By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen sent its final set of budget recommendations to Town Manager Steve Stewart, adding a health care stipend for part-time workers and rejecting a compromise over fees for the Town Commons.
fter lengthy discussions at Town Hall Tuesday night, the board agreed to add a $1,500 stipend for its seven part-time employees. Several board members said they did not feel they could support adding the employees to the town’s insurance, something Stewart had warned might make it difficult in future health care plan negotiations.
Alderman Joal Hall Broun said she reluctantly supported the stipend, but would have preferred that it be done in the context of an overall look at the town’s benefits package.
Alderman Jacquie Gist said she felt the issue was too important to not do something.
The addition, which will cost the town about $10,500 annually, could add roughly one-tenth of a cent to the proposed 2.86-cent tax increase. The increase would mean an additional $58 on the annual tax bill for a $200,000 home.
The board approved the plan on a 4 to 3 vote with aldermen John Herrera, Joal Hall Broun and Alex Zaffron voting against adding the stipend.
The other major sticking point in the budget — changing the fees for registering to use the Town Commons — was unresolved by night’s end, leaving the prospect that the current system will stay intact and leaving supporters of the Really Free Market contemplating their next move.
The group, which holds a giveaway event at the Commons on the first Saturday of each month, had hoped to see the $100 fee waived. The town had offered to open up the market for free reservations every Sunday afternoon and lower the regular reservation rate to $75. But after some residents who participated in the market said they didn’t think Sunday would work, the board voted 4 to 3 to reject the change in rates and scheduling plans for the Commons.
Organizers of the Really Free Market have said they may move the event if the $100 fee remained in place.
Mayor Mark Chilton said he was disappointed in the outcome.
“This amounts to a cancellation of the Really Free Market, if you ask me,†he said after the vote.
Stewart is expected to present a budget ordinance for a vote next week. By law, the town must adopt a balanced budget by July 1, 2007.
In other action Tuesday night, the board received an update on plans for a new fire station on Homestead Road near the new Winmore development.
Architect Ken Newell briefed the board on the site constraints on the 1.6-acre parcel the town is leasing from the university for a dollar a year. At a recent public meeting on the station, residents expressed concern over losing some of the natural features on the site, especially a 200-year-old holly tree near Homestead Road. Newell said that safety concerns as well as the added cost and difficulty in protecting the tree during grading may require taking the tree down.
Kathy Buck, a landscape designer and member of the Village Project, said she would have liked to have seen a more intensive discussion of options at the public discussion last month.
“I want to be absolutely sure that all of the ways you can design on that site have been looked at,†she said. “Costs are important, but they shouldn’t be the only driving factor.â€
Ken Moore, who recently retired as assistant director of the North Carolina Botanical Garden, urged the town to be creative in looking at the design. Noting the town’s desire for a “green†building, Moore said the first consideration of green building is working with the site.
Alderman Randee Haven-O’Donnell suggested finding a modular way to accommodate the fire truck bays, offices and living quarters.
Plans now call for a single building with drive-through bays, offices and kitchen and living quarters for fire crews and a police substation.
Several board members said that budget constraints would likely mean the town will choose a steel-framed building, which would mean that a two-story design would not be possible.
The board agreed to hold another information session at the fire station site sometime in June.
Also on Tuesday night, the board:
• Amended the privilege license fees, dropping the cost for businesses with less than $25,001 down to $25;
• Adopted a plan to set up a town Greenways Commission;
• Set a June 26 public hearing for the 96-unit Ballentine subdivision on Old N.C. 86;
• Set a public hearing for June 26 on a conditional use permit for a proposed five-story commercial building at 208 East Main Street as the first phase of major redevelopment of East Main.
•Approved a request from the Carrboro Farmers’ Market to allow beer and wine samples on the Town Commons during the market;
• Delayed a decision on rules for development in the proposed Downtown Livability Area until the board’s next meeting on June 11.