Leesburg News: Council votes on BAR, Committee assignments made, Hammler picked as vice mayor
By Holly Hobbs
Leesburg picks Hammler as new vice mayor
Two-term councilwoman Katie Sheldon Hammler was chosen July 7 to serve as the town's vice mayor. The council appoints a new vice mayor every two years. Hammler was the only council member nominated for the position and was voted in unanimously.
More Leesburg news:
Committee appointees
The council reached its decision July 8 on how to handle the merger of the town's two technology commissions.
In June, the council had voted to combine its Internet Technology and Cable TV commissions into one new commission, the Technology Commission.
However, the council did not create a transition plan for combining the two seven-member panels.
During its July 7 meeting the council debated whether it should allow the remaining members of the two commissions to serve – 10 having terms not yet expired -- or start with a clean slate and have seven new appointees on the commission.
At their meeting July 8, council members agreed to have only seven serve on the panel, some of whom are former members of the town's Internet Technology and Cable TV commissions.
The decision was reached after a motion failed, which would have allowed the 10 remaining members of the committees to continue serving.
“I don't like the idea of someone signing up for a four-year term, and then we say we don't need you anymore,” said Councilman David Butler at the July 7 meeting.
Fellow Councilman Tom Dunn disagreed, saying, “Right now we don't have an IT Commission or a Cable TV Commission. Under the town code, how many members of a commission are there? Seven.”
The first meeting of the town's new Technology Commission will likely be later this month.
BAR debate continues
The appeals and development application processes used by the town's Board of Architectural Review, which reviews applications in the town's historic corridor, were again debated by Leesburg Town Council during its July 8 meeting.
The result of discussion was a 75-day deadline for the BAR to reach a decision on an application. If a decision is not made, the development application would be automatically approved.
Council members voting for the deadline said they saw it as a compromise between the Planning Commission's recommendation of a 100-day deadline and the Virginia Municipal League's recommended 60-day deadline.
BAR representatives in attendance at the July 8 meeting said the time deadline would not make a big difference since the majority of applications that come before the panel are approved at the first meeting.
Before voting on changes to the appeal process, however, BAR Chair Teresa Minchew urged council members to not approve the changes in the appeals process, saying it would diminish the BAR's ability to do its job.
The council was looking at changing the criteria that would allow an applicant or a town resident to appeal a BAR decision.
The council decided July 8 to postpone a decision on the appeal changes.
Councilman Kevin Wright, who approved of the delay, said the town should focus on the “real issue": completing the town's guidelines for development.