HomeMy Public PortalAbout07-13-2009 Regular MeetingMINUTES
HILLSBOROUGH TOWN BOARD
July 13, 2009
7:00 PM, Town Barn
July 13, 2009 Regular Meeting
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 1 of 28
PRESENT: Mayor Tom Stevens, Commissioners Frances Dancy, Evelyn Lloyd, Michael
Gering, L. Eric Hallman, and Brian Lowen.
STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Eric Peterson, Assistant Town Manager/Public Works
Director Nicole Ard, Town Clerk/Director of Administration and Human Resources Donna
Armbrister, Planning Director Margaret Hauth, Planner Stephanie Trueblood, Planning Intern
Aspen Price, Finance Director Greg Siler, Lieutenant Brad Whiffed, and Town Attorney Bob
Hornik.
Mayor 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. AUDIENCE COMMENTS REGARDING MATTERS NOT ON THE PRINTED
AGENDA
7:02:00 PM Mayor Stevens indicated that there was no one signed up to speak on items not on
the printed agenda.
3. AGENDA CHANGES AGENDA APPROVAL
7:02:22 PM Town Manager Eric Peterson added two additions to the Consent Agenda, one to
consider a resolution to oppose the referendum position in the proposed House Bill 524 which
was related to the compromise bill to make adjustments to the annexation legislation. He said
the second was a resolution to oppose the State's proposal to abolish the privilege license tax,
which was about %2 cent on the tax rate, unless there was a replacement revenue source included.
Mayor Stevens suggested adding them to the end of the regular agenda for consideration. There
was no objection from the Board.
Mr. Peterson stated he also wanted to add an item to the Closed Session to consult with the
Attorney regarding litigation with the Blue Bayou regarding the failure to pay Food and
Beverage taxes.
Mayor Stevens stated that Item 8.G regarding stop signs in the Hillsborough Heights
neighborhood was of interest to several who had signed up to speak, and suggested moving that
item up on the regular agenda as the second item for discussion. There was no objection from
the Board.
7:05:10 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Lowen, the
Board moved to approve the Agenda as amended by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared
passed.
4. COMMITTEE REPORTS (Critical)
No Committee Reports were offered at this time.
5. REPORT FROM THE TOWN MANAGER
Mr. Peterson indicated he had no report to offer.
6. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
No Departmental Reports were offered.
7. ITEMS FOR DECISION CONSENT AGENDA
July 13, 2009 Regular Meeting
Approved: September 14, 2009
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A. Consider Approval of the Minutes of the May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop;
the May 26, 2009 General Fund Budget Workshop Closed Session; the May 28, 2009
Budget Public Hearing and Water /Sewer Fund Budget Workshop; the June 8, 2009
Regular Board Meeting; and the June 8, 2009 Regular Board Meeting Closed Session
B. Consider Approval of Authorization to Orange County to collect vehicle, personal, and
real property taxes on behalf of the Town of Hillsborough for 2009
C. Consider an Ordinance to amend Chapter 4 Personnel, Section 4 -22 regarding Employee
Annual Leave Benefits
D. Accept Parks and Recreation Board recommendation to name the 20 acre community
park in the Waterstone Development Cates Creek Park
E. Consider Approval of Memorandum of Understanding for the Water Assistance Program
between the Town and Orange Congregations in Missions
7:06:38 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Gering, seconded by Commissioner Lowen, the
Board moved to approve the Consent Agenda by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared passed.
8. ITEMS FOR DECISION REGULAR AGENDA
A. Consideration of Preliminary Subdivision Plan for Queen Street Partners to create
3 lots from 10.66 acres on the west side of NC 86 N
7:06:56 PM Planning Director Margaret Hauth said the property in question was the location
of Thalle Construction's business operation and an existing building that had been occupied by
Hertz Equipment Rental. She said that the Planning Board's comments were included in the
packet, noting that the main item of discussion had to do with the sidewalk requirement. Ms.
Hauth said that sidewalks had not been required when the site plans were reviewed by the Board
of Adjustment because of the Light Industrial zoning, but that requirement had now been added
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Approved: September 14, 2009
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to the Subdivision Ordinance for that zoning designation. She said the Planning Board had
reviewed and approved a variance for the site noting a large number of reasons why the unique
aspects of the site made a variance reasonable.
Ms. Hauth stated the Planning Board had recommended that if the Town Board approved the
subdivision that a voluntary contribution to the Town be required of $40 a linear foot for the
entire frontage of the parcel on NC 86 that would be placed in a fund for sidewalks. She said the
Town did not have a formal payment -in -lieu for sidewalks policy, and that in the past some
advisory boards had not been very supportive of such a payment -in -lieu but she believed there
had now been a change in thought on that. Ms. Hauth said they would be looking at that issue
during the ordinance rewrite or possibly sooner on how they could set up some kind of
mechanism to accept such payments, either through an impact fee, a tax, or a payment -in -lieu so
that in certain cases such payments could be accepted rather than the actual construction of a
sidewalk required.
7:09:56 PM Commissioner Gering asked was there a voluntary contribution contained in the
proposal. Ms. Hauth said there was not a representative from Queen Street Partners available at
the Planning Board meeting, so she would have to defer to Greg Pacchiana for his opinion 011
such a payment. She said a sidewalk was required along the entire frontage of the property,
including parcel B which was not yet developed.
Mr. Peterson asked had the Town required any other property owner to provide a sidewalk across
the frontage of property not yet developed. Ms. Hauth said any time a subdivision came in a
sidewalk was required as part of the subdivision process, and they had not had one that was an
after- the -fact development where the subdivision took place after the lots were developed and
then a sidewalk required. She said it was generally done on new roads being constructed, and it
was rare that anyone was excused from the sidewalk requirement.
7:11:22 PM Mayor Stevens stated he believed this was a rare circumstance where the
subdivision was happening after the property was developed. Ms. Hauth agreed it was unusual.
Mayor Stevens said it also was not something they would see often. Ms. Hauth agreed it was not
common.
Mayor Stevens asked was there any reason why the Board could or could not ask for a voluntary
contribution. Mr. Hornik said the Board could always ask for a voluntary contribution, but the
question became where the line was between voluntary and involuntary. He said General
Statutes allowed the Town to require payments -in -lieu for roads, but sidewalks were not included
in that language. Mr. Hornik said the Town Charter allowed the Board to establish a payment
in -lieu for sidewalks, but they had never implemented such a program. He said one of the
reasons was that at the time they had not established a sidewalk plan, and they would need to
establish a calculation of what the payment -in -lieu would be and how the funds would be
allocated. Mr. Hornik said at the present time they did not have such a mechanism in place, and
he had a discomfort level with posing a condition that required a voluntary contribution.
7:13:29 PM Mr. Peterson said since the parcel they were subdividing was parcel A and was
the one the Town was proposing to purchase, if there was going to be some kind of assessment
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Approved: September 14, 2009
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for sidewalks then the Town should be ultimately responsible for whether it should be a fee or a
payment -in -lieu. He noted that parcel A was the longer portion of the tract.
Mr. Hornik asked was it true that the Town's interest in acquiring parcel A was what had
prompted the subdivision plat. Ms. Hauth stated that was her understanding, but she did not
want to speak for the applicant.
Mayor Stevens stated the Planning Board had pointed out that the property was currently outside
the Town limits and it was not a location where a lot of connectivity was expected. Ms. Hauth
said they had also pointed out that the land beyond this property was not proposed for dense
residential development, and there were topography and stream buffer issues that made a
sidewalk in that area difficult.
7:15:01 PM Greg Pacchiana, representing Queen Street Partners, stated that they planned to
deal with the Town in good faith, and they would do whatever the Town required them to do.
Commissioner Gering said that he understood the unique aspects of the case, but in general that
did not diminish the requirement the Board intended to have for sidewalks. He said the fact that
the Town had an interest in one of the parcels was somewhat beside the point to him, and if they
were to have a contribution for the sidewalk for the whole distance then part of that would
become a liability for the Town because they would end up owning that requirement.
Commissioner Gering said it seemed fair to him that the requirement for sidewalks on the other
parts would stand. He said he was disappointed that they had no mechanism for a payment -in-
lieu.
7:16:50 PM Mayor Stevens said he shared with the Town Attorney some discomfort with
requiring a voluntary contribution, but knowing that they had a cooperative partner and that it
was a fairly unique situation, that perhaps they could ask for a pro -rated voluntary contribution
for the frontage that the Town would not own. He asked how the Board would feel about that.
Commissioner Gering stated he did not believe the Town could require such a contribution, and
for him the lack of that was a serious hindrance for his vote.
