Durham City Council Work Session - February 5, 2026
Durham City Council Work Session - February 5, 2026
The Durham City Council held a work session on February 5, 2026, at 6:00 PM, chaired by Mayor Pro Tem in the absence of Mayor Williams. The meeting covered consent items, public comments, discussions on transit and homeless services, and a presentation on riparian buffer protection standards. Council approved a contract for a radio tower project and settled the consent agenda.
Consent Calendar
- Item #6: Radio tower site additions and relocation with Motorola Solutions Inc. Council suspended rules and voted to authorize a contract not to exceed $7,716,701.30 and adopt a budget amendment for the project.
- Consent items 1–5 and 7–24 were approved as settled, including numerous annual reports from boards and commissions, amendments to contracts, and a condemnation action for a pedestrian improvement project.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Zach Chekowski (Eno Community Tennis Association): Stressed the importance of maintaining public tennis courts, noting that fewer than half of Durham's 59 courts meet USTA standards. He requested urgent maintenance and a consistent upkeep plan.
- Victoria Peterson: Spoke on three items:
- Opposed approval of Item #3 (immigrant legal assistance grant) until questions about funding sources and beneficiaries were clarified. City Attorney Hernandez confirmed the $450,000 is city carryover funds for Justice Matters, not federal.
- Commented on Item #5 (Homeless Services Advisory Committee annual report), requesting a written report on homeless numbers and camps. She urged the city to use the old police building for housing.
- In general public comment, she called for supporting police technology funding and highlighted homelessness among African Americans.
- Pam Andrews (online): Requested greater transparency for NPAA approvals, including a notification system and visual location maps.
- Samantha Propp (Sound Rivers): Supported the riparian buffer presentation and urged a public process for NPAAs, noting 20 NPAAs in 2025 affecting 195,000 sq ft of stream impacts.
Discussion Items
- Priority Item – Radio Tower: City Manager Bo Ferguson requested suspension of rules due to a February 15 bid expiration. Council voted unanimously to approve.
- Introduction of New HR Director: Aaron Miley, previously at LSU Health, introduced as the new Human Resources Director.
- Item #7 – Junction Road Paratransit Facility: Discussion on funding: $2.2 million contract for design, with total pre-construction costs estimated at $15 million. Staff reported agreement with county to support full design funding. Councilmember Riss emphasized the project's importance for BRT.
- Item #23 – Battery Electric Bus Charging Equipment: Transportation Director Sean Egan explained that charging infrastructure is needed for new electric buses. 22 battery electric buses will be in service by end of February, about one-third of the fleet. Future purchases may shift to diesel due to federal funding uncertainty, but electric buses show lower maintenance costs.
- Item #5 – Homeless Services Advisory Committee Annual Report: Staff reported ~1,400 homeless individuals in Durham, including 650 unsheltered households. A new public dashboard was launched. Over 200 people were sheltered during recent winter storms. Councilmember Riss asked about the point-in-time count; staff explained the unsheltered count was deferred to improve data strategy.
- Presentation – Riparian Buffer Protection Standards: Planning staff presented the history and application of buffer regulations, including the No Practical Alternative Authorization (NPAA) process. Council discussed transparency, data tracking, and the role of proffers. Staff agreed to explore ways to daylight NPAA applications. Councilmember Cook raised concerns about commitments made during rezoning being undermined by subsequent NPAA approvals, citing the Howard Place case.
Key Outcomes
- Approved: Motion to suspend rules and authorize contract with Motorola Solutions Inc. for radio tower project (amount: $7,716,701.30) and related budget amendment – unanimous.
- Approved: Excused absences for Councilmembers Burris and Kopak on February 19, 2026 – unanimous.
- Consent Agenda Settled: Items 1–5 and 7–24 approved; public hearings set for items 26, 27, and added item 29 (Creekside) for February 19 meeting.
- Directives: Staff to develop recommendations for increasing NPAA transparency and track frequency of authorizations. Staff to consider more explicit language in staff reports regarding stream buffer commitments.
- Next Steps: Presentation on homelessness strategic framework scheduled for next council meeting. County staff will present a BRT update at a future work session.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. Uh thank you for being with us. Um the mayor is at um I don't think it's mayor's uh at a Bloomberg gathering. So um I'll be chairing the meeting this afternoon. Um Madam Clerk, could you please call the roll? Thank you, Madam Mayor Pro Tem. Um as we heard Mayor Williams was granted an excused absence on January 5th. Madam Mayor Proton Caballero. Here. Councilmember Baker. Here. Councilmember Burris here. Councilmember Cook. Here. Councilmember Copak. Here. Councilmember Riss. Here. Thank you. Thank you. Do I have any colleagues that have announcements? If you could just raise your hand. Councilmember Baker. Yeah, thank you all for everyone who's here. Um as always, thank you to our city workers who have been working around the clock um with the uh the weather situation. Um there are a lot of annual reports on uh the agenda today. You know, many of these were we're not gonna be uh polling. There's just there's just so many. But I wanted to uh lift those up and uh give out a big thank you to all of the volunteers that are on our boards and commissions. You play a vital role in our city and in uh the collaboration between our city and county and uh nonprofits. Um the planning items, board of adjustment, planning commission, open space and trails, historic preservation, and uh joint city. You you can watch the joint city county planning committee meeting um took place in the in this room yesterday. You can watch that on YouTube and uh watch the chairs and liaisons of those elaborate on their annual reports. Um there was also an introduction to the open space plan, um, which the city is gonna be embarking on. The city and the county. Uh so that is uh on the JCCPC meeting from yesterday. Uh and then the uh Durham Unified Development Ordinance has gone live. It went live last week. So I encourage folks to to go on to Engage Durham and check that out and look at the uh zoning map. There's a slider you can you can use to uh see your existing zoning and then what the proposed zoning would be under the uh new uh UDO. We're gonna call it the LDC. So that's that's it for me. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Kopak. Uh yes, thank you. Uh Chair Mayor Pro Tem, thank you, Mr. Manager. Um also want to extend my gratitude to all the folks who serve on our boards and commissions uh for their work and for the reports uh provided today. I enjoyed reading them and seeing uh all that um these uh dedicated volunteers have been up to for the last year and plans for 2026. I encourage everyone who serves on one of these boards of commissions to stay in close touch with your uh liaisons on the council and where appropriate on the county commission.
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