ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210074
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
The Virginia Avenue water tank in Vinton won't get the coat of paint it needs.
It will get the wrecking ball instead.
Town Council members decided Tuesday to replace the 800,000-gallon tank with a new one that would be more durable and look better.
Town Manager Clay Goodman told council that Mattern and Craig, a Roanoke engineering firm, recommended replacing the 30-year-old tank.
Goodman said some of the seams of the steel-plated tank may spring leaks at any time and that the tank is standing on a lot with an unstable slope.
Repairing the tank and site would be costly - possibly as much as $324,000 - compared to a total of $410,000 for a larger tank made of durable concrete on a firm lot, Goodman said.
The new concrete tank will hold a million gallons of water and will be at Wyndhem Drive and Third Avenue, in the town's southwest corner. It also would have have about 3,000 feet of new piping to connect the tank with the town's present water mains.
In another matters:
Charles "Chuck" Saldarini, president of the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership, told council that 1995 was a good year for economic development in the Roanoke Valley.
Saldarini said 11 new businesses, with plans to spend about $48 million on plants and equipment announced they were moving to the area. The businesses would create about 1,000 jobs with a total annual payroll of $19 million.
Council declined a request to allow using property on Walnut Avenue in the downtown area as an impoundment lot for vehicles being held by police or financial institutions.
The lot, close to the Farmer's Market, is owned by David and Margaret McClung and was McClung Lumber Co.'s former retail outlet.
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