Seven and a Half Years

April 30, 2026 · By Jay Hubbard

Council applauds after Town Manager Danny Davis announces he is leaving, April 23, 2026. (Town of Middleburg meeting video)

At the end of the April 23 meeting, Town Manager Danny Davis said he was leaving. He has taken a job with Loudoun County, and his last day is June 9. Council hired a search firm the same night. April also brought arrests in the Truist robbery, a written-plan demand for how the Town and the Sheriff will tell residents what's happening, and the last shape of the water rates before the May hearings.

Council met April 9, with Vice Mayor Chris Bernard absent, and April 23 with all members present. Mayor Bridge Littleton votes only to break a tie.

Seven and a Half Years

Davis asked for "a little point of personal privilege" under information items ▶ video. "After seven and a half years of serving the Middleburg community. I have informed the Town Council that I've accepted a position with the Loudoun County Government," he said. "It fulfills a long-term career goal of mine." He thanked Council, staff and volunteers. "I truly have enjoyed every minute of my time here, and I really do mean that." He lives close by and plans to visit often.

"Danny, it's bittersweet," Littleton said. "You've been an absolute Godsend. And we wouldn't be where we are today without you." He added that since it wasn't Davis's last day yet, "we'll have plenty of time to humiliate you then."

After a closed session on personnel, Council voted 7-0 to hire Raftelis for $39,000 to run the search for the next town manager, through a County contract. Davis leaves in the middle of a lot: a budget to adopt in May, the first tiered water rates, the Asbury Church fundraising, and the Windy Hill housing partnership. On April 7 the Town also lost its business development director, Ali MacIntyre, who received a resolution of appreciation on April 23 for her service from 2021 to 2026.

The Robbery, and Who Tells Us

On April 14 Sheriff's deputies tried to serve warrants on a suspect in the Truist robbery at a house in Hamilton. He barricaded himself inside and was later found dead. A second man, Paul Peter Gerardi Jr., 40, of Ashburn, was arrested in Herndon the same day and charged with robbery and conspiracy (Loudoun County Sheriff's Office). On April 9, before the arrests, Chief Shaun Jones told Council the rumor that $300 was taken started before the bank had even counted, and that officers had stepped up foot patrols at every bank in town.

The question Council kept coming back to was communication ▶ video:

April 9: Chief Jones launched Operation Get Informed, with sign-ups for alerts at Wellness Day and on the back of officers' contact cards. Littleton said people are tired of signing up for things, and the Town's push should be its own alerts, since most County alerts have nothing to do with Middleburg.
April 23: Jones and Davis had met with the Sheriff's Office ▶ video. Davis said the first alert went out "at 4:00 or 4:30, whatever it was, and nothing else came out till 10:00," so people "could reasonably assume there was still an active situation happening for six hours." The Town reaches about 300 subscribers; the Sheriff reaches 25,000 to 45,000. The Sheriff's team is now open to a message saying an incident is over.
The Mayor's line: "When you have joint accountability, you have no accountability," Littleton said. He wants a plan "in writing that's agreed to by the sheriff's department and us," and if the Sheriff won't commit, "then we need to own that responsibility."

Councilmember Darlene Kirk said the old robocalls at least told people when something was over. Davis said robocalls were clunky and that texts reach people faster.

On police staffing, Davis, the Mayor and the Chief met with the Sheriff. The Sheriff wouldn't put backup in writing, but said "we will always have someone there." The deputy assigned to Middleburg also covers South Riding, in a sector of 50 to 70 square miles.

Water Rates, Final Shape

Littleton called the tiered rates a matter of fairness ▶ video. Middleburg has the highest water rates in the county and the highest share of subsidized and lower-income housing, and Windy Hill's residents are being squeezed by the cost of everything. The Strategic Finance Committee, not unanimously, recommended going ahead. Towns like Round Hill and Hamilton keep their own rates lower by charging customers outside town more, which Middleburg has chosen not to do.

On April 23 Council settled the details ▶ video:

Three groups: single-family and commercial, multifamily with its own cut-off, and out-of-town.
Split: Davis offered to tilt the charges 45 percent water and 55 percent sewer; Council kept them even.
Bills: the minimum bill drops, total revenue rises 3 percent, and most customers, those using 7,000 gallons or less per billing cycle, pay less.
Connection fees: availability fees would rise 13 percent for water and 17 percent for sewer.
The finance committee's idea: forgive the $1.1 million the general fund lent the utility fund last year, to hold down future rates. No decision yet.

