DATE: Friday, March 28, 1997                TAG: 9703280557

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   52 lines

SUFFOLK CITIZENS TAKE VARIETY OF COMPLAINTS TO POLITICAL LEADERS

About 50 citizens met Thursday night with Del. Lionell Spruill to discuss ways to improve drainage on and around East Washington Street.

Spruill, along with City Council members Leroy Bennett, Curtis R. Milteer, Vice Mayor Charles F. Brown and Police Chief Jimmy L. Wilson, talked with the citizens during a town meeting called by Spruill at Oak Grove Baptist Church on East Washington Street.

The leading complaints Thursday were of drainage problems, lack of street lights and safety concerns. The citizens said the worst drainage problems were in the Pierce Park, Magnolia, Oakdale, Nansemond Parkway, Lake Kennedy and Pughsville communities.

When Suffolk merged with the county in 1974, the city entered into an agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation. The VDOT agreed to maintain the roads and streets in the former county, which spans more than 430 square miles. Under the agreement, Suffolk would handle projects within the 2.2-square-mile limits of the pre-merger city.

Spruill said he would take problems that fall in the state-funding boundaries to the Richmond office of the Virginia Department of Transportation.

He said he will meet again with the citizens within three months with what he hopes are resolutions to the problems. The VDOT wasn't represented at Thursday's meeting.

Another complaint among many residents was that those - mostly blacks - living in the southern part of the city have been ignored in favor of citizens - mostly whites - who live in the northern end.

``The new growth is going to take the funding,'' said Brown. ``You don't see any schools coming into the black community.''

Spruill suggested that the City Council consider having a uniform tax rate to even out the level of services.

``There's a lot of discussion that some parts of Suffolk get more city services than others,'' said Spruill. ``I truly believe it's because there are two tax rates.''

The tax rate in downtown Suffolk is $1.21 per $100 valuation; the rate is $1.03 per $100 valuation in the Nansemond district.

Brown said he would study the idea of leveling tax rates.

Meanwhile, Alfred Turner, vice chairman of the Saratoga-Philadelphia Civic League, urged other citizens to work together to identify funding priorities and, in turn, notify the council. That way any of the major problems get uniformly solved, he said.

``We're going to have to work together, instead of like crabs in a barrel,'' said Turner. ILLUSTRATION: Del. Lionell Spruill said he'd come back in three

months hopefully with solutions to drainage problems.

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