Calendar:
Monday, June 27 - Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Chamber Inter-City Visit, Tampa, Florida
Thursday, June 30, 2005
10:00 am - 311 Sneak Preview/Media Day, 311 Call Center, 10101 Claude Freeman Drive. Directions to the new center are attached. If you would like to ride with City staff to the preview, there will be a bus leaving the CMGC/Davidson Street entrance at 9:40 am on Thursday.
Information Items:
U S Supreme Court Case Upholding Condemnations for Economic Development
Staff Resource: Mike Boyd, 704-336-4111
On Thursday the U S Supreme Court decided
Kelo v. City of New London, a case upholding a municipality's authority to condemn property for economic development purposes under Connecticut law. The case has gotten a lot of attention in the local and national media. However, the case has little impact on Charlotte or other North Carolina cities.
Under Connecticut law, the City of New London could condemn property for economic development purposes. North Carolina law does not authorize Charlotte or other cities in this state to condemn property for economic development purposes. The closest power we have is to condemn property to clear up blight and decay (i.e., Urban Renewal), but that wasn't what was challenged in the City of New London case. When the reporters ask what impact this case will have on Charlotte, the answer is: "None." Since Charlotte doesn't have state law authority to condemn property for purely economic development purposes, this case doesn't change anything for us.
Kelo involved a development plan that was projected to create in excess of 1,000 jobs, to increase tax and other revenues, to revitalize an economically distressed city, including its downtown and waterfront areas, and make the city more attractive. After approving an integrated development plan, the City of New London, through its development agency, purchased most of the property earmarked for the project from willing sellers, but initiated condemnation proceedings when the petitioners, the owners of the rest of the property, refused to sell.
In a 5-4 decision, the U S Supreme Court upheld the condemnations. The majority held that (a) although the city could not take the petitioners' land simply to confer a private benefit on a particular private party, the takings at issue would be executed pursuant to a carefully considered development plan, which was not adopted "to benefit a particular class of identifiable individuals," (b) The city's determination - that the area at issue was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic rejuvenation - was entitled to deference. (c) The petitioners' proposal that the Court adopt a new bright-line rule that economic development did not qualify as a public use was rejected. "Putting aside the unpersuasive suggestion that the City's plan will provide only purely economic benefits, neither precedent nor logic supports petitioners' proposal. Promoting economic development is a traditional and long accepted function of government. There is, moreover, no principled way of distinguishing economic development from the other public purposes that we have recognized."
County - Time Warner Cable Lawsuit
Staff Resource: Doris J. Boris, 704-336-3064
On June 22nd, Mecklenburg County filed suit against Time Warner Cable (TWC). A copy of the formal Complaint will be available on the Cable TV website under Cable Regulation issues or by contacting Doris Boris. The Complaint alleges that TWC failed to meet contractual commitments to provide the County with an Institutional Network (I-Net). The I-Net - which is a communications network reserved for data, voice and video transmissions between government and public facilities - was a key factor in the County's awarding the original 1983 franchise to TWC's predecessor Vision Cable. The Complaint further alleges that TWC has instead utilized the 5-downstream and 4-upstream cable-channel-capacity - which was to be reserved for the I-Net infrastructure - to expand subscriber services and secure additional revenues.
The County negotiated unsuccessfully for over 10 years - and as recently as this past month - to give TWC the opportunity to settle this issue. The suit asks that TWC be required to pay compensation for damages - or provide the infrastructure promised in the original agreement - or provide the revenue TWC has earned by using the reserve bandwidth capacity promised to the County - or provide a currently viable I-Net.
The County's issue with TWC grew out of franchise renewal negotiations. The City currently has two franchise agreements with TWC. The 1991 Vision Cable agreement will expire in 2006 and the 1988 Cablevision agreement will expire in 2010. Staff will be updating City Council on the status of City renewal negotiations over the next few months.
Fire Department Reaccreditation
Staff Resource: Deputy Fire Chief David Duffy, 704-336-2478
The Charlotte Fire Department was accredited in 2000 by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International for five years. We have been preparing for our first reaccreditation process for the last year. The peer assessors will be in Charlotte next week to review the Department's operations and will tell us Wednesday afternoon if the Department will be reaccredited this summer.
