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

DATE: FRIDAY, June 2, 1995                   TAG: 9506020093
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                 LENGTH: Medium

NORFOLK SPLITS FROM VA. BEACH OVER PIPELINE

Talks between Norfolk and Virginia Beach on a proposed Lake Gaston water pipeline settlement reached an impasse Thursday, raising doubts about meeting a June 27 deadline for legislative action on the deal.

However, Norfolk officials said they still were willing to discuss the issue with Virginia Beach. Norfolk leaders also suggested that a solution may require extending the ratification deadline.

``This is a high-stakes decision for all of the parties,'' Del. William Robinson, D-Norfolk, said before the port city's General Assembly team and its City Council met privately to discuss the issue. ``Everyone wants to come out of it in the best possible position.''

On April 28, Virginia Beach and North Carolina signed an agreement to end more than a decade of legal wrangling over the proposed 76-mile pipeline, which would carry up to 60 million gallons of water a day to the Tidewater area.

But Norfolk, which did not participate in the talks leading to the settlement, raised objections to a provision that barred Norfolk from selling surplus water outside the immediate region. Until that point, Norfolk had been one of Virginia Beach's staunchest allies in the pipeline fight.

Because the settlement requires ratification within 60 days by the Virginia and North Carolina legislatures, officials have been trying to reach a hasty compromise to compensate Norfolk if it cannot find a buyer for the 30 million gallons a day it now sells to Virginia Beach.

But on Wednesday, the Virginia Beach City Council, without making a counteroffer, rejected Norfolk's latest proposal, which would have cost the resort city about $200 million through 2030, the length of its water contract with Norfolk. Virginia Beach's last offer was to pay about $84 million.

Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim said Virginia Beach essentially walked away from the table, although Norfolk officials still were willing to talk. ``This is a tragic way for our two cities to try to come to an agreement,'' he said.

Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf said her city's offer was ``totally fair and reasonable'' and that the settlement with North Carolina did not hurt Norfolk.

by CNB