2/15/00 Meeting Minutes, Town of Holly Springs

Town of Holly Springs

Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000

MINUTES

The Holly Springs Town Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000 in the Town Board meeting chambers, located in Town Hall, 128 S. Main St. Mayor Gerald W. Holleman presided, calling the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. A quorum was established as the mayor and all five board members were present as the meeting opened.

Board Members Present: Commissioners Tim Sack, John Schifano, Parrish Womble, Peter Atwell and Hank Dickson and Mayor Holleman.

Board Members Absent: None.

Staff Members Present: Richard B. Self, town manager; Ernest C. Pearson, town attorney; Joni Powell, town clerk (recording the minutes); Len Bradley, parks and recreation director; Cecil Parker, chief of public safety; Stephanie Sudano, director of engineering; and Jennifer Carr, director of planning and development.

2 and 3. The pledge of allegiance was recited, and the meeting opened with a moment of silent meditation.

At this time, Mayor Holleman asked the Board’s indulgence to allow Holly Springs Elementary School Principal Mrs. Sexton to address the Board.

Action: Commissioner Sack moved that an address by Mrs. Sexton be added to the agenda. Commissioner Womble seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

Mrs. Sexton reported that Holly Springs Elementary School had intended to ask the Town for financial assistance to install skirting around the base of mobile classrooms and to add mulch, trees and benches to the playground area. Mrs. Sexton said that HSES has, however, learned from Wake County that Wake County Public School System will be assisting HSES with those needs.

Mr. Fuller of WCPS addressed the Board, advising commissioners and audience members that WCPS has a matching grant program that will match local funds up to $10,000 to be used for any number of things that are needed in the normal operations of a school campus. He pointed out that the grant program would cover landscaping needs.

Commissioner Sack asked Mr. Fuller why it has taken so long to get skirting under the trailers that have been there since July. Mr. Fuller said he was not aware of Town’s requiring skirting. He said it was brought to his attention, and he immediately set out to advertise for bids for the installation.

Commissioner Dickson asked why the school system didn’t ask what the Town’s requirements were.

Mr. Fuller said all towns in Wake County have different requirements. He added that, normally, a town’s building inspections department would advise of what was required. That did not happen in this case, he said.

Mayor Holleman urged the Holly Springs PTA to raise funds and to get the most it could out of the matching grant program.

No action taken.

4. Agenda Adjustment – The Feb. 15, 2000 meeting agenda was adopted with changes, if any, as listed below.

Motion Made By: Sack

Motion Seconded By: Womble

Vote: Unanimous.

Items Added to Agenda: No others.

Consent Agenda Items Moved to New Business: None.

5a. Public Hearing: Rezoning Petition 00-R-02 – Mrs. Carr explained that this public hearing was opened on Feb. 1 and continued until Feb. 15 so that the Planning Board would have a chance to hold a rescheduled meeting and review the petition. (The Planning Board meeting was postponed because of snow in January. The meeting was rescheduled for Feb. 8).

At the Feb. 1 segment of this public hearing, one speaker addressed the issue. Mr. George Hamzik registered his concern that if a traffic circle is planned for this intersection, that the proper amount of right-of-way be dedicated to allow for the future traffic configuration. Mr. Hamzik said he wondered if it would be more economical to dedicate the right-of-way while the property is zoned residential, rather than after it is potentially rezoned to commercial. There were no other comments for or against the petition, and the public hearing was continued to Feb. 15, 2000.

Mrs Carr explained that the applicant is Tri-South Development Inc., William Shankle. The property is a corner lot in the northeast quadrant of the Sunset Lake Road/Holly Springs Road intersection. The current zoning is R-20, and existing development on the property is limited to an abandoned manufactured home, she said.

Mrs. Carr reported that the surrounding zoning is mostly R-20, with the exception of the property located directly across Holly Springs Road, which is zoned C-1.

Mrs. Carr pointed out that the Ten-Year Comprehensive Plan designates this intersection for commercial development as a Neighborhood Village District node. She said the Planning Board has reviewed the petition and recommends approval, noting that the C-1 zoning request is consistent with the 2008 Comprehensive Growth Plan and that before development of the site, a site plan will be presented to the Town Board for review and approval. Mrs. Carr reported that staff concurs with the Planning Board recommendation.

