Is there any way to get an application to load automatically on server start?

We're trying to implement a load-balancing mechanism between FMS hosts in a virtual "farm".  The mechanism we're using is to have the FMSs periodically send "load" data (along with a timestamp) to an application server.  That server will then use that load information and timestamp to detect when an FMS server has gone down and to make stream assignments to FMSs.

Right now, I've implemented this code via a setInterval() in live/main.asc.  I've added a "return false" to Application.onAppStop() to (according to the docs, I haven't tested this yet) keep the server from shutting down an idle instance.  So I've left with a "chicken and egg" issue: how do I get the interval running before the first request hits the application (and forces the load of the application)?  I've tried putting the setInterval in onAppStart() and as a global.  In both cases, it only gets executed after application is loaded.

So, is there any way to force an application to load (via a config file parameter or local command-line)?