City Council · Regular Meeting · May 6, 2024

For a moment of silence in honor of a yearning for peace around this world and this in these.

Streets thank you all right we'll now go to council member Freeman for the Pledge of Allegiance let our practice to stand to salute the flag and if you join me thank.

Youat Madam cler if you will please call the. Road mayor William I'm here may protm Leonardo Williams I'm here council member Baker here council member cabayo here council member cook here council member Freeman pres council member rist here thank you this is first all right we're going to do it at that Podium right there and I'm going take get it up for you thank you.

Not numbered okay you just organized those for me.

The proclamation first. So usually and I want you to have your guests come up as well in just a moment they can all come and stand in just a moment usually I read proclamations that's one of the roles of the mayor to celebrate proclaiming a particular attention to a day but then again sometimes we get a chance to provide the highest honor of the city and that is the key to our city and this is our highest gift our most honorable way of thanks for the service one has done in this community the lives that have been impacted by their work their commit commment to our community and it is my honor tonight to provide a proclamation to Dr Johnson o a and it reads as whereas Dr Johnson o e has served as the 12th Chancellor of North Carolina Central University inccu since 2016 joined 16 joined nccu as Provost and vice Chancellor for academic Affairs in 2016 and served as interim Chancellor from December 2016 to June.

2017 and whereas Dr Johnson o EA brought 37 years of dedicated service to higher education transforming the lives of thousands of students including senior administrative service in public private and church Affiliated institutions prior to coming to nccu and whereas Dr earned a bachelor's degree in telecommunications and a master's degree in media technology from Alabama A&M university and a doctorate in human communication studies from howt University whereas Dr E is well known as a motivational speaker consultant writer editor and documentarian and he is also active in Civic cultural and church related organizations business advisory groups while serving on the boards of maid and Durham r TP Foundation the 50 group and the Wataga club and whereas Dr E's introduction of the eagle promise initiative has begun become the Cornerstone of the University's strategic priorities under dr's leadership the university has increased its enrollement to over 8,200 students in undergraduate graduate in professional programs Dr EA has led the largest infrastructure expansion at the University to date with capital projects valued over $400.

Million including a new student center a new School of Business three new residence halls and a 247 Collaborative Learning and Research Center additionally EA was instrumental in securing approval for nccu's Millennial campus designation in October 2018 and whereas Dr Johnson o E's commitment and dedication to higher education will serve as a legacy and road map for others now therefore I Leonardo Williams mayor of the city of Durham North Carolina Proclaim May 6 as Dr Johnson o ACC day.

I in just a quick quick story I I keep telling this story when I met doc like I call him doc but Dr EA it was actually when he was first introduced to the to the Alumni Association and I went to this meeting and many of you all know I am a bandhe head I was in the marching band I was drum major and all I cared about was my marching band and at the time I knew we needed more funding for the marching band I didn't really care about how the institution worked and so when I met him I was like hey so what are you gon to do about the band he said oh well we have a lot of things to take care of you know we're going to get to it and all I could hear was he said we were going to get to it so I went back and forth with him and he went back and forth with me and he.

Said let's step outside now the way I grew up when someone says let's step outside it has a certain indication he didn't mean that but you know cultural differences however I obliged and I went outside I was ready and he explained to me he said listen we're going to get to it but we have some troubling things we have to address right now and and I I just you know I never knew how big of the the world it was in our institution as a double eagle of nccu but that was the day that his passion was defined for me and I've been supportive of of Doc ever since and just really appreciate all of what you've done for not only Central in CCU but the Durham community and as well as nationally and globally thank you so much Mr Mayor got it thank you.

To The Honorable mayor Williams esteemed council members all of the alumni on the council and for the city of Durham and of course to the wonderful people of Durham good evening even and I'm so glad that the mayor clarified the stepping outside thing because I thought he was expected me to fight him outside but what I was trying to do is really to explain to him let's talk about this a little bit outside so that we wouldn't disrupt the other means I am Mr Mayor I am deeply moved and honored to receive the key to the city this evening this moment holds a significance that transcends words particularly as I reflect on on my journey as Chancellor of North Carolina Central University I am truly grateful for the privilege of being a part of the fabric of Duram North Carolina a city that I have come to love dearly throughout my tenure as Chancellor I have witnessed firsthand the extraordinary Spirit and the pride of this city it has been my greatest.

Honor to contribute to the rich history and success of the city nccu as you well know holds a very special place in the history of Durham and the state of North Carolina as it was founded in 1910 and later became the first state supported liberal arts college in the nation not just in in in North Carolina our university has been a Beacon of Hope and opportunity empowering generations of students to achieve their dreams and change the course of history in every field of human endeavor moreover nccu stands at the heart of a global Innovation Center nestled with North Carolina's largest continuously running the resch Triangle Park together with the city of Duram we have led the way in pionering initiatives that drive Innovation Foster entrepreneurship and shape the future of of our city and Beyond as I accept this key Mr Mayor I do so with a profound s sense of appreciation for the trust and the support bestowed upon me by this city and his cherished residents I am deeply.

Humbled by this honor and pledged to continue championing the values of Education Innovation and service long into my retirement with profound humility I accept this key recognizing that it symbolizes not only my efforts but the collective dedication of nccu to the growth and the prosperity of the city of Durham I would be remissed if I did not express my deepest gratitude to those who have supported me throughout my tenure particularly my wife wiita and my children and more importantly my colleagues who are here behind me our vice chancellors for Affairs our leadership team who have equally worked very hard to make sure that we can fulfill the dreams of the Durham resident and of course finally to the leaders and the citizen of Duram my gratitude knows no bound it has been the highest honor and privilege to serve alongside all of you and I eagerly anticipate bearing witness to the continued growth and triumphs of this remarkable city thank you Mr Mayor but he.

On thank youate I had to make an Aggie stand up here with me while we did that by way I know you have some Aggies here as well.

Yes.

I can't remember if I saw my.

That was my first key to the city all right congrats to nccu the a is retiring in case I didn't state that he's served this time well he's now retiring from nccu and we'll move on to other things council member R Mr Mayor mayor PM members of the council city manager paage good evening citizens of Durham also good evening I'd like to call up Jennifer from come on up from new Hub bird Alliance so as Jennifer is coming up I just want to say Mr Mayor as you know when this when this Proclamation came through I was eager to to be the one to read this I should say that I have a somewhat complicated actually this came right from from this from the new Hub what was used to be called new Hub ottoman Society just recently rebranded right as as of a week as a New Hope bird Alliance I was excited about this but I have a somewhat complicated relationship with birds you see so my.

Parents and my grandp were all big members of the ottobon society organizers volunteers spent a lot of time involved in the ottobon society so I spent a lot of time as a kid going on bird walks there were not always the thing I wanted to do as a Rowdy kid you know but as an adult I really come to love the the the time we spend together and what I learned about birds and I've really gained a deep appreciation as an adult for birds so I want to thank you all at New Hope bird Alliance for bringing this resolution forward and for bringing back these fond memories of going on bird hikes with my parents so thank you so whereas the term aerial insectivores refers to species of birds that eat insects while on the wing including Swifts swallows night jars and fly cats catchers and whereas Studies have shown that certain species of aerial insectivores have declined by more than 13% since 2012 and are projected to decline further and whereas Studies have shown.

That aerial insectivores such as chimney Swifts consume as many as 5,000 insects per bird per day including mosquitoes and flies and whereas aerial and sectores inhabit all areas of the city of Durham and whereas many aerial and seav Wars live in colonies that many that may I'm sorry live in colonies and many remain active in the evening after working hours enhancing the appeal and ease of of observing them and whereas social events for viewing aerial and sectores have attracted viewers to local commercial establishments for viewing events and could benefit even more local businesses if better known and whereas viewing Nature has been shown to reduce stress and promote health and whereas knowledge of specific practices for conserving and protecting the populations of aerial and seavor would benefit from the designation of the year of the AEL and seav War now therefore I Leonardo Williams mayor of the city of Durham North Carolina to hereby Proclaim 2024 year of the incav war in the city of Durham and hereby urge and encourage.

Use of the best practices for conserving aerial insectivores in Durham the document that New Hope New Hope bird lines has submitted to the Durham County Durham City County Planning Department witness my hand in the corporate seal of the city of Durham North Carolina this first day of March 2024 Leonardo Williams mayor city of. Durham thank you mayor Williams thank you council members and thank you council member rist for pronouncing that mouthful aerial in seavor I thought about saying AI but that would be confusing it's also confusing that some of these birds are called Swift but not that Swift but I if I have a couple of minutes to say a few words about why these birds need to be protected how do they how they can be protected but most of all how they will benefit the citizens of Durham so connecting to Nature is a a way to maintain mental health and these are birds that live in man-made structures so you'll see them going into chimneys on Paris Street on Watt Street you'll.

See them flying above the city you'll see them behind Patterson Place big box stores out in the middle of a field living in purple martin houses and they are consuming insects the best practices for encouraging them can save you money so one of them is to please turn out unnecessary lights at night the city could save electricity in individuals could save electricity and the birds would not be confused tonight for example as many as 50,000 Birds may fly over this area on their migration path and lights especially those that beam up confuse them and get cause problems with their migration another way to save money and save the birds is to abandon spraying for mosquitoes it doesn't work and it's very expensive they're much Le less expensive ways of dealing with them and you are killing the very things that these birds eat as well as possibly harming yourself because there's no safe natural insecticide and people don't realize that a third way maybe not to save you money but bring you some cheap.

Entertainment is to uncap chimneys these birds especially chimney Swifts live in chimneys I have them living in my chimney it's very entertaining you can hear them come down the little birds beg The Nest itself is a couple of twigs glued on with bird saliva sounds yucky but dries up and that disappears by the time you're ready to start start a fire in your chimney so these are all ways of of thinking about bringing support to birds that actually support humans and that's what I have to say if there are any questions happy to answer them thank you okay.

So I I try to spread out the try to spread out the proclamations as best as possible but sometimes I do take the Liberty and luxury as mayor when it's personal and wanted to present the one myself simply because I I know of you know just I can never know what it's like to be in your shoes or any of your shoes however I just for the public quickly Whenever there is whenever there's a there's a homicide on the streets of Durham this Council gets a text message the entire Council every single time and we get all the details as as much as we can get and we're getting a text message we're getting a text message the people standing behind me see the bodies on the.

Ground we get a text message they get the body on the ground they have to investigate why that body was on the ground sometimes the bullets that put that body on the ground are sometimes flying at them and when we're running to take cover they're running to apprehend the. Situation never let us take for granted this particular role ever I don't care what your stance is I don't care what research you read article you've presented at the end of the day we have dedicated people in our city that put their lives on the line for a job to keep us safe.

And I never want us to take that for granted so I will always stand tall and I may not be able to do your job but my job is policy and I'll always be on the front line for you and I will take those Jabs any day for any of you some promis I tell people not to make because they may not be able to keep. Them but I can bet you for sure I'll always keep this. One now to your Proclamation whereas the Congress and President of the United States have designated May 15th as peace officers Memorial Day and the week in which it falls as National Police Week and whereas the officers of this city of Durham the city of Durham Police Department play an essential role in safeguarding the rights and freedom of the citizens of Durham and whereas it is important that our citizens are aware of and understand the dangers and problems encountered and the duties and responsibilities incurred by their law enforcement officers and whereas it is equally.

Important that our Law enforc Enforcement Officers recognize their duty to Serve the People by safeguarding life and property protecting them against violence or disorder and by protecting the innocent against deception and weak against oppression or intimidation and whereas the men and women of the city of Durham Police Department unceasingly provide a vital public service now therefore I Leonardo Williams mayor of the city of Durham North Carolina do hereby proclaim the week of May 12th through 18th 2024 as police week and May 15th 2024 as Peace Officers Memorial Day end Duram and call upon our citizens to join in commemorating law enforcement officers ped and present who have rendered a dedicated service to their Community I also o encourage our citizens to honor those peace officers who have lost their lives or have become disabled in the line of duty so witness my hand in the corporate seill of the city of Durham North Carolina this sixth day of May 2024.

Wow thank you Mr Mayor mayor protim my Durham City Council manager Paige and the community of Durham and leaders here that we have and wow usually I'm able to pull myself together that was tough so next week law enforcement officer ERS from across our great nation will gather to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and service to their communities we have recently been reminded of the dangers that our officers face each day and the profound impact that their service has on our entire Community as we remember their loss it is also important that we honor their courage their selflessness and their commitment to Justice in this moment and Beyond I challenge each of you to renew your commitment to supporting those who continue to serve for it is in them that the legacy of the Fallen lives on our profession is a noble calling I have zero regrets it is true we all know the risks we all know that at any moment any time that we could be the ones that.

Fall and yet through it all the tragedy the long hours the occasional vitri all we persevere we are resilient we draw strength from those that came before us and from those that were lost far too soon I want to just take a moment to to remember those officers that were killed last week officers that have faced violence in our country and I want to just extend a prayer to one of our own that's still currently hospitalized officer Brienne Jones on behalf of the men and women of the Duram Police Department I want to thank you all for your continued support and for this wonderful well-meaning and and the words in this Proclamation so thank you very much.

Good evening everyone can Eric note come up.

This is for drinking water week whereas water is a basic and essential need of all living things and whereas only tap water provides Public Health protection fire protection support for our economy and the quality of life we enjoy whereas the city delivers a reliable supply of highquality award-winning drinking water whereas the city continues to be a leader in Source water protection and recognizes the potential impacts of climate change on this precious natural resource and whereas dedicated individuals and organizations have made significant contributions in developing operating and maintaining our water infrastructure and educating the public on the value of this resource now therefore I Leonardo Williams mayor of the city of Durham North Carolina do here here by Proclaim May 5th 2024 as drinking water week in Durham and hereby urge all residents to celebrate our staff that produces manages and maintains the city's water resources and to help make Durham a more sustainable Community by embracing waterwise habits witness my hand in the corporate seal of the city of Durham North Carolina this the sixth.

Day of May 2024 thank you thank you mayor Williams members of the City Council and citizens of Durham I am Eric note plant operator at the Williams water treatment plant is it is an honor to be here today to accept this Proclamation on behalf of my fellow operators in water supply and treatment and all employees of Durham's Department of Water Management our team Works 24 hours a day 365 days a year to sure that every one of our customers has access to one of the most basic human needs clean and Safe Drinking Water it takes teamwork and dedication from our 380 plus person Department to fulfill that mission everyone from operators to maintenance technicians engineers and laboratory and water efficiency analysts all play key roles in making sure our award-winning Durham water flows to your tap if you think about a typical day everyone in Durham and that's more than 320,000 people wakes up takes a shower brushes their teeth uses the toilet and maybe brw some coffee that means by 8:.

A.m. every day our team has served pretty much the entire population of Durham three to four times that's more than a million customer touch points every morning providing service like this requires an amazing team and we have one part of our responsibility to ensure our water supply is safe and reliable is to educate the Next Generation about the importance of drinking water each year our water efficiency team sponsors a poster contest that highlights the value of water this year's theme was be a water wizard we received more than 300 entries and that made judging very difficult our nine finalists you can see their Creations on the screens maybe went on to win eight of the nine top spots at the state competition we will be announcing the winners on social media later tonight I would like to thank you all for taking time to recognize the vital role Safe Drinking Water plays in all of our Lives we appreciate the support of the City Council the city Administration fellow city employees and of course the.

Residents of Durham who make this community such a great city thank you.

All who who's your friend. There way drop.

Wayne Drop he's why I ran ladies and gentlemen it is my honor Mr Mayor thank you for this great privilege to read this proclamation to my honorable colleagues everyone in the chamber good evening I have the great honor of reading a proclamation for National panhel and Council of durman Orange County days and I'm going to invite Truitt O'Neal to stroll up here and anyone else you may want to join you chapter presidents yeah you come up first little.

What's going on yes sir yes sir come on. Up I'm I do we need to put on Wipe Me Down get y'all up here faster come.

On I'm pleased to be joined by the mayor and our city manager Wanda pagee who both have their own affiliations Proclamation where. Yes sir shows whereas the National panh helenic Council of Durham and orange counties nphc Doo has been an integral part of the community for over 40 years and was officially chartered on March 26 2022 and whereas the nphc of Durham and orange counties has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to advancing educational opportunities promoting voter education and supporting local public schools and whereas the council has played a crucial role in fostering social engagement and building Fellowship among the members of the divine nine which include Alpha F Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Kappa Alpha Sai Omega SciFi Delta Sigma Theta F Beta Sigma Zeta fi Beta Sigma Sigma gamma row and Iota feta and whereas the National panolin Council was formed on May 10th 1930 at Howard University and later Incorporated in 1937 establishing a legacy of unity and Collective action among its member organizations and whereas the nphc promotes Community awareness and action.

Through educational economic and cultural service activities adhering to its mission of unanimity of thought and action and addressing problems of mutual interest to its member organizations now therefore I Leonardo Williams mayor of the city of Durham North Carolina do hereby proclaimed May 10th 2024 as National panh helenic Council of Durham and orange Cy's day in Durham and hereby urge all its residents to take note of this observance witness my hand and the corporate seal of the city of Durham North Carolina this the sixth day of May 2024 Leonardo Williams mayor sorry everywhere I go I'm a little little taller than the microphone good evening ex esteemed members of the Durham city council mayor Williams protm Community leaders citizens and and members of the divine nine once again my name is TR O'Neal I'm a proud alumnist of North Carolina Central University and a member of f Sigma fraternity Incorporated and I'm honored to be here to speak on behalf of the National pantic Council of Durham and orange counties as a president of.

The council I'm proud to represent these individuals and their organizations behind me this year as a collective body we are proud to commemorate the 94 years of the international organization and more than 40 plus years of dedicated service to the city of Durham our steadfast commitment to our foundational pillars of scholarship service leadership development Civic engagement Brotherhood Sisterhood and cultural heritage drives our mission positively to impact our community during the covid-19 pandemic our D9 member organizations rally to support our schools we embodied the pillar of service by actively participating in community initiatives like Mrs Parker Professor food Razer led by nccu alumni DPS Lakewood Elementary media specialist turquoise Legion Parker we provided labor volunteers and monetary donations to the initiative ensuring that students receive the essential meals they needed during school closures our efforts extended Beyond Lakewood reaching other schools and underscoring our deep commitment to educational support across Durham public schools in addition to educational support our Council actively engages in initiatives that provide direct Aid to families during critical times our.

Thanksgiving getaway is one such initiative where we support DPS families providing funds to enhance their Thanksgiving holiday meals now the scope of Engagement has significantly grown over the years initially focusing on our annual Christmas toy giveaway and our nphc do cookout we have expanded to include a broad range of community engagement opportunities the uama projects wehe headed by mphc Doo's Iota FAA council member kg supports blackowned businesses by hosting our community and social events at blackowned businesses including Mike D's barbecue Ana spot Missy Lanes favorite desserts Bara soul and more this strategic Choice supports the local economy and lines with our organization goals allowing us to make a broad impact with unified efforts as for political engagements another p pillar of our work over the last four years we've hosted numerous forums including the Durham votes candidates mix and mingle which provides a platform for Meaningful interactions between the community and political candidates and as a as sitting council member sitting here this evening we appreciate all of.

You for making time to meet our members and the community during these events as we look to the Future please know that the initiatives mentioned tonight are just a few of the many projects the NP CDO will continue to support and create we look forward to many more years of providing additional opportunities to serve and and activate community members in Durham creating a positive impact thank you for recognizing our efforts it is your support that helps amplify our impact and together we can achieve remarkable things for the community of Durham thank you.

Than for.

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Thanks all right colleagues we're going to we're going to go ahead and get to it get to the business but I do want to recognize one more thing it's not a s not we're not reading any more proclamations tonight but we do have some special guests in the in the room and Derek you'll get this you'll get it right better than me do you mind just acknowledging our guest tonight please it's been an honor having them here for the last two weeks and we spent a little time together right before the meeting started tonight yes so we have have Stanfield Derek Stanfield special list to the mayor we have a group of students from 12 countries that are visiting the Duke Sanford School of public policy they're ldf fellow so if you could join me in standing up as we acknowledge them all coming from the Middle East.

Thank you all so much for joining us tonight and as I said earlier stay as long as you can but it's an honor to have you all and as he said they from 12 12 different countries and and I just want to take a moment to say that some of them are experiencing things that we would never ever even could imagine in our life you know and they're here spending time with us tonight and I just want to honor that and thank you all all right well we will now move to Priority items actually announcements by Council I'm sorry I'll start down here council member cook all right good evening thanks so much everyone for being here I have a quite a lot sitting heavy on my heart tonight I'm just going to talk about a couple things I think that my colleagues are probably going to speak to some of the other ones that are resting on on us all I'm sure that have been occurring over the last 3 weeks.

Since we've had another of these meetings the first thing I want to say is that I was really honored to be invited to the nccu graduation this past weekend and Dr echin definitely stole some of my thunder things that I was going to say about how awesome nccu is right here in Durham we have what was the very first naal in the in the nation state supported liberal arts college for black folks it's just an amazing history and graduation was so incredible I was really Blown Away there was a student that was honored for receiving a prestigious scholarship to study Portuguese at Colombia next year the student body president was moved to tears when she was talking about her senior class so it was really an honor to be there and I was really grateful for that opportunity meanwhile down the road at my alma mater UNC things were looking a little bit different over the past couple weeks there was many like many other universities Across the Nation an encampment in.

Support of a ceasefire that was Seated on pulk place the scene of a lot of historical movements in the past led by students without much warning the chancellor called in police from University UNC affiliate universities and our students were removed they were pepper sprayed many of them were. Arrested this is a it's a really it's a really difficult thing to to watch your own alma mater do things that feel so counter to what you thought was what the school stood for several of our colleagues at Chapel Hill have condemned that action by the chancellor and I wanted to quote what they said there were this was from city council members in in Chapel Hill that the reaction created an environment that inevitably resulted in an escalation of force and I want to associate myself with those comments previously we've seen actions over the decades led by students and at UNCC what we have often seen is our Administration coming out to meet the students where they're at to listen to.

Their demands and to give them warning so that they can choose if they would like to participate in Civil Disobedience and in the past several students have chosen to do that right but many also have left and that was not the situation that we saw last week we instead saw no warning and folks pepper sprayed it and round it up in in something that I I saw as an escalation of force and I think that was the that was the study reporting that came out of the campus at that time something that's particularly heavy to me is that anti-Semitism has been used as a justification for these reactions we hear a lot about Jew safety particularly today on Holocaust Remembrance Day and as a Jew this is really really difficult for me because it feels like we are being used again and again to justify actions you've heard me say it and I will say it again and again but criticizing a genocide is not anti-semitic it is in.

Fact at the core of what Judaism stands for so so today we are watching a Silence of press and a simultaneous Invasion into the last Safe Haven in Gaza Rafa a place that is now hosting one of the densest populations in the world over a million people at least we don't really know how many folks are there because people are having to live in encampments without basic resources and without food and even despite all of these horrific things the reactions to our students standing up has been dismissive and so I just want to state today that students and particularly Jewish students who's who have been parts of these encampments whose role in this movement has been largely ignored we see you we support you I support you I'm I'm so humbled by the students who see the treatment that they're getting both by the press and our nation's leaders and worldwide and they continue to stand up for a ceasefire and for just causes I think we have a lot to learn from students I'm.

Still learning from the young people I'm so impressed and I just hope that we can really look to their leadership and join them in imagining a world that is better than this one that we are currently inhabiting thank you all for being here thank you Mr Mayor thank you for that thank you thank you thank you council member cook for your words they were very powerful and I want to associate myself with them additionally along with all of that news last week the general assembly the Senate and the general assembly passed an anti-immigrant Bill House Bill 10 the governor Cooper has vetoed it twice before it is expected the the language is different than what the house has already passed in the general assembly so it's going to go to crossover and it's expected to pass this coming Wednesday the expectation is that Governor Cooper will will veto it again but because of current configuration in the general assembly where there is a republican super majority there is an.

Expectation that it will pass I just want to read a little bit about what this bill entails and what it will mean for our immigrant Community here in Durham and quite frankly for our law enforcement because it is going to change that Dynamic significantly and actually put all of us at risk because of it so so the bill would require sheriffs to honor Ice immigra Immigration and Customs Enforcement requests to detain for at least 48 Hours individuals suspected of being in the country illegally so if if you are detained for some other reason and you're brought into Jail local prisons would foot the bill for the processing and housing of detainees while Federal officials review the immigration status All Counties would be required to share detention datab databases and attempt to find out the immigration status of any person in the local jail so currently and I do want to thank our current Sheriff this is not our current Sheriff's practice it has not been his practice it's actually one of the.

Reasons he ran and won when he did in 2018 and the reason that it is imperative that sheriff and local control are allowed to decide whether they are going to cooperate with ice is because it affects everyone's Public Safety if there are members in your community who are not going to call or interact with law enforcement because of their own fear around their immigration status everyone is in Jeopardy we know it affects women significantly especially in domestic violence situations because if there is a domestic violence situation in that home they are more likely to not call police because if you know that potentially your primary bread winner is going to be detained and put in jail and there and then deported you're not going to call the cops it's just what it is additionally in North Carolina we do not have an immigration Detention Facility so if you are detained in North Carolina and let's be clear they can detain you and they're still going to check your immigration status regardless.

Of what whatever your status may or may not be because they have that right in North Carolina if you are on Ice hold and they come collect you you are going to end up in Georgia if you're a man at steuart Detention Facility and there's a facility in South Carolina for women I have been to that facility it is in the middle of nowhere it is at least a 10-hour drive it is extremely isolated it's south of Atlanta and if you are charged with something here the chances of a prosecution team trying to extract you for something while you've been put into Federal custody is very small so on top of it it means that you're not really getting due process in your own Community because you have been taken by Ice that facility is full of what is mostly very young men if they're 18 who have tried to cross a border often fleeing really horrific circumstances at home in their own home countries and I'll will say this is actually connected.

Back to what we see in the Middle East because our country for the last several decades has decided to be the major exporter of global violence and guns and arms that's what we export to the rest of the world and that then plays out in all of these Global conficts and folks have horrific things happening in their communities and so then they flee and often end up on our border so if we want to stop which I often hear well we don't want folks coming here if we actually want to stop that cycle it takes the US stopping its current foreign policy practices especially in places like Central America that have wreaked havoc for Generations so that the the stem of people fleeing violence to our own borders will stop it will not stop until we change our foreign policies and we are the people who ultimately determine that as voters so in November I urge all of you every election matters your Council matters your Board of County Commissioners matter.

Your Sheriff matters your general assembly me Members matter if you want a different world this is one way to get a different world vote for people who actually believe in the humanity of others who actually believe that all life is dignified so I said on Governor Cooper's Hispanic and Latino advisory Council we are putting out a statement and one of our asks is going to be for electeds across the state to sign on against hb10 I will say it's very disheartening that these bills just keep coming back and keep coming back this is round three I've been going to the general assembly on and off since 2018 to help stop a bill like this Latino activists immigrant activists have expended a lot of time and energy fighting against bills like these and yet here we are so it is a sad day for North Carolina it's a sad day that we have legislators who would rather waste time instead of ensuring that the quality of life for North Carolina.

Residents that we all pay taxes to instead of actually improving our quality of life they are hellbent on causing more violence more harm in our communities and making us more unsafe thank you thank you for that and just I hope I hope everyone heard another reason why we need to vote it is literally serious life of death council member Freeman thank you I I want to wholeheartedly say I sign on to the request for hp10 to be removed I want to appreciate council member Cabo's like steadfastness around immigrants and it's not just limited to Hispanics it's also Haitian and other African countries these these the unsaid piece of this is that race and racism is at the base and keeping and honoring whiteness keeps this moving forward on a consistent basis and if you don't understand that I need you to grasp that and especially in this year in this cycle with this election coming forward because we're losing and it's not just voting it's actually having people of actual.

Humanity running for office and so I want to encourage you not just to vote but to also consider what you could be doing to serve in our community whether it's locally Statewide or nationally because it's it's just not we're at we're at a deficit on this side and I know we need more people that honor our values honor our values I did want to just say that I also appreciate council member cook just highlighting the Holocaust Remembrance Day it strikes a different chord just looking at the death toll rise and knowing that there are women and children suffering in the middle of this so-called war and I'm I'm going to leave it at that but I I just want to say on a on a lighter note I see some of the folks in the community and the audience who do some of this work locally to try and support our families and our children and I want to say thank you for being here and I.

Want to also say that I hope that we continue to find ways to support you and the work that you're doing however that needs to be I hope it's it's a proposal that comes forward to council or a proposal that comes forward to city manager however that looks I look forward to supporting that and then I also wanted to note I really do appreciate the art competition for the water that is really an inspiring show of talent and I noted that even though we're not announcing the competition winners that a number of them were for Voyager Academy and I know that there are many artists there that are un UNT touted so I want to tout them want to make sure s a big shout out to those all the artists that submitted everyone who submitted the 300 and some OD students who decided to put their talents to work for the city of Durham and send that submission in and then I I mean it's a long evening of announcements and proclamations I do.

Have to just say as a as an eagle that I want to thank Dr okley Aki for his time and commitment to North Carolina Central I want to congratulate all the graduates who graduated this Saturday and walked across the stage and I want to also just just kind of send out a whole happy May it's that season of graduations and a congratulations to all the graduates who will be graduating this year this is definitely a great season in that regard and I'll also add an early happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and stepmoms and all the bursing women of the world world who who provide us with a chance to be these humans on this Earth so and then lastly I will share that I did have the opportunity to attend Dr pasel mua's retirement celebration and I do want to highlight that his work and his commitment to the students of this this city and county are not U missed on me and just know that his talent will be.

Missed and so I hope that he'll continue to provide some oversight and support in other ways for the City and County of Durham and I look forward to reading his book I also had a chance to to support a local nonprofit who is now doing a food market for old East Durham on driver Street their grand opening for the communities in Partnership black and Latino or black black latinx Farmers bringing their actual items to Market and so I want to make sure that you all aware and can support as well and I want to make sure I send a special appreciation to executive director Otis Otis Otis and and Tanisha here this evening for the invitation to their youth house and I hope that we get to hear more about it and I look forward to being support of that thank you council member RI thank you Mr Mayor I'm going to put on my book Harvest hat I'll start on a lighter note so I wanted to thank.

Dr Alfred at mer Moore Elementary and the staff at book Harvest for inviting me out this morning to witness the books on break program organized by book Harvest so every student in mer Moore Elementary today got 10 books that they could select and take home and keep forever the whole idea is about giving kids a chance to practice reading over the summer last year book Harvest provided over 14,000 students in 35 Public elementary schools and child care centers with over 70,000 books that was just for last summer so I just wanted to thank book offs for the amazing work and encourage my colleagues if you have the opportunity to participate in similar books on break events taking place this month it is so much fun these kids are so excited and the it's just palpable how they like run up and grab books out it's so much fun so I encourage you to do that so a more somber note I wanted to note that I took part in the monthly meeting last week of.

The Trinity Park neighborhood association this the neighborhood where I live in like many neighborhoods across the city Trinity Park neighbors are concerned about the uptick and shootings lately on the agenda of the meeting was a discussion about the homicide that took place not this weekend but the weekend before at the corner of Maine in Morgan streets that's the second homicide in that location since last October this is tragic regrettable and a great loss to the families involved and to our community the president of the neighborhood association association will be reaching out to the city manager Miss Paige to request a meeting to discuss the city's response and I just want to thank the city manager in advance for making that request a priority so thank you very much third I was absolutely crushed to hear over the weekend that two pedestrian accidents occurred in our city one fatal I know we're investing millions of dollars in our sidewalk repair and construction we've got it we've got we've got some of that on on our agenda.

Tonight right and we're also considering a bond issue this fall to invest even more but these Investments cannot come soon enough to keep residents safe and actually achieve our vision zero goals so I want to ask all of us to recommit to our vision zero goals that no one whether pedestrians or B bicyclist or or drivers of cars will die in Durham from accidents on our streets so encourage us to recommit to that and invest as much as we can as quickly as we can to make sure all residents are safe on our streets thank you Mr Mayor thank you mayor pro thank you Mr Mayor and to my honorable colleagues for excellent remarks and announcements tonight first off Mr May congratulations on your first key to the city a city once gave me the key but they took it back because I kept going to Walmart and making copies I'm sure that that won't be a problem with Dr Aran Leia I'm sure I want to send a.

Shout out to urban ministries of Durham who had a wonderful celebration a couple of weeks ago for 40 years of service in our community they had a wonderful event there empty bowls Javiera Caballero mayor was there too so he may he may shout him out so I'm sorry if I stole you thundering that I had to eat and run I also want to shout out the Durham Center for Senior Life who had their 75th anniversary gala if you've never been to a a senior party in Durham whether it's the holiday party or a party at the senior center you have not been to a party they they had a wonderful time I want to thank the leadership there and and Quin Murphy from abc1 for sharing co-hosting on that evening had a wonderful evening of of Fellowship when you hit 55 you're eligible to go and participate in the activities at the senior center for Life Senor Senior Life Center here in Durham I hope that that's the goal for every resident of.

This city no matter where you are in your life now at some point I hope you will consider availing yourself of the wonderful services and and atmosphere there at the Duram Center for Senior Life so I want to congratulate them on 75 years I want to continue to send out prayers and best wishes to officer Bri Jones who was alluded to earlier this evening as she continues to recover after injuries received the line of duty thank you Mr Mayor for that wonderful proclamation to Chief Andrews earlier I want to send a special thanks to you my colleagues on the day and and to the staff this is my first meeting a full meeting of the council since assuming the presidency of the North Carolina League of municipalities I cannot tell you what it meant to me colleagues the first off those of you who could not make it who sent well wishes and congratulator congratulatory messages and those of you who came to Winston Salem to celebrate with me at my.

Swearing in staff you mam manager Mr Mayor council member cook and council member cabero for being there attorney Rist City clerk shriber to city city assistant city manager and Chief of Staff commissa Wallace to our communications director Bertha Beverly pardon me I want to thank you all so much for being there I cannot tell you what it meant to me I'm excited because this is the first time in in many many many years that a big city has held the gavel of the league now I'm I'm fully mindful that my responsibility is to further the agenda and the concerns of the millions of people that the league represents but I do plan on doing it in Durham the Durham way Durham is perhaps the most welcoming and affirming City in our state and I want to use that energy here that we have in Durham to to eviscerate that notion that there's a divide between urban and rural that we can't come together on a on a an agenda as we've.

Been doing with the league for over 80 years an agenda that Services all no matter whether you live in a hamlet a small town a village or one of our major cities somebody once said that we have the same problems just it's a number of zeros in our population but we Face the same problem so colleagues thank you so much for your well wishes and for your support as I take on this new role repping for Duram even though I'll be working for the state finally thank you thank you so much thank you finally I want to dovetail on on council member rist's comments about the gunfire in our city which continues there are folk who live in communities in this city who have been dealing with it for decades every night hear gunfire who have lost family members over the years continuously sometimes in the same family there is no zip code there is no area of your city there is no census track that will insulate you from gunfire so I want to.

Just recommit tonight that as we focus on all of the important things that claim our attention as a council that we continue to keep this issue at the Forefront Durham is dope and all of the stuff that they say about Durham is true but we will always have an asteris next to our com next to our celebration as long as two miles from our city center our young people are jumping in bathtubs at night when it's not bath time because they're ducking and covering gunfire it's got to be a priority for us we've got to throw everything we have at it that comports with our values and I hope for the residents of Trinity Park and for the residents of McDougall Terrace and Oxford Manor and corn Wallace as well that we will put all of the Power and and influence and tools of this government to work on this issue so we can take the asteris away from our celebrations of how great our city is thank you Mr Mayor I appreciate.

You thank thank you thank you and and I'll be fairly quick because thing about going last is most of what I would normally cover is already been covered so you know to urban ministries Durham Senior Life that you being you know elected as president of the state League I man PR I don't think you really did a good job at really saying what it actually means the North Carolina League of municipalities is the largest and most influential and Powerful organization that represents cities and towns across the entire state of North Carolina there are millions of people represented by this organization and while I I sit on the executive on the actual board of directors our May protm is the state president of that organization that is a really really big deal we we get to have our legislative asks twice last time we got some Transportation policies passed through the general assembly because of the league not only do we send our own legislative agenda but now we have the president and a board.

Member both from Durham on this board so I foresee some significant in you know influence coming from Durham to the state of North Carolina thank you Mr we for you all that don't know we have a police officer and may Pro just mentioned as officer Jones she was you know she was she was on duty she was she was advancing to an emergency and unfortunately you know had a really bad car accident without going in too much detail this was extremely serious and she is still she's still in in her situation just respecting her privacy but I do ask that we you know keep her in your prayer and keep her held up lifted and as soon as she's able to receive visitors I will be in that hospital room to to visit her but yeah it was it was really serious Emily K Center held its Mother's Day ball and we did a really good job at raising money for providing services for children in Durham and and Emily K Center is a hug.

Huge partner with Duran public schools and in other schools throughout the city and just it's really it's really great to have that that partner where you have a center that focuses solely on you know our youth what they're going to do you know after high school but mainly they focus on kids that are interested in going to college and they have programs that are quite robust and they they're very intentional about ensuring that they are accessible to every child especially those who are most in need in the city and it feels good when you can raise almost a half million dollars for our youth to make sure that they have what they need I know many folks who have been whose children have been a product of this program and I see I've seen it you know at at work so was great to be at that also Lincoln Health Lincoln Health celebrated an annual Awards lunch in and they recognize Giants Giants in our community and just want to highlight.

Them colleagues I am going to when we go to these events I'm just when I get on stage and share remarks I'm going to start asking are there any council members in because I'm noticing some of y'all do what I do you get places late and I miss you and then I don't recognize you and then commissioner Alam has to show me up and she gets on the on the stage and she's like and we have council members here council member Freeman and and R and I'm like oh my God I felt but I'm on the record saying I was embarrassed and I apologized about that I was there first thing I was not late just so you know well no you were sitting behind someone I couldn't see you but I just want to highlight the Lincoln Community Health Center and their work that they continuously do back in 2011 or 2012 I was chair of the board for the North Carolina foundation for public school children and we were.

