On the eve of the all-important Christmas shopping season, Middleburg's Town Council is exploring ideas to help fill empty storefronts and support sales and marketing efforts by the town's restaurants and retailers.

At the council's late September work session, Council member Judith Pryor Plescow noted that the central core of the town's business district "...contained six vacancies, with a seventh, and possibly more" on the way.

Observing that the town and surrounding areas were blessed with a pool of world-class marketing talent, she suggested that Council mobilize some of that talent, perhaps in the form of an "ad hoc marketing committee," to reinforce the excellent work already being done by the town's Economic Development Manager, Cindy Pearson.

Members of council speculated that the revenue generated by the town's stores and restaurants accounted for anywhere from 25% to 65% of the town's general fund budget.

Why the Vacancies?

Though business is clearly down, Middleburg has managed to escape the worst effects of the current recession. That being the case, why, relatively speaking, do there seem to be so many empty stores?

Mayor Betsy Davis, a successful retailer whose family owns and runs Middleburg's Fun Shop, suggested that increasing rents may be a large part of the problem, especially in a town that sought and encouraged the presence of small shops and "mom and pop" stores.

During the pre-recession boom, at a time when the opening of the new Salamander Inn and Spa seemed imminent, commercial property rents in Middleburg, like housing prices, rose sharply. Council member Kathy Jo Shea suggested that the rising cost of utilities may have also contributed to the problem.

Changes to Zoning Ordinances and Regulations?

Town Planner and Zoning Administrator David Beniamino told council he had been receiving "a lot of calls about Federal Street" from people who wanted to keep their businesses in Middleburg, but felt they could no longer afford "main street" rents.

Noting that the cost of properly restoring neglected properties, or converting them to new uses, was expensive, Beniamino suggested that the town's planning commission look closely at its land-use policies, and think about creative approaches to making areas like Federal Street an attractive and economically viable alternative to those seeking more affordable rents.

Mayor Davis noted that, in the past, the Town had changed its zoning ordinances to attract businesses that could afford higher rents, encouraging, for example, construction with first-floor retail space.

Economic Development Coordinator Cindy Pearson pointed out that the City of Richmond was currently offering tax reductions to business owners who lowered rents.

Locals or Tourists or Both?

Mark Snyder observed that the mix of businesses in Middleburg had much to do with the kinds of people the businesses served.

Businesses that had focused on serving local residents, Snyder noted, had been slowly replaced by shops, restaurants, and stores that catered to tourists well before the current recession.

Both Snyder and Council Member Trowbridge Littleton pointed out that, for some building owners, their properties were simply investments. As long as they increased or maintained their market value, it mattered little who rented them or what sort of services they provided.

Snyder also noted that the town had long been engaged in promotion and marketing directed at non-resident shoppers; marketing efforts that included not only professionals directly employed by the town, but help from County tourism and economic development staff, and outside consultants as well. Given the current state of the economy, Snyder said he saw little hope for further town-funded marketing help.

Brainstorm

Noting that Christmas was approaching, Judith Pryor Plescow reiterated that she "did not want to have empty storefronts as the face of Middleburg." A little "outside the box" thinking about marketing the town, she said, would help.

Council agreed the town should do whatever it could to help the town's businesses.

Mayor Davis asked Cindy Pearson to organize a "brainstorming" session as soon as possible and asked Council to recommend participants.

Council member Lisa Patterson pointed out that council's actions might also help focus and, in some cases, reenergize several existing committees and local professional organizations with similar goals.

Closing South Madison Street

Town Administrator Jerry Schiro reported that first-time costs for permits, signage, and staff for a safe, legal, and proper closing of South Madison Street for an event similar to a Bluemont Concert would be roughly $2,900. Thereafter, according to Mayor Davis, the cost would drop to around $500 per event.

Costs include one-time outlays for new, heavier, and more highly visible barricades, and recurring costs for staff time and permits.

A decision on the town's ongoing relationship with the Bluemont Concert Series is due by May 2010.

The National Sporting Library and Museum

In response to ongoing discussions about how best to treat sidewalk construction on property owned by the National Sporting Library, Town Council directed the Middleburg Planning Commission to draft an ordinance allowing selected property owners to pay a fee, in lieu of building sidewalks on their property. Draft legislation should be in Council's hand by January.

Though technically required both by the letter and spirit of the town's sidewalk plan, thorny questions arose soon after the Library announced plans for the construction of a new art museum on their hilltop property.

Of particular concern were the physical and aesthetic impact of new sidewalks on historic structures, the wisdom of building technically-required sidewalks that, in practical terms, "led to nowhere," and cost.

At Thursday's regular session, Council formally met Rick Stoutamyer of Marshall, Virginia, the new Administrative Director of the National Sporting Library.

Stoutamyer has lived in the area for more than twenty years, sold rare books in Middleburg for many of them, and has a personal and professional interest in maintaining the historic integrity of the Library and museum site, and the town as a whole.

He invited all members of the Council and Town Staff to visit him at the Library for a personally-guided tour.

Town Vehicles for Sale

Council agreed unanimously to a suggestion by Town Administrator Schiro that the town sell two currently unused vehicles: one of its police cars and a utility-body truck.

Schiro was also asked to see whether a third vehicle, a pick-up truck used primarily for quarterly water-meter readings, should also be sold.

Vice Mayor Darlene Kirk noted that meter readings occurred only four times a year. Mark Snyder suggested that, given the cost of insurance, depreciation, and maintenance, it would be much cheaper to simply reimburse the meter-reader for the use of his own vehicle. Schiro, noting that the town's utility operations had been outsourced to the County, agreed that there was no obvious need to keep the equipment.

Snow Removal Contract

November 4 is the deadline for applications for the town's snow-removal contract. The Town Administrator advertised for bids after previous contractors indicated they were no longer interested in the work.

Water Treatment

The "substantial completion date" for the town's new wastewater treatment plant has been moved to the end of January, according to the Town Administrator. The water treatment plant remains on schedule for a December completion.

Given the progress of construction to date, Salamander Development has requested a partial bond reduction for the two facilities.

Schiro reported that the Town's engineers were reviewing expected expenditures to see if such a reduction made sense, and that he would make a recommendation to Council based on the report.

The town is also looking into tracking fresh-water use by the Town's fire department. Keeping track of just how much water is used is practically the only way to track just how much water is lost, strayed, or stolen, and thus measure the efficiency of the town's water systems. Each fire department tanker holds roughly 2,000 gallons of fresh water. The town does not charge for water used by the fire department.

"Out-of-State" Tags and "Wrong-way" Parking

Vice Mayor Darlene Kirk told Council that she had "observed a number of out-of-state tags" on the cars of Middleburg residents, "particularly at the rental properties."

She asked Police Chief Steve Webber to "have his officers check vehicle stickers" and, while they were at it, do something about "vehicles that parked facing in the wrong direction." She noted that she had observed such vehicles on Route 50, Federal Street, and Marshall Street, and that none appeared to have been ticketed.

Town Charter Amendments

Council plans to hold required public hearings at its November regular meeting on draft changes to the Town Charter, the moral equivalent of Middleburg's "constitution."

If all goes well, the amended Charter will be presented to the Virginia General Assembly for approval on December 5. A seventy-five percent majority vote is required for approval in Richmond.

According to Town Attorney Liz Whiting, the amendments to Middleburg's Charter, though important, are relatively minimal. The first, and most important, will be to "...update the Town's boundaries to reflect the latest metes and bounds description that incorporated the Salamander tract."

The extension of the town's boundaries to include Virginia Lane to the west and the Middleburg Animal Hospital property to the east, though already recorded, would also be formalized.

The revised charter would also reaffirm the number of council members required to be present before official action can be taken in its name. Under normal circumstances the Mayor and four council members constitute a quorum. In the absence of the Mayor, four members of council would still constitute a quorum.

Whiting noted that, despite the new amendments, under Virginia law, "there were instances in which a higher quorum was dictated, such as with appropriations greater than $500 or the contracting of debt."

Emails

The town is investigating setting up a new, more readily accessible, and highly responsive "Middleburg.gov" internet address and assigning new email addresses to Council and staff members.

Currently, most council members use their personal email addresses to conduct official business.

Emails sent to the council members' currently listed "official" email addresses are not automatically forwarded and often go unchecked, according to town officials.

Spam is also a major problem. The vast majority of incoming emails each day are evaluated by town staff and deleted as "junk mail."

Concerns about the email system arose, according to Mayor Davis, "...about a year ago when the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors were hit with a FOIA request for their personal emails. For security reasons, she said, she felt strongly "...that the Town's entire e-mail system should be under the roof of the Town Hall, with the Town having full responsibility for it."