All right we will we're now on item number 38 2024 General obligation Bond referendum and we will receive the report Mr Mayor mayor Not a name misspelling - appears to be audio artifact and council members my name is John ree I the debt administrator within the finance department the purpose of this public hearing is for the 2024 General obligation Bond referendum which is financing for General Capital Improvement program projects the public hearing is required by State Statute and all notifications have been made and are on file for review the key points to be made are if adopted this referendum requires voter approval on November 5th 2024 the proposed referendum consists of two Bond orders totaling $200 million the first bond order is $85 million for parks of which 4 $43 million is for the former Wheels fund Park and 42 million for East End Long Meadow Parks bond order number two is 115 million for streets and sidewalks of which 60 million is for new sidewalks 30 million for supplemental Street Paving 15 for.
Supplemental sidewalk repairs and 10 million for unpaved roads all debt activities of this type and size require State approval and we have submitted applications to the local government commission back on May 31st following the public hearing other actions requiring approval are adopting the first bond order issuing $85 million in general obligation Park and Recreation bonds adopting a bond order authorizing the issuance of $115 million in general obligation Street and sidewalk bonds and three adopting a resolution setting a special bond referendum for November 5th 2024 appreciate your consideration and welcome any questions you may have all right you've heard the staff report colleagues are there any questions before we officially open the public hearing if none I will now declare this public hearing open and I do have some speakers online I'll start there let's see Danielle Danielle Not a target name can you hear me yes thank you welcome you have three minutes thank you my name is Danielle doen I'm a resident of Durham and representing a coalition.
Of neighbors who live around the five City Park Parks contaminated with lead and other dangerous contamination those are East End East Durham Northgate lion Park and Walltown Parks I'd like to address the $85 million Parks bond which includes 42 million for much needed improvements to Long Meadow and East End Parks I have a couple of concerns though that I urge Council to seek out a diff additional information about before moving forward the project budgets that were shared at the March 2024 work session were lacking meaningful detail the parks Bond alone is 85 million that's a lot of money and community members who may be paying all of that back deserve to better understand how that money will be spent especially with attention to safe and thorough remediation to the East End Park contamination here's what I understand based on the work session documents 5.5 million is budgeted for engineering and AR fees another 200,000 for public art and then there's a big vague budget category of $36 million for construction which it's noted includes.
Escalation and contingency if I were deciding whether to fund this project like Durham residents will be asked to do on Election Day if you all pass it I would require much greater detail and transparency before knowing if that is the right amount and the proper planning and discussions have taken place to ensure that something as critical as the health of residents around cleaning up the lead and other contamination present in East End Park is has thoroughly been discussed and planned for it's not enough for it to be a part lumped into the contingency when it's something we understand very well I believe city council members and Parks and Rec staff members will be familiar with soil testing results for all all five parks and I urge you all to review this closely again if needed to do some preliminary costing and planning for what's needed I urge Council to seek additional assurances from Parks and Rec Recreation and I'd like to request that Council requests with immediate priority that the public has sufficient detail as.
To the use of the 36 million marked for construction fees and contingencies Le and other contamination cannot be considered contingency given that the city is keenly aware of the existing levels of lead Arsenic and cobal contamination clean up planning and budgeting is too important to leave for later after the bond is passed the city can use the hundreds of pages of soil study results available now to determine if the project can be accomplished and completed 85 million allotted for this thank you so much all right next I have Chris Christine Not a target name yes hello hello welcome you have three minutes great good evening all thank you mayor and city council sorry my name is Christine Not a target name and I am both a Durham resident and the environmental justice coordinator with the North Carolina conservation Network I'm speaking today on the Parks and Recreation Bond part of this project as noted proposes to build a new swimming pool in East End Park we also.
Know that East End Park is one of the five Durham Parks affected by lead and other contaminants due to the history of the site I'd like to highlight some questions and concerns for the council one being how will the city ensure that residents are not impacted by the contaminated soil being disturbed making the particles born and increasing exposure risk and second in addition to this proposed investment the city will have to fund future remediation at the East End Park in light of the contamination will that end up being another Bond rep requests put to voters and how will the city ensure funds for the remediation plan to be vetted by community members at that stage of the project are delineated from the total amount earmarked for East End forward to hearing more about how the city plans to manage the improvements at Long Meadow and East End which have been a long time coming for community members with necessary precautions to keep the community safe from exposure to contamination thank you for your time thank.
