Loudoun Now for Dec. 26, 2019

n EDUCATION

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| n BUSINESS

VOL. 5, NO. 6

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| n LOCO LIVING

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| n OBITUARIES

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DECEMBER 26, 2019 Ornaments and lights hang on trees and buildings along King Street in downtown Leesburg. Loudoun is all decked out for the holiday season.

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Supervisors Say Goodbyes at Final Meeting

BY RENSS GREENE rgreene@loudounnow.com

County supervisors reflected on their past four years of service during the final meeting of their term Dec. 17. Four of the nine supervisors will not be returning in 2020.

County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) lifted the normal time limits to let those members say their public goodbyes. Most remarked on the cooperative spirit of the board, despite differences in political party.

Vice Chairman Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn), who chose not to run again, had tallied approximately the number of meetings he attended as a county supervisor.

“I estimate that I attended just under 3,000 meetings, so when people ask, ‘why are you retiring from this,’ do I have to say anything else?” Buona said. “It’s a big commitment, and for those of us up here, we understand the commitment behind this. But that commitment has a price tag, and that’s why I decided not to run for reelection.”

He recounted days at a time when he would not see his wife, who would be asleep by the time he got home from some meetings, or time missed with his four grandchildren. He also recounted positively his working relationship with the other eight supervisors, including Randall. He recalled that their first meeting was dominated by a fight over committee appointments.

“We did not start off on the right foot, we did not, but I think we really quickly came to respect each other,” Buona said.

“We share a lot more in common than we don’t have in common. We probably voted the same on 90-plus percent of the issues, so you can’t let politics get in the way.”

Despite vigorous debate and party differences, the vast majority of votes on the Board of Supervisors have been unanimous. Split votes over the past four years were only sometimes split along party lines. Buona said his relationship with Randall “should be a model for what happens in Richmond and what happens in Washington.”

“We don’t always agree, but where we

don’t, we figure it out. We compromise, we decide other ways to handle things,” Buona said. “But it has worked amazingly, and I consider you a friend. It’s been truly fun, and an honor to work with you.”

And with Metrorail stations planned to open early in the next board’s term, Buona said he considers his biggest accomplishment during his eight years on the board to be the vote to bring Metro into Loudoun.

“I just want to say thank you to my constituents, thank you to the county,” Buona said. “You have to remember in this position, you serve the people, you work for them. They don’t work for you.

They put you here and they can take you out.”

Supervisor Suzanne M. Volpe (R-Algonkian) will also be leaving the board after losing her bid for a third term. She reflected on how Loudoun has changed since she first took office in 2012.

“Literally it was a different world eight years ago when Geary [Higgins], Ralph, Matt [Letourneau] and I came on the board,” she said. “We were coming out of

the great recession. I’m sure then-Chairman Scott York looked at seven newbies coming onto the board, going, ‘oh my Lord.’”

She also reminisced on working with each of her colleagues on the board, and on the change in the board’s makeup to a Democrat majority.

“Moving forward, it’ll be a little different, having to serve the entire county, balancing the needs of the east, the west, the north, the south, all of that,” Volpe said.

“It’s a great responsibility, the dramatic changes that have happened even in the last four years, and we’re still one of the fastest growing counties. … you have a lot on your plate, and it’s a heavy burden on your shoulders.”

Supervisor Ron A. Meyer Jr. (R-Broad Run), who will not be returning to the board next year after unsuccessfully running in the Republican primary for the 13th State Senate District seat, said a focus on national politics is a big reason for the country’s problems today.

BOARD GOODBYES continues on page 34

After Pastor Resigns, Hillsboro Church Works to Commemorate Slave Graves

BY PATRICK SZABO

pszabo@loudounnow.com

In recent years, community leaders have worked to identify, protect and commemorate African-American burial sites across the county. They’re now turning their focus to the grounds of a Hillsboro church, where the congregation is wrestling with the question of how it can memorialize dozens of unmarked graves.

Mark Jagoe, the former six-year pastor of the Hillsboro United Methodist Church, retired in October after, he said, a portion of the congregation refused to acknowledge 72 graves on the church’s east lawn—the final resting places of slaves and black freedmen.

Jagoe said that when he learned of the graves’ existence a few years ago, he and a few others pushed to have markers placed on the gravesites. But, he said, that effort was opposed by some congregation members. His concern was heightened because the church supported efforts to place ConHILLSBORO CEMETERY continues on page 21

Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now

A freedman grave marker sits among 72 graves in the Hillsboro United Methodist Church’s eastern lawn, where the church is working to install a memorial wall.

PAGE 4

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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Courthouse Construction Delayed

Loudoun

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Machinery is visible atop the roofline at a data center in Ashburn.

Meyer Proposes Rebranding Loudoun’s Data Alley

BY RENSS GREENE

rgreene@loudounnow.com

Loudoun’s Data Center Alley, according to the county Department of Economic Development, is the world’s largest concentration of data centers—and it has been one of the department’s greatest success stories. But outgoing Supervisor Ron A. Meyer Jr. (R-Broad Run) says it’s time to make a change.

At the current board’s final meeting on Dec. 17, supervisors passed an initiative proposed by Meyer to look into rebranding Data Center Alley and put up signs with the new brand.

“A lot of folks who first come here either as residents or as visitors have no idea what the large, block-looking buildings are and what they do,” Meyer said. “So basically, what this does is create some signage and some branding around them. They are here to stay.”

Loudoun’s data center industry has grown at an increasing rate since the area

in Ashburn was first branded Data Center Alley in 2008. Data center developers have spent more than $1 million per acre on land for data centers, and according to the Department of Economic Development, there are nearly 13.5 million square feet of data centers in operation and another 4.5 million square feet planned. The industry also brings in hundreds of millions in local tax revenue every year, last year topping $200 million in computer equipment taxes alone. A data center company, Digital Realty, also recently passed the Dulles Greenway for largest single real estate taxpayer in the county, with property valued at nearly $440 million.

The county has worked to encourage those by clearing the way for necessary infrastructure for the industry, as well as providing a fast-track program for permits and approvals for new data center developments. Local institutions such as Northern Virginia Community College have also partnered with data centers to train more people to work in the industry.

But data centers historically have also seen opposition when they have been placed near residential areas. More recently, some have been subject to more stringent design standards, but data centers have been notoriously noisy and unattractive buildings, with roofs covered in HVAC equipment to cool the server racks inside and surrounded by backup generators to keep the buildings operational during power outages.

“What this does is say, hey, you’re entering the data center corridor, and that’s typically been called ‘Data Center Alley,’ but what this says is, maybe residents don’t necessarily want to be living in an alley,” Meyer said.

Supervisors voted 8-0-1, with Supervisor Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin) absent, to direct the Department of Economic Development to review the branding of Loudoun’s data center corridor and explore other options. That will come back to the Board of Supervisors at an unspecified date. n

Loudoun County has delayed the beginning of construction on the new District Court building in Leesburg indefinitely.

The county had previously announced work would begin Jan. 6 when construction equipment was to begin moving onto the Semones parking lot, which will be closed for more than two years while the project is underway.

Instead, both it and the Church Street Parking Lot, which was also to be closed, will remain open until further notice, according to a Dec. 20 announcement. Free parking for visitors to the Loudoun County Courthouse is available in the Pennington Parking Garage, which is located off of Church Street NE, approximately two blocks from the courthouse.

According to county Public Affairs and Communications Officer Glen Barbour, the county government is working with the contractor to coordinate “a few final details.”

“Because the project is complex, it is prudent to delay issuing the notice to proceed with construction until the final details are in order, which helps to avoid potential delays after construction begins that could be time consuming and costly for the county,” Barbour wrote by email. “There is nothing unusual about a delay of this kind. We do not anticipate the delay in the start of construction to be significant.”

The delay is expected to last two weeks or longer, according to the county’s announcement.

The project involves renovating the current courthouse building and grounds, as well as building a new, 92,000-square-foot courthouse building at the current Church Street Parking Lot at the corner of Church Street and Edwards Ferry Road. Work is scheduled to wrap up in summer 2022.

For more information about the project, or to sign up to receive email and text updates, go to loudoun.gov/ courts-expansion. n

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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County Advances Rt. 15 Roundabout Design

BY RENSS GREENE rgreene@loudounnow.com

County supervisors have earmarked $2.7 million to accelerate designs for a roundabout at Rt. 15 and Spinks Ferry Road.

The project also includes moving the intersection with Newvalley Church Road to connect to the new roundabout.

The county’s Capital Improvement Program currently includes more than $110 million for improvements to Rt. 15 between Montressor Road and the county line at Point of Rocks Bridge. According to a county staff report, given the size of the job, it cannot be done in one piece.

Funding plans for all the Rt. 15 improvements to stretch beyond the Capital Improvement Program’s six-year horizon.

The money will get the roundabout design done sooner, according to the Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure, but may not get the roundabout built sooner, since the schedule is based not on the availability of funding

but how long the work will take to acquire right-of-way, design the roundabout and build it. With the accelerated funding, the roundabout is expected to be done in 2025 or 2026.

Supervisor Ron A. Meyer Jr. (R-Broad Run) argued getting the design done may make it more likely to win funding from outside sources. That could free up funding to get other parts of the Rt. 15 project done sooner.

The money will come from funds that would otherwise have gone to the Department of Economic Development.

Supervisor Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin) proposed the funding switch but missed the meeting, as his daughter was having a child in North Carolina. He asked Vice Chairman Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn) to bring the motion for him.

“He’d like to advance the design just to get this project going,” Buona said. “It’s still going to be a six-year project, but the fact of it is, we can at least kickstart this, and jumpstart it a little bit to begin getting this done and clear up this congestion.” n

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LOUDOUN Briefs Census Jobs Fair Set for Jan. 8 The Loudoun Workforce Resource Center is hosting a full-day event with the U.S. Census Bureau to recruit for and fill U.S. Census-taker jobs, also called “enumerators.”

Hundreds of U.S. Census takers are needed to canvass door-to-door in Loudoun neighborhoods from spring through summer 2020. Census takers will interview members of households who have not responded to the Census to collect Census information. These positions may be parttime and flexible and have a starting pay of $25 per hour. Paid training is provided, as well. Applicants must be U.S. citizens with access to reliable transportation.

The recruitment event will be Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 10:30 a.m. at Rust Library in Leesburg. The event will be structured as a series of back-to-back information sessions every hour; each session will include a 30-minute presentation followed by 20-25 minutes of application assistance. Sessions will begin every hour on the half-hour, with the last session starting at 2:30 p.m.

For questions or more information about the event, contact the Workforce Resource Center at 703-777-0150.

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Sessions Set The Loudoun Workforce Resource Center, which administers the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act program in Loudoun County, will hold two programs titled, “Is WIOA Right for You?” next month.

The sessions will be held Jan. 6 and Jan. 27. The county government will also offer information on WIOA services on a walk-in basis Tuesdays and Thursdays in January from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Loudoun Workforce Resource Center, and on Wednesdays in January beginning Jan. 8 from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Eastern Loudoun Family Services Center.

The Loudoun Workforce Resource Center is at 102 Heritage Way NE in Leesburg.

The Eastern Loudoun Family Services Center is at 21641 Ridgetop Circle, Suite 101, in Sterling.

For more information about the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and eligibility guidelines, go to loudoun.gov/ wioa. Register at loudoun.gov/wrcworkshops to reserve your spot.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2020, 6-9 PM Night to Shine, sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, is an unforgettable prom night experience, centered on God’s love, for people with special needs, ages 14 and older.

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PAGE 6

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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Randall to Lead Regional Transportation Authority

BY RENSS GREENE rgreene@loudounnow.com

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Loudoun County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) has stepped up to lead a regional body that controls hundreds of millions of dollars for transportation projects in Northern Virginia each year.

On Dec. 12, Randall was elected to chair the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority. She had been serving as vice chairman, and also chairs the authority’s Governance and Personnel Committee.

The authority’s outgoing chairman, Prince William County Supervisor Marty Nohe, served on the Authority for 11 years. The vote to appoint Randall chairman was held before a ceremony celebrating the service provided by outgoing members Nohe, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova, outgoing state Sen. Richard H. Black (R-13), and Speaker of the House of Delegates appointees J. Randall Minchew and outgoing Del. Timothy Hugo (R-40).

“I am humbled my colleagues on the Authority selected me as the next chairman, a responsibility I will not take lightly,” Randall stated. “I am ready to continue Chair Nohe’s leading example of working across party lines to get people in the region home to their families faster.”

Randall has said one of the authority’s top priorities will be to see funding returned that the Virginia General Assembly stripped from the body to send to Metrorail. That will be supported, she told colleagues on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, by a letter signed by the chairmen and mayors of jurisdictions in the authority.

“It has been an honor and privilege to serve Northern Virginians and work with such fantastic leaders in the region,” Nohe stated. “Being a part of an entity that is focused on keeping the region moving and less time on roadways has be extremely rewarding.

I will always cherish my time with the authority and I have no doubt Northern Virginia will be in capable hands with Chair Randall taking the helm.”

Phyllis Randall, Loudoun County Chairwomen (D-At Large)

City of Manassas Mayor Hal Parrish will serve as vice chairman.

The first meeting of 2020 will convene on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. and will include a public input session on TransAction, the authority’s a long-range plan aimed at improving the regional transportation network in Northern Virginia. The authority board meets at its offices at 3040 Williams Drive, Suite 200 in Fairfax.

Loudoun Supervisor Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn) will continue his service on another regional body after his term ends at the end of the month.

He currently holds a seat on the GO Virginia Northern Virginia Council that is reserved for an elected official.

He will complete the remaining two and a half years of his term by moving to a seat representing the business community and his other job—senior vice president of corporate business development for technology firm Telos Corporation. Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust will take the seat Buona formerly held.

The Virginia Initiative for Growth and Opportunity in Each Region, or GO Virginia, was created by the Virginia Business Higher Education Council and the Council on Virginia’s Future to foster private-sector growth and job creation through state incentives for regional collaboration by business, education, and government. n

DECEMBER 26, 2019

PAGE 7

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Education

School Board Members Offer Advice for New Members

BY NORMAN K. STYER nstyer@loudounnow.com

The Loudoun County School Board will have a significantly different makeup when it next convenes for its organizational meeting Jan. 6. Seven members—with a combined 41 years of experience—will not be returning.

During their final meeting Dec. 17, they reflected on their successes and offered advice to the incoming members, who watched the meeting while sitting together at the back of the board room.

They highlighted their efforts to reduce class sizes, increase pay for teachers and other division employees, expand dual enrollment opportunities, open the Academies of Loudoun, expand mental health services, improve school safety, and work to improve inclusiveness and equity, among other priorities.

They also talked about the personal sacrifices of their service, with responsibilities that kept them away from their own families and difficult decisions that sometimes resulted in public criticism. Through it all,

they expressed pride about the way they were able to work together.

Eric Hornberger (Ashburn) is among the experienced leaders who won’t be back in 2020. He lost his bid for a third term in November’s election.

“One of my greatest pleasures and greatest priorities in serving on the School Board has been our ability to work together and to be professionals with each other. … I believe that the rest of the state and the nation should take a look. We can disagree and we can wrestle through issues that are controversial everywhere … but we can still treat each other with respect, and we can walk off this dais and we can laugh, we can drive in the car together, we can have food together and I think that is critical.”

He offered incoming members a piece of advice he received as a new member eight years ago.

“It’s a great system; don’t mess it up. Make it better than how you found it,” Hornberger said. “I believe every one of us has done that and we have a lot to be proud of.”

Jill Turgeon (Blue Ridge) did not seek re-election after serving two terms. She’s

winding down a 20-year relationship with Loudoun schools, starting as a parent with children enrolled, then as the wife of a teacher and then as a teacher herself before running for a board seat.

She said the board members worked together well despite differences in their political leanings.

“Really it is about relationships. We’ve done a lot of really great work as board members,” she said, adding that while observers might have thought that board members didn’t like each other, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

She was among the members who thanked her family for their support and understanding about the many nights spent away from home at meetings. She included in her thanks her husband, Bill, who died in October after a year-long battle with cancer.

Joy Maloney (Broad Run) said she had the same mixed emotions in choosing not to seek re-election as she often experienced during her four-year term. She said she especially was proud of her work to promote equity and school safety.

“A lot of people tell me this is a thankless

job. I always make it a point to tell them that isn’t true. I get thanked often,” Maloney said.

“What surprised me the most when I started on the board was that they thanked me even though I was on the losing side of an issue. They’d thank me for representing their beliefs from the dais, so it is not thankless.”

Beth Huck (At Large) acknowledged that her work on the board has had a big impact on her family, saying there were times when she and her husband could go for whole weeks without seeing each other awake.

“I hope you feel as though I have listened,” she said.

“If you take anything away from my tenure as a school board member, I hope that it is that you choose kindness and that you lead with love—the love of others, the passion for a particular issue or subject, the love of the county and community where you live,” Huck said. “Make sure your words are genuine. That they have purpose. That they are truthful. And that that they have the intent to bring forth understanding,” SCHOOL BOARD continues on page 9

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Leesburg

New Year, New Proffer Rules for Leesburg

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ

Westpark Still Under Contract to Lennar

krodriguez@loudounnow.com

It’s going to get a lot easier for the Leesburg Town Council to negotiate proffers on residential rezonings starting in 2020.

The Town Council recently passed amendments to its Zoning Ordinance and Town Plan that will repeal much of the proffer prohibitions the council put in place following stricter regulations passed by the General Assembly in 2016. Those regulations were loosened significantly by state representatives this year, giving localities more leeway in negotiating proffers.

The ordinance changes, however, do not take effect immediately. They won’t take effective until a small area plan for the town’s Eastern Gateway District is adopted.

Currently, the council is still operating under the proffer rules put in place two years ago, which prohibit the negotiating of contriNorman K. Styer/Loudoun Now butions from developers on any residential As construction continues in Leesburg’s Meadowbrook neighborhood, new proffer rules may reduce barriers to rezoning application, except for those with- future residential developments in town. in the Crescent Design District. The 2016 ed, however, the town may revert back to its Eastern Gateway District becoming a small General Assembly action allowed a locality old way of doing business, with the ability to area plan, once that’s enacted, there would be to exclude areas from the proffer rules where accept proffers on rezoning applications that a portion of the town where [the proffer rule development is guided within specific small fall anywhere in town. changes] would not have any effect at all.” area plans. Otherwise, any proffer needs to Town Attorney Barbara Notar explained The Town Council is expected to continbe “specifically attributable” to resolve the the reasoning for waiting for the small area ue its review of the Eastern Gateway plan— impacts of a development application, and plan adoption. which will guide development in the East opens the door to legal challenge as develop“Staff advised that even with the amend- Market Street corridor east of the Leesburg ers are able to challenge the reasonableness of ments that occurred in 2019, there would Bypass—early in the year. A major bone of a proffer even if it was voluntarily submitted. still be circumstances where the town could contention has been the design rules proOnce the Eastern Gateway plan is adopt- violate the statute,” she said. “And with the posed in the document. n

Council Signs Off on Agreement with Microsoft

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ krodriguez@loudounnow.com

The Leesburg Town Council has signed off on a non-disclosure agreement with Microsoft to shield some of the corporation’s development plans from public disclosure.

The agreement was approved on a 4-2-1 vote during a special meeting Monday night.

Microsoft has proposed to construct a data center in the Compass Creek development that is eyed for annexation into town by way of a boundary line adjustment between the town and Loudoun County. Last year, the company purchased 332 acres—a majority of the land in the mixed-use development—from Peterson Companies for a reported $73 million.

Although the staff report on the non-disclosure agreement listed only one data center in the first phase of the project, an additional report lists up to four data centers planned in the project’s second phase. Town Attorney Barbara Notar emphasized, however, that the non-disclosure agreement deals only with phase one of the project. She said Microsoft has not shared its plans for phase two with town staff.

The Town Council first discussed signing the agreement at its Dec. 10 meeting, but held off on action to review the proposed document in more detail. The signing of such an agreement would preclude certain information from being released publicly via the Freedom of Information Act. Notar said the council was up against a bit of a time crunch, as information

sought in a FOIA request, filed by an unnamed individual, had a Jan. 6 deadline.

According to a staff report, Microsoft requested a non-disclosure agreement at least in part to protect proprietary information related to its security systems included in its engineering and construction plans as well as utility usage information.

Council members Neil Steinberg and Ron Campbell voted against the resolution authorizing the town manager to execute the agreement. Steinberg put forward a motion to include within the agreement the six items Microsoft listed that it considered proprietary. Only MICROSOFT NDA continues on page 9

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ krodriguez@loudounnow. com

Many neighbors who had opposed development plans breathed a sigh of relief last week when it appeared that a homebuilder had moved on from its purchase of the former Westpark Golf Club property. But some ambiguity about the future remains.

John Foote, an attorney from Walsh Colucci representing Lennar Homes, told Loudoun Now last week that, following the Leesburg Town Council’s Dec. 10 denial of a rezoning application for a 96-unit townhouse community, the homebuilder would no longer pursue a purchase of the 141-acre property. Lennar, after acquiring CalAtlantic Homes, has been the contract purchaser for the property since it went on the market in late 2017.

But shortly following the article’s publication, Foote said he was informed that the sales contract had not yet been terminated by Lennar.

In an email, he said his comments to Loudoun Now were based on information following the public hearing. Foote said he was not aware of how Lennar or Dittmar Company, the property owner, intend to move forward at this juncture.

Dittmar has not returned calls seeking comment on the matter. n

DECEMBER 26, 2019

PAGE 9

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Microsoft NDA

School Board

Campbell supported that motion. Economic Development Director Russell Seymour said the proposed agreement was broad for a reason.

“The more we limit the non-disclosure agreement the more we limit [information] staff has access to,” he said. “This non-disclosure agreement doesn’t set parameters.

To limit us to a list is a limit more to the town than it is to Microsoft.”

Campbell opposed the length of the agreement, which Notar said is for five years.

In addition to the Microsoft campus, the 550-acre Compass Creek development includes the ION International Training Center and a new Walmart Supercenter. AtHome, a home decor store, has also purchased property in the development. The development is approved for the construction of 2.5 million square feet of office space, 550,000 square feet of retail development, 300,000 square feet of flex-industrial uses and a hotel. The Town Council is expected to review early in the New Year a rezoning and special exception applications that would bring four drive-through restaurants to the development.

Councilman Tom Dunn was absent for the meeting. n

Debbie Rose (Algonkian) had this advice for the incoming members: “Listen to your stakeholders. Focus on the best interests of the students and be prepared to grow in what is really a service to your community. It’s not about you or your accomplishments; it is about how your service benefits the community.”

Chris Croll (Catoctin) served a year on the board, after being selected by board members to fill a vacant seat. She was credited by her colleagues with quickly jumping in and making a difference.

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continued from page 8

continued from page 7

Wizard (Hornberger), Ms. Congeniality (Huck), A Kind Older Sister (Vice Chairwoman Brenda Sheridan), The Politician (Turgeon), Inscrutable (Maloney), and Impenetrable (Rose).

Sheridan (Sterling) said she was grateful for the opportunity to continue providing a voice to often voiceless members of the community and looked forward to working with the new board members.

Morse (Dulles), who ran unopposed for his third term, also thanked Sterling District voters for re-electing Sheridan, so he would not be the lone veteran on the next board. He told the members elect that the work can be difficult and all consuming. “It

is a lot of work and it can fill your day every single day,” he said.

He also acknowledged they worked hard to win the election.

“It is not easy to get into the positions that you’re in now,” he said, adding a warning that the board seats they fought to occupy may appear more comfortable than those provided for audience members at meetings, but they are “hotter at times.”

The new board will convene Jan. 6 at 6:30 p.m. for a swearing-in ceremony, to be followed by its organizational meeting.

Three days later, Superintendent Eric Williams will present his proposed Fiscal Year 2021 budget. n

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Public Safety

Suspect in Murder of Bluemont Man Headed to Trial

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ krodriguez@loudounnow.com

A Charles Town, WV man charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Jeffrey B. Evans is headed to trial.

Clarke County District Court Judge Amy Tisinger last week found that there was enough evidence to support the charges of murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony against Dale Lee Wright. The case now moves to Circuit Court for trial next year.

The shooting occurred March 17 in a gravel parking lot off Rt. 7 just west of the Clarke/Loudoun border. It was there, Commonwealth’s Attorney Anne Williams said, that Wright had agreed to meet with Evans, his former boss and a Bluemont resident, to arrange an introduction between Evans and someone who was selling an antique trailer. Evans, 72, was the owner of Lenah Auto Service in Aldie, where Wright at one time apparently worked. Testimony during the Dec. 18 hearing revealed that the two men had been friends since the 1980s.

Williams called four witnesses to establish probable cause for the case to move forward. Deputy Jeremy Seabright, then employed by the Clarke County Sheriff ’s Office, was the first to respond to the scene. Seabright said he was responding to a report of a single-vehicle crash near the intersection of Rt. 7 and Castlemans Lane. There, he saw a white Ford Super Duty pickup truck that had crashed into an embankment off the right shoulder of the road. Members of the public who wit-

nessed the crash had already pulled Evans from the car and were attempting lifesaving measures, with fire/rescue personnel arriving around the time as Seabright.

Seabright said Evans was bleeding heavily from the head and nose and when his shirt was opened to attempt chest compressions when a puncture wound, later determined to be a gunshot wound, was revealed. He died at the scene.

Seabright’s search of Evans’ vehicle found a .38-caliber revolver on the driver seat with all cartridges accounted for. The firearm did not appear to have been fired, he said. Seabright also found a bank bag with a large amount of cash in the center console, and boxes of .223 ammunition elsewhere in the car.

Upon questioning by defense attorney Bo Bassler, who along with David Hensley is representing Wright, Seabright acknowledged that he handled the evidence he collected from Evans’ car with bare hands.

Special agent Jeff Rose with the Virginia State Police is the lead investigator on the case. He said he responded to the crime scene about an hour after it had occurred.

He found Evans’ cell phone in the truck and obtained a search warrant for the phone to see who Evans had communicated with prior to his death. He said later in the day he made a death notification to Evans’ daughter, Sarah, and said the two scrolled through her Facebook profile to see which mutual friends she and her late father had in common. Wright was one of them. Rose said a search of Evans’ phone revealed he had been communicating

with Wright prior to his death.

Eyewitness interviews also revealed a description of a man who was seen running across Rt. 7 up to Evans’ truck after he crashed. Wright matched that description. There also was a description of a vehicle seen leaving the scene after the crash of a small, silver pickup truck.

The next day, Rose said a man called State Police to say he had been driving through the intersection near the time of the incident and had a dashcam running.

The dashcam video picked up a shot of the suspect’s vehicle, which was later traced to a vehicle owned by Wright’s daughter.

That car was later found at an address belonging to Wright, Rose said.

Employees at Evans’ auto shop told investigators in the days following the incident that Wright had been in the shop at least twice in the preceding two weeks to talk to Evans about buying used car parts.

It was something the two were excited about, they said. Evans told his employees two days prior to his death that he was planning to go look at an antique trailer Wright’s friend was selling that weekend.

Virginia State Police Special Agent Eric Deal was one of two investigators to conduct an interview with Wright at his sister’s home just outside of Charles Town, WV. He said he interviewed Wright on March 19, two days after the shooting, in his sister’s kitchen, while his sister and brother-in-law were nearby in their living room. Deal said Wright changed his story several times during the interview, first denying being in the area altogether, then admitting to being in the area but not stop-

ping, then finally admitting to meeting Evans in the parking lot. Deal said Wright told investigators the two had a confrontation and that Evans was angry, but Wright did not know why. Wright then admitted to shooting Evans, but claimed it was in self-defense, Deal testified.

Wright initially claimed he grabbed a gun from Evans’ vehicle after Evans first shot at him. But when Deal confronted him with evidence that showed Evans’ gun had not been fired, Wright acknowledged that he also had a gun himself, but still claimed he acted in self-defense. Wright said he threw the weapon in the Shenandoah River. Acting on a search warrant later that night, investigators found the .32-caliber revolver he described in a toolbox in the bed of his truck.

Hensley asked Deal whether Wright had been read his Miranda rights prior to the interview, and Deal said he had not.

Deal said during the interview Wright’s sister questioned whether her brother should have an attorney present, but Wright did not ask for one. He was placed under arrest later that evening.

Deal said investigators believe there was a financial motive behind the shooting. Also found in his truck were court documents that showed Wright was $40,000 behind in child support payments and had a court date on that arrangement scheduled for that week.

A Clarke County Circuit Court grand jury is expected to hand up indictments in the case on Jan. 13.

Wright has been incarcerated since his arrest in March. n

Youth Soccer Club Leaders Charged with Embezzling $50K LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT

An Aldie couple has been charged with embezzling more than $50,000 from a Loudoun youth soccer club.

According to the Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office, Jeffrey J. Kern, 40, was hired by the Old Dominion Football Club as a coach for several travel teams.

As part of his position, he had access to each team’s bank accounts. His wife,

Berkeley C. Kern, 46, volunteered with the club and was an authorized user of one of the accounts.

Irregularities in the accounts were discovered by the club and led to an investigation

Jeffrey J. Kern

Berkeley C. Kern

conducted by the Sheriff ’s Office’s Financial Crimes Unit. Through the course of the investigation, it was determined the couple had used accounts on multiple occasions for personal use be-

tween 2015 and December 2018.

The couple turned themselves over to authorities Dec. 19. Jeffrey Kern was charged with five counts of embezzlement and Berkeley Kern was charged with two counts of embezzlement.

They were both released from the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center on a bond. Preliminary hearings in the cases are scheduled for Feb. 10 in Loudoun County District Court. n

DECEMBER 26, 2019

PAGE 11

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DECEMBER 26, 2019

Profiles of Loudoun:

Nonprofit

Children Are Physically and Mentally Harmed by Poverty The financial damage our economy suffers when it loses functioning members to economic instability pales in comparison to the damage this instability can inflict on an individual’s mental and physical health. This is especially true for children, who find themselves unable to contribute. In the most affluent county in the United States, no child should suffer from anxiety about facing homelessness or wishing they could work to combat their family’s poverty.

Four thousand children in Loudoun County live below the poverty line.

One primary impact is to the child’s physical health, as they often go without meals and suffer from malnutrition. The other primary impact is to the child’s mental health, as they find themselves trapped by a lack of opportunity and an inability to focus on school because of more life-threatening concerns. Beyond these 4,000 children living in poverty next door to us, another 26,000 children in Loudoun live below the ALICE Survival Budget threshold.

Federal poverty lines were established in 1974 and fail to tell the full story of the impact poverty has on our children. Data generated using “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed” (ALICE) calculations, on the other hand, better reflects the magnitude of need and vulnerability among our neighbors. The ALICE Survival and Stability Budget thresholds should become Loudoun County’s standard measure of financial insecurity and stability, according to the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties. n

Contributed

The Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties is a nonprofit organization that joins with about 30 community foundations in Virginia and 700 across the U.S. to advance philanthropy in the region.

It recently compiled a ground-breaking report, Profiles of Loudoun: The Numbers behind the Faces of Loudoun. Download the full report at CommunityFoundationLF.org/Profiles and learn more about the foundation at CommunityFoundationLF.org.

Leesburg Music Teacher Selected to Receive Free Roof LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT

For the 18th year, DryHome Roofing and Siding is delivering a special holiday present by offering to provide a free roof to an area homeowner in need.

This year, Leesburg resident Mia Fleming was selected, based on a nomination submitted by her friend, Kristi Baeseman. According to the company, Fleming suffers from several health issues, is legally blind and struggles to earn enough to maintain her aging home but still helps others experience the joy of music by offering piano lessons.

“Mia shares her talents with so many people despite the difficulties she faces every day. That’s why we are so pleased to be able to share a new roof for her townhouse. We hope that the roof brings her joy and comfort for years to

come,” stated DryHome President Steve Gotschi in the announcement.

“Despite her numerous severe and debilitating disabilities, she is very resilient, hardworking, and willing to give to others,” Baeseman wrote. “Mia has been legally blind for the vast majority of her 52 years. … She is a homeowner whose main source of income comes from teaching piano lessons at Ida Lee Park. She often graces congregations, nursing home residents, and community members with her angelic, operatic, soprano voice whether it is for church, holidays, or benefits for local charities.

Mia doesn’t expect a handout from anyone, but she would definitely appreciate help with the maintenance of her aging town home. … Mia has not had many good fortunes in life, but you would never know it from her uplifting spirits.”

Learn more at DryHome.com. n

Contributed

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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PAGE 13

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Inova Handed Keys to $300M, Long-Planned Patient Tower

Business

BY PATRICK SZABO pszabo@loudounnow.com

Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now

Inova Loudoun Hospital President Deborah Addo presents a plaque to DPR Construction Project Executive Kimberly Shumaker to commemorate the day DPR presented the Lansdowne hospital with the key to its patient tower.

Inova Loudoun Hospital is one step closer to opening its new seven-floor patient tower at its Lansdowne campus.

DPR Construction Project Executive Kimberly Shumaker last week handed the ceremonial key to the $300 million, 382,000-square-foot patient tower to Inova Loudoun Hospital President Deborah Addo. The ceremony marked the end of the construction phase. Now, hospital staff will prepare to start receiving patients, with an opening planned April 25.

Construction began in September 2017. Shumaker said crews have put more than 1 million man hours into the project.

With about 100 DPR construction workers looking on during the Dec. 19 ceremony, Addo said her staff is looking forward to getting the center open in April and serving patients there for the next 100 years.

“This doesn’t go unnoticed—you did a fabulous job,” Addo told Shumaker and her construction team.

Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now

The new north entrance to the Inova Loudoun Hospital in Lansdowne will soon see patients entering into the lobby of a seven-story, 382,000-square-foot patient tower.

The tower, which Addo said was built with quality and safety in mind, will feature 228 patient beds.

Although the tower is prominent in the Ashburn-area skyline, it isn’t the tallest building in Lansdowne. The Lansdowne Resort is nine stories tall and the Lansdowne Woods community has four 11-story residential buildings. n

Brewery, Distillery and Monk’s BBQ Planned Near Taylorstown

BY RENSS GREENE rgreene@loudounnow.com

A handful of people are laboring quietly behind acres of cornfields on a farm near Taylorstown to bring an expansive new brewery, distillery and restaurant soaring into Loudoun.

The opening of the Flying Ace brewery and distillery is still months away, with a lot of regulatory hoops still to jump through—but the vision is taking shape.

Already parked above what will one day be a bar is a half-scale model of the U.S. Navy’s iconic gull-winged World War II fighter, the F4U Corsair.

Co-founder Hadi Akkad said the business is named as a tribute to American flying aces, including his grandfather, who was one of only a handful of American aviators to earn the distinction across two wars. In his case, it was in World War II and the Korean War. Akkad and his cofounders have put the old farm back to work, growing more than 30 acres of heirloom, deep red Bloody Butcher corn and restoring and adding to the buildings and

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Pete Thomas, Brian “Monk” Jenkins and Hadi Akkad stand underneath a half-scale replica of a World War II-era F4U Corsair atop what will one day be a bar at Flying Ace.

silos on the property.

“When we saw this property, we just really liked it, and I remember driving

up and seeing the red barn, and the white silo, the blue silo—just seeing the red, white and blue,” Akkad said. “The theme

started coming together at that point.”

Some parts of the business seem directed by fate. When he first conceived of the flying ace theme, Akkad went looking for old warbirds, came across the halfscale Corsair and bought it sight-unseen.

The farm property was also the first one he visited.

“It felt right. And so, I went home and I told my wife,” Akkad said. “I’m like, ‘OK, I’m buying it,’ and she’s like, ‘you’ve got to stop doing that. You can’t buy the first thing you see.’” He said he looked at about a dozen other properties—“and every time I kept coming back to this.”

One of the other partners is Kirsten Jenkins, who along with her husband Brian “Monk” Jenkins own Monk’s BBQ in Purcellville. They will be opening a second Monk’s at the farm. In addition to offering their staple menu items at Flying Ace, they’ll be buying their beer and whisky from the new business.

“Initially, we had a different name when we first were thinking about the project, and it just kind of evolved,” Akkad said.

“The timing of a lot of things was right.” n

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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PAGE 15

BUSINESS Briefs Luck Companies Rank High for Employee Engagement Luck Companies, the nation’s largest family-owned and operated producer of crushed stone and aggregates, has been ranked as one of the top three most engaged places to work in the United States.

The recognition came as part of the Korn Ferry annual Employee Engagement Awards. This is the second consecutive year that Luck Companies earned the distinction.

Korn Ferry, a global organizational consulting firm, conducts an annual study of more than three million respondents from more than 500 companies in more than 60 countries. The winners are chosen based on the largest percentage of employees who “strongly agreed” or “agreed” with the statements: I feel proud to work for the company, and I would recommend the company as a good place to work.

Luck Companies was selected as a winner in the Small Business category in the U.S. “This success is directly related to all of our leaders remaining committed to

Town of Leesburg Fall Leaf Collection Ending On December 29th.

Leaves placed at the curb by December 29th will be collected by the Town’s leaf collection crews during the last week in December. Leaves set out after December 29th must be bagged and placed at the curb with your regular trash collection.

Please visit www.leesburgva.gov/ fall-leaves for more information.

keeping our associates engaged and active in our culture. Administering an associate engagement survey each year keeps us accountable; we’re always looking to raise the bar,” said Mark Barth, Luck’s chief talent officer.

Barth said the overall survey response rate was 97 percent in 2019, compared to 95 percent in 2018. Also, associates at Luck Companies gave the company a 91.6 percent rating in overall engagement, enablement and values, up from 91 percent in 2018.

Business Trade Name Process Changing One of the key steps in starting a business in Loudoun County will be changing in 2020.

Starting Jan. 1, 2020, new Loudoun businesses must register their fictitious business or trade name with the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The Loudoun County Clerk of the Circuit Court will no longer accept new certificates of assumed or fictitious names. The change is the result of General Assembly

action. The clerk’s office will continue to accept fillings for cancellations of certificates if the original certificate was filed in Loudoun County.

“My staff and I have enjoyed working with residents who launched a business in Loudoun and assisting them with the filing of their business name applications,” stated Clerk of the Circuit Court Gary M. Clemens. “I fully expect that the Virginia State Corporation Commission will offer the same level of service that my office has offered Loudoun residents.”

More information about fictitious names and the legal process for businesses is posted on the State Corporation Commission website at scc.virginia.gov.

Douglas Named COO at Rosendin Rosendin, an employee-owned electrical contracting firm with a regional office in Sterling, has promoted Keith Douglas to chief operating officer in the Eastern Division. He also was named to the company’s new Executive Committee.

Rosendin is a $2 billion company with

15 regional offices across the country that provide electrical installation on large scale builds including stadiums, data centers, solar farms, healthcare centers and more.

Douglas In his new role as COO, Douglas will be responsible for optimizing operating capabilities to support strategic growth in new markets and oversee operating units in nine regional offices located in Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Arizona and Nevada.

Douglas started with the company in 2012 at the Sterling office where he served as division manager. He grew the East Coast team to five divisions and expanded operations to three offices, including Maryland and North Carolina. Prior to joining Rosendin, he was vice president at a large electrical contracting firm for 12-years. n

PAGE 16

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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TOWN Notes

Towns

LOVETTSVILLE

Lovettsville Pushes for Teen Center

BY PATRICK SZABO

pszabo@loudounnow.com

While Loudoun features dozens of county-run programs for toddlers and senior citizens, there aren’t that many teen-specific places where teenagers can go to hang out with their friends. That’s why the Town of Lovettsville is pushing to bring its hundreds of teens together under one roof at the Lovettsville Library.

Tiffany Dunlap, the Catoctin District representative for the county’s Advisory Commission on Youth and a mother of four teenagers, proposed the idea last year.

She said Lovettsville needed a teen center because the more than 1,200 youth aged 10-19 living within the 20180 ZIP code don’t have anywhere structured to go and frequently turn to their phones and other electronic devices to fight boredom.

Dunlap said there aren’t any library-run teen programs in western Loudoun, even though that part of the county is home to about 8,000 10-to-19-year-olds.

She said the idea is to bring a Friday-night program to the Lovettsville Library, similar to that offered at the Cascades Library, which attracts up to 200

Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now

Community members are pushing for funding to establish a teen center in the Lovettsville Library.

teens each Friday night.

Dunlap said the Lovettsville Library could open its back room up to the teens, giving them a space to hang out with each other in a safe environment, eat pizza provided by the library and check out board

games and gaming systems like PlayStation 4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch.

She said that most of the teens she’s talked with were excited to have those TEEN CENTER continues on page 20

A Year After Tragic Death, Morrisonville Residents Continue Drive to Improve Road, Pedestrian Safety

BY PATRICK SZABO

pszabo@loudounnow.com

Morrisonville residents are continuing their push for improved pedestrian and motorist safety along Morrisonville Road, following the death of one of their neighbors in January.

A group of village residents met on Dec. 9 with VDOT engineers and maintenance employees, members of the county government staff, the offices of Supervisors Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin) and Tony R. Buffington (R-Blue Ridge) and Supervisor-elect Caleb A. Kershner (R), who will replace Higgins starting Jan. 1.

The meeting yielded commitments from all groups to continue looking for ways to make the road safer.

ROAD SAFETY continues on page 20

Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now

Morrisonville residents survey the Morrisonville Road/Purcellville Road intersection, where they feel VDOT should install a three-way stop to slow traffic down as it passes through the village.

Town Readies for Jan. 1 Berserkle on the Squirkle The Town of Lovettsville’s annual Beserkle on the Squirkle 5K fun run will be held at 11 a.m. on New Year’s Day. The 27-lap race will be run in the Squirkle—the resident nickname for the town square—with themed laps, re-gifted prizes and general quirkiness. Registration opens at 10 a.m.

Costumes are encouraged and rewarded.

Those interested in helping to plan, setup or coordinate the event, or others throughout the year, are encouraged to email lovewinter@ lovettsvilleva.gov or go to the Love Winter Committee’s Facebook or Instagram page using @LovettsvilleWinter.

VDOT Recommends $1.6M in Sidewalk Work VDOT has completed its examination of walking and bicycling networks surrounding the Lovettsville Elementary School and is recommending the town spend $1.57 million to install an 8-foot shared use path, 6-foot-wide sidewalks, curb ramps and pedestrian lighting and crosswalks, among other safety improvements.

In October, school Principal Linda Textoris, Mayor Nate Fontaine, Town Manager Rob Ritter, Assistant Town Manager Harriet West and representatives from the Sheriff ’s Office, the county school system and VDOT met for two hours to review existing conditions around the school, as part of VDOT’s Safe Routes to School program.

The study recommended that the town spend $1.27 million on construction and $330,000 on surveying and design to install safety amenities like additional sidewalks and lighting, street crossings and connections to shared use paths. According to VDOT’s report, those recommendations are organized according to the four Es of Safe Routes to School— education, encouragement, enforceTOWN NOTES continue on page 17

F

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DECEMBER 26, 2019

Schedule an $89 Pro & Get An AC Tune

SERVICES

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BOOK ONCE & SAVE ALL YEAR

Reward Offered in Round Hill Vandalism Cases The Sheriff ’s Office is investigation a rash of vandalism that occurred Friday night and early Saturday morning.

According to the report, several vehicles and homes were struck by BB pellets. Also, several mailboxes were knocked off their posts and destroyed.

Damage was reported at homes on Chestnut Overlook Drive, Longstreet Avenue, Irish Corner Road, Collington Drive, Piggot Bottom Road, Evening Star Drive, West Loudoun Street, St.

conditioner only. Oil systems before 5/15/20. May n

HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING SERVICES James Drive and Bighorn Court.

If your heater bre NO BREAKDOWN reason after our t Residents in the area are asked to to a future service BOOK ONCE & SAVE ALL YEAR any reason after we’ll credit the review home surveillance footage for Schedule an $89 Professional Heater Tune-Up Now suspicious individuals and to contact HEATING & AIR CONDITIONI & Get An AC Tune-Up for FREE in the Spring!

Detective Ortutay at 571-258-3375 with SNELL | Expires 12/31/19 BOOK ONCE Service includes (1) tune-up of an electric or gas heater and (1) air any information regarding the case. conditioner only. Oil systems excluded. AC tune-up must be performed Extend the L Total Service Completed in One Hour before 5/15/20. May not be combined with any other offer.

Callers wishing to remain anonySchedule an $89 Professional Heater Tune-Up Now Save THOUS Lower Your Winter Energy Bills & Get An AC Tune-Up for FREE in the Spring! mous are asked to call Loudoun Crime If your heater breaks down this winter for any NO BREAKDOWN reason after our tune-up, we’ll credit the cost SNELL | Expires 12/31/19 Solvers at 703-777-1919 or submit a tip to a future service. If your AC breaks Servicedown includesfor (1) tune-up of an electric or gas heater and (1) air any reason after our tune-up conditioner in the spring, only. Oil systems excluded. AC tune-up must be performed through the Loudoun County Sheriff ’s we’ll credit the cost to a future service. before 5/15/20. May not be combined with any other offer.

Schedule an $89 Pro & Get An AC Tun Office app. Callers who provide information that leads to an arrest and inANY HEATER REPAIR Service includes (1) SNEL tuneIf your heater breaks down this winter for any + 2-YEARwe’ll WARRANTY ON cost ALL REPAIRS conditioner only. Oil system NO BREAKDOWN reason after our tune-up, credit the dictment could be eligible for a cash before 5/15/20. May n to a future service.

If your AC breaks down for Extend the Life & Efficiency of Your System Dispatch fee additional. May not be combined with any other Total Service Completed in One Hour any reason after our tune-up in the spring, reward of up to $1,000. n offer. Offer cannot be used towards tune ups. we’ll credit the cost to a future service.

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TUNE-UP INTO DECEMBER TUNE-UP FOR VALUEGUARANTEE &CRUISE COMFORT NO E PURCHASE A HEATER & $ FORTotal Service Completed in One Hour TOWN Notes Extend the Life Efficiency ofVOUCHER Your System FOR 2 GET& A CRUISE VALUE & Winter Energy Bills continued from page 16 ANY HEATER REPAIR Save THOUSANDS on Unnecessary FOR Repairs Lower Your TUNE-UP VALUE & + 2-YEAR WARRANTY ON ALL REPAIRS COMFORT Extend the L Total Service Completed in One Hour Monday or Tuesday, Jan. 6 or 7. An open(703

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ment and evaluation.

The town will use the recommendations when seeking funding for the projects in the future.

Community Close to Delivering 700,000 Meals for Needy Lovettsville Mayor Nate Fontaine recently announced that the community, through various organizations, have provided 670,000 meals through Rise Against Hunger in the past decade.

Fontaine attributed that work to Susan Zimmerman, many other area residents, the congregations of Mt. Pleasant, Mt Olivet, Bethel UMC and New Jerusalem Lutheran Church and Sue Cangemi, the resident who installed the county’s first Little Free Pantry on the side of the Lovettsville Historical Society & Museum in November 2018. Earlier this month, residents added another 45,000 meals to the tally during the annual Rise Against Hunger meal packing event. “Amazing things happen when we all come together,” Fontaine stated.

Learn more at riseagainsthunger.org.

MIDDLEBURG Art Submissions Requested for 2020 Juried Exhibit The Artists in Middleburg nonprofit is calling for submissions to be considered for the first art exhibition of 2020, with a deadline set for 5 p.m. this Friday, Dec. 27.

The “All Things Considered” juried exhibit will be on display from Jan. 11 to March 1. Those interested in submitting artwork can do so with any medium and are asked to submit high-quality images for consideration. Selected artists will be notified by or before Wednesday, Jan. 1 and must deliver their art from 12-5 p.m. on

$50 OFF

Dispatch fee additional. May not be combined with any other

offer. Offer cannot be used towards tune ups.

Total Service ing reception will be held from 2-4 p.m.

SNELL | Expires 12/31/19 Completed in One Hour Saturday, Jan. 11.  Extend the Life & Learn more about submitting at theartCRUISE INTO DECEMBER Efficiencey of Your HEATER NOREPAIR EMERGENCY ANY istsinmiddleburg.org or by calling 540PURCHASE A HEATER & System + 2-YEAR WARRANTY ON ALL REPAIRS GET A CRUISE VOUCHER FOR 2 687-6600.

PURCELLVILLE

 Lower your Winter Energy Bills

Town Reschedules Holiday Trash Collection

SNELL | Expires 12/31/19

Regularly scheduled trash and recycling days on Christmas and New Year’s Day have been rescheduled to Saturday, December 28 and Saturday, January 4.

American Disposal Services will also collect Christmas trees for recycling on those rescheduled collection days. Trees must be cleaned of any decorations, wire, tinsel, lights or tree bags.

Loudoun County also offers Christmas tree recycling at various drop off locations, including Franklin Park. Learn more at loudoun.gov/398/Recycling.

For more information on Christmas and New Year’s trash and recycling collection in town, call the town office at 540-338-7421.

