Regular Meeting
MINUTES
The Holly Springs
Town Council met in regular session on
Council Members Present: Councilmen Ernie Pearson, Chet VanFossen;
Peter Atwell; and
Council Members Absent:
Councilman Parrish
Womble.
Staff Members Present:
Carl G. Dean, town manager;
2 and 3. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited, and the
meeting opened with an invocation by Rev. Otis Byrd, pastor of the
4. Agenda Adjustment: The
Motion
By: Dickson
Second
By: Atwell
Vote: Unanimous
Items
Added to the Agenda: None.
Consent
Agenda Items Removed: None.
Other
Changes: None.
5a.
Public Hearing: FY 2005-06
Operating Budget – Mayor Sears said that this is a
public hearing to receive public comments from Holly Springs residents for
items to be included in the FY 2005-06 operating budget.
With that explanation completed, Mayor Sears opened the
public hearing to accept input. The
following comments were recorded:
Mr. Don Willis, a transportation
specialist and representative of TRACS explained to the Town Council that TRACS
is a bus service that serves the
Mr. Ed Dressen of 1320 Linden Ridge
said that he would like to see the Town consider additional sidewalks along
Mr. David Bryan of
John Schifino discussed with the Council regarding
wireless services for the entire Town would require town staff to research
security issues.
Councilman Pearson said that he would
reframe from discussing matters regarding wireless services, due to the
business relationship with his firm and Wind Channel, he will excuse himself to
avoid a conflict of interest.
There being no comments, the public hearing was closed.
Action:
No action
was taken at this time.
5b. Public Hearing: Annexation Ordinance A05-04 MSS Development
LLC - Mr. Jones
said the Town has received a petition for voluntary annexation of 16.2563 acres
located along
With that explanation completed,
Mayor Sears opened the public hearing to accept input. The following comments were recorded: None.
There being no comments, the public hearing was closed.
Action: The Council approved a motion to adopt
Annexation Ordinance A05-04 annexing 16.2563 acres owned by MSS Development LLC,
and more particularly described as Wake County Pins: 0658.09-07-5181,
0658.09-07-5417, and 0658.09-06-5851, into the corporate limits of the Town of
Holly Springs.
Motion By:
Pearson
Second
By: Atwell
Vote: Unanimous
A copy of Annexation Ordinance
A05-04 is incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.
6.
Consent Agenda: All
items on the Consent Agenda were approved following a motion by Councilman Atwell,
a second by Councilman Dickson and a unanimous vote. The following actions were affected:
6a. Budget Amendments
#47 through #66 – The Council received a report of FY 2004-05
budget amendments #47 through #66. A copy of the report of Budget Amendments
#47 through #66 is incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.
6b.
Budget Amendment, $3,350 – The Council adopted amendment to the FY
2004-05 budget in the amount of $3,350 to allocate
funds to cover S&ME invoice for soil testing at the
6c.
Budget Amendment $45,000 – The Council adopted amendment to the FY 2004-05
budget in the amount of $45,000 to allocate
funds to cover purchase of property and
relocation of a resident. Copies
of the Budget Amendments are incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.
6d. Minutes – The Council
approved the minutes of the Board’s
regular meeting held on Feb. 1; regular and special meetings held on Feb. 15;
and regular meeting held on
7a. Time Warner Cable’s 2005 Rate
Filing Forms - Mr.
Dean explained with the Town Council that this agenda item involves two
separate issues. He said the first is
the Town’s review of the company’s rate filings for 2005 and the second is the
FCC’s ruling last week that local franchise authorities no longer can regulate
Time Warner’s rates because the cable company will be “regulated” by its
competition: satellite television.
Mr. Dean said that regarding the
first issue the members of the Triangle J
Mr. Dean said that Mr. Sepe’s does not have all the
financial information he needs to make an accurate calculation of how much of a
refund to which each cable subscriber in Holly Springs may be entitled;
however, using his best guest of figures, he estimates that each cable customer
may be entitled to a refund from Time Warner Cable in the amount of $107. (See “Exhibit A” for calculation). He said if Mr. Sepe had the financial
information from Time Warner Cable, he could more accurately determine whether
or not the company has overcharged our residents as he suspects and by how
much.
Mr. Dean said that Time Warner may
argue that the company is now subject to de-regulation and that the Town no
longer has the authority to review, approve or disapprove its rates. However, Mr. Sepe advises that the Town
retains its’ authority at least for the current rate filings and that it should
proceed with exercising that authority, regardless of how the FCC may
ultimately rule.
Ms. Catherine Rice, a representative of Action Audits, the
Town’s cable consultant through the Triangle J Council of Governments cable
consortium, explained to the Town Council the report compiled for the Town's
cable television franchise/rate filings after the review of Time Warner Cable's
2005 FCC 1240, FCC 1235 and FCC 1205 forms that were filed seeking approval to
set new rates for regulated cable services.
Action:
The Council approved a motion to adopt the rate orders as recommended by
the Town’s consultant, Action Audits, accepting the consultant’s report as the
Town’s own, accepting the rates contained in Time Warner Cable's Forms 1240 and
1205; rejecting the company's Form 1235; and ordering that a revised Form 1235
and financial upgrade recovery cost summary statement be presented to the Town
of Holly Springs within 30 days of adoption of the Order; and authorize the
Mayor to formally request that Time Warner Cable Company provide the financial
upgrade recovery cost summary statement, pursuant to Section 28 of the Town’s
franchise agreement.
Motion By:
Pearson
Second
By: Atwell
Vote: Unanimous
Mr. Dean said the second issue is
the news articles reporting on this development from last week. He said the FCC ruled that because Time
Warner faces enough competition from satellite television, it no longer needs
to be subject to rate regulation by local franchise authorities.
Mr. Dean said that the consumer
advocates feel this may cause a rise in cable service prices. He said that Time Warner argues its rates
have always been determined by the competition they face and not by regulation. Our consultant feels the numbers Time Warner
used to present its case to the FCC that it was losing at least 15% of its
business to satellite companies (and, therefore the evidence of adequate
competition was produced) were flawed because they weren’t actual numbers, but
theoretical data that included vast rural areas that are not even wired for
cable service, he said.
Mr. Dean said that the Triangle J
COG Cable Consortium will meet at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 18th to
discuss what steps should be taken to appeal the FCC’s decision. He said that further actions by the council
may be requested following Friday’s meeting. Mr. Dean said that staff requests the
Action:
The Council approved a motion to authorize the Mayor to contact the
Town’s delegation in
Motion By:
Pearson
Second
By: Dickson
Vote: Unanimous
A copy of Time Warner Cable's Forms 1240
and 1205; and ordering that a revised Form 1235
and Exhibit A are incorporated
into these minutes as addendum pages.
7b. Gable Ridge Flood Study Report -
Ms. Stephenson
explained that at the Feb. 1st Town Council meeting staff updated
the Board with the results of the
Ms.
Stephenson said that staff is not recommending implementation of any specific alternatives. She said that one of the most beneficial
alternatives is still being researched by a property owner that is currently
out of town.
Mayor Sears opened the meeting for public comments at this
time.
Mr. Bill Donson of
Mr. Alex Guess of
Mr. Bill Donson said that he was also concerned about the development
of the property located behind his property, how will the drainage be channeled
and how will it affect his property.
Mrs. Stephenson said that that there are policies in place
currently that regulates the drainage when new developments are reviewed, as
before there were not.
There where much discussion between Charlie Musser of Sungate
Consultants and the Council members regarding the differences of impact of
replacing the existing 72” pipe with two 60” pipes. Mr. Musser
said that replacing the existing pipe with the same size pipe is considered by the
Department of Water Quality interpretation maintenance, but upgrading or
enlarging the pipes would be considered a new project and requires plan
approval and getting a permit from the Department Water Quality, which may be
difficult to acquire.
Action:
After much discussion the Council Members were in agreement and directed
staff to start the process of selecting a consultant for cost estimate and
design work; continue to work with Clubcorp and the property owners for the
best alternatives or solutions; regularly make inspections and maintenance of
the pipe and adopt the hydraulic and hydrologic methods policy as a Town
ordinance.
7c. Sunset Ridge Pump Station Sewer
Odors – Mr. Tillage
reported that he and Mr. Diehl was in the process of gathering data and further
researching for solutions regarding sewer odors emitting from the Sunset Ridge
pump station.
Mr. William Diehl of Diehl & Phillips Engineering reported
that he was working with the town along with US Filter, a company that
specializes in odor control chemicals and devices, to help evaluate the source
of the odor complaints.
