ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090019
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
A public hearing on a possible increase in Montgomery County's water and sewer rates Monday turned into a lively discussion of the possibility of Prices Fork incorporating as a town.
After a long-time resident told the Montgomery County Public Service Authority that the community was thinking of becoming a town, complete with its own water system, the authority's attorney said it didn't have "a snowball's chance in hell of becoming a town."
Jim Noonkester, a member of the Board of Supervisors in the late 1960s, told the authority he objected to an increased water and sewer bill if it was being done to raise money to buy water for Prices Fork from the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.
"The community is looking at options of becoming a town," Noonkester told the authority, and if that happens, the town would want to be responsible for its water system.
"You don't have to put this burden [rate increase] on all the county," Noonkester said. "People in Prices Fork are willing and eager to do this themselves."
Ira Long, the authority's chairman who also represents Prices Fork on the Board of Supervisors, strongly suggested the authority would be unwilling to sell the existing system to an incorporated Prices Fork.
Noonkester countered that "the citizens put that [two-well] water system in and we gave it to the PSA."
Long, however, said the authority put in a tank and a 12-inch water line.
"You can't own the water and sewer lines in Prices Fork without buying them
"Prices Fork has a snowball's chance in hell of becoming a town," offered William McGhee, the authority's attorney. "The General Assembly will no more grant that request than the man in the moon."
Prices Fork, a historic crossroads west of Blacksburg, has always been a strong, tight-knit community with an independent streak. Noonkester said Tuesday that he and about a half-dozen other residents have been investigating the possibility of becoming a town. Noonkester said residents are disgusted with their opinions being ignored by county leaders and state officials.
"We have no control over our destiny. It just hit us in the face this summer," Noonkester said.
That's when a request by Larry Smith to rezone land to build a farm supply store was granted over objections from some residents.
The community has also been upset by the Virginia Department of Transportation's road widening and improvement project on Prices Fork Road. The project has caused lengthy travel delays, resulted in decreased business for some store owners, and seen Noonkester charged with trespassing when he took a stand against the state taking more of his land than he thought it had bargained for.
The proposed change in water and sewer rates is being considered to help the cash-strapped authority meet general operating expenses, not to connect Prices Fork to water supplied from the arsenal, although that project is being pursued.
Jerry Mabry, the authority's utilities engineer, said most residents would not see a change in their water bill, although high-bulk business users would. But with sewer rates increasing $1.25 per 1,000 gallons to mirror water rates, a slight increase would be noticed. The average household, charged for 4,000 gallons of sewer, would see its bill increase by $2.50 a month, Mabry said.
The authority tabled a resolution supporting the increase until it could determine whether Christiansburg's recent rate increase would affect the county, which buys water from the town.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB