Minutes 05/22/1956 - Laserfiche WebLink

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299 May 22nd, 1956. sidered at a meeting held on April 26th, 1956. The Pla.nning Com~ission recommends that West Lane and South Lane be vacated as requested." Attached - "The undersigned who are all the propertyowners bordering on West Land and South Lane located in the City of Portsmouth and shown on the Plat of Belport Lots of F.Richardson duly recorded in the Clerk's Office of the Cireuit;Court of Norfolk County in Map Book 4 page 66, respectfully request the City of Portsmouth to vacate and close said alleys. They further state that they are the only persons reasonably needing said alleys as a means of egress and ingress to and from their properties and that no one will be injured in uny way by the vacation thereof and agree ~o deliver to the City of Portsmouth an easement over the western l0 feet of South Lane from the southern.line cf lot l0 to the noirthern line of Gate Ave. for a sanitar~ sewer. This 19th day of April, 1956. Gomley Chesed Congregation by Leouard G Karp, President. Robert M. Epstein Irvin Levin." Motion ef Mr. Howard to place the following ordinance on first reading, was adopted: "AN bRI~INANCE Td dLOSE WEST LANE AND SOUTH LANE ON 'riiE PLAT OF BELPORT LOTS OF F. RICHARDSON" 56-167- The following letter from the City Collector was read: "The City Attorney has paid me $16.17 on 1956 maxes assessed to Lloyd Kight, 326 Butler St., as this property was purchased for school purposes, the balance of 1956 taxes amounting to $48.47 should be relieved. He has also paid $18.33 on property assessed to Evelyn C. Sawyer, 332 Owens St. The balance left on this property is $36.67, which should alse be relieved. Please authorize the City Auditor =o relieve these amounts." Motion of Mr. Smith that the ~axes he relieved, was adopted. 56-168 - The following letter from the Chamber'of Commerce was read: "The Education Committee of the Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce has, during the past year, concerned itself with the problems of Public Education in the City of Portsmeuth and in Norfolk County. The mem- bers of this Committee and other interested members of the Chamber have followed closely the recent school con -I struction programs in the City and County, and have met with tke local school administrators to examine the organ- ization frmmework, the aims and the accomplishments ef our public,school systems. From our studies we must draw the conclusion that the people of the City of Portsmouth are getting full value for the money they are spending on education. The Scheel Board and A.J. Mapp, your School Superintendent, are to be commended for their efforts in previding and staffing the facilities which are available to the children of this City. However, we are concerned about the comparatively small sam of money being devoted to education in the City of Portsmouth. We are informed that in the year 1954-55 the City spent out of local appro- 'priatio~ks only $70.00 per child for education. This amount was, of course, augmented by funds from the State and Federal Governments. But other localities in the State of Virginia spent from their local appropriations up to $234.00 per child. The City of Norfolk spent $165.00; the City of Richmond, $212.00. These sums were greatly augmented by State and Federal funds. Portsmouth and Norfolk County rank low in the amount of money spent for education, eom - pared to other political subdivisions of the State. Virginia ranks low compared to other States. Our Ch~m~ber is concerned over the effect of this situation at a time when even the best education efforts are not meeting the needs of this ~a~ion in this second half of the twentieth century. Our concern over this situation is expressed in the inclosed resolution adopted by our Board of Directors on May 10, 1956. We present it as a constructive, grass-roots effor~ in civic imp rovement. In our resolution we have asked the respective authorities to improve the scope and quality of their Public Education Systems. We would consider an 'improvement in scope' to include: 1. Special facilities for gifted children. 2. Special facilities for children with low aptitudes. 3. Enforcement of school attendance laws, and a program to encourage more years of school attendance. 4. Inclusion of kindergartens in the public school system. 5. full program of post-graduate courses and college extension courses. Our Chamber is ready to lend assistance to our County and City Governments in pursuing a program of improvement in public education. Members of our Education Committee are available to meet with you and co-operate in the implementation of such a program. We should like to ask that you advise us concerning any action of your Board as a result of our recommendationsi" Motion of Mr. Howard that copy be sent to each councilman for study and recommendation, was adopted. 56-i69 - The following letter from the Home:Owner~Protective League was read: "The Home Owners Protective League, organization composed of the citizens of Brighton, whoi live in the area proposed for slum clearance, request that this honorable body reject the plan submitted by the Housing Authority to take our property and deprive us of our homes. This area is composed of some of our oldest colored citizens who have owned their homes for a long number of years. A recent survey shows tltat there are 256 owners out of a total number of 3lQ homes. We b~a~9 been informed that a public hearing would be granted us; but recent newspaper reports state that plans will be submitted re Washington by June I, 1956. Will you please advise us if a public meeting will be held a~d ihe j alwProximate time of the meeting. We also request that yon gran~ our representative anopportunity to express to the