You and next I have Phoebe Not a target name good evening so you can all hear me right yes welcome we can hear you great L you have three minutes okay great my name is Phoebe Not a target name I want to just thank all the Community folks who came out to speak tonight ahead of me on on this issue and others and just it's this is how we hold accountability for all of us we bring our voices to the table and we are all here to create a safe and healthier Durham so I'm a resident of Durham a parent I'm a farmer in addition to sewering and organic farm in Durham I work for toxic free North Carolina with a mission to advocate for policies that protect people from toxic chemicals and so we've been organizing alongside community group members like a couple of who spoke just before me now advocating for the proper remediation of the five Durham parks that have been that have been found to be.
Contaminated by lead and other toxics and So speaking on this parks Bond you know we know East End is one of the the five Parks affected and by these dangerous levels of lead and other contamination and so just to break down a little bit of this North Carolina DEQ Department of Environmental Quality report if you don't know according to the combination of sampling done by Duke midatlantic and DEQ a quarter of the park or 416 grids sampled had elevated levels of lead that's greater than 200 parts per million which is the limit set by the EPA of these four grids one also has reduced soil cover of less than 12 in another four grids had reduced soil cover without elevated lead and we don't know yet about the other metals in this park yet from DEQ and just to say according to the Mid-Atlantic report the sample without elevated lead that was tested for other metals which was only one example Arsenic and Cobalt exceeded residential levels this is according to.
The deq's preliminary soil remediation goals the psrg if you all haven't read any of those reports I would suggest you do and we can get them sent to you so just in terms of East End and the swimming pool that is being presented just we want to make sure that the council you know like was said before clearly delineates the real mediation funds that are as part of this $42 million year marked and we want to make sure that the council is is meaningfully engaging with the community members at every stage of this project and thank you thank you next I have Jackie Not a target name jacqualine Not a target name Miss Not a target name can you hear me okay thank you welcome you have three minutes good afternoon I wholeheartly agree with the previous two speakers on some issues and some concerns about now including certain parks in this Bond referendum I am clearly not for this Bond and I'm hoping that the voters will clearly vote.
This Bond referendum down because one the items that this Bond referendum was designed to cover are things that the city has a responsibility to in their maintenance budget that's just like we pick up our trash those are things that are in your general obligation budget those are not things that when it's time to pick up trash next year you're going to go and ask the voters to fund another Bond referendum or can you go borrow money on the taxpayers dime we should not be doing that if we were not if the city was not using millions of dollars in pet projects and there are a lot of them and I can start naming them using those Monies to support council members pet projects and start using those funds to take care of the General Obligations of this city meaning streets and sidewalks and Parks we would not have to float a bond increasing taxes is one thing but we don't even need that at this point but now we're floating a bond.
And a bond is not you going out getting a loan that you don't have to pay back unless your name is Chris weeks it is you borrowing money on the taxpayers dime and then you have the taxpayers have to pay it back the taxpayers will be responsible for paying it back at most likely a high interest at the time it comes due and I think that we need to look into this carefully we need to have direct out because when this was first discuss when we talked about wheels and all of that it was I was I sat in those conversation and it was never discussed that those obligations would be a part of a bond referendum now all of a sudden when we start talking about streets inside walk we add Parks into that Barn referendum that's to get Duke people into believing that most people enjoy Parks I enjoy Parks I raised my kids at longm Park they were most of the kids in that area were eating lead out of that.
Park 20 years ago so this is not new to us so it's not that I'm against Park revitalization I think that all the parks in Durham need some of these great revitalization like you're doing at some of these other parks in more affluent neighborhood but I do not believe that it should be at the expense of the residents when you're trying to dke them into believing One Thing versus another and I believe this bond is the wrong thing at the wrong time for during residents and taxpayers thank you thank you Miss Not a target name we'll now move to in person those all are my virtual speakers first up John Not a target name after Mr Tas will.
Be Miss Not a target name. Go. Ahead good evening U Mr May mayor council members manager page I'm John Not a target name resident of Durham and executive director of bike Durham I am here to share on behalf of 186 others who have signed on to a petition that was delivered to council members earlier this evening thanking you for this budget and this Bond referendum combination and the priorities that it U lifts up the continuation of fairf free Transit that is in was in the budget and the continued investment in safe and healthy streets which includes the sidewalk projects it includes the street resurfacings which provide opportunities to reallocate space make safer Crossings make bike lanes and and taking this measure to get these projects that have been underway for a long time to the Finish Line as expeditiously and at the lowest cost possible while making room for more projects to enter that pipeline so that we can continue to build a city that where we can get to to Vision.
Zero so thank you for including these priorities in the budget that you've just adopted the Capital Improvements program and in this Bond referendum we urge you to vote to put it on the ballot this November this is specifically for the the sidewalk and streets Bond referendum and also urge you to communicate to staff the importance of being clear about the projects that will be delivered so we have the sidewalk projects we need to know as much as possible about which streets will be resurfaced within that 3year period of time I know that there's the list of streets to be paved but also where those priorities are for the sidewalk repairs and the Ada ramps so that we can effectively communicate that to Residents and as we educate them about the benefits of this Bond referendum so thank you thank you.
