[0:06] Evening ladies and gentlemen. Time is 6:30 p.m. Uh, I will call the, I call the,

[0:11] uh, regular meeting for Thursday, October 8th, uh, 2026 of the Levisville Town Council

[0:17] to order. I am, uh, Mayor Christopher Holnbaker, and we, believe it or not, we have

[0:21] a full diocese with Council Member Stuart Stahl, uh, Council Member David Smith,

[0:25] Council Member David Earl, Council Member Anne Arena, and Vice Mayor Tom Budner joining

[0:30] me this evening. We have one vacancy on council. With us this evening, we also have

[0:35] uh Mr. Jason Gnori, our town manager, Mr. John Merrithew, our planning director and

[0:40] zoning administrator, Ms. Sarah Moseley, our community engagement economic development

[0:44] coordinator, uh, Ms. Lizzie Fontaine, our town clerk, and our town attorney, uh,

[0:51] Mr. Rob Sproll will be joining us on or about around 8 o'clock, uh, to, as part of

[0:58] some of the action, uh, this evening. Uh, please rise as you're able and join me

[1:04] in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States

[1:10] of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,

[1:16] with liberty and justice for all.

[1:23] Next up are comments from the public. If you're on the land of Zoom and you wish

[1:28] to uh make a public comment, I will, uh, let you know that there is a fiscal year

[1:34] 2027 supplemental appropriation as part of our public hearing, and we ask that during

[1:41] those public hearing, uh, those public hearing matters, we would give you the allotted

[1:45] time to make those comments, uh, during that time. But if you have any other public

[1:50] comments, Uh, and you wish to, uh, provide them, if you're on the land of Zoom at

[1:55] the bottom of the screen, you will see a raised hand icon. If you press that, you

[1:59] will be, uh, promoted to a presenter, at which time you'll be provided the opportunity

[2:04] to deliver your comments within the allotted time. Madam Clerk, is there anybody

[2:10] in the room or online that wishes to make public comments this evening? Yes, I have

[2:14] Frank McDonough. Um, OK, uh, Mr. Vice Mayor, would you please,

[2:21] prior to public comments, please read the rules for public comment.

[2:34] Comments from the public are limited to 3 minutes at the beginning of the council

[2:37] meeting. A speaker representing a group or organization will be allowed up to 5 minutes

[2:42] to present the position of the organization. Any member of the public speaking for

[2:46] an organization must submit a letter from the board of that organization authorizing

[2:50] them to speak for the organization on that issue. Questions by the mayor or town

[2:55] council members will not be counted against the speaker's time. All speakers shall

[2:59] refrain from using vulgarities, profanities, and obscenities. Speakers shall address

[3:03] the mayor and town council as a whole and not address the remarks toward any specific

[3:07] member of the town council or staff. Mr. McDonough, if you, uh, please turn on the

[3:14] mic at the bottom right and, uh, please state your name for and address for the record.

[3:20] Frank McDonough, 25 South Loudon Street.

[3:26] Um, specifically addressing this to the town council. Um, I know that you've received,

[3:31] uh, the ethics complaint against the mayor that I filed almost two weeks ago. Um,

[3:37] I have a concern about the procedure. When, when I was in contact with the state

[3:43] board of elections, they indicated to me what their procedure was, how many days

[3:47] it would take for them to, to do their investigation, and, and then, uh, make a determination.

[3:53] It's the same from the county. However, in our procedures here, there is no specific

[3:59] amount of time.

[4:03] Um, previously, there were, um, ethics complaints about the mayor when he was on

[4:08] the planning commission. They were investigated by the mayor at that time, found

[4:12] to be true, but then nothing happened. And my problem with the with the transparency

[4:18] then versus now is that there was never even a mention of it, um, in a public meeting,

[4:24] which is part of the reason I'm here, but I think it's very important from a transparency

[4:29] standpoint. That you acknowledge that you've received a complaint and what your um

[4:35] what your methodology is going to be for curing that complaint. Um, I realize that

[4:41] you can't respond to me now because this is an issue that's under investigation,

[4:45] and, and I've, I've given that, I understand it from the clerk and from the town

[4:49] manager, so, um, uh, but I do want to I implore you to make this a

[4:57] transparent process and that um the people of Levittsville know what's going on with

[5:03] it. That's all. Thank you. Are there any questions?

[5:12] So, uh, I believe there's gonna be a statement this evening and obviously, uh, I

[5:15] will recuse myself, but I do want to make sure and I will repeat this at the time.

[5:20] I've already notified that the town manager, the town attorney, and our clerk that

[5:25] in accordance with Virginia section, uh, State Code 2.237051

[5:32] subsection E, uh, which allows for personnel issues. To, uh, for

[5:40] the subject of the personnel issues to provide written notification of a waiver of

[5:46] any FOIA, uh, exclusions. I have indicated as of this afternoon to please utilize

[5:52] this writing as notification of my waiver to the FOIA exclusions afforded to me under

[5:57] this section regarding the ethics complaint below. As such, any and all information

[6:03] shall be disclosed. I will also say as a member of this diocese 2018 for the Sixth

[6:10] time, uh, I have no problem disclosing the 350 pages of the witch hunt that was actually

[6:18] provided in 2018 and would be happy to, uh, provide the waiver for that yet again,

[6:25] uh, as nothing came up from that. So, um, I will be, I, I believe that's gonna be

[6:32] part of tonight's meeting, but, uh, I wanted to make sure that that's on record.

[6:38] Moving on, is there any other public comments to see? There was no one else signed

[6:44] up in the room or online. OK. Is there anybody else in the room that wishes to make

[6:49] public comments to see?

[6:54] Moving on to item number 3, committee reports. We will start with you, Mr. Smith.

[7:03] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, at our last infrastructure committee meeting, um, The,

[7:10] the committee. Completed the Work that we've been working on with regards to the

[7:16] memorial policy. Um, we were gonna present that tonight to the town council, but

[7:21] I think we're gonna wait till the next meeting, uh, and we'll present that to town

[7:25] council for review, uh, and any input they wanna provide and, and hopefully adoption,

[7:31] but, but you'll be able to get a chance to see that, uh, prior to the next meeting

[7:36] and it'll be available to the public then.

[7:40] Are there, uh, any questions? I do have one. Do you know the status of the plaque

[7:45] for? I know you all recommended the last, uh, meeting for as part of a memorial,

[7:51] and we'd asked on our last meeting that that move forward. No, at the end of this

[7:55] time it is on our work plan coming up. We, we plan to reach out, um, in fact, I think

[7:59] some coordination was gonna be in congruent with, uh, CBD, uh, I think later next

[8:04] week, right? Is that next week or two weeks? OK. Um, We're, we're reaching out. Uh,

[8:12] we haven't formally yet, but we're, we're on it. OK. Thank you.

[8:18] Moving on to the CBD committee.

[8:22] Thank you. Um Last meeting the CBD had was September 10th, and that meeting

[8:29] encompassed everything Oktoberfest, um. All the uh CBD committee members um

[8:37] participated and volunteered and, and reaching out to all the businesses to make

[8:43] sure everything was OK with the With the uh door, the stickers and the beverages

[8:50] and all that, thank them for that. And of course, Mrs. Mosley for everything she

[8:56] did Oktoberfest. Our next meeting is October 15th, next Thursday.

[9:05] Uh, we'll be talking about the Coco Call, which is December 5th, and we'll be going

[9:10] over the draft marketing plan for 2027.

[9:15] That's it. All right. Any questions of the CBD report? OK. Moving on to item

[9:23] number 4, the town manager's report, Mr. Koyer.

[9:31] You know, some airtime council, uh, some updates here, some recurring items have

[9:35] been on here for a little bit. Um, no update, update from EPA, but again, we, we

[9:40] stand ready, uh, for the Quarter Branch Water Main replacement. I did present to

[9:44] the Virginia, uh, Construction, uh, Transportation Construction Alliance Group this

[9:49] past week, um, and we talked about this water main replacement project. So there

[9:53] are, I've already kind of been in communication with some potential contractors when

[9:58] that does hit the street. Again, that's awaiting EPA approval of awarded funding.

