Bemiss Neighborhood Council Ok’d

The Bemiss neighborhood council received an official nod from the City Council Monday.

Bemiss is the eighth group to be officially recognized as a neighborhood council. Rockwood and North Indian Trail are next in line.

Bemiss, one of the city’s low-income areas, is located in the Hillyard neighborhood. It’s the first council group to organize around an elementary school. Other neighborhoods have used steering committee boundaries, a unifying crisis or geography as a way of defining their council areas.

Marlene Stewart, representing the Bemiss council, said their priorities are preserving open space, encouraging developments to enhance the neighborhood, improving transportation, and strengthening families.

The neighborhood council program is well under way, said Neighborhood Services Director Molly Myers. Ten councils have been organized in the program’s first year.

There may eventually be as many as 45 organized throughout the city, she said.

“There is a fine line between what defines a neighborhood, what is too large, and what is too small,” said Myers. “If it’s too small, that’s when you get into exclusiveness. All the neighborhoods are cognizant of trying to maintain that balance.”

, DataTimes