Good evening and welcome to our 630 legislative session of the Hampton City Council tonight.

I just want to say before we call the role that our mayor will not be with us tonight.

He is taking care of a personal matter.

Also sitting in tonight for City Manager Bunting is our Deputy City Manager Brian DeProfio.

Also Martha Muggler, our councilwoman is also always on business with the manager.

So ask the clerk to call the role.

Councilman Bowman.

Present.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Here.

Councilwoman Campbell, present.

Councilwoman Barraby.

Present.

Councilwoman Harper.

Present.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Mayor Gray.

Thank you.

Our invocation tonight will be given by Councilwoman Carolyn Campbell, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Graceful Lord, tonight we gather as one to represent the people as we conduct the business of this beautiful city we call home.

In this world of chaos, it is comforting and timely that the Tibetan monks shared with our city the message of conflict resolution and peace.

Every member of our council has sand from that mandala, each member bringing their own grains of sand to the table, each sharing their history in the picture, but all sharing the same message of conflict resolution and peace for our city.

Peace be with us all as we do your will.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Yes.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

As the Vice Mayor said, we will be um recommending the deferral of uh the item which is number seven on the agenda tonight.

It's 25-0170 regarding the uh camping and storage on public property.

The reason why we're recommending the uh the deferral of this item is because um we have established a stakeholder group to to review the ordinance that was presented at council a few months ago.

Their work is continuing.

Um they met uh the first time on September 2nd, and they do have a uh their next meeting is uh gonna be occurring on October 7th.

So we're recommending that council defer that to a uh a future meeting when uh the after the stakeholder group continue completes their work.

Thank you thank you, Brian.

Yes, sir.

Um just a few comments and comment section tonight.

Um on September 27th, the Hampton University of Proton Council Institute will hold his fourth annual prostate uh men's health fair, which is this coming Saturday from 9 a.m.

to noon.

Um the annual event will feature health screenings, uh educational resources, uh community support focused on men's health and early detection.

Prostate cancer is very um curable if detected early.

And I encourage each uh each each man age 40 and over uh to have their prostate uh checked.

If you have uh prostate cancer in your family, you may want to get it done earlier.

Uh there are two uh screenings, one is the PSA, which is through your blood, other one is the digital rectal exam.

And I want to share uh just to quickly, um, the last time I had my physical exam, um everything looked good, and the doctor says to me, he said, have I done your prostate uh exam?

I said, Well, uh, you took my blood.

What else you want?

Uh and uh my doctor is about six foot eight and real tall.

And uh if you remember I'll send you hall uh with that long finger, and he's you know, he he said, relax.

I said, wait a minute, man.

Oh, uh relax.

But you know what?

I was so glad that uh he was able to determine that everything looked good and I could live.

Even men, I know it's comical, but for uh uh just the 30 seconds of uncomfortableness.

It'll be so good to get a report that all is well.

So it is curable uh if detected early.

So don't let fear be fatal, because it can be.

And so this Saturday, please uh tell everybody that you know who's not had a prostate exam uh screening to go to the Proton Council Institute on 40 uh Enterprise Parkway and uh do the right thing so you can live and enjoy your family and have a full quality of life.

So thank you.

At this time I asked the clerk to read the uh consent agenda for tonight.

The consent agenda consists of routine, non-controversial items requiring council approval.

These items are typically adopted with one motion and without discussion.

Tonight your consent agenda vacates Hampton's interest in a small area off of Martha Lee Drive and approves the vacation agreement.

It amends the fiscal year 2026 council approved budget to appropriate approximately eleven thousand dollars from the general funds fund balance, Bluebird Get Farm vending feed revenue to the parks recreation and leisure services budget.

It approves the city council meeting calendar for 2026, and it approves the minutes from two city council meetings.

Thank you.

Uh we need a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda.

Ms.

Vice Mayor, I move approval of the consent agenda as presented.

Second.

Councilman Bowman.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Faraby.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Muggler and Mayor Gray.

Okay.

Um tonight we don't have any presentation or proclamations or awards.

So I'll ask the clerk to read the protocol for public hearings.

The City Council is committed to fair and respectful hearings.

The following guidelines help ensure an orderly process.

Individuals wishing to speak must sign up in the city hall lobby starting one hour before the meeting and ending when the meeting begins.

Speakers will be called in the order they signed up.

Speaker shall address counsel from the center podium.

Each speaker is allowed three minutes.

The timer has a green light, which will turn yellow when one minute is remaining, then red when time is up.

All comments must be addressed to the council, and speakers may not yield their time to others.

After all the speakers are heard, the mayor will close the public hearing and invite council discussion and action.

Your first public hearing this evening is item number five.

It's 25-0259.

CDBG and home 2024 consolidated annual performance and evaluation report, known as CAPER review.

I asked the Deputy City Manager to introduces item.

Thank you.

Every year the council is asked to approve the CDBG and home consolidated annual performance and evaluation report.

This report outlines what we have accomplished over the past year with our C D BG and home funds.

Adopting this report is required for the city to continue to receive these funds, which we use to assist homeowners with home repairs, you know, help new home buyers buy homes, fund neighborhood improvements, and fund also some of our code inspectors.

Today marks the last day of the required 15-day public comment period.

Any comments received during this period will ultimately be incorporated into the final report that gets submitted to the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Thank you.

Good evening, Vice Mayor Brown, members of council, deputy uh manager De Profio, City Attorney Uh Sidner, and City Clerk Glass, and of course the members of the public that are joining us here in person and online.

Thank you guys uh for listening in on our annual CAPER report presentation.

This details our 2024 community development block grant and home investment partnership funding report.

And I'd also like to extend my gratitude to the Hampton Redevelopment and Housing Authority who has worked hard all year implementing these programs and all the work that this report represents.

So before we get started, I want to uh just provide a brief overview of of HUD and our programs funded by HUD.

So our CAPER is our consolidated annual performance and evaluation report.

And this is a required report that we have to submit annually to HUD, and it will detail the accomplishments and progress that we've made while utilizing the CDBG and home funds.

This 2024 CAPER actually details all of our progress that began July 1, 2024 until June 30th, 2025.

And this is the final program year that's detailed in our 2020 to 2024 consolidated housing plan.

So HUD is the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development, and this is a government agency responsible for establishing national policies and assistant programs to address housing needs.

While HUD has oversight over many assistant programs, the ones that will be detailed during this presentation are the community development block grants, also known as CDBG, and our home investment partnership, also known as home.

CDBG's primary objective is to develop a viable urban communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment, and expand economic opportunities.

And activities that are funded through this program must meet one of our three national objectives benefit to low and moderate income persons, aid and the preventions of slums and bright and blight, and meet an urgent need.

Whereas our home partnership program, the primary objective here is to really strengthen the ability for local governments to provide housing.

We do that by expanding affordable housing opportunities and expanding our capacity for nonprofit community-based housing development organizations.

And this is also known as Chootos.

The home program also requires us to provide a 25% local match.

This match is fully covered by an external grant source, our SPARC funding, and this was a grant that was procured by HRHA as well.

And we're also required to set aside again 15% of the funds to go towards our Chota's.

And these are required documents through HUD as well.

Alright, so shifting gears to our home funds, so we were able to successfully assist four homeowners with rehabilitating their properties.

And we were also able to help with home buyers' assistance for eight households.

We did not start any of the housing acquisitions and rehabilitation projects this last program year, largely just due to the cost associated with both acquiring and then rehabbing a unit, and so we actually set those funds aside to be allocated potentially to other programs this current year.

All right, and then we had um through our partnership here with Habitat for Humanity, we also completed two new affordable housing units, and we have two more of those underway, and then the remaining of our home funds went towards home administration, which again ensures that we stayed in compliance with our home requirements.

So collectively, this report demonstrates how federal resources through CDBG and home directly translate into tangible benefits for our community, from improving energy efficiency and accessibility in homes to supporting new affordable housing construction and expanding opportunities for home ownership.

These investments have made a measurable difference.

So this isn't a HUD requirement, but we also want to take the time to give you all an update on the program's wait list.

In January of 2022, there was a request for support was presented to city council due to the growing amount of residents waiting for these housing programs.

At that time, 353 of our neighbors were waiting for service, and some requests had dated back eight to nine years.

To date, there are 212 clients awaiting service with the latest request dating back two years.

But I'm absolutely thrilled to say that all of the original 353 clients were either removed from the wait list or did receive their services.

17 projects that are already underway, and we've been able to complete 101 of those projects.

Next, we'll just show a year-over-year graph of what has happened since January of 2022, beginning with when the wait list was at its highest point.

From our next period from August 2023 to August 2024, the staff was able to focus a lot of their efforts.

Yvonne and her team really put a lot of attention towards the wait list, and they were able to close that down by 273.

However, due to the success of the program, we did receive an alarming amount of new inquiries, 153 over that year.

In conclusion, though, this did brought our wait list to its lowest point with 98 residents awaiting service.

So since August of last year, we were able to close down 83 inquiries, and you'll see that again the number of inquiries added has continued to grow.

So we actually received almost 200 inquiries over this past year.

And then if we just throw all this data here onto one chart, you'll be able to collectively see the progress of the wait list over time, beginning at that 353 with us now being just over 200.

You'll be able to see the through line of the red data that shows the number of residents that were brought from wait list to service.

And then you'll see on the green line what those new inquiries are, and you'll see the trend of new requests for housing services.

So to address our growing housing wait list city council, you all graciously agreed to allocate an additional $2 million to address what we called the critical repairs.

This action provided strategic support beyond the federal funding and has been a major contributor to the significant reduction in the numbers of families waiting for assistance.

Of the two million dollars awarded um back in January of 22, we've been able to apply 924,000 of those funds towards um addressing urgent healthy and safety issues, and this ensured that 57 families were able to stay in their homes.

So thanks to the additional investments approved by city council, HRHA has been able to restore or replace 39 HVACs, 35 roofs, 18 of our hot water heaters, seven electrical panel upgrades, 14 main water lines, and 10 main sewer lines.

Looking forward, uh we are really focusing on staff and addressing the the vacancies and some of the retirements that we encountered over this past year.

We want to bring some rehabs into the group, some construction um contractors, excuse me, as well as inspectors.

And so that's gonna be a focus of ours moving forward and also strengthening and expanding our partnerships.

We want to make sure that the people who need to know about these funds know about these funds and that they can access them.

Last, I'd like to share the schedule for our CAPER process.

Um, our public comments have been we've been accepting them since Tuesday, September 9th, and tonight's meeting does mark the close of the official comment period.

All comments that were received during this time will be incorporated into the final report that we will be submitting to HUD this Friday, September 26th.

While tonight marks the deadline for submitting comments for the 2024 CAPER, we are constantly listening.

We believe that this is an ongoing conversation, and so any comments, questions, or ideas as it related to last year's activities, this year's priorities, and how we can continue to strengthen this program.

We're always listening and welcome to hear that feedback.

So thank you guys for your time, attention, and partnership.

Um the success of this program is really it really does uh depend on our collaboration with HUD and City Council, HRHA and our community partners, and most importantly, our residents.

Uh, we look forward to continuing this work as we build a stronger and inclusive community.

Yvonne Hodges, the chief uh community development officer with HRHA.

She is also here with me tonight, and we're both uh happy to answer any questions you all have.

Okay, thank you, Monica, for that outstanding report.

Uh I I noticed something uh that I really really appreciate because uh when we started talking about the waiting list and the Vonkin amen to this, the numbers were very high.

And to see that 353 people are service, that is astronomical, applaudable, and just you guys deserve so much credit for that.

So thank you for the collaborative effort between the City of Hampton and the housing authority.

That's pre that's great.

Appreciate that.

Thank you.

Um members of council would have questions for Monica or Yvonne if like Councilman Bowman.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Um great report.

Um, thank you for putting everything together.

Thank you for all that you do.

