Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 19, 1995 TAG: 9509190052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As soon as the town bailed furiously and plugged a new leak, another would sprout.
On Sunday, Town Council gave the equivalent of a captain's order to abandon ship: It voted unanimously to declare a state of emergency because of continued problems with the 60-year-old water system.
"The town has outgrown the system," said Boones Mill Councilman Phil Randolph. "Town Council members have been trying for years to fix it themselves. But we're not engineers."
Asked if his home is without water, Randolph, who was reached at work, said: "I don't know. I had water when I left. But lately the question in the town has been, 'Who has water tonight?' Let's wait till I get home and I'll tell you."
Back in August, Boones Mill effectively went dry when town officials failed to activate an electric pump that is needed in drier months to bring water down from the town's water source, a mountain spring. The town's 100,000-gallon storage tank was drained nearly dry as a result.
To get water to the system's 300 customers, water was purchased and trucked in from the town of Rocky Mount, Randolph said.
The town's main problem isn't the water source, but the poor condition of the water line that runs from the spring into the town, said Barry Dunkley, an engineering field coordinator for the state's Office of Water Programs - the state's regulatory agency for waterworks.
Many of the Boones Mill water lines are made of asbestos cement, and are old and worn out.
Dunkley, who has inspected the town's system, said there are no known health problems tied to the pipes.
Many asbestos-cement pipes are still being used in older water systems across the state, he said.
Glenn Frith, owner of the 54-unit Heatherwood Apartment complex off Virginia 739, said he's hoping a new water system comes sooner than later.
Frith, who says he buys more of the town's water than anyone, has watched Heatherwood tenants struggle with water problems for months.
Frith said he paid about $4,000 in water bills last year, or about 10 percent of the town's total water and sewer revenue.
"Two women left here because their hair was turning green," he said. "The chlorination level of the water was too high."
Frith said the Heatherwood complex has been without water for as long as 36 hours at a time in recent months.
"And when the service is restored, the water's always muddy," he said.
Politics has played a part in the water problems as well.
Town police officer Lynn Frith, who is Glenn Frith's brother, was working without pay on a water system upgrade for a while before Mayor Steve Palmer objected and the council told Lynn Frith to stop.
Palmer feared that Lynn Frith would later ask to be reimbursed.
Several months later, Councilwoman Virginia Carroll followed Lynn Frith to the town's water storage tank. She said she found it curious that he went there after saying he would no longer work on the system.
Lynn Frith said he was only conducting a routine security check.
Glenn Frith has also had a run-in with Palmer over the town's water.
"But this isn't about politics," Glenn Frith said. "It's about water. Maybe the emergency designation is the only way to expedite things."
Gov. George Allen's office has been notified of the council's action, and Rep. L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County, and state Sen. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount, are working with Boones Mill officials to try to secure grant funds to finance new water lines, Randolph said.
The project carries an estimated cost of $250,000.
Boones Mill bought the water system for $100,000 from a private company in the late 1980s, Randolph said.
by CNB