Ballantyne’s Councilman Warren Cooksey held his weekly meeting today to update constituents on City Council. Topics covered this week were the drop in crime rates, particularly murder rates and why this shouldn’t be surprising despite the struggling economy. The explanation for this drop was attributed to Chief Rodney Monroe’s community policing initiative. Supporting the data that crime rates are truly down and not just due to different reporting standards is the fact that calls for service have dropped as well.
The issue of former CMPD Officer Marcus Jackson, who was just terminated under investigation for allegations of sexual assaults, was discussed briefly. The council has yet to be briefed directly on the topic. One of the concerns regarding the officer is why was his history of domestic abuse missed and the exact nature of his suspension last year from the CMPD.
The hot topic at this week’s council meeting was focused on the Charlotte Meck Utilities Department. Apparently some customers have been receiving unusually high water bills. The Utilities Department is working to get to the bottom of the issue and will test customer’s meters if you have concerns. The Councilman went on to explain the current rate structure for water bills stating that the system is set up to provide the lowest users with the best rates. This is done for several reasons. One reason is to promote conservation and another to help reduce cost to low users (believed to be lower income). The average household (65% of users) fall into the 2nd tier of pricing. Councilman Cooksey believes that if there is any change to the rate structure it should be done across the board in all tier groups.
The City Council will be on their planning retreat February 3 thru the 5.
Other news of note is that a section of land near Providence Road West and 521 (Johnston Road) is being considered for affordable housing and rezoning efforts are underway. Details will be forthcoming on this topic. Construction contracts were just awarded to Crowder Construction for improvements to the Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. The contract is $105,000 over the lowest bid that was submitted by Hickory Construction. Crowder Construction met the council’s policy of using 6% of their subcontractors from the small business community.
Councilman Cooksey holds weekly policy updates every Friday at the Gallery Restaurant at 7:30am, join him for coffee and conversation.
