Information Items:
November 20 Belmont Neighborhood Meeting
Staff Resource:
AC Shull, ED, 704-336-2439, ashull@ci.charlotte.nc.us
As a follow up to discussion with and direction from the Economic Development and Planning Committee, City staff will meet with the Belmont Strategy Force Neighborhood Association to discuss potential retail services at Parkwood & Pegram. Staff would like to obtain input from the Neighborhood Association as to what type of neighborhood services are desired and needed in Belmont. The meeting will be held on Thursday, November 20, 2008, 6:30 PM, at the Seigle Avenue Presbyterian Church, located at 600 Seigle Avenue.
November 21 CMPD Promotion Ceremony
Staff Resource:
Marylyn Williams, CMPD, 704-336-2361, mwilliams@cmpd.org
Mayor and Council are invited to attend CMPD's promotion ceremony on Friday, November 21 at 3:00 p.m. at the Police and Fire Training Academy. The ceremony will feature 17 promotions; two to the rank of Deputy Chief, three to the rank of Major, five to the rank of Captain, and seven to the rank of Sergeant.
- Majors Harold Medlock and Ruth Story are being promoted to Deputy Chief. Medlock will be assigned to Field Services South in the position vacated through the retirement of Deputy Chief Jerry Sennett. Story will be assigned to the Support Services Group.
- Captains Doug Gallant, Andy Leonard and Sherrie Pearsall are being promoted to Major.
- Sergeants Gregg Collins, Demetria Faulkner-Welch, Estella Patterson, Jeff Pless, and Gerald Smith are being promoted to Captain.
- Officers Joseph Carey, Thomas Gwaltney, Sam Orlov, Brian Scharf, Kevin Shy, Rudolph Stevenson, and Robert Whitley are being promoted to Sergeant.
CATS Receives Award of Excellence for LYNX Blue Line Station
Staff Resource:
John Muth, CATS, 704-336-3373, jmuth@ci.charlotte.nc.us
CATS recently received the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Award of Excellence for the LYNX Blue Line light rail station at I-485 and South Boulevard. The station earned top honors in the Intermodal Transportation Facilities category for its 1,100-space parking deck that houses a playfield on the roof.
The purpose of the award program is to recognize the superior efforts and achievements of public agencies and private organizations in designing highway facilities that enhance safety and mobility while being sensitive to the human and natural environment and contributing to a more pleasing transportation experience. More than 100 entries were submitted this year.
The light rail alignment had limited access for potential end-of-the-line stations that made site selection difficult and costly. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) owned an unusable remnant of land adjacent to Sterling Elementary School. CATS proposed a win-win solution: a joint-use facility on the site. CATS would construct a 1,100-space parking deck that would be capped by a playfield on the deck's rooftop for the school's students. This design blends the deck into the environment, and eases congestion by taking vehicles off area interstates.
By working together with CMS and the Sterling Community, CATS was able to develop an unusable piece of land and avoid any residential impacts to the Sterling neighborhood. In the process, CATS also saved over $5 million dollars in land costs along the LYNX Blue Line by not having to purchase additional right-of-way and an alternative parking site.
Runway Grading Contract Completion
Staff Resource:
T. J. Orr, Airport, 704-359-4006, tjorr@charlotteairport.com
In February 2007, City Council approved a contract with E.S. Wagner Company, LLC of Piedmont, SC in the amount of $43,626,829 for the grading and drainage for the third parallel runway. In the same action, City Council also appropriated $51,000,000 in Airport Discretionary Fund balance, which was later replaced with proceeds from the 2007 General Airport Revenue Bond issue, to pay for the contract.
The contract provided for the clearing of 640 acres of land, the installation of a drainage system under the project, and the placement of approximately 9 million cubic yards of earthwork for the runway and the related taxiways. The work was divided into two phases. Phase 1-A included the work within the pavement areas, and Phase 1-B included the work outside of the pavement areas.
The contract gave the contractor 720 calendar days to complete Phase 1-A and 840 days to complete Phase 1-B. Based on these stipulations, Phase 1-A needed to be completed no later than May 16, 2009, and Phase 1-B no later than September 16, 2009.
The contract contained a bonus/liquidated damages clause that provided the opportunity for E.S. Wagner to earn a bonus of $10,000 a day, not to exceed $1,500,000 for the early completion of Phase 1-A, and $1,000,000 for the early completion of Phase 1-B. Likewise, in each phase, the contractor would be charged $10,000 a day, with no cap, if the work extended beyond the number of calendar days in each phase of work.
As of October 1, 2008, E.S.Wagner completed the work in Phase 1-A of the contract. By completing this work, they have earned the $1,500,000 bonus for this phase and have asked the Airport for payment. The Airport has verified that the work is complete and will process the bonus payment as part of their next pay application. There are funds available from the original $51 million appropriation to pay this bonus.
Business Equity Loan Program Stakeholders Group
Staff Resource:
Gail Whitcomb, ED, 704-336-5849, gwhitcomb@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Staff will be assembling a stakeholder group to help identify appropriate revisions to the Business Equity Loan Program (commonly known as the CWAC Loan Program) for Council's consideration. If Council Members have suggestions on appropriate candidates with knowledge of business finance and management for the stakeholder group, please contact Gail Whitcomb in the Economic Development Office by Friday, November 28.
As part of the Business Corridor Revitalization Strategy, ED staff has been asked to update its programs. Earlier this year Council approved revisions to the matching grant programs and the program geography. The Business Equity Loan Program is the next program to be reviewed.
The Business Equity Loan Program was created in 1993 to provide equity gap financing to low wealth business owners for business start-up or expansion projects locating in the business corridor revitalization geography. Since inception, the program has provided $5.8 million to 160 businesses and has leveraged $35.8 million in private sector financing.
