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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 03-26-2015 - Town of Chapel Hill APPROVED 5/5/2015 MINUTES JOINT MEETING ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL March 26, 2015 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met with the Town of Chapel Hill for a joint meeting on Thursday, March 26, 2015 following the AOG meeting (7:00 p.m.) at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair McKee and Commissioners Mia Burroughs, Mark Dorosin, Barry Jacobs, Bernadette Pelissier, Renee Price and Penny Rich COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Assistant County Manager Cheryl Young and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other staff inembers will be identified appropriately below) CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL MEMBERS/STAFF PRESENT: Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, Ed Harrison, Jim Ward, Lee Storrow, Matt Czajkowski, George Cianciolo, Maria Palmer, Donna Bell, and Sally Greene and Town Manager Roger Stancil CHAPEL HILLTOWN COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT Chair McKee called the meeting to order at 8:46pm. Welcome and Openinq Remarks Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt and BOCC Chair Earl McKee (no opening remarks). 1. Bond Referendum Updates a) Town of Chapel Hill November 2015 Bond Referendum Mayor Kleinschmidt said this has not been officially approved yet, but there has been preliminary approval of the bond order. Roger Stancil reviewed the following information, as included in the abstract: The Town of Chapel Hill is planning a General Obligation Bond Referendum for November of 2015. The planned referendum will be about $40.3 million and will include streets & sidewalks, trails and greenways, recreation facilities, a solid waste transfer station and stormwater improvements. The Town finances its long-term capital improvement through its Debt Management Fund. The Debt Fund uses a dedicated portion of the property tax that, along with other revenues such as transfers from enterprise funds, is used to fund debt service payments. Based on our projections, the proposed referendum bonds can be paid using the existing capacity in the Debt Management Fund. In other words, it is expected that the Town will not need to increase taxes in order to pay the debt service on the planned referendum debt. Bond Orders The planned bond orders (categories of projects that will be presented on the ballot) include projects that have been prioritized through the Town's internal review process. Among other things, this process took into consideration the following: • Priority in various Master Plans, including the Parks & Greenways, Stormwater, Streetscape, Bike and Sidewalks Master Plans. • Whether the project was contemplated in the Town's 2020 planning process. • The project's importance score in the Community Survey. Streets & Sidewalks $ 16,200,000 Trails and Greenways $ 5,000,000 Recreation Facilities $ 8,000,000 Solid Waste Transfer Station $ 5,200,000 Stormwater Improvements $ 5,900,000 Schedule The Town Council is scheduled to take its first official action for the planned referendum on April 27th when they take up the preliminary findings resolution. Other important milestones in the referendum process include introduction of bond orders and setting of the public hearing scheduled for May 27th and holding the public hearing, adoption of bond orders and setting of ballot questions on June 22nd. Debt Affordability The Town has manageable debt levels as evidenced by its low debt per capita and debt to assessed value benchmarks compared to its triple A rated municipal peer group. The Town's debt pay-out ratio (amount of debt service payable in the next ten years) is 77.9%, which is considered very strong. In addition, the Town's annual debt service as a percent of governmental revenues is currently about 9.2%, which is well below historic levels. b) Potential November 2016 Oranqe County Bond Referendum Chair McKee said Orange County has discussed a possible referendum on two separate occasions. Paul Laughton said both school systems are looking at about $330 million worth of repairs and renovations to their older schools. He said the County is still gathering information on this, and it would be a large portion of a potential bond referendum. He said information was shared at the Board of County Commissioners' retreat regarding the 2001 bond and its process, two key debt ratios and where Orange County stands regarding this. He said that the County debt capacity is 15 percent and currently the county is at 13.24 percent. He said that Orange County is AAA bond rated and is therefore in the strong category. He said that debt to assess value is also important. The County sets the maximum debt to assess value at 3 percent, and it is currently at 1.17 percent. He said this again puts the County in a strong rating category. Paul Laughton said the Board of County Commissioners discussed at their March 3�a meeting the intent to schedule a bond referendum in November 2016 to address County and school needs. The Board also discussed the creation of a Capital Needs Advisory Task Force. The Board of County Commissioners asked for additional information from the schools. He said Orange County schools will present their priorities in May. Paul Laughton said staff has looked at possible timeframes with appointing a task force in late spring. He said the task