[0:55] ai lant.

[3:30] >> councilmember fox will be

[3:32] giving the invocation followed

[3:38] by the pledge of allegince from

[3:40] councilmember bagdassarian.

[3:41] MS. Fox?

[3:42] >> tonight I'm just going say

[3:44] that I'm thankful for the

[3:45] privilege of being here this

[3:47] evening and serveg you

[3:49] serving you tonight

[3:51] and I'm thankful to be in this

[3:53] wonderful town and country and

[3:56] for the liberties afforded us in

[3:58] this country and I ask that we

[4:01] ask to preserve our individual

[4:02] libtds in this

[4:06] liberties and so would you take

[4:07] a noament

[4:10] moment to reflect on the things

[4:12] in your lives that you are

[4:18] thankful for.

[4:18] Thank you.

[4:25] >> thank you.

[4:45] MR. Bagdassarian?

[4:45] [Inaudible]

[4:47] >> all right, let the record

[4:49] reflect that all members of town

[4:50] council are here tonight.

[4:53] We have two work session

[4:56] minutes, one from SEPTEMBER 13,

[4:56] 2021.

[5:00] Do I have a motion to accept

[5:00] them?

[5:04] Vice-mayor martinez second by

[5:05] councilmember cummings, all in

[5:06] favor, aye -- perng.

[5:07] >>

[5:11] >> I'm going abstain --

[5:15] >> okay, so that is 6-0-1, and

[5:20] regular minutes of the SEPTEMBER

[5:23] 14th meeting, all in favor

[5:25] indicate by saying aye.

[5:25] Opposed?

[5:29] So that is 7-0.

[5:30] Adopting the meeting --

[5:31] >> MADAM Mayor.

[5:33] >> do I have a motion to adopt

[5:37] the meeting agenda?

[5:39] Moved by councilmember martinez

[5:40] and second?

[5:42] >> second

[5:45] second.

[5:47] >> councilmember steinberg.

[5:48] >> do you have a change --

[5:50] >> I would loo

[5:54] like to move c and

[5:57] the hope is this item can be

[6:00] reconsidered at the

[6:01] the council's

[6:02] next meet.

[6:06] >> you are tabling it to the

[6:14] OCTOBER 12 meeting?

[6:20] All right, all in favor of the

[6:25] motion to defer to OCTOBER 22 --

[6:27] did I say the right day?

[6:35] The 12th okay, the 12th.

[6:39] Okay to the town manager can get

[6:41] information that came in late

[6:42] this afternoon.

[6:44] All in favor, aye.

[6:47] Opposed?

[6:50] Okay, so that is 6-0-1.

[6:52] All right, we have no

[6:53] certificates of recognition but

[6:55] we do have a presentation for

[7:01] the national arts and humanities

[7:04] month.

[7:05] Gets over in your space?

[7:06] I'm sorry.

[7:09] All right, I'm going read this

[7:10] proclamation and then I'm going

[7:18] to go down on the floor and

[7:20] kaeley boyle is going to accept

[7:21] this.

[7:22] This is national arts and

[7:27] humanities month, OCTOBER 2021.

[7:29] Whereas, the covid-19 pandemic

[7:29] has devastated america'

[7:29] s arts

[7:30] sector, with 99% of producing

[7:31] and presenting organizations

[7:32] having canceled events with

[7:35] artists being among the most

[7:37] severely affected segment of the

[7:37] nation'

[7:39] s workforce;

[7:41] yet, notwithstanding this fact

[7:41] the arts have helped

[7:43] collectively lead us throughout

[7:45] the darkest times of the

[7:45] pandemic-

[7:46] lifting our spirits,

[7:46] unifying communities, and

[7:47] helping to jump-start the

[7:49] economy;

[7:49] and whereas, the nation'

[7:52] s

[7:53] 120,000 non-profit arts

[7:55] organizations, the national

[7:56] endowment for the arts, the

[7:57] national endowment for the

[7:59] humanities, the nation'

[7:59] s 4,500

[8:02] local arts agencies, and the

[8:03] arts and humanities councils of

[8:06] our 50 states and six U.S.

[8:07] Jurisdictions and districts have

[8:09] regularly issued official

[8:11] proclamations on an annual basis

[8:12] designating OCTOBER as national

[8:15] arts and humanities month;

[8:16] and whereas, cities and states-

[8:17] through their local and state

[8:19] arts agencies representing

[8:20] thousands of cultural

[8:20] organizations-

[8:22] have celebrated

[8:23] the value and importance of

[8:24] culture in the lives of

[8:26] americans and the health of

[8:27] thriving communities during

[8:29] national arts and humanities

[8:31] month for several years;

[8:32] and whereas, the humanities help

[8:33] diverse communities across the

[8:35] united states explore their

[8:36] history and culture with the

[8:38] support and partnership of the

[8:39] national endowment for the

[8:41] humanities, the 50 state and six

[8:42] territorial and district

[8:44] humanities councils, and local

[8:45] educational and cultural

[8:49] institutions;

[8:52] and whereas, we recognize the

[8:53] loudoun arts film festival as a

[8:54] non-profit organization in our

[8:55] community serving as a platform

[8:56] for independent filmmaking,

[8:58] creative expression, and

[9:00] immersive entertainment;

[9:01] therefore, proclaimed, that the

[9:03] mayor and council of the town of

[9:04] leesburg in virginia do hereby

[9:06] proclaim OCTOBER as national

[9:08] arts and humanities month, and

[9:09] recognize kaeley boyle as the

[9:16] co-founder and director of

[9:17] loudoun arts film festival.

[9:19] We call upon our community

[9:20] members to celebrate and promote

[9:20] the arts and culture in our

[9:21] nation and to specifically

[9:22] encourage greater participation

[9:23] by those said community members

[9:24] in taking action for the arts

[9:25] and humanities in their towns

[9:26] and cities.

[9:27] Proclaimed this 28th day of

[9:31] SEPTEMBER, 2021.

[9:33] So I'm going to go down and

[9:36] present this to kaeley at this

[9:38] point and if you would just give

[9:43] me a couple of minutes.

[9:48] And so kaeley is here, there she

[9:51] s and I want to recognize kaeley

[9:53] for the fact that she started

[9:58] this film festival and then

[10:00] covid hit and she had to do it

[10:01] virtually and now you are able

[10:04] to do it in person.

[10:07] Eye tended several events and I

[10:08] was so impressed.

[10:09] The quality of the filming and

[10:12] the topics, just a really

[10:15] thoughtful time to reflect on

[10:17] what I had just seen.

[10:18] And so I really appreciate you

[10:19] doing this and the organization

[10:22] you put together for a two-week

[10:23] festival is just amazing.

[10:24] I want to thank you very much

[10:26] and I want to give you this as a

[10:28] recognition for all of your hard

[10:30] work but I would like you to say

[10:31] a few words about it and what it

[10:33] meant to you to today

[10:35] do all ofnlg.

[10:35] >> thank

[10:41] of this.>> I would be remiss not to

[10:44] think about owen my cofounder.

[10:46] We started this DECEMBER 2019

[10:49] and come up with this idea and

[10:50] then covid hit.

[10:52] And we were able to do a

[10:54] drive-in last year mixed with a

[10:56] virtual festival but it's been

[10:59] just such a blessing to bring it

[11:01] back to leesburg which was the

[11:05] original intend and jack

[11:07] jack

[11:10] o'donnel and ellen, we would not

[11:11] have been able to do this

[11:12] without them.

[11:14] >> thank you and if you ever go

[11:18] by the bridge that goes over the

[11:19] town branch and there is a

[11:23] bridge there on king street and

[11:24] look over the side of the

[11:27] bridge, kaeley is the artist who

[11:29] did the train mural on both

[11:30] sides, and I'm sure that you

[11:32] could write a book on that.

[11:34] Thank you for all that you do

[11:36] and for making the arts to

[11:37] important.

[11:44] [Applause]

[11:46] >> okay, we have a presentation

[11:50] from the tree commission.

[11:53] Elizabeth welsh is she here?

[12:01] Oh, there is elizabeth.

[12:07] Good evening.

[12:08] >> okay, thank you.

[12:13] My name is elizabeth,

[12:15] commissioner for -- I'm a tree

[12:19] commissioner and today I'm

[12:19] speaking on the spotted

[12:21] lanternfly and threet it

[12:25] threat to poses

[12:28] to loudoun, leesburg and the

[12:29] northern virginia region.

[12:31] In our lifetimes we have lost or

[12:34] are losing the following trees

[12:38] to these diseases or insects,

[12:47] american chestnut and the elms

[12:49] and ash, and while the spotted

[12:53] lanternfly will not destroy one

[12:54] tree in particular it is a

[13:02] threat to our agriculture and

[13:04] especially our wine and stone

[13:07] fruit industries such as apple

[13:10] orchards and cherry trees,

[13:12] anything in the stone fruit

[13:12] family.

