ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130014
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PEARISBURG
SOURCE: CLAYTON BRADDOCK STAFF WRITER
Your dreams might show up in crazy packages from unexpected sources: Like a winning lottery ticket, or one of those magazines giveaways that drive up to your door with an oversized check worth millions.
And then there's a neighbor being downright neighborly. Big time. Last month, the village of Newport had this idea of the county Board of Supervisors fixing Newport's 40-foot water tank and some distribution pipes - ancient, leaking and suffering with a bad case of turbidity (murky stirred-up sediment in the water).
Members of the Volunteer Fire Department and the Village Council, one of several volunteer organizations in Newport, made the request to the supervisors.
And the village may get its wish in the form of not just a fixup job, but a tank - all 70 feet of one in the neighbor's back yard just a few miles up U.S. 460.
Nobody won the lottery and nobody has driven up with the big check, but the neighbor - Hoechst-Celanese Corp. - is the likely angel.
County supervisors said last week that Celanese officials have indicated the company will give the 12-foot-diameter tank to Newport.
Supervisor R.W. Williams said he had talked with Celanese officials who said the company is willing to "donate the tank to Newport."
Many a problem may lie between the first step and another tank being in place with water flowing, ranging to technical considerations to questions surrounding old easements for the water lines.
Problems with the current tank and the pipes began to show up in January, Chris McKlarney, county engineer, told the Giles County Board of Supervisors.
Larger pipes on the existing old tank - erected in 1964 - are no larger than 4 inches in diameter, although building codes require them to be 6 inches. Some of the pipes also are corroded, McKlarney said.
A closer look at the wrapping of the new package might not be appreciated because of the prospect of increased water fees. Such a fee might not affect everybody in the village area because there are only about 54 connections and 110 customers served.
The village should consider raising the fee to a more standard rate of $24 a month, McKlarney said. Bringing any new pipes and pumps on line would likely not be approved, the engineer said.
You can't get federal or state support for such a project without monthly charges of $25, McKlarney said.
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