Dave Butler, Leesburg Town Council

Butler Proposes Three "Way Stations" on the W&OD Trail (10/17/10)

To improve safety and comfort on the W&OD trail, Town Councilman Dave Butler proposed adding three "way stations" within Town limits. One could be added at each end of the Town, just inside the border, and one on King Street. Way stations, like the one at Smiths Switch Road, include at least a shelter from rain and lightening and a water fountain, and often include portable potties, water vending machines, benches, and other minor amenities. The one at King Street especially, would encourage bikers to stop and visit other locations within Leesburg.

Council Rejects Election Move to November (10/17/10)

The Town Council rejected a motion to move Town elections to November. Citing an increase in partisanship, and a loss of focus on town-related issues, Council members Butler, Martinez, and Wright joined Mayor Umstattd in opposing Councilmember Hammler's motion to move elections to November in odd years. Reid joined Hammler in voting for the motion. Dunn abstained, refusing to vote for the motion, but not wanting to vote against it. See the story here in Leesburg Today.

Butler Proposes Safety Crosswalks at Bypass Intersections (9/21/10)

To protect residents that need to cross the Bypass, and to further the goal of increasing bicycle & pedestrian use within the Town, on Monday, Town Councilman Dave Butler will propose installing crosswalks at all four Bypass intersections including Battlefield Parkway, Edwards Ferry Road, Fort Evan's Road, and Sycolin Road.

"Obviously, Leesburg Town staff will need to investigate cost and feasibility, but this is a critical need for Leesburg and we need to move this forward. Too many of our residents cross the Bypass to earn a living to survive," said Councilman Butler. "We owe it to them to come up with a better solution than just a bus."

When asked about a bridge, which has been proposed before, Butler said, "not only would a bridge only affect one intersection out of four, but I've confirmed with VDOT that a bridge would likely cost between $9M to $10M and that's if we could find sufficient landing areas at each end. We might be able to do crosswalks at all four intersections for a fraction of that." Butler also added, "VDOT has stated that the decision for this would reside with the Town. These intersections may affect traffic throughput to a certain extent, but that's certainly a small price to pay for our residents' safety." While there are plans, at some point, to make all of these intersections limited-access, "given the current situation in Richmond, we may wait a long, long time for VDOT to have the $100M it will take to re-engineer these intersections. We need a cost-effective interim solution," Butler added.

Butler Joins Council in Approving First Phase of Downtown Improvements Including King Street (9/16/10)

Last night, the Town Council approved $3.5M for the first phase of downtown improvements. Included in the first phase are King St. from Royal to North, Loudoun St. from King to Mom's Apple Pie, and the Loudoun/Harrison St. intersection. Also included are many improvements to the downtown parking garage including better signage and lighting, and raised, brick walkways from the garage across King St. to the east side of King. Street trees will be added on the west side of King St. and the west side sidewalks will be widened eliminating most of the parking from Loudoun St. almost to Cornwall St.

The new theme of downtown is "Arts, Entertainment, and Dining". The wider sidewalks on King St. will allow more on-street amenities, especially during First Friday and other special days. The new sidewalks on Loudoun St. will allow easier access between the Town and County parking garages and downtown mitigating the impact of losing the on-street parking.

I'm tremendously excited about these improvements as I believe it will inject a needed vitality into downtown and attract new businesses with a broad customer base able to attract shoppers and diners outside the bypass. See the story here in Leesburg Today.

Council Kills Southwest Connector Trail Just as Construction is about to Begin (9/16/10)

Last night, the Town Council voted to remove the Southwest Connector from the Capital Improvements Program (CIP). After the SE/SW Trails Committee voted unanimously for the trail in 2006, the Town Council voted for it from 2007 through 2009, over $300,000 had been spent on design, and construction was about to begin, the Town Council cited opposition from the Leesburg Community Church and expense as the two reasons to remove it.

See the story here in Leesburg Today.

