DATE: Thursday, July 24, 1997               TAG: 9707240431

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   82 lines

HAMPTON ROADS [BRIEFS]

VIRGINIA BEACH

All-in-one utility bill designed to save time for customers

By next month's end, Virginia Beach utility customers should be able to save time on their bills.

That's when the Hampton Roads Utility Billing Service goes into action.

The HRUBS is a combined effort of Virginia Beach's Department of Public Utilities, the Department of Public Works and the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. HRUBS will issue a single bill that includes a customer's water, sanitary sewer, storm water and wastewater treatment charges.

Each group will still maintain its own database of customers and billings, but HRSD will send out the all-in-one bill and collect the money. Customers will still be able to call each provider with any questions; separate phone numbers will be listed on the bill.

``We're doing it to make it more convenient for our customers,'' said Bob Montague of the utilities department. ``It's going to be more convenient for our customers to receive one bill and pay one bill . . . as opposed to sending out three different bills at various times of the year.''

Charges from the separate services will be itemized on the bill.

Public utilities currently has 117,000 accounts, public works about 125,000 and HRSD from 100,000 to 120,000.

The bills will be on two-month cycles, which means six bills a year instead of as many as 16.

HRSD currently provides the same service in Norfolk, Smithfield and James City.

CHESAPEAKE

Skate Park will be closed to fix flooding problem

The Chesapeake Skate Park will be closed Monday through next Friday to install a drainage pipe to alleviate flooding.

In addition, the Parks and Recreation Department wants to put in a sidewalk for the handicapped, said Chris Robinson, a recreation specialist with the department.

The park, which serves skateboarders and in-line skaters, will likely reopen Aug. 2. Its hours through Aug. 31 are 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

The skate park is at 500 Greenbrier Parkway, inside the Chesapeake City Park. For more information, call the Skate Park Hotline at 382-8878, or Chris Robinson at 382-8466.

REGIONAL

A 2nd Town meeting today will gather voters' concerns

A gathering of about 65 people at the Virginia Beach Central Library this week marked the start of a new election initiative called ``Your Voice, Your Vote.'' The project is a reporting partnership among The Virginian-Pilot, WVEC, LNC and WHRO.

The purpose is to provide news and information that will help people think differently and more deeply about the issues before they vote in November.

At town meetings, people will be asked to identify the things that most concern them about life in their communities. Citizens so far have cited taxes, education, the role and responsibility of government and concern for the future of families as key issues in the coming election.

Over the next few weeks, town meetings will be held in other South Hampton Roads cities. The meetings will run from 7 to 8 p.m. on the following days:

Tonight at the National Guard Armory, 2761 Godwin Blvd., Suffolk.

Monday at the Hunton YMCA, 1139 Charlotte St., Norfolk.

Aug. 7, Russell Memorial Library, 2808 Taylor Road, Chesapeake.

Aug. 11, Williamsburg Library, 515 Scotland St., Williamsburg.

The meetings are open to the public.

NORFOLK

Lions Club makes donation to zoo horticulture program

The Ocean View Chapter of Lions Club International will donate $2,500 to the Virginia Zoological Society today to support horticulture programs for persons with disabilities.

The donation will allow persons with disabilities to participate in the horticulture program for free.

The zoo offers a variety of programs designed for the disabled, including a Garden for Blind Adults and a Garden for the Mentally Challenged.

Through bingo games, the Ocean View Lions Club has raised more than $1 million, which it donates to charities. MEMO: Staff writers Toni Guagenti and Lewis Krauskopf contributed to

this report.

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