Loudoun Now for Jan. 3, 2019 — 2019 Year in Review

LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE

[ Vol. 4, No. 7 ]

LoudounNow [ loudounnow.com ]

[ January 3, 2019 ]

2018 in Review

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www.loudounnow.com 2018 IN REVIEW

January 3, 2019

2

[ POLITICS ]

INSIDE

BY DANIELLE NADLER Democrat Jennifer Wexton’s win over incumbent Republican Barbara Comstock for the 10th District Congressional seat means voters will be asked to go to the polls again Tuesday, Jan. 8, to choose a candidate to serve the remaining 12 months in the state Senate seat that Wexton has held for five years.

Two people who have experience in Richmond are vying to represent the 33rd Senate District: Democrat Jennifer Boysko, currently a delegate representing the 86th District, and

Joe T. May, who served as the 33rd District delegate for 20 years. The seat was vacated by Wexton, who was sworn in this week as the new congresswoman for the 10th Congressional District after handedly beating Barbara Comstock in the November General Election.

Both Boysko and May are urging their supporters to take time to get to the polls next week. Wexton was elected to the Senate seat in 2014 also during a January special election, which saw just 16,337 voters—or 7.82 percent of those registered—turn out.

If turn out is low again next week, a

small minority will again choose the district’s next state senator.

The 33rd Senate District stretches from just north of Leesburg, south to Chantilly.

Saturday, Jan. 5 is the last day voters can cast an in-person absentee ballot at the Loudoun County Office of Elections, 750 Miller Dr. SE, Suite C, in Leesburg. The office is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Tuesday, Jan. 8, polls are open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Look up your polling place at Loudoun. gov/vote.

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A year of elections, controversy in Leesburg

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A landmark year for Loudoun’s schools

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Western towns do the leadership shuffle

January 3, 2019

Voters to Choose Next State Senator in Tuesday’s Special Election

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dnadler@loudounnow.com

Joe T. May, Republican

Virginia delegate since 2016, NARAL Pro Choice Virginia board member, former aide to Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust. jenniferboysko.com

Engineer, founder and owner of EIT LLC, Virginia delegate from 1994-2014. joemayforvirginia.com

After serving two years in the House of Delegates, Jennifer Boysko wants a chance to further her legislative priorities in the other chamber of the General Assembly.

Before Boysko won her seat in the state House, she worked on the staff of a U.S. Senator and as an aide to Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust. In those roles, she said she learned to work across the political aisle to accomplish goals for

Five years after Joe T. May left the General Assembly, he says he’s looking to return so he can continue his work on education, technology policy and, in particular, transportation.

May, 81, represented the 33rd House District in Richmond from 1994 to 2014. He served on some of the most influential committees, including the Appropriations Committee; the Science and Technology Commit-

BOYSKO >> 34

MAY >> 34

2019 IN REVIEW

Jennifer Boysko, Democrat

Wexton Goes to Washington: Leesburg’s Congresswoman-elect Ready to Work

BY RENSS GREENE

WEXTON >> 34

22

The year in photos

On the Cover Laura Anthony walks with her children along Williams Gap Road just an hour before it was paved over in September.

Historians believe George Washington and Load Fairfax rode their horses along the same roadbed to survey land in the Shenandoah Valley. The past year saw Loudoun County grapple with ushering in new development in the east while protecting the county’s rural west.

Photo by Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

www.loudounnow.com

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

After serving five years in the Virginia Senate, Jennifer T. Wexton this week begins a two-year term in the U.S. House of Repres entatives—the first Democrat to represent the 10th District since 1980.

At noon Thursday, Washington’s freshman class of members of Congress will officially go to work, but Loudoun’s newest federal representative is already busy getting ready.

State senator and Congresswoman-elect Jennifer T. Wexton (D-33, soon to be D-VA-10), of Leesburg, is the first Loudouner to represent the 10th Congressional District since Loudoun was drawn into the district in 1972 and the first Democrat since 1980. She will trade her office in Richmond for one on Capitol Hill as part of a new Democratic-majority House of Representatives.

“It’s been incredibly busy, going about the business of setting up and staffing our Capitol Hill office as well as two district offices,” Wexton said by email this week. “The biggest surprise has been how little guidance and how much autonomy each member is given in how we go about doing it. House administration gives us each a budget,

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County leaders and soccer fans gathered at Vanish Farmwoods Brewery near Lucketts in July to celebrate plans to bring D.C. United and its Loudoun United USL team to the county.

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2019 IN REVIEW

During 2018, the competition for Amazon’s HQ2 headquarters project dominated the business headlines.

While a Loudoun-based proposal made it to the final rounds in that selection process, it was Crystal City and New York that won sweepstakes.

Even without landing that project, it was still a banner year for Loudoun’s economic development team.

The data center industry opened the year in controversy as the Board of Supervisors approved construction of the 750,000-square-foot True North data

center complex on 106 wooded acres along Goose Creek and south of the Dulles Greenway over the objections of environmental groups.

That action was followed by a yearlong land rush on other vacant tracts by data center developers looking for construction locations in—or somewhere close to—Loudoun’s famed Data Center Alley as the rapid expansion of cloud computing drives the industry’s growth.

Three major deals transformed the industry landscape during the year.

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[ LOUDOUN GOV ]

2018 Made Way for State Park, Drug Court, New Leadership

BY RENSS GREENE

2018 IN REVIEW

County’s Budget Fortunes Swing After a banner budget year in fiscal year 2019, which began July 2018, the Board of Supervisors and county staff members are working on a much tougher budget year entering the new year.

In April, supervisors approved a $3.64 billion budget that included a 4-cent reduction in the county’s real estate tax rate; it was the first unanimous budget vote of the board’s term. That budget also sent $49.5 million more in local dollars to the school system than the previous fiscal year.

But this year, supervisors will face a number of budget pressures, not least fixing the county’s own staffing and pay scales, which have lagged behind as the county’s population has exploded, as recently detailed in a consultant study.

County Administrator Tim Hemstreet said the cost of implementing that classification and compensation study’s recommendations could be as much as all new spending approved in recent budget years. Hemstreet said this is expected to be “the most challenging budget” of the Board of Supervisors’ term.

The capital projects side of the budget is also feeling a squeeze. That budget, which deals major debt-funded construction projects like new roads and schools, is under pressure from climbing construction costs.

www.loudounnow.com

Transportation Costs Balloon in Capital Budget Loudoun’s years-long effort to fill the gap left by state transportation funding shortfalls passed a milestone in 2018, taking up more than 50 percent of the county’s six-year construction plan for the first time.

Loudoun is unusual among Virginia counties in the amount of money it spends on road projects—or in that it spends money on them at all. Roads are nominally a responsibility of the state government, but the previous Board of Supervisors decided the state wasn’t keeping up. Since then, Loudoun has dramatically ramped up its spending.

More than half of the county’s $2.4 billion six-year proposed plan, about $1.3 billion, is earmarked for transportation projects. That dwarfs the next biggest expenditure in the capital budget—school projects, at $484.3 million.

Supervisors have already begun preliminary work on the next county budget. Transportation projects will likely remain a major expenditure for the county for the foreseeable future.

Brower Retires, Johnson New Fire Chief Longtime Fire-Rescue Chief W. Keith Brower Jr., who served in

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) and School Board Chairman Jeff Morse (Dulles) at a presentation of the proposed fiscal year 2019 school budget in February.

Loudoun since volunteering as a 16-year-old in 1973, retired in March after 45 years of service.

Brower took over after the retirement of former Chief Joseph Pozzo in 2009. During his time, he oversaw the county’s transition from separate fire and rescue organizations into one of the largest combined fire and rescue systems in the state. He has overseen massive overhauls and changes to the system and has been a statewide advocate for better fire safety and fire codes.

In May, Acting Chief Keith Johnson took over the job permanently.

Johnson has served in Loudoun since 2014 when he joined as assistant chief of operations, shortly after the county reorganized its independent volunteer fire and rescue organizations and its career staff into one combined system.

As system chief, he helms an organization of nearly 700 full-time employees and about 900 administrative and operational volunteer personnel.

Local Funding Boosts State Park Deal Plans for a state park in far northwestern Loudoun, near Neersville and Harpers Ferry, have been underway since at least 2012, and 2018 ended with two major steps to make that park a reality.

Then-Gov. Bob McDonnell announced plans for the park in northwestern Loudoun just before leaving office in 2014. Since then, efforts have focused on transferring land on the Blue Ridge to the state government.

That included a donation from the

Bob and Dee Leggett foundation of 604 acres to the Old Dominion Land Conservancy, which then donated the land to the Department of Conservation and Recreation in 2015. In October, county supervisors agreed to buy another 280 acres from the Leggett Foundation for $2.9 million, below its assessed value. The Old Dominion Land Conservancy is holding the title until it can be donated to the state.

Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed state budget, introduced in late December, would authorize the state to accept that land as a donation for a state park. And on Dec. 27, the deal for those 280 acres closed.

The state accepted the land at no cost, since the nonprofit Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship and two organic farmers will continue to maintain the land. If and when the state spends money to create the state park, it will take over land in a prime spot for parks, near Harpers Ferry, the C&O Canal and the Appalachian Trail.

Judgeship Funding Clears Way for Drug Court in Loudoun

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

The Farmstead Trail is just one of many trails at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, which could soon be the seed of a new state park.

Loudoun looks set to launch a new drug court in early 2019 after a yearlong delay when the General Assembly stripped funding for one of the judgeships on the Loudoun Circuit Court.

From 2004 to 2012, the county ran a drug court that provided some drug offenders treatment in lieu of jail time, but the program was dismantled after GOV IN 2018 >> 8

Loudoun Pushes to Get Comprehensive Plan Back on Track

BY RENSS GREENE

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

County planners and area residents mix at Harmony Middle School near Hamilton during an Envision Loudoun open house in May.

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Leaders from Loudoun’s seven towns meet with the Loudoun County Planning Commission during a Sept. 27 work session.

rgreene@loudounnow.com

Special 45% S avings

2019 IN REVIEW

that schedule, offering up a first draft of the new 2040 Comprehensive Plan and Countywide Transportation Plan in June. Debate over that plan has

mostly been around how much more housing to allow in Loudoun, particularly in the Transition Policy Area laid out in the current plan between suburban east and rural west.

County supervisors saw the plan in July, and the Planning Commission, which was next to work on the plan, skipped its usual August recess to get straight to work—but members immediately made clear they intended to make their own schedule. Commission Chairman Cliff Keirce (Broad Run) pointed out the Board of Supervisors had recently criticized the Planning Commission for what some supervisors saw as inadequate review on land use decisions.

“I don’t think our job is just to get

January 3, 2019

2018 saw the much-delayed project to write Loudoun’s new comprehensive plan passed from the stakeholders committee that guided the first draft, to the Planning Commission, which is shaping the version county supervisors will see.

The year started with county leaders working to get the project onto a new schedule. In April 2016, supervisors unanimously adopted a schedule for the new plan that would have seen it done within 18 months. But, County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) said that schedule may have been set up to fail from the beginning.

“It was never going to be done in 12 months,” Randall said in July, responding to what she called “pretty unfair” news coverage of the stakeholders group. “It was going to take two years to do just because it was so much work.”

After shedding the manager originally assigned to the project and putting it under the direct supervision of Loudoun’s second-highest-ranking government staffer, Deputy County Administrator Charles Yudd, and then-newly hired Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning Alaina Ray, county officials set a schedule that would have the plan complete in March 2019.

Ray has since been promoted to become the county’s director of Planning and Zoning after former director Ricky Barker left for a job in Maryland almost exactly three years after coming to Loudoun.

The stakeholders committee kept to

it done by certain date, I think it’s to look at the data, evaluate it and make a decision,” Keirce said in August. “And if that takes longer than the board’s artificially imposed timeline, then I’m sorry.”

The commission has since faced criticism from outside groups for its work, in particular considering increased development in the Transition Policy Area or even ditching the area as a planning policy altogether. Among those is the Coalition of Loudoun Towns, a group representing the leadership of all seven of Loudoun’s incorporated towns, who among other issues raised an “overall weakening of protections for the transition and rural policy areas.”

However, while they debate in their meetings whether the Transition Policy Area was meant to be permanent and make the case for increased development there, commissioners have also argued that they are only examining options and haven’t yet made any recommendations.

Commissioners have also debated other new ideas, such as a map depicting where data center development will be allowed.

The commission has been told it will get only one run at a mathematical model of the fiscal impact of their recommendations; the panel will have to make its final tweaks based on that, without the benefit of a second calculation of the impacts of those tweaks.

County supervisors hope to have the plan done before their terms end in December.

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Supervisors and other county leaders discussed reestablishing a drug court in 2016, but those conversations were cut short when in 2017 the General Assembly stripped funding for a judgeship from Loudoun’s already-overtaxed Circuit Court.

Drug court can be time-intensive for judges. But with the decision in May to restore funding to every judgeship in the state, the conversations around a drug court saw renewed life. In December, the county finance committee signed off on plans to start setting up a new drug court as soon as January. The Board of Supervisors is expected to take that up at their meeting January 2.

In that program, some Loudoun drug offenders may get a chance to avoid jail time after violating probation by going instead to an intensive outpatient treatment program. Offenders would be under intensive supervision and mandatory treatment, and if they fell off the wagon, they could wind up back in jail.

The state funding whiplash has had other effects. Among them: although Leesburg attorney Alex Levay stood ready to take a seat on the bench last year, he has since withdrawn his name and the General Assembly is now looking for someone to fill that seat.

That has sparked controversy, as the Loudoun Bar Association has complained that Loudoun attorneys have been passed over by the General Assembly’s Courts of Justice committees in favor of Fauquier Commonwealth’s Attorney James P. Fisher.

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Longstanding tension between Loudouners, their elected leaders and the owners of the Dulles Greenway saw the first change in years with the announcement of a potential deal in December.

The Greenway, which currently charges $5.65 for a one-way trip of any length during peak hours, is virtually guaranteed annual toll increases under state legislation expiring at the end of

this year. Del. John J. Bell (D-87), said he, David Reid (D-32) and County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) announced in early December that they’re negotiating a deal with the Greenway to bring in distance-based tolling during off-peak hours capped at the current off-peak toll. The deal would need to be approved by the General Assembly.

However, some supervisors have already said they will oppose the deal, which is expected to enshrine the Greenway’s guaranteed annual toll increases through 2056.

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Trent Ogilvie, president of Rockwool’s North American subsidiary ROXUL, with a rendering of the future plant on display in the company’s Kearneysville, WV office.

Rockwool Worries Loudoun Leaders Plans to construct a $150 million insulation factory nine miles from the county border in Ranson, WV, sparked rising concerns in Loudoun.

Danish company Rockwool melts rock to spin into mineral wool insulation, and is planning a 460,000-squarefoot manufacturing plant. As West Virginians launched a massive resistance effort that has seen more than half of the Jefferson County Development Authority resign, Loudouners have also worried about the plant’s potential environmental impacts.

Here, the group Loudoun Against Rockwool has pushed local lawmakers to take action against the plant.

In September, the county board voted unanimously to ask the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to assess the plant’s impacts on the county and to install an air quality monitoring station in western Loudoun.

Since then, the towns of Leesburg, Hamilton, Hillsboro and Middleburg have passed resolutions opposing the project or calling for a delay while it’s studied, with Round Hill, Purcellville and Lovettsville expected to consider similar resolutions.

But Loudoun has little obvious leverage from across state lines. The plant is under West Virginia jurisdiction, and the only formal process available to the Loudoun County government appears to be asking the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to make a complaint through the federal Environmental Protection Agency—after the plant is operational.

According to Loudoun Against Rockwool’s data, Rockwool estimates that it will emit 478,000 pounds of carbon monoxide, 143,000 pounds of nitrogen oxide and 943,000 pounds GOV IN 2018 >> 9

<< FROM 8 of volatile organic compounds each year at its new location. The group also found that Rockwool’s Mississippi plant released about 425,000 pounds of pollution in 2017.

Loudoun Looks to Conservation Programs

New Year Brings New Planning Leadership 2017 saw leadership changes in perhaps the two most important bodies for planning land use in Loudoun: the Board of Supervisors Transportation and Land Use Committee and the Planning Commission.

For the first time since she was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2011, Supervisor Suzanne M. Volpe (R-Algonkian) did not chair the Transportation and Land Use Committee.

She was replaced by Supervisor Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin) by a 6-0-3 vote, with Volpe and supervisors Ron A. Meyer Jr. (R-Broad Run) and Kristen C. Umstattd (D-Leesburg) absent for the vote.

The committee’s membership remained the same.

At the Planning Commission, Commissioner Cliff Keirce (Broad Run) took over as chairman. He took over for Commissioner Jeff Salmon (Dulles), who as 2017 chairman also chaired the stakeholders committee that oversaw early work on the new comprehensive plan.

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As they prepare for their turn at the county’s next comprehensive plan, Loudoun supervisors have already started looking into ways to protect the county’s rural areas.

In December, they adopted Supervisor Tony R. Buffington (R-Blue Ridge)’s proposal to help defray the cost to landowners of permanently protecting land from development by putting it into conservation easements.

That $150,000 fund will help pay up to half the cost or up to $15,000—whichever is less—of putting land into conservation easement for landowners meeting certain income limitations.

That process can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Supervisors have also asked for a study of a possible transfer of development rights program. That would allow landowners in rural areas to sell credit for the homes they could build on their land to developers in other areas. The county sets up sending and receiving areas for that development density.

Transfer of development rights

January 3, 2019

Gov in 2018

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programs have been implemented in Loudoun’s neighboring counties and elsewhere across the state and region, but rejected by the county Planning Commission as it works on Loudoun’s new comprehensive plan. Nearby Frederick County and neighboring Montgomery County, MD, both have versions of the program.

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[ LEESBURG ]

[ BRIEFS ]

Leesburg 2018:

Council Plans Jan. 7 Organizational Meeting

The Year of Elections and a Bit of Controversy

I

2018 IN REVIEW

BY KARA RODRIGUEZ

t seems that Loudoun’s county seat never quite gets out of election mode; that was particularly true during the past 13 months.

Starting in November 2017, the Town Council endured a whopping three elections—two special elections to fill vacancies and November 2018’s general elections.

Vanessa Maddox, who won her November 2017 special election to fill newly elected mayor Kelly Burk’s unexpired council term, found herself in the unenviable position of having to run two campaigns back-to-back. Her term was set to expire this Dec. 31. Maddox found herself on the losing end this November, however, finishing in fourth place for a full four-year council term. She initially toyed with the idea of seeking a recount, as she and third-place finisher Suzanne Fox had only a 0.49 percent differential— or 81 votes—between them, but eventually decided to forego one.

Her opponent in last November’s special election, Joshua Thiel, tasted victory this February in his special election, following Ken Reid’s surprise resignation announcement. Thiel bested Neil Steinberg and Gwen Pangle, who finished second and third, respectively.

But Steinberg also would not have to wait long to win a seat at the dais. Shortly after his defeat in February, he made known that he would give it another try this November, when the seats of Maddox and council members Marty Martinez and Fox were on the ballot. Steinberg finished second behind Martinez and ahead of Fox, and now the three will serve new four-year terms beginning Jan. 1. Council challenger Kari Nacy finished fifth in the election.

Burk was successful in her re-election bid, winning a second term as mayor ahead of her council counterparts Tom

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Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Leesburg’s business and development boom continued in 2018, with downtown adding new restaurants and shops.

Dunn and Ron Campbell.

Barring anything unforeseen, it appears that 2019 may be the first time in a while with no council vacancies to be filled. Burk’s two-year term as mayor will be up again in November 2020, as will the council terms of Campbell, Dunn and Thiel.

Controversy, Controversy The mayor’s race took a surprising turn in late May, when a special meeting was called by Campbell amid allegations that Burk had been spotted leaving a local restaurant inebriated and driving away. Burk accused Campbell of a “politically motivated” attack, and fellow mayoral challenger Dunn also objected to the need for a closed session to discuss the allegations saying they were based on hearsay. In the days following the special meeting, Campbell maintained his reasons for calling the special meeting were valid, and said that some on the council and in the community had begun to start a smear campaign against him.

Perhaps the biggest controversy of 2018 in Leesburg, though, was the change in its trash and recycling contractor and schedule. Following months of inconsistency and displeasure with its previous contractor, Waste Management, the council voted to approve a new trash and recycling contract with Patriot Disposal Services in June. The contract took effect July 1, with the July 4 holiday adding to the challenge of the transition.

The biggest change for residents was the return to once-weekly trash and recycling pick-ups, following five years of twice-weekly pick-ups. The new contractor had the task of learning new routes, distributing new bins and disposing of old ones to 11,000 households, and being thrust into service two months ahead of schedule when a contract extension with Waste Management could not be worked out. However, by year’s end, town staff was reporting a significant reduction in residents’ complaints and overall satisfaction with its new contractor.

LEESBURG 2018 >> 11

Leesburg Planning: A Likely Hallmark of 2019 www.loudounnow.com

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ 2019 looks to be a year of planning in the Town of Leesburg, as the Town Council sets to finish work on a notable small area plan, while beginning work on a comprehensive review of its Town Plan.

The council is expected to hold yet another work session on its Eastern Gateway District small area plan in early January, as town leaders grapple with lingering questions about design standards for the area. The plan area, for property along East Market Street between River Creek Parkway and the Leesburg Bypass, includes some of the largest remaining tracts of undeveloped land in the almost-built out county seat, as well as areas that could eventually be primed for redevelopment.

It’s a process that’s been closely watched by the development community, perhaps most notably the Peterson Companies, which owns the largest undevel-

The Town Council will use the 30 minutes prior to its regularly scheduled work session on Monday to get some housekeeping taken care of.

The council will convene for its biennial organizational meeting at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 7.

During that meeting, a vote is expected to be taken on who will serve as the town’s vice mayor for the next two years. Suzanne Fox has served in that post since 2017. Also expected during the meeting are council member appointments to boards and commissions, as well as who will represent the town on a variety of state and regional commissions.

oped tract in the plan area. The developer owns 107 acres east of the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets, between the Leesburg bypass and Battlefield Parkway, and is eying a mixed-use project for the site.

The council has largely called for the plan area to be dominated by employment uses, but some developers have questioned proposed phasing requirements that would call for these types of commercial uses to be built before residential construction. The plan area is one that has largely been eyed for regional office development, a troubled market since the economic recession, so council members and staff have been eying employment uses more in tune with current market trends, but also responsive to future changes in the market.

It won’t be long after the gateway plan is adopted that the council will turn its eyes to comprehensive planning throughout town. The town is set to issue

a request for proposals for a consultant to help with the review of the Town Plan’s transportation and land use sections, as well as assist with the development of new design standards. The rest of the work will be borne by town staff. Planning and Zoning Department Director Susan Berry-Hill said she anticipates the Town Plan review to take at least 18 months.

“It’s a big project,” she said.

Interestingly, it was the last Town Plan update in 2012 that gave rise to the need to focus more on development in the East Market Street area. That generated the steam for the Envision East Market Street effort, later dubbed the Eastern Gateway District. Although it has had its stops and starts because of staffing changes and other delays, 2019 looks to be the year to see that effort cross the finish line. krodriguez@loudounnow.com

Monday, Jan. 7, will be the last opportunity for town residents to have their Christmas trees picked up for recycling.

Those who missed the Dec. 31 collection may place their trees at the curb on Jan. 7 for recycling by trash and recycling contractor Patriot Disposal Services.

After that date, town crews will collect trees that are less than 8 feet tall and with trunks less than 6 inches in diameter as part of the weekly town brush collection, which occurs every Monday. Trees should be set out on Sunday evening for sameweek collection. Any Christmas trees that are set out at the curb next to trash cans may be collected as trash by Patriot Disposal.

Trees should have all items removed prior to collection. They should not be placed in plastic tree disposal bags.

For more information, go to l​eesburgva.gov/ChristmasTreeRecycling​.

Utility Open House Planned Town residents have a unique opportunity Saturday, Jan. 12, to see the town’s utility system in action.

The Utilities Department will host an open house that day to give local residents the opportunity to learn more about the services and equipment used to provide safe, efficient, and reliable water and wastewater services in the town.

The event will highlight the Closed-Circuit Television pipe inspection system, backflow prevention program, online water usage monitoring, and more. The Vactor vacuum truck, used to remove sludge and debris from sewer lines, will be on display while tours of the water and wastewater plant will be available to those who pre-register.

Staff will be on hand to answer questions regarding water and sewer services including information on the proposed 2019 rates.

The free event will be held at the Utilities Department, 1385 Russell Branch Parkway SE, from 10 a.m. to noon. For more information, or to schedule a plant tour, call 703-7712713 or email water_feedback@leesburgva.gov.

Still Growing

One controversial subject that looks to make its way into 2019 is a conversation on the best way to maintain, and who should maintain, a historic African-American cemetery on townowned land inside Leesburg Executive Airport’s Runway Protection Zone.

Community leaders have strongly criticized the town staff and council members for the unkempt nature of the Sycolin Cemetery, which contains burial sites linked to the Lower Sycolin African American Community from the late 1800s and early 1900s. A majority of council members initially resisted a town staff-endorsed plan to create an ad-hoc committee to put together a master plan for the site. Instead, the council issued a Request for Proposals to find an outside community group or individual to maintain the site, at a $1 per year lease.

The process was one strongly criticized by Loudoun’s black community leaders, who compared it to a sharecropper’s agreement from the Jim Crow era. In December, the council scrapped that plan and set a February work session to consider its next steps.

On the business side, council members, after several meetings of debate, voted to extend the allowance of food trucks to more of its business districts, but still could not find a majority to support them in the downtown B-1 district. Tents and shade structures were, however, approved for use in downtown, as were zoning changes to allow

The business and development boom continued in Leesburg in 2018, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

As the downtown business, particular restaurant scene, continued to explode, Leesburg leaders looked to the future development or redevelopment of key properties around town. Two planning exercises look to command a lot of attention in 2019. The council is seeking a contractor to help with a comprehensive update to the Town Plan. The Eastern Gateway District small area plan, which contains the largest undeveloped tracts of land remaining in town, looks to be before the council for adoption early in the new year.

Dirt began moving on some big developments in town. As the year came to a close, trees were cleared on land for the Leegate development, which is approved for the construction of hundreds of thousands of square feet of office and retail space and 475 homes. The development must first construct a new road extension, which will extend Trailview Boulevard from the Cardinal Park Drive business area to Russell Branch Parkway.

Earth is also quickly moving for the Crescent Parke development, which will bring hundreds of residential uses and commercial space to 53 acres off the Leesburg Bypass, from Gateway Drive to Davis Drive.

But the council put the brakes on another potential development in town, with a rare denial of a commercial re-

border, including land that will soon include Microsoft offices and the Compass Creek development, into town.

Notable Recognitions The year started off with the passing of a local legend, longtime downtown businessman and community steward Stanley Caulkins. Not long after his passing, a movement led by Sunset Hills Vineyard owner Diane Canney began to erect a sculpture in front of Caulkins’ former jewelry store storefront on King Street.

More than half of the money has been raised, and their goal is to install and dedicate the sculpture by mid-2019.

Longtime Robinson’s Barber Shop owner Nelson “Mutt” Lassiter also received some due recognition following his retirement. The Town Council voted to name the alley alongside the Town Hall parking garage, linking Loudoun and Market streets, Lassiter Place.

Long a champion of public art, the late Gale Waldron was also honored with the unveiling of a mural in her honor on the Town Hall parking garage.

Memorials to recognize some difficult moments in history were also approved.

Outgoing NAACP President Phillip Thompson received the approval he needed from the town to erect markers noting the areas in town where lynchings had occurred. Markers will be placed at the former Potter’s Cemetery land at the northeast corner of East Market Street and Catoctin Circle, and the site of the former freight station along the W&OD Trail on Harrison Street. krodriguez@loudounnow.com

11

2019 IN REVIEW

<< FROM 10

zoning. The council voted in June to deny an application by the developer of the Meadowbrook community that would have brought a 200,000-squarefoot commercial center off Rt. 15 near the southern town limits. It included, much to the ire of nearby residents who opposed the plans, three drive-through eating establishments. Less than a month following the denial, the developer filed suit against the town, though at press time the lawsuit had still not been formally served.

Key residential approvals by the council in 2018 included townhouse communities behind the Leesburg Plaza shopping center and adjacent to the Costco off Edwards Ferry Road.

One of the last vestiges of rural life in town also drew its share of attention this year, when the Rogers Farm property was sold to a residential developer.

Council members bemoaned that the land could not be preserved, though the family made it clear that their parents’ wishes were that the land be sold to benefit their heirs. By year’s end, it appeared the council was approaching a compromise solution that could place some of the property in the town’s Old & Historic District. That change was initiated, but will still need to come back for a final vote.

Development plans for the Westpark Golf Club property, under contract to a residential builder, also could be back before the council in the new year.

Along with development growth, the town may expect some actual land growth in 2019. The council in September voted to initiate a boundary line adjustment with Loudoun County that could bring 517 acres on its southern

January 3, 2019

Leesburg 2018

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[ PUBLIC SAFETY ]

Fatal Crashes Lower in 2018

Tony Dane

Andre Glenn

www.loudounnow.com

2018 IN REVIEW

LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT After an especially dangerous year on Loudoun roads in 2017, the number of fatal crashes was reduced by nearly half last year.

There were 12 highway fatalities— including two resulting from medical conditions and two that resulted in homicide charges—during 2018. In the previous year, 21 people died on Loudoun roads.

Also significant was that there were no fatal crashes on Evergreen Mills Road, a corridor which saw a host of safety improvements last year after four people died in crashes there in 2017.

A fatal DUI crash on March 8, 2017 could send the driver to prison for up to 40 years. The Virginia State Police investigated the crash that occurred just after 7 p.m. at the intersection of Potomac View Road and Algonkian Parkway. The crash was caused when Patrick Ryan Hitzelberg failed to yield

Patrick Ryan Hitzelberg

the right-of-way at the intersection and struck a vehicle. He was arrested at the scene and charged with driving while intoxicated and possession of marijuana. Six days after the crash, an occupant in the other vehicle, Steven Kimmel, died from his injuries. A Loudoun grand jury handed up indictments of felony homicide, involuntary manslaughter, DWI-third offense and possession of marijuana. Hitzelberg, 30, pleaded guilty in September to the homicide and DWI charges. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for February.

On July 21, Loudoun deputies were called to Rt. 28 near the Innovation Drive interchange where a woman had been struck by a vehicle. The victim, Nancy Moreno, 54, of Sterling, was transported to a hospital, where she died. Investigators determined that she was hit by her older brother, Michel Moreno, 58. He fled the scene in a vehicle and was later apprehended in Maryland by Anne Arundel County

Michel Moreno

police. He was charged with first-degree murder and felony hit and run. A 10day trial is scheduled to begin in March.

Throughout 2018, several criminal cases resulting from 2017 fatal crashes made their way through the courts.

In July, the driver who crashed a poorly-maintained food truck into a family car and killed Erin T. Kaplan in September 2017 was sentenced to spend the next decade in prison. Following a two-day jury trial, a Circuit Court jury issued guilty verdicts on five charges against Tony Dane, 57, and recommended he serve 10 years in prison, 18 months in jail and pay $3,500 in fines. Dane was driving the Dane’s Great American Hamburger food truck from Front Royal to Briar Woods High School to serve food during the homecoming festivities when the crash occurred. During the drive, he noticed the brakes were becoming “spongy,” but decided to continue to the school. Going downhill on

Watson Road, the brakes failed and the food truck sped past a school bus that had stopped to let students exit before running the stop sign at the Evergreen Mills Road intersection. There, the bus hit a 2014 Audi station wagon traveling northbound on Evergreen Mills Road.

Erin Kaplan, 39, the driver of the Audi, died at the scene. Her mother and her three teenage children were airlifted to Inova Fairfax Hospital.

In October, Andre M. Glenn, 27, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a Feb. 21, 2017, drunken driving crash on Rt. 28 near Dulles Airport that took the life of a 22-year-old passenger. He also pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter and driving on a suspended license.

According to investigators, Glenn was driving a Jeep Wrangler northbound with three passengers. The group had left The Bungalow in Chantilly after last call at the bar. At 2 a.m., the jeep hit a jersey barrier, ejecting two female passengers. Gabrielle M. Perry, 22, died at the scene.

One driver charged in a 2016 fatality will face a second trial this month.

Zebulon B. Downing was charged with reckless driving after he crashed his Jeep Wrangler into the back of a vehicle stopped on the shoulder of Rt. 7 west of Leesburg on Nov. 1, 2016. Killed in the crash was 44-year-old Steven Snead, who may have been standing in front of his vehicle. In May, a Circuit Court jury was divided on whether Downing was driving with a disregard for the human life at the time of the crash. Downing said he did not see the parked SUV until it was too late to avoid a crash. He also said the vehicle was stopped partially in the roadway. Following the hung-jury mistrial, prosecutors refiled the charges and a new trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 8.

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Fight Against Opioids Abuse Continues LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT First responders, law enforcement and prosecutors all ramped up efforts to curb the tragic results of opioid addiction during 2018.

Heroin continued to be a deadly drug, with the Sheriff ’s Office reporting 16 fatal overdoses through November. That was only one less than the 2017 total. Through the first 11 months of the year, the agency also reported 49 non-fatal overdose cases, fewer than the 63 reported last year. In 2016, the agency responded to 88 overdose cases, 19 fatal.

The Sheriff ’s Office continued its series of community forums to raise awareness of the dangers abusing prescription painkillers and of street drugs that are frequently laced with more powerful opiates. Also, the State Police and other local police officers joined Loudoun deputies and county EMS personnel on the roster of those trained and equipped with the overdose antidote Narcan. A Heroin Operations Team was formed as a partnership among local, state and federal law enforcement; Loudoun County Public Schools; Loudoun County Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Developmental Services; and other entities within the Community Services Board.

Even the Board of Supervisors got involved, formally exploring whether it should join other localities in suing

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Master Police Officer Susan Elassal, of the Purcellville Police Department, displays a dose of naloxone, an emergency treatment to reverse opioid overdoses.

opioid manufacturers and distributors. In June, Attorney General Mark Herring filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, arguing the company’s practices violate the Virginia Consumer Protection Act and accusing the company of “a decades-long, complex, large-scale campaign of misrepresentations and deception.” Purdue is the manufacturer of OxyContin, among other drugs.

In the courts, drug suppliers in fatal overdose cases were more frequently held accountable.

In the first of those convictions in Loudoun, a 29-year-old mother of two was sentenced in January to serve four years in prison after pleading guilty to three felony charges after her friend died in a Leesburg hotel room following a night of heavy drinking and heroin use in 2016.

Other cases played out in the federal courts.

In April, a 38-year-old Centreville woman was sentenced to 15 years in prison for supplying a fatal dose of Fentanyl-laced heroin to a man who died in an Aldie home in 2016. All but four years and eleven months of that time was suspended.

In May, a Pennsylvania man was sentenced to life in federal prison following his conviction on charges of distributing thousands of packages containing numerous synthetic drugs to hundreds of customers throughout the United States. One of his buyers was the daughter of a Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office employee who suffered a fatal overdose after buying a gram of tetrahydrofuran fentanyl through the internet.

In December, a Canadian man living in Leesburg pleaded guilty in federal district court to conspiring to distribute heroin and fentanyl that caused two deaths and one non-fatal overdose in 2016. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years in prison and maximum penalty of life in prison when he is sentenced in February.

[ SAFETY BRIEFS ] Investigation Continues into Murder of Mother, Son Eleven months after the bodies of a mother and her adult son were found dead in their Aldie home, the Sheriff ’s Office is continuing its investigation.

Investigators arrested a suspect, Brian K. Welsh, 38, in March and charged him with two counts of first-degree murder.

However, the case was dropped following a preliminary hearing in District Court when forensic evidence was unable to connect the nine bullets recovered at the crime scene to the weapon seized from Welsh’s home. The investigation began after Mala Manwani, 65, and her son Rishi Manwani, 32, were found dead at their home on Tomey Court. Mala’s co-worker asked deputies to check on her after she failed to show up at work during the week. Investigators believe the Manwanis were killed about two days before they were found.

When announcing Welsh’s arrest, investigators said he and Rishi were close friends, and it was believed that Welsh targeted Rishi over narcotics activity taking place inside the home. The mother was not believed to be an intended target. Both victims were found shot multiple times in different parts of the home.

Prior to the arrest, detectives said they interviewed more than 60 people, followed leads in West Virginia and northern and central Virginia and served 21 search warrants and seven court orders.

www.loudounnow.com

Conviction Landed in 30-Year-Old Cold Case After hearing five days of testimony and two days of deliberating, a Loudoun Circuit court jury in May announced guilty verdicts in a 30-year-old murder case.

The jury found Timothy W. Warnick, 58, guilty of first-degree murder and robbery in the 1988 death of Henry E. “Ricky” Ryan.

Jurors recommended the maximum sentence allowed under Virginia law for the murder conviction, a class 2 felony—life in prison and a $100,000 fine. They also recommended a five-year sentence on the robbery charge.

The final sentencing by Judge Douglas L. Fleming Jr. is scheduled for March.

Warnick was one of the last people seen with Ryan the night of his death. The two went on a beer run with a third, unknown man, during a night of partying near the Shenandoah River in West Virginia. The prosecution’s case focused on confessions by Warnick to his son and his ex-girlfriend, who both testified in the case. Prosecutors also pointed to a pill bottle with Warnick’s name on it that was found in Ryan’s hand when his body was recovered on March 14, JUMP TO >> 34

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Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

2018 IN REVIEW

Principal Jeff Rounsely in July prepares to welcome students to the new Willard Intermediate School near Aldie. It was one of three public schools that opened in 2018.

2018: A Year of Milestones for Loudoun Schools County Opens 3 Schools—One Years in the Making

www.loudounnow.com

BY DANIELLE NADLER One could argue that Loudoun County is known for two things: its growing number of wineries, breweries and data centers, and just how frequently it builds and opens new schools as it tries to keep pace with enrollment growth.

In the past decade, the county’s school system has opened 20 new schools—an average of two schools per year. But 2018 surpassed that average. The county opened three schools: Goshen Post Elementary School, Willard Intermediate School and the long-awaited Academies of Loudoun.

Goshen Post Elementary, the county’s 58th elementary school, proved to be one of the most needed schools.

It opened in August with 1,140 students—227 more students than expected, and 180 students more than the building was designed to hold.

The school, located just off Braddock Road, is the county’s first school to be designated by Superintendent Eric Williams as a “project-based learning design school,” which means real-world problem solving and handson projects are a daily part of classroom lessons.

Goshen Post fourth-grade teacher Julia Ross said it’s one thing to tell a student two plus two equals four, but

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Principal Ann Hines walks through the library at Goshen Post Elementary School in July, ahead of the school’s first day.

it’s another to have them complete a memorable project that helps them grasp mathematical concepts. “It’s a shift in mindset,” she said. “They see how their learning applies to the real world … which is really neat because it makes all the learning so authentic to kids.”

Willard Intermediate School also opened this year as a different model than the rest of the county’s schools.

A year ago, when the School Board was faced with a surge in enrollment among middle and high school stu-

dents in the Aldie area, they decided to operate Willard Middle School as an intermediate school for eighth- and ninth-graders for two years. Meanwhile, sixth- and seventh-graders in the area are attending Mercer Middle School, and grades 10 through 12 are housed at John Champe High School until Lightridge High School opens nearby in 2020.

Willard Principal Jeff Rounsley said he’s worked hard to make sure both eighth-graders—who were expecting to be the oldest kids on campus—and

ninth-graders—who were eager to start high school—feel at home at the intermediate school.

“Loudoun County opens a lot of schools, but it’s a pretty unique challenge to open an intermediate school,” he said. “You only get one eighth grade year and one ninth grade year, and we want it to be special.”

Of the three school buildings the county opened in 2018, the Academies of Loudoun was the construction project that was the longest in the making.

It opened in August on a 119-acre campus off of Sycolin Road as the new home to three magnet programs: the Academy of Science, the Monroe Advanced Technical Academy, and the Academy of Engineering and Technology. About 1,200 high school students enrolled in one of the more than 30 programs, or pathways, attend classes on the campus every other day.

When the building was first talked about, nearly 20 years ago, the goal was to create more space for the C.S. Monroe Technology Center. Later, the idea evolved to open a facility that would house larger versions of both Monroe and the Academies of Science. And in 2014, under the direction of thenboard Chairman Eric Hornberger (Ashburn), instruction staff created a third magnet program to be housed on MILESTONES >> 17

17 January 3, 2019

Milestones << FROM 16 the campus, the Academy of Engineering and Technology.

At the Academies’ dedication ceremony, School Board Chairman Jeff Morse (Dulles) acknowledged that there is a lot to celebrate with the school’s opening. But he said it certainly has not been able to accommodate all of the students who want to attend.

Loudoun enrolls 25,000 high school students across the county, and the Academies currently enrolls 1,550 students.

“That’s 6 percent of our high school population. Here at the Academies, we are barely scratching the surface of the talent in this school system,” Morse said.

School leaders making some changes to the course offerings at the Academies, particularly to programs within MATA, with the goal of providing more seats within the programs. Most recently, the School Board instructed administrators to create two new programs, or “instructional pathways,” at the Academies: biomedical technology and health informatics technology.

That may mean having to relocate the existing licensed practical nursing program, but the majority of the School Board favored launching the two new programs because it will create space for almost 60 more students than the practical nursing program, which currently enrolls 16.

Loudoun Achieves Universal Full-Day Kindergarten

BY DANIELLE NADLER 2018 brought a major milestone for the county’s youngest students.

It was the first year that every Loudoun kindergartener has been offered a full academic day. This comes after years of Loudoun being branded as one of only three school districts in the state, and the only one in the DC metro region, to not provide universal full-day kindergarten.

The work to achieve it began in 2014, when the School Board hired Superintendent Eric Williams and charged him with expanding full-day kindergarten from, at the time, just 11 percent of the county.

Ahead of the first day of school in August, Williams said, “Starting this

year, we’re providing full-day kindergarten to all of our students in order to give them the best possible start to their academic year.”

To get there, his team came up with a plan to construct classroom additions, plus the School Board agreed to allocate more operating dollars to the effort and to temporarily reassign a few students from crowded schools to schools that have more space.

After the goal was reached, school administrators warned the community that it will be tough to maintain universal full-day kindergarten, especially in parts of the county that are still seeing hundreds of new families move in each year. But Mike Martin, the head of elementary education in Loudoun County, told School Board members

in mid-November that the enrollment projections for 2019-2020 indicate there will be enough classroom space for every kindergartener to attend for a full day next year, too.

“This is a tribute to this School Board’s dedication to pursuing, over the last four years, a massive amount of progress in serving all of our students with full-day kindergarten,” he said.

School Board member Joy Maloney (Broad Run), one of the board’s most vocal advocates of full-day kindergarten, told Martin, “Thank you very much for seeing this through. I hope our policy in the future will be that we just have universal full-day kindergarten—always.” dnadler@loudounnow.com

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2019 IN REVIEW

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Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Teacher Wendy Daton talks with kindergartners at Hillsboro Charter Academy in western Loudoun County.

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County to Collect Real Estate Taxes in 4 Towns Some western Loudoun residents no longer have to worry about organizing payments for two separate tax bills.

As of this week, residents and businesses in the Towns of Hillsboro, Lovettsville, Middleburg and Round Hill will receive one bill for their county and town taxes, as opposed to the previous two separate bills. They will now be required to make a single payment to the County of Loudoun.

Once the county receives those payments, it will remit the appropriate amount to the town. Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, the county will also assume billing, collecting and administering of personal property taxes in those four towns.

For more information, visit Loudoun.gov/taxes.

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Although Shaun Alexander Enterprises holds the contract to manage Purcellville’s Fireman’s Field complex, the county ‘s parks department maintains the athletic fields and the Purcellville Teen Center operates the Bush Tabernacle.

2018 IN REVIEW

Purcellville in 2018: Town Shuffles Management of Fireman’s Field; Reinstates Police Chief

BY PATRICK SZABO Following a previous year filled with controversy, investigations and skepticism, the Town of Purcellville in 2018 was able to distance itself a bit from the muck, but was still forced to deal with the aftermath and a new management fiasco.

The year started off with Shaun Alexander Enterprises taking over management of the 15.89-acre Fireman’s Field complex on Jan. 1, replacing the Loudoun County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community

Services’ 33-year tenure maintaining the athletic fields and the Purcellville Teen Center’s more than decade-long term operating the 8,500-square-foot Bush Tabernacle. Alexander then was subcontracted with Play to Win, a regional sports management company, to manage day-to-day operations in the tabernacle. He was originally contracted to pay the town $120,000 in rent in 2018, with those payments increasing by $10,000 each year until 2022.

At that time, multiple investigations were also in process—one reviewing allegations of misconduct against

Police Chief Cynthia McAlister and another reviewing allegations against former interim town manager Alex Vanegas that he had mismanaged an initial investigation on McAlister and sexual harassment claims against Town Attorney Sally Hankins.

John Anzivino was also beginning his third week working as interim town manager after replacing Vanegas, who was placed on administrative leave just a month prior. Hank Day, the former Warrenton town attorney, was also fillPURCELLVILLE >> 19

2018 in Western Loudoun:

A Year of Leadership Shakeups for Towns

www.loudounnow.com

BY PATRICK SZABO The landscape in western Loudoun’s six town offices this year was a bit more transformative than it’s been in the recent years, even with the anticipated shakeups from the May 1 municipal elections.

In addition to 16 new faces emerging across all six town councils, there was a good deal of town staff turnover in all but two of the towns. That included town manager hires in Purcellville and Lovettsville and town administrator hires in Round Hill and Middleburg.

On the Purcellville Town Council, Karen Jimmerson was the first to step down in April. In the May elections, Mayor Kwasi Fraser was re-elected for a third consecutive term, beating out lifetime town resident Chris Thompson.

Middleburg Mayor Bridge Littleton

Lovettsville Mayor Nate Fontaine

Tip Stinnette and Joel Grewe were elected for their first times alongside Councilman Ted Greenly, who was appointed to fill a vacancy in November 2017 when Kelli Grim resigned. Doug McCo-

llum opted to not run for a second term on the council.

In the town office, David Mekarski

LOVETTSVILLE Light Up Lovettsville Award Winners Announced Christmas and New Year’s have passed and so has another year of extravagant lighting displays in the Town of Lovettsville.

The Town Council on Dec. 20 announced the five winners of its 2018 Light Up Lovettsville contest, which awards families and businesses for putting on the best holiday lighting displays.

The Cahil family at 30 Tritapoe Place won the “Bing Crosby Award” for the most traditional display, while the Zoldos family at 37 South Loudoun Street won the “Chevy Chase Award” for the most outrageous display. The “Rudolph Award” for the best theme and animation went to the Russart family at 13 Lovett Drive and the “Best in Show” award went to the Bradley family at 8 Daniel Keys Lane.

Heather’s Kids Daycare and Early Learning Center at 5 North Berlin Pike took the business award this year for having the most holiday spirit among the town’s 87 registered businesses.

Town to Install New Welcome Sign Visitors entering the Town of Lovettsville along Berlin Turnpike will soon be greeted with a more friendly, colorful welcome.

The Town Council on Dec. 20 voted to have a new town welcome sign created that reads “Welcome to the Town of Lovettsville” with “The German Settlement” on the bottom line and the town seal at the top. The new powder-coated aluminum sign will replace the existing plastic sign at the South Loudoun Street/Berlin Turnpike intersection on the south end of town and will be paid for using $1,000 from the $4,000 “Beautification/Signage/Welcome/Info” TOWN NOTES >> 21

LEADERSHIP >> 20

<< FROM 18

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.”

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19

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fields until April 2019. Alexander then subcontracted with the teen center to manage operations in the tabernacle beginning Nov. 1.

In December, a consulting group the town hired to perform an operational audit recommended 48 changes to the government structure, including suggestions to create four full-time positions across three departments. Fraser said the town in the coming months would rank those recommendations and consider how to implement them.

“The operational assessment did yield the constructive feedback we sought by confirming our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and, to a degree, our threats,” he said.

The year in Purcellville wrapped up with a Town Council vote on Dec. 19 to amend Alexander’s contract once more, this time hammering out minor details requiring him to annually submit the town with plans ensuring that regular operations are adequately staffed and detailing proposed programming fees.

Fraser said that while the town welcomed more than 50 new businesses and reduced debt by $5 million in 2018, it’s now focused on multiple goals moving into 2019. Those include accelerating traffic and infrastructure improvements projects, opening the Purcellville Museum at the Train Station and generating more revenue from town-owned property so that it’s not forced to rely on substantial utility fees increases.

2019 IN REVIEW

ing in for Hankins.

When February hit, the town decided to install 10 removable barriers in the Country Club Hills and Catoctin Meadows neighborhoods to reduce cut-through traffic after months of resident uproar. It later removed the barriers, installed signage and met with residents six times to discuss the issue.

“We inherited and did not shy away from taking ownership of [the cutthrough traffic issue] and piloting solutions to address it,” said Mayor Kwasi Fraser.

On March 13, the council voted to appoint David Mekarski as the town’s eighth permanent town manager from a pool of 29 candidates. Mekarksi came to the town following 12 years working as the village administrator of Olympia Fields, IL, and formerly as the city manager of Vero Beach, FL. In April, Karen Jimmerson announced that she would step down from her seat on the Town Council after nearly four years.

About that same time, Alexander’s management of Fireman’s Field began to dematerialize. When Play to Win announced that it would increase user fees in the complex, the Upper Loudoun Youth Football League announced that it would search for a new home to play its 2018 season, after 49 years in the complex.

In response, Supervisor Tony Buff-

misconduct. It showed that “there was no evidence of untruthfulness or misconduct by Chief McAlister.” She was reinstated on Aug. 1 after nearly a year on paid administrative leave.

Altogether, the investigations, which began in August 2017, cost the town $475,042. An additional $262,738 was paid to McAlister, Hankins, Vanegas and two other staffers placed on administrative leave. $153,321 was also paid to Anzivino and Day. “2018 was a year of discovery and positioning our organization to excel in meeting the needs of our community,” Fraser said.

After six months of partnering with Alexander to manage day-to-day operations at Fireman’s Field, Play to Win informed Alexander in July that it would back out of its contract once it helped to organize and run the Purcellville Wine and Food Festival at the end of July.

A month later, Alexander told the town that he would terminate his contract early and cease management of the complex. He rescinded that statement less than two weeks later upon realizing that it would be a breach of contract.

After weeks of negotiations, the Town Council voted on Sept. 25 to eliminate from Alexander’s contract his responsibility to maintain the athletic fields and to reduce his monthly rent payments from $10,000 to $4,000.

The Board of Supervisors one week later voted to approve a lease agreement with the town to resume maintenance and operations of the athletic

January 3, 2019

Purcellville

ington (R-Blue Ridge) sent Fraser and the Town Council a letter offering his help by bringing the county’s parks and recreation department back in to maintain the fields.

Purcellville’s Parks and Recreation Division Manager Amie Ware also informed Fraser and Mekarski in April that Alexander requested an $87,500 reimbursement for initial repairs, cleanup and maintenance of the complex. While that request was $27,500 more than what the town was contractually obligated to pay, the Town Council in June agreed to reimburse Alexander $60,000.

The Wilson Elser law firm also released their investigation of Vanegas and Hankins in April, finding that Vanegas “failed to properly manage and failed to exercise proper judgment” in the initial McAlister investigation and that allegations against Hankins were “frivolous” and “meritless.”

The Town Council voted on April 10 to fire Vanegas and reinstate Hankins.

The May 1 town elections saw Fraser beat out lifelong town resident Chris Thompson by a 13-point margin to win a third consecutive term. Ted Greenly, Joel Grewe and Tip Stinnette also were elected to the Town Council for their first times.

Perhaps the most anticipated event of 2018 happened on July 30, when the Wilson Elser law firm and retired police chief Timothy Longo released the findings of the town’s final investigation, which reviewed Vanegas’ initial investigation of McAlister’s alleged

January 3, 2019

20

Leadership << FROM 18 was hired in March as the town’s eighth permanent town manager. He replaced John Anzivino, who worked in the role on an interim basis for four months until Mekarski’s first day on April 16.

The town in February also hired Dawn Ashbacher, the former town manager of Sykesville, MD, as its interim public works director. Ashbacher held that role until October, when the town hired Buster Nicholson, Round Hill’s former town administrator, as the new full-time public works director.

The Lovettsville Town Council and office saw even more turnover in 2018, with 13 different councilmembers casting their votes on the dais at one point or another and three different town

Purcellville Town Manager David Mekarski

Lovettsville Town Manager Rob Ritter

managers leading the town.

It started in February, when Councilman Mike Dunlap was appointed to fill a vacancy left by Rob Gentile’s December resignation. A month later, Tony Quintana was appointed to fill a vacancy left by Tiffany Carder when she

Round Hill Town Administrator Melissa Hynes

stepped down to fulfill her duties as the Lovettsville Library assistant librarian.

