DATE: Monday, June 9, 1997                  TAG: 9706090063
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                      LENGTH:   45 lines

CENTER FOR DISABLED LOSES ELECTRICITY FOR NOT PAYING ITS BILLS NEWPORT NEWS SAYS IT WASN'T WARNED, AND IT HAD TO FIND SHELTER FOR SEVERAL RESIDENTS.

A center for the disabled had no working fire alarms or fire detectors and was forced to rely on emergency generators Sunday after electricity was shut off for non-payment of more than $20,000 in bills, a city official said.

Virginia Power cut off service on Wednesday to the center without notifying the city, said David Harlow, special projects coordinator for the Newport News Department of Code Compliance. He said the utility violated a city ordinance requiring such notification before cutting power to residential buildings.

City officials learned of the shut-off when the fire marshal's office conducted a routine inspection on Friday, Harlow told The Daily Press.

A worker at the center who refused to give her name said that power still had not been restored Sunday.

Our Place, a residential center for 17 mentally ill or developmentally disabled people, occupies the building's first floor. Alt House, a residence for the working homeless, is on the second floor.

Alt House's 27 residents have found other places to live, but Our Place residents stayed behind because they have special needs taken care of by certified nursing assistants.

At Our Place, three rented emergency generators supplied emergency lighting, along with power to coolers and freezers in the kitchen, which has gas stoves. The Fire Department is making regular stops at the center because of non-working smoke detectors and alarms, Harlow said.

``I was kind of shocked that power was pulled and we didn't get notification from anybody,'' Harlow said. ``The situation was hard. It was so late in the day, and it was the last day of the week. We only had so many resources to find shelter for whoever needed it.''

Harlow told the center's manager, Norma Leonard, that the center's owners must restore adequate lighting and working smoke detectors and fire alarms by Monday or face criminal penalties.

Virginia Power told a city official that unpaid bills totaled in the range of $20,000 to $34,000, Harlow said. The center's owners made four promises to pay without keeping any of them, the utility told the city official.

A Virginia Power spokeswoman said the utility would have no comment until it had the chance to review records today.

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