Several talking points for the first meeting of the year, for Wilmington City Council

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY)–It’s straight to business in the new year, as the Wilmington City Council held its first meeting on Tuesday night at the Skyline Center. The first meeting included new faces, as the newest city council members heard the many talking points made during the meeting.

The meeting had many important subjects, like the Interbase Transfer Certificate request from the town of Fuquay Varina. The certificate requests taking water out of the Cape Fear River, and dumping it into the Neuse River, and using the water for the town’s needs, without returning it back.

One other talking point was the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s plan to reduce the number of motor vehicles from 16th Street. The plan would transform the three lanes into two lanes for a one block segment from the intersection of Castle Street through Queen Street. The plan would make it safer for pedestrians near the area to walk.

One topic that has garnered lots of interest is a project proposed by the NCDOT, and it includes a 1.7-mile extension of Independence Boulevard.

The goal of the project is to provide another corridor to alleviate congestion, but some say it comes at the expense of homeowners who would have to relocate.

The proposed plan was suggested as much as 50 years ago, and on Tuesday evening, city council members unanimously decided to accept a resolution, and find an alternative way to help the traffic without any drawbacks.

Linda Painter, planning director for the city of Wilmington, says the project can exist, but without destroying communities.

“There would be any number of residences or businesses who would be affected. The number varies depending on which interchange NCDOT ultimately chose. If you are looking at it from a residential standpoint, I believe it was 59 or 70 residences. We don’t know how many people live in those residences. The actual human impact would be higher than 59 or 70 people”, said Painter.

Painter says despite opposing the project, the city hopes to continue working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to solve the issues of traffic near Independence Boulevard

“This is still about continuing with the Wilmington Metropolitan Organization, with NCDOT, to work on our other north and south corridors, and be creative. It’s about how to get creative and better address congestion and access management issues so we can improve north and south connectivity overall,” said Painter.

Mayor Pro-Tem, Kevin Spears says the first meeting of the new year went well. He believes that the resolution was a great way to show off the new members of the City Council and see how they work.

“It’s a successful first meeting. I think it’s a new temperament for this iteration of the city council. It gives us an opportunity to do better with our constituents and do better with our community. It’s a huge plus”, said Spears.