Hello Middleburg! I am now out of office with no plans to run again. I am proud of my service on council and the work I performed there, but that is past. My ankle I snapped forty years ago and now would not sustain the walking demanded by even a modest campaign in the village. Therefore, this is an introduction to my new column for the Eccentric.

So, what are my plans? As many readers know, I worked hard over the past twenty years to get Middleburg's water utility into shape. I believe we are almost there. We dramatically improved water supplies and quality, especially compared to conditions when I joined council in 1998.

I am still sitting in on the utility committee meetings but as a member of the public. Though I no longer have any formal role, I still want to see that it continues to make progress and will provide all the help I can.

Especially important to me are the utility projects underway and the capital budget for next year (Fiscal year 2020). Water line replacements are now finally complete in Ridgeview (some of these lines were installed before World War 2!), and lines to the east and the center of Town were completed earlier. The utility committee hopes to complete repairs to the water treatment plan at Well 4 and to begin the west-end pump-station (sewer) replacement project later this year.

As Martha Semmes, our town administrator and a key contributor to the utility committee plans to retire by early next year, I am determined to help provide continuity on this valuable committee.

With a new, first time, Council liaison now serving on the committee I hope to make available some valuable institutional memory, a good sense of the history and workings of the committee as well as the rate model, which is a key component in determining the annual utility budget. I plan to sit in on committee meeting at least through the end of the year to help wherever I can.

I do not, be assured, intend to write this column each month as a commentary on current or future councils. I plan to write about the village – its activities, things we should look into, and exciting activities or perhaps recent Middleburg history or perspective.

I am still hoping for suggestions from the Eccentric for where this new column goes from here, especially in terms of topic suggestions. If you would like to suggest a topic of a future column, please send your suggestion to the Eccentric.

That is my opinion – what do you think? Do you have ideas you want me to address in this column or ideas to improve Middleburg? I would love to hear your comments, suggestions, and questions!