With that explanation completed, Mayor Holleman opened the public hearing, and the following comments were recorded:

In Favor: Bill Shankle, 800 Terrel Road in Raleigh, the applicant -- Mr. Shankle said that the intersection is a busy one and that commercial zoning for which he has applied is the most appropriate zoning. He explained that the parcel is actually two lots and that abandoned dwellings and debris on the lot would be cleared. He said it would be a good start to the improvements at the intersection, including road improvements.

Opposed: None.

Other: None.

There being no comments, the public hearing was closed.

5b. Public Hearing: 201 Facilities Plan – Mr. Ford Chambless of The Wooten Company explained to the Board that one of the many steps in the funding process for utility projects includes the preparation or amendment of a “201 Facilities Plan” which is a utility planning document including environmental and other fiscal impacts of proposed projects.

He explained that a public hearing on this document was held last year; however, the sewer portion of the Fair Share Project has been changed slightly, basically to realign pump stations. The changes in the project, he said, would have no environmental impact and would have no permanent impact on wetlands. Mr. Chambless said the 201 Facilities Plan has been updated to reflect the changes in the project and requires a second public hearing.

With that explanation completed, Mayor Holleman opened the public hearing, and the following comments were recorded:

In Favor: None.

Opposed: None.

Other: None.

There being no comments, the public hearing was closed.

6a. Economic Development Communication – Mrs. Carr addressed the Board, introducing Mr. Ken Atkins, executive director of the Wake County Economic Development program of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.

Mrs. Carr updated the Board on the progress of economic development efforts in Holly Springs and highlighted some of the strengths that the Town of Holly Springs offers to potential businesses.

Mr. Atkins addressed the Board, providing a picture of how the Wake County Economic Development Commission assists the Town of Holly Springs in its efforts to attract new businesses to Town. He said he felt that the Town was in excellent shape in regard to infrastructure. He said the position for growth in Holly Springs is strong and stands to strengthen with the completion of Ballentine Street and the Hwy. 55 Bypass. He was enthusiastic about the potential for commercial and industrial development in the future. He advised that the Town take a look at its zoning map and consider the investment of infrastructure into those undeveloped areas that are destined to be developed.

Commissioner Schifano asked if Mr. Atkins thought the Town might need to look into fiber optic and other types of infrastructure. Mr. Atkins said BellSouth has been very responsive to the needs of companies with special bandwidth needs. He said those kinds of installations are probably best handled on a project-by-project basis.

Mayor Holleman asked about spec buildings and whether or not that would induce development. Mr. Atkins said it would be helpful since about 80 percent of the inquiries received are interested in spec buildings, but he advised that the Town would have to watch the market and build a facility that would meet the demand. He said he highly recommended that the Town encourage the private sector to come in and provide some of that speculative space. These companies provide the spaces for lease, he explained.

No action taken.

6b. HSES Safety Communication – Mr. Kim Janas, a former accident reconstructionist, addressed the Board regarding traffic and pedestrian safety at Holly Springs Elementary School, especially during busy “drop-off” and “pick-up” hours. Mr. Janas is a Holly Springs resident who has had experience working with school boards and said he has done a lot of work in the area of prevention analysis. He advised the Board that he would like to offer the Town Board some of his ideas.

Mr. Janas’ ideas included: encouraging carpooling; installing traffic control devices; building longer queuing lanes; providing a new queuing scheme; providing multiple police officers, strategically stationed, for better traffic control; and restricting parking.

No action was taken; however, the Board by consensus directed the Town Manager to look into the traffic situation on Holly Springs Road in front of the school and to report back to the board in 30 days with suggestions for improvements.

Commissioner Dickson asked Mrs. Sudano to provide an update on the sidewalk project. She reported that easements are being gathered and that construction will probably begin in the spring.

7a. Rezoning Petition 00-R-02 – Rezoning Petition 00-R-02 requesting C-1 zoning for a parcel of property located in the northeast quadrant of the Holly Springs Road / Sunset Lake Road intersection was approved.

Motion by: Dickson

Second by: Womble

Vote: Unanimous

7b. 201 Facilities Plan Amendment – The 201 Facilities Plan, as amended to reflect changes in scope to the sewer portion of the Fair Share Project, was adopted.

Motion by: Womble

Second by: Sack

Vote: Unanimous

Copies of the amended 201 Facilities Plan is on file in the Town Engineer’s office and in the office of the Town Clerk. It is, by reference, incorporated into these minutes.

7c. 99-COM-08, Carroll’s Service Center – Mrs. Carr explained that Mr. Mike Carroll has requested that the Town clarify two conditions placed on his commercial site plan (99-COM-08) approval of April 1999.