In the May elections, former councilman Nate Fontaine was elected as mayor, beating out Kris Consaul and replacing three-term mayor Bob Zoldos. Renee Edmonston and Council-

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Middleburg Town Administrator Danny Davis

men Chris Hornbaker and Matthew Schilling were also elected for a first time, with Dunlap winning a seat in an unopposed special election.

Former councilwoman Kimberly Allar did not seek re-election, while Vice Mayor Jim McIntyre was the only councilmember not on the ballot to remain on the dais.

The council’s complexion changed just 67 days later when Edmonston resigned on Sept. 6, citing Dunlap’s “demeaning, degrading, borderline harassment behavior” as her motivation to do so. Mike Senate also announced his resignation that same day.

On Oct. 18, the Town Council voted to appoint Rebekah Ontiveros and David Steadman to fill those vacancies until the Feb. 5, 2019 special election.

While Steadman will run unopposed for the seat with a term that expires in 2022, Ontiveros and former planning commissioner Buchanan Smith will run for the seat with a term that expires in 2020.

In Lovettsville’s town office, Larry Hughes was appointed in August to serve as interim town manager, following Sam Finz’s July 6 retirement. The council voted in November to appoint Rob Ritter as permanent town manager.

The Town of Middleburg was also subject to more change than it’s seen in recent years and was home to the most heavily contested Town Council race in the county.

Lifelong town resident and former councilman Bridge Littleton was elected as mayor, beating out Economic Development Advisory Committee Chairman Vincent Bataoel and former Councilman Mark Snyder to replace Betsy Davis after 12 consecutive years.

On the council, Vice Mayor Darlene Kirk and Councilmen Peter Leonard-Morgan and Kevin Hazard were re-elected, with Cindy Pearson elected for a first time. The council appointed former councilwoman Bundles Murdock to fill the seat vacated by Littleton, until Chris Bernard was elected in the Nov. 6 special election to take over until the term expires in June 2020.

In Middleburg’s office, Danny Davis was appointed as town administrator on Oct. 31 to replace Martha Semmes, who retired in December after serving in the role for eight years.

The shakeups continued in the Town of Round Hill, as three new Town Councilmembers came in and a new town administrator took charge.

In the May 1 elections, Mayor Scott Ramsey was re-elected for a fifth term in an unopposed race. Councilman Fred Lyne also ran unopposed and was re-elected. With Chris Prack and Janet Heston not running for re-election, Amy Evers and Donald Allen were voted onto the council via write-in ballots.

21

[ TOWN NOTES ]

Leadership Melissa Hoffmann was also appointed to the Town Council in December to fill a vacancy by Michael Minshall’s September resignation. Hoffmann will serve until the Nov. 5, 2019 special election.

In the town office, the council voted on Oct. 4 to appoint former Town Planner Melissa Hynes as town administrator, replacing Buster Nicholson after he left to become Purcellville’s Public Works Director.

The Towns of Hillsboro and Hamilton were on the other side of all the turnover in 2018, with Hillsboro seeing only two changes to its council and Hamilton seeing none.

In Hillsboro, Stephen Moskal was appointed in February to fill a vacancy left by Belle Ware. In May, Laney Oxman was appointed to fill a vacancy left

by John Dean. In the Nov. 6 election, Moskal and Oxman were voted in for a first time, with Mayor Roger Vance, Vice Mayor Amy Marasco and Councilmembers Claudia Forbes and Bill Johnston all re-elected.

In Hamilton’s May 1 election, Mayor David Simpson was re-elected for a second four-year term, with Councilmembers Rebecca Jones, Craig Green and Michael Snyder all voted back in. All four ran unopposed.

PURCELLVILLE Temporary Crosswalks in Place on 21st, 23rd Streets With sections of paving now complete in the Town of Purcellville’s downtown area, residents and visitors are now encouraged to walk around freely with no hesitation.

The town recently announced that paving on 21st and 23rd Streets in the central historic corridor is now completed and temporary crosswalks have been installed. Staff is now expecting to install permanent, decorative crosswalks in the spring once the weather heats up.

For more information on the project, call the town at 540-338-7421.

New Purcellville Police Officer Awarded Top Honor As one of 14 agencies represented at the region’s police academy, the Purcellville Police Department will bring home the academy’s top award this

MIDDLEBURG Mason Hosts Business Workshop The George Mason University’s Mason Enterprise Center next Tuesday, Jan. 8 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Middleburg Library will host a free workshop to help attendees better understand the ins and outs of starting a business.

Center advisors will instruct students on what it takes to create a business plan, how to market a new business and which licenses and permits are required to launch. Attendees will also be set up in the center’s Small Business Development Center system, where they can take advantage of its no-cost, one-on-one businesses advising services.

For more information, visit masonenterprisecenterloudoun.com or call 703-466-0466.

HILLSBORO 868 Estate Vineyards Enlists Visitors to ‘Shuffle Truffles’ If you’ve ever been to 868 Estate Vineyards, you probably know about their truffle tastings. Now, you can help them select new flavors for the new year.

The winery every Saturday this month from 12-6 p.m., starting this Saturday, Jan. 5, is inviting visitors to stop in for a truffle tasting to help it finalize the truffle line-up for 2019.

Guests will be treated to two new flavors each weekend, ranging anywhere from pistachio ginger dark chocolate to white chocolate coconut in caramelized sugar. Voting on the line-up will enter visitors into a contest to win “a very cool prize” from the winery.

For more information, visit 868estatevineyards.com.

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fund in the town’s fiscal year 2019 budget. Town Manager Rob Ritter said that he expects the sign to be installed by the end of February.

“We are excited as this sign will keep the historic feel and charm of Lovettsville while adding in our newer town seal,” said Mayor Nate Fontaine.

time around.

The town’s newest police officer, David A. Camp, Jr., on Dec. 18 received the Thomas L. Shaw Award upon graduating from the 139th session of the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy. Camp was honored with the academy’s top award from a 108-cadet graduating class for his professionalism, dedication and leadership.

“We are so proud of David,” said Police Chief Cynthia McAlister. “To have this recognition bestowed upon a Purcellville police officer among so many other dedicated men and women is a testament to his hard work and commitment to the law enforcement profession.”

Camp comes to the Purcellville Police Department with more than 10 years of law enforcement experience, having formerly worked as an officer and sergeant in North Carolina. He will become a solo beat office in Purcellville in the spring after three months of field training.

January 3, 2019

<< FROM 18

<< FROM 21

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[ LOCO LIVING ]

A commemorative brick inscribed with “MLK Dream” along Market Street sets the stage for the march from Loudoun County Courthouse to Douglass Community Center for the 26th annual Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” celebration in January.

January 3, 2019

22

2018 IN REVIEW

YEAR IN PHOTOS Hillsboro residents started an eventful year with a New Year’s Day polar-plunge splash.

Cool Spring Elementary School music teacher Luke Denton works with his 4th and 5th grade chorus students before a concert in March.

A busy bee gets to work on the Town of Purcellville’s 189-acre Aberdeen property, which was considered for hops farming and equestrian events as the Town Council looked to generate more revenue from the land.

Tonya Taylor, co-manager of the Bainum Foundation Farm in Middleburg, rushes in-between storms to pick tomatoes after a wet growing season that has wreaked havoc on their vegetables. Record rains throughout 2018 also proved challenging for Loudoun’s wineries and farm breweries.

Students at Seneca Ridge Middle School walked out of class March 14 joining a national walk out in protest of gun violence after a school shooting in Florida. The walk out lasted 17 minutes, one minute for each of the victims of the shooting.

Mabel Kroiz carries a baby goat at her family’s George’s Mill farm, one of the operations featured on the county’s spring farm tour. The fourth generation farm family also runs a bed-andbreakfast and Georges Mill Artisan Cheese.

www.loudounnow.com

Above, Kori Lord, Emily Lord and Haley Oliver hack their horses down Old Waterford Road near Fieldstone Farm between Waterford and Leesburg. While a twisty, hilly and mostly unpaved road today is lined by scenic farms, many have already been sold and developed.

At left, Mark Herring, who began both his legal and political careers in Leesburg, in 2018 became the first Virginia attorney general to serve a second term in the post since Mary Sue Terry in 1989. He has announced plans to campaign for governor in 2021.

Photos by Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

23

[ THINGS TO DO ] Flights and Bites at Dirt Farm Friday, Jan. 4, 5-7 p.m.

Dirt Farm Brewing, 18701 Foggy Bottom Road, Bluemont

Yannis Tsapos of Galavas Winery on the Greek island of Santorini, exploring the lavish history of Santorini Wines and tasting four wines. Cost is $20 per person, $15 for wine club members.

Bites Wine School Wednesday

Details: dirtfarmbrewing.com

Wednesday, Jan. 9, 7-9 p.m.

Enjoy bites from the Kitchen Workshop with a flight of Dirt Farm beers.

Bites Wine and Grilled Cheese Bar, 105 S. King St., Leesburg

Beer and Art at Old Ox

Details: facebook.com/bitesva

Saturday, Jan. 5, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Old Ox Brewery, 44652 Guilford Drive, Ashburn

January 3, 2019

LIBATIONS

Learn about new varietals to fall in love with in the New Year with Sarah Walsh of the Country Vintner. Tickets are $21.

Advance purchase is recommended.

Details: oldoxbrewery.com Loudoun County Public Library and the Loudoun Arts Council join forces with Old Ox to put on a talk from John Daum, who has taught Renaissance art history for over 20 years at The Hill School in Middleburg. Daum will give an overview of the history of beer and how it is depicted in art from around the world.

ON STAGE

Creek’s Edge Guided Tour and Tasting Saturday, Jan. 5, noon and 2 p.m.

Creek’s Edge Winery, 41255 Annas Lane, Lovettsville Details: creeksedgewinery.com Check out Creek’s Edge behind the scenes from the vineyard to the cellar with a guided tour and tasting. Tickets are $25 for a one-hour tour. Tours continue Saturdays through February.

Santorini Wines: A Taste of History Sunday, Jan.6, 1:30-3 p.m.

Willowcroft Farm Vineyards, 38906 Mount Gilead Road, Leesburg

Courtesy of Colebrook Road

Lucketts Bluegrass: Colebrook Road Saturday, Jan. 5, 7 p.m.

Lucketts Community Center, 42361 Lucketts Road, Lucketts Details: luckettsbluegrass.org One of the most original and energetic bluegrass bands in the area, Colebrook Road performs contemporary bluegrass that keeps to the traditions of clean-

MORE THINGS TO DO >> 24

Willowcroft winemaker Lew Parker hosts

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2019 IN REVIEW

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24 January 3, 2019

[ THINGS TO DO ] << FROM 23 picking, three-part harmonies and a harddriving sound. Tickets are $17 at the door.

Bob Brown Puppets: World on a String Wednesday, Jan. 9, 10 a.m.

Franklin Park Arts Center, 36441 Blueridge View Lane, Purcellville Details: franklinparkartscenter.org

COMEDY NIGHT FEATURING 106.7 THE FAN’S DANNY ROUHIER

01/4/19 DOORS: 7:00PM

Ballyhoo 01/11/19 DOORS: 7:00PM

A TRIBUTE TO RUSH: SUN DOGS 01/12/19 DOORS: 7:00PM

Master puppeteer Bob Brown presents a rollicking adventure around the world featuring an Australian kangaroo, a Chinese dragon, an Egyptian mummy, French dancing dogs, an Irish leprechaun and Uncle Sam. Tickets are $5 at the door.

NIGHTLIFE Comedy Night with Danny Rouhier Friday, Jan. 4, 7 p.m.

Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg Details: tallyhotheater.com DMV comic Danny Rouhier, known for his popular midday show on 106.7 The Fan, returns with his clever, self-deprecating and fast-paced act. Tickets are $15 in advance.

Live Music: Teddy Chipouras

Live Music: Chris Timbers Band

Details: facebook.com/1836kandt

Friday, Jan. 4, 8 p.m.

Fresh off the release of his brand new CD, Chipouras returns to Loudoun to serve up some terrific tunes.

Monk’s BBQ, 251 N. 21st St., Purcellville

2018 IN REVIEW

BEATLEMANIA NOW: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES! 01/18/19 DOORS: 7:00PM

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01/26/19 DOORS: 7:00PM

Courtesy of Teddy Chipouras

Saturday, Jan. 5, 8-11 p.m.

1836 Kitchen and Taproom, 34 E. Broad Way, Lovettsville

Details: monksq.com This Northern Virginia native draws inspiration from soul, contemporary jazz, blues, rock and country. No cover.

Live Music: Mangione and Benton Jazz Trio Saturday, Jan. 5, 7-11 p.m.

Casa Nostra, 2 W. Loudoun St., Leesburg Details: casanostrava.com Ryan Benton and Chris Mangione offer instrumental jazz standards from the great American songbook in the style of greats like Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and other favorites.

Live Music: Blues Condition Saturday, Jan. 5, 8-11 p.m.

MacDowell Brew Kitchen, 202 Harrison St. SE, Leesburg Details: macdowellsbrewkitchen.com Get 2019 off to a rocking start with hot blues and jumping roots rock from

SKIP CASTRO

Northern Virginia. No cover.

Live Music: Taarka

Live Music: Ted Garber

Thursday, Jan. 10, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 5, 8 p.m.

Monk’s BBQ, 251 N. 21st St., Purcellville

B Chord Brewing, 34266 Williams Gap Road, Round Hill

Details: monksq.com

Details: bchordbrewing.com

Blues/Americana/Rock combined with classic showmanship from a local favorite.

No cover.

Loudoun’s own David Tiller and his wife

Science on Tap: The Economics of Climate Change Tuesday, Jan. 8, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Old Ox Brewery, 44652 Guilford Drive, Ashburn Details: oldoxbrewery.com Dr. Giovanni Baiocchi of the University of Maryland looks at the interdisciplinary science of climate change from scientific, technological, economic and behavioral perspectives. Event is free.

Courtesy of Taarka

Hot Picks

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Blues Condition

Saturday, Jan. 5, 8 p.m.

MacDowell Brew Kitchen macdowellsbrewkitchen.com

Coleville Road

Saturday, Jan. 5, 7 p.m.

Lucketts Community Center luckettsbluegrass.org

25

[ THINGS TO DO ]

and musical collaborator Enion Pelta-Tiller make energetic Americana in the hills of Colorado. They’ll give listeners a taste of their eclectic blend of bluegrass, pop rock, folk, old-time, gypsy-jazz, and Celtic tunes.

Tickets are $15.

COMING UP

January 3, 2019

<< FROM 24

The ongoing listening room concert series features chart topping singer/songwriter Taylor Carson with guitar wizard Mark Williams. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.

Music on the Heights: The Crooked Angels Saturday, Jan. 12, 7:30 p.m., doors open, 8 p.m., concert begins Music on the Heights, Broadlands

Songs, Stories & Gas Money: Taylor Carson with Mark Williams Saturday, Jan. 12, 7 p.m., doors open, 8 p.m., concert begins The Barns at Hamilton Station, 16804 Hamilton Station Road, Hamilton Details: thebarnsathamiltonstation.com

Contact: musicontheheights@gmail.com Husband and wife duo Amy and Jamie Potter serve up wild roots and soulful Americana at this monthly house concert series. Suggested donation is $15 to $20 with all contributions going directly to the artists. Email the organizer for address and details.

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January 3, 2019

26

[ OBITUARIES ]

Among Those We Lost

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2018 IN REVIEW

projects in Loudoun County during its period of tremendous growth. Beyond Loudoun, his accomplishments also include the redevelopment of Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia and Newport Beach, California’s Irvine Company development.

MALCOLM FORBES BALDWIN, 78, died Nov. 12 at his home in Lovettsville.

He had prostate cancer. Born April 5, 1940 in Rochester, NY, he was a pioneer in the field of environmental law and policy. He convened the first national conference on environmental law, and co-wrote and edited Law and the Environment, a book that helped guide the then-emerging field of environmental law. He served as senior environmental law and policy specialist at the White House Council on Environmental Quality during the Carter Administration. He chaired the board of Defenders of Wildlife in the 1980s.

Living in Sri Lanka from 1988 to 1993, he led a team fielded by the International Resources Group to establish national environmental laws, policies and procedures there and later led the development of a USAID-funded Environmental Partnership Program and establishing an environmental business program. Upon retirement to Loudoun in 2002, he grew wine grapes and raised sheep at WeatherLea Farm, helping to preserving rural land and businesses in Loudoun County through his work on the Loudoun County Rural Economic Development Council and the boards of the Piedmont Environmental Council, the Land Trust of Virginia and Save Rural Loudoun. He was an active member of the Loudoun County Democratic Party and he ran unsuccessfully for county supervisor in 2011.

MICHAEL ALLEN BANZHAF, 71, of Newport Beach, CA, and formally of Leesburg, died Jan. 27. He was a land-use attorney whose work transformed Loudoun County. Over the course of his 45-year career, he was recognized as a leading practitioner in zoning, environmental and land use law. As a partner with Reed Smith LLP, he handled the rezoning for numerous

STANLEY CAULKINS, 92, a dean of Loudoun’s business community, a World War II airman, and longtime civic leader, died Jan. 12. He closed his business, Caulkins Jewelers, in 2017 after 61 years of operation. After serving as a radio operator aboard a B-17 during World War II, the GI bill helped Caulkins learn the watchmaking trade. He returned to Leesburg and went to work in a gift shop in the back of the Plasters clothing store at the corner of King and Market streets. When the former Flippo’s grocery store space came up for lease, he moved his shop a few doors down King Street, where he paid $250 a month in rent. Caulkins Jewelers operated in that space for decades, until a 2015 fire forced a move to the Virginia Village shopping center. His civic activities included service on the Town Council and a life-long dedication to the town’s airport. He was a founding member of the Leesburg Airport Commission in 1962 and helped lead the push to build Leesburg Airport in eastern Leesburg with the help of radio and television personality Arthur Godfrey, who lived west of Leesburg on his Beacon Hill estate.

Later Caulkins helped establish the larger airport along Sycolin Road, where the terminal building today bears his name.

JOSEPH WATERS KEATING III, 80, of Waterford, died Jan. 12. Born March 20, 1937 in Montpelier, he attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the University of Virginia. He served in the U.S. Army’s map service at Fort Benning, GA, and went on to

a decades-long career with the federal government before retiring from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1984. He bought his historic home on Main Street in Waterford in 1969, part of a wave of preservation-minded newcomers who transformed the village in the 1960s.

He was a founding member of the Loudoun County Preservation Society and a founding member of the George C. Marshall Home Preservation Fund.

He was a dedicated yellow dog Democrat and a member of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee for more than 30 years.

JOSEPH BARRETO “BRETT” PHILLIPS, 76,

died Sept. 9 in Kearneysville, WV, one year after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Phillips built a multi-million-dollar publishing company from the launch of Leesburg Today, a 3,000-circulation community weekly newspaper in 1988. By the time the newspaper and its parent company were sold to American Community Newspapers in 2006, Leesburg Today’s circulation had climbed to more than 64,000, and had become the dominant print media title in the rapidly growing Loudoun market. The newspaper’s parent company, Amendment I Inc., launched Loudoun Magazine in 2001 and the following year, Loudoun Business, a monthly targeting the county’s business market. The son of journalists, he began his career as a stringer for the Washington Star while attending college. In 1962, he was hired as a reporter for the Loudoun Times-Mirror, and four years later was appointed managing editor. After leaving the paper in 1976, he won a contract from the Loudoun Board of Supervisors to write a Purchase of Development Rights program that would form the basis of a publicly funded effort to conserve rural land in Loudoun—a program that ultimately was not pursued by the government. Two decades later, he undertook a nonprofit rural land conservation project and wrote a tax-district based program centering on creation of a Rural Economic Development Zone that would secure conservation easements on a vast majority of a property owner’s rural land in exchange for additional non-residential development on residual portions of the land. Again, the county’s political leaders didn’t pursue the incentive-based preservation concept,

instead attempting a rural downzoning that was overturned in the courts.

GALE WALDRON, 70, died Jan. 8 at her home near Hamilton. She was one of the most influential members of Loudoun’s arts scene. Born in New Jersey in 1947, she moved to Loudoun in 1985. She launched Loudoun Art magazine in 1997. Later, she founded and nurtured Gallery 222; and founded the Loudoun Academy of the Arts Foundation. As president of the Loudoun Arts Council, she revamped the organization’s branding and messaging. She also directed a number of Designer Showhouses from 2003-2007, that raised money and awareness for the council and boosted its membership to more than 400. She was a forerunner to the founding of the Leesburg Public Art Commission, proposing a mural for the downtown that served as a catalyst in establishing guidelines for public art projects.

Waldron volunteered with the annual Four Seasons of Oatlands Art Show and Sale, Leesburg’s Fall into the Arts Festival, and the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce on Horsing Around Event.

She also served on the Western Studio Artists Tour and the Loudoun County Art Advisory Board.

FRANK ALEXANDER WATKINS, 96, of

Leesburg, died Dec. 11, at the Sandy Springs Veterans Rehabilitation in Luray. He was born Jan. 5, 1922, in Leesburg. He served in the U.S. Army in the South Pacific during World War II. After his discharge from the Army in 1946, he began a 40-year construction career. In 1973, he decided to finish his education, studying real estate sales and obtaining his license in 1976.

His license remained active at the time of his passing.

[OBITUARIES] Terry Nelson Jones, 72, of Greeneville, TN (formerly of Leesburg, VA) passed away on Saturday, November 17, 2018, at his home in Lost Mountain.

Terry was born December 19, 1945, in Bristol, Virginia and raised on the Tennessee side. He is survived by his wife of 51 years Joy Jones, daughter Shannon Jones, son-in-law Paul Williams and sister Chris Jones. He was predeceased by his father Withrow E. Jones, mother Cleo Adeline Brown and brother Withrow E. Jones, Jr. Terry graduated from Bristol Tennessee High School in 1964 where many knew him as Arizona. He went on to serve in the U.S. Army, work for Bassett’s Dairy, and later joined the Virginia State Police where he served as Trooper and Special Agent retiring in 1995. He was also a proud Master Mason.

Terry was an avid traveler. He and Joy transversed the U.S. while living full time in their RV. He loved his trips to Europe, China, Russia, and even Berlin when the wall came down. Well known for his deep booming voice, dry sense of humor and his classic quips, you could always find him with some new technology or gadget in his hand enjoying a cup of coffee and Little Debbie’s surrounded by the cats and dogs he loved or at the casino.

There will be a celebration of life for Terry, the loving Dad, supportive Husband and caring Son, Brother, and Friend at Tuscarora Mill’s Log Cabin Room (203 Harrison St, Leesburg) on Saturday, January 5 from 2 to 5 pm.

Instead of flowers, donations may be made to a Terry Jones Celebration Fund at: www.GoFundMe.com/Terry-Jones-Celebration-Fund As Dad would always say, “Keep it between the ditches.”

Meredith Louise Jungen

A memorial service will be held on Friday, December 28, 2018 at 1:00pm at Loudoun Funeral Chapel 158 Catoctin Circle SE, Leesburg, Virginia.

Meredith will be interred in LaCrosse, Wisconsin at a later date. Please share online condolences with the family at www.loudounfuneralchapel.com

Edward Ronald Mayr Edward Ronald Mayr was born June 3,1941 in Latrobe, PA to Joseph Mayr and Gertrude Florence Huskey Mayr. On December 21, 2018, he peacefully went to be one of God’s Christmas Angels.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Betsy Mayr, and his 3 children: Ronald Jr. (Cindy), Steven (Melissa), Shari Vincent (Curt). His grandchildren are the apples of his eyes: Joseph & Matthew Mayr; Kaley, Abby, C.J., Briana & Emma Vincent.

Mr. Mayr attended Holy Trinity Catholic School and graduated from Ligonier Valley High School in 1959; he attended Allegheny Technical Institute in Pittsburgh. Mr.Mayr enlisted in the U.S. Army where he was a communication expert stationed at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, TX. He met his best friend and love-of-his-life while at Ft. Bliss.

Upon completion of his enlistment, he was employed by AT&T from 1964 and retired in 1989. He started a new career working for the Commonwealth of Virginia and retired from the Town of Herndon, VA in 2007. He then was a greens keeper at Herndon Golf Course until he moved to the Richmond area in 2016.

Ed loved God, family and community. He loved working with the youth; he spent many hours working with Cub and Boy Scouts and brought excitement to the Pack and Troops in Baltimore, MD and Charleston, WV. He was awarded the St. George Medal for outstanding service to youth through Catholic Scouting. He was also an advisor with CYO and coached Girls Basketball and Softball in Parkville, MD. He served as an Extraordinary Minister at both St. Ursula Catholic Church in MD. and also Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in WV. He was a High School Football Official for 40 years in PA, VA, MD and WV. He was a High School Basketball official

In Leesburg, Ed coached girls softball for many years. He started pitching clinics, bringing people with expertise and ways to transition from slow pitch softball to fast pitch softball. Leesburg Parks & Recreation honored him by naming a softball field the Ed & Betsy Mayr field at Freedom Park. He also taught Young Driver Improvement for 20 years. He was an active member of the Knights Columbus and 4th degree Knights both in Leesburg and Mechanicsville, Virginia, and a Member of the American Legion in Pennsylvania and Mechanicsville, VA. Throughout his life Ed loved the outdoors. He always spent a week of his vacation at Boy Scout camp; took youth camping for parish camping trips. In later years & retirement he camped in his RV, joined a camping group Cardinal Winnie Tascas, served as Secretary & Vice President. He and Betsy took many trips taking the grandchildren when they weren’t touring the U.S. When they sold their home they lived in the RV and their home was where the wheels stopped.

On trips he attended church and took pictures of all churches visited. He was also an avid golfer and hit the links anytime he could, he also visited golf courses throughout the U.S. Friends may call on Thursday, December 27, 2018 from 2-4pm and 6-8pm at Loudoun Funeral Chapel 158 Catoctin Circle, SE, Leesburg, Va. Mass of Christian burial will be offered on Friday, December 28, 2018 at 9:00am at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church 101 Oak Crest Manor Drive, Leesburg with interment to follow at St. John Cemetery in Leesburg. Please share online condolences with the family at www.loudounfuneralchapel.com

Rev. Edward E. Plowman, Jr. Edward Earl Plowman, Jr. of Ashburn, VA, entered peacefully into eternity on Wednesday evening, December 19, 2018. He was 87.

Ed was born to Roberta and Edward Earl Plowman, Sr. in Hanover, PA on September 27, 1931, the oldest of six children. He would later meet the love of his life and future wife, Rose Orazi, at a Baptist church they both attended. They worked together in children’s outreach and broadcast ministries. In 1952, the two married and would go on to raise four children.

