Loudoun Now for Oct. 19, 2017

LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE

[ Vol. 2, No. 50 ]

[ loudounnow.com ]

[ Oct. 19 – 25, 2017 ]

Low inventory hikes home prices

33 Parents Concerned Over Schools’ New Allergy Guidelines

BY DANIELLE NADLER

ing those same housing units to keep them in the program, but supervisors are wary of spending it down faster than money is coming in.

Now, the county will try something that has been used elsewhere to help finance affordable housing: a revolving loan program, in which money loaned out from the fund is paid back and then recycled for future loans.

Supervisors approved a $3 million, 30year loan from the fund for the first time earlier this year for an affordable housing project at Stone Ridge.

They will also go to work on changing county zoning ordinance to incentivize developers to build affordable housing—

Parents whose children are living with life-threatening food allergies talk. They share recipes, restaurant recommendations, and tips on how to give their kids a normal, healthy childhood while also avoiding the food that could be fatal.

Ask some of these Loudoun parents who have children in school, and they’ll tell you the county’s school system has a stellar reputation for just how well they’ve navigated the rise in food allergies among young people.

The procedural guidelines for supporting students with allergies that Loudoun County Public Schools adopted in 2009 have been held up as a national example of how to keep students with severe allergies safe while also giving them equal access to education.

Now the school system is adopting a new procedural handbook, one-third of the size and with fewer specific direction for the school staff, and it has parents concerned that it is the start of schools doing less to keep their children safe.

“When the first edition of the guidelines came out, it was known as one of the best they had ever seen in the nation,” said Thanita Glancey, chairwoman of the Loudoun Allergy Network, a volunteer organization that provides support and information about allergies. “It included issues that most don’t, such as the emotional impact allergies can have on a student.”

She gave the example of a student with special educational needs. State and federal laws require schools to make accommodations to ensure those students have equal access to education. She wants her daughter, a 14-year-old student with multiple food allergies, to receive similar treatment.

“My concern is the language that

AFFORDABLE HOUSING >> 47

ALLERGIY GUIDELINES >> 47

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

New apartments are going up along Russell Branch Parkway, across from the Village of Leesburg. The Board of Supervisors is grappling with how to make housing in Loudoun affordable to more people.

Supervisors Look to Loan Program to Spur Affordable Housing

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BY RENSS GREENE

he county government will develop a revolving loan program to help get more affordable housing off the ground.

That was a key action resulting from the Board of Supervisors’ “housing summit,” held Monday night.

Loudoun has a Housing Trust Fund, currently holding about $26.8 million.

But the county has limited ways to get money in and out of the program—money comes in through cash contributions from developers in lieu of meeting Affordable Dwelling Unit requirements, or through the sale of homes in that price-controlled program when they age

“The only way you do it is with incentives.

So far, Loudoun County has a big stick and a little tiny carrot.”

— G. Kimball Hart Windy Hill Foundation

out and are sold at market value.

It is used to promote affordable housing in the county, including by purchas-

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INSIDE

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ

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Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

After Wolf Furniture nearly dropped its plans to expand its showroom in Leesburg 10 years ago because of governmental red tape, the town worked to streamline its development approval process. Developers say it’s gotten better, but there’s more work to be done.

Grand Jury Issues Capital Murder Indictment in Muslim Teen’s Death LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT

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Hauntings draw out Leesburg history

INDEX

loudounnow.com

Martinez Torres

Loudoun Gov..................... 4 Leesburg........................... 8 Public Safety................... 14 Education........................ 16 Nonprofit......................... 22 Biz.................................. 24 LoCo Living..................... 26 Our Towns....................... 30 Real Estate..................... 33 Obituaries....................... 40 Classifieds...................... 41 Opinion........................... 44

A Fairfax County grand jury on Monday indicted a 22-year-old Sterling man on charges of capital murder and rape in connection with the killing of a 17-year-old girl who was abducted while walking to services at the ADAMS mosque.

The indictments allow Fairfax County prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Darwin Martinez Torres, who is accused of beating Nabra Hassanen, of Reston, to death and dumping her body near a stormwater pond in Sterling. The indictments, which also include abduction with intent to defile and object sexual penetration, were the first public indication that investigators believe Hassanen was sexually assaulted, as well.

Hassanen was walking along Dranesville Road just over Loudoun County’s eastern boundary with a group of teens

returning to the All Dulles Area Muslim Society after an early-morning, pre-fast meal at a nearby restaurant.

Martinez Torres, an El Salvadorian construction worker, allegedly was driving by when he got into an altercation with the group.

According to the initial report, a red car came up on the group from behind at 3:40 a.m. The driver got into an argument with a teen on a bike and then drove onto the curb and sidewalk. The teens ran away. Investigators said Martinez Torres found the group again later and chased them with a baseball bat. Hassanen was struck and he put her in his car.

It appears Hassanen was assaulted a second time at Martinez Torres’ apartment complex, near the pond were her body was found. The medical examiner ruled that she died from blunt-force trauma to the head and neck.

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

HURDLES >> 46

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Supervisors gridlocked on tax rate

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

en years ago this month, Leesburg leaders got about the worst public relations hit that a fast-growing jurisdiction working to attract businesses could take.

Wolf Furniture, the Pennsylvania-based retailer planning to open its first Virginia store, announced it would be putting its Leesburg land up for sale and abandoning efforts to win governmental approvals to build a showroom in town. Wolf called the town’s development review process onerous, cumbersome, and costly, thanks to the delays.

The incident prompted a restructuring in Town Hall. Then-town manager John Wells fast-tracked changes to the land development review process and the Town Council quickly got on board. This resulted in the reshuffling of some town staff, the eventual separation of plan review into its own department, the assignment of a project manager to each development application, and the ultimate goal of establishing the town as a business-friendly destination with a predictable, customer-service-first process.

Wells had been on the job as Leesburg’s town manager for three years when the Wolf announcement came down.

“When I was hired one of the things that was mentioned to me was there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the development process,” Wells said in a recent interview, adding that Town Council asked him to make improvements there a priority. “The Wolf Furniture event really caused us to move those things into a much higher gear.”

Both a cultural and attitude change for town staff was needed, he said, as well as an overall process change.

3 Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

A Decade Later, Leesburg Still Knocking Down Development Hurdles

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

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[ LOUDOUN GOV ]

Supervisors Deadlock on Tax Rate Target in Committee Debate

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BY RENSS GREENE

he Board of Supervisors will take up the first step in writing next year’s budget without a recommendation from its finance committee.

With finance committee Chairman ​ Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles) absent from the Oct. 10 meeting for medical reasons, the panel split 2-2 on two separate motions steering County Administrator Tim Hemstreet toward a tax rate in proposing next year’s budget. ​The county is facing a more difficult budget than last year’s as it tries to catch up on years of recession-era growth, during which the county’s budget and government did not keep pace with its population. Last year, supervisors found room for a 2-cent real estate tax rate cut to $1.125 per $100 of assessed value.

This year, supervisors are grappling with a study of county employee pay scales that shows Loudoun far behind other Northern Virginia jurisdictions, shifting the county government to a more reliable cloud computing infrastructure, staffing up the Fire-Rescue department to modern standards, understaffed county departments, and the oncoming costs of Metrorail.

At the current tax rate, preliminary projections from the county budget office show Loudoun coming up $94.8 million short of what it needs to pay for employee raises, growth in county departments, the first year of fixing the county’s classification and compen-

Loudoun Now/File Photo

Supervisor Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn) and Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) at a Board of Supervisors meeting in June 2017.

sation system, and an expected $100 million increase in the funding request from the school system.

At the equalized rate—at which the average homeowner would see the same dollar amount on their tax bill despite climbing property values—the county will fall short $106.9 million.

Often, early projections of the county’s budget situation are conservative by design, and some budget shortfalls close significantly by the time supervisors begin budget deliberations in March. But Hemstreet, who will prepare the first draft of next year’s budget for supervisors, said the gap will probably be too large to fill this year without either a higher tax rate or cutting out some of

the county’s priorities.

“My priority, absent additional resources, is going to be to put as much money as I can towards increasing compensation and benefits for staff,” Hemstreet said. “That does mean that there will be an impact to the amount of additional things that can go into the budget.”

Finance committee Vice Chairman Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn) and Supervisor Tony R. Buffington Jr. (R-Blue Ridge) pushed to direct Hemstreet to prepare a budget at the current tax rate, with options to cut it down to the equalized tax rate. Buona said that motion—boilerplate from previous budget years—gives the board flexibility. He

Blight Ordinance Hits the Books

BY RENSS GREENE Loudoun supervisors have unanimously approved a new rule that will let the county government go after unsightly and unsafe properties.

Before, blighted properties in Loudoun were governed by provisions of state building code that only require property owners to take action on unsafe structures, which are defined as “dangerous to the health, safety and welfare of the occupants of the structure or the public,” that contain unsafe equipment, or that are “so damaged, decayed, dilapidated, structurally unsafe or of such faulty construction or unstable foundation that partial or complete collapse is likely.” In those cases, the property owner need only board up the doors and windows.

But the new blight law gives the government authority to clean up a property, and place a lien against it to recoup those expenses.

Under the new process, if someone submits a complaint to the county, and the property owner is unresponsive to a notice requiring a blight abatement plan, the county can take action. The ordinance defines a “blighted property” as any individual commercial, industrial, or residential structure or improvement that endangers the public’s health,

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

One of the properties identified by county staff members as potentially falling under the new blight ordinance if adopted.

safety, or welfare because the structure or improvement upon the property is dilapidated, deteriorated, or violates minimum health and safety standards.

It must be vacant, lacking in upkeep, and unfit for human occupancy.

County leaders already have several properties in mind.

Loudoun resident Keith Kanzler came to the public hearing on the new ordinance worried that it would open the door to people using the ordinance to harass neighbors with whom they have disputes.

“Some person may have a different

idea of blight,” Kanzler said. “I mean, I live in a rural part of the county, and there are some abandoned farm homes.”

He also worried the ordinance could affect people living on limited or fixed incomes. ​Supervisors tried to assure Kanzler that the blight ordinance is narrowly written. Supervisor Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin) said he shared Kanzler’s concerns, but “I think that we have adequate protections in there that we’re not going to be doing anything irrational.

Everything has to be done on a case by case basis.”

also agreed that the emphasis should be on raising pay for county employees.

But he said preparing a budget “will be much more of a challenge than it was last year.”

“Last year the sun and the moon aligned, but this one, this is a big gap,” Buona said.

County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) and Supervisor Koran T. Saines (D-Sterling) instead argued that the board should direct Hemstreet to prepare a budget at a $1.135 tax rate—a penny higher—with options to reduce it to $1.125.

“If we even want to start talking about taking care of the employees, we cannot start with a motion that will actually shortfall the government on the government side by that much money, let alone talking about what we do on the school side,” Randall said.

She said with a budget that doesn’t keep up with growth in the county and school system, any county goal like competitive employee pay or full-day kindergarten “stops in its tracks.”

“I’d rather set an expectation, especially to the school side, that they need to come in with a reasonable request,” Buffington said. Buona agreed that the preliminary school request is “quite extraordinary this time around.”

Neither motion was successful. The question now goes to the full Board of Supervisors without a recommendation from the finance committee. The full board will then give Hemstreet direction on preparing a draft budget, which supervisors will then revise to their liking.

“Welcome to the budget season,” Randall said. rgreene@loudounnow.com

​County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) said it’s also a safety issue—both for first responders, who when a blighted structure catches fire then have to go into a structurally unsound building, and for quelling gang activity in Loudoun. She said often the graffiti on abandoned buildings is actually tagging by gangs.

“When you leave structures up like this and then you leave tags up, what it says to them is there’s nobody around, there’s nobody watching, this is a good place and good way to communicate, and often a good place to meet,” Randall said.

The ordinance exempts farm structures and historic structures, if they are in a historic district, the Virginia Landmarks Register or the National Registry of Historic Places. It also requires a public hearing before any action by the county, and considers whether taking action would make the property impossible to build on under modern regulations, or whether the cost of removing the blighted structure would be more than the value of the property.

The new ordinance was approved 8-0-1, with Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles) absent. The blight ordinance was in large part driven forward by Letourneau, who was absent for medical reasons. rgreene@loudounnow.com

BY RENSS GREENE

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Construction is underway at the eastern end of Riverside Parkway, where the four-lane road will be extended to connect to Loudoun County Parkway and eliminate the need for a Rt. 7 intersection at Lexington Drive.

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Plans drawn up by the county show no homes affected by the road, although some lots with homes on them are affected. Most of the affected parcels are on Smith Circle and Lakeview Center Plaza, where the road will be built across undeveloped lots.

The $15.2 million project is awaiting final design approval from the Virginia Department of Transportation. On the other, western end of Riverside Parkway, the county is working on a $3.75 million project to connect the fourlane road to Janelia Farm.

Starting Nov. 2, she will oversee the county’s departments of Community Corrections; Family Services; Health Services; Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Services; and the Juvenile Court Services Unit.

Turner was selected by County Administrator Tim Hemstreet after a nationwide search to fill the vacant position. She comes to Loudoun from Seminole County, FL, where she was most recently director of the Community Services Department. There, Turner

oversaw the implementation of affordable housing and community development projects, human services and financial assistance programs, veterans’ services, juvenile diversion programs and mandated services. She also held local government posts in Hillsborough County, FL, the city of Daytona Beach, FL, and Fulton County, GA. She has a bachelor’s degree in business economics from Florida A&M University and a master’s degree in public administration from Walden University.

Turner will be one of four assistant county administrators, serving under Hemstreet and Deputy County Administrator Charles Yudd.

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

County supervisors voted unanimously to authorize the use of eminent domain to secure 11 acres needed to build the final segment of Riverside Parkway, between Loudoun County Parkway to Lexington Drive.

The project is meant to provide another east-west option to relieve rush-hour congestion, along with removing another traffic light from Rt. 7, at the intersection of Lexington Drive.

According to a report prepared by the county Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure and the Office of the County Attorney, the project impacts 14 property owners, including residential, commercial, and retail parcels.

Authorizing eminent domain does not automatically begin the process of taking land, but it does give the county power to condemn property if negotiations stall. Of the affected parcels, as of Oct. 11, county staff members reported, they are still negotiating with eight landowners.

“We are not wiping someone’s house out or things like that when this happens,” said County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large). “It’s usually a small sliver or a parcel of land that there’s no house on it at all, for a public good, and I think the public would be surprised how much hand wringing we do over this.”

Valmarie Turner is Loudoun’s newest assistant county administrator.

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Eminent Domain Authorized for Riverside Parkway Extension

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Hanson Park Project $14.8M Short

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

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BY RENSS GREENE The sprawling, 257-acre Hal and Berni Hanson Regional Park project will cost an estimated $14.8 million more than expected to build.

The park is budgeted to cost $74.3 million, and will include renovating the historic farmhouse on the property, along with construction of up to 17 athletic fields, recreational trails, park offices, nature center, an activity lodge, picnic pavilions, maintenance shops, a splash park, a skate park, and playgrounds. The county has already spent $32.5 million on the park in the past two years, and had expected to spend another $41.8 million this year.

But the Board of Supervisors’ fi-

nance committee heard on Oct. 10 that the park is now expected to cost almost $15 million more than expected, even after the design team has reworked some of the park’s engineering to save $4.4 million.

Construction of the park has not yet begun.

Design Program Manager Mark Hoffman of the county Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure said reducing costs beyond that would require cutting something out of the project’s plans.

“If it was decided that we needed to eliminate that extra cost, we could remove several fields and the lighting associated with those fields, but then we’ve altered the project, and that

Luisa Fritsch/Loudoun Now

A sign marks the site of the 257-acre Hal and Berni Hanson Regional Park.

would be something we would need to collectively decide,” he said.

Hoffman said the project speaks to a larger trend in county projects, that the county needs to do “a better job” of predicting the cost of a project when it is first introduced.

And transportation department director Joe Kroboth said his office will be coming back to the finance committee to discuss its method for estimating costs.

“We’re seeing such an aggressive construction market,” Kroboth said.

“We typically budget a 4 percent in-

flation cost for [Capital Improvement Program] projects from year to year.

We are seeing growth much greater than that, and the competition with the number of contractors that are bidding our projects is not sufficient enough to bring these numbers down.”

A budget change of that magnitude will likely require adjusting the county’s Capital Improvement Program, a six-year budget that includes all the county’s major construction projects. rgreene@loudounnow.com

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The leaders of Loudoun’s fire and rescue department say it’s time to look again at how the agency is staffed and equipped.

“Stations need to be located based on identified time and response needs, instead of where maybe the next proffered site would be,” said Combined Fire and Rescue System Chief W. Keith Brower.

“Staffing and deployment of resources and personnel needs to be based on recommended national standards and the ability of personnel to perform.”

He brought his concerns to the Board of Supervisors’ finance committee last week as part of an ongoing series of discussions on the level of service each county department is able to provide. The talks are intended to lay the groundwork for next year’s county budget deliberations.

Fire and rescue department representatives told supervisors the organization largely has remained stagnant since 2005. But the department has begun a push to make updates, including working toward a modern staffing system that hires slightly more employees than there are positions to better account for employees out with illness

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OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

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Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Some King Street storefronts will be revamped and bringing new choices for downtown shoppers and diners. Changes include a rear seating area for the King Street Oyster Bar, pictured here; a new restaurant with a walk-up, take-out window; and splitting the current Leesburg Antiques Emporium into three storefronts.

Facelifts Coming to King St. Shops

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BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ

onday night’s Board of Architectural Review provided a glimpse into some major changes coming to the eastern side of King Street in downtown Leesburg.

The King Street Oyster Bar and owner Rick Allison have filed an application to add a rear addition onto the 12 S. King St. restaurant. According to the BAR staff report, the project includes

the construction of a one-story, shedroofed addition on the back of the building for use as a restaurant seating area, as well as the installation of a walk-in cooler in the rear yard. That application was continued to the BAR’s Nov. 6 work session.

Further down King Street, Olivia Schnibbe has submitted an application for 24 and 26 S. King St. for the future SideBar restaurant. The first floor of 24 S. King St. is proposed to be used as a kitchen, with the first-floor window planned for take-out access, allowing

patrons to purchase coffee and other to-go items from the sidewalk. The restaurant will also fill the space at 26 S. King St., where the carriage house rear addition will be converted into an indoor dining area. Discussion of the project also will continue at the BAR’s Nov. 6 work session.

The Leesburg Antique Emporium at 30 and 32 S. King St. will also be getting a dramatic facelift. That project, which received its Certificate of ApFACELIFTS >> 12

Exeter’s Latest Land Collapse Not a Sinkhole Work is still underway to stabilize the sinkhole that damaged a parking lot in Leesburg’s Exeter neighborhood last week, but contractors have determined it’s not really a sinkhole.

The geologist hired by the town to evaluate the presumed sinkhole on Jared Square found there was no karst geology under the sinking asphalt.

“Based on the drilling test results completed yesterday, we began full excavation of the sinkhole this morning,” Renée LaFollette, Leesburg’s director of public works and capital projects, stated on Friday. “Bob Denton, the geologist with GeoConcepts Engineering, has been on site during the excavation and agrees there is no evidence of karst-related formations that are indicative of sinkholes.”

According to LaFollette, the pavement collapse was cause by soil settlement over time and was precipitated by last weekend’s heavy rain following a long dry spell.

The town plans to fill the excavated area with structural rock overlaid with geotextile fabric before reinstalling the utility lines and backfilling with soil.

LaFollette expects to have the work completed by the end of the week.