[10:03] Um, there's a huge backlog, as you can imagine, um, in the EPA, so we are among many

[10:09] other jurisdictions waiting for the approval. We have 4 applications in as well,

[10:14] um, following this one. Town Center well rehabilitation. The, the project itself

[10:20] is done, uh, the fencing is all done. Uh, the grass is, is starting to take shape.

[10:25] The landscaping will be completed in the coming weeks. Uh, with the, with the kind

[10:29] of the cold, uh, overnight temperatures, it's kind of decided perhaps we need to

[10:35] wait a little bit and the grass is actually, uh, picking up there, so that's good

[10:39] for, um, erosion control and things. Initiative building renovation, that project's

[10:44] in its final stages as well. Um, we are, we are looking to outfit the new office

[10:50] space at this point and just kind of punch item things. So, uh, that project is,

[10:55] uh, very close to completion. Our veteran pavers, while the process, uh, for the

[11:00] applications are closed for this year, we did procure or secure 19 pavers that will

[11:05] be dedicated and installed for the upcoming, uh, Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday,

[11:11] November 11th at 11 p.m. out at the Veterans Memorial. Uh, no update on the uh Levit

[11:18] Hill Recycling Center. Uh, I'm just keeping in here to kinda, uh, periodic any milestones

[11:24] that are reached. I'll, I'll keep, uh, you and the, and the public informed on that.

[11:28] Uh, the town remains under a drought warning, so we're, we're continue to do voluntary

[11:33] water conservation as, as, uh, appropriate in order to avoid restrictions. Uh, however,

[11:40] some of the, the rehabilitation there of town center well, um, are exceeding expectations,

[11:45] so we're actually in a much better position. Our wells are in much better, um, condition

[11:50] than they were perhaps during the summer before the rehabilitation. So good news

[11:53] there. Uh, we still are soliciting, uh, well, the planning commission is soliciting,

[11:59] uh, public input for their, uh, town comp plan review. Uh, this Levittsville Community

[12:04] survey. There are flyers all over town. It's on our social media outlets, our website,

[12:10] um, so hopefully those, uh, listening at home or watching this later are familiar

[12:14] with the survey and take a, take a moment to fill it out. Uh, we are getting a lot

[12:18] of responses now, um, so more the merrier.

[12:24] Uh, in that same vein, there are 3 surveys out there floating around. One was sent

[12:28] directly to our town businesses, uh, for those businesses that haven't taken the

[12:32] time to fill out the survey for Oktoberfest, we do encourage you to do that. There

[12:36] are also surveys for patrons, again, posted on social media, as well as, um, the

[12:42] vendors, uh, that took part and contributed to the festival. Street sweeping. So

[12:48] now we have the date scheduled. Uh, we're working with the HOAs to get notifications

[12:52] out to those residents. You're gonna see a lot more out in the public for public

[12:56] notice. Uh, we are now working with our vendor to get the sequence for what streets

[13:02] and what days and kind of time frames. Um, so, it will be on the, uh, October 22nd

[13:08] and 23rd. That's Thursday and Friday. It's going to be during business hours. Uh,

[13:14] it could start as early as 7. We're still working through the sequence. That's why

[13:17] there's not much, uh, granular detail and kind of timing of what sector is gonna

[13:22] be on what day. A town staff update. Uh, John Matthew will be transitioning into

[13:27] retirement over the coming months. Uh, so we have, uh, published, um, his position

[13:34] for full-time replacement, a planning and zoning administrative position. Uh, John

[13:39] has, uh, Pledge to stay on through the comp plan review process at a minimum, so

[13:44] that'll go into next calendar year. So, in the coming months, uh, we hope to have

[13:49] uh his future replacement here and allow John uh to help with that transition, which

[13:55] will be a big one. And then a note here, uh, next week, we do have um some scheduled

[14:01] leave from staff uh that will leave the town office pretty limited. Um, so we're

[14:07] seeking understanding from those that are trying to make payments on their utilities.

[14:11] Everything will be posted, uh, as, as soon as possible, um, with a target of the

[14:17] 19th, any payments made next week. Um, so it should not. Uh, interfere with any kind

[14:24] of, um, those that are delinquent or anything for shutoffs. So, it, it is a, uh,

[14:30] a week where perhaps just a a short postponement of posting, um, the payment to the

[14:36] account will not impact the account ultimately. We will have staff in the office,

[14:41] it's just the accounting staff is basically on leave. So we, we, we will be managing

[14:46] as best we can. And with that, Mr. Mayor, town council, that concludes my town manager's

[14:51] report. Is there any questions regarding the importance, Mr. Mayor? Yes, um, uh,

[14:56] first off, uh, thank you, uh, and I did see from, uh, on behalf of the HOA we've

[15:02] received and distributed both the survey that was sent out by John and, and the note

[15:06] that the preliminary note that was sent out by Sarah. Seeing that our next town council

[15:10] meeting isn't until the 22nd, will you be sending out the details, uh, you know,

[15:15] as a follow-up, uh, on the sweeping once you get it so we can distribute that and,

[15:19] um, what sections when. Terrific. Um, also, um,

[15:29] Oktoberfest surveys. Uh, any idea, uh, time frame when we would see the results of

[15:35] those? We're still, they're still available to contribute. Um, Sarah's already started

[15:41] preliminarily pulling together the results. Um, I'm happy to share those, uh, but

[15:46] we're still getting surveys daily, so is there a hard close or? Not really. There,

[15:53] there was the deadline for the vendors and the businesses. And that's passed. So

[15:59] those are pretty much ready to go, but the survey for the attendees. In general.

[16:07] But a deadline on that. Maybe could we get like where it sits next meeting, you know,

[16:14] just, uh, like an over a quick overview. I mean, I, you know, I, I, I would say,

[16:19] and I said this to you already, thank you very much. I think I, from my perspective

[16:22] it was fantastic. The businesses all said that they did very well, but I just would

[16:27] like to see the overall results that we, you know, have more data on it. Thank you.

[16:36] Any other questions?

[16:39] Thank you very much. Thank you. Moving on to item number 5, additions, deletions,

[16:44] or modifications to the agenda. Are there any proposed additions, deletions, or modifications

[16:48] for that? No. Is there any additions or deletion, modifications or deletions? I believe

[16:53] there was one, that was proposed by Vice Mayor Budner to move 8A to the new 6D, and

[17:01] that's gonna be the Love Winter event plan. That is under discussion item 8A to 6D.

[17:09] Is that correct? Are there any other proposed changes? OK. Is there a motion to perform

[17:16] that action and adopt the agenda as amended this evening, Mr. Mayor? Yes, uh,

[17:24] I move to move item 8A Love Winter event plan to the consent agenda as item 6D

[17:32] and approve the, um, agenda as amended. Is there a second? I 2nd. 1st is made by

[17:40] Vice Mayor Budner, seconded by Council Member Arena. Is there any discussion? Hearing

[17:45] none, is there any objection?

[17:49] Sure. Hearing and seeing none, that motion will carry unanimously with all 5 members

[17:54] voting in the affirmative, no one against, no abstention, no one absent, and 1 vacancy

[17:58] on counsel.

[18:01] Moving on to item number 6. The consent agenda as amended this evening will include

[18:05] the September 17, 2026 town council meeting minutes, the September 30th, 2026 town

[18:12] council meeting minutes, the supplemental appropriation for the 27 South Loudon Street

[18:17] zoning and utility fee refund, and the new addition of the Love Winter event plan.

[18:23] Uh, is there any questions you can ask questions, or did you wanna touch on anything?

[18:30] Yeah, there were a few items that staff wanted to get some direction on the Love

[18:34] Winter plan. There are two challenges, so I, if it's appropriate, I'd like to go

[18:38] through those now, and then we can take action as needed. One is the memorial, uh,

[18:44] uh, the memorial menorah lighting date and location. The second is also staffing

[18:51] challenges for Ber Berserkel and the Scorkel, um, and, and whether we would partner

[18:57] with someone in order to execute that given staff's limited availability. Is there

[19:02] anything else I'm missing? So those are two major things that were pointed out in

[19:05] the item that you can dispel now as part of the consent. That'd be great. OK.

