At a special meeting on Oct. 10, the Greensboro City Council voted to allocate $535,000 to buy 40 Pallet shelters.  City staff refused to divulge where the Pallet shelters would be placed.

On Nov. 15, the city allocated and additional $200,000 for management and security of the Pallet shelter project and City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba said he could not tell Councilmember Zack Matheny where the Pallet shelters would be located because of the “sensitivity and vulnerability” of the people being served.

However, the secret Pallet village site is now known and, on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 9:30 a.m., Mayor Nancy Vaughan and some members of the City Council will be at Pomona Park at 3910 Clifton Road to tour the site.

City Councilmembers Marikay Abuzuaiter and Nancy Hoffmann have both responded by email that they plan to be there, along with Vaughan.  If two more city councilmembers show up, that is a majority of the City Council and would constitute a meeting and be subject to the North Carolina open meetings law.

Usually at events where a majority of the City Council may attend to conduct city business, such as touring a site where the council has agreed to spend $735,000 of tax payer dollars, a notice is sent out stating that a majority of the City Council may be in attendance, which according to the NC open meetings law constitutes a meeting.

Vaughan said that she wanted people to see the field and how it will be set up for the Pallet shelters, which are scheduled to be delivered to Greensboro on Monday, Dec. 19.

She said that the only portion of the field that is special needs accessible is the infield and that she had asked that a temporary fence or some kind of barricade be placed around the infield to prevent it from being damaged by having 60 people living in the outfield during the winter.

Vaughan said that the Pallet shelters would be removed from the field in March in plenty of time to get the field ready for use in April, which according to the Parks and Recreation Department schedule is when the use of the field as a ball field begins.

Vaughan said that she saw hoped those who opposed using the Pomona field would take a look at the site to see that a lot of what has been said in opposition to the site is disinformation.