Loudoun Now for Oct. 20, 2016

LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE

[ Vol. 1, No. 50 ]

[ loudounnow.com ]

[ Oct. 20 – 26, 2016 ]

Murder verdict challenged

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Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Bus driver Michelle Coates greets Harmony Middle School student McKenna Ill just after 7 a.m. Monday. The county school system faces a severe driver shortage, with as many as 95 vacancies.

WHO’S IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT?

Pay, Disrespect Exacerbate Bus Driver Shortage

BY DANIELLE NADLER

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wo months into the school year, phones at Loudoun school administration offices continue to light up with complaints from parents about late buses, long rides, and aging buses breaking down while students are on board.

Administrators have pointed to a severe bus driver shortage as a major factor. The division has 552 bus drivers and is short between 80 and 95 drivers, depending on the day. School systems nationwide are having a tougher time at-

tracting people to the bus driver’s seat—a part-time job that can be stressful and doesn’t pay much.

In Loudoun, pay starts at $18.10 an hour, and most contracts are for four hours a day. Drivers start as early as 5 a.m., work for a couple of hours, have a few hours off, and then return for an afternoon shift.

“It’s hard to find people who can do that split shift,” Assistant Superintendent of Support Services Kevin Lewis said.

“This is a demanding job. … It takes a special person to drive a school bus.”

Figures from neighboring jurisdictions

show that the driver shortage is worse in Loudoun. Prince William County Public Schools has 14 vacancies out of 760 total positions. Fairfax County Public Schools has 75 vacancies, with 1,289 drivers currently on the payroll.

Many drivers say Loudoun’s shortage is a symptom of a larger problem within the school system’s Transportation Department. Loudoun Now spoke to a dozen drivers who cited low wages and high stress, turnover in leadership, and a lack of respect as reasons so many have BUS DRIVER SHORTAGE >> 38

Deputies Train To Spot Mental Illness and Avoid Tragedies

BY RENSS GREENE Imagine this: A sheriff ’s deputy arrives at a house to find someone screaming, hitting and biting someone else. When the deputy loudly orders the person to calm down, they only get more agitated, incoherent, and aggressive.

What does the deputy do?

If that person has a developmental disability, and that deputy has been through Sgt. Linda Cerniglia’s Crisis Intervention Team training, the answer might just be: the right thing. It’s the sort of situation that can escalate quickly to violence, but learning how to spot a person with a

mental disability, how to communicate, and how to deescalate can make all the difference.

“We teach them basically to try to slow things down while maintaining officer safety, and look for certain clues in what’s going on with the behavior,” Cerniglia said. The Sheriff ’s Office training deals

with a wide range of mental disabilities—from autism, to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury, to even coping with law enforcement officers’ own mental well-being and how to help a fellow CRISIS TRAINING >> 39

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INSIDE

3 Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

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Investigation continues into Tuscarora bomb scare

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School Board debates: textbooks or turf fields?

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Confusion and opposition build around rural events center

Danielle Nadler/Loudoun Now

The new YMCA Loudoun County Youth Development Center has room to serve 194 children, ages 6 weeks to 12 years.

YMCA Finally Moves into a Home of Its Own

BY DANIELLE NADLER

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ommunity leaders celebrated the culmination of an almost 20-year effort Saturday when they officially cut the ribbon at Loudoun County’s first YMCA facility in Sterling.

“This took a lot of blood, sweat and tears from a lot of people, but we’re here now,” YMCA Loudoun County Executive Director Laura Fears said ahead of today’s ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house.

The organization operates at 15 offsite locations and had been working for several years to move in to its own space. When a private child care center was looking to move out of its building on Church Road in Sterling, the organization’s leaders hurried to make it YMCA’s new home.

Fears describes the local YMCA

chapter’s “bread and butter” as its after-school and summer programs.

Each weekday, the organization serves 400 kids throughout Loudoun. Families are charged for the services on a sliding scale based on their income, and Fears said, “no child is turned away.”

The new YMCA Loudoun County Youth Development Center has room to serve 194 children, ages 6 weeks to 12 years. It will include a STEM learning lab and space for Loudoun organization All Ages Read Together, a pre-kindergarten readiness reading program serving students in Loudoun and Fairfax Counties.

Fears said the YMCA provides more after-school child care services than any other organization in Loudoun, but she added, “We want there to be a whole lot more than day care. This is a youth development center.”

Rusty Foster, chairman of YMCA Loudoun County’s board of directors, told those who gathered for Saturday’s open house that he was a “Y kid.”

Growing up in Leesburg, he attended YMCA after-school programs and summer camps and, actually, had Fears as his camp counselor.

“The quality of educational resources and other services children receive here are definitely top quality,” Foster said. “YMCA has been a huge part of my life for a long time, so I’m glad we’re all here to celebrate this wonderful occasion in Loudoun County.”

The YMCA Loudoun County Youth Development Center is at 624 W. Church Road in Sterling. It still has space for children in its programs. Call 703-430-2781 or go to ymcadc.org for more information.

YMCA Loudoun County is a non-profit organization that raises the majority of its funds through two large fundraising events, Chocolates Galore each February and the Belfort Furniture-sponsored YMCA Loudoun County Golf Classic each May. dnadler@loudounnow.com

Fire Marshal Asks for Second Bomb Dog

BY RENSS GREENE

BOMB DOG >> 19

Loudoun Gov.............. 6 Leesburg.................. 10 Public Safety............ 14 Education................. 16 Our Towns................ 20 Biz........................... 24 LoCo Living.............. 26 Obituaries................ 32 Classifieds............... 33 Opinion.................... 36

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Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Fire Marshal’s Office Captain Leif Sundberg works with Aurora, currently the county’s only bomb sniffing dog.

INDEX

The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office is asking the county for funding for a second explosives detection canine, restoring a position that has gone empty for years.

A second bomb-sniffing dog team would make Loudoun better equipped to respond to threats like last week’s scare, which shut down Tuscarora High School for more than six hours on Oct. 13, much more quickly, said Captain Leif Sundberg. He’s the handler for Aurora, the county’s only bomb-sniffing dog.

Sundberg said he was off duty, doing yard work, and swinging through Leesburg that morning.

“I get the call yesterday, 30 minutes, I’m on the scene with the Leesburg Police Department,” Sundberg said. “It was a little over an hour for the next dog to show up.”

That’s because the next dog was from the Virginia State Police, coming from Prince William County. After that, a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority dog arrived from Reagan National Airport, and finally—about two hours after Sundberg and Aurora showed up on the scene—another state police dog arrived from Culpeper.

“It’s not guaranteed that another jurisdiction’s going to come help us, because they keep their resources for

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Sheriff asks for drone, body cameras

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Orbital ATK puts Virginia back in space

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5 Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

NASA TV

Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft on the Wallop Island launch pad just before Monday night’s launch to send supplies to the International Space Station.

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in the night sky. Liftoff happened at 7:45 p.m.

The unmanned Cygnus spacecraft is expected to arrive at the space station on Sunday.

The successful launch comes nearly two years after an Orbital rocket exploded just after liftoff, destroying the craft and damaging the launch infrastructure at Wallops Island. Orbital has a $1.9 billion contract for eight ISS resupply missions. Following the 2014 failure, the company launched two missions from Cape Canaveral in Florida while repairs were made to the Virginia facility.

Following an Orbital tradition, the Cygnus spacecraft, the S.S. Alan Poindexter, is named in honor of an astronaut. The late Alan G. Poindexter was a veteran space shuttle commander who led missions aboard Atlantis, Endeavour and Discovery.

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he rocket scientists at Orbital ATK’s Dulles headquarters had much to cheer about Monday night after their Cygnus spacecraft was delivered safely into Earth’s orbit following a launch from Virginia’s Wallops Island Spaceport.

The mission—Orbital’s sixth to send supplies to the International Space Station—was the first to use the company’s next-generation Antares 230 rockets powered by RD-181 engines manufactured by Russia’s NPO Energomash.

The craft will deliver more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and science experiments to the ISS and then remove disposable material from the station. The craft and the trash will burn up upon return to Earth’s atmosphere.

On a clear fall evening Monday, the craft’s 9-minute trip to orbit was visible to millions of people in the mid-Atlantic region as a bright orange glow ascending

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Orbital ATK’s Cygnus Spacecraft En Route to Space Station

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[ LOUDOUN GOV ]

Sheriff Asks for Drone, Body Cameras

[ BRIEFS ]

BY RENSS GREENE

S

heriff Mike Chapman is asking for money to purchase an unmanned aerial vehicle and more body cameras as supervisors begin evaluating the needs for the next budget cycle.

The Sheriff ’s Office launched a pilot program last fall with 42 body-worn cameras assigned to patrol, traffic and correctional deputies. This year, the sheriff wants to add 77 cameras, toward an eventual goal of 350 in fiscal year 2019.

“When it comes to serving your community, trust is obviously a big factor in law enforcement,” Chapman told the board’s finance committee last week.

“You see a story every day where that trust has been violated, and we’re trying to make sure we have that transparency and the ability to provide that actual footage.”

However, Chapman said he does not believe all footage would be open to disclosure under Freedom of Information Act requests.

“Certainly, if we had some sort of internal incident that didn’t rise to the level of a criminal incident, we wanted to review it internally, that would not be subject to FOIA if we were doing that,” Chapman said. “Or if we wanted to use it for some sort of training purposes or procedural evaluations on how we’re handling ourselves out there.”

There are also times the cameras would be turned off, said Lieutenant Colonel Bob Buckman—such as when interviewing minors. Buckman said although Virginia has no standard for how long an office should retain those recordings, the current best practice is to hold them for six months unless they are needed in a court case.

The cameras would be purchased with $28,541 in Justice Assistance Grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice. If the county agrees, it would need to pay out an additional $142,308 per year for those 119 current and future cameras, which are expected to cost $1,200 per year each for data storage, maintenance, and replacement. The previous year’s maintenance and data storage costs will be paid from leftover

Envision Loudoun Effort Ready for Kickoff

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Loudoun Sheriff Mike Chapman and Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman.

funds in fiscal year 2016.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman also expects that if the sheriff ’s office ultimately rolls out 350 cameras, he will need to hire four additional attorneys and two administrative support staff to cope with the additional workload.

“When you have three or four officers on a scene for two hours, well, you’ve just greatly magnified the physical time it takes to review a case,” Plowman said. “…It greatly magnifies the time that an attorney has to spend even on a misdemeanor case in reviewing all those videos, and there’s no way to fast forward through it. You have to watch it.”

His office estimates for every 100 cameras, he will need to hire an additional attorney to deal with the workload.

However, both he and Chapman see benefits to the program. Plowman said the body-worn cameras encourage better conduct from both officers and citizens.

“It deescalates a lot of confrontational situations, as soon as that citizen realizes that they’re being filmed,” Plowman said.

Chapman said the body-worn cameras are also “a great evidentiary tool.”

“It’s becoming the industry standard, as you see,” Chapman said.

Eye in the sky

The sheriff ’s office also would like to purchase a $100,000 drone.

The Lockheed Martin Indago Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial System would include the drone itself, an infrared camera, drone software, training, FAA Certificate of Authorization, and “limited maintenance.” It would also include a Project Lifesaver payload, part of technology from a nonprofit organization that applies tracking technology to people with cognitive disorders—such as dementia Alzheimers, or developmental disabilities—for search-and-rescue operations.

Buckman said the department’s UAV options are limited by their compatibility with the Project Lifesaver payload. He also said the UAV provides some advantages over helicopters, not least of which is that the Fairfax Police Department, because of weather or workload, may not always be able to provide prompt helicopter support to Loudoun. In the past year, he said, Loudoun has had 17 search and rescue operations.

Supervisors and the Department of Management and Budget staff will balance this and requests from other departments as they begin to shape the FY 2018 budget. rgreene@loudounnow.com

B Chord Brewery Faces Renewed Battle in Round Hill

BY RENSS GREENE Four months after the Virginia Alcoholic Beverages Commission turned down B Chord Brewing Company’s application to operate near Bluemont, the brewery faces new resistance to its new plans near Round Hill.

After the ABC turned down his previous application, B Chord creator Marty Dougherty found a 64-acre parcel west of Round Hill for his business. But four people—including Bluemont-area residents who opposed Dougherty’s previous plan—objected to the ABC again, forcing a hearing the morning of Thursday, Oct. 20.

Dougherty said the objections have more to do with general opposition to economic development in western Loudoun.

“There are people out here who want nothing to happen,” Dougherty said. “They assumed when they bought their properties that it would stay the same forever. … Those people are now coming into conflict with younger people who are moving here who desire to open up businesses, who desire to operate things other than equestrian farms.”

The objections were raised under a law that permits the

ABC to turn down a license if “the number of licenses existent in the locality is such that the granting of a license is detrimental to the interest, morals, safety or welfare of the public.”

Without the brewery, the parcel would be open to more homes—Dougherty said his property was already approved for a seven-lot subdiRenss Greene/Loudoun Now vision and has nine wells and B Chord Brewing Company owner Marty Dougherty at a Loudoun Board eight drainfields already. He said people living and operatof Supervisors meeting in January. ing businesses near the property have expressed support for his plans to build a farm brewery, growing hops or grain on the property for use in the brewery. He also said people BCHORD >> 8

Loudoun County planners are gearing up for an 18-month initiative to update the comprehensive plan.

Now dubbed Envision Loudoun, the project will update the long-term community development goals for the entire county. Public input will be a big part of the effort and that outreach starts early next month.

Members of the public are invited to attend one of four “listening and learning” workshops where participants will be provided with an opportunity to discuss Loudoun’s future and to share ideas through interactive activities in casual, small-group settings. All workshops are scheduled from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

• Monday, Nov. 7: National Conference Center, 18980 Upper Belmont Place, Lansdowne; • Monday, Nov. 14: Washington Dulles Airport Marriott, 45020 Aviation Drive, Sterling; • Tuesday, Nov. 15: Clarion Inn Historic Leesburg, 1500 E. Market St., Leesburg; and • Wednesday, Nov. 16: J. Michael Lunsford Middle School, 26020 Ticonderoga Road, Chantilly.

Those sessions will be the first of several rounds of community engagement opportunities. Input from meetings will be used by the 26-member Stakeholders Comprehensive Plan Committee and the county staff to form the foundation of Envision Loudoun.

Those leading the process want to make sure residents understand they can have an impact on decisions affecting growth, land use, transportation, community facilities and amenities, economic development, and fiscal management.

“This is a truly exciting opportunity,” Department of Planning and Zoning Director Ricky Barker stated. “Envision Loudoun is an open, inclusive process that connects and engages people to provide meaningful opportunities to influence the future of our county.”

Find out more at envision-loudoun.org.

Loudoun Policy Change Opens Door to State, Federal Housing Grants The Loudoun Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved changes to the county’s Affordable Dwelling Unit program that will open the program BRIEFS >> 9

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GAS TAX >> 8

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LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

Loudoun’s 2 percent gasoline sales tax will soon be dedicated entirely to fund Metro capital projects—and already are expected to come up short by an average of $5.1 million each year, leaving the county in a financial bind.

The county’s revenue projections from the fiscal year 2015 budget showed the gas tax bringing in $12.6 million during fiscal year 2017, the current budget year. Supervisors revised that projection down to $7.9 million in the adopted 2017 budget, but the county budget office now says even that was still too high. Loudoun is projected to bring in $6.9 million—$5.7 million less than the original projection and nearly a million dollars less than the adopted budget.

The shortfall is caused by gas prices that began falling in 2014, just as the board voted to adopt its fiscal year 2015 budget. The gas tax helps fund county contributions to capital projects in the towns and certain nonprofits, but the biggest chunk is used to underwrite the Loudoun County Transit bus service.

In the past several years, the county has filled the gap between gas tax income and expenditures with savings from previous, more lucrative years, but after this year, that fund will run dry. Without changes, gas tax funding is expected to fall $2.9 million short next year, necessitating service cuts or supplemental funding from other sources.

Loudoun County Transit includes Metro Connection service, long-haul

service, local fixed route services, and commuter services. In the west, Loudoun supports transit through payments to Virginia Regional Transit.

Finance committee chairman Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles) said that may all have to get cut back.

“We need a more efficient bus system with service focused primarily on commuters,” Letourneau said. “That would ultimately mean the elimination of a significant number of fixed routes.”

That money also supports on-demand paratransit services for disabled riders in western Loudoun, and paratransit within three-quarters of a mile of any fixed bus route in eastern Loudoun.

Letourneau said he has “a policy concern” there—that people in the west can get paratransit service anywhere, and people in the east can only get service near existing bus routes.

The Americans with Disabilities Act only requires complementary paratransit within three-quarters of a mile of a fixed bus route—not the on-demand service that VRT provides in Western Loudoun, and to which Loudoun is contributing $332,243 this year.

Those services for Loudoun’s disabled population could also be on the chopping block.

“I think this comes into a little bit of the fairness issue Supervisor Letourneau was talking about as well, that if I’m way out somewhere I can get service, but if I’m seven-eighths of a mile from a station I can’t get service,” said

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Supervisor Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn). “And I don’t know why we would go beyond what’s mandated by the federal government in providing this right now when our resources are getting scarcer and scarcer to fund this.”

The county has known for years that it would have to do without gas tax funding eventually. In fiscal year 2019, the county will divert all gas tax money to Metro capital funding. The gas tax is expected to fall short of that obligation too, meaning the county will have to find another source of funding.

This year, the county set aside room in its Capital Improvement Plan to pay for the shortfall with debt financing if necessary—using bonds that would normally be used to pay for the county’s own capital projects. County budget staff also has raised the possibility of taking revenue generated by two cents of the real estate tax rate that is ear-

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have answered his call for letters of support.

“People understand what’s going on here, and they appreciate what businesses like ours can do for Loudoun, and for western Loudoun in particular,” Dougherty said. “Especially people who have been here for a long time.”

Dougherty hopes that the objections will be dismissed at the hearing Thursday morning, either because there are

marked for transportation construction projects and redirecting it to Metro.

Buona said if long-haul bus service to DC can’t be made to pay for itself, it may have to go.

“I’ve always believed once Metro arrives—and I know this is not politically popular, I know it takes some political will and it’s difficult—but once Metro arrives, unless we can make the longhaul fare-neutral, then we’re going to have to look at possibly eliminating long haul and getting people to Metro,” Buona said.

There is some question whether longhaul service can be made to pay for itself—as fares go up, ridership may decrease too much.

“It is kind of a luxury service, but it’s also a user fee,” said Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large). “If they want to pay it, then they pay it.”

The county budget staff will continue to look for ways to supplement gas tax shortfalls, which will come back up during budget deliberations. rgreene@loudounnow.com not too many breweries or because the objectors do not qualify as aggrieved parties.

“My best answer back to them is that it seems pretty clear that if a large number of people support the brewery, then of course it’s not too many,” Dougherty said.

B Chord Brewery has been listed on the Loco Ale Trail for months in anticipation of its opening. Dougherty’s new property is on Williams Gap Road just off Rt. 7. rgreene@loudounnow.com

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[ BRIEFS ]

Supervisors Fill in the Missing Link on Tall Cedars Parkway Members of the Board of Supervisors, Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure staff, and contractors were among those on hand Tuesday, October 18 for a ceremonial groundbreaking marking the start of construction of a missing fourlane segment of Tall Cedars Parkway between Pinebrook Road and Gum Spring Road.

This project constructs a parallel road to Route 50, which will allow residents in communities such as South Riding, Avonlea and Stone Ridge to travel locally without having to drive on Route 50. The work includes a fourlane roadway, an intersection and signal improvements. Loudoun County will manage construction; once complete, the road will be turned over to the Virginia Department of Transportation for operation and maintenance.

Total cost for the road construction project is budgeted at $13,188,300. In July, the county awarded a contract for construction to Phillips Construction, LLC. Construction is expected to last for 18 months with completion of the road segment slated for spring 2018.

loudounnow.com

Loudoun supervisors last week signed off on 39 new townhouse units on Belmont Ridge Road by Brambleton, but none of them seemed enthused about it.

“I’m not necessarily enthusiastic about adding more townhouses to this corridor,” said Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles), citing what is already some of the most congested corridors in the county. But, he said, he doesn’t believe the board had much of a choice. Given the county’s previous approvals of similar projects, he said denying this application could expose the county to a lawsuit.

“I am going to support that application because frankly, our land use policies don’t really give us much of a choice, and this is sometimes the situation we’re in,” he said. “The board has approved higher density applications in areas around and adjacent to those parcels.”

Some supervisors, like Supervisor Kristen C. Umstattd (D-Leesburg), saw it differently. She said she generally opposes increasing residential density in most places, and agreed that traffic and infrastructure are already problems.

“The total proffers, and especially the capital facilities proffers, are not going to be enough to cover the operational costs that will be required by the schools for the children that will come out of this development,” Umstattd said.

Planning Commissioner Charlie Douglas (Blue Ridge) has announced he is resigning from the Planning Commission for health reasons.

“I’ve been in and out of the emergency room so much at Lansdowne that when I go in now, they just call me by first name,” Douglas joked. “It’s with some regret, but I have to pay attention to my health and try to get my quality of life back.”

Douglas has served on the commission for five years. He worked for 41 years in the telecommunications industry, including starting six businesses, and holds a graduate electrical engineering degree from the West Virginia University Institute of Technology and a patent for DuPont.

“I’m proud of the applications that I’ve supported in the Blue Ridge District,” Douglas said, mentioning Brambleton and Franklin Park. “…My job was to support the comprehensive plan and to help grow business in Loudoun County, and I did a good job with that. I’m happy.”

Douglas is a certified planning commissioner and a Naval Air veteran. He lives with his wife in Purcellville.

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Supervisors Approve More Belmont Ridge Road Townhouses

Blue Ridge District Commissioner Steps Down

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

up to Virginia Housing Development Authority and U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development grants.

Developers who rezone land for large subdivisions—more than 50 units, with exceptions—are required by county zoning rules to dedicate 12.5 percent of those units to the county’s ADU program. That program sets price restrictions on those units, but the rules don’t line up with what is required for grants from the Virginia Housing Development Authority or U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Other jurisdictions can double their money or better by leveraging grant funds.

According to the Windy Hill Foundation, since 2006 the Virginia and DC suburbs have received $358.32 million in housing grants. Only $17.62 million of that came to Loudoun—all for Windy Hill projects, and none under the county’s ADU program.

The ADU rule fixes will include adjustments to things like income requirements and sunset provisions. The rules change was spearheaded by Supervisor Suzanne M. Volpe (R-Algonkian) and approved unanimously by supervisors Oct. 12.

The rules change is yielding immediate benefits. Windy Hill expects to bring in $15 million in tax credits for its Heronview Apartments, with construction planned to begin at the Kincora development later this year.

Loudoun’s ADU program includes units for both rental and purchase.

VHDA and HUD grants only cover rental units.

The applicant, HK Investments LLC, will pay at least $20,018 per unit in capital facilities proffers, totaling $780,719.

“Just so you know, from here on out, I’m going to want to know enrollment impact numbers,” said Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large).

The board approved the new application on a 6-2-1 vote, Umstattd and Supervisor Koran T. Saines (D-Sterling) opposed, Supervisor Ron A. Meyer Jr. (R-Broad Run) abstaining.

The new residences, next to Belmont Trace, will be folded into the Brambleton Community Association.

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

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[ LEESBURG ]

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‘LOVE’ Coming to Leesburg

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

The new Lowe’s home improvement store, off Rt. 7 in Leesburg, is one development heralded by town planning staff as a success story for the H2 design guidelines.

Council Questions Merits of Development Design Rules

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ

T

he design requirements for development along Leesburg’s gateway corridors will remain unchanged, at least for now.

The Town Council last week did not vote on a proposal to repeal the H-2 Overlay District, zoning rules that apply to land outside the Old and Historic District along King Street (north and south), and Market Street (east and west) all the way to the town’s corporate limits.

Debate over whether to drop the district began six months ago, when four council members called for a review of the architectural guidelines, labeling them as ineffective in delivering the quality of development reflective of Leesburg’s character. At that time, Mayor David Butler and council members Tom Dunn, Suzanne Fox, and Bruce Gemmill supported the repeal, with Vice Mayor Kelly Burk abstaining.

Some of those same council members declined to take action Oct. 11 when an ordinance to formally repeal the district was on the table. Instead they adopted a resolution to convene a working group composed of members of the Board of Architectural Review and Planning Commission to report back to the council next summer with recommendations to improve the district’s design. The council also initiated a Zoning Ordinance amendment to reinstitute the H-2 design guidelines for signage in the Crescent Design District until a full review of sign rules can be complete. The resolution passed by a

vote of 5-1-1, with Butler opposed and Gemmill absent for the vote.

The H-2 district and its design guidelines were created in 1990, following legislation passed by the General Assembly in 1987 that permitted localities to create architectural control districts. According to town Preservation Planner Tom Scofield, the Leesburg Town Council at the time was one among the localities pressing for that authority, with the goal of creating a more “cohesive” design along its gateways to better blend with the downtown historic district. The council tasked the BAR with implementing the H-2 design guidelines. The BAR jurisdiction of the H-2 District covers exterior building alterations, including color schemes, new construction and site plans, lighting, demolition, building relocation, fences, walls and signs.

According to Scofield, 25 percent

of the applications coming before the BAR since 1992 have been for properties in the H-2 District and about two-thirds of those applications have been for signs. In 2008, fearing that the H-2 was not “achieving the desired outcomes,” Scofield said, the council formed a steering committee to recommend changes to the H-2 design guidelines, as well as to the district as a whole. A slew of recommendations was brought forward to the council in 2009, but very few were implemented.

That committee noted that the design guidelines in place seemed to be “too general” and should be strengthened to better reflect Leesburg’s identity.

Doris Kidder was a member of that steering committee and spoke before the council during last week’s meeting, H-2 OVERLAY >> 13

East Market Street Design Plan On Hold

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ Workload challenges and a recent staff promotion have put a project looking at development options in Leesburg’s East Market Street corridor on hold.

Planning and Zoning Director Susan Berry-Hill provided an update on the project to the Town Council last week, during its deliberations over how to proceed with design in the H-2 Overlay District.

Envision East Market Street kicked off earlier this year, with a

working group composed of town staffers and students in the Masters of Urban and Environmental Planning Program at the University of Virginia.

The planning process would take a new look at and use plans for undeveloped property in the East Market Street corridor between the Leesburg Bypass to the eastern town limits. The intent of the Envision East Market Street project is to develop policies that reflect today’s econoEAST MARKET STREET >> 12

A popular state public art campaign is headed to Leesburg.

At its Oct. 11 meeting, Town Council members unanimously approved the installation of a LOVEwork sculpture on town property next to the Crescent Place development.

LOVEworks installations can be found in localities throughout the commonwealth, including nearby in Purcellville at the Train Station. The artworks consist of the word “love” in large, capital letters, and often incorporate elements that make the particular locality they are situated in special.

For Leesburg, bicycling elements will be integrated into the town’s LOVEworks installation, per a recommendation from the Commission on Public Art. The sculpture will be located adjacent to the W&OD Trail, making it a likely stop for passing cyclists.

Sculptor Mike Clay will be the artist behind the project, and the town will own and maintain the sculpture. The Friends of Leesburg Public Art were responsible for securing a grant from the “Virginia Is For Lovers” Virginia Tourism Board for this LOVEwork, which will join 48 others throughout the state. Thanks to the grant, there will be no cost to the town to design or install the sculpture, and only a negligible amount to maintain it, according to a staff report.

As the grant will only cover 20 percent of the costs, The Friends of Leesburg Public Arts is raising $4,600 needed to complete the project. Anyone interested in donating to the effort may visit www.leesburgpublicarts.org.

Dunn Holds Campaign Kick-off Council incumbent Tom Dunn held a private campaign kickoff last week to energize his campaign in the final weeks leading Dunn up to the election.

In a gathering of friends Oct. 10, Dunn laid out his reasons for running for a third council term, chief among them being civic duty. He pointed to his 18 years as a town resident, and early involvement in community efforts like his neighborhood HOA and being an active presence in his children’s schools, as well as Scouting and volunteering at historic sites. He became involved in the town government by serving on the Economic Development Commission and Planning Commission before being first elected to Town Council in 2008.

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A long-planned extension of Miller Drive is officially off the books.

Last week, Town Council members unanimously voted to delete the extension of Miller Drive east from Sycolin Road to its proposed terminus at Kincaid Boulevard from the Town Plan.

The action follows the lead of the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, which removed the road extension from its Countywide Transportation Plan a few years ago. Portions of the proposed Miller Drive extension would have crossed into the county, but a steering committee recommended to the Board of Supervisors its removal from the CTP. A traffic impact analysis that had been prepared in 2014 in anticipation of expanding facilities at the nearby County Government Support Center found that other area roads had sufficient capacity to handle traffic without the Miller Drive extension.

Hammler Named VML President-Elect

One of the most popular annual events in downtown Leesburg is right around the corner.

The 60th annual Leesburg Halloween Parade, hosted and organized by the Leesburg Kiwanis Club, will be held on Monday, Oct. 31. One of the oldest Halloween parades in the eastern U.S., the parade will begin at 6 p.m., starting in the front field at Ida Lee Park and proceeding down King Street to Fairfax Street.

The Kiwanis Club is seeking parade participants. For more information about the parade, including participation guidelines and registration forms, visit www.leesburgkiwanis.org.

On the night of the parade, King Street will be closed between Battlefield Parkway and Fairfax Street from 5:30 p.m. until approximately 8 p.m. Motorists should plan on alternate travel routes during this time and follow the designated detours.

Dog Money Plans Grand Opening Celebration The Dog Money Restaurant and Brewery opened quietly at 50 Catoctin Circle over the summer, but the owners are ready to kick it up a notch.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned at 3 p.m. Monday when town and council leaders will formally welcome the business. But residents may want to mark their calendars for Friday, Oct. 28 when the restaurant plans to roll out its expanded menu.

loudounnow.com

A Town Council member is set to hold the highest position for the Virginia Municipal League.

Councilwoman Katie Sheldon Hammler was elected president-elect of VML at its recent annual conference in Virginia Beach.

If re-elected to a fourth council term on Nov. 8, she will become president at VML’s annual conference next fall.

VML is a statewide, non-profit, non-partisan association of city, town and county governments established in 1905 to improve and assist local governments through legislative advocacy, research, education and other services. The membership includes all 38 cities in the commonwealth, 160 towns,

Parade Looking for Participants

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Miller Drive Link Deleted

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He has twice run for mayor.

He pointed to business recruitment efforts as a top priority.

“By bringing the businesses citizens want, there will be more success and more jobs,” he stated. “Additionally, business taxes and water usage will help to reduce the taxes and water rates homeowners pay.”

Dunn also said he would like to see the county government provide more assistance on public safety, roads and parks in the town.

He said it is his experience that has brought results to town residents, and he hopes to continue doing so for another four-year term.

