Town Council Work Session deals with the ongoing challenge of tourism funding and utility connections

At its February 15 Work Session, The Front Royal Town Council heard from its newly-minted Special Events & Public Art Coordinator Lizi Lewis, who started in her new role January 3^rd.  Ms. Lewis described the current categories of events – Holiday events, Public Safety events, Recurring events, and Co-Sponsorship opportunities. Council is interested in increasing activities downtown and making them fun and accessible. One new downtown activity would be an Independence Day celebration on July 3, since the holiday falls on a Monday. Another idea being floated is for a Christmas Market over 3 weekends in December (Anyone remember Christkindlmarkt?) All these things will require volunteers, funding, and planning. Since the Special Events Coordinator has a background in nonprofit organizations, she indicates she has no problem asking people for money for event sponsorships.

Front Royal Special Events and Arts Coordinator Lizi Lewis outlines the special events plan she is developing in her new role with the town. Town Council has committed to increasing the number and variety of events in the downtown area.

Council heard a request from town staff for a new electronic message board to augment the two existing ones. Message boards are used to augment traffic flow signs or notify drivers of restrictions or closures. Currently the town borrows them from other jurisdictions when the need arises. This request led to a discussion of the proposed use of tourism funds to achieve the sole-source purchase of $17,950. Council members debated the relationship of this equipment to actual tourism-related activities. More broadly, Warren County is officially the entity that is responsible for tourism, but in recent years, the town has expanded its participation in tourism-enhancing activities. A draft Joint Tourism Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the County is under development, but there are still areas of disagreement with the County. Vice Mayor Lori Cockrell suggested a joint meeting with the County Board of Supervisors would be a good step towards a final agreement.

One of the more contentious subjects of the work session was a waiver request by River’s Edge LLC for a water meter connection for their property near the old Avtex site on Kendrick lane.  The Town wants to force the developer to pay for two separate connections (over $100,000) since the property was subdivided and the water line which services the property would now be connected to two separately owned properties with submeters. It seems that interpreting the current ordinance for unusual situations like subdividing a property with old existing water lines should be straightforward, but it apparently is not. The town manager agreed to review the proposal with the applicant and all the relevant town-approved documents for the council to consider.

Finally, Councilman Amber Morris addressed a proposed certification of public need for women’s health services in Front Royal, in hopes of council support for improvements in availability for services that Valley Health does not provide locally.

More than 18 local builders unload their concerns on the Town regarding the new building code enforcement function.

The largest part of the nearly 4-hour work session was a candid conversation with Local Builders regarding the town’s new Building Code enforcement department. Royal Examiner is covering that discussion in a separate story.

Click here to watch the Town Council Worksession of February 15, 2022.

Local builders voice concerns about new Town Building Department