THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 26, 1995 TAG: 9504260456
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Concerned that North Carolina has not yet approved a pact that would end the Lake Gaston pipeline dispute, the City Council on Tuesday deferred authorizing a $100 million expansion to a Norfolk water treatment plant.
North Carolina and Virginia Beach are within days or hours of an agreement, several people close to the negotiations have said. It was unclear Tuesday whether the council's action was a negotiating tactic or meant there would be a delay in the settlement.
The council voted 10-0 to ``delay indefinitely'' any action on the plant expansion, which would be needed to handle the lake water.
Council member Louis R. Jones, one of the council's Gaston negotiators, made the only public comments before the vote: ``Because of the fact that the state of North Carolina has not responded in the affirmative, I'm going to defer this indefinitely.''
The council met in executive session before the public meeting to discuss the pipeline settlement, although none of the members would comment on it publicly. Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf said last week that the council would be taking a ``very sound risk'' by authorizing the expansion.
Virginia Beach, which would pay for any work done, has until Friday to notify Norfolk it will fund the plant's improvements. If it does not, Norfolk will proceed with other construction at the plant.
Should the pipeline be approved this summer, it would bring water to a Norfolk reservoir in Isle of Wight County in the spring of 1998. But Norfolk would not be able to process that water for several more years if it does not expand its plant now.
The council could still meet the Friday deadline by scheduling a special session later in the week.
Virginia Beach and North Carolina officials have been negotiating behind closed doors for four months, hoping to find a peaceable way to end the 13-year interstate battle.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL LAKE GASTON PIPELINE NORTH
CAROLINA by CNB