
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1993                   TAG: 9309150249
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IN OTHER ACTION . . .

Agreed to look into the possibility of hiring someone to check on motor vehicle owners to make sure they are buying county decals and paying their personal property taxes. Supervisor Harry Nickens said county officials have estimated that up tp 2,000 vehicle owners are not buying decals. He said that could mean the county is losing $200,000 to $300,000 a year in taxes. If the other Roanoke Valley localities have a similar problem, he said, it could mean the loss of $600,000 to $700,000. Nickens said the localities may want to take a cooperative approach.

Authorized county officials to apply for a $700,000 federal community development grant to pay for road improvements, storm drains and water and sewer lines in Valley Tech Park, the county's industrial park west of Salem.

Met with the School Board to discuss school needs, including a new high school in the southern part of the county and a new gymnasium or field house at Northside High School and Northside Junior High. Neither the new high school nor the field house would be built for several years.

Authorized the hiring of lawyers expert in cable television issues to advise the Roanoke Regional Cable Television Committee on the new law that allows localities to regulate rates for basic cable service. The board also decided to send a letter to Cox Cable Roanoke and television stations WDBJ and WSLS urging them to settle the issue of whether the cable company will continue to provide the stations for cable customers.

by CNB