HomeMy Public PortalAbout2016_tcwsmin0425 Council Work Session April 25, 2016
Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor David Butler presiding.
Council Members Present: Kelly Burk, Thomas Dunn, II, Suzanne Fox, R. Bruce
Gemmill, Katie Sheldon Hammler, and Mayor Butler.
Council Members Absent: Marty Martinez.
Staff Present: Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Deputy Town Manager Keith Markel,
Town Attorney Barbara Notar, Director of Parks and Recreation Rich Williams,
Director of Capital Projects and Public Works Renee Lafollette, Director of Utilities
Amy Wyks, Chief of Police Vanessa Grigsby, Captain Carl Maupin, Public
Information Officer Betsy Arnett, Airport Manager Scott Coffman, and Clerk of
Council Lee Ann Green
AGENDA ITEMS
1. Items for Discussion
a. Airport Commission Annual Report
Dennis Boykin and Tom Toth presented the report on behalf of the
Airport Commission.
Key Points:
• Leesburg Executive Airport is a General Aviation Reliever Airport.
• Over 250 based aircraft on any given day.
• Over 115,000 operations per year— second busiest in the Commonwealth.
• 105 hangars— 52 owned by the town/53 privately owned. No vacancies.
• FAA contributes 90 percent of project costs for all operations on "airside"
with the exception of hangars and the terminal building.
• Master plan update includes forecasting 20 years of aviation demand and
reviewing the airport layout plan.
• Final approvals are almost completed for the Customs office.
• Long waiting list for hangars.
• Would like to build out 25 T-hangars and 5 corporate hangars that would
back up to Miller Drive.
• Extending the runway is a priority to attract more business.
• Despite debt service increases, the airport is still profitable.
• Would like to get Council direction to staff to move forward on airport
priorities.
Council Comments/Questions:
• Hammier: Questioned what is the net income to Leesburg taxpayers?
Coffman: Stated he likes to use the $87,000 number which is revenue
minus expenses and debt service.
• Burk: Questioned why the debt service goes up so precipitously.
Dentler: Stated that the debt was structured this way years ago.
• Hammler: Questioned what caused the spike in debt service.
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Council Work Session April 25, 2016
Dentler: Stated that staff can come back with that answer.
• Hammier: Questioned whether there are revenue estimates for additional
hangars.
Boykin: Stated that a pro-forma has been distributed and asked for staff
direction to move on this project.
• Dunn: Stated that there is a lot of debt service that needs to be retired over
the next few years and without knowing what the return on investment will
be, he is hesitant to move forward.
Dentler: Stated that staff does not feel that there is the debt capacity to take
this project on at this time.
Boykin: Stated that they would like to study alternative funding options.
• Fox: Questioned what the alternative funding sources are.
Boykin: Stated that they will have to dig into that. Further, he added that
an authority has never been done in the town, to his knowledge.
• Dunn: Suggested that since demand for hangar space is high and supply is
low, that rates be increased.
Boykin: Stated that if you go too high, people will move out and you will
develop a reputation for hieh rent.
• Gemmill: Questioned what would be a reasonable time period for Council
to expect this information.
Dentler: Stated he would be more comfortable with September.
• Hammler: Questioned whether the County includes the airport in its
marketing material.
Boykin: Stated he met with the Loudoun County Economic Development
Director and they have been given all the airport marketing materials.
Further, he stated that Ms. Edwards has been including the airport in all the
town's marketing materials.
• Fox: Stated that the airport is a unique amenity for the town and she has
seen business beine turned away because of lack of hangar space.
• Butler: Questioned what the difference in size is between Leesburg and
Manassas.
Boykin: Stated that Manassas has two runways and a control tower but
Leesburg's ground transportation access is superior.
b. Winter Storm Jonas After Action Report
Keith Markel gave a report on Winter Storm Jonas. He introduced
representatives from the Virginia Department of Transportation and Loudoun
County General Services.
Key Points:
• Governor declared a snow emergency on Thursday, January 21.
• Town Manager declared a snow emergency on Friday, January 22 as
the first flakes began to fall.
• Declaration of a snow emergency gave the town manager more control
as to how the storm was approached.
• Heaviest snows occurred on Saturday.
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Council Work Session April 25, 2016
• Roughly 34 inches of snow—largest single snow event in the past 30
years.
• 175 continuous hours of operations.
• Town and County government opened on Wednesday with liberal •
leave in effect.
• Town's trash contractor was unable to access all streets, so collection
drop off points were set up.
• Major roads were cleared first.
• Using the same snow removal tools as in past years.
• Utilities crews stayed at the plants to ensure uninterrupted service.
• Interactive plowing map was available.
• Used a "snow boss" for leadership and critical decision making.
• Introduced a snow hotline which was available 24/7. Live assistance
was available 24/7 for the first five days and then went to 12 hour
shifts.
• Town staff, VDOT staff, and county staff participated in a joint press
conference on the Tuesday after the snow.
• Police Department, Airport, Parks and Recreation, Public Works, and
Utilities all contributed.
