Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 26, 1994 TAG: 9401260220
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The police officers will be part of a new traffic unit scheduled to begin operation in July at a cost of $231,706 for the first year.
Police Chief John Cease said the unit should pay for itself through increased revenue from traffic tickets and fines.
Vinton Supervisor Harry Nickens pushed the proposal, saying it would make "great strides in improving the safety of Roanoke County."
Nickens also said the added patrols could help crack down on tax cheats who fail to buy $20 county vehicle decals - a problem that County Administrator Elmer Hodge had recommended solving through administrative means.
Hodge had endorsed a plan by Commissioner of Revenue Wayne Compton, whose office administers the decal program, to hire an enforcement employee whose full-time duty would be to track down vehicles lacking decals.
Compton estimated the proposal would bring in $147,200 a year at an annual cost of $25,000.
But Nickens argued that the police traffic unit could handle decal enforcement, as well as ticket speeders and arrest drunken drivers.
Catawba Supervisor Ed Kohinke called the traffic unit an "elegant solution" to two distinct problems.
But Cave Spring Supervisor Fuzzy Minnix wondered aloud whether the police officers would have time to chase down people who have not paid for a decal.
The revenue estimates provided by the Police Department did not include decal fees, suggesting that decal enforcement had not been envisioned as a priority.
Nickens' proposal - which the board approved 5-0 - requires the Police Department to report quarterly on the revenue it generates from traffic fines and decal violators.
Supervisors were less hesitant to make a quick decision on expanding the jail, particularly because the estimated cost has nearly tripled - from $5.7 million to $15.3 million - since last summer.
The main reason for the escalating cost is that Roanoke County Sheriff Gerald Holt has backed away from a low-cost solution.
Some supervisors told Holt he might consider going back to his original plan.
"I'm not interested in making a $10 million commitment," Nickens said.
The consensus is that now is the time to make plans to expand the county jail, which last year housed an average of 140 inmates in a facility designed for 102 prisoners.
The all-time high - 204 inmates - was set in October.
"We do not have a crisis," Holt said, "but we will have a crisis if we do not begin constructive planning right away."
In June, Holt called for a three-phase expansion that would begin with double-bunking existing cells and creating a trusty dormitory on an unfinished top floor. The first two steps would increase the number of permanent beds from 104 to 245, at a cost of $1.2 million.
A final phase would be a new jail annex that Holt originally said would cost another $4.4 million.
Tuesday, Holt recommended the same basic plan - only with the steps reversed.
Holt recommended that the county begin with building a jail annex to provide sufficient space for inmate-support programs and the kitchen.
The cost of a seven-floor annex is now $13.7 million, according to an estimate by Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern Inc.
Holt said the cost could be cut to $9.5 million by delaying construction of the top two floors. The county's share would be about half, with the state Department of Corrections paying 25 percent and Salem providing the balance.
Supervisors delayed a decision until Feb. 8.
Several supervisors questioned the immediate need for a jail annex, particularly one with a two-story parking garage and indoor firing range.
"I'm not going to be sympathetic to building parking garages," Nickens said.
by CNB