Here is an early look at this Sunday's commentary in The Durham News by Bob Wilson. Tell us what you think below (add your name if you want your comments published) or in a letter to editor@newsobserver.com.

By Bob Wilson

As legislative duplicities go, last week’s attempt by Southern Durham Development Corp., those wonderful folks who want to bring you 751 South, to make an end run around the Durham City Council was every bit as slick as the notorious state lottery vote in 2005.

The attempt finally fizzled Tuesday in the Senate, but not before going through enough incarnations there and in the House to make the Dalai Lama blush.

The City Council rightly opposes 751 South, a 167-acre, 1,300-dwelling subdivision hard by the Chatham County line. Perhaps the council was embarrassed by its decision last year to extend the city’s designated urban growth area, though wisely not the city limits, all the way down N.C. 751 to the county line.

Southern Durham Development desperately needs city water and sewer; the 751 project won’t perk without those services. When nothing worked to change the City Council’s stand on the issue, Southern Durham sought help from willing hands in the General Assembly.

This is RENCI researcher Paul Ruth hoisting flags between the pines at Oval Park Wednesday morning before the Watts Hospital-Hillandale July Fourth parade. (Awesome, by the way. Look for more pics coming Sunday in The Durham News).

I just happened to post on my Facebook page that neighborhood parks are part of what make Duham cool. And wouldn't you know we just got this Durham news release:

This month, Durham Parks and Recreation (DPR) is sponsoring a YouTube-style video contest entitled, “How I Love My Park.”
 
The video contest is in observance of National Park and Recreation Month, a program created by the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and the America’s Backyard Initiative to raise awareness of the vital impact that parks, recreation and conservation have on communities across the U.S.
 
To participate, residents must create a 30 second or 60 second video demonstrating how they love their park, upload it on YouTube by August 8 and email the link to DPRinfo@durhamnc.gov.
 
"Durham Parks and Recreation provides opportunities for our community to Play More, and no one can tell a better story about our parks than those who enjoy them” said Rhonda B. Parker,” director of DPR. "We're asking residents to grab a video camera and capture how they enjoy recreating at their favorite park.”
 
A panel of judges will select the top winners of three categories: best overall, funniest and most viewed video. The winning video of the best overall category will be shown on DTV8 (Time Warner Cable Channel 8) as well as uploaded on Durham Parks and Recreation’s website and Facebook page. The top winners in the funniest and most viewed categories will receive a DPR gift pack to include a lawn chair, beach blanket and picnic basket.
 
Visit www.DPRPlayMore.org or call (919) 560-4355 for contest rules, instructions and details.

Durham City Council members are reassuring food truck lovers that proposed new rules aren’t meant to quash the Bull City’s mobile eateries. (See the rules here.)

The rules go to a public meeting 5:30 p.m. Monday in Durham City Hall. Among other things, trucks would be banned within 100 feet of a restaurant entrance without the restaurant owner’s permission. Second, trucks could be banned around Durham Central Park, including when the Durham Farmers Market meets Wednesdays and Saturdays.

In an email, City Councilman Mike Woodard reassured one constituent “the intent of the proposed ordinance is not to ‘overregulate’ food trucks.” Rather, the city has received some complaints about street vendors, not just food trucks. “This ordinance is our staff's first attempt to address these concerns while not destroying the unique business opportunities and culture that have come about as a result of food trucks,” he said.

The N&O's Mouthful blog has two updates on Durham's proposed food truck rules:

Durham Central Park and Durham Farmers' Market officials say they were as surprised as the food truck owners by the proposal. Go HERE to read that post.

And Durham food truck supporters have started a website to oppose the rules. To read more about that, go to DurhamLovesFood.com.

State Senate Bill 382, forcing Durham to let Southern Durham Development hook its 751 South subdivision onto the city water system, died in the legislature early Tuesday morning.

The Senate voted the bill down 15-25, then agreed to reconsider and voted it down again 18-19.

"It's kind of dead for today," said Durham state Sen. Floyd McKissick, but the bill or something similar could be introduced in a future General Assembly session, he said.

"The political landscape can always change."

Deputy City Manager Ted Voorhees (right) is in line to become city manager in Fayetteville, that city announced this afternoon.

According to the announcement, Fayetteville authorities and Voorhees are finalizing his contract and the Fayetteville City Council expects to approve his appointment July 9. Voorhees would start his new job in early August.

Voorhees said he is "eager" to move his family to Fayetteville, but he has mixed feelings about leaving Durham.

"I love this city," he said.

"I want to congratulate Ted," Durham Mayor Bill Bell said. "He'll do a great job."

Voorhees has been a deputy manager in Durham for 10 years, and spent two years as manager of Bowling Green, Va. in the mid-1990s. Fayetteville chose him from 120 applicants for its manager position.

Fayetteville has 208,000 citizens, 1,500 employees and a $187 million budget.

Durham officials are considering banning food trucks from within 100 feet of the front entrance of a restaurant and from the Durham Central Park area.

Go HERE to see food writer Andrea Weigl's post about the new rules.

The state Senate and House have appointed conferees to work on an agreeable version of SB 382, the bill that would compel Durham to let 751 South hook onto the city water-sewer system.

Last week, the Senate voted not to concur in a House-approved version of the bill.

State Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, is chairman of a seven-member House contingent. Moore wrote the provision that would bar cities from denying water and sewer extensions to property outside their city limits but within a designated "urban growth area."

Along with Moore are Paul Stam, R-Wake; John Blust, R-Guilford; William Brisson, D-Bladen; Rodney Moore, D-Mecklenburg; Bryan Holloway, R-Rockingham; and Stephen LaRoque, R-Lenoir.

From the Senate are Tom Apodaca, R-Buncombe, who sponsored SB 382 in its original form pertaining to withholding taxes; Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph; and Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus.

The committee has not scheduled a meeting.

The state Senate this evening voted against concurring in a House bill that would force the city of Durham to allow Southern Durham Development to connect its 751 South project to the municipal water-sewer system.

The bill, SB 382, could be sent to a conference committee for House and Senate representatives to work out a compromise version of the bill. S 382 passed the House Wednesday by a 66-50 vote.

Originally pertaining to withholding taxes, SB 382 had remained in House committees since its Senate approval in May 2011. State Reps. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland and Paul Stam, R-Wake replaced the original language with new provisions: one requiring cities to allow utility connections to property owners outside their city limits but within their "urban growth areas," such as Southern Durham Development; the other to delay implementation of a water-quality regulation for Jordan Lake.

Because the bill originated in the Senate, its new language must be approved there before becoming law.

The state House gave final approval this afternoon to a bill that would require the city of Durham to let Southern Durham Development link its 751 South subdivision onto the city water system.

In February, the City Council voted unanimously to deny the developer's application for a utility connection.

SB 382 won approval 66-50 on its third reading and now goes to the state Senate for its concurrence. Because it is is a rewritten version of a bill the Senate had approved in 2011, it can be confirmed there with a single vote.

Anticipating a quick Senate approval, City Manager Tom Bonfield said the City Council will hold a special meeting on the bill July 5.

Bonfield has declined discussing any action the city might take in response.

House members debated the bill for more than an hour Tuesday before approving its second reading. Today, state Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, used a legislative procedure to prevent further debate.

Durham Rep. Paul Luebke, who tried unsuccessfully to remove the bill's section affecting Durham during Tuesday's debate, called Moore's move "completely inappropriate" and "reprehensible."

Luebke had said Wednesday morning that he planned to reiterate his argument that "this is a bill on behalf of private interest, this is a private interest that didn't agree with the city council decision."

Blocking debate before the final vote, he said, "is very, very wrong and, members (of the House), I hope it never happens again."