SUMMARY MINUTES OF A BUDGET WORK SESSION
OF THE CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
MONDAY, JUNE 5, 2000, AT 4:00 P.M.
Mayor Rosemary Waldorf called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
Council members present were Flicka Bateman, Pat Evans, Kevin Foy, Lee Pavăo, Bill Strom, Jim Ward, and Edith Wiggins. Council Member Joyce Brown arrived at 4:15 p.m.
Staff members present were Town Manager Cal Horton, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and Florentine Miller, Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos, Assistant to the Manager Bill Stockard, Interim Transportation Director Scott McClellan, Interim Police Chief Gregg Jarvies, Planning Director Roger Waldon, Public Works Director Bruce Heflin, Engineering Director George Small, Parks and Recreation Director Kathryn Spatz, Fire Chief Dan Jones, Personnel Director Pat Thomas, Finance Director Jim Baker, and Town Clerk Joyce Smith.
Item 1 – Spreadsheet Showing Potential Budget Adjustments
Mr. Horton explained the spreadsheet reflecting potential budget adjustments based on decisions made by the Council:
· Pay Plan (delay by one pay period and reduce by .25% in salary ranges) – $66,000
· Departmental 2% reductions – $84,000
· Add funding for School Resource Officers (SROs) with 50% revenue from schools – with proposed expenditures of $164,000 and proposed revenues of $110,000
· Reduce Capital Reserve and CIP transfers – $300,000
· Reduce proposed planning fees for non-profits – proposed revenues reduced $20,000
· Add funding for Land Trust $10,000
· Add funding for $1.00 increase in Landfill tip fee - $25,000
· Departmental reductions for Public Works – $35,000
Mr. Horton said implementing these reductions would limit the tax rate to an increase of 1.1 cents. He said the staff was not recommending additional bus services in order to meet the objective of a total 1.5 cents tax rate increase. Mr. Horton said the staff would continue to monitor the proposed State budget through the General Assembly. He noted that if additional funds were distributed in the middle of the year, the Town should receive sufficient additional grant funding to pay for increase in bus services in agreement with its partners, Carrboro and the University of North Carolina
Item 2 – Transit Service Expansion Options
Council Member Foy asked if expanded services would increase ridership, other than giving current riders more choices of times to ride. Interim Transportation Director Scott McClellan said he felt the proposal to expand services would increase ridership, without any doubts. Mr. Horton added that an assessment of whether there would be new riders could be done, but would require a different type of survey than was currently used.
Council Member Foy asked if the Town would proceed with the Memorandum of Understanding with the other partners. Mr. Horton answered that there had been a pause in work on the Memorandum of Understanding, awaiting action by both governing boards.
Mayor Waldorf said she thought that Carrboro Mayor Nelson would be drafting a proposal for the Committee on Transportation.
Council Member Bateman asked if the fare-free issue for students was still in the proceeds. Mr. Horton said it was still under consideration.
Council Member Evans asked if the Town would be cutting or expanding service on the P, J, T/G, and C/D lines. Mr. McClellan said there would be reduced services for the evening service only. Mr. Horton stated the J route would be expanded during the day, but there would be reduced evening service, which would terminate at 8:00 p.m.
Council Member Evans asked if the staff had looked at any other route reductions the Town might make, in order to expand some other routes. Mr. McClellan answered that the exercise the staff went through were options for expanding services, but not routes which might be cut. Mr. Horton added that there were no suggestions from the Transportation Board or from the partners to reduce services, but the staff could identify those not performing well.
Council Member Wiggins suggested expanded public relations information regarding expanded services. Mr. McClellan said the University would most likely emphasize the expanded services in order to get more use of the park and ride lots.
Mayor Waldorf suggested a strong public relations campaign regarding expanded bus services. Mr. Horton said the key point would be to get the information out as quickly as possible.
Council Member Wiggins urged working with the University to get the information out quickly, since parking permits has already been issued, and might have to be changed.
Council Member Ward asked if the mid-year implementation of the State transportation funds would mean January. Mr. Horton said he would hope the budget would be adopted by the summer, and that the Council would give the Manager formal instructions to direct the applications for the fund as soon as possible after that. He said it would be the desire of the staff that operation of the expanded service start by the beginning of the school year.
Council Member Foy asked if the money from the State would be around $500,000. Mr. Baker said this year it had been more, around $600,000, and he would expect, if the State passed the funding, it would be about the same for Chapel Hill. Mr. Horton said the total amount would be a grant to the total bottom line of all three of the partners, and, since Chapel Hill was the grant recipient, the grant would be shared by the participating partners.
COUNCIL MEMBER WARD MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER FOY, TO ADOPT SERVICE EXPANSION OPTION 1A, CONTINGENT ON RECEIVING THE STATE FUNDING. THE MOTION WAS ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY. (9-0).
Mr. Horton said the staff would bring a resolution to the Council authorizing it to seek the grant funding if funds were included in the budget, to receive those funds, to prepare the necessary documents for the Council’s consideration, and to put the service into place providing the two partners were still in agreement.
Council Members Strom and Foy volunteered to serve with the Legislative group to analyze and look at the system in order to make changes, and agreed that a member of the Transportation Board also be part of the group.
Council Member Evans asked for a report in a year to see how the expanded service was working.
a. Potential Budget Reduction Options
Council Member Strom suggested that Mr. Horton and Public Works Director Bruce Heflin make the possible cuts in the Public Works Department FY 2000-01 budget. The Council agreed.
b. Responses to Council Members’ Questions Regarding Curbside Collection Service
Council Member Evans suggested privatizing trash collection for Southern Village, since the Town trucks could not get into the alleys, and would not have equipment to collect in the alleys for at least another year. She stated she felt it was only fair to the residents, since there was no way they could bring their trash to the curbside, and most did not have side yards for storage of the trash carts. Mr. Horton said if the Council proceeded to change the standard refuse collection method to once-weekly curbside collection, then the $34,000 otherwise being used to plan for and gear up for service in Southern Village would not be required, because the Department would not need the additional collection personnel or extra truck.
Council Member Bateman asked about paying a contractor for collection service. Mr. Heflin said the Town could contract with a collector for two years, allowing him to continue the service, or pay him the equivalent of one year’s revenue. He said the Council would have to set the level of service and the Department would have to ensure that the service was provided safely, and the costs would commence July 1, 2001.
Council Member Foy, referring to Agenda #3d, asked if he was correct in assessing that the only costs for the exemption rates would come at the 13% exemption rate. Mr. Heflin said that was correct, that the Department would have to add a scooter vehicle to the scooter route, which would require an additional position and an additional pickup truck, at a total cost of $35,000-$38,000.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo asked if that estimate was a change from the 11% discussed before in other years. Mr. Heflin said it was, that the last time there was an extrapolation was about 8 years ago, and there had been significant changes in the amount of waste put out for collection, with less waste being put out and more being recycled.
Council Member Ward, referring to Agenda #3b, #8, asked if the Town could provide curbside collection with a strictly optional cart system. Mr. Heflin said the Town could, but there were pros and cons to the system. He said it would save the Town money, would be neutral in terms of a pay-as-you-throw system, and make collection at some sites easier. Mr. Heflin said one of the disadvantages of this would be frequent changes in the population which might create confusion at the collection site for the collector, and the containers might be more likely to tear and turn over. He said empty cans and lids could blow away. Mr. Heflin stated there might be a problem with Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) rules on ergonomics, which might lead the industry to semi-automation. He said the Department felt the carts would be an advantage because they could be automatically dumped.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo, referring to a memo to the Council from Council Members Brown, Evans, Foy, and Pavăo, stated that he felt that the system could be implemented immediately, without purchase of the carts, that information should be obtained on pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) with a Mayor’s committee, and a mandatory recycling program should be instituted. He said he did not have adequate information to authorize the expenditure of up to $500,000 to buy new carts, the cost of replacement of the carts. Mayor pro tem Pavăo added that it appeared the carts were not recyclable, and that PAYT seemed like a better system. He asked the Council to authorize the staff to gather the information on PAYT before the end of the year, in order to have it in place before the next budget session. Mayor pro tem Pavăo said he hoped the Town would not purchase the carts at this time.
