Durham City Council Work Session - October 24, 2024
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Durham City Council Work Session - October 24, 2024
The Durham City Council held a work session on October 24, 2024, at 1:00 PM in the Second Floor Committee Room at 101 City Hall Plaza. Key topics included presentations on a Sustainable Decision-Making Tool from the Environmental Affairs Board, an update on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, and a proposed executive recruitment plan for the City Manager position. Several consent items were approved, public hearings were deferred, and discussions were held on reallocating remaining ARPA funds and on the process for recruiting a new City Manager.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Appointment of Mary Ellen Green to the Durham Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Commission (Recreation/Urban Trails and Greenways), term expiring August 31, 2026.
- Item 3: Authorization for the Mayor to execute a Sister Cities Agreement with Kunshan, China. (This item was briefly discussed with questions from Councilmember Cook, but later placed on consent and approved unanimously.)
- Item 4: Adoption of ordinances and amendments for FY2024-2025 HUD grant project ordinances (CDBG, HOME, ESG, HOPWA, and CoC) for total appropriations as listed in the agenda.
- Item 5: Resolution authorizing a Virtual City Auction on December 8, 2024, at 6:00 PM EST.
- Item 6: Authorization to purchase one bucket truck from Altec Industries, Inc. for $347,832.
- Item 7: Authorization to purchase six automated refuse trucks from Transource, Inc. for $2,666,702.16.
- Item 8: Authorization to accept a 2024 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grant of $770,999 and adoption of the corresponding Grant Project Ordinance.
All consent items were approved unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Item 2 – ARPA Fayetteville Street Corridor Planning & Infrastructure Community Assistance Initiative: The City Manager referred this item back to the City Manager’s office for further discussion.
- Item 9 – Environmental Affairs Board Sustainable Decision-Making Tool: Jennifer Kerrigan (EAB Chair) and Barrett Dollar presented a tool designed to help elected officials evaluate environmental impacts of proposed actions against existing city sustainability goals. Councilmembers discussed implementation burden on staff, scope of use, and whether the tool duplicates existing equity and sustainability efforts. Councilmember Caballero suggested a test case with staff input. Councilmember Middleton expressed a preference for EAB to work with staff before bringing operational suggestions to council. The mayor noted the importance of codifying values. No formal action was taken; next steps include staff feedback and a possible test case.
- Item 10 – American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Update: Deputy City Manager Bertha Winbush reported that $249,000 remains unspent. Staff recommended using these funds to cover program staffing costs due to increased needs. Council debated alternative uses, including a potential baby bond/college savings account program for all Durham kindergartners, and additional funding for organizations like El Futuro. Legal constraints and the December 31, 2024 spending deadline were noted. Council agreed to explore the baby bond concept and requested a list of previously funded organizations that could quickly absorb additional funds. No final decision was made.
- Item 14 – City Manager Recruitment: Human Resources Director Robin Wynn presented a detailed plan for recruiting a new City Manager, including a 30-day posting period (with closure on December 10, 2024), candidate screening via SharePoint, phone screens, and a preferred timeline for interviews (January 13 – February 10, 2025). Council discussed the need for an interim City Manager, community stakeholder engagement, confidentiality, and the possibility of virtual then in-person interviews. Council scheduled a closed session to discuss personnel matters regarding an interim City Manager on November 4, 2024, at 6:00 PM in the Council Suite.
- Closed Session Motion: The council approved a motion to go into closed session (pursuant to G.S. 143-318.11(a)(3)) to discuss a proposed settlement of contract construction claims related to the South LRB Restoration Phase Two project. This closed session was held at the end of the work session.
Key Outcomes
- Consent items 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 were approved unanimously.
- Item 2 (ARPA Fayetteville Street) was referred back to the City Manager’s Office.
- Public hearings for items 11, 12, and 13 (Lynley Townhouses, Sherron Grove annexation, Winsford at the Park annexation) were not conducted and are presumed continued to a future meeting.
- The council did not decide on the use of $249,000 in remaining ARPA funds; staff will explore the feasibility of a baby bond program and report back potential options.
- The council provided feedback on the Sustainable Decision-Making Tool and requested a test case with staff input.
- The recruitment process for the City Manager was approved to proceed, with a brochure to be presented on November 7, 2024.
- A closed session was held for contract settlement discussion.
- Another closed session to discuss an interim City Manager was scheduled for November 4, 2024, at 6:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, friends. If you come to order in the room, we're going to start a meeting. Good afternoon, everyone. It's October 20 October 24th, 1 p.m. I am calling this meeting of this Durham City Council Work Session officially to order to faithfully discharge the business of the people of Durham. His honor is in route. He'll be here momentarily, but we will go ahead and proceed until he gets here. Good afternoon, Madam Clerk, but just please call a roll. Thank you, Mr. Mayor Pro Tem. Mayor Williams says delay. Mayor Pro Tem Middleton. I'm here. Councilmember Baker. Here. Councilmember Caballero here. Councilmember Cook here. Councilmember Freeman has an excuse to absence. And Councilmember Rhys. Here. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Honorable colleagues. It's good to see you from the staff and everyone in the room and to our residents and neighbors who on whatever platform you may be watching. Thank you for joining us today at some honorable colleagues for the announcements they may have. Councilmember Cook. Thank you. Good to be with you all today. Just have a few quick announcements. The first is that, you know, I'm sound like broken record, but early voting is still open. So I think it's great to check in with your friends and family to see if you have if they have a plan to vote. And I'm just going to tell you all that my plan is to early vote tomorrow morning for accountability. So remember you can always check to see if your friends have voted, but you cannot see who anyone votes for, but whether or not you vote is public record. So please do go vote. And some folks from NCCU. Happy homecoming to our Eagles. So I'm really excited about that partnership and excited to be involved. And I think there was a lot of really good conversation about how to elevate the voices of the people who are actually living in the housing community sites and make sure that their interests are being correctly represented. And it's something that I think that we've fallen short of in the past. And we have a lot of really cool upcoming projects in terms of development and new housing. But we have struggled to have good communication with our tenants, particularly that are living there. So I'm really hopeful about that pilot program and excited to see where that goes. I'm really, really proud that our um our own NCCU is going to be heading that up with it. So that's really awesome. The third thing is that there is a town hall this evening. And I'm going to read the address because I want to make sure everyone has it. So it's going to be tonight, doors open at 6.30. It starts at 7. It's at the Walltown Recreational Center, 1308 West Club Boulevard. 1308 West Club Boulevard.
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