Monday, August 27
1:30 pm - Environment Committee Meeting, Room CH-14. AGENDA: Post Construction Controls Ordinance
3:00 pm - Transportation Committee Meeting, Room 280. AGENDA: Urban Street Design Guidelines (USDG); Right-of-Way (ROW) Ordinance Recommendations
5:00 pm - Council Manager Dinner Briefing, Room 267
6:30 pm - Citizens' Forum, Meeting Chamber
7:00 pm - Council Business Meeting, Meeting Chamber
Wednesday, August 29
12:00 pm - Housing & Neighborhood Development Committee Meeting, Room CH-14. AGENDA: To Be Distributed Monday, August 27
Thursday, August 30
12:00 pm - Restructuring Government Committee Meeting, Room CH-14. AGENDA: Community WiFi Proposal; Public Art
On August 15, City Council received a memo regarding citizens' concerns with the resolution adopted by Council on July 24, 2006, closing a portion of Hubbard Road. The resolution contained a special provision that was not met by the petitioner, Diamond Oak Development. The provision included the contractor's completion of the new Hubbard Road realignment within 1 year of the date of the resolution.
CDOT attended the Derita/Statesville Neighborhood Association meeting on August 16 to address questions and concerns regarding the construction status of the realignment of Hubbard Road. Staff discussed the City's next steps to ask the Council to adopt a new resolution to include an extended time frame to complete the new road.
Also in attendance was Diamond Oak Development's attorney, Collin Brown, to address questions regarding the status of the Hubbard Falls revised subdivision plan. After addressing the questions and providing documentation that outlined the new expectations that would be placed within the new abandonment resolution, the attendees appeared satisfied and indicated no intentions of objecting to the revised abandonment.
Agenda Item #42: FY08 Sanitary Sewer Replacements, Contract One - PULLED
Staff Resource: Barry Shearin, 704-391-5137 - bshearin@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities is pulling this item from the August 27 Council agenda due to issues with the low bidder's surety company. Staff has been assured that the issues can be resolved so that the award of the construction contract can be placed on the September 10 agenda.
Information Items:
Church Street Closure
Staff Resources:
Tom Shabani, 704-336-8493 - oshabani@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Tony Dubois, 704-432-3779 - tdubois@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Eddie Levins, 704-533-2502 - plevins@cmpd.org
Keith Hines, 704-336-3913 - khines@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Jimmy Rhyne, 704-336-3905 - jrhyne@ci.charlotte.nc.us
During private property construction at the east side of the 500 block of Church Street, there was a shifting in an underground rock seam. This contributed to movement of the construction site shoring along Church Street and allowed shifting and settling of Church Street between First Street and Stonewall Street. The adjacent construction site contractor will add additional ties to stabilize the shoring and prevent future rock seam shifting. Church Street will be reconstructed during this phase. Any water line leakage will also be repaired. The repair process is expected to last 5 to 6 weeks.
Suggested detours for south-bound traffic are South Brevard Street and Mint Street.
On Friday, August 24, Church Street will also be closed from Martin Luther King Boulevard to W. First Street from 6:00 pm to 1:00 am Saturday. This is to facilitate traffic flow for the Panthers' game at the Bank of America Stadium. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers will be on duty to direct traffic. Detour signs will be posted.
Additionally, at about half-time of the game, the traffic direction of Martin L. King Boulevard will be reversed to allow outbound traffic to more easily access South Brevard and McDowell Streets.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities continues preparing to implement mandatory water use restrictions in case Monday's regional Catawba drought management plan teleconference reveals that mandatory restrictions are called for based on newly updated supply conditions.
Duke Energy has been running further calculations this week to determine whether the water supply conditions have already been met to trigger mandatory restrictions. If they have, it will be announced during the conference call Monday morning, and more than 20 water users between Hickory, N.C. and Camden, S.C. who participate in the regional drought management plan will be expected to enact their own local mandatory restrictions in accordance with the plan.
Duke also anticipates holding a news conference afterward to announce its findings. Council members, county commissioners and the six other Mecklenburg towns will receive a report from us on the conference call immediately upon its conclusion. You will also be notified of the time and place of the news conference in case you wish to attend.
In the meantime, Charlotte-Mecklenburg will be ready for mandatory if the plan calls for it. We are working with the news media, direct communication and grassroots efforts to encourage residents and businesses to adjust irrigation systems and watering habits now to ease the transition to mandatory and protect our water supply. Attached is a news release issued today that illustrates how mandatory restrictions would work in Mecklenburg County.
Water Conservation in City Facilities
Staff Resources:
Wilson Hooper, 704-336-8774 - whooper@ci.charlotte.nc.
Jim Banbury, 704-336-3610 - jbanbury@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Mark Wiebke, 704-359-4025 - mdwiebke@charlotteairport.com
Erin Culbert, 704-391-4685 - eculbert@ci.charlotte.nc.us
As the area experiences water shortages, the City has undertaken water saving measures. These measures are in keeping with our conservation goals outlined in the Environment Focus Area Plan and our goal to "lead by example." If mandatory water restrictions are announced, these measures will be reviewed again to see what additional steps may be needed.