Town Manager Kaj Dentler received a vote of confidence from the Town Council last week, winning a 3 percent raise and two-year contract extension.

By a 6-0-1 vote, with Councilman Marty Martinez absent for the Oct. 10 meeting, the council approved the new contract for Dentler, which ups his salary to $190,550 annually. While Dentler’s contract runs through Oct. 4, 2019, he will be subject to an annual performance review next October, when his salary could be increased again.

In addition to annual sick and vacation leave and standard employee benefits, the contract also provides for the payment of $15,000 per year into a deferred compensation account, or a 401k account of Dentler’s choosing.

Per the contract, Dentler must maintain his primary residence within the town.

Dentler began his career with Leesburg in 1996 and led the Parks and Recreation Department for more than a decade before being named deputy town manager under then-Town Manager John Wells in 2007.

He has served as town manager since October 2014.

Candidate Forum Next Week Loudoun Now and Black Hoof Brewing will host a forum for the two candidates in November’s Town of Leesburg special election.

The forum will feature the two candidates on the special election ballot, Joshua Thiel and Vanessa Maddox. It will be held at the brewery, located at 11 S. King St., from 7-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26.

Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions of the candidates in this informal debate setting.

Town to Eliminate Vehicle Decals The Town Council took the first steps to scrap its vehicle window decal requirement last week.

By a 6-0-1 vote Oct. 10, with Councilman Marty Martinez absent, the council initiated an amendment to the Town Code to eliminate the issuance and display of vehicle decals related to vehicle licenses. The matter will come back before the council for a public hearing and final vote.

The change is part of an agreement being developed between the town and the county to consolidate tax billing. The county is requesting that Leesburg, and other interested incorporated towns, eliminate the town vehiTown of Leesburg

Pavement collapsed in Leesburg’s Exeter neighborhood last week.

BRIEFS >> 9

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[ BRIEFS ]

Church Celebrates 150 Years

Leaf Collection Begins Monday The town’s annual fall leaf collection begins Monday, Oct. 23. Next week will also end extra yard waste collections.

Beginning Oct. 30, yard waste will be collected on Mondays in the town’s southern quadrants; and Tuesdays in

One of the spookiest nights of the year in downtown Leesburg is just weeks away.

The 61st annual Leesburg Halloween Parade, hosted and organized by the Leesburg Kiwanis Club, is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31. One of the oldest Halloween parades in the eastern U.S., the parade will start at Ida Lee Park and proceed down King Street to Fairfax Street.

The Kiwanis Club is seeking parade participants. There is no fee to participate. Participation guidelines and registration forms can be found at leesburgkiwanis.org.

King Street will be closed from Battlefield Parkway to Fairfax Street from 5:30 to approximately 8 p.m. on the night of the parade.

Parade spectators are encouraged to bring food donations for Loudoun Hunger Relief. A list of most needed items can be found at loudounhunger.org.

At HRWM, our team has closely guided hundreds of individuals and families in evaluating and implementing aging options like:

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Mt. Zion Leesburg United Methodist Church celebrated its 150th anniversary last week.

A weekend-long celebration included a Friday night revival, a Saturday afternoon gospel concert, and two church services on Sunday.

The Rev. Tracey Lyons, the church’s pastor, received a proclamation from the Town Council last week noting the church’s remarkable history in town.

Mayor Kelly Burk attended some of the weekend’s events.

Halloween Parade Organizers Seek Participants

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

cle decal since the county does not wish to print and mail decals to town residents, according to a staff report.

Although town residents should not expect to see any savings with the change—vehicle license fees are expected to remain the same—the town will see a slight budgetary savings, approximately $2,500. Leesburg eliminated the use of annual vehicle decals in 2011, but requires each vehicle to display a permanent decal.

Under the plan, the decal requirement will be eliminated effective July 1, 2018.

the town’s northern quadrants. This schedule is a change from last year.

Throughout leaf collection season, there will be a crew working in each quadrant at least four days a week.

There is not a specific schedule to collect leaves on specific days for any particular street or neighborhood within a quadrant, but the goal is to collect leaves from every street once a week. Inclement weather or a heavy fall of leaves may delay collection.

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

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Leesburg Council Asks County for CIP Help

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ

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

Luisa Fritsch/Loudoun Now

Westpark Golf Club, near the intersection of Clubhouse Drive and South King Street, is for sale.

Leesburg’s Westpark Golf Club for Sale

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ A prime piece of Leesburg real estate is on the market. The asking price for the 142-acre Westpark Golf Club property has not been disclosed in the sale’s marketing material.

Located off the intersection of Clubhouse Drive and South King Street, the property was the former site of a 144room hotel closed in the late 1980s and was later demolished. An 18-hole public golf course, driving range, and clubhouse with pro shop continue to operate.

Most of the property is zoned for low-density residential development, with one 8-acre parcel zoned for commercial use. If developed under by-right zoning, the property could accommodate up to 27 estate-size residential lots. Permitted commercial uses include up to a 247-room hotel, a corporate campus or training facility, an assisted living facility, or a retail

center under 100,000 square feet. Other commercial uses may be allowed with special exception approval from the town.

According to Chris Reynolds, the listing agent for the property, the owner, Leesburg Westpark Hotel Associates, is hoping to sell the land to one buyer, rather than divide it up. One potential challenge in developing the property is that a stream runs through the middle of it. But Reynolds said that means it is likely that the future landowner would likely preserve some open spaces and trees.

Reynolds said there has been “strong interest” from both national and regional prospective buyers. The property owners are only disclosing the asking price to qualified buyers, he said.

The Westpark Golf Club continues to be open for business during the sale. krodriguez@loudounnow.com

The Leesburg Town Council has sent its capital projects funding wish list to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors annually ask Loudoun’s incorporated towns to submit requests for capital projects that are pedestrian or transportation related and would benefit the county at large. The current funding request is for inclusion in the county’s fiscal year 2019 Capital Improvement Program.

According to Tom Brandon, capital projects manager for the town’s Public Works & Capital Projects Department, town staff did not receive the county’s request until the day before it was due. So, the staff selected two projects that met the criteria and submitted them ahead of the deadline.

Last week, they asked the council to adopt a resolution, requested by the county, endorsing the application.

That includes $1.8 million for phase one of the Tuscarora Creek Trail, which will provide pedestrian and bicycle access to the Douglass School and Community Center, W&OD Trail, Brandon Park and the Leesburg Skate Park. The trail project is expected to begin construction in 2022.

The other project submitted to-

taled $6 million for the widening of Evergreen Mill Road between Heritage High School and Rt. 15. Currently, the road widening project in the town’s CIP ends at the Battlefield Parkway intersection near Leesburg’s southern corporate limits, but the request to the county would extend the widening just a little beyond town limits to include the frontage of the school. The road widening project is expected to begin construction in the spring of 2020 and wrap up a year later.

Council members expressed frustration that the request for the town’s application came with such short notice. Brandon said the town staff reached out to the county in August to find out when the deadline would be and received no response.

Councilman Tom Dunn suggested that the council also add on to the application a request for funding of all capital projects at Leesburg Executive Airport, noting that the town airport has both a countywide and regional benefit. Councilman Ken Reid made a motion to that effect, ultimately accepted by all council members present.

The resolution for the funding request passed with a 6-0-1 vote, with Councilman Marty Martinez present. krodriguez@loudounnow.com

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Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

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11

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

n 2014, former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced that $6 MILLION from Virginia’s Medicaid fraud settlement with Abbott Laboratories would be used to fund human trafficking shelters. 1 A few months later Mark Herring took office and decided to divert the money to allow for pay raises for his political allies.

“The presentation advises that instead of using the seized funds money to fund raises, agencies can use it to cover routine costs — such as maintaining vehicle fleets — and then redirect money already budgeted for maintenance into salaries.”

JAN. 18, 2017

“Significant pay raises” ASSOCIATED PRESS, JAN.

18, 2017

1. Office of the Attorney General, January 2014; 2. Associated Press, January 18, 2017.

Mark Herring Doesn’t Deserve to be Re-Elected.

Paid for by Republican Attorneys General Association and authorized by John Adams for VA

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At a time when state employee salaries were stagnant Herring’s former lobbyist received a nearly 10% bump in his compensation. In total Herring’s attorney general’s office, which includes his former campaign manager, increased their payroll by nearly $2 MILLION!

It is prohibited by federal law to use settlement money for pay raises, but Herring devised a clever workaround to use the funds on overhead, freeing up funding to give 16 employees in the attorney general’s office raises of more than 20%. 2

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I

Mark Herring Gave His Staff Backdoor Pay Raises

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As the Leesburg Town Council prepares to grapple yet again with the results of a downtown parking study, some of the faces behind many downtown projects are hoping that the next steps address some longstanding frustrations.

During last week’s council meeting, Chris Turnbull, of Wells + Associates, presented his findings to the council.

Among the recommended changes was reducing required parking ratios for both residential and commercial development to mirror more of an urban area; allowing more properties to qualify for parking exceptions if they’re close to the town garage; and maintaining the controversial payment-in-lieu-of-parking provision with an annual escalation clause in the fee developers pay.

It’s that latter item that has, again, caused downtown property owners and developers the most consternation.

Those who have paid into the system— paying thousands of dollars per parking space rather than constructing the required parking on-site—say the hundreds of thousands of dollars collected in the parking fund over the years has done little to help alleviate downtown parking woes. Paul Reimers, a builder who has had his hand in many downtown projects over the years, called it one of the most unfair practices in the town.

“Every bit of payment-in-lieu I and others have paid has done nothing,” he said in addressing the council last week.

“I think that’s manifestly unfair.”

But Blair White, vice president of Landmark Commercial, cautioned that doing away with the payment-in-lieu option could hurt plans for large-scale projects downtown. Landmark Commercial is behind the Courthouse Square development on the former Loudoun Times-Mirror property. The project was approved as an office development with restaurant space and a structured parking facility, but has not moved to construction. White said the company is looking at a different development plan with some residential units.

“If we were to do away with paymentin-lieu, we would not have the ability to construct commercial and park it.

Either that mechanism or something that serves the same purpose would be needed for us to have a reasonable economic incentive to build commercial space,” he said. “If we were to build 80

Facelifts << FROM 8 propriateness from the BAR Monday, will involve the reconfiguration of the two existing storefronts to appear as three storefronts on the west side of the building. That will provide access to three proposed tenant spaces. It will require the addition of five new windows, among other architectural changes.

Reached Tuesday, Yvonne Eble, manager for the antiques emporium, said the business is still exploring its options as to whether it will lease space

apartments and commercial on the site, we’re going to need to build an awful lot [of parking]. If payment-in-lieu goes away … it will tend to penalize larger mixed-use developments that are different in nature to other projects.”

Dieter Meyer, a former member of the Board of Architectural Review, said that the results of the study underscore the need for the council to take a thorough look at zoning as a whole downtown.

“B-1 (Business) zoning language needs an overall update beyond just updating parking ratios in order to allow small, multi-family redevelopment work and the development of vacant lots to occur in the downtown area,” he said. “Right now, you’re much less restricted if you want to do office or restaurant [development] than build a five-unit apartment building.”

Meyer also noted that those who want to develop multi-family properties downtown are not even eligible to use the payment-in-lieu option as currently written.

“This is why I think a more comprehensive look at the whole thing needs to be looked at,” Meyer said. “You can change the parking portion of it but there are other restrictions in the Zoning Ordinance that will still stop you from building small multi-family projects which is why it needs to be looked at holistically.”

Downtown property owner Mike McLister has been behind both residential and office development in the downtown area. He hopes to bring forward more small, multi-family developments downtown. But the parking rules need to be fixed first, he said.

He points to the Town Plan, which lists as a major objective creating a diversity of housing income options in town. He believes the downtown area is the ideal place for the town’s middle income population—the teachers, firefighters, and public safety officials, to name a few.

“The potential is in front of us,” he said. “We’ve had several studies talk about having a diversity of housing coupled with new and attractive merchants that are retained and recruited. But we come back to the single issue on why projects are denied or cancelled.”

The Town Council is expected to discuss the study’s findings at its work session Monday. krodriguez@loudounnow.com

in one of the new storefronts or relocate altogether.

Another project that will see its day before the BAR in November is developer Don Knutson’s King Street Station project, already approved by the Town Council for 64 multi-family residential units and 7,100 square feet of commercial space in the area along 222224 South King St. According to town Preservation Planner Tom Scofield, the BAR will hold a separate work session for Knutson’s project, with no date yet set. krodriguez@loudounnow.com

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Oct. 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 25, 2017 LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

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[ PUBLIC SAFETY ]

[ BRIEFS ] Police: Inwood Man Dies Trying To Pass TractorTrailer on Rt. 9

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

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Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Uniforms await firefighters at the Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company.

Audits Find Problems at Volunteer Fire Companies

A

BY RENSS GREENE n audit of internal processes at five volunteer fire and rescue companies found problems at all five. However, almost all of the departments have made improvements in the past year.

The audit was meant to check on internal controls for several processes, such as financial reporting, cash disbursements, or contracts and purchases. Arcola Volunteer Fire Department, Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company, Loudoun County Volunteer Rescue Squad, Philomont Volunteer Fire Company, and Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad all turned up areas where internal controls were not consistently performed and documented.

In particular, auditors found Arcola inconsistently performed processes in almost every area. Sterling Rescue had consistently performed controls in almost every area, but only kept documentation in half those areas.

The audits are of processes, and not financial audits. They turned up no financial irregularities.

Since the reports began in 2015, two companies have turned up control weaknesses that make them vulnerable to inaccurate financial reporting and fraud. In one case, the county government stopped contributing money to that company until it implemented sound policies and procedures. In both cases the companies complied.

The report, prepared by the firm of Cherry Bekaert, also followed up on the five volunteer companies audited

last year. Lovettsville Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Lucketts Volunteer Fire and Purcellville Volunteer Rescue have all taken steps to remediate the weaknesses the auditors found. Sterling Volunteer Fire had not, according to the report.

Hamilton Rescue and Hamilton Fire companies, which were reviewed last year, are under a separate audit.

Assistant Chief Matt Tobia said he has spoken directly with the Sterling president, and the company is “100 percent committed to making the necessary changes.”

“I know that he has given this his undivided attention,” Tobia said. “I expect that they will come into full compliance very quickly.” rgreene@loudounnow.com

Political Retaliation Lawsuit Against Sheriff, County Dismissed; Appeal Filed on Same Day

BY RENSS GREENE The ink was hardly dry on the order dismissing a $6.3 million wrongful termination lawsuit against Sheriff Michael Chapman and the county before it was appealed.

A federal judge on Friday, Oct. 13 dismissed the lawsuit filed by former detective Mark McCaffrey, who was fired for supporting a different candidate in the Republican primary election for sheriff.

McCaffrey said his right to freedom of expression had been violated by his firing.

McCaffrey’s attorney, Robert Cynar, sought to overcome court precedent that gives elected sheriffs broad authority to fire their deputies, including for political reasons. The court has found that when government employees in policymaking positions have a political disagreement with their elected leader, it can interfere with their ability to do their job, and their protections against

Loudoun Now/File Photo

Loudoun Sheriff Mike Chapman said after the lawsuit against him was dismissed, “I’m happy with the outcome, I’m happy that the judicial process worked.”

politically-motivated firing are moot.

Because sheriff ’s deputies operate autonomously, the court has found sheriff ’s deputies are effectively making policy with their decisions.

Cynar, appealed the ruling the same day it was issued. He said he will challenge the court’s conclusion that sher-

iff ’s deputies are covered by a patronage exemption that allows some public employees to be fired for political reasons.

“That was a legal judgment that the court made that we feel was in error, and that’s really where the focus is,” LAWSUIT >> 15

Virginia State Police on Tuesday released the identity of the Inwood, WV, man who was killed in a crash Oct. 13 on Rt. 9 east of Hillsboro.

The crash occurred just after 4:30 a.m. near the Purcellville Road intersection.

According to a preliminary report, a tractor-trailer was traveling east on Rt. 9 when three vehicles following behind it pulled into the westbound lane to pass it. That segment of the highly traveled two-lane road is marked as a no passing zone.

The first two vehicles made it around the tractor-trailer and back into the eastbound lane.

The third vehicle, a 2001 Kia Spectra driven by Kevin R. Bell, 60, did not. As it came into the curve heading east in the westbound lane, Bell struck head-on a westbound Dodge Charger.

Bell died at the scene. The driver of the Dodge, a 55-yearold Haymarket man, was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital for treatment of serious injuries.

Both were wearing seat belts, police said.

Seventeen people have died in crashes on Loudoun County roads in 2017.

Investigation of Suspicious Incidents with Children Continues in Brambleton The Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office has released composite sketches of a man and woman involved in a suspicious incident in the Brambleton area and has stepped up neighborhood patrols.

On Friday, Oct. 6, a resident reported that she was approached twice by a woman who asked multiple times about her children. The suspect then followed her as she walked to sit down to feed her child. The suspect asked the names of the children and whether the mother needed a nanny. The suspect attempted to reach toward the complainant’s son but the complainant stopped her.

During the encounter, the woman walked back and forth towards a man who was across the park. The two were never seen conversing but the complainant believed they were together, according to the report.

SAFETY BRIEFS >> 15

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Car Hits Tanker Truck near Hamilton Rt. 7 Business east of Hamilton was closed most of the morning Oct. 11 after a car hit a tanker truck carrying gasoline.

The crash happened at approximately 5:30 a.m. just east of Rt. 704. A Holtzman tanker truck was pulling out of the

Liberty gas station when a westbound car struck the truck broadside, with the car stopping under the tanker.

The female driver of the car was flown to Reston Hospital for treatment of serious but non-life threatening injuries, according to Virginia State Police. The driver of the truck was not injured in the crash.

Once the patient was removed, the Hazardous Materials Team worked to contain the approximately 700 gallons of spilled fuel and keep additional fuel from leaking from the damaged tanker.

Fire and rescue crews, working in conjunction with Holtzman Fuel Company personnel, offloaded the remaining 7,900 gallons of fuel safely into another gasoline tanker. Holtzman Fuel worked with a contracted company to perform the required clean-up under a correction order issued by the Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office.

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A second incident happened last Monday at approximately 12:30 p.m. near Oglethorpe Court where a resident was fishing with his son at a pond.

The son was on the opposite side of the pond from his father when a suspicious vehicle passed by. In an overheard conversation, the female passenger seemed to asked the driver a question about the boy. The son looked at his father and the dad told his son to come to him.

The vehicle left the area.

Investigators say that in both cases the female was described as white, possibly Hispanic, with dark hair. In the Oct. 6 incident, the suspect was described as heavyset and in her mid-50s.

At the time of the encounter, her hair was pushed back and she was wearing a white tank top and black mid-length yoga pants. The male subject was de-

scribed in both incidents as a white man in his 50s. He was described in the Oct. 6 incident as being bald and was wearing gray shorts, flip flops and had tattoos on the right upper arm. The vehicle in the Oct. 9 case was described as a possibly a mid-1990’s Nissan Sentra or Toyota Celica that was gold-colored.

Anyone with any information regarding the cases is asked to contact Detective S. Schochet at 703-777-0475.

You may also submit a tip through the Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office app.

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

Cynkar said. “I think there were some other legal errors that were more technical.”

McCaffrey was one of a handful of employees not re-sworn at the beginning of the sheriff ’s second term in 2015. At the time, he was the lead investigator in the ongoing case of Braulio M. Castillo, one of Loudoun’s most high-profile murder cases in recent years, causing consternation to county prosecutors. He was subsequently hired by Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman until Castillo’s case ended in a conviction.

