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

DATE: SATURDAY, September 18, 1993                   TAG: 9309180072
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MICHAEL CSOLLANY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Short

RADFORD PROGRESSING TOWARD WATER-SAFETY GOAL

An official from the Virginia Health Department said the city of Radford is not in violation for failing to fund a program that would prevent contaminants from entering the public water supply.

Radford City Council approved an ordinance Monday that provides a structure for the cross-connection and backflow-prevention program. Council, however, did not appropriate any funds to the put the program into action.

Water Superintendent Jettie Montgomery had requested approximately $40,000 to hire someone to oversee the program and to buy a computer and pickup truck.

A few council members wanted to see if the program could be implemented with existing resources and requested a report on current personnel and responsibilities.

Council members, City Manager Robert Asbury and City Attorney John Spiers disagreed as to whether they had met minimal state requirements for action without funding the program.

John Capato, a district engineer at the Health Department's Abingdon office, said that the city has taken the appropriate first step.

"The next step would be for us to review the program," he said. "We don't want them to adopt something that we're not going to approve. And we don't want to review something that they're not going to approve."

Capato said it will take a few weeks to review the program to see if it meets state and federal requirements. He said his office received a copy of the ordinance Sept. 8.

by CNB