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4O4 Appropriation re: $6,000 Barrett Day Care Center (2nd reading) Appropriation re: Reprogramming of Start Hill funds Council again considered an appropriation of $6,000 for Barrett Day Care Center which was offeredaat the meeting o£ February 17. Mr. Conover moved to amend the appropriation to include a sentence requesting that Barrett Day Care Center re-pay the money when and if able to do so; the motion was seconded by Ms. Gleason and accepted by Dr. Hall who originally offered the appropriation. Mr. Albro repeated his earlier remarks that the City should not begin a history of bailing small businesses out of financial trouble. Ms. Gleason commented that the City appeared to have some moral obligation in the matter as it originally encouraged the center to finance the Mollie Michie Infant Care Center, whose closing resulted in the financial crisis presently experienced by Barrett. Mr. Conover remarked that business is often subsidized by government, giving examples of the Start Hill small business loans in the City and the Federal government'bail-out of Chrysler Corppration. He added that day care could be viewed as a natural extension of the education responsibility of government, since age 6 is an arbitrary age for starting school, and predicted that government may be in the day care business deeply within the next few decades. Mr. Albro warned that this appropriation would set a precedent for small businesses and worthy organizations to come to the City for financial support; he suggested that with this precedent any time the City staff encouraged private individuals or groups to some useful community acts, those people would be justified in seeking relieve from the City if their efforts were unsuccessfull Dr. Hall said that he had been on the Barrett Board when it decided to enter the Mollie Michie venture and agreed that the City had some obligation in the matter. He stated that the Board would be doing some fundraising and he expected that the money would be returned. Mayor Buck, although supportive of the appropriation .personally, said he could find no satisfactory principle as a councillor for supporting it. At the end of the discussion, the vote was taken as follows. Ayes: Mr. Conover, Ms. Gleason, Dr. Hall. Noes: Mr. Albro, Mr. Buck, BE IT RESOLVED hy the Council of the City of Charlottesville, Virginia, that the sum of $6,000 is hereby appropriated from the unappropriated balance of the General Fund to expenditure account 01-42180 as a donation to the Janie Porter Barrett Day Care Center, a non-profit, non-sectarian charitable instituation as described in VA. Code Ann. Section 15.1-24. Such appropriation shall be deemed a one-time expenditure and shall not be considered an indication that the Council will provide continuing support to the Janie Porter Barr~ett Day Care Center. Such appropriation is made with the further stipulation that the $6,000~shall be yep~id to the City if and when the Center finds itself able to do so. On motion by Ms. Gleason, seconded by Mr. Albro, the following appropriation was offered and carried over to the next meeting for consideration. WHEREAS the City has been awarded a Small Cities Block Grant by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the three year Starr Hill Neighborhood Revitalization Program in the total amount of $1,160,000; and 'WHEREAS the City is currently in the third year of operating the Start Hill Neighborhood Revitalization Program, has completed various planned activities for which there is a remaining balance of funds and has documented an unfulfilled need for additional funds to complete other activities, primarily Rehabilitation Loans for Commercial Property; and