Minutes 09/08/1953 - Laserfiche WebLink

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September 8th, 1953. Srd - "I submit the attached letter from the Hon. Clyde Cooper aha cop' s p -~ deuce from Erank L. Kirby concerning the barge'Ontario' located against the wail at the foot of Court St., for you~ Attached - "I have a copy of a letter dated August Slat, addressed to.Frank~Kirby, Portsmouth, Virginia, from Robert B. Wathen, Marine Transportation, Baltimore, Md., in connection with the barge "Ontario" which was blown up against the wall at the foot of Court St., during the recent storm. I understand that Mr. Kirby has sent you a copy of this letter. The attitude on the part of the owners in this matter, to my mind, is ridiculous, and to say that they do not know when, if ever, they will remove same because they did not have insurance, and because they will be out of pocket in expenses of same, and further that there was no negligence on their part. The entire country was warned about this storm which originated off the Coaster Florida, through the medium of the Weather Bureau, and the course of same was charted almost hourly. It gave %his Company, as well as other companies, an opportunity to see that their barges wore securely anchored. It is not a question of being an eyesore, of course it is - but it is a health menace, and is also resting on property belonging to the City of Portsmouth. Now, I definitely think it is entirely up to the C%~y to take this matter up with this company and see that this barge is removed from this area. It is necessary in the interest of a number of citizens who live in that area, and I further believe that if the owners r~Yfuse ~o do so, the City should go into the Federal Court: seek an injunction and require them to do so." Motion of Mr. Bilisoly re refer to the City Manager and City Attorney, to take lmmediat~ steps zo have the barge removed from its present location, was adopted. Board, L.Waverly Hudgins." Attached - 4th - "I submit the attached letter from the Chairman of the Portsmouth Electoral '~t its meeting held on August 7, 1953, the Electoral Board unanimously wen~ on record as being in favor of certain precinct changes in the wards of the City of Portsmouth. Two Wards particularly are in question, and the Board requests that you bring the following two recommendations before the City Council at your 'earliest convenience: (1) Inasmuch as Washington Ward now has 1632 registered voters, (the greatest in the City) and is made up of only one precinct, thus slowing down the voting procedure to some extent~ and overworking the Ward Election officials by the polling of a large vote.after a long day in,he polls, the Electoral Board makes the following recommendations for this ward: 'That the outside boundaries of Washington Ward shall remain unchanged. A divi- sion line creating two precincts is suggested as follows: Beginning at the center of Western Branch Road, at its intersection with Monroe Ward (at the Belt Line Railroad tracks) , proceed In a northwesterly direction to the center of the in- tersection of Western Branch Road and Broad Street; thence proceed in k northerly directioh up the center of Broad Street, to the center of the intersection of Broad and Wesley Streets; thence proceed in ~ westerly direction along the center of Wesle~ Steeet to the end of the street. The area bounded by the northeast side of Western Branch Road, the east side of Broad Street between Western Branch Road and Wesley Street, and the north side of Wesley Street between Broad Street and the western end of Wesley Street, to be known as the First Precinct of Washington Ward. This would leave the area bounded by the southwest side of Western Branch Road to BroadStre~t, the west side of Broad Street between Wessern Branch Road and Wesley Street, and the south side of Wesley Street between Broad Street and the western end of Wesley Street as the Second Precinct of Washington Ward.' If this suggested is adopted, the number of registered voters in the two proposed precincts would be as follows: Washington Ward, First Precinct ......... 761 by count Washington Ward, Second Precinct ......... 871 (2) Inasmuch as Wi&son Ward, First Precinct, has 454 registered voters, and Wilson Ward, Second Precinct has 1328 registered voters, it is felt that this obvious disparity should be corrected, in order that more efficient use of Election Offi- cials' time be made, to the end that voters may better be served. The Electoral Board suggests to the City Council, the following dhange in present precinct boun- daries: 'That the outside boundaries of Wilson Ward shall remain unchanged. That a new division line extending the limits of the now First Precinct, be established as follows: Beginning ,at the intersection of tiami~ten Avenue and Griffin Street, proceed west down the center of Griffin Street to Airline Boulevard, (this seg- ment is the present boundary line), thence.southwest down the center of Airline Boulevard to Bruce Avenue, thence west down the~center of Bruce Avenue to Wyoming Avenue, thence southwest along the center of Wyoming Avenue, to Arizona Avenue, thence northwest up the center of Arizona Avenue to Baiu's Creek.' This would leave the area south and eas~ of the above boundary lines and extending to the present Ward bou3~daries as the Second Precinct of Wilson Ward. If this suggestion is adopted, the number of registered voters in Wilson Ward will be more evenly distributed.