Council will weigh building buy, road opening
By Ty Johnson
Published in News on June 20, 2011 1:46 PM
Budgets and the opening of Park Avenue are slated to headline today's City Council meeting, which will begin at 3:30 p.m. due to an extended work session to allow for more discussion on the city budget.
Council will hear the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission's final recommendations for the opening of Park Avenue during the work session in the City Hall Annex on North Center Street. Council members voted May 2 to keep the road open through Herman Park.
The council's second, and likely final, budget work session will also be held before the main meeting begins at 7 p.m. The council set June 21 as its deadline for a budget to be approved, though it's likely it won't be voted on tonight and will, instead, be held off for a special meeting tomorrow.
The consent agenda features an item for delaying and rescheduling this year's election and amending the budget to allow the purchase of the building owned by the Arts Council of Wayne County at 2406 E. Ash St.
All six council member seats and the mayor's office are currently scheduled to be up for election this year, although Interim City Manager Tasha Logan has said in the past that the election will likely be delayed a year, with candidates in 2012 competing for three-year terms.
The Arts Council building has been discussed as a home for a proposed Air Force museum to honor Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. The city entered into a contract with the Arts Council May 10 to purchase the building for $500,000, with a $25,000 non-refundable deposit already approved for the seller as a good-faith gesture.
Public hearings for a conditional use permit of the north side of Highway 70 West between N.C. 581 and Riverbend Road and the rezoning of the area lying east of Casey Mill Road between Webber Lane and Emmaus Church Road are also scheduled for tonight.
A public comment period is customarily scheduled during the regular meeting in the council chambers during which each citizen is allowed three minutes to address the council.