ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
It's been a long six weeks for the two Montgomery County boards involved with selecting the land for a new elementary school in Riner.
But, in the end, it was worth it.
"It think it was a good settlement," said Supervisor Mary Biggs, referring to the board's decision Monday night to buy 40 acres of land behind the present elementary school.
Annette Perkins, chairwoman of the School Board, said she was pleased and surprised by the board's decision. "I really wasn't sure what they were going to do. ... "It's been our plan [the 40 acres] from the beginning and I thought we made a good case for it."
On Feb. 12, the Board of Supervisors voted to condemn the land, which is held in trust by Central Fidelity Bank for farmer Ronald Salmons. That move came after negotiations to purchase the site stalled. Salmons said then he planned to fight the condemnation and would refuse to give up land that had been in his family since 1932.
Two weeks later, after several Riner residents protested the condemnation, the board reversed its decision and recommended purchasing 20 acres.
Then, on March 11, the board changed direction again, agreeing to seek 30 acres for the new school.
Caught between these flip-flops were the Riner community. Some people stood by the Salmons family and criticized the board for trying to take valuable farm land. Others cited the need to alleviate overcrowded conditions at the elementary school and provide recreational space for the community.
When the February condemnation offer of $2,763 per acre was released, most said the Board of Supervisors needed to give Salmons more money.
"I know people in the Riner community wanted a new school, but also wanted to give Mr. Salmons a fair price, and I think we accomplished both goals," Biggs said.
Monday, the board agreed to pay $330,000 for the land, or just under $8,300 an acre. That's slightly more per acre than the county paid in 1990 to condemn the Falling Branch Elementary School site in Christiansburg, but less than half the per-acre cost in 1992 to buy the land for Kipps Elementary School in Blacksburg.
Barry Worth, vice chairman of the School Board and who represents the Riner area, said he has been discussing what a "fair price" really is with several residents throughout the past month.
"Most people said they thought between $5,000 and $6,000 would be fair, so yeah, I think it was a fair agreement," he said.
Supervisor Joe Stewart, who said he originally suggested the $330,000 price, said he visited the land and thought the price was more than fair. He owns a farm nearby.
"It's high for farmland but that's developable land, so it's a fair price," Stewart said.
Stewart said he was not pleased with a "gentleman's agreement" that the board would not purchase any more of the Salmons land for the next 25 years.
The agreement is morally binding, he explained, but would not hold up in court.
"I thought we gave them a fair price and I don't think there should have been strings attached to it," he said.
In 1938 and 1953, the county acquired land from Salmons' grandparents to build the present joint high-middle school and elementary school in Riner.
Salmons' wife, Tammy, said Tuesday the family didn't want to comment on the board's decision.
Supervisor Nick Rush, who was the sole "no" vote Monday, could not be reached for comment.
The decision came only three days before the application deadline to borrow $3.87 million in general obligation funds through the Virginia Public School Authority.
Larry Schoff, transportation and maintenance director for the schools, said the changing negotiations have set building plans back at least three months.
Once the architectural designs are developed, Schoff said, the schools will go back to the Riner community for input.
Schoff said it was still too early to estimate when the new school will be completed.
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