This week was a typical council meeting week with mostly regularly scheduled meetings. Monday was Memorial Day town hall was closed. So my council week started on Tuesday.

Monday, I was fortunate to be off work in addition to not having council duties. I spent the day relaxing and giving thanks for the many men and women that are sacrificing so that I may have a nice day at the pool. I hope everyone took at least a few moments to remember how blessed we are to have people willing to give up their lives so that we may live in freedom.

Tuesday started with my usual calls to council members to see if there were any issues that needed to be discussed by staff in preparation for Thursday’s council meeting. My first meeting was with staff at the agenda meeting. The topics for discussion included the proposed moratorium on annexation in Chatham County and a proposed extension on the process for new development proposals.

Tuesday night was our second budget work session. Details of the operating budget and capital projects were presented to council. The biggest staff recommendations included delaying two already approved projects:  the streetscape project and the Cary Elementary project. Delaying the streetscape project will postpone debt which makes sense during a down economy and a time when we are not sure if the state will dump additional responsibilities on municipalities. The delay of the Cary Elementary project provides additional cash in case we need it. Keep in mind that we have a four month reserve in addition to a $12 million margin. This delay I question because building materials are cheaper and we could potentially save millions if we proceed now. In addition, this will have no effect on the current budget other than collecting interest as the cash sits in the bank. It is important to know that the Cary Elementary building is close to structural failure and will require some repairs just to keep it from falling down. This building is an important landmark and is on our town seal. It will be interesting to see if council decides to proceed with this project. The rest of the work session was going through all approved projects. Motions were made to delay some existing projects (including fire and police) even though they would have little effect on this year’s budget. To me, this is just a political maneuver which I don’t support. Our next budget work session will be on June 9^th.

Wednesday’s first meeting was the taping of the June episode of Cary Matters. My co-host was Julie Robison and the main topic was issues with development projects.

Following the taping we headed over to the new Hindu temple off of highway 54. In attendance was Governor Purdue, Congressman Etheridge, Congressman Price, Mayor Pro-Tem Robison, council member Adcock, council member Smith and myself. There were also a few NC House members in attendance. This was a great opening ceremony of an incredible structure. If you haven’t seen it then you must. This building has unbelievable detail as artisans from India spent a year here working to create this authentic temple. For the Indian community it was a great religious week as this will be one of the few authentic temples in the United States. There were hundreds in attendance during my visit and I was honored to speak a few moments with them. My main message is that we all have one God and in his eyes we are all brothers and sisters.

Thursday, before the council meeting, I met with a real estate agent who is having problems with our sign ordinance. He believes this is the main cause for his difficulty in selling his houses off Stephens Road. He stated that he will start the process to petition the town to change the ordinance.

My second meeting on Thursday was to approve the minutes of our retreat committee held earlier in the year. This took a matter of seconds but is required.

The council meeting was uneventful and we spent most of our time in closed session.

Emails this week were light comparatively speaking. Two main topics were supporting the Serving Cup and not delaying Cary Elementary and the streetscape project.

Well that is about it for this week. I will be back from vacation on Sunday, June 7^th so I won’t have anything to post until after that time. Therefore, I will plan to post again on Sunday, June 14^th.  Please feel free to leave a comment on my post.

This week was another busy week with events and meetings. Two of the events were national events as Cary is becoming increasingly recognized as an amateur sports Mecca on the east coast.

I started Monday morning in Augusta, Georgia as I was fortunate to be able to play the Augusta National Golf course which is the home of the Masters. The Augusta National Golf club allows tournament volunteers to play the course during this time every year. Since I have been a scorer on hole 17 for over 30 years, I have had the privilege of playing the course several times. Unfortunately, I have never broken 100 partly because I only play a couple of times a year and partly because that is one of the toughest golf courses in the world..

I left Augusta immediately after my round of golf to arrive in time to shower and attend my daughter’s award ceremony at Grace Christian. I was proud to watch my daughter receive an award in French. I left the award ceremony and attended the mayor’s association meeting. One of the topics discussed at the mayor’s association was preparing for this year’s budget. It appears all the municipalities face similar challenges in their budgets. At this point is doesn’t appear that any municipalities will have to take drastic measures but everything is really up in the air as we all await decisions on the state level. If the state passes some of their responsibilities to the municipalities then that may result in drastic measures in many towns and cities.

Tuesday I had my weekly meeting with the town manager via phone as I traveled to Ritter Park for the Boards and Commissions volunteer picnic. The town council cooked and ran games for all the volunteers of Cary’s advisory boards. It was a lot of fun. I shared cooking duties with council members Frantz and Portman. I also did a little of the bingo call and handed out prizes and parting gifts.

Wednesday was spent handling various personal issues which included a trip to the dentist.

Thursday was a busy evening for me. First I met with National Scrabble champion Erik Salgado to do some photos. He and his mom are very kind and it was a pleasure to be with them.

Next I met with a gentleman on a school issue. We discussed his issue and I promised to put him in contact with a school board member.

My third meeting on Thursday was with representatives from Home Depot. While this was mostly a get acquainted meeting they did express the desire to partner with Cary on environmental promotions, home renovations, litter collections, etc. I think working with them will be a win-win for everyone.

My fourth meeting on Thursday was at the Page Walker as Cary co-hosted a reception for interested parties involved in the NCAA Division II baseball championships being held in Cary’s National Training Center. We are partners with USA baseball, Mount Olive College, and the NCAA to hold this championship.

Friday I gave the welcoming comments to the players, coaches, and representatives in the NCAA Division II baseball championships. The teams in this championship are Mesa State, Belmont Abbey, Grand Valley State, Emporia State, UC San Diego, Dowling, West Chester, and Lynn. The featured speaker was former world champion manager Jack McKeon who managed the San Diego Padres and the Florida Marlins. He gave a great talk to the players and was really funny. We were blessed to be able to have him as the guest speaker.

Saturday morning I gave welcoming remarks at the National Black Heritage Swim meet held at the Triangle Aquatic Center. I was able to watch some great swimmers and meet with Olympian Maritza Correia. Also in attendance were several Navy Seals and Rear Admiral Edward Winters. They were there to recruit strong swimmers.

Sunday after church I went over to the National baseball Training Center and watched Dowling defeat UC San Diego 3 - 1. The pitcher from Dowling was nationally recognized and there were several scouts in the stands to watch his 3 hit performance.

Sunday night I attended a graduation party for my daughter’s boyfriend in Durham. It was a great time and enjoyed talking and meeting with people.

I received many emails this week. Most of them were about the NCDOT proposed superhighway on US64. I also received an email from Progress Energy on storm preparedness. The have a website (www.progress-energy.com/stormcentral ) which gives outage reporting phone numbers, information about outages, safety tips and other valuable storm-related information. In addition, I received emails on purchasing the Triangle Aquatic Center, questions about recycle bins, and requests for road maintenance.

Well that is about it for this week. I will be leaving on vacation early on Saturday, May 30^th so I will plan to post again on Friday, May 29^th.  Please feel free to leave a comment on my post.

This week was a very busy week for me and included a lot of events requiring my comments. These are usually tough for me since I want to make sure I say the things I need to say.

Monday started with the opening comments at the “Climate for Student Success” forum. The forum was well attended by elected officials including the school board. I was unable to stay due to meetings at work but plan to watch the video on Cary TV. Later in the week I was able to talk to several council members and mayors in attendance about how they thought the forum went. Interesting that most of the council members felt it went very well while most of the mayors I talked to thought the forum was much of the same. But the mayors did say that they were glad Cary held the forum to finally create a public setting for open dialog and discussion.

Monday at lunch I interviewed with WTVD about the Triangle Aquatic Center proposal. We talked for about 10 minutes about all the possible financing options and about the upcoming budget issues.

Monday afternoon was the regularly scheduled agenda meeting to prepare for the council meeting on Thursday. There were no major issues mentioned and we ended the meeting in about thirty minutes.

My next event on Monday was at the Booth Amphitheater to recognize outstanding teachers at the Cary Chamber’s Honor a Teacher event. I gave opening comments and then introduced the MC Barry Mitch. The Town of Cary sponsored two awards which I presented. The ceremony awarded a lot of outstanding teachers. At the beginning of the awards all the teachers were asked to stand. They then were asked to sit based on the number of years they had taught. At the end was one teacher in attendance that had taught for more than 45 years. That’s pretty amazing.

My next scheduled event on Monday was to tour the RBC center. But this had to be rescheduled because they Canes were there practicing which means a lot of the RBC was off limits. I was glad to give up my tour for the Canes. Go Canes!

Tuesday afternoon I had a conference call with the town manager to discuss various issues. This was in place of our weekly meeting. Most of the discussion with the town manager this week centered on the budget and the upcoming meeting with Chatham County Commissioners.

Tuesday night we had our first work session on the budget. It was an overview of the entire budget to basically get everything on the table. The proposed budget from staff this year is 25% less than last year. Because of the revenue projections I believe this budget season will actually be easier since we really don’t have many spending choices and we have to make cuts.

I left the work session to attend the Canes game 6 against Boston. Boy did the Canes have a bad night. I am so glad to see it  pulled it off in Game 7. Go Canes!

Wednesday at lunch I participated in Senior Appreciation Day at the Cary Tennis Park. I made a few comments about how important the game of tennis is to me and how it is beneficial to those that play.

Wednesday evening I attended the grand opening at the Sunrise Senior Living of Cary. I made a few comments along with Wake County Commissioner Stan Norwalk. I spoke of how important seniors are to Cary and how we need excellent facilities like Sunrise to not only care for them but to keep them engaged in life.

Wednesday night I traveled to Chatham County for a joint meeting with the Cary Town Council and the Chatham County Commissioners. Our two groups have not made much progress in the past years and frankly have not gotten along. I believe this meeting was the beginning of a new relationship and both boards committed to working together to discuss and resolve issues between us. An outcome of the meeting was a subcommittee of Chatham County Commissioners and Cary Council members which include: Commissioner Kost, Commissioner Lucier, Mayor Pro-Tem Robison, council member Robinson, and council member Portman. This committee will meet to discuss details and report back with recommendations. The entire members of both boards will meet together again in the fall.

Thursday was a regularly scheduled council meeting. The two items that seem to generate the most discussion were the Fumagalli comprehensive plan amendment and the proposed changes in our street lighting policy. I voted against the Fumagalli plan amendment because I think we amend the plan to much and usually do so by adding more density as was the case in this instance. We need to remember that our roads, water, sewer, fire, and police were all based on the plan. To create more than the plan creates a situation of inadequate planning in other areas. The light policy was sent back to committee for further work which I supported.

Emails this week focused on two main issues: the Triangle Aquatic Center purchase offer and the NC Department of Transportations super highway proposal for US64. It is interesting that some people think a strategy of filling an email box will sway opinions. I can tell you that from my perspective all it does is prevent me from responding to citizens’ requests on a timely basis.

Well that is about it for this week. I will hopefully post again on Sunday, May 24^th.  Please feel free to leave a comment on my post.

This week consisted mostly of meetings with staff and people of special interests but also included two events.

Monday evening I met with staff members to sign bonds for capital projects. It was an interesting process as the financial officer, I, and the town clerk, acting as notary, signed dozens of bonds.

My second meeting on Monday was with the town attorney. We discussed several law suits. In addition, we discussed how to better communicate information to the council during closed session.

Tuesday’s weekly meeting with the town manager focused a great deal on the agenda for the upcoming joint meeting between the Chatham County Commissioners and the Cary Town Council. In the past the two boards have been at odds on various issues. While we may still not agree on everything I hope that this will be a new chapter of cooperation and communication. I think we will all gain with working together to solve issues.

My second meeting on Tuesday was with the owners of the Carolina Railhawks. Currently this team and others are feeling the effects of the current downturn in the economy. Their presentation was to show staff and council members the potential in the future. Recently approved funds from the hotel, motel, and restaurant tax from Wake County should allow us to make improvements to the soccer stadium to make it even more successful. These funds should be available sometime around 2013.

