2005-09-19 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

417 Mr. Lynch said we seem to miss opportunities to improve water quality such as the drainage project on North Berkshire. Dr. Brown said it sounds like Council wants more discussion regarding fairness and water quality. He said the question is do we want to move forward with this type of plan to pay for federal requirements and to address problems. He said we need to give staff guidance. Mr. Lynch said he mainly reads into the plan that it is essentially a storm water CIP plan and that says that we do not put enough into it. He said his concern is that we are not seeing what beyond that we have to do. He said that is not a compelling argument. He said he is supportive of funding, but is not sure a dedicated tax is the best way. He said he may support more funding in the CIP. He said we could look at commercial properties only, and noted that they benefited more from the recent tax decrease, and the majority of them have paved parking lots. Mr. Schilling said he has had calls from constituents who say it is too onerous to pay the increasing fees and they may not be able to stay in the City. He said he does not think the allocations to neighborhoods is working well. He said we need to look at where the greatest needs are and reallocate funds. Dr. Brown asked how Mr. Schilling suggests we address unfunded mandates. Mr. Schilling said he would internally change how we provide funding and would eliminate the neighborhood allocation. Mr. Caravati said he thinks we have little choice but to move forward. He said regulations will only increase and we should count on them not being funded. He said we need a process and structure to work with or we will get caught short. He said he supports the idea but has a lot of questions. He asked what Albemarle County is doing. Ms. Riddervold said the Board of Supervisors is holding a series of work session. Mr. Caravati said the City and County could work on this together. Ms. Hamilton said she does not think we can afford to be pennywise and pound foolish with our future. She said it is not a question of whether but how. She said we should look at how we are using the money now. She said we need to put money into maintaining our infrastructure. She said she sees this as an investment, not a tax. Dr. Brown agreed with Ms. Hamilton. He said we should move forward and have a discussion on the details. He said we have $3/4 million in mandates and capital needs and we need a mechanism to strategically pay for this. He suggesting holding a work session in the fall. PUBLIC There were no matters by the public OTHER BUSINESS Mr. O'Connell briefly reviewed the City's emergency preparedness. He said there has been an attempt to work on a regional basis. He said that staff is trying to find a way to merge fire dispatch into the 911 Center that is revenue neutral. Mr. O'Connell asked if Council would like a formal report presented. Mr. Caravati said he would like a formal report. Mr. Lynch said we need to stay on top of the 800 MHz situation, and said that ought to be the first thing we tackle. Ms. Hamilton asked if 800 MHz allows different localities and services to talk to each other, and Mr. O'Connell said yes.