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3 <br />Ms. Heather Higgins, 703 Graves St., of Bike Charlottesville , thanked Council for <br />their ongoing efforts to create a world-clas s bike-friendly city. She requested Council <br />steer the bridge process to prioritize bike and pedestrian friendliness. For more <br />information, go to completestreets.org and nac do.org and use the available information to <br />create a solution. <br /> <br /> Mr. Brevy Cannon, 710 Ridge St., said th ere was great participation in the <br />Belmont Bridge design competition, and C ouncil should capture good ideas and harness <br />creativity to get us to the right design. He suggested a design committee to include local <br />design professionals, UVA faculty, and repres entatives from Belmont and adjacent <br />neighborhoods. He will forward Council a list of people who would be willing to serve <br />on such a committee. <br /> <br /> Mr. Robert Smith said the process of calling for design after the project got <br />started was backwards. Council should use the new installment as an opportunity to <br />make a connection between downtown and Belmont. <br /> <br /> <br />COUNCIL RESPONSES TO MA TTERS BY THE PUBLIC <br /> <br />Ms. Szakos thanked Ms. Hall for coming. The school efficiency audit suggested <br />closing one school. The schools have been work ing hard to do that, but it is expensive <br />and we do not yet have the money. Almost ev ery other implementation in that report has <br />been done. The deficit is not because of mismanagement; the state has withdrawn its <br />funding every year. We have increased our pe rcentage of support to ensure the schools <br />are funded at an excellent level. <br /> <br /> Ms. Galvin thanked Ms. Szakos for her comments about the public schools. She <br />said she served on the School Board when the management efficiency study was <br />conducted, and the board did try to implement the school closing suggestion, but could <br />not do so in the face of tough economic ti mes. She thanked Ms. Carpenter and Mr. <br />Collins for their support of housing, which C ouncil will discuss compre hensively later in <br />the agenda. She agreed that urban design is an important compone nt to the neighborhood <br />south of the downtown mall. <br /> <br /> Mr. Norris thanked Ms. Hall for reminding C ouncil of their duty to be fiscally <br />responsible. He thanked the 300 plus peopl e who signed the petition regarding the <br />Ragged Mountain Natural Area. He said lookin g at housing in a comprehensive fashion is <br />important, and he also supports the Living Wa ge movement. He agreed with Mr. Collins <br />that we need more transitional housing for families. He said he was blindsided by the <br />issue of the chloramines and said it might be helpful for Mr. Frederick to come to a <br />Council meeting and explain more about the pr oject. He thanked everyone who spoke on <br />the Belmont bridge and related issues. <br /> <br /> Mr. Huja thanked citizens for their comm ents about the Belmont bridge. He said <br />it is an important gateway to our community and needs to be designed well. Doing away