A graduate of Philadelphia College of Bible, Wheaton College and Dallas Theological Seminary, Ed entered the ministry as a youth pastor in San Diego, CA. In 1960, he became the senior pastor of Park Presidio Baptist Church in San Francisco. There, he developed a multi-cultural ministry including

an outreach ministry to the Chinese moving into the church’s neighborhood.

He was instrumental in setting up classes to teach Chinese school children the Chinese language (predominantly Cantonese) and Chinese culture. Additionally, he established English classes for Chinese adults as well as church services, counseling centers and pastoral ministries in Cantonese and Mandarin. The work he did with youth of all nationalities grew into one of the largest outreaches in the city.

Ed liked to say that he was a “jack of all trades master of none”. In reality, he was a highly gifted individual who was an accomplished artist (introducing a chalk ministry to the youth at his church), singer, writer/author, photographer, computer guru and award-winning journalist.

In 1970, Ed took a job as editor (and later, senior editor) at Christianity Today magazine which required a move across the country. He settled his family in Annandale, VA. During the 1980s, Ed worked for Billy Graham, covering all of the evangelist’s preaching visits in the former communist-ruled countries of Europe as well as in China. He also headed the Amsterdam 83 and Amsterdam 86 evangelists and church leaders conferences. Ed joined WORLD magazine in the 1990s where he took on a more investigative journalist type role and wrote the obituaries for the year in review. His last and latest feature was Billy Graham’s obituary posted on February 21, 2018.

A world traveler, Ed’s journalistic travels took him to 69 countries for first-hand coverage of the contemporary religious scene for both print and broadcast media.

An author, Ed penned The Jesus Movement in America, chronicling the beginning of the Jesus Movement. At the heart of it, he was deeply involved with the “Jesus People” in the late 1960s/ early 1970s. For his coverage, Time Magazine called him the “historian of the movement”. Ed has several more books to his credit as well as hundreds and hundreds of news articles he wrote for a number of magazines and newspapers (including The Saturday Evening Post, San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post).

While Ed was always looking for a story, his best one was actually never written. The story was one of devotion, love and commitment. In 1997, Ed’s wife, Rose, was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), an incurable neurological disease that necessitated a move to Ashburn, VA in 2004 to be closer to family. Ed lovingly and without complaint, cared for Rose over the next eleven years until her death in 2008.

In so doing, he became the worldwide moderator for a PSP forum, encouraging and visiting numerous families dealing with the disease.

Ed was predeceased by his wife, Rose, Continued on next page

www.loudounnow.com

Meredith Louise Jungen passed away December 29, 2018. She was born November 13, 1963, in Tokyo, Japan.

Meredith was the second child of Marvin and Tamara Anne Jungen. Meredith was employed in the banking profession her entire career. She started as a teller and was Sr. Vice President of Construction Loans with United Bank at the time of her death. Meredith was an avid sewist and quilter, and was very active selling her creations at local

Meredith was preceded in death by her mother, Tamara Anne (James) Jungen. Meredith is survived by her father, Marvin Jungen, Ashburn, Virginia, as well as two brothers, Scott (Lynn) of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Brian (Shelley) of Springfield, Missouri, and one nephew, Nicholas Jungen, of Nixa, Missouri. She is also survived by a large number of good friends.

for 30 years.

2019 IN REVIEW

Whether serving as President of the Catoctin Elementary School PTA in Leesburg, Virginia or the Treasurer of The Lost Mountain Community Center in Tennessee, Terry was always involved in the communities where he lived.

arts & crafts shows. Even her license plate reflected her love of quilting.

January 3, 2019

Terry Nelson Jones

27

For Sale/Rent/Lease Legal Notices

January 3, 2019

28

PUBLIC NOTICE INVITATION FOR BID (IFB) The Town of Leesburg will accept sealed bids in the Procurement Office, 25 W. Market Street, Leesburg, VA 20176, until 3:00 p.m. on January 24, 2019 for the following: IFB No. 500630-FY19-21 CHEMICALS FOR WATER AND WASTE WATER TREATMENT The Town of Leesburg is soliciting sealed bids for the various water and wastewater treatment chemicals. Chemicals will be delivered to the Town’s Water Treatment Plant located at 43234 Edwards Ferry Road, Leesburg, VA 20176 and the Town’s Water Pollution Control Facility located at 1391 Russell Branch Parkway SE, Leesburg, VA 20175.

Commercial Real Estate Rental A new owner of several prime retail locations on Washington Street in downtown Middleburg, Virginia seeks to lease to an established boutique coffee shop, natural food retailer, wine shop or similar specialty store interested in expanding or relocating.

2018 IN REVIEW

Call Matt or Jodi at 540-687-9775 to discuss what we have to offer.

For additional information, visit: http://www.leesburgva.gov/bidboard

BLUEMONT COTTAGE FOR RENT Efficiency apartment with kitchen, separate full bathroom, fireplace, hard wood floors in beautiful Bluemont, very private, suitable for one person. No Pets. Available now at $800 per month including utilities.

Call John at 202-716-0155

[ OBITUARIES ] Continued fron proceding page of 56 years and a brother, Richard “Dick” Plowman. Left to cherish his memory are his children: twins Gili of Naples, FL and Gary, Beth (Bob) and Philip (Elana), all of Ashburn, four grandchildren: Alex of Manassas, VA, Aaron of Norfolk, VA, Jessica and Andrew of Ashburn, four siblings: Janet, Doris, Millie, and Bob, a host of nieces and nephews and partner/ friend for 8 years, Jean of Ashburn.

A memorial service will be held on

Saturday, January 12th at 2:00 pm at Cornerstone Chapel, 650 Battlefield Pkwy, Leesburg, VA 20175 Pastor Mike Emerson will be officiating.

In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made in Rev. Plowman’s memory to CurePSP at www.psp.org or by mail: CurePSP, 1216 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10001 Final arrangements by Loudoun Funeral Chapel, Leesburg, VA.

01/03/19

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

MIDDLEBURG TOWN COUNCIL The Middleburg Town Council will hold a public hearing beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 10, 2019 to hear public comments on the following: Zoning Text Amendment 18-01 An Ordinance to repeal Article XVII, Part I, Section 245a of the Middleburg Zoning Ordinance pertaining to Maintenance of Historic Structures. The proposal is to repeal language from the Zoning Ordinance that is more narrowly tailored than, and duplicative of, town-wide maintenance provisions that were recently adopted as Town Code Chapter 38.

The hearing will take place at the Town Office, 10 W. Marshall Street, Middleburg, Virginia; the file for this application may be reviewed there from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, holidays excepted.

Questions may be directed to the Town Planner at (540) 687-5152 or by email at townplanner@middleburgva.gov The Town of Middleburg strives to make its hearings accessible to all. Please advise of accommodations the Town can make to help you participate in the hearing.

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[ D E AT H N O T I C E S ] Wagih Kozman Tadros, age 72 , of Alexandria ,VA, departed this life On Tuesday Dec. 18, 2018 at Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington, VA. Viewing will be held on Monday Dec. 24, 2018 from 8:00 am till time of funeral service 8:30 a.m. at St. Moses Coptic Orthodox Church, 44710 Cape Court, Ashburn, VA 20147. He is survived by his wife Traiza Tadros, his daughter Mariam Tadros and his grandson Henry Tadros of Annandale, Virginia. Interment at Fairfax Memorial Cemetery , Fairfax, VA. Arrangements by LYLES FUNERAL SERVICE, Serving N. Virginia. Eric S. Lyles, Director. Lic. VA/MD/DC. 800-388-1913.

April 17, 1968, in Vientiane, Laos to Khampheuy and Phetsamone (Luangrath) Phannavong.

She is survived by her husband of 30 years, Phanmany “Tui” and son, Phetanutphone “Max” Manivong; brothers, Sinasonh “Khao” and Phetmano “Pong” Phannavong; sister-in-law, Sabrina Lemoine and brother-in-law, Andrew Druliner; niece, Léa Phannavong Lemoine and a large number of aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Family and friends are invited to the Colonial Funeral Home, Leesburg VA at 201 Edwards Ferry Road NE, Leesburg, VA 20176, on Saturday, December 29, 2018, from 1:00pm to 5:00pm to reminisce and celebrate her life.

Phetdara “Kai” (Phannavong) Manivong, age 50, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, December 26, 2018 at Inova Loudoun Hospital in Lansdowne, Virginia. She was born on

Charles Stanford Barden, Jr. of Washington, DC passed away on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018. Husband of the late Sally Colette Barden. Father of Amy Barden, Charles Joseph

Barden, Mary Sarah (David Wayne) Moore and Katherine Barden (John) Sampogna; grandfather to Jennifer Katherine, Maria Anne Sampogna and the late David Wayne Moore, Jr. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at Holy Trinity Church, 36th and O Streets N.W. on January 2, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. Interment in Glenwood Cemetery. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to N Street Village, Attn: Development, 1333 N Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005. Arrangements by Hall Funeral Home, Purcellville, VA. Linda Vaughan Welsh, 69 of Leesburg, Va. died on December 23, 2018.

Linda was born in Newport News, Va. on Valentine’s Day, 1949 to Betty Jo Peck Vaughan and John Marshall Vaughan. She is survived by her husband Holmes Welsh, daughter Erin Everline (Todd) and son Logan Welsh

(Kelly) all of Leesburg, Va. Grandchildren River, Mason, Regan, Cedar and Eli. Linda is also survived by her sister Betty Saunders of Winchester, Va., brother John Vaughan of Suffolk, Va., sister-in-law Liz Vaughan of Smithfield, Va., brother and sister-n-law Sam and Shirley Welsh of Leesburg, Va., niece Jeannette Suter and nephews Bryan Welsh, Travis Saunders, Kyle Saunders, Thomas Vaughan and Hunter Vaughan.

There will be a memorial service for Linda at the Lincoln Friends Meeting House on January 5, 2019 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090 or to Goose Creek Friends Meeting, P.O. Box 105, Lincoln Va. 20160

Employment

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Airport Operations & Maintenance Specialist

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$45,995-$79,129 DOQ

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January 3, 2019

Town of Leesburg Employment Opportunities Please visit www.leesburgva.gov/jobs for more information and to apply online.

Resumes may be submitted as supplemental only. EOE/ADA.

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To review Ida Lee (Parks & Recreation) flexible part-time positions, please visit www.leesburgva.gov/jobs.

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2019 IN REVIEW

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2018 IN REVIEW

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Resource Directory

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[ OPINION ]

2018 IN REVIEW

January 3, 2019

32

The Homestretch Through the first three years of its term, this Board of Supervisors has worked well to address many of the community’s top needs with relatively little partisan wrangling and unproductive grandstanding. Among the key challenges facing supervisors during the final 12 months will be holding that focus.

Unfortunately, there already are signs that gamesmanship is ramping up and will increase as we move deeper into the election year. And that dynamic may be the biggest threat to supervisors’ efforts to complete some of their most important actions.

The board’s strength has been its fiscal management, incrementally providing a post-recession restructuring of elements of the government that should put the county on more solid footing going forward. This year’s budget deliberations will be the final opportunity to tweak that foundation. The effort to revamp the compensation plan for the county government’s workforce could be among the most costly of the fiscal year 2020 budget initiatives. It’s one that may become politically expedient to punt to the next board, but the work already Is long overdue.

This year also provides the final opportunity for the county to prepare for the opening of the Silver Line extension to Ashburn. Come 2020, trains will be rolling. While the recent data center land rush provided a substantial boost to the real estate tax districts created to help finance the construction, getting riders to the rails will be critical to the line’s operational success. Loudoun’s expanding the county’s commuter bus system, which grew from a few community-run vanpools in the early ‘90s, and will become as important as the efforts to build out the county’s road network. If the service was previously viewed as a convenience to metro workers, it will now operate as a critical element of the county’s transportation infrastructure.

Finally, there is the creation of a new comprehensive plan that will guide the community’s development for the next two generations. This was expected to be the hallmark of the board’s term. It may not be. Still under review by the Planning Commission, it remains unclear whether the current draft pushes far enough to achieve the visions the public outlined for areas of urbanization, the ultimate buildout and even redevelopment of suburban neighborhoods and the protection of rural land.

And, despite early promises that the plan’s development would be underpinned by dynamic data modeling, it’s still unclear what the current draft means for the county’s fiscal future.

The plan is too important to rush to completion. Yet, as the adoption is pushed closer to November’s election day, the more likely it is to become mired in partisan sparring. That’s when poor decisions can be pushed through by those more focused on re-election strategies rather than ensuring the community’s long-term health.

The board is in the homestretch, but it will not be a coast to the finish line; there’s still important work to be done—working together.

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

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[ LETTERS ] Tremendous Editor: In 1947, a group of Marines recognized a need in this country and found a way to fill it—Toys for Tots. The program’s main purpose is to “bring the joy of Christmas to America’s less fortunate children.” Receiving the gift of a shiny, new toy (something many take for granted) can make a tremendous difference in a child’s life.

2018 was a successful year for the Loudoun County Marine Corps League’s Toys for Tots program.

This year, we provided The Salvation Army of Loudoun County with about 9,000 toys. This allowed them to have a “Toy Shop” for the second year so that families unable to sign up for their Angel Tree Program would be able to register and receive toys for their children.

This upheld the Toys for Tots mission of “providing toys for every child.”

In addition to the Salvation Army, we provided more than 22,000 toys to various nonprofit organizations in Loudoun County including Boulder Crest Retreat in Bluemont.

