THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 20, 1995 TAG: 9505200314
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE AND ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 133 lines
In Richmond and in Norfolk Friday, evidence mounted that the agreement to construct the Lake Gaston pipeline could unravel because of objections from lawmakers in Southwest Virginia, Southside Virginia and Hampton Roads itself.
In Richmond at a morning news conference, the two top Democrats in the House of Delegates - Speaker Thomas W. Moss Jr. and Majority Leader C. Richard Cranwell - said they do not expect the General Assembly to approve the Lake Gaston pipeline compact in its present form.
In Norfolk Friday morning, after a two-hour special closed-door council session, Mayor Paul Fraim said his city would not support the agreement until Virginia Beach agreed to pay Norfolk a fair price for Norfolk agreeing to restrict its future sale of surplus water.
The two events are related. Moss, D-Norfolk, is withholding his support for the agreement until Norfolk's concerns are satisfied.
``It's not going to happen in its present form - I can assure you of that,'' Moss said of the deal. ``I am not optimistic that a special session would bring results, and see no need to call one.''
Cranwell, a Roanoke Democrat, has his own reasons for opposing the agreement that would end 12 1/2 years of legal battles between Virginia Beach and North Carolina.
He says representatives from Southwest and Southside Virginia and the governor's office should have been included in the negotiations.
Cranwell called the deal ``ordained to fail.''
``The process that we have set afoot now will not develop a solution,'' he said. ``Because if, in fact, there is going to be a solution, it must accommodate the citizens of Southwest Virginia and Southside Virginia.''
Later Friday, Gov. George F. Allen said it would be pointless to call a special session of the legislature if Moss, Cranwell and other top Democrats are against the deal.
The pact, signed by Virginia Beach and North Carolina on April 28, requires approval by both states within 60 days. Since the Virginia General Assembly does not reconvene this year, a special session would have to be called to meet that deadline.
``You have not only divisions by region in this state, but within the sub-regions,'' Allen said. ``If you have the Hampton Roads delegation at this point split, at least at this moment, it makes it very difficult to believe that there would be any passage of this compact.
``I mean, if you have Norfolk and Virginia Beach disagreeing, why waste tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayers' money'' by calling a special session, Allen asked.
``Let's look at the reality of it. If you have the people of Norfolk against it, then it has no chance of getting through the legislature.''
Allen said he supports the pipeline but would not say whether he favors the agreement. He did, however, question the provision that would prohibit Norfolk from selling its surplus water - a particular sticking point in the negotiations. ``I certainly would not have come up with such a restriction,'' he said.
Even Cranwell, who represents a part of the state where support for the project is typically weak, said he might endorse some pipeline agreement - just not the one on the table.
Cranwell said he wants the negotiations to begin anew, with a series of public hearings and input from legislators throughout the state. Moss said the current agreement can probably be repaired without starting over, but he said he is not concerned about meeting the June 27 approval deadline because it's part of an agreement he does not support.
And Allen, whom Moss and Cranwell have criticized for taking an inactive role in the process, said he will not get involved.
``The ball is really in the court of Norfolk and Virginia Beach . . . and in the court of the legislature,'' Allen said. ``I think it'd be inappropriate for me to go to the city of Norfolk and tell Mayor Fraim and all the folks in the City Council `Oh, heck. Go along with that.' ''
But Virginia Beach Manager James K. Spore said he thinks the cities will forge some kind of deal.
``We reached an agreement with North Carolina,'' Spore said. ``We think we can reach one with Norfolk.''
Moss and Norfolk are concerned about language in the pact that limits Norfolk's ability to sell its surplus water and that calls for a regional water authority.
If Moss and the Norfolk delegation support the deal, other key voting blocks could fall in line.
Fraim said Friday he and the other council members remained firm in their position that Virginia Beach should compensate Norfolk fully in return for Norfolk agreeing to restrict where it sells water.
Fraim said Norfolk would continue to stick with the asking price of 60 cents per 1,000 gallons, the same price Virginia Beach is paying now for using about 30 million gallons daily.
The deal Virginia Beach struck three weeks ago with North Carolina requires Norfolk to agree to restrict its sale of surplus water to South Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina. Norfolk is asking Virginia Beach to buy all the surplus water it cannot sell elsewhere.
``Sixty cents was a benchmark in the water sales contract'' that Virginia Beach and Norfolk signed in 1993, Fraim said. ``That's a benchmark we intend to respect. But there is lots of room for discussion.''
On Thursday, Virginia Beach offered to buy roughly half of Norfolk's surplus - 15 million gallons of water per day - at a fixed rate of 30-cents per 1,000 gallons. It also offered to pay up to 9 cents per 1,000 gallons for any of the remaining 15 million gallons that Norfolk is unable to sell elsewhere.
Norfolk contends it is being asked to agree to serious restrictions on the use of its resources as part of an agreement it had no party in making. If Virginia Beach does not like Norfolk's demands, the city believes, then Virginia Beach should remove the onerous restrictions from the agreement.
``This is a position Norfolk did not ask to be placed in,'' Fraim said. ``The council is in total agreement to reject (Virginia Beach's) most recent position.
``We have asked Virginia Beach to relieve us of these conditions, and they tell us they cannot. We want to be free to market our water to whomever we want.''
Norfolk also continues to fear language in the agreement that encourages creation of a regional water authority. As holder of the largest share of the region's water, Norfolk is concerned that the other cities will use the authority to take control of its resources.
Without Norfolk's support, both in the state legislature and in abiding by the water sales restrictions, all sides agree the settlement will crumble. North Carolina would not have offered to end its legal battles and let Virginia Beach take water from Lake Gaston if that water would create a huge surplus in the region that could be sold for profit.
Virginia Beach and North Carolina signed the agreement three weeks ago, but both state legislatures, the U.S. Congress and the Norfolk City Council have to approve provisions of the accord before it can be finalized.
If the pact is ratified, construction on the 76-mile Lake Gaston pipeline could begin as early as this fall, with the first water flowing to South Hampton Roads by spring 1998. Virginia Beach would get up to 48 million gallons of water a day from the pipeline; Chesapeake could draw up to 10 million gallons a day and Franklin and Isle of Wight County would each be entitled to as much as one million gallons a day.
Construction is expected to cost $142 million. Virginia Beach has also agreed to pay Norfolk as much as $100 million to process the water.
KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON PIPELINE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT by CNB