Desperately you know just in need of money and we came up with an idea we said let's start a Javiera Caballero let's do a Javiera Caballero and that first Javiera Caballero we we we raised about close probably about $80,000 well 11 years 12 years later 11 or 12 years later we are still hosting at Javiera Caballero and I had the honor of being the MC it was a full circle moment and and we raised over $300,000 and and I want to thank my colleagues for showing up that night want to thank my colleagues here on Council for showing up the County Commissioners the county commissioner elects Durham was in the building and you follow my socials you would see those pictures up the photographer the photographer was pretty dope too but that was a really good evening and also H shout out to the Duke school and Carrington Middle School and I'm going to say this publicly if you you have children at your school please have them sign up to come to City Hall.

For a field trip this is a this is a hard job it gets really stressful so we appreciate the light moments when we get to actually talk about what government does and tomorrow will'll be the the students wrote me letters I could I could actually understand most of their handwriting they wrote letters and tomorrow I responded to every letter and we're going to go drop those letters off at the school tomorrow morning so I'm really excited about that but please use use City Hall as a field trip to get our kids more civically engaged Cu our general assembly hasn't done a good job with that I shouldn't say that on record right all right all right and last the last two things here you know well of course congratulations to all the graduates that graduated from my moderate CCU yesterday and all the graduates that are about to graduate from from from duke and also the students that are graduating from Durham Tech and our high school high schoolers.

Shout out to the Teacher of the Year this I don't know if this has ever happened but can't remember his last name first sergeant but two years in a row Hillside High School has had the Duran Public Schools teacher of the year and the principal of the year for the second time they're doing something pretty pretty pretty amazing over there so kudos to Hillside High School and first sergeant for Not only was he held back in high school but now he's the district teacher of the year so really excited about that lastly our small businesses I I don't talk about this a lot I try to just work on policy toward it but obviously I think many folks know my wife and I own restaurants here but this isn't about us this is about what our city takes so much pride in you know being a foodie town and right now I and I'm glad to see it but there are folks actually talking about what's happening with the restaurants downtown and what's.

Happening with our small businesses let me tell you as a practitioner of it we are struggling they are struggling bad and we don't have enough pool to bring people here you know we don't have a big Convention Center where it's always full you know we we're really relying on the folks that are in this community and there was someone that made one of the most ignorant comments said well maybe maybe they should stop inflating their prices for the rich people downtown you know when when you're actually in the business and know what you're talking about when you realize that you're a victim of price gouging from the actual Transportation food companies and you're trying to survive I just want to say that our small businesses across the city I hear you I feel the pain along with you and please don't be distracted by ignorant comments like that and we'll continue together to call on our community to make sure that we support part of one of the reasons why durh is so.

Dope all right and lastly I will continue to highlight this there's a lot going on in this world there's a lot going on ac across this country in the last two weeks we've had 11 shootings and we've had 11 shootings and we've lost about four or five people I've held two Town Halls and I will come to your neighborhood if you invite me to talk about what what is happening and what I hope we can do about it but I I I will highlight the fact that the people who are pulling these triggers and the people who are on the receiving end of these guns look just like me they're young black boys that's just a fact and I got to I I I have to speak my truth I don't hear a whisper and that's.

Painful so I hope that as a as a matter of fact not hope we must must we must multitask we must as a matter of fact we we have students that are protesting right now about what's going on around the world that has to happen too we can't be we can't be numb to hatred we can't be num to killing but we also have to make sure people are safe and we also have to take care of our own backyard you have to do both and it requires us to do that as a people because if we're silent that doesn't do anything but allow us to continue to deteriorate so speak up I appreciate it speak up around the world speak up across the state across this country but I really hope you also speak up right here in Durham CU it's happening on a daily basis and I've said before it's starting to creep and it's going to get in those neighborhoods that we're not used to seeing so with that being said there.

Will be some initiatives that are coming up that that I'll be really pushing privately as well as publicly and we we just can't be quiet folks we can't be quiet and it's very complex it's really complicated but we're durable we can handle it it can be both all right we've never had celebration in celebratory items for an hour and a half and I won't let this happen again now we're going to get to the business all right so Madame manager Let's let's get to your for thank you Mr Mayor Williams Mr Mayor Pro Tim Leonardo Williams and members of the Durham City Council I have three priority items for you this evening agenda item number six Lofts at Southside phase three amended development loan commitment the additional information requested during the April 18th 2024 city council work session has been attached agenda item number 20 General obligation Bond referendum presentation and discussion the additional information requested during the April 18th 2024 city council work session can be found under priority.

Items by the city manager City attorney and city clerk and finally agenda item number 21 city of Durham classification and compensation study presentation the additional information requested during the April 18th 2024 city council work session can be found under priority items by the city manager City attorney and city clerk that is all I have for you this evening thank you thank you so much Madam attorney thank you mayor Williams mayor pron Leonardo Williams it's good to see you and members of the council it's good to be here the city attorney's office has no priority items this evening I love when you say that thank you Madame clerk good evening Mr Mayor Mr Mayor proam and council members it's nice to see you all tonight the city clerk's office has no priority 30 items this evening thank you so much do I have an Eloise onell in the room I and I could be mispronounced we've been trying to figure out the last name but Eloise or ELO.

Okay it was signing up to speak on aordable digits of the phone number last four digits of the phone number is 1311 okay you signed up to speak for affordable housing for V you know what I think this is for an item was this to speak on a particular item tonight okay got you why is it which.

One you don't have to go into detail I just needed to know which agenda item it was okay that's fine you know what cuz I don't want to put you on a spot like this I want to get someone over to help you just make sure because if it's a general comment then I have to invite you back on Thursday if it's an agenda item tonight then we'll we'll be able to get you inserted on that one we're going to make sure you're going to be a professional counsel speaker when you leave here all right all right thank you.

All right everything else is indicated all right at this time I will go ahead and read our consent agenda item number one participatory budgeting steering committee appointment item number two resolution to set a public hearing to consider permanent closure of 479 lir feat of daian 47 479 near feet of do Avenue D oh yeah D I'm sorry number three resolution authorizing the conveyance of surplus properties to Durham Community Land trustees Incorporated and the approval of the development agreement for the purpose of affordable housing development I don't want to pull it I just want to appreciate staff on getting this moved forward thank you staff you appreciate it number four resolution authorizing the conveyance of surplus properties to Black lamb Development Corporation and the approval of the development agreement for the purpose of affordable housing development number five contract amendment number one with mccor MC Baron Salazar Salazar sal sal Salazar development for lws at Southside phase three and phase four site preparation and environmental assessment again I.

Don't want to pull it but I do want to appreciate I think this has been about 12 years years in the making so it's finally good to get to phase three thank you number six loss at Southside phase three Amendment development loan commitment number seven losss at Southside phase four amended development loan commitment number eight resolution authorizing the conveyance of surplus properties to Habitat for Humanity of Durham Incorporated in the approval of the development agreement for the purpose of affordable housing development number nine utility utility system revenue bonds series 2024 number 10 dorham station Transit Center improvements project authorization to negotiate and execute a guaranteed maximum price Amendment to the construction manager at risk contract for Construction Services number 11 contract st-33 2C pavement condition survey 2024 number 12 cont contract amendment number one for w94 sidewalk repairs 2024 number 13 contract amendment number three for s- 317c utility locate Services number four Street and infrastructure acceptances number what did I say three I'm sorry number 14 Street and infrastructure acceptances.

Number 15 construction of 17 rectangular rapid flashing beac rrfbs at school and Trail Crossings not pulling it but it is a start I I I just appreciate taking action around school zones and safety and we'll continue to try and do more number 16 Transit Grant project ordinance Amendment for Durham station number 17 blanket purchase order agreement with core in Maine El P for Neptune water meters and components number 18 agreement between city of Durham and orange water sewer and Authority Orange Water and Sewer Authority regarding Mutual aid for drinking water supply number 19 proposed Water and Sewer rates for fiscal year 2024.

2025 yeah General business number 22 Consolidated annexation Kate estate number 23 Consolidated zoning map change Fox Crossing 2 24 fiscal year 2025 storm water rates and GBA General business agenda number 25 summer cramp summer camp funding. Request all right I'll now entertain a motion to approve the consent move so move second they move the properly second all Madam Clerk please open the.

Vote please close the vote the motion passes.

Unanimously yeah let's.

Colleagues we're going to go ahead and address number five first 25 first I don't know why I'm missing first the first digit tonight so council member Freeman this is your item just a point of order do we.

Not need to approve the consent agenda we did it was unanimous I thought you said priority items to include the priority items so we only voted for the priority. Items yeah so we just do that the priority items have motions during the work session thank you so we're going to start with number. 25 and council member freem resource person on this just reiterating this continued support for the education 360 camp that was held last summer with students from Cornwall students and parents and families from corn Wallace and just continuing the work supporting families and children from black black artist summer plane art and murals to summer camp just calling on my colleagues to support the children in our community and just acknowledge that they're still recovering from the trauma of gun violence and covid that's all thank you all right we have some speakers here for item number.

25 I don't have an. Order okay we will we will go with speakers and then we'll bring it back before the council first Speaker I have is built to last Dr Joyce.

Blackwell to The Honorable mayor Williams mayor protim Leonardo Williams City manag Paige and other members of the city council good evening I'm Dr Joyce Blackwell the executive director of BU toas Innovations lab Incorporated bu toas is a 501c3 nonprofit that provides access to training access to opportunity and by the end of this year if we remain on track access to Capital and we provide these opportunities to historically underrepresented businesses in Durham as well as residents who live in the cities marginalized and minoritized communities thanks to the generous funds received to date from the city of Durham we have been able to set up the organization and began to offer services to our core focus groups more specifically we have been focused on providing training as well as mentoring and networking opportunities to childcare entrepreneurs as well as aspiring child care providers and creative artists who want to become entrepreneurs we are also providing training to enco entrepreneurs the 55 plus employ individuals who were terminated or released from their positions that.

They've been in for over 30 years in many instances during the height of the co covid-19 and as a consequence many of them could not return to work agism is really real but they could not return and decided that they could not afford to stay home and so many of them with a life savings on average of $99,000 realized that they needed to do something and so many of them have decided to use their skills their experience Etc to open their own businesses also of course we desire to assist Durham in ACH in achieving its goal of shared economic Prosperity by utilizing our resources to help create a more inclusive business ecosystem and to date we have been providing training to at least 30 childcare providers in Durham we also have a weight list of a little over with 15 persons on that weight list and that is growing each and every day there is definitely a need it's the same thing with the creative artists of course we.

We have while we have been extremely busy it has been a challenge and continues to be a challenge therefore I come before you today and request that you consider Bill to last for any fun any funding that you may receive for fiscal year 20242 five we are in our needs of funds to continue to build capacity currently with the number of things that we are doing it's just myself who's full-time and a part-time administrative assistant and while I could use my skills for grant writing and and to to pursue corporate funding most of my time is spent Grassroots working at the Grassroots level so thank you thank you so much.

Next I have Miss Denise rson with Durham Freedom Schools summer camp just if you can give it to the clerk she'll make sure we get.

It good evening mayor Williams and mayor protm and and the members of city council good evening my name is Denise Rosen and I am the Project Director for Durham's Freedom School program children's defense fund Freedom schools and I come before you because we are we have brought this program back to Durham we started in 2023 if you know anything about children's defense fund it was started by Marian Wright Edelman and the Freedom School program started has its roots in the 1964 Mississippi movement where they were teaching mississippians how to read and write in order to vote so 40 years later we are now back doing Freedom schools and this is now the second year I independently after I retired from during Public Schools started Freedom schools last year with the help of the mount level Community Partnership for racial Justice and this year we are now going to serve 110 children we are going to serve 50 Children atep 50 Elementary School students at Epworth United Methodist Church and 50 middle school students at.

Shepard middle school so as you will see and you do not have your you don't have the handout but basically Freedom schools is to empower children between the age with with the grades of K through 8 okay to have an appreciation for reading one thing about it about Freedom schools is that it's literacy Rich during the course of the summer young people are reading about 50 books books that are selected and curriculum written by CDF Freedom schools in addition to that we provide Steam and arts and Arts and Cultural kinds of activities so that our children will be able to have a holistic program so during the mornings they do reading and other activities in the afternoon it is strictly for enrichment we do have our three pillars our lit literacy curriculum and instruction we do have a family component where we have Family nights every single week where parents come and discuss various topics that influence their child's education and to really kind of see how children are doing and.

We also have an intergenerational component where we employ college students to come and work with the young people during the course of the summer and this year we are hiring 13 college students to work with us we do have a social justice compon it and I could mention that our mayor Williams was our speaker last year when our subject was gun violence he came and talked to the children about how they can be empowered to fight this crisis in their Community we also took them by Amtrak train to the international Civil Rights Museum last year so they got a chance both them and their parents had the chance to visit that museum and go by Amtrak so I mentioned parent nights and the Need For Freedom schools is it's just literacy okay I know my time is up I can't talk about Freedom schools in two minutes okay it is so much but Durham needs this program and I'm asking that if you have any additional funds because I'm told.

That they've already been spent I know to please consider Freedom schools you know in that thank you thank you so much and please make sure you get in touch with me I have a few college students that are looking for just volunteer time to Summer yep thanks for. Coming Mr Cass.

Abdullah good evening mayor mayor Pro Tim City maners and the City Council my name is our brother CIB Abdullah I am the executive director for believers United for Progress we're located on faville street right next door to WD Hill Community Center and right down the street from North Carolina Central we have been in existence since 2005 and we are 501c3 I am here requesting funding for two items one is our food and security program and the other item is the whole Center our food insecurity program there's two things that we do we give our food boxes every week which is around 160 to 180 food boxes and we run a free Community Kitchen every day Monday through Friday we service any place from 85 to 100 people our main source is the food bank we are I believe the largest agency that gets food from the food bank we get any place from 7,000 to 10,000 pounds of food every week from the food bank that equates to 23,000 food boxes a year which.

Consists of 7,800 families per year a population we serve as a human population in Durham 50% of our African-American brothers and sisters 35% of our Latin X brothers and sisters 15% of our Caucasian brothers and sisters and. Others the second request we are in the process of developing The Hope Center the Hope Center would be a central location composed of over 100 units that provide services to the community we want the Hope Center to be in fade place that would be the the the glue and cohesion to keep the community sound in that area because there is room for everybody in fade Place with that we would have many opportunities to bring supporting factors to the community to help stabilize the community and I'm going to put a figure on it for the food insecurity project we were requesting $200,000 for the Hope Center we were requesting 5 million to establish the development of the Hope.

Center thank you so much okay and and I I just want to note that I recently spoke about a a chef she was she was cooking right after the shooting right there at WD Hill and she was brave enough to go out there that next day and serve the community she was able to do that because of Mr Abdullah he does it every day that location and thank you for coming to show your work. Tonight I have Christopher oh yeah Megan hey Christopher and Megan.

Wilder good evening Mr Mayor proam and councel and everybody please excuse my husband he is on a phone call with some of our students we had to push it back a little bit so it's just me right now my name name is Megan Wilder I am the executive director of Bull City best best standing for building educating strengthening together I'm here today because Durham Bull City needs us we believe in the heart and the soul of the children and of the staff I am a beginning teacher Mentor for Durham Public Schools I've worked for Durham public schools for about 16 years years I am also the niece of Dr James E and Annie day Shepard and if you know anything about North Carolina Central University and my aunt and uncle you know that they did a lot for the city and for the Youth in Durham so I am carrying along their legacy my husband was born and raised here in Durham he grew up at the John Avery Boys.

And Girls Club that you all may see and pass by on 147 that we're kind of just watching disintegrate we love that building and we kind of have built dreams in the parking lot of that building and a couple of those dreams start with our initiative so one is the Annie project and that is something that we do by monthly we have packed over 200 Essentials gift bags for the houseless end Durham and the student athletes and the students that come to Bull City best pack them themselves and their families and we give them out throughout Durham and then we also by monthly pass out food we get maros pizza and we get coffee and hot chocolate and donuts and we also do that for the houseless and we have our students down there so that's by monthly and that is our Annie project we have a building bridges project which this year this year we did 300 book bags for local Durham students we did specifically WG Pearson Elementary Lakewood.

Elementary and then we had a couple of open drives where anybody as a Durham resident could come in and get a book bag that was filled with various items we have an initiative that we hope to launch if we get funding called Kun which is the German word for arts and I have my background in dance and the Arts are a major part of what we do and what we really want to start up we also have our best Ballers initiative which is a basketball team but we are more than just basketball we are being CPR are certified please consider us for funding for next year thank you thank you last speaker I have is Otis lion Tanisha Adams for campaign for.

Change good afternoon everyone I won call out names but thank you for the opportunity just want to appreciate the mayor for calling me at the last minute I don't really know I'm self pitching anything right now I just want your support in the future because we already in motion to do what we're doing a little bit background about me my name is Otis Lions I am the ex exective director and founder of campaign for change been in existence now for 23 years it's anti-game anti-drug Focus this is my partner Tanisha Adams on the new project we're doing want to give a little background about me real quick and I started one of the first gangs in dur not proud of it and at the age of 19 I was sentenced to a 30-year sentence in prison my sentence was overturned after about 5 years and I just made it my business to create a program and organ organization that could help kids like me kids that's in private communities the parents be on drugs or.

That is nowhere to be found and that became my passion so I formed this nonprofit organization called campaign for change and since I existed starting in 2000 we have been known for our Innovative Outreach resonating with the gang culture I'm really focused on gangs and ceasefire and gun control gun violence and all the murders one of the things that we developed was the Don basketball league in 2012 and we end up having 140 kids be a part of it and we used basketball as the hook but basketball wasn't what we was doing we we realized that Durham highest crime rate was on the satday from 5 to 9 so we created the basketball games from 5 to 10 and before we played the games we had three classes U from 3 to four four to five so that worked extremely well then Co hit and when Co hit I had to reach back and think about what can we do now because the game population and the crime kept growing.

And I realized during my 23 years of campaign for change really 43 years of experience 20 years of selling drugs gang banging and destroying my community and 23 years of now being an advocate for the kids I realized we all was dropping the ball my organization other organizations other programs you can have the best programs in the world but if you don't change the mindset of these youth that's being attracted by this gain violence and these guns you're you're just having a great program and they're not going to come to it so I thought about it and if you can Vision if you will if you have a drug addiction you you have to go to a detox center if you have a alcohol addiction you have to go to a detox center so I formulated it was a n a vision n years ago I formulated what they call the G transitional house which they are go they'll go to the house and they'll be Deb brainwashed re-educated and talk.

Trades so they can be become productive citizens where that's where Tanisha came in she's a realtor license Minister she has this wonderful house 5,000 ft house that we already developing and establishing this gain transition house nobody ever done it before one of the key factors I just want to say that we partnering with the da and basically they're not going to come to the gang transas house so the da instead of sending the prison or instead of sending them to the tens Center they will send them to the gang transitional house so please support us we have a document there you can read a overview of us thank you sorry if I miss anything it's all good thank thank you all.

It's a lot of good work going on in this neighborhood that's all speakers I have I will bring it back before the council. Now yes thank you I really appreciate the opportunity to hear from some of our Community Resources I did have a question for Mr lions and Miss Adams am I saying that right Adams I know that three minutes is not always enough and I just wanted to follow up you said the gang transition house and I know I had a tour you you actually are in the process of working on developing this gang transition house and I just wanted you to at least state if there was a number that you had in mind for support what that would look like I number far stall far stallas right now I have sent Miss paig as well as we just met with the county manager we're requesting five $100,000 as the partnership 250 for the city 250 from the county we have a lot of other private sectors that's.

Supporting and getting behind this as well we met with over 30 some individuals and Company owners and CEOs and and we try to invite people to come to the house so they can really see the vision we invite any of you at any time on the document you can call us and and set up a meeting or email us we invite you to the house thank you any more questions it's definitely a beautiful home yeah and thank you Miss Freeman and the mayor for taking your time out to come and see the house thank you I did want to note I didn't I left that part off about creating the pool that would kind of follow up to support in the future ongoing opportunities for folks in the community to provide services for our children I think that this speaks to that and there are a number of ways we can support I will say for the for the gentleman Mr cin Abdul that the food and security program with the county has.

Really been kicking off and I would definitely try to figure out how to connect both of them the new Africa and and the county supports and I I think for the Bull City I'm sorry best Bull City best I think that the I mean these are great ways for us to support our students and families in our community and I really hope that there'll be support to move forward thank you yes same and I I when this when this item came you know we've had some rich debate about it rich conversation and I just wanted to make sure that you know I didn't want it to be and council member Freeman I know this wasn't your intention but also just from the public looking in I didn't want them to think that there's only one thing happening there's so much good work happening and you know part of my push with this is establishing a Community Fund you know I now we have recorded in the record forever the.

Amazing work that's been done in this community and this is just this is not even scratching the surface you know and and if anyone you know we can create a fund where people can actually invest in and make their Community better I think we see some of the examples that we have here and I think that that's how we can also you know it's it's it's really like Mutual Aid you know is making each other better so this this was an opportunity I know we we're probably going to get into conversation about this this one item but this is the point that I know I was making that I I'd rather focus on creating that type of fun than than just you know one here one there one here one there here so thank you any other comments yeah okay thank you I just wanted my my recollection was at the work I have a couple things my recollection at the work session Madam manager was that you were including something in your budget which.

You're presenting to us at our next meeting that that you had heard council's concerns specifically around summer camps and some some kind of pool of money and I just wanted to make sure I had heard that correctly yeah thank you for the opportunity to speak that is exactly what you heard along with all of the other priorities and the direction that we have received from the council as we have proceeded during this budget process it is it is my intention to in the in the manager proposed budget propose a a a sum of money it never means it is approved nor does it mean it's the final number but as we negotiate very very very a lot of priorities this budget season it would be the government's administration's effort as a beginning amount for a for a fund and you will receive that on the 20th I do not want it to seem as if it is going to you know be responsive to all of the asks not tonight or any other you know.

Response to everything that we receive through communication through conversations we have with you know with the residents and you know and organizations that are doing great work but it will will be along with a lot of other initiatives and priorities in the budget that I propose on the 20th I have a couple more I appreciate that I just so you mind if I ask her a question about that just real sure you do you that Madam manager will that fund be publicly accessible for people to either match it or contribute to it or do we need to identify nonprofit to do that type of work so so typically when we are when we have a you know a a a pot of money that is set aside for a particular purpose that we want to we want to encourage Community Partners to engage with us to provide the work not work that we're actually you know in that we are performing inside the government it does start with some type.

Of process you know we set sort of parameters around you know with the community and with the council on on the objective of the fund and then we would it is always you know in the best interest of everybody involved and for efficiency for us to receive proposals whether it is a large pot of money like the $22 million that we have for arpa or small amounts of money we're going to have more proposers than money so we have to have a process in order to prioritize and bring recommendations to the council for approval approval so it would be you know the the government's amount that is included you know it it it doesn't it Prelude additional donations or funds to I'll clarify that question after council member go ahead thank you so I council member Freeman thank you for the memo my understanding at least where we left it at the work session was that we were discussing the the 41,000 and it was essentially amending our current budget to include for this.

Current we are munding the budget for our current fisal year because of the timing of the camp and that was what I know I agreed to add to the agenda the memo that's in front of us is a little different than what we talked about on on that Thursday and so I am just a little especially in light of what the city manager just said that that there is going to be a resolution provided by staff I certainly don't feel comfortable doing any of the second Parts at all I I was already super hesitant around the 41,000 specifically because exactly you know one of my concerns is there's lots of need out in the community as we've just seen just from a few I wish somebody had tallied the the number the amount of money that people have already asked for tonight 7.2 million yeah so in a in a public comment period of what I think 12 20 minutes max wait 3 minutes maybe maybe not even 20 15 minutes there was a 7.2.

Million ask so that's been my you know and I think many of us have raised that that you know that was a major kind of issue was that we would prefer a clear a clear process since it is public money these are tax dollars everybody pays for this and as we know with arper where we had $52 million much much bigger than I'm sure sure what the staff was going to be able to propose in our budget we had $52 Million worth of asks with arpa dollars or we had $52 million and I think over hundred million worth of asks when we opened it up to community easily yeah so to to Madam manager's point the ask there's always more than what we can do with with city dollarss and I do appreciate the mayor's discussion of of a fund you know what what can we do if the city puts a little bit the county puts a little bit private philanthropic dollars can go into it that's a longer term solution than what.

I think we're trying to figure out tonight but I certainly not comfortable with what what the memo States right now thank. You recording stopped okay I actually don't I need to wait I'm okay you're good I it just reminded me we do need to take a break so okay I'm just gonna picky back just a little bit on what council member Cabo was asking so she actually asked my first part of my question but manager paig I just I was hearing these folks talk and they said that they had discussed some numbers with you and I'm wondering if the I know we've we've heard about this summer camp potential fund but not everything that was talked about was summer camp specific and I'm wondering if there were other asks that have made it or might make it into the proposed budget for the next fiscal year that came from the organizations that we heard from tonight or if there is anything outside of the summer camp that is being.

Proposed so I can certainly say that anything that you heard tonight is is not in the proposed budget it's just it's basically just tonight there was one request that was here this evening that did come to us it is not it is not the first time that campaign for change has made a request to the city and the city has supported campaign for change in initiatives over the years over many years and it just depends on you know what cycle we're in and what pots of money are available you know to to support organizations that are providing great work in the community thank.

You thank you colleagues thank you Mr may I want to thank council member Freeman for her advocacy on this issue with respect to the fund and who can apply to it I think if if I recall the thrust of council member Freeman statements the summer camp had a certain impact it it it it effectuated certain impacts in young people's lives and I think that if we focus more on the impact of the organizations more so whether whether they're a summer camp or whatever I mean we can Contour the fund for for organizations that have that type of impact it just happens to be a summer camp but the main point at least as I heard her was what it did for young people the way it reshaped their con and recontoured their lives so as far as the fund which I support we can you know we can Contour it for impact rather than actual anatomy of the program such a so a campaign for change a a summer camp Freedom.

Schools can can approach this fund based upon their impact I I do want to say in terms of the the first ask this this is precisely what we said would happen I mean these folk are here tonight this isn't a budget hearing they're speaking to this item because this item it has money attached to an organization to have impact so the the the procession will begin as well it should and which which leads me to my discomfort in in inside of here's the deal if heart of champion is is eligible for 2024 money then all of these organizations are every one of them is eligible or or meets I think the test of litmus test for consideration for this current year an amendment and if we're not going to do that for all of them then heart of the champion has already gotten this kind of consideration once already and as I said you know to my honorable colleagues at our last meeting I think we have to consider precedent and what what what.

Precedent we're setting I am fully supportive of the fund for 2425 but what do we say to these organizations if we're going to once again do an ad hoc intervention in our current budget for the same organization two years straight who I feel would qualify for this budget next year what do we say to them why did why are they getting this due consideration for this particular year and also probably be eligible for next year as well but these other other organizations that have come that we knew would are not is it simply because they asked or simply because they have a council member advocating for it so I I think that's something we need to keep in mind in terms of precedent setting and message sending there's no doubt in my mind at Heart of it Champion will get funding will qualify for funding in this fund whatever fund we set up for 2425 but they've already gotten a a ad hoc specialized consideration once I don't understand or.

I'm fearful of the message we will be sending we do that again for this particular organization and then invite them along with the others that we heard tonight for 2425 thank you Mr Mayor Mr Mayor thank you yeah first of all I want to thank Council M Freeman once again for your advocacy here I don't think there's a bigger advocate for children and families on this Council so thank you for that I also want to thank the folks who come tonight the amazing set of groups that are providing support for kids whether it's a camp or otherwise is like inspiring to see that and the passion behind that work I also want to say I be remissive I didn't mention this as the city council representative to the recreation advisory committee that our own Parks and Recreation Department directly provides all kinds of summer camp opportunities you can go on the website there's traditional camps there's there's specialty camps there's half day camps there's a teen camp deput city manager Chadwell.

Could tell us more about those that work coming out of DPR but there's there a lot that we're doing directly so I want to make sure everyone knows that the city cares deeply about summer camps and supporting our kids in the summertime I support the idea of a fund for next year as we're talking about but agree with others that that that to make a decision now based on the current budget seems like process-wise not the best way to go so that's my feeling on the matter I'm not to be honest I'm not sure what our motion is before the council I'd love some clarification because I know the memo has I think there's three separate motions in the memo so just want to make sure I'm clear what we're ultimately going to take a vote on before we get there I wanted to just note that I only included the second motion just in just in highlighting some of the conversation and that there was no guidance so I just wanted to give.

Some guidance it is okay to leave that one off just acknowledging that the city manager is moving forward but I do think that the processes should not come before children and their need in a especially in a Cornwallis neighborhood where gun violence is prevalent and I do want to say that that I appreciate all of the organizations that do good work in our community but it is very specific that this process was laid out and I tried to incorporate this timeline so that they could be included so that it it essentially highlights how we're leaving Community out of the process and so do want to especially for summer camps and for the parks and rec comments comments just noting that this parks and recs is usually full by March April May and P parents families anyone trying to find summer camps for children in K through 6 because they cannot be left home left Home Alone is specific and so just noting like there's a there kind of like Child Care need here there's.

Also kind of an equity aspect in that corn Wallace is where four-bedroom apartments live like are in our community where there's the most need and least resources and then the amount of the amount the 41,000 is a very minor amount I mean I think we could cover that with the shortage or actually the vacancies that we have in our in our budget just I mean from a number of departments it's not that big of an ass and I do want to be clear that putting process before the children is a harmful message to send to the community because I do think that the children need need to come first in this conversation and acknowledging that the families who are struggling don't always know how to act and what to act for so I made the ask and even still with all of the wherewithal of being on this Council for seven years I still cannot manage to to navigate the time frame and that was why I made the request so I can understand.

That folks can't support it whatever their reasoning is that's on you but as a person who's lived in his community has children and has worked with children in the community for over 15 years I think it's important to make sure that I push as hard as possible to at least get one of the items in this year's cycle and then for the next cycle a multitude of them it's it's not lost on me that that process comes first for a lot of folks on this Council but I can't say enough that that there are rules and rules are sometimes meant to be broken when they don't work for the people who are harmed the most that's all thank you May FR thank you I don't think there's any person on this Council that puts process before people I'm certainly not going to attack people for voting against shot spotter which I think saves lives so I I just want to go on record I honor the opinions and.

And the best selves that I think every person on this Podium brings to the conversation I think I think the issue council member is that it's a specific it it's not even for the the Cornwall neighborhood I mean I supported $10 million for the fville street Corridor not a particular organization on fville street I think the issue is that this organization has already gotten this consideration once and and I I didn't use process I used precedent the word precedent what precedent are we setting and establishing again I stand by the comment that every organization that came before us tonight touches children they are just as think worthy of getting a special consideration for this current year as opposed to next year as any of the other organizations so I don't think we're playing process before people we're trying to reach as many children as possible without sending the message that we have arbitrarily or whatever cherry-picked one particular Camp not not even a whole Community a particular Camp an organization out of a.

A plethora of of many well-meaning and wellestablished organizations yeah thank you Mr mayor council member thank you I just want to say I mean I think part of the the thing around this is where it does get tricky I mean the reason we have process is because we this isn't our money this is tax money this is everybody's money in this room and if we don't actually have rules that's actually how corruption and cronyism begin and so while this is not the case in this I know that you have no personal relationship with this camp that has been clearly stated multiple times that that's the reason at least for me that's one of the most important things I can do as an elected official how am I using public money and am I using it in the right ethical way and I think that's why there's a lot of rules around ethics and politicians and how they're using public money and it's one of the reasons that politician often politicians often get in.

Trouble over and over and over again because this is shared money we collectively put this into a pot and we make decisions and the seven of us have to make those decisions for almost $300,000 three thou 300,000 people and last year it was a $610 million budget and it is one of our most important charges and so I take it very seriously even if it's only $41,000 and I will continue to do that because that's what I think is to that is to me being an ethical decision maker and everyone approaches this job differently and that's fine but process is important because this isn't my money this isn't the money that I have earned to spend this is collective.

Dollars thank you I I would love to just be clear I didn't indicate process wasn't important and I think ethics is very important as well which is why I think it's ethical to be upfront and transparent that this is a camp that has benefited those children in Cornwallis neighborhood and their families and so I would like to make the motion to approve the city manager to allocate the funds for in the FY 2024 budget for the heart of champion summer camp and allocate funds for the 2025 to cover July and August months so I haven't entertain a motion just yet I I and we'll get there because we need to break for close caption M clerk I got your message definitely just real quick you know the public to understand where we are last year at the end of a meeting during the budget deliberations I believe it pretty much gotten past the the main part council member Freeman did you know propose a camp the council obliged and basically said we'll.

We'll do it this time but let's make sure it's in the budget process next year and I I believe the next meeting we had someone at that meeting said well you gave it to them what about us and because we did well we had to give $50,000 to that group to fly kids across the country for a track meet and it hurt me to my core because I felt that we had politicized kids and we we had to make it right because we chose one over another rather than taking a you know more holistic approach to it so it was basically basically put in the budget process as it was supposed to be this year unfortunately it did not receive enough support because the interest of the council at large was to you know address maybe having a fund where we can just have groups summer camps organizations apply to it and that would keep us from choosing one over another but Al you know making it a process where people can meet a.

Particular criteria and hopefully we can get to that point unfortunately it was bought back up to be on the agenda work session and we had we had a spirited debate about it and that's how we got here tonight and again you know I know where I stand is there's a lot of work and I'm glad folks came out tonight and I I I wanted to make sure folks took advantage of this opportunity to also State the good work that they're doing and to make sure that we can use you know a fund where people can actually not only the city the city can put up our part if we choose to make that policy but also the private Community private philanthropy can all invest in it you know to where you know it could be a life fund whatever you want to call it to where people organizations that set that meets the criteria we've done this before with small businesses the blueprint is there and now we're looking.

To do the same but for Youth and our community God knows we need it so that is what I'm that's what I'm proposing that's what I hope we can address and get to I I I don't want to you know this isn't a matter of process over kids I've been in this community as a parent for over 15 years working in this community as a teacher in many of the communities most of the communities where it's hard to find teachers to go and as a matter of fact campaign for change came to my classroom when I first started teaching at Shepard Middle School school so I appreciate the work that's been done there's a whole lot of work to be done and now we have innovative ideas and I think that Durham needs to get on the ball with supporting these and through the government is not the only way the government can put up its part through Collective taxes but it's time for the business Community the philanthropy Community the private Community the big.

Bucks to invest in the quality of life life in this city and that is what I support and and and that's why I won't choose just one organization we can we can I mean we're talking about kids here of course their lives are impacted but we also have a responsibility that that many don't and that is make these types of decisions to do what's right so now our entertain a motion to approve the city manager to allocate funds in the f year 2024 that's this year's budget for heart of a champion summer camp and allocate funding for 2025 to cover the months of July and August 2025 so move second it's been moved and seconded M cler can you please open the vote.

Can you please close I'm sorry the motion fails 4 to three with mayor Williams mayor protm Leonardo Williams council member cabayo and council member rist voting no thank you we'll at this point we'll take a break colleagues let's take a let's take a 10-minute break we'll be back at 9:31 thank. You.

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All right let's start bringing it back I thinking I would hopeing out of here by.

I'm ready to ready to get started. I lost my counsil.

Council member Caballero if you see any council members let them know we are ready.

Thank you we are ready to get started.

All right we'll. Go I need a. Quorum oh I have a one two three four okay all right it's 22 right yep all right we are are now on item 22 our first study case for tonight and I'll now hear the staff report thank you mayor Williams mayor protm Leonardo Williams honorable council members eron Kane with the planning department before I begin staff would like to State for the record that all planning department hearing items have been advertised and noticed in accordance with state and local law and Affidavit of all notices are on file in the planning Department a request for a utility extension agreement voluntary annexation and initial zoning has been received from Nate Baker and Rebecca Kates for one parcel of land and ride of way totaling 2.8 acres and located at 2625 Ferell Road the annexation petition is non-contiguous to the primary corporate livits and would create a new satellite the applicant intends to construct a single family house on the property and access Water and Sewer services the.

Properties are currently designated existing residential on the place type map the proposed residential Suburban 20 zoning is generally consistent with the designated Place type if the proposed zoning is approved there will be no change to the place type designation as part of the annexation petition the applicant is not seeking a change in the underlying zoning District the property is currently undeveloped and the current zoning would permit a single family home the zoning inside of the parcel would ow for additional single family dwellings on the site the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of this request on a 10 to Z vote at its March 18th 2024 meeting thank you and staff is available to answer any questions thank you with the new PA voice we we noticed it okay colleagues you've heard the staff report are there any questions for staff just just a one and it's unrelated I I do want to go back to item 25 and I know we moved on but I didn't want to just make sure that the framing.

Was correct because the summer camp item didn't just come the night of city council meeting there was actually a number of meetings where the conversation was ongoing and so I just wanted to make a point to clarify the framing around that because it's not just it wasn't just a a last minute thing it actually came to us similarly with the community request in the same manner with a presentation and I just actually advocated for it that was all thank you any questions for staff regarding this agenda item.

Yes good evening so I watched this on the Planning Commission and and I've read sort of the impact statements that are provided generally we are straying away from satellites this one does appear to be relatively a significant distance from the border could you just speak to the impacts and and what staff sort of recommends around Contin contiguous properties contiguous yeah yes so generally we do try to stay away from satellites what's happened in this situation is that there are a number of properties surrounding this one that have already had water and sewer supplied to them they are not within the corporate limits but they do already have water and sewer access this particular parcel had to do a recombination had to buy some land and therefore create a new lot in order to be able to access the existing sewer line that made them ineligible to apply for access to Water and Sewer without annexation so it's making them go through the annexation process.

Very quick question can you explain the impact I know that we have the cost benefit analysis here of other services police fire trash pickup those kinds of things well so by being part of the city they would be eligible for all those services so they be solid waste police fire and so forth that other surrounding properties would not have access to since they are not part of the part of the Interior limits I can't speak to exactly the cost of each of those of each of those services and the cost to each of those departments however based on the analysis done by budget and Management Services it is got it pulled up.

Here go got it up sorry good evening SAR young with the planning department the memo does include a breakdown of cost for fire police as I'm scrolling Public Works indicates no additional cost for them Solid Waste and transportation so those numbers are on pages four and five of the cover. Memo so it's possible we might find a situation where trash trucks are driving all the way through the county to get to this one parcel they call the police police department is driving all the way across the county to get to this one paral that is certainly a potential situation in this case.

