Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 14, 1995 TAG: 9503140102
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
About 30 neighbors from the rural area met this week to form the Elliott Creek Protection Council. The group meets again at 6 tonight at the Blue Ridge Coonhunter & Sportsman Club off Bow Hill Road.
The Montgomery County Public Service Authority last month unveiled an engineer's study that recommended Elliott Creek as the second-best way to provide 400,000 gallons per day of sewage service to the county's Falling Branch industrial park. The report estimated a $4.4 million price tag for the plant, but said it could provide service to the growing Riner area to the west for another $2.1 million.
The cheapest alternative is buying service from Christiansburg, something under negotiation since the fall.
After Rogers and Sugar Grove residents voiced opposition to the plant idea at Feb. 27 and March 6 meetings, county Supervisors Larry Linkous and Ira Long said the plan was too expensive to be feasible. They said negotiations with the town will continue.
Blase Wagenbrenner, president of the new group, wants more. "We want something in writing from them," he said. "We want something from them saying, 'No, we're not going to do it.'"
Group members already are attempting to network with Friends of the Roanoke River and other environmental groups. Wagenbrenner also plans to bring the issue before the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors because its newly completed Spring Hollow Reservoir draws water from the Roanoke River. Elliott Creek, a trout stream, feeds into the South Fork of the Roanoke River at Alleghany Springs.
For more information on the group, call Wagenbrenner at 381-0796.
by CNB