The third meeting on Tuesday was with the Barton group. They are proposing a cheerleading studio to be located between the shopping center at Davis Drive and High House with the Whitebridge subdivision. Their proposal seemed like it would be a good neighbor to the Whitebridge subdivision but I will have to wait until the details come forward until I can make a decision..

Wednesday started off with a meeting between developers of hotels behind Home Depot at Crossroads, staff, the town manager, the Mayor Pro-Tem, and myself. They expressed concerns over the development fees and the way the fees were calculated. They also expressed a desire to have the process move faster. Our staff agreed to help them with the process.

The second meeting on Wednesday was the graduation of the Cary Police Academy. Twenty-four men and women went through a course of several weeks to learn all there is to know about our police department. They are now knowledgeable ambassadors of the police department and the town. Twenty of the graduates signed up for the CAP team. The CAP team members actually help the police department with certain functions allowing the town to have more police officers serving in critical roles.

Thursday I attended the Wake Transit Leadership team. We heard results from a survey done in Wake, Durham, and Orange Counties on transit. It appears there is support for a sales tax increase to provide for transit but it requires much more discussion especially in Wake County.

Saturday morning I participated in Cary’s annual Litter sweep as part of the new SPRUCE program. I was teamed with three high school students from Cary to sweep the litter from the road in front of Green Hope High School. We covered both sides of about a mile and a half. The amount of litter was amazing. I personally collected four garbage bags full of trash and two of recyclable materials. I also found out that it pays to pick up litter when I found a five dollar bill. I donated the five dollars to a member of the Cary Teen Council. This litter sweep was a great experience but pointed out how much of a problem litter has become in Cary. We need everyone’s help in cleaning up this town. I hope those of you reading this journal will volunteer in an upcoming event. If you are interested, contact Heather.Morrell@townofcary.org.

Well that is about it for this week. I will hopefully post again on Sunday, May 17^th.  Please feel free to leave a comment on my post.

This week was a week of meetings including a regularly scheduled council meeting, staff meetings, and meetings with people of special interests.

Monday started with an agenda meeting about Thursday’s regularly scheduled council meeting. The meeting was short because there weren’t many items on the agenda. We did note that we had heard many people wanted to request the town buy the Triangle Aquatic Center.

Following the agenda meeting was the taping of Cary Matters. This month I was doing the taping with Erv Portman. The taping went OK for the most part except I mispronounced someone’s name twice. After that the director decided to remove the name from the script which is standard procedure. Apparently if you screw up two or three times on the same thing, even though you know how to do it correctly, then it becomes an issue hard to overcome. So at that point it is just easier to rewrite that part of the script.

By the way, the main topic on Cary Matters for the May taping was SPRUCE which is the town’s new program to help fight litter and beautify our roadways. The amount of litter in Cary is alarming to me and many citizens who have complained. I am considering introducing an ordinance to enhance litter enforcement. Information shows that a lot of litter comes from construction sites and pickup trucks entering and leaving those sites. In addition, the information points out that a lot of the litter comes from the back of pickup trucks. Some municipalities, such as Wake Forest, have ordinances which require items in the back of pickups to be secure so they won’t blow out of the vehicle. I think an ordinance like this might be beneficial to helping reduce litter in Cary but I will need a little more information.

Tuesday’s first meeting was a conference call meeting with town manager Ben Shivar. We updated each other of various ongoing issues. One of the issues is the H1N1 virus (swine flu) which I receive daily updates from the White House. Since that time the town has created a web page on the swine flu which provides updates and information to citizens.

Tuesday evening we had a council work session. This work session was one without an agenda to allow council members to bring up and discuss issues that don’t really fit in existing policy categories. At this work session we discussed the role of council liaisons, our effectiveness as policy makers, and other topics. I had to leave the work session after an hour to host 13 guests, mostly from Le Touquet France, at the Kings of Leon concert.

The Kings of Leon concert was a lot of fun and my guests thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very different from other rock concerts in that it completely stayed within limits agreed to beforehand. Those limits included time constraints but mostly noise limits. I stood to the side close to the stage to watch the crowd and listened to comments. Believe it or not someone came up while I was there and asked a staff member to turn up the sound. Since the concert I have asked SMG management about our ability to book acts with our current limits. As suspected some acts refuse to come to Cary because of the limits. This will lead to a decision by council again at the end of this season. In my opinion, this venue is paid for by all taxpayers and should provide all types of music for all its citizens. If our restrictions eliminate certain types of music then we should probably reconsider. But it is early in the season so we will see how successful we are in drawing acts for the remainder of the year.

On Wednesday I visited the SRI Temple under construction in Cary off Highway 54 next to Morrisville. The opening of this temple is from May 24^th to May 28^th. For information of these events see http://www.svtemplenc.org. This architecture is a must see. They brought 14 artisans from India to hand craft much of this temple. The temple’s detail is incredible. This was my second visit during the construction phase. They are on a tight deadline and must be finished by the posted dates. They cannot delay because their religion does not allow them to do construction in certain times of the year. This temple will not only be a place of worship for thousands but will be a tourist attraction. According to the board members, the authenticity of this temple is unique to North America and will draw people from all over the country and world.

Thursday’s first meeting was with the town’s public information officer. I received a lot of great detailed feedback of my writings, public appearances, and public speaking. One of the takeaways from this meeting is that Cary Matters should have more of why things are done than what is done. Look for more of this starting in the June version of Cary Matters.

Thursday’s council meeting was unique in a couple of ways. Most of the meeting in open session, which lasted an hour and a half, was the Public Speaks Out section where we heard about three dozen people speak in favor of the town spending $14 million to buy the Triangle Aquatic Center (TAC). Then we went into Closed Session where we remained for more than an hour and a half. So we stayed in Closed Session longer then we were in Open Session. In the closed session we heard from attorneys regarding law suits in which the town is involved.

Regarding the proposal to buy TAC, there are two possibilities for the town: 1) more debt financing (we are currently at our limit which is not prudent), 2) use hotel/motel/meal tax revenue from the county. Tax collected for hotels, motels, and restaurants is paid to Wake County. This money is then used with a purpose of providing projects beneficial to the county. Cary approved and submitted a proposal to Wake County for this money. The proposal is to improve the USA baseball field, the Cary Tennis Park, and the soccer stadium with this money. The committee made up of Wake County commissioners and Raleigh City council members has approved our submittal and now it goes to both of those boards for approval. On Monday Wake County will vote on our proposal and on Tuesday Raleigh will vote on our proposal. If approved then there will be no possibility of hotel/motel revenue for TAC. While all council members appear to like TAC and hope it is successful, it will be difficult for us to find a way to purchase it. Nevertheless, we will discuss it during the capital projects portion of our budget cycle.

Friday I met with representatives from Regency to discuss issues related to proposed office buildings. It is my hope these issues can be resolved in short order so that we can attract more businesses and jobs to the area.

Before I get to emails I want to remind everyone of the “Climate for Student Success” forum to be held on Monday, May 11^th from 8:00 AM until 1 PM. The forum is an opportunity for local leaders to come together to discuss how municipalities can support the Wake County Public School System.  Keynote speaker, Elaine McEwan — the best-selling author of 10 Traits of Highly Effective Schools — will highlight distinguishing qualities and unique characteristics of schools that help all students make outstanding gains in performance. We’re inviting local municipal and county government elected officials and staff, business leaders, WakeEd Partnership officials, and the general public. Your participation and voice are vital.  We hope you can join us as we discuss how to work together to cultivate a high performance school system that focuses on student achievement in every school.  Please RSVP to http://www.townofcary.net/cssf/cssf.php to reserve your seat. Please direct any questions to climateforstudentsuccess@townofcary.org.

Emails this week consisted mostly of TAC support. Other emails included traffic concerns, concerns with Spring Daze transportation, opposition to instant runoff voting, and concerns about the Jordan Lake rules being addressed in the legislature.

Well that is about it for this week. I will hopefully post again on Sunday, May 10^th.  Please feel free to leave a comment on my post.