2004-04-05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL CHAMBER - April 5, 2004 Council met in regular session on this date with the following members present: Mr. Caravati, Mr. Cox, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Richards, Mr. Schilling. AWARDS/RECOGNITION : Sexual Assault Awareness Month; Best Place to Live in No rth America Ranking Mr. Cox presented the Sexual Assault Awareness Month proclamation and noted that the City's is providing $22,866 to SARA and $83,761 to SHE in next year's budget. Mr. Cox announced that Charlottesville was recently ranked as the num ber one city to live in North America in a book entitled "Cities Ranked & Rated," and said we are in the process of building a distinctive world class community. Mr. O'Connell said that Charlottesville has also been recognized as one of four cities succe ssfully managing growth in a book entitled "Smart Communities." PUBLIC Mr. Charles Weber, 601 Locust Avenue, responding to a discussion with the City Manager about the budget, said he does not feel that the conclusions about shifting of state responsibi lities are convincing. He said the state contribution in 2000 was too high to use as a base. Mr. Weber presented charts to Council about expenditures. He asked that Council explain what the choices are and set the tax rate lower. Mr. John Conover, 104 W. High Street, said that there are many systems of representation. He said he served on Council when a ward system and direct election of mayor was discussed 25 years ago. He said he does not have a sense our system is broken, but feels it is better to err on the side of studying the issue. He said Council appointed a committee that studied the issue for 18 months and two referenda were held. He said the results were inconclusive and no change was made. He said he thinks the charge and structure of t he previous committee was pretty good, and recommended they be adopted again. He said there is no substantive difference between the original charge and Mr. Schilling's charge though the structure has changed. He said he thinks a little more time needs t o be given to the committee and suggested that an interim report be given in 60 days and a final report given after an additional 60 days. Ms. Wanda Cabell, representing Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) asked for an increase of 5.4% for the Mary Wil liams Senior Center. She presented a letter signed by 20 members of the Center supporting the funding. CONSENT AGENDA Mr. Schilling presented amendments to the minutes and the minutes were removed from the consent agenda. Mr. Caravati requested that C ouncil and staff look at the zoning ordinance language regarding notifying adjacent neighborhoods to make sure it is clearly outlined in the ordinance. Mr. Lynch removed the ordinance amending the tax relief program from the consent agenda. On motion b y Mr. Caravati, seconded by Mr. Lynch, the following consent agenda items were approved by the following vote. Ayes: Mr. Caravati, Mr. Cox, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Richards, Mr. Schilling (except he voted no on the Historic Survey Grant appropriation for the reas ons stated at the last meeting). Noes: None (except Mr. Schilling who voted no on the Historic Survey Grant appropriation. nd APPROPRIATION a. : $20,000 - Historic Survey Grant (2 reading)