The Raleigh City Council convened for a regular meeting covering a wide range of public safety, planning, and administrative issues, with the most significant deliberation regarding the Big Branch Greenway Connector project and its impact on Anderson Forest residents, alongside approval of a new citywide noise ordinance and a resolution to limit annexation expansion.
And you can put that back and pass the task. Oh, look at the most important thing. Okay, we had uh no items removed from the consent agenda. Uh so do we have a motion? Move to approve. Right. Uh all in favor of the motion, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. All right, so that passes. And next uh we have public comment. And we had a lot of folks sign up today, so because we only have an hour, we have a minute per speaker. And uh I believe your names will be up on this board, so if you want to kind of line up and uh you know, kind of get ready to come forth, but we'll start with Elizabeth Scott. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Elizabeth Scott and I live in the Anderson Forest neighborhood. Uh this Greenway Connector project has not been a fifty-year city priority. The nineteen seventy-six and eighty-nine Greenway master plans don't mention it. If anyone claims otherwise, I challenge you to read these documents. Had this trail been a tr had the Anderson Forest Trail been a a priority in nineteen eighty-six, the city would have never accepted an easement that expressly forbids greenway trail construction through Anderson Forests. Violating legal is easements and bending environmental rules to build a ten foot wide asphalt trail through a thirty-foot riparian buffer is not leading by example and could jeopardize a vital natural resource in a rapidly growing city. Natalie Brown. And finally, I want to wish Jonathan Nevermothan a happy 40th birthday. All right. All right, thank you. Uh Jane Hubbins. Big Branch near Six Works Road does not have a wide floodplain. Houses lie on the west side on a hill with a bluff on the opposite bank, creating a narrow channel for the water which drains much of North Hills to pass through, making swift and powerful floodwaters rise quickly. They carry locks, trees, other debris that funnel into a car culvert under Six Horts Road. Backyards can flood in ten minutes, and sometimes from heavy range just upstream. A downward ramp leading into rising floodwaters is dangerous for trail users and puts them at risk in being pulled under Six Works Road. When Crabtree Creek rises, stream flows here slow and stop, creating a re in our backyard a lake that lasts for hours and sometimes days. Receding waters leaves slippery mud and debris that would require a higher level of online maintenance. Thank you. Thank you. Monica Sanders not seeing her. Uh Nikki W. She's not Graham Whitehead. Good afternoon. I'm a student here. I live just off of Hillsborough Street, directly across campus from the Hill Library. Um I just wanted to talk about the increasing homeless population that's overrun Hillsborough Street in that area. Uh recently, my girlfriend was harassed by a homeless man. She even had to like run away from him because he was chasing her on foot. My roommate's girlfriend has mentioned instances of similar things happening to her. Um and even the other day when I was walking my dog, I noticed a homeless man who was defecating in the bushes. Um I've just I've noticed the increasing trend of you know them just you know not caring as much about the area and and even you know making it a pain for other people to walk up and down that street. And I you know, my girlfriend has told me that she feels unsafe even walking in the daytime. Um so I just wanted to come address that to y'all and hopefully something you know motion moves forward to clean up that area and find a safer place for them and ensure the safety of our students. Um could you just name the street you're referring to? Hillsborough Street, particularly between Logan Court and Brooks on on Hillsborough.