[19:14] Mhm Moving possibly moving the light of thoughts.

[19:24] And the third item, why don't we get that? Yeah, yeah, that would have been nice

[19:27] to know during the discussion of the uh. Oh, yeah, well, that's right. I think there's,

[19:33] there's 33 things that we need to probably work through pretty quick. We can work

[19:36] through it pretty quickly, but, OK, yeah. So, I, I think we had

[19:44] some discussion with Sarah at the break, uh, and I think we're all amenable to move

[19:49] in the menorah lighting to Monday the 7th, right? That answers one question, and,

[19:54] and do it inside, um, because it seemed to be.

[20:00] much better received than the town hall, uh, last year. And then what was the second

[20:06] question? Staff, staff determination. We don't need staff for berserkel. OK, so no

[20:12] staff or no staff support for berserkel. And then the lastly was trying to

[20:19] um hold the light up Lovittsville judging um as part of one of the in

[20:27] conjunction with the council meeting.

[20:31] Oh sorry, no, uh, I think you need to come up to the mic, yeah, at this point. Moving

[20:37] the awards, the acknowledgment of the winners into a council meeting in December.

[20:44] Um, right now, they're separate on a separate evening.

[20:52] Which there's only 1 December if you look, sorry, December 17th.

[21:02] And we originally had them. Oh, typically they are with a council meeting, right,

[21:07] right. The meetings on the 10th. Mr. Mayor, yes, sir. Wasn't it originally set the

[21:14] way the way it's set right now to be, uh, coordinated with the CBD meeting? On the

[21:21] calendar? No, no.

[21:26] So all you're doing is taking it away from the CBD, bringing it back to where we've

[21:29] always had it is in the town council, right? OK, so, so the reason, if I recall correctly,

[21:37] that we were doing it on the 17th separately. And not the 10th, was we would now

[21:44] have the tree lighting on Saturday. The menorah lighting on Monday, and that would

[21:50] only give us 2 days to do Light Up Lovittsville instead of doing it that next weekend

[21:57] and having it on the 17th.

[22:03] OK. That's what's being proposed. We're just concerned that um with

[22:11] the, the award ceremony that we might not get the turnout for people to, to support

[22:17] the winners that it may be better to keep it with a council meeting. And the council

[22:23] present them with the awards. School events too. There's some conflicting school

[22:28] events as well, right? That's what I thought. All right, on the 17th, on the 17th.

[22:35] Which is why we moved it.

[22:39] No, I It was moved because last year we had all the events in one weekend, and it

[22:44] was hard to do all the events plus the judging. So it was considered to move the

[22:48] judging to the following Sunday and then have the award ceremony that Thursday. But

[22:54] it's always a conflict with concerts and things at the schools that week, but we

[22:58] don't know those schedules until like 2 or 3 months beforehand. But there, there

[23:02] is a Woodgrove concert and a harmony concert that night. Gotcha.

[23:08] All right, Mr. Mayor, can, can we switch the CBD and the town council meeting to

[23:15] just switch those dates?

[23:19] So the, the judging, uh, the awards presentation would still be on the day that is

[23:24] now scheduled, but it would actually be the town council meeting instead of the CBD

[23:29] meeting. There's conflicts on that evening now. That's what you just said. 17th you're

[23:35] not gonna have. OK, well, OK.

[23:44] So if the Approval of the consent agenda. I know

[23:52] A lot of questions. The approval of the consent agenda can also include the direction.

[24:01] For the love winner to not require staff or partnership for the berserkel. Set the

[24:08] menorah lighting on Monday, December 7th. And to move the light up Levittsville Awards

[24:15] to the regular town council meeting on the 17th, on the, on the 10th, on the 10th,

[24:20] on the 10th, yeah, on the 10th.

[24:26] Mr. Mayor, can I ask you a question? Is there anybody up here that would commit to,

[24:31] because that would mean that that would have to happen either on Tuesday or can't,

[24:35] yeah, Tuesday or Wednesday. I know I can't do Wednesday, but, um, is, is there anybody

[24:41] here that light up Levisville on the 8th, yeah. Cause we'd need to have enough people

[24:47] to do it, right? What's the reason we can't do it on the 6th? Um, well, the 6th is

[24:52] Sunday, we could, um. 16. Where the sex

[25:01] I just wanna make sure we have, you know, if it's, if we end up with one person,

[25:05] it's not gonna be.

[25:09] Lunatics.

[25:11] I'm not available at 6 o'clock.

[25:20] I'm flexible. I can go I can go with whatever the majority is.

[25:25] Well, we're gonna need it in, uh, we're gonna need it in motion form, so. Whoever

[25:30] is so moved. Uh, wait a minute. We said no staff for the

[25:37] berserko. What was the 2nd item of memorial lighting on the 7th.

[25:44] That would, that would leave the Let it blow it to either.

[25:52] OK Or the 4th

[25:56] In the 4th What

[26:01] That's not a lot of time for people to put out their lights though, right? That's

[26:04] the only, I think, probably concern, but Christmas lights up already. It's even Halloween.

[26:10] OK, I'm, I'm, I just wanna make sure we have enough people to do it, so whatever

[26:15] we can get 2 or 3 anybody is so moved to make a motion. They need a date. What's

[26:21] well, you can throw out a date and someone can move to amend the motion, OK, if,

[26:25] if there's some. Um

[26:32] This wouldn't matter. This would have to be a unanimous decision. Go ahead. See if

[26:38] we can do this. Um, I move to amend the Love Winter plan, um, to,

[26:47] uh, acknowledge that no staff, Mr. Butter, I'm gonna call you out of order. This

[26:50] is a consent agenda, so it, it would, the, the assumption is that you're adopting

[26:55] the consent agenda as amended with the with, with, with the following changes. Got

[27:01] it. I withdraw the motion. I move to adopt the consent agenda with the following

[27:06] changes to the Love Winter event plan. Um, no requirements for, uh, town staff for

[27:12] the berserkel on the Squirkel. Move the menorah lighting, um, to Monday 12/7. And

[27:19] move the light up Lovittsville, uh, judging to 126. Is there a 2nd 2nd.

[27:33] Emmy Awards?

[27:36] I didn't hear. I didn't hear any second, so go ahead. I don't recognize the second

[27:42] and the Light Up Lovitz will awards to December 10th.

[27:48] Oh, sorry. And the light up Levittsville Awards, uh, to December 10th on the same

[27:52] night as the town council meeting. Is there a 2nd 2nd. There you go. Uh, the motion

[27:59] was made by council member Butner, I'm sorry, Vice Mayor Butner, seconded by council

[28:03] member Stole. He's being almost non-controversial and uh Uh, routine in nature, uh,

[28:11] we will go to a roll call about Ms. Arena. Hi, uh, Mr. Earl, Mr. Stone, Mr. Smith,

[28:18] and Mr. Budner. That motion will carry unanimously with all 5 members voting in the

[28:22] affirmative, no one against, no abstentions, no absences, and 1 vacancy on counsel.

[28:28] Thank you very much. Thank you.

[28:32] Moving on. To item number 7.

[28:37] Uh, there is a public hearing, uh, for fiscal year 2027, uh, supplemental appropriation.

[28:44] Informative summaries to seek approval of supplemental appropriation. Fiscal year

[28:49] 2027 in the amount of

[28:52] $10,473,701.22 comprised a

[28:59] previous year capital project appropriation, approved supplemental appropriations

[29:05] for FY 27, state and federal awarded grant funding, and carryover for FY 26 appropriation.

