SUMMARY OF A WORK SESSION HELD BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1998, 6 P.M.
Mayor Rosemary Waldorf called the work session to order at 6:03 p.m. Council Members in attendance were Julie Andresen, Flicka Bateman, Joyce Brown, Joe Capowski, Pat Evans, Lee Pavao and Edith Wiggins. Council Member Kevin Foy was unable to attend. Also in attendance were Town Manager Cal Horton, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and Florentine Miller, Library Director Kathleen Thompson, Public Services Librarian Mark Bayles, Housing Director Tina Vaughn, Assistant Housing Director Glenn Davis, Accounting Technician Mary Jean Williams, Planning Director Roger Waldon, Engineering Director George Small.
Public Library
Library Director Kathleen Thompson presented an overview of the Library’s five divisions, noting that books in the Library’s collection were quite heavily utilized by patrons. She said that $20,000 was being requested to keep the library’s book collection current. Ms Thompson also stated that some members of the Library staff were very busy managing technology-related changes.
Council Member Andresen inquired whether or not it was correct that the Town’s library resource needs were not as great because of the presence of the University’s libraries. Ms. Thompson noted that the Town and University libraries served two very different clienteles. Council Member Brown asked whether North Carolina counties generally provided lower funding levels for municipal libraries. Stating that she had never studied this matter in detail, Ms. Thompson said she could provide a follow-up report, if the Council wished to receive one. Mr. Horton said that the key point was that there was a disparity in per capita library funding contributions between County and Town residents. Council Member Bateman asked whether anyone had inquired about the County’s rationale in this matter. Mayor Waldorf said that this was a good question. She noted that the Town had chosen to construct its own library using bonds approved by Town residents. Council Member Capowski inquired whether the new library building and parking arrangements were satisfactory. Ms. Thompson said that patrons and staff were delighted with the new library facility.
Council Member Capowski inquired about the genesis of staff cost estimates for access to the Town’s library catalogue. Noting that the Town had a proprietary catalogue system, Mr. Bayles said that these estimated costs were consequently somewhat higher than one might anticipate. Council Member Capowski suggested that one of the first tasks of the proposed Technology Committee should be to work in consultation with Town staff to address this matter.
Council Member Andresen inquired about Town staff’s wish list for expansion of the Town’s library materials collection. Stating that next year’s new materials budget was $207,000, Ms. Thompson said that an additional $300,000 would be needed to bring the collection size up to the full expectations of library patrons. Council Member Capowski inquired whether or not the Library Board of Trustees had made their budget presentation to the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Ms. Thompson stated that the Board had not yet made a presentation to the Board of Commissioners.
Department of Housing
Housing Director Tina Vaughn said she was very happy with the progress being made on the Department's five-year refurbishing program. She stated that only five apartments had not been refurbished in the last five years, four of which were vacant units in the Craig-Gomains community. Ms. Vaughn said that there were presently a total of 290 applicants on a waiting list for the Town’s public housing units. She also stated that the Housing Department hoped to place an emphasis on developing a self-sufficiency program for some public housing residents.
Council Member Andresen inquired about the proposed scope of the job training and homeownership opportunity programs. Ms. Vaughn said that the self-sufficiency program would be relatively small, with no more than twenty-five participants at any time. Council Member Brown asked whether one of the program’s goals was to assist people in moving out of public housing. Ms. Vaughn said that it was sometimes difficult to encourage people to move out of public housing communities, given the fact that many people had long-term affiliations with the social services safety net. She also noted that there was no link between welfare benefits and public housing benefits. Mr. Horton said that the Town was committed to working with existing community agencies to assist public housing residents with their needs.
Council Member Bateman said that the Louis Armstrong and Rainbow Heights communities were both good neighbors to the North Forest Hills area. Council Member Bateman inquired whether or not the Housing Department had any Spanish-speaking staff members. Ms. Vaughn said that no existing staff members spoke Spanish. Council Member Capowski asked whether staff had considered the possibility of converting five-bedroom units into smaller-sized units. Ms. Vaughn said that staff had investigated this possibility and found it to be cost-prohibitive.
