The Sheriff’s Office personnel has been looking for a substation location in eastern Loudoun for eight years, and they might have found it next door to Rolling Ridge Elementary School on East Frederick Drive in Sterling.
The School Board voted unanimously two weeks ago to ask for the 4 acres of land adjacent to Briar Patch Park be subdivided from the rest of school property.
School Board member J. Warren Geurin (Sterling) said the land was given to the School Board, but it had no school use for it. The School Board cannot sell the land for profit, by law, but does have the right to give it up to the county.
"That’s the first step," Geurin said. "Is this a done deal? No. We have not voted to declare the property surplus."
The Sheriff’s Office, Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York (I-At large), Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (Sterling) and Geurin first met with Rolling Ridge Elementary School parents and Sterling community members in November 2006. The majority of speakers at the meeting were concerned for the safety of the children, but they were quickly put to ease by the Sheriff’s Office’s plans.
There was a different tone at Monday night’s meeting.
DAVID YOKUM has lived in Sterling Park since the 1960s.
The longtime resident said he has seen the neighborhood change, not for the better, but for the worse.
"We’ve got a problem here," he said. "We have drugs, murders, burglaries. I say, welcome to the neighborhood."
He looks forward to a stronger Sheriff’s Office presence in the neighborhood and hopes additional deputies slow down speeding cars and the crime rate.
Mark Jackly, whose daughter attends Rolling Ridge Elementary School, agreed with Yokum, but said he still worries for his child’s safety.
"How can I be sure my child is going to be safe?" he said. "What are the affects going to be like on the students?"
The proposed 18,000-square-foot substation would have several "layers" of security built into it, said officer Bob Buchman.
Deputies must first drive their car through a fence, which would be locked upon entry, then deputies would drive in to a sally port, or a secure entryway. From there, deputies would escort arrestees through a locked door and into a temporary holding cell.
"There are four levels of security here," Buchman said, "designed by security experts. This will be a first-class facility."
THE COMMUNITY input meeting is only the first step in a long process. The next step is for the School Board to vote on whether to subdivide the land.
"We are trying to cooperate with the Sheriff’s Office," Geurin said. "The sheriff needs a substation. There’s no doubt about that."
Then, the proposal would have to go to the Planning Commission and then to the Board of Supervisors meetings.
If the School Board and Board of Supervisors vote to approve the 4 acres of land for a substation, the facility could be complete by March 2009.
Delgaudio requested community input on the design of the substation Monday night. He said he would have to form the group in 90 days, in order to get the ball rolling.
"We want to get this on the ballot in November," he said.
The substation would be funded through a general obligation bond.
"The design will impact the cost," Delgaudio said.