1000 x 90

Boone Town Council Meets Tonight: Wide Range of Topics on Agenda

town-of-boone-logo2 sealBy Jesse Wood

The Boone Town Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20. See agenda below and a preview of some of the topics (from skateboarding and booting to Howard Street and sidewalks) to be discussed and voted upon next week.


Presentations:

The Watauga County Farmers Market is seeking to restart conversations with the Town of Boone about building a structure for the Watauga County Farmers Market, which takes place in the Horn in the West parking lot.

Braden Willis of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is announcing a Nov. 20 event hosted by the fraternity called, “Bowling for the Blue.” Some of the proceeds from the event will go toward a cause supported by the Boone Police Department.

Nathan Godwin, a senior at App State, will appear before the council for a presentation promoting skateboarding as a sustainable transportation in Boone. Skateboarding on town sidewalks and roads is illegal in Boone.


Easements along Howard Street

The Boone Town Council will review and consider easements from Howard Street Ventures II LLC and Wilcox & Wright LLC. The Town of Boone is planning a downtown improvement project for Howard Street.


Public-Input Meetings for Junaluska, New Market Areas

The town’s transportation committee is requesting special meetings for community input regarding the Junaluska and New Market Boulevard areas because of “safety concerns regarding excessive speeding, pedestrians and bicycle travel.”

The specific areas in question are New Market Boulevard and the residential routes between West King Street and Junaluska Road. Residents, property owners and Boone United Methodist Church leaders and Hardin Park School officials, for the New Market case, are invited.

“This will allow for discussion of potential options available for the affected parties to consider and endorse,” a memo states.


Boone Sidewalk Priority List Update ‘16-17

The following is the latest updated sidewalk priority list from the Boone Works Department for the ’16-17 fiscal year. Transportation subcommittee and committee reviewed the list.

11

22

33

44


Parking UDO Amendments

According to a memo to the council from Town Attorney Allison Meade, “The main substantive change is to impose a minimum of 0.7 parking spaces per bedroom for multi-family housing, where previously only a maximum had been imposed.”

Action will the approval or not of amendments to Town Code Chapters 70 and 72.


Amendments on Towing, Booting Laws, Parking

The following is referring to Town Code Chapter 73 on towing and booting.

See memo from Town Attorney Allison Meade, who is recommending amendments to the town law:

“In follow-up to Council’s direction at its last meeting, attached are possible revisions to Chapter 73, which governs non-consensual towing and booting in private parking lots and spaces in town limits.

A few changes are merely ministerial in nature, deleting references to a town privilege tax which is no long assessed due to changes in state law.

“Other proposed changes require advance disclosure of all potentially applicable fees and charges; require that credit cards and debit cards be accepted for payment; require that receipts be provided in all cases; require that non-consensual tows be reported in advance to the PoliceDepartment; and, require that property owners or agents give express, specific written approval of a tow or immobilization during daytime hours. These changes are intended to provide reasonable protections for vehicle operators against improper towing or booting, predatory pricing, and demands for cash-only payments, and to reduce or ameliorate the disputes between vehicle operators and towing/booting personnel that continue to occur with unfortunate frequency.

The town attorney suggests that it may also be helpful if she were directed to redraft the entire Chapter 73 for sake of brevity and clarity. As currently written and organized, the chapter maybe unnecessarily lengthy and difficult to understand.”

See agenda below or view whole meeting packet here.


btc1 btc2 btc3