
February 16,
2010
The Inside Scoop – By
Tara Lightner
REALTORS®:
This newsletter is designed to provide you with an update of important real
estate issues and political activities. It will be emailed to REALTOR® members monthly, and can also be accessed at http://www.trianglemls.com/rrar-government.html
Mayor Meeker: "Now Is The Time To Lead"
Mayor Delivers “State of the City Address”, February 15, 2010
The global
economic down turn is being felt in Raleigh. That is why the City needs to
respond with action and courage. That was the message delivered today in
Mayor Charles Meeker’s 2010 state-of-the-City address in the Raleigh Convention
Center. Now is the time to lead, he said, not stagnate in the sluggish wake of
this recession. Now is the time to move on the $140 million Clarence Lightner
Public Safety Center, he continued, to take advantage of lower interest rates
and construction cost, while making certain that the Capital City has the
public safety facilities it needs to maintain Raleigh’s status as a leading
U.S. city well into the 21st century. A vote by the
Raleigh City Council on the proposed public safety center at its
Tuesday meeting is anticipated.
Mayor Meeker said that the current fiscal year’s operating budget
reduced spending by nearly $2 million and cut 85 positions. Most importantly,
he said, the budget does not reduce public safety spending and it maintains the
City’s high standards of fiscal planning, management, control and reserves
expected from the AAA quality credit rating Raleigh has.
The City’s current Capital Improvement Program is 18 percent less than
the previous year’s program. However, the mayor pointed out, that reduction
does not mean the City is standing still on necessary improvements. He
pointed to the May ground breaking for the Hillsborough Street Roundabouts
Project. The $9.22 million is designed to revitalize the corridor and improve
pedestrian access for the street that runs along North Carolina State
University’s main campus. The improvements are on schedule to be completed in
September. Mayor Meeker also referred to the $21 million transit operations
center the City broke ground on in October. The project is receiving
$11.6 million from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act and will help
to improve transit service throughout Raleigh for decades to come, he said. From the City’s website: http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_411_208_0_43/http%3B/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/news/public/News-PubAff-Mayor_Meeker___Now_Is_Th-20100215-12100347.html
Think Spring: Get out and
use the Greenways
City Breaks Ground On Upper Neuse
Greenway Trail
The City
of Raleigh broke ground February 4th to formally begin construction
of the Upper Neuse Greenway Trail, the first link of the planned Neuse River
Greenway Trail that will extend to the Johnston County line. Mayor Meeker
presided over the ceremony which was held at the canoe launch at Falls Lake,
the starting point for the Upper Neuse Greenway Trail. The trail will extend
eight miles from Falls Lake Dam to the WRAL Soccer Center on Perry Creek Road.
Citizens will be able to use the 10-foot-wide asphalt trail for biking, walking
or studying nature, such as bird watching. The trail also will include seven
greenway bridges, an elevated boardwalk, a railroad underpass shelter,
landscaping, and park furniture. Connecting points for the Upper Neuse Greenway
Trail will include the Bedford, Falls River and Riverside residential
communities. Plans also call for the trail to connect to future park sites on
Falls of Neuse Road and Thornton Road and at the North Wake Landfill recreation
site. Construction of the Upper Neuse Greenway Trail is scheduled to be
complete in the spring 2011. The $3.9 million trail is being paid for by
federal funds and City parks and recreation bonds approved by Raleigh voters in 2003
and 2007.
Neuse River Greenway Trail
With the Upper
Neuse Greenway Trail as its first section, Greenway Trail will extend 28 miles
from Falls Lake in north-central Wake County to southeast Wake County at the
Johnston County line. Plans call for it to connect to the Walnut Creek and
Crabtree Creek greenway trails in Raleigh and to residential communities in the
towns of Wake Forest and Knightdale. The entire Neuse River Greenway Trail
is estimated to cost $30 million. Approximately 50 percent of the funding has
been secured, including voter-approved City of Raleigh parks and recreation
bonds from the referendums held in 2003 and 2007. Additional funding from other
sources is being sought to complete the project.
Capital Area Greenway System
The Upper Neuse
Greenway Trail and subsequently the entire Neuse River Greenway Trail will
become part of the City of Raleigh’s award-winning Capital Area Greenway system
(CAG).The Raleigh City Council approved the CAG Master Plan in 1976, making it
one of the earliest community-wide greenway programs in the country. The CAG
Master Plan permits urban development while protecting more than 270 miles of
stream corridors. The CAG consists of about 3,500 acres and approximately 63
miles of paved and unpaved trails. The City of Raleigh’s next greenway, the
Little Rock trail, is scheduled to open Feb. 18. It will connect the City’s new
Walnut Creek Wetland Center (located at 950 Peterson St.) and the Walnut Creek
Greenway Trail to Chavis Park and Downtown Raleigh via Martin and Davie streets
Cary Sign Task Force Gets Down to Business
With three
meetings under their belts, the diverse group of citizens composing the Cary
Sign Evaluation Task Force has begun to make recommendations for the
improvement of the town’s wayfinding and informational mechanisms. Cary’s sign
regulations, thought by many to be the toughest in the Triangle, have come
under scrutiny lately as being unfriendly to businesses and not effective for
wayfinding. The group has looked at select other towns and differing approaches
to: 1) the sign materials; 2) sign height and dimensions; 3) sign colors; and
4) amount of information permitted on signs. Any recommendations coming from
the task force will be subject to public hearing and review by the Planning and
Zoning Board. The last meeting of the group was February 16th. For
more information contact Tara Lightner at TaraL@rrar.com.
Government Affairs Committee (GAC) Hosts RESPA Forum
The GAC hosted
another successful educational forum January 28th, focusing on the
RESPA changes effecting the HUD-1 and Good Faith Estimate. Speaker Mark Wooten
from SunTrust and Andrew Cookson from Cookson and Gurley, LLC described the
changes, their intentions and the group explored some of the possible
unintended consequences. If you missed the forum but would like a copy of the
handout, please contact Tara at TaraL@rrar.com and a copy of the handout can be emailed to you.
NAR Reaches out with Timely Webinars on Important REALTOR® Issues
If you are not
regularly checking the www.realtor.org site, you are missing out! NAR’s REALTOR® University is placing more and more
webinars onsite for members to access. Two interesting upcoming webinars are
listed below.
Free REALTOR® Safety Webinar
February 18
Learn how to lay the groundwork for safety when meeting clients for the first
time. Followed by REALTOR® Safety Q&A.
Energy
Efficiency Webinar- February 24
Homeowners and homebuyers are showing a greater preference towards energy
efficiency for various reasons. A NAR Research economist will dive deeper into
this topic.
Mark Your Calendars:
So You Think You Can Shag? Come and show us
your stuff at the August 13th RPAC SummerFest 2010. This
carnival-style family friendly event will be held in the REALTOR® building
parking lot from 5 – 9pm. Registration is required and children come free with
a paying adult. There will be a Shag Contest during the SummerFest, with the
winning couple going to represent Raleigh at the NCAR “REALTORS Got Talent”
contest at the NCAR Convention in Myrtle Beach in September. The winning couple
will be sent expenses paid, registration and hotel accommodations for two nights.
Each company is asked to find their hottest shaggin couple!!! Keep checking
back for more details, but mark the date – Friday, August 13th.
On Site: 2/18/2010
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