At its regular monthly meeting on August 9, 2007, the Middleburg Town Council passed four key motions, amending the Town's zoning ordinances and maps, and granting a special use permit that will allow construction to begin on the Salamander Inn and Spa and its related housing and mixed-use developments.

Two of the four critical motions passed unanimously: one granting Salamander a critical "special-use" permit; the other amending the Town's zoning ordinance to allow construction of a resort and spa.

More problematic were motions to create a new "Mixed Use Village" zoning designation for Middleburg, and the all-important motion formally rezoning the 341.28-acre Salamander property. Both these motions passed 4-2. Eura Lewis, Trowbridge Littleton, Lisa Patterson and Karen Robinson voted "yes." Vice Mayor Darlene Kirk and Mark Snyder voted "no." Katherine ("Bundles") Murdock, who had consistently opposed the project under both Mayor Tim Dimos and Mayor Betsy Davis, was absent.

The End of the Beginning

The final vote, the culmination of almost six years of hard work, controversy, debate and compromise, was, at first, greeted with silence by a packed gallery, representing an almost complete cross-section of the roughly 640 residents of the town, reinforced by a large contingent from Shiloh Baptist Church, on hand to witness passage of an official resolution honoring the 140th anniversary of its founding in 1867.

Only when Mayor Davis quietly broke the silence did the crowd appear to realize the full impact of what they had just witnessed.

"I'd like to extend my congratulations," she began, "to Dr. Johnson, her family, and Salamander Hospitality; . . . to our staff . . . for all their hard work; and to Council . . ."

As she spoke, glances were exchanged, tentative smiles broke out, and whispers began to spread around the Council chambers.

"I'm looking forward, along with Council, to having a great project," Davis continued. "In which we'll all work together. I know we're all going to be proud of this and make it the best resort in the nation."

By the time she finished, it was clear what had been done. Cheers and applause spread around the room. As the applause faded, Sheila Johnson, educator, entrepreneur, co-founder of BET, and by all accounts the first black American woman to join the ranks of the world's billionaires, stood to speak.

"First of all," she began, "I'm really trying to hold back tears. I am thrilled that it's come to this. I cannot begin to thank everybody in this room for all the hard work. It's been a very long process."

After thanking the Mayor and others personally, Johnson turned to the assembled crowd. "I will not let you down," she said. Noting that she and her colleagues had put their "hearts and souls into this project."

"We're honorable people; we care very much about this town," she continued. "and we will continue to work . . . with everybody. This resort will belong to everybody."

Speaking to those concerned about the impact of the new resort on the Town's existing businesses, Johnson noted, "We're going to work very closely with the town's retailers, because it's very important to us . . . to bring further economic development to this town."

Noting that she " . . . fell in love with this place" well before moving here eleven years ago, she concluded with a promise. "I am here for all of you," she said, and as applause rose once more, "I thank you all again for your support."

Salamander Hospitality President, Prem Devadas, hopes to break ground this fall and work expeditiously toward a late 2009 opening date for the much-debated, much-anticipated, five-star, $100 million plus, 168-key, luxury Inn and Spa. In 1991, Mrs. Johnson paid roughly $7 million for its site, some 341 acres of open meadow, forest and rolling hills, adjacent to the northern boundary of Middleburg. The setting is not only beautiful and undeveloped; for many residents of Middleburg and the surrounding hunt country, it has special historical and emotional resonance. It belonged to the late United States Ambassador to France, Pamela Harriman: onetime daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill, wife of legendary New York Governor Averell Harriman, personal friend and confidant of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and one of the truly legendary political figures of post-war Washington.

Council's actions on August 9th will change Middleburg forever. The Inn and Spa, constructed of traditional stone and northern Virginia building materials, will comprise nearly a quarter million square feet, with restaurants, meeting facilities, and other amenities.

Well over half the site, 255 of its 341 acres, will remain undeveloped, protected by a formal conservation easement.

Nearly 80 acres have been set aside for private residential development, which, over time, may comprise up to 49 new dwellings. Houses built closest to Middleburg may not exceed 2,500 square feet. Those located farther away and, for the most part, screened from the town, may be as much as 1,000 square feet larger.

A newly defined, roughly 14-acre "Mixed-use Village" zone, adjacent to the old Town boundaries, allows construction of up to 30,000 square feet of commercial space and 48 new apartments. One third of those apartments will be reserved for residents over the age of 55. Salamander also plans to construct 12 homes specifically priced and designed for teachers in the local schools.

