Month: August 2020

Updating Our Capital Improvement Plan

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

A few highlights from our CIP workshop at the end of last week:

Most of our discussion focused on non-Utility capital improvements. We decided to do a separate workshop later in the fall (with the appropriate staff) to focus on that program given that most of those improvements are very technical. A list of some of the bigger items we talked about are below. Note that we didn’t “approve” any of these projects, but simply gave the go-ahead to staff to begin planning for these projects. These will still come back to Council for approval before they are funded :
-The Phase I Rocky Branch Park improvements that will construct a multi-use trail through Rocky Branch Park. The Tarheel Trailblazers have already done some significant fundraising for this project, so we’re looking at providing a match (of about $46k) to what they’ve raised.

-The new Recreation Center. We are looking into the feasibility of also including funding for a skate park and splash pad in the loan that funds the Rec Center. The final loan for the Rec Center will likely be about $11MM, and the costs of those two projects are small enough that they are unlikely to significantly impact our annual debt service (i.e. the difference in payments on a $11MM loan and a $11.5MM loan is relatively small, especially since interest rates are so low). We asked staff to develop some cost estimates for the annual maintenance involved with a skate park and a splash pad to get a better idea of what the total cost of ownership for those two projects would look like.

-We also talked about purchasing a new bus. The good news on this item is that the cost of a new bus is a little bit lower than what we thought it was going to be (about $90k for a 25-passenger, handicap accessible bus). We’re still looking at a couple options regarding financing it (including using proceeds from a $75k land sale to offset the cost), but the lower cost makes that effort significantly easier.

-We also briefly talked about the Dog Park that the DBDA is fundraising for. This was another project where we want to make sure we understand the ongoing maintenance needs for the park (especially figuring out the best way to keep it clean, etc.).

If you have any questions (or thoughts) about these projects, let me know!

Update on Meeting with NCDOT

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

Yesterday, City Council met with representatives from NCDOT, Ronnie Worley Gaston County Commissioner, and Representative Dana Bumgardner to discuss the intersection of Belwood Drive and South Point Road in front of the new middle school. There were also several residents from the Belwood Drive neighborhood present.

There was a general consensus among the group that the current design for that intersection presents a number of issues both from a safety and traffic flow perspective. I think that the current design basically creates either a situation where traffic deadlocks every time someone needs to go into or out of the Belwood Drive neighborhood or a situation where (young) pedestrians are in close proximity to drivers distracted by attempting to make a very quick turn.

There is some development interest in the property across the street from the middle school which may provide an opportunity for a long-term solution to this problem. However, even under the best-case scenario, it is unlikely a fix under this route would be in place by the time the new school opens. So, Council directed staff to obtain cost estimates for the work necessary to fix the intersection so that we can determine the level of financial commitment necessary for this project and explore some possible creative financing opportunities. There seemed to be a shared commitment among the different parties at the meeting yesterday to find a solution to this problem, so I am cautiously optimistic about our chances of figuring out a fix for this.

In other news, the agenda for our CIP workshop on Thursday is now available. You can find that here.

Special Meetings on CIP and NCDOT Improvements

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

There are two Council meetings this week to be aware of:

-The first is tomorrow at 2pm at TechWorks. We will be meeting with staff from NCDOT to discuss the intersection design for Belwood Drive and South Point Road (in front of the new middle school). DOT’s current design for that intersection calls for creating two separate three-way intersections (one at Belwood Drive, the other at the entrance to the new school). The City is working with DOT to see if it is possible to shift Belwood Drive’s intersection over a few feet to create one four-way intersection. The agenda and some related schematics are located here.

-The second meeting will be Thursday at 3:30pm (also at TechWorks). We will be discussing our Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for the current fiscal year. The CIP is the process by which the City funds all of the “big” projects and, there are usually more projects on the list than we can fund in a given year. So we will be prioritizing projects for funding at this meeting. I will post a link to that agenda once it is available.