Council Member Bateman read a memo from Council Members Strom, Ward, Wiggins, and Bateman:
“First, we wish to thank all citizens and staff who have provided information on the subject of curbside refuse collection. We extend appreciation to those citizens who bring their garbage to the curb already, and to the staff for being so responsive to all of our questions.
“The ultimate goal as a community is to meet the 61% per capita reduction in material going to the landfill. Our interests also include:
· improving working conditions for Public Works Department staff;
· improving worker efficiency on the job;
· maintaining our concerns for environmental sensitivity;
· reducing collection costs over time, including a $402,300 reduction by fiscal year 2005-2006.
“With this in mind, we support the following and make these recommendations to the Council:
1. Begin implementing a curbside pickup program, which would include giving residents the option of:
(a) requesting roll-out bins from the Town, while understanding that the resident is responsible for the security of his/her own garbage while it is at the curb;
(b) using their own containers, while understanding that the resident is responsible for the security of his/her own garbage while it is at the curb;
(c) using bags, understanding that the resident is responsible for the security of his/her own garbage while it is at the curb.
2. In response to our concerns for the senior community of Chapel Hill, we support an exemption for residents over the age of 70. Many residents of this age group will still choose to participate in the curbside program. This exemption is in addition to the Town’s existing exemption policy for people with disabilities. In previous documents, the Public Works Department has suggested a combination of the following as criteria for establishing exemptions:
· Physical limitations of individual residents
· Geographical conditions at individual residences
· Options (or lack thereof) available for placement of containers
3. Process
· As curbside is phased in, scheduled yard waste pickup service is simultaneously phased in.
· The curbside program must be compatible with Pay As You Throw options. The Council shall take action on Pay As You Throw in this calendar year.
· Other waste collection issues that deserve evaluation in this calendar year include non-residential waste pickup and increased efforts to work with the county to enhance citizen awareness and recycling opportunities. We believe these should be addressed and resolved in time for the 2001-2002 budget cycle.
4. Other Points
· No Town employee layoffs will result from changing to a curbside garbage collection system.
· All citizens of Chapel Hill are concerned with the aesthetics of our community. Therefore, we feel that an enforcement policy regarding containers left at the curb overnight is not needed at this time. This issue will be more closely monitored by Town staff, which will keep the Council informed.
· We anticipate that residents will respond positively to the curbside program.
· Staff will implement a program ensuring once-a-week collection, regardless of service interruptions that may occur as a result of holidays, unsafe road conditions, etc.
· We strongly encourage the purchase of rollcarts made from a high percentage of post-consumer plastic and recyclable materials.
· Current curbside recycling routes shall be coordinated with once-a-week curbside garbage pickup routes.
“Again, we thank all involved for the hard work on this study, and we appreciate the Council’s consideration of this proposal.”
Council Member Foy suggested proceeding on the issues the Council had agreed upon, such as once-a-week pickup, mandatory recycling, and PAYT.
Council Member Brown said she felt mandatory recycling would be taken care of if the Council implemented a PAYT system, and then required mandatory recycling for things not in the PAYT.
Council Member Strom suggested that the Council should decide on whether or not it wanted to go for curbside collection, and that the other decisions would be determined by the collection system.
Council Member Evans read the question in the memo, “Could a voluntary curbside collection system work?” and the response from the staff. She asked if it would be a better idea to see if a voluntary system would work before going to mandatory recycling.
Council Member Ward said it did not make sense to him to go to once-a-week collection if it were not done at the curb. He cited the staff’s comments of the difficulties of collecting once a week, during a week in which there was a holiday.
Council Member Foy said if the volume of solid waste was reduced by 22%, through mandatory recycling or PAYT, then it would be possible to have once-a-week pickup.
Council Member Bateman asked the staff to respond to the memo she had read.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo suggested moving toward mandatory recycling immediately, since it would take some time to implement PAYT, and that would reduce the volume placed at the curbside.
Mayor Waldorf asked if it would be possible to go to mandatory recycling without consultation with the County, which was now running the solid waste system. Mr. Heflin said there would have to be some means to determine if the trash was contaminated with recyclables, since there was a bag ordinance in the Town. He said there would have to be some sort of inspection and enforcement mechanism. Mr. Heflin said it would have to be determined if the County would have the capacity to collect the recyclables.
Council Member Brown said it was important for the Council to remember that the collection systems under the Solid Waste Management Plan were left up to the jurisdiction of the various government entities. She said she felt it was important that the Town work with the County on the aspects that the County controlled, but the two systems under discussion were left up to the jurisdiction of the various governments. She said the PAYT system would get at more waste reduction than mandatory recycling, and coupled, they would do a very good job. Council Member Brown said that food waste would not come under mandatory recycling, but that people could become more aware of what they could do themselves for waste reduction.
Mr. Heflin commented on the memo read by Council Member Bateman:
1. He said he stood on his comments in the earlier discussion, and the use of bags was not recommended because of the breakage, although the collectors usually picked up broken, scattered trash.
Council Member Wiggins said she felt that the Town should enforce the ordinance it had regarding broken trash bags, and the collectors should not have to go back to pick up broken trash bags. Mr. Heflin said there were some neighborhoods where it was easier for the collectors to pick up the broken trash bags, rather than let the pile of rubbish deteriorate.
Council Member Wiggins said she was talking about garbage in cans, but not in bags. Mr. Horton agreed and said the Department needed to change the culture in its own organization, with collectors trying to do a good job, but not abiding by the policy of the organization.
Council Member Evans said the property owner should pay for the collection of broken trash bags, if the collectors had to go back to the neighborhood to clean the trash up.
Mr. Heflin said if use of the carts was voluntary, then there would be cost considerations as to how many to order, at what price per unit cost.
2. Mr. Heflin said there were not statistics of how many citizens were over 70 and therefore eligible for exemptions. He said he did not think this would numerically be a problem. As for physical limitations and geographical conditions, Mr. Heflin said these would be decided on an individual basis.
3. Mr. Heflin said scheduled yard waste pickup would add a significant cost, and it would take some recalculations to figure out what the costs and implications would be.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo asked if the increase in yard waste could be attributed to citizens who had gardeners, who left the yard waste to be collected rather than carting it away themselves. Mr. Heflin said it could be the reason.
Council Member Brown asked what the time would be for implementation of the services that the Council agreed upon, adding that any of them would take several months to implement. She asked to have cost comparisons for curbside PAYT and side-yard PAYT.
Council Member Foy asked the staff to take into account the cost of yard waste created by professional landscapers, if it decided to phase in yard waste collection. He said the professional landscapers should be required to pay for the waste they generated. Council Member Foy asked about licensing. Mr. Horton said he would have to talk with the Attorney about requiring the homeowner to pay for the yard waste pickup.
Council Member Strom said the Council members writing the memo felt that twice monthly yard waste collection was too ambitious and citizens would be more interested in a set date, rather than the frequency of the collections. He said he would like to see a proposal for collection of yard waste every month to six weeks, to be phased in, and at what cost.
Council Member Brown asked what the significant difference would be for phasing in collection of yard waste within a certain time frame. Mr. Horton said the Department did not do it within a certain time frame, because it was not a scheduled service of the Council, and that was where the Department exercised flexibility. He said if there were employee vacancies it showed up in yard waste collection. Mr. Heflin said most of collectors were assigned to residential collection, and with the vacancies in the Department, there were often no workers for yard waste collection. He said there were several reasons, such as storms, seasons, and vacancies, to cause the Department to get behind in brush collection.
Mayor Waldorf said both the memos supported almost identical goals, but that mandatory-except-for-exemptions-curbside program was the only way to achieve these goals. She said she felt a motion should say that the Town strongly recommended rollcarts for individuals, rather than for them to be optional.
Council Member Brown said it would be a serious mistake to go ahead with the notion that the Council would go along with the purchase of the carts. She said the information she had asked for previously should be taken into consideration before any purchase of the carts.
COUNCIL MEMBER BROWN MOVED, SECONDED BY MAYOR PRO TEM PAVĂO, NOT TO APPROVE CARTS AT THE PRESENT TIME, AND THAT THE STAFF BRING A COST ANALYSIS FOR THE PAYT CURBSIDE, WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF IT IS DEEMED NECESSARY, ABOUT SIDE-YARD PICKUP AS WELL, WITHIN THAT PAYT SYSTEM.
Mr. Horton said the staff would need to know before the adoption of the budget whether or not the Council wished to implement roll cart system at curbside, so the staff could begin providing the service at the end of the seven months.
Mayor Waldorf said she was not prepared to vote on a PAYT program until the committee appointed to investigate the program had reported back to the Council.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo said he understood that the committee had gone as far as it could and needed assistance to gather the cost analysis for the program.
Council Member Foy said the committee needed the staff’s assistance to bring a proposal to the Council that it could proceed with as a full-fledged plan, which could be implemented. He said the committee’s recommendations would only be part of the Council’s decision.
Council Member Wiggins said that she opposed the option for side-yard pickup, once a week.
Council Member Brown said she thought the Council should have as much information as possible on the options. She said the Council had asked the PAYT committee to focus on the acceptability in the community, but the staff should be the one to give the Council the economic information, in order for the Council to make a good decision.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo suggested, as the seconder, that the motion include implementation of curbside collection at the present time, so when the information for PAYT was complete, it could be implemented with the curbside service.
Council Member Strom said he thought the carts should be part of the motion, and it was not fair to implement a curbside collection program without providing the citizens with the carts. He said the carts should be offered as an option.
COUNCIL MEMBER STROM MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER BATEMAN, A SUBSTITUTE MOTION THAT THE COUNCIL IMPLEMENT POINTS ONE AND TWO OF THE MEMORANDUM BY COUNCIL MEMBERS BATEMAN, STROM , WARD, AND WIGGINS.
COUNCIL MEMBER WARD ADDED AS A “FRIENDLY” AMENDMENT, NUMBER ONE, B, “USING THEIR OWN WHEELED CARTS.”
Mr. Horton said the staff recommended the use of the standardized carts, and if the owner’s own bins were used, it did not matter if they were on wheels or not.
Council Member Ward withdrew his motion.
Council Member Evans said one small container should be used to dispose of garbage, and the largest container possible for recyclables, and she said until the Council had more information on PAYT, it should not buy containers.
Council Member Foy said he did not support the substitute motion. He said they had learned from the community that the Town needed to have more than one system for waste collection, with flexibility. He said the Council should hear from all the neighborhoods and what they wanted for their own individual needs. Council Member Foy said there should be flexibility and not just a one set system.
Council Member Wiggins said she had enough confidence in the staff that they would work with the individuals to identify particular needs, as they would have flexibility to provide whatever service individuals would need. She said at the same time the Town would keep moving toward the goals of trash collection. Council Member Wiggins stated that the Council had to provide the leadership. She added this step would be the first step, and she supported the substitute motion.
Mayor Waldorf asked the mover and the seconder if she could add a third part to the motion, “In particular multi-family areas or on particular streets where curbside collection is not physically possible an alternative collection arrangement will be made.” This was accepted by both the mover and the seconder.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo said he was opposed to the purchase of rollout carts because the Council did not know enough about the choices, and to purchase 10,000 carts for voluntary use would mean that the Town would have to warehouse the carts for people who might want to use them. He added the Council had to listen to the concerns of the people, and there were many citizens who were opposed to rollout carts and curbside collection. Mayor pro tem Pavăo noted his belief that the Council should move more slowly in making a decision.
Council Member Brown said one of the key points was that every neighborhood was different, and that had to be taken into account. She said what she had heard from the citizen comments was that the citizens were ready to move forward on the issue of trash collection, and in a direction of some kind of compromise, which would not necessarily lock the Town into a single system.
Council Member Bateman said she felt the staff would be able to determine the needs of the citizens by the methods they had suggested to impart information to the various neighborhoods, taking into consideration each neighborhood’s particular needs. She did not feel the Council needed to get down to that level of participation, and said she thought the Council should vote on the motion.
