MINUTES OF A PUBLIC HEARING AND WORK SESSION ON THE MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED 1993-1994 BUDGET HELD BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE

TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL, TUESDAY, MAY 18, 1993 AT 7:30 P.M.

Mayor Broun called the hearing to order. Council Members in attendance were Julie Andresen (arrived at 7:39 p.m.), Joyce Brown, Joe Capowski, Mark Chilton, Joe Herzenberg and Arthur Werner. Council Members Barbara Powell and Alan Rimer were absent excused. Also in attendance were Town Manager Cal Horton, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and Florentine Miller, Finance Director James Baker, Library Director Kathleen Thompson, Parks and Recreation Director Mike Loveman and Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos.

Mr. Horton said the staff did not know what action or when the State legislature would take on its proposed budget. He stated that the Town hoped to receive at least its current amount of state and federal funding shares. Mr. Horton noted that a work session on the budget was scheduled for May 25th. He stated that the Town's budget could possibly be adopted on June 28th or sometime after July 1st, utilizing an interim budget if necessary.

Rosemary Waldorf, representing the Law Enforcement and Support Services Committee of the Violent Crime and Drug Abuse Program, made a statement expressing concerns about current law enforcement staffing and related service levels. A copy of Ms. Waldorf's remarks are on file in the Town Clerk's Office. Council Member Andresen inquired whether there would be an opportunity for the Council to ask Ms. Waldorf questions about law enforcement concerns. Ms. Waldorf said she and Police Department staff would be pleased to answer questions at the May 25th budget work session.

Bill Oppold, representing Tax Watch, presented no property tax increase suggestions for formulating the Town's budget. A copy of Mr. Oppold's remarks are on file in the Town Clerk's Office.

Tommy Gardner wished the Council well in its budget deliberations. He requested that the Council take into account possible tax increases at the county, state and federal government levels.

Art Dodd said that only thirteen percent of people responding to a recent survey did not like rollout refuse collection. Mr. Dodd said he favored once per week rearyard refuse collection if changes to the current system were proposed. Mr. Dodd said he did not favor implementation of a volume and fee-based refuse collection system. He suggested that the Town might consider a voluntary rollcart program whereby persons willing to roll their own refuse cart would receive the cart free of charge from the Town.

Richard Fahrer, a Town resident for over thirty years, said he was proud to have been a Town Police and Fire employee for the past five years. Mr. Fahrer said he was especially concerned about salary increases for Town employees. He stated that many Town residents had a certain expectation of the level of local government services. Mr. Fahrer said no one had suggested closing a fire station or stopping the running of buses. He also said that prices continued to go up even though Town employees had not received a salary increase since 1991. Mr. Fahrer urged the Council not to ask Town employees to foot the bill for the level of services requested by residents. Noting that Town employees were not the enemy, Mr. Fahrer said that the absence of salary increases could result in higher personnel turnover, with the need to recruit and retrain people.

Earl Mitchell said parking at the current library facility was very inadequate. He also said although the proposed new library would be more than double in size, with about 27,000 square feet, the request for additional staffing was only 30% more than current levels. Stating that the request was not unreasonable, Mr. Mitchell strongly urged the Council to leave the proposed library budget intact. Noting that many people compared the Town to the University, Mr. Mitchell said although the University was a proud institution, the institution was understaffed and the staff underpaid.

Joan Bartel said she was both a Town taxpayer and employee. She noted that Town employees were doing things fairly well with a dedication to the improvement of service. Ms. Bartel said it was not an option to forego salary increases for employees. She stated that although some tax increase might be necessary to fund the increases, efforts could be made to control costs in other area of the budget.

Michael Brown, an employee of the Sanitation Division of the Public Works Department, expressed concern that there was some misunderstanding about the Town's Sanitation Division. He stated that the Town was one of the cleanest in the state due to the efforts of a professional sanitation staff. Mr. Brown also noted that over 60% of the sanitation staff had worked for the Town for over ten years. He said rearyard refuse collection service required a lot of muscle and determination, with individual collectors walking over twenty miles per day hauling up to 200 pounds of refuse in a cart across various types of terrain and in all types of weather. Mr. Brown said these tasks took a lot of energy. He requested that the Council support a pay raise for sanitation employees.

Mr. Brown said the proposal for rollcart refuse collection was a good one which would minimize sanitation collector's interactions with dogs, ticks, snakes and spiders currently encountered in rearyard pick-ups. Mr. Brown also said that morale in the Sanitation Division was low due to Council discussion of possible reductions in employee compensation and benefits. He invited members of Tax Watch to spend one day with a sanitation worker to see how refuse collection operations took place. Mr. Brown stated that a voluntary rollcart collection service might create a situation wherein a lot of people's refuse would not be collected. He requested that the Council consider a pay raise for employees in the 1993-94 budget.

Martha Drake, a member of the Citizen's Energy Task Force, said she favored the expenditure of $80,000 to retrofit lighting fixtures in Town buildings. She said that the proposed program would have a three-year payback period. Ms. Drake noted that one firm had developed a bulb which required replacement once every fifty years.

Esphur Foster requested that the Council provide funds for improvements at Hargraves Center. A copy of Ms. Foster's remarks are on file in the Clerk's Office.

Gary Barnes, a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, said the proposed Capital Improvements Program recommended funding of $30,000 for small improvements to park facilities. He urged the Council to provide annual funding of $50,000 for maintenance of park facilities.

Marcy Lansman expressed concern that raw sewage was seeping into area streams and lakes. She stated that although individual Council Members agreed that something needed to be done, the Council had applied for a water and sewer sales tax exemption. Ms. Lansman urged the Council to negotiate aggressively with OWASA and provide contingency funds for sewer projects in the proposed Town budget. She stated that concerned citizens were seriously considering petitioning the Local Government Commission to request that the Commission deny the Town's request for a water and sewer sales tax exemption.

Parks and Recreation Commission Chairperson Lee Pavao expressed his concurrence with Ms. Foster's earlier request to provide funding for improvements at Hargraves Center. He requested that the Council closely examine the possibility of providing annual funding of $50,000 for small improvements to parks facilities. Mr. Pavao noted that the Commission had compiled a listing of suggested parks improvements. He requested that the Council instruct the Manager to identify funds for maintenance of parks facilities.

Noting that estimated roof repair costs for parks facilities totalled over $30,000, Martin Feinstein said it was likely that the more facility maintenance problems would be encountered, reinforcing the need for additional funding.

Jim Copeland, UNC student body president, said the Town would only realize $26,000 more annually by raising bus fares from 60 to 75 cents. He stated that the proposed fair increase would cost a typical student an additional $46 per year. Mr. Copeland noted that the University would receive an additional $175,000 from the proposed fare increase. He added that the Council continued to emphasize the provision of alternatives to automobile usage. Mr. Copeland requested that the Council consider options other than bus fare increases.

Student liaison to the Council Diana Clontz said she was really concerned about what was in the best interest of UNC students. She said the Town would not benefit much from increasing bus fares.

Ms. Clontz added that another option was raising the price of parking permits. She stated that parking permits were in great demand making increased permit fees a preferable alternative to higher bus fares.

Jim Goldstein, a Town resident and member of TaxWatch, said he was very concerned about escalating tax rates. Mr. Goldstein expressed particular concern about proposed increases in Town expenditures for business meetings and training and dues and subscriptions.

He stated that non-essential travel and training and dues and subscriptions could be reduced somewhat.

Robert Humphreys, representing the Downtown Commission, noted that Student Liaison Diana Clontz had played a very important role in setting up the local chapter of Students Against Drunk Driving. Mr. Humphreys said he was pleased that Ms. Clontz would serve as the student liaison. He noted that ridership for the trolley was down 23%. Mr. Humphreys attributed this decline to general economic conditions and construction of the Rosemary Street parking facility. He stated that the Downtown Commission had been devoting its time and effort to beautifying the downtown area, rather than promoting the use of the trolley service. Mr. Humphreys requested that the Council give the trolleys one more opportunity to work.

