August 24, 1999

The Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority will likely take ownership of land at the Avtex Fibers Superfund site as it’s shifted to local hands, officials said Monday.

While plans for the site had, for years, called for the authority to manage the property and Warren County to own it, recent proposals call for the authority to own the land.

"It’s the logical thing to do," Board of Supervisors Chairman James L. McManaway said. "They represent both jurisdictions. The EDA can get grants the town and county can’t get because they’re in the business of economic development."

The transfer of the first 110 acres of the 440-acre former rayon plant site is expected to take place by the end of the year.

The authority has created a detailed plan for the development of the site featuring a hotel-conference center, light industrial, commercial, office and recreational uses.

"We’re a real estate developer," authority Director Stephen A. Heavener said. "This is just like the Stephens Industrial Park, the Kelly Industrial Park," which are owned by the authority.

It would make sense to have all of the county and town’s economic development resources managed by one entity, and the authority, which has already received two grants to develop the site, has established ties with federal and state sources of future grants, he said.

Authority officials discussed the ownership proposal with the supervisors in a close session and will discuss it with the Town Council in a closed session tonight, Heavener said.

While no formal action has been taken, officials said the proposal is likely to be approved.

"It would be a logical transfer to let them handle it," Vice Mayor Tony F. Carter said.

Local government officials have one concern: that the council and supervisors continue to have a say in the use of the land, Carter and Supervisor Matthew A. Tederick said.

"That is going to be dealt with by drawing up a separate agreement between the town, county and EDA," Tederick said.

A federal bankruptcy court judge will rule Sept. 21 on the proposal to transfer the land to local hands.

Heavener said if the judge approves the plan, the final transfer will involve a prospective purchaser agreement that will lift future liability against the new owner, the land transfer contract between the authority or county and the bankruptcy trustee and a list of environmental covenants restricting use of the site.

Those restrictions will ban the use of any of the Avtex land for a county school system transportation maintenance facility, as had been discussed last year, he said.

The covenants also ban any residential use or industrial use that could cause contamination, he said.

County Attorney Douglas W. Napier said those covenants are being negotiated and are likely to change before the transfer agreements are completed.

"We’re asking to change it considerably,"he said.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which drafted the covenants, wants to include the Avtex site in a town zoning category that local officials believe is inappropriate, Napier said. Although he wouldn’t say what that zoning category is.

The EPA also wants to exclude for the Avtex property some uses that are permitted in the zoning category, he said.