Update on the Rec Center and Improving Our Sidewalks

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

An update from our meeting on Monday:

-We had a good conversation about the plans for the new Rec Center. Overall, the plans incorporate most of what we were trying to accomplish with this building. At a very high level, there will be three indoor basketball courts on the first floor and then an indoor running track on the second floor. There are also a variety of different rooms to facilitate different types of training/classes and exercise. The second floor will also have some flex use space attached to a patio overlooking the Catawba that will be available to rent. We also talked about locating the proposed skate park at the Rec Center site (as opposed to locating it in Davis Park). The Parks and Rec Board will discuss this further when they review the Rec Center plans later this week.

-Council also talked through a strategy for our paving program. We decided to continue with our data-driven approach (based on the results of the last street condition survey) for the fall and will look to do a larger program once the loan balance from the last large paving program is paid off next Spring. I requested that we set aside some funds in that larger program for sidewalk repair/extension. With COVID, more people are out using our sidewalks, and I know that some of them could use a little TLC. If you happen to notice any sidewalks around town that need some work (especially if they present a tripping hazard), or if there are any gaps between sections of sidewalk where it might make sense to create a connection, please let me know so that I can add it to my list.

-Council also ordered the demolition of the building at 951 Cason Street (across from Linford Park). Per staff, actual demolition should begin in about 3-4 weeks, and then it will take roughly four weeks to take the building down. Based on that, demo should be complete sometime in October.

-We also had an interesting conversation about affordable housing. Staff provided an overview of some of the strategies that other municipalities employ in this area, and we directed them to continuing researching best practices so that we can decide what makes sense for Belmont. Representatives from Habitat for Humanity also made a presentation about a small (28 home) mixed-income development that they are trying to put together on a site in North Belmont (off Lee Road). Apparently, this particular project almost came to fruition several years ago but fell apart due to some funding issues. They are still in the early phases of this project, but we encouraged them to continue communicating with us as they move forward.

Workshop: New Recreation Center, Paving, and More

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

Our next Council Workshop will be Monday at 4pm at Techworks. You can find a copy of the agenda and a link to the live stream here: https://cityofbelmont.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Id=431

Here are a few of the highlights:

-There will be a presentation of the initial design for the new recreation center. You can find the schematics and some renderings on the city’s website here: https://www.cityofbelmont.org/recreationcenter. If you have any feedback on the designs, I would love to get your input. There will also be a community meeting in September where you can view the plans and provide input.

-We will also be talking about our fall street paving program and deciding how we want to approach street maintenance. The City Engineer has done a needs analysis around both streets that are in the greatest need of repair and streets that get the most use. You can find that linked here.

-We will also be reviewing the status of the code enforcement case at 951 Cason Street. Earlier this summer, Council set a final deadline to complete the needed repairs at this property by the time of this workshop (8/17). So, we will receive an update on the status of this building and proceed accordingly.

-We will also be having a discussion about affordable housing in Belmont. Representatives from Habitat for Humanity will also provide an overview of a mixed-income project they are considering in the city.

Code Enforcement and Other Updates

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

A quick update from our meeting on Monday:

In addition to accepting the Governor’s Highway Safety Grant for a new DWI enforcement officer in our police department, staff announced that the City was also successful in an application for a Carolina Thread Trail grant that will help fund the design work for the Abbey Creek Greenway. The Tarheel Trailblazers also received a grant from the Thread Trail for the Phase I improvements in Rocky Branch Park. Both of these grants will do a lot to help grow and enhance the greenway/trail system in Belmont.

After reviewing the South Central code enforcement case, we had a general discussion about code enforcement in Belmont. Staff indicated that there are several other cases ready for review by City Council. The general consensus among the Council was that we would like to work through as many of those cases as we can before we get too busy later on in the year. So look for more of these cases to show up on future agendas over the next month or two. I think that it’s important to not allow these to linger for too long as many of these cases involve genuine health and safety risks to the nearby residents. We are still on-track to review the pending commercial case in North Belmont (on Cason Street) at our next workshop on 8/17.

Our next workshop will focus on affordable housing, where we will get an overview of some of the techniques and strategies that other municipalities in NC have deployed to maintain affordability for their residents. I believe that will be a very interesting discussion and worth tuning into if you have the time.

If you have any questions, leave me a comment!