DATE: Wednesday, August 20, 1997            TAG: 9708200444

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   64 lines

FRANKLIN OPTS OUT OF GASTON PIPELINE SUFFOLK NOW HAS ACCESS TO THE MILLION GALLONS OF WATER.

Suffolk could become the newest partner in the Lake Gaston pipeline, even while being sued by the other key players in the project.

After months of soul-searching, the City of Franklin decided last week that it cannot afford to buy Lake Gaston water. That move allows Suffolk to exercise its option on the 1 million gallons of water per day that had been allotted to Franklin.

Franklin's City Council decided last week that it could not ask city residents to pay $27 to $31 more a month to gain access to the Gaston water.

``It just was not appropriate for us to consider those kind of expenses at this time,'' Mayor Jim Councill said Tuesday.

It would have cost the city $2.5 million to pay for its portion of the pipeline and to transport the water from the end of the pipe to the city's water system, he said. That doesn't include the cost of building a plant to treat the water, Councill said, and the city has other, more pressing, infrastructure needs right now.

``We had to make an economic decision and a philosophical decision. . right decision.''

Suffolk now has a decision to make.

``Actually, we've assumed this for a number of years,'' Suffolk City Manager Myles E. Standish said Tuesday. ``How we will react to it is something we'll have to think about.''

It's not clear how Franklin's decision will affect the suit Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach filed against Suffolk earlier this year. Suffolk has delayed completion of the project by imposing conditions on permits Norfolk needs to improve its pumping station there to handle the extra capacity. Suffolk said it added the restrictions to guarantee a continued water supply for its citizens.

The cities have agreed to enter mediation to settle their dispute out of court.

Suffolk's municipal water supply now provides 3.5 million gallons of water per day. The city also buys 300,000 gallons per day from Portsmouth and has seven community well systems.

The 1 million gallons of water from the pipeline would buy the city four or five years worth of growth at its current pace, public utilities director Albert S. Moor said Tuesday.

Under a 1991 agreement, Suffolk can buy the pipeline water if either Isle of Wight County or Franklin - both entitled to up to 1 million gallons per day - opt out. Isle of Wight has not yet decided whether to exercise its option.

Suffolk would have to pay 1/60th of the $150 million cost of the pipeline to get the water, according to the 1991 agreement.

Franklin has surplus water now and a year-long study suggests that the city has other - perhaps cheaper - options for handling its future needs, Councill said.

Franklin is also landlocked and therefore limited in its growth, he said. But turning down the water could mean turning down future business development.

``We just won't be able to bring any high capacity water users,'' Councill said. ``We certainly couldn't bring in another Union Camp.''

The pipeline would provide up to 60 million gallons of water per day to South Hampton Roads' communities. Virginia Beach would take up to 48 million gallons, and Chesapeake would draw up to 10 million gallons. Norfolk would treat the water destined for Virginia Beach but would not use any of it. KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON PIPELINE

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