Middleburg Town Council celebrated the beginning of the holiday season with good news for hard-pressed local taxpayers, businesspeople, and charities.

FY 2009 Audit

Council commended Town Administrator Jerry Schiro for his tight management of Town expenses after reviewing Jeff Mitchell and Sandy Tondreau's presentation of Mitchell & Company's annual independent audit of the Town's books for fiscal year 2009.

With assets valued at roughly $9.3 million and liabilities totaling $3.8 million, Mitchell reported that the Town was "in a strong financial position."

Mitchell noted that "…this was not the case three or four years ago." While noting the large contributions of the Salamander development project to the town's coffers, Mitchell pointed out that "it took a lot of work to get to this point."

Schiro noted that the cost-control and oversight improvements were "due to the efforts of the entire staff."

Among the Town's assets: Cash investments of more than $980,000; a Water Fund with $630,000 in cash on hand; $1.9 million in cash on hand.

Tax, fee, and license revenues for 2010, however, are down, and cost-control efforts continue. Three surplus vehicles, including a police cruiser, have been sold.

Health Center "Profits" Distributed

The Town's "Health Center" is, in fact, not a health center at all, but the building that houses the town's police department and several other rent-paying tenants.

Run by a "Health Center Advisory Board," chaired by Vice-Mayor Darlene Kirk, the building generated an operating surplus large enough to allow $30,000 in grants to local community service organizations.

At November's regular Council meeting, Vice-Mayor Kirk presented letters of gratitude from all the organizations receiving funds.

George Lengauer of Seven Loaves (which provides food to needy families) and Martha Cotter, of FISH (which, among other things, provides transportation services for those otherwise unable to travel to local medical facilities), appeared personally at the session to express their appreciation.

The Town administrator noted that some $400,000 of Health Center money is currently held in the town's cash accounts. Some will be required for further renovation and repair, including a solution to a persistent problem with mold in the below-grade level parts of the building. The rest, Schiro suggested, should be taken out of the town's general "sweep" account, and "put into a higher yielding investment."

Support for Local Merchants

Council also continues to discuss measures to support local businesses during the ongoing recession. With the annual "Christmas in Middleburg" parade and festivities set for December, Mayor Betsy Davis made a special appeal to all the residents and friends of Middleburg to support our local shops, restaurants, inns and other businesses.

"Middleburg's a special place," she noted, "and the people and businesses that make it special need us more than ever."

High rents, many of them raised in anticipation of the now-delayed opening of the Salamander Inn remain a special concern.

At a late October work session, Council briefly discussed supporting the establishment of a non-profit foundation, to buy and rent commercial property.

At their regular work session Council unanimously approved moving forward on a request to make the volunteer "Farmers Market" and "Arts Council" committees, official town advisory committees.

Other News

With Mayor Betsy Allen Davis abstaining, Council approved the sale of an unused 40-foot alley right of way, currently running through the "Fun Shop" property. The property will be offered for sale after an independent appraisal determines the current market value of the right-of-way.

Council unanimously supported applying for a Virginia Energy Efficiency Block Grant, to support the replacement of some of the Town's street lighting with more efficient, and less sky-glare-producing LED fixtures.

The Town is still seeking contractors willing to remove snow from several parking lots and other areas not covered by Virginia DOT service. Because the Town's streets are "owned" and maintained by the state, the town's snow removal needs are relatively small, thus making it sometimes difficult to find a contractor willing to commit people and equipment to be "on call" for the town.