Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 3, 1995 TAG: 9508030022
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: B. LYNN WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
Despite concerns expressed by Tim Brown, executive director of the Public Service Authority, supervisors steamed ahead to establish tentative water rates for customers of the former Hoges Chapel water system. The county acquired the system in April.
Brown told county officials that the proposed rates were too high - well beyond PSA recommendations - and could cause sticker shock among new customers.
He counseled the board to delay adopting the policy to allow more time for the public and the authority to comment.
Under the county plan, customers who use up to 5,000 gallons bimonthly will pay a minimum of $36. Brown said the authority suggested charges of around $24 a month for the average customer who uses 4,200 gallons.
"This is the level we felt the board was interested in the PSA providing for county customers," Brown explained. "Then I read the county was proposing average rates in the low to midthirties, as opposed to the midtwenties."
He urged supervisors to develop better lines of communication with the authority to gain public confidence. "The last thing either of us needs right now is the impression with the public that we're not working with each other and going in two different directions as far as the rate structure," he warned the board.
He also noted the absence of a mandatory hookup requirement as well as a requirement for customers to disconnect from other water sources once county water reaches an area.
Potential customers from the Ram-Wayside communities, whose water system is due to come on-line Oct. 1, questioned supervisors about the policy and their fees.
Board Vice Chairman Hub Brown said that he understood the draft water policy referred only to the Hoges Chapel area.
Wayside resident Robert Harvey said that he didn't want county water because it would be treated. Besides that, he said, he had gone to the expense of drilling his own well. Why should those who provided for their own water needs be penalized for their self-reliance, he asked.
"Why should I have to pay for something I don't need?"
The supervisors replied that he was not required to use county water, but that he would have to pay a nonuser fee. That rate has not yet been set.
Rosie Buckland, another Wayside customer, said her church uses only about 200 gallons a month and wondered if it would still have to pay the minimum.
Chairman George Hedrick said he didn't know.
Tim Brown, the PSA director, said churches should pay the minimum rate. If the county gives them a break, it could lead to "awkward situations," which could cause problems with the agency providing the water system grant.
The board waded through calmer water in another matter. Pearisburg resident Robert Gautier asked supervisors if they had discussed his "water problem" with the town of Pearisburg.
Gautier appeared before the board last month to complain about being bounced around between the town and county because of a problem neither would address. Development of a subdivision near his home on Curve Road has caused runoff to inundate part of his property, making it difficult to get to his mailbox.
The supervisors acted on Gautier's suggestion to stop work on the development. County Attorney Richard Chidester told the board that Building Inspector John Mills should "issue a stop work order to the developer and all lot owners who are undertaking construction" until an erosion and sediment control plan is approved.
In other business, the board:
Accepted a $50,000 donation from Hoechst-Celanese for the Greenway Project.
Asked County Administrator Janet Tuckwiller to negotiate with Giles Memorial Hospital about transferring ownership of the county ambulance service.
Set Sept. 5 for a public hearing on rural additions, if Virginia Department of Transportation Resident Engineer Dan Brugh can attend.
by CNB