Split between environmental groups and Town appears to be widening

Before getting down to the business of five public hearings, including approving a $47.07-million-plus revenue appropriation in support of its FY-22 budget; across-the-board increases to water-sewer rates; an amendment to its code establishing a unilateral Town EDA that would allow county residents with in-town businesses to serve on its EDA Board of Directors; and the Spelunkers restaurant rezoning request for lots across Pine Street for accessory structure uses – which drew opposition from one adjacent residential couple – the Front Royal Town Council, mayor and staff got an earful from seven members of environmental organizations or coalitions, several with 20-plus-year working relationships with the Town.

The first two speakers to the issue were Front Royal-Warren County Tree Stewards President Melody Hotek and Fred Andreae, representing the Beautification of Front Royal Committee. Both organizations cite relationships with the Town dating back to the last century. Following Hotek and Andreae to the podium were in order of appearance: Appalachian Trail Community Committee Chair Susan Tschirhart, Tree Steward and former Town Urban Forestry Advisory Commission Chairman David Means, Chris Anderson of the Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, and two independent members of the Save Happy Creek Coalition, Sonja Carlborg and Kelli Hart.

The source of the problem: underbrush and invasive species, yes – but NOT all the native trees planted and/or maintained for years by citizen volunteers in favor of riprap rocks that will not do the job a maintained riparian buffer will. Royal Examiner File Photos by Roger Bianchini

The over-arching theme of all speakers was the deterioration of traditional alliances, partnerships and lines of communication with the town government over the past year and a quarter. The unifying event at the center of the situation was a massive defoliation, including over 300 trees, along the creek’s natural forest buffer, that according to the groups, had successfully mitigated flooding and erosion for almost two decades along Front Street. That area had been maintained by Tree Steward volunteers for over a decade.

But issues raised by speakers pointed to more far-reaching institutional failures within the town government stemming from the retirement of Town Horticulturist Ann Rose in December 2019. That full-time position remains unfilled to this day, with no apparent effort to find a successor until the revelation at Monday’s meeting that the Town will begin advertising for a part-time staff arborist.

Hotek addressed this lapse in her opening remarks, echoing concerns expressed in the Tree Steward’s April 14 letter to the mayor and council announcing their decision to suspend its partnership with the Town for the coming fiscal year.

“Until last year, our work was guided by the Town Horticulturist. Embodying the Town’s commitment to trees, plants, and the beautification of Front Royal, this critical staff position has been vacant since December 2019, despite remaining a line item in the budget. Consequently, the Tree Stewards are no longer directed toward projects of greatest need,” Hotek observed, adding, “Destruction of the riparian buffer zone along Front Street and channelization of Happy Creek have made it clear that neither the Council nor its managers value this 24-year partnership. The decision to destroy a successful community-led model project was reached without input from the Urban Forestry Advisory Commission (UFAC) established by the Town. In response to this violation of Town Code, UFAC members resigned en masse in December 2020.”

Tree Steward President Melody Hotek reiterates what was written to the mayor and council on April 16, tracing a 180-degree procedural reversal by the Town in what had been a successful two decade relationship. Below, Tree Steward volunteers at work along Happy Creek’s banks in the Front Street area. Courtesy Photo Tree Stewards

Following similar comments by the Beautification Committee’s Andreae, who traced that organization’s relationship with the Town to the early 1990’s, Susan Tschirhart, co-chair of the Appalachian Trail Community Committee, made it a trifecta of involved organizations (with Tree Stewards and UFAC) withdrawing or resigning from involvement with the town administration: “I am here to report our unanimous decision to support the Front Royal-Warren County Tree Stewards by suspending AT Community operations in the Town for the coming year.” She added that the AT Committee would continue its relationship with the Joint Town-County Tourism Committee and the County government. She then cited past success in promoting the town and county as Appalachian Trail destinations, followed by what she viewed as a betrayal of that work.

“One of the AT Community program’s central goals is to partner with designated communities in preserving and protecting green spaces near the Appalachian Trail, including the stretch of Happy Creek that runs through the heart of Front Royal. Since 2012, when the town and the county achieved designation, the A.T. Community Committee has succeeded in leveraging proximity to the internationally renowned Appalachian Trail to promote sustainable economic development. As a result, Front Royal and Warren County are now known as one of the ‘friendliest communities along the A.T.’

“Sadly, the Town of Front Royal seems to have developed a culture of destruction, decimating its staff, environmental assets, and relationships with civic organizations that have served the town for decades. Several months of misleading statements made by the Town Council and staff, as well as numerous permit violations on the Happy Creek construction site confirm the current administration’s operational dysfunction and disrespect for the values our organizations hold dear.”

A.T. Committee Co-Chair Susan Tschirhart announced the group’s suspension of activities in the Town of Front Royal for the coming year, joining the Tree Stewards in withdrawing from interaction with a town government she described as developing a ‘culture of destruction’ – of staff, a carefully maintained tree canopy and the organizational relationships developed over decades in maintenance of the town’s rural ambience.

She added that she and her committee had experienced similar frustrations to the Tree Stewards in a lack of necessary follow up to meetings with town staff as what “promised to be a record-breaking hiking season” approached.

In her opening remarks Hotek expressed the Tree Stewards’ distress at the Town’s actions regarding what proved to be a stormwater management project under the leadership of then-Interim Town Manager Matt Tederick, who remains on the town payroll part-time in an advisory role to new Town Manager Steven Hicks. In fact, Tederick was present Monday night in the adjoining Warren County Government Center caucus room, though he was never called on for input to the meeting in Hicks, who is on vacation’s, absence. Finance Director B. J. Wilson sat in the town manager’s seat, next to Town Attorney Doug Napier. In a November 23 press release the Town announced Hicks hiring, effective December 7, 2020, after much of the damage originating with the Happy Creek flood mitigation work had been done.

“For 24 years we have been proud to be a part of this community and care for its beautiful trees. We have enjoyed a solid working relationship with the Town. But we are heartbroken over the recent actions taken by Town Council and its Managers. A trust has been broken,” Hotek asserted, observing, “We recently sent each of you a letter from our organization and it is extremely disappointing that not one of you, our elected officials, have reached out to talk with us. The public needs to be aware of the Town’s disregard for its community volunteers, so I would like to convey the highlights of this letter for the public record.”

Council listens as seven citizens asked why the break in traditional alliances that have worked to the town’s benefit for over two decades. Two other citizens spoke to past problems in getting a Town reaction to neighborhood concerns over trash, noise and unattended dogs.

In documentation accompanying her comments, Hotek released the full text of her April 14 letter to Mayor Holloway and each council member. The lone response came from Town Manager Hicks. That exchange will be covered in a forthcoming Royal Examiner story.

“The actions of the current administration speak volumes. In view of these actions, the Tree Stewards voted to forego their partnership with the Town for the coming year,” Hotek said, repeating what the Tree Stewards wrote to the mayor and council April 14.

For the sake of brevity – though it may already be too late for that – on this important, evolving and unresolved issue between many of the town’s citizens and their elected and appointed officials, we will skip to the final speaker, Save Happy Creek Coalition member Kelli Hart. She described her perception of the Town’s processes through what Hotek and the five speakers preceding her had addressed. (additional speakers comments, as well as any subsequent Town response to them, will be published on Royal Examiner’s pages in coming days. Video of those comments in their entirety can be viewed in the LINKED Town video, also available on the Town of Front Royal website under Archived Meetings of the Town Council.)

Hart began with a mechanical/vehicular analogy pointed at recent Council comments indicating positive public feedback about the appearance of the newly riprapped stretch of Happy Creek. Hart pointed to differences of opinion on what constitutes a beautiful car, observing: “… the issue is not about esthetics, not a matter of personal taste … But where the rubber hits the road is whether the engine of any car can do its job. Unfortunately, what we have on Front Street is a car that some find lovely, even though its engine is in lousy shape.”

The reference was to the destruction of, not only the natural vegetative creek bank flooding buffer maintained by volunteer work of the Front Royal-Warren County Tree Stewards over the bulk of two decades, but a failure of the municipal apparatus developed since the Tree Stewards helped the Town get its Tree City USA designation in 2000:

“What’s baffling is that we had an Urban Forestry Advisory Commission, a group of outstanding mechanics, willing to offer expert advice on preventing damage to that engine. But you chose to ignore them. As a result, when the car breaks down, we taxpayers will be footing the bill.”

Kelli Hart used a vehicular metaphor to make her point – if you have qualified mechanics available to fix your car’s engine, why not utilize their services instead of one with no experience?

She then characterized the mayor’s acknowledgment of mistakes made in development of the Happy Creek stormwater control project as a day late and dollar short. “Mr. Holloway stated in a March 31 Examiner article ‘that he and council members made a mistake by not asking the advisory council for input on the project.’ But on November 23^rd, current and former members of that (Urban Forestry) Advisory Commission offered their help at the Council meeting. Had you accepted their offers, further damage could have been prevented. Instead, the project proceeded in a typical way: act now, apologize later.”

Council response

While Mayor Holloway led council and staff into a discussion of two subsequent speakers, the daughter-mother team of Sheila Smith and Lillian Sloane’s concerns about a neighbor who was allowing what was termed a largely unattended kennel with multiple dogs and consequent trash and waste accumulation to negatively impact their Parkview Drive neighborhood, only Jacob Meza reacted to the Happy Creek speakers after some silence upon the mayor’s final call for council reaction to public comments.

Meza pointed to ongoing discussion he has had over his term on council with speaker David Means, stating he believed council remained open to further discussion “even if we don’t agree” on the substance of that discussion. As for assertions about “permit violations” and “illegal actions” taken by the Town regarding its Happy Creek stormwater management project, Meza queried staff as to any citations or violations. From the town manager’s seat, Finance Director Wilson said he was unaware, but deferred to Public Works Director Robbie Boyer, whose crews did much of the work.

“Not at this point, no,” Boyer replied, leading to one Coalition member in the audience to cite a six-week stop work order initiated by the County Building and Inspections Department “for permit violations”.

Jacob Meza was the lone councilman to respond to public comments on the process the town government took in approaching the work at Happy Creek along the Shenandoah Greenway across from Front Street. Meza pointed to past conversations with Tree Steward and former UFAC Chairman David Means, below addressing council Monday evening, in seeking continued dialogue on issues raised.

Meza observed, “Obviously council is concerned about that and we asked (Town Manager Hicks) to reach out to the state agencies we were involved with to make sure everything we were doing was appropriate and above board and we met all the requirements and regulations”. The councilman added that he wasn’t arguing that council couldn’t have “done it better or made it nicer or done more thorough planning” but asserted, “I want to make it absolutely clear that we were in close contact with state agencies, corresponding with them.”

Save Happy Creek Coalition member Sonja Carlborg had addressed the Town’s permitting process and violations in her remarks. After noting a perceived irony in Mayor Holloway’s reading of an Arbor Day proclamation into the meeting record just prior to public comments, she added:

“I’ve been in regular contact with the three agencies connected with this project. They may have permitted this destruction but I suspect that channelizing Happy Creek was not what they envisioned. For one, you failed to include tree removal in your permit application, though this was specifically requested. Their fault lies in failing to require more detail on removal of what you disingenuously called ‘vegetation’. Having received photos of heavy machinery churning up the streambed, improperly installed silt fence, and banks scoured of trees, they are aware of the more than twenty permit and regulatory violations that have already taken place.

Happy Creek Coalition member Sonja Carlborg questioned whether permitting agencies were properly informed of the Town’s defoliation and riprap rock channelization plan for Happy Creek. She asserted that removal of trees was not cited in the Town permit application, only removal of ‘vegetation’.

“But my real question is, where lies the Town’s resistance to doing things well, with integrity, in accordance with best practices? In this case, simply obeying the law would’ve saved us taxpayers a lot of money. What you seem to crave is praise for doing the right thing without actually doing the work.”

About that sludge

Meza was also involved in the evening’s other major controversy, which he raised during council reports toward the end of the open meeting agenda, prior to adjournment to closed session for discussion of “specific legal matters” related to “a Memorandum of Agreement between the County and Town” pursuant to state code Section 2.2-3711, without further elaboration on that code section.

But did Meza give a clue to that closed session topic when he berated the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Mark Butler specifically, for “harassing” town staff at the county landfill in Bentonville the previous Tuesday? That “harassment” was over the alleged dumping of town sewage, or sludge, at the county landfill. After calling it “treated sewage” that was being disposed, Meza corrected himself, asserting that after being “treated” at a Town plant, it was no longer sewage.

Stay tuned for the Town-County SLUDGE controversy of 2021 in a forthcoming Royal Examiner article – and you thought Town-County EDA financial disputes were fun, wait till we descend into the muck, I mean sludge.

Long-time town government critic Paul Gabbert, among others, expressed their opinions at November demonstration against the tree removal and riprap rock installation work. You don’t think if the County cuts them off at the landfill, they’ll dump sewage in Happy Creek, do you? – It’s ‘treated’ you know.