NEW BERN BOA REGULAR MEETING OF 23 APRIL 2013

CCTA WATCHDOG REPORT

FOR NEW BERN BOA REGULAR MEETING OF 23 APRIL 2013

Agenda Item 1. Meeting was opened by Mayor Lee Wilson Bettis, Jr. Prayer was given by Mayor Bettis. All Board members were present as were the City Clerk, Manager and Attorney.

Prior to the conduct of business, Mayor Bettis and Ald White congratulated former NBHS football player Kevin Reddick (UNC) for earning a consideration in the 2013 NFL draft. Ald White wishes to mention Mr. Reddick not just because he is a New Bern citizen but because he feels Mr. Reddick is an outstanding example to others of working hard and staying responsible in order to attain a worthy goal. Ald White was one of Mr. Reddick's Pop Warner youth football coaches. There will be a casual gathering to watch the televised NFL draft proceedings on Fri., Apr 26th @ 5pm @ the Carolina Colours Pavillion. Mayor Bettis will read a proclamation for Mr. Reddick noting his accomplishments.

Agenda Item 3. Recognition of Local Governor Service Award Recipients and Reading of Proclamation for Nikki Ingianni (Little Red Book Mobile), Senior Award and Medallion Winner, and Reading of Proclamation for Volunteer Month.

April is designated as Volunteer Month, and the NC Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service has presented the 2013 Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service to five area recipients. Tharesa Lee will be present to introduce the recipients and discuss the rewards and benefits of volunteering. Proclamations will be read proclaiming April as Volunteer Month and recognizing the recipient of the Senior Award and Medallion Winner.

Agenda Item 4. Recognition of Graduates of the Citizens Police Academy.

Citizens Police Academy #14 was held February 21 through April 11, 2013. The Class President, Cheryl Reed, addressed the Board about the overall experiences during the 10 sessions of the class. Fourteen students participated in the Academy, and 10 of those students were present at the Board meeting. NBPD Chief Summers announced that recruitment for the next class will be in Aug 2013, with actual classes starting in Sept 2013.

Agenda Item 5. Recognition of Competitors from New Bern's Utilities Department in the 2013 American Public Power Association's 13th Annual Linemen's Rodeo.

Electric Distribution had four employees (Mike Harper, Brian Small, Bruce Smith and David Brayboy) who participated in the national American Public Power Association Lineworker Rodeo that was held during March 2013 in Kissimmee, Florida. Fifty-nine journeyman teams consisting of 140 lineworkers from across the United States were challenged in the rodeo's five events as well as overall performance category. New Bern's team captured fifth place overall in the competition, beating out numerous larger utilities and delivering a technically perfect performance in each event.

Agenda Item 6. Presentation by Police Department of Leads and Raids Online.

Detective Adam Sneeden with the New Bern Police Department made a presentation on Leads Online and Raids Online. Leads Online is an online inventory reporting system for citizens, and Raids Online is an online mapping database for crimes occurring in the City. Det Sneeden made a real-time presentation on his laptop showing how to access both programs. He emphasized how quick and convenient it was for one to upload their inventory of valueables with today's smartphone technology, and also, how imperative to recovery of jewelry it is to upload photos of one's jewelry items. He stated that if any item you input into this system has a serial number it ensures more successful recovery if you include that information. He also told of several items that have recently been recovered for New Bern citizens from locales such as Wilmington and Jones County.

Raids Online is updated daily at 9am. All information is public information data set to a default of a 2 week period. One can retrieve data by entering either address or city names. Ald Bucher praised the programs and reminded the audience that considering the recent bombings in Boston, we all need to be more aware of our surroundings, saying "when you see something that doesn't look right, it probably isn't right. Please report suspicious activities".

Agenda Item 7. Adopt Resolution Approving Lease Agreement with State Employees Credit Union for ATM Located in Parking Lot at Corner of Pollock and Craven Streets.

(Ward 1) The State Employee's Credit Union has requested renewal of the ATM lease agreement for the ATM currently located in the City's parking lot at 302 Craven Street. This ATM provides a needed service for those who live and work in the downtown area. City Manager Epperson said that the monthly fee was $50 p/month. It will now be $225 p/month. However, that would put the contract more in line with what is considered the industry norm for this type of service from the company. Not a single Board member questioned this increase, despite having been informed by the City Manager at the BOA budget work session of 7 days ago on April 16, 2013 that thus far, the city budget is in a $1.7 million shortfall. This information of a fee increase was contained within their packet of briefing material that is distributed prior to this Board meeting. Vote: Unanimous 'yes'.

Agenda Item 8. Adopt Ordinance to Restate the Schedule of Capital Recovery Fees and Connection Fees for Water and Sewer Customers of the City of New Bern.

The presentation was made by Mr. Jordan Hughes, City Engineer. In May 2011, the City revised water and sewer connection fee policies to provide for a more equitable and customer-friendly structure. The revisions established a policy that is comprised of two components: a capital recovery fee and a connection fee. The capital recovery fee is based on the demand of the proposed development, and these fees are directed to the capital reserve funds to offset the future cost of major capital improvements to the City's water and sewer system. The connection fee is based on the type of connection needed and reflects the actual labor and material cost to make a service connection to the City's water and sewer mains.

The recommended changes revise the demand rates to accurately represent the actual expected use from a proposed development. It also allows for historical consumption data to be evaluated in establishing an alternative demand rate for proposed usage. A ceiling has been established in the proposed ordinance so that no single customer will have a combined water and sewer capital recover fee that exceeds $50,000. And lastly, connection fee charges have been revised to incorporate the actual meter cost of the new AMI water meters. More detailed info with regard to rates for specific connections based on in-city and outside-of-city, service tiers and business type can be found on the city website. Both Ald Bengel and Outlaw said they had discussed these rates with several local builders who have opined that the rates are equitable. Ald Bengel requested that for future ordinance changes that come before the Board, the City Manager has the ordinance language that is to be revised red-lined for better clarification. Vote: Unanimous 'yes'.

Agenda item 9. Adopt Resolution for Issuing Change Order No. 1 for the Neuse Boulevard Water Main Replacement Phase-II Project.

(Wards 1, 2, 4 & 5) City Engineer Jordan Hughes gave this presentation. The Neuse Boulevard Water Main Replacement Phase-II is nearing completion. A final adjusting change order needs to be issued amending the total contract amount by replacing the original estimated quantities with the actual quantities of work performed. This amendment to the contract will reflect the actual amounts of work performed by the Contractor, James L. Cayton, Inc., and the cost of the work based on the unit prices established in the Contractor's bid. The adjustment amounts to $133,286.50 and is within the project's established contingency fund of $293,153. The city is ahead of schedule. July 1, 2013 is the earliest that asphalt can be laid. If left up to DOT that date would have been May of 2014. Vote: Unanimous 'yes'.

Agenda Item 10. Adopt Resolution to Authorize Initiation of the Upset Bid Process by Advertising Offer to Purchase Property Jointly Owned by the City and County Located at 613 Ruth Avenue.

(Ward 5) The City owns a 54.98% undivided interest in the property located at 613 Ruth Avenue, and the County owns a 45.02% undivided interest. An offer to purchase the property in the amount of $2,000 has been received. It is requested the Board authorize the initiation of the upset bid process by advertising the offer. Ald White states that this is an empty, overgrown, vermin & snake infested lot that neighbors have complained about for a very long time. He and they are glad for this purchase to happen and they look forward to the lot being cleaned up. Vote: Unanimous 'yes'.

Agenda Item 11. Adopt Resolution to Protect the NC Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF).

State funding for the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) is generated through some of the highway tax proceeds and is the primary financial artery for local governments to apply for matching grant funding for park and facility additions, expansions and renovations. This year's funding of $27 million is in jeopardy of being reduced to something far less in next year's budget, and the State is proposing to permanently reduce the available amount, as well as eliminate the designation of a dedicated, stand-alone funding source. City Manager Epperson made the presentation on behalf of the Parks-Recreation Dir Thurman Hardison. He announced that Mr. Hardison was in Texas attending classes on gaining accreditation status for New Bern's program. Vote: Unanimous 'yes'.

Agenda Item 12. Discuss Demolition by Neglect Process and Enforcement.

Mr. Kevin Robinson, a City Planner with the Development Services Dept staff gave the Board a brief update on the prevention of the Demolition by Neglect Process, including how properties are added and removed from the list and how minimum housing standards and fines are applied to the properties. Basically, he read a detailed flowchart of the processes. This information can be found on the city website or by calling his office. However, he was interrupted twice (once from the audience & once when the citizen came up beside Mr. Robinson to speak) by Mr. Jerry Hobbins, of New St. (a frequent citizen participant in HPC and NBPF meetings/activities), that some of the information was incorrect. The City Attorney, then the Mayor, informed Mr. Hobbins that this was not a time for citizens to speak rather it was a discussion amongst the Board exclusively, but he was welcome to appear at "open mike night" at the next BOA meeting. Mr. Robinson continued to inform the Board that the structures of 1411 National Avenue and the Elks Building had begun making repairs to bring the structures up to code and thus, had gone off the non-compliance list. Ald Bengel wishes to clarify to the public that this ordinance pertains only to property owners within the historic districts of downtown and Riverside. The rest of the discussion was a rehash of the topic as discussed at the April 9th BOA meeting, with one addition: Mayor Bettis suggested, if constitutionally possibly, for the NB Police Dept to note addresses of dilapidated properties during their patrols when they notice these unfit dwellings are being used for criminal activities and coordinate their findings with the Development Services Dept staff. Furthermore, Mayor Bettis also asked for the HPC or Development Services Dept staff to write the criteria that constitutes unfit dwellings and dilapidated structures in language more understandable to the ordinary layperson and inform the Board members and NBPD of that information.

Agenda item 13. Update on PEG channel.

NB Public Info Officer Colleen Roberts and City Manager Epperson provided the Board an update on the City's PEG channel, City3TV, and discussed improvements to local programming. These ideas were developed from responses to a citizen survey. 140 responses were returned out of a pool of 15,000 households. The primary goal of the PEG is to broadcast live government meetings and provide a community video bulletin board for announcements. There were three questions on this survey. Along with their answers they are: (1) How often do you watch?: 1 - 2 hours per week; (2) How long at a sitting do you watch?: 30 minutes to 1 hour; and, (3) What programming would you like to see? (list is in descending order, beginning w/55% of replies saying): more community events previewed & advertised, more city meetings televised, increase programs telling the history of New Bern, in-depth stories of city board issues, info about tourist attractions. Ms. Roberts suggested an update of the "This Week from City Hall" interviews of city officials. Her idea is for the officials to host their own segment to include segments of officials answering viewer questions, or for officials to interview citizens on various issues/activities, or for officials to spotlight their specific interest on issues. She suggests taping this type of program beginning May 14, 2013 between 5:30 - 6:30 pm, which is prior to the scheduled Board meetings, continuing every other Tuesday evening thereafter. Committee members are Ms. Roberts, Cit Mgr Epperson, aldermen Bengel, Kinsey & Outlaw, and a couple of IT personnel.

Agenda Item 14. The minutes of the March 6, 2013 Special Called Meeting received unanimous approval.

Agenda Item 18. Announcements.

Mayor Bettis: Announced he will be a "celebrity" dancer for the Ratio Theater's benefit "Dancing with the New Bern Stars" on May 11, 2013 at the Shrine Auditorium. His song will be "Night and Day".

Ald Kinsey: He is pleased with and thankful for the law enforcement organizations across the country as well as for our local LE agencies, especially in light of the recent apprehensions of terrorists.

Ald Taylor: Congratulated the 2013 Craven County Teacher of the Year, Mr. Ike Smith from Craven Early College. He echoed Ald Kinsey's appreciation for local LE and also the FBI. He also asked everyone to come out and support the Relay for Life event on April 26, 2013 @ 7pm @ Grover C Fields middle school. He then announced that DuffFest will be @ Henderson Park on May 4, 2013 from 10am to 4pm.

Ald Bengel: Thanked all the New Bern volunteers that were honored tonight as well as the linemen from the Electric Dept for all the work they do to benefit others. She announced that PepsiCo will host their annual meeting here in New Bern for the 2nd year in a row @ the NC History Center at Tryon Palace on May 1, 2013 @ 9am. She encourged citizens to attend the services for the National Day of Prayer @ Union Point Park on May 2, 2013 from 11am to 2pm. Finally she informed that SB-139 ("An Act to Clarify When A County Or Municipality May Enact Zoning Ordinances Related To Design and Aesthetic Controls", amends G.S. 160A-381) had moved out of committee, which will work against the protection of historic structures and neighborhood rejuvination for the historic communities of Degraffenreid, Greater Dryborough and Duffyfield. She urged all citizens to call the entire list of NC senators, beginning with Norm Sanderson, to ask them to cast a 'no' vote on this bill.

Meeting adjourned at 9:12pm.

Rhonda Taylor
New Bern, Ward 6