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THE NORTHERN VIRGINIA DAILY Article date: November 24, 1999 EDA takes ownership of Superfund site at closing By Diane Hartson The Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority will take ownership of the Avtex Superfund site when it goes to closing on the real estate contract. The plant was added to the federal Superfund list in 1986, Avtex closed it in 1989 and shortly afterward declared bankruptcy. The site is now in the hands of bankruptcy trustee Anthony Murray. The town and county will forgive about $1.5 million in back taxes from the former rayon plant and the authority will pay $60,000 at closing. The county will pay $7,000 per acre for any part of the 10-acre parking lot across Kendrick Lane from the main plant property if it chooses to acquire that land. Earlier plans to use all or part of that land for a new school bus maintenance facility have been dropped. The county also will pay $9,000 per acre for an eight-acre parcel next to Ed Stump Park if it is added to the park. There will be no additional payments of the 25-acre park or the front building and about an acre surrounding it. No payments will be required on those parcels for eight years. The trustee, the U.S., Environmental Protection Agency and FMC Corp., will receive a portion of the profits from the sale of parcels as the land is developed. The authority’s cost will be subtracted from the amount received in land sales. Any grants received are excluded. The first $60,000 received will be paid to the trustee. The next $2 million in profits go the FMC Corp. From the balance, the trustee received 3 percent, the authority receives 10 percent, and FMC and the authority receive 87 percent. The formula doesn’t apply to the front building, Stump Park or the 200 acres west of the railroad tracks. The authority has the option of buying any parcels remaining unsold for redevelopment after 8 years at a fair market price or selling the land to FMC for $1,000 total. If FMC, a former owner of the Avtex site, purchases the land, it is allowed to deed the remaining parcels to a third party. The land must be redeveloped according the authority’s Avtex redevelopment plan, which calls for a mixture of light industrial, commercial and office uses and a hotel conference center on the eastern half of the site. Stump Park will be developed into a soccer complex and the western half of the site will be a nature preserve and recreation area. There also are attached environment a covenants restricting uses of the land. |