Pull out of PTCOG

A couple of weeks ago I teased you with the possibility with the possibility that the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments might go poof. Not quite true —- local governments are being asked to pass resolutions supporting the dissolution of PTCOG so it can merge with the Northwest Council of Governments, forming the Piedmont Triad Regional Council of Government.

The Greensboro City Council voted in favor of dissolving PTCOG, but not before council member Trudy Wade asked some hard questions about the dues structure, which she said is weighted unfairly against Guilford County, Greensboro and High Point. Not only is the county getting triple-dipped, Wade argued, but each of those entities only have one vote, the same as smaller local governments who pay much less in dues, which are based on population.

Last night Guilford County commissioners were asked to pass the resolution, and it was quite the interesting discussion. It was surprising —or perhaps not —that commissioners admitted they didn’t know much about PTCOG, even though fellow commissioner Carolyn Coleman serves on the board. Still, commissioners asked much harder questions not only about the dues, but services PTCOG was providing. As you can imagine, Billy Yow asked some really hard questions, concluding the council was just another nonprofit picking taxpayers’ pockets. But things got even better. Coleman was participating by phone and stated that she was disrespected by other PTCOG board members in the merger process.

That didn’t sit well with Chairman Skip Alston, who had some harsh words for Randolph County Commissioner Darrel Frye, who was representing the PTCOG board. After a somewhat heated exchange, Alston raised the issue of whether or not the county even needed PTCOG’s services, especially since dues would increase following the merger.

Commissioners voted to table the issue until an April work session. But perhaps a majority will pick up on Alston’s suggestion and decide to just pull out of PTCOG.

I certainly don’t agree with the chairman on everything, but on this issue I say get off, Skip. Don’t we have enough pseudo-governmental entities here in the Triad?

IED at Randleman Dam

Ed Cone passes along the City of Greensboro press release stating that an improvised explosive device was found “at the shoreline” of the Randleman Reservoir.

According to the release, the “device was secured utilizing the bomb robot, was determined to be an actual IED and was rendered safe at the scene by 6:00 pm.”

WGHP reports; nothing yet up up on the N&R Web site.

Update: N&R write-up.

Kokomo

On the subject of taxpayer-funded amphitheaters, none other than the Beach Boys will christen the new White Oak Amphitheater at the Greensboro Coliseum.

My gut reaction was to wonder if it’s the Mike Love Beach Boys or the Al Jardine Beach Boys.

HP’s ‘regional recreation complex’

Maybe I’ve been just been doing this too long, but I see some angling going on.

The Rhino’s Paul Clark follows up on Guilford County school board member Ed Price’s pitch to the City Council for a downtown skateboard park.

Just so happens that price is bundling his skateboard project with the proposed amphitheater pitched by HP architect Peter Freeman.

Money is an issue, but still dangling is $1.9 million in two-thirds bonds the city took out to finish the last mile of its greenway. The bonds have to be used for parks and rec, and an amphitheater doesn’t legally fit under that category. But an amphitheater combined with a skateboard park —a regional recreation complex, if you will —– just might.

As Clark notes, Price has the ability to raise private funds. But there’s a catch:

That’s where Price, who owns Ed Price and Associates, High Point’s largest real estate firm, differs from any random citizen coming in and asking the City Council to build something: He has a proven ability to attract private donations. In the case of the Miracle Field, High Point bought the land from the Guilford County Board of Education and Price raised $500,000 from private donors to build the field.

Price said he was told he would never get the money to build Miracle Field – but that the athletic complex has now reached such a critical mass that the school board is spending a further $2 million on it, and the City of High Point a further $1.2 million.

So here’s what I see happening —– the council taps the bonds, Price makes up the difference, and voila taxpayers have themselves a regional recreation complex.