Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 16, 1994 TAG: 9403160155
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The unanimous decision picked up where last month's vote to delay the project left off. Then, a majority of the board thought the architect's fee of $191,500 was too high.
But after a closed-door briefing by library officials and the county attorney, the board authorized paying Richard J. Fitts and his Virginia Beach firm $172,750 for the Blacksburg project. County voters approved borrowing $1.9 million for the library expansion last fall.
The contract still isn't a done deal. It hinges on an agreement between the county and Blacksburg over property lines. The library, although it's in Blacksburg, sits on county-owned land. The expansion will require a section of town-owned land.
As part of the ongoing budget process, the board also has to decide whether to commit to selling the bonds for the project in the coming year, one of the factors that has led the supervisors to advertise an 8-cent real estate tax rate increase and a 25-cent jump in the personal property tax.
Supervisor Henry Jablonski first objected to the architect's fees and Tuesday he said he voted for the lower price because selecting another architect would have been more costly and time-consuming.
"I still think it's a great deal of money to pay for the architect, but I don't think there's anything we can do with it now," he said.
Chairman Larry Linkous also changed his mind when he saw the new figure. "We felt like we had it down to where we could live with it," he said.
Supervisor Joe Gorman, a member of the committee that talked over the contract with the architect, said the fee dropped when the county eliminated certain optional services, such as construction inspections and additional topographical surveys.
In other business Monday, the board:
Granted a waiver from the county subdivision ordinance to Robert L. Bratton, who wants to split a half-acre parcel off his 14 acres near Bethel without having the land surveyed, as required. Bratton wants to give a half-acre lot to his granddaughter so she can build a house.
The board deadlocked on the request last month with one supervisor missing. This time, Jablonski, who represents the Bethel area, changed his mind and the matter passed 5-2. Jablonski said the cost of a survey would be much higher than he had initially thought. Meanwhile, the board has considered three earlier requests for the same type of waiver and has granted all of them, he said.
Endorsed by a 6-1 vote Tom and Margaret Ray's application for federal funds to preserve and restore the exterior of The Oaks bed and breakfast in Christiansburg. The Rays are seeking $39,120 under the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act to restore a poorly designed gutter system, to continue work on the remaining old oak trees and to restore a stained glass window.
Margaret Ray noted The Oaks' role as a tourism draw for the region; tourism is one of the sections covered under the law. But Supervisor Jim Moore questioned what the project had to do with improving transportation efficiency. He cast the lone no vote.
by CNB