THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 7, 1994 TAG: 9412060160
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINDSOR LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Local citizens should see more evidence of Isle of Wight Sheriff's deputies in Windsor, Carrsville and Smithfield in the coming weeks and months.
More visibility, along with establishing satellite offices in localities oftentimes remote from the Isle of Wight Courthouse, is one way of moving toward community policing, Sheriff Charles W. Phelps told a group of Chamber of Commerce members gathered for breakfast last week in the Windsor High School cafeteria.
``Community policing is certainly the trend,'' Phelps said. ``The problem is that everything I've read has centered around the inner-city. There is nothing, so far, for the rural communities.''
So, Phelps said, his department has moved toward districting the county. Sheriff's deputies are now based at a small office in the Southern Isle of Wight Recreational Center in Camptown and at another small office in the Windsor Town Hall. Soon they will be based in an office on Main Street in Smithfield.
But that's just one of the things that Phelps said he is doing to try to make the county one of the best possible places to live and to pave the way for the future in Isle of Wight.
Other town and county officials are working just as hard. And they told chamber members so, at the first annual ``State of the County'' address.
The breakfast meeting was organized by the chamber as a way of helping chamber members and local business people to catch up on what's going on in the county in such fast-paced times, said chamber director Connie Rhodes.
Much of the meeting was organized by Windsor Mayor Bobby Claud. It was Claud, Rhodes said, who selected speakers from every major area in the county to deliver short addresses about issues and answers in their own town or department.
And in Windsor, Claud said, bringing sewerage to the town is the answer to growth.
``The No. 1 pressing issue in Windsor is central sewerage,'' the mayor said. ``It is critical that we have a collection system tied into the Hampton Roads Sanitation District line. We are currently involved with negotiations with the county to establish that collection system. It is the key to any growth or progress in town.''
Claud also reported that the town recently received a state grant to update its comprehensive plan. The Windsor Library will open officially in early January. The municipal building is undergoing renovations. And citizens soon should be noticing new street signs.
In Smithfield, in the northern end of the county, Town Manager Ken McLawhon said, the town is geared for the growth that central sewerage should bring there. That HRSD line made its way under the Pagan River last week, McLawhon said.
``The Smithfield Historic District just unveiled another crown jewel,'' McLawhon said. ``It's an authentic lighthouse at Smithfield Station. And I think most of you have seen the boardwalk that Ron Pack has built for art shows and live entertainment.''
That project should blend well with the rest of the historic district once the Pagan River dredging project is complete, McLawhon said. He called it a ``stellar example'' of local and state government working together to get a job done. The project will dredge out shallows in the river to allow larger boats to make their way down-stream.
``And,'' said McLawhon, ``I'm pleased to say that both public and private initiatives are beginning to revitalize the Wharf Hill historic area.''
McLawhon said the Smithfield Foods' corporate offices fronting on the Pagan River should be getting off the ground soon; the Bank of Windsor has moved to Smithfield and more and more retail shops are opening downtown.
In the schools, School Board Chairman Richard Peerey told the chamber members that the local board is doing everything possible to improve the schools and to make way for the expected growth in population.
Two new schools have already opened, and phase two of the capital improvements program is well under way, Peerey said.
``We've taken steps to upgrade the policy on violence in our schools,'' he said. ``We are no longer willing to sacrifice the many for the one. If public education is to survive, there must be some changes. We must be aware of what's going on and have the courage to make changes.''
And the county, said Board of Supervisors' Chairman O.A. Spady, is in ``excellent financial shape.''
``We are within the guideline for what a government should have,'' Spady said. ``We are getting a lot of growth in the northern end of the county, and we're doing our best to get more industry into the county.''
Spady talked about the proposed industrial park near Windsor and the Norfolk Southern coal storage facility.
``In the last 15 or 20 years, the entire country has turned around environmentally,'' he said. ``I think there are laws in force now that will make Norfolk Southern have an environmentally safe facility. If not, they would have to close it.'' by CNB