She reported that on Feb. 8, the Planning Board reviewed Mr. Carroll’s requests and unanimously recommended approval with the following changes:

• That overnight parking / storage be allowed in the gravel area to the rear of the site.

• That the paved parking area be used only for customer pick-up and drop-off with no multi-overnight parking allowed.

• That the privacy fence be eliminated for security reasons and that the money saved on fence installation be put toward the installation of additional landscaping in front (around the building foundation and within the thoroughfare buffer).

Mr. Carroll asked to address the Board and said he felt come of the conditions were still unreasonable. He explained that he has a problem with the restriction represented by “multi-overnight” parking. He explained to the Board that oftentimes, customers leave their cars parked at his business for drop-off or pick-up for days at a time.

Commissioners agreed to eliminate the word “multi-overnight” from the restrictions.

Commissioner Dickson asked about wrecked and junked cars. A long discussion followed as to whether or not it would be permissible for Mr. Carroll to reenter the wrecker rotation and store wrecked vehicles on the gravel lot behind his building. In the end, Mr. Carroll explained that he could fence off a section of the back gravel area to use for storage of wrecked cars.

Commissioners agreed that as long as the wrecked vehicles were not visible from the front of the property, it would be permissible to store them on the gravel area.

Commissioner Sack said he would be amenable to amending the commercial site plan to accommodate Mr. Carroll’s business better.

Action: The Town Board approved a motion to allow the following changes to the Carroll’s Service Center commercial site plan (99-COM-08):

• That overnight parking / storage be allowed in the gravel area to the rear of the site.

• That the paved parking area be used only for customer pick-up and drop-off (with no time limit applied).

C That wrecked vehicles may stored on the gravel surface behind the building as long as the vehicles are stored in such a manner that they are not visible from the front of the property.

Motion by: Schifano

Second by: Sack

Vote: Unanimous

7d. Ordinance 00-01, Sedimentation & Erosion Control – Mrs. Sudano explained that at the Feb. 1 Town Board meeting, the Town Board held a public hearing on a proposed new sedimentation and soil erosion control ordinance. She said that the new ordinance is proposed to replace the old one, which is administered for the Town by Wake County staff. The purpose of holding the public hearing at the last meeting was to satisfy a grant application requirement, she explained. She provided the following information and history about the grant for which staff is applying:

• The North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commissioner created and funded a brand new grant program this past fall. The grant program is a 60% / 40% match (60% local funds and 40% state grant funds) with an 18-month funding duration. Some of the local contribution can be made up of fees that Wake County currently collects on each development that occurs in Holly Springs.

• The grant program was implemented by the State in a very short time frame, and 5this funding cycle is the very first one that state staff has administered. For this reason, some of the formal procedures and processes that comprise the grant selection and award process are “evolving” as state staff works through the process.

• Town staff worked quickly to prepare the necessary grant application after the final grant criteria were established in November. At the last Town Board meeting, Town staff asked for a public hearing with no action on the ordinance, intending to ask for action at a later date pending actual award of the grant funds; however, the state funding agency would like for the ordinance to be taken one step further – to be formally adopted by the Town with a future effective date.

Mrs. Sudano said there is no doubt that a local Sedimentation and Erosion Control Program will allow for much more effective oversight and control over erosion control measures, wetlands areas, Neuse and riparian buffers, flood plain, and drainage on construction sites and in new developments within the Town. In addition, town staff that administer such a program also will manage the upcoming state-mandated NPDES stormwater permitting regulations, she said. As a significant municipality located in an urban county, the Town will be forced by the State to develop a program to monitor and permit stormwater discharges during the next couple of years.

There have been periodic discussion of the Town’s desire to develop a local Sedimentation and Erosion Control Program over the past few years. Mrs. Sudano said that Wake County is simply not able to provide a satisfactory level of service with respect to sedimentation and erosion control, and they don’t monitor many critical environmental issues outlined above, she added. It is critical for the Town to begin its own program, and now is an excellent time given the grant funds that are available to offset start-up costs, she said. It is likely that there will be many more applicants, and therefore much more competition for grant funds, in future funding cycles.

