Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 28, 1994 TAG: 9402010008
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Members of council's Utilities and Finance Committees agreed on the recommendations at a joint meeting Thursday morning.
They also agreed to recommend that the work be done by town crews, where possible, rather than by hiring outside contractors.
Utilities Committee Chairman Andy Graham said work to take care of water pressure and broken line problems in the Draper Mountain Estates area would cost an estimated $38,600 with a contractor and $22,000 if the town used its own workers.
A projected $13,400 Mashburn area connection to Peppers Ferry Road would drop to about $7,500, and $27,800 to replace 30-year-old lines at Pearce Place would be closer to $15,000, he said.
Graham said these much-needed projects should all be finished by June 30. Mayor Gary Hancock said that would be the earliest date, warning that weather conditions could delay the work.
Council will also get a report Tuesday from Ernst & Young, consultants hired to study the town's water rate structure and funding future water system needs.
"It's more than just water rate increases. There's more to be addressed," Graham said.
The report will include plans to hire two more public works employees to help with the in-house work.
The town will apply for a $488,791 loan from the Farmers Home Administration by Monday to cover various water projects.
Other projects listed in the loan package include work on seven pump stations, replacing the Madison Avenue pump station, relocating a raw water intake, and doing work in the Peakland subdivision, 4th Street Southeast, Virginia 611, Newbern Road and Bob White Boulevard, and Peppers Ferry Road from Twin Oaks to Beth Scott.
If the town saves money by using its own labor, it would only have to repay the part of the loan it uses. "They just give it to you on a drawdown basis," Hancock explained.
by CNB