Preview of the March 2 City Council Meeting

The agenda for the March 2nd Waco City Council meeting is now online here: 2010-3-2 Waco City Council Meeting Agenda

Here are a few things I think we should pay attention to:

RES-114 - Adding $240,621.91 for an Aviation General Consultant. I have a question as to what this is and why it's needed.

RES-118 - This is to approve the acquisition of an easement on nearly 4 acres owned by Skinny's, Inc. It states that it's for the "Waco Regional Runway Safety Area Project." This sounds like a good thing. I need to learn more. It sounds like they are working to improve the airport which is something one of the Republican District 17 Congressional candidates believes should be done. I agree.

RES-121 - Release of proposed amendments to the Consolidated Action Plan in an amount not to exceed $309,744.00 for public comment. This is for the HUD Consolidated Plan regulations. I do not currently understand why the release of records to the public requires such a large sum of money.

RES-123 - Approving $248,974.80 for 30-month leases on golf carts from a company in Atlanta. That sounds like a lot of money for golf carts to me. Why are we leasing them? Couldn't we buy them cheaper and from a company in Texas? How many golf carts are we talking about?

RES-126 - Accepting a grant from US Department of Transportation for the Airport Improvement Program. It's for $526,315.78 which includes a local match of 425,315.78. This might be a good thing. What types of improvements are being made to the airport?

ORD-127 - Changes the speed limit of New Road from Cobbs Dr. to Waco Dr. to 45 mph and to retain a speed limit of 40 mph from Waco Dr to the Beverly Hills city limit. No big deal, but we should know about it. This is on first reading.

ORD-128 - This is the second reading of a rezoning ordinance. They want to change 820-1006 N 4th St. and 807-1009 N 5th St. from R-1B to Planned Unit Development. The property is to become high-end condos. Toni Herbert stated at the last meeting that there is an "emotional connection" to this property. I'm not positive what she means.