From the blog of Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht. Phot above (L->R) Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, Teach of the Year Denise LaPorta and Council member Jack Smith.

Cary, NC – This week was not as busy as anticipated due to two big cancellations.

Monday – Honor a Teacher

Monday I attended the Honor a Teacher Event at the Booth Amphitheater. This was the 12th year that the Chamber of Commerce has sponsored this even, started by the Ashworths. I gave a few remarks and then later in the program joined council member Smith to present an award to the Turner Creek Elementary winner, Denise LaPorta. Congratulations Denise! 26 other teachers were also awarded for their excellence. Award winners took home a nice trophy and a $1000 check. The event lasted about an hour and a half.

Tuesday – 2014 Budget

Tuesday the council held its first work session on the fiscal year 2014 budget. We started with a quick review of the manager/staff recommendations which include: increasing the property tax rate to 35 cents (an increase of two cents as a result of the Cary Community Investment Bonds approved by voters in November, 2012), a $15.00 per month Sanitation Fee (It is an increase of $1 per month. The fee was last increased in FY2009, an increase of 4.7% in utility rates for a residential customer using 4,500 gallons of water per month, and an increase of 5% in developer permit fees (for a new 4,000 square foot home increase is $54 from $1,080 to $1,134; fees last increased in FY2002).

The recommended budget can be reviewed at http://www.townofcary.org/Departments/Administration/Budget/recommendedFY2014.htm.

Tech Task Force

The council discussed several items on the budget for about two hours. The majority of the time was spent on recommendations from the technology task force which were not included in the budget. Staff’s reason was that no matter what was included it would take additional staff time. And since they are already understaffed they would need additional staff to cover these requests which adds to ongoing costs. The majority of council reluctantly agreed with staff recommendations to not include additional staff for these technology initiatives.

Other questions and discussions included recycling, costs for the Western Wake Regional Wastewater Facility, how we are messaging the budget, and a potential capital project to add a sidewalk on Louis Stephens Drive.

The council’s next work session on the budget will be on May 21st. One of the main topics of conversation at that work session will be Imagine Cary.

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday and Thursday I was scheduled to meet with attorneys in the afternoon and evenings. The issue was resolved so I had the time free to see my wife and catch up on work.

Saturday – Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy

Saturday morning I participated in the Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy forum. Mayor Jones of Wake Forest and I were hosts at one of the breakout sessions. We talked about our roles as mayors and the skills needed to be successful in those roles. It was a good session with a lot of interesting questions.

Local Newspaper Story About the Budget

In the local newspaper this week there was a story about the budget. There were several glaring omissions that I would like to rectify.

1) The employees added would take us to staffing levels of 2008 even though we added more than 20,000 residents. In addition, we would have 8.3 employees per 1000 residents when the average is 11. This would be one of the lowest employee/citizen ratios in the state.

2) The amount of savings being used is the excess above what the council has marked as restricted. That amount is three times what is required. Currently savings are making little to no money in interest. It makes no sense to pay higher interest on debt when you can use cash, reduce operating costs, and still maintain a balance well above what is required.

3) It was mentioned that the tax rate increase was approved by the voters last year. What was not mentioned is that we will still have the lowest tax rate in the county unless another municipality cuts taxes.

4) Developer fees will be increased but we are still very competitive. In addition, the impact of development is not completely covered by our fees. That means taxpayers pay the difference. So the more developers pay in fees the less the taxpayers pay.

5) The new planning retreat scheduled for late this summer is to answer several questions that may impact next year’s budget. For example, does it make sense to have over $48 million in excess of what is required in savings especially when we can reduce debt that is costing more interest and in turn reduce operating costs?

Mailbag

Emails this week included congratulations and complaints about the kickoff for Imagine Cary. Other emails complained about tickets at the amphitheater being too expensive, requests for traffic lights, a claim that I am pushing high density in Cary, requests to deny a rezoning, and a couple of character assassinations related to comments in my blog on Imagine Cary.

Get in Touch

Well that is all for this week. Next week I travel to Augusta, Georgia, then to New York City to see my oldest daughter graduate from graduate school. Once we all return we will head out for a week long family vacation. So my next post will be on Sunday June 2nd. Although I have Facebook and Twitter accounts those are not the best means of communications with me. Please send all Town of Cary questions or comments to Harold.Weinbrecht@townofcary.org and email personal comments to augustanat@mindspring.com.

Cary, NC – CaryCitizen reader David Gill shared with us his photographs of the last moments of the Galaxy Theater in Cary.

