ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997 TAG: 9702260048
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER AND KATHY LOAN
* Sheriff Ralph Dobbins told the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors on Monday that his office has won a $1,800 state grant for radar equipment and requested that some of the additional county revenue expected to come from speeding tickets be turned back to his office to maintain the equipment, pay off-duty officers to use it, and eventually buy a second unit.
He said the unit will be used in school zones and residential areas where people have complained of speeders, not to create "speed traps" which was a concern of Supervisor Jerry White. Violators caught the first time will get off with warnings, unless they are more than 20 mph over the limit. Their names will be entered into a computer record for six months, and removed if they are not stopped again. If caught speeding a second time, they will be ticketed.
The board took no formal action, but indicated it would look favorably on returning some of the money. Fine totals are reported quarterly.
The supervisors approved moving the Belspring voting place to the Belspring United Methodist Church, because space at Belspring Baptist Church is no longer available. There were no suitable public buildings in the precinct to establish a polling place.
They took no action on a letter from U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., asking if the county wants any George Washington and Jefferson National Forests land designated as wilderness areas.
The board continued its meeting to 7 p.m. March 10 when it will meet with the county School Board for budget discussions and other matters.
* The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors set a March 24 public hearing for the proposed Auburn Hills Golf Course development in Riner, but not without considerable discussion that Chairman Joe Gorman wondered aloud wasn't veering off into Public Service Authority concerns.
The PSA is a separate board, but is made up of the seven supervisors.
Supervisor Ira Long, PSA chairman, had moved to accept no proffers, or legally binding promises from the developers. The motion died for lack of a second. Long is concerned about the developers' desire to have septic systems on the property for the initial development of 30 homes, the golf course and clubhouse.
The developers have indicated a willingness to hook on to a county system later, when expanded sewer service becomes available.
The PSA and the developers are negotiating about how best to serve the development, which could have up to 140 homes when completed. The negotiations include the possibility of expanding a planned 100,000 gallons-per-day treatment plant to 150,000 gallons, with the PSA and the developers equally splitting the $1.4 million cost. The developers had originally asked the county to commit 25,000 gallons per day of the 100,000 gallon plant to the golf course, Long said.
Long withdrew his motion after some discussion about delaying the hearing until the utilities issue was better resolved, and the public hearing will be held as originally planned.
"This has nothing to do with the negotiations with the PSA," Long said Tuesday. Instead, Long said he was generally against septic systems and "we didn't think it was right to just turn over 25,000 gallons to this one development" when the expansion is being undertaken chiefly to serve the Riner school campus. "I'm most certainly not against the golf course. I think it's a good way to use the land. It will always be open space," Long said. "I think we've got too many septic systems out there."
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