Residual Concerns

Though all members of the Town Council expressed best wishes and hope for the success of the project, three still express serious reservations. Vice Mayor Darlene Kirk and Mark Snyder both voted for the Salamander project before they each cast negative votes on two of the four resolutions passed on August 9. Both had served as Council Members under former Middleburg Mayor Tim Dimos, and both had stood with the narrow 4-3 majority that passed the Town's initial, July 2005, "Memorandum of Understanding" with Salamander Development.

That memorandum envisioned, among other things, a smaller, 120-room inn. Vice Mayor Kirk began to question the project when it grew from 120 to 168 rooms in March and April of this year. Noting that Salamander's requests had grown from 40 to 120 rooms, and then to a non-negotiable demand for 168, she began questioning other aspects of the development, including whether or not Salamander's demands on the town would not continue to grow.

Mark Snyder, whose vote had been critical to the passage of the Town's first, critical, Memorandum of Understanding on the project, consistently questioned the value of Salamander's financial proffers in comparison to the windfall value they received when their land holding was re-zoned. Both expressed concern for the integrity and ongoing viability of the Town's existing commercial core, and worried aloud about access routes to the site, before, during and after construction.

In the face of four solid votes supporting the project, Mayor Davis's pro-Salamander voting record during the administration of Mayor Tim Dimos, and Bundles Murdoch's absence, Kirk and Snyder found themselves casting votes that were more symbolic than substantive.

Shiloh Baptist Church Recognized

The Town Council unanimously passed a "Resolution in Honor and Appreciation of the 140th Anniversary of Shiloh Baptist Church." Founded in 1867 in the home of the late Deacon Peter Tibbs by a young preacher named Leland Waring, the church moved to 304 East Marshall Street on the eve of the First World War. Some of the most prominent African American residents of the Middleburg area have worshipped there, and it has served as a center of activity for civil rights, education, and entrepreneurship.

In its unanimous vote, the Council acknowledged, " . . . on behalf of the Citizens of Middleburg the contribution, both historical and spiritual, the church has made to the greater Middleburg Community."

The "Pink Box" Chronicles

On July 30, Mayor Davis's select committee on the "Pink Box" held its first official meeting, as part of an ongoing effort to untangle the finances and decide the fate of the town's erstwhile official "Visitor Information Center," the "Pink Box."

The ultimate goal of the "Pink Box" committee is to decide how much of a roughly quarter-million dollar trust fund is owed to the Town, and how much can be made available to the current "Pink Box" organization to restructure itself and maintain its facilities and activities, independent of Town financial support.

According to Town Administrator Jerry Schiro's preliminary estimates, the "Pink Box" fund owed Middleburg nearly $73,000, leaving just under $180,000 in escrow for eventual transfer to an as-yet-to-be-formed new "Pink Box" non-profit organization.

Chaired by Eura Lewis, the Town Council's long-standing official "Representative to the Pink Box," Mayor Davis's committee included Council Members Trowbridge Littleton and Bundles Murdock. "Pink Box" President Mary Kay Garwood, and Vice-President Audrey W. Bergner represented the "Pink Box."

Garwood and Bergner opened their portion of the meeting by documenting in detail five major objections to Schiro's expense estimates:

1. The expense information provided by the Town, they charged, was, at best, incomplete.

2. The expense summary spreadsheets prepared by the Town, they noted, do not appear to match up with the data contained in the ledger reports on which they were ostensibly based.

3. Several expenses, according to Garwood and Bergner, were either inadequately identified, or were expenses unrelated to the operation of the "Pink Box."

4. "Miscellaneous Income" transferred to the town by the "Pink Box" staff, they claimed, appeared to be unaccounted for, and finally,

5. The "Pink Box" had not been given "a complete accounting" of investment, income and/or losses, resulting from its management by the Middleburg Trust Company."

According to Bundles Murdock's official report on the meeting, everyone present discussed the Garwood and Bergner concerns, and agreed that the numbers " . . . should be looked into and reported back to the Pink Box Members."

Once the "Pink Box" financials are in order, it is likely that the current "Pink Box" organization will, in fact, form a new foundation. The new foundation, independent of the Town, will in turn negotiate a working agreement with the "Pink Box" building's current owner, the non-profit National Sporting Library.

The town, according to Trowbridge Littleton, will continue to maintain its own economic development office, "responsible for dealing with the media and any other such inquires that come to the town."

All agreed, according to the Murdock report, that a Pink Box relationship with the Sporting Library would be in everyone's best interest, and that "they were all on the same team."

Further developments are not expected until after key executives of the Sporting Library can meet with the interested parties in the early autumn.