ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290052
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
Of the various budget requests that will be made by the School Board at tonight's joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors, repairing school buildings is expected to be a top priority.
At a presentation last week, School Board members reviewed a litany of school repair needs. Some of the projects have stayed on the "to-do" list for years, and the board is hoping to receive a substantial chunk of this year's county improvement dollars to take care of at least some of the needs.
The schools' wish list could cost more than $400,000. The top five priorities this year include removing old fuel tanks, repaving a tennis court and replacing two school roofs and a gym floor, according to Facilities and Maintenance Director Larry Schoff
Each year, the county allocates money to a fund to pay for large purchases or repairs. The fund covers all county agencies - the volunteer fire and rescue squads, the Parks and Recreation Department, the Public Service Authority and the schools, among other departments.
For the the past two years, the Board of Supervisors allocated between $440,000 and $500,000 to the fund. But for three of the past five years, the school system has not received any of those dollars.
Last year, the county money replaced or refurbished four vehicles for area fire and rescue squads, bought pool equipment for the renovated county pool, paid to study the possibility of a library for Shawsville and four other projects.
Joe Powers, planning director for the county, said a committee made up of various agencies reviews projects for the next five years and makes a list of priorities.
"Everything that people wanted [that] doesn't fit the first year will get pushed back to the next year," he said. "The fact that we haven't gotten a whole lot of money means we keep falling farther behind."
Last year, the School Board received emergency funding from the Board of Supervisors to pay for the repair of five leaking roofs on schools around the county. To pay for this, the supervisors used money from the sale of bonds originally intended to pay for construction of a new elementary school in Riner.
School Board members said they don't want to see that practice become a trend.
"If they keep asking us to continue paying for repairs out of new-school construction funds, we may be in trouble here," member Mary Beth Dunkenberger said at the last School Board meeting Oct. 22.
The Board of Supervisors will set an amount for its capital project fund next month.
* Joint meeting between the Montgomery County School Board and the Board of Supervisors: 7 p.m. tonight at the Health and Human Services Building, off Pepper Street in Christiansburg.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB