<ro>County Meetings Rescheduled
<bt>The Board of Supervisors' meeting scheduled on Feb. 18 has been postponed to Monday, Feb. 24. That day, Loudoun County government closed county offices and the courts in response to the snow storm.
The meeting will be held at the regular time at 9 a.m.
The joint meeting between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board scheduled on Feb. 18 has been postponed, though a date has not been set. The two boards planned to discuss the school district’s Capital Improvements Program for Fiscal Years 2004-08.
<sh>Murphy to Run for Dulles Supervisor
<bt>At-Large Planning Commissioner John P. Murphy, Jr. is filing papers with county election officials to run for the Board of Supervisors representing the Dulles district. The Dulles district includes most of Ashburn Farm, Broadlands, South Riding, and stretches from Aldie to the Fairfax County line. Murphy will seek the Democratic nomination.
In addition to serving on the Loudoun County Planning Commission, Murphy was a representative on the Loudoun County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board for 10 years, serving as the chairman for 9 years.
A Loudoun resident for nearly 25 years, Murphy lives in the Ashburn community of Broadlands. He is the owner of Murphy's Mechanical Services, Inc., an air conditioning and heating company and a Loudoun business for 15 years. He and his wife Sharon, a Loudoun County Public School employee, have been married for 28 years and have four adult children and six grandchildren.
<sh>Godfrey to Run for School Board
<bt>Priscilla Godfrey of Philomont will run for the Blue Ridge District School Board seat being vacated by Harry Holsinger of Mt. Gilead. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Muskingum College and has worked as a legal secretary. Godfrey has lived in western Loudoun since 1979 and has volunteered in the Loudoun County school system since her daughter entered kindergarten in 1984. She served as volunteer coordinator and Fun Fair chairman for Middleburg Elementary School for eight years, president of the Blue Ridge PTO for four years and has served as chairman of the Loudoun Valley Parent Support Group, the After-Prom/After-Grad Committee for eight years. She has also been a member and officer of the Waterford Quilters Guild and the Philomont Ladies Auxiliary and is currently serving as president of The Growing Stage, a Purcellville-based children's community theater.
<sh>Wertz Announces Candidacy
<bt>Bob Wertz, 40, an 11-year employee in the Loudoun County Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office, Monday filed papers with election officials as a Republican candidate for Loudoun County Commissioner of the Revenue.
Currently manager of Discovery, Compliance and Relief in the Commissioner’s Office, Wertz oversees the auditing of business tax records for local tax compliance, the identification of unregistered businesses through fieldwork and the administration of tax relief for the elderly and disabled.
A member of the Virginia Association of Local Tax Auditors and the Virginia Association of Assessing Officers, Wertz has been designated a Certified National Licensing Official by the National Bureau of Business Licensing Officials. Wertz is also a Life Member of the Republican National Committee and a member of the Republican Party of Virginia.
Wertz obtained his bachelor’s degree in business from Longwood University where he later served as president of the 20,000-member Longwood University Alumni Association. He has also served on the Loudoun Credit Union’s Board of Directors and is currently a member of the Leadership Loudoun class of 2002-2003. Wertz was raised in western Loudoun and lives in Ashburn Farm with his wife Debra and two children.
<sh>Gordon Issues Code of Conduct
<bt>Robert M. Gordon, candidate for the Republican nomination for chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, issued a Code of Conduct for his campaign. The Code of Conduct is posted on the campaign Web site at www.voteforgordon.com. Call 703-771-8158 or email bob@voteforgordon.com, for more information.
<sh>Condominium Fire Displaces Two
<bt>A fire caused $90,000 damage to a Sterling condominium on Feb. 12, displacing two residents who were not home at the time. At 10:26 a.m., the Department of Fire and Rescue Services was called out to a structure fire at the 46000 block of Courtyard Square. Units from Sterling, Ashburn, Dulles and Fairfax County were dispatched to the scene where fire was coming from the second floor balcony of the condominium. The fire damaged a second condominium and caused light smoke damage to two other units. The Fire Marshal's Office determined the fire to be accidental, caused by improperly discarded smoking materials.
<sh>DMV to Reopen Offices
<bt>Sterling DMV will reopen Feb. 20, along with another five Department of Motor Vehicles customer service centers, as authorized by Gov. Mark Warner (D). Six additional DMV offices Warner closed last fall will reopen on March 20.
To staff the 12 offices, DMV is recalling 121 full-time classified employees. The Sterling DMV will be open Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
<sh>First Responder Training Center to Open
<bt>A national first responder training center will be established at the Loudoun Campus of George Washington University (GWU). The Response to Emergencies and Disasters Institute (READI) will be used to train firefighters, EMS personnel and law enforcement officials on how to handle major emergencies, including terrorism acts.
