Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 29, 1993 TAG: 9310290195
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN BARNES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FOREST LENGTH: Long
If you ask a pair of Forest residents, there's a hungry crocodile lurking in the cool waters of the James River.
The ravenous reptile is the city of Lynchburg, and it has its eyes on Forest, an affluent Bedford County suburb that borders Lynchburg, say H.F. and Anita Garner.
The Garners, inspired by a meeting this month on the possibility of Lynchburg's annexing Forest, have started a petition drive calling for the consolidation of Bedford County with Bedford.
Although a state moratorium prohibits annexations until at least 1995, consolidation would permanently halt any annexation efforts by Lynchburg - because cities can't annex land in other cities.
The Garners and volunteers will be at polling places Tuesday seeking supporters for their cause. Signatures must be collected from more than 3,400 registered voters in the county and about 450 registered voters in the city.
If enough people sign the petitions, Bedford County and city residents could face a special election as soon as next year to decide the fate of consolidation.
If the referendum passes, City Council and the county Board of Supervisors would appoint a committee to negotiate terms and conditions of the merger. The committee would be under a 12-month deadline. The consolidation committee might include only politicians, because they have the right to appoint the group's members.
If the consolidation committee can't reach a consensus, a circuit court judge would appoint a citizens' committee to continue the task of organizing a unified government.
"Should anyone choose to stall, this is a clock ticking," Anita Garner said. "This is a legal process with a time frame."
The petition, according to Garner, is designed not only to thwart any annexation attempts, but also to provide more-streamlined government. "We want to create a single governing body for the city and county, eliminating the cost of duplicative services; and consolidation is the only way to prevent annexation," she said.
Garner, a resident of Forest since 1987, believes Lynchburg is eyeing the quickly growing Forest area as a potential source of tax dollars needed to fix a crumbling sewer system. "The city is looking for a solution," she said. "I don't believe we were put in this county to save them from their own neglect.
"When I see how they've managed what they do have, I don't want them using my extra tax dollars," she said.
But a Lynchburg official flatly denied any plans to annex Forest.
"Nothing that I've seen or heard indicates we're even interested," said C. Reggie Whitley, deputy city manager. "This is flatly not on the agenda."
Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, and county Supervisor Henry Creasy spoke at the initial meeting on annexation. Putney said he's in favor of extending the moratorium to give the proponents of consolidation more time to develop a cohesive plan.
"I feel the taxpayers of Bedford County and city would derive better, more-efficient expenditure of their resources by paying for one government instead of two," he said. "I think there are overlappings and unnecessary government spending that could be eliminated."
But County Administrator William Rolfe warned that consolidation may not produce the level of savings expected. "The thing that scares me is that people automatically assume the cost of running one government instead of two is cheaper," he said. "I'm just saying there may not be the whopping savings people may think."
The city and county already share several services - social services, health department, court system, libraries, schools and extension services.
Creasy, who represents the Forest area, favors more study of the idea and plans to meet with City Councilman W.D. "Skip" Tharp to discuss what steps need to be taken.
But Creasy said he thinks the likelihood of annexation is slim. "They should be concerned about it, but the chances of it happening aren't as great as people might fear," he said, arguing that Lynchburg's attention will be on fixing the sewer system instead.
Tharp, who telephoned the Garners to offer his support, views the possibility of consolidation with optimism. "The city of Bedford cannot grow within the boundaries, and we need to look at that," he said. "Annexation is a negative word in everybody's vocabulary, and consolidation seems far better."
He conceded that scar tissue resulting from the incorporation of the city - which was a town until 1968 - still remains and could cause city residents reluctance to vote for consolidation with the county.
But all county residents - including city dwellers - would stand to lose a great deal if Forest were annexed by Lynchburg. Forest provides more tax revenue than any district in the county - 28 percent - and a significant portion of the county's population - 25,000 of the county's 45,000.
The remaining 20,000 county residents would be left holding a half-empty tax bag to cover all the expenses of the county. "This is where the whole county of Bedford must realize they'll be hit with the ripple effect," Garner said. "They'll realize it when they feel the trickle-down when taxes go up to cover the loss [of Forest]."
But a citizens' group spokesman in the western part of the county said that, despite that threat of increased taxes, consolidation would face a tough test in his area.
"For this thing to pass, there's going to have to be some changes," said Robert Crouch, president of the District 6 Taxpayers for Equal Shares. "We feel we've helped finance all the improvements [in Forest]. It's been all pay and no receive. . . . So do we keep on paying and have them be the recipient of all our money? We'd like a water and sewer system over here, too."
In the past 20 years, more consolidation efforts have failed than have passed in the state. The last successful merger was in 1974, when Suffolk joined with the county of Nansemond to become the city of Suffolk.
Voters in Roanoke County soundly rejected a consolidation proposal with Roanoke in 1990. The next year, Clifton Forge and Alleghany remained separate entities after voters rejected a referendum. That was the area's second attempt to consolidate local governments; just four years earlier, a referendum to link Covington, Clifton Forge and Alleghany County sank to the bottom of the James River.
Earlier in the 1980s, Staunton and Augusta County tried to merge, but voters had different plans in mind. An effort in Pulaski County, Dublin and Pulaski met with the same result in 1983.
"Based on past experience, this is a very difficult thing to do," said Ted McCormack, assistant director of the Commission on Local Governments. "But it can happen."
by CNB