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

DATE: TUESDAY, July 12, 1994                   TAG: 9407220062
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Brian Kelley
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                 LENGTH: Short

BOARD REQUESTS MORE TIME FOR PUBLIC INPUT

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors is asking the U.S. Forest Service to give county residents more time to comment on a plan for alternative power-line routes that was unveiled last week.

Board Chairman Larry Linkous and five other supervisors present Monday agreed to send a letter this week to officials with the Jefferson National Forest and the Appalachian Power Co.

The letter will ask how a high-voltage power line through Montgomery County could affect future economic development as well as historic and cultural resources.

The letter also will request that the Forest Service seek more public input in Montgomery.

Before suggesting the letter, Linkous and other board members heard from five county residents. They asked the board to push for more of a chance for New River Valley residents to comment on the alternative routes.

Several of the speakers attended a meeting last week in which power-line opponents agreed to urge the Montgomery, Giles, Bland and Pulaski supervisors to support their call for more public input.

The Forest Service is holding a series of public meetings this week to explain the alternative power-line routes, which were disclosed last week as part of a study of the line's environmental impact.

The nearest meetings to Montgomery County are tonight in New Castle and Wednesday at the new Narrows High School. Both meetings begin at 7 p.m.

by CNB