Newsletter about the City Council meeting of January 20, 2009

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 1/20/2009 meeting. There were a couple of important items that were discussed at this meeting and the details are listed further below.

Invocation by Alderman Danny Seaver

Consent Agenda:
Approval of Citizens’ Advisory Committee Recommendations for Assistance Through the City of Hickory’s Housing Programs -Funds are budgeted for these items through the City of Hickory’s Community Development Block Grant funding received in FY 2008. The Citizens’ Advisory Committee recommends approval

**The following applicants are being recommended for approval for assistance under the City of Hickory’s First-Time Homebuyers Assistance Loan Program:

Chang Chang & Pa Xiong Chang 3263 Treadwell Lane, Hickory Approved for up to $10,000 (Blue Sky Court)

Nena Lachella Freeman 3269 Treadwell Lane, Hickory Approved for up to $5,000 (Blue Sky Court)

**The following applicants are being recommended for approval for assistance under the City of Hickory’s Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program:

Crawford Ellis 212 4th Ave SW. Previously awarded $20,000. Cost of project Approval to increase loan to $22,721

Harold & Alice Wilfong 318 3rd Ave Dr SE Previously awarded $6,786.32. Present loan amount is $4,017.47. Approval to increase loan to $9,017.47 (additional $5,000.00 for a new roof).

Award Contract to Camp, Dresser, & McKee, Inc. for a Sludge Composting Facility Evaluation at the Regional Sludge Composting Facility in the Amount of $20,000. Approve Contract with Embarq for Relocation of Telephone Cable for Clement Boulevard Connector Project in the Amount of $112,329.54. Request by Catawba Science Center Guild for Donation of City Skybox for One Hickory Crawdads Game, Along With Ten Passes, to be Auctioned at the Catawba Science Center’s Annual Italian Dinner and Auction to be Held on March 28, 2009.

Budget Ordinance Amendments -Appropriate $276 from Catawba County Mental Health for a portion of an Officer’s time spent when accompanying involuntary commitment patients. Transfer $1,428 from the General Fund for the City of Hickory's payment to Catawba County for participating in a Developer Satisfaction Survey. Budget $11,000 from Catawba County in the Public Utilities budget for the materials purchased to extend approximately 1,020 LF of waterline along Frye Ave. Appropriate $20,000 of Water and Sewer Fund Balance to the Sludge Composting Facility. Appropriate & Transfer $1,983,452 of General Fund to the Clement Boulevard Capital Project (City Council Meeting 09-02-08). Appropriate $462,768 from the General Fund and transfer to the Stormwater Fund . Appropriate & Transfer $76,850 of Capital Reserve-Parking Fund to the General Fund-Traffic Professional Services line item. This appropriation is needed to pay Frazier Associates $73,850 for designing and planning a coordinated Wayfinding sign system and Graphic Brand for the City of Hickory.Miscellaneous expenses for incidentals will be budgeted at $3,000 for the duration of the project. The design phase of this project is anticipated to take 7-8 months with a cap of 12 months beginning in February 2009.

New Business - Public Hearings
Approve Submittal of Neighborhood Stabilization Program Grant Application to the North Carolina Department of Community Assistance - The application will be submitted in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and the City’s Community Development Department focusing on local governments facing problems related to housing foreclosure and abandonment. Revitalization of the 8th Avenue Drive, SW area will be the main focus. The U.S., Department of Housing and Urban Development has made funds available under Title III of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The City is eligible to apply for $2 million to $5 million. These funds can be used to acquire land and property, demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties, provide down payment and closing cost assistance to low to moderate income homebuyers and create land banks. Catawba County has been identified as one of twelve counties across the state with the highest rate of foreclosures. The grant application guidelines state that applicants must target areas of high poverty, which would be southeast and southwest Hickory. The City of Hickory submitted a letter of intent to apply for the funds in November 2008.

The Hound has Confidence when he sees that Todd Hefner and the Habitat for Humanity have come up with a plan. It is good to see the positive scale that was drawn up in this situation. The Budget for this project is $3.863 million. The Habitat is looking for a Multi-Use property where the Hickory Motel is located with office spaces and possibly retail stores.

Something has needed to be done about the negative decline that has been going on in that area for 20 years. Mr. Hefner said that this plan included the possibility of 12 houses and a new headquarters for the Habitat for Humanity. Mrs. Fox spoke about the issues of that area including the old Kroger shopping center down to the Sky City area.

Let's up the property values in this area and maybe the slumlords will decide that it is best to sell. I know that Mr. Agapian had to be bought out of blighted properties in Greensboro. The Mayor stated that he believes that the City always gets a really good "Bang for the Buck" when the Habitat for Humanity is involved. I believe most of us support that statement.

