Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 26, 1994 TAG: 9401260256
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Those details included lofty goals: providing affordable access to higher education for all qualified students; making Virginia Tech recognized as one of the top 25 national universities; reducing the teen pregnancy rate by 50 percent.
They also suggested major building projects: developing a regional civic center with a 25,000-person capacity; upgrading the transportation system to make it the hub of the Eastern and Midwestern United States.
And the details included goals that some might think impossible: for example, to create zoning ordinances that are logical, ensure enhancement of the quality of life, protect the environment, and promote growth.
These goals, and dozens more, were presented to the public for the first time Tuesday during a meeting at Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke.
About 100 people turned out for the presentation. Many of them were members of the council, but many were not.
Carilion Health Systems President Tom Robertson, chairman of the council, explained succinctly to those unfamiliar with the New Century Council what its mission is.
"It doesn't do any good to go down to Richmond and lament all our problems if we don't have a plan," Robertson said, "if we don't have a road map of where we want to go."
He said the council was attempting to develop a "compelling view of what we want our community to look like in 20 years."
The New Century Council was formed five months ago and gave itself the objective of developing a unified vision for the 12 localities between Botetourt County and Radford.
Since some of the neighboring jurisdictions in Western Virginia have a discordant history, the council had to focus its effort on designing a plan that would benefit each of the region's localities.
"One of the things we learned early on when you take a group of people as diverse as the New Century Council," director Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr. said, "if you agree on 30 out of 50 things . . . work on the 30."
One of the things the council apparently agreed on was the importance of higher education to the region's economy. On the cover sheet of the 15-page vision statement is a paragraph pointing out that higher education had a $1 billion impact on the region's economy last year.
"Higher education and globally competitive research will be the driving force for the New Century Regional economy as we enter the next century," the statement says. Along with its goals for Virginia Tech, the council aims to boost Radford University and Ferrum, Hollins and Roanoke colleges into the top echelon of Southern colleges.
It also wants to let the fiber-optic tentacles of the electronic village stretch into schools, homes, offices, libraries and government agencies throughout the region - not just in Blacksburg.
The council divided its strategies into seven areas: education, quality of life, health and safety, infrastructure, economy, governance and leadership.
The next step will be to form task forces that will work on specific projects within each of the areas.
Some strategies within those areas are so far-reaching they'll be immeasurable. For instance, one strategy listed for education aims to "instill a sense of curiosity, enjoyment and love of learning that prepares people for a literate and fulfilling life in the New Century Region."
"Admittedly, these goals are very, very broad," Fitzpatrick said. "Your first reaction may be like mine: This could fit any community in the commonwealth of Virginia or any of the other states for that matter.
"The difference is how we're going to take the attributes of the Roanoke and New River valleys and make them work."
One thing the group has that works in its favor as it seeks to hone these expansive goals is community interest.
Tuesday night's gathering at Virginia Western quickly turned into an informal forum, with people volunteering new ideas and suggesting twists on the ones already on paper.
"I think we need to call the regional civic center something other than a `civic center,' " one man suggested. "We have two, and some people will say, `Do we need another one?' Well, we obviously do, but we ought to call it something else."
Martin Skelly, a grant writer at Hollins College, suggested getting started on the electronic village, at least in a small way.
He suggested setting up an electronic bulletin board so computer users could add their ideas about the council's progress.
by CNB