Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 9, 1993 TAG: 9306090177
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
But Radford City Councilman David Worrell, who voted against the agreement, has said he might show up to enliven the proceedings.
"If I go, I'll guarantee I'll speak," Worrell said Tuesday. He said he wasn't sure he would return in time from an out-of-town trip to attend.
No one has filed to speak at the 3 p.m. hearing on the proposed Route 177 Corridor Agreement, but the judges "would be very lenient" if someone asked to speak, said Spiers.
The hearing will be held in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Christiansburg.
The pact outlines plans for cooperation between the city and the county in development along the highway, which joins Tyler Avenue to connect Radford with Interstate 81. Radford Community Hospital already has plans for a new building in the corridor.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has tentatively funded a project to expand the highway to four lanes from the city limits to I-81's Exit 109. Work on the project, estimated at $990,000, could begin in 1995.
Among other provisions, the agreement calls for the city to provide utilities to the corridor and to give up any annexation rights. In exchange, the city will get 27.5 percent of all tax revenues generated in the area.
Spiers said he anticipates a brief, routine hearing by the judges, who were appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court to either approve or disapprove the agreement.
The judges will consider a report from the Commission on Local Government as well as hear evidence on how the agreement was developed, he said. Both local governments and the commission have approved the agreement. State law requires the three-judge panel to give its blessing as well. Circuit Judge Nicholas Persin of Grundy heads the panel. Other members are Circuit Judges Charles McCormick Halifax and James Berry of Winchester.
Radford City Manager Robert Asbury and Montgomery County Administrator Betty Thomas are expected to testify at Thursday's session. Spiers said the judges also could ask for additional testimony from elected officials, but he didn't think they would.
"You never know when someone else would want to testify," he said.
If Worrell gets the chance, he said he would tell the judges he doesn't think Radford's citizens had enough chance to voice their opinions on the agreement. He also said he would point out that fewer than 10 percent of Montgomery County's voters approved the agreement in a referendum last year.
Radford Mayor Tom Starnes, who voted consistently against the agreement in City Council, said he has come to terms with the agreement and does not plan to attend the hearing.
"I'd be surprised if it isn't approved," he said Tuesday.
Starnes and Worrell both objected to the provision to prohibit Radford from annexing corridor land as long as Radford remains a city.
Before approving the agreement, the Commission on Local Government requested some changes that were subsequently adopted by the county's Board of Supervisors and the City Council. Among those was a requirement that all tax revenues be shared, that the city could annex if it ever reverted to town status and that the agreement would be binding on successor boards and councils.
Spiers said the judicial panel cannot now force additional changes to the agreement. "All they can do is say `yes' or `no.' They can't modify the agreement in any way."
If the pact is turned down, any recommended changes first would have to be approved by the city and county, he said. However, he is optimistic that won't happen.
"I think it will be approved as is," said Spiers. The agreement would go into effect July 1, if the panel approves it.
by CNB