Attn: Loudoun Soccer Moms and Dads: SAVE BOLEN PARK

As a Loudoun "Soccer Mom" I received this email from the Loudoun Soccer Association that I wanted to circulate to you all: 

We are reaching out to you today to request your help on a very important issue that will affect us all. As many of you know, back in 2000 we voted to accept a bond referendum to build 104 acre Phillip Bolen Park, to be located near Leesburg Airport. This park will help to serve the entire county by easing some of the field shortages that we have been experiencing. This park will have 6 lighted, irrigated soccer fields. These will be the first lighted soccer fields to be built in the county.

To learn more about the park, visit: http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=125  

This long awaited and much anticipated opening of the park is scheduled for this fall. Much of the park is already built and the work continues. However, at a recent Board of Supervisors meeting regarding the County Budget FY11, several Supervisors expressed their desire to remove the $1M budgeted for the operations of Bolen Park, in spite of the fact that millions of dollars have already been spent on the project to date. If this appropriation were to be removed from the County Budget FY11, it would delay the opening of the Park for at least a year or perhaps, indefinitely. Support for making the cut appears to be growing among members of the Board of Supervisors, which makes your input and voice so important! It is imperative that Loudoun Soccer parents and athletes are present at the upcoming public input session of the Board of Supervisors for which, details are listed below.

On Monday, March 15, 2010 there was a Board of Supervisors' Public Input Session.  The vote will be happening very soon.  To make YOUR voice heard, please email the board at BOS@Loudoun.gov  NO LATER THAN FRIDAY MARCH 18th!

The Loudoun Soccer Association thanks you for your support.  "This is a battle that we must wage and which we cannot afford to lose! Please help us ensure that the Board of Supervisors hears us. Our collective voices will help ensure that they do RIGHT thing!"

3-20 UPDATE... This was posted today on the Lo Soccer FB page:
Loudoun Soccer Association Thank you for your emails, your continued support and for sharing your concerns regarding the status of Philip A. Bolen Memorial Park. In keeping with the Board of Supervisor’s policy to provide adequate services and facilities to the citizens of Loudoun County, the Board voted to keep the proposed enhancements in the ...FY11 budget. As such, Bolen Park will open and begin operations later this Fall as scheduled!


This message brought to you by Vicky Chrisner, Real Estate Sales Consultant in Leesburg, VA.  Thinking of selling your home?  Call me first!  703.669.3142  MyAgentVicky@Gmail.com

Are You Pitching In?

Remember when you could just throw away trash? 

In the "old days" sometimes it seemed like a burden just to throw it in a trash can, rather than pitching it out your car window driving down the road.  Then one day we all looked around and realized what we'd be doing... so we started taking our trash to the dump.  Remember the slogans like "Don't be a litter bug" and "Pitch In"?  Well, hopefully they are memories and not current efforts in your life, because society has moved on.  We moved on because...

Then, we started looking at the dumps... EWWW... we were making WAY more trash than the earth could eat.  And, we thought "there's gotta be a better way".

Well I am working on being green - sometimes I am greener than other times, I admit it.  But I work hard everyday to be a little better.  And, I am conscientious of not being wasteful, that these are lean times and that if I have something that is of value, I want to make sure it goes to the place where it can be of the greatest value.

Just tonight as I was searching through my trash I thought "I am so sick of this... you can't even just throw away your trash anymore..." and thus this post.  But it is worth it.

I cut out soup labels and box tops for my kids's school. 

We tear off the pop tops to soup cans and soda cans (and sometimes rip off my nails doing it), to save to take for a collection at the daycare.  They send it to a company that uses the money from recylcing them to buy wheelchairs and assistive devices for children who need them.  There's another well known option of donating them to a charity that pays for chemo for cancer patients.  Both are very worth while; and both are worth ripping my fingernails since I don't seem to have enough cash to donate to them.. and even if I did, why throw away something of value to someone else?

And then I sort.  I sort the things that can go to curbside recycling - luckily that is about 60-75% of our trash each week (and by the way, that doesn't need to be sorted by paper/plastic/etc). 

Then, I pull out things like hangers and plastic store bags which must go to special places to be recycled (drycleaners and grocery stores usually have special bins for these). 

Oh, and then there's the JUNK.  You know junk?  It used to be good, but now it's just junk - to you, but not to everyone, so I take that stuff to my friend to sell on Ebay, and we usually donate any proceeds to a charity of our choice.

What I am left with is the gross, useless, value-less, disgusting, 'only my dog would appreciate this stuff' kind of trash, like disposable diapers and used kitty litter.  Yuk.  THAT stuff still goes in the regular trash - to the regular dump.  Sorry, Earth, Sorry Mankind... but it's only about 20-25% of my trash, and we do keep it to a minimum.

So, all this... it's work.  It is.  But it takes me less time than it does to shower each day, and in the grand scheme of things, me showering is less important (actually more harmful, truth be told) to the earth than finding ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.   (Sorry people, some sacrifices I am not willing to make - and I am NOT giving up my daily showers, it's the only thing that makes me feel human some days.)

If you're not already Pitching In, and participating in our collective efforts to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, it's time you started.  It's easier than you'd think....and it's worth it.

Please, just try it... it's not that bad.  Promise. Thanks!

Are You Getting Played? Limestone Overlay District Vote!

The Dulles Association of REALTORS wants you to know about the upcoming vote regarding the Limestone Overlay District!!

This is copied straight from their web site:

Contact the Supervisors and say "No" to the

Limestone Overlay District!

To address a perceived problem concerning limestone sensitive features, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors (LCBOS) is expected to vote on a proposed ordinance imposing unnecessary restrictions on property owners living within the so-called Limestone Overlay District on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010. If the LCBOS votes to adopt the LOD, property and home owners within the 14,000-acre district are likely to see their property values take a hit. And if they want to sell the description of their property on all land and tax records will include a unique warning-style notice which may further depress values.

How serious is the limestone problem? Not very. Leesburg is built on top of limestone. So is the new high school on Route 15. And County Planning Commissioners have provided no examples of structural problems as a result of underlying geology anywhere in the LOD. Not one.

The over-reaching, burdensome and potentially unconstitutional LOD proposal is really an anti-development initiative disguised as a public health and safety issue. And homeowners in the LOD are the big losers. Don't get played. Contact the LCBOS and say "No" to the Limestone Overlay District.

Affected property owners in the LOD concerned with the restrictions and potential stigma on their property are encouraged to voice their concerns by emailing the LCBOS at bos@loudoun.gov or calling 703/777-0204.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LIMESTONE OVERLAY DISTRICT

TAKE ACTION - This will take only moments of your time to tell the Supervisors what you think!  Just CLICK HERE

* * * * *

As always, your local state and national REALTOR associations are working to protect your interests as property owners and fellow citizens.  I'd like to be your personal link to these associations.  Just email me and ask that I add you to my "notify" database when there are important issues that might be affecting YOU.

Vicky Chrisner REALTOR

Keller Williams Realty * Leesburg, VA

VChrisner@KW.com

703-669-3142

For more information on Living In Loudoun County, stay tuned to http://www.livinginloco.blogspot.com/!