After more than six months' absence, City Councilman Howard Clement was back in his seat for Monday night's meeting.

"It's good to be back, folks," he said. "It's good to be back."

The city's personnel office has switched positions on a health-insurance provider for the next three years, now recommending the city continue with Blue Cross.

Previously, city staff and an employee review committee had recommended changing to United Healthcare. On Friday, though, Human Resources Manager Virginia Jones and Health Strategies Coordinator Dee Byers sent City Manager Tom Bonfield a memo with a new opinion.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on the insurance contract during its meeting tonight.

A usually routine approval for renewals of privilege licenses to sell beer and wine raised a red flag at today's City Council work session, after Councilman Steve Schewel said that one applicant's owner has been cited for noncompliance with ABC regulations multiple times.

"We ought to be questioning that," Schewel said.

The comment met general agreement, leading to a consensus that the council withhold approval for the Beaver Pond Family Fare at Club Boulevard and Roxboro Street when the license applications come up at the May 21 regular business meeting. The Beaver Pond Family Fare is owned by M.M. Fowler Inc., whose stores, Schewel said, have been found noncompliant six times in the past year.

"When are we going to start sending a new message, an official message, that you can't regularly abuse your ABC license and there are no consequences?" Schewel said.

In the meantime, council members are open to hearing from M.M. Fowler and from the general public on the 303 other establishments making application.

A link to the list is below.

Documents:

Durham's City Council, it appears, has heard enough about a "Business Improvement District" downtown. Approval for a service contract in the BID is on the consent agenda for Monday's council meeting, and could get the go-ahead along with 20 other items in a single vote without discussion.

Southside Neighborhood Association President Marie Hunter thanked the City Council this afternoon for its attention to her community, but she took issue with a city report indicating a decline in crime there.

"We don't know what to do," she said. "We talk and talk and talk and the same things are going on all the time."

With the City Council about to consider a formal "development agreement" with the St. Louis firm McCormack Baron Salazar for rebuilding the twice-failed Rolling Hills subdivision, Durham developer Bob Chapman has weighed in to suggest that City Hall think again.

In an email this morning to council members and Mayor Bill Bell, Chapman laid out an economic argument against the agreement, which is on the Council's work-session agenda this afternoon.

His email reads:

With the urging of 23 grownups and a half-dozen children, the City Council approved a $236,000 grant for fixing up the dilapidated Old Y.E. Smith School building to become home for a school again.

The nonprofit Self Help has an option to buy the century-old building on Driver Street, and plans a $10 million renovation before leasing it to the Maureen Joy Charter School.

"Bringing Maureen Joy to East Durham only supports our commitment to all children in our community," said Aliyah Abdur-Rahman, a homeowner across Driver School from the now-vacant building.

Durham County Republicans have officially joined the opposition to a downtown "Business Improvement District" and a property tax to support it.

At its annual convention in March, the party passed a resolution against the proposal to add 7 cents per $100 assessed valuation to pay for downtown promotions and a team of "ambassadors" to greet visitors and perform custodial chores.

Particular points of GOP opposition include:

• The BID tax would amount to a combined 4.39 percent increase in the city and county tax rates;
• Both city and county are considering tax increases for other uses;
• Many of the BID-financed activities "raise issues as to appropriateness, fairness and civil liberties and should not be financed by taxation";
• The special tax district might favor some businesses over others.

Downtown Durham Inc. is promoting the BID.

The City Council approved a BID in principle last May, but put off imposing the tax and actually creating the district for a year. The BID is expected to come to the council again as part of the budgeting process for 2012-13.
 

Rental-housing inspections upstaged 751 South at the City Council's meeting Monday night.

Council members took only four minutes to reject, 6-0, Southern Durham Development's request for a city water and sewer extension to its controversial subdivision.

That vote, though, came only after an hour and 55 minutes of comments, questions and discussion on the proposed Proactive Rental Inspections Program – resulting in a decision to talk about it some more two weeks from now.

Before getting down to business Monday night, Mayor Bill Bell and City Council members honored outgoing Councilman Farad Ali.

Bell remarked on Ali's sense of humor and "booming voice" that "added levity to the council at very important times." To which Ali (right) responded,

"Can I leave now?"

Ali, after serving one four-year term, opted not to run for re-election this year. Just-elected Councilman Steve Schewel took over Ali's accustomed seat between Councilwoman Diane Catotti and City Attorney Patrick Baker.

For his part, Ali remarked on his council colleagues' qualities and quirks: Cora Cole-McFadden's concern for children; Catotti's thorough preparation; Mike Woodard's seeming omnipresence; Eugene Brown for "always showing me there's an argument to an argument."

Howard Clement, whom Ali called the council's "dean" – having held his seat since 1983 – missed the meeting. As for Bell, Ali said, "We didn't always know where he was coming from because we always thought he was playing poker."

Wrapping up, he said, "God bless America, God bless Durham and God bless you, Steve Schewel!"