A busier schedule

My official schedule is much busier this week although it's still not as bad as some I have had.

Monday, August 1 will begin with the long-awaited groundbreaking for the Solid Waste Transfer Station at 6310 Burnt Poplar Road at 9AM. Once this facility is complete and a hauling contract is signed, Greensboro's garbage will no longer be buried at the White Street landfill.

At 3PM, the City Council will meet in closed session to get our first look at the applications for the city manager position. According to Mayor Holliday, we had an excellent response, and the council has an abundance of qualified applicants from which to choose.

The regular city council meeting will begin at 5:30PM after the closed session. There are a number of zoning cases on the agenda that may take a long time to complete, but there are not a lot of other controversial items. There is a business item approving an agreement with Guilford County Schools for the proceeds from the Red Light Safety Program, depending on how the appealed court case is eventually resolved.

Tuesday, August 2 begins with an 8:30AM meeting of the Planning and Development Committee of the Piedmont Triad Partnership Foundation. (This committee is chaired by former Planning Director Tom Martin who continues to serve the community in a volunteer capacity after retiring from the city - I think he's working harder than ever!)

The late afternoon and evening will find me trying to visit as many National Night Out sites in my council district as possible. That is always a challenge since most occur during the same hours - if you stick around at one place and talk to constituents as they expect you to, you can't make it to very many others and people complain that you didn't show up. I'll do the best I can to get to as many places as possible.

There's nothing official on my schedule on Wednesday, but I have to spend the morning getting some dental work done. I'm NOT looking forward to the experience or the expense!

I will be attending the War Memorial Commission (Coliseum) meeting on Thursday, August 4. It should be a busy one since the July meeting was canceled due to the July 4th holiday.

That's all that's on my calendar at the moment. However, with the large number of city manager applications awaiting us on Monday, I've a feeling a lot more meetings are going to be added to it in the very near future.

Transportation news

Between yesterday's Greensboro TAC meeting and this morning's NC League of Municipalities TCPS committee meeting, I have a number of transportation updates to share.

Several items of local interest were raised in addition to those that were included and approved on the printed TAC agenda . Greensboro City Council member Don Vaughan asked us to investigate the process to name the Mount Hope Road bridge over I-40/I-85 in honor of a Highway Patrol Trooper who was killed in an accident near there in 1999. NCDOT has a process in place to consider that request.

Stokesdale Town Council member Randall Jones addressed the TAC during the public comment portion of the agenda to informTAC members of several issues affecting the proposed Highway 158 Bypass around Stokesdale of which NCDOT engineers who drafted the new alignment were unaware. Those issues included adverse effects to a number of key businesses and an area of significant environmental contamination with its monitoring wells. We responded and asked that the planning process be put on hold until these issues are examined more closely and taken into consideration.

Good news for city walkers and bikers! We learned that the widening of US220 North is proposed to include bike paths and sidewalks in key areas near Lake Brandt in order to provide connections to existing trails, bike paths, and recreation areas in the vicinity. Due to watershed restrictions, there will likely be wide shoulders instead of curb and gutter within the critical area.

A Summerfield representative asked that we fund a feasibility study for an upgrade of Highway 150 through that town; NCDOT board member Doug Galyon suggested that Summerfield needs to form its own transportation planning department to address issues such as this.

Lastly, the TAC approved a resolution that will temporarily shift funding from the US 421/Woody Mill Road proposed interchange near Pleasant Garden to the city's University Connector Service (the new bus service that is to begin in the spring of 2006) and PART's air quality awareness progam. This action was necessary due to cash flow problems within the CMAQ (Congestion Mitagation and Air Quality) grants that fund these three projects. The bus service and air quality programs are time-sensitive, the interchange is not, allowing for this shifting of funds among the projects and allowing all to proceed. This action will delay the construction of that interchange another year or two.

Today's TCPS meeting dealt with statewide transportation issues, particularly the age-old lack of adequate funding problem. Deputy NC Transporation Secretary for Transit David King (a key state funding supporter of PART and the Depot) and NCDOT officials Roger Sheats and Mike Bruff attended our meeting to gather input on some potential solutions being considered by the Governor's "NC Thinking Ahead" task force (of which Mayor Holliday is a member) to address this continuing problem. The statewide transportation Strategic Plan adopted by the NC Board of Transportation puts an emphasis on safety projects and maintenaince/preservation/modernization of existing bridges and highways. With a conservative estimate of a $30 BILLION (yes, that's a "B") funding gap over the next 25 years and the emphasis on properly maintaining already built roads, the planning and construction of new roadways is going to become even more difficult.

Mr. King sought responses to four basic questions:

1. Are cities and counties content to live with this $30 billion funding shortfall and do nothing about it? This, of course, would mean continued delays in those critical road projects we have all identified in our local TIPs (Transportation Improvement Plans). Committee members agreed this was not acceptable.

2. If this is not acceptable, what is the appropriate role of the state and local governments in addressing it? Should the state and local governments share the responsibility to fund that shortfall? Mr. King noted that it is now fiction that "NCDOT will build it (local roads) for you" - should the state concentrate on roads of statewide significance and leave the local projects up to the cities? Cities already do a significant amount of road construction financed through bond referendums which spend property tax dollars on transportation projects - would citizens be willing to approve and pay for additional local projects? He noted other local funding options being used in North Carolina cities right now - Charlotte's 1/2 cent sales tax for transit, the Triangle's $5 vehicle registration fee surcharge, and PART's 5% tax on car rentals - and asked if those options should be made available to all cities to fund local transportation projects. Other funding strategies under consideration include toll roads (he called the tolls "user fees"), congestion pricing such as the fees imposed in London, England for driving in the central business district, impact fees, property transfer fees, tax increment financing, and basing the annual vehicle registration fee on the number of miles a vehicle is driven each year with odometer readings taken during the annual emissions inspection.

3. Which, if any, of the funding strategies listed above, should be taken "off the table?" After all, any new transportation funding source would have to be approved by the General Assembly and/or local governments, and if any of them "doesn't have a snowball's chance in H***"of being approved during the political process, there's no need to propose them in the first place.

4. Should the state law imposing limitations on cities' ability to "sweeten the pot" for a particular road project by contributing local dollars to the state funding of it be loosened up or repealed? Smaller, less wealthy communities fear that the bigger cities would leverage all the state's transportation funds, leaving them out in the cold with nothing. NCLM Executive Director Ellis Hankins cautioned to "be careful what you ask for" as some fear that NCDOT would routinely require local funding participation to get any and all projects done.

These are tough questions with numerous implications and no easy answers. NCDOT will be scheduling meetings across the state during the next two months to gather input from local MPOs and RPOs (Municipal and Rural transportation Planning Organizations) - Greensboro is proposed to be one of those sites. Let's hope some good workable solutions are identified and implemented to address this nagging transportation funding problem.

Retirement celebration fun

The arena of the Greensboro Coliseum was transformed into a tropical "Margaritaville" this evening as 550+ attendees helped City Manager (Parrot Head) Ed Kitchen's celebrate his upcoming retirement. Hawaiian prints and sandals were the most prevalent attire in the arena decorated with colorful balloons and parrots, acknowledging Ed's love of Jimmy Buffet and his music. The Retirement Party Committee co-chaired by Tom Martin and Priscilla Taylor did an outstanding job in planning a fun event.

An excellent video produced by the city's own Channel 13 staff featured city council members (including Tom Phillips wearing a Parrot Head cap), staff and other citizens sharing humorous stories about Ed and wishing him well. Highlights included Ed dancing the macarena with former mayor Carolyn Allen, numerous out-takes of a city services video Ed was trying to narrate in Spanish as well as English, and clips of Water Resources Director Allan Williams standing in ever-deeper water until he was totally submerged saying,"Ed, I think we've solved the city's water problem now." Ed's good friend City Attorney Linda Miles revealed that Ed can really "gator" well, but wisely decided to keep other misadventures to herself.

Interim City Manager Mitch Johnson shared his list of the 10 most loathsome things that have demanded the managers' attention on late Friday afternoons - hilarious now, but not when they were actually happening. Some of those included learning about the infamous mobile trash can washer fiasco and a profane phone call (with the worst words beeped out) from an unhappy golfer at Bryan Park who was livid that pencils were not included with his scorecard. Other speakers included -

* Ed's daughter Amanda and her touching tribute to her dad,

* Mayor Holliday who stripped off his suit coat, shirt and tie to reveal a Hawaiian print shirt underneath,

* former assistant city manager Mona Edwards who told us about "developmental experiences" she endured under Ed's tutelage (translation - situations one would rather not touch with a ten-foot pole),

* the 3 Amigos (Betty Cone, Susan Schwartz, and Priscilla Taylor) who narrated a poem that ended with the audience on their feet chanting for Ed to stay for "ten more years,"

* ACC Commissioner John Swofford who noted Ed's rabid devotion to the Tarheels,

* Calvin Horton, Manager of the Town of Chapel Hill and Ed's long-time friend, who shared some of their mutual experiences, and

* former mayor Jim Melvin who named Ed as one of the city's best-ever managers.

Every speaker praised Ed's integrity, expertise and absolute devotion to the city. Gifts to Ed included the funding of a $10,000 endowment in his name at the UNC Institute of Government and a check for $1,000 in "mad money" to be spent on recreational activities, rumored to be the purchase of a boat.

When it was finally Ed's turn to speak, he was his usual humble self, thanking all the family members, city councils, city staff, and friends and mentors he has worked with through the years. He used a lot of Jimmy Buffet quotes and stated his intention to slow down and enjoy life more. He does intend to stay involved in the city in some way, however it was made clear that he is NOT planning to be the general manager of a new hockey team in the coliseum. [SMILE]

This celebration was a light-hearted tribute to an excellent city manager and a wonderful man. His contributions to this city will live on long after he departs that corner office on the second floor of City Hall. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement, Ed. We're going to miss you!

Good publicity for the city

Here's a great article on Forbes.com that attorney Marc Issacson sent me - guess we're not "Greens-boring" anymore!

City Connectons newsletter

The latest edition of City Connections is available.

Back to my regular schedule

My latest visit to Oak Island with my oldest son's family was nice, but it wore me out. I helped to take care of three grandkids for three days and let their mom and dad get some kid-free fishing done. I'd forgotten just how much energy these little ones have. I enjoyed it though, and I introduced eight-year-old Erin to kayaking which she absolutely loved. This was the children's first time to see the ocean and it was fun watching them. Squeals of fear didn't last long - I spent the rest of the time saying, "Erin, you're getting out too far, come on in closer!"

The best news is that one of the potential new owners is now saying that he intends to keep the Long Beach Pier intact and wants my sister-in-law Lisa to continue to operate the grill. We'll see how long that plan holds up, but it is encouraging that this beach landmark may remain after all.

Okay, back to the real world. My main meeting this week is the TAC (Transportation Advisory Committee) on Wednesday, July 27. Mayor Holliday, Don Vaughan and I represent the City of Greensboro (with Robbie Perkins serving as an alternate if one of us cannot be there), Paul Gibson and Kirk Perkins represent the Guilford County Commission, and Doug Galyon is the NCDOT board member. Agenda items include

* an amendment to the Thoroughfare Plan to reconfigure the proposed future intersection of McConnell Road and Millstream Road,

* a resolution of support for a study of the future 1-73/I-74 Connector corridor,

* adoption of the Conformity Determination Report that certifies compliance with federal air quality and transportaion regulations for the next six years,

* an update to the Boundaries, Structure and Governance Report triggered by Greeenboro's designation of non-attainment for PM2.5 (particulate matter - soot),

* and updates on the development of the 2007-13 MTIP (Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Plan), project planning needs, the widening of US220 from Horsepen Creek Road to Winfree Road, and the relocation of Bryan Boulevard/airport expansion.

After dealing with all this sometimes tedious technical business, the day will end on a much lighter note with the official Retirement Party for Ed Kitchen at the Coliseum where the prescribed dress code is "business or island casual." I don't know what has been planned, but I'm there's going to be a lot of "roasting" going on.

Thursday, July 28 will find me in Raleigh attending a meeting of the TCPS (Transportation, Communication and Public Safety) Committee of the NC League of Municipalities on which I serve. We will be reviewing League policies in those areas to recommend changes if needed at the upcoming annual meeting in October.

That's it for the week - not too busy!

Beach time again

I'll be joining my oldest son and his family at my brother's place on Oak Island for the rest of the week. It's not likely to be restful as I will be helping keep tabs on three grandchildren (ages 8, 4 and 2), but it will still be fun. I will return Sunday afternoon and catch up on my blogging then.

Oops! Let's rephrase that!

City council members and staff attending a small reception to honor retiring city manager Ed Kitchen immediately before last night's city council meeting got a big laugh at Mayor Holliday's choice of words in praising him. As we snacked on cake, the mayor noted Ed's numerous achievements and said "Ed has touched every one of us in this room at one time or another."

There was a short pause while everyone's mind dropped into the gutter, then we all started giggling. Claudette Burroughs-White quipped, "I'm insulted! I don't remember him ever touching ME."

Luckily, Florence Gatten came to the mayor's rescue saying, "Let me interpret the mayor's remarks. I think he meant to say Ed has touched all our lives in a positive way." With dignity and proper decorum restored, we concluded the celebration and moved on to the council chambers to take care of city business.

Lesson learned - choose your words carefully!

Great news re Coliseum smoking

The NC House passed the same bill previously approved by the Senate giving the City Council the authority to determine if and where smoking will be allowed inside the Greensboro Coliseum. That means we now have the ability to move the smoking area outside or into other areas (or ban it totally) to eliminate the problem of secondhand smoke drifting into all parts of the arena. I predict quick action will be taken by the War Memorial Commission and the City Council to address this problem as soon as possible.

The "Heart of the Region"

Yesterday's meeting sponsored by PART on "The Heart of the Region" went very well with approximately 25 attendees representing land use planners, transportation planners and officials, elected officials, area Chambers of Commerce, and the Piedmont Triad Partnership. While individual groups have previously discussed bits and pieces of this proposal to plan for coordinated growth and development of the 50,000+ acres of land in the western Guilford County/eastern Forsyth County area, this is the first time I remember all these players being in the same room at the same time.

Paul Norby, Forsyth County Planning Director gave an overview of the area he defined as "from FedEx to Dell" and asked if development would be coordinated or hodge-podge. This area is already under tremendous development pressure due to these projects and its excellent location near I-40. Attendees agreed that more low-density residential development on large lots that is shown on several existing land use plans is probably no longer appropriate due to changing circumstances. However, there is no consensus on what SHOULD be allowed to develop there. Don Kirkman, Executive Director of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, reported that he had convened a meeting of prominent local developers to get their input and that each had distinctly different ideas on what was appropriate . Nancy Dunn, NCDOT Board of Transportation member, warned that "this is a train wreck waiting to happen" if we don't develop a plan and work together to determine appropriate land use and supporting transportation infrastructure. Gloria Whisenhunt, chair of the Forsyth County Commissioners, noted that elected officials are under tremendous pressure from property owners to approve rezonings NOW and it is difficult to say "No" and ask them to wait when there is no definite plan in place.

Everyone agreed that we needed to proceed immediately to develop this plan and Lyons Gray urged us to identify a "champion" to move forward with it. PART has been functioning as a convener and providing technical support services, but it is not our function to drive this process. The area Chambers of Commerce are interested in the concept but have made no decisions yet about their involvement. The resolution of support adopted by the six affected jurisdictions (Greensboro, High Point, Kernersville, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County and Guilford County) calls for each jurisdiction to appoint one of their members to a steering committee to guide this process. Hopefully once that committee is in place, "ownership" can be established and we can proceed.

