Monday, March 17
2:00 pm - Budget Committee, Room 280. AGENDA: Review March 26th Budget Retreat Agenda; Employee Benefits
3:30 pm - Environment Committee, Room 280. AGENDA: Focus Area Plan Review; Stormwater Enterprise Fund Report; Information Updates
5:00 pm - Zoning dinner, CH-14
6:00 pm - Zoning Meeting, Room 267
Wednesday, March 19
3:30 pm - Economic Development & Planning Committee, Room 280. AGENDA: ED Focus Area Plan for FY09; Northlake Area Plan; Mayor's Youth Employment Program
Wednesday, March 20
10:30 am - Housing and Neighborhood Development Committee, Room 280. AGENDA: FY09 Focus Area Plan Follow up; Foreclosure Follow up; 2008 Meeting Schedule
12:00 pm - Community Safety Committee, Room 280. AGENDA: Focus Area Plan; Proposed Meeting Schedule for 2008
March and April 2008 calendars are attached.
Information Items:
Congressman Robin Hayes will publicly announce a FY08 Federal Award of $940,000 to Gang of One on Thursday, March 20, 2008, 10:00 a.m. at Eastway Middle School, 1501 Norland Road. A significant portion of the award of $940,000 will be allocated to various organizations who partner with Gang of One to address gang violence reduction:
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Gang Prevention Coalition
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
- Center for Community Transition
- Samaritan's Feet Youth Ambassador Program
- Steele Creek Youth Network
- Carolinas Healthcare System Youth Violence Prevention Conference
- UNC Charlotte, Department of Criminal Justice
Gang of One (G01) is the resource-based gang prevention and intervention initiative of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) in partnership with local citizens and service providers and local, state, and federal law enforcement. The mission of G01 is to prevent youth from joining gangs, support youth being pressured to join a gang, and assist youth in getting out of a gang. Gang of One is also the City's primary vehicle for educating the community on gangs.
Gang of One was established in 2004 with a 24/7 Hotline, 704.432.GANG/4264, staffed by bilingual CMPD volunteers. Since 2004, G01 has
- Received over 1,600 calls to the Hotline
- Provided gang recognition and gang resistance workshops to 20,000+ adults and youth
- Assisted 90+ youth in gang disassociation
2006-2007 Gang of One programs include:
- Dangers Involved with Gangs, a 4-hr gang prevention program that provides 5th grade students with positive decision-making skills to resist gang influence
- No Easy Walk, a 36-hr peer leadership, outdoor challenge program that provides middle school students with skills and alternatives to resist gang influence and involvement
- Truancy/Safe Neighborhoods, an intervention team model that reduces juvenile truancy and criminal activity and increase student participation in school.
Attached is the request for payment to the City of Charlotte from the U.S. National Whitewater Center, the submitted audited financial statements and staff's response to Whitewater Center's request.
Staff has reviewed the request for $285,714 and has determined payment is in order consistent with the agreement between U.S. National Whitewater Center and the City of Charlotte. Mecklenburg County already has made their requested payment of $1 million.
City Council is not required to take any action on this item. The contract has been approved and funding has been appropriated. Since the request for payment meets the financial requirements outlined in the agreement, the City will proceed with making payment.
As a reminder, below is a summary of the City's agreement with the Whitewater Center:
City Council approved the agreement with the US National Whitewater Center on November 24, 2003. Mecklenburg County, Gaston County, and the communities of Belmont, Gastonia, and Mount Holly are also committed to funding of the Whitewater Center at various levels. Highlights of the City's agreement are:
1. Annual Payment: Up to $285,714 for 7 years ($2.0 million). The payment could be less, depending upon Whitewater Center revenues and expenditures. The FY2007 Capital Investment Plan included the appropriation of $2.0 million. The source of funding for this appropriation is arena parcel one land sale (complete).
2. First Payment Request: February 14, 2008 for the fiscal year ending October 31, 2007.
3. Request Statement: The submitted request for funding statement includes:
- annual revenues and debt service, and
- audited financial statements for the preceding fiscal year
4. Capital expense only: City of Charlotte payments to the US National Whitewater Center are to be used only for capital related expenses and not operational expenses. Debt payments are considered to be a capital expense.
Beginning Saturday, March 22, 2008, the next phase of construction and accompanying traffic patterns will be implemented for the I-277/Caldwell Interchange Project. These patterns will be long term, approximately six to eight months.
The following closures and detours will be in place:
1. South Boulevard Exit (1E) off I-277 South will be closed. A detour will be signed using the Stonewall Street exit west bound to Caldwell Street/South Boulevard.
2. I-277 South on-ramp from inbound South Boulevard will be closed. Motorists should follow the detour signs to west bound Stonewall Street and then south onto the I-277 on-ramp from Brevard Street.
3. The Brevard Street Connector to South Boulevard will be closed. A detour will be signed using east bound Stonewall Street to Caldwell Street/South Boulevard.
To accommodate this construction, widening is currently underway along Caldwell Street and South Boulevard to handle the new two way traffic patterns. In the following days, paving operations will continue and traffic will be shifted as needed. Expect delays in this area.
INFORMATION (continued):
These ramp and loop closures have been posted on the project website, nascarhof.charmeck.org, and email blasts have been sent to uptown property managers. Future notices will be disseminated in the near future regarding additional I-277 ramps and loops affected by the I-277/Caldwell Interchange Project.
The CDOT plans to change its Neighborhood Programs' process (i.e. traffic calming, street lights, reduced speed limit). Currently, most neighborhood programs require a petition with endorsement by an active neighborhood association if one exists. CDOT has found in the past year an increasing number of neighborhood associations will not endorse a resident-desired service even though over 60% of residents in the impact area signed the petition.
To reduce the conflict and better serve the residents, the CDOT plans to allow those residents desiring neighborhood programs to obtain those services by one of two methods:
1) Letter of support from the neighborhood association. Neighborhood association will be required to notify affected property owners of the impending service, and no petition will be required, or
2) If neighborhood association does not support the proposed service, the resident can petition. Upon completing a successful petition, the neighborhood association will be notified for their information.
This change will become effective March 24, 2008.
See attached new policy for additional details.
The 13th Annual Neighborhood Symposium was held on Saturday, March 8, 2008 at the Charlotte Convention Center with more than 600 residents, exhibitors and volunteers in attendance. This number includes several first-time attendees.
The theme for 2008 was "Developing Leaders for Stronger Neighborhoods." Some of the more popular workshops related to "jump starting" neighborhood associations, crime prevention, neighborhood revitalization, homeowners association management, diversity, code enforcement and zoning and development. The highlight of the youth segment was the career development session, featuring a fashion show displaying appropriate work attire.
Other activities included a motivational presentation by Glenda Manning of the Greater Charlotte YWCA; Community Forum sharing by neighborhood leaders from Country Club Heights, Sedgefield, Lincoln Heights and Sharon Forest; the keynote address by Dr. Edward Schwartz of the Institute for the Study of Civic Values in Philadelphia, PA.; and presentation of 14 awards to deserving individuals and organizations. Information about the awards was emailed to Council earlier this month.
The 2008 Neighborhood Symposium was successfully carried out as a result of many partnerships and collaborative efforts, including 48 exhibitors, 50 workshop presenters, 40 volunteers and 20 other contributors (door prizes, sponsorships, in-kind donations).
