Calendar Details:
Monday, November 10
2:30pm - Transportation Committee meeting, Room 280. AGENDA: Effects of Connectivity on Fire Station Service Area & Capital Facilities Planning; Arrowood Station Area Plan
4:00pm - Closed Session, Room 280
5:00pm - Council Dinner Briefing, Room 267
6:30pm - Council Business Meeting
November 11-15
National League of Cities: 2008 Congress of Cities and Exposition, Orlando, Florida
Information items:
Joint Legislative Study Commission on Municipal Annexation
Staff Resource:
Boyd Cauble, City Manager's Office, 704-336-2009 bcauble@ci.charlotte.nc.us
On Thursday, a group of elected officials and City staff met to prepare for hearings by a newly appointed Joint Legislative Study Commission on Municipal Annexation. Mac McCarley is one of the 28 members appointed to this committee who will be making recommendations for changes in the current annexation law to the 2009 Legislature. We will be briefing City Council on the Commission's deliberations prior to the Legislature convening in late January. Attached is a briefing paper which will be helpful in discussing this issue with members of our Delegation as well a list of other members of the Commission.
21st Century Transportation Committee
Staff Resource:
Boyd Cauble, City Manager's Office, 704-336-2009 bcauble@ci.charlotte.nc.us
The 21st Century Committee on Transportation met this week to discuss options for financing needed transportation projects in North Carolina. Attached is a copy of the listing of goals of the Committee and proposed options for generating additional revenue, primarily for roads. The Committee evaluated creative new ways to generate revenue from vehicle miles traveled to toll roads, as well as additional revenues from existing taxes and fees.
A primary concern for Charlotte is a proposal to transfer the maintenance of 5000 road miles from the state to cities. The Metropolitan Coalition and the League of Municipalities have been discussing this issue with the Committee but have continuously objected to the idea of taking over a state responsibility without the state transferring an adequate amount of revenue to maintain this responsibility. Mayor Joines of Winston Salem, who serves on the Committee, has summarized our concerns about this proposal to the Committee. Unfortunately, Senator Jenkins, the primary sponsor for the road transfer idea has described the idea as a proposal "being worked on jointly with the Metropolitan Coalition and the League of Municipalities." The Metropolitan Coalition and the League of Municipalities are preparing a letter to the Committee stating our opposition to the proposed transfer.
We are concerned that the Transfer Recommendation will be included in the Committee report. If the state had enough revenue to pay for the maintenance for these state owned local roads, they would not be asking us to assume the maintenance responsibility. Our staff has estimated that to adequately maintain state owned roads within the City of Charlotte, we would need approximately twice the amount of existing state funding. This estimate assumes the roads are currently maintained to an adequate standard.
We are asking the Mayor and Councilmembers to contact our representatives on the 21st Century Committee (Representative Becky Carney and Bank of America Executive Charles Bowman) and urge them to vote NO on any proposal to transfer maintenance of state roads to the City of Charlotte. Additionally, the Metropolitan Coalition and the League of Municipalities are asking elected officials across the state familiar with the remaining members of the Committee to seek their opposition to the transfer proposal.
November 13th Public Forum on Special Needs Housing
Staff Resource:
Stan Wilson, Neighborhood Development, 704-336-3337, swilson@ci.charlotte.nc.us
The Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Advisory Board will host a public forum on Thursday, November 13 at 4:00 pm in Room CH-14 of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center.
The purpose of the forum is to review changes to the Housing Trust Fund RFP process and to establish a further dialogue with the Special Needs and Homeless Services providers. City Council is invited to attend.
Charlotte is increasingly challenged with how to provide adequate housing to its special needs and homeless populations. As resources become scarce, these two groups of residents are especially affected by the lack of available housing. The overall mission of the HTF Advisory Board is to increase the availability of affordable housing, and to that end, the Board wants to be responsive to those residents that have unique housing requirements.
Airport Sustainability Efforts
Staff Resource:
T. J. Orr, Aviation Director, 704-359-4006, tjorr@charlotteairport.com
At the October 27th Council Meeting, Councilmember Peacock asked for more information on a collaborative effort with Duke Energy to provide solar energy at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT).
