ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 21, 1996 TAG: 9602210064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
The fiscally conservative majority on the Franklin County Board of Supervisors continued to flex its muscle Tuesday.
The board, with three members who started their terms Jan. 1, wrangles publicly with most funding requests.
Tuesday was no different.
At issue was a longstanding debate between the county and Rocky Mount about paying for a $1.2 million improvement of State Street in front of an industrial park the two co-own.
The supervisors, on a 5-1-1 vote, agreed to give the town $172,000 for widening, curbing and guttering on the project's first phase and just widening in the second phase.
Supervisor Gus Forry voted against the motion, and Supervisor Page Matherly abstained, saying so many numbers had been thrown around he didn't understand what he was voting on.
Town Manager Mark Henne had asked the board for $248,800 for the complete project.
Supevisor John Helms said it makes no sense to him for the county to spend more taxpayer money on the second phase "just to make things pretty."
The county agreed several months ago to pay $154,000 toward the first phase of the project, from North Main Street to the industrial park's entrance.
The second phase is from that entrance to Industrial Drive, the back access to the park.
The town is trying to finish the project to coincide with the scheduled opening of two new industries in the park this year, modular home producers Fleetwood and Mod-U-Kraf.
Henne has been lobbying the board for months to put up more money toward the second phase and to help the town cover other first-phase costs.
There is no written agreement between the town and county for financing improvements to the industrial park, but they traditionally have shared the cost of such projects, he said.
Several supervisors said Tuesday that there are issues yet to be resolved, such as additional state money that could be tapped for the improvements.
A handful of Rocky Mount business owners attended Tuesday's meeting in support of the town's request, including Gary Clark, general manager of Fleetwood Homes.
Clark said Fleetwood would prefer curbing and guttering in both phases.
Without the improvements on phase two, Clark said, the road ``will look half done.
``I've got serious doubts that we can get a truck out of there now with the road in its present condition,'' he said.
When Fleetwood Homes began looking for a site to expand its facility in Rocky Mount last year, Henry County was the leading candidate until Franklin County officials worked to persuade the company to build in the State Street industrial park.
Clark said he was impressed with the county's effort then, but Tuesday's decision "seems to be a step back."
The supervisors may revisit the issue if the situation changes, said board Chairman Wayne Angell.
Clark said he has contacted the state in an attempt to get the two project phases rolled into one, eliminating a requirement that $400,000 of the phase two cost be bonded. The requirement calls for the town or county to qualify the investment - hook a new industry, for example - in three years, or absorb that cost.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB