SUMMARY MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2002 AT 8:00 A.M.
Mayor Kevin Foy called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.
Council members present were Flicka Bateman, Mark Kleinschmidt, Bill Strom, Dorothy Verkerk, Pat Evans and Jim Ward. Council Member Ed Harrison arrived at 8:18 a.m.
Council Member Edith Wiggins 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, Human Resource Director Pam Eastwood, Police Chief Gregg Jarvies, Library Director Kathy Thompson, Inspections Director Lance Norris, Engineering Director George Small, Fire Chief Dan Jones, Sanitation Superintendent Harv Howard, Internal Services Superintendent Bill Terry, Assistant Library Director Mark Bayles, Senior Long Range Planning Coordinator Chris Berndt and Town Clerk Joyce Smith.
Item 1 - Recommended Budget Ordinance for the 2002-03 Fiscal Year
Town Manager Cal Horton explained that the Council and staff had hoped that the State Legislature would act in a way that would enable the Council to predictably rely on revenues that the Town traditionally receives. Although the Legislature had made some progress, he said, the final results of its efforts would not be known for several weeks. Since there was no certainty of obtaining those revenues, Mr. Horton advised against relying on any funds beyond what the staff had originally projected. He said that he had no choice but to recommend the budget that the Council had tentatively agreed upon in June. This would mean a total tax rate of 55.3 cents, which includes an increase of 4.9 cents, Mr. Horton said.
Bill Camp, of 400 North Boundary Street, pointed out that the yearly tax rate for a $200,000 house would triple over a thirty-year period if it were raised by 4% each year. He noted that it would increase by a factor of eight if raised by 7% each year. Mr. Camp predicted that most people would not be able to continue living in their Chapel Hill homes if such rate increases continued. He noted that the Town Council was working hard to solve budget issues, but argued that they should stop solving it by raising the tax rate each year. Mr. Camp pointed out that fire and police protection makes up about 25% of the Town budget, and suggested focusing on those when looking for places to cut.
Mayor Foy, noting that the Council had adopted an interim budget after deliberating for six months, said that there seemed to be little left to discuss.
In response to Mr. Camp's comments, Council Member Strom stated that the Manager and Council had addressed the issue of long-range planning in an "eloquent" way. He noted that last year the fund balances had been cleaned out and this year revenue that the Town counted on had been taken away by the State. Council Member Strom said that this year's tax rate is much larger than he is comfortable with, but explained that the Town had been "backed into a corner" and that this is the only alternative.
Mayor pro tem Evans said that she too was uncomfortable with the tax increase. She pointed out to Mr. Camp, though, that there had been several years when the Council had not raised taxes at all. This is an exceptional year, she said.
MAYOR PRO TEM EVANS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER VERKERK, TO ADOPT O-1, WHICH APPROVES THE BUDGET, RAISES THE TOTAL TAX RATE TO 55.3 CENTS, AND MAKES THE PROPOSED ALLOCATIONS. THE MOTION WAS ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0).
AN ORDINANCE CONCERNING APPROPRIATIONS AND THE RAISING OF REVENUE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING JULY 1, 2002 (2002-07-26/O-1)
BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill, the following appropriations are hereby made:
ARTICLE I
GENERAL FUND
Department Department Total
Mayor/Council 229,439
Town Manager/Town Clerk 936,179
Human Resources 514,463
Finance 846,658
Information Technology 540,763
Legal 230,136
Planning 942,025
Inspections 705,134
Engineering 960,813
Public Works 9,628,067
Police 9,025,238
Fire 4,812,458
Parks and Recreation 2,069,595
Library 1,875,390
Non-Departmental 3,475,129
OTHER FUNDS
Transportation Fund 9,676,444
Transportation Capital Reserve Fund 478,782
Debt Service Fund 2,343,000
Vehicle Replacement Fund 2,027,500
Fleet Maintenance Fund 868,884
Computer Replacement Fund 304,370
Public Housing Fund 1,614,072
Housing Loan Trust Fund 175,000
On-Street Parking Fund 650,000
Off-Street Parking Facilities Fund 1,556,300
Cablevision Public Access Fund 90,000
Library Gift Fund 95,000
Capital Improvements Fund 478,000
Downtown Service District Fund 70,000
TOTAL ALL FUNDS 57,218,839
ARTICLE II
It is estimated that the following revenues will be available during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2002 and ending June 30, 2003 to meet the foregoing appropriations. It is determined that where estimated revenues are higher than the previous year, the increases were warranted.
Property Taxes 20,707,000
Other Taxes & Licenses 1,053,000
State-Shared Revenues 8,523,000
Grants 452,000
Charges for Services 1,271,200
Licenses/Permits/Fines 1,569,000
Interest on Investments 252,500
Other Revenues 387,600
Transfers/Other Sources 1,506,187
Fund Balance Appropriated 1,070,000
Transportation Fund 9,676,444
Transportation Capital Reserve Fund 478,782
Debt Service Fund 2,343,000
Vehicle Replacement Fund 2,027,500
Vehicle Maintenance Fund 868,884
Computer Replacement Fund 304,370
Public Housing Fund 1,614,072
Housing Loan Trust Fund 175,000
On-Street Parking Fund 650,000
Off-Street Parking Facilities Fund 1,556,300
Cablevision Public Access Fund 90,000
Library Gift Fund 95,000
Capital Improvements Fund 478,000
Downtown Service District Fund 70,000
TOTAL ALL FUNDS 57,218,839
ARTICLE III
There is hereby levied the following tax on each one hundred dollars ($100) valuation of taxable property, located within the Town of Chapel Hill, as listed for taxes as of January 1, 2002 for the purpose of raising revenue from property tax as set forth in the foregoing estimates of revenues, and in order to finance the foregoing appropriations.
General Fund
(for the payment of expenses of
the Town of Chapel Hill) $0.51/$100
Transportation Fund
(for the payment of expenses related to
transportation approved by referendum) $0.043/$100
TOTAL $0.553/$100
ARTICLE IV
There is hereby levied the following tax on each one hundred dollars ($100) valuation of taxable property located in the Downtown Revitalization Municipal Service District established by the Town Council's resolution of June 12, 1989:
Downtown Service District Fund $0.062/$100
This the 26th day of July, 2002.
Item 2 - Manager's Recommended 2002-17 Capital Improvements Program
Mr. Horton explained that the staff was disappointed that it could not recommend a CIP that would better address the many needs that the Council had identified.
Mayor Foy described this as a "bare bones" CIP that really only allocates money for obligations that the Town already has.
COUNCIL MEMBER STROM MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER WARD, TO ADOPT R-1. THE MOTION WAS ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0).
A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE 2002-2017 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM (2002-07-26/R-1)
BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council hereby approves the Manager’s Recommended 2002-2017 Capital Improvements Program as described in the memorandum dated July 26, 2002 with the following projects to be funded by the $478,000 allocated for the capital improvements fund in the Operating Budget ordinance for 2002-2003:
|
Project
|
Appropriation: 2002-2003
|
|
Municipal Operations Site Acquisition Phase I (Annual Payment) |
131,000 |
|
InterFaith Council Shelter: Capital Repairs (Installment Debt Payment) |
52,000 |
|
Museum Roof Repairs (Installment Debt Payment) |
9,000 |
|
Infrared Rescue Cameras (Annual Payment) |
28,000 |
|
Update Town-wide Aerial Photography (Annual Payment on Contract) |
40,000 |
|
Hargraves/A.D. Clark: Capital Repairs (Installment Debt Payment) |
180,000 |
|
Meadowmont School Gym Payment to Schools |
38,000 |
|
Total |
478,000 |
This the 26th day of July, 2002.
Item 3 - Follow-up on Request regarding Toxic Waste Disposal
on the Horace Williams Property
Mr. Horton explained that the staff had received about 9,000 pages of documents from UNC and that the Clerk's office had scanned and posted a good portion of those on the Town's website. All of it would be posted by the end of the day, he said. Mr. Horton congratulated Town Clerk Joyce Smith and her staff for arranging to provide this information so quickly. Mr. Horton noted that a hard copy of the material would also be placed in the Council's reading room. He said that citizens had traditionally been welcome to view those materials. Mr. Horton stated that the staff was prepared to make a presentation if the Council wished them to do so.
Mayor Foy said that the Council had not expected the staff to gather all of the information by this meeting. He pointed out that more information would be forthcoming and said that he had some additional information that he wanted the staff to gather. Regardless of what the Town Council does at tonight's meeting, Mayor Foy said, he would like to continue this discussion at a later date.
Council Member Strom noted that paragraph four of the citizens' petition of June 24 had requested that UNC provide the Town with a timetable for the clean-up. He expressed interest in seeing a plan from UNC as well. Council Member Strom asked Mr. Horton if this would come back to the Council on at least a quarterly basis as the petitioners had requested. Mr. Horton replied that the staff had not had a chance to read enough of the material to know if there is a response to the petitioners' questions included. He explained that the staff would make a full report to the Council in August, and would comment on each of the items presented in the petition.
Council Member Strom said that he had already read much of the information presented by UNC, and described it as a well-identified problem in search of funds. He recommended that UNC's leadership and alumni community come up with a good faith plan to obtain funds and earmark it for mitigating these situations. Noting that the University has had a successful record of raising private and public funds, he suggested that it make the determination to do the right thing at this point.
Mayor pro tem Evans said that she did not question whether the University wanted to do the right thing. She pointed out that the University has had other waste sites that they have known about and that they are slowly getting around to cleaning them up when funds become available. Mayor pro tem Evans noted that the amount of money needed to clean up this waste site is very large. In the EPA's assessment, she said, it is not one of the most critical areas. Mayor pro tem Evans expressed doubt that the Town Council would ever get a precise timetable from the University. She expressed confidence, though, that UNC intended to clean the site up and that it would do so.
Council Member Bateman requested information on the old landfill site at the same location, noting that the Town should not ignore its responsibility either. Mr. Horton said he believed that information on that was included in the large collection of reports which the staff had not yet had time to review.
Council Member Ward noted that the critical point was that this was now on the table. It must be part of all discussions regarding that part of the community, he said. He recommended monitoring UNC's progress through quarterly reports or some other process that would not get lost in the shuffle.
Mayor Foy noted that the EPA had removed this site in 1995 from the Super Fund list based on conditions that would be changed by development on and around the site. He asked Mr. Horton to investigate how nearby development would affect the Super Fund listing. Mayor Foy also noted that Brownfield's legislation might provide funding for sites such as this one. He suggested finding out whether and how this site could qualify for those funds.
Council Member Strom referred to the second paragraph of a July 24, 2002 letter that had been emailed to Council members regarding an inactive hazardous sites program. He said that the letter mentioned five UNC sites but that the Town had only inquired about two of them. Council Member Strom asked the Manager to identify the other three sites when this comes back to the Council.
Mayor pro tem Evans pointed out that one of those three was the site being cleaned up that she had referred to earlier.
Mr. Horton said that the staff would attempt to provide at least a broad outline in August of all the material that had been provided and would help the Council focus on key points. The staff welcomed help with this from interested citizens, he said. He explained that he hoped to consult with Art Werner on these materials as well, noting that Mr. Werner had studied this issue in the late 1990’s and had considerable expertise in this area.
Mayor Foy suggested that Council members refer the information to the Horace Williams Council Committee, which is charged with developing a charge for the Advisory Committee.
COUNCIL MEMBER STROM MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER VERKERK, TO RECEIVE AND REFER ALL MATERIAL TO THE HORACE WILLIAMS COUNCIL COMMITTEE. THE MOTION WAS ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY (8-0).
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 a.m.