Suffolk residents leaned on their elected officials to do something about tolls proposed on tunnels between Portsmouth and Norfolk during a town hall meeting Wednesday.

The Sleepy Hole town hall meeting with Councilman Robert Barclay attracted about 140 people who expressed concerns about everything from school overcrowding to utility rates. But it was the tolls that emerged as a major concern.

Tolls on the Midtown and Downtown tunnels are expected to start this summer and begin at $1.84 during rush hour.

“There’s a number of details that are cause for concern,” Barclay said. “Unfortunately, we were not there negotiating the deal.”

Some state lawmakers are in the process of a legal challenge to the tolls. Mayor Linda T. Johnson, speaking at the town hall meeting, said leaders need to call upon the General Assembly to reverse course on the tolls.

“Yes, these tolls are cost-prohibitive, and it’s a definite problem for everyone,” she said. “The public/private partnership came about, because there was no other way of doing it because we did not have a dedicated revenue source.”

She said local General Assembly members need to make their counterparts statewide realize road funding is not just a regional issue.

“When they realize the goods coming to their stores are going to cost more because of the tolls in Hampton Roads, maybe they’ll realize it’s a state issue,” Johnson said. “It’s not a good situation. We need to make our voices heard in Richmond.”

Other issues raised by citizens at the meeting included school overcrowding, the plan for the Driver Transmitter Station, water rates, hunting and the Nansemond Parkway widening project.

Barclay said he is “personally committed” to ensuring that the construction of a new middle school in the northern part of the city is accomplished right after the new elementary school in the southern part of the city is built.

“I’m aware of the situation at John Yeates,” he said, referring to the middle school that serves most of the northern portion of the city. It is one of the most overcrowded schools in the district.

A citizen also inquired about the Driver sports complex, which once was planned for the site of the Driver Transmitter Station. Barclay said too many strings have been attached to the property’s use by the Navy, which donated the property to the city.

“We’re in he process of identifying other ways we can address the need,” said Lakita Frazier, director of Parks and Recreation.

Al Moor, director of Public Utilities, responded to a question about water rates, telling residents that a growing system needs higher rates to pay for debt service.

“Our operating cost hasn’t really changed that much,” he said. “It’s our debt service that’s changed. We’re building for future needs.”

Police Chief Thomas Bennett told a resident who inquired about hunters close to houses that police would have to have a witness or catch the hunters red-handed in order to charge them.

And in an update on the Nansemond Parkway widening project, Public Works Director Eric Nielsen told residents that construction activity is occurring every day on the project. He also apologized for inconveniences caused by work on the Godwin Bridge and urged citizens to report potholes and non-working streetlights by visiting the city’s website, www.suffolkva.us.