Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 20, 1990 TAG: 9006200330
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PETER MATHEWS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Under the budget, which was approved unanimously and without discussion, the real-estate tax rate remains at 17.5 cents per $100 and personal property stays at 45 cents per $100.
Council has yet to approve the proposed 11 percent to 16 percent increase in water rates. Earlier this month, council members agreed to double the meals tax to 4 percent and the trash pickup fee to $5 a month.
All town employees except council members and the mayor will get 5 percent raises.
On another issue, council voted 4-1, with Ann Carter dissenting and Wayne Booth absent, to grant a conditional use permit for a truck garage for Bob's Refuse Service.
About 20 residents of the Midway Heights subdivision came to the meeting, where some of them told council the garage would be smelly and unsightly. They complained that trucks drive through the subdivision on their way to the county landfill nearby, even though posted signs prohibit them.
But developer Ray Alcorn, representing the refuse service, said the building would be attractive and less objectionable than some other uses permitted under the zoning. No garbage would be stored on the site or in the trucks and the odor would be negligible, he told council.
Council put some conditions on the design to make it more palatable to the neighbors, such as using white pine trees to screen the site. It also required that the trucks be washed indoors and set hours of operation from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Afterward, some residents were still unhappy. "I'm ignorant of government matters," said David McIntyre. "In my ignorance, I thought we had a chance."
Council also balked at funding a study of the Virginia 114 corridor by the Route 460/114 Corridor Advisory Planning Council. Councilman Truman Daniel said he understood the desire for uniform development standards, but objected to using town money to study the portion of the road between the town limits and the New River.
by CNB