County supervisors wrapped up budget talks Thursday night with a one and a half cent cut to the real estate tax rate and $3 million more added to the Loudoun County Public Schools budget.
Supervisors landed on a real estate tax rate of 87.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, down from last year’s 89 cents. For the average homeowner, their tax bill will still go up, because of climbing assessments.
BY RENSS GREENE rgreene@loudounnow.com
As the nonprofit prepares to grow its space into a hub for human services nonprofits, Loudoun Hunger Relief held a wall-breaking—rather than ground-breaking—ceremony Monday, March 20.
After years of effort and planning, work is underway to build a nonprofit hub bringing together some of the most
essential services for people and families in need: Loudoun Hunger Relief, Loudoun Literacy Council, Loudoun Volunteer Caregivers, Crossroads Jobs, and the Loudoun Education Foundation. The Loudoun Humane Society, while not locating offices in the new hub, will continue supporting the pet pantry inside Loudoun Hunger Relief.
“We don’t stand alone. We stand with everyone in this room and with everyone who isn’t in this room, who has been
shoulder to shoulder with us, dedicated to partnership and collaboration for the great good,” Loudoun Hunger Relief President and CEO Jennifer Montgomery said. “Here’s what I know for sure: this pandemic demonstrated the need for community-centered innovation, and that we are better together.”
The new 13,500-square-foot space will
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But uncertainty around a state funding shortfall still hangs over the school budget. Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration and the General Assembly have yet to fill a funding gap created by a Virginia Department of Education error, and instead have compounded it. The Youngkin administration’s error resulted in $7.4 million less for Loudoun County Public Schools in fiscal year 2024 than the district had been advised to expect. The General Assembly’s “skinny budget” adopted in February filled that shortfall for the current fiscal year 2023, but did not address the shortfall for fiscal year 2024, and additional changes to
COUNTY BUDGETS
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About two dozen parents showed up March 16 at Heritage High School for a sometimes-contentious meeting to provide input on the selection of the next Loudoun County Public Schools superintendent. Top characteristics for a new superintendent emerging from the session included honesty, transparency, accountability and leadership.
GR Recruiting Associate Robert Alfaro got through three of 10 questions prepared to get an idea of what parents were looking for when he struck a nerve with attendees by asking “what are the most important challenges the
division is facing?”
That question alone led the discussion for the next 90 minutes.
Kathy Mitchell brought up several challenges she said she has experienced personally, including dishonesty, retaliation from teachers, a lack of accountability from teachers and administrators, and biased investigations to name a few.
“There is a culture of gross dishonesty. I have been lied to by the superintendent, a director, a supervisor and a teacher about my son’s academic performance,” she said. “This is a school. LCPS is run like a corrupt for-profit organization.”
Mitchell spoke of the division not doing impartial assessments of teachers and of administrators as being “arrogant and
non-progressive” and said if they evaluate themselves, they will always find themselves doing fine.
“Our teachers and parents are not heard, and certain parents are never heard and with continued inequity and bias in LCPS, issues will continue, and I’m talking as a black woman and a mother,” she said.
“The work model at LCPS, to me, is staff and administration first. That is the problem right there. Other districts in the country that have parents and students first as a working model are happier as a community and more progressive academically,” she added.
Alfaro interrupted her at one point to allow for other parents to speak to which several in the crowd said Mitchell was
covering their concerns.
Another parent, Lori Levine, said she felt the biggest challenge facing the division was that the core mission had been lost.
“We need a superintendent who will focus on academics and get rid of all the ideology,” she said. “There are all kinds of cancer in this school system, and it needs to be eradicated. We need a superintendent to come in and go back to the basics—no politics, no political agenda, and look at the test scores and say ‘learning loss happened’ and all of these kids who were harmed by that need to be brought
Members of Loudoun’s congressional delegation are urging the Federal Aviation Administration to continue air traffic control services at Leesburg Executive Airport following the announcement that its remote tower program will end as early as June 14.
The town leaders have been scrambling to keep the safety system in place after learning Feb. 21 that the FAA planned to terminate the remote tower program that has guided traffic in and around the airport since 2018. At the time that notice was given, the town was advised the airspace would return to uncontrolled operations—a situation local leaders and pilots say would be unsafe given the number of flights at the airport and the flight restrictions in place near Dulles Airport and around the national capital.
Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10) on Monday sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen urging the FAA to extend the services until a long-term solution is worked out.
“As long-time supporters of the remote tower program at [Leesburg Executive Airport], we are deeply concerned that FAA’s decision to end air traffic control services at Leesburg on June 14, 2023, will compromise safety, and urge the FAA to allow for the continuation of air traffic control (ATC) services at the airport while working with stakeholders on a long-term solution,” the letter stated.
The letter notes that the delegation has supported congressional appropriations of more than $30 million since 2018 to fund the FAA’s Remote Tower Pilot Program, which resulted in the successful deployment of the technology in Leesburg and at another testing site in Colorado.
Leesburg Executive Airport was the first municipal airport in the country to implement a remote tower program in 2015, using a system developed by Saab. The system went into operation in 2018 and was certified as operationally viable in 2021 following extensive air traffic operational and safety risk performance evaluations. The airport has seen operations grow by 47% the introduction of air traffic
control services.
The remote tower shutdown follows a change in the FAA review standards that prompted Saab to determine it was no longer feasible to pursue full certification for the system.
The town pursued the experimental remote tower system as an alternative to building a more expensive brick and mortar tower at the airport. Town leaders are working to determine how quickly a tower could be constructed and outfitted, how much it would cost, and how it would be paid for.
The congressional delegation supported the town’s request to keep air traffic control operations running until an
alternate system is in place.
“We reiterate our concerns about the safety impacts of terminating ATC services at the airport and urge the FAA to act to prevent such a scenario from becoming reality,” they wrote.
“[W]e request that the FAA assemble a small team of experts to independently evaluate the history of the Leesburg remote tower project, including all test, operational, and maintenance records. Our purpose is to determine if the Leesburg remote tower system already meets the intent of the FAA’s recently established design approval requirements, and thereby would allow for the continued provision of ATC services at the airport,” the letter states. “We are concerned that the certification process used for this innovative system is not standard for non-federal equipment, has changed several times over the years, and after five years changed again, and we strongly believe that an approval limited to Leesburg would recognize the system’s demonstrated reliable and safe performance, enabling ATC tower services to continue to operate and maintaining safe operations at the airport.”
Saab representatives have committed to continue to support the remote tower system—a system already used at European airports—if the FAA permits it to remain in Leesburg.
Town leaders last week met with FAA representatives to discuss options to maintain air traffic control services at the airport. A second meeting is planned March 23. The Town Council is expected to be briefed on the status during its March 27 work session. n
This year’s real estate tax rate has climbed a half-cent from a proposed 87 cents per $100 of value as county supervisors wrap up annual budget talks.
Supervisors arrived at a tax rate of 87.5 cents, down from last year’s 89 cents. Adjusting the real estate tax rate is the primary way the Board of Supervisors changes the amount of money in the government’s operational budget, and Loudoun’s long practice is to move the tax rate by half-penny steps.
Accounting for the higher average home value since last year, that tax rate equates to roughly $340 more on this year’s real estate tax bill for a homeowner with the average value home, estimated at $691,100.
County Administrator Tim Hemstreet’s proposed budget with its 87-cent
tax rate left $1.3 million in unallocated money. Supervisors also got a windfall of $6.7 million in revenues from interest on investments, which had come in higher than assumed in the draft budget. That meant supervisors could add up to about $8 million in spending before the tax rate would climb another half-cent step.
Hemstreet’s proposal was based on supervisors’ direction, and covered only employee compensation, base budget adjustments and hiring and spending necessary to open new facilities as construction completed.
During budget talks, supervisors added $14.4 million in spending, including $3 million more for the school district, 72 new positions—more than half of them in the sheriff ’s office—and funding for programs like composting, an environmental work plan and energy strategy, and Soil and Water Conservation District floodplains work.
The largest single item is a $5 million addition to fund 35 more patrol deputies and one new lieutenant in the sheriff ’s office. The sheriff also got funding for three more deputies as part of an initiative to comply with the state legislature’s 2020 Marcus-David Peters Act, establishing protocols for law enforcement responding to people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. A new Crisis Intervention Team Community Access Response or CITCAR unit will send co-responders along with sheriff ’s deputies to respond to those calls during busy parts of the week.
Supervisors also added $1.6 million to add eight positions to Child Protective Services and nine positions to the public benefits team in the Department of Family Services.
They found only a half million to trim from Hemstreet’s budget proposal. That included saving $53,982 by starting funding for a new school resource officer
halfway through the fiscal year—still well in advance of opening the planned school that officer will staff—and cutting almost $4 million from funding for an equipment replacement fund, most of which went to offset the capital costs of new positions in the sheriff ’s office, adding less than a halfmillion back to the county general fund in total.
Sheriff ’s deputies are particularly expensive to hire, due to their training period, extensive equipment, and the practice of buying a vehicle for each deputy to keep at home.
Other new positions added during budget talks include a domestic violence probation officer, a business analyst and a supervising zoning inspector in the Department of Planning and Zoning, a docketing manager for the Circuit Court
TAX RATE CLIMBS
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Plans to relax regulations on how often data centers in the region can run their backup diesel generators have been narrowed to only relax those rules in Loudoun.
Data centers, which seek to have as little downtime as possible, have backup diesel generators onsite which typically are permitted to start monthly for testing. The state estimates there are 4,151 such generators at data centers in Loudoun. Based on the state’s estimates those generators collectively put out almost 93 tons of non-methane hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides per hour of runtime—potent and poisonous greenhouse gases. Other pollutants include almost 51 tons of carbon monoxide per hour.
Dominion Energy last summer warned data center companies that its electricity grid may not be able to supply power to new data centers—but the proposed order from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality now suggests it may not even be able to power existing data center projects during the peak electricity usage months of summer.
“DEQ is concerned that Loudoun County is an area in which there may
not be a sufficient amount of electricity for data centers due to severe, localized constraints in electricity transmission,” a public notice from the state agency reads. “A transmission constraint issue exists in the area which may affect the ability to provide enough electricity to data centers through 2025. In particular, the period between March and July 2023 has been identified as a time of potentially acute stress on the transmission capacity of the grid.”
However the DEQ’s notice also said the proposal is “a purely precautionary measure” and “we do not anticipate that any data center will need to use this variance.” It also wrote any such activations would likely only affect smaller areas, and data centers would not be expected to turn on all of their generators since many are redundant backups.
The proposal would allow data centers to run their generators when PJM Interconnection, the company that coordinates power transmission in Virginia, issues an alert about possible capacity problems in the electrical grid. Data center operators would also be required to provide a calculation of the air pollution they generated during that time “as soon as practicable.” The variance would expire at the end of July.
Previously, that variance applied to data centers in Loudoun, Prince William
and Fairfax counties; a second draft removed the other two counties and would apply only to Loudoun.
“DEQ takes the public participation process very seriously and is making appropriate revisions to the proposal based on that input,” DEQ Director Michael Rolband stated.
The new notice for the first time included the state’s estimates of those generators’ output of air pollutants. With the revised proposal, the state has scheduled a new public hearing on April 6, although not in Loudoun County, and at 11 a.m. on a weekday. The hearing is scheduled at the DEQ Northern Regional Office in Woodbridge at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 6.
A public comment period, which had previously been set to expire March 14, was also extended until April 21.
The state proposal stirred concern from the Piedmont Environmental Council, which has scheduled a public meeting about the proposal at the Ashburn Library at 6 p.m. on March 28. The council’s announcement said the proposal “is not only short-sighted in addressing the grid constraints, but it has the potential to do real damage.”
“Many of our schools, sports fields, playgrounds and homes are located near data center complexes, and there is real potential for localized air pollution and
regional greenhouse emissions with the increased use of these diesel generators,” the council wrote. “Air pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter increase the amount and seriousness of lung and heart disease and other health problems, particularly for children, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions (asthma, pregnancy, COPD, etc.).”
The full proposal is online at deq.virginia.gov/get-involved/topics-of-interest/ data-centers-public-comment, or deq.virginia.gov/permits-regulations/public-notices/air under “REVISED Order and local variance for data centers – Loudoun County, VA.”
The DEQ accepts written comments by email, fax, and mail. Comments must include the full name, address and telephone number of the person commenting. To comment, request public documents or for other information contact Karen G. Sabasteanski, Office of Air Data Analysis and Planning, Department of Environmental Quality, PO Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218. Call 804-659-1973 or fax 804698-4510, or email karen.sabasteanski@ deq.virginia.gov.
A DEQ public hearing is scheduled in the conference room of the agency’s regional office at 13901 Crown Court, Woodbridge, at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 6. n
If you’re suffering from Fibromyalgia you understand this sentiment all too well Local resident Theresa B found herself at a turning point when she noticed her diagnosis had started to take a toll on her marriage.
“I was angry all the time because of all the things I couldn’t do anymore because of my Fibromyalgia. That anger cycled through to depression and affected everyone around me, my husband more than anyone. It made our lives miserable.”
Fibromyalgia affects the entire body
To make things complicated it affects everyone’s body a little differently. To make things even more complicated, those effects can change on a daily basis. Some-times you’re plagued with wide-spread muscle pain and fatigue, and other days it’s a headache and heightened sensitivity to touch.
“I could barely stand to have the light weight of bedsheets touching me, much less a hug from my husband.” explains Theresa.
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Striking Loudoun Transit employees returned to work March 20 despite not yet winning all the concessions they have pushed for from county transit contractor Keolis North America.
Amalgamated Transit Union Director of Joint Industry Councils & Collective Bargaining John Lyons announced the decision in a March 17 letter. He wrote members of
ATU Local 689 offer unconditionally to return to work, but that the decision does not mean they are accepting a contract offer.
Loudoun Transit employees had been on strike since January, as the union has battled with Keolis the contractor’s decision to cut back employee benefits, and to continue paying local bus drivers less than commuter bus drivers. That was a disparity that existed under the previously separate local and commuter bus contracts, which were combined into one five-year, $101 million contract which Keolis won.
ATU spokesman Matt Girardi said the end of the strike does not mean the union has given up.
“Thankfully, we were able to get Keolis to a place where they offered major concessions on their economics, to the point where we wanted our members, frankly, to reap the benefits of what they fought so hard for,” he said. “They’ve been out there for over two months now in the bitterest cold of winter, and we wanted to make sure that they were able to enjoy some of what they were able to get.”
Because Keolis has declared an impasse in negotiations, he said, under labor law the workers may get some of the benefits Keolis included in their final offer despite not yet signing a collective bargaining agreement with the company.
“We are going to continue to try to bargain. We have said before and I will say again that we do not believe that we are at an impasse,” he said. “We believe that there is still room for us to bargain, and we look forward to Keolis coming back to the table and dealing with us as we have been dealing with them: in good faith, even through all the frustration.”
Union members have said Keolis refused to negotiate. Girardi said throughout the strike, the union only had one in-person, face-to-face negotiation with Keolis representatives.
And he pointed to a recent agreement with the Teamsters union in Prince William County, which had also gone on strike against Keolis. There, transit agency OmniRide also provide local and commuter buses.
“In their contract it says—that the Teamsters decided to vote on—it is one scale for all drivers, all CDL drivers. So if Keolis is willing to do that there, again, I’m confused about why they would break industry standard and segregate CDL drivers into different categories over here,”
Girardi said.
Union members had also pushed county supervisors to support their strike by leveraging the fines laid out in Keolis’s contract for failing to provide service. County Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) said that was the one area where she pushed back against the union. She said Keolis already is not being paid for scheduled bus trips that don’t run.
“My bigger concern and my bigger issue was, if we fined Keolis and it stood up in court … after 90 days, Keolis could have just severed the contract altogether, and at that point, now we’re back to the beginning,” she said. She said that would mean issuing a new request for proposals, hiring a new contractor, and holding a new union election.
“It would take us probably 18 months to get back to this place,” she said.
With the strike ending, Loudoun commuter buses, which have been parked because of reduced staffing, will likely get back on the road.
“It’s been a tough, tough time to watch, and I have so much respect for our ATU workers, who were always willing to be at the table and keep talking,” Randall said. “But they’ve also made a calculation that they need to take care of their workers, so they’re going back, hoping that showing this good faith effort to Keolis will bring Keolis back to the table.” n
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judges, an executive assistant for the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, a voter services manager for the Office of Elections, and a commercial real estate appraiser for the Commissioner of the Revenue.
On their last day of budget talks, supervisors added positions to support the county’s Unmet Housing Needs Strategic Plan, glass recycling, the environmental work plan, the General Services department, a new Equity and Inclusion Specialist, and human resources and training in the Building and Development department.
Each half-penny of the tax rate is estimated to be worth roughly $6.5 million to county revenues, based on trends and forecasts of real estate values in the county for 2023. The new tax rate also means almost $125.9 million growth in local tax revenues overall from the current fiscal year.
County supervisors, accustomed to booming tax revenues, this year faced a tighter budget amid uncertainty in important revenue streams. On top of ongoing concern about a possible recession this
year, new state law dictating a different formula for assessing data center values and shortcomings in the Dominion Energy grid have created uncertainty around tax revenues from the data center industry, which last year generated enough tax revenue to fund the entire county operating budget. County staff members and supervisors had already begun plans to hedge the county budget against over-reliance on revenues from data centers, seeking to avoid a shock to county finances caused by changes in a single business sector.
While it’s still uncertain what impact the General Assembly and Dominion will have on local revenues, county staff ’s practice is to estimate revenues conservatively—state law also requires the county to have a balanced budget.
There are also new expenses in the budget, such as rapidly rising costs due to inflation. And for the first time, a half-penny of real estate tax revenues is set aside for the county’s housing trust fund.
Although Loudoun County government’s fiscal year 2024 runs a half-year ahead of the calendar year, beginning July 1, 2023, tax years align with the calendar year; county supervisors are setting a budget for fiscal year 2024, funded by tax rates they set for calendar year 2023. n
$205,000 is the income needed to afford the median home price of $641,000 in Loudoun.
Housing affordability is typically thought of as a low-income household concern, but that’s no longer true.
Workforce Housing is not an issue about charity, it’s about the future economic prosperity of Loudoun.
Let’s shape Loudoun’s future.
WON’T YOU JOIN US? workforcehousingnow.org
Conservationist John Ellis on Monday officially announced his campaign as an independent for the Catoctin District seat on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.
“I’m running for Catoctin supervisor because I love western Loudoun and want to make sure it remains as wonderful for our kids as it is for us today,” Ellis stated in a press release announcing his campaign. “We need more than lip service to address the intense development pressures, increasing traffic congestion, rising property assessments, growing water scarcity, and ballooning county spending. Time is short. We can and must do better.”
Ellis is a co-founder of Save Rural Loudoun, serves on the county’s Fiscal Impact Committee and the board of the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, a member of the Farm Bureau and a lifelong outdoorsman. Before coming to Loudoun in 2015, he graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, joined the U.S. diplomatic corps and became an international trade negoti-
ator. Today, he and his wife Anne live near Hillsboro and have two adult daughters and one granddaughter.
He wrote he supports initiatives to improve the walkability of towns and villages; to create more parks and trails for safe hiking, bicycling, and other outdoor recreation; and to preserve Loudoun’s historic legacy. He also wrote he is dedicated to helping Loudoun farmers supply high-quality foods and beverages to local and regional markets and to promoting Loudoun’s wineries, breweries, and other small businesses.
On his campaign website, he pledges not to accept donations from developers, political parties, or other outside sources.
“With the recent redistricting, Catoctin is the only district in Loudoun that remains primarily rural,” Ellis stated. “To effectively defend the interests of our small towns and rural areas on the nine-member county Board of Supervisors, we must stand united on the local issues we all care about.”
Learn more at johnellis4catoctin.com. n
IT professional Sree NagiReddi announced a campaign for the 26th District seat in the state House of Delegates on Tuesday, March 14, setting up another Democratic primary race.
“My experience on numerous state and local boards, community groups, and leadership positions will serve our community and the Commonwealth well,” NagiReddi stated. “I plan to fight for the voices of District 26 to be heard all across Loudoun and the Commonwealth on topics such as bettering infrastructure, public transportation, education for all, standing up to gun violence, affordable housing, Medicare of all, clean energy, and women’s reproductive rights, among other key issues.”
His candidacy sets up a Democratic primary race with Sterling financier Kannan Srinivasan, who announced he would run for the seat earlier this month. Both ran unsuccessfully for local office in 2019; Srinivasan ran against county Treasurer Roger Zurn, and NagiReddi ran against county Supervisor Matthew F. Leatourneau (R-Dulles).
NagiReddi, who works at Lockheed Martin, billed himself as a small business
owner, non-profit director, and entrepreneur. He has served on the Virginia State Census and Loudoun Complete Count Committee, and the Loudoun Transit Advisory Board. He is a member of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee, the Democratic Party of Virginia, AAPI of Loudoun, and Democratic Asian Americans of Virginia.
Among other volunteering, since 2015 he has been a director of the Washington, DC chapter of New Jersey-based nonprofit VT Seva, the sister organization of the Indian volunteer service organization Vikasa Tarangini. .
He was presented with the U.S Presidential Lifetime Achievement Volunteer Award for Community Service for his more than 5,000 hours of community service.
NagiReddi, the son of two school teachers, and his wife Swapna, and their two children have lived in the area since 2009. Both children attended Loudoun County Public Schools.
NagiReddi’s campaign website is sreefordelegate.com. n
BY NORMAN K. STYER nstyer@loudounnow.com
Leesburg may be building its own little data center alley.
On Tuesday, the Town Council approved an agreement to provide water and sewer service to two, two-story data centers planned for the Compass Creek retail center, along the Dulles Greenway just north of Microsoft’s data center campus.
The plans call for a 400,000-squarefoot data center and second building with 200,000 square feet for data center uses and the rest for offices. The utility service would only be used for office-type uses and would not be incorporated into the data center cooling systems.
The 30-acre tract, owned by the Peterson Companies, is just south of the town’s corporate limits. As part of the resolution authorizing the extension of utilities to the property the council required that the owners within the next 30 days request a boundary line adjustment to bring the land into the town limits.
The tract is part of the town/county Joint Land Management Area targeted for
town utility service and potential expansion. However, it also is subject to an annexation battle launched by the town last year after the county rejected its efforts to incorporate the Compass Creek center and the Microsoft campus to the south through a boundary line adjustment.
Unlike the adversarial annexation process that is reviewed by the Commission on Local Government in Richmond, a boundary line adjustment is a cooperative process that only requires resolutions by the Town Council and Board of Supervisors, with final approval coming from a Circuit Court judge.
Asked whether the town’s annexation lawsuit would cause the county to oppose a boundary line adjustment for the Peterson land, Town Attorney Chris Spera said that was uncertain.
Another condition in the utility service resolution was a commitment by the town that the current personal property tax rate of $1 per $100 in value not be increased for at least five years. That tax that is applied to equipment in data centers. If brought into town, the data centers would pay real estate and personal property taxes
to the county and to the town.
That tax rate freeze promise was a sticking point for Council member Patrick Wilt, who noted that other town businesses aren’t afforded such commitments on the taxes they pay. He cast the lone vote against the utility resolution.
The Peterson request was the third request for out-of-town utility extensions within the JMLA reviewed by the Town Council this year.
Last month, the council approved providing water and sewer service to the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Basic Training Facility to be built on the county government’s campus south of town near Leesburg Executive Airport.
The council deferred action on a request to provide temporary water service to Titan Virginia Ready-Mix, which is moving its operations to a new location on Cochran Mill Road east of Leesburg after selling its property to JK Land Holdings, which plans a 112-acre data center campus. Unlike the other two cases, the property where the water service was requested is not contiguous to the town boundary. n
Efforts to bring a hotel to the downtown historic district advanced March 14 when the Leesburg Town Council adopted new parking requirements.
Under the new rules, hotels in the B-1 downtown business district will be required to provide one parking space for each room. That’s a reduction from requirements for hotels in other areas of town that additionally must provide one parking space per every two employees and more spaces if the operation includes a restaurant.
According to the town staff, the reduction better conforms to requirements in other similar jurisdictions while maintaining adequate onsite parking to meet the majority of peak demand hours for hotels in suburban/urban areas.
While the Town Council has initiated reviews of a number of downtown parking policies, the hotel changes were spurred by the request of Kevin Ash. The Leesburg-based developer is planning a hotel or inn as part of the redevelopment
clude co-working facilities, a 1,000-squarefoot meeting and events space, a restaurant, a private social club, and an inn. All uses are permitted by-right, without requiring additional Town Council or Planning Commission review. The town’s Board of Architectural Board last month approved Ash’s plans to alter the existing building on the lot and to build additions to the side and rear. Ash said he’s planning
Under the town’s Zoning Ordinance, a by-right inn is permitted to have up to 15 rooms, while a larger hotel use would require special exception review and a final vote by the Town Council.
Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning Brian Boucher said the parking requirements have been in place since 1986, and the town requires more parking for hotels than other nearby jurisdictions.
Local businesses will be recruiting employees at the annual Leesburg Youth Career Expo on Sunday, March 26. The event will be held at Tuscarora High School from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Hosted by the Town of Leesburg’s Department of Economic Development, the expo offers job seekers the opportunity to meet face-to-face with prospective employers from a variety of industry sectors including retail, sales, hospitality, technology, trades, recreation, and more. Available positions include, part-time, full-time, and seasonal, as well as entry-level positions and internships. For a full list of participating employers and positions, go to leesburgva.gov/careerexpo.
For more information, contact Business Development and Retention Manager Melanie Scoggins at mscoggins@leesburgva.gov or 571-271-1206.
The town hasn’t had a downtown hotel since the Leesburg Inn, located next to the courthouse on North King Street, closed in the 1960s. The town has five hotels outside the historic district and two more in the works.
Speaking during the March 14 public hearing on the parking ordinance change, Ash noted that hotels typically have a 70% occupancy rate, with fewer rooms rented on weekdays than on weekends. He also said that increasingly visitors arrive without vehicles and rely on ridesharing apps like Uber.
Suzanne Larkins, a Royal Street resident near Ash’s proposed hotel, also addressed the council, raising concerns about reducing parking requirements without conducting a more comprehensive review of the parking needs. She said priority must be given to the existing residents and businesses downtown before providing incentives for new development.
The reduced parking standard was approved on a 5-2 vote. Mayor Kelly Burk and Vice Mayor Neil Steinberg opposed the change citing concerns about the potential impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. n
BY NORMAN K. STYER nstyer@loudounnow.com
The Town Council on Tuesday gave its unanimous approval to Leesburg’s next public arts mural—a tribute to the athletes who played at Loudoun’s segregated Black high school from 1941 until the end of segregation in 1968.
The mural will be among the final touches on a years-long renovation of the Douglass High School campus on East Market Street and will be an important element in the effort to spotlight the historic significance of the school.
The project is led by the 17-member Douglass High School Commemorative Committee, which issued a call for artists proposals last year. From among seven submissions, the design of Florida-based muralist Jason Tetlak was selected.
The “Game Time” mural, to be painted across the side of the school bordering a new basketball court area, depicts the sports that students played at the school over the years—from basketball to golf.
Donna Torraca, a planning coordinator for Loudoun County Public Schools and a longtime leader of Leesburg’s Commission on Public Arts, said Tetlak’s design was selected for its creative style and use of color.
“The mural recognizes and celebrates the Douglas High School heritage and pride,” she said.
The mural is expected to take four or five days to complete.
Vice Mayor Neil Steinberg hailed the
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Offered Saturday
Historian and educator Richard Treat Gillespie will lead a historic walking tour of Leesburg on Saturday, March 25, beginning at 10 a.m. The two-hour tour will begin in the lower-level meeting room of Thomas Balch Library and will examine the surviving Civil War townscape and see how the war developed and engulfed the county seat of Loudoun. In a circuit of the historic district, emphasis will be on what the 1,500 residents of the town would have seen at various places and what they would have experienced during 1861 to 1865. Pre-registration is required for this event. Limited spots are available. Call 703-7377195, email balchlib@leesburgva.gov, or register online. n
“extraordinary cooperation” between the school division, which will pay the cost of the project, the town and community organizations to bring the mural to fruition. He said the renovated Douglass High School Campus will be a jewel for the town.
The Douglass School was constructed in 1941 on land that was purchased by the Black community and transferred to the School Board to provide secondary education to their children. It was the only high school for Black students in
Loudoun County until the end of segregation in 1968. The building is listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.
Prior to the renovation, the building was used as the school division’s alternative education program and a community center. The campus will house the English Language Welcome Center, the STEP and Child Find programs and provide office space for community organizations and continue to offer county Parks and Recreation Services. n
Loudoun County Public Schools will test out single-user bathrooms at two schools and new heat sensors to detect smoking, vaping, or multiple people in a bathroom.
Chief Operations Officer Kevin Lewis on March 14 presented the School Board with an update on school restroom safety and privacy updates that began in 2021.
Efforts to provide more bathroom privacy began in November 2021 after the Virginia Department of Education passed model policies for the treatment of transgender students, prompting the passage of a division policy allowing transgender and gender expansive students access to bathrooms or locker rooms of the gender students identified as.
Lewis said the focus now is on safety for students and staff especially around inappropriate activities including smoking and vaping, vandalism, conflicts between students, conflicts between students and teachers, and meeting the requirements of the division’s transgender student policy.
Lewis said the division plans to create two restroom pilot programs—one based on the Loudoun Valley and Broad
Run high school design and creating single user bathroom systems in those two schools and the other based on the more modern design of nine other high schools with work initially to focus at Heritage, Dominion and Woodgrove.
At Loudoun Valley and Broad Run, he said, two staff single-user restrooms that are currently being used for staff and students will revert back to staff-only restrooms and three individual toilet rooms for students will be transformed from a storage room attached to the staff restrooms.
Four students from Dominion High School were among the winners in C-SPAN’s 2023 StudentCam competition announced on March 15.
Eiman Sherzada, Sarah Tandon and Mariam Shaikh received an honorable mention prize for their documentary “The Foundation of Democracy: Saving Tomorrow,” about misinformation and fake news. Miya Livingston received an honorable mention for her documentary “Preconceived Notions: Access to Contraception in 2023.”
Nearly 3,000 students from 40 states, Washington, DC and Abu Dhabi competed, with more than 1,500 entries. The winning videos received cash awards ranging from $5,000 to $250.
At Heritage, Dominion and Woodgrove, he said, two staff-only single-user restrooms on the main floor and two on the lower level that were converted to student single-user bathrooms will now be used to create four private toilet rooms with shared sink access for staff and student use.
He said the division is also going to add technology to the pilot program that will detect vaping or smoking and has thermal technology so school administrators can
SINGLE-USER BATHROOMS continues on page 14
Starting March 22, Loudoun County Public Schools will host a series of community listening sessions with Acting Superintendent Daniel Smith and School Board members.
The stated goal of the sessions is to provide an opportunity for community members to share comments or concerns and give feedback directly to division leadership.
Discussions will focus on how the division can best support students’ academic and mental health needs as well as how the division can better communicate with and engage the community.
“As a school division, we know that we have a lot of work to do to rebuild trust and ensure we do a much better job of
engaging and communicating with our community,” Smith stated. “These upcoming listening sessions are one way we look to do just that. We encourage community members to attend an event, hear from LCPS leadership and board members, ask questions, and provide feedback on a variety of important topics.”
Anyone needing translation or interpretation assistance or a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability in order to be able to participate should contact the Superintendent’s Office at least at least three days prior to the meeting at clerk@lcps.org.
For more information and to RSVP for an upcoming listening session, visit bit.ly/LCPSCLS. n
Sessions are scheduled in all eight local election districts:
March 22 at 6 p.m. at Potomac Falls H.S.
March 30 at 7 p.m. Trailside M.S.
April 20 at 6 p.m. at Willard M.S.
April 27 at 6 p.m. at Sterling M.S.
May 1 at 6 p.m. at Freedom H.S.
May 11 at 6 p.m. at Broad Run H.S.
May 17 at 6 p.m. at Heritage H.S.
May 22 at 6 p.m. at Loudoun County H.S.
Now in its 19th year, this year C-SPAN asked middle and high school students to participate using the theme, “If you were a newly elected member of Congress, which issue would be your first priority and why?”
“For the first time in the history of the competition, we asked students to envision themselves in a position of power, as newly elected members of Congress,” C-SPAN Director of Education Craig McAndrew stated. “As each participant considered which issue would be their first priority and why, they creatively wove detailed research with expert interviews and proposed actions to address their concerns. Capitalizing on the platform of short film, these passionate young people masterfully showcased the fruits of active learning, and we are excited to share their work with the country.”
The most popular topics addressed were health care, the environment, education, the economy and gun violence and policy.
High school students competed on a regional level, with the United States divided into three regions. Middle school students were judged on a national basis. The grand prize winner was selected nationally among all regions and grade levels.
The School Board on March 14 voted unanimously to revise a policy that deals with school fundraising and added language to clarify that door-to-door sales are permitted for school support organizations.
School Board member Jeff Morse (Dulles) said there was confusion around the language in the revised policy that stated door-to-door sales weren’t allowed in school-sponsored fundraising activities. He said the revision specifies that school support organizations, like booster clubs, were not governed by the policy that prohibits that activity for school sponsored fundraisers.
“It just simply states that the schools themselves cannot solicit door-to-door,” Morse said of the policy.
Acting Superintendent Daniel Smith said division staff recommended updating the policy to prohibit door-to-door sales for school sponsored fundraising activities for safety reasons.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. We encourage and support advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap.
All real estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.”
This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 367-9753.
fairhousing@dpor.virginia.gov www. fairhousing.vipnet.org
“The fact that [students] are collecting cash and checks and money, which is also a whole other risk factor in terms of depending on how successful their campaigns are—they are walking
around neighborhoods with perhaps a lot of money,” Chief Financial Officer Sharon Willoughby said.
The old policy allowed high school students to go door-to-door in pairs for school sponsored fundraising activities, like selling wrapping paper or chocolates. Under the revised policy, door-todoor sales for school sponsored fundraising activities are not allowed.
School support organizations conduct fundraising activities for the schools but are not considered school sponsored fundraisers.
Smith cited TAG DAY, a popular fundraiser where members of school bands and orchestras go door-todoor asking for donations, as one such school-support organization fundraiser that is permitted to conduct door-todoor sales.
“There is a longstanding tradition of students doing door-to-door solicitation,” School Board member Erika Ogedegbe (Leesburg) said. “In our neighborhood we often have students come, whether it’s with athletics or
band, raising money, and I’ve always enjoyed talking to them and listening to what their activities are and being able to support them. For that reason, I think we just need to be more explicit about what that is because the language is causing confusion with families who think we are prohibiting the fundraising in all circumstances.”
She proposed a change that specifically states door-to-door fundraisers were permissible for school support organizations. John Beatty (Catoctin) said he opposed adding the language to the policy because he felt it was a contradiction to the language already in it.
Chair Ian Serotkin (Blue Ridge) said he felt the confusion from the community dictated the clarification.
That amendment passed 5-3-1 with Beatty, Brenda Sheridan (Sterling) and Tiffany Polifko (Broad Run) opposed and Denise Corbo (At-large) absent for the vote.
The board then voted unanimously to approve the revisions to the policy. n
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) along with Acting Superintendent Daniel Smith, Loudoun School Board Chair Ian Serotkin (Blue Ridge) and Vice Chair Harris Mahedavi toured the Academies of Loudoun on Tuesday, just one of Kaine’s many stops over the past few years as he visits Career and Technical Education programs across Virginia.
Kaine, who co-chairs the Senate CTE Caucus, is visiting programs to promote the bipartisan Jumpstarting Our Businesses by Supporting Students (JOBS) Act.
The JOBS Act would allow students to use federal Pell Grants for job training programs that are at least eight weeks long and lead to recognized credentials or certificates for the first time.
Under current law, Pell Grants may only be applied toward programs that are over 600 hours or at least 15 weeks long, according to a press release.
He said the JOBS Act will help people understand that CTE is every bit as important as college and help parents guide their children into a career they want to be in and have the funding available to help pay for it.
He used the example of the Data Center Technician Program offered at North-
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tell if someone or multiple people are in a single-user bathroom. He said the technology doesn’t show personal information, just heat blobs to indicate a person or people are inside.
Asked about where they were in choosing a vendor for the pilot, Lewis said that was not yet decided.
He said based on feedback from a principal advisory group created in 2021 some of the main concerns with single-user bathrooms revolve around student safety, behavior, privacy and supervision.
Lewis said the high school pilot programs for restrooms and locker rooms will be up and running this fall at the schools. Student feedback groups will be created at each of the pilot schools to give suggestions on what is and isn’t working as well as feedback from other advisory committees, according to Lewis.
Under direction provided by the School Board in 2021, he said all renovation projects on school bathrooms must be completed by August 2026.
Schools under construction, like Wat-
ern Virginia Community College and said it’s currently spread over the course of 15 weeks, the length of a college semester so a student can take it and use a Pell Grant to help pay for it. He said the ideal length for it is really six to eight weeks, but students can’t get financial aid in the form of a Pell Grant for a course that short.
“So they have to take a course that is most efficiently offered in a super intense short time and spread it out,” he said.
Kaine toured the 315,000-squarefoot Academies campus, the largest high school building built by the school division, learned about various programs offered at the school like the Academy of Engineering and the Monroe Advanced Technical Academy, and visited several specialized spaces and talked with students.