Hi there good evening everybody I'm KK Not target names I serve on the recreation advisory commission it's my fourth year serving with that and I've been hearing all these plans that the paron recreation has put together for the city and it's it's it's amazing when now the City Council has adopting this Bond referendum and I I I wholeheartedly support that support for the bond the City Council has the the bond referendum has items like the money set aside for U addressing the lead issues that the the the citizens spoke about not only the NCD Q is looking into it but the city is also being proactive in taking matters and addressing those concerns and doing it in the in the right way so I'm I'm very thankful for that initiative that the Parkson Recreation has taken to do that and and and the projects that that are are very dear to me are is the Splash and play project that's going to go in the wheels fun Wheels Park.
The the previous Wheels Park and also in the Long Meadow in the East End Park so those are those are projects that are that have been in our plans in the proxin for a long time we haven't had a bond since 1996 in the city of the for parks and rec so this is in our Parx and Rec celebrating is 100 years as you announced a few was it last month so so it's it kind of ties into that saying we're investing in our Parks so I'm very thankful for that and wholeheartly supported it support the bond and and just kind of going through the other projects that are are are are in this Bond it'll address the trails it'll address playground and access Renovations it'll address you know some improvements that have been you know which which have been pending pending we going to the CIP to get these these improvements done but there's only so much every year that we can do and so kind of taking this and and and.
Really seeking a loan to get this done is is very important for the citizens and more people are moving in here and you you want to really improve their quality of life you know Parks is where and I meet people this where you know my and I spend time every day either soccer or basketball or you know footall or whatever we do it's it's you know you see people from all all ages all all walks of life come there to to get fresh air and so so I really want to get your support on this Bond and we'll get the citizens up and running and get them to vote for this Bond come November 5th thank you thank you so much next I have Julie minina and after Julie I have Donna Frederick and Gregory Williams welcome you have three minutes thank you very much mayor mayor proam manager paig and council members my name is Julie MSA I've been a proud member of the Durham Community for 15 years now I.
Also serve on the board of the Durham Parks Foundation which exists to preserve strengthen and expand Parks trails open space and recreational opportunities in order to contribute to the Environmental Quality economic growth and beauty of Durham I'm here to support the City Council to include a Bonds on the November B sorry November ballot for funding for the fashion Play Project which would be implemented on the site where Wheels Fun Park once operated and where the underdeveloped and underutilized Long Meadow and East End Parks currently exist the three questions you may have are why Parks why this project and why now first why parks in general according to the trust for public land Parks provide enormous health benefits they improve physical and mental health they bolster social connections they help combat obesity many diseases anxiety and depression as well as loneliness and isolation Parks help protect residents from the growing threat of clim climate disasters and other Urban health effects such as pollution and the effects of extreme heat which we've already discussed during this meeting.
Today Park Equity is Health Equity access to parks and green spaces offers especially strong health benefits for people with low incomes question two why this project this Bond would fund brand new amenities in underserved communities this project would be specifically for these communities and in these communities creating new new recreation opportunities and that brings us to the final question why now as Not a target name mentioned the last Bond for Durham Parks was in 1996 and that was simply for maintenance the Splash and play project is aiming for transer transformation and meaningful development in underserved areas this project has had wider Community engagement than any previous city project with over 1,00 participants offering input at 38 community events and nearly 1,200 online surveys being completed mayor and mayor Not a name misspelling - appears to be audio artifact you mentioned some of the very big problems that we face in this city right now we're not deaf to those problems to the very real problems however we must make.
Time for the important things as much as we're dealing with the Urgent matters here parks are an important component of the thriving ecosystem that we continue to build together tying in with schools Access Transportation businesses and Recreation in order to contribute to an even more livable Durham the Durham Parks Foundation is is prepared to support these efforts in conclusion please support the splash andplay bond for inclusion on the November ballot and give Durham voters the opportunity to consider this amazing project for enhancing our Parks thank you thank.
You yeah coming up con good evening I'm Donna from bragtown thank you very much for the hard work that the budget that was passed that went in as you know we've been before you many many times and I just came for the clarification I know on the referendum there is 115 million for sidewalks new and restoration we would like Clarity in bragtown how much of that is going back to our neighborhood cuz we've been on this list for about 10 years for sidewalks and we know that it's there but I would like some clarity and so is the community because we don't know where it ends and where it starts each project that has been with the original CIP has come short in budget so the referendum will give us time to really pin down where and how much of sidewalk is going in bragtown on the East Club Boulevard Road and I've called many times to speak to to a lot of people in the city have not gotten an answer yet.
