Agenda - 12-01-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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rd 1 Mayor Lavelle asked if the water and sewer infrastructure target is for all ten years. 2 Steve Brantley said those categories represent the framework for what was voted on. 3 He said staff worked with the planning and inspections department, which was a chief 4 participant in prioritizing water and sewer. 5 Mayor Lavelle said she is trying to understand if this means there is roughly $400,000 - 6 $500,000 for the remaining 7 years. She is trying to see how this projects out over the ten 7 years. 8 Steve Brantley said there is a huge demand in several categories, but there were certain 9 categories where reserves had built up. He said he is trying to find ways to get all of the 10 categories engaged so that nothing is unused. He said there are individuals who can explain 11 more details of the charts. 12 Alderman Chaney asked about the size and deployment rate of the small business loan 13 funds. 14 Steve Brantley said $200,000 annually would be the equivalent of making 4 maximum 15 size loans in a calendar year. He said the program allows for 5 year term loans of up to 16 $50,000, and there are a few borrowers who do this. He said when the recession hit, there was 17 some difficulty in finding applicants. He said staff has tried to find ways to expand knowledge of 18 the program and increase demand. He said there have been some policies and procedures 19 that have been amended to allow lending to non - profits, and remove some questions related to 20 probation issues, and this was at the request of the Commissioners. 21 Alderman Chaney asked how much has not been deployed for this program. 22 Steve Brantley said $360,000 in funds is kept in the bank, and the origin of this is the 23 movement of money from the Visitor's Bureau fund balance into the small business loan 24 program in 2011. He said this was the seed money, and the article 46 funds are there for use 25 after the seed money is depleted. 26 Alderman Chaney said the town also has a lot of undeployed money, and they are 27 struggling with demand too. She said if there are questions of how these funds are being 28 allocated, maybe staff should take a look at the assets in the small business loan program 29 within the County as a whole to see if these funds are being used efficiently. She said perhaps 30 the funds could be combined to create a niche to meet different markets or the amount in the 31 funds could be reduced and this money could be used them elsewhere. 32 Alderman Gist asked if the small business loan program is working directly with 33 LAUNCH. 34 Steve Brantley said LAUNCH is a prospect and an incubator. He said the goal is to find 35 promising entrepreneurial prospects that could be considered for a small grant as well as for a 36 loan. He said many of the LAUNCH companies have been so successful at raising venture 37 capital that they have not needed the funds. 38 Alderman Gist said the aldermen hear different but true things in Carrboro. She said 39 those who want to build residential say there is very little demand for commercial, but 40 businesses say there is no affordable place to rent, so they take their business to other cities. 41 She said maybe what is being learned through the small business program can be applied to 42 the development and approval process with new mixed use development. She said perhaps 43 there needs to be a requirement of a certain percentage of affordable office and commercial 44 space in new mixed use developments. She would like for this to be considered. 45 Steve Brantley said there is an 18,000 square foot office building sitting next to the old 46 Orange County Health Department. He said this is a great space for offices and incubator type 47 tenants. 48 Alderman Gist said maybe this needs to be marketed more as a small business startup 49 center.