Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503280063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Salem City Council voted Monday to appoint an advisory committee to study the feasibility of a fitness center and pool in Salem managed by the YMCA and financed by the city.
"Partnering with municipalities is fairly rare," said Cal Johnson, director of the Roanoke Valley YMCA. Rocky Mount is the closest municipality to join with the YMCA, and the partnership is in the formative stages, he said. Usually, the YMCA comes to a community through a strictly grass-roots, nongovernmental effort.
"What we can bring to the table is the management of this process, and quite frankly, the city of Salem would have the resources to make this thing happen," Johnson said.
City Councilman Sonny Tarpley has concerns about the plan, however.
"I don't think we can pay back the capital investment," Tarpley said.
Financing the project is one area of concern that the committee will hash out, Johnson said. Location is another.
Steve Mullins, a real estate agent and longtime proponent of a full-service health center, had proposed West Salem Plaza as a possible site for the YMCA. The property owners there were willing to build the center, then lease or sell it to the city, Mullins told council Monday.
However, council nixed West Salem Plaza as a possible site.
"I don't like the location for that type of thing, and I don't want to take it off the tax log. I'd rather use city property that's already off the log," Mayor Jim Taliaferro said.
Mullins took council's decision in stride. "The main thing is to get a Y and health center here in Salem. It's pretty exciting, because we finally have a committee to look at it."
City Council also approved a contract for the Salem Avalanche.
The five-year contract, which has not yet been signed, will require Avalanche owner Kelvin Bowles to pay $20,000 per year to lease the baseball stadium the city is building behind the Salem Civic Center.
However, if the stadium is not completed by the team's first home game April 14, the contract will have to be amended, said City Attorney Stephen Yost.
In other action, council:
Pledged $5,000 to the Roanoke Symphony for its annual Picnic with the Pops. The annual program broke its six-year streak last summer when it was unable to raise the necessary funding. The pledge is designed to match a corporate gift.
Authorized a five-year franchise agreement with Appalachian Power Co. Although Salem operates its own electric company, the agreement allows Apco to maintain its power lines in Salem.
by CNB