ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601100062
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County residents narrowly favor allowing the "smart" road to pass through a conservation district and overwhelmingly want to keep politics out of county School Board elections, a nonscientific opinion survey shows.
Supervisor Jim Moore this week released the results of his annual opinion survey, gathered last month both on paper and by computer through the Blacksburg Electronic Village. Moore said 297 people responded, down from last year's 339. As last year, slightly more than 100 people answered over the Internet.
Moore said the most interesting response came on the following question: "Should Montgomery County give permission to the [Virginia Department of Transportation] to traverse our agricultural and forestal district with the smart highway?"
One-hundred fifty-five respondents said 'yes'; 141 said 'no.' That's 52 percent to 48 percent, with one person not responding. Moore, who has opposed the smart highway's route across the Ellett Valley and parallel to Den Hill Road, noted the results are far different from those gathered by VDOT at its design hearings on the project in the fall. In that survey, which was also nonscientific, 76 percent of those expressing an opinion favored the smart road while 24 percent did not.
"My sample size [297] is about the same as theirs [320]. My survey is certainly not a random sample of county citizens, but neither is that of VDOT," Moore wrote. "How do you explain the significantly different results? I can't."
One difference might be that the smart highway was much more in the news after the VDOT survey and before Moore's. In November, the county Board of Supervisors voted to refuse permission to the state to condemn private land in the county-designated conservation district. A week later, after intense lobbying from Virginia Tech and the Blacksburg-area business community, the board rescinded that vote. It later set up an application process for VDOT to follow the next time it files its intent to condemn the land for the smart road's right of way. The issue is pending and should return to the board this winter.
This is the fifth time Moore has conducted the survey since December 1991. Not all survey respondents answered all the questions, but the smart road question got the most responses. Excerpts or paraphrases of Moore's other questions and the complete responses include:
"Now that our School Board is elected rather than appointed, should the two political parties attempt to influence these elections?" Yes: 49 people, or 17 percent; no: 236, or 83 percent. Voters filled four School Board seats by election in November. The next election, for three seats, will be held in 1997. The Blacksburg and Christiansburg appointed seats will be eliminated at the end of next year, changing the School Board from nine members today to seven on Jan. 1, 1998.
"Both Montgomery Regional Hospital (Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.) and Radford Community Hospital (Carilion Health System) have empty beds. Both hospitals are competing for a new type of hospital to serve our area. Which one would you prefer to serve your medical needs?" Montgomery Regional: 151, 56 percent; Radford Community, 121, 44 percent.
"Is there a need to expand current facilities" at Blacksburg Middle School? Yes: 260, or 93 percent; no: 21, 7 percent.
If answered yes, then should the money come from the sale of Virginia Public School authority bonds that do not require a public referendum? (195, or 77 percent) Or from the sale of general obligation bonds that do require a referendum (59, or 23 percent).
"Should the Board of Supervisors set a debt ceiling beyond which it promises to borrow no further?" Yes: 180, 64 percent, no: 101, 26 percent.
"Should our director of economic development, the Economic Development Commission, the New River Valley Alliance and the New Century Council continue their aggressive promotion of jobs?" Yes: 279, 90 percent; no 29, 10 percent.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB