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Record of Proceedings

Greenville City Council Workshop on Capital Projects and Code Enforcement – October 9, 2023

City Council — Monday, October 9, 2023
BodyGreenville, North Carolina
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, October 9, 2023
StatusFILED
Video Record
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2:41

All right.

2:42

Good afternoon, everyone.

2:43

I'd like to call the October 9th, 2023 workshop for the Greenville City Council of Order.

2:49

I'm Mayor PJ Connolly.

2:50

I'll be presiding over the workshop today.

2:53

First, I'd like to call City Clerk for the roll call.

2:57

Madam Clark.

2:57

Yes, sir.

2:58

Mayor Connolly.

2:59

Here.

2:59

Mayor Martin Lover.

3:01

Here.

3:01

Councilmember Danielle.

3:02

President.

3:04

Present.

3:05

Councilmember Smiley.

3:06

Here.

3:07

Councilmember Robinson.

3:08

Here.

3:09

Councilmember Bell?

3:10

Here.

3:13

Thank you very much.

3:14

Will they move on to the approval of the agenda?

3:17

Madam Manager, any recommended changes?

3:19

No changes this evening.

3:21

I've got a motion.

3:22

To approve by Councilmember Smiley, second by Councilmember Robinson.

3:25

All those in favor say aye.

3:28

Motion passes six zero.

3:32

Thank you, Mayor.

3:33

This evening, we're going to follow up on our discussion that we had last month about capital projects, and tonight the council will hear about capital projects from recreation and parks, um, the Greenville Police Department, and Greenville Fire Rescue.

3:46

We will start with the police department.

3:49

Chief Soles.

5:01

For instance, the tasers.

5:02

The tasers were appropriated funds.

5:04

We're already moving forward on that, so there's we're we're not we won't delve into that one.

5:08

But I've broken out of this four key areas in terms of our capital improvement to focus on body worn and in-car cameras, communication expansion, both for the main headquarters building and our backup center, a law enforcement training center, and a new police fire rescue headquarters building.

5:27

Those are all things that we prepped during budget time and we we presented so that we could think about the next steps in terms of where we need to go.

5:36

Current body worn cameras, for instance.

5:38

There's a picture of one, you've seen them, they're they're not anything new to you now.

5:42

We've been in our body camera, body worn camera program since 2009 at this point, and we've had a couple of iterations throughout the years.

5:51

We have now a system in place that is yet again in need of replacement.

5:57

One thing to consider in terms of modern day law enforcement, just like many other things, is the technological aspects, whether it be a taser, a cell phone, a computer, a body worn camera, an in-car camera, a drone, all of those things have expirations, and they they as bad as I hate to say it, they're almost consumables at this point, just like buying a weed eater.

6:17

When they break nowadays, you don't take them to a small engine repair shop anymore.

6:20

It's not worth the price of the weed either.

6:23

Vehicle cameras, that's one thing I really want to focus on in terms of this particular part of the project because that is for a long time all we had were our cameras in the car.

6:33

You may recall back in the day everybody had that.

6:35

Then we went to the the body worn camera.

6:38

Now, over time, those have it died and expired as well.

6:42

200 body worn cameras and 80 in car cameras is what we're looking at in terms of the capital improvement.

6:48

Yes, sir.

6:49

Are the park numbers not part of fleet on vehicle replacement?

6:53

No, they they are not.

6:54

We can make it part of it, but obviously that ups the payment that needs to go into the plan on our end, and they're that's a pretty steep um purchase in terms of the each individual price.

7:06

So when we buy a new um vehicle, are we taking like a camera out of an old vehicle and putting it in?

7:11

We were that's a great question.

7:13

Um we were doing that, and all of those are now obsolete.

7:17

So I think in our entire fleet now, we may have a maybe eight or ten in car cameras that are actually serviceable.

7:23

So the the difference is though we rely heavily on the body camera because that's giving you the perspective of of relatively what the officers see.

7:32

Yes, ma'am.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Safety███████████████████████████████31%
Parks and Recreation███████████████████████23%
Code Enforcement███████████████15%
Urban Planning████████8%
Public Works███████7%
Procedural█████5%
Environmental Protection█████5%
Public Comment███3%
Affordable Housing██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Greenville City Council Workshop on Capital Projects and Code Enforcement – October 9, 2023

The Greenville City Council held a workshop on October 9, 2023, at 4:00 PM in City Hall Conference Room 337. The meeting focused on capital improvement project presentations from the Police Department, Fire Rescue, and Recreation and Parks, followed by a discussion of proposed updates to the city's code enforcement and nuisance ordinances. Council approved the agenda 6-0. No formal votes were taken on the capital projects or ordinance revisions; the ordinance will return for public hearings in November and December 2023.

Discussion Items

Capital Projects Presentations

Greenville Police Department (Chief Soles)

  • Presented four capital priorities: body-worn and in-car cameras, communications center expansion, a law enforcement training center, and a new police/fire rescue headquarters.
  • The department has used body cameras since 2009; current systems need replacement. Requested 200 body cameras and 80 in-car cameras. Annual cost is ~$100,000; a federal earmark may cover the full purchase.
  • Communications center equipment is past end-of-life; renovation and expansion estimated at $500,000.
  • Training facility (indoor range, classrooms) estimated $12 million; scale may increase with inflation. Chief Soles expressed a preference for a city-owned facility but is open to partnerships with Pitt Community College and the county.
  • Headquarters building, occupied since 1996, is outgrown; leasing substations has helped. Council discussed potential joint training facility with the county and college.

Greenville Fire Rescue (Chief Davenport)

  • Highlighted station eight (priority) in the Frog Level/Davenport Farm Road area to address growth and response times. Land acquisition funds are allocated; construction expected to take 24 months and cost ~$10 million (similar to station seven).
  • Renovations needed at stations one (1995), three (1987), and four (similar) to provide individual sleeping quarters and gender-inclusive bathrooms. Total cost estimated $3–4 million. Chief Davenport noted that facilities are a key factor in recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce.
  • Response time analysis shows stations should have a 4-mile travel distance; station eight would reduce response times to growing areas.

Recreation and Parks (Don – Director)

  • Presented short-term (1–5 year) projects from the 2023 Community Recreation and Parks Master Plan, totaling ~$33 million. Major projects include:
    • Wildwood Park bridge and boardwalk connecting to River Park North: $2.2 million (partially funded).
    • Town Common bulkhead replacement: $22 million (design underway; updated cost in January 2024). Councilmembers expressed concern over the high cost.
    • River Oaks Tennis Center lighting and resurfacing: $400,000.
    • Two new mini parks (District 4 and District 5): $845,000 each.
    • Sports Connection batting cage renovation: $700,000.
    • J.C. Park administration/arts expansion: to accommodate doubled program participation.
    • Braft Creek Soccer Complex field lights and parking: $1 million.
    • Other improvements at Elm Street Park, Braft Creek Golf Course, and Paramore Park.
  • Council discussed alternatives such as expanding existing parks rather than building new mini parks.
  • Don stated that Woodlawn Park improvements are in the facility improvement program (next 2 years), while East Side Park is a medium-term (6–10 year) project.

Code Enforcement and Nuisance Ordinance Updates

William Lowry (Lead Code Enforcement Officer)

  • Proposed to repeal and replace Title 9, Chapter 1 (Inspections and Code Enforcement) and Title 12, Chapter 3 (Weeds, Vegetation, and Other Public Health Nuisances) to align with current state laws and update procedures.
  • Key changes: merge state codes into one section, update definitions, add administrative liability language, increase penalties (first violation $100, second $250, third $500 within a year), add carbon monoxide detector requirements, clarify pest elimination responsibility (owner unless tenant-caused), allow for chronic violator designation, and update appeals process.
  • Next steps: two readings in November and December 2023 with public hearings.

Council Discussion on Urban Meadows

  • Councilmember Blackburn advocated for allowing urban meadows/naturalized lawns to support pollinators and reduce environmental harm from traditional lawns. She requested flexibility in code for native landscaping.
  • Mayor Connolly and Councilmember Smiley opposed, arguing that existing neighborhood standards should be respected and that such changes are best addressed at development stage. Councilmember Robinson noted that most code enforcement complaints come from neighbors.
  • Councilmember Bell raised concerns about lack of proactive code enforcement in certain areas (e.g., Content Street), urging officers to walk and inspect rather than just drive by. The city manager promised follow-up on specific locations.

Key Outcomes

  • Agenda approved (6-0).
  • No votes on capital projects; presentations serve as foundation for upcoming budget discussions.
  • The code enforcement ordinance revisions will be brought back for first reading in November 2023 and second reading in December 2023, including a public hearing.
  • Staff will follow up on specific code enforcement complaints raised by Councilmember Bell regarding properties on Content Street and other areas.

Meeting Transcript

All right. Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to call the October 9th, 2023 workshop for the Greenville City Council of Order. I'm Mayor PJ Connolly. I'll be presiding over the workshop today. First, I'd like to call City Clerk for the roll call. Madam Clark. Yes, sir. Mayor Connolly. Here. Mayor Martin Lover. Here. Councilmember Danielle. President. Present. Councilmember Smiley. Here. Councilmember Robinson. Here. Councilmember Bell? Here. Thank you very much. Will they move on to the approval of the agenda? Madam Manager, any recommended changes? No changes this evening. I've got a motion. To approve by Councilmember Smiley, second by Councilmember Robinson. All those in favor say aye. Motion passes six zero. Thank you, Mayor. This evening, we're going to follow up on our discussion that we had last month about capital projects, and tonight the council will hear about capital projects from recreation and parks, um, the Greenville Police Department, and Greenville Fire Rescue. We will start with the police department. Chief Soles. For instance, the tasers. The tasers were appropriated funds. We're already moving forward on that, so there's we're we're not we won't delve into that one. But I've broken out of this four key areas in terms of our capital improvement to focus on body worn and in-car cameras, communication expansion, both for the main headquarters building and our backup center, a law enforcement training center, and a new police fire rescue headquarters building. Those are all things that we prepped during budget time and we we presented so that we could think about the next steps in terms of where we need to go. Current body worn cameras, for instance. There's a picture of one, you've seen them, they're they're not anything new to you now. We've been in our body camera, body worn camera program since 2009 at this point, and we've had a couple of iterations throughout the years. We have now a system in place that is yet again in need of replacement. One thing to consider in terms of modern day law enforcement, just like many other things, is the technological aspects, whether it be a taser, a cell phone, a computer, a body worn camera, an in-car camera, a drone, all of those things have expirations, and they they as bad as I hate to say it, they're almost consumables at this point, just like buying a weed eater. When they break nowadays, you don't take them to a small engine repair shop anymore. It's not worth the price of the weed either. Vehicle cameras, that's one thing I really want to focus on in terms of this particular part of the project because that is for a long time all we had were our cameras in the car. You may recall back in the day everybody had that. Then we went to the the body worn camera. Now, over time, those have it died and expired as well. 200 body worn cameras and 80 in car cameras is what we're looking at in terms of the capital improvement.

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