The Raleigh City Council could vote on the Percent for Arts program at Tuesday’s meeting. Council passed a temporary resolution for the program at its February 17 meeting, but this new ordinance would make the program permanent. The statute would give half a percent of the city’s budget to a new committee to commission artists for public art projects.<\/p>\n
From the consent agenda, council could vote to raise several sewer and water fees by more than 4 percent. The fee increase is pegged to the construction cost index listed by the Engineering News Record<\/em>. The fees affected include:<\/p>\n Also in the consent agenda, the Raleigh Police Department is requesting more than $90,000 for 60 new rifles. The department’s request says officers in the field have carried shotguns as their secondary weapon, but those are out dated. The request says the department’s handguns and shotguns have a range of 25 yards, but the new rifles have a 100-yard range and would help officers stay out of the “danger zone” of a suspect with a handgun.<\/p>\n Tactical teams with the police department already use the rifle, but this proposal would give one rifle to each of the 48 squads in the Field Operations Division.<\/p>\n Editor’s note: If there’s anything you want us to pay special attention to at the March 17 council meeting, drop us a line<\/a> or leave a note below. Also, you can follow the meeting live through our Twitter feed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n