CLOSED SESSION OF THE CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1999 AT 10:42 P.M.
Mayor Waldorf called the meeting to order at 10:42 p.m.
Council Members present were Flicka Bateman, Joyce Brown, Joe Capowski, Pat Evans, Kevin Foy, Julie McClintock, Lee Pavăo, and Edith Wiggins. Staff members present were Town Manager Cal Horton, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and Florentine Miller, Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos, Assistant to the Manager Ruffin Hall, and Town Clerk Joyce Smith.
Mr. Michael Brough, the attorney representing the Town in the current Meadowmont lawsuits, gave a brief overview of the pending lawsuit. He stated that the hearing was scheduled for April 19 at 2 p.m.. Mr. Brough added that he will have a brief turned in the week before as requested by the judge. Mr. Brough commented he would contact Planning Director Roger Waldon to make sure he understands all the aspects of the case, then prepare the brief.
Council Member Foy stated it might be helpful if Mr. Brough gave a brief synopsis of the meeting he had with the four Council Members. Mr. Brough said he had met previously with Council Members Brown, Capowski, Foy, and McClintock, with the purpose of helping him understand the reasons for the two resolutions of denial. He said he wanted a better handle on the issues related to the Comprehensive Plan and why the project was denied.
Council Member Evans asked if the meeting was recorded. Mr. Brough said no, he had no reason to do so. He said he did take notes, and now had a better sense of what had happened and how the history of the project related to the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Brough said he still needs to read through the information and to talk with the Planners to answer some questions
Council Member Wiggins said she was glad to hear Mr. Brough say he would read all of the information. She said it had been indicated that the prior meeting with the four Council Members had taken place because Mr. Brough may not have time to read all the information.
Council Member Bateman asked what aspects of the Comprehensive Plan Mr. Brough needed information on. Mr. Brough stated the entranceway and the issues involving the meadow. He said some reasons for denial had to do with those issues, and he wanted to make sure he had specific and clear understanding of those issues. Mr. Brough said in the previous meeting the participants had spent a fair amount of time on the difference between the Comprehensive Plan and what was proposed and denied, but recognizing the Master Plan had been approved. He noted that some believed the Meadowmont Master Plan was not compatible with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Brough said his effort was going to be to substantiate those differences. He noted he did not remember any other specifics about the meeting.
Council Member Evans said the meeting had come to the Council’s attention because of his invoice to the Town. She said the statement also noted several conference calls to Council Members. Mr. Brough said he did not remember any actual conference calls, though some calls to individuals had taken place. Council Member Evans asked if Mr. Brough had initiated those callls. He noted he had received the calls.
Council Member Evans asked if it was normal procedure to accept a meeting with only a small portion of a group such as the Council. Mr. Brough said he had never had any reason to be reluctant to speak to individual members or small groups he was representing. He said he was not surprised or found it unusual to have been contacted by the four Council Members.
Council Member Bateman asked for his phone number. Mr. Brough replied 929-3905. He said he would be happy to speak to any of the Council unless he is instructed by the full Council otherwise.
Mr. Brough noted there was one other issued discussed in the previous meeting that he had neglected to share. He said there was a question about whether the Master Plan had to be consistent with all the ordinance requirements, and there was some discussion regarding the hotel. Mr. Brough said he would be dealing with that issue as well.
Council Member Evans asked if the Council Members could have a copy of the brief. Mr. Brough stated yes, that he would forward a copy to Mr. Karpinos. He noted that experience had taught him that it was better to focus on two or three issues in the brief, rather than overwhelming the judge with small bits of information.
Mr.Brough said he wanted to address the memorandum he had sent suggesting that the resolutions of denial be revised. He said it was not his intention to have the Council alter the minutes in any way, that all he was suggesting was that the staff’s resolution was not sufficient to cover the statements in the verbatim transcript. He said he gathered there was some impression that he was suggesting an unethical act, and that was not his intent and would never suggest such a thing. Mr. Brought stated he was saying the staff’s draft resolution was not necessarily exactly like the verbatim discussion.
Council Member Bateman asked for the name of the judge would hear the case. Mr. Brough answered Judge Wiley Bowen from Fayetteville.
The closed session and the meeting adjourned at 11:01 p.m.
The minutes of March 22, 1999 were adopted on the 11th day
of October, 1999.
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Joyce A. Smith, CMC