n LOUDOUN
Pg. 4 | n EDUCATION
Pg. 8 | n PUBLIC SAFETY
Pg. 10 | n OBITUARIES
Pg. 26 | n PUBLIC NOTICES
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LOUDOUN REMEMBERS 9|11
VOL. 6, NO. 42
We've got you covered. In the mail weekly. Online always at LoudounNow.com
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Election 2021: 47 Days of Voting Start Next Week BY RENSS GREENE
rgreene@loudounnow.com
to immigrant and low-income youth. The proposal also includes a vision for an aquaponics program incorporated into its curriculum that would also serve to generate revenue for scholarships to defray the cost of tuition for students. The Nexus School is expected to serve around 165 students on the property at any given time. The public hearing on that application was first scheduled for July, then delayed until September, and now has been placed
This year’s election is still more than 50 days away, but voting will begin next week. The early voting program launched in response to the pandemic last year is now standard operating procedure in the commonwealth, with residents permitted to cast their ballots for the Nov. 2 election in person or in the mail starting Friday, Sept. 17. On the ballot are the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general; all 100 seats in the House of Delegates; seats on the town councils in Round Hill, Middleburg and Purcellville; and three county government bond questions. The 2020 general election saw a raft of major changes to Virginia voting law amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Long subject to the Voting Rights Act, which put the commonwealth under increased federal oversight to deter racial discrimination in voting laws, the state in 2020 passed laws reinforcing the right to vote such as allowing no-excuse absentee voting and repealing the requirement to present a photo ID. The local Office of Elections built on that by placing ballot drop-off boxes at more than a dozen locations across the county. Loudoun went on to see not only record turnout, but record early voting turnout. Loudoun had already cleared 50% voter turnout by the time Election Day arrived.
PAXTON PROPERTY continues on page 38
EARLY VOTING continues on page 39
Lauren Fleming/Loudoun Now
The ample acreage at the former estate of Rachel Paxton in the heart of Leesburg, according to her will, must be used to serve convalescent children in perpetuity. Since the early 2000s, the Arc of Loudoun, a nonprofit serving children and adults with special needs or disabilities, has been located there.
Paxton Campus Vision Faces New Test BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ krodriguez@loudounnow.com
The future of 16 acres in northeast Leesburg is again the subject of debate, almost 20 years after it nearly was sold to a residential homebuilder. And that debate is again testing the limits of a 100-year-old will. The Paxton property, now home to the Arc of Loudoun nonprofit that serves children and adults with special needs or disabilities through a variety of programs,
could soon house another nonprofit, with a special exception application by the INMED nonprofit filed with the Town of Leesburg last year. The application seeks approval to construct an 11,488-square-foot school building and accompanying 27,000-square-foot greenhouse and classroom on seven acres of the property. The Nexus School, as it is envisioned, would serve the educational needs of children in grades six through 12 that do not adapt well to traditional classroom settings, with particular attention
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LOUDOUNNOW.COM
PAGE 3
Bell Backs Short Hill Tower Plan, Threatens State Action BY RENSS GREENE rgreene@loudounnow.com
State Sen. John J. Bell (D-13) has taken the unusual step of dipping into a local government decision, writing to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors to urge support for AT&T’s controversial proposal to put a cell tower atop Short Hill Mountain. He added in a follow up interview that if the county supervisors do not approve the telecom giant’s application, the General Assembly may step in and take it out of their hands. AT&T is seeking to build a 125-foothigh tower at its secretive facility on top of the mountain, which company representatives say would improve AT&T wireless service in the area, provide space for other cell phone and wireless broadband carriers, and expand FirstNet, a separate wireless network dedicated to first responders. The application has faced constant resistance from residents nearby along with conservation and heritage organizations, and county planners. The Planning Commission has advised county supervisors
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
State Sen. John J. Bell (D-13) said if the Board of Supervisors does not approve a proposed AT&T monopole, he may ask the General Assembly to override their decision.
against approving it. “The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for a robust broadband network that can help students learn; employees work from home; and small, family-owned businesses—from wineries and restaurants to local farms and homebased businesses—grow, prosper and, in some cases, survive,” Bell wrote to county supervisors in July. “Additionally, this
new site will include FirstNet technology, which will allow Loudoun County first responders to have vital coverage in this area when in emergency calls.” Supervisor Tony R. Buffington (R-Blue Ridge) wrote back to indicate he would continue his opposition to AT&T’s application, pointing out county planners and the Planning Commission have consistently recommended denial of the appli-
cation. He also pointed out it is contrary to county policy protecting ridgelines. “We have also heard from the community who have spoken out strongly against this application,” Buffington wrote. “Specifically, we have received input in opposition to the application from Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area Association, Old Dominion Land Conservancy, the Loudoun County Heritage Commission, and countless community residents and business owners who strongly oppose the application.” Reached for comment, Bell said he was prompted to send the letter after interactions with the fire department and first responders. He acknowledged he has also spoken with AT&T. And, he said, if the Board of Supervisors does not approve the application, he may bring it to the General Assembly to override them. “I am deeply committed to protecting our environment, and it’s always a balancing act, but in this case I believe the mitigations justify pressing forward,” Bell said. n
A Familiar Face in a Familiar Place:
Inova Loudoun’s New President Takes the Reins BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ
krodriguez@loudounnow.com
Inova Loudoun Hospital has a new leader at the top, and it’s a very familiar face. After briefly serving in the position on an interim basis, Susan Carroll was named as the hospital’s new president last week, following Deborah Addo’s resignation over the summer. What sets Carroll apart from her predecessors at Inova Loudoun is that she requires little introduction at all. In fact, system-wide, Carroll has become a familiar face to many of Inova Health System’s thousands of employees. That’s because Carroll holds the rare, perhaps unheard of, position of having run at one point or another all five of Inova’s hospitals—Fairfax, Fair Oaks, Mount Vernon, Alexandria, and Loudoun. Some of those assignments were on an interim basis, while others
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Newly appointed Inova Loudoun President Susan Carroll is no stranger to the hospital, having previously served as its chief operating officer.
were longer stays. That distinction has earned Carroll plenty of friends and
accolades, not to mention a wealth of knowledge she looks to utilize as she
takes the top leadership spot at her neighborhood hospital. Carroll began her healthcare career more than 20 years ago, at Inova Loudoun, when it was still Loudoun Hospital Center. She was the hospital’s director of business affairs and saw firsthand some of its struggles before becoming part of the Inova system. “What I loved about [the job], even though it was hard, and truly why my husband and I decided to move out here, Loudoun was a sense of community that was very different from anything I had experienced before. This is the unique perspective I have. I honestly believe we are privileged to serve the community we live in. Being able to be here, being able to take care of your neighbors, your team members, your friends, the people who go to your kids’ school, even CARROLL continues on page 29
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Loudoun
County Resumes Free COVID-19 Testing LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Kathy Beynette of Leesburg holds up her hand with the call to “Fitz It” written on her palm.
Thomas, County at Impasse Over Fitz’s Drowning BY RENSS GREENE
rgreene@loudounnow.com
Loudoun NAACP President Michelle Thomas called a press conference outside the Loudoun County government building Friday morning to push the county government to be more proactive and transparent responding to her son’s death, which was marked by a chaotic, slow 911 response. But County Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) says that the county has already done everything Thomas has asked for. Standing outside the government center Sept. 3, Thomas alleged outside that her son, Fitz Alexander Campbell Thomas, was still alive when his friends pulled him from the waters of Goose Creek in Confluence Park, near the mouth of the creek at the Potomac River. First responders took more than half an hour to respond to the River Creek neighborhood. In 911 call recordings, dispatchers can be heard passing calls back and forth between Loudoun and Montgomery County, MD, waving off help from the Loudoun side, and seeming not to know Loudoun landmarks and geography.
After an internal investigation and report, fire-rescue officials said many of the problems began when cell phone calls were routed to Montgomery County dispatchers across the river. Loudoun dispatchers did not find out about the incident until 17 minutes after the first call. But even after they did—and being told by frustrated callers that they were on the Loudoun side of the river—Loudoun dispatchers repeatedly transferred callers back to Montgomery County. A new policy from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government guides fire and rescue departments on both sides of the Potomac to respond to incidents on the river. “This matter should be addressed and should be addressed soon. We shouldn’t have to come up to this Government Center and redress our government to do the right thing,” said Philip Thompson, immediate past Loudoun NAACP president and Thomas’s legal counsel. “We all pay taxes for services. We all expect professional services. And in this case, we know that professionalism was not part of process.” Thomas said the county government has not been engaging with her family and
attorneys in good faith, and has not been transparent about their work to improve 911 responses. And, she said, despite her service to the county in other areas—such as serving on the Heritage Commission and the Soil and Water Conservation District Board—she has been denied a seat at the table. “We cannot wait for justice. We can’t wait for people in government to feel better about themselves, for their ego to lessen up on them,” Thomas said. “[…] Every one of us will have an occasion, no matter how long we live, no matter what we do, no matter if we’re good, or if we’re bad, if we’re naughty or, if we’re nice, if we’re Black or if we’re white, one thing is true: we’re going to all need 911.” Thomas said Fitz could have been saved with a prompt 911 response, and that he was alive when he was pulled from the water. “There’s a lot of disinformation swirling around, it seems to be the lifeblood of what’s going on,” Thomas said. “Now whether that disinformation is CRT, whether that this information is about many of the things that’s going on in FITZ DROWNING continues on page 5
With COVID-19 continuing to spread in Loudoun, the county government will once again offer free, drive-through COVID-19 mass testing events to give residents another option for free testing. The events will be held on alternate Thursdays in September and October from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at locations around the county. “We encourage people to get tested if they are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue and a new loss of taste or smell or if they have been potentially exposed to someone with COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status,” Loudoun County Health Director Dr. David Goodfriend stated. “There are a number of testing options in the community and I encourage anyone who thinks they may have been exposed to COVID-19 to get evaluated and tested promptly, either privately or through one of the county’s testing events.” Goodfriend added that while waiting for a COVID-19 test result, people should stay home and away from others if they have symptoms, or if they are not fully vaccinated and have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19. The testing events are free and open to all, with no age or residency requirements and no prescriptions or appointments necessary. A person does not have to exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 to be tested. A PCR test nasal swab will be administered, which tests for the novel coronavirus. No antibody or rapid tests will be offered, and no COVID-19 vaccine will be available at those events. To reduce wait times, the county encourages people planning to get tested to complete a TESTING continues on page 5
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
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Cochran Dental CochranFamily Family Dental Cochran Family Dental Cochran Dental CochranFamily Family Dental
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Insurance The Village of • Digital x-rays (reduces radiation by 90%) to providing a comprehensive dental office committed the things that actually improve quality of 703-771-9034 Cochran Family Dental are friendly office offering budget wise payment options. Dr. tors gathered for a ribbon cutting cere1503 Dodona Terrace #210 • We file all dental benefi t claims withhasa provided caring and gentle style that serve most all of life, ” Randall said. Cochran trusted dental care to thewill citizens mony on the last piece of Riverside Parkcommitted providing aand comprehensive dental office Leesburg, VA 20175 Dr. Dentistry Brianto Cochran his staff at • Cosmetic (veneers, white fi llings, and Zoom Whitening) The $18.3 million project constructed a of Loudoun for 13 years. your family’s dental needs WHITENING under one roof. Insurance HOURS: SPECIAL way Thursday, Sept. 2, completing a road withand a caring gentle style that will serve most all of WHITENING 703-771-9034 • Crowns Bridges, Family alland phases of & Implants, Rootoffering Dentures four-lane, median-divided roadway from Conveniently located inCanals FREE Teeth Whitening Kit options. Dr. Cochran Dental friendly office wise payment Mon. Wed.: 8am -are 6pm and budget connection from River Creek Parkway to SPECIAL with every scheduled The Village at Leesburg facing your family’stherapy dental needs under one roof. Insurance • We offer periodontal to restore your oral health as well as oral cancer screening. Tues. Thurs.: 7am 4pm Riverside Commons Plaza to Loudoun Use your benefits before the end to the citizens has provided trusted dental care cleaning or procedure. 7providing between Wegmans 1503committed Dodona Terrace Route toCochran aandcomprehensive dental office Loudoun County Parkway. of the year and receive8/31/16. a FREE Fri.:Fitness 8am - 1pmwise Offer Expires LA friendly offering budget payment options. County Parkway at George WashingTeeth Whitening Kit with everyDr. Suite 210office Conveniently located in the Village of Leesburg of Loudoun for 13 years. Please present coupon to Sat.: 8am 1pm (once/month) Mon & -Wed: 8-6pm The Riverside Parkway segment has ton Boulevard. The project also included HOURS: scheduled cleaning or procedure. WHITENING SPECIAL with a20175 caring and style that will serve Leesburg, receive the offer. Not to bemost all of Cochran hasTerrace provided trusted dental care the citizens TuesEmergency & Thurs: 7-4pm Service 1503VA Dodona #210 •gentle Leesburg, VA 20175 • to 703-771-9034 WHITENING Expires January 1, 2016. 24hr Conveniently located inOffer FREE Teeth Whitening Kit Please present coupon to w/any receive the offer. Mon. & Wed.: 8am 6pm combined other eliminated Lexington Drive and now ex- the removal of Lexington Drive on both Fri: 8-1pm • Sat: 8-1pm (Once/month) Mon. & Wed.: 8am - 6pm • Tues. - Thurs.: 7am - 4pm • Fri.: CLOSED • 24hr with Emergency Service Notfacing to be combined any other offer. SPECIAL 703-771-9034 with every scheduled The Village Leesburg 24hr Emergency ofyour Loudoun for 13 years. family’s dental needs under oneUse roof. Insurance Tues.Service - at Thurs.: 7am - 4pm tends Riverside Parkway from Riverside sides of Rt. 7, a new water main and the your benefits or before the end cleaning procedure. Route 7 between Wegmans and WHITENING 1503 Dodona Terrace Visit our website at: TheLeesburgVADentist.com of the year and receive8/31/16. a FREE Visit our website: TheLeesburgVADentist.com Fri.:Fitness 8am - 1pmwise payment Conveniently located in LA Offer Expires Commons Plaza to Loudoun County replacement of the existing temporary friendly office offering budget options. Teeth Whitening Kit with everyDr. 210 at Leesburg SPECIAL TheSuite Village Please present coupon to Sat.:facing 8am 1pm (once/month) Mon & -Wed: 8-6pm scheduled cleaning or procedure. Parkway at George Washington Boule- traffic signal at Loudoun County Parkway Use your benefits before the end Leesburg, VA 20175 receive offer. Not to be hasWegmans provided trusted dental care tothe the citizens Tues & Thurs: 7-4pm Service Route 7 between and Offer Expires January 1, 2016. 24hr Emergency 1503 Dodona Terrace Cochran of(Once/month) the year and receive a combined FREE vard, completing a missing link in the and George Washington Boulevard Please present coupon to w/any receive the offer. other Fri: 8-1pm • Sat: 8-1pm with LA Fitness Teeth Whitening Kit with every Not to be combined with any other offer. 210 703-771-9034 24hryears. Emergency Service of Loudoun for 13 county’s road network and offering an al- a permanent signal. It was fundedSuite Mon & Wed: 8-6pm in part scheduled cleaning or procedure. Leesburg, VA 20175 Tues & Thurs: 7-4pm at: TheLeesburgVADentist.com Offer Expires January 1, 2016. ternative to Rt. 7. Visit our website with Northern Virginia Transportation Conveniently located in Please present coupon to receive the offer. Conveniently located in Fri: 8-1pm • Sat: 8-1pm (Once/month) Loudoun County Chair Phyllis J. Ran- Authority funding. Not to be combined with any other offer. 703-771-9034 The24hr Emergency Service Village at Leesburg facing The Village facing Wegmans and Use your benefits before the end dal (D-At Large) said those kinds of road The roadway is scheduled to open toat Leesburg Routeat: 7 between before thereceive end a FREE 1503 Dodona Terrace Visit our website TheLeesburgVADentist.com of the year and traffic the week of Sept. 5. n 7 between Wegmans LA andFitnessUse your benefits projects keep traffic moving, getting1503 peo- Dodona Terrace Route of the year and receive a FREE Teeth Whitening Kit with every Suite 210 LA Fitness Mon & Wed: 8-6pm scheduled cleaning or Teeth Whitening Kit with everyprocedure. Suite Leesburg, VA 20175 She said210 Thomas turned that offer down. Tues & Thurs: 7-4pm Offer Expires January 1, 2016. Mon & Wed: 8-6pm or procedure. And,VA she said, at this point the county is Please present coupon to receive the offer. Fri: 8-1pm • Sat: 8-1pm scheduled (Once/month) cleaning Leesburg, 20175 Tues & Thurs: 7-4pm 24hr Emergency Service Offer ExpiresNot January 1, 2016. to be combined with any other offer. continued from page 4 willing to defend itself in court. Please present coupon to receive the offer. 8-1pmbut• Sat: “No one wants to go Fri: to court, at 8-1pm (Once/month) any offer. Empower your chNot ildtowbe iUse thcombined vitayour l socwith iabenefits l an d cother ombefore m unicatithe on end Emergency Service Loudoun County, disinformation seems this point, the county is willing to24hr do that skills needed to suof cceethe d noyear w andand in threceive e future. a FREE to be the name of the game today. We must if that means that all the facts can finally clear this up.” • Respect • Confidence • Table Manners • Social Dance• come out,” Randall said. “Because most of Teeth Whitening Kit with every But speaking immediately after the the stuff that she’s talking about, the medMon & Wed: 8-6pm press conference, Randall said Thomas has ical things, we don’t have access to those Come and see wscheduled hat Cotilliocleaning n is all abor ouprocedure. t! already gotten all the things she’s asked for. things because they’re HIPPA protected. Tues ”& Thurs: 7-4pm Offer Expires January 1, 2016. Join us for our Parent Reception “One thing she said was she didn’t have “Every member ofFri: our 8-1pm board are• parPlease present coupon to receive the offer. Sat: 8-1pm (Once/month) quote, a seat at the table, unquote—Pastor ents, every single member, and none of us Date: Sep teto mbe becombined r 14, 20with 21 any other offer. Not Michelle is quite literally on the commit- can possibly imagine what Pastor 24hr Emergency Service Michelle Time: 7:30 pm tee,” Randall said, pointing out Thomas is and her family are going through,” Randall Place: Belmont Country Club, a member of the E-911 Border Response said. “All of us, the family, fire and rescue, Workgroup formed by the state in the Ashburn, VA the staff, we continue to send sincere conwake of Fitz’s death. dolences to that family, because what has She also pointed out the Board of SuThe season starts soon! Enroll your child now for pervisors authorized and funded new po- happened to them is absolutely unimagmonthly classes on topics sitions to staff up the dispatch center, and inable.” from Foxtrot to Facebook Etiquette Currently, Thomas said, she hopes for said she has been in continuous contact at LoudounCotillion.com mediation, with a lawsuit also possible. She with Thomas. F o r q u e s t i ons, contact Director Lisa M. Hale at “There is not one thing she’s asked for has previously asked the county for a $20 that she hasn’t got,” Randall said. And she million settlement, Randall said. She also LoudounLovesCotillion@gmail.com • (703) 814 - 3496 added the county has offered to have an said the county is not interested in meindependent medical investigator, chosen diation at this point without further fact by and paid for by both parties, review all finding, such as the proposed third-party the records and abide by those findings. investigator. n
BY RENSS GREENE
Cochran Family Dental Welcoming patients! Dr. all Briannew Cochran and his staff at Welcoming all new patients!
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Dental are Dr.Cochran Brian Family Cochran and his staff at committed to providing a comprehensive dental office Cochran Family arethat will serve most all of with a caring and Dental gentle style committed to dental providing a comprehensive dental office your family’s needs under one roof. Insurance friendly officeand offering budget wisethat payment options.most Dr. all of with a caring gentle style will serve Cochran has provided trustedunder dental care the citizens your family’s dental needs one toroof. Insurance of Loudoun for 13 years. friendly office offering budget WHITENING wise payment options. Dr. WHITENING Visit our website: TheLeesburgVADentist.com SPECIAL Cochran has provided trusted dental careSPECIAL to the citizens of Loudoun for 13 years.
WHITENING Conveniently located in 703-771-9034 Loudoun CSPECIAL otillion The Village at Leesburg facing 703-771-9034 Visit our website at: TheLeesburgVADentist.com 1503 Dodona Terrace Route 7 between Wegmans and LA Fitness Visit Suite 210 our website at: TheLeesburgVADentist.com Leesburg, VA 20175
Fitz drowning
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Testing
Sycolin Road.
continued from page 4
• SEPT. 21: Claude Moore Park, 46150 Loudoun Park Lane in Sterling.
registration form in advance. The forms are available in English and Spanish at loudoun.gov/COVID19testing. Forms will also be available at the testing locations.
• OCT. 5: Franklin Park, 17501 Franklin Park Drive, Purcellville; follow signs to the baseball field parking lot.
The testing schedule is as follows: • SEPT. 7: Philip A. Bolen Memorial Park, 42405 Claudia Drive, Leesburg; enter the park on Crosstrail Boulevard from
• OCT. 19: Philip A. Bolen Memorial Park, 42405 Claudia Drive, Leesburg; enter the park on Crosstrail Boulevard from Sycolin Road. Other testing locations can also be found at loudoun.gov/covid19testing. n
PUBLISHER’S NOTICE
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
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Leesburg
Community Rallies to Support Leesburg Police Officer BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ krodriguez@loudounnow.com
Community members have been stepping up to help a Leesburg Police officer recovering from emergency brain surgery. Lt. George Cumberledge suffered a stroke while coaching a soccer game Aug. 20. After being rushed to the hospital, doctors discovered two large masses on the left side of his brain and he underwent emergency surgery. Once he has recovered from both the surgery and the impacts of the stroke, he is expected to begin radiation and immunotherapy treatments. Tim Ortwein worked with Cumberledge while the two were both employed with the Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office. Now a financial crimes investigator in upstate New York, Ortwein stayed in touch with his friend over the years and sprang into action upon learning of Cumberledge’s medical challenges. He be-
TOWN notes Town Earns ‘Triple Crown’ In Finance Awards While Leesburg is annually honored for its financial reporting and budget presentation, the town earned another accolade recently—the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting. It’s the first time Leesburg has received the award, which was given by the Government Finance Officers Association. It recognizes the town’s Fiscal Year 2020 report, a supplement to the Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Financial Report that includes financial information for the town’s General Fund. The goal of the document, according to a press release, is to provide residents with an easy-to-read explanation of the town’s finances during Fiscal Year 2020. “This is a relatively new program at the GFOA and very few local governments have won it. We are grateful to the Town’s Public Information Office for their help with the project,” stated Clark Case, director of the town’s Finance and Administrative Services Department.
Lt. George Cumberledge
gan organizing a GoFundMe through the Loudoun Dulles Fraternal Order of Police Foundation to benefit Cumberledge and
his family, which includes wife Erin, a local teacher, and five children who are in Loudoun County Public Schools. “George is one of those guys who has always given 110%,” Ortwein said. “Every time I needed help I reached out to George. He’s got a great family, five kids, and I know what law enforcement salaries in Northern Virginia are. You’re not breaking the lottery there.” Ortwein also mentioned Cumberledge’s community-first attitude. He coaches youth soccer, volunteers at his church, and is even a dog trainer, in addition to doting on his family. The goal of the GoFundMe, which at press time had raised more than $33,000, is to get Cumberledge to retirement, for which he is eligible at some point in 2022, Ortwein said. The funds may also be used for some short-term expenses, like repairing the family’s front stoop and possibly adding a ramp to accommodate Cumberledge when he returns to his Leesburg
home. Cumberledge was also recently gifted an iPad so he can communicate with his children while he remains hospitalized. “George always looks out for the other guy first. That’s the hard thing to see here,” Ortwein said. “I can’t imagine what he’s going through in rehab. He’d rather be out coaching soccer than focusing on himself.” The Leesburg Police Department declined to comment for this story, citing employee privacy concerns, but Chief Gregory Brown issued a statement in support of his officer. “Lt. George Cumberledge is not merely just our coworker, but to many at the Leesburg Police Department he is also a friend, a brother and a mentor. George, on behalf of your LPD family, we miss you and we are praying for a speedy recovery,” Brown stated. To contribute to GoFundMe.com and search for George Cumberledge. n
By receiving this award in addition to the annual awards for financial reporting and budget presentation, Leesburg is now a GFOA Triple Crown winner. In 2019, only nine localities in Virginia, three cities and six counties, received the GFOA Triple Crown, potentially placing Leesburg in the top 3% of Virginia localities.
Dog Swim Set for Saturday The A.V. Symington Aquatic Center at Ida Lee Park Recreation Center will play host to the 13th annual Dog Swim on Saturday, Sept. 11. The pool will be open for the dog-only swim for two sessions: 9-10:30 a.m., and 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The event allows pups the opportunity to have fun in a safe, enclosed area while swimming off-leash with other dogs. All dogs must be at least six months old, legally licensed, vaccinated, and wearing a visible dog license. All exits will be gated and a veterinarian will be on-site as a precaution. There is limited space available in each session, and pre-registration is required. There will be no registration the day of the event. Those attending must
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Dogs take part in the annual dog swim at Leesburg’s A.V. Symington Aquatic Center at Ida Lee Park.
be at least 12 years of age with dog handlers being 16 years or older. At this time, masks are not required to be worn in the event area, but that could change. Attendees should plan on maintaining a social distance of six feet from those not in their party, dogs excluded. The fee is $5 per person. Registra-
tion is currently available through WebTrac or by visiting the front desk at Ida Lee Recreation Center. Walk-up registration on the day of the event will not be available. For more information, go to idalee.org or call 703-777-1368. TOWN NOTES continues on page 7
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
TOWN notes continued from page 6
New Town Hall Art Exhibit The Leesburg Commission on Public Art has announced the newest display in the Town Hall art exhibit area—a variety of ceramics, oils, charcoal drawings, photographs, and multimedia created by Larry Roeder, will be on display through Nov. 30. Roeder comes from a long line of artists and received training in Germany, Missouri, the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC, and the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. Both abstract and representational art is on display. One charcoal rendering is of Edwin Washington of Leesburg, the first Black youth documented to have gone to school while keeping his job during Reconstruction. A photograph of a Bedouin on a ledge in a remote part of the Sinai Peninsula was the featured cover photo in the 1980s of Cairo Today.
The public is encouraged to stop by and see the artwork during normal business hours at Town Hall. Roeder’s work will be on display through Nov. 30 and can also be seen online at artbyroeder.com.
Back to School Display at Balch A new exhibit from Loudoun County Clerk of the Circuit Court Historic Records and Deed Research Division, “Back to School: Education in Loudoun’s Past,” is available for viewing at Thomas Balch Library. The exhibit features facsimiles of historic court records on the early and primitive free education system that existed in Loudoun County from 1789-1861. The exhibit explores financing of public schools for the poor, private academies, and Margaret Mercer’s school at Belmont. The exhibit will be available to view in September during the library’s regular hours. Call 703-737-7195 or email balchlib@leesburgva.gov for more information.
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School Board Faces Deadline to Fill Vacant Broad Run Seat HAYLEY BOUR hbour@loudounnow.com
In an email to School Board members, Superintendent Scott Ziegler said that the board must move quickly to appoint someone to the seat left vacant by the death of Leslee King (Broad Run) on Aug. 31. “While it is uncomfortable to discuss this so soon after Ms. King’s death, Policy 2120 sets a tight timeline and provides the Board only 45 days to fill vacant seats,” Ziegler’s Sept. 1email said. According to School Board policy, the board must follow a process to appoint a replacement by Oct. 15. The procedure requires that the vacancy is advertised locally, for interested and qualified individuals to apply to the Registrar’s Office. Candidates must be registered voters in the Broad Run District. Then, a public hearing will be held to allow for comment from the public. The School Board must appoint the replacement following the public hearing, within 45 days of the vacancy’s creation. The selected appointee will serve until a special election is held. Under state law, that election will be held no later than the next General Election on Nov. 8, 2022, however the School Board may petition the Circuit Court for an earlier date. n
King
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Education
Barts’ Recall Case Set for Monday Court Hearing BY HAYLEY BOUR hbour@loudounnow.com
The effort to remove School Board member Beth Barts (Leesburg) from office will move to a formal show cause hearing Monday morning. The recall case, brought by a voter petition organized by the Fight for Schools group, is set for 9 a.m. Sept. 13 in Loudoun County Circuit Court. Bart’s attorney Charlie King last week filed a motion to dismiss the pleading against her, and for the local judges to recuse themselves from the case. King argued that the pleading that Fight for Schools filed, accompanying the removal petition, wasn’t signed by an attorney. The pleading was signed by Mike Biron on behalf of the petitioners. Biron is not a member of the Virginia State Bar. “In Virginia, you can’t sign a pleading for somebody else unless you’re an attorney. If you do, it doesn’t count. Unless he’s a lawyer, Mike Biron, who signed the pleading can’t stand up in court and argue
it to the judge,” said King. “I’m just asking Fight for Schools to play by the rules.” The recusal motion asks that Circuit Court judges recuse themselves from the case, and request a judge be designated by the state Supreme Court because the case involves local elected officials. “Were this matter to be tried, a Loudoun judge will have to judge the credibility and weigh the testimony of local elected officials, administrative officers of the School Board, members of the Virginia State Bar, and community leaders,” King argued in the motion. King told Loudoun Now that his concern is that the public will perceive the process as unfair given that several local elected officials are involved. “I do not doubt our judges can hear this case, but I want a verdict that cannot be challenged in the court of public opinion,” King said. While Fight for Schools declined to comment on Biron’s role in the case, Executive Director Ian Prior said he is confident in the removal effort. “Because the substantive evidence is
so overwhelming against Beth Barts, it was expected that she would try and bog down the removal effort by fights on process,” Prior said. Fight for Schools launched the removal effort against several School Board members in response to their involvement in the private Facebook group, Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County. Prior alleges that a School Board member discussing public matters in a private Facebook group is a violation of rules governing conduct of elected officials. Fight for Schools’ 24-page filing also requested that Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj be recused from the case, as she was identified as being a member of the same Facebook group. To remove a public official from office in Virginia, a petition must collect the number of signatures of qualified voters in the district equal to 10% of the votes cast in the previous election for that office. A judge then reviews the petition and rules whether to dismiss it or conduct a trial. n
Two Teachers Cleared to Join Transgender Policy Lawsuit BY RENSS GREENE
rgreene@loudounnow.com
Two more teachers will be allowed to join Leesburg Elementary School P.E. teacher Byron Cross’s lawsuit against the school system’s protections for transgender students following a Sept. 2 hearing in Loudoun County Circuit Court. The case’s trial date has also been pushed back, with a new date not yet set. The Alliance Defending Freedom filed an amended complaint seeking to add Monica Gill, a history teacher at Loudoun County High School, and Kim Wright, a Smart’s Mill Middle School English teacher to the lawsuit. The Loudoun County School Board’s attorney Stacy Haney argued against that during the hearing, contending, as she has previously, that the complaint is not likely to survive a forthcoming demurrer seeking to have it thrown out. Haney argued that the government’s compelling interest to protect children—citing much higher suicide statistics among transgender students whose gender identify is not affirmed—outweighs the teacher’s interest in being able to call them by whichever gender the teacher perceives them to
“What is at issue is how a teacher refers to their student, and that is very different from commenting on gender identity generally.” — Stacy Haney Attorney representing the School Board be. She also argued teachers’ freedom of speech must be assessed differently in the classroom, pointing to previous case law, compared to in public. “What is at issue is how a teacher refers to their student, and that is very different from commenting on gender identity generally,” Haney said. However, attorneys Tyson Langhoffer and Ryan Bangert of the Alliance Defending Freedom maintained that the policy, which was mandated by a state law, forces those teachers to say things that go against
their conscience and sincerely held religious beliefs, and that their rights to freedom of speech and religion are violated by the school policy. Judge James E. Plowman ruled that the new plaintiffs would be permitted to join the case, and agreed with a request from the attorneys on both sides that the trial date be pushed back from Sept. 7-8. He did not agree to grant emergency injunctions for Gill and Wright akin to the injunction protecting Cross, who had been put on leave after his comments opposing the policy during a School Board meeting and subsequent objections from Leesburg Elementary School parents. He had previously issued an injunction reinstating Cross. Neither Gill nor Wright has been put on leave. The conversation in the old Loudoun County courthouse was a wandering one at times, with Plowman and attorneys discussing the grammatical correctness of the singular “they,” whether a teacher could avoid using pronouns entirely in the classroom, and whether a teacher of a Romance language—languages that evolved from Latin such as French and Spanish, and which assign a gender to most or all nouns—could avoid doing so. n
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
Black Students Still Lag in STEM Academies Admissions BY HAYLEY BOUR hbour@loudounnow.com
Black students are not faring any better in the Academies of Loudoun admissions process two years after an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Division of Human Rights found that the selection criteria unfairly discriminated against minorities. The Academies of Loudoun program provides advanced STEM education and career readiness preparation for high school students. A complaint by the Loudoun NAACP that students were denied admission to the Academies based on their race led to an investigation by Attorney General Mark Herring in 2019. That investigation found those admissions policies had a discriminatory impact on Black and Hispanic students. The school district committed to expanded outreach efforts to marginalized student groups, including Black and Hispanic communities and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The changes included altering testing requirements and allocating the available seats on a geographic basis around the county. Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Ashley Ellis shared preliminary information about 2021 admissions data with the school division’s Equity Committee on Thursday night, although the admissions data in its entirety is not yet available and will be presented to the full School Board in October. Administrators are comparing admissions metrics between 2019 and 2021, because COVID-related school closures make 2020’s less telling. The findings left Loudoun NAACP member Robin Burke dissatisfied. “It was extremely disappointing that the one group that this effort was supposed to focus on and improve failed miserably … For our African American students to fare the poorest in this effort is beyond belief,” Burke said. The data shows that the representation of Black and Asian students among those who applied for, were offered seats, and accepted admission for the Academies of Engineering and Technology and Academies of Science
this year was similar to that in 2019, when only one Black student was accepted. While the volume of white applicants was similar between the two years, more white students were admitted in 2021 than in 2019, according to the report. Hispanic applicants made “significant” gains, according to the presentation. The Academies rolled out a beefedup recruitment effort to middle schoolers in 2019 to increase the applicant pool, which has resulted in students coming from a wider array of middle schools in the district. The outreach also led to significantly more students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds attending the Academies. The outreach involves offering virtual elementary school field trips to the Academies and virtual tours for middle schoolers. Moving forward, there will no longer be a $35 application fee for students. “There are some specific outreach activities in support of certain student groups. But overall, we were increasing recruitment and outreach across the board,” Ellis said. A report from the Equity Collaborative in 2019 found systemic racism in the school division. The district launched an equity initiative, which Superintendent Scott Ziegler presented to the public during a workshop in May. The district examined racial equity in hiring of teachers and staff, and treatment of students. The district also implemented teacher training to identify how racial inequity can be battled in the classroom, described as Culturally Responsive Framework. Those efforts, though, were met with resistance. Critics of the district allege that schools are using Critical Race Theory, which is an ideological framework that examines how racial inequity impacts society, and to which those critics object. Over the past 18 months, parents have claimed that the school district’s equity work is indoctrinating students with a liberal political agenda. The full set of data on admissions to the Academies will be presented to the Equity Committee when it meets on Oct. 7. n
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Loudoun Education Foundation Taps Nadler as Executive Director LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT
The Loudoun Education Foundation has named Danielle Nadler its new executive director. Nadler has been a fixture in local education for over Nadler a decade. Prior to joining the Loudoun Education Foundation as director of communications, she was the managing editor of Loudoun Now, and part of the team that launched the paper in 2015. She worked as a newspaper journalist in Minnesota, California, and Nevada before coming to Virginia. “I saw LEF’s work firsthand over the nine years I covered local schools as a journalist. They support programs that provide teachers with classroom grants, offer much-needed student
scholarships, and provide meals to food-insecure families, just to name a few,” Nadler said. “Our staff and board are working hard to make LEF a household name in Loudoun County— one that is equated with meaningful, life-changing programs for local students and teachers.” “The LEF Trustees are excited to have Danielle at the helm of this fast-growing organization,” said Scott Miller, president of LEF’s Board of Trustees. “With the relationships she’s built in Loudoun County and her passion for giving students and teachers the tools they need to excel, she is the right choice to lead LEF into this next chapter.” Nadler lives in Leesburg with her husband and their 3-year-old-son. She succeeds Dawn Meyer, who served in the position for 13 years prior to retiring in June. Under Meyer’s leadership, LEF grew to raise $3 million to support students and teachers in Loudoun County. n
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Public Safety Brambleton Childcare Center Employee Charged with Abuse An investigation by the Sheriff ’s Office resulted in the arrest of a Brambleton childcare center employee for alleged child abuse. Martha T. Moreno de Medrano, 65, of Leesburg, is charged with one count of felony cruelty and injuries to children. She worked at the Chesterbrook Academy on Cotton Grass Way in Brambleton since 2015. Several children were identified as victims, according to the Sheriff ’s Office. The investigation by the Sheriff ’s Office Special Victim’s Unit began with a complaint of concerning behavior from the employee with an infant on Aug. 3. Moreno de Medrano was held without bond at the Loudoun Adult Detention Center.
Round Hill Woman Dies in Outer Banks Boat Crash According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, a 29-year-old Round Hill woman died Monday after she was ejected
Sheriff’s Office Issues Warning Over Counterfeit Percocet Overdoses LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT
The Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office has issued a public warning after two recent fatal overdose cases involving suspected counterfeit prescription pills. In the past two weeks, the Sheriff ’s Office Criminal Investigations Division has conducted two death investigations that are preliminarily believed to involve street-level Percocet, according to the alert. The Behavioral Health Services Division of the Frederick County (MD) Health Department issued a similar warning Friday after receiving reports of non-fatal overdoses involving counterfeit prescription drugs, including Percocet, M30, oth-
er prescription opiates and Xanax. Loudoun investigators are awaiting the toxicology reports and it was unclear whether the Loudoun cases are connected to the reported overdoses in Maryland, according to the agency. “Any counterfeit prescription pills purchased online or on the streets may contain Fentanyl or other cutting agents. These substances, when added to the counterfeit pills, can easily and quickly cause death,” Sheriff Mike Chapman said. The overdoses involve counterfeit drugs that have been mixed with Fentanyl or Xylazine. Fentanyl and its derivatives can unintentionally be inhaled through
SAFETY NOTES continues on page 11
You are invited to our Virtual Community Meeting Hear from project experts about new electric transmission infrastructure being built in Eastern Loudoun County. This project will improve electric reliability for all customers in the region.
Use your phone’s camera or QR reader app to visit the project page directly.
Join us live online on Tuesday, September 14 at 5 p.m. You can find event details at DominionEnergy.com/dtc
the nose or mouth. Even trace amounts can result in severe adverse reactions putting those exposed to the drug in danger, including the public. Xylazine is often used as a sedative, muscle relaxant and analgesic in animals and is not approved for human consumption. Xylazine has been involved in fatal overdoses in Frederick County. Narcan does not work on this substance, but since it is a cutting agent often mixed with opioids, Narcan should still be administered. Anyone with information regarding suspected narcotics activity in Loudoun County is urged to call the Sheriff ’s Office Narcotics Hotline at 833-468-8477. n
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
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SAFETY notes continued from page 10
from a rented boat that hit a sandbar near Hatteras Inlet. According to the report, the incident happened at approximately 2 p.m. Sept. 6 near the Ocracoke ferry dock. The 21foot Carolina skiff rented from Hatteras Parasail was traveling southwest across Hatteras Inlet when it ran aground on a sand shoal. Brandi A. Lash was thrown from the vessel and then run over by the boat. She has died from her injuries. Several agencies responded to the scene following a 911 call, including the National Park Service, U.S. Coast Guard, Hyde County Sheriffs’ Office, and NC Wildlife Officers. NC Wildlife is leading the investigation. Contributing factors to the incident include inexperience and hazardous waters, according to the report.
Pursuing State Trooper Crashes into Speeding Motorcyclist The State Police is investigating a Sept. 2 crash involving a trooper who was pursuing a speeding motorcycle on the
Dulles Greenway. According to the report, the trooper initiated a traffic stop on an eastbound motorcyclist driving 84 miles per hour. The driver sped away. The pursuit, which continued onto the Dulles Toll Road in Fairfax County, reached speeds up to 130 mph. The crash happened approximately a half mile west of Rt. 657. According to an initial report, the motorcyclist lost control and crashed. A later report from the State Police said the motorcycle pulled off to the shoulder and suddenly braked. The trooper was unable to stop before striking the motorcycle. The motorcyclist, an adult male, was airlifted to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he was treated for injuries described as life-threatening. He was wearing a helmet. The Virginia State Police Crash Reconstruction Team was called to assist with the crash investigation. Both the crash and pursuit remain under investigation.
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PAGE 12
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Nonprofit Walker to Receive Achievement Award for Veterans Support Academy of United States Veterans will present David W. Walker, of Lovettsville, with the Frank Prautzsch Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his public Walker service within the veteran community. Walker has served as president and chief executive officer of the Leesburg-based Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes since 2012, after having served the organization in a volunteer capacity from its founding and as a member of its board of directors for eight years. Since its establishment in 2004, the Coalition has provided direct financial assistance to thousands of America’s combat-wounded veterans. Its Emergency Financial Aid program has stopped foreclosure proceedings on veterans’ homes and kept their vehicles from being repossessed. Its Heroes
Thanking Heroes program provides transitional, part-time, flexible employment to nearly 50 combat-wounded veterans or their primary caregivers, enabling them to make phone calls from their homes. Frank Prautzsch Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual whose achievements and contributions of public service lead to a more effective and responsive public administration nationwide. The award is presented to an individual with philanthropic involvement for a minimum of 20 years and with a proven record of exceptional public service The award will be presented to during the AUSV’s annual Veterans Awards Program, taking place in Las Vegas, NV, on Jan. 22, 2022. “I am truly humbled to be recognized by the AUSV and to have my name associated with one of America’s distinguished heroes, Frank Prautzsch,” Walker said. “As head of the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, it has been an honor of a lifetime to serve the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, and their families, who have sacrificed so much to defend our
freedoms and way of life. I accept this honor on behalf of my entire team, which works side-by-side daily with combat-wounded veterans, their caregivers, and families to provide emergency financial aid and other critical support. And I pledge to continue serving in the spirit of this Award as long as I am able.”
Loudoun Literacy Announces Spelling Bee Hosts Loudoun Literacy Council has announced the lineup for the return of the annual Not Your Kid’s Spelling Bee. The spelling bee, a night of fun and fundraising set for Oct. 15 at the National Conference Center, will feature Loudoun Economic Development Executive Director Buddy Rizer as emcee, and three quizmasters: Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large), Loudoun Chamber of Commerce President Tony Howard, and Loudoun County Public Library Director Chang Liu. Howard will host a name-that-tune game with musical guest The Frayed Knots. Sponsorships, silent auction donations and tickets are still available. Learn more at LoudounLiteracy.org.
Loudoun Education Foundation to Host Annual Golf Classic
We Grow Community Giving
The Loudoun Education Foundation will hold its annual Golf Classic, the organization’s largest fundraiser, on Oct. 4, at the Golf Club at Creighton Farms. The Pro-Am tournament, which pairs players with professionals, still has spots open. The event raises money to support critical and innovative programs that foster the academic success of Loudoun County students and teachers. The programs
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provide under-represented students with learning opportunities. LEF funds mental health support, offers teachers classroom grants, and provides meals for food-insecure students. “This is a chance to golf at one of the most sought-after courses on the East Coast, while helping to support the Loudoun Education Foundation’s mission to ensure every Loudoun County student and teacher has the tools and opportunities they need to reach their full potential,” LEF Executive Director Danielle Nadler said. The Golf Classic features longest-drive and closest-to-the-hole contests, a cookout lunch, and a banquet at the conclusion of the tournament. Individuals may register to play for $650. Teams may register for $2500. LEF is also offering Golf Classic sponsorship opportunities, including: • Title Sponsor $15,000 • Event and Banquet Sponsor $8,000 • Contest Sponsor $4,500 • Technology Sponsor $3,000 • Hole & Tee Sponsor $500 The deadline to register to play is Sept. 27, and to sponsor Sept. 22. The event will also feature a raffle for a trip to the 150th Open Championship at Saint Andrews July 11-15. A $100 raffle ticket gives contestants the chance to win the five-day, four-night stay at a four-star hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland, two rounds of golf, and two general admission tickets to the first round of the Open. The deadline to enter the raffle is Oct. 4. Tickets purchases are a tax-deductible charitable donation. For more information, call LEF at 703-717-3339 or 571-252-1102.
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IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11
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LOUDOUNNOW.COM
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Business
Visit Loudoun’s ‘Summer of Love’ Wins Nat’l Award LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT
Visit Loudoun garnered one of the top tourism awards in the country at the U.S. Travel Association’s 2021 conference in Los Angeles. The tourism office, which represents Loudoun County and its incorporated towns, won Short-term Marketing Campaign of the Year for its 2019 Summer of Love campaign. The brainchild of the Visit Loudoun team, the campaign was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic “Virginia is for Lovers” slogan. “This is arguably one of the most prestigious award selections in our industry and I am so incredibly proud of the team and this momentous achievement,” Visit Loudoun President and CEO Beth Erickson stated. “Love was at the heart of this creative and impactful campaign, and I’m thrilled that we were able to share and celebrate all there is to love in Loudoun.” The Summer of Love campaign centered on a branded, vintage Volkswagen bus, thanks to a partnership with Lindsay Volkswagen. The bus traveled to 19 stops
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Visit Loudoun President and CEO Beth Erickson sits in the Summer of Love Volkswagen Bus at Hillsboro’s ‘Woodstock in the Gap’ concert in June 2019.
throughout the summer ranging from wineries and breweries to museums, town centers, and festivals, culminating with a daylong music festival that highlighted both
local songwriters and Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root with his new band Uprooted. In total, the U.S. Travel’s Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations includ-
ed awards in 33 categories for excellence in destination marketing and inspiring visitation. “I am absolutely thrilled for Visit Loudoun for its ESTO award,” stated Rita McClenny, president and CEO of Virginia Tourism Corporation. “VTC’s 50 Years of Love and Visit Loudoun’s Summer of Love were a celebration of everything the Commonwealth had to offer the traveler, and this is well-deserved recognition. Loudoun County is a tourism powerhouse of creativity.” The judges called the Summer of Love an “impressive campaign using physical and digital channels, made all the more impressive coming from the county and not an agency. … The use of the iconic VW bus, and tie with the Virginia is for Lovers slogan was clever. Good use of partnerships and pre-planned events. This was an ambitious effort full of details that added a more complete coverage of the county.” The Summer of Love was competing against campaigns from Visit Austin and National Harbor. n
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
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Awilda Nevarez has been appointed director of Human Resources of Lansdowne Resort. She most recently worked at Inn at Perry Cabin Resort in St. Michaels, MD. Prior Nevarez to that she was director of Human Resources for Omni Hotels and Resort Amelia Island Plantation, director of Human Resources at Bedford Springs. She also previous served as corporate director of Human Resources for Benchmark Hospitality Hotels and Resorts, the owner of Lansdowne Resort. “I am thrilled to rejoin the team of Lansdowne Resort at this pivotal time in our industry,” Nevarez said. “Our team is growing, and we are excited to share new programs, wellness initiatives and so much more as we safely run our full operation during this pandemic. Our goal is to find the best workforce to provide curated experiences and environments to promote self-discovery.” Nevarez, a Leesburg resident, is an ad-
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
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American Red Cross’s first aid certification program. The company’s mobile app provides scheduling and communication with team members as well as GPS tracking to enable clients to locate their animal during a walk and a journal for the sitter’s notes and photos. For more information, call 571-833-1050 or email loudoun@fetchpetcare.com.
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Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Buffalo Wild Wings General Manager Sean Leonard and Loudoun Aces President Josh Palm hang a Loudoun Aces jersey inside the restaurant on Fort Evans Road.
Leesburg Buffalo Wild Wings Sponsors Loudoun Aces The Buffalo Wild Wings in Leesburg hung a new jersey on the wall Wednesday, Sept. 1—one from Loudoun Aces, a non-
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LOUDOUNNOW.COM
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
PAGE 17
Loudoun Chamber Announces Small Business Awards Finalists LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT
The Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce has announced the 24 finalists competing in the 27th Annual Loudoun Small Business Awards. The Chamber has opened voting for the People’s Choice Award, which will remain open for one week, closing at 5 p.m. Sept. 9. The finalists are competing for top honors in six industry categories. The winner in each category will then be in the running for the title of the Small Business of the Year. The finalists for Loudoun’s Entrepreneur of the Year will be announced Sept. 10. “So many of Loudoun’s small businesses have demonstrated remarkable resilience and made so many selfless sacrifices to support our community throughout the COVID-19 crisis,” Chamber President Tony Howard stated. “The businesses and entrepreneurs who are honored as finalists for the 2021 Loudoun Small Business Awards are great examples of the ingenuity and devotion to Loudoun that so many in our small businesses community possess.” The finalists were chosen from almost 100 applications by committees of local business leaders and industry experts. A weeklong, online ballot is now open for the community to vote for their favorites in each category. Not only will that help decide the winners in each category, but the top vote getter will win the 2021 People’s Choice Award. Voting is online at LoudounChamber.org/SBA. The 27th Annual Loudoun Small Business Awards ceremony will be held on Friday, Oct. 29, at The National Conference Center in Lansdowne. Sponsorships and tickets are available. For more information, call 703-777-2176 or go to LoudounChamber.org/events.
Finalists for Superior Service Business of the Year, Sponsored by Comfenergy • Dogtopia of Purcellville • Extraordinary Transitions – Long & Foster • Housecleaning Heroes LLC • Stone Ridge Oral & Facial Surgery
Finalists for Nonprofit Organization of the Year, Sponsored by Claude Moore Charitable Foundatioin • INMED Partnerships for Children • JK Community Farm • Loudoun Cares • Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy
Finalists for Virtual Business of the Year, Sponsored by Backflow Technology
• AWL Creative at A Wedding Loft
• Nutri Muscle Meals
• Lost Rhino Brewing Company
• Physician Premiere Weight & Wellness Center
• Cheers in a Box
• The Marketing Management Group
• Cucinamore • Purpose WorX LLC • Yield Bookkeeping Services
Finalists for Main Street Business of the Year, Sponsored by MainStreet Bank
• The Clay and Metal Loft
Finalists for Health & Wellness Business of the Year, Sponsored by Lowes Island Dentistry • WB20 Whole Body 20 EMS • Dulles Life Smiles
Finalists for Loudoun Destination Business of the Year, Sponsored by Bank of Clarke County • Escape Room LoCo • Magnolias at the Mill • The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm • The Zone
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PAGE 18
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
TOWN notes
Our Towns
HILLSBORO Hillsboro, League Team Up for Delegates Forum
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
A hiker walks on the Appalachian Trail near Bluemont.
It’s Appalachian Trail Festival Weekend One of Loudoun County’s backyard treasures will be celebrated during the Sept. 11-12 Round Hill Appalachian Trail Festival at the B Chord Brewing Company. The event is organized by the Town of Round Hill’s Outdoor Committee in partnership with Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia
Master Naturalists, and Piedmont Environmental Council. The festival seeks to toast the beauty of the trail with a full day of live music, trail talks, kids’ activities, food and vendors on Saturday, Sept. 11. That will be followed on Sunday, Sept. 12 with an A.T. hike, campsite set up classes, a scavenger hunt, and other nature-themed activities. Admission is free. For details go to roundhillat.org. n
Purcellville Council Adopts Changes for One-Stop Voting BY NORMAN K. STYER nstyer@loudounnow.com
Typically for Purcellville’s town elections, all voters head to Emerick Elementary School to cast their ballots. That is changing starting this November. In a special meeting held virtually Sept. 1, the Town Council adopted an ordinance creating two voting locations— matching the poll assignments used for county, state, and national elections. Two issues drove the change. First, the town is holding a special election Nov. 2 to fill a vacant council seat. It is the same day voters will be casting ballots for state offices and the General Assembly. Without the change, voters on the north side of town—in Precinct 310—would go to Mountain View Elementary School to vote for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and their House of Dele-
gates representative, and then they would have to go to Emerick Elementary School to vote for their Town Council choice. Town voters assigned to the second precinct, 301, already cast their full ballots at Emerick. Secondly, the General Assembly has mandated that towns move their municipal elections from May to November. That means having a single place to cast ballots in a town that is divided into two precincts for all other races would be a recipe for continuing confusion each year. With the change, town voters will go to their regular polling place—Mountain View or Emerick—for all elections. The council advertised the changes, provided a 45-day comment period and held a public hearing on Aug. 27. No public comments were received. The change was approved with a 6-0 vote. n
The League of Women Voters of Loudoun County and the Town of Hillsboro will present a free nonpartisan online forum for House of Delegates candidates running in Districts 10, 32, and 33 in the Nov. 2 election. The forum will take place Thursday, Sept. 23 at the Old Stone School in Hillsboro. Voters may meet informally with candidates starting at 6 p.m. and then stay for the moderated forum from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Moderators will be Republican Joseph Luppino-Esposito and Democrat Theresa Quitto-Dickerson, both selected by their respective political party. Candidates will take questions submitted by attendees before the forum who register on Facebook and Eventbrite. The forum will also be available on Zoom. Tickets are free and may be obtained for in-person and Zoom participation on Facebook at League of Women Voters Loudoun County, through Eventbrite and lwvloudoun.org. More information about all local candidates for Election 2021 is available at Vote411.org.
LOVETTSVILLE Council Interviews Planning Commission Candidates The Town Council was scheduled to hold a special meeting Thursday afternoon to interview three candidates for an open seat on the Planning Commission. The Sept. 9 session will be held virtually starting at 5:30 p.m. The council plans interviews of up to 20 minutes with each candidate: Tong Mason, former councilman Richard Efthim, and David Smith.
Mini Rose Farm Florals Celebrates Opening
Loudoun Now File Photo
Mayor Kwasi Fraser greets voters at Emerick Elementary School during the 2020 town election. Starting with the special election in November, some town voters will cast their ballots at Mountain View Elementary School instead.
Mini Rose Farm Florals will hold its grand opening celebration from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12. The florist shop, led by owner Joy Suits and manager Dawn Mellott, is located at 39125 Rodeffer Road. Mini Rose Farm has served as a private wedding coordinator and TOWN NOTES continues on page 19
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
PAGE 19
Willisville Gets Historic Marker LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT
The Willisville Preservation Foundation this week celebrated the unveiling of a historic road marker honoring the history of the village In December 2019, Willisville became the first historically African American village in Loudoun County to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the result of a two-year partnership between the Willisville community and the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area Association. Willisville’s origins predate the Civil War, originally inhabited by enslaved and free African Americans. In 1868, residents erected the first building for education and worship, with support from Richard H. Dulany of Welbourne, the Freedmen’s
Bureau, and members of the community. The village was later named after resident Henson Willis, the first person to be buried in the Old Willisville Cemetery. The Willisville Historic District includes the school, built in 1921 after the original building burned; Willisville Store (192224), and Willisville Chapel (1924). The foundation worked with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources on the project. The sign was approved in March and is now posted at the intersection of Rt. 50 and Willisville Road. n
Contributed
Members of the Willisville Preservation Foundation Board of Directors pose beside the village’s new historic road marker.
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florist based for the past six years, and is expanding its services to open full-time as a retail florist. The open house starts at 2 p.m., with a formal ribbon cutting at 3 p.m. Learn more at minirosefarm.com.
PURCELLVILLE Participants Sought for Celebrate Purcellville Town businesses and organizations may now participate in Celebrate Purcellville for free. Town leaders and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board re-evaluated the event and decided to forgo the registration fee. Businesses that have a current Town of Purcellville business license and nonprofits located within the incorporated town limits may register online at no cost. Applications are due Sept. 17. Celebrate Purcellville is a week-long, town-wide event will be held Oct. 4-10. It is designed to encourage visitors to come to local businesses, enjoy local food and beverage options, tour the town, and enjoy live music and activities. There will be a Celebrate Purcellville passport that participants may take to participating businesses and organizations to be stamped and to get a special offer. Passports with a minimum of 10 stamps may be turned in by Oct.10 for a chance to win a prize. Winners will be announced on Oct. 10 during the event finale in Dillon’s Woods. For details and registration, go to purcellvilleva.gov.
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Lovettsville Council Moves to Help Businesses, Nonprofits
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While still debating how to spend the bulk of its anticipated $2.3 million federal allotment under the American Recue Plan Act, the Lovettsville Town Council is working to quickly funnel support to town nonprofits and businesses. During its Aug. 19 meeting, the council voted to allocate $25,000 to support nonprofits and $25,000 for a business interruption grant program that will be administered through the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development. The action came after representatives of the Lovettsville Waterford Ruritan Club and the Lovettsville Lions Club told the council about the increased need for services they have seen during the pandemic, when their ability to raise funds has been severely
limited. While holding off on deciding whether to commit money to other specific projects, the council also agreed to devote 80% of the available funds, $1.82 million, to infrastructure, water and sewer and drainage projects. The remaining 20%, $456,000, would be divided among projects that support travel, tourism, and hospitality; business interruption grants; nonprofit support; and town operations. Town Manager Sam Finz said the top staff priority was to install a sludge disposal management system at the wastewater treatment plant. Although the cost is not known, he said the system would provide an ongoing operational savings at the plant. The town has received the first payment of $1,140,231. A second payment from the federal program is expected next year. The Town Council will next meet Sept. 9 for a work session. n
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See the full job listings at NowHiringLoudoun.com
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
PAGE 21
See the full job listings at NowHiringLoudoun.com
Town of Leesburg Employment Opportunities Please visit www.leesburgva.gov/jobs for more information and to apply online. Resumes may be submitted as supplemental only. EOE/ADA. Regular Full-Time Positions Position
Department
Salary Range
Closing Date
Lead Groundskeeper
Parks & Recreation
$48,295-$83,085 DOQ
Open until filled
Police Officer
Police
$53,233-$89,590 DOQ
Open until filled
Senior Buyer/Contracts Administrator
Finance
$67,175-$115,044 DOQ
Open until filled
Senior Management and Budget Analyst
Finance
$72,952-$124893 DOQ
Open until filled
Senior Zoning Analyst
Planning & Zoning
$61,857-$105,896 DOQ
Open until filled
Systems Analyst/Infrastructure & Asset Management
Public Works & Capital Projects
$70,374-$120,339 DOQ
Open until filled
Training and Development Coordinator
Utilities
$52,446-$89,790 DOQ
Open until filled
Utility Plant Technician: Trainee, Technician or Senior
Utilities
$44,905-$89,790 DOQ
Open until filled
Utility System Trainee or Technician
Utilities
$41,353-$76,882 DOQ
Open until filled
Wastewater Plant Operator: Trainee, I, II or Senior
Utilities
$41,353-$89,790 DOQ
Open until filled
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.
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LOUDOUNNOW.COM
PAGE 22
Loco Living
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
THINGS to do
LOCO LIVE
Live Music: Dave Mininberg
Friday, Sept. 10, 4:30 p.m. Dirt Farm Brewing, 18701 Foggy Bottom Road, Bluemont Details: dirtfarmbrewing.com Known for his work with the band 7th Son of WV, Mininberg brings a blend of originals, classic rock, blues and country.
Live Music: Rule G
Friday, Sept. 10, 5:30 p.m. Flying Ace Distillery and Brewery, 40950 Flying Ace Lane, Lovettsville Details: flyingacefarm.com Rule G returns to Flying Ace with favorite covers and a bluesy groove.
Live Music: Chris Timbers Band
Friday, Sept. 10, 5:30 p.m. MacDowell Brew Kitchen, 202 South St. SE, Leesburg Details: macsbeach.com Kick off the weekend on MacDowell’s beach with the chillaxed music vibes of the Chris Timbers Band.
Creativity and Community for a Cause The Crossroads Music Festival Is Back Sept. 18 BY JAN MERCKER jmercker@loudounnow.com
The past 18 months have been a roller coaster for local musicians and music lovers: from a shutdown during the worst days of the pandemic to a renaissance of sorts at outdoor venues this summer. Now organizers of one of the county’s bestknown benefit concerts are bringing it back to downtown Leesburg. The Crossroads Music Festival returns Saturday, Sept. 18. Organizers are counting on an event that’s COVID-careful but lots of fun with a goal of raising thousands of dollars for area nonprofits serving children. “The idea of being able to do something to support the community feels more important than ever,” said organizer and performer Amy Bobchek. “We’ve been really aware of and connected to the opportunity to help others with what we do.” This year’s festival showcases original music from Loudoun favorites and new faces at nine downtown venues. Organizers intentionally chose venues with outdoor performance spaces, including the Loudoun County Courthouse lawn, Delirium Cafe, Schmidt’s Barbecue, SideBar, King’s Tavern and Wine Bar, Black Walnut
Here’s this year’s festival line up: Big Bad Juju Rheese Crutcher Dave Goodrum Music Favorite Child Form of Expression Frayed Knots GHEEPS Shye Gilad Good Old Country Rob Hanes Julia Kasdorf King St. Max Redding & The Dogwood
Gospel Melissa Quinn Fox Band Dave Mininberg Notes n’ Beats Purple Voyagers Bill Rose and Laurie Blue Rule of 3rds Skomucon Gary Smallwood StoneCold Summer & Eric Duo The Train Wreck Endings Willie White
Live Music: JJ Billings Band
Friday, Sept. 10, 6 p.m. Harpers Ferry Brewing, 37412 Adventure Center Lane, Loudoun Heights Details: facebook.com/harpersferrybrewing Billings serves up rock music from the 90s through today.
Live Music: Justin Suede
Friday, Sept. 10, 7 p.m. Social House South Riding, 25370 Eastern Marketplace Plaza, Chantilly Details: socialhousesouthriding.com This “six-string slinging wanderer” is back in Virginia with tunes from his new EP.
Live Music: Best of the Eagles
Friday, Sept. 10, 7 p.m. Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg Details: tallyhotheater.com This top-notch Eagles tribute band mirrors each original band member vocally and instrumentally. Tickets are $30 in advance.
Live Music: Gary Smallwood
Friday, Sept. 10, 8 p.m. Monk’s BBQ, 251 N. 21st St., Purcellville Details: monksq.com It’s party night at Monk’s with Gary Smallwood’s locally famous classic rock, country rock and blues rock.
Live Music: Eric Selby and Billy Thompson Brewery, MacDowell Brew Kitchen, Dynasty Brewing Co. and Goosecup. For the performers, all of whom are donating their time for the event, the festival is a chance to showcase new material, much of which came out of downtime during COVID shutdowns. And for local audiences, it’s a chance to spend a fall Saturday downtown listening to great original tunes before an uncertain winter rolls around. Bobchek and Ara Bagdasarian, who are both civic leaders and musicians, are co-founders of the BENEFIT organiza-
tion, which started organizing concerts to raise money for local charities in 2017. The first two festivals took place at the Village at Leesburg retail center. But in 2019, organizers decided to shift to a multi-venue, film-festival style approach, taking advantage of downtown Leesburg’s booming dining scene. “We’ve played with a number of different formats for this [festival]. In 2019, we really felt like we hit the winner with this idea of using downtown venues that are CROSSROADS continues on page 23
Saturday, Sept. 11, 2 p.m. Breaux Vineyards, 36888 Breaux Vineyards Lane, Hillsboro Details: breauxvineyards.com Funky blues-based vocalist Billy Thompson and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Eric Selby join forces for an afternoon of excellent local music.
Crooked Run’s Local Vibes Live
Friday, Sept. 10, 7 p.m. Crooked Run Fermentation, 22455 Davis Drive #120, Sterling Details: crookedrunbrewing.com Crooked Run’s new monthly showcase of emerging sounds from the region kicks off with Pleasure Business, Acid Mt. RavenRock and Kevin Knight. Admission is free.
THINGS TO DO continues on page 24
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Crossroads continued from page 22 already open versus driving everybody to one destination,” Bobchek said. With COVID bringing much of the live music scene to a halt in 2020, organizers pivoted again, producing a recorded holiday concert that raised $20,000 for local charities. This year, Bobchek and Bagdasarian wanted to return to the 2019 model with some additional protocols for COVID, including “keeping it outdoors and widespread” among multiple venues with outdoor seating. “We’re taking safety very seriously. It took quite a bit of deliberation to decide to move forward with the event this year,” Bagdasarian said, adding that with outdoor performances, organizers felt they could reach musicians’ and audience members’ comfort levels and provide a showcase for original work. “What makes this event truly unique is that it’s an original musical festival,” Bagdasarian said. Participants include familiar faces like Julia Kasdorf, The Train Wreck Endings and Gary Smallwood, along with new acts including the multicultural music school Notes ‘N Beats, which is home to several in-house bands, and the rising star all-girl teen band StoneCold, winner of the Loudoun Youth Battle of the Bands in 2019. Bobchek’s band Big Bad Juju will play at Black Walnut, and Bagdasarian’s band The Frayed Knots will play at Schmidt’s Barbecue on festival day. As in 2019, tickets for the festival are optional but encouraged with proceeds going to local charities. The $15 tickets include a T-shirt and wristbands that give audience members access to specials at participating venues. Listeners will also have a chance to make additional mobile donations on site. With all musicians donating their time, the festival is a labor of love but also a chance to get out and show off original work. Western Loudoun-based singer/ songwriter Dave Mininberg is returning to the festival after making his debut in 2019. He said musicians often get asked to play gigs for free, but Crossroads was a no-brainer. “Whenever you’re a part of a community, you want to give back to that community,” Mininberg said. He is a Loudoun County teacher by day and adds that BENEFIT’s focus on youth-oriented nonprofits is another big draw. “Whenever you’re
doing something that’s going to help kids, that means a little bit more to me.” Mininberg said he’s kept busy in the past year and has been active on the local winery and brewery circuit this spring and summer. He’s still doing 90 to 100 gigs a year. But with several of his usual songwriter festivals, including events in Nashville and New Orleans, canceled this year, Crossroads offers a chance to connect with fellow creatives—and listen to what fellow musicians have come up with in the past year. The festival’s focus on original music
PAGE 23
is a big draw for performers like him. “That’s huge for me. When you’re a writer, your favorite thing to do is to play in a listening room, a show where people have come for the music,” Mininberg said. “When you get an opportunity like this where the whole idea is to feature people who have written, it’s my favorite type of show to play.” Bobchek and Bagdasarian said they’re keeping a close eye on developments related to the Delta variant and guidance from the state and CDC. But, for now, it’s
all systems go for this chance to catch up with local performers for a great cause. “The joy, the energy, the enthusiasm that we’ve seen in people has been unparalleled,” Bobchek said. “You can see how true it is that music is this coalescing power.” n The Crossroads Music Festival takes place Saturday, Sept. 18 in downtown Leesburg. Tickets are $15 and include a T-shirt and wristband. For tickets and information, go to crossroadsmusicfest.org.
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
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KEETON BAND Saturday, Sept. 11 6-10 p.m. MacDowell’s Beach macsbeach.com
THINGS to do continued from page 22
Live Music: Wall and Frye Farewell Show
Saturday, Sept. 11, 1-9:30 p.m. Sunnyside Farm, 38029 Colonial Highway, Hamilton Details: eventbrite.com It’s a full afternoon of music from local favorites as the Wall and Frye Band leaves the Loudoun music scene. The lineup includes the Steve George Band, Chris Timbers, the Smallwood Brothers and Blue Miracle. Admission is $30 in advance, free for children under 12.
Live Music: Red, White & Blues
Saturday, Sept. 11, 1 p.m. Vanish Farmwoods Brewery, 42245 Black Hops Lane, Lucketts Details: vanishbeer.com It’s an afternoon of rock and blues with a tuba for extra fun.
Live Music: Brahman Noodles
CHRISTOPHER CROSS
09/22/21 | DOORS: 7PM | SHOW: 8PM
COMEDY NIGHT IN LEESBURG
PRESENTED BY DC IMPROV 09/23/21 DOORS: 7PM SHOW: 8PM
BELL BOTTOM BLUES:
THE LIVE ERIC CLAPTON EXPERIENCE SHOW 09/24/21 DOORS: 7PM SHOW: 8PM
VAN HALEN NATION 09/25/21 DOORS: 7PM SHOW: 8PM
Saturday, Sept. 11, 2 p.m. Two Twisted Posts Winery, 12944 Harpers Ferry Road, Hillsboro Details: twotwistedposts.com Enjoy an afternoon of jug funk and “jamcoustic” sounds from the Brahman Noodles with new songs along with old favorites from Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and more.
Live Music: Mercy Creek
Saturday, Sept. 11, 2 p.m. Flying Ace Distillery and Brewery, 40950 Flying Ace Lane, Lovettsville Details: flyingacefarm.com Mercy Creek returns to Flying Ace with their signature earthy, edgy, aggressive folk-rock.
Live Music: Jes Jams
GROOVALICIOUS—ULTIEND OF SUMMER MATE ‘70S DANCE PARTY BLOCK PARTY Saturday, Sept. 11 Sunday, Sept. 12 6-9 p.m. 2-8 p.m. Tarara Winery N. 21st St., Purcellville tararaconcerts.com loudounnow.com/DPblockparty
Live Music: Matty D
Saturday, Sept. 11, 6 p.m. Bear Chase Brewing Company, 18294 Blue Ridge Mountain Road, Bluemont Details: bearchasebrew.com Matt Davis returns to Bear Chase with favorite tunes from a range of genres and eras.
Tarara Summer Concert Series: Groovalicious
Saturday, Sept. 11, 6-9:30 p.m. Tarara Winery, 13648 Tarara Lane, Lucketts Details: tararaconcerts.com Put on your bell bottoms and platforms and celebrate the best of the 70s with Groovalicious. Tickets are $20 for adults 21 and over, $10 for people under 21. Admission for children 7 and under is free.
Live Music: Bullet The Blue Sky
Saturday, Sept. 11, 7 p.m. Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg Details: tallyhotheater.com This North Carolina-based U2 tribute band celebrates the 80s icons with fun, high-energy shows. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $35 for VIP seats.
Live Music: Mark Cullinane
Sunday, Sept. 12, 2 p.m. Harvest Gap Brewery, 15485 Purcellville Road, Hillsboro Details: harvestgap.com Cullinane is back with acoustic classic rock tunes for a fun afternoon.
Live Music: Ginada Pinata
Sunday, Sept. 12, 2 p.m. Harpers Ferry Brewing, 37412 Adventure Center Lane, Loudoun Heights Details: facebook.com/harpersferrybrewing Shepherdstown-based Ginada Pinata taps the influences of jazz, funk, rock, fusion, trance and drum and bass and blends them to create an organic vibe.
Saturday, Sept. 11, 2:30 p.m. Forever Farm & Vineyard, 15779 Woodgrove Road, Purcellville Details: foreverfarmandvineyard.com Enjoy covers from the ’60s through today as Jessica Paulin covers favorites from Joplin to Gaga and adds new favorites each week.
Live Music: Josh Sowder
Live Music: Keeton
Live Music: Hard Swimmin’ FIsh
Saturday, Sept. 11, 5:30 p.m. MacDowell Brew Kitchen, 202 South St. SE, Leesburg Details: macsbeach.com It’s a fun Saturday evening with 90s and alternative hits from Keeton.
Sunday, Sept. 12, 2-5 p.m. Breaux Vineyards, 36888 Breaux Vineyards Lane, Hillsboro Details: breauxvineyards.com Sowder plays tunes from a range of genres from the ’50s through the 2000s. Sunday, Sept. 12, 2-5 p.m. Flying Ace Distillery and Brewery, 40950 Flying Ace Lane, Lovettsville Details: flyingacefarm.com Hard Swimmin’ Fish’s versatile blues sound covering
everything from Mississippi country blues to the urban Chicago sound and beyond.
Live Music: The Amish Outlaws
Thursday, Sept. 16, 7 p.m. Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg Details: tallyhotheater.com The exuberant Amish Outlaws return to the Tally Ho for two nights of socially distanced fun--and tunes ranging from Snoop Dogg to Johnny Cash. Tickets are $15.
LOCO CULTURE Loudoun Arts Film Festival
Friday, Sept. 10-Sunday, Sept. 19 50 West Vineyards, 39060 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg Details: loudounartsfilmfest.com Loudoun’s ambitious new film festival returns for its second year. Drive-in screenings take place Sept. 10-12 and Sept. 17-19, with virtual screenings throughout the week. Check out the website for tickets and a complete schedule.
Round Hill Appalachian Trail Festival
Saturday, Sept. 11 and Sunday, Sept. 12 B Chord Brewing, 34266 Williams Gap Road, Round Hill Details: roundhillat.org Celebrate the trail with live music, trail talks, children’s activities, food, vendors and environmental organizations. Visit the website for schedule and details.
Loudoun Pet Expo
Sunday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Franklin Park, 17501 Franklin Park Dr., Purcellville Details: facebook.com/loudounpetexpo Loudoun Pet Expo is back with vendors, dog races, adoptions, dog swim, children’s activities, face painting, pet photo booth, food and music.
