ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160032
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
THAT OLD saw, ``We're from Richmond, and we're here to help you,'' resonates anew in Southwest Virginia.
It seems construction of a New River Valley regional jail has been delayed again - this time because the project doesn't conform with state construction-management procedures.
Trouble is, there are no such procedures.
They are yet to be set by a new state regulatory entity, naturally called the Design-Build/Construction Management Review Board, which has rejected the regional-jail project for not following its procedure that has still to be defined.
Which might be funny, except for the fact that the delay could end up costing Virginia taxpayers thousands, even millions, of dollars.
The state is to pay 50 percent of the price to build the regional jail, and the facility's planners say the price will go up if they can't get it off the drawing board soon.
The regional jail, to be built in the Dublin Industrial Park, is to serve the counties of Pulaski, Giles, Floyd, Wythe, Bland, Grayson and Carroll, and the city of Radford. It is to these localities' credit that they've gotten together to solve a regional problem in a fiscally responsible manner.
There are also some fine state legislators representing these localities in the General Assembly. The snafu involving the new Review Board, which was created by state legislators just last year, would appear to present a golden opportunity for the region's delegates and senators to intervene on behalf of their constituents.
Maybe they could prove their problem-solving effectiveness and fiscal-responsibility bona fides, too.
LENGTH: Short : 38 linesby CNB