Information Items:
Police Department Retirement Banquet
Staff Resource: Marylyn Williams, 704-336-2361
The Police Department will honor 28 employees who retired during 2003 at its Retirement Banquet on March 5. There will be a reception starting at 6:30 pm in the Panther Den at Bank of America Stadium. Dinner follows at 7:15 pm. Council members are invited to attend. Please respond to Marylyn Williams at 704-336-2361, if you will attend.
Radio Lease - WACB and WNCW
Staff Resource: Vi Lyles, 704-336-3123
Attached is a letter signed by the corporate representatives of WABZ and WNCW stating that the City should proceed with lease negotiations with WABZ without objection by WNCW. With their concurrence, staff will proceed to negotiate a lease for Council's approval. The Friends of WNCW will receive a copy of this memo as well as the letter.
Snowsotrm Impact on Garbage Collection
Staff Resource: Wayman Pearson, 704-336-3410
Due to the recent snowfall event and hazardous neighborhood street conditions, Solid Waste collection services were suspended on Thursday, February 26 and Friday, February 27, 2004. The suspended service impacted approximately 47,000 of the City's 183,000 customers.
Services resumed on Monday, March 1 with collection crews operating on a normal schedule. Thursday and Friday customers who did not receive collection last week will receive collection on Thursday, March 4 and Friday, March 5. Bulky items scheduled for collection on Thursday, February 26 and Friday, February 27 will be collected on Thursday, March 4 and Friday, March 5.
Solid Waste Services will collect extra garbage resulting from the one-week delay in collection for Thursday and Friday customers. Residents have been reminded that extra garbage must be bagged and placed neatly beside the rollout cart for collection.
Federal Legislative Agenda
Staff Resource: Boyd Cauble, 704-336-2009
On Wednesday, February 25, Mayor McCrory, Boyd Cauble and our Washington lobbyist, Holland & Knight, (which included former Congresswoman Tillie Fowler; former White House Intergovernmental Coordinator, Lynn Cutler; and Lisa Tofil) distributed the attached Federal Work Program to the members of our delegation and their key staff. Prior to our meetings, Holland & Knight staff reviewed the City's requests with our delegation's staff so they were aware of our formal submittal.
During our National League of Cities Conference, we will be arranging meetings with our member's key staff and Holland & Knight so Council can emphasize the importance of these
individual projects. We were told by our Delegation that in all likelihood they would not be in town until after our conference because of their limited schedules. Therefore, we may need to develop a strategy for Council members making contacts with our delegation members when they are in the Charlotte region.
Also attached are updated items for the NLC schedule.
New Charlotte Arena
Staff Resource: Jim Schumacher, 704-336-3656
We received a request from the media for the attached information related to the Arena construction. The first attachment titled "CI #3 Final Cost Reduction" is a list of value engineering items used to bring down the cost of Bid Package #3. These changes are largely technical items that do not change the appearance or function of the building. They are items that would not be added to the building should contingency dollars be available for that purpose later in the project.
The second attachment titled "Subcontractor Change Order" is a list of change orders Hunt Construction has approved to date. These change orders plus changes still being negotiated represent the "reserved contingency" of $2.57 million.
February 25,2004 Metropolitan Transit Commission Meeting Summary
Staff Resource: Ron Tober, 704-336-7245
At its February 25 meeting, the MTC unanimously approved the purchase of 16 Light Rail vehicles from Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc. for use on the South Corridor Light Rail Transit line. After a lengthy procurement process, CATS had considered three Best-and-Final-Offers, and recommended selection of Siemens based on a review of technical, financial, and aesthetic factors.
The Siemens bid of $52.5 million was the lowest bid, and fell below CATS' original cost estimate for the vehicles. The contract with Siemens will include 16 cars, with an option to purchase up to 25 more, as well as spare parts, specialized tools, testing equipment, training and manuals, and a warranty. The City Council will be asked to approve the contracting action in March, and a Notice to Proceed will be issued to Siemens upon that approval.
The MTC approved the purchase of the vehicles contingent upon receipt of a Federal Letter of No Prejudice agreeing that funding allocated prior to award of a Federal Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) will be recognized in the FFGA. CATS expects to receive the Letter of No Prejudice on or around March 5.
The MTC also received a detailed briefing on the Capital portion of the proposed FY2005 Transit Program. Capital Income in FY2005 will derive primarily from Federal and State grants and from a short-term loan in anticipation of further grant funding.
Nearly 90% of Capital Expenditures in FY2005 will be for development of the rapid transit system, in particular for the South Corridor LRT Project. The Ten Year Capital Program also makes provision for debt financing for new and replacement buses, construction of the second bus garage, possible new CATS office space, and other bus system improvements. The MTC is scheduled to vote on the entire FY2005 Transit Program at its March meeting.
Additionally, the MTC was provided with an informational presentation on planning for new office space for CATS. The CATS staff is projected to grow over the next few years, and current space will be insufficient.
The City is considering three proposals for development of a mixed use building on an out-parcel of the new arena, each including provision for CATS to own some portion of the building. The out-parcel site meets all MTC-approved criteria for location, and would provide CATS with up to 58,000 square feet at the junction of four of the five transit corridors and within close proximity to the CMGC.
CATS currently leases space out of operational funds derived from transit sales tax revenue. Purchase of office space would be a capital expenditure, and could be funded with Federal and State grant revenue.
Finally, The MTC heard the annual Route Performance Monitoring Report. The Route Performance Monitoring System provides a tool to evaluate transit service and identify strategies to improve performance of individual routes.
The report described the monitoring system, which compares ridership and cost effectiveness for each route; and included performance ratings for every route as well as corrective actions taken or planned to improve low performing routes.