Last Nature Walk of 2019 to be Held this Sunday The Purcellville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will host its final nature walk of the year at 1 p.m. this Sunday, Dec. 29 along the Chapman DeMary Trail.

The walk will be led by the Play Rangers of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy—a group that works to address the increased disconnect from nature among Loudoun youth. Its members will discuss the importance of outdoor free play and strategies for getting kids outside more often. To register for the walk, go to purcellvilleva.gov/881/ Monthly-Nature-Walks.

SNELL H Save©THOUS

reserved

other

(703) 493-1223

© SNELL Heating & Air Conditioning. All rights CRUISE INTO DECEMBER reserved. ELE GFC HVA PLB #2705171530 NO

PURCHASE A HEATER & GET A CRUISE VOUCHER FOR 2

Limit 1 cruise offer per customer. Cruise voucher will be issued after purchase and installation of heating system. Cruise is transferable and may be gifted.

Company is responsible for cruise certificate cost and accommodations portion of the cruise fare only. Customer or guest is responsible for all other expenses, including without limitation: airline tickets, airport transfers, ground transport, government-imposed security fees, miscellaneous personal and incidental expenses, alcoholic beverages, spa services, gratuities, and sho excursions. Offer applies to residential homes only. shore

SNELL | Expires 12/31/19

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Offer cannot be used towards tune ups.

Company is responsible for cruise certificate cost and accommodations portion of the cruise fare only. Customer or guest is responsible for all other SNELL | Expires 12/31/19 expenses, including without limitation: airline tickets, airport transfers, ground transport, government-imposed security fees, miscellaneous personal and incidental expenses, alcoholic beverages, spa services, gratuities, and sho excursions. Offer applies to residential homes only. shore

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Limit 1 cruise offer per customer. Cruise voucher will be issued after purchase and installation of heating system. Cruise is transferable and may be gifted.

Company is responsible for cruise certificate cost and accommodations portion of the cruise fare only. Customer or guest is responsible for all other expenses, including without limitation: airline tickets, airport transfers, ground transport, government-imposed security fees, miscellaneous personal and incidental expenses, alcoholic beverages, spa services, gratuities, and shore sho excursions. Offer applies to residential homes only.

+ 2-YEAR WARRANTY ON ALL REPAIRS

Dispatch fee additional. May not be combined with any other offer. Offer cannot be used towards tune ups.

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CHARGES

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SO PAGE 18

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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BOULDER CREST ESTATE BLUEMONT | $3,300,000 RYAN CLEGG 703.209.9849 MEGAN CLEGG 703.209.9429

21004 WILLISVILLE RD BLUEMONT | $2,000,000 PETER PEJACSEVICH 540.270.3835 SCOTT BUZZELLI 540.454.1399

THE OAKS MILLWOOD | $1,395,000 KRISTIN DILLON-JOHNSON 703.673.6920

HAWKSDOWN* PURCELLVILLE | $1,300,000 KERRIE JENKINS 302.463.5547 MICHELE NOEL 540.878.8635

19255 WALSH FARM LN BLUEMONT | $985,000 JOHN CONSTANT 703.585.6278

18822 WOODBURN RD** LEESBURG | $950,000 SCOTT BUZZELLI 540.454.1399 PETER PEJACSEVICH 540.270.3835

14789 CLOVER HILL* WATERFORD | $945,000 KIM HURST 703.932.9651

20141 COLCHESTER RD PURCELLVILLE | $940,000 SCOTT BUZZELLI 540.454.1399 PETER PEJACSEVICH 540.270.3835

MIDDLEBURG

QUARTZHILL VINEYARD LOVETTSVILLE | $825,000 KIM HURST 703.932.9651

REAL ESTATE

42966 CORALBELLS PL* LEESBURG | $786,000 MEREDITH GURDAK 925.348.8963

ATOK A

PROPERTIES

S I M P LY B E T T E R .

2995 RECTORTOWN RD RECTORTOWN| $750,000 ROCKY WESTFALL 540.219.2633

21951 WAINWAY LN* MIDDLEBURG | $650,000 KERRIE JENKINS 302.463.5547

7259 ROCKWOOD RD* MIDLAND | $598,783 KERRIE JENKINS 302.463.5547 MICHELE NOEL 540.878.8635

277 TERRIE DR STERLING | $575,000 MEREDITH GURDAK 925.348.8963

35414 SNAKE HILL RD MIDDLEBURG | $425,000 JUANITA TOOL 703.967.0431

212 CATOCTIN CIR NE* LEESBURG | $385,000 MEREDITH GURDAK 925.348.8963

327 MADDEX FARM DR SHEPHERDSTOWN | $327,000 JOSH BEALL 703.975.2046

452 PROSPECT HILL BLVD CHARLES TOWN | $310,000 JOSH BEALL 703.975.2046

MIDDLEBURG | 540.687.6321

PURCELLVILLE | 540.338.7770

LEESBURG | 703.777.1170

These are only some of the many homes sold by MRE | AP from 11/30/2018 through 12/1/2019 *Represented Buyer Only

**Represented Buyer & Seller

|

ASHBURN | 703.436.0077

Corporate Office: 10 E Washington St, Middleburg, VA 20117

OLD DECEMBER 26, 2019

PAGE 19

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11436 WOOLINGTON RD* GREAT FALLS | $1,270,000 MEREDITH GURDAK 925.348.8963

8101 OLD CARTERS MILL* MARSHALL | $1,250,000 PETER PEJACSEVICH 540.270.3835 SCOTT BUZZELLI 540.454.1399

7329 HOOKING RD MCLEAN | $1,225,000 MICHELE NOEL 540.878.8635

4517 WINCHESTER RD* MARSHALL| $1,000,000 KERRIE JENKINS 302.463.5547

16118 WATERFORD CREEK CIR HAMILTON | $935,000 KIM HURST 703.932.9651

23517 PARSONS RD MIDDLEBURG | $925,000 PETER PEJACSEVICH 540.270.3835 SCOTT BUZZELLI 540.454.1399

7571 FALKLAND DR GAINESVILLE | $915,000 MICHELE NOEL 540.878.8635

SEVEN OAKS FARM MIDDLEBURG | $849,000 PETER PEJACSEVICH 540.270.3835 SCOTT BUZZELLI 540.454.1399

19348 LANCER CIR PURCELLVILLE| $775,000 SUZANNE AGER 540.454.0107

9492 CREST HILL RD MARSHALL| $750,000 MICHELE NOEL 540.878.8635

THANKS FOR A GREAT YEAR + HERE’S TO AN EVEN BETTER 2020!

331 EAST D ST PURCELLVILLE | $514,900 KIM HURST 703.932.9651

810 RAYQUICK CT WARRENTON | $469,900 MICHELE NOEL 540.878.8635

22775 FOXCROFT RD* MIDDLEBURG | $455,000 KERRIE JENKINS 302.463.5547 SCOTT BUZZELLI 540.454.1399

65 SULGRAVE CT CHARLES TOWN | $450,000 JOSH BEALL 703.975.2046

197 SHANNONDALE RD HARPERS FERRY | $305,000 JOSH BEALL 703.975.2046

8471 CLOVER CT* MARSHALL| $278,000 JOSH BEALL 703.975.2046

928 S SAMUEL ST CHARLES TOWN | $245,000 JOSH BEALL 703.975.2046

1443 TUSCAWILLA DR CHARLES TOWN | $243,000 JOSH BEALL 703.975.2046

S I M P LY B E T T E R .

|

ATOKAPROPERTIES .COM

PAGE 20

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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Teen center

grades eight to 12, and those aged 13-18, increased from 2010-2015. It found that adolescents who spent more time on social media and smartphones were more likely to report mental health issues. It found that adolescents who used electronic devices for at least three hours each day were 34 percent more likely to attempt suicide or have a suicidal thought than those who used devices for at most two hours each day. That number increased to 48 percent for adolescents using electronic devices for at least five hours daily.

Back in Loudoun, the United Health Foundation reports teen suicides in Virginia to be at an all-time high—at nearly 10 suicides per 100,000 teens ages 1519, as compared with less than nine per 100,000 two years ago.

Dunlap said a teen center in Lovettsville would give more teens an outlet to interact face-to-face with their peers, rather than through social media. “I think that alone could be huge,” she said.

In addition to wanting to promote mental health and fun in a safe environment, a teen center in the western portion of the county could be warranted when looking at the county’s overall teen population.

In eastern Loudoun’s 14 ZIP codes, less than 15 percent of the overall population is made up of 10-19-year-olds, according to the United States Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey.

Meanwhile, the Census documented that 18 percent of the western Loudoun population is made up of residents in that age range, with 1,222 of them living in the 20180 ZIP code. Just within the Lovettsville town limits, there are about 400 10-19-year-olds, or 20 percent of the town’s overall population.

Dunlap said a teen center program in Lovettsville would require minimal funding from the library, mainly to pay two staff members to supervise the program. She said the Advisory Commission

on Youth and the Coalition of Loudoun Towns—the non-legislative group comprised of Loudoun’s seven mayors—are working to gain support from the Board of Supervisors to place funding for the program in the county’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget.

“We just need them to find a place in the budget for it,” Dunlap said.

County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) said she would support funding for the creation of a Lovettsville teen center if it’s in the county’s base budget. She mentioned that she was shocked to see how many teens participate in the Cascades Library’s Friday-night program.

“We need a companion in western Loudoun County,” she said.

But Pete O’Brien, Loudoun County Public Library’s communications division manager, said the library system has not been involved in the effort to bring a teen center to Lovettsville and that the department did not request the county to include funding for one in next year’s budget. He added that in Fiscal Year 2019, the system offered 1,595 teen programs across its nine branches.

Dunlap said that if the Board of Supervisors does include funding in next year’s budget for a Lovettsville Teen Center, she’s hoping to get the program up and running before the start of the next school year in late August..

After that, Dunlap said the teen center could move over to the new Lovettsville Community Center, which is scheduled to open in 2022. She’s also hoping the county will consider funding the creation of teen centers in the Purcellville and Middleburg libraries in future years.

The Purcellville Teen Center, a privately funded service, has operated in the Bush Tabernacle for more than a decade, aside from a 10-month hiatus in 2018. n

vide VDOT with additional information regarding their concerns and suggested solutions.

When VDOT performed studies in the village earlier this year, it found that the traffic volume along the road was lower than the threshold required to convert the Morrisonville Road/Purcellville Road intersection into a three-way stop. But many residents said the intersection needs to be changed because of the speed of traffic passing through, not because of the volume of the traffic.

Within the next three months, the county’s Department of Transportation & Cap-

ital Infrastructure will also study the road and propose new traffic warning signs and identify locations for pole-mounted flashing speed signs. The department also will determine whether through trucks should be restricted on Morrisonville Road.

Village residents have also asked the Sheriff ’s Office to step up enforcement of the speed limit on the road.

According to the VDOT traffic study, the average speed of Morrisonville Road traffic is 44 mph as it approaches the Purcellville Road intersection from the north, where the speed limit is 35 mph. The average speed of traffic on Morrisonville Road

as it approaches Purcellville Road from the south is 40 mph, where the speed limit is 25 mph.

The push for safety improvements to Morrisonville Road began in early 2019, following the Jan. 4 death of Lauren McDarby, who was struck and killed by an alleged drunken driver while she was on an early-morning walk along the road.

Within weeks of McDarby’s death, village residents came together to form the Morrisonville Community Alliance to address safety concerns along the rural road. n

continued from page 16 gaming consoles at their disposal. “I think a lot of the teens would find this a good place to utilize,” she said.

A teen center in Lovettsville would build on an informal program the Lovettsville Library already has in place, in which teens come together for tabletop gaming each week. Dunlap said 10-15 teens regularly attend those events.

Dunlap said that, aside from wanting to provide western Loudoun teens with a safe and fun place to hang out with their friends, the drive to get a teen center in Lovettsville is intended to combat two statistics—the suicide rate and higher-than-average screen time among Loudoun teens.

According to the advisory commission’s 2019 Loudoun Youth Update, youth in Loudoun use their smartphones for an average of 7.5 hours each day, which is 50 percent more time daily than the national 5-hour average for screen time. The update links phone and social media access to increased depression, anxiety and, in some cases, suicide.

It cites a 2018 study published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology that looked into such effects on 143 undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania. Some students were randomly assigned to limit their Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat use to 10 minutes per platform, per day. Compared with a control group that did not limit its social media time, the students who limited their social media use showed significant reductions in loneliness and depression throughout the course of three weeks.

In a 2017 study published in Clinical Psychological Science, depressive symptoms, suicide attempts and thoughts, and suicide rates among U.S. adolescents in

Road safety continued from page 16 Residents said VDOT agreed to look at adding signage to deter speeders and warn drivers about the road’s sharp turns, and to determine whether it can obtain easements to clear brush around those blind turns. VDOT is expected to conduct additional traffic studies along the road once construction begins on the Rt. 9/287 roundabout—which is expected to happen in summer 2022, according to the county website. The residents also agreed to pro-

Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now

The Lovettsville Library’s back room could be the home of a teen center toward the start of the 20202021 school year.

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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PAGE 21

Hillsboro cemetery continued from page 3 federate markers on graves of Civil War veterans in the church’s white cemetery. Jagoe said that push was evidence that “structural racism” exists within the Hillsboro church.

In recent weeks, representatives from the Sheriff ’s Office, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the county government, the Loudoun NAACP and the Loudoun Freedom Center have become involved to varying degrees.

Questions about how to protect the black cemetery began five years ago when Jagoe looked to expand the parking lot to accommodate the growing congregation.

That’s when he learned that the grass field that faces Rt. 9 was a cemetery. He confirmed the existence of the burial site when he found eight freedman grave markers while poking around with a piece of rebar.

Following that discovery, Jagoe said he brought in an expert to identify the locations of all 72 graves using ground-penetrating radar. Next, he wanted to use the church’s memorial funds to install a memorial wall, but did not win approval.

“The church would not vote to spend a single penny to recognize the 72 brothers and sisters in Christ that are buried on the east end of the property because of their skin color,” Jagoe said. “It broke my heart.”

But Interim Pastor Larry Thompson said those efforts are still underway, noting that one congregation member is working to obtain federal grants to help pay for the wall’s construction. He’s hopeful the church will have more concrete plans for that memorial in the next few months.

“We’re involved in a process that I hope will be expedited,” Thompson said. “I could see a really good event to do that recognition.”

Thompson said there was concern about spending so much of the church’s reserve funds on one project. Instead, the congregation wants to ensure it has money available for future projects, such as for necessary building repairs.

“They’re going to be fiscally conservative, period,” Thompson said of his congregation.

Thompson also pointed out that the field where the unmarked graves are located is “very well cared for” and that it’s not just a cemetery for the enslaved—it’s also the final resting place of multiple white congregation members.

Meanwhile, on the west end of the church property, Jagoe said Boy Scouts worked to place iron crosses and Confederate battle flags in the all-white cemetery through the help and direction of Sons

Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now

The Hillsboro United Methodist Church, through the help of the Boy Scouts, installed iron Confederate crosses on the graves of the Confederate soldiers buried there.

of the Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy. Jagoe said he opposes the placement of those flags and crosses because he feels they’re symbols of structural racism. He said the two organizations “hoodwinked” the Boy Scouts into completing the project.

“It’s right or wrong—this is wrong,” he said.

In an effort to find middle ground, Jagoe designed and installed a sign emphasizing that although the Confederate crosses and flags are present, they “are not intended to reflect support for white supremacy, or be seen as symbols of structural racism.”

Thompson, who’s been the church’s interim pastor for five weeks, said he has seen no such racism within the congregation.

“I’ve not found the people here to be involved in or have any intent at any systemic racism,” he said. “I have found the people to be just delightful people and I’m very happy to be journeying with them through this process that we’re in and look forward to bringing it to an appropriate ending with the recognition.”

Steven Summers, the church’s Winchester district superintendent, said he’s confident that Thompson understands the issue at hand and is working to rectify any concern surrounding it. Summers said the United Methodist Church as a whole has “a deep-seated sense that deplores racism in every form.”

“It’s just absolutely opposed [to racism],” he said. “It’s all about finding unity and togetherness—Larry [Thompson] gets that.”

Jagoe escalated his battle by filing a formal complaint with the Sheriff ’s Office regarding the markers that were at one point in the past few years moved from their corresponding slave graves. In Virginia, it’s a class 6 felony if someone “willfully or maliciously destroys, mutilates, defaces, injures, or removes … any tomb, monument, gravestone, or other structure placed within any cemetery, graveyard, or place of burial.”

Heather Williamson, the communications manager for the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors did not plan to pursue any charges based on the information the Sheriff ’s Office provided.

Michelle Thomas, the president of the Loudoun chapter of the NAACP, said that while bringing that concern to the Sheriff ’s Office is “absolutely the appropriate action,” the first objective for the NAACP and the Loudoun Freedom Center—a nonprofit organization she founded, in part, to preserve, protect and promote African-American history in Loudoun—is to create a workable relationship with the church property owners and eventually gain access to the property.

“We can probably get more done in that way than working outside of the owners,” she said. “There’s a process.”

Thomas said that she’s spoken with the

county about gaining access to the church property to perform a survey and determine the status of the graves. “Somebody has to mark that and map it,” she said.

Earlier this year, the county published on online database of more than 200 active and historic cemeteries in Loudoun.

The white cemetery at the Hillsboro United Methodist Church is included in that database. Heidi Siebentritt, Loudoun’s historic preservation planner, said the county is willing to map the church’s slave graves but has no immediate plan to do so.

Thompson said he’s open to talking with the county, or any organization, that could assist the church in its effort to study and recognize the graves. He added that he intends to reach out to the Freedom Center to discuss the matter.

Jagoe said that while he was glad the church is moving the project forward, he’s unsure why it’s taken 150 years to do something about it.

“When it works out, that will be great,” he said. “It’s going to get done and that’s good news.”

Moving forward, Jagoe said that no matter what happens in Hillsboro—whether the church commemorates the graves or the cemetery is left forever unnoticed— he’s confident of what the outcome will be.

“I’ve read [the Bible], I know how the story ends and love is going to win,” he said. n

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DECEMBER 26, 2019

LoCo Living

Courtesy of Tarbender’s Lounge

With a speakeasy theme year-round, a Gatsby-themed New Year’s was a natural choice at Tarbender’s Lounge in Leesburg for a 2020 New Year’s Eve celebration.

Welcoming the Roaring Twenties, LoCo Style

BY JAN MERCKER jmercker@loudounnow.com

The Roaring Twenties are upon us again.

Yes, it’s been a full century since the start of the famed decade that brought us the jazz age and Prohibition. What 2020 has in store remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: this New Year’s Eve is the perfect time for a Gatsby-inspired party. If you’re in the mood to put on your flapper dress or fedora, there are plenty of options in Loudoun.

Tarbender’s Lounge in downtown Leesburg has a modern-day speakeasy theme all year long, so of course they’ll be ringing in the new year with a Great Gatsby party.

The cozy 19th century building on King Street is full of nooks and crannies with a speakeasy vibe. Co-owners Brandee Baldwin and Paul Zangos opened the spot just over a year ago, and Zangos came up with

the idea for the ’20s theme.

“With these historic buildings, you have to find a niche. You can’t tear down the walls. There are little rooms we have to play with. We figured every room has its niche.” Baldwin said. The restaurant’s honeycomb of rooms feature twenties-inspired murals by Leesburg artist Chris Lynch, and each has a different feel. The owners have already hosted several twenties-themed parties, so a Gatsby-inspired New Year’s Eve was a natural choice.

“We’re going to bring it back to the twenties. Dress up like a flapper, gangster, black tie, whatever you want,” Baldwin said. “We want it to be authentic.”

Tuesday’s festivities include live jazz from house band the Soul Benders and dancing.

Several other Loudoun hotspots are getting on board with the 1920s theme.

Blackfinn Ameripub in Ashburn’s Loudoun Station hosts a Roaring Twenties party featuring 1920s inspired cocktails,

midnight toast, and a DJ with optional dinner reservations. Guests are encouraged to dress to impress, whether that’s ’20s inspired or just something a little fancy. Lansdowne Resort and Spa also hosts a Gatsby-inspired party with music from the Gatsby Gang Jazz Band, specialty cocktails, and 1920s-inspired hors d’oeuvres. Twenties attire is encouraged but not required.

One of the county’s newest venues, City Tap Loudoun, also boasts Prohibition-era decor and will be celebrating New Year’s 1920s style. The upscale gastropub, which opened in One Loudoun just two months, ago offers 40 beers on tap along with craft cocktails and wine and features an interior that pays homage to the prohibition era.

“We wanted to give a nod to those who came before us to allow us to enjoy our libations,” said Hilaire Ashworth-Benson, City Tap’s sales and events manager.

The restaurant’s inaugural New Year’s

Eve celebration offers Gatsby-esque decadence to the hilt.

“We said if we’re going to do this, we’re going to go big,” Ashworth-Benson said.

The $150 per person event features over-the-top decorations and an extravagant menu, including a raw bar, buffet with carving stations, open bar from 8 p.m. and a midnight toast.

With nine locations around the U.S., City Tap has hosted successful prohibition-themed parties in other markets and already has lots of interest from regulars in Loudoun. Ashworth-Benson sold the restaurant’s last booth for New Year’s but still has individual tickets available. Twenties garb isn’t required, but there will likely be plenty of period costumes.

“If you just want to wear something glitzy and a string of pearls, that’s perfectly fine,” Ashworth-Benson said. “You don’t have to go flapper—I have a feeling a lot of people will though.” n

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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THINGS to do HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS British New Year’s Eve Tuesday, Dec. 31, noon-8 p.m.

Vanish Farmwoods Brewery, 42245 Hopwoods Lane, Lucketts Details: vanishbeer.com Celebrate New Year’s with a Liverpool theme— and a ball drop at 7 p.m. (midnight U.K. time).

Event features food specials, live music and face painting.

Dragon Hops Brewing, 130 E. Main St., Purcellville Details: dragonhopsbrewing.com The event features live music from three bands, an open beer and wine bar from 8 to 9 p.m., buffet, dessert and a sparkling wine toast at midnight.

Tickets are $79, $65 for designated drivers.

New Year’s Eve at Silk Tuesday, Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-2 a.m.

Silk Restaurant, 1500 E. Market St., Leesburg Details: silkparties.com This club-themed party features Indian fusion appetizers and dinner, premium bar, DJ Angad and belly dancing. Tickets are $85 per person and $150 per couple, with discounts for children and teens.

American Legion Post 293 New Year’s Eve Tuesday, Dec. 31, 9 p.m.-2 a.m.

American Legion Post 293, 112 N 21st St., Purcellville Details: vapost293.org Celebrate with music from 22 Late, food, professional photo booth, door prizes, silent auction, hats and horns. Admission is $30 per person.

New Year’s Eve at Spanky’s

Courtesy of Mark Nizer

Family New Year’s Eve Celebration Tuesday, Dec. 31, 7-9 p.m.

Franklin Park Arts Center, 36441 Blueridge View Lane, Purcellville Details: franklinparkartscenter.org Franklin Park’s family-oriented New Year’s Eve celebration features Mark Nizer’s one-man show, a combination of original comedy, world class juggling, movement, music and technology that promises a spellbinding evening. Tickets are $10 per person or $35 per family of four or more.

Reagan Years New Year’s Eve Party Tuesday, Dec. 31, 7 p.m.

Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg Details: tallyhotheater.com One of the region’s top ’80s tribute bands rocks in the new decade at the Tally Ho. Tickets are $25 in advance, $35 day of show.

ChefScape New Year’s Eve Tuesday, Dec. 31, 9 p.m.-1 a.m.

ChefScape, 1602 Village Market Blvd. # 115, Leesburg Details: chefscapekitchen.com Ring in the new year with DJ Eli, hors d’oeuvres from 9 to 11 p.m. and a sparkling wine toast at midnight. Tickets are $30 in advance, $40 at the door.

Around the World New Year’s Eve Tuesday, Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-1 a.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 31, 9 p.m.

Spanky’s Shenanigans, 538 E. Market St., Leesburg Details: spankyspub.com This New Year’s Eve dance party features DJ John Coulter. No cover.

New Day New Year 5K Wednesday, Jan. 1, 8:15, bib pick-up, 9:30 a.m., race begins House 6 Brewing Company, 44427 Atwater Drive, Suite 160, Ashburn Details: newdaynewyear5k.com Get the new year started out right with a 5K or 10K run. Registration is $35. Breakfast and beer will be available for sale. Event benefits the Rotary Club of Leesburg’s Perry Winston Scholarship fund.

post-holiday wind down. Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for children.

Schiller Institute New Year’s Day Concert Wednesday, Jan. 1, 3 p.m.

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 605 W. Market St., Leesburg Details: holytrinityleesburg.org The Virginia Schiller Institute Community Chorus presents choral favorites from Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Handel and other greats. Concert is free and open to the public.

NIGHTLIFE

RADIO PETTY: THE ULTIMATE TOM PETTY TRIBUTE SHOW

Year in Review Trivia at Old Ox

12/27/19 DOORS: 7:00PM

Friday, Dec. 27, 6:30-9 p.m.

Old Ox Brewery, 44652 Guilford Drive, Ashburn Details: oldoxbrewery.com Drink N Think Trivia hosts a whole night of trivia from 2019 with special prizes.

LIVE WIRE: THE ULTIMATE AC/ DC EXPERIENCE

Live Music: Radio Petty

THE REAGAN YEARS NEW YEARS EVE PARTY

Friday, Dec. 27, 7 p.m.

Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg Details: tallyhotheater.com After Tom Petty’s death in 2017, this tribute band was created to celebrate and capture the energy, sound and feel of a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers live concert experience. Tickets are $15 in advance.

Live Music: OTR Band Friday, Dec. 27, 8 p.m.

ChefScape, 1602 Village Market Blvd. # 115, Leesburg Details: chefscapekitchen.com Off The Record is a mash-up of several longestablished DMV cover bands performing hits from the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s plus classic rock and R&B deep cuts from Adele to Aretha and Journey to Zeppelin.

12/28/19 DOORS: 7:00PM

12/31/19 DOORS: 7:00PM

TRIBUTE TO MORRISSEY & THE SMITHS: GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA 01/03/20 DOORS: 7:00PM

10 Years 01/04/20 DOORS: 7:00PM

The four horsemen 01/10/20 DOORS: 7:00PM

The unlikely candidates 01/11/20 DOORS: 7:00PM

beatlemania now!

01/17/20 DOORS: 7:00PM

Berserkle on the Squirkle

cowboy mouth

Wednesday, Jan. 1, 10 a.m., registration, 11 a.m., event begins Lovettsville Town Square. 1 Town Square, Lovettsville Details: facebook.com/lovettsvillewinter Lovettsville’s fun and silly family 5K returns with costumes and regifted prizes. The winner is selected at random, so you don’t have to be fast to win this one.

ON STAGE Last Ham Standing Friday, Dec. 27, 8p.m.

Franklin Park Arts Center, 36441 Blueridge View Lane, Purcellville Details: franklinparkartscenter.org Hilarious improv for the whole family is a perfect

01/17/20 DOORS: 7:00PM

Tribute to rush: Sun Dogs 01/18/20 DOORS: 7:00PM

TRIPLE RAIL TURN Courtesy of Nathaniel Davis

Live Music: Nathaniel Davis Saturday, Dec. 28, 7 p.m.

Crooked Run Brewing, 22455 Davis Drive, Sterling Details: crookedrunbrewing.com Davis is known for top-notch vocal and guitar

THINGS TO DO continues on page 24

01/24/20 DOORS: 7:00PM

BETTER OFF DEAD 01/25/20 DOORS: 7:00PM

the elo show 01/31/20 DOORS: 7:00PM

PAGE 24

DECEMBER 26, 2019

ALWAYS ONLINE AT LOUDOUNNOW.COM

Give yourself the gift of a better commute.

Twisted Flags Friday, Dec. 27, 8:30 p.m.

Spanky’s Shenanigans spankyspub.com

Live Wire The Ultimate AC/DC Experience Saturday, Dec. 28, 7 p.m. (doors) Tally Ho Theater tallyhotheater.com

Saturday Sounds with Gary Smallwood Saturday, Dec. 28, 1-5 p.m.

Doukenie Winery doukeniewinery.com

Carpoolers: • Save time and money • Relax when riding • Enjoy company during the ride Win a $25 gift card* as a new carpooler.

Email rideshare@loudoun.gov to get started. *while supplies last

$25

THINGS to do continued from page 23

work and inventive and thoughtful approaches to classic and popular music.

Live Music: Green Leaf Society Saturday, Dec. 28, 8 p.m.

B Chord Brewing, 34266 Williams Gap Road, Round Hill Details: bchordbrewing.com Traditional American roots music. Derek Kretzer, Erik Burnham, and James Montgomery. No cover.

Live Music: Chris Timbers

$25

Friday, Dec. 27, 8 p.m.

Monk’s BBQ, 251 N. 21st St., Purcellville Details: monksq.com Northern Virginia native Chris Timbers draws inspiration from soul, contemporary jazz, blues, rock and country for an eclectic sound all his own.

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy Christmas Bird Count

loudoun.gov/commute

Saturday, Dec. 28, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Details: loudounwildlife.org Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s annual Christmas Bird Count takes place in a 177 square mile circle around Leesburg and is open to adults and

Courtesy of Nathaniel Davis

families. Go to the LWC website to sign up with a team and get a location assignment.

Nature Play Spaces at Chapman DeMary Trail Sunday, Dec. 29, 1 p.m.

Chapman DeMary Trail, 355 N. Hatcher Ave., Purcellville Details: purcellvilleva.gov Join the Purcellville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board for the latest in their year-round nature walks. This session will be led by the Play Rangers of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy who will setup a nature play area and welcome kids of all ages and abilities to join in the fun.

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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Legal Notices PUBLIC HEARING The LOUDOUN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS will hold a public hearing in the Board of Supervisors’ Meeting Room, County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, at 6:00 p.m. on WEDNESDAY, January 15, 2020, in order to consider:

AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 860 OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF LOUDOUN COUNTY Personal Property and Real Estate Tax Pursuant to Virginia Code §15.2-1427 the Board of Supervisors gives notice of its intention to propose for passage an amendment to Chapter 860, Personal Property and Real Estate Tax, of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County. The proposed amendment expands what constitutes a filing in 860.04 (d) for motor vehicles, boats, and trailers with situs in the County to include the voluntary full payment of prior year taxes as another method of filing, and makes amendments to 860.06 to comply with updates to the Virginia Code §58.1-3505 (A)(8) which expands the definition of farm machinery to include qualifying equipment and machinery used by a nursery, and a qualifying farm tractor, regardless of whether the tractor is used exclusively for farming, Virginia Code §58.1-3505 (A)(12) which now exempts for taxation purposes motor vehicles used primarily for agricultural purposes, and Virginia Code §58.1-3505 (A) (13) which now exempts for taxation purposes certain trucks or tractor trucks used primarily by farmers in the farming operation A complete copy of the full text of the above-referenced proposed amendment(s) is on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the County Administrator, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., 5th Floor, Leesburg, Virginia, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or call 703-777-0200. Documents also may be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at www.loudoun.gov/ bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for “Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”).

AMENDMENTS TO SECTIONS 209 OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF LOUDOUN COUNTY Change of Polling Place (Affects the Lovettsville Precinct in the Catoctin District) Pursuant to Virginia Code Sections 15.2-1427, 24.2-306 and 24.2-307, et seq., the Board of Supervisors gives notice of its intention to propose for passage amendments to Section 209, Voting Precincts and Polling Places, of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County.

In the Catoctin District: 1.

Effective prior to the March 3, 2020 election and for all subsequent elections the existing Lovettsville precinct will be moved to the Lovettsville Volunteer Fire and Rescue, 12837 Berlin Pike, Lovettsville, 20180 A complete copy of the full text of the above-referenced proposed amendments to Chapter 209 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County and maps showing precinct boundaries and polling places are on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the County Administrator, County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., 5th Floor, Leesburg, Virginia, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or call 703-777-0200. In addition this information is available for inspection at Loudoun County’s Office of Elections website at www.loudoun.gov/vote.

APPROVAL OF A BOUNDARY LINE AGREEMENT TO CHANGE THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA, AND THE TOWN OF PURCELLVILLE, VIRGINIA Pursuant to Virginia Code §15.2-3106 et seq., the Board of Supervisors hereby provides notice of its intention to approve a Boundary Line Agreement with the Town of Purcellville (“Town”) to change the existing boundary line between the County of Loudoun (“County”) and the Town. The proposed boundary line change would incorporate a land area containing approximately 4.8595 acres, more or less, identified as Loudoun County Parcel Identification Number (PIN) 522-29-6381, a portion of PIN 522-29-5928, and a portion of right of way dedicated per Instrument No. 20151103-0073698, into the municipal limits of the Town. A land area containing approximately 4.4197 acres, more or less, being a portion of PIN 522-295928, will be removed from the Town’s corporate limits. The new location of the boundary line between the County and the Town will correspond generally to the alignment of the proposed future segment of Mayfair Crown Drive that will intersect Hillsboro Road and will expand the limits of the Town boundary at the southwest quadrant of the intersection of Hillsboro Road and Allder School Road. The property to be incorporated into and removed from the Town is located adjacent to the current northern municipal limits of the Town, and to the east of Hillsboro Road, in the Blue Ridge Election District, and is shown on the map provided below.

Full and complete copies of the above-referenced proposed Boundary Line Agreement, and a plat including the metes and bounds description of, and depicting the proposed new location of the boundary line between the County and the Town are on file in the Office of the County Administrator, who serves as the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, County Government Center, 5th Floor, 1 Harrison Street, SE, from 9:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or call (703) 777-0200. Documents also may be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for “Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”).

SPEX-2019-0026 HAMILTON SERVICE STATION (Special Exception)

M S M Holdings, L.L.C., of Hamilton, Virginia, has submitted an application for a Special Exception for the termination of a non-conforming status of an existing Automobile Service Station use and establish this use as a lawfully existing use and install a canopy over the fueling stations in the AR-1 (Agricultural Rural–1) zoning district. This application is subject to the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance, and a non-conforming use or structure may be deemed to be in conformity with the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance and allowed to continue and to expand as a lawfully existing use or structure through the issuance of Special Exception approval in accordance with Section 1-405. The subject property is located in the AR-1 (Agricultural Rural–1) zoning district. The subject property is approximately 0.485 acres in size and is located on the north side of East Colonial Highway (Business Route 7), east of Northwoods Place (Route 1132) at 39258 East Colonial Highway, Hamilton, Virginia in the Catoctin Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 382-39-6715. The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Rural Policy Area, Rural North Place Type), which designate this area for complementary Agricultural, Rural Business, and Tourism uses that constitute Loudoun’s Rural Economy and low-density Rural Residential uses at a density of up to one dwelling unit per 20 acres.

ZCPA-2019-0011 & ZMOD-2019-0028 HEIFETZ LANDSCAPE BUFFER

(Zoning Concept Plan Amendment & Zoning Modification) Andrew Heifetz and Amy Heifetz of Chantilly, Virginia, have submitted an application to amend the Concept Development Plan (CDP) and Proffers approved with ZMAP-1991-0005 and ZCPA-1995-0006, South Riding, in order to eliminate the 25-foot-wide landscape buffer to allow for the construction of a sport court, with no resulting change in density in the PDH4 (Planned Development-Housing) zoning district. This application is subject to the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance. The Applicant also requests the following Zoning Ordinance modification(s): Zoning Ordinance Section §4-109(C)(2), Planned Development – Housing, Site Planning – External Relationships, Uses adjacent to single-family, agricultural, or residential districts or land bays allowing residential uses.

Proposed Modification Reduce the permanent open space buffer along the rear boundary of the subject property from 50 feet to 0 feet.

Continued on next page

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DECEMBER 26, 2019

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Legal Notices The subject property is located in the PDH4 (Planned Development-Housing) zoning district. The subject property is approximately 0.294 acre in size and is located on the east side of Mink Meadows Street (Route 2210), east of Iverson Drive (Route 2244) at 43651 Mink Meadows Street, Chantilly, Virginia, in the Dulles Election District. The subject property is more particularly described as PIN: 099-46-4205.

The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Suburban Policy Area, Suburban Neighborhood Place Type), which designate this area primarily for Single Family detached and attached Residential uses that are integrated in a walkable street pattern at a recommended density of up to 4 dwelling units per acre.

ZMAP-2019-0012, ZMOD-2019-0030, ZMOD-2019-0031, ZMOD-2019-0032, ZMOD-2019-0033, ZMOD-2019-0034, & SPEX-2019-0025 CATTAIL RUN (Zoning Map Amendment, Special Exception, and Zoning Modifications)

Cattail Leesburg, L.C. of McLean, Virginia, has submitted an application to rezone approximately 95.26 acres from the JLMA-3 (Joint Land Management Area -3) zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance and the RC (Rural Commercial) zoning district under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance to the PD-H3 (Planned Development – Housing 3) zoning district administered as R-8 (Residential -8) under the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance in order to develop up to 250 dwelling units, which may include between 175 and 200 single family detached dwelling units and between 50 and 75 single family attached dwelling units. A portion of the subject property is located within the FOD (Floodplain Overlay District).

The applicant also requests the following Zoning Ordinance and Land Subdivision and Development Ordinance (LSDO) modification(s): Zoning Ordinance Section

The modification of the lot and building requirements for affordable dwelling unit developments is authorized by Special Exception under Section 7-803, pursuant to which the Applicant requests the following Zoning Ordinance modification(s): Zoning Ordinance Section §7-803(B)(1), R-8 Single Family Residential District, Lot and Building Requirements, Lot width, Single family detached, suburban.

Reduce the minimum lot width from 40 feet to 5 feet for pipestem lots.

§7-803(C)(1)(a), R-8 Single Family Residential District, Lot and Building Requirements, Yards, Front.

Reduce the minimum front yard from 15 feet to 12 feet.

Reduce the minimum side yard from 8 feet to 5 feet for principal structures

§7-803(C)(1)(b), R-8 Single Family Residential District, Lot and Building Requirements, Yards, Side.

Increase the maximum length/width ratio from 6:1 to 7:1.

§3-507(E)(2), R-8 Single Family Residential, Lot Requirements for Traditional Design Option for Single Family Detached, Lot Design Requirements.

Reduce the minimum required garage setback from 20 feet to 10 feet behind the front line of the unit.

§3-511(A), Development Setback and Access from Major Roads, Private Streets.

Include single family detached units in the list of uses permitted to be served by private streets

§4-110(B), Planned Development-Housing, Site Planning – Internal Relationships.

Include single family detached units in the list of uses permitted to be served by private streets.

§5-102(C), Accessory Uses and Structures, Use Limitations.

Permit accessory uses and structures to be within the required side and rear yard setbacks.

And Eliminate the minimum side yard requirement for accessory structures.

§7-803(C)(1)(c), R-8 Single Family Residential District, Lot and Building Requirements, Yards, Rear.

Reduce the minimum rear yard from 25 feet to 5 feet for accessory structures.

§7-803(C)(2)(a), R-8 Single Family Residential District, Lot and Building Requirements, Yards, Front.

Reduce the minimum front yard from 15 feet to 12 feet for rear load units.

Proposed Modification

§3-506(D), R-8 Single Family Residential, Lot Requirements, Length/Width Ratio.

Proposed Modification

Reduce the minimum side yard from 8 feet to 5 feet for end units §7-803(C)(2)(b), R-8 Single Family Residential District, Lot and Building Requirements, Yards, Side.

And Eliminate the minimum side yard requirement for accessory structures.

§7-803(C)(2)(c) R-8 Single Family Residential District, Lot and Building Requirements, Yards, Rear.

Reduce the minimum rear yard from 15 feet to 5 feet for accessory structures.

The subject property is approximately 95.26 acres in size and is located on the east side of Battlefield Parkway, north of Fort Evans Road and south of Edwards Ferry Road in the Catoctin Election District.

The subject property is more particularly described as follows: PIN

Property Address

147-16-4251

N/A

147-19-1857

N/A

147-27-7012

N/A

147-28-4907

N/A

147-37-7210

N/A

§5-200(B)(6)(a), Permitted Structures in Required Yards and Setbacks, In any yard or setback, except the front yard or setback.

Reduce the minimum distance between structures from sixteen feet to minimum ten feet.

§5-1404(B) Buffer Yard Table

Eliminate the requirement for the landscape buffer yard and screening along the northern limits of rezoning and along the border of ZMAP2018-0007.

The area is governed by the policies of the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan (Suburban Policy Area), in the Leesburg JLMA Residential Neighborhood place type which designates this area for predominately residential uses at a density of four dwelling units per acre.

Proposed Modification

Unless otherwise noted in the above notices, full and complete copies of the abovereferenced amendments, applications, ordinances, and/or plans, and related documents may be examined in the Loudoun County Department of Building and Development, County Government Center, 2nd Floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday or call 703-7770220 or electronically at www.loudoun.gov/lola. This link also provides an additional opportunity for public input on active applications. Documents also may be viewed and downloaded electronically 72 hours in advance of the public hearing at: www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments (for Public Hearing documents, follow the link for “Board of Supervisors Business Meetings, Public Hearings and Special Meetings”).

LSDO Section §1245.02.1 Development Standards, Private Access Easement Roads and Private Streets, Class III Roads.

Permit all lots to be served by private access easements or Class III Roads in the PD-H4/R-8 Zoning District.

All members of the public will be heard as to their views pertinent to these matters. Citizens are encouraged to call in advance to sign up to speak at the public hearing. For this public hearing, advanced sign-up will be taken after 8:30 a.m. on January 3, 2020, and no later than 12:00 p.m. on January 15, 2020. If you wish to sign-up in advance, call the Office of the County Administrator at (703) 777-0200. Citizens will also have the option to sign-up at the public hearing.

Hearing assistance is available for meetings in the Board of Supervisors’ Meeting Room. If you require any type of reasonable accommodation as a result of a physical, sensory or mental disability to participate in this meeting, please contact the Office of the County Administrator at 703-777-0200. At least one business day of advance notice is requested; some accommodations may require more than one day of notice.

FM Assistive Listening System is available at the meetings.

BY ORDER OF:

PHYLLIS RANDALL, CHAIRMAN LOUDOUN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

12/26/19 1/2/20

DECEMBER 26, 2019

PAGE 27

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Legal Notices

ORDER OF PUBLICATION COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA VA. CODE § 8.01-316

Case No.:

NOTICE OF ABANDONED BICYCLES Notice is hereby given that the bicycles described below were found and delivered to the Office of the Sheriff of Loudoun County; if the owners of the listed bicycles are not identified within sixty (60) days following the final publication of this notice, the individuals who found said bicycles shall be entitled to them if he/she desires. All unclaimed bicycles will be handled according to Chapter 228.04 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County.

Recovery Date

Recovery Location

Silver, black and red Schwinn Ranger with 24” tire

Case Number

Phone Number

SO190022788

12/5/19

43316 Hay Road, Ashburn

571-258-3497

Black Trek FX2 (rusty)

SO190022788

12/5/19

43316 Hay Road, Ashburn

571-258-3497

Red/black Hyper Shocker 2G bicycle

SO190023029

12/8/19

46620 E. Frederick Dr., Sterling

571-258-3497

Green/white Hotrick Specialized children’s bicycle

SO190023147

12/10/19

Tripleseven Rd./Regina Dr., Sterling

571-258-3497

Blue Schwinn Airacuda children’s bicycle

SO190023147

12/10/19

Tripleseven Rd./Regina Dr., Sterling

571-258-3497

White/blue Mongoose Show Time children’s bicycle

SO190023147

12/10/19

Tripleseven Rd./Regina Dr., Sterling

571-258-3497

Description

12/19/19 & 12/26/19

JJ038587-24-00 , Loudoun J&DR-Juvenile

Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Malachi Knight Loudoun County Department of Family Services /v.

Ikeya Knight, mother Hold a 5th permanency planning hearing and review of Foster Care Plan pursuant to Virginia Code §§ 16.1-282.1 and 16.1-281 for Malachi Knight.

It is ORDERED that the defendant Ikeya Knight, mother appear at the above-named Court and protect her interests on or before February 4, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.

12/26/19, 1/2, 1/9 & 1/16/20

A message to elderly and disabled Loudoun County residents from

Robert S. Wertz, Jr.

Commissioner of the Revenue

LOUDOUN COUNTY ACCEPTING SEALED PROPOSALS FOR:

Residents 65 and older or totally and permanently disabled who wish to apply for 2019 Real Property Tax Relief for the first time must submit an application to my office by the December 31, 2019 filing deadline.

WILL BE COMPETITIVE

TASK ORDER - ROAD CONSTRUCTION SUPPORT SERVICES, RFP (RFQ) No. 148782, until prior to 4:00 p.m., local “Atomic Time”, January 30, 2020.

Please visit our website or contact my office for information or filing assistance.

Leesburg Office 1 Harrison Street SE First Floor

Solicitation forms are available by downloading them from the website at www.loudoun.gov/ procurement at no cost. Solicitation forms may also be picked up at the Division of Procurement at 1 Harrison Street, 4th Floor, Leesburg, Virginia 20175 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. weekdays or call (703) 777-0403.

Sterling Office 21641 Ridgetop Circle Suite 100 Internet: www.loudoun.gov/taxrelief Hours: 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, M - F

WHEN CALLING, PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU NEED ANY REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION FOR ANY TYPE OF DISABILITY IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCUREMENT.

Phone: 703-737-8557 Email: trcor@loudoun.gov Mailing Address: PO Box 8000, MSC 32 Leesburg, VA 20177-9804

12/26/19

12/05, 12/12, 12/19, & 12/26/19

Notice of Public Hearing Town of Lovettsville Town Council The Lovettsville Town Council will hold a public hearing on the following item at their meeting at 7:30 pm on January 9, 2020 at the Lovettsville Town Office located at 6 East Pennsylvania Avenue: LVCU 2019-0002

Application for a Conditional Use Permit to Install Wireless Communication Equipment on the Town of Lovettsville Elevated Water Tank Located at 14-A Quarter Branch Road

Consideration of an application for a Conditional Use Permit filed by MasTec Network Solutions on behalf of Verizon Wireless to install wireless communication equipment on the Town of Lovettsville elevated water tank located at 14-A Quarter Branch Road within the R-2 Residential Zoning District.

The property is owned by the Town and is more particularly described as Parcel Identification Number 333-45-9227. The application proposes to install at total of six (6) antennas, remote radio heads (RRHs) and related cables and equipment on the water tank in addition to ground-level cabinets, a generator, and propone tank on the site.

The proposed zoning amendment is available for review at the Town Office between the hours of 8:30 am and 4:30 pm during weekdays or by special appointment, holidays excepted. Call (540) 822-5788 for more information or contact Joshua A. Bateman, Zoning Administrator at jbateman@lovettsvilleva. gov. In the event the meeting is postponed, the public hearing will be convened on the next regularly-scheduled meeting at the same time and place.

Never miss a show

•

GetOutLoudoun.com

12/26/19 & 1/2/20

PAGE 28

DECEMBER 26, 2019

ALWAYS ONLINE AT LOUDOUNNOW.COM

Resource Directory

WE’RE HIRING! Be part of a great, time-honored team here in Loudoun!

Loudoun Now an award winning newspaper is seeking enthusiastic, positive people to join our team! Advertising sales experience preferred but if you feel confident presenting media products to potential advertisers, possess another type of sales background, and have good energy, you may be just the right fit!

If interested, send your resume to sstyer@loudounnow.com.

Barber

Accounting/Taxes ROBERT BEATSON II

Attorney/Accountant,Former IRS Attorney Admitted to DC, MD, VA & NY Bars All types of Federal, State, Local & Foreign Taxes Individual/Business Trusts - Estates - Wills Amended & Late Returns Back Taxes - IRS Audits Civil Litigation Business Law - Contracts

www.ashburnbarbershop.com

703-798-3590 OR 301-340-2951 www.beatsonlaw.com

BOBCAT Bobcat

CLEANING SERVICE Cleaning

* Bobcat Services * * Gravel Driveway Repair *

Br am

hall Trucking

540-822-9011

◆ Stone DuSt ◆ Mulch ◆ topSoil ◆ SanD ◆ ◆ light graDing ◆ graveling ◆ ◆ Drainage SolutionS ◆ Backhoe Work ◆

Let us heLp you carry your Load!

Cleaning

703-901-9142 www.cbmaids.com cleanbreakcleaningcompany@gmail.com

Cleaning

R&D Cleaning Service, LLC Residential - Commercial Move In/Out - Carpet Cleaning

Excellent References - Reasonable Rates Licensed & Insured - FREE ESTIMATE

CALL MARLENE

(703) 303-1364 Email: rdcleaningserv@gmail.com R&D Cleaning Service LLC RDCleaningservice.com

WE ACCEPT:

Residential and Commercial Excellent reference - Reasonable rates Free in home estimates Family Owned and Operated Licensed, Insured & Bonded

Evenezer Cleaning Services, llc RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL LICENSED/INSURED/BONDED Quality Service at a Great Price!

