To Bond, or not to Bond?: At our council worksession this past Tuesday, the council unanimously voted to present $80 million in transportation, parks and recreation and public safety bond referendums to the voters in the upcoming November elections. Some notable projects and their associated costs are as follows:
• Walnut Street Traffic and Pedestrian Imporovements - $7 million
• Street Improvements - $10 million
• Carpenter Fire Station Bridge and Intersection Improvements - $17 million
• Green Level West Road Widening - $13 million
• Carpenter Fire Station Road Widening - $9 million
• Streetscape Improvements Along South Academy and Dry - $8 million
• Bartley Park, Phase One - $4.4 million
• Greenways - $3 million
• Downtown Park - $2 million
• Carpenter Park - $2 million
• New Fire Station #2 - $6.45 million
• Sports Turf Fields - $5 million
• Bike Facilities - $1 million
I believe most of the projects above to be genuine needs that the town has now - a couple others, not so much. However, I did not expect to go into a meeting with my colleagues and agree on everything. We are all individuals with different priorities and constituencies. In the end I believe we came up with a list of projects that everyone is 80-90% satisfied with. In politics, I don’t think it gets much better than that. We work very well together as a council.
So we are clear, if YOU the VOTERS approve these bond referendums, you will also be voting for a tax increase of four cents per $100 of property valuation. Taxes would increase two cents in 2014 and again in 2016. A four cent tax increase on a $250,000 home is $100.
To cope with the economic recession, since 2008 the council has canceled or delayed over $100 million in capital projects and have kept dozens of town employee positions vacant while keeping taxes low. Cary’s current tax rate of 33 cents per $100 of valuation is the lowest in Wake County, and at eight town employees per 1000 residents; Cary has one of the leanest and most efficient municipal governments in the state. Just as hard working families in Cary and beyond have had to tighten their belts and live within their means, so has the town. Yet our needs continue to grow.
The recession has significantly impacted Cary’s budget – especially in regards to investment earnings and ad valorem taxes (property taxes). While too much growth too fast has its problems, too little to no growth creates challenges as well. A stable and healthy growth rate provides new revenues for infrastructure, amenities and inflationary increases while ensuring we maintain pace with that growth.
Cary still has approximately $70 million in existing bond authority that was approved by the voters in 2003. However, given current economic conditions and changing needs, we believed it best to allow this authority to expire and to once again seek voter approval.
Voter approved general obligation bonds are the least expensive form of financing available to local government. Many of the proposed projects are simply too expensive to pay for with cash. Just as you would typically borrow money to make home improvements, start a business or even buy a car, governments can do the same for infrastructure improvements. Cary’s AAA bond rating also ensures we get the best rates.
There will be plenty of opportunity for public input and change as this moves throughout the process. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact us at council@townofcary.org and most importantly, vote in November.
Frick and Frack: The council also discussed our North Carolina State Legislative Agenda and Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking) at our worksession this past Tuesday. The council unanimously approved a resolution that recognizes both the economic benefits and environmental concerns associated with fracking, and encourages our state leaders to proceed in a thoughtful and deliberate manner, and that they preserve local government’s authority regarding land use planning.
I am very pleased that we as a council were again able to come together and agree on an issue where folks clearly had differing viewpoints.
Afterwards we discussed and determined a process for filling Councilwoman Julie Robison’s council seat once she resigns. The council will call for statements of interest and qualifications and then hold a worksession to discuss the applicants and develop a “short list”. The council will then interview those candidates prior to another worksession where we hope to ultimately make our selection. Unfortunately we do not know exactly when Ms. Robison will resign so I can’t tell you the dates to submit your statements of interest yet. Stay tuned.
Council Meeting: Highlights included a couple public hearings and discussion and denial of the Fryar Tract Rezoning.
Council concerns regarding the Fryar Tract mainly pertained to the planned on-street parking along Highcroft Drive. Highcroft Drive is designated as a collector street and the current proposal did not meet collector design standards. The council voted 4-3 to deny the rezoning. I voted against the motion to deny (so did councilors Bush and Robinson) because while Highcroft was planned for as a collector, it is not functioning as such given the southern portion (where this project would connect) is also a 25 MPH road.
Cary High School Career Fair: I had the pleasure of participating in Cary High School’s Career Fair again this year. This is always a lot of fun and a great opportunity to educate students about a career in automotive repair and service. Unfortunately there are only two high schools in Wake County that teach auto shop any more – probably much of the same for electronics, HVAC, carpentry, plumbing etc.. Kids just aren’t exposed to the trades like they used to be. We still live in “every child should go to college fantasy land”. This isn’t reality. Not every child needs a college education to succeed in life. By increasing vocational education opportunities we can better prepare non-college bound students for a rewarding career in our local economy. Let’s face it, you can’t outsource your car’s tune-up to India – great job security.
Wheels on Academy Car Show: Despite the horrible weather Cary’s first ever car show was a huge success! Live entertainment, great food, and automotive inspired art vendors along with over 60 of the coolest custom and classic cars you ever saw made for a great time for everyone. Academy Street never looked so good. Car owners stayed busy drying their cars in between rain showers – a futile effort I promise you, I was one of them – hoping to impress the judges enough to win the prestigious title of “Best in Show”. The judges by the way were the car show participants themselves – judging by peers. With severe weather approaching, the decision was made to end the show shortly after 2:00 (it was scheduled to go to 5:00) and award were presented. Turned out to be a good call – the bottom fell out at about 2:30.
Every participant I spoke with was very impressed with the efforts the town put into this event; with some commenting that they couldn’t believe this was the first time the town had hosted a car show. Some of my favorite comments included, “I’ve never been to a car show with live bands before, this is awesome!” and, “what a beautiful place to have an event like this!” And while the show was a success, we also learned a few things that will help make next year’s event even better than this one. Special thanks go out to Joy Ennis and her staff, the car show committee members and the folks at Public Works for all your efforts!
Check my facebook page or CaryCitizen for pictures.
That's all for now - as always, thanks for reading!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
What's all the buzz about?
I love my job on the Cary Town Council. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life – and at times one of the most surprising. This is one of those times.
When I joined the council in 2007 I was well aware that I was in for an education. I knew I would learn more than I ever wanted to know about land use planning and zoning, property development and environmental issues – but never did I expect to become an expert in chickens and bees. (note: I am not really an expert, I just play one on TV)
I already addressed chickens in a previous post so let’s talk bees.
Currently the town does not regulate beekeeping. Town staff, In response to a few citizen’s concerns, attempted to craft an ordinance that addressed those concerns while continuing to allow residents the opportunity to keep bees. The problem however is that as proposed, the ordinance would only allow for beekeeping on lots larger than 30,000 sq. ft. (2/3 acre). Take a guess how many lots in Cary are 30,000 sq. ft. or larger?
5.6%
The proposed ordinance would essentially eliminate beekeeping in town limits.
So who cares right? I mean, who needs bees anyways?
We all do.
Honey bees play a critical role in agriculture – the most important being pollination of plants. Over 1/3 of all the food we consume relies on honey bees for pollination. No bees = no food. Think also of the economic impacts. What would happen to the price of food if you removed 1/3 of it from grocery store shelves? Numerous studies indicate a global decline in honey bee populations.
Most of the complaints the town has received about folks keeping bees has to do with the fear of being stung and folks who are allergic to bee stings – a legitimate concern. However, the overwhelming majority of “bee stings” are not caused by honey bees, but instead yellow jackets, wasps and other stinging insects. Honey bees are very docile and only attack to defend themselves or their hive…or if you happen to step on one. Yellow jackets on the other hand are very aggressive and can easily be confused for a bee. See here for a visual comparison.
But not being one to believe everything I read, I went and visited a friend's honey bee colony first hand.
Here is the hive. It is estimated that there are upwards of 50,000 bees inside.
Here we are inspecting the hive (bee owner's face intentionally blurred). The gentleman on the right is Mr. Will Hicks, Apiary Inspector from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Notice they are not wearing any bee protection suits. They did ask me if I wanted to wear one, but since they weren't, I wasn't going to be the wuss of the group. Mr. Hicks was very informative and answered a number of questions I had.
Here we are looking for any indication of disease or mites. No real issues were discovered and the colony appeared very healthy. The honey tasted pretty darn good too!
Even after "breaking into their house", none of us were ever stung, nor did the bees show any sign of aggression.
Bottom line: I don't believe the keeping of honey bees to be an issue that we need to regulate. While I am sympathetic to concerns, I prefer to base my decisions on fact instead of fear.
At our council meeting we rejected the proposed beekeeping regulations and instead directed staff to work with folks from the bee community in the hopes that we can come up with a set of rules/guidelines that everyone can live with.
I would have prefered to have done nothing (not create any ordinance). But we'll see what comes back to council in a month or so after town staff and beekeeping professionals put their heads together.
Things could be worse. Cary, like many cities and states across America, could be facing multi-million dollar budget deficits, rampant unemployment, increased crime and corruption and a host of other serious problems.
I'll take chickens and bees over that any day.
When I joined the council in 2007 I was well aware that I was in for an education. I knew I would learn more than I ever wanted to know about land use planning and zoning, property development and environmental issues – but never did I expect to become an expert in chickens and bees. (note: I am not really an expert, I just play one on TV)
I already addressed chickens in a previous post so let’s talk bees.
Currently the town does not regulate beekeeping. Town staff, In response to a few citizen’s concerns, attempted to craft an ordinance that addressed those concerns while continuing to allow residents the opportunity to keep bees. The problem however is that as proposed, the ordinance would only allow for beekeeping on lots larger than 30,000 sq. ft. (2/3 acre). Take a guess how many lots in Cary are 30,000 sq. ft. or larger?
5.6%
The proposed ordinance would essentially eliminate beekeeping in town limits.
So who cares right? I mean, who needs bees anyways?
We all do.
Honey bees play a critical role in agriculture – the most important being pollination of plants. Over 1/3 of all the food we consume relies on honey bees for pollination. No bees = no food. Think also of the economic impacts. What would happen to the price of food if you removed 1/3 of it from grocery store shelves? Numerous studies indicate a global decline in honey bee populations.
Most of the complaints the town has received about folks keeping bees has to do with the fear of being stung and folks who are allergic to bee stings – a legitimate concern. However, the overwhelming majority of “bee stings” are not caused by honey bees, but instead yellow jackets, wasps and other stinging insects. Honey bees are very docile and only attack to defend themselves or their hive…or if you happen to step on one. Yellow jackets on the other hand are very aggressive and can easily be confused for a bee. See here for a visual comparison.
But not being one to believe everything I read, I went and visited a friend's honey bee colony first hand.
Here is the hive. It is estimated that there are upwards of 50,000 bees inside.
Here we are inspecting the hive (bee owner's face intentionally blurred). The gentleman on the right is Mr. Will Hicks, Apiary Inspector from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Notice they are not wearing any bee protection suits. They did ask me if I wanted to wear one, but since they weren't, I wasn't going to be the wuss of the group. Mr. Hicks was very informative and answered a number of questions I had.
Here we are looking for any indication of disease or mites. No real issues were discovered and the colony appeared very healthy. The honey tasted pretty darn good too!
Even after "breaking into their house", none of us were ever stung, nor did the bees show any sign of aggression.
Bottom line: I don't believe the keeping of honey bees to be an issue that we need to regulate. While I am sympathetic to concerns, I prefer to base my decisions on fact instead of fear.
At our council meeting we rejected the proposed beekeeping regulations and instead directed staff to work with folks from the bee community in the hopes that we can come up with a set of rules/guidelines that everyone can live with.
I would have prefered to have done nothing (not create any ordinance). But we'll see what comes back to council in a month or so after town staff and beekeeping professionals put their heads together.
Things could be worse. Cary, like many cities and states across America, could be facing multi-million dollar budget deficits, rampant unemployment, increased crime and corruption and a host of other serious problems.
I'll take chickens and bees over that any day.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Spring Chickens
Call me a flip-flopper if you want, but I have changed my mind regarding chickens in Cary.
It has nothing to do with “sustainability” or many of the “green” arguments chicken proponents point to – it has everything to do with freedom.
As a Cary councilman and active member of a number of business and community associations I have worked hard to reduce or eliminate overburdensome and unfair government regulations. I am sick of government (especially the idiots in Washington) poking their noses into every facet of our lives. My position on chickens was in conflict with this.
People should have the right to do as they wish as long as their decisions do not negatively impact the health and well-being of others. Just because I do not like something doesn’t give me the right to keep you from doing it.
So we are clear - I do not want chickens. I really hope my neighbors do not get chickens. But if they do, who in the hell am I to say “no”? Just make sure you keep those things closer to your house than mine, and if your chicken flies into my yard and my dog eats your chicken, that’s on you.
Mayor Pro-Tem Gale Adcock and I have placed the following request on council’s February 9, 2012 meeting agenda:
Council initiated request to amend Cary’s ordinance to allow for the keeping of backyard hens.
Mayor Pro Tem Adcock and I are requesting council consideration of a request to direct staff to amend town code to allow for the keeping of backyard hens with the following conditions:
• This amendment applies to single family detached homes only
• No Roosters
• No backyard slaughter
• Chickens may be kept for personal use only – no raising chickens for re-sale
• A maximum of eight (8) chickens allowed per property
• Recommend an annual license fee of $10.00 total (not per chicken)
• No free range. Chickens are to remain in the chicken coup, run or fenced in yard when unsupervised. May be allowed in front yard with supervision.
• Delay the implementation of the proposed ordinance amendment for 3 months to allow HOA’s the opportunity to address this issue if they so desire.
• Chicken Coup: Chickens must be provided a covered, predator resistant housing structure that is designed in such a way that allows for ventilation, ease of cleaning and provides a minimum of two square feet per chicken. The coup should be held to standards similar to what we require for storage sheds and give the appearance of professional design and construction
• Apply appropriate set-back requirements. Understanding that every lot is different, we are looking for staff guidance on how to best protect neighbors by ensuring that the chicken coup is located closer to the chicken owner’s home than their neighbor’s.
• Allows for folks to compost hen’s fecal matter – current ordinance prohibits composting fecal matter of “household pets”. Clarify chicken/hens NOT a household pet if necessary.
“Assuming” that those council members who supported allowing chickens in Cary the last time this was discussed still do, this initiative will pass.
There is no need for more information – this issue has been studied to death. I know more about chickens than I ever cared to. Let’s just get this done and behind us. We have way more important things to focus on.
So like I said, call me a flip-flopper. I don't care. I can admit when I am wrong. What's your excuse? ;-)
Now all this talk of chickens has made me hungry. KFC anyone?
It has nothing to do with “sustainability” or many of the “green” arguments chicken proponents point to – it has everything to do with freedom.
As a Cary councilman and active member of a number of business and community associations I have worked hard to reduce or eliminate overburdensome and unfair government regulations. I am sick of government (especially the idiots in Washington) poking their noses into every facet of our lives. My position on chickens was in conflict with this.
People should have the right to do as they wish as long as their decisions do not negatively impact the health and well-being of others. Just because I do not like something doesn’t give me the right to keep you from doing it.
So we are clear - I do not want chickens. I really hope my neighbors do not get chickens. But if they do, who in the hell am I to say “no”? Just make sure you keep those things closer to your house than mine, and if your chicken flies into my yard and my dog eats your chicken, that’s on you.
Mayor Pro-Tem Gale Adcock and I have placed the following request on council’s February 9, 2012 meeting agenda:
Council initiated request to amend Cary’s ordinance to allow for the keeping of backyard hens.
Mayor Pro Tem Adcock and I are requesting council consideration of a request to direct staff to amend town code to allow for the keeping of backyard hens with the following conditions:
• This amendment applies to single family detached homes only
• No Roosters
• No backyard slaughter
• Chickens may be kept for personal use only – no raising chickens for re-sale
• A maximum of eight (8) chickens allowed per property
• Recommend an annual license fee of $10.00 total (not per chicken)
• No free range. Chickens are to remain in the chicken coup, run or fenced in yard when unsupervised. May be allowed in front yard with supervision.
• Delay the implementation of the proposed ordinance amendment for 3 months to allow HOA’s the opportunity to address this issue if they so desire.
• Chicken Coup: Chickens must be provided a covered, predator resistant housing structure that is designed in such a way that allows for ventilation, ease of cleaning and provides a minimum of two square feet per chicken. The coup should be held to standards similar to what we require for storage sheds and give the appearance of professional design and construction
• Apply appropriate set-back requirements. Understanding that every lot is different, we are looking for staff guidance on how to best protect neighbors by ensuring that the chicken coup is located closer to the chicken owner’s home than their neighbor’s.
• Allows for folks to compost hen’s fecal matter – current ordinance prohibits composting fecal matter of “household pets”. Clarify chicken/hens NOT a household pet if necessary.
“Assuming” that those council members who supported allowing chickens in Cary the last time this was discussed still do, this initiative will pass.
There is no need for more information – this issue has been studied to death. I know more about chickens than I ever cared to. Let’s just get this done and behind us. We have way more important things to focus on.
So like I said, call me a flip-flopper. I don't care. I can admit when I am wrong. What's your excuse? ;-)
Now all this talk of chickens has made me hungry. KFC anyone?
Monday, January 16, 2012
Neon
The council has received about a dozen or so emails in opposition to our consideration of a neon theater marquee sign on the soon to be renovated downtown Cary theater.
As much as I would like to take credit for our initiating specific amendments to our town's sign code to allow for high intensity/neon lighting downtown, I cannot.
This particular recommendation comes from Cary's professional planning staff who through years of successful experience working to revitalize downtowns in cities like Boulder, Colorado and Scottsdale, Arizona, along with the careful study of other communities, believes that neon/high intensity lighting when done in a thoughtful and tasteful manner can help Cary's revitalization efforts. I couldn't agree more.
Here are a couple examples of theater marquee signs. Note: these did not come from staff – I snagged them off the internet – but they are representative of what we may be asked to consider, and they reflect MY vision for our downtown theater marquee. The actual theater marquee (to date the council has only seen a concept image) will be designed by a collaboration of artists and the community.
If either of these two images is offensive to you, then you can stop reading now and we can simply agree to disagree. If not then read on!
Our vision for downtown is a destination place - a vibrant community where folks want to live, do business, and play. Nobody comes downtown for bland and beige; they are looking for something unique; a place that is alive and bustling with activity. A theater with a bold marquee sign will help in this regard.
We all want more retail and dining establishments downtown, but these will not come if they have no customers. Most of the restaurants and retail stores that have located in downtown in recent years are either struggling to stay afloat, or have packed up and left altogether. Many point to the lack of traffic – especially during evening hours – as their primary concern.
We have every intention of protecting the visual landscape in Cary, but we must also recognize that successful downtowns are lit up and alive at night. We will take great care to ensure that whatever is constructed is of the highest quality possible and tasteful in design.
I must say that I have been quite surprised at some folk’s reaction to our consideration of neon lighting on the theater marquee sign. Some of the same people who supported the bold and bright "art" on the Cary Arts Center fly-tower; and who also support the installation of “public art” throughout downtown are some of the same opponents of neon. Heck, even one of the sculptures in front of the Cary Arts Center head lights up at night. This makes no sense to me. A giant pink pig in Fidelity Bank’s courtyard or a 15 foot tall mummy is ok, but a neon marquee sign isn’t. I don’t get it.
If we are serious about our downtown revitalization efforts we have to think outside the box. The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.
In regards to criticism that Cary is “changing the rules for government only”, that is not entirely true. “IF” Cary decides to amend our town’s sign code to allow for neon or other high intensity lighting on theaters, then any theater or similar use (skating rink, bowling alley)could do the same. It is also my understanding that the Crossroads movie theater was allowed to have a bold marquee sign but chose not to – I have not however confirmed that.
I have historically supported relaxing Cary’s sign rules to better allow businesses the opportunity to advertise. I initiated Cary’s Sign Ordinance Review Task Force which recommended a host of changes to Cary’s sign code, and as my council colleagues will tell you, I have always supported the allowance of tastefully done and architecturally appealing neon lighting on any business in Cary. The council majority however, hasn’t been as receptive – and there is no guarantee the majority will support staff’s recommendation this time either. They just haven’t said, “no” yet. I hope they don’t. This is an opportunity to do something bold that will have a positive and lasting impact downtown.
I hope we don’t blow it.
As much as I would like to take credit for our initiating specific amendments to our town's sign code to allow for high intensity/neon lighting downtown, I cannot.
This particular recommendation comes from Cary's professional planning staff who through years of successful experience working to revitalize downtowns in cities like Boulder, Colorado and Scottsdale, Arizona, along with the careful study of other communities, believes that neon/high intensity lighting when done in a thoughtful and tasteful manner can help Cary's revitalization efforts. I couldn't agree more.
Here are a couple examples of theater marquee signs. Note: these did not come from staff – I snagged them off the internet – but they are representative of what we may be asked to consider, and they reflect MY vision for our downtown theater marquee. The actual theater marquee (to date the council has only seen a concept image) will be designed by a collaboration of artists and the community.
If either of these two images is offensive to you, then you can stop reading now and we can simply agree to disagree. If not then read on!
Our vision for downtown is a destination place - a vibrant community where folks want to live, do business, and play. Nobody comes downtown for bland and beige; they are looking for something unique; a place that is alive and bustling with activity. A theater with a bold marquee sign will help in this regard.
We all want more retail and dining establishments downtown, but these will not come if they have no customers. Most of the restaurants and retail stores that have located in downtown in recent years are either struggling to stay afloat, or have packed up and left altogether. Many point to the lack of traffic – especially during evening hours – as their primary concern.
We have every intention of protecting the visual landscape in Cary, but we must also recognize that successful downtowns are lit up and alive at night. We will take great care to ensure that whatever is constructed is of the highest quality possible and tasteful in design.
I must say that I have been quite surprised at some folk’s reaction to our consideration of neon lighting on the theater marquee sign. Some of the same people who supported the bold and bright "art" on the Cary Arts Center fly-tower; and who also support the installation of “public art” throughout downtown are some of the same opponents of neon. Heck, even one of the sculptures in front of the Cary Arts Center head lights up at night. This makes no sense to me. A giant pink pig in Fidelity Bank’s courtyard or a 15 foot tall mummy is ok, but a neon marquee sign isn’t. I don’t get it.
If we are serious about our downtown revitalization efforts we have to think outside the box. The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.
In regards to criticism that Cary is “changing the rules for government only”, that is not entirely true. “IF” Cary decides to amend our town’s sign code to allow for neon or other high intensity lighting on theaters, then any theater or similar use (skating rink, bowling alley)could do the same. It is also my understanding that the Crossroads movie theater was allowed to have a bold marquee sign but chose not to – I have not however confirmed that.
I have historically supported relaxing Cary’s sign rules to better allow businesses the opportunity to advertise. I initiated Cary’s Sign Ordinance Review Task Force which recommended a host of changes to Cary’s sign code, and as my council colleagues will tell you, I have always supported the allowance of tastefully done and architecturally appealing neon lighting on any business in Cary. The council majority however, hasn’t been as receptive – and there is no guarantee the majority will support staff’s recommendation this time either. They just haven’t said, “no” yet. I hope they don’t. This is an opportunity to do something bold that will have a positive and lasting impact downtown.
I hope we don’t blow it.
Retreat! 2012
Thursday afternoon I headed to Wilmington for our annual council/staff retreat. While we have typically stayed in town for our retreats to better encourage citizen attendance and reduce costs, the conveniences of being in town proved too much of a distraction for some. Two years ago one council member actually left our retreat so they could attend another meeting for three hours! We decided the best way to eliminate the distractions was to head out of town.
Council members met Thursday evening for dinner and social. This was a great opportunity to get to know each other better outside of town hall – especially newly elected council member Lori Bush. We had a great time and learned a few things about each other we didn’t already know. Council member Julie Robison did not attend our retreat.
The retreat began Friday morning with a session on how to be an effective council. We mainly discussed how council members expect to work with one another; respect differing viewpoints, agree to disagree, stuff like that; stuff we already know and do. We did however learn a few things about each other that we didn’t already know. For instance, did you know we have a “Doobie” and a “Wino” on the council??? ;-)
Next was a session on the Land Use Plan update. Cary will be revisiting our land use plan and our staff was looking for direction on how the council wishes to proceed. We broke out into smaller groups and brainstormed key points we want the new plan to address. Some of the more popular suggestions included:
• Economically sustainable
• Promotes lower density housing
• Simple and easy to understand
• Better reflects changing demographics (our growing senior population for example)
• Better transitions between uses
• Infill development
• Increased citizen input
There will be a number of community meetings and worksessions as this goes through the process. I encourage you to get involved and offer your vision for the future of Cary. This is your town after all.
The next session dealt with intergovernmental effectiveness; how to better work with other local, state and federal elected officials. So much of what Cary can or can’t do is determined by others – especially our state and federal officials and we need to do a better job of communicating to them issues impacting our community. We heard from Jack Cozort, Cary’s state legislative consultant, Paul Meyer from the North Carolina League of Municipalities, and Roger Gwinn and Leslie Mozingo from the Ferguson Group, our Federal legislative consultants. “Consultant” in this case really means lobbyist. Yes, Cary has lobbyists and while they do a great job for us, there is no substitute for one on one elected official to elected official communication.
We will work to better communicate with our state and federal officials and staff will do a better job of keeping us informed of issues that require our involvement.
Afterwards we broke for dinner and social, and yes we all paid for our own bar tabs. ;-)
Saturday morning began with a session on customer service. While I think most everyone would agree that Cary provides exceptional customer service, we can always do better. We discussed a number of areas for improvement, and ways in which to accomplish that. For years Cary has had a reputation as a difficult place to do business, and while we have worked very hard to make Cary a more business friendly community, we still periodically hear complaints from business owners about issues with permitting and inspections. We will continue to look for ways in which we can better serve Cary customers.
Next we discussed general capital projects and funding. The economic recession has significantly impacted Cary’s revenues, and while the council and staff have done a good job trimming the fat from our budgets and taking on no new debt, the “needs” list continues to grow. The bottom line is that there are more future needs and capital projects (fire stations in West Cary, parks and community centers, and transportation projects) than there is funding available.
We discussed a number of options:
• Continue to delay projects and operate as we have been for the last three years
• Utilize roughly $60 million of unappropriated bonding authority (authorized by voters in 2003)
• Begin preparations for a new 2012 bond
The council chose to offer a new community bond to the voters this fall. The thinking was that economic times have changed tremendously since 2003, and that the voters should again decided if Cary is to take on any new debt. One thing citizens should be aware of is that “IF” voters approve the bond, they will also be voting for a tax increase.
Previous bonds were offered to citizens with the promise of no tax increase. This was possible due to Cary’s high growth rate; new revenues were able to cover the debt. That is no longer the case.
I cannot say at this time whether I support a new bond or not until see I see the list of capital projects proposed, how much they will cost and the impact on our tax rate. We will have a number of worksessions and community meetings as this moves through the process. I encourage all of you to get involved and offer your input.
Finally was our session on boards and commissions. Some town boards work well while others have struggled. Some have a consistent work load, mission and purpose while others have either completed their mission or duplicate existing efforts of other boards or staff. The council decided to eliminate the following boards and commissions:
Economic Development Commission (EDC): This board has completed it’s mission. They were created prior to the current Economic Development partnership with the Chamber of Commerce. Cary also has an Economic Development Governing Board that is comprised of council members, key staff and Chamber representatives. Current EDC board members have become frustrated that there is nothing for them to do. They are correct. We decided instead to take a few members from the EDC and add them to the Economic Development Governing Board.
Citizen’s Issue Review Commission (CIRC): This board was formed a couple of years ago with the intent of providing citizens an avenue to bring community issues to council. While the creation of CIRC was well intentioned, it has not worked out as we had hoped. This is mainly because there is a much easier way to get an item on council’s agenda – the pink slip process. It only takes two council members (a sponsor and co-sponsor) to get any item on the next council agenda. Why go through a long and bureaucratic process when all you need is the support of two council members and you’re on our agenda? Existing CIRC members also recognized this and stated that they do not find their board effective, nor do they find that it serves a purpose.
We will instead tap into these board members upon occasion when a specific issue arises that requires a citizen task force to better help us.
Town Center Review Commission (TCRC): The Town Center Review Commission serves as an advisory board to the Town Council for the review of subdivision plans, site plans, and variances within the Town Center Zoning District. In a nutshell, it serves as the Planning and Zoning Board for downtown. This board was created prior to the creation of Cary’s Downtown Development Department and the hiring of Downtown Development Director, Ed Gawf.
Existing board members expressed frustrations that their work duplicates that which town staff is already doing, there isn’t enough happening downtown to justify their existence and that their current mission is inadequate. I agree.
This board, like CIRC, was formed with good intentions. However, the reality is that they don’t do anything our Planning and Zoning Board couldn’t do and even adds another layer of government bureaucracy to the process.
We will call upon the existing board members to assist us with Cary’s land use plan rewrite and serve on future citizen task forces.
After a quick review of the retreat topics and action items we were out of there and headed back to Cary. I took Lisa and a few of the kids out to Chili’s…where we found that Mayor Wino…I mean Weinbrecht ;-) had the same idea. Too funny….
That’s the council retreat in blog form. Thanks for reading!
Council members met Thursday evening for dinner and social. This was a great opportunity to get to know each other better outside of town hall – especially newly elected council member Lori Bush. We had a great time and learned a few things about each other we didn’t already know. Council member Julie Robison did not attend our retreat.
The retreat began Friday morning with a session on how to be an effective council. We mainly discussed how council members expect to work with one another; respect differing viewpoints, agree to disagree, stuff like that; stuff we already know and do. We did however learn a few things about each other that we didn’t already know. For instance, did you know we have a “Doobie” and a “Wino” on the council??? ;-)
Next was a session on the Land Use Plan update. Cary will be revisiting our land use plan and our staff was looking for direction on how the council wishes to proceed. We broke out into smaller groups and brainstormed key points we want the new plan to address. Some of the more popular suggestions included:
• Economically sustainable
• Promotes lower density housing
• Simple and easy to understand
• Better reflects changing demographics (our growing senior population for example)
• Better transitions between uses
• Infill development
• Increased citizen input
There will be a number of community meetings and worksessions as this goes through the process. I encourage you to get involved and offer your vision for the future of Cary. This is your town after all.
The next session dealt with intergovernmental effectiveness; how to better work with other local, state and federal elected officials. So much of what Cary can or can’t do is determined by others – especially our state and federal officials and we need to do a better job of communicating to them issues impacting our community. We heard from Jack Cozort, Cary’s state legislative consultant, Paul Meyer from the North Carolina League of Municipalities, and Roger Gwinn and Leslie Mozingo from the Ferguson Group, our Federal legislative consultants. “Consultant” in this case really means lobbyist. Yes, Cary has lobbyists and while they do a great job for us, there is no substitute for one on one elected official to elected official communication.
We will work to better communicate with our state and federal officials and staff will do a better job of keeping us informed of issues that require our involvement.
Afterwards we broke for dinner and social, and yes we all paid for our own bar tabs. ;-)
Saturday morning began with a session on customer service. While I think most everyone would agree that Cary provides exceptional customer service, we can always do better. We discussed a number of areas for improvement, and ways in which to accomplish that. For years Cary has had a reputation as a difficult place to do business, and while we have worked very hard to make Cary a more business friendly community, we still periodically hear complaints from business owners about issues with permitting and inspections. We will continue to look for ways in which we can better serve Cary customers.
Next we discussed general capital projects and funding. The economic recession has significantly impacted Cary’s revenues, and while the council and staff have done a good job trimming the fat from our budgets and taking on no new debt, the “needs” list continues to grow. The bottom line is that there are more future needs and capital projects (fire stations in West Cary, parks and community centers, and transportation projects) than there is funding available.
We discussed a number of options:
• Continue to delay projects and operate as we have been for the last three years
• Utilize roughly $60 million of unappropriated bonding authority (authorized by voters in 2003)
• Begin preparations for a new 2012 bond
The council chose to offer a new community bond to the voters this fall. The thinking was that economic times have changed tremendously since 2003, and that the voters should again decided if Cary is to take on any new debt. One thing citizens should be aware of is that “IF” voters approve the bond, they will also be voting for a tax increase.
Previous bonds were offered to citizens with the promise of no tax increase. This was possible due to Cary’s high growth rate; new revenues were able to cover the debt. That is no longer the case.
I cannot say at this time whether I support a new bond or not until see I see the list of capital projects proposed, how much they will cost and the impact on our tax rate. We will have a number of worksessions and community meetings as this moves through the process. I encourage all of you to get involved and offer your input.
Finally was our session on boards and commissions. Some town boards work well while others have struggled. Some have a consistent work load, mission and purpose while others have either completed their mission or duplicate existing efforts of other boards or staff. The council decided to eliminate the following boards and commissions:
Economic Development Commission (EDC): This board has completed it’s mission. They were created prior to the current Economic Development partnership with the Chamber of Commerce. Cary also has an Economic Development Governing Board that is comprised of council members, key staff and Chamber representatives. Current EDC board members have become frustrated that there is nothing for them to do. They are correct. We decided instead to take a few members from the EDC and add them to the Economic Development Governing Board.
Citizen’s Issue Review Commission (CIRC): This board was formed a couple of years ago with the intent of providing citizens an avenue to bring community issues to council. While the creation of CIRC was well intentioned, it has not worked out as we had hoped. This is mainly because there is a much easier way to get an item on council’s agenda – the pink slip process. It only takes two council members (a sponsor and co-sponsor) to get any item on the next council agenda. Why go through a long and bureaucratic process when all you need is the support of two council members and you’re on our agenda? Existing CIRC members also recognized this and stated that they do not find their board effective, nor do they find that it serves a purpose.
We will instead tap into these board members upon occasion when a specific issue arises that requires a citizen task force to better help us.
Town Center Review Commission (TCRC): The Town Center Review Commission serves as an advisory board to the Town Council for the review of subdivision plans, site plans, and variances within the Town Center Zoning District. In a nutshell, it serves as the Planning and Zoning Board for downtown. This board was created prior to the creation of Cary’s Downtown Development Department and the hiring of Downtown Development Director, Ed Gawf.
Existing board members expressed frustrations that their work duplicates that which town staff is already doing, there isn’t enough happening downtown to justify their existence and that their current mission is inadequate. I agree.
This board, like CIRC, was formed with good intentions. However, the reality is that they don’t do anything our Planning and Zoning Board couldn’t do and even adds another layer of government bureaucracy to the process.
We will call upon the existing board members to assist us with Cary’s land use plan rewrite and serve on future citizen task forces.
After a quick review of the retreat topics and action items we were out of there and headed back to Cary. I took Lisa and a few of the kids out to Chili’s…where we found that Mayor Wino…I mean Weinbrecht ;-) had the same idea. Too funny….
That’s the council retreat in blog form. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
2011 - December
With the holidays, the last couple of weeks have been relatively light in regards to council responsibilities while heavy on the fun and festivities! The only downside is that with so many holiday events, you just can’t make them all. Highlights for me were the Heart of Cary Association’s Ole Time Winter Festival, the town’s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and the Cary Jaycees Christmas Parade. Congratulations and Thank You to all the volunteers and town employees who worked so hard to make all of these events a huge success! And thanks to the man upstairs for the great weather!
And while we’ve had a lot of fun, we did have some work to do.
Notable items from our December council meeting included the swearing in ceremonies for newly elected council members, a number of public hearings and annexations, specific council initiated requests and ordinance amendments pertaining to telecommunications towers.
The meeting began with the swearing in ceremonies for Mayor Weinbrecht and Council Members Adcock, Bush and I. After we were sworn into office, the first order of business was to elect a Mayor Pro-Tem. Congratulations to Cary’s new Mayor Pro-Tem Gale Adcock! I am confident she will be a great ambassador and represent Cary's interests well.
Following the election of Mayor Pro-Tem, Mayor Weinbrecht announced the new committee assignments for council members. The list is long and boring so I will let the Mayor post it on his blog. ;-) I will say that I (finally) get to Chair the Planning and Development Committee and I remain the liaison for the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources (PRCR) advisory board and the Town Center Review Commission (TCRC).
Notable public hearings included:
• C-Tran fare increases and changes. Changes include the elimination of free transfers – this is consistent with both CAT and DATA, modifying the current bus pass structure, and allows for seniors and children to now ride fixed route for free, but remember, ID is required (just not to vote). You can view a complete list of changes here. The council unanimously approved the amendments.
• Land Development Ordinance Amendments regarding telecommunications towers (cell towers). Proposed amendments provide incentives to telecommunications providers to utilize stealth technology – hopefully resulting in fewer ugly cell towers throughout Cary. The incentive is basically an administrative review and approval process vs. the current costly, time consuming council approval process. If a proposed cell tower is NOT of stealth design, it must still come through the council…and considering previous council decisions…well…good luck with that. The proposed amendments now go to our Planning and Zoning Board for review.
• Site Plan for the old Austin Foods site in Downtown (at the E. Durham Road/E. Chatham Street Intersection) Basically the applicant wants to take an old, ugly, environmentally contaminated site and make improvements that will not only allow for re-use of the existing structures and improve aesthetics downtown, but also better protects our environment and reduce stormwater runoff. The council unanimously approved the request.
Council initiated requests included:
• A request from Councilmember Adcock and Mayor Weinbrecht to direct staff to investigate and report back to council the pros and cons of amending our ordinances to restrict or eliminate the tethering of dogs in Cary. This request passed unanimously.
• A request from Mayor Weinbrecht and I to direct staff to investigate the pros and cons of implementing a trap, neuter and release (TNR) program in Cary to reduce the number of feral cats in Cary. This request also passed unanimously.
• A request from Council member Bush and Mayor Weinbrecht to direct staff to investigate suggested actions the town may take in regards to hydraulic fracturing (AKA fracking) in town limits or Cary’s extra territorial jurisdiction (ETJ). This request passed 5-2. Both I and Councilman Smith voted “no”.
I opposed the request because:
• Fracking is currently illegal in NC – what problem are we trying to solve?
• I would prefer to work on real issues facing Cary today and not waste time and resources making a political statement.
• Would a ban on fracking in Cary – the intent of this request – even address our concerns?
From the discussion at our meeting it is obvious that no one has a clear understanding of what fracking really is, or what the impacts to our community may or may not be; and given the amount of media sensationalism and special interest spin on both sides of this topic, I don’t know that we could ever get the truth.
But the reality is that even if state law is changed to allow fracking, it’s probably not going to occur in Cary (zoning, property values etc..), so trying to ban it really doesn’t do anything to address any concerns we might have. If anything we should be more concerned with what might occur in neighboring jurisdictions – especially those near Jordan Lake – our water source.
If the state legislature is going to allow fracking in NC, then it makes more sense that we work with our law makers to ensure that whatever legislation is passed provides for the highest environmental protections, best management practices and transparency as possible so that regardless of where any drilling/fracking occurs, all of NC is protected.
We cannot ignore the potential economic impact of drilling in North Carolina, nor can we ignore the potential environmental impacts. Fracking has worked well for many communities across America while others have concerns. Let’s learn from the success and failure of others and see if we can find something that works for us.
Following our council meeting we held a closed session to discuss a number of legal matters, none of which I can tell you about. Confidential, sorry.
Our December Planning and Development Committee meeting lasted a whopping three minutes. We had only one agenda item for discussion that was a no-brainer. I also met with Town Manager, Ben Shivar to discuss a few items.
That’s about it for this post. I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season and have a Happy and Safe New Year!
And while we’ve had a lot of fun, we did have some work to do.
Notable items from our December council meeting included the swearing in ceremonies for newly elected council members, a number of public hearings and annexations, specific council initiated requests and ordinance amendments pertaining to telecommunications towers.
The meeting began with the swearing in ceremonies for Mayor Weinbrecht and Council Members Adcock, Bush and I. After we were sworn into office, the first order of business was to elect a Mayor Pro-Tem. Congratulations to Cary’s new Mayor Pro-Tem Gale Adcock! I am confident she will be a great ambassador and represent Cary's interests well.
Following the election of Mayor Pro-Tem, Mayor Weinbrecht announced the new committee assignments for council members. The list is long and boring so I will let the Mayor post it on his blog. ;-) I will say that I (finally) get to Chair the Planning and Development Committee and I remain the liaison for the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources (PRCR) advisory board and the Town Center Review Commission (TCRC).
Notable public hearings included:
• C-Tran fare increases and changes. Changes include the elimination of free transfers – this is consistent with both CAT and DATA, modifying the current bus pass structure, and allows for seniors and children to now ride fixed route for free, but remember, ID is required (just not to vote). You can view a complete list of changes here. The council unanimously approved the amendments.
• Land Development Ordinance Amendments regarding telecommunications towers (cell towers). Proposed amendments provide incentives to telecommunications providers to utilize stealth technology – hopefully resulting in fewer ugly cell towers throughout Cary. The incentive is basically an administrative review and approval process vs. the current costly, time consuming council approval process. If a proposed cell tower is NOT of stealth design, it must still come through the council…and considering previous council decisions…well…good luck with that. The proposed amendments now go to our Planning and Zoning Board for review.
• Site Plan for the old Austin Foods site in Downtown (at the E. Durham Road/E. Chatham Street Intersection) Basically the applicant wants to take an old, ugly, environmentally contaminated site and make improvements that will not only allow for re-use of the existing structures and improve aesthetics downtown, but also better protects our environment and reduce stormwater runoff. The council unanimously approved the request.
Council initiated requests included:
• A request from Councilmember Adcock and Mayor Weinbrecht to direct staff to investigate and report back to council the pros and cons of amending our ordinances to restrict or eliminate the tethering of dogs in Cary. This request passed unanimously.
• A request from Mayor Weinbrecht and I to direct staff to investigate the pros and cons of implementing a trap, neuter and release (TNR) program in Cary to reduce the number of feral cats in Cary. This request also passed unanimously.
• A request from Council member Bush and Mayor Weinbrecht to direct staff to investigate suggested actions the town may take in regards to hydraulic fracturing (AKA fracking) in town limits or Cary’s extra territorial jurisdiction (ETJ). This request passed 5-2. Both I and Councilman Smith voted “no”.
I opposed the request because:
• Fracking is currently illegal in NC – what problem are we trying to solve?
• I would prefer to work on real issues facing Cary today and not waste time and resources making a political statement.
• Would a ban on fracking in Cary – the intent of this request – even address our concerns?
From the discussion at our meeting it is obvious that no one has a clear understanding of what fracking really is, or what the impacts to our community may or may not be; and given the amount of media sensationalism and special interest spin on both sides of this topic, I don’t know that we could ever get the truth.
But the reality is that even if state law is changed to allow fracking, it’s probably not going to occur in Cary (zoning, property values etc..), so trying to ban it really doesn’t do anything to address any concerns we might have. If anything we should be more concerned with what might occur in neighboring jurisdictions – especially those near Jordan Lake – our water source.
If the state legislature is going to allow fracking in NC, then it makes more sense that we work with our law makers to ensure that whatever legislation is passed provides for the highest environmental protections, best management practices and transparency as possible so that regardless of where any drilling/fracking occurs, all of NC is protected.
We cannot ignore the potential economic impact of drilling in North Carolina, nor can we ignore the potential environmental impacts. Fracking has worked well for many communities across America while others have concerns. Let’s learn from the success and failure of others and see if we can find something that works for us.
Following our council meeting we held a closed session to discuss a number of legal matters, none of which I can tell you about. Confidential, sorry.
Our December Planning and Development Committee meeting lasted a whopping three minutes. We had only one agenda item for discussion that was a no-brainer. I also met with Town Manager, Ben Shivar to discuss a few items.
That’s about it for this post. I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season and have a Happy and Safe New Year!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Week(s) in Review - 11/14/2011 - 11/25/2011
Sorry I haven’t posted in a few weeks – the Thanksgiving Holiday, family obligations, work and the hot-rod (not necessarily in that order ;-) have taken priority over blogging. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Highlights from the last couple of weeks include:
A number of area elected officials and I attended a town hall session in Morrisville hosted by NC Speaker of the House, Thom Tillis. We discussed a number of issues including transportation funding options, healthcare costs and increasing competition in the marketplace, reducing unreasonable regulations on business and other accomplishments from this year’s legislative session.
Afterwards I high-tailed it over to Cary Town Hall to tape the December edition of CaryMatters with Mayor Weinbrecht. This went well considering that both the Mayor and I had been recuperating from bad colds and our voices weren’t 100%. Topics included cell phone towers, golf carts on public roads and leaf collection. Check it out on Cary TV channel 11 starting December 1st.
Following the taping session the Mayor and I met with a number of folks interested in implementing a trap, neuter and release (TNR) ordinance for feral cats in Cary. The gist of what they are seeking is to require that Cary Animal Control Officers – when responding to a cat complaint – offer the citizen 2 options. 1) the officer can trap the cat and take it to the shelter where it will most likely not be adopted and killed (BAD), or 2) they can call a number of area providers that will trap the cat, have it neutered and give it all of its shots and return it to where it was captured – at no cost to the citizen (GOOD). Needless to say their request makes a lot of sense and the Mayor and I have included this item for discussion on our December meeting agenda.
Prior to our November 17 council meeting we hosted a reception for this year’s Hometown Spirit Award nominees. This was a lot of fun and I was blown away listening to each nominee’s accomplishments and records of community activism. All four finalists were truly deserving of being named this year’s award winner – but in the end their can only be one. Congratulations to Cary’s 2011 Hometown Spirit Award Winner, Keith Bliss.
Council meeting highlights included recognition of Ms. Jessica Elliott of Gladys, Virginia for her heroic efforts to provide emergency medical assistance to Cary Officer Chad Penland after his motorcycle accident on July 15, 2011 (not a dry eye in the room); 2 quasi-judicial public hearings for a storage unit and auto care facility; and a public hearing on proposed land development ordinance (LDO) amendments.
Notable LDO amendments proposed include the reduction or elimination of parking requirements, streetscape and road improvements and sign regulations in downtown. Reducing these over-burdensome regulations will further help incent new businesses looking to locate downtown, and allow existing businesses the ability to further grow their business without penalty. The amendments now go to the Planning and Zoning Board for review before coming back to council for decision.
Council also held a worksession on November 15 to discuss Cary’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) and Transportation Development Fee (TDF) requirements and to receive an update on downtown initiatives.
The APF/TDF part of the worksession was painful to say the least. The council had expressed concerns that our ordinance was inequitable (it sometimes punished the last guy in because previous developers used up all the allowable vehicle trips), created gaps in our road network (wide road/skinny road) and that it is over-complicated (it is). About a year ago we directed staff to investigate and report back to council with options on how we can modify our APF and TDF ordinances to make them more equitable and easy to understand (at least that’s how I remember it). That’s not what we got.
What we got was a liberal mass-transit loving consultant from Maryland whose top suggestions included raising fees on developers and existing citizens, and even mobility fees/taxes. He offered very little – if anything – about how to address our concerns of complexity and inequity, and seemed more interested on increasing revenues – especially to pay for mass transit, which the council NEVER even mentioned as a reason to review our ordinance in the first place. We also learned that the citizen input part of this process only included input from 3 citizens. This is unacceptable (note – the next morning I sent a list of over 30 citizens for staff to contact for another citizen input meeting. Other councilors did the same)
I want a simple and fair system that folks can understand and addresses our concerns; one that says, “If you build X, you must also build or fund Y to offset your impact on Cary’s road network”. That’s it.
Thankfully the downtown portion of the worksession was more positive. The council discussed a number of options for the development of the new Downtown Cary Theater before unanimously deciding to construct a three story addition to the theater to provide additional classroom, storage and meeting space as well as leasable business/office space. The town will also be making water/sewer and stormwater infrastructure improvements in the area along with streetscape enhancements. Oh – and those downtown LDO amendments I spoke about earlier? Once approved, the theater can utilize neon lighting both in the architecture and marquis sign! Neon in Cary?!?! Woo Hoo!
We received even more good news this past week with the announcement that the town has closed on a few more properties in downtown – including the building adjacent to the downtown theater (used to be the old Mitchell’s Pharmacy and most recently the India Bazaar) and a large L shaped property that fronts both Academy and Chatham St (formerly owned by the Suggs family). The old pharmacy will be updated and leased/sold to a private retailer, and we are pursuing a public/private redevelopment opportunity with the other. Great things are happening in downtown Cary!
And last but certainly not least, the hot-rod should be back from the body shop soon. ;-)
Well that’s it for now – as always, thanks for reading!
Highlights from the last couple of weeks include:
A number of area elected officials and I attended a town hall session in Morrisville hosted by NC Speaker of the House, Thom Tillis. We discussed a number of issues including transportation funding options, healthcare costs and increasing competition in the marketplace, reducing unreasonable regulations on business and other accomplishments from this year’s legislative session.
Afterwards I high-tailed it over to Cary Town Hall to tape the December edition of CaryMatters with Mayor Weinbrecht. This went well considering that both the Mayor and I had been recuperating from bad colds and our voices weren’t 100%. Topics included cell phone towers, golf carts on public roads and leaf collection. Check it out on Cary TV channel 11 starting December 1st.
Following the taping session the Mayor and I met with a number of folks interested in implementing a trap, neuter and release (TNR) ordinance for feral cats in Cary. The gist of what they are seeking is to require that Cary Animal Control Officers – when responding to a cat complaint – offer the citizen 2 options. 1) the officer can trap the cat and take it to the shelter where it will most likely not be adopted and killed (BAD), or 2) they can call a number of area providers that will trap the cat, have it neutered and give it all of its shots and return it to where it was captured – at no cost to the citizen (GOOD). Needless to say their request makes a lot of sense and the Mayor and I have included this item for discussion on our December meeting agenda.
Prior to our November 17 council meeting we hosted a reception for this year’s Hometown Spirit Award nominees. This was a lot of fun and I was blown away listening to each nominee’s accomplishments and records of community activism. All four finalists were truly deserving of being named this year’s award winner – but in the end their can only be one. Congratulations to Cary’s 2011 Hometown Spirit Award Winner, Keith Bliss.
Council meeting highlights included recognition of Ms. Jessica Elliott of Gladys, Virginia for her heroic efforts to provide emergency medical assistance to Cary Officer Chad Penland after his motorcycle accident on July 15, 2011 (not a dry eye in the room); 2 quasi-judicial public hearings for a storage unit and auto care facility; and a public hearing on proposed land development ordinance (LDO) amendments.
Notable LDO amendments proposed include the reduction or elimination of parking requirements, streetscape and road improvements and sign regulations in downtown. Reducing these over-burdensome regulations will further help incent new businesses looking to locate downtown, and allow existing businesses the ability to further grow their business without penalty. The amendments now go to the Planning and Zoning Board for review before coming back to council for decision.
Council also held a worksession on November 15 to discuss Cary’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) and Transportation Development Fee (TDF) requirements and to receive an update on downtown initiatives.
The APF/TDF part of the worksession was painful to say the least. The council had expressed concerns that our ordinance was inequitable (it sometimes punished the last guy in because previous developers used up all the allowable vehicle trips), created gaps in our road network (wide road/skinny road) and that it is over-complicated (it is). About a year ago we directed staff to investigate and report back to council with options on how we can modify our APF and TDF ordinances to make them more equitable and easy to understand (at least that’s how I remember it). That’s not what we got.
What we got was a liberal mass-transit loving consultant from Maryland whose top suggestions included raising fees on developers and existing citizens, and even mobility fees/taxes. He offered very little – if anything – about how to address our concerns of complexity and inequity, and seemed more interested on increasing revenues – especially to pay for mass transit, which the council NEVER even mentioned as a reason to review our ordinance in the first place. We also learned that the citizen input part of this process only included input from 3 citizens. This is unacceptable (note – the next morning I sent a list of over 30 citizens for staff to contact for another citizen input meeting. Other councilors did the same)
I want a simple and fair system that folks can understand and addresses our concerns; one that says, “If you build X, you must also build or fund Y to offset your impact on Cary’s road network”. That’s it.
Thankfully the downtown portion of the worksession was more positive. The council discussed a number of options for the development of the new Downtown Cary Theater before unanimously deciding to construct a three story addition to the theater to provide additional classroom, storage and meeting space as well as leasable business/office space. The town will also be making water/sewer and stormwater infrastructure improvements in the area along with streetscape enhancements. Oh – and those downtown LDO amendments I spoke about earlier? Once approved, the theater can utilize neon lighting both in the architecture and marquis sign! Neon in Cary?!?! Woo Hoo!
We received even more good news this past week with the announcement that the town has closed on a few more properties in downtown – including the building adjacent to the downtown theater (used to be the old Mitchell’s Pharmacy and most recently the India Bazaar) and a large L shaped property that fronts both Academy and Chatham St (formerly owned by the Suggs family). The old pharmacy will be updated and leased/sold to a private retailer, and we are pursuing a public/private redevelopment opportunity with the other. Great things are happening in downtown Cary!
And last but certainly not least, the hot-rod should be back from the body shop soon. ;-)
Well that’s it for now – as always, thanks for reading!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Week in Review - 10/24/11 - 10/29/11
This past Tuesday I served as a judge for the 2011 Red Ribbon Poster Contest. This was no easy task as this year’s entries were probably some of the best I have seen in the four years I have been judging this event. The theme this year was “Peace out to Drugs”. While some posters were funny and colorful with hippies and VW buses, others were more hard hitting and spoke to the negative effects of drugs on one’s family and life. If you happen to be near town hall, stop by and check them out – good stuff.
Council held a worksession Tuesday evening to receive an update on Cary’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources master planning process and to discuss the upcoming council retreat.
The information gathering phase of the master planning process is now complete and included a very comprehensive public input process to include a mail in survey, an online survey, focus groups, community meetings and meetings between boards and commissions. These findings were presented to council for review and discussion.
While much of the presentation wasn’t anything we hadn’t already heard before, a few things did stand out to me. Past surveys had indicated a lack of cultural facilities space, but this survey didn’t. It appears that the new Cary Arts Center is filling this need as intended. Folks are also looking for more festivals and special events – especially in the downtown area.
Which leads to a meeting I had on Wednesday with staff and a few car buffs to discuss the Town of Cary’s first ever Classic/Custom Car Show!!!! That’s right folks; Cary will be hosting a car show near the end of March 2012 in downtown Cary. How cool is that??? If you know someone with a classic or custom car or motorcycle that might want to participate, send them our way. More information will be coming soon once we get farther along in the planning process.
Our council meeting on Thursday was relatively light with only one public hearing regarding a rezoning on Old Apex Road near Laura Duncan. The applicant was requesting a change from commercial to townhomes. Two citizens spoke at the hearing to voice their concerns over stormwater runoff. After a healthy discussion regarding stormwater management and development standards the council unanimously approved the request.
Town Manager, Ben Shivar also presented an operational update to include a financial report. The bottom line from the financial report is that a number of funds are doing better than budgeted, and at this time, we are projected to end FY2011 with about a $4 million surplus.
Friday evening Lisa and I attended the 53rd annual Cary Band Day reception at Cary High School. Council member Gale Adcock and former Cary Mayor Koka Booth also attended. This is always a wonderful time as decades of CHS alumni and supporters come together to celebrate and reminisce. Congratulations to all the volunteers – especially Cary Band Day Chair Sandra Williams – for all their efforts towards making Cary Band Day a huge success. If only they could control the weather…
Unfortunately this year’s Cary Band Day Parade had to be cancelled due to rain, but the Band Day Competition did go on as planned.
Well that’s about all for this week. Have a Happy Halloween!
Council held a worksession Tuesday evening to receive an update on Cary’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources master planning process and to discuss the upcoming council retreat.
The information gathering phase of the master planning process is now complete and included a very comprehensive public input process to include a mail in survey, an online survey, focus groups, community meetings and meetings between boards and commissions. These findings were presented to council for review and discussion.
While much of the presentation wasn’t anything we hadn’t already heard before, a few things did stand out to me. Past surveys had indicated a lack of cultural facilities space, but this survey didn’t. It appears that the new Cary Arts Center is filling this need as intended. Folks are also looking for more festivals and special events – especially in the downtown area.
Which leads to a meeting I had on Wednesday with staff and a few car buffs to discuss the Town of Cary’s first ever Classic/Custom Car Show!!!! That’s right folks; Cary will be hosting a car show near the end of March 2012 in downtown Cary. How cool is that??? If you know someone with a classic or custom car or motorcycle that might want to participate, send them our way. More information will be coming soon once we get farther along in the planning process.
Our council meeting on Thursday was relatively light with only one public hearing regarding a rezoning on Old Apex Road near Laura Duncan. The applicant was requesting a change from commercial to townhomes. Two citizens spoke at the hearing to voice their concerns over stormwater runoff. After a healthy discussion regarding stormwater management and development standards the council unanimously approved the request.
Town Manager, Ben Shivar also presented an operational update to include a financial report. The bottom line from the financial report is that a number of funds are doing better than budgeted, and at this time, we are projected to end FY2011 with about a $4 million surplus.
Friday evening Lisa and I attended the 53rd annual Cary Band Day reception at Cary High School. Council member Gale Adcock and former Cary Mayor Koka Booth also attended. This is always a wonderful time as decades of CHS alumni and supporters come together to celebrate and reminisce. Congratulations to all the volunteers – especially Cary Band Day Chair Sandra Williams – for all their efforts towards making Cary Band Day a huge success. If only they could control the weather…
Unfortunately this year’s Cary Band Day Parade had to be cancelled due to rain, but the Band Day Competition did go on as planned.
Well that’s about all for this week. Have a Happy Halloween!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Week in Review - 10/17/11 - 10/22/11
After last week’s elections - and all the craziness associated with that – it was nice to see things return to normal; or as normal as life was for me anyways. I worked to get caught up on a number of things that were put on hold until after the election was over, and I spent a lot of time with Lisa and the family. We even had three home cooked meals in a row! Woo Hoo! ;-)
I cannot thank Lisa and the kids enough for all their love and support, and for the sacrifices they make so that I can serve you on the council. Lisa is my inspiration and motivation in life, and I am so blessed to have her by my side.
Our council meeting last Thursday was fairly light with only a couple of discussion items; a quasi-judicial hearing for the Sri Venkateswara Temple located on Chapel Hill Road, and proposed improvements to Wake Med Soccer Park.
The folks at the temple acquired one of the homes along Chapel Hill Road with the intent of using it for additional classroom space. Institutional uses such as churches are permitted in residential zoning districts with a special use permit, and therefore are required to come before council for approval. After conducting the required hearing the council unanimously approved the request.
The proposed improvements to Wake Med Soccer park, for the most part, were pretty straight forward and weren’t anything we hadn’t already seen before. They include new locker rooms, seating, parking and concessions. While Cary would be fronting the money for these improvements up front, the town will be reimbursed by Wake County over time via the hotel/meals tax revenue. What did however generate concern among some council members – myself included – was the proposed Trinity Road extension to the park from Cary Town Blvd. Staff was requesting $250,000 to design the road and associated stream crossing. To actually build the road however would cost an additional $1.3 million.
The council unanimously approved the soccer park improvements, but we split 5-2 regarding the road design funding. Council member Robinson and myself voted against the design over concerns that given current economic conditions, we may not have $1.3 million to build the road when the time comes; and if it turns out we did have the money, is this road project a higher priority that other needed transportation improvements throughout Cary? While I hope we will be able to meet our obligations three years from now, I need more assurance than hope before I will vote for something. I don’t vote for hope. That’s somebody else. ;-)
Gary Roth from Capital Area Preservation “officially” presented Cary with the Anthemion Award for our work on The Cary Arts Center. I look forward to receiving more Anthemion Awards from CAP once we complete work on the downtown Cary Theater….and the Jones-Foy House….and….
My wife Lisa and I had the honor and privilege of attending the Occoneechee Council Boy Scouts of America Dinner honoring Ralph and Daphne Ashworth for their lifelong commitment to our community and the Boy Scouts. This was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed all the stories from the Ashworth family and friends. Cary truly is a better place because of the Ashworths.
Our Planning and Development Committee meeting consisted of three discussion items;
• Transportation improvement waivers, Highcroft Village
• A transportation improvement waiver for the Barber property along Piney Plains Rd.
• Modifications to the town’s Housing Rehab Program
You can review all of the staff reports for these items here, here and here.
Highcroft Village was requesting a waiver for a right-turn lane, and instead offered a payment in lieu equal to twice the amount of constructing the turn lane, and they were also seeking to partner with the town in the funding of a stream crossing for the construction of Morrisville Parkway to Hwy. 55. The connection of Morrisville Parkway to Hwy. 55 is critical for Cary citizens in West Cary and this partnership with the developer will allow this project to be completed sooner than later, and at a lower cost to Cary taxpayers!
The Barber property is a 1700 sq. ft. home that is proposed to be used as a small office. They were requesting a waiver of required road improvements along Piney Plains Road, but would dedicate the necessary right-of-way. This office use might generate a dozen or so vehicle trips a day – to require them to widen 135 feet of Piney Plains Road makes little sense, and would prevent the re-use of and improvements to this site. The town can require road improvements if and when this property ever redevelops.
Modifications to the town’s Housing Rehabilitation Program include a deferred loan for income eligible applicants and seniors and an amortized low interest loan. Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds will be used and all applicants must meet Federal HUD requirements. We are working hard to better focus available resources towards improving existing affordable housing instead of just trying to build more of it. Cary already has a great supply of affordable homes – especially inside the Maynard Loop – that with a little TLC would make great homes for new families or folks on fixed incomes.
All three items were unanimously approved by the committee (Mayor Weinbrecht, Council Member Adcock and I).
Afterwards I met Lisa and Liz for a few hours of fun at the North Carolina State Fair. They had a hard time dragging me away from the food – YUM!!!!!
On Saturday Mayor Weinbrecht and I attended the 11th annual Cary Diwali Festival at Koka Booth Amphitheater. Diwali is the Indian festival of lights and celebrates the victory of good over evil. It was my honor to address the crowd and present the proclamation from the Town of Cary designating October 22nd as the 11th Annual Cary Diwali Celebration. This event is always a lot of fun and I look forward to it every year. If you have never attended Diwali you must check it out. Congratulations to Hum Sub, the Town of Cary and all the volunteers who worked so hard to make this event a huge success.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me at don.frantz@townofcary.org .
I cannot thank Lisa and the kids enough for all their love and support, and for the sacrifices they make so that I can serve you on the council. Lisa is my inspiration and motivation in life, and I am so blessed to have her by my side.
Our council meeting last Thursday was fairly light with only a couple of discussion items; a quasi-judicial hearing for the Sri Venkateswara Temple located on Chapel Hill Road, and proposed improvements to Wake Med Soccer Park.
The folks at the temple acquired one of the homes along Chapel Hill Road with the intent of using it for additional classroom space. Institutional uses such as churches are permitted in residential zoning districts with a special use permit, and therefore are required to come before council for approval. After conducting the required hearing the council unanimously approved the request.
The proposed improvements to Wake Med Soccer park, for the most part, were pretty straight forward and weren’t anything we hadn’t already seen before. They include new locker rooms, seating, parking and concessions. While Cary would be fronting the money for these improvements up front, the town will be reimbursed by Wake County over time via the hotel/meals tax revenue. What did however generate concern among some council members – myself included – was the proposed Trinity Road extension to the park from Cary Town Blvd. Staff was requesting $250,000 to design the road and associated stream crossing. To actually build the road however would cost an additional $1.3 million.
