ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996                TAG: 9606240025
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER 

CONSTUCTION OF DUBLIN'S NEW TOWN HALL BEGINS IN 10 DAYS

Dublin Town Council will hold a meeting July 2 at the site of its new town hall before the 9,100-square-foot building is even constructed.

Groundbreaking for the Dublin Town Center Building has been set for 10 a.m. that day. Council decided at its meeting Thursday night to skip its regular meeting July 18, and let its gathering for the groundbreaking ceremony serve as its meeting for July.

Snyder Co. Inc. of Blacksburg won an $810,000 contract earlier this month to do the construction. The building will be in the Dublin Town Center, where First National Bank of Christiansburg is already building a branch and where AMC Inc., a supplier of parts to the Volvo-GM Heavy Truck Corp. plant in the Pulaski County Corporate Center, broke ground last week for a local plant. Plans for the Town Center also include relocating the Dublin Post Office there.

The center is located on land the town acquired from Burlington Industries, and which also includes the Dublin Industrial Park.

Mayor Benny Keister said the weather will make no difference in the groundbreaking scheduling. "We're going to do it rain or shine," he said.

He expected work to be under way by the time of the ceremony. "The chances are the footers will already be dug and poured by the time we have the groundbreaking."

Council had to put another project in its industrial park on hold, for now. It had planned to renovate and expand one of the former Burlington warehouse buildings as an industrial shell building, but bids on the project came in too high.

Town Manager Gary Elander said the lowest bid had been $455,800, and the town only had $325,000 budgeted for the project. He recommended that council reject all bids, which it did.

In other business Thursday, council:

Approved its proposed 1996-97 budget with no tax increases;

Renewed the franchise for Adelphia Cable TV to continue serving the town;

Named Harold Hollandsworth as the new town building inspector, succeeding Kenneth Pennington who retired about six months ago but has been staying on in a part-time capacity;

Reappointed Elander as town manager, Tommy Baker as town attorney, Russell Gwaltney as police chief, Becky Ratcliff as treasurer and Donna Hoffman as assistant treasurer.

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