What Is Success?

December 31, 2024 · By Jay Hubbard

Council, among the poinsettias, takes up the Asbury Church community engagement report, December 12, 2024. (Town of Middleburg meeting video)

Council's only December meeting got the Asbury Church's community report, a clean audit and two new officers first class. Then it spent half an hour asking a question it has been asking since 1996: what is Middleburg's farmers market for? It ended the year with a tree problem on South Madison Street, an offer to take the old stepping stones off the Town's hands, and a day off for the staff.

Council met December 12 with all members present; Councilmember Darlene Kirk left before the closed session. Mayor Bridge Littleton votes only to break a tie.

A note on the record: the sound system failed for the first hour and a half of the meeting. The video shows the room, but there is no audio and no transcript for that part, which covered public comment, the police ceremony, the Asbury Church report and the audit. Those sections below come from the Town's minutes alone, without quotes.

Asbury Church: Three Ways to Reopen

Paige Pollard of Commonwealth Preservation Group presented what the Town heard from 85 survey respondents, stakeholder interviews and the September community meeting ▶ video. People want the church's history, and the history of Middleburg's African American community, told inside it, with self-guided tours and displays; the bell and stained glass windows kept; and a use that meets a need the town doesn't already fill. Neighbors worry about parking and noise. The biggest worry was that the building would be fixed and then neglected again. Respondents supported some taxpayer money for upkeep, but not full support; Littleton wondered whether that was a contradiction, since only full Town funding guarantees maintenance, and Vice Mayor Chris Bernard didn't think it was.

The consultants offered three uses: an interpretive site, a small gathering space or a small assembly space, with interpretation folded into either of the other two. Next year the Council picks a use, the Town hires an architect and engineer, and only then will anyone know what it costs to run. Council takes up the choice January 9. The Asbury committee also narrowed the 30 oral-history proposals to six firms, to be interviewed January 6 and 7.

A Clean Audit

David Foley of Robinson, Farmer & Cox gave the fiscal 2024 audit an unmodified opinion, the cleanest an auditor can give, and said the Town ended the year again with a healthy fund balance ▶ video. Chief Shaun Jones gave the Oath of Honor to new officer Frank Barlan and pinned first-class bars on Barlan and Daniel Hinegardner.

What Is a Farmers Market For?

Business Development Director Ali MacIntyre laid out the 2024 season's problems: vendors and food trucks who didn't come every week, 100 to 200 shoppers on a Saturday, and a location people couldn't find ▶ video. Her options ranged from $20,000 more for marketing and music, to moving back to South Madison Street, to a monthly market, to hiring an outside organizer, to a pause.

"I don't think having a farmer's market for the sake of saying we have a farmer's market is the right thing to do," Littleton said. A market of 20 to 30 vendors needs more than 500 shoppers, he said, and Middleburg draws about a fifth of that; his own bagel and coffee there "was 25 bucks." Councilmember Bud Jacobs said "it's not clear to me that it's worth it." Town Manager Danny Davis said a professional market manager had already turned the Town down as too small.

Others wanted to keep it. "We do it for the citizens of the town," said Councilmember Darlene Kirk, who sees people she knows there and worries residents will shop elsewhere without it. Councilmember Peter Leonard-Morgan said a new location takes a couple of years to catch on. Councilmember Cindy Pearson recalled that Sally Bolton started the market in 1996, said it has never had more than about 15 vendors and is expensive for Windy Hill residents: "we have beat this to death since 1996." Bernard asked the question underneath: "we need to have a definition of success." Davis asked for the same thing, and Littleton said Council isn't the expert. In the end Bernard and Pearson will work with MacIntyre on a survey of residents, and the market comes back January 9.

South Madison Street: Trees and Stones

The full South Madison Street rebuild, new sidewalks on both sides, lighting and new trees, would take three years and finish at the end of 2027; the stretch from Washington to Federal Street is estimated at $1.5 million and the Town has $750,000 set aside, waiting on a County capital request after VDOT said no ▶ video. Meanwhile the sidewalks are heaving and some trees are failing. Councilmember Kevin Daly, who said the east side is getting really difficult to walk, wants the trees out: "I love the trees. I love the shade. But if we're going to do it right, do it right the first time." Kirk warned that the big old trees are the charm of the street. Deputy Town Manager Will Moore said one or two diseased trees on the west side have to come out regardless.

Then there are the stones in front of 17 and 19 South Madison, uneven and a trip hazard. Someone assembling an outdoor exhibit of stones from the region's old quarries has offered to take them and, in exchange, rebuild that piece of sidewalk to ADA standards and fix the corner steps. They are not George Washington's, Littleton said: "these were like 120 years, 130 years old." Council agreed to explore it. Kirk wondered if they could go to the Asbury Church instead. Staff will bring options and costs in January.

Also This Month

December 23: Council gave Town staff the Monday before Christmas off, a one-time holiday, 7-0 ▶ video.
Weather station: Council accepted John Ross's donated weather station, which will sit by the North Parking Lot and post readings to the Town's website, 7-0. Ross called it a thank-you for the Town's restaurant coupons during COVID.
Lodging tax: after a new state law requiring booking platforms to remit monthly, Council required all lodging to pay transient occupancy tax monthly, 7-0. One of the two big hotels' managers had no objection.
Committees: Council endorsed North's plan for three-year staggered terms, including the Economic Development Advisory Committee (now one-year terms) and the Streetscape Committee (no terms at all); ordinance changes come in January ▶ video. The private-bank zoning change goes to a hearing January 9.
Christmas: MacIntyre said businesses called Christmas in Middleburg their best day ever; Littleton thanked staff and volunteers for a safe parade. Sidewalk repairs by the Red Fox Inn begin in January, in brick at the owner's request.
Water: a valve left closed during maintenance on the Stonewall tower kept the Marshall Street tower from holding pressure; IES fixed it quickly with no lasting effects. A sewer main broke on its own before its scheduled video inspection, and the contractor filmed it while it was open.
Remembered: Littleton noted the deaths of Tom Gorman, who helped with Town events including the original Mille Miglia, and Katie Tyrell, former executive director of the Middleburg Community Center.

Public Comment

December 12: the minutes record no public comment. The sound system was not recording during that part of the meeting.

Tips & Wags (opinion)

Tip of the Hat to Kim Shelly and Ali MacIntyre, who were at every market, whatever Council decides it was for.

Tip of the Hat to whoever wants the South Madison stones. One person's trip hazard is another's exhibit.

Wag of the Finger to the sound system. Ninety minutes of a public meeting, including the public's own comments, are now a silent film.

Coming Up

December 14: Dickens of a Christmas. December 21: Dickens of a Dog.
December 31: applications due for Town committee vacancies.
January 6–7: Asbury oral-history interviews.
January 9: Council picks an Asbury Church use, revisits the farmers market and South Madison Street, and holds the private-bank hearing.
January: General Assembly session opens.

Sources: the meeting video (December 12), the Town's minutes (pending approval) and the transcript attached to them. Quotes come from the Town contractor's transcript, which covers only the part of the meeting after the sound was restored; each ▶ link opens the video at the start of that agenda item where the Town's index provides one.