We Don't Have a Checklist
July brought a would-be successor to the Mille Miglia. It also brought a goodbye to the woman who scooped Middleburg's ice cream for 37 years, and, after three months of work, a water rationing law. The new Ridgeview rules got their first test, at the Board of Zoning Appeals, over a potting shed. And a resident and a Councilmember told the police chief, in different ways, that his speed numbers don't match what they see.
Council met July 10, with Councilmember Darlene Kirk absent, and July 24 with all members present. Mayor Bridge Littleton votes only to break a tie.
We Don't Have a Checklist
On July 24 Ryan Danger and Jason Paterniti pitched Rallye Middleburg for Saturday, October 18 ▶ video. Up to 45 vintage cars would drive from Summit Point Raceway and park on a closed South Madison Street and part of Federal Street. There would be a vintage costume party, hair and clothing from the 1940s to the 1970s, a kids' race, food and drinks from Nomad, three police officers, and proceeds to Seven Loaves. They weren't asking the Town for money, they said, only permission.
Everyone liked the idea, but nobody liked the date, the same Saturday as the Middleburg Film Festival: - Curran and Pearson: Councilmember Pam Curran said "my heart sank when the Mille Miglia didn't come back." She and Councilmember Cindy Pearson both worried about the festival's big buses, which run down South Madison to The Hill School. - Police: Chief Shaun Jones doubted a bus could make the turn with a police car blocking the corner. Councilmember Kevin Daly noted the Town hadn't budgeted for extra officers that day. - The plan: Councilmember Bud Jacobs said he couldn't vote on a concept, and that promises not to ask the Town for money have a way of changing. - The checklist: when Danger asked for a checklist he could meet, Littleton said: "So, we don't have a checklist." Every event is different, he said, and it was the organizers' job to work it out with the film festival and the Chief. "October … is our best month of the year. It is a Saturday." He also passed on a lesson from the first Mille Miglia: it took twice the people and twice the time anyone expected.
Danger said the track had only that date open this year, and the fallback is Lost Barrel or another site outside town. Council told them to talk to the film festival first.
Rationing, Adopted
After a deferral on July 10 so Jacobs could read the final draft, Council adopted the water conservation ordinance, 7-0, on July 24 ▶ video. It has three levels: voluntary, mandatory and rationing.
- Households: under rationing, a flexible cap, likely starting near 300 gallons a day.
- Businesses: the forty biggest commercial users would cut 10 percent.
- Combined: together the two would cut daily production about 10 percent, enough to rest a well for hours at a time.
Littleton still wants a fix for large families within six months. The Town has "a very important moral responsibility," he said, if a once-in-a-century drought ever forces rationing. Vice Mayor Chris Bernard pointed to the ordinance's hardship appeal. Town Manager Danny Davis is talking with the soil and water district about discounted rain barrels.
The wells look better. Well 4's pump went 190 feet deeper and the well was acid-cleaned, and it recharges faster for it. Well L, rested in June, has been slowly declining since it went back into service. The recycled-water system at the sewer plant now saves up to 10,000 gallons of drinking water a day. Council also approved $129,662 for Valley Automation to support and upgrade the control system that runs the plants, 7-0.
The First Ridgeview Variance
On July 1 the Board of Zoning Appeals heard the first variance request under last fall's R-2 rules ▶ video. Christian Roberts of Martin Avenue wanted a 10-by-12-foot potting shed for his wife's garden. His new house was permitted under the old 30 percent lot coverage limit. When it was finished it covered 28.8 percent, over the new 25 percent cap, so anything more under roof needs a variance. The Board denied it; Bundles Murdock, a neighbor, abstained. Vice Chair Dev Roszel, who also sits on the Planning Commission, said the Board can't rewrite an ordinance it doesn't like, and that the garage still gives the family reasonable use of the property. Chair Eric Combs noted six other properties share the same problem and said the remedy is a change to the ordinance, which is Council's job. Middleburg Planning & Project Associate Sue Foote, who staffed the hearing, left in July to run operations at the Community Center.
Speeding, Again
John Pittman of Piedmont Drive came back on July 24: since the 20 mph limit went in, he said, speeding at the east end of town has gotten worse, and he asked for a permanent fix ▶ video. Chief Jones reported that the Town doesn't qualify for signs warning of an extra $200 fine: the state requires the fastest 15 percent of drivers to exceed the limit by 10 mph, and they don't. He suggested flashing crosswalk beacons or warning signs instead ▶ video. Jacobs, who lives on the east side, said his own observations don't match the averages. "My paramount concern is not comfort or profit or anything else. It's safety of the people who live here and who visit here." Littleton did the math: "if you're 85th percentile is eight miles over the limit, that means 15% of the time people are going 8 or 9 miles over the limit. That's a ticket." He also wants the inbound and outbound speeds separated. The Chief will bring better data.
Also This Month
- Scruffy's: Council thanked Hilleary Bogley, who opened Scruffy's Ice Cream Parlor in 1988 and is handing it to new owners ▶ video. Her foundation supports 25 animal welfare groups a year. On her last day, she said, a customer told his children Scruffy's had been part of his whole life and they would grow up with it too, and it broke her heart. - Christmas in Middleburg: after months of drafts, Council approved the new agreement with the parade organizers and the business association, 7-0. Michelle Myers said they were comfortable with it. - South Madison stones: Council accepted Mark Ohrstrom's offer to remove the old flagstones in front of 17 and 19 South Madison Street at his own cost and replace them with brick, 7-0 ▶ video. No one else bid. The engineers' concept for the full street is, Littleton said, impressive and expensive. - Other business: - Council approved the Segra fiber franchise, 6-0. Staff is talking with internet providers about using that fiber to bring residential high-speed service to town. - The Volunteer Appreciation Reception is October 29, with a tropical theme. - Littleton wants a fall conversation about residential parking, especially in Ridgeview. - Police warned of phone scammers posing as the department. - Ari Young is the new police administrative specialist, and Punkin Lee reported that Stuff the Cruiser collected 1,218 pounds of food. - The Northern Virginia towns may jointly hire a lobbyist.
Public Comment
July 10 ▶ video
- Punkin Lee, chair of the Middleburg Business & Professional Association, thanked the police for Stuff the Cruiser and the Fourth of July children's parade.
- Megan Gallagher, East Marshall Street, praised the Juneteenth celebration and the Fourth of July at the Community Center.
July 24 ▶ video
- John Pittman, Piedmont Drive, asked for a permanent fix for speeding on the east end of town.
Board of Zoning Appeals hearing, July 1: applicant Christian Roberts spoke for his variance.
Tips & Wags (opinion)
Tip of the Hat to Hilleary Bogley. Thirty-seven summers of ice cream and a foundation that feeds 25 animal charities. The new owners have a lot to live up to.
Tip of the Hat to the Board of Zoning Appeals for applying the rule Council wrote, even when the applicant was sympathetic. If six properties have the same problem, that's Council's to fix.
Wag of the Finger to drivers on the east end. The speed sign says 20. John Pittman can hear you.
Coming Up
- August 5: National Night Out, Community Center ball field.
- August 28: Council's only August meeting: the Asbury Church architect contract and the year-end revenue review.
- September 20: Oktoberfest.
- October 18: Rallye Middleburg, if it can be worked out; the Middleburg Film Festival the same weekend.
- October: police take-home car report.
- October 29: Volunteer Appreciation Reception.
Sources: the meeting videos (July 1 BZA, July 10, July 24), the Town's minutes (pending approval) and the transcripts attached to them. Quotes come from the Town contractor's transcripts; each ▶ link opens the video at the start of that agenda item.