A Great Week in Raleigh!

There are all kinds of wonderful events going on throughout our city this week and especially over the weekend!

Triangle Restaurant Week May 11-17

Bike to Work Week May 11-15

30th Anniversary of Artsplosure May 16-17

North Raleigh Farmers Market - Saturdays May 16 8am-12pm

Henside the Beltline Tour d'Coop Benefiting Urban Ministries, May 16

Raleigh Fashion Week May 14-17

Art on the Move Unveiling May 16 at City Market 11am

Kids 2 Kamp Benefit Ride, Proceeds going to Victory Junction Gang Camp, May 16

Downtown Raleigh Home Tour, May 16, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m

Opening of The Bain Project, Revitalized Depression Era public works project, May 16-17

National Drinking Water Week

To give some perspective on the cost of drinking water, let’s consider what other people in North Carolina are paying as well as take a look a the cost of some comparable beverages.

Cost per 1,000 gallons

Previous Raleigh water rate $ 2.63
Current Raleigh water rate $ 2.83 (as of 5/2009)

Fayetteville water rate $ 2.20
Greenville water rate $ 2.95
Cary water rate $ 3.28
Apex water rate $ 3.52
Asheville water rate $ 4.61

Water in gallon containers $ 1,050.00 ($1.05/gal)
Water in bulk cases of 24, 20 oz bottles $ 1,061.33 (6,400 bottles/ 1000 gallons)
Springtime water in 33.8 oz singles $4,885.21 ($1.29/33.8 oz, $4.89/gal)

*Sierra Club Publication - Learn the Facts About Bottled Water
*If you're buying bottled water for concern over tap water quality, try something like this.

Pepsi products $ 3389.35 ($3.39/gal, $1.79/2L)
Coca-cola products $ 3389.35 ($3.39/gal, $1.79/2L)
Lemonade $ 1,690.00 ($1.69/gal)
Tea $ 1,990.00 ($1.99/gal)
Milk $ 3,990.00 ($3.99/gal)
Orange Juice $ 3,990.00 ($3.99/gal)
Apple Juice $ 4,490.00 ($4.49/gal)
Wine ($10.99/gal) $ 10,990.00
Bud-light when purchased in 12 oz/ 6 pack $14,178.00 ($7.99/pack)

These calculations are based on prices obtained from Food Lion in the Greystone shopping center on Tuesday April 28, 2009.

All things Water!

In honor of National Drinking Water Week, The City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department hosted the 14th annual Waterfest this week at the E.M. Johnson Water Treatment Plant on Falls of Neuse Road. According to Public Utilities Environmental Coordinator Marti Gibson, the three-day event is expected to draw more than 2,500 local school kids. “It’s a wonderful educational opportunity to teach kids about all aspects of water,” she said. “We talk about watershed protection, water conservation, water treatment and all types of activities surrounding the protection of our water resources.”

Councillor Stephenson and I headed out to the Water Treatment Plant for a morning of education about all things water. We enjoyed our tour of the plant and extensive overview of the daily operations. Did you know our treatment plant processes 50 million gallons a day? Over four dozen booths were available for attendees to visit. This included demonstration of low-flow showerheads, stormwater collection, water treatment and filtration method demonstrations. Thanks to the Raleigh Public Utilities Department for organizing this wonderful event to help make our city services and water conservation education available for Wake County students.

City Council Agenda 5/5/2009

Full text of the Council Agenda here

12:30 pm

A. JOINT HEARING WITH THE PLANNING COMMISSION

1. Rezoning Z-24-09 - Trinity Road, North Side, West of Blue Ridge Road, Being Wake County

Approximately 18.40 acres is requested by Medlin Heirs and Wardlaw Heirs to be rezoned from Office and Institution 1 with SHOD-1 to Office and Institution 2 Conditional Use. Conditions include prohibited uses, limiting building heights, limits to access, stormwater retention, right-of-way reimbursement and site plan approval by City Council.

2. Rezoning Z-28-09 - Poole Road, South Side, Southeast of its Intersection with I-440 Being Wake County

Approximately 23.026 acres is requested by the City of Raleigh to be rezoned from O&I 2 and R-6 to Industrial 1 General Use.

1:00PM

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY THE MAYOR

1. Invocation - Doctor Jerry Williams, Agape Word Fellowship

2. Pledge of Allegiance

C. RECOGNITION OF SPECIAL AWARDS

D. CONSENT AGENDA

All items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and may be enacted by one motion. If a Councilor requests discussion on an item, the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. The vote on the consent agenda will be a roll call vote.

11. Road Race - Lead Mine Road Vicinity - Donnie Jackson, representing the A.E. Finley YMCA, requests a street closure on Sunday, August 30, 2009, from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for a road race.

E. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION

F. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE CITY MANAGER

1. North Wake Landfill - Redevelopment as School/Park Site

G. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE APPEARANCE COMMISSION

1. 2008-09 Annual Report and 2009-10 Work Program

Andrew Leager, Chair of the Appearance Commission, will present the commission’s 2008-09 Annual Report and 2009-10 Work Program for consideration of City Council.

H. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE ARTS COMMISSION

Brian Starkey, Chair of Raleigh Arts Commission, will present the Proposed Matrix for Arts Commission Member Appointments and accompanying information form.

I. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE HISTORIC CEMETERIES ADVISORY BOARD

1. Historic Cemeteries Advisory Board Name Change and Bylaws

J. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION

Commissioner Lorrin Freeman will present the Human Services Agency Grant recommendations for this year.

K. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE RALEIGH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

1. Quarterly Report January – March 2009

This item is the submittal of quarterly reports outlining the City’s marketing and economic development program efforts January - March 2009.

L. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE STORMWATER MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMISSION

The Stormwater Management Advisory Commission has developed additional recommendations

concerning the sedimentation control program.

M. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE BUDGET AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

N. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING COMMITTEE

1. Tree Conservation Ordinance - Proposed Text Change

The Committee recommends the City Council direct Administration to prepare a text change to incorporate into the tree conservation ordinance the following recommendation of the Tree Conservation Task Force and staff.

O. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

P. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE

1. Isabella Cannon Park Master Plan

The Committee recommends upholding staff’s recommendation to adopt the Draft Isabella Cannon Park Master Plan with the following adjustments: 1) that a new RFQ be issued for the design of Phase 1 due to the recent dissolution of current vendor, WSP Sells; 2) that extra parking at Raleigh Little Theater be utilized to satisfy the requirement for four parking stalls at the park; and 3) include the sidewalk as part of the master plan, but phase the sidewalk with development and design in the form of a trail being sensitive to existing trees and topography.

EVENING AGENDA - 7:00 P.M.

A. REQUESTS AND PETITIONS OF CITIZENS

B. MATTERS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING

1. A hearing to consider the petitioned annexations of the following locations. If following the hearings, the Council wishes to proceed with the annexations, it would be appropriate to adopt ordinances annexing the properties effective June 30, 2009, and a resolution placing the properties in the appropriate electoral district.

- Wynbrooke Subdivision (District E)

- North Raleigh Christian Academy (District B)

2. A hearing to consider improvements to Rock Quarry Road from approximately 1,000 feet west of Sunnybrook Road to New Hope Road with the improvements consisting of widening the existing two-lane roadway to five lanes with a center two-way left-turn lane and wider outside lanes to accommodate bicycles, installation of curbs, gutters, drains and paving with a five-foot sidewalk on both sides.

3. A hearing to consider the following sidewalk repairs.

7. A hearing to consider the permanent closing of all of the right-of-way known as Annette Avenue which is located south of Glenwood Avenue and west off Toyota Drive.

The Northern Wake Democrats

Last night I enjoyed the Northern Wake Democrats meeting at Milton's Pizza and Pasta. City Council At-Large Representative Russ Stephenson participated to help answer questions people had about what is happening throughout Raleigh. There was a great turnout and it was nice to talk about some of the local issues that are important to North Raleigh residents.

Some of the topics we discussed were:

- North Raleigh parks
- how stimulus money is going to be used in Wake County
- the installation of parking meters downtown
- City of Raleigh water plans; where we are today with the water supply and plans for potential new water sources; how conservation and storm water control can mitigate the impact on demand for water
- how schools are impacted by rezoning
- the need for better and increased storm water control during construction

These meetings covering various topics take place the last Thursday of every month. The next meeting will be Thursday May 28 from 6 p.m. to 8p.m. in Raleigh at Milton's Pizza & Pasta.