Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 26, 1995 TAG: 9506260165
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BOONES MILL LENGTH: Medium
At the same time that a play poking fun at the shenanigans is being presented to sold-out audiences by the Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre at Ferrum College, a councilman is proposing that Boones Mill give up its charter and cease to exist as an independent town - a designation the town has held since 1927.
If that happened, there would be no more Town Council and no more town police officer, which would probably mean no more public squabbling and no more reporters chasing outlandish stories.
Councilman Phil Randolph, who stormed out of a meeting earlier this year after becoming fed up with the council's bickering, said the step could clear up the town's problems.
He said the infighting - which takes up most of the council's time - would be eliminated, and the town's main problem as he sees it - an upgrade of its water system - would become a Franklin County project.
Because Boones Mill has only about 300 citizens, it can't generate the revenue, or hire the personnel, to do the job the better-financed Franklin County could do, he said. Citizens outside the town limits use its water system, but there are no meters to measure the amount of water some are using, said Randolph, laughing to show his disbelief.
The move, Randolph said, would also reduce the tax load because Boones Mill residents would pay only county taxes instead of town and county taxes, as they do now.
"There's an awful lot of sentiment toward keeping it as a town," he said. "And that would be fine as long as we could find responsible people to run it. That's the problem."
A citizen's committee - which includes three government officials and two citizens - met Thursday night to begin discussion of the town's giving up its charter.
George Overfelt, one of the citizens on the committee, said he would prefer that the town give up its charter if it continues to operate as it has for the past few years.
Overfelt, a Boones Mill native, said he attributes many of the problems to Lynn Frith, the town's police officer.
"A majority of people here don't think we need a town cop," he said.
Frith's $30,000 salary could be better used on the town's water problems, Overfelt said.
Overfelt said a block of four Town Council members - a majority - is "basically in love with Lynn Frith."
Frith said he could not comment on the situation because Mayor Steve Palmer won't let him talk to the media about town business.
Nelda Cannaday, one of the council members who falls into the group of four mentioned by Overfelt, said she has mixed feelings about Randolph's proposal, but she doesn't think the council should take an active role in the decision.
"I don't think it's anything that the Town Council can do anything about," she said. "It should be decided by a referendum or something like that."
Dropping the town charter would be a long, drawn-out process. A petition drive would be required, public hearings would have to be held, the council would have to approve the proposal and the General Assembly would have to act on the request.
Randolph and Boone District Supervisor Homer Murray, who is a member of the committee, said the town's difficulties could also be cleared up if new council members are elected next year.
Randolph said he doesn't plan to run for re-election.
"I get paid $10 a month for participating in an arguing session," he said. "It's come to the point where a lot of it is just hate."
by CNB