Mr. Diehl said the Town has also
purchased two (2) odor logger meters at a cost of $2,000 each and borrowed one,
of the same type meters from ISCO to help evaluate the problem for the entire
area. He also recommended the Town to consultant
with a company called Five Sense to conduct five additional tests on air samples
taken at different locations to determine where the problem originated.
It
was the consensus of the Council not to consultant with Five Senses for additional
testing.
Mr. Diehl said that he and Mr. Tillage were collecting data from
the
Mr. Diehl said that staff is adding an odor binding chemical
called ferrous sulfate at the Middle Creek lift station, which pumps waste from
the Middle Creek area into the Sunset Ridge lift station. We did extensive
studies to determine correct feed rates to control hydrogen sulfide gas emissions
at peak flow as well as low flow.
Mr. Diehl said to handle odors that might be escaping from
the station; we installed a Carbtrol Odor Control System. This system uses an
exhaust fan to pull odiferous gases from the wet well into a container saturated
with potassium hydroxide impregnated carbon to adsorb and oxidize odor causing
compounds.
Mr.
Diehl also recommended the Town to conduct smoke test at different locations,
these tests will detect any problems of leaky pipes or problems that may be
causing the odors. He said that he and
Mr. Tillage inspected the Sunset Ridge pump station site and the adjacent
properties and noticed that there were standing water in ditches that were dug
why the property owners for drainage. He
said he detected on Mr. Mix’s property a clean out plug cap was broken. He said that with the standing water in the drainage
ditches and the broken clean out plug cap, could be contributing to the odor
problem, as well as the sewer manhole located on the back side of Mr. Mix’s property.
Action: The Council approved a motion to adopted a
budget amendment to the FY 2005-06 budget in the amount of $25,000 to cover the
cost of all study services, chemicals and equipment needed.
Motion By:
Pearson
Second
By: Atwell
Vote: Unanimous
A copy of Budget Amendment is
incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.
Councilman Dickson also asked Mr. Diehl and Mr. Tillage to
continue research of the odor problems on
Ms. Stephenson said that once the bid has been awarded by
the Town Council, the bids will be forwarded to North Carolina Department of Transportation
(NCDOT) for consideration at its April Board of Transportation meeting. She said because NCDOT is contributing
$400,000 to the project, the NCDOT Board must also approve the bids.
Construction is expected to begin mid-April, she said.
Mr. Dean said that he was
uncomfortable with moving forward with awarding the bid for this project without
the negotiation of a complete contract. He recommends to table this item until
the April 5th Town Council meeting.
Action: The Council approved a motion to defer action
on this item until the April 5th, Town Council meeting.
Motion By:
Atwell
Second
By: Dickson
Vote: Unanimous
9.
Public Comment: At this time, an opportunity was provided for members of the audience
who had registered to speak to address the Council on any variety of topics not
listed on the night’s agenda. The following
citizens were heard: None.
10.
Other Business: None.
11.
Manager’s Report: Mr. Dean reported to the Town
Council that residents are no longer required to install hot boxes to the
backflow prevention devices. Councilman
Atwell recommended to staff to notify all the
Mr. Dean informed the Council of the Regional League meeting
scheduled on April 7th, at
12. Closed Session: The Council approved a motion to enter into
Closed Session, pursuant to G.S. 143-318.11(a)(3) under the attorney-client
privilege to discuss a matter of condemnation settlement; and pursuant to G.S.
143-318.11(a)(5) negotiating the terms of a contract; and G.S. 143-318.11(a)(6)
to discuss an personnel matter.
Motion By: Atwell
Second By: Dickson
Vote: Unanimous
General Account of Closed Session –
In Closed Session, the Town Council gave direction to the
Town Attorney in the settlement of Silvia Sam’s sewer
easement condemnation matter and reported on the status of the Thompson
Contracting vs. Town of Holly Springs case.
The Lance Williams development agreement terms was deferred until
another meeting. The Town Council directed
the Town Manager to work with the Parks and Recreation Department to make specific
changes and improvements to the department.
-- End General Account
Action: The Council approved a motion to return to
Open Session.
Motion By: Dickson
Second By: Atwell
Vote: Unanimous.
13.
Adjournment: There being no further business for
the evening, the March 15, 2005, meeting of the Holly Springs Town Council was adjourned following a motion by Councilman Atwell, second
by Councilman Dickson and a unanimous vote.
Respectfully
Submitted on
_________________________________
Linda R.
Harper,
Addendum pages as referenced in these
minutes follow and are a part of the official record