Garner For Council Blog

Click "Garner For Council" here or at right to direct to my candidate blog. Announcement on Monday, March 3rd, 10:00 AM, Holiday Inn Frontage Rd. (former Clarion).

"Trifecta" This Past Tuesday

(1) Early Roanoke City Independent candidate announcement - (2) My Roanoke Times Commentary - (3) Roanoke City Council Meeting.

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Quite by accident (another story in itself) the Roanoke Times "Announces Me". However, I was just beginning the process of gathering petition signatures. It all snowballed from the prior day attending a "draft Bowers" event.

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So there it was on Tuesday I announced ... really? I did not read further as I rushed to the unveiling of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., monument. Someone said to me, "the press must like you". I gave them a puzzled look. Later I was told by another that my commentary was on the editorial page as well. Holy smokes - I put that in 2 weeks ago. The editorial board saved it for the day Countryside Neighborhood would attend the 7:00 PM Council Meeting where a public hearing was schedule on the 1 acre to be sold to Newbern, LLC. I could tell they saved it for that very day because when I wrote it I had "Feb. 19th" which they changed to say "today". CLICK HERE FOR COMMENTARY.

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It goes to show you there IS a wall between news and the editorial board. This was a coincidence. Now then I had to go to Council that evening a bit uneasy with these two events. However, the Council Meeting went well and they seemed to be paying more attention to us now. They were unable to vote on the sale of publicly owned property with only 5 members in attendance. Monday, March 3rd, they will give it another shot. Councilman Lea was dismayed at the maintenance needed as the VP of Operations for Meadowbrook wrote. I gave each member of Council a copy of the VP's letter to Economic Deveopment. I also gave them copies of the map telling them that without knowing what is going to be built on the acre - there is no certainty that it will not interfere with play. They agreed so at the March 3rd, 2:00 PM meeting the plans for the Trane building expansion should be available for Council members.

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Good news this evening - it looks like sprucing up the golf course is moving ahead. The city is cleaning up the pool area and demolishing the pool building. That will be sad for my community members who grew up using this pool. It was a community center and partially covered at one time. When I first moved here it was still operating. There is no saving any of it.

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There is also the promise of even more maintenance being applied to the golf course itself. No promise regarding the irrigation system or golf paths however. We should hear more in the coming months.

Video - Unveiling Ceremony of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Monument

I had quite a bit of video and tried to capture a little bit of everything that transpired that day. I hope you enjoy the clip.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Unveiling Ceremony

Here are a few pictures from Tuesday. It was bitter cold but I would not have missed it for the world. I am working on video that better reflects the "warmth" of the day.
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LEFT: Mayor Harris and Councilwoman Mason - Dr. Perneller Chubb-Wilson, President Emeritus SCLC in red scarf.

CLICK TO ENLARGE ANY PICTURE.

LEFT: Jeff Artis, President of the SCLC, Roanoke Chapter.

BOTTOM LEFT: Jeff Artis with grandson and Valerie Garner.

ABOVE: What everyone came to see - the picture speaks for itself.

Important Posts for Tuesday, Feb. 19th, 7:00 PM, Roanoke City Council Meeting

A good view of the acre to be sold:
CLICK HERE: Selling Off A "Slice" of Countryside!

Emergency maintenance needed per Meadowbrook VP of Operations:
CLICK HERE: Letter from Meadowbrook, VP of Operations in Florida to Roanoke City Economic Development.

Another map of the fairway 3 Squeeze:
CLICK HERE: This Property to Newbern, LLC, is NOT Vacant!

City-Owned "Vacant Land" - Not!

True there is no structure on this acre. However, I would be hard pressed to call it "vacant land". It is part of Countryside Golf Course - "inbounds" of play. As I stood taking pictures I talked to several foursomes on the 2nd green who can't wait to hit balls at the TRANE building when it is expanded. They are hoping for many, many windows. Maybe they will put doors in the walls in such a manner that will allow golfers to play through. This congers up scenes from "Caddyshack".AGENDA ITEM for February 19th City Council Meeting:
C-2 A communication from the City Manager requesting that Council schedule a public hearing for Tuesday, February 19, 2008, at 7:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard, to consider the sale of a vacant City-owned tract of land to Newbern Properties, LLC, for the expansion of a heating and air conditioning company.

Chickens, Mosquitos, and Snakes - Oh My!

Roanoke City Code Enforcement to the rescue. After 5 years of stagnant water and vegetation growth at the Countryside Swim Club we may have a break in the case. Last night I finally decided to submit on Roanoke City's website under "Request for Services and Issues". This is the fastest way to get action from the City. Calling yields little it seems. I was home today to receive a call this morning about 11:00 AM from Stephen Hanson of Roanoke City Code Enforcement for our area. Mr. Hanson had only been on the job for 2 months but already had addressed my Two Service Requests. He did not know that Roanoke City owned the golf course property.

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First you get a notice of assignment of your issue in your email inbox that looks like this:

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02/04/2008 08:57 AM - Adrian Brown/Employees/City_of_Roanoke Issue Type/Subtype Change New: Miscellaneous Requests / Misc. Request - Building Inspections Due Date Change Previous: 02/03/2008 08:18 PM New: 02/05/2008 03:00 PM Department / Unit Change New: Housing and Neighborhood Services / Housing Assignee Change Previous: Adrian Brown/Employees/ City_of_Roanoke New: Stephen Hanson/Employees/ City_of_Roanoke

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Followed then by a second email saying they are on their way then a third email when it has been resolved and what action has been taken. Here is the third email:

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02/04/2008 01:33 PM - Stephen Hanson/Employees/City_of_Roanoke Action Taken: Responded to 2100 Countryside Drive. Pool(s) are full of water and abandoned structure (near pools) has all windows broken out with evidence of entry by vandals. Will inquire w/Chris Chittum as to status of property.

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I learned from Mr. Hanson's phone call this morning that a chair had been used to enter a broken window of the building adjoining the swimming pool and that the inside of the building had been totally trashed. He also thinks it is being used by vagrants or for drug dealing - who knows what may go on in there. This is shameful to have Roanoke City-owned property being the source of a complaint like this. It just shows how they take care of taxpayer owned assets. The pool area and Tennis Building area is not part of the Operating Agreement with Meadowbrook. It is Roanoke City's responsibility. The solution per Mr. Hanson is to have the building boarded up immediately. The pool drained or treated with vermin and mosquito resistant chemicals. This is a health hazard and code violation in Section 15-30 of Roanoke City Code.

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My second request is a bit more on the lighter side. One of my neighbors backs up to a house that has decided to have a few chickens. We thought keeping chickens within the City of Roanoke was not allowed. Guess again! You can have up to 10 chickens as long as they are in at least a 22,000 sq. ft. environment and 50 feet from the nearest structure. The chicken house must also be of a certain size. All was in compliance. I know it is tempting to run out there and pick up some live chickens to keep in your yard but I suggest that if you want your neighbors to talk to you that you resist the temptation. I will get my "range free" chicken eggs at the grocery store, thank you!

UPDATE: Selling Off A "Slice" of Countryside!!!

UPDATE: Today Brian Townsend, Roanoke City Asst. Manager, assured me that the Enterprise Zone boundary amendment on Agenda Item C-3 does NOT include the 1 acre proposed for sale to Newbern Properties.

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URGENT: All golfers and neighbors take note of the public hearing on February 19th, 7:00 PM, in Council Chambers at the Municipal Building, 4th floor. Let your voice be heard - STOP the slicing off of this PUBLIC golf course. I hope my suspicion is not founded that the second item "boundary amendments" to Enterprise Zone One A and Zone Two is not part of this. The Enterprise Zone is colored in PINK above. Trane is IN the Enterprise Zone!

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AGENDA ITEMS:

C-2 A communication from the City Manager requesting that Council schedule a public hearing for Tuesday, February 19, 2008, at 7:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard, to consider the sale of a vacant City-owned tract of land to Newbern Properties, LLC, for the expansion of a heating and air conditioning company.

C-3 A communication from the City Manager requesting that Council schedule a public hearing for Tuesday, February 19, 2008, at 7:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard, to consider boundary amendments to Enterprise Zone One A and Zone Two.

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How do you like "vacant property" as the description - nothing about it being Countryside Golf Course. Trying to hide it ... SECRECY .... SECRECY .... SECRECY. Let's see if they contact me to let me know.

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AND in C-3 - is this a trick to get this SLICE of Countryside into the Enterprise Zone on the same night so they don't have to go through zoning? They said there would be two hearings.

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I'll find out tomorrow and post it here as an update. Stay tuned.

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There is no plan to show us what will be there. The zoning as explained to me will allow building right ON the property line. This is very, very bad. We must go to Council Meeting February 19th and let our voices be heard loud and clear.