[29:12] Associated with contractual encumbrances and unused but a project balance, which

[29:17] exceeds 1% of the total expenditure shared in the FY27 adopted budget. If you are

[29:24] a I will go ahead and just, just read or state that if you are in the land of Zoom,

[29:30] we will have a staff presentation, but if you are in the land of Zoom, if you wish

[29:35] to speak to tonight's public hearing, you can press the raised hand icon as we open

[29:39] the public hearing, uh, and you will be provided, uh, you'll be promoted to a presenter.

[29:46] And provided uh your opportunity to deliver your comments at tonight's public hearing

[29:52] within your allotted time.

[29:55] Mr. Knoy Thank you, Miss Mary stole a lot of the thunder here, but this is an administrative

[30:01] supplemental preparation that happens at the end of the fiscal year. Uh, it's primarily

[30:05] driven by capital projects, expenditures or budget authority. Uh, most of our grant-funded

[30:12] projects are escrowed over multiple years, so there's balances after any given years.

[30:16] Um, so you need to carry them forward. So when we go to construction, the amount

[30:22] of preparation is there. So it's really following. Multiple years of appropriation

[30:27] until it matches the construction, uh, expenditures with it. Also, there are encumbrances

[30:33] which are basically contractual obligations from any fiscal year that necessarily

[30:38] aren't expended before the June 30th, the end of the fiscal year. So those are coming

[30:43] over and then there are two supplemental appropriations rolled into this uh action

[30:49] desired tonight. Uh, one was approved through resolution 2026-09-0006, uh,

[30:57] presented in September, and then, uh, appropriation of 23,500 associated with a replacement

[31:04] service water line for commercial user on South Church Street. Just a breakdown quickly

[31:10] of what the 10 $10.47 million is, the far majority of it is tied to capital projects

[31:17] at $9.2 million which is $7.2 million out of our general government capital projects

[31:23] fund, and then just under $2 million in the utilities fund. Again, those are CIP

[31:28] approved projects and funding. Um, secondly, encumbrances are just over a million

[31:34] dollars or $1 million.01 million dollars, $26,000. Of that 752, just around

[31:41] 753,000 is in the capital projects fund as well. These are generally consulting,

[31:48] design, contracted, um, uh, uh. Contracts associated with capital projects as well

[31:55] as 2, 255,000 in utilities. So that, Ms. Mayor, I, I'm here to address any questions

[32:02] you or the public might have about the, this item tonight.

[32:09] I'm sorry, are there any questions of the staff presentation? OK As always I'll ask

[32:16] when this comes up. Uh, it's been stated many times that we have, uh, rated our funds.

[32:21] In fact, that we, according to some, we don't have the $5,702 in the utilities

[32:29] availability fee reserve. The 40,952. Uh, I'm sorry, the, um,

[32:36] that's in the utilities fund net position, the $35,250 in the availabilities fee

[32:42] reserve, even though our latest financials state that we're somewhere in the neighborhood

[32:47] of 76 $7 million in reserves, just making sure that that's still not the case, that

[32:53] we haven't raided that, and that's now drained everything. Uh, so, the, the action

[33:00] tonight, the supplement appropriation for next year, really is, uh, in the item,

[33:04] it, it, it's associated with 193,000 for the network of uh improvements and the 23,0005

[33:12] for the service water line. Everything. Else has been accounted for and or revenue

[33:16] hasn't been realized. So, the 10,400,000 sounds like a lot carrying over, but a lot

[33:22] of that is grant funded through our capital projects fund. So it's not sitting in

[33:26] the reserves or anything to be expended. It's usually reimbursed at the time of expenditure.

[33:31] To really the far majority of tonight's action is carrying over budget authority,

[33:36] not necessarily use of any reserves if that, if you're tracking with me a minuscule

[33:42] part of that is from, is from reserves, right? 220,000 of it would, would derive

[33:48] from reserves. So if we had 0 in our reserves, which we never have, uh, we've had,

[33:53] we have about 6 million. As of as of the latest, which is at least everything far

[33:58] exceeds our financial policy requirements and, and it's noted in the item, the associated

[34:04] ones with the town, the general funding assigned fund balance, and the 3R reserve

[34:08] and utilities that are proposed to be used for this, right, never zero. Got it. Still,

[34:13] I know I ask that every time we talk budgets and that's good to hear. Is there any

[34:20] other questions regarding the Gotcha. All right. Uh, at this time, we will open up

[34:26] the, uh, Public hearing?

[34:32] Or

[34:41] The supplemental appropriation for fiscal year 2027. Uh, at, before we, um, Madam

[34:48] Clerk, again, if you are in Atlanta Zoom, please at this time. Press the raised hand

[34:53] icon, you will be promoted to provide the opportunity to deliver your comments. Madam

[34:59] Clark, is there anybody in the room or online that wishes to speak at tonight's public

[35:03] hearing? There is no one signed up in the room or online. Is there anybody in the

[35:07] room or online that wishes to speak at tonight's public hearing?

[35:12] OK. Seeing and hearing none. Is there emotion To close Tonight's public hearing.

[35:22] Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. I move to close the public here. Related to the uh

[35:29] Fiscal year 2027 supplemental appropriation. Is there a second? Second, motion has

[35:36] been made by Council Member Smith, seconded by Vice Mayor Budner. Is there any discussion?

[35:42] Hearing none, is there any objection? Hearing and seeing none, that motion will carry

[35:47] unanimously with all 5 members present voting in the affirmative, none against, no

[35:51] abstentions, no one absent, and 1 vacancy on council.

[35:57] Moving on to, I'm sorry, in your packet, moving on to a draft motion. Or any

[36:05] alternate if anybody is so moved.

[36:10] Mr. Mayor, yes sir, I move to approve Resolution 2026-10-0001 to

[36:18] amend the fiscal year 2026 budget and approve a supplemental appropriation totaling

[36:23] $10,473,701.22 comprising of

[36:29] $46,787.27. To the general fund, 9

[36:37] $7,986,260.22 to the general government Capital

[36:45] Projects Fund and $2,440,653.73 to the utilities fund for

[36:53] fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2027. In order to reappropriate

[37:00] previous year unused appropriations for capital projects, contractual encumbrances,

[37:07] and new appropriations associated with partially grant-funded network improvements,

[37:12] and the addition of enhanced surveillance security cameras at all town facilities

[37:17] approved in Resolution 2026-09-0006. And replacement of a service water

[37:25] line for a commercial user on South Church Street due to damage.

[37:32] Is there a second? My 2nd motion has been made by Council Member Smith, seconded

[37:38] by Council Member Arena. Is there any discussion? Um, Mr. Mayor, if I could, I, uh,

[37:44] regret, uh, I found a typo error. It's fiscal year 2027 budget in the very first

[37:51] part. I don't think the whole motion necessarily needs to be revised, but if, if

[37:56] it pleases the council, it, it's a typo that's fiscal year 2027. It is later corrected,

[38:02] you know, July 20, uh, July 1, 2026 to 2027, but the very beginning. My apologies.

[38:10] No worries, that any, well, if the record will show that the um uh The motion

[38:18] includes 2027 versus 2026. No objection. We'll move on to discussion. Hearing no

[38:25] discussion because it's 1%. It will require 2/3 majority, which would be 44 or more

[38:33] members of council. So we will do a roll call vote, Ms. Arena. Mr. Earl,

[38:40] Mr. Stoll, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Budner. The motion will carry unanimously with all

[38:46] 5 members voting in the affirmative, no one against, no abstentions, no one absent,

[38:50] and 1 vacancy on counsel. Very much.

[38:56] Rolling right along to the new 8A Park Place Water Service connection replacement

[39:02] approval.

[39:06] Thank you, Ms. Mayor. This is a 2nd supplemental preparation being requested in order

[39:12] to cover some unforeseen expenses that went along with the Park Place water main

[39:17] replacement, uh, due to the age of the service lines and the, what they call the

[39:23] center connection, uh, hardware within the centers. There was a cost incurred by

[39:28] the town in order to replace all those. I did place some examples, uh, photos in

[39:33] the item. To give some context to kind of the age and the, and the condition of,

[39:38] of which it was. Uh, the interesting thing about this one is that the change order

[39:44] was done in the field as needed in order to continue through the water main replacement,

[39:49] so there was no formal approval of town, uh, staff, but the expenditure is definitely,

[39:55] or the, the replacement is definitely a betterment to the system overall, and it

[39:59] comes down to a cost of just under, or just over um $1350 per connection.

