The Fayetteville City Council held its regular meeting on March 24, 2025, at 6:30 PM in the Council Chamber. The meeting included recognition of guests, reports from boards and commissions, a public hearing on HUD plan amendments, and decisions on a land exchange with Fayetteville State University (FSU) and a 911 center grant application.
Well, good evening, everyone. We'd like to call our March 24th Federal City Council meeting to order. We welcome those who are joining us in the audience, those who may be logging in and sharing time with us remotely. We welcome you. At this time, we will have the invocation. We ask that Dr. Rosa Herman and I don't know if Pastor Herman's coming, or it's doc. I say Dr. Rosa. Yes, sir. Pastor, I got you. So Dr. Rosa Herman from our Harvest Family Church is coming to lead us into prayer if we could all stand for the invocation. Good evening, Dr. Herman. Good evening, everyone. Let's pray. As we gather here today, I just want to take a moment. I want you to take a moment just to pause and reflect and seek guidance tonight. I ask for wisdom for our mayor and the council members. May you be filled with wisdom and understanding as you approach issues tonight. May you listen actively and respect each other's viewpoints in your decisions today. May you create an environment of collaboration and unity where different opinions are valued and understood. Allow yourself to embrace the common ground we all share as you strive for solutions that uplift the citizens of Fayetteville, North Carolina. May you be mindful of your words and actions tonight, knowing they have the power to inspire hope, encourage growth, and ignite positive change. May you remember your duty not just to lead, but to serve with compassion and integrity as you make decisions that shape the future of our city. May you hold tightly to your commitment to transparency, accountability, and the welfare of our neighbors. Amen. Very familiar with it, and it's expanded to the western part of the city, but I'll leave it up to you. We also have a location on the east side as well. God has been faithful to us and very good to us. We uh have a congregation, um, a member of people who love the Lord. We have a diverse community of all races. We have young and old that have been with us for over 25 plus years, and we are in a place where uh we are educating and empowering and encouraging people to be the best version of themselves. And uh so I want to brag a little bit more, but I just you have to come and visit. Well, you just see and experience an encounter with God that you probably would like to have because it brings you closer to him. And I believe if we let God be the center of everything that we do, we can run this city in a manner that we can cut crime down. And we just purchased the uh strip mall on Strickland Bridge Road four years ago, and we paid cash for it. Amen. Cash. So our people are givers, and they give us unto the Lord, and we've been good stewards of our finances. Uh, other property that that we own on the east side uh with 40 some plus acres, uh, that's paid in full as well. And so we have totally gone into cities and transform that area. Strickland Bridge Road used to be the food line building, where it was so many drug-infested areas, killings, and uh prostitution, and we came in there and took control of that environment and changed it. And we just had last year, you were there with us, uh Thompson, and uh we serve the community with over 500 people with free food and games for the kids to play. So we're getting our footprint over in that area so that the people will have a place that they can worship and feel good about their community. We're all about building the community and building a city so it can be a better place where people can come and live and enjoy life to his fullest. Well, thank you. Thank you, Dr. Herman, for uh the great work that you and uh Pastor Herman are doing over at Harvest Family and my colleague to the right.