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The Mount Airy Main Street Association and Economic Development Commission presented survey findings to the Town Council last week.

The Downtown Business Survey had 39 responses from professional, retail and service organizations downtown. Town intern Laurel Hughes performed the survey in July and August.

Merchants estimated that they have about 30 customers a day. Parking convenience and traffic flow were rated low on a listing of the town's attributes, while the friendliness of merchants and quality of goods and services ranked high.

Dick Swanson, vice president of the association, requested Monday that the town post the survey on its Web site. He said the report does not draw conclusions, but was instead for merchants to use.

A copy of the report can be found at the association's Web site, www.mainstreet

mountairy.org.

Budget concerns loom

Mount Airy Mayor Frank Johnson said the town's budget is good for now, but will be a concern in the future.

"The budget will be a bigger issue for us in November and December than it has in previous years," he said during the Monday Town Council meeting.

Johnson said the town is finishing the fiscal 2008 audit, and that there are no major problems.

Councilman Gary Nelson suggested reviewing the budget to check some areas and see how to fund deficiencies, when dealing with the fiscal 2010 budget.

When Councilman John Woodhull asked if Nelson was proposing a special meeting or workshops, Nelson replied "yes."

Councilman Dave Pyatt said municipal budgeting takes hard work and can be quirky.

"It's a different breed of cat," he said. "I do have to say, the current mayor's budget has gone a long way to stabilize the process and make it go a long way."

Second-floor outdoor dining talks continue

The Mount Airy Planning Commission spent the bulk of its September meeting reviewing language for second-floor dining in downtown Mount Airy and had reached no decision, said Councilman Dave Pyatt, liaison to the commission.

He listed a number of issues the commission is still concerned about: noise, people throwing objects over the edge, and whether the proposal would fit in with the nature of the downtown planning zone.

"We didn't come to any conclusions," he said, saying the commission spent an hour deliberating the language in the second-floor dining ordinance. "My sense is that if it had come to a vote, it wouldn't have been approved."

Council members expressed frustration with the length of the process that came to their attention in August.

"Perhaps we need to make a decision if they don't make a decision," said Councilman Peter Helt.

Councilwoman Wendi Peters said she was on the commission for six years, and had an appreciation for them being cognizant of the historical intent.

She said deliberation is important, but said "I think we need to get it moving."

Pyatt said the commission was taking action, just not making a decision yet.

Kelly Ziad, town planner and Main Street Manager, said there were quite a few issues with the ordinance, but that the commission was close to a conclusion.

"They're not looking at this as an Upper Deck or Laurienzo's issue," she said. "They're looking at this as a town ordinance."