So one of the questions outside of completing the services, why would one be removed from the list?

So some folks uh they they didn't qualify, maybe that housing income actually ended up being higher than what HUD would identify as low to moderate.

Um, some folks choose to not actually participate, they they decline the service.

Um, there are some barriers affiliated with the fund, uh excuse me, the federal funds that were not tied to the additional two million dollars that you all allocated.

So some of our residents they need to put a lien on their property, or there's a waiting period for when they can sell their home, right?

And so some residents they choose to decline the service as we begin screening them.

Thank you very much, Councilwoman Hopper.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Uh, thank you for your presentation as well.

I was very glad to see, I know before when you all came, we wanted to see an increase on people being served, and I appreciate you all uh doing that.

My question has to do with um the wheat program housing program.

And I see where um you all have um done about 15 projects completed, but my question was with the 155,000.

How much is in that total fund period that you all have to assist people with their weatherization?

So you're asking of the 155,000, how much of it do we put towards wheat?

No, how much period do you all have that we for that you you know is it a line item that you have?

Hey, this amount of money goes toward the wheat program or whichever just wanted to so it the WEEP as well as the ramp program, it falls under the same line item.

Okay, space off of need as it as it comes in.

Okay.

Okay.

Well, I would like to see a little bit more people being served in that area too.

Yes because I know there is a a big need for people to have weatherization.

Especially uh in summer and in winter months or or whichever.

So uh thank you.

We'll we'll pay attention to that and and look into that uh moving forward as well.

And thinking about the wait list, something that is exciting is the folks who are waiting, none of them are waiting for that accessibility program.

Um so we don't have anyone who's waiting to have access into their home or their bathrooms to be renovated due to an accessibility need.

So that's a huge uh commend to Yvonne and her and her team as well.

Okay, thank you.

Additional questions, Councilwoman Campbell.

Thank you.

Um on slide 13, you mentioned the home buyer assistance.

Can you clarify what exactly that was for?

Yes.

Yes.

Um so we so uh our residents do have to go through a couple of trainings to qualify for the home buyers assistance program.

Um they need to uh participate in some just financial literacy classes and things like that.

Um, but we actually help with paying um and covering the the cost of down payment and closing.

And I mentioned the the 25% match that's required through home.

The Spark funds have also allowed those residents to receive those interest rates at up to one percent less.

And so folks who are participating in that program, we're covering their um closing costs, the down payment costs, and they're also getting um that interest rate locked in one percent less thanks to those spark funds as well.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay, does there this is the public hearing, and I don't know if Camin sign up to speak.

Is someone here to speak on an item?

I just really wanted to ask the question if it's possible.

I can I can find you after.

She you can speak to Ms.

Mahar after the hearing is closed if you like.

She'll be around.

Okay.

So we close the public hearing and uh entertain the motion.

Vice Mayor, I move to approve the 2024 consolidated annual performance plan and evaluation report as presented during the September 24th, 2025, City Council legislative session.

Second Councilman Bowman.

I Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Theraby.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Muggler and Mayor Gray.

Thank you.

The next item on your agenda is item number six is 25-0255.

A resolution to authorize the acquisition by negotiation or condemnation of easement takes pursuant to sections 25.1-100 et sec and 15.2 1901 at sec of the code of Virginia of 1950 as amended from portions of 1413 North Armstead Avenue, LRSN 7000 for the North Armstead Avenue Raising Resilience Project.

There's not a presentation for this, but Brian, can you give us some insight on this?

Yes, sir.

Um as we all know, Armstead Avenue is one of the busiest and most important roads in the city of Hampton.

It's a major artaway uh artery uh north-south in the city.

Um and a section of that, the section in front of Hope Depot, um, you know, floods during storm events, and it's been a long-standing public safety issue.

Um and raising the road to keep it from flooding was one of the projects that was uh identified in in the city's resilient Hampton New Market Creek water plan in order to keep it from flooding out in the future.

Um the city has been able to secure uh millions of dollars of grant funds to to advance this project.

