
{"id":10921,"date":"2010-06-10T13:44:36","date_gmt":"2010-06-10T21:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=10921"},"modified":"2010-06-10T13:45:59","modified_gmt":"2010-06-10T21:45:59","slug":"council-passes-budget-approves-library-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2010\/06\/10\/council-passes-budget-approves-library-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Council passes budget, approves library project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Kirk Ross<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>CHAPEL HILL  \u00e2\u20ac\u201d The Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously approved the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual budget Monday night then quickly pivoted to take up funding for a proposed library expansion, approving $20.41 million in bonds by a 7-2 vote.<\/p>\n<p>In its meeting at Town Hall, the council approved a bond package that includes $14.26 million for the library expansion, $2.45 million for sidewalks and other improvements and $3.75 million for parks and recreation projects.<\/p>\n<p>While the council was in general agreement with Town Manager Roger Stancil\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s $52.6 million budget for fiscal year 2010-11, council members Matt Czajkowski and Laurin Easthom said they were not willing to move ahead with financing the library expansion.<\/p>\n<p>Czajkowski said that while he was not opposed to one day expanding the library, he was worried about adding to the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tax burden. The council, he said, is constantly hearing complaints about taxes.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are storm clouds on the horizon,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Easthom said she wanted more information about the possible effect of charging non-town residents for using the library and said the project was fiscally irresponsible. She said she was concerned that once the library is expanded, there won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be funds to adequately staff the facility.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What I fear we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking at is a situation where we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have a really, really nice library, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to be able to have it open as much as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Council member Jim Ward said in response to Easthom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s concerns that the council had enough information to make a decision on the library project.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re never going to get all the information,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, adding that the favorable bond market may evaporate if the council delays the decision again.<\/p>\n<p>Voters approved a bond referendum in 2003 for the project. The council has delayed the expansion for the past two years because of concerns about the recession and an uncertain municipal-bond market. Stancil has said he believes the bond market is now more stable and that interest rates are favorable for the town.<\/p>\n<p>In saying they would vote for the project, several council members said the citizens who approved those bonds had waited long enough.<\/p>\n<p>Ward also took aim at the argument that moving ahead with the bond sale would make it difficult for the town to borrow money for any other purpose.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not tying up capital funds, we are using them for well-defined, identified and highly supported public projects,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Council member Gene Pease said as a new council member he had struggled with balancing the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s long-term interests with its short-term needs before deciding he would vote for the bonds and moving ahead with the projects.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all important to continuing to build and maintain Chapel Hill\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s long-term infrastructure,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In other action Monday night, the council delayed consideration on a proposed inclusionary zoning ordinance until its June 21 meeting. The proposal would amend the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Land Use Management Ordinance to require that nearly all future developments include affordable housing.<\/p>\n<p>The council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s current policy requires developers seeking a change in zoning for a development to set aside 15 percent of the units for affordable housing. The new rules would apply that standard in most circumstances and sets up a system whereby developers could seek greater density in projects that provide additional affordable units.<\/p>\n<p>The council also received a petition from its planning board asking for clarification on the standards and siting guidelines the board is reviewing for shelters. Members of the board and residents of neighborhoods near a proposed new Inter-Faith Council for Social Services shelter at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Homestead Road wanted to know if and how the new standards will apply to the proposed shelter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHAPEL HILL  \u00e2\u20ac\u201d The Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously approved the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual budget Monday night then quickly pivoted to take up funding for a proposed library expansion, approving $20.41 million in bonds by a 7-2 vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10921"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10924,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10921\/revisions\/10924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}