Cynkar argued that McCaffrey, as a relatively low-ranking deputy in a department of more than 600, was not in a policymaking position, and that an agreement between the county and sheriff extending county human resources policies to sheriff ’s office employees should have afforded McCaffrey additional protections.

The lawsuit also alleged a great number of other bad practices in the department, from mismanaging the budget, to awarding contracts to or hiring campaign contributors, to protecting friends from law enforcement, to poor morale among officers. At the time, Chapman called that “a reprised chronicle of false allegations, conjecture, innuendo and/or grossly exaggerated stories designed to smear me, our staff, and the honor and integrity of the entire Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office” in a statement.

Judge Anthony Trenga found that the same protections for sheriffs other courts have staked out previously apply in this case. In his opinion, Trenga refers to McCaffrey’s original complaint, in which he is described as “the lead detective in complex, high- profile cases, including rape, robbery, and homicide investigations, with years of experience and authority to directly request the resources of the Commonwealth’s Attorney and the Medical Examiner’s Office.”

“A deputy with McCaffrey’s alleged experience, seniority and responsibilities within a sheriff ’s office is a policymaker,” Trenga wrote.

That cooperative agreement between Chapman and the Board of Supervisors, which provides most of the sheriff ’s budget, was central to McCaffrey’s argument, but ultimately did not factor into the court’s decision. In a footnote in the decision, Judge Anthony Trenga wrote that because McCaffrey had not demonstrated that his rights had been violated, the court “need not consider whether the Cooperative Agreement creates in McCaffrey’s favor rights in addition to those prescribed by the United States and Virginia Constitutions, as any such rights would be contractual in nature” and the federal district court lacks jurisdiction over that dispute.

Chapman said “the judgment speaks for itself.”

“I’m happy with the outcome, I’m happy that the judicial process worked, and that it reaffirmed the constitutional authority of sheriffs in Virginia,” he said.

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Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Lawsuit

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[ SAFETY BRIEFS ]

[ E D U C AT I O N ]

[ SCHOOL NOTES ]

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Students in the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition pose with their project.

Step Up Competition Open

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Crews work in Monday morning’s chill on Goshen Post Elementary School. It is set to open in fall of 2018, on land adjacent to John Champe High School, and serve 940 students.

Loudoun Preps for New School Recommended Elementary Attendance Zone Changes Unveiled

L

BY DANIELLE NADLER oudoun’s School Board began the process to redraw elementary attendance zone boundaries in the southern end of the county this week.

School assignments need to be adjusted in that area to make room for Goshen Post Elementary School, set to open next to John Champe High School in fall of 2018, and to relieve some of the county’s most crowded schools. Buffalo Trail Elementary is

the most crowded, serving 1,599—656 over its building capacity.

“We’re striving to relieve existing and projected overcrowding in the Dulles South area elementary schools,” said Bev Tate, the school system’s new director of Planning Services.

The changes could impact students at five elementary schools: Buffalo Trail, Hutchison Farm, Liberty, Little River, and Pinebrook.

Tate presented her staff ’s two recommended attendance maps, Plan 1 and Plan 2, to the School Board on

Monday. The plans were created with the help of a new School Engagement Committee, the first implementation of a new tactic school leaders have adopted to get more feedback at the start of boundary changes.

The committee is made up of school principals of the affected areas, as well as staff members who oversee instruction, special education, transportation, planning and others as needed. They met several times to assess issues and NEW SCHOOL >> 20

The Numbers Are In: Loudoun Schools Grow by 2,555

BY DANIELLE NADLER The results of Loudoun schools’ annual head count are in.

In all, 81,235 students showed up to local public schools since the first day on Aug. 24. That’s 2,555 more students than this time last year.

The School Board received the updated enrollment figures at its Oct. 10 meeting. The actual enrollment totals for this year are 387 students less than what the Planning Services Department projected. That breaks down to 179 fewer elementary students, 68 GROWTH >> 21

Registration is open through Dec. 15 for the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition. Held annually since 2004, it is a program of Loudoun Youth Inc. in partnership with Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services. As individuals or as members of a team, students create and implement plans to address community concerns.

Once interested students register, they work on their projects with teammates, parents, teachers and school counselors in preparation for presentations that will be made April 5, 2018.

The top 10 teams then will advance to a final round of judging April 12.

The Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition encourages, supports and rewards those students who rise to the challenge, with the top 10 teams winning cash prizes between $100$1,000. The competition is supported by Loudoun County Public Schools and sponsored by the YouthQuest Foundation.

Students interested in taking part can register at loudounyouth.org.

Tate Named Director of Planning Beverly Tate has been named the new director of planning services, following the retirement of Sam Adamo, who held the position for 20 years.

Tate first came to work for Loudoun County in 1991 as a planning assistant. She then served as planning coordinator from 1996 to 1999, except for one year in 1997 when she served as interim director of planning in 1997. In 1999, she took the job of planning supervisor.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in historic preservation from Mary Washington College and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Freedom Student Tapped for Army All-American Band Freedom High School’s Jacob Ahn got a surprise visit Friday from members of the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band, who delivered the news that he had been selected to join the elite band.

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Madison’s Trust Elementary students attend a morning assembly. This year, the school’s enrollment is 155 more students than projected, to total an enrollment of 999.

SCHOOL NOTES >> 18

German Students Experience Life, Careers in Loudoun

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

BY LUISA FRITSCH

Contributed

Students from Loudoun County’s sister city, Main-Taunus-Kreis, Germany, spent a few days sightseeing in Washington, DC, during their visit.

to see how the company plans and rehearses ahead of a performance. “I was particularly struck with how much passion the actors have and how hard it is to make enough money to maintain such a business,” she said. “It is interesting how professional everyone performs, even if there are problems and the technology is not working.”

Simon Dylla, who has traveled as a chaperone to Loudoun with the German students for several years, said he’s seen the exchange greatly benefit hundreds of students.

“I am proud that the Student Partnership Exchange Program is a really attractive offer, whereby students

in the USA and Germany are able to learn about the different culture, the history and the family lifestyle, in only two weeks,” he said. “We thank especially the companies which make a big insight into the working world possible for the students and conduct to the success of the exchange program.”

The timing is especially good, he added. SPEP provides an opportunity to improve “international understanding against the background of international tensions.”

Loudoun’s students get their turn to visit Germany Nov. 17 through Dec. 2.

They will take part in four-day internships and visit Frankfurt, Wiesbaden

and Point Alpha, used as an observation post between east and west Germany during the Cold War. Since the George C. Marshall International Center launched its exchange program with Main-Taunus-Kreis, Germany, it’s since expanded it to include programs in Vaihingen, Germany; Vienna, Austria; and Metz and Saint-Cyr-Loire in France.

Learn more at georgecmarshall. org/International-Exchanges.

Luisa Fritsch is a 15-year-old student from Main-Taunus-Kreis, Germany, who spent part of her visit in Loudoun County interning at Loudoun Now.

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Fifteen students from Main-Taunus-Kreis, Germany, spent the first half of this month with host families in Loudoun, getting a glimpse of the day-to-day life of local teenagers and spending a few days on the job to experience various careers.

The students’ hometown sits just outside of Frankfurt and is Loudoun County’s sister city.

Since 2007, high school students from both Main-Taunus-Kreis and Loudoun County have taken turns visiting each other’s home countries as part of the George C. Marshall International Center’s Student Partnership Exchange Program.

The German students arrived in Loudoun Sept. 30 and stayed through Oct. 14. The first half of the week they toured Washington, DC, including the Capitol and the memorials and monuments on the National Mall. They also met with County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) and spent a day at the high schools of their host students.

The second week of the visit is what makes SPEP different from most student exchange programs. Students spent three days interning at Loudoun businesses. Each student is paired with a company or organization that aligns with the career path they’re most interested in.

Paula Albrecht, 16, did her internship at the StageCoach Theatre Company in Ashburn. She had a chance

17

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Hines Named Goshen Post Elementary’s First Principal The principal for Loudoun County’s newest school has been named.

Ann Hines, now the principal of Rosa Lee Carter Elementary School, will serve as Goshen Post Elementary School’s first principal.

The school is under construction on a site next to John Champe High School near Aldie and is scheduled to open next August.

Hines has led Rosa Lee Carter Elementary since 2014. Before working in Loudoun County, she taught first through sixth grade in the Kanawha County School District in Charleston, WV. She then served as a fifth-grade teacher at Cedar Lane Elementary, as an administrative intern at Rosa Lee Carter Elementary, and as assistant principal at Cedar Lane Elementary, before returning to Rosa Lee Carter Elementary as its principal.

The School Board voted unanimously last week to approve Hines’ new assignment at Goshen Post Elementary. Board Chairman Jeff Morse (Dulles) said the move is good news for families of the new school, but sad news for the Rosa Lee Carter Elementary families.

“I don’t know how Rosa Lee Carter is going to exist without you. I

[ SCHOOL NOTES ] << FROM 16 Ahn will join the band to perform during the halftime show of the 2018 U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 6.

“Being a successful band member not only requires great skill, but also a commitment to teamwork,” said Mark S. Davis, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for marketing. “To be an Army All-American requires students to excel musically and academically, but most importantly, as young people

of character. The U.S. Army is proud to honor all of our talented 2018 U.S. Army All-American Marching Band members and commend each of them on their selection to this elite group.”

The U.S. Army All-American Marching Band recognizes the top 125 high school senior marching musicians and color guard members from across the country. The Bowl will be played at the Alamodome and will be nationally televised on NBC.

Ann Hines

really don’t. The good news is you’re not going far,” he said. “Thank you for all you have done. The community will certainly miss you.”

Her new position is effective Nov. 15.

The process to redraw the attendance lines to prepare for the opening of Goshen Post Elementary began this week. The first public hearing on the boundaries is 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, at the school administration building, 21000 Education Court in Ashburn.

Contributed

Jacob Ahn is flanked by leaders of the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band. Ahn has been selected to perform with the band at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January.

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Tuscarora High School 801 N. King Street Leesburg, VA 20176 The Capitol Steps, a Washington DC-based comedy troupe that began as a group of Senate Staffers, will present a show based on songs from their current album “Orange is the new Barack.” A Washington, DC institution for over thirty years, they provide a unique blend of musical and political comedy. Each show consists of tasteful lampooning guaranteed to leave both sides of the political spectrum laughing.

Tickets are on sale! loudounhabitat.org $45 through Nov. 17 $50 at the door

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Oct. 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 25, 2017

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New school << FROM 16 student information to come up with attendance boundary recommendations from staff.

Plan 1 would assign neighborhoods east of Rt. 15 (planning zones DS 06.6 and DS 06.7) that fall on either side of Rt. 50, from Aldie Elementary to Goshen Post. The Meadows community (DS 09) north of Rt. 50 and the Village Run neighborhood (DS 17.7) would be assigned from Arcola to Goshen Post.

Also under Plan 1, several neighborhoods currently assigned to Buffalo Trail would be sent to Goshen Post, including DS 07.2 and 07.5—the Lenah Mill neighborhood—and 07.4, 07.8 and DS10, which includes the northern part of the Grove at Willowsford and Lenah Run. A portion of the Cedar Hunt neighborhood, DS13.5, would also be moved from Buffalo Trail to Hutchison Farm.

“This was the school we were really trying to provide maximum relief to,” Tate said of Buffalo Trail.

From Cardinal Ridge Elementary, the South Village neighborhood (DS 14.2) would be assigned to Little River, and a portion of South Riding (DS 13.6) would be assigned to Hutchison Farm.

From Liberty Elementary, the Eastview at Stone Ridge neighborhood (DS17.5) and Providence Ridge (DS 19) would attend Arcola Elementary.

DS 13.8, including portions of South Riding and Baltzer Glenn neighborhoods, would be moved from Liberty to Cardinal Ridge.

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

When Goshen Post Elementary School opens in the fall of 2018 it will be Loudoun's 57th elementary school.

Plan 2 is based on Plan 1, but has a few more neighborhoods targeted for reassignment.

Under Plan 2, in addition to DS 06.6 and DS 06.7, the Creighton Farm and Barclay Ridge neighborhoods along Watson Road (DS04) would also move from Aldie Elementary to Goshen Post.

From Arcola, in addition to the Village Run neighborhood, Plan 2 would also move part of Stone Ridge (DS 17.2) to Goshen Post. It would also assign a portion of the Reserve at South Riding (DS 14.4) from Hutchison Farm to Cardinal Ridge.

Students from Pinebrook Elementary would not be moved under either of the plans recommended by the staff. Tate noted that a new elementary school (ES-29) is scheduled to be built nearby and open in 2023. She wants to avoid changing a neighborhood’s school assignment now and again in five years.

“We were trying to provide a few more years of stability especially where we envision changes in the coming years,” Tate said. “Sadly, it’s not possible for all neighborhoods because we do need relief at the schools. But we were

able to do it with Pinebrook.”

See the full details of each plan at lcps.org; click on the Planning/School Attendance Zones link.

The School Board will hold its first public hearing on the boundaries at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, and a second public hearing 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6. The meetings are held at the school administration building, 21000 Education Court in Ashburn. dnadler@loudounnow.com

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There’s a veteran support team in place to help, but we’re looking for self-starters and go-getters.

If that’s you, contact Susan Styer at 703-770-9723 or sstyer@loudounnow.com

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fewer middle school students, and 140 fewer high school students than expected.

Schools that are at or near their building capacities saw that as good news. Eagle Ridge Middle School has 1,277 students, 70 above its capacity but 89 fewer than was expected to show up this year. Rock Ridge High School’s enrollment is 1,949, 106 students below projections. Freedom High School’s enrollment is 1,922, 125 below projections.

And the school that was likely most relieved with the student population count was Buffalo Trail Elementary, which saw 1,313 students enroll. That’s 330 above building capacity, but it could have been worse. School leaders were projecting another 95 to enroll.

Thirty-six schools saw higher than expected enrollment growth. Madison’s Trust Elementary enrolled 155 more students than projected, to total an enrollment of 999. Little River Elementary’s enrollment is 67 more than projected for a total of 804. Riverside High School had 54 more students than projected for a total enrollment of 1,593; John Champe High School had 95 more students than it expected for a total enrollment of 2,048.

Pinebrook Elementary’s enrollment is 46 students above estimates, for a total of 996—almost 100 students above the building’s capacity. And Cardinal

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

<< FROM 16

21

Ridge Elementary’s student count is 54 higher than projections, for a total of 981, slightly above its building capacity. Hutchison Farm Elementary’s enrollment also rose above its building capacity, with 53 more students enrolled than expected, to bring the total to 850 students.

The school system continues to work on improving the accuracy of its enrollment projections.

School Board member Eric Hornberger (Ashburn) said some of the forecasts may be off because of changes in individual school’s programming.

For example, many schools serve as regional sites for programs such as special education and gifted courses, so students are bussed to that school just for those programs. Students who are granted “special permission” to attend a school outside of their initially assigned school also effect the accuracy of enrollment projections.

One thing school leaders can agree on is that more students will continue to come. Kevin Lewis, assistant superintendent of Support Services, said the school division is expecting to add another 1,870 students next year. “That will bring the enrollment total for 2018-2019 to 83,105 students,” he said.

If that holds true, it will be the smallest incremental growth in recent years.

The division grew by 2,603 students from fall 2013 to 2014 (73,461), and by 2,802 the next year (76,263), and by 2,738 from 2015 to 2016 (79,001).

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[ NONPROFIT NOTES ] Pet Costume Party Benefits 4-Legged Hurricane Victims

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Woofie’s, an Ashburn-based pet sitting, dog walking and mobile pet spa service, is hosting a Halloween pet costume contest and party Saturday, Oct. 21.

The event is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Woofie’s, 44200 Waxpool Road Suite 137, in Ashburn. It will include photos of costumed pets taken by Ellen Zangla Photography, prizes for the top three costumes with the grand prize winning a custom pet painting by Jill Perla Art, vendors, snacks, and demonstrations of dog tricks by trainer Kelly Knowles.

Cost to attend is $10, with all proceeds benefiting the U.S. Humane Society, in its efforts to help animals impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Go to woofies.com for more information.

Step Sisters Launches Shoe Drive Fundraiser Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held Oct. 10 for the restoration of the historic Carlheim Barn at Paxton Campus.

Paxton Begins Construction of Aurora Behavior Clinic

T

BY RENSS GREENE he Arc of Loudoun has broken ground on its new Aurora Behavior Clinic in the 145-year-old Carlheim Barn at the historic Paxton

Campus.

The nonprofit organization will renovate the old stone barn to house a new clinic to help students who are not enrolled in programs at Paxton like Aurora School or Open Doors, which serve children with disabilities or on the autism spectrum, but who still need help fitting into more traditional school environments.

It will also bring diagnostic and prescription services to Paxton, helping families skip the months-long waiting period for a diagnosis before treatment can begin, and bringing all their

students’ and families’ needs into one place.

Arc of Loudoun Executive Director Melissa Heifetz said it will be “a center like no other in this county.”

“This project has been a labor of love that has taken a team of people a long time to get to this point,” Heifetz said.

“It started with my predecessor, [former executive director] Jennifer Lassiter, and our architect Beckham Dickerson going through the long process of getting our plans reviewed and approved because of the historic nature of the structure. But we are finally here.”

Kendra McDonald, the clinic’s future program director, said the clinic will extend the services of the “best talent in the area” working at Arc of Loudoun to the community.

“What we’re going to do is, we’re going to use those same talents, those

same services, that same dedication to those students in the Aurora School, and we’re going to bring it to the behavior clinic, so that we can now serve more children in the community,” McDonald said.

The project is made possible by grants from the Community Development Block Grant, the Paxton Trust, and the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, as well as donations from individual community members.

“What you all do day in and day out is really God’s work, it really is,” said County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large). “It takes a level of patience, it takes a level of skill, it takes a level of integrity, that most people— you just don’t find that with everybody.

And mostly, it takes a level of love.” rgreene@loudounnow.com

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Inova Hosts Breast Cancer Survivors’ Retreat To commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, area health providers are teaming up to host a free, oneday retreat for women who have battled breast cancer.

Inova Loudoun Hospital Life with Cancer and the Loudoun Breast Health Network are hosting Pathways to Survivorship: A Breast Cancer Survivors’ Retreat, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 28. It will be held at the National Conference Center, 18980 Upper Belmont Place in Lansdowne.

Christine Stone, oncology nurse navigator with Inova Hospital’s Life with Cancer program, said the hospital and Loudoun Breast Health Network have

come together to put on retreats for breast cancer patients for several years.

“The goal is really to have women in different parts of their cancer journey come together with women on the same path,” Stone said. “It’s a chance to talk about how they can get back to their normal lives after treatment.”

The retreat will start with an hourlong educational session called Transforming to your New Normal: The Power of Self Care with life coach and nutritionist Anu Kaur. At 11:30 a.m., board certified music therapist Raymond Leone will perform.

That will be followed by a Survivors Retreat Open House showcasing infor-

mation and community resources from 12:45-2:30 p.m. Attendees will receive complimentary giveaways and services including: wigs, bras, scarves and hats; soft-pocket prostheses; makeup sessions; bra fittings; yoga, massage and healing touch sessions; door prizes; lunch and refreshments.

Stone said the retreat is an opportunity to connect women to resources available through Inova Loudoun Hospital and other providers in the community.

The retreat is free, but registration is requested. For more information or to register, go to lifewithcancer.org or call 703-698-2526.

The Step Sisters organization is holding a shoe drive fundraiser through Nov. 18 to raise money in support of breast cancer patients.

The organization will take donated new or gently worn shoes and, based on their total weight, receive a check from Funds2Orgs. Shoes can be dropped off at eight locations in Loudoun, including Virginia Academy, Brambleton Welcome Center, Native Barre and Easy Day Yoga. A complete list of locations can be found at ourshoedrive.com/step-sisters.

All donated shoes will be redistributed throughout the Funds2Orgs network of small business partners. Funds2Orgs works with micro-entrepreneurs by helping them create, maintain and grow small businesses in developing countries where economic opportunity and jobs are limited. Proceeds from the sales of the shoes collected are used to feed, clothe and house their families.

“This is a great opportunity all around,” stated Ashley Campolattaro, co-executive director of The Step Sisters. “We are asking the local community, including those that attend our annual 5K, to check their houses for shoes ready for donation. Clearing our closets helps us raise money for local breast cancer patients and helps families in developing nations who need economic opportunities.”

Plant Sale Raises Money for Hurricane Relief St. Peter’s Episcopal Church’s fourth annual Autumn Plant Sale and Festival raised more than $1,250 in support of hurricane relief.

NONPROFIT NOTES >> 23

Davis, Harrison Honored for Service

23

Marty Shoup/ Blue Lion Multimedia

<< FROM 22 Each year, church members donate plants, baked goods, and items for lunch, with all proceeds given to worthy causes. St. Peter has raised more than $6,000 through the plant sales over the years.

This year’s proceeds will be split between Shelter Box USA and Episcopal Relief and Development to assist their aid efforts in areas devastated by the hurricanes.

Project Horse Hosts Women’s Wellness Workshop

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Project Horse Empowerment Center is putting on Horse-Powered Wellness Workshop Sunday, Oct. 22.

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Wakeisup with The workshop from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Project Horse Empowerment Center, 18915 Lincoln Road near Purcellville. The cost to attend is $225 and Start yourLearn day with includes lunch. more the at proMorningorMinute podcast. jecthorse.org by calling 703-5176964.

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Two long-time Loudoun community leaders were added to the roster of Loudoun Laureates during a Sept. 29 gala at the Belmont Country Club.

Betsy Davis is mayor of Middleburg and well-known for her fire and rescue work and support of numerous nonprofit organizations. Bill Harrison is a founder of the Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum and a supporter of many groups that have helped sustain and develop agriculture and support preservation and conservation in Loudoun County.

They join 20 pervious honorees of the program that was founded in 2008.

In addition to recognizing those who have devoted their time and talents to public service, the Loudoun Laurels helps to develop the next generation of community leaders through its scholarship program. Currently, the program is supporting 11 Loudoun high school graduates with commitments of $40,000 college scholarships dispersed in the amount of $10,000 each year of the students’ four-year undergraduate studies.

Learn more at loudounlaurels.org.

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Newly inducted Loudoun Laureates Bill Harrison and Betsy Davis, seated, gather with 13 of 20 previous honorees following the Sept.

29 banquet. From left are (back row): Joe Boling, Joe T. May, Childs Burden, Kim Hart, Edgar Hatrick III, Thomas D. Horne, Eugene M. Scheel, James P. Roberts, Robert E. Sevila and J. Hamilton Lambert; (middle) Judy Washburn, Cate Magennis Wyatt and Margaret Morton.

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Sunset Hills Boasts Loudoun’s Wine of the Year

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OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

BY RENSS GREENE unset Hills Vineyard near Purcellville claimed this year’s Chairman’s Grand Award during the 2017 Loudoun Wine Awards at Lansdowne Resort.

Winemaker and Vineyard Manager Corry Craighill accepted the award for her 2016 Viognier, the highest-scoring wine in the competition. It was described as “a powerful presentation without lacking elegance, a nice play between acid and fruit, and a lovely pure expression of this wine.”

Craighill said the 2016 vintage marked her first year in Loudoun County. She shared credit with her predecessor, Nate Wash.

“We overlapped in that vintage, and I’ve learned so much from him,” Craighill said, adding she looks forward to many years in Loudoun’s wine industry.

It wasn’t the only or first time Walsh was recognized during the ceremony—he was awarded Winemaker of the Year for his work at Walsh Family Wine, which he and his wife Sarah launched to produce their own wine.

He said people 20 years from now looking back on Loudoun’s wine scene today will see success driven “by our focus not on how many good sunny weekends we could have in a row, not on how many corporate events we could do, but on a singular focus on quality, and that is what will continue to bring people to Loudoun County.”

The evening also celebrated Mitch and Betsy Russ, owners and winegrowers at Russ Mountain Vineyards, as Winegrowers of the Year. Sarah Davis, an educator and founder of vitiCULTURED.org, was named Wine Ambassador of the Year.

The awards also celebrated wines in seven categories.

868 Estate Vineyards took home two awards, best hybrid white for its 2016 Petillant Naturel and best Chardonnay

Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce

This year’s YEA class consists of 24 students from schools throughout Loudoun County.

Entrepreneurs Academy Opens for Second Year

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Sunset Hills Winemaker and Vineyard Manager Corry Craighill with County Chairwoman Phyllis Randall during the 2017 Loudoun Wine Awards.

for its 2015 vintage.

Fabbioli Cellars took home two awards, best Vinifera red for its 2013 Tannat and best cabernet franc for its 2014 Cabernet Franc Reserve.

Sunset Hills won awards for two wines: the 2016 Viognier was named best Vinifera white wine and best in show with the Chairman’s Grand Award, and best Bordeaux blend for its 2016 Mosaic.

Breaux Vineyards took home one award, best rosé, for its 2016 vintage.

This year’s competition featured 14 gold and 50 silver medal winners from among 100 wines, and was the first year in which entrants were required to use at least 75 percent Loudoun-grown grapes.

“It’s a huge shift,” said sommelier Neal Wavra of FABLE Hospitality, who directed the competition. “A burgeoning of the middle, if you will, which to me says from an analysis perspective, there’s a tremendous amount of poten-

tial in focusing on what Loudoun does well.”

The competition was judged by Lindsey Fern, Sommelier, The Inn at Little Washington; Doug Rosen, Owner, Arrowine & Cheese; Erin Scala, Beverage Director and Owner for Petit Pois and Fleuire; Frank Morgan, Author, DrinkWhatYouLike.com; and Antoinette Landragin, Owner, Cork ‘n’ Fork Wine Shops.

“Since I began working in Loudoun in 2009, the wine industry here has changed a lot, and I would say in all ways changes were positives,” Walsh said. “The wines are better than when I initially started—not that they were bad—but the wines have improved, and the community itself has improved, and that is illustrated perfectly by what’s happening right now in this room.” rgreene@loudounnow.com

The National Named VRLTA Hotel of the Year The National Conference Center in Lansdowne has been recognized by the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association with two top industry awards.

The National was recognized as Hotel of the Year, and General Manager Geoff Lawson was named Hotelier of the Year.

The awards were presented during the VRLTA Awards banquet last week.

The 2017 Ordinary Awards featured 16 individual and organizational awards across four primary categories. Each award given demonstrates exemplary passion for the hospitality and travel industry.

“These very prestigious awards recognize the tremendous performance of each and every team member in delivering exceptional hospitality to

Paige Stevens Photography

The National team, from left, Chuck Ocheltree, chief marketing officer; Dahlia Williams, sales manager; Kelli Mueller, director of Conference Services; Kahllua Herlihy, chief financial officer; Geoff Lawson, vice president and general manager; and Juan Garcia, executive director of Sales.

our guests and our communities,” said Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Chuck Ocheltree. “We are fortunate to

have the leader that we have in Geoff Lawson as well as the amazing team that works with our guests every day.

What makes this two-award recognition so special is the understanding that you cannot have one without the other—great leadership leads to great hospitality and great hospitality results in Hotel of the Year. We are excited to share this recognition with our associates and within our vast communities.”

The awards are the latest in a string of honors for The National this year.

During its recent winning streak, The National has received eight other industry awards including from Visit Loudoun, Loudoun County Public Schools, Smart Meetings magazine, Corporate & Incentive Travel magazine, the Northstar Meeting Group and Meetings Today magazine.

The Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce and Loudoun Economic Development Authority have launched the second year of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, a youth entrepreneurship program that matches local business leaders with middle- and high-schoolaged students to help them develop and launch their own business or nonprofit.

The Young Entrepreneurs Academy is a national program that partners with more than 100 Chambers of Commerce in 39 states to provide entrepreneurial training to students in grades 6 through 12.

“Entrepreneurial skills not only help someone launch a successful business, they also translate to any course of study or career path. Whether they launch a new business or social profit organization as a student or even later in life, our YEA students will gain the knowledge and experience that will set them on a path toward success no matter what they choose to do with their lives,” said Loudoun Chamber President Tony Howard.

The YEA! Loudoun program launched in 2016. This year’s class consists of 24 students ages 12 to 18, from schools throughout Loudoun County. Students will learn how to conceive and develop their business plans, how to pitch their business to investors and to market their product or service. The class concludes in May. The Loudoun Young Entrepreneurs Academy is supported by the Claude Moore Foundation, Mclean Insurance, Unanet, SeKON, Backflow Technology, Integrus Holdings, REHAU, Successful Culture and K2M. For more information, go to loudounchamber.org/YEA.

Thomas Promoted at Dewberry Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has promoted Duane Thomas to associate in the firm’s Leesburg office.

A site/civil engineer who has been with the firm for more than 15 years, Thomas has designed and permitted site plans BIZ NOTES >> 25

[ BIZ NOTES ]

Get a Lyft During Wine Month

Snowflake becomes Certified B Corporation

As construction nears completion at Waltonwood Ashburn, the staff is gearing up for a free Halloween Extravaganza on Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. This will be the first event hosted at the upscale senior living community, located at 44141 Russell Branch Parkway in Ashburn.

Visitors will have the chance to watch the movie “Hotel Transylvania,” and snack on popcorn and smoked pork prepared by the culinary services director John Harder and his team.

Participants are encouraged to wear costumes and compete for prizes.

“We consider this event the kickoff of an ongoing relationship with the Ashburn community,” said Executive Director Justin Roberts. “Our staff will be available for questions about Waltonwood, aging or any other topic related to senior living. As we are getting closer to the opening, we look forward to becoming a resource for local families and businesses. We cannot wait to share this safe and enjoyable night with families in our area.”

The public is asked to RSVP by calling 571-918-4854.

CABINET SHOWPLACE Fine Cabinetry for the Entire Home

Farmers Encouraged to Report Hay, Pasture Acres Farmers in Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William counties who have land devoted to hay and/or pasture are reminded that the deadline to report these acres to the Farm Service Agency is Nov. 15.

The report can be filed at the Farm Service Agency office in Warrenton or by phone at 540-347-4402 Ext. 2. It is important for farmers to report hay and pasture acreage to FSA to participate in the USDA’s ARC/PLC price protection program and to qualify for drought assistance.

www.cabinetshowplace.com

Design and Sales 540.338.9661

210 N. 21st St., #E, Purcellville, Virginia 20132 Valley Business Park behind the Purcellville Train Station

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Snowflake LLC in Round Hill has become a Certified B Corporation, a designation that recognizes the company’s efforts to help organizations that improve individuals’ and communities’ quality of life by serving nonprofits, local governments and purpose-driven businesses.

“It puts us in elite company, joining in a collective, global effort to use business as a tool for building a better society,” said Snowflake President Tom Morley. “We’ll continue to do our part by helping local nonprofits, governments and businesses think and act strategically to assist people in need, create socio-economic opportunities and protect the dignity of human life.”

Learn more at snowflakellc.com.

Waltonwood Ashburn to Hold Halloween Extravaganza

Industries Development Fund, which the Loudoun government will match.

Virginia is ranked 10th nationally in aquaculture production. Virginia’s watermen harvest 50 commercially valuable species from 620,000 acres of water, including sea scallops, blue crabs, striped bass, summer flounder, croaker, spot, clams and oysters. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science reported the annual economic impact of Virginia’s seafood industry to be over half a billion dollars.

“Aquaculture production represents an opportunity for Virginia to capitalize on the need to feed a growing population with limited resources,” said Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Basil Gooden. “We are lucky to have an innovative company like Kappa Farms as a member of the agriculture community in Virginia.”

“We’re proud to welcome Kappa’s expansion into Loudoun County,” said Loudoun Economic Development Executive Director Buddy Rizer. “Theirs is the type of unique, science-based innovation that sets Loudoun businesses apart.”

“I applaud Kappa Farms for their investment and expansion in Sterling,” said Sen. Jennifer Wexton (D33). “Loudoun’s agricultural community will be elevated by Kappa’s innovative agricultural technology and I look forward to seeing their products in the homes and restaurants in the 33rd District and beyond.”

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

Visit Loudoun is partnering with the ride sharing app Lyft during October’s Virginia Wine Month promotion.

Lyft will provide discounted rides to and from wineries located in Loudoun’s six clusters. Use the code VAWINEMONTH20 through Oct. 31 to get 20 percent off two Lyft rides.

New Lyft riders can get $5 off three rides with code WINEMONTH15.

Participating wineries include: Cana Vineyards and Winery of Middleburg, Bluemont Vineyard, 868 Estate Vineyards, Sunset Hills Vineyard, Tarara Winery, and Willowcroft Farm Vineyards.

“So many residents and visitors explore Loudoun County year-round to take advantage of the beautiful landscape and vineyards and we’re glad to be a part of this special time of year.

Partnering with Loudoun County not only ensures that passengers can rely on Lyft’s safe, reliable and affordable rides on-demand, but it increases the opportunity for those in the area to earn income through driving with Lyft,” stated Steve Taylor, general manager of Lyft Washington, DC. The partnership extends to Visit Loudoun’s new DC’s Wine Country Passport. Use the code LyftLoCo to get $5 off the passport, which provides discounted tastings, 10 percent off purchases and other exclusive deals at more than 20 Loudoun wineries. Visitors can purchase a 3-day passport for $25 or an annual one for $55—both valued at more than $165.

Learn more at visitloudoun.org.

A new telemedicine program connecting neonatal specialists from Reston Hospital Center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to StoneSprings Hospital Center will allow experts to collaborate, diagnose and treat babies in distress.

“We are pleased to implement this new program which allows the NICU team at Reston Hospital to provide that additional support for a higher level of care via the latest technology to the families at StoneSprings Hospital Center,” stated John Deardorff, president and CEO of Reston Hospital Center and the Northern Virginia Market for HCA. Pediatricians at StoneSprings Hospital Center can connect in real-time to neonatologists at Reston Hospital Center using specialized equipment that includes medical-quality videoconferencing, secure data transfer and a specialized stethoscope and camera for the physical examination.

The TeleNICU program can be used for a wide range of consults, including interpreting medical data and images, confirming diagnoses and conferring on treatment plans.

Urban farming company Kappa Farms will invest $865,000 and hire 21 people to open an aquaponics operation in Sterling.

According to the office of Governor Terry McAuliffe, the company will build a closed-loop nutrient cycle aquaponics facility which will produce certified organic baby lettuces and arugula using water and nutrients derived from fish waste. The company will produce more than $7 million worth Virginia-grown lettuces over the next three years, which it will then sell to customers and restaurants in the Washington, DC, metro area.

“It is an incredibly exciting time to be involved in agricultural technology,” stated Schuyler Milton, who co-founded Kappa Farms with Keith Born. “Environmental challenges, changes in economics and advances in materials and technology have all come to a point at which supplying locally grown and organic produce is both more vital and more feasible than ever before.

We’re very privileged to have been born and raised in Virginia, and we’re very happy to be able to help bring this new industry to Virginia, in no small part thanks to Governor McAuliffe and Loudoun County.”

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services worked with Loudoun County and Chrysalis Vineyards to land the business. McAuliffe approved a $40,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

for commercial, mixed-use and residential developments, including recreational centers and educational facilities. He is involved in the second phase of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Thomas project, which will extend the Silver Line to Ashburn. As a project manager, he oversees numerous public- and private-sector projects.

Thomas earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Pennsylvania State University and is a professional engineer in Virginia.

StoneSprings Hospital Launches TeleNICU Program

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Kappa Farms to Open Loudoun Aquaponics Facility

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[ LOCO LIVING ]

[ THINGS TO DO ]

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FALL FUN LEESBURG HAUNTING TOURS Friday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Oct. 21, Leesburg Town Hall, 25 W. Market St., Leesburg. Details: leesburghauntings.org

An ‘OldFashioned’ Spook in Leesburg’s Hauntings

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Experience the spooky side of downtown Leesburg’s historic homes and businesses, with costumed guides and ghost stories galore. Tickets are $25, and advance purchase is recommended.

Tours continue Oct. 27 and 28.

SHOCKTOBER Friday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Oct. 21, 7-10 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 22, 7-9 p.m.; Paxton Manor, 601 Catoctin Circle, NE, Leesburg.

Details: shocktober.org

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Peter Kelpinski, a longtime member of Loudoun Museum’s board of trustees, helps write the scripts for the annual Hauntings tours. The tours will run over the next two weekends in celebration of the museum’s 50th anniversary.

As Halloween approaches, so does the biggest, most popular, fundraiser of the year

T

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ

he Leesburg Hauntings tour, now in its 26th year, will take place over two weekends.

The Hauntings tour was launched by Leesburg Renaissance, a group devoted to downtown economic development, but was later taken over by the Loudoun Museum. Peter Kelpinski, a longtime member of the museum’s board of trustees, was an original participant.

“It was one of those things that Leesburg had a ton of history and a lot of ghost stories, so we said ‘let’s put it together,’” he said. “My theory has always

been whether or not you believe in ghosts this is still part of the oral history of the town so it really needs to be preserved. And that’s kind of been the motto the museum has followed.”

The Hauntings tours wind participants through the downtown area, beginning at Town Hall, and share with their audience the ghoulish history of some of the downtown area’s historic residences and businesses.

Putting on the Hauntings tour starts with extensive work by museum volunteers, researching ghost stories reported around town and conducting interviews. Kelpinski has the duty of putting together the scripts for each site, where costumed storytellers re-

count the tale of each property. It’s a pretty labor intensive affair, with about 50 volunteers needed per night.

While each tour focuses on about six or seven stories, those who have been on the tour before may be surprised to learn that there are new facts to share.

“Some of these sites we have to update the story because new things keep happening,” Kelpinski said. “We have active ghosts in some of these houses.”

Among the stories visitors may hear this year is the tale of Leesburg’s own Lizzie Borden-type tale. Emily Lloyd was tried for the poisoning of her young daughter, but was suspected of killing her entire family. There’s also Colonel Bert, a soldier who was wounded in the Battle of Ball’s Bluff.

He was brought to the Glenfiddich THE HAUNTINGS >> 29

Local Lawyer Has Written the Book on Virginia Wine

A

BY JAN MERCKER ndrew Painter is a Virginia guy who fell in love with Virginia wine.

Painter, a Northern Virginia native and land use specialist at a Leesburg-based law firm, caught the wine bug as a graduate student at the University of Virginia.

Since then, immersing himself in the roots—and fruits—of wine in the commonwealth has become a decade-long passion. And the result is a juicy 500page history of Virginia wine.

Painter’s new book, “Virginia Wine: Four Centuries of Change,” is slated to be released next month. His goal was to write a comprehensive academic history of the Virginia wine industry, but also a reference accessible to the average wine lover, full of great stories about the rebirth of Virginia wine in the past 50 years.

Nine years ago, as a young lawyer and wine enthusiast, Painter set out to write a concise guide to Virginia wine, with a short preface on the industry’s history. But that planned introduction took on a life of its own.

