REGIONAL PLANNERS AVOID VA. BEACH WATER FIGHT

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

DATE: FRIDAY, January 29, 1993                   TAG: 9301290124
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
REGIONAL PLANNERS AVOID VA. BEACH WATER FIGHT
The Fifth Planning District Commission will stay out of the fight to prevent Virginia Beach from drawing water from the Roanoke River.
The commission, which was set to oppose the move last summer, had a change of heart recently after listening to Virginia Beach officials and others make the case for the interbasin transfer of water.
Commissioners said they were influenced by the decisions of Roanoke City Council and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors to remain neutral on the issue.
The commission voted Thursday to table indefinitely a resolution opposing Virginia Beach's proposal.
The regional planning agency includes nine localities stretching from the Roanoke Valley to the Alleghany Highlands.
The Roanoke River Basin Association opposes Virginia Beach's proposal and contends that it would affect the Roanoke Valley.
Alan Hoffman, president of the organization, has predicted far-reaching economic and social effects in communities in Western and Southside Virginia if the Tidewater city is allowed to build an 85-mile pipeline to Lake Gaston, where the river enters North Carolina.
Localities in the Roanoke River basin might have to reduce water consumption and upgrade their sewage treatment plants if Virginia Beach is allowed to take water out of the lake, he said.
Hoffman said federal and state agencies would likely impose more stringent standards for sewage-treatment plants if the water flow in the river drops.
He said pollution would rise in periods of low flow, and regulatory agencies would require a higher level of treatment before the effluent is discharged into the river.
But Roanoke officials said they have no evidence that Virginia Beach's proposal would have an impact in the Roanoke Valley.
Roanoke County Supervisor Lee Eddy, a member of the district planning commission, said the Army Corps of Engineers and state Water Control Board have said that Virginia Beach's proposal would not affect the county's Spring Hollow Reservoir.
"We might be tying our own hands if we oppose this [interbasin transfer of water] and if we want to do the same thing later," said Ed Kohinke, another Roanoke County supervisor.
On another matter, the commission endorsed a proposal by Chairman Howard Packett to set up a low-band radio station to lure motorists off Interstate 81 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Packett, a Salem city councilman, has asked Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke County to provide about $35,000 each in their 1993-94 budgets to fund the radio station.
Packett said no federal or state funds are available for the station.
The commission recommended that Packett also ask Vinton and Botetourt County to help fund the station. It asked him to develop a funding formula so the localities can share the cost.
Many other localities have used low-band radios to attract motorists.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB