The Virginian-Pilot 
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, April 29, 1995               TAG: 9504290329
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: By MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   46 lines

FRANKLIN, ISLE OF WIGHT FACE A DAUNTING TASK: FINDING THE MONEY TO PAY FOR GASTON WATER

Now that a settlement has been reached in the Lake Gaston pipeline dispute, the project's smaller partners must face the reality of paying for the long-awaited water.

Franklin and Isle of Wight County, each entitled to 1 million gallons of water a day from the pipeline, have not yet formally committed to drawing the water.

Both communities would have to foot about 1.7 percent of the bill for the $142 million pipeline, including fees incurred during the legal battle between Virginia and North Carolina.

Franklin officials have not discussed the settlement with Virginia Beach officials. But if Franklin should decide to hook onto the pipeline, it would need to build a small feeder line and a water treatment plant in addition to covering its share of the Gaston pipeline costs.

Franklin currently gets its water from a deep-well system. The city has no water treatment plant.

``Virginia Beach water is expensive water,'' said Franklin City Manager John J. Jackson. ``There's no doubt about that.''

But the impetus to get water from Lake Gaston is strong for Franklin, which faces increasing restrictions on the use of ground water from state regulators, Jackson said.

Isle of Wight County Administrator Douglas Caskey said his county has no desperate need for water from Lake Gaston. The Hampton Roads Sanitation District is building a new water line to the county, and promises have been made to build a second water line up U.S. Route 460 to Windsor.

Should the county decide to take water from Lake Gaston, it would be used mainly to help spur industrial growth, especially in the county's central development service district, which borders Suffolk.

``It's not something that we've been extremely worried about,'' Caskey said. ``The one positive that comes from this is that it will alleviate the region's dependency on ground water.''

KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON PIPELINE WATER SUPPLY PLAN by CNB