Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 26, 1990 TAG: 9004260698
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It has produced no controversy and almost no public discussion or debate.
No formal opposition has developed to the $15.2 million bond issue that will be on the ballot Tuesday when Roanoke voters choose three City Council members.
There was no dissent when council voted earlier this year to schedule the referendum to coincide with the council election.
Five of the six council candidates in Tuesday's election have urged voters to approve the bonds. The Rev. Cecil McClanahan, an independent, is the only candidate who has not taken a position on the bond issue.
No one has mentioned the referendum or asked questions about it at forums for the candidates in the past two months.
Yet, supporters are taking nothing for granted. They've raised $20,000 from private sources and spent it on newspaper advertisements and 27,000 informational brochures that were mailed to city residents this week.
"Mainly, it has been a communication program to help assure that people are aware of the referendum," said John Frye, co-chairman of a committee that is urging voters to approve the bond issue. "We haven't heard of any opposition, but we want to help assure a good turnout."
In keeping with the city's policy, no public money has been used to urge voters to approve the bonds.
The bond money will pay for projects that will "touch all of Roanoke and its citizens," Frye said.
The bond money would pay for:
The city's share of the cost for conversion of the old Jefferson High School into a center for the performing arts, education and civic organizations.
The removal of asbestos from city schools, replacement of heating systems in four schools and development of plans for modernizing six schools.
A flood-reduction project for Peters Creek.
Storm drains for Statesman Industrial Park.
Improvements to the drainage system in the vicinity of Church and Luck avenues downtown.
The city's share of the cost for three highway projects.
No tax increase would be required, city officials said. The normal growth in tax revenues will provide enough money to pay off the bonds without the need to increase tax rates, said city Finance Director Joel Schlanger.
The city's payments on previous bond issues will also begin to drop in 1994, Schlanger said, freeing up funds that can be used to help pay off the new bond issue.
Frye and Lewis Tolley head the Right for Roanoke Committee, a 17-member group that was organized earlier this month by the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce to seek approval of the bond issue. The committee includes advocates for all of the projects that would be financed with the money.
Frye is president of the Tread Corp., a company in the Statesman Industrial Park on U.S. 460. The city annexed the industrial park in 1976, but it has not yet corrected drainage problems. The bond issue includes $2.7 million to install a drainage system.
Tolley is president of the Peters Creek Civic League, a neighborhood group that has been lobbying for several years for a flood-reduction project along the stream.
The bond issue would provide $4 million for a flood-reduction project on Peters Creek. The project would reduce the threat of flooding along the stream, where businesses and houses have been inundated with floodwaters several times in recent years.
The Army Corps of Engineers has said no federal money is available for the Peters Creek plan because federal law prohibits the agency from participating in projects if the costs are higher than the benefits.
Last summer, angry homeowners demanded that the city solve the longstanding flooding problem.
The flood-reduction project will include construction of three retention basins near Cove Road Northwest, channel widening from Melrose Avenue to Cove Road, and improvements to several bridges to reduce flooding.
Tolley, who lives on often-flooded Meadowbrook Road Northwest, said the project will help save property and lives.
The conversion of the Jefferson High building into a center for the performing arts, education and civic organizations is estimated to cost $5.5 million. The Jefferson Center Foundation, a private group, hopes to raise $2 million, and the city has promised to provide $3.5 million.
The bond issue includes $4 million for schools. Most of the money - $3.3 million - would be used to remove asbestos from school buildings. Asbestos is present in all schools except Fallon Park Elementary, the city's newest school. There would also be money for the replacement of heating systems at four schools and the development of plans for renovations to half a dozen schools.
The remainder of the portion for schools includes $430,000 for replacement of heating systems at Crystal Spring Elementary, Stonewall Jackson Middle School, Lucy Addison Middle School and William Fleming High School; $270,000 for plans for renovations to seven schools: Breckinridge, Lucy Addison and Stonewall Jackson middle schools, Woodrum Wilson Junior High, and Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools.
The bond issue includes a relatively small amount for highways, $150,000, but city officials said this will cover the city's share of the cost for three major highway projects in the next three years: the Peters Creek Road Extension project, Franklin Road widening and the Second Street/Gainsboro Road/Wells Avenue realignment and widening project.
City officials estimate the city will earn $1.7 million in investment income on the bond funds until they are needed for the projects. The investment earnings will be used to help finance economic development projects.
By holding the referendum in May instead of waiting until the November general election, the city can take advantage of a favorable bond market and probably sell the bonds at a lower interest rate, officials said.
The city's last general bond referendum for a variety of projects was in 1987. By a 3-1 ratio, voters approved $10 million for school renovations, storm drains, parks improvements, highways and other projects.
City voters also approved a $7.5 million bond issue in April 1989 for the Roanoke River flood-reduction project.
by CNB