Council Member Evans inquired whether or not one of the Department’s goals was to make individuals more self-sufficient. Ms. Vaughn said that although this was an objective, it was often times very difficult to achieve. Council Member Evans said that the waiting list of over two hundred persons was likely very discouraging to potential residents.
Council Member Andresen inquired whether or not unit refurbishment included the replacement of appliances. Ms. Vaughn said that refurbishing basically consisted of painting and maintenance individual units. Council Member Andresen inquired about the percentage of Hispanic residents residing in the Town’s public housing units. Ms. Vaughn said that she knew of four families having at least one Hispanic member.
Commending the Public Housing Department for doing a good job in recent times, Mayor Waldorf said she would like it very much if more school-aged public housing residents became involved with the Middle Schools After School Program. Ms. Vaughn said that Housing Department staff could work with parents and students to increase the rate of program participation.
Mayor Waldorf inquired about the status of the screening program for new public housing residents. Ms. Vaughn said that the screening program was working very well. Mayor Waldorf inquired about the place of residence of potential public housing residents. Ms. Vaughn said that approximately seventy-five percent of applicants resided within Orange County. Mayor Waldorf inquired about the number of Work First participants residing in the Town’s public housing communities. Ms. Vaughn said that eighty-two heads of household were participating in the Work First program. Mayor Waldorf inquired about the possibility of reducing public housing rental payments while Work First participants advanced in their career paths. Ms. Vaughn said that staff was working with Orange County Social Services staff to investigate possibilities.
Council Member Wiggins said it might be beneficial for the Council to have statistical information about the age of residents and the length of their residency in the Town’s public housing communities. Mr. Horton noted that many people had developed their roots in the various communities. Mayor Waldorf inquired about the possibility of public housing residents putting a percentage of their earnings into an escrow fund for future homeownership opportunities. Ms. Vaughn stated that public housing residents would need to participate in a self-sufficiency type program in order to accrue escrow funds. She said that Housing staff would provide the Council with a report outlining specifics for a self-sufficiency program by early summer.
Planning Department
Planning Director Roger Waldon said that the department’s expenses were principally personnel-related. After presenting a brief overview of the department’s operations, Mr. Waldon said he was requesting that the Council authorize funding for the development of a three-dimensional scale model of the downtown area.
Council Member Andresen inquired about the status of the proposed Zoning Enforcement Officer position. Mr. Waldon said that the Zoning Enforcement Officer had been hired and would begin work within the next week. He noted that well over fifty percent of the Zoning Enforcement Officer’s time would be spent following up on citizen complaints and inquiries about matters such as front yard parking regulations.
Council Member Andresen said she favored having Town Planning staff spend more time on “nuts and bolts” planning matters such as design guidelines and long-range planning of potential roadway improvements. Council Member Evans inquired whether it would be necessary for the Town to contract out some of this work. Mr. Waldon said that the existing staff could not handle this undertaking because of the current heavy work load level. Mr. Horton noted that the Council had previously elected to eliminate a position principally responsible for maintaining key statistical elements of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan.
Council Member Capowski said that the Town did not do a good job of confirming applicant’s analyses about traffic and stormwater runoff for proposed development projects. He inquired whether having additional Planning staff resources would have made it possible to better judge the impacts of development proposals. Mr. Horton said it would be necessary to have changes in existing State laws regarding the pacing of development, using mechanisms such as an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. Stating that Currituck County already had an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, Council Member Brown said that she would put an item about Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances on a future Council agenda. Council Member Andresen said the basic concept was simple good planning. Mr. Horton said that the provision of adequate facilities would basically shift burdens to the Town. Council Member Evans said that the Town had to have an updated plan to proceed with an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance.