*Good References * Reasonable Prices *Satisfaction Guaranteed * Free Estimates phone: 571.206.2875 email: evenezerservices69@yahoo.com • We Go Green!

FF $30 O Clean First

Construction

CONSTRUCTION Construction

Construction

Licensed-Insured-Bonded

AQS CONTRACTING

FR ESTIMEE ATES

571-505-5565 ∙ WWW.AQSCONTRACTING.COM Basements Kitchens Bathrooms

Additions Decks Structural Repairs

Interior/ Exterior Home Repairs

Construction CONSTRUCTION C ustom C onstruCtion A dditions • r epAirs Blue Ridge Remodeling, Inc. 540-668-6522

Kenny Williams Construction, Inc. * Decks & Screen Porches * Additions * Fences * Garages * Finished Basements * Deck Repairs Free Estimates

703-771-8727

www.kennywilliamsconstruction.com Licensed • Insured • bonded

www.brrinc.net Purcellville, VA

Since 1976 • Free Estimates Licensed & Insured

Serving Loudoun County for 35 years.

Class A Contractor

DECEMBER 26, 2019

PAGE 29

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Resource Directory Construction LOUDOUN

CONSTRUCTION GROUP

Decks

Dentistry

Cell: 571-213-0850 571-235-8304

contractor VA, DC HIC LISENCE

C & BROTHERS

GENERAL CONTRACTORS Licensed & Insured

Finished Basement - Custom Audio/Visual Rooms General Painting - Kitchen & Bath Remodels Finish Carpentry - Sunrooms & Decks General Handyman Services - References Available

Loudoun-Construction.com | Leesburg, VA

DECKS, PATIOS, AND STONE WORKS LICENSED BONDED & INSURED

Free Estimate candbrothers@gmail.com

240-413-5827 240-413-5873 www.candbrothers.com

LEESBURG, VA

EXCAVATING Excavating

Purcellville Purcellville

Cristian Arias

Francisco Rojo

Electrician Pediatric Dentistry Pediatric Dentistry

540.441.7627 • • F: O:O:540.441.7627 F: 540.441.7912 540.441.7912 smiles@novatoothfairy.com smiles@novatoothfairy.com 17333 Pickwick Dr, Suite A

17333 Pickwick Suite A Purcellville, VADr, 20132 Purcellville, VA 20132 www.novatoothfairy.com

www.novatoothfairy.com

Excavating

Fencing

J.DREYERS EXCAVATING

Licensed & Insured and RLD Certified

Land Clearing • Roadways • Ponds • Riding Arenas • Demolition • Foundations Drainage Solutions • Under Drains • Large Pipe & Stream Crossing Boulder Placement • Storm Damage Cleanup • Large Stump Removal Laser Fine Grading • Earth Sculpting • Top Soil • Fill Dirt • Stone Hauling

Fast, Reliable, Professional Service since 1981 (540) 338-2684 | Cell: (540) 295-5947 | JDX1@rocketmail.com WWW.JDREYERSEXCAVATING.COM

Loving Fence

NEW INSTALLATION, REPAIRS & PAINTING LICENSED & INSURED

WESLEY LOVING 1824 HARMONY CHURCH RD HAMILTON, VA 20158

540-338-9580 LOVINGFENCE@AOL.COM

C2 Operations offers Professional Exterior, Siding, Gutters and Window/Door Services and Repair throughout Loudoun Co and NoVA. Services Include Gutter Replacement • Gutter Repairs • Gutter Screens Leaf Relief Screens • Microguard Screens Copper Gutters • Custom Gutters 703.651.6677

HANDYMAN Handyman

Licensed. Insured.

$30 per estimate

Credited upon Acceptance

Junk Removal Residential, Farm & Commercial Junk Removal Services, Rolloff Dumpster Services.

Landfill Friendly We Donate & Recycle

HAULING

Licensed and Insured

540-454-0415 | PACKRATHAULING.COM

Locating Services UNDERGROUND LOCATING with Ground Radar • Utilities • Septic Systems • Graves • Sinkholes www.geomodel.com • 703-777-9788

Since 2000.

BUILT-INS • CABINETS • CLOSETS • CARPENTRY DRYWALL • INTERIOR DOORS • CROWN MOLDING CHAIR RAIL • CERAMIC TILE • PLUMBING • LIGHTING ELECTRICAL • BATHROOMS Damon L. Blackburn 703-966-7225 | www.myashburnhandyman.com damon.blackburn@yahoo.com

Land Clearing

Handyman

C & Brothers Home Improvement, LLC 20 Years of Experience FRE Kitchen & Bathroom Remodeling, ESTIMATEE S! Decks, General Handyman Services Cristian Arias 240-413-5827 | 240-413-5673 candbrothers@gmail.com

Licensed, Bonded & Insured | References Available

Free estimates, BBB, Lic/Ins.

Interior & Exterior

More Than 20 Years of Experience FREE ESTIMATES

(703) 597-6163

AngelOchoa1103@Yahoo.com Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OchoasPainting

General Contractor

Paint & Stain LLC Fully Licensed & Insured Save 50% when you provide your own supplies Excellent References FREE Estimates • Serving DC, VA & MD TEL (202) 910-6083 • CELL (571) 243-9417 paintandstain61@yahoo.com www.paintandstains.com full ins & worker’s comp

Real Estate Services

Landscaping

Painting

Call Brian 540-533-8092

Hair Salon HAIR SALON

FREE HAIRCUT

North’s Custom Masonry

Angie’s list member

703-597-6163 AngelOchoa1103@Yahoo.com Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OchoasFlooring

With any Color or Hightlights (New clients only)

Forestry Mulching Land & Brush Clearing 703-718-6789 major@veteransllc.us www.veteransllc.us

20% Discount on Paver Patios & Walkways

CARPET INSTALLATION - FLOOR INSTALLATION Hardwood Re-finishing - Laminate Installation

(703) 443-1237

Lovettsville, VA Veteran Owned & Operated VA, MD & WV Residential & Commercial

Retaining & Decorative Walls • Stonework Fire pits, Fireplaces & Chimneys, Repointing Brick Concrete and paver driveways

Flooring OCHOA’S FLOORING

Please call KELLY for an appointment.

Veterans LLC

Masonry

(703)850-5387 | bradyhiggins@abhelectric.com

9 Fort Evans Rd. NE, Leesburg, VA 20176

Handyman

Handyman/Master Craftsman

Serving Northern Virginia Licensed & Insured

Perm, Haircut for women, men, and children

info@c2operations.com

Handyman

Master Electrician - VA Class C Contractor

PROFESSIONAL COLOR AND FOIL HIGHLIGHT PROM, BRIDAL, MAKEUP, UPDO

We perform the job you need, when you need it, and at the price that you can afford.

*SDVOSB* c2operations.com

Brady Higgins Owner

FREE ESTIMATES!

BOBCAT SERVICES

GARAGE DOORS Garage Doors

Gutters

LLC

Nooshin Monajemy, Monajemy, D.D.S. Nooshin D.D.S.

Basement Finishing Bathroom & Kitchen Remodeling Granite/Marble Installation Interior/Exterior Carpentry Crown Molding Rotted Wood Repair/ Replacement Hardwood Floor Installation, Sanding & Refinishing Carpet Installation Power Washing

PAGE 30

DECEMBER 26, 2019

ALWAYS ONLINE AT LOUDOUNNOW.COM

Resource Directory Powerwashing

Roofing

Realty Services

C2 Operations offers Professional Exterior, Siding, Gutters and Window/Door Services and Repair throughout Loudoun Co and NoVA. Services Include Asphalt Shingles • Cedar Shingles/Shakes • Metal Roofing Slate Roof • Flat Roofing • Roof Maintenance Skylights • Attic Insulation

Richard Hamilton

Realtor® Associate Broker

c: 703.819.5458 e: richard.hamilton@pearsonsmithrealty.com w: www.varealestate4sale.com Call today for your free consultation!

Owner

Northern Virginia censed & Insured

Licensed in Virginia #0225020865

We perform the job you need, when you need it, and at the price that you can afford.

43777 Central Station Drive, Suite 390, Ashburn, VA 20147

bhelectric.com

*SDVOSB* c2operations.com

Roofing

703.651.6677

info@c2operations.com

Roofing

HUDSON ROOFING COMPANY

Roofing • Windows • Siding Doors • Gutters & More

YOU’VE CALLED THE REST, NOW CALL THE BEST! Roof Replacements • Roof Repairs • Siding Replacements • Insulation • Siding Repairs Flat Roofs • Cedar Shakes • Window Replacements • Skylight Replacements Skylight Repairs • Door Replacements • Gutter Replacements • Gutter Screens

0% FINANCING FOR 12 MONTHS www.lastcallexteriors.com info@lastcallexteriors.com

703.345.8709

Siding C2 Operations offers Professional Exterior, Siding, Gutters and Window/Door Services and Repair throughout Loudoun Co and NoVA. Services Include Siding Repairs • Siding Replacements James Hardie Siding • Vinyl Siding Trim Capping • Insulation

We perform the job you need, when you need it, and at the price that you can afford.

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703.651.6677

10% OFF

Over 30 Years Experience We Take Pride in Our Craftsmanship

info@c2operations.com

Roof Repair

Valid With Coupon

ROOFING • SIDING WINDOWS • GUTTERS

Roof Inspections Insurance Claims Storm Damage

Roof Repairs · New Roofs· Siding Repairs/Replacement Skylight Repairs/Replacement · Flat Roofs Cedar Shakes · Wood Trim Replacement Flashing Repairs · Ventilation Systems · Attic Insulation No Job Too Small · Owner Supervised

Over 12,750 Satisfied Customers

Emergency 24 Hour Repairs

VA Class A lic# 2705-028844A

703-615-8727 | hudsonroofingco@aol.com | FREE Estimates Windows,Floors Floors&&Power Power Washing Windows, Washing

Expert Tree Service Expert Tree & Stump Removal

POTOMAC WINDOW CLEANING CO.

Hes Company, LLC

Window Cleaning: Inside & Outside • By Hand • Residential Specialist Power Washing: No Damage, Low Pressure. Soft Brushing by Hand

HOA Maintenance • Tree Planting • Lot Clearing • Storm Damage Pruning • Trimming • Crowning •Spring Clean Up • Mulch

CHASE FLOOR WAXING SERVICE

703-203-8853 • JohnQueirolo1@gmail.com www.hescompanyllc.com

Removes Dirt on Brick, Concrete, Wood & Siding

Buffing & Polishing - Waxing-All Types of Floors All work done by hand using old fashioned paste wax method.

No Dust - No Sanding - We work on all floor types.

Working Owners Assures Quality & Knowledgable Workmanship

Licensed & Insured • Member Angie’s List & BBB Affordable • All Major Credit Cards Accepted

(703) 777-3296

Family Owned & Operated

Tree Removal

[

]

In the mail weekly.

Online always.

LoudounNow LoudounNow.com

Licensed • Bonded • Insured

Video Production

NORTH’S TREE SERVICE & LANDSCAPING

Tree Experts For Over 30 Years Family Owned & Operated SUMMER

• Tree Removal • Lot Clearing • SPECIAL 25% OFF • Pruning • Trimming • Clean Up • WITH THIS •Deadlimbing • Uplift Trees • AD! • Grading • Private Fencing • • Masonry Work • Grading Driveways •

Your Complete Tree & Landscaping Company Honest & Dependable Serv. • 24 Hr. Emerg. Serv.

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18 Liberty Street SW

(540) 533-8092

Lic./Ins. • Free Estimates • Angie’s List Member • BBB

Windows/Doors C2 Operations offers Professional Exterior, Siding, Gutters and Window/Door Services and Repair throughout Loudoun Co and NoVA. Services Include Window Replacements • Door Replacements Vinyl Windows • Provia Windows and Doors Low/E Windows • Custom Doors • Trim Capping We perform the job you need, when you need it, and at the price that you can afford.

*SDVOSB* c2operations.com

703.651.6677

info@c2operations.com

DECEMBER 26, 2019

PAGE 31

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Home Care Agency needs CAREGIVERS in Vienna!

Call 703-530-1360 and ask for Anne. homestead.com/507/homecare-jobs to begin!

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

Resumes may be submitted as supplemental only. EOE/ADA. Regular Full-Time Positions Position

Department

Salary Range

Closing Date

Custodian

Parks and Recreation

$35,062-$60,024 DOQ

Open until filled

Library Genealogy Associate

Thomas Balch Library

$52,446-$89,790 DOQ

Open until filled

Police Officer (Recruit)

Police

$53,233-$89,590 DOQ

Open until filled

Police Officer (Virginia Lateral)

Police

$53,233-$98,772 DOQ

Open until filled

Storm Water and Environmental Manager

Public Works and Capital Projects

$82,999-$141,929 DOQ

Open until filled

Utility Plant Operator: Trainee, I, II or Senior

Utilities- Water Pollution Control or Water Supply

$41,353-$89,790 DOQ

Open until filled

Utility Systems Crew Leader

Utilities

$52,446-$89,790 DOQ

Open until filled

Flexible Part-Time Position Position

Department

Parking Enforcement Officer

Finance

Hourly Rate $16.86-$28.85 DOQ

Closing Date Open until filled

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

Most positions will be filled at or near the minimum of the range. Dependent on qualifications.

All Town vacancies may be viewed on Comcast Cable Channel 67 and Verizon FiOS Channel 35.

FT LPN’S OR MA’S WANTED

NOW HIRING FLAGGERS Full time, to provide traffic control & safety around construction sites. A valid driver license & clean driving record a must.

Starting $13/hr & scheduled raises & bonuses.

Company-paid medical & dental premiums.

Please fill out an application at trafficplan.com or come to our office on Tuesdays or Thursdays (8am-10am) 7855 Progress Ct. Suite 103, Gainesville, VA

Large family practice in Loudoun County seeking FT LPN’s or MA’s to work with our new Nurse Practioners who recently joined our practice. We have openings in our Lansdowne, Stone Springs and Ashburn locations. Pediatric and or family practice experience preferred. EHR experience highly recommended.

We offer health, dental and vision insurance as well as direct deposit, 401K and many other benefits.

Please send your resume to lgray@lmgdoctors.com or fax to 703-726-0804 attention Lisa

Attention Loudoun County!

Home Instead Senior Care is looking for caring and compassionate CAREGivers to become a part of our team and join our mission of enhancing the lives of aging adults throughout the Loudoun county community. Home Instead provides a variety of nonmedical services that allow seniors to remain in their home and meet the challenges of aging with dignity, care and compassion.

Why should you join Home Instead Senior Care?

• Very rewarding - meet wonderful people, build fulfilling relationships, and make a difference in the lives of our clients.

• Paid training in healthcare-industrybest practices.

• Flexible scheduling - perfect for retirees, stay-at-home moms, or students.

• Great supplemental income Call us today at 703.530.1360 or visit homeinstead.com/507/home-carejobs to begin!

These companies also are hiring. See the full job listings at NowHiringLoudoun.com

PAGE 32

DECEMBER 26, 2019

ALWAYS ONLINE AT LOUDOUNNOW.COM

Opinion Working for the People As the Board of Supervisors and School Board wrap up the final days of their terms, both are holding up the ability of members to work together despite their political differences as important elements of their service.

Pointing out that Loudoun’s government is less dysfunctional than the General Assembly or Congress isn’t setting the expectations very high. However, it is important to recognize the value of leadership that works to represent the views and address the needs of the entire community. Tactics such as obstructionism and grandstanding don’t play well at the local level. Voters have little patience if schools underachieve, roads fail or taxes skyrocket. And local leaders aren’t insulated; they’ll hear about their shortfalls in the grocery store, at the PTA meeting or after their worship service—feedback doesn’t wait for the next town hall meeting.

While they’ve gotten plenty of advice in recent weeks, the incoming board members face a steep learning curve and will quickly find

LETTERS to the Editor

that campaigning isn’t the hardest part of governing.

The School Board faces a special challenge as seven of its nine members—representing a total of 41 years of experience—won’t

Poor Choice

return in January. The board already is wrestling with a host of

Editor: The renaming of the courthouse, if necessary, should not be done as a kneejerk response to a national liberal movement to erase our history. I feel the old courthouse and grounds are perfect as they stand.

