A Langdon Street neighborhood housing unit received approval and Mayor Sue Bauman introduced the 2002 budget at the Common Council meeting Tuesday.
A controversial workplace and housing-unit smoking ban was deferred until Nov. 6, when the Public Health Commission can make a recommendation on the proposal.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the unanimous housing approval came after some neighborhood concern and an hour of debate.
'[Langdon] is a historic neighborhood,' Verveer said of the three-and-a-half story, 48-bedroom complex planned for 211 E. Lakelawn Place. 'The building needed to fit in better than what was proposed.'
He added that the building, which was originally slated for 69 beds, will replace four bungalows, which currently house students.
Opponents of the building's decreased size said high-density housing downtown helps prevent urban sprawl.
The mayor introduced a $174.3 million budget, which included a tax increase rate Verveer said was close to inflation.
'In any respect, a status quo budget,' he said.
With backing from Community Oriented Policing Services, a federal grant program, the budget provides for the addition of two police officers to the city force.
The budget also allocates $10,000 to the Study Circles on Race Relations, an offshoot of the city's Task Force for Race Relations.
'The Board of Estimates will begin discussing the mayor's budget next Monday,' Verveer said. 'I will be very surprised if the City Council in any substantial way amends the mayor's budget.'
