ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 25, 1997 TAG: 9702250089
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Blacksburg's Lyric Theatre, an industrial park in Pulaski County, the Southwest Virginia Governor's School and New River Trail State Park will all benefit from state funding approved by the 1997 General Assembly.
State Sen. Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle, was successful with a bill authorizing the creation of regional industrial authorities, which can be composed of three or more localities in the New River Planning District and the Fifth Planning District, and will be able to own industrial parks.
Member localities will be able to make loans or grants to such authorities. Del. Tommy Baker, R-Pulaski County, managed the bill on the House side.
"This is the legislation that will authorize the development of a commerce park in Pulaski County," Baker said. "In essence, this park will provide Pulaski County, Radford and Giles with the ability to attract an industrial prospect that could bring thousands of jobs to the valley."
Meanwhile, Baker and state Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, got $80,000 in state funding to plan such an expanded industrial park in Pulaski County near New River Valley Airport outside Dublin.
Baker also said a "significant" amount of state money was approved in the House to extend New River Trail State Park from its current terminus at the edge of the town of Pulaski to other points in Pulaski County. He hoped the funding would remain in the conference budget between the Senate and House.
Del. James Shuler, D-Blacksburg, got $50,000 in state money for help to restore the 67-year-old Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg. That funding had looked unlikely to be approved just a few weeks ago. He also pushed successfully to get a so-called lag-pay plan rescinded, under which state employees would be paid later than before.
Shuler secured start-up funds for the Department of Corrections, in cooperation with the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture, to plan ways for prisoners to improve the production of their own food through farm work. He supported making $1 million available for the Comprehensive Health Investment Project in the New River Valley, which connects health volunteers with young children in need of health services.
Marye, meanwhile, was unsuccessful in his quest for $2.1 million to construct new quarters for the overcrowded Southwest Virginia Governor's School near Dublin. But he got Senate approval for $75,000, which the school can use in its initiatives to extend computer networking to its neighboring school systems.
Trumbo was unsuccessful in getting the New River Valley Regional Jail Authority exempted from having to have its jail project approved by the new state Design Build/Construction Management Review Board. The board's requirements delayed the jail's progress for about a month while the authority worked with the board to meet new state requirements for projects carried out under a construction manager.
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