If you haven’t checked out the region’s scariest haunted house, you only have two weekends left. The new Carnival of Souls features crazed killer clowns in twisted underground carnival carnage. The event benefits Paxton Campus and runs weekends through Oct. 29. Admission is $35 in advance, $40 at the gate.

Loudoun Fall Farm Tour

LOUDOUN FALL FARM TOUR Saturday, Oct. 21 and Sunday, Oct. 22, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; countywide. Details: loudounfarms.org Enjoy the people, animals and great fresh products of Loudoun’s gorgeous farmland. The self-guided farm tour is free and no tickets are required. Visit the website for a map and details.

Aldie Heritage Association

Contributed

Andrew Painter, best known as a local land use attorney, is releasing his new book, “Virginia Wine: Four Centuries of Change,” next month. It delves into the history of the Virginia wine industry, including its rebirth in the past 50 years.

“I started doing the research for that first part of it—the history—and it consumed everything. Nine years later, I’ve got a 500-page book just about the history,” Painter said. “I’ve tried to write it in a way that’s chronological, that’s engaging and that’s informative

for the average reader who might not know anything about the wine industry in Virginia.”

Painter, who grew up in Alexandria, remembers his first winery visit—a trip to a Charlottesville winery with PAINTER >> 29

ALDIE HARVEST WINE AND FOOD FESTIVAL Saturday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; John Mosby Highway, Aldie.

Details: aldieheritage.com The charming southwestern Loudoun village celebrates its 53rd annual fall fair with antiques, crafts, local wine, food trucks,

MORE THINGS TO DO >> 27

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[ THINGS TO DO ] tours of historic Aldie Mill, an art show, children’s activities and the famous duck race at 4 p.m. Admission is free.

VILLAGE AT LEESBURG MONSTER MASH Saturday, Oct. 21, 3-7 p.m.; Village at Leesburg, 1602 Village Market Boulevard, Leesburg. Details: villageatleesburg.com

FUN FOR A CAUSE CASINO ROYALE AND SILENT AUCTION FUNDRAISER Friday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m.; River Creek Club, 43800 Olympic Blvd., Leesburg. Details: The Zeta Phi Beta Sorority hosts a glamorous evening of blackjack, roulette and fabulous food to support its scholarship fund for Loudoun students. Tickets are $75.

WOOFIE’S PET COSTUME PARTY FUNDRAISER Saturday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Woofie’s Pet Spa 44200 Waxpool Road, Ashburn. Details: woofies.com Woofie’s hosts a fundraiser to benefit the U.S. Humane Society’s efforts to help animals impacted by recent hurricanes.

The event features pet photos by Ellen Zangla Photography, vendors and a dog trick demo. Requested donation is $10.

Saturday, Oct. 21, noon-2 p.m.; Smokehouse Live, 1602 Village Market Blvd., Leesburg. Details: smokehouse-live.com Smokehouse Live is turning up the heat to help fight breast cancer. This fun chili cook-off benefits Inova Loudoun Hospital’s breast cancer program. Admission at $10 includes a chili tasting from all contestants. Beverages and more tasty dishes from Smokehouse will be available for sale.

LOUDOUN HUMANE SOCIETY TALES AND ALES Sunday, Oct. 22, noon-4 p.m.; Black Walnut Brewery, 210 S. King St.; Leesburg.

Details: humaneloudoun.org The Loudoun Humane Society’s fall fundraiser features live music, a costume contest for cutest dog, children’s and adult games, silent auction and munchies from the Buena’ Dillas food truck.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for youth ages 10 to 20 and includes a “Tails and Ales” mug or cup, door prize entry and drink specials. A family ticket is available for $50.

OLD OX OYSTER SHELLABRATION Saturday, Oct. 21, 12:30-4 p.m.; Old Ox Brewery, 44652 Guilford Drive, Ashburn.

Details: oldoxbrewery.com October has an R in it, so it’s time for great beer and tasty oysters from Virginia’s Nomini Bay Oyster Ranch.

LOCO CULTURE MIDDLEBURG FILM FESTIVAL Thursday, Oct. 19-Sunday, Oct. 22, Middleburg. Details: middleburgfilm.org The acclaimed annual festival brings four days of fantastic films to Middleburg, including this year’s centerpieces, “The Darkest Hour,” starring Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, and Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird.” Visit the website for a full schedule and tickets.

EAT, DRINK AND BE LITERARY: THE CONSTITUTION Friday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m., doors open, 7 p.m., program begins; Hillsboro Old Stone School, 37098 Charles Town Pike, Hillsboro. Details: oldstoneschool.org

DOENER BISTRO OKTOBERFEST

Benedict M. Lenhart presents a constitutional scholar’s view of individual rights in the U.S. Constitution as part of his lively and engaging lecture series. The event is free and open to the public. Beer, wine and light refreshments will be available for sale.

Thursday, Oct. 19-Sunday, Oct. 22, Doener Bistro, 202 A Harrison St., Leesburg, Details: doenerbistro.com

CASCADES SENIOR CENTER ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR

LIBATIONS

Celebrate fall with Loudoun’s German bistro and beer garden. The fest includes happy hour specials on Thursday and Friday, food specials and live music. Check out the website for times and details.

Saturday, Oct. 21, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Cascades Senior Center, 21060 Whitfield Place, Sterling. Details: mycascadescenter.org

and craft items, live music, a raffle and a food truck for a day of fun and early holiday shopping.

‘OKLAHOMA!’ Friday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 15, 2 p.m.; Franklin Park Arts Center, 36441 Blueridge View Lane, Purcellville. Details: mainstreettheaterproductions.org Main Street Theatre presents the classic story of Curly, the handsome cowboy and Laurey, the winsome farm girl set against the backdrop of the west at the beginning of the 20th Century. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, students and children.

GEORGES MILL BARN DANCE Sunday, Oct. 22, 4:30-9:30 p.m.; Georges Mill Artisan Cheese, 11873 Georges Mill Road, Lovettsville. Details: georgesmillcheese.com The artisan cheese-makers host a rousing old-fashioned barn dance and potluck. Suggested donation is $5 for the band and callers.

NIGHTLIFE LIVE MUSIC: MINDY MILLER AND THE CHROME TEARS Saturday, Oct. 21, 9 p.m.; Smokehouse Live, 1602 Village Market Blvd., Leesburg. Details: smokehouse-live.com Equal parts country and rock, with a grassroots style and a lilting yet powerful voice, Mindy Miller is a fresh presence on stage you won’t want to miss. No cover.

The annual fair features handmade art

MORE THINGS TO DO >> 28

Save Up to 50 off %

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This annual pre-Halloween bash features crafts, an inflatable corn maze and live music. Trick or treating starts at 3 p.m., followed by a parade at 4 p.m. and a costume contest for children and pets.

Event is free.

PITMASTER SERIES CHILI COOK-OFF BENEFIT

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

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on Select Flooring and Carpet Sale Ends October 28th!

loudounnow.com

www.loudounvalleyfloors.com

Ashburn (703) 724-4300 Purcellville (540) 338-4300

[ THINGS TO DO ]

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LIVE MUSIC: CROWDED STREETS—THE DAVE MATTHEWS EXPERIENCE

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Saturday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m., doors open; Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg. Details: tallyhotheater.com Enjoy ’90s nostalgia at its best when the top-notch Dave Matthews cover band returns to the Tally Ho. Tickets are $15 in advance.

LIVE MUSIC: HOWARD JONES

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 7 p.m., doors open; Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg. Details: tallyhotheater.com Jones’ songwriting and pioneering use of synthesizers made waves in the 80s, and his 21st Century solo shows are still drawing fans. Tickets are $25 in advance.

Jill Evans-Kavaldjian

COMING UP NOT-YOUR-KID’S SPELLING BEE Thursday, Oct. 26, 6:30-9 p.m.; Ida Lee Recreation Center Banquet Hall, 60 Ida Lee Drive NW, Leesburg. Details: loudounliteracy.org/news

Living Colour

LIVE MUSIC: LIVING COLOUR Friday, Oct. 20, 7 p.m., doors open; Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg.

Details: tallyhotheater.com The Grammy-winning ’80s rockers, known for bending and blending genres, are back with a new album, “Shade,” and plenty of fan favorites. Tickets are $29.75 in advance.

This fundraiser for the Loudoun Literacy Council invites spellers of all skill levels to take part in an evening of great food, drinks and good-natured competition.

Even those who can’t spell will have fun and can advance in the competition by purchasing the opportunity to skip-aword, bribe the judge or use their phone.

Tickets begin at $75 (observer) and $100 (competitor), and includes a meal catered by Rochelle Myers, wine from Fabbioli Cellars and desserts from NothingBundtCakes and Deli Italiano. Follow the link to purchase tickets.

FARM 2 FASHION RECEPTION AND AWARDS PARTY Saturday, Oct. 28, 2 p.m.; Franklin Park Arts Center, 36441 Blueridge View Lane, Purcellville. Details: franklinparkartscenter.org Celebrate Loudoun’s Farm 2 Fashion exhibit, featuring original works of “agricouture” made with local farm products.

Fiddlin’ Dave and Morgan will perform live Loudoun-grown music and guests can munch on locally grown snacks.

Admission is free.

ALDIE HARVEST WINE AND FOOD FESTIVAL

Saturday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. aldieheritage.com

BALLS BLUFF BATTLE ANNIVERSARY

Saturday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

Balls Bluff Battlefield Regional Park novaparks.com

9TH ANNUAL MONSTER MASH Saturday, Oct. 21, 3–7 p.m.

Village at Leesburg villageatleesburg.com

getoutloudoun.com Promote your concert or event—in print and online.

Email sales@loudounnow.com or call 703.770.9723

Call ahead for reservations

703-777-9554

Following the death of his father, Grandmaster Eung Gil Choi sponsored a taekwondo tournament to raise money to help other cancer patients. That tradition has continued for a quarter of

Painter << FROM 26

The Hauntings House on North King Street, where he died. Some say he never left.

The downtown also has a former banker who haunts his bank, and an organist who didn’t let her death stop her from showing up for choir practice. The Loudoun Museum has its own ghosts, one in the museum building and the other next door in the Log

Cabin.

“Whether or not you believe in ghosts you’re going to walk away learning a whole lot more history about Leesburg,” Kelpinksi said. “It’s that mixture of history and the ghost stories. You don’t need people jumping out at you with chainsaws. We scare you the good old-fashioned way with good old ghost stories. That’s been the formula and it’s worked.” krodriguez@loudounnow.com

pop farm winery aspect, and right on the same street you’ve got Stone Tower which is burgeoning, just massive—the exact opposite from a size perspective but produces high-quality wine.”

In the early days of Virginia’s winemaking rebirth in the ’60s and ’70s, leaders like Dennis Horton of Horton Vineyards in Orange County made the crucial decision to focus on high-quality European grape varietals instead of native grapes and hybrids, Painter said. And that decision is paying off as Virginia makes a name as a leader in excellent but less well-known varietals like Viognier and Petit Verdot.

“Virginia can’t be the best at everything, but it can be very competitive with things that go well here,” Painter said.

And above all, Painter said, the book is a tribute to those pioneers, like Horton, prominent viticulturist Lucie Morton, Felicia Rogan of the now-closed Oakencroft Winery near Charlottesville and other industry leaders who are actively working but now entering their 60s and 70s.

“Just hearing their stories, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall back when this was getting going,” Painter said. “That is the group that I’m trying to write this for before they pass away from the scene entirely. I want their story to be told.”

“Virginia Wine: Four Centuries of Change” is scheduled to be released Nov. 22 and is available for pre-order at amazon.com and at upress.virginia.edu.

The Hauntings tours are recommended for those aged 10 and older. The tours will run every 15 minutes from 6 to 9 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 20, Saturday, Oct. 21, Friday Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 28. Tickets for each tour are $25 each. The tours fill up quickly, so purchasing tickets in advance online is recommended.

Go to leesburghauntings.org for more information.

Dave Matthews BAND Experience with Crowded Streets

10/21/17 Doors 7:00PM

Howard Jones With Todd Wright

10/24/17 Doors: 7:00PM

Nick Fradiani & The Alternate Routes

10/26/17 Doors: 7:00PM

Ballyhoo!

10/27/17 Doors 7:00PM

1st annual

Wiener dog dash & canine costume contest 10/28/17 12:30PM 90s Halloween Party featuring Doc Marten

and the Flannels

10/28/17 Doors 7:00PM

Los Lonely Boys with Gary Smallwood

11/3/17 Doors 7:00PM

A Tribute to Bon Jovi:

Slipper When Wet

11/04/17 Doors 7:00PM

Crack the Sky 11/10/17 Doors: 7:00PM

Red Not Chili Peppers

11/11/17 Doors: 7:00PM

Now Open Tues. through Sun. for Lunch & Dinner

loudounnow.com

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Virginia wine industry that has set it on its currently booming track. Painter credits a group of pioneering young winemakers and viticulturists, along with government officials, including the administrations of governors Mills Godwin and Gerald Baliles in the ’70s and ’80s, with setting the Virginia wine industry up for success at a time when tobacco and apples were still the agricultural heavyweights in a culturally conservative state.

“The wine industry in Virginia didn’t just happen,” Painter said. “This was a decision that was made by state government to emphasize quality winemaking in Virginia. … To have state government emphasize making an alcoholic product is just remarkable when you think about it.”

In his in-depth picture of wine production in the commonwealth, Painter certainly hasn’t overlooked Loudoun, where so much of his law practice has developed. Painter gives kudos to the county’s rural economic development policies and marketing programs that have branded Loudoun as DC’s Wine Country and helped preserve open space in the county’s west while creating job growth.

Loudoun is a great illustration of the diversity of winemaking in Virginia, Painter said, with early pioneers like Willowcroft’s Lew Parker operating alongside new state-of-the-art wineries opened by owners who have made fortunes in other realms before jumping onto the winery scene.

“You’ve got that small mom-and-

nstyer@loudounnow.com

10/20/17 Doors: 7:00PM

visiting family members when he completed graduate school at UVA in 2004.

It was a fun day of discovery that still sticks in his mind. And when Painter went on to law school at University of Richmond, he began planning weekend wine trips in central Virginia with classmates.

When Painter got his first job as an attorney in Arlington, he turned his sights to Loudoun’s growing crop of wineries, organizing trips for colleagues and friends. And it was around this time that the idea for the book was born.

Since then, Painter has developed a reputation as a land use expert at the Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh law firm, and he and his wife, Mary Anne, have become the parents of three young children. A busy law practice and new role as dad have meant lots of late nights at the writing desk, but for Painter, the book has been a labor of love.

“This is definitely a bucket list item and a life goal that I can check off now,” said the 37-year-old Painter.

“Virginia Wine” starts from the earliest days of viticulture in Virginia, predating the Jamestown settlement. But the heart of the book focuses on Virginia wine pioneers of the ’60 and ’70s, who created what Painter and other experts consider a turning point in the

a century.

On Saturday at the Douglass Community Center in Leesburg, Choi’s event added another $14,000 to the $110,000 raised during the 24 previous events. Blue Ridge Hospice is the main beneficiary of the Kick Cancer Out of

Living Colour

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

BY NORMAN K. STYER

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Kicking Out Cancer for 25 Years

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Norman K. Styer/Loudoun Now

Grandmaster Eung Gil Choi, right, is presented with the U.S. TKD & MA Grandmaster Federation’s 2017 award for best martial arts school for his U.S. Taekwondo Martial Arts Academy in Leesburg.

the World program.

While much was done to help cancer patients during the event, many of the dignitaries in attendance came to honor the work of Grandmaster Choi.

A representative of the South Korean embassy announced that Choi had been awarded a medal of honor by the South Korean government. A representative of the U.S. TKD&MA Grandmaster Federation presented Choi with the award for best martial arts school for 2017, for his U.S. Taekwondo Martial Arts Academy in Leesburg. And the Kang Neung TKD Association presented Choi with an award of appreciation for his work with the tournament.

Also on hand was a representative of Loudoun County’s sister city, Gangneung, South Korea, which will host the Winter Olympics next year.

In addition to competitions between students from tae kwon do schools from around the region, a demonstration team from South Korea put on a high-flying board-breaking exhibition for the students and their parents.

[ OUR TOWNS ]

[ TOWN NOTES ] HILLSBORO

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

loudounnow.com

30

The Story of Hillsboro’s Burnt Mill

Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now

The Purcellville Town Council presents Master Deputy Bill Schoeb with a resolution of appreciation Oct. 10. From left are Councilman Chris Bledsoe, Councilwoman Kelli Grim, Schoeb, Mayor Kwasi Fraser, Acting Police Chief Joe Schroeck, Councilwoman Karen Jimmerson and Vice Mayor Nedim Ogelman.

Schoeb Honored for Service to Loudoun Valley, Town

R

BY PATRICK SZABO etired Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office Master Deputy Bill Schoeb was recognized by the Purcellville Town Council last week for his three decades of work with the agency—especially his 16 years of service as Loudoun Valley High School’s school resource officer.

“It’s me that should be thanking you for the opportunity to serve this town, to serve the county where I grew up,” Schoeb said. “I was blessed to serve 31 years with the sheriff ’s office and give back to the county where I grew up.”

According to Sheriff ’s Office spokesman Kraig Troxell, Schoeb’s 16 years as an SRO at one school is likely a county record.

“I don’t know if we have anyone else who has served that amount of time,”

Troxell said. “[He] was very popular among the students and parents in western Loudoun. He had a lot of impact out there.”

Schoeb, 58, is a 1977 graduate of Loudoun Valley.

Principal Sue Ross worked with Schoeb for 12 of her 13 years at the school.

“He’s a gem, one of a kind,” she said.

“That just allowed for remarkable kinds of relationships to be built.”

Not only was he the school’s SRO, but he was also the inaugural varsity boys lacrosse team coach in 2002 and coached the varsity girls tennis team for the past two years.

“It’s great working with those kids,” Schoeb said. “They make you feel young every single day.”

Schoeb often lent a helping hand to the town’s police department.

“He assisted us with a lot of cas-

es over the years,” said Acting Police Chief Joe Schroeck. “When we were short-staffed he would help us.”

Of course, before he worked primarily in Purcellville, Schoeb was working on cases around the county. One of his most memorable came in 1996 when he helped capture a homicide suspect on the run in Sterling. The arrest was aired on the television program “Unsolved Mysteries.”

“That was one of so many stories,” he said.

Schoeb joined the sheriff ’s office in July 1986 and took over the fugitive unit in 1995. He was an operator on the SWAT and firearms units for more than 20 years before his retirement last month. pszabo@loudounnow.com

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Grim May Leave Purcellville Town Council Seat, Virginia Purcellville Councilwoman Kelli Grim announced last week that she may have to step down at the end of the month.

“Our family is faced with the situation of a job reassignment … that will likely result in our relocating out of state,” she said. “I would believe that at the end of this month may be the end of my term here in Purcellville.”

Grim made the announcement at the end of the council’s Oct. 10 meeting, catching Mayor Kwasi Fraser off guard.

“That is a painful surprise,” Fraser

said.

Grim said she would keep her colleagues and the town staff apprised of her situation.

“I’ve tried to do all the good I could while I was here,” she said. “I’ll give you my to-do list before I go, it’s a big one.”

After years of citizen advocacy, Grim was elected to town council in a special election to fill a vacant seat in May 2016. Her term expires June 30, 2018.

—Patrick Szabo

Loudoun Now/File Photo

Purcellville Councilwoman Kelli Grim speaks at a county Board of Supervisors meeting.

