Dear Chamber member,

We recently updated our Government Matters database so you may be receiving this newsletter for the first time. For a little background, Government Matters is a monthly publication of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber that keeps you up-to-date with recent activity in local, state and federal government. If you would like more information about the Chamber’s government relations activities, please contact me directly using the information below.

Late January and early February has been a busy time for our community. The Innovation Center, a business accelerator at Carolina North, was approved in late January though it is doubtful construction will begin soon. In Carrboro, the Board of Aldermen met to discuss priorities for the coming year and focused on ways to help local businesses and non-profits. Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy, in his state of the community address, emphasized the importance of a sales tax increase as a revenue source for regional transit. One bright spot to report is that national retail sales were up in January for the first time in six months.

If you are interested in becoming more involved in the Chamber, I encourage you to attend our newly created Economic Development and Public Policy Committee, which meets every other month and is a source for actionable information about our local economy and government. The Committee is off to a fast start this year currently focused on improving the regulatory environment and a yearlong “Buy Local” campaign. Our next committee meeting will be March 11 from 8-9:30 a.m. at the Chamber of Commerce.

Sincerely,

Adam Klein
Vice President, Economic Development and Government Relations
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce
aklein@carolinachamber.org
(919) 357-9988

Aldermen Identify Priorities
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen brainstormed priorities for the coming year at its retreat early this month. The Board talked about increasing aid to nonprofits and controlling taxes, among other things. In terms of the budget, Mayor Mark Chilton said sales tax revenues in Carrboro were flat, which was a bright sign in this economy. The Mayor also said the Town would adjust its property tax rate down to ensure a revenue neutral rate after the latest property revaluation. Board members will review the priorities and ideas at a work session on March 10. For the full story from the Carrboro Citizen, click here.

Foy Pushes for Regional Transit Funding
Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy made a strong push for regional transit in his annual state of the town report last Monday. Mayor Foy said regional transit is needed “for our economic health in the future, for our environmental health in the future and, frankly, for our sanity in the future, because we can’t continue to get on Interstate 40 to get around.” The Mayor plugged the half cent sales tax and urged residents in the Triangle to get behind the tax in order to partially fund the system. The remaining funds would come from the Federal government. Mayor Foy also encouraged supporting local businesses and applauded the collaboration between Town and University officials during Halloween and the relocation of the homeless shelter. For the full story from the Carrboro Citizen, click here.

Downtown Partnership Recommends Parking Tweaks
Last Wednesday, the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership Board developed a series of recommendations for the Town Council regarding parking downtown. The recommendations were based on a study by Rich & Associates and include initiating “courtesy tickets” for first-time offenders in the downtown and a 50 percent increase in on-street parking rates to 25 cents per 10 minutes. The increased rate is designed to encourage the use of parking decks which cost $1.30 per hour and would also boost revenues from $250,000 to $375,000. The courtesy ticket would mean a decrease in revenues for the town but would improve visitor perceptions about parking in the community. For the full story from the Herald Sun, click here.

Carrboro Merchants Launch WalkCarrboro.com
Jesse Kalisher, president of the Carrboro Merchants Association, has led a new effort to draw residents and tourists to 22 Carrboro businesses through a Web site called www.walkcarrboro.com. The Web site lists various Carrboro businesses and also includes a map helping people navigate the town and parking. Beyond the site, Kalisher printed 10,000 copies of the map, which was designed by Carrboro artist Richard Clout. For the full story from the Chapel Hill News, click here.

Planning Board Petitions Council over Site Plan Process
The Chapel Hill planning board brought a petition before the Town Council at a January 12 meeting regarding their concern over developers “subverting” the site plan approval process. Essentially, the planning board wants to tighten the requirements for developments that would be subject to the site plan approval process. Projects with a floor area of less than 20,000 square feet and that disturb less than 40,000 square feet of land are currently allowed to go through the site plan process and not be subject to Council approval. The planning board’s initial petition proposed cutting those figures in half, thus requiring more projects to go through the lengthier special use permitting process. The petition was referred to town staff for comment and the Chamber is working to set up a meeting with staff to provide input on what, if any, changes would occur.
From staff notes

Water Partnership Inches Closer
Orange County Commissioners moved closer to joining the Jordan Lake Regional Water Supply Partnership, electing to place a draft memorandum of understanding for the Partnership on an upcoming agenda. The Partnership brings together the cities of Durham and Cary, Chatham County, Orange County and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority to jointly address water supply planning, future allocation requests, and a possible future intake facility. Commissioners expressed some reservation that the City of Durham would act as the lead agency in the effort and that no elected officials would be part of the partnership management team. The Commissioners will vote on the draft memorandum on Tuesday night. For the full story from the Herald Sun, click here.