“When you need something done by the town you don’t care what political party someone belongs to, you just want your problem fixed. Over these many years I have called town employees to help citizens with various issues. Whether it was fixing sidewalks, or standing up for citizens against big development, or noise issues at a neighboring big box store. Political parties did not do that. My experience helped these people and I am asking for your vote.” he stated.

Dunn is running for one of three council seats on the Nov. 8 ballot. He is joined by fellow incumbent Katie Sheldon Hammler, and challengers Ken Reid, Ron Campbell, Gwen Pangle, John Hilton, and Evan Macbeth.

and 10 counties.

It would be the first time in VML’s 111-year history that a Leesburg representative served as the organization’s president.

“I am sincerely humbled Hammler that I have been elected by VML’s town, city and county members to serve as president-elect,” Hammler stated in a press release. “I will energetically leverage my VML leadership role to create positive change for Leesburg, and for all municipalities in the Commonwealth. One of the key things I’ve learned as a 12-year incumbent is how significant the laws at the state level impact local taxpayers in the form of unfunded mandates, or decreasing funds of state-level responsibility. It is only by working collaboratively that we can achieve our collective goals..”

Hammler has served on the VML Executive Committee since 2011, first as town section chair, then as an atlarge member and most recently as vice president. Prior to joining the executive committee, she chaired VML’s Community and Economic Development committee, and was a member of its Legislative Committee.

Hammler was first elected to the Town Council in 2004 and is serving her third four-year term.

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

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BAR Rejects Replacement Windows in Fire Renovation After weeks of deliberations, Leesburg’s Board of Architectural Review voted to require Michael O’Connor to replace four windows that were installed during repairs to his fire-damaged building at 11 S. King St. The first floor of the building was the former home of Caulkins Jewelers.

The new tenant is Black Hoof Brewing Company.

The BAR’s certificate of appropriateness authorized most of the repairs that have been made since the 2015 fire, involving the replacement of more than two dozen windows and several doors.

Board members last month raised concerns that the work was done without review for conformance with the historic district’s architectural guidelines.

Since then, talks have focused on four windows in which sashes with four panes over four panes replaced windows that had two panes over two panes. O’Connor said he was unaware that two-over-two windows were on the building’s street-front second story until the town’s preservation planner presented images taken from Google Earth’s street view that showed the originals.

“These windows were done in good faith. They are perfectly good windows,”

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Loudoun Now/File Photo

This Aug. 2 photo shows crews replacing windows in the fire-damaged building at 11 S. King St.

O’Connor said.

He said the new windows are similar to many seen on downtown buildings, but a majority of BAR members said the two-over-two windows were historically significant and should be retained.

Saying he would comply with the board’s determination, O’Connor characterized the replacement requirement as an “unnecessary aggravation.”

“Any cost is substantial when you have a tragic four-building fire, especially for work that is already complete,” he said Tuesday. He said the town would be pleased with the look of the buildings once repairs are complete.

“We could have put a blue tarp over it and put a ‘for sale’ sign on it and walked away,” O’Connor told the BAR. “We haven’t skimped on anything.”

my, building upon existing employment opportunities to create a “vision” for the corridor and address future transportation improvements. These revised policies are intended to guide future development in the area. Initial hopes were to have recommendations on design in that area to the Planning Commission and Town Council this fall, but planner Michael Watkins’ promotion to assistant zoning administrator last month has left the initiative without a project manager, Berry-Hill said.

The news did not go over very well with some council members. Councilman Tom Dunn questioned why the project had not progressed when Watkins’ promotion occurred just last month. He also said he was concerned about forming another working group to study design in the H-2, when this initiative’s group had reported so little progress.

According to Berry-Hill, town planner Irish Grandfield has been tasked as the new project manager, and she hopes to be able to resume the project in January. She said the two will meet to tighten the scope of the project and develop a new timeline for recommendations to be brought forward to the Town Council. krodriguez@loudounnow.com

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.

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Vote

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cautioning members to be aware of the repercussions of a repeal.

“You want entrances to the town to reflect our town,” she said. “Think really very carefully about this. This was presented as just another project for the town and somebody had an idea but this could be very detrimental to the appearance.”

“It’s very apparent when you see the [staff] presentation how important this district actually is,” Burk said prior to the council vote. “We need to make sure we are protecting our entrance ways. Perhaps it needs to be tweaked but it most certainly needs to stay in place until we find something better.”

Dunn expressed his frustration that review of the H-2, something he noted that the council had set as a top planning priority several years ago, had yet to be undertaken by town planning staff.

“I want our H-2 and other parts of town to look even better. I want us to raise our standards,” Dunn said. “We set this priority over four years ago and since then next to nothing has happened on it. That’s a council-directed priority and staff dragged their feet.

That’s the problem.”

The vote was followed by a contentious round of procedural maneuvering.

Immediately after the vote, Dunn put forward a motion to reconsider the

approved motion. He cited Robert’s Rules of Order and said, if a motion to reconsider is put forward the same night as a resolution is passed, it cannot be rescinded at a future meeting.

When Burk asked for an opinion from Town Attorney Barbara Notar, Butler initially declined to allow that, then said it was her only opportunity to ask for Notar’s insight. Notar disagreed with Dunn’s assertion, to which the council member remarked she should review that section of Robert’s Rules again.

Councilman Marty Martinez took issue with Butler’s objection to allowing Notar to speak, saying that if the mayor was not going to allow her to provide an opinion on Robert’s Rules then he needed to appoint a council parliamentarian.

The motion to reconsider did not pass, with only Dunn in support. Following that vote, Planning and Zoning Director Susan Berry-Hill attempted to ask the council if it wished to make a motion on the ordinance to repeal.

Butler replied that because there was no motion made on that item he would move it to the next public hearing.

Martinez chastised him, asking the mayor to “be civil.”

“You don’t need to treat people the way you are treating them,” he said to Butler.

“I’m being perfectly civil,” Butler replied. “Just follow the rules of procedure and we’ll be OK.”

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

H-2 overlay

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[ PUBLIC SAFETY ]

Attorneys Seek to Set Aside Castillo Murder Conviction

BY NORMAN K. STYER

A

Dec. 5 court hearing is set for Braulio M. Castillo’s motion seeking to overturn a verdict that could send him to prison for life in the murder of his estranged wife.

Following a five-week trial in Loudoun County Circuit Court, Castillo was convicted in June of first-degree murder in the death of Michelle Castillo in her Ashburn home.

He was scheduled to be sentenced last week, but his attorneys filed an 87page motion seeking to set aside the jury’s verdict. Among their claims is that the circumstantial evidence in the case was insufficient for a guilty verdict and that county prosecutors improperly swayed the jury by casting prejudicial aspersions on Castillo’s lawyers and making unsupported statements during closing arguments.

“The purpose of this motion is not to ‘retry’ the case, but rather to make clear the need for this Court to review the verdict in light of the clear lack of evidence and impossible and unsup-

ported theories put forward by the Commonwealth,” the motion reads.

“The verdict could not have been based on a factual bedrock leading to a conclusion of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”

During the trial, prosecutors claimed that Castillo jogged from his nearby home to his wife’s house, snuck inside and then strangled her in her bedroom, while their children were asleep in the home. He then took her body to a basement bathroom and made it appear that she hanged herself in the shower. The couple was in the final stages of getting a divorce. Castillo’s attorneys argued that there was no conclusive evidence that he was in the home that night or that Michelle Castillo had not committed suicide.

The motion cites one of Loudoun’s most infamous murder cases. In 1985, William “Bull” Evans-Smith was charged with strangling his wife of 43 years with pantyhose. In what was also a circumstantial evidence case, Evans-Smith was tried, convicted of the murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The case was overturned on ap-

peal based on a finding that inadmissible hearsay testimony was allowed.

He was tried and convicted again. That verdict was voided by a federal appeals court that ruled there was insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction.

While Evans-Smith was quickly identified as the suspect in Barbara Evans-Smith’s death, the defendant claimed investigators ignored a suspicious van he reported seeing on the road near their home on the day of her killing.

Castillo’s attorneys claim prosecutors in this case similarly linked pieces of circumstantial evidence together in a way that supported their theory, but failed to exclude other possibilities.

“Just as in Evans-Smith, the Commonwealth in the case began with the conclusion that Mr. Castillo, as the soon to be ex-husband of Ms. Castillo, must have been the perpetrator,” the motion stated.

Judge Stephen E. Sincavage has scheduled a two-hour hearing on the defense motion Dec. 5. If the judge denies the motion, Castillo is expected to face final sentencing on Dec. 9. Under

Loudoun Now file photo

Braulio M. Castillo

Virginia law, Sincavage is permitted to reduce the jury’s recommended sentence of life in prison. nstyer@loudounnow.com

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Norman K. Styer/Loudoun Now

A parade of buses carrying students leave Tuscarora High School on Oct. 13 while authorities searched the campus for explosives.

Police Still Investigating Leesburg High School Bomb Threat The Leesburg Police Department, in conjunction with other area law enforcement agencies, continues to investigate last week’s bomb scare that forced the evacuation of the Tuscarora High School campus.

The case is being investigated as a “spoofing” incident in which an email sent to the school reporting the bomb threat was made to appear to be coming from another source.

After a school staff member received the email shortly after 10:30 a.m., authorities determined the threat was credible enough to evacuate the campus. At mid-day students boarded buses and were moved across town to Heritage High School while teachers followed in their own vehicles.

Investigators spent the afternoon

searching the grounds and school building. Nothing dangerous was found. Students were permitted to return to the school to retrieve items from their lockers after 5 p.m.

During the day, reports circulated on social media that a harmful device was discovered at the school, but those are untrue, according to Lt. Jeffrey A. Dubé, administrative services commander of the Leesburg Police Department.

“The Leesburg Police Department and canine units conducted an expansive search of the Tuscarora building and grounds, no device or harmful materials were found,” Loudoun County Public Schools Supervisor of Safety and Security Suzanne Devlin confirmed.

LCSO: Suspicious Sterling Death was Overdose

Western Loudoun Substation Opens Saturday with Ceremony

The Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office has closed the books on its investigation into the July 1 death of a Sterling woman, concluding there was no foul play.

The result of the investigation was announced following the completion of a report by the Office of the Medical Examiner, which found the cause of death was an overdose of prescription medication.

The 24-year-old woman was found dead by a family member shortly after 11:45 a.m. on July 1 inside her garage apartment on Cardinal Glen Circle.

The Sheriff ’s Office investigates suspicious or unattended deaths as a homicide until proven otherwise.

A formal dedication ceremony on Saturday will mark the opening of the new Western Loudoun Sheriff ’s Station.

The event will be held at 10 a.m. and area residents are invited to take a self-guided tour of the facility.

Located at 47 W. Loudoun St. in Round Hill, it is the third of four planned regional sheriff ’s office stations. The first was the Dulles South Public Safety Center, which opened in 2007. The Eastern Loudoun Station opened in 2010. The fourth station is under construction at One Loudoun in Ashburn.

Lansdowne Teen Reported Missing Since October 13

The Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office and the Purcellville Police Department again are partnering with the Drug Enforcement Administration to collect expired or unneeded prescription medication in an effort to prevent pill abuse and theft.

Residents may turn in the drugs for destruction from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 22 at four locations around the county: the Eastern Loudoun Sheriff ’s Station, at 46620 East Frederick Drive in Sterling; the Dulles South Public Safety Center, at 25216 Loudoun County Parkway in South Riding; the Lansdowne Public Safety Center, at 19845 Sandridge Way; and Purcellville Police will set up a drop-off location in the parking lot for Fireman’s Field, at 250 S. Nursery Ave. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Since the inception of the DEA take-back program in 2010, more than 7,800 pounds of unwanted and unused prescription medications have been collected in Loudoun County.

The Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office is asking for the public’s help in finding a 15-year-old Lansdowne girl last seen at her home on Tuesday.

Remedios Mu n o z - Na v a , Munoz-Nava who lives on Jernigan Terrace, was reported missing on Oct. 13. She has connections to the Winchester area.

Munoz-Nava is a Hispanic girl with brown eyes, long black hair and a medium complexion. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds.

Anyone with any information regarding her whereabouts is asked to contact Detective C. Czekaj at 703777-0475.

Prescription Medicine Collection Planned Across the County

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Oct. 20 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 26, 2016

Join us Wednesday, October 26, 2016 for Botox Happy Hour!

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TEXTBOOKS OR TURF FIELDS?

Schools Begin Another Round of Boundary Changes

School Board Weighs Funding Priorities

BY DANIELLE NADLER

C

oming up with a list of funding priorities has proved a divisive task for Loudoun County School Board mem-

bers.

The 79,000-student school system may get a portion of county funds left over from fiscal year 2016 should the county Board of Supervisors agree to share some of its surplus.

As the School Board began to draft its funding wish list at its Oct. 11 meeting, the agenda item turned into a debate among board members over whether replacing outdated textbooks or retrofitting Heritage High School with an artificial turf field should take precedence.

The priorities recommended by senior staff members were, in order: 60 new buses ($7.2 million); technology infrastructure ($2.05 million), including replacing 60 aging servers; bus wash equipment ($200,000); synthetic turf at Heritage ($1.9 million); and the installation of school tracks at 19 schools ($12.775 million). Other suggestions for the money that were not added in the priority list included weight rooms at Dominion, Heritage and Potomac Falls high schools; press boxes at five high schools; and artificial turf at the only other high schools still with natural grass fields, Briar Woods, Dominion and Freedom.

But board members had just heard that there is a dire need for new textbooks, especially for math and Advanced Placement courses. “We have old textbooks. I don’t think math textbooks have been adopted since 2006 or 2005 and some standards are changed,” Cynthia Ambrose, assistant superintendent of instruction, said as she updat-

Courtesy of Aaron Wyche/Viva Loudoun

Freedom High School midfielder Jantzen O’Toole works the ball during a game played on an artificial turf field.

ed the board on students’ standardized tests pass rates earlier in the evening.

Speaking to the artificial turf field at Heritage, ranked fourth on the funding wish list, School Board member Eric DeKenipp (Catoctin) said, “That $2 million could refresh our textbooks. …

I just can’t vote for practice fields and press boxes before I vote for textbooks.”

He also noted that the board is still waiting for answers on whether the fields’ crumb rubber infill is harmful to young athletes. The board has continued to press forward with crumb rubber, but has agreed to keep tabs on ongoing national studies on possible health risks of long-term exposure to the material.

Debbie Rose (Algonkian) spoke in

favor of keeping the installation of artificial turf fields a top priority, and suggested that the board plan to pay for a new field at one high school each year until all of the county’s high schools have synthetic grass.

“Most of you guys all have schools with synthetic turf. In my district, when we have inclement weather, we have to fight with other athletic directors to get time on their fields,” she said. “This is a really big deal for my community. It’s not a little frivolous thing.”

Jeff Morse (Dulles) and Brenda Sheridan (Sterling) agreed. “I share Ms. Rose’s woes,” Sheridan said. “There’s a feeling of inequity [among school comTEXTBOOKS OR TURF >> 18

School Board Considers Hiring Staff Aides

BY DANIELLE NADLER The Loudoun County School Board is considering carving out funds during the next budget cycle to hire staff aides.

Most board members have full-time jobs in addition to their role on the board, and several said they dedicate more than 20 hours a week to their elected position. They are paid a salary of $20,000 per year and the chairman is paid $22,000, but have no office budget to help provide constituent services.

Board members who said they were willing to consider hiring aides noted that each county supervisor has at least two full-time staff members. Each county district office gets $120,597 to spend each year, and the county chairman’s office receives $161,040.

The School Board’s Communication and Outreach Committee is recommending spending $87,197 to pay for one part-time aide, at 10 hours a week, per board member.

