Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 7, 1991 TAG: 9102080609
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE LENGTH: Medium
The meeting will be held at the county courthouse in New Castle at 7:30 p.m.
The Craig County Board of Supervisors gave the citizens' group some help Monday when it authorized preparation of a resolution on the 765-kilovolt transmission line Appalachian Power Co. proposes between Cloverdale in Botetourt County and Oceana, W.Va.
Oceana is in West Virginia's Wyoming County, northwest of Bluefield.
The supervisors, taking a cautious stand, instructed County Administrator Richard C. Flora to draft a resolution saying they, at this time, would oppose the power line mainly because of a lack of information. The resolution also is to ask the State Corporation Commission to hold at least one of its hearings on the project in Craig.
The supervisors said they are concerned about the effect a major power line might have over the county's rural atmosphere - an atmosphere the supervisors have said they want to preserve.
J.C. Winstead, a Craig County farmer and a spokesman for the citizens' group, said he expects the group to organize a steering committee and possibly other committees tonight.
The citizens' group has held several well-attended meetings to identify spots they want to protect, Winstead said.
Winstead said most of the areas that concern the citizens are old family cemeteries.
"It's a big project," he said of identifying all of the cemeteries. "The county is dotted with old cemeteries."
But the points of interest also include wildlife areas, historic sites and scenic spots that the citizens "would hate to see disturbed," Winstead said.
One of the group's long-range goals, Winstead said, is to identify so many sensitive areas that Apco will route the line around Craig.
"The people who are attending the meetings seem unanimous in their opinion that they don't want the power line through the county," Winstead said. "It would be of no benefit to Craig."
A Virginia Tech study committee, working with Apco to identify possible routes for the line, asked that the citizens' group be formed.
Final authority on the Virginia portion of the line rests with the State Corporation Commission but the Craig supervisors eventually will be asked to approve a zoning change to allow the line to run through the county.
The Virginia Tech group is to finish its work by July and then give Apco several possible routes for a transmission line. Based on the Tech group's recommendation, Apco is to select one of the routes and seek approval for it from governmental agencies that would have jurisdiction along the right-of-way.
by CNB