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448 <br /> <br /> Mr. Robert Burke, 701 E. High Street, referring to the City's legislative packet, <br />said that it would be nice to try to get legislation allowing the governor to run for a <br />second term. Mr. Burke said that some people will wait until the last minute to decide on <br />an elected School Board, and he suggested waiting to see if the issue wins or loses on its <br />merits before deciding other issues. He recommended that new drivers be educated about <br />the white cane law. <br /> <br /> Ms. Tatyanna Ratten said that there has been discussion among the Rivanna <br />Conservation Society, Sierra Club and Earth Week Charlottesville about putting together <br />an advisory council to work between environmental and other agencies. <br /> <br /> Mr. Jeffrey Rossman expressed concern that cars are not stopping at crosswalks <br />and that the cones which contained the state law are gone in critical locations. <br /> <br />COUNCIL REPORTS <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said that he will be speaking to the Commonwealth Transportation <br />Board tomorrow about the City's priorities. He said that it was recently learned that <br />VDOT is proposing widening Route 250 east from ! 64 and widening 29 North from <br />Airport Road to Greene County. He said that while both of these roads get congested, the <br />need for widening of these sections is small compared to other needs. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown said that the point is that VDOT appears to have a new way of <br />proposing projects that have not been discussed by the MPO. <br /> <br /> Ms. Hamilton said that the Housing Authority will be coming forward with <br />proposal for CDBG funding. <br /> <br />OTHER BUSINESS <br /> <br /> Referring to construction and cost containment, Mr. Schilling said that as a result <br />of Hurricane Katrina, most projects are costing more. He said the City is falling behind <br />in addressing infrastructure needs and he would like to see staff research best practices <br />and ways to reduce costs for projects where there is discretion, especially in design. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling said that a byproduct of raising water rates and rate increases in <br />natural gas is that there will be an increase in the utility tax. He said that in order to limit <br />the impact, he would like a staff report on what the expected additional tax will be if rates <br />go up, and then have a Council decision about whether we want to rebate some of those <br />additional taxes or put them back to reduce the gas rate. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said that the City is currently doing value engineering on most <br />projects. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said he lives across the street from the Region Ten project at 1111 <br />Little High Street, and expressed concern that the City Manager supported the project in a <br />letter. Mr. Caravati said Region Ten officials denied that they had anything to do with <br />the project and their Board did not know about it. He said we need to keep on top of this <br />issue. <br /> <br />Dr. Brown asked if there is a role Council can play. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said there are serious concerns about the financial integrity of the <br />project, and he will be seriously looking at Region Ten's budget. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch asked if there were any conditions regarding the special use permit for <br />1111 Little High Street. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tolbert said that there were no unmet conditions and the site plan has been <br />approved. He said there is no design review for the property, only a gentleman's <br />agreement with the neighborhood. He said the City can only deal with issues of scale and <br /> <br /> <br />