[13:17] This is an invasive species from

[13:18] asia, and they are losely

[13:22] related to the cicada family and

[13:25] look like moths but act more

[13:27] like grasshoppers in my opinion

[13:30] and I sadly had the opportunity

[13:33] see some in person in

[13:34] pennsylvania two weekends ago,

[13:36] and they usually hop from one

[13:38] place to another but there has

[13:40] been a record of them flying up

[13:41] to 10 miles.

[13:43] They do not pose a threat to

[13:46] humans or animals, however they

[13:51] do consume grapevines, stone

[13:54] fruit trees, hard woods and

[13:57] other plants and I will goat to get to

[13:59] the damage in a bit and it could

[14:01] have a devastating impact on our

[14:02] local economy.

[14:06] Just to give you the stages of

[14:08] development for the spotted

[14:10] lanternfly, there are four nymph

[14:14] stages which you see here.

[14:17] They are most obvious at their

[14:19] fourth stage and a lot of people

[14:23] mistake them for lady dugger

[14:23] bugs

[14:25] dug

[14:30] bugs froma distance until you see the

[14:33] mature adult, and those are the

[14:35] egg nests and those can be

[14:38] scraped offer and destroyed and

[14:42] I hate to be indelicate, but you

[14:45] can swish them.

[14:49] They are resistant to cold

[14:51] weather and will definitely

[14:52] survive our winters.

[14:55] Here are key identifiers.

[14:59] I will leave this up for a few

[15:00] seconds.

[15:02] Okay, so the preferred host tree

[15:03] is unfortunately another

[15:05] invalentine's dayive to

[15:07] valentine's

[15:10] invasive and that is the tree of

[15:12] heaven, of which we have many,

[15:14] many in leesburg, it is the host

[15:16] tree they need to complete their

[15:17] life sickle and

[15:19] sick cycle

[15:23] cycle and they use this

[15:27] tree to feed and that makes them

[15:29] undesirable to predators like

[15:32] birds because they end up

[15:34] tasting very bitter.

[15:36] So they have a lack of

[15:37] predators, too.

[15:40] Here is an example of trees

[15:43] under attack.

[15:46] More importantly and the

[15:48] grapevines totally swarmed.

[15:50] And again two weeks ago I

[15:51] personally got to see this in

[15:53] action and it was pretty

[15:55] disturbing to see in person but

[16:00] they do indeed swarm like this.

[16:03] So as of right now, pennsylvania

[16:05] has the most complete data and

[16:08] so to compare ourselves to

[16:13] themselves, they are estimate

[16:15] around

[16:29] 324 to -- million a year and 484

[16:31] jobs have been lost so far in

[16:32] pennsylvania.

[16:34] So what is the more direct

[16:34] damage?

[16:35] I have talked about the

[16:37] economics but there is also

[16:40] physical damage, too, and they

[16:43] feed from the floam of most

[16:47] trees and love walnuts, birch,

[16:49] and maple as well.

[16:51] Plenty of trees that we have

[16:52] here in leesburg.

[16:56] And they cause the trees to leak

[16:57] honeydew which is damaging to

[17:00] cars and our property and it

[17:02] leaves the trees vulnerable to

[17:04] other diseases, the biggest of

[17:08] which is mold which is difficult

[17:10] to manage and can destroy trees.

[17:13] So how close can it?

[17:15] Mixed report, I was going to

[17:17] skip straight through this

[17:18] because last week we already had

[17:20] a report that it was here in

[17:22] loudoun but then it was a false

[17:24] alarm but there have been social

[17:26] media posts throughout that I

[17:29] have seen myself, even at market

[17:33] station of seeing life spotted

[17:33] lanternflies.

[17:36] So it's on our borders but it's

[17:40] been verified in augusta, page,

[17:41] frederick and other countries.

[17:45] As of APRIL 2021, a while ago

[17:47] unfortunately there had been

[17:49] sitings and now we know that

[17:50] could be the case.

[17:52] And here is a map as of two

[17:56] weeks ago what we had and so now

[17:58] fairfax and loudoun would

[17:59] possibly be added to that, too.

[18:02] So what can the town of leesburg

[18:03] do and when we are asking?

[18:10] We are asking the town to create

[18:11] a proclamation for spotted

[18:13] lanternfly awareness ago there

[18:15] are not many farms here within

[18:17] our town borders, we definitely

[18:19] have the tree of heaven.

[18:21] And we have host plants for the

[18:22] spotted lanternfly that will

[18:23] effect the rest to

[18:27] of the county.

[18:31] I estimated looking up data that

[18:31] for example our vin

[18:37] architectural design standards win yards and

[18:39] wine tourism creates about 56

[18:41] million a year and that is at

[18:43] risk and they would like to have

[18:45] campaigned and social media

[18:47] posts to reach out to our

[18:47] citizens.

[18:49] And just for everyone here, how

[18:52] they can help, and for the

[18:56] commissioners who have this

[18:58] presentation, for more

[18:59] information, but learn to

[19:04] identify the life stages as you

[19:10] follow the nymph stage and it

[19:11] they are difficult to identify

[19:13] but once they get to the fourth

[19:15] stage it's easy to identify

[19:15] them.

[19:18] And removing the tree of heaven,

[19:21] if it's possible for people to

[19:23] remove those from their

[19:24] property, that is best but I

[19:27] have seen towns in pennsylvania

[19:30] and the mid-atlantic, they are

[19:33] leaving what we are calling

[19:34] entrapment trees of heaven but

[19:37] they are specifically used to

[19:39] trap nymphs and kill and dispose

[19:41] of them.

[19:42] Inspect your surroundings and

[19:46] look for egg masses and check

[19:52] tree trucks, wheel wells and

[19:55] storage buildings and fences and

[19:58] rock, they are adhere easily.

[20:00] When we left the other day and I

[20:03] went up to pennsylvania, we

[20:07] stopped along the way -- once we

[20:09] got a little bit out of town to

[20:11] check our vehicle because there

[20:15] are just that many and they are

[20:15] hitchhikers.

[20:17] Take pictures and/or pap

[20:19] capture in

[20:21] a container and please report

[20:21] it.

[20:24] And if you have spotted a

[20:25] spotted lanternfly, again,

[20:27] please report it, but more

[20:29] importantly once you have taken

[20:31] the picture please destroy the

[20:33] spotted lanternfly, I know it's

[20:35] pretty, and we had this

[20:36] conversation earlier with

[20:38] another person, and they are

[20:40] like but they are so beautiful,

[20:43] but they are very damaging and

[20:43] so please destroy.

[20:46] And we also have a wealth of

[20:50] information in our commercial

[20:53] horticulturist from the virginia

[20:54] cooperative extension, and she

[20:56] is willing to give training for

[20:57] anyone who would like more

[20:58] information and information on

[21:06] how to trap and kill the

[21:06] lanternfly.

[21:09] >> thank you, very useful

[21:09] information, I don't think many

[21:12] of us realize what a predator

[21:15] this is and we'll follow flu through

[21:16] with your request.

[21:17] >> thank you very much.

[21:19] >> all right, any regional

[21:20] commission reports?

[21:22] I sent nine you previously and

[21:23] that leatds

[21:25] leatds us

[21:28] leads us to our petitioners

[22:01] section.

[22:02] One of the first orders of

[22:02] business is to hear from the

[22:03] public.

[22:04] All members of the public are

[22:04] welcomed to address the council

[22:05] on any item, matter, or issue.

[22:06] Please identify yourself, and if

[22:06] comfortable doing so, give your

[22:07] address for the taped record.

[22:07] Any public speaker will be

[22:08] requested to state their name

[22:09] and spell it for the purposes of

[22:09] closed captioning.

[22:10] In the interests of fairness, we

[22:10] also ask that you observe the

[22:11] five-minute time limit.

[22:11] If you are participating in

[22:12] person on or webex.

[22:12] The green light will turn yellow

[22:13] at the end of four minutes

[22:14] indicating you have one minute

[22:14] remaining, at that time, we

[22:15] would appreciate you summing up

[22:15] and yielding the floor when the

[22:16] bell indicates that your time

[22:16] has expired.

[22:17] For those participating on the

[22:18] phone, you will hear a bell when

[22:18] your time is up.

[22:19] And under the rules of order

[22:19] adopted by this council, the

[22:20] five-minute time limit applies

[22:20] to all.

[22:21] First up is keith reid to

[22:30] followed by vincent gonzales.

[22:36] >> I'm keith reid

[22:40] reed and I reside

[22:42] at 980 east virginia place and

[22:46] i'm here to comment on the

[22:47] covid-19 resolution that I

[22:48] understand you guys have

[22:49] deferred.

[22:51] The reason I'm not here is not

[22:53] so much to fight a vaccine

[22:54] mandate but I'm here to talk

[22:56] about overreemping

[22:58] overreefing

[23:03] overreaching by this

[23:06] council, a vote of 5-2 so bring

[23:09] this forward is not only

[23:10] concerning to me but a lot of

[23:12] other people here.

[23:14] At the end of the day at what

[23:16] point does it not bandage

[23:19] become

[23:20] overreaching.

[23:21] You might be say all of our

[23:23] employees are going to be fired

[23:25] after 90 days, okay, at what

[23:28] point do you tell me to leave

[23:30] the town because I'm not

[23:32] vaccinated and I am no longer

[23:34] allowed to live in this town

[23:35] because your mandate is about

[23:36] the vaccine.

[23:39] And what about political

[23:41] representatives elected to these

[23:42] positions?

[23:46] Are you going to go through and

[23:48] make an amendment to the state

[23:50] constitution that requires every

[23:52] single elected official to

[23:53] follow through with those

[23:53] resolutions.

[23:55] I ask you to think about what

[23:57] you're doing before you do it

[24:00] and before you put it out there,%

[24:01] why not put it out to the public

[24:03] and let them understand it and

[24:05] before you lose a lot of vital

[24:06] employees in this town, think

[24:08] about the impact there as well.

[24:08] I thank you.

[24:14] >> thank you, MR. Reed.

[24:18] MR. Gonzales followed by cesar

[24:22] chavez.

[24:22] Perng.

[24:28] >> vincent gonzales, a member of

[24:30] the leesburg mobile human had

[24:32] community and I've livered

[24:33] lived there

[24:35] 18 years nearly my whole life,

[24:37] and I'm here to remind you where

[24:39] you sit on the town council.

[24:41] You sit there to protect people

[24:43] from big quorp rations

[24:45] corporations and

[24:46] development companies.

[24:48] You sit here to protect the

[24:48] people.

[24:52] The subject has reached many

[24:56] social media outlets, something

[24:58] has never occurred in leesburg

[25:00] is the potential gentrification

[25:02] of working-class families, the

[25:04] seam

[25:07] same families labeled essential

[25:08] during the pandemic.

[25:10] We are your construction worker,

[25:15] your landscaper and painters,

[25:16] think about us and remember us.

[25:19] All eyes are on you.

[25:21] We will know who fought for us

[25:22] and who did not.

[25:25] Our community is based off

[25:26] latinos.

[25:28] We are roughly about 20% of the

[25:30] demographic population of

[25:30] leesburg.

[25:36] Our vote will be decisive come

[25:38] the town election and will

[25:39] determine if many of you

[25:41] continue to sit in those seats.

[25:43] I'm here today to ask to you

[25:43] fight for us.

[25:47] Fight for us.

[25:50] Our community has united.

[25:52] We are fighting and we want to

[25:55] stay here in leesburg.

[25:58] Help me give my community a

[25:58] voice.

[26:02] Let them be heard.

[26:04] We are leesburg as well.

[26:06] We want to stay in leesburg.

[26:08] We love leesburg.

[26:10] So please, fight for us and find

[26:12] a solution for this issue.

[26:14] Thank you for your time.

[26:17] >> thank you, MR. Gonzales.

[26:20] The clerk, could you please --

[26:23] the time is three, not five.

[26:23] Okay.

[26:29] And cesar chavez followed by

[26:35] andy argupta.

[26:41] >> I'm cesar chavez, I'm here to

[26:43] ask you guys to help us come up

[26:45] to a solution and answers for

[26:47] our community, we've been asking

[26:49] and not getting clear answers

[26:50] for our community and it's

[26:52] uncertain what will be our lives

[26:54] ayear from now after this

[26:55] corporation dmos and takes

[26:58] comes in and takes

[27:00] over our land and we want to

[27:03] know if we'll be able to stay in

[27:03] leesburg.

[27:05] I've been in the community ten

[27:06] years and I think living in such

[27:08] a good wear in

[27:11] area in leesburg has

[27:13] helped me be the person that I

[27:14] am today and raise children in

[27:16] schools that are great.

[27:17] Loudoun county is known as one

[27:20] of the top school areas in the

[27:20] country.

[27:22] And for us to have that

[27:23] opportunity is only because we

[27:25] live in a neighborhood that is

[27:26] affordable that we would not

[27:27] have in another county.

[27:29] Living in this county has helped

[27:32] not only us but has helped many

[27:34] of you guys as business owners

[27:35] and community leaders here today

[27:38] and we will ask that you return

[27:40] to us the help we need to

[27:41] continue to sai stay in

[27:44] stay in the

[27:46] community that we love, others

[27:48] have been here 20 years and now

[27:51] we are being kicked out and we

[27:53] don't know where to go and don't

[27:55] have answers so we know what

[27:56] follows afterwards.

[27:58] >> thank you.

[28:02] Next is andy argupta.

[28:08] >> good been evening.

[28:10] `and I've been living in a

[28:12] trailer park since I first moved

[28:13] in around 10 years ago.

[28:16] Many of the families there such

[28:18] as my own have worked hard to

[28:21] own a trailer to call it home,

[28:23] not wanting to continue hunting

[28:26] for affordable housing and tired

[28:29] of working just to afford a roof

[28:31] over their heads.

[28:33] We are all working-class members

[28:37] of society and all try our best

[28:41] to help each other during hard

[28:43] times especial during what we

[28:45] are going through now, and we

[28:47] were surprised to get a letter

[28:49] that they want to purchase the

[28:51] property for 11 million and we

[28:54] all know they would likely

[28:56] redevelop the land because of

[28:57] the location of the property

[28:58] near downtown.

[29:00] All of the hard work put into

[29:01] build this community might have

[29:03] been for nothing just because

[29:05] people want to buy us out for

[29:06] their own agenda.

[29:09] If this happens, many of us

[29:10] would have to relocation not

[29:12] just outside of leesburg but

[29:15] outside of loudoun county due in

[29:16] large part to the lack of

[29:18] affordable housing.

[29:20] This would mean many of us would

[29:23] lose our jobs and make it even

[29:24] more difficult to put food on

[29:26] the table and provide for our

[29:26] families.

[29:28] What would they do then?

[29:30] It's already hard enough to find

[29:31] employers willing to hire, not

[29:33] to mention that we are still

[29:35] suffering from an on-going

[29:36] pandemic.

[29:38] And I otherred constantly see

[29:40] this as more news comes out.

[29:42] They say they want us to move

[29:45] our homes but those homes are

[29:47] meant to stay and I ask you,

[29:49] councilmembers to help us in any

[29:53] way you can such as changing the

[29:55] restructuring plan in leesburg

[30:01] to the trailer park stays.

[30:08] >> thank you, carmen, followed

[30:11] by lourdes.

[30:26] >> (Speaking spanish).

[30:28] >> excuse me for interrupting

[30:33] but could you push the mic so we

[30:33] can hear you?

[30:35] We are having trouble hearing

[30:35] you.

[30:43] Thank you.

[30:44] >> start over?

[30:48] >> no, just continue where you

[30:50] were, that is g and we'll

[30:51] good, and we'll

[31:37] give you extra time.

[32:27] >> (Speaking spanish).

[32:31] >> gracias, thank you.

[32:34] >> do you want me to translate?

[32:37] >> have we got copies of the

[32:37] translation?

[32:37] No?

[32:38] Go ahead.

[32:42] >> again, I call on the

[32:43] authorities to please help us in

[32:45] this situation, every since we

[32:47] got notice of the sale it's not

[32:50] easy to live calmly in our homes

[32:52] because day after day there are

[32:54] people measures without

[32:55] explanation.

[32:57] And -- why do you want to

[32:59] displace us for being humble and

[33:01] hard-working families and

[33:03] because our homes do not

[33:04] beautify the city?

[33:06] That is the question we need the

[33:07] answer to.

[33:10] For $11 million we will be

[33:12] displaced and less valuable for

[33:12] authorities.

[33:14] Put yourself in our shoes and

[33:17] now we are threatened by the

[33:18] developers -- struggling to

[33:19] support their families.

[33:20] Thank you.

[33:25] >> thank you very much.

[33:27] Was that carmen?

[33:32] i have lost my place, and

[33:47] lourdes suarez followed by emma

[33:47] ortiz.

[33:50] >> welcome.

[34:30] >> (Speak spanish) You you you

[35:07] you you you.

[35:11] >> my name is lourdes and my

[35:13] husband and I are essential

[35:15] workers and elderly people, we

[35:17] have a great need to stay here

[35:19] more than the millionaires who

[35:21] want to buy and displace us.

