Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Fayetteville City Council held a work session on Monday, October 5, 2026, starting at 2:00 PM in the Council Chamber. The meeting covered 14 agenda items, including stormwater infrastructure, recycling crisis response, parking management, behavioral health data analysis, and several council member requests. The council also held a public forum beginning at 6:15 PM with 26 registered speakers. Key decisions included advancing the Cross Creek Channel Improvement project to 30% design, approving 13 watershed solutions, selecting Pivot Parking as the new parking service provider, authorizing emergency recycling measures, and approving funding for the E.E. Smith High School band to participate in a Thanksgiving parade.
Taylor Floyd (Budget Director) presented a request to accelerate the final $500,000 payment of a $2.5 million commitment to help the theater save on interest costs before its planned opening in January 2027. Council members discussed budget implications; the city had already moved the payment to the current fiscal year. Approved unanimously.
Jim Tallion (Capital Projects Program Manager) and consultants from Hazen and Sawyer presented the 15% design for flood mitigation along Cross Creek through downtown. Two modified concepts (7A and 9A) were recommended, with cost estimates of $46 million and $9 million respectively. Benefit-cost ratios were 0.95 for 7A and 5.0 for 9A. The staff recommended advancing to 30% design, including coordination with CSX and property owners. Councilmember Davis made a motion to advance to 30% design, which passed unanimously. Estimated timeline: 5-10 years to completion.
Dr. Haven Cashwell (Public Services) and Sam Ellis (Kimley-Horn) presented 13 proposed solutions for the Cape Fear 1 watershed, costing an estimated $50.7 million. These address flooding from undersized pipes and culverts. Council approved the solutions to be programmed into the CIP and pursue grants. The total citywide stormwater need is estimated at $1.4 billion.
Brian McGill (Assistant Public Services Director) provided a detailed update on the parking contract, responding to previous council questions. He recommended selecting Pivot Parking (P2 of NC) as the new provider. The contract includes provisions for equipment maintenance, financial penalties for non-performance, and a transition period. Council approved consensus to select Pivot Parking and bring the contract to a future regular meeting for consent.
Ashanti Bennett (President/CEO, Cool Spring Downtown District) reported on Q4 (April-June 2026) activities, including Juneteenth Jubilee with 17,000 attendees, Fourth Fridays, and the launch of a new website. Downtown saw about 520,000 unique visitors. The council voted to receive the report.
Director John Jones introduced Dr. David Tillman (Campbell University) who presented a quantitative and qualitative analysis of behavioral health-related 911 calls from 2021 to 2025. Key findings: approximately 7,000-8,000 calls per year, 64% occurring between 8 AM and 8 PM, with peak at 5 PM. Calls disproportionately burden patrol with report writing. Staff already moving forward with hiring crisis response specialists. Council voted to receive the report.
Daniel Edwards (Solid Waste Manager) reported that Pratt Industries terminated its recycling services contract due to lease expiration, effective January 2026. The city processes 7,000-9,000 tons of recyclables annually. Staff recommended pursuing an emergency interim contract, regional partnerships, an RFP for hauling and processing, and evaluating a transloading facility at the T1 Transfer Station. Council authorized the City Manager to pursue these options and return with implementation details.
City Clerk Jennifer presented the draft 2027 calendar. Council discussed moving the October and November work sessions to Thursdays to avoid conflict with primary and general elections. Council approved the calendar with amendments: October work session moved to October 7, and November work session moved to November 4, 2027.
Mayor Colvin requested consensus to move forward with completing the elevator in the Hay Street parking deck, originally completed in 2020 but left unfinished pending a developer agreement. Council approved issuing an RFP for the elevator installation, with staff to return with cost estimates and funding sources.
Councilmember Jones requested funding for historic signage in the Seabrook-Broadell area, recently designated as historic. Staff indicated the cost would be negligible and can be covered within existing resources. Council provided consensus to fund signage.
Councilmember Jones withdrew the item after speaking with staff.
Councilmember Jones requested up to $50,000 to support the E.E. Smith High School band's travel to the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade (not Macy's). After discussion, council approved up to $25,000 and directed staff to ask Cumberland County for a matching contribution. Total cost for the trip is $100,000; the school has raised $45,000.
Councilmember Hondros requested that the City Attorney and City Manager research best practices, including consulting the UNC School of Government, to develop a framework for technology usage policies (e.g., data collection, storage, auditing, public transparency). Council provided consensus to proceed with research.
Councilmember Davis requested $50,000 per year for two years ($100,000 total) to fund the Reclaiming Futures mentoring program, which was inadvertently omitted from the current budget. Council approved the request and directed staff to find funding and return with options within 30 days.
The public forum concluded, and the meeting adjourned without additional action.
Afternoon, everyone. We would like to call our um Monday, October 5th work session order. Welcome those who join us in artists those who may be uh join us remotely. We uh certainly uh have our thoughts with Councilmember Hare who's uh won't be in attendance today uh to see about his mother and so he will um he will zoom in if necessary but um certainly to him and I think uh councilmember Jones may be in route or maybe join us remotely. Um but other than that we're here uh we welcome those who are who didn't make it today and with that we will uh ask for our invocation. Well, actually, Councilmember Ferguson had a good time at his church yesterday. Uh if he would give us the invocation immediately following, if we could do the Pledge of Allegiance. Eternal Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for this opportunity. We ask you to bless this meeting in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. To the flag of the United States of America to the Republic. One nation under God, indivisible delivery. Thank you, Councilmember Ferguson. Thank you. Uh council. So council with that, we'll move into 4.0, city manager's report. Uh don't see him yet. I don't know if one of his members, Mr. Eights. We have nothing right now. Sounds good, yes, sir. All right, council moving to 5.0 is the approval of the agenda. If we could entertain a motion to approve uh set agenda. Using our sure systems. All right, Councilmember McNair is the maker of the motion to approve. Is there a second? Seconded by Davis. Any discussion? All right, look to you for your votes. Uh all right. Motion carries unanimous for those voting. All right, council moving to 6.0 and 6.01. Uh have the uh reimbursement schedule and requests for Cape Fear Regional Theater. Good evening, sir. Good afternoon. Sorry, Mayor and Council Taylor Floyd, uh budget director. I don't have a presentation, but just kind of wanted to go over the timeline and kind of the information in the request, and then if you all had any had any questions of me, try try my best to answer those. So the Cape Fear Regional Theater uh reached out to staff in an email um 725 and uh said that they had spoken with the mayor um about this request and he had suggested that they reach out to us. Uh staff met with the Cape Fear Regional Theater and then as a result of that meeting made the formal request uh to accelerate their payment schedule on August 22nd, and that is attached to the information that you all have. And this was originally on the September 14th agenda. Um I believe you all had some questions about funding and so here we are at the work session. Um overall, uh the original agreement was for $500,000 a year for five years. This is year four of five, and they're asking for that last payment, that fifth year payment, uh, to be made early so that they can save on interest costs, and the theater is planned to open January 27, which would be this fiscal year, so they will have uh spent all of the the uh the money that they were required to spend for us to do that reimbursement. Uh we did budget the final two payments in this current fiscal year, so we can make that uh accelerated payment schedule without any budget action from you all.