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present:
<br />
<br />July 24th, 1945.
<br />
<br />Leslie T~ Fox,
<br />C. E.Warren,
<br />City Manager.
<br />
<br />At a regular meeting of the City Council, held July 24th, 1945, there were
<br />
<br /> George L. Grimes, James N.Howard, E. Robie Sturtevant,
<br /> H. Earl Weiseman~ Pearle Jo Wilson and Arthur S. Owens,
<br />
<br /> Privilege of the floor was granted members of the Portsmouth Housing Autho-
<br />rity, who presented the following with the two checks mentioned:
<br />
<br /> "The Portsmouth Housing Authority has taken this opportunity to request a
<br />few minutes of your normal meeting ih order to present to the Mayor checks representing a por-
<br />tion of the Authority's payment in lieu of taxes and amounting to $55,293-50. An additional
<br />$25,293~58 will be paid prior to November 1st, making the total payment to ~he City by the Au -
<br />thority a sum in excess of $80,000.00 for the current tax year. Thirty thousand dollars of thi~
<br />amount represents the payment for services rendered by the City on Dale and Swanson Homes and
<br />the additional $50,587.16 represents the payment i~ lied of taxes for the leased projects which
<br />were developed and are being operated by the Authority for the United States Government. An ad-
<br />ditional $538.76 is paid each year as actual taxes on the site of Jeffry Wilson Homes, a pro
<br />posed project which has recently been reactivated. Thus, the total which will be paid by the
<br />Authority to the City this year will amount to $81,125.92. This sum represents an amount ap
<br />proximately equivalent to one-tenth of the total real property assessment for the year. It als~
<br />indicates that the Housing Authority makes the largest single payment of any individual or cor-
<br />poration in the City. The present payment of $55,293.58 is almost twice the amount paid by the
<br />next largest taxpayer, who pays an amoun~ approximating $31,O00.00 each year. The total amount
<br />paid by the Housing Authority this year E ili exceed by $7,000.00 ~he combined amounts of the
<br />payments made by the next four highest taxpayers. It iwill be interesting to you to know that
<br />since the Authority began ma~ing payments in 1941, it has paid To the City in payments in lieu
<br />of taxes an amount approximating a quarter of a million dollars. A large part of this return
<br />has come to theCity from sites which were heretofore largely vacant and from which the tax re -
<br />turn was comparatively small.
<br /> The Authority, feeling that thes~facts were not generally known and that
<br />the financial value of the Authority to the City was not wh01'ly understood, has taken this mea~l
<br />of dramatizing the facts which might otherwise not be generall~ known.
<br />
<br /> ~ It gives me a great deal of pleasure to be able to present to you this
<br />check in the amount of $55,293.58.
<br />
<br />O~
<br />
<br />motion of Mr.' Howard,
<br />
<br />Housing Authority of Portsmouth,
<br /> George O. Diggs, Vice-Chairman."
<br />
<br />Motion of Mr. Howard to accept~and record said communication was adopted.
<br />
<br />The Committee on Food Supply presented the following resolution, which was
<br /> adopted:
<br />
<br /> "WHEREAS, through sound, sensible and unbiased investiga-
<br /> tions, it has been revealed and proven that a most serious
<br /> shortage of food stuff, supplies and other commodities exist
<br /> in the City of Portsmouth. This shortage is to such ane~xtent
<br /> that it fails to provide the minimum requirements for the
<br /> citizens and war workers of the City of Portsmouth. ~epre-
<br /> sentatives of the City of Portsmouth Government, the Ports-
<br /> mouth Chamber of'Com~emce, the Portsmouth Retail Merchants
<br /> Association and representatives of Labor and other business
<br /> ahd civic organizatiSns,have met &nd made repeat~ed appeals
<br /> for the relief in the shortage of food which prevails in
<br /> this highly congested area but with no avail an~,-
<br /> WHEREAS, the Norfolk Navy Yard, Nansemond Ordinance Depot,
<br /> St. Helena Navy Yard Annex and other Government and private
<br /> business organizations are located in or near Portsmouth
<br /> and all of these are facing an increasingly severe shortage
<br /> of manpower due to war workers leaving the area daily. These
<br /> workers give as one of their reasons for leaving that'they
<br /> are going to other areas where the food shoO, age is not so
<br /> acute. The need for these workers, who are hbghly trained,
<br /> impairs the war effor~ and the fact that they are leaving on
<br /> aocomuT of food shortage can be substantiated with affidavits
<br /> and the continual egress of these highly-trained technical
<br /> workers threatens to Jeopardize the war production in this
<br /> area and,
<br /> WHEREAS,~a revision of the population trend '~hows that the
<br /> City o f~0rtsmouth has increased from 50,~$5 in 1940 to a popu-
<br /> lation of.more[than 150,000 people within a three mile radius
<br /> of the Portsmouth Post Office and certified estimates authori-
<br /> tatively compiled with care indicate that from sixty to seventy
<br /> five per cent of persons patronizing public eating places in
<br /> the City of Portsmouth are military or naval personnel on leave.
<br /> No consideration is given the aliocation of foods by those in
<br /> authority to the civilian distributors ~o offset food that
<br /> would normally reach civilians that on t~e contrary consume in
<br />restaurants by military and naval personnel
<br /> WHEREAS, during t~e ~ast s~x months there has been an average
<br /> of over 14OO workers leaving the NorfolE Navy Yard mon2hly, due
<br /> to personal reasons which include a shortage:~f food as well as
<br /> many declaring ill health which ~ay be caused by unbalanced diet
<br /> and lack of proper luncheon foods and further during the pas~
<br /> weeks the National Advisory Council in association with the
<br />
<br />
<br />
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