Tag: Recreation Center

Hospital and Rec Center Rezonings Approved

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

An update from our Monday meeting:

-Both the rezoning requests for the new hospital and the new recreation center were approved. In discussing the hospital, the height of the proposed building (about 100 feet) generated some discussion around where additional building height is appropriate in the city. The concerns weren’t necessarily specific to the hospital, but we did agree to take a closer look at things like this as part of a broader review of land use in the city (more on that below).

-We also finalized the Tree Ordinance that we initially took up last month. The only substantive change was to place Residential Infill development back on the exemption list. Staff confirmed that the way our ordinances are currently structured, Infill Development can get a credit for tree save to use against their landscaping requirements, which should provide enough of an incentive for property owners to preserve existing trees where it makes sense without the City being too heavy-handed from a regulatory perspective.

-We also received an update from our new Code Enforcement officer on the various cases that she is working. Of note is the case involving the commercial building on Cason Street in North Belmont. City Council approved a demolition ordinance for that building in August, but the property owner has since filed suit against the City. So, that case is effectively on hold until the litigation is resolved.

-Council also received an update from the City Manager on a couple capital projects that have been completed. These include the purchase of a new city bus, the Art Wrap project on the utility boxes on 6th Street that the Main Street program has been coordinating, and the construction/rehab of sidewalk along South Point Road and South Main Street.

-At the end of the meeting, the Council had a discussion about our next workshop. We decided to postpone our joint meeting with the Environmental Sustainability Board in favor of having a broader, strategic discussion about land use and planning in Belmont. Given that development interest continues to be strong in the City, we thought it best to have this conversation sooner rather than later as any changes that we would need to make to our ordinances or land use plan would take time to put together. So, we’ll being tackling that at our next workshop and look to meet with the ESB at a future workshop.

A New Hospital and Rec Center

Posted on by Marc Seelinger

The next City Council meeting will be Monday (10/5) at 6:45pm at TechWorks. You can find an agenda and a link to the livestream here: http://ow.ly/HL8r50BI2Ic

-There are two significant rezonings on the agenda. The first is for CaroMont’s new hospital in Belmont. The site of the hospital is right off I-85 at Exit 27. The project plan calls for a 54-bed hospital, medical office building, and a future parking garage. The hospital will also likely become a significant employer in the city, with the addition of up to 400 jobs on the new medical campus. You can find some renderings of the buildings, maps, and other details here: http://ow.ly/UnDR50BI3rK

-The other rezoning involves the project to build the new Recreation Center. There haven’t been any significant changes to this project in the last few weeks, but you can find the packet with building renderings, traffic and parking information, and maps here: http://ow.ly/u90P50BI3Aa

-We will also be taking a final look at (and voting on) the Tree Preservation Ordinance that we initially reviewed last month.
-The Council will also be receiving an update on various Code Enforcement issues in the city.

If you have any questions, let me know!

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 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.