Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994 TAG: 9401250007
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The board meets at 7 p.m. on the third floor of the courthouse in Christiansburg.
County officials first learned of serious problems with the roof of the 1979 courthouse early last fall when a brick fell off an upper story on the Main Street side of the building.
In November, a Blacksburg architectural firm estimated it would cost $94,000 to fix the roof and damaged masonry on the upper floors. But when contracters submitted bids for the work, they ranged from a high of $169,000 to a low of $122,000 submitted by A.R. Neely Co. of Narrows.
Should the board decide to accept Neely's low bid, it will have to decide how to fund it.
One option is using the county's $161,000 general contingency fund. But that would leave only $39,500. Another possibility is drawing money from a special capital improvements account created with money left over from shell-building projects.
Neely Co. has said it could finish the job in 90 days, beginning about April 1, according to a report from county staff. A sidewalk below the area where the brick fell has been closed since September.
The merger of the two finance departments is a 2-year-old issue that was once a major source of friction between the Board of Supervisors and School Board. But a committee of county and school officials has worked toward resolving one part of the question - involving sharing a purchasing agent - since August and appears to be near a solution.
The Board of Supervisors also will decide on a rezoning and special-use permit request for Holly and James Ratcliff, who want to combine, improve and expand two trailer parks on 24 acres off Merrimac Road, just north of Christiansburg. The Planning Commission last week recommended the board approve the requests, despite complaints at a December public hearing from three neighbors who want fences between their property and the trailer community.
The supervisors also will consider appropriating $5,000 to the county library board so it can conduct a search to replace acting library director Ida Comparin, who is retiring June 30.
Comparin has been filling in since the library board fired former director Carol Veitch last spring after two years in the job. The library board never publicly disclosed the reasons for placing her on probation in February and for firing her in March. But in a lawsuit filed just before her dismissal, Veitch attributed it in part to a disagreement about her management style. She dropped the suit in August.
The $5,000 will cover the cost of advertising for the position and expenses for interviewees.
by CNB