ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 1, 1994                   TAG: 9407010061
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium


BLACKSBURG OKS LAND SWAP FOR LIBRARY EXPANSION|

Town Council approved a land exchange deal with Montgomery County on Wednesday that will allow negotiations to begin on construction for the expansion of the Blacksburg library branch.

Earlier this month, the county's Board of Supervisors approved the contract, which calls for the two localities to swap small parcels of land behind the library on Draper Road.

Voters approved a countywide bond referendum last year allowing the $1.9 million library expansion. The current building sits on county-owned land, but to expand it needs a slice of land owned by the town which is to be part of the Huckleberry Trail. The plan is to swap that with a bit of land owned by the county on a parcel farther back from the library.

"I think it's safe to say that soon we will have some action," said Mayor Roger Hedgepeth, following the vote.

Precisely how much land will be exchanged will have to be determined by the county's architect, Richard J. Fitts. The contract calls for him to make that determination within 120 days, and for approval of the recommendation to "not be unreasonably withheld" by either government.

A public hearing will be held prior to approval.

In other business, the council heard Herman Bartlett, superintendent of Montgomery County Schools, continue his campaign to inform local governments on the recently completed school space study.

The study, which was presented to the supervisors earlier this week and is to be presented to the Christiansburg Town Council on Tuesday, estimates it would cost between $69 million and $100 million to expand and modernize the county's schools so they could handle projected student levels in the year 2002.

The study includes three options in the $20 million to $30 million range for updating Blacksburg schools.



 by CNB