Town Council Nixes Branch Library Expansion
At last Monday’s Chapel Hill Town Council meeting, Council members voted 8-1 to continue with a $16 million expansion of the library on Estes Drive. Town Manager Roger Stancil asked the Council at the meeting whether it wanted to reconsider alternatives to the expansion but Council members felt now was not the time to consider a new library. The Chamber spoke in support of reconsidering a library in the downtown as it would bring more people into the downtown business district. For the full story form the News and Observer, click here.

Innovation Center Approved
The first building of Carolina North, the Innovation Center, was unanimously approved by the Chapel Hill Town Council. The Innovation Center will take University research ideas and turn them into businesses. University officials were pressed by Town elected officials to commit to energy efficiency standards beyond what is currently recognized by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Prior to the meeting, UNC committed to making the Innovation Center 20 percent more efficient than ASHRAE standards but eventually agreed to make it 25 percent more efficient. For the full story from the Herald Sun, click here.

Glen Lennox Plans Starting From Scratch
Last Sunday, developers with Grubb Properties met with Glen Lennox residents for a facilitated discussion about future development at Glen Lennox. Residents in the area are seeking to become Chapel Hill’s seventh neighborhood conservation district and protect the neighborhood’s walkability and tree-lined streets. Grubb Properties, owner of Glen Lennox, says it has scrapped original plans for the site and is taking citizen feedback and comment into consideration as they form new plans for redevelopment. For the full story from the Chapel Hill News, click here.

The Triangle Region

Durham County School Funding Cut
Durham County Manager Mike Ruffin and School Superintendant Carl Harris reached an agreement at the end of January to cut $3 million in funding for Durham schools. The $3 million total is a three percent cut for the schools and is consistent with a three percent reduction in funding for noncounty agencies. The cuts at schools will not affect classrooms; the schools are expecting to use $2.7 million from uncommitted state lottery funds and another $400,000 earmarked for capital projects. For the full story from the News and Observer, click here.

Durham Transit Center Set to Open
After celebrating the opening of the Durham Performing Arts Center at the end of 2008, Durham is ready to celebrate the opening of its new Transit Center on Sunday. The station, a two-story, 10,000 square foot building, is a $17.6 million investment. City officials are working with Duke University to link buses between campus and the station. This summer, a new Amtrak station will open a few blocks from the transit station. For the full story from the News and Observer, click here.

Raleigh Crime Up
A preliminary report by the FBI shows that crime was up in Raleigh during the first six months of 2008 compared to that same period in 2007. The statistics show a 12 percent increase in violent crime and a 2 percent rise in property crime. These figures buck nationwide trends that showed a 3.5 percent drop in violent crime and a 2.5 percent decrease in property crime. The FBI report did not provide information about Durham but early indications from the city show violent crime up a bit while property crime declined. Some leaders believe the increase in crime in Raleigh can be attributed to the 3.3 percent population increase that occurred during 2007-2008. For the full story from the News and Observer, click here.

Raleigh Home Prices Down
New data from real estate company Zillow show that Raleigh home prices dipped by 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Since a high of $209,204 in first quarter of 2008, median home values have dropped to $199,365 in the last quarter. Ten percent of all transactions in Raleigh were on foreclosed homes, compared to 20 percent nationwide. About 62 percent of homes in Raleigh have lost value this year according to Zillow. For the full story from the Triangle Business Journal, click here.

State and Federal Government News

Congressman Price to Host Meetings in Durham and Chapel Hill
U.S. Congressman David Price announced last week that he will be holding three “Town Hall” meetings in the Triangle this week. Tonight (2/16), Congressman Price will hold a meeting at the Durham Main Library from 7-8:30pm and on Thursday from 7-8:30pm at the Southern Human Services Building in Chapel Hill. The purpose of the meetings will be to give constituents an overview of what’s happening in Congress and field questions. For more information, visit www.price.house.gov.

Retail Sales Up in January
After six consecutive months of decline, national retail sales increased by one percent in January. The Commerce Department reported that sales excluding automobiles rose 0.9 percent from December. It is too early to tell but the one percent rise could be signs of resilience among consumers; economists predicted a 0.8 percent decline in January. However, compared to January 2008, sales were still off by 9.7 percent. According to Julia Coronado, an economist with Barclays Bank, “Consumers had cut back so sharply over the previous quarter that there was some pent-up demand on the sidelines.” For the full story from the New York Times, click here.

State Incentives Program May Be Revamped
State lawmakers recently authorized drafting legislation that would radically transform a longstanding business tax credit program and lower the corporate income tax. The William S. Lee tax credit program has been in existence for 13 years and a study published by UNC shows that during 2001-2006 companies receiving major incentives from the program disappointingly added jobs at the same or slower rate than the statewide average. A Joint House/Senate Incentives Committee has been examining the report and is now creating a new bill that would gut the program and pump more money into the Jobs Development Industrial Grant (JDIG) program which rewards employers based on the number of jobs they create. For the full story from the Triangle Business Journal, click here.

Links to Local Government Agendas

Chapel Hill Town Council Agenda

Advisory Boards and Commissions

Chapel Hill

Carrboro

Orange County