Salisbury City Council now meeting at 5 p.m.
Published 12:10 am Monday, February 29, 2016
By Amanda Raymond
amanda.raymond@salisburypost.com
The Salisbury City Council will now be meeting at 5 p.m., starting with the meeting on Tuesday.
The Salisbury City Council will meet at City Hall at 217 S. Main St.
The council previously met at 4 p.m. During a meeting in December, Councilman David Post brought up the possibility of changing the time so that more citizens could attend.
After allowing the public to weigh in, the council found that many people wanted the council meetings to begin later in the evening.
Post said he received several hundred comments on social media, and that most of the people who wanted the meetings to start later suggested 6 or 7 p.m. as the start time.
Mayor Pro tem Maggie Blackwell and Councilman Kenny Hardin also said they received responses from the public.
Councilman Brian Miller said he would rather not start the meetings at 7 p.m. He said he was worried that the council might not be as sharp-minded if meetings went too late into the night.
The council decided that beginning with the meeting on March 1, the starting time of their meetings would be changed to 5 p.m. with public comment starting at about 6 p.m. or at the end of the meeting, which ever comes first.
Before Tuesday’s meeting, the council will hold a special meeting to review notes from the 31st Annual Future Directions and Goal Setting Retreat and discuss its vision and priorities.
During the retreat on Jan. 27 and 28, the council talked about the current state of the city and the vision going forward. They also heard presentations from different city departments and community partners. After brainstorming about a vision for Salisbury’s future, the decided to let the city employees organize and edit the notes and come back with their results at a later date.
In other council business, the council will:
- Hear Highlights and Goals presentations from the Tourism and Cultural Development Commission.
- Consider renaming the Lincoln Pool to the Fred M. Evans Pool at Lincoln Park.
- Hear budget request presentations from Downtown Salisbury, Inc. and the Salisbury-Rowan Economic Development Commission.
- Consider adopting a Resolution of Intent to update the Salisbury Vision 2020 Comprehensive Plan and establish a steering committee.
- Consider making appointments to various boards and commissions.
- Receive public comment.
- Hear a Salisbury-Rowan Utilities water update.
- Go into closed session that will concern a personnel matter.
The mayor will also proclaim the month of March 2016 as March for Meals Month.
Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.