It is CLT's intention to invest in an on-site renewable energy demonstration project. To this end, CLT and Duke Energy have begun exploratory discussions regarding the implementation of a renewable energy project at the airport. It is unclear at this time if the project will be part of Duke Energy's effort to meet state mandates for renewable energy sources, which would direct electricity production to the electric grid, or if the project will be unique to CLT, which would allow CLT to use on-site the energy produced. It is also unclear as to the type of renewable energy system that would be implemented; systems under consideration include photovoltaic cells, solar thermal and wind turbines. These systems could be placed on existing structures, including parking decks, or ground mounted. More information will be shared with City Council as the project develops.
Other US airports have undertaken renewable energy projects over the few years. For example, last July, Boston's Logan International Airport installed twenty wind turbines on a terminal, which are expected to generate about 100,000 kilowatt-hours annually, equal to 3 percent of the building's energy needs. Denver International and Fresno Yosemite airports recently installed solar panels in their backyards in hopes of generating enough energy to save on their electricity bills. In Denver, the airport installed 9,200 panels, each equipped with sensors and measuring 3 feet by 5 feet, which rotate on an axis that follows the sun. These panels are expected to generate approximately 3 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, the equivalent of about half the energy used to run the airport's people-mover rail system. Fresno Yosemite airport installed 11,700 solar panels, also in July, which are expected to provide up to 40 percent of the airport facilities' daily electrical needs. Staff will continue to monitor for innovative approaches within the sector.
This effort is part of CLT's commitment to becoming a more environmentally sustainable entity by reducing total energy, water usage and landfill waste. The remainder of this memo outlines some of our other environmental initiatives.
For close to a year, CLT has been operating two hybrid electric shuttle busses. These buses emit 95 percent less green house gases than a typical shuttle bus, and will reduce our fuel consumption by approximately 10,700 gallons a year. As bathrooms have been renovated, CLT has installed low flow toilets, energy saving lamps, and sensory operated faucets and towel dispensers.
CLT is a 24-hour, 365-day a year operation and generates approximately 8,723 tons of waste per year, with each passenger contributing on average a ½ pound of waste per day. In 2007, CLT's effort's resulted in the recycling of 344 tons of mixed paper and cardboard, which reduced our landfill waste by approximately 2-3 percent. In addition to mixed paper and cardboard, CLT recycles aluminum, plastic, glass, newspaper, oil, coffee grounds and scrap metal. Plans are underway to increase recycling rates through the following measures: increasing the number and visibility of terminal recycling receptacles; forming recycling partnerships with the airlines; and expanding concession recycling.
Connectivity Mitigation Stakeholder Group Selected
Staff Resource:
Matt Magnasco, CDOT, 704-336-3368, mmagnasco@ci.charlotte.nc.us
As announced at the September 22th Transportation Committee meeting, CDOT is convening a stakeholder group to help staff make recommendations about the mitigation measures associated with different levels of traffic impacts that could be caused by new street connections. In the October 3 Council-Manager memo, CDOT invited Council members to submit nominations of people to serve on the stakeholder group. REBIC also nominated two people. In all, out of 17 people invited, 11 people have agreed to serve on the stakeholder group. The group consists of 4 neighborhood representatives, 2 developers, 3 land planning/ land development consultants, the Mecklenburg County Safe Routes to School coordinator, and a bicycle advocate.
The group is expected to meet three or four times before the end of January. Staff will incorporate the conclusions of the group into the connectivity mitigation policy, and present these to the Committee during the first part of 2009.
Monthly Project Update for the NASCAR Hall of Fame
Staff Resource:
Jim Schumacher, City Manager's Office, 704-336-3656, jschumacher@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Attached is the November edition of the Project Update newsletter for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. At Council's request, this document will be provided to City Council each month through completion of the project. It includes a table of expenditures to date, key milestones completed, and a look ahead at upcoming milestones.
