Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503080013
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-14 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
WYTHEVILLE - State Transportation Secretary Robert Martinez will address the Interstate 73/74 Corridor Association meeting Thursday evening when the organization, which represents six states, meets in Wytheville.
He will speak following the group's 7 p.m. dinner at the Wytheville Holiday Inn. Joe Bert Rhea, representing Southwest Virginia on the Commonwealth Transportation Board, will introduce him. Carl Stark, president of the Great Lakes to Florida Highway Association, also will speak.
The association's "road rally" will be Thursday and Friday, with reports from road associations in Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and a review of the status of National Highway System legislation.
Registration is $35 for Thursday, which includes a reception and dinner, and $25 for Friday, which covers breakfast. Further information is available from the Wytheville-Wythe-Bland Chamber of Commerce at (703) 223-3365.
Prison concerns
WYTHEVILLE - Representatives of seven Wythe County businesses have sent a letter to the countywide Industrial Development Authority expressing concern over the possible impact of a 1,500-bed private prison being planned east of Wytheville.
Nowhere in the letter is the prison or Corrections Corporation of America mentioned by name. But the letter refers to the authority as ``the gatekeepers to the economic prosperity of this community. If business, especially business that can significantly and negatively impact the community, can enter the industrial community unchallenged, one must ask if you are fulfilling your obligation to balance the needs of existing industry, actively seeking new and beneficial industrial opportunities and serving the citizenship that ultimately profits from both.''
The letter is signed by William Kistler of Polymer Corp.; Joseph Freeman, Longwood Elastomers Inc.; Jack Gelter, G&W Manufacturing; Jim Martin, Alco Controls; Michael Grady Jr., Lightnin; William Favio, EIS Brake Parts; and Harry Angstadt, National Seating.
Following a closed session last week, the authority voted to sell two acres in Fairview Industrial Park at Wytheville to a company which has not been identified.
It also adopted a $127,000 budget for 1995-96, a 1.75 percent decrease over this year.
Zoning opposition
WYTHEVILLE - Despite opposition by a segment of Wythe County to a private prison's being located here, there also is opposition to a zoning ordinance which might have stopped it.
Several speakers at last week's county Board of Supervisors meeting spoke against any zoning ordinance, at least until a question involving the reorganization of the county Planning Commission - which would make any initial recommendation on zoning - is resolved.
Some county residents have complained that the commission is stacked too heavily toward the county's two towns.
There were seven commission members (one at-large and six from the county's magisterial districts) until 1978, when the supervisors added representatives from the planning commissions of Wytheville and Rural Retreat.
County Administrator Billy Branson said there was interest at that time in tapping their expertise on zoning, which both towns have, and other matters. "And it was never changed back, although zoning died along the way."
The supervisors seemed to favor dropping those two commission seats to mollify county residents, but County Attorney Frank Slavin said members could be removed only for malfeasance of some kind. He will research the matter further before the next supervisors' meeting March 14.
Howard Barrett of Austinville, who is captain of the Pioneer Maid cruise ship at Claytor Lake State Park, was one of the anti-zoning speakers. He said he doubted that zoning would have prevented the prison project, and more likely would have had the effect of increasing property taxes.
"We can't give the people zoning or anything else they won't accept," Supervisor Jack Crosswell said. "We have to go back to zero and let them come to us with something they will accept."
Election plans
WYTHEVILLE - Plans for Wythe County's first direct election of School Board members Nov. 7 have been outlined by the county Board of Supervisors.
The number of School Board members will remain at seven, one from each of the county's six magisterial districts and one at-large. Terms of office for those elected this year will start Jan.1.
Candidates must be nominated by a petition with at least 125 signatures of qualified voters. Declarations of candidacy must be filed with the petitions by 7 p.m. June 13, along with a statement of qualifications and a statement of economic interests, at the county registrar's office.
The U.S. Department of Justice still must approve the change in the selection process, from appointment by the Board of Supervisors to direct election, because Virginia still falls under the federal Voting Rights Act.
Athletic fund-raiser
WYTHEVILLE - Wytheville Community College has raised $27,000 of its $100,000 goal for a complex of athletic fields for college and community use.
The complex will be named the Al Jennings Athletic Fields, honoring Allen P. Jennings who taught physical education and health courses and directed the college's intramural program for 22 years until he retired in 1992.
The college's Educational Foundation will sponsor a fund-raising ``roast'' April 20 at the Wytheville Community Center, with proceeds going toward the project. Guests from Jennings' past, including former students and teaching colleagues, will spin tales about his athletic and teaching career. Jennings taught at Virginia High School in Bristol and was physical director at the YMCA in his hometown of Fries.
Security for the roast will be provided by ``Barney Fife,'' also known as David Browning, Virginia High School class of 1961.
Tickets are $30 each. They can be purchased by sending a check or money order to the WCC Educational Foundation, 1000 E. Main St., Wytheville 24382. Further information is available by calling 228-5541, extension 239.
Name for highway?
WYTHEVILLE - Efforts are under way to name the part of Interstate 77 that passes through Virginia in memory of James A. Williams III.
The Great Lakes to Florida Highway Association, which was founded by Williams and headed by him for many years, secured endorsement from the Wythe County Board of Supervisors for the naming last week Williams, long-time editor of the Southwest Virginia Enterprise, was a leader in efforts to route Interstate 77 through the counties of Bland, Wythe and Carroll from West Virginia to North Carolina. He used editorials and massive mailings to state officials to push for rapid completion of the road.
During its construction, an effort was made to have the Big Walker Mountain twin tunnels on Interstate 77 named for Williams. It turned out that such designations could be made only for people who had passed away. Williams died last year.
Engineer dismissed
WYTHEVILLE - Wythe County has dismissed its county engineer, David H. Evans, for what officials said was failure to perform his duties.
The county Board of Supervisors announced the firing following a closed session Tuesday night, and voted Evans three weeks of severance pay.
Evans was hired about five months ago to fill the vacancy created by the departure of the county's first engineer, Bill Rogg, who resigned for a private sector job. The position was created about two years ago.
by CNB