THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 30, 1995 TAG: 9512310001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Under other circumstances it might be amusing that the year in Virginia Beach was dominated by a pipeline and a Faucette. But 1995 was no laughing matter for the Beach.
After years, it seemed for a time that obstacles to a pipeline linking Lake Gaston and Hampton Roads were finally going to be eliminated. Then a promising deal vanished in the kind of divisive atmosphere that has poisoned relations between the affected cities and states.
Nevertheless, steps forward were taken. Finally having Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval for the pipeline makes ultimate success more likely. Lawyers may get rich, states may bicker, cities may make each other's lives difficult and bring Hampton Roads into ill-repute, but in 1996 the pipeline is probably going forward.
The mess at the Virginia Beach schools hasn't been cleaned up, but there's progress. A grand jury will help assign blame for past folly, but the city and the schools have already taken steps to assure that such fiscal slovenliness is prevented from recurring.
Controls to prevent juggling of the books or the promiscuous slopping of money from account to account are promised. But more scrupulous oversight on the part of the board and the city will still be needed. All the safeguards in the world are useless if the stewards are napping.
On a more positive note, 1995 was a year of good economic-development news. Tenants have materialized and construction is going forward on the long-moribund Corporate Landing project. An Avis reservation center will add jobs to the city. The vote to zone the area around Pembroke Mall as a central business district holds promise.
Instead of downsizing at Oceana Naval Air Station, the Beach has upsizing to look forward to. New squadrons are winging their way to town and as many as 2,100 new students will translate into more federal education dollars for the Beach schools.
It was a good year for entertainment and tourism at the Beach as well. An amphitheater now under construction is scheduled to open April 1. A Virginia Marine Science Museum expansion will be completed by the end of 1996. Total tourism was slightly below expectations, down 20,000 or 2 percent due to Hurricane Felix. But Cellar Door Productions, in a series of oceanfront events, expanded the attraction of the area into so-called shoulder seasons. It will try to repeat the trick in 1996.
There's reason to believe the school-budget crisis will be resolved before 1996 ends. The School Board has offered the superintendent's job to Timothy Jenney, who will try to bring academic order out of chaos.
Is the School Board capable of cooperating with a new superintendent? The first Virginia Beach School Board with elected members did not cover itself in glory in 1995. One member, Charles Vincent, resigned under a cloud. The board missed financial trouble until late in the day. The search for a successor to Sid Faucette, who left for a Georgia system, was awkward. Candidates for more board seats will be on the ballot in 1996. Voters will also choose city officials.
If the Chinese water torture of the Lake Gaston project is finally ended and if the schools are righted, Virginia Beach would appear poised for steady, maturing development. But those are two big ifs. They will dominate 1996. MEMO: Due to a technological glitch, the Saturday editorial page in some
editions contained a blank white space instead of a year-end editorial
concerning Virginia Beach. The missing editorial was reprinted January
3, 1996, for those who failed to receive it the first time. by CNB