THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 20, 1995 TAG: 9507200384
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Some curbs in downtown Suffolk are still made of wood. And for the past two decades, that's been just fine with Suffolk - until Wednesday.
After more than 20 years of replacing wood curbs with wood curbs, the City Council unanimously approved moving on to concrete.
It had long been part of the city code that wooden curbs would be replaced with wooden curbs within the Suffolk Taxing District, which includes downtown. The city reasoned that wood was less expensive than concrete.
If a community wanted wood curbs replaced with concrete, city code required a community to pay two-thirds of the cost.
The wooden curbs hark back to the days when horse-drawn carriages roamed streets. In the Hall Place neighborhood near downtown, some curbs still meld from concrete to wooden planks stuffed against suburban lawns.
There are 220,000 linear feet of concrete curbing in Suffolk and 111,000 linear feet of wood curbing, according to city officials.
But according to Councilman J. Samuel ``Sammy'' Carter, modern-day suburbia has made the wood curbs obsolete. Weed-trimmers and edgers destroy the old curbs.
When residents of a community on Military Road in the city's Lakeside neighborhood recently volunteered to pay the extra cost for concrete curbing, the City Council voted down their request after Carter said residents should not have to pay for the new concrete curbing. A report was requested.
After further study, the city discovered that concrete actually saved the city money over the life of the curbs.
After a brief discussion Wednesday night, the City Council voted to replace the past with the present.
It's been a long time coming. The City Council eliminated the replacement of wood curbs with wood curbs in 1973, a year before the city of Suffolk merged with Nansemond County.
The new law, however, got lost in the shuffle when the City Council merged the laws of Suffolk and Nansemond County in 1978. Ever since, wood has continued to replace wood.
The main reason for the change was - again - money. Concrete costs more. But over the life of the curb, the city estimates it will save money with concrete. Wood curbs last an average of seven years. Concrete curbs last an average of 30 years.
With the help of state funds, and without a tax increase, the city's public works department estimates they can replace 5,000 linear feet of wooden curbing with concrete every year. by CNB