Written by Jackie Holcombe, Mayor of Morrisville, North Carolina. Photo by Hal Goodtree.

Balance Between Services and Cost

This year, as every year, the Town of Morrisville will consider how best to balance a desire for a well-maintained, safe community that offers reasonable quality of life amenities with taxpayer cost.  Over the next 5 months we will examine revenue and growth projections, review strategic priorities and receive departmental staff reports. We will hold workshops, virtual open houses and public hearings, all dedicated to our Fiscal Year 2013 budget.   And when that budget is adopted in June, if we have done our job and listened well, the balance between services and cost will reflect the desires of our community.

What Service Level Fits our Expectations?

For years, significant tax-base and population growth in Morrisville led to year-over-year increases in revenue.  Without much effort, people and businesses found their way to the Heart of the Triangle, drawn as they were to our desirable location and exceptional quality of life.  Over time we became less rural and more an innovative crossroads where cultural heritage meets the next generation, nurturing vibrant communities of diverse families and businesses, while preserving small-town values. But now the question begs:  how well do we want to maintain our community and what service level provision best fits our high expectations?

Austere Budgets

Our town staff has expertly executed austere budgets for multiple years running, increasing efficiency along the way.  As a result, our residential taxes and fees are among the lowest in Wake County.  Our full time staff has been pared to 150, a rate of only 7.5 employees per 1000 population.  (For comparison sake, the staffing rate in Cary is 8.5/1000 residents.)  We have delayed and deferred routine maintenance and capital projects, an approach that has left our fund balance – or savings account – rich, but our list of needs long.  Yes, we have consistently delivered high level, quality services. But we have not adequately responded to community requests for better roads, expanded parks and greenways, preservation of historic buildings and a vibrant town center.

Make Your Voice Heard

Morrisville is a community of engaged, informed residents with high expectations.  We can meet those expectations, demonstrate good stewardship of financial resources and still continue to be one of the best values in the Triangle.  But shared responsibility for Morrisville’s future through continued investment in infrastructure and quality of life amenities will be needed.  I look forward to the defining conversations to come.

Morrisville: 2013 Fiscal Budget
Submit your comments

From the blog of Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, covering the week through February 5, 2012. Photo by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – A week that was supposed to be relatively light and have some open days, filled up quickly. So I was unexpectedly busy this week.

Technology and Communications in Cary

Monday I met with a friend about technology, social media, and the media. We tossed around a lot of ideas about how the town could improve. I believe this is the year for the town to catch up with the rest of the world in technology. And updating our web site would be a great start. Council member Bush has an excellent background in this area and I believe will provide invaluable input.

Tuesday

Tuesday I had my weekly meeting with the town manager. We discussed at length all the opportunities and issues related to downtown. So far, what has been surfaced is just a small portion of the exciting things going on or being negotiated. I hope to have exciting news to tell everyone within the next month or so.

Western Wake Dems

After meeting with the town manager I headed over to the Western Wake Dems meeting for about 15 minutes. I talked with Morrisville council member Rao, shook a few hands, and then was on my way to a private dinner.

Mayors Want Regional Centers

Wednesday, Mayor Holcombe and I headed to Fuquay Varina to meet with Mayor Eagles, Commissioner West, county officials and others about the Southern Regional Center and other regional centers.

This facility, and others like it around the county, brings county, community, and private services and resources to local residents by having them in one central location. These centers not only provide services to the needy but to all parts of the population.

Some of the services include: operating as a location for paying taxes, providing free flu shots, and providing shots for overseas travel. The purpose of our visit was to tour the facility and hear their pitch for creating one of these county facilities in Western Wake County. It was pointed out that the county commissioners have funded one of these facilities in each part of the county except Western Wake. And before they invest in a facility in the western wake area they want advocacy from the mayors and towns.

Mayor Holcombe and I asked for specific data of these facilities by zip code so we could analyze what part of Cary and Morrisville these facilities are drawing from. While a facility like this would be beneficial in Cary it would be a hard sell in many areas. The perception is that visitors to these facilities are the needy and down trodden and that it would run down neighboring property values. Their data proves this is not the case. At the conclusion of our meeting we stated once we receive data from them we will touch base with them again.

Thursday I had a meeting with Mayor Pro-Tem Adcock. It is important that we have regular meetings to keep each other informed of issues that are ongoing. Our meeting lasted a couple of hours and most of our discussion was about when to create a process for the replacement of council member Robison.

Saturday I joined the Xi Mu Mu Alumni Chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity for a blood drive at Mt. Zion Church in Cary. This is the 100th anniversary of Omega and these men are looking for ways to give back to their communities. And since blood is the give of life it is probably one of the best ways to give back to the community. God bless them!

There was a lot of information from staff this week.

Costco

The proposed Costco has generated a lot of information from staff. You can up to date information by visiting the town’s “Get the Facts” section on the web site. The Planning Director sent detailed information on the proposal which included the following:

No site plan has been submitted to the Town of Cary for review, thus nothing has been approved by us.  Here is a summary of the status of this issue thus far, and how this project would be reviewed according to Town regulations if this site is pursued by the developer.

Zoning

This shopping center land is zoned for General Commercial (GC) uses, and a Costco retail store is allowed by law on this property.  Neither the Town Council nor staff has discretion whether such a retail use might be permitted at that location based on zoning.  No changes to the zoning will be necessary if the landowners decide to move forward with this proposal.  And because a Costco-type store is allowed, no public hearing is held.  This potential developer will, however, have to submit a plan that meets all established development standards related to transportation, landscaping, architecture, stormwater, and the like.  Determination of compliance with all of those requirements occurs at the next stage in the development process.

Site Plan Submission

Should they decide to proceed, the next step would be for the applicant to submit a formal site plan that meets our requirements.   Several months ago, at their request, Town staff did conduct a “pre-submittal” meeting with representatives from Costco to discuss a “conceptual plan” to remove all the current buildings except for the existing bank (at the corner of Edinburgh and Highway 64).  They would be replaced with a 147,000 square foot store and an associated gas station.  This pre-application meeting is a required first step in the Town’s development process.  That conceptual plan does not constitute a formal submittal, however, so there is no decision before the Town at this time.  Staff does not know whether – or when – an applicant might submit a plan for development.  Sometimes the pre-application meetings do lead to developers taking next steps, but frequently we never hear from them again.

Site Plan Review

When/If a site plan is submitted, the Town will ensure that any proposal meets the Cary Land Development Ordinance (LDO).  Again, this is when traffic would be evaluated against applicable traffic and transportation requirements.  The site plan review process takes several months and is typically handled by Town staff as an administrative function.

A site plan typically undergoes several cycles of review.  At the beginning, staff conducts an initial review (to determine submittal completeness and ensure that it generally meets the basic Town requirements).  Then, when we receive a 2nd submittal, we notify landowners within 400′ of the property by letter that a plan is under formal review.  This is not required by law, and it should not be viewed as an opportunity to deny a project if it meets the zoning and development requirements.  The notification is a practice that Town Council has established as a courtesy to adjoining property owners to allow interested parties to look at the plan and offer comments.

Availability of Information

You can obtain general information about the Town’s development process and follow the progress of an individual, specific development plan as outlined below.

1.     General information that describes all of the Town’s development processes is located in the award-winning VIP (Virtual Interactive Planner) section of our website:  http://vip.townofcary.org/

2.     You can monitor development submittals on our website in a couple of ways.  First, you can go here: http://www.townofcary.org/Departments/Planning_Department/Development_Regulations/Plan_Review_and_Design.htm   Go to the bottom of the page and select “Active Projects in the Review Process (sorted alphabetically) or (sorted by date).”

3.     You can also register and create an account on our online plan review page and see what’s going on: http://townofcary.contractorsplanroom.com/secure/

4.     Of course, you can also call us at 469-4082 or visit our offices on the 3rd Floor of Town Hall at 316 N. Academy Street.

Davis & High House Construction

The Planning Director also sent out information about the two controversial construction projects at Davis Drive and High House. It appears they will be under construction at the same time:

We publish final versions of approved site and subdivision plans here: http://sitesubplans.townofcary.org/projectlist.htm. As you will see, each plan has a multitude of various pages (”plan sheets”) for the overall site layout, details, landscaping, drainage, utilities, erosion control, infrastructure, building elevations, etc.  General info about the project (like zoning conditions & development data) are usually on one of the early sheets.

For example, using a couple of projects of interest, the Bradford’s plan sheets are found here: http://sitesubplans.townofcary.org/Bradford_07-SP-114/planindex.htm (NOTE: Additional revisions of this site plan are presently under review, so will not be found at this location.)  And Searstone’s residential portion (with a whopping 99 plan sheets!) can be reviewed here: http://sitesubplans.townofcary.org/SearstoneCCRC_07-SP-035-B/planindex.htm (NOTE:  I don’t think that any further changes are under review.  I will advise you if that is not the case.)

ICE

We also had information forwarded from staff about a proposed ICE facility in Cary that drew a lot of attention this summer. It appears they are once again beginning the process to locate in this area. Here is the information we received from the General Services Administration:

DHS/ICE – Raleigh-Cary Weekly Stakeholder Update

The purpose of this weekly Update is to brief the municipalities and other stakeholders within the delineated area on the progress of GSA Solicitation 1NC2136.

The weekly update will contain information on procurement milestones that have taken place along with upcoming scheduled milestones.  To date, the following activities have occurred:

• January 30, 2012- GSA submitted an advertisement on Fedbizopps (www.fbo.gov) for 19,841 ABOA office space to include 65 parking spacing on behalf of Department of Homeland Security/Immigration and Custom Enforcement.  Deadline of expressions of interest is February 13, 2012
• February 27, 2012 – March 2, 2012 – Market survey scheduled to tour submitted locations
• March 6, 2012 – Estimated date for release of the Request for Lease Proposals (RLP) to all locations accepted on the market survey

Any questions in reference to this procurement should be forwarded to Saudia Muwwakkil, GSA Public Affairs Officer at (404) 331-3200 or at saudia.muwwakkil@gsa.gov.

Swift Creek Sewer

Staff also sent out a detailed update on the Swift Creek Sewer Main project. Here are details sent by the Engineering Director:

The Town of Cary is approaching the midpoint of the Swift Creek Parallel Force Main Project.  This is a four mile long sewer project that will benefit the economic and environmental vitality of the region.  The project starts along Holly Springs Rd near Swift Creek and heads southward before turning and continuing east along Ten-Ten Rd.  The sewer main then turns south along Lawdraker Rd before continuing across country toward the South Cary Water Reclamation Facility.

We have received concerns with the project brought about by both our own citizens and those residing outside the Town limits.  We want to assure you that we are working diligently to address these matters.  While the primary complaint continues to be about the loss of trees along Holly Springs Rd, we are confident in our decision to move forward with the project knowing the additional protection the line will provide to this sensitive water shed.  Once the Swift Creek Parallel Force Main is completed, we will have an additional level of redundancy in our system, our capacity for future growth will be expanded, and the existing force main will receive a thorough inspection and necessary repairs.

This project had been in the development stage for over 10-years.  Early on in the process we received public comments that set us on a course for selecting the corridor where we are currently installing pipe today.  The real motivation to move this project ahead however, came after the 2006 spill at the Swift Creek Pump Station.  One of the primary recommendations to come from our study and investigation was the need for this second force main between the pump station and the treatment plant for redundancy.

Construction is anticipated to be complete before the October deadline. Should you receive any inquiries about this project, feel free to direct citizens to the Town of Cary Engineering Department at 469-4030.  Additional information and project updates are available on the project website at http://www.townofcary.org/Departments/Engineering/utilities/Sewer_Projects/Swift_Creek_Parallel_Force_Main.htm.

Plans in Review

Staff also sent out email about plans currently in review. Included in those plans are:

• A Walgreens at Waverly Place
• 80 dependent care units at Weatherstone Springs on Weather Ridge Lane.
• 51 single family lots in the Westvale Subdivision
• 206 apartments at Cary Parkway and Tryon Road
• 14,162 square foot building added to Syracuse Plastics

Quarterly Report

The quarterly report came out this week. Highlights include:

• Construction of the Western Wake Regional Wastewater facility has begun
• The Aquastar automated water meter system is 90% installed (54,000 meters).
• The town continues to purchase strategic properties downtown
• C-Tran’s fixed routes saw a 30% increase in ridership this quarter compared to last year
• Single family permits were 432 units compared to 224 last year
• Multifamily permits were 463 units compared to 184 last year
• Population as of January 1st is estimated to be 141,132 which is an increase of 2932 people
• A refinancing will save over $800,000.   The vast majority of those savings will reduce our debt service commitments for FY 13 and FY 14.
• Although water meters have grown by 2.5% our overall consumption was down 5% during the last six months
• Our leaf collection picked up 5,946 tons of leaves
• Project PHOENIX now has participation of 32 apartment complexes which is over 50%.
• Wake Med Soccer Park expansion was bid in November and is on schedule and on budget
• Over 31,000 people attended the Cary Arts Center from October through December
• The town has over 1100 employees with a turnover rate of 4.8%.

Staff also gave a very informative response to a citizen regarding induction loop hearing devices at town venues. Induction loop systems work with hearing aids. An induction loop wire is permanently installed (typically under a carpet or in the ceiling) and connects to a microphone used by a speaker. The person talking into the microphone generates a current in the wire, which creates an electromagnetic field in the room. When you switch your hearing aid to the “T” (telephone) setting, your hearing aid picks up the electromagnetic signal. You can then adjust the volume of the signal through your hearing aid.

Here is the staff response:

“…Thanks much for writing regarding the induction loop hearing technology.  At the Cary Arts Center, we have not yet put installed a permanent sound system.  As we move towards doing that, we will be looking at several types of auxiliary sound aids.  We will certainly explore further the induction loop technology.

We currently do have assistive listening services at USA Baseball, Koka Booth Amphitheatre, and Town Hall.  We will continually look at and asses these systems and compare it with the new technology that you mentioned. …”

Emails

Also in email this week was a notice from American Airline Chairman and CEO Thomas Horton about restructuring and changes. Bottom line was summed up in these statements: “…all workgroups will have total costs reduced by 20%, including management. While the savings from each work group will be achieved somewhat differently, each will experience the same percentage reduction. …”

Apolitical

There were a lot of emails from citizens this week. I had a couple of separate requests to do resolutions about national issues. The Cary Council doesn’t typically pass resolutions to take political stands. Personally, I would oppose any resolution that is of a national or state nature that would be perceived as a political position. Why? It is very important that this council, with positions on both ends of the political spectrum, work loosely together to do the business of the town. We hold non-partisan positions and our goal is to be passionate about protecting and enhancing the quality of life of our citizens. With a political divide we will not be nearly as effective. Currently, our council is in sync and focused on local issues that have a direct impact on our citizens. I believe we have been successful with the lowest tax rate in Wake County to go along with the highest quality of life.

Other emails included concerns about Chapel Hill Road, a complaint about the state portion of Electra Drive, and a concern about neon lighting for the downtown theater. I also had many requests for meetings with most of them related to council member Robison’s future resignation. It is important to understand that while the council can create a process it cannot act on that process until council member Robison actually resigns.

Next week will be much busier with meetings, events, a work session, and a council meeting.

Well that is all for this week. My next post will be on Sunday, February 12th. Please feel free to email me with a comment. Email all Town of Cary questions or comments to Harold.Weinbrecht@townofcary.org. Email personal comments to augustanat@mindspring.com.

Story by Don Frantz, Cary Town Council member, District B. First published on Blogspot. Photo by Max Westby.

Cary, NC – Call me a flip-flopper if you want, but I have changed my mind regarding chickens in Cary. It has nothing to do with “sustainability” or many of the “green” arguments chicken proponents point to – it has everything to do with freedom.

As a Cary councilman and active member of a number of business and community associations, I have worked hard to reduce or eliminate overburdensome and unfair government regulations. I am sick of government (especially the idiots in Washington) poking their noses into every facet of our lives. My position on chickens was in conflict with this.

People should have the right to do as they wish as long as their decisions do not negatively impact the health and well-being of others. Just because I do not like something doesn’t give me the right to keep you from doing it.

So we are clear – I do not want chickens. I really hope my neighbors do not get chickens. But if they do, who in the hell am I to say “no”? Just make sure you keep those things closer to your house than mine, and if your chicken flies into my yard and my dog eats your chicken, that’s on you.

Mayor Pro-Tem Gale Adcock and I have placed the following request on council’s February 9, 2012 meeting agenda:

Council initiated request to amend Cary’s ordinance to allow for the keeping of backyard hens.

Mayor Pro Tem Adcock and I are requesting council consideration of a request to direct staff to amend town code to allow for the keeping of backyard hens with the following conditions:

• This amendment applies to single family detached homes only

• No Roosters

• No backyard slaughter

• Chickens may be kept for personal use only – no raising chickens for re-sale

• A maximum of eight (8) chickens allowed per property

• Recommend an annual license fee of $10.00 total (not per chicken)

• No free range. Chickens are to remain in the chicken coup, run or fenced in yard when unsupervised. May be allowed in front yard with supervision.

• Delay the implementation of the proposed ordinance amendment for 3 months to allow HOA’s the opportunity to address this issue if they so desire.

• Chicken Coup: Chickens must be provided a covered, predator resistant housing structure that is designed in such a way that allows for ventilation, ease of cleaning and provides a minimum of two square feet per chicken. The coup should be held to standards similar to what we require for storage sheds and give the appearance of professional design and construction

• Apply appropriate set-back requirements. Understanding that every lot is different, we are looking for staff guidance on how to best protect neighbors by ensuring that the chicken coup is located closer to the chicken owner’s home than their neighbor’s.

• Allows for folks to compost hen’s fecal matter – current ordinance prohibits composting fecal matter of “household pets”. Clarify chicken/hens NOT a household pet if necessary.

“Assuming” that those council members who supported allowing chickens in Cary the last time this was discussed still do, this initiative will pass.

There is no need for more information – this issue has been studied to death. I know more about chickens than I ever cared to. Let’s just get this done and behind us. We have way more important things to focus on.

So like I said, call me a flip-flopper. I don’t care. I can admit when I am wrong. What’s your excuse?

Now all this talk of chickens has made me hungry. KFC anyone?

Story by Lori Bush, photo by Seth Meranda. Story republished from LoriBush.org.

Cary, NC – It’s happened at the Town already.  It was just a matter of time.  I’m the “techy” one, so I’m used to it.  Yes, I’m now “technical support.”

I’ve now taught 3 folks (who shall remain nameless) how to use their smart phones. How to turn them on and off, silence them, and how to load apps. (C’mon Verizon and AT&T – show people the basics before you let them leave the store!)  But I digress.

I should first say that I love doing that.  It’s always been my passion to help people use technology to improve their lives – whether as a Product Manager or Homeland Security Advisor at Cisco, teaching internet safety classes or training teachers to use technology in the classroom as a way to excite and engage students.

Confessions and Solutions

And, I have a confession. I have an addiction to the toys.  It’s true. I have 2 smart phones, 2 Macs, a desktop PC, an iPad, and other gadgets.  I just love the stuff.

And, I don’t think I’m alone.  Wherever you go in Cary, you can find people on their devices.  Folks texting,tweeting, or updating their Facebook status.  They’re “checking in” or using Foursquare, sharing tips and restaurant reviews, shopping and navigating.

They’re Pinterest-ing (an online bulletin board), posting photos on Flickr, and stumble-upon  new information.  (If you didn’t get any of those references, click on the links to learn more.)

So, we use these tools in our day-to-day lives – so why can’t we use them to improve our engagement with at the Town, and with our citizens?  I think we can.  

Scratch that, I know we can.

The Birth of Tech Town

Town of Cary Webpage circa 2004

Many years ago, a citizen (now Mayor Weinbrecht) joined and led the Information Services Advisory Board.  It’s an advisory board to council on technology and communications used by the Town.  That board, under his leadership, did some incredibly innovative (at that time) things.

They worked closely with staff and council to recommend website updates & communication ideas, with a goal of opening up more of our processes to the web (such as online permitting, and posting meetings over video.)  Much of this work garnered awards for the town back in 2003.

But, in my opinion, we haven’t continued that progress. We once called ourselves the “Technology Town of NC” – but that isn’t where we are today.

But it COULD be again.

My Vision

My vision is of a town that leverages our fantastic infrastructure to deliver “just in time” information to it’s citizens. Using social media (like the Town’s Twitter feeds and Facebook pages) to reach out to citizens – for example, posting park and field closings (no more calling the phone and waiting for the answering machine.)

Her are some other specific ideas:

• Enabling SeeClickFix – (here’s Raleigh’sversion) a mobile app that empowers citizens to assist the town in identifying non-emergency issues such as potholes, broken traffic lights or clogged sewers. Citizens will be able to help us locate and identify issues, and be part of the solution to help improve our community.

• Streaming Town Council and other meetings for those of us without access to CaryTV 11. A growing number of us have DirectTV, without access to our cable access channel. Let’s create channels of information, in small nuggets making it easy and quick to digest the content.

• Mashups of GoogleMaps with greenways, bike paths and other “citizen created” layers. (Take a look at one from New York City.)

• Teach Cyber Security and Cyber Safety to our citizens. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the U.S. and we should find ways to teach our citizens how to stay protected while they’re connected.  (Full disclosure:  I have a board seat on the National Cyber Security Alliance –www.staysafeonline.org. )

• Citizen outreach and reducing paper – using online surveys and portals/blogs to more quickly engage with citizens, use more online communications to reduce mail and postcard printing costs, and collaborate with citizens.

What’s Next?

So many of these capabilities and applications are not only low or no cost – but some may save us money down the road, while also increasing citizen engagement and satisfaction.  Plus, there’s always the cool factor. 

——————————————————————————————————
Lori Bush, a technology executive, is an At-Large member of Cary Town Council. She is the new Council liaison to the Town’s Information Services Advisory Board.

From the blog of Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, covering the week through January 29, 2012. Photo of Jordan Lake by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – This week was a tough week for me with a council meeting and two speaking engagements.

Good Bye Julie

Monday started with calls to council members about concerns or issues they had with the agenda. I contacted every council member and there were very few issues. In my phone call to Julie Robison she let me know of her intention to resign her council seat.

Julie’s husband Dan has taken a position at West Virginia as a Dean. Congratulations Dan! Julie and her two girls will move sometime this summer when they are out of school. Somewhere in that timeframe Julie will give up her seat. While I am very excited for the new opportunities to Julie and her family, I will sorely miss her. She has dedicated and committed over 10 years of her life in service to the citizens of Cary and has done an outstanding job which included serving with three vastly different mayors. God bless Julie Robison!

Later Monday I met with town management, department directors, and administration to go over the agenda. Mayor Pro-Tem Adcock joined via telephone. Most of our discussion focused on the federal legislative agenda. I communicated that I believe some council members were interested in sending the Fryar property back to the Planning and Zoning board for another review since it had changed significantly since their last review. We also discussed the possibility of a long public hearing for the joint land use plan with Chatham County. At their public hearing speakers voiced opinions for over two hours. Based on all the information presented at this meeting my estimation for the meeting’s conclusion was 9 PM.

Land in Chatham County

Tuesday began the weekly meeting with our town manager. We mostly discussed issues in confidence of a sensitive nature so I will not repeat them.

Tuesday was also a regularly scheduled town council meeting. Usually town council meetings are held the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. So this date was an exception.

The main interest in the meeting seemed to be the Public Hearing on the joint land use plan with Cary and Chatham County. Unfortunately, many Chatham County residents see this as Cary aggression. It is important to understand that the Town of Cary isn’t acquiring land in Chatham County.

Instead some property owners want to develop their land. For this to happen they need Cary water and sewer. For a property owner to get Cary water and sewer, you have to be annexed into Cary. It is our hope that density and intensity will decrease towards Jordan Lake which is our drinking source. So we believe it is important to have a plan. Development in this area is up to the property owners and not the Town of Cary. It may or may not develop in my lifetime which is again up to the property owners.

Another item that brought a great deal of discussion was the Fryar property at Highcroft Drive and Green Level Church Road. Since the proposal had changed significantly since it was denied by the Planning and Zoning board, Council decided it would be best to send this back to them for another review before taking action. The council meeting also included a closed session. We adjourned around 10 PM.

Eye Opener

Wednesday morning I gave the State of the Town address at the Chamber of Commerce’s Eye Opening Breakfast. This is probably my biggest presentation of the year. I started writing the State of the Town around Thanksgiving and it was taped for Cary TV in December. I presented it with slides at Glenaire in early January.

For this presentation, I took the State of the Town address and made it into bullet points so I could elaborate on certain issues. This presentation included much more detail especially about trends, legislative concerns, and technology. I received many positive comments afterwards and my impression was that it was well received.

Wednesday evening I taped the February version of Cary Matters with our newest council member Lori Bush. She seemed like an old pro and had no problems being in front of the camera. Even with a few technical difficulties we were done in less than an hour. I believe the chemistry between Lori and I was good and I can’t wait to see how it turned out. The main topic for February was the council/staff retreat that was held a couple of weeks ago.

Meet the Mayors

Thursday morning I participated in a “Meet the Mayors” panel discussion put on by the Triangle Community Coalition. The event was well attended by a few dozen people with developer, real estate, and business interest. I was joined by Mayor McFarlane of Raleigh and Mayor Weatherly of Apex.

We all gave a few opening comments and then opened the floor for questions from the audience. I received several good questions which included: What are we doing to become more business friendly? What are we doing with our sports venues to provide economic benefit? And when considering incentives to attract jobs how do you decide between a local business and out-of-town business? Almost all of this information is covered in my state of the town address. On the subject of deciding between a local and out-of-town business, we always want to help existing local business and incentives are considered on a case by case basis.

Thursday evening I attended a meeting of the Western Wake Policy Advisory Committee. This is the committee that gives direction on the Western Wake Wastewater Management Facility. I was joined by mayors and town managers from Apex and Morrisville. In this meeting we rejected all proposals for the bio-solids portion of the facility because the bids were higher than expected. The staff will redo requirements and rebid it later.

Saturday

Saturday I spent most of the day at a church retreat with my Confirmand. I have been honored to mentor a young man as he goes through the process of becoming a member of our church. One of the goals of a mentor is to hopefully create a friendship that will last a lifetime.

Emails: Billboards, Spying on People and More

Emails from staff this week included one about billboards. Bill 183 passed the legislature in 2011 and now sign companies can clear cut trees (380 ft. on either side of the sign on interstates, 340 on controlled access roads, and 250 ft. on other state roads). It does not apply to all state roads, but to primary and interstate highways.  The roads in Cary that are impacted include: I-40, I-540, Western Wake Freeway (existing and proposed – Southern Cary), US 1, US 64, Cary Town Boulevard, Portions of Jones Franklin, Aviation, and Airport Roads.

In another email from staff the Town of Cary’s population is estimated to be 141,132 as of January 1, 2012.  This is an increase of 2,932 people, or 2.12%, compared to the January 01, 2011 estimate.  The population estimates are based on the reported number of Certificates of Occupancy issued in the Town.

Staff also sent email that introduced its newest K9 Team member Robby and his partner Cary Police Officer Phil Humphries.  Three-year-old Robby is a long hair, black and tan German shepherd from the Czech Republic.  Humphries was a K9 handler in the United States Air Force before coming to Cary. He also has experience as a K9 trainer and Kennel Master. K-9 Robby replaces K-9 Max, a German Shepherd that retired after serving the community for seven years.

Staff also notified citizens through email that they are invited to view conceptual design plans for the downtown theater at a public meeting scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, January 31 in Council Chambers. This issue has been become controversial by the focus on neon by the local media. The conceptual plans will be presented by staff which includes three schematics illustrating a standard marquee, a marquee with a vertical element and a light enhanced marquee with a vertical element. The Town Council decided to move forward with the last option. Following input from the public meeting, staff will work with consultants and make final design recommendations for materials and color to the Town Council.

I received a lot of complaints through emails this week. They included complaints about the new façade on Hibernian Grill, a development proposal that will impact Highcroft Drive, our automated meters are spying on people, re-evaluation and tax increases, signs on a building at Highway 55 and Green Hope School Road, the length of yellow lights, sewer costs on East Green Forest Drive, a Costco in Cary, the Morrisville Parkway and Carpenter Upchurch intersection, our police are corrupt because Brad Cooper was convicted, sign ordinance too strict for businesses in Waverly Place, and Chapel Hill Road is not wide enough.

I also received many invitations to events during the week. I try as much as possible to attend events but sometimes I am not able. I do hope that people understand.

Next week’s schedule is very light for me which will be refreshing. I have a couple of meetings and one event.

Well that is all for this week. My next post will be on Sunday, February 5th. Please feel free to email me with a comment. Email all Town of Cary questions or comments to Harold.Weinbrecht@townofcary.org. Email personal comments to augustanat@mindspring.com.

Story by Don Frantz, Cary Town Council member, District B. Republished from Blogspot. Photo by Anita Hart.

Cary, NC – The council has received about a dozen or so emails in opposition to our consideration of a neon theater marquee sign on the soon to be renovated downtown Cary theater.

As much as I would like to take credit for our initiating specific amendments to our town’s sign code to allow for high intensity/neon lighting downtown, I cannot.

This particular recommendation comes from Cary’s professional planning staff who through years of successful experience working to revitalize downtowns in cities like Boulder, Colorado and Scottsdale, Arizona, along with the careful study of other communities, believes that neon/high intensity lighting when done in a thoughtful and tasteful manner can help Cary’s revitalization efforts. I couldn’t agree more.

Here are a couple examples of theater marquee signs. Note: these did not come from staff – I snagged them off the internet – but they are representative of what we may be asked to consider, and they reflect MY vision for our downtown theater marquee. The actual theater marquee (to date the council has only seen a concept image) will be designed by a collaboration of artists and the community.

If either of these two images is offensive to you, then you can stop reading now and we can simply agree to disagree. If not then read on!

Our vision for downtown is a destination place – a vibrant community where folks want to live, do business, and play. Nobody comes downtown for bland and beige; they are looking for something unique; a place that is alive and bustling with activity. A theater with a bold marquee sign will help in this regard.

We all want more retail and dining establishments downtown, but these will not come if they have no customers. Most of the restaurants and retail stores that have located in downtown in recent years are either struggling to stay afloat, or have packed up and left altogether. Many point to the lack of traffic – especially during evening hours – as their primary concern.

We have every intention of protecting the visual landscape in Cary, but we must also recognize that successful downtowns are lit up and alive at night. We will take great care to ensure that whatever is constructed is of the highest quality possible and tasteful in design.

I must say that I have been quite surprised at some folk’s reaction to our consideration of neon lighting on the theater marquee sign. Some of the same people who supported the bold and bright “art” on the Cary Arts Center fly-tower; and who also support the installation of “public art” throughout downtown are some of the same opponents of neon. Heck, even one of the sculptures in front of the Cary Arts Center head lights up at night. This makes no sense to me. A giant pink pig in Fidelity Bank’s courtyard or a 15 foot tall mummy is ok, but a neon marquee sign isn’t. I don’t get it.

If we are serious about our downtown revitalization efforts we have to think outside the box. The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

In regards to criticism that Cary is “changing the rules for government only”, that is not entirely true. “IF” Cary decides to amend our town’s sign code to allow for neon or other high intensity lighting on theaters, then any theater or similar use (skating rink, bowling alley)could do the same. It is also my understanding that the Crossroads movie theater was allowed to have a bold marquee sign but chose not to – I have not however confirmed that.

