Calendar:
Thursday, November 24
Thanksgiving Holiday, City Offices Closed
Monday, November 28
3:00 pm - Transportation Committee Meeting, Room 280 AGENDA: Transportation Action Plan Update; Update on Initiatives Supporting the Transportation Action Plan
5:00 pm - Council Manager Dinner Briefing, Room 267
6:30 pm - Citizen's Forum, Meeting Chamber
7:00 pm - Council Business Meeting, Meeting Chamber
Wednesday, November 30
12:00 pm - Economic Development and Planning Committee Meeting, Room 267 AGENDA: Industrial Study Update; Carolina Theater; Cultural Facilities Memorandum of Understanding Framework
Calendar Materials :
Tour of the CDOT Traffic Control Center/ CMPD Video Observation Center - November 28
Staff Resource: Danny Pleasant, 704-336-3879 – pleasant@ci.charlotte.nc.us
The Council Transportation Committee will be touring the recently refurbished Traffic Control Center at 2:30 pm on Monday, November 28. The tour begins at the south entry to the old City Hall. All Council members are invited to attend.
The Traffic Control Center houses both the CDOT traffic surveillance and traffic signal operations system and the CMPD video surveillance system for Center City. The tour will feature a demonstration of how the traffic surveillance system monitors and adjusts traffic signals throughout the City. In addition, the tour will highlight how CMPD uses video surveillance to supervise activities within the Center City.
Attached is a briefing paper describing the facility and its history. The recent upgrade to the facility was made possible through close collaboration between CDOT and CMPD.
Agenda Notes:
Dinner Briefing Item #3: Selwyn Grove Neighborhood Meeting Related to the Briar Creek Sewer Project
Staff Resource: Doug Bean, 704-391-5070 - dbean@ci.charlotte.nc.us
On Tuesday evening, November 22, Utilities staff met with the residents on Lila Wood Circle regarding the Briar Creek Relief Sewer project. Council members Patsy Kinsey, Pat Mumford, and John Tabor, and Council member-elect Andy Dulin also attended. The meeting consisted of conversation and information sharing in regards to questions about the project from both the residents and Council members. The topics discussed included: construction options (open trench or tunnel), blasting procedures, human and environmental impact of revised route, greenway coordination, purchase of two homes on Lila Wood, geotechnical investigations, and impact to Selwyn Grove homeowner association property. Informational handouts provided to the residents are attached.
The conclusion of the meeting was that the citizens are still requesting that the tunnel option be the recommended option for their neighborhood. Utilities recommendation is the open trench option which includes the purchase of two private properties and a savings of approximately $2 million in construction costs. Council is asked to approve the acquisition of the two properties and the Phase I final design contract on Monday evening.
Agenda Item #9: Cultural Facilities Master Plan
Staff Resource: Carol Jennings, 704-336-7285 - cjennings@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Included in today's packet is the Draft Strategy for Funding Cultural Facilities.
Agenda Item #22: 1-277/ Independence Project
Staff Resource: Sam Barber, 704-336-4721 - sbarber@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Council is asked to approve the low bid of $4,578,815.26 by Blythe Development to improve the I-277 / Independence Boulevard intersection. The recommended bid represents negotiation to bring the project in line with budget. Below is background on the bid process and results.
Bids for the I-277 / Independence project were opened on October 13. The lowest of the four bids received was from Blythe Development, Inc. in the amount of $5,454,804.85. The engineer's estimate for the project was $4,875,000.
After discussion with Blythe Development about the difference in the bid versus the engineer's estimate, staff concluded that recent increases in gasoline prices and the spike in the cost of certain building materials such as steel, concrete and asphalt exceeded the allowances in the estimate.
To bring the project in line with the budget, staff negotiated lower prices for several line items in the contract such as pavement repair, concrete curb & gutters, excavation, milling asphalt pavement, concrete sidewalk and pipe removal. A small portion of the work was also deleted. This negotiation resulted in a reduction of the contractor's original bid to $4,517,675.26.
Staff negotiated the bid price lower than the engineer's estimate to ensure sufficient funds to complete the second phase of the project.
Information Items:
NCDOT Review of Subdivision Streets in the ETJ
Staff Resource: Danny Pleasant, 704-336-3879 - dpleasant@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Over the past two weeks, City staff hosted two meetings with a group seeking to resolve issues surrounding NCDOT review of subdivision streets planned for the extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ). The group included representatives from REBIC, NCDOT, the NC Attorney General's Office and three city departments. State Senator Dan Clodfelter and NC Transportation Board member Marion Cowell also attended. We made considerable progress and agreed to four items:
1. Both the City and NCDOT will send letters to developers advising them of deficiencies found in 42 subdivision projects. The letters will describe how to obtain record plat approval through NCDOT, including use of maintenance bonds to cover potential risk of drainage structure failure. Those letters will be sent early next week.
2. City and NCDOT staffs will perform concurrent review of subdivision plans to avoid redundancy and to promote consistent interpretation of state standards. Both staffs will clarify standards that will apply to ETJ streets.
3. City and NCDOT staff will continue to discuss options for resolving plats that were recorded with the non-standard stamp.
4. The City will look into whether to pursue legislation to allow the City to maintain streets in the ETJ. We expect any change would include more Powell Bill or other funding to cover the added costs. This would consider the City's proposed Urban Street Design Guidelines that differ in some respects from NCDOT statewide standards.
County Request for Proposals Issued for Air Quality Pilot Program
Staff Resource: Jim Humphrey, 704-336-3883 - jhumphrey@ci.charlotte.nc.us
In September, Council directed Council member Mumford to support the MUMPO/NCDOT expenditure of $1 M in CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) funds to develop and implement a program to demonstrate how regional businesses and governments can work together to reduce pollution. The program and funding level were later approved by MUMPO and NCDOT.
The pilot air quality program will target air pollution generated by commuting trips and operations/ fleet practices. It will benefit the region's public health and economic vitality and reduce the threat of loss of federal transportation dollars.
Council was also advised that a new Regional Planning for Air Quality Board of Directors will champion and oversee the program. The Board reflects the involvement and commitment of the private and public sectors to this initiative. Attached is the framework showing the key entities involved, including the Regional Planning Alliance, Charlotte Chamber, Mecklenburg County and Centralina Council of Governments. The first meeting of the new Board is scheduled for December 16.
Mecklenburg County staff is providing the lead public sector staff support for this work. The County has released a Request for Proposal (RFP) to experienced consultants to design and implement a program to test how businesses can change employee travel behavior or operational practices to reduce air pollution (for example, carpooling, riding transit, flex time or adding gas to vehicles late in the day). This program is being called a "pilot" because the results of the contractor's work will be used to define which activities are most cost-effective, and what steps should be taken subsequently to continue, expand, or modify these efforts.
The pilot program will complement other transportation demand management and air awareness efforts, such as those led by the Charlotte Area Transit System. The contactor selected will work
with up to 50 of the largest private and public employers within our eight-county region, representing up to 100,000 employees. Proposals are due by December 14, 2005, with County Commission approval of the consultant contract in January. Work is expected to begin in February.
City staff is involved in consultant selection and on a staff advisory committee to the Board. We will keep Council apprised of status of this initiative.
