Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9410310068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Amid reminders of the past, six of Montgomery County's elected leaders focused Saturday on the present and the future.
Meeting at the nearly 200-year-old Linkous-Kipps home in a room decorated with Civil War memorabilia and other Americana, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors held its first major retreat in at least a decade.
The supervisors quickly moved through four hours of current issues. Then came 90 minutes of talk about the future, which ended on an upbeat note but without any sweeping solutions. All board members attended the meeting at Chairman Larry Linkous' home outside Blacksburg except the longest-serving, Supervisor Joe Stewart of Elliston.
Although the supervisors, with a somewhat different membership, held a goals meeting five years ago, it didn't have the same range as Saturday's retreat, said 10-year board member Ira Long of Prices Fork.
With the help of facilitator and Virginia Tech education professor Steve Parson, the board also came up with a "mission statement." Some members said the expression is being overused, particularly in relation to the New Century Council and its effort to link the Roanoke and New River valleys. "My personal feeling is I'm sick of hearing vision statements," Supervisor Joe Gorman said.
Nevertheless, here's Montgomery's mission: "Provide quality services to citizens in a high-quality, cost-effective manner with minimal government regulation."
The supervisors settled on that version and a slight variation after talking over the need to control growth but not burden residents with excessive rules or taxation.
And Montgomery will have to achieve that while growing faster than any other county in the New River Valley or Roanoke areas. The state last year projected Montgomery will gain 10,000 new residents by 2010, while Roanoke, Salem and Pulaski and Giles counties will lose population.
One key element will be regional cooperation within the New River Valley, board members agreed. Gorman and other supervisors commended the New River Planning District Commission for playing a role in that and cited the Virginia 177 Corridor Agreement with Radford as a model for regional cooperation. Under that agreement, the county and city will share the tax benefits and costs of growth expected between Interstate 81 and the Radford city limits.
The supervisors talked over ways to prepare for the future the county's roads, sewer and water systems, libraries, recreational facilities and schools. They also addressed disparities in public resources among Blacksburg and Christiansburg and rural communities such as Shawsville, particularly in the availability of public computer access, such as that provided by the Blacksburg Electronic Village.
"I think if you can just achieve some equity, it would be a big thing," said Supervisor Henry Jablonski, who represents a portion of Christiansburg and the huge, southwestern quarter of the county. To that end, the board talked of combining a new school and new library for the Shawsville and Elliston areas, though board members noted the different roles and philosophies of school and public libraries.
On short-term issues, the board agreed that it needs to:
Stress with the Montgomery Sheriff's Office the need to have improved enforcement of the county's dumping, junked cars and county decal ordinances. Long said this isn't a problem unique to Sheriff Ken Phipps, but goes back years. Though some members suggested a more heavy-handed approach - tying county funds to an ordinance-enforcement contract - Supervisor Nick Rush advised against such a move. "Sometimes, a contract might not be the best way to go."
Do a better job of letting the county School Board and county departments know of tax revenue projections in the late fall, before the annual budget process starts. Also, consider rethinking the definition of capital improvements to remove items that are really regular maintenance, such as the repair of school roofs.
Be more focused in its meetings to prevent them from dragging on into the wee hours of the night. Also, the board's leadership will make sure it has a firm consensus on issues and make sure that consensus has been explained clearly to the county staff.
Continue the practice of relying on closed-door sessions to reach consensus on major issues. Linkous and Long both described such sessions as "sacred" and admonished their colleagues to keep what's said during them secret until it's discussed in public session. Supervisor Jim Moore said he often votes against executive sessions because he thinks they are overused when talking about industrial development.
Designate an articulate county public information officer who can try to promote good news about county government efforts. The key will be making sure the PR person is well-informed. "Be sure we don't get a Robb or a North, who keeps putting his foot in his mouth every other day," Gorman quipped.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***