I have historically supported relaxing Cary’s sign rules to better allow businesses the opportunity to advertise. I initiated Cary’s Sign Ordinance Review Task Force which recommended a host of changes to Cary’s sign code, and as my council colleagues will tell you, I have always supported the allowance of tastefully done and architecturally appealing neon lighting on any business in Cary. The council majority however, hasn’t been as receptive – and there is no guarantee the majority will support staff’s recommendation this time either. They just haven’t said, “no” yet. I hope they don’t. This is an opportunity to do something bold that will have a positive and lasting impact downtown.

I hope we don’t blow it.

From the blog of Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, covering the week through January 22, 2012. Photo collage by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – This week consisted mostly of three events: the Mayors Association Meeting, a meeting of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), and a council work session on downtown.

Mayors Association Meeting

The Mayors Association met on Monday and all twelve mayors of Wake County were present (which happens maybe once a year). Two new mayors were present at this meeting; newly elected Mayor McFarlane of Raleigh, and Mayor Hinnant of Wendell. We discussed several interesting topics and the following were some of the notable points:

There are several municipalities with various mailing addresses that cause confusion. For example, there are people in Cary with Raleigh, Apex, and Morrisville mailing addresses. The mayors would like to reduce these.

There may be three referendums on the ballot this fall including the ½ cent sales tax for transportation, a school bond, and municipal bonds.
Speaking of schools, the mayors decided to set up a meeting with the school board members. The mayors would like to discuss their capital project plans and their reassignment plans. School board members have indicated that they are interested in meeting the mayors again. We have only had one other combined meeting which was a breakfast meeting in Cary a few years ago. Our meeting lasted about two hours. The mayors will have an outing in February and next meet in March.

Successful Retreat

Tuesday I met with the town manager for a little over an hour. We mostly compared notes on the council/staff retreat the previous weekend. We both believe the retreat was very beneficial and much more was accomplished since it was out of town. If we can make sure to keep the costs down, as we did this year, we will look at holding it out of town in the future. Another topic we talked about was the Joint Land Use Plan with Chatham County. Public Hearings on this plan will be held in the near future for both boards.

Transportation Planning

Wednesday I attended the monthly meeting of the CAMPO TAC (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Association Transportation Advisory Committee) on behalf of the town. This has almost 30 representatives from neighboring towns and counties. We make decisions that will prioritize transportation improvements for the region. This month’s agenda can be found at http://www.campo-nc.us/TAC_Agenda/2012/Agenda-TAC-2012-01-18.pdf. Items of note for Cary include a proposal that the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for the Wake-Durham Commuter Rail project be approved prior to any action on the Wake Transit Financial Plan. CAMPO decided to send this to the technical staff for their review and recommendation. Another item of interest was the Cary Parkway extension which was referred to by CAMPO as the Gorman Street extension (these two are on the plans to connect). CAMPO agreed to study the Swift Creek area excluding this route. In addition, CAMPO has started the process, which will include public hearings, to remove the route from the transportation plan.

The Theater

Thursday the council held a work session to review the progress of the downtown theater. The theater is expected to be finished around August of 2013 and will hold approximately 180 people. The project will include significant work on Chatham Street to install new water lines and to create the streetscape. There will be times when Chatham Street is reduced to one lane in this area. This may pose a problem during events like Lazy Daze. All work on the streetscape is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. As part of the streetscape the town seal located in the middle of Chatham and Academy will be removed. Instead council asked that a seal be placed in a prominent area near that intersection, hopefully in the Fidelity plaza. One note of interest presented at that intersection was that negotiations were ongoing to add another story to the Kitchen and Bath building.

In the previous days and weeks there was a lot of emphasis placed on the theater’s marquee and its lighting by the media. Specifically, the media talked about a neon sign. All that was presented in this update were three possibilities: a baseline marquee, a marquee with a vertical component, and a marquee with a vertical component that is accented by lighting. The council decided they would prefer a marquee accented by lighting. It is too early in the process to decide what type of lighting will be used. While there was some interest expressed by one council member for neon the rest of the council did not seem interested. Contrary of what was reported and implied in the local newspaper in Sunday’s article, the decision on the type of lighting will be made at our next update which is scheduled in the spring.

Carolina Tiger Rescue

Saturday I, along with my wife and oldest daughter, toured the Carolina Tiger rescue outside of Pittsboro. This facility houses abused, neglected and otherwise unwanted large cats (lions, tigers, etc). The public can learn about the plight of these animals through tours and other programs. This is a “no touch” facility which means that hardly anyone ever touches these animals. That is an important rule since many of them were abused by humans throughout their lives. These animals are magnificent creatures and it was a real treat to visit them up close. If you are an animal lover this is a must see.

The Marathi Children’s Theater

Sunday I attended an impressive performance of Kilbil Kalavishkar by children that are a part of The Marathi Children’s Theater group. It was a performance written, produced, and performed by children. I was joined by Mayor Holcombe, Mayor Pro-Tem Johnson, and council member Rao of Morrisville. It was a great time and we were all privileged to be present.

Emails: Cell Phones, Yellow Lights and Cable, Complaints

Emails from staff this week included a response to a citizen concerning emergency 911 coverage in areas with poor cell coverage. The following is the response:

“…I did check with our carriers locally and they do not block 911 calls even during peak periods. This would be a potentially significant liability for them and they have a lot to lose and nothing to gain by blocking 911 calls. However if a caller has made a 911 call and is connected, continues to drive and drives out of the coverage area of that tower and there is no other tower to pick up the call it will be dropped. In addition if the service area is overloaded and no circuits are available or if there is no service at all the caller will not be able to make a 911 call or any other type of call. This is also true for conventional phones. If you cannot get dial tone you can’t make a call. … “

There was also an email from staff to a citizen concerned about short timing on yellow lights and how we set the timing:

“… The yellow light times are calculated based on a nationally accepted equation that uses set parameters such as travel speed, width of the intersection, and approach grade of the road.  Yellow light times at all signalized intersections in Cary are reviewed and approved by the North Carolina Department of Transportation for correctness and consistency.  Each intersection configuration is unique, thus the parameters will be different at each intersection, making the yellow interval timing unique at each intersection.  To ensure that the timings stay correct, the Town performs inspections at every intersection four times a year.  During these inspections, staff checks the signal timing, operational equipment and vehicle detectors.  This operation ensures all traffic signals are operating as designed.  …”

Emails from citizens this week included a complaint about Time Warner Cable rate increases, a complaint that our police department is corrupt because Brad Cooper was convicted, complaints about a potential neon sign at the Cary Theater that is being renovated, chain email complaints about a townhouse proposal on near Mills Park school, a complaint about future round-a-bouts in Cary, and complaints about a potential Costco in the MacGregor shopping center.

Growth, My Soapbox

In the local newspaper on Sunday this week was a story about a potential bond referendum in Cary. This story implied the bond referendum is a tax increase needed because we are not growing fast enough or at a fast rate. There were even quotes stating that there are consequences to “no growth, slow growth”. Unfortunately, I was not asked for my opinion so I will use this medium.

[Begin soapbox]

Whenever something is built in Cary it creates an impact on the town’s infrastructure which includes things such as roads, water, sewer, fire and police protection, etc. While Cary has developer fees to pay for some of the impact of new developments, these fees are set at a competitive rate which is about 60% of the cost of the infrastructure needed. This is an improvement of the less than 10% of the costs (in some cases) before I took office. The remaining portion of the infrastructure cost is absorbed in the tax rate.

It is important to understand that capital projects have operational costs associated with them which are not calculated in the development fee. This is also absorbed in the tax rate. In addition, operational costs have continued to increase over the years yet Cary has not increased taxes in decades. As a result there is a lot of pressure on the tax rate.

For years Cary has continued to do more with less and is one of the most efficient municipalities in the state. For example, the town operates with 8 ½ employees per thousand residents compared to an average of 11.

There are many that argue that slower growth is the reason there are money pressures, implying that a faster growth rate would create more money to pay for infrastructure. While this is partially true it is an incomplete thought. Today’s growth will create money to pay for yesterday’s infrastructure demands created by growth during that time. But today’s growth will also create infrastructure demands for the future. To put it simply, it is like using a credit card to pay off a credit card. Eventually, you will have to pay for that credit card. I believe we are at the point where we are going to have to pay for the infrastructure and associated costs created by years of growth. If not, we will see capital improvements at a much slower rate (as we have the last couple of years) and town operations adjusted to reflect the reduced revenue available. And adjusting town operations is essentially changing the level of service that we provide today. I certainly don’t want that nor do I want a tax increase. So it will be extremely important for council to decide what capital projects are needed to maintain the quality of life we have today, while at the same time create a tax rate that is as low as possible. Currently, we have the lowest tax rate in Wake County and I would like to keep it that way.

[End soapbox]

Next Week

Next week will be busy for me. It will include giving the State of the Town live at a Chamber Breakfast, speaking with other mayors at a panel of realtors, a council meeting, and a policy advisory committee meeting of the Western Wake Partners.

Well that is all for this week. My next post will be on Sunday, January 29th. Please feel free to email me with a comment. Email all Town of Cary questions or comments to Harold.Weinbrecht@townofcary.org. Email personal comments to augustanat@mindspring.com.

Story by Don Frantz, Cary Town Council member, District B. Republished from Blogspot. Photo by Hal Goodtree.

Thursday afternoon I headed to Wilmington for our annual council/staff retreat. While we have typically stayed in town for our retreats to better encourage citizen attendance and reduce costs, the conveniences of being in town proved too much of a distraction for some. Two years ago one council member actually left our retreat so they could attend another meeting for three hours! We decided the best way to eliminate the distractions was to head out of town.
Council members met Thursday evening for dinner and social. This was a great opportunity to get to know each other better outside of town hall – especially newly elected council member Lori Bush. We had a great time and learned a few things about each other we didn’t already know. Council member Julie Robison did not attend our retreat.

The retreat began Friday morning with a session on how to be an effective council. We mainly discussed how council members expect to work with one another; respect differing viewpoints, agree to disagree, stuff like that; stuff we already know and do. We did however learn a few things about each other that we didn’t already know. For instance, did you know we have a “Doobie” and a “Wino” on the council???

Next was a session on the Land Use Plan update. Cary will be revisiting our land use plan and our staff was looking for direction on how the council wishes to proceed. We broke out into smaller groups and brainstormed key points we want the new plan to address. Some of the more popular suggestions included:

• Economically sustainable
• Promotes lower density housing
• Simple and easy to understand
• Better reflects changing demographics (our growing senior population for example)
• Better transitions between uses
• Infill development
• Increased citizen input

There will be a number of community meetings and worksessions as this goes through the process. I encourage you to get involved and offer your vision for the future of Cary. This is your town after all.

The next session dealt with intergovernmental effectiveness; how to better work with other local, state and federal elected officials. So much of what Cary can or can’t do is determined by others – especially our state and federal officials and we need to do a better job of communicating to them issues impacting our community. We heard from Jack Cozort, Cary’s state legislative consultant, Paul Meyer from the North Carolina League of Municipalities, and Roger Gwinn and Leslie Mozingo from the Ferguson Group, our Federal legislative consultants. “Consultant” in this case really means lobbyist. Yes, Cary has lobbyists and while they do a great job for us, there is no substitute for one on one elected official to elected official communication.

We will work to better communicate with our state and federal officials and staff will do a better job of keeping us informed of issues that require our involvement.

Afterwards we broke for dinner and social, and yes we all paid for our own bar tabs.

Saturday morning began with a session on customer service. While I think most everyone would agree that Cary provides exceptional customer service, we can always do better. We discussed a number of areas for improvement, and ways in which to accomplish that. For years Cary has had a reputation as a difficult place to do business, and while we have worked very hard to make Cary a more business friendly community, we still periodically hear complaints from business owners about issues with permitting and inspections. We will continue to look for ways in which we can better serve Cary customers.

Next we discussed general capital projects and funding. The economic recession has significantly impacted Cary’s revenues, and while the council and staff have done a good job trimming the fat from our budgets and taking on no new debt, the “needs” list continues to grow. The bottom line is that there are more future needs and capital projects (fire stations in West Cary, parks and community centers, and transportation projects) than there is funding available.

We discussed a number of options:

• Continue to delay projects and operate as we have been for the last three years
• Utilize roughly $60 million of unappropriated bonding authority (authorized by voters in 2003)
• Begin preparations for a new 2012 bond

The council chose to offer a new community bond to the voters this fall. The thinking was that economic times have changed tremendously since 2003, and that the voters should again decided if Cary is to take on any new debt. One thing citizens should be aware of is that “IF” voters approve the bond, they will also be voting for a tax increase.

Previous bonds were offered to citizens with the promise of no tax increase. This was possible due to Cary’s high growth rate; new revenues were able to cover the debt. That is no longer the case.

I cannot say at this time whether I support a new bond or not until see I see the list of capital projects proposed, how much they will cost and the impact on our tax rate. We will have a number of worksessions and community meetings as this moves through the process. I encourage all of you to get involved and offer your input.

Finally was our session on boards and commissions. Some town boards work well while others have struggled. Some have a consistent work load, mission and purpose while others have either completed their mission or duplicate existing efforts of other boards or staff. The council decided to eliminate the following boards and commissions:

Economic Development Commission (EDC): This board has completed it’s mission. They were created prior to the current Economic Development partnership with the Chamber of Commerce. Cary also has an Economic Development Governing Board that is comprised of council members, key staff and Chamber representatives. Current EDC board members have become frustrated that there is nothing for them to do. They are correct. We decided instead to take a few members from the EDC and add them to the Economic Development Governing Board.

Citizen’s Issue Review Commission (CIRC): This board was formed a couple of years ago with the intent of providing citizens an avenue to bring community issues to council. While the creation of CIRC was well intentioned, it has not worked out as we had hoped. This is mainly because there is a much easier way to get an item on council’s agenda – the pink slip process. It only takes two council members (a sponsor and co-sponsor) to get any item on the next council agenda. Why go through a long and bureaucratic process when all you need is the support of two council members and you’re on our agenda? Existing CIRC members also recognized this and stated that they do not find their board effective, nor do they find that it serves a purpose.

We will instead tap into these board members upon occasion when a specific issue arises that requires a citizen task force to better help us.

Town Center Review Commission (TCRC): The Town Center Review Commission serves as an advisory board to the Town Council for the review of subdivision plans, site plans, and variances within the Town Center Zoning District. In a nutshell, it serves as the Planning and Zoning Board for downtown. This board was created prior to the creation of Cary’s Downtown Development Department and the hiring of Downtown Development Director, Ed Gawf.

Existing board members expressed frustrations that their work duplicates that which town staff is already doing, there isn’t enough happening downtown to justify their existence and that their current mission is inadequate. I agree.

This board, like CIRC, was formed with good intentions. However, the reality is that they don’t do anything our Planning and Zoning Board couldn’t do and even adds another layer of government bureaucracy to the process.

We will call upon the existing board members to assist us with Cary’s land use plan rewrite and serve on future citizen task forces.

After a quick review of the retreat topics and action items we were out of there and headed back to Cary. I took Lisa and a few of the kids out to Chili’s…where we found that Mayor Wino…I mean Weinbrecht had the same idea. Too funny….

That’s the council retreat in blog form. Thanks for reading!

From the blog of Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, covering the week through January 15, 2012. Wilmington, NC photo by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – This week was a busy one that included a council meeting and the annual council/staff retreat.

Monday

As with all Mondays of a regularly council meeting week, I called all council members to hear their concerns or questions about items on the upcoming agenda. I was able to talk with all of them. The only questions or concerns were about the Employee Wellness Program item on the agenda. Later that day I, along with Mayor Pro-Tem Adcock, met with town managers, directors, and administrative staff to go over the agenda. Based on the agenda items it seemed the meeting would be a relatively short one. I guessed the meeting would conclude around 7:30.

After the agenda meeting I spoke briefly with the town manager to catch up on any pressing issues. We discussed the upcoming vote on the Employee Wellness Program and the upcoming council/staff retreat.

Later Monday I had a dinner meeting with a friend and talked about a variety of issues including some related to the town.

Council Meeting: Rezoning of the Fumagalli Tract

Tuesday was a regularly scheduled council meeting. Normally our meetings are held on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of every month. Since the council was holding their annual retreat which required leaving on Thursday, the meeting was scheduled for Tuesday.

The meeting’s biggest issue was the public hearing on the rezoning of the Fumagalli tract near the Mills Park schools. Several people spoke against the rezoning which proposed going from a zoning of R40 to a transitional zoning of townhomes.

As we do with all rezoning cases we sent it to the Planning and Zoning Board for their review and recommendation. Once council receives the recommendation we will make a decision. Since the residents adjacent to the proposal filed a valid protest petition, the rezoning would take six out of seven council members to vote affirmatively to have the project approved.

We will probably see the proposal again in April. The rest of the meeting went by fairly quickly but due to the time spent on the public hearing our adjournment time was around 9 PM.

Chatham Mayors Meet on Jordan Lake

Wednesday I met with Mayors from Chatham County that included Mayor Voller from Pittsboro, Mayor Johnson of Siler City, and Mayor Cunnup of Goldston. Since I am also a mayor in Chatham County they wanted to meet with me and see how we could work on issues together.

Some of the issues we talked about were the upcoming joint Land Use Plan with Chatham County and future water use from Jordan Lake. We decided it would be beneficial to create a mayors association similar to the Wake County Mayors Association. We also discussed the possibility of including Lee County mayors in the group. The group would meet regularly with a focus on finding similar issues to work on together. I believe it will be our intention to create a joint legislative agenda.

This could be very beneficial not only to Cary and other areas of Chatham and Lee Counties but to the region if we have similar issues with Wake County municipalities. Mayor Voller is taking the lead on exploring this further and will get back in touch with me.

Later Wednesday I met with the town manager, assistant town manager, and the budget director to be briefed about the financial topic that would be discussed at the retreat. I was also joined by Mayor Pro-Tem Adcock and council member Bush. The purpose of the meeting was to provide detail on what was to be presented at the retreat and to prepare for any questions the council may have about the topic.

Wilmington Retreat

Thursday I left for the council/staff retreat in Wilmngton. I rode with council member Smith and we arrived around 5 PM. We met with council member Frantz a little bit later and headed out for dinner. Mayor Pro-Tem Adcock, and council members Bush and Robinson, who rode down together, also joined us for dinner. Council member Robison did not attend the retreat due to a family emergency that required her to travel to New Jersey. Our dinner was purely social and provided valuable time together.

I firmly believe that relationship building is the cornerstone to a highly functioning professional group. It is important to note that we, not the taxpayers, paid for our own dinners. It should also be pointed out that the retreat, even though out of town, was very close to the budget we planned for an in town retreat.

Six Topics…

Friday was the official beginning of the retreat which covered six main topics. Our first topic was on being an effective council. We spent a couple of hours discussing what we expect from each other. This included how we prepare for council meetings, how we handle conflicts, and how we can be most effective. It was a good session which began with an ice breaker that included nicknames council members have had during their lives. Of course I’m not disclosing any nicknames.

Our next big topic was on the Land Use Plan. In 1996 the town created a town wide land use plan that was followed by seven special area plans over the years. In December 2010 the town council asked the staff to come up with a unified plan.

The new plan will take into account existing plans, ordinances, policies, guidelines, and especially trends. Here are some of the interesting trends that were presented:

• We are projected to have a population of 180,000 by 2025.
• Our median age will be approaching 40 by 2025.
• By that time over 4000 people will be turning 65 each year as compared to 3000 now.
• Cary’s population demographics show that we have the largest percentage of 40 go 49 year olds in Wake County and the smallest percentage of 20 to 29 year olds.
• Our average household size continues to get smaller.
• Our population is more diverse with over 19% foreign born. 7.7% are Hispanic and 13.1% are Asian.
• Our median household income has dropped in the last ten years from $95,000 to $88,000.
• Our population is well educated with over 60% achieving a Bachelor degree or higher and 24% achieving a Masters degree or higher.
• In this century our built environment will be renewed more than three times.
• Our challenges in creating this new plan will include: meeting the differing needs and preferences of an older, more diverse population, meeting the demand for a wider range of housing types, and maintaining and serving an increasing number of aging housing stock. This will be especially difficult since most people don’t like change.

The last session on Friday was on intergovernmental effectiveness. We heard from people that lobby on Cary’s behalf at the North Carolina legislature and from people that lobby for Cary at Congress. As a result of the working groups we decided to inventory our relationships with other elected officials, come up with a strategy to improve relationships, and come up with a process to lobby other elected officials on Cary’s behalf.

Friday night the entire delegation of consultants, staff, and council walked over to a downtown restaurant and had dinner. It was an important time to build our relationships with each other. This is critical in our efforts to being a highly functioning council and staff.

Customer Service

Saturday included three retreat topics. The first was taking our customer service program to the next level. We discussed viewing our service through the eyes of the customer which is what Disney does. There was a lot of conversation and discussion between staff and council during this session.

We agreed that council needed to better understand the complexities that staff deals with and that we all need to experience what customers are going through with town services. Consistency in service seemed to be one of the major themes. As a result of this session I felt that we will take our level of customer service higher and hopefully be a municipal example for others to follow.

Funding and a Future Bond Referendum

The next topic was on general capital projects and funding.

We agreed that we would not pursue further debt using our 2003 bonding authority and would pursue a bond referendum which may be held in the general election this fall. We will use a work session to decide what capital projects to include in that bond.

It is important to understand that Cary currently has $90 million dollars worth of projects delayed and another $600 million on the wish list. It is also important to understand that Cary’s population continues to grow with demands and needs growing with it. We are rapidly reaching a point where levels of service may be threatened if some projects are continued to be delayed.

Some interesting points brought up in this session include:

• Cary has $20 million in required reserve, $39 million of four month worth of operating costs, and $17 million available for pay-as you-go capital.
• We have issued no new debt for capital since 2008.
• Our current debt service is 11.6% of operating expenditures with our debt ceiling set at 15%.
• Our delayed projects include $34 million in streetscapes, $13.5 million in Aquatics, $10 million in Land Banking, and $24 million for other high priority projects.

If voters approve a bond referendum then it would probably require a tax increase. If that is the case then council would prefer not to have an annual gradual increase.

Our last topic at the retreat was the review of all the town’s boards and commissions. Our decisions were based not only on experience but from feedback given by the board members.

As a result we decided that the Town Center Review Committee and the Citizen Issue Review Committee could better serve if they were task forces that were formed as needed. This means that people may be contacted with a request to serve on a future committee if a need arises.

It was also decided that School of Government Graduates should be looked at first in creating these task forces.

The Economic Development Committee (a citizen advisory committee) was also changed along with the Economic Development Governing Board (a committee of council, staff, and chamber members). The funding decision of the Economic Development Governing Board would be done instead by the council’s operation committee. The governing board would then have three new members from the old Economic Development Committee. The new combined board has yet to be named.

Weekend

I believe our retreat was very successful and we did a lot of great work in a short amount of time. We ended around 3:30 PM on Saturday and I was home in time for dinner.

Sunday I spent most of the day going through retreat information and writing the February version of Cary Matters.

This week there were several emails from staff that included announcements to the public. In one of these staff asked for citizen input to the joint land use plan between Cary and Chatham County. The Cary Council will hold a public hearing on this plan at our January 24th meeting and the Chatham County commissioners will hold a public hearing on January 17th. Once adopted, the Joint Land Use Plan will guide local governments with future growth in the more than 18,000 acres between Jordan Lake and the Chatham-Wake County line, White Oak Creek in the south and the Durham County line to the north. The plan will also define areas that may be eligible for future Cary water and sewer service.

Citizens were also asked to participate in developing a Stormwater Master Plan. This plan will guide the future of stormwater management in Cary. Key elements of the plan include water quality, water quantity, infrastructure, floodplains, and public assistance programs. Citizens interested in participating should attend the meeting at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center on January 17th from 4 to 7 PM.

Emails: Know What’s Better? Give Your Opinion in Person.

There were a lot of emails from citizens this week. One set of emails was in response to a news story that implied the Cary Council wanted to put up a neon sign at the Cary Theater being renovated. Staff, not council, is working on a proposal that may or may not include neon. The council has not reviewed or approved any neon sign. It is my opinion that there will be some council members interested and some council members opposed to neon. It is a decision to be made once the options are presented at a future date. There were also concerns about double standards. Those are also valid but there are facts about that issue that were also left out of the story. For example, the sign ordinance was created by citizens, business owners, staff members, and council members years ago. The decision was that public buildings were not to be included in the ordinance. The sign ordinance was recently reviewed by a focus group that included mostly business owners and citizens. Council adjusted the sign ordinance based on many of those recommendations. It should also be pointed out the theater marquees have been approved in town. It is my understanding that Crossroads theaters have approval for a marquee but chose not to use one. Anyway, I believe the majority of the concerns were generated by sensationalizing the facts which is unfortunate.

Other emails this week included a campaign to fill up the council email boxes with objections about the Fumagali proposal that I mentioned earlier. I can tell you from this end that cut and paste emails that fill up mailboxes are usually not effective. What is effective is an email to council members from the heart about concerns one may have. What is even more effective is attending the council meeting and giving your opinion in person. But chain emails do nothing but make it difficult for council members to do their jobs.

I received two other emails this week. One email made recommendations about the building of fire station #8. In another email a lady said that she was praying God would turn my life into hell because the town won’t close the dump or build a wall around it. Ouch! Unfortunately taking unwarranted criticism is part of my job.

Next week will include a meeting of the Wake County Mayors Association, a meeting of the Capital Metropolitan Planning Organization, and a council work session on the downtown theater.

Well that is all for this week. My next post will be on Sunday, January 22nd. Please feel free to email me with a comment. Email all Town of Cary questions or comments to Harold.Weinbrecht@townofcary.org. Email personal comments to augustanat@mindspring.com.

Editor’s Note:  Cary Town Council Member Don Frantz has been keeping a blog since 2008. It is with great pleasure that we announce that Don has given us permission to republish his posts and see how it goes.

Don Frantz is a great blogger – you can really hear his voice in what he writes. He’s very informed on the issues, but keeps it simple. He follows an informal publishing schedule – when he’s got something to say, he writes a post.

Don speaks his mind, even if it puts him in the opposition on some issues. But he does it in a way that’s principled and without intentionally ruffling anyone’s feathers. That’s why we respect his blog and asked him to let us republish it here. 

This post is from late December. But it gives some good insight into the intellectual conversation happening right now in Town Council.

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Cary, NC, December 18, 2011 – With the holidays, the last couple of weeks have been relatively light in regards to council responsibilities while heavy on the fun and festivities! The only downside is that with so many holiday events, you just can’t make them all. Highlights for me were the Heart of Cary Association’s Ole Time Winter Festival, the town’s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and the Cary Jaycees Christmas Parade. Congratulations and Thank You to all the volunteers and town employees who worked so hard to make all of these events a huge success! And thanks to the man upstairs for the great weather!

And while we’ve had a lot of fun, we did have some work to do.

Notable items from our December council meeting included the swearing in ceremonies for newly elected council members, a number of public hearings and annexations, specific council initiated requests and ordinance amendments pertaining to telecommunications towers.

The meeting began with the swearing in ceremonies for Mayor Weinbrecht and Council Members Adcock, Bush and I. After we were sworn into office, the first order of business was to elect a Mayor Pro-Tem. Congratulations to Cary’s new Mayor Pro-Tem Gale Adcock! I am confident she will be a great ambassador and represent Cary’s interests well.

Following the election of Mayor Pro-Tem, Mayor Weinbrecht announced the new committee assignments for council members. The list is long and boring so I will let the Mayor post it on his blog. I will say that I (finally) get to Chair the Planning and Development Committee and I remain the liaison for the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources (PRCR) advisory board and the Town Center Review Commission (TCRC).

Notable public hearings included:

• C-Tran fare increases and changes. Changes include the elimination of free transfers – this is consistent with both CAT and DATA, modifying the current bus pass structure, and allows for seniors and children to now ride fixed route for free, but remember, ID is required (just not to vote). You can view a complete list of changeshere. The council unanimously approved the amendments.

• Land Development Ordinance Amendments regarding telecommunications towers (cell towers). Proposed amendments provide incentives to telecommunications providers to utilize stealth technology – hopefully resulting in fewer ugly cell towers throughout Cary. The incentive is basically an administrative review and approval process vs. the current costly, time consuming council approval process. If a proposed cell tower is NOT of stealth design, it must still come through the council…and considering previous council decisions…well…good luck with that. The proposed amendments now go to our Planning and Zoning Board for review.

• Site Plan for the old Austin Foods site in Downtown (at the E. Durham Road/E. Chatham Street Intersection) Basically the applicant wants to take an old, ugly, environmentally contaminated site and make improvements that will not only allow for re-use of the existing structures and improve aesthetics downtown, but also better protects our environment and reduce stormwater runoff. The council unanimously approved the request.

Council initiated requests included:

• A request from Councilmember Adcock and Mayor Weinbrecht to direct staff to investigate and report back to council the pros and cons of amending our ordinances to restrict or eliminate the tethering of dogs in Cary. This request passed unanimously.

• A request from Mayor Weinbrecht and I to direct staff to investigate the pros and cons of implementing a trap, neuter and release (TNR) program in Cary to reduce the number of feral cats in Cary. This request also passed unanimously.

• A request from Council member Bush and Mayor Weinbrecht to direct staff to investigate suggested actions the town may take in regards to hydraulic fracturing (AKA fracking) in town limits or Cary’s extra territorial jurisdiction (ETJ). This request passed 5-2. Both I and Councilman Smith voted “no”.

I opposed the request because:

• Fracking is currently illegal in NC – what problem are we trying to solve?
• I would prefer to work on real issues facing Cary today and not waste time and resources making a political statement.
• Would a ban on fracking in Cary – the intent of this request – even address our concerns?

From the discussion at our meeting it is obvious that no one has a clear understanding of what fracking really is, or what the impacts to our community may or may not be; and given the amount of media sensationalism and special interest spin on both sides of this topic, I don’t know that we could ever get the truth.

But the reality is that even if state law is changed to allow fracking, it’s probably not going to occur in Cary (zoning, property values etc..), so trying to ban it really doesn’t do anything to address any concerns we might have. If anything we should be more concerned with what might occur in neighboring jurisdictions – especially those near Jordan Lake – our water source.

If the state legislature is going to allow fracking in NC, then it makes more sense that we work with our law makers to ensure that whatever legislation is passed provides for the highest environmental protections, best management practices and transparency as possible so that regardless of where any drilling/fracking occurs, all of NC is protected.

We cannot ignore the potential economic impact of drilling in North Carolina, nor can we ignore the potential environmental impacts. Fracking has worked well for many communities across America while others have concerns. Let’s learn from the success and failure of others and see if we can find something that works for us.

Following our council meeting we held a closed session to discuss a number of legal matters, none of which I can tell you about. Confidential, sorry.

Our December Planning and Development Committee meeting lasted a whopping three minutes. We had only one agenda item for discussion that was a no-brainer. I also met with Town Manager, Ben Shivar to discuss a few items.

That’s about it for this post. I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season and have a Happy and Safe New Year!

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Photo of Town Hall by Hal Goodtree.