The council unanimously approved the soccer park improvements, but we split 5-2 regarding the road design funding. Council member Robinson and myself voted against the design over concerns that given current economic conditions, we may not have $1.3 million to build the road when the time comes; and if it turns out we did have the money, is this road project a higher priority that other needed transportation improvements throughout Cary? While I hope we will be able to meet our obligations three years from now, I need more assurance than hope before I will vote for something. I don’t vote for hope. That’s somebody else. ;-)
Gary Roth from Capital Area Preservation “officially” presented Cary with the Anthemion Award for our work on The Cary Arts Center. I look forward to receiving more Anthemion Awards from CAP once we complete work on the downtown Cary Theater….and the Jones-Foy House….and….
My wife Lisa and I had the honor and privilege of attending the Occoneechee Council Boy Scouts of America Dinner honoring Ralph and Daphne Ashworth for their lifelong commitment to our community and the Boy Scouts. This was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed all the stories from the Ashworth family and friends. Cary truly is a better place because of the Ashworths.
Our Planning and Development Committee meeting consisted of three discussion items;
• Transportation improvement waivers, Highcroft Village
• A transportation improvement waiver for the Barber property along Piney Plains Rd.
• Modifications to the town’s Housing Rehab Program
You can review all of the staff reports for these items here, here and here.
Highcroft Village was requesting a waiver for a right-turn lane, and instead offered a payment in lieu equal to twice the amount of constructing the turn lane, and they were also seeking to partner with the town in the funding of a stream crossing for the construction of Morrisville Parkway to Hwy. 55. The connection of Morrisville Parkway to Hwy. 55 is critical for Cary citizens in West Cary and this partnership with the developer will allow this project to be completed sooner than later, and at a lower cost to Cary taxpayers!
The Barber property is a 1700 sq. ft. home that is proposed to be used as a small office. They were requesting a waiver of required road improvements along Piney Plains Road, but would dedicate the necessary right-of-way. This office use might generate a dozen or so vehicle trips a day – to require them to widen 135 feet of Piney Plains Road makes little sense, and would prevent the re-use of and improvements to this site. The town can require road improvements if and when this property ever redevelops.
Modifications to the town’s Housing Rehabilitation Program include a deferred loan for income eligible applicants and seniors and an amortized low interest loan. Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds will be used and all applicants must meet Federal HUD requirements. We are working hard to better focus available resources towards improving existing affordable housing instead of just trying to build more of it. Cary already has a great supply of affordable homes – especially inside the Maynard Loop – that with a little TLC would make great homes for new families or folks on fixed incomes.
All three items were unanimously approved by the committee (Mayor Weinbrecht, Council Member Adcock and I).
Afterwards I met Lisa and Liz for a few hours of fun at the North Carolina State Fair. They had a hard time dragging me away from the food – YUM!!!!!
On Saturday Mayor Weinbrecht and I attended the 11th annual Cary Diwali Festival at Koka Booth Amphitheater. Diwali is the Indian festival of lights and celebrates the victory of good over evil. It was my honor to address the crowd and present the proclamation from the Town of Cary designating October 22nd as the 11th Annual Cary Diwali Celebration. This event is always a lot of fun and I look forward to it every year. If you have never attended Diwali you must check it out. Congratulations to Hum Sub, the Town of Cary and all the volunteers who worked so hard to make this event a huge success.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me at don.frantz@townofcary.org .
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Downtown Cary Theater Renovations to begin next week!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 19, 2011
Cary Downtown Theater Begins Extreme Makeover
CARY, NC – As part of its renovation project, contractors working on behalf of the Town of Cary will deconstruct the façade of its downtown theater located at 122 E. Chatham Street. The removal is set to begin October 24, weather permitting, and finish in November; while no traffic implications are expected, pedestrians in the area will be detoured and are asked to use the alternative sidewalk routes. Reconstruction of the building is anticipated to begin this spring.
“The transformation of Cary’s downtown as a viable entertainment district is a major priority for the Town, and the renovation of the downtown theater is an important step in achieving this,” said Eric Simpson, Engineer. “Thanks to the cooperation and preparedness of our construction partners, we are pleased to be working on schedule and still on task for a winter 2012 completion.”
Cary purchased the property at 122 E. Chatham Street over the summer with the intension of renovating and repurposing it as an intimate cultural venue perfect for movies, music, comedy, and theater on the smaller side. While the 65 year-old building was the former site of the Town’s first indoor movie theater, it has also operated as a clothing store, auto parts store and recording studio.
To follow the renovation, search “Downtown Theater” at http://www.townofcary.org/ or call (919) 380-4204; for more information on Cary’s plan for downtown, search “Downtown Development” at http://www.townofcary.org/ or call (919) 462-3870.
October 19, 2011
Cary Downtown Theater Begins Extreme Makeover
CARY, NC – As part of its renovation project, contractors working on behalf of the Town of Cary will deconstruct the façade of its downtown theater located at 122 E. Chatham Street. The removal is set to begin October 24, weather permitting, and finish in November; while no traffic implications are expected, pedestrians in the area will be detoured and are asked to use the alternative sidewalk routes. Reconstruction of the building is anticipated to begin this spring.
“The transformation of Cary’s downtown as a viable entertainment district is a major priority for the Town, and the renovation of the downtown theater is an important step in achieving this,” said Eric Simpson, Engineer. “Thanks to the cooperation and preparedness of our construction partners, we are pleased to be working on schedule and still on task for a winter 2012 completion.”
Cary purchased the property at 122 E. Chatham Street over the summer with the intension of renovating and repurposing it as an intimate cultural venue perfect for movies, music, comedy, and theater on the smaller side. While the 65 year-old building was the former site of the Town’s first indoor movie theater, it has also operated as a clothing store, auto parts store and recording studio.
To follow the renovation, search “Downtown Theater” at http://www.townofcary.org/ or call (919) 380-4204; for more information on Cary’s plan for downtown, search “Downtown Development” at http://www.townofcary.org/ or call (919) 462-3870.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Forbes Names Cary NC one of the Top 25 Retirement Communities
Forbes Magazine has named Cary one of the top retirement communities in the Nation!
But we already knew that.
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeik45egge/cary-north-carolina
But we already knew that.
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeik45egge/cary-north-carolina
Thank You Cary Voters!
Thank you Cary voters for your faith and trust in me to continue to serve as your District B Representative on the Cary Town Council! This victory wouldn’t have been possible without your support and encouragement; especially that of my amazing wife, Lisa and family.
It has truly been my honor and privilege to serve as your voice in town government.
Four years ago you elected me to give citizens a greater voice in your government. You sought leadership that was in touch with our community and better understood our concerns. You wanted representation that was swift, courteous and most importantly, effective.
You were concerned Cary was growing too fast and that your quality of life was declining; that Cary was losing sight of some of the things that made our town such a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family. You were worried about the town’s finances and increasing debt, and the council’s lack of focus in Cary’s older communities.
Despite these challenges, together we have worked to address a number of community concerns. We have made great progress in Cary over the last four years, but we still have work to do.
During my second term I pledge to continue to work to make growth a benefit to our community, not a burden; to balance the rights of folks to develop their property while protecting the rights of communities from the negative effects of development. Great things happen when all stakeholders are involved in the process. Under my leadership Cary has managed a sustainable growth rate of 3-4%.
I promise to continue to practice fiscal restraint and budget responsibly; to make Cary a friendlier place to do business; and I will continue to fight to ensure that all areas of Cary receive their fair share of town investments.
Most importantly, I will continue to listen. My door is always open. If I can be of any assistance to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can reach me at don.frantz@townofcary.org or 919-612-6870.
Thanks again for your support and I look forward to continuing to serve you as your District B Cary Town Councilman. Together we are making a difference!
In your service,
Don Frantz
Cary Town Council
District B
It has truly been my honor and privilege to serve as your voice in town government.
Four years ago you elected me to give citizens a greater voice in your government. You sought leadership that was in touch with our community and better understood our concerns. You wanted representation that was swift, courteous and most importantly, effective.
You were concerned Cary was growing too fast and that your quality of life was declining; that Cary was losing sight of some of the things that made our town such a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family. You were worried about the town’s finances and increasing debt, and the council’s lack of focus in Cary’s older communities.
Despite these challenges, together we have worked to address a number of community concerns. We have made great progress in Cary over the last four years, but we still have work to do.
During my second term I pledge to continue to work to make growth a benefit to our community, not a burden; to balance the rights of folks to develop their property while protecting the rights of communities from the negative effects of development. Great things happen when all stakeholders are involved in the process. Under my leadership Cary has managed a sustainable growth rate of 3-4%.
I promise to continue to practice fiscal restraint and budget responsibly; to make Cary a friendlier place to do business; and I will continue to fight to ensure that all areas of Cary receive their fair share of town investments.
Most importantly, I will continue to listen. My door is always open. If I can be of any assistance to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can reach me at don.frantz@townofcary.org or 919-612-6870.
Thanks again for your support and I look forward to continuing to serve you as your District B Cary Town Councilman. Together we are making a difference!
In your service,
Don Frantz
Cary Town Council
District B
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