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Council, docents settle Pink Box dilemma
From behind the steering wheel of her tan convertible, Audrey Bergner yelled a quick, "We won!" to fellow docent Mary Kay Garwood before pulling out of the alley by Middleburg's Town Office.
Bergner, of Middleburg, led the charge to preserve the Pink Box visitors center, appealing to council members at two of Middleburg's May public hearings.
"We would ask that you, the Town Council, give us time to create an independent institution for the Pink Box," she said at the May 31 hearing.
The docents, who volunteer at the Pink Box, provide visitors with an insider's guide to the historic town.
Middleburg wanted the Pink Box off the town budget and covering its own rent, taxes and maintenance -- between $16,000 and $18,000 a year. In addition, the town wanted to be paid back for Pink Box expenses the town has paid since as early as 2001.
The community of docents wanted money in Middleburg's Pink Box Fund put toward future expenses of the visitor center. This money, which was raised to purchase the Pink Box in 2001, was not used then because the property was sold to philanthropist and sportsman George Ohrstrom, said Planning Commissioner Kathi Ribavdo.
The fund contains about $250,000.
Now, after months of debate, Town Council and the Pink Box docents have come to an agreement.
Here's the compromise.
Town Administrator Jerry Schiro was authorized Thursday night to transfer all the money in the Pink Box Fund to the town's general fund. A portion of the fund will go toward reimbursing the town's general fund for maintenance and other monies used for the Pink Box.
From there, the town has agreed to continue to use money in the fund to finance the Pink Box until the docents can form an organization to run and raise funds to operate self-sufficiently.
"I'm trying to get to the point where we've got an organization that takes responsibility for the Pink Box ... and I don't see that happening sooner than six months," Councilman Mark Snyder said at the town's May 24 meeting.
Middleburg wants the Pink Box off its budget because the town doesn't own the building, Schiro said.
"Right now, money that goes to maintenance for the Pink Box is going toward upkeep of a building that the town doesn't own," he said.
Ohrstom willed the Pink Box building to the National Sporting Library, a nonprofit organization in Middleburg, when he died in 2005; and for the past year, the town has paid rent to the library.
Because of the way the lease is set up, the town pays for the building's maintenance and real estate taxes on the rent, as well as the rent itself.
"If the roof was to fall in, we'd have to pay for it," said David Beniamino, Middleburg's town planner and zoning administrator.
Maintenance and real estate taxes for the Pink Box in 2007 and 2008 averaged about twice the amount of the Pink Box's rent each year, according to Middleburg's projected budget.
Schiro had suggested at the May 24 meeting that the council consider moving the visitor center to a building owned by the town. He recommended the Middleburg Health Center on Madison Street.
"Right now, maintaining two off-site buildings [the Pink Box and the health center] is a financial strain on the town," said Schiro. The town owns the health center, so when maintenance is done to that building the town is improving its own property.
"One of the things we evaluate when streamlining the budget is consolidating expenses," he said.
Schiro and several council members said it's important that town taxes go toward town services for the community.
At a public hearing on May 4, a group of women had said the town could afford the Pink Box's expenses and they were willing to have their taxes increase to pay for its services.
"The crowd that came to that meeting that you saw ... probably only two or three of them live in the community," Schiro said.
Middleburg's taxes are paid only by the 650 or so residents who live in the town limits.
"It's easy to say, 'Spend the money,' when it wouldn't affect their services," said Schiro.
For now, the Pink Box will remain on the town's budget, which is to be approved by June 30.
Thursday night's decision seemed to make everyone happy. The dozen or so docents who attended the meeting applauded the decision.
Mayor Betsy Allen Davis said the real question about the Pink Box was, "Are we spending the town's money appropriately when [the Pink Box docents] can raise their own money? They could be in charge of their own runnings, which could be better for them. They don't have to come to us when they need something. I think it's a win-win for everybody."
Contact the reporter at hhobbs@timespapes.com
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