Investment and Budgetary Discretion Among Other Things at Town Council Work Session

The evening of Monday, May 5, began for the Town Council at a work session with a presentation from representatives of Atlantic Union Bank regarding the status of the Town’s investments. This advisory body that participates in wealth management for multiple localities ensures that all Town funds are fully invested at all times. Through their discretion and institutional knowledge, these advisors discover and secure the ideal opportunities for Front Royal’s financial resources to accrue interest. The presentation covered a wide swathe of details, including the market values of Front Royal’s two accounts and their yields in terms of maturity, all of which are shadowed by the disposition of the Federal Reserve and the possibility of a recession. As inflation is trending lower but not low enough to cause deeper rate cuts, the feds are in a unique position to be conservative with their cuts at present, which gives them the advantage of potentially making further cuts that reflect the cuts they have made in the recent past. According to these advisors, recession would not necessarily mean a spike in inflation since purse strings get tighter when there is trade uncertainty. While some are predicting a dark prospect, Atlantic Union Bank is optimistic.

Town Council gathers for a work session on the evening of Monday, May 5. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

With a continued focus on finance, the council then heard from Director of Finance B.J. Wilson about several aspects of the proposed FY 25-26 budget, which is currently being clarified under his guidance with input from various parts of the Town government. A prominent feature of this presentation and discussion was the proposed transfer of $65,820 from the FY 26 budget for the Tourism Department to the Town Engineer Department to supply the latter with the capital it needs to bring a civil engineer on board. This critical need has been vocalized by the mayor and multiple council members in recent meetings. While tourism or what Vice Mayor Amber Veitenthal calls “Big T” represents a crucial value for the community and should always be prized for the revenue it generates for the Town, a civil engineer simply wins hands down in terms of priority. The Town is also looking at a rate increase for water and septic services of 2.25% and 3%, respectively. Finally, the rate for septic haul tank waste is proposed to increase from $50 to $58.55 per 1,000 gallons. This last item involves the County, which was alerted at the most recent liaison meeting about this increase by the Town. All the above measures are due to be effective July 1 and are relevant to the May 27 meeting of the Town Council.

Finance Director B.J. Wilson handles the presentation of several agenda items on behalf of the council.

Representatives of Atlantic Union Bank, John Ockerman on the left and Michael Snow on the right, make a presentation to the council regarding the Town’s investments.

Under new business, the first item discussed was the appropriation of revenue from speed cameras in school zones, foreseeably going, in part, in the direction of further buttressing the school zone speeding concern and meeting specific needs for the police department. At the same time, they make an ongoing effort to keep children safe. This item was followed by a request presented by Director of Public Works Robbie Boyer for water and septic service in the 522 corridor outside town limits for industrial use wherein the Town makes double the usual rate, and in Veitenthal’s words, it is only appropriate that the Town would profit due to the service being provided. Four items were then presented by Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke: an application from the Warren Coalition for a special-use permit to operate a lodging house at 506 North Royal Avenue, an application for a special-use permit from Divinum Auxilium Academy to operate a private school for boys at 16 North Royal Avenue, an ordinance amendment pertaining to fees, charges, and expenses, and a text amendment to allow lodging houses in the R-1 zoning district by special-use permit.

Director of Public Works Robbie Boyer presents to the council a request for water and septic service outside town limits.

All these items were first reviewed by the Front Royal Planning Commission. The application by the Warren Coalition for its drug recovery house passed 4-1 with a recommendation to the Town Council for approval. The dissenting vote arose from a concern for regular police or planning and zoning inspections for regulatory compliance. Staff, however, feel that the appropriate mechanisms are in place, and the council should approve this application. The application for a private school, because of its location in relation to Union Street and the complications of drop-off and pick-up, met with a concern so great that the item was tabled for further consideration. Next up, Kopishke explained the rationale for an increase in the cost of various services as an attempt to break even. It is especially hard for planning and zoning to accept a one-and-done fee for a service that then requires follow-up action for which her department is not being properly remunerated. As for lodging houses in the R-1 district, the commission recommended denial 4-1, the majority feeling that the terms were too general and inconsistent with the character of the Town code while the dissenting vote arose from a concern for the community’s need for lodging houses. If the council approves this, substantial changes will have to be made to the code’s language.

Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke handles the presentation of several agenda items on behalf of the council.

New business having been transacted, Town Manager Joe Petty led the council in a discussion of certain unfinished business regarding a landlocked parcel to which the owner desires access through Town property. Within the vicinity of Duck Street and the Shenandoah River, this real estate can only be reached by means of a gate that guards a road that passes by the Town’s infrastructure and passes under a bridge, that portion of which is owned by VDOT, before it terminates at the applicant’s land. Previous Town Manager Joseph Waltz enforced the necessity of the applicant receiving a blessing from VDOT for use of the bridge portion of this equation before the Town makes any concession in terms of a potential easement. Boyer testified to the council that this site is the focus of criminal interest as the locks of the gate have been damaged on multiple occasions. The one-upmanship of this criminal element forces the Town to repair the damage while not being able to prove who specifically is carrying out these attacks. Amid these mysterious sabotage attempts, it would seem the Town is being requested to make its infrastructure strategically more vulnerable.

VDOT permission granted, although in a manner that raises questions about whether it is permanent, the applicant now waits for the pleasure of the council. It bears reporting that the parcel has passed through more than one ownership during these repeated applications for an easement. This item being dispatched, the council proceeded into a closed session to discuss personnel issues pertaining to the town attorney.

Click here to watch the Front Royal Town Council Meeting of May 5, 2025.