The public hearing is May 14, with adoption May 28. If the $2 million federal request fails, Davis would still do the $1 million Well 3 treatment but put off the Ridgeview water mains. Meanwhile the state is in drought. Well 4 dropped ten feet in March, and Davis said conservation should be on Council's agenda if it doesn't rain in the next few weeks.

Also This Month

- Grants: Council gave $10,000 infrastructure grants to the Middleburg Museum Foundation for its new fence and to the Community Center to rebuild its 1950s barbecue pit, both 6-0. Sue Foote said the old grill was built by Edward Dade of stone quarried in Middleburg, and the mason will reuse as much as he can. The goal is to have it ready for the Fourth of July. - Asbury Church: - The Historic District Review Committee liked the exterior design at a pre-application review. - Three firms bid to run the fundraising. A committee will recommend one. - The state will say May 11 whether the Town can apply for its preservation grant of up to $1 million. - North said the National Trust told her the President has proposed cutting its funding by 95 percent, which would end the Saving Black Churches grants. Littleton said Congress writes the budget. - Police awards: Chief Jones gave the department's first annual awards. Lt. Mark Putnam was officers' pick for Officer of the Year. Officer Melvin McCord was Community Police Officer of the Year, and Officer Daniel Hinegardner won the Chief's Achievement Award; the two shared Squad of the Year. Officer Francis Barlan became the department's firearms instructor. - Wastewater: Council bought a $74,535 TrojanUV disinfection system to replace the plant's 15-year-old one, whose maker has gone out of business, and awarded Utilities Unlimited $151,590 for three sewer repairs, two on West Washington Street ahead of VDOT's repaving. Both 7-0. - Budget: the finance committee advised against raising meals or lodging taxes, since the budget still has about $200,000 unallocated with the new officer. The business association gets $5,000 more for social media. South Madison Street moves to fiscal 2028. The Windy Hill housing money stays in as a placeholder while Windy Hill works through a County step first. - Rooftop dining: the new owner of the Fun Shop building wants dining on the roof, and possibly a club on the second floor and roof. The HDRC can only judge looks. At the Planning Commission on April 27, Commissioners Carolyn Hersh and Kim Basinger said a bar would be very different from table dining; a bar "just felt more like a different kind of vibe than what I think Middleburg is," Basinger said, and noted the building's planned apartments. Staff will bring Council options: a special use permit for rooftop dining, one for all outdoor dining, or a ban ▶ video. - Richmond: the Governor signed the backyard-apartment bill, effective July 1, 2027. Planner Amy Rogers said it will let units sit five feet from the property line and in some cases be taller than the house. Deputy Town Manager Will Moore called it the clearest example yet of the state taking away local zoning control. - Around Middleburg: the Training Center. On April 2 Rep. Suhas Subramanyam told constituents the Army firmly intends to buy the Middleburg Training Center for the Caisson horses and expected the deal done by fall. Gold Cup chair Al Griffin asked the Secretary of the Army for a 90-day pause (FauquierNow, April 6). - Other business: - Council approved a $3,000-a-year contract with SND Archive to save the Town's social media posts and comments for public-records requests, 7-0. - An oak in front of 107 East Washington Street is coming down because its roots are pushing out the old stone wall. - Sid Abrams was reappointed to the Strategic Finance Committee. - Councilmember Chris Hersh reported on the April 20 community well meeting at the American Legion: the area's groundwater sits near the surface in fractured rock and can run down quickly.

Public Comment

April 9 ▶ video

Megan Gallagher, East Marshall Street, praised the Asbury design and Town Clerk Rhonda North, and supported both infrastructure grants, suggesting money be moved to fund them fully.

April 23: no one spoke.

Tips & Wags (opinion)

Tip of the Hat to Danny Davis, for seven and a half years of budgets that added up, a Town Hall that got built, and a Council that always got straight answers.

Tip of the Hat to the Mayor for asking for it in writing. "We will do our best to try" is not a plan.

Wag of the Finger to six hours of silence after a robbery on Washington Street. Saying "it's over" doesn't compromise any investigation.

Coming Up

April 25: Wellness Day, with alert sign-ups at the police table.
May 9: Art in the Burg.
May 11: word on the state preservation grant for the Asbury Church.
May 14: public hearings on the budget and water and sewer rates. May 28: adoption.
June 9: Davis's last day.

Sources: the meeting videos (April 9, April 23, Planning Commission, April 27), the Town's minutes (pending approval) and the transcripts attached to them, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office for the arrests, and FauquierNow for the Training Center. Quotes come from the Town contractor's transcripts; each ▶ link opens the video at the start of that agenda item.