Calendar Details:
Urban Design Charrette for I-277/Belk Freeway Corridor
Staff Resources:
Jim Kimbler, 704-336-4275 or jkimbler@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Jim Schumacher 704-336-3656 or jschumacher@ci.charlotte.nc.us
As a reminder, the HNTB Institute, a division of the HNTB Engineering firm, is conducting an urban design charrette this week for the I-277/Belk Freeway corridor. The firm is conducting the charrette as an internal staff exercise at no cost to the City. It is an opportunity for them to bring together a diverse mix of experts from around the country and practice complex problem solving with a real world case study. They will present their work to interested staff and stakeholders on Thursday, August 14 at 2:00 PM in room 267 of the Government Center. The Mayor and City Council are invited to the presentation.
Attached is a summary of their work objectives for the charrette.
Information Items:
Back Creek Church Road /University City Blvd. (NC 49) Roadway Improvements at the North Carolina Railroad Crossing Public Hearing
Staff Resource:
Tim Gibbs, 704-336-3917, tgibbs@ci.charlotte.nc.us
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will hold a Public Hearing on Tuesday, August 19 from 5:00 pm until 7:00 pm in the cafeteria of University Meadows Elementary School located at 1600 Pavilion Blvd.
The purpose of the hearing is to solicit citizen input on proposed improvements to enhance safety for motorists, rail passengers and train crews by providing roadway enhancements, improving traffic signal operations, reducing prolonged traffic backups and eliminating difficult maneuvering conditions along Back Creek Church Road and NC 49 in the vicinity of their intersection.
NCDOT representatives will be available to speak with citizens and elected officials in an informal setting to answer questions and receive comments relative to the proposed project. NCDOT will not give a formal presentation made during the hearing.
Central Avenue Public Art Dedication – August 23
Staff Resource:
Katie McCoy, 704-336-5017, kmccoy@ci.charlotte.nc.us
At 10:00 am, Saturday, August 23, there will be a dedication for the public art project at the Briar Creek Bridge on Central Avenue. The bridge is located at the intersection of Central Avenue and Masonic Drive, three blocks west of Briar Creek Road. The dedication will begin at the site and move to a nearby restaurant.
The art installation was completed on Thursday, July 31, 2008. North Carolina artist Jim Gallucci, area neighborhood associations, the Arts & Science Council, and City staff closely collaborated on the project.
Utilities Recognized for Protecting Water
Staff Resource:
Doug Bean, 704-391-5070 or dbean@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Four Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities wastewater treatment plants have received national industry awards for protecting public health and the environment during the 2007 calendar year. Peak Performance Awards awarded by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) recognize the hardworking professionals at our local wastewater plants who protect water quality through strong compliance with individual plant discharge permit limits.
Municipal wastewater plants across Mecklenburg County collect and treat a combined average of 78.4 million gallons of wastewater each day. Every facility performs continuous testing under tight water quality standards as prescribed by federal and state regulators. There are literally thousands of chances for any type of violation to occur at any plant within a year's time, and some circumstances are beyond a plant's control.
City-operated plants have earned NACWA awards during each of the past seven years that entries have been submitted. Gold Awards go to plants with 100 percent, perfect compliance with their permit requirements during a calendar year. Silver Awards go to plants with no more than five permit violations during the year.
This year's local honorees include:
McDowell Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (Huntersville) - GOLD Award
Mallard Creek Water Reclamation Facility (Northeast Charlotte) - GOLD Award
McAlpine Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (Pineville) - SILVER Award
Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (South Charlotte) - SILVER Award
Staff will issue a news release on this accomplishment on Wednesday (8/13) and have posted it on our website.
City Boulevard Project
Staff Resource:
Mike Davis, 704-336-3938 or madavis@ci.charlotte.nc.us
The August 10 edition of the Charlotte Observer included an article in the University Neighbors section regarding the City Boulevard Extension project. This article and a subsequent e-mail to City Council from the Derita-Statesville Road Community Organization express concern over the project's design and schedule.
City staff is working with NCDOT staff to design NCDOT's Mallard Creek Realignment project and the City Boulevard Extension project. City staff is striving to meet the advertisement date of August 2011 that NCDOT has previously established for the Mallard Creek project. NCDOT's current schedule for starting construction has slipped by approximately one year due to NCDOT delays in the preliminary engineering phase. Unfortunately, an NCDOT staff person was quoted in the Charlotte Observer as saying NCDOT needed to slow the Mallard Creek project so the City could catch up with the City Boulevard Extension project. Although this is not an accurate statement, it has been repeated by some residents in Derita in e-mail, newsletters, and comments to the paper.
The design for City Boulevard will be based on whichever concept best meets the goals identified for the project through the ongoing public involvement and technical evaluations. So far, citizens have clearly stated they want the project to provide adequate capacity to ensure vehicles do not use neighborhood streets to bypass congestion. They have also clearly expressed an interest in minimizing physical impacts to adjacent neighborhoods. It is the design team's goal to provide a design that provides adequate capacity for existing and future traffic while minimizing the footprint of the street. Our preliminary analysis indicates this can be accomplished with a three-lane street. This analysis will be completed after the team incorporates all of the projected impacts of land development activity in the area. The results of the analysis will be presented to the public.
CATS' Performance Audit
Staff Resource:
Greg McDowell, 704-336-8085 or gmcdowell@ci.charlotte.nc.us
The CATS KBE requested Internal Audit's assistance to assess the effectiveness of construction project and rail car purchase controls. KPMG LLP was selected to conduct a performance audit following an RFP process completed in July and will begin its review in mid-August.
This audit will focus on controls that can be established or enhanced to provide for the future success of CATS' construction and procurement projects. It will take into account the lessons learned from the South Corridor and provide recommendations to improve CATS' operating policies and procedures prior to the launch of the next corridor project.
KPMG is scheduled to deliver a draft report to Internal Audit in November, focusing on the following areas:
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Estimating and Controlling Construction Costs and Schedule in the Design Development Process
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Maintaining Effective Controls over Procurement of Rail Cars
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Identifying and Controlling Budget and Schedule Variances
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Communicating Current Costs, Milestones and Issues to Management, Council and the MTC on a Timely Basis