“We’re talking about $1 per student per year … to provide that extra level of service to our constituents,” Jill Tur-

Loudoun Now/File Photo

Some members of the Loudoun County School Board are in favor of setting aside funds to hire aides. Most have full-time jobs in addition to serving on the board, which pays between $20,000 and $22,000 a year.

geon (Blue Ridge) said.

First-term board member Beth Huck (At Large) broached the subject during the board’s meeting Tuesday.

She chairs the Communication and

Outreach Committee, which has studied the proposal and adopted a statement stating it “conceptually” supports STAFF AIDES >> 18

The growing number of new families moving into the southern end of the county is triggering another round of attendance boundary changes.

The Loudoun County School Board began hashing out the secondary school boundary changes at a meeting Wednesday. Sam Adamo, executive director of planning, was expected to provide an overview of the potential changes.

Students in 23 schools could be impacted by the changes, which will be made ahead of the opening of an unnamed middle school, MS-7, in the fall of 2018 at 40929 Braddock Road near Aldie.

The board will hold several public hearings and work sessions ahead of adopting a final plan Dec. 13. See more details at lcps.org/Page/104704.

Check Out Monroe Oct 20 C.S. Monroe Technology Center will hold an Open House from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20.

The event will give students a glimpse at how the school’s variety of career and technical education programs will help prepare them for college and careers. Visitors will get a chance to meet the faculty and tour the school’s labs.

Go to lcps.org/mtc to see a full list of programs taught at Monroe. The school is at 715 Children’s Center Road SW in Leesburg.

NVCC Names Mascot Northern Virginia Community College recently announced the name of its mascot, the NOVA Nighthawk.

“I’m excited to announce that our NOVA Nighthawk will be known as Ace,” college President Scott Ralls stated. “Ace evokes many positive meanings, such as a person who excels or the highest score on an exam, and we believe the name fits our mascot perfectly.”

The college invited people throughout the region to vote on names for the mascot. Suggestions included Midnight, Maverick, Lightning and Major. More than 4,400 people voted and, when the responses were tallied, Ace came out on top. The next step is to create a mascot suit so Ace can attend athletic games and other events.

Learn more about Ace at nvcc. edu/mascot.

17

Oct. 20 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 26, 2016

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18

Staff aides << FROM 16 the inclusion of staff aides in next fiscal year’s budget.

Huck said she wanted other board members to weigh in on the proposal, but she stressed that she has serious reservations. “While I do see the benefits of having an aide, I would much rather see the funds spent in the schools and in the classroom.”

Jeff Morse (Dulles) argued that dedicating money to staff positions would alleviate one of the most common complaints from families.

“Every year we hear about this from

the community that we don’t communicate well,” he said. “Yes, we can put this in the classroom—we could put every dollar in the classroom. But we can’t run a school system if we can’t communicate with the residents of the county.”

Turgeon said she was on the fence about it, but noted that having even 10 hours of help a week would mean board members would take up less of senior staff members’ time.

Chairman Eric Hornberger (Ashburn) argued that there already were mechanisms in place to help board members. For example, he suggested his colleagues turn to their committees to help wade through research or lean more on current school system staff.

“For me, it’s hard to justify the expense and, frankly, I think it’s hard for supervisors to justify the expense,” he said.

Two years ago, county supervisors specifically earmarked money for School Board members to hire staff, but the board declined. At the time, members said they could not justify aides when other services were being cut.

The topic will return to the Communication and Outreach Committee for further discussion and may make it into the proposed fiscal year 2018 budget, which Superintendent Eric Williams presents in January. dnadler@loudounnow.com

Textbooks or turf << FROM 16 munities] and that it’s not fair, so we absolutely do have to have a plan in place.”

Board members who said updating the athletic fields is important agreed that updating textbooks is also vital, but could be made a priority in the fiscal year 2018 operating budget.

Leigh Burden, assistant superintendent of financial services, cautioned the board that textbooks likely would not qualify for county fund balance, which is generally earmarked for non-reoccurring capital costs. “I think textbooks would be considered a consumable item and wouldn’t be appropriate for fund balance,” she said. But, she added, if other items are funded, such as new buses, that will leave room in the school system’s operating budget next fiscal year.

Jill Turgeon (Blue Ridge) said that the textbooks should certainly be in the running. “I would argue emphatically that textbooks are not a consumable item,” she said. “Some of our textbooks are older than our buses.”

Superintendent Eric Williams told board members he would talk to County Administrator Tim Hemstreet about how supervisors would view a request for leftover funds to buy textbooks.

The School Board is scheduled to adopt a final list of funding priorities at its Oct. 25 meeting. It will then be sent to the supervisors as a formal request. dnadler@loudounnow.com

Monroe Coats 67 Future Medical Professionals The new class of Claude Moore Scholars—67 strong—were presented their white lab coats during a ceremony on Oct. 6 at the school administration building in Ashburn.

“Health care needs you,” said Rahman A. Parker, the executive director of the Loudoun Free Clinic and keynote speaker for the coating ceremony. “We have a shortage right now. We have a shortage of staff nurses in our clinic. We have a shortage of staff nurses that are inside this whole system. We have a shortage of physicians. We have a shortage of other support staff; shortage of radiology techs, shortage of pharmacists. Health care needs you. Are you all ready to be a part of health care?”

Parker, the executive director of the Loudoun Free Clinic, urged the Monroe students to listen and read about the future of health care.

“Continue to listen to where health care is going, because that is where you’ll be. You’ll eventually be in charge – like we are – trying to help folks shape and shift to what health care can become.”

Overseen by Monroe Technology Center, the Claude Moore Scholars program is designed to develop and expand programs for secondary students that lead to careers in the fields of health and medical science.

19 Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

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the bomb-sniffing dogs was retired, and before the office could arrange for training, funding, and a dog and handler, the money was diverted elsewhere.

According to the county staff, a second team would cost the county $26,270 annually, along with $7,000 for a dog. The county finance committee has unanimously recommended the second dog to the full board. The department has already found its next handler, investigator Chris Barry.

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their functions,” said Deputy Fire Marshal and Bloodhound handler Jerome Swain. “For instance, Dulles Airport, they have to keep a certain amount of dogs to protect their interests. Some of the federal agencies are the same way.”

That also means in the case of a regional incident, all the other dogs may be busy, leaving none to spare for Loudoun. Having two teams, Swain said, ensures Loudoun will always have at least one available, and will mean the work gets done faster.

“It makes a big difference,” Swain said. “Leif and his wife just went to Europe, and during that timeframe, we didn’t have the resource, so we had to depend on outside resources if they were available. Now, at least from our office’s standpoint, we’ll be able to say, ‘OK, go to France, but we’ll at least have another dog in the bag.’”

Not literally. Aurora lives and vacations with Sundberg and eats only out of his hand. Suitable dogs are trained by either the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms or the Central Intelligence Agency in a six-week course.

The dog’s handler and family must also be suitable for the job, and the handler’s course is slightly longer.

“The dogs can learn the job in six weeks,” Sundberg said. “It takes me ten weeks.”

The Fire Marshal’s Office has had a dog team since 1998. In 2012, one of

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20

Purcellville Chlorine Discharged at Wastewater Plant

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

Town Public Works staff has been busy dealing with an inadvertent discharge of chlorine into the effluent at the Basham Simms Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The spill occurred during a routine cleaning of the membrane filters and subsequently was discharged into a local stream. There was no threat to the public from the chlorine, according to the department.

Corrective action has taken place after coordination with the state Department of Environmental Quality and the Loudoun Fire Marshal’s Office.

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Supervisors Tony R. Buffington Jr. (R-Blue Ridge) and Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin) talk with public hearing speakers at the Oct. 12 meeting.

Catesby Center Opposition Builds

BY RENSS GREENE Nearly 40 western Loudouners turned out at a Oct. 12 public hearing to oppose plans to operate an events and banquets center at Catesby Farm, perplexing supervisors.

If supervisors approve Michelle LaRose’s application to open an events and banquets center at her family’s property on Welbourne and Willisville Roads west of the village of St. Louis, the family can hold 20 events each year at that property with up to 200 people at each and with at least a week in between.

But if supervisors turn down the application, the LaRoses can open what Loudoun rules call a bed and breakfast country inn without asking for permission from the board. Under the country inn designation, the property could host as many as 100 people every day of the year, and hold 20 events each year with no limit on the number of guests, and also have people spending the night, theoretically, up to 40 rooms every night. Michelle LaRose told the board if her application is not approved, “we fully intend to pursue other byright uses.”

So why are residents across western Loudoun pushing against this self-limiting application so fiercely?

Thirty-five speakers from as nearby as next door and as far away as Bluemont spent a late night asking the board to turn down the Catesby Farm application, and many more signed a petition in opposition. The historic Catesby Farm property is in conservation easement and at the site of the Civil War Battle of Unison in 1862.

“This place still looks essentially like it did 150 years ago, and it was on these very fields that thousands of cavalry and infantry of the advance guard of General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac faced the guns and cavalry of General J.E.B. Stuart,” said Steven Chase, president of the Unison Preservation Society.

“Controversial Catesby sits in the

heart of an area so well preserved to date that a Civil War soldier, brought forward 154 years from the day he’d fought there on November 2, 1862, could recognize exactly where he stood,” said Richard Gillespie, executive director of the Mosby Heritage Area Association.

The association is one of a number of historic preservation and conservation groups that have joined the opposition to the application.

Catesby Farm is also next to Willisville, a village founded by free blacks shortly after the Civil War. “I can stand there and know that the blood, sweat, and tears of many people who endured the hardship of slavery, they initiated and bore fruit there,” said Kevin Grigsby, whose family traces its roots through Willisville. “I know that that ancestor who was a slave, couldn’t read, couldn’t write, that they started their journey there, in a place like Willisville.”

Grigsby is the author of “Howardsville: The Journey of an African American Community in Loudoun County, Virginia” and “From Loudoun to Glory,” which trace African-American history in Loudoun County during and after the Civil War. The LaRoses have purchased two additional parcels, bringing their property holdings up to 241 acres, to provide access to the estate from Willisville Road without sending traffic down the narrow, graveled Welbourne Road. The family doesn’t live on the property, and Stearns said they want the property to generate some income to pay for maintenance. The two new parcels are right next door to James Hennigan, who worries about event traffic going by his home.

“We thought since these farms were in easement that we were good, that nothing drastic was going to happen around us,” Hennigan said. “Not that I would consider this drastic, but certainly it’s going to be a huge interruption in our way of life.”

And Bill Ferster lives on a property next door, overlooking Catesby Farm.

“If they were really worried about making money, there are a lot of other ways to make money off this property,” Ferster said. “I don’t know what they’re up to, why they want to do it, that’s their business, but it’s an inappropriate use.”

Despite the potentially much busier prospect of a country inn over what the LaRoses are applying to do, residents around the area say a bed and breakfast or country inn would be more in keeping with the character of the area.

Donohue & Stearns attorney Frank Stearns, who is representing the LaRoses in the application, said the LaRoses recently inherited the property from their father and that “they are willing to limit themselves for the certainty of knowing they’ll be able to do it.”

“Let me just say, they tried from the beginning to have as minor impact on this neighborhood as they can, and that’s why they came forward with what they thought was a reasonable, limited proposal to help the people in the vicinity know that they were not trying to create an issue,” Stearns said. “And I must say, I am greatly surprised by the level of hostility that has arisen.”

And a handful of people spoke out in support of the LaRoses.

“Scott [LaRose] is the type of neighbor I would like to have, and even if I didn’t know all that I know about Scott and his family, I would still support this,” said Paul Burkard, who said he has worked with the LaRoses for years. “He and his family, they’re good people.”

Even western supervisors, who have often opposed projects that threatened historic and scenic areas, seem baffled that residents are asking them to turn down the application, when the applicant has threatened to operate as a country inn if the application is denied.

“That use is much more intensive than what they’re proposing,” said Supervisor Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin). “It defies logic for me that that’s what you would want, because you’re going to get worse. Now that’s just the CATESBY >> 22

Sidewalk Repairs Underway The Town of Purcellville has undertaken several repair and mitigation projects.

Dominion Concrete and Masonry Corp. crews are repairing concrete curb and sidewalks at various locations around town, all marked with orange traffic cones. Work is expected to continue through early next month and will take place on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Also, R.S.R. Lawn and Landscape was scheduled to start Thursday to repair and redefine ditches along Nursery Avenue.

Flaggers will be on hand to direct traffic, and there will be some lane closures during the work, which is expected to take approximately three weeks.

Ready for the Halloween Block Party?

Work is gearing up for the town’s annual Halloween Block Party to be held on 21st Street on Oct. 29.

Those wishing to take part in the costume competitions should note there will be seven contests, awarded with trophies and cash prizes. Categories are Group/Family (new); infants to 5; 6 to 12 years; pets; ages 13 to 17; adults 18 and up; and $500 cash award for best overall costume Judges include County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large), Loudoun Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tony Howard, Purcellville Vice Mayor Karen Jimmerson and Councilman Ryan Cool, and Magnolia’s at the Mill owner Shawn Malone.

Spooky doings, kids’ games, entertainment and great food will round out the event, with free admission and free parking throughout town.

For rules, contest times and general information, go to purcellvillehalloween.com.

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Loudoun supervisors are on track to nearly triple the size of Hillsboro.

The county will go through a voluntary boundary line adjustment, adding more than 108 acres to the north, south, and east to the incorporated limits of the 64-acre town. Mayor Roger Vance has said the change would help make the town more walkable, and would help the town compete for needed infrastructure grants. It would also consolidate several properties that are only partly inside the town, although their owners consider themselves Hillsboro residents.

Vice Mayor Belle Ware told the Board of Supervisors she has 10 acres bounded by stone walls and dating back to before 1900.

“Somehow, through the years, I get two tax bills for about three acres and six acres, and it would be very convenient for the county to send me one,” she said.

Among other properties, the expansion will bring the Hillsboro Charter Academy, the Old Stone School, and the Hillsboro United Methodist Church into the town.

Some Hillsboro parcels were split between the county and town in 2003 when the town and county discovered that their maps of the town’s boundaries were based on inaccurate maps created in Richmond in the 1940s or 1950s.

The town’s 1976 charter dictates that its boundaries must match the limits described in late 19th century deed books, and restoring the town’s boundaries to

match those deeds removed some parcels from the town and split others in two.

The boundary line adjustment will help the town apply for a Transportation Alternatives Grant for a pedestrian and bicycle pathway, and a water system extension grant. The county has put $5.3 million toward reconstructing Rt. 9 in town with sidewalks, on-street parking, roundabouts on each side of town, and underground power lines; the transportation grant would provide additional funding.

The county has also put about $3.145 million toward replacing the town’s water system and constructing a centralized wastewater system. The water extension grant would provide additional money for those projects.

The expansion is not expected to greatly increase residential development in the town, which is limited by the town’s zoning ordinance, existing conservation easements and environmental impacts, and the capacity of the town’s planned water system.

The Board of Supervisors forwarded the decision to October 20.

“The reason I’m not suspending the rules tonight is because we actually need to give more time for the county and the town to provide formal written notices to all of the property owners in the area,” said Supervisor Tony R. Buffington Jr. (R-Blue Ridge), indicating he intends to approve the boundary line adjustment.

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

Hillsboro to Grow by 108 Acres

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22

Purcellville Wrestles with Utility Rate Options

BY MARGARET MORTON

The Purcellville Town Council on Monday began its effort to revamp its utility rate structure, quizzing a team of consultants on options to lower the cost for customers.

For an hour and a half, Municipal & Financial Services Group President Edward J. Donahue III and manager Eric Callocchia, along with Kyle Laux from the town’s financial advisor, the Davenport Group, were peppered with questions from council members seeking alternatives to current plans to impose annual rate increases. However, no clear path was evident at the end of the session.