Kaine noted he started the Governor’s Technical and Career Academy when he was governor of Virginia. The Monroe Advanced Technical Academy is one such academy.
He said he started it because he noticed all the governor’s schools were focused on advanced college prep and none were focused on CTE. He said that started a model for several more throughout the years.
Academies Principal Tinell Priddy said there are 26 pathways for students through the MATA program. She said
son Mountain Middle School and ES-32, are being built with single-user bathrooms for students and staff, as well as private changing spaces in locker rooms and a designated wellness room.
Tiffany Polifko (Broad Run) said she was concerned that students uncomfortable sharing bathrooms with male students were being told they should use the single-user spaces.
“We aren’t addressing the fact that we have females in our schools who are experiencing males coming into their bathrooms and they are being told when they bring this concern up that they can use a single-use restroom, effectively leave their own designated space to go use a different restroom or seek out counseling. And I think that is something that we need to address,” she said.
During the previous School Board meeting, a parent spoke on behalf of some female students who had said they were uncomfortable using the same bathroom as “male students” and were told, according to the parent, to use a single user bathroom and to talk to a counselor.
“We are kind of reinventing the wheel for what bathrooms might look like, but we’re far from the first one to consider this problem so I feel like there has got to be a
because students are at the Academies 50 percent of the time, they can go more in-depth, which means they can graduate with more licenses and certifications.
“With our Cisco pathways for example, which is dual enrolled with Northern Virginia Community College, students are with us every other day for one year. They will get 22 college credits at NVCC and will leave here with multiple Cisco certifications ready to go into the Northern Virginia tech workforce,” Priddy said.
Priddy also noted there are seven health science pathways at the Academies in which most are dual enrolled with NVCC. She said the Academies is the only high school that offers radiology in Virginia.
Priddy said this is the first time in the division’s history that every single pathway the Academies offers is filled.
“We definitely did something really unique here. We have three different curricular programs, a little bit like a college or a university, but at the end of the day we’ve created a community that has some great connections,” Priddy said before taking the group on the tour.
Kaine talked about his father, an engineer who wanted to be his own boss, so he opened an iron working and welding shop in the Kansas City, MO area where Kaine and his brothers worked. n
model out there somewhere that we can look at,” Chair Ian Serotkin (Blue Ridge) said. “Are there school districts that are significantly further along with this that you’ve looked at beyond the one or two examples you gave and if so, can we do what they did or at least use that as a starting point?”
Lewis said the staff has been doing that, including looking at nearby schools and speaking with architects who have created plans and would continue to do so.
“Our architects are telling us that we are actually ahead of most if not all those folks,” Lewis said.
Polifko asked what the division’s plan was going to be once the state’s 2022 model policies, that would replace the 2021 policies, come out of review.
Division counsel Robert Falconi said the VDOE was still reviewing comments from the public review period last summer.
“It’s possible they may revise the model policies or issue them exactly as they are. We don’t really know the answer to that so I think we would need take a wait and see approach before we do anything with the new model polices,” he said.
The 2022 model policies state single-user bathrooms and facilities should
“I saw that ironworkers were true artisans, but then going to a high school with no career and technical offering where it was all ‘college is the only thing you should do.’ I was living in one reality in the family business and living in a different reality in high school where career and technical education were devalued,” Kaine said.
Kaine said it was his first time visiting the Academies campus since it opened.
“The quality of it sends a message to teachers and students that what you are doing is important,” he said. n
be available and accessible for all students.
The division adopted Policy 8040 Aug. 11, 2021, to be in compliance with the model policies that centered around rights of transgender and gender expansive students. Under the policy, students are entitled to have access to restrooms and locker rooms that are “sanitary, safe and adequate” and that corresponds to their “consistently asserted gender identity.”
In 2021, just after Policy 8040 was implemented, the division spent $427,000 on the first round of renovations to convert spaces to single-user bathrooms. In all during that time, six high school, four middle school and two elementary school restrooms were converted to include new signs, shower curtains, door hardware and hygiene product dispensers, according to a presentation.
The policy and subsequent regulation also state the division should create single-user restrooms available to all students in a ratio that is appropriate for the school’s enrollment and can be accessed by anyone without special codes or keys.
The School Board’s proposed construction plan in 2023 allotted $10.9 million for restroom renovations. n
Town of
Employment Opportunities
Please visit www.leesburgva.gov/jobs for more information and to apply online.
Resumes may be submitted as supplemental only. EOE/ADA.
The Laurel Center, Winchester, VA
Salary - $75,000/year
The Domestic Violence Program Coordinator oversees the day-today operations of the domestic violence program including the 24-hour emergency shelter and 24-hour hotline services. The Coordinator provides supervision, training, and leadership to the domestic violence program staff. This position is responsible for reviewing, evaluating, and making program adjustments as part of continuous quality improvement of the domestic violence program. Foster community relations and promote the visibility of the program through participation with community-based service organizations and projects; speak before groups to promote interest and support; work with staff to develop other public awareness activities. Experience with grant writing, implementation, monitoring and reporting.
To review Ida Lee (Parks & Recreation) flexible part-time positions, please visit www.leesburgva.gov/jobs. Most positions will be filled at or near the minimum of the range. Dependent on qualifications. All Town vacancies may be viewed on Comcast Cable Channel 67 and Verizon FiOS Channel 35.
Meridien Group, LLC is seeking a motivated, qualified individual to handle all aspects of construction project management. Duties include Preparing, scheduling, coordinating and monitoring the assigned projects. Monitoring compliance to applicable codes, practices, QA/QC policies, performance standards and specifications.
Interacting daily with the clients to interpret their needs and requirements and representing them in the field.
We are looking for an accountable project engineer/project manager to be responsible for all engineering and technical disciplines that projects involve. You will schedule, plan, forecast, resource and manage all the technical activities aiming at assuring project accuracy and quality from conception to completion.
• BS degree in Engineering/Construction Management or relevant field
• Prior federal government project experience is preferred, but not required
• Entr y-level/mid-level Position
Contact Info:
Katherine Hicks
305 Harrison Street STE 100 Leesburg, VA 20175
Send Resume to: khicks@meridiengroupllc.com (703) 777-8285
Qualifications: Completion of a Master’s or Bachelor’s Degree program in a human services field with five years of supervisory and grants management experience preferred. Knowledge of domestic violence and/or trauma and its impact on the victim and family. Knowledge of community service agencies and willingness to become part of service planning and delivery.
Benefits: 401(k), health, dental, vision, life, generous paid time off to include holidays, sick and annual leave
To apply, please send resume to s.harris@tlc.ngo
An Ashburn murder case is moving closer to trial after a District Court judge Monday ruled there was enough evidence to send the allegations to a grand jury for indictment.
Ever R. Cruz, 24, is charged with aggravated malicious wounding and second-degree murder in the Aug. 21, 2022, death of 38-year-old
Pedro Casalez “Hector” Cala.
Cala was found lying in the dog park in the University Heights neighborhood around 3 a.m. Aug. 15, 2022, suffering from extensive head wounds. He died from the injuries a week later.
According to testimony at the March 20 preliminary hearing, investigators believe Cruz struck Cala between one and three times with his hand or fist causing the severe injuries.
The case hinges on circumstantial evidence, including a deputy witnessing Cruz’s car leaving the scene at about the time the assault was reported, Cruz’s cellphone data placing him in the area at the time, and Cala’s blood being detected on
Cruz’s hat found on the kitchen floor of Cruz’s apartment where the assault occurred, and bruises found on Cruz’s hand.
The one potential witness to the confrontation, Cruz’s then-girlfriend who also lived in the apartment, declined to answer most questions posed to her by Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Christina Brady. She evoked her fifth amendment protections against self-incrimination. Brady’s line of questioning centered on whether she and Cala had gone out on a date that night and that had caused the confrontation with Cruz.
Cruz’s attorney Ryan Campbell argued there was a lack of evidence to show that Cruz was the assailant. He also
challenged whether the commonwealth had shown the assault of Cala was done maliciously, a requirement of both felony charges. If the cases were to proceed, Campbell suggested the charges be reduced, perhaps to manslaughter or assault and battery.
Brady said the severity of Cala’s injuries was indictive of malice.
Judge William R. Fitzpatrick agreed. He ruled the evidence demonstrated there was probable cause that Cruz committed the crimes.
The case is scheduled to be presented to a grand jury April 10.
The murder charge carries a sentence of five to 40 years in prison. n
Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Fire Marshal’s Office has secured felony charges against three suspects accused of starting a fire at the former Westpark Golf Club building Jan. 23.
Marco Alexander Mendoza Monjaras of Leesburg, Elizabeth Caudill of Purcellville, and Adrian Mario Larrazabal of Leesburg were arrested March 16 on charges of arson, entering the building with the intent to commit arson, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
They were identified as suspects in the case from surveillance that was established following fires that occurred there earlier in the month, the agency reported.
The cases have been set for preliminary hearings on April 20 in Loudoun County District Court.
The Virginia Sons of the American Revolution have recognized Loudoun Deputy First Class Camron Gentry and Deputy First Class Charles Ewing for their heroism and lifesaving.
Ewing and Gentry were recognized last April by the local John Champe Chapter, awarding Gentry a Heroism Medal and Citation and Ewing a Life Saving Medal
and Citation. Gentry was subsequently selected as the best Virginia SAR Heroism nominee of 2022 among all such nominees across the state, and Ewing was selected as the best Virginia Society SAR Life Saving nominee of 2022.
On Jan. 2, 2021, Gentry and Ewing responded to the Walmart at Dulles Crossing Plaza for a report of a suspected shoplifter. The suspect shot Gentry and two security workers before fleeing the store. Ewing fired at the suspect as he fled, then gave medical care to Gentry including applying a tourniquet. He is credited with saving Gentry’s life.
Members of the Sergeant Major John Champe Chapter and sheriff ’s office command staff presented the awards at a surprise gathering Thursday, March 16.
2 Deputy Chiefs
Loudoun County Fire and Rescue has promoted two battalion chiefs, both longtime Loudoun firefighters, to deputy chief.
Jason Collins was promoted to deputy chief of Special Operations & Emergency Preparedness. He joined Loudoun Fire-Rescue as a member of the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company in 1986, and was hired into the career system in 1996, climbing through the operational ranks in the field as well as serving at the Fire and
Rescue Academy and in human resources. He has a degree in fire science administration, is a hazardous materials technician, has completed courses at the National Fire Academy, and serves on the Northern Virginia Fire Operations Board.
Justin Green was promoted to deputy chief of Communications and Support Service. He began his career in Loudoun in 1999 as a member of Recruit Class 1, serving at every field rank up to captain, implemented the Data Analytics section, and most recently served as the battalion chief of Special Operations. He graduated from the Northern Virginia Fire and Rescue Leadership Development Institute Company Officer Leadership Program and the Virginia Chief Officer Academy. Green is a member of the Northern Virginia Fire and Rescue Leadership Development Institute Advisory Board, the Northern Virginia Uncrewed Aerial System Working Group, the International Association of Fire Chiefs Wildland Fire Policy Committee, the Wildfire Learning Portal Governance Board, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security First Responder Resource Group.
Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief of Support Services and Volunteer Administration
Travis Preau has been accepted into the Fire Service Executive Development Institute.
The year-long leadership development program was created by the International Association of Fire Chiefs and includes learning online, meeting three times at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, and attending the Fire-Rescue International conference in Kansas City, MO.
Preau began his fire service career in 1996 as a volunteer firefighter in the City of Franklin, going on to serve 16 years in Hanover County, rising to assistant district chief, and then 19 years with the City of Richmond Fire Department, rising to battalion chief of Administration. He joined Loudoun Fire-Rescue in May 2021.
He also plans to graduate in the fall with a master’s degree in public administration from Virginia Tech. n
The Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties will mark Give Choose, its annual day of community giving, March 28—and early giving is already underway.
Give Choose, an annual day of online giving hosted by the Community Foundation, challenges local residents to donate to local nonprofit organizations at givechoose.org. Last year, Give Choose raised a landmark $829,623 for local nonprofits. Since its inception in 2014, Give Choose has raised almost $3.5 million. The annual fundraiser begins with two weeks of early giving, which began March 14.
“Our dream is that as many people as possible in our community make a gift to support at least one local nonprofit during Give Choose day,” Community Foundation Vice President of Grants and Nonprofit Programs Nicole Acosta stated. “Give Choose gives everyone in our com-
munity the opportunity to be a change maker whether you donate $25, $250, or more; or whether you choose one nonprofit or ten nonprofits. With so many local nonprofits participating, everyone can find a cause that’s important to them and maybe even learn about a new organization they didn’t know about before.”
More than 145 charities serving Loudoun and Northern Fauquier are registered, and visitors can choose to support nonprofits working in a range of fields like animal welfare, the environment, health, human services, education, youth, and arts and culture. Donations start at $10.
Local businesses also participate in Give Choose through sponsorships, which provide a prize pool to be awarded to participating nonprofits throughout the day of March 14.
Find a nonprofit to support and donate at givechoose.org. n
The Leesburg Daybreak Rotary Club on March 21 distributed more than $10,000 to eight Loudoun nonprofits.
The money was raised during the club’s annual pig roast fundraiser.
“We are so blessed to live in Loudoun County. Leesburg Daybreak Rotary has been engaged in our grant program and supporting our nonprofit community for over 30 years,” Club President Bradley Gable said. “We had
over 40 wonderful proposals. We were able to fund eight projects and over $10,000. We know the needs are great, even in our fortunate community.”
This year’s recipients were A Farm Less Ordinary, Arc of Loudoun, Dulles South Food Pantry, Equality Loudoun, Loudoun Cares, Loudoun Education Foundation, Loudoun Hunger Relief, and Loudoun Volunteer Caregivers. Grants were for $850 or $1,500. n
The Purcellville Town Council has been receiving legal advice from a standin attorney, while long-tenured Town Attorney Sally Hankins has been absent from meetings.
Interim Manager John Anzivino said that Hankins is on leave. Loudoun Now reached out to Mayor Stanley J. Milan regarding Hankins’ absence but received no response.
Hankins’ leave comes after a contentious first few months between the council and staff, including the termination of Town Manager David Mekarski and the resignation of Zoning Administrator Don Dooley.
February was marked with heated exchanges between Milan and Hankins surrounding the Town Council’s initial decision to forego a special election in November for a vacant council seat despite advice from Hankins that they were required to hold a special election.
The tension reached a height at a Feb. 14 meeting, when the council was faced with the option of voting to hold a special election or not after Council Members Erin Rayner and Mary Jane Williams filed a Writ of Mandamus against their fellow
council members alleging they willfully disregarded their statutory duty.
Milan said that Hankins had given him and Council Member Carol Luke conflicting advice in a meeting in her office claiming that she could argue the issue either way.
Hankins maintained that she had given consistent legal advice to the council regarding the issue for the council to hold the special election adding, “I also heard Ms. Luke lean over in her chair to you and say, ‘Stan, we just need to have a special election’ in that same meeting that we had.”
“You can remember what she said but you can’t remember what you said?” Milan responded.
“I can,” Hankins responded. “I am telling you that I said I would look into it, and I did.”
When asked by Milan what the risks would be if they challenged the suit, she said she could not offer individual members of the council personal legal advice because they were being sued personally, to which Milan responded, “how convenient.”
She added that the council as a whole was being sued in addition to the specified individual members of the council.
“You, personally, would have to get your own legal counsel. The town does not pay
The Purcellville Town Council officially kicked off its fiscal year 2024 budget discussions on Wednesday with a special meeting to hear the budget proposal by Interim Town Manager John Anzivino.
The presentation outlined an operating budget of $24.4 million, a $3 million increase over fiscal year 2023, and a total budget including the Capital Improvement Program of $28.2 million.
The budget proposes maintaining the real estate tax rate at $0.21 per $100 of assessed value, increasing water user fees by 6.5% and increasing wastewater user fees by 9%.
It also includes three additional fulltime employees, including two in utilities and one in engineering, planning and development, and a five percent pay increase for all employees.
Anzivino addressed a few of the challenges the town is facing including an uncertain economy and a return to traditional government funding, referencing the town’s previous ability to use funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and other programs no longer in place. He also reiterated advice he gave to the council in November when he was contracted to perform a staffing analysis.
“We have a challenge with staffing and restaffing of all departments,” he said. “We’re in a highly competitive job market, as many of you might know. There’s still two jobs out there for everybody looking for a job, even though the unemployment rate is in the three to high three percent range.”
Anzivino also said that several of the town’s senior staff would be eligible to retire in 2024.
“You have 12 of 86 employees that are eligible for retirement right now or next
for that when you have been sued in your personal capacity, so that is where you’re at,” Hankins said. “If you would like to defend the writ, you would hire attorneys and you would go to court and you would put your case forward. The Town Council as a body has also been named in that petition. I would ordinarily represent the council as body, but I have given advice that is now before the court that is directly contrary to the outcome the council has asked for, and so I would need to recuse
HANKINS continues on page 19
year … your director of finance, your director of administration, your police chief, your deputy police chief, your human resources director, your director of planning, engineering and development and your public works director can all go.”
Anzivino said that despite the challenges that the town will face in fiscal year 2025, including a steep increase in debt payments, the town was in good fiscal shape.
“I know we’re faced with some challenges … significant challenges in fiscal ‘25 in the Sewer Fund, but overall the town is really healthy financially. Everybody has done a good job in building reserves and really taking care of things,” he said.
Mayor Stanley J. Milan thanked Anzivino and said he had some opinions to share, specifically on salary increases, performance bonuses and fund reallocation, but that he would reserve most of his comments for future budget meetings.
The council is scheduled to meet for its next budget session Wednesday, March 22 at 6:30 p.m. n
The Lovettsville Town Council on Monday appointed Tom Budnar to fill the vacant seat left by the resignation of Buchanan Smith.
Budnar serves on the town’s Oktoberfest Committee.
He was one of two people to apply for the position and who were interviewed in a closed session.
“Tom, thank you very much for stepping forward,” Mayor Christopher Hornbaker said. “We did appreciate the round of questioning and the thorough answers and some of the ideas that you bring to the table and some of the work that’s already paid dividends with your short but fruitful service to the town so far. And we look for great things to come.”
Budnar will fill the vacancy until a special election is held on Nov. 7.
The Town of Round Hill reported to the Department of Environmental Quality that partially treated wastewater spilled into Sleeter Lake last week.
According to a notice posted by the town, “extreme and unusual weather conditions” contributed to an overflow at the town’s wastewater treatment plant March 15. The filtered, but not treated, influent entered Sleeter Lake near the dam and entered the North Fork of Goose Creek.
Public drinking water sources were not impacted by the spill, according to the town. The plant has returned to normal operations.
Town Administrator Melissa Hynes said the overflow happened during Wednesday’s high winds. It is believed the spill happened between 5 and 7 a.m. The overflow occurred at the influent pump station downstream of the plant’s headworks. Based on a subsequent staff examination of the spill area, they concluded the overflow amount was likely very small relative to the baseline creek flow.