force could meet over summer break and could come back with recommendations by October 6, 2015 if not before. Paul Laughton said they are looking at a potential $125 million bond. The total of$330 million in repairs cannot be accomplished in one bond referendum; therefore priorities will be important. Bonnie Hammersley said that more information will be given to the Board of County Commissioners. She said the process for doing so has not yet been determined. Chair McKee said the County is restrained as to when they can put a bond forward, and that would be 2016. Commissioner Rich asked when Chapel Hill will finalize their bond. Roger Stancil said the process is to be concluded by April 26tn Mayor Kleinschmidt said that the information used to determine bond priorities came from plans that the Council initiated over the past several years, identifying various needs of departments and the priorities within those needs. Chapel Hill puts money aside to pay debt, thus not raising taxes when bonds are issued. Council Member Ward asked about the tax implications of a $125 million bond. Paul Laughton said this would be about a 5 cent tax rate equivalent. Chair McKee said it would be staggered over cycles. Council Member Ward asked if the schools would ever get caught up with this backlog of renovations. Bonnie Hammersley said one of the efforts in remediation is that it will create more seats for students and thus would push out the need for new schools going forward. She said Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) has a figure of$170 million for schools built before 1990. 2. Discussion on Town and County Properties Mayor Kleinschmidt said he and Chair McKee had breakfast after a meeting of Town Council in which the Town was assessing their properties, and the discussion had come up about putting County facilities in town buildings and vice versa. � Town Hall/Visitors Bureau/Skills Development Center Mayor Kleinschmidt said the town is going to be undertaking a renovation of the old own Hall on the corner of Rosemary Street and Martin Luther King Drive (MLK) and possibly putting the visitor's bureau in this location, thus freeing up space downtown where the bureau is now. Council Member Lee Storrow said both he and Commissioner Rich are representatives on the Visitor's Bureau Board, and he said there is excitement about shifting the Bureau to this location, since the current location does not invite foot traffic, and possibly pairing this new location with a destination location that would be of high interest to visitors. Commissioner Rich said their director was excited about a multi-purpose Visitor's Bureau. Commissioner Rich said she was interested in the timing and cost. She said that the building seemed in need of heavy renovation. Roger Stancil said the old Town Hall would need to be gutted; but it would be three years before the Inter-Faith Council (IFC) would be able to vacate the premises. He said the IFC is unsure to where the new facilities will be. He said that there is an ongoing discussion about how to respectfully address the needs of the homeless population during the time of transition. Roger Stancil said that discussions are ongoing regarding actual renovations and how they would be completed. He said Developers have expressed interest in the project, and preservation of the building is a high priority, but there is a possibility of developing around the building. Commissioner Rich asked if the property includes the old Town Hall and parking lot. Roger Stancil said yes. Roger Stancil said that agreements would have to be reached with the neighboring property owners. Mayor Kleinschmidt said he would like a program plan to bring the Town and the County together to propose functions and do the logistical work ahead of time. He said that may be a driver to move this forward. Council Member Bell said that the Visitors' Bureau could be used as a centralized base for various programming to better serve the Town and the County. She said that in moving forward with any discussion it is prudent to be strategic in thinking about how to maximize the functionality of a space. Council Member Greene said she would want to see it connected to larger missions and transit; to see the building preserved; and she would like to consider involving Preservation North Carolina. She reminded the Board of a transit transfer station downtown, as suggested in Rosemary Imagine drafts. She said it would boost the potential of the Visitors' Bureau. Town Council Member Palmer said she would like to see space for artist exhibits, offering support to artists while earning some revenue. She would also like to see support for local agriculture. Town Council Member Cianciolo said he does not know what is going to happen to the IFC kitchen and shelter at this point. He said that a future location is unknown and that IFC will not be expected to move until an alternate location is secured. He said that the larger issue of homelessness will require partnership between the Town and the County. Council Member Greene said moving forward there will need to be a conversation with the Partnership to End Homelessness and she said the current shelter is not in accordance with modern best practices. Council Member Harrison said he heard there is a three year time frame for this facility and he discussed incorporation of a new Chapel Hill museum into the Visitor's Bureau location. He said that the historic museum in Durham County took at least three years to establish their museum. He said he believes a historic county museum should be in historic Hillsborough. He said that this time should be used to have a group of non elected officials to consider the best way to move forward. He said there are many ideas for the use of the old Town Hall that would be great. Commissioner Price said this is an exciting idea, and seeing the building serving residents and visitors alike will bring people more in to the center of town. Commissioner Rich said the County would need to decide what to do with the proposed vacated Visitor's Bureau site. Council Member Bell asked if the County has talked about what to do with the space where the bureau is now. She said if this space were modernized it would create more density in that part of West Franklin Street. Mayor Kleinschmidt said he would encourage the county to offer comments toward their downtown improvement plans, since Orange County is a major property owner in downtown Chapel Hill. He said he would like to explore how the County may to use it to help advance the neighborhood. Commissioner Price said she and Chair McKee sit on the internal Orange County Space Study Needs Taskforce. She said a conclusion has not been reached, but the value of the property is recognized. She said the services currently being offered in that building are not convenient. She said she is interested in seeing the Town's overall plans for the area. Council Member Ward said the low hanging fruit is economic development for the old Town Hall space, and economic development can come in various forms. He suggested an incubator space to be a mutually beneficial possibility that could be done in the current space or with greater space through renovation. Commissioner Jacobs said there is another partner with the Skills Development Center, and that is Durham Tech. He said they prefer to be located to public transportation allowing greater access. He said that Durham Tech would be amenable to moving, depending on the location. Town Council Member Palmer said the Durham Tech Orange Campus is not serving its students adequately. She said in order to best serve the community there must be greater partnership in order to provide sufficient options as well as better services and technology. She said this will better prepare students to enter the work force. Council Member Ward said skills development activities should be arm in arm with an innovation center, and there is a synergy that can be achieved. He said working as a partnership can be more complicated, but involving UNC, Durham Tech, the Town and the County together leads to a higher investment in the outcome. Commissioner Price said the location of the Skills Development Center is good in some ways but is inconvenient for parking. She said Durham Tech would be happy to move if able to stay in the same general area. She said the current satellite offices of Durham Tech need to be consolidated into a campus in Orange County at Waterstone, in addition to Durham and RTP campuses. Chair McKee said these two properties have possibilities. � Joint Parks and Recreational Opportunities David Stancil noted the lateness of the hour and said he is happy to answer any questions. Council Member Ward asked if there was access to summary information on artificial turf and its success. Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Director Jim Orr said with the joint partnership between Orange County and Chapel Hill, an artificial turf complex was opened at Cedar Falls in December 2013. He said in the first year there was an increase of 67,200 participants using that field compared to the prior year when condition was subpar. He said the participants rented the field, and it was opened to the public as well on Fridays and Sunday afternoons. He said approximately 7500 people used the fields during that time. He said the fields offered greater use due to the artificial turf and it brought in $80,000 in revenue compared to $2,000 of maintenance cost. He said every two to three years the field is lightly top dressed at an expense of approximately $10,000. He said the fields are not booked to capacity, and additional users for the field are being explored. He concluded that the partnership between Orange County and Chapel Hill regarding the artificial turf seemed to be beneficial and should continue. Commissioner Jacobs said he hoped staff could continue to talk about doing fields across from the Town's Operation Center. Council Member Ward said this is a piece of land that the County owns, and he asked that staffs be instructed to move forward with a plan for this site and how it may play to the bond issue. David Stancil said the Millhouse Road Park is in both of their master plans. 