Progress on the new LDO

At last week's briefing session, Planning Director Dick Hails reviewed the first draft of Module1A of the city's under-revision Land Development Ordinance. This rewrite is being done to incorporate and flesh out the details of the provisions of the Comprehensive Plan, to eliminate sometimes conflicting statements in different parts of the ordinance, and to make the document more user-friendly and easier to interpret. City staff is working with a professional consultant and a Citizen Advisory Team to accomplish this task.

The guiding principles being used in this effort are the following:

* Make changes for a reason

* Reflect Greensboro policies and priorities

* Enhance document usability through use of plain English and common terminology as well as improved document layout.

Module1A focuses on introductory provisions, nonconformities (something that once legally existed under old city ordinances but became out of compliance when ordinances were changed), and administrative bodies (such as the Planning Board, Zoning Commission, Board of Adjustments, City Council, etc.).

* Definitions and processes to address various nonconforming uses, lots, structures, and signs are clarified, making it much simpler to determine what can and cannot be done when changes occur to these nonconforming items.

* In a number of cases, city staff will have the authority to make decisions on technical aspects of a case without the applicant having to go through a hearing with the appropriate board or City Council on routine items as one currently has to do.

* There are new State law "conflict of interest"standards that will come have to be considered if a board or commission member must disqualify himself/herself from a particular case. These greatly expanded criteria include

- a member having a fixed opinion prior to hearing the matter that is
not susceptible to change,
- undisclosed ex parte communications,
- a close familial, business or other associated relationship with an
affected person,
- or a financial interest in the outcome of a matter.

Hopefully these proposed changes will make it easier for citizens to comply with city development ordinances while keeping the integrity of those ordinances intact.

Mr. Hails alerted us that Module1B consisting of 100+ pages dealing with "Review and Approval Procedures" and "Enforcement" would be the next document to land on our desks. I guess I'd better set aside plenty of reading time for that!

Business-friendlier waste collection

At last Tuesday's briefing session, Environmental Services Director Jeryl Covington unveiled proposed changes to the city's commercial waste collection service to become effective in July 2006. A study conducted by the Solid Waste Management Division evaluated the current level of service delivery, collection fees, weight generation, and frequency of service. This study found that the city's "one size fits all" method was not meeting the needs of all our commercial customers and would not serve the city well once we begin using the transfer station for disposal instead of the White Street landfill.

Currently the city provides twice a week collection for our commercial customers at a cost of $116.50 per dumpster per month (which is a bargain compared to private haulers who may charge up to $400 per month). While that frequency adequately services office and retail users, it is insufficient for businesses such as restaurants and grocers that generate a lot of "wet waste." Those businesses often contract with a private hauler to collect their garbage on days that the city does not. In addition, all business customers have to rent their dumpsters from a private firm because the city currently does not supply those dumpsters. The end result is that city businesses often have three contracts for their waste collection - one for their dumpsters, one with the city for twice-a-week emptying of those dumpsters, and one with a private garbage collection service for extra weekly pickups. What a nightmare!

Another inequity - the monthly charge for a relatively lightweight dumpster full of office paper is the same as for a heavily-compacted dumpster full of bottles and discarded food. That is not an issue at the moment because all the garbage is buried in the White Street landfill, and the disposal cost is the same for both loads. BUT when we start paying for garbage disposal through the transfer station on a "per ton" basis, the heavier dumpsters become more expensive to service than the lighter ones.

The following recommendations were proposed:

*Adjust the fees to a weight-based system where businesses generating more/heavier waste will pay more than businesses generating less/lighter loads.

* Increase the frequency of collection services to those businesses that need it (for an extra charge).

* The city will provide and repair/replace damaged dumpsters with a pass-through contract with Republic Waste Services at no cost to taxpayers.

The net result is a more business-friendly service tailored to better meet the needs of each individual business AND those businesses will have to deal with only one contract instead of three separate ones.

Sounds like a good deal to me!

An easy week

With this being the fifth week of the month, my official schedule for this November week is very light. I hope to take advantage of this light schedule and finish off the pile of accumulated reading I need to do.

I plan to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Animal Discovery at the Natural Science Center on Wednesday, November 30. This projects is going to be a great addition to the exhibits that are already there.

Following that ceremony, I'll scoot back across town to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for Woodland Place Assisted Living Community on Boulevard Street in District 5.

Thursday, December 1 brings the regular monthly meeting of the War Memorial Commission (the Coliseum) at 12:30PM.

That's it!

Cedar Street update

The city council received additional information from Housing and Community Development Director Andy Scott on possible city acquisition of the Cedar Street (Agapion) apartments at our November 22 briefing session. There were a lot of questions and concerns expressed by various councilmembers, and I believe the proposal would have failed if a vote could have been taken at that time - Robbie Perkins was the only one expressing firm support for it.

The current tax value of the property is $600,000. An appraisal this summer came in between $1,200,000-1,300,000. Mr. Agapion's agent has said that he will sell the property to the City of Greensboro ONLY, not directly to private developers.

Projected expenditures for the city to acquire the property total $1,850,000 - $1,650,000 for land acquisition and $200,000 in relocation and "other" expenses. Proposed funding sources are $1,200,000 from the sale of the property to a private developer (no written offers on the table at this point), with the $650,000 gap being financed through $166,300 remaining in the 2000 College Hill loan loss reserve fund (no longer needed for that purpose), $196,765 from the Neighborhood Redeveloment Bonds (remaining balance), and $286,935 from unallocated funds in the Nussbaum Housing Partnership Fund (would normally roll into next year's budget if unused). Andy noted that this sort of financial loss is typical of redevelopment projects where the city is forced to "buy dear, sell cheap" to accomplish the mission.

Andy provided a time frame that projected Fall 2007 for a completed project. In response to a question, he said that condemnation normally would take six months to a year. However, the last time the city condemned property owned by Mr. Agapion, the case took four YEARS to resolve in court.

Seven serious redevelopment proposals have been submitted, with three being absolutely committed to follow through. However, none of those proposals were available for us to see. The descriptions we received from Andy and Robbie were of possible three-stories above road level buildings with up to 85 units in them. Projections were for "upscale" development, and it was noted that if affordable housing units were to be included, the city could expect to take an even bigger monetary loss to accomplish that. The Greensboro Housing Coalition has expressed serious concerns about the possible loss of these currently affordable units.

That's where we are now - still firmly wedged between that proverbial "rock and a hard place" in trying to do the sensible right thing to remedy this problem. Staff will be gathering more information in preparation for this issue to be decided once and for all at the December 20 council meeting (at which time three new councilmembers will be on board, making things even more interesting since they have not participated in this discussion at this point). Stay tuned!

Trying to catch up

I apologize for my recent absence from blogging -- just got caught up in holiday preparations, Thanksgiving over-eating, Christmas bargain shopping (yes, I was one of the early birds at WalMart at 5AM hoping to snag one of those laptops - no luck), and long-overdue housecleaning and yard work. Now it's time to do some catching up on city issues.

Additional information on the Cedar Street deal

Today I received additonal information today from two separate sources that should be considered as we city councilmembers debate whether or not to purchase the Cedar Street apartment complex from Bill Agapion.

Councilmember Tom Phillips phoned me with the news that those apartments have been previously approved in the RUCO (Rental Unit Certificate of Occupancy) program by the city. This occurred after the apartments had been repaired and brought up to code; the owner requested the city inspection at that time. The units passed inspection then, and the designation was legitimately earned. Now that the city has acknowledged the units were in compliance at that time and awarded the certification, it puts us in a very awkward position to try to use the condemnation/eminent domain tactic at this point to obtain them.

However, there is a plus side to those apartments being RUCO-certified. If they fail a future inspection, the owner will have 45 days to make the necessary repairs or else the unit has to be vacated and fines can be imposed. Those fines can mount up quickly, plus the owner would have no income from the vacant unit. So the city has gained some leverage to force the owner to keep the apartments in better repair and up to code. Will this solve the problem? Only time will tell.

The second item is an email plea from Beth McKee Huger, executive director of the Greensboro Housing Coalition. Here is the report she attached to her message, titled "The Impact of the Agapion Family on Greensboro."

We are calling on the city council to oppose buying the Cedar Street property from Mr. Agapion for several reasons:

A. The sales price is considerably above the appraised amount; the city would resell it for closer to the market value, with the loss likely covered by funds for housing and/or redevelopment budgets. However, the new development is not likely to be affordable housing; many current residents in the Cedar Street area are concerned that rising housing costs in the area will make it increasing unaffordable for them to remain there.

B. The purchase would reinforce Mr. Agapion’s practice of buying property, allowing it to deteriorate, then selling at an enormous profit, then buying more property to allow to decline. This is similar to paying ransom to a hostage-taker. Please see the information below about the impact of the Agapion family on Greensboro.

ARCO Realty Company is celebrating over 53 years in business, in which Bill Agapion has made a tremendous impact on our community through owning properties in Guilford County valued—as of October 2005—at $19.32 million for tax purposes. Adding properties managed by Mr. Agapion for his family members brings the total to over $30 million and some of them have been appraised for substantially more than tax value. Over the past decades, most of these properties have had code violations for significant periods of time, documenting that they were maintained at a level below the minimum standards. Although these conditions are widely known and dozens of legal and enforcement actions have been taken, Mr. Agapion has avoided taking responsibility, so conditions have not improved noticeably. Most of the tenants and many of the community members familiar with the problems have been afraid to complain because of perception of threats. The Agapion family has become the symbol of the failure of our community to achieve safe and healthy housing, setting the precedent for other landlords with similar properties.

Unsafe housing (and commercial building) conditions have cost our community an enormous amount directly in social and financial costs and indirectly in lost economic development and delays in enforcement when Mr. Agapion’s refusal to accept enforcement allows other property owners to find loopholes. We believe that the numbers would be staggering and we call for research to quantify these costs. Examples:

* Serious fires in at least three properties in the last 5 years have cost the city fire department time and use of equipment; vandalism in vacant or condemned housing requires police time for public safety.

* Hundreds of thousands of code violations require enormous staff time for inspectors and their supervisors, as well as the city legal department for legal opinions about the ways to enforce repair orders.

*Due to property tax values set at the “value” of unsafe buildings rather than at market rates, the city and county have collected much less in taxes.

* Over the years, tenants have been injured or made ill by housing conditions in Agapion properties: lead poisonings, diarrhea from cockroaches, asthma attacks from mold and roaches, rat bites, smoke or carbon monoxide inhalation due to missing or inoperable heating systems, falls due to broken steps. These health problems have not only cost the health care system substantial amounts (often uninsured), but have reduced workers’ productivity on their jobs and students’ achievement in school, costing employers and school.

* Neighborhood residents surrounding his properties have been endangered by nuisances; landlords suffer from the reduction in value when tenants hesitate to rent nearby units.

Many thanks to Sue for formatting the pictures that accompanied Beth's message so I could share them here!

The one thing that is missing from this report that I need is "What is the Housing Coaltion's recommended solution to deal with this situation if the city does not obtain the property?"

[ Update -- Here is Beth's response to that question:
A solution that won't be as quick, but will be longer-lasting, will be to see what private developers and Mr. Agapion decide between themselves for Cedar St. and to put all the legal muscle the city can pull together around enforcing community standards of property maintenance. Mr. Agapion (and other property owners following in his footsteps) have avoided being held accountable to the enforcement efforts tried before; it is past time to stop his being immune to the minimum standard ordinances. Talk to your legal department. ]

I'm waiting for more information and looking forward to the discussion at tomorrow's briefing session, but I am less and less inclined to waste city tax dollars and pay the inflated price being sought by this property owner.

Channel 13 upgrades

This city press release outlines some great new upgrades to the city's Channel 13 TV capabilities.

GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 13 USING NEW MESSAGING SYSTEM
Infocaster Allows Residents to View More Information

GREENSBORO, NC (November 21, 2005) –City of Greensboro Cable Channel 13 now makes it easier for residents to get multiple messages onscreen in a simple and attractive format. Infocaster, the new City messaging system similar to those seen on MSNBC and Bloomberg TV, is being used on the Channel 13 bulletin board. Infocaster allows more information about City services and events to be shown at one time. It also uses crawls along the bottom of the screen to provide weather and emergency information. In addition, the accurate time is displayed on all pages of the message boards and music is now provided courtesy of Time Warner Cable’s digital music package. Time sensitive or urgent messages now include audio for the visually impaired or special needs population of Greensboro.

“From the very beginning of Channel 13, our goal has been to create a professional and attractive alternative for our citizens to learn about the City of Greensboro,” said City Manager Mitch Johnson. “Due to the ongoing support from City Council and the great work of staff, Channel 13 has become a trusted source for critical information and this latest enhancement helps us do that job even better.”

“The Infocaster is technically superior to our old system and provides a more attractive look for our viewers,” said Jim Collins, Channel 13 Station Manager. “The addition of music from Time Warner Cable greatly improves our mostly silent audio channel of the past. We’re excited about the options and ease Infocaster provides Channel 13.”

Channel 13 and Time Warner Cable reached an agreement to use a rotating menu of music while the City’s bulletin board is on the air. The bulletin board is shown when no program or meeting is airing. Along with this change in format, the City of Greensboro’s job listings now air at 6 am, 12:30 pm, 6:30 pm and 11:30 pm, except when pre-empted by a live City-sanctioned meeting or playback of a lengthy meeting.

Are We Energized?

UNCG's lecture series offering on the morning on November 16 proved to be an informative and thought-provoking event. "Are We Energized? Politics, Energy, and the Environment in North Carolina" actually began Tuesday evening with a presentation by Amory Lovins, author of several books about sustainability and wise energy policies (Winning the Oil Endgame, Natural Capitalism), but I could not attend due to the lengthy city council meeting that night. Mr. Lovins spoke during breakfast and offered commentary after other speakers. He used several descriptive terms that were new to me including "global WEIRDING" (instead of "warming") and "the dead worm layout" (street pattern with lots of cul-de-sacs).

UNCG Urban Geographer Keith Debbage talked about Transportation and Land Use Planning in the Triad. He noted that Greensboro is on the brink of a growth boom due to the new FedEx hub that will bring a lot of cargo in from the European Union for distribution up and down the East Coast. When the Dell plant is in full operation, there will be hundreds of trucks traveling to and from it in concentrated time periods - he noted that the configuration of the facility is that of a giant trucking terminal. Depending upon how the Heart of the Triad project is developed, it could stimulate explosive growth similar to what happened in Cary. He outlined the characteristics of "smart growth" and wondered aloud if its opposite is "dumb decline."

Ginger Booker of the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments reviewed the Triad's air quality problem and the actions being taken by local governments in the Triad Early Action Compact to address it. Much progress has been made in attaining the 8-hour ozone standard although there is no such thing as a "safe" level for ozone. Mr. Lovins commented that we seem to be on the right track with our recommended strategies and offered several seemingly radical ideas to reduce reliance on the automobile. Those included having employers charge employees to park at work, offering free transit passes instead, and giving developers the option to offer perpetual transit passes to residents in their mixed use developments instead of constructing parking areas for them.

Dr. David Gotschalk, retired urban planner from UNC-CH, discussed urban sprawl. He noted how land consumption and vehicle miles traveled have far outpaced actual population growth. In many cases, our zoning and development ordinances actually encourage sprawl, excessive parking requirements being cited as an example. Mr. Lovins commented that we should "view cars as a useful accessory instead of an organizing principle" as we plan new developments. He also wondered when "immobilized Americans" - those who are too young, too old, too poor, or too infirm to drive - will revolt and demand that government subsidies for highways and automobiles be used instead for mass transit. He also warned about "sleepwalking into the future."