The Department of Environmental Quality is investigating the incident n
The Round Hill Town Council is preparing for larger-than-expected utility rate hikes this year, but just how high they’ll go isn’t clear yet.
During the March 15 meeting, Mayor Scott Ramsey presented the first part of his updated rate study, with more detailed recommendations expected at the council’s April 5 meeting.
Since the last rate study was conducted in 2021, the town has seen the buildout of most of the permissible development in its service area, meaning the availability fees charged to new homes will no longer be a significant revenue stream to support the system’s capital needs. Also, the town has seen higher construction and operations costs. Increasing expenses and the need to use more operating funds to meet debt service obligations will require rates to increase—probably substantially, according to Ramsey’s presentation.
The town boasts the lowest utility rates among Loudoun’s towns, at an average of about $85 per month. That’s the in-town rate. Out-of-town residents, who make up the vast majority of the utility system’s customer base, pay about $127; that’s slightly higher than Leesburg’s out-of-town bills, but lower than out-of-town rates charged in Hamilton, Lovettsville, Purcellville, and Middleburg.
Capital projects look to be the main driver in the upcoming rate debate. The town’s proposed five-year Capital Improvements Plan calls for $13.4 million in new spending. Even if the council pares that down to the $12 million range, the town faces a new round of borrowing—followed by significantly higher annual debt service payments.
The town has about $3.75 million in outstanding utility debt, at a cost of about $400,000 a year. If the town borrows another $8 million, the annual payments could be up to $700,000 higher, according to the study. Unlike past years when rapid construction brought availability fees—$7 million over the past 10 years—to help cover debt service costs, few are expected over the next 10 years. The operations side—user rates—will pick up the deficit. In one scenario outlined by Ramsey, rates would have to increase 12% just to cover increased debt service.
The mayor is working with the town staff to finalize the construction plan, interest rate projections and inflation assumptions. n
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myself from that representation.”
Milan responded, “interesting,” and Hankins stated it was not, before pressing him on what he thought was interesting.
“I’m just talking about the totality of everything,” he said.
“I don’t know what you’re implying, but I have not done anything,” Hankins said to which Milan responded that he was not implying anything.
“I think you are,” Hankins said.
“I’m going to try one more time and
say it differently … I am recusing myself because, under the code of ethics, I have already taken a position that the court has in front of it,” she said. “And in order to represent the body I would have to take the exact opposite position in front of the same court. And I won’t be doing that.”
She also stated that the town’s insurance company had declined to provide legal support to defend against the lawsuit because the council failed to follow legal advice.
“They are interpreting this as a willful action against the law,” she said.
The council has held three closed session meetings in the past month citing
legal and personnel issues with attorney John F. Cafferky, from the Fairfax law firm Blankenship & Keith, providing legal advice.
Following a March 9 closed meeting, the council voted unanimously to “support the steps outlined by the interim town manager and counsel in the closed session.” Hankins has not participated in council or planning commission meetings since that vote. Loudoun Now has requested clarification on that motion from Interim Town Manager John Anzivino and received no response.
Hankins has been the town attorney since 2012. n
The weather is here. Ready to dive into those long-delayed spring home improvement projects?
By starting now, you’ll likely get ahead of the demand for the contractors you need to get the job done right.
Whether you’re seeking to knock out routine maintenance chores or enhance your home’s curb appeal here are some top projects to think about.
Many contractors recommend staining or sealing your deck at least every two to three years. As with many home-improvement projects, preparation is key. Before dragging the pressure washer out of the
shed, use a deck cleaner and brightener to better prepare the wood for a new protective layer of stain or sealant.
Most homes sustain at least a few problems during the winter months. Finding and addressing them now can prevent larger problems down the road. Look for dampness in the basement, damaged shingles, or pinpoint roof leaks, loose or warped fence boards and other such items.
SPRING CHORES continues on page 23
According to the February 2023 Virginia Home Sales Report released this week by Virginia REALTORS, there were 6,505 home sales across Virginia in February. This is a 20.3% reduction compared to February 2022, or 1,655 fewer sales. This marks the 15th consecutive month ending with a decrease in sales activity in the state’s housing market, as
interest rates have more than doubled during this period.
Even with the slowdown in sales activity, home prices continue to trend up in many parts of the state, a reflection of the tight inventory conditions that persist in most areas. At $370,000, the statewide median sales price rose 5.7% from this time last year, a $20,000 price jump.
The statewide average days on market in February was 38 days, eight days longer than a year ago. In addition to homes staying on the market longer, Virginia’s sellers, on average, are getting slightly less than their asking price.
“This is some good news for buyers that are active in the market,” Virginia REALTORS 2023 President Katrina M. Smith said. “Nearly all of Virginia’s markets have more active listings available than they did one year ago.”
At the end of February, there were 14,558 active listings on the market statewide, 2,416 more listings than last year.
“Active listings are building up, but keep in mind that it’s not from new listings, which remain down,” Virginia REALTORS Chief Economist Ryan Price. “February saw a 22% reduction in new listings since the same time last year, reflecting hesitation from sellers.”
Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the subsequent drop in mortgage rates, it’s possible there could be an influx of buyers who might have pushed pause when rates were trending up. While this could provide a boost heading into the spring market, overall sentiment for buyers remains low, the association reported. n
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Repair Siding and Trim:
Be sure siding is tight and caulked where it meets trim. Where wood windowsills or sashes are showing signs of rot, use epoxy wood filler to repair the area. It’s a great time to address areas that need a fresh coat of paint.
Insulation isn’t just to keep out the winter chill. Good attic insulation will help keep down those summer heating bills, as well.
It’s a good idea to have an HVAC contractor check out your system and replace filters now to ensure you won’t be trying to find one available during the dog days of August when they will be booked up with other jobs.
April showers are on the way and
overflowing gutters and downspouts can cause water damage to your house. Scoop out loose debris and then use a high-pressure nozzle on a hose to flush them out.
Spruce up the Landscaping
Spring is the best time to plant trees and it is best to prune dormant trees and shrubs before they begin producing foliage. And it is a good time to aerate your lawn and spray for weeds. n
DC IMPROV COMEDY
Thursday, March 23, 6:30 and 9 p.m.
Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg
Details: tallyhotheater.com
DC Improv comedy returns to the Tally Ho with two shows featuring Christine O’Dea, Sean Savoy, Kandace Saunders, Matt Brown and Rahmein Mostafavi. Tickets are $22$32.
NOTAVIVA BLUEGRASS JAM
Friday, March 24, 5 p.m.
Notaviva Craft Fermentations, 13274 Sagle Road, Hillsboro
Details: notavivavineyards.com
Enjoy the best in local live bluegrass every fourth Friday. Admission is free.
GRAYSON MOON
Friday, March 24, 5 p.m.
Harpers Ferry Brewing, 37412 Adventure Center Lane, Loudoun Heights
Details: facebook.com/ harpersferrybrewing
Singer-songwriter and multiinstrumentalist Grayson Moon brings a refreshing new experience to the indie soul music scene, blending soulful vocals with contemporary guitar and electronic instruments.
PETE LAPP
Friday, March 24, 5 p.m.
Hillsborough Vineyards, 36716 Charles Town Pike, Hillsboro
Details: hillsboroughwine.com
Hillsborough’s Ruby Sunsets series features acoustic interpretations of classic and alternative rock songs from Pete Lapp.
LOUDOUN YOUTH BATTLE OF THE BANDS FINAL BATTLE
Friday, March 24, 5:30 p.m.
Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg
Details: tallyhotheater.com
Check out Loudoun’s best young bands and solo performers at the annual Battle of the Bands finale.
Admission is $8 for all ages.
GET OUT THIS WEEK
continues on page 26
BY JAN MERCKER jmercker@loudounnow.com
Are your kids suffering from spring forward saltiness? Tom Sweitzer and the team from A Place To Be Music Therapy have got you covered.
APTB’s latest seasonal family musical “The Grumpy Bunny” is designed to help kids process negative feelings and look for positivity. When the cheerful Easter Bunny moves in next door to a grumpy bunny named Moe, he helps his new neighbor learn that it’s OK to be grumpy, while also finding ways to seek joy.
“Let’s just say the Easter Bunny
helps the Grumpy Bunny realize that you don’t have to live grumpy every day. That you can have a happier, hoppier life,” said Sweitzer, the show’s creator and APTB’s creative director.
The music therapy nonprofit has found a successful formula with fun, free children’s shows that combine memorable characters with emotional education for young children. The shows are an opportunity for APTB clients to get performance experience while giving back to the community.
The spring show takes a new twist with APTB staff members performing onstage with clients, offering a new way for both staff and clients to learn.
“In our daily lives we’re working with groups and we’re helping individuals. This is a great way for us as staff to interact with our clients in a whole different way. Being in a show together, you learn to grow together, how to work with each other,” said Ben Shoenberger, APTB’s theater events and communication manager who plays the Grumpy Bunny.
“It’s been great having that mix. We get to not only be in the show but support the individuals in the show–just to help bring out the best in
For anyone dubious about the date of the event, Crooked Run assures that it is really happening.
“It was my idea initially,” said Zeke Mihelcic, a bartender at Crooked Run. “I was bartending and a couple of our regulars and our employees were at the bar. We were making jokes about Mr. Leesburg—like Miss America, but Mr. Leesburg.”
Jacob Gutwein, whose wife is one of the managers of Crooked Run’s Leesburg and Sterling locations, was in on that initial discussion, which took place shortly after New Year’s.
“It started as an actual joke,” said Gutwein, now a volunteer organizer of the pageant.
“But we continued to spitball ideas and develop it and figured out what would be the best organizations to benefit from a showcase of men in Loudoun County and Leesburg town. We decided a domestic violence and sexual assault services charity as well as a homeless shelter for children, that’s where the money should go,” he said.
The proceeds from the event, including each contestant’s $20 entry fee, will be donated to the Loudoun-based charities Mobile Hope and the Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter (LAWS).
There will be an additional title crowned at the pageant, Mr. Generosity, for the contestant who raises the most money for the two charities. Winning Mr. Generosity will not exclude the constant from the running to become Mr. Leesburg.
“We’re going to copy the Miss America style, and just put guys through it—flip it on its head. You’re going to be interviewed. You’re going to perform a talent. You’re also going to be expected to show up in a costume—be it a swimsuit, a snowsuit, or whatever you want because who knows what the weather is going to be like on April 1 in Virginia,” Gutwein said.
Contestants must be over 21 to apply since the event is hosted at a brewery. However, there is no age cap, and Crooked Run encourages men of
all backgrounds to apply. The ideal Mr. Leesburg should embody the town’s spirit and be an active member of the community.
Crooked Run is in the process of selecting judges for the event. They plan to have a mostly female panel made up of area business owners and those who care enough about Leesburg to find its next positive, male spokesperson.
“I would love to see an 85-year-old enter and compete and just blow every young man out of the water, regardless of body type. That would be great. I just want people to show up and give a darn about raising money and promoting a cause while also having a good time,” Gutwein said.
Crooked Run bartender Zeke Mihelcic will be the host of the pageant. The former software engineer has lived in Loudoun County since 2001 and currently lives in downtown Leesburg. This will be the first time Milhelcic has hosted a pageant. However, he plans to use his familiarity with Leesburg and public speaking—from high school and college debates—to guide the contestants, judges, and audience through an entertaining journey to crown the first Mr. Leesburg.
The event is free to the public and will take place at Market Station, in between Wild Hare Cider Cabin and Crooked Run Fermentation. The two breweries will remain open during the event to offer drinks, and Super Smash Burger will provide food.
The pageant will start at noon and the winner is expected to be crowned, with a special Mr. Leesburg sash and set of prizes from local businesses, at 5 pm. n
The First Annual Mr. Leesburg Pageant starts at noon on April 1 at Crooked Run’s Leesburg location, 205 Harrison St. SE. Organizers will continue to accept contestants and donations of prizes until the event’s date. To learn more, donate prizes, and apply go to mrleesburg.com.
FRI., MAR. 31 – 7 p.m.
SAT., APR. 1 – 2 & 7 p.m.
SUN., APR. 2 – 5 p.m.
(Doors open 1 hour before showtime)
What starts professional quickly becomes hysterical and profane as an author, editor and fact-checker explore the truth about facts and fiction.
Tickets: $15 in advance n $20 at the door BUY NOW at HillsboroPlayers.org
Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.Henry Zeigler as Jim Fingal Danette Illig as Emily Penrose Matt Danielson as John D’Agata
2MB
continued from page 24
Friday, March 24, 5:30 p.m.
Lost Barrel Brewing, 36138 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg
Details: lostbarrel.com
2MB is three musical friends sharing 90s rock jams, country, classic rock and fun mashups.
JESSICA PAULIN
Friday, March 24, 6 p.m.
Flying Ace Distillery and Brewery, 40950 Flying Ace Lane, Lovettsville
Details: flyingacefarm.com
Saturday, March 25, 2:30 p.m. Breaux Vineyards, 36888 Breaux Vineyards
Lane, Hillsboro
Details: breauxvineyards.com
Jill Fulton is back with powerhouse blues, country, soul and oldies.
CHRIS DEVINE
Saturday, March 25, 3 p.m.
Lost Rhino Brewing Company 21730 Red Rum Drive, Ashburn
Details: lostrhino.com
Celebrate Saturday with high-energy acoustic covers from Chris Devine.
Details: tallyhotheater.com
Catch all your favorites from this top-notch AC/DC tribute band. Tickets are $15.
Sunday, March 26, 1 p.m.
Lost Barrel Brewing, 36138 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg
Details: lostbarrel.com
This high-energy acoustic duo performs an eclectic mix of favorites.
Sunday, March 26, 2 p.m.
Flying Ace Distillery and Brewery, 40950 Flying Ace Lane, Lovettsville
Thursday,
Enjoy covers from the 60s through today as Paulin covers favorites from Joplin to Gaga.
KEN WENZEL
Friday, March 24, 6 p.m.
Belly Love Brewing Company, 725 E. Main St. in Purcellville.
Details: bellylovebrewing.com
Wenzel returns to Belly Love with his signature roots-rock, country-jazz take on love, learning and life in America.
THE POP CHICKS
Friday, March 24, 7 p.m.
SHANE GAMBLE
Saturday, March 25, 3 p.m.
Flying Ace Distillery and Brewery, 40950 Flying Ace Lane, Lovettsville
Details: flyingacefarm.com
Rising country music star Shane Gamble returns to Flying Ace for an afternoon of great tunes.
THE
Saturday, March 25, 7 p.m.
Lucketts Community Center, 42361 Lucketts Road, Lucketts
Details: luckettsbluegrass.org
Details: flyingacefarm.com
Mabe is a stellar banjo player and singer/songwriter from the hills of North Carolina. His unique style covers a wide range of music from bluegrass to jazz, Irish and roots tunes.
JASON TEACH
Sunday, March 26, 2 p.m.
Breaux Vineyards, 36888 Breaux Vineyards Lane, Hillsboro
Details: breauxvineyards.com
Friday, March 24, 7 p.m.
MacDowell Brew Kitchen, 202 Harrison St. SE, Leesburg
Details: macsbeach.com
Linda Andersen, Darcy Cooke and Kathy Farmer have combined their love of a great party, pop music and enduring friendship to create a new act full of girl power and fun vibes, with favorites from women artists from the 60s through today.
RAMAAN
Friday, March 24, 7 p.m.
Lost Rhino Brewing Company 21730 Red Rum Drive, Ashburn
Details: lostrhino.com
The Kody Norris Show tips a hat to Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, the Grand Ole Oprey and a bit of vaudeville with topnotch picking and singing with humor and flash. Tickets are $22 for adults, $5 for youth 5 to 17 and free for children 4 and under.
Saturday, March 25, 7 p.m.
MacDowell Brew Kitchen, 202 Harrison St. SE, Leesburg
Details: macsbeach.com
Kick back with a fun mix of country and rock tunes from Rowdy Ace.
LOST LOCALS
Longtime singer/songwriter Jason Teach returns to Breaux with his honest, heartfelt songwriting.
BRISK
Sunday, March 26, 2 p.m.
Harpers Ferry Brewing, 37412 Adventure Center Lane, Loudoun Heights
Details: facebook.com/ harpersferrybrewing
It’s an afternoon of MTV Unplugged-style 90s alt rock covers from Brisk. Music for Dessert: The Fly Birds
Wednesday, March 29, 7 p.m.
Franklin Park Arts Center, 36441 Blueridge View Lane, Purcellville
Details: franklinparkartscenter.org
Saturday, March 25,
Loudoun’s own Ramaan plays favorites from the 90s and 2000s and contemporary rock radio mixed in with oldies and modern singer/songwriter tunes.
DIAMOND ALLEY
Friday, March 24, 8 p.m.
Spanky’s Shenanigans, 538 E. Market St., Leesburg
Details: spankyspub.com
This five-piece DMV dance/rock band performs an exciting mix of contemporary and classic hits and original tunes.
ROB HOEY
Saturday, March 25, 2 p.m.
Two Twisted Posts Winery, 12944 Harpers Ferry Road, Hillsboro
Details: twotwistedposts.com
Saturday, March 25, 8 p.m.
Spanky’s Shenanigans, 538 E. Market St., Leesburg
Details: spankyspub.com
From rock to funk to pop, they cover it all: from The Beatles to Blondie, from Billy Idol to the Black Crowes and beyond.
Saturday, March 25, 8 p.m.
Monk’s BBQ, 251 N. 21st St., Purcellville
Details: monksq.com
Jake Phillips is a singer/songwriter who has traveled the world. With a powerful voice and dynamic guitar skills, Phillips’s repertoire includes original music and an eclectic set of classic folk and alternative covers.
Winchester’s Fly Birds are an awardwinning musical embodiment of alternative bluegrass and Appalachian music. The band features Elizabeth Baker on banjo, Mary Dunlap on bass, Sarah Twigg on guitar and Crystal Shipley on fiddle.
ARTS FOR ALL: ‘BEAUTY AND THE BEAST JR.’
Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25, 7 p.m. and Sunday March 26, 3 p.m. Franklin Park Arts Center, 36441 Blueridge View Lane, Purcellville
Details: artsforallloudoun.org
Thursday, March 30, 7
Hoey serves up covers spanning genres and generations—from Clapton to Coldplay and everything in between.
Saturday, March 25, 8 p.m. Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St.,
Arts for All Loudoun presents the classic Disney favorite with favorite characters and songs. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors.
GET OUT THIS WEEK
continues on page 27
continued from page 26
Saturday, March 25, 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 26, 2 p.m.
StageCoach Theatre Company, 20937 Ashburn Road, Ashburn
Details: stagecoachtc.com
It’s Loudoun’s last weekend to catch C. Stephen Foster’s campy comedy imagining Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Judy Garland sharing a New York apartment in their retirement years, plotting a comeback and fighting for top diva status. Tickets are $28 for in-person seats, $25 for a livestream.
