Raleigh City Council To Revisit Changes To Curbside Trash Collection

Council members sent the proposal, which would allow residents to

put their trash out to the street

at noon the day before their scheduled pickup, back to committee, saying the change allowed residents to leave their trash cans on the street for too long.

Under the current ordinance, residents must sit trash out to the street after sundown the day before pickup and remove trash cans by sundown the day after pickup.

City leaders want the committee to look at changing the time residents would have to remove their trash cans from the street the day after pickup.

Council members also discussed proposed downtown revitalization plans, including the construction of a 900-spot parking garage and a 400-room Marriott Hotel.

In a 5-3 vote, city leaders voted in favor of plans to build the $60 million Marriott Hotel, expected to open with the city's new convention center in 2008. One issue discussed was the use of

synthetic stucco

on the front of the hotel.

The Council agreed to use the stucco on 25 percent of the hotel after some members argued the fake stucco would cheapen its look. In another provision to the hotel plan, leaders voted to ensure that the hotel windows look different from those of nearby high-rises.

In another 5-3 vote, plans to construct the parking garage below the hotel were also approved. Some Council members had argued that an above-ground parking deck would have been more economical. Each parking spot is expected to cost about $33,000.

The City Council also unanimously voted to approve a

diversity plan

designed to increase the number of women and minorities hired by the city's fire department.

Right now, black firefighters make up just 12 percent of the department, but the city itself is 30 percent black. The city's fire chief has proposed, among other changes, an ad campaign to get the word out before September's recruiting class.

And, with Raleigh's main source of water a little less than a foot below average, the City Council decided to keep mandatory water restrictions in place for city water customers, meaning residents must still wash their cars at a professional car wash.