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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 1, 1993                   TAG: 9312010360
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-6   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Short

PULASKI OKS WATER, SEWER SUPPLEMENTS

Pulaski Town Council voted unanimously to supplement its water and sewer funds by more than $240,000 at a special meeting Tuesday morning.

An appropriation of $24,624 will go to the water fund and $215,503 will go to the sewer fund. The audited expenses in those funds exceed their budgets by those amounts.

``We knew we had a deficit budget to begin with. Why are the auditors telling us we ought to correct that now?'' asked Councilman Andy Graham.

Assistant Town Manager Rob Lyons said the auditor requested the actions because the town's comprehensive annual financial report was due Tuesday.

The overexpenditure in the water fund was caused by $10,527 in overtime work to correct raw water intake leaf problems, $12,927 more than anticipated in electrical service, $4,974 in chemicals and $9,286 for an unanticipated geo-technical analysis of the town's two dams required by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Additional sewer costs stemmed from $179,354 in Peppers Ferry treatment charges caused by infiltration and in-flow resulting from last winter's blizzard and heavy rains.

Other costs included $15,499 in overtime work at the Critzer Sewage Pump Station.

``We accrued some overtime charges again that we could not anticipate,'' Lyons said.

Town staff members are looking into ways to foresee such problems in the future.

by CNB