Two Point Four Million

January 31, 2026 · By Jay Hubbard

Circuit Court Clerk Gary Clemens administers the oath of office at Town Hall, January 8, 2026. (Town of Middleburg meeting video)

The new Council was sworn in on January 8. Two weeks later it saw the bill for the Asbury Church: $1.86 million to build, about $2.4 million all in, against the $1 million the Town set aside three years ago. The Mayor said that was more than he expected, and Council agreed to start taking donations. It also turned down an architect's office on Washington Street, put off the farmers market decision again, and dealt with a 20,000-gallon sewage overflow and a big winter storm.

Council met January 8 and January 22 with all members present; Councilmember Chris Hersh joined the second meeting from Colorado. Mayor Bridge Littleton votes only to break a tie.

A New Council

Loudoun Circuit Court Clerk Gary Clemens swore in Councilmembers Deborah Gallagher and Chris Hersh, who are new, and Darlene Kirk and Cindy Pearson, who were re-elected ▶ video. Then he swore in Mayor Littleton for another term. Chris Bernard was re-elected Vice Mayor, 6-0, abstaining on his own vote. Littleton assigned Council liaisons:

Hersh: the Planning Commission.
Gallagher: the new Arts & Community Events Committee.
Pearson: the Historic District Review Committee and Streetscape.
Curran: EDAC and the Charitable Foundation, which she shares with Kirk.
Kirk: also Personnel.
Daly: Public Safety and Sustainability.
Bernard: Utilities, Strategic Finance and Christmas in Middleburg.

The two-day strategic planning retreat is set for late February or early March. Council also appointed Carolyn Hersh and Paul Drew MacMahon to the Planning Commission, 6-0, with Councilmember Hersh not voting.

The new Council's first water report got a warning before it was even given. "I think piggybacking off something Bud said last time, I think we want to be very careful in our choosing of words that everything's fine. It's not fine," Littleton said. The wells were holding, but the rain wasn't coming.

Two Point Four Million

On January 22 the design team from Glave & Holmes presented its schematic plan for the Asbury Church ▶ video:

The history: architectural historian Gibson Worsham traced the 1829 church through electric lights in 1923, a furnace and opalescent windows in 1950, and the cement stucco, new restrooms and particle-board ceiling of 1973. The congregation left in 1994. The team recommends restoring it to how it looked between 1923 and 1950.
The structure: structural engineer Kenneth Hill of TyLin found that a main beam holding up the gallery had been cut when a modern stair went in. Posts added later pushed the roof's weight onto decorative columns never meant to carry it, which is why the walls bow and why the Town recently added cables and bracing. The fix restores the original load path and removes the modern stair.
The exterior: the cement skim coat comes off, the old lime stucco is repaired, the walls are repainted in a period color, and the front doors are rebuilt to the original design.
Access: a curving accessible path from the sidewalk will display the church bell beside a garden. One accessible restroom replaces the two old ones. The gallery stays closed to the public.

Kevin Fallin of Downey & Scott then gave the number: $1.859 million for construction, including a 10 percent contingency. Big pieces include $437,000 in structural repairs, about $210,000 to strip and redo the stucco, $151,000 to repoint the stone, and $96,000 to repair twenty windows. Town Clerk Rhonda North put the full project, counting design, oversight, hazardous-materials work and stabilization already done, at about $2.4 million. About $600,000 of the original $1 million is already spent or committed, leaving just under $400,000 for construction.

"We always knew it was going to be more than that," Littleton said. "But 2.5, 2.4 all in, I think, is I know for me more than what the expected cost was." He said he wasn't stopping anything, but "we have to think how we're going to afford this." The federal preservation standards are "great to haves but not got to haves," he said, and the team should look for savings, or a way to phase the work, before the design is finished. Vice Mayor Chris Bernard cautioned that phasing can cost more in the end and leave the Town holding an unfinished building. Construction plans are due in July or August, with bids by year's end and construction possibly in February 2027.

Council voted 7-0 to accept cash and personal-property donations for the restoration, with pledges allowed over two years ▶ video. The model is the library's expansion, which raised more than $500,000 from the community a decade ago. One donor has already offered $10,000. The oral-history films had a private screening in December. Davis said half the room choked up when North spoke, and Littleton singled out Reverend Swann's video. They premiere publicly on February 11, alongside the design.

