Newsletter about the City Council meeting of November 18, 2008

This newsletter is about the Hickory City Council meeting that I attended this past week. City council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each Month in the Council Chambers of the Julian Whitener building.

At the bottom right of this page under main information links is a Hickory's Local Government link. If you click on that link, it takes you to our city’s website, at the bottom of the page you will see the future dates for meetings scheduled for this year.

At the top of the page, if you click on the “Documents” link, you will find historic Agenda and Minutes links. Agendas show what is on the docket for the meeting of that date. The Minutes is an actual summary of the proceedings of the meeting of that date.

Here is a summary of the agenda of the 11/18/2008 meeting. There were a couple of important items that were discussed at this meeting and the details are listed further below.

The Invocation was made by Rev. David E. Roberts, II of Morningstar Baptist Church

Special Presentations:
A. City of Hickory Receives the North Carolina League of Municipalities Green Challenge Level 1 Award

B. Team City of Hickory Police Department and HPD Detective Heather McNally Receives the Catawba County 2008 Team Award in Conjunction With Other Participating Teams.

C. Presentation by Tracy Nestor & Connie Kincaid of the Hickory Downtown Development Association - Reporting on the Economic Impact of the 23rd annual Oktoberfest. – Tracy Nestor stated that an estimated 110,000 people attended the event. She stated that they estimated that at least 50% of the people came from outside the Unifour area. Area hotels tracked the number of guests (The numbers were given to the Western Piedmont Council of Governments). She stated that the event generated 732 room nights, which most of those rooms were reserved in blocks of 4 night increments by event vendors. She estimates the event generated $7.637million.

The Hounds View: I am sorry, but it is more than obvious that these numbers were contrived. She says that they received estimates on crowd size from EMTs, Firemen, and Police. She qualifies that vendors were in the hotel room nights estimate. There was an estimate on how much food money (and I guess this includes beer) that patrons spent. Estimates, Estimates, Estimates…

We all know that the vast majority of people that attended this event were from this area. Very few people came from outside the area (or out of state). This was not a destination event. Heck, the hotel numbers bare this out. These wild-eyed optimistic estimations are an embarrassment to report to council (though the mayor seemed to just lap it up). They tried to overstate their case and logic just doesn’t work here. It is thoroughly unprofessional to exaggerate numbers to this extent just to make yourselves look good. You end up looking like Cliff Clavin.

While this event is important to our city’s cultural vitality, it is a revenue neutral event. It is not a money generator. Most of the money generated went to a few bars and boutiques on Union Square or left town with the vendors traveling the circuit.

This was another missed opportunity by community leaders. We had this big captive audience and we could have used this as an opportunity to find out some vitally important questions. Why didn’t we get information from the street vendors? Event coordinators could have done some sampling and asked questions about demographic info, town of origin, what brought them to Oktoberfest, how often do they come to downtown Hickory, what brings you to downtown Hickory, what would bring you to downtown Hickory more often, etc.

These Cliff Clavin numbers were contrived to make this organization seem important so that they can come back and wheedle more money out of Hickory coffers in the future. The Downtown Development Association needs to get its act together. They seem to be more of a social organization, than based on commerce.

D. Presentation of Diplomas by Mayor Wright to the 2008 Neighborhood College Graduating Class. This is a civics project where citizens get a lesson in Hickory Civics. Three Graduates of this class made presentations. I have to admit that they were truly jazzed about what they had learned.

The Hound believes that Mandy Pitts is a fine representative for this city. I hear her on Hal Rowe all the time. I'd rather hear from her than Rudy any day. Rudy seems like he's trying to run 0ut the clock and Mandy is trying to extend it. Mandy, if I agree to do this neighborhood college thing, will you let me do an extra credit project on the settlement of the Buffalo's Sinkhole issue?

Council Reaffirmed and Ratified Second Readings of the agenda voted on at the last meeting.
Consent Agenda:
The City confirms the Voluntary Annexation of the Property of Brian and Tammy Frazier located at 2713 24th Street Court and authorizes a Public Hearing for December 16, 2008 to allow Drendel Investments, LLC to Close a Portion of 2nd Street Drive, NW.

Authorize Public Hearings for December 2, 2008 for a Proposed Ordinance Amendment to the Hickory City Code Chapter 20, “Nuisances” and a Public Hearing about a Proposed Ordinance Amendment to the Hickory City Code Chapter 18, “Motor Vehicles and Traffic” Section 18-183 – “Pre-towing Notice; Appeal; Removal Without Notice.” Public Hearing Regarding Approval of the Economic Incentive Development Agreement with MDI, Inc.

Social Items - Approval of Third Annual “Food for Fines” Amnesty Week at the City Libraries from 12/1–7/ 2008. Proclamation Recognizing Harold and Helen Punch’s 70th Wedding Anniversary and Declaring 11/12/2008 as “Harold and Helen Punch Day” in the City of Hickory. Grant Terry Miller a Thirty-Day Extension to Vacate City-Owned Property Located at 1370 12th Avenue, NE.

Business Items - Approve the Fire Hydrant Grant Application for Infrastructure Assistance for Sunbelt Furniture Xpress in the Amount of $5,000.00. (The City’s Economic Development Assistance guidelines state that City Council may provide matching grants of up to $5,000.00 for documented costs of additions to public utilities. The cost of Sunbelt’s expansion is estimated at $935,000.00 leading to creation of 20 new jobs at a median wage level of $19.00 per hour).

Approval of Property Tax Refund to Eastern Automation Services, LLC in the Amount of $284.14. Approve the Proposed Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Submittal for FY 2010-2014 to the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Approve Quitclaim Deed From the City of Hickory to Clinton Tabernacle A.M.E. Zion Church For Property Located at 145 Lenoir Rhyne Boulevard – Discussed in Departmental Reports.

Budget Ordinance Amendment: $2,500 Library donation from Lenoir Rhyne University, $705 of Miscellaneous Insurance Claims, To budget $500 of Airport property rental revenue for purchase of new tables, Transfer $9,744 from the General Fund to pay Randall Arendt for costs associated with the Commercial Corridor Workshop and Fifth Avenue/Optimist’s Park Affordable Housing Site Plan presentation, Transfer $195 from the General Fund to Amity Lane Capital Project construction.

New Business: Public Hearings
Petition to Rezone the Property Located at 2007 Startown Road - This 10.92 acre property is located in Ward 3. The applicant proposes a rezoning from Catawba County Residential- 20 and City of Hickory Residential-1 to City of Hickory Commercial-4.

The property has frontage on Startown Road and is a short distance south of the Catawba Valley Boulevard/Startown Road intersection. The subject property’s location near that intersection makes the general area more suitable as commercial development rather than residential. While staff finds that the request is not consistent with Hickory by Choice, due to changing circumstances in the area, staff recommends approval of this initial rezoning. The Hickory Regional Planning Commission on October 22, 2008 conducted a public hearing and voted unanimously for approval of the requested rezoning.

Brad Lail wanted the property split zoned. The way the property is laid out, the part facing Startown Road is currently near O&I development. The rear of the property is near open space. C-4 status is the second highest commercial development level and he doesn’t want this zoned C-4 until there is a cohesive strategy. The petitioners main quest is to get commercial status for when they sell the property. The council unanimously voted against C-4 status, but unanimously accept O&I status.

The Hound Believes: This is no big deal right now, because the owners aren’t ready to sell the property, but city officials have to know that the property in front of this road is Huffman Cove Road, 29th Avenue NW and NE, 24th Street NE, McDonald Parkway, and Startown Road. In the next 20 years this will become a 4 lane from 127 to Highway 321. This is the outerloop corridor that has been proposed to be the third bridge to Caldwell (& Alexander) County.

Better get used to the idea of some razing and major development taking place in the not too distant future. There isn’t going to be residential along this major thoroughfare. Let’s not needlessly hamstring something that will have to be revisited by future city leaders. Look forward, not present, not past.

2. Petition to Rezone the Property of Third Gate Properties Located South of I-40 and East of 21st Street Drive, SE (Sweetwater Road) These four parcels totaling 35.4 acres are located in Ward 3. Proposal is to rezone from Limited Industrial to Planned Development – Mixed Use. If rezoned, the applicant intends to develop a mixed professional office park, retail/commercial space, and residential development.

This proposal was discussed at the Planning Commission meeting on 10/22/2008. They voted unanimously for approval of the requested rezoning. Staff finds that the request is consistent with Hickory by Choice and recommends approval. The council unanimously accepted the proposal.

Departmental Reports:
Second Reading - Approve Quitclaim Deed From the City of Hickory to Clinton Tabernacle A.M.E. Zion Church For Property Located at 145 Lenoir Rhyne Boulevard Staff recommends approval of the Quitclaim Deed and requests two (2) readings on November 18, 2008 due to time constraints between the church and their buyer. The Church is changing Locations and this actions takes away the covenants the city has on the deed so that the church can sell the property. The council unanimously accepted the proposal.

Award Bid to Tyco (MA/COM) to Purchase the P25 – OpenSky Hybrid Communications System in the Amount of $1,542,685.00 for The Hickory Police Department. The current 800 MHz radio system was purchased in 1994 and many replacement parts are no longer manufactured. The FCC is taking HPD’s radio frequencies and allocating them to Nextel. The FCC is requiring Nextel to pay for new mobile and handheld radios, a value of $800,000.00. With the receipt of the equipment from Nextel, the value of the radio system is $2,342,685.00, but the City will only spend $1,542,685.00. Tyco (MA/COM) is the City’s existing vendor and met all of the RFP standards. Tyco (MA/COM) was the second lowest bidder. The lowest bidder did not meet specifications, including no data solution which would require additional equipment and software cost. The City has negotiated free hardware maintenance for one (1) year at a savings of $61,000.00 and free software maintenance for three (3) years saving $186,000.00. The new radio system should last 15 to 20 years. The purchase will be made by a “down payment” of $500,000.00 from cash reserves and financing $1,042,685.00 for ten (10) years at an interest rate of 3.79%. The debt service payment will be $110,000.00 annually, funded from reductions in HPD budget for maintenance and equipment replacements for the old system. Staff recommends approval. Warren Wood showed that this new system will basically cost the city nothing. The council unanimously accepted the proposal.

The Hounds Take: Look at this system and tell me that we are a small town. This system shows how stupid the small town theory really is, doesn’t it?