Sadie’s Race
Sunday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m. Purcellville Train Station, 200 N. 21st St., Purcellville Details: facebook.com/sadiesmilefoundation The ninth annual Sadie’s Race 5K is back and benefits the Smile Train cleft palate nonprofit. Registration is $45 for the 5K and $27 for the children’s fun run and activities. Race day registration is available.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
The Reagan Years perform during last year’s Live from the Lot concert at Philip A. Bolen Memorial Park
‘Live From the Lot’ Outdoor Concert Planned at Segra Field LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT
The Loudoun County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services will host “Live From the Lot,” an outdoor concert featuring Uncle Jesse and The Reagan Years, Friday, Sept. 10 in the parking lot of Segra Field. Concert goers are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets, as well as their own food and nonalcoholic beverages. No food or drink vendors will be at the event. No tailgating will be allowed before or after the concert, and cars are not allowed in
the viewing area. General admission tickets cost $10. VIP tickets cost $20 and provide access to a guaranteed space at the front of the stage on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets may be purchased from Eventbrite at bit. ly/3D3ZV6b. Processing fees apply. Virginia COVID-19 guidelines will be followed for this event and are subject to change. Go to loudoun.gov/livefromthelot for event details. Segra Field is at Philip A. Bolen Memorial Park, at 42095 Loudoun United Drive in Leesburg. n
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Obituaries Vadah Kline Barney Vadah Kline Barney, a beloved grandmother, great-grandmother, mother, wife and friend, passed away peacefully in the early hours of Sunday, August 22, 2021, with her family by her side. Vadah cherished her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and the time she spent with them. Her loving nature, playful spirit, and forever young attitude left an imprint on the hearts of everyone who knew her. She was predeceased by her beloved husband of 63 years, Ray Barney. Those left behind to cherish her memory are her three children, Mary
LoudounNow To place an obituary, contact Susan Styer at 703-770-9723 or email: sstyer@loudounnow.com
Jane Barney-Butler, Jamie Barney (Faith), Hooper McCann (Lee); her grandchildren Dorothy Butler-Landes (Kirk), Taryn Barney, Sean Barney (Brittany), Cadie McCann and Quinn McCann; her great grandchildren Gabriel Butler, Abby Landes, Richard Landes, Camden Chambers, Knox Chambers, and River Barney; as well as many friends and extended family. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite children’s charity. Vadah’s family would like to extend a sincere thank you to the medical teams at Inova Loudoun and Capital Caring Health Hospice for their loving care and support.
Lives are like rivers: Eventually they go where they must, not where we want them to.
Rhea J. Christensen Rhea J. Christensen died August 27, 2021, at INOVA Fairfax Hospital. Rhea was born in Shawsville, Virginia to the late Rev. James M and Golda E. Jewell. Rhea came to Loudoun County to teach in the Fall of 1949 from Radford, Virginia. Rhea began her teaching career at Lincoln High School and later transferred to Loudoun County High School where she remained until her retirement. She retired after teaching 37 years. Rhea, who lived in Leesburg, Virginia, was the widow of Gordon K. Christensen, who died in 2003. She was previously married to Robert Bragg. Rhea was a loving mother and grandmother and a dedicated business teacher who enjoyed her profession and remembered most of her past students throughout her life. She enjoyed reading, listening to her favorite music and being
with friends. Rhea is survived by two daughters, Kathi Stone (Richard) of Leesburg, Virginia and Vicki Bragg Klimstra (Randall) of Norman, Oklahoma; one son, Kenneth Christensen (Emma) of Lovettsville, Virginia; and four grandsons, Ian and Carl Christensen, Crispin Anderson and Adam Carter. She is also survived by two granddaughters, Angi Powell and Candi North and four great grandchildren. Rhea was predeceased by her three brothers, William, Richard and Dallas Jewell. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Emmanuel College Alumni Scholarship Fund - P.O. Box 129, Franklin Springs, GA 30639-9901 or www.ec.edu; the Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company or the Humane Society. A graveside family burial will be held September 2nd at Union Cemetery in Leesburg, Virginia. A celebration of Rhea’s life will be held at a later date.
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Obituaries Keyon Vincent Brown
Age 1, of Haymarket, VA Keyon V. Brown was Clintock; aunts, Kearstin Brown, Saniya Brown, Jasmine Lamelle, Erica Narel, born on November Aaliyah Hogan, Sole’ Lincoln, Evelyn 22, 2019 to Angel M. Lincoln and Corinne Kirchmaier; grandRamey and Kenzingparents, Roxann Lincoln, Loreal Farewell, ton V. Brown. He William Ramey, Tanya and Jeremy Smith departed this life on and Paul Brown; great-grandmother, Julia Friday, August 27, Lucas; and a host of other family and 2021at INOVA Fairfax Hospital. friends. Keyon loved to play with his toys. His Special thanks to Rhieannon Lincoln favorites included dinosaurs and bubbles. and Bradley and Regina Kirchmaier for He had a beautiful smile that would light always supporting Keyon in any way up any room, and he loved to laugh and possible. be silly. Keyon had many nicknames, the most popular being “Wop.” He was loved Viewing and visitation will be held from by everyone who knew him. 10:00 a.m. till time of service at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 11, 2021 at Mt. Keyon leaves to cherish his memory, his Zion United Methodist Church, 250 West loving mother and best friend, Angel M. Virginia Avenue, Hamilton, VA 20158. Ramey; his father, Kenzington V. Brown; three brothers, Reign Ramey, Kaden Interment: Rock Hill Cemetery, Round Brown and Oziah Brown; uncles, MatHill, VA. thew Ramey, Deshawn Williams, Darrius Arrangements by LYLES FUBrown, Daijordan Brown, Darian Smith, NERAL SERVICE, Serving N. Elijah Ramey, William Ramey, William Virginia. Eric S. Lyles, Director. Lincoln, Tyson Lincoln and Carter McLic. VA/MD/DC. 800-388-1913.
Mary Thomas Wilson
Age 92, of Manassas, VA, formerly of Cameron, SC Mary (nee Brunson) and Lincoln (Tenisha) Sobers of FrederThomas Wilson was icksburg, VA; two great-grandchildren, born April 11, 1929 Elijah and Jaylan; and a host of nieces, in Cameron, SC. She nephews, cousins, church family and was the second child friends. of six daughters born Mary Thomas Wilson departed this life to William and PerTuesday morning, August 31, 2021, after nealia Brunson. She a brief stay in the hospital. She is now was educated in the elementary school soaring with God her Father and the system of South Carolina. From a preheavenly angels. vious union she had two children, with Funeral services will be held on Friday the late Henry Lee Thomas. She was also September 10, 2021, viewing and visitapreceded in death by her late husband, tion from 10:00 a.m. until time of service Elder JC Wilson. 11:00 a.m. at the First AME Church of She leaves to cherish her memory her Manassas, 10313 South Grant Avenue, devoted daughters, Willa (Michael) Manassas, VA 20110. Gillis of Manassas Park, VA and Carolyn Interment: Ketoctin Cemetery, 16595 Thomas of Manassas, VA; three sisters, Ketoctin Church Road, Purcellville, VA including her twin sister, Martha Pauling 20132. of Orangeburg, SC, Collie Felder of Far Arrangements by LYLES FURockaway, NY, and Anne Brunson of NERAL SERVICE, Serving N. Brooklyn, NY; two grandchildren, Lamar Virginia. Eric S. Lyles, Director. (Danielle) Sobers of West Palm Beach, FL Lic. VA/MD/DC. 800-388-1913.
Carole G. Canonico
Mable Louise Grant
Age 96, of Middleburg, VA Departed this life on ter, Joyce, and sons Vernell and Azell. Tuesday August 31, She is survived by her eldest son, Wayne 2021 at StoneSprings Grant of Charles Town, West Virginia; Hospital Center, four grandchildren, Diane L. Paschal, Dulles, VA. Tamara Reid (Avery), Dante Howard and Mable Louise Grant Dynell Smith; seven great-grandchildren, was born July 7, 1925 Danielle Reid, Avery Reid, Jonathan Reid, in Middleburg, VA to Sylvia Grant, Sad-e Grant Sheffey, Monica the late Howard David Lloyd and Mary Thompson and Sierra Krug; four greatStevenson Lloyd. She was best known by great grandchildren, Shayla Reid, Kayla her family and friends as Mama, Mama Reid, Howard White and Sa-von Grant. Lou, Lou, Ant Louise and Miss Louise. Funeral services will be held on Sunday September 12, 2021 viewing and visitaLouise married the late James William tion from 12:00 p.m. until time of service Grant, also of Middleburg, and had four 1:00 p.m. at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, children. Louise spent most of her life 35286 Snake Hill Road, Middleburg, VA living in or near St. Louis. She made her home within walking distance of Mt. Zion 20117. Baptist Church where she was a devoted The CDC COVID-19 protocols will be and active member her entire life. observed. Masks are required. She worked as a home health care aide in Interment: Mt. Zion Memorial Park, numerous homes around Loudoun until Middleburg, VA. age 88. Her favorite past time was talking Arrangements by LYLES FUon the phone. She loved gardening and NERAL SERVICE, Serving N. found pleasure in the simple things of life. Virginia and surrounding areas. She also loved to travel. Eric S. Lyles, Director. Lic. VA/ Preceding her in death were her daughMD/DC. 800-388-1913.
To place an obituary, contact Susan Styer: 703-770-9723 sstyer@loudounnow.com
On August 12, 2021, Carole G. Canonico passed away, unexpectedly yet peacefully, in her sleep at the age of 75. Carole was born in York, Pennsylvania on December 12, 1945. She graduated from William Penn H.S. She moved to Washington, D.C. at the young age of 17, and enjoyed her life as an administrative assistant for multiple government officials. As a young mother she relocated her and her son to SF, CA. Carole eventually settled in Sterling Park, Virginia, where she raised her three children with husband, Lou Canonico, for more than 20 years. She volunteered at the public library reading stories to the children and at her kid’s schools. Ultimately, Carole returned to PA., and spent her next 18 years in her small town of Goldsboro, along the Susquehanna River. She enjoyed her quaint little row house on the main street through town, which would be her final resting place. Carole always had a lollipop ready for the neighborhood kids, and cakes or donuts for a birthday for her beloved officers and staff at the Newberry Township Police Department, where she volunteered
for over 15 years. She was very involved in volunteering for the Town’s “National Night Out”. Carole is survived by her three children – Eric, Tara, and Tony (and wife Shelley), as well as her grandsons – Dominic, Anthony, and Liam. Also, her sister’s Gwen and Brenda and brother’s Scott and Steve. She was a surrogate mother and grandmother to many of the kids who knew her growing up in both Virginia and Pennsylvania. She loved talking, gardening, talking, the beach, talking, and a cold beer while picking crabs…and talking. She was a giving person who helped all she could. Carole was loved and will be remembered by so many because she loved so many, and the world was gifted with her presence for 75 wonderful years. A Celebration of Her Life/Reception will be held from 4:30pm to 7:30pm, on September 11th, 2021 at the Stone Ridge Clubhouse, 24609 Nettle Mill Square, Stone Ridge, VA 20105. Another service will be held in the town of Goldsboro PA, tentatively scheduled for mid- late October. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation in her name to the Special Olympics at www.specialolympics.org.
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Community Events Reflect on 9/11 Attacks LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT
Saturday marks two decades since terrorists hijacked two commercial airliners from Boston’s Logan Airport and crashed them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and a third that took off from Dulles Airport and crashed into the Pentagon. In the hours that followed, Loudoun’s fire and rescue crews joined the response at the Pentagon; air traffic controllers at the FAA’s Air Route Control Center in Leesburg scrambled to get all planes in U.S. air space on the ground; and local law enforcement agencies scrambled to defend against attacks on other potential targets. During the ensuing weeks, as the skies over Loudoun remained eerily empty of the familiar jet traffic, residents began learning that some elements of life would be changed forever. For the county residents, the healing process began with a massive vigil in the county’s courthouse square and it is that element of reflection and remembrance that has become an annual rite in many Loudoun communities. This year, those events are expected to take on added significance. The first community event planned is the Town of Leesburg’s remembrance ceremony at the town’s Freedom Memorial, located at Freedom Park. The brief program begins at 8:30 a.m. Anyone wishing to attend the ceremony is encouraged to arrive early. The park will remain open to the public until 9 p.m. for those wishing to visit the memorial on their own. The Town of Purcellville will hold its ceremony starting at 9 a.m. at the First Responders Monument near the Bush Tabernacle. The monument includes a steel beam recovered from Tower Two of the World Trade Center and a stone from a barn near Shanksville, PA, the site of the Flight 93 crash. The Virginia Army National Guard, 29th Division Band Brass Group will be part of this
year’s ceremony. Deputy Police Chief Dave Dailey, who was among the first responders at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, will be the keynote speaker. A new event this year is the Freedom Celebration, sponsored by One Family Gives, the philanthropic arm of One Family Brewing Company. From noon until 9 p.m., a benefit concert will be held on the brewery grounds just south of Lovettsville at 12851 Lutheran Church Road. The event will feature country music performances from Nashville’s Noah Garner, U.S. Marine Mike Carrado and Lovettsville native Joey Hafner. Tickets range from $10 to $40, with proceeds going to the Woody Williams Foundation to build a Gold Star Family Memorial Monument in Chesapeake and to HeroHomes to build a home for a wounded warrior and their family in Loudoun County. For details, go to onefamilybrewing.com. During September, the Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg will participate in September 11, 2001: The Day That Changed the World, a digital educational exhibition presenting the history of 9/11. The exhibit covers its origins and ongoing implications through personal stories of those who witnessed and survived the attacks. Archival photographs and images of artifacts from the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s permanent collection will be available for viewing. It also explores consequences of terrorism on individual lives and communities at the local, national, and international levels, and encourages critical thinking about the legacies of 9/11. Developed and curated by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, this exhibit is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy Demands Wisdom. Also included are materials related to 9/11 experiences and memorialization in Loudoun County. The digital exhibit will be on view in the Library’s John Divine room during regular library hours. n
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Carroll continued from page 3 though you’re part of a larger system we do have a sense of community here and I want to continue that culture,” she said. Culture was a big part of her predecessor Addo’s mantra, and Carroll said it should be that way for all leaders. “I think culture should probably be the first word out of every leader’s mouth. It’s always leader-led. If you’re not focused on the culture there’s no building project or strategic plan that’s ever going to work,” she said. To that end, Carroll said she wants to focus on the foundation already in place at Inova Loudoun. She acknowledges the incredible physical growth at the hospital over the past five years to catch up with the community’s growing population. Now, she said, the focus must turn to programmatic growth, and bringing more services to the community. She points to the coming arrival of the new cancer program in February as one example. But Carroll looks specifically at the changing demographics of the community, with now many senior citizens choosing to retire in Loudoun, and adult living communities proliferating.
“This has been such a difficult year and a half for everyone. I really want to make sure that there’s care for the caregiver. We have to be focused on that.” — Susan Carroll “When you look at the fabric of the community you are in you have to adjust healthcare services. That’s what I want to do from a strategic standpoint—a heavier investment in cardiology, cardiac care, neurology, and of course we’re hoping by the end of 2022 we’ll be able to go for our Level II trauma certification,” she said. From leading each of Inova’s five hospitals during her career, Carroll has assembled a robust mental notebook, not to mention important relationships. “Every hospital is unique. We really do try to build a culture for Inova, but every hospital has something that’s a little special to it. Over the last 12 years being able
to experience each one I’ve always used it as a learning opportunity,” she said. Carroll also has been able to cultivate professional relationships with all of the hospital system’s service line presidents. “So it’s a very easy phone call to say I need more [of a certain service],” she said. “Health care is still about relationships.” Carroll said her top priority as president is preparing for the next wave of COVID-19, with the Delta variant a particularly brutal and contagious foe. Understanding patient flow, access to care, and how the hospital is able to prepare for that all goes into her planning, she said. She said the hospital currently has an adequate supply of beds in its Intensive Care Unit to treat the most critical COVID cases, which are still largely coming from those who are not vaccinated. The hospital is about to roll out its annual campaign to encourage community members to receive the flu shot, and plans to tie that in with continued conversation about receiving the COVID vaccine for those age groups that are currently eligible. “The COVID vaccine and flu vaccine are the best tools we have from a public health perspective. We want to make sure we’re out there in the community educating about both vaccines,” Carroll said. She points out that Inova Health Sys-
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tem was the first health care system in Virginia to require that all its team members be vaccinated for COVID-19, with a deadline for doing so of Sept. 1. Carroll said the pandemic has taken a toll on healthcare workers globally, and Inova is not immune to that. With that in mind, she said taking care of her team members also is a top priority. That includes everyone from her specialists and administrators to housekeeping and food service workers, and everyone in between. “This has been such a difficult year and a half for everyone. I really want to make sure that there’s care for the caregiver. We have to be focused on that,” she said. Another priority harkens back on her desire to focus on programmatic growth— “what are the gaps we really want to make sure we’re filling to serve the community that we’re in,” Carroll said. As she begins her new, and yet familiar, role with Inova Loudoun Hospital, Carroll said she is excited to lead her neighborhood hospital. “This has always been my community hospital even though I’ve worked in all four other hospitals,” she said. “This is where both my boys were born. Being able to come back to the hospital that is part of my community is really special.” n
Legal Notices PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE 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, September 23, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. to consider the following:
VARI-2021-0004 Kaleem - Addition Samir Kaleem and Kauser Kaleem of Sterling, Virginia, have submitted an application for a variance to permit a reasonable deviation from the following provisions of the Revised1993 Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance in order to permit the construction of an addition to an existing single-family detached dwelling on the subject property that will be located approximately 10.6 feet from the rear property line: 1) Section 3-404(C)(3) Lot Requirements for Suburban Design Option, Yards, Rear, which requires a twenty-five (25) foot rear yard. The subject property is zoned R-4 (Single Family Residential) under the Revised 1993 Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance. The subject property is approximately 0.19 acre in size and is located on the north side of Edenberry Court (Route 1011), approximately 0.08 mile east of the intersection of Edenberry Court (Route 1011) and Connemara Drive (Route 1010) at 210 Edenberry Court, Sterling, Virginia, in the Sterling Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 020-20-0809. 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 09/09 & 09/16/21
TOWN OF LEESBURG NOTICE OF TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING
TO CONSIDER REZONING APPLICATION TLZM-2021-0001, 20 UNION STREET NW Pursuant to Sections 15.2-1427, 15.2-2204, 15.2-2205 and 15.2-2285 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, the LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL will hold a public hearing on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 at 7:00 P.M. in the Town Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, Virginia 20176, to consider Rezoning application TLZM-2021-0001 20 Union Street NW. The subject property consists of 0.84 acres situated at 20 Union Street NW at the intersection of Union Street NW and Wirt Street NW. The parcel is split-zoned, with a portion zoned R-HD, Historic Residential District, and a portion zoned R-6, Moderate Density Residential District. The property is further described as Loudoun County Parcel Identification Number (PIN) 230-18-5465-000. Rezoning Application TLZM-2021-0001 is a request by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to rezone the entire subject property to the GC, Government Center District. The purpose of the rezoning is to restore and preserve the c. 1880’s former African-American Douglass School, and convert the building into a museum/cultural center. The c. 1964 office building will continue to be used for government administrative purposes. The site is located in the Central Planning Area of the Leesburg Town Plan, and the Planned Land Use Policy Map further designates the Subject Property as “Downtown”. The recommended density range is not specified for non-residential uses. Whereas the existing density of 0.21 in two separate buildings is intended to remain. The Heritage Resources Chapter specifically identifies the Subject Property for preservation through inclusion in the H-1, Overlay, Old and Historic District. Additional information and copies of this application are available at the Department of Planning and Zoning located on the second floor of the Leesburg Town Hall, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, Virginia 20176 during normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), or by contacting Christopher Murphy, Senior Planning Project Manager, at 703-737-7009 or cmurphy@leesburgva.gov. At this hearing, all persons desiring to express their views concerning these matters will be heard. Persons requiring special accommodations at the meeting should contact the Clerk of Council at (703) 771-2733 three days in advance of the meeting. For TTY/TDD service, use the Virginia Relay Center by dialing 711. 09/02 & 09/09/2021
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Legal Notices NOTICE OF BOND ELECTION
VIRGINIA:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF LOUDOUN COUNTY IN THE MATTER OF THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS OF THE COUNTY OF LOUDOUN, VIRGINIA IN THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF $210,459,000
) ) )
ORDER THERE HAVING BEEN PRESENTED to the Court the following resolutions adopted by the Loudoun County School Board (the “School Board”) and the Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County, Virginia (the “Board of Supervisors”), respectively: (a) A copy of a resolution adopted by the School Board on May 25, 2021, requesting the Board of Supervisors to request this Court to order an election in the County of Loudoun, Virginia (the “County”) on the question of issuing general obligation bonds in the maximum amount of $159,410,000 for certain school capital projects including, inter alia, ES-32 Dulles South Elementary School, LCPS Facility Renewals and Alterations, and Valley Service Center Replacement and Bus Parking; and (b) A certified copy of a resolution adopted by the Board of Supervisors on June 15, 2021, finding it advisable to contract a debt and issue general obligation capital improvement bonds in the maximum aggregate principal amount of $210,459,000 to finance school capital projects and other County capital projects as stated therein, and requesting this Court to order a special election for this purpose; and IT APPEARING TO THE COURT that such resolutions have been duly adopted and that a special election for the purpose set forth herein is authorized pursuant to Virginia Code§§ 15.2- 2610 and 15.2-2611; it is hereby ADJUDGED, ORDERED and DECREED as follows: 1. Such resolutions are approved and are hereby filed. 2. The regular election officers of the County shall, on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, that being a day not less than eighty-one (81) days from the date hereof and being the same day as the general election, hold a Special Election in accordance with § 24.2-681 et seq. of the Code of Virginia of 1950, as amended, and take the sense of the qualified voters of the County on the following questions regarding contracting a debt and issuing general obligation bonds of the County in the maximum aggregate principal amount of $210,459,000 for the purposes set forth in such resolutions. 3. The ballot to be used at the election shall pose the questions in substantially the following form: School Projects QUESTION: Shall the County of Loudoun, Virginia contract a debt and issue its general obligation capital improvement bonds in the maximum principal amount of $135,026,000 to finance, in whole or in part, the design, construction, equipping and other costs of ES-32 Dulles South Elementary School, LCPS Facility Renewals and Alterations, and Valley Service Center Replacement and Bus Parking; and the costs of other public school facilities as requested by the Loudoun County School Board? ( ) YES ( ) NO Public Safety Projects QUESTION: Shall the County of Loudoun, Virginia contract a debt and issue its general obligation capital
TOWN OF LEESBURG NOTICE OF TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT TLOA-2020-0004 REVISING DESCRIPTION, USE REGULATIONS, AND DENSITY/ INTENSITY AND DIMENSIONAL STANDARDS IN THE GCGOVERNMENT CENTER ZONING DISTRICT Pursuant to Sections 15.2-1427, 15.2-2204, 15.2-2205 and 15.2-2285 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, the LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL will hold a public hearing on TUESDAY, September 14, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, Virginia, 20176, to consider Zoning Ordinance Amendment TLOA-2020-0004 to amend the following sections: 1.