Yes Madam manager yes I would just like to add a little to what has been said so far regarding the cost benefit and the interplay between the Departments that respond to the applications and how that translates into additional cost for the Department it is a combination of U what the planning department you know puts before those departments in terms of where the location is and and the Departments that have to actually serve it are the Departments that calculate those cost and then when you see the attachment that actually shows the cost benefit it is over a period you will see from 2023 to 2023 2024 to 2020 to 2030 2032 33 so that it can actually you know cash flow in terms of the additional cost both operating and capital Investments over that time over that time period offset by the revenues so it is a combination of an operation Department actually evaluating the additional cost and the budget Management Services Department incorporating those costs as the project.

Matures okay so is it so we we find this consistent with comprehensive plan policies it's it's not cons consistent in terms of it being a satellite annexation it is consistent in terms of it the cost benefit analysis showing a positive Revenue over the lifespan of the analysis okay any other questions all right well this is a public hearing I will now open this public this I will now declare this public hearing open I don't have any speakers we have the applicant here.

Tonight I don't think so actually no even need. Right good evening thank you guys for hearing us my name's Rebecca Kates this my husband Nate Baker Kates do you have any questions for. Us May time thank you so much Mr Mar thank you colleagues good evening are you a large multinational development firm no I'm a mother of seven that's it what is it you want to build here just a single family home thank you create generational wealth I I think one of the things and and this is this is actually one of those cool moments where you can kind of peel down under process actually and and and talk about folk I think one of the reasons why this is always almost non-controversial is is because it's precisely not the type of thing we're concerned about and that's been in some folks assessment deleteriously affecting the fabric of our city this is single the Planning Commission I think got it right to direct direct translational zoning rarely I don't think there's ever been any controversy.

Around these once upon a time we didn't even the Planning Commission didn't even hear these cases they just did a resolution about direct translational but I think I think statutory changes now required them to hear them but it was it was 10 I understand why I understand why it's always been the case with these small parcels and and private residents that we try and help out out in our city and our County so thank you I look forward to supporting this thank you Mr Mayor thank you thank you any other colle all right this this a public hearing there any other comments yes yeah I I will be supporting I think I will be supporting this case just there I think for me there hes inity is is around the satellite annexation which and you look at the map and you look at where the where the sewer and the water is it makes sense they can tap in I get it but on the six years or seven years I guess seventh in my.

Seventh year you know you're pretty much like don't do the satellite indexations so I think that that that's some hesitancy at least from me it was good to see that Planning Commission voted for it unanimously I appreciate the staff analysis on cost of the city and here it is when you're an to the city you are a city resident you pay extra property taxes so even if that cost analysis is a little wonkier off their their taxes will be increasing because they're now going to be if approved they would be City residents so I will be supporting this thank you thank sorry my alarm is going off.

Restaurant all right well oh counc just one more comment Mr Mayor just because we deal with these these resoning issues a lot you know and I'm also I'm the city's representative on both the Jordan Lake one water advisory committee as well as the upper New River Basin Association one in addition to the turbidity we talked about a lot these meetings we also track bacteria in the water and one of the best ways not to have bacteria in our water is to have families on Water and Sewer not septic so I think it's a great I think the more we do this the better we are in protecting our our streams and lakes from bacteria so thank you as well I'll be it's definitely been a long road I've worked endlessly for probably three years trying to.

Well I like when people get on City water because of what he just said look forward to supporting it Yep this is a this is a speaker card this is a speaker card I need you all to fill well need you to fill one of these out just so I can have it on in my documents okay yes sir just see the clerk right over there thank you all right yeah council member Baker yeah no I'm I'm going to be supporting this as well it just is it's surprising to look at the map and see you know a DOT that's so far away from the city and I think it it speaks to the awkward situation that the state legislature has put municipalities in and not being able to proactively Annex Annex land and have to rely on voluntary annexations because then inevitably we see Lea frog annexations and and sort of islands sticking out there and those those can pose some sort some challenges as they as they add.

Up so that that was the the that was the question that was the motivation behind behind my question and as you can see we have to we have to make difficult decisions based on the position that the state legislature has has put us in past but I will I'll will be supporting this thank you see it's not you it's the general assembly all right colleagues I will now declare this public hearing closed and back before the council if there are no other comments I will entertain a motion to conduct the to adopt an ordinance annexing cak's estate into the city of Durham and to authorize the city manager to enter into a utility into an utility extension agreement with Nate Baker and Rebecca Kates move to Red second and move the property seconded Madam Clerk please open the.

Vote please close the vote the motion passes unanimously thank you In Motion two to adopt an ordinance amending the unified development ordinance by taking property out of the residential Suburban 20 false Jordan Lake Watershed overlay District B County jurisdiction and establishing the same as residential Suburban 20 Falls Jordan Lake Watershed overlay District B City jurisdiction so moved second it's been moved and property second Madam cour please open the. Vote please close the vote right and again the motion passes unanimously thank you and motion three to adopt the consistency statement as required by North Carolina General statute SE section 160d d65 so move second move and properly second Madam Clerk please open the vote please close the.

Vote motion passes 70 congratulations to the Kate's family have a good night all right moving on number 23 Consolidated zoning map change Fox Crossing two two all right how many do I have mayor Williams mayor proen Leonardo Williams and The Honorable council member I'm sorry go ahead yeah I I don't see this person oh okay you can go ahead oh okay a request for a zoning map change has been received from Tim cyers of City for three Parcels of land totaling 25.5 65 acres and located at 734 South Miami Boulevard 1220 Lin Road and 101 Spring Street the current zoning is residential Urban 5 the applicant proposes to change this designation to plan development residential 12.75 with a textual development plan the design the applicant is proposing to rezone the properties to allow up to 320 apartment units with at least three at least 5% of the units being being designated as incom restricted and between 2,000 to 7,000 ft of commercial Andor public and Civic use the properties are currently designated.

Mixed use neighborhood on the place type map the proposed PDR 12.75 zoning is generally consistent with the place type the Planning Commission recommended Denial on a 7 to6 vote at its February 13th 2024 meeting since that meeting the applicant has increased the percentage of income restricted units from 3 to 5 5% thank you and staff and the available or staff and the applicant are available to answer any questions thank you you've heard the staff report colleagues are there any questions yes council member cook hey hello I saw on here that we've got I was looking at the comprehensive plan policy consistency statement on the zoning Change Report have those numbers shifted at all because I know that there was some change in the proffers during the Planning Commission there was I don't believe they did but I can double check and get back to you I didn't think any of them were I just wanted to make sure thank.

You colleagues any other questions before we open the public hearing for staff all right I we now declare this public hearing open and have the applicant how much time do you think you need probably 10 minutes all right Madame clerk please put an hour on Ni No 12 minutes I'm pulling up a presentation oh that's not us well.

Let Do It and good evening mayor Williams mayor protim Leonardo Williams and members of the City Council I am Neil go an attorney with the Morning Star Law Group at 700 West Main Street and tonight I'm representing KDM development out of Raleigh we also have our traffic engineer Nate ban of McAdams and Tim cyers our site engineer with City Kenyan Burnham and Peter cren of KDM development also are with us tonight and for what it's worth KDM development is the market rate developer for the Cub Creek mixed income multi family development in bragtown which is partnering with Ted hun Kelly development which is the lowincome housing tax credit developer for that project in bragtown so this isn't their first project in Durham I hope everyone on city council has had a chance to visit the site Fox Crossing one phase one I'm happy to report that phase one will be opening soon for new residents providing 168 much needed new apartment homes for dermit on the south side of ly Road our KDM.

Development team is proud of the curb appeal and the bill quality that you can see here with box Crossing phase one and we hope to continue that with phase two which is the 25 A2 Acre Site we're considering tonight for resoning for the record our team does want to you just touch on I guess the where Fox Crossing fits into the section of Durham sorry about that I have been in Durham my whole life and I've been working on development projects in our region for more than a decade and during that time it's kind of amazed me how in the Triangle region it has kept expanding to kind of further out areas of Wake County like Holly Springs and zebulin while the four or five miles that separate downtown Durham from RTP remained essentially undeveloped or underdeveloped and fortunately I think that's no longer the case Durham has over the last few years developed or redeveloped some some of that you know Two Three Mile Stretch from Durham Tech South to RTP so on.

This slide you can see scel properties Regional Commerce Center on the west side of Durham freeway and of course there's Durham Tech and they've been a tremendous community resource for our residents for many years and dermtech is only about miles away from Fox Crossing in addition we are Morning Star I should say is working on the annexation for Parmer Edge life science and light manufacturing business park which is shown here in yellow that site is already zoned industrial Light so it's just an annexation and we hope that development will bring good paying jobs to the section of Durham as well and for the past year or so I have been working on the team for a very dense mixed use Community called Brick Works you can see it there in blew 1,800 units roughly with roughly 50,000 sare ft of non-residential space possible there you know so ultimately Fox Crossing Phase 2 and and along with phase one is kind of a great infill development that I think substantially and successfully.

Fills in the gap between downtown and RTP given the job training and opportunities that are nearby and will be nearby I think it makes sense to increase the potential number of apartments on this 252 Acres site currently the zoning would allow for 217 units by right and we we are seeking to increase that to 320 units and as you can see this property does present some challenges it's got a 200 foot stream buffer for Li Creek and 68t wide Duke Energy easement at crisscross property in addition I it's important to highlight that we are following the relatively new Place type which I think wisely designated this area you know near the East connector on the north and east and as a mixed use neighborhood this project in addition to the multif family component has committed to providing at least 2,000 and I believe up to 7,000 square ft of commercial or Civic space on the site now since the Planning Commission we took the feedback there we also had a a another neighborhood.

Meeting after the Planning Commission we've taken the feedback from that meeting and added some commitments to our project based on the input there you know we we have eliminated some uses from the PDR the ones here clubs and lodges wireless communication facility drive-through facilities Convenience St with gasoline sales we also would add a commitment to handle the 100-year storm and I get oh and I did want to address one other item that came up in I guess both the the Planning Commission and the neighborhood meeting which is the connection to Spring Street and well to address that and I guess other traffic issues I I'll turn it over to our traffic engineer Nate boan for a minute and I'll be back Nate if you want to just address that absolutely good evening mayor Williams mayor Pro 10 midleton and members of the City Council my name is Nate ban I'm the traffic engineering lead with McAdams and I was the traffic engineer of record for Fox Crossing 2 My office address is 621.

Hillsburgh Street in Raleigh I perform the traffic impact analysis for Fox Crossing 2 based on my professional experience we anticipate approximately 20% of the residential traffic from Fox Crossing 2 will use Spring Street which is what you see pictured here this distribution was reviewed and approved by ncdot and City staff prior to the preparation of the ti I want to draw the City Council's attention to the fact that if we are fortunate enough to receive the approve for Fox Crossing 2 our team will construct a public turnaround at the end of Spring Street that will provide a dramatic Improvement to Public Safety for this neighborhood we will construct a circular bulb in compliance with city of Durham standards this new bulb area will enable public services such as fire trucks ambulances and trash trucks as well as delivery trucks school buses and the general public to turn around at the end of Spring Street rather than trying to turn around in the driveways or or back out or or turn around in other.

Other ways such as backing down the street that that you see pictured here lastly we perform traffic counts on LY Road as part of the ti that was submitted with the Fox Crossing 2 resoning based on those traffic counts my professional opinion is that ly Road carries approximately 1,500 vehicles per day at this time I also performed research relating to the traffic count on LY Road prior to the opening of the East End connector the traffic count taken by ncdot in 2017 found that Len Road was carrying 3,200 vehicles per day at that time accordingly traffic count on LY Road has gone down by approximately 2,000 vehicles per day since the East End connector opened in coordination with ncdot and City staff as part of the ti process the project team is also committed to constructing a left turn lane at our access driveway on LY Road while spring Street's pavement width is not optimal based on modern city standards the safety improvements described along with the reduction of traffic on L roads since 2017.

Demonstrate that this resoning is appropriate for these 25 acres we are considering tonight thank you and I'll pass it back over to Mr G thanks Nate and in in closing I think it's important to understand this rezoning request in the context of what could be done under the current zoning versus what the request would help achieve as stated in the staff report the current zoning would allow the property to be built for up to run 217 apartments and ultimately what that means is that under either District or either scenario the Udo is going to mandate a second point of access via Spring Street so that aspect Remains the Same in either scenario with this rezoning we can achieve a greater density and a greater mix of uses than is allowed under the current zoning the request also makes commitments to affordable housing DPS and the environment none of which are required under the current zoning and for what it's worth we have increased the affordability duration from the 20 years that we presented at.

Planning Commission to 30 years so really every aspect of this request represents an improvement over the status quo and for all of these reasons we would respectfully ask for your approval our team is happy to answer any questions you may have and we thank you for your time thank you I am going to I have some signups here I'll start with my online folks did she see Melody come on Melody Peters did she come on okay Tim Timothy Jones all right Timothy Jones can you hear.

Me Timothy Jones I can hear you hey great welcome you have three minutes awesome thank you good evening Mar Williams mayor protim Leonardo Williams and members of the council my name is Tim Jones I'm the homeowner of 819 Midway Avenue my wife and I have own this home and been residents of Durham County and the city since 2015 as business owners in our community we can understand and appreciate your objective of welcoming and housing the influx of new residents to our city and we appreciate your taking time to consider creative and bearing Housing Solutions to the gring population as homeowners and area that fox cing is planning to occupy we care deeply about the plans for this neighborhood I'd like you to ask you to find my address on the map attached to this agenda item but unfortunately you cannot find it because we were not considered in the planning efforts by foxgate Crossing developers though we live less than half a mile from both entrances or proposed entrances to.

Foxgate one and two you will not find our address on that map we understand from the Durham comprehensive plan you have a goal of Resident wellbeing which is why I'm here tonight via Zoom to speak about my concerns Fox great foxgate Crossing one has not yet opened therefore we do not yet know the real traffic ramifications of adding 170 units St our neighborhood at this point it's my understanding that fox great Crossing 2 PLS add initial 321 if each of these apartments have two cars we're looking at something around 980 travelers to our small neighborhood Road each day according to the traffic impact analysis just mentioned and published with these meeting notes the intersections that impact us all receive C or Worse grades currently and these all descend e or F grades after the completion of the project and unfortunately the traffic analysis fails to consider Carter Avenue which connects to Spring Street or Midway Avenue both both of which will be directly impacted by the proposed project as a parent it's.

Frustrating to me that my elementary aged children cannot safely check our mail due to the current existing traffic on Midway Avenue Fox Crossing one has not opened yet and the existing traffic is unsafe what the traffic analysis fails to address is that many people avoid the intersections unpleasant by taking Midway Avenue adding additional cars to our roads without significant Investments to road infrastructure is dangerous to my family we ask that you oppose zoning change until such times the city or the developers can demonstrate good faith efforts to mitigate the anticipated traffic dangers with Solutions such as a different entrance plan speed bumps sidewalks on Midway Avenue Carter Avenue and pleas we trust that this council is dedicated to the safety and well-being of our children homeowners in our small community and elderly neighbors we respectfully ask that you will take the time to drive to our neighborhood and see for yourselves what we are talking about thank you your time thank you so much next I have Donna.

Stanback yeah hey there welcome you have three minutes good evening mayor Williams and council members I feel like just to note that only 13 of the 22 policies were met comprehensive plan policies were met by this proposal I am glad to see a couple of propers made but it and it's important to see that the neighbor all had another meeting this the businesses right now are that are near within the 15minute walking are only the transit's right at 15 minutes and the calvary child and the Carolina help group and so this proposal does not meet the 15 minute walk they mention Well's Village but Well's Village using from policy 50 of 10 minutes equals 0.5 miles is over 50 minutes away so this is mostly an automobile accessible development in the middle of so much traffic and some of these businesses that are mentioned in the proposal I'm looking at the zone map Change Report are across 885 and there not any Crossings you know for pedestrians in that manner concern.

Was expressed as how this would be environmentally friendly as this was the headers of Little liit Creek this proposal has one vehicular and two utility stream Crossings so three stream Crossings note the sewer follows the creek bed is the creek bed disturbed by the sword that's a a question I guess for Neil so the other thing is during construction can we the applicant promis that there will not be any storm water and and tomato soup from the construction I I noticed a put the 100e storm water plan but what we've been seeing is that so much of the damage is done during construction I'm very concerned how the comprehensive plan policy 94 of 25% tree canopy being native trees is called an exceed when the policy 85 only has 7% trees for that thank you Miss stanback thank you so much next I have Miss Pam Williams no what about Melody Peters did you see them okay all right I'll now move to our in-person.

Speakers Mr Mayor pardon I see P Williams in Q and her hand is up you see her Madam clerk M Williams can you hear. Me yes I can hear you there you go welcome you have three minutes okay thank you my internet is going in and out so please bear with me I'd like to add to what Tim Jones said earlier about the traffic analysis the traffic analysis fails to include the current traffic on us70 and Pleasant Drive the current traffic on us70 based on ncst traffic counts is 4,300 as shown in the impact traffic impact statement it shows 39,500 which is a 2021 traffic count the traffic has increased seven over 7% each year in the last two years and that's what makes up that 14% increase so really we have 45,000 vehicles on us70 the same thing is true with Pleasant Drive the traffic has increased a thousand in the last two years which is a 30% increase in the traffic it was 4,000 in 2021 and now it's 5,000 right at.

5,000 now so I have concerns about the growth rate of 3% that was used in the traffic analysis I also have concerns about the the streets the Spring Street is like he it's only like 15 16 feet it doesn't even have pavement markings nor do Carter Street Midway does have pavement markings but these are narrow roads there is no continuous sidewalks in this area anywhere to get to anywhere and also to get to the other side of Andre Avenue there's a railroad track so you're not going to be able to get from here over to the commercial development that Neil was talking about you can't get to the park because it's on the other side of I 8 I 885 there are also two other developments Apartments one's got 350 Apartments at South Miami Boulevard that's been approved that's in the same vicinity also and Avenue apartments with 521 this area is really bomb started so there's no real amenities around this so it is auto Centric as Don said I.

Would like to also request a 100 foot undisturbed buffer along both sides of the creek the utility plan is showing it parallel in the creek I would like to ask that the utilities not be within the 100 foot buffer of the creek especially since they're only showing 7% tree preservation we need as much tree and grass coverage existing tree and grass coverage as possible for runoff and to contain this is headquarters of little Lick Creek where we also already have flooding Downstream from it and they just did The Grove Park restoration project to try to improve some of little lit Creek thank you so much thank you so much okay thank you very much and have a great evening we we know each other well now you all right she knows I try to catch the break all right and I have Melanie is there a Melanie Peters in here oh okay there you go she's online and in person good evening you sitting on your phone also or oh no you went online.

Why I did I just wanted to make sure I Was Heard thorough good evening thank you very much mayor and council members for being here for all the time you offer our city I do know it is a public service and we are very grateful for your time and effort and staying and waiting and listening to us tonight it is a very very long night but this matters greatly in fact I do want to point out that my house is on that picture that the lovely lawyer show I own that house at the end of Spring Street on that lovely yellow house built in 1929 the original farmer of Sharon ACR I own 103 and 105 been a taxpayer 22 years in Durham love Durham Durham Public Schools proud Durham School parent and product of Durham public schools and a public taxpayer so please I ask you to vote no in the rezoning I ask you to vote no for the utility okay because it matters your vote does matter.

