Agenda about the City Council meeting of April 1, 2014

This Agenda is about the Hickory City Council meeting that took place on the date listed above. City council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each Month in the Council Chambers of the Julian Whitener building.

At right of this page under Main Information links is an Hickory's City Website link. If you click on that link, it takes you to our city’s website, at the left of the page you will see the Agenda's and Minutes link you need to click. This will give you a choice of PDF files to upcoming and previous meetings.

You will find historic Agenda and Minutes links. Agendas show what is on the docket for the meeting of that date. The Minutes is an actual summary of the proceedings of the meeting of that date. You can also look in the upper right hand corner of the front page of the Hickory Hound and (will soon) find the link to the past history of Hickory City Newsletters.

Here is a summary of the agenda of the meeting. There were a couple of important items that were discussed at this meeting and the details are listed further below:

Please remember that pressing Ctrl and + will magnify the text and page and pressing Ctrl and - will make the text and page smaller. This will help the readability for those with smaller screens and/or eye difficulties.

City Website has changed - Here is a link to the City of Hickory Document Center

City Council Agenda - April 1, 2014

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The Hound's Notes:
1) Consent Agenda "Item C". Looks like they are going to find a way to finance the renovation of the "Olde Hickory Mill" building. You can see this building off to the left when traveling south on Hwy 127 after passing the Railroad underpass.

Google Map Street View 
Google Map Satellite Overhead Shot
Department of Commerce - NC Rural Development - Building Reuse Grants

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Invocation by Rev. Charles Kyker, Pastor, Christ Church

Special Presentations
A. Proclamation for Fair Housing Month to Regina Jenkins, Realty Executives, on behalf of the Catawba Valley Association of Realtors

Persons Requesting to Be Heard
A. Matthew Church, Regarding Outside Rates for Water Fees

Consent Agenda:
A. Approval of a Proclamation for Arbor Day, April 26, 2014.

B. Call for Public Hearing – for Consideration of the Community Development Block Grant 2014 Annual Action Plan. (Authorize Public Hearing for April 15, 2014)

C. Authorizing a Resolution for the Rural Economic Development Division North Carolina Department of Commerce Building Reuse Program Project “Old Hickory Mill” Building Reuse Application.

D. Budget Ordinance Amendment Number 21.
1. To budget a $25 Library donation in the Library Programming line item for Senior Bingo.

2. To transfer $7,500 from General Fund Contingency to the Economic Incentive line item. This transfer is to fund the first incentive payment of $7,500 to Turbotec per the incentive agreement.

3. To transfer a total of $55,000 from Water and Sewer Contingency to the Collection System line item ($20,000) and to the Distribution line items ($35,000). This transfer is necessary to cover overages in Overtime and Fuel expenses, caused by the 07-27-13 storm that FEMA will not reimburse.

4. To transfer $54,000 from Water and Sewer Contingency to the Sewer Treatment line item. This transfer is necessary to cover expenses for the remainder of the year for the treatment and processing of sanitary sewer that is transported to Conover from Hickory for treatment prior to discharge.

New Business - Public Hearings1. Consideration of Text Amendment (TA) 14-01 to the City’s Land Development Code. - On an annual basis the Planning and Development Services Department conducts a review of the City’s Land Development Code to determine if amendments are needed. During its current review staff has identified a number of recommended amendments to Articles 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10 of the City’s Land
Development Code. Many of the proposed amendments to Articles 2 and 6 of the Land Development Code are required due to the passage of new or revised laws by the North Carolina General Assembly, while the remainder represent modifications staff believes will better serve development within the City of Hickory. This public hearing was advertised in a newspaper having general circulation in the Hickory area on March 21, and March 28, 2014.

2. Public Hearing to Install Curb and Gutter along a Portion of the West Side of the 600 Block of 8th Street Drive NW. - The City Clerk has received a petition from the owner of property along the west side of the 600 block of 8th Street Drive NW to install curb and gutter along a portion of their street as per Section 29-2 of the Hickory Code of Ordinances. The signature on the petition represent 100% of the property owners affected, and 100% of the property footage affected. Staff requests approval of the Resolution directing that the street improvement project be undertaken. This public hearing was advertised in a newspaper having general circulation in the Hickory area on March 21, 2014.

