Page 138 Page 138 GASTONIA CITY COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 1, :00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY HALL GASTONIA, NC

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1 Page 138 Page 138 GASTONIA CITY COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 1, :00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY HALL GASTONIA, NC Mayor Bridgeman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, in the City Council Chamber at City Hall, Gastonia, North Carolina. He noted that City Attorney L. Ashley Smith s mother had recently passed away and asked that everyone remember that family in their prayers. Mayor Pro Tem Craig then opened the meeting with prayer and Mayor Bridgeman led the audience in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Ms. Virginia L. Creighton, City Clerk, recorded the minutes. PRESENT: ABSENT: Mayor John D. Bridgeman Mayor Pro Tem Brenda B. Craig Council Members: Walter A. Kimble James Gallagher Todd Pierceall Porter L. McAteer City Manager Edward C. Munn Assistant City Attorney Melissa Magee Councilman David R. Kirlin City Attorney L. Ashley Smith EXCUSE COUNCILMAN KIRLIN / ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA Councilman Pierceall made a motion to excuse Councilman Kirlin from tonight s meeting. Councilman Kimble Councilman McAteer made a motion to adopt the agenda as printed. Councilman Pierceall APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 4, 2014 Councilman McAteer made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 4, 2014, Regular Council meeting, as printed. Councilman Pierceall seconded the motion and Council approved it unanimously. AWARDS, CEREMONIES, AND PROMOTIONS COMMITTEE (1) Proclamation National Crime Victims Rights Week April 6-12, 2014 Mayor Bridgeman recognized Councilman Gallagher, Chairman of the Awards, Ceremonies, and Promotions Committee, for the purpose of making the presentation. Councilman Gallagher read the National Crime Victims Rights Week Proclamation, and presented it to Gastonia Police Detective Nanette Galmon and Ms. Cathy Cloninger, The Shelter of Gaston County Director. Detective Galmon and Ms. Cloninger expressed appreciation for this proclamation and stressed the importance of crime victims rights. Councilman Pierceall made a motion to adopt the National Crime Victims Rights Week Proclamation. Councilman McAteer (Proclamation as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 37.) CONSENT AGENDA ITEM 1: ORDINANCE TO DEMOLISH 507 SOUTH OAKLAND STREET HEIRS OF NELLIE PRICE (Reference and Ordinance as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 38.) -138-

2 Page 139 Page 139 ITEM 2: ITEM 3: ITEM 4: ITEM 5: TRAFFIC ORDINANCE SPEED LIMIT ON FLOYD LANE (Reference and Ordinance as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 39.) RESOLUTION DECLARING COST AND ORDERING PREPARATION OF PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT ROLL AND SETTING TIME AND PLACE FOR PUBLIC HEARING ON PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT ROLL FOR WATER LINE EXTENSION FOR WOODHURST COURT INSIDE CORPORATE LIMITS (Reference and Resolution as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 40.) INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF GASTONIA AND GASTON COUNTY FOR COLLECTION OF TAXES (Reference as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 41. Agreement on file through City Clerk s office.) SUPPLEMENTAL INTERLOCAL FUNDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF GASTONIA AND THE CITY OF CHARLOTTE FOR METROLINA REGIONAL TRAVEL DEMAND MODEL MAINTENANCE AND DEVELOPMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014 IN THE AMOUNT OF $10, (Reference as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 42. Agreement on file through City Clerk s office.) ITEM 6: BUDGET AMENDMENT #FY $17,248 (Reference as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 43.) Mr. Edward C. Munn, City Manager, addressed questions regarding the Interlocal Agreement Between the City of Gastonia and Gaston County for Collection of Taxes. Councilman Pierceall made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Councilman Gallagher PUBLIC HEARING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT FOR PROJECT MATTHIAS Mayor Bridgeman declared the public hearing to be open and recognized Ms. Kristy Crisp, Business Services Manager, for the purpose of making the presentation. Ms. Crisp advised that a new industry would be moving into the Gastonia Technology Park. She said Project Matthias is a small family-owned German company that makes carbide cutting tools. They plan to locate at the corner of Repi Court and Gastonia Technology Parkway on approximately three acres. There will be an initial investment of about $2,000,000 and they will start out with four employees, with the possibility of adding more in the future. The City has proposed its standard incentive package for Project Matthias, which is the Economic Development Tax Incentive Grant and the waiving of System Expansion Fees. That has been standard with other companies in the Gastonia Technology Park. Ms. Crisp and Ms. Melissa Magee, Assistant City Attorney, addressed various questions of Council. Mayor Bridgeman noted that no one had signed up to speak to this matter. Councilman McAteer made a motion to close the public hearing and to approve the Resolution Authorizing an Economic Development Agreement Pursuant to G.S (Project Matthias). Councilman Pierceall (Reference and Resolution as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 44. Agreement on file through City Clerk s office.) -139-

3 Page 140 Page 140 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CONDEMNATION PROCEEDINGS TITMAN ROAD GO BOND WIDENING Mayor Bridgeman recognized Mr. Rusty Bost, Director of Engineering, for the purpose of making the presentation. Mr. Bost explained that the Titman Road GO Bond project will widen Titman Road from its current configuration of two lanes with side ditches to three lanes, adding a center turn lane, curb and gutter, sidewalks, and planting strips. The project limits are from New Hope Road to Lowell Bethesda Road. He said construction plans are being finalized and right of way acquisition is the next step in that project. Of the 57 parcels where additional rights of way or easements are required for the project, all but a few have been negotiated and secured. There are just 6 property owners that account for 8 properties that have not yet been resolved. If Council approves this Resolution Authorizing Condemnation tonight, that does not mean that staff will stop working with these property owners. The majority of them are big entities or heirs of, where it is really a matter of getting all the paperwork in the right hands. Staff feels confident that they will be able to get signatures on 5 of these properties. The Robert and Lavern Blackmon property is the one with which they are having the most difficult time. Staff continues to engage with the Blackmons to try to get a handle on what their issues are and attempt to resolve those issues. Staff recommends approval of the Resolution. Mr. Bost then addressed various questions of Council. Mayor Pro Tem Craig made a motion to approve the Resolution Authorizing Condemnation Proceedings on the Titman Road GO Bond Widening. Councilman Kimble seconded the motion and Council approved it unanimously. (Reference and Resolution as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 45.) UTILITIES COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT Mayor Bridgeman recognized Councilman McAteer, Chairman of the Utilities Committee, for the purpose of making the presentation. Councilman McAteer yielded to Mr. Edward C. Munn, City Manager. Mr. Munn noted that the Utilities Committee met on March 24, 2014, and discussed the following: 1) Discussion of Water and Sewer System Expansion Fees (SEF) Policy The Committee voted 3-0 to table this item until the next Utilities Committee meeting in order for staff to provide further information on the financial impacts for additional scenarios, such as: (1) if the City s SEF was reduced to 20% with an increase in 2016 to 75% and an increase in 2017 to %, and the fees would be grandfathered for 5 years; (2) same SEF percentages as above, but with a 2½-year grandfathered period. He briefly reviewed the background information on the SEF, which is included in the memorandum contained in the exhibit book. (Reference as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 46.) 2) E-Waste Update An update was provided to the Committee regarding the potential of adding a component to the City s solid waste recycling services, which would be to collect electronics. Staff has applied for a grant to procure funds to build a building dedicated to the palletizing of this waste. They are setting up a system where the City would contract with an entity to deal with its e-waste. 3) Water Treatment Plant Update An update was provided to the Committee regarding the rehabilitation of Gastonia s Water Treatment Plant. Staff and its consultant are currently working on the design and permitting phase of that project. They are looking at and have interviewed firms for the Construction Manager at Risk. 4) Update on Sanitary Sewer to the Town of Stanley Stanley and Gastonia are working together on a project to construct a sanitary sewer interconnection via an extension of the recently completed High Shoals sewer line. This project is currently in the design and permitting phase, with right-of-way acquisition nearing completion

4 Page 141 Page 141 5) Update on Electric Substation A new electric substation is proposed to serve the northern portion of the City. The design and engineering is progressing. Staff is working with Gaston County and ElectriCities on procuring a 2- to 3-acre site behind the existing backup generators at the Gastonia Technology Park, as well as acquiring electrical easements to get the 100KV electrical main feed to the new substation. Councilman Pierceall made a motion to accept the Utilities Committee report as a matter of information. Councilman Kimble (Committee report as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 47.) AMENDMENT TO 2014 ADVOCACY AGENDA Mayor Bridgeman recognized Mr. Edward C. Munn, City Manager, for the purpose of making the presentation. Mr. Munn said two items have been added to the 2014 Advocacy Agenda that was adopted at the last City Council meeting. One deals with the tightening of rules governing the operation of mopeds and the other deals with amending the Personnel Privacy Act, which was provided by the City Attorney s Office. The personnel issue came about to address the North Carolina Supreme Court decision in Wind v. City of Gastonia. He also provided a UNC School of Government blog entitled Driving Mopeds on North Carolina Streets. Ms. Melissa Magee, Assistant City Attorney, addressed questions regarding the personnel issue. Councilman Kimble said he thinks he needs to recuse himself from this vote. He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, which he believes was involved in the subject litigation. Councilman McAteer made a motion to excuse Councilman Kimble from this vote. Councilman Pierceall Councilman Pierceall made a motion to approve the revised 2014 Advocacy Agenda. Councilman Gallagher Mr. Munn noted that Council could amend this Advocacy Agenda at any time. (Reference as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 48.) CITY ATTORNEY S REPORT Ms. Melissa Magee, Assistant City Attorney, said the City has a fairly small Code Enforcement lawsuit pending. It is against a structure that is in violation of the Minimum Housing Code. There are many different heirs to this property. Halfway through the lawsuit they determined that one of the heirs is a minor and one has been declared incompetent. When you find that out you have to have a Guardian ad Litem appointed. None of the other heirs have answered so they will be able to get a default judgment against them. If they end up demolishing the house, they can get a lien on the property that was demolished and technically a lien against any other real property owned by the defendants. The Guardian ad Litem has no problem with the City getting the lien against the property that may be demolished, but they ask that the City agree to release the lien that they would otherwise get against any other properties that these two particular defendants own. The Guardian ad Litem has assured her that they do not currently own any property and are likely to never own any property because of their condition. Councilman Pierceall made a motion to approve the settlement of the action with regard to the two defendants represented by the Guardian ad Litem as set forth above. Councilman Kimble CITY MANAGER S REPORT Mr. Edward C. Munn, City Manager, reported the following: -141-

5 Page 142 Page 142 Last week, he and members of the Community Foundation and ArtSpace went to Raleigh to meet with the Director of the State Housing Finance Agency to talk about funding for the ArtSpace project. He highlighted some of the discussion that took place and noted that the State was very supportive and interested in the project, but also explained how competitive everything is. There are 3 to 4 times as many projects that qualify with very good ratings that are not funded than those that are funded. He said they are soon going to have to get back into the site selection process. On April 7, he, Matt Bernhardt, Ed Cross, and Philip Bombardier have been invited to visit the Riverbend facility to look at the coal ash ponds with Duke Energy representatives. Duke wants to explain what they are doing to safeguard that particular location. Council will be given a full report on that visit. He distributed and reviewed a copy of an that he received from Mr. Hank Graham, Principal Transportation Planner, regarding NCDOT s release of initial Strategic Transportation Investment (STI) data and maps. A copy of that is contained in the exhibit book. He said he would send that complete report to Council. Councilman Kimble reported on the last Gaston-Cleveland-Lincoln Metropolitan Planning Organization (GCLMPO) meeting. He said Representative Bumgardner attended that meeting and advised that the widening of the I-85 North off-ramp to Cox Road would be a contained upgrade within the I-85 widening project. Also, there was a brief filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center just before the last hour of the cutoff, so no one at the GCLMPO had an opportunity to read all the documents. They will be reading those to see what, if any, impact that would have on the plan and what appropriate comments could be made. There was also a presentation on the metering of onramps with a traffic signal, which is used in a lot of cities. There is funding for a study on that in the Charlotte area. They are going to look at around 20 ramps. A lot of the success of those metered onramps depend on the length of the acceleration lane. (Reference as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 49.) He noted that two budget work sessions during the month of May would need to be scheduled. After considerable discussion, Councilman Kimble made a motion to hold a budget work session in the Council Conference Room on May 14, 2014, at 5:30 p.m. Mayor Pro Tem Craig Councilman McAteer made a motion to hold the second budget work session in the Council Conference Room on May 21, 2014, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Mayor Pro Tem Craig seconded the motion and Council approved it by vote of 5-1 (Councilman Gallagher cast the dissenting vote). Councilman Pierceall and Councilman Gallagher indicated that they would not be able to attend one of the two budget work sessions, but may be able to phone in to participate in the meeting. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Mayor Pro Tem Craig She wished Councilman Pierceall a happy birthday on April 6. Councilman Pierceall He asked that Council be provided a report on the progress of the Neighborhood Enhancement Team (NET) Project for the Scruggs Street area. He advised that the Gaston Association of Realtors would be holding a Housing Expo this Saturday at the Gastonia Conference Center, and invited everyone to attend. Councilman Gallagher He requested in-kind services for high school theater productions to be held at the Rotary Pavilion on May 10, May 16, and May 23. He distributed a handout outlining the costs that would be involved, noting that the only cost to the City would be approximately $4,000 for the in-kind services. He briefly reviewed the productions that would take place

6 Page 143 Page 143 Councilman Gallagher and Ms. Rachel Bagley, Managing Executive for Marketing & Revitalization Initiatives, addressed various questions. After considerable discussion, Councilman Gallagher made a motion to approve the in-kind services for the theater productions. The motion died for lack of a second. Mayor Pro Tem Craig made a motion to request that the Facilities/Management Committee discuss guidelines for in-kind service requests by Council Members. Councilman McAteer (Reference as contained in Exhibit Book 5 to Minute Book 103 at Page 50.) Councilman Kimble He wished his wife a happy 23 rd anniversary. He said he and Mayor Pro Tem Craig attended the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) meeting. He asked Gastonia Police Chief Stacy Conley to report on that. Chief Conley said last week they had outside assessors come in as part of the CALEA process. Everything went very well. There were some policy issues that needed to be addressed, but nothing that they were not able to handle while the assessors were here. They had a good interview at the end and will be recommended for accreditation. They will just have to go before the Commission in July. Councilman Kimble advised that the Cancer Services Faces of Hope event would be held this Friday at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. Mayor Bridgeman He said last night he attended the Mayor/Manager s meeting in Belmont. It was very productive. Mr. Doug Luckett, CEO of CaroMont Regional Medical Center, was the guest speaker. On Saturday morning, he welcomed the participants of the annual Senior Games. He noted that due to the weather, that event had to be moved from Sims Legion Park to the Bradley Center. MEETING ADJOURNED At 7:25 p.m., Councilman Kimble made a motion to adjourn. Mayor Pro Tem Craig seconded the motion and Council approved it unanimously. Mayor John D. Bridgeman Melissa Magee, Assistant City Attorney Virginia L. Creighton, City Clerk rc