Calendar:
Monday, September 26
3:00 pm - Transportation Committee Meeting, Room 280 AGENDA: Transportation Action Plan Update; Urban Street Design Guidelines; Center City Transportation Study
5:00 pm - Council Manager Dinner Briefing, Room 267
6:30 pm - Citizen's Forum, Meeting Chamber
7:00 pm - Council Meeting, Meeting Chamber
Wednesday, September 28
5:30 pm - Metropolitan Transit Commission Meeting, Room 267
Friday, September 30
12:00 pm - Housing and Neighborhood Development Committee Meeting, Room 280 AGENDA: Compliance Monitoring; FY05 Year-end Report; Johnston and Mecklenburg Mill Properties; Neighborhood Symposium
Agenda Notes:
Agenda Item #5: 9/26/05 Public Hearing on Resolution to Close a Portion of South College Street and a Portion of an Unnamed Street -- PULLED
Staff Resource: Linda Poissant, 704-336-2562
The Charlotte Area Transit System is evaluating this right of way for a possible substation location to support the light rail project. Staff's recommendation is to defer a decision on this abandonment petition until after the substation location has been finalized.
Agenda Item #7: Strategies to Address Growth Impacts on Schools
Staff Resource: Curt Walton, 704-336-5019
Item 7 on Monday night's agenda, Strategies to Address Growth Impacts on Schools, has been removed from the agenda. This item asks Council to consider the Economic Development and Planning Committee's recommendations relative to strategies from the Planning Liaison Committee to address the impacts of growth on schools. At its meeting on September 21, the Economic Development and Planning Committee deferred consideration of these strategies until all Committee members could be present. No new date has yet been set for the Committee to meet and consider these strategies.
The Planning Liaison Committee was scheduled to meet on Friday, September 30. The agenda for that meeting was to consider the actions taken on the proposed strategies by the City and the six other Mecklenburg municipalities. At this point the majority of the six towns have also taken no action on the Planning Liaison Committee's recommended strategies; therefore, the September 30 Planning Liaison Committee meeting has been cancelled. The next Planning Liaison meeting will be October 28. City Council's representatives on the Planning Liaison Committee are Council members Kinsey, Lassiter and Phipps.
Since this item has been removed from your policy agenda Monday night, the item has also been removed from the dinner agenda.
Additional Agenda Item #24: Governor's Highway Safety Program Grant
Staff Resource: Capt. David Haggist, 704-336-4197
An additional consent item has been added to your agenda Monday night. Late this week the Police Department received a $10,000 grant from the Governor's Highway Safety Program to purchase traffic related equipment for the HITS Unit. Under the terms of the grant, Capt. David Haggist, head of the HITS Unit, will serve as the Regional Coordinator for the Governor's Highway Safety Program. Funds are also included in the grant for Capt. Haggist to attend traffic related conferences which will benefit CMPD's traffic enforcement efforts.
The Governor's Highway Safety Program requires Council to pass a formal resolution accepting the grant and is requesting the resolution be approved prior to Council's next scheduled meeting date in October. Therefore, the item has been added to Monday's agenda. The request for council action and the resolution are attached.
Information Items:
Annual Report of Taxicab Rates and Charges
Staff Resource: Joe Vanderlip, 704-398-6793The Passenger Vehicle for Hire (PVH) Board is beginning its annual review of city-wide taxi rates. The PVH ordinance requires the board to meet annually to establish rate schedules, fare zones, and charges. Rate issues being considered during this review include:
· Raising the initial drop charge and per mile rates
· Incorporating the current $1.00 gas surcharge into the initial drop charge
· Modifying or eliminating some of the currently allowed extra charges ($2 per person (more than 2 riders), $2 over 3 bags per person, $20 household moving charge)
· Review of airport flat rates (with airport concurrence on any changes)
The review process will include a public hearing and survey input from the general public, PVH industry, and business stakeholders. It will also include a comparison of regional and national taxicab rates from similar-sized cities. The public hearing will be held on October 4, 2005 at 1:00 pm, at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's West Service Center, 4159 Wilkinson Blvd., in the large conference room.
The rate survey will be posted on the PVH home page (www.cmpd.org ,click on the Taxicab, Limousine, and Other For-Hire Vehicle Information link to get to the PVH pages). Hard copies will be available at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, Department of Social Services, and the CMPD West Service Center.
The PVH Board will consider all feedback during its October and November board meetings. A final decision could be reached on new rates during the November meeting. The board will set an effective date in December 2005 or January 2006, upon approval of the new rate structure in November or December. The interim between approval and operation will allow companies to recalibrate all taximeters to the new rates and PVH Unit personnel to inspect all taxicabs to verify meter accuracy.
Threats to Police Officers
Staff Resource: Deputy Chief Dave Stephens, 704-432-0379
Last Monday night, Fox News did a story on threats to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers by gang members. It is important to note that these threats are neither new nor unique to Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The nature of police work is such that officers receive threats from individuals seeking retaliation for arrests, investigations, etc. Based upon the information received, there was no imminent threat to Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers.