Council Member Evans said she was concerned that if a community assessment was not made, that the exemptions to the rollout carts would be over the 13%, since the population in Chapel Hill of older citizens was growing steadily. She said these were facts that the Council did not have in order to make a decision on the expenditures for rollout carts. Council Member Evans said she felt the motion from Council Members Brown and Pavăo would not lock the Town into a situation from which it could not back out of, if it was found to be necessary.
THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION WAS ADOPTED BY A VOTE OF 5-4. WITH MAYOR WALDORF, COUNCIL MEMBERS BATEMAN, STROM, WARD, AND WIGGINS VOTING AYE AND COUNCIL MEMBERS BROWN, EVANS, FOY, AND PAVĂO VOTING NAY.
Mayor Waldorf reread the third section added to the main motion.
Council Member Bateman added sections 3 and 4, with the change in bullet number one, Section 3, the words “where possible” before the word “scheduled.” Mr. Horton suggested changing the words “where possible” to “when possible,” so the staff could work on the issue to give the Council some idea of when it would be possible.
Mr. Heflin commented that the staff’s capacity to bring back to the Council all the information on all of the initiatives was limited by its resources. He said if there was a narrow direction it could be brought back within the calendar year, but if the Council wanted a broad-based analysis of the many options available, it could not be accomplished within the calendar year. Mr. Horton said if the staff could work without a committee, with the knowledge the staff already had, it could bring back some information as basis for discussion.
Council Member Brown asked what if the Council found another way that was better than PAYT, referring to the second bullet under Section 3. She said the language was acceptable to her.
Council Member Foy said it was not clear why the first $91,000 expenditure was in the next fiscal year, and not in the present fiscal year. Mr. Baker responded that it was structured so the Town would make payment each six months, instead of up front.
Council Member Foy pointed out that it was artificial to say that the Town was saving $54,000, because it was shifted into the next year. Mr. Heflin said payment was structured so that payment could be made when additional savings accrued, to spread out the burden of payment.
Council Member Foy pointed out that the $94,000 was a direct cost of the program, and it was not a matter of savings this year.
Council Member Ward requested that Section 4 be added to the motion, changing only the final bullet by adding the words “To the greatest extent possible” to the beginning of the sentence. This was agreeable to both the mover and seconder.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo said, if the Town went to a PAYT system and selected the tag system for collection, and if the Town had carts, would the PAYT system eliminate the semi-automatic dumping of the carts. He asked if the collectors would have to look inside each bag. Mr. Heflin said collecting a single bag would usually be done more simply by taking it out of the cart, rather than using the semi-automatic dumping mechanism.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo said if the bags for PAYT had to be opened by the collector this would defeat the purpose of the semi-automatic system with the roll-out containers, and these were the kinds of issues that bothered him. He said it was still going to be extra work for the collectors, adding he wondered about what the cost factor might be.
Council Member Evans asked how much one rollout cart cost. Mr. Heflin said usually they were not quoted prices for a single cart, but contractors had said they cost anywhere from the high $30’s to the high $50’s. He added that informal quotes were usually not reliable, and these quotes seemed low. Mr. Heflin said it was proprietary information and the companies selling these carts would not release the information on prices.
Council Member Foy asked about the recyclable material in the carts. Mr. Heflin said it would have to be researched, but one of the issues would be that recycled materials of any kind tend to lack some of the structural strength when put into certain forms and shapes.
THE MOTION WAS ADOPTED BY A VOTE OF 5-4, WITH MAYOR WALDORF, AND COUNCIL MEMBERS BATEMAN, STROM, WARD, AND WIGGINS VOTING AYE, AND COUNCIL MEMBERS BROWN, EVANS, FOY, AND PAVĂO VOTING NAY.
Council Member Wiggins thanked the citizens for their comments during the decision- making process for the curbside collection option, and she said there had been much support for curbside collection. She added she felt that the citizens of Chapel Hill would make curbside collection work and she felt very comfortable with the option that had been chosen and the leadership that the Council had taken for the good of the community.
Council Member Evans said she would like this decision to be benchmarked, to make sure that the exemptions would not be costing the Town more money in the long run.