Engineering Department
Town Engineer George Small said that a major role of the Engineering Department was to create safe facilities in the Town. Mr. Small noted that the Engineering Department responded to an average of three to four hundred citizen requests per year, ranging from drainage to Resource Conservation District-related concerns. He also stated that the Engineering Department only had two full-time inspectors, despite a dramatic increase in the demand for engineering field and site inspections. Mr. Small said that another issue of concern was stormwater management quality and quantity. He stated that funding for a laptop computer for direct input into the Town’s Geographic Information System was requested in the Engineering Department’s budget. Finally, Mr. Small said that at the direction of the Manager, Engineering staff was looking into the possibility of setting up a stormwater utility system. Council Member Capowski inquired about the objective of such a utility. Mr. Small said that the stormwater utility could charge a monthly fee for stormwater maintenance of items such as erosion and sedimentation controls.
Noting that she was quite well acquainted with the heavy volume of citizen requests handled by the Engineering Department, Mayor Waldorf said that she generally supported the Engineering Department’s request for additional resources.
Council Member Brown inquired about the possibility of increasing Engineering Department fees to pay for the growth-related needs for a new inspector position. Mr. Small said that the Town’s Engineering Inspection fees were already quite high. Council Member Capowski said he would support setting fees to cover the cost of services rendered. Council Member Evans said that higher fees were one of the reasons that housing costs were higher in the Town. Noting that the Town did not have a lot of fees to cover administrative costs, Mr. Horton noted that there were firms which specialized in the development of fee schedules.
Council Member Wiggins asked whether staff had sufficient time to inspect driveways. Mr. Small said although there was sufficient time to do so, staff generally had to complete the inspections on very short notice for new and reconstructed driveways.
Council Member Andresen said that it made sense for the Town to recover as high of a percentage of its inspection-related costs as possible. She also said that it was a very good idea for the Town to start planning for its future stormwater management needs. Mr. Small said that Town staff planned to present a report to the Council in the Fall about the Town’s stormwater management options. Council Member Andresen inquired about the status of the Army Corps of Engineers stormwater management study. Mr. Small said that progress on this project was quite slow. Mayor Waldorf said that the Council would be pleased to provide assistance by contacting United States Congressional delegates, if necessary, to advance this project.
Council Member Bateman inquired about the possibility of structuring fees so that the salary of the proposed new inspector position could be covered. Mr. Horton said that staff could develop options for the Council’s consideration. Council Member Capowski inquired about the possibility of mitigating the threat of future flooding from Bolin Creek. Mr. Small said that although the Corps of Engineers study would offer better information about Bolin Creek flooding, it would not necessarily offer a solution.
Council Member Capowski inquired how the maintenance of roadways in the Town could be improved. Mr. Horton said that the Council could approve additional funding to improve roadway maintenance. Stating that an area creek near Airport and Piney Mountain Roads was muddier and higher than normal, Council Member Wiggins inquired about possible reasons for this phenomena. Mr. Small said although he did not know the specifics of the situation, it appeared that this situation was exacerbated by ongoing development activity in the area. He added that recent very rainy conditions had contributed to erosion and siltation in area streams. Council Member Bateman said that a group of citizens concerned about this matter were preparing a videotape for presentation at a future Council meeting.
Council Member Andresen commended Engineering staff for preparing excellent background materials. Mayor Waldorf commended the Town Engineer and his staff for their good working relationship with the State Department of Transportation.
Inspections Department
Noting that the Inspections Department had not needed to ask for more personnel during the past five to ten years, Inspections Director John Davis said that it would be necessary to request two additional staff members in the Department’s 1999-2000 proposed budget. Mr. Davis said that the need for additional staff would be necessitated by the proposed implementation of an International Building Code in 1999. Stating that the Town’s inspections permitting fees had not increased in three or four years, Mr. Davis said that he was recommending an increase of fifteen percent for the next fiscal year.
Council Member Andresen inquired which elements of the new building code would necessitate additional inspections staff. Mr. Davis said that contributing elements were: (1) the need to send new and existing inspectors to schools regarding the International Building Code, (2) the need to increase the number of minimum housing code inspections and (3) the fact that the average-sized home in the Town was much larger, meaning that inspections were more difficult and more time-consuming.
Council Member Evans inquired about the typical response time for electrical inspections. Mr. Davis said that the response to electrical inspection requests was between one and three days. Council Member Evans asked whether staff could provide a summary of required inspection fees for an 1800 square foot house and a 3000 square foot shop. Mr. Horton said that given the peculiarities of individual situations, staff would have to make some broad assumptions to respond to this information request. Council Member Evans suggested the possibility of the Town following a fee structure similar to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority wherein larger and more elegant homes incurred higher fees. Mr. Davis said that a $120,000 home typically necessitated the same number of inspection-related trips as a $1,000,000 home.
Council Member Capowski inquired whether Town Inspections staff felt that there were any areas in which it might be a good idea to supplement existing minimum requirements. Mr. Davis said he believed that existing building codes were adequate. Mr. Horton noted that State statutes did not permit the Town to supplement existing minimum code standards.
Finance Department
Finance Director Jim Baker presented an overview of the Finance Department’s functions. He noted that the Department was requesting some new resources to assist with computer-related needs. Council Member Capowski inquired about the Town’s current average return on investments. Mr. Baker said the average rate of return was 5.375%. Town Accountant Kay Johnson said that the Town had a network of over two hundred computers and only one staff member, an administrator, to oversee the network. Mayor Waldorf said that the Town had made great strides about computers during the last few years. Council Member Andresen inquired whether the physical networking had been handled by an outside contractor. Ms. Johnson said that this was correct. Noting that the Town was experiencing some technological growing pains, Mr. Horton said that new work protocols were being established to take advantage of computerized equipment.
Personnel Department
Personnel Director Pat Thomas briefly reviewed the variety of programs and guidelines administered by the department. She noted that although the Town’s overall turnover rate had been quite consistent, some positions were quite difficult to fill. Council Member Evans inquired about the level of benefits for the Town’s contract employees. Ms. Thomas said that although contract employees received no benefits, the Town did provide benefits on a graduated percentage basis for part-time employees.
Administration
Town Clerk Peter Richardson presented an overview of recommended budgets for the Mayor’s Office, Town Council, Town Clerk’s Office and Town Manager’s Office. He noted that $9,000 was being requested to replace the Town’s central postage scale and metering machine. Mr. Richardson also noted that he was working with the Planning Department to gather information about document imaging technology. Council Member Capowski inquired about the adequacy of the Town’s document back-up system. Mr. Richardson stated that a system was in place to store copies of many vital documents at sites other than the Town Hall. Mr. Baker noted that back-up tapes of the Town’s financial information were also stored off-site. Council Member Evans commended Mr. Richardson for his high level of service to citizens and the Council. Mr. Horton said that the Town was fortunate to have many employees providing consistently high levels of service.
Town Attorney’s Office
Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos noted that he had presented a report to the Council in September outlining the tradeoffs between hiring additional staff and securing outside contractual assistance for legal matters. Mr. Karpinos presented a brief overview of the Attorney’s Office operations and his budget request.
Concluding Comments
Council Member Brown said it was worthwhile to note that none of the reports presented this evening were two-sided copies. Council Member Brown said she preferred to receive front and back copies of documents. Council Member Evans stated that the Inspections Department presented two-sided copies.
Council Member Capowski said it was good to receive information from Town departments early in the Council’s budget preparation process.
Stating that each department had made their presentations in a different manner, Council Member Bateman said she would prepare a uniform format which might make future meetings of this type more succinct. Mr. Horton said that staff would be pleased to do future departmental budget presentations in a standardized format if the Council wished.
The meeting stood adjourned at 9:45 p.m.