Comments on: Mayor and Council Meeting Recap, 7-12-2010

By: Theresa Defino

Theresa Defino — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:12:01 +0000

From the Gazette, posted online today:”From fiscal 1999 through fiscal 2009 the course posted a deficit of $1.1 million. In fiscal 2011, which began July 1, RedGate is projected to lose about $673,000.”http://www.gazette.net/stories/07142010/rocknew212846_32533.php

By: Temperance Blalock

Temperance Blalock — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:03:07 +0000

Since I recently got rid of cable, and thus can only watch on Channel 11 (which isn’t handy when I’m doing housework and chores in the evening), it’s really great to be able to find out so quickly what were the highlights of the meeting. Thanks for the recaps.

By: Theresa Defino

Theresa Defino — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:41:17 +0000

Wow, what a great report! Thank you!As far as the rooftop and noise, I’m curious as to which event(s) elicited specific comments, at what time of night and if “lyrics” are an issue at all. Anyone know? I’ve been to two rooftop gatherings and my teens have also been to at least one–and that ended at 10 p.m. I believe. Overall, I thought they were extremely well-run and I am thrilled that there is a safe environment, close-by for my children to enjoy music and have a good time. I would hate to see certain groups or demographics be unfairly blamed or shut out of future events, especially if complaints are not substantiated. I am glad to see the mayor (and the rest of the council) is keeping a watchful eye on city finances. However, I wish the mayor would have the same focus when it comes to large ticket items, such as Red Gate; further subsidizing of this is fiscally irresponsible. I will be watching for her to show leadership and impartiality here and not cave to a few of her supporters from whom this is a pet project.Thank you, Art, for your continued diligence.

By: Deb Stahl

Deb Stahl — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:51:39 +0000

The snow response report actually makes some interesting reading. Would love to be able to respond to the City on some of those, especially the parking and plowing problems, with some thoughts and suggestions. Our street was a nightmare, and having people parked on the sidewalk side of the street while the snowplows shoved the snow off the street on the side without the sidewalk would have made the street far more passable in far shorter a space of time, and with fewer passes by the plows. Instead, there were families who parked on both their side AND the opposite side, making full plowing impossible and making the street borderline-impassable for nearly two weeks after the final snowstorm – and since the City outright abandoned its snow emergency plan in the end without ever having enforced it to begin with it on our street, any of us who used the street had no recourse. Having a policy, making it known to residents possibly in languages other than solely English (would have been VERY helpful in our neighborhood, which is culturally and linguistically quite diverse), and enforcing it at least to the point of written warnings in previous years with lesser snowfalls could have set the stage for our neighborhood to cope with this past Winter’s storms more effectively.For the Rooftop noise complaints, we do hear some of the music from both the Rooftop and the concerts on the Square from our house in East Rockville (less than a mile as the crow flies), but it’s more bothersome if the bass is loud; it might be quicker and easier to simply lower the bass output on the sound systems to reduce overall perceived noise; the bass is what would be *felt* thru walls even if it’s not immediately audible otherwise. It would be interesting to see if such a simple measure would have an impact on the noise complaints.