A possible fuel-oil leak, a rundown house, sewage disposal, playground equipment and snow removal were among the topics discussed at the March 2, Clifton Town Council Meeting:
* Lt. Terry Jenkins, with the Fairfax County Fire Marshal's Office, Hazardous Materials Investigations, gave an update on a mysterious fuel-oil leak somewhere beneath Clifton's Main Street. He said the source has yet to be pinpointed, but authorities do not believe it poses a health hazard to the residents.
* John Yetman, an environmental health specialist with the county, expressed concern that an old, unoccupied house at the end of Dell Avenue is so dilapidated. He asked the Town Council members to contact the owner and see if the house could somehow be secured to keep children out of it because the floor is rotting and the building is in danger of falling down.
* A COUNTY representative discussed what the county will do to update the sewage, pump-and-haul situation at King's Field, at the end of Chapel Street. The sewage containment system there is from the 1950s and, said town Mayor Jim Chesley, "needs to be upgraded because it's wholly inadequate."
Clifton's sewage runs into concrete manholes and is then pumped out and taken to a county facility for treatment. "These holding tanks — the manholes — are just 25 feet from Popes Head Creek," said Chesley. "The lines going to them — and the manholes, themselves — are not sound and need to be replaced. And they don't have enough capacity."
He said the county will begin replacing this equipment, in the next couple months. However, it will take an estimated 35 weeks to complete the work.
* Town resident Trisha Robertson, on the town's Playground Committee, told the council members about plans for the town park. She said all the outdated and no-longer safe playground equipment will soon be replaced. The money's already been raised and the equipment will go in a 40x60-foot area.
* Chesley spoke about the VDOT snow-removal policy in the Town of Clifton. After researching the issue, he learned that "if we have a sidewalk in the VDOT easement and a homeowner shovels it after it snows — and someone then falls — the homeowner and the town could be sued. But we're fine if we don't do anything."