Salsbury Spring Springs a Leak; Town of Vienna Breaks the Law
Salsbury Spring, part of the historic district owned by the Town, has sprung a leak. No joke, that's what the Town said. Right now the Town has multiple dump trucks of gravel on site, trenches being dug, drain tiled being laid, pumps going and workers everywhere. Salsbury Spring is under construction and surprise, surprise, the Town received no Certificate of Appropriateness.
Do only residents have to obey the law? If any resident was undertaking this project in the Windover Heights Historic District without approval, they would be shut down immediately. The party-line response from Dennis King (Director of Public Works)?
"The Department of Public Works is doing maintenance work at Salsbury Spring which is permitted in the Windover area."
Think about that statement. Digging up a so-called historical spring and laying new drain tile is "maintenance". That statement is a load of crap. Period. The integrity of the water flow, the only thing interesting about the spring, has now forever been "fixed" by a sloppy government who could care less about the law. Interestingly, here is what the "Walk on the Hill" brochure says about Salsbury Spring:
"The spring was an unfailing source of water, even during the drought of the early 1930s when many springs and wells went dry. The spring was originally part of the Salsbury farm, but was deeded to the Town of Vienna in 1938. Ayr Garden Club has maintained the surrounding park since the early 1970s."
Questions:
1. Is the Ayr Hill Garden Club paying for this project or is the taxpayer stuck with it?
2. Is the drain tile being laid "harmonious to the old and historical surroundings"?
3. How can digging up a naturally occurring spring be considered maintenance?
You can even see the randomly placed, pointing in no particular direction, Maud enforced "Historic District" signs!
Comments
Is that a storm drain that has no silt protection I see? Doesn't it lead to the Chesapeake Bay? Why isn't it being protected? Is it being filled up with silt?
Posted by: Silt Protection | May 18, 2006 02:12 PM
Dear Neighbors - Who is teaching their elephants to poop on the historic district signs? This has got to stop!
Posted by: HD Resident | May 18, 2006 08:03 PM
Thank you to the town for fixing the site. The sidewalk has been unusable at times because of the drainage problems. I appreciate their attention to this matter.
Posted by: a neighborhood walker | May 18, 2006 10:27 PM
Fixing a sidewalk is a great thing. Violating the law to do it, not so great. Can't you Kool-Aid drinkers acknowledge any of this hypocrisy? These responses of, "Vienna is great, thank you Mayor Seeman, in you we trust"...are a bit much.
Posted by: Historic Vienna | May 18, 2006 11:11 PM
Salsbury Spring is listed on the Town of Vienna Historic Register and is subject to the Historic Register procedures in Chapter 25 of the Town Code. If the Town is not following these procedures, then it is in violation of its own laws and demonstrates a fundamental complaint in the Historic District controversy i.e. that these laws (such as they are) are enforced at the convenience of Town officials (and cronies) irrespective of the public's interests which these laws are supposed to protect by their due process. The Town is not exempt from obeying its own laws under the presumption that it will do no harm for this premise itself is harmful to the rule of law.
Posted by: Town Resident | May 19, 2006 10:50 AM
I wish they would have just put in a load of asphalt like they did on the corner of Walnut Lane and Lawyers Road. Man, I bet the property owners on Walnut Lane get whatever they want, because I think that asphalt sidewalk with the nice historic two-by-four wooden hand-rail along the steps is very pleasing to my eyes. I wish they would have just piled a couple of layers of asphalt along the salisbury leak, because I Like Asphalt. We NEED more asphalt.
Posted by: HD Supporter | May 19, 2006 02:47 PM
If you click on the 4 pictures now you can see the high res shots. It makes it much clearer how extensive this work was.
Posted by: Historic Vienna | May 19, 2006 03:07 PM