Engineering and Property Management, which operates most City-owned facilities (including CMPD, CFD, and CATS facilities), have the following practices in place in order to conserve water and follow CMU requests or restriction:
- Irrigation systems water only twice a week between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. as a matter of routine. This is the regular irrigation schedule now and has been since the last drought period. Systems are checked weekly;
- Landscape maintenance contracts specify that all CMU conservation requests or restrictions be followed;
Non-essential plants (flowers) that are heavy water users have been and will continue to be removed from Tryon Street mall and other areas;
- First-year trees and shrubs are watered once a week. Using water bags on newly planted trees can result in as much as two weeks between watering;
- Watering of turf areas is limited except where trees and shrubs benefit;
- Capital improvement projects, such as roads, that include trees and shrubs have a one-year warranty from the installation contractor. Watering during that period is directed by the contractor, who is responsible for warranty loss and replacement of plant materials;
- City ornamental fountains use recirculated water and operate to prevent stagnation. Water is only added when low levels may cause damage to pumps or other systems. This occurs from once a week to once every 3 weeks.
Charlotte-Douglas International Airport has implemented the following measures:
- Suspended use of irrigation system and grass watering;
- Limited watering of outdoor plants/shrubs/trees; watering during off-peak hours only
- Queen Charlotte fountain using recirculated water and, when necessary, drawing water from a well;
- Suspended paint operation to prevent the need to use water to clean the machines;
- Restricted washing of airport buses from weekly to every two weeks;
- Street flushing only in emergencies;
- Installation of water-saving fixtures in restrooms currently being renovated;
- Pumping of condensation from air-conditioning back through the system instead of down the drain.
Utilities has implemented the following measures:
- Suspended irrigation and watering of outside areas at CMU facilities;
- Washing equipment only when absolutely necessary and only at commercial carwashes;
- Suspended fire-hydrant flushing except when absolutely necessary for water quality purposes;
- Requiring the Utility crews work overtime hours this weekend to more quickly and effectively respond to system leaks.
Staff has received numerous complaints regarding the subject event held Wednesday, August 22, at 6:30 pm. Although an extraordinary amount of planning went into the event, organizers did not follow the plan causing traffic, bus and other delays. A contributing factor was an unplanned
closure of Church Street between First Street and Stonewall Street. Staff of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and the Charlotte Department of Transportation will perform an after action review of the event to consider potential future remedies and the viability of future events of this type.
As part of the testing of the LYNX Blue Line, starting Friday, August 24, CATS will begin running light rail vehicles all the way to Archdale Drive from the South Boulevard Light Rail Facility located at 3200 South Boulevard. Testing is already underway north of the Light Rail Facility into Center City.
Testing will occur 24 hours a day - seven days a week. Signalized rail crossing gates have been installed at intersections along the test area. However, trained officers may also be in place to provide assistance at intersections during the times when trains will be operating. CATS is sending direct mail to citizens and businesses near the rail line to notify the community that testing of the LYNX Blue Line will soon be active in their area.
At the July 23 Council meeting, City Council raised questions about the SBE goal setting process, and specifically about the low attainment on some Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities construction contracts. A review of this program will be on the September 4 Council Workshop agenda.
For construction projects, the Key Business Unit establishes an SBE Goal prior to bid using the Subcontractor Utilization Goal-Setting Matrix, developed by the Small Business Development Office. This process takes into consideration the engineer's estimate for the project, as well as the anticipated subcontracting opportunities, and the estimated dollar value of each. The KBU sends this goal to the City Small Business Development Office for review and approval. Once the goal is approved by the SBD Office, the project is released for bid.
Despite the fact that several of Utilities' bidders fail to meet the established goal at the time of award, data indicates that of the 32 construction projects completed since FY 2003 24 exceeded the City's established goal by the end of the project. For those eight (8) that failed to exceed the established goals, all earned the required Good Faith Effort points and exceeded the mandatory outreach, therefore complying with the policy.
SBD and Utilities staff recently met to discuss concerns about the goal setting methodology and the low goal attainment on Utilities' construction contracts. As a result, we are taking the following actions:
- SBD staff is reviewing the vendor list to find certified SBE firms who perform work that is typically subcontracted on Utilities construction projects. This is taking place prior to bid to encourage the SBE firms to respond to solicitations received from potential bidders.
- SBD and Utilities staff will work together to determine additional areas, if any, for possible SBE utilization.
- SBD staff will compare several Utilities projects with non-Utilities construction projects to determine the differences in the types of construction work done and make the appropriate adjustments to the goal setting methodology.
- SBD staff will set up meetings with SBEs and major utility contractors to facilitate further subcontracting opportunities.
Double Oaks Redevelopment - Next Steps
Staff Resource: Stanley Watkins, 704-336-3796 - swatkins@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Pursuant to the City Council's action on the Double Oaks Redevelopment Proposal on July 23, 2007, City staff is continuing to move forward the proposal's implementation steps. An advertisement will be run in the Charlotte Observer on Saturday, August 25, 2007 announcing a 30-day citizen comment period on two draft documents required for the proposal's implementation.
The first is a draft document requesting federal government approval of the designation of the Double Oaks neighborhood as a Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area. This designation will allow the City flexibility in implementing housing and economic development initiatives in the area.
The second document is a draft of the Double Oaks Section 108 Loan Guarantee Application to support land acquisition in the area. This is a $10 million loan from the federal government, which is backed by the City's Community Development Block Grant allocation.
The Neighborhood Development staff will host a community meeting to receive public comment on both of the documents on Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at 6:30 pm at the Anita Stroud Senior Center Complex, 1110 Rising Oak Drive.
In addition, the City Council will be asked to hold a public hearing on Monday, September 24, 2007. After the public hearing and City Council action, the documents will be sent to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for consideration.
Hard copies of both draft documents are available upon request.
