The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors is only a few weeks away from a resolution concerning the lawsuits filed against its new zoning regulations, according to Supervisor Jim Burton. Supervisor Burton announced the upcoming decision at the July meeting of the Middleburg town council, describing rigorous closed session Board meetings leading up to the decision.

"Sometimes the discussions are civil, sometimes they become very spirited . . . it's going to come down to a 5-4 vote one way or another. It's time to fish or cut bait." remarked Burton. If the Board of Supervisors votes not to defend the lawsuits concerning the new regulations, the zoning situation in western Loudoun could return to the same state as in 2002 or to some sort of settlement option.

Salamander Visioning Steering Committee

The Salamander Visioning and Steering Committee submitted their report concerning the issues and land use options for the in town portion of the Salamander Inn to the Middleburg town council at the July meeting. The committee used work sessions with the Middleburg community to gather together possible ideas and goals for the piece of Dr. Sheila Johnson's upcoming Salamander Inn project that would physically be part of Middleburg.

"Visioning fell on the public. They gave their look ahead as to what they saw for that property," said Steering Committee chairman George Linghauer. The chairman was also careful to point out that the Steering Committee's submitted report does not address the funding and cost issues that might be associated with the ideas put forth although some could be covered under Middleburg's capital program. Chairman Linghauer also pointed out that many of the ideas in the steering committee report that were most supported by the community would be covered under Middleburg's Comprehensive Plan. That Comprehensive plan has a five year deadline and will come under review in February 2005. Mayor Dimos suggested that the public response to the steering committee's hearings would be taken into account as part of that review. The public hearings held by the steering committee to create the report were very well attended by members of the Middleburg community, and Town Manager Mike Casey considers this an endorsement of the current Comprehensive Plan.

"This was more public involvement than we've ever had on a land use issue . . . this exercise reinforced the decisions of the planning commission," commented Casey. The Steering and Visioning Committee's report will be available on the Middleburg town website starting July 9th, and will be forwarded to Dr. Johnson as the community's plan.

New Appointments

The Middleburg town council sported a new look at their July meeting as this was the first meeting for new council member Bundles Murdock and the first meeting without departed council member and former vice-mayor Mark Tate. Tate's departure from the council left a vacancy at the Vice Mayor position and after some debate the council unanimously voted Betsy Davis into the position. Vice Mayor Davis is serving her third term on the council and has lived and worked in Middleburg her entire life. Bundles Murdock's own recent ascension to the council left two other vacancies in town government. Prior to winning the council post Murdock had been serving on both the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Planning commission but had to give up those seats to serve at council. After a closed session with the resumes of three applicants for two positions the council appointed Town Council runner up Lisa Patterson to the Board of Zoning Appeals and Kevin Passarello to the post at the Planning Commission.

Other business

The town council voted to approve the current version of the employee handbook, which outlines Middleburg's policies regarding town workers. Members of the council expressed concern about the handbook's wording regarding several issues including exit interviews and overtime, and the council clarified that this version was being approved only to provide a starting point for further retooling, including some changes to the section dealing with employees who are called up for active military duty.

The town council was also treated to a presentation by Vicki Bendure of the public relations firm Bendure Communications. Bendure is employed by the town to promote tourism and public relations for Middleburg. Bendure showed the council various magazine articles about Middleburg from around the country, including an article in the Los Angeles Times Magazine which lists Middleburg as an "exotic location" along with South Africa and Hawaii. Bendure also pointed out that since the beginning of the Salamander Inn and Spa project she has been better able to arrange stories with high profile national magazines such as Travel and Leisure. "The spa provides a nice hook for them. That's really what they're all about." Bendure explained. Also shown in the presentation were clips from the ESPN series "Super Retriever" which recently chronicled a hunting dog contest in the Middleburg area and included many scenes from the streets of Middleburg. According to Bendure the show reached a national audience of 8 million viewers and is still being occasionally shown on ESPN. Bendure also expects an upcoming Fox 5 morning news story on Middleburg and told the council to expect a TV camera on the street.