THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 11, 1995 TAG: 9505110469
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EASTVILLE LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
What big-ticket items such as a jail or an industrial park does Northampton County need to fund over the next five years? And in what order?
These are the questions that Northampton's new capital improvements plan tries to answer. The $14 million plan, presented at a public hearing Monday, is the county's first attempt since the 1980s to schedule big, inevitable expenses.
The Board of Supervisors decided to postpone discussion about the plan until July.
The plan targets five projects in urgent need of funding over the next five years:
$180,000 for replacing two Sheriff's Department vehicles each year.
$370,000 for replacing two school buses each year.
$4.6 million for the Port of Cape Charles Sustainable Technologies Industrial Park. The Board of Supervisors has already committed money from a bond issuance toward this project, but no funding schedule has been determined.
$5.6 million for a new jail. This is another project that has been up in the air for years with no finalized plan for implementation.
$125,000 for a new trash truck.
The plan presented this week lists 23 other projects with their expected costs, and rates them as necessary, desirable or of low priority. The plan requests $862,300 for fiscal 1996, and $999,100 for 1997.
So far, the fiscal 1996 county budget - approved by the board and ready for implementation July 1 - does not set aside money for capital purchases.
Other projects recommended by the plan:
More space for the clerk of court, Juvenile and General District courts, treasurer, commissioner of revenue, Agricultural Extension Service, and Social Services Department.
A drain field for the Courthouse Complex and Eastville Inn.
More parking for the courthouse.
A public library and a swimming pool.
A high school track, and a new gym floor for the middle school.
A heavy-duty tractor, an excavator and a used front-loader.
KEYWORDS: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN NORTHAMPTON COUNTY EASTERN SHORE by CNB