AGENDA #6
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Community Gym at Meadowmont Elementary School
DATE: Aug. 27, 2001
The following resolution would authorize the Town Manager to execute an agreement with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools related to the funding of the incremental cost of a community gym to be included in the construction of the elementary school at Meadowmont.
On July 3, 1997 the Town Council approved a Special Use Permit for a park and school site at Meadowmont. The developer, East West Partners, agreed to provide the park, including four ball fields, a restroom building, greenway, paths and other amenities. The site of the school was only delineated in a general way, because plans had not yet been prepared for the school.
On February 12, 2001, the Town Council authorized the Manager to participate in the application for to modification of the Special Use Permit to allow the elementary school to be built.
On June 11, 2001, the Council authorized the Manager to participate in the application for the Special Use Permit that would include a specific site plan for the school and park.
On June 11, 2001, the Council also authorized the Manager to execute a cooperation agreement for the operation and maintenance of the public recreational facilities on the site which included, should a community gym be built, Town use of a gym most evenings and weekends, School use of the gym one night a week and some weekend days, and the sharing of the cost of refinishing and replacing the gym floor.
On March 26, 2001, the Town Council voted to ask the Board of Education to include a gymnasium instead of a multi-purpose room, in the school, and to request funding from the Board of County Commissioners. The Board of Education also requested such funding, but the Board of County Commissioners declined to fund the gym.
On July 19, the Board of Education directed that a community gym be included in the design for the school. This direction was based on the expectations that the Town would contribute $500,000 of the incremental cost of the gym and the Board would contribute $250,000; and that the Board and the Council could agree before September 25, 2001, on an arrangement that would return the value of the School Board’s $250,000 to the School Board.
The discussion below is organized into two sets of issues: sources of funds for the Town’s $500,000 share and agreement with the School Board on how to “return the value” of the Board’s share of $250,000. We note three sources of funds, and three options for returning of value.
We believe that we could generate the $500,000 needed for the Town’s share of the cost increment for the gym from three sources.
First, East West Partners, the developer of Meadowmont, has committed to develop a park next to the school site that would include a number of amenities. The Town now holds a bond for an amount that would cover the cost of construction of the park; the bond amount includes specific costs for specific elements of the park. Roger Perry, of East West Partners, has told us that they would pay the Town in cash the price included in the bond, instead of constructing a fenced softball field and free-standing restrooms. We believe that the loss of these two elements represents a reasonable trade-off for a community gym that includes restrooms open to the public.
Second, the Board of County Commissioners has requested that the Town waive the development review fee for the school. Instead of waiving it, the Town would accept the fee and put it towards the gym, rather than toward the cost of the development review.
On June 11, 2001, the Town Council approved using the funds listed below to help fund the gym:
$110,000 from East West Partners, instead of their building a fenced softball field
90,000 from East West Partners, instead of their building a restroom building
36,000 reallocation of development review fee
$236,000
Assuming the $236,000 is raised as described above, $264,000 would still be needed. This sum could be included in next year’s Capital Improvements Program. This sum would be the equivalent of two-thirds of a cent on the tax rate. Because the school would not be completed until August 2003, this timing would be acceptable.
We have considered three options raised by the Board of Education staff that would “return the value” of the $250,000 to the School Board:
Option 1. One shared program is the school resource officers. The School Board has been paying the Town an increasing proportion of the cost of hiring and supervising school resource officers for the two high schools and the three middle schools in Chapel Hill. This year the School Board pays 75% of the cost of employing four school resource officers, or $165,000 and the full cost of the fifth officer at $55,000. Next year the School Board will pay the full cost of the program, or about $275,000.
The Town could reduce the cost to the Schools of this program by, for example, a total of $50,000 per year for five years. However, we believe that it would be more reasonable for the Town to simply pay the School Board annually a portion of the $250,000 over an agreed upon period of time.
Option 2. Because the school and gym construction would not be complete until 2003, it would be reasonable for the Town to pay the School Board the $250,000. That is, we would have this budget year and the 2002-2003 budget year to raise this sum. However, we believe that it would be very difficult to find $125,000 in the present operating budget. It would also be difficult to include the same amount in the 2002-2003 budget, if we also add $264,000 to the CIP for the same purpose. The sum of $500,000 would be the equivalent of about 1 1/3 cents on our tax rate.
Option 3. We believe that the Town could enter into a joint use agreement assuring the School Board more time for its swim teams to practice, assuming that the County Parks and Recreation bond passes in November and that the Board of County Commissioners allocates $3.5 million to the project. Such an agreement would meet the needs of the two swim teams, most of whose members are likely to be Chapel Hill residents. It would not require additional cash from the Town, but it would give very clear value to the School Board.
Conversations at the staff level suggest that a mutually acceptable agreement such as described in the third option could be drafted. Such an agreement would include the following points:
If the Town Council acts tonight on this issue, it would likely proceed to the Sept. 9 meeting of the School Board for discussion, with action likely scheduled at the Board’s September 20 meeting.
That the Council adopt the following resolution authorizing the Town Manager to execute an agreement with the School Board which includes the following four points:
1. July 20, 2001 letter from Neil Pedersen to Cal Horton (p. 6).
2. July 6, 2001 memorandum from Steve Scroggs to Neil Pedersen (p. 8).
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE TOWN MANAGER TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD CONCERNING SHARING THE INCREMENTAL COST OF A COMMUNITY GYM AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AT MEADOWMONT AND USE OF TOWN SWIMMING POOLS BY THE HIGH SCHOOLS’ SWIM TEAMS (2001-08-27/R-10)
WHEREAS, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education and the Chapel Hill Town Council have agreed that it is in the interest of the community to build a gymnasium with the elementary school at Meadowmont instead of multi-purpose room, and
WHEREAS, the Board and the Council have also agreed to share the incremental cost of such a gym, with the School Board paying one third and the Town paying two thirds, and
WHEREAS, the Town of Chapel Hill plans to build an aquatics center at Homestead Park, should the voters of Orange County approve a County parks and recreation bond issue and should the Board of County Commissioners agree to allocate $3.5 million of those bond proceeds to this project;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Town Manager is authorized to execute an agreement with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board which would be based on the following points:
This is the 27th day of August, 2001.