Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090032
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-11 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Montgomery Public Service Authority signed a contract with Radford Community Hospital that may obligate the county to pay 15 percent of the cost of extending water and sewer to the hospital's proposed site south of Interstate 81 and Virginia 177 outside Radford.
The contract, signed Monday, only goes into effect if Radford Community wins final state approval to replace its existing building. The Radford proposal has received a thumbs up in the first tier of state review, but is awaiting a final decision by the state health commissioner. Pulaski Community and Montgomery Regional hospitals, owned by a competitor, also have pending applications for a new Radford hospital.
Under the new county agreement, Radford Community will be responsible for 85 percent of the utilities-extension cost, which an engineering report estimated at a total of $1.99 million. That means the county's share could be as high as $300,000. The county has not discussed how it would pay for its 15 percent share, Utilities Director Gary Gibson said.
Authority members signed the contract after County Attorney Roy Thorpe told them the hospital's lawyer had suggested only minor changes to a proposal the authority approved Oct. 2. Anderson & Associates Inc. now will design the utilities extension. Should the hospital win state approval, the project still will return to the authority for one more vote before construction can begin.
The second new initiative is a sewer system for the area between Massie's Trailer Park and the intersection of Prices Fork and Peppers Ferry roads west of Christiansburg. The new system would serve Massie's and Sheppard's trailer parks, along with 66 nearby single-family homes around Belview Elementary School. Seventy-six percent of residences in the area qualify as low- to moderate-income households, according to the authority.
The service authority voted to recommend the county pursue a $700,000 federal community development block grant through the state Department of Housing and Community Development. The Board of Supervisors will have to take one more vote to actually apply for the money.
The estimated total cost for the Belview project is $861,000. The county would use $50,000 of the federal grant money to pay for housing rehabilitation and connection costs for low-income homes. It also would have to borrow an estimated $211,000 to finish the project. The authority agreed to negotiate with the owner of Massie's Trailer Park over possible cost sharing on some aspects of the project.
The Public Service Authority chose the Belview project as its top priority over connecting the existing, overburdened Prices Fork water system to the Radford Army Ammunition Plant's water lines or extending sewer service further into the Merrimac community.
by CNB