Fayetteville City Council Work Session – April 6, 2026
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Fayetteville City Council Work Session – April 6, 2026
The Fayetteville City Council held a work session on Monday, April 6, 2026, beginning at 3:00 PM. Key topics included the Dogwood Festival funding request, the 2026-2027 Annual Action Plan for federal grants, renewal of the School Resource Officer (SRO) Memorandum of Agreement, proposed changes to City Council Policy 120.09, and a discussion on telecommunications and data storage facilities (data centers). Council also considered several council member agenda item requests. The meeting included recognitions and a public forum, with the latter heavily focused on community opposition to data centers.
Dogwood Festival Production Support Request
- Kaylin Suarez, Executive Director of the Dogwood Festival, presented a request for financial support from the city. She reported that the 2025 festival drew 81,000 attendees and generates an estimated $10–20 million in annual economic impact. The festival’s operating budget is $146,000 for the three-day event, with only $21,000 currently in the bank. Suarez outlined three sponsorship proposals ranging from $30,000 to $100,000. Council members expressed support for the festival but noted the request was not budgeted. Dr. Hewitt indicated staff could find some funds before May if council wished, though full funding would be part of upcoming budget discussions.
- Council posed questions about attendance, economic impact methodology, contingency plans, diversity of entertainment, and coordination with other agencies (TDA, county, Arts Council). Suarez stated the festival provides a free community event and that in-kind city services do not cover production costs.
2026-2027 Proposed Annual Action Plan for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME, and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG)
- Mr. Baker presented the draft plan. Total anticipated resources: $1.784 million CDBG, $800,000 HOME, $150,000 ESG, plus $750,000 in program income, totaling $3.7 million. He highlighted a 27.31% reduction in neighborhood revitalization funding to increase economic development activities. Council members questioned the alignment with council priorities, the homeownership assistance program’s front-end debt ratio requirement (20%–35%), and the need for community awareness of ESG rent support.
- Mayor and Council Member Green raised concerns about the homeownership program's front-end ratio potentially disqualifying responsible borrowers. Baker explained it prevents over-subsidy with federal funds. Council Member Green also inquired about the $12 million housing bond money; staff noted $8.5 million remains unprogrammed. Council requested staff bring back a revised plan with answers to questions and a public hearing scheduled for April 27, 2026.
School Resource Officer (SRO) Program – MOA Contract Renewal
- Chief presented the current status: 18 SROs covering 9 high schools, 6 middle schools, and 3 floating districts. The proposed renewal is a three-year agreement with 12-month non-renewal notice, maintaining full city cost neutrality via Cumberland County Schools reimbursement. Staff recommended Option 1. Council discussed staffing, traffic control officers (TCOs), and tie-in with red light camera revenues. The red light camera program is being reinstated; staff will present a schedule in May.
- Consensus: Council expressed support for renewal. A vote was taken with nine in favor and one opposed (Council Member McMillan). Direction given to notify CCS by April 15, 2026.
City Council Policy 120.09 – Announcements and Recognitions
- Council discussed proposed changes. Council Member Ferguson recommended recording recognitions and public forum without changing the new first-Monday schedule. Council Member McMillan argued that moving public forum off camera was a mistake and suppressed citizen speech. He placed on record that the change is a segregation of the public forum.
- Motion: Council Member Jones moved to record recognitions and public forum (audio and video) as currently scheduled (first Mondays). The motion passed with nine in favor and one opposed (Council Member McMillan). Announcements will remain at the beginning of regular council meetings (second and fourth Mondays).
Telecommunications and Data Storage Facilities (Data Centers)
- Staff provided an educational overview. Craig Harman described how inquiries from developers led to proposed text amendments. CIO Willie Henry explained types and requirements of data centers. Robert Van Geons (FCEDC) discussed economic considerations, including tax base and jobs, but noted utility rate impacts are shared across Duke Energy’s service area.
- Council discussion centered on environmental impacts (water, electricity, noise), lack of specific information, and community concerns. Council Member McMillan requested a community benefits impact analysis and consideration of a moratorium. Council Member Ferguson asked about regulatory limits (city can control zoning, noise, setbacks; not air/water quality, which are state-regulated).
- Consensus: Council directed staff to present the planning commission’s recommended text amendments at a future meeting, with a public hearing to follow. No timeline set.
Council Member Agenda Items
- 6.06 Blanton Road Speed Reduction (CM Haire): Request to reduce speed limit from 35 to 25 mph on Blanton Road, with signage. Consensus: Referred to Public Services for analysis.
- 6.07 FAST Amenities (CM Jones): Request to lower threshold for bus stop amenities (benches, shelters) to improve transit equity. Consensus: Direct staff to revisit thresholds and report on cost implications.
- 6.08 Compliance Dates & Environmental Court (CM Haire): Request to review enforcement options outside environmental court for property violations. Consensus: Legal department to present all available enforcement options.
- 6.09 Sign Ordinance Discrepancies (CM Hondros): Request to hold enforcement of certain sign violations for 60 days while the Business/Economic Development Committee reviews inconsistency in wall sign regulations. Consensus: Staff will document violations but not issue new notices for 60 days (limited to specific issues); committee to research and recommend revisions.
- 6.010 Peer City Comparison (CM Hondros): Request to use the ten largest North Carolina cities (excluding Charlotte if appropriate) for standard comparisons. Consensus: Adopted with one opposed (CM McMillan).
- 6.011 City Clerk Service Under CMO vs. Council (CM Hondros): Request for research by Manager’s Office and Attorney’s Office on best practices for clerk reporting structure. Consensus: Staff to report back on pros and cons.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Approximately 30 speakers signed up; many spoke. Overwhelming majority addressed data centers, urging council to pass a one-year moratorium and conduct thorough environmental and economic impact studies. Speakers cited risks to water supply (Cape Fear River), increased utility costs, noise pollution, job quality, and property values. Some speakers also raised concerns about the FPD LEED program, Fair Block dust/pollution in the Fairview community, and the need for transit-oriented development.
- Three written comments were summarized: all opposed data centers and requested a moratorium.
- Joey Jones (Carolina Athletic Academy) requested reopening access to park facilities after an incident.
Key Outcomes
- Dogwood Festival: No formal action; staff will follow up on funding options.
- Annual Action Plan: Staff to refine based on council feedback and present at April 27 public hearing.
- SRO Program: Renewal approved (9-1); notification to CCS by April 15.
- Policy 120.09: Motion to record recognitions and public forum passed (9-1); announcements remain at regular meetings.
- Data Centers: Staff to present planning commission’s text amendments at a future work session; no moratorium discussion concluded.
- Council Requests: All passed with consensus (some with one dissenting vote) – speed study, transit amenity review, legal options for compliance, sign ordinance pause and committee review, peer city standard, and clerk structure research.
- Recognitions: Several proclamations and awards were presented, including the Key to the City to Dr. John Godbolt.
Next Steps
- The next regular City Council meeting is April 13, 2026. The public hearing for the Annual Action Plan is scheduled for April 27, 2026. Red light camera RFP update and data center presentation will be on future work session agendas.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. On this April Sixth, my wife's lovely birthday. Happy birthday, friend. Let us bring our uh work session uh to order. Can we have an invocation by Council Member Malik Davis? Let us all bow our heads. One nation. I'm the guy. In the visible with liberty and justice problem. Can we get a motion to approve the agenda? So move to approve, sir. Yes. Um, very short um announcement today. Um, as so Chris Call, if you could come forward and uh introduce a new staff member we have with us. Okay, not doing work sessions. There we go. Good afternoon, Mayor Pro Town Council. Um, about nine months ago or so, um city manager encouraged me to apply for a competitive grant through the International City County Managers Association. Uh so we put in a grant application for a program they were working on for economic mobility and opportunity. Uh we got awarded one of 16 grants uh in the country. And so what that grant does is it allowed us to hire somebody with uh appropriate background and experience to come be part of our community and work with us for a couple of years and to figure out um how we can address some of the things that we found in a couple of studies that have happened over the years, y'all might have heard of. Um was a study conducted at Harvard called the Opportunity Atlas, and that talked about the likelihood that a child born in poverty would get out of poverty during their lifetime. And Fayetteville did not score very well in large metropolitan areas on that study. Uh similar work was replicated with Winston Salem State University a few years later, uh found similar uh findings. And so over the years we've done a lot of work. City council has invested uh a lot of resources and time and energy in addressing these issues. Um we don't know if we're any better off than we were in 2016. And so the hope with this grant is to bring in uh Terry, um who I'll introduce in just a second, and uh to really assess where we are as a community, what long-term viability of some of the efforts that we put in place are, and really come up with concrete actions that we can measure and hold ourselves accountable to to making sure that we can improve economic economic opportunity in our community. So with that, I'll ask Terry Slipka to come up here. Uh Terry has uh over two decades of experience working in economic development across the world. Um he's worked with local governments and states and even countries on uh setting up economic systems. Uh we were very fortunate enough to land him for the next two and a half years or so, and uh this is not the last time you'll see him, but it's our our first chance to kind of introduce him. So, Terry. Okay. Uh thank you. I appreciate the introduction from Chris and thank you, council members and attendees for the opportunity to introduce myself. Uh, with family who settled about 15 years ago, about 45 minutes from here. I've really appreciated the opportunity to come and do what I can to help the council and the people of Fayetteville realize their economic opportunities. As Chris said, I've worked around the world, worked with over a hundred municipalities in a number of countries to do those very things, and I think the opportunity to come back and bring that experience and work with the people of Fayetteville to find what's needed here and really develop evidence-based uh ideas that help inform policy choice and help unlock the potential of the people here is a great opportunity for me. It's an honor to come back here and work with you, with the council, with everyone here, the organizations in the private sector, and I look forward to doing that and us to achieving great results for the city and for the people and for the region. So thank you very much. Thank you, sir, and welcome aboard. Uh just yes, let's give it up for them. No, no, no. Thank you. Thank you. We we we expect great things, and we know you're going to deliver great things. Just earlier today, I was on uh with Councilmember Hondros. We were talking about the future of Fayetteville. And we need economic impact for the city of Fayetteville, so we can see so we can anticipate what we want to see five, ten, fifteen years from now when most office most of us are off this diocese.
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