Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 28, 1991 TAG: 9103290602
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Michael G. Morgan's request had to be approved by council, in part because the city has no housing authority of its own.
As a condition for the tax-exempt bonds, Morgan will be required to set aside 20 percent of the 160-unit Mount Regis Apartments on Kimball Avenue for low-income residents. That requirement sparked questions from councilmen, at least one of whom said he is opposed to the proposal.
"I don't like this," said Vice Mayor Mac Green, who was the only council member to vote against Morgan's request. "I don't like any of it. Someone's got to do a lot of explaining."
Morgan explained that the defined category of low-income includes senior citizens, young people at entry-level jobs, and others.
"We're not asking to open it up as public housing," Morgan said. "Tenants benefit. The city benefits in an improved tax base. It's a way to finance under tight times."
Emerson Gilmer, representing the Community Awareness Council, a Salem civic organization, said he is against the project because it could "cause problems in our fair city."
"Low-rent housing brings drugs, prostitution and crime," Gilmer said. "Please look at this carefully. I feel like this is no good for the city of Salem."
In past years, Mayor Jim Taliaferro said, council has been reluctant to set any kind of precedent on low-income housing in the city and has turned down various proposals.
"We're not the least bit ashamed," he said. "I think it was the right thing to do at the time."
The Mount Regis complex is one of five that Morgan intends to buy and renovate. Monday, the housing authority voted to recommend that Roanoke City Council approve the issuance of $19 million in tax-free revenue bonds to finance his plans.
In another matter, council agreed to study the city's participation in the Comprehensive Health Investment Project, a public and private inter-agency partnership designed to provide full health care for children of low-income families.
Dr. Molly Hagan, director of the Alleghany Health District, asked council to endorse the formation of a committee to study the possibility of Salem serving as a project model.
The nearly 4-year-old project, developed through the state Department of Health, was designed to make a dent in the nation's huge health-care problem. The project has been funded by a Kellogg Foundation grant.
But because of limited funding, the project has reached only a small percentage of low-income children in the region, Hagan said. In Salem, the project has reached 60 of 450 identified children, she said.
In other business:
Council adopted an ordinance, on emergency basis, authorizing the issuance of $8.9 million in electrical refunding bonds. Refunding the bonds, which were issued in 1982 to pay for upgrading of the city's electrical system, will save the city an estimated $503,000 in interest costs.
The bonds have been sold to the Richmond investment brokerage firm of Craige Inc.
Council appropriated $1,000 to help support Salem High School's 1991 post-prom event.
Council awarded a $45,363 contract to Draper Paving for the replacement of the sidewalk on Craig Avenue from East Main Street to Clay Street and from Clay Street to Cleveland Avenue.
Council agreed to spend $25,000 to upgrade a portion of the city's telephone system.
Dunbar Hill was reappointed to the Fair Housing Board.
Joan C. Downing was reappointed to the Fine Arts Commission.
by CNB