Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 22, 1993 TAG: 9309220123
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By STEVE KARK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Pembroke is the largest town in Western Virginia without a sewage system, said Randi Lemmon, the project consultant.
The town now has a federal grant that will pay close to $4 million of the project's $5.5 million price tag and has also acquired most of the 150 easements and the permits needed for the project.
But if the town and NS don't reach an agreement soon on the pricetag for the site of the proposed sewage treatment plant, the project may have to be scrapped, said Lemmon, who consults for the three-state National Committee for the New River.
An engineering study for the town selected a 0.3-acre site owned by NS as the best location for the treatment plant.
The town contacted NS in January with an offer of $2,800, the value set by a Blacksburg appraiser. Another letter followed from the town in April.
When the town did not hear from NS, Pembroke Mayor Don Martin wrote in May, "Your failure to respond to our offer has delayed the town's efforts to construct a very needed secondary sewage treatment facility for the town."
In early June, the town made a new offer to NS of $4,200 for the 0.3-acre site. The town also responded to the railroad's concerns about an adjoining half-acre tract that would be isolated by the sale of the 0.3-acre site by including an offer of $5,000 for the two parcels.
On June 25, the railroad said it would consider accepting the $4,200 offer for the one tract, but only if the town met three conditions:
That the railroad have easement rights across the property to the adjoining half-acre tract.
That the half-acre tract be exempt from minimum building lot requirements.
That the railroad be able to tap onto the sewer system free.
The town responded that it could not accept these conditions. The entire 0.3-acre site was needed for the treatment station and would have to be fenced for security reasons, preventing an easement. The federal grant also required that the railroad must pay for its sewer service if it got a free tap into the system, according to James Hartley, the Giles County attorney representing the town.
In his response in July, Hartley expressed the town's urgency over obtaining the property. "We have been advised by the Farmers Home Administration that to continue to be eligible for their loan, we must have control of all the necessary real estate and easements by Sept. 1, 1993."
Hartley also mentioned the possibility of condemnation action against the railroad.
Since then, negotiations have been stalled with the town's offer of $4,200 for the one tract or $5,000 for the two still on the table.
NS did not respond until last week.
The railroad then made a second counteroffer of $8,500 for the entire 0.8 acres, Lemmon said. The town is considering that offer.
Jeffrey George, an agent in NS' Atlanta Office of Real Estate and Contract Services, said the town's charges of delay were unfair and premature because the property is still being negotiated.
George said, "If they had agreed to accept the whole package, this thing could have been settled by now. . . . They want the meat and not the fat that goes with it."
"We are . . . trying to settle this thing as fast as we can," he said. "We're not out to gouge anyone."
Hartley explained to NS in June that the town was limited in how much it could offer because it was negotiating with other surrounding property owners.
"We have paid about 50 percent above the appraised value for some land owned by individuals in the area of this parcel and the town is reluctant to exceed this level of compensation because of our continuing need to acquire real estate from other owners and the affect such a price would have on these future acquisitions."
George told a reporter he would not discuss NS' price tag on the property while it is being negotiated. He did, however, say he has a responsibility to shareholders to set a price that is fair and still in the company's best interests.
Over 70 percent of the cost of the sewer project, which includes the plant and 11 miles of piping, has been funded by grants from the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Farmers Home Administration, Lemmon said at a recent public hearing.
The money will not be available indefinitely. Unless it is used within 3 to 4 months, the funding could be pulled, Lemmon said.
Sewage service will be available to approximately 90 per cent of those currently on town water, Lemmon said. It will not extend to some outlying areas of the town because of the expense of running pipes to those households.
Because the project is partly funded through a Community Development block grant, almost 60 percent of the families in town will qualify for free hookups to the system because they are low-to-moderate income.
Additionally, the town will offer free hookups to the rest of the town for the first three months that it is operational. After that, he estimated, hookup fees should be somewhere around $350 per household.
The town will collect a monthly fee from each household on the system of approximately $15 for the first 2,000 gallons from each user and $4.50 for each 1,000 gallons beyond that, he said.
The proposed treatment plant has been designed to handle 200,000 gallons per day, a capacity that is roughly equivalent to that handled at a similar facility in nearby Pearisburg. Additionally, the town will need permission from the railroad to run a discharge pipe under its tracks from the plant to the New River.
Town officials said they hoped the system will be operational by late next year.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***