Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 24, 1995 TAG: 9510240077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The remaining funds from the bonds have yet to be designated.
City Manager Randy Smith said the council will have to arrange in priority an overabundance of projects needing funding, including improvements to jail facilities, the Moyer Sports Complex, Salem Football Stadium and the municipal golf course.
Councilman Howard Packett noted that about $2.7 million alone could be used to fund storm drains and sewer lines.
During a public hearing, longtime Salem watchdog Aaron Smith objected to the bond issue, citing other concerns such as a "ballooning long-term debt" and cost overruns on projects including Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.
Aaron Smith recommended that council make an across-the-board budget cut to fund facility improvements instead of selling bonds.
"As far as I'm concerned, the city should better manage its budget rather than take out a bond issue," he said.
Although Aaron Smith claimed that the city was using the bond issuance to replenish reserve funds it used to fund the stadium's cost overrun, Randy Smith said the bond issuance has nothing to do with the money used from those funds.
In other action, City Council moved to prohibit keeping potbellied pigs as pets, an issue both Roanoke and Vinton have faced during the past few months.
Smith said although he doesn't know of any pigs being kept as pets in the city, "this time it's proactive, rather than being on the other end."
He said concerns were raised over Salem's animal control law after reading newspaper articles of problems faced in other localities, particularly Vinton, which was forced to amend its animal control laws after a Roanoke County judge ruled its reference to pigs was too vague to enforce against potbellied pigs.
Before the amendment, Smith said, the city's code also may have been too vague.
The new code prohibits keeping "hogs, pigs or swine of any type within the city" unless they are kept on land zoned for agricultural purposes and are kept at least 100 feet from any residence.
With the amendment, council members also got in a few laughs over the porcine issue.
"Are you concerned with the Vinton pigs moving into Salem?" Councilman Alex Brown jokingly asked Randy Smith.
Packett expressed his approval of the amendment with a resounding "oink."
by CNB