New Business - Departmental Reports
1. Approve Contract With Frazier Associates for Professional Services for the Wayfinding and Branding Project not to Exceed $73,850.00 - This contract for professional services is to provide assistance in designing and planning a coordinated wayfinding sign system and graphic brand for the City of Hickory. Wayfinding was discussed during the February 2008 City Council Planning Retreat and a Request for Proposals (RFP) was presented to Council at the October 7, 2008 City Council meeting whereby Council directed staff to move forward with firm selection. Frazier Associates is a full-service architecture and planning firm based in Staunton, VA and has expertise in community wayfinding signage and branding. The project is estimated to take seven to eight months with a cap of twelve months beginning in February 2009. The contract is based upon services outlined in the RFP using the means and methods outlined in the Consultant’s proposal. The consultant will work closely with staff to organize and work with a community stakeholder group as well as conduct interviews with other community stakeholders. The project will be paid for from the City parking fund.

Mr. Lail believes that this idea is excellent, but he had questions about the cost of the contract with Frazier and he also wondered aloud about the possibilities of finding a local firm to do this. Ms. Hoyle had questions about the timing of this expenditure during these uncertain economic times. Mr. Meisner asked if there was any way to pare this plan down. The Mayor, Mrs. Fox, and Mrs. Patton seemed to feel that it was time to move forward on this issue, because of aesthetics, mapping, and long-range planning. The deciding vote was 4-3 with the Mayor, Fox, Patton, and Seaver For and Lail, Hoyle, and Meisner against.

The Hounds Take: I am 50-50 on this issue at the current time. I think that this needs to be done, but wonder about the timing during current circumstances. I can understand where both sides are coming from. It is hard to justify an expenditure, like this, at this point in time; but we really do need to work on the "Brand Identity" of this town. Go ahead and get this study done so that we can have a system and then we need to incrementally put it in place.

The major expense is going to be sign implementation. I also wondered, like Brad, whether it was smart to move ahead when the issue of Hickory by Choice is being readdressed by Studio Cascade during the same time frame. But, as Harry Hipps pointed out to me, "This stage is about art. It is about creating a logo. Studio Cascade's plan will come into play during the implementation phase when the signs are actually being placed. That has nothing to do with what the signs look like."

2. Quarterly Financial Report - Warren Wood went over the numbers. The City has $49.2 milion invested. Interest on investments is down significantly, but revenues from investments should come pretty close to projections. The Budget is $3.6 million "to the good."

Retail sales strength shows a 20% increase in Sales Tax from year-to-year (for the first 5 months of the fiscal year), but Novembers numbers were down. He believes numbers show our retail numbers have been excellent compared to the state. Hotel/Motel occupancy shows a decline and soft market. Mick Berry stated that we have been exceeding projections on events and event revenue so far this year. Going forward through this year it will be hard to project.

Mr. Wood showed residential property building is down. Commercial building is down around 40%. 2011-2012, the city will have to look at Property Tax re-evaluation. Mr Wood stated that the unemployment in the Hickory area is 7.9%, the same as the state's number, and lower than the Metro area number of 10.2%. He is wary that the state may come looking for money from the City of Hickory.

The Hound Can See that the city is doing a good job in keeping up with finances. It has to be hard keeping a good grasp on projections in this recessionary economic environment. One has to commend our city for doing an excellent job of conservative financing during these trying economic times.

I disagree with the "City Proper" Unemployment numbers. First, there is no true way to calculate that number since people in the city, work outside of the city and people outside of the city, work in the city. Please define these parameters. Second, that would mean that we would have to be around 2.5% better than the rest of Catawba County's rate, since the rate for the whole county is 9.7%. This city accounts for more than 25% of the county's population. As you can see that "Hickory Proper" guesstimate is a bit dubious to say the least. I truly believe that our city officials are out of touch on this issue. Maybe that's an Ego issue, but it is certainly nothing to brush off or make light about.

3. Approval of the 2009 Legislative Agenda for the City of Hickory - Request for consideration and support of State and Federal Legislative issues as outlined in the proposed 2009 Legislative Agenda for the City of Hickory. The Agenda explains how the City views potential legislation or initiatives to change current laws and also provides a listing of projects that the City is seeking additional funding for with the help of members of our delegation.

Ms. Surratt addressed the issues on the table: Which are three water and sewer projects, including the NorthEast water treatment facility; The Grace Chapel Extension: a Water pump issue; Meter Reading Radio System; Clement Center Blvd Extension; Solid Waste Management; Elevated storage off of Cloninger Mill Rd.; New Urban Traffic Signal System and Software. Unanimous Approval