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HomeMy Public PortalAbout11-10-2008 Regular MeetingNovemb~~ 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 1 of 29 Town of MINUTES Hills " --_ bh HILLSBOROUGH TOWN BOARD vs+ November 10, 2008 7:00 PM, Town Barn PRESENT: Mayor Tom Stevens, Commissioners Evelyn Lloyd, Frances Dancy, L. Eric Hallman, Michael Gering, and Brian Lowen. STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Eric Peterson, Assistant Town Manager/Public Works Director Nicole Ard, Planning Director Margaret Hauth, Town Clerk/Director of Administration and Human Resources, Town Engineer/Utilities Director Kenny Keel, Finance Director Greg Siler, Police Chief Clarence Birkhead, Public Works Supervisor Ken Hines, Budget Analyst Emily Bradford, Town Attorney Bob Hornik. Mayor Tom Stevens called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. 1. PUBLIC CHARGE Mayor Stevens did not read the Public Charge, but noted it would be followed. 2. PUBLIC HEARING 7:01:24 PM Mayor Stephens opened the public hearing. A. Public Hearing to receive comment on proposed amendment to Hillsborough Tree Ordinance 7:01:52 PM Public Works Supervisor Ken Hines provided an overview of the proposed changes to the Tree Ordinance. He said the Tree Board had believed the revisions necessary due to changing times and Hillsborough's growth, and recognizing that parts of the ordinance were outdated. He said some areas of concern were the protection of trees, educating the public, and allowing the Tree Board to be more involved with the community. Mr. Hines said the Tree Board was recommending that the ceiling for penalties be raised from $1,000 to a maximum $2,500, which would better reflect the actual cost of replacing trees. 7:02:51 PM Commissioner Hallman arrived at the meeting. Mr. Hines said other highlights included a recommendation to increase the membership on the Tree Board from five to seven members, which would help them better perform their duties and provide a better opportunity to achieve a quorum at meetings. He said there was also some rewording suggested for clarification. 7:04:48 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Gering, seconded by Commissioner Dancy, the Board moved to close the public hearing by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 2 of 29 INTERVIEW VOLUNTEER ADVISORY BOARD CANDIDATES B. Interview volunteer candidate to serve on the Margaret Lane Cemetery Committee 7:05:02 PM Mr. Hines indicated that Evelyn Poole-Kober was not present this evening. Mayor Stevens suggesting waiting until they reached Item #5, Appointments, to allow Ms. Poole-Kober time to arrive. He said that many of the Board were familiar with Ms. Poole-Kober as she was very active in the community. There was no objection from the Board. 3. AUDIENCE COMMENTS REGARDING MATTERS NOT ON THE PRINTED AGENDA 7:05:38 PM Mayor Stevens indicated that no citizens had signed up to speak at this time. 7:05:49 PM Commissioner Lloyd arrived at the meeting. 4. AGENDA CHANGES & AGENDA APPROVAL 7:06:03 PM Town Manager Eric Peterson indicated that an additional Personnel Issue had been added to the Closed Session, changing it from two to three items. 7:06:26 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Lowen, seconded by Commissioner Dancy, the Board moved to approve the Agenda as amended by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. 5. APPOINTMENTS A. Consider appointment of Evelyn Poole-Kober to serve aThree-Year Term on the Margaret Lane Cemetery Committee with a Term to expire on November 10, 2011 7:06:39 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Gering, the Board moved to appoint Evelyn Poole-Kober to serve athree-year term on the Margaret Lane Cemetery Committee with a teen to expire on November 10, 2011 by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. 6. COMMITTEE REPORTS (Critical) 7:07:25 PM Commissioner Hallman said the Strategic Growth Planning Committee had met and discussed density and how the Town would handle that. He said that was something they needed to begin thinking about, but with that density came tradeoffs. Commissioner Hallman stated he believed they needed to have a discussion, perhaps at the next monthly workshop, regarding how density issues would be addressed. 2 November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 3 of29 7:09:18 PM Mayor Stevens agreed density issues were important if they were going to be intentional about their decisions and where they would go with the Strategic Growth Plan. Commissioner Gering suggested talking about that when they reached Item 10.L. on the agenda, '`Hot Topics.'" There was no objection from the Board. Commissioner Dancy said she was presently working on the TJCOG legislative agenda, so if any of the Board had concerns to please alert her to that. She said there were many concerns due to the economy and the debt being carried by the State. Commissioner Dancy stated she would share the legislative agenda with the Board when it was completed. 7. REPORT FROM THE TOWN MANAGER 7:10:51 PM Mr. Peterson indicated he had no report to offer at this time. 8. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS 7:10:58 PM Mayor Stevens asked if any Board members had key questions for staff, or did staff have any items they wanted to flag for the Board. Planning Director Margaret Hauth said as the Board moved towards Item 10. L. on the agenda, there was also the discussion of the preferred alternatives that came out of the Long Range Transportation Plan which the Board might want to address at a workshop possibly in November or at the regular meeting in December. Ms. Hauth said it would involve a presentation to the Board regarding the recommended options. 7:12:04 PM Commissioner Hallman said the road projects were still the same, and this was more about the rail/transit part of it. He said the presentation should be brief. Ms. Hauth agreed. The Board had no objections to taking that up when the Board got to Item I O.L. on the agenda. 7:12:30 PM Assistant Town Manager Nicole Ard said they had discovered today that their leaf truck was temporarily out of service but replacement parts were in route for repairs. She said the good news was that road resurfacing would be starting in the next couple of weeks, to include Murray Street, Sherwood Lane, and North Hillsborough Avenue. Ms. Ard said another piece of news was that the demonstration project at The Marketplace at the Courthouse was recently completed. 9. ITEMS FOR DECISION -CONSENT AGENDA Consider Approval of the Minutes of the September 18, 2008 Assembly of Governments Meeting; the September 22, 2008 Monthly Workshop; the September 22, 2008 Monthly Workshop Closed Session; the September 29, 2008 Special Meeting; the September 29, 2008 Special Meeting Closed Session; the October 13, 2008 Regular Meeting; and the October 13, 2008 Regular Meeting Closed Session. 3 November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 4 of 29 2. Consider Approval of a Proclamation in support of Nonprofit Awareness Month 7:13:50 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Lowen, the Board moved to approve the Consent Agenda by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. 10. ITEMS FOR DECISION -REGULAR AGENDA A. Receive letter of interest in annexation from W&W Partners regarding 119 acres on US 70A 7:14:13 PM Ms. Hauth stated Kyle Ward and Mike Hunter, the W&W Partners, were present tonight and wanted to speak to the Board regarding annexation of their project. She said the property consisted of 119 acres across from the Triangle Sportsplex. 7:14:53 PM Mike Hunter commented that they were very supportive of the efforts of the Tree Board in the preservation of trees, and also liked being able to create a community that addressed density while at the same time complimented the fabric of community. He stated he believed their vision of what they would like to bring to Hillsborough was very similar to what they had heard this evening. Mr. Hunter said he and Mr. Ward would welcome the opportunity to discuss their vision in more detail with the Board. He said they would be very active, and wanted the Board members to feel free to express their opinions or concerns with what they were trying to accomplish. Mr. Hunter stated that they had previously named their project Ashton Hall, but that name had been taken while they were still in the planning stages, so unfortunately they would be renaming the project. He said that may be a positive since they would be incorporating some changes into the project that they believed would make it better. 7:17:02 PM Ms. Hauth said to refresh the Board's memory of the steps in the process, a Letter of Interest had been submitted. She said if the Board was interested in moving forward with the request for annexation, the next step would be to direct staff to work with the applicant to bring forward a fiscal analysis of the project, prior to the Board deciding whether or not to request a petition of annexation which would begin the hearing process. 7:17:27 PM Commissioner Hallman asked for a timeframe for moving forward. Ms. Hauth stated W&W Partners would like to appear at a January public hearing, although that may not be particularly reasonable. She said depending on low elaborate an analysis was done and how much the project had changed for the previous time, then it should not take too long to bring forward. Ms. Hauth said April may be more realistic. Mr. Hunter stated they would prefer the opportunity in January, but if it took longer that would not be an issue for them. 7:18:15 PM Commissioner Lowen said since it did not appear on the surface that there were major changes to the project, how much staff time would have to go into an analysis. Mr. Peterson responded he believed it could be done fairly quickly as long as the applicant could sit 4 November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 20118 Page 5 ot~29 down with them. He said the biggest item was getting the developer to provide estimates, and once that information was received staff could move quickly. Mr. Peterson said they may be able to get the work done during December if all needed information was provided promptly. Ms. Hauth stated they would need to be able to present it to the Board at its December meeting so that the Board could request a petition for annexation, and then it would be timely for a January hearing. 7:19:58 PM Mayor Stevens said it sounded as if April maybe much more realistic. Ms. Hauth said it depended on what the changes to the project were. Mr. Peterson noted they already had the estimated number of units, and they would need the tax values associated with that and then staff could discuss that. He said they had done enough of these that it would not take long to turn it around. Mr. Peterson said he believed it would not be a hardship to have it ready for the Board's December meeting. 7:20:42 PM Commissioner Dancy asked if Mr. Peterson felt comfortable with that. Mr. Peterson said if everything fell into place it should not be a problem, but if not it would wait until April. Commissioner Dancy said with everything else staff was working on, including the upcoming budget retreat, she would be more comfortable waiting until April. Mr. Peterson said that was a good point, and he would actually rather get it off his plate before they got fired up to work on the budget. He said getting this ready for December would not be a problem as long as the tax values were submitted fairly quickly. Commissioner Dancy said the main issue was whether the Board was even interested in annexing that property. Mayor Stevens said he knew the project had not been accepted the first time it was requested, but the project did have a lot of merits that the Board appreciated. 7:2 ] :48 PM Commissioner Lowen stated he had liked the project the first time. Commissioner Lloyd stated she had not had any problems with it, either, especially given the amenities that might be offered to the Town, such as a water tower and a water line under I-85. Mr. Peterson stated that would be something to discuss later, but said he knew there had already been preliminary discussions with Mr. Keel and both parties were optimistic that they would be able to work with the Town successfully to address concerns. Commissioner Gering stated the threshold for getting started on this was fairly low, and believed that W&W Partners deserved a chance to be heard and for the Board to discover if the project would be of benefit to everyone. Town Attorney Bob Hornik asked if there would be a zoning process along with the annexation process. Ms. Hauth responded yes. Mr. Hornik asked then was January realistic in terms of a public hearing. Ms. Hauth said yes, because most of the engineering work was already completed and there was very little that needed to be changed. Mr. Hornik said he did not want to get too far along with the annexation if there was an issue with the zoning. Ms. Hauth said they intended to run the annexation and the zoning together. 5 November IU, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: Decemhe~' 8, 2008 Page 6 of?9 7:23:47 PM Commissioner Hallman said he had liked the project the last time, adding he believed it was one of the best designs the Town had seen. He said the Planning Board had done a lot of work on it, but he was still not comfortable with moving forward until the Board had its discussion on density and water capacity. Commissioner Hallman said the project was in an area of Town identified for residential growth, but the Town needed to look carefully at how to use its remaining water capacity and where they wanted to put density. Mayor Stevens stated this project would represent roughly 15% of the Town's remaining residential water capacity. He said what he was hearing, and with the various cautions noted, was that it was worthwhile to take a look at the project and move forward. There was no objection from the Board. Mr. Peterson stated they would also work on updating the water analyses, noting that the assumptions they had used in the past had been very conservative. He said he would work with Mr. Keel and re-examine peak day capacity and average usage. Mr. Peterson said they suspected they had more capacity than estimated, but they would do the update and bring that information back to the Board. B. Consideration of contract with The Design Workshop to undertake the design aspects of the Wayfinding Plan 7:26:51 PM Ms. Hauth stated that they had received a proposal from The Design Workshop to work with the Town and the Wayfinding Sign Task Force to work on the design aspects of the plan. She said since the logo and branding process was being done concurrently, and the Wayfinding was a little ahead of that, they were hoping to be able to leave a placeholder on the design for the new logo to be plugged in at a later date. Ms. Hauth stated the proposal was selected by the Wayfinding Committee as the preferred proposal based on identified criteria. Ms. Hauth stated there was $60,000 in the budget, and they would be using about $35,000 to get the project started and then would move forward with allocations for the actual implementation and construction of the signs. 7:28:40 PM Commissioner Gering elaborated that the Committee had done a thorough analysis of the three applications received, and had interviewed the top two. He stated the other firn~ considered, Frasier & Associates, was more than twice the projected expense, and the Committee believed that The Design Workshop would provide a better result as well as be cheaper. Commissioner Gering stated that eight of the nine Committee members had chosen The Design Workshop over Frasier & Associates, saving about one-half million at the same time. Ms. Hauth commented that Frasier & Associates had been the leader in Wayfinding in many ways, and because of that she believed they were becoming somewhat "cookie cutter'" in some aspects. She said she believed the Committee concluded that The Design Workshop would produce aHillsborough-specific product. 6 Novembe~• 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 7 of 29 7:30:12 PM Commissioner Hallman said that The Design Workshop had worked for Statesville, and asked had anyone contacted Statesville to get a reference. Ms. Hauth said she did not believe so, but noted that The Design Workshop had been the only firm to respond when they had thought they wanted a consultant to walk them through the entire process. She said they had remained very interested in Hillsborough and had been very approachable, interested, and excited about the Town's process. Ms. Hauth said they would be glad to contact Statesville if needed. Commissioner Gering stated the Committee had been impressed with the fact that The Design Workshop had worked with a number of towns about the size of Hillsborough and even smaller, and had felt that they had a creative edge. Mayor Stevens said it appeared that the relationship that had been formed with The Design Workshop had so far been very positive. 7:31:33 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Lloyd, the Board moved to approve the contract with The Design Workshop to undertake the design aspects of the Wayfinding Plan by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. C. Consideration of resolution in support of the Town's designation as a Preserve America Community 7:32:04 PM Ms. Hauth stated that Item C and D were related. She said that the Preserve America program was for communities that actively preserved its history and it was also used as an economic development tool. Ms. Hauth said in order to apply for grants the Town would first have to be designated as a Preserve American Community. She said they would like to be able to start that two-step process by having the Board adopt the resolution in support of the Town's designation as a Preserve American Community and that it was compatible with the Town's goals. Ms. Hauth said the harder question was how much to apply for. She said there would be $25,000 remaining in the budget after The Design Workshop's work, which would allow the Town to apply for a total of $50,000. Or, she said, there was amulti-year funding option, so if the Board wanted to commit the next $30,000 they could apply for more and leverage yet more funding to turn their $55,000 into $110,000. Ms. Hauth said once the plan was done, the top figure they could request was $250,000, so they were looking at that as a source of additional funding for Riverwalk. She said they understood that the pool of applicants was very small, so the Town would stand a good chance of the designation and at least the first grant. 