DATE: Wednesday, June 25, 1997              TAG: 9706250523

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BATTINTO BATTS JR., STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   47 lines

CITY VOTES TO PURCHASE PROPERTY THAT'S PARTIALLY OWNED BY A COUNCIL MEMBER

City Councilman P. Ward Robinett's colleagues gave final approval to a land deal Tuesday night that will benefit him economically.

By a 4-2 vote, the City Council agreed to purchase four parcels of land on Jamestown Avenue for $210,360. The property is owned by real estate holding company PRFT Inc., in which Robinett is a partner.

Vice Mayor Johnny M. Clemons and Councilman Cameron C. Pitts voted against the purchase.

Robinett, who owns 25 percent of the company, abstained from voting on the matter and declared his conflict of interest, as is required by state law. It's unclear how much the councilman will make from the deal.

The council's approval followed a brief discussion which focused on whether the city needed to purchase the land when it has so many other needs.

The property is to be used to create a buffer between the new I.C. Norcom High School's football stadium - which Norcom supporters want to see enlarged - and adjacent neighborhoods.

Private donations are expected to cover the construction of the additional seats, which will enable the stadium to hold up to 10,000 people and turn it into a potential site for state high school football playoff games.

Pitts wondered why the land couldn't also be purchased with private funds.

``If the expansion is done privately, then the property acquisition should be done with private funds, also,'' Pitts said. ``I cannot support this.''

While Pitts and Clemons both cited a desire to be cautious with public funds as a factor in voting against the proposal, they had also earlier expressed concern about Robinett's ownership.

The purchases were tentatively approved by the City Council in a 4-2 vote on May 6 as part of the Capital Improvement Plan.

There was no public statement of Robinett's interest in the property before the May 6 vote. Robinett, an official with BB&T Bank, was absent from that council meeting. His absence meant he didn't have to publicly declare his interest in the property or abstain from voting on the proposal.

He said he had to attend a previously scheduled bank engagement.

Robinett said he repeatedly had acknowledged his conflict of interest to the council.

Several council members said they knew of Robinett's personal conflict before voting in May.

Two councilmen, Bernard D. Griffin and Thomas Benn III, said they did not, but that it would not have affected their votes. They said they trusted Robinett's ethics and voted Tuesday to approve the sale.

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