Other reports and items of interest include the following:
* The Coliseum and the area around it was busy today and will be through the weekend while the Market America convention is underway. Attendance will peak around at 14,000 on the weekend.
* Officials with the Buckmasters exhibition were very pleased with their recent event in Greensboro, saying the Coliseum and attendance met their expectations. It was the second-largest consumer show to be held here. The Convention and Visitors Bureau is evaluating whether it makes sense to try to lure them back with financial incentives support from the CVB.
* Preparations are already underway to prepare the complex for the two ACC tournaments and NCAA regionals in March 2006. Some in-house upgrades are being made in the auditorium lobby and other venues to accomodate the additional attendees from the new ACC schools. Work is proceeding to purchase and install the new Jumbotron scoreboard, basketball floor, and replacement carpet in the Special Events Center lobby.
* Two of the Broadway series shows - The Producers and Tap Dogs have been rescheduled to spring 2006 from fall 2005 by their producers. Concert business nationwide is still slow.
* A "smoking patio" has been constructed by coliseum crews outside the auditorium to accommodate smokers in that facility. Options to move the smoking area out of the coliseum itself are being explored now that Governor Easley has signed the law allowing the City Council to determine if and where smoking will be allowed there. While we want to "clear the air" inside the arena, we also realize that a significant number of smokers do attend events and we don't want to lose their business. Hopefully an affordable, workable solution can be found to satisfy everyone's needs.
* Due to recent upgrades at no cost to the city, tickets will now be barcode-scanned as patrons enter the facilities instead of the tickets having to be torn. Online ticket purchasers will be able to print their own tickets from their own computers as well.
* The coliseum has obtained a federal energy grant to hire a contractor to study energy use in the facility and to make upgrades to reduce energy consumption. The upgrades will be funded through the projected savings of using less energy; if the savings are not realized, the contractor will have to pay the difference.
* Preliminary drawings for the potential auditorium upgrades are proceeding and will be shared with the city council during deliberations about including this project in the 2006 bond referendum package.
* We discussed problems with trash in parking lots experienced by businesses along High Point Road during Superjam. Matt noted there has never been a bad incident on coliseum property during this annual concert, but cruisers and "after-partys" - often people who did not even attend the concert itself - do create traffic and trash concerns along High Point Road.
* After discussing the negative implications of a new, more restrictive city noise ordinance under consideration might have on events held in the coliseum parking lot such as the Universoul Circus and the September agricultural fair, the Commission unanimously adopted a motion asking the City Council to "grandfather" the coliseum and its properties from the stricter requirements. Interim City Manager Mitchell Johnson said the revised ordinance will be unveiled to the city council at our August briefing session for our consideration and future action.
As you can see, this was a BUSY meeting with lots of good information.
3 comments:
This message does not pertain to the Greensboro Coliseum but rather, another development project in the form of proposed Wal-Mart SuperCenter expansion proposals in Guilford County.
Here is an article courtesy of the Chapel Hill News:
Why I won't shop at Wal-Mart
Guest column
By MARK DEREWICZ
In a July 20 My View column (“Why I’ll welcome Wal-Mart”), Lola Spritzer wrote that Wal-Mart should be welcomed at the intersection of Smith Level Road and U.S. 15-501, should rumors come true, because it’s a drag for residents west of Chapel Hill to drive 30 minutes to Southpoint mall or New Hope Commons for “basic necessities other than food and drugs.”
Everyone has the right to shop at Wal-Mart, but complaining about driving 30 minutes for basic necessities other than food and drugs is like a resident of Old Fort complaining about the 30-minute drive up the mountain to a favorite Asheville shop. It is illogical and selfish. If living near favorite places and saving gasoline are important, move. If moving is impossible, make fewer trips. Plan better or simply go without.
Consumerism, sadly, is the new American pastime, and Wal-Mart is the superstar, glorified despite its many faults.
While conveniently paying for cheaper goods, consider the following: The company is a huge employer. but for every two Wal-Mart jobs created, three better-paying jobs are lost, according to the Congressional Research Service and other analyses. In other words, Wal-Mart is responsible for job transfer, not job creation.
Many employees are paid so poorly that they qualify for Medicaid or food stamps, both taxpayer-funded. Wal-Mart has been accused of gender discrimination, environmental law violations, union-busting activities, forcing the outsourcing of manufacturing abroad and peeling away economic activity from already developed areas, often downtowns.
Wal-Mart has abandoned more than 300 stores, usually to build larger ones nearby, thus wasting green space while creating suburban blight. According to its 2005 annual report, Wal-Mart will relocate or expand 160 stores in 2006.
Issues stemming from these facts hurt society in ways more difficult to understand than Wal-Mart’s “always low prices.”
As for local tax revenue generated by large commercial development, net gain is not as great as developers claim, according to Greg LeRoy of Good Jobs First, a national resource center dedicated to accountability in economic development. According to the center, Wal-Mart has received well more than $1 billion in state and local tax subsidies while hindering — not helping — economic development in the long run.
Evidently, a large development will be built on the Orange-Chatham border, but officials should further study what constitutes smart growth, especially for this northern entrance to Chatham County. They should be leery of large-box stores, but if they insist in approving a corporate mega-retailer, Costco is a better option.
A typical third-year Costco employee earns $42,000 annually, compared to Wal-Mart’s $17,000. This is an important consideration for a community with high real estate prices. According to Business Week, Costco covers health insurance for nearly 90 percent of its workforce, which is more productive and loyal — two things that save the company money. Wal-Mart covers less than half of its workforce.
Costco CEO Jim Sinegal is paid $350,000 annually, about 10 times the average worker’s salary. Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott made $17.5 million in 2004, more than 1,000 times the Wal-Mart average. Wal-Mart claims it can’t afford to pay better wages, yet the company netted $10.5 billion last year. Wal-Mart’s millionaire executives seem to relish greed and capitalism run amok.
Wal-Mart provides a good example of the effects of extreme wealth and poverty. If the company’s executives would remedy some of the aforementioned business techniques, they would earn less money but would help society in ways more important than the bottom line. Shifting priorities have always been central to true human progress. Until this happens, Wal-Mart does not deserve our support in Chatham or anywhere else. It certainly hasn’t earned mine.
Mark Derewicz is a freelance writer who lives in Carrboro.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/opinion/story/2653767p-9090610c.html
Good post Sandy, and good news.
During the process for developing the new noise ordinance we had lots of requests for 'exceptions' to the rules. But in the end we decided to extend none initially.
Our thinking was this: If the noise ordinance proves to be onerous for certain aspects of the community (namely the coliseum, Center City Park, festivals, etc..), we could always come back and tweek it but lets give it a shot before handing out 'grandfathering' or exemptions. As a matter of fact we insisted that we review the effect of the ordinance within a specific period of time.
The ordinance as recommended calls for measuring sound at the nearest RESIDENTIAL property line and the db levels provided for are among the most generous of any municipality we studied. If the noise level from coliseum activities are at such a high level (see OSHA guidelines) that they unduly disturb folks in their homes during the hours enumerated, I would think you would want such noise to be abated to acceptable and healthy levels.
In my opinion you are asking for trouble if we grant exemptions from the git go. Give it time and see how the noise measurements shake out - I really doubt it will be a problem. If it is a problem under the ordinance, perhaps the offending coliseum activity is indeed too loud and should be addressed - not condoned.
Good advice, David. I'm sure there's going to be lots of debate on the various recommendations and nuances when the city council officially receives this new ordinance - just as there was on the citizens' committee who wrote it. Should be lively!
Post a Comment