ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 6, 1997 TAG: 9704070025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
Supervisor Stewart ought to set a better example
Regarding the article on Montgomery County Supervisor Joe Stewart ("Montgomery supervisor indicted for letting horses run loose," Current, March 29:
According to the article, Stewart was warned by Floyd County deputies on several occasions about the upkeep of his fence line and he ignored their warnings. On another occasion, he told a Montgomery County deputy that "he would rather go to jail" than sign a ticket. He should have been escorted to the jail at that time. He was also ticketed for not having a county decal on his truck and said the incident was an "overaction" on the deputy sheriff's part.
I don't care how long he has been a supervisor, I feel that Stewart is not the type of individual who should be representing the interests of the citizens of Montgomery County and that the Republican Party should not nominate him for another term. The supervisors should set an example for our citizens by their actions on our behalf as well as by their actions as citizens of our community.
Dillard W. Akers
Christiansburg
Are supervisors 'snookered' by another 'smart' road change?
Well, it looks like the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors has been snookered again by Virginia Tech and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Last summer, as a bribe for the board's decision to allow condemnation of 140 acres of agricultural and forestal district land for the "smart" road, Tech promised to put 140 acres on Price Mountain into a conservation easement. Of course, the condemnation of the land is forever, while Tech's easement would last only 10 years, and the public would have no access to it. What a deal. And now the board is reconsidering whether to accept Tech's disingenuous offer. What a disgrace.
Of course, Tech has a long history of turning the tables. Remember when the initial condemnation application for the smart road land came before the board? Tech and the Department of Transportation never mentioned the snowmakers, communication towers, holding ponds, access roads, trailer sites, parking lots and other infrastructure they plan for the smart road. They never told anyone, and now they're being sued for neglecting to document the environmental impacts of those added technologies. In short, they lied.
Now the tables are about to be turned once again. The state is going to demand that Montgomery County pay for a pipeline to feed water to the smart road testing facilities. According to Ellett Valley landowners, the groundwater near the proposed testbed site is contaminated and cannot be used for the snowmaking machines. The cost of a pipeline would be substantial, and the taxpayers will be asked to foot the bill.
Will the Board of Supervisors, with its collective nose still bloody from the last round of knockdowns with Tech and VDOT, have the courage to hold its ground against a project out of control? Do we, the public, need to remind you that your principal duty is to the taxpayers of the county, and not to the Department of Transportation and the vested financial interests of Virginia Tech and its cronies?
We can hardly wait to see who really runs Montgomery County.
Shireen Parsons
Boone, N.C.
Citizens Police Academy leaves reader impressed
I would like to thank Sheriff Doug Marrs and his staff at the Montgomery County Sheriffs Department for allowing me to attend their Citizens Police Academy. I am very impressed with all that this department has done and has to keep up with. These men and women put their lives on the line for us every day, and I'm sorry to say some people in this county don't appreciate it.
Since Sheriff Marrs has taken over, I have seen more deputies on Prices Fork Road, at Prices Fork School and driving throughout the county. Did you know that one deputy usually covers over 100 miles in a shift? If it takes a few minutes for a deputy to respond to your call, please realize they could be on the other end of the county!
Also, did you know that the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department has to house and take care of people whom the Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Tech police departments arrest? The more arrests, the more deputies are needed at the jail, and therefore these officers cannot be out patrolling. If the department were granted more money, it could hire more deputies, give them the pay they deserve. Turnover would decrease.
I wish to applaud Marrs and the Sheriff's Department for their good work!
Susan Dickerson
McCoy
Story about crash death lacked compassion
I feel an overwhelming need to comment on an article concerning the death of a Christiansburg woman in an auto accident ("Woman dies in auto wreck, Current, March 4).
The details of the accident in the article, I agree, would be considered local news. I did not know the woman, but when I read the final paragraph of the article, I instantly felt she had somehow been violated by the reporter.
The final paragraph containing the misdeeds of her son was not relevant to the article regarding the circumstances of her death.
The information in that paragraph may be true, but that story has been done and redone.
You may justify this as journalism. In my opinion, I found it distasteful, lacking compassion and down right tacky!
Winnona M. Hughes
Christiansburg
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