Advertise With the Virginia Mountaineer Today!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CROSSPOINTE Contractor Bill Perry, center, and J.R. Rowe, bottom left, check out the alignment on a storm drain on the Town of Grundy Redevelopment site, Tuesday afternoon, while another awaits the go-ahead to being dumping gravel in to cover the installed drain line. Rock encountered on the site may slow things down a little, but Perry said, despite that, the job is proceeding to make way for construction of the new town center.
(Staff photo/Cathy St. Clair.) |
|
|
|
|
Rock Find Slows Project, But Contractor Still Moves Ahead
|
by
Cathy
St.
Clair
News
Editor |
|
A discrepancy in the finished elevation of the town of Grundy redevelopment site may result in additional delays on the project as the contractor hired to install water and sewer lines on site has encountered solid rock.
PSA Director Darrell Cantrell said the contractor, Crosspointe Contracting, was having to dig deeper than the bid originally projected in about 30 spots due to elevation problems.
He said Monday that both the town and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been contacted to determine how to deal with the problem.
“The elevation is two to four foot lower than it should be in places,” Cantrell said.
The real problem, he added, is that if additional grade work is done, it is possible that work the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already done to install storm drains may have to be taken out and redone to allow the two portions of the project to match.
He expressed concerns Monday about the PSA’s involvement in the project, going so far as to suggest the PSA should never have gotten involved in the project. Without the PSA’s involvement, however, he said, a $700,000 community development block grant could not have been accessed.
“This is something the developer should have done on his own,” Cantrell said. “We’re out of money now for this project.”
He said additional funding to complete the project will come from sources other than the PSA.
Cantrell said after a meeting Tuesday he felt better about any delays, adding it appeared all parties would be able to work through them.
Cantrell said it appeared that some additional fill was added on the river side of the site, but not at the back of the site where the construction of the line is ongoing. By raising the entire site benchmark by one foot, it would be balanced, engineers on the project agreed. As a result, the cuts to be made by the current contractor will be reduced by one foot.
The contractor was on site Tuesday installing the lines needed by the developer to begin his construction of the actual town center which will house numerous retail business, including Wal-Mart, as well as professional offices.
Additionally, Cantrell noted it appeared a problem with the fire flow for water at the site has been worked out.
Cantrell said he was told Tuesday the town IDA had asked Thompson & Litton to do a preliminary engineering report on the cost to replace the old water lines throughout the town of Grundy. Cantrell said replacing the old lines is the easiest way to get the needed water flow to the town site. |
|
|
For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. To subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
|
Governor Allows DNA Retesting In Coleman Case
Results Could Be Back By End Of Week in 25-Year-Old Case
|
by
Cathy
St.
Clair
News
Editor |
|
Buchanan
County
became
a
national
focus
again
this
week
as
CNN
trucks
and
national
news
media
rolled
into
the
area
to
cover
local
reaction
to
a
decision
by
Virginia
Gov.
Mark
Warner
to
allow
DNA
testing
in
the
almost
25-year-old
rape
and
murder
case
for
which
Roger
Keith
Coleman
was
put
to
death
more
than
13
years
ago.
The results of that testing could be back by the
end
of
the
week,
a
spokesman
in
the
governor’s
office
said,
adding
the
governor
hoped
to
be
able
to
make
a
public
announcement
of
the
result
before
his
term
of
office
ends
Saturday.
Coleman was convicted of the rape and murder
of
his
sister-in-law,
Wanda
Faye
Thompson
McCoy
in
1982.
He
was
sentenced
by
a
jury
to
death
and
was
electrocuted
10
years
later
in
1992.
Anti-death penalty supporters through
the
years
have
called
for
the
retesting
of
DNA
collected
from
the
crime
scene.
Past
DNA
and
blood
tests
have
shown
that
Coleman
was
among
the
.2
percent
of
the
Caucasian
and
African-American
populations
which
could
have
committed
the
crime.
Prosecutors in the case, Mickey McGlothlin
and
Tom
Scott,
both
said
they
had
no
objections
to
the
test
being
conducted,
but,
they
both
expressed
concern
about
the
chain
of
custody
of
the
evidence
and
the
quality
of
any
remaining
frozen
semen
sample.
“Assuming the legitimacy of the chain
of
custody;
assuming
the
integrity
of
the
sample
has
been
preserved;
and
assuming
there
is
a
sufficient
amount
of
sample
to
test,
then
I
fully
expect
the
test
to
disclose
that
Coleman
is
the
rapist,”
Scott
said.
McGlothlin agreed, adding he supported
the
testing
of
any
material
still
out
there.
“You can’t ever be afraid to follow
the
path
toward
truth,
wherever
it
may
seem
to
lead,”
McGlothlin
said.
“I would be shocked if it didn’t indicate
Coleman.”
For months, the governor’s legal counsel,
Centurion
Ministries
and
the
forensic
scientist
who
tested
the
evidence
during
Coleman’s
post
conviction
appeal
process
--
and
who
still
retained
it
--
have
been
in
negotiations
to
agree
on
what
the
governor’s
office
referred
to
as
“a
credible
protocol
for
retesting
the
evidence
with
the
latest
DNA
technology.”
That negotiations were completed
and
the
first
set
of
samples
were
sent
to
the
Ontario
Centre
of
Forensic
Science
Lab
in
Toronto
on
December
15,
2005.
The
second
delivery
of
evidence
to
the
lab.
|
|
|
For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. To subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subscribe
to the
Mountaineer
today
and
don't
miss
out on
all
the
Buchanan
County
news!
Call 276-935-2123 or write: P.O. Box 2040,
Grundy,
Va.,
24614-2040
to get
your
subscription
started.
Pricing
information
is
found
on the
Advertising
page
of
this
site. |
|
|
*
*
*
*
*
*
ATTENTION:
ASL
Students,
Parents, Community Members . . .
Keep a Lasting Memory of the
Appalachian School of Law!
Order a beautiful color photograph of
the law school. Get details by e-mail --
jjcat@netscope.net
Photo Prices Are: (includes shipping)
5x7.................... $10.00
8x10...................$12.50
11x16.................$17.00
*
*
*
*
*
*
|
|
|
|
