IN '92, WYTHEVILLE GOT $6 MILLION IN GRANTS AND LOW-INTEREST LOANS

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

DATE: SUNDAY, January 24, 1993                   TAG: 9301220068
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-7   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium
IN '92, WYTHEVILLE GOT $6 MILLION IN GRANTS AND LOW-INTEREST LOANS
The town of Wytheville was able to get more than $6 million in grants and low-interest loans for eight projects last year to be spent over the 1992-93 fiscal year.
They included a $4.5 million low-interest Farmers Home Administration loan to upgrade the town's wastewater treatment plant. Work on the expansion started in August 1991, and is scheduled to continue through mid-1993.
The expansion will increase plant capacity from 2 million to 4 million gallons per day. It also provides new equipment to meet state and federal standards.
A continuing project to provide sewer lines in western Wytheville has gotten a $275,000 FmHA grant. Design work on the second phase of this project is nearly complete and should be ready for bidding early this year.
A Community Development Block Grant of more than $1.2 million will provide water and sewer service and rehabilitation to more than 125 homes on Ridge Road and Petunia Road in Wytheville. The application process required door-to-door surveys and research by town staff members.
The town received a $9,000 America the Beautiful grant for an inventory of trees on town property. It included money to hire someone for a tree inventory along with the purchase of a computer and software.
A second tree grant of $14,930 will allow the planting of 110 trees in the newly developed Withers Park. It came from the Virginia Department of Forestry as part of the Small Business Administration Natural Resources Development program.
The Withers Park project, which includes an improved McWane Pool, is scheduled for completion by spring.
A $11,000 FmHA grant made possible a tourism video to market Wytheville to American Automobile Association offices, travel agents and motor coach companies, and for prospective industries, businesses and people seeking information on the community.
Ninety-five percent of Wytheville's new transit system was funded by a Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation grant under a partnership between the town and District Three Governmental Cooperative. The town's operational expenses for its bus is only 5 percent of the total cost.
Research and development to create a Wytheville Historical District was made possible by a grant from the Virginia Department of Historical Resources.
During 1992, volunteers and town staff prepared extensive documentation aimed at getting an area from Main Street to Withers Road designated as a historical district by the Virginia National Register of Historic Places.
"Town Council is pleased that the local economy is getting a boost from the influx of outside dollars that will improve the quality of life for Wytheville's citizens," said Mayor Trent Crewe.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB