The Chapel Hill Town Council concluded its business meeting on Monday with a budget for the town, a plan for cyclists and a discussion about conflict in the workplace.
Chapel Hill’s budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year features a one-cent tax increase for the Debt Management Fund in order to kick start projects like public safety facilities, bicycle projects and parks, said Town Manager Roger Stancil in a presentation to the councilmen.
The budget also includes a 75-cent increase in stormwater fees per square feet of impervious surface in order to begin projects improving dealing with storm related infrastructure, Stancil said.
The council unanimously approved the budget.
“This isn’t some ready stamped budget,” said council member Sally Greene. “This is something that we’ve given a lot of thought to.”
The total funds for all projects for the 2014-15 fiscal year add up to $99,423,258.
“This is the first budget that I’ve done with Chapel Hill,” said councilman Maria Palmer, who was elected to the town council in November. “I really appreciate the staff’s readiness and ability to defend the budget in detail.”
The council also agreed to adopt a plan to revamp the town’s infrastructure for bicyclists in accordance with the goals laid out in the Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan. The bike plan calls for increasing education about bicycling and bicycle facilities in Chapel Hill, as well as revamping the pavement designs with the overall goal of increasing safety and accessibility of biking around the town.
When taken as a whole, the plan could cost upwards of $14 million, said Garrett Davis, a long-range planner for Chapel Hill.
“The first year I was in Chapel Hill, a cyclist was killed,” Palmer said. “Whatever we can do to make people know that bikes are on the road is important.”
Davis suggested painting the bikeways green after input from town residents. The only other place with a green bikeway is a small strip in Charlotte, said Davis.
Notable:
The councilmen also spent time discussing updating the town’s personnel ordinance.
“The old ordinance would be eliminated and a new ordinance would be created to reflect more modern changes in thinking since 1975,” Stancil said.
The new system would allow a more fluid system to deal with complaints in the workplace and make resolution less adversarial.
“We want to shorten and simplify the process,” said consultant Drake Maynard. “We want the process to be close to the point of origin of the conflict.”
The council will approve the revision after it leaves the discussion phase of the new ordinance.
Quotable:
“I have the unfortunate experience of being hired into positions where I was the token person and I was told that I wasn’t going to make it through the six month probation,” Palmer said.
“As a motorcyclist, the best way to stay safe on the road is to be defensive because we know that they’re all out to kill you,” councilman George Cianciolo said.
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