Friday, March 23 is the make-up day for the How Do We Get it All Done portion of the City Council retreat. It will be in Room CH-14 from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be available and Chip Scholz will be the facilitator. Attached is a copy of the Rules of Procedure for the City Council and a report provided by Mr. Scholz which is a summary of the results of his individual interviews with Council.
Agenda Items:
The March 26, 2007 Council Agenda will have an item requesting approval to schedule a public hearing date for the proposed Floodplain Regulations Revisions. Staff initially believed, and relayed to the Environment Committee and to the Council, that it was necessary to approve the Environment Committee's recommendations in addition to publishing a notice and setting a public hearing date. However, the City Attorney's Office has since advised it is appropriate to simply request that Council set a public hearing date. The recommended public hearing date will be April 9, 2007.
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On Monday evening, Council will be asked to: 1) approve an Agreement with Media Power for $102,300 for media buying services for the current, FY07 and FY08 Water Quality Education Campaign, 2) agree to participate in a three-year regionally-based partnership to educate local citizens on ways to protect and improve our surface waters, and 3) approve the funding of $100,600 as the City's contribution for FY08-FY10 towards the COG partnership.
The Centralina Council of Governments (COG) has invited approximately 30 local municipalities, including the City of Charlotte, to participate in a storm water regional partnership. Their goal is to bring the municipalities together to share ideas, leverage funding and jointly implement National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit requirements. Twenty-four local municipalities have agreed to participate and two more are expected to join within the next few months.
The first project offered by the COG for the partnership is a regional education campaign. The COG has applied for a NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund grant to match the funds contributed by each municipality. Participating in this partnership will eventually reduce the costs
to the City associated with providing a media campaign as required in the Education and Outreach section of the City's NPDES Storm Water Permit.
The COG partnership is expected to begin in the Spring of 2008. In the meantime, to meet NPDES requirements and Division performance goals, the contract with Media Power will allow Storm Water Services to have a media campaign. Educating the citizens of Charlotte is critical to reducing the sources of storm water pollution such as bacteria, sediment and nutrients that reach our streams and lakes. Media campaigns are just one aspect in a multi-pronged City Storm Water education program that includes student presentations, websites, adult programs and volunteer opportunities.
Information Items:
The Johnston and Mecklenburg Mill Request for Proposal document was released to developers on Wednesday, March 21, 2007. The final document was modified to include the language as underlined below. The language was added based on clarification of the motion that was made by Councilmember Foxx and approved by the Council at the February 12, 2007 City Council Meeting.
1) Add the language presented by the Historic North Davidson Neighborhood and Business Associations to the Selection Criteria section of the RFP:
"Consideration of a development plan that complements and bolsters the existing artistic and historic character of the neighborhood. Concepts could include but are not limited to: an architectural design that compliments the mill buildings and the surrounding mill town; housing that addresses the needs of the existing diverse community; or residential, retail and commercial endeavors that meld with the existing NoDa arts and entertainment district."
The RFP schedule is as follows:
1. Issue Request for Proposals - March 21, 2007
2. Pre-Submission Conference - April 20, 2007
3. Proposal Due Date - June 15, 2007
4. Selection Committee Reviews and Short List - June 29, 2007
5. Proposal Presentations - July 13, 2007
6. Selectciojn Committee Recommendation - August 10, 2007
7. City Council Approval of Development Team - Sept/Oct 2007
The RFP is available on the Neighborhood Development Housing Services website and the website link will be sent to developers on the City's list and others that have expressed an interest. In addition, the RFP will be advertised in the Charlotte Observer.
Proposals will be reviewed by a Selection Committee composed of City of Charlotte staff and representatives of the Historic North Davidson Neighborhood and Business Associations and a private sector developer with experience in residential development and representation from the Belmont and Villa Heights communities.
The Selection Committee will review all proposals and recommend a developer for Charlotte City Council approval. A short list of developers (three to four) will be selected for an interview with the Selection Committee as a part of the process.
Attached is a copy of the final Request for Proposal document as information.
City Council is invited to attend the 12th Annual Neighborhood Symposium on Saturday, March 31, 2007 at the Charlotte Convention Center from 8:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. The event is presented as a forum designed to bring together neighborhood residents and other leaders who share a goal of building a better community.
The Symposium theme for 2007 is "Neighborhoods in Action: Mobilizing, Organizing and Sustaining Success." In keeping with that focus, the keynote speaker is John Barros, Executive Director of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) in Roxbury, MA. DSNI is an innovative resident-led planning and organizing community non-profit dedicated to rebuilding the once-devastated Dudley neighborhood.
Workshop topics include zoning, diversity, neighborhood organizing, gentrification, neighborhood advocacy, crime prevention and the Quality of Life Study. To address participants' requests for more networking opportunities, a neighborhood networking reception will end the day's activities.
Co-sponsors and contributors include Solid Waste Services, Planning, Police, Workforce
Development Board, and several businesses and non-profits. More than 50 neighborhood residents and civic organization representatives volunteered to help with Symposium planning
and implementation this year.
Attached is a Neighborhood Symposium brochure/invitation. Pre-registration is
available online or by calling Neighborhood Development at 704-336-2061.