Hickory Metro 2014 - Tied for 4th Most Miserable in the United States

The Hound: From dead last in 2010 to 5th worst last year to tied with three cities for 4th worst this year. We aren't the worst in any category this year, but we skew towards the bottom in every category, which includes obesity, exercise, eating fruits and vegetables, smoking, stress, and the uninsured.

How do we work on fixing thour Health?
Platform for a 21st Century Hickory - an Agenda on Health and Wellness


(Tuesday, March 25, 2014 Updated 08:30 AM ET)

Provo-Orem, Utah, Leads U.S. Communities in Well-Being - San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., tops large communities - Gallup - Dan Witters

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Provo-Orem, Utah, has the highest Well-Being Index score (71.4) in the U.S. across 189 communities Gallup and Healthways surveyed in 2012-2013. Also in the top 10 are Boulder, Colo.; Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.

At 59.5, Huntington-Ashland, W.Va.-Ky.-Ohio, is the only community with a Well-Being Index score below 60. Huntington-Ashland also trailed all other metros in 2008, 2010, and 2011; its score of 58.1 in 2010 remains the lowest on record across five reporting periods spanning six years of data collection.

Charleston, W.Va., has the second-lowest score of 60.0. Redding, Calif.; Spartanburg, S.C.; Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas; and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, N.C.; round out the bottom six -- with the last three communities tied with a score of 62.2. None of these metro areas are strangers to the bottom 10 list, with each community having appeared at least once on the list in a prior reporting period.

The regional breakdown in well-being scores is largely consistent with Gallup and Healthways state-level results, which find well-being generally higher in the Midwest and West, and lower in the South. West Virginia, which is home to at least a portion of the two lowest-rated metro areas (Huntington-Ashland and Charleston), ranked last in the nation for well-being among states for the fifth consecutive year in 2013. The state of California ranked 17^th in overall well-being in 2013, but nevertheless boasts three metros in the top 10 for 2012-2013.

The Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) described in this article are defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. In many cases, more than one city is included in the same MSA, and the same MSA can cross state borders (such as Huntington-Ashland). All reported MSAs encompass at least 300 completed surveys in 2012-2013, and Gallup has weighted each of these samples to ensure it is demographically representative of that MSA.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index score is an average of six sub-indexes, which individually examine life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors, and access to basic necessities. The overall score and each of the six sub-index scores are calculated on a scale from 0 to 100, where a score of 100 represents the ideal. Gallup and Healthways have been tracking these measures daily since January 2008

Our Individual (Hickory-Lenoir-Marganton) Rankings:
Obesity - 28.7% of the people in our area. (Best: Boulder, Colorado 12.4% - Worst: Huntington, Ohio 39.5%)
Exercise - 48.1% of the people in our area. (Best: Anchorage, Alaska 62.3% - Worst: Lafayette, Louisiana 43.4%)
Eat Produce Frequently - 54.6% of the people in our area. (Best: Olympia, Washington 65.7%  - Worst: McAllen, Texas 46.7%) 
Smoke - 30.1% of the people in our area. (Best: Provo, Utah 7% - Worst: Charleston, Wesy Virginia 34.3%)
Daily Stress - 57.7% of the people in our area. (Best: Gainesville, Florida 48.5% - Worst: Naples, Florida 70.3%)
Uninsured - 23.2% of the people in our area. (Best: Springfield, Massachusetts 4.6% - Worst: McAllen, Texas 51.2%)


From 2013 - Hickory Metro - 5th Most Miserable in the United States - March 27, 2013
From 2010 - Hickory - The lowest well being in the United States of America - November 1, 2010

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- March 23, 2014

Dying Memphis Neighborhood Foretells Next U.S. Crisis: Mortgages - Bob Ivry - March 21, 2014 - ... Hope for advancement was that much tougher for most people to sustain after 2008. And just as the crisis was no accident but rather a tragic convergence of stupidity and poor oversight, so too were its consequences a result of calculation.                                Just about all the behavior by the biggest banks and their Washington regulators described in this book occurred after the 2008 financial crisis. The book is divided into seven chapters, each corresponding to one of Catholicism’s seven deadly sins.                            Wall Street’s seven sins -- size, secrecy, regulatory capture (when government supervisors identify more with the industry they police than with the people they’re supposed to protect), excessive pride, complexity, impunity, and a predatory greed -- risk the second avoidable economic cataclysm of the baby boom era...