[40:07] Which if done separately would have been much, much more. So, uh, while the cost

[40:13] is 35,000 total, um, I believe there are 26 residents that all now have brand new

[40:18] service lines, setters and everything to the meters. Uh, if we, we would have to

[40:23] do this at some point in the future, it would have cost, um, some measure more than

[40:28] the 35,000 being charged.

[40:36] Are there any questions of the presentation?

[40:41] Mr. Mayor, yes, um, thanks for sending the pictures. I mean that was pretty graphic

[40:46] about, you know, how bad they were. My question, I guess, uh, uh, involves, um, do

[40:51] we have other setters in other locations that we need to worry about given the poor

[40:58] condition that those were, uh, uh, it's a fair question, and my guts telling me is

[41:05] probably when, when you really kind of, when they get exposed is when you're actually

[41:09] trying to work with them. When you're putting new service lines, putting new connection

[41:13] points, they, they're brittle, right? So, as of now, the leaks come up and we replace

[41:19] them in the field while, while we can. Um, but there's not a comprehensive plan or

[41:24] anything, a program out there to have these systematically replaced. It's probably

[41:29] a good idea. Uh, this infrastructure is from the late 1960s. So, uh,

[41:37] what is that? That's 50 odd years, right? So, These, these are gonna be set, set

[41:43] up for the next 50 years. There, there, a lot of the water lines and everything down

[41:48] South Loudon as part of that project will be replaced and they, these are being accounted

[41:52] for within that as well as sewer lines. So hopefully, it takes the majority of maybe

[41:56] some of the remaining aged infrastructure out there, but it, it's not comprehensive.

[42:02] There's probably other setters out there with similar Similar conditioned uh infrastructure.

[42:08] There's no role, it's just so brittle that once you start taking out the meters and,

[42:14] and disconnecting everything in there, you just can't put it back. So, until it poses

[42:19] a problem with the, with the service line, there hasn't been an inspection or kind

[42:23] of replacement program put in place. And in the past, if, if there's, it's a one-off,

[42:29] and it's a leaking within the crock within that because it's not the line to the

[42:33] house, that would be. Covered by the town correct in the center is is connected um.

[42:40] You can see in the one picture that the meters right there in between it, so it's

[42:43] really hard to, to separate it from the meter. Um, so yeah, if you have an issue

[42:48] with it, you, you'll be, uh, replacing the whole hardware in there. Correct. OK.

[42:56] Any other questions? OK, uh, sorry, Mr. Jason. So to clarify.

[43:05] The best way to handle this is as we come across them, correct, uh, or if, if a problem

[43:09] crops up or if we're, you know, doing road main uh like road infrastructure changes

[43:15] like we're doing down, uh, Loudon and so on. You're saying that's the best way to

[43:21] approach this, not to put together a systemic program to replace all the water mains

[43:27] that haven't been replaced yet. I have the same concerns, uh, uh, a curiosity, if

[43:31] anything, that we should probably be inspecting our, our infrastructure. We just

[43:35] went through Broadway improvements and the condition within those, those centers

[43:40] were, were better, um, but. I wouldn't, I don't want to answer and say it's the best

[43:46] way. Systematic replacement, proactive replacement would obviously be the best way

[43:52] and the economy of scales comes from uh having more of them done at one time in this

[43:57] case, right? They can do, you know, 26 at a different rate than if you're doing one-offs,

[44:02] right? Because of mobilization and everything else that goes with having a small

[44:06] project, so. Uh, I think further inspection and kind of reporting back by my staff

[44:11] may give me a better measure of kind of the scale of how many are in this condition,

[44:16] but these were particularly bad. So I don't think these are necessarily reflective

[44:20] of everything that's in the ground and Loudon will be well over 4, I think it's like

[44:25] 40 homes that are serviced by these may be addressed. So that's gonna leave kind

[44:30] of like Penn, Pennsylvania Avenue, some of the older parts of town, Redbud and things

[44:35] like that. So, you might get a smaller scale of what's left not being mitigated by

[44:41] necessarily with our capital projects.

[44:45] Any other questions, Mr. Mr. Earl? Thank you. Um, looking at these pictures here,

[44:52] uh, if on Park Place, if you turn down Park Place, units 1 through 7 on the left

[44:58] side were built in 73, 44 to 39 were built in 82

[45:06] and then 38 up to 27 was built after that. The next set is when you go into that

[45:14] private parking area, uh 8 through 26 that was built in 74.

[45:22] But um what I was gonna add, but you already said that is all, all it would take

[45:28] is an assessment whenever staff has time to uh lift the water crock up and take a

[45:36] picture of Any of these components there, but Undisturbed, they could last quite

[45:44] a while, but some, some as soon as somebody puts a wrench on them, they're done.

[45:48] They just disintegrate like you said. That's all I wanted to add. Any other questions?

[45:56] OK. In your packet there is a draft promotion if anybody is similar to offer that

[46:01] of their own.

[46:06] Mr. Mayor, yes sir. I move to approve resolution

[46:10] 2026-10-0003 to amend the fiscal year 2027 budget and approve a supplemental

[46:18] appropriation of $35,189.70 for fiscal year beginning. July 1, 2026 and

[46:26] ending June 30th, 2027, deriving from utilities fund 3R reserve for the replacement

[46:33] of water meter center service connection hardware for 26 residents on Park Place

[46:38] in conjunction with the replacement of the water main. Is there a second? The motion

[46:44] is made by Vice Mayor Budner, seconded by Council member Stahl. Uh, is there any

[46:51] discussion? Hearing and seeing none? Is there any objection? Uh, we'll go. This doesn't

[46:58] require 2/3, but we'll go ahead and do a roll call vote since it's just fiscal, so

[47:02] fiscal impact. Ms. Arena, Mr. Earl, Mr. Butler, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Stahl. That

[47:10] motion will carry unanimously with all 5 members present voting in the affirmative,

[47:14] no one against, no abstentions, no one absent, and 1 vacancy on counsel. Thank you

[47:18] very much. Moving on to LVCU

[47:23] 2026-0001, the George Family Holdings LLC request for a

[47:31] public hearing. Yes sir. Mr. Martha. Did I steal your thunder as well? No. Any questions

[47:38] of the presentation?

[47:42] Thank you.

[47:44] It is a request for a uh conditional use permit to allow a package and parcel service

[47:50] use business at One South Loudoun, which is the gray building adjacent to Rodeo's

[47:57] Restaurant on, on South Loudoun. The application was heard by the planning commission

[48:01] last night, and the planning commission has recommended approval subject to several

[48:06] conditions of approval. Um, and because staff will be unavailable in December, we're

[48:12] asking to go to public hearing on November 12th.

[48:20] Did I say the recommended approval? Yes, OK.

[48:25] Unanimous, unanimous recommendation. Unanimous recommendation. All right. Are there

[48:31] any questions of the

[48:34] Mr. Mayor, yes sir. Were there any, uh, unique, you said, uh, pending some, uh, conditional.

[48:40] Now, the conditions of approval, uh, staff recommended applicant agreed to them,

[48:45] hours of operation, uh, the location of the parking, um, limits on the size of the

[48:51] packages, which is, is basically something they have set, as well as limits on the

[48:56] size of the vehicles that will be delivering or picking up packages from the business,

[49:02] those sorts of things. There was some discussion about Uh, tree replacement. There's

[49:07] a huge tree on the property that the commission's very interested in preserving until

[49:12] it can no longer be preserved and then replacing with another similar tree in the

[49:17] future. The applicant agreed to that, and we had no public comment at the hearing.

