THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603260170
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Virginia Beach officials hoping for permission to dump 60 million gallons of water from the proposed Lake Gaston Pipeline into Ennis Pond near Windsor will have to wait.
The Board of Supervisors last week tabled the decision until April.
Virginia Beach acquired a conditional use permit from the county in 1987 to allow 11 miles of buried pipeline through Isle of Wight. But late last year, the plan was altered to dump the water into Ennis Pond.
Several supervisors said before the meeting that they are not convinced that Virginia Beach officials have fully resolved concerns of landowners with homes on the shoreline of the small tributary to the Suffolk Lakes, where the Gaston water would end up.
The city of Norfolk, just one of the Hampton Roads localities which eventually could share in the water, recently purchased homes from two of the landowners protesting the plan. Those homes will be resold without the benefit of the necessary easement.
A committee appointed by the supervisors will continue to meet with Beach officials until all of the concerns can be resolved, said Bobby Claud, supervisor representing the Windsor District and a member of that committee.
On another matter last week, the supervisors voted 4 to 1 to approve a policy that will prohibit smoking and the use of all tobacco products inside county-owned buildings.
The regulation, prompted by appeals from several county offices, including the Department of Social Services, will apply to all buildings owned by the county. This includes the courthouse office complex, Public Recreational Facilities Authority buildings and several fire and rescue squad buildings.
Also last week, the board:
Heard from James Borberg, general manager of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, that the force main to Smithfield has been tested and is ready for service. Borberg said that the town has one pump station connected, another ready to connect and a third under construction. He said that Smithfield Packing will have 90 days to complete its connection to the regional sanitation line.
HRSD also is making plans to run the regional sanitation line to Windsor. Borberg said the plans for that line are currently undergoing a slight redesign but that a contract for the work should be awarded by mid-summer.
Heard from a number of residents who live on Country Way, a dirt road that runs adjacent to Gatling Point South. Residents said the road, which is supposed to be maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, is almost impassable at times. They said the road is dusty in dry weather, impassable during storms and filled with deep ruts.
Mac Neblett, VDOT's Suffolk District Highway Engineer, told the board that Country Way is not listed for paving in the county's six-year plan. Neblett plans to report to the supervisors in April about what can be done to improve the road. by CNB