Warren County Report

The briefing by Arlington-based staff of the global consulting firm was seen not only as a summarization of the project’s status, but also a chance to familiarize new community players with the process begun nearly two years ago.

Addressing the project to coordinate planning, growth and marketing initiatives over the long haul, SRI Senior Economist Kathleen Vickland said – “It’s easy to start – but it is hard to keep going.” She acknowledged efforts to re-involve the Town of Front Royal, which last year declined a continued $14,000 commitment to the company’s $130,000 annual contract, which expires March 31.

She then lauded stakeholders in the EDA, county government, and the local business and educational communities for “increasing momentum” as the project moved from planning to implementation over the past year. High on SRI’s list of third-quarter achievements was adding the educational community, including Warren County Public Schools and Lord Fairfax Community College, to the plan’s workforce development process.

One thing that hasn’t proceeded at the anticipated pace, Vickland pointed out, is identifying exactly what uses will be allowed in The Royal Phoenix Business Park. However, with local, state and federal agencies involved, along with private sector stakeholders with oversight roles that is not surprising. In the wake of a recent stakeholders meeting covered exclusively in our last issue, the town, county and EDA have begun meeting to iron any issues on the local side regarding zoning ordinances that might need adjustment to allow desired uses at the site.

Interim EDA Executive Director Michael South said what has come so far is encouraging, but added, “This is a process – you can call it by many names, you can call it a roadmap … you can call it the implementation plan, which it is – but the essence of it is the process. And the process is actually a monitoring tool for eight initiatives that have been defined as to our ability to deliver what the community has asked for in the vision statement … As importantly though is going to be the linkage between this first year of implementation and the second year and what we can carry forward.”

Following South’s presentation of SRI’s Third Quarter Report at the Jan. 15 Warren County Board of Supervisors meeting, Tony Carter acknowledged that the planning and implementation stages of the SRI Roadmap were originally envisioned as a five-year process. Exactly how long SRI’s leadership would be required before local officials could take the lead was never pinpointed, Carter said. However, Carter then acknowledged the importance of SRI’s oversight in moving this project ahead at its outset, whereas other studies funded by local governments have floundered to a halt amidst municipal squabbling and inertia.

Last year, SRI found itself caught in the midst of a sometimes-volatile town relationship with the county and EDA over growth and financing issues. Following the Jan. 11 meeting, neither EDA nor SRI representatives cared to speculate on the potential impact on SRI’s contract of recent changes on the EDA executive staff and county board of supervisors.

EDA Executive Director Paul Carroll, seen as instrumental in bringing SRI into the local planning process, resigned suddenly on Nov. 30. Two incumbents on the board that approved the last SRI contract are no longer in office. Ron Llewellyn was defeated in the North River race and interim South River appointee Gray Blanton did not run for election. Llewellyn and Blanton were replaced by Glenn White and Linda Glavis, respectively. Neither White nor Glavis has publicly expressed an opinion on SRI’s involvement in the community planning process.