University of Virginia Library

CONVERSION TO GAS

The Chairman of the Mary Washington College Committee, Mr. Greear, stated that the College
had received a letter dated 1 October 1959, from Mr. William J. Gibson, of the firm of Coleman and
Gibson in Fredericksburg, emphasizing the embarrassment that had been caused by the failure of the
College to fulfill its commitments to the Natural Gas Service Company for the partial conversion
from coal to gas for heating purposes as authorized by the Board of Visitors at its meeting on 13
December 1958. Mr. Gibson pointed out that the College had been counted on as the principal single
customer of the gas company, that the project was approved by the State Corporation Commission on
the strength of a letter from the College dated 17 December 1958, reporting the Board's actions, and
that the College's participation had been a primary factor in obtaining the financing of the project
by a New York banking firm. Mr. Greear asserted that the contract for the conversion had not been
entered into because of a ruling by the Director of the Budget that the project was of such a
magnitude that it required the prior approval of the Governor.

After considerable discussion of both the specific problem at Mary Washington College and the
relationships between the State Budget Office and the Board of Visitors in the government of the
University, the Board adopted the following resolution

RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that the Rector is hereby directed to appoint a special committee of the Board to confer with the
Governor concerning the relationships between the State Budget Office and the Board of Visitors in
the government of the University, including the appropriate functions of the Budget Office and the
Board respectively with regard to the proposed contract with the Natural Gas Service Company.