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

DATE: THURSDAY, November 10, 1994                   TAG: 9411100064
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

COUNCIL OKS LANDSWAP FOR LIBRARY

Blacksburg's role in the long-negotiated deal to swap land with Montgomery County so the town's library branch can be expanded appears finished, after Town Council passed an ordinance Tuesday night authorizing the exchange.

Though the council and the board had approved a contract last summer that allowed negotiations to begin on construction of the library on Draper Road, a public hearing needed to be held for the actual exchange of land to take place, said Adele Schirmer, Blacksburg's director of planning and engineering.

During the public comments section of the hearing, Supervisor Joe Gorman, who lives in Blacksburg and has been involved in the talks with town officials and the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library, said the deal was "another step in local government cooperation," and urged that the ordinance be passed.

No one else spoke, and council passed the ordinance unanimously.

"I'm sure the citizens are very happy that we've made another step toward the library," Mayor Roger Hedgepeth said.

The supervisors will hold their version of the hearing Nov. 21.

The $1.9 million expansion will be paid for through bond sales approved by a countywide referendum last year. Two pieces of land, each about 1,300 square feet in size, will be exchanged.

Gorman said Wednesday that no opposition was expected at the supervisors hearing, and said, "this is the last milestone" in getting the expansion under way. He estimated construction will begin in late February to early March.

In other business, Town Council authorized Town Manager Ron Secrist to sign a contract with Snyder & Associates to build a new administration building at the town's municipal golf course. Snyder & Associates submitted the lowest bid for the project at $149,231.

The new building is needed to replace an aging structure that is essentially "a conglomeration of cinder block additions that have been built over several years," said Schirmer. Construction on the 2,000-square foot building began Wednesday, and is scheduled for completion by March 1, Schirmer said.

by CNB