Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 18, 1990 TAG: 9005180452
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Salem wants the financial terms to be settled - and to be put in writing - before the consolidation referendum in November, he said.
"We don't intend to hide our position. We will go one way or the other. We intend to take a position," Taliaferro said.
Voters in Glenvar and other neighborhoods in the Catawba Magisterial District should know before voting on merger whether they will have a chance to opt out of the consolidated government, he said.
Unless the financial terms are resolved ahead of time, the promise for a second referendum to allow voters in some areas in the county to decide whether to join Salem could be meaningless.
Salem will not wait until after the consolidation referendum to negotiate a financial settlement with county and Roanoke officials, Taliaferro said. If a settlement can be reached before the referendum, he said, Salem City Council may support consolidation.
"I don't see any sense in dragging this out," he said.
Salem is willing to make "`a fair and realistic offer" for any territory it might acquire, Taliaferro said, but it will not agree to pay an "outrageous price."
If residents in the western part of the county want to become part of Salem and the price is realistic, he said, Salem will be glad to acquire the territory.
If consolidation is approved without Salem acquiring additionalland, it would be surrounded without a chance to ever expand its boundaries. The consolidated government would be immune from annexation.
by CNB