SUMMARY MINUTES OF A CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
PUBLIC HEARINGS ON BUDGET AND RELATED ITEMS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2001, AT 7:00 P.M.
Mayor pro tem Lee Pavăo called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Council members present were Flicka Bateman, Joyce Brown, Pat Evans, Kevin Foy, Bill Strom, Jim Ward, and Edith Wiggins. Mayor Rosemary Waldorf was absent, excused.
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, Finance Director Jim Baker, Library Director Kathy Thompson, and Acting Clerk Toni Pendergraph.
Item 1 – Public Hearing on the Manager’s Recommended 2001-2002 Budget,
Capital Improvements Program, Proposed Use of 2001-2002 Transportation
Grant Funds, and the 2001-2002 Downtown Service District Tax
Mr. Horton commented on the recommended budget and capital program. He said the recommended budget, as proposed, would be $53 million in 2001-2002, with net appropriations totaling $33.8 million in the General Fund and $7.9 million in the Transportation Fund. He said the proposed budget would continue most services and provide for annexation of Southern Village and Notting Hill, effect June 30, 2001.
Mr. Horton said, in preparing the proposed budget, the staff assumed implementation of the final phase of once-weekly curbside collection of single-family residential refuse and continued collection of present commercial collection practices pending the Council’s final decisions, after they have completed their budget deliberations. Mr. Horton said the general tax rate would decrease by 4.7 cents from the present 53.5 cents to 48.8 cents, and the Transportation Fund tax would increase by 3/10 of a cent to 4.6 cents, resulting in a total tax rate of 53.4 cents. He said that although the actual tax rate would be reduced from a total of 57.8 cents to 53.4 cents, because of property revaluation the proposed tax rate would represent an effective tax rate increase of 5.2 cents over the estimated equalization rate.
Mr. Horton said key factors influencing the proposed tax rates were:
General Fund
· Continuation of most current General Fund services.
· Continuation of the pay plan and system approved by the Council in the last two years.
· The full-year cost of pay increases funded for only eight months in 2000-2001.
· An increase in the allocation for capital improvements.
· Higher costs for workers’ compensation, and medical insurance.
· Continuing the vehicle and computer replacement programs established by the Council in prior years.
· Installment financing the purchase of land for relocation of public works facilities necessitated by end of the University land lease in 2006.
· Funding the first phase of information technology improvements recommended by the Technology Committee.
· A $2.00 per ton increase in tipping fee charges at the Orange Regional Landfill.
· An allocation for higher fuel costs.
Transportation Fund
· Funding the initiation of fare-free transit services on all routes beginning January 2002, with the University paying a significant portion of the additional costs.
· Additional transit services requested by and to be paid for by the University next year and in succeeding years.
· Extension of service hours on the F Route likely to be requested by the Town of Carrboro. Costs would be paid by Carrboro next year and may be eligible as a system cost in future years. Extension of services to Southern Village and Notting Hill.
· Funding pay adjustments to continue the pay system established by the Council over the past two years.
· The estimated increase in costs for group medical insurance programs and workers’ compensation insurance.
· Estimated additional costs resulting from higher prices for motor vehicle fuels.
Mr. Horton added that, because the State Legislature had not progressed far enough in its budgetary deliberations, the Town did not know whether or not the State would withhold funds that traditionally come to the Town. He said it was possible that the State would withhold up to $740,000 normally available to the Council to pay for Town services. Mr. Horton said the State might decide on a budget by mid-June, which would enable the Council to proceed with adoption of a final budget at its June 25th Council meeting, rather than at the June 11th meeting. He added that State law required that a tax rate be set no later than June 30th. .
Robert Schreiner, acting Chair of the Library Board of Trustees, summarized the Board’s comments. He said that the Library Board reviewed the Preliminary Report on the 2001-2016 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) at its April 18th meeting, which included only Library maintenance issues identified by the Town’s Facilities Condition Assessment. Mr. Schreiner said on April 23rd the Planning Department staff added additional library projects, along with other department projects, which had been inadvertently omitted from the initial CIP report, but the Library Board had not yet reviewed it.
Mr. Schreiner said that, based on its review of the initial CIP document and the new document, the Library Board recommended that the CIP report include tentative start-up capital costs for the technology and collection development projects identified in the 1999 Library Needs Assessment Task Force report, which specified additional capital costs of $18,000 to maintain services as they are, and $86,000 for augmenting services in ways that were detailed in the report.
Mr. Schreiner said the consultant working with the Board had not yet confirmed the figures, but the Board believed that the tentative costs for major projects should be included as soon as possible. He said the Board expected to have a comprehensive report for the Council by fall detailing the figures, with some expertise behind them.
Council Member Bateman asked if the request for $86,000 included the $18,000 request. Mr. Schreiner said the $18,000 was to maintain current levels, and the $86,000 was for increased additional levels.
Dorothy Verkerk, Chair of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board, said one of the items she wanted to address was a request for a one-time amount of $11,500. She explained that starting in October, in alignment with the International Walk Your Children to School Day, the Board would like to launch an Alternative Transit Week, which would be a week-long celebration, and encouraging an education package that would encourage Chapel Hillians to use the buses, ride their bicycles and walk to work. Ms. Verkerk said the Board would like to work with the Transportation Department for an aggressive marketing and advertising campaign to inform people about the bike racks now available. She added that the Board would like to produce a brochure to inform people of safe bicycling practice and to promote better educated pedestrians. She added that, working with the experts from the Highway Safety Research Center, the Board would like to conduct a traffic study of the intersections in Chapel Hill, so when improvements are made they will be the best possible.
Ms. Verkerk discussed the CIP allocation of $100,000 this year, with incremental increases for the next 15 years. She said the Board was pleased with the $100,000 in bond money for this year, but concerned with turning back to the allocations of past years subsequently. Ms. Verkerk said the Board had identified 100,000 linear feet of sidewalks, and at the current rate, it expected to complete 19,000 linear feet within the next five years, so it would take 20-25 years to complete improvements. Ms. Verkerk said the sidewalks not installed as the Town was building were the concern. She reminded the Council that sidewalks did not require maintenance as did roads, and usually lasted up to 50 years, but now they needed immediate attention.
Ms. Verkerk presented additional ideas from the Board:
· Apply future bond money directly for sidewalk construction.
· Support Ľ cent tax increase.
· Some of the parking fees and meters be dedicated for sidewalks.
· Cameron Street be continued for parking as long-term parking—eight to ten hours—to generate revenue.
· Aggressively pursue grant money.
Joe Herzenberg, Chair of the Greenways Commission, said he hoped the Council would continue to support the Greenways portion of the CIP in FY2001-2002, with $107,000. He referred the Council to the report from the Greenways Commission.
Mayor pro tem Pavăo entered a letter from Dan Coleman into the record:
“ May 9, 2001
“To Mayor and Council:
“Since I am unable to attend tonight’s public hearing on the budget please accept the following comments into the record.
“As a business-owner, I do not receive any direct subsidies for my expenses from the Town of Chapel Hill nor from any other public or quasi-public body. I pay the full cost of my bill with OWASA, Duke Power, etc.
“I do not think it is fair for the town to provide a subsidy that helps only some businesses but not others. By this I mean that those businesses that generate a significant amount of solid waste should pay directly for the collection and disposal of that waste. This is a direct cost of doing business and such costs are typically and fairly passed along to customers in the price of goods and services.
“Furthermore, the Town is already looking into the pay-as-you-throw concept for residential solid waste collection. The same two principles apply to commercial: folks who are able ought to pay directly for services they use; and volume or weight based fees for solid waste will lead to waste reduction, an important goal of the town.
“Finally, as a member of the county’s Affordable Housing Taskforce, I take exception to the attempt to link free commercial waste collection to the cost of housing. It is well-established that the bulk of multi-family housing does not meet the prevailing definitions of ‘affordable’ and that much of what does is geared toward the student population. The town can certainly come up with a mechanism to lower these fees for legitimately affordable projects but that question should not keep you from moving forward with establishing the proposed fee structure.
“The Town of Chapel Hill does much to promote and protect the economic viability of our community. It should not feel compelled to provide a selective subsidy to waste-generating businesses.
“Thank you,
“Dan Coleman
Coleman’s Help Desk & Database Services
133 Windsor Circle
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27516”
Kathleen Lord, Chair of the Downtown Commission, highlighted the accomplishments of
the Downtown Commission for the past year:
· Second annual April Art Springs to Life
· Successful Holiday Events
Highlights of planned events:
Thursdays Rock Downtown in Chapel Hill in conjunction with the Ackland Museum, a movie on the plaza of the parking deck, a concert on the Plaza in front of the Post Office.
Keeping Downtown vital, with an image consultant to help rebrand the downtown. She displayed the new logo with the tag line “Where the Town Comes to Life,” to be used by the merchants of the downtown in their advertising.
Ms. Lord said the Commission was requesting that the tax rate remain the same, which would in reality raise taxes. She said the proposed tax rate would mean an increase on a $500,000 building of about $80, which would net about a 30% increase in the Commission’s funds. She said they hoped to have the Visitors Center online so that visitors can get the information they need.
Harold White said he was manager of several homeowners’ associations in the area, encompassing over 1,000 homeowners. Tonight, he said, he would be speaking on behalf of Finley Forest. He said that in Finley Forest there was several dumpsters for solid waste, and he felt that this was the most efficient way for pick up. Mr. White said the proposal not to pay for this pick up in the future was very disturbing for the residents. He said if the residents had to pay for the pick up, it would mean a significant tax increase and was discriminatory to the residents of the townhouses and condominiums as opposed to single-family residences. Mr. White urged the Council not to eliminate the Town-paid pick up of solid waste.
Alex Asbun, El Centro Latino, explained how the group would spend any funding allocated by the Town. He listed all the programs and presented a brief description of each.
Christine Soriano, recent UNC graduate in International Studies and volunteer at El Centro Latino, said she primarily worked with Mr. Asbun with grant writing. She said that with funding from the Town, some of the proposals would help serve the increasing needs of the Latino community in Chapel Hill. Ms. Soriano said the participants this year for adult education had increased from 27 to 209; from 134 to 504 for family support services; the project that administers cultural and technical assistance, from 81 to 224; and the women’s group from 4 to 14 participants. Ms Soriano said that El Centro Latino did not initially anticipate such a large group of Chapel Hill participants. She described how busy the Center was with clientele and that needs continued to increase.
Charlie Nelson, Executive Board of the Chamber of Commerce but speaking as a citizen, discussed an increasingly difficult problem of people from outside of the commercial buildings using the commercial dumpsters. He displayed pictures of the dumpsters where illegal dumping had taken place. Mr. Nelson said he was opposed to the Town charging for commercial service dumpster pickups. He added that he did not understand why the Town and the School System could not get together before money was spent designing a project, as was the case of the proposed elementary school at Meadowmont. Mr. Nelson said the business community felt the Council was being arbitrary in its decisions on projects.
James Spivey, Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Finley Forest Homeowners’ Association, added to the comments of Mr. White regarding trash collection. He said there was another issue that should be considered—the health and safety issue—arising because of trash. He urged the Council to consider all of the possible ramifications of implementing once-a-week trash pick up.
Aaron Nelson, Executive Director of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber and representing its 575 members, presented a chart of the revenues and the savings versus the cost of what the Town could be charging for commercial pickups. He said, after going through the numbers, “If it costs $.05, then charge $.05, not a lot more to some to save a little for others.”
Rev. Robert Campbell commented on the capital funding, and made a request for the Rogers Road neighborhood for $150,000 to help pay for water and sewer line hook-ups to homes. He read from a memo from the Town, dated October 13, 1997, regarding Community Development Program and Activities on low-income and older neighborhoods. He said that because of the water situation on Rogers Road he was requesting $150,000 in order for the neighborhood to have clean water and to revitalize the neighborhood.
Patrick Conway, citizen of Chapel Hill and unofficial representative of the ARC of Orange County and the families of the ARC, requested that a Special Population staff member be added to the Parks and Recreation Department. He argued that this group of citizens was an underserved group in the community. He said there were more details in an e-mail that he had sent to the Council. Mr. Campbell added he was speaking as a coach for the Special Olympics, also.
Mark Pons, Chapel Hill Tire Company, urged the Council not to change commercial trash service in Chapel Hill. He said the current system was efficient, and many commercial businesses shared dumpsters. Mr. Pons said the issues of costs, health, and safety should be considered. He said these were not just budget issues but also community issues and should not just be looked at from the commercial side, which he felt was penalizing the most efficient aspect of the system.
Robert Humphreys spoke for the Downtown Commission on the trash proposal. He said an e-mail had been sent to the Council outlining five points which the Commission believed should convince the Council that the current level of trash pick up service should be maintained; that certain classes of citizens should not be taxed disproportionately; and that shortfalls in the budget should be met by equal taxation of all taxpayers. Mr. Humphreys said that passage of the proposal would charge those least able to afford it—small businesses. He said the corporate businesses and the malls and the big boxes did not use the service, because private trash collection fitted better with their operations. He said that sometimes small businesses could not pass on the added costs in the form of higher prices. Mr. Humphreys said that owners of apartment developments would pass the costs on to their tenants in higher rents and fees. He said he felt that the proposal was based on unrealistic projections for increased revenues for the Town. Mr. Humphreys said the proposal did not accomplish the goals that the Town was looking for, but was putting an unfair burden on those least able to pay. He urged the Council to be fair in taxing all citizens equally at whatever rate it would take to meet the needs of the Town.
Council Member Brown asked Mr. Horton if he could ask Orange County for a report on the status of the water line on Rogers Road and identify the needs of the houses there. She said she would also like to know what State and federal funds might be available for use there.
COUNCIL MEMBER EVANS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER STROM, THAT ALL COMMENTS BE REFERRED TO THE MANAGER AND THE STAFF. THE MOTION WAS ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY (8-0).
The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.