Mayor Charles Meeker says on Tuesday he will nominate Mary-Ann Baldwin and Nancy McFarlane to each serve as Mayor Pro Tempore - the mayor's number two who leads meetings in his absence and attends events that he can't.

Baldwin and McFarlane both have been on the council since 2007. The plan is for Baldwin to serve as Pro Tempore through April, and McFarlane to take the post from May through Novemeber, when the councilors will be up for re-election.

Baldwin and McFarlane have aligned closely with Meeker on some of his signature issues, namely the stalled construction of the Clarence E. Lightner Public Safety Center.

"Nancy McFarlane and Mary-Ann Baldwin are consensus builders who have worked hard to keep Raleigh moving forward during the past recession period, and both will represent the city well at meetings and ceremonies," said Meeker, Raleigh's five-term mayor. "Both are well-qualified and deserving. I didn't want to choose between the two."

Meeker's nomination must be approved by the council on Tuesday, when he also will swear in Eugene Weeks as former Councilman James West's replacement. Meeker said he will appoint Weeks to take West's place on the Law and Public Safety Committee, and to become the fourth member of the Public Works Committee.

Weeks will be the council's liason to the parks board, which he chaired before being selected to succeed West. West left the council last month after 11 years to fill a vacant seat on the Wake County Board of Commissioners.

Raleigh's City Council is hosting a special public hearing tonight to discuss one of two options for the high-speed rail route that will connect Raleigh to Richmond, Va.

It could be a contentious meeting - some Five Points residents and officials with the Norfolk Southern station are adamantly opposed to the route Raleigh's Passenger Rail Task Force has recommended.

It almost certainly will be a well-attended hearing. So come early.

It starts at 7 p.m. in the council chambers.

Raleigh's City Council unanimously approved temporary bike lanes along a revamped section of Hillsborough Street near the N.C. State campus earlier this afternoon.

The NC Dept. of Transportation, which maintains the road, gave the city approval to stripe the lanes. The city requested approval after a heated argument between bike advocates and business owners.

The city's Public Works Committee recommended the lanes, even after city staff suggested the issue be put on hold until after construction on Hillsborough was completed later this summer.

The nearly $10 million road construction project was vetted publicly a decade ago, and bike lanes were not part of those discussions. The master plan for the road, however, did include a shared space for bikes, pedestrians and traffic.

The cost of the temporary lanes is unknown. Permanent lanes are expected to cost about $40,000, which is to be taken out of left over construction funds. The city and state will evaluate the lanes for several months before determining whether or not they will become a permanent fixture.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved installation of a sidewalk on Merwin Road, despite a majority of residents in the area voting against it.

In a report to City Manager Russell Allen, Raleigh's public works director writes that 73 percent of homeowners in the west Raleigh neighborhood attending a public meeting about the sidewalk, and 64 percent of those voted again a sidewalk on either side of the road.

Immediately after City Manager Russell Allen reported those facts to the council, Thomas Crowder, whose District D includes Merwin Road, moved to install the sidewalk.

More to come in next week's Midtown Raleigh News.

Report's Sarah Ovaska writes in today's N&O that John Odom won't swing his vote to the affirmative on the stalled $205 million Lightner Public Safety Center.

It was believed that Odom, the lone Republican on the eight-member council, might switch his vote since the project is without a tax increase, as was first proposed.

This means Lightner might just be the deadest initiative this side of the Crabtree Valley Spreeway.

But Mayor Charles Meeker isn't giving up. He'll continue to court two other council members - likely Thomas Crowder and Russ Stephenson (Bonner Gaylord also opposes the project, but is most unlikely to waiver after his outspoken case against Lightner at a council meeting earlier this year).

Don't expect Crowder or Stephenson to budge.

BEER ME, OR NOT: The state Alcohol and Beverage Control Commission shot down a proposed exemption to state law last week that would have allowed Raleigh to hang the Bud Light logo on its new amphitheater in downtown. That would have brought the city a cool $1.5 million over five years. Instead, they’ll explore other options (perhaps a “Bud Light Concert Series”?). Read the full story.

WHERE”S MEEKER? The mayor’s official schedule:
Monday: Budget deliberations, 4 p.m. at City Hall; East CAC meeting afterwards at Lions Park.

Tuesday: Budget and Economic Development Committee meeting, 11 a.m.; 5:30 p.m. meeting at the Busy Bee with Common Cause, a left-leaning political non-profit that advocates for campaign finance and other reform issues.

Thursday: Health care convention at 8 a.m. at the convention center; ribbon cutting at Transatlantic bank (4801 Glenwood) at 6 p.m.

COUNCIL: No meeting this week.

TWEET TWEET: Follow District E Representative Bonner Gaylord on twitter: @bonnergaylord

BALANCING BUDGETS: The Wake County Commissioners are expected to adopt the county’s $951 million operating budget for the next fiscal year at today’s meeting. That will keep the doors open when the budget year begins July 1. Meanwhile, Raleigh’s council members will continue fine-tuning the city’s budget, handed down by City Manger Russell Allen. It won’t raise property taxes, but find out what it will do in Sarah Ovaska’s report this week.

HOT ISSUE: Contentious discussion at the county meeting might include the school board’s proposal to pay $4.3 million for land in Rolesville as the site for a new high school. The school originally was to be located on Forestville Road, but the school board voted to scrap that site. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and commissioner Stan Norwalk oppose the move. Read more about the battle.

COMING WEDNESDAY: In the North Raleigh and Midtown Raleigh News sections, learn how some Wakefield residents are finally getting what they were promised a decade ago. Also, a North Raleigh man is reunited with his beloved guitar 35 years after he let it go.

NEED YOUR INPUT: The city is hosting its first public meeting Thursday on how to transform putrid Capital Boulevard into a pretty gateway to the Capital City. So if you have ideas on how to spruce up the corridor, head over to the Bobby Murray Chevrolet on Capital at 6:30 p.m.

LUCK OF THE IRISH: Congrats to Ireland’s Graeme McDowell for winning the U.S. Open yesterday at iconic Pebble Beach, despite a final-round 74. Has absolutely nothing to do with Raleigh, of course – just a great golf tournament. Speaking of golf, Raleigh doesn’t even have its own course. Crazy…

FIRST ACT: Respectable crowd for the first night of Raleigh’s Outdoor Amphitheater and Festival Site. It’s not yet called the Bud Light Amphitheater, but you sure could smell the Bud Light Friday – and see its clear impact on hundreds of horrific, and shameless, dancers. The crowd was nowhere near a sellout. The city even allowed strollers, which it previously said it would not. Our own David Menconi tells Report that the crowd increased dramatically after sundown. No report yet on the Backstreet Boys’ Sunday night performance. The Cary News’ Sadia Latifi says she’ll report as soon as she stops hyperventilating (apparently, Nick Carter touched her hand).

CURING CRABTREE: Report has learned city staff likely will make a recommendation to the council sometime this summer in regards to how to best cure traffic woes around congested Crabtree Valley. If the council approves changes, it would be a landmark act to solve a decades-old problem. Several past attempts at curing the clustered corridor have failed. Report will give updates in the coming weeks.

MASTER PLANNER: Report’s Sarah Ovaska gives us a glimpse into the mind of Raleigh's sharp planner, Mitchell Silver. From her Sunday profile: “Being a top city in the Southeast isn't enough. Silver's goal is to shape Raleigh into one of the world's attractive cities, something he thinks is possible if residents and politicians commit now to building the public transportation network of bigger cities such as Atlanta and Charlotte and to resculpting Raleigh's suburban neighborhoods.”Read the whole story.