The Federal Reserve Seems Quite Serious About Tapering – So What Comes Next? - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael Snyder - March 19th, 2014 - Will this be the year when the Fed's quantitative easing program finally ends?  For a long time, many analysts were proclaiming that the Fed would never taper.  But then it started happening.  Then a lot of them started talking about how "the untaper" was right around the corner.  That hasn't happened either.  It looks like that under Janet Yellen the Fed is quite determined to bring the quantitative easing program to a close by the end of this year.  Up until now, the financial markets have been slow to react because there has been a belief that the Fed would reverse course on tapering the moment that the U.S. economy started to slow down again.  But even though the U.S. middle class is in horrible shape, and even though there are lots of signs that we are heading into another recession, the Fed has continued tapering.
Of course it is important to note that the Fed is still absolutely flooding the financial system with money even after the announcement of more tapering on Wednesday.  When you are talking about $55,000,000,000 a month, you are talking about a massive amount of money.  So the Fed is not exactly being hawkish.                                 But when Yellen told the press that quantitative easing could end completely this fall and that the Fed could actually start raising interest rates about six months after that, it really spooked the markets.                         The Dow was down 114 points on Wednesday, and the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries shot up to 2.77%.  The following is how CNBC described the reaction of the markets on Wednesday...


Nationwide Home Sales Collapse: There Is No Recovery and This Chart Proves It - SHTFPlan.com - Mac Slavo - March 20th, 2014 -Now may be the best time to buy a home. At least that’s what the majority of real estate agents in America will tell you if you ask them how the housing market is doing.                           They’ll cite various statistics and give you a “feel” for the market from their personal experiences to convince you this is the case. But if you’re paying attention, then it should be clear that there is, in fact, no recovery in the housing sector. And any gains we may have seen over the last few years are nothing short of a Federal Reserve fueled mirage, much like the stock market.
The following chart from Bank of America is indicative of some serious fundamental problems, not just with the housing market, but the broader economy as a whole...

Should Congress limit mortgage deduction? - Market Watch Wall Street Journal - John C. Weicher (Hudson Institute) - March 22, 2014 - There are easier ways to reduce one’s tax bill. But for many American taxpayers, this is the big one: the deduction for interest payments on home mortgages.                          Homeowners in the U.S. last year received a total of roughly $70 billion in federal tax breaks through the deduction. But discussions in Congress about a broad tax overhaul are heating up, and all sorts of tax deductions — including the mortgage-interest deduction — are being discussed by both parties.                          Supporters of the mortgage-interest deduction say it encourages homeownership and gives the middle class a better shot at financial security. The deduction helps middle-income purchasers by making their mortgage payments more affordable and by helping these families build equity in their homes.                          But critics say the deduction mainly benefits those with higher incomes. They say that it does nothing to help lower-income Americans who rent. In addition, they argue, in these tough budgetary times the government could put the forgone tax revenue to good use.                    So far, much of the discussion about changing the mortgage-interest deduction has focused on reducing its benefits for the wealthiest Americans. President Barack Obama has supported clipping the deduction for taxpayers in the top two tax brackets.                                More recently, Rep. Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican, proposed a tax-overhaul that would, among other things, lower the limit on home mortgages that qualify for the deductions to $500,000 of principal from the current $1 million.                        Arguing to keep the deduction in its current form is John C. Weicher, director of the Center for Housing and Financial Markets at the Hudson Institute. Bruce Katz, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, argues that the deduction needs to be revamped or replaced.

Walmart Now Has 6 Types Of Stores - Wall St. 24/7 - Paul Ausick - March 22, 2014 - With the launch last week of a gas station/convenience store, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) now offers customers six different store formats to choose from, ranging from the Supercenters of up to 260,000 square feet to the 15,000 square-foot Walmart Express stores. The enormous big-box stores still dominate the landscape, but over the past several years the company has been looking at smaller formats, as a way to extend Walmart’s brand footprint, pick up sales it is losing to smaller stores, and gain entry to markets in which they have previously been shut out...



Bay Area city votes for $12.30 minimum wage - California's minimum wage set to increase to $10 in 2016 - KCRA (Sacramento, CA) - March 19, 2014 - A San Francisco Bay Area city is on track to have the highest minimum wage in California.                           The Richmond City Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday in favor of an ordinance that would raise minimum hourly pay in the city to $12.30 an hour by 2017.                            That would be nearly $2 more than San Francisco's current minimum wage, which is the highest in the region.                          The state minimum wage is set to increase to $10 an hour in January 2016.                       The Contra Costa Times reports that most of the 30 or so residents who spoke at the Richmond council meeting were in favor of raising the minimum wage.                   But at least one business owner said it would make it difficult for him to add jobs.


Best & Worst States to be a Taxpayer - Wallet Hub - John S Kiernan  - Economic mobility – that is, our ability to climb the proverbial ladder – has a strong correlation to where we live.  Children from Seattle whose families are in the 25^th percentile in terms of income, for example, end up at roughly the same economic stature as kids from the median family in Atlanta.
Why?  State and local taxes.  At least that’s what a group of Harvard and Berkeley researchers collaborating on The Equality of Opportunity Project have to say.  They “found a significant correlation between both measures of mobility and local tax rates.”                      Want to know which states have the most and least burdensome taxes?                          WalletHub analyzed how state and local tax rates compare to the national median in the 50 states as well as the District of Columbia.  We compared eight different types of taxation in order to determine:  1) Which states have the highest and lowest tax rates; 2) how those rates compare to the national median; 3) which states offer the most value in terms of low taxation and high cost-of-living adjusted income levels.

Newsletter about the City Council meeting of March 18, 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 March 18, 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. Laurie Hoover of the Business Development Committee Presentation of the Business Well Crafted Award to John Teeter, Executive Vice President, Pepsi Cola Bottling Company
80 years of business and community support is honored with the “Business. Well Crafted.” award - Hickory Inc.

B. Proclamation for American Red Cross Month presented to Suzan Anderson, Community Chapter Executive, American Red Cross

Persons Requesting to Be Heard
A. Roger Young - Friends of Hickory, Specific Space for the Downtown Park - (from Hickory Inc.) -  presented to Council plans for a playground and park in the downtown area. He showed photos from three companies that they are currently working with on ideas for the playground. The estimated cost will be between $300,000 - $400,000, and they are planning fund raisers to come up with the money for the project. He requested Council’s permission to continue moving forward with this project on this location.

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Hound Notes:

1) This should not have been introduced under "Persons Requesting to be Heard". This should have been a Departmental Report. It is obvious that these people have an association with Hickory Inc. Mr. Young is an architect and president of a local construction agency. He says they have been in contact with the city. Public-Private partnerships are great, but proper records need to be kept of the Public side. This report lasted for over 15 minutes. Nothing wrong with citizens playing a role in a Departmental Report.

2) When would construction begin? It should not begin until all I's are dotted and T's are crossed on obligations. Construction should not start until 100% of the money necessary to fund such a project is accounted for. If you followed the "cart before the horse" folly that was the "Sails on the Square", it started as a $285,000 project and then a few weeks later grew to a $420,000 project and to this day we don't know what was actually spent on that project.

What's to say this group gets into this project and discovers they need a couple hundred thousand more dollars. Alderman Lail told us a couple years ago, that the City Council had screwed up, but they were in to deep, so they had to keep spending the money. Are we going to see a repeat here? No one questions that this group has honorable motives, but we need to ensure that their honor doesn't necessitate a public bailout if they get in too deep and can't find a way out.

3) What the heck is Council doing making a motion for them to move forward? There were no specifics presented here. There were some neat renderings and generalized proposals, but nothing concrete. I have never, in my years covering these meetings, seen Council have this kind of back and forth with people the way they have this group.

Certainly this group should move forward and do their thing. This, as Mr. Young describes, is a private venture and they are free to do whatever they want in the good ole USA, but when the public interest is involved, we better see transparency.

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B. Matthew Church - Regarding Outside Rates for Water Fees - (Postponed to April 1, 2014)

C. Dr. Ric Vandett - Regarding Homeless Veteran Stand Down - (From Hickory Inc.)  - spoke to Council regarding the Foothills Homeless Veterans Stand Down to be held on April 25, 2014 at the American Legion Fairgrounds from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This event provides a number of services for the homeless and needy veterans including medical services, dental care, food, clothing, and various kinds of counseling to reach out to people in need. There are 12 counties that will be sending homeless and March 18, 2014 2 needy veterans. They registered over 200 homeless veterans at the event held last year. They are in need of volunteers. He requested Council’s support in the promotion of the event, and to invite them to come to the event. He also asked Council’s support in helping them locate a new place for Grace House to provide its ministry and for the Veterans Helping Veterans to meet.

Consent Agenda 

Informational Items

New Business - Public Hearings
1. Public Hearing to Amend 2012 and 2013 Community Development Block Grant Annual Action Plans.

2. Public Hearing to Consider an Economic Development Agreement with MAB American for the Development of City Owned Property at Cloninger Mill Road and NC. 127. 

Against
Steve Ivester - Raises several Concerns including empty Big Box Grocery stores and the purpose of this property in conjunction with the proposed park at this site.
Kathryn Greathouse - comes forward with anonymous offer of $900,000 to purchase the property and make it part of the proposed park.

For
John Argo - MAB American and Rick Maxian - Max Design Group - Grocery store will be an upscale affluent food store and the demographics in that area trend in that direction. 10 specialty shops would be developed in conjunction with the Food store.


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Hound Notes:

1) Looks like it is likely a Publix - In looking up Mr. Argo's, who spoke, profile on LinkedIn - Developed 2 million+ SF of retail space in 24 shopping centers (15 Publix anchored) in 5 states including the first Publix in the state of Alabama and market entries for Publix into Huntsville, Columbus, Albany, Montgomery, and Dothan. Purchased $75 million of real estate for development/redevelopment. Mr. Maxian is an architect out of Atlanta. 

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Rebuttal
Steve Ivester - Anonymous offer shouldn't be ignored

Council Deliberations
Alderman Lail and Meisner like the Economic Developent that goes along with the project and believe if the anonymous buyer/donor were serious (can't give the offer credence) that they would have come forward. Good for the neighborhoods and creates 200 jobs, construction, and tax revenue. Alderman Zagaroli concurred on growth and jobs. Alderman Meisner spoke about the help with developing the park and moving it forward.
Mayor Wright believes that the Council should take the offer a presented.

*** Council voted 6 to 1 in favor of selling the property to MAB American with only Mayor Wright voting no. 


3. Public Hearing to Consider an Economic Development Agreement with Cornerstone United Inc., and Piedmont Wagon Properties, LLC for the Property Located at 1020 Main Ave. NW, Hickory. 
*** Council vote Unanimously to accept the agreement.


New Business - Departmental Reports:
1. Approval of an Agreement to with the Town of Long View to Purchase Potable Water from the City of Hickory. 


2. Vote regarding the Resolution and Order for Petition of Moretz Mills, LLC to Close a Portion of E Avenue SE.  (Council voted 6 to 1 to close E Avenue after all criteria for closing are met. Alderman Seaver was the one no vote.)


General Comments
Mayor Wright commended the Lady Tornados for the great season that they had, and for playing themselves out of it in the first half, and playing themselves right back in in the second half.

Hound's Final Note
Besides the notes above, you can read my comments and see other details taken on the night of the meeting.
Thoughts about last night's Hickory City Council meeting - March 18, 2014

Public Information, North Carolina General Statute 132, and Hickory Inc.

I'm not going to get into the case with the police officer arrested in Hickory from the aspect of the alleged assault. What I do want you to look at is how Hickory Incorporated has a long history of playing games with information and not following the letter or spirit of the law when in comes to providing requested information to the public. Let's ask Ms. Dula if it is her decision not to provide the requested information? Who is making the call to ignore, delay, manipulate, and/or obfuscate public information requests?

TERMINATED: Police officer fired; clerk of court’s office, city violate public records laws - Hickory Daily Record - EVAN MATSUMOTO - March 19, 2014

NC General Statute 132:

§ 132-1.  "Public records" defined.

(a)        "Public record" or "public records" shall mean all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data-processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions. Agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions shall mean and include every public office, public officer or official (State or local, elected or appointed), institution, board, commission, bureau, council, department, authority or other unit of government of the State or of any county, unit, special district or other political subdivision of government.

(b)        The public records and public information compiled by the agencies of North Carolina government or its subdivisions are the property of the people. Therefore, it is the policy of this State that the people may obtain copies of their public records and public information free or at minimal cost unless otherwise specifically provided by law. As used herein, "minimal cost" shall mean the actual cost of reproducing the public record or public information. (1935, c. 265, s. 1; 1975, c. 787, s. 1; 1995, c. 388, s. 1.)

There are more rules when it comes to Public Information and you can read it in the link provided above, but the most important statement of the Statute above is that the information made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions is the property of the people.

When it comes to the purpose of the request and the timeliness of the fulfillment of the request.

 § 132-6.  Inspection and examination of records.
(a)        Every custodian of public records shall permit any record in the custodian's custody to be inspected and examined at reasonable times and under reasonable supervision by any person, and shall, as promptly as possible, furnish copies thereof upon payment of any fees as may be prescribed by law. As used herein, "custodian" does not mean an agency that holds the public records of other agencies solely for purposes of storage or safekeeping or solely to provide data processing.

(b)        No person requesting to inspect and examine public records, or to obtain copies thereof, shall be required to disclose the purpose or motive for the request.

(c)        No request to inspect, examine, or obtain copies of public records shall be denied on the grounds that confidential information is commingled with the requested nonconfidential information. If it is necessary to separate confidential from nonconfidential information in order to permit the inspection, examination, or copying of the public records, the public agency shall bear the cost of such separation on the following schedule:

Where have we seen this before?

A Well Crafted Run Around - August 5, 2013 

What if you made public information requests to the city government regarding a project for five months. Finally, you are invited to city hall to look at the information the city has put together. You are given a 500 page file of unorganized receipts, non-descript invoices, and confusing internal accounting spreadsheets. You have questions. You simply can't make sense of the information provided, so you ask questions and you are met with a wall.

Welcome to the party HDR... no turning back now! 

HDR turned back on Sunday March 23, 2014 in an OpEd Editorial

Thoughts about last night's Hickory City Council meeting - March 18, 2014

Agenda about the City Council meeting of March 18, 2014

Here are the topics of interest from last night's meeting:

Persons Requesting to Be Heard
A. Roger Young - Friends of Hickory, Specific Space for the Downtown Park - A few slides were shown and Mr. Young made a proposal for a park to be built on the parking lot adjacent to the Community One Bank west of Union Square. Mr. Young showed some neat looking renderings of ideas for what such a park would entail.

C. Dr. Ric Vandett - Regarding Homeless Veteran Stand Down - Dr. Vandett spoke about what comprised the stand down and asked the city to help promote the event. The Mayor said that they would look into promoting it through the City snippets. Dr. Vandett also addressed the council about his concerns related to the closure of Grace House in its current location.

This Stand Down is designed to provide homeless Veterans with medical services, dental care, food, clothing, education, tax assistance, employment counseling, eye care, haircuts, shoes, community resources, outdoor supplies, pastoral counseling, and fellowship.

3rd Annual Foothills Homeless Veterans Stand Down

When:

April 25, 2014 @ 8:00 am – 2:00 pm

View Full-Size Map

Add to Calendar Add to Google

Where: American Legion Fairgrounds
1127 U.S. 70
Hickory,NC 28602
USA

Contact:

Rick Vandett828-302-0293

Public Hearing #2 to Consider an Economic Development Agreement with MAB American for the Development of City Owned Property at Cloninger Mill Road and NC. 127. - Steve Ivester made some good points. It has always been his desire that the property not be developed commercially. It was announced that an anonymous citizen was willing to buy the property from the city for $900,000 and donate it back to the city to try and keep the 10 acres dedicated to the park in its entirety, instead of it being developed commercially.

