ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 22, 1996 TAG: 9611220032
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: COMPILED BY ROBERT FREIS AND KENNETH SINGLETARY
* The Montgomery County Planning Commission recommended Wednesday that the Board of Supervisors hold a public hearing for a request to build town houses on Five Points Road at Riner. The project has generated some controversy, as commission member Kathryn Brennan expressed concerns about traffic generated by the development and Riner-area resident Margaret Smith questioned the project's compatibility with its surroundings. More requests to build high-density residential development in Riner will probably follow, said Jeff Scott, county zoning administrator. The Board of Supervisors will consider setting a date for the public hearing at its next meeting on Dec. 9.
* The Christiansburg Town Council on Tuesday pondered the future of three soon-to-be empty buildings in town, and discussed trying to acquire the downtown post office, another building that will soon be vacated.
The senior center in Cambria and recreation building on Depot Street will be vacated when those services move to the town's new recreation center on North Franklin Street in six to nine months. Ann Carter suggested the town begin now to think about possible takers for the structures, and the rescue squad building on Stone Street. The new rescue squad building on Depot Street is more than halfway completed and could be open within months.
Council also decided to tell the U.S. Postal Service it might be interested in buying the downtown post office building when the new post office opens next year near the Marketplace shopping center. No price has been offered, and council members know renovations would be strictly controlled on the building because it qualifies as a National Historic Landmark.
Council also voted to amend the town's budget by more than $4 million to pay for the new recreation center, work on which has already begun. The move was routine, with the money coming from a bond issue and the insurance settlement from the January roof collapse of the former Lowe's building, which was originally earmarked to become the recreation center. The money will be spent on: $3.8 million for the new building; $238,000 for the purchase of the land; $26,000 for inspections; $25,500 for demolition of the old Lowe's building; $12,000 for a storage shed at the National Guard Armory; $2,300 for a fence around the construction site; and $600 for newspaper advertisements.
With council member Scott Weaver voting against the measure, council decided to award a $37,000 contract for two one-ton trucks to Harvey's in Radford. Weaver said such contracts should go to town vendors. Council gave a contract for a pickup truck cab and chassis for about $16,000 to Shelor's in Christiansburg. The town will customize the truck's bed.
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