End of the Galaxy

The Galaxy Theater, at the corner of Cary Towne Boulevard and S.E. Maynard Road, showed art films and foreign films. But the Galaxy owed many months rent to York Properties and closed their doors in November. York plans to redevelop the site around a Harris Teeter supermarket.

And so, the Galaxy came crashing down in a cloud of dust just over a week ago.

Last Moments

David Gill captured the last moments of the Galaxy. Visit Flickr to see the complete slideshow.

Cary, NC – Code for America (CfA) started in 2009. It’s a non-profit, non-partisan organization that brings together programmers, designers, data analysts and other web-industry professionals to work with municipalities to promote openness, participation and efficiency in local government. Now, Cary has it’s own Code for America Brigade.

Repurposing & Reusing Technology

CfA is all about public service through code. Brigades are specifically designated the task of reusing and repurposing existing technology for local governments. Why reinvent the wheel?

Open Data is a prime example. Governments collect oceans of data on citizens, costs and process. Open data uses existing tools to put that information on the web where it is available to everyone.

Code Something

CfA Brigades bring together programmers to code something useful, like a mashup of crime data with a Google map.

Vast server farms of data exist about our community – maps and water usage, crime, business permits and home sales, to name just a few. Pulling the data together so it can become useful for the community is the goal of the CfA Cary Brigade.

27 Apps in 2012

In 2012, CfA Brigades around the country created 27 municipal apps, including Honolulu Answers, Where’s My Schoolbus and Adopt-a-Hydrant. In the Triangle, the R/Greenway app was developed at Raleigh CityCamp.

CfA Cary can implement some of these open source applications for our own community, or write code for a new municipal app and share it.

2012 Code for America cities include Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and New Orleans.

Code in the Triangle

Code for America started in the Triangle in Raleigh and is rapidly spreading. The more data we can pull together, the more we can understand regional issues. The goal is to create Brigades across towns in the Triangle and band together into a Code for America Division.

Cary Brigade Meeting

The CfA Brigade in Cary had its beginnings in the Technology Task Force, convened by Cary Town Council last year.

But the idea of a CfA brigade in Cary really got its start at  Cary Open Data Day in February.

TechnologyTank.org (former members of the Tech Task Force) provided organizational and operational help forming the brigade, including recruitment of co-captains Robert Campbell and Laura Hamlyn.

The Cary Brigade will hold a kick-off meeting on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 starting at 7:00 PM (EST) in Cary. The information is loaded in the Triangle Code for America Meetup Site. Register and join the Cary Code for America Brigade.

Code for America – Cary Brigade Meetup
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
7:00 PM

Cary Chamber of Commerce
307 N. Academy Street, Cary, NC
Register

What is next for the Triangle?

Durham and Morrisville are also in the process of forming Brigades. The plan may be to form a Code for America Division for the Triangle, something that does not yet exist in the Code for America structure.  The Triangle Region would then apply to be a Code for America City in 2015 with support from the municipalities of the Triangle.

If this sounds cool, then join the Brigade in your Town or City, or help us here in Cary.

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Ian Henshaw of TechnologyTank.org contributed to this article.

Story and photo by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – This past weekend, I managed to get around to three interesting events in the greater Cary region: CenterStage on the front lawn of DPAC in Durham, Wheel on Academy in downtown Cary and Morrisville’s East Meets West festival.

CenterStage

Friday evening was perfect for CenterStage, a collaboration between WUNC’s Back Porch Music and the American Tobacco Historic District in Downtown Durham.

A large and enthusiastic crowd turned out for the first show of the summer. I ran into several friends from Cary and got to take a few shots from the rooftop of  Diamond View II, one large office buildings between DPAC and Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Find out about more free CenterStage concerts this summer.

Wheels on Academy

Saturday morning, I swung by Wheels on Academy in Downtown Cary.

Last year’s inaugural event was a little soggy, but Saturday morning was crisp and clear in downtown Cary. More than 100 cars participated.

My favorites were Barney Fife’s vintage Ford police cruiser, a beautiful plum-colored Studebaker, an immaculate California woody and a low slung hot rod Don Frantz identified for me as a class of cars called a “Rat Ride.” All the cars were gorgeous.

East Meets West

Finally, I wound up at Morrisville’s East Meets West Festival. Booths lined Town Hall Drive and two stages showcased Eastern and Western acts.

I was there to perform on the West stage with A Fifth of Blues, but I also had a chance to wander around a little.

Thanks to Brooke Meyer for getting a shot of me in action with my bass guitar.

It was an exciting weekend all around.

Cary, NC – Top new stories on CaryCitizen this week include Culinary Farm, Don’s Blog and Train Day.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

• Movie Review: The Great Gatsby

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

• Calendar: Weekend of Wonders

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

• Don’s Blog: Not How I Imagine Cary
• Morrisville East Meets West Festival
• A Visit to the Culinary Farm at SAS Campus

Monday, May 13, 2013

• Harold’s Blog: May 13, 2013
• Strollerthon
• Concert Singers have Star Date with George Takei

Sunday, May 12, 2013

• Pictures: Cary Train Day 2013

by Jordan Hunt for CaryCitizen.

Cary, N.C. – The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton, is Hollywood’s fourth attempt at adapting F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel.

Not Boring

Out of the four versions of Gatsby, I’ve only seen this most recent version and the one starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow in 1974, and boy is that movie boring. It’s wasn’t terrible, but it felt like that movie would NEVER end.

Luckily, boring is a word that is not in director Baz Luhrman’s vocabulary, as he infuses his unique visual overkill to bring 1920s New York to life in a way that only he can.

The result is a huge improvement over the 1974 adaptation and is filled with some great old fashion movie star performances and Luhrman’s trademark visuals.

DiCaprio Nails It

It’s kind of amazing how perfect DiCaprio is for the part of Gatsby. I mean, his casting just makes sense, right?

I really do believe Leo is one the few true movie stars out there, and he fits the role of the mysterious, charming millionaire like a glove.

It also helps that this is DiCaprio’s second film with director Luhrman, who previously directed him in their version of Romeo & Juliet.

Having that familiarity only adds to his already confident and natural acting ability. It’s not his absolute best performance (Django Unchained, anyone?), but it sure feels like he was born to play this part.

Everyone else though…

As for everyone else well, they all seem a bit overshadowed by DiCaprio, though that feels appropriate, to be perfectly honest.

Tobey Maguire, most famous for his portrayal of Spiderman, is fine as Nick Carraway, the story’s narrator. He’s always been good at playing quiet, passive characters, but we’ve seen him do it multiple times before and he doesn’t really add much to the movie.

Carey Mulligan fares a bit better as Daisy, the woman who Gatsby is desperate over. Mulligan suits the period extremely well and is very easy to watch, but she simply doesn’t have much to do.

If there is anyone who threatens to steal this movie though, it’s Joel Edgerton who you might recognize as a one of the members of Seal Team Six in Zero Dark Thirty and from the criminally under-seen fighting drama Warrior. Edgerton brings some serious energy as Daisy’s cheating husband and he ensures that his character is one that you just love to hate.

Director is also the Star

The other real star of the movie is director Baz Lurhman himself. If you’ve seen his previous films Romeo & Juliet and Moulin Rouge then you have a pretty solid idea of what to expect.

Lurhman isn’t interested in realism or even adhering to the decade the story is set. Yes, it takes place in the 20s, but much like Moulin Rouge, this movie is filled with contemporary songs and set in a world that doesn’t quite feel real.

In fact, I think it should be said that if you weren’t a fan of those previously mentioned films, then this version of The Great Gatsby really won’t do much for you.

A Movie for Fans

In the end, I thought The Great Gatsby was mostly successful thanks to DiCaprio’s lead performance and Luhrman’s outlandish and over the top style. Fans of Moulin Rouge and Romeo & Juliet should absolutely see this in theaters.

For everyone else though, I say wait to satisfy your curiosity and give it a chance on DVD.

The Calendar is edited by Lindsey Chester. Photo by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, N.C. – A parade of strollers. A street full of vintage automobiles. A festival of diversity where East meets West. Theater, shows tunes, farmer’s markets and fabric baskets. It’s a weekend of wonders on the CaryCitizen Calendar of Events.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Applause Theater Company – SING DOWN THE MOON: Appalachian Wonder Tales – Journey into the Appalachian Mountains with this award- winning musical that weaves traditional tales and origi- nal “Old-Time” music into a keepsake quilt of mountain lore and wisdom for the whole family. The show runs all weekend at Cary Arts Center.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

3 Farmer’s Markets – Cary farm markets will be bursting with Spring produce. Visit Waverly Place, the Downtown Cary Farmer’s Market or the Western Wake Farmer’s Market for all you r local produce and food needs on Saturday morning.

Wheels on Academy Car Show – All types of cars will arrive on Academy Street and enliven the down- town with a glimpse of Cary as it was when the classics ruled the roads. Come find that special car that evokes memories of your past. Enjoy food, activities and fun for the entire family! Starts at 9 AM – Free.

Strollerthon – 9 AM – 11 AM at Bond Park. 2 Mile Walk & Family Fun Event - Proceeds benefit Postpartum Education and Support, including our Moms Supporting Moms group for women experiencing postpartum depression and anxiety.

Fabulous Fabric Baskets – 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM at Cary Quilting Company.

Morrisville East Meets West Festival – A celebration of music, food and dance in the Triangle’s most diverse community. Participating restaurants to date include Georgina’s, Taste Vietnamese Cuisine, 5 Hot Chillies, Peppers Market and Sandwich Shop, Mare, Buffalo Wings & Rings, Saffron Indian Cuisine, It’s A Grind, Urbana Catering Concepts, Doherty’s Irish Pub, and Neomonde. Music by A Fifth of Blues, the Will McBride Group, Jigar Ka Tukda, LA Dance, Dhoom Machale, Triangle Taiko and more. 11 AM – 4 PM, Town Hall Drive – Free.

VocalMotion Concert – The SAS showchoir will perform a Broadway-style musical revue that includes a variety of music from pop to country, Billy Joel to Michael Jackson, and everything in between. Sertoma Amphitheater in Bond Park, 3-5 PM. Free.

More Weekend Events

Visit the CaryCitizen Calendar for more weekend events in and around Cary.

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Events coverage on CaryCitizen is sponsored in part by Morrisville’s East Meets West Festival, Saturday May 18, 2013.

From the blog of Don Frantz, member of Cary Town Council representing District B. Photo by Hal Goodtree.

Imagine Cary - or imagine what Cary could become if we let the new-urbanists ruin it. That was my take from the Summit on the Future event held at Embassy Suites.

The Summit was our first crack at gathering community input as we work towards the new Cary Community Plan.

Not How I Imagine Cary

Somebody thought it would be a good idea to invite Mr. Chris Leinberger to serve as the keynote speaker of the event. Mr. Leinberger, a Brookings Fellow, is a developer who specializes in progressive, high density, transit oriented new-urbanism development. Mr. Leinberger also serves as the President of LOCUS. LOCUS is a national coalition of real estate developers and investors whose job it is to lobby federal and state governments for policies that support sustainable, walkable, transit oriented urban development. In a nutshell, Mr. Leinberger makes his living off of the development of high density new-urban communities. Sounds just like Cary right?

On three separate occasions, Mr. Leinberger presented his vision to approximately 750 members of our community. Needless to say it was an incredibly biased and one sided vision. Following each presentation participants were then push-polled regarding a number of topics to include growth, taxes, transit, affordable housing and density. I have a hard time putting much faith in the data collected given the manner in which we collected that information.

During one of Mr. Leinberger’s presentations he actually compared suburbia (74% of Cary housing BTW) to an X-rated movie theater. Seriously.

Balanced?

What angers me the most about Mr. Leinberger’s presentation is that from the beginning of this process I have made it crystal clear to town staff and the consultant team that I expect balance in any information we disseminate to the public. I stated on numerous occasions that if we have someone speak to the benefits of, say, transit for example, we also discuss the negatives such as cost implications or change in character of the community. We got none of that. All we got was, “all the cool kids are doing rail so you have to do rail also.”

They didn’t listen. So now the council has asked for a worksession with staff and the consultant team to discuss and iron out our concerns prior to continuing with the process.

It’s a shame. But other than the Leinberger disaster the event was very well done. Ms. Leigh Ann King’s presentation regarding the demographics and trends in Cary was very informative. I even learned a few things I didn’t already know; such as more Cary residents travel to Raleigh for work than RTP or that more people come to Cary for their job than leave Cary. Interesting stuff. We needed more of that and a lot less Leinberger.

Fire Sculpture – A Smoldering Problem

Another fun topic of discussion this week was the fire sculpture at the corner of Academy and Dry/Kildaire across from the Cary Arts Center.

It’s the thing that looks like an old burnt up out-building with a gaping crack down its side.

While the weeklong process to construct and ultimately fire the sculpture was a wonderful community event, that event ended months ago and we are now left with a “sculpture” that is entirely out of place at its current location.

The piece also sits on what will be Cary’s future town square once the downtown park is constructed – which leads one to question why a permanent installation of this magnitude was recommended at this location to begin with.

The council voted 6-1 to direct staff to relocate the piece to a more suitable location.

