Town, County officials tread lightly around the elephant in the room

As Liaison Chair Bill Sealock listens, Council Clerk Jennifer Berry records and Councilwoman Letasha Thompson jots notes, Town Manager Joe Waltz, center right, takes his turn updating county officials across the table on the status of a variety of town projects. Royal Examiner Photos/Roger Bianchini

With a rising tide of critical public scrutiny of past failures of municipal oversight of the Town-County Economic Development Authority resulting in civil litigation involving an attempt to recover nearly $20 million in misdirected assets at a cost of over three-quarters-of-a-million dollars of taxpayer money; and concurrent criminal investigations stretching to the federal level, one might think a quarterly Town-County Liaison Committee meeting might be rife with discussion of that topic.

However both the town and county governments conduct other business – and as they say on Broadway, “the show must go on”.

So the first 20 minutes of a brief 30 minutes or less Front Royal-Warren County Liaison Committee meeting of Thursday, April 18, was devoted to summary briefings of that other business. Town Manager Joe Waltz and County Administrator Doug Stanley handled presentation of those summaries offered to committee members Bill Sealock and Letasha Thompson on the town side and Dan Murray and Tony Carter representing the County.

With the Town taking on the rotating hosting duties, Vice-Mayor Sealock chaired his second meeting during Mayor Hollis Tharpe’s self-imposed administrative leave pending resolution of a misdemeanor criminal charge involving a massage parlor visit. See Related Story:

As press releases fly, plot thickens in Tharpe sex solicitation case

Topics on the Town side included:

1. the status of Phase One of the West Main Street Extended Project into the ITFederal portion of the Royal Phoenix Business Park from Kendrick Lane – 90% complete to the first building constructed on site;
2. construction of a parallel central water utility line into the Route 522/340 North Commercial-Industrial Corridor – a May 6 submission for updated plan evaluation and cost estimates;
3. the Town’s halting movement toward enforcement of a property maintenance code that will initially target only blighted and derelict structures – awaiting County feedback on a request to utilize the County’s Board of Building Code Appeals as a more cost efficient method of that implementation;
4. resolution of infrastructure issues at a new wastewater treatment plant septage receiving station – accomplished and backflow issues resolved;
5. and the status of Phases 2 and 3 of the Happy Creek Road Project – $1.3 million in carryover VDOT funds transferred for use on Phase 2; another $2.5 million committed by the EDA for the project, with a total cost estimate of $16.9 million for both phases and a projected 2026 start date.

On the County side topics included:

As Tony Carter, center left, listens and Dan Murray’s hand, bottom left, occupies, County Administrator Doug Stanley takes his turn updating town officials on county projects, some within the town limits.

1. the Crooked Run West developer request for Town central water service extension into the County’s North Corridor – County Planning Commission recommendation of denial of necessary zoning changes to facilitate a 1000-plus residential unit mixed development project that is contrary to both county and town comprehensive plan guidelines; recent receipt of a VDOT traffic study; and June as the earliest estimate of county board of supervisors discussion of whether or not to adhere to its planning commission recommendation of denial of the project;
2. Development Review Committee projects – met on March 27 to discuss the Crooked Run West proposal, as well as construction of a new Christendom College chapel, Catlett Mountain Road home construction on existing lots; and in-town projects including an ice vendor business on South Royal Avenue; a daycare on South Commerce Avenue; a proposed Sheetz Gas Station on Shenandoah Avenue; and interior work on A. S. Rhodes Elementary School. The committee’s next meeting is slated for April 24;
3. the status of the EnerGov building inspection software upgrades designed to make online self service a customer friendly experience. The status of that software system that initially went live on November 14, 2017, is continued issues to resolve what was discovered to “not provide the public a friendly experience” and discussion with an outside contractor to correct the situation in more timely manner than county staff could accomplish it;
4. the County’s project inside the town limits, including Ressie Jeffries Elementary School renovations – completed; upgrades to the Health and Human Services building on 15^th Street to accommodate occupancy by the County Registrar’s Office – moved in April 1; and the public school system’s Brighter Futures alternative school program – completed in November; punch list review with contractor under way;
5. implementation of the joint town-county tow board – establishment of a tow list of qualified companies on February 6 that will be in effect through June 30, 2020. Citizen complaints were heard about exorbitant tow costs, a main issue surrounding creation of the town board, at an April 3 tow board meeting. However, such complaints have apparently not been officially submitted to the tow board in writing. So, Stanley’s summary indicated “tow representatives” are urging citizens to file official complaint forms which are available online. Contact the county administrator’s office for further detail on accessing those forms.

The elephant in the room

With the above agenda discussion completed by 6:20 p.m., Vice-Mayor Sealock asked if there was any other business to be brought forward. County Board Supervisor Carter noted that the county had agreed to take over as fiscal agent for the EDA, effective August 1.

County Board Chairman Murray noted that the County’s assumption of that role will provide “multiple layers of checks and balances” of EDA financial workings. On the EDA side their board has created redundancies in requiring the signatures of two board members on financial transactions, as well as increased board involvement in the development of those transactions.

From left, EDA Board Chairman Gray Blanton, EDA Board member Ron Llewellyn, term expired and since resigned, and then-Executive Director Jennifer McDonald at a November 2018 town council work session; the following month McDonald resigned amidst a mounting EDA financial crisis. Royal Examiner File Photo

As for the increased checks and balances provided by putting the EDA under the fiscal agent auspices of county government, a previous county staff presentation cited direct involvement of the County Finance Department and Treasurer’s Office in procurement policy, bookkeeping and recordkeeping of EDA business. The down side acknowledged is the additional demand on county staff to assume those additional responsibilities for another agency.

But in the current and still evolving legal and political environment it appears that additional demand will be a necessary consequence to assist in putting the EDA’s house back in order; not to mention a step in regaining the trust of what is becoming an increasingly suspicious, and according to Dan Murray, aggressively hostile public. As noted in a related Royal Examiner  video, at Tuesday’s county board meeting Murray described being physically pushed Sunday at a diner he regularly frequents by a customer angry about the EDA situation.

And so things progress this spring of 2019, as municipal and EDA officials wrestle with how they allowed what is alleged to have happened within the EDA in recent years happen; and how they will respond to what appears to be a growing social media-fed negative public reaction of a sometimes less than constructive nature.

County Board Chairman Dan Murray at April 17 capital improvements bond issue signing with EDA officials; EDA Board Vice-Chairman Bruce Drummond, standing, waits for the paperwork to slide his way.