At the May 8 regular meeting of the Middleburg Town Council Mayor Betsy Davis congratulated Council members Kevin Hazard, Darlene Kirk and Mark Snyder on their re-election and Erik Scheps on his election to the Council. Mayor Davis also thanked Tom Dionne for his willingness to serve. He would be a valuable addition, she noted, to many of the Town's advisory committees.

Council member Bundles Murdock also congratulated Mayor Davis on her re-election.

The Search for a New Town Planner

In response to a question from Council member Bundles Murdock on the status of the search for a new Town Planner and Administrator to replace David Beniamino, Town Administrator Martha Semmes reported that she had received two good resumes and hoped to have more before the May 23rd deadline.

Burglary Case Both "Closed" and "Open"

Chief of Police Panebianco reported that Lt. Mike Price, Middleburg PD's chief investigator, had "made a lot of headway" in what is now being called the "Hill School Burglary Case."

Prince, he said, had "come up with a suspect" who had been "tied to a string of jewelry thefts along the east coast. The suspect, Panebianco noted, could not be tied to Middleburg's case.

Nevertheless, according to Panebianco no less than "twenty-one felony cases were being assigned to this individual, whose arrest was the direct result of Lieutenant Prince's investigation."

Prince is thus "still working Middleburg's case and has not given up."

Michelle Obama Visit

Reporting on the First Lady's recent visit to Middleburg, Chief Panebianco noted with a wry smile that one might say the visit did, indeed, "stress" Middleburg's small Police Department. He commended newly sworn-in Officer Mark Putnam for working an extra twenty hours to provide the level of security the Department was required to provide for the First Lady. The Department had someone in the Secret Service Command Center the entire time Mrs. Obama was in town.

Drug Take Back Program a Success

Middleburg's Drug Take Back Program was "a huge success," Chief Panebianco reported, "with fifty-five pounds of expired drugs having been received."

He urged the people of Middleburg to "plan ahead and to even save their pet medication for the next event."

Council member Kathy Jo Shea noted that the Town's "Go Green Committee" members did not particularly like the DEA poster for the Drug Take Back Program. The poster called on people to "Dispose Unused RX" under the headline, "Got Drugs."

Chief Panebianco replied that his department would do its own poster next year.

Council member Murdock said she thought the DEA poster "sent a negative message" and that the Middleburg Police Department's flyer "was much better."

Council member Shea reported that the "Go Green Committee" considered contacting the DEA in hopes of finding a poster "that had more to do with the green element of the Drug Take Back Program." Inappropriately discarded drugs, she noted, find their way into streams and the Town's water supply.

Water and Sewer

Terry Inboden, of IES, reported that progress was being made on the Middleburg's long troubled Well #4 treatment plant. He hoped, he said, to have the plant working soon.

According to Inboden, "The most important issue" facing the Town's water system was "I&I" . . . uncontrolled "inflow and infiltration" . . . of outside water into the system.

During the recent heavy rains, "I&I," he said, "nearly overwhelmed the treatment plant recently."

According to Inboden, the "inflow" came from "rain entering the collection system through cracked pipes and storm drains and gutters connected to the system."

The issues could be addressed, Inboden assured Council, but "it would take time."

The depth and soundness of the construction of manholes in the system required immediate inspection, he said. Next, the lines themselves needed to be evaluated. He recommended annual inspections and careful mapping of all findings.

Mark Snyder, Town Council's acknowledged expert on Middleburg's water and sewer treatment facilities moved to change the Town's current Public Works Committee from a committee of the whole to a more formal free standing committee comprising one or two members of the Council, along with Terry Inboden and Bob Krallinger, who have volunteered.

Snyder's motion passed without dissent.

Battery Recycling

Council member Bundles Murdock has long sought a formal Town battery recycling program.

Council member Vice Mayor Kirk suggested a container be placed at the Town Shop so residents could drop off their batteries.

Council member Shea noted that the drop-off location needed to be monitored and suggested that the "Go Green Committee" could find a location.

Visit Loudoun Awards

Mayor Davis reported with pleasure that Susan Koch had won the Visit Loudoun "Tourism Event of the Year Award" for events with 3,000 attendees or less. Tom Sweitzer, of A Place To Be was honored with the "Humanitarian of the Year Award;" Sandy Lerner, of Ayershire Farm, won the coveted "Judy Patterson Tourism Award;" Linda Boyer, of the Goodstone Inn, took home the "Tourism Employee of the Year Award;" and, Peter Wood of the Middleburg Arts Council won the Volunteer of the Year Award.