Calendar Details:
Saturday, July 19
10:00 am - District 4 Community Shred Event, Smokey Bones, 8760 J.M. Keynes
Monday, July 21
3:00 pm - City Manager's Evaluation, Room CH-14
5:00 pm - Zoning Dinner, CH-14
6:00 pm - Zoning Meeting, Chamber
Information Items:
Community Efforts to Assist Local Food Agencies
Resource:
Justin Amos, City Manager's Office, 704-336-3186 or jamos@ci.charlotte.nc.us
On June 16, 2008, Council requested staff to determine the scope and level of need that exists in our community to increase efforts of food donation and provision. Loaves & Fishes, Second Harvest, Crisis Assistance, Mecklenburg County's Department of Social Services and Mecklenburg Ministries were contacted. The need for increasing the food supply in the community is great according to the non-profit and County DSS employees. If the Council desires to consider a direct financial contribution, it is suggested that the City partner with a local food pantry such as Loaves & Fishes. A donation of $50,000 would buy three weeks worth of groceries for the agency. A detailed information report is attached.
TAP Receives FHWA & FTA "Transportation Planning Excellence Award"
Resource:
Norm Steinman, 704-336-3939 or nsteinman@ci.charlotte.nc.us
The City recently received the 2008 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) "Transportation Planning Excellence Award" for the City's Transportation Action Plan (TAP). Charlotte's TAP was one of only eleven projects nationwide, to receive the "Transportation Planning Excellence Award". FHWA and FTA received over 80 nominations for this award.
The purpose of the 2008 Transportation Planning Excellence Awards (TPEA) Program is to recognize outstanding initiatives across the country to develop, plan, and implement innovative transportation planning practices. The TPEA Program is co-sponsored by the American Planning Association.
Awards were granted to projects, processes, and groups that have made outstanding contributions to the field of transportation planning. An independent panel of judges selected the award winners, using the following criteria: innovation; community and public involvement; partnerships and collaboration; multi-modalism; equity; sustainability; demonstrated results, effectiveness, replication and transferability.
A copy of the letter from FHWA and FTA to the City regarding the TPEA award is attached.
Charlotte Trolley Memorandum of Understanding
Resources:
Jim Zingale, 704-432-3324 or jzingale@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Lisa Flowers, 704-432-2568 or lflowers@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Charlotte Trolley, Inc. (CTI), a volunteer-driven non-profit organization, and the City of Charlotte acting through CATS, have a long-standing history of cooperation that emphasizes and promotes public transportation in Charlotte, including connecting to Charlotte's past use of streetcars. In July, 2003, the City executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CTI that allowed CATS to begin operating the trolley service once the LYNX Blue Line was completed. The MOU further authorized cooperative leases between CATS and CTI for the Atherton Mill Trolley Barn and Trolley Car 85, the last streetcar to operate in Charlotte in the late 1920s and 1930s. CTI currently occupies the Atherton Mill Trolley Barn under a sublease from the City and uses the space to support use of the trolleys currently operated on the LYNX Blue Line. CTI leases Car 85 to the City.
The 2003 MOU and the Atherton Mill Trolley Barn lease and sublease expire on August 31, 2008. The Car 85 Lease expires on August 1, 2008. Council approved, in June 2007, a 50-year lease between CTI and CATS for a new CTI facility between the Bland Street Light Rail Station and Camden Road (Camden Road Facility). That facility is scheduled to be completed in October 2008 and will serve as a museum, education center and headquarters for CTI. CTI is negotiating independently with the Atherton Mill's property owner for a temporary lease until the Camden Road Facility is complete.
CATS and CTI are currently drafting a renewal MOU that will support a continued working relationship and update the operational portions of the agreement. The new MOU will be comprehensive and will be designed to facilitate operation of the trolleys alongside the light rail vehicles. An interim agreement will be used until the full MOU is brought to Council for approval later in the fall. CATS and CTI look forward to continued trolley service as part of both the City's public transportation system and as a continued connection to Charlotte's historic past.
