Free Parking!

Middleburg Chief of Police Panebianco reported to Council on May 14 that "starting later in the day" the Town's parking meters would be bagged for "free parking".

Every single meter in the Town's main shopping district meters is due to be bagged, and clearly marked FREE 2 HOUR PARKING.

The town's parking lots, however, will still be metered.

Business owners, managers and staff were asked to park in the lots or in non time restricted areas.

Officers will be marking tires to enforce the two-hour free limit.

After a suitable trial, according to Panebianco, his department, Town Staff, and key stakeholders in the community will evaluate the effectiveness of the new program. If it is successful it may serve as a long term fix for all the problems associated with keeping parking meters working effectively on the streets.

Panebianco urged everyone to "please observe the time limits and don't park your vehicle at a meter all day."

NEW parking!

The long-awaited new intersection at Marshall and Madison Streets is at last finished, bringing with it two new parking places.

Before the re-construction there were six metered spaces on the west side of Madison Street that were, according to Town Planner Will Moore, "quite large." They have now been reduced to "standard size," yielding eight spaces instead of six.

Council member Bundles Murdock noted that the re-alignment of the old parking space street markings had left parking meters sitting in odd positions relative to the new spaces. Moore assured Council the issue would soon be addressed.

Build Your Own Parking

While on the subject of parking and rare spaces, Council Member Murdock also noted that a discussion of VDOT right-of-way versus private property rights might well be in order.

Her concern centered on what appeared to be, in Murdock's words, an individual who appears to have taken "...land that did not belong to her and used it to construct her own private parking area."

"At some point," she said, the Town must say "this is VDOT land and you cannot seize other people's property".

According to Murdock "the individual" put gravel on both the right-of-way and someone else's property because she needed parking. The "someone else" she continued, turned out to be Middleburg Mayor Betsy Davis.

Councilmember Mark Snyder suggested Council resolve issues like this "on a case-by-case basis," observing that "the width of the right-of-way would vary by street."

Town Administrator Martha Semmes noted that the right-of-way was forty feet for all of Middleburg's streets, "except Stonewall Avenue, which was sixty feet."

The actual location of the right-of-way was, she said, sometime open to question.

Town Planner Will Moore noted that he "had no enforcement ability with regard to someone putting something in VDOT's right-of-way" noting that infringement "was a civil issue if it occurred on private property." He suggested, however, that it might be helpful if he could "facilitate a discussion."

Mayor Davis asked that something be put in the Town's newsletter regarding the right-of-way. Town Administrator Semmes promised she would follow-up with VDOT.

Way-finding

In view of both recent construction and the Towns plans for ongoing street and water line improvements, Councilmember Kathy Jo Shea advised Council that she felt Middleburg may well need "an eye in the sky" to tell people how to navigate.

Liberty Street, she said, was often closed during work on recent construction projects, noting that, as a result, there was often a sign on Federal Street stating that it was "closed to public access."

People were then left with the misperception that they could not come down Liberty street.

It was bad enough at the east end of town during the construction on the Marshall/Madison intersection.

When such signs were moved to other places, affecting traffic in the heart of the business district, the Town would, she noted, soon hear from other business owners.

Town Administrator Semmes noted that she has not seen the traffic control plans for the VDOT's new projects, but, in her view, the signs should say "open to local traffic only".

Semmes noted that, in any case, for a VDOT project VDOT is responsible for providing appropriate signage.

"The Town, she assured Council, "would have a plan in place before the project began.

Visit Loudoun Awards

Mayor Davis commended to Council and the Town the winners of Visit Loudoun's recently proclaimed annual awards.

Gemma Brown, Director of Rooms for the Salamander Resort, won the "Tourism Front-Line Employee of the Year Award;" Genie Ford, co-founder of Shakespeare in the Burg, was recognized as "Tourism Volunteer of the Year;" the Middleburg Film Festival won the "Tourism Marketing Promotion/Campaign Award;" and Childs Burden, co-founder and long-serving President of the Mosby Heritage Area Association, was awarded the coveted "Judy Patterson Tourism Award," Visit Loudoun's highest honor.

Tracking Business Licenses

During the regular monthly Treasurers' report, Councilmember Kathy Jo Shea noted that the Town's "business license revenue appeared to be low," prompting her to question whether "all of the businesses have paid for their licenses."

Town Treasurer Debbie Wheeler responded that, indeed, "some businesses' license fees were still outstanding."

When Councilmember Bundles Murdock asked "how the Town could ensure that everyone had a license," Wheeler replied that "she was working on ones that she knew did not have a license; however, some businesses came into town that she did not know about."

When Town Attorney Angela Plowman asked whether business owners "got a card when they came in for a permit from the Town Planner," Town Planner Moore replied that, in his experience, Town staff did a good job of referring anyone who came in for a business license to zoning...and vice versa.

When Councilmember Kevin Hazard asked how the Town could best enforce its business license requirements, Town Treasurer Wheeler observed that even when she sent out letters asking new business to get a license, some did not.

Town Attorney Plowman told Council she has already "spoken with the Town Administrator about how the Town wanted to address the collection of fees from unlicensed businesses," noting that both criminal and civil procedures were options.

Observing that there were "agencies that handled collection enforcement for localities," Plowman then suggested that a clear first step would be to "get a handle on who was unlicensed and how much they owed the Town."

Plowman and Town Administrator Martha Semmes are now scheduled to discuss the matter further and bring Council a recommendation on how best to handle the problem.

Asbury Church Ad-Hoc Committee

Following an unusual closed session to discuss concerns raised by Councilmember Kathy Jo Shea "regarding one of the proposed appointments," Town Council appointed Jane Covington, Bill Turnure, Wayne Hughes, Steve Plescow, Coe Eldredge and Kevin Hazard to the ad-hoc Asbury Church Technical Advisory Committee.

On a motion by Snyder Council also agree that "the Committee members serve until the completion of the Asbury Church Restoration Project."

Asbury Church, on the corner of Madison and Jay streets, is the oldest church building in Middleburg. Since January 19 it has been the property of the Town of Middleburg which is now responsible for its care and restoration.