Council Member Brown said that the situation of the quarry that Council Member Wiggins had alluded to was an example of the Council not getting all the information, and she felt in the case of curbside collection the Council still did not have enough information to come to a suitable decision.
Council Member Bateman suggested moving to Item 5 on the Agenda, so that the staff present could testify, and not have to wait for discussion of Item 4 on the Agenda.
Item 5 – Costs Avoided by Holding Currently-Vacant Positions Open for
Three or Six Months and Related Impacts
Mayor Waldorf said that Finance Director Baker had made a good argument that holding current positions vacant was not a good idea, and she would like to see it dropped.
COUNCIL MEMBER WARD MOVED, SECONDED BY MAYOR PRO TEM PAVĂO, THAT THE COUNCIL NOT CONSIDER HOLDING CURRENTLY VACANT POSITIONS OPEN TO GENERATE A BUDGET SAVINGS IN THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR. THE COUNCIL AGREED BY CONSENSUS.
Mr. Horton thanked the Council for giving the departments the challenge every year to cut costs.
Item 4 – Planning Issues
Council Member Bateman asked if the proposed recommended development fee for non-profit agencies would be approximately what they were paying presently. Planning Director Roger Waldon said they would be paying slightly more.
Council Member Strom said he thought the proposal to cap, Item 4d, was a very good response to the unintended consequence of changing the fees and he supported it, as well as the proposed fee for non-profits. He said he was ready to move ahead with a motion.
Council Member Evans said she thought the action the Council would be taking in increasing the development fees was too fast, too dramatic, and very unfair.
Council Member Ward asked how the proposal would treat the small businesses that might want to expand. Mr. Waldon said if it were a new small business the proposal would increase the application fees by a factor anywhere between 3 and 5 times what it was. He said if an existing business wanting to expand, the proposal left intact the present policy that the application fee was based upon the expansion, and it would still be 3 to 5 times what it was presently. Mr. Waldon said the larger the project the higher the fee.
Council Member Foy said he supported the proposal with the non-profit and the cap, but he also suggested that the cap be modified to raise it at a modified rate to reflect the potential increased costs. Mr. Horton said one of the things the staff would be doing would be keeping track of the billable hours spent on the projects by the staff. He said the rates would be reasonable and would cover the costs. Mr. Horton suggested that the staff would bring a recommendation to the Council each year, in that regard.
COUNCIL MEMBER FOY MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER WARD, TO ADOPT THE FEE SCHEDULE WITH THE CAP AND SPECIAL RATES FOR NON-PROFITS. THE MOTION WAS ADOPTED BY A VOTE OF 8-1, WITH MAYOR WALDORF, COUNCIL MEMBERS BATEMAN, BROWN, FOY, PAVĂO, STROM, WARD, AND WIGGINS VOTING AYE, AND COUNCIL MEMBER EVANS VOTING NAY.
Council Member Foy said, in Item 3e, he felt it was reasonable to increase the fees as the costs rose. Mr. Horton said that would be included in the yearly report to the Council.
Council Member Strom asked if the tip fees were included in the collection fees. Mr. Heflin said it was collection costs only.
Council Member Strom said he felt that tip fees should be included, if the Town was going to be charging for costs. Mr. Heflin said the Town paid the tipping fee for private collectors that it hired. He said it would be an issue of weighing each box per weight. Mr. Horton added they would bring back a proposal for the June 26th Council meeting, on which the Council could make a decision regarding the tipping fee.
Council Member Ward asked how the concern could be addressed that some business might drop extra needed service, creating a trash overflow in its neighborhoods. Mr. Heflin said the businesses either added any number of boxes that would be picked up twice a week, or the waste migrated. He said there were regulations already in place for inspections for overflow.
Council Member Wiggins asked if a dumpster was blocked would the collectors go back a second time to empty the dumpster. Mr. Heflin said the staff did provide that service if it was reasonable to do so.
