Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 24, 1995 TAG: 9505240064
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The accords - negotiated in secret since early fall - would allow the town to expand to include two chunks of land now in the county: the 165-acre industrial park along Interstate 81 and an adjacent 105 acres; and 30 acres across from the Marketplace shopping center at Peppers Ferry Road and U.S. 460 that was once part of Virginia Tech's horticultural farm.
"Once these documents are in place, we're in high gear to get the industrial park developed," said County Attorney Roy Thorpe.
Falling Branch, located next to a 3-year-old elementary school of the same name, is key to county leaders' hopes of adding more jobs to the local economy. The effort to develop it began in earnest two years ago when a fiberoptics firm chose Winston-Salem, N.C., over Montgomery because the county lacked readily available major industrial sites.
The advantage for Montgomery is that its taxpayers won't have to finance the nearly $4 million cost of building water and sewer lines to and in the industrial park. The town will cover that cost.
That means the county will have to lay out only a maximum of $5 million to build roads and otherwise prepare the park. Montgomery is pursuing loans for that purpose through a federal agency. Approval of the loans, first sought last summer, has been on hold until the town and county reached this agreement, which would take effect Aug. 1.
The town's supplying sewer service also means the residents of the Sugar Grove and Rogers communities along Elliott Creek won't have to contend with a sewage treatment plant. The county had studied the idea of building its own plant along Elliott Creek as an alternative to settling with Christiansburg, but it rejected the option as too expensive.
For the town, the agreement brings the advantage of being able to earn tax revenue from the industrial park once it develops. Christiansburg also will be able to consolidate its control of the Peppers Ferry-U.S. 460 area. That area has become the retail hub of the New River Valley since the town annexed it in 1987. The 30-acre addition includes the new Lowe's home center, the Heironimus store and other land ust outside the town boundary.
"It's a win-win situation for both Christiansburg and Montgomery County," said Larry Linkous, chairman of the Board of Supervisors.
Before either the board or the Town Council can approve the agreement, though, they will have to advertise and hold a public hearing. It's a requirement that county officials just found out about. The Board of Supervisors had been prepared to vote on the agreements Monday, just three days after disclosing the details. Instead, the board voted 6-1 to schedule a public hearing for June 12. Town Council may set its public hearing for the same time, or it could schedule its own.
Supervisor Jim Moore of Blacksburg was the only supervisor to oppose the agreements. He said he wouldn't support the boundary adjustment at the Marketplace because it has nothing to do with Falling Branch.
by CNB