7:34:43 PM Commissioner Hallman asked about the grant cycle. Ms. Hauth said it was four times per year, and the next round would be coming up on December 1, which was when the application needed to be in. She said Elizabeth Reed had been working diligently to get the applications ready for submittal. 7:35:10 PM Commissioner Gering stated that the program may not survive the new administration in Washington. He stated he was inclined to ask for more than $25,000, noting 7 November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 8 oY'?.9 that the Wayfinding Committee did not have an estimate of fabrication and installation costs for the signs, but they were fearful that it would be very expensive. Commissioner Gering said he would advocate doubling the grant request. Commissioner Hallman asked was there any possibility of matching funds coming from the Tourism Board funds. Commissioner Gering stated there was always a possibility. Mayor Stevens said he recalled that they had another $30,000 earmarked for the next few years so some of that might accelerate money, but essentially it was money in their long range financial plan that they had budgeted. Ms. Hauth said yes, it was in the plan, but until the budget was adopted, and given the way the economy was at present, that $30,000 may not stay committed. She said she realized that it was only November and that she was asking the Boai•d to make that commitment early, but believed this was an opportunity to grow those funds. 7:37:06 PM Commissioner Gering said that passing up a 50% discount on a project that the Board had placed a high priority on for the number of years was not smart. Mr. Peterson said the Board would have many difficult budget decisions to make on an array of unpleasant options, and it was his feeling that any time they could leverage grant money for something that was such a high priority then they needed to do that. He said of course, that would obligate them to spend even more money, and there was no doubt they would likely have to defer some capital projects in the next year or so. But, he said, this grant would give them "more bang for their buck," and the suggestion of doubling the grant to a more appropriate amount appeared to be a wise one. 7:38:22 PM Mayor Stevens stated it would also be saving taxpayers so much money. Mr. Peterson agreed, noting the opportunities to receive grant funds were limited and when they had such an opportunity then they needed to be aggressive in going for them. Mayor Stevens stated the worst case scenario would be if the grant was awarded and for some reason the Board decided it could not accept it. He said in the meantime, they would not get the grant unless they went after it. Mr. Peterson said the fact that it was in the financial plan for future years made it easier for staff to do financial adjustments, and if the grant was received in a larger amount it would give them the opportunity to defer expense in a future year. So, he said, he saw no financial problem with doubling the amount of the grant request, or even more if the Board thought it was appropriate. 7:39:42 PM Commissioner Dancy stated they should still keep the Tourism Board in mind. Commissioner Gering stated he believed that if the Board was going to approve this then they should make the assumption that the Town would pay for it. There was general agreement from the Board. Commissioner Gering then suggested that if they were going to invest $30,000 a year in the Wayfinding signage program then he believed the grant request should be increased to $60,000. g November l0, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, ?008 Page 9 of 29 7:39:47 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Gering, seconded by Commissioner Hallman, the Board moved to approve the resolution in support of the Town's designation as a Preserve America Community and grant application in the amount of $60,000 by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. Ms. Hauth asked was that $60,000 of grant money to go along with $60,000 in Town funding, or was it $30,000 each. After some discussion, the Board agreed the intention of the motion was to apply for $60,000 in grant funding to be matched with funding from the Town of $60,000. D. Consider adoption of an Ordinance amending Chapter 7, Section 36 of the Town Code amending the Tree Ordinance 7:41:51 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Gering, seconded by Commissioner Hallman, the Board moved to adopt the Ordinance amending Chapter 7, Section 36 of the Town Code amending the Tree Ordinance by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. E. Consideration of Riverbend II Road Acceptances and Letters of Credit (Road and Utilities) 7:42:25 PM Ms. Ard stated there were two different items, E and F, related to Riverbend II. She said the first was for acceptance of the streets, which would be conditional acceptance because they were waiting for one additional item from NCDOT, and the second was to set speed limits and stop sign regulations once the roadways were accepted. Ms. Ard stated one change was being requested by Mr. Cook in terms of stop signage, and that was for Saponi (sp.?) Road, which was a State road, to have a stop sign. She said the proposal was for 20 mph on Morelanda Drive and Claytor Drive. Ms. Ard indicated that Mr. and Mrs. Cook were present, and had indicated they had received some information from NCDOT. Ms. Ard stated there were two different Letters of Credit. She said the original Letter of Credit that was submitted in July was not in the actual form that was needed, so the Cooks had resubmitted it. She said given the error that was made on the Town's part, staff was recommending a reduced amount and a time limit that would reflect the period of time that had already past. 7:45:26 PM Wesley Cook added that the item they were waiting for from NCDOT was related to approval of a driveway on US 70. He said it was impossible to get the State to move any faster on that approval. Mayor Stevens stated as Ms. Ard had said, the Board would be considering a conditional approval, and asked was Mr. Hornik okay with that. Mr. Hornik replied yes, noting the paperwork was all in place and appropriate. 9 November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 10 of 29 7:46:27 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Lowen, seconded by Commissioner Hallman, the Board moved to approve conditional acceptance of the roads in the Riverbend II subdivision as well as adjustment of the terms for the Letter of Credit as described during the discussion by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. F. Consider adoption of an Ordinance amending Chapter 6, Sections 6-AS and 6-A12 of the Town Code to establish Traffic Regulations in Riverbend II Subdivision 7:47:00 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Hallman, seconded by Commissioner Gering, the Board moved to approve the Ordinance amending Chapter 6, Sections 6-AS and 6-A12 of the Town Code to establish Traffic Regulations in Riverbend II Subdivision, with the addition of a stop sign on Saponi (sp.?) Road with a stop street of Claytor Drive by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. G. Consideration of Citizen Request for Town Staff Maintenance of Railroad Rights- of-Way 7:48:06 PM Ms. Ard stated they had received a request from a citizen, Tom Deaton, that the Town perform maintenance work at the Railroad property on Eno Street. She said since the agenda materials had been prepared, they had met with representatives of the Railroad and Mr. Hines would provide some additional information regarding that meeting. 7:48:36 PM Mr. Hines stated that he had met with Mark Bowman of Norfolk Southern Railroad, and the area of concern was the Railroad right-of--way along Eno Street, bordered on the north side by Eno Street and on the south side by Dimmocks Mill. He stated the Railroad had had a contractor clear cut all the brush and small trees, which had made it unsightly and that unsightliness was basically Mr. Deaton's complaint. Mr. Hines stated the request was that the appearance of the area be improved, such as sawing trees flush to the ground and possibly grinding them up. Mr. Hines stated that Mr. Bowman appeared to be receptive to the type of work being suggested, noting that their main concern was sight visibility and safety at the intersections. He said the West Hill Avenue/Dimmocks Mill intersection and the South Bellevue/Eno Street intersection were the main areas of concern, and the Town's Public Works staff could fairly easily saw the tree stumps flush with the ground and clear out some of the larger brush. Mr. Hines stated the smaller brush should remain for erosion control. He said he did not know if it would be possible to grind the stumps given the slope and the difficulty that would present in getting the grinding equipment in place, and it likely would not be necessary since over time weeds and grass would cover them. Mr. Hines said the question was how much effort the Town wanted to put into this, noting a realistic timeframe for the work to be conducted would be January or February after leaf season. Mr. Hines stated the Railroad would require an action plan since the work would take place in its right-of--way, and once the Railroad approved that action plan then the Town could do the work. to November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page I I of 29 7:52:31 PM Commissioner Lloyd asked had the Railroad offered to pay to have the work done. Mr. Hines responded no, noting the Railroad conducted maintenance once a year, and the Railroad's contractor had met its obligation. 