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In other news...
A couple of things that didn't make it in time for our story (unposted) this morning on the city council:
It will soon be easier to get a late-night hot dog from a street vendor. Until now, vendors were required to pack up by 9 p.m., well before the rush of nighttime visitors to downtown clubs. Downtown Greensboro Inc., a quasi-public group of downtown property owners and businesses wanted the regulations enforced, but were willing to extend the time until 11 p.m.
Not late enough, a group of vendors told the council. They wanted to provide nosh at least until 3 a.m. when the nightclubs shut down for the night. The council agreed to the later time and was then promised free bratwurst.
After the meeting, the council went into a closed session to discuss an economic incentive package. Nobody would say what company the incentives were for, but some county commissioners have already been approached about a deal to bring a Dell Computer plant to the Triad. The state already offered the company $242 million in incentives to build a plant somewhere in the Triad.
(Update:) Council member Robbie Perkins said this morning he couldn't disclose whether Dell was the subject of the incentives but indicated that it was a very large project.
"I think we'll have to have several meetings to work out this one," he said. "It's not something you do in a 20 minute meeting."
Quote of the day, from Don Vaughan: "The new two-way streets are a hit!"
Hopefully he doesn't mean the kinds of hits that make your insurance premium go up.
Comments (2)
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One of the great pleasures of spending a late night over on Walker Avenue is coming out of the Blind Tiger or some other club and having a bratwurst done all the way at 2 in the morning... especially after imbibing beer or 12... so I hear.
You didn't say why DGI was against the vendors but I would be interested to know the basis of their opposition since Channel 13 doesn't reach Charlotte. I can't imagine what the reasons might be for a downtown boosterism organization to say no to hotdogs after 11p. Sounds oppressive.
Posted on November 17, 2004 7:35 PM
David,
There wasn't anyone from DGI that actually attended the meeting. Their preference for 11 p.m. was just relayed through the mayor. He said that DGI's reasoning was that street vendors attracted homeless people, so it would be better that they close down by 11.
When it became clear that most of the council agreed with the vendors to push the time back to 3 a.m., the city manager suggested tabling the measure so DGI could explain their position. Tom Phillips tersely shot down the idea of tabling it because the vendors already sat through five hours of hearings and DGI didn't bother to show up.
So feel free to nosh away.
Posted on November 18, 2004 1:50 PM