Cloninger Mill Park - 3rd meeting - The Master Plan - 3/10/2009
Cloninger Mill Park - 2nd meeting - 2 Proposals - 1/15/2009
Cloninger Mill Park - 1st meeting - Preliminary Proposal

Public Hearing #3 - Piedmont Wagon Building - Economic Development Agreement with Cornerstone United Inc., and Piedmont Wagon Properties, LLC - The bottom line is that the investors are getting a property tax grant that  allows the investors to not pay an estimated $6,000 a year over the next five years for creating 5 jobs. The other jobs are already in existence or are speculative. This has set a precedent and/or opportunity, depending upon how one looks at it, for other businesses to request to not have to pay property taxes for businesses in Hickory



Departmental Report #2 - Moretz Mills LLC vs Catawba Paper Box - to close E Avenue SE - In the Agenda, I was wrong in my speculation that the parties had come to an amicable agreement. I couldn't believe that after two additional weeks that no agreement could be reached. In reading the agenda I assumed that both parties had agreed to the conditions in the Agenda. The Council's decision, as stated in the Agenda, is that once the conditions have been met (and the City's Director of Public Services will determine when those conditions have been met) that E Avenue will be closed.  Those conditions include giving trucks enough room to maneuver off of F Avenue Dr and onto 7th street SE and taking a dip out of F Avenue Dr where Catawba Paper Box believes that Transfer Trucks could bottom out.

Fluoride in our water - HDR Editorial - Unedited - March 16, 2014

Below is a Letter to the Editor of the Hickory Daily Record that I submitted as a rebuttal to a local dentist's rebuttal of Wanda Arnold regarding fluoride in our Public Water System. This is only a controversial subject, because the dental industry in conjunction with government thought they knew what was best for society. Now they seem to be in too deep. I think this is an issue that needs further review and needs to be given more light, because there are communities across the United States that are moving away from fluoride in the public water supply.

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I read Dr. Salil Bhende's rebuttal to Wanda Arnold about fluoride in our water system. I don't doubt that Dr. Bhende believes he has the public's best interest at heart, but there are many studies over the last several decades that argue that putting fluoride in the public water system is not good.

Some fluoride might be good for our teeth, though it depends on the type according to many studies. Calcium fluoride in minute amounts applied topically to your teeth has been shown to harden teeth, but that is not what is being put in our water supply.

What is being put in our water supply is sodium fluoride. By putting it in our water supply, we are ingesting it every time we eat, drink, and even when we bathe. Is this substance good for every cell in our body?

Fluoride is a highly toxic substance. Read your toothpaste label. It tells you that if more than used for brushing is swallowed, that you should contact the Center for Poison Control. If it poses no known health risks, as the good Doctor states, then why would a toothpaste label state this?

This toxic stuff is bioaccumulating in our bodies over our lifetime. Harvard studies have shown that fluoride is adversely affecting children; definitely causing fluorosis of teeth and likely contributing to neurodevelopmental disabilities, such as Autism and Attention Deficit Disorder . Who is monitoring the implementation of this chemical into our water supply? What about when fluoride mixes with other substances? What are the side effects?

Dr. Bhende's alphabet soup of organizations definitely have recommended putting this chemical in, thus medicating, our water supply. What I can't separate out is the fact from the propaganda.

What I do know is that I suffer from hypothyroidism. The Thyroid Gland is part of our Human Endocrine System. The Endocrine System is your engine of metabolism. Many studies have shown that fluoride negatively affects the Endocrine System. Studies also show that this public H20 chemical cocktail is leading to many other issues, such as brittle bones. I'm no Doctor, but in the end I am responsible for my body and health. That is a Sovereign Conservative principle.

If you want fluoride, then there are ways to properly use it. I don't want sodium fluoride forced on me through my tap water.