Holly Springs
Town Council
Special Meeting
Friday, March 4 through Sunday, March 6,
2011
MINUTES
The Holly
Springs Town Council met in a duly-called special meeting for its annual Winter
Retreat in three sessions from Friday, March 4, 2010 through Sunday, March 6,
2010, at River Landing in Wallace, NC.
Mayor Dick Sears presided at Friday and Sunday sessions, calling members
to order at 5 p.m. Friday, March 4; and at 9 a.m. Sunday, March 6. Mayor Pro Tem Tim Sack presided in the
mayor’s absence on Saturday, calling the Saturday session to order at 8:50 a.m. A quorum was established for each session.
Friday evening Board Members Present:
Councilmen Parrish Womble, Chet VanFossen and Tim Sack and Councilwoman
Linda Hunt Williams and Mayor Sears.
Councilman Jimmy Cobb was not present
Saturday Board Members Present:
Councilmen Jimmy Cobb, Parrish Womble, Chet VanFossen and Tim Sack
(mayor pro tem) and Councilwoman Linda Hunt Williams. Mayor Sears was not present.
Sunday Board Members Present:
Councilmen Parrish Womble, Chet VanFossen and Tim Sack, Councilwoman
Linda Hunt Williams and Mayor Sears.
Councilman Jimmy Cobb was not present
Staff Members Present at the Friday
Session: Carl Dean,
town manager; Charles Simmons, assistant town manager; Joni Powell, town clerk
(recording the minutes); John Schifano, town attorney; Stephanie Sudano,
director of engineering; Gina Clapp, director of planning and zoning; Drew
Holland, finance director; Daniel Weeks, project analyst; Len Bradley, parks
and recreation director; John Herring, police chief; Cecil Parker, fire chief;
and Jenny Mizelle, economic development director.
Staff Members Present at the Saturday
Session: Carl Dean,
town manager; Charles Simmons, assistant town manager; Joni Powell, town clerk
(recording the minutes); John Schifano, town attorney; Stephanie Sudano,
director of engineering; Kendra Parrish, senior engineer; Gina Clapp, director
of planning and zoning; Jeff Jones, senior planner; Drew Holland, finance
director; Daniel Weeks, project analyst; Len Bradley, parks and recreation
director; John Herring, police chief; Cecil Parker, fire chief; and Jenny
Mizelle, economic development director.
Staff Members Present at the Sunday
Session:
Carl Dean,
town manager; Charles Simmons, assistant town manager; Joni Powell, town clerk
(recording the minutes); John Schifano, town attorney; Daniel Weeks, project
analyst; John Herring, police chief; and Len Bradley, director of parks and
recreation.
The
purpose of the meeting was to hold a winter retreat to focus discussion on
several Town projects and issues as described in the summary below. The summary serves as the minutes of the 2011
Holly Springs Town Council Retreat.
2011 Holly Springs Town
Council Retreat Summary
Friday Evening – Update on Creative Economy
Initiatives; update of non-residential development
Creative Economy
Initiatives – Ms.
Mizelle shared with the Council an update on the Economic Development
Department's program initiative to attract and retain creative economy workers
and industries. She said a community
workshop was held Feb. 16 and she reviewed the results of that community
discussion.
She said citizens were very interested
and excited about opportunities to brand Holly Springs and its creative
economy. She explained to Council that
citizen input was that the Town needed to foster its quality of life programs
and facilities and communicate better about those assets. Doing so would attract people who would make
up the Town’s workforce of creative people to support such workplaces as
architecture firms, design houses and companies
involved with such things as advertising, publishing, research and development,
fashion and film.
Ms. Mizelle then updated the Council
on several projects, including recent certificates of need that have been and
will be filed; new medical offices; Holly Springs Business Park developments;
and New Hill Place.
Mr. Dean said Kite Realty has a $4
million gap in its New Hill Place project, and the firm is looking for ways to
make it up through tax credit requests, etc. over a period of 30 years. Mr. Dean said he would not recommend any of
the credit requests because, among other things, the Town also will have added
expenses of police coverage.
Councilman VanFossen said he felt
the development would be valuable to the town and provide associated benefits. He said it was so important to the community
that the Council should discuss it before ruling out any assistance.
Mr. Schifano explained the special
assessment / special assessment bond, which is a new tool authorized under the
statutes that may be an option.
The
dilemma is: does the town give away the farm in order to convince New Hill
Place to stay? Would taxpayers be angry
to know the Town agrees to allow Kite Realty a credit of $275,000 a year for 30
years?
In
the end, none of the Council members want to see New Hill Place not locate in
Holly Springs. At the same time, the
Town can ill afford to provide services but not have New Hill Place as a
taxpayer.
It
is expected that the principals behind New Hill Place project will get their
thoughts together and return with a formal request before the Council. At that time, it is hoped, they will have
determined other ways of making up the project shortfall.
Action:
None
Capital Improvements Projects
Priorities -- Mr. Holland and
Mr. Weeks presented the 2011 Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) for fiscal years
2011-2016.
On an annual basis, the CIP is
produced for consideration by the Town Council.
The CIP is a five-year infrastructure plan that matches the Town’s
capital needs with a financing schedule.
Capital Projects are deemed to be significant expenditures (greater than
$25,000) that create assets expected to have an approximate lifespan of a
decade or more. In most cases Capital
Projects encompass asset acquisitions, construction, or improvements in land,
roads, water, sewer, buildings or renovations.
In addition to Capital Projects the
CIP also forecasts five-year departmental Capital Outlay needs. Capital Outlay expenditures (i.e. vehicles
and equipment) have a maximum cost less than that of Capital Projects. Capital Outlay requests are made by
departments and are then reviewed by the Finance and Administration
Departments. After determining financial
feasibility and timing, projects are approved, delayed or denied.
The CIP should be used as a flexible
plan that will evolve with every budget year.
Staff asked the Council to prioritize
the 44 General Fund and 29 Utility Fund projects to receive initial focus.
Chief Herring updated the Council on
the programming analysis for a new police department, one of the General Fund
CIP projects. He said the company
conducting the analysis will provide footprints for a variety of building
levels to meet the needs of the police department well into the future.
Right now, this project is in the
CIP, but it is not in the list of top five projects at this time.
It is still a viable option to secure
space in the New Hill Place development in the interim before a new
headquarters can be built, Mr. Dean said.
Ms. Sudano went through the list of general
fund priority projects that have been identified by staff, either because full
or partial funding is available or because preliminary work is completed and
construction is scheduled.
She listed the top General Fund
capital improvement projects: Grigsby
Avenue sidewalk from downtown to Womble Park; Bass Lake Road sidewalk from Earp
Street to Bass Lake Park; Bass Lake sidewalk Phase II from retreat center to
picnic shelter; the Main Street extension; and Fire Station No. 3. Also on the priority list, are greenways and
design of the Woodcreek bridge.
Chief Parker explained that he has
identified a parcel on New Hill–Holleman Road that would be suitable for Fire
Station No. 3 and would provide Holly Springs the means of servicing a growing
area.
Ms. Sudano then outlined Utility
Fund capital improvement priority projects identified by staff: Utley / Harris discharge environmental work;
Friendship Road water and sewer; pump station upgrades; and design for
replacement of the Bass Lake force main.
Ms. Sudano also noted projects that
have been dropped either because they are no longer needed or because staff is
going to complete them in-house.
Note: Lists of these projects, including comments,
costs and status information are included in these minutes as addenda pages.
Action: None, but Council seemed to be in agreement
and expressed no objections with staff priorities.
Water Reclamation Facility -- Ms. Sudano provided the Council
with information about the Town’s wastewater treatment efforts. She said in summary:
-
construction completed and 6 million gallon per day water reclamation
facility put online
-
town withdrew from the regional partnership
-
town continued work on securing environmental approvals for a 6 mgd
discharge permit into Harris Lake or Utley Creek
Work still is underway, she said, by
a multi-departmental strategic team (engineering, administration, legal,
economic development, public utilities) on securing the environmental approvals
(Finding of No Significant Impact [FONSI] and National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System [NPDES] Permit) for the needed 6 mgd discharge mentioned
above; the latest schedule is as
follows:
-
March 2011 -- finish modelling (dependent upon direction from state on
scope of work)
-
March 2011 -- work to secure Progress Energy commitments required by
Division of Water Quality pertaining to Greentree Reservoir
-
April 2011 -- gain DWQ approval of modeling and receive speculative
limits for Utley Creek
-
May 2011 -- resubmit revised environmental assessment with new
speculative limits
-
August 2011 -- receive FONSI from state
-
September 2011 -- apply for State Revolving Loan Fund funding
The schedule is highly dependent
upon the state’s moving forward in a reasonable timeframe. The staff multi-departmental strategic team
will meet regularly to implement other measures as necessary to help the town
meet this schedule, Ms. Sudano said.
Action:
None, presented for information only.