[49:21] I did leave that out. There was no public comment. Any other Uh, it, it is worth

[49:29] mentioning when the application was put forward, there was a, uh, active employee

[49:32] of the town of Levittsville who did provide a, uh, a COIA disclosure to the council,

[49:38] um, since they did not have any, uh, direct interest, uh, but that is, you all should

[49:45] have that as well. Um.

[49:50] If there's no other questions, there is a draft motion. If anybody would like to

[49:54] offer that or an alternative, Mr. Mayor, yes sir. I move to schedule a public hearing

[49:59] for consideration of LVCU 2026-0001 at the November 12,

[50:07] 2026 regular town council meeting. Your second, my second. Uh, the motion has been

[50:14] made by council member Stalo, seconded by council member Arena. It's great discussion.

[50:20] Hearing none, is there any objection? Hearing and seeing none that motion will carry

[50:25] unanimously with all 5 members present voting in the affirmative, none against, no

[50:30] abstentions, no one absent, and 1 vacancy on council.

[50:36] Thank you, sir.

[50:39] Moving on. So I am #9. Uh, since we do have

[50:47] a requirement to go into closed session with our town attorney. I

[50:54] propose that we take a 39 minute recess and reconvene either up to 39 minutes uh

[51:02] when the town attorney is present so that we, he's able to participate in closed

[51:07] session.

[51:10] Is there any objections? OK.

[51:14] Are you saying to take a recess and wait for him, or that's correct, just move this

[51:19] until he comes and move on with the rest of the items, uh. If someone wants to suspend

[51:26] and move on, we can. Uh, however, the only other thing That's on tonight's agenda

[51:34] are comments and disclosures from the mayor and town council. All, all other items

[51:39] are informational or upcoming.

[51:45] We thought it wouldn't be this quick either, so.

[51:52] We can suspend the rules and talk about the uh stall arena tour if that's no didn't

[51:58] want. OK, all right, so if there is you that is not a stated objection correct? OK,

[52:06] so it's gonna be now 38 minutes. Uh, it'll be 88 p.m. or we will reconvene if he

[52:13] does arrive earlier. So at, at 7:22 we are on recess.

[52:39] And I fully expect him to be uh posting on social media by

[52:45] Great, all set. All right.

[52:50] The time is 7:43, uh, as promised, we're 17 minutes ahead of schedule. Uh, we do

[52:56] have our county attorney, Mr. Rob Sproll. Thank you for coming here this evening.

[53:01] Um, we will move on to item nine, the closed session. There is a motion in your packet

[53:08] if anybody is so moved to offer that or an alternative. Mr. Bobner. Mr. Mayor, um,

[53:15] in accordance with Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711A, subsections 17, and

[53:22] 8, I move to convene in closed session for one, discussion, consideration, or interviews

[53:28] of prospective candidates for employment, assignment, appointment, promotion, performance,

[53:33] the motion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of a specific public officers.

[53:39] Appointees or employees of any public body relating to the annual evaluation of the

[53:43] town manager, as well as discussion on the potential appointment, reappoint, and

[53:48] or contracts of one or more former town office, uh, one or more current or former

[53:55] town officers. Number 7, consultation with legal counsel pertaining to actual or

[54:01] probable litigation where such consultation or briefing in an open meeting would

[54:05] adversely affect the negotiation or litigating posture of the public body relating

[54:10] to the enforcement of town code related to utilities and renewal of franchise. Agreement

[54:16] and 8 consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding

[54:21] specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel related

[54:26] to potential appointment, reappointment, and or contracts of one or more current

[54:32] or former. Town officers. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit

[54:38] the closure of a meeting merely because an attorney representing the public body

[54:42] is in attendance or is consulted on a matter.

[54:47] The motion was made by Vice Mayor Budner, seconded by Council Member Smith. Is there

[54:50] any discussion? Wearing none. Is there any objection to go into closed session? Hearing

[54:58] in Signon, uh, That motion will carry unanimously with all 5 members voting in the

[55:04] affirmative, no one against, no abstentions, no one absent, and 1 vacancy on council,

[55:09] and at 7:46 p.m. we are in closed session.

[55:15] We will be heading next door.

[55:25] Wow. Wait all that time just to wave everybody goodbye.

[55:34] Yeah

[55:38] Appreciate it, sir.

[55:42] The time is 9:41. We're back in open session. At this time, I will ask each and each

[55:48] and every one of you, do you certify to the best of your knowledge that one, only

[55:52] public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under this

[55:56] chapter, and 2, only such business matters as were identified in the motion by which

[56:00] the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed, or considered in the meeting

[56:07] of the Lovitt Hilltown Council. Mr. Stahl, do you so I do so certify. Mr. Smith,

[56:12] do you so certify? I do. Mr. Budner, do you so certify? I do so certify. Mr. Earl,

[56:17] do you so certify? I do so certify. And Ms. Arena, do you so certify? I do so certify.

[56:22] Let the record show I certify as well. Is there any action or motions coming from

[56:28] out of tonight's closed session meeting?

[56:31] All right. Hearing and seeing none. The time is 9:42. Uh, so according to the town

[56:36] council rules of procedures, in order to take up any additional matters, we would

[56:41] have to suspend the rules in order to take them up. If anybody is so moved. Mr. Mayor.

[56:46] Yes, sir. I move to suspend the rules to complete the agenda items. Is there a 2nd?

[56:52] A 2nd. A motion been made by Vice Mayor Budner, seconded by Council Member Marina.

[56:57] Is there any discussion? Hearing none, is there any, it does require 2/3 majority

[57:03] or 4 members. Is there any objection?

[57:07] It's true. All right. Seeing and hearing none, that motion will carry unanimously

[57:12] with all 5 members present voting in the affirmative, none against, no abstentions,

[57:17] none absent, and 1 vacancy on council. Moving on to number 10, informational items.

[57:22] We do have 3 items for your, uh, review. Um, one of those is the preliminary 2027

[57:29] General Assembly legislative agenda. Uh, Mr. Knori, I know we did talk about adding

[57:33] some of the language for, uh, the data center and power lines, uh, to, to that legislative

[57:39] agenda. Um, but if there are other items that you wish to, uh, to include, um, please

[57:46] let us know as we will. Uh, consider that, I believe, in our next meeting. And then

[57:51] we have the rules of procedure and the standards of conduct and ethics, uh, as informational

[57:57] upcoming items. Moving on to upcoming meetings and agendas, we do have the preliminary

[58:02] agenda, uh, as far out as the eye can see. There's additional items that you wanted,

[58:06] wanted to include, uh, please let us know. Um, I will state.

[58:15] Uh, if it could be noted that there will be a closed session in our next. Meeting

[58:20] as well, but we will get you that language. At this time, If there's no other

[58:27] items, we will move to upcoming town council, I'm sorry, uh, comments and disclosures

[58:32] from the mayor and town council. There is one matter, again, it was referred to earlier,

[58:37] uh, this, uh, this evening. Uh, there was a, uh, ethics complaint lodged against

[58:43] me, um, and, uh, I will go ahead and recuse myself, but before I do, I will reiterate.

[58:51] That according to section 2.2-3705.1, uh, item number

[58:59] one, personnel information concerning identifiable individuals except that

[59:07] access shall not be denied to a person who is subject thereof. Effectively, this

[59:12] was the requirement to redact anything. There is not a requirement, I will note,

[59:18] there's nothing in the requirement for state code that says any person from the public

[59:23] making that the only redaction that comes in is the subject thereof. That any person

[59:29] who is subject to such information and who is 18 years of age or older may waive

[59:34] in writing the protections afforded by the subdivision. If the protections are so

[59:39] waived, such information shall be disclosed. I'm requesting, as part of, as part

[59:45] of my role, I've already provided written notification that I have made that waiver,

[59:50] and I would expect any and all information to be disclosed. It was also indicated

[59:55] that more than 350 pages, many in 2018, uh, were redacted when state law indicated

[1:00:03] that there should have been no redaction. I'm also requesting that those 350 pages

[1:00:08] be made publicly available as soon as possible because the public, it's been requested

[1:00:14] again about a half a dozen times at this point in time. Uh, the public in terms of

[1:00:20] transparency, uh, should see. All of that unredacted, uh, as has been requested and

[1:00:26] provided in the past. So, with that, I will turn the floor over to uh Mr.

