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Page 4 • Warren County Report • Early June, 010 Read all issues in their entirety FREE on www.WarrenCountyReport.com
Front Royal
In happier days - Town and EDA officials surround SolAVerde
principal Greg Horton in July 2009 when the
proposal to bring solar power and profit to Front Royal
seemed to have some momentum. From left, EDA
board member Jim Eastham, Vice Mayor Bret Hrbek,
Horton, EDA board member William “Billy” Biggs, EDA
board Chair Patty Wines and EDA Executive Director
Jennifer McDonald.
to make.
To be or not to be …
However with that agenda discussion
removed from the docket,
several councilmen pointed out the
town still was directly involved in
the ultimate decision making process
on whether solar power ever comes
here.
Carson Lauder questioned Mc-
Donald about the ongoing necessity
that the town’s electric department
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provide the access for any locallyproduced
solar power into the regional
grid. McDonald agreed that
was the case.
Sayre then referenced his “understanding
of human psychology” to
point out that if the town refused to
purchase any power from an AMPproposed
solar field locally, it was
likely no other member municipalities
would either, and the project
would likely die. With AMP’s vice
president of power planning presenting
two options to the town, both involving
a minimum commitment to
purchase megawatts of solar power,
it appears Sayre needn’t have focused
on the nebulous mysteries of the human
psyche, but rather simply on the
obvious to make his point – we don’t
buy in, they don’t build here.
Ghost train?
McDonald said it appeared the
solar negotiating process was back
to square one as far as land is concerned.
The EDA had entered into a
tentative lease to purchase agreement
with SolAVerde for 6 acres available
now at Royal Phoenix as the site for
the first 4 megawatt solar field. However,
now that the proposal has gone
in other directions through the AMP
network, that lease agreement is obsolete,
she said.
McDonald added that Standard
Energy had initiated the discussion
of alternative locations though Royal
Phoenix remained a possible site for
at least a portion of the solar field.
Later we asked McDonald about the
availability of an additional 40 acres
mentioned for a Phase development
of an additional 9 megawatts
at Royal Phoenix. She replied that at
this point the EDA has received no
timeline earlier than June 011 on
the release of other portions of the
planned business park for development.
She said she hoped the jobs envisioned
as part of an associated solar
panel manufacturing and distribution
facility, likely targeted for the nearby
Old Virginia Plant would remain a
part of the subsequent negotiations.
Royal Phoenix’s location adjacent to
both railroad tracks and a potential
manufacturing site made it an initially
preferred location for both SolAVerde
and Standard Energy, the latter
when that entity was created out of
a merging of the original SolAVerde
group, Standard Solar of Maryland
and Steve Lamb’s TrueCast Capital
financing group based in Middleburg.
However as far as the future of solar
power in this community, those
RR tracks may be leading nowhere
fast.
What will we do here?
Perhaps coincidentally, on May
19th the EDA Board of Directors reviewed
changes it will submit to the
EPA regarding restrictions on uses at
the Royal Phoenix site. Most of those
restrictions date to early in the cleanup
and eventual remediation process
when as McDonald told the board
they “thought back then that it would
never be as clean as it will be.” She
also pointed to some inconsistencies
such as the ability to manufacture
baby food at the site but not have
restaurants.
As they approached the task of what
to ask for, what to keep rejected and
what kinds of building restrictions
to maintain within the framework of
town and county codes, County and
EDA attorney Blair Mitchell said,
“You have to decide if you want it
to look like Main Street or Riverton
Commons.
Among the changes that will be
requested are to allow educational
and research facilities, including college
out-campus classrooms; dinner
theaters, auto assembly and repair;
meeting and fraternal halls; gas stations;
wireless communication towers
and equipment facilities.
Remaining prohibitions would
include junk yards; oil and tire storage
yards; packing plants; residential
units; hospitals and nursing homes;
and B&B’s though motels would be
permitted.
Greg Drescher noted that the EDA
would have the opportunity to approve
specific uses at the time applications
are made.
It would appear from this discussion
that the not too distant notion
of a 150-acre solar field with an associated
R&D Center has been abandoned
as a potential site-wide use for
the business park – and so much for
the fairy tale “Brownfield to Greenfield
ending” to the 1-year-old Avtex
Superfund saga.
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