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The New Agrarians
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Middleburg’s Only Locally Owned and Operated Newspaper
Volume 9 Issue 3
www.mbecc.com
Upperville Horse Show
Page 16
June 28, 2012 ~ July 26, 2012
Budgets, Bears and Salamander
A
Daniel Morrow
t its regular June meeting Middleburg Town Council formally adopted a budget totaling nearly $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2013. At the same meeting Police Chief A.J. Panebianco confirmed that a black bear had been sighted within the Town limits. The Budget The new budget ordinance sets tax rates, and projects income and expenses for the Town through June 30, 2013 of $2,970, 820. General Fund expenses, covering normal operations of the town including its Police Force, totaled $1956,949. Just over $892,671 will be spent to operate and maintain the Town’s utility system. Costs for the operation of the Health C e n t e r, a townowned building that serves as both Police Headquarters and a source of rental income from other tenants, ac-
counted for the remaining $121, 200. Projected expenses are $479,000 higher than last year. Most of the increase, according to the Town Administrator, covers improvements in the intersection of Marshall and Madison Streets, and the completion of the Middleburg Meandering Trail, a long awaited a scenic and safe pedestrian path circumnavigating the village. Real Estate Taxes were increased to $0.20 per $100 of assessed value, a rate designed to produce roughly the same amount of revenue as last year in the face of declining real estate values. All other taxes and fees were left unchanged. The Town projects a 6% increase in water and sewer revenues for the new fiscal year. The timing and amount of a projected increase in water/sewer rates awaits completion of a new study, designed to determine how much water actually flows through the town’s purification and treatment systems over the course of a year. Bears After several sightings of black bear on the outskirts of Middleburg, Police Chief A. J. Panebianco confirmed that one had been sighted within Town limits. Black bears are generally shy creatures, but can be dangerous if approached or confronted. They are also very smart, and quickly learn to associate human housing with food: most often in the form of bird feeders (they love suet), garbage, food for pets and livestock, compost piles, and, of course, beehives. The Chief urged all citizens to report Continued Page 11
Huntland Horses Victorious at Devon and Upperville
B u s i n e s s Di r e c t o r y : Pa g e 1 5 • F r i e n d s f o r L i f e : Pa g e 2 8
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Middleburg Humane Foundation Page 4 Gala
and I feel very gratified that all my horses performed at their peak. It’s everything you can hope for. You certainly can never count on anything in this game. There are so many variables . When it all comes together like it did for us at Devon it really is very thrilling...” “None of this would be possible without a great team. Tim Boulton, Tori Colvin, Brigid Colvin, Scott Stewart , Hunt Tosh and Mandy Tosh. A special thanks to Tim for seeing to it that each horse is fit and ready to compete at their absolute best.” The Huntland team then moved on to the Upperville Colt and Horse Show and more or less did the same thing all over again: Six championships, one Reserve Championship and two Grand Championships. Dr. Parker’s Green working Hunter Listen was overall Grand Hunter Champion with Victoria Colvin and Inclusive won the Hunter Derby also with Victoria Colvin. It just doesn’t get any better.
POSTAL CUSTOMER
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hen Dr. Betsee Parker left to see her string of horses perform at the Devon Horse Show this year she probably had no idea that she was about to break a record for the number of Championships won by one owner in the history of the Devon Horse Show. This marvelous team of horses, riders and trainers accumulated five Championships, one Reserve Championship and two Grand Championships! The list included High Performance Working Hunter Championship, Regular Conformation Hunter Championship, Large Pony Hunter Championship, Grand Champion Pony Hunter, Grand Small Junior Working Hunter, Small Junior Working Hunter Champion younger rider,and Large Junior Working Hunter Champion younger rider. “It was very gratifying,” said Dr. Parker. “I’m so grateful to my team, they couldn’t have performed any better.” What was her reaction when told by the media that this had never been done before? “We really try to focus on the task at hand. Of course we want to do the very best we can do. In a way it’s an academic exercise for me. I do realize that it was an unusual accomplishment