With 2/3’s of sanitary district surveys unreturned, Lake FR gets an extension

Subdivision opponents of the Lake Front Royal Sanitary District got a reprieve Tuesday night, July 17, when the Warren County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved South River District Representative Linda Glavis’s motion to postpone a vote on continuing County Sanitary District management of the southside mountain subdivision.  Glavis’s motion, seconded by Dan Murray, delayed the vote until the second board meeting next month on August 21.

After the controversial 2016 creation of the sanitary district during which opponents – including the POA board of directors – claimed to have been excluded from information about the court hearing that created the district, the supervisors voted to review subdivision opinion on the sanitary district designation in two years.

As part of that review a survey was mailed out to 305 property owners on July 2.  As of Tuesday evening, July 17, 110 responses had been received with 195 surveys unreturned.  Board Clerk Emily Mounce told Royal Examiner that only five surveys had been returned as undeliverable.

‘To be a Sanitary District or NOT to be a Sanitary District, THAT is the question’ – and currently survey results are overwhelmingly in favor of maintaining the County management designation. Deputy County Administrator Bob Childress, right, addresses the Lake Front Royal Advisory Board on outstanding infrastructure issues, including ROW acquisition, this spring. Royal Examiner File Photos/Roger Bianchini

Of the respondents an overwhelming majority – 95 of the 110 (+84) – favored continuing the sanitary district designation, with just 11 in opposition.  That 86.4% to 10% favorable result was a reversal of input received from a survey distributed following a July 19, 2016 public hearing after opponents submitted a petition urging dissolution of the Lake Front Royal Sanitary District.  The slight percentage deviation off a 100% total was a result of four of the returned 2018 surveys giving a mixed reply, checking both for and against, staff indicated.

Results of the July 2016 survey presented to the supervisors on August 16, 2016, netted 151 replies.  Those replies showed an 88-63 majority (+25 with no mixed replies) favoring dissolving the Sanitary District created by Court Order following the controversial January 21, 2016 Court Hearing.

When Property Owners were allowed to vote by the number of lots they own – and pay taxes on – that 2016 margin increased to 115-75 (+40) in favor of petitioning the Court to dissolve the District.  Of the 2018 responses, the 95 pro-district replies represented 110 lots, with the 11 negative ones representing 11 lots.

The new numbers could indicate one of two things – a dramatic change in perspectives over the two years of county management of the subdivision and its infrastructure, leading former opponents to change votes or not bother to reply; OR opponents are just slower to reply this year.

However, were 41 more responses to be received in the next month matching the 2016 response total, and ALL those replies were against maintaining the sanitary district designation, the response would still be 95-52 for maintaining the designation.

ROW acquisition approved

In another Lake Front Royal matter, a scheduled public hearing on a condemnation and property acquisition move by the County against a Lake Front Royal property owner was removed from Tuesday evening’s agenda.  Deputy County Administrator Bob Childress informed the board that the property owner who had refused to sign off on Right-Of-Way (ROW) acquisition to enable subdivision entranceway improvements had relented and agreed to the ROW acquisition.

The view up Lake Front Drive toward Creek Road where the Rudacille ROW issue was encountered

That property owner, identified as Linda Rudacille at earlier meetings, was the final of nine property owners whose ROW was necessary to facilitate a VDOT Rural Addition Project revenue split to repair and expand the entrance roads to the subdivision.  Those improvements have been supported in the past by the subdivision POA and many residents.

According to information provided to the board on June 19, Rudacille had been offered $5,000 for less than tenth of an acre portion (.0861) of her property off Creek Drive to facilitate necessary construction easements.   Childress noted that no entranceway or trees on the property would be impacted and the offer was based on a $50,000 assessment of the one-acre property itself.

Had the matter gone to court, a judge would determine the amount of compensation if the condemnation to realize the entranceway project in the public good was upheld.  It seems with attorney’s fees looming, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor – especially with that $5,000 to the plus side on the table.

As Childress, who oversees Lake Front Royal Sanitary District management for the County, has explained in the past, the ROW acquisition was necessary due to a quirk in the language of the subdivision’s founding documents.

“When Lake Front Royal was originally developed a 50-foot right-of-way (from the center of roads) was provided.  However, at that time the declaration deed and plat stated in part that ‘all roads are private’ even though they were open to the public,” Childress told the board and Lake Front Royal Sanitary District Advisory Board this spring.

The “all roads are private” wording counters VDOT’s need that its temporary right-of-way easement “be dedicated for public use” thus necessitating the ROW acquisition efforts that have finally been achieved without litigation.

Private/not private roads – maybe the same four people who sent back the mixed-message surveys were involved in writing the founding subdivision documents – maybe…

In a totally unrelated matter on July 17, the County was acknowledged for receipt of a ‘National Association of Counties 2018 Achievement Award’ in the category of Human Services. The designation stemmed from creation of a Community Liaison position under the auspices of County Department of Social Services Director DeAnna Cheatham. Community Liaison Michelle Smeltzer, second from left, with from left County Administrator Doug Stanley, Board Chair Tony Carter and Cheatham. Photo/Roger Bianchini