[35:23] There are other places they can

[35:26] put their business and this is

[35:29] an example of how in the name of

[35:31] development they trample on

[35:31] people.

[35:35] >> thank you.

[35:37] Emma ortiz.

[35:40] >> hi, you might remember me, I

[35:42] am here again.

[35:45] I am pleading for my home and

[35:51] for my son, his home.

[35:54] He had my house under renovation

[35:58] in 2020, and how it looks today,

[36:00] everything is new.

[36:03] My kitchen, my bathrooms, my

[36:03] floor.

[36:08] My windows, my washing machine,

[36:11] my stove, everything is new.

[36:13] My savings

[36:16] ings of 11 years is here.

[36:17] I don't have other place, this

[36:21] is my home for my son and for

[36:24] me.

[36:27] Please, preserve the mobile home

[36:27] park.

[36:28] >> thank you.

[36:29] >> thank you.

[36:33] >> thank you very much.

[36:35] MS. Ortiz is followed by

[36:37] jonathan lopez and he is

[36:42] followed by veronica

[36:43] lopez-gonzales, I believe.

[36:44] >> good evening, to each and

[36:50] every one of you.

[36:53] My name is veronica dison

[36:56] gonzales,

[36:59] I'm going to read a letter my

[37:00] husband wrote.

[37:02] this is my little family, and

[37:03] first I would like to thank you

[37:04] for giving me the opportunity to

[37:05] address these words to you.

[37:07] I want to address to you to

[37:11] express my concerns regarding

[37:14] the leesburg mobile park issue,

[37:16] I've been living there about

[37:17] four months.

[37:19] We decided to buy a mobile home

[37:21] because it is the only place

[37:23] where the monthly rent is

[37:26] affordable for my family, it is

[37:29] a quiet place away from travel

[37:31] and a place where humble

[37:33] families have mutual respect for

[37:34] each other.

[37:37] I've recent been informed by a

[37:39] letter that the mobile park is

[37:43] about to disappear, and this is

[37:45] very frustrating but I spent my

[37:48] savings on buying a mobile home

[37:50] and I was able with much work to

[37:51] safe

[37:56] save this money and I honestly

[37:58] ask you to ensure the welfare of

[38:00] the people of the county so they

[38:01] can give us a solution to this

[38:04] problem that is impacting many

[38:04] families.

[38:05] I would like to you place your

[38:09] hand on your heart and analyze a

[38:11] situation and remember that we

[38:12] are going thraw pandemic

[38:15] that you a pandemic

[38:18] that has impacted our homes.

[38:19] I would also like to add in the

[38:22] 12 years I have lived in the

[38:24] united states, leesburg is the

[38:26] place I have loved the most to

[38:27] live in.

[38:29] The town of leesburg is

[38:31] historical roots that we

[38:31] appreciate.

[38:33] It will be sad to see that

[38:35] change one day.

[38:37] This is a town full of history

[38:40] and if we let investors come in,

[38:45] the town will cease to become a

[38:48] historical sign and it will lose

[38:49] its history.

[38:51] I'm sure you are the people in

[38:52] whoam the

[38:54] whoam

[38:57] whom the people of the towns

[38:59] that placed their trust to make

[39:01] a decision.

[39:02] Thank you for the time each of

[39:05] you have taken to listen to our

[39:05] testimony.

[39:09] I hope our word are heart, GOD

[39:12] bless you and have a good

[39:13] evening.

[39:14] Thank you.

[39:20] >> and next is aaron taylor,

[39:24] followed by octave I can't

[39:24] ramo

[39:24] n.

[39:28] >> my name is erin taylor, I'm a

[39:31] homeowner in the leesburg mobile

[39:34] park since 2017 and I have

[39:36] nothing but positive things to

[39:37] say about my neighborhood, I

[39:39] know many people personally

[39:41] through church and tutoring

[39:43] children, I have gone on

[39:46] vacation with the families and

[39:49] shared meals and attended

[39:51] weddings, baby showers and more,

[39:52] our community is an important

[39:54] place to live for many people

[39:55] myself included who would have

[39:57] no other affordable place to

[39:59] live in loudoun county.

[40:01] As a result of the sale, the

[40:05] rent could increase and if the

[40:06] tenants with forced off of the

[40:07] property I don't know what we

[40:11] and my neighbors would do.

[40:13] Affordable housing is very hard

[40:15] to find in the area and the

[40:17] reality is our homes are simply

[40:19] not mobile.

[40:21] Many are decades old and have

[40:24] had additions build on and many

[40:27] would not survive a move.

[40:30] We continue to face job losses

[40:33] and reduced noam and

[40:35] income, and we ask

[40:37] that we be allowed to stay on

[40:39] the property with no increase

[40:41] for rent for the current please

[40:42] term

[40:43] please

[40:48] lease term andask that the plans to redevelop

[40:50] the property be immediately

[40:52] abandoned and that future plans

[40:56] be shared with us as far in

[41:00] advance as possible, this has

[41:02] far-reaching personal emotional

[41:03] and financial implications for

[41:04] all residents.

[41:06] This is not a business issue,

[41:09] it's a personal issue and

[41:11] replacing these family woos be

[41:14] absolutely devastating.

[42:12] (Speaking spanish) Thank you for

[42:13] your time and attention.

[42:17] >> thank you, MS. Taylor.

[42:19] Octavio romano followed by

[42:22] sherry taylor.

[42:24] >> good evening, everyone.

[42:32] My name is octavio romero.

[42:34] I live

[42:41] romano.I have lived in this park since

[42:46] 2012 and I have my wife and

[42:46] children.

[42:50] My wife works in catoctin

[42:52] elementary school and I am here

[42:56] to ask you to allow us to stay

[42:56] in our homes.

[42:59] As you know, our house is old

[43:02] and I cannot move.

[43:05] And from the pandemic I have an

[43:07] opportunity to -- in front of --

[43:10] inside of my house because I

[43:12] think I live there for a long

[43:13] time.

[43:17] When I receive a letter like two

[43:20] months ago that a buyer is

[43:22] offering $11 million we never

[43:27] imagined that we would have to

[43:30] move from leesburg mobile park.

[43:33] My wife has her job, and my job

[43:38] is 20 minutes away.

[43:42] I hope to stay living -- I

[43:45] appreciate that you help us to

[43:46] stay in home.

[43:50] Thank you.

[43:57] Sherry taylor, followed by

[43:57] cesar frias?

[44:07] >> good evening, my name is

[44:08] cesar frias and I live in the

[44:09] mobile park.

[44:11] As you know the land under our

[44:14] homes will be sold at a cost of

[44:16] $11 million, that is what this

[44:17] letter that we received from the

[44:21] owner stated.

[44:24] But they do not care what will

[44:26] happen to more than 75 families

[44:27] that live there.

[44:36] They do not care that we have

[44:36] our homes that our children were

[44:36] born and lived there and that we

[44:36] have a supportive community as

[44:37] neighbors.

[44:39] The future owner tells us to not

[44:41] worry for 12 months.

[44:45] But then what happens after

[44:45] that?

[44:47] What awaits us and our families?

[44:50] We have families that have lived

[44:53] here for 20, 25 and even more

[44:53] years.

[44:57] We are families that have helped

[44:58] the community grow.

[45:01] Good families that help the

[45:02] development of the community

[45:05] that work every day to fulfill

[45:07] its obligation.

[45:11] We live and help lived many

[45:13] years in harmony with society,

[45:15] but apparently nobody cares

[45:15] about us.

[45:19] But I want to tell you that you,

[45:21] just like each of you, we also

[45:23] have the right to have a home

[45:25] for our children.

[45:27] That is why I turn to you so

[45:34] that you can help us stay in our

[45:34] homes.

[45:36] You are our authority chosen by

[45:38] the people and your duty is to

[45:39] protect each citizen.

[45:42] It is you, it is you who make

[45:45] regulation, and decrees and laws

[45:46] and many other things for the

[45:47] good of the community.

[45:51] Do not leave us helpless among a

[45:52] selling owner who did not think

[45:55] for a single moment about us,

[45:57] and a buyer who offers his

[46:00] millions to at the point us to

[46:04] live for 12 months and then

[46:06] throw us out on the streets.

[46:09] I ask to you listen, we are more

[46:11] than 70 families with an

[46:12] uncertain future.

[46:15] You are the authorities and we

[46:17] are not asking to you get us

[46:20] houses or pay us rend but to

[46:23] help our homes that are going be

[46:24] taken from us.

[46:26] We ask that you protect our

[46:26] homes.

[46:28] We are families, families with

[46:30] the right to a home just like

[46:31] every citizen.

