Sorry for not posting a week in review the last couple of weeks but its college football season. ;-) Seriously though – our son Jordan plays linebacker for the University of Central Florida in Orlando so we’ve been on the road the last couple of weekends. This year is Jordan’s last and we are traveling to every game we can get to. Next week will be nice as we won’t have to travel far at all. UCF plays ECU in Greenville this Saturday.
My council week began with a meeting with Town Manager Ben Shivar. We discussed a number of topics which included the proposed Cary / Chatham County land use plan, shared sick leave for town employees, and the town’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan – specifically as it pertains to Evans Road. I have concerns with Evans Road being planned for 6 lanes median divided and hope that we may be able to review this very soon.
I about had a heart attack on Wednesday when I received a call from fellow council member Jennifer Robinson stating that someone was cutting down trees in Dorothy Park. (The town is planning a stream restoration project for the park and is working with area residents to iron out the details and respond to their concerns). Terrified that someone had made a grave mistake (Buffalo Tract), I jumped in the truck and flew over to the park to investigate - and possibly jump in front of a bulldozer. But upon arrival we found no tree removal crews. It turns out a couple of residents had received a draft plan from the town that did not clearly indicate which trees were to be removed/replaced. The residents in reading the plan interpreted what they believed to indicate that 60+ trees were being removed, so they marked each of those trees with pink tape to alert area residents of the town’s plans. And alert area residents they did! As folks drove by, one after the other stopped to find out what the heck was going on.
Councilor Robinson and myself did our best to answer questions and tried toease resident’s concerns and reassure them that nowhere near the amount of trees marked were being removed. We also encouraged everyone to come to the community meeting on the 29th to hear firsthand from the town about the stream restoration project and have an opportunity to provide feedback and voice any concerns they may have.
Afterwards council attended the Cary Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Leadership Dinner. The guest speaker was Governor Bev Purdue. Purdue spoke about the recession’s impact on North Carolina while at the same time praising Cary’s leadership and vision as being largely responsible for Cary weathering the economic crisis better than most. I liked her speech. ;-)
Thursday evening was our Planning and Development Committee meeting. Notable topics of discussion included transportation improvements to Cary Parkway and High House Road resulting from proposed additions to St. Michael's Church, and a proposed new zoning classification for the Russell Hills neighborhood in our downtown area.
After our Planning and Development Committee meeting we high tailed it to Chatham County to meet with the Chatham County Commissioners to discuss the proposed Cary/Chatham Land Use Plan. Board member comments were positive and both boards agreed in principle to the proposed plan. I was glad to see both boards put prior differences aside and work together towards crafting a plan that protects Jordan Lake and the environment and helps to preserve the rural character and charm of east Chatham County.
I also spent a good amount of time this week working for candidates running for office both in municipal and school board races. I’m making phone calls, sending emails, facebooking, and stuffing envelopes for quite a few folks these days. Please remember to vote on October 6th!
Well that’s about it for this week in review. I hope to post again next week but with the UCF/ECU game and ensuing postgame victory celebration it may be difficult. ;-) Sorry Pirate fans. ;-)
