Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 23, 1995 TAG: 9505230072
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: B. LYNN WILLIAMS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Board of Supervisors changed the road's name when it adopted a county street-name and numbering ordinance. They took the step after a brief public hearing last Tuesday in preparation for 911 service, which should come on-line next March.
With the move, 718 roads received names, many for the first time. Others, such as Plow Screw Road, were changed to names the residents preferred. U.S. 460 became Virginia Avenue and Virginia 100 will bear the name Pulaski-Giles Turnpike.
Few residents appeared at the hearing and none commented on the names selected for the county's roads and streets. Harvey Niday of Ripplemead, 911 Committee volunteer adviser who has maintained the list of names for almost two years, attributed the lack of public comment to the way the county conducted the process.
Giles rejected paying consultants to generate street names and instead used fire departments and community volunteers to canvass residents about their opinions. This procedure reduced the likelihood of the controversy that has accompanied the process elsewhere.
Niday told the board that he'd been looking forward to the day for two years.
"I can clean out my basement, and I'll have a lot more room on my computer to do other things," he said.
Under the ordinance, any road serving more than two houses or businesses gets a name.
The ordinance contains a one-year moratorium on renaming roads unless the request comes from the U.S. Postal Service.
In other business, two county residents asked the board to intervene on their behalf in the annexation agreement the county has signed with the town of Pearisburg.
Pete Cooper and Wayne Gentry, homeowners next to Hidden Meadows subdivision who could be annexed in the second phase of the agreement after Jan.1, 1999, asked supervisors to support their case for being removed from the annexation area. Officials from the Commission on Local Government will hold a public hearing on the matter June 5 in Pearisburg.
Cooper noted that their private road does not meet state standards. Upgrading it to state specifications would cost the two of them $25,000 to $30,000. An engineering study estimates that each homeowner also would have to spend $15,000 to $30,000 for sewer hookup.
Both said they didn't mind being annexed, but they want Pearisburg to provide road maintenance and sewer hookup first. "We would like to have these services. I'm not kidding you. We'd be glad to pay the taxes, if nothing more than to get our road maintained and plowed," Gentry said.
Supervisor George Hedrick said that he would make sure the officials visited their road on the day of the hearing. The board took no action.
Supervisors approved spending $2,500 for renovations on the 911 Dispatch Center so that it will be ready for the dispatchers' move from the Sheriff's Office during the fall.
The board also approved giving the White Gate Ruritan Club $1,000 for recreational use at the White Gate Community Center.
Supervisors went into a very short executive session to discuss property and contracts. They approved county involvement in the Western Virginia Revolving Loan Program, a financing fund operated by the Economic Development Administration.
by CNB