Newsletter about the City Council meeting of January 21, 2014

I began video recording the City Council in 2012, because of my desire that the City do it on their own as any modern 21st century community began doing long ago. I had people tell me that they couldn't make it to the meetings, but they would like to see what is going on. I was also told by some council members that my summaries did not truly reflect the record, so having a video/audio recording cannot be misinterpreted.

So below is the City Council meeting. With each agenda item, you can click on the links and it will take you to that specific point in the meeting. You can always drag the marker on the video display to the point in the broadcast that you are interested in seeing.

Agenda about the City Council meeting of January 21, 2014
- Go to this link if you would like more information about the Agenda items.

Highlighted Links below take you straight to that point in the video.




Special Presentations
A. Ryan Lovern, Business Development Committee, Presentation of the Business Well Crafted Award to Bisanar Company Jewelers
B. Unveiling the Ceremonial Key to the City and Presentation to Hickory Chair

Persons Requesting to Be Heard
Ms. Catherine Scott, Regarding Hunting in between Geitner and Glenn Hilton Parks - Ms. Scott is worried about Domesticated Ducks being hunted in this area and asks that ordinances be established to stop this from an area apparently not covered by the city's codes and ordinances.

Consent Agenda

New Business - Public Hearings
1. Public Hearing – for the Consideration of an Economic Development Agreement between the City of Hickory and Hickory Springs Manufacturing Solutions (HSM Solutions)

New Business - Departmental Reports:
1. Presentation by Architect Scott Mitchell to Show Plans for the Convention Center Parking Deck
2. Quarterly Financial Report
3. Appointments to Boards and Commissions

Hound's Comment: This was a fairly routine meeting. A couple of Ceremonial "Feel Good" awards were handed out to Bisanar's Jewelers and Hickory Chair. Hickory Springs is getting a kick back for the taxes they will pay in relation to some jobs and commerce they are bringing to Hickory, which seems to be the status quo for economic development on the l;ocal front these days.

Mrs. Scott's presentation about the ducks along Lake Hickory was interesting. I don't think it is a safety issue as Mr. Guess believes, but Ms. Scott has a valid point about the ducks basically being baited and domesticated at this point, because people are hand feeding them. They are basically pets and deserve sanctuary in this particular area.

The presentation about the Convention Center Parking Deck was not very informative. It was hard to follow along and would have been much better as a Power Point presentation with better renderings. It didn't seem like anything was ironed down moving forward, but I could be wrong, because as I said, I couldn't follow the presentation.

Warren Wood's presentation about the Quarterly Financial report seemed to show that the city is in a holding pattern as far as the Economics of the area goes. There seems to be some growth in activity with new building permits showing a dramatic rise in comparison to the non-activity that has taken place over the last several years, but much of this could be attributable to necessary pent up growth from the non-activity of the past several years. I am sure we will be finding out in short order, one way or the other, over the next few quarters. All other growth can be attributed to inflation. Sales tax income is one example where we are still below where we were seven years ago. That is right, we are earning less per quarter in sales tax revenue than we were in 2007.

Other issues that Warren addressed were Privilege License fees that may be changing due to NC State legislation and the delivery of a ladder truck that has not occurred, because the company American LaFrance is having financial difficulty. The Council has started a legal process of default notifying the Insurance Bonding company that American LaFrance is in default. The City will receive the truck or be reimbursed and have to purchase a truck elsewhere. The City hopes to receive the order. If delivered, a third party will stand behind the warranty. Operationally we need the truck.

What happened to fire-engine icon American LaFrance? - The Post and Courier of Charleston, SC - John McDermott - January 26, 2014

American LaFrance - Google Search