Sections 7.3.1, 7.3.2, 7.3.3.A, 7.3.3.D, and 7.3.3.E to revise the description, use regulations, and density/intensity and dimensional standards in the GC, Government Center Zoning District.
Additional information including copies of the full text of this proposed Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment are available at the Department of Planning and Zoning located on the 2nd floor of the Leesburg Town Hall, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, Virginia 20176 during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), or by contacting Christopher Murphy, Senior Planning Project Manager, via email at cmurphy@leesburgva.gov, or via telephone 703-737-7009. This Zoning Ordinance amendment application is identified as case number TLOA-2020-0004. At this hearing all persons desiring to express their views concerning these matters will be heard. Persons requiring special accommodations should contact the Clerk of Council at (703) 771-2733, three days in advance of the meeting. For TTY/TDD service, use the Virginia Relay Center by dialing 711. 09/02 & 09/09/2021
Civil Action No. CL21-3947
improvement bonds in the maximum principal amount of $7,190,000 to finance, in whole or in part, the design, construction, equipping and other costs of Fire and Rescue Basic Training Facility and Fire and Rescue Station #28 Leesburg South; and the costs of other public safety facilities approved in the County’s Capital Improvement Program? ( ) YES ( ) NO Transportation Projects QUESTION: Shall the County of Loudoun, Virginia contract a debt and issue its general obligation capital improvement bonds in the maximum principal amount of $68,243,000 to finance, in whole or in part, the design, construction and other costs of improvements to Evergreen Mills Road (Reservoir Road to Watson Road), Farmwell Road Intersection Improvements, a roundabout at Route 9 and Route 287, Shellhorn Road (Loudoun County Parkway to Dulles Airport Property), Shellhorn Road (Dulles Airport Property to Moran Road), and Waxpool Road/Loudoun County Parkway Intersection Improvements; and the costs of other public road and transportation projects approved in the County’s Capital Improvement Program? ( ) YES ( ) NO 4. The election shall be conducted, the ballots counted, and the returns made and canvassed in the manner provided by law, and the results thereof shall be certified to this Court, to the State Board of Elections and to the Board of Supervisors. 5. A copy of this Order shall serve as the Writ of Election. The Clerk of this Court shall forthwith send two certified copies of this Order to the Loudoun County Sheriff. Upon receipt, the Sheriff shall forthwith serve one certified copy of this Order upon the General Registrar of the County at the following address: Judy Brown, General Registrar 750 Miller Drive, SE, Suite C Leesburg, Virginia 20175. Upon execution, the Sheriff shall file his return of service with this Court. 6. The Clerk of this Court shall forthwith send a certified copy of this Order to the State Board of Elections and to the Loudoun County Attorney. 7. Pursuant to Va. Code § 15.2-2610, the County of Loudoun shall cause a copy of this Order, preceded by the caption, “NOTICE OF BOND ELECTION”, to be published in a newspaper published or having general circulation in the County. Such publication shall be made at least once but not less than ten (10) days before the election. ENTERED this 15th day of July, 2021. 09/09/21
TOWN OF LEESBURG BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a public hearing will be held by the Town of Leesburg Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, second floor in the Leesburg Town Hall, 25 W. Market Street, Leesburg, VA 20176, to hear the following item: BZA Case number TLZV-2021-0001 – Jesus Vargas, Applicant, requests a Variance of 10’ to the rear yard setback of 30’ for the construction of a sunroom on an existing deck attached to the rear of the home, resulting in a rear yard setback of 20’ for the proposed sunroom. The residence is located at 711 Montauk Court, NE, Leesburg, Virginia 20176. The property that is the subject of this Variance request is further identified as Loudoun County Parcel Identification Number (PIN#) 146-15-0237. Full and complete copies of the above-referenced application and related documents may be examined in the Leesburg Department of Planning and Zoning in the Leesburg Town Hall, 25 W. Market Street, 2nd floor, during regular business hours 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by calling (703) 771-2766 and asking for Mike Ruddy, Assistant Zoning Administrator or Debi Parry, the Secretary to the Board of Zoning Appeals. At this hearing, all persons desiring to express their views regarding this matter will be heard. Persons requiring special accommodations should contact the Secretary to the Board three days in advance of the meeting date at (703) 771-2765. For TTY/TDD service, use the Virginia Relay Center by dialing 711. 09/09 & 09/16/21
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PAGE 31
Legal Notices PUBLIC HEARING The LOUDOUN COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION will hold a public hearing in the Board of Supervisors’ Meeting Room on the first floor of the County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. to consider the following:
INTERIM ADDITIONS INTERIM ADDITIONS TO AGRICULTURAL AND FORESTAL DISTRICTS Applications have been received by the Loudoun County Department of Planning and Zoning and referred to the Agricultural District Advisory Committee (ADAC) and the Planning Commission pursuant to Chapter 43, Title 15.2 of the Code of Virginia to amend the ordinances for the following Agricultural and Forestal Districts to add the following parcels: DISTRICT
PIN
TAX MAP NUMBER
ACRES ENROLLED
NEW HILLSBORO
449-20-7833
/26////////10A
7.84
NEW HUGHESVILLE
456-19-2924
/45///9/////B/
21.2
NEW MOUNTVILLE
498-17-7351
/73///2/////1/
11.52
NEW MOUNTVILLE
498-17-8304
/73////////28C
17.57
NEW BLUEMONT
609-17-4561
/33///8////19/
5.3
NEW BLUEMONT
609-26-8304
/33////////32A
17.17
NEW BLUEMONT
609-27-9560
/33////////32/
5.5
NEW BLUEMONT
609-27-9780
/33///4/////B/
5.12 14.19
NEW EBENEZER
617-27-9962
/54///2////11/
NEW EBENEZER
617-28-4974
/54////////39/
5.03
NEW BLUEMONT
629-30-9125
/33//10////14B
26.88
Any owner of additional qualifying land may join the applications with consent of the Board of Supervisors, at any time before the public hearing that the Board of Supervisors must hold on the applications. Additional qualifying lands may be added to an already created District at any time upon separate application pursuant to Chapter 43, Title 15.2 of the Code of Virginia. Any owner who joined in the application may withdraw their land, in whole or in part, by written notice filed with the Board of Supervisors, at any time before the Board of Supervisors acts pursuant to Virginia Code Section 15.2-4309. The conditions and periods of the foregoing Agricultural and Forestal Districts to which parcels are being considered for addition are as follows: DISTRICT
PERIOD
SUBDIVISION MINIMUM LOT SIZE
PERIOD START DATE
NEW HILLSBORO
10 Years
20 Acres
April 11, 2012
NEW HUGHESVILLE
10 Years
25 Acres
December 7, 2011
NEW MOUNTVILLE
4 Years
50 Acres
January 3, 2021
NEW BLUEMONT
4 Years
20 Acres
June 2, 2020
NEW EBENEZER
4 Years
50 Acres
June 2, 2020
Each of these Districts will be reviewed prior to its expiration date pursuant to Chapter 1226 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County. Received applications were referred to the ADAC for review and recommendation. The ADAC held a public meeting on August 10, 2021, to consider the applications. The report and recommendations of the ADAC will be considered by the Planning Commission at its public hearing on September 28, 2021. The reports and recommendations of the ADAC and the Planning Commission 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 703-777-0246 (option 5) to request hard copies or electronic copies or electronically at: https://www.loudoun.gov/adac (8-10-2021 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/pc (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for Public Hearings Packet).
SPEX-2021-0002 GUILFORD STATION SOUTH (Special Exception)
Guilford Station LLC of Bethesda, Maryland, has submitted an application for a Special Exception to permit a 4,500 Square Foot Restaurant with accessory drive through use in the C-1 (Commercial) zoning district. This application is subject to the 1972 Zoning Ordinance, and the proposed use is listed as a Special Exception use permissible by the Board of Zoning Appeals upon favorable recommendation by the Planning Commission under Article 4, Schedule of District Regulations for the C-1 zoning district. The subject property is located within the Route 28 Taxing District and Route 28 CO (Corridor Overlay District) and within the AI (Airport Impact) Overlay District, outside of but within one (1) mile of the Ldn 60 aircraft noise contours. The subject property is approximately 5.37 acres in size and is located on the
north side of West Church Road (Route 625) and on the west side of Atlantic Boulevard (Route 1902) in the Sterling Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as follows: PIN
TAX MAP NUMBER
PROPERTY ADDRESS
044-40-8919
/80/R/1CM///4
22060 Railcar Drive, Sterling, Virginia
044-40-8989
/80/R/1CM///3
22074 Railcar Drive, Sterling, Virginia
044-40-7361
/80/R/1CM///5/
22000 Railcar Drive, Sterling, Virginia
The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Suburban Policy Area (Suburban Mixed Use Place Type)), which vertical mix of residential, commercial, entertainment, cultural, and recreational uses at a recommended maximum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 1.0.
ZCPA-2020-0014 WATERSIDE NORTH
(Zoning Concept Plan Amendment) Waterside I, LLC of Columbia, Maryland, has submitted an application to amend the existing proffers and concept development plan (“CDP”) approved with ZMAP-2018-0011, Waterside North, in order to amend transportation commitments and decrease the maximum square footage from 1,975,881 square feet to 1,030,000 square feet with a decrease in density from 0.6 Floor Area Ratio (FAR) to 0.32 FAR. This application is subject to the Revised 1993Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance. The subject property is located within the Route 28 Taxing District, the (QN) Quarry Notification Overlay District, and located partially within the Route 28 Corridor Business Optional Overlay District, and the AI (Airport Impact) Overlay District, outside of but within the one (1) mile of the Ldn 60 aircraft noise contour. The subject property is approximately 73.9 acres in size and is located on the north side of Old Ox Road (Route 606), east of Shaw Road (Route 636) at 22900 Platform Plaza, Sterling, Virginia in the Broad Run Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 034-38-5918. The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Suburban Policy Area), in the Suburban Employment Place Type which designate this area for Non-Residential uses at a minimum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 1.0.
ZCPA-2020-0011, CMPT-2020-0008, SPMI-2020-0011 & ZMOD-2021-0045 LOCKRIDGE SUBSTATION
(Zoning Concept Plan Amendment, Commission Permit, Minor Special Exception & Zoning Modification) Dominion Energy Virginia of Glen Allen, Virginia, has submitted applications for the following: 1) amend the existing proffers and concept development plan (“CDP”) approved with ZCPA-2017-0005 and ZRTD-2016-0002 in order a) to add an additional entrance to the property from Lockridge Road, b) delete the requirement to establish and maintain a Property Owners Association , and c) revise Proffer V Transportation to update transportation commitments related to construction and development of the road frontage improvements for Lockridge Road; and 2) for Commission approval to permit development of one Utility Substations (distribution) in the PD-IP (Planned Development – Industrial Park) zoning district. These applications are subject to the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance and require a Commission Permit in accordance with Section 6-1101. The modification of the Additional Regulations applicable to the proposed Utility Substations is authorized by Minor Special Exception under Section 5-600, Additional Regulations for Specific Uses (the Minor Special Exception application is not subject to consideration by the Planning Commission and requires approval only by the Board of Supervisors), pursuant to which the Applicant requests the following Zoning Ordinance modification(s): ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION
PROPOSED MODIFICATION
§5-616(D), Additional Regulations for Specific Uses, Utility Substations.
Eliminate required Type ‘C’ Buffer planting on the north, east and south substation frontages.
§5-616(D), Additional Regulations for Specific Uses, Utility Substations.
Reduce required Type ‘C’ Buffer width from 25’ to 15’ for northern buffer substation frontage.
The applicant also requests the following Zoning Ordinance modification(s): ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION §5-1408(C)(3), Landscaping, Buffer Yards, Screening, and Landscape Plans; General Landscape Provisions; Use of Buffer Yards and Road Corridor Buffers.
PROPOSED MODIFICATION Revise the limitations of service drive buffer encroachments identified to allow a service drive to traverse the Eastern buffer in a parallel manner.
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Legal Notices The subject property is located within the Route 28 Taxing District and within the Route 28 CB (Corridor Business Overlay District). The property is located fully within the AI (Airport Impact) Overlay District, within the Ldn 65 or higher, between the Ldn 60-65 aircraft noise contours. The subject property is approximately 28.42 acres in size and is located north of the Dulles Greenway (Route 267), on the east side of Lockridge Road (Route 789) in the Broad Run Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as portion of PIN: 063-49-6156. The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Urban Policy Area (Urban Employment Place Type)), which supports a broad array of Employment uses at a recommended minimum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 1.0 and building heights of 3 to 8 stories.
ZMAP-2019-0014, SPEX-2019-0029 & ZMOD-2019-0039 LOUDOUN SOCCER PARK (Zoning Map Amendment, Special Exception & Zoning Modification)
Loudoun Youth Soccer Association of Leesburg, Virginia, has submitted applications for the following: 1) to rezone approximately 11.14 acres from the JLMA-20 (Joint Land Use Management Area-20) zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance to the PD-SA (Planned Development-Special Activities) zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance in order to permit the development of all principal and accessory uses permitted in the PD-SA zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance at a maximum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of up to 0.40; and 2) a Special Exception to allow proposed alternative lighting standards that do not comply with the standards of Section 5-1504(A). These applications are subject to the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance, and the proposed use is listed as a Special Exception use under Section 5-1504(C). The Applicant also requests the following Zoning Ordinance modification: ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION
PROPOSED MODIFICATION
§4-705(B)(2), PD-SA Planned Development-Special Activity, Lot Requirements, Yards, Adjacent to Agricultural and Residential Districts and Land Bays Allowing Residential Uses.
Reduce the required one hundred (100) foot yard to thirty-five (35) feet where the property borders agricultural districts, any existing or planning residential district, or land bays allowing residential uses.
The subject property is located within the AI (Airport Impact) Overlay District, within the Ldn 65 or higher, between the Ldn 60-65, and outside of but within one (1) mile of the Ldn 60 aircraft noise contours. The subject property is approximately 11.14 acres in size and is located north of Cochran Mill Road (Route 653) on the east side of Sycolin Road (Route 625) at 19798 Sycolin Road, Leesburg, Virginia in the Catoctin Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 192-36-5833. The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Joint Land Management Area (Leesburg JLMA Employment Place Type)) which designates this area for a range of light and general industry core uses, and conditional uses including special activities and parks and recreation, at a recommended Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of up to 1.0.
CMPT-2021-0003 AT&T STONE RIDGE ANTENNAS (Commission Permit)
AT&T of Hanover, Maryland has submitted an application for Commission approval to permit six new antennas, twelve remote radio heads, and three DC9 (squids) on an existing Loudoun County Sanitation Authority water tank in the TR1-UBF (Transitional Residential - 1 (Upper Broad Run and Upper Foley)) zoning district. This application is subject to the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance and requires a Commission Permit in accordance with Section 6-1101.The subject property is located partially within the FOD (Flood Plain District) and within the AI (Airport Impact) Overlay District between the Ldn 6065 aircraft noise contours. The subject property is approximately 5.78 acres in size and is located north of Braddock Road (Route 629) and west of NorthStar Boulevard (Route 3171), at 24668 Goshen Road, Aldie, Virginia in the Dulles Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 247-19-1835. The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Transition Policy Area (Transition Large Lot Neighborhood Place Type)) which designate this area for detached homes and substantial open space in low-density communities.
NOTICE OF IMPOUNDMENT OF ABANDONED VEHICLES 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. YR.
MAKE
MODEL
VIN
STORAGE
PHONE#
2008 2007
FORD KIA
FOCUS
1FAHP34N48W232895 KNAFG526077086235
DOUBLE D TOWING AL’S TOWING
703-777-7300 703-435-8888
09/02 & 09/09/21
SIDP-2020-0008 EQUINIX SIGN DEVELOPMENT PLAN (Sign Development Plan)
Equinix RP II, LLC of Foster City, California, has submitted an application for a Sign Development Plan to request alternative sign regulations for permitted signs in order to modify the Total Aggregate Sign Area, the Maximum Area of Any One Sign and Maximum Number of Signs for Flex/Industrial/ Warehouses/Datacenter Buildings and Signs for Businesses in MR-HI, PD-IP, and PD-GI. The subject property is being developed pursuant to ZRTD-2015-0005, Beaumeade SE Quadrant in the PD-IP (Planned Development-Industrial Park) zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance. This application is subject to the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance, and pursuant to Section 5-1202(E) alternative sign regulations for permitted signs may be requested with the submission of a Sign Development Plan. The Subject Property is located within the Route 28 Taxing District, the Route 28 Corridor Business Overlay District, and the AI (Airport Impact) Overlay District between the Ldn 60-65 aircraft noise contours. The subject property is approximately 10.29 acres in size and is located north of Waxpool Road (Route 825) on the east side of Loudoun County Parkway (Route 807) at 22175 Beaumeade Circle, Ashburn, Virginia, in the Broad Run Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 061-29-8643. The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Suburban Policy Area (Suburban Employment Place Type)) which designate this area for a broad array of employment uses at a recommended with a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 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 703-777-0246 (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. To arrange a time to view the file at the Loudoun County Government Center, please email dpz@loudoun.gov or call 703-777-0246, or you may view the file electronically at www.loudoun. gov/lola. 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). Additionally, documents may be viewed and downloaded electronically the week before the hearing at www.loudoun.gov/pc. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, members of the public are encouraged to view the public hearing electronically; however, the Board Room will be open for any members of the public who wish to attend in person with appropriate physical distancing. Planning Commission public hearings are available for viewing on television on Comcast Government Channel 23, Open Band Channel 40, and Verizon FiOS Channel 40, and are livestreamed at loudoun.gov/webcast. All members of the public will be heard as to their views pertinent to these matters. Citizens are encouraged to call in advance to sign up to speak at the public hearing. If you wish to sign up in advance of the hearing, please call the Department of Planning and Zoning at 703-777-0246 prior to 12:00 PM on the day of the public hearing. Speakers may also sign up at the hearing. Written comments are welcomed at any time and may be sent to the Loudoun County Planning Commission, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., 3rd Floor, MSC #62, Leesburg, Virginia 20175, or by e-mail to loudounpc@loudoun. gov. Any individual representing and/or proposing to be the sole speaker on behalf of a citizen’s organization or civic association is encouraged to contact the Department of Planning and Zoning prior to the date of the public hearing if special arrangements for additional speaking time and/or audio-visual equipment will be requested. Such an organization representative will be allotted 6 minutes to speak, and the Chairman may grant additional time if the request is made prior to the date of the hearing and the need for additional time is reasonably justified. Citizens are encouraged to call the Department of Planning and Zoning on the day of the public hearing to confirm that an item is on the agenda, or, the most current agenda may be viewed on the Planning Commission’s website at www.loudoun.gov/pc. In the event that the second Thursday is a holiday or the meeting may not be held due to inclement weather or other conditions that make it hazardous for members to attend, the meeting will be moved to the third Tuesday of the month. In the event that Tuesday is a holiday or the Tuesday meeting may not be held due to inclement weather or other conditions that make it hazardous for members to attend, the meeting will be held on the following Thursday. The meeting will be held at a place determined by the Chairman. Hearing assistance is available for meetings in the Board of Supervisors’ Meeting Room. FM Assistive Listening System is available at the meetings at all other locations. If you require any type of reasonable accommodation as a result of a physical, sensory or mental disability to participate in this meeting, contact the Department of Planning and Zoning at 703-777-0246. Please provide three days’ notice. BY ORDER OF:
FOREST HAYES, CHAIRMAN LOUDOUN COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
09/09 & 09/16/21
LOUDOUN COUNTY WILL BE ACCEPTING SEALED COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS FOR: ORACLE MANAGED SERVICES, RFP No. 438782 until prior to 4:00 p.m., local “Atomic Time”, October 8, 2021. 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. 09/09/21
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Legal Notices
TOWN OF LEESBURG ADVERTISEMENT FOR BID
A message to Loudoun County Property Owners regarding the Land Use Assessment Program from Robert S. Wertz, Jr. Commissioner of the Revenue The Land Use Assessment Program provides for the deferral of real estate taxes on property that meets certain agricultural, horticultural, forestry, or open space use criteria. Real property owners who wish to apply for land use assessment for the first time must submit to my office an application along with the required fee by the filing deadline. Forms are available online, in my office, or can be mailed to you. Owners of real property currently enrolled in the land use assessment program must renew their land use status every 6th year by submitting a renewal form along with documentation corroborating the qualifying land use along with the required fee by the filing deadline. Renewal forms will be mailed the first week of September to those currently enrolled who are up for renewal. You may check your renewal year online at www.loudoun.gov/parceldatabase by entering the property’s address or parcel identification number and selecting the LAND USE STATUS tab. Properties renewed in 2016 are up for renewal this year. An additional deferral of taxes is available to current program participants if they sign and record an agreement to keep the property in its qualifying use for more than 5 but not exceeding 20 years. The commitment must be filed with my office by November 1, 2021 and recorded in the Loudoun County Clerk of the Circuit Court´s office by December 15, 2021. Please visit our website or contact my office for information or filing assistance.
DEADLINES
First-time Land Use applications and Renewal applications must be submitted to the Commissioner of the Revenue by Monday, November 1, 2021. Applications submitted after the deadline; November 2, 2021 through December 6, 2021, are subject to a $300 per parcel late filing fee in addition to with the standard filing fee. No first-time applications or renewal applications will be accepted after the December 6th deadline.
FILING FEES
For submissions received or postmarked by November 1, 2021 -$125 plus $1 per acre or portion thereof For submissions received or postmarked between November 2, 2021 and December 6, 2021 $125 plus $1 per acre or portion thereof plus a $300 per parcel late filing fee Online: www.loudoun.gov/landuse Hours: 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, M - F Phone: 703-737-8557 Email: trcor@loudoun.gov Mailing Address Overnight Deliveries 1 Harrison Street, SE, PO Box 8000 MSC 32 MSC 32 Leesburg VA 20177-9804 Leesburg, VA 20175-3102
Leesburg Office 1 Harrison Street, SE 1st Floor Leesburg, VA 20175
Sterling Office 21641 Ridgetop Circle, Ste 100 Sterling, VA 20166
09/09, 09/16, 09/23, 09/30, 10/7, 10/21 & 10/28/21
COUNTY OF LOUDOUN, VIRGINIA AVAILABILITY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION REPORT FOR FEDERAL FISCAL YEAR 2020 The Loudoun County Office of Housing has prepared a Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) for Federal Fiscal Year 2020 on the performance of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program within the County for the period from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Copies of the draft CAPER for Federal Fiscal Year 2020 will be available beginning Thursday, September 9, 2021, until Friday, September 24, 2021. Copies of the proposed CAPER are available 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. The CAPER is also available online at www.loudoun.gov/cdbg. Written comments on the CAPER may be submitted to the attention of the CDBG Accounts Assistant, Courtenay Belchik, at courtenay.belchik@loudoun.gov. For questions, please call 703-771-5731/TTY-711. 09/09/21
loudounnow.com
IFB NO. 20007-FY22-10 ROYAL STREET SE STORM DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS **NOTE: Effective January 1, 2021, all bids and proposals in response to a formal solicitation issued by the Town will be securely received via eVA, the Commonwealth’s eProcurement website. Additionally, at this time the Town is not conducting in-person public bid openings. ** SEALED BIDS to construct the above project WILL BE RECEIVED by the Town of Leesburg, electronically via the Commonwealth’s e-procurement website (www.eva.virginia.gov), UNTIL BUT NO LATER THAN 3:00 P.M. ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2021. Bids shall be submitted electronically using the following naming convention: the IFB number and the name of the bidder (i.e. “IFB No. 20007-FY22-10_Your Company’s Name”). All questions regarding this bid must be submitted in writing via email to CapitalBidQuestions@ leesburgva.gov until but no later than 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday, September 14, 2021. Bids will be publicly opened via Microsoft Teams using the eVA e-Procurement website at the due date and time listed above. The bid opening will be livestreamed via Microsoft Teams and made available to the public.
•
To join the meeting and view the video shared by the Town of Leesburg from your computer, please see the following link(s): Click here to join the meeting or go to: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ OWI4NzcwZmEtYjYwYS00YTQ2LTg1YmItYmM3Zjk5OTUxNTlk%40thread.v2/0?cont ext=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22fcff6f14-98e4-4734-bf54-941f010e77b7%22%2c%22Oid%2 2%3a%22b08c9db0-f4a3-4eed-87b5-2fe32ac2c53a%22%7d
•
To join the meeting via phone, please see the following dial-in info: •
Dial In #: +1 689-218-0588 Meeting Conference ID: 307 352 93#
Work includes excavation, storm drainage, curb and gutter, asphalt pavement, minor grading, and all incidentals related thereto. The Town reserves the right to perform all, part, or none of the work. Bid Documents are available for download from the Town’s Bid Board at http://www.leesburgva.gov/ bidboard. Any addenda issued for this project will be posted on the Town’s Bid Board and eVA (https://eva.virginia.gov) with a courtesy email to those firms who have registered on the Town’s Bid Board. It is the bidders’ responsibility to provide a correct email address and to be aware of any addenda. Renée LaFollette, Director Department of Public Works and Capital Projects
09/09/21
TOWN OF LEESBURG NOTICE OF TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARINGS TO CONSIDER ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT TLOA-2021-0007 AND ZONING MAP AMENDMENT TLZM-2020-0005 TO EXPAND THE H-1 OVERLAY, OLD AND HISTORIC DISTRICT, TO INCLUDE THE ENTIRETY OF THE PROPERTY AT 20 UNION STREET NW Pursuant to Sections 15.2-1427, 15.2-2204, 15.2-2205 and 15.2-2285 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, the LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL will hold a public hearing on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 AT 7:00 P.M. in the Town Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, Virginia 20176, to consider Rezoning application TLZM-2020-0005 and Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment TLOA-2021-0007 to include the entirety of the property at 20 Union Street NW, in the H-1, Overlay, Old and Historic District while removing portion of the same property from the Gateway District (Overlay). The subject property consists of 0.84 acres. That portion affected by the proposed amendment is zoned R-6, Moderate Density Residential District, and further described as Loudoun County Parcel Identification Number (PIN) 230-18-5465-000. Rezoning/Application TLZM-2020-0005 is an amendment initiated by the property owner (Loudoun County Board of Supervisors) to amend the official zoning map to extend the H-1, Overlay, Old and Historic District, to include approximately 0.60 acres of the subject property. The subject property is located in the Central Planning Area of the Leesburg Town Plan, and the Planned Land Use Policy Map further designates the Subject Property as “Downtown”. The recommended density range is not specified for non-residential uses. Whereas, the existing density of approximately 0.21 in two separate buildings is intended to remain. The Heritage Resources Chapter specifically identifies the Subject Property for preservation through inclusion in the H-1, Overlay, Old and Historic District. Zoning Ordinance Amendment Case Number TLOA-2021-0007 is an amendment to the text of Zoning Ordinance Section 7.5.3 to add a description of the land proposed for this addition to the H-1, Overlay, Old and Historic District. Additional information and copies of these applications are available at the Department of Planning and Zoning located on the second floor of the Leesburg Town Hall, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, Virginia 20176 during normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), or by contacting Christopher Murphy, Senior Planning Project Manager, at 703-737-7009 or cmurphy@leesburgva.gov. At these hearings, all persons desiring to express their views concerning these matters will be heard. Persons requiring special accommodations at the meeting should contact the Clerk of Council at (703) 771-2733 three days in advance of the meeting. For TTY/TDD service, use the Virginia Relay Center by dialing 711. 09/02 & 09/09/2021
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
PAGE 34
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Legal Notices
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA VA. CODE § 8.01-316 Case No.: JJ038733-20-00 Loudoun Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court
NOTICE OF ABANDONED BICYCLES Notice is hereby given that the bicycles described below were found and delivered to the Office of the Sheriff of Loudoun County; if the owners of the listed bicycles are not identified within sixty (60) days following the final publication of this notice, the individuals who found said bicycles shall be entitled to them if he/she desires. All unclaimed bicycles will be handled according to Chapter 228.04 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County.
Phone Number
Description
Case Number
Recovery Date
Recovery Location
Pink Mongoose bicycle
SO210012843
8/9/2021
42227 Terrazzo Terrace Aldie, VA
703-777-0610
Blue Magna bicycle
SO210012843
8/9/2021
42227 Terrazzo Terrace Aldie, VA
703-777-0610
SO210013151
8/14/2021
20504 Straham Way Sterling, VA
703-777-0610
SO210013574
8/24/2021
43316 Hay Road, Ashburn, VA
703-777-0610
Black Mongoose Element bicycle with pink logo and brake cables Red/silver Schwinn mountain bicycle
09/02 & 09/09//21
TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO ZONING ORDINANCE ARTICLES 3, 7, AND 15 Pursuant to Sections 15.2-1427, 15.2-2204, 15.2-2205 and 15.2-2285 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, the LEESBURG TOWN COUNCIL will hold a public hearing on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers, 25 W. Market Street, Leesburg VA 20176 to consider the following amendments to the Zoning Ordinance:
2.
3.
Loudoun County Department of Family Services /v. Sifredo Amaya (aka Surfredo Amaya), putative father and; Michelle Jacobs, mother The object of this suit is to hold a foster care review hearing and review of foster care plan pursuant to Virginia Code §§ 16.1-282 and 16.1-281 for Abbigail Jacobs. It is ORDERED that the defendants Sifredo Amaya (aka Surfredo Amaya), putative father and; Michelle Jacobs, mother appear at the above-named Court and protect their interests on September 28, 2021 at 11:00 am 08/26, 09/02, 09/09, & 09/16/21
Resource Directory
TOWN OF LEESBURG NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
1.
Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Abbigail Jacobs
Amendments to various subsections of Zoning Ordinance Section 7.10 Crescent Design (CD) District to permit modifications to allow for development and redevelopment of land consistent with principles of traditional urban design in accordance with the guidelines provided in the Crescent District Element of the Town Plan. Proposed modifications include, but are not limited to: a.
Sec. 7.10.4.C.1 to correct errors in the required Build-to Line and parking Setback Table.
b.
Sec. 7.10.11.A Streets to correct graphics to show the appropriate street element labels.
c.
Sec. 7.10.9.A.2.D [4] and TLZO Sec. 7.10.9.B.2.D [Minimum Rear Yard Setback] to permit townhouse and 2-over-2 lot rear yards to be reduced to five (5) feet if required parking for the unit is on the lot.
Add a new section to Article 15 Signs to be known as TLZO Sec. 15.10.11 Signs in the Gateway District (Overlay) with appropriate subsections to explain how signs in the Gateway District (Overlay) are processed. Article 3 Review and Approval Procedures to update time and advertising requirements for Comprehensive Plan adoption and amendments thereto as specified by the Virginia General Assembly.
Copies and additional information regarding each of these proposed Zoning Ordinance amendments are available at the Department of Planning & Zoning located on the 2nd floor of Leesburg Town Hall, 25 W. Market Street, Leesburg VA 20176 during normal business hours (Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or by contacting Michael Watkins, Zoning Administrator, via email at mwatkins@leesburgva. gov, or via telephone at 703-737-7920. This zoning ordinance amendment application is identified as case number TLOA-2021-0001. At this hearing all persons desiring to express their views concerning these matters will be heard. Persons requiring special accommodations should contact the Clerk of Council at (703) 771-2773 three days in advance of the meeting. For TTY/TDD service, use the Virginia Relay Center by dialing 711. 09/02 & 09/09/21
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Opinion Another Shot Sticking it to localities isn’t a partisan game in the General Assembly—members of all political stripes love to play. The latest in that long, long line of potshots is the warning of Sen. John Bell that he’ll push to overturn any Board of Supervisors denial of a permit to build a new telecommunications tower on Short Hill. Decisions over land use in Virginia are reserved to the local governments: county boards and city and town councils. Notwithstanding that delegation, the state legislature has laid out significant rules to keep them in some bounds of protecting property rights while also tending to the public health, safety or general welfare. For example, the state code mandates localities adopt and update comprehensive plans and enact zoning ordinances—and comply with those policies and regulations. The assembly has even carved out special protections for telecommunications towers to ensure they are not unfairly obstructed by local leaders.
LETTERS to the Editor
The challenge facing the tower project in this case, according to county planners and a majority of planning commissioners, is that approval would require county leaders to act contradictory to those adopted policies and regulations. Sure, local supervisors may—and have—done so when an overriding public interest is demonstrated (or contrived), but they must also weight the impacts of setting precedents that others may seek to follow. We don’t know how the Board of Supervisors will vote in this case. But it should be clear to all that if the General Assembly assumes a veto power over local land use decisions and planning, there’s even more reason to worry about what development may be coming to your backyard or neighborhood. n
Norman K. Styer, Publisher and Editor nstyer@loudounnow.com
Published by Amendment One Loudoun, LLC
EDITORIAL Renss Greene, Deputy Editor rgreene@loudounnow.com
15 N. King St., Suite 101 Leesburg, VA, 20176
Jan Mercker, Reporter jmercker@loudounnow.com
PO Box 207 Leesburg, VA 20178 703-770-9723
Kara C. Rodriguez, Reporter krodriguez@loudounnow.com Hayley Milon Bour, Reporter hbour@loudounnow.com ADVERTISING Susan Styer, Advertising Manager sstyer@loudounnow.com
Loudoun Now is delivered by mail to more than 44,000 Loudoun homes and businesses, with a total weekly distribution of 47,000.
