DATE: Thursday, October 16, 1997            TAG: 9710160563

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Staff writers Lori Denney, Matt Bowers, Ida Kay Jordan, Jo-Ann

        Clegg, Mike Abrams and Toni Guagenti contributed to this report.

                                            LENGTH:  155 lines

HAMPTON ROADS

VIRGINIA BEACH

City may consolidate

public works with

utilities department

The city is studying whether to consolidate its Department of Public Works with its Department of Public Utilities.

Before asking for a study, though, City Manager James K. Spore has asked Public Utilities Director Clarence O. Warnstaff to serve as acting public works director in addition to his current position.

Warnstaff replaces Ralph A. Smith, who retired Oct. 1 after serving as public works director since 1991. Warnstaff came to the city on Oct. 16, 1985. Much of his work has involved development of the Lake Gaston Pipeline.

He will oversee his 375 employees in public utilities as well as 597 in public works.

Spore asked Warnstaff to establish a team to study the potential consolidation of the two departments. The team would define the goals of consolidation, expected benefits, impacts on members, costs and how long a merger would take.

A preliminary report is expected by Dec. 31.

Spore said the possible consolidation ``should be viewed as an opportunity to improve upon the successes already achieved'' by both departments. Public works responsibilities include beach management, highways, engineering, parking, waste management, street lights, street signs, recycling efforts and stormwater management. Public utilities is responsible for water and sewer in the city.

City keeps the ball rolling

on multipurpose stadium

The Development Authority approved several important contracts to keep construction rolling on the city's multipurpose stadium.

At a special meeting Tuesday, the authority approved a $2.6 million contract for site work, as well as several other large bids for concrete and steel construction, pile foundation and related work.

The 6,000-seat stadium, home of the Hampton Roads Mariners soccer team, is supposed to be finished by the third week of May. To avoid weather stoppages, crews have built a solid access road to the site, on the city's Lake Ridge property. They also have designed drainage into the site to keep it dry during work.

In another development, designers have adjusted some aspects of the stadium to make it more accessible to people with disabilities. The new design features will cost up to $40,000 more but aren't expected to push the project over budget.

Administrators will get

own space in new building

Everybody likes to have their own room. College administrators and librarians are no different. Next summer, those folks at Virginia Wesleyan College will see their wishes begin to come true.

Construction of the private college's first separate administration building is scheduled to start in mid-1998, it was announced at Wednesday's meeting of the Board of Trustees. College administrators now work out of the second floor of the cramped Hofheimer Library; they need more room, and the books need more room, school officials have said.

Taking the first step, the board awarded the design contract for the $3.8 million structure to Hanbury Evans Newill Vlattas & Co. of Norfolk. The same firm designed the $4 million Academic Building now under construction on campus.

The building will be named after former Virginia governor Mills E. Godwin Jr. and his wife, Katherine B. Godwin, a Virginia Wesleyan trustee. The Godwins are longtime supporters of the school.

Jane P. Batten, chairwoman of the board, reported that $18.3 million in gifts has been received toward the $25 million goal of the school's four-building, five-year capital campaign, called ``Consider the Harvest.''

Woman soliciting donations

for EQUI-KIDS is a fraud

The director of a local non-profit organization is warning people that someone may be soliciting donations for the program without the group's consent.

Barbara S. Ford, the executive director of EQUI-KIDS, a therapeutic horse-riding program for children based in Virginia Beach, has had reports that a woman claiming to represent the group has been soliciting donations from local businesses.

Anyone who has donated or who has been asked to donate is asked to call Barbara Ford at 425-8833.

United Way celebrates

the midpoint of campaign

On Wednesday, with a month down and a month to go, volunteers in the Virginia Beach United Way campaign got all fired up at a midpoint luncheon held at the city's Fire Training Center.

Literally.

Virginia Beach campaign chairman Robert Graves arrived at the luncheon in the cab of a monster fire truck, better known for appearances at fairs, schools and parades.

Dressed in firefighting gear, the Virginia Beach General Hospital administrator recited the litany of impressive campaign figures, then disappeared. When next seen, he was dangling from the bucket of a ladder truck parked next to the multi-story, oft-kindled building used to train firefighters.

On the ground, he was joined by eight business executives on loan to United Way holding the digits to the total figure: $1,251,398, or 50.8 percent of this year's $2,465,083 goal.

NORFOLK

Groundbreaking slated for

new public health building

The city will hold a groundbreaking ceremony to commemorate the construction start of the new state-of-the-art Public Health and Biomedical Research Park Building.

The ceremony will be today at 10 a.m. at the site of the new building, 830 Southampton Road.

The new facility will expand available space of the present facility and will be the home of Biomedical Research Park of Hampton Roads. The building will provide 22,000 square feet of office and laboratory space to companies and organizations, with a focus on biomedical technology development.

It is scheduled to open in December 1999.

PORTSMOUTH

Naval Medical Center to

help mark pharmacy week

The Pharmacy Department of the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth will stage two patient education projects to mark National Pharmacy Week, which is Oct. 19-25.

``Brown Bag Medication Reviews'' are scheduled for 8-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. Oct. 21 and Oct. 23 in the second-floor conference room of Building 215. Patients may bring all their medicines to the hospital and discuss them with a licensed pharmacist.

The pharmacy staff also will be manning a table on the second floor of Building 215 near the galley from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 20, 22 and 24. They will answer questions and give advice about taking medications, understanding prescription labels, knowing when to get refills, and the dangers of mixing drugs.

ALSO. . .

Suffolk - Fans of Mickey Mouse and smiles are being invited to put on their Mouse gear, test their knowledge of Mouse trivia, and parade in a fund-raiser for Operation Smile. The children will be parading from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday in Suffolk Shopping Center and seeking donations from shoppers. For more information, call Krish at 539-9399.

COMING UP

TODAY

Chesapeake - Parents and teens are invited to attend a program designed to explain the symptoms of an abusive relationship and to help participants recognize warning signs in a relationship. The program will be at Western Branch High School from 7 to 9 p.m. The speaker will be Fran Dillard-Moore from Help and Emergency Response (H.E.R.)

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