Commissioner Hallman said he shared the concern about setting a precedent, and with all other
issues set aside they had worked hard to establish a precedent for sidewalks. He said there were
special circumstances in this case, but he would not want to see them take a step back from
requiring sidewalks. Commissioner Hallman said there was something larger at stake here.
7:18:29 PM Mayor Stevens said that some form of a payment -in -lieu would help to satisfy
that, but it appeared they were not yet ready to have such a mechanism.
Commissioner Hallman said that was a whole different discussion. Mayor Stevens agreed.
Mr. Peterson observed that they were not in a legal position to require anything, so in some ways
it was a best case scenario that they had identified a flaw that needed to be addressed. He said
they were fortunate that the flaw was identified in a situation where the Town would own about
Commissioner Gering said that was just a difference in the timing of the requirement.
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Approved: September 14, 2009
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50% of the street right -of -way so if they ever got to the point where there would be a sidewalk
constructed then they knew that the Town would be doing the construction. Mr. Peterson said if
this had been some other scenario they may have lost 100% of the opportunity to require fees in
lieu or something else.
7:19:44 PM Mayor Stevens asked if they could require construction of the sidewalk to be
tabled for an indefinite future that could then be considered should the Town put a mechanism in
place for payments -in -lieu or something similar, and still honor the requirement for sidewalks.
Mr. Hornik stated they had done so in the past, in that they had deferred the requirement for
construction of a sidewalk, so there was some precedent for not doing away with the requirement
but deferring compliance until such time as some triggering event took place. He said the
condition would remain and would run with the land, so whoever owned the property at that
point in time would have to comply with the condition. Mr. Hornik said they could not require a
payment -in -lieu, but they could defer or delay the requirement to construct a sidewalk until some
triggering event or time, and the question was what that triggering event or time would be.
Ms. Hauth asked how that worked since this was a subdivision rather than a SUP; that is, how
would you put such a condition on a final plat. Mr. Hornik said the question would be what type
of financial security they wanted to require in order to make sure that the condition was complied
with in the future. Ms. Hauth asked if a written promise from the owner would be sufficient, but
noted that was not a financial commitment. She said with SUP's it would be a recorded
condition that was attached to the land, but this case was not an SUP.
7:22:59 PM Mr. Hornik stated that the proposed parcel B was the vacant lot, and parcel C was
developed. Ms. Hauth stated that was correct, noting the predominance of the property was
outside storage for equipment.
Commissioner Lowen asked about the possibility of a written promise. Ms. Hauth said she was
suggesting that a written promise or agreement between the Town and the property owner might
be entered into which could be attached to the property and recorded.
Mr. Hornik stated if it were a condition placed on the final plat, then it would be recorded and
would run with the property, regardless of the owner. He said it would not be unusual for
conditions of approval to be placed on a final plat.
7:24:41 PM Mayor Stevens said then that could be written as a condition, in that it would be
recorded on the final plat that the sidewalk was deferred. Mr. Hornik suggested that the final
plat bear a note indicating that should be sidewalk be constructed upon parcel A, then when
parcel B came forward for development or a Certificate of Occupancy was issued for parcel B,
then a sidewalk would have to be constructed along the road frontage of parcel B.
Commissioner Dancy stated if they were to do something like that, then it would have to be a
part of the approval of the subdivision. Ms. Hauth said that was correct, that the approval of the
subdivision would be conditioned on the placement of that note on the final plat.
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Approved: September 14, 2009
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7:25:45 PM Commissioner Lowen asked if Mr. Pacchiana had any comments regarding the
Board's discussion. Mr. Pacchiana said when they first received the site plan approval sidewalks
were not required, and the second time when they came forward with Phase 2 the requirement
had been added. He said the reason for the variance being granted was because a lot of the
property was DOT right -of -way and that there were wetlands and stream buffers. Mr. Pacchiana
said he had heard the concerns expressed by the Board, but would caution the Board that
requiring a sidewalk on parcel C would be very problematic and cost prohibitive.
Commissioner Lowen said he understood Mr. Pacchiana's point, but if a sidewalk was ever
required none of them would likely be around. He said if the Town was successful in purchasing
the property the condition such as that discussed would be a very long time in being fulfilled.
Commissioner Lowen said that the Town's Strategic Growth Plan clearly laid out that they were
not looking at developing much beyond that point, and it may be 40 years or more before a
sidewalk would be viable. He said he did share somewhat the concerns expressed by
Commissioner Gering in terms of setting a precedent and they did want a grid of connectivity in
Town, but what they were discussing might be doable in terms of providing for a sidewalk in the
future.
7:27:52 PM Mr. Pacchiana said as the seller he did believe that adding the cost of a sidewalk
made sense, and suggested that for parcel A and B they could prorate that difference and reduce
the cost of the property by that prorated portion. He said if the cost of a sidewalk was estimated
at $40 per linear foot, then they could use that as a basis to prorate a reduction in the cost of the
property.
Commissioner Gering stated that sounded as if Mr. Pacchiana was offering to compensate for the
cost of the sidewalk. Mr. Pacchiana stated yes, a prorated portion. Commissioner Gering said
then he was offering to make a contribution of up to the rate of $40 per linear foot for parcels B
and C. Mr. Pacchiana said that was correct, so that would be a little less than half of the entire
frontage of the parcels. He said he would prefer to do that rather than having a condition placed
on the final plat.
7:29:55 PM Commissioner Gering asked what the proper wording would be for prorating the
cost of the sidewalk as an amendment to the plat approval. Mr. Hornik said if the Town signed
the agreement to purchase the parcel, then they could change the purchase price to reduce it by
$40 per linear foot of frontage of parcel B and C, which would be a reduction of about $15,000.
Commissioner Gering said that would be sufficient for him.
Mr. Peterson asked would the Town then direct money into a fee in lieu in the total amount. Mr.
Hornik stated yes, that they would be taking the money they would have otherwise paid to Mr.
Pacchiana and put it into a fund.
Ms. Hauth stated then whenever the Town set up the payment -in -lieu fund for sidewalks, it
would be seeded with the amount paid by Mr. Pacchiana.
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Approved: September 14, 2009
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7:31:13 PM Commissioner Hallman said it would still be precedent setting, although he
believed they had now gotten to where everyone wanted to get to.
Mayor Stevens stated there were concerns about holding to the requirement regardless of the
facts or circumstances, and whether the precedent indicated a future right. He said he believed
there would be very high hurdles to cross for another development to fall within that precedent.
Commissioner Gering said it would be a precedent only for as long as it took to rewrite the
Zoning Ordinance.
Commissioner Hallman said he was not too sure he wanted to write a payment -in -lieu process
into the ordinance, noting he would rather address it individually as cases came before the Board.
Mayor Stevens stated that was a good point, noting the Board was making an exception in this
case for this unusual circumstance with this particular piece of property, and not as a policy
statement of how things would be done in the future.
7:32:54 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Gering, seconded by Commissioner Lowen, the
Board moved to approve the Preliminary Subdivision Plan for Queen Street Partners to create 3
lots from 10.66 acres on the west side of NC 86 N, with the understanding that the sidewalk
requirement was not a statement of policy by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared passed.
G. Consider approval of an Ordinance to Amend Chapter 6, Motor Vehicles and
Traffic Section 6A -5 and 6A -12 to establish 3 -way stop signs at the intersections of
Boundary and Terrell Streets and Alma and Terrell Streets, and reducing speed
limits on Alma, Central, Freeman and Terrell Streets
7:33:36 PM Mayor Stevens reminded the Board that they had agreed to move this item up on
the agenda due to the number of people who had signed up to speak.
Assistant Town Manager/Public Works Director Nicole Ard stated the draft ordinance included
those roads noted as well as others in the Hillsborough Heights neighborhood. She said the
Neighborhood Block Watch had made a request to reduce the speed limits on particular streets,
and the Town had included additional streets for consistency, which were Boundary Street, East
Drive, Daphne Drive, Daphne Court, Forest Street, and Sherwood Lane.
Ms. Ard said a speed study was conducted on Terrell, Central and Freeman Streets, and there
were instances of speeding but it did not rise to the level of a widespread speeding issue. She
said the draft ordinance if adopted would reduce the speed limits on all of the noted streets from
35 mph to 20 mph.
Ms. Ard said the ordinance also contained a request for 3 -way stops at Alma and Terrell Streets
and at Boundary and Terrell Streets. She said in addition to the stop signs, pedestrian signs
would be installed as you traveled closer to the street to alert drivers that they were entering a
residential area and to watch for pedestrians.
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Ms. Ard said some improvements were being planned for the park in terms of extending the
fencing in front of the facility to provide additional safety for children using the park, as well as
extending the fence in the back to include a gate. She said while meeting with the residents at
the park, concerns had been expressed in terms of recent thefts of bicycles as well as an
altercation of some type across from the park. Ms. Ard said the neighbors had been encouraged
to reports those types of incidents to the Police Department.
7:37:25 PM Commissioner Gering said the traffic study had indicated there were no serious
violations, and asked had that been measured against the current speed limit of 35 mph. Ms. Ard
stated on all of the streets except for Alma and Daphne, which was in the Town Code as 25 mph,
there was an average speed of 17 mph. Commissioner Gering said then the 85 percentile was
traveling 25 mph. Ms. Ard said for Terrell the 85% would be 25 mph, and the average speed
was 17.12 mph, for Central it was 19 mph, and for Freeman it was 25 mph. She said there had
been one person during the study that had been clocked on Terrell at 53 mph in the middle of the
night.
Commissioner Hallman asked did federal and State standards suggest 20 mph. Ms. Ard
responded yes, and they had also used those standards to justify the 3 -way stops. She said as had
been explained to the neighbors, they may experience people speeding up to the stop signs in
order to accommodate the delay in having to stop at the intersections, even though the stop signs
were intended as barriers to slow drivers down.
7:40:38 PM Cathleen Ferguson, a resident of Hillsborough Heights, said on Central they had
found it interesting that the tracking device was placed in front of the house of one of the major
speeders, so by the time they reached it they had already slowed. She said that type of placement
may have affected the data. Ms. Ferguson said she could assure the Board that during the day
that people were traveling much more than 19 mph, and there had been instances where children
darted back and forth across the street and there had been many near misses. She said that was
quite a concern in their small neighborhood with streets of short distances.
Ms. Ferguson said they had researched what the unintended consequences might be of placing
stop signs as proposed, and what they had found was that there may be some upset of some
residents. But, she said, their view was if some were upset by speeding that was not a concern
because safety of the children and pedestrians was too important. Ms. Ferguson said the primary
concern was near the park, and putting up stop signs on either side would establish a barrier. She
said if there were any other unintended consequences her neighborhood would like to know of
them because they wanted to support and promote safety.
7:44:22 PM Commissioner Hallman asked was there anything more that the neighbors might
want the Town to do to address those safety concerns. Ms. Ferguson said the fence was an
excellent idea given the location of the play equipment and the fact that there was a house very
close to the park that housed about ten children. She said you could regularly see skid marks
around the corners in that location where people were careening around the curve. Ms. Ferguson
said those children were regularly going back and forth across the street to the park, which was a
real concern.
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7:45:35 PM Linda Holland, a resident of Hillsborough Heights, said she would like to see the
issue taken up a notch and speed bumps placed in certain locations, because they were
unforgiving to speeders. She said if someone wanted to speed, then they would likely need
repairs done to their vehicle once they hit a speed bump. Ms. Holland said the stop signs would
help, but there were still those that would ignore them and she did not believe they could ignore
a speed bump. She added she did not believe any of her neighbors agreed with her.
Ms. Ferguson remarked she did not believe anyone necessarily disagreed with Ms. Holland, but
they were trying to honor the budgetary constraints the Town was facing.
7:47:10 PM Commissioner Lowen said he resided on Terrell and was two doors away from
the park. He said his daughter had told him one evening recently that she had heard a car "flying
down the street" and that since he was on the Board he should do something about it.
Commissioner Lowen said today he had been at the park with his grandson and had been talking
with a neighbor when a car came speeding down the street. He said they had both shouted at him
to slow down, and estimated he was traveling at least 50 mph. Commissioner Lowen said such
instances happened often enough to scare him and the neighbors, and he was afraid someone
would eventually be hurt or killed.
Commissioner Lowen said the Board had discussed in the past the use of speed bumps and the
pros and cons of that, and believed they should consider sometime in the future the use of speed
bumps particularly around pocket parks. He said he agreed with Ms. Holland that speed bumps
would stop drivers or else they would damage their cars.
7:49:16 PM Commissioner Dancy asked were there signs near the park that said "Children at
Play." Commissioner Lowen replied no. Commissioner Dancy stated she believed they should
consider mounting such signs near parks.
Ms. Ard said the Board may remember when the Fairview neighbors had asked for those signs,
and in staffs' discussions with the State they did not like to mount such signs because technically
children should not be in the street. She said the State believed the signs provided a false sense
of security, and that was why they had put up pedestrian signs instead.
Mayor Stevens asked for comments from the Police Department. Lieutenant Brad Whiffed stated
he had visited the area on occasion, but arriving in a Police vehicle tended to slow everyone
down. He said he would brief his officers tomorrow and step up patrols in the area.
7:50:52 PM Commissioner Gering stated he had some concerns regarding the stop signs, and
perhaps taking action in increments might be a more prudent approach. He suggested reducing
speed limits first and installing the fence. Ms. Ard stated they were trying to be comprehensive
in terms of what could be done and to respond to concerns expressed by the neighbors.
Commissioner Gering stated he believed stop signs might make the problem worse. Ms. Ard
said as far as the issue on Terrell Street having a Police presence may provide some relief.
Commissioner Gering stated he was suggesting reducing the speed limits and holding off on the
stop signs until they could determine if the change in speed limits was working.
7:52:24 PM Commissioner Lowen disagreed, noting he understood what the studies were
saying but he did not agree. He said living just one house away from the corner he believed a
stop sign would slow speeders, noting they had seen that work in Beckett's Ridge.
Commissioner Lowen said if they found that the stop signs created problems in the future, they
could always have them removed.
Commissioner Gering stated those were good points.
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Lieutenant Whiffed stated that stop signs worked well, noting they had worked very well in
Beckett's Ridge. He agreed with Commissioner Lowen that in this instance they would work
just as well.
Commissioner Gering stated with that being said, he was persuaded.
7:54:51 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Lowen, seconded by Commissioner Hallman,
the Board moved to approve the Ordinance to Amend Chapter 6, Motor Vehicles and Traffic
Section 6A -5 and 6A -12 to establish stop signs and reduce speed limits on Alma, Boundary,
Central, and Freeman by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared passed.
B. Consideration of the Wayfinding Sign Plan for the Town of Hillsborough
7:55:46 PM Ms. Hauth introduced Planning Intern Aspen Price who was starting her second
summer as an intern in the Planning Department. She said Ms. Price would be working on the
parking plan and the hotel tax, and last year had worked on the Wayfinding Plan. Ms. Hauth
thanked the Town Board for the funding it had made available for Ms. Price's services.
Ms. Hauth stated that Ms. Trueblood would relate information on the work that had been done to
develop the Wayfinding Sign Plan provided in the packets, and they wanted to thank all the
volunteers who served on the Task Force and participated in developing the plan, noting the
Town could have paid a significant amount for a consultant to do that work. She said the
outcome was a professional plan at a fairly reasonable cost for a consultant to do the design
work.
7:57:10 PM Planner Stephanie Trueblood provided a PowerPoint presentation that gave a brief
background of why the Wayfinding Signage Plan had been created, specifically coming from
recommendations in the 2006 Churton Street Corridor Plan which identified ways to improve the
aesthetics of the corridor, one of which was to develop Wayfinding signage. She stated that had
been the springboard to create the Wayfinding Signage Task Force in May of 2008 to look at the
Town as a whole. Ms. Trueblood said the first goal of the Task Force was to set goals and create
a mission statement, which was to plan, design, implement, and maintain the system of
destination and direction signage to guide visitors to primary and secondary attractions in
Hillsborough. She added that commercial signage had not been included in the Wayfinding
Plan.
Ms. Trueblood said that the Task Force had reviewed existing plans, formulas to key
destinations, developed a sign family with included each type of sign recommended in the plan,
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organized the sign text and approved placement recommendations, and selected and worked with
the design consultant, Design Workshop, to create the sign design schematics including
conducting a public meeting to gather input on the recommended sign designs. She said the
Task Force also prepared an implementation schedule and reviewed project costs.
Ms. Trueblood stated that the Task Force had conducted an intense sign inventory of every
information and direction sign in the Town, all of which had been added to the GIS database.
She said the sign inventory had helped the Task Force to develop recommendations for reducing
sign clutter and placing new signs, and gave them the mapping ability to look at placement
recommendations so that signs did not conflict
Ms. Trueblood said the Task Force had looked at the various types of existing signs and
developed a sign family for the Wayfinding system, including directional and destination signs
as well as route markers and kiosks. She said they had also developed a list of primary
destinations advertised on trailblazing signs, which included historic downtown, the Visitors
Center, and government offices. Ms. Trueblood said there were 37 proximity signs that
highlighted secondary destinations, and 16 of those were located in the downtown district. She
said that trailblazing signs were placed along high traffic corridors to direct visitors towards the
Town Center and gather travelers from the interstates and pull them into Town. Ms. Trueblood
said the proximity signs were placed to alert drivers when to turn and were placed 100 to 150
feet from key intersections, and were the most prevalent types of signs in the plan.
Ms. Trueblood said the placement recommendations were very important to the plan, noting that
staff had visited each site and noted the conditions such as ground cover, grade, right -of -way,
nearby trees, and the like. She said the placement recommendations took into account conditions
such as adjacent landscaping and conflicts between new and existing signs. Ms. Trueblood said
the installation guide would be included in the RFP so that installation could be considered as a
part of that budget by fabricators.
Ms. Trueblood then explained how the designs for the signs had been chosen, noting the Task
Force and staff had worked closely with the consultant to select geometry, colors, font, and
overall design principles to capture the character of Hillsborough and to provide clear messages.
She said that the Task Force wanted the signs to have longevity in terms of design and to work
with the environment through all seasons. Ms. Trueblood stated that a public meeting was held
in April to gather feedback on the design choices, and the sign designs selected had subtle
references to Hillsborough's history and architecture. She said the red background was in
reference to the red brick throughout the Town particularly in the downtown, the fluted pole was
a reference to the Courthouse columns, the gold top was a very subtle reference to the top of the
Courthouse, the scroll work was a very subtle reference to the river, and the serif font was
chosen because of its classic style and agelessness. Ms. Trueblood then displayed examples of
each of the sign types.
Ms. Trueblood said in addition to the sign recommendations other recommendations were
included in the plan, including the removal of the existing uncoordinated directional signage and
the installation of the new signage. She said the plan also called for petitioning NCDOT to
replace their deteriorated State signs and to consolidate multiple highway marker shields. Ms.
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Trueblood said the plan also recommended that NCDOT replace City Limit signs with Town
Limit signs since they were known as the Town of Hillsborough. She said as well they had
Town Board recommendations such as setting the amortization schedule for the nonconforming
commercial signs. Ms. Trueblood said they were also recommending trademarking the design
template for the signs so that other entities may not tap into it and diminish the success of the
Wayfinding program.
Ms. Trueblood said the plan also recommended that Orange County initiate a parking sign audit
for their facilities and adopt a similar parking shield for the County properties within the Town
limits to coordinate them with the new Wayfinding plan. She said there were two County
representatives on the Task Force so the County was aware of the recommendations, and the
NCDOT had been aware of the Task Force's work throughout the process.
Ms. Trueblood said the total estimated cost for fabricating and installing all of the recommended
signs was nearly $272,000, based on their research and similar sign programs of other
jurisdictions. She said the cost was subject to change based on the final fabrication
specifications and what company was chosen to fabricate and install the signs. Ms. Trueblood
said the original funding for the project was $150,000, $35,000 of which was spent 011 design
development with the consultant. She said the original funds were not sufficient to implement all
the recommendations, so the Town would need to explore alternative funding sources such as
grants and sponsorships. Ms. Trueblood said that she and Elizabeth Reed had worked to prepare
grant requests for tourism and preservation grants for which the program may be eligible, and
were ready to apply as soon as funding availability was announced. She said the total additional
funding needed was about $115,000.
Ms. Trueblood stated it was important to remember that not all of the designations existed as yet,
such as the Health Department and Social Services that were scheduled to move into the old
Walmart building as well as future transit sites. She said they had included many such sites in
the plan although it would be some time before they were in place. Ms. Trueblood said the plan
was calling for a five -year implementation schedule, with trailblazing signs going in first, then
proximity signs in 2012, destination signs and historic district signs in 2013, and the Welcome to
Hillsborough sign and the pedestrian kiosk signs in 2014.
Ms. Trueblood said once completed, the Wayfinding program would add greatly to the aesthetic
quality of Hillsborough by reducing sign clutter and establishing consistency for Wayfinding
through a comprehensive coordinated sign system.
8:11:59 PM Commissioner Lloyd asked how similar was the color in the banner. Ms.
Trueblood replied it was very similar. Commissioner Lloyd said she believed the Task Force
and staff had done a good job.
Commissioner Hallman stated he understood that they had allocated STDBA money for the Nash
Street sidewalk, and asked would this project qualify for those funds. Ms. Hauth said possibly,
but most of that allocation had been used.
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Commissioner Lowen said he had looked at the plan in detail and applauded the work the staff
and Task Force had done. He said he could not wait to see the signs installed, noting it would
really improve the Town particularly on the main corridor of Churton Street. Commissioner
Lowen said the signs were beautiful and would catch the attention not only of visitors but of
residents as well. He said perhaps the signs would cause people not to notice so much the
number of power lines hanging over the streets. Commissioner Lowen said it was expensive, but
in the long run he believed it would be money well spent.
8:14:05 PM Mayor Stevens stated it was a very important investment to the quality of life and
to economic development of the Town, and he absolutely agreed that it would be money well
spent. He added his thanks to everyone who had worked on the plan. Ms. Trueblood said that
the Task Force was "magnificent," noting they had worked hard, worked quickly, and was very
dedicated to achieving their goals.
Commissioner Gering agreed that the Task Force was "fantastic" and it proved yet again that
they had a lot of dedicated and high powered talent in the Town. He stated that he knew that
Ms. Trueblood had done a great deal of the work on the plan and they owed her their gratitude as
well. Ms. Trueblood said the consultants had been very receptive to every question and had been
very willing to work with the Town in any way possible, and she believed that close relationship
had added to the success of the progress.
Ms. Hauth stated the consultants were definitely the right choice for Hillsborough.
Commissioner Gering agreed. He said when the Tourism Board had done the parking study to
determine how to best market the branding for Hillsborough, the three highest priorities
identified were Wayfinding signage, Website presence, and an ambassador program, so this was
a major achievement. Ms. Trueblood said they had not planned necessarily for the banners to be
so coordinated with the signage, noting the signs had come from the perception of Hillsborough
and believed the banners had accomplished much of that since they had ended up with a very
coordinated system.
8:16:41 PM Commissioner Gering said one of the biggest messages from the branding work
was that for tourists to come here, you had to demonstrate that you were ready for them. He said
he believed the Wayfinding program would send that message.
Mayor Stevens agreed there would be a huge payoff in tourism with dollars coming in that
required minimal infrastructure, but it was also good for the citizens, adding they had seen that
with the parks. He said many people did not know of the incredible destinations in the Town and
once the signs were installed they would know.
Ms. Hauth stated there was a resolution provided in the packet and asked that the Board formally
endorse and adopt the Wayfinding Plan, and then they would ask some direction from the Board
on the issue related to the County piggybacking onto that Plan, whether they wanted to
trademark the sign design, and how close of a copy would the Town allow other entities to use.
She said she was concerned that having another entity using something that was close but not
exactly the same as the Wayfinding signage would be confusing. Ms. Hauth said she was
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concerned that if they allowed others to use signage exactly like the Wayfinding signs it would
perpetuate the confusion in that people would not know if they were coming to the County or to
the Town for whatever services they were seeking. She said people seemed to have difficulty
breaking the two entities apart and understanding that both the Town and the County were
located in Hillsborough and that they provided vastly difference services. Ms. Hauth said some
direction was needed from the Board as to whether they wanted to trademark the signage, how
firmly would they defend that trademark, and what kind of feedback to give Orange County
regarding the signage. She said it was nice that Orange County appreciated and wanted to
duplicate the signage, but she was concerned about that diluting the overall impact.
8:19:13 PM Commissioner Hallman asked could they communicate to the County what the
Town's Sign Ordinance was and what they would accept; and, did they really think that the
signage would alleviate the confusion about Town and County services. Ms. Hauth said she did
not believe it would alleviate the confusion, but if they allowed the County to use the exact same
signage she did not believe they would be making any progress.
Ms. Trueblood said one of the County representatives on the Task Force had suggested using the
same sign design for County facilities but making the background green instead of red so people
would know the difference. She said the problem with that was they had not planned for the
County to have green signs, and if they asked the County to use the same red signs the problem
was that the Wayfinding program had not taken into account any County destinations. Ms.
Trueblood said the Sign Ordinance did not restrict someone from designing a sign the way they
wanted to design it. She said in the historic district, if the County were to come in with an
application for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for a sign at the County complex and
library, they could propose the exact same sign as the Wayfinding signage but with their own
text on it. Ms. Trueblood said that had prompted the request for guidance from the Board in
regards to what they would accept in regards to County signs.
8:21:24 PM Mayor Stevens said it seemed to him that trademarking the signs was a given, and
that there should be some cooperative effort with the County regarding their signs. He said he
was not sure that could be accomplished tonight, but they certainly would have the best level of
control by trademarking the signs and then negotiating with the County.
Commissioner Lowen agreed he did not believe they could arrive at an answer tonight. He said
the County's new facilities would be opening very soon, so he was sure the Town would be
getting an application fairly soon. Ms. Trueblood said that was correct, noting the County's
architect had asked her for a copy of the Wayfinding plan weeks ago so that he could take the
geometry from the plan and submit their COA. She said she had asked the architect to wait until
staff could get direction from the Town Board as to whether or not it was acceptable for Orange
County to simply use the exact same signs.
Commissioner Lowen asked if the Task Force had discussed that, and what their feelings were
about the County using the same signs. He said if they used the same signs, would it have Town
of Hillsborough on it, and did using the same signs mean they would be exactly like the Town
signs including color.
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Commissioner Gering stated the Task Force had not discussed Orange County's specific plans,
but they were very concerned about controlling the entire signage system and was very
supportive of the trademarking idea. He said another issue related to the discussion was the
desire to continue the Task Force throughout the implementation, so questions that arose about
County coordination the Task Force could facilitate. Ms. Trueblood said she believed everyone
agreed that a coordinated County sign system would be advantageous for the Town, but how that
was done was the issue.
8:23:51 PM Commissioner Hallman asked if the design workshop had provided any advice on
that issue. Ms. Trueblood stated 110, that the issue had not come up until the end of the process
when the new library was nearing completion.
Mayor Stevens said he would suggest keeping the Task Force active, to absolutely trademark the
sign designs to ensure coordination, and then to work cooperatively with the County. He said at
face value, they should look at it from the perspective of tourists and citizens and what
destinations they were trying to find. Mayor Stevens said there was the library, the public
market house, Gold Park, and many others, and that would argue that those things should be
almost identical. He said there could be some small identifying mark added to the County signs
such as an emblem. Mayor Stevens said the more they simplified the process the more easily
tourists and citizens could find their destinations.
Commissioner Hallman said he was trying to understand where the conflicts were. He said if
someone was trying to find Social Services, they did not care whether it was the Town or the
County. Ms. Hauth said she was not thinking of it in terms of people getting to the wrong entity
they were searching for, although that was a possibility. She said she was thinking of the
numerous calls they received daily from people looking for destinations that were County
services, and agreed that the color or shape of the signs would not solve that. Ms. Hauth said
from a directional standpoint, it seemed to her that making the County use the same color and
shape would improve that rather than having them use the same shape but a different color.
8:26:28 PM Ms. Trueblood said they were really talking about destination signs only, because
the directional signage included County destinations. She said through the Wayfinding program
the Town would be assisting people to find County destinations, so they were really only talking
about the site signage that would or should not be used by the County.
Commissioner Dancy said she saw no problem allowing the County to use the same identical
sign as long as the text said "Orange County." Ms. Hauth said they would likely want to be clear
with the County that they were to use the Town's plan for their signs but only in the Town's
jurisdiction and nowhere else so that there was not a sudden cross pollination of the Town's
signs appearing in County offices elsewhere in the County. She said she believed that would be
a better outcome than allowing them to use a close approximation of the Town's signs.
8:27:50 PM Mr. Hornik said if they were going to trademark the signs, then they should likely
want the County signs to be exactly like the Town's signs, or that the County signs should not be
in any way similar to the Wayfinding signs. He said if they did not protect the trademark in that
way then they would be diluting the protection that the trademark provided. Mr. Hornik said if
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Page 16 of 28
the signs were trademarked, they would license the County to use exactly the same signs, and if
they did try to use something close to the Town's signs elsewhere, then the Town would call
them on it. Ms. Hauth said the County was looking for something that looked good and that the
Town would approve, and other than that she did not believe the County had any issues.
8:28:50 PM Mayor Stevens said he could see where the County would want something that
was consistent so that if someone was going to a County office anywhere in the County that the
signs would be similar. So, he said, that was an issue that needed to be discussed in more detail.
Mayor Stevens said he would agree that if the signs were trademarked that the County should
only use that signage in the Town and nowhere else.
Commissioner Lloyd said if they allowed the County to change the color, she believed that
would be confusing. Ms. Hauth said she believed it was the consensus of the Board to move
towards trademarking and licensing with the County to use the exact same sign in color and
layout but change the sign to read Orange County, and to use the sign only within the Town's
jurisdiction.
Mayor Stevens said it might be a separate task for the Task Force to find some sort of emblem or
marker that would designate that the signs were County signs or Town signs, but that was a
separate issue.
8:30:30 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Gering, seconded by Commissioner Lloyd, the
Board moved to approve the Wayfinding Sign Plan, that the sign design be trademarked, that
staff be directed to coordinate with the County to comply with the Town's signage plan, and that
the Wayfinding Signage Task Force remain active throughout the implementation of the
Wayfinding plan by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared passed.
Mr. Peterson said regarding funding, he believed it was possible to debt finance at least a portion
of the total cost. He said if they debt financed for 59 months or less they would not need to seek
LGC approval, so it would be relatively easy to get a loan. Mr. Peterson said if for example they
borrowed $150,000 and the Task Force prioritized what was most important, then they would
achieve a critical mass of the high priority signage now. He said they would still have the
opportunity to pursue grants, and if they moved quickly they could have their first debt service
payment in January that would be covered by funds already encumbered, and anything left over
could be encumbered and applied to future payments. Mr. Peterson said that would buy them
some time, and in making the annual debt service payments for what would amount to five years,
perhaps the Tourism Board would be willing to earmark some funding. He said it may be that
Powell Bill funds could be used for certain signage and that could be used for the debt service
payments as well. Mr. Peterson said in the meantime they could continue to search for other
sources to bolster the plan.
8:33:55 PM Mayor Stevens asked the Manager to put together a plan and bring that back to
the Board, noting that his suggestions sounded promising.
Ms. Trueblood said something she had forgotten to mention was that in talking with fabricators,
if you got all of the sign bases printed at the same time, it drastically reduced the cost. So, she
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said, they could actually reduce the cost of the plan by compressing the implementation
schedule. Ms. Hauth said that would mean that all of the sign faces would be printed at one time,
but they could be held until the poles were acquired for installation.
8:34:44 PM Mr. Peterson stated they would put together the different scenarios and he would
work with the Finance Director to identify funding, and would then report back to the Board.
C. Receive request and consider setting a public hearing date for a requested street
closing for an unopened right -of -way on the east side of Lawndale Avenue
8:35:15 PM Ms. Hauth said they had received a request from adjoining property owners to
close an unopened right -of -way off of Lawndale Avenue. She said the right -of -way separated
property owned by Alfreda Partridge and Orange County Head Start/Early Head Start. Ms.
Hauth said if the right -of -way was closed, then the property owners would determine among
themselves how the right -of -way would be divided or shared.
Ms. Hauth said based on the Town Board's calendar and the advertising requirements the first
date available for the public hearing would be at the Board's regular September 14 meeting, or it
could be at any time after that date. She indicated that the Planning Board would not be
reviewing this issue because they were not involved with right -of -way closings.
8:36:54 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Lloyd, seconded by Commissioner Dancy, the
Board moved to set a public hearing for September 14, 2009 for a requested street closing for an
unopened right -of -way on the east side of Lawndale Avenue by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was
declared passed.
D. Receive recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Board to establish a fee
schedule for reservation of park facilities
8:37:46 PM Ms. Hauth said that since the opening of Gold Park they had allowed the
reservation of the picnic shelter and the ball field with no fees charged. She said they had
experienced some weekends where both facilities were booked solidly, and had realized that
neighboring jurisdictions charged fees for the use of such facilities. Ms. Hauth said while it was
not a huge burden on staff to do the reservations, Public Works staff had to monitor the area for
trash pick -up and other maintenance. She said nearly half of the reservations being made were
from persons living outside the Town limits, so they had thought a fee of some sort was in order
because of the enjoyment others were receiving from use of the facilities but who did not pay
taxes that supported the park.
Ms. Hauth said the Parks and Recreation Board had put forward a recommendation for a fee
schedule to address that. She said the recommendation was for $20 for use of the large picnic
shelter for in -Town residents and $30 for non residents, and then an hourly rate for the ball fields
of $10 an hour for residents and $20 an hour for non residents. Ms. Hauth said examples of fees
charged by other jurisdictions was contained in the packet for comparison, and the Manager had
provided an email to the Board noting that since families inside the Town limits were making a
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contribution through their taxes, the Board might want to discuss the proposed fee schedule in
more detail.
8:40:22 PM Commissioner Lloyd she perceived that out -of- towners were enjoying the park
facilities and were spreading the word which was good, but believed that in -Town residents who
paid taxes should not have to pay nearly as much. Mr. Peterson said he looked at it in terms of
what it was costing the average resident to use Gold Park. He said if an average household
rented the picnic shelter once a year, then theoretically they were already paying for that through
their property taxes. Mr. Peterson said looking at the debt service and including the maintenance
costs, it worked out to about $47 dollars a year that each household was paying for Gold Park.
So, he said, if you put the proposed $20 fee on top of that then in -Town residents would be
paying close to $70 a year to use the park and to use the picnic shelter once, and out -of -town
residents would be paying only $30. Mr. Peterson said to him that would equate to in -Town
residents being penalized. He said it did seem that there should be a fee because of the costs to
finance and maintain the park, and $20 appeared nominal.
8:43:28 PM Mayor Stevens said they were really talking about when reservations were made,
so if the facilities were open and not reserved then anyone could use them without charge. Ms.
Hauth said that was correct, and they only accepted reservations of 3 hours or less. She said they
had chosen that time period because of the belief that if events were going to be longer than that,
then the Police Department should be involved and the reservations made through the Police
Department's Special Events process. Ms. Hauth said they were already receiving requests for
reservations for next year for such things as family reunions, some of which had already been
referred to the Police Department.
Mayor Stevens said at what point was a fee just not worth collecting. Ms. Hauth said first of all
the needed the person wanting to reserve the facilities to come into the office and sign the form.
She said a fee of $5.00 might not be worth the time. Mayor Stevens said there was a cost to
providing that reservation service, so $5.00 seemed reasonable. Ms. Hauth said they had a $5.00
minimum fee for that kind of service.
8:45:10 PM Commissioner Dancy said what would be the consequence of an out -of -Town
resident having an in -Town resident make the reservation for them. Ms. Hauth said that would
be very easy to do and they would not be able to control that. But, she said, it would be fairly
easy for them to contact the person who made the reservation if some issue were to arise. Ms.
Hauth said she believed that people did tend to be honest when making reservations.
Commissioner Lowen said that scenario could happen, but by and large the Town would still
realize some revenue to offset some of the costs. He said that for large events, more people
meant more trash and more use of the restrooms which required cleaning more often.
Commissioner Lowen agreed that most jurisdictions did charge a fee for facilities such as at the
park.
8:46:47 PM Commissioner Hallman said he liked the fact that they were collecting usage
information so that when the County came back and asked the Town to tax citizens a second
time for use of the County park, they could point to the Town's parks and show how many
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County residents were using Town parks. Ms. Hauth said the reservation forms were being
retained because of the useful data they provided.
Parks and Recreation Board Chair Bryant Warren said the Parks and Recreation Board had
discussed the issue of someone from out of Town having an in -Town resident make reservations,
but they saw no way to address that.
Ms. Hauth said they were looking for action tonight if the Board was so inclined, or some
direction on what sort of alternative proposal the Board might want to see. She said there was
not an ordinance provided for adoption since this was a part of the budget ordinance. Ms. Hauth
said the other issue was when the fee policy would become effective, and suggested that this
issue could be included on the agenda for the next workshop with the fee policy effective
October 1. She said otherwise, they would likely need to wait until January.
8:48:48 PM Commissioner Gering said he believed the fee schedule was appropriate, and
suggested enacting it and then looking at it again during the next budget cycle.
Commissioner Lloyd asked how many people usually attended birthday events when a
reservation was made. Ms. Hauth said what had been reported was between 20 and 45 people,
noting that the form clearly stated that if the reservation was for more than 3 hours or attendance
would be more than 50 people, then they had to go through a different process. She said people
may have more attendees, but that was not being shared on the form because they did not want to
go through the longer process. Ms. Hauth said that the Special Events process overseen by the
Police Department required a 3 -month notice.
Mr. Peterson said another option would be that if the Board wanted to adopt the fee schedule as
proposed, then it was really just amending the fee schedule. He said that would enable them to
make the fee schedule effective August 1 and begin collecting revenue earlier. Mr. Peterson said
as Commissioner Gering had suggested, they could then look at it again during the next budget
cycle.
8:51:07 PM Commissioner Hallman moved to approve the recommendation from the Parks
and Recreation Board to establish a fee for reservation of park facilities and to amend the Fee
Schedule to include those fees, to be effective as soon as possible.
Ms. Hauth said one issue was that they already had four or five reservations for a date in the
future, and the fee schedule did not exist at the time those reservations were made. She wanted
to be clear that those reservations would be exempt from that fee.
Commissioner Hallman amended his motion to include that the fee schedule would apply to all
future reservations from this point forward.
8:51:59 PM Commissioner Lowen second the motion, and the vote was 5 -0. The motion was
declared passed.
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Approved: September 14, 2009
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E. Receive recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Board to prohibit smoking
near playground facilities in Town parks
8:52:20 PM Ms. Hauth said the issue had been brought up to staff by citizens as well as by
staff observing behavior in Town parks as to whether the Board wanted to establish a tobacco
free zone in the vicinity of the playgrounds at different parks. She said the recommendation
from the Parks and Recreation Board was to establish a 50 -foot area around all playground
equipment that would be tobacco -free at Murray Street Park, Turnip Patch Park, Hillsborough
Heights Park, and Gold Park. Ms. Hauth said signage would be placed at those parks, and she
did not anticipate any active enforcement. She said it would be left to visitors to the park to
point out the tobacco -free signs to those who might be smoking in the vicinity covered by the
signs. Ms. Hauth said at present there were no smokers' outposts at any of the facilities, so that
would have to be addressed through operating funds for the parks.
8:53:28 PM Commissioner Lowen said he wondered why anyone would want to be near the
playground smoking or walking on the trails smoking, but he had observed that happening. He
said he would soon begin working at UNC, and that was a completely tobacco free campus.
Commissioner Lowen wondered why the parks should be a place for smokers, noting that the
parks encouraged good health so why provide areas for smokers.
Commissioner Lowen said his suggestion would be to make all the parks smoke -free zones,
noting that if people wanted to smoke they should not do so within the parks.
Commissioner Hallman agreed.
Mayor Stevens said he was hearing support from the Town Board for that proposal.
Ms. Hauth said they would need to identify the appropriate place for that to be inserted in the
Town Code, and then bring an ordinance back in September for the Board to consider. She
asked was the proposal to make the entire park properties tobacco free.
8:55:47 PM Commissioner Gering said he wondered if this issue should be placed on the
public hearing schedule so that the public could weigh in.
Commissioner Lowen said he believed the majority of the citizens would be in favor of it, noting
that many people used the park for recreational purposes. He said he did not believe there was a
need for a public hearing, although he believed it would be an interesting public hearing.
Commissioner Lloyd agreed that a public hearing was not necessary. Commissioner Dancy
agreed as well.
8:56:24 PM Mr. Peterson said he had visited Gold Park this weekend and noticed the number
of cigarette butts that had been thrown on the ground, so from an operational standpoint it would
mean less trash to pick up.
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Page 21 of 28
Ms. Hauth said if the entire park properties were made tobacco -free zones then signs would be
posted at the boundaries, and smokers' outposts would not be necessary. She asked if the Board
wanted that to apply to all park properties.
Mayor Stevens said he believed there was a consensus for that. Ms. Hauth noted that Orange
County had also adopted smoke -free policies for its campuses and were enforcing it themselves,
and the Town had endorsed that. She said she would bring back an ordinance for consideration
at the workshop.
F. Receive update on the status of the construction contract closeout at Gold Park
8:57:34 PM Ms. Hauth said there had been an improvement since the report provided at the
June workshop in terms of responsiveness from Mainline. She said it did appear that they were
about $30,000 over budget and there would likely be some additional expenses related to
opening the pedestrian access under the railroad trestle. Ms. Hauth said it appeared that
Mainline owed significantly more than that to their subcontractors, and more people were unpaid
than they would have liked to see.
Mayor Stevens asked if the issue with Mainline was a separate issue from the budget overrun.
