Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 7, 1993 TAG: 9302050043
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FORT CHISWELL LENGTH: Long
SOME DON'T WANT TO JOIN INTERSTATE SEWER PLAN
It may take one more element, costing more than $9 million, to unlock the development potential created in eastern Wythe County by the crossing of two interstate highways.That addition is a waste-water collection and treatment system, for which the county Board of Supervisors is trying to line up funding. Most of the $9.1 million would come through a grant and loan from the Farmers Home Administration, but the county also is seeking a $1.2 million Community Development Block Grant.
County Administrator Billy Branson has fielded inquiries for years from businesses that would be interested in locating along the Interstate 81 and 77 corridor near the Wythe-Pulaski county border - if it had a sewer system.
The investment is costly, but county officials think they would more than recoup it in revenue generated by businesses tapping into the opportunities offered by the more than 45,000 vehicles on that joint interstate highway section every day.
It is a particularly good investment for Wythe County if a large portion of the price can be funded through an FmHA grant. The size of the grant would be determined mainly by the federal funds available to FmHA and how many people will benefit from the system.
For that reason, Blacksburg consultant Anderson & Associates recommended that the county require all users within reach of the system to hook onto it when it is built. And that provision has drawn objections from some residents of the area.
Dr. Craig Smith, regional health director, says individual septic systems eventually will fail. He predicted that people who do not want to be made to hook on later will be demanding to know why county officials failed to see the problem coming.
"The same folks who oppose this project will be the first to call you," Smith told the Board of Supervisors at its meeting last month. "It's human nature."
Soil scientist Dean Gall says a 1988 soil survey of the area showed that seepage problems could easily happen with private septic systems. Shallow soils and rock fragments in the soil make it difficult to maintain those systems.
Even when systems appear to function properly, Gall said, they may be leaking nitrates and other impurities difficult to detect immediately. Well water and local creeks can be threatened.
The supervisors will reconsider the mandatory hook-on provision at their meeting Tuesday. Supervisors Olin Armentrout and Alan Dunford were appointed to study proposed wastewater regulations under the project and make recommendations on them.
If the board makes changes and they result in fewer immediate users for the system, it could mean a smaller grant from FmHA.
"Your grant as proposed is based on the number of users you said were going to be connected to that system," Travis Jackson, regional FmHA representative, told the board Tuesday. "We need some sign from the county what direction you want to go. . . . I don't want to take away from another community using this money if this community's not going to use it."
Jackson emphasized that FmHA has no requirement that a mandatory hook-on policy and fee be imposed. But the agency does have to know the number of users before deciding the amount of the grant, assuming it has grant funds available.
He pointed out that the entire state of Virginia was allocated $8 million in grant money this year.
"The only thing that we require is that you're going to have a feasible system. And that gets back to the number of users you're going to have," he said. "We have already made our recommendation based on your proposal and, if something is going to change, I'd like to know something soon. . . . I'd say within two weeks."
"We've said over and over again, we are not opposed to the sewer system. We recognize the need," said Robert Shook, one of those opposing a mandatory hook-on.
Supervisor Jack Crosswell suggested users be allowed to pay whatever hook-on fee is imposed over time. Shook said that appealed to him. "If I'm going to be forced into it, I'd rather have five years to pay than 90 days," he said.
But Charlie Smith said even that would not help him and others living on fixed incomes.
"Even if you give me five years, I don't make no more," he said. "I'm not against this thing. I know Max Meadows needs it." But he said he could not afford to hook onto it or pay monthly sewer charges.
There is a possibility that money can be found to help those financially unable to pay the hook-on fee. But, Smith said, "after that's done, who's going to pay the monthly bills?"
"I've got to look at the total picture as objectively as I can," Armentrout said at the board's Jan. 12 meeting.
The total picture, Armentrout said, comes down to the financial problems faced by people like Smith versus the possibility of future health problems without the system and the potential for industrial development with it.
"I would tell you that there are people in your area that want it," Armentrout told those opposing the system. He said everyone had seemed opposed when he went to a recent meeting of the protesters, but, when he went to his car afterward, at least three people approached him and said not to let the system get away.