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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2021_tcwsmin0111Council Work Session January 11, 2021 Council Chamber, 25 West Market Street, 7:00 p.m. Mayor Kelly Burk presiding. Council Members Present: Ara Bagdasarian, Zach Cummings, Suzanne Fox, Vice Mayor Martinez, Kari Nacy, Neil Steinberg and Mayor Kelly Burk. Council Members Absent: None. Staff Present: Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Town Attorney Christopher Spera, Deputy Town Manager Keith Markel, Utilities Director Amy Wyks, Emergency Management Coordinator Joe Dame and Clerk of Council Eileen Boeing. Minutes prepared by Executive Associate Corina Alvarez. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Electronic Participation for Vice Mayor Martinez and Council Member Steinberg Vice Mayor Martinez and Council Member Steinberg requested to participate in the Council Work Session electronically due to the health and safety concerns associated with the Coronavirus. Mayor Burk, Council Member Bagdasarian, Council Member Cummings, Council Member Nacy and Council Member Fox were physically present at the meeting. MOTION2021-001 On a motion by Council Member Cummings, seconded by Council Member Fox, the following was proposed: To allow Vice Mayor Martinez and Council Member Steinberg to electronically participate in the January 11, 2021, Town Council Work Session. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Bagdasarian, Cummings, Fox, Nacy and Mayor Burk Nay: None Vote: 5-0-2 (Vice Mayor Martinez, Steinberg abstain) 2. Items for Discussion a. Organizational Topics for Council Mr. Dentler informed Council of the items up for discussion and needing direction. Council and staff discussed the following: Council retreat date and location Future discussion on changes to the Rules and Procedures Revised proclamation process Future discussion on the Code of Ethics Future discussion on invocations at public meetings Cost and options for office space for the Mayor and Council 1'Page Council Work Session January 11, 2021 Future discussion on amendments to the Airport Commission member composition Airport authority versus commission Appointment of Airport Commission members Commission alignment with the Town Plan Overall review of commissions ft was the consensus of the Council to move forward with the following items: Council Retreat for January 30, 2021, at Ida Lee Park Rules ofprocedure to be discussed at the Council Retreat Amending the proclamation process Code of Ethics to be discussed at a future work session scheduled by the Town Manager Potential discontinuance of the Invocation discussion at a future work session to be scheduled by the Town Manager Town Manager to evaluate available options for office space that the Mayor and Town Council in conformance with the Town procurement policies. This effort is to include but not limited to, available office space at Town Hall, Loudoun Museum, other Town controlled properties and private commercial space deemed suitable. Proposed Town Code amendments for the Airport Commission as presented on the January 11, 2021, Work Session agenda will be scheduled for Council Work Session discussion on January 25, 2021. The discussion will also include a review of other Town commissions and boards. b. Exemption from Disconnect Moratorium for Delinquent Utility Accounts Ms. Wyks talked about the exemption from the disconnect moratorium for delinquent utility accounts instated by the State of Virginia and requested Council action to approve a resolution that will exempt the Town. Council and staff discussed the following: Delinquent account balances exceeding 1% of operating revenue Service disconnection for non -contact versus nonpayment Current extreme hardships due to the pandemic Implementation of penalty -free payment plans from 6 to 24 months Enhanced communication through mail, email and door hangers Council Member Nacy requested a breakdown of delinquent accounts per district. Council Member Cummings requested information on what percentage of utility delinquencies are commercial versus residential. Council Member Bagdasarian requested a "call to action" be included with the shut off notice. Ms. Wyks indicated that a sticker could be added to get the customers' attention. It was the consensus of the Council to move forward with this item. 21Page Council Work Session January 11, 2021 c. Noise Ordinance — Amending Subsection 4(d) of Town Code Section 24-182 Mr. Spera informed Council that he is asking for its consideration of a revision to the noise ordinance, section 4(d), in regard to the exemption from having to get an amplified noise permit for activities on or in municipal, county or state facilities or on publicly -owned properties and facilities. Council and staff discussed the following: Current Town requirement of a permit for amplified sound Issues with the current noise ordinance language It was the consensus of the Council to move forward with this item. 3. Additions to Future Council Meetings Vice Mayor Martinez asked for a resolution condemning the events of January 1, 2021. It was the consensus of the Council to move forward with this item. Council Member Fox requested an update on the Town Plan. It was the consensus of the Council to move forward with this item. Council Member Cummings asked for his pandemic business assistance and recovery plan to be added to a future work session. It was the consensus of the Council to add this item to the January 25, 2021, work session. Council Member Nacy asked to have an overall discussion of all commissions at the same time that the discussion on the Airport Commission takes place. It was the consensus of the Council to move forward with this item. Mayor Burk asked for proclamations for Girl Scout Troup 2718 for its Silver Service Award and for William James Murphy for his Eagle Scout service project. It was the consensus of the Council to move forward with these proclamations. Mayor Burk asked for an email from the Chief of Police with information on if any of the Leesburg Police Department's officers had been involved in breaking into the Capitol building. It was the consensus of the Council to moveforward with this item. 3IPage Council Work Session January 11, 2021 4. Adjournment On a motion by Council Member Steinberg, seconded by Mayor Burk, the meeting was adjourned at 8:34 p. m. Clerk of Council 2021 tcwsmin0111 4IPage Page 1| January 11, 2021 January 11, 2021 – Town Council Work Session (Note: This is a transcript prepared by a Town contractor based on the video of the meeting. It may not be entirely accurate. For greater accuracy, we encourage you to review the video of the meeting that is on the Town’s Web site – www.leesburgva.gov or refer to the approved Council meeting minutes. Council meeting videos are retained for three calendar years after a meeting per Library of Virginia Records Retention guidelines.) Mayor Kelly Burk: I am going to open tonight's work session January 11th, 2021. Our first action needs to be, I have to have a motion to allow Vice Mayor Martinez and Council Member Steinberg to electronically participate in the January 11th, 2021 Town Council Work Session. Do I have a motion? Council Member Zach Cummings: Moved. Mayor Burk: So moved by Council Member Cummings. Sorry, I had to think about that for a second. Cummings and seconded? Seconded by Council Member—Kari? Did you second it? Council Member Suzanne Fox: [unintelligible] Mayor Burk: Council Member Fox. All in favor indicate by saying “aye”. Council Members: Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? So that's five, zero, two. Gentlemen, you now may participate. Our first item for this-- Vice Mayor Fernando “Marty” Martinez: Congratulations, Zach, on your first resolution. Mayor Burk: All right. I do want to welcome new members to the Council. We're very excited that you're here. Our first item for discussion is the Organizational Topics for Council. I think Mr. Dentler and Mr. Spera, you're going to be doing those? Kaj Dentler: Madame Mayor and Members of the Council, we wanted to walk through some [inaudible] and some things that you're interested in doing, so we wanted to just walk through those so the intent is to get your general direction. I don't anticipate that you're going to address all of these tonight but you may set the course if you want to have a work session on it, if you want to hold a public hearing, or it's a very simple thing, such as setting the official date of the retreat which is the first one. We're just going to try to walk through there, and hear, and see what you want to do, and what you don't want to do, okay. Welcome aboard, Zach, and Ara, and Kari. Congratulations. Welcome to the team, look forward to working with you. Okay, so the first topic-- I don't know, we lost one. So far, we only got one screen working. We apologize for that. Sometimes these things happen on purpose when the budget comes up so we get your attention. I'm just teasing. Okay. Mayor Burk: I can see the reflection now. Kaj Dentler: The first item is the Council retreat. You've already established through conversations that we've had that you want to hold your retreat on Saturday, January 30th. I just need you to confirm that, and we'll place that on your agenda for tomorrow night to formally vote and add it to your schedule, and then we'll advertise appropriately. That's all this is, there's nothing new for you to do, you've already talked with the facilitator, things are in motion for that. As long as you still want to hold it, then we'll go forward with that action tomorrow night. I do understand that you prefer to have it at Ida Lee. That's not an issue, we'll make that happen; not a problem. We okay with that one? Mayor Burk: That's good. Kaj Dentler: I've got to keep looking over here. I apologize, Suzanne. Page 2| January 11, 2021 Council Member Fox: No, that's okay. I have a quick question about that. I know that we have some health issues. Is it still going to be set for this? Is that what was decided? Mayor Burk: The majority of you wanted to continue to do it, to have it on the 30th. Council Member Fox: Okay, thanks. Mayor Burk: In person. Kaj Dentler: Okay. The next item is your rules and procedures. There has been some suggestions for some changes on that. This is a lot of information during your conversations with the facilitator. We do that some of you had an interest in having conversations on the rules and procedure. Whether you do it as a work session in the future, or whether you do it at your retreat, entirely your prerogative. I don't know if you want to review any of these tonight, if you want to take your time and set a work session. My assumption is that if you're not fully prepared to get into it, it's better to set a work session and then you hold that conversation. It's entirely your prerogative of what you want to do. Mayor Burk: Who in particular brought this up so I can ask them first? Kaj Dentler: I'm sorry? Mayor Burk: Who brought this forward? Kaj Dentler: Several of you have actually brought up questions about making changes on whether that's time limits, whether that is how you bring up items, how many votes do you have to have to bring up an item, can Council Members place items up for presentation? It's really a scrub of your existing rules and procedures that Council has used in the past and really, it's a fair question for you from an organizational perspective. How do you want to operate over the next two years? Mayor Burk: Does this include the proclamation? Kaj Dentler: This is not part of the proclamation. I'm going to get to that. Mayor Burk: Okay. Council Member Fox? Council Member Fox: Thank you. I was just wondering as I looked through all the topics that were up for discussion, I guess I was under the impression we'd be talking about each of them tonight, so-- Kaj Dentler: We can. Council Member Fox: Well, the reason I'm asking you about this is because-- Historically, we actually brought them up for votes, or head nods, to have them in the future work session. I was just wondering why they were featured as organizational items. Kaj Dentler: What’s featured? Council Member Fox: All the things that we have, that list of things that we have, they didn't seem like organizational items to me. They just seemed like things we haven't yet discussed in the past and we hadn't really talked about them at any of the work sessions. Why we're not sticking with the procedure to bring them forward to another work session? Do the head nods; just like we've done in the past. Kaj Dentler: Every Council is different. Some Councils in the past have certainly viewed that these are organizational items. The definition belongs to you of how you want to operate. I've had Council members who have come to me that want changes to the procedures. They are not my rules. They are not the Town Attorney rules. My job is to present to you these are some things here, if you wish to discuss it tonight, if you want to discuss in the future, or you don't want any changes, we just need to know. Otherwise, this is what you're generally are going to operate under; you inherit these. Page 3| January 11, 2021 Council Member Fox: I totally get that and I totally understand that position. What I'm asking you is, say, if I had something that I wanted to discuss, do I just bring it to you from now on and not to Council to get the four head nods? How is that going to work? Kaj Dentler: No. It's Council's decision to do it. Mayor Burk: I'm going to ask for those four head nods. Council Member Fox: Okay. Kaj Dentler: That's what I was going to conclude out with. Are there four people or the Mayor is going to do that? What do you want to do? Council Member Fox: Got you. Kaj Dentler: You're welcome. Sorry. Mayor Burk: That is where I am. Does anybody have a particular procedure that they want to follow at this point? Does anybody want to discuss this tonight? Are there four people that would like to discuss this tonight? No, okay. Council Member Fox: Discuss how we're going to do it? Mayor Burk: No. Do you want to discuss the rules and procedures tonight? Council Member Fox: Oh, got you. No, personally, I think it's a good topic for the retreat. Mayor Burk: It's a topic for? Council Member Fox: The retreat. Sorry, the retreat. Mayor Burk: Are there four people that would like to have this discussion at the retreat? Mayor Burk: Alright. Kaj Dentler: Okay. Perfect. Mayor Burk: Everybody is on board here. I'm assuming that we got the four so that's good. We will discuss this aspect at the retreat. The next thing. Kaj Dentler: The next one is your proclamation process. Mayor Burk has raised a request for some edits to your process. This is the process that Council established over a year ago. Here is the base, some of the information, the changes. That's the only page. These are the changes that are in your packet. Whether or not you wish to make a motion to adopt it tomorrow night, whether you want to discuss it at a work session. Again, the Mayor, it's your decision. Mayor Burk: The reason this is in here is that we have some problems with people coming forward that wanted proclamations and that would be like National Tree Day; that would be September 10th. They would come in early September but it would be too late so they couldn't get to get a proclamation for whatever the topic was. I sat down with Eileen and Tara and myself and I asked them what do you see? What are some problems that you as a staff are dealing with? They also participated in this and it was an attempt to streamline. We had it for a year. They were just some small quirks we needed to change so that we could get the proclamations in a timely manner and that staff, it didn't overwhelm the staff with things that they had to do to follow up on it. That's the intent of this particular item. Does anybody have any strong feelings about this? Do you want this to go a work sessions? Do you want it to be voted on tomorrow with the changes? Do you have any questions about the changes? Page 4| January 11, 2021 What do you want to do on this? Anyone? Then I would say, if we really don't have any questions on it and we're okay with it, that we could bring it up tomorrow for a vote. All right, we got the four votes. Go ahead. Kaj Dentler: Okay. Vote tomorrow night. Your next item is on your Code of Ethics. When the Town Attorney, Mr. Spera, was hired there was one thing that you asked him to look at. He did that. He prepared information for Council consideration towards it in the fall. It was the Council's prerogative at that time to just push it to the new Council. That's where it is landed. Ultimately, the question becomes, do you want to have a future discussion on this? Is it a work session? If so, is it a work session? Is it at your retreat, et cetera, or do you not want to have your own code of ethics? Mr. Spera can go in any details you want tonight. If you wish to get into tonight, entirely your prerogative. Mayor Burk: Is there anyone that feels strongly in regard to this? Council Member Cummings: I'd like to see us have a work session on the ethics policy, and work to put together a Town of Leesburg ethics policy for Town Council. Mayor Burk: Are there four people that are okay with that? Vice Mayor Martinez: I would like to see it or I give homework to the new Council members and the old to review the ethics policy and maybe we can discuss it after retreat. Mayor Burk: Well, that's a different item then, Marty, because most of the suggestion from Mr. Cummings is to do a work session and you're saying retreat. I have to get clarification. Do we want to do a work session on it or do we want this to be discussed at the retreat? How do people feel? Work session, four votes for a work session. Council Member Cummings: I prefer a work session. Vice Mayor Martinez: I'll go along with that. Mayor Burk: Thank you, Mr. Martinez. Kaj Dentler: Your next item is at the request of Vice Mayor Martinez to consider the discontinuance of invocations at your public meetings. Mayor Burk: I'm trying to get to it. I'm sorry. Mr. Martinez, you are suggesting that we no longer do an invocation at the public meetings? Do you want to address this at all? Vice Mayor Martinez: Well, the only comment I have is that I believe prayer to me is private. I've been criticized because I don't believe in doing invocations at a Council meeting. If I'm going to pray, I'm going to do it in private. That's just my personal preference. That's where this came out. Mayor Burk: Okay. Vice Mayor Martinez: If the Council decides to keep the invocation, just know that I won't be doing it. Mayor Burk: All right. Are there four people that would be in support of doing away at this point with the invocations at the Town Council meetings? Council Member Cummings: Point of order. May I make a suggestion? Mayor Burk: Yes. Council Member Cummings: Maybe instead of just doing away with it, we look to try to ask the Diversity Commission to pull together a diverse group of religious leaders that would come in twice a Page 5| January 11, 2021 month to do the invocation for us, and a chance to highlight the local religious leaders in Leesburg and Loudoun County. Mayor Burk: Are there four people that would want to defer to the Diversity Commission, to have them come up with ministers and rabbis and other religious leaders to come and do the invocation? Council Member Fox: May I make a suggestion to that? I think that's a great idea. I also think that there are other members of the public besides religious leaders who can actually offer. If we just opened it up-- Historically, I know, we've done invocations, and I personally, feel a little nervous when I do it, too. I don't mind other people coming in and doing it. However, I've always been comforted by it and so I would rather see it not go by the wayside. I do like Mr. Cummings or Council Member Cummings' suggestion. Mayor Burk: We would need something from the attorney to make sure that we know what people can do in an invocation what they can't. Christopher Spera: Right. I think we would have to establish guidelines that basically say, the purpose of the invocation is to set the tone and tenor and to intercede if you will, for the participants in the meeting for the public as a whole as opposed to some other agenda. By agreeing to participate, you're agreeing to those terms. I think, Mayor Burk, you're correct. We would have to develop those criteria, if you will. Mayor Burk: I'll be honest, I'm a little uncomfortable with this concept because I'm worried of what if you have a particular religious leader that comes in with a particular perspective and leaves out people in the audience. We’re very careful about not doing that. I'm a little concerned about it, doing it your way but if there are four people that are interested in pursuing that, we would have to come up with guidelines. Christopher Spera: Perhaps, if I might, Mayor Burk, maybe the best thing to do is we can add this to a work session. I don't think it would take forever to discuss it, but that would be the appropriate place to discuss. Certainly, in advance of the work session, I could develop some potential criteria. I'm sure these things exist elsewhere. We could benchmark with those. Then I could present that to you. You can see how perhaps other communities do it, how other communities address the issue that you've raised in terms of going off-topic or having an agenda that's not consistent with the intent of the invocation. But it seems to me, let's bring you that information and give you the chance to see staff's thoughts. Give you the chance to see how it's done in other places. Then give you the opportunity with better information to make a decision. Mayor Burk: All right. Is that all right with everybody? Is that all right, Mr. Martinez? Well, it doesn't matter. There's four people that want to do it. Vice Mayor Martinez: Well, gee, thanks. Just to note what Zach suggested, I had been doing on my own for the last however I've been on Council. Finding people in the community, the Jewish, all the different religions, giving them a turn to do that. Father Mosimann with the Catholic Church, et cetera, et cetera. I don't think it's a bad idea. I think having an open invitation and allowing them to want to do this. I think it would be a great idea. Mayor Burk: All right. Thank you. Okay. Kaj Dentler: We'll put that for a future work session. Mayor Burk: Another work session. We’re going to have busy work sessions. Kaj Dentler: We're going to have a lot of work sessions. Okay. The next one is, certainly could be debated whether or not it's an organizational item or not, but I have had requests for provide office space for the Mayor and the Council. I don't know exactly what that definition is. That's your prerogative to decide. All I need to know is if this is something that you're interested in doing, then I need direction to go out and look for that, but I don't have any such direction. If Council wants to have space in the Page 6| January 11, 2021 building here at Town Hall, that there's a challenge with that other than moving people out of their offices, which we can do, but bottom line is, if this is an item that Council wishes to discuss and actually to do, then I need direction. So whether or not you want to have a work session discussion, or you want to give me directions tonight, or actually tomorrow night. Then it's your decision, but I know it's out there. Might as well find out what you want and when you want it. Mayor Burk: Well, I most certainly can speak to it. I think that everybody knows how I feel about it. I think we're the largest town in the State of Virginia. Round Hill, who has a 129 people, the Mayor has an office. The Mayor and Council have office space. I think it's time that we move beyond going to some public place and having a private discussion. Trying to have a private discussion. I would be in favor of looking for space for the Council and the Mayor. I don't know if there are four other people that would be interested. Council Member Neil Steinberg: I agree. Mayor Burk: All right, so we've got one-- Yes, we have for people to move forward on it. Kaj Dentler: Then I will then, on tomorrow night's agenda, I will just place direction to the Town Manager to pursue, basically, I would be going out to procure or get bids on available office space and options even in the Town Hall. Then you can decide what you want to do at that particular moment. Okay. Is what you want? Okay. All right. Council Member Fox: May I ask a question on that, Mayor Burk? Eileen Boeing: Who are the four? Mayor Burk: I'm sorry. The four was Neil, Marty, Ara, myself and Zach. Council Member Fox: Office space, to me at this point, doesn't make much financial sense unless we can find space that the town already has. Maybe somewhere in the Loudoun Museum, or something, but with the trend, especially with COVID, we've seen the trend go more virtual. We've been doing virtual meetings effectively and efficiently. We have a lot of different venues where we can actually meet with people now. I feel like that's been the trend. To me, I feel like we're going a little bit backwards that way, but we had between Facebook and text and coffee shops, where some of us do meet, and other things like that, we have the opportunity to actually meet with folks. Of course, anybody now can create a Zoom meeting as well, which is a lot of the times the way we meet now. I'm not feeling like maybe if we're rife with cash and we don't have much else to do with it, I'll go for an office, but right now I'm not sure it makes financial sense. I'd like to take a look at the budget. Kaj Dentler: To clarify, are you asking, I think what I've heard in the past is that office for the Mayor kind of a hotel office, that’s a group office that anyone could use when they came in and then a conference meeting room or are you asking for individual offices? If you can just clarify, I think you're asking for the first. Mayor Burk: I think you've got it right. Kaj Dentler: The first thought. I just want to make sure, because when I go out to bid, I need to be specific of what I'm looking for. Council Member Fox: Is the Loudoun Museum, is there any space in that building at all? I mean we already-- Mayor Burk: That’s what he’s going to find out. Kaj Dentler: I'm going to go out and look— Council Member Fox: Oh, okay. So not just bids but you’ll look for that too. Page 7| January 11, 2021 Kaj Dentler: I will look out for what we have, what we can get for free and what we control. I'll also look to see what is out there on the open market. Mayor Burk: We’ll bring that back for a discussion. Vice Mayor Martinez: If I might-- Mayor Burk: Wait a minute. Excuse me, Mr. Martinez. Mr. Bagdasarian is speaking, and then you. Council Member Ara Bagdasarian: Mr. Martinez. I think as a preference, if there is space that the Town already has like in Town Hall, if there's flex space or a space that can be dedicated for a conference room or a meeting space for Members of Council, perhaps office space for the Mayor. Preferably, space that we already currently have versus looking to procure additional new space and additional expenses. Kaj Dentler: Yes, thank. I’ll be sure to look for that. Council Member Fox: I’d like to see that too. Mayor Burk: Mr. Martinez? Vice Mayor Martinez: Ara stole my line, but I was going to do the same thing; suggest that I would like to keep it in Town Hall. Also, I have done several meetings at Starbucks and other coffee houses and restaurants, and I think it's better done having a meeting place in the Town Hall where we can count, call on staff when we need them. Mayor Burk: Sure. Great. Mr. Cummings? Council Member Cummings: Thank you. I would concur with Mr. Bagdasarian and Mr. Martinez. I think it's important for the Mayor to have an office. I personally will probably would use a conference room. I definitely think it's important for the Mayor in our Town to have an office space that she can hold her meetings. Kaj Dentler: I'll certainly look at all options, whether Council is in this building or in another building, whether it's controlled by us or privately owned, same thing for staff. It’s certainly dependent upon what your final decision is. If you're in Town Hall, it will have an impact on our availability. That's my problem to figure out. I'll just come up with options for you and you can make the decision at a later date. Mayor Burk: Okay, thank you. Kaj Dentler: I have my marching orders. The last one is your largest one. The Mayor can talk about these. These are proposed amendments that she has brought forward for your consideration. Should you wish I'm going to-- This is a tough one to read a little bit, but if you should decide to pursue this, you will need-- and the Town Attorney can advise you-- but you will need to hold a public hearing here at a future date. That's something you need to consider. In the interim period, then if you do pursue a public hearing for potential changes, then you have a transition issue of your existing commissioners. The way we've always practiced this is that if commissioners of whatever body they continue to serve, as long as they want to serve. That way, you don't have to make an appointment tomorrow night, that in a few weeks or months, you may make changes and have an awkward situation. Just keep that in mind, there are different ways to get there, et cetera, but I'll stop there and let-- Mayor, you address as you wish to do so. Mayor Burk: Thank you. This has come forward for a couple of reasons. We have had a very dedicated group of individuals who have volunteered their time and efforts to make the airport what it is today. Recently, we got a second FBO, so we are moving forward in a way that makes it so that Leesburg has an opportunity to bring the airport to a more business acumen, to have the airport be more based on how can we bring businesses. We've got these two FBOs. That one is almost all full, the other one is Page 8| January 11, 2021 almost all full. They are very excited about the airport and they want to be able to bring things forward and make it a professional type of atmosphere. I met with both FBOs and when I went over this, they were the ones that brought it forward to me. There are some changes there that will involve the makeup of the commission, but it's not a dramatic change. Right now, just about everybody that's on the Airport Commission is a pilot and while that they have done again, I cannot thank them enough or give them enough credit for all they had done over the years. We need now to start looking at bringing businesses forward and bring in a business concept. My proposal would be to have four pilots still be on there, which would mean four people would continue whatever they were appointed. We'd have one person from the community. Now we suggested originally that it'd be the community around the airport, but it doesn't have to be, it could be the community at large, but somebody that's from the community so that they're not pilots. They may not know much about the airport, but it's going to be someone that could bring a whole new perspective to the airport and things that could make the airport more attractive to the community at large. Then two people from the business community that not might not necessarily be airport people. They might be a public relations. They might be experts in public relations, so they can work on making the airport, get a PR program going, they could talk about what are some things to enhance the airport's reputation and all that stuff within the community. Maybe somebody could be finance. Mr. Toth has been nominated by Ms. Kari. He would be a finance and he's great at that. Then you would have the two FBOs because they do so much business at the airport, they want to have a voice at the table. They don't want to have to be in a separate room and have someone else come and present their points. They would like to be at the table, but they recognize they cannot be a vote because they would have too many conflicts. We could make them ex-officio members and then the flight school would-- there's three flight schools. They could choose one person to represent them and be at the table. Then of course the person from the board of supervisors. This is just an attempt to start the discussion on what do we want the Airport Commission to look like? What do we want to do to make it more of a business concept? The pilots are very involved in it and they have, as I've said now three times, they have brought this forward and done a great job. The next part of it is that we have to make a decision about whether the Airport Commission is a commission, or is it an authority? If it is an authority, then it doesn't answer to the Airport Director and it doesn't answer to the Town Council. It is an independent body. If it is a commission, it should be making recommendations through the Airport Director to the Council. There's lots of examples where right things have been accomplished without the knowledge or involvement of the Council, but in the end we are the responsible body and so we need to decide, do we want to make them authority or do we want to make them a commission? Those are the basic major changes to it and I think it's a big discussion. I think this definitely has to go to a work session to discuss it further. That's an overview of it, again, will tell you the FBOs are very much in line with this. They helped design it and then the changes that we've made, we've got to decide, do we want an authority, or do we want to commission? That being said, do I have four people that want this to go forward to a work session at this point? Council Member Neil Steinberg: Okay. Madam Mayor, may I make a comment first, please? Mayor Burk: Yes, sir. Council Member Steinberg: Yes, I think, yes, indeed; we do want to do a work session. This is a very complex topic and you've made a lot of really good suggestions of where we get to remains to be seen. I would, however, not be in favor of not seating the appointed, the appointees for the Airport Commission tomorrow evening. I think it would be unfair to have asked citizens to volunteer their time, then ask them to wait for an unspecified period of time before they're able to take their seats. I also know that it's quite possible that two of our current commission members may not be available to us any longer. One, for health reasons. I think we can overcome whatever issues we may have, and transitioning from the Page 9| January 11, 2021 seated commission members, and having them fulfill whatever responsibilities are required as we transition into a potentially new structure. That would be my comment on that. Otherwise, I think the work session, and a full Council discussion on the Airport Commission is a good idea. I think we also owe it to the current and the incoming commission members to also be able to review it, and then we'll see where we get to. Thanks. Council Member Fox: I have a few comments. I listened to why you're bringing this forward, and I have to agree with a couple of things that I've always wanted an authority. I would love to see it go in that direction, and I know the pilots who have made up this commission have done an excellent job. They have worked with the FAA to bring in grants, they've been involved with our remote pilots, our tower pilot program. They are good at getting funding for the very popular airport show. They've successfully advocated for a customs office at our airport. I'm not sure what the problem is that we're trying to solve, so before we say, "Yes, let's try and solve a problem," I need to know what the problem is first. What the issue is, and why we are calling actually for limiting the pilot involvement. To me, limiting pilot involvement with the four, which is being introduced up there, says to me, "Hey, let’s get rid of the experts." I think they are experts in what they do. To me, that's what it says. If we are to limit the pilots according to the changes that were made up here, as a practical matter, we might want to go to work session on this if people decide to. Who gets to choose the pilots? I mean, if six of us wants to-- Mayor Burk: Well, it would be the same thing as your Economic Development and your SRTC. Everybody has to work with each other. You can appoint somebody from South-west, well, then I can't appoint somebody from the South-west. I've got to appoint somebody from the North-east. Our other commissions have specifics about where and who, and we would just be doing the same thing. Now, the four pilots are still in the majority to the votes. Council Member Fox: I see that, but I'm taking a look at the structure there, and I'm seeing that maybe the bottom half, where you said we'd have FBOs there as non-voting, they're already there; they're already participating. Mayor Burk: That's what we'll discuss at the work session. We'll discuss how to do that; if we want to do it, if we don't want to do it. Council Member Fox: I've got a lot of questions about it. I don't feel like there's actually an issue. That's the biggest question I would like answered is, what are we trying to change, and why? Mayor Burk: We're trying to change the emphasis from a pilot designation kind of thinking, to a broader business perspective. It doesn't mean that you couldn't have a pilot that's brings experience from the business community, that's a public relations person, maybe he's a pilot, so that doesn't make any difference. What I'm trying to do is, get to the point that we have different voices. It's not just the same voices with the one perspective, its different voices with different perspectives that will enhance the airport, enhance the business aspect of the airport, make the airport where Costco wants to come and put their planes because it is an airport that's orientated towards the business community, and what they can accomplish. It's not diminishing the pilots, it's not taking anything from the pilots. Many of the same people will still be on there. It’s actually probably the two that—well anyway. Council Member Fox: I would need to know how. Mayor Burk: That's what we will discuss at the work session if you're willing to do it. If people are willing to do a work session on it. Council Member Fox: One last question on your business development-- That's always a good thing. Isn't that what our Economic Development Department does? Page 10| January 11, 2021 Mayor Burk: Well, they don't emphasize on the airport. They rarely work together with the airport. There's many people in our community that don't even know what the airport does and how valuable it is and what a good economic driver it is. We got to do a better job of getting that word out. We can't expect the guy, and it's almost all guys that are doing it now to continue to do it without some help some perspective, and some new ideas. That sort of thing. Council Member Fox: I see. Okay. Mayor Burk: Anyone else? Yes, Mr. Bagdasarian. Council Member Bagdasarian: Council Member Martinez, did you have something up? Last time I got to go first. Mayor Burk: Aren’t you kind. Vice Mayor Martinez: I appreciate you deferring to the veteran. Council Member Bagdasarian: Of course. Vice Mayor Martinez: Thank you, Ara. A couple of things I wanted to bring up. One is what is your timeline to implementing this? Mayor Burk: Well, we have to have a public hearing. It wouldn’t be before February. Even if we had it at our next work session. Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Dentler. Kaj Dentler: It's your decision. If you want it at the next one, it'll be on your next one. Mayor Burk: Then after what we decide what it is, if we want to do it, if we don't want to do it, what part of it do we want to do that kind of thing. Then we would go to a public hearing which would probably be what late February? Kaj Dentler: I don't know if you have advertising requirements. Christopher Spera: Yes, two weeks. Mayor Burk: Two weeks it could go to the next February, the first meeting. Kaj Dentler: It would probably be 30 days. Christopher Spera: Yes. Kaj Dentler: I would guess probably the end of February, maybe. Christopher Spera: Thirty days is probably the quickest you could get there. Mayor Burk: Probably be about the next in 30 days after-- It'd be late February at the earliest. Vice Mayor Martinez: Well, my c oncern is that that timeline is a little short and I would love to see it extended, but only so that we can get more information on what the impacts could be. I would be interested in seeing what other airports are [unintelligible]. Now one of the things that audience and Council members have to remember is that Leesburg used to just be a general aviation airport, which means that there's really no controlling, there's no ILS approaches. There is no tower. It's just strictly people coming in general aviation, just flying in, listening to the broadcast about the weather and all that and making a broadcast on the radio, "Hey, I'm coming in, and I'm approaching it from the base. I'm going to be making my landing on this runway." Page 11| January 11, 2021 Well, we've evolved. We now have two FBOs. We have flight learning. We have ILS. We have a remote tower, which by the way, having worked in the FAA for several years, this remote tower in Leesburg is getting a lot of news from other agencies and other groups that are looking for remote type towers. We are no longer the little general aviation. I think what the Mayor may be trying to say is that we are becoming more and more a commercial business airport. What we need to do is approach the airport in a whole different way. Now, I'm not sure how I feel about some of the recommendations, but I'm not going to pass judgment or weigh in on what I think should happen until we get more information. What kind of revenues we're looking at, versus non-revenue cost? What kind of impacts are we looking at from the business community? Also too, one of the things that we have been getting is we have been getting a lot of complaints about some of the noise on aircraft flying over some neighborhoods. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a civilian or two, if not on the commission associated with the commission, to put in their concerns, but also to educate them and get them to understand that when an airplane is coming in on an approach route to the certain runway, that there's certain things they have to follow and sometimes noise is going to be an issue. There's a lot of pluses to maybe doing this but I would like to see the timeline extended a little bit. I'm also with Mr. Steinberg, I think we should go ahead and appoint an Airport Commission tomorrow and just keep them involved in what we're doing, and see if we can get some of their input on what they think we might be able to try to do. There you go. Mayor Burk: Thank you. Vice Mayor Martinez: Follow that. Mayor Burk: Mr. Bagdasarian. Council Member Bagdasarian: Oh boy. I don't think I can. Drop the microphone. Okay, the really three key points, two principles. Number one, I really believe that the airport is really an economic development component or is something that we definitely need to further develop that. That's number one. Secondly, I think as a town, we really want to increase citizen engagement. We want to get as many citizens and businesses involved in the future of the Town. Which leads me to the third point, and this is what I think impacts, not only the Airport Commission, but I think all the commissions in general. We have a Town Plan coming out this spring or it'll be up for discussion this spring. We really need to make sure that the Airport Commission and all of the commissions are aligned with the Town Plan, because we talked about is it a commission or is it an authority? Is the Economic Development a commission or is there a need for an Authority for Economic Development? You look at all the different, where's the Town headed with a Town Plan, and then align all of our commissions and, obviously, the Council with that plan. I think that'll help determine the best approach in moving things forward, but we definitely need to have increased civic engagement. We need to have more voices represented in the commission, not only in the Airport Commission, but I'm thinking in other commissions. I think it makes sense to have ex-officio members with the FBOs with residents in the community as well. These are all things that I think we definitely need to consider, but I'm probably saying this so many times. Every decision that we make really needs to be aligned with a Town Plan. Council Member Fox: Madam Mayor, Council member or Vice Mayor Campbell? Mayor Burk: You’ve already spoken. Council Member Fox: Oh, I'm sorry. Mayor Burk: Mr. Cummings? Page 12| January 11, 2021 Council Member Cummings: Sorry, I'm in favor of bringing this up for a work session, because there are a few things that I like and there's a few things I have questions on. I'd like to hear from the Airport Director, and as well as members of the commission to ensure that they've had their input as well into reworking this. I'm in favor of seeing this come up for a work session. I agree with Mr. Martinez. I think, especially as a newer member, I'd like to maybe see the timeline extended a bit, so that we can really ensure that we're making the best decisions here for one of our commissions that is so vitally important to the operation of our airport. Mayor Burk: Great. Kari, did you want to say anything? Council Member Kari Nacy: Yes, I'm just taking it all in. It sounds like it's going to go to work session, which I think if we're going to be looking at our commissions, perhaps we take a holistic look at each commission at this work session and see what changes or things need to be made. I know, I personally have a couple of questions on why SRTC is a committee, not a commission? Why they don't get paid, that sort of thing when traffic is such a big issue now in our Town. My only, I guess, question, hesitation is my head goes to the example of the FBOs having ex-officio-- The best example I can think of is would it be having a developer on the Planning Commission, is that something we really need/want? Is it a safe-- Is there a conflict? Just things I would want to work out when it comes to that. Mayor Burk: All right. Everybody else has spoken. Okay. Ms. Fox, did you want to-- Council Member Fox: I think Marty brought up a good point. He said we definitely need some more information. In the past, when issues are brought up like this, we go to our commissions to give us some feedback. I was wondering, have we done that? Have we talked to anybody on the commission in order to give us feedback versus coming out of--? Mayor Burk: I think most of you have talked to certain members of the commission. I have talked to certain members of the commissions. Council Member Fox: As a body we say, "Okay, don't let this go to the commission. We want the feedback from them," because they are advisory to us. I was wondering, is that something that can be done? Mayor Burk: Sure. They most certainly. I would expect that they would come in and speak. It's actually at the public hearing. I'm sure that they will all come in and speak. That would certainly be something that we would value and expect. Definitely. Council Member Fox: Were they aware-- Council Member Steinberg: Madam Mayor? Mayor Burk: Ms. Fox is speaking. Council Member Fox: It's okay. I'm good. Mayor Burk: Okay. Yes, Mr. Steinberg? Council Member Steinberg: The Airport Commission will be discussing this at their meeting on Wednesday. They're well aware of it. I'm sure they'll be available and more than willing to give us whatever input we ask for. I think in the end, the work session, that's the whole point, is to be able to sit back and gather information, so everybody has a clear understanding of what this very complex situation is about. We haven't set a timeline of any kind. I think, again, that's what the work session is for. That's what I'm in favor of. Thanks. Mayor Burk: Okay, are there for people that want this to go forward to a work session? I think its [unintelligible]. Council Member Fox: I'd be okay with it as long as we have the commission members opine. Page 13| January 11, 2021 Mayor Burk: We don't usually bring in commission members during our discussion. Our work sessions have set-up that [crosstalk] Council Member Fox: I just want to make sure I know where they stand. That's all. Mayor Burk: Well, I'm sure Neil will be able to tell us because he's a liaison to that commission and they're having that discussion. Do we have four votes that want to bring this to-- yes, Mr. Cummings? Council Member Cummings: I'd happy to do a head nod to bring to a work session. I just request that the Airport Director is here and we have this discussion because I think there'll be a lot of questions for him. Mayor Burk: Definitely, staff needs to be here. Definitely. Okay Mr. Cummings, Ms. Nacy, myself, Mr. Bagdasarian? Council Member Steinberg: Yes. Mayor Burk: Okay. Mr. Stein-- Kaj Dentler: Is this at your next meeting? Mayor Burk: Yes, do it at the next meeting. Let's get started with it so that we can get it done as quickly as possible. Kaj Dentler: Just want to make sure. Okay, we'll have it ready. Thank you. Those are all the items. Mayor Burk: Those are all the items. Okay. Next one. Exemption from Disconnect Moratorium on Delinquent Utility Accounts, Ms. Wyks, are you doing this or are you doing this? Does it keep going up and down for a reason? Is that—? Eileen Boeing: We’re trying to reset them. Mayor Burk: Oh, okay. I just thought maybe they were just doing it on their own. Eileen Boeing: Sorry about that. Amy Wyks: Happy New Year. Madam Mayor, Members of Council. Good to see some new faces and some familiar faces. Tonight. I'm here to talk briefly on the exemption for the disconnection moratorium that was instated by the State of Virginia. Council action that we're requesting from you is tomorrow night to approve a resolution that will exempt the Town from the utility disconnection moratorium that was implemented when the Governor signed the budget in November of this year an exemption is allowed since the Town's current delinquent account balances for utility bills exceed 1% of the utilities fund operating revenue and budget. A little bit of background, just to get everyone up to speed. Though the Town was not required to in March of this year, the SEC recommended that utilities, including electric, gas, water, and sewer, not do disconnections or apply late penalties. As a Town we did decide to follow that recommendation, even though we were not required to. Since March 16th of 2020, we have not applied penalties or done disconnections for nonpayment for any water customers. But since March, we've also seen an increase in the number of delinquent accounts and unpaid balances, because there has been no process in order to get in contact with the customers to talk about their bills. In March, we continued to bill accounts on a quarterly basis. We do have six districts. They're billed quarterly and on different times. At any particular time, a district could be just billed so they're not delinquent yet so it's always evolving as it relates to what accounts are delinquent. Instead of mailing red reminder notices that typically reminded them of the disconnect that would be coming up, we switched to mailing and or emailing courtesy letters to the unpaid accounts. Page 14| January 11, 2021 We were encouraging them to reach out to us to establish a payment plan so that they could manage the balance once the moratorium would end. W e didn't want it just to be compounded so we were encouraging everyone to reach out to us. We had some success with those courtesy letters. However, we had many customers that hadn't contacted us. Here's an example of a compounding bill over the last nine to 10 months. Bill one went out in May. It was approximately $520. W hen they didn't make that payment, we billed them in August an additional $498 and then in November of 2020, we build them an additional $415 to the existing $1,000 that they had already owed. As of their November bill, owing the Town $1,400, and unfortunately, we have not received any payment. This is an example of just getting their attention, talking, and helping them to realize that, A, we're not applying penalties and we're offering payment plans from 6 months up to 24 months. We continued with our enhanced communication. On October 5th of 2020 the moratorium did end. At that time, we had about 1,700 of the 16,000 accounts that were delinquent. It's approximately 10% of our customers. We tried one more mailing and/or email of a courtesy letter, again, encouraging them to establish a payment plan, reach out to us. It's penalty-free, it's between 6 and 24 months. We were asking them what worked for them. For some people, they didn't need as long, for some they wanted 24 months. We also provided information, the Loudoun County COVID-19 emergency fund and helpline that exists. Here's an example of the letters and courtesies that we were sending out with the payment plans, as well as the insert related to the helpline number. When we still didn't have any contact from them related to the courtesy letters, staff hung door hangers that requested them to contact us within the next 48 hours. Again, with that door hanger, we attached the information about the payment plans and the County helpline. If there was no response, the water was temporarily disconnected. It was disconnected for non-contact, not for non-payment. We really wanted just to hear and talk to our customers. We're empathetic, we're sympathetic, we understand that so many people have been impacted, but we need to understand and hear from them, and so payment was not required to turn the water back on. Whereas in our old process, obviously, prior to the pandemic, when they were disconnected, it was required full payment to be restored with service. We turned it back on once we heard from them. It did provide us an opportunity to determine vacant accounts. Obviously, as you know, it's a seller's market, a buyer's market, and so we were finding accounts that were vacant. Again, we don't know who's there. That's a good example of having the water turned off, especially in the winter months because you don't want the pipe to break and not have anyone in the home. This was our opportunity to understand for sale signs and who might be moving in and moving out. It also gave us the opportunity to understand if the account name did change but they didn't contact us. Again, in the event that Chris bought my house and I didn't stop it and he didn't put it in his name, Chris didn't know he wasn't paying his bills because it was still coming to me. Those were some opportunities for us to understand who was living in the home and get the accounts established. Here's an example of the door hanger that does go out. Overall, the feedback when we did this temporary process after the moratorium ended was that we recognized that, historically, some of our customers, they wait till the last minute to pay, so those courtesy letters and the door hangers are what gets their attention. Even when customers are impacted or affected, sometimes we just need a reminder of the outstanding balance. We put it to the side and just didn't get back to paying. The courtesy letters and door hangers have been appreciated by the customers, and we've received positive feedback related to the fact we're not charging late fees and we're offering these penalty-free payment plans also for up to 24 months. Here's just one example from a district that shows the success of the enhanced communication plan that we started in October. District 600 has just over 6,000 accounts. They had a bill that went out August 10th of 2020. Then in October, we had sent out almost 500 courtesy letters. Page 15| January 11, 2021 The results of those courtesy letters is then we only needed to go out and hang 250 door hangers, so 250 people paid in that timeframe. The results of the 250 door hangers, 62 people contacted us to establish their payment plans and almost 170 just paid in full. As a result from going from the 247 accounts, we only had to disconnect for non-contact and not for non-payment, only 16. The results of the disconnection was, again, two people reached out to establish payment plans, 13 of them paid and we discovered that one vacant account that we left the meter off until they contacted us. We feel this has been very successful in order to make certain that we're hearing from our customers and helping them the best that we can. Then in November of this year, the middle of November when the Governor signed the budget, there was the Virginia Budget Appropriation Act amendments that reinstated the disconnect moratorium. How long is this moratorium? That’s a great question. According to the budget amendment, it talks about until the Governor determines that the economic and public health conditions have improved, or until at least 60 days after the declared state of emergency ends, so obviously, we don't know when that answer is. Then unlike the previous SCC moratorium where we chose to participate even though we were not required, this does include municipal utilities, so we are included in this moratorium. However, the amendments did provide an exception for municipal utilities with operating revenue shortfalls greater than 1%. The governing body if confirming the 1%, delinquent accounts could get an exception through a public process, which is why we're here tonight to talk to you as well as tomorrow night, we would give the public opportunity to discuss it. Just a quick number, obviously, we have to affirm that we are at that 1%. The total proposed fiscal year 2021 revenues projected for the utility fund is $22.5 million, 1% of that is $225,000. As of January 4th last week, the delinquent revenues for the utility accounts is just shy of $650,000, which represents almost 3%. If Council chooses to adopt the exemption, these last two bullets were just examples for you that if you adopt the exemption, we assume that we'll still have the similar amount of customers that we normally have not pay, which is about 20%, which by the end of the fiscal year, it would be at approximately a million dollars in delinquent, which is 4.4%. However, if Council does not adopt the exemption that means more people could decide to not pay, and we have no ability to get a hold of them. If that was the case, we're projecting 30% of the people would stop paying and we would be upwards of $4 million at the end of July or end of June for July 1, which represents 18%. Then obviously, a 50% to 70% of the people just to stop to pay. Any customer, even if they're not impacted right now have the potential to not pay, which could get us increasing up to 30% of revenue not coming in. Why request the exemption from the states? Mayor Burk: Are you going to be wrapping this up soon? Amy Wyks: Yes. As everyone knows, the Utility Fund is an Enterprise Fund, so adopting this 1% exemption strengthens the financial outlook and protects the revenue source. Delinquent accounts will continue to increase as customers don't make the payment plan installations. We don't have any guarantee on the payment plans, so it is possible that they won't pay those, and/or they could decide to not pay during the disconnect moratorium. This negatively impacts their financial situation as well as the Utilities Fund. Again, tomorrow night, the request is for Council to approve the resolution to exempt the Town. Mayor Burk: Thank you. Ms. Nacy, did you have anything you'd like to ask at this point? Council Member Nacy: Just a point of clarification. You mentioned the districts, how many did you say there were? Amy Wyks: We have six districts. Council Member Nacy: Six districts and are those split, just for my own understanding, are those split by residential area? Page 16| January 11, 2021 Amy Wyks: Yes, they are by geographical areas. Northeast, southeast, and then there's some of the larger areas with River Creek and outside of the corporate limits. Council Member Nacy: Do you have a breakdown of delinquency per area that we might be able to see? Amy Wyks: We can put that together for you, yes. Council Member Nacy: Okay, thank you. Mayor Burk: All right, thank you. Mr. Bagdasarian. Council Member Bagdasarian: Yes, thank you very much. By the way, thank you to the department. Had a door hanger on my door a couple of days ago because we had a leaky toilet and little blue pellets in it. Figured it out and fixed it. The resolution that you're proposing to vote on, does it specify cut off or disconnection for non-contact versus nonpayment? Is that specified? I think that's an important factor. Amy Wyks: I think we did put that in there. I can defer to Chris on where it's worded, but definitely, we also included the word about that would be the last resort. Council Member Bagdasarian: Because it appeared that that approach was effective. Obviously, we don't want to turn people's water off during the pandemic, and obviously, people are experiencing extreme hardships, but being able to at least contact the Town and let somebody know that we're here and we're going to work something out. Christopher Spera: What we did, it's relatively straightforward. There's only two enacting clauses in the resolution, but the one that you're asking about, we basically parrot the language from the State Code that says the department is authorized to resume normal collection procedures, including disconnection where necessary to achieve customer response. That's straight out of the State proposed language. Then we added, while continuing the enhanced procedures to avoid disconnecting water service for customers that request to implement repayment plans to bring amounts current over time. Basically, what we're saying here is that we will accept the authority that the exception in the State law gives us, but we will accept it while continuing the enhanced procedures that Amy just described regarding additional outreach, the courtesy letters first, the door hangers next, and then the disconnection as only a last resort. Essentially continuing that enhanced process. Council Member Bagdasarian: Which includes the no contact as the final decision making. Amy Wyks: Correct. Mayor Burk: All right, Mr. Cummings? Council Member Cummings: I apologize about not asking this earlier because you might have to gather this. Do you have historical figures on what, say, January 4th of last year, what the delinquency rate was for the utilities? Amy Wyks: Outside of final bills being someone closing an account moving on, our delinquency rate is very small because, again, with the disconnect they don't get turned back on until full payment is made. The only delinquency at that point becomes final bills that don't pay their final bill and that's about it. Everything else is related to you don't get your water turned back on until you've made full payment. Council Member Cummings: Do you know what percentage of this delinquency is commercial versus residential? Amy Wyks: I can look into that. The State moratorium does speak only to residential, but we've been doing it related to both commercial and residential. I can confirm that we do have those numbers. Page 17| January 11, 2021 Council Member Cummings: Then the last question, maybe for the Town Attorney. If we don't pass the resolution tomorrow evening for this, can we bring it back up, say, in May or June? Amy Wyks: I don't want to misspeak, but it's my understanding action has to be taken by the middle of January according to the government. Christopher Spera: According to the State code, that's correct. I was looking for the date, but Amy beat me to it, but that's correct. You basically have to do it now or forever hold your peace. Council Member Cummings: Me personally, I'm not a fan of in the middle of a once in our lifetime pandemic that is crippling folks. If you drive past Ampersand Project, today, it's at 71,000 meals given out. Having been there and watched the volunteers hand out food, the cars range from really nice cars to what you would expect to see. This is affecting folks of all walks of life, not just the typical folks who are the most affected, it's affecting everyone. It would be hard for me to vote to allow us to, even with an enhanced version of what you're doing, which I think looks to be working, it would be hard for me to vote to even allow shutoffs to continue during this incredible pandemic. I would hope that we can find a way to work this out and not go into the numbers that you outlined if it becomes a huge percentage. I just don't believe that folks don't pay their bills because they are looking to gain the system. It's hard for me to fathom that. No, I think folks are struggling and they might not be struggling where they have to go get food at Ampersand, but they're still struggling month to month. It would just be really difficult for me. I understand the need, I understand why, but it just is still a struggle. That's it. Mayor Burk: Miss Fox? Council Member Fox: Thanks. A couple of questions have been answered, but there is one after I listened to what you had to say and that we've set-up a system where shut off is for non-contact. I like that approach and it's not for non-payment. How many people out of these charts have just said, "I just can't," and with those folks, what do we do? "I just can't pay, there's just nothing I can do." Amy Wyks: We refer them to the County's helpline. We've had 18 people receive pledges and payment related to that just under $12,000 is what that is, and then we just set them up on a payment plan that works for them. Again, it's looking at it over 24 months. Council Member Fox: Okay, so we wait until they have some kind of action from the County in order to send them any other notices or anything like that. Amy Wyks: Correct, to establish a payment plan, we're not requiring them to make a payment towards the payment plan. Council Member Fox: Hearing what I heard tonight, I have to agree with Zach that I don't think we've actually done enough for our individual citizens. We've done a lot for our businesses, but I feel like the citizens have gone by the wayside, and so I sympathize with that. I really honestly do, but it sounds to me like the process that we put in place, we're doing all we can at this point. When you're talking about people who just can't or won't, and you're talking about that small number of people, I think I can support it. Thanks. Mayor Burk: Mr. Martinez? Vice Mayor Martinez: I'm here. Can you hear me all right? Mayor Burk: We can hear you, yes. Vice Mayor Martinez: Great. I'm in agreement with Zach and Suzanne in that my concern is ensuring that the people who need the water are not cut off, not the ones who don't care and have not contacted us. I don't know what else to say other than I'll just have to wait and see before I decide how I'm going to vote. Thank you. Page 18| January 11, 2021 Mayor Burk: Mr. Steinberg? Council Member Steinberg: Thank you. Amy, is she still there? I can't see her. Mayor Burk: Yes, she's here. Council Member Steinberg: Okay. How much of a loss is built into the budget? How much can we actually afford to absorb before it's a real problem? Amy Wyks: Related to the delinquency rate, we don't typically have that, so I wouldn't say our budget is built around people not paying their bills. Obviously, our budget is built around having late penalties applied, which we haven't done, so that comes at the cost of about $200,000. As well as the disconnect process, typically, they're charged a fee for that also, which is equivalent of $200,000 also. That's $400,000 in revenue that we won't be billing because of the moratorium also. I wouldn't say that we really build it in, I look to Kaj's. It's a