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Contributed by Amanda Estok
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I hope that everyone had a blessed Holiday and I am very excited to start a new year. My interns and I were very busy over break making our first attempts to contact local businesses in order to gauge the amount of participants we will have for our project in the fall. We only asked businesses if they were interested, we have not yet made our list final. We are continuing with that this week in hopes that by next week we will have a complete list of prospective businesses. On Friday I will be meeting with Ray Hazlett to discuss other concerns I may run into with closing the street, such as added expenses, a need for security, parking for venders, etc. During the break I also sat in on a conference call with Commissioner Tim Vonville and President Morgan Allen, as well as Councilwomen Amy Flowers and Carol Patterson. The objective was to discuss the option of fencing off Court Street in Athens for Halloween, and charging a fee for students to enter. Councilwoman Patterson simply presented her information or ideas that she had, and we were open to ask her any questions and it was also an opportunity to express our concerns and issues. While City Council plans to meet on February 5th 2007 to vote on this issue, my interns and I plan to attend Monday night meetings leading up to that date to keep Student Senate updated on further readings and details. Our final project of this quarter will be to assist Councilwoman Amy Flowers in her campaign for bike safety. Although it probably will not be of concern until the spring, we are keeping our eyes and ears open incase it begins to take shape. End of Report |
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Contributed by Amanda Estok
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On Friday of last week, I had a meeting with Councilwoman Bishop to discuss the prospective Business Fair in the fall. She feels it will help the city greatly, and fully expressed her excitement and anticipation. She also referred me to Ray Hazlett to confer any other issues that may arise with such an event; such as parking for venders, security, clean-up expense, etc. I also met with Councilwoman Flowers on Friday. We discussed student involvement in bike safety and registration campaign. Although she is not quite sure as to what will be done, action on this topic will most likely be taken in the spring. Intern Leary reported to me the issues that were discussed on Monday night’s city council meeting. The topic that pertained mostly to student affairs was: - Council discussed Halloween: - The cost was $74,000 this year because they had to hire outside officers - There was less income from parking and bus fare - Council believes that because there were less people, Halloween went better - A letter from a citizen said that lyrics from one of the bands "got out of hand," and the Mayor is going to write back. - Council discussed possibly setting up a 'beer garden' or vendor to make some income for the city itself. Finally, my interns and I will be taking business surveys in the area to compile a list of venders who would like to participate in the fair taking place in the fall. We are hoping this survey will give guidelines as to when the best time to have the fair would be, and what resources we need in order to make it successful. End of Report. |
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Contributed by Amanda Estok
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On Wednesday of last week I met with Councilwoman Carol Patterson to discuss the proposal of a Business Fair from the city’s standpoint. Fortunately, she also agreed that it was a good, and possible, idea which gave me a great deal of encouragement to begin the project. We discussed site location, dates, and also the possibility of pairing it with the weekly art festival they have uptown. I am open to any other suggestions. I will be meeting with Councilwoman Bishop on Friday of this week to get another opinion. My meeting with Councilwoman Amy Flowers was canceled and I am hoping to reschedule for later this week. I plan to discuss her outlook on how Student Senate can get involved in her bike safety campaign. End of Report. |
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Contributed by Amanda Estok
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I had the opportunity to meet with interns Bacha and Leary to discuss objectives and upcoming projects of the commission, mainly the City Business Fair. We are all definitely excited to start. Interns Bacha and Leary also sat in on the city council meeting held on Monday, October 23rd where many things were discussed, but one of particular interest was proposed by Councilwomen Amy Flowers. Her issues involved: - Sidewalks on Stewart Street, being repaired and replaced.- Extension of parking meter time for handicapped drivers to accommodate maneuverability challenges.- Bike safety, particularly around the campus area. She was hoping to gain Student Senate involvement with this issue. My interns and I will be meeting with Amy to work on her proposals and to discuss what she would like to see happen in the future regarding this matter. As always, we will keep you posted. On Monday I met with Larry Payne from the Chamber of Commerce. I proposed my idea of a city business fair to him, which would cater more to students on and off campus. This is a different approach than what they have taken in the past. He was very excited and eager to help. It was refreshing to hear that he felt it would have a decent turnout, if all goes well with promotions. I will be meeting with Councilwoman Carol Patterson this morning to discuss measures that will need to be taken with the city in order to host such an event. In sum, everything is coming together nicely, and I am very optimistic. Please be safe this weekend. End of Report |
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City & County Affairs 
