The Henderson City Council will share lots of information and take time to celebrate several accomplishments but isn’t scheduled to take many actions during its regular meeting tonight.
The action items on the agenda are sparse enough that City Manager Eric Williams estimates that the predictable matters will take a total of 27 minutes.
The items that require council action:
* An ordinance modifying the sanctions for violations that warrant civil penalties, a portion of the city code that the council has tweaked several times since enacting a table of civil penalties last year.
* A public hearing on a request from Salare owners Robert and JoAnn Esquivel to rezone 6.29 acres off Parham Road in the Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction from R-15M (a low-to-moderate-density residential district that allows mobile homes) to I-2 (industrial nonpark). The Planning Board unanimously endorsed the request, which will allow Salare to add a warehouse to its manufacturing complex for high-tech plastic containers.
* The awarding of a contract to buy a backhoe loader.
* The approval of an agreement between the city and the developers of Carey Chapel Crossings and the approval of the engineer for the project, a housing development near the Aycock Recreation Complex that involves the use of Community Development Block Grant money.
The council also is due to hear reports on a range of issues, including:
* Council member John Wester on last week’s meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers about the proposed water storage contract for the Kerr Lake Regional Water System. Wester told The Daily Dispatch that the negotiations are like a high-stakes poker game in which the corps has shown its cards but the water system still has some surprises to play. Wester also indicated that he hopes Congress will save the water system from the corps’ demand for $3.455 million. Wester’s opponent in the fall elections, council member Elissa Yount, gave a more pessimistic account of the meeting.
* City Manager Eric Williams on how the city’s costs for street lights compare with those of similar towns.
* Williams on the responsibilities and authority of the Henderson Community Appearance Commission.
* Assistant City Manager Mark Warren and Public Works Director Mark Warren on the gas prices the city pays.
* Warren and Morgan on the possibility of increasing the amount the state Department of Transportation pays the city for maintaining state roads.
* City Engineer Frank Frazier on the condition of the paving of Gholson Avenue.
* Mayor Clem Seifert on how often the city administration forwards internal e-mail to people outside the government.
* Planning Director Erris Dunston and CDBG specialist Gwen Wright on the status of the David Street CDBG project.
* Williams and City Attorney John Zollicoffer on communication from Oxford Road resident Lewis Edwards and suggested revisions to an ordinance clarifying waste collection charges.
* Vance County Emergency Operations Director Brian Short on a draft plan to participate in the National Incident Management System.
* The Rev. John Miles on his annual Youth Explosion, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Henderson Middle School.
* Clean Up Henderson Committee Chairwoman Lynn Harper and Vice Chairwoman Diane Barberio on plans for the second annual Clean Up Henderson Week, set for Sept. 26 to 30.
But perhaps the highlights of tonight’s meeting will be the celebratory elements:
* Seifert will honor Young Miss North Carolina Ashlee Perkinson.
* The mayor will mention the dedication of a monument to the Corbitt truck-manufacturing company off Parham Street behind Snackers. The ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 17 at 10 a.m.
* The mayor will recognize Brad Breece, who has served as an unpaid summer intern for the Clean Up Henderson Committee and the mayor’s housing task force.
* The council will welcome home the Henderson-Vance 12-and-under girls softball team, which finished fourth in the nation at the Babe Ruth World Series in Cherry Hill, N.J.
The council meeting starts at 7:30 in the council chambers at the Municipal Building on Beckford Drive. The meeting will follow the monthly Speak Up Henderson forum at 6 in the council chambers.