INC NEWS - INC Delegate Meeting -- February 22

[pat carstensen]

The DRAFT agenda is attached.  We should vote on the yard waste issue and 
discuss the school impact fee issue.  DRAFT resolutions for both are below, 
as well.

Also, there was a correction to the January minutes -- the treasury report 
should be:
* As of 1/11/05 we have $894.28 in checking, $2224.10 in savings.

Regards, pat

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AGENDA
InterNeighborhood Council of Durham
Monthly meeting on Tuesday February 22, 2005
7-9pm in Johnson Hall
ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH (1737 HILLANDALE ROAD, at I-85)
Directions: http://mysite.verizon.net/stlukeep/findus.shtml
Refreshments are provided

Welcome and Introductions (10 min)	    Bill Anderson, President

Gang Signs (40 min)	Richard Mullinex, PAC II
How to recognize them and what to do about them


Discussion Items (30 min)
q Yard Waste	Barry Ragin / Randy Pickle
q School Impact Fees

Updates  (20 min)
q Minutes and Treasurer’s Report            	Pat  / Randy
q UDO Update
q Officer Vacancies
q Dues Due
q 20th Birthday Bash
q Other Updates or New Business

Announcements / Events (5 min)

q Court Funding Rally
q Durham Civil Rights Heritage Project – Through This Lens Gallery, Feb 27 – 
May 15
q Planning Commission Openings
q Earth Day Stream Clean Up and Other Activities – April 23

For additional information, contact Bill Anderson (688-4550 or 
TheOcean1 at aol.com)

"Only in the continuous encounter with other persons, does the person become 
and remain a person.
The place of this encounter is the community"
www.durhaminc.org

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Resolution on Legislation Allowing Durham County
To Assess School Impact Fees

Whereas:

Durham County has been seeking authority for impact fees for 14 years.

Three other counties have school impact fee authority - Orange, Chatham and 
Cabbarrus Counties.

After years of trying to obtain legislative authority for school impact 
fees, Durham County did adopt them, effective January, 2004, based on our 
County Attorney's opinion that we have authority to levy fees for essential 
services. Unfortunately, a Superior Court Judge has recently ruled that our 
action is illegal. Durham County plans to appeal his ruling.

Impact fees or an impact tax (applied to new housing) would help reduce the 
pressure on the property tax and allow people on fixed incomes (elderly) to 
stay in their homes.

Impact fees would allow us to better keep pace with growth and avoid school 
overcrowding. In fact, we will need a new middle school in the next year or 
two. We presently don't have the funding without impact fees.

The current fees are $2000 for a single family home and $1,155 for an 
apartment or townhouse. In a typical year, we expect to raise $4 - 5 Million 
for new schools. Impact fees did not reduce housing production this past 
year in Durham County. In fact the number of housing starts went up.


Resolved:

We, the members of ____The InterNeighborhood Council of Durham____, do 
strongly request the Durham Delegation to the North Carolina General 
Assembly support legislation to allow Durham County to assess school impact 
fees on new houses to provide school capital funds to keep pace with growth.


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Resolution on Yard Waste

Resolved:

We, the members of ______The InterNeighborhood Council of Durham______ 
formally requests that the City of Durham re-examine its policies on the 
collection of yard waste within the city limits. This re-examination should 
include a review of the purpose of collecting yard waste, the methods of 
collecting yard waste, and the distribution of the costs of collecting yard 
waste. Thorough examination of the practices of other municipalities, 
including cost structures and collection practices, should also be included. 
A working committee comprised of relevant city employees, department heads, 
and representatives of community organizations should conduct this review, 
and be charged with making specific recommendations to City Council as to 
how this policy should be rewritten.

The City of Durham has gradually, over the past few years, increased the out 
of pocket costs to its citizens of participating in the yard waste 
collection program by requiring the purchase of a specified yard waste cart, 
instituting an annual fee to register the required cart, increasing that 
annual fee by 20% in the current fiscal year, reducing the amount of yard 
waste that will be picked up with the payment of these required fees, and 
charging additional fees for the removal of normal amounts of yard waste.

The result of these policies has been a continued decline in participation 
in the yard waste program among Durham citizens. According to figures 
published in the Durham Herald-Sun on 20 December, 2004, approximately 
13,000 Durham households are currently participating in the program, down 
significantly from approximately 18,000 in the previous fiscal year, and 
down dramatically from the period before annual fees were instituted. The 
revenue generated by current levels of participation is lower than that 
generated in recent years, despite the increase in fees.

A search of the internet for the published yard waste collection policies of 
other North Carolina municipalities shows Durham is currently in the 
minority in both the restrictions on yard waste and the fees charged for 
picking such waste up. Although we applaud the city's efforts to encourage 
citizens to reuse as much of this material as possible, we urge the city to 
recognize that it's efforts are counterproductive. As fewer citizens 
participate in the program, more yard waste is is either dumped illegally or 
simply pushed out onto the city streets. The results are increased pollution 
in our creeks and streams, unsightly streets, and blocked storm drains, 
creating esthetic, health, and safety problems for all residents.