[1:00:33] Budner to be the first part of this. I will make an exit to the right. Once that

[1:00:38] is disposed of, please knock on the door. I will come back in and we will continue

[1:00:42] with the comments.

[1:00:55] OK, thank you. Um,

[1:00:59] I have uh some background that I wanna uh go through and, and then uh read a statement.

[1:01:05] Um, the background is there were 2 elected or appointed town officials that participated

[1:01:11] in sponsorships for the Oktoberfest event. An individual filed an ethics complaint

[1:01:16] against one of these town officials. The complaint was reviewed by the town manager

[1:01:21] to determine if any illegal or unethical activity under Virginia or federal law occurred

[1:01:27] and if it violated the town's standards of conduct and ethics or the town's event

[1:01:33] guidance document and social media policy. The findings are as follows. The town

[1:01:39] of Lovittsville has completed its review of the ethics complaint submitted on September

[1:01:44] 27, 2026 by Mr. Frank McDonough against Mayor Christopher Hornbaker concerning a

[1:01:50] sponsorship post published on an official town social media asset. As part of this

[1:01:57] review, the town examined the matter under the town's social media policy, the standards

[1:02:01] of conduct and ethics, and applicable provisions of Virginia law. Based on this review,

[1:02:07] the town has determined that Mayor Hornbaker committed no legal or ethics violations.

[1:02:12] The sponsorship opportunity follows an established precedent, was available to all

[1:02:17] candidates, and no evidence indicated discriminatory access, improper use of town

[1:02:23] resources, or violations of state election law. However, it was determined that the

[1:02:29] town's social media policy is not fully aligned with the current acceptable practice

[1:02:34] surrounding event sponsorships as outlined in the events guidance document. To ensure

[1:02:40] clarity and consistency going forward, the town council will review the existing

[1:02:45] events guidance document and the social media policy and at a future date and consider

[1:02:52] updates to address the discrepancies between them.

[1:02:57] Any questions? OK. OK, um, and seeing that, uh, this is that

[1:03:05] the mayor, excuse me, that the mayor's recused himself, um, from this, is there any

[1:03:11] comments or anything that you wanna make before we bring him back in?

[1:03:18] Not at this time. OK. Thank you.

[1:03:39] Thank you very much, Mr. Bunner.

[1:03:43] At this time, I will start with uh council member Rena. Uh, for your comments. I

[1:03:50] would just like to say that Uh, Oktoberfest, uh, was very much enjoyed by my family

[1:03:56] and by several others that I talked to in the community, and I just wanna say thank

[1:04:00] you so much to, um, all the volunteers, any of the, I know I'm gonna forget names,

[1:04:06] so I'm just gonna say all the volunteers, all the civic organizations, um, businesses

[1:04:11] that came out, and obviously our wonderful community for coming out and really enjoying,

[1:04:15] uh, the event and putting on a great one at that, at least my own opinion. Um, but

[1:04:21] I'm hoping that moving forward we can just continue to make it a great event, and,

[1:04:27] um, yeah, I look forward to, uh, seeing that happen in the future. And that's it

[1:04:33] for now. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Earl.

[1:04:37] Yes, um, I'd like to echo a lot of the same what Councilwoman, uh, Maria just stated,

[1:04:45] um. It was very successful all the way around businesses and the community just loved

[1:04:52] it, um. I'd like to thank everybody behind the dais who, who helped and volunteered

[1:04:58] with everything, all the committees, the civic organizations, um, in particular,

[1:05:05] Sarah Moseley, she did a hell of a job putting all that together, following through

[1:05:10] with it. Um.

[1:05:14] And staff Not just Sarah, but the rest of the staff too. They put a whole lot of

[1:05:19] work into it as well. So I got, thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. Stahl. Now, I'm

[1:05:27] gonna be um carbon copy of what you just heard. Uh, I feel that uh Oktoberfest was

[1:05:33] a very big success this year. Um, I heard nothing but good, uh, compliments. There's

[1:05:41] only one complaint that I personally heard, and that was from my eight year old granddaughter,

[1:05:45] who didn't feel like there was enough for her to do because she wanted the pie eating

[1:05:49] contest again. And, uh, so she complained to me about that. Um, and I wanna thank

[1:05:57] the volunteers, Sarah, the staff, and everybody up here that also did the work as

[1:06:03] well.

[1:06:06] The Stewart Staal strudel eating contest sounds like a uh possibility in the future.

[1:06:12] Mr. Smith, uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll, I'll just echo the comments here. I thought

[1:06:16] the Oktoberfest, uh, went really well. Um, I know there's a lot of, of folks in our

[1:06:23] town who sit on different sides of the fence with regards to, um, how, how our events

[1:06:29] should look, um, and what the purpose of our events should be. Are they to generate

[1:06:35] revenue? Are they to bring our community together? Are they to showcase the town?

[1:06:39] Um, there's been in the past a lot of discrepancy over bigger is better, or um,

[1:06:48] This is for our community and for our area, and it's not for, you know, it's not

[1:06:53] an attraction to bring people from 150 miles away or or further or whatnot and and

[1:07:00] that has sort of manifested itself in unfortunately a lot of folks in our community

[1:07:06] who I don't wanna say they're they're wishing it. The Oktoberfest would fail, but

[1:07:12] they're wishing that um some of the folks who help organize and plan and run the

[1:07:16] Oktoberfest would fail. And that's, that's an unfortunate circumstance of Of whatever,

[1:07:23] whatever's driving it. But this year's went well. I think it was a template that

[1:07:27] we should continue going forward because I think it's been proven. I think there

[1:07:31] are minor tweaks and things like that that we'll discuss going forward that we can

[1:07:37] make to, to improve it even more. Um, but thank you. From my heart, from my family,

[1:07:43] to the staff, uh, for everything you did, not just for Oktoberfest because you hit

[1:07:48] it out of the park, but for we're in October now, so all year long what you have

[1:07:53] done with regards to the events and, and the ceremonies and all of that, and our

[1:07:59] job as a council is to come up with a, a plan going forward that's sustainable and

[1:08:04] that will work and that will continue the successes that you all achieved this year,

[1:08:09] um. As the chair of the infrastructure Committee, I'd just like to also remind everybody

[1:08:14] that on October 13th, we'll have our next infrastructure Committee meeting. So I

[1:08:19] hope you'll be able to come out and that is all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you

[1:08:24] very much. Uh, Mr. Budner will give you the opportunity to actually make your comments.

[1:08:31] Um, yeah, I just wanna echo what everybody has said, uh, so far, the Oktoberfest,

[1:08:36] uh, in my mind, well, a couple of things. Number one, I'm sorry that Sarah left.

[1:08:39] Uh, I think Sarah, uh, deserves a very big thank you for, for her part in this. I

[1:08:46] know it was a team effort. I, and I echo the fact that everybody on staff and everybody

[1:08:51] on the dais here, uh, you know, kicked in and, and did, did work, um, toward making

[1:08:56] that a success. I also wanna say I, I, I think um we got feedback and that's why

[1:09:02] I was asking the question before about, um, you know, the, the formal feedback, um,

[1:09:07] but we got some informal feedback from the businesses, uh, that, that night and the

[1:09:13] following day and, uh, everybody was ecstatic. So I think our, our mission

[1:09:21] and our goal this year was to Make the businesses thrive and push more business and

[1:09:28] push more people to the businesses, get out of the beer business and push that, uh,

[1:09:32] business to everyone, and, um, I, I personally think we couldn't, uh, uh, there you

[1:09:38] can always improve, right? We, we, there are things that we know that, you know,

[1:09:43] we need more of this or something, you know, and we will address that, but I think

[1:09:48] it was a very big success, and I just thank everybody for their participation in

[1:09:53] making that a success. And the businesses were coming forward to Uh, provide their

[1:09:59] input so that we could take action, uh, as we did, and, and I agree, I think this

[1:10:03] model we should use this footprint and this model going forward we should do some

[1:10:08] tweaks and improve, you know, maybe some of the longer lines, um, but it, it was

[1:10:13] just great so thank thanks to all for that. Um, also wanna thank John for, for the

[1:10:18] survey. I don't know if anybody saw it yet, but, um, John and the planning commission,

[1:10:23] I mean, they did a nice job on that, and, and, uh, I think that'll be, uh, interesting

[1:10:28] to see, uh, a lot of input that, uh, came out just recently, so. Um, and again for,

[1:10:36] uh, to echo Councilman Smith's, um, comments, I think, um, really appreciate all

[1:10:43] the town staff has done to get us this far in the year, uh, and we will be addressing

[1:10:48] events, uh, as, as we look to 2027, but, um, it was just a bang up job on, on that

[1:10:55] this year. So thank you. Thank you very much. Uh, I will also, uh, extend a, a very

[1:11:02] heartfelt thank you to Sarah Moseley and members of staff, our volunteers, our businesses,

[1:11:09] uh, and the citizens for coming out, uh, for the 30th Levittsville Oktoberfest. Uh,

[1:11:16] in less than 10 years, we've gone from, um, Accusations from appointed officials

[1:11:23] that vice mayors were uh misappropriating ABC funds, uh, to, uh, and other concerns,

[1:11:31] uh, that come and risks that come with, with serving beer to really putting our businesses,

[1:11:38] our people first, still making it possible, and there were, uh, dozens of people

[1:11:44] who came forward, and it's always, you know, people state that there were always

[1:11:48] hundreds of people before. Now, In 2018, there were 200 people. In 2023, there were,

[1:11:54] there were 200 people. Uh, now, we do, we can focus on what we do well and turn over

[1:12:02] to the actual businesses when in a smaller, a, a smaller number of hours.

[1:12:10] Any business that has reported that was part of at least one Oktoberfest saw record

[1:12:16] sales. New businesses saw some of the biggest sales in their first week.

[1:12:24] Um, it truly is the vision that I think we all had of what if we actually made it

[1:12:31] a showcase. Um, had, uh, we gotta get, gotta do something with the rain, um, but,

[1:12:37] uh, you know, we're, I, I am excited to see, you know, with Al Patayo back. Next

[1:12:44] year, um, hopefully with the, uh, game club back with their, uh, uh, with their someone

[1:12:51] said one or two more beer gardens, well, there's one or two more beer gardens, um,

[1:12:55] and some additional German flair in terms of cuisine. I think this may be. That balance

[1:13:01] that we were looking for. Uh, I wanna congratulate Ben and Jamie Hogan for their

[1:13:06] reign as Oktoberfest king and queen. You're gonna see them throughout, uh, the year

[1:13:10] as, uh, they, uh, do their king and queen, uh, their royalty duties in

[1:13:17] 206 and 27. I wanna also, uh, congratulate, uh, Squid Blake, uh, Blakey, uh, for

[1:13:24] successfully defending his Kaiser Cup championship. Uh, that was, uh, very well attended.

[1:13:29] We had Um, more than we had a record setting 37 dogs, just to give you some facts.

[1:13:36] We had 79 total competitors, um, about 80% were from, uh,

[1:13:44] from in-state with 60%, roughly 60% being in Louden. Uh, the other 20% was outside,

[1:13:51] uh, about almost 18% were out of state, and for the first time, I believe, ever,

[1:13:57] we actually had a contestant from Munich, Germany. So, um, that was great. Um, we

[1:14:05] nearly, um, 70% of the, the contestants' dogs were outside the Levittsville zip code.

[1:14:12] And we also outside of Munich, we saw contestants from Fairplay, Colorado, and in

[1:14:17] well, New York, and then, um, in-state, they were as far from Withville and Richmond.

[1:14:24] Uh, want to, like I said, look forward to working together, uh, uh, improving on,

[1:14:31] you know, some of, some of those opportunities to improve, but, uh, look forward

[1:14:36] to working, uh, and looking forward to next year's fest, September 24th and 25th.

[1:14:42] Also this past weekend, uh, Saturday, October 3rd, uh, I wanna thank Nicole Clark,

[1:14:47] the founder and CEO of Walk for Mountains, for another great, uh, fundraiser for,

[1:14:52] uh, the fight against breast cancer. Um, benefiting the Loud and Breast Health Network

[1:14:58] Stepsisters and Our Perfect Warrior. This is her 9th year doing that, um, and she

[1:15:04] was, uh, she was a great addition. I wasn't even on council, uh, back when she started

[1:15:09] partnering with the town, and I looked for that to, to, uh, continue for years to

[1:15:13] come. Uh, this past Sunday, uh, I did attend the memorial service for John Fugue,

[1:15:20] uh, on John Fugue Day in the town of Levitsville. Um, there were some very interesting

[1:15:25] memories that were shared by his wife, uh, some friends, uh. Such as, uh, being frugal

[1:15:33] on a hot day, not to use his golf credit to, uh, buy a pair of shorts, so he just

[1:15:39] took off his pants and played, uh, played golf in, in the, uh, in, in his boxers.

[1:15:45] So, I took some liberties on the, uh, the, therefore be proclaimed to uh also include

[1:15:51] those, but it was, uh, it was a great day. We did, uh, we did, um, celebrate his

[1:15:57] life. And uh I wanna thank him for everything he's done, and uh we're still thinking

[1:16:02] of the family. Uh, finally, um, tomorrow we will be meeting, uh, the town of Lovittsville

[1:16:10] representatives will be meeting, uh, with county representatives and the Valley North,

[1:16:15] uh, project team for the next round, the phase 3 of, uh, the tech to tech meetings,

[1:16:22] um, in preparation for the Valley Link updated study segment and map, uh, that will

[1:16:29] be, um, shared with the dates for the open houses. For the Valley North project,

[1:16:36] uh, which would go on, go out on or about, uh, October 13th. It will also be mailed

[1:16:42] to landowners on that same date. Um, you can see the updated maps starting on the

[1:16:47] 13th at www.dltransmission.com. Uh, this would also be part of the Valley

[1:16:54] Link, uh, in preparation for the final phase. So phase 4 is the next round of open

[1:17:00] houses and feedback. The fifth phase, which has not initiated, so there's nothing

[1:17:06] to do. We're not reacting to something that we can't start yet, but the final

[1:17:14] phase would be the SEC hearings in late spring early summer 2027

[1:17:22] as they submit their application to the SEC, which includes public input, and there

[1:17:29] will be Um, just as we have been specifically, uh, Included in

[1:17:36] the, uh, the county. I know that Colt has also been included. We as the town, um,

[1:17:44] should be, will be considering our options and making sure that we, uh, participate

[1:17:49] to the fullest extent when that actual phase opens up. But, uh, I

[1:17:57] think with that, I think we're all Uh, we will still carry the message that in its

[1:18:02] current proposal, uh, it is not. Uh, we do oppose it and are looking for, uh, alternative

[1:18:09] solutions, um, and look forward to working with all stakeholders to meet that objective.

[1:18:14] So, if there's, I don't have any, uh, I will say that the, uh, open house for the,

[1:18:20] um, Lovittsville Fire and Rescue is going to be next Saturday, the 17th, uh, I believe

[1:18:27] from 12 to 4. So, um, that is all I had. If there's no other order for the good of

[1:18:33] the council, uh, if there is one item left. Mr. Mayor, yes sir, move to adjourn.

[1:18:40] Is there a second? My second. Motion has been made by Vice Mayor Budner, seconded

[1:18:44] by Council Member Arena. Any discussion? Hearing 9. Any objection? Hearing and seeing

[1:18:50] none, that motion will carry unanimously with all 5 members present to vote voting

[1:18:53] in the affirmative. None against, no abstentions, no absences, and 1 vacancy on council

[1:18:58] at 10:04 p.m. We are adjourned.

Town Council Meeting

Agenda

Transcript