The Tuesday, June 15 Greensboro City Council meeting has 73 items on the agenda.

So, if you’re planning on watching the meeting that begins at 5:30 p.m., it would be wise to find a comfortable place to sit, have a lot of snacks and plenty of the beverage of your choice on hand.

In fact, the agenda is so long that the agenda posted on June 10 includes the notation, “THIS AGENDA IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND WILL BE REPOSTED JUNE 11, 2021.”

An email from Greensboro City Clerk Angie Lord explains that the incomplete agenda was being posted so that the council could begin its review and “The outstanding budget items are expected to be completed by mid-day Friday and the agenda will be reposted to reflect these completed items.”

Since the City Council did not reach agreement on all the 2021-2022 budget items at its work session on Monday, June 6, it makes sense that those items weren’t complete in time to post the agenda.  It also seems likely that the lack of consensus may cause more discussion than usual on the budget.

Usually, by the time the final budget comes before the City Council for a vote, all the issues have been settled in work sessions, so there is little discussion on the actual budget.

The agenda with 73 items could cause the City Council to reconsider its decision to hold only one business meeting a month.

Along with over 20 items dealing with the 2021-2022 budget is a resolution starting the process to hold a bond referendum for $135 million and a resolution to publish a public notice of the Nov. 2, 2021 City Council election.  That public notice evidently has to be posted even though it currently appears unlikely the City Council election will be held in November.

Also on the agenda are public hearings for two rezoning requests, four amendments to the zoning ordinance and a resolution to continue funding Downtown Greensboro Inc.

And there are six contracts and change orders for the council to approve.  Since Councilmember Sharon Hightower usually goes over in great detail the Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise (MWBE) percentages on nearly every contract or change order that comes before the City Council, these items could make a long meeting even longer.

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