After a 90-minute, closed-door, work session on Monday, April 23, the Middleburg Town Council voted 4-2 in favor of Salamander Development's demand that it be allowed to build an inn with 168 guest rooms on the corporation's recently annexed town property.

Technically, the Council ordered Town Administrator, Jerry Schiro and Town Attorney, Liz Whiting, to work with Salamander to draft the necessary amendments to existing agreements to allow the 168 room inn. The Council further ordered that the amendments be ready for approval by Council in two weeks.

If the four-vote pro-Salamander coalition holds, formal approval of the larger inn could come as soon as May 7.

Council's vote follows a surprise March announcement by Salamander indicating that cost increases of nearly 40% made the originally-approved 120-room inn "truly unfeasible" financially, putting future tax and fee revenues, and a new $5 million dollar waste water treatment plant at risk.

Voting in favor of the new plan were veteran Council member Eura Lewis, and the three newest members, Lisa Patterson, Karen Robinson, and Trowbridge Littleton. Patterson had pressed for an early vote at a Council Work Session late last week, citing the negative effects on ongoing uncertainty about the future of the Salamander project.

Littleton, quantified the uncertainty, noting that every month's delay in opening the inn costs the Town a minimum of $100,000.

Darlene Kirk, and Mark Snyder opposed the motion. Both had been supportive of plans to build the smaller, 120-room facility. Kirk has consistently branded Salamander's non-negotiable 168-room requirement as a breach of faith. Snyder has insisted that Council is not receiving a fair return on the value of its new concessions to Salamander.

Catherine ("Bundles") Murdock, the sole opponent of the town's original Memorandum of Understanding with Salamander still serving on council, was on vacation when the critical vote was taken. By email from Switzerland she told the Eccentric, "I am still opposed to the "resort" and would have preferred a small 20-40 room inn." Though she indicated that she was "prepared to work on the approved 120-room Memorandum of Understanding and make the best of it for the town, the residents, and the shops," her reactions to the latest Council decision remain unknown.

Mayor Betsy Davis, who can vote only to break ties on the 7-person town council, has consistently favored negotiating with Salamander for what she considers "the best long-term interests of the town."

Late last week, Town Administrator Jerry Schiro's work-session review of the pros and cons of approval, leaned heavily toward the former. "In a nutshell," he said, "if not Salamander, then what?

According to Schiro, "The Town of Middleburg is at a crossroads." The town, he said, simply could not "continue to deliver the levels of service that our residents have come to expect without additional revenues . . . and there are few sources for additional revenue."

More Tax and Fee Hikes?

One approach, Schiro admitted, would be to increase tax rates and user fees.

"But recent analysis of the utility budget (alone) shows that despite a 10% increase in the utility fees in December 2006, significant deficits are projected at the end of the current budget year."

Restructuring the Town's existing debt would create a near term benefit in Fiscal Year 2008, he continued, but from Fiscal Year 2009 through 2015 utility rates would have to be increased roughly 6% per year to meet increased operational costs, annual debt service, and deferred maintenance costs.

Even then, Schiro noted, his bleak projections did not take into account any unforeseen catastrophic repairs to the town's utility systems, nor provide for any growth.

Salamander?

A second option, and in Schiro's opinion "a more salable one," was to expand the town's customer base thereby diluting the per capita cost for services. In his view, ". . . a five-star resort of the caliber proposed by Salamander would be an excellent means of accomplishing such an expansion."

"Compared to more typical residential users," Schiro noted, "Spa users would place few additional demands on Town services."

"And, to offset the demands the project will place on the Town's infrastructure, Salamander has already agreed to fund over 5 million dollars in capital improvements to the town's utility system."

That, he said, would virtually "eliminate the need for the town to incur additional debt in the near future."

In addition to the positive effects of a new Salamander deal on the town's utility system, he continued, "the Spa would also bring additional revenues into the Town's general fund, through taxes paid on meals and occupancy."

"Salamander's marketing presence and proximity to the Middleburg retail district is also anticipated to have a positive affect on the Town's business environment." That, he said, "translates into increased tax revenues from the business community and stabilizes the residential tax burden."

Unanimous approval of a "tree removal request" on the Salamander property and a 6-1 vote in favor of a critical amendment to the town's Comprehensive Plan telegraphed Monday's action for many keen observers of the Salamander project.

On April 12, after receiving promises that Salamander would move as many large trees as possible, and plant many more than would be destroyed, the council voted to allow the removal of all trees "over 18 inches in caliper from the limits of clearing and grading on the Salamander tract."

With Mark Snyder as the only dissenter, Council also agreed to amend portions of its Comprehensive Plan to fit the requirements of its original agreement with Salamander, and to add a new chapter and map, entitled, "Small Area Land Use Plan: Salamander Tract."