balanced budget based on what we project to sell as it relates to the water, and then the associated sewer costs, so our budget is based around those numbers. We're not seeing a drop in usage. Our customers are using about the same as they did over the last few years, so we're not seeing less water, which means less revenue. We're seeing what we projected. I would say there's not really anything built into the budget related to non-payment. Council Member Steinberg: If we choose to adopt the moratorium, then we're not obligated to cut off somebody's water, it simply gives us an ability to if we find it absolutely necessary, or we see somebody guilty of relatively egregious behavior, is that correct? Amy Wyks: Correct. If you were to adopt the exemptions tomorrow night, Wednesday morning we will not be disconnecting customers. Council Member Steinberg: So it's not like we're going out in a heavy-handed fashion to cut people's water off, but it does give us wherewithal should it become absolutely necessary in certain cases. I recognize a Council Member Cumming’s sentiments, but I hate to appear cynical, and yet I know there are people who will gain the system if they're given the opportunity. I'm not saying that's the case here but is not unheard of. I would personally be in favor of going ahead and adopting the exemption just to give us the ability to act in the best interest of the Town as we absolutely need to. Thank you. Mayor Burk: My question and my concern centers around the fact that if we do not take this exemption, the Governor's emergency, whatever the terms are, the emergency regulations, and those people now who are just maybe just getting back to work or maybe not have started yet, they don't have a payment plan and they have a huge bill, and now, the charities aren't doing that anymore. It'll be done by then if he's releasing the emergency regulations at that point. I think we're putting them in a worse spot by allowing the moratorium to continue. If we take it and take the exception and reach out to everybody and make sure that they know that Catholic Charities is doing an unbelievable job with Loudoun Cares of helping people with their utility bills. I know a number of people that have reached out to them and it has made a real big difference for them. The County has a program. I don't want six months from now, the government regulations are done, people now look at their water bill and they've got a $2,000 water bill, and they could have had a plan where they were paying $400 with part of that being to pay back the former bill. I'm going to support this realizing that people are in a really tough space. They really are. There's a lot of people that are really hurting, but it doesn't make sense to me to leave them, and then at the very end, they end up with a bill that's been compounded, as you say, and it's so high that it's going to be, even with a plan, it would be very difficult to pay back. I think it would be much kinder for us to do it this way and get them on a payment plan, get them to the different resources that can help them, and help them get back on their feet in that regard. I would be in favor of doing this, and I think you've proven that it does work and it does help, but I don't want to leave people stranded at the end when they're trying to get back on their feet, owing thousands Page 19| January 11, 2021 and thousands of dollars for water bills. That being said, everybody's had their turn to speak, do we have four people that would like this to be on the-- Did you want to say something? Kaj Dentler: It is on your agenda for tomorrow night for action. Mayor Burk: Oh, it is already on. Kaj Dentler: It is already there, but because you're a new Council, it's an important topic, you can argue multiple ways. We didn't feel we should just let you discuss it tomorrow night, we wanted to make sure we discussed it tonight, that you process. If you have questions, you can follow up, and then you'd be more prepared tomorrow night to take whatever vote you want to take. Mayor Burk: Okay, so I don't need four head nods. Kaj Dentler: It's already there. Mayor Burk: Did you have another question? Council Member Bagdasarian: I do, just one other question. I was unable to read the shutoff notice. Is that the standard shutoff notice or is that something very specific to the current situation? Amy Wyks: It's our standard one, but what we were doing is stapling to the back the information related to the County helpline, as well as information on the payment plan, so just putting additional materials with it. Council Member Bagdasarian: I'm just wondering if it was specific that your water will not be turned off if you call today, call now, just an immediate call to action if that would help the rates. The numbers are obviously pretty clear, but just to make it even easier. Amy Wyks: We could look at potentially a sticker or something because those are pre stopped, but that doesn't mean we can't print something that gets their attention and makes that specific note to it. Council Member Bagdasarian: Thank you. Amy Wyks: Thank you. Mayor Burk: Thank you. Our next one is the Noise Ordinance. Oh, no. Amending Subsection 4(d) of Town Code Section 24-182, and this was at the request of Chair Randall, correct? Christopher Spera: I believe that is correct. I do not have a PowerPoint for you because I'm essentially asking you to add seven words. We are not trying to get back into the entirety of the noise ordinance, this just deals with a very, very specific section. Our current noise ordinance exempts from having to get an amplified noise permit and certain other requirements, a number of things, one of them is stated as follows: “Activities on or in municipal, county, state, United States, or school athletic facilities or in publicly-owned properties and facilities.” Now, I am sure that each of you became aware over the course of the summer and fall of the demonstrations that were taking place over by the County office building. They used amplified sound. Normally, we would have required a permit, but the folks who were doing those demonstrations relied upon the section that I just read to you, 4(d), and they said, "We're on public property and that's exempt from these requirements." I think this was simply an omission because typically, and I put this in the staff report for you, but typically, it's not the space that creates the exemption, but rather the user. The element that is missing and what we are proposing to add is that it's activities in all those public places and all that public property that I just described for you conducted by the town or any other governmental entity or institution. The exemption is typically, I gave you examples from Virginia Beach, I believe, and from Loudoun County, where it's the user is what triggers the exemption from regulation. If it's government conduct, you don't need to get an amplified sound permit. If it's a high school ball game and they have amplified Page 20| January 11, 2021 sound, that comes with the territory, but if it's a private event on that property, they'd have to get a permit to go through the process. Then just simply being on public property, it seems to me that certainly is the law as it's been enacted in other jurisdictions that it's not simply the nature of the property but rather the nature of the operator that determines and grants the exemption. That's the change that we are proposing. Obviously, it is a change to the Town Code. That is an ordinance that requires two weeks' notice. It's not something that would be on your agenda for a couple of weeks, but if I get direction from you to go forward, we will notice it and set it for the appropriate meeting for action. Again, I want to be as clear as I can be that my intention, I was not here when the noise ordinance was the subject of your debate and deliberations, but I went through it when I was in the City of Alexandria and I know that noise ordinances are high-button items. My intent is not to reopen that particular can of worms on a broad scale, but rather to address what I think was simply an omission when this was enacted. I'm happy to answer any questions. Mayor Burk: All right. Mr. Martinez, do you have a question? Vice Mayor Martinez: No, ma'am. Mayor Burk: Mr. Steinberg? Council Member Steinberg: Yes. In the specific example of, say, the demonstrations that were taking place across from the County office building, would then somebody staging a demonstration like that be required to get a permit and what would their limitations then be on their activities in the public space? Christopher Spera: Typically, this just goes to noise, so you're not trying to put the noise ordinance-- [crosstalk] Council Member Steinberg: That's what I meant, the noise. Christopher Spera: If they wanted to use amplified sound, they would have to get a permit to have amplified sound. There is no noise permit requirement if you're not amplified. There is a right to free speech and assembly in our Constitution, I think we all know that. There is not, however, in the Constitution, the right to be amplified. I know, Ara that you are a musician and I regret having said that just knowing, but there's no right to amplification and that's really the issue. Did that answer your question, Mr. Steinberg? Council Member Steinberg: I guess what I'm asking is the Town obligated to provide a permit in a situation like that and then the operator of the events, so to speak, would be obligated to abide by whatever rules or the noise ordinance apply to that specific situation? Christopher Spera: The Town has standards for issuing noise permits. My office does not issue them, but we have standards for them. Typically, what you would limit is how long, what the duration is, what the maximum volume can be. Those are typical things you see in a noise permit. That would also require the applicant to say basically what they want to do as opposed to just this open-ended, "I'm going to sit out there all day with my amplified noise and protest" versus "I'd like to--" That was really part of the problem with the demonstrations by the County office building because they were happening at lunchtime, and we had a lot of complaints from the businesses that were adjacent to that that they were interfering with their business operations. We all remember the scenario, it's a nice day, people are eating outside at the restaurants in that area, but then we've got this noise. Part of the consideration in issuing a noise permit is how it interferes with commercial operations and other people who have the right to their quiet enjoyment. Certainly, people have a right to protest, but there is a limitation on that, particularly when they want to be amplified. There are hours restrictions, volume restrictions, things like that that are applied pursuant to a policy that the Town has. Page 21| January 11, 2021 Council Member Steinberg: Not to try to overly complicate what should be a relatively simple situation, there are more ways of making lots of noise other than amplified music or loudspeakers. In what way, if any, would we be addressing that in the same situation? Christopher Spera: There are other provisions of the noise ordinance that address that. What we're specifically trying to address here was this loophole that basically said, they