Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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10 UCW JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 5, 2019 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Fayetteville City Council members will meet next month for their annual planning retreat. Last week, they held a preliminary session designed to zero in on issues they believe most important to the people in the year ahead. For the first time in many years, crime control is not on the list. e priorities include initiating a development plan for the Murchison Road corridor. Members have been talking about economic improvement along the roadway for years. Mayor Mitch Colvin owns Colvin Funeral Home & Crematory at 2010 Murchi- son Rd. Murchison Road stretches for 10 miles from downtown Fayetteville to Spring Lake. City Council plans to take on the revitalization in segments, the first being from the new Rowan Street railroad overpass to Langdon Street, just beyond Fayetteville State Uni- versity. Local business development, improved street lighting, additional bus stops and mobility are potential areas of improvement. It "could be 15, 20 years before this whole cor- ridor is done," said Mayor Pro Tem Ted Mohn. Another area of interest to council would be the city's investment in a modern, high-speed broadband system. Councilman Jim Arp spoke of making Fayetteville a Top 50 smart technology city, saying "information is the commerce of the next century." e city administration calls these special interest projects targets for ac- tion. Other projects include comple- tion of the comprehensive land use plan, development and maintenance of city street and stormwater systems, and development of options for a young adult engagement program and an internship program. e objective of the session was to get the council thinking in greater detail about the goals it will concen- trate on during the annual planning retreat. In addition to public safety concerns, they scratched develop- ment of parks and recreation pro- grams from their list. P&R Committee Chair Kathy Jensen noted that pas- sage of the $35 million bond referen- dum three years ago had stabilized funding needs. e list of targets for action did not include crime control in Fayetteville. Statistics continue to reflect an overall upward trend in crime over 17 years with both violent and property crimes increasing. Based on this trend, the crime rate in Fayetteville for 2019 is expected to be higher than in 2016 according to CityRating.com. e city had a record number of homicides in 2016 — 33. In 2016, the violent crime rate in Fayetteville was higher than the violent crime rate in North Carolina by 103.42 percent, and the city's property crime rate was higher than the property crime rate in North Carolina by 66.23 percent. The source of data on Fayetteville crime rates is the FBI Report of Offenses Known to Law Enforce- ment. The projected crime rate data was generated from the trends and crime information available from previous years of reported data. The FBI cautions that statistics compar- ing yearly data solely on the basis of population is meaningful only upon further examination of all variables that affect crime. Prioritizing what's good for the people of Fayetteville by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS IMMEDIATE HOUSING AVAILABLE NOTICE! NOTICE! NOTICE! Abilities, Inc. of Florida d/b/a Service Source is accepting applications for housing based rental assistance occupancy for all property locations: Briarcliffe Apartments Barton's Landing Place Cumberland Towers If the head or co-head of household has a PERMANENT, severe physical disability and your household is very low income you may be eligible for placement on the lists. A separate application WILL be required for each placement desired. Applications can be obtained by calling: 910-826-4699 or by faxing 910-485-4341. Applications are not available online but can be mailed or emailed to those requesting them. Via mail or in person. Applicants will be placed on the desired list(s) as per date and time stamp received. Abilities, Inc. of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Housing Provider. CUMBERLAND TOWERS BARTON'S LANDING BRIARCLIFFE APARTMENTS Applications can be returned to: Abilities | 600 Ames Street | Fayetteville, North Carolina 28301