Two supporters of retiring Middleburg Police Chief Steven L. Webber made public statements at the March 10, 2011 regular session of the Middleburg Town Council. They were followed by Denis Cotter, President of the Middleburg Public Library Advisory Board, seeking the Council's support for a resolution in support the that organizations efforts to fund an effort to effectively double the size of the Middleburg Library.

Webber Praised

Michael Bedard (or Bedard) of Foxcroft Road, a former law enforcement officer currently employed in the personal security business, appeared before Council to say that, in his opinion, Chief Webber had done an outstanding job. Noting that he had read press coverage and had seen "both sides of the issue" of Webber's conduct during the November 30 arrest of Middleburg Eccentric co-founder and Editor in Chief, Dee Dee Hubbard, he told Council that the Chief was "well-respected in the community" and, indeed, "throughout other local enforcement agencies in the state." He noted that it was not unusual for police officers to lie in order to lure drug dealers and other dangerous criminals into the open, and that it was standard procedure for dangerous criminals to be handcuffed when they were arrested. Indeed, he told Council, he himself had lost a friend in law enforcement who was stabbed to death by a woman over sixty years old who had not been handcuffed.

Sally Bolton praised both Webber and the officers under his command for their courtesy and responsiveness. Bolton has run a business in Middleburg for nearly thirty years, and was a one-time candidate for Town Council. Noting that by praising the Police Department she in no way intended to say "something bad about someone else," Bolton praised the officers of the Middleburg force for how they dealt "... with robberies and settling private issues between neighbors." She also noted that, from time to time, they helped capture and return her dogs, who now and then break loose and run away. In her view, she said, "the police department made issues go away without a problem," and she "stood behind them."

Library Expansion

Accompanied by new library advisory board member Mike Morency, Denis Cotter, President of the Advisory Board, updated Council on progress toward expanding the Middleburg library. Cotter noted that the slow, and in some cases negative, growth of the areas served by the library would make it very difficult for a project to double its footprint to make the County's already stressed Capital Improvement budget.

For that reason the Advisory Board has put together a plan to raise the money necessary for the expansion privately.

On March 10 Council unanimously passed a formal resolution, reiterating its support for the project.

On Wednesday of the following week the Advisory Board reported on Middleburg's resolve to a full meeting of the Loudoun County Public Library Board of Trustees, the body responsible for administering the library system, hiring its Director, approving its programs, and for the care a maintenance of its buildings, of which the Middleburg Library is one.

The Board of Trustees was supportive of the idea of expanding the Middleburg library, and appointed a three-person committee to oversee the effort. Chairing the committee will be Joe Maio, appointed to the Board of Trustees by Middleburg's representative on the Board of Supervisors, Blue Ridge representative Jim Burton. Joining Maio will be Dan Morrow, appointed by Sally Kurtz from the neighboring Catoctin District, and Larry Stepnick, of Ashburn, appointed to the Board by Supervisor Lori Waters.

Library Board Chairman Scott Stewart expressed his confidence that the new committee, working closely with the Middleburg Advisory Board, would provide the best possible approach to getting the Library expansion completed, while crossing all the t's and dotting all the i's necessary to meet all the rules, regulations and requirements imposed on the project by the Town of Middleburg, the County, and the strategic plans for the County Library system.

Representatives of the Middleburg team expressed their pleasure with arrangement as well, and will be meeting soon with the new committee to maintain momentum.

Emergency Plan

Council Member Bundles Murdock reported that she had "met with Chief Webber regarding the development of an emergency plan." The Chief, she noted, had given her a copy of information gleaned from a meeting in 2008 on establishing emergency procedures. She also noted that Town Administrator Martha Semmes had given her a copy of a "disaster preparation and recovery plan that had been developed for Purcellville."