Join the Short Hill Historical Society on Sunday, Oct. 29, for the third in its History Talks, Trips, and Treasures series. This month the group takes a trip to the Burnt Mill on Stoney Point Road.

From 4 to 6 p.m., historian Rich Gillespie will share the story of the old mill and talk about the burning raids during the Civil War. The caretaker of the Burnt Mill, Ryan Siemers, is hosting and will share some of his thoughts and findings. After the trip and talk, participants will have a chance to explore the grounds and stay for the long-standing tradition of the lighting of the jack-o-lanterns in the windows of the mill ruins after the sun goes down.

Reservations are strongly encouraged and can be made online at shorthillhistoricalsociety.org.

PURCELLVILLE Spooky Festivities Planned At Downtown Block Party Organizers are preparing for the town’s biggest party of the year.

More than 5,000 people are expected to attend the Halloween Block Party on Saturday Oct. 28 from 5 to 9 p.m. on 21st Street.

There will be fun Halloween-themed games for the kids, a performance by Magic by Ryan, the return of Mr. Knick Knack, and a huge costume contest with cash prizes, along with food and other entertainment.

Admission is free. For contest rules and more information, go to purcellvillehalloween.com or contact Michael Oaks or Kim Patterson of Re-Love It at 540751-0707 or reloveit@aol.com.

Town Gets Good Financial Report Purcellville’s financial advisor, Davenport & Company, last week briefed the Town Council on the results of the recently completed strategic debt realignment effort, reporting that the town is in better financial shape than expected.

“The results we got … were uniformly very good,” said Davenport Senior Vice President Kyle Laux. “The town has done a really good job historically managing its finances.”

Because the town sold off nearly $16.4 million in taxable bonds and paid off the 2010 Build America Bond balloon payment in its entirety, it now has more flexibility to pursue private partnerships for Fireman’s Field assets and is less inclined to raise utility rates.

According to Laux, this helps lower a town-planned annual TOWN NOTES >> 32

Residents Voice Concern About Traffic, Commuter Lot

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

BY PATRICK SZABO

Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now

The under-used parking lot at the Virginia Regional Transit office may see more activity if the plan to establish a commuter lot is approved by the Purcellville Town Council.

After hearing residents speak, Eric Zicht of Zicht, & Associates, VRT’s representative, urged the council to heed concerns by increasing traffic calming measures. Vanegas later said if the lot was approved, the town might ask VRT for contributions to help with such measures. ​Zicht said the proposal meets a community need.

“Is there a better site for it? None that I know of,” he said. “It’s really needed now.”

Vice Mayor Nedim Ogelman assured residents the council’s decision to permit or deny the lot’s construction would be well thought out.

“I’m taking this very, very seriously,” he said. “Buses come and go, but we’re

going to be living here through all of this.”

Zicht & Associates submitted a revised application on behalf of VRT in July 2016 to get town approval for construction of the lot, which would only be in use until a new one is built near the planned Rt. 7/Rt. 690 interchange in the next few years. Zicht has been working with the town’s Planning Commission on the design ever since.

The Planning Commission last month recommended Town Council approve VRT’s revised application, with conditions that prohibit bus parking and/or queuing on Bailey Lane, prohibit cars and buses from exiting at the same spot and require buses to exit onto Bailey Lane before turning west

onto East Hirst.

The council is expected to vote on the application Oct. 24.

“We’re going to meet with the residents over there to see what other ways we could mitigate [cut-through traffic],” Vanegas said. pszabo@loudounnow.com

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

Residents attending last week’s Purcellville Town Council meeting raised concerns about plans to establish a commuter parking lot at the Virginia Regional Transit office off East Hirst Road.

The majority of speakers who addressed the council were homeowners on West Country Club Road. They said their residential street already is used by rush-hour commuters to bypass stopped traffic turning onto North 21st Street from Main Street. Residents said they worried that opening a commuter lot along Hirst Road would make that problem worse.

According to Interim Town Manager Alex Vanegas, the biggest reason traffic would increase after the lot’s opening is because some of the commuters who now park at the lot east of Hamilton would instead park in Purcellville to catch rides on the county’s commuter buses.

Country Club resident Bob Anderson got the public conversation started.

“There are so many commuter vehicles going through that subdivision that it has created a safety hazard,” he said. “It’s constant.”

Another resident on the street, Bill Conover, said he sees commuter traffic as early as 4:45 in the morning. Although he said he is concerned about a traffic increase, he also acknowledged the lot’s importance.

“Virginia Transit has the right to put that in there,” he said. “It provides a service for the community.”

31

loudounnow.com

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

loudounnow.com

32

Purcellville Seeks VDOT Money for Road, Sidewalk Improvements

BY PATRICK SZABO ​ Improvement projects for 12th Street, the 32nd and Main Street intersection and the Hatcher Avenue sidewalk might soon move to construction.

The ​Purcellville Town Council last week authorized the town staff to apply for fiscal year 2019-20 funding for the projects through the VDOT Revenue Sharing Program.

If approved, VDOT would provide the town with 50 percent of the requested funds, while the town would have to pay the remaining amount. The application deadline is Nov. 1.

“I’m in support of this,” said Mayor Kwasi Fraser. “It shows that we listen to our citizens.”

The 12th Street improvements include widening travel lanes, adding pieces of missing sidewalk, fixing asphalt degradation and replacing the water main, which currently doesn’t supply enough water to fire hydrants because it is 2 inches too narrow. This utility portion of the budget would come from town water and sewer funds.

“We had, over a year ago, folks from 12th Street came before us and indicated the problems that they faced,” Fraser said.

The 12th Street improvements are estimated to cost $2 million. ​Improvements to the 32nd and Main Street intersection at the west end of town may include the addition of a

Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now

The Purcellville Town Council will apply for state help to install a traffic signal at the Main Street/32nd Street intersection.

traffic light. Although the town has reported complaints of vehicles unable to turn onto Main Street from 32nd Street, VDOT concluded a traffic light there was not warranted. An independent study conducted by KimleyHorn in August 2016, however, determined it was.

This project is estimated to cost $900,000.

Both projects are in the Purcellville

Capital Improvement Plan. According to Interim Town Manager Alex Vanegas, the majority of the town’s 50 percent match could come from the town’s portion of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Fund, 30 percent of which is distributed to localities in the region to use for transportation projects.

The town is also seeking VDOT funding for improvements to the

sidewalk on Hatcher Avenue between Hirst Road and Cornwell Lane/Skyline Drive. The project is aimed at filling in missing links, which would eliminate the need for pedestrians to cross the road to stay on the sidewalk.

Staff members said the work would cost about $620,000. Although town funding for this project has yet to be identified, possible sources could be proffer money available from the developer of the Mayfair neighborhood or the NVTA Fund.

Councilwoman Karen Jimmerson ​ expressed concern that the Hatcher Avenue sidewalk improvement might not be as important as others in town.

She mentioned a 25- to 30-foot strip of sidewalk that is missing on East Loudoun Valley Drive that is forcing pedestrians to cross the road to get to the W&OD Trail.

“I think we’re putting money where it’s not as critical,” she said. “There’s less traffic [on Hatcher]…than I see further up by the post office.” ​Vanegas made it clear the town could add such improvements to the project once approved by VDOT or place them on the Capital Improvement Plan for future consideration.

The town will submit its application for the current proposed improvements within the next three weeks. It expects to get a response from VDOT in the coming months. pszabo@loudounnow.com

[ TOWN NOTES ] << FROM 30 utility rate increase from 7 percent to 2 or 3 percent.

Selling the bonds also made the parks and recreation debt taxable, which gives the town more ability to partner with the private sector.

In addition to those positives, the refinancing extended the town’s debt payments four more years.

During the debt realignment process, the town received a reaffirmation of its AAA credit rating from S&P Global, which is the highest rating possible.

According to Davenport’s report, this shows the town has an “extremely strong capacity to meet financial commitments.”

“That’s exactly the process that we were looking at,” Vanegas said.

Police Department Plans Drug Take-Back Collection Oct. 28 It’s time to clean out the medicine cabinet and properly dispose of expired or unneeded prescriptions.

ThePurcellville Police Department will conduct a Prescription Drug “Take Back” on Saturday, Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of 250 S. Nursery Ave., directly across from Town Hall.

The program is designed to prevent unused and unwanted medications from falling into the wrong hands and being misused or abused. Since the inception of the program in 2010, more than 7,000 pounds of unwanted and unused prescription medications have been collected in Loudoun County, including Purcellville.

33 Oct. 19 – 25, 2017 Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

For sale signs pop up for homes in western Loudoun.

Tight Inventory Drives Up Housing Prices LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT

Last month, there were 1,405 active listings in Loudoun, the lowest September inventory total since 2009. Inventory has declined each year since a high of 2,291 in 2014. The decline was 15.9 percent this year.

Sales inventories declined for the 27th consecutive month across the county. The sharpest decline was in Sterling’s 20164 ZIP code. There, in-

ventories dropped 36.7 percent since last year.

After a spike in August, the number of new listings declined last month. A total of 686 new homes were put on the market in September, down 6.8 percent from a year ago.

“The erratic change in new listings TIGHT INVENTORY >> 35

REAL ESTATE/HOME IMPROVEMENT

Housing resales in Loudoun County slowed last month, but not because demand is softening.

According to a newly released report by the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis prepared for the Dulles Area Association of Realtors, only 517 homes sales went to

closing in September. That’s 146 fewer than in August and 2.5 percent lower than September 2016. Pending sales increased by less than 1 percent in the year-over-year comparisons.

“This is a continued sign of low inventory suppressing sales, as prospective buyers find both limited choices and climbing home prices,” according to the report.

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE

We are pledged to the letter and spirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. We encourage and support advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap.

All real estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.”

This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 367-9753.

fairhousing@dpor.virginia.gov • www.fairhousing.vipnet.org

OWN A PIECE OF LOUDOUN’S HISTORY

13654 WILT STORE RD, LEESBURG, VA 20176

LOUDOUN NOW STAFF REPORT Loudoun communities were well represented during the 2017 The Great American Living Awards.

The program recognizes the innovative work of homebuilders, developers, architects, sales, marketing, merchandising, and advertising professionals in the Washington, DC, market.

One Loudoun, Brambleton and Willowsford each won multiple awards.

At One Loudoun, the Upper West Experience Center—designed by Miller and Smith, P Four, and Lyons & Sucher—was recognized as the best model homes sales center. The community’s The ONE Thing You Need promotion, developed by Borcz+Dixon, was selected as best ad campaign.

The team also won for best social media in the planned community category.

In Brambleton, Knutson Companies, working with the LM Marketing Group, won the top award for online advertising for its Downtown Bram Own A Piece of the Sky ad. Knutson Companies/Model Homes Interiors won for best interior merchandising the $700,001-$850,000 category for the Luna at Brambleton Town Center. The model also won in the category for best design and architecture.

Van Meter Homes/Builders Design won the top prize for best interior merchandising in attached units in the $600,001-$700,000 category for the Newcastle II at Berkshire at Brambleton. Miller and Smith, working with KTGY Architecture and Planning, also

2 homes on ~7 acres! & 13660 Wilt St Rd. You can live in ca 1879, 1 BR log cabin or 2004,3‐4 bedroom home. Great rental income, great for Air B&B, horses, vineyard.

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12696 JAMES MONROE HWY, LEESBURG, VA 20176

LO10031702 ‐ $265,000

LO9910357 ‐ $825,000

late 1800’s renovated home. Great retreat on 2.37 acres! features 1 bedroom, great room with cathedral ceilings. Everything was done in the last 3 years, new electrical, plumbing, kitchen, insulation, siding and windows.

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1/4 mile Potomac River frontage, circa 1840, farmette on 16.55 acres. Completely renovated with new geothermal HVAC, hardieplank, PVC trim, windows, roof, bathrooms, septic, well; Visit: PotomacRiverFront.com

Search Homes on LoudounAreaHomes.com

LAND FOR SALE

22443 TAYLOR SPRINGS CT, LEESBURG, VA 20175 LO9806747 ‐ $795,000

Creighton Farms – gated community: Outstanding homesite # 5, 3 acres sitting on the 13th fairway with views south and west. Loudoun County’s premier gated golf course community. Jack Nicklaus golf course, beautiful Clubhouse, restaurant, guest suites, spa, tennis, pool, fine dining, 24/7 guard & private residential concierge. Choose one of their preferred custom builders and build the home of your dreams.

TAYLORSTOWN RD, LEESBURG, VA 20176 LO9849347 ‐ $195,000 – 15.79 acres

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Through 10/31/17

TELEGRAPH SPRINGS RD, PURCELLVILLE, VA 20132 149.11 acres of fabulous land of rolling countryside and lush woodlands. Includes 11 parcels, that can be subdivided up to 29 parcels. Borders on Goose Creek and enjoys spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Ideal for development or good potential for conservation easement. Ideally located off Telegraph Springs Road, convenient to Purcellville with easy access to Route 7. Vineyard on several lots. Visit: VineyardViews.com;

KITCHEN

PRICED TO SELL! Wooded lot with outstanding VIEWS! 4 Bedroom Perc on a 15.79 acre lot in Lucketts community on Catoctin Mtns, close to Greenway and Commuter Rail, Private home site offers opportunity to build your dream custom home, fabulous views of the country side and Sugarloaf Mtn, located off a paved road ‐ no HOA!! ‐ FIOS, 4 br conv perc. site, Zoned AR1, Large build‐able area. Drive by and take a look!

won a design and architecture award for attached homes in the $500,001 to $600,000 category for the Foxton at Brambleton Evermont Trace model.

In Willowsford, the work of the developer and SparkFire Branding was cited for the best marketing materials in the Master Planned Residential Community category and best individual direct mail piece for its Willowsford Field Notes campaign.

Van Meter Homes/Builders Design won the top prize for interior design in the $850,000-$1 million detached home category for its Timberneck model. That model also won the top prize in its category for design and architecture. Drees Homes won for best design and architecture for large lots in the over $1.4 million category for its Oakton at Willowsford model.

Renovate Your Life!

FLOORING & BASEMENTS

13469 MOUNTAIN RD, LOVETTSVILLE, VA 20180

Credit: Knuston

Knustson Companies’ Luna model townhome at Brambleton won top GALA prizes for advertising, architecture and design, and interior merchandizing.

•

REAL ESTATE/HOME IMPROVEMENT

2 HOMES, 7 ACRES - $485,000 - LO10036813

Builders Take Top Prizes at GALAs

B AT H

34

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

LO9867077 ‐ $3,100,000 – 149.11 acres

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Leesburg Virginia Licensed in Virginia

Cell: 703-431-7159 Office: 703-771-4939 www.IanMoffett.com www.RokebyRealty.com www.LoudounAreaHomes.com

3891 Pickett Road, Fairfax, VA 22031 12 Sycolin Rd SE, Leesburg, VA 20175 (703) 777-9474 Showroom Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5:00 pm Saturday 10:00 am - 4:00 pm www.KBFbyAudi.com

35 Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Tight inventory << FROM 33

GMU Center for Regional Analysis

Not since 2009 has there been fewer Loudoun County homes on the market in September.

NOW OPEN

in Purcellville

Loudoun Now is adding to its small, dedicated newspaper team. We’re looking for advertising sales executives who value the mission of community journalism and the marketing power the newspaper’s print and online products offer to area businesses.

There’s a veteran support team in place to help, but we’re looking for self-starters and go-getters.

If that’s you, contact Susan Styer at 703-770-9723 or sstyer@loudounnow.com

ute from We comm PA to Lancaster, to sell Purcellville hree cts t our produ ek. days a we

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REAL ESTATE/HOME IMPROVEMENT

from month to month signals little long-term relief from the market’s consistently low supply of homes,” according to the report.

That tight market has had a marked impact on prices. The median home sales price in September was $462,000, a 5 percent increase over last year. It was the highest September median sales price in more than a decade.

It also means homes are being snapped up more quickly. Half of the September sales listings staying on the market for 16 or fewer days. Last year the median days on the market was 22 days.

In Ashburn’s 20148 code, half the homes were sold within eight days of listing. Homes in Purcellville’s 20132 ZIP code continue to be the “slowest” sellers, at 29 days, but even that is a quicker pace than 2016’s 42 days.

House prices are highest in the Rt. 50 corridor, with Aldie’s 20105 ZIP code registering a median sales price of $625,000, up from 460,000 just a year ago. The lowest prices can be found in Sterling’s 20164 ZIP code, where the median sale was $368,000 in September, a 7 percent increase over last year.

Sales prices dropped in the Chantilly and Purcellville areas.

The countywide median sales price of $420,000 is an 8.4 percent increase over the five-year September average.

36

Updates to Transform Your New House into Your Dream Home CONTRIBUTED FROM STATEPOINT Congratulations, you’ve purchased a home! Now what? You’ve saved a million ideas on Pinterest and you’re ready to start making improvements. But how do you prioritize to make the most of your money? Consider these simple upgrades to transform your new house into your dream home.

Update Lighting COST: $10 (box of light bulbs) $300 (new fixture) BENEFITS: Brightens the room, enhances ambience, increases energy efficiency.

Let there be light! There are several ways to make a room feel brighter.

Start with something quick, like swapping out bulbs to brighter or more efficient choices. For a mid-level task and a dose of style, add new lampshades.

Or go big by replacing outdated fixtures with on-trend options.

Find a Better Faucet COST: $150 - $500 BENEFITS: Boosts home appeal, improves kitchen functionality.

One in five millennials say they want to update their kitchen, according to Moen research, and a simple faucet upgrade can be impactful. Replacing a basic kitchen faucet with a one-handle pulldown, like Moen’s Sleek faucet, creates a clean, modern look while adding functionality that makes cleanup a

Contributed

REAL ESTATE/HOME IMPROVEMENT

A new backsplash can add a fresh, updated look to a kitchen.

Thinking of listing in 2018?

Call me to discuss what improvements can be made now to help your house sell then!

OPEN HOUSE SUN., OCT. 22ND 1 - 3PM Route 7 West, Right on Charlestown Pike, Right on Berlin Turnpike, approximately 4 miles to #13036 Berlin Turnpike on Right.

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NEW LISTING

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LOUDOUN COUNTY .37 ACRE LOT $37,500 Rolling hills, trails, wildlife.... Quiet community offering interest in the environment and energy efficient building. Well Installed. May bring your own builder.

Convenient to Leesburg and commuter train.

breeze, thanks to the easy-to-maneuver spray wand. Equipped with Power Clean technology, it provides more spray power while containing splash, which means faster cleanup for toughto-rinse foods.

Install a Kitchen Backsplash COST: $125 - $250 (varies based on materials and if paying a pro)

BENEFITS: Creates a focal point, protects walls from cooking splatter, prevents water damage.

If your new kitchen has the blahs, a fresh backsplash may be the solution.

In addition to protective and easy-toclean qualities, a backsplash provides many customization possibilities, from UPGRADES >> 39

37 Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Single-Family Homes on 3+ Acres priced from the upper $500’s • Main-Level Owner’s Suites Available • Peaceful Views of the Loudoun Countryside • Near Leesburg’s Shopping, Dining and Vineyards • Easy Access to Dulles Greenway and Route 15 • Minutes to Downtown Waterford

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Seal Up Drafts

38

Weather stripping, caulking and other simple measures, like closing the flue damper of your fireplace when it’s not in use, can go a long way towards keeping you more comfortable in all types of weather, and improving your home’s energy efficiency.

