Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 18, 1994 TAG: 9408180092
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Business people in downtown Pulaski and others, including Elrica Graham, the mayor's wife, met Monday to begin sending out invitations to artisans and vendors and to line up a variety of activities for the celebration.
But Mayor Graham said the group lacked the organization to promote Count Pulaski Day as it should be promoted, and that he wanted a report from Town Manager Tom Combiths on the town's responsibility in the planning.
Last week, Director of Parks and Recreation Dave Hart held a meeting with the Pulaski Business Alliance and urged its members to play leadership roles in Count Pulaski Day.
Hart and his department were supposed to be the town's liaison with whatever organization handled Count Pulaski Day but, he said, in recent years they have been overseeing practically all of the work. It is no longer possible to devote that kind of time to Count Pulaski Day and still handle other department responsibilities, he said, especially with the town Depot Day celebration apparently scheduled to also become an annual event.
Depot Day was held June 11 to celebrate the completion of renovations and refurbishing of the town's former railroad station.
Hart made it clear to the Alliance that he would continue to help with Count Pulaski Day, but that he hoped the Alliance would assume the leadership. Graham said he was ``surprised by that attitude.''
Since the event is aimed at bringing more people to Pulaski to shop and browse, and given the new leadership in organizing the event, most of its activities will be moved to Main Street from Jackson Park where they used to be.
``I don't like that, because it's always been held in the park,'' said Councilman Junior Black.
Councilwoman Alma Holston said the change is simply that the merchants would take the lead role and the town would continue supporting the event. She saw no problem with that.
Combiths will meet with the merchants working on Count Pulaski Day before making his report.
In other business, council approved seeking a Farmers Home Administration loan of up to $572,800 for water system improvements, following a public hearing.
It also approved the reclassification of jobs in the Police Department as recommended by new Chief Herb Cooley, including the elimination of the ranks of captain and lieutenant, which would be replaced with division commanders. No changes will take place in salaries or in numbers of employees, except for the filling of three patrol vacancies in the weeks ahead.
``It's just a base on which I can build, but anything further is going to require some budget matters,'' Cooley told council. The department has lost personnel, after paying for their training, to higher-paying law enforcement agencies.
The council meeting drew more than 30 people, its biggest crowd in years, partly because of public hearings on the closings of 14 undeveloped alleys identified as serving no public purpose.
Closings were approved for alleys from Stuart Avenue to 4th Street SE;, Bertha to Chestnut Street, Bertha to State Street, 4th Street SE to 5th Street SE, Stuart Avenue to 4th Street SE, Elm Street from Jackson Avenue to Dora Highway, and Chestnut to Garner Avenue from the Martin Avenue Extension.
Council agreed to reconsider six other alleys where people questioned or opposed the closings. Another alley was dropped from consideration at the hearings because of an error in its description in the advertisement for its hearing.
by CNB