I chaired a meeting of CAWTF (Cary/Apex Water Treatment Facility) advisory committee to consider the fiscal year 2020 capital and operating budgets. This committee has two voting members, the mayor or manager from Apex and Cary. Cary staff made a presentation and requested an operating budget of $9,955,933 for the Jordan Lake raw water intake/pump station and associated facilities. Cary’s portion of that would be $7,666,068.
Later Monday I joined council members at an advisory board mingle. This is where council members and other board members go around to a table for each of the town’s advisory boards and ask questions of that board.
Monday I met with the town attorney, town clerk, chief strategy officer, our quasi-judicial attorney, and others to go over our quasi-judicial process. Recent rulings have now required evidence to be presented in opposition to a proposal from an expert witness to deny a proposal. So no matter how bad we think a proposal may be we can’t vote against it without an expert witness giving us reason.
Tuesday I attended a public meeting for the Carpenter Fire Station Road widening. There were lots of staff on hand and numerous displays of the widening and future parks in the area. According to staff the attendance was steady but light.
Monday I joined council member Robinson and the town manager in a meeting with TJCOG (Triangle J Council of Governments) officials. The purpose of the meeting was to find out how we could help each other. We offered to take more of a leadership role to help communities in need (we have already been doing this in several areas such water and sewer).
Monday I joined the Deputy Town Manager, two police captains, the director of transportation and facilities, engineers, and others in a meeting with Cameron Pond residents about traffic safety issues. Their neighborhood is divided by Carpenter Fire Station Road which means residents have to cross that road to get to neighborhood amenities. While this is a state road, town staff agreed to work with the neighbors and NCDOT to try and find a solution. The solution may include a mid-block crosswalk with median for pedestrian refuge.
Monday I called council members to hear of concerns or questions they may have had about the upcoming council meeting on Thursday. Since the discussion part of that meeting was quasi-judicial I was not allowed to discuss those topics with council members.
Tuesday I attended the North Carolina Chinese Business Association annual reception at the Governor’s mansion. I estimate that there were about two hundred in attendance. After arriving I talked with several business owners and professors. At 6 PM the emcee, Renee Chou from WRAL, started introducing the speakers. The speakers included the Governor, Secretary of State, two North Carolina Senators, and many Chinese business leaders.
Monday I participated in a meeting of the Wake County Mayors Association. Eight of the twelve mayors were in attendance. Absent were the mayors of Apex, Morrisville, Knightdale, and Wendell.
One topic discussed was the legislation that now requires municipalities to pay for road improvements around schools. In addition, municipalities are not allowed consider the road’s level of service as part of their decision.
Monday, council members and staff held a reception for the Cary delegation of the North Carolina legislature. Legislative attendees included Gale Adcock, Cynthia Ball, Julie von Haefen, Allison Dahle, Wiley Nickle, Robert Reives, Sydney Batch, and Jay Chaudhuri. Also in attendance were our legislative lobbyists.