Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 17, 1993 TAG: 9311170196
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There was no discussion on what effect the contract would have on sewer rates in the county.
Supervisors were prepared Tuesday to approve the contract, which was negotiated by five Roanoke Valley governments.
But the county put off a final vote to give Roanoke, which owns the treatment plant, time to revise the draft contract.
Some supervisors wondered why the city, which had been pushing for a quick agreement so it could move ahead with a bond sale, now wanted a delay.
County Utilities Director Cliff Craig said he was told the revisions were simply a matter of style and grammar and would not lead to a reopening of negotiations.
In an interview, City Attorney Wilburn Dibling said he knows of no substantial disagreements on the issues.
Under the agreement, Roanoke County will pay nearly 30 percent of the $41 million to upgrade the city's sewage treatment plant and replacing major lines.
Craig said the county should have excess capacity in the treatment plant. Under the contract, the county could sell unused capacity to other localities that need it.
Roanoke, for instance, may be in the market for extra capacity. The city asked for an allotment of 19.9 million a day, even though it has averaged more than 21 million gallons a day for the last three years, Craig said.
Unless it can repair its sewer lines to stop storm water from seeping in, Roanoke will have to pay a "significant penalty" to buy extra capacity, Craig said.
"I don't mind selling them our capacity," Supervisor Bob Johnson said. "I don't know if they can afford it."
In other business, the supervisors were told that the county had a $2.4 million budget surplus for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
County Administrator Elmer Hodge credited the welcome news to an improved economy and efficient county services.
Tax revenues were $2.7 million above projections and expenditures were $236,737 below budgeted amounts. One offsetting factor was the expenditure of nearly $900,000 for salary increases.
"We have done well in weathering the recession because we were careful," Hodge said.
Too careful, some supervisors said.
Vinton District Supervisor Harry Nickens said the board could have been spared the anguish of paring budget requests if the revenue projections had been on target.
Nickens said if he were a department head that had spending requests denied, "I'd be beating on somebody's door or head."
Finance Director Diane Hyatt said the budget staff deliberately took a conservative approach to tax revenues because of uncertainty about the economy.
Hodge recommended continued caution because the county faces some major expenses, including the cleanup of heavy metals and other toxic materials from the old Dixie Caverns landfill.
The board delayed a decision on how to spend the year-end surplus, putting it aside in the county's undesignated fund balanced.
\ Roanoke County Board of Supervisors\ In other action\ \ Saving money on the reservoir: Heard that the Virginia Health Department had approved the county's money-saving method for treating water from Spring Valley Reservoir.\ \ Planner appointed: Martha Hooker will again represent the Catawba District on the Roanoke County Planning Commission.\ \ Donation decision postponed: Delayed action on a proposal to donate the old Pinkard Court School building to Total Action Against Poverty.
by CNB