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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 14, 1995                   TAG: 9504140026
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN                                LENGTH: Medium

VOLVO GM SUBCONTRACTOR TO LEASE MORE INDUSTRIAL-PARK SPACE

The company, a subcontractor to nearby Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corp., already is leasing more than 185,000 square feet in the Burlington Newbern plant, the largest building in the Dublin Industrial Park.

Dublin Town Council approved the lease agreement at a special session Wednesday, following a 25-minute executive session. It authorized Mayor Benny Keister to sign the agreement, assuming that D&S Distribution approves it.

Town Attorney Tommy Baker said approval from the industry is a virtual certainty, since both parties had negotiated its terms and council was making no changes. The lease is for five years, with options to renew in five one-year extensions.

Volvo is already in the process of a $200 million expansion to include a new cab assembly plant and a high-volume paint facility. D&S sets up the sequence for assembling certain parts of the trucks and transports them each day to Volvo for final assembly.

Town Manager Gary Elander said the additional space leased to D&S could mean 50 to 75 new employees for the subcontractor.

D&S Distribution President Bill DeRodes said he was pleased to be able to make a long-term commitment to the Dublin Industrial Park. He said Dublin officials had been helpful and cooperative in developing a long-term lease agreement and meeting the D&S facility needs.

Bill Brubaker, Volvo GM plant manager, said D&S Distribution is a major factor in the daily record-setting production going on at the Volvo plant. He said the proximity of the Dublin Industrial Park to Volvo is important to the plant's operations.

In other business, council authorized hiring the firm of Mathews & Henegar for a survey and preliminary engineering work on the Dublin Town Center planned for the industrial park.

It also approved the sale of some 5.1 acres of land from the Dublin Town Shop property to RGM Erectors Inc. for $35,000. The money will go toward the cost of the survey and engineering at the industrial park.

The vote approving the sale was 4-1, with Councilman Sam Gregory not present and Dr. David Stanley voting against it. Stanley said later that he believed that acreage would have been more valuable to the town later, particularly after sewer facilities are extended to that area.

The Dublin Town Center envisions a new town hall in the industrial park, as well as a new post office to replace the one in downtown Dublin where parking is a major problem. Greenways would also be developed in the project.

But a survey determining lots, water and sewer service, roadways and other factors must be completed before any of that can happen. "We're trying to avoid wasting acreage. We want to have a good layout," Elander said.