Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 13, 1990 TAG: 9004130668
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The council will coordinate the city's effort to prevent and treat drug abuse.
The city manager's task force on drug abuse recently recommended creation of such a council. It is expected to be composed of representatives from schools, law enforcement agencies, businesses, governments and civic and neighborhood organizations.
The city plans to contract with a non-profit agency to provide two staff members who would provide support and technical assistance.
Nearly $7,000 in federal funds has been allocated for a series of workshops and activities for parents and children, mainly in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, to make them aware of the dangers of drug abuse.
This is the first time the city has earmarked community development money for a staff and programs to help prevent drug abuse, said Marie Pontius, the city's grants monitoring administrator.
Drug abuse is a "relatively new phenomenon," she said.
The community development program, created by Congress in the mid-1970s, provides federal money for projects and programs for low- and moderate-income people. As a so-called entitlement city, Roanoke receives an annual allocation.
The city is to receive $1.5 million in the fiscal year beginning July 1, a slight increase over last year, but far less than the $2.4 million a year it received in the early 1980s before reductions in federal programs for urban areas.
In the new fiscal year, the city again will spend most of the money on housing rehabilitation, neighborhood revitalization and economic development projects.
Nearly 30 housing programs and economic development projects will be funded again, Pontius said.
Funds have been budgeted for drug abuse prevention for the first time because city residents have identified it as a major problem, Pontius said.
The city also has allocated $124,000 to help finance a major renovation of the Alcohol Detoxification and Rehabilitation Center on Shenandoah Avenue that is operated by Mental Health Services of the Roanoke Valley.
State money is to cover a major part of the $506,000 renovation project.
A public hearing will be held Tuesday to get citizens' reactions to the proposed budget for the community development money. The hearing is to start at 7:30 p.m. at the First Baptist Church, 310 N. Jefferson St., near Hotel Roanoke.
The city will receive an additional $527,000 in the next fiscal year in loan repayments, land sales and other revenue from previous community development projects, Pontius said. The city also has some unused funds from past years, providing a total of $2.5 million for the new fiscal year.
The city plans to use 43 percent of the money - more than $1 million - for economic development projects. This includes purchasing land for the Deanwood and Shaffers Crossing industrial parks, renovation of the old Kroger store on Orange Avenue that has been donated to Total Action Against Poverty, the Henry Street revival project and grants for the renovation of storefronts in downtown.
About 32 percent of the money - $800,000 - is to be spent on more than a dozen housing programs, mainly in inner-city neighborhoods. About 5 percent will be earmarked for the prevention of treatment of drug abuse. The remaining 20 percent is to be used for the city's Neighborhood Partnership program and administrative costs for the housing and economic development programs.
City Council plans to hold a hearing May 14 on the proposed budget.
by CNB