Boone Town Council
retreat review
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

It may have been a retreat, but the Boone Town Council planned to move forward at the daylong Feb. 15 meeting.

The council reviewed a departmental breakdown of priorities and needs for the upcoming year, and finance was first to present its report.

Finance
Amy Davis, director of finance, told how installation of the town’s new voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephone system was completed in December, meaning all town departments now have new phone numbers. For the time being, the old numbers will remain operational, forwarding calls to the new.

Finance’s goals for the upcoming year include increasing efficiency of billing operations, particularly by way of accepting Visa and MasterCard as methods of payment for town services, such as water and sewer service.

Boone Fire Department
Reggie Hassler, chief of the Boone Fire Department, expressed his department’s need for a new apparatus, specifically a new tower truck. The current one, he said, is now 22 years old, “and strong consideration should be made for replacement of this unit.”

If the fire department is funded $850,000 for the next fiscal year, Hassler said, “I’m afraid it won’t touch it because we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the price of trucks.”

The department is also in need of an additional facility, Hassler said, noting stations one and two are adequate to meet the town’s current needs, “but as the town grows, so does the need for an additional facility.”

As growth expands down U.S. 421 South, so does the need for fire protection in that area.

“I feel it is important to secure a piece of property for an additional station,” Hassler said in his report.

“Money has already been put aside for the down payment or purchase of property, therefore imposing little effect on the town’s budget.”

With increased service comes the need for additional personnel, as Hassler said there weren’t even enough full-time firefighters for a minimum response, meaning volunteer members must be summoned.

Development Services
Boone Development Services presented its list of accomplishments for 2007, including adding accessory housing text to the Unified Development Ordinance, meetings of the affordable housing task force, review of the appearance standards, hillside design guidelines, establishment of a historic preservation commission, creation of mixed-use districts, completion of a smart growth audit, completion of walk audits and the adoption of a university land-use agreement.

John Spear, director of Boone Development Services, said creating a land-use master plan is the primary objective for 2008, and a selection process for a consultant is currently under way by an oversight committee, with a request for qualifications having been sent out this month.

“We had a lot of interest immediately, it’s on national Web sites … and was sent out via e-mail to about a dozen consultants that do the type of urban design process charrette we’re looking for,” Spear said.

Per the council’s direction, development services will begin taking steps to foster smart growth in Boone, examining strategies specific to downtown signage and parking.

“If we’re going to look at parking specifically downtown, it would be good to do an evaluation of parking standards in general, and the same for signage,” Spear said.

Various boards will look into such manners, including the planning commission, while the affordable housing task force will pursue incentives for affordable housing, such as recommending revisions to the town’s water ordinance for fee reduction.

The community appearance commission will be involved in the development of form-based code, which would eventually replace the UDO, and the tree board will review the town’s tree preservation ordinance and create an overall forest management plan.

Boone Police Department
Bill Post, chief of the Boone Police Department, told council members six positions will be retiring in the next fiscal year, including two captains and four lieutenants.

“That’s something we’re going to be working on, so you shouldn’t notice it if we’ve done a good job in developing the folks to take over,” Post said.

Post said there are currently five patrol officers assigned to shifts, and the department will ask for additional officers to allow the flexibility to target certain hot-spots and problem areas.

The department will also ask for new radio antennas, as the current ones are strapped to the station’s chimney. The Perkinsville area has had problems with police radio reception, which Post called “a dangerous situation.”

Public Utilities
Rick Miller, director of Boone Public Utilities, said raw water alternatives continue to be his department’s top priority.

In is report, Miller said this will likely require additional raw water intakes, treatment facilities, or high-rating and expanding the existing facility.

“Funding for council’s choice of options will be expensive,” Miller admitted in his report. “However, we must be careful when acquiring it not to ignore our current and future infrastructure needs.”

As such, infrastructure and equipment needs are another major priority. “Municipalities throughout North Carolina have aging infrastructure needs that will require future attention, and Boone is no different,” Miller said in the report.

He said several improvements are needed at the water treatment plant, while additional funding is needed at the Jimmy Smith Wastewater Facility to relocate the sludge dump area, and the utilities operations division needs a new dump truck and sewer cleaner.

To fund the new equipment and improvements, Miller suggested the finance and utilities departments investigate “not just rate increases, but adjusting all our fees, including availability fees...”

The department also has space needs, in that it shares a building with Boone Public Works.

Public Works
Blake Brown, director of Boone Public Works, presented his department’s priorities, starting with the replacement of the bridge at Hunting Hills Lane, which Brown said should be placed on the N.C. Department of Transportation’s transportation improvement plan.

Federal and state funding should account for 80 percent of the project, while the town would pay for 20 percent. Brown said the process could take up to six to eight years.

Sidewalks are also a priority, specifically on N.C. 105, Deerfield Road, Poplar Grove Road, Water Street and Rivers Street. Brown estimated 2007 material costs for the projects at $336,082, though he expects it to be 5 to 10 percent higher this year.

Also regarding space, which public works shares with public utilities, Brown said extensive repairs and improvements to the building could prove to be particularly costly, and he said a “modern public works facility” is a long-range need.