In order to develop the plan, several issues must be addressed. Those include

* marketing (what is the "it" that will make this area unique and functional),

* appropriate land uses (types, density, etc.), and

* needed transportation infrastucture (there is a tremendous need for additional east-west and north-south connectors as well as smaller, internal streets; what role will transit/light rail play).

Transportation plans cannot be finalized until land use is determined because that is the key factor in determining what is needed where. PART can access a $200,000 planning grant to study these issues if an additional $200,000 in local matching funds can be raised. Efforts are underway to secure that local money so that a consultant can be hired and the plan developed, hopefully within a year or less.

A lot of significant challenges lie ahead -

* Property owners and developers cannot be expected to put their plans on hold while this research is being conducted; it was agreed that calling for a moratorium on development was not feasible.

* In some cases, existing land use plans in Forsyth and Guilford call for low density residential development in this area, in direct conflict with potential new plan recommendations. We instructed the planners to develop a statement noting this fact to make local elected bodies aware of this conflict to be taken into consideration when making current zoning decisions.

* If and when a viable plan is developed, local governments will have to adopt it and cooperate on its funding and development, knowing that this REGIONAL development could potentially be in competition with individual cities' attempts to establish similar economic development projects within their own jurisdictions. Everyone has said we don't want to propose something that will be in competition with local efforts, but the reality is this would be practically impossible.

* Some missing key players with valuable needed input - notably land owners, potential developers, representatives from Duke Power and water and sewer providers, and a member of the Guilford County Commissioners - need to be included in future discussions.

This unofficial group of interested parties will meet again on September 20 to review progress and move forward with this concept. While there is not agreement on WHAT needs to be done yet, it is obvious doing nothing is NOT AN OPTION.

City Council meeting recap

We completed a lot of business in a reasonable amount of time at last night's city council meeting, some of it on the official agenda and some of it from other sources. Many of the items were routine, but here are some of the more interesting actions.

The first official vote was actually a response to a concern raised by two speakers from the floor. Effective July 1, the city began charging a $150 monument placement fee in city cemeteries as part of an effort to reduce the amount of tax money used for the upkeep of these facilities. While this fee was not specifically highlighted during our budget preparation and review, it was approved by the city council when we passed the 2005-06 city budget. Spokesmen for the monument companies rightfully pointed out that there had been no public discussion of this new charge and that they received notification of it on July 1, the day it took effect. Council members voted to hold the fees in abeyance and consider lowering the fee to a more reasonable number.

The zoning case for the property at Pleasant Garden Road and US421 South was one of the more difficult ones we have considered lately. While I agreed with the applicant that the Comprehensive Plan's designation of this plot as "mixed use residential" was unrealistic - it's located next to a busy convenience store/gas station used by lots of 18-wheelers beside a heavily-traveled highway and across the road from a heavy industrial area - I was not comfortable with the proposed strip shopping center, despite numerous conditions proposed to make it more palatable. With recent modern, more esthetically-pleasing approaches to shopping center design, I just could not support this run-of-the-mill proposal that was opposed by all nearby residents. That's the reason for my mixed-signal vote on this one - "yes" to the change in designation on the land use map to "commercial" but "no" to the actual shopping center. Since the rezoning was approved, I can only hope the developer heard our concerns and will improve upon his plan.

Two significant transportation construction contracts were approved - placement of sidewalks and crosswalks in the Wendover/I-40/Bridford Parkway area and the Friendly Avenue improvements. I am delighted that the Wendover work will finally begin so there will be sidewalk access to those city bus stops currently perched on isolated grassy banks. The Mayor, Robbie Perkins and I have been involved in negotiations with some property owners in that corridor who wanted to locate portions of the sidewalk on top of those banks instead of cutting into their property and constructing retaining walls. Florence Gatten has spent a lot of time with citizens on the Friendly Avenue improvements which will include a landscaped median to which some residents in the area object.