"The center will help provide first responders with the information they need to deal with large-scale incidents," said U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10).
The center will be funded through a Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 spending bill approved by Congress to provide $5 million for the project. GWU will develop the center is cooperation with George Mason and Shenandoah universities.
<sh>Nature Center to Open to Public
<bt>The 700-acre Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve is expected to open to the public next month, as announced by members of the newly formed Visitor Information Volunteer Association (VIVA). The preserve on Woods Road south of Leesburg features wetlands, fields, forests, trails and wildlife habitats. The preserve, which has traditionally been open to organized groups only, is planned for a March 15 opening. VIVA members will staff the preserve from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the third Saturday and Sunday of each month. The preserve is operated by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services.
<sh>Oatlands Develops Master Plan
<bt>The Oatlands Master Plan calls for providing trails across 330 acres of meadows and woodlands in the Oatlands Plantation, a property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Oatlands Plantation is located six miles south of Leesburg.
The trails in Oatlands will provide mountain and wetland views and connect the newly developed visitor center to the 1804 Carriage House mansion, four-acre garden and an 1810 greenhouse. The trails also will connect the historic mansion to a future education and activity center, which will be housed in the unused Carter Barn once it is restored. The center will be able to hold community theater productions and culture and art programs.
<sh>Benefactor Donates to Museum
<bt>Philanthropist and civic benefactor Irwin Uran donated $5,000 to the Loudoun Museum, the fifth such donation from the multimillionaire and former Leesburg resident. Uran, a retired lawyer and investor, has given away $70 million to charitable and religious institutions.
"His commitment to the museum has helped us to expand our program of events for Loudoun's citizens and tourists and to improve our history program in Loudoun's schools," said Larry Stipek, president of the museum's board of directors.
The museum has used Uran's past donations to create an online library of the museum's collections and to hire an architect to design adaptive reuse of the museum buildings.
<sh>Wolf Given Assignments
<bt>U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) has been reappointed chairman of the Commerce-Justice-State (CJS) Appropriations subcommittee and was named to the new Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee under a reorganization plan approved last week by the full House Appropriations Committee.
Wolf also will serve on the newly aligned Transportation and Treasury subcommittee.
The restructuring places all the agencies in the Department of Homeland Security under one appropriations subcommittee, Wolf said.
Under the plan, the new Homeland Security subcommittee will have jurisdiction over the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Customs Service and the Secret Service, as well as the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard.
The new Transportation and Treasury subcommittee will have jurisdiction over the non-homeland security components of the Department of Transportation, such as highways, transit, highway safety, Amtrak, the Washington Metro system, and the Federal Aviation Administration, in addition to the Treasury Department.
Wolf will be a senior member of both of Homeland Security and the Transportation and Treasury subcommittees.
As chairman of the CJS subcommittee, Wolf oversees the Commerce Department, the State Department and the Justice Department, including the FBI, DEA, and U.S. Marshals Service. Wolf became chairman of the CJS subcommittee in January 2001.
"Whether it's working with the Justice Department and the FBI on homeland security issues or working with the Commerce Department on policies that directly affect the Dulles high-tech corridor, the CJS chairmanship has allowed me to serve Virginia's 10th District in a new capacity," Wolf said.
<sh>Residents Help with Bicycle Plan
<bt>Residents have a chance to help define the future of bicycling and walking in the county by attending one of two upcoming public workshops and providing feedback on the proposed Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility Master Plan.
Residents attending the workshops will be able to review the proposed bicycle and pedestrian network and plan, participate in refining the plan, help identify key bicycling and walking issues that need to be addressed and help identify areas in the county that need bicycle and pedestrian improvements.
A Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), appointed by the Board of Supervisors, has been working on developing a Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility Master Plan, which will be recommended to the Planning Commission and to the board.
The plan is a goal of the county's Revised Comprehensive Plan, adopted by the board in July 2001, and a priority in pursuing the county's goal of creating a network of bikeways and walkways connecting residents to parks, schools, jobs, shopping areas, and rural open space without relying on an automobile.
the county is sponsoring the workshops from 6:30-9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, at Loudoun Valley High School, 340 N. Maple Avenue in Purcellville, and Wednesday, March 5, at Potomac Falls High School, 46400 Algonkian Parkway in Sterling. Registration will be held from 6 to 6:30 p.m.
Both workshops will feature Dan Burden, executive director of the non-profit corporation Walkable Communities, Inc., and a nationally recognized authority on bicycle and pedestrian issues. For more information about the project, visit the Loudoun County government website at http://www.loudoun.gov/compplan/bikeped.htm or call the Department of Planning at 703-777-0246.