Town hesitant on infrastructure costs for Royal Phoenix Business Park

Current entrance to the Royal Phoenix Business Park site – the Kendrick Lane tie in to West Main Street extended through the site will be in this vicinity. Photos/Roger Bianchini

The Front Royal Town Council continued to play “Who’s on First” with delays to the start of construction of the ITFederal facility at the former Avtex Superfund site.  At a Monday, November 20 work session, Planning Director Jeremy Camp briefed council and the mayor on the status of two things at the center of those delays – a commitment to Phase One of the West Main Street extension through the Royal Phoenix Business Park and to construction of a waste-water pumping station that will accommodate a number of the first businesses that locate at the site.

Camp estimated the planned pumping station would serve about seven commercial pads and 4,200 people on site.  But as Town Manager Joe Waltz later told us, that first station will not accommodate full development of the 149-acre business park.

At previous work sessions in recent months, Economic Development Authority Executive Director Jennifer McDonald has pointed to delays, first in town approval of a final design for the West Main Street extension, and then uncertainty about the pumping station, as holding up the start of Phase One (two buildings) of the ITFederal project.  However, in McDonald’s absence Monday there was confusion on why the first company to commit to the former Avtex Superfund site hadn’t begun construction.

Councilman Gene Tewalt asked if State DEQ permitting was the hold up.  Jacob Meza worried at lag time in the start of the ITFed project were council to agree to construction of a water pumping station designed to serve multiple commercial clients anticipated to eventually commit to the site.

“When do they expect to put their building up and get people in?” Meza asked.  He added that he was willing to authorize town money – estimated at $9,200 – for the design phase of the pumping station, but not the nearly $400,000 estimate for construction.

“I don’t want to do this and wait two years for ITFederal to start construction,” Meza told his colleagues.

From another angle Tewalt worried that ITFederal might complete construction of its first buildings without the pumping station being ready to service the site.  He suggested ITFederal agree that the Town not be liable legally if they cannot open on schedule once their initial facilities are built.

Were the Town to put off construction of the pumping station, Mayor Hollis Tharpe wondered if ITFederal could build their originally-planned pump station to just serve their facility.  Both McDonald and Town Manager Joe Waltz have explained former Town Manager Steve Burke suggested the change to a Town-constructed main pumping station, rather than have individual stations built by each business as they arrived at the site.

Above, Jeremy Camp explains cost variables in infrastructure development on and off site at the former Avtex Superfund site. Below, from left, Eugene Tewalt, Jacob Meza and Chris Morrison ponder a chicken or the egg redevelopment equation.

In reaction to the saving at not having to build its own pumping station, ITFederal committed $150,000 to the West Main Street extension project.  Of the notion ITFederal could return to its original plan and build its own pumping station, contacted later McDonald said, “Sure they can if the Town wants to lose the $150,000 commitment to the road.”

Former EDA board member William Sealock reminded his council colleagues that the Town had already committed to the central pumping station and was being presented with the cost estimates requested at the November 6 work session.

John Connolly said he was ready to move forward on construction of the pumping station immediately.  He reasoned that having necessary infrastructure in place would help attract commercial clients to the site.

As a result of the discussion it was agreed to have Pennoni move forward with design of the pumping station.  Staff will also present a timeline on design and construction of both the pumping station and West Main extension to council at an upcoming work session.

Road infrastructure

If some councilmen seemed taken aback at the $385,000 to $400,000 cost estimate for the pumping station provided by project consultant Pennoni, they may have needed smelling salts after getting the company’s West Main Street Extended Traffic Study Phasing Addendum.  That addendum, presented to town staff by Pennoni on November 14 along with the pumping station cost estimates, examined in detail the traffic implications of development of the Royal Phoenix Business Park.

Planning Director Camp presented Pennoni’s recommended eight-phased, off-site traffic improvements believed necessary to accommodate traffic in and out of the Royal Phoenix site as it is built out.  Total cost – $11,837,130.  The original cost estimate for the West Main Street extension through the Royal Phoenix property was $2.5 million.  However, the project’s cost is mitigated by both a VDOT Revenue Sharing amount of $500,000, as well as ITFederal’s commitment of $150,000 to the road project following the Town decision to build the first water pumping station on site.

“What’s the first phase going to cost – that’s all I’m interested in right now,” Tewalt asked of the road project.  Phase One of West Main Street extended on site has been estimated at $1.25 million.  From information in the agenda packet, the initial phases of off-site road infrastructure improvements in the vicinity of Kendrick Lane and Shenandoah Avenue and the site entrance appeared in the range of $400,000 to $500,000.

Decisions and development

Contacted the following day, EDA Executive Director McDonald expressed some frustration at the delay in moving forward on construction of the pumping station.  “If they want development on this site they have to provide the infrastructure.  This is not an ITFederal issue, this is an Avtex redevelopment issue,” she stated.

Yea, like John Connolly said more or less – “Build it and they will come.”

Shots taken from behind EDA headquarters in the old Avtex Admin building as site prep work on the ITFederal site was underway this summer – the ITFed pads are ready for construction according to EDA Executive Director Jennifer McDonald.