Durham City Council Work Session – November 13, 2023
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Durham City Council Work Session – November 13, 2023
The Durham City Council held a work session on November 13, 2023, at 1:00 PM. The meeting included announcements of election results, recognition of the Miles with the Mayor race winners, public comments on the proposed Culver Farms annexation and the SCAD text amendment, and settlement of the consent agenda. The council also discussed the repair of DTV-8, the public access television channel.
Consent Calendar
- The council approved Items 1 through 15 as a consent agenda, including the Durham Workers' Rights Commission appointment, contract amendments, grant ordinances, and interlocal agreements, with a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Middleton and second by Councilwoman Freeman. The vote was unanimous.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ms. Burris (in-person speaker) expressed serious concerns about violence in the city, recounting a recent incident. She urged the council to engage with the community and called for unity and respect.
- Jacqueline Wagstaff (remote) thanked Mayor O'Neill for her service and criticized Mayor-elect Williams for his lack of representation in Ward 3. She urged him to do better for the community.
- Michael Cromwell (remote) spoke in opposition to the annexation of Culver Farms (Agenda Item 16), stating that residents were never notified and that the process was abnormal. He noted a petition with over 80 signatures from the 57 affected home sites opposing the annexation.
- Kathy Cowis (remote), president of the Culver Farms HOA, also opposed the annexation. She explained that the developer did not inform residents, the HOA would face increased burdens, and the annexation would not provide normal city services like road maintenance or stormwater management. She asked the council to deny the annexation.
- Elena Patoj (remote) echoed opposition, stating that over 80% of the 57 home sites had signed a petition against annexation. Her audio was poor, and the mayor invited her to speak at the next public hearing.
- Rafe Mazer (remote) from the Walltown Community Association spoke against the SCAD text amendment (Agenda Item 17). He criticized the process as flawed, noting that community comments were not addressed. He highlighted potential damage to older homes from increased buffers and proposed a pilot program to test SCAD before full implementation.
Discussion Items
- Election and Announcements: Mayor O'Neill announced the absence of Councilmember Holsey Hyman due to a family emergency. The council congratulated the winners of the November 7 municipal elections, including Mayor-elect Leonardo Williams, and reelected Councilmember Javier Caballero, as well as councilmembers-elect Nate Baker and Carl Rist. They also recognized the participatory budgeting team for achieving 12,000 votes.
- Miles with the Mayor: City Manager presented the winners of the 2023 Miles with the Mayor race: Paul Whipkey (1st, 23:12), Stephanie Minor (2nd), and Chris Ayanouzzi (3rd, 23:25). The council approved the priority item.
- DTV-8 Repair: Councilwoman Freeman raised the issue of DTV-8 being down. The City Manager reported that Spectrum was repairing the equipment, with an estimated 60-day completion time. Residents without internet were encouraged to attend meetings in person or use phone access.
- Agenda Settlement: The council settled the agenda for the November 20 meeting, with consent items 1-15 and public hearings for Items 16 (Culver Farms annexation) and 17 (SCAD text amendment).
Key Outcomes
- The council unanimously approved the priority item (Miles with the Mayor recognition) and the consent agenda (Items 1-15).
- The public hearing for Culver Farms annexation and SCAD text amendment will be held on November 20, 2023, at the next City Council meeting.
- The council noted the ongoing repair of DTV-8 and encouraged residents to use alternative streaming methods.
- The meeting adjourned at 1:41 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Two minutes to air. One minute to the live stream. One minute to air. The live stream has started. Happy Thursday, everybody. Happy Thursday, everybody. We would like to call the Durham City Council work session to order for this the ninth day of November 2023 at 1 PM. We certainly want to welcome those of you who have joined us here in chambers this afternoon and those of you who are joining us remotely as well. Madam Clerk, if you will call our role. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Mayor O'Neill. I am here. Mayor Pro Tem Middleton. I'm here. Councilmember Caballero. Here. Councilmember Freeman. Present. Councilmember Holsey Hyman received an excused absence Monday evening. Councilmember Johnson. And Councilmember Williams. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to start out with our announcements by council. First of all, I want to um just raise up Councilwoman Monique Hosley Hyman, who had to leave a town uh right pretty much right after the election. Uh her mother is ill, and I would ask that you all uh keep her in prayer. She is um in New York. Um I talked to her husband this morning. We're not exactly sure when she will be uh back in North Carolina, but um just just keep her lifted um during this time. And with that, my congratulations to uh councilwoman uh caballero and also our mayor elect Aalio Williams um done. And um uh and all of the other um new people who will be sitting on this dais uh in December, December four, please keep that on your calendars. That will be um my last day. Uh and also Councilwoman Gillian Johnson will be saying goodbye as well as that that on that day as well. So uh that'll be our last session. Uh that since I'm in the middle of my announcements, I'll I'll go ahead. I do want to uh say uh congratulations to all those who participated with Miles uh with the mayor. We had a grand time. Uh that's one of the highlights of my being a mayor is participating in that event. We're out there doing the wobble and the lecture slide, and we just had a great old time out there, and we have some winners that I know um our city manager will announce in just a few minutes. Also want to put on your calendar for um on Monday night, the next Monday that we have uh council meeting. We will have them as we could Thanksgiving and we will have one on Monday, the council meeting on that Monday, and then we will have our work session um on that Wednesday that Tuesday. So you'll have back to back meetings. Keep that in mind Monday night and then Tuesday afternoon. And also on next Monday night, we will have for a public hearing SCAD the reports that will come forth from the uh meetings that we had as a task force uh and their recommendations. Uh I look forward to that. And all of you who did not get to speak at our last um hearing on that, I would invite you all to come out on that night because that will be for a full uh public hearing, and your thoughts um will be needed and will be uh listened to at that time. So with that, I will turn to my left to see if we have any announcements on for my colleagues here. Councilwoman Johnson. Thank you, Madam Mayor.
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