Minutes 03-26-2015 - Town of Chapel Hill

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cost is $5.7 million for 3.5 miles of sewer. She said this does not include private plumbing costs, easement acquisitions, and connection fees. She said the anticipated timeline is at least two years, starting with engineering plans with design and permitting in FY 2016 at a cost of$370,000. She said this would be followed by construction bids and the construction itself in FY 2017-2018. Commissioner porosin asked if there is any possibility of moving this forward expeditiously. Mary Darr said there is a 10 month design period. She said parallel to that is an easement acquisition process of undetermined time. She said that work can begin as soon as design and permits were secured. Commissioner porosin said this is a long drawn out process. He said there are no surprises, and the community desires the project. He asked if there is any way to expedite the process, including paying a higher cost, if necessary. Chair McKee said maybe the Managers and OWASA can talk about this and bring back information back to the Boards. 4. Economic Development Potential for Ephesus/Fordham Development Proiect Update Mayor Kleinschmidt said in 14 years on the Council they have approved one project that got built in this district. Dwight Bassett said they are in final stages of securing easements, and the project is at 90 percent plan stage. He said comments have been taken from Department of Transportation (DOT) and the plans are being revised. He said the only thing that will prevent meeting the June 2015 first phase bidding deadline is entering a municipal agreement with the North Carolina DOT. He said a scope for phase two has been negotiated for the roadway systems. He said they will initiate that contract in the coming weeks. He said two projects are pending along with several other smaller ones. He said a larger project being worked on is extending Elliot Road, and this is in the very early stages. Mayor Kleinschmidt said two of the three projects are 100 percent retail. Commissioner Price asked for clarification on Chapel Hill's definition of affordable housing in this district. Mayor Kleinschmidt said Chapel Hill did not abandon their commitment to affordable housing when they re-zoned this district. He said it is not a simple answer. He said the Town will take a district wide approach to affordable housing rather than a building by building approach. He said the Town committed to 30 percent affordable housing, which will be achieved in two ways. He said the first part will leverage the town's resources to provide for an affordable housing site. He said this is being done through an on-going application with DHIC on the north eastern part of the district. He said the second part is an incentive package built into the zone laid on the western side of Elliot Road. He said this goal is the highest affordable housing goal that they have ever had in a single housing project. Commissioner Price asked if it is more of the work force housing or lower income. Mayor Kleinschmidt said if you want to live in Chapel Hill, it is important to make sure there is a safe, quality place for you to afford to live. He said that means that their Planning Department has been reorganized to have efforts to develop strategies for affordable rental housing targeting 30 to 60 percent income earners. He said there is a long term program with the Home Trust targeting 80 percent income earners for home ownership, which is the most successful of its kind in the nation. He said that innovative approaches are being developed that accommodate state laws prohibiting rental caps. He said this includes creative ideas to inspire private developers to