Item 6 – Maintenance of Transportation Department’s Fleet of
Vans, Station Wagons, and Sedans
Council Member Strom said the memorandum did not address the question of holding back on hiring two more maintenance management staff over the budget cycle. Mr. Horton said his concern was the memorandum was based on the finding of review by the agency that gives the Town the grant money, and once that finding was made on review, the agency expected the Town to act. He added he also worried that the Town was not able to provide the care of the facility, as well as the buses that it used, and he felt there was justification for the two new positions. Interim Transportation Director McClellan said this had become an issue with the Department of Transportation Administration’s review and needed to be addressed. He said he was also concerned with maintenance and safety of the buses, as well as their reliability and efficiency.
Mayor Waldorf said she supported the two positions in light of the case as presented by the Public Works Department.
Council Member Strom said he wanted to know if there was another way of addressing the budgetary concerns rather than hiring two extra positions. He asked if the hiring could be delayed, and if there was another way to address the maintenance issues.
Council Member Wiggins asked if the bottom line changed as to the tax increase, if these two positions were eliminated. Mr. Horton said it would be slightly less than .1% on the tax rate.
Item 7 – Discussion of Land Trust Request
Mayor Waldorf said she had put this item on the agenda in order to get a vote on it. The Council supported the request.
Item 8 – Discussion of School Resource Officer Positions
Mayor Waldorf said the reason this was on the agenda was that several Council members had said they would be willing to fund it at the 50% level this year, with the understanding that that would go down next year to 25% or less.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo asked if, after the 25% next year, it would be zero after that. He said he objected to the inference by the school administration which said that the Council was pulling the officers from the schools. He said he felt the school administration should pay for the School Resource Officers (SROs) after next year.
Council Member Foy said if the schools wanted the service they should pay for it and Chapel Hill taxpayers should not be paying for low County taxes. He asked if this was an agreement with the school board or just a statement by the Council.
Council Member Evans said the issue was did Chapel Hill raise its taxes for the SROs or did the County raise its district taxes. She said the County should raise the money through the school tax.
Council Member Bateman suggested that the transition period of two years was appropriate and that Mayor Waldorf write a letter to the school board stating that after two years the Council would no longer pay for the SROs.
Mayor Waldorf asked if the SROs were in the school twelve months of the year. Mr. Horton they were not presently in the schools twelve months of the year.
Mayor Waldorf asked what they did when school was not in session. Mr. Horton said they were performing other police duties.
Mayor Waldorf said she did not think the Town should tell the school system they should pay for the two months the officers were providing service to the Town. Interim Police Chief Jarvies said the contract the Department had with the school system was for twelve months, in order to cover the schools during the summer sessions. He said during the holiday breaks and vacations the school officers worked about 75% of their time in the communities where their students resided, to keep a transition for the entire year. Interim Chief Jarvies said the officers were involved with communities, but through the schools they served, with extra curricular activities. He said part of the service was self-initiated, and other activities, particularly during the summer, were directed by the school administrators.
Council Member Ward asked Interim Chief Jarvies if he considered the SROs to be full-time employed within the school system framework. Interim Chief Jarvies said he considered them full-time contract employees of the schools.
Council Member Ward said he would support the 50% for the first year, and rather than making a commitment for another year, to wait to see if the schools got other funding for the future support of the SROs.
Council Member Bateman said if the school system got the grant they applied for, then the Council should not fund anything. Mr. Horton said his understanding was that if the school system got the grant they applied for, they would pay 50% of the costs for this year.
Council Member Wiggins offered that the Council would pay 50% this year, and, if needed, up to 25% the next year. Mr. Horton suggested that the Council would pay up to 50% the first year, if necessary, followed by Council Member Wiggins suggestion.
Mayor Waldorf said the Council would work on the language for the letter to the school system.
Mr. Horton spoke about the proposal to modify the Capital Improvements Program and to cover the Town’s portion of the cost for the infrared equipment and fees for the Fire Department. He suggested that the best way to cover that would be with a small amount of interest earnings accrued in the Capital Improvements Program fund that the Council ordinarily disbursed at the end of each year. Mr. Horton suggested that the Council allow the staff to budget a small amount of this money to cover this cost without doing any harm to the Capital Improvements Program.
The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.