Wednesday, August 1
12:00 pm - Economic Development and Planning Committee Meeting, Room 280. AGENDA: University City Area Plan; Independence Boulevard Transitional Setback Study
Information Items:
The recent construction closure of Elizabeth Avenue from Kings Drive to Charlottetowne Avenue is due to work by Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) to lower their chilled water and fiber optic lines. This work will avoid conflicts with sewer line installation during the City's future Elizabeth Avenue Business Corridor Project. The street closure should end by August 30, 2007.
The goal of the Elizabeth Avenue Business Corridor Project is to stimulate re-development and create a design that better balances the needs of transit, pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. The project reduces Elizabeth Avenue from three to two lanes, creating a pedestrian friendly "main street" environment through CPCC and east to Hawthorne Avenue, through the area of the Grubb Properties mixed-use development. Work will begin on this project in the fourth quarter of 2007, and will again close Elizabeth Avenue for construction from Kings Drive to Charlottetowne Avenue.
The upcoming project will include:
- Relocation of curbs to create one lane in each direction with turn lanes at signalized intersections, bike lanes between Kings Drive and Charlottetown Avenue and on-street parking between Charlottetowne and Hawthorne Lane
- Installation of tracks and poles for future streetcar service
- Installation of wider sidewalks, trees, street lighting, pedestrian-scale lighting and steel poles and mast arms for traffic signals
- Increasing water and sewer line capacity for future development
- Placing overhead utilities underground
Following the adoption of the "City of Charlotte Commitment to Greenhouse Gas Reduction" resolution by the City Council in May, Engineering & Property Management staff has begun work to develop a baseline inventory of greenhouse gas emissions for City operations. Key points are:
- The City has joined the organization "Local Governments for Sustainability" (known as ICLEI) to take advantage of their resources, software and guidance as we develop our inventory.
- Staff has begun to organize data on hand in the formats necessary to utilize the software and determine if there is any additional data that can be readily obtained.
- Staff is coordinating with Mecklenburg County, which is beginning a similar process for County operations.
- The baseline inventory will be complete within the current fiscal year, providing the basis for further study and development of the action plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as called for in the resolution.
- Components of the plan that require additional funding or resources will be evaluated by the City Council as part of future budget deliberations.
On April 23, the City Council approved revisions to the City's Floodplain Regulations, effective July 1, 2007. As part of the discussion with both the Environment Committee and full City Council, it was decided to provide more effective communication opportunities with property owners directly affected by the Floodplain Regulations.
Mecklenburg County, as administrator of the City Floodplain Regulations, recently mailed approximately 5,000 copies of the attached newsletter titled, Information about Floodplain Property to properties within the floodplains. In addition, the attached insert regarding home renovations was included in approximately 1,700 of those newsletters where the properties were below the Community Floodplain elevations. While this type of mailing has routinely been an annual effort to meet the requirements of the Community Rating System, which provides insurance premium discounts due to our floodplain programs, we are providing more detail to increase awareness of the regulations and their impacts on properties.
In addition, County staff recently spoke at a quarterly Charlotte Regional Realtors Association speaker series attended by about 100 realtors. The presentation was titled "The Impact of Floodplain Regulations on Real Estate".
North Carolina Legislative UpdateStaff Resource: Boyd Cauble, 704-336-2009 - bcauble@ci.charlotte.nc.us
The 2007 North Carolina legislative session is projected to end next week after a budget is approved this weekend. Attached is a summary of the key issues involving Charlotte-Mecklenburg this past week as well as other statewide bills which we need to stay on top of next week.
Metropolitan Transit Commission Meeting Summary
Staff Resource: Ron Tober, 704-336-7245 - rtober@ci.charlotte.nc.us
At its meeting on Wednesday, July 25, 2007, the MTC unanimously voted to approve Resolution 2007-05 to authorize the continued development of the North Corridor Financing Strategy and advancement of the project's engineering. Under the resolution, CATS staff is:
1. Directed to continue the development of the Financing Strategy, including undertaking additional studies and analyses and drafting relevant agreements, as described in the Financing Strategy.
2. Authorized to submit a preliminary application to the Federal Railroad Administration to confirm eligibility for a loan under the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program.
3. Authorized to undertake a competitive process for selection of engineering firms to advance engineering and design for the project and to refine the project's cost estimates.
The MTC also received information briefings on the following:
CEO's Report: Under the CEO's report:
1. Ridership across all services increased 3.5 percent for the month of June 2007, compared to June 2006. Local and Express services were up 3.8 percent and Regional Express routes and Community Circulators experienced an increase of 4.1 percent and 14.7 percent, respectively. Activity Center Circulators and Human Transportation Services had a slight decrease in ridership. Ridership for FY2007 increased 3.1 percent over FY2006, marking the ninth consecutive year of ridership increases and representing a 67.2 percent increase since FY1998.
2. In response to a recent media report that incorrectly stated that the LYNX Blue Line is not on schedule for a November 26 opening, a media advisory was sent out to inform the media that the project is still on schedule. Staff also reported that recent communications were made to the main contractor on the project, Archer Western, indicating concern regarding work performance and milestone dates. The correspondence also informed Archer Western that any delay claims from other contractors working on the project, resulting from Archer Western missing key scheduled milestones, would be forwarded to them for payment. The regional vice president for Archer Western visited CATS on July 24 to address the concerns. It was also noted that project expenses continue to track within the revised project cost estimate of $462.7 million and the possibility of the line opening before November 26 is not likely.
3. Also, an update was given on CATS' Art-in-Transit Program. It was reported that in FY2007 art was incorporated into the Rosa Parks Place and Eastland community transit centers, as well as the Huntersville-Northcross Park and Ride lot. In FY2008, art will be integrated into the stations and park and ride lots associated with the LYNX Blue Line. This work will be completed in time for the LYNX Blue Line's November opening.
The next MTC meeting will be held Wednesday, September 26, at 5:30 pm.
