The Shadow
LOW MOOR — Falling Spring Elementary School may be the site of jointly-operated E-911 communications center.
A decision on whether to move ahead with the joint facility between Alleghany County and Covington will come during budget time next year.
Tuesday night, the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors received an update on the communications facility project. A joint emergency communications facility with Covington has been under discussions since the early 1990s.
The focus now is on Falling Spring Elementary School, which was closed by the Alleghany County School Board in June 2013.
Falling Spring Elementary and three other possible sites were considered after land at Pitzer Ridge was ruled out due to cost factors.
Rough estimates indicate the cost of placing the facility at Falling Spring at $3.9 million. Other locations would cost over $6 million.
Other sites under consideration are: Adams Asphalt in the Alleghany Regional Commerce Center, $6.05 million; school board-owned property behind Mountain View Elementary School, $6.5 million; and Nettleton Foundation property near the WKEY radio tower in the Asbury Park section of Covington, $7.1 million.
Jon Lanford, assistant county administrator, said a committee comprised of county and city representatives evaluated 20 potential sites before choosing the four currently under consideration.
“What we are presenting you with tonight are planing-level cost estimates for all four sites,” Lanford told supervisors Tuesday.
More accurate cost estimates will be available in March after engineering studies are completed.
Lanford said that if Falling Spring Elementary School is chosen for the E-911 facility, a tower would have to be constructed.
“Falling Spring would require construction of a new tower. We could not microwave hop to existing towers from there. However, Falling Spring is still the most cost-effective site to develop, including the construction of the new tower,” he said.
The tower at Falling Spring and associated microwave technology would cost an estimated $740,000.
“We will have a document ready in March with pretty firm estimates. Then, we will need to make a decision at that point on whether we want to move forward and that will coincide with budget season,” Lanford said.
Due to the lack of available grants for an E-911 facility, the county and city would likely be asked to consider bond/loan financing package that would be paid back over a 20-year period at 3 percent interest. Alleghany County would be responsible for 75 percent of the cost of the facility and Covington, 25 percent.
Supervisor Chairman Steve Bennett said the county and city came close to reaching an agreement for a joint E-911 facility when the Alleghany Regional Jail was constructed. At that time, talks centered on placing the communications center in the jail.
Bennett said Covington decided to back away from the talks and place its communications center in city hall. The county’s emergency communications center is located in the jail.
“I’m not saying anybody was right or wrong, but that is the decision that was made at the time,” Bennett said.
In other business, supervisors:
— Approved conditional R-2 zoning to allow the Shenandoah Autism Center to operate at 2419 Valley Ridge Rd.
The property was being used as a medical office by Drs. James Walker and Michelle Good.
Zoning approved Tuesday adds schools as an acceptable use for the property.
The autism center will relocate from Clifton Forge to the site in Valley Ridge. The school employs 20 people and has approximately 15 students.
A sleep center will continue to operate on the second floor of the building.
— Approved an exemption of farm animals, grains and feeds and farm machinery from county taxation.
— Recommended that the Alleghany County Circuit Court appoint Whitman Ellis to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
— Passed a resolution approving the issuance of up to $288 million in state industrial revenue bonds to finance the recently-completed construction of a biomass boiler at MeadWestvaco in Covington.
— Reappointed Connie Back and Teresa Johnson to the Alleghany Highlands Community Services Board.
