The Gastonia City Council held its regular meeting on June 18, 2024, beginning at 6:00 PM. The meeting included awards and recognitions, several presentations, public hearings on annexation and rezoning, a vote to fill a vacant Ward 1 council seat, and various reports. Key actions included adoption of the GoGastonia microtransit introductory promotion (4-2), approval of a 450‑unit subdivision on Camp Rotary Road, denial of a rezoning request (5-1), and the unanimous appointment of Dimitri Cusopius to the Ward 1 seat.
The amended consent agenda (approved unanimously) included:
City Manager Michael Peoples reported:
Council members gave brief reports on community events:
You did it when we started it and the Citizens Academy and now we're gonna let you end it. Thank you, Mayor Franks. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God and invisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, ma'am. Each of you should have your agenda in front of you. Are there any corrections, additions, or deletions to the agenda as presented? Mr. May? Sir? Mayor Pro Tim. I'd like to make some uh recommended changes to the agenda. Let me state that again with my microphone on. I'd like to make some changes to the agenda. The uh the first item is gonna be in addition to the agenda under the uh consent agenda, and uh this would be added as the first item. We'll call it item one point a and it's appropriate general fund balance and transfer to solid waste with budget amendment number 242053. My second recommendation is to on the same consent agenda to uh pull item I point one, uh which is the resolution of intent to consider an ordinance amending the city of Gastonia charter to provide that all candidates shall be nominated and elected by all the qualified voters of the city, and the third item I would like to place at the beginning of the regular agenda, and this would be the uh voting on the nomination for a ward one uh candidate to replace um or fill the the open seat at this time. We have a duly uh made motion. Do we have a second? Second, but I got a question. Can we make that last motion that you made at the end of the meeting? Um let's get clarification on that. Um Mr. Smith, would you like to explain what transpires at the time of this nomination and possible election of a new ward one sure council person? If you if you um vote to appoint the replacement for ward one at the beginning of the regular agenda, that person is entitled to be sworn in right then if he or she she so chooses, and then they're gonna have to come up on the dais and listen to these three zoning, uh two zoning and one annexation thing and vote on them. Um so you may want to move it to the end of the regular agenda, or uh you can ask that person if they want to wait and be sworn in at a later event with their family and friends present and and uh the the way it's normally done after election, but that would be their choice. They could be sworn in as soon as the vote is taken. That that being said, I I don't think I would like to impose upon that individual uh to have to sit on the dais and and act upon uh material that we have yet to uh well that that person has yet to consider. So I'll modify my uh recommendations to move that uh item of uh the voting for the ward one candidate uh will make that J4, which would be at the end of the regular agenda. And we're gonna have a closed session too, please, Mr. And also uh expect a closed session at the end of the regular meeting. And I second that. We have an amended motion. We have a second to the amended motion, and there's one other question. One other question. I I have a question because I I didn't quite hear um yeah what you said. Um did you say something relevant to I one? I just heard qualified voters of the city. Uh I I said we would actually remove that from the agenda this evening. Okay. I just uh I missed I couldn't hear for some reason I couldn't hear. Um I just heard qualified voters. So you're we've added two things and we want to remove you want to remove I one. Right. Okay. I'm good. Do we have any more discussion or any more questions? All those in favor. It's unanimous. Thank you. Next on the agenda is the approval of two sets of minutes from the special city council meeting on June the fourth, 2024, and the regular city council meeting on June the fourth, 2024.