Calendar:
Monday, January 19
Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday - City Offices Closed
Tuesday, January 20
12:00 pm - Agenda Briefing, Room 280
3:30 pm - Retreat Planning Committee, 15th Floor Large Conference Room
5:00 pm - Council Manager Dinner, Room CH-14
6:00 pm - Zoning Meeting, Meeting Chamber
Wednesday, January 21
7:00 pm - MUMPO Meeting, Room 267
Friday, January 23
7:45 am - Planning Liaison Committee Meeting, 8th Floor Innovation Station
Saturday, January 24
9:00 am - District 2 Meeting, Room 267
The Retreat Planning Committee will meet Tuesday, January 20 at 3:30 pm to set the agenda for the February Council Retreat. The proposed agenda will be presented to the full Council at the Dinner Briefing that evening.
Information Items:
NC Moving Ahead Project List
Staff Resource: David McDonald, 704-336-6900
At the January 12, 2004 Council meeting, Council requested a copy of the state-wide NC Moving Ahead Project List. A bound copy will be placed in the Council Library. Additionally, the full list is available on the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) web site at www.ncdot.org select NC Moving Ahead Projects under Hot Topics in the center of the web page.
Staff has requested from NCDOT a county by county funding total of the NC Moving Ahead projects. Once this information is available, we will forward it to Council for review.
Hope Haven, Inc., - Update
Staff Resource: Stan Wilson, 704-336-3337
On November 11, 2002, City Council approved a modification of Hope Haven's Section 108 loan with the City. The modification allows the organization to make principle payments only to address a financial shortfall caused by reduced operating revenues. Over a five-year period the modification represents a City subsidy of $939,814. In addition to approving the loan modification, City Council requested staff to provide an annual update on the financial status of the organization.
Staff has reviewed Hope Haven's financial statements for the period ending June 30, 2003. The statements show that the organization continued to experience a funding shortfall in FY2003. Based on the year-end financial information, Hope Haven would have to cut ongoing services, including the child-care development center, if it were to make both monthly principle and interest payments.
To address its financial constraints, Hope Haven has frozen vacant positions and the organization is continuing to aggressively pursue additional grants. Hope Haven is projecting a funding shortfall in FY2004 and a similar shortfall in FY2005. Staff will continue to monitor Hope Haven's financial position and provide periodic reports to City Council.
SEQL Brochure
Staff Resource: Julie Burch, 704-336-3187
SEQL, or Sustainable Environment for Quality of Life, is a 15 county regional effort to promote economic growth while protecting the environment. It is led by the Centralina Council of Governments and the Catawba Regional Council of Governments, with funding provided by the US EPA.
SEQL is the second phase of an initiative led by Mayor McCrory and other elected officials throughout the region in which specific action steps in air quality, water quality, land use and transportation were identified.
Attached is a new SEQL public information piece developed by the two COGs that is being distributed to the jurisdictions and general public in the region. Additional background is also available at www.seql.org.
Old Nations Ford Road Abandonment
Staff Resource: Roger Buell, 704-336-3926
City Council continued the December 9, 2003 and January 12, 2004 public hearings on the abandonment of Old Nations Ford Road south of Nations Ford Road to allow more time for public input. As a result, CDOT staff sent out over 300 invitations for citizens to attend a January 15, 2004 meeting at Silver Mount Baptist Church on Arrowood Road.
Approximately 50 residents and property owners attended to discuss their concerns with staff and the petitioner. Almost half spoke about the blasting operations by Vulcan Materials. Those individuals expressed concerns about the impact to their homes resulting from noise, vibration and dust.
Those in attendance reached consensus not to support the abandonment of this portion of Old Nations Ford Road. They expressed concern that the abandonment would result in expanded blasting operations in the area. Currently, Vulcan Materials may not blast within 200-feet of the existing right of way. If this portion of Old Nations Ford Road is abandoned, blasting operations could occur both in the existing right of way and in the 200 foot buffer surrounding the right of way.
A map of the area to be considered for abandonment is attached(available in printed form only).