Matter it matters to all of the people that have been here and waited some waited and couldn't keep waiting Spring Street I I heard the lawyer say it's a not an optimal size optimal was the word there's no way there's no way 400 200 300 apartment traffic from those apartments can come and go down Spring Street safely I can tell you that right death will occur it will not happen safely and so just take a take in line the the traffic studies the e and the fs surely to come the water Lick Creek Lick Creek runs all through there I brought it a picture but you've all seen it all right this blue right here okay this is lit Creek lit Creek has been been damaged for years it's already getting D's and E and it's water and we need to raise that we we have nowhere to go but F so what are we going to do to make it better all right please Durham Udo needs strong protection for our Creek and our.

Waterways in Durham please require developments to do turbidity sampling of their discharges so they don't continue pumping dirty water into our Creeks I cannot tell you water is life and I love all the celebrations we did tonight Durham water is so wonderful Lick Creek goes into Falls Lake Falls Lake is not our drinking water but it is somebody's it is Wake County all right please also I would love just to ask I left to ask for every developer every tree you cut down I want you to plant one in its place because when I look at this map and this orange it should all be green it should all be green we need green space in Durham we need smart development I want affordable housing like everybody else but I don't want it in a hight trffic area where there is not safe walkways not safe buildings not a community center we do need affordable housing but we need it in a different place please I'm asking you tonight we.

Make it ease and Fe and ease but do not fail the citizens of Spring Street and Road in Sharon Acres Community thank. You well all right Paul Paul jeffre on if you get if you get state your name make sure I respect it with the pronounce appron Joe Fen joean I have a slideshow to bring up U this Fox Crossing presentation is still on screen so Madam cler you can wait until he get it presentation up oh by all means thank.

You togg between slides yeah there you go do I just you can just press the down button that should and go up down okay Mr Mayor Mr Mayor protim members of the council city manager City attorney thank you my name is Paul jofrey and 49 years a resident of Durham and for the past 23 years with my wife Patricia Sykes a resident of 705 Pleasant Drive just 300 yards from the proposed ly Road access of Crossing to as others have said these streets are tiny this is Spring Street which is the proposed second access for Fox Crossing 2 this is the 200 block two cars with bins to the side do not have a lot of room to pass one another this is the width of Fox Crossing excuse me Spring Street close to the 100 block with the car stretched across one car at the more narrow 100 block of Spring Street and the end of Spring Street actually is a neighborhood recreational location this gentleman his father enjoyed speaking with them and getting.

Their permission for this picture pedestrian safety has come up tonight this is the intersection of Midway we had a speaker from 8:15 Midway earlier Midway in Lind Street no shoulders no curbs no sidewalks a pedestrian walking if they they have to leave the street quickly have a three-foot drop into a drainage Stitch with stone for drainage let me go forward a moment pedestrian safety this stop sign I took this picture on February 17th of this year it is the second time that stop excuse me speed limit sign has been mowed over it was previously replaced two months prior to this on April 13th there was an accident 3 miles to our West on 885 back in traffic up completely back over the East End connector individuals sought a cut through and this is Lyn Road backed up to Highway 70 this is Pleasant Drive backed up between 70 and Ander Avenue it took these cars 45 minutes to an hour to get what they thought was going to be a 10 to 15 minute cut.

Through back UPS like that don't happen often but this is another picture of the same stretch three accidents within minutes of each other three days following that backup on these two corridors on the right hand side is Highway 70 on the left hand side is 885 in the middle it's hard to see is andur Avenue daily afternoon you see red streaks totally disproportionate with the rest of Durham the aner Avenue and Highway 70 landlock sharing Acres neighborhood Spring Street ly Road there is no way out except by way of Pleasant Drive and youran Highway 70 unless you take the trip to wellin Village which is not the destination a lot of people are going for work and other purposes I have so much more to say and my time is running out I'll be happy to take questions I invite questions thank you very much thank you.

Huh not looking Peters again okay you're really thorough I see you're also taking up space for other people who want to sign up so I'm gonna get you John.

Curry she makes sure I wasn't going to miss her.

Mr mayor council members I name is John Curry we're not lawyers we're just concerned citizens and taxpayers I live at 1222 ly Road my family has lived here continuously and paid taxes for over 84 years Fox Crossing one is a directly across the road from my house their exit is directly across from our driveway potentially 336 cars will be added to the traffic problem on our narrow road Fox Crossing 2 would be next door to my home with their main entrance just 75 yards from my driveway 640 additional cars could be added to our small community Fox Crossing one is about finished and anyone who lives on L A Pleasant Drive would tell you that 336 additional cars added to the already heavy traffic will cause Havoc to consider another 640 cars to the problem is just beyond reason I'm basing the number of vehicles on two per apartment this small community would be absolutely overwhelmed by this great number of vehicles any reasonable person could see that 320 or more apartments with all their.

Vehicles is certainly not a good fit for our. Community whatever the we're not stupid but we realize that the developers don't care about what happens to us once they build their buildings since I have some time left I want to talk about the creek the headwaters is at Spring Road and Carter Avenue I've lived this community all my life and fresh water runs into that Creek and it's the last refuge for the animals that are now on in Wesley Downs across the highway that's already been approved they can come under the highway to this section but if this development goes forward they would have nowhere to go except the East End connector there's all kinds of wildlife in those woods dear all kinds of Aquatic Life in in the creek and I'd hate to see all that ruined thank you thank you very much and the last card I have is Adam.

Gross thank you for allowing me to speak tonight this is my first city council meeting I sent all of the members of city council as well as the mayor an email with a petition I learned about this very recently unfortunately it seems like as the developer described it they're trying to fill in a gap and we seem to be that Gap so I'd actually like to speak to the community members that I spoke to who were unable to make it tonight like Miss Wanda who had to leave early who's had a lot of issues with this developer they're trying to move a light pole back under her house they've had issues with storage in her backyard I'm sure she would have spoke to that I met a new mother young mother on the corner of Carter Avenue just bought her first home with her family she's worried about the speed people already speed through our neighborhood quite often her children play in that street I mean I live on Pleasant Drive between Spring Street and.

Ly Road there is a whole group of kids in the houses behind mine that play in that street I met the Justice family who lived on Spring Street for Generations they have their elderly father who walks every morning down Spring Street to the corner and back I was able to talk to him on Saturday that man is 40% blind and I had to hold the pen over to where he could sign his name on the that petition I met an older working gentleman who works evenings and was unable to be here tonight he told me two words he said why wasn't I told and how could they do this we've heard a lot about traffic we've heard about how it's been getting better it has not the entire Community every single member of this community that I talk to said the traffic is already bad enough we do not need this and we do not want it I do not see how a cesac will widen a road or get people to slow.

Down I strongly oppose this and I think that this marginalized community in a poor neighborhood in East STM should not be over looked one more time thank you I yield my time thank you and good job your first time speaking those are all the speakers I have Mr go do you have her butto sure just quickly I want to address a couple things that were said it's important to understand that this project is ultimately it's consistent with the comprehensive plan that's how it's laid out in the staff report and one of the reasons you know I think it was mentioned a couple times this doesn't meet the 15minute walk I mean that's what the mixus neighborhood designation allows you to do create housing next to goods and services and this project does both and so it might be true that you can't walk somewhere within 15 minutes a day but you that's what this project would actually Implement is some is housing next to goods and services that you could walk to within 15.

Minutes that's one of the ways to implement the mixed use Neighborhood Place type that is outlined in the comprehensive plan and on that I also just want to mention I don't have the verbiage in front of me and I didn't see it specifically outlined in the staff report but the guidance in the comprehensive plan for the place type for the mix use neighborhood Play Type says specifically or suggest specifically that this mix use neighborhood designation is appropriate in undeveloped or underdeveloped areas near established neighborhoods and on the outskirts of the city that's what this is so there was a lot of talk about the lack of infrastructure in the in the established neighborhoods and and things like that and I and I don't disagree that those things exist however I think the lack of adequate infrastructure and historic development shouldn't act as a bar for new development that is Guided by and in line with the goals and guidance in the comprehensive plan I I can understand.

I mean I guess what I'm saying is it is possible that the comprehensive plan and development that is consistent with the comprehensive plan is not always going to be consistent with previous and historic development and there may be a good reason for that and that and that and maybe that's the case here but ultimately the phase one apartments are built on one side of the road base two that's what's being proposed here on the other side of the same street and you know Durham is in need of Housing and the i in my opinion the way to get that housing is through density this project provides density you know apartment s density in in area that I would argue we can ill you know we we can we as a city cannot really afford to continue to develop things at at lower and lower densities so you know I think this project is consistent with the comprehensive plan as outlined in staff report it provides more density than the current zoning allows and.

Also for what it's worth this the traffic study I think the counts were done last year yeah so I mean I the the counts are what they are I I think there are some published numbers from 21 but the accounts for the traffic study were done last year so they a little bit more accurate than I think maybe a speaker had suggested look forward to getting your feedback answering your questions and and thank you for your time tonight thank you colleagues any.

Questions yeah go ahead okay I always have questions and I usually go for so I'll just sometimes you're yes and no look the same fine okay I am going to start with a staff question so our our traffic assessment is this project as compared to current Fox Crossing one has not opened yet I looked for the June 2020 analysis for Fox Crossing one I did not find it do you do we have an idea of what that analysis looked like at that time do we have an idea of what traffic increase we're looking at with Fox Crossing one in addition to Fox Crossing addition to Fox so usually and I think Shan Eagan may be available online remotely usually when a TIA is done and reviewed approved projects are incorporated into the track graic numbers so I'm assuming that's the ca that's the case here then Fox Crossing one since it was approved project at the time the Tia was done would have been Incorporated and at least a model of.

That background traffic would have been included in the assumptions so when I am looking at the potential impact of proposed designation that is assuming that Fox Crossing one has already opened and is already working it is assuming that at some point yes Fox Crossing one is open and again if Sha's available remotely he can confirm that online he's on okay great but that's that's usually how that works yes so it would be included good evening this is Sean Egan director of Transportation good evening mayor mayor proem and members of council there is a traffic impact analysis memo included in your packet it notes approved developments and background growth there are seven approved developments in the vicinity of this area on all of those all of the traffic impacts of those seven developments the first one on the list is Fox Crossing one but all of the traffic impacts of those seven developments have been incorporated into the traffic analysis for this proposal thank you Sean I mean I guess my my.

Question that or the thing that I'm trying to understand is if we are assuming the an the impact as though these developments which are approved have already opened but we also very much know that Fox Crossing one has not opened yet as per the presentation that was just given I'm I'm having a hard time understanding how to look at these numbers and make them useful so we have this this added impact but we haven't actually seen that impact so we just have numbers we don't know what that is going to look like that sounds like we we we do not have actual counts at this time we would simply have to base the projections on the models that we run okay thank you can I get the traffic person up sorry I wrote your name on but I forgot it sorry could you introduce yourself one more time and and then I want to hear you went very quickly through your report so if you could slow down just a little bit for me.

I my understanding was 20% of this traffic will use Spring Street the other 80% were looking at the exit off of Lynn that is in combination with Fox Crossing one which also uses Lynn as its main entrance no there was did you just clarify these streets for me one more time yeah yeah absolutely so introduce myself again my name is Nate BN traffic engineer with McAdams so the Fox Crossing one project will have both an entrance off land as well as an entrance off Pleasant and so they'll have the two different points of access for that that project I believe they're set up where Pleasant is kind of the the main the main access for for Fox Crossing one where they've constructed a left turn line for that project as well and so yeah like you mentioned 20% would was the assumption that we used in our our traffic study based on coordination with City staff as well as ncdot for for what we conservatively estimated would utilize Spring Street and that other 80%.

Would utilize the access off ly for Fox Crossing 2 and if I could also just answer your your earlier question a little bit more so the the the ti looks at three different scenarios the existing analysis scenario truly is just based on the traffic counts then we project that volume out into the future that's when we add in those those seven adjacent developments as well as a 3% annual growth rate up to our buildout year that's what we call the the no build scenario that's kind of our our Baseline for what the future would be like without without this project and then we add in the the site traffic for this project as well that way we're able to get kind of an Apples to Apples comparison of what our impacts are and how we would potentially impact intersections in the future so do we have we have an understanding of I know okay understate pleas that is the main entrance and exit of Fox Crossing one do we have an.

Understanding of the impact on ly from Fox Crossing one is that something that you would know it would have been in the Fox Crossing one Tia I'm in trouble finding it don't have that TI up in front of me at the moment but that would have been captured in our no build analysis scenario okay thank you all right I have some questions for the developer do everyone okay. So I watched the Planning Commission which you were not present for this this proposal it was late things were Silly but some things came up that I would like to just readdress sure the first one is that several of the Commissioners asked for a more specific narrowing of the non-residential so they talked to about that 2 to 7K being a pretty large range and also and I know we've you talked a little bit about this in your presentation about narrowing down the use so do do you have any more specific since the Planning Commission on size of that non-residential I mean the size hasn't.

Changed we're still we on the development plan it's still a minimum of 2,000 a maximum of 7,000 we just to be clear we do not have a user outline for that so like we don't know what the use is we've obviously eliminated certain uses from the you know possibility there but the size is is still in that 2,000 to 7,000 sare foot range okay and we're not able to narrow that down at all I'm well here let's yeah go ahead it's all right with you all hi guys Kenyan Burnham with the KDM development 8480 Honeycut Road and r so part of the reason we try not to narrow down our the size of a commitment too much on a retail user on a project like this is a lot of times our end user whether that be a a cafe or a diner or something to that effect that ends up wanting to take that space is going to have some sort of prerequisite requirements that they'll.

Want for that space so you may have a coffee shop for example that comes in and they want to be in a space that's 4,500 Square ft and you know I've committed to not putting more than 4,000 on the site and that eliminates the possibility for that particular user so it's more about the kind of the backend ability to actually fill that space when we go to build it out and kind of creating a little bit more flexibility in that build Pursuit while also making some commitments to certain uses that I think the neighbors had concerns with making those you know prohibited under our classifications right so we haven't done any restrictions outside of the prohibited list there's not we don't have a priority list I understand the difficulties of not being able to put something in before the Gres are there I do understand that but we don't have a priority list cuz I mean the the things that have been suggested are like in all three of these categories right.

It's like maybe it's a daycare or maybe it's a coffee shop or you know or maybe it's a Wei work right it's it just feels like all of these it could be anything and the reason I'm asking is because we we're talking about 15-minute neighborhoods and and it's hard for us to think about and conceptualize what a 15-minute neighborhood looks like if we don't know what's going in right it's just a difficulty and I understand the limitations there but that's the reason for my questions another thing that came up at the Planning Commission was commissioner CE asking about widening the buffer I think he specifically said that he doesn't normally care about buffers all that much but this piece of land felt particularly sensitive given that it was the lit Creek Headwater have yall had any conversation about that I mean so the site not about widening the buffer I mean we're we are respecting and and providing the buffer I believe it's 100 foot buffer on both sides so it ends.

Up being a 200 foot buffer on the site the way the the stream lays out on the site okay and I think I heard you say this before but I just want to make sure did you say that you were extending the the income restricted housing from 20 to 30 years yes okay I just wanted to make sure I heard that and then my last question is why only 25% native trees this is like a a large piece of forested land and so that the I think the commitment and I'll look at Tim there's a 7% tree preservation commitment which is different than the commitment for Native plantings the native plantings are additional plantings that are required for landscaping and so that was where the 25% of the the additional Landscaping would be native trees and and I and I I I think we are happy to say all of those trees would be native for for additional landscap but that is that is just to be clear that's landscaping that's separate from the.

Tree preservation that's already committed to I understand that yeah I just thought it I mean we've just been seeing lots of folks talk about 100% native trees and I was just surprised to see 25% so yes so I think the commitment generally is that we would use native trees where the Durham landscape manual allows for required plantings okay I don't have any further questions at this time there you are thanks council member Baker got a few questions for staff a few questions for the developer first question for staff is just is the does the Mt does the major transportation overlay app apply here I don't believe so okay I'll double check the staff report but I don't believe so okay I was just curious because it it directly abuts limited access roads yes but when the MTC buffer was created 885 didn't exist and so it has not been placed on 885.

Since oh 88 yeah yeah right okay okay is that something that's on our radar is that something that we're thinking of of applying I it has not come up in previous conversation but it's something certainly something we we take a look at that you can take a look at it absolutely see I guess I follow up Qui quickly to you what kind of buffer are you looking at directly adjacent to the freeway I mean the the required landscape buffer which in this case would be I believe a 30 foot required landscape buffer 30 foot yep okay I only I only asked because of course noise pollution from from limited access freeways are have pretty major impacts so I was just curious about that let's see I'm going to go ahead and move to questions to the developers so affordable housing let me just make sure I'm I'm clear 5% of the proposed units at 80% area me income or below for 30 years is that currently that's correct the commitment we've been seeing six.

To 10% in market rate resoning cases in some cases that's also going down to 60% area mean income you have any interest in making that kind of commitment yes so we looked at the 60% Ami and KDM they didn't feel they could make that work on this project I don't know if K you want to speak to that so part of it just speaking frankly to y'all part of it comes down to you know I and I think I made this statement in some private conversations as well leading up to this that you know we're happy to come in and put all sorts of you know conditions and you know affordable commitments into our projects it's what I'm also trying to make sure I can do on the back end is go out and get a loan to finance this when it comes time to build it and the present environment you know is not fantastic for any kind of multi family construction I'm sure you guys have heard that statement before but it is.

It is certainly exceptionally difficult as it stands currently to get a construction loan to build a project a multif family project really anywhere in the country but you know it we're certainly seeing it here in the triangle and Durham so you know we're trying to speaking frankly trying to create a project that we feel very confident that when we get through this process we continue to move forward and go to build this asset one day we're able to get that bank loan we need to to build the project just speaking honestly to you in a different environment we have you know more flexibility but in today's market it's it's a it's it's difficult just trying to give you a straightforward answer on that as best I can we've been seeing some developers recently making commitments to to Green Building for example with with language committed that says all primary buildings shall shall meet ngbs National Green Building standards silver or gold certifications that's something that you would be interested in making.

Commitment to yeah so me personally I'm not particularly well versed in a lot of those standards I will say we do qualify for quite a few energy tax credits as our projects are currently constructed our assets are actually surprisingly a lot more efficient than I think most people realize you know we just recently ran an analysis based on our Energy Efficiency on a project we're building with identical specs in Charlotte and qualified for I have to speak a little bit probably get a little more detail on that but it was yeah energy star certification for so we'd be happy to commit to an energy star certification on this asset as well it's something that you know is is easily attainable for us on on these assets and we do actually and we do it as well because we we do actually care about trying to make sure our assets are efficient and energy energy certified is something that KDM does it does matter to us so that's something we're.

