
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 22, 1994                    TAG: 9406210172 
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN                     PAGE: 09    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940622                                 LENGTH: ISLE OF WIGHT

YMCA PLANS WILL BE TOPIC WHEN COUNTY BOARD MEETS

{LEAD} The Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing July 21 to allow the public to make comments about whether or not the Peninsula YMCA should be allowed to renovate the gymnasium at the old Smithfield High School. The gymnasium now houses a branch of the county library and classrooms for Paul D. Camp Community College.

County Attorney Woodrow Crook said that the county had received a proposal from the YMCA saying that it would offer child care, adult fitness and youth programs if allowed to renovate the facility. The facility, he said, would operate from 6 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m. and would be open on weekends.

{REST} Membership, he said, would be encouraged, or residents could use the YMCA by paying a daily use fee.

``But no one would ever be turned away for inability to pay,'' Crook said, when he explained the YMCA's request to renovate the facility and to lease it for 20 years.

But some county residents felt that the gymnasium could best be utilized by the local government, including the Recreational Facilities Authority. That board recently adopted a statement asking the Board of Supervisors to consider all alternatives before making a commitment to the Y, recreation director Alan Nogiec said.

``I support and would enjoy the Y,'' said Cathy Walls Mountjoy, a resident who spoke against the YMCA involvement and presented the board with petitions signed by other residents. ``But I see a lot of people who wouldn't be able to afford it.''

In another matter, the supervisors heard three names nominated to replace School Board member James Johnson, who is retiring from the Newport District seat.

Those nominated were: George Allen Bradby, a senior safety engineer with Newport News Shipbuilding; John Beasley, a classroom teacher in a Portsmouth private school, and James Ware, who works for a company that contracts to NASA.

The supervisors will meet in special session later this month to make the appointment. Johnson retires June 30.

In other business, the supervisors voted unanimously to write a letter to GTE Virginia asking the telephone company to include county residents with Franklin telephone numbers in the proposed expanded local calling plan. The plan would allow Isle of Wight customers to call the Peninsula and greater Hampton Roads without first dialing ``1.''

The vote came after the supervisors heard from Susie Slate, a woman who said that the GTE plan had left out nearly 8 percent of people who live in the county because they have Franklin telephone numbers.

by CNB