This Saturday, October 30, the City will host an all-day public workshop to discuss the future of Capital Boulevard. Capital Boulevard is one of the main veins of Raleigh and it sets an important stage for other thoroughfares of the city.

During the workshop, folks will be organized into small groups and each group will focus on a different topic. The topics will include transportation, water, land use and urban design. This workshop will give everyone a chance to work together to conceptualize the possibilities for the future of Capital Boulevard.

The meeting will take place at The Stockroom at 230, in the historic former Carolina Trust Bank Building, at 230 Fayetteveille Street from 9:00-5:00. If you plan to attend, you can register here, or you can arrive a little early on Saturday. Also, more information on the complete project is available here.

City to Collect Cooking Oil and Grease

Beginning November 1, the City will begin collecting your cooking oil and grease along with the rest of your trash and recycling. All you need to do is place your discarded oil in a sealable, non-glass container and put it out with your other trash and recycling. The goal of this project is to keep grease out of our sewer system and convert it to biofuels instead!

The program will run through January 15. Last year, during the same dates, we were able to collect more than 825 gallons of grease!

Public Meeting for Landscape Improvements

This week, the City is hosting a public meeting for proposed improvements to Newton Road. The meeting will take place at the Marsh Creek Community Center on Tuesday, October 26, from 5:00-7:00. Representatives from the City, as well as design consultants will be available to answer any and all questions and thoroughly discuss the proposed changes. Along with Newton Road, upcoming changes to Sunnybrook Road and Rogers Lane will also be discussed.

The following night, Wednesday the 27th, a similar meeting will take place at Carolina Pines Community Center. Wednesday, the proposed landscaping improvements of Tryon Road and Edwards Mill Extension will be discussed.

Both meetings will have an open house format, and more information is available by calling 996-3030.

Neuse River Solar Farm

Today was another exciting day for sustainability in Raleigh! We broke ground on the new 1.3 megawatt solar farm at the Neuse River Wastewater Treatment Plant. The City of Raleigh came together to form a partnership with Southern Energy Management, Progress Energy Carolinas, NxGen Power, and Paragon Commercial Bank in order to bring this project to life.

The solar farm will generate power power that feeds into the Progress Energy grid, and is the seventh of it's kind in the state. Our state is very well positioned to pioneer the shift to clean energy on the east coast, and this project will serve as a model for others in the future.

Sustainable Stimulus Projects in Raleigh

Yesterday, I was able to spend some time with our US Congressmen Bob Etheridge, Brad Miller, and David Price. We were able to tour a few projects that were made possible by the ARRA Stimulus Funds that North Carolina was granted last year.

We started the tour at the new Transit Operations Center that is being built on a 23-acre site on Poole Road. More than half of the total cost of the project is covered by ARRA funds, and the facility will be the first of its kind in the nation. The CAT Operations Center will integrate administration and maintenance into one facility, and the facility will also be nominated for LEED Platinum Certification. Some of the sustainable features of the facility include geothermal heating and cooling, reflective roofing and other building materials, sensored light fixtures, a rainwater collection system, and the use of local materials throughout.

After touring the Transit Operations Center, we stopped by the City's Wetlands Center, and then moved on to the Wilder's Grove Solid Waste Services Center. As with the Transit Operations Center, half of the cost of the Solid Waste Services Center is covered by ARRA funds. The Solid Waste Services Center also features geothermal heating and cooling, which is expected to result in a 35-52% energy cost savings! The Solid Waste Services Center is seeking LEED Gold Certification upon completion next Summer.

Our tour concluded at the Upper Neuse Greenway Trail segment at Falls Lake. ARRA funds are being used to complete the Neuse River Trail thru the Johnston County line. All together, the length of the trail is more than 28 miles! Raleigh's greenway system is one of our most treasured projects, it is great to see it keep expanding.

It is great to see Raleigh leading the way for sustainability with our public facilities and projects. I look forward to continuing in the same direction!