ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, October 28, 1996 TAG: 9610280039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEXINGTON
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on October 30, 1996.
A story about an advisory referndum for a general aviation airport in
Rockbridge County incorrectly reported that the question would be on the
ballot in the cities of Lexington and Buena Vista. The referendum is on
the ballot for county residents only.
ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY residents are divided on the issue - not just over the plan's merits, but also the "dirty and underhanded tactics" supporters are accused of using.
Voters in Rockbridge County and the cities of Lexington and Buena Vista will have their say Nov. 5 on whether the county needs to invite small planes to the area by building a general aviation airport.
But the only thing in the air right now is a nasty stink the issue has spawned.
Though it isn't binding, the referendum has polarized the residents of Rockbridge County, and opponents have accused supporters of "dirty and underhanded" tactics.
Smack in the middle of the controversy is the Lexington-Rockbridge Chamber of Commerce and its president, Chuck Barger. Barger also is a member of the airport proponent group and head of Charles W. Barger & Sons, a quarry operation that he concedes might benefit if an airport is built.
His group, Aviation in Rockbridge, says the airport would help the county attract new industry, and could be built almost entirely with state and federal money. That money alone coming into the local economy is enough reason to build the airport, the group says.
The opponent group, the Concerned Citizens Coalition, says government money is what the airport is really all about. Members contend the county doesn't need an airport, and the project is being pushed just to line the pockets of a few local businessmen with government money.
The citizens coalition seems less interested in the merits or demerits of an airport than with the tactics of the aviation group and the Chamber of Commerce. Barger's association with both organizations seems to have blurred the line between the two - at least as far as the coalition is concerned.
Darrell Lee Croson, chairman of the coalition, has accused Barger of "undue influence" on the chamber board, which voted two weeks ago to endorse the airport idea.
Croson claims Barger is pushing the airport because no matter where it might be built in the rolling, limestone-underlaid terrain of Rockbridge County, a lot of rock will have to be moved. He thinks Barger's family quarry business would likely get a big cut.
"What would they say if this company was involved in building schools and churches?" Barger said. "Just because this is an airport, is that any reason to attack us personally?"
Barger said it's possible his company would do some work on the airport, but he favors the airport for the good it will do the county he grew up in.
"We are the last business in Rockbridge County that needs controversy," he said, "particularly for a relatively small project that may occur three to five years from now at the earliest."
Croson also thinks Barger is behind a referendum survey the chamber sent its members, which was packaged with pro-airport literature and went to just about every chamber member except Croson.
About 90 of the more than 300 members responded, with a slight majority in favor of the airport.
The chamber chose to disregard the survey.
Croson didn't.
He fired off a letter demanding: a public apology; that his literature be sent out at the chamber's expense; and Barger's resignation.
Chamber Director Sammy Moore responded with an offer to send out the Concerned Citizens Coalition's literature, but at the coalition's expense.
Moore said he doesn't know why Croson didn't get the survey. The mailing list is computer generated, he said.
Neither Moore nor Barger could explain how the pro-airport literature was included.
The chamber had also planned a forum on the airport, but canceled it at the last minute because the Concerned Citizens Coalition backed out, Barger said.
Croson said the coalition was never formally invited or given any details, so they never accepted in the first place. Moore, however, points to his letter to Croson dated three weeks before the forum. It reminded Croson that the invitation was still open.
The battle over an airport in Rockbridge isn't new; these are just the latest volleys. Three studies have been done in the last 16 years, the latest this year by a North Carolina firm at the expense of private parties and companies.
It recommends a site called Grassy Ridge, between Interstate 81 and U.S. 11 just north of Lexington. An airport there would cost $30million and could generate $6.5million in economic activity annually, mostly from construction costs in the first five years, according to the study.
Regardless of the referendum result, the board of supervisors still must approve plans for the airport before construction could start. Then there's the headache of getting cooperation between the county and the two city governments.
Funds from airline taxes, aviation fuel and similar sources from the federal and state governments would fund 98 percent of the cost.
The airport would employ six people and produce about $4,000 profit a year, but Harry Warner, chairman of the pro-airport group, said the big benefit would be in economic development.
Bus manufacturer Blue Bird Body Co. cited the lack of an airport in Rockbridge as a significant reason for its departure from Buena Vista in 1992. The headquarters of a national horse training outfit reportedly passed on Rockbridge recently because there was no airport nearby.
There is no hard evidence that general aviation airports attract business, but David Kleppinger, director of the Rockbridge Area Economic Development Commission, said for what it would cost local governments, an airport sure couldn't hurt.
His organization, along with several others including the state Department of Aviation, is supporting the airport. Besides the Concerned Citizens Coalition, some environmental groups and landowners near Grassy Ridge have weighed in against it.
But whatever happens Nov. 5, this issue probably won't die.
"This is not the end of it," predicted Pat Tichenor of the citizens coalition. "This referendum is definitely not the end of it."
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Map by staff. color.by CNB