City Council considers new manager, water rates tonight

Web update 5/6/08: The Council approved the tiered water rates proposal last night, effective July 1 (instead of the first of June.) The N&O is reporting no decision yet on the City Manager search; the Council will continue deliberations on Thursday.

The biggest news out of tonight's City Council meeting may just come before the public session's kickoff, as the mayor and council will meet behind closed doors this afternoon to weigh the decision of a new city manager. The $150,000+ question: will the Council choose from among the current three finalists, or opt to continue the search?

As the Herald-Sun points out in a good Ray Gronberg piece this morning, the highlight of the business agenda tonight will be the tiered water rates proposal, which we talked about here two weeks ago; a decision on the matter was postponed until this cycle. As Gronberg notes, the Durham Chamber of Commerce is pushing hard for a January 1 start date, while City staff want to go-live on June 1 so as to send pricing signals for water during the hot summer months.

We'd expect much of the debate here to center around the large base-rate increases, which in terms of breadth of impact affect a wider range of the population than the tiered rates do, as well as the timing.

Of course, City Council was pushing a few months ago on getting tiered rates in as soon as possible; will the respite from drought conditions lessen the sense of urgency, or lead to a change of heart in how to implement tiered pricing? City staff do note in their project memo that there are "regulatory-driven" capital needs arising for Durham in the water and sewer arena, and that the higher rates will go to fund those expenses in lieu of other financing (such as bonds or property taxes.)

The Council also has several rezoning cases to hear tonight:

• A plan amendment and rezoning case for a parcel between S. Alston Ave. and T. W. Alexander Drive, on which Durham megadeveloper Gary Hock proposes developing 160,000 sq. ft. of office space and 20,000 of retail. The Planning Commission recommended denial of the rezoning in March by a 7-4 vote, finding that the proposal was at variance with the Comprehensive Plan; the developer has proposed amending the Comp Plan, and City/County Planning staff recommend approval if the plan amendment is also accepted.
• A state-required rezoning hearing for the newly-annexed 470-acre parcel near Brier Creek (off Doc Nichols Rd, Leesville Rd, and Olive Branch Rd), slated for a large future residential development. This initial rezoning will simply move the parcel from a county rural residential zoning to a city one; expect future hearings on the developer's plans for the parcel and more changes at that time.
• Also on tap: A zoning change to support the expansion of the Southwest Branch Library on Shannon Rd. into a full-fledged regional library like the East and North Branches (and the forthcoming South Branch planned to replace the Parkwood facility.)

The Council will also conduct a public hearing on the proposed increase in impact fees over the next two years. City staff note that once phased in fully by July 2009, the fee increase could provide $3.3 million per year for recreation, parks and open space (up from less than $800,000 today) and an equivalent amount for roads (up from about $2.5 million average per year from 2002-2006.)

The impact of the impact fees (no pun intended) would be higher on parks & rec than roads, given that Durham's $69 million six-year shortfall on culture and recreation projects is dwarfed by its $221 million in unfunded transportation projects. (Among the not-yet-funded projects in the most recent Durham CIP report are a number for South Durham, including widening NC 751 and Fayetteville Rd. and connecting the missing link of South Roxboro Street, along with expanding capacity on Old Oxford Rd. and millions for unfunded road paving, repaving, and sidewalks.)

In other news, the consent agenda includes a $2.4 million increase in the project cost for the Durham Performing Arts Center, funded by the $1.5 million gift from Duke University and $925,000 from "interest rate financing." These will fund project add-backs to improve the aesthetics of the facility, including "woodwork in the theater hall and lobbies, granite counter tops, slate floors, ceramic tile, metal wall panels, high efficiency glass, carpet, and an additional elevator."

The City Council is also expected to approve on the consent agenda a water and sewer service extension for Brightleaf Commons, a 31-acre shopping center planned for US 70 right at the edge of the Brightleaf at the Park subdivision, and for a 33-acre multifamily development off Farrington Road.