Hi Eastsiders!

Y'all missed a great and informative meeting tonight!

The regular notes will go out in the newsletter in a few weeks, but here are some highlights from the meeting:

• Officer Krysko said that the commotion this past weekend on Culpepper was due to a "shots fired" call. Someone called 911 saying that shots had been fired and several police responded. Nothing was found.
• Parks and Rec Easter Egg Hunt is THIS SATURDAY! Starts at noon at Lion's Park Community Center and will feature healthy candies! Everyone is invited.
• Get involved with YOUR City of Raleigh Parks and Recreation System Plan by heading to http://www.yourparksyourfuture.com/
• A lively question and answer session was held with representatives from the developers of McDonald's when they told us about a new McDonald's that will be coming before the City Council and Planning Commission in April. The plan is to place a McDonald's restaurant on New Bern Ave. beside Walgreens (across from Wake Med). Some great questions were discussed: Our neighborhood is considered a "food desert" so what is McDonald's going to do to provide healthy food? How many jobs will be created? What about traffic? Can this particular McDonald's help with trash accumulation at Enloe HS (given the fact that it will be the closest fast food restaurant to the campus and that will probably mean McDonald's trash lining our streets and filling our streams)? Stay tuned! McDonald's will be back to another East CAC meeting!
• Water lines are being replaced in our neighborhood and the work will continue through September. If you have questions or concerns please contact Ed Stempien from the COR Public Utilities Dept. at (919) 996-3490.
• Martin Street Baptist Church (1001 E. Martin St.) gives away free fresh fruits and veggies to people in need every second Saturday of the month. First come, first served.
• HR Bill 150 is in the NC House now. The NC Legislature is trying to take away the ability of cities across the state to provide input into structures in residential zoning. What does this mean to you? It means that it could open the door to infill that permits the construction of a house with multiple bedrooms and connected bathrooms, and opens the door for the construction of boarding houses in single family neighborhoods. It also takes away the citizen's ability to interact with the city and developers when new construction is being built adjacent to their neighborhoods. The City of Raleigh has just spent years on the development of our Unified Development Ordinance and they did it with OUR input. The legislature is telling us that citizen input about the character of their community is not important. If you feel it is important, please contact members of the Wake Delegation and let them know how important it is to you. (Wake County mayors have passed a resolution opposing the bill) Contact information is attached.
• If you would like to volunteer for our annual East CAC Community Day (coming up in August) please come to the next CAC meeting (third Monday of each month at 7pm at Lion's Park Community Center) and sign up! Or contact Ms. Deborah Ford! 
  

Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught, will we realize that we cannot eat money.
~ 19th century Cree saying

Hasta que el último árbol sea cortado, hasta que el último río sea contaminado, hasta que el último pescado sea atrapado; solo entonces nos daremos cuenta que el dinero no se puede comer.
~ profecia Indios Cree