AGENDA #4k

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:          W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:     Budget Ordinance Amendment Providing Funds for Solar Hot Water System Installation at the Chapel Hill Community Center

 

DATE:           October 27, 2003

 

 

The attached budget ordinance amendment would allocate $600 to complete the installation of solar hot water panels on the roof of the Chapel Hill Community Center on Estes Drive, a key strategy in the Chapel Hill Million Solar Roofs Action Plan.

 

BACKGROUND

 

On March 24, 2003, the Council allocated $3,000 to be used in the Chapel Hill Solar Roofs Committee’s planned solar demonstration project at the Chapel Hill Community Center on Estes Drive. The Committee requested the funds to pay for equipment and hardware needed for the installation of four solar hot water panels.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The Community Center solar hot water demonstration project is intended to raise public awareness about solar technology. The project also will save the Town money and benefit the environment by reducing the amount of natural gas used for water heating.

 

All but about $200 of the $3,000 budget has been spent or encumbered for the project. The Town has purchased a solar hot water storage tank and is in the process of purchasing pumps, valves and other needed materials. The attached budget ordinance amendment would provide sufficient funds to complete the project. The funding is needed to pay for the services of a welder and materials for building a metal frame to support the panels on the roof.

 

A substantial portion of the project is not costing the Town any money. The Committee has secured the donation of four 4-foot by 10-foot solar collectors from the N.C. Solar Center. In addition, Committee members have volunteered their time to do the installation.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

That the Council enact the attached budget ordinance amendment allocating $600 for the solar demonstration project at the Chapel Hill Community Center.

AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND “THE ORDINANCE CONCERNING APPROPRIATIONS AND THE RAISING OF REVENUE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING JULY 1, 2003” (2003-10-27/O-5)

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Budget Ordinance entitled “An Ordinance Concerning Appropriations and the Raising of Revenue for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2003” as duly adopted on June 9, 2003, be and the same is hereby amended as follows:

 

 

ARTICLE I
APPROPRIATIONS	Current Budget	Increase	Decrease	Revised Budget
GENERAL FUND
Non-Departmental
Contingency	43,938		600	43,338
Planning	1,065,907	600		1,066,507

 

 

This the 27^th day of October, 2003.