Work Session Minutes of the Town of Cary, NC

May 8, 2008

7:30 a.m.

Cary Town Hall, Room 10035, 316 N. Academy Street, Cary, NC

Subject: Facilitate council communications be discussing issues pertinent to the Town of Cary

Council Present: Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, Mayor Pro Tem Julie Robison, Council Members Gale Adcock, Don Frantz, Ervin Portman, Jennifer Robinson and Jack Smith

Staff Present: Town Manager Bill Coleman, Town Attorney Chris Simpson, Public Information Officer Susan Moran and Town Clerk Sue Rowland

The meeting began at 7:43 a.m.

1. Siemens economic development contract

The council inquired about the status of the Siemens economic development contract. Mr. Coleman stated he and Mrs. Simpson are working with Siemens on contractual issues, and substantial changes will require council approval.

2. State maintained roads in Cary

Mr. Coleman followed up on the issue discussed at the council’s last breakfast meeting of potentially bringing state roads in Cary up to Cary standards. The following report indicates that the cost range would be from $45 million to $202 million to repair existing state roads in Cary (to Cary standards). The $45 million amount would cover basic repairs, and the $202 million amount would cover road reconstruction. An engineering analysis would be required to determine the actual needs.

State Roads were looked at both inside and outside of Town of Cary Corporate Limits.  Using data available, an estimate of the number of lane miles was generated.

Each street segment from intersection to intersection and from Town limits to Town limits was given a number of lanes per roadway segment in order to estimate the number of lane miles.  For example, a five lane street section for one mile equals five lane miles.

Once the lane miles were obtained a cost to replace the roadways was generated.  There are two scenarios for the pavement rehabilitation.  Scenario one removes and replaces 100% of the lane width at an estimated cost of $400,000.00 per mile.  Scenario two removes and replaces approximately 25% of the lane coverage, similar to the annual street improvements, at a cost of $90,000.00 per mile.

These two scenarios provide a best case and worst case scenarios.  When street ratings are performed, a clearer cost estimate may be established.

The Town of Cary has nearly 337 lanes miles of State Roads inside the Town Limits.  Nearly 168 additional lane miles lying outside of the Town Limits are included in the analysis.  The total equals 505 lane miles, equivalent to 169 centerline miles.

Similarly, Public Works has maintained an informal list of State Roads within Cary, with a total of nearly 360 lane miles.

State Roads included in analysis

Alston Ave

Arthur Pierce Rd

Aviation Pky

Azalea Dr

Blanche Dr

Buck Jones Rd

Carpenter Fire Station Rd

Carpenter Upchurch Rd

Cary Towne Blv

Chapel Hill Rd

Collins Rd

Cooper Dr

Davis Dr

Deerwood Pl

E Chatham St

E Durham Rd

Ederlee Dr

Evans Rd

Globe Rd

Good Hope Church Rd

Green Hope School Rd

Green Level Church Rd

Green Level To Durham Rd

Green Level West Rd

Gregson Dr

Harrison Oaks Blv

High House Rd

Holly Springs Rd

Holt Rd

House Rd

Jamison Park Dr

Jenks Carpenter Rd

Jones Franklin Rd

Kildaire Farm Rd

Koppers Rd

Lake Pine Dr

Leonard Christian Rd

Lewey Dr

Macedonia Rd

Mccrimmon Pky

Morrisville Carpenter Rd

Mullens Dr

N Academy St

N Harrison Ave

NC 55 Hwy

NE Maynard Rd

Nelson Rd

NW Cary Pky

NW Maynard Rd

Okelly Chapel Rd

Old Apex Rd

Old Maynard Rd

Old Raleigh Rd

Old Reedy Creek Rd

Old Trinity Cir

Optimist Farm Rd

Penny Rd

Piney Plains Rd

Pleasant Grove Church Rd

Reedy Creek Rd

Research Dr

Richard Dr

Rochelle Rd

S Academy St

S Harrison Ave

Saunders Grove Ln

SE Cary Pky

SE Maynard Rd

Silvergrove Dr

Smith Rd

Stephenson Rd

SW Maynard Rd

Ten Ten Rd

Trenton Rd

Trimble Ave

Trinity Rd

Triple Oak Dr

Truelove Dr

Tryon Rd

Turner Creek Rd

Vera Rd

W Chatham St

Walnut St

West Lake Rd

Weston Pky

Wilson Rd

Yates Store Rd

The council asked staff to provide the following additional information:

• Lane mileage for each specific state maintained road in Cary
• Specific cost associated with bringing each state maintained road in Cary up to Cary standards
• The daily traffic count on each state maintained road in Cary
• Information on vehicle damage reports on each state maintained road in Cary

Additionally, Town Manager Coleman will provide council with information about including the Cary state roads in the Town’s rating study.