7:52:48 PM Commissioner Lowen said the Town of Mebane maintained its railroad rights-of= way from city limit to city limit because it ran through the heart of town, and they had been doing that maintenance for many years. He said his concern was that this was not in the heart of Town, and if the Town took that on would they be taking it on forever. Mr. Hines responded that would be for the Board to decide, but he was talking about only a general one-time clean-up. He said the Railroad sprayed a herbicide once a year to kill the trees, and even if the Town cut the stumps down flush with the ground and they tried to sprout, the herbicide would kill that and eventually would attack the stump base itself, causing the stump base to rot away. 7:54:06 PM Mayor Stevens stated Commissioner Lowen's concern was valid, and asked if the Town cleaned it up this time, would they be prepared to clean it up again and again. Mr. Hines stated there should not be any more growth because everything had been clear cut in the area. He added they would not be providing any landscaping or other work. 7:54:46 PM Mayor Stevens stated he would lean towards doing the work, while being very careful about the time, effort and expense. Mr. Hines stated they would be conscientious about that. Mayor Stevens stated he was in favor of improving the appearance of that area, noting it seemed like the right thing to do. 7:55:14 PM Commissioner Lowen asked if they were talking about doing work only on the west side, which was where it was most unsightly. Mr. Hines said they could do the west side going up to Bellevue, which was the strip that was clear cut, using good judgment about clearing out what was visible to the public to improve the appearance of the area. He said he would also stay in contact with Mr. Deaton to make sure what was done would meet his expectations. 7:56:08 PM Commissioner Lowen stated he knew that Public Works was short staffed and he would not like to see a huge amount of time spent on this. Mr. Hines stated they would do the work once leaf season had slowed. H. Update on the North Carolina League of Municipalities' Green Challenge Program 7:56:35 PM Budget Analyst Emily Bradford stated that the League of Municipalities had begun a new project called the Green Challenge Program, which was a project aimed at local governments to encourage them to participate and become more environmentally sustainable and become more of a "green" organization. She said the Green Challenge had multiple levels, one through four, and each level had different criteria for achieving the goals of that level. Ms. Bradford stated at the League's annual conference the Town was recognized as having achieved Level One of the Green Challenge, which had required the Town to adopt a sustainability plan, which was the Cool Cities Initiative, to start tracking its carbon footprint, and to conduct an energy audit. She said the Town had received a plaque for its achievement in achieving Level One, and she presented the plaque to the Board. 11 November l0, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, ?008 Page 12 of 29 Ms. Ard stated the League had not yet set all the criteria for Levels Two, Three and Four, but she anticipated receiving information on that in the coming weeks. She said once that was received, they would evaluate what the Town's next steps might be. 7:58:37 PM Mr. Peterson stated there was the Energy Star program, the League's program, and the Mayors' Cool Cities program. He said they needed to be realistic about what the Town could and should achieve, noting there was some overlap in those programs where once something was achieved in one program it could be transferred over to meet requirements of another. Mr. Peterson said that Ms. Ard would be keeping him apprised of the benefits of each program and the amount of staff time that was required, noting that it may be that eventually the Town would participate in only one or two of the programs. I. Discuss Collection of Delinquent Food and Beverage Tax Payments 7:59:44 PM Mr. Siler stated there were three businesses that were chronically and severely delinquent in paying their food and beverage taxes. He stated he had made a phone call to each of those businesses today to inform them that the Board would be discussing their payment history at tonight's meeting, but no one had appeared to speak. Mr. Siler stated at the time the agenda materials were prepared, two of the three businesses remained delinquent. He stated that Sonny's Sandwiches had made payment, but the check had been returned to the Town by the bank today. Mr. Siler stated that M&M Billiards remained outstanding, adding that the third business had made payment today. He said providing that the check was accepted at the bank, then that account would be cleared. Mr. Siler stated when he had received the check today he had contacted the bank, who indicated that at that time the funds were not sufficient to clear the check. But, he said, that did not matter; it would only matter whether it cleared when the Town presented the check to the bank. Mr. Siler stated tonight, they were requesting additional direction on how to handle those delinquent accounts. Mr. Hornik reminded the Board that at a previous Closed Session they had discussed how to proceed, and after that meeting he had written letters to each of the businesses who had been chronically delinquent to advise that after October 31, if the accounts had not been cleared then the Board would consider authorizing further action. 8:02:10 PM Mayor Stevens stated he believed it had been well outlined with the information provided in the agenda materials that this was revenue that was collected by the Town and they had experienced good compliance from nearly all of the Town's businesses. He stated they were not talking about aone-time delinquency with these businesses, and the Town had made clear efforts to try to resolve that. Mayor Stevens stated they certainly wanted to be a business friendly community, but on the other hand they needed to be fair to all citizens and all businesses, especially those that were in compliance. He said with all that being said, he assumed he was speaking for the Board that they should pursue the next steps in the process to collect the funds owed. l2 November l0, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 13 0129 8:03:14 PM Commissioner Dancy stated she considered this to be embezzlement; that is, the businesses were embezzling the Town's funds. She said if someone did that to these businesses they would pursue it, so she believed the Town should go forward with collection procedures. Commissioner Hallman agreed, as did Commissioner Gering. Mr. Hornik stated the next step in the process would be to specifically notify these businesses that their privilege licenses were suspended and they must cease doing business until all arrearages were paid. He said if that directive was not complied with, then the next step would be to go into court and get an order adjoining those businesses from operating, in other words to shut the businesses down, until such time as they complied. 8:03:53 PM Commissioner Gering asked for a clearer distinction between the first step and the second step described. Mr. Hornik said the first step would be the Town notifying the businesses that their privilege license had been revoked and they could no longer operate. He said he anticipated that one or more of the businesses would take the attitude of "make me." Mr. Hornik said the second step would be to say "okay, we will." and the Town would have to get a court order to do so. Mr. Hornik said he had hopes that once the first step was taken that they would achieve a good outcome, but they needed to be prepared to act if that did not happen. 8:04:28 PM Mayor Stevens stated the Town had never had to take the step of revoking a privilege license. Mr. Hornik agreed, adding they had reminded those businesses back in the summer that the Board had adopted the ordinance amendment that authorized that, and one of the tools made available at that time was revocation of the privilege license. Mayor Stevens asked would the Attorney send a letter to those businesses which stated that in seven days the Town would proceed with further actions. Mr. Hornik stated he believed a few days advance notice would be appropriate, and what he was asking from the Board was authorization to proceed to the next step without having to come back to the Board. 8:05:09 PM Commissioner Gering stated he believed only a couple of days notice should be given, rather than an entire week. Mayor Stevens said he would say seven days notice. Commissioner Gering stated he would advocate for three days maximum. Mr. Hornik stated a "handful'' of days were all that was necessary at this point. He said the businesses had been warned repeatedly over the last few months. 8:05:29 PM Commissioner Dancy stated once the license was revoked, would the businesses have to come back to the Town and purchase another license. Mr. Hornik replied yes, adding that the privilege license was not a big ticket item, but it did generate revenue for the Town. 13 Nov~~nber 10, 2008 Regular Mccting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 14 0129 8:05:51 PM Commissioner Gering asked were there penalties if the businesses continued to operate with a revoked license. Mr. Hornik responded yes, noting there were monetary penalties. He said at that point the businesses would be committing misdemeanors, adding that the bad checks were an issue as well. Mr. Siler stated that the bad checks gave the Town excellent and much quicker recourse. He said it would allow the Town to actually take out a warrant against the businesses. 8:06:26 PM Commissioner Hallman asked if the Health Department required a license to operate a business that served food. Mr. Hornik stated he was not sure but would inquire about that. He said that the privilege license was a revenue source for the Town and the Health Department approval was a public health safety issue, and he was not sure one was tied to the other. 8:06:50 PM Commissioner Lloyd stated with the Health Department, if a business did not pass inspection they were allowed time to come up to standard and a second inspection was performed. She asked if the one whose check had been returned had given the Town a bad check in the past. Mr. Siler said unfortunately, yes. Commissioner Lloyd said that was of concern. 8:07:18 PM Commissioner Gering said if the one check the Town had at the moment had insufficient funds to clear the bank, then that business would be treated in the same way; that is, it would have the same few days to comply or their license would be revoked. Mr. Siler stated the banks were closed tomorrow, so he would not be able to contact the bank and get a definitive answer until Thursday as to whether or not the check was in route back to the Town. Commissioner Gering stated he just wanted to be sure that that did not get overlooked. He said from this point on, the Board should decide if they needed to discuss and act on each case of whether to revoke a privilege license, or should they make it a policy that the Attorney and Finance Director would act in a like manner if such a situation arose in future. Mr. Siler said if the Board gave the authority to do so, then they could mimic the letter the Attorney had sent the first time to inform businesses what the consequences would be. Mr. Hornik stated they were authorized by the ordinance to do that now, but they had been reluctant to take that next step because they did not want to appear to be unfriendly to businesses. One the other hand, he said, they also needed to make sure that all businesses knew that they were being treated in a like manner and held to the same standards. Mr. Hornik said those who were not shouldering their part of the burden should know that the Town would call them to account. Mr. Peterson stated that Commissioner Gering raised a good point, and the Board may want to adopt a new policy or practice to set some kind of threshold. For example, he said if someone was behind three months then that was a sufficient amount of time to trigger the next steps and it would not need to come back before the Board. Mr. Peterson said such a policy could be brought before the Board for adoption and then it could be shared with those who participated in the process. 14 November 10, 2008 R'.egular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 15 of 29 8:09:55 PM Commissioner Gering stated that would be the way to be truly fair to all the businesses. Mr. Hornik stated the Board could also consider something like a "three strikes and you're out" kind of policy. Commissioner Dancy suggested that because of what had happened during this process, that the Town not accept checks for accounts that were delinquent. She said only bank money orders or cashier's checks should be accepted, or cash. 8:10:18 PM Commissioner Lowen agreed, noting those businesses had tried to "pull the wool over the Town's eyes" and delay the process, and that was troublesome to him. He said such a requirement would give greater emphasis to the process and send a very clear message. Mayor Stevens stated if that was the policy of the Board, then only exceptions should come before the Board and not the enforcement of the standard. The Board agreed by consensus, with Commission Gering stating that only those challenging the policy should come before the Board. 8:11:25 PM Commissioner Lloyd commented that she had a privilege license from the Town, and always renewed it the day she received the notice because she did not want to make the headlines in the newspaper. She wondered if the Town should go that far. Commissioner Lowen asked was Commissioner Lloyd suggesting that the Towns consider placing an item in the newspaper as public notice. Commissioner Lloyd said it was a possibility that could be considered, although she was not sure at what point that would happen. She said she would not like to see a citizen take their anger out on Mr. Siler or other staff. 8:12:17 PM Mayor Stevens said this was the first time this had been discussed in open session, and the public needed to be aware of how the Town conducted its business. He said it was the Town's preference that businesses paid on time. Commissioner Lowen said that was why they should follow Commissioner Gering's suggestion and adopt a policy to allow Mr. Siler and Mr. Hornik to do their jobs. He said that policy would be clear that staff was doing their jobs and the Board would hope that any anger would not be directed at staff. Commissioner Lowen said that no one should think they could go into any business in Town and take what they wanted for free. He said just like customers had to pay for what services or products were provided to them, the businesses had to pay their food and beverage taxes to the Town. Commissioner Lowen said if that needed to go into the newspaper, then so be it. J. Discuss and Provide Direction for the FY 10 Budgetary Planning Retreat on January 24t" and the FY 08 Balanced Scorecard Annual Report 8:14:03 PM Mr. Peterson stated he had talked with Donna Warner last week to let her know the Board would be discussing this item tonight in order to get direction on what types of items to be placed on the retreat agenda. He said after that direction was given, he suggested that he, 15 November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: Dw~embcr 8, ?008 Pagc 16 ot'2q the Mayor, the Assistant Manager and the Budget Analyst meet with Ms. Warner to put together a draft agenda for the Board to consider at its December meeting. Mr. Peterson stated he had talked with Ms. Warner about the economic situation being faced by the Town, and by everyone, adding that it would be the most challenging budget they had ever put together because of what was happening nationally and the strain being placed on taxpayers. He said the worst case scenario as far as expectations was likely the scenario they would now face, so this would probably be the most important retreat the Board had had in a very long time. Mr. Peterson said fortunately the timing with this being the second year of their Balanced Scorecard, just getting the Annual Report completed, and going into the ten year format, that he believed they were much better equipped with good, detailed information to help the Board make well-informed decisions than they had been in the past. He thanked all of the departments for their hard work in getting that information ready. 8:15:42 PM Mayor Stevens added that he had spent some time on learning how scorecards worked and understanding the method of what they wanted to accomplish and how to finance it. He commended staff on its efforts, noting he would like to continue to see the scorecard be a tool to help them use their resources effectively and to help them focus in on the work they needed to be doing. Mayor Stevens stated the work was well done and made sense. Mayor Stevens stated he believed the Balanced Scorecard may need some `tweaking," but he believed it reflected what it was the Board wanted to see accomplished. He said it provided information about where their resources were going and what was working and what was not working, and was glad to see that staff was willing to bring forward what was not working or what needed changing. Mr. Peterson stated if the Board had any questions, he encouraged them to contact him over the next few weeks so they could discuss them. He said more time could be focused on it at the retreat, and perhaps next year the information could be provided even earlier, perhaps at a fall workshop. 