Students, faculty, and members of the public who attended this event heard plenty of ideas to ponder and perhaps even implement as our region continues to grow. It was a stimulating morning well spent.

Political blogging gets a boost

I thoroughly enjoyed Allen Johnson's editorial in today's News & Record. He certainly makes a good (and humorous) case for other local politicians and community leaders to get into blogging.

In addition, I certainly don't object to the free publicity (although my husband teasingly asked me how much I paid Allen for this one). Thanks, Allen!

A light schedule

With the Thanksgiving holiday (city offices are closed Thursday and Friday), this is going to be an easy week for city council duties.

Monday starts off badly (sorry, Dr. Hyman) with a dental appointment to replace a deteriorating crown on one of my teeth, not something one looks forward to. Hopefully I will be sufficiently recovered for a meeting with a constituent in the afternoon to discuss a couple of District 5 issues.

The council briefing session agenda for Tuesday, November 22 has a number of interesting topics on it. Items include the following:

* A Team Greensboro presentation (an internal program that rewards employee innovations),

* An update on the Cedar Street property acquisition (Agapion property),

* An update on commercial (garbage) collection services,

* Proposed changes to the TRC process (Technical Review Committee which reviews development site plans),

* Review of progress of the rewrite of the LDO (Land Development Ordinance), and

* An update on the South Elm-Eugene Streets brownfield development.

I'm reserving Wednesday for cooking, Thursday for family time and eating, and Friday for bargain shopping. I just hope I don't totally ruin my diet or my budget.

Here's my Thanksgiving greeting to you and best wishes for a great holiday!

To buy or not to buy - that is the question

At Tuesday night's city council meeting, Councilmember Robbie Perkins proposed that the city purchase the infamous partially-burned apartment complex on Cedar Street currently owned by Bill Agapion. While Robbie's proposal is backed with a lot of good intentions, there are a lot of hard-to-swallow implications attached to it.

Why would the city even consider this, and what's the big rush? This rundown complex has been consistently cited for housing code violations and is deemed by most people to be a blight on the surrounding area.The owner is asking $1.65 million for the property, seemingly well above the appraised value. He has set a deadline of December 31 to close on the property or else the offer is off the table and he will proceed with his own plans.

Originally, the nonprofit Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro had been working on a plan to acquire this property and sell it to private developers to improve it. At least five local developers were working on proposals on how they would best redevelop the property. Unfortunately, the Foundation was advised that this transaction would damage their nonprofit status, and they had to drop their well-intentioned plan.

That's why Robbie began working with the city's Housing and Community Development department to see if the city could get involved and salvage that plan. The proposal is to purchase the property for $1.65 million, add in an adjacent tract of land already owned by the city, and resell it to a private developer for an estimated $1.4 million. That leaves a net monetary loss to city taxpayers of "only" $200,000 - 300,000.

Supporting arguments say this loss will be recouped by the increased tax value of the property once it is properly redeveloped, there will probably be less demand for costly city services (code enforcement, police, etc.), and surrounding properties may become more valuable once the blight is removed (generating more property tax revenue). This sort of loss is typical of many of the city's redevelopment projects where more tax money is spent than is immediately recouped, but the net effects on the surrounding community are deemed worth that expense. An example of this is the sale and rehabilitation of older houses in College Hill and the Martin Luther King Drive area - quite often the value of the renovated house is much less than the cost of the improvements - but the neighborhoods benefit from the upgrades that occurred.

Opposing arguments say taxpayers are being gouged by paying significantly more than the property is worth and a landlord with a poor reputation gets rewarded. Opponents are saying the city should not be involved in such efforts and let the private sector shoulder the financial risk. Here are some excerpts from emails I have received on this topic.

"Have you no shame. How in the world can you even begin to consider spending above market price to buy the property on Cedar street from such a disreputable character. The only way I could conceive of this action being palatable would be if the city required Agapion to put the proceeds into a special account monitored by the city to repair as many of the firetraps that he owns as possible. Otherwise, let the real estate market take care of the problem. If Robbie Perkins wants to see the land developed then he should put together a group to buy the land and develop it, not have the city be the middleman. We citizens of Greensboro are tired of seeing our tax dollars dumped into dubious ventures without sufficient oversite such as the Project Homestead debacle and the Civil Rights museum. I think the argument that the city will see improved tax revenue is not sufficient justification for the purchase, and while I can see some advantages to cleaning up a blighted area, I don't think the city should be gouged by the likes of Bill Agapion. If five developers are interested in the site, let them negotiate the purchase and take the risk. That is not the City's job..."

"I oppose Greensboro's purchase of the property on the corner of Cedar and W. Friendly Ave. I do not see why the city has to get involved with this property at all. Let the private developer buy the property and then the city can sell the piece it owns to the developer as well. I don't see why the city should take a loss to gain a profit in taxes later. Who comes out ahead in the short term? One of Greensboro's nicest landlords? Someone who has inhabited the property in recent times? No, one of Greensboro's landlords who has had many violations cited on his properties. You know we and others do read the newspaper. This appears like rewarding code violations and blight to us. Let the current owner and his representative do the negotiating in selling the property to those developers who want it. What will the market bear?"

In his presentation, Robbie outlined three scenarios:

* The city can pay the asking price and purchases the property for resale to private developers and likely absorb a net loss in order to improve the area.

* The city can exercise its right of eminent domain and condemn the property with just cause, reselling it to private developers. (Sound like a recent controversial Supreme Court case?) I do not believe we councilmembers (or the community at large) have the stomach to proceed down this treacherous path. Plus, I would anticipate a lengthy lawsuit to ensue since the property owner would likely fight this action.

* Do nothing and leave it up to the current owner to repair and upgrade the property. Given his past record.... Enough said.

In my opinion, NONE of these scenarios are very palatable so we find ourselves in that proverbial "between a rock and a hard place" situation.

This item is on the agenda of Tuesday's briefing session for additional information, discussion, and possible directions to staff to proceed or not. The main information I'm looking for is the following:

* What is the current tax value, what does an independent appraisal says the property is worth?

* How would the city finance the purchase? Can we afford to do so?

* Will private developers get involved in the project without the city being the middleman?

* What would be the realistic price a developer would pay the city for the property?

* Will the private developer be seeking additional city funding support in the actual construction and redevelopment of the property?

* What is the estimated value of the property once it is redeveloped?

My final decision will be based on the responses to these questions. My heart says "let's do it" and take care of a recurring problem once and for all, but my brain says "this is fiscal foolishness."

What do you say? I need your thoughts, reactions, and advice on how to best deal with this situation. Your turn!

WFMY update

The debate seems to have finally died down so I really hesitate to resurrect this topic. However, I feel morally obligated to share the latest information I have received.

Although I have not heard another word from the news director or the station's CEO (who has not returned the phone call I made to her a week ago), I did hear from a person at WFMY whom I trust and who was not directly involved in the story/issue. According to that inside source who did a bit of personal investigation, that person is satisfied that WFMY did NOT copy from my blog. According to him/her, the station obtained a written report from the coliseum and used the information in it. My source also says the news director does not read blogs so could not have lifted from mine.

If that's truly the case, then I apologize for accusing WFMY of not appropriately crediting their sources. Case closed as far as I am concerned!

(Irony of ironies, my source in the media world asked to remain anonymous. That's the absolute reverse of the usual situation where the source is normally asking the media for confidentiality.)

Sorry for the absence

This has been one of THOSE weeks that looked benign on my calendar, but it turned out to be really busy as things piled onto it. Thus I have not had any extra time to post or respond to comments. I finally have some breathing room for a couple of days and will try to catch up between taking care of much-neglected house cleaning and clutter-clearing.

November on Oak Island

The calendar may have said November, but the weather at Oak Island this weekend was warm and gorgeous.

The winds were dead calm on Friday, and the ocean and the waterways were almost flat with barely a ripple. I managed to do a lot of kayaking. A blue heron gave me quite a start on Friday when it suddenly rose up out of the grasses alongside me and squawked loudly at me for invading its territory.

There was one "dicey" moment on my Saturday kayak ride when I ventured onto the inland waterway. Most boaters are courteous and slow down as they approach me, producing smaller wakes for me to manuever. That didn't hold true this time - one boat coming toward me continued traveling at a high rate of speed, passing me on my left. At the same time, another one came from behind running wide open and passed me on the right. They produced two very large wakes coming at me from opposite directions that crashed into each other right in the middle where I was located. I was sure I was going to roll and take an unplanned dunk in the COLD water (the weather was warm, but the water definitely was not). Somehow, someway, I managed through it without a single drop of water getting inside the kayak. Guess my guardian angel was watching out for me!

My brother took my husband and youngest son out on the ocean about five miles or so on the Lisa-Lee on Saturday. They came back happy with several "keepers" - sea trout, spots, and black bass.

The only "downer" for the weekend was the news that the Long Beach Pier will likely be demolished after all to make room for condos. The rumor mill has generated numerous scenarios over the past six months about what the new ownership planned to do with it. But it appears they now have demolition permits in hand, so it looks like its fate is sealed.

Oak Island just won't be the same without this pier. Oh well, that's supposed to be progress.

Weekly schedule

Sorry for my tardiness in posting my weekly schedule! After spending Thursday through Sunday at the beach and all day today in court with my son TRYING to get his case heard (another postponement, what a surprise), I just could not get to it until now.

This evening (Monday, November 14), I had the pleasure of giving a presentation about Moldova and Greensboro's Sister City relationship with Buiucani (Chisinau) to a chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, a sorority of female educators. It was especially fun because I knew several of the retired teachers and administrators in attendance from my boys' school days as well as former co-workers and PTA partners.

Tuesday, November 15 is likely to be a long day with a potential marathon city council meeting with three controversial rezoning cases on the agenda as well as a request for city funding participation in the Bellemeade Village project proposed for the old North State Chevrolet site.

I'll start off Wednesday, November 16 at UNCG with an early breakfast and lecture series "Are We Energized? Politics, Energy and the Environment in North Carolina."

That will be followed with the monthly Transportation Advisory Committee meeting at 1:45PM. Key business items include adding funding allocations for the University Connector program, the traffic signal system upgrade, and modifications to the Battleground Rail Trail to the 2006-13 TIP funding program.

You'll find me participating in American Education Week at Archer Elementary School by reading to students on Thursday, November 17. I plan to attend Ardmore Park's community watch meeting later that evening.

That's all that's on my calendar at the moment, but if things go as usual, more things will be added onto it as the week progresses.

Taking a break

We're off to the coast for a couple of days so my "voice" will be silent until I return.

PART report

Today's PART Board of Trustees meeting didn't turn out to be quite as routine as I had predicted.

One of the business items was the approval of a contract with the City of Winston-Salem for PART to manage the feasibility study for the rehabilitation of their old rail terminal, Union Station. Forsyth County Commissioner Bill Whiteheart voiced serious concerns about this proposal. The building is currently owned by a private citizen who operates a business there, and he does not want to sell the building to Winston-Salem to be used as a railway station and PART bus hub. Although it is up to Winston-Salem to acquire the property using their power of eminent domain if necessary, PART board members decided we did not want PART to be associated with that potential action in any shape, form or fashion. Thus, the board passed a motion to table consideration of the contract until such time that Winston-Salem has resolved the property ownership dispute.

An item added to the agenda was due to action taken by the Surry County Board of Commissioners. The commissioners voted unanimously at their meeting Monday evening to request the PART board to impose a vehicle rental tax in their county; PART currently collects that tax only in Forsyth and Guilford counties. Proceeds from this tax will fund Surry County's portion of local funding to provide express bus service from that county to Winston-Salem and connect to the current express bus service serving Winston, High Point and Greensboro. NCDOT is providing a $200,000 grant for the new route. This new service is projected to serve many workers who commute out of Surry County every day. PART will conduct the required public hearing on that request at our December meeting.

This same expanded express bus service could become available to Alamance, Davidson, Randolph and Rockingham counties whenever their commissioners take this same action.

Jim Yarborough, a consultant to PART, presented a sobering overview of the status of world oil consumption. He noted that experts disagree on just how much oil is left, ranging from those who think we are running out NOW to those who say don't worry, there is an endless supply. Jim noted he believes the supply is indeed dwindling but has no prediction when it will be used up.

Key points in his presentation included the following:

* Right now, the world is using 85 million barrels of oil every day with 70% of it being consumed for transportation. That is an increase of 8 times the consumption rate in 1950.

* While the US makes up 4.5% of the world's population, we are responsible for 23.5% of the consumption of the world's oil, approximately 20+ million barrels per day.

* In the Piedmont Triad, we collectively drive 20 million miles per day. That consumes a million gallons of oil per day in our region alone - it takes 50,000 barrels of crude oil refining every day
to produce that.

Just another good reason to use mass transit and reduce our dependence on our cars and oil! PART is doing its share to make that option available to more and more people.

A sweet surprise

When I returned home from one of my meetings this afternoon, there was a box of fresh-baked cookies from Catering by Ellyn on my kitchen table. The card that accompanied it read:

"We are privileged to live in a country where we have the right to vote to choose our leaders.

We are also fortunate that there are citizens, such as yourself, willing to offer themselves for public office and, once elected, give so much time and energy for the benefit of their community.

Congratulations on your victory and thank you for your commitment to good government.

Please feel free to call us if we can be of assistance.

Your friends at Catering by Ellyn"

It is my understanding that all the winners in the November 8 city council elected received this same sweet tribute. Thank you, Ellyn's, for your thoughtfulness!

And if the city attorney says such a gift is inappropriate, I know how to get rid of the evidence real quick! YUM!

Tennessee sky

My sister emailed me this morning to congratulate me on my election win. She attached this absolutely gorgeous picture of Monday night's sunset at her home in the Tennessee mountains. Maybe Bob and I should be heading west to her place instead of east to visit my brother on the NC coast! (And for the record, I obtained her permission to publish her work.)

Election news

Hooray, hooray! The election results are in and I've been returned to office with 75% of the vote. Thanks so much to all the people who voted for me, to my staunch supporters Edie and Janet, and to my ever-suffering husband who puts up with my weird hours and endless phone calls. I pledge to do my best and not let you down.

The real surprise was veteran councilmember Don Vaughan's loss. I've always wondered about the power of endorsements (or lack thereof). My layman's analysis tells me yes, endorsements can definitely affect the outcome of an election. Don's defeat will leave me as the "senior member" of the new city council with 14 years of continuous service (or as my husband indelicately phrased it - "the oldest rat in the barn").

The other interesting development is that there will be SIX WOMEN (Sandra Anderson, Dianne Bellamy-Small, Florence Gatten, Yvonne Johnson, Goldie Wells, and me) on the new city council, outnumbering the guys two-to-one. That tells me that the Commission on the Status of Women is probably safe from Tom Phillips' annual call to eliminate it (although I can now hear Tom saying that these election results demonstrate that women have achieved the power and don't need the commission to boost us anymore).

It's going to be really interesting to see how the dynamics and interactions of this new council shape up!

WFMY explanation

When I returned home from celebrating my election victory, I found the following email explanation from WFMY regarding my complaint about my blog being quoted but not attributed:

Dear Councilwoman Carmany:

It has come to my attention that your blog is accusing WFMY of using you as a source without proper credit. I take such an allegation seriously and investigated your claim. This is what I found…

The Coliseum’s public relations manager Andrew Brown is the source. One of our producers called Andrew Brown on November 7. In that conversation, Andrew Brown went over the highlights of the War Memorial Commission committee meeting. The discussion included potential for an arena football team and the return of minor league hockey. In addition, he talked about the lack of big name concerts and was told about the popularity of religious events.

Our producer also asked about video opportunities with the Rockingham County inmates working on the Coliseum. We discussed in our editorial meeting about what a good, visual story that would make. Mr. Brown said that the inmates were not working on Monday, so we didn’t do a special reporter feature on the topic that day.

As a public official, you are likely aware that the agendas, minutes and transcripts of public meetings are subject to the Freedom of Information Act and Open Meeting Law. An elected official doesn’t own “exclusive rights” to public information, even if he or she decides to talk about it in a diary on the Internet.

If you have any questions and comments about our newscasts please feel free to e-mail or call me at the station.

Sincerely,
Gina Katzmark
News Director
WFMY News 2

If I have wrongly accused WFMY, then I do apologize for my error. But what a coincidence that a reporter would interview Andrew four days after the commission meeting and then write the identical words I had previously writtten to describe that meeting!

Greenhouse gardening

One of my hobbies is a small lean-to greenhouse located on the south side of our house built for me by one of my sons after my first one started falling apart after 20 years. I use it to get my summer plants through the winter as well as get an early start on spring and summer plantings.

My pride and joy is this Meyer lemon tree that spent the summer outside in the backyard. My sons recently helped me wrestle it back into the greenhouse for the winter.

Not only do I get relaxation and enjoyment out of this hobby, but some mighty tasty lemonade as well!

Fall foliage

Every season brings its own special beauty. The orange delight above is in my front yard. On the right is the colorful view from my backyard. Thanks, Mother Nature!

It's nice to be a "source," but...

We turned on WFMY News2 at 6PM this evening to catch the headlines and weather while we were having a quick supper before going out to put campaign signs at the polls. I was surprised and amused to hear Sandra Hughes give an update on the Greensboro Coliseum - verbatim excerpts from my November 4 post on that very same subject, including the "hotbed for religious events" quote - with no acknowledgment that this blog was the source. My husband jokingly wondered if I would be receiving a paycheck for writing the story copy.

I'm aware that the media frequently consults my blog for stories and updates, and I am honored that they trust and use the information I provide. Most of the things I post are public information, and it's certainly not copyrighted. In my opinion, the more citizens who are supplied with accurate information, the better off we all are, so I am genuinely pleased that the information is being passed along.

BUT, it sure would be nice if they would acknowledge the source of their story - particularly when it's a direct "borrow" - and give me a little credit for it now and then. (And to be fair, many reporters do indeed do that already.) {smile}

Enhanced city communications

This week's edition of City Connections highlights the city's improved communications capability. No excuses for not being informed!

National Night Out at Highland Park

Many thanks to my friends Julie Schindler and Bill Liszka of the Highland Park Neighborhood Association for this photo from this year's National Night Out celebration back in August. Highland Park's event is always one of the best!

Worrisome neighbors

One of the more difficult hot-button issues we council members have to deal with from time to time is the conflict between neighborhoods and adjoining businesses when those business operations negatively impact nearby residents. The noise, traffic, and other unpleasant by-products of a successful business sometimes clash with adjacent neighbors' rights to a safe and peaceful existence.

I am currently dealing with two such situations in District 5 that are causing a lot of headaches for those businesses and residents (and me as we search for workable solutions). Both have been ongoing for a number of years, and there does not appear to be an easy solution to either of them.

The first is the well-publicized dispute between the residents of the Ardmore Park neighborhood (off West Florida Street between High Point and Holden roads) and the upscale restaurant of Alexander Deveraux located on High Point Road adjacent to this neighborhood. As long as this establishment is operating as a restaurant as it is licensed, there are no problems. But for the past several years, the facility has also been functioning as a club, with parties and loud music until the wee hours of the morning. Overflow parking into the neighborhood, loud patrons leaving trash all over the place, public urination, and even violent confrontations have severely impacted the residents and the enjoyment of their homes.

I have participated in numerous meetings with the neighbors, the restaurant owner, and various city staff members, especially the police department. While there has been some definite improvement, particularly with parking and loud music, the neighbors are still being negatively affected.

As noted in David Wharton's October 25 post, neighborhood association leaders were "spitting bullets" when they learned of the Board of Adjustment's decision against Cheap Seats' similar operation and impacts. They wondered why similar action has not been taken in their situation which they have endured much longer. In numerous communications with city staff, I have learned that while there are some similarities between the two cases, there are also distinct differences that make this one much more difficult to address. Without disclosing potential strategies, I do expect this situation will be dealt with and a workable solution found.

The second issue is just as thorny - the neighborhoods represented by the Southwest Neighborhood Association adjacent to the DH Griffin facility on Hilltop Road. The eastern boundary of the neighborhood abuts Griffin's property. Over the years, the wooded buffer between them has been cleared, and neighbors are complaining about smelly black smoke, 24-hour noise, and vibrations that shake their houses.

This is a complicated situation. Although Griffin's HI (Heavy Industrial) zoning is next to this residential neighborhood, the business was there first. In fact, the 700-home subdivision was formed when HI-zoned property was rezoned to residential in 1974. Stricter buffering and separation requirements adopted by the city in 1992 do not apply in this case due to grandfathering. Although the heavy smoke (described as smelling like paint burning off of metal) leaves a sooty deposit on homes and cars, the EPA and NC DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) report that Griffin is legally operating within its permits. Enforcement of the noise ordinance MIGHT bring some relief from the noisy nighttime operations, but affected residents will have to initiate that action by swearing out warrants. We're not sure who has jurisdiction over the vibration problem.

