to: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
from: J.B. Culpepper, Planning Director
David Bonk, Long Range and Transportation Manager
subject: Update on the 2006-2007 Sidewalk Construction Program and Proposed Process for the Development of a 2008-2009 Sidewalk Construction Program.
date: September 8, 2008
The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the 2006-2007 Sidewalk Construction Program and to propose a process and schedule for developing the 2008-2009 Construction Program. The attached resolution would set a public forum on the Sidewalk Construction Program for October 13, 2008.
The staff memorandum includes background information on the Town’s 2006-2007 Sidewalk Construction Program. On January 28, 2008, the Town Council received an update from the staff on the status of the 2006-2007 Sidewalk Construction Program http://townhall.townofchapelhill.org/agendas/2008/01/28/7/. At that time, several sidewalk projects were being scheduled for construction during the Spring and Summer 2008. We presented the status of funding for the sidewalk construction program at the March 17, 2008 Town Council meeting. http://townhall.townofchapelhill.org/agendas/2008/03/17/5a/. The FY2006 and FY2008 bond funds have been expended. Funds from the anticipated FY2009 bond sale will allow continuation of the sidewalk construction program. Below is the projected schedule for bond issues for sidewalk construction, approved on June 26, 2006:
|
FY 2006 |
FY 2008 |
FY 2009 (projected) |
|
$600,000 |
$600,000 |
$800,000 |
Completed Sidewalk Projects:
Sidewalk Projects Underway or Scheduled for Construction in Fall 2008
Projects Removed or Not Being Considered for Construction
Funding from the Chapel Hill sidewalk bond funds are also used as local match for regional surface transportation program direct allocation funds. These projects include:
At the June 9, 2008 Town Council meeting, there was discussion of the sidewalk ranking criteria. At that time Council members expressed an interest in revising the sidewalk evaluation criteria. We have attached the adopted priority list and ranking criteria (Attachment 2). The staff will continue to score sidewalk projects based on the currently adopted ranking system unless a new methodology or criteria is adopted by Town Council.
The adopted 2008-2009 Town budget includes a provision to sell $800,000 in sidewalk construction bonds in the fall of 2008. We recommend that the Council initiate a process to receive comments from Town advisory boards and the public for developing a sidewalk construction program.
Public comments have been received for new sidewalk projects as well as comments with continued support for projects since the March 2008 Town Council meeting (Attachment 3).
We recommend the Town Council schedule a public forum for the October 13, 2008 meeting. In preparation for the public forum, the staff recommends that the sidewalk master list be forwarded to the Town advisory boards for comment. We propose the following schedule to complete the development of the sidewalk construction program:
That the Council adopt the attached resolution, calling a public forum for October 13, 2008 to receive public comment on the development of a 2008-2009 Sidewalk Construction Program.