Saturday Morning
Development Fees
The Winter Retreat of the Council
resumed Saturday morning with a quorum and Mayor Pro Tem Sack as presiding
officer.
On Saturday morning discussion
focused on development fees.
Mr.
Simmons said that with the sustained economic recession that the region still
is experiencing, Town staff and elected officials have received feedback from
developers and builders trying to look for ways to reduce costs of
development. This most commonly takes
place in the form of a request for fee reductions.
The Town sometimes enters into
developer agreements to exchange fees for oversized infrastructure, or some
other similar arrangement. These
agreements are employed only when there is a win-win for the Town and the
developer, not to subsidize or reduce fees for development.
Mr. Simmons said staff explored the
topic of development fees in the following manner:
- where are development fees
collected by the Town deposited?
- what are development fees used
for?
- what is the impact of reducing
development fees (over and above the decline in collections over the past
couple of years due to the economy)
- do we need to reduce our
development fees?
- what are staff/administration
recommendations?
In discussion, the following key points emerged:
·
during the past five years, the Town raised
$12.4 million through the collection of developer fees;
·
the fees provided funds for infrastructure
that the Town did not have to borrow;
Mr. Simmons said town staff is requesting the Council’s
action to endorse staff and management recommendations regarding development
fees.
After discussion, the Council consensus was the
endorsement of the following staff recommendations:
·
No
change in development fees for FY 2011-12
·
No
changes, but be creative in how they are collected
·
Payment
deferral, which would assist developers with cash flow, needs to be tweaked
·
Continue to allow smaller phases to be
platted
Municipal Incorporation Study – Ms. Clapp said based upon the
direction of the Town Council at the October Growth and Development Workshop,
the Department of Planning & Zoning has been working on a comprehensive
analysis and identification of all of the potential areas (“donut holes”) that
might be considered for municipal incorporation (annexation) by the Town of
Holly Springs based upon the tests and specific regulations of the North
Carolina General Statutes (NCGS.)
There was discussion regarding the
areas identified as eligible. It was
then reported that legislation has just been adopted that makes the question of
involuntary annexation moot, however.
Toward 2013: A Growth Study – Ms. Clapp said over the next two years, the development
climate in Holly Springs will be changing with challenges and opportunities
regarding our future growth. Now is the
time for the Town to make a determination on its future growth corridors, how
to plan for the growth, and prepare for the funding of necessary plans and
infrastructure.
In October 2010, the Department of
Planning & Zoning conducted a Growth and Development Workshop with the Town
Council to provide an overview of the many components of the Town’s “planning
areas” and how these designations and municipal agreements affect the Town’s
ability to regulate and control the future growth of the Town.
Since this meeting, the staff of the
Town’s “development” departments (Planning, Engineering, and Economic
Development) along with Administration, have been continuing discussions about
the long-term future of growth in Holly Springs, what are the primary growth
corridors and how to prepare for the growth in these corridors.
As a result of these conversations,
it has become apparent that the primary growth corridor that the Town of Holly
Springs needs to focus on over the next few years is the Friendship/US 1
Corridor. It is within this corridor,
that the Town will have the most challenges and opportunities for development
as well as the greatest opportunity to lose a valuable growth corridor.
The Friendship / U.S. 1 Corridor
The Friendship/US 1 Corridor is the
Town’s future economic engine. It is
along US 1 that the Town has planned for extensive office and technology parks
that would augment its growing residential tax base. Without such a growth corridor, the Town will
be burdened over the long run with a growing demand for municipal services and
it will have to rely ever more heavily on its residential tax base to cover
such expenses.
In discussion, the Council
determined a need to protect the U.S. 1 Corridor and to extend utilities in that
direction. The Council committed to the
following strategies for growth in the next five years:
Action:
The Council approved a motion to approve to fund water line extension to
Friendship certified site in 2011-12 budget (or sooner).
Motion By:
VanFossen
Second By:
Sack
Vote:
Unanimous
Action:
The Council approved a motion to approve to broaden the Town’s
long-range planning area north of US1 to study long-range future land use and
utility impacts.
Motion By:
VanFossen
Second By:
Cobb
Vote:
Unanimous
Action:
The Council approved a motion to authorize staff to fund and hire a
consultant to prepare a Friendship/US1 Corridor Plan.
Motion By:
Cobb
Second By: Williams
Vote:
Unanimous
Action:
The Council approved a motion to allow the Holly Springs/Apex annexation
agreement line to expire.
