Bikes Blues and BBQ brought in $25 to $34 million to the region, Mayor Lioneld Jordan said at Monday night’s town hall meeting. From taxes, the mayor estimated that the city could take in about $375,000 from the weekend.

However, even with the economic gains in the area, Paul Becker, the city’s finance director, said Fayetteville has continued to experience a decline in revenue.

“The good news is that it hasn’t gotten worse,” Becker said. “The bad news is, it hasn’t particularly gotten better either.”

Heading into the fourth fiscal quarter, Becker said the Mayor Jordan’s plan for handling the budget is on target and the city would continue to cut costs wherever possible. For instance, when positions become available, officials are evaluating whether to refill them, he said.

To cover future shortcomings and to avoid cutting operating costs, the city might dip into reserve funds, Becker said.

Also at the town hall meeting, Police Chief Greg Tabor said that from a public safety standpoint, Bikes, Blues and BBQ was a success. Most of the arrests made were for public intoxication and disorderly conduct, and there were no felony arrests made around Dickson Street for the four-day rally, Tabor continued.

The mayor, along with other members of his staff, addressed a crowd of about 30-40 people in a gymnasium at the Boys and Girls Club for the third town hall meeting this year. Other reports were made from City Engineer Chris Brown, Jeremy Pate, the development services director, and Connie Edmonston, who is the head of Parks and Recreation.

For a brief audio recap including sounds from the meeting, check out the embedded podcast below:
[audio:https://www.fayettevilleflyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/maryrobbins-townhall92809.mp3]

If the slideshow doesn’t load below, feel free to view all the photos from last night’s meeting on our Flickr page.