ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 17, 1996 TAG: 9609170084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's On Your Mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: The city of Roanoke two weeks ago scraped asphalt from Franklin Road between Elm Avenue and the Interstate 581 on-ramp. It revealed brick and Belgian block, the latter dating from 1898. Why, in a historic district, did they cover this historic material of early Roanoke with asphalt again? It appears the city has missed a golden opportunity to display some of Roanoke's early history. And how many other streets are brick covered with asphalt?
A: Chances are, these bricks didn't offer the scenic vistas we've seen in historic towns that have successfully guarded their brick-paved streets for decades.
Many of Roanoke's downtown streets were paved with brick because it was one of the few materials available around 1900. Recent excavation on Second Street Southwest, for example, exposed two kinds of brick.
Over the years, though, utility-line repairs caused much of the brick underlayment to be dug up. The holes were filled with asphalt and other materials, and the brick wasn't laid back in place.
Bill Clark, Roanoke's director of public works, said it's likely that if the original surface of Franklin Road were exposed, we would see 100-foot expanses of brick interrupted by seams of asphalt in patchwork patterns.
Also, there are safety factors to consider. Bob Bengtson, the city traffic engineer, said he doubts that brick has the skid resistance of asphalt.
Cellular phone tax
Q: U.S. Cellular has been charging a $2 Roanoke County tax to its customers according to their zip codes, and there are some zip codes shared by both the city and the county. Because the city of Roanoke does not tax cellular phone service, I'd like to know if the $2 that I, a city resident, am paying goes to the county or is it in limbo somewhere? No one at U.S. Cellular seems to be able to give me a satisfactory answer; they simply say they are "working on it" or "it's in arbitration." (I must say U.S. Cellular does give me a $2 "good will" credit every month when I call about it.)
M.W., Roanoke
A: Tax money goes to the government that imposes the tax - a situation that didn't seem to bother Roanoke County's spokeswoman too much.
United States Cellular, which does its billing from another state where the Roanoke Valley's jurisdictions are a mystery, plans to solve the problem with a $30 million billing system that will come on line in 1997.
Roanoke County doesn't have any way of knowing which customers paid the tax, but it accepts all revenue.
County spokeswoman Ann Marie Green pointed out that Cox Cable, which pays a franchise tax to each of the valley's governments, established its billing system by using the E-911 data base. That's one way of solving this kind of problem.
Another major cellular telephone company operating in the valley, GTE Mobilnet, said there have been instances when customers were billed incorrectly for the county tax. One phone call from the customer fixes the problem, a GTE spokesman said.
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Call us at 981-3118. Or, e-mail RayR@Roanoke.Infi.Net. Maybe we can find the answer.
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