ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609090003
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-23 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
Couple turns to county in dispute over house
AUSTINVILLE - Daniel and Brenda Brewer have asked the Wythe County Board of Supervisors to condemn the $38,500 home they built in Austinville more than a decade ago as the only way to keep a bank from foreclosing on it.
The couple's home off U.S. 52 in eastern Wythe County developed gaps in the floors, sagging sheet rock, and even has an electric panel box installed upside down. The Brewers say the county bears some of the responsibility for approving the building permit for a structure that turned out to be flawed.
In 1989, the couple sued Stanley Houchins, the contractor, and got a jury award but only for $5,000. The state later suspended Houchins' license.
The Brewers' mortgage has since changed hands several times since the original bank, CorEast, went into receivership and now resides with the bank in Florida. "We've been fighting this matter for years," Brenda Brewer said last week.
If the house were condemned, she said, the bank could not sell it or the couple's 17 acres. At this point, the Brewers just want to be rid of the house so they can build again on their property.
The next supervisors' meeting is Sept. 17, one day before Berkley Federal of West Palm Beach, Fla., is scheduled to foreclose. The board took no action on the matter at its meeting last week.
Blacksburg farmers market relocated
BLACKSBURG - The Farmers Market in downtown Blacksburg will relocate to either Draper Road or the paved alley near the market site while the town of Blacksburg builds the Downtown Farmers Market Shelter on Roanoke Street. The town started site preparation on Sept. 3.
For more information, call 961-1130.
Legislative group studies water supply
WYTHEVILLE - A joint legislative subcommittee studying drinking water supply problems in Southwest Virginia will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 in the Grayson Hall Commons at Wytheville Community College.
Earlier subcommittee hearings that day will be at 10 a.m. at Clinch Valley College in Wise, and 2 p.m. at Southwest Virginia Community College near Richlands.
The 1996 General Assembly established the subcommittee to study drinking water problems and how to finance improvements in the region. It will make recommendations on the proper state role in assisting with funding.
Further information is available by calling Martin Farber, Division of Legislative Services, at (804) 786-3591. People interested in speaking at one of the hearings should call Chad Hudson, House Committee Operations, at (804) 786-7681 and are encouraged to provide written copies of their remarks.
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