Our evening began with the Fireweek Prevention Proclamation and I opened with an Invocation.

Swearing in of Martha Wheelock 

The highlight of the evening was the swearing in of Martha Wheelock by Mayor Holcombe. The presentation of the colors added, as always, a very inspiring feeling to the special moment in our history.

Each of us on the Council presented her with a special gift, mine being a historic Morrisville coin, follolwed by comments to Martha by each of us.    Martha spoke briefly to the Council, and to the Morrisville citizens who attended the event.

Congratulations to Martha and to each of you on the Council for this hard work, and the tremendous time we put in the past year to make this great hire.

Kudos to Tony Chiotakis 

Time Guass, on behalf of the staff, and Council, recognized Tony Chiotakis for his exemplary service as an interim manager and Tony thanked his staff for providing him the support and the team effort which went into his Interim administration.

Consent Agenda 

Consent Agenda passed, including the approval of the Economic Development Services Contract, and the Pugh House historic designation.

Text Amendment on Gazebo 

The most lengthy discussion involved the text amendment, which would allow structures to be placed on HOA property in public right of ways.    Preston community is asking us to approve this amendment, although there has been much resistance and opposition from other Preston neighbors.    I believe that a vote for this amendment is in the best interest of the Town and that we do not need to get into the business of policing HOAs.

If approved, this amendment will provide a consistent Town standard, and would prevent Council from having to make decisions on a case by case basis.  Aesthetic guidlines, structure size and other details, should be decided by our staff.    Althrough we extended the public hearing,  I am still in favor approving this amendment and leaving the details on execution to the staff.

Secondary School Discussion 

The evening ended with a productive discussion on what actions need to be taken to have more secondary schools in Morrisivlle.    I believe that we need to have a joint meeting with the School Board to discuss why we need more elementary schools, and high schools in Morrisville.

Many constituents have complained during my Office Hours of overcrowded schools or too many school assignments to schools, longer distances across the County, as a result of Cedar Fork being capped.

Next step will be to push for a meeting with School Board Chair and our representative.

Wake County School Bond 

Council approved the Resolution supporitng the School Bond, which I have more details on at my recent blog on this issue.

Council Comments. 

During Council comments, I welcomed Martha to our team, congratulated our Hotties entrepreneurs for graduating this week, and provided congratulations to Ben Hitchings and our staff for their hard work, which resulted in an award for the Small Area Transit project by the NC Carolina Planning Conference.

Ben has served as the President of the American Planning Association and it is clear to me that our involvement in these national organizations enables our staff to gain insight into the trends in planning and development, most notably Main Street Development and Transit oriented Developmet.

A great evening, productive meeting.    I look forward to October meeting.