City Council Strategy Session

City of Charlotte Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center 600 East 4th Street Charlotte, NC 28202 Meeting Agenda Monday, January 4, 2016 CMGC, Room 267 City Council Workshop Meeting Mayor Jennifer W. Roberts Mayor Pro Tem Vi Lyles Council Member Al Austin Council Member John Autry Council Member Ed Driggs Council Member Julie Eiselt Council Member Claire Fallon Council Member Patsy Kinsey Council Member LaWana Mayfield Council Member James Mitchell Council Member Greg Phipps Council Member Kenny Smith City Council Workshop Meeting Agenda January 4, 2016 Meeting 5:00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP 1. Zoning Meeting Process Topic: Rezoning Meeting Management Resource(s): Tammie Keplinger, Planning Key Points: § Staff will present updated recommendations to streamline the rezoning meetings. § On August 24, 2015, during the City Council dinner meeting, staff presented multiple changes to the rezoning process. The presentation included possible ways to manage the often lengthy City Council rezoning meetings. City Council did not make any decisions regarding changes to the meeting format. City Council Decision or Direction Requested: City Council is asked to consider actions to streamline the rezoning meetings. 2. City Council Committee Schedule Topic: City Council Committee Schedule Resource(s): Ron Carlee, City Manager’s Office Key Points: § With the appointment of new Council Committees, there has been discussion of how to best schedule the meetings of seven of the Committees that currently meet monthly or bi-monthly: - Community Safety, - Environment, - Transportation and Planning, - Economic Development and Global Competitiveness, - Housing and Neighborhood Development, - Intergovernmental Affairs, and - Governance and Accountability. § In order to optimize Council’s time, the recommended option is to lengthen the Committee meetings to two hours, but schedule only one meeting per month. The one exception to this is the Economic Development and Global Competitiveness Committee, which would continue to meet twice a month, but for only one hour. § If necessary, given Committee Assignments, additional meetings can be added to the schedule. § The Budget Committee meetings are coordinated in alignment with the budget development process. The Retreat Planning Committee meets during December and January to plan the annual retreat. § Attached is a draft calendar that reflects the proposed schedule. City Council Decision or Direction Requested: City Council is asked to consider approval of the Committee Calendar. Council Committee Calendar_DRAFT City of Charlotte Page 2 Printed on 12/30/2015 City Council Workshop Meeting Agenda January 4, 2016 Meeting 3. City Council Retreat Committee Report Topic: City Council Retreat Committee Report Committee Chair: Kenny Smith Resource(s): Carol Jennings, City Manager’s Office Key Points: § The Retreat Planning Committee met on December 14, 2016, to discuss the 2016 Annual Retreat, to be held on January 27-29, 2016. § Committee members asked staff to research retreat venues out-of-town. § The Committee discussed location, agenda, and facilitators. § The Committee will meet again on January 4 to continue its discussion and will report its recommendation to the City Council at the Workshop that night. City Council Decision or Direction Requested: City Council is asked to consider concurrence on the Retreat Plan. City of Charlotte Page 3 Printed on 12/30/2015 City Council Workshop Meeting Agenda January 4, 2016 Meeting 4. U.S. Department of Transportation Beyond Traffic: Smart City Challenge Grant Application Action: Authorize the City Manager to submit an application and Funding Opportunity Proposal to the U.S. Department of Transportation to compete for the $40 million Beyond Traffic: The Smart City Challenge Grant. Staff Resource(s): Hyong Yi, City Manager’s Office Debra Campbell, City Manager’s Office Explanation § On December 7, 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity to cities to address the issues identified in the Beyond Traffic 2045: Trends and Choices report. § After attending the grant workshop on December 15, John Lewis, CATS Chief Executive Officer, and Darcy Everett, the City’s Sustainability Coordinator provided staff with an assessment that, despite the short timeframe, the requirement for a visionary proposal, and the “winner take all” nature of the grant, the City should submit a proposal. § The U.S. Department of Transportation has established a very aggressive schedule for submitting proposals. Final proposals must be submitted by February 4, 2016. § If City Council approves the submission of the Smart City Challenge Proposal, the City Manager’s Office will immediately lead the City’s effort to rapidly develop an innovative proposal to transform how Charlotte moves people and things in the City. § The City Manager’s Office will engage staff and several partners over the next six weeks to identify the opportunities for Charlotte. Staff will provide an additional update prior to submission. § The vision of the Smart City Challenge is to demonstrate and evaluate a holistic, integrated approach to improving