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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 26, 1995                   TAG: 9503110005
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

HALF OF MONTGOMERY'S MEETING HELD IN SECRET

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors spent nearly as much time behind closed doors Monday as it did in public session.

The board met in executive, or closed, session from 10:10 p.m. Monday until 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, nearly 2 1/2 hours, according to minutes of the meeting. The supervisors briefly emerged from closed session at 11:30 p.m. to vote to extend the meeting beyond the normal cutoff, as their rules of order require. One supervisor, Henry Jablonski, went home then.

Beginning at 7 p.m., the board met just under three hours in the public eye, most of that time dominated by a controversial rezoning case.

With only one dissenting vote - from Supervisor Jim Moore of Blacksburg, a habitual opponent of secret proceedings - the Board of Supervisors entered closed session to discuss four topics.

Under state law, a public body must explain the specific exemptions it is using to justify going out of the public eye. The body also must certify afterward that it only discussed those specific matters.

The four topics included:

A potential utility agreement with Christiansburg to provide water and sewer service for the planned Falling Branch industrial park. The board discussed this with Gary Gibson of the county Public Service Authority and R.A. "Chip" Worley Jr. of Anderson and Associates Inc. Earlier this month, the PSA board - composed of the same seven men who serve on the Board of Supervisors - commissioned Worley's firm to study the costs of constructing the county's own sewage treatment plant to serve the Falling Branch region. That report has not been publicly discussed.

A potential lease agreement between the Montgomery Industrial Development Authority and a private company regarding a piece of land at the Elliston-Lafayette Industrial Park to be "used for a public purpose."

Discussion of an industry that is considering locating in the county.

Discussion of personnel appointments to five county authorities, commissions or boards. After the closed session, the board made a series of routine appointments.

by CNB