ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996             TAG: 9611120067
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: PEARISBURG
SOURCE: CLAYTON BRADDOCK STAFF WRITER

PEARISBURG ANNEXATION MOVES CLOSER WITH VOTE

The final local step toward annexing parts of Giles County into the town of Pearisburg has been worked out.

Yet a 3 to 2 vote Thursday by the Giles Board of Supervisors still carried signs of the lingering struggle.

Acceptance of the latest agreement between the supervisors and the Pearisburg Town Council came on votes by Board of Supervisors Chairman W.P. Freeman and members R.W. Williams and Larry Jay Williams.

Supervisors Larry Blankenship and Barbara Hobbs continued their holdouts as documents were rewritten by both sides.

The way for the final Thursday vote may have been paved in late October when the Pearisburg Town Council, in a special meeting, fired a letter to the Board of Supervisors resisting any further assurances of more funding for sewer, water and other utilities.

There is more to be done before the county land can become legally part of Pearisburg.

Both the town and the county have to fine-tune certain details of the agreement. Then another public hearing will have to be held.

Then things move on to the state level.

The initial basic agreement established by the Commission of Local Government last year, grants the town annexation of 2.6 square miles of territory in Giles County. An approved final agreement will be sent to the commission for review and possible recommendations.

The battle was essentially one over taxes and revenue.

"We've got to give some trust somewhere," Jay Williams told the board, echoing other comments that the Town Council had worked in good faith.

"This is the hardest decision I have had to make since I have been on the board," R.W. Williams said. "But I can look people in the eye and say 'I have worked hard.'"

Hobbs said, "People have phoned me and asked why does the town wants us if they can't afford us?"

"Promises don't amount to nothing," Blankenship said.

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