Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 27, 1990 TAG: 9004270601
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It has produced no controversy and almost no public discussion or debate.
No formal opposition has developed to the $15.2 million bond issue that will be on the ballot Tuesday, when Roanoke voters also choose three City Council members.
There was no dissent when council voted earlier this year to schedule the referendum to coincide with the council election.
Five of the six council candidates have urged voters to approve the bonds. The Rev. Cecil McClanahan, an independent, is the only candidate who has not taken a position.
No one has mentioned the referendum or asked questions about it at forums for the candidates.
Yet, supporters are taking nothing for granted. They've raised $20,000 from private sources and spent it on newspaper advertisements and 27,000 informational brochures that were mailed to city residents this week.
"Mainly, it has been a communication program to help assure that people are aware of the referendum," said John Frye, co-chairman of a committee that is urging voters to approve the bond issue. "We haven't heard of any opposition, but we want to help assure a good turnout."
In keeping with the city's policy, no public money has been used to urge voters to approve the bonds.
The bond money will pay for projects that will "touch all of Roanoke and its citizens," Frye said:
The city's share of the cost for converting the old Jefferson High School into a center for the performing arts, education and civic organizations.
Removal of asbestos from city schools, replacement of heating systems in four schools and development of plans for modernizing six schools.
A flood-reduction project for Peters Creek.
Storm drains for Statesman Industrial Park.
Improvements to the drainage system in the vicinity of Church and Luck avenues downtown.
The city's share of the cost for three highway projects.
No tax increase would be required, city officials said. The normal growth in tax revenues will provide enough money to pay off the bonds, said city Finance Director Joel Schlanger.
The city's payments on previous bond issues also will begin to drop in 1994, Schlanger said, freeing up funds that can be used to help pay off the new bond issue.
Frye and Lewis Tolley head the Right for Roanoke Committee, a 17-member group organized this month by the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce to seek approval of the bond issue. The committee includes advocates for all of the projects that would be financed.
Frye is president of the Tread Corp., a company in the Statesman Industrial Park on U.S. 460. The city annexed the industrial park in 1976, but it has not corrected drainage problems. The bond issue includes $2.7 million to install a drainage system.
Tolley is president of the Peters Creek Civic League, a neighborhood group that has lobbied for several years for a flood-reduction project.
The bond issue would provide $4 million to reduce the threat of flooding along the stream.
Last summer, angry homeowners demanded that the city solve the longstanding flooding problem.
The project will include construction of three retention basins near Cove Road Northwest, channel widening from Melrose Avenue to Cove Road, and improvements to several bridges.
Conversion of the Jefferson High building is estimated to cost $5.5 million. The Jefferson Center Foundation, a private group, hopes to raise $2 million, and the city has promised to provide $3.5 million.
The bond issue also includes $4 million for schools. Most of the money - $3.3 million - would be used to remove asbestos. Asbestos is present in all schools except Fallon Park Elementary, the city's newest.
The remainder includes $430,000 for replacement of heating systems at Crystal Spring Elementary, Stonewall Jackson Middle School, Lucy Addison Middle School and William Fleming High School; $270,000 for renovation plans to seven schools: Breckinridge, Lucy Addison and Stonewall Jackson middle schools, Woodrow Wilson Junior High and Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools.
The bond issue includes a relatively small amount for highways, $150,000, but city officials said this will cover the city's share for three major projects in the next three years: Peters Creek Road extension, Franklin Road widening and Second Street/Gainsboro Road/Wells Avenue realignment and widening.
by CNB