ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: LESLIE HAGER-SMITH STAFF WRITER
Radford City Council voted Monday to include the Montgomery Regional Solid Waste Authority in the New River Resource Authority.
The vote marked the first of three approvals needed to allow the New River authority to expand. The approval came on the eve of a public hearing in Dublin, where the proposal has run into the most outspoken public opposition.
Radford Mayor Tom Starnes serves on the NRRA board and was instrumental in formulating the agreement that would offer the Montgomery authority - made up of that county, Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Virginia Tech - membership and reduce costs to all participants. Radford council's support for the agreement has been unwavering, but the vote was a surprise given its earlier deferral of a vote until Dublin weighed in.
At its Jan. 13 meeting, City Attorney John B. Spiers recommended that council defer the vote. He and Pulaski County Attorney Tom McCarthy have been working to amend the expansion agreement in ways that would "lend comfort" to those opposed. The original agreement required unanimous consent from the governing bodies of each member locality for critical decisions, like accepting outside waste. The recent revisions amplify that unanimity requirement.
In other business Monday, City Council reviewed a new plan to expand and renovate the existing Municipal Building on Second Street. Council members praised the plan, which will be up for a vote Feb. 10. Late last year, council endorsed a plan to build an all-new courthouse on another site, but later asked architects to take a second crack at a renovation.
If this latest plan is to be approved, council will have to rescind its previous OK of the new-building plan.
For more than a year, council has reviewed options including four on-site renovations at the present Second Street location, and three designs for a stand-alone facility elsewhere. In the process, the price tag has grown from $1 million to $6.5 million.
At a Dec. 2 special meeting, council voted to construct a new, off-site building that would house three of the city's five constitutional offices. The vote raised the hopes of some in the business community who wanted the courthouse to be relocated in the East End downtown area. Others had reservations about separating the government offices, however, including Circuit Judge Duane Mink.
As the prospect of debt loomed larger and funding for other major projects grew more pressing, council reconsidered. A week later, they sent architects Thompson and Litton back to the drawing board to see what could be had for $3 million in reserve funds, a figure available without having to issue general obligation bonds.
Council praised the plans presented on Monday which showed a two-level addition to the southwest corner of the present building, in combination with renovations to about half of the old structure. The plan captures underutilized space in the current building and organizes the city manager's offices into a suite to economize further. The main level addition features a multiuse chamber for Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, District Court, and City Council meetings. The commonwealth attorney's offices and judges' chambers would also be housed there.
The ground level of the addition would house the Sheriff's Office, a guard station and holding cells for those awaiting court appointments. Security at the present building has been a prevailing concern. The total price tag: $2.47 million - well under the council's $3 million limit.
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