By Beth Mechum, Staff Writer
Chapel Hill – Due to weather issues, the Chapel Hill Town Council was unable to complete its 2010 retreat, but council members agree the work that did get accomplished was positive.
“We liked the quality of work that we did, but we’d like to have time to finish,†council member Gene Pease said.
The retreat was originally scheduled for two full days, Jan. 29-30, but was rescheduled to shortened days for Feb. 28 and March 1 because of snowfall at the end of January.
The main points of emphasis at the two days of retreat were the successes and failures of 2009, town finances and the fiscal 2011 budget plan and the council’s goals for 2010.
The six 2010 goals were very similar to those of 2009: stewarding organizational development; championing downtown; continued focus on land use, transit and development; maintaining and improving community facilities and services; improving the town’s fiscal condition and planning for Carolina North.
Each of these goals was further devolved into action steps on how to complete them. For example, stewarding organizational development (which Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt would rather refer to as “changing the way the government worksâ€) calls for “learning from Carolina North experience to strengthen collaboration with UNC.â€
Goals and action steps were discussed in detail and at length, leaving some of the goals to be discussed at some later, as-yet-undetermined date.
The goal of continuing to focus on land use was not discussed, as it was deemed too complex for the amount of time, available and planning ahead for Carolina North was left out due to time constraints.
Pease said the council decided the most important issues this year were economic development initiatives, including affordable housing and ways to maintain services without increasing taxes.
“The whole budget process is high-interest, it’s clear that the citizens don’t want a tax increase, and we’re going to be working on and struggling on trying to make that happen,†Pease said.
There were both calm and heated discussions between council members, with one of the most heated involving the ongoing library issue. Two of the most spirited debaters were Kleinschmidt and his former mayoral opponent, Matt Czajkowski.
The debate is centered around when to decide whether to use the $16 million in bonds approved by the voters in 2003. Kleinschmidt suggests making a decision soon, while Czajkowski would rather wait until June, when the budget is finalized.
Pease said the council expects to make some decisions on moving forward by the end of March. He also said that the library issue was probably as emotional as it got at his first retreat as a council member.
“We’re learning to work together in a very positive and polite, respectful manner, and we don’t all agree on everything, which is a good thing for the town to have diversity of opinion.â€