Supervisor debate approach to Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District management investigation

In the wake of repeated allegations by some disgruntled County Sanitary District residents, particularly from Shenandoah Farms, the Warren County Board of Supervisors got a PowerPoint review of the creation process, governmental oversight, and advisory board function as it applies to establishing and utilizing district taxes or fee revenues for capital improvements within the district.

Assistant County Attorney Caitlin Jordan and Public Works Director Mike Berry made the presentation during the October 6 board work session. Prior to that presentation Interim County Administrator Ed Daley reminded the board of a scheduled October 27th, 9 am meeting with citizens of the Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District.

Back in the caucus room, the work session moves toward a Sanitary District PowerPoint presentation by staff flanking the meeting table. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini – Royal Examiner Video by Mark Williams

“What are we trying to achieve with this? Are we trying to appease folks that are concerned that there’s corruption? And if that’s the case, I’m not sure a board meeting is going to,” North River Supervisor Delores Oates began.

“No, I think you’re saying, ‘Yes, we’ll investigate …” South River District and Board Vice-Chair Cheryl Cullers injected concerning complaints brought forward during public comments at previous meetings by Linda McDonough and others distrustful of the Property Owners of Shenandoah Farms (POSF) management and financial oversight of the district.

“Well, I’m not sure we need a board meeting to do that,” Oates continued with a laugh at exactly what the nature of the scheduled meeting with Sanitary District residents might portend.

‘All-day meeting, that sounds like fun,’ Board Chair Walt Mabe, right foreground, maybe thinking – or not.

“I’m tired of kicking this down the road, and we need to do something,” Cullers added of her perspective of some citizens allegations of wrongdoing in the conduct of Farms Sanitary District business. “I think we need to say, investigate it, and be done with it – it’s either you find something, or you don’t. And whatever we find they’re either happy with it or they’re not. I don’t know how else you satisfy the people that keep saying ‘we think there’s misappropriation with this; we think there’s wrongdoing here,’ other than to have an investigation. And one way or another definitively say, you’ve got smoke, you’ve got fire.”

Oates continued her contention that “an all-day board meeting” rehashing allegations the board has already heard, likely again without documented evidence, would accomplish nothing.

Delores Oates lets her opinion on an all-day meeting to re-hash old gripes known, as Cheryl Cullers listens to her right.

Rather she suggested the board’s designation of an investigative panel “of trusted individuals” to move forward with “the investigation of what these folks are asking us to investigate … And then that panel of people will come back with a recommendation that we need to put this into some authority’s hands higher than ourselves, or we can say, we are comfortable that nothing, maybe some honest mistakes have been made. But nothing erroneous or that would require another authority to become involved.”

See the debate on approaching an investigation of the conduct of the Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District operations, and the Jordan-Berry PowerPoint presentation on the logistical design and purpose of Sanitary Districts in this exclusive Royal Examiner video: