Town Manager Jamie Justice

Manager's Report: November 8, 2016

All supporting documents for the November 8 board of commissioners’ meetings are available here: http://davidson.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/

If you are interested in watching a video of the meeting, please view it here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/davidson-town-board-meetings.

We live stream our board meetings and work sessions and encourage you to tune in to this link on meeting days if you are unable to attend in person. After each meeting, a video is saved to this link so you can watch when convenient to keep abreast of projects and issues.

A summary of the November 8 work session (4:00 p.m.):

These meetings were held in the Davidson United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall because the board room was a polling location.

The CSD 8^th grade practicum group called “Community Builders” presented a set of corn hole boards they built for the Town of Davidson. Their group name has a double meaning – they learn to build and they also want to build ties with the community and among members of our community. They gave the boards to the town on Tuesday, for us to put out at town events to encourage community building.

Residential Soil Sampling Zone

I provided an update on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) work around the Metrolina Warehouse site. Our goal is to share information and encourage all involved parties to share information, so that all citizens, especially those that live close to the site, are well informed.

How did we get to this point? In September, the developer for the Metrolina Warehouse site held a meeting with citizens that live adjacent to the site to discuss their plans for the proposed Davidson Depot project.

At that meeting, the developer and a representative from the NC Department of Environmental Quality’s Brownfields Program discussed the plans for environmental remediation of the underground asbestos material at the site.

Many specific and detailed questions were asked about the remediation and construction processes. At that time, the developer was not far along enough in the planning process to be able to fully answer questions from citizens -- they are working on that plan to share with citizens at a future meeting.

Also in that September meeting, concerns were raised by citizens about the impacts adjacent to the site, so the state requested the Environmental Protection Agency’s review of the area in Davidson.

On November 1, the representative from the state’s Brownfields Program and Ken Rhame of the EPA came to Davidson to conduct a site survey and to make plans to contact adjacent residents.

When they were here, they discovered some asbestos-containing material along Eden and Sloan streets that was released from the site. The release was the result of a varmint digging in to the embankment and a localized area where erosion had occurred. The property owner was contacted and immediately hired a certified contractor to remove the material and remediate.

At the meeting, Ken Rhame explained that the EPA is visiting properties in a ring around the Metrolina Warehouse site property to see if residents/property owners would agree to free soil testing. If asbestos is found on their site, the EPA will fund remediation, making the property safe. Ken will be in town for the next two weeks, and we encourage the citizens he contacts to utilize the EPA’s free offer to test soil. For more information, please contact Ken Rhame at 919-475-7397 or rhame.kenneth@epa.gov.

I see this as a positive -- concerns raised by citizens are being addressed by the appropriate agency and factual information will be provided. We appreciate the work of the EPA – they have been an excellent community partner.

Jason Burdette

Planning Director Jason Burdette shared that the planning department is working on a number of text changes to the Davidson Planning Ordinance to implement the recently adopted Rural Area Plan. Staff will bring these text changes to the commissioners at the next few meetings for discussion before the formal adoption protocol begins. This week he discussed:
- Neighborhood Services Overlay at East Rocky River/Shearer
- Neighborhood Edge Building Types, Lot Sizes
- Rural Planning Area: Required Improvements/Sewer
- Agricultural Land Preservation: Open Space Credit, and
- Rural Planning Area: Scenic Byway Overlay Requirements

For more information on the Rural Area Plan, please visit www.townofdavidson.org/RuralAreaPlan.

Planning Director Jason Burdette gave an update on the Davidson Mobility Plan. We will apply for grant funding to cover approximately 80% of the plan’s cost. If awarded, the work should begin soon after July 1, 2017.

A summary of the November 8 regular meeting (6:00 p.m.):

• A member of the Davidson College Women’s Leadership Conference Planning Committee announced that their conference is Saturday, February 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Davidson College. All women are invited to register.

• All items on the consent agenda were approved. They were:

Minutes from past meetings
Ordinances to request the closure of Main Street for Christmas in Davidson (December 1-3 in the evenings) and the North Mecklenburg Christmas Parade (December 3 from noon until approx.3:30 p.m.)
Three budget amendments

• The Davidson Board of Commissioners approved the following citizens for advisory board positions:

Design Review Board:
Bruce Barteldt – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (reappointment)
Tom Goodwin – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (reappointment)
Stewart Grey – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (reappointment, ETJ)
Brian Bumann -- Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (ETJ)
Robert Sipp – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019

Planning Board:
Bob Miller – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (reappointment)
Mike Minett – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (reappointment)
Shawn Copeland – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019
Lindsey Williams – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019
Matt Dellinger -- Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019
Ellen Donaldson – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2018 (filling a mid-term vacancy)

Livability Board:
Steedman Lyles -- Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (reappointment)
Martin Metzker – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (reappointment)
Jairo Cadena – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (reappointment)
Nicole Storey – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017 (filling a mid-term vacancy) George Berger – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2018 (filling a mid-term vacancy)

Public Art Commission:
Lia Newman – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (reappointment)
Susan Montague – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 (reappointment)
Jason Idilibi – Term: January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019

We appreciate their willingness to serve our town.

Jeff Michael, Laura Simmons, and Bill McCoy of the UNC-Charlotte Urban Institute presented some data from the housing needs assessment they are conducting for the Town of Davison Affordable Housing Manager Cindy Reid and the UNC team are on schedule to provide the final housing needs assessment to the board of commissioners in January 2017. A citizen input session will be scheduled for February or March.

Announcements:

Please join us tomorrow for our Veterans Day program at 11:00 a.m. on the front steps of Davidson Town Hall.

The Davidson Fire and Police Departments ask that you check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Please also visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website (www.NHTSA.gov) to enter your vehicle identification number (VIN) for any recalls on your vehicle.

The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) seeks feedback from the public as part of the CRTPO Public Involvement Plan update process. They are conducting a public survey between November 7^th – November 14^th regarding public engagement strategies. Here’s the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CRTPOSurvey. Your participation in this short survey will help improve CRTPO’s public engagement strategies.

Davidson Coffee Chat is on Monday, November 21 from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. at The Egg at Davidson.

There is no board of commissioners meeting on November 22. The next meeting will be December 13.

2016 recipient Garfield Carr

We are hosting the Jack Burney Community Service Award ceremony on Wednesday, November 23 at 10:00 a.m. in the Davidson Town Hall board room to honor 2016 recipient Garfield Carr. Please join us.

Davidson Town Hall and offices will close for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and Friday, November 24 and 25. Garbage and recycling will not be collected on Thursday, so put out your carts that Friday to be emptied, if Thursday is your typical collection day. The rest of the week is unaffected.

Christmas in Davidson is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, December 1-3 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The North Mecklenburg Christmas Parade is Saturday, December 3 at 1:00 p.m. Please join the festivities. Please note that Main Street will be closed during those hours and detours will be provided.

Registration for our eight-week Civics 101 course is now open. More information is available at www.townofdavidson.org/Civics101. If you’ve already taken Civics 101, we’re offering a “reunion course” to get an update on current town projects and issues on March 7. Please register for both at www.townofdavidson.org/Civics101.