MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE
MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA, MONDAY, MAY 24,
1993 AT 7:30 P.M.
Mayor Broun called the meeting to
order. Council Members in attendance
were all; WCH, SL, FAM, RWa and RK.
Called on Janet Smith; May
23-29th--EMS Week in Town; difficult job for EMS workers; appreciate support of
Orange Co. EMS system; encourage support of EMS system in Orange County;
WCH--this evening, Ms. Smith
delivered a check for $40,000 to the Town--sent crews to Florida for Hurricane
Andrew; $40,000 is a lot of money;
Item 3 Petitions
Broun--petition from Ginny
Turner--regarding roosters on Barclay Road; bring back to Council;
Mr. Raj--newspaper reporters brought
to attention concern about a rooster in area; owned by two daughters--keep
rooster confined in a cage; at night kept in garage in a cage; don't find
anything obnoxious about rooster; live near airport--causes noises; dogs nearby
cause noise; don't think question is noise menace by pet; if Council Members
would like to visit, they are welcome to do so;
Mr. McAllister--live directly across
the street; not any bother to him; dog lot within fifteen feet of this
gentleman's house--far worse nuisance;
One other request--right below house--Hardig--no stop sign on Barclay
Road--fifteen children get off bus--put stop sign here to help safety of
children by slowing down traffic;
Ms. Turner--sound of barnyard animal
interfering with work; dogs are more
customary than barnyard animals; would like to have rooster noise eliminated
from residential area;
JHz, AR--Refer to Manager (9-0).
McAllister petition--JHz, AR (9-0).
JA--complaints about pigs in past;
might look into this also;
Henry Lister--Citizens for Sewers in
Chapel Hill; use mandated by State statute; Council voted against request for
exemption; Town not to pay 100% of assessment costs; residents willing to pay
fair share for sewer service; 4.5% of home value in Erwin Village and 1.5% in
The Oaks; why is rate so outrageously high?
Retrofitting sewers is more expensive; residents are willing to pay fair
share; Town compel OWASA to have a cap on its rates; propose that Town accept
direct financial responsibility if it can not get OWASA to remedy health
problems with septic tanks; $80,000 at 4%--1/2 of $5 million referenced at
recent Council meeting; Homeowner amount higher than any other community in the
state; still willing to pay fair share;
Sewer summit on June 9th;
JCap--basis for 6.5%?
Lister--$7,500 was a fair amount for homeowners to pay for a sewer
connection; chose 6.5% because this would approach a fair rate; ratio of sewer
to home costs;
Jill Edens--Last time to address
prior to June 9th joint meeting; May 11th--following Council meeting--neighbor
stopped on street; neighbor concerned that OWASA and Town not going to help
people; three abandoned homes in neighborhood; most lots in North Forest
Hills--less than one-half acre; homes being abandoned when sewer fails;
neighbors afraid of costs for sewer service; invest only one percent of home
cost for one in The Oaks; replace septic system--call on several companies to
bring competitive bids; Town--regional monopoly--without outside
regulations--free to assess homeowners without oversight; unregulated sewer
connection costs--go without homes; county sometimes will not permit upgrades
to systems; ask Town to hire an outside consultant on OWASA rates; regulate
OWASA--openly elected OWASA reps; system for reasonable cost to provide sewer
service;
Joe Lomann--don't want to bash
OWASA--no personal reason to criticize Council; very unusual rate structure set
up to protect university; issue of equity needs to be addressed--following
argument presented--pay for service--seems plausible on surface; if pay for all
infrastructure--pay a toll on Airport Road; shared obligations in local
government; still have no trouble with paying entire cost for sewer system--one
issue is predominate one--for over a decade, Town has collected over $4 million
to meet water and sewer obligations; $4 million in tax abatements--very few
cases--spent for intended purpose; making affordable housing available in Town;
three specific proposals--(1) every penny of sewer sales taxes should be spent
on sewers until situation is fully resolved;
(2) one-half of money spent after crisis to bring every other home water
and sewer service; (3) new annexations should not be finalized until water and
sewer plans within two years; once water and sewer service situation resolved,
return to requesting exemption;
MC, AR--receive and refer to Manager;
JA--some ideas in May 20th be forwarded along to Manager; (9-0).
Joe C--Friday a week ago; OWASA
condemned Hilltop property--intent to build 200 foot water tower for University
and downtown; as a member of Council; unlikely to grant request for permit in
residential neighborhood unless can be prove other options; report on
alternative sites for tower; JC, JHz
(Refer to Manager) JHz-does OWASA need a water tower in general area? WCH--yes;
JHz--conversations with staff?
JHz--yes; JA--Mr. Billingsley
called about on day of announcement of location (9-0).
JA--quick report from Manager--County
considering impact fees; raised some interesting questions; extract our own
impact fees from developers; seriously considered an impact tax at one time;
AW--asked legislature for an impact tax; former Mayor of Hillsborough did not support;
JA--remember Planning Director saying not much of a return from this type of
tax; JBr--explanation of difference
between impact tax and fee;
JHz--memo from Mayor Kinnaird of
Carrboro; OCEDC brochure--support her criticism on next agenda;
Broun--tomorrow is Town Hall Day--a
number of us to go to Raleigh for Town Hall Day; talk about carpooling later;
Board of Adjustment
Joe C--Mr. Devany's more interested
in HSAB; Broun--could do by acclamation; AW, JA--(9-0). Mitchell and Culpepper--no alternate;
Parks and Rec. Commission
Broun--endorse Esphur Foster; AW--spoke to Lee Pavao earlier today; asked
to hold off on other two appointments; suggest reappointing Anscher and Pavao
and appoint Foster and leave fourth seat vacant; JHz, BBP by acclamation (8-1) JA nay.
Foster, Pavao and ANscher appointed.
Transportation Board
AW--Rachel Willis has done an
outstanding job on board; JBr--second
this sentiment; Willis unanimously reappointed;
Housing Advisory Board
No applicants for this board; MC--Gabriel
Godwin (MC, BBP) (9-0).
Human Services Advisory Board
Broun--two vacancies and one
applicant; (MC, AR) (9-0).
Personnel Appeals Committee
Broun--five vacancies; hope council
members; WCH--hear appeals of employees after Manager has had an initial
informal hearing; encourage citizens to consider serving on boards;
BBP--confused by fact that Tom Cook;
JHz--job has taken him out of Town a great deal;
Boiler Plant Status Report
WCH--ordinarily a consent agenda
item; little different tonight; difficulty with coal smolder fire at University
Boiler Plant; ask Fire Chief Dan Jones and Special Projects Coordinator Jim
Mergner to give status report;
Dan Jones--one week ago, gave report
to Council; change in strategy in last week; smoldering situation in silo
number one--removed clinkers of coal from hoppers of coal; two options--coal
industry experts--offload and inject carbon dioxide or just add carbon dioxide
and stabilize; opted for second option--refreshed staff at site; continued
application has seemed to work fairly well; cooling effect on smolder and
displaced oxygen; whether continues to be a hot spot in silo is solely
speculation; intent of team to begin offloading at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning;
offload coal from silo number one to silo number two; coal removal operation
will be around the clock and take three or four days; Fire Department to
provide consultation; act as liaison with plant management; Fire Department
prepared to take control of situation; JCap--how noisy will coal removal
operation be? DJones--somewhat noisy; have to maintain 65% carbon dioxide in
silos; empty silos as quickly as possible; JA--how much can be spent on efforts? DJones--around the clock last week; checking
in on plant two to three times per day;
Broun--any overtime? Jones--not
to this point; JA--University ought to
see that Town is reimbursed; JBr--any
effect on our response to other incidents?
Dan Jones--not so far; Broun--thanked Chief Jones for his work;
Jim Mergner--thank Dan Jones and his
staff for his help; anxious to resolve problem; quite a bit of help from EMS
and campus police; coal unloading to begin tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. in a
routine fashion without any unacceptable risk; about three weeks ago, learned
of hot spot in coal silo number one; certain seams of coal develop spontaneous
combustion in the ground; heating is addressed by continuing to move coal in
silos; withdraw coal from bottom of silos to be consumed; equipment in
operation--bucket operators not in operation; unload coal from cars--normally
done during daytime hours; removing coal from bottom--entails use of bucket
elevators; anticipate a twenty-four hour a day operation for several days;
silos filled with carbon dioxide last Monday evening; 65% or more of gases
present were carbon dioxide; there are some lessons which have been
learned; Deal with and evaluate
problems in the near future; expertise in solid materials flow in silos;
Wes Lawton--referenced made to June
9, 1994 SUP earlier; reading of SUP--permit calls for this to be completion
date of construction; questioned whether general license for violations prior
to this date; many issues need to be addressed; violations of current
permit--various noises primarily from coal-handling equipment; a blast occurred
at 3:20 a.m. this morning in neighborhood; still the issues of unenclosed
structures around plant and unenclosed ash silos; effects saleability and
values of property in area; situation is hurting value of properties in area;
need to resolve this issue now; concern that lack of presence at Town Council
meetings in last year--concerns not being adequately addressed; long period of
acrimony; monthly reports to Council by
neighbors; feel this plant's problems
have been caused by poor design and management; problems need to be resolved in
a timely fashion;
Broun--would appreciate monthly
report from Power Plant Neighbors;
Lawton--glad to do this;
Pierre Morrell--need relief; problems
primarily due to coal handling; traceable back to a former Vice-Chancellor; no
detailed cost analysis; university must accept fiscal and moral responsibility;
there are major problems--about $20 million back; Tiger owed about $38 million due
to major problems; requesting relief from University; University should convert
over to gas operation; cheaper to use gas originally; glad to answer questions
or give additional detail.
Mr. Long--a resident of Cameron Glen,
about fifty yards from Mr. Lawson; situation personally affects--enjoy living
in Cameron Glen--no difficulty living near construction of unit; no problems
with dust or sulphur smell; street noise as well in area; not all residents
experience problems;
Broun--respond to conversion to gas;
Jim Mergner--plant is a coal-fired, steam-producing facility; study by
consultant presented to University; study presented in Spring, 1985; pulverized
coal generation proposed; remove sulfur dioxide--stay within air emissions
permit regulations; period of diminished coal supply--supplement with natural
gas or oil--reduce amount of coal; if coal no longer available to be
burned--choices would be gas or oil; burning natural gas--unable to assure that
natural gas available during winter months; on a interruptable contract with
Public Service Gas; if use oil in combusters; plant capacity is 500,000 pounds
per hour; oil has a sulfur component;
plant is coal-fired boiler plant with alternate capability; can not operate on
oil or gas only;
AW--could get combustion in large
grass coal pile--any way to monitor temperature or CO in these piles; any
contingency plans if such a fire occurred?
Mergner--heating or hot spots could develop in silos; oxygen essentially
excluded from coal piles; hard to keep a perfect seal; Mergner--actual heating recognized about 3
weeks ago; all ground storage until silos put in place; Ray DuBose--method use to build coal
piles--get compaction in twelve-inch layers--don't want to have too many large
lumps; very tightly- packed coal piles--had clinkers in old piles--put out by
putting additional coal on piles;
AW--give contingency plans for what would be done if hard one to put
out; DuBose--air is in silos at all
times; continuous gas and temperature monitoring needed;
AW--does University have long-term
plans to do ambient air monitoring around the plant? Fence line monitoring or anything else? Mergner--no specific plans for this type of monitoring; AW--might
be worth thinking about; Durham is a non-attainment area for carbon monoxide;
potential source for carbon monoxide; monitors are fairly standard instruments;
may not be a bad idea to put some at fence line of the plant; owe it to these
residents; Mergner--will look into possibility; JBr--what types of monitors in area? Mergner--filled silos up with carbon
dioxide; are concerned about reasonable about people functioning in area of
silo; monitoring will be more intensive during loading of coal; have slide
gates on four removal points;
AR--size of unit--design capacity of
500,000 pounds per hour; Mergner--third boiler adjacent to new facility;
capacity of 150,000 pounds per hour; total 650,000 pounds per hour; AR--peak capacity not possible with oil? Mergner--correct; AR--is there an opportunity to request a rate to continuously use
gas because of special nature of project?
Mergner--interruption takes place due to residential demands for gas;
emergency rate--because hospital is served by this facility; AR--many years ago
when natural gas was in short supply--furniture plants now operate with natural
gas 12 months a year rather than using oil; might explore a non-interruptable
contract with gas company;
Mergner--problem is to get the gas to this area; AR--find out this information; Mergner--not designed to operate on
alternate fuels; hypothetically go to coal or gas--literally involves finding a
new site; AR--explore options for provision of natural gas aside from whether
or not facility can be completely converted; bucket elevators are not covered
or enclosed? Mergner--exposed at the
top--coal drops down a chute and into two silos; went out into community
because of a noise problem; noise was within limits of Town ordinances; AR--any
thought given to white noise? Mergner--yes;
not practical for this purpose; JCap--several
day long, 24-hour day coal loading operation; generates some noise; is noise
from these things so objectionable that people will be unable to sleep at
night? Mergner--can't answer this;
JCap--possibly have monitors to gauge noise and possibly only do loading during
the day? Mergner--can't asnswer this;
one way of reducing problems--reduce risk;
JBr--in 1986, attended most of public
meetings about this plant; plant to designed for use of numerous types of fuel;
disappointed tonight to be told that this is not the case; possibly hear from
other experts about possibility of use of an alternate fuel; when these fuels
became more economically feasible, use them as an alternate; would like to hear
from Public Service Company or other experts;
Mergner--plant can be fired using any of the three fuels; don't remembre
saying this would be a choice throughout the life of the plant; plant to have
capability to burn natural gas or oil supplemented by coal; JHz--in December,
1991--told three alternate sources available;
Broun--enormous sense of frustration; some problems inherent in trying
to run a plant of this size in a residential area; need to explore
opportunities and options; at least explore options; need to be constantly
vigilant; Mergner--are very anxious to
resolve difficulties; want to be a good neighbor; have achieved some
significant steps--noise silencers/filters on plant--reductions in noise; once
one noise source reduced, others may become objectionable; JA--agree with
Mayor's comments about the need to be vigilant in handling these problems;
construction problems--present throughout entire process--remember voting on
SUP; different climate at that time--raised questions about report on sites and
fuel sources; hard to get answers from University at that time; full disclosure
leads to better decisions;
Broun--Mergner to be in touch with
Manager on situation at boiler plant tomorrow;
Item 6--Dobbins Hill SUP
WCH--request additional materials be
entered; questions about entry drive--make situation better for adjoining
property owners; reduce width of entry drive from 27 to 24 feet; slow down cars
in area with speed bumps; access to Sage Road--access to this property out to
Sage Road would be a good alternative--not an option available at this point--applicant
does not have right-of-way; applicant has expressed interest in trying to
pursue this option; allow access to Sage as an alternate to Dobbins; applicant
will pursue if SUP approved;
Jack Smyre--no additional
information; urge adoption of Resolution;
JBr--for entrance driveway for
Dobbins--why not just ten or eleven foot lanes without curb and gutter? RWa--not a safe roadway width for a 400 foot
long roadway; squeeze to be as narrow as possible; uncomfortable going
narrower; JBr--other 10.5 or 11 foot
streets in area (lanes); RWa--without curbs--would need to be wider;
Smyre--worked with engineer and staff on this matter; 26 feet between face and
curb; not interested in wider street than needed; two foot wide curb and gutter
on either side; chose curb and gutter--ditch sections take up more room;
narrowest cross-section to deal with stormwater; JBr--concern by neighbor about water and sewer line installation;
Smyre--water and sewer is beneath the street; probably bring water in from Sage
Road; need gravity sewer down towards Dobbins; JBr--pursuing Sage Road options
for access?
Smyre--yes; JBr--future
residents--$16,000 to $22,000 income;
Dyer--maximum income for family of
two for $18,000; not a cut and dried regulation; $16,000 is effective minimum
and $18,000 is maximum for family of two;
Powell--formula for persons rising above this level in the future? Dyer--no one gets evicted because income
increases; rent goes up with income;
JA--if a three bedroom will be $460 a month, what would regular market
rate be;
Roger ____________--very few market
rate four-bedroom units; two bedrooms
are generally $200 a month more than these units; JCap--no Town money in this, correct? Dyer--correct; JCap--24
foot back to back road on a 60 foot tract?
Smyre--correct; JCap--McGregor
Drive Extension costs; having a little bit of trouble with answer; do we
require offset improvements of other developers? RWa--yes; developer might be required to build road in dedicated
right-of-way on Dobbins Hill side; JCap--any downside to access from Sage
Road? RWa--once extended to Weaver
Dairy Road, will become a major thoroughfare in the future; better to have
traffic come onto Sage Road a little higher up;
JBr--no entrance to Dobbins Road--why
sidewalk required here? WCH--thinking
is that this will be manner in which people enter property--possibly only way
people could approach the area; If entrance on Sage Road, then none of items on
Dobbins Drive would apply; RWa--uncertain what will happen concerning Dobbins
Drive and Sage Road; JBr--major push
to have another entrance; WCH--might be thirty or forty years out;
JHz, AR (adjourn hearing) (9-0).
JHz, AR (R-1a) (9-0).
Pavilion
RWa--reviewed proposal--change in
circumstances--abandonment of special use permit requested; allow property
owner to take back to a raw piece of land; two situations to
abandon--circumstances in place on this site; first condition met; recommend
approval of request;
MC, AR (R-2a)
JCap--must Council do this? RK--that is correct; RWa--any permit to
govern site if abandoned? RWa--no;
WCH--would have to be in compliance with Town rules; if modifications desired--owner
would have to approve modificaitons;
JA--ideas about Cat's Cradle?
AW--yes; hope music lovers can find another place to play music; staff is working on this matter;
(8-0; Broun excused);
Stormwater Management Committee
Report
AW--delayed freport from SWater Mgmt.
Committee--May 3rd ad from City of Durham--Stormwater Program Manager--16
staff--$4-
$5 million annual cost; late 1991,
Council authorized a stormwater management committee--how to respond to ongoing
problems; flooding problems. issue of how to handle stormwater approvals for
new developments; applicant to review plans submitted by Manager; NPDES
program--address quality of stormwater--larger cities affected by these
regulations--we have the luxury of having some time; how do we pay for what it
is we have to do? Early 1992, convened
a SMC--meeting very diligently--Mike Neal has worked hard on this project;
broke into two committees--Kimberly Brewer and Runyon Woods; Members of
committee were a mix of developers, engineers, attorney and othres; committee
meetings--three or more hours once per month;
Mike Neal--introduced Runyon Woods
and Becky France; Runyon
Woods--persistent worry on quantity committee--lower possibility of approving
subdivision that might cause stormwater management problems; hydros analysis
should be done downstream; need to do inventory of existing subdrainage
structures; might put systems over the top; close existing loopholes once had
inventory of existing drainage system; quantity committee had hands tied behind
its back; need more as-built drawings and inventory of current system for
future problem areas;
JA--concern about approving existing
development; did committee come up with recommendations on what to do in
interim? Woods--require hydro analysis;
instruct staff to look deliberately downstream; peak runoff might overburden system;
Autobath called for weir to be installed in parking lot; no retention of
stormwater in basement; no adequate enforcement of regulations; really need an
inventory of facilities; very good one by the City of Raleigh cost about
$60,000; some exciting possibilities; lack data to reach conclusions; AW--one of pleasant surprises--pilot
project--inventory for Town--cost about $500,000--most of information we needed
could be retrieved for about one-tenth of this amount; Woods--Durham--going to spend a lot of
money; 1988--Town staff proposal--very sensible; don't know if staff or
equipment is needed; need to do inventory; JBr--less expensive because could do
in-house? Woods--information needed is
for gross calculations for basins; possibly make problems for areas at lower
part of basins; AW--one of the committee's thoughts--possibly hire students for
the summer--look at drainage around the Town;
AR--looking downstream for hydros--if don't have inventory data, how do you
look downstream? Woods--definitely need
an inventory; for a subdivision, include impervious surface area; none of these
things are particularly expensive; not a requirement; JBr--quantity of
stormwater problems--only looking at Town; what about other communities? Woods--need an inventory; JCap--delighted to see drainage assistance
program--Woods--good job of cost-sharing;
JCap--Town to be involved in cost-sharing of private property
owners? Woods--if out of town
pipe--handled by Town; between property owners--Town to stay out of situation;
if series of neighbors together have a problem--handle on a shared-cost basis;
property owners appeared to be grateful; Town should have inspection and
authority to maintain drainage systems properly;
AW--ask Attorney to look at situation
where potential for serious damage; is it now Town's problem in
perpetuity? JCap--reducing impervious
surfaces; charge a fee--is this done elsewhere? AW--related to regional stormwater management systems--possibly
create a utility or some type of fund; possibly pay based on the amount of
impervious surface; Woods--paving of the Town is a terrible thing; tried to
come up with good alternates; soils in Town will not absorb enough water;
University Mall--overflow parking only needed at certain times of the year;
Becky France--Water Quality
Subcommittee--sampling and monitoring for the future--NPDES standards examined;
subcommittee recommends a desktop model--indicate general quality and identify
pollutants; developed a desktop loading instrument; phosporous and nitrogen;
subcommittee proposes GIS use; physical and biological monitoring of streams
suggested; training and networking of volunteers; some resources in other parts
of the state; design water quality monitoring programs; adopt watershed
protection regulations for Jordan Lake prior to July, 1993; AR--one concern--water quality monitoring;
non-point source runoff--peak-loaded--at front-end of storm; slower rise for
some particulates on curve; peak of stream has to be gauged to runoff; Becky
France--pinpointed areas needing more follow-up; maybe some sources of
information about cost effective means of handling; AW--idea is to give a general idea of health of local streams; if
we find a problem, locate what specific problem is; get into this level of
detail at a later time; AR--at a later
time, this level of detail will be required; AW--want to get ahead of problems;
JBr--in contact with citizen monitoring groups? France--yes; looked at one group's data and found it to be
useful; AW--state is doing some monitoring in the area; Ed Holland on
committee--very helpful;
AW--committee to look at Southern
Village and Jordan Lake watershed; have some follow-up for June;
AW, AR (R-2.1) (9-0).
Human Services Performance Agreements
Broun--actual recommendations at
budget time on June 28th; WCH--HSAB is
one of the Council's hardest working committees; Scott Cain--met with nineteen agencies to review their requests;
met jointly with Carrboro to discuss agencies; recommendations are before the
Council; when making recommendations kept in mind the Youth Committee of
VIolent Crime and Drug Abuse and Volunteer Coordinator for Town; happy to
answer questions; Broun--respect for
hard work by Human Services Advisory Board;
JHz,JBr--receive and refer report
(9-0).
Recommended Comp. Grant
Program--Public Housing
TV--replacs Comprehensive Assistance
Program; amount is expected to be about $363,000; May 17th--public hearing
held--now prepared a final plan--believe have incorporated all concerns raised
at public hearing; expect to receive $1,815,000 over five year period; believe
can achieve all needs on list; have decent, sanitary places to live; ask
Council to adopt resolution authorizing submittal of plan; AR--some items in tenant's letters appeared
to be routine maintenance matters; think City of Durham worked hard to empower
residents; save maintenance calls, etc.--any attempt to do empowerment
training? TV--yes; funds for training
of residents interested in assisting with maintenance; hope tenants will take
on some sense of ownership;
JCap--$175,000 per year from CDBG program? WCH--correct; JCap--what
is money competing with? WCH--next
agenda item--neighborhood revitalization; water and sewer projects, economic
development and housing items; H&CD Board--in community's interest to make
funds available for improving public housing units; recommend that larger
amount be set aside for housing; JBr--not actually related to item number ten
to be passed tonight; does not include what we are talking about right now; only
refers; not related to CDBG approval; JBr--other federal programs
available? WCH--no, this is only one
for foreseeable future;
MC. JHz (R-3); JA--what Durham is
doing in terms of empowerment of residents--feel more pride in ownership; make
an effort in this area; (9-0).
Recommended CD Grant Application
RWa--this is a three-year planning
horizon for funds; recommending that Council put money together with community
funding to address five year needs of community; recommend that renovation of
public housing become cornerstone of program; bring sewer to non-sewered areas;
plan needs to be submitted to HUD;
JBr--if we adopt this plan tonight; are we adopting a whole three-year
period; can it be amended? WCH--yes,
even in the middle of a year; JBr--changes
in other years could be problematic; very strong suggestions about ways of
using funds at other hearings; funds almost used exclusively for public housing
rehab in the past; neighborhood revitalization is very important; AR, MC (R-4)
(9-0).
Items by Council Members
JA--present a resolution to look at
water and sewer service--a huge problem area--expeditious hook-up of water and
sewer--important--deal with preventitive maintenance to have a plan; reviewed
components of the proposed program; understand that Orange County has issued
documents to say have the least amount of government possible--really need
County government to be more active;
AW--when talk about fees--are these
paid by individual septic tank owners?
JA--yes; County staff person to inspect tanks; AW--how would this be enforced?
JA--inspections required; inspection budget can't be larger until fees
collected; AR--very supportive of
Julie's approach--modelled after programs in other states; State of
Maine--permits had to be filed for septic tanks--history of sludge buildups;
identifies sludge depths in tanks, etc.--AW--don't people have to get permits
now? AR--yes; Orange County has been
good about this for several decades; AW--permit needed to put one in? AR--yes;
JCap--no record of pumping tanks?
AR--correct; JA--charge more for low-pressure systems; help find where
low-pressure lines run. JBr--not
covered by State regulations?
RK--County health agency is responsible for making sure this is done;
JCap--proposal to investigate? JA--call
for action for County Commissioners to take action; JCap--possibly tie to deed
records? JA--don't think this occurs
now; require independent person to check out a septic system; JCap--would tying
records together be helpful? JA--yes;
more thorough examination/inspection; more can be done in this area; AR--if pass resolution tonight and goes back
to commissioners; other suggestions may come up;
Henry Lister--is part to ask Orange
County to inspect Town systems?
JA--yes; Lister--have some real
questions about this; almost like blaming the victim; not everyone knows how to
take care of tanks; may not solve some of the problems cited; septic tank
owners asking for years to be out from under tanks--who to assess for private
lakes; almost a backhanded insult to a lot of septic tank owners trying to
alleviate problems; implementation would be a burden on property owners; JA--not directed at homeowners; think there
is a tremendous need to address problem; avoid failure by having education
program; Broun--only concern is uneasy
about asking another government to do something within its jurisdiction; a
little concerned about getting into someone else's jurisdiction;' JA--think it is a public health concern and
affects a lot of people in the Town; a welcome resolution to commissioners;
AW, JHz (R-5)--thank JA for bringing
this before us (9-0).
Gun Control
JHz--banner year for proposed gun
control legislation; House Bill 858--make it illegal for persons under 18 to
possess and carry a handgun; thank local delegates for support of House Bill
858--extension of local ordinances; JHz, MC (R-6) (9-0).
Meals Tax proposal
JA--subcommittee met last Friday;
under consideration by Senate Local Government Committee; a meals tax might
experience some problems; looked at long-range goals; hotelier indicated might support use of funds for streetscape;
looked at alternative funding sources; no telling how this might fare in
legislature; get update from legislative delegation tomorrow; felt reassured
that Chamber thought Town was pursuing worthwhile goals; still concerns about
meals tax--problems in downtown which need to be corrected; more of educational
effort on why this is important needed; willing to join Town in effort;
possibly introduce a bill in the short session; Chamber did not guarantee
support of meals tax option; good idea---use meals tax to pay for interest and
principal on certificates of participation for streetscape; have improvements
sooner rather than later; MC--discussion surrounded fact that tax might have a
sunset date; JA--this was a possibility
also; JBr--focus on streetscape rather than whole infrastructure--police
protection, etc.? JA--no question that
in meeting emphasized streetscape, law enforcement, etc. Believe streetscape to be most important
priority;
Jim Groot, owner of Red, Hot and
Blue--enjoy paying and collecting taxes; not a negative attitude to taxes in
general; only two types of taxes to be personally unfair; tax from all to
benefit one or tax from one to benefit all; don't think isolated sector should;
patrons will pay tax--wish could counter with a solution; personal
perception--about 1 1/2 years ago--did not know where wanted to live--did not
know where would conduct business; selected NC for two reasons--close to
families and climate of NC; came here from Maryland--NC's number one source for
business relocations--taxes incrementally instituted by cities and state; new taxes
solved no problems; probably a good way to resolve financial needs; want to
provide helpful solutions; Broun--begun
an important process--strongly support streetscape; need to enlist as much
citizen support as possible; can look forward to working with Chamber of
Commerce and other groups; JA--if we want to make improvements, people can say
things are getting better, Council will have to go out on a limb and be
advocates; JBr--hope this does not
preclude infrastructure--include police protection, etc.; Broun--feel Chamber
will work with us on this;
Consent Agenda
AW--d; JHz--e and g; AW, JHz--a, b, c and f;
AW--back in days when only one
meeting a week, felt should have on Monday nights--meet at 7:30 p.m.; Broun--no
strong feelings on this; JCap--would
rather have 7:30 rather than 5:45 meetings;
AW--only for Monday nights; WCH--continue public hearing to 5:45 on June
7th; AW--amend R-9 to read 7:30 instead of 5:45 p.m. (AW, MC) (9-0).
Out-of-county waste ban
JHz--does this include the Town of Hillsborough? AR--drafted by staff; Hillsborough is not
currently part of Landfill Owners Group; MC, AR (O-2) (9-0).
Noise ordinance amendment
JHz--offered to notify adjacent
property owners? WCH--required as a
matter of course (JHz, AR (O-3)) (9-0).
Info. Report
JBr--date is June 16th, not 19th.
11:24 p.m. No report to follow
Executive Session; discuss litigation;