ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 5, 1997 TAG: 9703050069
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County has accepted bids for bringing water to the planned Carilion Radford Community Hospital project on Virginia 177.
Monday, the county Public Service Authority approved paying about $1.5 million to four different contractors for construction of the new water system.
The hospital will sit on 50 acres of a 112-acre site beside Interstate 81. A 97-bed, 238,371-square-foot building is planned.
The PSA action came after a closed-door session. Chairman Ira Long is authorized to execute the bid award, construction contract and other documents necessary to start the project.
"Since the bids exceed the original construction budget, this recommendation is contingent upon approval from the Radford Community Hospital," wrote Michael Gill Jr., a project engineer with Anderson & Associates, in a letter to the PSA.
A separate contract to build a sewer line to the hospital is still up in the air. The award of the sewer contract is "contingent upon resolving downstream sanitary sewer issues with the city of Radford," Gill wrote.
Long said the county's Route 177 Corridor Agreement with Radford allows the county to transport up to 70,000 gallons of sewage daily to the city's lines. Pumping more than that requires that the county upgrade some of Radford's sewer lines.
"We agreed to that. They want some commitment from us and I think we can give it to them," Long said.
The PSA delayed awarding bids at its February meeting because hospital officials weren't pleased that the low bids were more than $260,000 over the engineers' estimate made two years ago.
The hospital is offering to pay the additional cost if it can recoup that money through connection fees that will be paid by other customers and businesses as the Bethel-Tyler Road (Virginia 177) area develops.
Michael Gates, project manager for the new hospital, said the bid awards were approved contingent on a modified contract between the PSA and the hospital. While a final agreement hasn't been reached, Gates characterized it as "more a paperwork issue at this point."
While utilities for the hospital project appear to be nearly resolved, another water and sewer project is still up in the air.
The authority on Monday reviewed the status of negotiations for water and sewer service to the proposed Auburn Hills Golf Course and residential development in Riner.
Developers had asked for 25,000 gallons of a new 100,000-gallon per day sewage treatment facility. But the PSA has always operated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Plans were already under way to expand the existing Riner wastewater plant to 100,000 gallons a day. But plans by the Jon and Katy Altizer family and other investors to build a golf course and up to 140 homes on more than 200 acres of land have created a need for more capacity.
The PSA has proposed to increase its planned expansion of a Riner sewer plant from 100,000 gallons per day to 150,000 gallons per day, with the golf course developers splitting half of the $1.4 million total cost. That would avoid building two separate sewer plants.
"If they build a plant by themselves, they're looking at a million dollars," said Jerry Mabry, PSA utilities engineer.
The county has not heard back from the developers since making the draft proposal.
"We have been studying that, trying to see what our response should be," said Ash Carlton, one of the golf course developers.
"That was a big number. We want to work with the PSA. But we've got to figure out how we can work with them."
LENGTH: Medium: 71 linesby CNB