The amount of grant funds being requested is $90,500. The grant extends over an 18-month period, with the Town’s assuming financial responsibility at the end of the grant period. Two employees would be hired to perform the duties. In addition, the Town staff is simultaneously attempting to secure financial participation to assist with the program from NCDOT. Staff feels that this arrangement may be attractive to NCDOT and helpful to them as we would be able to assist in sedimentation and erosion control enforcement along the 10-mile NC55 Bypass project. The other justification that we are going to use when approaching NCDOT is the utility inspection work that staff is having to handle as a result of the 11,000 feet of Town water and sewer utility lines that NCDOT is relocating with the Bypass project.

Mrs. Sudano asked that the proposed Ordinance 99-01 be adopted.

Action: Ordinance 00-01, a Sedimentation and Erosion Control ordinance, was adopted with a future effective date of July 1, 2000, subject to receipt of the first installment of requested grant funds by May 1, 2000 and the provision that, should the Town not receive the first installment of grant funds by this date, the effective date of the ordinance shall be 60 days after such time as the Town does receive the first installment of requested grant funds. A copy of Ordinance 00-01 is incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.

Motion by: Sack

Second by: Dickson

Vote: Unanimous

8. Consent Agenda -- All items on the Consent Agenda were approved, including the following actions that are listed below.

Motion by: Dickson

Second by: Sack

Vote: Unanimous

8a. Public Hearing – A public hearing date of March 7, 2000 was set to receive sworn testimony regarding Special Use Permit for Security Self Storage to allow for outdoor storage.

8b. Sunset Ridge North Condominiums II – The site plan for Sunset Ridge North Condominiums II was approved.

9. Public Comments – At this time, the public was given a 15-minute opportunity to address the Board on any variety of issues. The following members of the public addressed the Board:

Glenn Myrto, 408 W. Ballentine St. – Mr. Myrto asked if a greenway that is supposed to be in place will be completed prior to the State’s building the Hwy. 55 bypass. He said he was curious whether or not an underpass for the greenway that was requested of NCDOT by the Town was included in the Bypass roadway construction project. Mrs. Sudano said that the greenway has to be developed before the underpass is installed. She added that the underpass will be constructed as part of the Bypass construction project.

Mr. Myrto then addressed the Carroll’s Service Center issue. He reported that a concern of the Planning Board over allowing storage of wrecked vehicles on the gravel parking area of the site was the containment of toxic fluids. He said he felt that the Board should consider the environmental impact of leaking wrecked vehicles and see what can be done about it.

Mr. Myrto added that he is annoyed that Ballentine Street is being discussed as major entranceway into the industrial park. He said the street is a residential street, and many children live on Ballentine. He said it shouldn’t be used for heavy traffic, regardless if no trucks are allowed. He said recently-installed stop signs helped with traffic speeds, but did not solve the problem entirely. He said workers at firms inside the industrial park use Ballentine as an exit, and he says he does not believe Ballentine is designed for that kind of traffic. He said he hoped the Town would address that issue.

10. Other Business:

10 a. New Business -- Commissioner Dickson introduced Mike Taylor, who will be opening a coffee shop at Arbor Commons.

10b. Resolution 00-R-02 – Commissioners, by consensus, adopted draft Resolution 00-R-02 (which was authorized on Feb. 1, 2000) protesting the proposed school reassignment plan formula of Wake County Public Schools and encouraging the concept of neighborhood schools. A copy of Resolution 00-R-02 is incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.

11. Manager’s Reports:

Mr. Self reported to the Board that the staff open house meeting and greeting session had been scheduled for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23 in the conference room of Town Hall.

At this time, Mr. Pearson reported that at the last meeting, the Board directed him to take actions so that the Town could become a more active participant in the legal dispute over the Wake County landfill. He reported to the Board that the Town could file a motion to intervene in the case. He said that would not be a frivolous action and has basis in law. He said the move would be financially feasible. He added that if the motion is allowed, then the Board may need to discuss anticipated legal fees and the impact on the Town budget.

Action: The Board directed the Town Attorney to file a motion to intervene in the case.

Motion By: Sack

Second By: Womble

Vote: Unanimous

12. Closed Session – None.

13. Adjournment – There being no further business, the Feb. 15, 2000 meeting of the Holly Springs Board of Commissioners was adjourned at 9:23 p.m. following a motion by Commissioner Sack, a second by Commissioner Womble and a unanimous vote.

Respectfully Submitted on Tuesday, March 7, 2000,

______________________________

Joni Powell, CMC

Town Clerk

Addendum pages, as referenced in these minutes, follow and are a part of the official record of this meeting.