8:17:30 PM Commissioner Dancy stated it was very helpful to be able to see what had been gained and what had been done. Mayor Stevens said he agreed with the plan spelled out by the Manager as far as getting a draft of the agenda ready for the Board to consider as well. Commissioner Gering agreed the framework was good. Mr. Peterson said on a related side note, David Ammons at the School of Government, considered by some to be the foremost perforn~ance measures expert in the country, had liked Hillsborough's scorecard and had asked him last Friday to come and teach a section of his class for other officials in the State. He said he had spent about an hour explaining what Hillsborough was doing and what challenges they still faced. Mr. Peterson said he was glad to see that Hillsborough was getting recognition for the work it was doing, and in the next issue of Popular Government magazine there would be an article about Hillsborough and Charlotte using the 1~ November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Appro~~cd: December 8,'008 Page 17 of29 Balance Scorecard. He said that Bill Rivanbark (sp.'?) who had worked with the Town two years ago at its retreat, had helped him co-author the article, and the new issue would be coming out in the next month or so. Mr. Peterson said he was pleased to see the Town get that recognition for its work. Mayor Stevens stated that in many ways the Balanced Scorecard had become a central document. K. Discuss preparations for Town Manager's Annual Performance Evaluation 8:19:42 PM Mr. Peterson stated he had been negligent in putting together his self-evaluation, and was hoping he would have enough time to do that before December and forward it to the Board along with the evaluation forms. He said unless the Board wanted to do anything different than what had been done in the past, the same forms would be used. Commissioner Lowen said he saw no reason to change anything at this point. Commissioner Hallman asked were they referring to the 360 evaluation. Mayor Stevens stated he would be happy to discuss that with him, noting it may be something the Board would want to look at to give them some data. He said it may prove to be a good tool and they could certainly do a 360, and he agreed with Commissioner Lowen that he saw no reason to change. Mayor Stevens said for the self-evaluation, perhaps Mr. Peterson could refer back to such things as the strap map (what is that?) and the top level goals. He said in many ways, the degree to which the Town was accomplishing the goals in the map reflected what it was that the Manager was doing. L. Discuss possible "Hot Topics" for the November 27'x' Workshop 8:21:35 PM Mayor Stevens stated there were four items listed at the present time. 8:22:04 PM Commissioner Hallman said regarding the joint meeting with the Economic Development Commission, he believed they would need to re-examine the Strategic Plan for that Commission. He said the EDC would be meeting this Thursday, and since that Commission was in transition at the present time with a new Chair he wondered if perhaps they should wait until after the first of the year to hold that joint meeting. 8:22:39 PM Commissioner Gering asked if the Churton Street plan had an oversight committee that would shepherd all the changes along the line. Ms. Hauth replied yes. Commissioner Gering said he believed that had not really be formulated as yet, and believed that needed to be a prerequisite before the joint meeting. Ms. Hauth stated the two plans listed out a lot of items assigned to that oversight committee, but that had never been specifically relayed to that committee. She said she had suggested adding the joint meeting as a method to try to move 17 Novembet~ 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 18 of 29 those two plans forward, and at least making the Board aware that the EDC had been asked to do those things by adopting the two documents. 8:23:50 PM Mayor Stevens said if that was the case, would that suggest that since the EDC was in transition that the Town Board talk to that Commission even sooner to present the material. Ms. Hauth replied she understood that the EDC had marked its calendar and planned to attend the November 24`x' workshop. She said she would make sure that the Board in its agenda packet was provided the list of items again. Ms. Hauth said some of the items on that list were there because of the proposed redevelopment of the Boone-Collins property, but that was now off the table so some of the things in the plan were not now relevant. She said she believed it would be advantageous to talk the list over with the EDC and get a feel for what that: Commission believed it could do or could not do, or what other things might need to be added. 8:25:21 PM Commissioner Hallman asked who would be attending from the EDC. Ms. Hauth stated the entire Commission had been invited, and she expected most would attend. 8:25:36 PM Mayor Stevens said he liked the notion of beginning the discussion on density, although he did not want that joint meeting to be too long so it may have to carry over into another later meeting. Commissioner Hallman stated it would inform a lot of the projects they would be seeing all over Town. Ms. Hauth stated it also informed the train station committee getting ready to begin work as well as the Zoning Ordinance rewrite. She said they could not continue rewriting the Ordinance if they did not know how the Board felt about density in certain areas. Ms. Hauth said that topic was one that they needed direction from the Board, since they had never had that discussion. Mr. Hornik stated a lot of what happened with the rewrite would flow from what the Board decided it wanted to do about density and directing people towards one area or another. He agreed that density would be an important discussion that should be held sooner rather than later. 8:27:09 PM Mayor Stevens stated he believed that would be a priority more than some of the other items. Commissioner Hallman asked if there was enough time to get some information together prior to that joint meeting. Ms. Hauth replied it was matter of how much information the Board wanted, noting she could provide information on the range of density allowed now and what that looked like in a lot layout or photographs. She said for instance, if guidelines recommended density of up to 25 units per acre, what exactly did that look like. Ms. Hauth said that was a really big change and the Board could choose to land somewhere in between. So, she said, providing some examples of that would be helpful. Mayor Stevens said perhaps about one-half hour should be devoted to that, and that would help them to form key questions to be addressed the next time it was discussed. He said he believed that would be a big step forward for the Board. 18 November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 19 ot'29 Commissioner Gering stated he believed that coming out of that, they should engage the Historic District Commission and the Planning Board by giving them the same information. 8:28:58 PM Commissioner Hallman said he remembered that when Scott Radway had described for the Board what some streetscapes were like, that he had given the Board some language that could be discussed. Ms. Hauth stated that could actually start the discussion of~ even how to begin the rewrite, since they had not yet concluded who would drive that process. She said there were many new topics to be talked about, and there needed to be someone driving that. She said the outcome of the discussion may be that the Board decided who would do the driving so that they would begin to work through some of the larger issues with density. Commissioner Gering said he liked that proposal. Mayor Stevens said he could not imagine that they would veer from their overarching vision of~ preserving the small town character, but believed if they were not intentional about looking at density then the Triangle sprawl would have an impact on Hillsborough. He said the Board really needed to consider what that small town character would be over the next 100 years. Ms. Hauth stated that meant different things to different people. Mayor Stevens agreed, adding that was why that discussion needed to begin. Mr. Peterson said regarding the water capacity issue, the one weakness was that they had likely underestimated redevelopment in the future and the density that would come into the Town. He said they did have aplug-in figure for the future, but he believed that was the big gap. Mr. Peterson said they could do an update and adjust some of the assumptions, but now may be the time to increase the allocation for that future development. 8:31:33 PM Mayor Stevens said then for the November 24t~' workshop, they would have the joint meeting with the EDC and they would discuss density. He asked would they discuss the other items as well. Commissioner Gering suggested devoting 30 minutes to the density discussion and 45 minutes to an hour for the joint meeting with the EDC. Commissioner Hallman said he did not see 30 minutes being sufficient for the discussion on density, noting that would just get them stated. Ms. Hauth stated then perhaps the joint meeting with the EDC should wait until a later time, as long as it was explained to them why they had been invited months ago and the Board had changed its mind. 8:32:17 PM Mayor Stevens suggested that perhaps the item regarding the archaeological and landscape issues in the Town should be delayed. Commissioner Lloyd stated she had been approached by Tom Magnuson about that, and believed they should leave it on the agenda. Mayor Stevens said discussion of that item could likely be contained and kept to a short timeframe. 