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Monday, April 9
1:30 pm - Budget Committee Meeting, Room 280
AGENDA: Review April 18 Budget Retreat Agenda; Draft General Capital Investments Plan (CIP)
5:00 pm - Council Manager Dinner Briefing, Room 267
7:00 pm - Business Meeting, Meeting Chamber
Tuesday, April 10
6:00 pm - District 5 Neighborhood Meeting, Cornerstone Baptist Church, 8947 Albemarle Road
Wednesday, April 11
12:00 pm - Housing and Neighborhood Development Committee Meeting, CH-14. AGENDA: Boarded Up Structures; Neighborhood Councils; Neighborhood Symposium Post Report
The contract management company running Transit Management of Charlotte (TMOC) and Teamsters Union Local # 71 reached a new tentative Bus Operator labor contract agreement on Monday, April 2. The latest (the third) tentative contract agreement is for four years and revises slight wage increases over the contract term and adjusts long-term disability and uniform allowance provisions. The annual wage increases in the proposed 4-year agreement, retroactive to February 1, 2007, are as follows:
'07 '08 '09 '10
Increase 2.6% 3.0% 3.0% 3.5%
The agreement must now be posted for a minimum of 72 hours after which a ratification vote will take place. A vote by the membership has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 10. The two previous tentative agreements, supported by union leadership, were rejected by the union membership. The former contract between the two parties expired at midnight on January 31.
North Carolina is a right-to-work state and as such, governmental employees are prohibited from engaging in collective bargaining. Because of this, transit systems in North Carolina who have union employees have a separate management group manage the day-to-day operations and negotiations. For CATS, McDonald Transportation is the contract management group that manages that work force. The City is not a party to these negotiations but remains concerned about what transpires.
On December 11, 2006, City Council approved a consulting contract for a redevelopment plan for North Tryon Street from Brookshire to Old Concord Road. This plan studies the section of North Tryon from Sugar Creek to Old Concord Road under the option that the NE Corridor light rail would not be in the median of North Tryon until the light rail line on Old Concord Road. This work is proceeding and a very well attended public meeting was held on March 20.
CATS and Planning were also going to undertake a study of redevelopment opportunities and costs for North Tryon from Sugar Creek to Old Concord Road with light rail in this section of the North Tryon median. We have decided to postpone this study until the NE Corridor receives approval for Preliminary Engineering from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for the following reasons:
1) CATS has been in contact with the FTA to determine how best to move the NE Corridor into Preliminary Engineering. As part of this coordination, it was determined that a final decision on the alignment will not be needed this summer.
2) Doing the study in the fall of 2007 would allow a more thorough examination of the issues and would be more cost effective.
The Fall Cankerworm caterpillars started hatching last week. They will be hatching and feeding for about the next three weeks. Based on the City's monitoring traps, the areas we expect to see the highest amount of defoliation are University/Derita, Myers Park, Eastover, Plaza/Midwood, and neighborhoods in between.
The tree banding efforts by the City, community organizations, and citizens helped reduce the amount of defoliation. Some of the traps caught over 5,000 females which translates to half a million caterpillars never hatching. Over the next two weeks, Landscape Management will be monitoring the areas of defoliation. City Arborist Don McSween will develop a plan for next year based on those results. We will keep Council advised.
In the fall of 2004, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners asked the Environmental Policy Coordinating Council (EPCC) to convene a public Environmental Forum to assess the need for additional regulation related to the environmental impacts of major development projects within the County.
The EPCC is composed of the chairs of the following County or City-County Commissions: Air Quality, Waste Management, Stormwater, Planning, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Park and Recreation, and Building Development. Other members include representatives from the three area Marine Commissions, MUMPO, Utilities, the Transit Services Advisory Committee and staff representatives from Charlotte and each of the six towns.
Approximately 150 people attended the 2004 Environmental Forum representing numerous stakeholders and expressed their views. "Major development project" was defined by County staff as greater than 400,000 square feet, or more than 2,500 parking spaces, or greater than 100 housing units or lots.
The Board of County Commissioners then asked the staff of the County Land Use and Environmental Services Agency (LUESA) to: 1) prepare a comprehensive summary of all environmental laws, regulations and requirements that are triggered during a major development project; and 2) identify any gaps in regulations.
County staff presented the report to the County Commission last evening. A copy of the report is attached for Council information. The report looks at regulations in the County and for each of the municipalities in the County. Charlotte's regulations are referenced on pages 2 and 15 of the report.
The Commission asked County staff to follow-up on how to share experiences, knowledge and resources related to the environment with other regional entities. The Commission also asked for more information on how cumulative impacts of smaller developments on the environment could be measured.
The major gap identified in this report is for non-point source pollution controls. The Post Construction Controls Ordinance under consideration throughout the County would fill this gap if implemented by the various governing bodies.
As requested at the March workshop, City staff has accelerated the schedule for bringing the proposed Post Construction Controls Ordinance to the Council. Staff will be bringing the proposal forward to the Council at the April 23 dinner. Last August, the Council referred the ordinance to the Environment Committee, so the Committee will begin its review and development of recommendations following the full Council briefing.
The 12th Annual Neighborhood Symposium was held on Saturday, March 31, at the Charlotte Convention Center. Approximately 660 neighborhood leaders and residents, presenters, exhibitors and volunteers attended, representing a 60% increase over last year's participation.
Based on the theme, "Neighborhoods in Action: Mobilizing, Organizing and Sustaining Success," special emphasis was placed on bringing community leaders together to network and share ideas. During the morning session, neighborhood leaders from Druid Hills, Hampshire Hills, Madison Park and Milton Commons shared their successes in neighborhood beautification, resident participation and involvement, website communication, and capacity building.
Neighborhood and community leaders were also involved as presenters on several workshop panels, including Neighborhood Advocacy, Maintaining Neighborhood Integrity (aesthetics), Gentrification and Improving Neighborhood Quality of Life. Concurrent workshops geared toward youth focused on communication, diversity, conflict resolution and neighborhood leadership. At least 85 youth participated in those sessions.
Keynote speaker John Barros, Executive Director of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, shared the experiences of his neighborhood in Roxbury, MA. He encouraged the audience to stay involved, build capacity within the neighborhood, identify other leaders, and work in
partnership with the city and other stakeholders in revitalizing neighborhoods and improving the quality of life.
A record-breaking 45 exhibitors provided resource information for adults and youth. Exhibitors included city and county departments, and non-profit and neighborhood-based organizations. Citizen comments have been very favorable. Participants expressed excitement over the new
location, the workshop topics, content and presenters, the keynote speaker and the variety of exhibitors and resource information made available.
The proceedings report will be available in May.
Please find attached a copy of the 2007 Legislative Notebook. Each year, the City collects legislative agendas for organizations we work closely with and puts them together in one notebook for easy reference. This was an initiative started three years ago by the City Council, as recommended by the Governmental Affairs Committee.
