Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 18, 1991 TAG: 9104180246
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
An appraiser hired by the county placed the value of the land and improvements at $339,275.
But the Board of Supervisors set aside $250,000 for park conversion in its 1991-1992 budget.
County Administrator Richard Huff II said Tuesday that he would appeal several aspects of the appraisal in an attempt to bring the estimate in line with the budget.
Supervisors plan to partition three-quarters of the 425-acre Franklin County Recreation Park for use as a new landfill site.
Franklin County has operated a landfill on the extreme southwest corner of the property for years. This was done apparently without the knowledge of the National Park Service, which approved a $179,000 grant in 1975 to help the county develop the entire park.
In that grant application, Franklin County agreed to dedicate the entire park exclusively for recreation purposes.
The National Park Service last year agreed to allow the landfill to expand, provided that Franklin County replace the 309 acres with land of equal value.
R. Lowell Yeatts, a property appraiser from Check, based his estimate on the value of 309 acres, plus $42,375 to replace a youth baseball field off U.S. 220 and $83,000 to replace a one-mile nature trail.
Huff said he would appeal both improvements. Even though the baseball field falls on the fringe of the proposed landfill property, the county plans to keep it open. And Huff said a new nature trail could be constructed for less than $20 a foot.
If the appeal fails, the Board of Supervisors would need to come up with another $90,000 in revenue, either by raising taxes or dipping into the county's reserve fund.
That would be in addition to another $36,252 the supervisors added to the proposed budget during recent budget workshops.
The board is scheduled to complete its budget in the next few weeks.
In other business, the board:
Voted 4-3 to approve a zoning map correction that grandfathers an automobile graveyard Jerry D. Graham has operated behind his home near Frederick Acres since before the county adopted its zoning ordinance in 1988.
Heard cheers from teachers, parents and children who showed up in support for full funding of the School Board's 1991-92 budget request.
Authorized the School Board to proceed with a $1,536,000 loan from the state Literary Fund to expand and renovate Burnt Chimney Elementary School.
by CNB