Minutes 11/18/1913 - Laserfiche WebLink

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.November 18, 1913. Oommittee appointed to attend the 8th Annual Convention of the League of Virginia Municipalities in Roanoke, Va., October 14th and l~th, 19!~, respectfully reports having attended every session of said Convention, with the Mayor, and the proceedings were helpful to all. Portsmouthts representation was large as that of any other City in the State. eat ~he meeting held at 10:BO a. m. October 14th· in Hotel ~oanoke, an address on "Commission Government and Necessary Legislation in Virginia" was delivered by Hon. [~ C. L. Taliaferro, C'ity Attorney of N~mpton. The address as well prepared and was enjoyed. He ~ prepared a tentative blll.~o be presented to the Legislature, which was referred to the Committee on Resolutions, of which Co~mz~tee .~. Baker was a member. ~,Nr. ~arkham was appointed Chairman of the Nominating Committee. ~At E:$O o'clock ........ October ~th· ~here was a conference held in the assembly room of the Roanoke ~nam~er o~ commerce mn connec~mon w~th proposed organization of a Virginia State Chamber of Commerce amdhMr~ ~n~ HOWard Hall was appointed Chairman of the Committee to look into organization of such a body. ' '~Tuesday night October 14th, at S P. M., the delegates listened With interest to an add~ess "The Suffol~ Plan "b Hon. Joh~B inner ' . . ~ ~o~ , Y . . P Councilman Suffolk ~nd - ~-~ ' , Ma ' · ~ - · ' · = aa auuress on Mur~lclpal B~slnes$ nagement as Admin~sterea Under Modified uommmsslOn Form of Government," by Hon. R. Stuart Royer· Cit~ ~om!~_i~ioner,~. Fredericksburg,. which& plan is in ~neration un = riday mornmng Octgber lBth~ a~ 10 ~a. m.~ the Committee on Resolutions reported a tentative bill embodying several optmonal_plans of Commiesmon Form of Guv~rnment· which was referred to a Com- mittee ~O be appointed by the Prea$dent of the body, th? C6mmi~te~ to include a r~presentative from each City.of the Stat$· which Commmttee is to put the bmll in shape for presentation to the Legisla- e ture at its next m et~ng, and in the meantime, to have prepared copies of it each member of the League, in order that any criticism or correction might be made prior to its pre- sentation to the Legislature. #A good deal of discussion followed the report of the Committee, and the Convention seemed to be unanimously in favor of a more modern~form of government than that carried on through Councilmanic Committees. "Then followed an address on *The Ideal City Charter,. by Lieut. C. P. Shaw, of Norfolk. ~Mr. Wm. Pl. Sergeant, Jr.· of Norfolk, was elected President of the League and L. C. Brineon of Ports~2u~hZ_wa? re,elected Se&rotarY. ~a~ a:~u o'elock~h~eSday,~ the representatives enjoyed a roundtable luncheon in Hotel Roanoke a? guests of the City· after whicR a street car ride was taken, covering the City and including a v~sit to Mill-Nountain and Crystal Springs· the source 'of Roanoke's water suonlv. ~ The Convention unanimously endorsed a bill to be presented to the next sessmon of the Legisla- ture providing that it shall be necessary for every person having a claim against a municipality for .damages arising from personal injuries, or otherwise· to give notice of suGh olaim within sixty days afte~ the ?a~e-of action shall have arisen. . ~At .the instance of N~. Markham· the Conventmgn went on reco~d as favoring the enlargement of the facilities at the Portsmouth Na%y Yard for'~uilding battleships. r~Altogether, the Convention ~roved to be a very instructive and satisfactory gathering, and our only regret i~ that every member of the two_branches of Council did not participate with us. ~ (Sig~ed) On motion, the report was ordered to file. C. N. Markham, Chairman B. of A.~ First. Matters adopted by the oil for concurrence. BI,FINISHED BUSINESSj Board of Aldermen October ~lst and referred to the Common Court- To refer to Ordinance Committee several recommendatfons of the Redistricting Committee, with proviso that the third and fourth sections of same are struck out. On motion, laid on the table. To permit the holding of no more Carnivals on the playground at the corner of Wythe and Fourth streets after October 31, 191~. ~ Amended, so that privilege to hold carnivals on said playground may be permitted until the place is in condition to be used as a play,round. Second. Natters adopted b~ the Common Council November llth and. referred to the Board of Alder- men ~or concurrence. To transfer from Washington street Improvement fund to Incinerator fund $3~. 16, for operation of the Incinerator for the balance of the year. There was considerable discussion over the requested transfer, but finally the same action was taken on it as was taken when the report of the Street Committee came up, that i~, the appropri- ation was referred to the Finance Committee. TO authorize theTr~asurer to renew notes to amount of $177,000.00 due in December and $50 OOQ due Street Paving Bond Account. Ooncurred in a~d by the following vote: Ayes--Walker, Williams, Langhorne, Ballentine, Adams, Privett, ~arkham, Davis, To refer to F~rry .~ommittee present condition of ferry boats; and to refer to Ferry Committee, with City Attorney, to t~ok into advisability of petitioning the next Legislature to modify the law under which the Council~ now act in the manner of leasing the ferries. On motion of Mr. Williams, the proposition was ordered to lie on the table. To refer to Finance Committee the advisability of the City incorporating the Sixth and Seventh Wards under the terms and conditions prescribed by law for same.