Vote for your favorite local businesses in our Readers’ Choice Awards, Pages 24-25
May 8, 2019
Our 202nd year | Vol. 202, No. 19 | www.Fauquier.com | $1.50
Warrenton Council considers stormwater management fee By Robin Earl
Times Staff Writer
When it comes to stormwater management, the Town of Warrenton is playing catch up. At a May 9 Town Council meeting at Town Hall, members will hear a presentation from engineering firm Wiley|Wilson, explaining how the town could move forward to meet clean water regulations,
and how it will pay for it. Interim town manager Brandie Schaeffer said that Wiley Wilson estimates it will require a considerable outlay, perhaps a million dollars a year by 2027. Paul Bernard, Warrenton’s assistant director of Public Works and Utilities, explained the million dollar figure “is an educated guess … Bottom line is we have much to do and it will definitely cost
us way more than we are currently expending to achieve these goals.” The tracking of stormwater management practices had been up to the state of Virginia until July of 2014, when that responsibility was shifted to local government. Since this was an unfunded mandate, the state gave local jurisdictions the ability to enact fees.
See STORMWATER, Page 7
Fauquier SPCA to open petting zoo By Karen Chaffraix Times Staff Writer
PHOTO BY BETSY BURKE PARKER
Three-time winner
At Saturday’s Virginia Gold Cup races, steeplethon winner Days of Heaven, No. 9, tried to “brush” through the sodtopped stone wall during the cross-country race, causing an impressive puff of dust as he cleared the obstacle. The mistake didn’t cost the French-bred any time — the 4-1 race favorite was up by 2 1/2 lengths at the wire. It was one of rider Michael Mitchell’s three wins on the day. See complete coverage in Sports, pages 22-23. INSIDE Business.............................................13 Classified............................................42 Communities......................................37 Faith...................................................34
Family Time........................................26 Libraries.............................................33 Lifestyle..............................................29 Opinion...............................................10
Obituaries...........................................40 Puzzles...............................................16 Real Estate..........................................36 Sports.................................................17
“We needed a petting zoo because kindergartners get bored not being able to touch the animals,” Devon Settle said last week, standing in the lobby of the county’s SPCA in Casanova. Settle is the organization’s executive director and a licensed veterinary technologist. As well as housing for lost or abandoned animals, Settle’s facility entertains and educates Fauquier youth of all ages on a regular basis. In a few short weeks, the SPCA will add a “petting zoo.” It’s nothing fancy, just a fenced in area of grass. But it will add an element of delightful tactility to the education Settle considers imperative for a child’s growth and development. A broad lawn sits to the right of the main building, the perfect place for busloads of children to scamper directly to the “petting zoo,” Settle said she envisioned. Volunteers built a fence around a portion of it, next to two identical areas normally
See PETTING ZOO, Page 4