Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 17, 1995 TAG: 9505170076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
On a 7-0 vote, the Board of Supervisors agreed to join the lawsuit Tuesday.
County Administrator Macon Sammons suggested that the three counties that surround Smith Mountain Lake - Franklin, Bedford and Pittsylvania - authorize an engineering study to find out what impact the pipeline would have on the lake.
Smith Mountain Lake and Lake Gaston, which straddles the Virginia-North Carolina border, are part of the Roanoke River basin.
After discussing the issue for about 30 minutes, the board decided the best thing to do was line up behind its Southside Virginia neighbors.
"Nobody's sure what the future holds with this pipeline," said Supervisor Charles Ellis, who represents a section of the Smith Mountain Lake area.
Henry County supervisors voted to join the suit Monday.
The city of Danville - concerned about the pipeline's impact on water resources in Southside Virginia - was the first Virginia locality to move toward a lawsuit
Boards in Pittsylvania and Bedford counties are expected to consider joining the suit at their next meetings.
The pipeline would carry 60 million gallons of water a day from Lake Gaston to Virginia Beach.
The project was approved by the Virginia Beach City Council in the early 1980s as the most economical way to solve its water shortage problems.
Opponents have said the pipeline would hurt the environment and economic development efforts in the areas losing the water.
After a 12-year legal battle, North Carolina and Virginia Beach officials signed a settlement in late April.
North Carolina agreed to drop its opposition in exchange for an option to withdraw up to 35 million gallons of water a day from Lake Gaston, and for assurances that state routes 17 and 168 will be improved in the Hampton Roads area.
The settlement paved the way for an interstate compact to be drafted. The compact is subject to approval by the Virginia and North Carolina legislatures and - because interstate compacts become federal law - Congress.
The state legislatures are working on a 60-day deadline - spelled out in the April settlement - to ratify the compact.
In a separate item Tuesday, the supervisors brought to an end the three-year ordeal about what to name the intersection of Virginia 122 and 616 at Smith Mountain Lake.
It is now Westlake Corner - the name recently recommended by a committee formed by Ellis to find a consensus on a name.
Sammons said the board's action allows the Virginia Department of Transportation to erect Westlake Corner road signs.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.