19 November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 20 of 29 Commissioner Lloyd stated she was under the impressing that the Town was being asked to provide oversight of the County, since it appeared that no one was overseeing that. She said she had indicated to Mr. Magnuson that she did not believe the Town should be doing that. Mr. Peterson stated staff would work to put together a written response from their perspective so that they could have an open, public dialogue rather that just Mr. Magnuson providing his points. He said staff agreed with some points but had a different perspective on others. 8:34:11 PM Commissioner Hallman stated that Commissioner Lloyd had made a good point, that much of Mr. Magnuson's points were County issues. Mayor Stevens agreed that much of that was not in the Town's control, and they needed to stay within their own circle. Commissioner Hallman asked could that be discussed in a joint meeting with the County. Mr. Peterson stated that Mr. Magnuson had raised the issues a couple of years ago, and he had a case study that had been distributed to the public. He said it was the Board's decision whether or not to discuss it, but in his perspective it would be better to address it at some point. Mr. Peterson said it could be added to the joint meeting with the County, depending on what came out of that. Mayor Stevens said it would be his preference to contain the discussion to one-half hour. Mr. Peterson stated that would be adequate. Mayor Stevens asked if the Annual Stormwater Report from Terry Hackett could be heard at a future meeting. Mr. Peterson stated they could add it to the agenda for the December Board. meeting. He said that agenda was beginning to get full, but he was not aware of anything major. Mayor Stevens stated then the joint meeting with the EDC would take an hour, then one-half hour on the archaeological and landscape issues, and at least one-half hour to 45 minutes as a first pass on density. 8:36: l 7 PM Commissioner Lowen said the Board should consider addressing Mr. Magnuson's issues at the joint meeting with the County. He said he believed it would be a good idea to have some discussion about density issues before they had further discussions with the EDC. Commissioner Hallman agreed. Commissioner Lowen said having that discussion first would shape the discussion they would then have regarding growth in and around Hillsborough. He said there may be some discussion in that joint meeting about density, but the Board needed to have the discussion first as a springboard into that further discussion with the EDC. 8:37:19 PM Commissioner Gering said in general, Commissioner Lowen was correct. Ms. Hauth said that was something that could easily be added to the retreat agenda in January; in that there maybe other tasks that the Board might want to ask the EDC to do. Zo November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 21 of29 8:38:1 l PM Commissioner Hallman said he could attend the EDC meeting and discern if they really needed to meet with the Board right away, or if that would be important to the Churton Street Task Force. Commissioner Gering said he believed the discussion could be deferred as far as the Churton Street plan, noting getting an oversight committee for that plan was more important. Mayor Stevens stated he would be comfortable with Commissioner Hallman's suggestion to attend the EDC meeting on Thursday. Commissioner Gering said it sounded like they would not have time to discuss the transportation item. Ms. Hauth stated it would be shortened, so it could be delayed until the December Board meeting. 8:39:45 PM Commissioner Lloyd asked how long would the transportation discussion be. Ms. Hauth said not long. Commissioner Lloyd said then there should be no problem delaying until December. Commissioner Gering said the EDC may be interested in hearing that discussion. Commissioner Lowen suggested setting the agenda with specific time assigned to each item, and try their best to stick to the time allotments. 8:40:54 PM Mayor Stevens said it appeared that the big question was the meeting with the EDC, and they would wait until after the EDC meeting to decide how the other items would be compressed. 11. CLOSED SESSION A. Closed Session as authorized by North Carolina General Statute Section 143-318.11 (6) regarding a Personnel Matters (3) 8:41:16 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Lowen, seconded by Commissioner Dancy, the Board moved to go into Closed Session by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. 12. ADJOURN Upon returning to Open Session and upon a motion by Commissioner Gering, seconded by Commissioner Dancy, the Board moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:10 p.m. by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. espe~bmitted. Donna F. Annbrister, MMC Town Clerk 21 Noeember 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 22 of 29 PieDC ~,2~08 /~ /O - /~~ HILLSBOROUGH BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Proclamation Nonprofit Awareness Month WHEREAS, the Town of Hillsborough is home to many charitable nonprofit organizations which provide diverse services to the community; and WHEREAS, North Carolina's nonprofii sector is growing faster than the business or government sectors; and WHEREAS, six percent of all jobs in the state are provided by charitable nonprofits; and WHEREAS, nonprofit employees pay income taxes and spend their salaries locally, paying local and state sales taxes, and buying houses, cars, computers, groceries, clothes, home products, and all other items sold in our community; and WHEREAS, Hillsborough nonprofits build partnerships and collaborate with governments, businesses, faith-based organizations, and other groups to expand resources; and WHEREAS, nonprofits play a central role in the democratic process by providing a means for individuals to deliberate on and advocate for public policies and decisions that affect them; and WHEREAS, Hillsborough nonprofits provide opportunities for developing skills, leadership abilities, and service thorough civic engagement, and WHEREAS, everyone who lives in Hillsborough benefits from nonprofits' vital contributions of strengthening or social fabric, public policy, culture, sense of community, and future; NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners hereby declares November 2008 as NONPROFIT AWARENESS MONTH. and extends its congratulations to charitable nonprofits serving our community for their dedicated and unselfish services to the community and its sincere gratitude to the residents of Hillsborough whose volunteer spirits and donations make these organizations strong. Adopted this] 0th day of November 2008. Tom Stevens, Town of Hillsborough 22 November I(I, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: Deg ember 8, 2008 Page 23 ot29 Town of Hills gh RESULTION SUPPORTING HILLSBOROUGH'S Preserve America COMMUNITY DES]GNATION WHEREAS. Preserve America is a White House initiative developed in cooperation with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Department of Commerce; and WHEREAS, the goals of this initiative include a greater shared knowledge about our Nation's past, strengthened regional identities and local pride, increased local participation in preserving the county's irreplaceable cultural and natural heritage asset, and support for the economic vitality of communities; and WHEREAS, this initiative is compatible with our community's interests and goals related to historic preservation; and WHEREAS, designation as a Preserve America Community will improve our community's ability to protect and promote i[s historical resources; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Hillsborough Town Board of Commissioners will apply for the designation of Hillsborough as a Preserve America Community; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Hillsborough Town Board of Commissioners will protect and celebrate our heritage, use our historic assets for economic development and community revitalization, and encourage people to experience and appreciate local historic resources through education and heritage tourism programs. This the 10`h day of November, 2008 `~^. Tom Stevens, Mayor 101 6'a.