City Council to get first look at proposed budget Monday
By From staff reports
Published in News on May 6, 2012 1:50 AM
The Goldsboro City Council will get its first look at the city's proposed 2012-13 budget Monday as Finance Director Kaye Scott is expected to make her annual budget presentation at the City Council's work session at 5 p.m. in the City Hall Annex.
Mrs. Scott will be presenting the collective budget requests and allowances of the city's department heads for approval by the council members in advance of the beginning of the fiscal year July 1. The city is bound by state law to approve a balanced budget before then and is also required to advertise a revenue-neutral tax rate during budgetary discussions, even if the governing board decides to change it.
The council typically schedules a number of budget workshops during which they'll tweak and adjust the budget to their liking.
Other items to be discussed during the work session include the implementation of a youth program for the fire department similar to the Explorer program Goldsboro Police runs. The program will be for youth ages 14 through 20 who have an interest in the fire and emergency services field.
Planning Director Randy Guthrie will also address the council, communicating a request for a waiver of the six-month delay in rezoning reconsideration on behalf of the owner of the property at the southeast corner of North Berkeley Boulevard and Ridgecrest Drive.
The council denied a rezoning permit for the land at its April 16 council meeting. The request was to rezone the office and institutional plot of land as neighborhood business to allow for either a traditional retail establishment or an ice cream or frozen yogurt shop and a fast casual full-service sit-down restaurant serving alcoholic beverages.
The council's denial means the owner cannot present another rezoning request for at least six months. A waiver of that required delay would allow the owners to request again sooner.
The session will also include an update on communications by the city's public information officer.
One public hearing is scheduled during the meeting as the city will seek public opinion on its 2012-13 action plan for the Community Block Grant and Home Investment Partnership programs.
A robust consent agenda is also expected to be approved by roll call vote, containing an item to adopt the Community Development department's plan to foster economic development within the city's Section 3, two rezoning requests and two site plans.
The rezoning requests will allow Soldiers for Christ Ministry's property at the corner of South Slocumb Street and Day Circle to be classified as office and institutional as well as changing the classification for the north side of Lockhaven Drive between Gloucester Road and Wayne Memorial Drive from R-12 residential to R-9 residential, allowing for the expansion of Lockhaven Apartments.
One site plan calls for largely aesthetic changes to the site plan of East Coast Wings at the corner of Berkeley Boulevard and Ash Street while the other is a site plan for a new Dollar General on the site currently occupied by Dan's Country Store on North William Street.
The closing of Poplar Street from Newsome Street to its northern end is also on the consent agenda, along with an agreement with the state Department of Transportation that will move the traffic signal system forward.
An amendment to the city code concerning the use of utility easements, condemnation of dilapidated dwellings and the acceptance of real property is also on the agenda, although no information on the real property will be available until the meeting.
The council is also expected to approve the appropriation of $279,700 from the unappropriated fund balance of the General Fund toward various projects, including $24,700 for tree removal at the golf course, the $150,000 purchase of five police cars, $15,000 for software expenses for the Inspection department and $90,000 in fuel costs.
The agenda also contains an item to allocate $900,000 from the capital projects fund for the Center Street Streetscape project and use $31,160 for the purchase of holiday decorations for downtown.
The selling of surplus sanitary sewer equipment and the awarding of the bid for the repair to the compost facility roof round out the consent agenda, along with three drug forfeiture fund increases in the police department budget.
The City Council's regular meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in Historic City Hall.