So if it's too early to have fine details we are looking for it because the community wants to know we've waited a long time and this is a start but we like to know the details I thank you very much thank you and lastly Mr Williams.
Good evening honorable mayor esteemed members of the City Council and fellow community members my name is Gregory Williams and I'm honored to speak with you tonight as the advocacy campaign organizer for bike Durham I assist with several initiatives that are aimed at improving our City's Transit pedestrian and bike infrastructure and ensuring Equitable access for all residents our work includes being a voice for the fair free initiative the Safe Streets campaign and the vision zero campaign tonight I'm speaking on the upcoming General obligation Bond referendum which includes the streets and sidewalk bonds as well as the Park and Recreation bonds at bike Durham we've already begun educating the community about the bond referenda highlighting its importance for enhancing our public spaces we've published a detailed blog post outlining the benefits and we're actively seeking support I'm pleased to report that several organizations have already signed on to the letter of support including the Coalition for afford affordable housing and Transit the Eno River Association iation Carolina federations Durham for all chapter.
Downtown Durham Inc stepup Durham and the Southside neighborhood association ensuring that these projects are delivered as rapidly as possible is crucial we recognize and appreciate that the bond is an essential tool for achieving Swift project delivery we're looking to the city staff and city council members for additional Avenues to expedite these projects your support and collaboration are vital in making these initiatives a reality for our community sooner rather than later and lastly I look forward to continuing to facilitate a strong relationship between community members and the city to make our city safer more accessible and more connected thank you for your.
Consideration thank you those are all of my speakers for the evening and at this time I will declare this public hearing closed and back before the council colleagues are there any comments all right well at this.
Time I yep at this time I will entertain a motion to adopt the bond order authorizing the issuance of $85 million General obligation Bond General obligation Parks and Recreation bonds of the city of Durham North Carolina so move second been moved and properly seconded Madam Clerk please open the vote please close the vote and the motion passes unanimously all right and I'll now entertain a motion to adopt the bond order authorizing the issuance of $15 million General Obligations streets and sidewalks Bond of the city of Durham North Carolina moved second moved and properly second it Madame clerk please open the vote please close the vote we are doing this and the motion passes unanimously all right and lastly I'll entertain a motion to adopt a resolution setting a special bond referendum for November 5th 2024 so moved second been moved and properly seconded Madame clerk please open the vote please close it and the motion passes unanimously and it's.
Going all right we're doing it and I'm just going to ask for just some a point of information what happens now as far as Mechanicals mechanics of what we could talk about how does that work who can talk about it who can't talk about it who can promote it who can't well City staff cannot advocate for U these types of activities but we can provide information to Council as needed in terms of timeline is that you're interested in get more well I so I'm sure once you all get us the information there's going to be a whole marketing campaign behind it we can push that we can you'll give us the information for us to be able to answer questions go out to presentations we have organizations that will organizations that will also be promoting it as well I'm sure they'll have Community meetings sessions so pretty timeline I guess when would we have that information not quite sure time and and it could be ballpark Tim FL Finance director so.
We will immediately begin talking with departments to start working on that information that you need to better inform the public on this but I think we already have a meeting scheduled app pending tonight's vote and so those discussions will begin this week and so I I I anticipate getting you information expeditiously all right so it looks like we have an opportunity to get you know sidewalks and streets repaired and get parks and save America all on the same budget I mean same ballot so you have a comment yeah I just Mr Mary just wanted to let you know that the the chambers foundation will be playing a key role they have stepped up to the plate and they have helped with County bonds for schools and other County Bond projects and so they have graciously stepped up along with the parks Foundation bike Durham and other advocacy orgs we have members of recreational advisory Council and I've asked council member rist is a Le on to BAC and then need to I think.
I've spoken with council member cook around are you Lea on a do okay okay sorry yeah I know I always flip it sorry because we have lots of boards and commissions who will be really great Advocates and cheerleaders but I just do want to shout out the the chamber and their Foundation because they're going to be taking lead on fundraising and you know things like getting yard signs printed and things like that that will be their their main job thank you for that Madam evening Beverly Thompson communications director I'm glad to hear you say that because we're going to need to put together a lot of different resources we are meeting with the finance department and the transportation as well as on Parks and W to talk about all the all of the information that we'll need to be putting together and developing a Communications plan based on that and you will have fact points just basic information that you can use when you go out and talk about the bond referendum.
And we'll be putting together other kinds of activities to communicate to the public and as soon as we can let you know that we will we're going to be meeting as I said later this week to put together the plan start putting together the plan all right so keep in mind if you're interested in this you know our Parks sidewalks and saving America on the ballot in November I'm list not being partisan I'm just stating for the record door get out and vote on this ballot.