Ms. Hauth replied they were separate issues. She said writing the checks directly to the
subcontractors appeared to be working out, but it meant that they had to pick the checks up.
Finance Director Greg Siler said the biggest hurdle had been Mainline's unresponsiveness,
noting they had been receiving information piecemeal. Ms. Hauth asked had it gotten any better
since their meeting. Mr. Siler said he had not received any additional checks since that time.
Ms. Hauth said regarding the pedestrian access under the railroad trestle, there was the operating
corridor for the railroad and the non operating corridor, and they had not realized they were too
separate things and two separate processes for getting the approval. She said they did not have
the approval to cross on the north side, so they had made a written request to allow the Town to
use either the existing dirt road and improve it, or to just walk across the property. Ms. Hauth
said because of the railroad's agreement with Norfolk Southern to operate in the corridor, they
were unwilling to allow the Town to improve the existing dirt road. But, she said, they were
willing to entertain the concept of allowing people to walk across the property without making
any improvements for a period of time. Ms. Hauth said then when the next phase began, they
would move the access closer to the property line.
Ms. Hauth said they would be preparing a letter for the Mayor's signature that stressed the safety
aspect, noting that they had a core of residents who were in easy walking distance from the park
but there was not an easy way for them to get there because of the railroad trestle. So, she said,
they would be asking to be allowed to trespass on the property for a period of time to provide
that easy access.
9:01:00 PM Mayor Stevens said he would be happy to sign the letter, noting he would like to
see that access opened as quickly as possible.
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Commissioner Lowen asked what condition the unimproved road was in. Ms. Hauth said most
any pick -up truck or SUV could drive it in most any kind of weather. She said a baby /child
stroller would likely be able to maneuver on it as well. Ms. Hauth said she believed that most
people would find it acceptable, noting that bicyclists would likely have no problems unless it
were very wet and slick.
Ms. Hauth said they would work towards getting that opened, and hoped to keep expenses at
about $20,000. She asked would the Board prefer that staff report back, since that was money
that was not budgeted, before the work was done underneath the trestle. Ms. Hauth suggested
that the Board could authorize a specific amount, and then they would come back if the cost was
more than that specified amount.
Mr. Peterson said they could bring back a budget amendment the end of July to authorize up to
$25,000 or some other amount.
9:03:35 PM Commissioner Hallman asked if they had any encumbered funds for Phase 2 that
could be used. Mr. Peterson said he was not aware of any.
Mayor Stevens said he believed it was important that they identify the funds to do the work so
they could get the access opened. He said it was an investment in the park, and believed the
funds could come from Contingency. Mr. Peterson said that would be an appropriate
Contingency allocation if the Board wanted to set a threshold. He said that would allow them to
proceed, and the Finance Director could prepare a budget amendment to come back to the Board.
Commissioner Lowen agreed that would be the way to proceed, noting the Board could give the
Manager authorization now so that the work could get underway.
Mayor Stevens suggested authorizing up to $20,000 at this point.
9:05:18 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Lowen, seconded by Commissioner Gering, the
Board moved to authorize the Manager to fund the additional work necessary to open the
pedestrian underpass at Gold Park not to exceed $20,000 by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was
declared passed.
Ms. Hauth said they had formally closed on the Faribault property and would go through the
quiet title action.
Mr. Homik said that everything had been signed, and it was now a matter of disbursing the funds
so that they could record the deeds. He said the next step was that there were three parcels on
which they would have to clear the title, noting they had potential heirs who may claim some
interest in those three parcels. Mr. Hornik said in order to have a comfort level with the titles
they would bring an action to clear the titles on those three parcels totaling less than an acre of
the 5.6 acres acquired. He said that process would likely take between 90 and 120 days, and in
the end they would have good, solid, insurable, marketable title to the entire tract.
July 13, 2009 Regular Meeting
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 23 of 28
9:07:13 PM Mayor Stevens said he was pleased to see the success they were experiencing
with the parks, noting they were being well used.
Mr. Siler asked would Mainline be doing that additional work. Ms. Hauth responded yes. Mr.
Siler said then these dollars would be additional dollars that could be held. He said he would
like to see an end to the work, and suggested that perhaps the Town should send Mainline a letter
giving them a deadline to pay off all subcontractors that the Town could not pay because they
did not have enough funds.
Mr. Hornik asked if the Town had an accurate list of those subcontractors. Mr. Siler said he
believed so, but they had received an unusual phone call from a subcontractor of a subcontractor,
and apparently "sub subs" had rights. He said if the contractor hired a sub, then that sub could
hire a sub, and that sub could work its way back to hold the Town accountable. So, he said, that
sub of a sub was owed $10,000 and of course was not on the contractor's list of subs.
9:08:50 PM Mr. Peterson asked could they get someone else to do the work. Ms. Hauth said
they could, but the contract was being held open.
Commissioner Gering asked had they discussed a performance bond. Mr. Hornik said they had a
performance bond, and at the last meeting with Mainline they had asked for that list of
subcontractors and how much was owed. He said they could begin calling on the bond whenever
they wanted to, noting that two weeks ago the Board had directed them to settle the matter as
quickly as possible.
Mayor Stevens agreed that perhaps they needed to look for another contractor to do the
remainder of the work in order to move forward.
G. Consider Approval of an Ordinance to Amend Chapter 6 Motor Vehicles and
Traffic Section 6A -5 and 6A -12 to establish stop signs and reduce speed limits on
Alma, Boundary, Central, and Freeman
This item was discussed earlier in the meeting.
H. Consider Resolution supporting entering a Municipal Agreement with NCDOT on
the Nash Street Sidewalk Project
9:10:14 PM Ms. Ard said the agreement was fairly straightforward and would provide their
MPO with a resolution that stated the Town's support of entering into the agreement with
NCDOT. She said she had talked with Summit Engineering, their consultants, they were quickly
working with utilities, mainly Duke Energy, who was researching the encroachment agreements
and preparing plans. She said that Summit had already met with representatives from the State
to get feedback on erosion control plans to speed up that process, and had confirmed with the
County that there were no streams in the area that might cause problems for the Town. Ms. Ard
said they were working on providing the Town with some exhibits so that they could begin
working on the temporary construction. She said there were some areas where they would need
July 13, 2009 Regular Meeting
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 24 of 28
permanent easements and they would be working through that with the affected residents and
NCDOT.
9:12:03 PM Mr. Hornik said his only concern with the agreement was paragraph 5 regarding
timeframes. He asked if they had a comfort level with Summit that what was noted was doable.
Ms. Ard said they had discussed with NCDOT that they were already working from a timeline of
October 1 in terms of getting everything ready for a natural contractor, but the September 1
deadline was the one they had to meet in terms of getting the material to NCDOT. She said they
were ahead because they had a design underway, and they had discussed with NCDOT the
wording in terms of phasing in different activities with the utilities in the event that any of that
utility work brought up other issues and other work that might be performed by the contractor.
Commissioner Hallman said he recalled that there were funds available that could be used for
pedestrian safety during sidewalk construction or renovation. Ms. Ard said she could check on
that.
9:14:33 PM Commissioner Gering asked if she was sure that they were comfortable with all
the provisions outlined in the agreement. He said it seemed that NCDOT would be a much
tighter partner on that project, such as change orders having to go through NCDOT's process.
Ms. Ard said it actually was a step beyond NCDOT, because they were responding to the federal
FHWA standards. She said NCDOT was on even tighter timeframes, because if the Town did
not comply they had other communities waiting for that funding, or they could use the funding
themselves. Ms. Ard said the NCDOT had said they would support the Town every step of the
way, adding that all the communities receiving funding had to go through the same process.
Commissioner Gering said if they did not meet the deadlines then they would loose the funding
and be left with the entire expense. Ms. Ard said that was correct, and in talking with NCDOT
staff and Summit they were working on making sure they met the September and October
deadlines, and the Manager had instructed staff to do whatever was necessary to make sure those
deadlines were met. She said they were moving forward knowing they had already expended
funds for design work.
9:16:53 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Gering, seconded by Commissioner Hallman,
the Board moved to approve the resolution supporting entering into a Municipal Agreement with
NCDOT on the Nash Street Sidewalk Project by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared passed.
Added Items: A resolution to oppose the referendum position in the proposed House BM
524 related to the compromise bill to make adjustments to the annexation legislation, and a
resolution to oppose the State's proposal to abolish the privilege license tax, unless there
was a replacement revenue source included.
