THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 6, 1995 TAG: 9504040118
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
A THOROUGH EXPLANATION
We are responding to the letter from Mr. Alfred M. Jacocks published in the March 2 Compass.
The city has wrestled with serious problems of water quality in our reservoirs for several years. The activity questioned by Mr. Jacocks is the corrective action under way by the Department of Utilities. It is paid for by the water rates for all who use Norfolk water in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and the Navy facilities.
Lake Whitehurst is an integral part of the regional drinking water supply. An abundance of nuisance vegetation is choking the lake. These weeds ruin the beauty of the lake, create a noxious odor, and if left unchecked, could threaten the water quality and wildlife in and around Lake Whitehurst.
The construction Mr. Jacocks wrote about is the base of operations for the limited dredging and aquatic vegetation harvesting presently under way. The aquatic vegetation harvesting has been an ongoing activity on Lake Whitehurst West since August 1994. The city's harvester tours the lake, cutting and gathering the nuisance vegetation.
There are several coves on the lake that are too shallow to accommodate the harvester, thus the need for dredging. Chesapeake-based contractor Higgerson-Buchanan Inc. was hired by the city to dredge these coves to a depth approved by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Due to permit restrictions, the dredging was to continue through March 31, then resume in the fall. Harvesting will continue year-round.
Throughout the planning, development and initiation of the watershed management project on Lake Whitehurst West, local media have been kept abreast of project progression. Residents around the lake are updated through brochures and civic meetings. Copies of a brochure outlining the project are available from the Department of Utilities' Division of Water Quality by calling 441-5727.
The city appreciates the interest and assistance of everyone in protecting water quality in our reservoirs.
Louis L. Guy Jr.
Norfolk Director of Utilities
TIME TO ADMIT MISTAKE
I think it is time for NRHA and the city of Norfolk to admit that they have made a mistake in their dealing with the East Ocean View condemnation.
They do not have and will not have the money to make the project work, and they do not have the right to make the property owners wait another four or five years for NRHA to purchase their properties. I recently talked with City Council member Randy Wright, and he indicated to me that he would not have supported the recommendation for condemnation had he known what he knows now. I call on Mr. Wright and City Council to rescind the condemnation and allow market forces to work in East Ocean View.
Robert Cooper
Oklahoma Avenue
WHAT'S UP IN OCEAN VIEW?
Why do they want to develop Ocean View beachfront when the city won't spend money to keep up the roads or control flooding, like the bone they'll try to throw with these ``ponds''? Where are the cashiers at Farm Fresh, the maids at the Holiday Inn, the cooks at Yens or Kentucky Fried Chicken going to live?
Ocean View is going to look like any respectable subdivision after the land grab is over; middle income homes paid for by middle income people - nobody makes middle income with certainty these days. Poor folks renting apartments is a certainty. What gives?
Julie Miller
Staten Street by CNB