Council member tweets committee meetings

Posted on by David Forbes

Today Asheville City Council member Gordon Smith tweeted deliberations on re-opening the Hillcrest pedestrian bridge and other matters at meetings of the Public Safety and Planning and Economic Development committees.

Unusually for a Council member, Smith reported on the proceedings of the committees directly via the microblogging tool. His assembled tweets below:

Hillcrest to downtown on current safe route =3580ft. Using Ped bridge &sidewalk =2330ft Now at Public Safety Comm. Mtg. For discussion of pedestrian bridge issues. AC-T & WLOS here.

Today in PED we extended public restroom hrs in Rankin promenade to 10pm. Must be approved by Council. Re: Nuisance Court – Over 7,500 grafitti tags removed by community service labor. $16,000+ in staff hours saved. Also today in PED: UDO Table of Uses to go to P&Z in Sept.

Bothwell – Chicken Hill residents want access to Westgate and west AVL. Bothwell – how do we create effective security measures at Ped Bridge? Cameras, turnstile? Re: pedestrian bridge – Transportation director defines issues as 1. Safety; 2. Transportation. Re: pedestrian bridge – A good I26 connector will separate local from interstate traffic and solve problems.

David Nash: Hillcrest residents largely in favor of reopening bridge. Charlie Hume echoes sentiment. Marsha Stickford: WECAN wants bridge opened. Safety and transportation issues need to be addressed. Pattiy Torno: WECAN has not reached consensus. David Nash: Hillcrest residents largely in favor of reopening bridge. Charlie Hume echoes sentiment. Housing Auth. Asst. Dir. David Nash: Hillcrest is a major destination for drug seekers.

Russell – Hillcrest controlled access, one way in/out. Is this normal? David Nash – it’s not uncommon. Whit Rylee (Chicken Hill property owner and developer): I’m in favor of opening the bridge. Public comment: Rob S. Is interested in furthering the discussion re: skateboard law reform.

Re: Pedestrian bridge – Council to decide Aug. 24

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One thought on “Council member tweets committee meetings”

  1. Gordon Smith

    Thanks for covering my coverage. Very meta!

    Just to be clear – I did not tweet during the PED meeting, waiting until afterwards since I sit on that committee and need to pay full attention.

    I tweeted throughout the Public Safety Committee meeting. I am not a member of that committee but was attending as a member of the public.

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