May 27, 1998

Warren County officials Tuesday praised a proposal to prepare the Avtex Fibers Superfund site for commercial and recreational development, but a resident said the cost may be too high.

"About 80 percent of this land is unusable," Donald R. Orr said at a briefing on a recently completed study of the site. "The impact of a project like this has to be weighed in the economic environment and what it’s going to do to the city and county."

The water and sewer lines on the Avtex site are unusable and the cost of replacing them could be high, he said.

"We should address the sewer and water and environment," he said.

The plan by consultants with North American Realty advisory Services for reusing the 433-acre site calls for spending $5 million over 15 years to prepare the site for mixed-use development, including light industrial and commercial uses and a hotel-conference center on the eastern half of the site and recreational uses and a nature preserve on the western half.

Included in the $5 million would be $588,750 for new water and sewer lines.

"I disagree with you totally," Board of Supervisors Chairman James L. McManaway told Orr. "This is a starting point for where this can go. Yes, it’s going to cost money. But we have money coming in." Spiros Antoniadis of North American said the plan can be amended as circumstances or needs change.

Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Director Stephen A. Heavener said the study is a "working tool" that has helped to solidify a push to return the site to productivity.

"We believe because of the recent more intense negotiations. (For release of portions of the site for reuse) we’re

getting very close to something happening out there," he said.

Part of the North American plan, development of a 10 acre parcel on the north side of Kendrick Lane for commercial use, could begin within a year, he said.

The rest will have to wait until the Environmental Protection Agency tears down about 30 acres of contaminated buildings on the east side of the site, he said.

The study calls for the town and county to spend $5 million to tear down most of the remaining buildings and to build roads and other infrastructure so the land can be developed by the private sector.

The site would require about $82.5 million in private investment which could create about 2,400 jobs and eventual tax revenue of about $368,000 a year, the study says.

"Five million dollars is a fairly small investment for what is toes for the community," Antoniadis said. " The opportunity here with this conceptual plan is to make informed decisions, an opportunity to transform (the town’s) industrial core to meet the next century-- and now is the time to do it."