CH Town Manager Contract Renewed
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Friend
Chapel Hill Town Manager Roger Stancil will remain in office until 2017, according to his recent contract extension.
Roger Stancil
The Chapel Hill News reports that the Town Council unanimously approved the extension on Monday in a closed session meeting. The decision also approves a three-percent pay increase, as all town employees received this year.
In early September, eleven Chapel Hill residents submitted a petition to the Council asking it to hold Stancil and town staffers accountable for “apparent fiscal mismanagement”.
STORY: Petitioners Question Chapel Hill Town Manager’s Spending
Chapel Hill resident Tom Henkel delivered the petition. He said he’s seen a pattern of over-reliance on outside consultants and a failure to rein in costs for their services. He cites the Central West Small Area planning process as a recent example.
Stancil responded to the petition saying he’s proud of the “consistent and transparent reporting of budget matters”. He said financial updates are given to the public and Council periodically throughout the year and are always available through the Town’s website.
STORY: Roger Stancil Responds To Allegations Of Financial Mismanagement
Henkel said the town should consult with experts from UNC instead of outside experts.
However, Stancil said annual independent audits show the continued commitment to proper financial management.
Henkel also noted that the Town Manager’s administrative budget increased by 45 percent over the past five years, while spending for street repair and new vehicles dropped by 25 percent.
Despite these allegations, the Council showed its complete support of Stancil with Monday’s unanimous vote.
http://chapelboro.com/news/local-government/ch-town-manager-contract-renewed/
CHTC To Discuss Development Agreements Vs. Special Use Permits
CHAPEL HILL – Monday, the Chapel Hill Town Council will consider a process for evaluating which long-term projects would benefit from development agreements instead of Special Use Permits.
To date, the town has only ever used the development agreement process once, to create long-term guidelines for UNC’s Carolina North Campus.
But town staffers say three major projects in the works now could benefit from the planning tool, which they say allows the council greater leeway in negotiating with developers.
The Glen Lennox redevelopment, Obey Creek and Orange County’s expansion of the Southern Human Services Center are all potential candidates for development agreements. The council will review a process suggested by the town manager to evaluate which of the projects are ready to move forward.
The council will also take public comment on a number of Federal housing grants. Earlier this month Town Manager Roger Stancil told the council much of that funding is up in the air due to sequestration.
The council meets at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at Town Hall.
Agenda
http://chapelboro.com/news/chtc-to-discuss-development-agreements-vs-special-use-permits/
Planning Board Chair Responds To Call For Resignation
CHAPEL HILL – Chapel Hill Planning Board Chair Del Snow says she’s not going anywhere despite a second call for her resignation.
“Quite honestly, I don’t want to get into a battle of words with Mr. Pease over this,” Snow says. “So, I guess I’m not going to go through it like a teacher correcting an essay. If other people want to point out his errors, he can discuss it with them.”
She says the errors can be found in a letter Town Council member Gene Pease wrote to Snow in response to a letter she previously wrote to the Council. She says the letter expressed the concerns the Planning Board had over last week’s approval of the Bicycle Apartments.
“They’re not just my opinions, and to suggest somehow I can influence a very self-confident group of diverse people is silly,” Snow says. “These are people all appointed by the council and they’re professional.”
Pease responded to her letter with a lengthy reaction that ended in a call for her resignation.
“I waited and this thing was festering with me,” Pease says. “The email she sent last week just kind of was the tipping point I guess. I felt I needed to speak up.”
Snow says the points he addressed in his response were not completely correct.
“I thought it was unfortunate, but I will leave that to other people to discuss with him,” Snow says. “There were errors in there, but as far as I know, the Planning Board decided on their own not particularly under my leadership.”
The main concern Pease addressed was the fact that he does not believe Snow can correctly serve as the Planning Board chair when she is suing the Town over another development.
In late October, residents of Chapel Hill sued the Town over the Charterwood project—which abuts Snow’s property—after the Council approved the development in September. The lawsuit stated that the Superior Court of Orange County should review the Town’s decision and that the development would be an inconvenience to its neighbors.
“Just because I’m pursuing my legal rights in a case along with other people that I am not in charge of, and I did not vote, I recused myself, it doesn’t mean I’m not qualified and impartial in other cases,” Snow says.
And, she says the lawsuit is not an opinion-based concern.
“The lawsuit against the Town is based on procedural errors,” Snow says. “It’s certainly worse to approve a case through errors in procedure than anything else.”
Snow says her time on the Planning Board is not spent inserting personal opinion, but instead reviewing the facts about the individual developments.
“I would say that I evaluate applications based on their specific merits,” Snow says.
Snow says she will continue to serve as chair until her term expires in June. She will then have two more years on the Planning Board.
To see the letters and hear comments from Pease,
click here.
http://chapelboro.com/news/planning-board-chair-responds-to-call-for-resignation/
Second Public Official Says CH Planning Board Chair Should Resign
CHAPEL HILL – Yet another public official has asked for the resignation of Chapel Hill Planning Board Chair Del Snow.
“I feel the chair of the Planning Board has stepped over the line of suing the Town over a development agreement that she disagrees with,” Chapel Hill Town Council member Gene Pease says. “I think it’s inappropriate and I don’t think she can be unbiased in her decision making in future developments while there’s a pending lawsuit where she’s one of the leaders in the lawsuit and organizing the neighborhood.”
In response to a letter by Snow to the Council asking why the Bicycle Apartments were not delayed further in a vote last week, Pease replied with a letter stating her personal opinions too often make way into the Town’s planning decisions.
“I don’t have an issue with any advisory board or commission member disagreeing or not agreeing to any kind of development agreement,” Pease says. “I don’t have any issue with a citizen suing somebody or the Town over a disagreement. I think those are all our rights.”
In late October, residents of Chapel Hill sued the Town over the Charterwood project—which abuts Snow’s property—after the Council approved the development in September. The lawsuit stated that the Superior Court of Orange County should review the Town’s decision and that the development would be an inconvenience to its neighbors.
Pease says as a member of the Planning Board, and especially the chair of the Board, it’s hard for him to see how she can be a part of that lawsuit.
“I’m not comfortable with not speaking up on it,” Pease says. “I think there’s an ethical line that’s been crossed. The essence of my email back to her (Monday) was to ask her to resign her position on the Planning Board.”
He says he feels it’s important to understand how far is too far.
“I don’t have an issue with any other Planning Board member unless they’re a participant in a lawsuit on a development issue against the Town,” Pease says.
Snow’s letter regarding the Bicycle Apartments stated that the Council brought up “legitimate concerns” about the project that should have been answered with “fact-based data” but instead were overlooked and the development was approved.
However, Pease stated multiple times in his response that “fact-based data” has often been a request from Snow. He says that term is often misused “by amateurs trying to sway an argument that is primarily based on their personal bias.” He added that “in our town the term has been greatly overused.”
“They use a word about not being against development, but being for smart development,” Pease says. “When I talked to them about being able to define that, I can’t get a clear definition of what they mean.”
He says these requests often don’t leave any options to further Town development.
“They don’t want our taxes raised,” Pease says. “They don’t want our services cut. But yet there’s a group in town that consistently rallies citizens and close neighborhoods to speak out against development. I can’t figure out how to have the balance in town we need.”
In late December, former council member and current Orange County Commissioner Penny Rich wrote a letter to Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt stating Snow should hand in her resignation.
Click here to read the full story.
Snow had appeared before the Board of Commissioners earlier in the month to voice her objections to the County bus and rail plan. In doing so, she identified herself as the Planning Board chair and cited the Board’s opinions on long-range transportation planning.
Rich argued this amounted to an over-reach of power, but Mayor Kleinschmidt appeared at the next Planning Board meeting to clear the air of the conversations he said were occurring through local media instead of face to face.
Mayor Kleinschmidt stated it was perfectly fine to have an opinion, and fine to credential oneself when the time is appropriate. However, he made it clear that the Planning Board is an advisory board and that the final say goes to the Council.
Click here to read the full story.
Pease says he’s had this concern for some time, but it wasn’t his place to speak up during the conversation over Snow’s visit to Orange County. He says since he wasn’t at the meeting, he didn’t have first-hand knowledge of what took place.
“I waited and this thing was festering with me,” Pease says. “The email she sent last week just kind of was the tipping point I guess. I felt I needed to speak up.”
Regardless of the Mayor’s comments and what role Snow says she is able to play on the Planning Board, Pease says he doesn’t see her performing that role properly anymore.
“I’m not at all complaining or it bothers me that we got sued,” Pease says. “That’s the right of somebody to do that. But to be part of the development process, I don’t know how somebody that’s suing us could be unbiased in future recommendations to the council and that’s where I think an ethical line’s been drawn.”
Snow was not available for comment on the matter Monday evening.
Click here to read Del Snow’s letter to the Town Council.
Click here to read Gene Pease’s response to Snow.
http://chapelboro.com/news/second-public-official-says-ch-planning-board-chair-should-resign/