Know Your Score

Credit: Chlorophylle/stock.adobe.com

Scrutinizing how your home uses energy is the first step to saving energy—and cash.

Steps to Save Energy in Your Home Reducing your energy use at home is a win-win for your wallet and the planet. Not only can it save you money on your bills now, but it could also improve your home’s resale value, if you know which steps to take. These simple tips can help:

always turn off the lights when leaving a room.

In the kitchen, be sure to keep a clutter-free fridge for better efficiency.

Also, don’t hem and haw over what to eat while the refrigerator door is open.

When cooking, cover pots and pans to keep the heat in and the kitchen cool.

Form Smart Habits

Make Smart Swap Outs

Energy smart habits can help you save a great deal of energy. Be sure to unplug any battery chargers or power adapters when they are not in use and

Many electronics continue to use energy even when they are switched off, however, you may wish to switch to ENERGY STAR certified alternatives,

REAL ESTATE/HOME IMPROVEMENT

CONTRIBUTED BY STATEPOINT

which are designed to conserve this energy usage, while still maintaining functions like clock displays, channel settings and remote control functions.

Also, seek out the ENERGY STAR certified label when shopping for appliances like washers, dryers and refrigerators.

Replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs is simple, easy and effective. You can save up to $70 in annual energy costs by replacing your 5 most frequently used light bulbs or fixtures with ENERGY STAR certified ones.

Another great step to save energy is to measure your home’s energy efficiency with a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index Score from the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET), a non-profit standards-making body for building energy efficiency rating and certification systems.

More than 2 million homes across the country have a HERS Index Score, which tells homeowners and prospective buyers how their homes compare to other similar ones in terms of energy usage. Think of it as the home industry’s version of the MPG (miles per gallon) rating that you find in the auto industry. The lower a home score, the higher its efficiency.

“Knowing your score can help you evaluate where to make changes to your home, from sealing leaks in your heating and cooling distribution system to updating your roof in order to be more energy efficient,” said Steve Baden, executive director of RESNET. To learn more and for more energy efficiency tips, go to resnet.us.

Reducing your carbon footprint is not about self-sacrifice. Common sense tips can help you improve your energy efficiency while making your home a more comfortable place to reside.

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BENEFITS: Maximizes space, revamps walls.

4. Replace Your Showerhead COST: $75 - $150 BENEFITS: Offers personalization, adds style, enhances daily routine.

New to DIY? Replacing a showerhead is an easy way to get your feet wet—pun intended. Whether trying to save water with a low-flow fixture or updating something out of style, swapping showerheads can be done in minutes. For ultimate customization, try a multi-function showerhead like Moen’s Attract combination handshower and rainshower with Magnetix, which provides three showering options for your perfectly personalized shower every time. Plus, the magnetic dock on the handshower makes re-docking a snap.

Add a Coat of Paint COST: $25 - $60 BENEFITS: Provides an instant makeover.

One in three millennials lacks the confidence to hang a shelf, according to Moen research, but they shouldn’t!

With practice and the right tools, installing shelving is an inexpensive project to help better utilize space Creative ways to add storage include installing floating shelves for books or adding floor-to-ceiling shelving in a closet.

Coordinate Accessories COST: $20 - $40 BENEFITS: Creates a consistent look, easy to install.

Create a cohesive look throughout your home with coordinating accessories. Choose hardware matching in color and style with the existing fixtures, sink and flooring to achieve a sophisticated feel from top to bottom., Easy-to-install accessories, like towel bars and rings with Moen’s innovative Press & Mark technology, ensure fast and accurate installation. Accessories with the technology have a washable ink stamp to show exactly where to drill (perfect for novice DIYers).

Homebuyers (especially first timers) can often be overwhelmed with improvements, but tackling one project at a time will leave you saying “there’s no place like home.”

FALL CLEARANCE IN PROGRESS NOW ON ALL PORTABLE IN STOCK BUILDING STRUCTURES AND OUTDOOR FURNITURE

REAL ESTATE/HOME IMPROVEMENT

Whether your space is screaming for a makeover (mustard walls, anyone?), or you’re itching to try new trends, a coat of paint makes a big impact. Try creating an accent wall with a pop of color or fun pattern—it’s a smaller project that’s easy for first-time DIYers.

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Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

material and color, to cost. Options could be glass mosaics, salvaged brick, or even peel-and-stick tile for easy installation (hello afternoon project).

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5 Home Maintenance Projects to Tackle this Fall CONTRIBUTED BY STATEPOINT Fall is the perfect time to complete those pesky home maintenance projects left on your to-do list. If you’ve been putting off these chores, you’re not alone, but it could cost you. In fact, a national survey from Erie Insurance shows many Americans are putting themselves and their homes at financial risk by delaying important home maintenance tasks.

Make sure you’re protected by focusing on these five areas:

The Roof Twenty-three percent of homeowners admit they never inspect their roof or have it inspected unless there is a problem, according to the Erie Insurance survey. Unfortunately, replacing a roof is also one of the biggest expenses a homeowner may have if not maintained properly. Nationally, the average homeowner spends about $6,600 to

install a new roof, but prices can soar upwards of $20,000.

Don’t be stuck with a hefty roof repair bill. Have it inspected to see if any shingles are damaged and need to be replaced. The fall season is the optimal time to do so, since roofing is best installed when temperatures are cooler.

Plus, you’ll catch any problems before winter weather kicks in.

The Gutters Make sure downspouts drain away from the foundation and are clear of debris. Clogged gutters can lead to major issues like uneven floors, cracks in walls and interior water damage. This type of claim, also known as seepage, is a maintenance issue and often not covered under your home insurance policy. To prevent any major issues, clean gutters at least twice a year in fall and spring.

The Dryer Exhaust Duct Does it take you two to three cycles to dry a load of laundry? If so, you may need to clean your dryer vent. One in five (21 percent) admit they never clean their clothes dryer ducts, unless they have a problem. But lint build-up can catch fire easily. Over 15,000 dryer fires occurred nationwide from 20102014, with the majority being ignited by dust, fiber and lint, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

Avoid this disaster with a thorough cleaning at least once a year.

The Fireplace Chimney Erie Insurance found nearly half (46 percent) of people who own a home with a fireplace never have their chimneys cleaned. However, uncleaned chimneys are a leading cause of structure fires, reports the National Fire Protection Association. So, get the chimney cleaned before the cold

weather hits and you find yourself tossing logs in the hearth to keep the house toasty, and then have it cleaned annually.

The Sump Pump and Pit Sump pumps remove excess water from homes that would otherwise cause property damage. It’s important to clean a sump pump and its pit annually to keep basements dry and help prevent mold growth and water damage. Do this maintenance project in fall to help protect against heavy rainfalls and accumulated melting snow and ice of winter.

For more information on how you can protect your home through the seasons, visit erieinsurance.com.

Now that you have your checklist, it’s time to roll up your sleeves while it’s still nice outside. Whether you’re a DIYer or prefer hiring a professional, crossing these projects off your to-do list will help ensure you’re safe and secure before temperatures drop.

[OBITUARY] REAL ESTATE/HOME IMPROVEMENT

Dr. James Ovid Wiley Dr. James Ovid Wiley, 84, of Purcellville, died at home early Tuesday morning, October 10. “Doc,” as he was locally known, was well respected in the community for his many visible and not so visible contributions he and his wife Betty made since moving to Purcellville in 1958.

Jim was born in Covington, Tennessee on November 28, 1932, to Virginia Witherington and Lawrence Wiley. He attended Maryville College in Tennessee where he met his future wife Betty Hammers. Betty and Jim married his last year in dental school at the University of Tennessee. Jim was drafted into the U.S. Naval Dental Corps and served at Parris Island, South Carolina.

His first office was located on the second floor of what is now the Purcellville Family Restaurant. While he practiced,

he was a staff member for the Loudoun Memorial Hospital for 20 years and a volunteer at the Loudoun Free Dental Clinic for 15 years.

Jim had a passion for being involved in the community in a variety of ways.

He was active in local sports, first as a member of the Town of Purcellville baseball team from 1959-1960 and then as a Little League baseball coach from 1969-1974. Jim served as Chairman of the Purcellville Area Commission, helped establish the first County Parks & Recreation Department, and was a member of the Loudoun County Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee from 1966-1972, serving as chair for three years.

Additionally, Jim was the first appointee from Loudoun County to the Board of Directors for the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority at a time when

there were 23 regional parks and seven parks in Loudoun. One of the hallmarks of this time was developing the W&OD Bike Trail for the community.

He also served on the Purcellville Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee from 2003- 2007 and on the Purcellville Town Council 2006-2014.

Golf was his passion and on the course he was only called “Doc.” He served on the Board of Directors for the Loudoun Golf & Country Club and served as president from 1986 to 1992. A tournament to benefit youth sports, an original initiative of Doc’s while on the Town Council, was named in his honor.

In 1966, Jim helped found and became a Ruling Elder of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church where he served in various capacities until 2012. He was also a founding member of the Purcellville Business Association. In 2014,

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Besides his wife, Betty, Jim is survived by three children: Karen Wiley-Eberle of Cary, North Carolina, David L. Wiley (wife, Camille) of Key West Florida, Judi Crenshaw of Richmond, Virginia and seven grandchildren, Meg and Brennan Eberle, Mariel and L.J. Wiley, Gray, Emlyn and Aidan Crenshaw, and a brother, Dan Wiley and his wife Gray, along with many beloved nieces, nephews and cousins.

Dr. Wiley’s memorial service was held Saturday, October 14 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian and he was buried in Hillsboro Cemetery.

Arrangements by Hall Funeral Home, Purcellville, VA. Please visit www.hallfh. com to express online condolences to the family.

Birthday

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Jim became a founding member of the Purcellville Arts Council and served as the first chairman.

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Purcellville Assisted Living Home staff would like to wish happy birthday to our oldest resident Mrs. Ruth Barnet who celebrated her 99th birthday. Purcellville Assisted Living Home provides assisted living services in a cozy home-like environment and located in the beautiful countryside of Purcellville, Virginia.

41

To advertise contact Classifieds: (540) 454-0831

FT/PT Positions Available LPNs, Medication Technicians, CNAs, Caregivers Purcellville Assisted Living Home in Purcellville Virginia is looking for a Full Time/ Part time LPNs, Medication Technicians, CNAs, caregivers. The candidate must be dependable, have respect and compassion for elderly. We willing to train the right candidates and offer Medication Technician and HHA certification program.

Contact: homecarealt@yahoo.com Fax: 540-822-4398 Phone: 240-409-5493

FT LPN or MA Large family practice in Loudoun County seeking FT LPN’s or MA’s for our new site located in the professional building at Stone Springs Hospital in Aldie, VA. We also have openings in our Ashburn, Lansdowne, Cornwall and Purcellville offices. Pediatric and or family practice experience preferred but willing to train the right candidate.

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[ OPINION ]

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44

Doc Wiley:

The Rate Debate County supervisors may find it a bit futile to draw the line on next year’s real estate tax rate so early in this budget review cycle.

It is a fall tradition to instruct the county administrator to, at a minimum, plan on no rate increase while also signaling their intent to trim a penny or two by the time the final vote comes next spring. That’s been the pattern year after year.

Members of the board’s finance committee last week couldn’t agree on a tax-rate goal. There’s good reason for that.

The panel’s members have had front-row seats as the county’s department managers briefed them on mounting service demands and challenges caused by long-postponed program expansions or staffing additions. Last week, they learned of the millions of dollars needed to properly staff the county’s fire and rescue response teams, for example. Then there is the recently completed compensation study that will recommend a market-based rebalancing of the paychecks earned by hundreds of county workers. Then there is the anticipated $100 million increase in requested school funding.

Despite the uptick in real estate values, the revenue side of fiscal year 2019 remains murky.

In short, the depth of next year’s budget hole is just starting to come into focus.

The supervisors’ department-level reviews will continue through the fall. It is during these sessions—not March’s hectic budget markup meetings—that county leaders can gain a thorough understanding of what is needed to provide adequate public services, to learn which programs can be curtailed or passed to the private sector, and to investigate new approaches and partnerships. It is after that work that members will be qualified to provide realistic budget guidance.

The fall tax rate vote has proved to be a favorite grandstanding opportunity of many supervisors over the years, but it doesn’t qualify as real budget work. That requires much more effort and should remain the focus of this board.

The only tax rate vote that really counts won’t come until next April.

LoudounNow

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A Legacy of Service Of the many residents who have served the Town of Purcellville, none stands as tall as the late James O. “Doc” Wiley, who died at his home last week.

The octogenarian was known for his unflinching integrity in the service of his fellows—whether that was as a dentist for 45 years, as a Purcellville Town Councilman, as a Little League coach, helping to establish the first County Parks and Recreation Department, a founding member and first chairman of the Purcellville Arts Council, or with his wife, Betty, as one of the founders of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church. His kindness and deep interest in so many facets of town and county life were legendary.

An avid golfer, Doc was happiest in the outdoors—serving on the board of directors of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, overseeing the operation of 23 regional parks over a three-decade span.

Perhaps his greatest contribution to the town he loved was his service on council. Coming late to public service in the town, he was a popular choice for voters, winning the largest share of the vote in his first term. He proved a wise and honest voice on council, where his deep knowledge of the town was

James O. Wiley

appreciated.

Outwardly an avuncular and benign figure, Wiley nevertheless was no “push over,” exhibiting a stern demeanor and ability to stand for what he considered was right, and a willingness to be the lone “no” vote if the policy or action proposed did not meet his exacting standards of what was right.

He was never one who “went along” with a proposal because it was the flavor of the moment. That was a trait that served the town well during his eight years on council.

— Margaret Morton Editor’s Note: Margaret Morton has covered the western Loudoun government beat for Leesburg Today and Loudoun Now for more than two decades.

[ LETTERS ] Time to Tame Rt. 9 Editor: The fatality on Rt. 9 just east of Hillsboro last week, a result of excessive speed and extreme recklessness, is a tragic reminder of a long-neglected, daily, threat to thousands of regional residents. This key 13-mile corridor that brings thousands of local residents, workers and tourists into and through northwestern Loudoun every day has long been notorious for its unsafe conditions. The time to tame it has come.

For nearly 15 years the Town of Hillsboro has fought for a traffic-calming project within its limits designed to “Take Back our Main Street”—the historic Charles Town Pike. High volume, high speeds and reckless driving through the narrow and compact historic village of less than 50 homes has plagued us for decades. Fortunately, our project to slow traffic, provide safe sidewalks on both sides of the road, safe onstreet public parking, safe crosswalks and several speed-inhibiting features, is set to begin next summer. We are hopeful full funding to complete the system with speed- and congestion-mitigating roundabouts will be approved this year to ensure the entire project is built as one project, one time, saving millions and years of disruption.

While we in Hillsboro are now on the verge of reducing the dangers associated with the more than 16,000 vehicles passing through our town each day, we know the entire corridor must be addressed. With the extension of our town

boundary approximately one-half mile east on Rt. 9, we’ve lowered all in-town speed limits to 25 mph, which will require reductions in the speed limit on the approaches, precisely where last week’s fatality occurred. I have called on VDOT for speed reductions along the entire corridor and we intend to work with the Sheriff Office and State Police for the initiation of a robust enforcement campaign in Hillsboro and all along Rt. 9.

The facts are clear: this corridor will continue to carry tens of thousands of motorists every day and no alternative highway will be built or corridor widening will occur in the foreseeable future. The only way to improve safety is through traffic-calming measures that will physically constrain speeds, prohibit passing, inhibit other opportunities for reckless driving and—most critically to modify the behavior of the inevitable irresponsible motorists—heightened, consistent and no-nonsense enforcement.

Taming Rt. 9 is not impossible. Willful resignation, and reluctance to taking assertive action, is entirely unacceptable. Because of relentless work by many, over many years, the taming of Rt. 9 inside the Town of Hillsboro has begun. It is time to ensure we are doing all that can be done to do the same for the entire corridor.

— Mayor Roger L. Vance Town of Hillsboro LETTERS >> 45

[ LETTERS ] line. Call your legislators.

Stop them before they get started.

— Sarah Richardson, Leesburg

Forge Ahead Editor: It’s official: with the official repeal of the Clean Power Plan underway, EPA now stands for “Enable Pollution Agency.”

By scrapping our nation’s first effort to cut carbon emissions from power plants, President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt are playing politics with Americans’ public health and safety. And with wildfires ravaging California and communities in the Gulf and Caribbean still recovering from record-setting hurricanes, this move comes as especially callous.

The EPA has a court-ruled mandate to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant; they’ve apparently turned their backs on this obligation, opting to put fossil fuel interests above our public health. With the federal plan now headed toward the trash bin, it’s even more important for Virginia to forge ahead with its plan to cut carbon pollution here in the commonwealth. By doing so we can continue to grow our clean energy economy and, along with other states pledging to continue climate action, do our part to ward off the worst climate impacts, because as their recent action shows, EPA and Trump could care less.

— Chris Tandy, Leesburg

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station 10 miles south of Leesburg.

It is one of two recent permit requests to expand existing natural gas infrastructure in Loudoun County: the WB Xpress and the Eastern Market Access, projects that can transport more than a billion cubic feet per day of fracked gas from West Virginia and Pennsylvania, some for local use and some for overseas export.

I was dismayed to hear Supervisor Buffington remark that although he opposes such expansions, he would vote to ratify the permit out of concern that the company (Columbia Gas, now owned

by Transcanada) would sue the county if the permit was denied, as it conformed to technical land use requirements. This pinhole vision, collectively, has gotten us to the state of the Earth where we are facing calamitous environmental collapse and extreme weather events that are exacerbated, if not instigated, by the continued reliance on burning fossil fuels that warm the atmosphere.

Follow the money. According to the Universal Ecological Fund’s September 2017 report, “The Economic Case for Action on Climate Change:” “Economic losses from weather events influenced by human-induced climate change and health damages due to air pollution caused by fossil fuel energy production are currently causing an average of $240 billion a year—or about 40 percent of the current economic growth of the United States economy.” Oppose the NEW pipelines proposed to cross central Virginia—the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley pipe-

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017 loudounnow.com

into the work-life of our community is important for a number of reasons. For our participants, the dignity that earnProtect Us ing a paycheck provides is immeasurEditor: able. For their families, providing these This week, we witnessed another fa- opportunities and keeping their loved tality in Loudoun County. It wasn’t one safe and supported during the day MS-13 or a gang related death. It wasn’t enables them to keep their jobs and refrom drugs, underage drinking or gun main tax payers. For the businesses that violence. It was another fatality on one employ ECHO workers, they appreciate of our overly burdened and under-pa- how much our participants contribute trolled commuter arteries. Rt. 9 and Rt. to their work environment. The partic15 carry tens of thousands of commut- ipants bring joy and happiness to the ers through our county every day and tasks at hand and truly love being into be blunt, Sheriff Chapman isn’t doing cluded. his job and people are dying.

The following organizations provide These two commuter highways are employment to ECHO participants: Ardeadly for several reasons. First, they amark at the Oath campus, The Closet are both two-lane country roads that of the Greater Herndon Area, CIS Sehave become saturated with out-of-state cure Computing, Good Shepherd Thrift commuters. They were never designed Stores, Inova Loudoun Hospital and Into carry these loads. Second, because ova Cornwall, Janelia Research Campus they were never designed to carry these at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, loads, the commute becomes bogged K2M, Loudoun County Government, down and traffic becomes irregular and Loudoun County Public Schools, PPI, drivers become frustrated. And lastly, REHAU Americas, Reston Limousine, because the Sheriff ’s Office has decided and TTM Technologies. that these roads need not be monitored ECHO’s success also depends on the or patrolled adequately during peak generosity of organizations and busihours, commuter behavior is unchecked nesses. I’d like to thank the following and frustrated commuters do stupid, il- for their impactful donations this past legal things. These roads have become year: Claude Moore Foundation, Dulles lawless speedways. The sheriff is not do- Greenway, Rotary Club of Dulles Intering his job. national Airport, Blossom and Bloom Sheriff Chapman was elected to keep Thrift Shop, GEICO, K2M, Rotary Club us safe. We all know that there are nu- of Leesburg, Janelia Research Campus at merous threats and many have been Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Fairhandled professionally. We have task haven Homes, REHAU North Americas, forces to address some of these threats Nino Vaghi Foundation, Community but the number one killer in the county Foundation for Loudoun and Northseems to remain unchecked. We need ern Fauquier, Allegra Printing, On The you to make this a priority, and not just Banks magazine and St. Andrew’s Presfor a little while. We need a permanent byterian Church in Purcellville. law enforcement presence on these There are many individuals, too many roads during commute hours. And to list here, who have donated their please don’t tell us that there is no place time, treasure and talents to ECHO. I’d for officers to safely pull motorists over. like to specifically thank the members of There are ways to address that issue and our volunteer Board of Directors: David maintain officer safety. And funding for Ludwig, Roy Weidner, Richard Jollon, this program can come directly from the Jean O’Meara, Bill Teringo, Laurraine fines and penalties collected.

Landolt, Philip Lee, Dave MacDonald, But it is unfortunate that it seems as if Betsy Sue Scott and Tony Summers. the tasking of officers is often prioritized As our area of Virginia has grown, so to whomever contributed to the sheriff ’s too has the need. The disability comcampaign. We have seen speed traps on munity is the world’s most inclusive residential roads just yards from these minority: people of every color, gender, commuter highways, officers tasked to religion, ethnicity or age are, or may beoversee events attended by wealthy con- come, a member of the disability comtributors, and assets prioritized during munity. election cycles to parts of the county ECHO is committed to our particwith the most votes hanging in the bal- ipants and we must figure out creative ance. As law enforcement officers, we ways to outrun some severe cuts to our are asking the sheriff to please put our operating revenue. Medicaid recently safety first and saturate the commuter changed the way they reimburse proroads with officers. As an elected offi-� viders like ECHO and this year they decial, we demand that he put our safety creased their funding to us by $140,000. first and that he does what he was hired There are ways you can impact our to do: Protect us. mission now. Be part of our annual Ten— Mike Keane, Purcellville nis Classic fundraiser or Tour de ECHO cycling fundraiser. Explore how you can You Can Help hire ECHO workers. Advertise on one of our buses. Consider being an ECHO Editor: October is National Disability Em- Board Member or become an Annual ployment Awareness Month, a time Sponsor. If you’d like to learn more, I’d to celebrate the many contributions love to hear from you.

— Paul Donohue Jr., Purcellville of America’s workers with disabiliMr. Donohue is the CEO of ECHO. He ties. Since 1975, ECHO, based in Leesburg, has provided employment oppor- can be reached at pauld@echoworks.com tunities to adults with disabilities.

On behalf of the more than 550 indi- Stop Them viduals and their families who ECHO Editor: has served over the years, I want to The Loudoun County Planning Comthank the community for the support mission and the Board of Supervisors you have provided. recently approved a permit application Including people with disabilities for upgrading a natural gas compressor << FROM 44

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Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

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cess we’ve been working on the last few weeks it’s different, much better. The support from the town, the response time is way faster.” ​Schnibbe said there still is a need for more hands-on support for small businesses. Those new to Leesburg can easily be overwhelmed by the amount of required paperwork and red tape.

“It’s really hard to go through these guidelines and some things there are just no guidelines,” he said. “I know there’s a lot of rules and regulations but it would be nice to have a person who can walk you through the process especially if you’re new to this.”

Hurdles << FROM 3 About two months after Wolf ’s announcement, Wells reorganized the Town Manager’s Office, promoting then-Parks and Recreation Department Director Kaj Dentler to deputy town manager; tapping Scott Parker as an assistant to the town manager; and moving Marantha Edwards to the head of the Economic Development Department. The concept was to have the Town Manager’s Office and Economic Development Department work in sync to avoid confusion in the process and present a unified front to existing or prospective businesses.

Five years later, the town was recognized by the Virginia Municipal League for its work in right-sizing its development process. And Wolf Furniture ultimately decided to give the town a second chance. The showroom opened on Fort Evans Road in late 2012.

“There was an enormous change in the attitude of the political situation toward growth from when we first acquired property and had difficulty getting approvals to develop it versus when the town came back and said, ‘let›s give it another try,’” Wolf Furniture's Vice President J. Douglas Wolf said in an interview last week. “The difference was night and day.”

While pleased with Wolf ’s Leesburg store—its only one in Virginia and among the top-third in store performance for the 115-year-old company—Wolf does regret the delay. When the doors finally opened in 2012, the nation was in the midst of a lingering economic recession and had missed the last crest of Loudoun’s booming housing market. “It would’ve been one of the higher water marks,” he said.

Also, for all the “time, energy and capital” the company invested in the initial development process, Wolf may have been able to open stores in other markets.

Room to Improve Since the development process was revamped, Leesburg town staff has said that no one should expect to see a “mission accomplished” sign hung outside of Town Hall anytime soon.

The sentiment remains today, now with Dentler serving as the town manager since Wells’ retirement in 2014. ​In his first year as town manager, he lead what he called a “focus group review” of the entire land development process. “It showed we are better but still have room to improve,” he said. ​And that feeling remains today, felt by those both on and off the council dais, and in and outside of Town Hall.

Mayor Kelly Burk, who was a member of the Town Council when Wolf announced its 2007 exodus, said one of the key things she continues to hear from the development community is a need for consistency.

“Everybody wants to be treated fairly,” she said. “Whatever rules you put in place, you need to make sure they’re consisently enforced. If [the business community] knows what the rules are [they’ll] play by them.”

Developers and property owners in-

Building Trust

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Mike Kasun, general manager of Wolf’s Furniture store in Leesburg.

terviewed for this article were reluctant to share their views, fearing retribution or delay in pending reviews. While just about all agreed that town staff ’s attitude was in the right place, many said that serious changes needed to be made to the process.

One developer noted that initial meetings with town staff that were supposed to focus on the general zoning concepts were instead focused on minutiae and design details usually reserved for much later in the process, an approach that adds to the length and cost reviews.

One developer who has regularly done business in Leesburg said the town still has “a long way to go” on fixing its review process. The developer, who asked not to be identified, said in recent conversations with town staff he believes there is the desire to make the changes, but said some Town Council members need to get on board if they want to attract new businesses and development.

“Those seven people have to be supportive of making themselves more competitive. The [development] standards are higher than most jurisdictions we deal with in all respects.

There’s very little wiggle room for interpretation or varying circumstances; everything is very, very by the book and the book is very big. The attitude needs to change to ‘how do we get to yes’ instead of ‘how can we say no,’” he said.

One developer pointed to Market Station in downtown Leesburg, a past recipient of design awards, and said such a project would never be able to get approved with today’s standards.

Current town ordinances as they relate to engineering, stormwater, and transportation are out of sync with urban compact environments and instead are more geared to suburban-style development, he said.

Hobie Mitchel, whose projects include Crescent Place and Crescent Parke, said it’s all about expectations when it comes to doing business with the county seat.

“You’ve got to have good quality plans and good quality things to go and submit. It’s about sitting down with [town staff] and making sure you’re clear about what the expectations are,” Mitchel said.

He suggested that the town staff could start by asking “how far into the minutiae do you have to get, what are the important things and are [they] overdoing some things?”

Edwards and Public Information Officer Betsy Arnett are tasked with reaching out to property owners, developers, and stakeholders to get their input about the current review process.

They will present a report to the Town Council on their findings next month.

“In many ways, it’s the follow-up of ‘hey we’ve made all these changes.’ Some of it is process, procedural changes and some of it is cultural within the organization,” Arnett said.

“We’re looking at what’s stuck, what’s working, what do we need to focus on next.”

There’s always room for improvement, all agree.

“We don’t ever want to dust off our hands and say we’re done. I genuinely do believe we are better than we were.

There’s no question—that’s empirically true,” Arnett said.

Edwards said the recent interviews they’ve engaged in have revealed some frustration with the current review process, some as it relates to consistency, others as it relates to zoning rules and regulations.

Something Has Changed For Nils Schnibbe, co-owner of Captain Catoctin’s Crabs and Concoctions in downtown Leesburg, the process has gotten better, just in less than a year. Captain Catoctin’s opened in the spring and Schnibbe is working to open a second restaurant on S. King Street called SideBar. “Something has changed,” he said. “[Town staff] was way more welcoming. With Captain Catoctin’s we were slowed down in a way where it was not really that helpful. But with this pro-

Now retired and splitting his time between homes in Pennsylvania and Arizona, Wells still manages to pass through Leesburg on occasion. And he is pretty pleased with what he sees.

“I think what I’ve seen in the last three years since I’ve gone is success was defined not by what wasn’t approved, it’s what got built. I’ve seen the work that’s been done at Barber and Ross, Oaklawn, Lowes, the continuous development of the Village at Leesburg. Those things are in the ground now. That’s really the ultimate measure of how the process works—do things get built,” he said.

Bill Ackman, head of the town’s Plan Review Department, said, on average, the town is getting applicants through the development review process between five and eight months. Some sooner if it’s a Town Council priority, he said, pointing to the K2M headquarters relocation from a couple years ago. That’s progress compared to a decade ago, when the average review process took a year or more, with multiple submissions. Today, the average number of submissions is three, including final signature sets, he said.

“One of the things that has really helped the process is we have meetings with the developer and engineer throughout the process and that was lacking before,” he said. “Things are so much better because time isn’t wasted anymore on guessing what the town wants. It’s more predictable.”

Like his predecessor, Dentler isn’t keen to rest on his laurels when it comes to the development review process. In the New Year, he is kicking off a five-day process improvement initiative that will scrutinize the development process piece by piece.

“Ultimately, it allows us to break down the process and [ask] why do you do this, do that, and how to do it better. It will create a report that includes a variety of action steps to do those improvements,” he said.

For Dentler, his goal is a streamlined process that is more predictable.

It’s just another rung in the ladder of Leesburg leaders’ goals to never go back to the darkest days of a decade past and to always look for ways to be better.

“The goal is to continue to encourage the community and world around us to feel confident in Leesburg,” Edwards said. “To treat people like investors. Nobody wants to invest in something you don’t trust.” krodriguez@loudounnow.com

<< FROM 1

Allergy guidelines << FROM 1

create an “allergy aware culture” in the schools.

“It had a lot of good information, but when you have a student in a crisis, you don’t need 65 pages. You need streamlined information that says ‘here’s your responsibility and how to get help quickly,’” Bowers said.

The new student allergy handbook was the result of six months’ worth of work. To tackle the task, Bowers’ office formed a committee of administrators, principals, teachers, nurses and parents. Bowers said the group met several times from February through July to decide what essentials should go in the handbook and what could be taught to teachers through training.

Jeannie Kloman, supervisor of School Health Services, said that health specialists and nurses now train teachers with PowerPoint presentations and hands-on demonstrations to recognize the signs of a person experiencing anaphylaxis and how to use an epinephrine auto-injector, or EpiPen. Bowers has assured concerned parents that school staff members, from the teachers to the principals, are still asked to do everything they can to ensure students have a safe and comfortable learning environment.

“We recognize there was a concern there about whether this [new hand-

book] has enough quality information for staff to make sure our kids are protected. The answer is yes,” Bowers said.

“Staff needs to know what to do in an emergency, how to make sure students are safe, and make sure that, as a school team, that the staff understands what the responsibilities are across the board.”

The new handbook says that caring for students with food allergies is a shared responsibility. It asks all stakeholders—school staff, parents and students—to model six practices to be “allergy aware”: maintain confidentiality, practice safety, and to be inclusive, proactive, educated, and responsible.

On that note, Bowers and Kloman say their goal is for “allergy aware” to become second nature for everyone working in every public school in Loudoun.

To get there, it will take partnering with parents who know first-hand the dangers that come with their children’s food allergies.

“We want to hear from parents on this. Show us where there can be changes,” Bowers said. “We’ll continue to take that input because we ultimately all want the same thing: for the child to be safe.” dnadler@loudounnow.com

loudounnow.com

Nicole Cohen’s family moved to ​ Loudoun County in 2011 because of the school system’s air-tight food allergy guidelines. “Now, sadly, I feel like the new guidelines are moving LCPS backwards when food allergies are at an alltime high.”

She said the previous guidelines had more action verbs and language that placed more responsibility on school staff.

“It’s too vague,” agreed Jennifer Reichard, whose 7-year-old son is allergic to sesame. She noted that the new handbook states the teacher “should communicate” with parents about events or lessons that could put children with food allergies at risk. “Should is a suggestion and leaves room for interpretation. The teacher must contact the parent. As a parent I must know my child is safe when he is in your hands.”

School leaders said they want parents’ feedback on the new guidelines, and made sure Glancey and other parents of students with severe allergies were invited to serve on the committee formed to revamp the 2017-2018 handbook.

Clark Bowers, director of Student Services and who oversaw the effort, said the goal of the new handbook was to streamline the message—it was condensed from 65 to 25 pages—and to take a more preventative approach to

47

provided equal access to education and inclusive practices—much of that has been reduced or removed,” Glancey said. “As parents we try to teach our kids how to manage their food allergy.

But it can be difficult and emotional for them especially if they are excluded from things that their peers get to do.”

In recent years, educators have been asked to do more to ensure the safety of a growing number of students in their classrooms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the prevalence of food allergy in children increased by 50 percent between 1997 and 2011. Roughly one in 13 children in the U.S. have food allergies. ​In Loudoun, 10.8 percent (8,880) of the county’s public school students have food allergies, and 3.4 percent (2,776) have severe enough allergies that they carry EpiPens, which inject epinephrine to reverse the symptoms caused by an allergic reaction. The school system creates an individual health care plan for each of those children that school staff is required to follow.

Buona (R-Ashburn) said this is another problem that can be traced at least in part back to a law the General Assembly passed in 2016 restricting proffer agreements between developers and localities—one of the most important ways Loudoun gets affordable dwelling units built or checks written to the Housing Trust Fund. Although Loudoun has devised a workaround to keep negotiating proffers in much of the county, Buona pointed out the county has had no large rezoning requests since the law was changed.

“So again it comes back to, no rezonings, no ADUs (affordable dwelling units),” Buona said. “And yeah, we have to be willing to approve rezonings, but we’re not even getting asked for rezonings.”

According to the housing primer, the median income in the DC area for a household of four is $110,300. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development considers area households making $88,240 or less to be low-income—and in Loudoun, 48 percent of the workforce makes only half that. That amounts to almost 78,000 people with jobs in Loudoun making $44,120 or less.

About 44 percent of Loudoun’s workforce commutes in from outside the county daily, mostly from cheaper places to live. And wages are far from keeping up with housing costs—since 2000, the median income for the DC area rose by 25 percent, while the median home price in Loudoun more than doubled.

The report also shows the median Loudoun family cannot afford the median-priced Loudoun house. The rule-ofthumb measure for what house a family can afford—three times their household income—has the median household with a budget for a $330,900 house. In Loudoun, the median house sale price in 2017 is $469,500.

rgreene@loudounnow.com

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or just remove barriers to it. That could include taking another look at reducing minimum lot sizes and yard requirements and opening some properties to the construction of accessory dwellings, such as a mother-in-law suite. County planners will try to encourage more compact units on smaller lot sizes, with more flexible development standards.

Monday’s housing summit brought together representatives from industry sectors ranging from development, to conservation, to real estate, to health care. Several people addressed the board to talk about how critical and complex Loudoun’s affordable housing problem is.

Organizations like the Dulles Area Association of Realtors, the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association, and the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce said the county needs homes for people at every income. And the county’s Economic Development Advisory Commission joined a chorus of voices casting Loudoun’s housing problem as a barrier to economic growth.

“Lack of attainable and desirable housing is adversely impacting many of our existing businesses, and may affect our ability to retain these businesses if the issue is left unaddressed,” said commission Chairwoman Sharon Virts. She said in preparation for the summit, the commission gathered input from across every sector of the economy, along with organizations like Visit Loudoun, the CEO Cabinet, and the Rural Economic Development Commission.

“The response was overwhelmingly consistent,” Virts said. “The Loudoun business community is struggling to attract and retain workers due in large

dais highlighted the complexity of the problem.

Supervisors Suzanne M. Volpe (R-Algonkian) and Ron A. Meyer Jr. (R-Broad Run) saw the housing problem as a reason to approve more rezoning requests from developers.

“Part of this is just plain and simple: it’s supply and demand,” Volpe said. “So, we get to that plain fact and are able to explain it to our residents across the county, that yes, you enjoy living here, but if we hadn’t let a developer build your house, you wouldn’t have a place to live. And that person that mows your lawn, or takes care of you at the checkout line in the grocery store, they need a place to live, too.”

Meyer brought up an application by One Loudoun to build 685 apartments and 40 townhomes. Supervisors denied that application, then reconsidered it and approved a scaled-back version with 200 apartments and 40 townhomes.

“I’m really concerned that we’re spinning our wheels, because I think there’s very little political will—much less will of the public—to actually identify sites we’re actually going to build anything on, as far as residential,” Meyer said.

“The few applications we’ve had before us, we’ve either minimized the amount of residential or cut it out altogether.”

Meyer grew argumentative, exasperating County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) and cutting her off. She thanked him for his passion, which she said he comes by honestly.

Meyer said he’s experienced housing instability and even homelessness as a child of a single mother.

“I don’t think you’re alone in caring about this issue, though,” Randall said.

“In fact, I can assure you you’re not alone. Just because I’d like to see affordable housing in the county doesn’t mean every single application that may have affordable housing is appropriate for that place at that time.”

And board Vice Chairman Ralph M.

Oct. 19 – 25, 2017

Affordable housing

part to the lack of attainable, affordable housing options in the county.”

A comprehensive primer on housing prepared in collaboration among several county departments reports on several specific cases, such as Cuisine Solutions, a food manufacturer in Sterling that spends $1 million a year in van pool services, car pools, and other transportation to transport employees to and from Winchester, Prince William, Manassas and Fauquier counties.

Others, like Gretchen Greiner-Lott of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, pointed to the impacts of high-cost housing in other areas, like health.

“For instance, when people have high housing payments, they have less money to pay for nutritious food or good quality medical care,” Greiner-Lott said. “… Sometimes it is a person’s house itself that make a person sick, if it exposes them to toxins like lead, or insect and rodent infestations.”

Stacey Miller Metcalfe, of Inova Loudoun Hospital, agreed that the cost of housing isn’t just a problem for the business of the hospital, but possibly for the care.

And G. Kimball Hart of the Windy Hill Foundation, Loudoun’s only active, dedicated affordable housing developer, said part of the problem is the regulatory environment.

“The marketplace will not provide workforce housing on its own without incentives,” Hart said. “…The price of land here is too high. The only way you do it is with incentives. So far, Loudoun County has a big stick and a little tiny carrot.”

“Affordable housing starts with affordable financing,” agreed Jim Edmondson of E&G Group, another developer of affordable housing in the DC region. “I can’t rent units for a thousand dollars that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to create.”

Disagreements on the supervisors’

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