AGENDA #10a
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Owner’s Perspective on Meadowmont Park SUP Modification
DATE: November 26, 2001
Resolution 17.1 would authorize the Town Manager to accept a letter of commitment from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board stating that the School Board will provide all of the park amenities that are to be located on the site of Elementary School #9 under the 2001 Special Use Permit; and authorizing, upon payment by the developer of $1,024,000 to the School Board, release of the bond for the amenities the developer is now required to provide on the school site.
Resolution 17.2 would authorize the payment of $750,000 by the Town to the School Board toward the incremental cost of including a community gym in the new elementary school at Meadowmont.
This report is written from the perspective of the Town as Owner and responds to questions raised at the public hearing on Nov. 19, 2001, for the application to modify the Special Use Permit for the Park/School Site. The report also discusses other issues related to the three-way partnership among the Town, East/West Partners (the developer of Meadowmont), and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board.
The following topics are discussed below:
1. A Council Member asked for a report on what the 1997 Special Use Permit required of the developer and what the developer would be responsible for with the present proposal.
Comparisons of
Meadowmont Town Park Elements
1997 Special Use
Permit and 2001 Proposal
1997 SUP* 2001 SUP Modification Proposal
Existing Cabin Existing cabin
Restroom facility $90,000 to use toward the inclusion of restrooms in the school building, next to the community gym, accessible from the outside
149 Parking Spaces, including 26 on the Park No parking spaces on park site; school to share its 120 parking spaces, both vehicle and bicycle
3 soccer football fields 2 soccer/football fields for public use, and field for elementary school
1 softball field $110,000 to be used toward the community gym
1 outdoor basketball court 1 outdoor basketball court behind school building for joint use
1 picnic area with shelter 1 picnic area with shelter
pedestrian/hiking trails, including 3 pedestrian pedestrian/hiking trails including 3
bridges pedestrian bridges and, if council wishes, extension of trail to Lancaster Drive
bicycle trail bicycle trail (8’ wide natural surface)
compost/yard waste site none
* as taken from stipulation #2 of the SUP
We do not have cost estimates of our own, but we present below what information we do have. The School Board’s engineer has also developed cost estimates, but they are not arranged in terms that are comparable to those of the others that we display in Attachment 3.
The Meadowmont Master Land Use Plan stipulated that the park and school site be deeded to the Town and that the park be developed or bonded by the developer with the first phase of development which contains residential units. The developer chose to bond the park in February 2000. The land was deeded to the Town the same month.
When Town staff and the developer negotiated the amount of the bond based on the projected costs of the amenities, we focused first on details of the types of facilities needed to be included. For example the “bicycle trail” included in the Special Use Permit became a “10’ wide greenway with 2” of asphalt and 6” of base course, with 10 bollards.” These discussions were based on the site plans adopted with the 1997 Special Use Permit, copies of which are Attachments 1 and 2.
The prices agreed to were those that we believed the Town would need to pay if the developer did not complete this work. We instructed our consulting engineer to estimate high in all cases and to take into consideration that public bodies often pay more for building than do private parties because of legal requirements.
The developer said in 1999 and 2000 that he could build everything at a significantly lower cost than we asked him to bond, although he agreed to pay for the higher bond. We believe that a developer who is working in the area building roads and other infrastructure, who has long standing relationships with various contractors and who could be expected to have work for those contractors far into the future, and who does not need to be bound by state bid laws requiring multiple prime contractors, would need to spend significantly less money than would the Town or School Board. However, the bond is set at what it might cost the Town to build the park, including generous allowances for contingency, rock and unsuitable soil and a 25% adjustment for inflation. (Attachment 3 compares the prices proposed by the developer in May 1999 and this month, and those projected by the Town’s consulting engineer in November 1999)
3. Cooperation on site and
with costs
The developer is required to provide the fields and parking areas very close to the school building which the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will be constructing. Because the school site will be so compactly developed, we believe that it would be virtually impossible to have two contractors and their sub-contractors working for separate parties on the school site at the same time. The requirement for the school to be open by August 2003 makes it impossible for the contractors to work on the site sequentially. Therefore, it has been clear to all parties that the best way to develop the site would be for either the developer or the Schools to contract for all the work on the school site. The other party would then pay for the elements for which it is responsible.
The developer affirms that he still is prepared to build all the amenities that were required of him in 1997, based on the original design. However, both the Town and the Schools now wish to carry out a significantly different design. In order to facilitate the reasonable development of the school site, the developer is willing to make a payment to the School board for $1,024,000 so that the School Board can do all the construction. This sum includes:
$870,000 the developer’s cost to build the amenities for which he is responsible and the $200,000 payment in lieu of the field and restrooms
$104,000 the developer’s cost to build amenities which no longer are required by the proposed 2001 Modification of the 1997 permit (primarily the compost/yard waste site and the change from pavement to natural surface for most of the greenway)
$ 50,000 an additional negotiated amount
4. Release of the bond for
East West Partners
As noted above, the developer chose to bond the improvements that he is required by the 1997 Special Use Permit to make on the park site. However, most of those amenities would be located on the school site, if the Modification to the 1997 Special Use Permit is approved as proposed. Therefore the developer has proposed to pay the School Board to make those improvements on the school site
We believe that we can facilitate cooperation between the developer and the School Board by agreeing to release the developer from his bond for amenities on the school site once he has made the payment to the schools. We also believe that the Schools would need to commit to building all the elements for which the developer would have been responsible. Resolution 17.2 includes authorization for the Town Manager to accept a letter of commitment from the School Board and to release the bond of the developer for those items required on the school site. We would retain a bond to cover the amenities that the developer is still required to provide on the park site.
5. Payment by the Town for the
incremental cost of a community gym
The Town Council and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board have worked for several months to ensure that a community gym could be included in the elementary school instead of the multi-purpose room that would normally be built. A Joint Use Agreement, authorized by the Council on May 7, 2001, describes how the school and the Town will use the gym. Generally speaking, the Town will be able to program the gym outside of school hours, including evenings, summers and other school vacations, with the school being able to use it one night a week in lieu of a multi-purpose room.
The incremental cost of a community gym is $750,000. The Schools need this sum by fiscal year 2004/5; their request is for payments of $250,000 annually starting in 2002/3. We propose that the funding come from the following sources:
1. Waiver of the development fees for the school, with the understanding that the funds would be allocated toward the gym. $36,000
2. Payment made by East West Partners in lieu of building a restroom facility in the park and in lieu of a softball field. $200,000
3. The remainder will need to come from the operating budgets of 2002/3, 2003/4, and 2004/5. $514,000
The attached Resolution 17.2 would authorize this use of funds.
We believe that the School Board and the developer have negotiated a reasonable arrangement in terms of practical construction issues and cost sharing. Therefore, we recommend that the Council adopt Resolution 17.1 which would authorize the Manager to accept the letter of commitment from the School Superintendent regarding construction of park amenities on the school site; and, once the developer has made his payment to the School Board release the bond currently held for the developer’s construction of park amenities as defined in 1997.
We also
believe that the inclusion of a community gymnasium in the school would be
possible with the payment of the incremental cost by the Town. Therefore, we recommend that the Council
adopt Resolution 17.2, which would commit $750,000 to the School board, and
would include $36,000 of waived development fees, $200,000 from the developer,
and $514,000 to be included in some or all of the next three budgets
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE
TOWN MANAGER TO ACCEPT A LETTER OF COMMITMENT FROM THE CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO
CITY SCHOOL BOARD THAT IT WILL PROVIDE CERTAIN OF THE PARK AMENITIES AS
ELEMENTS OF THE SITE PLAN FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL #9 AND RELEASE THE BOND FOR
PARK IMPROVEMENTS (2002-11-26/R-17.1)
WHEREAS, the 1995 Meadowmont Master Land Use Plan included a 92-acre school/park site; and,
WHEREAS, the 1997 Special Use Permit for the school/park site required the developer to provide certain park amenities; and
WHEREAS the Council has modified that 1997 Special Use Permit by dividing the School and Park site and creating separate special use permits and site plans for the school and the park, with modified sets of amenities on each site; and,
WHEREAS, according to the revised and separated 2001 Special Use Permits and site plans virtually all of the park amenities are located on the school site, making for a tightly developed site; and,
WHEREAS, it would not be in the public interest to have contractors from both the developer and the School Board trying to work on this very compact school site at one time; and
WHEREAS, the developer has offered to pay the School Board $1,024,000 which exceeds his costs of providing the park amenities or which he is responsible under the 1997 Special Use Permit; and
WHEREAS, the School Board has agreed to be responsible for the construction of these park amenities during the development of Elementary School # 9; and,
WHEREAS, the Town currently holds a bond which guarantees that the developer will provide these park amenities,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Town Manager is authorized to accept a letter of commitment from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools stating that the School Board will provide all of the park amenities that are to be located on the site of Elementary School #9 under the 2001 Special Use Permit;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Manager is authorized, upon payment by the developer to the School Board of $1,024,000, to release the bond the developer has provided to the Town for the park amenities.
This is the 26th day of November, 2001.
A RESOLUTION COMMITTING TO PAY
$750,000 TO THE CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO CITY SCHOOLS FOR THE INCREMENTAL COST OF A
COMMUNITY GYM AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AT MEADOWMONT (2001-11-26/R-17.2)
WHEREAS, the Town Council has indicated its desire for a community gymnasium to be included instead of a multi-purpose room in the new elementary school to be built in Meadowmont, and
HEREAS, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education has agreed to plan for such a facility if the Town will commit to pay the incremental cost of $750,000 by the end of 2004/05, and
WHEREAS, the Town Council resolved on June 11, 2001, to waive the $36,000 of development fees for the school on the condition that the sum be considered part of the Town’s contribution to the incremental cost of the community gym, and
WHEREAS, the developer of Meadowmont has agreed to pay $200,000 to the School Board as part of the Town’s share of $750,000 for the community gym,
BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that payments totaling $750,000 will be made to the School Board by 2004/5 to ensure that a community gymnasium be included in the elementary school at Meadowmont.
BE IT FURTHER RESLOVED that the $750,000 shall include:
-$36,000 of waived development fees which the School Board already has.
-$200,000 from the developer of Meadowmont in lieu of is building a softball field and a free-standing restroom facility
-$510,000 from allocations to be included in some or all of the next three operating budgets.
This is the 26th day of November, 2001.
Comparison of
Costs Projected for Meadowmont Park and School Site
Item Developer Developer Town’s Consulting Eng. 5/17/99 11/20/01 11/30/99
Restroom facility $ 90,000 $ 90,000 $ 90,000
149 parking spaces 117,760* 161,920** 187,935
3 soccer/football fields 225,121 309,541 430,440
1 softball field 109,644 109,644 109,644
1 outdoor basket ball court 58,900 80,988 73,800
1 picnic shelter 35,000 48,125 35,000
pedestrian trail, 3 bridges 65,600 71,600 145,000
bicycle trail 44,835 44,835 42,800
compost/yard waste site NA 79,992 84,000
utilities 15,000 20,625 3,000
wildlife observation area 6,000 6,000 6,000
*excluding access drives that were calculated in the compost/yard waste site bond
** including the above