Town Council meets – briefly – to forward some routine(?) business

It was an auspicious first Front Royal Town Council-chaired meeting for Vice-Mayor Lori Cockrell on Monday evening, March 1. Chairing the Special Meeting called largely to hold a required public hearing to allow a sale or transfer of properties on Hill Street thought to have been accomplished in 1992, to proceed 29 years later, and only one other perfunctory agenda item – making Town Manager Steven Hicks appointment as new Town EDA executive director at no additional cost to the Town, official – it seemed history could be in the making.

That history being the breaking of former Mayor Eugene Tewalt’s 14-minute mark for shortest council meeting in modern history. Several years ago Tewalt broke the previous 17-minute standard of another vice-mayor, Daniel Pond III, set when we were all a lot younger.

Meeting convened virtually with Vice-Mayor Cockrell in the far-end chairman’s seat in Mayor Holloway’s absence. Little did anyone know it would be 12-minutes-plus to history. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini

And if Vice-Mayor Cockrell hadn’t suggested a third topic to the agenda that council unanimously consented to add, an unapproachable single-digit record of about four minutes was in the offing. For that added topic, scheduling of a one or two-day “visioning” retreat, apparently also known as an “advance” to some people as we enter the third decade of the 21^st century, took up the first nine minutes of Monday’s meeting.

That left four minutes to make history.

About that agenda

As for the agenda items:

1/ The Hill Street land transfer passed unanimously without comment from the public that wasn’t present at the second-floor Town Hall meeting room to speak to. For as explained by Assistant Town Attorney George Sonnett who worked on the planned property exchange, at issue is cleaning up an unresolved property acquisition through Town condemnation to facilitate upgrading Hill Street dating the late 1970’s. Another effort to clean up the situation in 1992 was illustrated by a surveyor’s plat included in the agenda packet. Involved is an existing house now occupied by a couple the Town hopes to work with to solve the unresolved parcel swap initiated over 40 years ago. Since the involved property is not a “public use” parcel, the Town will not have to advertise the planned exchange for competitive bids.

2/ Town Manager Steven Hicks was appointed to also serve as the Town’s EDA’s executive director. – And why wouldn’t he be since he’s a sport and is doing it without any additional salary compensation?

File photo of Town Manager Hicks, center, now also FREDA executive director. Has he found the secret of the 48-hour day, or does he just have a little help from his friends – in Town Hall and across town at the County and EDA offices?

Though it appears the Town EDA’s, or FREDA as it’s already affectionately known, chief executive position may focus on tourism and empty in-town storefront marketing with some assistance from the existing County EDA (former Town-County EDA), as opposed to major industry recruitment which the “other” EDA may continue with on both sides of the town/county line.

3/ As for that “advance” event formerly known as a “retreat” to review and develop long-term strategic goals and “visioning” for a community, after a painful and “record-threatening” discussion of potential back-to-back day, 4-hour meetings in coming weeks or months, it was decided to initially schedule one “retreat” meeting for Thursday, March 25, running from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. After that the necessity and plan for a second one, possibly including an envisioned joint meeting with the Warren County Board of Supervisors, will be discussed.

Beat the Clock?

The clock passed from 7:08 to 7:09 p.m. with no “advance” warning to the call for the Hill Street parcel exchange public hearing. With Assistant Acting Council Clerk Mary Ellen Lynn quickly negotiating a reading of the agenda summary of the public hearing topic, then the convening of and closing of the public hearing with no one present to speak just 1:17 was tolled off the clock. The roll call and unanimous vote took another 1:03 taking the clock to 7:11 p.m. and 10 seconds toward the established record 7:14 p.m. mark.

Just under two-and-a-half minutes and an EDA executive director’s appointment already announced is all that stood between Vice-Mayor Cockrell, council and history. Could she lead her team, together in the Town of Front Royal political trenches for just two months, to a landmark achievement – or at least a place in the local political reporters’ Hall of Fame?

December file photo of now Vice-Mayor Cockrell, perhaps practicing her coach-’em up ‘We can DO this, team!’ mode.

But did trouble lurk from within the ranks? From virtual world as the roll call vote confirming Hicks’ appointment came to Councilman McFadden, a “no” was heard. But coming as it did during the vote, not prior, it didn’t lead to further debate of the appointment, approved 5-1. Consequently, the Hicks EDA appointment ate only another 65 seconds off the clock, bringing Vice-Mayor Cockrell’s call to adjournment by this sportswriter’s account, at 7:12 p.m. and 32-seconds. Factoring in lag time on the convening of the meeting from the time the meeting video began rolling, a check of that video posted on Tuesday morning reflected a total meeting time of 12-minutes-and-25-seconds. So, no matter whose clock is official, the record was broken by over a minute.

The crowd, had there been one, would have gone wild – well, at least the press row portion of it.

About that ‘NO’ vote

Contacted later, Councilman McFadden explained his vote against Hicks’ appointment as a “a protest vote” or a “No” vote against the creation of FREDA, rather than a vote against Hicks’ executive leadership of it.

Bottom left, Councilman McFadden and Town Manager Hicks chat after meeting is adjourned in record-setting time.

Asked to elaborate, McFadden pointed out he had not been on council during the approximate two-year process leading up to the decision to create a unilateral Town EDA while distancing itself from the existing joint County-Town EDA. He told Royal Examiner by email: “I think that the appointment of Mr. Hicks is the best possible option, given the circumstances. Mr. Hicks will do an outstanding job in this additional role. He is highly competent and Front Royal is fortunate to have him. But I don’t think that the position should even exist. I told him so immediately following the meeting.”