ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 20, 1995 TAG: 9512200082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
The Franklin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday allocated more than $1 million in county funds for two capital projects.
The board, on a 5-2 vote, first agreed to accept the low bid for a new Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court addition to the county courthouse - a bid that was $578,500 more than expected.
County voters recently approved a bond referendum that included $800,000 for the court addition.
But Dick Hughes, a consultant on the project, said costs escalated when specific needs were addressed by the companies that bid - including an expansion of the addition from about 6,500 square feet to more than 10,000 square feet.
Supervisors Hubert Quinn and Wayne Angell voted against accepting the $1.3 million bid from Martin Brothers Contractors of Roanoke.
"This is a typical government project," Angell said. "I think we should scrap the whole thing."
But a majority of the seven-member board disagreed.
The project will serve the growing county for years to come, said Chairman Gus Forry.
The county's Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court is held in a makeshift courtroom on the second floor of the Virgil Goode Building behind the courthouse. Those who have court business frequently jam a narrow hall leading to other county departments.
"Anybody that's been over there the last few days knows how much we need this project," Forry said.
The board also voted 6-1 to give the county Family YMCA $500,000 over five years. The money will go toward construction of a new YMCA off North Main Street in a commercial park the county is developing with the town of Rocky Mount.
The initial $100,000 will not be given to the YMCA until construction starts. Backers expect that to be next year.
The board action came after a presentation from several key players in the YMCA's drive to build the $5 million building. It has been the most aggressive fund-raising effort in the county's history. The YMCA had raised $2.5 million before making the request to the county.
Quinn voted against the YMCA's request. He said he agrees that the facility will help the community, but added that "a half a million dollars is a lot of money."
Also on Tuesday, the board:
Heard Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge David Melesco explain an escalating problem: housing of juvenile delinquents. Melesco said the county, which doesn't have a juvenile facility of its own, is running out of places to send youths who commit crimes.
"It's a problem, and it's not going to get any better," he said.
Because detention facilities in other localities are consistently overcrowded and have to take hometown delinquents first, Melesco said, he's faced with putting dangerous youths back on the street. However, Danville - where many Franklin County juveniles are sent - has asked the county to participate in a discussion about the possible expansion of its detention center.
Heard from Rocky Mount Town Manager Mark Henne, who asked that the board consider appropriating more money toward the two-phase State Street road improvement project. The town has plans to widen the road and add curbing and guttering to accommodate tractor-trailer traffic out of the Franklin County-Rocky Mount Industrial Park.
Fleetwood Homes and Mod-U-Kraf Homes, makers of manufactured housing, both are expanding their plants. The board has committed $154,000 - about half of the local portion for the first phase of the project - but opposed the curbing and guttering in the second phase.
The first phase includes the area of State Street from North Main Street to Weaver Drive into the industrial park. The second phase extends along State Street to Industrial Drive.
The board took no action on the matter Tuesday.
Heard a farewell speech from one of its outgoing members, Boone District Representative Homer Murray. Murray, 86, was defeated by John Helms in the November election. Murray is completing his 16th year on the board.
"The electorate did for me what I should have done for myself - retired," he said.
Then, Murray, who has lived all his life in Boones Mill, said he thinks he lost the election because the people in his hometown didn't like his frequent criticism of the Town Council, a group that has gained a reputation for infighting.
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