THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 28, 1995 TAG: 9506280446
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
The Chesapeake City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the Lake Gaston settlement reached between Virginia Beach, Norfolk and North Carolina.
The Chesapeake council also voted to authorize up to $365,000 a year in payments to communities that would be affected by the withdrawal of water from the lake.
Also Tuesday, the Norfolk City Council unanimously approved the agreement, which Norfolk City Manager James B. Oliver had signed in Richmond on Monday evening.
The pact, finalized on Monday, calls for a 10-cent per 1,000 gallon surcharge on the water to be divided equally between North Carolina and Southside Virginia.
The city would be a one-sixth partner in the 76-mile pipeline, tapping up to 10 million gallons of water a day and ensuring Chesapeake's growth into the 21st century.
The council voted 8-0 to approve the pact. Councilman John E. Allen was absent and did not vote.
The pact must be approved by the General Assemblies of both states.
Gov. George F. Allen refused Tuesday to call the Virginia legislators into special session unless he received guarantees that only Gaston would be discussed and that the session would end by June 30.
Without the pact, the fate of the Gaston project will lie again with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is expected to decide by the middle of July whether to allow Virginia Beach and Chesapeake to take any or all the water they want from the lake. Whichever side loses in that decision is expected to reopen litigation. MEMO: Staff writer Alex Marshall contributed to this report. by CNB