At this point, the neighborhood association is in the fact-finding mode trying to document the problems and find potential solutions to them. They hope to approach the business in a non-threatening way and appeal to the owners to be good neighbors. If that doesn't work out, it's unclear at this point what legal options might be available to improve the living conditions in their area.

Tough situations with legitimate businesses and neighbors with legitimate complaints. Anyone have a magic wand???

A very pleasant weekend

I spent most of Saturday in Raleigh attending North Carolina PTA's Founders Day celebration marking the organization's 86th birthday. It was wonderful to catch up with old friends and past board members and find out what they are doing now. Of course, none of us had aged a bit. (Sure!) The state office looked great, and the organization is moving forward in good hands to serve the state's children, parents, teachers and schools.

I served as the state president from November, 1994 to May, 1999, but have been in "retirement" since that time except for presenting programs on request or assisting local PTAs with particular problems. However, it looks like I'm going to be coming out of that "retirement." At the request of the current president, I was appointed as a consultant to the bylaws committee. You'd think I 'd learned by now not to fall for that old "it won't be much work" promise, but I accepted anyway. I'm one of those nuts who enjoys working with bylaws and served as the National PTA bylaws chairman at one time.

More work or not, I just can't say "no" when it comes to working for children.

Easy week

At long last, I have an easy week with a chance to unwind and catch my breath!

There's nothing official on my schedule for Monday (except for the "put the campaign signs out at the precincts" routine) or Tuesday (except to go vote on Tuesday and head down to the courthouse for election returns). While this campaign has not been particularly difficult or stressful for me, I will be glad when this "silly season" is finished and things can return to a more normal pace.

The PART board meets on Wednesday, November 9 at 8:30AM. Business items include the quarterly treasurer's report, amendment to the FY2006 budget to accept the $1.2 million "pass through" allocation from NCDOT for High Point's International Home Furnishings Market, approval of an agreement with the City of Winston-Salem to manage the renovation of their Union Station at no cost to PART, and approval of a lease of parking spaces in Winston-Salem for use of PART Express riders. We will also hear an informational presentation on the World Oil Supply and Consumption.

Later that day, I will represent Greensboro at the Executive Committee meeting of the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments at 5:30PM.

It's off to Raleigh for an 11AM meeting of the Charter Schools Advisory Committee on Thursday, November 10. There is a distinct possibility we may have to initiate revocation proceedings against a couple of charter schools due to noncompliance with state laws, so it's not likely to be one of our more pleasant meetings.

But the rest of the day/week should be great! My husband is going to ride along with me to that meeting in Raleigh and find something to do while I'm taking care of business. When I'm finished, we're heading EAST instead of coming home immediately and are going to spend a couple of days relaxing at my brother's place on Oak Island. Get the kayak and fishing poles ready!

Coliseum report

Here are some of the key items of interest reported at Thursday's meeting of the War Memorial Commission, the advisory committee to the Coliseum.

* There were over $300,000 in gross sales in concessions for the month of October thanks to A&T Homecoming weekend events, the American Idol tryouts, the Super 32 Wrestling Challenge, and Trinity Motivation. Switching to Domino's branded products accounts for a significant portion of sales increases.

* Catering events accounted for an additional $125,000 for the month. Chefs from the Super Bowl and other Centerplate venues are already helping to plan the menus for the ACC and NCAA tournaments in March 2006 when Greensboro becomes "Tournament Town."

* The concert business remains weak with few groups touring. The coliseum is working to book an Aerosmith/Lenny Kravitz appearance as well as country music's Rascal Flatts.

* Disney on Ice ticket sales are 80% ahead of last year's numbers thanks to their new offering, Princess Classics.

* Bookings for children's shows include Dora the Explorer and The Wiggles.

* The coliseum has become a "hotbed for religious events" with more and more religious groups booking the space. The Southern Baptist Convention will be meeting in the facility.

* There is the possibility of an arena football team returning to the coliseum beginning in April. Serious talks are underway with two potential hockey team owners who are anxious to bring a hockey team back.

* The "Southern Scuffle" - a college wrestling tournament - will be held in the coliseum between Christmas and New Years, following the Pizza Hut Invitational Tournament (the Little Four Tournament).

* The coliseum will have wireless capability soon; this upgrade will allow for the use of credit cards at the concessions stands.

* The building is being spruced up in preparation for the coming ACC events. Painting is being done for next-to-nothing in costs by prisoners from the state facility in Rockingham County and paint obtained from Sherwin-Williams in a trade for advertising.

* Efforts are still being made to find a sponsor to build an alternate smoking area outside the arena itself to accomodate patrons who smoke once the building itself is declared "smoke-free." The city council will consider achange in the ordinance in early 2006 to make this a reality.

* Commission members received copies of the study and plans for the proposed War Memorial Auditorium enhancements. Early next year, the city council will be discussing the possible inclusion of this project in the proposed November 2006 city bond referendum.

Sierra Club endorsement

Good news arrived in today's mail. I received a letter informing me that the Piedmont Plateau Group of the North Carolina Sierra Club has endorsed me for the Greensboro City Council in the upcoming election. Thank you, Sierra Club!