The Answer Is Rain

July 31, 2026 · By Jay Hubbard

Mark Inboden of IES briefs Council on the Town's wells before the vote on mandatory water conservation, July 23, 2026. (Town of Middleburg meeting video)

On July 23 Council made water conservation mandatory, starting the next day, until it votes to lift it. The wells kept dropping under voluntary limits, and the Town now has to find more water. Council also approved the final Asbury Church plans at $1.79 million, hired appeals lawyers in the short-term-rental case, and began interviewing town manager candidates. At the Planning Commission, rooftop dining moved forward, because the Fun Shop has already been approved.

Council met July 9, with Councilmember Pam Curran unable to join remotely, and July 23 with all members present. The July 9 audio system failed, so there is no transcript or usable sound for that meeting. Mayor Bridge Littleton votes only to break a tie.

The Answer Is Rain

On July 9 Interim Town Manager Bryan Foster said Mark Inboden of IES, the Town's water contractor, was recommending mandatory conservation. Council waited two weeks for the Utility Committee.

On July 23 Inboden showed why ▶ video. Loudoun's groundwater is at emergency level. Well P is losing ground, Well L only recovers when it's shut off for days, and Well 4 rose only because Well 3 came back online. Use kept climbing anyway: June 2026 used substantially more than June 2025. Foster pointed to new lawns at the Salamander Residences. Littleton asked for a check of water billed against water pumped. If the Town bills 96 percent of what it pumps, it's "not a leak," he said, just higher usage.

The Utility Committee was unanimous, and Foster called the step "prudent." Councilmember Cindy Pearson said, "If it doesn't improve, we have to go into water rationing after that. And we really don't want to go there." Council voted 7-0 for mandatory measures effective July 24, until it lifts them. Inboden wants three months of improving trends first.

The recharge for the Town's aquifer comes from "over 100 miles away," Inboden said, so local rain alone won't fix it. Dry ground sheds what does fall. The Utility Committee is studying:

Well 2 on Landmark School Road, out of service now;
Salamander's old test wells, which might be converted;
Lowering a pump in an existing well;
A new well, which Inboden said takes about six months of study just to pick a spot, and then drilling to see if it produces.

"The longer we wait, the harder it gets, the more expensive it gets," Littleton said. Options and costs come to Council in August or September. Rain barrels are on hold; Deputy Town Manager Will Moore found no convenient source, and his County contact doubts how much they would help.

$1.79 Million, Ready

Nickolas Coile of Glave & Holmes walked Council through the 95 percent construction plans for the Asbury Church ▶ video. Little has changed since January:

Inside: the two original chandeliers restored and four period fixtures added; casters on the pews; a ceiling panel and a wall panel left open so visitors can see the old structure.
Outside: shielded site lighting, mechanical louvers moved to the back, period siding on the rear wall, and two-panel front doors based on the old side panels.
New: a sewer line running to the manhole at Marshall and Jay Streets.

Kevin Fallin of Downey & Scott put construction at "$1,785,846." Clerk Rhonda North said value engineering ran through the whole design. If money falls short, the structural work comes first and the finishes wait. Council approved the plans, 7-0. Convergent's fundraising contract is signed. North also applied to the Hillsdale Fund, with help from Megan Gallagher and her brother Peter, and the state's $1 million grant decision is due by the end of September.

The Lawsuits

On July 9 Council hired Sands Anderson for the appeal in Salamander Farms v. Town of Middleburg, Sheila Johnson's short-term-rental case. The same closed session listed a second case, Salamander Resort LLC v. the Town Council, which Salamander filed in June to overturn the tiered water rates. It claims the rates break its 2005 and 2007 agreements and seeks at least $230,000 a year in damages or a refund of the $12 million it put into the system (Loudoun Now). On July 23 Salamander managing director Scott Little told Council he wants a "cooperative relationship" and asked it to take up the remanded rental application, perhaps in September. The legal disagreements, he said, are for the lawyers ▶ video.

At the Planning Commission on July 27, Little pushed back on Chair Bud Jacobs's June remark that the 180-night permit on Jay Street was a mistake. Of the three active short-term-rental permits in town, he said, "One of them has never rented, not a single day. One of them almost never rents" ▶ video. Jacobs said the matter is before the courts and declined to comment further.

