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Retreat agenda

Submitted by eastwake on 01/12/2010 - 14:52
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Commissioner Carol Hinnant said last night that the upcoming commissioners retreat could be an easy one the town staff.

That's because commissioners want to be in charge of most of the discussion topics. Board members, each of whom are chairman of a committee under the board's new committee structure, agreed to lead discussion in the area their committee oversees.

That's probably a better way of handling the discussion than trying to figure out how to narrow down the topics for discussion from among the 46 suggestions made by commissioners over the last week.

Here's a look at what commissioners said they wanted to talk about:

FISCAL AND BUDGET ISSUES

  • Review Wendell/Raleigh water and sewer pro-forma.what are realistic resolutions and timelines for resolving our pro forma debt issues?
  • Future town facility and equipment needs
  • Budget forecast for current year expenses and revenues
  • Budget projections for next fiscal year
  • Report on town's financial investments portfolio
  • Review and discuss professional contracts of attorne, engineer and auditor
  • 2010 forecast/report from each department

A. Upcoming needs for consideration

B. Plans and goals for 2010

C. Grant opportunities and/or opportunities of interest in 2010

  • Discussion of grant process. Need listing of all Grants received including funds received and costs to town
  • Are there any chances for us to access any more stimulus funds?
  • Discussion of letting contracts/Need copy of all contracts - personal service, professional, etc.
  • How board wants budget presented
  • Board expections for next budget

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

  • Review and discuss the town's economic development contract as to progress, feasibility and cost effectiveness
  • Marketing Wendell for future commercial and light industrial development growth
  • Review of economic development incentives
  • What is going on or what needs to be going on regarding the shovel-ready site program?
  • What do we really want to do regarding economic development, and what sould be the structure and procedure for doing it? What roles should individuals play?

LAND USE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

  • Minimum Housing Code Enforcement
  • Re-instatement of the town's Appearance and Beautification Commission
  • Review all departmental manpower allocations and future projected needs for 5 years.
  • Review nuisance and abatement ordinance program
  • UDO/What are the board's general concerns regarding the UDO?
  • Review results of previous Housing Diversity Task Force
  • Central Business District enhancement
  • Discuss subsidized housing ratios
  • Future annexation projections
  • ETJ expansion program
  • Long-range planning for the town - priorities for next year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years
  • Review of land use plan - do we need to modify it? Is our land use plan what we really want? What are we not doing that we should? Are there changes we need to make? Should we leave it alone?
  • Are there steps we should be taking regarding gateway(s) development needs? What was the result of the Poole Road study?
  • What are the statistics and data we need to accumulate and maintain in order to know wehre Wendell is, set goals for the future and track our progress?
  • What can we do to protect Wendell from negative effects of stalled and/or failed developments? Can existing agreements be modified in any way? What are our commitments to developers? What are the status and projections for developments currently on our books?
  • What should we be doing regarding housing diversity?
  • How can we make Wendell look better without spending lots of money?

FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE

  • Park Master Plan
  • Senior Center facility and program needs
  • What are our infrastructure needs/review town streets, sidewalks and drainage needs
  • Facility needs/short-term space needs
  • Feasibility of constructing Historical Museum
  • How should we be dealing with flooding problems in Wendell

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS

  • Town and school system relations
  • What can we do to improve our communications with the citizens?

PROCEDURAL

  • Further discussion of the committee structure and action plans under Making Wendell Better initiative/establish what is needed for Board Committees to legally function.
  • Discussion of executive sessions with (Town) Attorney (Jim) Cauley/ Primer on executive session.
  • Review current policy for making advisory board and commission appointments
  • Do we need to make any modifications in our Rules of Procedure?
  • What are the current legal requirements regarding open meetings and individuals' rights to information?

Whew

 

 

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About the blogger

Johnny Whitfield is the managing editor of the Eastern Wake News who spends all his free time doing what his wife and children tell him to do.
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