THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 8, 1995 TAG: 9503080536
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The City Council heard again that renovating the troubled Granby Municipal Building is going to cost more than originally budgeted - about $3 million more.
Completing the four-story building with marble columns will run more than $8 million, Assistant City Manager Shurl R. Montgomery told the council Tuesday, based on new estimates by a private engineering company.
The city originally had budgeted $5.8 million to redo the building. In December, Montgomery said the building would cost $7.3 million to finish.
The latest figure of $8 million does not include the $200,000 the city paid to hire the private engineering firm. Nor does it include $250,000 in additional work the engineer has recommended to repair the marble facade of the building.
The council should choose whether to use marble or cheaper materials, Montgomery said. Although the renovation has ballooned in cost, it has been generally praised because it is restoring the 100-year-old former Rice's department store building on Granby Street. The marble facade was discovered after a more contemporary facing was removed.
The City Council late last year opted to transfer renovation of the building to a private company after becoming dissatisfied with the work the city staff had done.
Montgomery promised the council a more detailed report next week.
The council heard some other bad news Tuesday, this time about its new, high-intensity code enforcement sweeps: Not that they weren't working, but that only four such sweeps could be done a year, given current staffing levels.
The program uses a group of code enforcement officials to sweep through a neighborhood in a few days, tagging all violations, in a publicized push to pressure property owners into taking care of their property. Parts of Ocean View and Bayview were targeted in the second sweep, which began Monday.
But with the extensive follow-up work required to make sure violators make necessary repairs, the city staff can only do one sweep every three months, the council was told.
The council members have produced a list of 20 neighborhoods they believed should be targeted for sweeps. Civic leagues so far have been supportive of the program because they believe it helps prevent neighborhood deterioration.
``You go out and tell some neighborhood they are two years down the road,'' said Councilman Randy Wright, who has pushed for stronger code enforcement.
To double the number of sweeps to eight per year, the city would have to hire five added inspectors and a clerk, said Deputy City Manager Darlene Burcham. There are now 20 inspectors. by CNB