This week was marked mostly by the earthquake tragedy in Haiti. My week included a ribbon cutting with the governor, a council meeting, and the annual council staff retreat which focused on a 20 to 30 year vision of the future.

The week began with the tragic news of a major earthquake in Haiti which will end up killing thousands. It is very sad that the people of one of the poorest nations in the world will now have to endure more impossible hardships. If you are reading this post please thank God for your blessings and say a prayer for the Haitian people. And if you can find it in your heart please donate to the many relief efforts.

My week began on Tuesday with a ceremony at the McDonalds on Kildaire Farm Road celebrating their Gold LEED certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Development. This new McDonalds replaced a McDonalds that was a quarter of a century old. In the dismantling of the old building they were able to recycle over 99% of the material. In the new building they are very energy efficient with the lights using about 90% less energy than they did before. This McDonalds, and its owner Ric Richards, took the risk of a long payback (cost at least an extra million or two to build this way) to be environmentally friendly. They are one of the first businesses in Cary to step forward and show leadership in protecting our environment and helping Cary to become greener.

The Gold LEED certification was so important that the governor came to speak. In addition, she was joined by NC Senator Stevens, NC Representatives Dollar and Weiss. The actually presentation of the certification was done by a representative from Washington DC. I was proud to be in attendance and hope that this is the beginning of many Cary businesses taking a leadership role in helping Cary become greener. On a side note, Ric Richards presented me with a vintage collector’s glass from the 1970s of Mayor McCheese. A new name to go along with “your honor” and “your worship” that I have been called in front of the media.

Tuesday evening I met with directors and other staff to go over the agenda for Thursday’s council meeting. We didn’t identify any major concerns and believed it would be a relatively short meeting.

After the agenda meeting I met with town manager Shivar to go over several issues. One of the issues was social media. As we become a more open government, social media will become a bigger issue for the town and require more resources. Now is the time to review and revise our strategy to handle the new methods of communication.

Wednesday’s first meeting was with Wake County School Board member Debra Goldman. We talked about the first two school board meetings and how she felt about things. She is disappointed with the way things have been added to the agenda at the last minute. She expressed to me that she had asked the new school board members to provide information before the meetings. Unfortunately, they haven’t followed her advice. Debra is a very smart lady and I believe she is in a key position to help lead this school board. I believe to be successful; the school board will have to find a way to work together. So far, it has been an us versus them mentality. I know from experience, that when you ignore the opinion and experience of the minority everyone loses. I hope the school board finds a way to work together because with their great minds they have great potential. I am anxious to see if Debra will be the one to make a difference.

Wednesday night I met with two people on the town’s technology. Their belief is that the town is falling behind. They believe we need to be in a more leadership role. Examples would be in the social media area. I plan to bring this up at the retreat discussion on technology on Friday.

Thursday evening I met with attorneys and key staff. Of course I am not at liberty to discuss the topic or what was said in the meeting. Sorry about that.

Thursday night’s council meeting focused on two main issues: the Cary Parkway and High House intersection and the Community Tree issue. The council decided to not proceed with the single quadrant proposal for the Cary Parkway and High House intersection. We also did not choose one of the other two staff options. Instead we asked the staff to meet with the public and get their ideas about the intersection. My feel is that this intersection will become abysmal once Park West and the Davis Drive and High House intersections have developed. We will need a plan before that time arrives. Otherwise people will be screaming at us for not planning. Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of options except for the traditional widening which will only provide marginal benefits.

The Community Tree vote was quick and simple. Council member Frantz made a statement and a motion to rename the trees to Christmas trees. Council member Smith provided the second. Council member Adcock called the question which passed 6 to 1. Then we voted to approve the change 6 to 1. In my opinion, this fiasco was a media generated controversy. The “tree lighting ceremony” has always been called that since it was created in the 80s. The “community tree” was added in 2006 to invite members of the community to put ornaments on the tree. This council had absolutely nothing to do with either. The proposal which passed Thursday night was to rename these trees to have Christmas in them. But the media took that simple change and made a national story out of it by half truths and misinformation. I believe this caused the town of Cary’s reputation harm. I am extremely disappointed in what seems to be another example of some media outlets taking the opportunity to bash Cary. Shame!

Friday and Saturday was the annual council staff retreat. This year’s theme was vision. The first day was a high level vision for the entire town. The second day focused more on downtown. The process was to go through each department and have them present the current and future trends and then have the council discuss.

The following are a few of the noteworthy points from the first day of the retreat:

• Cary’s population is expected to be at 185,000 in 25 years. This is only a 35% increase in growth which means a significantly slower rate.
• Cary is roughly 79 square miles. There are roughly 45,000 single family homes in Cary. 50% are located in PUDs (Planned Unit Developments).
• There is 11,500 acres of infill in Cary yet to be developed
• The projects in the pipeline would add an additional 24,726 citizens.
• Only 8,000 acres in Cary have not been spoken for which would generate about 35,000 people if developed.
• Our stormwater requirements exceed FEMA.
• Cary has illegal discharge detection and can actually identify very small amounts of contaminants. It can also detect human care products.
• Cary is often asked to speak on utilities since we are leaders in the state.
• Cary’s parks and recreation has over 13,000 hours of programs. In 2009 Cary’s programs had over 90,000 program participants.
• Cary’s Comprehensive transportation plan is 35 miles from completion. That equates to about $800 million in road improvements.
• Cary has 413 miles of sidewalks which is less than half of the buildout of 900 miles. To reach buildout would require $80 million in sidewalk improvements.
• Cary currently has 7 fire stations and over 200 fire fighters. It will eventually have 11 fire stations and over 300 fire fighters.
• Cary’s fire fighters have to become more and more trained at a lower scope. That is, they will be expected to perform more CPR activities (defibrillators) and other medical tasks that at one time were only done by doctors.
• Cary is the safest town in NC and the safest in the US for a town our size.
• Cary’s #1 crime was larceny. Cary’s #1 complaint was traffic.
• Ten years ago only 10% of the crimes committed in Cary were done by people that actually lived in Cary. Today 58% of the crimes committed are done by Cary residents.

It should be noted that on the first day of discussion Council members Portman and Robinson suggested that we invite Morrisville to discuss the possibility of a future merger. I think it is important to understand the context of the discussion. The discussion was on 30 years from now in a retreat setting. Retreats are informal and everyone is expected to speak freely without much deep thought into comments. I am sure my colleagues meant no disrespect to the Town of Morrisville. Morrisville and Cary have a great partnership and we work on many things together. I am proud of our relationship and look forward to continuing to work together. I believe any talks of merger would have to be initiated by Morrisville not Cary.

Here are a few key points from the second day of the retreat focusing on downtown.

• Council and staff are in agreement that the future performing arts center should be further north. The preferred site at this time is next to the parking deck at town hall.
• Council is in agreement that the new library should be next to the town plaza that is next to Cary Elementary (soon to be the cultural arts center).
• Council also agreed that the downtown focus for development should be on Chatham and on Walker Streets. Council wants to keep Academy as historic.
• Council is concerned about what NCDOT rail may do with rail crossings. This may require a depressed rail corridor through Cary. (If that happens we can call it Cary’s Big Dig.)

I received all kinds of emails this week. They included a complaint about racial profiling, a request to pursue a merger with Morrisville, thanks for approving “Christmas” in our trees, complaints about the Cary Parkway and High House single quadrant proposal, complaints about Cameron Pond, complaints about US1 & 64, and a complaint about the cost of C-Tran.

Next week will be full on intergovernmental meetings. I will be attending a Mayor’s Association outing on Monday, a Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting on Wednesday, a Planning and Development meeting on Thursday, a meeting of the School board and the mayors on Friday, and a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday.

Well that is all for this week. I plan to next post on Sunday, January 24^th. Please feel free to leave a comment on my post.