COVID-19 cited as the major delay in the Fields Farm Park proposed complex

By Valerie Cury

The Loudoun County Finance and Government Operations and Economic Development Committee, on Sept. 13, was given an update on the status of the Town of Purcellville projects by both Mark Hoffman and Nancy Boyd of the Transportation and Capital Infrastructure Department.

Mark Hoffman said, “COVID hit and things remotely …there was a snag in communication working remotely …working remotely was a challenge.” He noted that there were “delays in plat review,” and said the “Fields Farm Park Road is a complicated plat.” He also said that cost escalation is an issue with the project.

Dale Lehnig, Town of Purcellville Director of Engineering Planning and Development, was in attendance and said, “COVID-19 hit us pretty hard.” She said there was a “staffing change,” and she was put in charge of the “planning development and engineering department [at the direction of the town manager].”

“It was really difficult for me becoming the new director to coordinate with staff. I was working from home, and staff was in the office,” said Lehnig. “We were also down a person, too.” She noted that the town is now “up to full staffing, and we’ve gotten better, and I’ve also thrown a couple more people into the mix.”

Lehnig said that the new people reviewing the plats are reviewing them and “we’ve gone back and forth with them. We have to have an outside attorney to review them and that takes some time too.”

Regarding the Fields Farm Park, she said, “We still need to do a revised water and sewer agreement.” Lehnig pointed out three main topics that are going to be issues regarding the park and ride and the park: “traffic, noise, and lighting.” She informed the County that the Planning Commission Public Hearing is on Sept. 22, and on Oct. 6 the Planning Commission will vote on the proposed rezoning of the propertywith all the special exceptions that are needed if the property were to get rezoned from Transition X to IP (Institutional and Public Use).

Lehnig said that the flood plain issue is unresolved. She also said that water and sewer lines would have to change with the extension of Mayfair Crown Drive. Lehnig informed the County that the Purcellville Town Council has asked Town staff not to proceed with the administrative approval of Mayfair Crown Drive, referred to in the County staff report as a two-lane public collector road, “until they have a chance to look at it more.”

According to the Town of Purcellville staff report of July 7, Mayfair Crown Drive is also described as “a local collector road, with all other roadways in the project as well as development from as far away as Purcellville Road (Route 611), feeding into it.”

According to the Sept. 13 County staff report, “After receiving the Town comment, the County’s consultant corrected the plat to show stormwater management facilities being maintained by the County, not the Town, and the accompanying deed was forwarded to the County Attorney’s Office to correct the stormwater management maintenance language. The extra time needed to process this plat (beyond May 2022) is due to an error by the County’s consultant.”

County Administrator Tim Hemstreet said the review process was unusually lengthy “on behalf of the Town … The bigger issue for me is the portions of this project that are funded through SMART SCALE projects, could potentially impact SMART SCALE projects in our Capital Improvement Projects.” He said that the County “might have to return funds on the ministerial portion of this. We are a year past where these applications should have been processed.”

Purcellville Town Council Member Joel Grewe along with Blue Ridge Supervisor Tony Buffington have blamed this delay on lack of Town staffing.

Grewe cites a Town Operational audit from around 2018, which compares the Town of Purcellville to the City of Franklin, Virginia.

The audit does not mention the following about the City of Franklin: they own an airport, an electric utility, their own school system, their own solid waste collection department, plus two cemeteries and three parks.