Friday, March 31, 7 p.m., Saturday, April 1 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, April 2, 5 p.m.
Hillsboro Players, Old Stone School, 37098 Charles Town Pike, Hillsboro
Details: hillsboroplayers.org
What starts professional quickly becomes hysterical and profane as the three characters explore the truth about facts and fiction. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door at hillsboroplayers.org
continued from page 24
everybody,” said Dan Miller, APTB’s associate community director, who plays the bouncy Easter Bunny who helps his new neighbor learn lessons about resilience.
“We were able to contour the show into a message that it’s OK to be grumpy and it doesn’t make you a bad person but then you can find something positive,” Shoenberger said.
For longtime APTB client and performer Amy Stone, “The Grumpy Bunny” is an opportunity to act in a lighthearted show after sharing her personal story onstage for more than a decade. Stone, now 28, has been performing with the organization since she was 15 and is one of the creative forces behind the beloved “Same Sky Project” where performers with disabilities share their stories. Stone made her debut working with Sweitzer to tell her story of living with cerebral palsy in her autobiographical one-woman show “How Far I’ve
Come.”
“I wanted to make sure people with disabilities were represented,” Stone said.
For Stone, playing a chicken in “The Grumpy Bunny” is an opportunity to leave behind the intensity of sharing her story on stage and dive into a fun but meaningful production for kids.
“It’s creative and it’s fun—and it’s also a break,” Stone said. “It’s nice to get a break from things like ‘Same Sky’ and just be a chicken and not have to tell my story every time.”
Watching the development of performers like Stone has been an exciting part of the job for APTB staff.
“To watch her grow over the years has really been amazing and she’s really come into her own and has this amazing strength about her,” Shoenberger said.
“The Grumpy Bunny” is a followup to APTB’s crowd-pleasing holiday production “The Snow Monster” using a temporary performance space in Village at Leesburg provided by Rappaport.
“The last weekend of ‘Snow Monster’ was completely packed. … I just
saw the joy in the really young ones. This thing we’re doing here works. Holidays can be the perfect opportunity to bring a signature piece,” Sweitzer said.
Middleburg-based A Place to Be will be expanding its music therapy operations to a different space in VAL in coming months, with a grand opening scheduled for September.
“I give a lot of thanks to the Rappaport family. That they see the value in what we offer is amazing,” Sweitzer said.
And the donated space allows APTB to invite the public for free.
“Part of it is being able to give back to the community that has given us so much in a lot of ways and supported us for years,” Schoenberger said. n
A Place To Be’s “The Grumpy Bunny” runs Fridays March 24 and 31 at 7 p.m., Saturdays March 25 and April 1 at 2 p.m. and Sundays, March 26 and April 2 at 2 p.m. at Village at Leesburg, 1609 Village Market Boulevard, Suite 110 (look for the Easter Bunny). For more information, go to aplacetobeva.org.
The LOUDOUN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS will hold a public hearing in the Board of Supervisors’ Meeting Room, County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, at 6:00 p.m. on WEDNESDAY, April 12, 2023, in order to consider:
ADOPTION OF THE PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY ANNUAL PLAN FOR LOUDOUN COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM
Pursuant to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations at 24 CFR Part 903, the Board of Supervisors hereby gives notice that it intends to conduct a public hearing for the purpose of considering and adopting the Public Housing Agency (PHA) Annual Plan (FY24) for the Loudoun County Department of Housing and Community Development Housing Choice Voucher Program. The draft plan provides information on current housing programs and the resident population served.
A copy of the full text of the above-referenced plan is available and may be examined at the Loudoun County Department of Housing & Community Development, Front Desk, 1st Floor, 106 Catoctin Circle, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia 20175 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday or call (703)737-8213 to request hard copies or electronic copies. Documents are also available for viewing at all ten (10) branch locations of the Loudoun County Public Library during regular business hours. Library hours and locations can be found at: https://library.loudoun.gov/contactus. Documents also may be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for “Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”).
Pursuant to Virginia Code §§ 15.2-1427 and 15.2-1508, the Board of Supervisors gives notice of its intent to amend Chapter 252.02 Bonuses of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County. The proposed amendment will add an additional basis upon which the County Administrator is authorized to pay a monetary bonus to County employees and officers, namely, “for hiring or retention purposes.”
A complete copy of the full text of the above-referenced proposed ordinance is on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the County Administrator, at the Loudoun County Government Center, Information Desk, 1st Floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday or call (703) 777-0200. Documents also may be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for “Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”).
41759 John Mosby Highway
Pursuant to Virginia Code §15.2-1800 et seq., the Board of Supervisors shall consider granting a 25-footwide sanitary sewer easement to Loudoun County Sanitation Authority d/b/a Loudoun Water through and across a portion of County property for the purpose of installing, laying, constructing, operating, repairing, altering, and/or maintaining underground public sewer facilities. Said easement will service the adjoining property located at 41859 John Mosby Highway (PIN 204-45-3260). The County property, PIN 203-153714, is located on the east side of Northstar Boulevard and south of John Mosby Highway (Route 50) in Aldie, Virginia, in the Dulles Election District.
Copies of the draft deed of easement and plat showing the location of the above-listed conveyance, and associated documents, are available for review and may be examined at the Loudoun County Government Center; Information Desk, 1st Floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Monday through Friday or call (703) 777-0200. Documents may also be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”).
Conveyance of Property on Grottoes Drive to the Ashburn Village Community Association, Inc.
Pursuant to Virginia Code §15.2-1800 et seq., the Board of Supervisors shall consider conveying 0.42 acres of County owned land near Grottoes Drive to the Ashburn Village Community Association, Inc. for their continued use and maintenance of their internal trail system. Said parcel is an abandon unimproved segment of Grottoes Drive right-of-way and is east of Glenhazel Drive and west of Ashburn Road (Route 641), as shown on Tax Map 65, running between parcels 36-1, 54-16 on the north and parcels C15-1, C15-28C2 and C8-28G to the south, in the Broad Run Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 085271552000.
Copies of the draft deed of conveyance and plat showing the location of the above-listed conveyance, and associated documents, are available for review and may be examined at the Loudoun County Government
Center; Information Desk, 1st Floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Monday through Friday or call (703) 777-0200. Documents may also be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”)
Proposed Lease Extension - Loudoun Hunger Relief
Pursuant to Virginia Code §15.2-1800 et seq., the Board of Supervisors shall consider extending an existing lease of County owned property, located at 750 Miller Drive S.E. Leesburg, Virginia, in the Leesburg Election District, to Loudoun Hunger Relief. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 085271552000. The current lease is set to expire in 2030 and Loudoun Hunger Relief has requested an extension of the lease until 2040.
Copies of the draft of the lease extension and associated documents, are available for review and may be examined at the Loudoun County Government Center; Information Desk, 1st Floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Monday through Friday or call (703) 777-0200. Documents may also be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”)
ZMAP-2021-0018 & ZMOD-2022-0081
FIREFOX DULLES
(Zoning Map Amendment & Zoning Modification)
Firefox Dulles LLC of Herndon, Virginia has submitted an application to rezone approximately 24.6 acres from the MR-HI (Mineral Resource – Heavy Industry) zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance to the PD-IP (Planned Development – Industrial Park) zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance in order to permit the development of all principal and accessory uses permitted in the PD-IP zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance at a maximum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 0.6 (up to 1.0 by Special Exception). The applicant also requests the following Zoning Ordinance modification(s):
ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION
PROPOSED MODIFICATION §5-1403(B), Landscaping, Buffer Yards, Screening, and Landscaping Plans, Road Corridor Buffer Setbacks, Road Corridor Buffer and Setbacks Matrix, Table 5-1403(B).
Reduce the building and parking setbacks along the future Tall Cedars Parkway/Route 50 Alternate Road from 100 feet and 75 feet respectively to 50 feet.
The subject property is located within the AI (Airport Impact) Overlay District, within the Ldn 65 or higher aircraft noise contours, and partially within the FOD (Floodplain Overlay District). The subject property is approximately 24.6 acres in size and is located north of John Mosby Highway (Route 50), west of Pleasant Valley Road (Route 609) on the north side of Wade Drive (873) and south side of the South Perimeter Road in the Dulles Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 097-40-9598. The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Suburban Policy Area (Suburban Industrial/Mineral Extraction Place Type) which designate this area for large Manufacturing, contractor with outdoor Storage, and other Productive uses at a recommended FAR of up to 0.6.
REQUEST FOR WITHDRAWAL OF LAND BY THE MARSH REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST FROM THE NEW HILLSBORO AGRICULTURAL AND FORESTAL DISTRICT
Pursuant to Virginia Code §15.2-4314 and the New Hillsboro Agricultural and Forestal District Ordinance Section 1226.04 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County, Survivors Trust of Marsh Revocable Living Trust of 16483 Hillsboro Road, Purcellville, Virginia, has submitted an application to withdraw a 20.51-acre parcel from the New Hillsboro Agricultural and Forestal District. The subject property is located north of Allder School Road (Route 711) and on the east side of Short Hill Road (Route 718), in the Blue Ridge Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 520-28-0478. The New Hillsboro Agricultural and Forestal District currently has a 4-year period that will expire on April 10, 2026, and is subject to a subdivision minimum lot size of 20 acres.
In accordance with Section 15.2-4307 of the Code of Virginia, the applications may be examined by request at the Loudoun County Government Center, Information Desk, 1st Floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by calling 703-7770246
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(option 5) to request hard copies or electronic copies or electronically at: https://www.loudoun.gov/adac (12-5-2022 ADAC Meeting under Agendas and Bylaws). Documents also may be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for “Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”).
The current period of the Middleburg East Agricultural and Forestal District will expire on July 17, 2023.
The District has a four-year period and a subdivision minimum lot size of 50 acres. Pursuant to Chapter 1226 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County, the Board of Supervisors has directed staff, the Agricultural District Advisory Committee (ADAC), and the Planning Commission to conduct a review in order to determine whether to continue, modify, or terminate the District. Parcels currently enrolled in the District are located within an area generally south of Sam Fred Road (Route 748), Cobb House Road (Route 629), and Stonewall Farm Lane, west of New Mountain Road (Route 631), east of Landmark School Road (Route 776) and Foxcroft Road (Route 626), and north of and adjoining the boundary of Fauquier County, in the 2022 Little River Election District.
During this review, land less than 5 acres, or 20 acres or greater, in size that is currently enrolled in the District will be automatically renewed. However, any parcel containing at least 5 acres but less than 20 acres will be ineligible for renewal and inclusion within the District unless the owner submits an application on forms provided by the Department of Planning and Zoning and one or more of the following criteria is met:
1. Management Plan that specifically states that the property owner(s) are accumulating the required 5-year production records in order to qualify for agricultural, to include horticulture, land use tax deferral.
2. Animal Husbandry including Equine uses (commercial or non-commercial) with a Management Plan that relates the pasture carrying capacity to limit the number of animals allowed.
3. Forests and woodlands with a management plan that specifies the actions required to maintain and enhance the stands.
4. Wetlands, flood plains, streams and/or rivers that have Management Plans that set forth the terms for their maintenance and enhancement.
During this review, land within the District may be withdrawn, in whole or in part, at the owner’s discretion by filing a written notice with the Board of Supervisors at any time before the Board acts to continue, modify, or terminate the District.
Landowners of the following parcels, currently enrolled in the Middleburg East Agricultural and Forestal District, were notified by certified mail of the District’s review.
Parcel Listings:
* Indicates a parcel whose owner is withdrawing it from the District.
** Indicates a parcel containing at least 5 acres but less than 20 acres whose owner did not properly apply for renewal.
The ADAC held a public meeting on January 30, 2023, to review and make recommendations concerning whether to continue, modify, or terminate the Middleburg East Agricultural and Forestal District, and to review renewal applications and requests for withdrawal of land from the District. The Planning Commission considered the matter at its public hearing on February 28, 2023. The reports and recommendations of the ADAC and the Planning Commission, along with any proposed modifications, will be considered by the Board of Supervisors at its public hearing.
In accordance with Section 15.2-4307 of the Code of Virginia, the applications may be examined by request at the Loudoun County Government Center, Information Desk, 1st Floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by calling 703-7770246 (option 5) to request hard copies or electronic copies or electronically at: https://www.loudoun.gov/adac 1-30-2023 ADAC Meeting under Agendas and Bylaws). Documents also may be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for “Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”).
The current period of the Middleburg West Agricultural and Forestal District will expire on July 17, 2023. The District has a four-year period and a subdivision minimum lot size of 50 acres. Pursuant to Chapter 1226 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County, the Board of Supervisors has directed staff, the Agricultural District Advisory Committee (ADAC), and the Planning Commission to conduct a review in order to determine whether to continue, modify, or terminate the District. Parcels currently enrolled in the District are located within an area generally south of Beaverdam Bridge Road (Route 733), Quaker Lane (Route 630), and Newlin Mill Road (Route 790), east of Willisville Road (Route 623), west of Leith Lane (Route 767) and Polecat Hill Road (Route 696), Foxcroft Road (626), and Landmark School Road (Route 776), and north of and adjoining the boundary with Fauquier County, in the 2022 Little River Election District.
During this review, land less than 5 acres, or 20 acres or greater, in size that is currently enrolled in the District will be automatically renewed. However, any parcel containing at least 5 acres but less than 20 acres will be ineligible for renewal and inclusion within the District unless the owner submits an application on forms provided by the Department of Planning and Zoning and one or more of the following criteria is met:
1. Management Plan that specifically states that the property owner(s) are accumulating the required 5-year production records in order to qualify for agricultural, to include horticulture, land use tax deferral.
2. Animal Husbandry including Equine uses (commercial or non-commercial) with a Management Plan that relates the pasture carrying capacity to limit the number of animals allowed.
3. Forests and woodlands with a management plan that specifies the actions required to maintain and enhance the stands.
4. Wetlands, flood plains, streams and/or rivers that have Management Plans that set forth the terms for their maintenance and enhancement.
During this review, land within the District may be withdrawn, in whole or in part, at the owner’s discretion by filing a written notice with the Board of Supervisors at any time before the Board acts to continue, modify, or terminate the District.
Landowners of the following parcels, currently enrolled in the Middleburg West Agricultural and Forestal District, were notified by certified mail of the District’s review.
ZMAP-2021-0003, SPEX-2021-0004, SPEX-2021-0011, ZMOD-2021-0003
ZMOD-2021-0004, ZMOD-2021-0005, ZMOD-2021-0006
ZMOD-2021-0047 & ZMOD-2021-0092
RIVANA AT INNOVATION STATION
(Zoning Map Amendment, Special Exceptions, & Zoning Modifications)
DWC Holdings LLC of Chicago, Illinois has submitted applications for the following: 1) to rezone approximately 4.92 acres from the PD-RDP (Planned Development – Research Development Park) zoning district under the 1972 Zoning Ordinance, 18.47 acres from the PD-OP (Planned Development – Office Park) zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance and 50.6 acres from the PD-TC (Planned Development – Town Center) zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance to the PD-TC zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance in order to develop a maximum of 2,719 attached multifamily dwelling units at a proposed maximum density of 34.27 dwelling units per acre, and a maximum of 3,297,000 square feet of nonresidential development at a proposed maximum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 1.85; 2) a Special Exception to permit incidental structures greater than 840 square feet of floor area in the Floodplain Overlay District and to permit passive and active recreation uses up to 10% of the floodplain area pursuant to Sections 4-1506(E) and 4-1506(F); and 3) a Special Exception to permit surface parking pursuant to Section 4-803 and Table 4-803. These applications are subject to the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance, The applicant also requests the following Zoning Ordinance modification(s):
ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION PROPOSED MODIFICATION
§4-802, PD-TC Planned Development – Town Center, Size, Location, and Components.
§4-802(A), PD-TC Planned Development – Town Center, Size, Location, and Components, Town Center Core.
§4-805(C)(2), PD-TC Planned Development – Town Center, Lot Requirements, Other yard requirements, Adjacent to Other Districts.
§4-806(A), PD-TC Planned Development – Town Center, Building Requirements, Lot Coverage.
§4-806(B)(1)(a), PD-TC Planned Development – Town Center, Building Requirements, Building Height, Town Center Core, Maximum Height.
§4-806(B)(2)(a), PD-TC Planned Development – Town Center, Building Requirements, Building Height, Town Center Fringe, Maximum Height.
§4-808(A)(3), PD-TC Planned Development –Town Center, Land Use Arrangement, Generally.
§4-808(A)(4), PD-TC Planned Development –Town Center, Land Use Arrangement, Generally.
§4-808(C)(1), PD-TC Planned Development –Town Center, Land Use Arrangement, Town Center Fringe.
§5-1002(D)(1), Scenic Creek Valley Buffer, Scenic Creek Valley Buffer Established.
§5-1102(D) and Table 5-1102, Off-Street Parking and Loading Requirements, Number of Parking and Loading Spaces Required, Parking. and Loading Requirement by Use.
§5-1103(A), Off-Street Parking and Loading Requirements, General Location Requirements, Parking Facilities.
§5-1303(A)(1), Tree Planting and Replacement, Canopy Requirements, Site Planning.
Allow Town Center Core to be located within 10,000 feet of another Town Center Core.
Allow for single use buildings in the Town Center Core.
Allow for a zero foot setback for buildings, parking, storage and loading areas adjacent to Fairfax County line.
Eliminate the 0.80 maximum lot coverage requirement in the Town Center Fringe.
Increase the maximum building height from 120 feet to 230 feet.
Increase the maximum building height from 60 feet to 240 feet.
Allow for a maximum of up to 65% of the total gross floor area be devoted to residential use.
Allow for the minimum 3% civic use to be calculated by total land area in lieu of total gross floor area square footage.
Increase the Town Center Fringe maximum perimeter distance from 1,600 feet to 2,150 feet.
Reduce the Scenic Creek Valley Buffer setback from 150 feet to 50 feet.
Allow for a parking reduction of up to 40% of the maximum requirement.
Allow for parking facilities to be located within 1500 feet of the principal entrance of the building lot being served.
Allow the 10% tree canopy requirement to be calculated based on the overall PD-TC zoning district rather than on a per site plan basis.
* Indicates a parcel whose owner is withdrawing it from the District.
** Indicates a parcel containing at least 5 acres but less than 20 acres whose owner did not properly apply for renewal.
The ADAC held a public meeting on January 30, 2023, to review and make recommendations concerning whether to continue, modify, or terminate the Middleburg West Agricultural and Forestal District, and to review renewal applications and requests for withdrawal of land from the District. The Planning Commission considered the matter at its public hearing on February 28, 2023. The reports and recommendations of the ADAC and the Planning Commission, along with any proposed modifications, will be considered by the Board of Supervisors at its public hearing.
In accordance with Section 15.2-4307 of the Code of Virginia, the applications may be examined by request at the Loudoun County Government Center, Information Desk, 1st Floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by calling 703-7770246 (option 5) to request hard copies or electronic copies or electronically at: https://www.loudoun.gov/adac 1-30-2023 ADAC Meeting under Agendas and Bylaws). Documents also may be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for “Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”).
§5-1403(B) Landscaping, Buffer Yards, Screening, and Landscape Plans, Road Corridor Buffers and Setbacks, Road Corridor Buffer and Setbacks Matrix, Table 5-1403 (B).
Reduce the required building setback from 75 feet to 35 feet along Innovation Avenue.
And
Reduce the required building setback from 100 feet to 75 feet from Sully Road (Route 28). and
Reduce the required building setback from 75 feet to 50 feet along the Route 28 grade separated interchanges.
trict). The subject property is approximately 79.34 acres in size and is located south of Innovation Avenue (Route 209), east of Sully Road (Route 28), and north of the Dulles Toll Road (Route 267) in the Broad Run Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as follows:
space in low-density communities with a variety of house and lot sizes. Target densities of 1du/3ac with total nonresidential Floor Area Ratio (FAR) up to 0.1.
Unless otherwise noted in the above notices, copies of the above-referenced amendments, applications, ordinances, and/or plans and related documents may be examined by request at the Loudoun County Government Center, Information Desk, 1st Floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, or call 703-7770246 (option 5) to request hard copies or electronic copies, or electronically at www.loudoun.gov/lola. This link also provides an additional opportunity for public input on active applications. Documents also may be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for “Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”). In addition, for detailed instructions on how to access documents using LOLA, to request that documents be emailed to you, to receive physical copies of documents, or to arrange a time to view the file at the Loudoun County Government Center, please email DPZ@loudoun.gov or call 703-777-0246 (option 5).
The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Urban Policy Area (Urban Transit Center Place Type)) which designate this area for a range of Residential, Retail, Office, Entertainment, and Community Activity uses at a recommended Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of up to 2.0.
SPMI-2022-0016
KIRKPATRICK TOWER DISH INCREASE
(Minor Special Exception)
The Board of Supervisors acting through the Loudoun County Department of Information Technology of Leesburg, Virginia, has submitted an application for a Minor Special Exception to modify the Additional Regulations of Section 5-618(C)(3)(d) of the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance regarding Telecommunications Use And/Or Structures in order to increase the allowable size of microwave dishes on telecommunications towers from 6 feet to 8 feet in diameter the PDH3(Planned Development Housing 3) zoning district. This application is subject to the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance and the proposed use is listed as a Special Exception use under Sections 5-618(C)(2)(c) and 5-618(C)(2)(d)(i). The subject property is approximately 6.91 acres in size and is located on the north side of Gardenia Drive (Route 3460), the west side of Northstar Boulevard (Route 3171), and the east side of Lightridge Farm Road (Route 705) in the Blue Ridge Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN 249-26-9025. The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Transition Policy Area (Transition Large Lot Neighborhood)), which designates this area for residential uses and substantial open
Pursuant to Sections 15.2-2204, 15.2-2309, 15.2-2310, 15.2-2311 and 15.2-2312 of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as amended, the LOVETTSVILLE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS will hold a public hearing at their meeting at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, at the Lovettsville Town Council Chambers located at 6 East Pennsylvania Avenue, Lovettsville, VA 20180.
Bret and Amy Lynn Spencer of Lovettsville, Virginia, have applied for a variance to permit a deviation from Section 42-304(d)(1)b, Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems, of the Lovettsville Zoning Ordinance, to waive a requirement that solar panels be flush mounted on roofs that face a public street. The property is zoned T-C (Town Center). The subject property is approximately 0.18 acre in size and is located on the north side of Eisentown Drive approximately 100 feet east of Fox Meadow Drive, at 40 Eisentown Drive. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 369187170. All persons wishing to speak will be given the opportunity but must be present at the meeting. Members of the public may access this meeting electronically. The papers comprising the variance request are available for review on the Town website at: www.lovettsvilleva.gov. You may also request a copy be sent to you via email by contacting John Merrithew, Planning Director at (540) 822-5788 between the hours of 8:30am and 4:30pm weekdays, holidays excepted. In the event the meeting is postponed, the public hearing will be re-advertised.
3/23 and 3/30/23
This notice is to inform the owner and any person having a security interest in their right to reclaim the motor vehicle herein described within 15 days after the date of storage charges resulting from placing the vehicle in custody, and the failure of the owner or persons having security interests to exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle within the time provided shall be deemed a waiver by the owner, and all persons having security interests of all right, title and interest in the vehicle, and consent to the sale of the abandoned motor vehicle at a public auction. This notice shall also advise the owner of record of his or her right to contest the determination by the Sheriff that the motor vehicle was “abandoned,” as provided in Chapter 630.08 of the Loudoun County Ordinance, by requesting a hearing before the County Administrator in writing. Such written request for a hearing must be made within 15 days of the notice.
Board of Supervisors public hearings are available for live viewing on television on Comcast Government Channel 23 and Verizon FiOS Channel 40, and livestreamed at loudoun.gov/meetings. All members of the public who desire to speak will be heard as to their views pertinent to these matters. Public input may be provided by electronic means at Board public hearings. Members of the public who wish to provide public input, whether electronically or in person, will be accommodated without advanced sign-up during the hearing, however, members of the public are strongly encouraged to sign-up in advance. For this public hearing, advanced sign-up will be taken after 8:30 a.m. on March 31, 2022, and no later than 12:00 p.m. on April 12, 2023. If you wish to sign-up in advance, call the Office of the County Administrator at (703) 777-0200. Citizens will also have the option to sign-up during the public hearing. Citizens may also submit written comments by email sent to bos@loudoun.gov. Any written comments received prior to the public hearing will be distributed to Board members and made part of the minutes for the public hearing. Hearing assistance is available for meetings in the Board of Supervisors’ Meeting Room. If you require any type of reasonable accommodation as a result of a physical, sensory or mental disability to participate in this meeting, please contact the Office of the County Administrator at 703-777-0200. At least one business day of advance notice is requested; some accommodations may require more than one day of notice. FM Assistive Listening System is available at the meetings.
BY ORDER OF: PHYLLIS RANDALL, CHAIR LOUDOUN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORSThe Loudoun County School Board is seeking name suggestions for a new elementary school.
A Dulles South area elementary school (ES-32), which will be co-located on the Lightridge High School/Hovatter Elementary School campus, is under construction and scheduled to open in fall 2024.
A School Board-appointed naming committee may consider geographic and historic names, as well as names of deceased individuals who significantly contributed to improving life in Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), Loudoun County, the Commonwealth of Virginia, or the United States of America. The School Board will not consider naming a school facility for any individual unless the individual has been deceased for at least five (5) years.
School name suggestions should be sent to LCPS Division of Planning and GIS Services, 21000 Education Court, Ashburn VA 20148 or emailed to LCPSPLAN@LCPS.ORG by no later than Monday, April 10, 2023. Citizens suggesting a school name are requested to provide background information to aid in the committee’s review process.
The School Board naming committee meetings are open to the public and are scheduled for the following dates:
Dulles South Area Elementary School Naming Committee Meetings
Thursday, April 13, 2023, 6:00 p.m., Hovatter Elementary School Library
Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 6:00 p.m., Hovatter Elementary School Library
Additional meetings may be scheduled at the request of the committee.
Hovatter Elementary School is located at 41135 Collaboration Drive, in Aldie. 3/23, 3/30 & 4/6/23
The Purcellville Town Council will hold a public hearing in the Council Chambers at 221 S. Nursery Avenue, Purcellville, Virginia on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 6:00 PM for the purpose of receiving comments on the ordinance setting (1) Personal Property Tax Relief (PPTRA) notes, (2) Park & Recreation event fees for barricades, cones, disposable trash cans, lighting tower, and variable message boards, (3) increasing water user rates, (4) increasing water service fees, (5) increasing water meter fees, (6) increasing bulk water fee usage Rate, and (7) increasing sewer user rates and service fees. Rates and fees are effective July 1, 2023.
The public hearing will be held on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 6:00 PM in the Town Council Chambers of the Purcellville Town Hall, located at 221 South Nursery Avenue. At this hearing, all persons desiring to express their views will be heard. Town Hall is open to to the public from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. Citizens wishing to provide comments on this item can email their comments to info@purcellvilleva.gov by 4:00 PM on April 10, 2023.
1) Personal Property Tax: Personal Property Tax Relief (PPTRA) set in accordance with Loudoun County tax billing. (Va. Code § 58.1-3524).
2) Parks & Recreation Fees: Fees for special events items.
3) Utility Water Usage Rates: includes an overall 6.5% water revenue increase for In and Out of Town. Out of Town customer usage rates are double the in Town rates for water. No change in Tiers (Virginia Code § 15.2-2119)
6.5% increase
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Utility Customer Classes Defined:
Single Family: Water and/or sewer service provided to an individually metered single family residential home. Non-Single Family: Water and/or sewer service provided to a master-metered multi-unit/multi-family dwelling or non-residential (commercial, industrial, and institional).
Utility Customer Classes Defined:
Single Family: Water and/or sewer service provided to an individually metered single family residential home. Non-Single Family: Water and/or sewer service provided to a master-metered multi-unit/multi-family dwelling or non-residential (commercial, industrial, and institional).
Single Family: Water and/or sewer service provided to an individually metered single family residential home. Non-Single Family: Water and/or sewer service provided to a master-metered multi-unit/multi-family dwelling or non-residential (commercial, industrial, and institional).
5) Water Meter Fee: fee for new water meters (Virginia Code § 15.2-2119). Out of Town customer rates are double the in Town rates.
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7) Sewer Utility Rates: The proposed rates include an overall 9.0% sewer revenue increase. Out of Town customer usage rates are double the in Town rates for sewer. (Virginia Code § 15.2-2119) Category
7) Sewer Utility Rates: The proposed Code § 15.2-2119)
Wastewater System
Wastewater Collection System: (Usage Rates Per 1,000 Gallons)
Wastewater Usage Rate (In–Town Rate)
Wastewater Usage Rate (Out of Town Rate)
Wastewater Administrative Service Charge (Fixed Fee Based on Meter Size)
Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) Department of Support Services continues to schedule monthly community meetings to share information on funded, planned and proposed school capital projects. By design and to focus the discussion and public involvement, each community meeting will spotlight a specific geographic area of Loudoun County. The March and April meetings will highlight LCPS’ Dulles South and Dulles North planning districts, respectively. Additional community meetings for other areas of the county will be scheduled and announced.
Date & Time Auditorium of Meeting Spotlight
Wednesday, March 22, 2023 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 20, 2023 6:00 p.m.
Mercer Middle School (42149 Greenstone Drive, Aldie)
Dulles South Area (General Description: North of Prince William County, East of Town of Middleburg, South of Rt 50, West of Fairfax County)
Brambleton Middle School (23070 Learning Circle, Ashburn) Dulles North Area (General Description: North of Rt 50, East of Goose Creek, South of Rt 267, West of Rt 28)
Following each meeting, the presentation will be posted on the LCPS website, at https://www.lcps.org/ Page/81470.
Those who need translation/interpretation assistance or a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability in order to participate meaningfully in the community meetings should contact the Support Services office at least three (3) days prior to the specific meeting.
Kevin L. Lewis, Chief Operations Officer Loudoun County Public SchoolsDepartment of Support Services
21000 Education Court
Ashburn, Virginia 20148
Telephone: 571-252-1385
Email: LCPSPLAN@LCPS.ORG
3/9/23 – 4/20/23
UPGRADES TO OLD
WATERFORD KNOLLS AND POTOMAC CROSSING SEWER PUMP STATIONS
The Town of Leesburg will accept sealed bids electronically via the Commonwealth’s e-procurement website (www.eva.virginia.gov), until 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, for the following:
IFB NO. 20503-FY23-57
UPGRADES TO OLD WATERFORD KNOLLS AND
March 23 & 30, 2023
The LOUDOUN COUNTY BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS will hold a public hearing in the BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING ROOM, County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, on Thursday, March 30, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. to consider the following:
APPL-2022-0004
18679 Woodburn Road - Galuski Accessory Dwelling
John Galuski of Leesburg, Virginia has submitted an application for an appeal of the October 24, 2022, Zoning Administrator determination, ZCOR-2022-0184, which found that the proposed additional accessory dwelling unit in zoning permit application #Z20477420101 violates Sections 5-613(C) and 5-102(C) of the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance. The proposed construction constitutes an additional accessory dwelling unit which would exceed the permissible number of accessory dwelling units allowed in an AR-1 (Agricultural Rural) zone, prohibited by Section 5-613(C). In addition, the proposed accessory dwelling unit would be located within a 25-foot yard, prohibited by Section 5-102(C). The subject property is zoned AR-1 (Agricultural Rural-1) under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance and is located partially within the MDOD (Mountainside Development Overlay District) (Somewhat Sensitive and Sensitive Areas). The subject property is approximately 7 acres in size and is located approximately 0.5 mile north of Grove Church Court (Route 1058) on the west side of Woodburn Road (Route 769) addressed as 18671, 18677, and 18679 Woodburn Road, Leesburg, Virginia, in the Catoctin Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 311-36-4631.
Full and complete copies of the above-referenced application(s) and related documents may be examined in the Loudoun County Department of Planning and Zoning, County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., 3rd Floor, Leesburg, Virginia, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or call (703) 777-0246.
All members of the public will be heard as to their views pertinent to these matters. If any member of the public requires a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability in order to participate in a public meeting, please contact the Office of the County Administrator at 703-777-0200/TTY-711. At least one business day of advance notice is requested; some accommodations may require more than one day of notice.
Nan M. Joseph Forbes, Chairman 3/16 & 3/23/23POTOMAC CROSSING SEWER PUMP STATIONS
Work includes the partial rehabilitation of two (2) Sewer Pump Stations, including new wet-pit submersible pumping equipment, new standby power systems and appurtenances, removal of existing underground storage tanks and all incidentals related thereto
For additional information, visit: http://www.leesburgva.gov/bidboard
3/23/23
In accordance with the statutes of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and policies of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, the LOVETTSVILLE TOWN COUNCIL will hold a public hearing on April 27, 2023 at 5:30pm in the Town Council Chamber, 6 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, Lovettsville, Virginia at which time the public shall have the right to provide written and oral comments on the Town’s East Broad Way 2A Streetscape Improvements project and the associated project design, tentative project schedule, environmental document and right-of-way requirements.
The project includes public improvements comprised of sidewalks, curb, gutter, streetlights, storm drainage, on-street parking spaces and landscaping, storm water management and drainage, waterline replacement, and pedestrian and vehicular safety in the corridor of East Broad Way from South Loudoun Street to South Church Street.
This project will not involve a change(s) and/or break(s) in limited access control. In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) an Environmental Document is being prepared. Pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106, information concerning the potential effects of the proposed project is included in the environmental document. Updates will be provided to the public on the status of the environmental studies and the NEPA Document at the public hearing.
All persons desiring to submit written or oral comments will be given an opportunity to do so at this meeting or comments can be submitted by Monday, May 8, 2023 to Charlie Mumaw, Project Manager, Town of Lovettsville, 6 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, Lovettsville, VA 20180 or via email: cmumaw@ lovettsvilleva.gov.
Additional details concerning the project including design plans, schedule and funding are available for review at the Town Hall between the hours of 8:30am and 4:30pm weekdays or by special appointment, holidays excepted. In the event the meeting is cancelled, the public hearing will be convened at the next regular scheduled meeting at the same time and place.
The Town of Lovettsville ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you need more information or special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, contact the Town of Lovettsville at (540) 822-5788.
STATE PROJECT: EN18-255-290, P101 TAP-5B01(024), R201 TAP-5B01(287), C501 TAP-5B01(480)
UPC No: 113840
The Town Council of the Town of Purcellville will hold a public hearing in the Town Council Chambers located at 221 South Nursery Avenue, Purcellville, Virginia on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 6:00 PM for the purpose of receiving comments on, considering, and possibly voting on the following item:
A Special Use Permit application, identified by the Town as “SUP22-01,” to permit a drive-through facility. The drive-through facility is proposed to serve a not-yetconstructed free-standing restaurant, to be located at the north-east corner of The Shoppes at Main and Maple, directly behind the existing Walgreens building. The property is addressed as 711A East Main Street, Purcellville, Virginia, and is further identified in Loudoun County land records as Parcel Identification Number (PIN) 48830-6864 (“Property”). The application is submitted by the owner of the Property, SRB Enterprises, LLC.
Additional information regarding the Special Use Permit application is available for review at the Purcellville Town Hall, 221 South Nursery Avenue, Purcellville, Virginia from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, holidays excepted.
At this public hearing, all persons desiring to present their views concerning this matter will be heard. In addition, all persons have the option of sending an email to the Town Clerk, Diana Hays, at dhays@ purcellvilleva.gov, with written comments or questions concerning the proposed application. Emails sent by 4:00PM the day of the Public Hearing will be part of the written record for the public hearing, but may not necessarily be read aloud into the record at the public hearing.
Stanley J. Milan, Sr., Mayor Town of PurcellvilleSETTING TAX RATES ON REAL PROPERTY AND CERTAIN PERSONAL PROPERTY FOR TAX YEAR 2023 AND AMENDING LEESBURG TOWN CODE, APPENDIX B – FEE SCHEDULE (SECTION 20-22)
In accordance with the Code of Virginia of 1950, as amended §§ 15.2-1427, 58.1-3000, 58.1-3007, 58.1-3200 et seq., and 58.1-3500, et seq., the Leesburg Town Council will hold a public hearing on:
Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of Town Hall, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, VA.
at which time the public shall have the right to present oral and written testimony on the following proposed amendments to the Leesburg Town Code:
• The Town Manager proposes a one cent increase to tax rates for real property for tax year 2023 ($0.1874 per $100 of assessed value)
• Appendix B – Fee Schedule, Sec. 20-22(a):
ᴏ Real estate; manufactured or mobile homes = $0.1874 per $100 of assessed value
ᴏ Real estate; tangible personal property for public service corporations (excluding aircraft and motor vehicles) = $0.1874 per $100 of assessed value
The Town Manager’s proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget is based on a real property tax rate of $0.1774 per $100 assessed value.
Copies of the proposed ordinance are available for public examination prior to the public hearing in the office of the Clerk of Council at Town Hall, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, VA, during normal business hours. For more information about the ordinance, please contact Clark G. Case, Director of Finance and Administrative Services at 703-771-2720.
Persons requiring reasonable accommodations are requested to contact Eileen Boeing, Clerk of Council at 703-771-2733, three days in advance of the public hearing. For TTY/TTD services, use the Virginia Relay Center by dialing 711.
