All Offices will be closed for the New Year Holiday on Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Information Items:
Below is the Solid Waste Services holiday collection schedule and related information:
- Solid Waste Services will provide residential collection on New Year's Day, Tuesday, January 1, 2008.
- The suspension of yard waste collection will continue through Monday, December 31.
- Regular yard waste collection will resume on Tuesday, January 1.
- Because the holidays generate lots of garbage, residents are encouraged to recycle, including gift wrap and cardboard. For a list of items accepted in the CURB IT! residential recycling collection program and directions on how to properly prepare recyclables, call 311 or log on to http://curbit.charmeck.org.
- Overflow garbage should be bagged and placed beside (not on top) of the rollout cart for collection. Overflow garbage will not be collected outside the rollout cart after Monday, December 31.
- Solid Waste Services will collect natural Christmas trees as a part of the CURB IT! yard waste collection program, beginning Tuesday, January 1. Residents are asked to remove decorations, tinsel, ornaments, and metal and plastic tree stands before collection.
- Artificial trees should be scheduled for bulky item collection. To schedule a bulky item collection, call 311.
Attached is the most recent listing of federal legislative issues compiled by our Washington lobbyist, Holland & Knight, after interviews with City staff and several Council members. Please review this document which will be presented to Council at the January 7th Workshop. If you have additional ideas, not included in the attachment, please let Boyd Cauble know so your suggestion can be part of the Workshop discussion.
Pegasus Tower has submitted plans for a communication tower at 8115 Fallsdale Drive to City Engineering and Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement. Concerned neighbors in the surrounding area have contacted news media and plan to speak at the January 7, 2008 citizens' forum following the Council Workshop.
The proposed tower would be located at 8115 Fallsdale Drive on private property and within a residential district. The City's Zoning Ordinance requires that property owners within 100-feet of the facility and neighborhood leaders within one mile be notified of the proposed tower. Pegasus Tower has complied with the notification requirements set forth in the ordinance. Staff understands that some neighborhood residents do not believe there was proper notification. However, the zoning ordinance states that "any error in an owner's or neighborhood leader's list or any other procedural error or omission shall not invalidate the issuance of an otherwise properly issued permit."
A 30-day notification period is required to allow time for interested parties and the permit applicant to discuss the facility. The 30 days must conclude before permits can be issued. The applicant is, in good faith, to consider the comments from the interested parties concerning landscaping and screening and other design issues of the facility. Once the 30-day notification period has expired and City Engineering and Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement have approved the plans, a building permit may be issued by County Code Enforcement.
The 30-day notification period for the Fallsdale tower expired on December 27, 2007. County Code Enforcement and City Engineering have reviewed the plans and revisions concerning setbacks are being made. Staff anticipates that County Building Standards will issue a building permit within a week.
At its meeting on Wednesday, December 19, 2007, the three new mayors from Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson attended and began their terms on the Commission. Each of the North Mecklenburg mayors stated their strong desire to see engineering work on the North Corridor commuter rail project proceed as soon as possible. In addition, Huntersville Town Commissioner Charles Jeter attended saying he wanted to correct how the media had characterized his position on the North Corridor Project. He presented Mayor McCrory with a letter stating his support for seeing the engineering work on the Project approved by Charlotte City Council in order to develop additional information.
The MTC selected Mayor Lee Myers of Matthews to be Vice Chair of the Commission for 2008.
The MTC unanimously voted to approve Resolution No. 2007-06, which amended the CATS' Financial Policies. The amendment includes modifications to the 2005 approved governance structure and other process improvements, as well as recommendations made by CTAG and MTC members at the November 28, 2007 meeting. The approved policies will help CATS staff maximize the integrity of financial data and adjust performance objectives to accurately identify and track the costs of significant new services.
The MTC also unanimously voted to approve Resolution No. 2007-07, which made adjustments to CATS' Transit Service Policies. The approved policies will outline principles designed to create services that are comfortable, convenient and easy to use for customers, and to ensure that services are reliable, timely, safe and efficient. The policies will also define the conditions that require action when standards are not met, but allow flexibility to respond to varied customer needs and community expectations in an accountable, equitable and efficient manner.
The MTC also received information briefings on the following:
1. Ridership for the month of November increased 14.6 percent across all services, as compared to November 2006. The LYNX Blue Line accounted for 10 percent of the increase and achieved that with only seven days of service. Regular bus transportation services grew 4.3 percent, while Regional Express and Community Circulators experienced double-digit increases. Activity Center Circulators, STS and Vanpool showed a slight decrease as both categories went up against strong ridership in November 2006. Human Services Transportation DSS services ridership continues to decrease as a result of changes made to State Medicaid regulations in early 2007.
2. An update was given on the project status of the LYNX Blue Line. The final pieces of the line are being completed including the installation of art and fixing issues with the ticket vending machines. Also, remaining change orders under working contingency are being processed, contractor claims for compensation are being handled and the City is pursuing an errors and omissions claim against Parson Transportation Group (PTG). The project is expected to come in under the revised $462.7 million budget before any payment is made from PTG.
The next MTC meeting will be held Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 5:30 p.m.
The North Carolina Video Service Competition Act (Session Law 2006-151) became effective January 1, 2007. Under this bill the NC General Assembly allocated funds for use by Public, Educational and Government (PEG) access channels that local governments had certified with the NC Department of Revenue. The e-NC Authority was charged with handling this grant program and local governments are responsible for submitting grant proposals initiated by the PEG channels certified within their jurisdiction to the e-NC Authority each year.
In October 2007, the e-NC Authority released a Request for Proposals for the PEG grant program. UNC-Charlotte, who operates our Educational Access Channel 22, submitted a grant request for $16,250. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Access Corporation (CMPAC), Channel 21, also submitted a grant request for $8,737. The matching funds for these grants and any ongoing operational costs will be the responsibility of the two applicants. The City of Charlotte submitted these grant requests to the e-NC in November.
In December 2007, the City of Charlotte received notification that the grant applications submitted on behalf of UNCC and CMPAC were successful and funds will be awarded for these two capital expenditure projects. The BSS Administration's Office of Cable & Franchise Management will monitor the progress of these grant projects and provide necessary follow-up reporting to the e-NC Authority.
