DOWNTOWN PROJECT UPDATED

In what is and will be an issue in this election is the Downtown Project and the lack of progress that has been seen in the approximate 2 years since its approval. The ITCFP group with their so called "non partisan" stance on everything want you to believe that this council somehow slowed up progress. In turn, a tennant that may or may not have occupied space apparently went south and took the jobs with it. Their view unfortunately seems shortsided and narrow minded in the process. Lets review the project:
1. 1 MILLION plus sq ft of space
2. 600 Plus residences in the form of apartments, townhomes, and condos.
3. Approximately 79 % residential, 21% retail/commercial mix.
4. 2 lanes of traffic with limited ability to increase. *major sticking point*
5. 100 yr flood standards the town required, which in turn the developer lost a community building (non rev producing), had to make the reflecting pond bigger and in turn was not required to put in larger pipes under the CSX railroad and experience their 18 month process of approval or denial.
6. The State/County fiasco with sewer and water availability that I believe is playing a major role in the lack of progress. Happens to be out of the hands of the council.
7. The Traffic study: This above all else seems to be the sore spot of contention for my opponents and their group. The reality is if the previous council had done due diligence the traffic study would have been completed prior to the project being voted on. Instead it has been allowed to be used as an election topic. On July 10th, 2007 the council put the road study problem in the hands of the Planning staff and developer. Only if they can't reach a workable solution will it come back to the council. As of July 23rd, 2007 the Planning staff had yet to receive the traffic study. Again, no slow down on the part of the council. So the question that I have is if the traffic study is complete? Why doesn't the town have it? Maybe if all goes well with the election, then something will progress?
8. Project sold to another developer: New developer taking over, some seem to be surprised but from the first of the project it had been stated this was going to be the case. I suspect they wanted to be farther along in the process. I wonder if the price reflected the lack of progress or the future build out value?
9. The downtown project and subsequent build out of it will not be the solution to the problems of this town. The money generated will be better than nothing, but hardly the cash cow some think.

This project will go through to completion barring the developers going bankrupt and even then it will get done eventually. The downtown will be identifiable. That is what the dowtown overlay and land use documents will accomplish. It won't be tomorrow and without a better road system it won't happen quickly either. It would be nice to have a downtown like atmosphere such as Matthews, but it really has never been like Matthews anyway in the 100years of existence. Our downtown was really nothing more than a train stop with a building to service commerce. There was no hustle and bustle. Change happens, sometimes slower than what others want. If the changes are quality changes then they will stand the test of time. All good things are worth waiting for and sometimes they can be sped up. Sometimes not.

Election Choices for Indian Trail

The filing period has come and gone and the candidates will be progressing fast and furious to secure the needed votes for victory in the fall. Running for the office of Mayor are

Theresa Allen (business owner in town)
Sandy Moore (i)
John Quinn (current planning board member and transportation committee member)

Running for the 3 open seats for the council will be:

G. D'Onofrio
Hugh Layburn
Jeff Goodall
(It should be noted that the above three people all live in the Brandon Oaks Subdivision and very active in the newly formed PAC (ITCFP).
Brian Rubin (apparently has dropped out of the race to join the Brandon Oaks group in their attempt to take over the town.
J. Hullinger

Last but not least....me William Lee Godwin current planning board member, transportation committee member for Indian Trail.) Oh yea, I live on the same street as Dan Schallenkamp and Mercedes Cass., oh and not to forget the former mayor (now moved) Ed Smith.) Just figured we could get that out of the way and get on with real business.

The citizens of the town need to get out and vote. Get involved and know each candidate. You will have to decide if all the towns decisions will come through the Brandon Oaks subdivision. Whether or not you can live with the results.

Not shocking in the least is the fact the pac group from Brandon Oaks is endorsing Moore, D'Onofrio, Layburn, and Goodall. Interestingly, Theresa Allen is a Brandon Oaks resident but appears to be on the outside looking in with this group. If you have the ability, go to the town website and you can hear the type of comments that citizens will have to tolerate if this pac is allowed to control the town. Go to public comments...its worth the listen.

If any shock comes from the filing period is that Councilmembers Killough and Helms did not seek reelection. Fixtures on the town council for years, they both chose to not run. In addition to Mercedes Cass that stated she was not seeking reelection either. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them for their hard work, dedication, and committment to the town. Its a tough job when all is going well, its even tougher when citizens don't care for actions by the council. They have to be commended for the abuse taken and handling it with the utmost professionalism.