3. Update on Roqers Road Proiect Mary Darr from Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) said they have been working with the Towns and the County on sewer projects. She said engineers went out in the field to verify the table top plans previously created for the project in 2012. She said that a consulting engineer, the Jackson Center, as well as the stakeholders in the Rogers Road area have been consulted. She reported that this preliminary engineering report showed no surprises. Some items from the table top report have been improved. She said the estimated cost is $5.7 million for 3.5 miles of sewer. She said this does not include private plumbing costs, easement acquisitions, and connection fees. She said the anticipated timeline is at least two years, starting with engineering plans with design and permitting in FY 2016 at a cost of$370,000. She said this would be followed by construction bids and the construction itself in FY 2017-2018. Commissioner porosin asked if there is any possibility of moving this forward expeditiously. Mary Darr said there is a 10 month design period. She said parallel to that is an easement acquisition process of undetermined time. She said that work can begin as soon as design and permits were secured. Commissioner porosin said this is a long drawn out process. He said there are no surprises, and the community desires the project. He asked if there is any way to expedite the process, including paying a higher cost, if necessary. Chair McKee said maybe the Managers and OWASA can talk about this and bring back information back to the Boards. 4. Economic Development Potential for Ephesus/Fordham Development Proiect Update Mayor Kleinschmidt said in 14 years on the Council they have approved one project that got built in this district. Dwight Bassett said they are in final stages of securing easements, and the project is at 90 percent plan stage. He said comments have been taken from Department of Transportation (DOT) and the plans are being revised. He said the only thing that will prevent meeting the June 2015 first phase bidding deadline is entering a municipal agreement with the North Carolina DOT. He said a scope for phase two has been negotiated for the roadway systems. He said they will initiate that contract in the coming weeks. He said two projects are pending along with several other smaller ones. He said a larger project being worked on is extending Elliot Road, and this is in the very early stages. Mayor Kleinschmidt said two of the three projects are 100 percent retail. Commissioner Price asked for clarification on Chapel Hill's definition of affordable housing in this district. Mayor Kleinschmidt said Chapel Hill did not abandon their commitment to affordable housing when they re-zoned this district. He said it is not a simple answer. He said the Town will take a district wide approach to affordable housing rather than a building by building approach. He said the Town committed to 30 percent affordable housing, which will be achieved in two ways. He said the first part will leverage the town's resources to provide for an affordable housing site. He said this is being done through an on-going application with DHIC on the north eastern part of the district. He said the second part is an incentive package built into the zone laid on the western side of Elliot Road. He said this goal is the highest affordable housing goal that they have ever had in a single housing project. Commissioner Price asked if it is more of the work force housing or lower income. Mayor Kleinschmidt said if you want to live in Chapel Hill, it is important to make sure there is a safe, quality place for you to afford to live. He said that means that their Planning Department has been reorganized to have efforts to develop strategies for affordable rental housing targeting 30 to 60 percent income earners. He said there is a long term program with the Home Trust targeting 80 percent income earners for home ownership, which is the most successful of its kind in the nation. He said that innovative approaches are being developed that accommodate state laws prohibiting rental caps. He said this includes creative ideas to inspire private developers to create affordable rentals within their developments. He said examples of this are the Timber Hollow Project, a rebuild project that either created affordable housing where there had previously been none; and the new build Graduate Project behind the Franklin Hotel, which created affordable housing despite it not being a requirement of the project. Council Member Ward said the Town did not abandon affordable housing but gave away the bank in terms of having one lever - to increase density in that district - to leverage affordable housing. He said that was abandoned and he hoped that they would revisit this for this entire area. Mayor Kleinschmidt said that there are many more levers, and one of them is excusing their own properties, and creating incentives. Council Member Ward said giving $2 million to somebody to help build affordable housing is unassociated with the rezoning of Ephesus/Fordham. Commissioner Rich asked when the request from Chapel Hill on funding from Orange County to this area will be back on the Commissioners' agenda. Bonnie Hammersley said it is not on the three month rolling calendar at this time. Chair McKee said it was left so that when the project came forward it would come back to the Board's attention. Bonnie Hammersley said that the County would leave the door open and will look at the performance. Roger Stancil said the agreement was that they would come back to Orange County when there was an actual tax value and when they knew better the number of school children living in the district. Commissioner Rich said their timing is past the three month rolling calendar. She asked when that information will start flowing in. Roger Stancil said the first project is just beginning construction, and information will come when this is on the tax bill. A motion was made by Commissioner Rich, seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to adjourn the meeting at 10:02 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Earl McKee, Chair Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board