Mayor Broun inquired about the possibility of offering trolley service during evening hours. Mr. Humphreys said this was one of the options being examined. Council Member Andresen inquired about the possibility of the Town of Carrboro increasing its contribution. Mr. Humphreys said he did not know.

Council Member Andresen inquired whether the $166,000 of water and sewer half-cent sales taxes were kept in a separate fund. Mr. Horton said these funds were kept in a separate water and sewer reserve fund. Council Member Andresen inquired whether these funds were the ones which staff had earlier identified for possible use as a revolving loan fund for water and sewer service. Mr. Horton said yes. Council Member Andresen suggested that the Council consider options for the use of funds following the Council's work session with the OWASA Board of Directors on June 9th. Mayor Broun said he hoped the Council could make a decision on the use of the funds prior to adoption of the budget. He said one possible use of the money was to have a contingency fund for water and sewer improvements related to septic tank failures.

Council Member Herzenberg requested that the Manager provide a follow-up report on Mr. Dodd's suggestion of letting residents voluntarily roll carts to the curbside. Mayor Broun said it seemed worthwhile to explore the idea of having both voluntary rollout and rearyard pick-up service available.

Council Member Chilton requested additional information on travel and training and dues and subscriptions, especially in the Police and Fire departments. Council Member Chilton commended an idea from R.D. Smith about the replacement of vehicles to the Council's attention. He requested that staff provide a report on which proposed vehicles would be replacement vehicles versus which ones would be new ones.

Council Member Brown requested information concerning the exchange of vehicles between Town departments. Council Member Andresen said crime prevention should be the Council's highest priority. She expressed interest in following up on the two additional narcotics officers positions. Mayor Broun said that the Council could discuss public safety matters at the May 25th meeting. Council Member Werner requested that staff bring back a report on small park maintenance improvements over the past five years and possible funding sources for Hargraves Center improvements.

Council Member Capowski inquired about the proposed move-in date for the new library. Mr. Horton said October 1st. Council Member Capowski inquired about the effective date of proposed new positions at the library. Mr. Horton said most of the positions would begin October 1st, with earlier training needed in some cases. Council Member Capowski inquired about the advantages and disadvantages of combining the Town's Engineering and Public Works departments. Mr. Horton said both departments had good leadership.

He added that staff was currently working on an organizational review of the entire Town structure. Mr. Horton added that a thorough review of the Engineering and Public Works organizational structure would involve a significant time commitment. Mayor Broun noted that the Manager examined organizational efficiency matters on an on-going basis. Council Member Andresen said she thought there should be more evidence of potential merits of the restructuring prior to additional staff investigation.

Council Member Capowski inquired about information pertaining to once weekly rearyard refuse collection. Mr. Horton said staff was compiling this information for the May 25th work session. Council Member Capowski inquired about proposed improvements at Hargraves Center. Mr. Horton said a total of $30,000 of repairs were proposed. Council Member Capowski inquired whether there was funding for swimming pool improvements. Mr. Horton said a pool enclosure had been proposed but was cost prohibitive.

Council Member Capowski inquired whether buildings at the university had led to the need for the Town's aerial fire truck. Mr. Horton said this truck was also useful for gaining access to commercial and residential buildings. Council Member Capowski asked whether the Town would have bought the truck if it did not need to protect university buildings. Mr. Horton said it was likely that the Town would have purchased a 75-foot ladder, rather than a 100-foot ladder truck.

Council Member Brown requested a report on proposed changes in the refuse collection system relative to the solid waste management plan scope of work study. Mr. Horton said staff would be glad to provide information. Mayor Broun requested that staff provide a specific proposal for improvements at Hargraves Center. Council Member Andresen suggested that the Council review the Manager's budget reduction options list. She said that there was nothing essential on the list. The hearing concluded at 9:22 p.m.