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
VA CODE §§ 1-211.1; 8.01-316, -317, 20-104
Case No. CL-22-6446
LOUDOUN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT 18 East Market St., Leesburg, VA 20176
Commonwealth of Virginia, in re
NAME CHANGE OF MARLON JAHELL FRANCO ECHEVERRIA
JAQUELINE ECHEVERRIA RIVAS V. MARLON ANTONIO FRANCO, FATHER
The object of the suit is to: Change legal name of minor.
It is ORDERED that Marlon Antonio Franco appear at the above-named court and protect his interests on or before April 28, 2023 at 9:00 AM
3/16, 3/23, 3/30 & 4/6/23
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
VA. CODE § 8.01-316
Case No.: JJ046150-04-00
Loudoun Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court
Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Marjorie Cruz
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
VA. CODE § 8.01-316
Case No.: JJ046340-03-00
Loudoun Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court
Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Zarabella Tucker
Loudoun County Department of Family Services
/v.
Jason Tucker, putative father
The object of this suit is to hold a permanency planning hearing and review of Foster Care Plan pursuant to Virginia Code §§ 16.1-282.1 and 16.1-281 for Zarabella Tucker.
It is ORDERED that the defendant Jason Tucker, putative father, appear at the abovenamed Court and protect his or her interests on or before April 26, 2023 at 3:00 PM 3/16, 3/23, 3/30 & 4/6/23
The object of this suit is to hold a permanency planning hearing and review of Foster Care Plan pursuant to Virginia Code §§ 16.1-282.1 and 16.1281 for Marjorie Cruz.
It is ORDERED that the defendant Endenilson Alavarado, putative father, and Unknown Father appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or April 11, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. 3/2, 3/9, 3/16 & 3/23/23
03/24/23 & 03/31/23
Loudoun County Department of Family Services
/v.
Endenilson Alavarado, putative father & Unknown Father
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
TOWN OF PURCELLVILLE, VIRGINIA
Estimated Annual Budget for Fiscal Year 2024
July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024
Pursuant to Virginia Code Section 15.2-2506, the Town of Purcellville, Virginia hereby gives notice of a public hearing to receive comments on the Town Manager's proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023 and ending June 30, 2024 ("FY24"). The public hearing will be held on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 6:00 PM in the Town Council Chambers of the Purcellville Town Hall, located at 221 South Nursery Avenue. At this hearing, all persons desiring to express their views concerning the budget will be heard. Town Hall is open to the public from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. Citizens wishing to provide comments on this item can email their comments to info@purcellvilleva.gov by 4:00 PM on April 7, 2023.
The budget contains a plan for all contemplated expenditures and all estimated revenues and borrowings. The budget is prepared and published for informative and fiscal planning purposes only
The following is a brief synopsis of the budget proposed for FY24, relative to the Town's appropriations in FY23:
Interim Town Manager March 23 & 30, 2023
LOUDOUN COUNTY WILL BE ACCEPTING SEALED COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS FOR:
TASK ORDER ROADWAY & TRANSPORTATION DESIGN SERVICES FOR FEDERAL PROJECTS, RFP No. 502787 until prior to 4:00 p.m., local “Atomic Time”, April 20, 2023.
Solicitation forms may be obtained 24 hours a day by visiting our web site at www.loudoun.gov/procurement. If you do not have access to the Internet, call (703) 777-0403, M - F, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
WHEN CALLING, PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU NEED ANY REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION FOR ANY TYPE OF DISABILITY IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCUREMENT.
Nonprofit organizations seeking exemption from Loudoun County real and/or personal property taxes for the 2024 tax year may file an application with the Office of the Commissioner of the Revenue by the April 3, 2023 deadline. Most charitable nonprofit organizations are not automatically exempt from local property taxes in the Commonwealth, even those that may be exempt from federal income taxes. The filing of an application with the Commissioner of the Revenue is the necessary first step to obtaining a local real estate or personal property tax exemption. Completed applications should be returned to the Commissioner of the Revenue with a postmark by April 3, 2023, for consideration this year. Any exemption, if granted, would be effective January 1, 2024.
Applications are available online at loudoun. gov/cor. For information or assistance, please contact my office at trcor@loudoun.gov or 703-737-8557 weekdays 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Robert S. Wertz, Jr. Commissioner of the Revenue Loudoun County
Leesburg Office 1 Harrison Street SE First Floor
Sterling Office Loudoun Tech Center 46000 Center Oak Plaza
Mailing Address: PO Box 8000, MSC 32 Leesburg, VA 20177-9804
Phone: 703-737-8557
Email: trcor@loudoun.gov
continued from page 1
allow Loudoun Hunger to expand its offerings, with a free grocery market, the newest best practice for people in need as the most dignified way to receive that food, as well as more warehouse space, new truck bays, and more workspace for volunteers. And bringing in the other nonprofits will mean people who come by for any one service will also have access to literacy, jobs, benefits, and other supports to help them not only put food on the table but lift themselves up.
The ongoing $3 million fundraising campaign to build the new space was kicked off with a $500,000 gift from the Claude Moore Foundation, the county’s largest single nonprofit donor.
“When people hear that Claude Moore Charitable Foundation has supported your project, that is a vote of confidence,” Montgomery said.
“There are donors and there are doers,” Claude Moore Foundation Executive Director J. Hamilton Lambert said. “…Jenni-
continued from page 3
back up to speed and they need to be supported.”
She said the division needs a leader who is going to set that tone and “not tinker in the emotional feel-good stuff,” referring to social-emotional learning.
Courtney Smith defended social emotional learning in division schools, saying it was the people who were offended after the division paid for an equity report in 2019 that revealed racism in schools that were the ones responsible for making social emotional learning and safety in school a political point.
“We need a superintendent who is going to put every student at the forefront absolutely. Unfortunately, in protecting all of the students, some of that will become political,” she said.
Other parents brought up concerns they have with division and state policies they feel are politically motivated that affect students and their safety.
Elizabeth Boyko talked about speaking at the last School Board meeting on behalf of a friend whose daughters have expressed being uncomfortable with “a 200-pound boy” using the girls’ bathroom. She said they were told by administrators to use a single-user bathroom or to speak to a counselor if they were uncomfortable with the situation.
fer is the duchess of all doers in Loudoun County.”
The hub is also supported through in-kind donations by Merritt Construction, which is contributing architecture, building plans and general contracting, and Loudoun County government, which is providing the space, occupied until recently by the Office of Elections.
“I think the one thing we don’t do well is always see people in need, and I’ve said, in Loudoun County, you have to kind of hurt quietly. I don’t want that to be so,” Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) said. “I don’t want us to force people to hurt in silence. If somebody needs something, I want them to know that they have some place to come ask, and I want them to know that when they come ask they’re going to be treated with respect and dignity. I want them to know that their privacy will be maintained.”
She said Loudoun’s nonprofits do just that.
“Standing up a human services hub, with each organization collaborating yet serving in their own expert capacity,” is an incredible achievement, Loudoun Hunger
Relief Immediate Past Chair Carole Barbe said. She said the long-desired human services hub meets a strategic goal of the county, local philanthropists, and the nonprofit community.
“This project has been delayed for three years by COVID-19,” she said. “We are truly delighted to be here, finally getting this construction started.”
The expansion into more county-owned space was approved in 2019, but delayed for years as plans to move the Office of Elections were also held up. After those delays, the Board of Supervisors extended the lease ten years, to December 2040. The county does not charge rent for the space, reasoning Loudoun Hunger’s services to the county, including distributing an estimated $4.1 million worth of food in fiscal year 2022, are worth considerably more than the space’s estimated $156,000 rent. Loudoun Hunger estimates the nonprofits at the planned nonprofit services hub will employ about 39 people, pay about $2.5 million in payroll, and provide $5.9 million in value of services.
The COVID-19 pandemic was also a time that nonprofits saw a surge in need that has never fully abated. Loudoun
be prepared because parents aren’t going away.
“If the superintendent comes in and thinks they are going to have a cake job or a snow job, I would personally encourage you to tell that superintendent to think about whether they want to take this job because we are not going away,” he said.
“We need a superintendent that is going to lead and shine properly, and we have not had that,” Suzanne Satterfield said.
Colin Doniger said the decision to hire a new superintendent needed to wait until after the new School Board takes its seats in January.
“This current board is not trustworthy to hire a superintendent, they proved it time and time again,” he said to applause from attendees.
Hunger Relief is still distributing more than twice as much food as before the pandemic.
Loudoun Hunger Relief Board Chair Charlie McQuillan thanked the nonprofits and their leaders who will move into the new hub, providing a one-stop location for a range of services. The wall between the current and new space had been symbolically decorated with some of the missions and services of those nonprofits.
“You’ll see behind me some words on the wall symbolizing the barriers many in our served community face daily,” he said. “Things like access to good nutrition, literacy, aging in place, job support, job coaching, weekend food support for students, and even pet food. As we break this wall today, we are literally and figuratively providing improved access to resources in our county and beyond.”
Shortly thereafter elected officials and philanthropic and nonprofit leaders took sledgehammers in hand and put the first holes in that wall.
Learn more or donate to support Loudoun Hunger or human services hub at loudounhunger.org. To find help with food, go to loudounfeeds.org. n
the makeup of the school systems they are coming from to see if it matches with Loudoun’s demographics.
Dan Nebhut said it was important for Alfaro to include what he was experiencing that night in his report and recommendation because he said it was very telling for the future superintendent to see what the environment was like in the division.
“You are starting with a challenge of trust and a challenge of communication …. and you are starting from a deficit in both those categories. You are starting with distrust that is active and you are starting with intentional miscommunication and secrecy that has resulted in criminal action. You are not just dealing with ‘I wonder if.’”
“You tell me how we are supposed to get politics out of school when girls can’t even be safe and are treated like second class citizens?” she said. “You cannot get politics out of the school system as long as we have these policies in place.
It is not OK.”
Smith said it was federal litigation and told her to take it up with the courts, which caused a brief argument.
Longtime school division critic Brian Davison criticized the division for academic shortfalls, lack of college preparation, recent criminal indictments of administrators, and a lack of transparency. He said the new superintendent needs to
Davinelle Woodson, a parent and teacher at Heritage High School, said she wants a superintendent who is not afraid of parents.
“As teachers we are tired and we are beat up on,” she said. “I’m not saying every teacher is an A+ teacher, but most of whom I have worked with over the last seven years at three different schools are amazing teachers who actually care about the students. It has gotten out of control in LCPS with parents.”
Truphelia Parker asked if the names of potential candidates could be made public. Other parents said they wanted to know candidates’ track records and
GR Recruiting will take feedback from last week’s stakeholder sessions and combine it with results from a survey to create a leadership profile of the qualities community members want in the new superintendent. That will then be used to recruit candidates nationwide, with interviews being done in May and a new superintendent hired in late May or early June.
The division is holding a series of community listening sessions over the next two months in the eight election districts to hear from community members on ways the division can better serve students and rebuild trust. The next session is March 30 at 6:00 p.m. at Trailside Middle School. n
continued from page 1
the budget cut away more funding for a total shortfall of $13 million compared to the state’s original guidance.
“We share the frustration of being in the position of being in limbo while trying to finalize the budget, and appreciate the Board of Supervisors’ flexibility and consideration,” Interim Superintendent Dan Smith said at the county board’s March 16 budget work session.
The School Board also asked for $6.2 million more local tax funding than county staff had advised would be available, overall requesting $75 million more in county funding than last year. This was the first year that guidance was based on a new policy of the county board, which dedicates 60% of the year-over-year growth in local tax revenue to the school district and reserves the remaining 40% for growth in the county budget.
The school district’s budget request won them accolades from supervisors for their restraint—typically the difference between county guidance and the school district’s request is much larger, as is the year-over-year growth.
“Dr. Smith, you have given us I think the most reasonable, responsible, understandable, explainable budget in many, many years, and I very much appreciate it,” County Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) said.
Supervisors ultimately added $3 million to school funding, filling part of the $6.2 million difference between county funding and the School Board’s request. But with no action from the General Assembly expected until after the Board of Supervisors holds its final vote on the county budget April 4, how large a funding gap will remain when the new fiscal year starts July 1 remains unclear.
Randall pointed to the state’s touted $3 billion surplus.
“Let’s assume the mistake was made in good faith by VDOE. Let’s assume it really was a mistake. The way you fix a mistake is to fix the mistake, and if you’re sitting on $3 billion, there’s no reason we should be having this conversation right now, none whatsoever,” she said. “The logical conclusion is, somebody’s trying to defund some school systems, and that makes me very upset.”
She also pointed out it is far from the first time local leaders have had to step in where state funding has fallen short.
“I’m tired of paying for positions in the Health Department, and court services, and probation and parole—in every area the state underfunds their people or their
systems, we pick it up, and then they get to brag that they didn’t raise their taxes. Well, you don’t have a surplus until you pay your bills, and they have not paid their bills,” she said.
The largest single category of spending in the county’s capital budget is transportation, at $2.2 billion over six years—almost all of it to build roads, considered a state responsibility. Two cents of the county’s real estate tax go directly toward transportation projects.
Republican and Democrat supervisors alike expressed frustration with the state’s school funding shortcomings.
“I think we need to pressure the state to fix their problem, and not have us fixing their problem like we pretty much always do every year,” Supervisor Tony R. Buffington (R-Blue Ridge) said.
“This governor calls himself the education governor and has ad nauseam since the day he was elected. It’s a joke. It’s a farce. It’s been a farce since day one,” Supervisor Michael R. Turner (D-Ashburn) said. And he added the state Department of Education’s funding shortfall is no longer a mistake.
“An error that remain uncorrected by a person that has fiscal power to fix that error is no longer an error—it’s a malevolent act against Virginia communities,” Turner said.
The next day, the Youngkin administration issued a press release once again trumpeting that state tax revenues are running ahead of projections.
“February’s revenue numbers confirm that our December forecast continues to accurately represent that we will have a multi-billion-dollar surplus,” Youngkin stated. “Virginians remain overtaxed, and the Commonwealth has abundant resources available to lower costs and cut taxes for families and local businesses. At the same time, we can make critical investments to transform our behavioral
health system, invest in education and law enforcement, and strengthen communities across Virginia.”
Loudoun Now has contacted the governor’s off to ask whether he will propose filling that state funding shortfall.
Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles) wondered if the school district could find that $13 million in one-time expenses in its budget—allowing the Board of Supervisors to cover the gap later in the year during end-of-year fund balance discussions if the state does not. The county government may have more than $100 million unspent in its general fund after closing the books on a fiscal year, but that money is only used for one-time spending such as construction projects, bonuses or buying new equipment, rather than reoccurring expenses such as paying salaries.
Smith said the school staff was only able to find $2.6 million in one-time expenses in their $2.2 billion budget—a budget that includes a $1.7 billion operating fund, and a $27.9 million capital asset preservation program fund which covers replacement or major maintenance of assets like roofs, windows, HVAC systems and plumbing.
“It would be really hard for me to think that in a $2 billion budget there isn’t somewhere, say, between $5 and $10 million in one-time funding,” Letourneau said. Buffington also pointed out the School Board recently spent more than $20 million of its own fund balance. The School Board in May 2022 spent $21.4 million in yearend fund balance on projects including new school bus cameras, hiring bonuses, HVAC replacements, fence repairs and water bottle filling stations.
Some supervisors pushed to cover more of the funding gap. Turner framed the discussion as a choice between tax increases. Combined with other spending added to the county government budget,
funding either the full difference between the county guidance and school district request or the gap in state funding would have pushed the real estate tax rate higher.
“If we honor the $75 million increase and cover the $6.3 million that we’re currently short, we add a half penny and bring us up to 88 (cents). And if the board decided to fix the entire state problem, we hold it at the current rate of 89 (cents) and get an extra $13 million, which fixes the state problem. So that’s the binary choice we have,” he said.
Supervisor Juli E. Briskman (D-Algonkian) pushed to fund the full difference between local funding policy and School Board request. She pointed out the difference to a household paying the average real estate tax bill of raising the tax rate a half-cent, necessary to fund that difference without cutting elsewhere, is about $35 a year.
“That’s barely even a dinner. And I know these things are tight for everybody right now, but we’re talking $35 for the average household in order to close the local funding gap for our school system and tell our community that we care about our kids, we care about the folks who work hard every day, get up early every morning to go and teach our kids,” she said.
But other supervisors pointed out many people are facing their own tight budgets—and real estate bills are already going up. Letourneau pointed out the budget overall already represents an increase in that tax bill of more than $300, because of increasing real estate values.
“I think $35 in a vacuum with nothing else going on, OK. But I think that this year, people have experienced so many ‘$35’ that those $35 after a while add up,” Randall said, also pointing to the overall size of school district budget. And she said in her own lifetime, there have been times she wouldn’t have been able to come up with $35 at all—“I don’t take small amounts of money for granted, because I have been in situations where I need to eat and I didn’t have five dollars.”
Supervisors voted to add $3 million to the local funding transfer to schools 8-01, with Supervisor Kristen C. Umstattd (D-Leesburg) absent.
The school budget also does not include funding to support the administrative costs of allowing collective bargaining with school employees. Smith said that is estimated at no more than $3.5 million. The School Board is scheduled to vote on—and expected to approve—collective bargaining on March 28. Smith said for this year, school staff members will recommend using end-of-year fund balance to cover that expense. n
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The governor and members of the General Assembly once again are taking a celebratory victory lap to tout budget surpluses and tax rebates.
Holding down taxes is (or should be) a core government function. However, the General Assembly has transformed that duty into a bipartisan sport—one played on a field where it holds a significant advantage over the commonwealth’s localities.
This year, local governments find themselves again having to pick up the tab when the state leaders sidestep their commitments. This time it is education funding and mental health treatment. Add those costs to the millions of local dollars residents pay to build state roads—not just through the various tolls, taxes and fees imposed on motorists across the region, but local taxes contributed on top of that.
That passing down of funding responsibility only exacerbates the inattention to fiscal discipline closer to home. Yes, the state government should cover the $7.4 million gap attributed to a budgeting error, but our local leaders also could have found at least that amount to cut somewhere in the $2.6 billion combined schools and general county government operating budgets. Instead, the General Assembly’s failure was converted directly into a local tax increase.
This fall voters will choose representatives to fill all 140 assembly seats—Loudoun residents will pick seven of them. It would be refreshing to send a delegation that put a priority on delivering state funding for state services, rather than passing the bill down for others to pay. n
Balderdash
Editor:
What is “safe” and “affordable” housing? Does the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments know? The authors of the Metropolitan Washington Regional Fair Housing Plan Draft Executive Summary dated January 2023 clearly don’t. If they did, they would have included definitions for both in this summary.
That begs the question, why didn’t they? An organization that is so enthusiastic about defining the word “equity” to mean something different than what is in the Merriam-Webster dictionary should have invested the same rigor and gusto into defining “safe” and “affordable” in 29 pages that they did calling everyone who isn’t African American a racist. These 29 pages do nothing to inform the reader of actual root causes and are intended to pollute your mind with sleight of hand and parlor tricks to push an agenda. You are a racist if you don’t agree with their premises.