Charles Hamilton Houston, the proposed name is not logical. Mr. Houston was born and died in Washington, DC. His father was a well-known DC lawyer and grew up privileged. Mr. Houston had a wonderful career as dean of Howard University and head of the NAACP, as well as his legal career. Other than the George Crawford case at our beautiful courthouse, he has very little exposure in Loudoun.

This whole statue movement is just a

challenging social issues and safety concerns, and will soon add the budget review into that mix. It’s a heavy agenda for a group just trying to learn the process and get to know their new colleagues.

The transition may be less dramatic on the Board of Supervisors, but there, too, the loss of some veteran leaders combined with a shift in partisan control gives rise to uncertainty of the direction it will take.

We’ll give outgoing Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Ralph M. Buona the final word: “You have to remember in this position, you serve the people, you work for them. They don’t work for you. They put you here and they can take you out.”

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

EDITORIAL Renss Greene, Deputy Editor rgreene@loudounnow.com

Jan Mercker, Reporter jmercker@loudounnow.com Kara C. Rodriguez, Reporter krodriguez@loudounnow.com Patrick Szabo, Reporter pszabo@loudounnow.com

cause trying to find a victim.

I feel like the commission looking for a name should look closely at the Crawford case in which Mr. Houston was the defense counsel. It was a brutal double murder of two Middleburg women, Agnes Isley and Mina Buckner.

The murderer, Crawford, fled to Boston until the U.S. Supreme Court extradited him back to Loudoun. The victims are clearly Isley and Buckner. This is not a good choice to have this ugly murder case involved in the naming of a revered Loudoun building.

Surely, there must be so many great Loudoun County patriots who gave their lives for our country who can be celebrated at this site.

— David Dawson, Lovettsville LETTERS continue on page 33

ADVERTISING Susan Styer, Advertising Manager sstyer@loudounnow.com Tonya Harding, Account Executive tharding@loudounnow.com

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LETTERS to the Editor continued from page 32

Closing Loopholes Editor: I’m not sure Ken Dattillo [Letters, Dec. 19] took the time to read the text of House Resolution 5132, known as the “Gun Violence Prevention Through Financial Intelligence Act,” before writing his letter to the editor on new legislation proposed by Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton.

This proposed legislation requires the already existing Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to issue an advisory on how “homegrown violent extremists and perpetrators of domestic terrorism procure firearms and firearm accessories for the purpose of carrying out “lone actor” or “lone wolf ” acts of terror within the United States” and “the ways in which the United States firearms market is exploited to facilitate gun violence in the United States.”

Banks are already required by the Bank Secrecy Act to have programs to detect and report suspicious activity concerning money laundering, terrorist financing, or other criminal activities.

The purpose of the legislation is to look at how criminals are exploiting our loophole riddled gun laws and to keep us safer. That’s something reasonable people can get behind.

— Emily Ticknor, Aldie

Shameful

Editor: Shame on Jennifer Wexton. Who, you may ask, is Jennifer Wexton?

Well, she currently represents the citizens of Loudoun County in the U.S. House of Representatives as one of what President Trump describes as the “Do-Nothing Democrats.”

You may not recognize her name because in her first year as our Congresswoman, she has apparently, according to President Trump, done nothing—until just recently.

On Dec. 19, Congresswoman Wexton did join most of her Democrat colleagues in doing what many describe as one of the most shameful, unconstitutional acts in U.S. history by voting to impeach President Trump with no evidence of the “treason, bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors” required by the US Constitution for impeachment.

She and most of her Democrat colleagues cast their vote with zero support from Republicans. Even a few of her enlightened Democrat colleagues

recognized the sham and declined to vote along the Democrat Party line for Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trumped-up, unfair and unconstitional charges of “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress.”

Last July, Congresswoman Wexton was quoted as saying, “I believe my constituents sent me to Congress, in part, because of my reputation for being thoughtful and deliberate.”

Deliberate? Perhaps. Thoughtful? I don’t think so. It seems she did not have her thinking cap on when she cast this shameful, unconstitutional vote.

— Mike Panchura, Sterling

Historic or Old? Editor: What makes a place historic rather than just old? To really answer this requires a deep, nuanced dive into a truly broad field of study and work that functions on multiple fronts.

That, however, isn’t what most want to hear because often the subtext of that question is, “is preserving this space worth the cost?” Answering that is a landmine of value judgements that can have virtually everything to do with convenience, building trends and money, and little to do with whether a space is noteworthy.

The question also often conveniently bypasses the obvious: anything historic is old (or aging) and everything old has a story that is always interesting to some and not to others. Thus, the cost of preservation for some will always seem negligible, for others rarely worth the effort.

Our area is notorious for removing by-products of earlier lives. Name your reason, there are many. But in so doing, we simply start again, putting up lessold spaces that immediately age, become old and need attention and repair. In making convenience and money the arbitrator of whether a space is or isn’t worth preserving, we forget new is temporary, aging and old are the ever-present, upkeep is never cheap but always necessary, and there is no end to the creativity that can pull divergent styles together.

More importantly, we forget we simply waste. We waste already in-use resources, and we waste the opportunity to listen to and to live surrounded by multiple stories. We choose for now tidy over interesting.

LETTERS continue on page 34

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DECEMBER 26, 2019

From Where I Sit

BY STEVE ROBIN

I recently read the results of a poll that concluded that views about climate change and the causes thereof actually divide over politically partisan lines.

Same facts—temps, storm patterns, carbon dioxide levels, amounts of tree canopy, etc.—but greatly different views along party lines about why global warming is happening.

I found that a bit disconcerting, and the more I thought about it the more I wondered well, what else in our daily existence divides us along party lines?

Just how far does this partisan thinking go?

So, I decided to put it to the test. First off, since I was going there anyway, I stopped by the local frozen yogurt/ice cream emporium. It’s self-serve, so I got in the strawberry line behind a nice couple and their kids. After a bit of chit chat, I popped the question about their

Board goodbyes continued from page 3 “Local government matters, and the more that we all focus on local government, the more harmonious all our communities will be,” Meyer said.

He held up Loudoun’s board as an example of bipartisan cooperation.

“Party drops off when you’re talking about land use, transportation, parks, public safety, and that’s where we need to be if we’re going to heal as a nation,” Meyer said.

“If we’re going to heal extremism, that’s really where our focus needs to be.”

Meyer also thanked voters for making him the youngest-ever board member.

“Finally, I want to thank the voters of the Broad Run District, who had the courage to send a 26-year-old kid to the Board of Supervisors, the youngest in Loudoun history, to do a really important job,” Meyer said.

“And I hope—my deepest hope—is that I made them proud.”

Randall predicted Meyer would be back in elected office at some point.

While other departing supervisors hailed the board’s bipartisan work, Supervisor Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin), who is leaving after running unsuccessfully for state senate, attributed Loudoun’s lowering

The Partisan Divides

political affiliation. “Democrat,” they said. Four more families came up behind them, and, sure enough, they declared themselves Democrat also. Now, I started getting energized on the subject, and I spent the next hour in the chocolate and the mango lines. You guessed it—partisan: chocolates were almost all Republican and the mangoes were independents to a person.

tax rates, growing business climate, high level of school funding and massive investments in roads to “good, solid, conservative leadership.”

Although unable to attend, as his daughter was having a child in North Carolina, Higgins sent a letter to the board, which Buona read aloud.

“Please don’t take the county’s successes for granted,” Higgins wrote. “As I said above, these things do not happen by accident. They happen with good governance, they happen with wise fiscal decisions, they happen with wise land use decisions, they happen with resisting the temptation to raise taxes with every good idea. One doesn’t have to look very far to see that all the jurisdictions around us have ignored economic development, run off business, and raised taxes.”

With Buona and Volpe off the board, the longest-serving county supervisor will now be Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles), who will enter his third term.

“I hope that this next board can be as productive as this one was, because when you look back at the totality of what this board has done, we got an awful lot done,” he said The next Board of Supervisors will begin its term with a formal swearing-in ceremony Jan. 4, and their first meeting Jan. 7 at 5 p.m. n

For my next test, I enlisted the local dry cleaners. Nice folks, and they agreed to test out the partisan theory. The question was zippers or buttons as fasteners for a sweater? Sure enough, pretty much down the middle—buttons won from the Republicans, zippers favored by the Democrats.

The local funeral home was next.

Cremation or full body burial was the

choice presented. The tally: full body (Republicans 17, Democrats 3); cremation (Democrats 21, Republicans 4).

Finally, I told myself, I’ll get a totally neutral one. Let’s try out traffic. Everyone has to agree on the traffic, right?

Not on my watch. Democrats for traffic calming; Republicans for additional lanes.

So, the poll I read about had it pretty much right. I don’t know for sure whether this is a current trend or a permanent condition, but I’m coming to the view that mankind started out early on in tribes, and darned after several thousand years if we aren’t just giving them different names.

Steve Robin is a retired attorney, a resident of Loudoun for over 45 years and an observer of life for considerably longer than that.

LETTERS to the Editor continued from page 33 When it comes time to alter our landscapes, we shouldn’t destroy what went before but weave the new into the existing. “Preserved” shouldn’t be roped off. It should be lived-in and livable, an ever-present voice in the constantly evolving conversation of a community. It should be layered and varied and unique—like life.

— Kacey Young, President Purcellville Historical Society

Improving Hope Editor: We have all had conversations with families and friends about Alzheimer’s.

How can we not? There are currently almost 6 million American’s living with the disease. It seems like everyone knows someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Unfortunately, those who receive a diagnosis and their caregivers receive a one-way ticket on an arduous journey with little guidance. Care planning with patients and their caregivers is essential to understand what medical interventions, clinical trials, and community support services may be available.

Understanding how to access the services

results in a higher quality of life and can remove a great deal of stress.

In addition to being a volunteer advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association, I am the executive director of the Windward Foundation, a local nonprofit that works with families caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s, and a daughter who helped care for my father.

In 2017, Medicare began covering care-planning services. However, at this time, less than 1% of healthcare providers take advantage of this resource. We must find ways to robustly market and educate clinicians on this valuable resource they have at their fingertips to help their patients with Alzheimer’s and their families.

Please join me in thanking Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA10) for co-sponsoring the Improving HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act which would help educate medical professionals on dementia care-planning services through Medicare. The progress we all need to see needs support from both sides, and I am personally so thankful for the congresswoman’s bipartisan support.

— Michele Darwin, Ashburn

DECEMBER 26, 2019

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The Peoples’ Constitution Revolution and Impeachment

BY BEN LENHART

America has the oldest written constitution in the world. Admired and copied by many other countries, it has endured for 231 years and counting. The Constitution greatly impacts many key issues facing our nation, but to grasp that impact it helps to understand how the Constitution came into being.

What forces shaped the Constitution?

Two of the biggest forces: the American Revolution and the intense desire that America never have a king, or worse, a dictator. The latter meant that the Constitution had to create strong measures to control the President, and in extreme cases, a mechanism—impeachment—for his removal. This article looks at the major forces that shaped the Constitution in 1787, and how impeachment played a key role then and now.

Revolution The lessons of the Revolution echoed loudly in the minds of the Founding Fathers.

Many of them fought in the bloody war, and all felt its legacy. Thousands of patriots died so that this new nation could be born. The patriots fought to throw off a distant power that wanted to control the American colonies, but didn’t understand or care about local conditions. They fought to rid themselves of a tyrant King, and to ensure that ultimate power would lie with the people.

They fought for fair courts and fairly enforced laws, for religious freedom and other individual liberties. They fought so that they could govern themselves (“no taxation without representation”), and they fought so that the new government would not, itself, become corrupt and threaten their new-found freedoms.

These revolutionary forces profoundly impacted the shape of the Constitution. Reflecting a distrust of too much central power, the Constitution reserves to the states large areas of power (such as control over large areas criminal law, land use, family law, and business and contract law). The 10th Amendment states that: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Monarchy was soundly rejected. Article 1 Section 9 forbids the federal government

from granting any “Title of Nobility,” and just to be sure the point was crystal clear, Section 10 repeats the same prohibition, but this time applying it to the states. The Bill of Rights protects many of the greet freedoms that we all enjoy—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right not to have the police unlawfully search or arrest you. And to safeguard these rights, the Constitution creates many “checks and balances” on the federal government: dividing power between three branches; allowing the President to veto legislation; allowing Congress to override the veto; and empowering the courts to strike down actions by the President or Congress that violate the Constitution.

Articles of Confederation Our present Constitution is not our nation’s first. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and lasted only until 1788 when replaced by our current Constitution. The Articles of Confederation failed miserably. However, the lessons from that failure provided invaluable guideposts to the Founders in shaping the new—and hopefully better—Constitution. The Articles of Confederation failed because they tilted too strongly toward local power, and created a very weak federal government. For example, there was no president, no federal courts and no executive branch. The federal government had no real power to impose taxes or regulate commerce. Individual states conducted foreign affairs, and made treaties with one another and with foreign countries. Without these powers the national economy was in disarray, foreign countries were not sure who “spoke” for America, and the federal government lacked the power to quell rebellions and ensure law and order. Fixing these critical problems became a main focus for the new Constitution.

Enlightenment America was lucky to be created in the years after the Enlightenment, which witnessed many great philosophers and writers. The Founding Fathers read widely the writings of John Locke, David Hume, JeanJacques Rousseau, and Montesquieu (and many others). From these revolutionary thinkers, the Founders drew many of the key concepts that would help shape America and our Constitution: the idea that ultimate power resides with the people; that government was a social contract between the

people and the government, and that people could break the contract (and revolt!) if the government failed to serve the people; and that people had certain inalienable rights, which were best secured by creating a government that was subject to clear limits set out in a written constitution, including checks and balances and separation of powers. These ideas were in the minds and hearts of the Framers as they drafted the Constitution.

The King and Impeachment With all of these factors in mind, the Founders wanted to create a new government for America that avoided the past problems. On the one hand, the new government had to be strong enough to run a large new country. On the other hand, it could not be so strong that it could take away the peoples’ hard-earned liberties.

And the part of the government that posed the greatest threat to our liberties—then and now—is the executive branch. Article II of the Constitution vests all executive power in the president, which is good and bad.

We need a strong and vibrant president to lead the country. But as the history of nations proves again and again, a “too strong” president can grow into a dictator, a ruler who puts himself above the law. When that happens, loss of freedom usually follows because free people are a dire threat to dictators. This danger is “clear and present” today—just read history or look around the world today at the billions of people forced to live under despotic rule, where individual freedoms are lost, and where the people are governed not by rule of law, but by the whims of unaccountable rulers. In such cases the social contract is broken—the people may want to overthrow the dictator—but revolution is never easy.

The Founders were intensely aware of this risk; after all, they had just fought a war to overthrow the unjust rule of King George III. So, when they drafted the Constitution, they took great pains to safeguard against a “too powerful” president. Under our Constitution, the president is subject to many “checks and balances” including (1) court rulings (such as the Nixon “Watergate tapes” case) that strike down unlawful presidential actions; (2) the power of Congress alone to make laws, and to override presidential vetoes; (3) limiting the president’s domestic

power to carrying out only those laws that Congress passes, not other measures or policies that the president favors, and (4) a four-year term of office (no life tenure like a king). In extreme cases, the Constitution has one final remedy, impeachment, which has been used very rarely—only 19 times in the 231-year history of the Constitution. Now, President Trump is the 20th.

Impeachment and the Big Picture Some of the biggest forces shaping our Constitution were the lessons of the Revolution, the failed Articles of Confederation and the Enlightenment ideas of social contact and “Power of the People.” All of these have a common thread—they all push towards a Constitution aimed at creating the best possible conditions for the American people, allowing them to live safe, just, free and prosperous lives.

Ultimately, we care less about the Constitution itself, and more about what it does: establishing a framework for government and society that creates the best conditions for “a good life” for the people.

So, too, with impeachment. On the surface, presidential impeachment is all about serious presidential misconduct, and the hard question in each case is: Did the president truly engage in such misconduct. But at the end of the day, it is not the presidential misconduct itself that we care most about (although that’s still important), but rather the risk that such misconduct poses to the Constitution and, more importantly, to “we the people.” If a president can engage in serious misconduct and suffer no consequences, if a president can be above the law, that is a step toward dictatorship, and a step toward dictatorship is a step toward destroying the American way of life, defined by freedom, that the Constitution has protected for over 230 years. That is why impeachment of any president is so consequential for all of us, and why it is so important that we get it right.

Ben Lenhart is a graduate of Harvard Law School and has taught constitutional law at Georgetown Law Center for more than 20 years. He lives with his family and lots of animals on a farm near Hillsboro.

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