2003

301 Task Force settles on ideas for corridor

Slugline Publication Date Section(s) Page Byline By Stephanie Creech Daily Times Staff Writer Creating a special-tax district, holding a housing bond referendum, hiring enough inspections personnel to enforce minimum housing standards and establishing a seven-member advisory board are a few of the recommendations Wilson's U.S. 301 Task Force will take to City Council for action. The task force last week reviewed the final recommendations from each of its subcommittees. The group then discussed the need to give City Council a prioritized list of goals and strategies the task force wants to see action on as quickly as possible. Members hope to see action within the coming budget year. Realizing that city staff is in the process of formulating next year's city budget, the task force will not hold its next community information meeting until after making its presentation to City Council. Council will start its budget deliberations in May. How soon the presentation is made depends on how quickly the task force can put the finishing touches on its study. The group will set goal priorities and listen to a report from the ad-hoc committee reviewing zoning needs along the U.S. 301 corridor. Creating a special-tax district is one of the goals to come out of the Economic/Business Development Committee. Property owners along the U.S. 301 corridor would pay additional property taxes annually just like property owners in downtown Wilson do now. The idea is that the additional tax revenue would help cover the cost of some of the task force's plans. The idea for a U.S. 301 advisory board also came out off the Economic/Business Development Committee. The group believes this committee, which Mayor Bruce Rose would appoint, could carry on with the task force's plans. Holding a housing bond referendum to help fund redevelopment efforts is not a new idea. Wilson 301 meeting Wilson Daily Times March 03, 2003 Local News a1

City Councilman James Johnson III has for years suggested that such a referendum would be a better way to go about covering the cost of improving the city's housing stock. Infrastructure, aesthetics and safety are the three other areas the subcommittees have been focusing on. Improved drainage, more landscaping, improved street lighting and traffic improvements are among the top concerns identified by the Infrastructure Subcommittee. Members want the city to carry through with a drainage study of the Hominy Canal, and they want the city to work with the state Department of Transportation on drainage issues. Such collaboration would include resizing drain pipes under U.S. 301 and along the corridor. Constructing sidewalks and expanding Black Creek Road are among the transportation issues the task force is interested in. Black Creek Road will become a connector street between U.S. 301 and the new U.S. 264 Bypass, so more traffic will use that road to get into Wilson. However, it is a two-lane road, and funding for the project is way down the line in DOT's Transportation Improvement Plan. Tom Fyle, who served on the Infrastructure Subcommittee, told the task force that the city's bus stops need to be better maintained and that the committee wants to see the bus stops enclosed so people won't have to stand out in inclement weather. Fyle said the subcommittee also toured the area at night so it could see the street lighting needs. The subcommittee found that trees are blocking a number of street lights and that a detailed evaluation of street lighting needs in the neighborhoods is needed, especially older neighborhoods. The Infrastructure Subcommittee is also interested in the city switching to sodium vapor lights instead of mercury lights because sodium vapor lighting is brighter. Additional lighting is also needed within the city's parks. "Our parks are dark," Fyle said. Strengthening community groups, improving recreation facilities and addressing quality-of-life issues are ways the Safety Subcommittee want to address crime. The Safety Subcommittee wants the city to create an advisory board to look at recreation needs. For example, James Haney, who served on the subcommittee, said two of the city's gymnasiums are not air conditioned amd need to be. The subcommittee also wants the city to investigate getting tobacco settlement funds for recreation projects. Part of the Aesthetics Subcommittee's plans include getting residents involved in a letter-writing campaign to get the owners of Fikewood Shopping Center to improve the landscaping, parking lot and access to the center. You may reach Stephanie Creech at creech@wilsondaily.com or at 265-7822.