[46:33] Do not take that right away from

[46:34] us.

[46:35] Thank you.

[46:36] >> thank you.

[46:40] Was sherry taylor, is she here?

[46:41] No?

[46:41] -

[46:42] okay.

[46:52] Julie boathouse followed by

[46:57] ernesto arenas?

[47:02] >> julie boathouse.

[47:04] Affordable housing is ahuge

[47:05] issue and not one that leesburg

[47:06] can solve alone.

[47:09] However there are steps you can

[47:12] take to preserve the affording

[47:14] housing stock that we have, the

[47:17] median value of owner occupied

[47:19] homes is currently around

[47:22] 500,000 and the market rate for

[47:24] newly build is 500 to 800,000

[47:26] and the people who live into

[47:29] these homes are generally

[47:31] migrating from more expensive

[47:31] locations.

[47:34] In this current market building

[47:36] more market rate housing does

[47:38] not relieve the existing housing

[47:40] stock because the people who

[47:42] live here currently cannot

[47:45] afford them much of the cost is

[47:48] due to their large size and many

[47:53] being built range from 2500 to

[47:55] 4,000 square feet, and older

[47:57] stock provides homes for

[47:59] families under 1,000 square feet

[48:02] including these mobile homes.

[48:07] My 1950's era home comfortably

[48:09] accommodates a family of four,

[48:11] and the how soon has

[48:16] historically accommodated modest

[48:18] income residents with homes for

[48:21] new families but the homes being

[48:25] built are just as if not more

[48:27] expensive than the counties, and

[48:30] I would argue we are facing

[48:31] jennryification and

[48:34] jenngentrification and the best

[48:37] thing you can do is to adopt

[48:40] policies that head off that

[48:40] gentrification.

[48:42] I would ask yourself what is

[48:43] next?

[48:45] If this happens to them, about

[48:47] the garden apartments on fort

[48:50] evans and plaza or the rentals

[48:51] on dry

[48:53] dry mills road be next?

[48:57] I ask to you adopt policies that

[48:59] include retaining the decades

[49:03] old mobile home park and it must

[49:05] be recognized as residential and

[49:06] not commercial.

[49:08] It is the only residential in

[49:09] the crescent design district and

[49:11] should never have been included

[49:14] in the first place either bring

[49:18] back mobile home zoning or

[49:24] include a clause in the crescent

[49:26] design district design district

[49:31] that includes a prohibition

[49:39] against destroying affordable

[49:39] housing.

[49:49] >> buenos noches.

[51:15] (Speaking spanish)

[51:18] >> gracias.

[51:21] >> any name is nester and I live

[51:22] in the mobile park and I've

[51:24] within worried every since

[51:26] receiving the letter notifying

[51:28] of the sale and my children ask

[51:31] us what happens, dad, because we

[51:33] could lose our house where we

[51:36] were able to final by give each

[51:38] of them their own rooms all for

[51:40] a millionaire who is already a

[51:43] millionaire and wants to ruin

[51:47] the lives of those who live

[51:48] happily, my wife and children

[51:50] with happy to give in this

[51:50] community because they have a

[51:52] roof over their heads.

[51:54] We don't want anything for free

[51:56] and we always do our jobs,

[51:58] cleaning houses and mowing the

[51:59] grass and working

[52:00] working in

[52:01] restaurants, the work that no

[52:03] one wants to do.

[52:05] That is who we are, and on

[52:07] behalf of all of the families we

[52:10] s ask for your support, between

[52:12] GOD and you we have no one else

[52:17] to turn to, you are are an

[52:18] elected officials.

[52:19] GOD bless you.

[52:25] >> thank you.

[52:26] >> speaking

[53:32] (Speaking spanish).

[53:35] >> good evening, my name is be

[53:37] beatrice and I've been living in

[53:38] loudoun county for 18 years.

[53:41] Eight years ago I was able to

[53:43] buy my mobile home with the help

[53:45] of my brother, and before that I

[53:53] was paying $1400 and $1800.

[53:58] The rent in the apartments was

[54:00] can pay $620, it's a blessing to

[54:01] my life.

[54:04] I work as a housekeeper for a

[54:06] long time.

[54:09] My hands hurt a lot and because

[54:12] I use the vacuum a lot, all day

[54:13] long.

[54:15] I'm worried because now that

[54:17] they are trying to take away my

[54:19] mobile home, I worry because I'm

[54:22] a single mom with two daughters,

[54:25] between 15 and 1 years

[54:29] 13 years old.

[54:33] I ask to you please help us to

[54:36] keep our leesburg mobile home.

[54:37] GOD bless you.

[54:53] >> thank you.

[56:32] >> (Speak spanish).

[56:35] >> good evening, I've been

[56:36] living in leesburg mobile park

[56:38] since APRIL of this year, I'm

[56:40] living here because I have not

[56:42] found another place to live,

[56:44] staying here is good for us,

[56:45] since my daughters and I can

[56:47] live alone without sharing a

[56:49] home with other families and she

[56:50] has a list of addresses where

[56:55] she has lived, I have lived in

[56:57] other addresses, in total ten,

[57:00] and it's good for my daughters'

[57:01] mental health to move so many

[57:02] times.

[57:05] This allows hey to be stable

[57:07] with in my home because of the

[57:09] price, stable for families like

[57:09] me.

[57:12] I ask to you put in legislation

[57:14] and respect our homes which is

[57:16] good both for the government and

[57:17] private companies.

[57:19] I work in construction and

[57:21] although I'm not able to buy a

[57:23] house in this condition, I

[57:24] have -- I don't know the rest of

[57:29] the translation, um, thank you

[57:30] for your time.

[57:34] >> okay, thank you very much.

[57:34] Gracias.

[57:36] That is the last name on our

[57:38] list and is there anyone else in

[57:40] the audience that did not get a

[57:42] chance to sign up who would like

[57:44] to speak?

[57:46] Yes, sir, come forward and

[57:48] please give us your name and

[57:50] spell it for the closed

[57:50] captioning.

[57:57] >> my name is josh carter, j-o-s-h c-a-r-t-e-r.

[58:00] 205 primrose court, leesburg

[58:01] virginia.

[58:04] I'm a proud member of the

[58:06] leesburg police department and I

[58:09] police and reside in this town,

[58:11] i coach and I worship in this

[58:11] town.

[58:12] I want you to think long and

[58:14] hard about the decisions you are

[58:16] about to make in regard to the

[58:18] vaccine mandate.

[58:20] I'm sure -- I'm not sure you

[58:21] fully understand how your

[58:23] decision could impact our police

[58:23] department.

[58:27] This decision has the potential

[58:27] to des

[58:30] decimate lpd and our town

[58:31] could lose a lot of amazing

[58:33] police officers who care about

[58:34] this community and who place

[58:36] their lives on the line to

[58:38] protect the citizens of leesburg

[58:39] on a daily basis.

[58:41] If you decide to move forward

[58:44] with mandating this vaccine, the

[58:46] loss of officers on on you and

[58:47] I'm going come back and ask what

[58:53] your plan is to keep my plan and family

[58:58] and officers safe with new

[59:00] few to no

[59:02] officers patrolling our streets.

[59:03] >> yes, sir.

[59:06] >> you can go next.

[59:10] >> hello, my name is william

[59:19] butter field, w-I-l-l-I-a-h

[59:21] and -- trust me, it's really

[59:24] hard, we're from the leesburg

[59:25] police department as well.

[59:28] So kind of what -- to echo the

[59:31] sentiments of my colleague

[59:32] MR. Carter spoke with you about

[59:34] and I want to give you the

[59:36] ability to grasp your decision

[59:38] if you mandate the vaccine for

[59:40] all town employees.

[59:41] I consider myself more of an

[59:44] independent and I see both sides

[59:46] of the yielt

[59:47] yale

[59:52] aisle and as someone to

[59:56] give you the facts you would

[59:59] lose a high number of officers

[1:00:04] due to our poor pay scale and --

[1:00:07] one question I have kind of a

[1:00:08] rhetorical question, but I know

[1:00:11] you can't talk but when was this

[1:00:14] concern about our public health

[1:00:16] and safety about a year ago when

[1:00:18] I was going to a call of a

[1:00:21] gentleman in town who tested

[1:00:24] positive twice and MR. Carter

[1:00:26] held his hand on a wound on

[1:00:28] someone who was bleeding out and

[1:00:32] got a life saver award and could

[1:00:32] -

[1:00:35] have gotten covid from that but

[1:00:37] concern was absent from our town

[1:00:39] government because we got no

[1:00:41] benefits from covid whereas

[1:00:43] others are getting checks from

[1:00:45] cares act funding and I will

[1:00:47] leave that up to you guise.

