I apologize for not posting a week in review during the last couple of weeks. My schedule has been incredibly busy as of late. I'll try and do better. During the last couple of weeks the majority of council's time was spent on the budget process. Please see my blog entry regarding that topic for more information.
Monday evening I had the pleasure of attending Chamber of Commerce Night at the the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary. Numerous area chambers were in attendance such as Cary, Apex, Durham, Holly Springs, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill. It was a great opportunity to meet with and hear from area community leaders about the future of business in our region. Afterwards we were treated to an amazing baseball game between USA Baseball's collegiate team and Chinese Taipei. The highlight for me however was having the honor of throwing out the first pitch! And YES I made it to the catcher ;-) A little high and outside - but I got it there.
Tuesday evening I had two separate meetings with citizens to discuss issues that have arisen as a result of the Maynard Road widening project. They both have very valid concerns, and it is my hope that with a little extra effort by the town and some common sense these issues can be resolved soon.
Thursday evening I met with residents adjacent to the proposed development at Kilmayne and Maynard Road. They have concerns regarding the compatibility and change of character their residential neighborhood will experience as a result of this proposed office development. I expect to meet with town staff and the developer sometime this week to discuss.
Friday night my family attended the 4th of July celebration at Koka Booth Amphitheater.....what there was of it anyways. A very nasty storm moved in a little more than halfway through the North Carolina Symphony's performance and the remainder of the event and fireworks were postponed until Saturday night as a result.
I was disappointed that event staff gave no indication to the crowd that a bad storm was moving in until thunder and lightning was already on top of us. This resulted in a mass exodus of thousands of people all attempting to hurry to their vehicles in the middle of a severe thunderstorm. It is my hope that we can learn from this experience, and not make these same mistakes again. We chose not to attend Saturday night's performance.
I hope you all had a great 4th of July holiday. As Americans we are blessed to live in a free country that affords us liberties that folks in other countries will never know. Please remember to say a prayer for our troops who are serving both here and abroad. Let us never forget those who have paid the ultimate price for this great nation. Freedom isn't free.