Calendar Details:
Monday, November 17
1:00 pm - Budget Committee meeting, Room 280. AGENDA: Review Budget Committee charge, FY2010-2011 Budget Calendar and Process
3:00 pm - Environment Committee meeting, Room 280. AGENDA: Water Revenue Stabilization Options, Recycling: Overview and Proposal by Coca-Cola, Citizen Pledge for the Environment, FY 2010-2011 Focus Area Plan Discussion
5:00 pm - Zoning Dinner Briefing, Room CH-14
6:00 pm - Zoning Meeting
Wednesday, November 19
12:00 pm - Housing and Neighborhood Development Committee meeting, Room CH-14. AGENDA: Neighborhood Stabilization Program Follow Up Report, Sale of Current Afro-American Cultural Center Property, 2010 Focus Area Plan Discussion, LISC Update.
3:30 pm - Economic Development and Planning Committee Meeting, Room 280. AGENDA: First Ward Park/Parking Deck Update, FY2010/2011 Focus Area Plan discussion
5:30 pm - Metropolitan Transit Commission, Room 267
Thursday, November 20
12:00 pm - Community Safety Committee meeting, Room 280. AGENDA: Rental Property Ordinance, Draft-Focus Area Plan
Information Items:
Mallard Creek Realignment and City Boulevard Extension Projects
Resource:
Leslie Bing, E&PM, 704-336-7277, lbing@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Council members are invited to North Carolina Department of Transportation's (NCDOT) public officials meeting for TIP Project Number U-2507A Mallard Creek Realignment, to be held on November 18, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Vance High School, located at 7600 IBM Drive.
City staff is working with the NCDOT to design the Mallard Creek Realignment Project and the City Boulevard Extension Project. In collaboration with the two projects, City staff will attend NCDOT's Citizens Informational Workshop on Tuesday, November 18, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at also Vance High School.
The Citizens Informational Workshop will provide the public an opportunity to participate in the planning process and update attendees on project status. Comments and information received from the public will be taken into consideration as work progresses on this project.
The purpose of these projects is to enhance safety and accommodate the expected increase of traffic on Mallard Creek Road by constructing a four-lane, median-divided roadway on new location from the Graham Street / Sugar Creek Road intersection, from Garrison Road to W.T Harris Boulevard.
Fall Cankerworm Update
Resource:
Don McSween, City Arborist, 704-336-3459, dmcsween@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Due to the success of last spring's aerial spray to combat cankerworms, the City will not be conducting an aerial spray in the spring of 2009.
Surveys of the tree canopy throughout the summer showed that public and private trees were thick with dark green leaves. This is in marked contrast to last year, when many trees were very weak from cankerworm defoliation and severe drought.
In our continuing efforts to deter the cankerworm population, City Landscape Management staff will be conducting a banding program for City-owned street trees in December to the same extent as last year. Staff will continue to evaluate the effects of the cankerworm on Charlotte's tree canopy by monitoring traps this winter.
Engineering & Property Management staff have solicited proposals and chosen contractors to carry out this year's tree banding efforts. The bands will be applied prior to the peak emergence of the fall adult cankerworms. The anticipated start is around December 1, and each contractor will have 10 calendar days to complete the banding. Due to the time limitation and the large number of trees (approximately 6,500) that require service, the city was divided into five separate areas as in previous years. Each contractor will band approximately 1,100-1,300 willow oak trees in the ten day period. The contracts executed are as follows:
Clark's Tree Care $33,901.00
Neff Tree Service, Inc. $34,153.00
Arborguard, Inc. $34,902.00
Davey Tree Experts $36,917.00
Asplundh Tree Expert $39,177.60
Also like last year, Neighborhood Development will be offering assistance to community organizations, through the Neighborhood Grants Program, to undertake their own tree banding efforts. Neighborhood Development held four pre-application workshops in early October. Sixty-one people representing nearly 30 organizations participated in the workshops. As a result, Neighborhood Development received 13 applications.
