Ashburn District Newsletter-January 2014

January 2014 

Happy New Year friends and neighbors! 

Welcome to the January edition of the Ashburn District Newsletter. It's hard to believe I have been serving as your District Supervisor for two years already. I am pleased with the progress we have made, especially in the areas of fiscal management, transportation and economic development (I'll provide statistics on Economic Development in a future correspondence). We have two more years left to continue working together to keep Ashburn a great place to live, work, and play.

As always, do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss issues that are of importance to you in our community.   

Warmest Regards,

Ralph

General Government

OPEB Savings

You may recall that I serve as the Chairman of the Finance, Government Services, and Operations Committee. As such, I also sit on the OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) and LOSAP Investment (Length of Service Award) Committees. When I took office, it quickly became clear that Loudoun (as well as most counties nation-wide) had serious issues in terms of unfunded liabilities. We immediately began the hard work of determining the best way to reform these programs to keep the county on sound financial ground while still taking care of our employees and retirees.  In December, the board received a briefing from David Boomershine, head of the Boomershine Consulting Group, on the results after our first full year of implemented reform.  In just one year, we reduced the County's OPEB liability by $60 million!

"You are one of the few who has addressed this in a real way,"Boomershine said, noting the board is "attacking" the post-retirement benefits from both sides - both assets and liabilities. He further noted Loudoun was one of the few localities in the United States who had "good news" in the area of post-retirement benefits. (There are 3,144 counties in the U.S., not to mention towns and cities.)

I will continue to address issues such as this to ensure Loudoun remains a "triple AAA" community. 

Advisory Boards, Commissions, and Committees

Local government is a partnership between citizens of the community, elected officials and professional staff who work for the government entity. Often, there is more work than the elected officials and staff can accomplish in a timely fashion. This is one reason why our advisory boards, commissions, and committees are such a vital part of the work we do. As the new year begins, I would like to send a heart-felt THANK YOU to the volunteers who have stepped-up to work with me in moving Loudoun forward.

Dean Daniel, OPEB Investment Committee.

David W. Draper, Jr., Loudoun County Transportation 
     Safety Commission. 

Douglass L. Fleming, Jr., Community Criminal Justice Board.

John Footen, Communications Commission.

Jeffrey A. Goldman, Ph.D, PMP, Advisory Commission on Youth.

Mark Hair, Parks Recreation and Open Space Board.

Shelley Huss, Commuter Bus Advisory Board. 

Ali Salar Khawaja, Family Services Advisory Board.

Robert J. Klancher, Planning Commission.

John Mileo, Courthouse Grounds and Facility Committee.

Nancy Jablonski Nuell, Library Board of Trustees.

Jennifer Odutola, Loudoun Health Council.

Martha Rice, Animal Advisory Committee.

Theresa G. Ruddy, Commission on Aging.

R. Drew Thomas, C.P.G., Facilities Standards Manual Public Review
      Committee.

Prathima Setty, Loudoun Health Council.

Jennifer Seven, Loudoun Health Council.

Carolyn M. Walsh, Lyme Disease Commission.

William E. Wilkin, Heritage Commission.

Wendy Wooley, Volunteer Citizen Work Group (Joint BOS/Schools
      Committee). 

LCOS Consolidation Item

I serve as the Co-Chairman of the Joint Board of Supervisors/School Board Committee. Dulles District Representative Jeff Morse is the Co-Chairman representing the Loudoun County School Board. Supervisors Higgins and Reid and School Board members Kuesters and Hornberger also serve on the committee.  This committee was originally formed to provide a forum where dialogue could occur and major issues could be discussed on a regular basis. I believe the committee has made much progress over the last year. One front of success is the work being conducted to lay the foundation for the next generation of Loudoun's "Advanced Technology Academy" (ATA). This magnet school is scheduled to be constructed in 2019. But before we build a facility, we must know what the curriculum will be. To help us begin to scope the ATA, we appointed a Citizen's Work Group. The research they have done is quite amazing! Stay tuned for more details on this exciting program.  

The second area of success on the committee is in the area of potential collaboration/consolidation. Both Loudoun County Government and Loudoun County Public Schools strive to increase the efficiency of our respective and collective operations. One of the topics the two boards have been discussing over the past year in the Joint Committee is how to expand cooperation between agencies and investigate possible consolidation of like functions. After much conversation over which function to address first, on 2 January, the BOS voted to move forward with an effort to investigate the consolidation of land acquisition functions. This process will be used as a model to research other areas of consolidation/cooperation in the future.  

BRHS Tour

Broad Run High School is one of the four oldest active high schools in Loudoun, having been built in the 1960s. While upgrades and renovations have occurred over the past forty years, there are many improvements that need to be made to the facility and its amenities. In November, several parents notified me of their concerns, especially in the areas of overcrowding and security. In an effort to gain first-hand knowledge of some of the issues facing BRHS, I arranged a tour of the facility, guided by Principal Anderson that took place on Friday, 10 January. 

Chairman York, Supervisor Williams, School Board Chairman Hornberger and Broad Run Representative Kuesters took part in the tour along with staff from School Administration. All participants left the meeting in agreement that a renovation and expansion project needed to move forward. At their 14 January meeting, the School Board voted to add a $26.2 M project to their CIP. I am confident the BOS will be able to accommodate this project in the FY15 budget. Leesburg Today published an article which provides a good summary of the scope of the project: http://www.leesburgtoday.com/news/cip-approved-broad-run-renovations-take-priority/article_3c4002fa-7df1-11e3-ae77-001a4bcf887a.html.

"The planned renovations include 10 new classrooms to replace the existing nine trailers, an expanded cafeteria, two resource spaces, a health room, an orchestra room that will act as a multipurpose music room, a renovated auditorium, a senior parking lot, an extended bus loop and the replacement of the roof and windows. Improvements to the athletic facilities include a new track, artificial turf for the stadium, a team building and restrooms for the stadium, parking lot lights, upgraded ticket booths and press boxes and concession stands for the softball and baseball fields." 

                                                                             - Leesburg Today

Transportation

Pacific Boulevard

The Kincora development is under a proffer obligation to build this road, and the recent $36 million loan approved by the Commonwealth Transportation will allow this proffer to be fulfilled now instead of an uncertain date in the future.  Chairman York and Supervisor Williams led the effort on this worthy project as this segment of Pacific Boulevard is in the Broad Run District. Kudos to them!  

In December, I participated in a ceremonial ground breaking for the project that will connect Pacific Boulevard with Russell Branch Parkway, including a bridge over the Broad Run. This is tremendous progress over what Loudoun has accomplished in the past in terms of transportation improvements.  The Pacific Boulevard/Russell Branch Parkway bridge connection will considerably alleviate congestion on both Route 7 and Route 28.  It is estimated that on opening day, this new link will divert 4,000 to 6,000 vehicles per day off Route 7. Traffic studies forecast that approximately 18,000 to 20,000 vehicle trips per day will be taken off Route 7 and Route 28 by 2030.

Murray’s Ford Bridge

Sometimes the work of local government is to address seemingly mundane issues that other government bodies have ignored because they were in what I call the “too hard pile.”  Murray’s Ford Bridge is one of those issues.  It is a derelict remnant of a concrete highway bridge that spanned the Goose Creek from 1916-1969 when Sycolin Road was realigned to the north.  As part of the realignment, VDOT removed the ramps connecting each end of the bridge to the stream banks, but did not remove the main spans of the bridge.  In 1970, the Loudoun BOS adopted a resolution to “discontinue” the road segment that includes the bridge but to retain right-of-way for possible recreational access to the stream.

Over the years as a result of the bridge spans remaining in place, significant erosion has occurred including loss of land adjacent to the stream bank. The erosion increases with each major flood event.  Further, there have been complaints of area youth who trespass across private property to reach it.  On at least one occasion, these trespassers camped on the sandbar that has formed directly downstream.  This sandbar will wash away when the bridge is removed.  Also, deterioration of the bridge has exposed a great deal of rusty reinforcing steel with sharp edges placing citizens, regardless of their right to be there, at risk of possible serious injury.

The Virginia Department of Environment Quality (DEQ) designated this section of Goose Creek as “impaired” in 1998 and a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study was completed in 2004 assigning a sediment waste load allocation to the County’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4).  The bridge is an obstruction that contributes to the sediment load carried by Goose Creek.  Each successive storm increases the size of the debris field and widens the channel sending more silt downstream.

Several elected bodies have attempted to address the issue of needing to remove the bridge, but efforts have stalled over the years. When I learned of the situation early in 2012, I resolved to fix it once and for all. 

I am proud to report that a contract has now been awarded to remove the bridge.  Demolition is scheduled to begin in February and all work should be completed by mid-May of this year.  

Action Reports

The Board’s 4 December and 2 January BOS Business Meetings and Public Input Sessions,  and 
11 December and 8 January    BOS Public Hearings Action Reports are posted on my Facebook page. 

Calendar Updates

The Board of Supervisors holds their regular business meetings on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, beginning at 4:00 p.m., with public input beginning at 6:00 p.m. The Board's monthly public hearings are on the second Wednesday of the month, beginning at 6:00 p.m. The Board schedule for the remainder of January and February is as follows:

15 January

4:00 p.m.
BOS General Business Meeting
(with public input as early as 6:00)

5 February

4:00 p.m. 
BOS General Business Meeting 
(with public input as early as 6:00) 

 12 February 

6:00 p.m. 
BOS Public Hearing 

19 February

4:00 p.m. 
BOS General Business Meeting 
(with public input as early as 6:00)  

 Board meetings are televised on Comcast Government Channel 23, Open Band Channel 40, and Verizon FiOS Channel 40. The meetings are available for viewing through the webcast system. Board meeting documents are posted online.