Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 15, 1995 TAG: 9508150056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The comments by council members Mac McCadden, William White and Linda Wyatt followed a briefing by City Manager Bob Herbert and a viewing of a 10-minute color video - complete with special effects and captions - about the proposal.
"I'm unaware that it was this administration's or this council's decision to go along with this project," McCadden said. "I'm kind of shocked. ... It seems by that video that the message from the administration is, 'This is what we're going to do,' and we didn't even know anything about it."
Herbert told council that the idea, focusing around a 140,000-square-foot former Norfolk & Western office building on Jefferson Street, dates back to late last year.
Virginia Western Community College was seeking to add more classroom space. At the same time, the city was seeking roomier digs for the cramped Roanoke Graduate Center on Church Avenue. Meanwhile, Norfolk Southern Corp. indicated a willingness to donate the property.
Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, asked the General Assembly to budget $419,000 for planning the facility, but the bill never got out of the House of Delegates.
This past spring, some other state universities expressed interest in running satellite programs in an expanded Roanoke higher-education center.
Herbert, Vice Mayor John Edwards, state Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, and Virginia Western administrators met with officials in Gov. George Allen's administration Aug. 7. They were noncommittal but said it would be considered, Herbert told council.
He expects to learn by December if the governor favors the proposal. The center itself is at least five years away.
Although no city funds are committed to the project, council could be faced with appropriations in the future, Herbert said.
Monday's briefing was the first for council, which has taken no vote on it.
"I don't think it's ever been made clear that it's on council's agenda," McCadden said. "Whether or not it's for the good of the city, it looks like it's a personal agenda, and that's what I have a problem with."
White and Wyatt, who both lauded the concept, said they were still troubled that it has been months in the making and council has been left out.
Wyatt said the criticism reinforces the city's need for a "visioning process," under which residents and officials could chart common goals for the future.
But Edwards said a higher-education center was part of an economic development mission statement that council adopted last year.
After the briefing, Herbert declined to address McCadden's criticism.
"I need to talk to him and apprise him of some communication work that's been done," Herbert said.
by CNB