surface transportation performance within a city and integrating this approach with other smart city domains, such as public safety, public services, and energy. § The U.S Department of Transportation intends for this challenge to address how emerging transportation data, technologies, and applications can be integrated with existing systems in a city to address transportation challenges. § The U.S Department of Transportation will make an award of up to $40 million for one mid-sized city that can demonstrate how advanced data and intelligent transportation systems technologies and applications can be used to reduce congestion, keep travelers safe, protect the environment, respond to climate change, connect underserved communities, and support economic vitality. Applications/Proposals § The significance of this grant opportunity is that only one winning city will receive $40 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to implement its proposed solution. There is no second place award, however five finalists will be selected after the initial grant proposal is submitted. § The U.S. Department of Transportation will issue two separate solicitations to carry out this challenge. The first solicitation, to be submitted February 4, 2016, will result in the selection of five Smart City Challenge Finalists, who will each receive $100,000 in funding to support concept development and planning activities over the course of six months. § The second solicitation, which will be released on a subsequent date, will invite the Smart City Challenge Finalists to apply for the $40 million in funding to support the implementation of their proposed model deployment over the course of three years. Fiscal Note § Funding: U.S. Department of Transportation Grant City of Charlotte Page 4 Printed on 12/30/2015 City Council Workshop Meeting Agenda January 4, 2016 Meeting § Cost sharing by the City is not required for $100,000 Concept Development awards § In the second solicitation for the $40 million Smart City Challenge award, cost sharing or matching by the City will not be required but will be encouraged. The degree of cost sharing and leveraging of non-federal funds will be considered beneficial to break ties among applications with equivalent ratings after evaluation against all other factors. 5. Urban Land Institute SouthPark Area Technical Assistance Panel Topic: Urban Land Institute SouthPark Area Technical Assistance Panel Resource(s): Ron Kimble, City Manager’s Office Debra Campbell, City Manager’s Office Ed McKinney, Planning Danny Pleasant, Transportation Sarah Hazel, City Manager’s Office Key Points: § The presentation will cover the details of conducting an Urban Land Institute (ULI) National Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) for the SouthPark Area, which continues to experience growth challenges as a strong economic engine for Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and the Region. § Topics that will be covered during the presentation include: - The on-site TAP work during the week of March 14 - March 18, 2016. An oral presentation of the expert panel’s findings will occur on Friday, March 18. - The delivery of a final report approximately 60 days later. - The amount and sources of funding to accomplish the ULI work. - The scope of work and stakeholders to be included in the Study. - The follow-up process for implementation of the Study’s adopted recommendations. City Council Decision or Direction Requested: City Council is asked to consider approval of the contract with ULI at its January 11 City Council Business Meeting. 6. Quality of Life Explorer and City Council District Online Tools Topic: Demonstration of Quality of Life Explorer and City Council District Online Tools Resource(s): Debra Campbell, City Manager’s Office Key Points: § Staff will introduce Quality of Life Explorer and City Council District online tools to City Council members, explain their features, and demonstrate how these tools complement each other. - The Quality of Life Explorer is an online tool that allows exploration of and reporting on 82 neighborhood-level indicators. This information may also be explored by City Council Districts and other approximated geographies. - The City Council District online tool allows City Council members and the public to view information about planning, including land use and zoning, public facilities, shopping, and other features by City Council district. - Both tools link to other City, County, and community resources. City Council Decision or Direction Requested: The presentation is for information only. City of Charlotte Page 5 Printed on 12/30/2015 City Council Workshop Meeting Agenda January 4, 2016 Meeting 7. Closed Session Action: Adopt a motion pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 143-318.11(a)(3) to go into closed session to consult with attorneys employed or retained by the City in order to preserve the attorney-client privilege and to consider and give instructions to the attorneys concerning the handling or settlement of City of Charlotte v. Eason Family Properties, LLC-14-CVS-5862. 7:30 P.M. CITIZENS’ FORUM - ROOM 267 City of Charlotte Page 6 Printed on 12/30/2015