Motion By:
Womble
Second By:
VanFossen
Vote:
Unanimous
Additionally,
there was Council consensus that the Town talk to landowners in the U.S. 1
corridor regarding voluntary annexation of property; that incentives be created
for water connections; and that the Town itself should acquire property. All of these steps would ensure the Town can
take advantage of the potential promised by the U.S. 1 corridor.
Saturday Afternoon
Parks and Recreation Presentation -- Mr. Bradley updated the Town
Council on the status of Parks and Recreation.
His presentation covered information
regarding town population, growth and the demand on Parks and Recreation
facilities and programs.
Council
Consensus: There was Council consensus that the
Town has serious facility needs for flat athletic fields; there is a need to
continue connectivity and complete segments of greenway; completion of Womble
and Jones Parks is a priority; the Town needs to acquire property for parks; and
funding by bond referendum is the most likely option for the Town to pursue.
After
much discussion of the various scenarios of bond referenda, the Council
concluded that the Town should plan to pursue a $20 million to $30 million bond
referendum next May. Staff needs to
return to Council in the meantime with a finalized list of what funding would
be used for and the timing and cost of a bond referendum.
Comprehensive Transportation Plan – Ms. Parrish said over the past
eight months or so, the Town has been revising its transportation plan to a new
and updated Comprehensive Thoroughfare Plan (CTP.)
The CTP will be in a format that
complies with Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and with NCDOT,
and it will allow the Town to compete more effectively and successfully for
transportation funds.
The CTP will include plans for
multiple modes to serve the community: bike, pedestrian, transit, and a special
NC55 Corridor module - in addition to roadways.
The CTP will replace a transportation plan last updated almost a decade
ago.
Mike Rutkowski of Kimley-Horne and
Associates addressed the Council to:
·
provide
an overview of the project, including the public input and advisory committee
oversight on the project;
·
explain
methodology and recommendations;
·
present
draft plans for all modes plus the corridor study for review and comment; and
·
provide
a schedule for completion of the project.
(Note: The Town also is concurrently undertaking the
preparation of a bike plan with grant funds secured by NCDOT. The development of that plan is running
slightly behind this one. Since the bike
plan must be incorporated into the CTP, final approval and publication of the
CTP has been delayed to accommodate same.)
Consensus:
There was Council consensus that it endorsed the CTP thus far.
Ms. Parrish then spoke to the
Council regarding an expansion in KHA's scope of work on this project to study
the proposed Kildaire Farm Road / Holly Springs Road / I540 interchange.
The Turnpike Authority has completed
25% design plans for this interchange and shared them with the Town very
recently. The plans reflect two
alternatives and much discussion about where Kildaire Farm Road will tie in to
Holly Springs Road (north or south of the interchange). Staff recommends that we retain KHA to
evaluate the options and help the Town select its preferred alternative as
expeditiously as possible in order to influence the final design of this key
and critical intersection.
Ms.
Parrish said the cost of this work is estimated at $15,000, and the Town
already has secured a proposal.
Action:
The Council approved a motion to approve an amendment in the amount of
$15,000 to the Town’s professional services agreement with Kimley-Horne and
Associates in the Comprehensive Transportation Plan project to evaluate I-540
interchange options at Kildaire Farm Road and Holly Springs Road.
Motion By:
Sack
Second By:
Williams
Vote:
Unanimous
Sunday Morning
Clothes Closet – Mr. Schifano explained the history
of how the clothes closet came to be. It
has served the Town through various incarnations as a town hall, police
station, and chamber of commerce. Today,
it is used by the Holly Springs Baptist Church as a clothing closet but is still
owned by the Town.
The building is not leased or
rented, and there is no hold harmless agreement protecting the town from
liability.
The volunteers who operate the
closet do not have posted regular hours, and the building is in need of
extensive repairs.
The Council discussed how two
projects of the Good Will Foundation will soon meet the affordable clothing needs
of the community and that the clothing closet would no longer be needed. The Council also discussed its options for
what to do with the property.
Action: The Council approved a motion to allow Holly
Springs Baptist Church to continue using the clothes closet building until Dec.
31, 2011.
Motion By:
Sack
Second By:
VanFossen
Vote:
Unanimous
Action:
The Council approved a motion to remove the building after it is vacated
and the Goodwill Foundation stores are open in Holly springs.
Motion By:
Womble
Second By:
VanFossen
Vote:
Unanimous
Chamber of Commerce Relations – Mayor Sears said he was concerned
with recent attitudes between the Chamber and the Town, and he noted the
Citizen of the Year Award decision that was made this year as an example. He, a former Citizen of the Year, said he was
disappointed that the Chamber decided at the last minute to not sponsor the
award any longer.
Councilman Sack and Councilwoman
Williams said the nature of this year’s Chamber of Commerce membership
directory that was printed as an insert to Cary Magazine and not heavily
distributed locally was not what they had in mind to serve the residents of
Holly Springs. Since the Town funds the
project, they said, the Town representative on the Chamber board should have
known and had input.
Councilman Sack also noted that
Councilman Cobb and had asked him convey his equal disappointment in the
Chamber.
In the end, a consensus of council
members said they wanted to maintain Town support of the Chamber, but they want
to make sure they are spending public dollars appropriately, and a membership
directory needs to be in a certain format for a public purpose to be served.
Action: The Council approved a motion to continue
enlisting the Town as a platinum member of the Chamber of Commerce with the $10,000
annual membership.
Mayor Sears made a motion that the
Town not include in its FY 2011-12 budget any funds for paying for a directory
project. Councilwoman Williams seconded
the motion, but the motion failed following a 2-3 vote.
Action: Councilman VanFossen made a motion that the Town
representative on the Chamber of Commerce board should negotiate with Chamber board
members regarding the type of directory that is published and its cost, and
whether the Town provides financial support will be considered as a separate
Issue. Councilman Sack seconded the motion, and it carried
following a 3-1 vote. Councilwoman
Williams voted against.
Community Grant Program – Ms. Powell said this is a topic
that was mentioned by a citizen earlier this year, and Council members
suggested it as a retreat topic.
Ms. Powell said the citizen had
suggested a number of text changes to the grant program policy, including a
suggestion that the ad hoc application review committee include three citizens
who are not members of any applicant organization.
Council agreed with a number of the
suggested text changes, but they said they felt it was a Council responsibility
to act on the applications. Council
members also agreed that it would allow public review and comment on the
committee’s recommendations by accepting recommendations at one meeting and
then waiting until the next before taking action on the recommendations.
Action:
The Council approved a motion to make no
changes in the grant review committee membership, but to change the policy to
state that a recommendation will be given to the Council at one meeting and
action would be taken at the next so there can be public input in between and
to change the policy to incorporate all other suggestions by the citizen.
Motion
By: Sack
Second
By: VanFossen
Vote: Unanimous
A
copy of Policy Statement PS 26.2 as amended is incorporated into these minutes
as addenda pages.
Holly Glen Park Area -- Mr. Dean explained that the Town had received a request regarding
some property that had been dedicated as open space / park in the development
of Holly Glen. A resident was asking if
the property could be reverted to the Holly Glen homeowners association.
Consensus: The Council said it would keep the Holly Glen
property in the town’s park inventory.
Development Fees – Councilman VanFossen asked that the
Council revisit the question of development fees from the previous day. He said he does not want to reduce fees, and
he understands how and why they are set.
Councilman VanFossen said he also sees value in the idea of setting development
fees for certain projects that benefit the community at a different level.
In example, he said, senior housing
could be given a break because the impact of senior residents on town
infrastructure is probably not has great as that of a single-family home. He suggested a developer agreement avenue be
devised to give selected projects as break so that they remain viable.
Mr. Schifano explained that usually developer agreements
result in benefits for the public (upsized lines, pump stations, etc.) Developer agreement to make a project work for
a developer would be problematic from a legal standpoint, he said.
Mr. Dean said the Town applied for Community
Development Block Grant funds in the amount of $250,000 to pay for infrastructure for the Avent
Ferry Road senior housing project, but it apparently was not enough since
developers are asking for more assistance.
Councilman VanFossen said he felt senior
housing would benefit the community so maybe the Town should bring more into the
project in the spirit of benefitting the public.
Mr. Schifano said if senior housing
is a goal, then take the Town should take the developer out of equation, and the
Town should develop its own senior housing.
Councilman VanFossen said he felt
that there are certain projects that would improve the quality of life in Holly
Springs, and he asked what ability does the Council have to help bring those
projects.
Mr. Schifano said any policy would
have to be uniform and equitable to all development, and Councilman Sack added that
it would be difficult for the Town to legislate what is a qualified project
because what is important to the town is always changing.
Consensus: Councilman VanFossen strongly objected, but
it remained a consensus of the Council that development fees should not be
changed for any certain type of project over another.
Adjournment: There
being no further business for the weekend, the 2011 Winter Retreat of the Holly
Springs Town Council was adjourned following a motion
by Councilman Sack, a second by Councilman Womble and a unanimous vote.
Respectfully
Submitted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011.
_________________________________
Joni Powell, MMC,
Town Clerk