[1:00:48] Another

[1:00:52] guys.You guys are probably going hurt

[1:00:55] a profession that already cannot

[1:01:00] be replenished, it's hard to

[1:01:03] find cops now days.

[1:01:06] I was at the recruit firearms

[1:01:08] training and got a chance to see

[1:01:11] some of the recruits there, and

[1:01:15] I don't to speak poorly but your

[1:01:17] pool of applicants for police is

[1:01:19] not great due to certain things

[1:01:21] like starting pay and due to

[1:01:23] things like mandating vaccines.

[1:01:26] If this becomes mandated I will

[1:01:28] be seeking over employment.

[1:01:31] I have a lot of certifications

[1:01:35] and I'm a firearms instructor

[1:01:37] and I'm on the bike and the swat

[1:01:38] team, and you guys will be

[1:01:40] losing a lot of money that you

[1:01:45] invested in me that I gratefully

[1:01:48] appreciate that and you will be

[1:01:49] losing that in me and other

[1:01:52] officers like me, so I urge you

[1:01:55] to reconsider and we can make

[1:01:56] decisions for ourselves that we

[1:01:58] feel are necessary for our

[1:02:01] families and community and I ask

[1:02:02] to you look at the truth of

[1:02:03] that.

[1:02:07] >> thank you, anyone nels the anyone else in the

[1:02:09] audience who like to come

[1:02:10] forward, give us your name and

[1:02:14] spell is for closed captioning.

[1:02:16] And could we pull down the mike?

[1:02:20] >> my name is myra and I've been

[1:02:23] living for a few months in the

[1:02:23] trailer.

[1:02:28] My mom is a hard worker and me

[1:02:30] and my sister we are always at

[1:02:32] school and we work hard, I don't

[1:02:34] want to might have out of the

[1:02:37] trailer because my mom works so

[1:02:37] hard.

[1:02:40] >> thank you, myra what was your

[1:02:41] last name?

[1:02:44] >> minya.

[1:02:47] >> okay, thank you very much.

[1:02:48] Anyone else that did not get the

[1:02:51] opportunity to speak bhold like who had

[1:02:53] like to

[1:02:57] would like to speak at this

[1:02:59] point, and did we skip you?

[1:03:01] Were you not on the list?

[1:03:01] No?

[1:03:03] Okay, sorry.

[1:03:06] >> hi, good evening, my name is

[1:03:20] kathryn, k-a-t-h-e-r-I-n-e.

[1:03:20] E-s-c-o-b-a-r.

[1:03:22] Last time I came to translate

[1:03:24] for my grandma and today I'm

[1:03:25] here on my own and I don't know

[1:03:27] if you guys can directly do

[1:03:29] anything [Inaudible] Would

[1:03:32] really appreciate if you guys

[1:03:34] could help, I feel that it's

[1:03:35] unfair for people to have to

[1:03:39] leave their homes for a business

[1:03:41] which at the end of the day they

[1:03:43] are just going to kick everyone

[1:03:46] out because they know this will

[1:03:47] benefit them economically and

[1:03:49] this is one of the few places in

[1:03:51] leesburg that is low-income that

[1:03:53] provides a safe home because

[1:03:57] many places that are low income

[1:03:58] are not always in the best

[1:03:59] condition and these are one of

[1:04:01] the few places that does provide

[1:04:03] that and more.

[1:04:08] During the pandemic, food pant pantry

[1:04:11] would come and drop food off and

[1:04:12] it's just the perfect place and

[1:04:14] I feel like people should not

[1:04:16] have to leave their homes just

[1:04:17] for these things.

[1:04:18] It's hard, because having to

[1:04:20] start brand new with the thought

[1:04:22] that oh, now you have to stress

[1:04:24] out or stress yourself out more

[1:04:26] because you have a family to

[1:04:27] provide for, especially

[1:04:28] considering that a lot of the

[1:04:31] people in the neighborhood are

[1:04:31] elderly.

[1:04:33] So I just wanted to leave that

[1:04:35] thought with you, and we would

[1:04:37] really appreciate it if there is

[1:04:38] anything that you could do.

[1:04:41] Thank you.

[1:04:43] >> thank you, anyone nels

[1:04:45] anyone else in the

[1:04:46] audience who did not get a

[1:04:48] chance to sign up who would like

[1:04:48] to speak?

[1:04:53] Yes, sir, come forward and spell

[1:04:54] your name.

[1:05:01] >> good evening, matt connelo.

[1:05:05] I'm speak on behalf of another

[1:05:07] officer, gabriel, and he stated

[1:05:08] I have served the leesburg

[1:05:10] community and its citizens to

[1:05:14] over 17 years, served during the

[1:05:17] height of the covid pandemic and

[1:05:21] served on a covid task force and

[1:05:22] followed the procedures of

[1:05:25] wearing a mask and wash my hands

[1:05:26] and social distancing but now

[1:05:28] you are forcing me to get a

[1:05:35] vaccine or lose my job in 920 90

[1:05:35] days.

[1:05:38] I have worked too hard for you

[1:05:40] now to tell me what to do with

[1:05:42] my body, and if you divorce us

[1:05:43] to

[1:05:46] force us to getthe veen

[1:05:52] vaccine will you cover us if

[1:05:53] something happens and you will

[1:05:57] lose numerous employees who will

[1:05:59] be hard to replace.

[1:06:01] >> all right, anyone else who

[1:06:02] would like to have a chance to

[1:06:03] speak?

[1:06:05] All right, that being the case,

[1:06:07] I will close the petitioners

[1:06:08] section and thank you all very

[1:06:12] much for coming out.

[1:06:14] The vaccine issue has been

[1:06:17] deferred and we will be looking

[1:06:19] at it in preebl few

[1:06:21] probably a few weeks.

[1:06:23] And the citizens here from the

[1:06:24] trailer park there is a citizens

[1:06:26] meeting and many of us will be

[1:06:28] in attendance and know that we

[1:06:31] most certainly hear you and we

[1:06:33] are concerned and trying to do

[1:06:34] what we can.

[1:06:36] Thank you very much, and have a

[1:06:37] good evening.

[1:06:40] Now that takes us to the

[1:06:43] approval of the consent agenda.

[1:06:46] I will read the items and then

[1:06:49] ask for a motion and a second

[1:06:52] and ask if anybody wants

[1:07:04] anything removed.

[1:07:05] A. Retiree medicare part d

[1:07:08] contract with retiree first

[1:07:08] b. General hauling and debris

[1:07:09] removal services-

[1:07:09] contract

[1:07:12] awards

[1:07:14] c. Amendment to right-of-way

[1:07:15] license agreement with lumos

[1:07:20] networks, inc.

[1:07:21] D. Third renewal of right-of-way

[1:07:21] license agreement with at&t

[1:07:24] corporation

[1:07:25] e. Motion to approve

[1:07:29] polish-american heritage month

[1:07:30] proclamation.

[1:07:32] Moved and seconded and does

[1:07:34] anybody have anything they want

[1:07:35] removed? That being the case,

[1:07:38] in all favor, aye.

[1:07:38] Opposed?

[1:07:40] That is 7-0 and that takes us to

[1:07:46] our resolutions do I have a

[1:07:50] motion for the first resolution

[1:07:53] which is annual capital funding

[1:07:57] to the county of loudoun for

[1:08:01] fiscal year 2023, moved and

[1:08:02] seconded, councilmember

[1:08:04] martinez, is there a potential

[1:08:05] presentation on this.

[1:08:07] >> there is if you would like

[1:08:08] one, MADAM Mayor?

[1:08:11] >> do we want a presentation on

[1:08:13] the capital funding request to

[1:08:15] the county for the fiscal year?

[1:08:17] I think I can tell you, and one

[1:08:19] of the things I would ask

[1:08:20] councilmembers during this

[1:08:22] presentation is to look at what

[1:08:28] are the items and staff has

[1:08:30] prioritized them but we need to

[1:08:32] look at it and see if we

[1:08:34] really -- if we agree with that

[1:08:35] and want to move it forward or

[1:08:36] back.

[1:08:37] All right?

[1:08:38] >> okay, so you gave my

[1:08:41] introduction away, so we'll go

[1:08:45] with the next slide here.

[1:08:49] Every year the county requests

[1:08:50] projects from the town to be

[1:08:53] included in their cip.

[1:08:56] Our applications are due OCTOBER

[1:08:58] 29, 2021.

[1:08:59] Town staff has been working with

[1:09:00] the loudoun county staff and

[1:09:04] they are recommending that we

[1:09:06] submit a pry

[1:09:07] prioritized list to

[1:09:07] them.

[1:09:09] What are the criteria for our

[1:09:11] projects to be eligible?

[1:09:13] If the capital improvements

[1:09:14] facilities owned by the county

[1:09:16] are located within the town by

[1:09:18] operating by the county -- it

[1:09:19] doesn't sound like that applies

[1:09:22] but the next one does, local

[1:09:23] pedestrian or transportation

[1:09:25] related improvements that

[1:09:25] benefit loudoun county.

[1:09:27] The projects that we are

[1:09:29] proposing are these nine

[1:09:30] projects and I will go through

[1:09:33] them in a little bit more

[1:09:33] detail.

[1:09:36] This is our prioritized order

[1:09:37] and I'm going to cover them in

[1:09:39] this order.

[1:09:41] Our first project is the route

[1:09:44] 15 bypass, edwards ferry

[1:09:47] interchange, requesting $5

[1:09:49] million from the county to match

[1:09:57] the 5.4 million we have from

[1:09:58] nvta.

[1:09:59] Once we get furtherer in the

[1:10:01] design it will put this project

[1:10:04] in a better position for further

[1:10:06] fundser funding from either

[1:10:11] smart scale or nvpa.

[1:10:14] We are asking 5.8 million for

[1:10:16] this widening project in

[1:10:18] addition to the 6 million that

[1:10:19] loudoun county has already given

[1:10:20] us on this project.

[1:10:22] As you all know the economy is

[1:10:24] killing us on construction

[1:10:26] projects and our most recent

[1:10:27] estimate is that this project

[1:10:30] will also increase in cost, thus

[1:10:33] the ask for 5.8 million.

[1:10:37] We figure this is a good froj project

[1:10:40] to put forward because there are

[1:10:41] three schools and it is a major

[1:10:44] route to the loudoun county

[1:10:45] landfill.

[1:10:47] And veterans park, we are asking

[1:10:49] for an additional $2 million and

[1:10:51] the county briefly gave us 4

[1:10:54] million and this 2 million would

[1:10:56] complete the master plan

[1:10:58] component of this park.

[1:11:00] This is currently under design

[1:11:01] and is planned to go to

[1:11:03] construction mid to late spring

[1:11:05] of '22.

[1:11:07] Washington and old dming I don't

[1:11:09] know trail lighting, we have in

[1:11:13] this our cip out in a25 for

[1:11:15] design in 26 for construction,

[1:11:17] and we are asking for the county

[1:11:20] to fund this program in its

[1:11:22] entirety in a23

[1:11:27] a23 so we can get

[1:11:31] this connected to the catoctin

[1:11:34] circle and connecting employment

[1:11:36] areas with residential.

[1:11:38] the mobile command center, this

[1:11:39] has been in and out of

[1:11:41] discussion but pd has requested

[1:11:43] for replace the mobile command

[1:11:44] center.

[1:11:46] This would help facilitate with

[1:11:47] emergency response through all

[1:11:49] of the emergency services,

[1:11:52] police, sheriff, state patrol.

[1:11:54] And the estimated cost on that

[1:11:56] is $900,000 and it also serves

[1:11:59] as our backup emergency

[1:12:00] separations

[1:12:05] operations center if power fails

[1:12:07] at police stations.

[1:12:09] Next we have this project in our

[1:12:11] priority futures.

[1:12:13] Listed in our current capital

[1:12:15] program, requesting 800,000 for

[1:12:18] one side of this road to have a

[1:12:19] pedestrian sidewalk on it and

[1:12:21] the tie for that is the

[1:12:21] courthouse expansion.

[1:12:24] And we have the church and

[1:12:25] layouten street development in

[1:12:29] the process of doing bonding to

[1:12:30] start that project and it is

[1:12:32] close to the county parking

[1:12:33] garage and so that is a good

[1:12:34] connection and I don't know if

[1:12:36] you've been there at lunch time

[1:12:38] but a lot of people walk in the

[1:12:42] middle of this alley, not the

[1:12:43] safest.

[1:12:47] Seven is the ida lee recreation

[1:12:50] center as an emergency shelter

[1:12:52] in place location and this is to

[1:12:54] provide a generator to run that

[1:12:56] facility so it could be an

[1:12:59] additional shelter in town.

[1:13:03] Number 8 is our town-wide

[1:13:06] fiberoptic redundancy giving us

[1:13:09] a redundant ring around town for

[1:13:11] all of our communications

[1:13:13] facilities and traffic signals.

[1:13:16] We have communication to all by

[1:13:17] five of our traffic signals now

[1:13:21] and this would be a redundancy

[1:13:23] effort on that plus to the town

[1:13:26] hall and police and all of the

[1:13:27] ancillary facilities away from

[1:13:29] town hall.

[1:13:33] And nine is the traffic signal

[1:13:34] camera replacement.

[1:13:35] Right now we have cameras on a

[1:13:38] lot of our traffic signals, and

[1:13:41] we monitor the capacity and

[1:13:44] signal timing and police ask for

[1:13:46] information on accidents if they

[1:13:48] are looking for car, things like

[1:13:48] that.

[1:13:50] We are starting to have failures

[1:13:52] in our cameras and also with our

[1:13:53] server and the system we

[1:13:55] currently have, we cannot get

[1:13:59] any additional licenses for

[1:13:59] cameras on

[1:14:00] on the server we have,

[1:14:02] is that is why we have this

[1:14:03] project in here.

[1:14:06] With that, I will take your

[1:14:06] questions.

[1:14:10] And I will go back to the list

[1:14:14] of projects.

[1:14:14] >> I have a question.

[1:14:14] >> okay.

[1:14:17] >> is there a reason that the

[1:14:21] bridge over the tuscarora creek

[1:14:22] at lawson road was not included

[1:14:23] in this?

[1:14:26] >> we have the application in

[1:14:28] for the federal dollars on that,

[1:14:31] and this project does not --

[1:14:33] that project does not connect to

[1:14:34] any county facilities, it

[1:14:40] connects to the wno and d trail

[1:14:42] but we were looking at the

[1:14:44] larger dollar projects for this.

[1:14:45] >> okay, anyone else have any

[1:14:48] questions at this point?

[1:14:49] >> I've got a question, thank

[1:14:51] you very much.

[1:14:54] The camera server replacement

[1:14:56] are you talking about video

[1:14:59] analytics being able to track

[1:15:02] the flow of traffic and the

[1:15:03] traffic signal switches --

[1:15:07] >> the signal is not switched

[1:15:09] based on what the camera cease

[1:15:13] and if we get a complaint about

[1:15:16] an intersection our technician

[1:15:21] will watch the video and he can

[1:15:22] make a signal timing change from

[1:15:24] his desk and send it out to the

[1:15:25] field.

[1:15:27] >> so not real-time video

[1:15:27] analytics.

[1:15:29] >> correct.

[1:15:30] >> MS. Fox?

[1:15:32] >> yeah, one second.

[1:15:39] The mobile command center for

[1:15:40] $900,000 is that just for the

[1:15:42] vehicle or is it fully

[1:15:43] outfitted?

[1:15:45] >> I am not sure, I think it is

[1:15:46] fully outfitted.

[1:15:48] >> I just don't remember seeing

[1:15:50] this and if I missed

[1:15:52] something -- you know, last year

[1:15:53] maybe if --

[1:15:55] >> it's been talked about at

[1:15:58] staff level but has not reached

[1:15:59] council as far as I'm aware.

[1:16:01] >> and it's not a bad idea, I

[1:16:06] like it, I was just wonder if

[1:16:08] you knew what the yearly cast

[1:16:09] for operating this would be.

[1:16:10] >> I do not.

[1:16:12] >> okay.

[1:16:14] >> anyone else have any

[1:16:14] questions?

[1:16:15] Does anybody want to change the

[1:16:21] order of the projects?

[1:16:22] Well, you guessed right although

[1:16:24] you didn't have the bridge over

[1:16:26] lawson road.

[1:16:29] That would have made me a lot

[1:16:31] more happy.

[1:16:31] Okay.

[1:16:33] Is -- do you need a motion to

[1:16:34] accept these?

[1:16:36] >> we do have to have a

[1:16:37] resolution to go with your

[1:16:39] application to the county.

[1:16:44] >> so councilmember steinberg

[1:16:50] moved that we accept the request

[1:16:58] and I'm on --

[1:17:01] >> we just need to vote on t we

[1:17:02] already discussed.

[1:17:04] >> oh, you are right, and why i

[1:17:06] doubt you I never know.

[1:17:07] That's right, MR. Cummings made

[1:17:10] the motion and vice-mayor

[1:17:12] martinez seconded, all in favor,

[1:17:13] aye.

[1:17:13] Opposed?

[1:17:15] That passes 7-0.

[1:17:19] All right, the capital funding

[1:17:22] request -- we just did that.

