INDUSTRIAL PARK ANNEXATION QUESTION SETS PEARISBURG AT ODDS WITH GILES COUNTY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 20, 1993                   TAG: 9302200087
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: STEVE KARK CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: PEARISBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
INDUSTRIAL PARK ANNEXATION QUESTION SETS PEARISBURG AT ODDS WITH GILES COUNTY
Whether Pearisburg should annex Giles County's industrial park appears to be a major conflict between town and county officials discussing the town's request to grow.
"Right now, they're asking for more than we're willing to grant,` said Supervisor George Hedrick, one of the county's representatives in the discussions. "Annexing the industrial park is non-negotiable."
Town Manager Ken Vittum said the entire area under consideration would nearly triple the size of the town - adding the communities of Hidden Meadows and Bluff City to the west, Ingram Village and Fairview Acres to the south, Mason Court, Lillyfair, Robin Hood, Virginia Heights and Walker Creek to the east.
The town already provides water to all but the Walker Creek area. Additionally, sewer service is provided in the Mason Court and Robin Hood subdivisions, and at the county's industrial park south of town, said Vittum.
Roughly 35 per cent of the residents in both Mason Court and Robin Hood use the town's trash pick-up service. All have the option, he said.
"We feel that those subdivisions were developed because of their proximity to the town," Vittum said. "Both Mason Court and Robin Hood subdivisions are primarily accessible by using town roads."
The town also provides library and recreational facilities used by town and county residents, and town police sometimes answer calls beyond the town limits, he said.
Vittum said there has been a growing demand for municipal services in the communities under consideration. The town already is stretching its resources to provide services outside its boundaries and needs to expand its tax base to keep up with this demand, he said.
County residents annexed by the town would have to add town fees and town real estate and personal property taxes to their county fees and taxes.
On the other hand, residents outside town who use town water no longer would have to pay 75 percent surcharges on their water bills. And they would be eligible for town services such as police, trash pickup, street lights and curbs.
Paying the additional fees and dealing with municipal ordinances are precisely what people outside the town don't want, said Supervisor Samuel "Ted" Timberlake, who with county Administrator Ken Weaver and Hedrick also represent the county in the discussions.
"We built outside of town to get away from town taxes and regulations," he said. "Of the people I've talked to, I would estimate that 80 percent of them would like for things to stay as they are."
Timberlake said people outside the town also don't want to have to deal with changes that would result when the town's zoning ordinance is applied to areas that previously were zoned as rural-use districts.
Timberlake and Hedrick said they were concerned about the town's plans to annex the county's industrial park, which is just south of the town limits.
"The folks that moved into the industrial park don't want to have to mess with the additional town regulations," Timberlake said. "And besides, the county spent too much time attracting business to that location for us to simply turn it over to the town."
Those concerns are unfounded, said Councilman Dan Level, who is representing the town with Vittum and Councilman George Psathas.
"The industrial park would not have gotten certification without the water that the town provides," he said. "We don't think it would suffer, because the town would be able to offer better service."
Despite their differences on the industrial park, all agreed that water supply is a primary factor. The county and the towns have been moving toward developing a countywide water system since the state Health Department issued warnings to several communities in the county two years ago.
Individual water systems are more susceptible to pollution because the limestone beneath much of the county is especially porous, the state said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB