The briefing that almost wasn't

The meeting room at the Kitchen Operations Center was full of city staff at last Tuesday's regularly scheduled City Council Briefing Session, but a bit short of councilmembers themselves with only five of us eventually showing up for the full agenda.

I was the only councilmember who showed up at the right place at the right time. Mayor Holliday and Councilmembers Tom Phillips and Goldie Wells slipped in late after mistakenly traveling downtown to our regular meeting spot in the Plaza Level Conference Room. Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson-Groat arrived about an hour-an-a-half late after a reminder phone call -- she had totally forgotten about the meeting. Councilman Mike Barber did not show up. Councilmembers Yvonne Johnson and Dianne Bellamy-Small were out of town and Florence Gatten was sick.

Those present received an update from Greensboro Beautiful on the proposed Gateway Gardens. They presented an excellent video about the park and the plans for it. They are actively seeking contributions and grants, having raised $2.8 million of the estimated $5 million needed to complete the project.

The most important item was an update on the Capital Projects/Bond Debt. Finance Director Rick Lusk shared great news -- with careful planning about the timing and amount of the sale of voter-authorized bonds, it appears there will be no need for a tax increase for the next three years to cover the debt service on those bonds -- a change from previous estimates. Various department heads reviewed which projects have been completed and/or ones that will soon be under construction as well as needs for future bonds to build unfunded projects such as streets and more fire stations. There were numerous tidbits of interesting information shared -- for example, no additional costs are being incurred to provide fire service to the Cardinal area upon annexation due to previous agreements with county fire service that replaced the Guilford College fire station and transferred that equipment to the city. If the new city council wants to make any changes in the pending bond sale, they must do so by mid-January (which means city staff must brief the four who missed this important information and bring them up to speed.)

Team Greensboro recognized us councilmembers who will be leaving on December 4 with some small gifts of appreciation. City Manager Mitchell Johnson had calculated how many meetings and hours we had spent at city council meetings. Needless to say, we are going to have a whole lot more free time now!

The city's Financial Department was awarded the Certificate for Excellence in Financial Reporting again, part of the city's tradition.

The morning concluded with the well-deserved recognition of the Water Resources Department for earning the Employee Safety Star Award, one of only seven that have been awarded to the public sector. NC Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry presented the award and praised the employees for their strong commitment to safety.