All applications were approved, with a total of $17,011 awarded. The neighborhoods will conduct their banding activities in late November and early December. They will remove the bands in April 2009 and the grants will close out the following month.
Fire Station #38
Resource:
Rich Granger, CFD, 704-336-8802, rgranger@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Approximately 2 weeks ago, Chief Granger and the Charlotte Fire Department were contacted by WCNC about doing a story regarding Fire Station placement, specifically centered on new Fire Station 38 on Shopton Road West. On Sunday, November 9 promos began to air on WCNC regarding this story. Specifically, the promo referenced "city resources being used to protect non-city residents and their million dollar homes."
Because of inaccuracies in the news story, the following information is provided.
- Fire Station 38 is located in our Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) across the street from property within the city limits.
- We locate all annexation fire stations to fully maximize the 2.5 mile response area and accommodate future growth within Charlotte's ETJ. If we were to build stations solely to accommodate current city limits, we would be forced to build many more stations as the city limits expand which would not be an efficient utilization of resources. Currently, approximately half of this station's 2.5 mile ring lies within current city limits.
- Engine 38 has responded to calls outside the city limits under a mutual aid agreement with volunteer fire department. The Charlotte Fire Department does not provide automatic aid, however we do provide mutual aid assistance to the volunteer fire departments within our ETJ when requested.
- Since Engine 38 was put into service in January of 2007, they have responded to 930 incidents, of which approximately 93% were within current city limits. The remaining 7% of the responses were under our mutual aid agreement.
- While we generally open the stations with one fire company, we specifically build them large enough to handle two fire companies. Station 38 is exactly the same size and layout as all the other stations the Charlotte Fire Department has built in the last 10 years. This is another example of planning for the future to be able to handle the additional load as the city grows.
- Crescent Resources donated the land for this fire station. We involved the area residents in the planning of the stations, as we do with every new station.
- We are confident that this area will eventually build out and qualify for annexation. We fully understand that the current annexation has not been finalized and is a decision that only City Council makes, with the best interest of the city in mind.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Chief Granger.
Signal Request US 521 and Ballantyne Crossing Avenue Update
Resource:
Danny Pleasant, CDOT, 704-336-3879, dpleasant@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Council members and City staff have received multiple requests from residents of the Ballantyne area for a signal installation at US 521 (Johnston Rd) and Ballantyne Crossing Avenue. US 521 is a state maintained road requiring NCDOT's approval for adding signalization. Both CDOT and NCDOT studied this intersection previously and were unable to justify installing a traffic signal consistent with national warrants. NCDOT's Division Engineer, Barry Moose, agreed to conduct an updated study of the intersection. Based on these results, NCDOT and CDOT still cannot recommend installing a traffic signal.
For a traffic signal to be justified, the installation should improve the overall safety and/or operation of the intersection and consider overall system impacts. We typically consider alternatives prior to determining whether signalization is necessary. Based on the information contained in our crash records database, the types of crashes in the area would not have been preventable by a traffic signal, nor has crash frequency been out of the ordinary. Based on observations of traffic, the installation of a traffic signal would likely increase wait times for traffic on the Ballantyne Crossing Avenue approach. A traffic signal in this area would substantially increase delays for through traffic on US 521.
NCDOT and CDOT evaluated traffic signal warrants, the minimum criteria for the installation of a traffic signal. As part of its most recent study, NCDOT conducted peak-period traffic counts at the intersection. For a residential street, the peak-hour warrant is the one most likely to be met. The peak-hour warrant was not met. CDOT compared its full 2003 traffic count for the intersection against the peak hour volumes from 2008 and found that the volumes on Ballantyne Crossing Avenue have been relatively stable. Only with a significant increase in the Ballantyne Crossing Avenue volumes would the intersection approach the minimum volume criteria for installing a signal. Since both sides of Johnston Road are built out at this location, it is not likely that the minimum volume in the future would increase enough to justify the need for a traffic signal. CDOT and NCDOT may consider other measures in the future if vehicles no longer are able to make the movement across Johnston Road safely.