~7 Orange Sn•eet P.O. Box 429 Nillshorough, North Cnrolinn 27378 919-732-1270 }"ar 919-644-23911 23 November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 24 of 29 DRD ~Db~///0 -/~•~ AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 7, SECTION 7-36 TOWN TREES THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH ORDAINS: Section 1 Chapter 7, Section 36, Town Trees is hereby replaced as follows: Section 7-36. Town Trees (a) Purpose. (1) The purpose of this section is to regulate the planting, maintenance, and removal of trees and shrubs on town-owned public property and rights-of--way within the town and on municipally owned property wherever located (hereinafter named "town trees"). In order to protect and conserve these trees, this section provides for the pruning, treatment, and removal of trees and shrubs as deemed necessary by the town yr any person authorized to act for the town. This section. is also intended to provide fvr the trimming or removal of trees on public land when they obstruct streetlights, interfere with utility lines, constitute a hazard to pedestrian or vehiculaz traffic, or otherwise endanger the public health, safety or welfare. See Section 7.2(a) Streets and Sidewalks. Obstructions. (2) Another purpose of this section is to encourage the protection of trees and express the town's intent to use trees to create a more natural and amenable human environment, and to identify and promote the preservation of significant trees. (3) This section shall further provide for the establishment of an advisory committee known. as the tree board, which shall be responsible fvr promoting trees and tree caze throughout the town. (b) Definitions. The following words, terms, and phrases, when used in this section, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning: Park trees refers to trees and shrubs in town-owned cemeteries, town parks, and all other areas owned by the town, except street trees. Street trees refers to trees and shrubs on land lying within rights-of--way on either side of all public streets. avenues, or ways within the town. Town Board refers to the Hillsborough, North Cazolina Town Board of Commissioners. Town trees refers to all trees and shrubs on town property, wherever located, as noted above. 24 November lo, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 25 of 29 {c) Creation of a toN~n tree board. This section creates and establishes a tree board for the Town of Hillsborough, North Carolina. The tree board shall consist of seven members who shall be appointed by the Town Board. (Note: Ez q~cio members may be appointed as necessary by a majority of tree board members) 1. Term of office. The tens of the seven persons appointed by the Town Board. shall be staggered so that no more than two members' terms expire during the same yeaz. In the event that a vacancy occurs during the teen of any member, a successor shall be appointed by the Town Board for the unexpired portion of the term. Members shall serve a maximum of two consecutive three yeaz terms. (2) Compensation. Members of the tree board shall serve without material compensation. (3) Duties and responsibilities. The tree board shall. serve as an advisory board to the Town Boazd with the following duties and responsibilities: (a) To heaz all requests by Hillsborough residents and/or owners of property within the towm for planting, maintenance, and removal of town trees. The Town Board maintains the right to review any such requests and the trees in question in determining whether to grant such requests; {b) To facilitate the planting, growth, protection, and recommended removal of trees within the town; {c) To foster education and communication among the citizens of Hillsborough that would provide the needed protection of trees and to coordinate active measures to support their health and growth within the town; (d} To conduct, every two years, a periodic safety audit of existing town trees for the purpose of determining needed pruning and tree removal. Between audits, members should report such needs as they detect them; (e) To investigate available grants, loans, or contributions from other governmental agencies, public or private corporations, or individuals and to recommend the expenditure of any proceeds toward the accomplishment of the tree board's purposes; (f) To establish guidelines for the selection and placement of trees on town property, which guidelines should be maintained as a separate document; (g) 7'o submit a copy of the minutes and proceedings of its regular and special meetings to the Town Clerk for the public record; 25 November I o, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 26 of 29 (h) To coordinate, insofar as appropriate, its purposes with those of the Town Pazks and Recreation Board, the Historic District Commission, and other town and county agencies; (i) To submit an annual report to the Town Board; (j) To create and promote an active urban forestry education program for all. citizens of the town; (k) To adopt rules of procedure for transaction of its business; (1) To set a regulaz schedule of public meetings. The chairperson may call a special public meeting upon request of a majority of members of the board or the Director of Public Works or the Town Board; (m) To advise owners and developers of private property within town limits on the preservation of existing trees prior to planning board approval; (n) To advise the town on the planting, pruning, maintenance, and removing of trees on town properly; (o) Residents of Hillsborough andlor property owners desiring to have a tree planted on town property shall obtain approval of the tree board. {p) It shall be unlawful as normal practice, except as described in this subsection, for any person or town. department to top any town tree. The term "topping" means the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs iazger than three inches in diameter within the tree's crown to such a degee as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree. Trams severely damaged by storms or other causes or trees that interfere with or are an imminent threat to utility wires or other obstructions where other pruning practices are impractical may be exempted from this section at the determination of the tree board. {4) Where they are accessible, all stumps of town trees shall be removed below the surface of the ground so that the top of the stump shall not project above the surface of the ground. {S) It shall be unlawful for any person to prevent, delay, or interfere with the tree board or any of its agents, while they are engaging in and about the planting, cultivating, mulching, pruning, spraying or removing of any town trees, as authorized. in this section. (6) It shall be unlawful far any person, other than town employees and firms performing tree maintenance services far or on behalf of the town, to prune, treat, or remove any town tree. Exempt from this restriction are utility firms performing tree 26 November 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 27 0129 maintenance services drat protect utility lines. See Section 7.2.a., Streets and Sidewalk Obstructions. (7) The Town Board shall have the right to review the conduct, acts, and decisions of the tree board. Any person who lives in the town and/or owns real property within the town may appeal any ruling or order of the tree boazd to the Town Board. (8) Penalties. Any person willfully or negligently violating any provision of this section shall be, upon conviction or plea of guilty, subject to a fine in the maximum amount permitted by NCGS 14-4. Violations of this section may also result in a civil penalty as follows: (a) for a violation of subparagraph 6 above, up to $2,500 for each tree disturbed or damaged; (b) for a violation of subparagraph 5 above, up to $500; (c) the actual cost to replace the damaged tree with a tree of similaz species and maturity; (d) in addition to seeking civil penalties, the Town may seek to enforce the provisions of this ordinance via action in a court of competent jurisdiction. The town may seek to collect civil penalties assessed under this section in an action in the nature of debt in a court of competent jurisdiction. The Director of Public Works under the general supervision of the Town Manager shall have the authority and responsibility to administer and enforce the previsions of this section. The foregoing ordinance having been submitted to a vole, received the following vote and was duly adopted this 1 Oa' day of November, 2008. Ayes: ~ Noes:, Absent or Excused:,l~ Donna F. Armbrister, Town Clerk 27 November (0, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 28 of 29 ORDINANCE #20081110-10.F AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 6, MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC APPENDIX A, SECTIONS 6A-5 and 6-A12 OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TOWN CODE The Board of Commissioners of the Town of Hillsborough ordains: SECTION 1. All section references below refer to the Town of Hillsborough Code, Chapter 6, Appendix A. Section 6A-14. SECTION 2. Section 6A-5 Stoa Suns. In accordance with Section 6-4, stop signs shall be erected at the stop street list below along the approach to the main street as indicated: Sto~Street Avnroach Main Street US 70-A South Morelanda Drive Clayton Drive Vilest Morelanda Drive Morelanda Drive South Clayton Drive Clayton Drive East Tuscarora Avenue Tuscarora Drive West Clayton Drive Tuscarora Avenue North Tuscarora Avenue Tuscarora Drive South Saponi Drive SECTION 3. Section 6A-12 Screed Limits. In accordance with Subsection 6-20(b) the following speed limits aze established for the streets indicated: Speed Limit (MPHI On Street From 20 Clayton Drive Tuscarora Avenue 20 Morelanda Dm~e Clayton Drive To cul-de sac U S 70-A 28 Novemb~~- 10, 2008 Regular Meeting Approved: December 8, 2008 Page 29 of 29 SECTION 4. All Provisions of any Town Ordinance in conflict with this Ordinance are repealed. SECTION 6. This ordinance shall become effective upon adopfion. The foregoing ordinance having been submitted to a vote, receiving the fallowing vote and was duly adopted this 10~' day of November, 2008. Ayes: 5 Nces: 0 Absent or Excused: 0 ~~~~~z Donna F. Armbrister Town Clerk 29