Tuesday, October 16
NCLM Conference
Wednesday, October 17
3:00 pm - Economic Development and Planning Committee Meeting, Room 280. AGENDA: Permitting/Plan Review Process Field Visit to CDOT; Resolution on SC/NC Business Recruitment Incentives; Institutional Uses in Residential Districts
5:00pm - Council-Manager Dinner, CH-14
6:00pm - Zoning Meeting, Meeting Chamber
Information Items:
Staff made a presentation on the Queen City Limits program to the Restructuring Government Committee on October 11th. The Committee reviewed and discussed the format, scheduling and content of the seven programs produced from March to July 2007. The Committee also reviewed and approved a draft survey, which will be emailed to Council on Monday, October 15th. Staff is requesting that Council complete the survey by October 25th. The survey results will be shared with the Restructuring Government Committee in early November with a presentation to the full Council by the end of November.
As approved by City Council at Monday's meeting, Neighborhood Development has begun the matching grant application process to assist in combating the infestation of the cankerworm.
Organizations interested in receiving funds are encouraged to attend one of five workshops. The first workshop was held on October 11th. The upcoming workshops are:
Saturday, October 13th, 9:30 – 11 am
Hickory Grove Recreation Center, 6709 Pence Road
Monday, October 15th, 6:30 – 8 pm
Hickory Grove Recreation Center, 6709 Pence Road
Wednesday, October 17th, 10-11:30 am and 6:30-8 pm
Old City Hall, 600 E. Trade Street
The application deadline is November 5th. Attached is a copy of the brochure.
At their May 14, 2007 meeting, City Council approved 14 neighborhood improvement planning contracts with seven engineering firms. These neighborhoods include: Sugaw Creek/Ritch Avenue, Revolution Park, York/Cama, Enderly Park, Tryon Hills, Colonial Village Sedgefield, Lincoln Heights/Wilson Heights, Nevin, Eastway/Sheffield, East Forest, Farm Pond, Autumnwood, Delta Lake and Linda Lake.
City staff and engineering firms will begin holding a second series of public meetings in these neighborhoods. The purpose of these meetings is to present neighborhood infrastructure project alternatives based on citizen input received during the first round of public meetings. The October meeting schedule is:
Colonial Village/Sedgefield
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
St. Paul United Methodist Church
2830 Dorchester Place
Newell-South (Autumnwood)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Newell Presbyterian Church - Main Sanctuary
1500 Rocky River Road West
Tryon Hills
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Walls Memorial AME Zion Church
2722 Bancroft Street
Enderly Park
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Bette Rae Thomas Center
2921 Tuckaseegee Road
In 2006 the City of Charlotte adopted the Dilworth Land Use and Streetscape Plan. During the development of the Plan, Dilworth stakeholders expressed several concerns regarding Kenilworth and Scott Avenues. Residents expressed concerns about the lack of protected on-street parking, sight distance challenges at cross-streets, high speeds that were not compatible with adjacent land uses, difficulty in crossing these streets and the need to make these streets more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly. In addition, residents asked the City to study possible pedestrian-refuge locations along Park Road between Ideal Way and Kenilworth Avenue.
The Plan called for the City to follow up and study these corridors within one to three years of adoption. The Charlotte Department of Transportation and the Charlotte- Mecklenburg Planning Department are co-sponsoring interactive public workshops to discuss possible strategies. The workshops will be held on October 24th and November 14th from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the Dilworth Elementary School (Tom Sykes Center) located at 405 Park Avenue.
At the September 24th Council meeting, Council members were briefed regarding the ongoing efforts of Internal Audit to follow-up on past procurement audits and manage a contracted firm to review the City's procurement policies. The outside contractor will focus its review on service contracts and change orders which are approved by Council.
The overall purpose of both efforts is to ensure the City's procurement policies reflect best practices and comply with governmental standards, along with overall good business practices. The City's approach to procurement must be fair, consistent, open and transparent. In addition, detailed recommendations for contracting must provide sufficient guidance for Council decisions.
After an RFP and evaluation process, the City Auditor selected Matrix Consulting Group of Palo Alto, CA to assist with the procurement audit. Matrix specializes in local government operational reviews. The firm has committed senior staff who bring significant procurement expertise to our project.
From late October through mid-November, Matrix will be available to receive input from Council members regarding any concerns or observations related to procurement. Council members may contact the City Auditor, Greg McDowell, to schedule a meeting at their convenience.
At their October 2nd meeting, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners voted "to ask Charlotte City Council to consider issuing a refund to the affected homeowners of the Shannamara Subdivision for excess law enforcement service district taxes paid totaling $22,426.71." While we have not formally received this request from the County, several members of Council have asked City staff about whether and how the City could accommodate this request.
This issue arose because the Town of Stallings annexed the subject property effective January 1, 2007. On that date, policing of the area moved from CMPD to the Stallings Police Department. CMPD had been policing the previously unincorporated area pursuant to a 1996 City-County police consolidation agreement that, among other things, provides for payments by the County to the City for CMPD policing in unincorporated areas of the County. The County funds its payment obligation through a special police service district tax.
Because Stallings chose to annex in the middle of a fiscal year, the Shannamara residents were taxed for police services during the January 1 - June 30, 2007 period by both Mecklenburg County (i.e., the second half of the FY07 special police service district tax levy) and the Town of Stallings.
Despite the fact that the Board of County Commissioners is asking the City to resolve this issue directly with the Shannamara residents, if it is Council's desire to facilitate a payment to the residents, I recommend that Council do so by offering to make the funds available to the County through either a direct payment or a credit against the County's current obligation to the City under the 1996 City-County agreement. The County could then use the available funds to arrange for payment to the residents in whatever legal way it deems appropriate.
This recommendation is based on the fact that, unlike Mecklenburg County and the Town of Stallings, the City has no direct legal relationship with the Shannamara residents. Instead, the City's only connection is through the 1996 City-County agreement. In contrast, the Shannamara residents are residents of Mecklenburg County and now the Town of Stallings, and the subject taxes were levied by the County and Stallings.
