Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 29, 1993 TAG: 9309290144
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Gatherings by middle and high school students have caused problems at Radford's municipal library, which is convenient to both Radford High and Dalton Intermediate schools.
City Council thought it might have to spend $7,000 for part-time help to corral and entertain the idle students, who have no place else to go.
But a new program run by Radford University students at the city's Recreation Department - across Norwood Street from the library - is working well enough for now.
A room in the recreation department building has been opened, video machines have been installed and the adolescents are being entertained with games, films and other activities.
The program is being supervised by students from Radford University's Service-Learning Program, who receive college credit instead of payment for their work.
"It is an improvement," said Ann Fisher, director of the library.
About 25 adolescents are taking daily advantage of the program, but that number will more than double when cold weather arrives, said Ken Goodyear, the city's recreation director.
They are being supervised by about eight Radford University students. The college students are also conducting a survey of what sort of activities will best serve the program in the long run.
That information will be important in December, when the college semester ends and the city will have to decide what to do with the after-school program without volunteer help.
Meanwhile, City Council on Monday, after hearing positive reports on the new program, tabled a resolution to hire more supervisory help immediately.
In other action, council took the first steps toward construction of a new regional jail.
It agreed to spend up to $16,200 - or one dollar per capita - for a planning study of the proposed facility.
Council also appointed Roy I. Lloyd Jr. and James Dickenson to serve as the city's representatives on a new advisory board to oversee the project.
Currently, Radford and the counties of Floyd, Giles, Carroll and Grayson are planning to build a new 200-inmate jail cooperatively. A location for the facility has not been selected.
Wythe County has dropped out of the discussions and Pulaski County says it hasn't decided whether or not to join.
The study is expected to take 90 days. The state says a proposal for the new jail should be submitted by March 1994.
Council also hesitantly voted to seek a federal grant for community law enforcement that would partially pay to add two police officers to the city's 26-member force.
The grant would pay more than 75 percent of the officers' salary and benefits for three years, costing the city an estimated $6,000-$7,000 annually per officer.
But some council members expressed concern about the federal string attached to the program, which requires that any officer hired must be retained when the grant money runs out in three years.
by CNB