Agenda Notes:
Agenda Item #7: City Manager's Report
Staff Resource: Julie Burch, 704-336-3187
Police Chief Darrel Stephens will provide the Mayor and Council with an update on the Police Academy investigation.
Agenda Item #13: City Manager Referral Regarding Alexanderana Road
Staff Resource: Jim Humphrey, 704-336-3883
The City Manager has referred an item to direct City Council's MPO representative's vote regarding an alignment for Alexanderana Road to the Transportation Committee. The committee will receive information at its May 10 meeting and consider making a recommendation to the full Council at your meeting that night. Staff will include an Request For Council Action in Friday's Council-Manager Memo.
The Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO) is expected to vote on the alignment at its May 19 meeting. This week, North Carolina Department of Transportation staff asked for a letter from the MUMPO Chair as soon as possible identifying an alignment and requesting the road be included in environmental reviews and construction for the I-485 project between I-77 N and I-85 N.
Information Items:
Police Week Activities
Staff Resource: Marylyn Williams, 704-336-2361
May 9 - 15 is Police Week. The Police Department has activities planned for the public and its employees.
To kick off the week on Monday, May 10, from 11 am to 1 pm, CMPD and area law enforcement agencies will display special equipment and vehicles on the Square, including demonstrations by the SWAT Team and K-9 Unit.
Information on a number of programs will be available there and in Founders Hall. CMPD partnered with Charlotte Center City Partners for the event and WBTV plans to broadcast live from the Square. The Square will be closed for the event. On Monday there will also be a Candlelight Memorial Service at Sharon Memorial Park near the Police Pictorial Monument at 8:30 pm.
The Peace Officers Memorial Service is Tuesday May 11, at 11 am, at First Baptist Church, 301 S. Davidson Street. On Wednesday May 12, the Police Department will host its Annual Awards Ceremony at 5:30 pm at the Police Training Academy at 1770 Shopton Road. Mayor and Council are invited to attend all of these events.
New Charlotte Arena
Staff Resource: Jim Schumacher, 704-336-3656
On April 30, 2004, City Council received a fax from Cam-Ful, a bidder for one of the pieces of work related to the Arena. In the letter, Cam-Ful insists that Hunt Construction accept their plumbing bid and reject a bid from Nash Mechanical. Cam-Ful asserts that because Hunt Construction opened plumbing-only bids on April 29, 2004, they must reject the combined mechanical/plumbing bid submitted by Nash Mechanical and opened on April 22, 2004. Cam-Ful claims that the seven-day delay between bid openings gave Nash Mechanical an unfair advantage.
Hunt Construction, as our Construction Manager at Risk, has the responsibility for reviewing Cam-Ful's claim and for recommending a contractor to the City. Hunt Construction will make its recommendation on the bid to the City Attorney and to Engineering and Property Management by May 7. Staff will review that recommendation and communicate the results of that review to the Mayor and City Council as soon as possible.
Greater Enrichment Program
Staff Resource: Richard Woodcock, 704-336-8572
In a recent Housing and Neighborhood Development City Council Committee meeting, Council member Don Lochman requested the accounting calculations for the contract reduction for the Greater Enrichment After School program (GEP). Attached is the schedule that describes the City's determination.
Rationale for Calculating GEP's Contract The contract between the Greater Enrichment program and City divides the program into fall and summer programs. To determine a reasonable cost per child for the fall program, the City averaged the program costs for the other after school programs based on actual reported costs. The GEP's enrollment figure of 288 children (as estimated by the City) was used to estimate the allowed fall program costs and was added to the assumed summer program costs to determine the cost for the program as a whole. The calculation presumes that the summer program includes the number of children called for in the contract.
Next Steps Neighborhood Development's Compliance Division is returning to the Greater Enrichment offices to determine if that presumption is valid. If the summer enrollment is not consistent with contract requirements then the overall contract will be reduced further. Contract negotiations with the Greater Enrichment program for the FY05 program year will be based on a reduced number of children enrolled.
Economic Development and Planning Committee Referral
Staff Resource: Ron Kimble, 704-336-4169
Attached, please find a memo from Mayor Pat McCrory referring the issue of the new 1,200 seat theater proposal from the Arts and Science Council to the ED/Planning Committee.
Hickory Grove Road will Temporarily Close for Road Construction
Staff Resource: Rebecca Chambers, 704-336-3280
The area between the 5400 and 5500 block of Hickory Grove Road (between Craigwood Drive and Gaynelle Drive) will close to through traffic at 7:00 pm Friday, May 14 and will reopen by 6:00 am Monday, May 17.
During this weekend road closure the contractor, Blythe Development, will install a major storm drainage system as part of the Hickory Grove Road Widening project. No driveways or side streets will be blocked; however, no vehicles will be allowed through this road closure except for emergency vehicles. In case of rain, the work will take place the following weekend (May 21-23) and the same times will apply. Motorists may use
Harris Boulevard and Sharon Amity Road as an alternate route. The Hickory Grove Road project will widen Hickory Grove Road to four lanes and will include bike lanes, curb and gutter, planting strips and sidewalk. Construction began in January 2004 and is expected to be complete in the summer of 2005. A postcard to notify area residents was sent out on Friday, April 30.
Publicity Campaign for Photo Radar Enforcement
Staff Resource: David Haggist, 704-336-4197
Photo radar enforcement is scheduled to begin on June 1. The use of the photo radar cameras will be accompanied by an extensive public education campaign which is being managed by the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee.
This group was formed in 1999 and charged with creating traffic safety campaigns that increase public awareness of traffic safety issues and appropriate driving behavior as well as developing creative solutions to traffic problems.
The group is comprised of representatives from CDOT, CMPD, Corporate Communications, the District Attorney's Office, AAA Carolinas, Mecklenburg Safe Communities, the Safety and Health Council of N.C. and the Bobby Phills Foundation.
The Traffic Safety Advisory Committee has conducted public awareness campaigns on pedestrian and bicycle safety, following too closely, and aggressive driving. For the last two years, the emphasis has been on speeding through the "Speed a Little, Lose a Lot" campaign.
The campaigns are funded through a pedestrian and traffic safety bond that was passed by voters in 2002. The public service announcements and billboards are produced by the Ad Consortium.
The public education campaign for the photo radar cameras will include three public service announcements for television, two sixty second radio messages, and a series of ten second messages to be broadcast on radio stations. There will also be print ads in the Observer.
The Police Department has been publicizing the program at community meetings and in the schools. Community coordinators, School Resource Officers, and the Crime Prevention Unit have been making Power Point presentations to community groups and have distributed literature about the program.
The legislation authorizing the use of photo radar cameras required only that signage be posted along the fourteen corridors where the cameras will be used. However, the Police Department and the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee have designed an education program to reach as many members of the community as possible.
The signage for the corridors and the initial printing of brochures were paid for by a grant from the Governor's Highway Safety Committee. The public service announcements and ongoing education efforts will be funded through the City's share of the revenues from the photo radar citations.
