Minutes 11/25/1952 - Laserfiche WebLink

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399 Nnvember 25th, 1952. .... A~ a regtLtar meeting of the City Council, held on November 25th, 1952, there were present Fred A. Duke, Frank N. llleoly, Jr., George L. Grimes, R. E. Hawks, C.C.Houghtqn,Jr., James N. Howard, E. ~. Lawrence, R. Irvine Smith, E. R. Sturtevant, C.E. Warren, Pearle J. Wilson, I.G. Vass, City Manager, and E. C. Barclay,City ~Attorney. ~inutes of regular meeting held ~u November &lth,1952 were read and approved. The following reports from the City Menager were read: let - "I desire to report that I consulted Judge Morrissette, State Tax Commissioner, in Eichmond, Virginia, on T~esday, November l~th, 1952, concerning Section 58-795 of the Code wherein the State T~x Commission is authorized to make appraisals of real estate in cities and counties within the State if they deem it advisable. I was advised by Judge Morriseette that the State Tax Commission was entirely sat- isfied with the appraisal of property within the City of Portsmouth a~ud it was not their intention ~ o make an appraisal by the State at the present ~time. %~e will therefore not be able to receive assistance from the State Department ia our app~aissl of real estate. I request that the Council advise me what action they desire to be taken concern- ing the appraisal ~ud reassessment of real estate within the City of Portsmouth as provided hy the Code of Vir- ginia which will be for the year 1954." £ On motion filed ~ ~<3~, ~,~-~, ~7~ ~'~ · 2nd - "i submit the attached letter from the Superintendent of Schools and recommend that the Council concur in his report." Attached - "~hen the contract was let for the Norcom School, the cost of wi~ng the building for a public address system was included Ln the original contract, but at your request the School Board postponed the installation of the public address equipment because of the cost. The installation of this equipment w~_ll add $16,000. to the cost of the building, but it is necessary for the efficient operation of a plant of this size. The School Board requests that it be autho- rized to install this equipment and would appreciate it~ry much if you 'would take action on this request at your meeting, Tuesday, November 25, 1952." Motion of ~r. Houghton that the School Board be authorized to install a Public Address system in the new I. C. Norcom High School, was adopted. 3rd - "i submit the attached agreement dated November 6th, 1952, covering pipe line crossing under the tracks of the Atlan{ic Coast Line Railroad Company near Churchland, Virginia, and recommend that the M~or be authorized to execute the contract for and on behalf of the City of Portsmouth and that the City Clerk be directed to attest the same and affix the City's seal." Motion of ~ir. Grimes that the proper City officials be authorized to sign the agreement, was adopted. 5%h - "I recommend that an appropriation in the sum of $10,000.O0 be placed on its first reading, t o supplement the appropriation for the construction of the new fire station at Fifth Avenue. The ori- ginal estimate of the building was $50,000.00 and the land $5,000.00~ On receipt of bids, we found that the cost of const~acting the ~uilding had increased. The lowest bid submitted was $69,958.00. By m~king some revi- sions e~ud eliminating a few items, the cost was reduced to $5~,298.00. ~en the construction of the building be- gan, it was found to be necessary to drive piles for the foundation: increasing the cost of the building from $55,298.00 to $57,063.36. Adding to this the estimated architect, s fee of $3,500.00, the totsl cost of the building amounted to $60,563.36. The land was purchased for $5,666.66, and we have p~rchasef two hose dryers at a cost of $1,268.~8 and a plaque for $10i.83. By setting the building further back from the street line, in order to secure a better foundation, it was necessary to construct a concrete slab in front of the building at a cost of $1,789,00 - making the total overall cost $69,298.85. 'We had originally anticipated selling the old fire station for appro~dEately $5,000.00 ~icbwe expected to absorb the c~st of the land but at the present time no disposition has been made of the old building. We had intended including ia the wegul~r budget the price of the hose dryer, which we also omitted. The foregoing are the reasons for reqdestLug the additional appropriation.~' Motion of Mr. Wilson that an appropriation of $10,000.00 for said purpose, be placed on its first read~.g, was adopted. 5th - ,q]urir~ the month of October, which is an average month of the year, I find that in the Food Division of the Public Health, the two inspectors made 9~+ inspections of food establishments and meat markets. The two inspectors were on duty a total of &O0 hours during this period and you will observe that there was less then ~ue half hour consumed for each inspection which includes the total travel time from the office to the various places of ~siness over the City which, as you can readily see, is not sufficient time 5o properly inspect food establishments. For this reason, I ha~e transferred I. A. Beard from the position o f Superintendent of the Stadium to the Food Inspection Division of the Department of Public He~!th, effective as o~ December l, 1952.. His salary is to be the same as that of the regular food inspectors. I proposed to transfer the remainder of the Budget items for salaries at the Sta- diumto the Health Department and s~pplement it in the sum of $/40.00 from the Contingent Fund in order to keep the budget items in balance. I have transferred the responsibility of the maintenance and operation of the Sta- diumto the Department of Buildings ~ud G~aunds under the supervision of H. E. Phelps, Jr. The only additional funds involved will be that of the increase in salary for Mr. Beard, in order to equalize his salarywith that of the other food inspectors. I am making this report as r~uiredbythe Code and Charter of the City.- On motion filed. 6th - "I submit the attached report from R. T. Trafton, SuperLutendent of the~ectrical Department, concerning t~e traffic count.at th~ intersections of County and Chestnut Sts., and South and Chestnut1 .... appropriatmon of $!,000.00 for said put- Sis.I am su~mittm~ tams for your consmderatmon and recommen~ that an pose, be p~aced on its first reading."