Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 27, 1995 TAG: 9504270073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
But you'd never know it after the bash thrown Wednesday to dedicate Rocky Mount's new waste-water treatment plant.
A crowd of more than 50 - including politicians, bureaucrats, business leaders and even a county judge - gathered at the state-of-the-art plant to celebrate its meaning to Franklin County.
A town employee handed out programs bearing a color aerial photo of the facility.
A Franklin County High School choral group gave a smooth rendition of the national anthem.
Politicians - including 5th District Rep. L.F. Payne and state legislators Virgil Goode, Allen Dudley and Ward Armstrong - strode to a high-tech lectern with a built-in speaker to offer their congratulations to the town.
After the ceremony, the crowd moved inside the plant for a reception and tour of the facility. There were refreshments: fresh fruit, cheese, shrimp-topped hors d'oeuvres and punch.
The moment was appropriately summed up by the Rev. Glen Clements, who gave the invocation.
Said Clements of waste-water treatment: "It is not glamorous, but it is necessary and beneficial."
Rocky Mount Town Council decided to build the plant in a horseshoe bend of the Pigg River after it learned in 1989 that mandatory improvements to the town's old treatment plant carried an estimated cost of $7.5 million.
The new plant was built for $6.8 million - about $2 million under budget, according to statistics distributed at the ceremony.
It will be paid for with a $6 million low-interest state loan and an $800,000 federal grant. Funds saved on construction of the main plant were used to build two additional pump stations.
The location of the treatment plant, about two miles east of the town and downstream from the old plant off U.S. 220, maximizes customer service and future growth, said project engineer Mike Daugherty of Mattern & Craig Inc. of Roanoke.
Ground was broken for the plant in July 1992.
by CNB