ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 TAG: 9608280023
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: COMPILED BY KATHY LOAN AND PAUL DELLINGER
* Montgomery County, Blacksburg and Christiansburg will build two new shell buildings to attract industry. The county Board of Supervisors Monday OK'd an agreement with the towns, the county Industrial Development Authority and the Montgomery Regional Economic Development Commission to construct one building in the Blacksburg Industrial Park and a second in the Christiansburg Industrial Park.
The IDA owns the 15-acre Blacksburg site, which will be 100,000 square feet with expansion walls and pads. Christiansburg Town Council will select the site in its industrial park.
First National Bank of Christiansburg and a consortium of other local banks have agreed to provide up to $1.8 million for the first building.
Also Monday, the Board of Supervisors learned that county dog tag sales have increased 17.5 percent because of increased enforcement of the tag ordinance by animal control officers. The increase in tag sales brought in $4,241.
* The Pulaski County Board of Supervisors has approved a new county animal control ordinance despite objections from some 20 people who attended the board meeting Monday.
The ordinance increases regulations for kennels, which are defined as any establishment keeping five or more dogs. Kennels now must be inspected annually by a county animal control officer, and owners must pay a $50 fee for the inspection. Kennel owners must also maintain records of births and deaths of their dogs and the name and address of anyone who buys one of their dogs, among other regulations.
One reason for the ordinance was the now-defunct Solid Rock Kennel in Draper which drew complaints from county residents about the treatment of its animals. But attorney T. Rodman Layman, representing the Pulaski County Sportsman's Club, said that was no reason to punish people who kept hunting dogs.
"We recognize that there must be some regulation of animals in the county," he said. "But we are in an era of deregulation." He suggested making a distinction between commercial and private kennels, exempting private kennels from some of the requirements. But several other citizens spoke in support of the ordinance, and one submitted a petition with 300 signatures favoring it. County Attorney Tom McCarthy said there would be no "witch hunt" to enforce the ordinance provisions against hunters, and Sheriff Ralph Dobbins said his office would be acting only when it got a citizen complaint about dogs. The board unanimously approved the proposed ordinance.
* Upcoming:
Montgomery County will open a new consolidated trash collection site near Preston Forest at 2 p.m. Thursday. County Administrator Betty Thomas and county Supervisors Ira Long and Jim Moore are scheduled to speak before a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tours of the new facility. The consolidated trash collection site on Coal Bank Hollow Road replaces trash bins off U.S. 460 on Brush Mountain and on Mount Tabor Road.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB