Wednesday, January 31 - Friday, February 2
City Council Retreat, UNCC Alumni House
Monday, February 5
4:00 pm - Governmental Affairs Committee Meeting, Room 280. AGENDA: Discuss Lobbying Strategies for 2007; Review County and Chamber Legislative Agendas for Commonalities; Action/Activity the First Two Weeks in the Legislature
Tuesday, February 6
12:00 pm - Environment Committee Meeting, Room 267. AGENDA: "Cool Cities" Resolution; Focus Area Plan for the Environment
Information Items:
Utilities is continuing to gather information about a sewage lift station malfunction Monday that caused roughly 654,856 gallons of wastewater to overflow. Most of the spill reached Neal Branch Creek, which flows to Withers Cove on Lake Wylie.
The problem was discovered Monday morning by staff who were performing a routine inspection of the station, located near 11495 Shopton Road West. An electrical malfunction that occurred around 3 p.m. Saturday had prevented the pump from starting automatically. Once the pump station was back in operation Monday morning, staff inspected the sewer line for signs of any overflow into the environment. They found two manholes that were no longer spilling but had obviously overflowed into the creek.
All of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities' 72 sewage pump stations are equipped with telephone-based 'dialer' alarms to continuously monitor for potential station malfunctions, and the larger stations (not including Neal Branch) have redundant, computer-based alarms. Utilities staff also visit each pump station at least twice per week.
The phone line to the Neal Brach pump station's dialer alarm apparently had been damaged due to tree trimming activity such that it could not send an outbound signal.
Local and state water quality officials were notified and 70 nearby residents received doorhanger notices. No fish kills or other visible environmental impacts have been reported. The Mecklenburg County Land Use and Environmental Services Agency continues conducting water quality tests downstream of the spill site. Due to higher bacteria levels, (LUESA) issued a precautionary notice Tuesday that advises residents to avoid contact with the creek water where it connects with Withers Cove on Lake Wylie.
One way Utilities intends to prevent this incident from happening again is to install additional computer-based alarms to back up the telephone-based dialer alarms for 21 lift stations. We also will review our operational procedures to ensure a quicker internal response.
Utilities held a public meeting last night at W.R. Davie Park community center regarding the proposed route for Phase 1 of the McAlpine Creek Relief Sewer line. Utilities staff presented and discussed the current pipe alignment and construction schedule with the approximately forty-five citizens that attended.
The proposed pipeline route will use an existing easement and have minimal environmental impact. This was well received by those in attendance and all felt it was the best route for the project.
Last Wednesday, Lisa Tofil, with Holland & Knight, accompanied Mayor McCrory and Boyd Cauble as they delivered the City's federal legislative package to our Washington Delegation. Our Congressional representatives and their key staff were complimentary of our legislative package and advised us of the process uncertainty resulting from new leadership and new committee assignments.
Following the meetings, Holland & Knight advised us that the Senate staff is requesting prioritization of our requests. Attached is Holland & Knight's suggested prioritization based upon House and Senate member comments, committee assignments, competing proposals, and local input.
After reviewing Holland & Knight's proposed prioritization, please contact Boyd Cauble if you have questions or comments regarding their suggested listing of project priority for the Senate.
According to NCDOT, the Rocky River Road crossing has been the site of numerous accidents, most of which involve trucks getting stuck on the tracks. The most recent accident occurred in November when a tractor-trailer became lodged on the track and was hit by a freight train. Because of accidents like these, which could lead to a massive evacuation if hazardous materials were involved, NCDOT feels that it is imperative for the closing to proceed as planned.
In conjunction with closing the Rocky River Road crossing, three adjacent crossings are being improved in the Newell area. By the end of 2008, additional turn lanes, crossing arms and other safety enhancements should be completed at the Back Creek Church Road, McLean Road and Newell-Hickory Grove Road crossings.
Additionally, NCDOT is working with the Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Norfolk Southern Railroad (which leases the track from the NCRR) to install train quiet zones at crossings in the corridor to limit the noise emission from train horns. As of yet, there is no timeframe for installing train quiet zones.
City staff will continue to work with NCDOT to address residents' concerns in the area regarding the closing of the Rocky River Road/NCRR crossing.
Inland Service Corporation began providing Residential Solid Waste Services in 2003 for recycling, yard waste, and garbage collection in the West Zone. The City's five-year contract with Inland Service Corporation will expire on June 30, 2008. The original agreement provided for the possibility of two consecutive one-year extensions.
As a follow-up to the Council-Manager Memo dated December 20, 2006, the City Manager and Inland Service Corporation have mutually agreed to a one year extension of the contract. Pricing for extension years was included in the original proposal and is acceptable to the City. Services will be provided in the West Zone by Inland Service Corporation through June 30, 2009.
The City Manager will continue to evaluate the performance of the company and may decide to exercise the additional contract extension year at a later date based upon their performance.
Attached is the presentation that staff made to the Economic Development and Planning Committee this morning. The Committee voted 3 - 2 (Yes: Carter, Dulin and Mitchell; No: Lassiter and Lochman) to recommend the Scaleybark Partners proposal to City Council with the additional $2 million for the extra 50 affordable housing units. The Committee also asked staff to prepare additional information to assist City Council in reviewing this issue and the Committee's recommendation. That information will be part of the information provided with the agenda for Council's February 12 meeting.
The Housing Trust Fund Board conducted an e-mail survey of its members regarding this project. The Board reviewed the information that staff presented to Council on January 17, 2007. After today's Committee meeting, staff learned that the Housing Trust Fund Board recommends that City Council not allocate resources, beyond the first $2 million, to the Scaleybark project unless that request comes through the normal Housing Trust Fund process.
Staff recognizes that this is a complicated project and would be glad to meet individually with any Council member that would like a more in-depth briefing.
