Town Council

Town Hall TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Town Council Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Meeting Minutes - Final Mayor Pam Hemminger Council Member Nancy Oates Mayor pro tem Jessica Anderson Council Member Michael Parker Council Member Donna Bell Council Member Karen Stegman Council Member Allen Buansi Council Member Rachel Schaevitz Council Member Hongbin Gu Monday, January 7, 2019 8:30 AM Library Meeting Room A Roll call Present: 8 - Mayor Pam Hemminger, Mayor pro tem Jessica Anderson, Council Member Allen Buansi, Council Member Hongbin Gu, Council Member Nancy Oates, Council Member Michael Parker, Council Member Karen Stegman, and Council Member Rachel Schaevitz Absent: 1 - Council Member Donna Bell Other Attendees Town Manager Maurice Jones, Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos, Deputy Town Manager Florentine Miller, Mayoral Aide Jeanne Brown, Planning Director Ben Hitchings, Interim Business Management Director Amy Oland, Police Chief and Executive Director for Community Safety Chris Blue, Assistant Town Manager Mary Jane Nirdlinger, Transit Business Analyst Rick Shreve, Senator Floyd McKissick, Representative Verla Insko, Representative Marcia Morey, Representative Mary Ann Black, Representative Robert Reives, Representative Graig Meyer, Beau Mills (Metro Mayors), Vickie Miller (NC League of Municipalities), Orange County Commission Chair Penny Rich, Communications and Public Affairs Director and Town Clerk Sabrina Oliver WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION BY THE MAYOR Mayor Hemminger opened the meeting with a welcome. She explained that due to new district map changes Sen. McKissick represented District 20 in Durham County, Rep. Morey represents District 30 in Durham County, and Rep. Meyer represents District 50 (Orange and Caswell counties) which includes Weaver Dairy Road and Parkside community portions of Orange County that are located in Chapel Hill, and that County Commissioner Rich is an at large representative. COMMENTS FROM THE LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION Rep. Insko said that after November’s election, the slate was now clean and that she was excited and eager and working hard to push Medicaid expansion, adding that the Republicans would insist upon a work requirement and a 2 Page 1 of 4 Town Council Meeting Minutes - Final January 7, 2019 percent co-pay. Sen. McKissick said that new legislators were elected from urban areas, which provides better representation and a greater voice. Rep. Insko said that outside organizations were training people and working on issues and bi-partisan legislation. Rep. Morey, said she would be working on criminal justice reform. She said that Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue had been a very helpful resource, and added that committee assignments had not yet been made. Rep. Black, who represents House District 29 in Durham County and the Durham County portion of Chapel Hill, said she had worked for years in human services as a social worker and she had asked for a number of committees in those areas. Rep. Meyer said he would be working on education and school construction bonds, and other bipartisan interests in education. He added that he’d also be working for Medicaid expansion. He said he didn’t believe a lot would be accomplished in this session, and the impact on local government will be a long process not completed by June 30. COMMENTS FROM THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL Mayor Hemminger said she was happy for the break of the super majority, she said there were many community concerns. Elected officials discussed the following issues. · Bill to expand investment options for Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB) - Mayor Hemminger said the hope was that this would open a way for more units to establish trusts and would prefer it to be statewide. It was noted that Durham and Charlotte do have other options. · Gun buy-back program - elected officials noted issues with this program. Chief Blue said the program is now structured that the guns have to be sold back to whomever wants to buy them. He said buy-back programs also create storage issues, and it is difficult to find a gunsmith to destroy the guns and there is no legislative guidance on resell. Mayor pro tem Anderson said she believed the political will was a little better, with the things that were happening around the country. · State Transit Management Program - it was noted that during the last session the state had cut the program by 26 percent ($686,000/annually). Council Member Parker noted that there was $700,000 in undistributed grants, and it was a statewide problem. · Climate Change - Mayor Hemminger said everyone was taking a look at climate change issues, and that there was a plan for an agreement with other partners, education on single use plastics, how to replenish trees, storm water, etc. She said there would be a meeting with DOT, government units, and community groups for a better outcome, and partnerships. She added that the goal was to have water rules rewritten by the end of the year. Page 2 of 4 Town Council Meeting Minutes - Final January 7, 2019 · Electric scooters (Birds) - Mayor Hemminger said these had launched nationwide, and Chapel Hill was negotiating to give the Birds back and find a scooter that is regulate-able and safe. She said you can’t fight progress but we can learn how to legislate to protect the public. Rep. Black said they were working on a bill for the aging and electric wheelchairs. All agreed that legislation was needed to address various motorized vehicles. · Complete Streets - Mr. Hitchings said he would love to see more state funding to match state policy. Rep Meyers said DOT was providing funding for pedestrian areas, and that is really an economic development strategy. Mayor Hemminger said the MPOs are advocating for that. Mr. Mills said that Complete Streets had been a most successful program. · Mr. Mills said the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition supported the NC League of Municipalities’ goals, by working with 540 cities to do things to help them with their missions. He said he had concerns about cities funding schools. He said it was not the best use of funds. He also mentioned concerns about the Firefighters Separation Allowance, similar to what police have, that would fall on the last employer to cover the entire benefit. He said the coalition was also very engaged on broadband, and that would come up in the next session. Mr. Mills said the Coalition was considering re-affiliating with the League, because it would allow for focus on very urban issues. He said the Coalition had made gains as an urban group on affordable housing. He said the sales tax issue was scary and they needed to get that debate off the table. Mayor Hemminger asked Mr. Mills to let them know if he heard anything concerning sales tax redistribution. · Confederate Monuments - Mayor Hemminger said this was straining the Town’s resources and there was great concern about pedestrian and vehicular interaction. She said there were also concerns about the Jefferson Davis Highway marker located in Chapel Hill, and they were reaching out to see if they could give it back to the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Rep. Meyers cautioned that they were not out of the legislative woods yet, because the issue could be slipped into another bill. Mayor Hemming shared the story of the Chapel Hill Nine and how the Town had created a Civil Rights Timeline that was created with the history makers, storytellers, educators, and other members of the Historic Civil Rights Commemorations Task Force. a. Local Bill Issues (no attachment). [19-0018] b. Statewide Issues (no attachment). [19-0019] c. League of Municipalities Advocacy Goals. (no attachment) [19-0020] d. Metro Mayors Coalition Issues. (no attachment) [19-0021] OTHER ISSUES Page 3 of 4 Town Council Meeting Minutes - Final January 7, 2019 a. Other Issues. (no attachment) [19-0022] ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:09 a.m. Page 4 of 4