By consensus the council agreed that state roads in Cary should be maintained by the state to comply with state standards. They agreed that the Town of Cary cannot assume this responsibility without a tremendous budget impact. Ms. Moran stated the biennial survey focus group indicated that citizens want the town council to solve the problem and to work harder to get the state to do its job.

The council agreed with the need to be sensitive to the situations where old roads service major new developments (i.e., Carpenter Fire Station Road was given as an example).  Mr. Coleman stated the Fiscal Year 2009 capital improvement budget discussion is primarily about road construction and widening.

Ms. Moran will draft talking points and share them with council. The council will then call Wake County legislative delegation members, beginning with those who represent Cary, to begin this dialog and follow up with individual meetings with them. Council will stress the need for a state-wide solution and the need to get more funding allocated to this area as well as the need for the state to maintain state roads to the state standard.

3. Animal shelter

The council concurred that this issue is a Wake County and SPCA issue. They understand that the county has agreed to operate more like the SPCA and will develop a spay/neuter and adoption program, but these are long-term programs that will take time to implement. The council expressed that they are happy with the way the SPCA has handled animal sheltering for Cary, and they believe the SPCA has the best model.

The council understands that the county will probably stop reimbursing the Town of Cary if Cary chooses to remain with the SPCA for animal sheltering services. The council did not think this would be a significant budget impact.

Mr. Coleman stated the SPCA cost to provide animal sheltering services could very well increase in the future, even if a contract is negotiated.

Mr. Coleman will put together a range of options to be considered by the operations committee.

4. Schools

The council discussed next steps with the school roundtable initiative, since the school system is not interested in a roundtable discussion. The council would like to gain consensus on school issues with other Wake County municipalities, and to do so, they will focus on the three Cary legislative agenda items, including capacity, representation (via changing 'some' seats to at-large), and taxing authority. They will work diligently to prevent this from becoming a partisan issue and will not delve into issues of free and reduced lunch, busing and spending issues. They understand that all Wake County municipalities may not support all three school issues on Cary’s legislative agenda, but they are hopeful that some consensus can be reached so that Wake County municipalities speak with a unified voice. They concurred with keeping conversations focused on school capacity issues, because municipalities approve new developments, which impact school capacity and quality of life.

Mr. Frantz hopes that one of the goals will be to create a neighborhood school philosophy, which will positively impact quality of life.

The council discussed the possibility of a county-wide survey to understand the sentiment of the citizens about these school issues. Ms. Moran stated such a survey can be done for approximately $25,000. Mr. Coleman cautioned that the Town does not have authority to expend funds on schools. He stated council may want to consider working with the Chamber on this type of initiative. No consensus was gained on this issue.

Mrs. Robison expressed her concern with this becoming a partisan issue, because Wake County elected municipal officials are nonpartisan. The council suggested not meeting with representatives of each Wake County municipality based on partisanship. Instead, a couple of Cary council members will meet individually with the various municipalities in the county and will choose elected officials who have differing opinions on the school issues. This will enable to council to determine if there is common ground county-wide on any of these issues. Mayor Weinbrecht will share his advice with the council on potential meeting invitees from the other municipalities. A representative from the Cary council will provide information to the town clerk, including the names of the officials in each municipality with whom to schedule these meetings and the names of the Cary council members who will participate in these meetings. The council would like these meetings to occur in the next four weeks, and then the Cary council member representatives will report back to the full council.

Ms. Moran stated the media is tracking the progress of the school issue. By consensus the council agreed to move forward as noted above as the next step with a unified voice.

5. Adjournment

The meeting ended at 9:10 a.m.