County Supervisors approve Farms Advisory Board bylaws among other ‘routine’ business – but is it? Also ease Airport Commission residency requirement

Among items not pulled from its June 7th Consent Agenda for additional public discussion and approved without board comment were adoption of bylaws for the new Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District “Advisory Board”. The agenda cover sheet noted the appointed advisory board would be comprised of five members, including a chair, vice-chair, and secretary elected by the advisory board. All members must be property owners within the Farms Sanitary District.

In previous discussion, it was noted the County had received four applications for Advisory Board appointment. Names are not being released until appointments are announced by the supervisors.

That the County may be drawing legal battle-lines with past Sanitary District Manager (1995-2010) and County management advising partner (2011-2022) the Property Owners of Shenandoah Farms (POSF) Inc. was perhaps indicated in the opening paragraph of the staff summary of the Consent Agenda item. After noting that the Board of Supervisors “is the governing body” for the Farms Sanitary District, that paragraph continues:

“The County is in charge of the maintenance of the roads, right-of-ways, and drainage facilities within the Sanitary District. The Board of Supervisors adopts a (Sanitary District) budget and sets a tax rate annually. The Board of Supervisors wants input from the advisory board before adopting the budget and tax rate. – Just NOT from the POSF.” OKAY, OKAY – I admit to adding that last part after the hyphen, as the legal Ground Zero date of July 1, 2022, approaches.

After all, it is not known how many, if any, of those applications for advisory board membership might be from POSF membership or board members elected by that membership of proactive Farms property owners. More input on that might be available after a POSF meeting scheduled for this Saturday, according to Chairman Ralph Rinaldi. A board of supervisors work session scheduled for this coming Tuesday, June 14, is also slated to address Farms Sanitary District management issues, among other topics including the public schools budget.

POSF Chairman Ralph Rinaldi summarizes his board’s history as Farms Sanitary District Manager and management partner with the County during March 29 BOS work session.

As Royal Examiner has reported since a presentation by POSF Chairman Ralph Rinaldi at a March 29 work session addressing the POSF initiative to cancel the 2011 Management Agreement between then-Farms Sanitary District Manager POSF and the County, the Farms property owners group seemed to anticipate regaining management authority with the required 90-day notice of termination of the 2011 agreement in which POSF handed that authority over to the county government. (County supervisors ponder Shenandoah Farms residents divide over Sanitary District Management initiative)

District Management initiative

Rinaldi told Royal Examiner the decision to terminate the 2011 agreement was made as a result of two primary factors – confidence the current POSF Board of Directors is better qualified to handle the approximate $800,000 annual Sanitary District budget than the POSF board in place in 2010-11 was; and a belief the current POSF Board could be “more efficient” related to cost analysis and infrastructure project decision making than county staff put in place by the current board of supervisors has been.

Numbers like those regarding proposed road infrastructure work in Shenandoah Farms that County Public Works Director Mike Berry is pointing to during April meeting have attracted the attention of the POSF. Below, Farms resident Melissa Chappell-White was critical of the POSF initiative to regain management authority of the Sanitary District during March 29 work session.

However, appearing to have taken the criticism of a few Farms residents not directly involved in POSF activities to heart, the county’s elected officials appear to be cutting POSF out of any management authority after the 2011 agreement termination takes effect at the start of Fiscal Year-2023 on July 1.

In the wake of a series of closed session discussions with legal counsel on the pending end of the 2011 Management Agreement and a failure to respond to repeated POSF requests for meetings with county officials, the supervisors’ stance appears to be that the notice of termination by POSF of the agreement by which POSF handed its Sanitary District management authority over to the County does NOT automatically grant management authority back to POSF. Rather, it grants the County authority to continue its Farms Sanitary District management without the direct involvement of POSF Inc.

Do we see another hostile civil litigation, perhaps involving county taxpayer resources, on the horizon? – It would seem so, as indicated by POSF Board member Joe Longo’s recent statement regarding his resignation from the County Planning Commission. As reported in the below linked story, Longo wrote: “we are taking legal action to protect our community and our homes” regarding the future of Farms Sanitary District management. He also cited “strong evidence” he asserted POSF had accumulated indicating county officials had overseen the illegal movement of Farms Sanitary District tax revenue to uses outside the Sanitary District. (Continuing theme of his May 17 Public Comments to the County Supervisors, Joe Longo resigns from the Planning Commission)

To every point there is a counterpoint – and on March 29 POSF Board member Joe Longo presented that counterpoint to Chappell-White and other non-involved critics of the POSF.

Stay tuned, sports fans, the NBA finals got nothing on us – Warren County’s municipal governmental game is poised to become VERY interesting, if not “on the court” it would appear in the courtroom.

But leaving the sports/legal metaphors behind, following its lone public hearing of June 7 the supervisors unanimously voted to ease the residency requirement for the County’s five-member Front Royal Airport Commission. Assistant County Attorney Caitlin Jordan briefed the board prior to opening of the public hearing. She noted that the County’s Airport served aspects beyond the county’s boundaries, so that allowing an expanded membership beyond its borders to maintain full membership seemed a reasonable change.

File photo of Assistant County Attorney Caitlin Jordan addressing the supervisors.

Board Chair Cheryl Cullers noted that county residents might be given priority over non-county applicants. But she added that without the change as things stood, the Airport Commission might have some difficulty maintaining full membership. Supervisor Jay Butler called the change “a good move” allowing qualified applicants from outside the county who might use the airport or have knowledge of airport operations to fill the commission membership. FRR Airport management has been the focus of some criticism by a user in recent months, and the topic of some recent Closed Session discussion by the supervisors.

After no one responded to the call for speakers, Walt Mabe made the motion, seconded by Vicky Cook, to approve the change, which passed unanimously by roll call vote.

After a presentation by Finance Director Matt Robertson the board also approved the Fiscal Year 2019-20 audit prepared by Robinson, Farmer, Cox and Associates, the County’s contracted auditing firm. The audit was presented to the board by CPA Michael Lupton of the audit contractor at a May 3rd work session. In response to a question from Supervisor Cook, Robertson explained that the FR-WC EDA audit had been done separately by another auditor due to legal variables on what could or could not be publicly released regarding civil or criminal litigation matters. The process of incorporating aspects of the EDA audit into the County audit was underway between the firms, Robertson told the board.

And on a day in which adjustments to the County’s 6-year Road Plan was the topic of a work session following the meeting and closed session, the board also approved implementation of a Rating System for prioritization of hard-surfacing improvements to roads countywide. Public Works Director Mike Berry briefed the board on the dynamics of the rating system.

See all these discussions, votes, and other business including board and staff reports in the County video.