Nobody seemed to want to take credit for calling them together, but a couple of hundred folks met in the Glenvar High School auditorium Monday night to continue organizing their protest of a proposed asphalt plant near the school.

Judy Conyers, a leader of the newly formed nonprofit Citizens for Positive Growth, thanked Roanoke County Supervisor Butch Church "for calling this informational meeting," as she opened it.

Church, for his part, insisted to the audience, "this is not Butch Church's meeting tonight, this is for you folks."

Whoever called it, it was quickly apparent that the controversial asphalt plant plan continues to rankle a lot of residents of the Catawba District that Church represents.

As many as 300 people showed up Feb. 4 when the county's planning commission endorsed Adams Construction Co.'s proposal to build an asphalt manufacturing facility on the site of the former Salem water filtration plant at 4127 West Salem Ave.

Most of them left that meeting frustrated, even though the final decision on the required rezoning and special-use permit for the plant still must be made by the board of supervisors, which is scheduled to consider it at the March 24 meeting.

"We have less than five weeks," Conyers said, which prompted the quick formation of the nonprofit organization to battle the plan. "The time to act is now."

Church, while reminding the crowd that the board of supervisors is not bound by the recommendation of the planning commissioners, said he was also unhappy with the result of that meeting.

"There were a lot of questions left unanswered, a lot of questions left unasked," he said.

He promised to address that when the matter comes before the supervisors.

"I will have unlimited time and I will speak plenty. ... I'll ask tough questions ... you want to know the answers to."

Church cautioned those who speak to the board to "be courteous, be polite even if you don't want to be. Be respectful."

David Wymer, the Catawba District representative on the county's school board, addressed the crowd as well.

He told them his board has not taken a position on the rezoning request, deciding "these are zoning issues" over which the school board "doesn't have any authority."

His board "will not take a position until such time it is convinced it is a safety and health issue, about which there are lot of opinions both ways," Wymer said.

"Having said that, I clearly am not in support of it, and am doing what I can with Butch and others on the board of supervisors.

"I've said it earlier, they have the right to do it, but it's not right to do it."

The floor was opened to any who wanted to ask questions of Church or Wymer, or just make a comment.

Although speakers were not required to identify themselves, there were consistent applause and other expressions of appreciation for the many who urged the group to plan its fight with facts, not emotions, when it addresses the supervisors.

Citizens for Positive Growth has already begun assigning people the tasks of finding documentation of the negative effects of asphalt plants on health, the environment, property values and taxes.

And several speakers agreed with the assertion that their opponent in the fight against the plant is not Adams Construction, but the three board of supervisors members who have not declared their opposition to the plant already.

Another insisted that the strongest weapon against those supervisors would be a threat to seek annexation by Salem.

He argued that the residents could petition to be annexed into the city, which would "love to have you."

Conyers said her group will be meeting again March 19, to "let you know some of the facts we have found and give you information about what you can do on the 24th."