ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 25, 1997 TAG: 9702250120
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's On Your Mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: When will new members be appointed to the Mill Mountain Development Committee, who will do the appointing, and what is the best way for citizens to influence that process? R.D., Roanoke
A: Eight terms expire June 30. City Council will start to review members and new candidates about a month before that.
Anyone wanting to be on the committee can write for a "talent bank application" that lists their interests and qualifications. The address is Mary Parker, City Clerk, 215 Church Ave. S.W., Roanoke 24011-1536.
To support someone for the job, send a letter to council in care of the clerk's office. And there's nothing to keep advocates from writing or calling Mayor David Bowers and other council members.
The Mill Mountain Development Committee has been in the public eye recently with a failed effort by Councilman Jim Trout to add mountain defender Betty Field as a member.
There's been lots of talk about what to do on the mountain, including expanding the zoo and possibly adding a feature such as a restaurant.
Other folks think the best thing to do is keep the mountain as it is.
Bowers said Monday that the committee is planning to drop the word "Development" from its name, which it's had since it was formed in the 1960s to oversee the mountain "for park and recreation purposes," in the words of M. Carl Andrews, its first chairman.
Members are: Chairman Carl Kopitzke, United Way vice president; Tom Hanes, a lawyer; Mary Kepley, who owns rental properties; Jordan Peck III, an engineer; Scott Shackelford, a member of the Fishburn family, which donated the mountain top to the city; Ralph Smith, a businessman and resident of the mountain; Barry Thomas, a manager with American Electric Power; and Betty Winfree of the mountain's wildflower garden club.
Trout is City Council's representative on the committee, and Bowers, as mayor, is an ex-officio member.
Lights left on
Q: I've noticed for several years that tennis courts are lighted at night in Shrine Hill Park on Grandin Road and Raleigh Court Park when nobody's using them. This happens winter and summer. Who's paying the electric bill? D.W., Roanoke
A: The taxpayers are paying, of course.
However, here's how the lights are supposed to work:
People using the courts activate a switch that lights the playing area for an hour. Assuming the switches work properly, you may have seen the courts when people had just left the area.
Security lighting is provided by conventional street lights.
Have a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Call us at 981-3118. Or, e-mail RAYR@Roanoke.com Maybe we can find the answer.
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