The consultants said municipalities nationwide are under pressure to increase rates because of declining water use and need to replace aging utility systems.

The consultants took the council through the various steps of rate setting, and listed the “building blocks” of revenue requirements that must be addressed: contributions to reserves; planned capital improvement projects; existing debt service; operating and maintenance expenses.

Mayor Kwasi Fraser said he wants a change from the current “broke system” and noted the council hears complaints from residents with unmanageable $300 utility bills.

Donahue said it would be naïve to think rates will not continue to increase. “That’s not reality.” He also said the industry needed to do a much better job of explaining to the pubic how ex-

pensive it is to produce clean water and to adequately treat wastewater.

Fraser wanted to look at different models dealing with a variety of situations. “What are the variables—so I can tell people,” he asked.

Councilman Ryan Cool wanted to know how MSFG arrived at the right model when setting rates. Callocchia said the company looked at different structures. He noted most communities don’t have as many rate tiers as Purcellville and suggested the town should reduce them.

The sewer system’s annual debt service payment was a big concern to the council. Director of Public Works Alex Vanegas noted that the payment due to bond holders was almost equal to the total operational costs of wastewater management.

Councilwoman Kelli Grim wanted to see as many options as possible and said she was concerned about the impact on lower volume users. She also questioned whether the town’s reserve fund was excessive. “Are we over taxing?”

Laux explained that a decade ago when faced with the need to build a new sewage treatment plant, the town was “exploding with growth.”

“Back then, there was a lot of risk having to build the plant to support growth,” he said, noting that building a solid reserve fund was important in the case that the growth slowed.

Town Manager Robert W. Lohr Jr. pointed out that the town has had to spend millions of dollars to comply with new state and federal treatment mandates and to keep pace with rapidly

changing standards in technology.

Cool pushed for “out of the box” creative thinking for revenue options, adding he didn’t want to see modeling based on assumptions of 3 percent and 5 percent yearly increases.

The mayor reintroduced his suggestion to dedicate revenue from the town’s meals tax—about $365,000 a year—to reduce the town’s utility system debt.

“That would be tricky, and it’s not generally considered best practice by the rating agencies,” Laux said of using General Fund revenues to subsidize the Utility Fund.

That could jeopardize the town’s triple-A bond rating, he said. “Be very cautious as to how you do it, given where you are, in the top tier for a town—you have to save the credit rating. At the same time, you need balance, a rationale and a framework.”

Cool said the goals going forward should be to simplify the rates, define what is “fair,” expand revenue options, and better explain to the public that utilities are expensive, and clean water is necessary. He also suggested a switch to monthly billings.

Following the meeting, Vanegas said probably the answer would lie in a combination of the two approaches—rates restructuring and increasing sources of revenue for the town, as well as some administrative measures.

“You need some sort of growth or [the town] will die—you see that elsewhere,” he said. mmorton@loudounnow.com

Catesby << FROM 20 way it is.”

And Supervisor Tony R. Buffington Jr. (R-Blue Ridge), whose district includes Catesby Farm and who has met with residents in the area, seemed surprised and perplexed.

“This is not what I was expecting tonight,” Buffington said during the public hearing.

Grigsby said either way, the county’s historic resources could suffer. He said on individual applications when the county counts its costs, it doesn’t always include its history in the discussion.

“I always have this fear that I’m going to be an old man at some point going before the Board of Supervisors talking about not allowing some massive subdivision to wipe out Howardsville or Willisville, because we don’t quite have the protections there,” Grigsby said.

“The way county staff explains the impact of this or that, that historical impact isn’t part of the conversation.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to vote yet,” Buffington said. “We’re not there yet. I heard you loud and clear just now.”

Supervisors pushed the decision first to Nov. 17, but later to Dec. 6. The board will try not to meet on Nov. 17.

“If we were going to move it, I didn’t want to move it sooner,” Buffington said. “I wanted to move it farther away to have more time to deal with the public and the applicant.” rgreene@loudounnow.com

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Zoldos, Fraser Call for COLT’s Return Mayor Bob Zoldos is joining Purcellville Mayor Kwasi Fraser in the quest to revive the Coalition of Loudoun Towns.

The group that was formed in the

Hillsboro ‘John Muir’ Coming to Town The Town of Hillsboro alerts residents to save the date—for an unusual presentation on Nov. 12.

“An Evening with John Muir” will be will be held at the Gap Stage at the Old Stone School, when award-winning actor Lee Stetson will reprise his role as naturalist, philosopher and poet. Stetson’s acclaimed one-man show detailing Muir’s role as father of the nation’s parks will be for one evening only, so residents are reminded to reserve their tickets early.

Light fare will be provided by Greater Hillsboro Business Alliance farmers.

Sponsors for the event include The Nature Generation, Old Dominion Land Conservancy, The Girl Between the Hills, Joe and Dee Taplin, and Morgan Carpentry.

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Since February, town leaders have been meeting with county representatives, including those from Fire-Rescue and the Sheriff ’s Office, to discuss the renaming of a few town streets that have been problematic in terms of public safety and mail delivery.

The four streets around the town square have been named Town Square.

Also of concern are two “stub” streets— South Church Street and the eastern part of Town Center Drive—neither of which have addresses on them, causing some confusion. Those with good street name ideas are asked to the complete the Stub Street Renaming survey on the town website, lovettsvilleva.gov.

The survey will be open until Nov. 4.

The Infrastructure, Environment and Utilities Committee will present options to the Town Council for its final decision.

1990s to present unified positions for the Loudoun towns when approaching the county government or the General Assembly. Interest in the partnership waned in recent years and the coalition has been dormant.

The two mayors hope to secure the agreement of other mayors in this endeavor.

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

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Wylie Wagg Acquired by National Pet Food Chain

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Mickey and Deltone Moore pack fresh orders in their new location in downtown Middleburg.

This Middleburg Business Really Pops

BY MARGARET MORTON One of Middleburg’s culinary superstars has settled into a new space, but the owners of the Popcorn Monkey have an eye on further expansion.

Deltone L. Moore—known to most as Tone—turned his childhood love of ballpark popcorn into one of Loudoun’s hottest specialty food outlets. Founded in 2013, the business is taking the blame for a new addiction among town residents.

What patrons seem to like is not just the extensive variety of flavors offered

by Popcorn Monkey, but the fact that it’s fun.

“I love his popcorn,” Middleburg Economic Coordinator Cindy Pearson said. “Any flavor you want to try—it changes the way you think about popcorn.” Her favorites include Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Hot Monkey Love. Other creative flavors include Monkey Korn, Loaded Potato, Old Crabby and Texas Tornado.

“It’s just fun food, and the town is so lucky to have him and his wife, Mickey Moore—they’re lovely people, always thinking how to incorporate people in what they do,” Pearson said.

Everything is made fresh on site, Moore said, noting that’s one of the first questions customers ask when they come in.

Moore uses popcorn that is gluten free and non-GMO and cooked in special coconut oil. Customers are attracted by the tempting smells along with the sight and sound of the popcorn-making operation.

“You get the taste when you come

Kriser’s Natural Pet has acquired Wylie Wagg for Pets, a natural pet food and supplies chain with five stores in the region, including one in Middleburg.

Wylie Wagg was founded in 2002 by Laura and Larry Clark with the goal of providing pet owners with natural food, treats, toys and accessories.

Brad Kriser opened his first natural pet food store in Chicago in 2006 and now operates stores in Illinois, Colorado, California and Texas. Wylie Wagg is the company’s first acquisition and brings the number of Kriser’s locations to 42.

“We have tremendous respect for how Wylie Wagg has established itself as part of the pet community in D.C. and Northern Virginia,” Kriser stated.

“With this effort, we are able to extend Kriser’s mission of helping pets live happier, healthier lives, naturally, to an even greater number of families and communities.”

The acquired Wylie Wagg stores will rebrand as Kriser’s Natural Pet in 2017, with new storefront signage, ongoing staff training and education, and some adjustments to product assortment. Wylie Wagg founder Laura Clark will play an active role in the transition and will become a member of the Kriser’s team.

Montessori School Expansion OKed

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Popcorn Monkey owners Mickey and Deltone Moore pose for a photo in their new location in downtown Middleburg.

in,” he said. A lot of operators make their popcorn ahead. “I don’t do much of that. It’s always fresh,” Popcorn Monkey isn’t just serving walk-up clients. Its corporate clients include Mercedes Benz and the Washington Redskins. (Look for the Popcorn Monkey kiosk at FedEx Field.)

Weddings and corporate events also are in the mix.

Moore and his family—his wife, Mickey, and daughter, Jewell, are key players in the enterprise—have developed a devoted fan base over the past four years.

“It’s an incredible taste,” said Punkin Lee, owner of The Saddlery.

“I love what he has—you could call [popcorn] America’s favorite food,” Mark Metzger, owner of Highcliffe Clothiers, said. “It’s fun, it’s flavorful and it’s fresh.”

“Tone really stands behind it, to make it the best it can be,” Metzger said.

After four years in Middleburg, the Moores are looking to expand, probably to Leesburg. But that’s still in the exploratory stage—so Leesburg customers will have to wait in anticipation.

mmorton@loudoun.now

County supervisors have approved expansion plans for the Village Montessori School at Bluemont.

The school will grow from 48 students to 108 students and add more building space.

The expansion will be done in phases over the next few years.

“Our vision and mission has always been to meet the need of the community we are serving.

The decision to expand was determined by the expressed need of the families we are currently serving,” said Toby Gress, owner and head of school.

The school offers a nature-based curriculum for students aged 2 to 12 and is accredited by the International Montessori Council. For more information, go to villagemontessori.org.

Ferraiolo Fitness Opens New Studio Ferraiolo Fitness will celebrate the opening of its third location with an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday, Oct. 22.

The fitness center is at 458 Madison Trade Plaza in the BRIEFS >> 25

[ NONPROFITS NEWS ]

Volunteers Plan Supply Run for Flood Victims

HealthWorks to Expand Medication Assistance The Virginia Health Care Foundation has awarded $43,657 to Northern Virginia Family Service to hire a medication assistance caseworker at HealthWorks Northern Virginia to help obtain prescription medicines for uninsured patients.

Loudoun County Road Runners Club is gearing up for its annual Loudoun 10K Trail Race to raise money for veteran causes.

Since its inception in 2011, the race has generated more than $90,000 for veterans’ charities. This year’s race will benefit the Boulder Crest Retreat in Bluemont and Pets for Vets.

Sponsors and participants are needed for the event. Those wishing to provide sponsorship or offer charitable donations may contact Race Director, Jim Schatz at schtred@aol.com.

The Nov. 6 race will take place at Camp Highroad, a 600-acre retreat located at 21164 Steptoe Hill Road near Middleburg. The $40 registration fee includes a Veteran’s Day gift. The field is limited to the first 200 runners who register and will be conducted rain or shine. The race begins at 9 a.m.

To learn more about the race or register, go to trailrun.loudounroadrunners. org.

Direct charitable donations can be made by check to Loudoun Road Runners with Loudoun 10K Trail Race in the memo section and mailed to P.O. Box 3342, Leesburg, VA 20177.

[ BIZ BRIEFS ] << FROM 24

Harrington Joins Insperity

Harrington

Avison Young announced the sale of Inova Loudoun II, a 103,500-squarefoot medical office building located on the campus of Inova Loudoun Hospital in Lansdowne. The multi-tenant property is 100 percent leased.

Avison Young principals Jim Kornick, Chip Ryan, Mike Wilson, Erik Foster and Executive Vice President of healthcare services Mark Johnson executed the off-market sale. The team represented the seller, a joint-venture between Washington, DC developer Foulger-Pratt and a global real estate investment management firm.

Inova Loudoun II was purchased

by Healthcare Realty Trust.

“This acquisition is a significant addition to our growing portfolio and exemplifies our strategy of acquiring core medical facilities on the campuses of market-leading health systems,” Healthcare Realty Trust Vice President Sushil Puria stated.

loudounnow.com

Leesburg resident Greg Harrington has been named a district manager at Insperity, Inc. The McLean-based business provides human resources and other busi-

Lansdowne Medical Office Sold

new Crescent Place development near downtown Leesburg. The grand opening event will be held 3 to 6 p.m., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m.

Ferraiolo Fitness’ other two locations are at 216 Edwards Ferry Road in Leesburg and 19366 Diamond Lake Drive in Lansdowne.

Owner Ralph Ferraiolo said, “Our studios are designed to be small and personal with an upscale boutique approach. This is important as it provides a comfortable atmosphere that even the long-term client continues to enjoy visiting.”

Learn more by calling 703-626-1075 or by visiting ferrfit.com.

ness support services. Prior to joining Insperity, Harrington served as a district sales manager for RentPath. He has 16 years of sales experience. Harrington attended Orange Coast College in California.

PUBLIC SAFETY | EDUCATION | OUR TOWNS | BIZ | LOCO LIVING | CLASSIFIEDS | OPINION

The Loudoun-based America’s 911 Foundation is arranging a community drop for supplies to be delivered to flood victims in Lumberton, NC, in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

Organizers are collecting non-perishable food, bottled water, diapers, baby wipes, cleaning supplies, school supplies, paper products and personal hygiene items. Cash and gift cards also will be collected. Two collections are planned: Friday, Oct. 28, at the Spanky’s Shenanigan’s dock bar from 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct 29, at the Food Lion on South King Street in Leesburg from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Donations also may be made at the foundation’s website, americas911foundation.org.

Trail Race to Benefit Veterans’ Charities

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

Studio Bleu Dance Center in Ashburn raised almost $16,000 earlier this month for childhood cancer research.

The studio held a fundraiser Oct. 8 and hundreds of participants danced for eight hours straight to drum up donations. The money will support immune therapies at Children’s National that cross multiple types of pediatric cancers.

Since Studio Bleu started the campaign in 2013, it has raised more than $100,000 for childhood cancer research.

Learn more about the effort at idance4acure.org.

The grant is a portion of $1.6 million awarded to 37 organizations throughout Virginia as part of VHCF’s RxRelief Virginia initiative, which was expanded in 2016 with an increase in state funds. It now funds 51 MACs in 80 of Virginia’s 134 localities.

The Virginia Health Care Foundation is a nonprofit public/private partnership whose mission is to increase access to primary health care for uninsured and medically underserved Virginians. The Foundation was initiated by the General Assembly and its Joint Commission on Health Care in 1992.

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

Studio Bleu Raises $16K

25

[ LOCO LIVING ]

loudounnow.com

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Winners of varietal categories were: Best Hybrid White Wine: 2015 Vidal Blanc by Cana Vineyards Best Hybrid Red Wine: 2014 Chambourcin by Northgate Vineyards

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

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Best Vinifera White Wine: 2015 Rkatsiteli by Cana Vineyards Best Vinifera Red Wine: 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon

by Zephaniah Vineyards Best Vinifera Red Wine: 2014 Merlot

by Northgate Vineyards Best Chardonnay: 2014 Chardonnay by 868 Estate Vineyards Best Viognier: 2015 Viognier

by Sunset Hills Vineyards Cabernet Franc: 2013 Cabernet Franc Reserve

by Fabbioli Cellars Best Petit Verdot: 2014 Petit Verdot

by Doukenie Winery Best Bordeaux Blend: 2013 Tre Sorelle

by Fabbioli Cellars Best Bordeaux Blend: 2014 Philosophy

by Greenhill Vineyards & Winery

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Ben Sedlins prepares harvested grapes for processing at Fabbioli Cellars north of Leesburg. The winery took home two Loudoun Wine Awards.

CELEBRATING LOUDOUN WINES Fabbioli Takes Two Top Honors

BY MARGARET MORTON

I

t was a big night for Doug Fabbioli as his peers gathered for the second annual Loudoun Wine Awards on Friday at the National Conference Center.

He was named Winemaker of the Year and Fabbioli Cellars was presented the Chairman’s Grand Award for producing the top-scoring wine in the competition.

Other top awards included Sunset Hill’s Quinton Garcia being named

Wine Grower of the Year and Bonnie Archer, of Zephaniah Vineyards, named Wine Ambassador of the Year.

Presented the top winemaker award, Fabbioli was lauded for his winemaking expertise and for his pioneering leadership in and dedication to the cause of furthering Loudoun’s wine industry over a 20-year period.

Loudoun County Economic Development Director Buddy Rizer presented the Winegrower of the Year award to Garcia. The award recognizes a Loudoun winegrower for farming of

high-quality grapes, innovation in viticulture, and leadership in Loudoun’s wine growing industry. Garcia has been managing county vineyards for more than 15 years and has been instrumental in installing and managing a large percentage of Loudoun vineyards.

The Wine Ambassador of the Year award was established to recognize an individual who exemplifies exceptional service and professionalism through consistent leadership and outstanding hospitality.

Archer, owner and general manager of Zephaniah Vineyards south of Leesburg was recognized for her love of

farming and agriculture. Guests refer to her as “extremely friendly, passionate, welcoming and knowledgeable,” and someone who makes them feel completely at home during their tasting experience.

County Chairwoman Phyllis Randall presented the Chairman’s Grand Award to Fabbioli Cellars for its 2013 Cabernet Franc Reserve, the top scoring wine in the competition. The wine was described as “a fantastic wine to introduce people to Virginia wine. Its intensity of flavor, intriguing nose, and wonderful depth and texture is a perfect example of how delicious Loudoun County wine can be.” mmorton@loudounnow.com

The Best of Loudoun on Display Epicurience Virginia 2016 drew wine lovers from around the region to One Loudoun on Saturday. The event, now in its fourth year, showcased the best of local wine and food. For its first three years, Epicurience was held over Labor Day weekend at Morven Park. This year, its new venue in Ashburn and new date appeared a success.

Ali Khaligh/Loudoun Now

Festival goers line up to taste Sunset Hills Vineyard wines.

Ali Khaligh/Loudoun Now

Pat and Bob Hollingsworth, of Lansdowne, enjoy the informative side of the festival in the Virginia Wine Education tent.

GENEROSITY FEEDS

27 Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

Events Rally Community to Help Loudoun’s Hungry Children

BY LEAH FALLON

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

A man leaves Loudoun Hunger Relief with a bag of groceries. The food pantry, based in Leesburg, is one of the organizations that will distribute food packaged at the Oct. 30 and Nov. 6 Generosity Feeds events.

Church and organizer of Generosity Feeds Leesburg said, “As part of the community we are called and responsible for caring for each other.”

He is looking forward to getting the community together to create awareness and to connect with other nonprofit organizations in the county. Mobile Hope, Loudoun Hunger Relief and Back Pack Coalition are joining the effort by distributing the packaged food to their clients.

Clyde also connected with corporate sponsors who want to make a positive social impact on the community.

The main corporate sponsors that will cover the cost of the 13,000 meals are Toth Financial, Volkswagen Group of America, Abbey Design Center, Cochran Family Dental, John Marshall Bank and Madigan Construction.

Generosity Feeds is also getting help

GENEROSITY FEEDS >> 28

Call today for an additional 5% off!

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS | PUBLIC SAFETY | EDUCATION | OUR TOWNS | BIZ | LOCO LIVING | CLASSIFIEDS | OPINION

What started as a Loudoun couple’s effort to feed a few thousand people overseas is quickly becoming a nationwide movement with churches and nonprofits joining forces to provide food for children in their own communities.

An army of volunteers will spend two hours in two Loudoun locations on two days packaging a total of 30,000 meals for area families in need as part of Generosity Feeds. The first begins at 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, at Douglass Community Center in Leesburg.

The second begins at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, at Dominion High School in Sterling.

According to Generosity Feeds, 12,500 children in Loudoun County are “food insecure.” That’s the number of students who, under federal guidelines, qualify for free or reduced-price meals at their schools.

The people behind Generosity Feeds want to make a change in the lives of those children. They want to do something that shows that every member of the community is valued and cared for.

“Nothing runs on empty. Not our cell phone, cars, economy, or a child.

A child’s body cannot survive on empty. For a child to thrive, it begins with food,” Rob Klabunde said.

He and his wife Stefani Klabunde

began Generosity Feeds in 2011. The idea for the program sparked while at an event at Dominion High School.

Through their nonprofit Replenish Community Foundation, the Klabundes helped package 40,000 meals to be sent overseas to help hungry children in impoverished countries.

Proud of the 450 volunteers who showed up, the couple celebrated the success that day. Yet, Ron Klabunde remembers feeling deflated after a man at the event asked what he was doing to feed the thousands of children who struggle with hunger here in Loudoun.

That question changed the Klabundes’ course of action.

Almost immediately, they began working to organize Generosity Feeds, and six months later they hosted an event with 700 volunteers packaging 30,000 meals to be distributed locally.

The success of the program prompted calls from others wanting to hold Generosity Feeds events. The program is now being held throughout the country, led by churches, businesses and organizations in 14 states.

The Oct. 30 Generosity Feeds event in Leesburg is put on by Leesburg Junction, a work space and event venue in downtown, Sterling-based, nonprofit Replenish Community Foundation and Headway Church, which meets in the Leesburg Junction space.

Drew Clyde, pastor of Headway

loudounnow.com

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loudounnow.com

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Courtesy phboto

The shore of the Potomac was a scene of utter pandemonium as soldiers from intermingled units swamped the few small boats that had ferried them across only a few hours before.

Special Events Mark Ball’s Bluff Battle Anniversary Saturday A full day of events is planned Saturday to commemorate the 155th anniversary of the Battle of Balls Bluff.

Organized by the Friends of Ball’s Bluff Battlefield, the program begins at 11 a.m. with a free guided tour along with cannon and musket firing demonstrations. Re-enactors will display the equipment, clothing, tents and personal gear prevalent during the Civil War. The tour will be repeated at 1 p.m.

At 7 p.m., visitors will be invited to walk a candle-lit path to the Ball’s Bluff Cemetery for a short ceremony including poetry, a choral group, gun salute and playing of Taps to memorialize the

For more information, contact Tom Hutt at usna60@aol.com or 703-7274356.

Actor and model Sean O’Donnell, who has ties to Leesburg, is helping to promote Generosity Feeds.

Courtesy of Sean O’Donnell

Generosity Feeds << FROM 27

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

259 Confederate and Union soldiers killed on the battlefield. Attendees are invited to bring folding chairs.

The free battlefield tours continue on weekends through November, and explain the significance of the battle, which took place on Oct. 21, 1861, three months after the first battle at Manassas.

The battlefield is at the end of Ball’s Bluff Road off Battlefield Boulevard in the Potomac Crossing subdivision.

promoting its campaign from actor Sean O’Donnell, who is flying in from Los Angeles to help out at the Leesburg event. The 21-year-old actor and model is best known for his roles in Sickhouse and Mamaboy.

His father leads Leesburg Junction and is a member of Headway Church.

After visiting his father in Leesburg and attending Headway Church, O’Donnell was inspired by the church’s sincere desire to serve. “They foster and perpetuate a community that genuinely wants to help,” he said.

O’Donnell has done his share of

charity work in New York City through food drives and packing bags to feed the homeless, and wants to do what he can with Generosity Feeds to continue to spread the wood about childhood hunger.

“It’s shameful that one in five children are hungry,” he said. “The end game is to pick this local event and make it nationwide, and to make some noise to get people focused on this important national issue.”

To package meals at one of the two Loudoun Generosity Feeds events, register at generosityfeeds.org. Volunteers who come to the Oct. 30 event in a costume will receive a treat. Those who can’t volunteer are encouraged to donate; $30 will provide meals for 30 children.

29

[ THINGS DO DO ] MIDDLEBURG FILM FESTIVAL Thursday, Oct. 20- Sunday, Oct. 23; Middleburg. Details: middleburgfilm.org The Middleburg Film festival returns with new releases from Jim Jarmusch, Pedro Almodovar and other top directors. Tickets are still available for many screenings. Check the website for availability.

Sunday, Oct. 23, 2 p.m.; Thomas Balch Library, 208 W. Market St., Leesburg.

Contact: 703-737-7195 Archivist Ben Tayloe discusses the Charles A. Johnston Collection, which contains family papers and artifacts of the Johnston family of Leesburg.

The diverse collection offers a view of life in Leesburg and Loudoun County from the late 1700s through the 20th Century.

FILM SCREENING: ‘IF I COULD TELL YOU’ Monday, Oct. 24, 7-9 p.m.; Leesburg Junction, 215 Depot Court SE, Leesburg. Details: wwfilmfest.com The Washington West Film Festival comes to Loudoun for a screening of an indie film about a woman who secretly turns to a sperm donor after years of financially and emotionally draining fertility treatments. Tickets are $8-10. The festival runs Oct. 19-

PHOTO WORKSHOP AT BLANDY ARBORETUM Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2-5 p.m.; Blandy Library and Grounds, 400 Blandy Farm Lane, Boyce.

Details: blandy.virginia.edu Noted area photojournalist and Loudoun Now photographer Douglas Graham and Tim Farmer host a workshop in Blandy’s ginkgo grove. The afternoon starts with a slide show and brief overview of equipment, followed by instruction on exposure and composition and feedback on your photos.

Cost is $30 for members, $35 for nonmembers.

ON STAGE ‘GREAT STAGE OF FOOLS’ Friday, Oct. 21 and Saturday, Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 23, 2 p.m.; Sterling Middle School, 201 W. Holly Ave., Sterling.

Details: sterlingplaymakers.com The Sterling Playmakers present an original murder mystery that features well-known Shakespearean characters, many who were killed off in the original version of their play. They are now called to return to the stage by Mark Antony to solve a new round of murders. Tickets are $15 at the door or online.

Courtesy of Zephyros Winds

Courtesy of Jazz & Co.

JAZZ & CO DANCE CONCERT Friday, Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 22, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 23, 3:30 p.m.; Franklin Park Arts Center, 36441 Blueridge View Lane Purcellville.

Details: franklinparkartscenter.org The pre-professional dancers from the Loudoun School of Ballet will perform a mixed contemporary repertoire. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for children, students and seniors.

LUCKETTS BLUEGRASS: BIG COUNTRY BLUEGRASS Saturday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m.; Lucketts Community Center, 42361 Lucketts Road, Leesburg. Details: luckettsbluegrass.org

WATERFORD CONCERT SERIES: ZEPHYROS WINDS Sunday, Oct. 23, 4 p.m.; Waterford Old School, 40222 Fairfax Street, Waterford. Details: waterfordconcertseries. org The young musicians from this North Carolina-based wind quintet have garnered raves for their skill, passion and élan. Tickets are $30 for adults, $15 for students and free for children 12 and younger.

TRICK OR TREAT MURDER MYSTERY Sunday, Oct. 23, 6 p.m., doors open, 6:30 p.m., performance begins; Bungalow Lakehouse, 46006 Lake Center Plaza, Cascades.

Details: stagecoachtc.com

MORE THINGS TO DO >> 30

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS | PUBLIC SAFETY | EDUCATION | OUR TOWNS | BIZ | LOCO LIVING | CLASSIFIEDS | OPINION

THOMAS BALCH TALK: OPENING DOORS TO LEESBURG’S HISTORY

Lucketts Bluegrass continues its 43rd season with hard-driving Galax-style tunes from these Rebel Records artists. Tickets are $15 at the door.

25 at locations in Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

LOCO CULTURE

loudounnow.com

30 loudounnow.com

Family Dental

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[ THINGS DO DO ] << FROM 29 StageCoach Theatre Company presents its latest murder mystery—a seasonally themed performance centered around the return to the stage of three famous magicians. $60 ticket price includes dinner and the show. Tickets are $58 and include dinner. Advance reservations are required.

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

Brian Cochran and his staff at hran Family Dental are mitted to providing a comprehensive dental office FALL FUN a caring and gentle style that will serve most all ofSHOCKTOBER Friday, Oct. 21 and Saturday, Oct. 22, family’s dental needs under one roof. Insurance 7-10 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 23, 7-9 p.m.

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te at: TheLeesburgVADentist.com Direct from our newsroom to your mailbox.

Loudoun Now is mailed to 34,000 homes and businesses in selected ZIP codes each week. If you do not receive the newspaper in the mail, you may purchase a subscription.

The cost is $39 per 52 issues.

For addresses outside Virginia, the cost is $50.

To get the paper delivered every week, visit loudounnow.com/subscribe Or mail this form to with your check to:

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Loudoun Now PO Box 207 Leesburg, VA 20178

live music by Liquid A, beer gardens and festival food. This year, a team from Food Network’s “Halloween Wars”

Courtesy of Village of Leesburg

will demo extreme pumpkin carving.

Trick-or-treating starts at 3 p.m., followed by a parade.

COMMUNITY CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND SAFETY FAIR Saturday, Oct. 22, 10 a.m.-noon, Community Lutheran Church, 21014 Whitfield Place, Sterling.

Contact: ckcpdirector@gmail.com.

CLC, in partnership with Safe Kids Fairfax County and Saving Loudoun’s Littles, hosts an event dedicated to car seat safety, featuring car seat inspections and installation demos, a presentation from Sterling Volunteer Fire and Rescue and a car seat raffle.

HAMILTON FIREHOUSE CHILI COOK-OFF Sunday, Oct. 23, 1-4 p.m.; Harmony Hall. 39041 E. Colonial Highway, Hamilton. Details: hamiltonfire.org

MORE THINGS TO DO >> 31

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[ THINGS DO DO ] The public is invited to sample and vote on western Loudoun’s best firehouse chili. Event also features bowls of house chili, side dishes, raffles and prizes. Tickets are $5 for adults, $2 for children.

Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams.

Tickets are $35 at the door, $40 in advance.

NIGHTLIFE

ASHBURN’S GOT TALENT FINAL ROUND Saturday, Oct. 22, 6-9 p.m.; Blend Coffee Bar, 43170 Southern Walk Plaza, Ashburn. Details: blendcoffeebar.com Find out which talented musician will take the title at Blend’s inaugural talent competition benefiting two local nonprofits. Admission is free, and spectators can purchase tickets for $1 to vote for their favorite.

RIVERSIDE HAUNTED HOUSE AND BATTLE OF THE BANDS

SLIPPERY WHEN WET BON JOVI TRIBUTE

The Riverside High School’s Peer, Art and Drama departments join forces with the freshman class to put on an annual Haunted House during the day and a Ghouls of Rock Battle of the Bands starting at 7 p.m. The Haunted House will take place 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; entry fee is $15 and includes pumpkin and gourd painting, face painting, a costume contest, and fall games. At 7 p.m., the Ghouls of Rock Battle of the Bands will feature six bands. Admission is $5 at the door.

Frontman Jason Morey takes advantage of his resemblance to the ’80s icon—and his musical skills—to create a high-energy, fun-filled show. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.

Courtesy of Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams

Thursday, Oct. 20, 8:30 p.m.; Tally Ho Theatre, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg.

Details: tallyholeesburg.com Dobro master and 13-time Grammy winner, Jerry Douglas is known as a freewheeling, forward-thinking recording artist whose music incorporates elements of bluegrass, county, rock, jazz, blues and Celtic. He is joined by

Saturday, Oct. 22, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Riverside High School, 19019 Upper Belmont Place, Leesburg.

