07/25/06 — Council members OK contract with chamber

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Council members OK contract with chamber

By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on July 25, 2006 1:49 PM

The Wayne County Chamber of Commerce will continue to operate the city's Travel and Tourism office, City Council members decided Monday.

Last September, the city authorized a contract for the Chamber to handle the operation and administration of the Travel and Tourism Office, an entity established in 2000. The original contract expired June 30, and renewal became necessary after council members appropriated funds for the continued operations of the office in their 2006-07 fiscal year budget.

Council also made decisions regarding Phase II of the ongoing City Hall project Monday.

First, the members formally confirmed the sale of more than $12,000 in furniture, fixtures, office equipment and other miscellaneous property from the city's annex building and original City Hall. Items including sinks, doors, computers and a $1,000 safe were among those sold at the auction. Mayor Al King's old desk brought in several hundred dollars, officials said.

Council members also approved the appropriation of $26,000 from the unappropriated fund balance of the city's General Fund for preliminary work on Phase II, a project that involves the renovation of the original City Hall building.

The money will be used for an asbestos survey and monitoring, parking lot investigation and preliminary conservation work for Liberty and Justice, the statues that watch over downtown from atop the building.

Officials said the costs for these services are an eligible expenditure to be reimbursed from the financing the city will secure for Phase II.

This preliminary work will be handled by Hobbs Architects.

In other business :

* Council approved its consent agenda, which included setting public hearings for two noncontiguous annexations. The first, involves E.J. Pope's property, located on the northeast corner of US 70 and NC 581. The second, requested by New Life Properties, is located on Patetown Road, between New Hope and Tommy's roads.