Minutes 05/25/1965 - Laserfiche WebLink

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May 25, 1965 65-140 - "Pursuant to a memorandum of intent of December 8, 1964, between the Virginia StatePorts Authority, the Portsmouth Port and Industrial Commission, Commonwealth Metals Limited, and the City of Portsmouth, I recommend that I be authorized to negotiate with the Virginia State Ports Authority, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company, Southern Railroad Company, and any other interested parties for the acquisition of land for a right-of-way to construct an access road between the Virginia State Ports Authority property and property owned by the City of Portsmouth at Pinners Point. This land is necessary to construct the road in order that the Virginia State Ports Authority property and the City of Portsmouth property can be connected bye roadway system to enable Fire and Police protection and for the handling of cargo for the pier facilities en Virginia State Ports Authority property and the proposed new pier facilities to be constructed on land presently owned by the City. I furkeaer recommend tha~. if this property cannot be acquired by ~urchase, we be authorize~ to proceed with condemnation proceedings in accordance with the S~ate law." Motion of ~. Knight to concur in the recommendation of the City B'Ianager was adopted with- out dissenting vote. 65-141 - '.'The matter of Mr. E. B. Williams, 454 Crawford Street, recently requesting from City Council a rebate on his City business license concerns me to the extent that I feel the views of this office, based on facts peculiar to his application for licenses should be better understood by all Council members, i At the outset, I would remind you that our policy, in cases of this kind where a person I desires to start a business but cannot, at the time, fully meet the expense of licenses, is given full consideration I under the law fo procure the license without the additional assessment of a penalty, and in our experience, most i of the business people have expressed a deep appreciation for such courtesy. This, obviously, was not the case with i Mr. Williams. . On or about February I, 1965, Mr. Williams applied for a State retail merchants license for! a business at the Crawford Street address and estimated his gross sales for eleven months at $2,000. After procuringI this State license application, he proceeded to avoid payment on the tax and instead posted the license anDlication, in triplicate, on the Hall of his store. Shortly thereafter, this office received a complaint that the l~ense was displayed without the usual endorsement made by the City Treasurer. Our inspector, on February 26, made an investigation and found the u~paid license ~osted and instructed Mr. Williams to remove the application immediately, and further advised him by written notice~ that a City and State license must be procured within the next seven days. In the interim, Mr. Williams consulted with the Commissioner of the Revenue and requested this time limit be extended for an additional two weeks or until March 18. In recognition of his financial circum- stances, b~. Turlington authorized this extension of time, but Mr. Williams did not purchase any license until April 1, 1965. This was a State merchants license for $20.00 on which he paid an additional $2.00 penalty. Mr. Williams at t~is time, requested that he be allowed to forego the 1964 City license requirement as his restaurant was open only part time, and that his sales were at an unexpectable low. Being desirous of assisting this person, in the establishment of his business, this office ~am~d on a conditional basis, to extend the time period for getting a 1964 City license until April 30~ the 1965 license being due and payable in the following month of ~y. This was provided, however, that he deposit by April 15, with the Commissioner of the Revenue, the amount of $50.00 to cover the cost of a minimum 1964 merchants license, but if the business was operating after May 1, the money would be applied toward his 1965 license rather than the 1964 license. This being agreed upon, Mr. Williams, on the 15 of April delivered $50.00 to this office where it was held, by request until May 4, at which time a 1965 City license was prepared and issued. In summary, and in view of the facts surrounding this case, this office takes the position that a rebate on Mr. William's license is wholly Onjustified, that he was actually in business intermitten~l~ after May 1; and further, our generosity in trying to help this person in his financial dilemma, even beyond the limits of the law was evidently not appreciated by his unwarranted action of requesting Council for a tax refund. I have enctosdd herewith a copy of ~. Williams State License by which you may note the starting date of his Crawford Street business as February. 4, 1965." Motion of Mr. Knight to rescend action taken by the Council at its last regular meeting to refund Mr. Williams the amount of his City license was unanimously adopted. 65-142 - "At the last meeting of the City Council, letters from the Wilson Ward Civic League and the Biltmore Baptist Church were received and referred to me for reply. Attached hereto, for your information, are copies of letters forwarded to the interested parties concerning their requests." (Attachments: 'In response to your letter of M~y 8, we have investigated your complaints. At present, we are investigating the pessibility of additional lighting on Elliott Avenue. As to the appearance of the lot nex~ do~r, the congrete footings will be removed as soon as the Public Works Department's work load will allow." In response to your March 12, letter requesting certain improvements in the ~ilson Ward area, we forward to you the following report: 1. Curbs and gutters for the entire area are under consideration, but funds have not been appropriated for this fiscal year. We will kee~ this need in mind and take action as soon as money is available. 2. The widening of Wall Street is not in progress. $. It was requested that mercury lighting be installed in all areas. As of this date, Wilson Ward has more of this type lighting than any ~ther section of the City. We hone that the entire area will have this type of lighting within two years. 4. The unsightly and unhealthful conditions mentioned at Maplewood Park Shopping Center have been ~eferred to Dr. ~ A. Graham, Director of Public Health, for investigation." On motion of Mr. Johnson, received as information.