ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601120016
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
The Acco Stone Co. quarry outside Blacksburg will be able to grow in the next year, following a vote Wednesday by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.
The board voted 6-1 to amend the quarry's permit to allow for new mining operations on 90 acres adjacent to its present site at Jennelle and Yellow Sulphur roads. That will double the size of the limestone quarry to 180 acres, but operators say the existing portion is nearly depleted and will be phased out as the new section opens up.
Supervisor Nick Rush was the lone "no" vote. Rush, who represents the area, said he didn't favor additional weekend and evening hours for certain grinding and crushing operations.
Also Wednesday, the board elected Henry Jablonski, a Christiansburg Republican, as its chairman for the year, and Ira Long, a Prices Fork Democrat, as vice chairman. The 7-0 votes came after a 10-minute closed-door session.
Before expanding the quarry, Acco Stone will have to submit a landscaping plan designed to "substantially reduce" views of the gaping hole from Jennelle and Yellow Sulphur roads. It will require administrative approval from the county.
Finishing the landscaping plan should take much of the next year, said Kendall Clay, a lawyer representing Acco and its parent company, Salem Stone Inc. In the meantime, Acco Stone has promised to plant conifers along Jennelle and Yellow Sulphur roads by April 1 to screen the present quarry from view.
Aside from allowing the quarry to grow, the supervisors expanded the hours for an on-site plant that grinds small stones into sand, and added Saturdays for a stone-crushing plant from April to December. The board also increased the hours during which blasting will be allowed.
The prime factor behind the changes - aside from depletion of the original site - is demand for stone and asphalt because of growth in the New River Valley, Acco representatives said. Acco Stone is supplying raw materials for work on Interstate 81 and expects demand to increase even more with the construction of the proposed U.S. 460 bypass connector and the "smart" road.
In other matters Monday, the board:
Tabled a residential rezoning proposal for a 205-acre subdivision with 98 lots off Rock Road near Radford until the county Public Service Authority and the city agree on how to provide utilities to the site.
Agreed to spend $19,127 on the June Republican primary between incumbent U.S. Sen. John Warner and challenger Jim Miller. Most of the cost will cover wages for part-time registrars, election officers and voting machine mechanics.
Spent nearly two hours behind closed doors discussing property acquisition for the proposed new elementary school behind Auburn High School in Riner and for the Shawsville Middle and High schools. School Superintendent Herman Bartlett, School Board Chairwoman Annette Perkins and school facilities director Larry Schoff were included in the talk, along with Joe Straub, a private appraiser.
The Board of Supervisors took no action. On Tuesday, the School Board spent 45 minutes in executive session discussing land acquisition, again without public action. The county has been negotiating privately with the landowner for months.
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