Downtown Park

And speaking of the downtown park, the council has also asked for another worksession on the topic to further discuss our intentions and vision for the park prior to awarding any contract for design and construction services.

I continue to support the public library and seven acre park concept as originally approved by council in 2009. This concept honors the intent of a large central park in Cary’s downtown while also providing for public uses that will compliment and add value to the surrounding community. It indicated a town square, water features and an outdoor amphitheater area along with areas for public art… temporary of course.

National Night Out and National Train Day in downtown were both a huge success and thank goodness the weather cooperated. Hopefully it does the same for next weekend’s Wheels on Academy Car Show.

Now thats my kind of art. See you there!

Morrisville, NC – This Saturday, May 18, 2013, Morrisville will host its first East Meets West Festival. It’s a cross-cultural celebration featuring food, music, performances and visual arts highlighting Morrisville’s diverse community.

In a partnership with the Morrisville Innovation center and the Chamber of Commerce, the festival started from the idea of a much smaller event held last year called a Taste of Morrisville.

Food

Featured foods include Indian, Asian, American, European and new trends in food fusion.  Participating restaurants and vendors include Georgina’s, Taste Vietnamese Cuisine, 5 Hot Chillies, Peppers Market and Sandwich Shop, Mare, Buffalo Wings & Rings, Saffron Indian Cuisine, It’s A Grind, Urbana Catering Concepts, Doherty’s Irish Pub, Neomonde, and Muddy Dog Roasting Company.

Participants can vote for their favorite dishes in the  “Feast of the East & Best of the West” contest.

2 Performance Stages

Two stages will be set up for bands and other performers throughout the day. A Fifth of Blues and the Will McBride Group, two of the Triangle’s most popular bands, will perform on the West Stage near the beer garden.

The East stage by the Indian Creek Greenway Trailhead will feature Bollywood, Indian folk and Asian dance groups and performers showcasing a variety of cultures.

Kids’ activities make the event fun for the whole family.

West Stage Lineup

• A Fifth of Blues from 11:30 a.m.  – 12:30 p.m. & 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. 
•  Will McBride Group from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.

East Stage Lineup

• Jigar Ka Tukda from 11:00 – 11:30 a.m. 
• LA Dance from 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
• Dhoom Machale from 1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
• Indigo Dance Company from 2:30 – 2:45 p.m.
• Triangle Taiko from 3:00 – 3:15 p.m.
• Orange County Jammer Senior Cheerleaders from 3:30 – 4:00

Event Info

East Meets West Festival
Saturday, May 18, 2013
12:00 – 4:00 PM

Town Hall Drive
Morrisville, NC

Admission to the festival is free; tickets available for food, beer and wine.

More information: East Meets West Festival.

Story and photos by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – On Monday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Culinary Farm at SAS Campus. This gem-of-a-garden supplies fresh vegetables and fruit for Herons, An and the SAS cafeterias.

A Visit to the Culinary Farm at SAS

I had heard about the farm at SAS a while back. Two years ago, the effort got a full-time Culinary farmer. Her name is Maggie Lawrence and she gave me the full tour on a bright morning.

“This is a culinary farm,” Maggie told me. “Everything we grow is for the table.” The farm supplies fresh-picked, organically grown vegetables and fruits to The Umstead Hotel, Herons and An Restaurant. The farm also supplies produce to the employee cafeterias at SAS and The Umstead.

“This is a late-spring garden,” Maggie told me. She’s growing broccoli, fennel, lots of lettuce, turnips, beets, peas and a whole lot more.

I saw cilantro blossoms and red vein sorrel; comfy, tarragon and chervil; opal basil and red Russian kale.

Maggie showed me red bok choi, Napa cabbage and rainbow chard. She has blueberry and blackberry shrubs just getting started with hopes to produce fruit in a couple of years. She even has a small stand of asparagus for future production.

The culinary farm also includes plants like Salvia and butterfly bush, grown not for the table but to attract pollinators like wild honey bees and butterflies.

Looking toward summer, Maggie plans to grown different varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, peppers, sweet potatoes and other hot weather crops. She even grows produce for the Hotel bar, including mint and the aforementioned opal basil. “I’ve been consulting with a mixologist,” she explained.

The plot I saw was one of two on the SAS campus. Maggie and her co-worker Ariel Greenwood plant, pick and cultivate it all themselves.

As a guy who loves gardening, it was heaven. But all too soon, we all had to get back to work. Maybe I’ll get invited to visit again.

Pictures: Culinary Farm at SAS Campus