The Middleburg Town Council opened their January session with a Joint Public Hearing with the Middleburg Planning Commission, which got underway at 7:30 pm on January 13 to a full audience. The topics under discussion for the joint hearing were changing the Historic District Review Committee's Certificate of Appropriateness application deadlines and private parking lot use.

According to Marchant Schneider, Town Planner, an extension of the Town's current deadlines on Certificates of Appropriateness is desired in order to give staff members ample time to review and verify the information presented in each application before making a decision. The code currently calls for applications to be turned in seven days before the Committee meeting at which approval is requested. The Planning Commission is asking that the deadline be pushed back to 14 days prior to the Review Committee's meeting.

In an effort to better serve Middleburg's visitors, the Planning Commission is looking into parking availability in the Town. Schneider said that a former study "found a deficit in parking." He stated that the Planning Commission is looking into private/public partnerships to help remedy the situation. Town codes changed, becoming more flexible two years ago, said Schneider, allowing available parking spaces to be used for multiple purposes. While the changes were positive, they did not increase the number of spaces enough to meet existing community needs, he said.

As a possible solution, Schneider presented to Commission and Council the option of building parking facilities in the C3 district of Middleburg, which primarily comprises the properties south of Federal Street and southwest of Madison Street. The facility, said Schneider, should be built under a Special Use Permit.

The public, approximately 30 of the community's residents, area neighbors and professionals, had nothing to say on either of the issues and so the joint hearing was adjourned.

After a 10-minute recess, Mayor Tim Dimos convened the Town Council Meeting.

"This will be a special meeting," Dimos noted, "as I believe we have some special news." He then announced that the Town Council is encouraging both new and established town businesses to introduce themselves to the Council and the Town at the monthly Council meetings. Present to do just that were the owners of two of the Town's newest businesses: Hump Astoria of Aster Restaurant and Pat Daley of Books & Crannies.

The Town then introduced and welcomed two of Middleburg's most recent additions to the police department: Officers Dave Payne and Lester Jones.

Next on the agenda was a presentation from local fashion designer and reality TV show contestant Wendy Pepper and the Middleburg Eccentric's editor, Dee Dee Hubbard. They invited the Town's Council, business people and residents to an evening event benefiting tsunami relief. The Middleburg Business Association has planned a fund-raising evening of coffee, dessert and wine on February 9 for the community to view the finalist selection on Bravo Channel's reality show Project Runway–to see whether Pepper makes the cut and also to join in a live and silent auction.

Every penny collected for the event will be donated to Project Hope to aid tsunami relief efforts. The event has been coined "Project Helping Hand." "This is one of those opportunities for Middleburg to look outside itself," said Hubbard.

Most of the meeting attendees had been waiting for the next agenda item: Public Comments. As expected, most, if not all, comments addressed the issue of the Town's water and sewage system, intertwined with related concerns about the town's relationship with Dr. Sheila Johnson's Salamander Inn.

Trowbridge Littleton, Town resident, spoke first, waving his latest water and sewer bill in the air. He stated that the Salamander Inn "IS happening" and that he is concerned with mounting utility bills, which he expects to be aggravated by the costs of the inevitable upgrade of the water system. He made a plea to the Council to negotiate with the Salamander Inn to come up with a plan that will not mean more hikes in water bills or taxes for the Town's citizens.

Resident Sonny Underwood spoke very directly and called for the Council to either make a decision and move forward with it or to "step aside." He vowed that he would not remain a resident of Middleburg "with those kinds of water bills."

"Your job is to be leaders," Valerie Kelly told the Council, "and to have foresight and perspective." She contended that the Council should find that the Salamander Inn, "as proposed" is not of appropriate size or scale for the community. "The sewer problem did not spring up overnight and it's unreasonable to expect an overnight solution," said Kelly. Kelly recommended that any negotiations with Salamander be "open to public scrutiny."

Nancy West, of Parsons Road, read from prepared comments designed to be entered into public record. She, too, voiced her preference for a smaller-scaled inn, placed within town limits so that the water and sewer lines would not have to be extended.

Edward "Snooks" Swain spoke of the "good Middleburg" that people refer to and how Middleburg now differs from the one he remembers. He told the Council that it should stop dragging its feet on the issue. He hoped that it's not too late "to work a deal to the Town's advantage."

Anne Adams, self-proclaimed "horse wife and mother," whose father is a Town resident, also read her comments into record. She compared Middleburg to Neverland, in her view, a place to be preserved, where everyone wants to come and share in the culture. "It seems to me if the Middleburg community wants to be a part of the solution it is everyone's duty to come up with some fresh ideas, because clearly this horse is not getting over the fence," said Adams. To practice what she preached, Adams made a few of her own suggestions including development of a staged, three-phase development plan for Johnson's property.

Introducing himself as a representative of the Salamander Inn, Jonathan Rak of the well-known law firm, McGuire Woods, then addressed the Council. Noting a letter he'd presented to the Council on behalf of Salamander Development prior to the meeting, formally proposing further "discussions regarding the possible extension of Town water or sewer service to the Salamander Inn," he stated that his intent was to make himself available to answer questions and to keep the lines of communication open. The Inn, according to Rak's letter, "is making a transition in team members to bring in an experienced operator of high-quality inns and spas" and is "committed to keeping you informed of our progress and would be pleased to provide regular updates if you would be interested." The letter also urged the council to appoint a formal representative authorized to discuss any issues of concern directly with the Salamander team.

Resident Mike Morency advised the Council to decide what it wants before entering into negotiations.

Steve Plescow, Middleburg resident and Planning Commissioner, said, "I hope we will welcome Salamander as a neighbor," and listen to them. "The project's happening–we need to deal with it," he said.

Sonny Underwood added that, "If you stop development, America wouldn't last 30 days. That is the backbone of this country–building."

Reggie Dawson ended the evening's public comments with a brief yet poignant remark: "May reasonableness and logic prevail in these negotiations."

Mayor Dimos then gave each Council member the chance to react to the comments.

Although the council remains clearly split about the very idea of the Salamander Inn, they all seemed to agree they weren't ready to make a final ruling on the matter.

Council member Eura Lewis stated that when the issue is complete, there will be a "positive change in the community," that the Town stands to profit from it, and that she cannot see why a decision is not forthcoming. She supposed that maybe the real issue is race, as a "highly-educated black woman" is at the heart of the matter. "Is it really the spa, or is it race," Lewis asked.

Ending the Public Comments segment of the night, Mayor Dimos encouraged Council members to personally go out to visit the Salamander Inn property to get a better feel for what they needed to consider.

As the Council moved forward to its "Consent Agenda," the room nearly emptied out, leaving only about one citizen in the room for each of Council's eight members.

As the Council moved on to staff reports, Town manager Mike Casey noted that some of the especially high water bills sent out this month were caused by a system software problem. The bills, he noted, would be corrected.

Other action items included postponing consideration of the revised Town budget to a later meeting and approving plans to petition the Circuit Court to amend Board of Zoning Appeals membership terms so that appointments are, once again, staggered, with one term ending each year, as required by law.

Ending the session on a high note, Mayor Dimos announced that he would be donating his just received yearly Town paycheck, in its entirety, to Project Helping Hands. Council member Betsy Davis also agreed to donate hers.