THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506020247
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
On a recent visit to Bide-A-Wee golf course, I learned of a plan to cut down a substantial number of trees throughout the course. During my round of golf, I saw all the trees marked for removal.
I do not know who is responsible for deciding which trees are to be removed, but it is evident they know nothing about the game of golf or golf courses. Trimming trees to promote growth or removing dead or diseased trees is one thing. The wholesale and indiscriminate cutting of healthy 40-year-old trees is quite another.
Bide-A-Wee is a flat golf course, it doesn't not have mounding or hilly terrain to define the holes, the hole definition was achieved by careful planning and planting of these trees. The removal of all these trees will ruin the design and playability of the course, the hole definition will be lost and the natural barrier between holes that prevents most errant shots from reaching adjoining holes.
Someone needs to wake up before it is too late because once the damage is done it will take another 40 years to repair it. Please do not let a fine golf course layout be ruined. The local golfers that have supported Bide-A-Wee through all the good and bad years deserve better.
Dean Horton
Condor Landing
Chesapeake
May 31, 1995 RV owners being fleeced
RV owners in Portsmouth beware. You are about to be taken to the cleaners - again!
It seems that since the city has leased out Sleepy Hole, we are going to pay for it.
The gentleman who holds the lease from the city now wants more money. He has raised all his rates for camping: $12 plus tax for lot and water; $15 for a lot with electricity. But the biggest rate hike (or hold up) is to use the dumping station. It went from $3 to $15. And this is the only one for owners of RVs in Portsmouth. He has us. But he will rent you a lot with water for $12.54, then you can use the dumping station.
I've heard of making a profit, but ...
Most other campgrounds offer this service for only $5 if you do not camp there. That is a fair price for the elderly and handicapped owners.
We pay dearly to the city of Portsmouth in taxes on our RVs. Now to keep them cleaned out, we will pay dearly for that as well.
But we will not be the only ones. People who visit will believe our city is to blame because the company leasing Sleepy Hole is using the city signs and uniforms. Our city does not need to look any worse than it does already.
I and other RV owners will now travel to Davis Lakes and Campgrounds in Suffolk. Not just for its $5 dumping station, but for all of our camping needs as well. They know how to deal fairly with people.
Mary Kittrell
Melvin Drive
May 22, 1995 Water authority is needed
We seldom make changes until we are forced to do so. Has that time come for a regional water authority in Hampton Roads?
The Hampton Roads Water Authority. How does that sound? Your recent article in The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star indicated estimates of shortages and surpluses in all our cities through the year 2040. It was an excellent article.
We will have enough water with the Gaston Lake pipeline. We need to be able to handle it wisely. A Hampton Roads Water Authority might be able to do that.
How did we get a Hampton Roads Sanitation District? Today we take it for granted. How did we get a Virginia Port Authority? I remember seeing the docks and ships along the waterfront in Norfolk and the competition in shipping between Norfolk and Newport News. The word was stick together or Baltimore will get it all! We did and now we work together on this issue.
While we are at it, let's talk about economics.
The city's director of economic development indicates they market us as a Hampton Roads entity - not as an individual city. Is the problem what to call such an animal?
For now, let's call it Hampton Roads Business Authority. Each new industry that comes to Hampton Roads should be registered in the HRBA with fees and taxes paid to the and the taxes paid back to the cities.
The feeling we have here in Portsmouth when Chesapeake or Suffolk gets a new industry will be joy, rather than envy. It's good to be associated with success. Maybe some of the jobs generated in each case will be filled by Portsmouth people. And we will keep working for the industry on our own land.
So, a Hampton Roads Water Authority and Hampton Roads Business Authority - let's make the change now. We are forced to do so to survive.
Helen Fooshe
Ann Street
May 31, 1995 Vote for Square Edmonds
As a resident of Portsmouth, I am one of many citizens who are concerned about the image problems that Portsmouth has among our sister cities. As soon as we seem to be making headway, along comes another stumbling block. This time it is Cynthia Morrison, wife of Circuit Court Judge Johnny E. Morrison, who has chosen to run as a candidate for the clerk of the Circuit Court of Portsmouth. Don't we have enough image problems in our city without adding this potentially unethical campaign to it?
I feel this is a conflict of interest and am outraged that she has chosen to run for this office while her husband is a judge in the same court! I urge all fellow voters to put a stop to this monopoly on June 13 and support and re-elect Walter M. ``Square'' Edmonds, who has been the clerk of court for 25 years and has an unimpeachable record.
During the 20 years that I served as general registrar for the city of Portsmouth, I have had many dealings with Mr. Edmonds and have always found him to be courteous and knowledgeable. When I went to his office, he personally assisted me in finding the laws that pertained to my particular questions. Can Mrs. Morrison do the same or is she planning to run and ask her husband, the judge?
I strongly believe that a judge's spouse should not seek an elected position in a city where her husband is presiding.
Virginia H. Belli
Shelton Road
May 31, 1995 by CNB