THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504180118
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
SHE LIKES WHAT SHE SEES
This is a letter of celebration. I wish to commend the citizens and public servants of Norfolk. Our neighborhoods are beautiful with the glory of spring colors, painted porches, clean streets and sidewalks.
Our children and teachers are outstanding and have received many awards and honors for their hard work. Our mothers, fathers and other adults are working with not only their children but children who are not as fortunate. Our sanitation workers were featured recently in the Compass for their fabulous job. This city has the reputation for ``can do.'' I say this city does do and asks if there there anything else that needs to be done.
Bernice Chee-Hopkins
Jason Avenue
SCHOOL IN NEED OF REPAIR
As a grandparent of a student enrolled at Bay View Elementary School and a lifelong resident of Norfolk, I would like to bring to Mayor Fraim's attention my concerns involving the deteriorating conditions of Bay View.
On March 1, 1995, delegates from our PTA presented a petition representing signatures of Bay View students, faculty, families and residents of the Bay View community to the Norfolk School Board. This petition encouraged the School Board to authorize improvements and renovations to Bay View as quickly as possible.
Bay View was built in 1922 and slated for renovations as early as 1984. Improvements are scheduled for inclusion in the FY-98 CIP Budget. At this School Board hearing, pictures were presented to Chairman Ulysses Turner. The pictures demonstrated numerous building code violations and hazardous conditions that Turner brought to the attention of the audience.
Last spring, surplus window air conditioning units were installed as a temporary improvement measure. I understand that many of these units are not in working condition and are useless. What steps can be taken to replace and/or repair this equipment before the onset of hot and humid weather?
I urge Norfolk City Council to rank Bay View Elementary School's renovations as a top priority for Norfolk's capital improvement projects.
Eugene D. Nance
Edgewood Avenue
SPENDING OUR TAX DOLLARS
I'm still thinking about where my Norfolk property taxes are being spent, and I came up with another place. It must be to hire all those outside consultants with delusions of grandeur who suggest selling city parks and tearing down landmarks so we can build new city parks. You know, the ones who say you can kick people out of their homes, the ones they have stuck with through very rough times because of their love of the Bay and Ocean View, in order for Ocean View to turn into Charleston, S.C.
They are the same ones who have a ``vision'' of what Ocean View should look like. It doesn't matter if this vision is not at all realistic.
They are the ones who mire prospective builders and buyers in Ocean View with red tape, misinformation and bureaucracy when they should be spreading a red carpet out for those willing to gamble on the future of Ocean View. They are the ones who say ``residential'' out of one side of their mouth while considering rezoning for commercial enterprises out of the other side.
Norfolk should get its act together and decide what it is trying to do before jumping in 10 different directions.
C.A. Venuto
Bay Oaks Place
BETTER THINGS TO DO
Don't our city employees have anything better to do than go out on our streets and give out tickets ($25 fine) to old people whose only crime was putting out their garbage can before 7 the night before collection day? How about cleaning up a lot of more problems our city has before we get so nit-picky.
Joan B. Mister
Summers Drive by CNB