Calendar:
Monday, April 4, 2005
1:30 pm - Council Budget Committee Meeting, Room CH-14 AGENDA: Review April 13 Budget Retreat Agenda; 911 Surcharge Fee; Public Arts Project Update
4:00 pm - Governmental Affairs Committee Meeting, Room 280 AGENDA: Status Report on General Assembly 2005 Long Session; Update on Federal Legislative Package for 2005; Governmental Affairs Legislative Notebook Project - Goal for May 2005
5:00 pm - Council Policy Retreat, Room 267
Wednesday, April 6, 2005
12:00 pm - Economic Development and Planning Committee Meeting, Room CH-14 AGENDA: Industrial Study
Information Items:
FY2006 and FY2007 Possible Budget Reductions and Impacts
Staff Resource: Ruffin Hall, 704-336-2306
The Charlotte Observer has requested a copy of budget reduction memos submitted by the General Fund Key Business Units (KBUs) to the Budget Office. The memos list possible options for balancing the upcoming two-year General Fund operating budget. Copies of the memos are included in today's packet for your information.
Staff estimated the FY2006 General Fund operating budget gap at approximately $12 million at the Council's February retreat. Since that time, Council conducted two budget retreats in March with one additional budget retreat scheduled for April 13. The City Manager will present the recommended budget on May 2nd.
Staff is evaluating options for balancing the FY2006 and FY2007 budgets, including additional budget reductions. Each General Fund KBU submitted a ranked list of possible operating budget reductions totaling 4% of their operating budget (in addition to continuing budget reductions from the last three years) and the possible impacts. The Charlotte Observer has submitted a public records request for the material.
A few comments regarding the KBU budget reduction memos:
- Staff is evaluating the submittals in preparation for the Manager's budget recommendation;
- The memorandums from the KBUs are internal working papers only;
- Staff will review selected budget reductions at the April 13 budget retreat; and
- It is premature and inappropriate for staff to comment on which items may be included in the Manager's recommended budget prior to the May 2nd presentation.
We will be working with the Mayor and Council over the next several weeks in preparation for the Manager's recommended budget presentation.
Council Briefing Scheduled for Briar Creek Sewer Project
Staff Resource: Doug Bean, 704-391-5070
Utilities staff will give a presentation on the Briar Creek sewer line during the Council's dinner meeting on April 25. We understand some Council Members have been getting calls about this significant improvement project, which will reduce wet weather sewer overflows and provide additional sewer capacity for the Briar Creek basin.
We are continuing to meet and work with individual property owners to address questions and concerns. Our presentation later this month will explain details of the project and outline communications we've had with customers to date.
Carolina Theater
Staff Resource: Tom Flynn, 704-432-1396
In November 2004 City Council, at the request of Council member Mumford, authorized staff to do preliminary work with Camden Property Management on a development for the Carolina Theater site that would preserve the Carolina Theater.
Staff has worked with Camden Property Management and the Carolina Theater Preservation Society on their proposal and have received a written proposal from them.
The key terms of their proposal are:
- Camden would build a 100 unit residential tower on the site, with parking above the existing theater building. This would also include 3,300 square feet of retail.
- City would give Camden the site for free, but the City would retain ownership of the theater building.
- The City would enter into a management agreement with Carolina Theater Preservation Society for management and leasing of the theater. A possible prime tenant in the theater would be a musical venue similar to "The House of Blues".
- Camden would contribute $1 million and the City would contribute $4.5 million to restore the theater. The City funds would come from a synthetic tax increment financing. The Preservation Society would raise another $2 million for theater restoration.
- Camden would have a one year due diligence period prior to closing on the City land.
We are reviewing this proposal and plan on briefing City Council in early May.
Mayor's Small Business Summit
Staff Resource: Richard Bargoil, 704-336-2142
The Charlotte Chamber's Small Business Week 2005 is being celebrated April 18 - April 22. A capstone event for the week will be the Mayor's Small Business Summit, to be held April 21 from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm at the Harris Conference Center located at the CPCC West Campus. The Summit includes morning breakout sessions followed by "Lunch with the Mayor" (formerly the Mayor's New Business Breakfast), where Mayor McCrory will discuss issues identified during the morning breakout sessions. Topics for the breakout sessions include: global development, procurement/supply chain development, workforce development and finance/capital development.