Not on Washington Street

Catherine Purple Cherry's architecture firm has occupied a ten-foot-wide storefront at 11 East Washington Street since 2019 ▶ video. The firm's occupancy permit described it as retail, but it was working as a by-appointment professional office, which on a street-level storefront in the C-2 district requires a special use permit. Staff found this in August through a lapsed business license, which the Town admits it failed to process. Cherry told Council on January 8 that she had never misrepresented anything. She said the tiny space would never work as retail and asked to stay until a tenant was found. Of her chances, she said: "My odds are zero."

They were. Littleton said storefronts are meant for shops and restaurants that are open to the public, and that approving the request would chip away at the town's protected retail core. Megan Gallagher spoke at the January 22 hearing in favor of the Planning Commission's recommendation to deny. Council denied the permit, 7-0 ▶ video.

The Market, Still Undecided

On January 8 Littleton laid out his doubts about the farmers market ▶ video. It draws 300 people in its best weeks and as few as 50, and he said, "I would much rather give that $40,000 to the charitable foundation to help those in need." Councilmember Kevin Daly said the Town decided long ago not to be a landlord, and it "should not be merchants" either. Kirk, who shops there weekly, wants it to continue. Bernard didn't want to lose the momentum. Davis said moving it to South Madison Street is a question for the retreat, not this year. Council narrowed the options to three: hire an outside operator, hand it to a local group, or end it. By January 22 the local group was out and the quotes from outside operators hadn't arrived, so the decision moved to February ▶ video. Ten vendors have already applied.

Also This Month

- Sewage overflow: on January 11 a failed level sensor let about 20,000 gallons of sewage overflow a basin at the treatment plant. A police officer spotted it and alerted IES, which redirected the flow, cleaned up and reported it to the state. A second, backup sensor is going in. - Water: a 15-year-old leaking valve was losing about a quarter of Well L's water, so the well is off until parts arrive in six weeks; Well P is running alone. Running Well 3 more has let Well 4's resting level rise 30 feet. Water production fell as some of the biggest users stopped irrigating, and the budget is being recalibrated to that "new normal." A partially collapsed sewer line on South Pendleton Street is the first repair priority. - The storm: with a major snow and deep cold forecast, Littleton declared a snow emergency banning parking on Route 50. Police staffed Town Hall through the weekend, and the chamber was ready as a warming center. Davis noted ten to fifteen inches of snow equals about an inch of rain, and said he'd take all the precipitation he could get. Burns Night sold out and went ahead. - Richmond: the Town is fighting bills that would: - require towns to allow accessory dwelling units; - bar minimum parking requirements; - mandate housing growth, with denied developers able to appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals; - require prevailing wages on public works over $250,000; - weaken sovereign immunity for police. - Other business: - Salamander's contractor has repaired the improperly installed water main that burst in February 2025, with IES's Gary Garrett making them redo several items. - The County will now enforce erosion and stormwater rules in town, 7-0. - Town Hall's meeting rooms can be used after hours if a Councilmember volunteers to open and close, 7-0. - The Fun Shop redevelopment, under new ownership, is working through the HDRC. - America 250 kicked off January 23.

Public Comment

January 8 ▶ video

Punkin Lee, president of the business association, welcomed Gallagher and Hersh and announced the first business survey in three years.

Public hearing, January 22 (11 East Washington Street): Megan Gallagher, East Marshall Street, supported denial.

Tips & Wags (opinion)

Tip of the Hat to the Mayor for saying "more than what the expected cost was" out loud at the first look, not the last. The church is worth doing, and doing within reach.

Tip of the Hat to the police officer who noticed a basin overflowing at the sewer plant. Sometimes the best alarm is somebody paying attention.

Wag of the Finger to the Town's own paperwork. A business license application sat unprocessed for six years. The permit denial was right, but the Town owed Ms. Cherry a cleaner record.

Coming Up

February 10: Biz Buzz at The Hill School.
February 11: Asbury Church oral-history premiere and design unveiling (America 250).
February 12: Council: the farmers market decision, the police staffing request, and a closed session on a state bill.
Late February / early March: Council strategic planning retreat.
March 11: Citizens Academy.
July–August: Asbury construction documents.

Sources: the meeting videos (January 8, January 22), 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.