Council approves a final, limited utility bill contribution to Heritage Society

After five years of utility bill forgiveness to the tune of $70,000 for The Warren Heritage Society, the Front Royal Town Council said “once more”, then “no more”.

The once more is for a reduced amount of $5,000. The Heritage Society had asked for $15,000 in utility-bill forgiveness for the fifth consecutive year. The Heritage Society requests began in 2014 at $10,000.

Both the agenda packet summary and “Proposed Motion” to be read into the meeting record had “final contribution” underlined to make sure the point that this was the LAST such contribution from the Town was not missed. Vice-Mayor Sealock’s motion to approve the $5,000 “final contribution” passed unanimously.

Funding to cover The Heritage Society’s utility bills comes from the Town’s Electric, Water, Sewer and Solid Waste Utility Fund Reserves.

The staff summary of the agenda item noted that in 2016 council requested that the organization “Make efforts to improve the efficiency of their buildings and report these efforts prior to requesting continued donations in the future.” There is no notation as to whether such a report was made to the Town with subsequent requests by The Heritage Society.

While not disputing the value of The Warren Heritage Society’s contribution to the preservation of the community’s historic archives, a summary of council discussion of the matter noted that in the future the organization’s request for funds to cover utility bills at its facilities at 101 Chester Street “should go to Warren County and not return to the Town.”