Additional information on the Small Business Week and the Mayor's Small Business Summit is available online. If you are interested in attending the Summit, please contact Richard Bargoil or email him at rbargoil@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Volunteer Program
Staff Resource: Jerry Orr, 704-359-4000
Many airports nationwide, including Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Raleigh-Durham, support their customer service efforts by recruiting volunteers through a structured volunteer/ambassador program. The volunteers, who are primarily retired professionals, assist customers with directions and information. Charlotte (CLT) has researched this concept extensively and developed a plan for a similar program. The department has hired a Volunteer Coordinator to initiate the program and will begin recruitment in April.
Additionally, most of the programs are "themed" around a known community tourism component. The CLT program will focus on a racing theme, with uniforms, training materials and key phrases centered around one of the region's biggest tourism and economic development tools.
CCOT Staff Involved in NC Transportation Forum
Staff Resource: Brett Vines, 704-336-3902
The first ever North Carolina Multi-Modal Transportation Forum was held in Charlotte on March 24 and 25. More than 400 transportation professionals from across the state were in attendance, including several from the Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT), Aviation, Planning, and CATS. City staff played key roles as moderators, keynote speakers and support.
The forum provided an opportunity for all organizations associated within the North Carolina transportation industry to better understand each organization's role in the transportation system, provide a common forum to further the interests of the transportation industry, and provide technical seminars to further each group's understanding and knowledge of important issues facing the state.
Seminars City staff moderated or participated in as keynote speakers included:
- Charlotte South End Redevelopment and Land Use - Jim Humphrey, Laura Harmon
- HOV/HOT Design - Bill Finger
- State and Local Maintenance of Roadways - Layton Lamb
- Context Sensitive Design - Danny Pleasant, Tracy Newsome
- NC Transportation Initiatives - Jerry Orr, John Muth
- Fixed Guideway Design - John Muth
- Financing the Transportation System - Bill Carstarphen
- Homeland Security and Transportation - Jerry Orr
NCDOT Announces Transportation Working Group
Staff Resource: Jim Humphrey, 704-336-3883
Attached is a press release related to N.C. Thinking Ahead. The Group is expected to advise the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) on how to address funding shortages identified in the recently adopted Statewide Long Range Multi-Modal Plan ($84B in needs but only $55B in revenues). The group includes Bill Carstarphen representing NCGO and CATS and several other individuals we have worked with on transportation related Legislative issues. We will include the group in our Legislative strategy.
Residential Street Standard Upgrade
Staff Resource: David Weekly, 704-336-4103
On March 28, 2005, Jim Schumacher briefed the City Council on the new Residential Street Standard Upgrade to be implemented April 15, 2005. During the briefing, Council member Mumford suggested that E&PM might look at focusing their inspection practices on high risk items such as pavement construction.
Inspectors currently prioritize their efforts for subdivision inspections in the following order:
- Roadway (subgrade, stone base and paving)
- Final Inspections for street acceptance by the City
- Sidewalks (including placement and release of holds for certificate of occupancies)
-Storm Drainage (curb & gutter, storm pipe, catch basins, ditches/channels, and individual lot drainage
Land Development (LD) is presently evaluating ways to make better use of our inspectors' time in the three following areas:
Proof roll inspections: Steps are being taken to place more accountability on the contractor when preparing the subgrade and stone base. The expectation will be that they properly install these materials and perform self-proof rolls prior to calling LD for an inspection. As a past practice, inspectors fail the proof roll inspections because contractors have not prepared the subgrade/stone base adequately, and they have not verified the results of their efforts with a proof roll. As a result, LD inspectors spend too much of their time performing these interim inspections.
Coring the pavement after construction: Another recommendation will be to verify pavement material thickness by coring the pavements after construction.
Proper compaction of utility trenches: The new pavement standard will significantly reduce the number of premature pavement failures such as potholes, alligator cracking, joint/edge cracking, and settlement. However, settlement failures (particularly over utility trenches) will still occur if the trenches are not properly filled and compacted. A study is underway is to determine the best means to reduce the number of pavement failures occurring at utility trenches. Inspectors are now requesting that the contractor perform additional soil density testing in trench areas. E&PM will begin meeting with CMU to study these issues further.
North Carolina Legislative Update
Staff Resource: Boyd Cauble, 704-336-2009
Attached is a memo describing the status of our legislative requests and major issues that have been proposed during this legislative session. Should you have any questions regarding the memo, please contact Boyd Cauble.
