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2 <br /> Mr. Lynch asked that Mr. Schilling come back with Committee recommendations <br />by the next meeting. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox asked if neighborhood improvement, Comprehensive Plan <br />implementation fund s are to be spent in one year or are they accrued until there is enough <br />money to do projects. Mr. Cox asked if it can be slowed down and take $100,000 to <br />$200,000 out of that fund. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell said Council could slow this down or not spend it, but note d that <br />many neighborhoods are waiting for these funds to become available. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox asked if it would be possible to reduce the money and have the same <br />number of projects ready to do. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell said some projects would have to be reduced and priorit ies <br />changed. <br /> <br /> Mr. Jim Tolbert, Director of Neighborhood Development Services, said that last <br />year, which was year three of the program, had a balance of $1.435 million. He said $1.2 <br />million in projects will be ready to go to bid this summer. He said the se include storm <br />drainage, sidewalks, and traffic calming. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling said that as he advocated last year, he thinks we should look at the <br />whole system of allocating money, and should look at it from a city wide view rather than <br />by neighborhoods. He said one neighborhood could have a fluff request. He said the <br />projects should be tackled in the order of necessity. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tolbert said the Planning Commission is trying to balance that out as needs <br />are recognized. He said funds every third year go for ci ty wide projects. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards asked if it is still the policy to distribute additional funds to CDBG <br />target neighborhoods. Ms. Richards said she thinks this policy balances things out. She <br />said maintaining the program gives neighborhoods a certain sen se of control. <br /> <br /> Responding to a question from Ms. Richards about the Entrepreneurial Village, <br />Mr. Aubrey Watts, Chief Financial Officer, said that the amount in the budget is the final <br />payment on the five year $250,000 grant to them. He said if there are excess fund, that <br />amount will be transferred back to the Strategic Investment Fund. <br /> <br /> Responding to a question from Mr. Caravati about the grant for the public safety <br />radio system, Mr. O'Connell said the $6 million grant was for the region and also <br />includ ed enhancements. He said this is reflected as a reduced amount in the CIP. <br /> <br /> Responding to a question from Mr. Caravati, Mr. Watts said funds are included to <br />improve the living space and equipment storage at the Fire Department. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell said part of the Public Safety Strategic Plan will be to look at fire <br />station locations, but this may depend on the future with Albemarle County. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling said he would like to see the business plan return on investment for <br />agreements with the Fire Department . He said we may want to let the University of <br />Virginia contract with Albemarle County and have the City's Fire Department only cover <br />the City. Mr. Schilling asked for further information about why fire dispatch does not <br />operate out of the E - 911 Center. He said he did not find the answer to this question to be <br />satisfactory. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell said that one of the questions to be addressed in the Strategic Plan <br />is should we be regional. <br /> <br /> Responding to a question from Mr. Cox about undergrounding of utilitie s, Mr. <br />Tolbert said recent completed projects were at the Woolworth Building, Live Arts and <br />