could be construed to read that if you're on public property, you can use amplified sound whenever you want. That's the loophole we're trying to close. Council Member Steinberg: Okay, thank you. Mayor Burk: Ms. Fox? Council Member Fox: I've got a couple of things. Omission or not, I think there's a reason that exemption exists. I'd be okay with it if the Town is willing to hold itself to the same standard, but I don't see that happening, so I would not. I've seen too much-unprecedented silencing of even amplified voices, and so I wouldn't be in support of this. Mayor Burk: Mr. Cummings? Council Member Cummings: I have no questions, thank you. Mayor Burk: Mr. Bagdasarian? Council Member Bagdasarian: To your point earlier, currently my band can set up in front of Town Hall on the Town Green, set up a PA system and start playing music without any permit because it's on public property, correct? Christopher Spera: Without getting a noise permit, whether or not being on the Town Green is something that is accessible at all hours is perhaps subject to other regulation, but say you did it in the street or in the sidewalk, which is accessible all the time, and you had allowed enough room for people to pass around your amplifiers, then yes. Again, that's the loophole that we're trying to close. Council Member Bagdasarian: Got it. Christopher Spera: The way that it's currently drafted, the way this could be construed is that as long as you're on public property, amplify away. Again, that's not typically how this type of exemption is implemented in other jurisdictions. Council Member Bagdasarian: Thank you. Mayor Burk: Ms. Nacy? Council Member Nacy: I don't have any questions. Mayor Burk: So we do require permits from other groups when they have amplified music. Christopher Spera: That's correct. If your band, to use Mr. Bagdasarian's example, was going to perform on a private property but it was going to be amplified, you'd have to get a permit. The way that this is drafted is simply by moving that performance from the private property into the right-of-way, you'd be exempt from the permit. Again, I believe that's a loophole and I believe it's an omission, and I believe that's inconsistent with how this type of regulation and exemption from regulation is implemented elsewhere. Mayor Burk: I do know the businesses were very upset and felt that it was very negatively impacting them. That it wasn't fair because when they had music playing, they had to get permits, but then this particular situation, they had music playing and they didn't have to have. Page 22| January 11, 2021 Christopher Spera: Exactly. Mayor Burk: So I'm fine with moving this forward. Christopher Spera: If I get direction for review to go forward, we will notice this and have it placed on [unintelligible]. Mayor Burk: Do we have four people that would want to bring this forward? Mr. Cummings, myself, Mr. Bagdasarian. Council Member Steinberg: Yes. Mayor Burk: Mr. Steinberg. Okay, we got the four votes for it. All right, thank you. Christopher Spera: Very good, thank you. I hope that it was okay not to have a PowerPoint. I felt sort of silly putting a PowerPoint together for the number of words you were adding. Mayor Burk: That's fine. It's okay. Christopher Spera: Thank you. Mayor Burk: You did it in less than 10 minutes. Kaj Dentler: Madam Mayor, that item is on your agenda tomorrow night to formally vote, but now we know the new direction. Mayor Burk: All right. Mr. Martinez, do you have anything for future Council meetings? Vice Mayor Martinez: What I'd like to propose, Neil sent an email to the Council, and I would like to bring this resolution up tomorrow and to vote on that has to do with the resolution condemning the events on January 1st. I'd like to see if we can get an okay from the rest of Council to bring this forward. Mayor Burk: Someone's going to have to remind me here. When we do resolutions, can we bring them to the next meeting? Don't we have to have unanimous consent to bring it to the next meeting? Christopher Spera: I believe that's right if it's for the next meeting, Vice Mayor Martinez: I was under the belief that a simple majority at a work session to bring it forward, but if you're trying to do it at a Town Council business meeting, you need unanimous consent. Christopher Spera: I think the issue is if it's the immediate next one as opposed to-- Mayor Burk: Right, and I don't have the rules here. They-- Christopher Spera: I have mine and I'm looking. Mayor Burk: Let's see. Vice Mayor Martinez: Anyway, I would like to bring that forward if we can. Mayor Burk: That's what we're looking to see if we can bring it forward. Special meeting. Christopher Spera: I'm looking at section 13, addition to current Council meetings. Council members during work sessions may request items to be included in the next day's regular business meeting. Items will only be added to the agenda if agreed to by a majority of Council present. Additions to next day meetings are limited to items requiring minimal staff time as there would be limited time to inform constituents’ items that are likely to be without controversy. That is section 13 of your rules of procedure. Page 23| January 11, 2021 Mayor Burk: Mr. Martinez, you are correct. If you have a majority, we can bring it forward tomorrow. Is there a majority that would be willing to bring forward this resolution for a vote tomorrow? Council Member Steinberg: Yes. Mayor Burk: Mr. Steinberg, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Bagdasarian, myself, Mr. Cummings. We have enough to bring it forward for tomorrow. All right. Vice Mayor Martinez: Thank you. That's all I got. Mayor Burk: Okay, thank you. Mr. Steinberg? Council Member Steinberg: No, I don't have anything. Thanks. Mayor Burk: Let me write this down. Ms. Fox? Council Member Fox: Real quick, I was hoping to obtain an update, a memo on where we are with the Town Plan, and our consultants. It's been a year and a half since we've talked to them and they've gotten our input. I'm just wondering, and we haven't really seen much of anything. I'm sure COVID had something to do with that, but again, it's been a year and a half, I'd like to know during this year and a half, have the consultants been being paid. How is all this working and how is this going to affect our budget? Kaj Dentler: You want an update on where we are at the Town Plan. Council Member Fox: Yes. Kaj Dentler: Okay, that's fine. Mayor Burk: Is this a memo? Council Member Fox: A memo is fine. Mayor Burk: All right. Is there four people that would be interested in that? Mr. Cummings, Ms. Nacy, myself, Ms. Fox. Council Member Steinberg: Yes. Mayor Burk: Okay. Council Member Fox: Thank you. That's it. Mayor Burk: All right, Mr. Cummings? Council Member Cummings: I'd ask to bring up at our next work session my pandemic business assistance and recovery plan. I've sent it around Council and staff. I'd love to get working on that at the next work session on the 25th. Mayor Burk: Do you want that to go to 25th specifically? Long meeting. Are there four people that are interested in doing that? Vice Mayor Martinez: Yes. Council Member Steinberg: Yes. Mayor Burk: I think everybody's interested in bringing that, okay. Is that it? Mr. Bagdasarian. Page 24| January 11, 2021 Council Member Bagdasarian: I have nothing at this time, thank you. Mayor Burk: Ms. Nacy? Council Member Nacy: I don't have anything other than just when we have the work session about the Airport Commission if we could, as I mentioned earlier, just have an overall conversation about each commission and if there are any. Mayor Burk: Do you want to add to it to discuss? Council Member Nacy: Yes, if we could. Maybe there's nothing that needs to be done, but just a conversation about each one. Mayor Burk: Oh, no, there are other ones. Council Member Nacy: I think it's just overdue. Mayor Burk: Okay. Four people that are interested in doing that? Ms. Fox, Mr. Cummings, everybody is in favor of that. Vice Mayor Martinez: I was under the assumption we were going to do that during our retreat, but I'm willing to bring the discussion up sooner. Mayor Burk: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Martinez. There's just a couple of things I'd like to bring forward. One of them is I'd like to do a proclamation for Girl Scout Troop 2718. They were working on their Silver Service Award and they planted a memorial tree to recognize the current pandemic and the people that have not survived. They worked through Parks & Rec and they got a tree out there at Georgetown Park. They're going to be putting a plaque up that says, "This tree was planted in the memory of those we lost during the COVID pandemic and in gratitude to the heroes who emerged." They planted a blue atlas cedar and Luck Stone donated a large granite boulder to sit on and reflect. I'd like to recognize them with a proclamation. Are there four people that would be willing to accept that? Vice Mayor Martinez: Yes. Mayor Burk: Ms. Fox, Mr. Bagdasarian, Mr. Cummings,- Council Member Steinberg: Yes. Mayor Burk: - Ms. Nacy, Mr. Steinberg, myself, Mr. Martinez. The next one is William James Murphy did an Eagle Scout service project and he planned and constructed a trailhead kiosk at Ida Lee for the one and two-mile inner loops. He included an all-weather aerial map of the surrounding area with distance marker superimposed on the map, he restored the distance markers along one and two-mile trails and he raised $832.55 to be able to complete this project. I would like to recognize Mr. Murphy in a proclamation also. Everybody okay with that one? Council Member Steinberg: Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez: Yes. Mayor Burk: All right, thank you. Then the last one I have is we've gotten some coverage, not we, but there's been some coverage in the paper that there's been some police officers that were involved in the insurrection down in Washington. I would like to ask our Chief to do a survey to make sure that none of our officers were involved in the break in of the building attending the protest. That's everybody's given right, but the breaking in the building, some of the officers in other localities actually were participating and I just want to know from the Chief that we can be assured that that's not the case here in Leesburg. Do I have four people that would be interested in asking the Chief to do that? Page 25| January 11, 2021 Council Member Steinberg: Yes. Mayor Burk: Mr. Steinberg, Ms. Burk. Vice Mayor Martinez: Mr. Martinez. Kaj Dentler: You were asking that you want a report if any of our officers participated in the protest? Mayor Burk: Not participated in the protest, participated in breaking into the Capitol Building. Kaj Dentler: Is this a written report an email, verbal response? Mayor Burk: An email would be fine. Kaj Dentler: Okay. Mayor Burk: Okay, and yes, we have four votes to do that. Christopher Spera: It's a request for information from staff, we can get you that without-- Mayor Burk: Okay. All right, anybody have a motion to adjourn? You all want to stay? Vice Mayor Martinez: So moved. Mayor Burk: Moved by Mr. Martinez. Seconded? Council Member Steinberg: Second. Mayor Burk: Seconded by Council Member Steinberg. All in favor? Council Members: Aye. Mayor Burk: Opposed? Okay, that's 7-0. All right, thank you.