Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 20, 1990                   TAG: 9007210285
SECTION: SMITH MOUNTAIN TIMES                    PAGE: SMT3   EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN 
SOURCE: SHARON HODGE SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TWO-DAY LAKE CLEANUP STUDIED

Although the cash is not yet in hand, the Policy Advisory Board will be receiving $25,000 from the General Assembly for clearing debris along the lake's 500-mile shoreline

On July 10, the board considered the expansion of the cleanup from a one-day event into a Saturday-Sunday activity.

The board may use the money to clean areas where Appalachian Power Co. equipment cannot reach to remove debris, particularly at the Blackwater channel and at the Roanoke River inlet above Hardy Ford Bridge.

The board has not reached a decision on how the money will be used, and board members discussed putting the money into the bank for use after the next flood washes debris into the lake.

"We all know there's going to be another flood; we just don't know when," said board Chairman Dale Whiteis.

But board members were uncertain if the state money could be held indefinitely.

Charles Ellis, who represents the Franklin County Board of Supervisors on the board, suggested stretching a flotation device across the lake to catch debris at one location.

Board member Mike Thacker questioned the board's authority to block off the lake at the headwaters, and added that with Ellis' idea, "The board still would have to hire someone to take the debris out of the water."

"But that's preferable if we only have to do it at one location," Ellis responded.

No decision was reached on how the money should be spent to remove debris, and discussion will continue at the board's August meeting.

In other action, the board:

Discussed the Franklin County Board of Supervisors' criteria for an ordinance regulating no-wake buoys. Ellis restated his position, saying his intent may have been misunderstood at previous meetings. He said he would like to see a review and removal of all unauthorized buoys. He said he would like to follow the policy example of Bedford County, and he had not intended the criteria to be restrictive or burdensome for residential areas.

Discussed Phase II of the channel-marker project. Liz Parcell, the board's executive director, said four markers still have to be installed and 26 channel markers are scheduled for upgrading. Which markers and the priority they are given for maintenance will be based on an estimate of the work, which has not been completed.

Upon a motion from Whiteis, unanimously reappointed Parcell as executive director. The board had employed her through the Roanoke consulting firm Clearbrook. That agreement ended in June, and she is now employed directly by the board.

Voted to ask the boards of supervisors from the three lake jurisdictions - Pittsylvania, Franklin and Bedford counties - to include the Policy Advisory Board in their annual financial audit. The board's records will be audited first by Pittsylvania County. Now entering its fourth year, the Policy Advisory Board has never been audited, Parcell said.