The Loudoun County Toys for Tots program wouldn’t be successful without our tireless volunteers and the generosity of area families and businesses/ organizations. We are indebted to the men and women of the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue services for collecting and delivering massive amounts of toys at each of the fire stations in Loudoun County.

A special thank you goes out to Sa-

bey Data Centers, who donated warehouse space where we collected, sorted, and distributed toys. It is important to note, that each year we are tasked with locating a space for our operation.

We are already planning for our next season which begins Oct. 1.

— Frank Holtz, Coordinator Toys for Tots, Loudoun County

Un-Mowed Medians Yield Benefits Editor: On Dec. 4, the Board of Supervisors approved unanimously a measure for the county to investigate how much it would cost to supplement VDOT mowing responsibilities along medians and roadsides. The Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy has some concerns about this undertaking.

Nicole Sudduth, the previous executive director of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, along with other local leaders, worked diligently with local and state VDOT officials since 2015 to create more wildlife friendly mowing practices in medians throughout the commonwealth. An agreement was reached with VDOT to restrict mowing to the edges of medians throughout the summer, waiting to mow until November, after most pollinators have completed their life-cycles for the year. Not only does not mowing provide benefits to pollinators, it proLETTERS >> 33

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.

<< FROM 5

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[ LETTERS ] << FROM 32

— Michael Myers, Executive Director Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

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motes motorist safety, reduces maintenance costs, and improves roadside aesthetics. VDOT officials recognized that there were not any downsides to mowing reduction. Since this practice has been implemented, the results have been positive.

The benefits to reduced mowing practices are plentiful. Un-mowed medians might not look “well kept” to the untrained eye, but they are important habitat for pollinators throughout the summer and into the fall. Allowing native grasses and wildflowers to grow provides food and homes for bees, butterflies, and other insects that are necessary for the sustainability of plants including nearby agricultural crops.

Roadsides and medians also provide linear connections of habitat that appeal to wildlife. Pollinators are an essential component to the global food web, and the health and success of pollinators is crucial to human health.

These medians also include vital milkweed habitat for monarch butterflies, which originate and migrate through Loudoun County in the fall every year on the way to Mexico. Native plants growing in medians reduce invasive weeds, which lowers the need

for herbicide or pesticide spraying.

Native plants also provide better weed and soil erosion control than nonnative grasses.

Economically, not mowing the medians benefits to the agricultural economy by providing habitat for species that pollinate crops, and it puts less stress on state budgets. Increased mowing would only waste taxpayer dollars.

Instead, we could focus on educating our residents about the importance of pollinators, and how these medians are increasing the quality of life for both humans and wildlife.

We know our 1,000-plus members appreciate seeing wildflowers blooming throughout the spring, summer and fall in our medians and along our roadsides. The benefits have been scientifically studied, and they are numerous, while the negatives are mostly uninformed opinions of natural landscapes looking “messy.”

The Xerces Society has a wealth of knowledge on the benefits of managing roadsides for pollinators that can be found at xerces.org/pollinator-conservation-roadsides.

2019 IN REVIEW

Those involve more than 1,000 acres that sold for $392 million combined.

In July, New York-based Sentinel Data Centers paid $82.5 for 280 acres on the northern edge of Dulles Airport. The land, once envisioned for an “International City” development with a mix of office parks and highrise homes, is adjacent to the Loudoun Gateway metro station.

In September, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority sold 424 acres on the western edge of Dulles Airport to Digital Realty Trust L.P. for $236.5 million. Starting in 2005, the airports authority bought land to the west of the airport for a fourth runway and support facilities, a total of 854 acres. In 2017, the authority started the process of seeking organizations to buy or lease property that wouldn’t be needed for airport uses. Digital Realty was the highest bidder.

A few weeks later, Microsoft Corp. closed a deal to purchase 332 acres on the west side of Leesburg Executive Airport from the Petersen Companies for $73 million. The Compass Creek property is a 550-acre tract approved for construction of 2.5 million square feet of office space, 550,000 square feet of retail, 300,000 square feet of flex-industrial uses and a hotel. Already approved on the property is the 100,000-square-foot center ION International Training Center, which is under construction, and a Super Walmart. For now, the Microsoft tract

January 3, 2019

Economic development

33

is outside Leesburg’s corporate limits, but the Town Council already is exploring annexation of that land.

Another deal to win accolades is the Board of Supervisors’ approval of a plan to bring a second major league sports franchise to the county, joining the Washington Redskins.

The Board of Supervisors in September gave final approval to a $15 million agreement that cleared the path to put in a 500-space parking lot, a 300-space commuter lot, four FIFA-standard soccer fields, D.C. United’s new headquarters and offices, and a 5,000-seat stadium for a new second-division professional soccer team, Loudoun United, at Bolen Park south of Leesburg. The county will take out $15 million in financing to build the project, which the team will pay back over a 30-year lease. The county will own the stadium and fields, and could also take in tax revenues from alcohol sales, admission taxes, or paid parking.

The team will compete in the 33team United Soccer League and play its first seven games on the road, starting March 7 in Nashville, but hopes to have the work complete by its home opener May 3 against Bethlehem Steel FC. The project was named Deal of the Year by the local chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women, but also drove a wedge between Loudoun County and the Town of Leesburg. Residents in neighboring Kincaid Forest, and town councilmembers, have opposed opening Kincaid Boulevard, which runs through their neighborhood but ends in a barricade at Crosstrial Boulevard, to through traffic. It would be one of the major connections to Bolen Park, linking it to Battlefield Parkway via Crosstrails Boulevard.

January 3, 2019

34

[ SAFETY BRIEFS ] << FROM 14

<< FROM 3

1989 in Loudoun County.

The defense argued that the witnesses’ stories were inconsistent and had changed over the years. Their case also suggested that the pill bottle had been placed in Ryan’s hand by that third unknown man to try to frame Warnick.

the betterment of the community. But she also saw, especially through her work in local government, a need for change at the state level.

“I was working at the local level and watching the House of Delegates move further and further to the right, in terms of what policies they were supporting,” said Boysko, who describes herself as a “strong progressive.”

So she challenged then-Republican Del. Tom Rust in the 86th District, but lost when she fell short by just 56 votes.

She ran again two years later and won, this time beating Republican Danny Vargas.

Of her work in the General Assembly thus far, 52-year-old Boysko said

Alexandria Man Charged in Double Homicide

2018 IN REVIEW

A 35-year-old man from Alexandria was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder in November, following the investigation of a May 14 shooting at a hookah bar in Sterling.

Hassan M. Gailani is accused of killing Ahmed S. Osman, 35, of Sterling and Murtada A. Marof, 40, of Herndon at Pharaoh Café.

He was apprehended outside of the hookah bar. Investigators later found a Kel-Tec 9 mm pistol in a rented Kia Soul parked about a half-mile away. The key to the Kia was found inside a Toyota Camry near the hookah lounge, apparently belonging to Gailani.

A seven-day trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 19.

www.loudounnow.com

Boysko

3 Gang Members Guilty in Ashburn Murder A gang initiation that left one young man dead and another permanently scarred will keep three El Salvadorian teens behind bars for the next four decades.

The MS-13 gang members were convicted of participating in the Nov. 4, 2016 attack in the woods behind an Ashburn apartment complex where they stabbed 22-year-old Guillermo Piedra-Espinoza to death and severely wounded another victim.

Jose Otonniel Chicas Guevara, Jordy Jose Bonilla and Oscar Fabricio Lopez Nieto each faced 10 charges in the case and were sentenced after entering pleas.

According to interviews conducted by investigators, Bonilla, who was new to the gang, was ordered to kill someone and targeted Piedra-Espinoza because he was a member of the rival 18th Street gang.

Bonilla invited the victims to party with some girls at a secluded party spot behind the Ashburn Meadows apartments. But when Bonilla left to bring the girls in, he returned with Lopez Nieto, Chicas Guevara—and a kitchen-style meat cleaver. The three jumped Piedra-Espinoza and stabbed him and chased and stabbed the other victim. Piedra-Espinoza’s body was left in a nearby creek.

Bonilla was sentenced to serve 43 years in prison, Lopez Nieto was sentenced to 48 years, and Guevara was sentenced serve 40 years.

May << FROM 3 tee, which he chaired for 12 years; and the Transportation Committee, which he also chaired for six years.

May was ousted in a 2013 primary election by Republican David LaRock. Later that year, he ran as an independent for the 33rd Senate District to replace Mark Herring, following his election as attorney general. John Whitbeck won the Republican nomination in the race ultimately won by Wexton, the Democratic nominee.

May, who describes himself as a moderate conservative, said he’d like

Wexton << FROM 3 but pretty much everything we do with that budget is up to us.”

And true to the district—which is a major national technology hub, and grappling with its transportation network—Wexton said she hopes to be assigned to the Transportation and Committee on Infrastructure Committee and the Science, Space and Technology.

The first order of business, she said, is to get the government back open following a pre-Christmas shutdown prompted by the president’s demand for border wall funding, and to get Metrorail’s $150-million-a-year Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act funding reauthorized for at least another 10 years.

“I hope we will finally pass gun violence prevention legislation, improve our healthcare system, reach a deal on immigration reform, and pass campaign finance and ethics reforms,” Wexton said.

And she will be part of a shift in power on Capitol Hill, which has been rocked even more than usual by controversy and conflict during the tenure of President Donald J. Trump.

“I believe the Democratic majority should and will investigate the president and his administration,” Wex-

she’s most proud that she had a hand in expanding Medicaid coverage, which passed with bipartisan support. “That’s health care for 400,000 Virginians who wouldn’t otherwise have it,” she said.

“That’s probably the most important thing any of us will ever be able to do.”

Looking ahead, she wants to continue her work on legislation that protects abortion rights. She said a woman’s right to choose has been chipped away at in recent years. She pointed to state laws that require more stringent building regulations to abortion clinics than any other medical provider.

Boysko, a former member of the board of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, said those “TRAP laws”—which stands for targeted regulation of abortion providers—are meant to restrict women’s access to abortion.

“We know that families should be able to make decisions for themselves,”

she said. “We don’t need politicians telling us when we’re going to start our families or what the best decision is in our personal lives.”

Among her priorities if she wins a seat in the Senate, Boysko said she will support improving voters’ access by allowing for early voting; non-partisan redistricting; and restoring funding that the legislature shifted from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to help cover the cost of Metro.

“I expect to continue working on many of the same kinds of things that I’ve focused on—an economy that works for everyone, independent redistricting, making sure that we are focusing on stopping gun violence, protecting a woman’s reproductive rights,” Boysko said, in addition to working with localities and on Virginia’s Broadband Advisory Council.

to return to Richmond to work across party lines to make progress on some key issues. He said he has ideas for improving higher education, creating over-due technology policy and bolstering the state’s transportation infrastructure. Transportation was May’s signature issue in his latter years in the House of Delegates. He helped create and win support for the 2013 landmark transportation bill that has since raised billions of dollars for roads, bridges and other transportation projects.

He also drafted legislation that changed drivers licenses’ expiration date from the end of the month to drivers’ birthdays so everyone isn’t going to DMV offices on the same day; and created the Rural Rustic Roads program,

which allows newly-paved roads to remain in their original confines, instead of the initial law that required widening lanes and rights-of-way and other design standards. A VDOT report estimated that change saved $270 million in transportation funding in the past six years.

“I have additional ideas for how to improve transportation, and I’d love the opportunity to work with some of the same folks I’ve worked with previously to see what we can accomplish,” May said. “I think we can do great things together.”

May, an inventor and engineer, founded electronics manufacturer EIT LLC in 1977. He holds 28 patents and has others pending.

ton said. “Oversight of government agencies, which has been nonexistent during this past Congress, is also necessary and will take place during the 116th Congress.”

And she said Special Counsel Robert Mueller should be allowed to complete his investigation, and its findings should be made public.

She brings to Washington an agenda that would also be a change of course for Congress. On health care, she said the House of Representatives can take steps to bring down insurance premiums.

“We also can take steps to ensure transparency in pricing for services and out-of-pocket costs, and allow the federal government to use its buying power to negotiate prescription drug prices,” Wexton said.

She said the U.S. should also adhere to the Paris Climate Accords, which the Trump administration has walked away from; move away from fossil fuels toward 100 percent renewable energy; and incentivize clean energy.

“The Democratic majority has created a Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and I look forward to working with my colleagues on that committee to protect our planet’s future,” Wexton said.

That will go along with other campaign priorities like funding for education and career and technical training,

and tighter gun safety laws.

“I’m not alone in my commitment to gun violence prevention,” Wexton said.

“For the first time in years, a common sense first step would be to institute universal background checks on gun purchases, a reform that over 90 percent of Americans support.”

And she said she would “absolutely” push to restore net neutrality rules.

Her new office, 33 miles away from Leesburg in the capitol building, will be much closer to home than her Senate office in Richmond. Her flagship district office will be in Sterling, with another office in Winchester. Wexton said she will also hold “multiple” town halls each year and plans mobile office hours in parts of the district that won’t have a permanent office.

Some of the faces in her office will be familiar—in particular Abby Carter, who has served as Wexton’s chief of staff since 2015 and will continue on as Wexton transitions to Washington.

She will be joined by Legislative Director Mike Lucier, who has previously served with several other members of Congress, and District Director Erica Constance, former chief of staff to Del. Kathleen Murphy (D-34).

To contact soon-to-be Representative Jennifer T. Wexton, visit wexton. house.gov. rgreene@loudounnow.com

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