ON THE AGENDA: No meeting this week, and two committee meetings scheduled for June 8 have been canceled (Maybe a few council members REALLY enjoyed the amphitheater this weekend).

SNEAK PEEK: Coming Wednesday in the North Raleigh and Midtown Raleigh News sections: Silly Bandz are getting silly banned in local schools. North Raleigh hosts a world-record swimming attempt. The city’s eligible for a multimillion-dollar refund on the Falls of Neuse Road realignment project. The city should have its own golf course. 

UPDATE: Sadia's review is up. http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/06/07/519225/fans-sit-in-rain-for-backstreet.html 

As Durham's City Council and county commissioners worked through next year's budgets this week, some differences of opinion have emerged.

For example, over the Neighborhood College program -- a formerly twice-yearly course for Bull Citizens on how local government works. Some council members were not amused that the county has withdrawn its funding for next spring's term.

Mayor Pro Tem Cora Cole-McFadden wondered whether to bring the matter up at the next joint meeting of commissioners and council members.

"The county's just not committed to it," Councilman Mike Woodard said. "It's not fair for us to staff it without county help."

City Manager Tom Bonfield's recommended budget provides $3,000 for a class this fall.

"We need to show [the county] the value of investing in our citizens," Woodard said.

To which Council Member Diane Catotti responded, "Sounds like they're blowing them off on a regular basis, these days."

When Bull's Eye asked, Catotti declined to elaborate.

The City Council voted unanimously today to include a median, and not a center turn lane, in a widened 1.3-mile section of Falls of Neuse Road.

The vote ends several months of debate over the road’s design. City and state officials had recommended that the widening of Falls of Neuse from Raven Ridge Road to Fonville Road include a median with interspersed turn lanes.

A coalition of residents along the stretch had been lobbying for a five-lane design that included a center turn lane. N&O reporter Sarah Lindenfeld Hall explained both sides of the issue in a recent North Raleigh News article.

The approved road design includes a 17.5-foot-wide median and traffic signals at Raven Ridge Road, Dunn Road and Wide River Drive.

Although the council voted for the median design, it also agreed to address several concerns raised by residents. Six months after the road widening is complete, the city will review the road’s performance to see if any additional traffic signals are needed. The city has also agreed to improve landscaping at several points along the stretch being widened.

The 1.3-mile section is part of a $29 million project to realign Falls of Neuse Road through Wakefield Plantation and add a new bridge over the Neuse River below Falls Lake. The city is contributing $15.2 million toward the project, with the remaining funding coming from state and federal sources.

Falls of Neuse is a state road.

If downtown Raleigh had as much interest from lenders as it did parking, the City Council and City Manager Russell Allen would be very happy people.

Last week the council voted to lease the property at 301 Hillsborough Street to Campbell University so that the school can turn it into a parking lot. You may recall that the land was supposed to be sold to the Reynolds Company, who were going to develop it into a hotel. But Reynolds could never nail down financing for the project, and the City Council and Allen got tired of waiting so they terminated the agreement earlier this year. 

Now the giant hole in the ground at 301 Hillsborough has been filled, and Campbell Law students and faculty will soon be able to park across from the school's new home, which opens next month. The lease agreement was approved at the same meeting where the council gave the developers behind Charter Square more time to get their two-tower project off the ground. The developers were given an extension largely because they are about to finish an underground parking deck below the site, which is at the south end of Fayetteville Street next to the City Plaza. 

The city will buy the deck for about $25 million once it's complete. And let's not forget the Wake County parking deck that was just finished on the other side of the convention center. That deck is supposed to be surrounded by Empire Properties L Building, another project halted by the credit crunch. 

Downtown Raleigh already had a lot of parking before these latest decks, so it seems reasonable to ask why the city appears to have never met a parking deck/lot it didn't like. The leasing of 301 Hillsborough is a sensible short-term use of the property, but are all these parking decks necessary? They're not cheap, after all, particularly when they're being build underground. 

What do you think?