By Graeme Zielinski
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 30, 2000; Page V01

The Leesburg Town Council voted Wednesday to enter into a trust agreement with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority in an effort to purchase a 141-acre parcel adjacent to Ball's Bluff, a Civil War site and regional park on the northeast side of town.

The vote was one of several steps taken by the council Wednesday to expand and enhance parkland, including agreeing to lease a 21-acre site near the Food Lion store in southeast Leesburg that includes a three-acre lake and a pavilion that can be used for receptions and other events. The property is now home to a small antiques mall.

Grayson Hanes, an attorney for the park authority, said a $3.3 million offer has been made for the parcel immediately north of Ball's Bluff, of which the town would be responsible for about $2 million, which would come from the town's general fund. Hanes said the negotiations with the landowner, real estate developer William Walde, have proceeded under threat of condemnation.

William Moore, an attorney for Walde, said he had not read the contract and could not comment on the likelihood of a deal. He confirmed, however, that the town and the park authority are working within a 30-day window set by Walde that began earlier this month.

Walde had filed plans to build a "family subdivision" on about 20 acres of the parcel but gave no indication of his plans for the remaining 120 acres. Leesburg Mayor James E. Clem said acquiring the parcel not only would protect the Civil War site and preserve open space in town but would also give Leesburg its first public riverfront property, a boon to boaters and anglers.

Under an agreement last year between the town and the park authority, Hanes said, the town would take possession of 86 acres, with the rest becoming part of Ball's Bluff Regional Park, which is overseen by the authority.

The park, which now comprises 171 acres and includes a national battlefield cemetery, was the site of a battle in 1861 in which Union troops were forced down the rocky, 80-foot bluff and back across the Potomac River, suffering heavy casualties. "The battle is very significant. The land is also significant as a piece of open space," said James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust. Lighthizer expressed skepticism that Walde, who has raised his asking price in the past, would accept the latest offer from the town and park authority. The preservation trust has asked for a $250,000 state grant that could help pay for the land.

The council also approved a $6,500-a-month lease agreement for property belonging to the Fairfax-based Failmezger family. The agreement was brokered by David D. Gregory, a representative for the family. The 30-year lease gives the town access to a 21-acre site with a lake and pavilion. In an interview after the vote, council member Robert J. Zoldos, who helped arrange the deal, called the lease a "golden opportunity for the town." Gregory said the family agreed to lease the land after being approached by the town "because they are very socially minded. . . . It's a logical park setting. It's got a beautiful lake on it. And there are places for recreation areas."

The council also appropriated $250,000 to improve recently acquired parkland off Evergreen Mill Road (Route 621) on the southeastern side of town. The money will be used to develop sports fields and basketball courts at a 20-acre parcel at Evergreen Mill and Tolbert Lane, work that was to have been done at county expense as part of a larger $1.6 million bond referendum that failed last November. At first, the town intended to give the county the land, which was part of a larger parcel bought by the town for a high school. Now the town will oversee the site.

Council members said the moves go some way toward correcting the lack of public parks and open space in Leesburg, an issue that has figured heavily in discussions with the new Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

"If you don't grab these spaces now, they're not going to be there in the not-too-distant future," Clem said after the meeting.

"The thing that we have heard from across the community is the need for more parks, and all of these projects directly address those issues," said Vice Mayor B.J. Webb.

Several council members said they are awaiting action by the supervisors on financing for a new sports-field complex in the Leesburg area. Zoldos said that at a get-acquainted session with the board earlier last week, he received assurances that it would be a high priority.

"We pay county taxes, too," Webb said, referring to a longstanding feeling among council members that the county hasn't moved fast enough on parks for Leesburg.

The money for the Evergreen Mill park improvements was approved as part of Town Manager Robert S. Noe Jr.'s midterm budget requests. The council turned down a request from Loudoun County Transportation Association Inc. for $114,000 toward the purchase of a trolley to serve Leesburg's historic district.