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Bell is Wrong Editor: I like Sen. John Bell. I voted for Sen. Bell. But I voted for Sen. Bell to take our rural concerns to Richmond. I did not vote for him to bring his prestige to Loudoun to bully our supervisors to vote for the AT&T Tower on Short Hill Mountains against our specific policies in the Loudoun 2019 Plan and our Zoning Ordinance, which prohibit such towers on the ridgelines. Senator Bell’s action is wrong on multiple levels. 1. This is a local issue with no state Dillon Rule implications. 2. With his threats to “override” in Richmond if our Board of Supervisors vote to deny the tower, he has cast a shadow across the integrity of the Board of Supervisors. There never has been any doubt in my mind of the integrity of supervisor’s decisions. Now they must answer for a vote to approve the tower. Was their vote influenced by Sen. Bell’s threats to override and therefore humiliate them in Richmond? 3. Sen. Bell’s action, while obviously more benign, has nonetheless the same disregard for local government democracy that we are seeing in Texas and other states. No one should condone state legislators attempting to influence local government democracy. 4. Sen. Bell claims to be “deeply committed to preserving the environment,” but his actions here say development and dollars come first.
One of my favorite lines from the movies was when the totally frustrated actor yells out, “God, did you make a mistake, or did you do it deliberately?” So, if you see Sen. Bell, and feel he has let us down, ask him, “Senator Bell, was it a mistake, or did you do it deliberately?” If it wasn’t a mistake Sen. Bell owes his constituents a much more detailed explanation than his pathetic “the firefighters” made me do it. — Alfred P. Van Huyck, Round Hill
Abide by the Plan Editor: The Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area, on behalf of other preservation organizations, in our collective effort to protect the integrity of the surrounding countryside, are all strongly opposed to the application by AT&T to build a telecom monopole on the Short Hill Mountain. In addition to destroying the viewshed and damaging the natural heritage resources of the area, the proposed tower violates the 2019 Comprehensive Plan and Loudoun’s zoning ordinances. Although we acknowledge the importance of expanding broadband to unserved communities, Loudoun zoning regulations explicitly prohibit construction of telecom monopoles on top of ridgelines, even in the event of an approved special exception: “Monopoles, General Performance Criteria. All telecommunications monopoles, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR continues on page 37
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Readers’ Poll
PAGE 37
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
LAST WEEK'S QUESTION:
Early voting opens next week. How will you cast your ballot?
Should the school division offer virtual classes to all students/parents who request it?
Share your views at loudounnow.com/ polls
LETTERS to the editor continued from page 36
whether permitted by right or permissible with the approval of a special exception application, shall be subject to the following criteria: . . . (p) Telecommunications monopoles shall not be located along ridge lines, but downslope from the top of ridge lines, to protect views of the Catoctin, Bull Run, Hogback, Short Hill, and Blue Ridge Mountains.” [Section 5-618 (Revision Date: June 2, 2020)] We implore the Board of Supervisors to heed the vote of the Planning Commission and follow the recommendation of the Heritage Commission to reject AT&T’s proposal in its entirety to protect our historic landscape and uphold county policy which was designed precisely to prevent the construction of monopoles on the ridgeline. If you fail to abide by your own regulations, you would be setting a powerful precedent for additional inappropriate towers that would further threaten our countryside. Loudoun citizens, please let your voice he heard and write your supervisor now telling them there are other communication options to consider – but not on our ridgeline. Email BOS@loudoun.gov and reference CMPT 2020-0005 ATT Morrisonville. — Jennifer Moore, President, Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area — Chris Miller, President, Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) — Peter Weeks, President, Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains — Michael Myers, Director, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy — John Ellis, President, Save Rural Loudoun — Madeline Skinner, President, Loudoun Historic Village Alliance — Tara Connell, President, Unison Preservation Society
Who Can You Trust? BY STEVE ROBIN
As a member of the Silent Generation (the 1950s basically; retired General “Ike” Eisenhower was the president), I was inclined to trust, rather than to doubt, most people and organizations I had occasion to deal with. That was not just me; it was, if you will, the temperature of the times. Trusting did not always mean agreeing with, but it did mean believing that most folks and the organizations they represented meant what they were saying and that what they were doing was not intended to be for something other than the collective good. “Your word was your bond” was a popular expression, and not a form of bias or of gamesmanship calculated to achieve self-interest at the expense of others. There were people, of course, who lived by a different code, but you kind of knew who they were and could be on your guard against their efforts. And that last sentence sums up my point. Today, you don’t know for sure who you can trust. What this has insidiously done is make the bulk of the nation, regardless of policy persuasion, distrustful across the board. The thinking becomes, if you can’t trust X, Y or Z, who can you trust? This thought came home to me when I opened my mail recently and saw correspondence from a Richmond address that could have been a legitimate political request for information, but who knows, maybe not. Again, now when I listen to newscasts, I instinctively do not accept the point of view being
expressed by any political faction, or even accept the facts presented as valid facts, unless I can confirm them (the facts at least; opinions can’t be confirmed) from multiple sources. And I certainly discount policy points of view that come via social media as either too basic a treatment of a complicated subject or, at worst, ill-informed or sometimes ill-intentioned. Climbing to the proverbial 30,000 feet for an overview, this broad lack of trust undermines our willingness to cooperate with each other and by doing so undermines our democracy. For all the individual liberties given by our Constitution (and they are right in there and are unquestionably protected by the Bill of Rights), the same Constitution also envisions, and is very fundamentally based on, the need and the expectation that we can trust one another, so that the decisions that we make as individuals, and those the Constitution specifically authorizes our government to make, do in fact represent an informed, and basically agreed upon, national interest. In many respects a nation is a family. If the members of a family do not trust each other, we can hardly expect them to function as an effective unit. Similarly with a democratic nation—it needs our trusting cooperation to be an effective, functioning unit. Importantly, it’s success in doing so is not guaranteed. Maintaining successful democracies is hard work. As Ben Franklin put it so well over 200 years ago: “It’s a democracy if you can keep it.” Steve Robin is a retired attorney and a resident of Loudoun for over 45 years.
PAGE 38
Paxton property continued from page 1 on hold completely. Jennifer Lassiter Smith, the director of U.S. programs for Sterling-based INMED and the one person who has been involved in the evolution of the property since Arc arrived in 2008, attributed the delay in part to waiting for lease negotiations between the Paxton Trust and Arc of Loudoun to be resolved. Some neighbors and local stakeholders, though, say there is more to the story.
Where It Started Katie Hammler, a resident of Exeter, just outside the gates of the Paxton property, was elected to the Leesburg Town Council in 2004 when the future of the Paxton property and its Carlheim Manor was perhaps most imperiled. The sprawling estate was once the home of Rachel Paxton, who in her will bequeathed the land to a foundation to run the Margaret Paxton Memorial for Convalescent Children. It was named for Paxton’s daughter Margaret, who predeceased her. Following Rachel Paxton’s death in 1921, her former residence, the Carlheim manor, was used from 1924 to 1954 as a center for children recovering from illness or injury. It would then shift to an orphanage, which operated until 1980, when it became a childcare center. It continued in that use until 2004 when it abruptly closed, and the trustees signaled that they would seek to sell the property, citing the high costs of operating the facility and the value of the land. A demolition permit had even been sought to take down Carlheim. At that point, local elected leaders, including then-Rep. Frank Wolf and Mark Herring, who served as state senator at the time, became involved. The council ultimately voted to place the property into the town’s Old & Historic District, preserving the property and ultimately preventing its sale for development. Mary Pellicano was one of the first local residents to investigate what exactly was transpiring on the property. She and her husband had purchased their nearby home in 1999 and were mystified when the childcare center abruptly closed in the middle of a work week. She went down to the Loudoun County Courthouse to pull up a copy of Paxton’s will, and it was there she discovered the intent of her will—that the land in perpetuity be used to serve convalescent children. Pellicano also saw the will stated that a board of visitors composed of three members of Paxton’s former church, St. James Episcopal Church, and its rector be assembled to appoint a board of trustees and provide oversight to ensure that the
LOUDOUNNOW.COM intent of the will was being fulfilled. That revelation came as news to the local church, Pellicano said, which also happened to be her own church home, and further galvanized the effort to fight for the future of the property. It was a win for the community at large when, in 2008, the Arc signed a 10-year lease to take over the property and house the Aurora School, a facility in Purcellville that had been serving autistic children since 2003 but had outgrown its space. It was upon the signing of Arc’s lease on the property that Lassiter Smith first became involved with the Paxton property. She was part of a team of parents and community stakeholders, including Arc, that founded the Aurora School to serve students with special needs. Her involvement stemmed from her daughter Katelyn, who is autistic and needs high-level support. It was an “answered prayer” for many local parents, said Lassiter Smith, who would eventually become Arc’s executive director after serving as director of the Aurora School. The Arc of Loudoun would expand over the years to serve thousands of special needs students region-wide, and would add on additional programs to serve people with disabilities at its Ability Fitness Center; children with developmental disabilities or delays at its Ally Advocacy Center; and its Aurora Behavior Clinic and the Open Door Learning Center preschool. It now counts itself among Loudoun’s largest nonprofits, employing 100 people and serving between 6,000 and 7,000 individuals a year. Critics of the project, however, have expressed a distrust of Lassiter Smith. Lassiter Smith resigned from the Arc in January 2017—in a move Scott Billigmeier, who served on the Arc’s Board of Directors on several occasions over the past 20 years, characterized as unsurprising claiming she was “on the path to either being fired or forced to resign.” What did catch some off guard, though, was an announcement by the Paxton Trust just days later that it had named Lassiter Smith its CEO, the first and only time the Trust has had such a position. Lassiter Smith points out that INMED first approached her for a job when she was still with the Arc in 2016, but the job offered to her at the time, the director of its Opportunity Center in Sterling, was not an ideal fit. “The Trust had the idea of working together, coming onboard and expanding how they serve children in Leesburg. That was how I ended up there. It meant that I could continue the work I loved from the Arc, but not with the Arc. Seeing the needs in the community, and meeting those needs is what I have done,” she said. Mindy Hetzel has worked with the Paxton Trust since 2006, but officially joined its three-member board of trustees in 2010.
She said the decision to hire Lassiter Smith as its first and only CEO following her exit from Arc came down to her reputation for working with outside groups to serve children with a variety of needs. At the time of her hire, Hetzel said, the Trust wanted to put its fundraising hat on to help serve these other community groups and thought Lassiter Smith would be an ideal fit for that role. In June 2019, Lassiter Smith was announced as the director of U.S. programs for INMED, leaving the Paxton Trust CEO job. Since Lassiter Smith left the Trust, Hetzel said the nonprofit is now focused on creating a new master plan for the Paxton property and focusing on infrastructure needs to allow for INMED to use the property. That has meant a shift away from a fundraising focus with no current plans to fill the CEO position, Hetzel said.
How It’s Going Lassiter Smith said she began working with INMED as a volunteer while still with the Arc. She was already looking ahead to options for her own daughter, who would be aging out of the Arc programs and had few options as an adult with special needs. Now 26, her daughter was able to participate in an INMED program in Maryland that trained adults with disabilities to work in aquaponics. Through seeing this work firsthand, Lassiter Smith said, a lightbulb went off. She approached Paxton’s Board of Trustees with an idea to use the field at the Paxton property to house an aquaponics program. “When I presented it to the trustees as a project for the field, they couldn’t help but be excited about it. It helps different kinds of kids with different kinds of needs,” she said. “When you’re talking about low-income kids that’s a hard demographic to reach without being completely a nonstarter financially. The INMED business model of aquaponics helps fund programs for people that can’t pay.” Both Hetzel and fellow trustee Paige Buscema said their ultimate goal is to maximize the use of the Paxton property. “Our focus is to be a campus to serve children. It won’t be just Arc. It won’t be just INMED. It won’t be just one tenant any longer. [The goal] is to maximize to the highest and best use of the value of the property across the board. Everything we do as trustees from this day forward, this is what we’re focused on, creating a mission-focused action statement—make sure tenants are fully supported, make sure the Arc has everything it needs to thrive and survive, and bring in other programs and services to be symbiotic,” Buscema said. The two emphasize that they believe INMED’s project fulfills the vision of Paxton’s will. A 1954 Loudoun County Circuit Court
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 order clarified that the term “convalescent children”, which has long left the vernacular, can be defined to serve children “who, because of ill health, accident, neglect, poverty, or any other cause, are in need of maintenance, care and comfort.” But there are those who are leery of INMED’s proposal and, ultimately, the future of the Paxton property. Hammler and Pellicano led the charge to start a petition, signed by 170 homeowners, to the Town Council objecting to The Nexus School application citing a variety of concerns, not the least of which is whether it meets with the intent of Paxton’s will. Perhaps most of all, they fear for the future of the Arc. In a letter shared with Loudoun Now, Hammler alleges that the trustees are creating a toxic environment to ultimately drive the Arc off the property altogether. She alludes to a number of concerns, including a goal written in a 2014 application for a Loudoun County tax exemption to lease the entire Paxton property to the Arc. Billigmeier, Hammler and Pellicano also point to the lagging lease negotiations between the Arc and the Trust, with the Arc now leasing its portion of the property on a month-to-month basis, as its 10-year initial term ended in 2018. In an interview this week, Hetzel said that negotiations with the Arc are ongoing, and there is no desire to see the nonprofit leave altogether. Publicly, the Arc has come out in support of The Nexus School project, with Chief Development Officer Denise Daffron saying “of course” the Arc and INMED could co-exist on the property. “Where our mission and families collaborate and converge it’s a great opportunity to help those families,” she said. Billigmeier, however, said Arc employees need to be outwardly celebratory of any plans for the property so as not to jeopardize the nonprofit’s own future there. “This is a one-way war. [The Arc] is simply being defensive, trying to at least keep their home until they can find another home,” he said. While Daffron did not concur with that assessment, she acknowledged in a recent interview that the nonprofit could eventually outgrow the Paxton property. The nonprofit serves children from nine different public school systems throughout the region, has dozens on its waiting list, and the county alone is estimated to have more than 23,000 individuals with special needs or disabilities, not to mention its family members who require support. “Our need to grow is significant,” she said. “We need to be able to have the flexibility to transform things.” PAXTON PROPERTY continues on page 39
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
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Where Will It End? The Paxton Trust and the Arc are still in the midst of lease negotiations, with a fiveyear extension under consideration. Hetzel said the goal is to create a “universal lease” that would apply to INMED or any other entities that use the property, in addition to Arc. Negotiating a lease with a nonprofit tenant that doesn’t pay rent is an unusual situation, Hetzel said, and one that can take a bit of time. A chief concern for Hetzel and other trustees is that parts of the property, such as the Carlheim mansion which is used exclusively for the Arc’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the Shocktober haunted house, have deteriorated. “What our lease says is, in 2008 when they took over the property, they could not allow the property to deteriorate. They have done some maintenance but there are major issues that have occurred,” she said. She cites a recent visit by a structural engineer, with a final report yet to be furnished, that found a number of deferred maintenance items that have raised significant concerns. The roof of the Carlheim mansion, in particular, is in a precarious state should a significant snowfall occur. With that in mind, Hetzel acknowledged that, for the first time ever, the Trust is asking Arc for a percentage of its profits from Shocktober to fund these improvements. Being proper stewards of the Paxton property, she said, is a major charge for trustees. “The goal for us is to figure out a way for this to go forward,” she said. “Despite what everyone says, we think the Arc has amazing programs, we want them to stay on the campus and we know being able to fundraise at Shocktober is important to make that happen.” While the Arc and the Trust work through lease negotiations, The Nexus School project has been put on a temporary hiatus, Lassiter Smith said. “From our standpoint we’re waiting completely on that,” she said. “We had planned some fundraising around a capital campaign this fall; we’ve paused that as well. We’re giving them whatever time they need. Sometimes you just need to let things happen the way they happen. That issue with those two needs to be resolved first because it’s impacting our project.” While a public hearing and legislative review will wait for the INMED project, a vision for the overall Paxton property is already being charted. Local attorney Peter Burnett is assisting with putting together a planning group to work on a master plan for the sprawling property. “The concept of the process is being initiated completely through the Trust, while
LOUDOUNNOW.COM we’re simultaneously trying to come up with various volunteer experts that would be a good fit,” Burnett said. “At the same time we want to make sure the Arc is aware that we’re doing this with the primary view to them being there, as an expanded and major resident component on that site for the foreseeable future. From my perspective, the last thing I want to do is come up with a design of a school and a game plan that doesn’t work for them.” Burnett questioned whether the best configuration for the Arc is to have its programs divided between several small, brick cottages. “My recommendation to [the Trust] was they engage in master planning starting with the notion of rehabilitating and saving the old buildings that are there, constructing an ideal classroom, administrative center and school, and getting rid of all those junk buildings. Once you’ve got that figured out contemplate whether INMED or some other type of school makes sense on that 16 acres,” he said. “The interest and the funding could well be there if it’s done in a first class progressive educationRight cuttingclick edge COLOR: way which seems to be right where Arc is. I think it could be a real community asset.” n
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Early voting
have been filled out incorrectly in some circumstances. And another law prohibcontinued from page 1 its any voting qualifications, standards, or Loudoun General Registrar Judy Brown procedures from being imposed or applied said it’s unlikely this year’s election for state in way that impedes the right to vote of and municipal offices will see quite that anyone based on race, color, or language. Some changes won’t be as obvious at the kind of turnout. But all of the same options ballot box. for easier voting remain in place. “To be frankly honest with you, the lesWhen early voting begins Sept. 17, it son that we’ve learned is putting into place will be available only at the Office of Elecsome better chain of custody processes, tions in Leesburg. But on Saturday, Oct. 18, that will expand to early voting sites across just because of all of the questions that we the county, with ballot drop boxes return- had from people after the November elecing to public libraries. That also comes as tion, to make sure that we’re thinking more the library system recently announced ex- on the lines of making sure that we’re acpanded hours, including Sunday hours for countable for everything,” Brown said. And unless something changes in the most libraries. pandemic, there will be one more change “The public didn’t really know that was a thing that was going to be going forward, from last year that returns—the county currently requires face coverings inside but I think it’s a good thing,” Brown said. Vote reporting also got a tweak this government buildings, which includes the year, with early voting tallies expected to Office of Elections. Sept. 17 will also be the day the first be reported as soon as polls close after a batch of vote-at-home ballots are mailed new law authorized elections officials to out. Th e voter registration deadline is Oct. start counting those ballots sooner. Previously, they could not begin counting those 12; voters have until 5 p.m. to register in person at the Office of Elections, or until votes until polls closed on Election Day. New laws this year also entitle disabled midnight to do it online. The last day to revoters to curbside voting, permit absen- quest a ballot by mail will be Oct. 22 by 5 tee voting on Sundays if local registrars p.m., and the last day of early voting will be Oct. 30. Election Day is Tuesday, or boards ofand election choose to off er it— Saturday, swatch, find and replace with correct color Loudoun will—and provide voters an op- Nov. 2 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. portunity to correct absentee ballots that Learn more at Loudoun.gov/vote. n
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