Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 3, 1994 TAG: 9408030052
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Planned in closed-door sessions of the Board of Supervisors, the loans will not come before county voters. The $9 million figure would represent nearly twice the $4.8 million bond sale approved by voters last fall to build a new health and human services building in Christiansburg and expand the Blacksburg branch library.
The Board of Supervisors discussed, but rejected, seeking voter approval to borrow $2 million for the industrial park improvements a year ago.
Since then, cost estimates have climbed because of the need to have increased water and sewer service and a new interchange with Interstate 81 to help attract industry.
County officials don't expect to have to borrow the full $9 million. But if they did, the Board of Supervisors would have to raise the real estate tax rate by 11/2 cents to pay the annual debt service of roughly $300,000.
Montgomery envisions marketing the site to either one large industry or five medium-sized ones located on parcels of 25 acres each. Though initially talked about as a magnet for high-tech businesses, the Falling Branch park is not being marketed for a specific industry, supervisors Chairman Larry Linkous said Tuesday. "We want an industry that has hopefully a large work force and a decent pay scale and is environmentally safe," he said.
Supervisor Jim Moore has called for more public involvement in the borrowing plans although it is not required by law. "The county, in effect, is committed to paying the debt service. Now, do county voters think that's a good idea or a bad idea?" Moore said Tuesday. "I personally think it's probably a good investment. [But]... it seems like we ought to have some dialogue with the public."
Two county entities, the Industrial Development Authority and the Public Service Authority, now are pursuing the loans. They will have to come back before the Board of Supervisors once more for approval before taxpayers would be committed to paying the debt service.
Linkous said he's optimistic the county will be able to supplement loans from the federal Farmers Home Administration with $2 million to $3 million in state and federal grants. Moreover, he said, the county expects to earn a return on its investment by attracting new industry and, subsequently, jobs and increased tax revenue.
Montgomery plans to use the money to build roads and make other improvements to the site southeast of Christiansburg, which would become the centerpiece of the county's economic development efforts. The county bought the land for $900,000 in June 1993 to be better prepared for large industrial prospects. The move came just four months after the county lost a 600-job high-tech firm, Siecor Inc., to North Carolina.
The supervisors have discussed the project since late last year, but always in closed session. When the board approved two motions on July 25 agreeing to back up to $9 million in loans, it marked the first time the supervisors had taken any action on the project in public since late last year.
Under the two resolutions, the supervisors agreed to pay the debt service on a loan of up to $5 million for the Industrial Development Authority to build much of the park's infrastructure and up to $4 million for the Public Service Authority to pay for sewer and water system improvements. The board approved the two measures now so the county could apply for the federal loans when money becomes available in October.
When last discussed in public, county economic development officials estimated the cost of developing the park at $3.2 million or more. Its benefits, according to an analysis prepared for the county, included 1,250 jobs, improved cash flow of $174,000 at the beginning of the project to $708,000 at completion.
The costs of the project increased when planners found that major industries require more sewer capacity than anticipated, and needed fire-suppression capabilities that could only be provided by installing a water tank or tanks, Linkous said.
Virginia Department of Transportation officials also have said they are willing to put an I-81 interchange at the site using industrial access funds, he said.
by CNB