Bollocks and Balderdash!
Dwellings, be it apartments, multi or single-family homes are not safe based on race. They are safe based on craftsmanship, building materials, county codes, inspections and whether the county attorney’s office prosecutes criminals who terrorize in high crime neighborhoods or lets them out with a slap on the wrist. They are also safe based on whether a federal Depart-
ment of Justice and Homeland Security actually stop the flow of illegal aliens into our country.
I have lived in many parts of Fairfax and Loudoun County. Rent in this area has gone up, so have the costs of buying a home. The cause of this is supply and demand. When you flood a market with more people than products, costs go up. When you flood a market with more people, crime goes up. When you let people who commit crimes off, and tell cops not to chase criminals, more crimes happen. This didn’t require a report from MWCOG to figure out.
The real purpose of this report is to exert more government over you and your life. To create a non-existent problem out of thin air. To take more of your income based on a fake problem that requires more tax revenue to fix. Loudoun doesn’t have a NIMBY issue, Loudoun has a progressive board majority that is actively marching us toward a big government and control end state that no one should want. The last time the government said something was good for you killed a boat load of people and retarded the growth of your school kids by sticking them at home for almost two years.
Nothing in this report should be adopted by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. It’s full of false statements and built on false pretenses, and it’s so obvious a fifth grader can see it.
— Christopher Rohland, LeesburgEditor:
One wonders what Orc infested part of Loudoun County Woody Kaye lives in. His fantastical analogy of Loudoun as Mordor (Letters, March 16) is nothing like the Loudoun I’ve lived in for over 20 years. Perhaps Kaye should put down his book, turn off Fox News and explore all that the county has to offer, rather than brooding over a map of Middle Earth.
Kaye seems concerned that the U.S. Constitution is somehow being overrun by local socialists, but any week in Loudoun would suggest otherwise. Commerce and private enterprise abound; Loudoun regularly ranks as one of the wealthiest counties in the country. Religious faiths of all sorts freely meet and worship. Private property rights are untrammeled, resulting in many of the traffic and development issues that bother Kaye (or would he rather have government in control of the land?).
Local government provides the services that “we the people” want—and they do it well, as evidenced by the low crime rate and plethora of county parks, sport fields and libraries. Our public roads and infrastructure allow for easy trips to the store, the city, the mountains, or a flight to pretty much anywhere on earth. If planes
Do you support a shift to private, gender-neutral bathrooms in schools?
• 47.4% Dumb idea
• 13.8% Give it a try
• 18.1% Great idea
• 12.1% Probably a good idea
• 8.6% Not a priority
It’s nally spring. What’s the best part of the season?
Share your views at loudounnow.com/polls
continued from page 40
or cars aren’t your thing, now you can take the train to D.C.
In short, people freely choose to move here for the quality of life and quality public schools—now with more than 80,000 students! If this is Mordor, I’m glad to be here.
Meanwhile, Kaye longs for the Hobbits only Shire of his past and waxes nostalgic about a pre-Roosevelt America (both Teddy and Franklin no less!), when government sanctioned racism, denied women the right to vote, forced Native Americans from their lands, child labor laws were non-existent and corporate robber-barons exploited workers and the environment. Somehow, I don’t think Frodo would approve.
The freedoms granted by the Constitution allow counties and the country to grow and change. A quote inscribed in the rotunda of the Jefferson Memorial from the famously conflicted Founding Father himself sums it up: “… laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as a civilized
Loudoun County is a great place to live and work. As one of the richest counties in America its growth is attributable to an influx of multifaceted industries that draw a diverse workforce. Like other industries that support the county’s growing population, the healthcare industry is big business. According to the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, Loudoun County is the healthiest county in Virginia. With two major hospital systems serving the county, Inova Loudoun Hospital and Stone Springs Hospital, healthcare accounts for thousands of jobs.
One of the largest physician-owned, multi-specialty group practices in Virginia is in Loudoun County. With over 145 offices, they too employ thousands of people.
Over 50 percent of the large workforce that supports Loudoun’s healthcare system, be it a hospital, medical practice, or urgent care, can’t afford to live where they work. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals 56 percent of all hospital employees work as healthcare practitioners and technicians. Another 32 percent of hospital employees are support personnel such as building maintenance staff, caterers and housekeeping teams who keep hospitals running effectively and efficiently. Many of these support staff play critical roles in the healthcare delivery process. Many cannot afford to live in Loudoun County, the community they serve and support.
The COVID pandemic heralded an awakening in the healthcare workforce. A 2021 Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that almost 30 percent of healthcare workers are considering leaving their profession. This postCOVID exodus is due to stress, fatigue, trauma, and burnout leading to a poor quality of life compounded by a lack of commensurate compensation. Our current workforce is focused on worklife balance. They want more family and friends time, shorter commutes, and a sense of community. They are leaving the workforce in Loudoun County and choosing to work closer to home, even if
that means lower wages.
As healthcare facilities struggle to find staff, it is imperative that we continue to advocate for increased affordable workforce housing here in Loudoun County. Staffing shortages have implications on the delivery of quality healthcare and the continued economic growth of Loudoun County.
If we want to continue to enjoy the quality of life that living in Loudoun County affords, we must fight to ensure that it is a place where everyone can afford to live and work.
Led by the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties, “What is the Cost of Loudoun Housing” is part of the Workforce Housing Now community service effort amplifying Loudoun’s voice for workforce housing as the missing ingredient to our community’s prosperity. n
Dr. Tonya Adkins is a board-certified Obstetrician Gynecologist and is the CEO of HealthWorks for Northern Virginia, a nonprofit community health center aiding underserved residents in Loudoun and Fairfax Counties. She began her medical career as a Medical Officer in the U.S. Navy where she rose to the rank of Lt. Commander.
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society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.”
— Joe Goode, Waterford TransparencyEditor:
It’s time to put some meat on the over politicized “transparency bone.”
Transparency is one of the most significant benefits of having access to voting records. Citizens can hold their elected officials accountable for their actions and make informed decisions about whether to re-elect them. This transparency also promotes trust in government, as citizens can see that their representatives are acting in the public interest.
Additionally, voting records provide valuable insight into politicians’ beliefs and priorities. By examining how they vote on certain issues, citizens can determine whether they align with their own values and priorities. This information is particularly important during elections, where voters can use voting records to make informed decisions about which candidates to support.
Access to voting records also promotes government accountability by making it more difficult for elected officials to deny responsibility for their actions or hide from their voting records. This accountability ensures that officials act in the best interests of their constituents, rather than corporate or other special interests.
Regrettably, the present approach to accessing the voting records of local politicians and School Board members through meeting minutes, agendas, and videos is not only time-consuming and cumbersome but also lacks equity. This system creates an unnecessary obstacle that disproportionately affects marginalized communities and individuals who may not have the resources or time to navigate this complicated process. As a result, it is a significant barrier to civic engagement and access to public information, which is a fundamental right of all citizens in a democratic society.
Citizens must spend countless hours sifting through documents and recordings just to find out how their elected officials have voted on critical issues that affect their lives. This system creates an unnecessary barrier to civic engagement and further disenfranchises marginalized communities and individuals who may not have the time or resources to devote to this process.
It is the responsibility of the state
Delegates, Senators, Board of Supervisors and School Board officials to ensure that citizens have easy access to this critical information. They must provide a more accessible and transparent system for accessing voting records. Anything less is a failure of their duty to serve their constituents, regardless of political affiliation.
Transparency in voting records is essential for holding elected officials accountable, promoting government accountability, civic engagement, and a healthy democracy. Access to voting records at the local level is just as critical as access at the state and national level. The current system of accessing local voting records is unacceptable and needs to be changed to provide citizens with easy access to this critical information. Local officials must step up and provide a more accessible and transparent system for accessing voting records.
— Scott Mineo, AshburnEditor:
Running through recent letters and articles is an unmentioned theme: our representative system of government no longer represents the public. Instead, leaders cater to personal interests, their party, and their ideology. Take the push in Loudoun for collective bargaining. Did the public ask for this? What possible benefits could there be for us?
Our supervisors should be required to read the new book “Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions” before imposing this on us all. But they won’t: party and ideology predetermined their votes. The public sector unions extract dues from their members, which are laundered through the union and turned into campaign dollars for politicians. How many dollars? Look it up on Open Secrets yourself. The wheel rolls on endlessly; only the taxpayers are left out.
Speaking of being left out, when teachers unions become involved in public education it is worth asking these questions: Do the students have a union? Do the parents? Do the taxpayers? No. Their interests all fall to the bottom of the priority list. We just experienced a disastrous example of this, with the extended closure of schools (the longest closures occurred in places where the unions are the strongest). Economists are now calculating the lifelong losses to the students who were harmed, and we see alarming statistics on mental health, addiction, and suicide as well. No one even apologized, just the usual passing of the buck.
Everyone knows there are teachers who should not be allowed anywhere near a school, teachers who do the bare
minimum, and phenomenal, gifted teachers who change the lives of their students forever. Teachers unions ensure it is impossible to fire the former or to reward the latter. The members receive their pay and benefits regardless of the students’ outcomes, even in places where schools manage 0% proficiency results (see Baltimore).
Or take the nebulous “equity” resolution with its unknown practical consequences. Did the public ask for this? How would it poll on a list of Loudoun voters’ priorities? Doesn’t matter. The supervisors do what they want regardless. Parents of Asian background and other “inconvenient minorities” should pay special attention, as a clue to what “equity” means for them can be found in recent controversies like the removal of merit admissions at TJ or schools “forgetting” to inform certain National Merit award winners.
A recent article focused on the problems the high cost of land and housing pose to young local farmers (who are creating amazing food products). How would the “equity” resolution affect any attempt to support them? Will support only be forthcoming if we happen to have the “correct” percentage of Black or LGBTQ farmers? No one knows.
The examples are endless. Voters are presented with a binary choice, motivated by anger and fear, and then forgotten the day after Election Day. The result is hopeless division, resentment, and a record low in public trust. Or occasionally something more drastic, like the election of Donald Trump.
— Dominic Santini, LeesburgEditor: We need to define what is and is not antisemitism.
I was very disappointed to hear about the seven Democratic Senators who killed SB 1252 in committee. The bill, which passed in the Virginia House of Delegates, codifies the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism for purposes of understanding when antisemitic discrimination occurs.
My state senator, Sen. Jennifer Boysko, despite her commitment to equality and support for marginalized constituents, was one of the no votes. Why? Because she and others fell for a red herring logical fallacy that IHRA’s definition of antisemitism chills speech that criticizes Israeli policy. Believe me, it does not. I’m both Jewish and a Zionist who strongly believes in the right of Israel to exist. However, I regularly criticize Netanyahu’s racist anti-Arab policies and Israel’s human rights violations. Obviously, that doesn’t make
me antisemitic. Nor does IHRA’s definition of antisemitism prevent me from speaking my mind.
The IHRA specifically addresses what kind of speech amounts to antisemitism. And it’s very important to understand why certain statements rise to the level of antisemitism while others do not. The IHRA definition explains that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country” is never antisemitic. However, it is antisemitic hate speech to hold Jewish people collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel or to call for an end of Israel’s existence.
I’ve taught Judaics and Jewish values to local eighth through 10th graders for the past six years at my synagogue. Over the past four years, my students have described an increasing amount of antisemitic bullying. Because of this, I’ve expanded my lessons on antisemitism every single year, heavily relying on IHRA’s teaching materials to help students understand what is and what is not antisemitism.
The problem is that antisemitic movements like Boycott Divest and Sanction (“BDS”) conflate two very different types of anti-Israel statements and use propaganda to convince legislators that pro-Palestinian speech is being chilled.
BDS’s members will (and I don’t disagree) often denounce Israeli actions as racist or too extreme. Such criticisms against the policies of Israel are clearly permissible under the IHRA definition.
However, statements by BDS members that de-legitimize Israel’s very existence are most definitely antisemitic. BDS-type groups will often deny Israel’s right to exist claiming that Israel was invalidly formed as an “imperialistic colonial state.” Antisemitic movements like BDS advance outright lies denying ANY legitimate Jewish connection to our traditional Jewish homeland. These types of erasure are absolutely antisemitic.
Apparently, our leaders find it difficult to distinguish between statements denying the right of Jews or Israel to exist with statements criticizing Israeli human rights violations. I would love it if any one of them could attend one of my Sunday classes, meet my students, and learn with them as we dissect what is and is not antisemitism.
I implore our Judiciary Committee to revisit its refusal to define antisemitism for fear that criticism of Israeli policy would be. They’ve been unwittingly duped. And Virginia deserves better.
— Bari Barton Cooper, BrambletonLETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Editor:
I’m a young Republican woman. You may see two oxymorons in that sentence, as both young voters and women in general tend to vote Democrat, but here’s a third—I’m a young Republican woman who’s concerned about climate and conservation issues.
You may think that a stereotypical Republican doesn’t care about the environment, but I want to see action that results in real emissions reductions. I want energy produced here in the United States, where we have some of the highest environmental standards and cleanest energy production. Despite what some may say, we can’t eliminate fossil fuels tomorrow, and we need a smart all-of-the-above energy strategy.
This strategy must include encouraging domestic mining and processing of the raw materials we need to build clean energy technologies. After all, we cannot afford to build a clean energy future dependent on China. Additionally, we must be able to actually build energy projects, and we do this by getting burdensome regulations out of the way, while still maintaining high environmental standards.
This imminent need to produce clean energy domestically is why, in one of its very first acts with control of Congress, the Republican majority introduced H.R. 1, the Lowering Energy Costs Act. H.R. 1. not only unleashes American natural gas—which is cleaner than natural gas produced elsewhere like Venezuela and Russia—but also helps secure supply chains for clean energy as well. While this legislation will need to be negotiated to ensure passage in the Senate, it’s an important signal that Republicans are prioritizing energy in a way that both unleashes American innovation and maintains high environmental standards.
Young conservatives, like myself, want an energy strategy that creates a future with abundant, affordable, and increasingly clean energy. We need an all-of-theabove approach to energy, including fossil energy, renewables, and nuclear energy.
H.R.1 is an admirable first step at securing America’s energy, and I hope to see additional, bipartisan steps to address the climate challenge from the 118th Congress, with of course, Republicans leading from the front.
— Jordan Orris, AshburnHelen Hough Cooper, 93 of Lovettsville, Virginia passed away on Saturday, February 25, 2023, at her home in Lovettsville, Virginia. Born Wednesday, January 15, 1930, in Leesburg, Virginia, she was the daughter of the late Monroe Hough and Myrtle Mock Hough. She was the wife of the late Clifton Cooper. Helen is survived by her daughters, Patricia Riley (Harry Zohn) of Sunset Beach, NC and Stacie Merchant (Mark) of Leesburg, VA. Also included are her granddaughters, Jennifer Marcus, Lauren Constantine, and Lesley Bamford; and four great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, son, William Riley, brother, James Hough and sister, Lola Alexander. She was an avid Washington Redskins fan, enjoyed square dancing with the Beaux and Belles and playing cards with her husband and friends. The family will receive guests at Zion Lutheran Church on April 22, 2023, from 10:00AM to 11:00AM. A Memorial Service will begin at 11:00AM followed by interment at Lovettsville Union Cemetery. A reception will be held at the New Jerusalem social hall. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Helen’s honor to Zion Lutheran Church, 38011 Morrisonville Rd, Lovettsville, VA 20180. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.loudounfuneralchapel.com
Hutchison and Katherine Elizabeth Connelly Fogle. She was also predeceased by her stepfather, Toby Atwell, and her brother, Michael Clinton Fogle. A native of Purcellville, Karen was employed as a bus driver, for 32 years, with Loudoun County Public Schools. In 1992, she and her husband Mike opened Catoctin Automotive, in Leesburg, VA; where she was handled many administrative tasks in the business. Karen was a very devoted wife, mom, sister, and grammy. She loved being outdoors in the sunshine, going to the pool; watching her husband and son drag race; but most of all spending time with her grandchildren. She leaves her family to cherish her memory including, her husband Michael Rollison, sons, Anthony (Tiffany) and Sean (Melissa), and four grandchildren Blake, Madison, Meghan and Chase. 3 sisters, Janet, Vickie, Mary Sue; 2 brothers, Gary and Keith; sister in laws; Julie, Brenda, Donna, Bonnie, and brother-in-law; Mark; as well numerous nieces, nephew, other family and friends. Funeral services to celebrate Karen’s life will begin at 10:00 AM on Friday, March 24, 2023 at Loudoun Funeral Chapel located at 158 Catoctin Circle, SE Leesburg, Virginia 20175, with the Rev. Roy A. Trammell, Sr. officiating. The family will receive friends from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at the funeral home. Interment will be privately in Lovettsville Union Cemetery, Lovettsville, VA. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Karen’s memory to a charity of the sender’s choice. Online condolences may be made to the family at www. loudounfuneralchapel.com
lifelong resident of Taylorstown, Virginia. She lived most of her life, in the house that she and her husband built. In this small house, full of love, they raised their four children.
An active and lifelong member of the Mt. Pleasant United Methodist, she taught bible school, organized ham and turkey dinners and was well known for her caramel cakes and “church barbecue”.
A favorite past time was crocheting. Each of her grandchildren and great grandchildren received one at birth and upon graduation, as well as others in the community. She also taught the craft to others.
In the summer months, it was not unusual for her to be sitting on the front porch watching traffic and greeting neighbors and friends that would stop by for a visit.
She is survived by her children and their spouses Donald and Karen Fletcher, Teresa and David Gunnell, and Mark A. Fletcher and Donald K. Burgess; grandchildren and great grandchildren Jennifer and Jessie Seaton and son Tanner, Carrie and Carl Sowdon and children Ryan and Evelyn, Thomas and Ashley Gunnell and children Lily and Layla, Brian Fletcher and fiancée Joy Dooly, and Matthew Gunnell. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews and dear friends.
A visitation will take place on Friday, March 24 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm at Loudoun Funeral Chapel, 158 Catoctin Circle SE, Leesburg, VA 20175.
A Celebration of Life and Witness to the Resurrection will be held on April 3, 2023 at 2:00 pm at Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church, 13266 Taylorstown Road, Leesburg, Virginia 20176. Interment will be held privately.
The family wishes to thank those that prayed for and helped during Mom’s journey to her heavenly reward.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church.
Karen Lee Rollison, 65 of Waterford, Virginia passed on Friday, March 17, 2023, peacefully in her sleep. Born Friday, August 16, 1957 in Leesburg, Virginia; a daughter of the late Michael
Beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Isabella “Ebo” West Painter Fletcher’s spirit left her earthly body on March 9,2023 to go home to be with the Lord. She was greeted by her husband Tom, son Larry and a host of family and friends.
Born on October 1, 1930, Isabella was a
