Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The county will request a bond issue through the Virginia Public School Authority for next spring. Finance Director Diane Hyatt said the county never has been turned down by the authority, making the sale pretty much a sure thing.
Part of the money is for architectural and engineering fees for a new Cave Spring High School. Supervisor Harry Nickens didn't like the idea of borrowing money - up to $1.5 million - for those fees.
"It concerns me we have to go in debt for" those fees, he said. "We're paying 12 percent for [architecture and engineering]. In my mind, that's fiscally irresponsible."
Instead, he believes those kinds of fees should be from "planning money."
Chairman Lee Eddy, the only supervisor to vote against the bond sale, may get together with Superintendent Deanna Gordon to discuss the capital-improvement plans in more detail.
"I guess my concern is we don't have a fully thought-out plan for Southwest County schools," Eddy said.
For her part, Gordon said she would like a "clearer signal" from supervisors about when a new high school can be built. She said once the money is in hand, the planning and building probably will take four years.
The county already owns property in Penn Forest for the new school, but needs more land to provide sufficient parking and athletic facilities. Supervisors discussed buying more land in a closed-door session during Tuesday's meeting.
The debt payments on the bonds would be $916,000 a year beginning in the 1995-96 fiscal year. The county plans to sell several parcels of surplus property, the proceeds of which can be used to reduce the borrowing or to help pay the debt.
by CNB