Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 11, 1995 TAG: 9501110045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
City Council on Monday unanimously approved spending $125,000 to buy approximately 13.5 acres at the park's center. The amount was the city's share of a purchase agreement between the Radford Industrial Development Authority and 232 Properties West. The authority will come up with the rest of the $227,500 price tag.
Negotiations to buy the property have been under way "for some time," said Mayor Tom Starnes. The city has held an option on the land for several years and already was marketing it to prospective businesses.
"It's the largest and most attractive site we have, because it's relatively flat and doesn't require grading," said Jill Barr, the city's economic development director. "Having ownership is a real advantage."
Authority Chairman Abie Williams said the tract would be most appropriate for a large manufacturer, which he hopes the city can attract to the park, near the junction of Virginia 232 and Interstate 81.
The industrial park comprises approximately 25 acres and includes a shell building on six acres the city has been marketing. Open since 1985, the park has five tenants.
In other matters, City Attorney John "Bunny" Spiers asked council to put off appointing someone to complete the unexpired Radford School Board term of the Rev. George Ducker, who died in an automobile accident Dec. 4. So far, no one has requested appointment to Ducker's term, which expires in May 1996.
Although council has the authority to name a new member, Spiers wants council to defer action until he learns more about the legal implications of the city's pending move to an elected school board, approved by the city's voters last November.
At issue is the composition of an elected school board. The current appointed board has six members, but that could change under the elective system, to be phased in starting next year. Traditionally, City Council has appointed School Board members from the city's three wards, holdovers of an earlier era of neighborhood schools. However, Spiers said appointment by wards was "council's choice" and not a legal requirement.
State law calls for elected school boards to mirror the makeup of the jurisdiction's governing board. City Council's five members are elected at large. Because of provisions in the Voting Rights Act, the U.S. Justice Department must approve any plans that affect how officials in Virginia are elected.
"All of these questions will affect what I think we should do," Spiers told council.
When Montgomery County voters approved an elected school board in 1993, the School Board's makeup had to be reshuffled and its members' terms adjusted to permit an orderly transition. There, the number of board members will drop from nine to seven when the elected board finally is in place by 1998.
During the discussion, Starnes and Spiers nearly locked horns when the mayor came out in favor of giving taxing authority to elected school boards.
"If they're going to elect 'em, let 'em set the taxes," Starnes allowed. Councilman David Worrell also chimed in to agree.
Spiers demurred diplomatically. "Mayor, I have all the respect in the world for you, but I think that's a terrible idea," he said. Spiers said he'd like to see how the elected school board works out before seeking to expand its authority.
In other business, City Council:
Approved drafting an ordinance to buy three used voting machines.
OK'd spending $37,700 for a citywide real estate reassessment.
Approved the capital improvements program through the end of the decade.
by CNB