• Downtown streets were cleared early because of pedestrian safety
concerns.
• The tennis bubble was cleared because of concerns that the weight of
the snow could damage the bubble, possibly causing collapse.
• Second pass through the neighborhoods would have interfered with
residents efforts to dig out their driveways.
Council Comments/Questions:
• Fox: Questioned whether there was a cost associated with the refuse
drop off points.
Markel: Stated that the CSI contract was used and the town was
charged for the waste containers.
• Fox: Questioned whether CSI could outfit their trash trucks with snow
plow blades.
Lafollette: Stated that they do not have that type of equipment.
• Fox: Questioned why verbal, not written commitments were obtained
from subcontractors.
Lafollette: Stated that they reached out to the entire list of contractors
prior to the storm. She stated the town does not typically have pre-
written contracts and two verbal commitments did not pan out so the
town will not be having verbal commitments in the future.
• Fox: Questioned why a plow sat in the Senior Center parking lot all
day.
Ernie Brown (LC General Services): Stated that the county does not
work streets — that is either VDOT or the town. He stated that plow
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Council Work Session April 25, 2016
was prioritized to deal with line of sight issues. He stated that some
assets were redeployed to the town and the school board.
• Fox: Questioned whether when there is a state of emergency, whether
VDOT can plow the major roads.
Sunil (VDOT): Stated that they pre-stage equipment for major roads so
it can be deployed quickly. He stated that streets within the town are
the town's responsibility. He stated that VDOT is willing to help in
cases of emergency but in this case, VDOT did not have equipment
available
• Hammler: Thanked everyone involved for their work during the storm.
She questioned whether staff had prices for the equipment that would
be needed to appropriately handle larger snowfalls.
Lafollette: Stated that the fleet manager is working on getting prices for
some of the equipment that has been discussed. She noted that the V-
plow would require a heavier dump truck.
• Hammier: Expressed gratitude for all the instances where neighbors
helped each other out and questioned whether there is some way to
formalize this type of volunteerism. She questioned whether there are
specific policy recommendations for keeping roadways clear of cars and
basketball hoops.
Markel: Stated that this can be done on a limited number of core snow
emergency routes and an option could be to expand the number of
snow emergency routes.
Lafollette: Stated that some common sense by residents to keep their
cars off the street, if possible, would help plowing efforts.
• Hammler: Questioned when the town will find out what the
reimbursement level will be from the state's snow emergency.
Lafollette: Stated the number she has heard is about the 75% level, but
there is no timeline on that.
• Burk: Stated that one of the biggest complaints with the impassible
streets for the first few days was that people could not get out in case of
emergency.
Maupin: There were a few calls for service. These were routed through
the snow boss and emergency equipment would be preceded by a plow.
• Burk: Stated that she heard a complaint that a number of plows were
parked at the Comfort Inn.
Lafollette: Stated that the vehicles that were parked at the Comfort Inn
where the crews were staying would have been the one ton pick up
trucks that could not be used because of the depth of the snow. She
stated they were used to get the crews to and from the hotel. She noted
that in the same general area there were five VDOT contractor plows
that were broken down or stuck. She stated the vehicles that could take
a plow or a spreader were run 24 hours a day unless they were in the
shop for broken parts.
Markel: Noted that the shop was also open 24 hours a day to keep the
trucks up and running.
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Council Work Session April 25, 2016
• Burk: With the number of very heavy storms that the area has
experienced over the past 20 years, it seems difficult to say that the
town should invest in new equipment and staff that would not be used
every year.
Markel: Stated that some additional equipment such as dump trucks
and bobcats could be justified as they can be used in other operations.
Further, he noted an additional three man crew could be used year
round.
Dentler: Noted that Leesburg was no different from the rest of the
county, region, and state. He stated that Leesburg might have gotten
the bullseye of unflattering media coverage, but the performance was
the same all over. He stated that doing significantly better next rime
may require a financial investment that may not be necessary.
• Burk: Questioned what the county learned and what they would do
differently.
Brown: Stated that it is difficult to financially staff or equip for. He
stated that the county made the call too late to pull in help from areas
outside the storm area. He stated if they had made the call earlier, they
might have been able to get a handle on the storm. Further, he noted
that they would be adding additional pieces of equipment that they can
better deploy to ensure public safety.
• Burk: Expressed surprise that no one from Leesburg was at the
Loudoun County Emergency Operations Center.
Dentler: Stated that while no one was there physically, the town was in
very close communication with them. He stated the county was
outstanding in the response to the town. He stated in the future,
someone will be there.
• Gemmill: Stated that he has no complaints on how the town handled
this storm. He stated there were inconveniences, but in the broad
scheme of things, we are lucky to live in a great county, state and town
that can handle these kinds of things. He suggested that the public
access channel be used to give the citizens information.
Betsy Fields: Stated that the physical limitation right now with the
public access channel is that the changes can only be made from within
the building; however, they are working on updating the system to a
web-based system so that the slideshow can be changed remotely.
