News-Record.com

It's budget time in Guilford County, and various agencies will soon parade before the commissioners and ask for more money. The board will try to pass the spending plan later this month.

Commissioners will meet four times this week (see the schedule below), first hearing from agencies and then from residents. Note Wednesday's session, when Guilford County schools officials meet with the board. The schools have asked for $14.6 million more than they received last year, but some commissioners seem disinclined to grant even half that.

The last meeting is a public hearing, where all residents can gripe about the proposed $507.8 million spending plan.

Monday, June 6
6 - 6:45 p.m. - Guilford Technical Community College
6:45 - 7:15 p.m. - Guilford Center (mental health)
7:15 - 7:45 p.m. - Social services/public assistance
7:45 - 8:15 p.m. - Public health

Tuesday, June 7
4 - 4:45 p.m. - Emergency services/fire districts
4:45 - 5:30 p.m. - Law enforcement

Wednesday, June 8
6 - 7 p.m. - Guilford County schools

Thursday, June 9
6:30 p.m. - Public hearing on budget

Guilford County has posted manager Willie Best's budget message online. Best read the statement Thursday night as he presented the $507.8 million budget proposal.

Property-tax-conscious Scoop readers might be particularly interested in a segment near the end of the message labeled "public accountability." There, Best adds up all the new funding that leads to the 3.75-cent tax increase he's proposing. The owner of a $150,000 home pays $56.25 more under the plan.

Best's recommended funding for the schools, for example, increases the tax rate by 2 cents. More money for law enforcement (i.e. the sheriff's department) adds 1 cent. An early retirement plan adds about one-third of a cent, and additional support for social programs equals about one-fifth of a cent.

Get rid of all that, and the tax increase is virtually wiped out. Will that happen? Certainly not, but commissioners are eyeing cuts as the July 1 budget deadline draws closer.

Ok, the 10,000-seat stadium never left High Point - it's pretty tough to move something that big.

But the city hasn't owned it since 1983, when it made a trade with High Point City Schools for Leonard Street School, which is now the police department's headquarters. Guilford County Schools became the stadium's owner in 1993 when the High Point, Greensboro and county school systems merged.

City leaders want to take back control of the stadium, believing they have more money and expertise for upgrades and maintenance. The details of how this takeover would happen haven't been worked out. City leaders are scheduled to make a presentation to the county school board June 14.

What do you think, loyal Scoop readers? Does this sound like a good or bad idea? Why?

The State NAACP held its annual legislative lobbying day up here at the legislature. Guilford County Commissioner, and state NAAACP president, Melvin "Skip" Alston was in the thick of it.

There will be more news from this meeting in the paper tomorrow and over at the Capital Beat blog.

But Alston got to talking about how he goes about being a county commissioner, in the context of giving an example of how black elected officials ought to go about their jobs.

As it turns out, Alston isn't a big fan of closed door meetings. He told the gather than he regularly reports on commissioners' closed door sessions to other local NAACP officials.

"I'm going to tell them what's going on in executive session...I'm going back and tell my people, because the white politicians go back and tell theirs."

Here's the audio of that segment. (It's a little more than a minute.)

Update: Here's more audio of Alston at the NAACP day at the assembly:

If you do, you'll have your shot this fall. All nine City Council seats are up for election.

But before you can enjoy all the prestige and money (well, ok, there's really not much money), you have to first file to run for one of the seats on council.

This week, the current City Council set the filing fee at $25 for all nine seats. You can toss your name into the ring from noon July 1 through noon Aug. 5.

Every two weeks, I get a copy of emails sent to city council members, mostly through a city comment webpage. This week, there were over 500 messages to the nine council members, one of the heaviest ever.

The hottest topic? Wal Mart. Or at least incentives going to the developer of a shopping center that would hold a Wal Mart.

Leaving out messages sent by the same person to multiple council members, there were 18 messages against the incentives and 9 in favor. Keep in mind this is a tiny fraction of the phone calls, letters, conversations on the street that council members get. But I'll post some messages so you can understand what each side was arguing.

It may not surprise you that they were arguing about different things.

On the opposition side, you had people saying they didn't want their tax money "wasted" bailing out Linder, or given to an immensely profitable multinational corporation:

Avid Zoning Commission fans (OK, there aren't many of you) may have noticed that the Bellemeade Village project on the old North State Chevrolet property has been delayed from today's scheduled rezoning hearing.

Half of the Jones Brothers team, Steve Jones, told me this morning that the application is being delayed while they do a traffic study of the streets around there. He said they should be able to get the study in time for the July meeting. They're asking for the property to be added to the "Central Business" district, like the rest of downtown.

The rezoning is critical for the project because the rules for downtown buildings would let them build right up to the sidewalk and make the most out of their land. Right now, the land is "General Business," designed for suburban areas that require them to move their buildings 15 feet back from the sidewalk.

After they get the rezoning, Jones said they could firm-up discussions with the city about aid in the form of new streets and possibly parking decks. City Manager Ed Kitchen has hinted over the past few months at the city's involvement with the development, but nothing concrete has been rolled out to council members.

If you're interested in buying, Steve said you'll probably have to wait a few months to plunk down a deposit. He said they'll wait until after they reach an agreement with the city before they stary marketing so they know better exactly what and how many units and stores they'll be able to build.

Still on the agenda is a smaller downtown condo project, also near the ballpark, brought by Kavanaugh Associates for the north side of Bellemeade between Cedar and Spring streets.

We'll have this brief (or something like it) in tomorrow's paper:

The city has ordered the Summit Executive Center at Summit Avenue and Sullivan Street to repair 17 of the 21 rooms for rent in the one-story building, inspections officials said Friday.

Among the problems cited were missing smoke detectors, exposed wiring, malfunctioning plumbing and walls and ceilings that were in disrepair, said city inspector Danny Nall. At least four of the units had yellow placards attached to their doors ordering that they be vacated by Monday.

"These are basically simple problems," said Paul Watkins, one of the buildings owners. He said that all repairs ordered by the city would be made by early next week.

For folks who might want to know more (Yes, I'm talking about you Hoggard and crew over in Aycock) here's the expanded version of what we know so far.

Today's deadwood version of Scoop is online.

Click here for saucy items on the Guilford County budget, a retirement party for Greensboro city manager Ed Kitchen, and some curious signage near Piedmont Triad International Airport.

High Point City Council meets today at 4:45 p.m.

They'll likely vote on the city's proposed 2005-06 budget - which includes a tax increase along with hikes in electric and water and sewer rates - and also consider demolition orders for three buildings with some historical significance.

The final scheduled public hearing on the budget is slated for 6:30 p.m.

An attorney for residents on Lindley Road said the Greensboro City Council will postpone a hearing Tuesday night on a development sought along Friendly Avenue.

Back in May, we wrote about this case when it was turned down by the Planning Board and the Zoning Commission:

Two city panels turned down a plan to build three-story condominiums along West Friendly Avenue, yielding to complaints from residents that the development was too intense for their quiet neighborhood.
High Point-based Blue Ridge Co s. sought permission to build a 36-unit complex on what is now four home lots near Lindley Road. But nearby homeowners said the buildings would tower over the smaller homes that surround it.
"The size and character of the buildings would be out of place in our neighborhood," said Morris Pennington, who lives nearby.

The residents have hired attorney John Higgins to represent them and are negotiating with the developer to find something more "in character" with the neighborhood. They'll need another month to negotiate, so the developer has asked the city to delay Tuesday's vote.

We'll keep an eye on the plans and bring you more updates.

In our story today outlining two significant departures on the council, I didn't get a chance to spell out all the candidates who are in, out, or on the fence for the fall council race.

I'll throw in the proviso that all of this is academic, since the list that really matters will be compiled by the board of elections from July 1 to August 5 at noon.

Mayor:

This afternoon, the Greensboro Board of Adjustment granted 3rd District Councilman Robbie Perkins' request for a variance so he could build his new Irving Park home 7 feet closer to a side street than is required by normal city regs.

For a quick civics 101 lesson on the BOA, it's an appointed board that residents can go to if they want a special exception made for their property when it comes to the rules that everyone is bound to about not building your house too close to property lines, streets, etc. (More info on variances here)

In Perkins' case, he and his wife want to build a two-story, 2800-odd square foot Dutch Colonial home at the corner of St. Andrews Road and Wentworth Drive. The side of the home would lie 33 feet from the centerline of Wentworth Drive, but the city's current rules require homes to be 40 feet from the centerline of a side street. The Perkins' architect said the house needed to be that wide to fit in with the surrounding homes and to accomodate a first-floor master bedroom, something most vintage Irving Park homes don't have.

Here's the rub: Should the city apply modern setback rules in a historic neighborhood for a modern home designed to look historic? When John Nolen and Earle Draper designed Irving Park, they built narrower roads and put the homes closer to the street. But if the same land was developed now, they'd probably build wider streets and put in more space between the homes.

In order to grant a variance, the board has to find that "no reasonable use" can be made of the property without the variance. Board member Sandra Anderson, while voting for the variance, pointed out that the Perkins could just build a house that was 7 feet shorter. She noted that in the case right before Perkins', the board voted 4-1 not to allow a homeowner to add on a carport to their house because it extended 3 feet into the setback from the sidestreet.

In the end, four members decided that Perkins should get his variance, while one member opposed.

By the way, Perkins' announced he won't run for re-election this fall, but the new home is still in District 3.

Guilford County commissioner Paul Gibson voted himself a 40 percent pay raise last week, but now he doesn't want to take it. Or maybe he does. He can't decide.

Gibson said he's uncomfortable with the lack of discussion on the commissioners' pay increase, first made public as he read a list of Democrat-created changes to the county's 2005-06 proposed budget at Thursday's board meeting. The board passed the spending plan moments later, and the raise was included.

"I'm not against the pay raise. I'm against how we got there," Gibson, the board's vice chairman, said Tuesday. "The process was flawed. It was wrong."

As we reported Sunday, Guilford commissioners are now paid more than virtually every other commissioner in North Carolina. Guilford is the state's third-largest county.

On Tuesday morning, City Manager Ed Kitchen rolled out his proposed changes to the city's water and sewer extension policy. (Link to our story here.)

"Ahh, Matt," you might be thinking. "Why do you have to bore us with minutiae about water lines? I'm going to go read some quasi-dirty humor over at Mr. Sun instead."

Well, before you do that, stay with me. Where the water lines go shapes where the city grows. Kitchen wants to open up a big area of land for water service - and therefore heavy development - along I-40/85 all the way to Rock Creek Center.

But there's always a catch. Right now, anyone who wants city water who lives outside the city has to agree to be annexed into the city at some future date. But under the new rules, developers getting water would also have to follow the city's development regulations, everything from the comp plan to, yes, restrictions on billboards.

You may remember this from January:

"The council voted 5-4 Tuesday night not to tie city development standards, including a ban on billboards along the highway, to requests by property owners to extend city water and sewer service... Proponents of the city's billboard ban sought the change Tuesday so property owners would be forced to respect the city's ban if they wanted water lines extended to their land."

If you want to read all the details, we've scanned in a memo from Kitchen that includes a draft copy of the policy. Also included is a handy map that shows the new areas the city will consider serving.