Wilmington City Council meeting for the first time in the month of June.
It kicked off with two proclamations, recognizing those who contributed to the discovery of Gen-X in our water system.
“We are tonight to honor those individuals who contributed and helped us find those contaminants and to hold Chemours responsible for cleaning up our river and to make sure they eliminate all PFAS that our in our river and water supply system,” Mayor Bill Saffo stated.
Next, Council appropriating more than $160,000 from the sale of Optimist Park to support the construction of Eden Village. The 31-unit, tiny-home community will provide housing for eligible homeless individuals.
“$43,000 is earmarked for your prior council actions for Eden Village for the purchase of a tiny home. The remaining $119, 687.73 is to be utilized in a future permanent supportive housing project,” said Suzanna Rogers, a community development and housing planner for the City.
The city has pledged a total of $250,000 toward the project which is expected to be move-in ready by the fall.
Some much needed roadway improvements will be coming to a busy Wilmington intersection.
Council appropriating more than $625,000 for improvements to Racine Drive including a new right-turn lane onto New Centre Drive, new pavement, curbing, sidewalks, pedestrian signals, signage, and marking.
“The intersection is a high priority intersection for pedestrian improvements in the Greenway Plan, the Walk Wilmington Plan, so we added pedestrian signals, crosswalks, upgrading the handicap ramps to the project because we felt it was the right time to do it,” said Denise Freund, division engineer for the City.
Construction is being funded by the 2014 voter-approved transportation bond.
Council taking the first of two votes on the fiscal year 2023 budget.
The budget prioritizes employee compensation and retention, transportation projects, equity and inclusion, affordable housing, street rehabilitation, and infrastructure.
Under a proposed 1.42 cent tax rate increase, average homeowners would see their tax bill increase by roughly three dollars per month. Council will take the second and final vote at its next regular meeting.
Finally, Council approved allocating up to $1.65 million to the Wilmington Housing Authority to help with capital improvements for housing remediation.
For more on this meeting, you can head to wilmingtonnc.gov.
City Council will meet again on June 21 at 6:30 pm.