• Dunn: Stated that no one ever has all the resources that they need. He
commended the crews that worked on the storm and commended the
public for being patient. He questioned why some sections of Rt. 15 are
not VDOT maintained.
Lafollette: Stated that was an agreement that was entered into by the
town in the early 80s as part of the annexation. She stated that the
town agreed to take over the maintenance responsibilities for Rt. 15
within the corporate limits and 15 bypass north of Rt. 7 to the corporate
limits.
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Council Work Session April 25, 2016
• Dunn: Stated he did not have a problem with efforts during the storm.
He stated he was concerned with how long it took after the end of the
storm. He stated the crews stopped working too soon but were
deployed for a storm that didn't happen. He stated he would be in
support of allocating funds for proper snow removal.
Dentler: Stated there was no decision by staff to be budget conscious.
He questioned what Council's expectations are.
• Dunn: Suggested having sister cities not in the path of the storm to ask
for help. Further, he suggested having standards for snow removal. He
stated he drives all over the state for his work and other areas were
cleared better than the town. He stated the attitude of letting nature
take its course three weeks after the storm is unacceptable.
• Butler: Stated he knows that the public was happy with the hotline and
appreciative of it. He stated the dumpster idea was a fantastic idea and
a lot of people took advantage of it. He stated he would like to meet
with town staff to discuss the strategy of how to attack a big storm. He
stated that the town has to figure out how to keep people from being
trapped in their houses for five days.
c. Final Legislative Wrap Up
Barbara Notar delivered a report on the most recent General Assembly
session.
Key Points:
• City status bill—Delegate Minchew submitted a bill to provide an
exception for the moratorium for towns with a population of at least
40,000 — this bill was withdrawn. Two separate bills were introduced in
the senate and the house to extend the moratorium for six more years.
A directive has been issued to the housing commission to study the
moratorium. The report will be back no later than September 2018.
• Dam safety— which would get federal funds for dam remediation for
dams such as the Exeter and Richmond Square dams. The bill was
continued. Senator Wexton also submitted a budget request on the
town's behalf.
• Drone bill — 14 bills were introduced and 13 failed. Only 17 states have
been able to restrict drone usage for privacy purposes. Drone usage in
Virginia is only regulated by federal law at this time.
• Fines and Forfeitures — Delegate Minchew's support of the bill to get
local money back to localities was finally successful.
• Dooring statute — Requires that drivers wait a reasonable amount of
time to assure safety when opening doors into traffic.
• Tree preservation — Localities may propose signs that notifies the public
that an infill grading plan has been submitted.
• Line of Duty Act— Administration has been moved to VRS. Budget
line item for this for the town is just over$33,000.
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Council Work Session April 25, 2016
• Publishing of legal notices —Would have allowed localities to publish
advertisements online, rather than in print papers. Was not successful
due to lobbying by the newspapers.
• Predatory lending—Bills to cap interest rates were defeated because of
complaints that these bills are anti-consumer and reduce options for
borrowers.
• Proffer bill —proffers will be deemed unreasonable unless they address
impacts that are specifically attributable to proposed residential
development. Work session discussion will occur on May 9 about the
bill.
• Air BnB — Localities are limited from adopting ordinances regulating
these.
• Non-partisan elections — Vetoed by the governor.
Council Comments:
• Hammler: Expressed the need to start thinking about working with
NVRC and others on the subject of the proffer bill. She stated the loss
of road maintenance funds was a huge hit.
2. Additions to Future Council Meetings
Council Member Dunn stated that the town has two major long-term financial
goals —reducing debt and increasing the undesignated fund balance. He requested a
work session to discuss memberships and publications used by Town Staff and the
necessity of the truck GPS systems.
There was consensus to add this as a work session discussion.
Council Member Dunn requested a work session on Council rules regarding
how things are put on agendas.
There was consensus to add this as a work session discussion.
Council Member Hammler requested looking at county capital intensity factor
funds for the police department.
There was consensus to add this as a work session discussion prior to the next task force
meeting.
Council Member Hammier stated that there has been a lot of negative
feedback about the Lowenbach project. She stated she would like a debrief about the
project to understand the project, how it was funded, and how it is going.
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Council Work Session April 25, 2016
There was consensus to have an information memo on the Lowenbach project provided
by staff.
Mayor Butler requested approval to send a letter of support for a bill in the
Congress that would provide some funding to remediate problems with publicly
owned high hazard dams.
There was not enough support for this letter.
Mayor Butler noted that Loudoun County has requested a letter in support of
increasing the historic area of Balls Bluff Park.
There was not enough support for this letter.
Mayor Butler requested initiation of no-through truck traffic on Hope
Parkway. Council Member Dunn requested a similar initiation for Battlefield
Parkway.
There was support for initiation of two no-through truck designations for Hope Parkway
and Battlefield Parkway.
On a motion by Council Member Dunn, seconded by Council Member Gemmill, the
meeting was adjourned at 10:31 p.m.
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Clerk of Codiel
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