After Another EDA Liabilities Closed Session, County Supervisors Approve 9 Lease Agreements, OK Fronting WCSO Grant Funding

The scheduled regular Tuesday, January 16 meeting of the Warren County Board of Supervisors began an hour early at 6 p.m. with a late-added Closed Session that again addressed litigation and liability issues related to the then-joint and still-legally named Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority (EDA, FR-WC EDA, or FR-WC Industrial Development Authority) “financial scandal” of 2014-18. Unlike last Thursday’s closed meeting on the same topic, this meeting did not include the current EDA Board of Directors, only the supervisors and county staff. While the content of that discussion after the caucus room doors were closed to the public and media is not known, a hint may have been given during the open meeting staff reports.

The Royal Examiner camera says ‘bye’ to the county supervisors and staff after the motion into Closed/Executive Session was made. Below, did County Administrator Ed Daley offer a clue as to that closed meeting discussion in his County Administrator’s Report to the supervisors?

During his report, County Administrator Ed Daley first noted a scheduled Special Closed Meeting of the now-unilaterally County-overseen FR-WC EDA Board of Directors at 6 p.m. the following day, Wednesday, January 17. Later in his report, Daley commented on EDA costs and financing during his coming fiscal year budget summary. “I see several operating clouds over here that kind of hang on the top of things,” Daley began on the topic of “Overriding Clouds” hanging over the County’s budgetary scenario.

FR-WC EDA legal fees tops the county administrator’s list of ‘Overriding Clouds’ hanging over the financial future of the county government. Others include potential reductions in state funding, and an interesting fourth bullet – ‘The Board’s Ability to work together and focus on specific priorities’ – Wonder if that’s a new or ongoing annual concern?

“One of those is this — legal fees and banking fees for the EDA,” Daley continued, observing: “The taxpayers have invested almost $ 12 million dollars; they have received a return of almost $4 million dollars. That means there’s $8 million to go. When you’re talking to that you need, everybody needs to recognize that the County cannot continue to support at this level for those activities because the math simply does not work.” (Writer’s note: on paper, the EDA has recovered nearly $15 million in civil litigation court rulings, though most of that is on appeal, thus generating additional legal fee expenses before seeing any return on those initial seven civil court rulings of defendant liabilities made in 2022 and 2023. The EDA also reached a “no-fault” civil settlement with former EDA Executive Director and EDA financial scandal central figure Jennifer McDonald for an estimated $9 million in real estate holdings, among several other out-of-court settlements, the circumstances of which were not made public.)

Perhaps these budgetary observations of the county administrator are a clue as to the reason for a recent spike in not only County and EDA, but Town as well, Closed/Executive Session discussions of EDA litigations and liabilities.

Open Session

Out of its closed and into its 7 p.m. open meeting of Tuesday evening, January 16, the Warren County Board of Supervisors, with its two new members, John Stanmeyer and Richard Jamieson, aboard, faced nine public hearings on rather routine matters. That they were routine was indicated by the fact there were no public comments at any of those nine public hearings, seven of which were lease agreements on hangars at the County-overseen Front Royal Airport (FRR), the other two lease agreements on County-owned residential rental properties on 2nd Street within or adjacent to the Warren County Government Center property.

Board discussion on the first several of those public hearings also indicated an opportunity for a learning experience on County operational dynamics for the board’s two newly elected members. Stanmeyer and Jamieson, along with ex-chairman Vicky Cook, drove the board questioning of county staff on details of those leases up for routine annual approvals.

The new-look WC BOS was unanimous in its consensus on the approval of 9 public hearing requests, a 32-item Consent Agenda, and a Sheriff’s Office request for the fronting of the final $56,720.13 of a $216,000 grant acquired from the state last year to facilitate installation of a new Closed Circuit TV system to replace a failing CCTV system in the County Public Safety building.

All five supervisors appeared satisfied with staff explanations of details of those airport and residential leases, as all nine staff-submitted lease agreements were approved without a dissenting vote. In the order in which they were addressed, those unanimously approved lease agreements, as cited in the meeting agenda packet, were:

1/ (agenda item H) Public Hearing – Lease Agreement of 201 E. 2nd St., Apt. 1, to Dwayne Coates;

2/ (I) Public Hearing – Lease Agreement of 124 E. 2nd St. to Rita Woods;

3/ (J) Public Hearing – Lease Agreement of Hangar A16 to a corporate LLC entity referenced as “N6108J” — Public Works Director Mike Berry noted staff does have the involved individuals personal name as well;

4/ (K) Public Hearing – Lease Agreement of Hangar B7 to Mary Ellen Hutchins;

5/ (L) Public Hearing – Lease Agreement of Hangar A13 to Stephen Beste;

6/ (M) Public Hearing – Lease Agreement of Hangar A11 to Jack Molenaar;

7/ (N) Public Hearing – Lease Agreement of Hangar A9 to Jack Molenaar;

8/ (O) Public Hearing – Lease Agreement of Hangar C1 to Robert Metcalfe;

9/ (P) Public Hearing – Lease Agreement of Hangar A15 to Gordon Dale Waters.

New Business

Other than approval of a 32-item Consent Agenda from which nothing was withdrawn for individual discussion, the board undertook one additional item of Additional New Business. That was a request from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, represented by Captain Charles Brogan and Major Jason Winner, for a fronting of the final $56,720.13 of a Law Enforcement ARPA Grant. The board initially approved the grant application on March 22, 2023, in the amount of $216,000. The grant was awarded through DCJS (Dept. of Criminal Justice System) on June 8, 2023.

Capt. Charles Brogan at the podium, with Maj. Jason Winner, in support, explained the Sheriff’s Office’s need for a General Fund fronting of the final $56,720.13 portion of a $216,000 DCJS grant needed now to replace a failing Public Safety building CCTV system.

According to the staff agenda packet summary, the final segment of grant funding will include upgrades to the WCSO Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) system that includes the six interview/interrogation rooms utilized by the Sheriff’s Office and Fire & Rescue personnel in the County Public Safety building. It was noted that the current system is beginning to fail. The planned replacement system will provide a “redaction tool” as well as “cloud share.” Quotes on the system and installation total $50,227.46. The department asked that the remaining $6,492.67 be put in contingency for any unforeseen additional expenses. Moving on the installation now will require that the total amount of $56,720.13 be moved from the County General Fund. That amount will be returned to the General Fund upon reimbursement by the DCJS through which the grant was obtained.

On a motion by Ms. Cook, the board unanimously approved the request. And with no additional business, the meeting was adjourned as 8:05 p.m. approached.

Click here to see all the discussion, votes, and board and staff reports in this County video.