INC NEWS - April agenda (April 26)

[pat carstensen]

The agenda for the April 26 INC meeting and a proposed letter supporting the 
East End Connector are below.

Regards, pat

----

AGENDA
InterNeighborhood Council of Durham
Monthly meeting on Tuesday April 26, 2005
7-9pm in the Comfy Room or else Johnson Hall
ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH (1737 HILLANDALE ROAD, at I-85)
Directions: http://mysite.verizon.net/stlukeep/findus.shtml
Refreshments are provided

Welcome and Introductions (10 min)	    Bill Anderson, President

Durham Court Funding (10 min)	Barker French
Update on what is going on


Durham Multi-modal Station (30 min)	Alan DeLisle
Discussion of design and use of "Durham Station"


Discussion Items (20 min)
q East End Connector
q Fire Station Siting

Updates  (20 min)

q Minutes and Treasurer’s Report            	Pat  / Randy
q UDO Update
q CIP Update
q Yard Waste
q Dues Due
q 20th Birthday Bash
q Other Updates or New Business

Announcements / Events (5 min)

q Earth Day Stream Clean Up and Other Activities – April 23

For additional information, contact Bill Anderson (688-4550 or 
TheOcean1 at aol.com)
To update information on your neighborhood, neighbors at durham-cvb.com or 
680-8328

"Only in the continuous encounter with other persons, does the person become 
and remain a person.
The place of this encounter is the community"
www.durhaminc.org

Mr. Lyndo Tippett
North Carolina Secretary of Transportation


Secretary Tippett,

I am writing on behalf of the Inter-Neighborhood Council (INC) of Durham, 
which represents 33 neighborhood and homeowners associations. We wish to 
reiterate our strong support of the Durham East End Connector highway 
project (U-71), which we endorsed by unanimous resolution in July 2002.

INC joins a broad-based community consensus in Durham in supporting the 
Connector as a top priority, including Durham City Council, the Durham Board 
of County Commissioners, the Durham delegation to the N.C. General Assembly, 
the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO, the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, 
hundreds of individual citizens, and business and environmental interests 
alike.

We view N.C. DOT as a partner rather than an adversary and see this issue as 
a way to show the entire state how neighborhoods and N.C. DOT can work 
together effectively.

Your department has the unique opportunity to build goodwill and public 
trust in Durham by funding and building the East End Connector. When was the 
last time you can remember neighborhood interests actively supporting a new 
highway, rather than speaking out in opposition?

We realize that there are funding issues for projects across the state, but 
given the broad community support and the length of time this project has 
been on the books; it needs to be prioritized

The East End Connector is eligible for money from the state Highway Trust 
Fund, which is immune to N.C. DOT’s "equity formula". The Connector was 
originally planned in 1959, earning it the dubious distinction of being the 
oldest highway project in the entire state that has not yet been built.

In the previous state Transportation Improvement Program, the Connector was 
scheduled, at long last, to begin construction in 2010. However, in the new 
draft 2006-2012 T.I.P, construction of this road has once again been delayed 
indefinitely.

On behalf of Durham INC, I strongly urge you to make the East End Connector 
a priority for N.C. DOT, and to restore construction funding for no later 
than 2010.


Sincerely yours,


Bill Anderson
President, Durham Inter-Neighborhood Council

Cc:
Governor Mike Easley
Durham delegation to the N.C. General Assembly
North Carolina Board of Transportation
Ken Spaulding, N.C. Board of Transportation, Division 5
Durham Board of County Commissioners
Durham City Council
Calvin Leggett, NCDOT
Mark Ahrendsen, Durham DOT