Details: lcps.org/riverside

Courtesy of John Kadlecik

LOUDOUN FALLS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

THE JOHN KADLECIK BAND

Monday, Oct. 24, 6-9 p.m.; Shoe’s Cup & Cork, 17 N. King St., Leesburg.

Details: uuloudoun.org

Friday, Oct. 21, 8:30 p.m.; Tally Ho Theatre, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg.

Details: tallyholeesburg.com Kadlecik is a DC-based singer/songwriter and musician known for his work with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead in the band Furthur and for co-founding the Dark Star Orchestra. Tickets are $16 in advance, $20 day of show.

Courtesy of The Hooten Hallers

LIVE MUSIC: THE HOOTEN HALLERS Saturday, Oct. 22, 8 p.m.; Smokehouse Live, 1602 Village Market Blvd., Leesburg.

Details: smokehouse-live.com

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Loudoun hosts an evening with music, food, art and community under the stars celebrating social justice activist causes of Loudoun. Tickets are $25 and include appetizers, two drinks and music. Advance tickets are available at eventbrite. com

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS | PUBLIC SAFETY | EDUCATION | OUR TOWNS | BIZ | LOCO LIVING | CLASSIFIEDS | OPINION

Saturday, Oct. 22, 8:30 p.m.; Tally Ho Theatre, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg.

Details: tallyholeesburg.com

LIVE MUSIC: JERRY DOUGLAS WITH LARRY CAMPBELL AND TERESA WILLIAMS

The Columbia, MO-based rock, blues and soul band is known for raucous live shows and a devotion to American roots music. No cover.

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

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32

[OBITUARIES] Arrangements By: Lyles Funeral Service

Ezzat F. Gargas departed this life on of Purcellville, Virginia

October 13, 2016 at Arlington Hospital Funeral Services were held on Sunday, October 16, 2016 at 1:00 pm with the viewing at 12:15pm at St. Moses Coptic Orthodox Church, Ashburn, VA. Interment at Ketoctin Cemetery, Purcellville, VA. Arrangements By: Lyles Funeral Service of Purcellville, Virginia.

Stanley V. Johnson, Jr. departed this life on May 22, 2016 at Loudoun Hospital Center. Interment Service was held on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at Arlington Cemetery, Arlington Va.

Ethel Virginia Smith departed this life on Oct. 13, 2016 at her residence. She leaves to mourn her daughters- Edith M. Basil of Alexandria, VA and Mary Elizabeth Bennett of Purcellville, VA. SisterHestell Page of Forrestville, MD formerly of Purcellville, VA. 3 Grandchildren, 7 Great Grandchildren, 2 Great Great Grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends.

Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 11:00 am with viewing at 10:00 am at First Mount Olive Baptist Church, 216 Loudoun Street,

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Leesburg, VA 20175. Interment is at Grace Annex United Methodist Church, Cemetery, Lincoln, VA. Arrangements

by Lyles Funeral Service of Purcellville, Virginia.

Patricia Ann Summers departed this life on October 15, 2016 at Inova Fairfax Hospital She leaves to mourn her husband John W. Summers, Sr. of Middleburg, VA (4) children- John W. Summers Jr. (Jackie) of Manassas, VA, Darryl A. Summers of Manassas, VA, Rhonda A. Summers of Oxon Hill, MD, Roderick A. Summers (Harriett) of Leesburg, VA. (1)SisterDarlene Williams (Leroy) of Oxon Hill, MD and (1) Brother – Douglas Lewis (Lillie) of Round Hill, VA. (6) Grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends.

Funeral Services will be held on Friday, October 21, 2016 at 11:am with the viewing at 10:00 am at First Mount Olive Bap

tist Church, 216 Loudoun Street, Leesburg, VA 20175. Internment at Mt. Olive Baptist Church Cemetery, Lincoln, VA. Arrangements By: Lyles Funeral Service of Purcellville, Virginia.

To Place an Obituary, Memoriam, or Death Notice

Contact: Lindsay Morgan (703) 770-9723

lmorgan@loudounnow.com

Crossword

33

Experienced Snow Plow Drivers Wanted

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• Coffee shop experience is a necessity.

• Beer knowledge a plus.

• Located in Leesburg.

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Must have valid drivers license.

Must be able to lead crews on various jobs, as well as work along side them. Salary commensurate with experience. Possible insurance allowance after 6 months.

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Bus Driver Wanted Bus Driver position at Loudoun Country Day School, approximately 20-25 hours perweek plus field trips.

Position includes benefits.

Must have a Class B CDL License and interstate classification.

Please call Joe Kaylor at (703)777-3841 or email inquiries to Joe.Kaylor@lcds.org.

In Print & Online One Low Price Email: classifieds@loudounnow.com to place your employment ad

Yard Sale One Day Only / Moving Sale Nice house/Nice neighborhood second time around basement sale, some old and some new items. High end living room furniture and table ensemble/Dining Room Buffet. Garage refrigerator,ladder, air compressor, hoses, out door landscape lights and printers, computer monitors, Home Goods type items, decorative pots, books, comforters and pillows..pretty much anything you can think of. Bring your truck, first come first serve. Cash only!!

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540-668-9005

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

Employment

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34

Resource Directory BARBER SHOP

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35

HOME IMPROVEMENT

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WINDOW CLEANING Chesapeake Potomac Window Cleaning Co.

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703.963.1619

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Improving Homes In Loudoun Since 1995

[ OPINION ]

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

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36

Your Chance Early next month, as our attention turns away from the election battles, county leaders will kick off the public participation element of the county’s comprehensive plan rewrite.

Dubbed “Envision Loudoun,” the 18-month-long program will lay out the policies to guide the community’s development over the next couple of decades. Work that was done in similar exercises in the early 1990s and again in the early 2000s is largely responsible for the Loudoun we enjoy today. The still-open countryside, a fairly functional road network, the emergence of multi-use town centers, and rail service to Ashburn are among today’s features that can be traced back to the debates of those eras.

What will it be like to live in Loudoun in 2040? That is what this new discussion is all about.

The question leading into those public forums is an important one: Will anyone show up?

Here are some reasons you should: There is a loud data center being built next to my home. I hate sitting in traffic on Waxpool Road. I want to build a brewery on my farm but my neighbors don’t want me to. My neighbors want to open a country inn, but I don’t want them to. I want my kids to be able to live nearby. I want to be able to retire here affordably.

I want more things to do locally with my family.

There are hundreds of other daily quality-of-life issues that will be influenced by the work that will be done around planning tables in the months ahead.

Planners are pitching Envision Loudoun as a once-ina-generation opportunity to put your finger prints on the county’s future. It can be if you care enough to join the effort.

Share Your Views Loudoun Now welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should include the name, address and phone number of the writer and should be a maximum of 500 words. Letters may be sent by email to letters@ loudounnow.com or by mail to PO Box 207, Leesburg, VA 20178.

LoudounNow

Published by Amendment One Loudoun, LLC 15 N. King St., Suite 101 • Leesburg, VA, 20176 PO Box 207 • Leesburg, VA 20178 703-770-9723 Norman K. Styer Editor nstyer@loudounnow.com

Contributors Leah Fallon Jan Mercker

Danielle Nadler Managing Editor dnadler@loudounnow.com

Advertising Director Susan Styer sstyer@loudounnow.com

Margaret Morton Senior Writer mmorton@loudounnow.com Renss Greene, Reporter rgreene@loudounnow.com Kara C. Rodriquez, Reporter krodriguez@loudounnow.com Douglas Graham, Photographer dgraham@loudounnow.com

Display Advertising Tonya Harding Katie Lewis Classified Manager Lindsay Morgan lmorgan@loudounnow.com Production Electronic Ink Leesburg, VA 20175

[ LETTERS ] Inferior Editor: There is no way that Crescent Parke should be built. This development has too many important outstanding issues to be allowed to built.

Traffic is always a problem here in Leesburg. Crescent Parke is just inviting more traffic to a part to town that is already experiencing rapid increase in traffic on Harrison Street and Gateway Drive. Many of us are house-bound between three and six each afternoon, but those council members who vote for Crescent Parke will be demonstrating they don’t care about the residents that live here now. It is all about what is best for the developer.

Some members of this council seem to believe that all development is good development. Not so. The impacts will be felt sooner than later. The schools will be impacted. This is a school area that was just involved in very controversial boundary changes because of overcrowding. Town services will be constrained even further by the massive increase in residential housing.

The developer is asking for a parking waiver so the people in the direct area can expect parking problems on Gateway Drive. Clear cutting the hill will result in huge loss of forest.

The “gift” of Old Izaak Walton Park should be viewed as little more than a bribe. Not only will the park be given to the town, but this developer is going to maintain the pond for two years. Of course, let us not forget that the developer needs to do this as it benefits his development’s viewshed and increases his property value.

So if you take out the park, what is good about this housing development? The town gets more density—a plethora of two-over-two townhouses—a majority of townhouses narrowing from 20 feet wide to 16 feet, and an “active adult” grouping of stacked townhouses built over retail. Further,

with all this housing, the developer is asking for less residential parking. Nifty, on-street parking for all those cars trucks and trailers aiding and abetting the congestion on Gateway Drive and Davis Avenue. With this development only 12 percent of the commercial is guaranteed. So we get more townhouses, insignificant amount of commercial building and additional tax costs to service the new development.

Walkability is not a valued component of this development.

Leesburg can do better. I plead with the town council members to really look at this development and don’t allow you to be fooled. If you, council members, are willing to accept inferior development, inferior is what you will get.

Remember that it is the existing Leesburg residents that vote and many of us will not be voting for those who approve Crescent Parke.

– Sara Gallagher, Leesburg

Show Up Editor: Two weeks ago, it was reported that another increase in capacity at Dominion Power’s Loudoun Compressor station, located south of Leesburg, is needed for the utility’s proposed natural gas Eastern Market Access, EMA, project. Last week, Dominion Power invited Loudoun to an upcoming informational Open House about EMA. The description/rationale for the project, found at dom.com/easternmarket, lists several Customer Benefits, all of which are false.

Claim #1: “Cleaner air and more reliable energy.” Although natural gas burns cleaner than coal, natural gas/ methane pollutes the air more than coal power plants. This is because of unintended, “fugitive emissions” all along the natural gas/methane exLETTERS >> 37

[ LETTERS ] ing residential communities in other regions. What reduction in Loudoun home value should be anticipated with the proposed compression increase?

Loudoun, show up. It’s important.

– Natalie Pien, Leesburg

Vision Editor: Last weekend, we witnessed what vision, creativity, and coordination can produce. The success of the painted barrel project/auction is further validation that vision often precedes provision.

We thank Michael Oaks for his vision and strategic planning in advancing this project. With minimal taxpayers’ financing, this project raised over $35,000 in a single setting.

We thank the artists and the Purcellville Art Council for their selfless commitment in producing the finished products that promoted our businesses as well as Purcellville and western Loudoun county art.

We also thank the members of our Economic Development Advisory Committee for their coordination in successfully advancing this project.

With this successful effort, EDAC has provided us with a model for creativity, visioning, planning, and implementation that we will utilize for future projects.

A Gem Editor: The Piano Store is a gem across the street from the Loudoun County Government Center.

Can you imagine that the great Fazioli piano, the world’s best pianoforte, can be viewed locally in Leesburg.

The largest grand in the world is in this shop—well covered and not to be played by visitors, but to be viewed.

When major pianists appear at the Kennedy Center, where do they go for this giant of an industry to rent, The Piano Store, of course.

I found this shop of shops the other night when I was invited by Mayor Dave Butler to meet the charming Bob Purdon, who graciously gave me a tour of the myriad pianos housed in the shop. As an honorary board member of the Loudoun Symphony, I have seen the best pianos and organs worldwide, opened my eyes to this gem in our backyard. This must be viewed as a tourist attraction.

Of course, everything is for sale and I encourage youngsters to get with it, a piano awaits you. If you visit, please monitor your youngster as the pianos are not toys but a sensitive instrument and need loving fingers.

— Norman Duncan, Ashburn

– Mayor Kwasi Fraser, Purcellville

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LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS | PUBLIC SAFETY | EDUCATION | OUR TOWNS | BIZ | LOCO LIVING | CLASSIFIEDS | OPINION

traction and delivery chain as well as deliberate emissions from “venting” as experienced here in Loudoun earlier this month. Dominion touts natural gas/methane as a bridge fuel in the transition to renewable sources of energy, but scientists debunked this myth years ago.

As for reliability, distributed renewable energy from installations on homes, businesses, schools, or military bases is much less vulnerable to failure or attack than centralized energy from power plants.

Claim #2: “Economic benefits for customers.” Natural gas/methane is not, as Dominion describes, reliable.

Only clean renewable sources such as wind, sun, and geothermal are. Unlike renewables that will never run out, non-renewable fossil fuels like natural gas will. In fact, fracked gas production wells typically only produce for a few, very short years.

Claim #3: “Energy Independence through natural gas.” Exporting fracked natural gas does not achieve energy independence. The EMA project does not disclose the fact that Dominion plans to export gas traveling through Loudoun. For the Cove Point LNG Export Facility now under construction in Lusby, MD, Dominion’s permit application Docket No. CP13-113-000 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, specifies that: “gas re-

ceived at the Loudoun M&R site will flow directly to the Pleasant Valley site, where the gas will be compressed at the Pleasant Valley Compressor Station for further downstream transportation to the Cove Point Terminal.”

Residents and supervisors are urged to attend Dominion’s Open House, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Sycolin Creek Elementary School, 21100 Evergreen Mills Road near Leesburg. Dominion owes Loudoun residents answers to many questions including, but not limited to: • What percentage of natural gas passing through the Loudoun M and R site will be exported at the Cove Point LNG export terminal?

• What impact will exporting natural gas have on domestic natural gas prices and supplies?

• Other communities report human health impacts from exposure to natural gas/methane. Since methane will be released by routine venting/blowdowns and fugitive emissions leakage, what is the safe level of exposure?

• When safe levels are exceeded, how will Dominion respond?

• At what concentration does methane in downwind air become explosive?

• Is there downwind monitoring of methane concentration? If so, who monitors and to whom is the data reported?

• Compressor stations have lowered the property values of the surround-

Oct. 20 – 26, 2016

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37

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38

[ OPINION ]

Sending the Wrong Message Danielle Nadler’s coverage on the screening of Chasing the Dragon, follows plenty of reports of the epidemic of hard drug abuse in Loudoun. Leesburg hosted the Drug Enforcement Agency’s traveling exhibit on the price of drug addiction while candlelight vigils demand attention of this creeping threat to our community. No family is immune from the trap that is addiction.

Yet, in the very midst of this horror is astonishing duplicity. In August, the Department of Justice issued a notice on the president’s recent granting of commutations in what the media characterized as “low level” and “non-violent” drug offenders. Such phraseology conjures up images of some kid making a one-time bad choice, or a low-level dealer selling a dime bag of weed as the victims of overzealous mandatory sentencing guidelines.

I support reform in nearly every aspect of government, including sentencing. However, the 214 individuals on the president’s Aug. 3 commutation list edges on unbelievable.

Far from being low-level offenders, 74 of these people were convicted of selling more than 50 grams of meth, heroin, crack, cocaine, ecstasy, pharmaceuticals, and other drugs.

