Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 29, 1995 TAG: 9503290045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
The state Department of Economic Development also will pay the interest on the Virginia Retirement System loan for five years unless the building is acquired by an industry before then.
If an industry buys or leases the building, the county would repay the loan and interest. If the building remains vacant after five years, repayment becomes the county's responsibility.
But local industry seekers are counting on it being occupied before then, and providing new revenue for the county. County officials have been working for some six years to bring the project to this stage.
The shell building will be located across from the existing Warner-Lambert Co. building in the county industrial park near Dublin.
The county Board of Supervisors approved the shell building agreement with the state Monday night. The governing body also formally applied for a $375,000 Community Development Block Grant for improved water service to the Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corp. plant, where a $200 million expansion is under way.
The board also approved a six-year priority plan for improvements to secondary roads for which funds are to be budgeted in the 1995-96 fiscal year, following a public hearing.
The relocation of Virginia 752 (Little Reed Island Road) including the elimination of a low-water bridge which has had flood problems got top priority. Resident Transportation Engineer Dan Brugh said this $82,000 project is already under construction.
The other priorities, in order, were countywide rural additions; grading and stabilizing Virginia 697 (Lowes Ferry Road) from Virginia 611 for 1.77 miles (costing $756,000); reconstructing 1.4 miles of Virginia 639 (Thornspring Road) to standards from Virginia 636 to Virginia 643 ($1.08 million); grading and stabilizing Virginia 656 (Channel Road) from Virginia 693 for 1.2 miles ($403,000); replacing a structure over Neck Creek on Virginia 627 (Highland Road) at its intersection with Virginia 617 ($554,000); grading and stabilizing .7 of a mile of Virginia 711 (Mines Road) near Virginia 738 ($233,000); grading and stabilizing Virginia 665 (Simpkinstown Road) near Virginia 704 for 1.5 miles ($613,000); various additions of plant mix to roads ($30,000); and replacing a bridge over Little River on Virginia 693 (Lead Mine Road) at the Pulaski-Montgomery County line ($300,000).
The board voted 3-2 to ask the Department of Transportation to extend a reduced speed limit west of the Dublin town limits, near the Virginia 100 entrance to New River Community College, farther and to have a gradual reduction from 55 to 45 and then 35 mph instead of dropping directly from 55 to 35 mph.
Board Chairman Jerry White, who said the reduced speed limit would cause more traffic trouble than it would alleviate, and Supervisor Bruce Fariss voted against the motion. "I don't understand how it ever got approved to start with," White said of the reduced speed.
by CNB