Butler Joins Neighbors in Opposing Initial VDOT Plan for Rt. 7 "Climbing Lane" (8/24/10)

At the Council’s urging (primarily from Councilmember Wright), the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has been planning an additional lane on the Rt. 7 Bypass from the intersection of West Market St. to Rt. 9. This new lane should significantly help ease congestion for west-bound traffic during the evening rush hour.

However, the initial draft of these plans calls for the closure of almost all of the current Rt. 7 intersections between West Market St. and Rt. 9. Residents of Leeland Orchard, Roxbury Hall, and Beacon Hill, among others, would find their commutes affected significantly.

I was able to review VDOT’s initial plans on August 17^th and advised them that I expected the residents to be unhappy with the initial plans. I gave them some ideas; we’ll see if they have an effect. While I love the idea of the climbing lane, VDOT needs to modify their plans before they can expect my support.

The climbing lane is expected to cost around $25M and will likely be fully funded by next year.

Butler Joins Council in Approving Road Paving for FY11 - Dunn, Reid Opposed (8/10/10)

Funding for paving the following streets was approved August 10^th: the Rt. 15 bypass between the Rt. 7 overpass and Edwards Ferry Road; the Rt. 15 bypass from Edwards Ferry Road to Fort Evans Road; Fort Evans Road from the Rt. 15 bypass to Potomac Station Drive; Edwards Ferry Road from the Rt. 15 bypass to Heritage Way; Heritage Way from Edwards Ferry Road north to its end; Cedar Walk Circle from Fort Evans Road to Cedar Walk Circle; Kincaid Boulevard from Battlefield Parkway to Tammy Terrace; Kincaid Boulevard from Tammy Terrace to Patrice Drive; Oakcrest Manor Drive from Georgetown Court to Catoctin Circle; Daniels Street from Ayr Street to its end; Ayr Street from Daniels Street to Old Waterford Road; and Meadows Lane from Fort Evans Road to its end.

The total funding is just under $1M and about 75% is reimbursed from VDOT. Councilmembers Reid and Dunn voted against the funding, while Councilmember Kevin Wright said that if we defer spending in this area, we’ll just have to catch up later. It might actually cost us more if the roads are affected beyond what a simple milling and paving can correct. I’m in total agreement with Councilmember Wright. See the story here in Leesburg Today.

At Butler's Urging, Council Re-initiates the Utility Rate Advisory Committee to Review Water and Sewer Rate Structure (8/10/10)

At my urging, the Town Council has re-initiated the Utility Rate Advisory Committee (URAC) to deal with water and sewer rate structures. Their initial focus will be:

· Availability fees

· Correcting issues with the rate changes in September 2009

· Looking at a tiered rate structure which would have tiered pricing for water and sewer based on the amount of water usage

Their first meeting is scheduled for September.

Business “Incubator” will be Downtown (8/10/10)

The Council has voted to put in a business “incubator in downtown Leesburg. A business incubator is a temporary office space for new businesses with high potential that can grow in a comfortable environment. This will be the first incubator in Loudoun County. See the story here in Leesburg Today and here in the Loudoun Times Mirror.

Council Again Looks at Changing Elections to November - Butler Opposes Town Election Partisanship (8/9/10)

At the worksession on August 9^th, the Council again looked at changing the date of elections to November, in either odd years, to coincide with Virginia races, or in even years, to coincide with national races.

While, on the surface, the reasons for moving the elections seem compelling (save about $8,000 per year, and increase turnout), I remain adamantly opposed to the idea. There is a big reason why local Virginia elections have been held in the spring for a very long time, and it is the same reason why we are all required to run as Independents: the issues that divide political parties are usually not relevant for Town races, and moving the elections to November will guarantee that the election will be as much or more about party as it is for Leesburg issues.

In this hyper-partisan atmosphere that we find ourselves, I simply don’t believe that Leesburg will be better served if Leesburg elections are simply the ones at “the bottom” (or backside) of the ballot during races where voter’s primary purpose for being at the polls is to elect a president or governor (or, in the off years, Representative and Senators, or state Senators and Delegates, and County Supervisors).

See the story here in Leesburg Today.