Tuesday, March 21 will start off bright and early with the Annual Employee Service Awards Breakfast in the Coliseum Plaza area. This event recognizes those city employees who have reached their milestones of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 or more years of service as well as those who retired during the past year. The highlight of the breakfast is the naming of the three outstanding city Employees of the Year nominated by their fellow workers.
The regular city council meeting will begin at 5:30PM in the council chambers. This is the night to receive public input on the "wish list" for the upcoming November bond referendum. At this point, the only "for sure" item on that list is additional fire stations. If you feel strongly about a particular need or project, this is the time to make your voice heard. Other items on the agenda include a couple of rezoning requests and a change in the city ordinances to prohibit people from parking vehicles for sale on public streets in residential areas (except for the person who owns the abutting property).
There are two subjects that are NOT on the official agenda -- the leak of the RMA report to the newspaper and the non-release by the district attorney of the Project Homestead report -- that are sure to be brought up for discussion. There are a number of us councilmembers that want decisive action to be taken on both issues.
I will attend the next meeting of the Heart of the Triad steering committee at 8:30AM on Wednesday, March 22. The weeklong planning charrette will be coming up the first week of April.
From 11:30AM-12:45PM, I will be participating in a panel discussion at Lindley Recreation Center titled "Politics and the Media" sponsored by Youth Leadership Greensboro. The central focus of the panel is to discuss local politics and the ways in which media influences politics.
Then it's off to the monthly TAC meeting (Transportation Advisory Committee). Agenda items include an amendment to the MTIP to account for increased vehicle prices and updates on air quality, the BiPed (bicycle, pedestrian, and greenways) planning process, and the environmental study of the US 70 widening project.
Don't miss the numerous activities on Thursday, March 23 honoring Joey Cheek for his Olympic and humanitarian accomplishments. I'll get to see him at the Chamber of Commerce's elected officials reception. After that, my husband and I will hopefully go out to celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary.
I've agreed to listen to members of the Greensboro Firefighters Association on Friday morning, March 25 to hear their continuing concerns about their retirement medical benefits.
Councilmember Dianne Bellamy-Small will be holding her District 1 town hall meeting at 10AM on Saturday, March 25 at Barber Park. I'm working with Donna Newton of the Neighborhood Congress to schedule a similar meeting for District 5 residents.
4 comments:
Hello Ms. Carmany. I've been hesitant to comment any on the bond projects since I'm not an official Greensboro resident but I saw the project list today in the N&R and would like to offer some thoughts.
Besides the fire stations, the coliseum/war memorial auditorium items and library expansions seem to be the best fit for bond money. I'm not getting a clear read on how bond money would be spent on spec sites for development and would wonder why the city would be building the YWCA that swim facility. I would think there's a good possibility of using the new "amendment one" financing option to acquire land and get it ready for development so has that option been explored? I would also think the Y facility would involve a capital campaign on their end unless the city's owning and operating the facility.
This is not really a bond thing necessarily but is there a serioius effort in the capital improvement budget to replace large sections of the city's fleet with more fuel efficient vehicles? We're going to be dealing with higher fuel prices for a long time to come and that kind of investment might pay for itself over the period of a few years. Just some thoughts.
Mike,
Your comments and astute observations are welcome any time -- I don't think intelligence is confined within the Greensboro city limits. {smile}
Your "read" on potential bond projects is very similar to mine -- I definitely supportive of the fire stations and War Memorial Auditorium and leaning towards support of the libraries. I too have serious questions about the Y swim facility, and there would have to be definite parameters on how the $25 million would be used for economic development before I can support it. (I agree there are other potential sources for that money such as the City/County Water and Sewer Fund in addition to the Amendment One financing you cited.)
Yes, as the city replaces vehicles in its fleet, better fuel efficiency is high on the list of requirements. We have already purchased several hybrids that have turned out to be some of the most popular cars in the fleet.
Hello Ms. Carmany. Thanks for the compliments on my thought processes. I just wanted to make sure that it was known my comments were coming from someone who ultimately wouldn't be footing the bill, unless the City gets around to annexing our little portion of Sedgefield off Groometown Road. Note: this does not count as a voluntary petition for annexation as I'm sure many of my neighbors (and probably my wife) would not be as agreeable with this line of reasoning(smile).
It sounds like you're on top of things and are working hard at being a good steward of everyone's tax dollars. Keep up the good work!
Mike,
As long as the Sedgefield area has that very-expensive-to-fix failing sewer system that the city really does not want to take over responsibility for, your area is probably safe from annexation for the time being.
Post a Comment