Council member Mitchell requested information on the City's current street light policy and expressed an interest in requiring pedestrian scale lighting for new residential development.

In order to require pedestrian scale lighting on public and private residential streets, three policies would need to be amended: the Subdivision Ordinance, Land Development Standards and the Zoning Ordinance.

Attached is a summary of existing policy related to pedestrian scale lighting.

Business Advisory Committee's 2007 Economic Development Priorities
Staff Resource:
       Emily Westbrook, 704-432-2076 - ewestbrook@ci.charlotte.nc.us

At the Business Advisory Committee meeting on January 19, 2007, the Committee identified their economic development priorities for 2007. The Committee wanted to share these initiatives with the Mayor, City Council and City Manager.  Attached is a letter from John Silvia, Chairman of the Business Advisory Committee.

Comments Regarding NCDOT Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
Staff Resources: 
       Andy Grzymski, 704-336-3928 - agrzymski@ci.charlotte.nc.us 
       Jim Humphrey, 704-336-3883 - jhumphrey@ci.charlotte.nc.us

City Council's February 12 agenda includes an item to direct your Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO) representative's vote regarding the draft TIP as recommended by the Technical Coordinating Committee (TCC). Unfortunately, the TCC meeting last week was cancelled due to inclement weather and has been rescheduled for this coming Friday, leaving very little time to share the recommendations of the TCC with you prior to Monday's City Council meeting. We do plan to send a Manager-Council memo to you Friday sharing the TCC recommendations and a briefing is already scheduled as part of Monday's Dinner Briefing. The MUMPO will vote on the draft TIP on February 15.

Some of the expected TCC recommendations to the MUMPO include:

• Reprogram Monroe Bypass Funds that could not be spent as soon as expected to other projects that are ready for ROW/Construction. The projects that would be advanced include Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Extension (Monroe) and NC 51 Widening (Pineville). No other projects are ready for ROW/Construction. The Monroe Bypass project will be reimbursed these funds when needed and the schedule for that project will not be affected.
• Designate FY 12 and 13 funds (Surface Transportation Program - Direct Allocation Funds) that are at the full discretion of the MUMPO to allocate to fund the Weddington Road Widening (Charlotte/Matthews), Indian Trail Road Widening (Indian Trail), NC 73 Widening (Huntersville) and Old Monroe Road Widening Corridor Planning (Matthews/Stallings) projects. These funds were originally shown for the Independence Boulevard Project (Sharon Amity to Conference Drive), but are no longer needed.
• Accept all Federal Earmarks. In most cases other projects located in the jurisdiction where the earmark is located have been delayed as a result. In Charlotte's case, funding for the Airport Entrance Road would be delayed in order to accommodate the Charlotte Douglas Intermodal Facility Earmark. Airport staff supports this change. Other earmarks in Charlotte include Sugar Creek Road Grade Separation ($2.6M), Little Sugar Creek Greenway ($2.71M), and Norfolk Southern Intermodal Facility ($3.4M), but funds were not taken from any specific project to accommodate.
• Expedite Planning for the I-485 Widening Project between Johnston Road and I-77 (Charlotte/Pineville) in hopes that the remainder of costs can be funded earlier than FY 13 as currently shown.
• Decrease funds shown to extend Rea Road in Weddington to only that amount needed to connect Rea Road to a portion of Rea Road that will potentially be built by a developer. The project is controversial in Weddington. Keeping any funds in the TIP will require an endorsement of the project from the Weddington Town Council.

Monday's agenda also includes an item to endorse the NCDOT Division Engineer's request to replace I-277 and I-77 lights with solar powered lights. Staff supports his request which will be financed through State resources and will not require use of any TIP funds. We will go over options at the dinner presentation. If City Council decides to replace the lighting with conventional lighting, it will cost $6-$8M and require MUMPO endorsement and project funding in the TIP not currently identified.

Questions regarding the TIP Comments or Lighting agenda items can be directed to Andy Grzymski or Jim Humphrey.

Solid Waste Services Kicks Off Wipeout Waste Campaign
Staff Resource:
       Victoria Garland, 704-432-4223 - vgarland@ci.charlotte.nc.us 

The City of Charlotte, through its Solid Waste Services Department, is one of four municipalities chosen by the county and the national Curbside Value Partnership program to launch WipeOut Waste, a recycling education campaign aimed at increasing resident participation in our curbside recycling program. The goal of the program is to increase participation by 10 percent countywide this year.

On February 15, we will kick-off the campaign by holding a media event to unveil the campaign and introduce the area media to our recycling facility. The event will be held at the Metrolina Recovery Facility, 1007 Amble Drive.

The event will include:

• Media briefing and introductions (5 minutes)
• Remarks from County Commissioner Jennifer Roberts (5-7 minutes)
• Remarks from Curbside Value Partnership -- program partner (3 minutes)
• Remarks from MRF Official and tour intro (3-5 minutes)
• Open opportunity for media to ask questions or one-on-one interviews of spokespeople and invited city officials (10 minutes)
• Tour for the press of the MRF (15-20 minutes)

This kick-off represents the first effort in the countywide 90-day partnership, which has the opportunity to engage more than 200,000 households in Mecklenburg County. Other strategies that will be used are media relations, direct marketing to homeowners, and grassroots outreach to underserved communities.

Charlotte's recycling rate has declined from an estimated 65% in 2003 to 43% in 2005. This partnership not only helps increase the residential recycling rate, it also supports the Solid Waste Management Plan's focus on sustaining landfill capacity by reducing per capita waste disposal rates.

"Brief Look at Storm Water Services" Brochure
Staff Resource:
       Jennifer Krupowicz, 704-432-0970 - jkrupowicz@ci.charlotte.nc.us 

Attached you will find several copies of a recent publication produced by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services (SWS). This tool outlines specifically the services provided by SWS and offers examples of problems that typically do not qualify for SWS repairs. This brochure will be distributed by staff in response to service requests to better clarify levels of service expectations.

Hopefully, you will find this brochure helpful during contacts with the public. Please feel free to contact me for more copies. You can also find the digital version on the SWS website at http://stormwater.charmeck.org

Fire Department Training at Westwood Apartments
Staff Resource:
       Captain Rob Brisley, 704-336-2094 - rjbrisley@ci.charlotte.nc.us

The vacated Westwood Apartments, 1600 Fleetwood Drive, were selected as a training site for the Fire Department from January 22 through early March 2007. Training involves using rescue tools and developing rescue techniques, followed by a "live burn exercise" that burns portions of the building to the ground. Last week weather conditions resulted in smoke reaching nearby homes, resulting in several complaints. To maintain it's positive relationship with residents, the Fire Department's Command staff eliminated the live burn exercise training at Westwood Apartments. Moving forward, many training objectives will continue to be met utilizing the remaining structures available to the Fire Department.