Doing anyways we're happy to kind of formalize that into a condition as well if that if that's something you okay does that work for staff that's fine okay see there were a number of comments from bpac and I think it typically we have responses in the staff report to those comments is there a reason why we don't have responses just because the developer didn't provide responses yeah so we provide those comments from BAC to the the applicant and it is you know we will provide those responses back to you if we receive any okay got it got it did you all see the bpack comments yes and for some of them well let me say I saw them now like since the Planning Commission I suppose but some of them are are things that are already going to be taken care of so number one like include sidew within the development footprint connecting spring and Lyn that ultimately is required under the Udo so there's not a commitment to be made.

There ensure the sidewalk connection and high visibility protection Crossing with ADA Compliant ramps between residential areas and secondary retail this is a text a textual development plan we don't necessarily I mean I we can't really speak to that at at the moment where those things will exist on the site and whether they'll be how how they will be integrated it's not that anyone is fundamentally opposed to this or anything like that but it's just I mean the request I think is a little bit open-ended in a way that we didn't feel we could make that type of a commitment staff is that would that not just be required comment number two from bpac the high visibility portion of it ADA compliance absolutely is Ada ADA compliance it's the high visibility and that we do not require in the Udo at this time yeah and and the the kind of same thinking with the raised crosswalks and I will say what I have found in other projects that I have you know.

Explored this on there are scenarios where race cross crosswalk is not appropriate and I don't know if that is one of these scenarios or not we're just not that far into the site plan or development side of this to know whether this would be an appropriate site or not I think in general raise crosswalks and I don't I know I've had conversations with earlene I don't see her but you know raise crosswalks or kind of keeping the The Pedestrian level at the same height a realm is can be appropriate and achieved I think safely on let's say driveways but not necessarily at like curb cuts for roads and sometimes that is going to impede traffic in a way that makes it less safe so again I think that kind of depends on the design stage of it building covered bicycle parking for residents I don't know that we have discussed that specifically yeah so I mean I don't I don't have a direct response to that one the it it the other comment is that.

The application calls for sidewalker multi-use path if do requests it and they are encouraging do to request it and we have committed to it if they do request it and then about the go dur future bus stop for route two long Lin Road as far as I know there is no such stop planned there are stops along aner that are like less than half a mile away from from the site yeah oh there's one at Fox CR phase one so I don't know that there's another future route to bus stop that's not when we looked up that's not what we found would you be open to makeing Commitment around item number two from bpac and maybe we can add language of unless recommended otherwise by by City staff high visibility pedestrian crosswalks I mean yeah sure yeah I I don't I don't see why that wouldn't does that work that'll be fine yeah I'll we're just learn the flexibility of unless City staff determines otherwise we we could have that subject to approval subject to.

Approval during the site plan stage.

Yes and then step this is this is subject to the connectivity requirements right you do. Yes that's it for me for right now all right yeah like okay I actually I'm good I don't I don't have any questions oh are you going to come back around when it's time for com is this just questions are you going to come back around to us questions comments so just get the first round out I'll come back around okay great I'll come back around I don't have any questions right now thank you council member Freeman r I do have two questions so the first one is about this issue of stream Crossings and I'm looking at the at the comprehensive plan policy review this is like policy 79 and I don't know if this is a question for staff or for the applicant so it say so this is policy 79 protect derms most sensitive natural areas Etc policy not met proposal commits to limiting the project to one vehicular and two utility stream.

Crossing so just just help understand so what's so and that's that's what this is what you propos right and that doesn't meet the policy just want to understand that a little better I I think it's more about in terms of meeting the policy it's hard on these textual development plans because we don't have a Graphic we can't see exactly where the stream Crossing is going to be where the building and parking envelope is and so forth and so just seeing say two two utility Crossings instead of of one it can be from the staff reviewer's point of view that well maybe there could be a way to to design this so there' be only one Crossing but without that graphic it's it's hard for us to determine so yeah and just to respond to that I mean the the the way I would say it is there is no way to develop this site consistent with the comprehensive plan for a mix use neighborhood without some stream Crossings and to get above.

The 100 units we have to have a we have to Loop the water line which is why there are two utility stream Crossings we have we have limited the number of vehicular stream Crossings to one which again to develop the site consistent with the comprehensive plan you have to cross the stream there's no there's no two ways about that thank you the second question pull it up here is about that again I don't if this is for staff or the consultant but it's about this the summary level of service data and the traffic impact analysis I just want to make sure I understand that.

So what what you were describing earlier is that under the I think this page three so under the no-build scenario what this graph shows is that currently Pleasant D and Lind Road existing right now have have a b grade right sorry let me pull up the one you're referring to Rex let me go through all so like so yeah if you so it shows that start let's stop at the top so us7 South Mi Boulevard to LY Road existing is like in the AM is Level C PM is D and then the no build alternative which is when all this all these developments are built out if I understand that correctly shows that same Corridor as D and so level service going down there right sorry which intersection you're looking at 70 and 70 yeah sou Boulevard and Lyn Road and Lyn oh I'm sorry yeah so in the no build so depending on what type of intersection you're looking at it's going to be either an overall intersection delay or.

It's going to be a specific movement a situation like this your stop control is your only movement that would have any delay so it would be the stop control turning off of Lin onto 70 in the no build you're correct it would be a D in the AM and an e in the PM in the build condition we would add 6 seconds of delay and the am which would technically trigger the E threshold but it would be minimal it was it's tiptoeing the the threshold already in the no build condition so we're we're just adding the six six seconds and it's tripping it into the e and then in the PM it it maintains the E but it it goes up 6 seconds as well and then so for u70 South M Boulevard and Pleasant Drive that's the next scenario shows existing Cur in 2023 level service D AM and PM and then again no no build or the build in 2028 goes down to F and E for both those correct yes that.

That's correct and and that's with the compounded growth the 3% growth rate from 2023 up to 2028 as well as the seven adjacent developments that we've we've added that's that is the the no build condition that you're looking at and then with our our build condition is with our site traffic added in to get an Apples to Apples comparison we don't look at at any sort of signal timing modifications which is why there you see another scenario below it which is when we modify the green times at the intersection which dot undertakes that every so often as development occurs anyway and so with that it would maintain an e in both the am and the PM okay and then thank you for that so then the next is Pleasant Drive and ly Road and that shows under existing is like condition is like greated B right and the no build scenario same thing is great at B so that's so there's so that seems like that's a at least what what the data.

Shows is actually less impact or Le less challenges with the sort of like the the roads yeah very very minor impacts of that intersection and so Pleasant Drive in Spring Street again shows level B for both the AM and PM and existing and continues level B for the no build that's correct okay thank you that's all the questions I had I have some comments later but time thank you Mr Marin thank you colleagues and thank you all for hanging in with us this evening I want to say at the outset I I think it's it's it's kind of refreshing to be dealing with a case that actually does not expand our Urban footprint we're actually talking about resoning within the urban tier this is not an annexation which I think raises you know the question of of and we I think we're kind of touching on it tangentially what what does urbanization look like in a growing city and how does that impact all neighborhoods in the city and because one of the challenges.

And and listen in my own neighborhood I'm dealing with I have a single home in in Durham where I live lumbley road is not that wide we've approved apartment complexes on Miami I know folk are going to cut through lumbley to get to the page Road Extension to get to 70 rather than go down Miami to 70 so I couldn't I couldn't insulate my own neighborhood from the impacts of growth in in in and and growth in an urban environment so I I think and I appreciate some of the questions and concerns that my colleagues have brought up about what does it look like I don't know of any neighborhood in within our Urban tier that at this point presents as perfect for this type of development every neighborhood in this city and we've had some come when we've done rezonings it's it's traffic it's it's the things that make cities cities and I just think philosophically the the arguments that we hear sometimes to keep rural rural can't possibly be interchangeable with infill development.

Or doing Urban expansion they they they can't all be interchangeable on the one hand you're you want to preserve a bucolic kind of peaceful environment on the other hand you're trying to put people in you know decent places to live in a growing Urban footprint they they can't be interchangeable I I do have a question because I I I read the planning commissioner comments one of the votes seemed to hinge by the commissioner's own admission on on I don't know how to say your attitude more so than the substantive concern one of the Commissioners said that my vote was mainly about a sense of inevitability and being dismissive to some of the community concerns in some of the meetings sounds like it would have been a yes except that maybe had some concerns stylistically with with the team could you tell me how the community meetings went so I saw that comment and I full disclosure was not the one who presented a Planning Commission I watched the meeting I had.

Trouble understanding the the why the comment was made and I also was not personally at the community meeting my colleague was what I can say is that this applicant you've seen it here tonight has been responsive to the concerns that have been raised and has added commitments to the development plan based on whatever you know items that were raised by planning Commissioners items that were raised by the neighbors and even tonight items that were raised by some of your Council colleagues as well I wouldn't describe that as being dismissive and I think that this project has improved over time through the process which I think is kind of what the process is supposed to do well well thanks for that and and I I look for in the planning commissioner comments comments that are actionable sometimes they're editorial if somebody writes I think they should do this I mean I I don't I don't know how I don't know how to translate that into action or if they have an opinion on how.

Something should should just be sometimes it it sometimes it seems like some of the comments present as if the Udo does simply doesn't exist like some of the things that that are asked for are already statutorily going to happen have to happen we're not going to allow developers just to you know build whatever the heck you want rough shot over the law hope you're not going to try that so so the comment it was a it was a 76 vote as I said one of the comments one of the Commission seem to be hinging on yes and as I dug down into their comments to see what was actionable yeah I didn't really see anything that that ran a foul of the comprehensive plan or anything that was you know statuto not permissible what I do see is Detention of what it looks like to develop within our Urban footprint and what a growing city looks like another example I I lived talk about older Comm established communities with apartment complexes and using their.

Narrow streets there's an apartment complex before I was a homeowner in Durham I lived at Park Ridge Estates off of 54 that a buts wood craw very old established Community those houses back there you can exit on the 54 and on the days when the traffic was bad I'd cut through the the other exit into this established neighborhood with narrow streets to get out of it so that exists within our Urban footprint that that's what the tension of a growing city I I don't and and I take very seriously when when residents come and listen to them very carefully and I I guess my my struggle is is I ultimately how do we insulate neighborhoods within our Urban tier from the effects of urbanization I couldn't do it from my own neighborhood I don't know how to do that there is no neighborhood in this city that is not feeling the effects or or will be insulated some are more well organized than others some are wealthier than others some may have more influence.

And they may be able to stem the inevitable for some time but we are a city there are people moving here at at an incredible clip we do need housing everywhere and and I heard a comment about you know what's interesting is that affordable housing does not mean that these people don't drive and I think there's been a conflation of affordable housing with just poor folk who always take there are plenty of folk who live in subsidized situations afford who also Drive and our our value our our goal as a city has been has been to put affordable housing everywhere not just where there's Transit Corridor and when we have done that on the most expensive real estate downtown you got to put serious subsidies downtown as this city which we've done so so we want affordable units everywhere and if if there's going to be retail there I don't who knows what the market will put there but whatever is there you know A smart business person will will look at who lives there.

What they need and will exploit that retail space accordingly or they'll be out of business so I'm glad about the ability I you know I like Ninth Street I like how folk who live on Ninth Street can come down and go to shops or whatever all types of sunry businesses walk to them so I'm I'm I'm glad that the retail space is is is part of this project I think the Planning Commission had it almost right and by my Reckoning one of the Commissioners actually would have been a yes were it not for you guys being so mean or or not not stylistic enough so I'm going to be supporting U the project I do take serious and I thank council member Baker for pressing on on some of the the the building the the LED and and and architectural things that comport with best practices in terms of energy use and things I I am very appreciative of that but I think the in reading through the commissioner's.

Comments I thought I think that they had it mainly right all of our neighborhoods are being impacted including mine and I'm the mayor of protim the city and I couldn't stop it in my not that I was trying to in my neighborhood but yeah this is what urbanization looks like and those would be my comments of and questions Mr Mayor so I'm done I won't need another visit thank you thank you council member thank you so I drove the site I met with a development team I think I don't know Wednesday of last week and before that I had the opportunity to drive the site and it is a weird site I mean what neighbors are saying about Spring Street it's an odd Street it's a small Street and when we so two things I guess last year I think it was last year year when we passed our Urban growth boundary I think folks got really excited because people kind of said oh we're going to we put this kind of flag.

On the ground around sprawl right we don't want our city to sprawl we want to be very conscious about our our our water sources when you make a decision like that whatever's on the inside of that line you have to build up or your house prices go up even even worse than what they are right now and so I think that that was a part of a trade-off in a way that maybe residents didn't quite understand when we made that decision about an urban growth boundary so anything on the inside of that Urban growth boundary is going to densify at some point everything even places like Duke Park and Trinity Park I know the horror people are going to buy those houses and they're going to tear them down in the next 20 to 50 years and they're going to build up and that's going to make a lot of people sad and it's going to make a lot of people upset but that is what happens you don't see Mansions you don't.

See gillionaire mansions on Fifth Avenue like you did what was the show the the like oh I was on HBO was really Gilded Age we do not live in the guilded age we are not the the the the Vanderbilts do not own you know mansions on Fifth Avenue everything along Central Park urbanized because that is what happened to New York as population increases and that's what's going to we're not going to be New York but that's certainly what's going to happen in Durham in the next 20 30 50 years and I understand a lot of folks don't like that I understand that that is not maybe what folks envisioned when they either moved to Durham or they grew up here but that is the reality of the situation when you live in the state that has the third fastest growing population and it's not just going to be Durham it's all of North Carolina and and that is that is just a hard reality and I don't I don't as an elected.

Person on this board I I don't see the point in not being transparent about that with residents I'd rather everyone we do it as best as we can we do it as as as the least harmful way we possibly can which is why we have really stringent environmental codes as much as everyone says we don't we have some of the most stringent in the state we have passed a very Progressive and good comprehensive plan that is going to push us to this idea of a 15-minute city which which is why you have a requirement here to have a little bit of something besides residential to start imagining that world where you can walk to the coffee shop down the street from your house if you take Pleasant and you connect to Andre and you see that there's a bus on Andre you can already start to see what the city's going to have to do around and that's on us right that's building sidewalks making sure our bus transport is transportation is.

Better you can already see why somebody would potentially want to live in one of these apartments you can get to downtown pretty quickly on a back road up the way you can imagine a space in a time where you could get an ebike when we when we do the infrastructure correctly to connect you to downtown to connect you to other places are we there now no but if we continue to build single family homes we are never going to be there that is not a possible that is not what we can see in our future so we are in a hard Place imagining that world and it sucks I'm just going to say if you're the neighbors right around there I I I understand it doesn't feel good I grew up in Charlotte I watched all the Farmland get swallowed up all the forced annexations by municipalities you didn't have a choice you just got a letter in your mail that said you were on City water.

And you got trash and then you had to pay a lot more taxes but that wasn't necessarily a choice you made and so I will be supporting this I will say that I I appreciate that this developer and this is a difference they hold on to their properties for longer they don't just build it and then sell it and I think that that makes for a better neighbor I think that does actually matter for the neighbors that are already there I also you know if I were soon out of college or in my early 30s I would live in one of those apartments you don't have to mow your yard you can just be kind of seems pretty amazing and I know the rents I know you guys can't 100% guarantee the rents but you know a a person with the roommate is going to have a rent of about 975 maybe a thousand and then you're going to have your utilities and that's pretty good for Durham is it.

Great no but that that is a lot of people can afford that that rent and that means that we don't have to use government dollars to subsidize that rent that means that the Market's providing that that means we can take our dollars which we do the city of Durham and residents we have probably the most aggressive affordable housing policies in the state we can take those Collective dollars that I was talking about earlier and put them to the Willard streets and to the other affordable housing communities that we are building and so I will be supporting it especially because I know I can do this and get these extra things or it's going to be a byright 24 apartment unit development so th those are the that's the reality of what we're dealing with here thank.

You yeah I appreciate everyone's comments on this I think that this project has a lot lot of really good pieces to it I'm like some of my colleagues have stated we are looking for residential density inside the city this is a this is something that I've been looking to see and we want it with accessibility to Transit I'm aware that every not everyone takes public transit but if we can encourage folks to take public transit and actually allow them the walkability to those public transit options that is a huge part of meeting affordability in housing right because we also have to have good Transit and and we have lots of goals as the city to lower our emissions and this is one of the ways that we can do that right the other piece of this that I that I like is the setting aside of non-residential we've talked a lot about these urban spraw communities that are just housing blocks and blocks and blocks of housing with no accessibility to any amenities.

However I am also really concerned about a few things with this project one of which is that one small part of non-residential is going to be the only walkable thing there is nothing else walkable there was some comment about that Fox Crossing one had advertised itself as a a walkable development I looked today and that wording has been changed which I found interesting which might have happened after the Planning Commission but there is really nothing else walkable there and and saying that folks can walk on these streets I think is problematic so that's one concern that I have another concern and a really really big concern is the roads Spring Street yeah I mean the Spring Street is is a country road it is very small and I know that only 20% per the per the traffic analysis is going to be on that street but that's still a lot of extra traffic on that street and then we've got also a lot of extra traffic on Lynn which is slightly more developed than.

Spring but not like huge and so I'm concerned about that that is something that's concerning to me the byright build here would have a far less impact on those roads and so that I think is something to think about I'm also concerned about Lick Creek I don't have to rehash this a million times but that Creek looks terrible and it's going right into Falls Lake which is the drinking water for Wake County and do you think as good neighbors that we do have a responsibility to be considering that impact and then the last thing is is the deforestation of this area and we heard from a couple community members tonight about the crossing under Highway 70 and and like my colleagues have said like part of our responsibility up here is to think about holistically what makes sense and and we have a lot to weigh I think in this project I want to thank the folks who came out to speak tonight and particularly the folks who went through their neighborhoods and.

Talked to their neighbors signed a petition and sent it to us I thought that that was really great Community engagement I'm really impressed with y'all for organizing in that way we've heard a lot tonight about not being on track with our housing but we are actually on track with developing enough housing for the to meet the population growth that's been projected we're not on track with vision zero this is our pedestrian and biking safety and and this project directly can contravenes that in my opinion this is it's not going to be a safe place I'm not sure how you could look at that street and think that any additional cars on that street would be safe it plan it failed at the Planning Commission it in fact failed at the Planning Commission 7 to four for the voting members there were two non- voting members and so they were counted as yeses but I watched the whole Planning Commission meeting and I think that there were tons of concerns by almost.

All of the Commissioners even the folks who ended up voting yes had a lot of concerns and noted those in our in our notes that we received back and the last thing is that it by percentage gets a d on our comprehensive plan policies it meets 13 it fails at 9 this has been something that we've used in the past as sort of a a Guiding Light so yeah I it's I'm conflicted a lot of good things about this project but a lot of things that I think are really problematic but I again I just want to thank the neighbors for coming out and Echo what my colleague has stated that change is difficult and we are going to have to make changes within the city of Durham that is going to happen and I understand that not everyone will be okay with those changes but we also need to sit here and think about what the best use of our land is and I'm not sure if this is it still conflicted.

About it thank you I share with a lot of the sentiment of councilman cook there is the commitment to the 5% of units for 80% area me income below housing one housing type and then the two the two to 7,000 square feet of commercial which is not as much as we' like to see for a site of the size but it's also an awkward site and so I think that that is a reasonable amount it's good to see that there we are growing we are changing we are urbanizing and as we do that there is this inherent conflict that we see with residents particularly when we see development that's occurring directly adjacent to Residents Upstream from residents close to where people are living and have been living for a very long time and so I think that as we grow in those areas it's very important that we manage the process of growth that we manage the outcome of that development in order to alleviate some of the concerns there's always going to be.

