Minutes 02/08/1944 - Laserfiche WebLink

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February 8th, 19~4. adopted. Motion of Er. Hutchins to place said o~dinance on its first reading, was 5th - "I am in receipt of the attached letter from Commissioner of Cot - rections, R. E. Youell. I recommend at this time ~hat wema~e.~a, study of the recommendation and find ou~ the cost to ~th~ City, and comply with their request, provided we can assist with- out undue expense to the taxpayers." "~dae question el' the proper quarters for the confinement of female prisoners has been a' very troublesome-one since the. declaration of War. This probably has bee~mere ~rue, as you gentlemen ~re very well aware, in the area around Norfolk and Portsmouth than in any other part of the ~tate. Governor Darden has recommended an. a~p~opriation of $5~O,0~O. in the bud~e~ which is before, the General Assembly at this~time for materiaIly increasing ~hesize of the~StateIndustria! Farm for ~omen~n Goochla~d Go.unmy. If the Legislature makes, theses, funds ava~labSe, in view of th~present emergency the securing of ma - terials, will be naturatzy a s~ow process, and I do not believe the increased facilities would be available for at least another 12 months. This office would like to suggest for~the consideration of the cities of Norfolk and PortsmOUmth and Norfolk County, the follo~ - lng arrangement: Agreements be affected between the. above-mentioned local units of government in order that the following use might be made of Jail facilities: 1. That the fireproof o~ fire resisting section of the No~folk County Jail be used for ~he incarceration of N ~ all female prisoners from orfo~k City~ Portsmouth City and Norfolk County. This building has a capacity for 100 and~w!th the repair work which is now being done, it, could e~s!ly accommodate lO0 women, which are are now being kept in three different J~ils under un - satisfactory~condition s. 2. 'That the Portsmouth City Jail be used for housing male prisoners only from Portsmouth City and Norfolk County. If yom gen%!emen feel that there-is a possibility that this arrangement c&ube worked out, it might be well for a represen- tative from this office to meet with representatives of the units of government mentioned above for a conference in the near future for further discussion. Assuring you of our desire to work in a co-operative wa_yin the handling of th~s troublesome problem , I beg to zemain, Y~urs sincerely, R. M. Youell,'Commissioner of Corrections." Notion of Nr. Hutchins to refer back to the City ~/anager, was adopted. 6th - "Pursuan~ to your request, I wrote Er. H. A. Hunt, Superintendent of Schools relative to ~the heating systems in the Port Norfolk and G~eorge Peabody Schools. AttacHed hereto is Er. Hunt's reply, which I believe gives the de - sired information." Inclosure - "I am ln receipt of your letter of January 28th, asking for a report on the heating systems in the Port ~Norfolk end GeOrge Peabody Schools. The 'heating systems in ~he Port Nor2olk schools are in excellent condition They were entirely rebuilt during th~ summer and 8arly 'fall and were put in perfect condition. On accoun~ 'of the delay in getting certain r epalr par~s, the cold weather in October came be fore the furnaces were completely repaired, necessitating our making use of the Sunday School rooms in the Port Norfolk BaPtist Church for a short while. The Janitor question, however', has given us co'nsiderable trouble there as we have now the third Janitor this school year. On sev- eral days when the heat in certain rooms was no~ adequate it was due to the incompetence or neglect 'of ~the'janitor. We feel with the present Janitor, there will be no further t~uble. The heating system of the George Peabody school is also in a thoroughly sat- isfactory condition. There were several days in January when this building was poorly heated, due~to J~nitOr ~rouble. The janitor left suddenly on account of illnes~ s~d it was difficult ~o secure another promptly; ~and when one was secured, he met with an accident on the Sunday afternoon he was to begin firing for the Monday following. ~e found it very difficult to keep things goI,ng du~ing ~his period but shortly thereafter secured the present Janitor who up to the' prese~ has shown him-self to be a good fireman. The principal assures me that at no time were chil~l, sn kep-t in a cold room, but those from such rooms were shifted temoorarily to the warm room~ - We have had a great deal of ~rouble in many schools securing and retaininE good Janitors. The comparatively low pay o f Janitors has not enabled us ~o secure high grade mi in most cas~s. However, the recent substsntialinerease in Janitors' pay may greatly help us to have an efficient Janitor service in~ll the schools.