THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 19, 1995 TAG: 9512190316
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Nine months after deciding the Social Services and Health departments desperately needed a new building, the City Council is set to vote today on a site for the project.
The council has rejected one site and is divided about whether to reject a second. It may also change the way it funds the project by deciding to own a building instead of leasing it.
In the months since the city staff recommended leasing a building to be built on Rosemont Road, the council has vacillated: voting to support a site on South Independence Boulevard, voting against that site in response to neighborhood opposition, agreeing to support the Rosemont Road site and questioning that decision.
Several council members want to construct a new building in the parking lot of the current Virginia Beach Boulevard facility. That building would be four stories tall and would replace the converted department store now used by the city departments.
But the present site isn't big enough for both the Social Services and Health departments, so the council would have to scrap one of the original rationales for the project, combining the two departments under one roof. The Health Department is now spread among three buildings.
City Manager James K. Spore had recommended leasing a building instead of owning one because the state would provide more money for a 20-year lease than a building purchase. Leasing also makes sense, according to Spore's proposal, because the city wouldn't have to go into debt.
Council member Louis R. Jones said at last week's council meeting that he thinks the city would be wiser to own the building. He said he doesn't trust the state, in this time of budget cutbacks, to continue subsidizing the department, and would like to see the city build on the current site.
Council member Barbara M. Henley said Monday that she prefers the site at Rosemont Road and Route 44 because it will allow the two departments to be housed together. Even if the state reduces funding for public health, the city will have to pick up most of the slack, she said.
``Public health needs are not going to go away,'' Henley said. ``The only way to get the cost savings (of city ownership) is to not do anything for the Health Department, except continue to have them in rental space all over the city.'' by CNB