Money & appointments: a busy start to the month for the County Supervisors

It was a busy two virtual-world meeting days for the Warren County Board of Supervisors to begin the first full week of May. On Monday night the county supervisors co-opened the Front Royal Town Council’s work session with a joint discussion of a potential contract on new video and recording equipment for the Warren County Government Center.

Then on Tuesday morning at the supervisor’s first regularly scheduled meeting of the month, they took on funding appropriations for the current fiscal year directly related to the local COVID-19 Emergency Management pandemic response; and appropriations for the coming Fiscal Year-2021 that are likely to be impacted by State and Federal revenue shortfalls from the pandemic emergency response impact on those government tax revenues.

County Deputy Emergency Manager Rick Farrall explains the logistics of the County’s COVID-19 response. Royal Examiner Photos/Roger Bianchini

The latter Resolution authorizing conditional funding of $121.68-million, including a Capital Outlay of $15.89-million, was unanimously approved as part of a two-item Consent Agenda that bore no discussion.

The other Consent Agenda item was the appointment of Melissa Gordon to fill the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority Board of Director’s seat vacated by Mark Baker on January 23. No information on Gordon’s background or qualifications is yet available from the County.

However, we anticipate Gordon’s presence at Friday’s Special Meeting of the EDA Board at which we hope she may be introduced, even if only virtually, to her colleagues and interested tuned in media.

The board also approved the County Fire & Rescue Department’s application for a State Grant that would add matching State-Local funding for six new, trained, front-line emergency service personnel. The County Emergency Services Department had forwarded consideration of grant applications for six or 12 new positions.

In fact, County Fire Marshal Gerry Maiatico promised that Chief Richard Mabie, who both appeared live before the three-person Board quorum present in the WCGC caucus room, would do a cartwheel if the six-position grant application was approved, and a double cartwheel if the 12-spot application was authorized.

‘Really, he’s going to do cartwheels for us?!?’ – Cheryl Cullers may have been thinking as she turned to listen to the fire marshal and F&R chief’s pitch for matching grant funds to bring 6 to 12 new paid-staff positions to emergency services in coming years.

However, perhaps due to social distancing concerns the single cartwheel was not approved as a late agenda addition.

If County Emergency Service’s grant application were successful, and it was pointed out that it is far from guaranteed, over the first three years the State contribution will be $750,313, with Warren County providing the remaining $599,695. From the fourth year on the County would be responsible for the entire $405,575 of required annual funding. Ways to minimize those costs were discussed prior to the vote to approve the six-position application.

Following the adjournment of the meeting, the board convened a two-item work session. Those topics were Chris Ramsey’s application for a partial annexation by the Town of property he hopes to develop affordable, workforce housing residential development on. The one public comment submitted to the board by email, from Gary Kushner, opposed the proposal.

However, Ramsey made his case and the board took it under advisement.

The board then decided to tread water on the absorption of the EDA into the County Departmental umbrellas until after the November election. The reasoning was to see what kind of change to the Front Royal Town Council that election might bring. It was observed that public comment has been highly critical of the adversarial stance the current council and its appointed interim town manager have taken against the existing co-created Town-County EDA as a newly structured EDA attempts to rebound from the financial scandal of a previous administration and board.

‘Donuts for us!?!’ – The board’s normal three-member live quorum of Mabe-Cullers-Fox was buoyed by Tony Carter’s arrival, a bit late, he explained having brought Apple House donuts for his colleagues. Sorry Delores, they don’t taste as good by virtual hook up. Carter soon retreated to the safety of his car and a phone connection to the remainder of the meeting.

With a newly hired town manager likely in place at some point after June, and the potential of turnover of three of council’s six seats on the horizon, the Town’s current belligerent “our CIP financial mistakes weren’t our fault, they were the EDA’s, so we’re not going to play with them anymore” stance might change (note: that is not a quote by a supervisor, but the writer’s perception of the content of the Town’s $20-million-plus litigation against the EDA).

However, see the board’s interesting discussion of the current Town-EDA situation and its own intentions, as well as all the other meeting and work session business in the video recording: (Thanks to Dewayne Coats for providing this video)