THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512140410
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
The county Planning Commission recommended Tuesday that the Board of Supervisors turn down a request from Virginia Beach to store up to 60 million gallons of Lake Gaston water in the county.
Virginia Beach had received permission in 1987 from the county supervisors to snake the pipeline across the county en route to Lake Prince in Suffolk. But a few years ago, Beach engineers realized that they could save about $30 million by eliminating a costly pump station and ending the pipe instead in the Ennis Pond Channel, an Isle of Wight creek that runs into the lake.
Beach officials said they told Isle of Wight about the change, and then applied for and received federal permits for the pipeline based on the new route.
One planning commissioner, Phyllis Bloxum, suggested Tuesday that Virginia Beach should have gotten Isle of Wight's formal approval before going through the extensive permitting process.
``We should have been notified about this change a long time ago,'' said Bloxum, who joined the unanimous vote against the new route.
Virginia Beach will now have to persuade the county Board of Supervisors to permit the new route, or risk costly and time-consuming changes.
``We need the concurrence of the county supervisors,'' said Clarence A. Warnstaff, Virginia Beach director of public utilities. ``I don't really want to speculate as to what's going to happen if ultimately they deny us the request.''
In 1987, Virginia Beach received the permission of five counties and one town to run the pipeline through them.
Because of the route changes, the city is applying again for permission to cut through Isle of Wight and Sussex counties and the town of Jarratt. The change was already approved in Greensville County, and did not need new approvals in Brunswick or Southampton counties, Warnstaff said Wednesday.
The Isle of Wight supervisors, who approved the plans in 1987 against the recommendation of the planning commission, are to take up the issue in January.
Warnstaff said Virginia Beach waited until now to formally notify the communities of the new route, because the city wanted to make sure the pathway would meet exacting federal environmental standards. by CNB