which are good publicity for the library
and the town. He stated they cover a variety of topics which serve a lot of
different audiences. He stated the Elder Hostel program did not work out.
But noted that since 1994, the Library has given out history awards which
encourage the study of history and recognize people who have made
contributions. He stated they attended a State forum sponsored by the Library
of Virginia, which was a good place to get speakers and great place to market
the library as 250 -300 researchers are in attendance. He stated they are
working on memo of understanding with George Mason University to conduct
a teacher workshop with one of their faculty members and will have a class at
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Council Work Session January 24, 2011
the library in March. He stated much of their work is done with the support of
the Friends and the Black History Committee.
Tom Seeman stated the Tree Commission is engaged in the Flower
and Garden show and have a booth to distribute seedlings to the public and
provide education to the public on tree matters with help from the Master
Gardeners of Loudoun and local girl scout troops. He stated they are putting
in the application to set up booth by the EAC to coordinate their activities
better. He stated they have been doing education outreach by working with
the public schools to plant trees. He stated that another initiative is the
Comcast PSA videos that have been done. Further, he noted that anyone can
do this as the videos are done bimonthly broadcast on CNN. He state dthey
also publish a quarterly newsletter for the HOAs in addition to the Arbor Day
Tree planting.
Oliver Peters stated the video studio at Comcast is one of their projects.
He noted that clauses in the Franchise agreement give Comcast the right to
end the use of the studio in Ashburn with 12 months notice. He stated they
are working with other entities to save the public access channel and has
spoken with the Council about getting together with the County and the school
system. He stated a video monitor in Town Hall that runs a video promoting
things in the town would be good and suggested a contest for the public to
present videos about the town of Leesburg produced by local individuals. He
noted there is potential space in the Mason Enterprise Center for a new
studio. He stated they have been focusing on a technology forum and have
paired with Leesburg police to present lectures targeting parents of children
who use technology. He stated they are interested in tapping into the work
sessions on youth issues.
Neely Law stated some of the short term initiatives that the EAC is
working on in the next four to six months focus on communication to go
beyond saying that Leesburg is open for business. She stated they worked with
the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, which had some funds and spent it in
Leesburg to create a rain garden. She stated there are potential partnerships
for more projects as well and staff is looking out for other grants. She noted
that a hot topic is recycling with the town's current rate at 27 percent, but the
EPA reports approximately 70 percent of waste can be recycled. She stated
they will be working with the Public Works Department to produce a video
with members of the community to promote recycling and they will also tap
into the HOA newsletter business providing environmental tips. She asked
that Council support the rainbarrel program which partners with the Soil and
Water Conservation District. She noted that the annual Tolbert award is
coming out which recognizes environmental stewardship for individuals and
organizations and encouraged people to get their nominations in. She stated
the EAC and the Tree Commission will have complimentary booths next to
each other at the Flower and Garden festival with a theme of native plants.
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Council Work Session January 24, 2011
She requested an "I Want to..." section of the website for environmental issues
to make information more accessible.
Dieter Meyer stated the light bulb went off over his head when he
found out the BAR could make a video. He stated the BAR has traditionally
been a board that reviews applications rather than be out in the front of things,
but they want to be a resource to the community and educational outreach
repairing building components rather than replacing them is very cost effective.
He stated they would like to reach out to the HOAs to give them information
as they have a tremendous amount of expertise since Council appointed such a
strong board. He stated that another major initiative they would like to get
into place is a preservation plan as most communities with historic districts
have a preservation plan and a preservation plan would identify weaknesses
and prioritize preservation needs, issues and concerns, chart long and short
term strategies, etc.
Pam Butler stated that she and KD Kidder will be going to Richmond
for a conference focusing heavily on public art and they are interested in
learning ways to engage local artists in the public art process.
Mr. Dentler asked for suggestions on how Council can help each
Commission to do their jobs better.
Liz Whiting stated they have a couple of vacancies which makes it
difficult to make a quorum. She stated the reason for their success is the
passionate citizens and staff support. She stated the SRTC recommendations
have been fully debated and based on top notch professional study and
expressed her hope that the Council will continue to give their support.
Dieter Meyer stated that any assistance that Council can give getting
the word out that BAR is not difficult to deal with. He stated that statistics
show that an applicant can get through process easier now and the Board is a
resource that will make a project better. He stated they are trying to strike a
balance between preserving and being business friendly.
JB Anderson stated that Council guidance helps. He stated that
support in the form of money from the budget, grants and grant writing would
be helpful. He stated that getting everyone together as a group for information
exchange is also helpful.
Tom Seeman stated the Tree Commission would like to see support for
a centralized tree management system within the town government and
support of Tree Commission input on Town Plan review by putting tree
canopy on equal par with other town infrastructure. He stated that the
implementation of a master tree planting plan and increased planting of street
trees is critical and very important.
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Council Work Session January 24, 2011
Neely Law stated that a centralized place for information about the
environment on the town's website is needed and she would like to work with
the IT department to organize the information. She stated the EAC is actively
seeking out grant funding and would like to have some flexibility to come
before Council. She asked the Council to see environmental concerns as
objectives rather than constraints.
Pam Butler stated she would like to recommend the use of more up to
date media rather than ads in the newspaper to solicit interest in the Board
such as ads on the website, Facebook, etc. to fill vacancies faster.
Mr. Wells stated that staff will put the information together as a
summary report for a broader discussion.
Mayor Umstattd thanked everyone for attending.
Council Member Reid stated he appreciated meeting and that while
there was some consternation among some council members whether it will be
worthwhile, it has been a very good session.
Vice Mayor Wright stated the best thing is having everyone in the same
room getting new ideas. He stated he really appreciates ongoing service
everyone is providing to the town.
Council Member Hammler stated she appreciates everyone's time and
leadership and has been taking notes for things that Council should be doing
most notably tremendous outreach to HOAs.
Council Member Martinez stated he does not feel that the boards cross
pollinate enough as there are great ideas coming out of this session. He
thanked everyone for all the great ideas and stated there is not enough money
to pay for this type of expertise. He suggested an annual meeting to talk and
get to know each other.
Council Member Butler stated his appreciation for everyone coming to
the meeting. He thanked staff for setting up and moderating. He stated that a
greater degree of satisfaction will lead to better output.
Mayor Umstattd stated that she was originally fearful that this would be
a waste the Commissioner's time, but hopes everyone found it valuable. She
stated she personally found it very valuable and appreciates all the ideas that
everyone has.
2. Items for Future Council Meetings
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Council Work Session January 24, 2011
Council Member Martinez asked to limit the number of items added at any
given work session and a meeting time limit of 11 p.m. with any business not
concluded being carried over to the next meeting.
Council Member Hammier stated she would be bringing a motion to rescind
the vote on the exercise equipment at the February 8 meeting.
Mr. Wells verified that in order to bring a motion to rescind tomorrow night, it
would require a super majority.
Council Member Hammler stated she will be requesting that the contract be
adjusted so that half of the treadmills will not have video screens as the runner cannot
see past the screen to the beautiful vista at Ida Lee.
Council Member Butler requested an annexation discussion. He stated he did
some back of the envelope calculations and assuming that the town annexes entire
service area, it could net out about a million.
Council Member Reid requested a thank you letter to the Governor and
VDOT for the Sycolin Road flyover funding.
Mr. Wells stated a letter can be drafted, but he stated it would be difficult to
ascertain the status of the project.
Council Member Reid stated he would draft a letter for the next Council work
session to consider regarding redistricting. Further, he stated he would like to put on
the items brought up at tonight's meeting.
Mr. Wells stated that staff will summarize what was heard, list out the requests
for Council to consider.
Council Member Martinez stated he does not want to make the Boards and
Commissions feel pressured to complete the initiatives, but would rather allow them
to bring them to Council on their own time.
Mayor Umstattd stated the Town attorney has requested updates to the
legislative packet and a discussion of the position Council wants to take on SB 1474,
which was put forth by Senator Herring and Representative Joe May.
Council Member Reid stated this should be discussed soon because it will be
going to committee next week.
Mr. Wells handed out a document with all the legislative items of interest to
Council which will be discussed at tomorrow night's meeting.
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Council Member Reid stated if the County has a vote in rate setting, it should
have a hand in supporting the utility system.
Council Member Hammler disclosed a conversation with Senator Herring
today. She stated he knows the majority of Council is consistent in their viewpoint
but he is very directed towards the Mayor's position. She stated the Mayor is the
spokesperson for the town, and she needs to intervene to give peace of mind as a
representative of the town.
3. Adj ournment
On the motion of Council Member Martinez, seconded by Vice Mayor
Wright, the meeting was adjourned at 9:43 p.m.
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Clerk of Co cil
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