A tremendous step forward was taken on the Randlemen Lake project when we approved the water allocation and payment allocations for the pumping station and distribution lines. The funding formula is based on the percentage of water from the lake that each jurisdiction will use. Since Greensboro will be using approximately 53% of the water pumped from the lake, we have agreed to pay for 53% of the costs to pump that water. Other jurisdictions in the water authority (Archdale, High Point, Jamestown, Randleman, and Randolph County) will pay their "fair share" of the costs as well. Ed Kitchen deserves accolades for his role in negotiating this common-sense solution to a thorny issue.

[As an aside, I was absolutely stunned when I drove over the US220 South bridge over the future lake area last week. The entire area has been cleared of trees and vegetation in prepartion for the filling of the lake which should begin by the end of the year. I'm eager to see it full of water!]

We took two actions in preparation for the "changing of the guard" in the city manager's position. Mitchell Johnson was appointed to be the Interim City Manager until a new manager is hired; I have confidence that he will do a great job. We also called a special meeting for 3PM on Monday, August 1 to review the applications we have received for this position and select the most suitable ones for further investigation and interviews. It is anticipated it will take at least 30-60 days to complete this process IF things go smoothly, or it could take longer.

During "Items from Council Members," I inquired about establishing a permanent city collection program for e-waste. In recent conversations with Environmental Services Director Jeryl Covington, I learned that many steps have already been taken to begin this service - a potential collection point has been identified, appropriate businesses to dispose of the items have expressed interest, and potential funding sources are being explored. With full support of the city council, staff will proceed to develop plans to start this much-needed service. I'm optimistic that we can get this program up and runnning - stay tuned!

The problem of the proliferation of illegal signs placed on city right-of-way, telephone poles, etc. was brought up by Florence Gatten in response to numerous citizen complaints about them lately (including Diane) and the likelihood of it worsening as campaign season approaches. Attorney Linda Miles updated us on her conversations with the Planning Department to find ways to identify the violators and deal with them. City staff will be more diligent in trying to remove these illegal signs. (Note: any citizen can legally remove these illegal signs as well, just be safe in doing so and don't be stopping in the middle of the street to jerk one up.]

After a closed session dealing with a number of topics I cannot discuss at this time, I was able to get home by 10:30PM. That's pretty good, considering some of the "late-nighters" we've had in the past. It was a productive meeting.

Changes at the top

Last night's city council meeting was a bittersweet one with it being City Manager Ed Kitchen's last official meeting. The tremendous respect for Ed held by council members, city staff and other citizens was obvious, and I think we all agree that Ed has done a lot to improve Greensboro in numerous ways through his calm, insightful leadership. We will miss his steady hand and straight-forward manner of interacting with everyone. I have great hopes that he has mentored Interim City Manager Mitchell Johnson well and that Mitch will conduct business in the same way.

I offer both men my best wishes - Ed for a happy retirement and Mitch for working with us city council members to keep this city on a steady course. Good luck to both!

Weekly schedule

Things are beginning to pick up a bit again with several meetings this week, but it's still fairly light. Thankfully I did not have anything official today, allowing me to catch up on things neglected here at home during last week's beach trip.

I have an early meeting at PART concerning the "Heart of the Triad" concept on Tuesday morning, July 19. We have a busy city council meeting that could be a long one with several zoning cases on the agenda. Main business items include approval of an agreement for the water distribution and debt service costs for the Randleman Lake water supply, appointment of an interim city manager (assumed to be Deputy Manager Mitchell Johnson), and setting of a special closed meeting to review applications for the new city manager.

After attending a 7:30AM meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee for the Greensboro Partnership on Thursday, July 21, I'll hit the road for an 11AM meeting of the Charter Schools Advisory Committee in Raleigh. Then it's back to Oak Island for more sun and fun (but not likely much rest, considering there will be three grandchildren there this time).

Back from the beach, for now

We enjoyed our visit to Oak Island for a couple of days last week, but man, was it hot and steamy! Just like here in Greensboro, we had our share of strong thunderstorms and bright sunshine.

This trip turned into a "working vacation" when two of our sons joined us, one to assist my brother with some "fix-it" chores on the house and dock and the other with his fiancee to check out the chapel at Orton Plantation for their September wedding and make arrangements with my sister-in-law to cater the reception at the beach house afterwards.

My brother treated us to a Saturday-evening excursion on the Lisa-Lee through the coastal waterways and salt marshes in the area.

One minute, you are in the midst of civilization. The next, you'd swear you were in the Everglades. We thoroughly enjoyed the ride!

The best news is that my oldest son and his family are going down there this week, and I will be joining them after I finish my meetings on Thursday. Man, am I getting decadent or what - going to the beach two weekends in a row! Better enjoy it while I can because I know things are going to get REALLY busy soon.

Taking a break from blogging

I will be at the beach and away from computers until Sunday afternoon. I'll "talk" to you when I return.

Center City Park progress

Our briefing session update on the Center City Park Tuesday morning was quite informative and well worth the time spent on it. Susan Schwartz and Priscilla Taylor of Action Greensboro and park architect Bob Uhlig presented information on planning, various features of the park, and maintenance issues. Deputy City Manager Mitch Johnson reviewed the streetscape plans and discussed the street light designs. By the time the project is completed, Action Greensboro will have spent $12.5 million in PRIVATE money to purchase and construct the park. That total includes a $500,000 endowment fund that should generate at least $25,000 a year to pay for ongoing maintenance and upgrades to the park.

The intent is for the park to remain in private ownership that will contract with an experienced private group - Grassroots Productions - to be in charge of programming the park. The Center City Park Conservancy will be formed to manage the park and conduct fundraising activities for it. Action Greensboro wants the city to enter into a partnership with them for maintenance of the park, similar to the city's current relationship with Greensboro Beautiful.

The design and various features of the park are a result of 45 workshops where members of the public shared what they wanted included in the park. There's something for everyone - shaded nooks, spaces for large gatherings, a performance pavilion, interesting art and sculpture, and an extensive water feature that includes a fountain and water stairs that can be programmed for a variety of patterns. The park will be well lit with attractive lighting fixtures. The whole area will compliment and blend well with its surroundings, particularly the Cultural Arts Center. I was impressed and very pleased with the plans and drawings we saw.

The surrounding streetscape features trees in raised planting beds that will offer seating opportunities and sidewalks constructed of brick and pavers. (I had some concerns when I first heard this but am now more comfortable with the concept.) The plan now calls for the streetlights outside the park to be compatible with existing street lights in the downtown area - right now there are three different styles in various locations.

Action Greensboro has hired a consulting firm to produce accurate projections of the maintenance costs. That study will be complete by the end of July so no firm figures were available. A preliminary "guess-timate" is around $400,000 per year with $50,000 of that being for the operation and maintenance of the water feature, mainly the electricity needed to operate all the water pumps. (For comparison, the city spends about $425,000 a year to maintain Bicentennial Park and $300,000 a year for the Arboretum.) It was noted that with all the nightlife in downtown Greensboro, this park is likely to be used 24 hours a day as opposed to other city parks that close at sunset.

Discussion centered around whether the city should contribute "in-kind services" such as planting, mowing, emptying the trash, etc. through our Parks and Recreation Department or contribute a specific amount of money for maintenance each year. Ed Kitchen and Mitchell Johnson noted that it would cost us either way, since additional Parks and Recreation personnel would likely have to be hired to cover these additional duties. I stated that while I was fine with the city providing "normal" planting and mowing services, I am very much opposed to the city assuming any maintenance responsibilities for the water feature nor should the city commit to any "blank checks" for future maintenance costs.

In the end, no firm decisions or commitments were made, but we instructed city staff to work with Action Greensboro to develop a 5-year maintenance plan and associated costs to present to city council within the next 60 days. In the interim, we gave the "green light" to allow construction to begin on the park immediately to take advantage of the summer construction and fall planting seasons so that the park can be operational by next spring or summer.

