Council Meeting 10 February

This evening several interesting things were on the agenda.  First was the narrowing of Abram St.  I have never been a fan of this effort.  The downtown organization has been trying to make Abrams a pedestrian friendly area for the last couple of years, by narrowing it to three lanes.  I for one wanted to keep Abrams at four lanes.  I thought that the setbacks were wide enough on the north side of the street and that one lane could be taken out and the sidewalk widened on the south side for walkability.  I was the only vote not to narrow Abram St.

The second thing was a muffler shop and I must admit it was a nice planned development.  But the problem was that it was in violation of the Unified Development Code (UDC) of the city.  We have put a limit on the type of zoning that will allow an automotive business.  This business was in conflict with that code, so I voted no.

Lastly was the election concerning red light cameras.  If the people want a vote to remove red light cameras then I have no problem with it.  I simply want the voters to make an educated decision concerning their existence.  I always pose the same question.  If I had an intersection with 100 accidents a year, and could install a device to reduce the accident rate by 75-80%, would you want me to install that device?  I haven’t had one citizen tell me that they want that device removed.  In 2013 accidents were reduced from 106 in 2006 to 27 in 2013. (75%)  The rate in 2014 was 21 accidents. (80%)  So as you can see the cameras perform a valuable service to the city.  I will be debating the Tea Party at Humperdinks on 26 Feb. at 7:00pm.  If you have time please come and listen.