Information Items:Food Lion Speed Street and Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
Resource:
Emily Westbrook, Neighborhood & Business Services, 704-432-2076, ewestbrook@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Food Lion Speed Street will be held Thursday, May 21 – Saturday, May 23 on the streets of Uptown Charlotte. An event site map is attached. As part of the standard festival application review process, all major Uptown hospitality and tourism partners received a copy of the Speed Street application with festival dates in February 2009.
The Blumenthal Performing Arts Center contacted City staff last week to advise us of sold out performances of The Color Purple in the Belk Theater Tuesday, May 19 – Sunday, May 24. Due to street closures surrounding the performing arts center, the Blumenthal requested an operational plan for drop-off and pick-up locations for approximately 2 to 10 tour buses per performance.
City staff worked with Blumenthal staff to develop an operational plan as requested and communicated this plan to CMPD officers who will be providing traffic control for the event site. City staff has also advised the Blumenthal to notify bus operators and patrons to allow for extra time getting to the performing arts center for the performances scheduled during festival hours (May 21-23).
Fourteenth Annual Neighborhood Symposium Update
Resource:
Cynthia Woods, Neighborhood & Business Services, 704-336-2646, cwoods@ci.charlotte.nc.us
The Fourteenth Annual Neighborhood Symposium was held on Saturday, May 16, 2009 at the Charlotte Convention Center. Over 304 residents attended with over 452 total participants, including 43 exhibitors, 37 workshop presenters, 26 volunteers and others. The symposium was held as a result of many partnerships and collaborative efforts.
The theme was, "From Policy to Practice: Improving Our Homes, Our Communities, Our City," with workshop topics centered on nine policy areas. Some of the more popular workshops related to nuisance abatement, community safety and economic development. The Community Forum featured neighborhood leaders from the Falconbridge, Druid Hills and University Park communities.
A panel of judges selected Neighborhood awards from 45 nominations. The 12 individual and organizational winners were:
- Best Participation: Thomasboro and Hampshire Hills
- Neighborhood Youth: Quentin Blair of Lockwood and
- Xavier Jefferies of Rockwell Park
- Good Neighbor: Rev. Larry James of Grier Heights Presbyterian Church and Evelyn Newman of Thomasboro Community of Shalom
- Neighborhood Leader: Janet Bennett of Highland Creek and
- Robert Willis of Plaza Midwood
- Neighborhood Diversity: Lockwood
- Neighborhood Safety: Dilworth Crime Coalition
- Neighborhood Improvement: Wesley Heights
- Neighborhood of the Year: Druid Hills
Solid Waste Services Annexation Communication
Resource:
Victoria Garland, Solid Waste Services, 704-336-3410, vgarland@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Prior to annexation, Solid Waste Services sends new customers information on City services, including collection guidelines and their new collection day.
This year the communication began on May 18 when a pre-recorded message from KBE Victoria Garland was sent via Charlotte-Mecklenburg's GeoNotification system to all annexation residents. The message welcomed residents to Charlotte and provided important dates to remember:
- Week of June 1 – Welcome packets will be sent to residents' homes. These packets will include residents' new collection day and item preparation information.
- Monday, June 8 – The cart vendor will begin delivering garbage rollout carts and recycling bins.
- Friday, June 19 – Cart and bin deliveries completed. Customers who are being annexed are asked to call 311 to report a missed delivery.
Other pieces of the communication process include:
- Print and radio advertisements – Radio advertisements also began airing on WSOC, WBAV, WNKS, WKQC, WPEG and WFNZ on May 18. Print advertisements will begin on May 31. These advertisements are critical to the success of the transition to City Solid Waste Services as they help new residents prepare for the upcoming changes to their garbage collection. Most private haulers don't have collection guidelines so the information provided is new to most customers. The ads include information on when to expect delivery of the new carts and bins, who to call if the bins don't arrive as scheduled, and what services Solid Waste offers outside of garbage collection. Links to the advertisements and radio ads can be found on the Solid Waste website – http://curbit.charmeck.org. Click the Getting Annexed link.
- Annexation website – Customers can go to http://curbit.charmeck.org and click the Getting Annexed link to get more information on annexation. The annexation site provides a link to the Address Information Center, which will provide customers with their new collection day.
Information will also be sent via direct mail to approximately 8,500 customers in the City's North collection zone. In an effort to maximize efficiency and customer service, Solid Waste Services has adjusted collection routes in this zone. This will mean a new collection day for these customers. The change is effective June 29, the same time as annexation.