Think of 50 kids in your child’s school—then imagine each of those faces with a gram of meth on Friday afternoon. Saturday, too. And next Friday as well. This get-out-jail list includes multiple dealers slinging more than 500 grams of meth. One was pushing 12 kilos of cocaine; that’s 12,000 grams. How many high school kids are in Loudoun? One individual, convicted of 1,000 kilos of weed might seem the winner, but he’s nothing compared to the guy from Houston popped with just over 4,500 kilos. The grand champion (at least on the Aug. 3 list) is a man from Miami who was working on an amazing 9,445 kilo cocaine deal. At about 10 tons, it would fill up most living rooms floor to ceiling. Hardly the small-time fish we were told in the 15-second mention on the news.

And it gets worse. One individual on the list wasn’t involved in drugs.

He was a straight up felon in possession of a firearm. He lied about his status in obtaining the gun. He gets out of jail in December. Nor is he alone. Fifty-three others on the list were convicted of federal firearms charges while engaged in dealing drugs. Some used the illegal firearm in their case. A few had obliterated the serial numbers and others were fugitives in possession of a firearm.

One even had an unregistered National Firearms Act gun (machine gun or sawed off shotgun, likely).

Drug dealers with illegal guns … just what parents want hanging around.

The overwhelming majority of these individuals will be walking out of prison on Dec. 1 with the rest to follow soon.

We are cautioned, lectured, informed, and hold candles on this

issue, and yet at the exact same time, the president is releasing the very people who have shown that our kids are nothing more than profit centers, and all laws are meaningless.

What message do these releases send to the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to get these people out of society? How do we face them and demand action all while catch and release is the order of the day from high up? Why should we expect them to risk life and limb? How do we explain this dichotomy to ourselves? To our children?

The release of gun offenders clearly demonstrates the intellectual bankruptcy of self-proclaimed “gun safety” groups. Not a single one, anywhere, has raised a whisper about violent criminal gun offenders being put back on our streets by the president. While they’re quick with the sanctimonious bullying for further restrictions on the civil rights of law-abiding citizens, reality reveals them to be nothing more than fake front groups in the pay of dictatorial billionaires. They don’t care about you or your family regardless of which phony cloth they drape over themselves. They’re just cashing a check in order to fraudulently restrict your basic civil liberties.

Town councilman Marty Martinez rightfully indicated disgust that “every seat in the auditorium wasn’t filled” for the screening. He grasps the level of assault on the decent quality of life we are facing as a community. Hopefully, he will direct some of his anger at those who feign concern with this plague, all while emptying the prisons of hundreds of big time drug dealers, meth lab cooks, and gun criminals on to our very streets.

Is there redemption? We should all hope so. But with recidivism rates what they are, it’s not unreasonable to assume many of these felons will get back to the work they know best.

On Aug. 30, President Obama commutated the sentences of another 111 individuals—his 14th such action. A quick glance looks like more of the same. More emptying of prisons, more chest thumping about rights and fairness, and in the end, more violent criminals back on the streets to prey upon our families.

– Chris Manthos Leesburg

Bus driver shortage << FROM 1 resigned or retired.

In the past two years, 203 bus drivers, substitute drivers, trainers and attendants have left, according to the school system. In that time, 132 have been hired on.

Jennifer O’Dell, who has been driving buses in Loudoun for about 13 years, said the pay, the rising cost of insurance and an overall feeling that she and her colleagues are not appreciated has her looking for other jobs.

“They’ve given us fliers to recruit people,” she said. “No, I can’t recruit people—not in good conscience.”

Smaller Pay Checks For a majority of drivers, the pay increases the School Board has approved in recent years has not kept pace with increasing health care costs and required contributions to the Virginia Retirement System.

Sandy Ashby, a Loudoun school bus driver for 39 years, was brought to tears when asked about her job earlier this week. “I love it. I really do love it.

But it’s becoming harder to stay.”

She showed Loudoun Now a pay stub from September 2006 and a pay stub from this month. She brings home $90 less per month now. “Meanwhile, everything else becomes more expensive. People can’t afford to live on that.”

Stacey Ahmed said she’s also taking home less per pay check than when she was first hired 10 years ago. “I get up at 5 in the morning to drive the most precious cargo in Loudoun County, and this is how we’re treated,” she said. “The kids’ smiles make the job worth it, but the disrespect we are given is so sad.”

Both Ashby and Ahmed have opted for the more expensive of two health care options. The school system used to subsidize the costlier plan, called Point of Service, so that employees paid the same premiums no matter which of the plans they chose. The School Board changed that in 2013 when it was faced with finding several million dollars in savings. It’s estimated the change has saved the school system $8 million a year. Employees who switched to the less expensive Open Access Plus plan actually have lower premiums, but premiums went up for those who stayed on the costlier POS plan.

The family plan Ahmed has costs $2,079.84 per month. The school system covers $1,479.34 and she pays $600.50. Her office visit co-pays will rise to $50 come January. “When I first started, I was paying less than $300 a month for a family of five and co-pays were $5,” she said.

It’s a similar story for 13-year driver O’Dell, of Sterling Park, whose take home pay is less than $200 a week.

Just more than $300 of her bi-weekly paycheck goes to the POS health care plan. She said she opts for the more expensive option because her husband is border line diabetic and has high blood pressure. “Heaven forbid something happens. I’d rather have it covered rather than trying to figure out how to pay another bill,” she said.

A few years ago, as the School Board looked for more savings in its budget, it floated the idea of cutting health care

benefits for part-time employees. But Lewis told them that would exclude most bus drivers from benefits, and as it is, the division has a hard time attracting enough drivers. In 2014, the board instead adopted a new policy that employees must work at least 21 hours a week to qualify for health care benefits. How much the employee pays for coverage is now on a sliding scale, based on how many hours an employee works per week.

Lack of Respect, Lack of Accountability The Loudoun Education Association received so many complaints from bus drivers this year that in May it formed a transportation caucus with the goal of better communicating concerns and possible solutions with school system administrators. The association is an advocacy group for the county’s school employees, and about half of the county’s 600 bus drivers are members.

“The words they use to describe how they feel are ‘second class citizens,’” said Christy Sullivan, UniServ director at the LEA. “They feel like they are the lowest on the totem pole and they’re trying to dig themselves out of the dirt.

I’m not sure the school division is taking this serious yet.”

LEA received a slew of complaints from drivers and others in the Transportation Department after C-4 explosive material was discovered on a school bus at the school system’s main garage in March following a CIA training exercise. Sullivan said employees were told to stay on site while a bomb squad swept the facility.

“Any other worksite or school would’ve been evacuated,” Sullivan said. Some of the employees who were told to stay put were military veterans battling PTSD, she added. “Now they’re sitting between bomb material and fuel tanks being told you can’t leave. We had people quit over that. They’re in therapy. They could not walk back in that building.”

Another frustration for veteran drivers was the recent news that the retirement bonus for longtime drivers that was once $5,000 had been cut in half.

“It’s one thing on top of another and now they wonder why they can’t hire anybody,” Sullivan said.

Several employees said that some of the more senior drivers were fired or forced to retire in recent years, as the directors in charge changed and looked to trim budgets.

Danielle McGuinn drove a bus for Loudoun schools for 15 years before she was fired in June 2015. She said she had a perfect driving record and not one complaint from a parent. Alvin Hampton, transportation director for 13 years, visited her bus twice to thank her in person for a job well done.

Months after he retired in September 2014, McGuinn’s evaluations stated that she was not meeting job requirements and she was let go at the end of the school year.

McGuinn listed the names of eight other veteran drivers who she said were fired or pressured to retire that same year. Several declined requests for an interview from Loudoun Now for fear of retribution.

McGuinn said that she’s not speakBUS DRIVER SHORTAGE >> 39

39

<< FROM 1

<< FROM 38

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

A Loudoun County bus drives through heavy fog.

School Board member Eric DeKenipp (Catoctin) saw firsthand what’s prompting some of the complaints from bus drivers and families when he rode a school bus last Wednesday. He boarded the bus at 7:15 a.m. in Taylorstown and arrived at Woodgrove High

responded to the call. And so far this month, eight new hires have entered the training program, which takes four to six weeks to complete.

In an interview Tuesday, Lewis listed specific changes he plans to recommend for next fiscal year’s budget in hopes of attracting and retaining drivers. He and Brown will likely propose changes to the salary structure, the benefits packages and the length of the contract day for new hires.

“We need to make driving for LCPS more attractive,” he said.

That means creating an atmosphere of mutual respect, he added. “Our goal is to showcase the profession and let our drivers know how important they are and how much we appreciate what they do every day.” dnadler@loudounnow.com

loudounnow.com

Solving the Problem

School at 8:44 a.m.

“It was an hour and a half—and that was on a morning without traffic or any accidents. These kids are arriving late at school, and that’s concerning,” he said. “Apparently, it’s worse in the afternoon.”

DeKenipp recently met with new Transportation Director Michael Brown to tell him that he needs to let the School Board know what it will take to fix the problem. He realizes that improvements will likely take more money, but he is willing to make it a priority when budget talks begin in January.

“We’ve got to hear from them what the needs are. These parents aren’t asking for much; they’re asking to get their kids to school in under an hour. At the end of the day their concerns are all valid,” he said. “There are solutions. We all need to work together to make sure we solve this problem.”

Brown recently sent an automated call to parents encouraging them to consider driving a bus, and 90 people

rgreene@loudounnow.com

ing up to get her job back; she makes more and works better hours now as a bookkeeper. But she wants to shine a light on the issue to help other drivers and Loudoun students who are ultimately effected. She said there needs to be accountability for transportation supervisors and a less subjective evaluation process.

“They are forcing people out on personal vendettas and it’s going unchecked,” McGuinn said. “Parents are calling, they’re frustrated, and not one of them knows they fired some of their best drivers.”

Lewis said he could not speak to specific personnel issues, but said there is no truth to any claims that drivers were let go to save money. “No one has ever been removed from a position based on trying to reduce the budget. … Our focus has been to get drivers in the seats.”

a person appear guilty even if they’re not.”

The pressures of an interrogation room, she said, can often lead to false confessions from people with disabilities. Paxton Campus helps officers learn how to ask open-ended questions and check for comprehension, for example.

She’s seen results at her own organization. She told a story of a bus from Paxton Campus taking two students home when one became aggressive toward the other while the bus was moving. The bus driver pulled over and called the police. One of the responding officers had CIT training, and knew how to calm things down.

“If you had a different officer, who hadn’t been CIT trained, they might be trying to arrest the person who aggressed, instead of understanding that it was a manifestation of their disability, that it wasn’t their intention to hurt the other person,” Heifetz said. “These kinds of situations happen all the time.”

“That’s what I hear from a lot of the deputies I have trained that have been very seasoned deputies,” Cerniglia said. “They wish that they would have had this training 20 years ago.”

After the suicides of several Loudoun teenagers, Cerniglia plans to adjust her program in 2017 to teach deputies how to deal with children and teenagers, who also may react differently.

She said things have changed from the days of Dragnet and Hawaii Five-O, with their stern, unapproachable cops and “just the facts, ma’am.”

“I learned when I worked midnight shift in a very, very active community that I had to be able to talk to people and slow things down, because my backup could be quite a few minutes away,” Cerniglia said. “So if I come in rushing things, you’re going to go hands-on at some point. So it’s more like, if you set up trust and rapport with people, that’s the key.”

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Bus driver shortage

“I met with (Emergency Mental Health Supervisor) Beth Flaherty, and she and I spoke with the subject for probably four hours,” Holben said. “We were finally able to get him on board for services that he needed.”

That person was provided housing, which came with treatment guidelines.

“He’s been in the county services for probably a year and a half now, and over that time, the calls for service regarding that particular individual have greatly reduced,” Holben said. “Once every three months we might get a call.”

That change in philosophy—taking hours on one call to save daily visits in the future—is a big part of the adjustment for officer, Holben said.

“A lot of the times we wouldn’t take the additional effort to actually take them down to mental health and sit and have a meeting on how we can come up with a long-term solution,” Holben said. “We have other calls for service that are waiting and stacking up, and lots of times it’s, get through one call and get to the next. With CIT, it’s really showing us the importance of taking our time on these calls so it’s a long-term solution.”

Melissa Heifetz, administrative director of ALLY Advocacy Center at Paxton Campus, said Paxton helps deputies learn how to communicate, how to deescalate, how to reach a caregiver, and some common characteristics of autism, among other things. A person caught up with law enforcement or the criminal justice system can quickly get themselves into deeper trouble, she said. Paxton Campus’s Positive Interactions with Law Enforcement initiative also helps train Paxton students how to interact with law enforcement where possible, given the students’ disabilities.

“Many times, people with disabilities really want to please authority figures, so if you’re interrogating someone, they’re trying to tell you the right answer, what they think you want to hear,” Heifetz said. “If you repeat the question, they may give a different answer the second time. Rarely will they say ‘I don’t know,’ that’s a very abstract concept. Things like that will make

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

officer contemplating suicide.

Cerniglia, a hostage negotiator, came to head the CIT program after years working as a field officer, in the county’s gang unit, and as the sergeant of the school resource officers.

“Even working with the gang community, I learned very quickly, if you just treat them with respect—don’t agree with the crime—you’ll get more information,” Cerniglia said. “I got a lot of informants that way. It’s all about listening and communication.”

The CIT program turned four years old this week. The program launched amid a spate of police shootings in Loudoun. Three people were killed by local law enforcement agencies in Loudoun in less than a year in 2014, including 17-year old Christian Sierra, who was struggling with depression and threatening suicide. When Sierra started cutting himself at a friend’s house, the friend called the police. Sierra fled, and Virginia State Police said Sierra ignored commands to stop and advanced on a Purcellville police officer, who shot the teen four times in the chest.

The Sheriff ’s Office is still awaiting a State Police report concerning an Aug. 5 case in which a deputy responding to a domestic violence call fatally shot a man who allegedly advanced on him with a knife. The family said the man suffered from mental illness.

The sheriff ’s office says more than 237 deputies—over 60 percent of the total force, including in court security and the jail—and every dispatcher has received CIT training. Sheriff Mike Chapman says he hopes to train every deputy in the next two years.

“The way we were responding to the community wasn’t always in a positive way,” Cerniglia said. “More like jumping to conclusions. And it’s also a national response now that we’re seeing, where we in law enforcement may not have made the right choices at the right time; where if we would have had the training, things would have turned out

differently.”

“For example, when you encounter an autistic person who may not respond to commands, it’s not because they’re being defiant—it’s because they have autism,” Chapman said.

Crisis Intervention Team training is a weeklong, 40-hour course including classroom instruction; role play exercises; and site visits to Inova Loudoun Behavioral Services, the county’s homeless shelter, Boulder Crest Retreat, Paxton Campus, and the county Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Developmental Services.

Cerniglia was recently awarded international certification by Crisis Intervention Team International, making her one of only 80 people in the world to hold that certification. The National Alliance on Mental Illness named her CIT Deputy of the Year in 2014.

All that to steer people with mental illnesses toward appropriate resources instead of jail, and to keep a tense situation from becoming violent if it doesn’t have to.

“I always use the example of somebody who has dementia, and they end up going to the wrong house, and they enter,” Cerniglia said. “Well, there’s no criminal intent, so what we’re trying to do is actually stop them from going into the jail for very, very minor offenses, but get them to resources that Loudoun has to offer.”

Loudoun Sheriff ’s Deputy First Class Jaime Holben, a CIT instructor, said the training has “absolutely” made a difference in his field work.

“You can really use this training anywhere, on any call that you go on, just from the communication skills that you learn,” Holben said. He recalled an interaction he had with a man with schizophrenia. Deputies would be called to his house daily, if not more often—either by him, who suffers severe delusions, or by people in the area who saw him wandering onto dangerous roads or would report him as a suspicious person. Holben managed to talk the man into meeting with Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Services staff.

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Crisis training

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