CMPD makes every effort to alert police officers to threats on a local, regional, and national level. The safety of officers and their families is a major concern to CMPD, so officers are given the information they need to do their jobs effectively and safely.
Referrals to the Housing and Neighborhood Development Committee
Staff Resource: Stanley Watkins, 704-336-3796
The City Manager is referring two items to the Housing and Neighborhood Development Committee for review and recommendation to City Council. The referrals include:
Neighborhood Symposium: The City Manager is referring the topic of the annual Neighborhood Symposium to the Housing and Neighborhood Development Committee. Council member Susan Burgess expressed interest in having more Council input into the symposium at the City Council meeting on July 25, 2005.
Since 1995, the City has sponsored the Neighborhood Symposium. The event provides opportunities for neighborhood leaders and others to learn about community services and resources; participate in workshops and hear from community building experts; and network with other neighborhoods who share similar interests and issues.
Johnston and Mecklenburg Mill Apartments - Request for Proposals Process: The City Manager is referring the Johnston and Mecklenburg Mills to the Housing and Development Committee for consideration of a Request for Proposals Process (RFP) for disposition of the properties.
Mecklenburg Mill is a 60-unit apartment complex located at 3327 North Davidson Street. The units serve households earning 40% to 50% of the area median income. In January 1995, the City invested $2.4 million for the rehabilitation of the units for affordable housing.
Johnston Mill is a 90-unit apartment complex located at 3315 North Davidson Street. The units serve households earning 40% to 50% of the area median income. The total City investment in the Johnston Mill property is $3.9 million.
The owners defaulted on the loans for these properties and filed for bankruptcy resulting in the need for foreclosure. The City's attorneys have completed the foreclosure process for the Mecklenburg Mill Apartments. The Johnston Mill foreclosure is expected to be completed within the next 60 days.
City Council received a briefing on the pending foreclosure of these properties through a Council-Manager Memo dated April 27, 2005. The Housing and Neighborhood Development Committee will receive updates on these items at their meeting on September 30, 2005.
Transportation Earmarks
Staff Resource: Jim Humphrey, 704-336-3883
Attached you will find an unofficial summary of Federal earmarks included in the federal "Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)". This summary is for our equity funding area, as distributed at last week's Mecklenburg Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO) meeting. The list includes projects that have been identified as high priorities by Congress in recent transportation funding legislation.
Staff has begun to review the information and will update Council on potential impacts as more information is available.
In general, projects that are identified move to the top of the priority list for implementation by the NCDOT whether they are a local or NCDOT priority or not. Funding shown in the "New Funds" column are funds the State would not receive otherwise and will not affect existing Equity Formula projects. Funding shown in the "Sub Funds" and "Need Funds" columns designate funds to projects to be reallocated from funds already designated for the State by apportionment formulas (i.e., these are not "new" funds).
Projects shown with funding in the "Sub Funds" column substitute congressionally designated funds for other funds already identified for these projects, and will not affect the Equity Formula projects. Funds shown in the "Need Funds" column are for projects not currently in the North Carolina Transportation Improvement Program (NCTIP) and will have to take funds from other Equity Formula projects already in the NCTIP. We do not know at this point whether the earmarks will fully fund these projects.
With the Equity Formula provision of State law and NC's status as a "Donor State" in Federal funding, congressional earmarks rarely provide any new money; instead, they often create new projects and vault those projects over higher priority current and proposed projects. The new Federal legislation does increase the amount of money coming to NCDOT, and this increase will reduce the impact of these earmarks on other existing NCTIP projects. We hope to receive information from NCDOT staff in Raleigh soon regarding the process for considering these earmarks and the implications of the new Transportation Legislation.
Hurricane Rita and Possible Fuel Availability Impacts
Staff Resource: Susan Johnson, 704-336-6252
Staff is monitoring the situation in the Gulf and its potential impact on the refineries located in Texas and neighboring states. According to our sources there are sixteen refineries currently at jeopardy if Rita tracks into the Galveston area, including refineries in the Houston area and east to Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Lake Charles, Louisiana. These refineries, together with the four Louisiana refineries that are still off-line, represent approximately 25% of the country's refining capacity.
It is not anticipated that either the Colonial or Plantation pipelines will be affected by the storm; however, if there is major damage to the refineries we may be subject to shortages at some point in the future. Local suppliers are currently reporting normal fuel availability and are working closely with us to keep us informed.
City operations have topped off their in-ground tanks in preparation for the storm and drivers are being advised to keep their vehicle tanks full. All key businesses are prepared to activate their fuel conservation procedures in the event of catastrophe. We will keep you updated as the storm develops.
FY2005 Year-End Corporate Performance Report
Staff Resource: Ruffin Hall, 704-336-2306
The FY 2005 Corporate Performance Report is attached. Staff will present the report at the September 26 City Council business meeting during the Manager's Report.