[1:17:25] The virginia main street program

[1:17:28] authorizing al tier 2

[1:17:30] application to the virginia

[1:17:31] department of housing and

[1:17:33] community development, and will

[1:17:36] martinez made a motion seconded

[1:17:37] by councilmember steinberg, is

[1:17:39] there a presentation on this?

[1:17:40] No?

[1:17:40] Okay.

[1:17:43] I will not be voting for this

[1:17:53] tonight unless we could add -- a -- a time line to the sub

[1:17:56] mission that the -- after six

[1:17:59] months the economic development development

[1:18:04] director needs to come back with

[1:18:08] a report as to whether we are

[1:18:13] ready to move into tier 3 or

[1:18:13] not.

[1:18:16] So I'm asking vice-mayor

[1:18:17] martinez and councilmember

[1:18:22] steinberg if that is a friendly

[1:18:23] amendment?

[1:18:25] >> I apologize, could you

[1:18:26] restate the amendment?

[1:18:29] >> I would like to see us have a

[1:18:31] time limit on the amount of time

[1:18:34] we can stay in tier 2 before we

[1:18:38] get a report identifying our

[1:18:41] ability to move into tier 3.

[1:18:43] >> okay, I guess if you're

[1:18:46] asking for a report within a

[1:18:48] certain time frame, I am

[1:18:50] comfortable with that, yes.

[1:18:53] >> MR. Martinez?

[1:18:55] >> are you asking for movement

[1:18:58] into tier 3 at that report or

[1:18:59] just the report.

[1:19:01] >> depends on what the report

[1:19:01] says.

[1:19:04] >> I'm okay with it.

[1:19:07] >> my reason for this is we've

[1:19:09] been work on this for many, many

[1:19:10] years and I don't think we need

[1:19:12] to wait another whole year to

[1:19:14] get a report on moving to --

[1:19:17] >> do we want to include a

[1:19:18] specific time frame in the

[1:19:18] amendment?

[1:19:20] >> I'm just saying six months.

[1:19:23] >> six months, all right,.

[1:19:24] >> MR. Cummings?

[1:19:26] >> I just wanted to make a

[1:19:27] point, I spoke with a member of

[1:19:29] the edc today and one of the

[1:19:32] issues with the tier 2 is there

[1:19:34] is some grant money out there

[1:19:37] that MAY help us have a

[1:19:38] professional run some of the

[1:19:41] discussions with the businesses.

[1:19:44] And so I support putting a time

[1:19:46] line on this because we don't

[1:19:50] want it to sit idle for another

[1:19:52] year or tworks but

[1:19:55] two, but I wonder if we

[1:19:56] could have flexibility on that

[1:19:58] six months and depending on if

[1:20:01] we can get some of this grant

[1:20:01] money --

[1:20:02] >> there is no reason they could

[1:20:04] not put that in the report when

[1:20:05] we come back with the report.

[1:20:06] >> okay.

[1:20:07] >> okay?

[1:20:10] All right, all in favor with the

[1:20:12] friendly amendment indicate by

[1:20:14] saying aye.

[1:20:14] Opposed?

[1:20:18] All right, that passes 7-0, and

[1:20:20] the covid employee vaccine has

[1:20:22] been deferred to the next

[1:20:22] meeting.

[1:20:27] That takes us to future council

[1:20:29] meetings and agendas.

[1:20:30] Anyone have anything they want

[1:20:33] to put on for a future agenda.

[1:20:35] >> I do, I was just going to ask

[1:20:44] if we could do the spotted

[1:20:50] lanternfly lantern proclamation

[1:20:50] requested.

[1:20:52] >> do we have four people

[1:20:53] interested in doing that --

[1:20:58] >> I had one land on me in win

[1:20:59] winchester and now I know what

[1:21:00] it was.

[1:21:02] >> all right, disclosures.

[1:21:06] >> I do, I just have one on

[1:21:10] SEPTEMBER 15th, met with greg

[1:21:13] wigfield regarding the greenway

[1:21:14] manor application.

[1:21:15] >> and MR. Bagdassarian?

[1:21:16] >> no disclosures.

[1:21:18] >> MS. Fox?

[1:21:20] >> just one disclosure.

[1:21:24] I too, had a meeting with

[1:21:27] MR. Greg witness

[1:21:32] witfield on SEPTEMBER

[1:21:32] 15th.

[1:21:35] >> MR. Steinberg?

[1:21:38] MR. Cummings?

[1:21:39] MR. Martinez?

[1:21:42] >> nothing other than a happy

[1:21:45] birthday to my 1-year-old

[1:21:47] granddaughter delivers by doris,

[1:21:48] my wife.

[1:21:49] >> there you go.

[1:21:57] All right, I would like to thank

[1:22:00] kaeley boyle and let me tell you

[1:22:02] the movies were independent

[1:22:04] films but they were the most

[1:22:06] thought provoking things I have

[1:22:07] seen in a long, long time.

[1:22:11] On the 17th a number of us met

[1:22:14] with senators to talk about our

[1:22:15] legislative agenda and they

[1:22:16] agreed to look at it and get

[1:22:18] back to us.

[1:22:20] I don't know MR. Dentler if they

[1:22:21] have gotten back to us yet on

[1:22:23] some of the issues we were going

[1:22:25] to investigate further?

[1:22:26] Maybe we could make a phone call

[1:22:28] and check on that.

[1:22:36] On the 18th I want to thank

[1:22:39] MR. Bagdassarian and MR. Bobchek

[1:22:41] on the wonderful -- I'm just

[1:22:44] amazed what a wonderful job the

[1:22:48] music festival was and just

[1:22:50] another example of how art

[1:22:51] drives the committee, and it

[1:22:55] economy, and it was

[1:22:57] an opportunity to hear great,

[1:23:00] great music and a lot of fun.

[1:23:04] And I joined the relay of life

[1:23:08] cancer survivors and joined --

[1:23:10] to serve ice cream, and he's

[1:23:14] been doing this almost 20 years

[1:23:15] now.

[1:23:19] Supervisor umstad and I held a

[1:23:21] town hall on homelessness and it

[1:23:24] was very informative and I thank

[1:23:27] the councilmembers who shows up

[1:23:29] and I want to welcome

[1:23:32] chick-fil-a, we had a ribbon

[1:23:36] cutting and this is their second

[1:23:38] chick-fil-a out here in leesburg

[1:23:40] and I'm sure they are going to

[1:23:42] be very successful.

[1:23:45] I want to thank jill MAY and pat

[1:23:50] daly for the loudoun laurels,

[1:23:51] honoring the people that have

[1:23:53] contributed to the community and

[1:23:57] raising money to give each -- a

[1:24:01] number of students a $40,000

[1:24:03] scholarship.

[1:24:05] And congratulations to

[1:24:07] integrative chiropractor, we

[1:24:10] recognized them two years a very

[1:24:10] successful business.

[1:24:13] And all of the people involved

[1:24:15] in the air show,

[1:24:17] congratulations, it was a

[1:24:18] spectacular vanity and

[1:24:23] spectacular event and I met at

[1:24:25] the house cafe, one of the

[1:24:27] things I thought was very

[1:24:29] interesting is there was a young

[1:24:30] gentleman there with a young

[1:24:32] toddler and he told me he had

[1:24:35] been in leesburg three months

[1:24:37] and I asked him what brought him

[1:24:38] here and he said affordable

[1:24:39] housing.

[1:24:41] So I guess it's all relative,

[1:24:44] and I would like to thank burk

[1:24:47] green, for a wonderful family

[1:24:50] reunion that honors the

[1:24:51] long-time leesburg

[1:24:51] african-american families here

[1:24:52] in leesburg.

[1:24:55] Just this afternoon I attended

[1:24:56] the greater washington aviation

[1:24:58] operation and it was a very

[1:25:00] well-attended event and they had

[1:25:03] some of the most amazing private

[1:25:05] planes I have ever seen, I'm are

[1:25:05] to go fly.

[1:25:07] I want to remind everybody that

[1:25:10] this weekend is the vml

[1:25:11] conference, I hope to see you

[1:25:17] all there, and one sad note, ad

[1:25:20] barnes our planning commissioner

[1:25:22] had a heart attack and will be

[1:25:24] having a triple bypass tonight

[1:25:28] or tomorrow in the hoapt and I hospital and

[1:25:31] I know we all wish him the best.

[1:25:32] Town manager?

[1:25:33] >> no comment.

[1:25:35] >> do I have a motion to

[1:25:36] adjourn?

[1:25:36] Second?

[1:25:38] Made by vice-mayor martinez and

[1:25:41] seconded by councilmember

[1:25:42] steinberg.

[1:25:43] In all favor?

[1:25:44] Opposed?

Town Council Meeting

Agenda

Transcript