9:17:20 PM Mr. Peterson said the first issue on annexation would be to approve a resolution
that would be sent to their legislative delegation stating they were opposed to the referendum
provisions. He said the second issue was a resolution regarding privilege license tax. Mr.
Peterson said that the NCLM had sent out an email earlier today that they were doing a counter
July 13, 2009 Regular Meeting
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 25 of 28
compromise to try to save the privilege license tax, but it did not affect the resolution already
drafted and provided to the Board.
Commissioner Lowen asked how it benefited the State to abolish the privilege license tax. Mr.
Peterson said he had asked himself that same question and he had no answer.
Ms. Ard commented she believed it had been precipitated by a Senator who was concerned that
there might be businesses that conducted business in different jurisdictions with different
standards.
9:18:03 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Lloyd, the
Board moved to approve the resolution on annexation and the resolution on privilege license tax
by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared passed.
I. Discuss possible "Hot Topics" for the July 27, 2009 Workshop
9:19:43 PM Commissioner Hallman stated that the July 27 meeting would be the Board's last
meeting until September, and encouraged the Manager to put everything possible on that agenda
so that they were not "slammed" at the first meeting in September.
Commissioner Lowen said Habitat for Humanity every year sent an intern to work with the
Fairview community as well as residents of Terrell Road and others.
9. CLOSED SESSION
9:21:58 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.
A. Closed Session as authorized by North Carolina General Statute Section 143 318.11
(6) regarding Personnel Matters (2)
B. Added Item Update on Blue Bayou
10. ADJOURN
Upon returning to Open Session and upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by
Commissioner Gering, the Board moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:45 p.m. by a vote of 5 -0.
The motion was declared passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna F. Armbrister, MMC
Town Clerk
The governing body for the Town of Hillsborough, North Carolina, ha a regular
m eeting at the 1211A2mIghictaatl the regular place of meeting, on July 27, 2009, at 7:00
AJ..c
:if "l'AL
i-L-LL 4 __Wit 1 1
P I lit ts,: NALP,1_,
IitallathAant0M
Absent Mayor Tom Stevens
Cl
Present
Also Presort
RESOLUTION
July 13, 2009 Regular Meeting
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 26 of 28
IgEn"ItIstI00. introduced the following resolution which was read:
RESOLUTION Airrnmumc THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF
AN INSTALLMENT FINANCING AGREEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF
hP TO 81,073,000 AND A DEED OF TRUST WITH BANK OF AMERICA,
N.A. TO FINANCE THE ACQUISITION OF 3.36 ACRES, MORE OR
LESS, OF REAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 890 HIGHWAY 86 NORTH,
HILLSBOROUGH, N C A BUILDING LOCATED THEREON AND THE
'TM OF SUCK BUILDING TO BE USED AS THE TOWN'S FLEET
MAINTENANCE FACILITY, AUTEILORIMG THE EXECUTION AND
DELIVERY OF RELATED INSTRUMENTS, AND DETERIONI'NG
OTHER. MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWIIII
BE IT RESOLVED by the governing body for the Town of Ifillsborongh, North Carolina
(the "Town"):
Sectioril. The governing body of the Town does hereby find and determine:
a) The Town proposes the acquisition of 3.36 acres, more or less, of real property
located at 890 Highway 86 North, Ifillsbateugh, Ka; a building located thereon
and the upfit of such building to be used as the Town's fleet maintenance WIRY;
as more fully described in the hereinafter mentioned Agreement (the "Project");
b After consideration, the governing body of the Town has detennined that the most
advantageous manner of financing the Project is by an installment financing
agreement pursuant to Sectio' n 160A-20 of the North Carolina General Statutes, as
amended, to be secured by a deed of trust or other security bismunent that creates
a security interest in the property financed to secure repayment thereof'',
c) Pursuant to Section 160A-20, the Town is authorized to finance the acquisition
and improvement of the Project, by entering into an installment financing
Code
July 13, 2009 Regular Meeting
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 27 of 28
aveement and a deed of trust that creates a security interest in the property
financed to secure repayment of the financing;
d) As required by Section 160A -20, on June 22, 2009, the Town held a public
hearing with respect to the financing of the Project through the Agreement, after
notice of such hearing was published at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing;
and
Bank of America, N.A. "Bank of America") has offered to enter into an
Installment Financing Agreement with the Town to finance the Project, pursuant
to which Bank of America will lend the Town the amount of up to 81,073,000
(the "Agreement"), to be secured by a deed of trust with respect to the Project
from the Town to a deed of trust trustee named therein for the benefit of Bank of
Arica (the "Deed of Trust").
Section 2. The governing body hereby authorizes and directs the Town Manager and the
Finance Officer to execute, acknowledge and deliver the Agreement and the Deed of Trust on
behalf of the Town in the substantially the form presented to this meeting, with such changes and
modifications as the person molting and delivering such instruments on behalf of the Town
shall find acceptable. The Clerk is hereby authorized to affix the official seal of the Town of
Hillsborough to the Agreement and the Deed of Trust and attest the same.
Section 3. The proper officers of the Town are authorized and directed to execute an
deliver any and all papers, instruments, opinions, certificates, affidavits and other documents and
to do or cause to be done any and all other acts and things necessary or proper for carrying out
this Resolution and the Agreement and the Deed of Tirost.
Section 4. Notwithstanding any provision of the Agreement or the Deed of Trust, no
deficiency judg cut may be rendered against the Town in any action for breach of a contractual
obligation under the Agreement and the taxing power ofthe Town is not and may not be pledged
directly ar indirectly w any n e y s due undcx the security provided under
the aril the Deed of Trust:beimo n the sole security fair the t loan
Section S. The Town covenants that, to the extent permitted by the Constitution and laws
of the State Noah it will comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code") as required so that interest on the Town's obligations
under the Agreement will not be included in the gross income ofthe holder ofthe Agreement.
Section 6. The Town hereby represents that it reasonably expects that it, all subordinate
entities thereof and all entities issuing obligations on behalf of the Town will issue in the
aggregate less than $30,000,000 of tax- exempt obligations, inehul ng the Agreement not
counting prn'a vity bonds except for qualified 501(c 3) bonds as defined in'the Code)
during calendar year 2009. In addition, the Town hereby designates the Agreement and its
obligations under the Agreement as a "qualified tax exempt obligation" for the purposes of the
Section 7. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its passage.
Upon motion of QmgelegisFez, seconded by Co
members of the governing body, the foregoing resolution entitled "RESOLUTION
July 13, 2009 Regular Meeting
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 28 of 28
AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION AND DELIVIVRY OF AN INSTALLMENT
PINANC1NG AGREEMEST IN THE AMOUNT OF UP TO 51,073,080 AND A DEED OF
TRUST WITH OR LESS, �y AMERICA, N.A. TO TILE E A AT UISITION OF 3.36
ACRES, MORE OR E S, F y n P ROPER L Y A:L HIGHWAY 86
NORTH, ROUGH, N.C., A �yv IJJIILDJN.gGLOCA�TED. THEREON pD THE
OF SUCH BUILDING TO BE USED AS HE TOW N% FLEET TEN (Z
VACUITY, AUTHORIZING G THEE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF RELATED
INSTRUMENTS, AND DETERMINING cersixt MATTERS IN CONNECTION
WITH" was passed by the following vote:
Ayes: Cman onere Evelyn Lloyd. Brian Lowen, cHal Peaces Danav
Nays: 0
PASSED AND ADOPTED this day ofluly, 2009.
I, Donna F. Armbxister Clerk for the Town of lallsborough, North Carolina DO
IIEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing has been carefully copied from the actual recorded
minutes of the governing body of the Town ®f Hillsborough, North Carolina at a regular meeting
held on July 27, 2009, the record having been made in the minutes of such governing body, and
is a true copy of so much of such minutes as relates in any way to the passage of a resolution
providing for the authoriizationoofthe Installment Financing stating therein.
I DO HEREBY FURTHER CERTIF Y theta s le, ng that. the regular o^
the Board of Commissioner of the Toni of Hillsborough are held on the second Monday of earl
Month at 7 and the moutbly workshops of the Board of Co' oft the Town
of Hillsborough are held on the fount Mo1dv of each month at amfp reactively, at
Ells or gt, North Carolina, was on file with me for at least seven calendar days ptiar to said
Illeetitir all in accordance with OS. 143-318.12.
WITNESS my hand and corporate seal ofd Town of Hillsborough, North Cartrlirra,
this 2ith Clay of July, 2009.
are °,EEO <.;�sc`:e:.:�
e: um
F. }AMC
Clerk,, Town offli'll tough, NordiCatu i