Monday, November 19
12:00 pm - Community Safety Committee Meeting - CANCELLED
3:30 pm - ED & Planning Committee Meeting, Room 280.
AGENDA: Infrastructure General Development Policies; Former Coliseum Property on Tyvola Road; Bryant Park & Northlake Area Plan
5:00 pm - Council-Manager Dinner, CH-14
6:00 pm - Zoning Meeting, Meeting Chamber
Information Items:
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities will host a dedication ceremony Wednesday, November 28, to celebrate the opening of the $75 million expansion of the McDowell Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. The ceremony for the Huntersville plant will begin at noon and will be followed by lunch and plant tours.
This important expansion makes the McDowell plant one of the most technologically advanced in removing nutrients and enhancing downstream water quality. The site also features 23 rain gardens to capture storm water, as well as sophisticated technology for providing high quality reclaimed water.
You will receive invitations shortly, and we hope you can join us November 28.
The "Green Roof" project for Discovery Place, started in October 2006, is now a year old. In that time, there have been a number of lessons learned in this research collaboration between the City's Building Maintenance Division, Carolina Sta-Lite (growth medium supplier), XeroFlor (sod supplier) and Emory-Knoll (plant supplier).
The hope over the past growing season was to get the plant life established so irrigation wouldn't be necessary. But the drought took its toll, showing that a watering system was needed to supplement the air conditioning condensation runoff. A Toro drip irrigation system was added, which senses the precise need for water using weather station data uploaded from satellite.
With the depth of the soil at only 3.5 inches, Carolina Sta-Lite has had to experiment with different combinations to find the right growth medium, settling on an aggregate called "Southern Mix." Because of the drought, loss of plants and adding the drip system, the distressed areas of the roof are being "retooled" with 3,300 new plantings, donated by Emory-Knoll.
While keeping the roof more green than brown has been a limited success, the project has been an unqualified win as an educational forum. The "Green Roof Community" is still very small, and staff has given presentations to industry, trade and public groups. Duke Energy and the Federal Reserve, which are considering "green roofs," have stayed in close touch with project leaders to learn from the City's intriguing experiment.
We will keep Council updated on the status of this Green Roof project as refinements and improvements continue.
One of the negative aspects of foreclosures is that unoccupied houses may remain on the market for long periods of time, which act as a blighting influence on neighborhoods. In order to help communities and promote homeownership, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) operates the Good Neighbor Next Door program, which allows eligible single family homes that are owned by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and are located in revitalization areas to be sold at a discount. These properties must be located in neighborhoods with very low incomes, low rates of homeownership or a disproportionately high concentration of delinquencies or foreclosed properties. The program is operated by the FHA with no City financial involvement.
On HUD's recommendation, the City of Charlotte submitted census tract information which
HUD used to designate FHA revitalization areas for the purpose of expanding homeownership
opportunities. A map of the city's revitalization areas is attached.
The Good Neighbor Next Door program allows law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and pre-K through 12th grade teachers the opportunity to purchase properties within the FHA Revitalization area for homeownership at a discount of 50 percent from the list price of the home provided they comply with program requirements. Properties are available for purchase through the program for five days. In return, buyers must commit to live in the property for 36 months as their sole residence.
Neighborhood Development staff has made preliminary contact with the Police and Fire departments to make them aware of this opportunity and will be in contact with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in the near future.
