Government: County of Warren, Virginia
Body: Board of Supervisors
Date: March 17, 2026, 6:00 PM
Location: Warren County Government Center
Type: Public Comment
Timestamp: 00:48:11
Duration: 03:00
What Prompted This Review
During the March 17, 2026 meeting of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, I spoke during the public comment period about the county’s tourism website.
I appreciated the ability to speak early on non-agenda items, which made it easier to raise this concern directly.
The comment itself was prompted by a discussion from the March 5 meeting, where it was suggested that progress was being made on tourism efforts and the website.
After hearing that, I decided to review the site firsthand.
March 17 Public Comment
The focus of my comment was simple: compare what is being said about the website with what is currently visible to the public.
In reviewing the site, I found:
- Incomplete or empty pages (including About, Privacy Policy, and Blog)
- Broken or non-functional links
- Missing businesses and attractions
- Inconsistent representation between town and county
- Little indication of ongoing updates or activity
From a visitor’s perspective, the site appears unfinished and difficult to use as a reliable guide.
March 5 Discussion (Context)
The earlier discussion that prompted this review included several important points:
- Tourism efforts were described as moving in a positive direction
- The divide between town and county websites was acknowledged
- Equal representation of businesses was emphasized
- The idea of a more unified or improved website was raised
These are all reasonable goals.
Additional Observations
In looking more closely, a few additional patterns became apparent:
- Businesses located outside of Warren County appear in listings
- Many businesses within the Town of Front Royal are missing
- Several well-known destinations are not represented
These inconsistencies make it difficult for the site to reflect the area accurately.
The Gap
The March 5 discussion reflects alignment on goals and direction.
However, the current state of the website does not yet reflect that progress.
The gap appears to be not in intent, but in execution and visibility.
A Note on Tourism Websites
From a web development perspective, tourism websites are not simply directories.
They are expected to:
- Attract attention
- Highlight experiences
- Help visitors plan their trip
- Provide a sense of place
In its current form, the site functions more as a partial listing than a fully developed tourism platform.
Looking Forward
Warren County has no shortage of assets—farms, wineries, arts, history, and local businesses.
The opportunity is not just to improve the website, but to ensure it accurately represents and promotes what already exists.
Transcript
Chapter 1: Opening & Purpose of Comment
00:00 Good evening, supervisors. I’m Lewis Mint from the North River District. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
00:07 Um, I want to talk about something not on the agenda this time. So, thank you for letting me speak early. Um, so I saw
Chapter 2: Website Confusion: Two Platforms & Initial Concerns
00:17 the video from I think it was like March 5th when you were starting to talk about the website. Um, I’m not sure if it’s
00:24 discover or experience Warren County. it it seems like we have a front row and and a Warren County one
00:30 and it’s it’s just very confusing why we have two. Um but the main thing I want to say is the Warren County one looks
Chapter 3: Broken Links, Empty Pages, and Missing Content
00:38 very much incomplete. Uh there’s a lot of links that are broken or just are not working
00:46 at all. Um there if you click on the privac privacy policy there’s nothing there. If you click on the about page there’s nothing
00:54 there. Um, I see that we have the Warren Rifles Museum listed on the overall
Chapter 4: Missing Museums, Arts, and Local Representation
01:04 page, but if you go to the his history and museums, it’s not there. I think it’s the only thing there significant in
01:12 town is actually the Ivy Lodge. So, the beer museum’s not in there either.
01:18 um under like arts and cultural arts there’s nothing for like explore art and clay stone branch brack uh Melissa
01:26 Aching is also uh somebody there we even have photography on on Main Street. So you were saying like uh you were you
Chapter 5: Front Royal Visibility & Address Confusion
01:35 were addressing concerns on the campaign path that somebody expressed to you that nothing on Front Royal was there and somebody said yes there are I think it was Jane Meadows that was here. So far,
01:45 I’ve seen two. Um, most addresses say Front Royal, but when I go look them up, they’re outside of Front Royal. So,
01:52 everybody’s just using Front Royal as the post office. Uh, they’re not listing Warren County as their address on that website. Um,
Chapter 6: Tourism Gaps: Blog, Agritourism, and Local Experiences
02:03 yeah, if you click on the blog, there’s nothing a tourism. It seems like a big deal here over the past year, and there’s like hardly anything. I’d like
02:11 to see something like orchards or where you can pick a pumpkin, cut down a Christmas tree. Uh pick your berries. Uh
02:18 can it do we have anybody where we can go to a farm and pet some animals? Um I think we have a lot of opportunities. Uh
02:26 I just don’t see them there. Uh wineries, I know there’s a gentleman in town that takes people around to different wineries on tours. He’s not
02:34 listed. So there’s there’s so much. if you really want to go on tourism, you got to do something with this website right now. I don’t know if you’re doing
Chapter 7: Call to Action: Improve Website & Promote Activity
02:42 it in-house or you’re hiring a different company, but you’ve you’ve got to like get on the ball with this and you’ve got to start posting blog articles like
02:50 weekly or at least monthly inviting people of why they need to come here that there’s life to this website that
02:57 something’s going on. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Chapter 8: Supervisor Response & Acknowledgment
03:01 I’d heard started in with a question. It was um I’d heard very good things, you know,
03:08 that we were finally moving in a in a good direction on that. The uh the only other thing that was uh brought to my attention when I was campaigning was is
Chapter 9: Town vs County Website Divide
03:16 that uh uh the town county having different websites for that maybe uh and then maybe some point as this
03:23 progresses, we can put those funds together and have a better sponsored website that that’ll show up better. I don’t know if that’s been in discussion in committee or not, but
Chapter 10: Fair Representation of Businesses & Revenue Impact
03:31 and that’s one of those things that is easy to do and you can collaborate on that. It’s not a problem, but it’s
03:38 important that town residents and county residents or stakeholders feel that they’re equally represented on it. Um
03:46 because that’s been the biggest feedback of, oh, you’re focusing on, you know,
03:51 only mom and pops. Well, yes, chain restaurants, guess what? They generate revenue for us, too. They need to be represented. Um there are a lot of
Chapter 11: Missing Listings & Tourism Strategy Concerns
03:59 things that we need to basically lay out if we do move forward.
04:03 I don’t know if it’s still this away or not, but this is why it was brought to my attention is that the uh the discover war county site did not have the town
04:11 businesses listed at one time. I don’t know if that’s still true or not. And then the unfairness to that would be that that they pay county taxes, too.
Chapter 12: Importance of Supporting Downtown Front Royal
04:18 I’m like the hard part is if you really think about it, your restaurants are in town for the most part. Um things have
04:27 started to really kind of expand on the north end, but you if the county didn’t champion downtown, you’re missing out on
04:36 a lot of shopping and food and Yeah. I don’t know if it’s still like it or not, but they said it one time.
04:43 mouth.
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