Llewellyn Attempts To Sell Warren County Water Rights For Personal Gain

Drowning Men Grab At Straws; Thirsty Men Grab At Straws, Too.

During the 1970’s, the Warren County Board of Supervisors created the Warren County Sanitation Authority. Today, the Authority exists in name only; it was created but never activated.

In 2001, the Board of Supervisors authorized Mr. Stanley to proceed with drafting an agreement with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for a groundwater study for Warren County. In 2006, the County was heading into its fifth $150,000 dollar per year payment on the project and this was the year the County would receive the conclusions and findings in a scientific report. Another $100,000 paid by Warren County was authorized for 2006-07. (See BOS Meeting Minutes, 07-18-2006) The cost to date of the project through 2006 was $700,000 from Warren County; USGS contributed approximately $350,000 for a total well over $1 million dollars of taxpayer money to acquire water table information.

In 2003, the Board of Supervisors authorized funds to commission the engineering firm of Anderson & Associates to study the County’s water and sewer options. On 14 August 2003, “Warren County Utilities Study – An Evaluation of Water And Sewer Options For The County” was printed and forwarded to the Board. You may obtain a complete copy of the 34-page study by contacting the Warren County Administration Office or Anderson & Associates in Middletown.

The Warren County Utilities Study ended with the following Conclusions and Recommendation:

“…It is our conclusion that the greatest opportunity for Warren County and Front Royal lies in working together in partnership to provide services to the citizens of this community. Warren County has the existing and future water and sewage demand that justifies the expansion of Front Royals treatment facilities, while Front Royal has the existing infrastructure to expand. Through the pooling of resources, and the operation of an Authority, the capacities and service areas of the water and sewer systems can continue to meet the needs of the citizens. This approach offers economical attractiveness due to the absence of redundant service areas and infrastructure.”

Leading up to the conclusions and recommendation summary, the study presented 4 options for consideration:

Option 1:
“Option I is a continuation of the present mode of operation. This involves the Town owning and operating the water and sewer systems that serve those areas inside and outside of the town limits.”

Option 2:
“Option II involves the County getting into the water and sewer business by either buying the Town’s infrastructure currently in place in the County, or constructing separate systems.”

Option 3:
“Option III utilizes an existing framework that has been in place since 1973, the Warren County Sanitation Authority. The Board of Supervisors established the Warren County Sanitation Authority for the “…acquisition, construction, operation and maintenance of (a) an integrated water system for supplying and distributing water in Warren County and (b) an integrated sewer system and sewerage disposal system for Warren County…”

Option 4:
“Option IV considers the possibility of the Town and County working together in partnership to be the regional water authority through the construction of a regional water treatment plant. A regional water treatment plant could initially supply water to Front Royal and Warren Co. and expanded in the future to serve other localities.”

None of the study options recommend selling Warren County water rights to Frederick County in exchange for the provision of a water/sewer system for use by Llewellyn’s development projects.

After spending over $1 million dollars of taxpayer money obtaining reams of water information, why did Llewellyn, Traczyk, Carter, and Stanley ignore all study recommendations and propose selling Warren County water rights to Frederick County, creating a partnership clearly not in the best interests of Warren County residents?

The answer begins with a zoning approval allowing only municipal water and sewer for the Catlett Road development:

= On March 21, 2006, the Board of Supervisors amended the Warren County Zoning Ordinance to allow Catlett Road cluster housing with municipal water/sewer only.

= Without municipal water/sewer, Llewellyn’s 155 homes on 58 acres are not possible and the development dies.

= Front Royal voted not to provide water/sewer service to Catlett Road and Swan Farm projects owned by Llewellyn.

= Llewellyn, Carter, and Traczyk burned the bridges to mutually beneficial future cooperation with Front Royal with a barrage of insults, accusations, poor statesmanship, and threats to form a regional water authority with Frederick County, with or without Front Royal as a participating member.

= Frederick County sensed Llewellyn’s growing financial vulnerability and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

= Llewellyn’s development projects face financial failure due to lack of municipal water/sewer preventing the developments from proceeding. Drowning men grasp at straws; thirsty men grab at straws, too.

= Who approached whom? Depending upon who you ask, Traczyk says Riley contacted him, Riley says Traczyk contacted him. Are they both right or wrong?

= Riley's December 6 letter is a response to Traczyk's request for a proposal outlining a general plan according to The Winchester Star.

= Frederick County is facing a building moratorium due to lack of DEQ permits allowing increased particulates discharge into the Opequon Creek.

= Frederick County has adequate water sources to supply growth demand through 2025. The sales pitch to create a regional water authority disguises its real, unsaid need for Shenandoah River access to dump more sewage.

= Frederick County tried to create a regional water authority with the City of Winchester. The effort failed.

= Frederick County tried to create a regional water authority with Shenandoah County. The effort failed.

= Frederick County tried to create a regional water authority with Clarke County. The effort failed.

= Frederick County tried to create a regional water authority with Warren County during the early 1990’s. The effort failed.

= Each of the 4 options proposed by the 2003 Warren County Water Study would be time consuming to implement, especially Option 4, which required co-operation with the Town of Front Royal.

= I believe Llewellyn, conspicuously absent from public participation and comments, influenced Carter and Traczyk to back his venture to obtain water/sewer via Frederick County and possibly forcing Front Royal to reconsider.

= Traczyk was easily influenced because he believed his control over Warren County development was being usurped by the Town of Front Royal’s water policy.

= Carter was influenced for the same reason, claiming loss of control over County development. Centex withdrawal of the Happy Creek development was particularly vexing for Carter.

= Frederick County framed its offer as a direct appeal to Llewellyn’s predicament; Frederick would provide water and sewer to Llewellyn’s projects, Llewellyn would sell them Warren County water rights and sewer discharge capacity into the main stem of the Shenandoah River.

= The water/sewer treatment plant would be built on land donated by Warren County.

= Frederick must approve the property location. This places the plant somewhere on the “main stem”, downstream of the North Fork-South Fork confluence, miles away from Catlett Road.

= Frederick County looked to possibly recover their investment quickly with water/sewer service to the proposed 2500 home Centex site. All Warren County needed to do was revise or ignore the Comprehensive Plan growth rate.

= Traczyk touts the Frederick County water deal as a source of income, conveniently forgetting after he sells the water he has to buy it back at a higher price. Traczyk becomes the man stepping over dollars to pick up pennies.

= County Administrator Stanley and County Attorney Mitchell misinterpret eminent domain provisions of Virginia Code and wrongly say Frederick County can take the water without Warren County permission, promoting a fatalistic “we are helpless to resist” public relations campaign favoring the water deal.

The fine print in the memorandum of understanding kills the Fredrick/Warren "water" deal.

The final straw that broke the Llewellyn/Carter/Traczyk back was the provision that allowed the Frederick County Sanitation Authority to maintain total control over who received water and sewer, who controlled the sewage discharge permits, and who set the rates for connection fees and services.

Finance sources would demand Frederick control all the revenue generating items as a condition of the construction loan. Without any say over water policy, Warren County becomes Fredericks stooge.

The real kicker is Llewellyn’s Catlett Road development, located on the county’s west side, would be physically located so far away from the Frederick water/sewer facility located on the Shenandoah River, on the east side of the county, it would not be economically feasible for Frederick to build water and sewer lines to service 150 homes in the foreseeable future. Llewellyn was left holding the empty bag.

Plainly stated, the Frederick County water deal placed Warren County in the exact same position as the existing situation with Front Royal, except now Frederick County’s nearly uncontrolled growth rate would be dumping its sewage into Warren’s back yard.

Warren County sewage discharge capacity utilizing the main stem of the Shenandoah River would feed Frederick County development.