Another easy week

Except for the 9AM briefing session on July 12 on the Center City Park where I hope we will FINALLY get accurate answers to those maintenance cost questions, I have another break from official duties this week. I'm going to take advantage of it while I can - my husband and I will headed to Oak Island for a bit of sun, surf and relaxation. Get the kayaks ready!

Demise of a beach landmark

In an earlier post, I mentioned that my brother Lee and his wife operate "Lisa's Ocean Breeze Grill" on the Long Beach Pier, billed as the longest pier in North Carolina. Yesterday he sent me this story from The State Port Pilot which confirms recent rumors of the sale and possible demoliton of this beach landmark.

I really hate to think about this pier being torn down. Not only is it the source of livelihood for my brother, but I have fond memories of fishing from this pier in the wee hours of the morning with my dad as a child. My grandchildren always enjoy walks on this "bridge" (as 3-year-old Josh calls it).
With Lisa's culinary skills, I'm sure she will find another good spot on Oak Island to produce her delicacies. But nothing can replace the memories and good times this wooden walkway over the ocean has produced for my family and me. My husband and I will be vacationing at my brother's house a couple of days next week - guess we'd better be prepared to say our "good-bys" to the Long Beach Pier at that time.

Alas, that's progress, I guess.

Note to Sue: Despite your comments about the News & Record writing about bloggers in Chicago, I figured it was okay to write about this pier since lots of Greensboro folks have spent time on it. [SMILE]

Reassurances on eminent domain

There is a lot of consternation in the public over the Supreme Court's recent ruling upholding cities' use of eminent domain to condemn private property for certain types of non-public development. While the philosophical debate rages on, I can offer a small amount of comfort to property owners in Greensboro (and all of North Carolina) - the ruling does not apply to North Carolina. Here's a short explanation I received today in a legislative update from the North Carolina League of Municipalities:

U.S. Supreme Court eminent domain decision does
not change law in North Carolina

Since the June 23 announcement of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the eminent domain case, Kelo v. City of New London, news stories and letters-to-editors have questioned how the decision would affect North Carolina. The decision does not affect how eminent domain is used here. As you know, N.C. municipalities and counties do not have the authority to use eminent domain for general economic development purposes to acquire and convey property to a private developer. That was the situation before the Supreme Court’s decision and that is still the situation.

Great basketball news

Laura Smith at the Coliseum sent the following great news:

Matt is out of town today, but wanted to send you great news for Greensboro and the Greensboro Coliseum!

The NCAA just announced that Greensboro will be one of the sites in the year 2007 and 2008 to host the NCAA Women’s Basketball Regionals. Greensboro is the only city to be awarded back to back dates.

This will be another great challenge!

My congratulations to the coliseum staff and the city - a big win!

It's official!

I filed for the District 5 seat on the Greensboro City council this afternoon. Now I get to wait out the next 30 days to see if I will have an opponent.

A relaxing week ahead

I had to double-check my calendar to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Thanks to the holiday week and numerous cancellations, I have only ONE city-related meeting this week - a Tuesday afternoon conference with Fire Chief Johnny Teeters and other staff to review procedures with dealing with occasional complaints about odors/emissions in the Lindley Park area. Maybe I can catch up on this monster pile of reading that has accumulated.

It's nice to have a break once in a while!

Linder "infrastucture credit" request update

Deputy City Manager Mitchell Johnson updated council members by phone this morning with details of city staff discsussions with Don Linder regarding possible infrastructure improvements the city might be able to provide to his WalMart/Carolina Circle Mall project. Mitchell noted that the city could justify "normal course of business" sidewalk improvements along major thoroughfares around this project of about $60,000+ which is similar to work done previously for other development projects.

There will also be a need to relocate some large water and sewer lines INSIDE the development due to the placement of new buildings, a responsibility normally performed and paid for by the developer. He said the city COULD do this work or pay the developer to do it, but it would take positive action by the City Council to authorize it.

Mitchell said they communicated to Dr. Linder that these were only identified POSSIBILITIES, but that city staff made NO commitments, pending City Council approval. The next official business meeting of the City Council is scheduled for July 19 so I assume that is the earliest we could consider this request and take action on it.