Rooftops, Because One Exists

Moore said the Fun Shop's rooftop dining already has its zoning permit, so a ban couldn't touch it, though new performance standards on things like amplified music would ▶ video. That changed minds. "We can't close the door on everybody else having one establishment having gained approval," Jacobs said. Councilmember Chris Hersh: "I think it's inequitable from my standpoint not to allow it by special use," even though "from a historic village standpoint, I don't think it fits." Commissioner Drew MacMahon held out: "This whole thing doesn't fit for me personally here."

Mike Morency of Landmark School Road, who owns property on Washington and Reed Streets, argued that sound carries farther from a roof, especially after Route 50 goes quiet at night, and that the Town has no duty to let others follow one approval. Jacobs said that everyone who had talked to him about rooftop dining was against it. He also wondered aloud whether the owner planned to put a car on this roof, as he did at his Hotel Berg in Leesburg.

The Commission voted 5-1 to advertise a public hearing on rooftop dining by special use permit, with Jacobs opposed. It also started an amendment so the Methodist church can offer paid parking in its lot when it isn't using it. Both hearings are in August.

Also This Month

- Pedestrians: - Donna Strama of Orange Drive said a motorcade "from you know who" came through her neighborhood that morning, barely stopping at stop signs, and she has nearly been hit in crosswalks. - Liz White of Stonewall Avenue asked for a school bus shelter at Stonewall and Chestnut. - Around Middleburg: the Vice President. Vice President JD Vance's family is leasing part of Wolver Hill Farm outside Middleburg as a second home. The farm is owned by an affiliate of JK Land Holdings, the company of Training Center owner Chuck Kuhn (FOX 5). - Town manager: Council will interview candidates in closed sessions at an undisclosed location within fifteen days of July 23. - New director: Jennifer Bell's first weeks included the Fourth of July and the Clothing Closet ribbon cutting; Oktoberfest is next. Chief Shaun Jones took on much of the Fourth after staff turnover. Town Hall's air conditioning failed for the reading of the Declaration because of programming problems after a power failure. - The grill: Sue Foote said the Community Center's new grill is done and invited everyone to Kickin' Back at MCC on August 15. - Other business: - Council bought a $113,846 replacement screen for the sewer plant, 7-0. - Benefits were extended to the new part-time utility billing job. - The Town's bad-check fee now covers any failed payment. - Vice Mayor Chris Bernard is researching rules for e-bikes and e-scooters before the state limits local control. - The August 4 primary is at Town Hall.

Public Comment

July 9 (from the minutes; no audio)

Punkin Lee, of the business association, thanked the Town for the Fourth of July and for moving the Declaration reading indoors in the heat.
Merley Lewis, of the Middleburg Museum, invited Council to Levin Powell's birthday on July 19.

July 23 ▶ video

Scott Little, managing director of Salamander, thanked Foster for notice of the water restrictions and asked Council to take up the remanded rental application.
Liz White, Stonewall Avenue, praised the Juneteenth and Fourth of July events, noted the August 4 primary at Town Hall, and asked for a bus shelter.
Donna Strama, Orange Drive, raised pedestrian safety and motorcades in her neighborhood.
Sue Foote, of the Community Center, read a thank-you letter for the grill grant.

Tips & Wags (opinion)

Tip of the Hat to Council for going mandatory before the wells forced its hand. Nobody wanted to, and they did it anyway.

Tip of the Hat to the Community Center for finishing its grill on time, with Middleburg stone, for the Fourth.

Wag of the Finger to a meeting with no sound. When the audio fails, a town loses its record of what its Council said.

Coming Up

Late July / early August: town manager interviews.
August 4: primary election at Town Hall; National Night Out.
August 15: Kickin' Back at MCC.
August 24: Planning Commission public hearings on rooftop dining and the church parking lot.
August–September: water supply options to Council.
By September 30: the state grant decision for the Asbury Church.

Sources: the meeting videos (July 9, July 23, Planning Commission, July 27), the Town's minutes (pending approval) and the transcripts attached to them, and FOX 5 for the Vance lease, and Loudoun Now for the utility-rate lawsuit. Quotes come from the Town contractor's transcripts; each ▶ link opens the video at the start of that agenda item.