People that show up to these meetings especially if they live next to a rezoning case that speak out against the resoning case people don't always like to see change but I think that there are also things that we can put in place that ensure that there are better outcomes for those residents I think that there are ways that that we can win over residents to to some of the changes that occur in their neighborhoods and that is one of the reasons why I I keep pushing for us to adopt requirements for Parkland I've worked in this city as a as a city planner in the past that would have required an acre and a half of of public park land in a development like this imagine if we could go to to the residents that that live adjacent to where this proposal is and say hey look you're also going to get a park out of this you're going to get a public park with a whole lot more more amenities you know when we.

Urbanize we also need to bring good along with some of the impacts that are negative or at least even perceived as as negative so we need to manage the process of change we need to manage the outcome of change it was it was interesting one of the one of the residents earlier pointed to showed showed a picture of of traffic and and talked about a cutr and and I think that that speaks to the importance of Street connectivity because cut-throughs are really just Street connections where we don't have sufficient Street connectivity and in the past we have not we have allowed development to occur without adequate connectivity and that results in a lot of traffic filtered onto fewer and fewer roads and so that is why that's why I always ask about connectivity and and the the importance of additional connections again you know we talk about walkability we talk about urbanizing it's that density diversity and design the 3DS of of walkability we're achieving density here we're even moderately achieving.

Diversity diversity of uses and that brings us to to the third item of of design you know will will we one day be able to will residance in in the future potentially if this resoning goes through and this development occurs be able to walk places access Transit you know in a lot of in a lot of ways even even if we are building density even if we are adding a mix of uses the design is may not be amenable to to promoting walkability and and so I think that we can it is possible and I think that we frequently and and and consistently see developments that verticalized and and I think that that that's what we would we would likely anticipate from most of the rezoning cases that we see that involve multifam so we are in the process of rewriting the unified development ordinance or at the very beginning of that process a lot of the things that we could simply be requiring we don't currently require and we're going to have to wait.

Until that that Udo process goes through in order to require some of these things and so that means that we need to at up at the Das this is where we have the opportunity to to receive out of the goodness of of applicants Hearts contributions that that potentially in the future will simply be standards will simply be requirements but that puts us in in an awkward position every single time it means that we have to ask a lot of questions that we won't always need to to ask because they'll just built in be built into the DNA into the unified devel development ordinance stream buffers that's another one that's another one of these policies in the comprehensive plan that is determined to not be consistent with the comprehensive plan in fact it's not even halfway consistent with the comprehensive plan so council member cook pointed out that a number of policies in the UniFi development ordinance are are not are not being addressed by this resoning case and I don't think that we need to.

Be purists and require or you know expect developers to follow every single policy at least not until we require the ones that we are allowed to require but it does mean that we need to make a judgment call and so I have the same heartburn and the same concerns that that council member cook expressed on on this case thank. You yeah sure go ahead council member Baker thank you so much I you you you extracted some pretty I think some pretty significant concessions from the developer are reading the green is that an indication that you did they not cross the threshold for to ease the heartburn I guess I I if that makes sense the question makes sense we're brilliant and there some of the things that you got from the developer I I guess the question is to what end was that reading the room understanding that this might this might pass today and if it passes then I want to make sure that it's as good as.

Possible fair enough thank you thank you Mr.

Mayor thank you Mr Mayor first of all I just want to appreciate the residents who've come out tonight you all waited a long time for this item to be heard you've been here till the end so I really appreciate that you gave us appreciation for the work we do and I want to appreciate you for the for being here and and representing your community admittedly this is a complicated case and the infrastructure in this neighborhood is imperfect especially on Spring Street at the same time I'm mindful as others have said on the council our Our Place type map calls for a mixed use neighborhood here right and that's not a that means a more intensive intensive uses you know and that that mixed neighborhood could be as others have said could be what 214 27 units by right right with no promised affordability and no and no non-residential uses so I appreciate the developers offer of a mix of uses we've looked at many cases recently where with.

Where the place Ty map is said mixed use neighborhood or mixed residential neighborhood and then we we don't get the mix of uses and and developers say well it's it's nearby or what adjacent so I appreciate the fact that actually this is a mixed use concept that we need to move towards I appreciate the profit affordable housing which we need desperately and I I I will point out that I don't think I don't know if you all saw the article in the nno last week our rental rates in the triangle have actually gone down slightly in the last year it's exactly what we wanted we we need affordable housing in the campaign this is one of the top two issues we heard from folks day after day and so the fact that we've been building more housing has addressed this issue and so we're seeing rents come down which is what we want but there's not a magic number there and we need to keep building to address the need for housing.

I want to associate myself with mayor prm's comments this is a development that doesn't add to the urban growth boundary right we're where're this is this is Urban Development and while it isn't perfect this is less than half a mile from Transit stops both on pleasant as well as Andre it's not a great connection it's not easily walkable or bikable but this is near Transit and that's not the case with with many of our recent developments they've not been near Transit and so we're sort of left with like well it's it's it's maybe this that but it's just not close to Transit right so as my colleague councilwoman jaier Caballero said it's on us to like bring that infrastructure right if we approve this so this is not easy it's complicated but on balance I will be supporting this project thank you Mr Mayor.

Just In fairness transparency I can't see my way to supporting this project I'm very concerned I will note that mainly my concerns wage heavily way heavily around Miss waiter's comments around the treatment she's received in this process and I can't find a way around some of the comments that have been made by some of the res and I I just in general don't make excuses for not supporting what I don't see as a community benefit so I'll just leave it at that thank you colleagues any other comments all right so if you left this neighborhood and went up ly across 70 turn right on awood lane turn left on St John go into that little parking lot the town home straight ahead 428 St John it's where I live for years so I was some of you all's neighbor I don't know you know if it's because I in in staff I do I will get those commitments yep I I I don't know I I Spring Street is is is one.

But considering I used to live over here all the time I mean all of the streets need they just they need better they need enhancements all of them and I think for me what I keep what I keep battling with is you know Community is not built by a puzzle piece is built by puzzle pieces and I I feel sometimes we're we're saying no because the one puzzle piece doesn't have the entire puzzle picture in it and and and I think that in order for us to truly have that fully P that full picture we do have to build some of the parts and it's going to be a challenging painful process it is it is uncomfortable I don't sit well with you know as a matter of fact you know it was rainy one day right on Spring streak and I was learning how to ride a motorcycle and actually almost got hit because couldn't get it in gear and someone wasn't paying attention I I've had some adventures in this part of.

These the woods so I am concerned about the streets but but I also I look at it holistically and I feel I feel as though we're we're battling with competing interests and competing goals I I you know when we talk about walkability when we talk about connectivity if it doesn't have all of these things it's not a 15minute city yet like I saying no because it doesn't have the things that we want only prevents us from getting the things that we're trying to build to and that goes that's that goes back to just the puzzle pieces working together there I'm I'm glad to see that there's going to be some commercial over there other than the gas station further down the street 885 is there because for a long time 70 you know was just is a nightmare you know and then folks are going through downtown to get from 885 to 147 you know and after a while once that traffic is putting so much pressure you know the government.

Is forced to come up with the solution but I can't find anywhere in the world where they're just they they unless they have the resources and the wealth and an actual Department of Transportation that will just proactively do it I I don't know where it's common where they build a lot of things that would be nice and hopefully folks will come to it so unfortunately yes traffic gets a little backed up certain times of the day on Ander people if 70 is pretty rough I'm guilty of this if 70 is rough then I'll turn on L and cut through to get the edge ear to go straight down parallel to 70 to get further down sometimes a little quicker it's just it is a natural behavior you know but there are a lot of things that I like about this there are some things I'm really concerned about I I am really concerned about the higher use of traffic on those small streets but I'm also concerned about that the same way I'm concerned about.

The school buses that are turning on LY Road from I don't think it's spring but it's further it's the next one up from Spring you know and and they always almost turn into ditch there you know and I've driven school buses through there when I was the band director at Southern I can still have my bus license so I I've had a lot of experiences over here when I was when I was the neighbor I I want to be careful when I say this I I don't if if a resident is coming and expressing their concern and they feel disrespected by a professional then that is a problem now I I but that's a problem I want to address for that person whoever that professional was I I want to be careful about making decisions around Behavior I I I don't like it trust me we have some examples of our governatori candidates and presidential candidates but I want to make sure that we do address that at least as as far as I'm.

Mayor I will address that personally you know I I we're not having that type of behavior not from the professionals that are coming in here you know just being dismissive so I apologize about that happening but I do try to be as objective as possible so I I am going to support it with with with my reluctancy around around just the street capacity and I I as these units are coming I hope that we could eventually get the get some of those roads in that neighborhood to be expanded or just you know just really enhanced there's it's very residential over there and I think that we could we we're now primed for truly building community over there we really are it may not happen tomorrow but I I I think that we're we're building it may be a painful process but I think we're building where we ultimately want to get over there so I will at this time I need to yeah I need to have staff come back up Aaron with the PA.

Voice and Aaron it sounds really good that's why I'm I'm teasing it sounds really good thank you yeah so Neil just to go through the five additional commitments that I have noted there's a commitment to doing storm storm water ponds to a 100-year event is that correct correct increasing the affordability period from 20 years to 30 years that's also correct that all planted trees will be of native species per the Durham landscape manual yeah we're allowed by dur yep that all buildings will be to energy star certification all primary all primary buildings yep.

Okay and I I'm I Primary Residential buildings Primary Residential yeah okay and high visibility crosswalks will be included subject to approval by Transportation staff at the site plan stage yes and then we also had some prohibited uses yes but I think those that is that already on there I think that's no that's not already in there okay so so the prohibited uses clubs and lodges wireless communication facil I have I it's the ones that you listed in the yeah yeah I've got I've got your presentation so okay yeah we'll work off that okay thank you thank.

You all right so at this time I'll entertain a motion to authorize the city manager to into into a util utility extension agreement with bur Burnham Fe acquisition LLC so move second now our clickers are not working so we will have to vote by hand all in favor please raise your right. Hand all oppose please raise your right hand you got that Madam clerk all right thank you could you report that for the. Record Mr Mayor the vote was 4 to three with mayor Pro mayor Williams mayor protm Leonardo Williams council member cabayo and C council member rist voting in favor and council member Baker cook and Freeman voting against the.

Item ad and motion two to adopt an ordinance amending the unified development ordinance by taken property out of residential Urban 5 false Jordan Lake Watershed Protection District B and establishing the same as planned development residential 12.75 Falls Jordan Lake Watershed Protection District district second it's been moved and properly second All In favor please raise your right hand all oppose all right Mr Mayor the vote is it passes 6 to one with council member Freeman voting no thank you and motion three to adopt a consistency statement as required by North Carolina General statute 160d d605 move to adopt consistency it's been moved and properly seconded my brain is not working have a moment all in favor please I'm so sorry all in favor please raise your a hand just the consistency statement unanimous that passes 7even to zero thank you so much I'm sorry to interrupt you Mr Mayor could we could we actually could we could we go back through I I think that I misheard what we were.

Voting on could you could you just tell me the first and second because we're not annexing the first and second motion could you distinguish those two for me you you're asking are you asking what the Motions were or yes okay you like you want me to read it or you want mean to explain it if you could just hold that open for one second I can read it I just want to make sure that I think I might have moted why are you doing that Mr Kane eron I I wasn't calling your voice of zoning code by the way I was saying it sounds really good like your voice is really clear in the mic okay thank you I appreciate that before we move forward Mr Mayor I just wanted to just get staff's respon I I wasn't sure because I heard council member cook mention that there was a 74 vote and in the report it said 76 because two individuals were not present okay and I just want to make.

Sure that in the report for the background that that's clear clearly labeled I do note that the one person who wasn't there that was counted as a yes for the four is so it's it's really tricky that it so it shows 76 when it's really like 73 were were they were they present and then left they were that's correct they were two people who were present for the beginning of the meeting but had left by the time the vote was taken and by rules of procedure they are counted as yes votes but they would be counted as yes votes but it wouldn't be 76 it would be 76 that that's what made it 76 it would have been seven I mean we don't know what those two people would have voted but there were four yes votes of people who were there and then the two people who weren't there are counted as yes to make it six right if you attend a meeting and you leave before the vote then you.

Consider yes just for clarification and I this was my misread but generally when there's not an Annex I I was assuming that the that the amend sorry that the zoning change was going to be the first motion and I didn't realize the utility extension agreement was going to be the first motion I would like to reopen that vote if possible I know that it's late but I just want it to be accurate are you wishing to change your vote I am so Madam Clerk can you just record that oh do we have to Mr Mayor is this motion for the the utility extension agreement or for the ordinance amending the Udo I'm asking for the second motion to be re reopened okay so do I need a do I need to a motion to.

Recall yeah would you like me to make the motion let me let me do this if you don't mind since you are the one that's initiated would you make a I'll entertain a motion Mo to recall the vote Yes so move to recall the vote on motion two which is to adopt an ordinance amending the unified development ordinance by taking property out of residential Urban 5 Falls Jordan Lake Watershed Protection District B and establishing the same as planned development residential 12.75 Falls Jordan Lake Watershed Protection District B one of inquiry is this going to change the outcome of the vote I all right thank you is there a second second all right just a motion to recall this is a motion to recall motion two okay right thank you all in favor please show by raising your right hand all right so did you get that Mr Mayor was that 5 to2 it's six to six11 yeah okay thank.

So now motion two has been recalled we will now I'll now entertain a motion to adopt an ordinance amending the unified development ordinance by taking property out of residential Urban 5 FS Jordan Lake Watershed Protection District B and establishing the same as plan development residential 12.75 false Jordan Lake Watershed Protection District B so moved second been moved and properly seconded all in favor please show by raise your right hand right all opposed all right do you want me to read it yes okay Mr Mayor the the motion passed four to three with council members Baker cook and Freeman voting no thank you so much thank you for that late night correction appreciate it yep and last item number 20 number 24 Marvin Marvin Williams I I heard that you had auctioner experience so you can speak fast yes I can good evening good evening mayor Williams mayor Pro Leonardo Williams members of council Marvin Williams with the Department of Public Works could you turn that mic closer to you sure this item proposes to raise.

Storm water rates for fiscal year 2025 effective July 1st 2024 the public hearing was notified in accordance with state and local requirements the proposed monthly increase for residential customers would be 75 cents for Tier 1 residential customers at a proposed rate of $5.70 per month $155 for tier 2 residential customers at a proposed rate of $11.80 per month and $311 for tier three residential customers at a proposed rate of $236 per month the proposed monthly increase for other residential and non-residential customers is $155 per 2400 Square ft of impervious surface area at a rate of $180 cents per month there are two motions that the administration recommends that the city council approve the first conduct a.

Public hearing to receive public comment on the proposed fiscal year 2025 storm water rates and the second is to to adopt an ordinance to change the fee schedule revising storm water rates effective on July 1st. 2024 all. Right all right thank you for that report I will now declare this hearing open there any comments with the exception of council member cook is there any I'm just teasing all right I will if there are no comments on now I declare this public hearing closed all right this is back before the council colleagues there are any comments council member Freeman thank you I just wanted to check in make sure the general public was aware the and it's probably directed for the city manager the fund that is available able for folks who cannot afford their water bill is named X and I can't think of it right now so this is the you know this the storm water rates and the fund is really for the water and SE utility service.

And it is a it is a fund that is administered by Water Management Department to assist residents that make applic a and have a need to have the water bill supplemented but this is the storm water fee so it would not apply for the storm water fee it it is currently not you know it's currently not part there's currently not a program for the storm order that is similar to the one that you're recalling thank you and I just wanted to just note that for my colleagues that there is no plan in place or Fund in place that covers that and so just noting we're in a recession and folks are experiencing High rental rates or home ownership cost and so maybe a point at some point in time we need to look at what it would look like to support folks who might not be able to cover that as well because the storm water fees are assessed and on an annual basis and it can create some hardship around that affordable.

Housing thank you are you saying the increased fees for hardship so whenever the the St whenever the water rates increase I'm assuming that the water fund increases as well but it would be great to figure out whether there's something in place for storm water or yard waste like all of the things that we have in place to assess fees to our residents as we increase the rate and it becomes prohibitive to folks we don't want them to be pushed out so I just want to make sure we create an on- ramp to cover that right and just to be clear this is we're talking like raising it like a dollar in 75 cents do. 75 cents okay 75 a month so rais it at 75 cents a month yes okay I thought so all right yes I know it's a joke I just one quick thing that I want to say we talked about this in the workpl session and I just want to reiterate a concern that I have about.

This which is that the larger apartment complexes are going to be rated at a different tier than our residential due to the definitions this is not a critique just a statement that I'm making because that cost does get passed down to the tenants and so it's just something that I want folks to be aware of that when we look at these tiers that's not necessarily it doesn't necessarily take into account the incomes of the folks that are affected right like it's not going to be proportional all the time because large Department complexes and HOAs and other things are are grouped into the non-residential and they get raised at a different rate that's all I just want to alert everyone that that is going down and that those costs do end up getting passed down to tenants and so that is just a concern that I want to raise and I will be done for the night sorry it's late late 11:50 I just want to I do want to make an economic.

Argument here and that we can assume those costs be passed down but the the ability of whether it's landlords in a apartment complex or a house they're ability to pass on whether it's property taxes or water insur cost really does relate to the the Dynamics of that market if it's an inelastic market and demand like and people can't go elsewhere probably get passed on if it's an elastic market and someone could move it may get passed on partially or so it's so it's not I think there's a empirically I think there's a there's a there's a it's knowable right but we can't assume the 100% would always be passed on is what I'm saying but like in most cases it's probably is some some share that I passed on but just from an economics perspective I think we can't know that without actually modeling the Dynamics of supply and demand in that Marketplace just from a this was this was me being having a having seen that being passed on it is written into.

Most residential leases and it does get passed on so but I understand your argument yes and I was just going to just add T tack on to that and that I think that this is an also an opportunity for conversations when we're talking to affordable housing developers or housing developers in general maybe the tiering could have some caveat where if you are offering 10% affordable housing that that's an option that you're in a different tier so just for future conversations thank you all right all I and I staff I'm going to reach out afterward I just want to make sure we're talking about you know an additional $150 c a month or 75 cents a month or is that like a percentage or is it like our taxes a penny equals no tier one. 75 cents per month tier two $55 per month tier three $311 per month okay all right I think down here just to note your comment with that would be helpful are we good yeah okay all right colleagues are we.

Good all right all right I will now declare this public hearing closed and back before the council staff thank you I will. Now sorry really need glasses oh there it is to I'll now entertain a motion to adopted adopted an ordinance to amend the feed schedule revising the storm water rates to become effective July 1 2024 second and moved and properly seconded all in favor please raise your right hand all right thank you Madam Clerk it is unanimous all right is anyone interested in redoing this entire agenda again all right it's 11:53 p.m. Happy Teacher Appreciation Week go hug a teacher.

That is it we are adjourned than tomorrow 7 minutes till tomorrow s minutes till tomorrow only this Council can find de over water water for.