Leesburg planning commissioners forward six-year capital improvements plan to council with revisions

The Leesburg Planning Commission on Feb. 6 held a public hearing on the town—apital improvements program (CIP) for fiscal years 2026 nd 2027 through 2031 and voted to forward the draft plan to the Town Council with a set of recommended revisions.

Doug Wagner, assistant director of public works, presented the CIP and told commissioners that, by the plan efinition, a capital improvement is "construction, renovation, demolition, or acquisition of facilities or properties of more than $60,000 with a useful life of at least five years." Wagner said 54% of this year—IP budget is for streets and highways and highlighted 13 newly proposed projects including electric vehicle chargers at miscellaneous town locations, the town hall roof replacement, Utley Park tennis-court and fence replacements, a new milling-and-paving program, townwide bridge maintenance and several stormwater and stream restoration projects. On utilities, staff flagged a review of the disinfection feeding control system and refurbishment of secondary clarifiers A and B.

Commissioners asked for more detail on unfunded requests and overall prioritization. Commissioner Campbell pressed staff on whether there is a consolidated list of department priority projects that did not fit into the six-year funded CIP. Wagner said there is a "priority futures and potential future list" used to track projects that did not make the active six-year schedule and that the capital asset replacement page captures prioritized maintenance items reviewed by facilities, IT and fleet staff. He said the funded document shows the highest-priority projects of those requests.

Commissioners also raised questions about funding timelines and contingency planning. Wagner and other staff described that some projects are scheduled to match outside funding spend-by dates (for example, VDOT revenue-sharing funds) and that when outside funding is at issue, the town coordinates with Loudoun County, VDOT and NVTA to reprioritize projects. He said the CIP includes escalation assumptions and contingencies by project type (horizontal construction contingencies in the 8—0% range; higher for building projects) and noted that council approval is required when project budgets must be increased beyond the amounts adopted in the CIP. He also noted that for contracts, change orders exceeding a roughly 25% threshold require council approval regardless of budget availability.

Commissioners questioned two specific items raised in the draft: electric vehicle charging and the town hall roof. Wagner said the initial EV-charger project for Lassiter Way would provide two ADA-compliant chargers; additional chargers for the parking garage and airport were not funded after a federal grant application failed, and the larger airport/Town Hall/Bridal Park project has been moved to future years until funding is identified. Wagner said a separate $120,000 operating-budget line item exists for related charging-station work this fiscal year. On the town hall roof, staff said facilities personnel determined the roof is in acceptable condition until about 2030 but recommended eventual replacement; Commissioner Barnes asked that the town hall roof project be moved earlier in the CIP schedule.

After discussion and several proposed revisions, the commission voted to forward the CIP to Town Council "with a recommendation of approval on the basis that the projects listed in the capital improvement program are consistent with the objectives of the town plan," subject to eight changes the commission specified in a motion. The motion (as read into the record) requested these revisions: remove the Catoctin Circle/Edwards Ferry Road intersection improvements project from the future projects list; consider a new CIP project to install benches and trash cans with Leesburg branding on South King Street and North King Street; add a CIP policy statement supporting undergrounding utility and gas lines where project excavation will occur; add funding for land, planning, design and construction of transit infrastructure and structured parking to serve the Crescent District, Eastern Gateway District and B-1 Downtown Commercial District; move up the town hall roof maintenance project; prioritize safety-and-security projects in the early CIP years over community amenities; consider removal of the Liberty Lot resurfacing project given the uncertain future of the land; and consider removal of a utilities chlorine study unless additional background research is provided. The motion was seconded and the commission voted in favor (recorded in the meeting as "Aye").

Why it matters: the CIP is the town—udgetary road map for infrastructure investment and implements the Leesburg Legacy Town Plan. The commission's recommendations will be included in the staff report to council; the town manager presents the CIP to council on Feb. 11 and council will hold its public hearing March 11 with adoption expected in late March 2025.

What commissioners asked staff to follow up on: a compiled list of unfunded department priorities, updated EV-charger cost and quantity figures for council review, reconsideration of whether studies should remain in the CIP or be moved to operating or planning budgets, and clearer public outreach language for any utilities evaluations that would affect drinking-water treatment.

Speakers quoted in this report appear in the official meeting record. The commission closed the public hearing before making its recommendation to council.