Um and in order for it to continue to move forward, we need a temporary construction easement of 0.085 acres and a permanent drainage drainage easement of 0.056 acres.

Um the city has reached out to the property owner that would be impacted by that need, which is HD development of Maryland, uh, which is part of the Home Depot um companies to secure these these easements, and we've really not gotten much of a response and negotiations have not progressed, so we can move this important project forward.

So the city would prefer to negotiate these easements and will continue to try to do so with the with the property owner in order to ensure the project moves forward, we're asking council to authorize us to use the power of imminent domain if necessary to acquire acquire the needed easements for this project.

We're asking council to authorize us to use the power of imminent domain if necessary to acquire acquire the needed easements for this project.

So what this resolution does is it does authorize the use of the city's condemnation authority as provided per state code.

Okay, this is the public hearing, and is there someone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing.

Mr.

Mayor, I move to approve.

I'm sorry, Vice Mayor Brown.

I move to approve their proposed proposed resolution to authorize acquisition of east mines by negotiation or condemnation for the North Armstead Avenue Raisin Resilience Project as presented during the September 24th, 2025 City Council legislative session.

Second.

Councilman Bowman.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Councilwoman Fairby.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Mugler, Bear Gray.

Okay.

Public comments, please.

Council meetings are for conducting city business.

Public comment is allowed on matters within the council's authority and follows public hearing items.

Speakers must follow the citizen participation protocol.

Speakers may sign up in the lobby one hour before the meeting and until it begins.

Speaker shall address counsel from the center podium.

Each speaker is allowed three minutes.

The timer has a green light, which will turn yellow with one minute remain remaining, and then red when time is up.

Please speak respectfully and avoid personal attacks.

Focus on topics within council's jurisdiction.

Do not use the platform for political campaign speeches.

Comments must be directed to the council.

Yielding time is not allowed.

Audience must be respectful remain respectful and refrain from interruptions.

Council typically listens without engaging in discussion.

Responses may be provided by the city manager, city attorney, or council members after public comment.

Failure to follow this protocol may result in removal from the podium or meeting after a fair warning.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We have two persons signed up to speak tonight, and I will call you in order that you signed up.

Will you come to the speaker's podium, please just state your name, and you have three minutes to make your presentation.

The first speaker is Jocelyn Scott.

Good evening, City Council.

My name is Jocelyn Scott.

And I've come here today to introduce Hello Sunshine.

It's a new multi-generational program that connects seniors, 60 and older, with 20-year-olds to reduce loneliness, isolation in both age groups.

So what do we do?

We create intentional opportunities for connection, learning, and wellness.

Young adults, they bring energy, fresh perspectives, and tech skills together.

We create mutual respect, belonging, and a stronger Hampton.

Hello Sunshine is an eight-week pilot program.

Our activities include daily check-ins, workshops, shared meals, wellness activities, and entertainment.

How will we measure success through participation, feedback, and engagement?

Benefits, improves mental health, reduces isolation and loneliness.

It increases community involvement.

It lessens the strain on health care and city resources.

It creates a framework for intergenerational programs that stretch across business, education, housing, and employment are asked to access city spaces and aligned organizations.

Help spread the word.

Council, your suggestions, your endorsements, your support.

Now, I'm seguing for a little bit because two of our members before I came here today called me up and asked if we could secure some brandy and Monica tickets, right?

These are 70-year-olds that asked me this question.

So what I want to say is that there are opportunities for us to come together.

And there's also money.

So the funding in 2025, two of the biggest funders were the Eisner Foundation and the Foundation for Aging.

They invest millions each year in intergenerational initiatives.

And it's not just me.

Ms.

Scott, your time has expired.

Oh wow.

I am so sorry about that.

So look, I just wanted to say it's a great program.

It's a framework, and I'd love to talk to you about it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I thought I was really on that time.

I apologize.

Yeah.

Our next speaker is Chris Bowman.

Um Chris Bowman.

Good evening, Vice Mayor, Council Members, Assistant City Manager, City Attorney, and Council Clerk.

On September 12th through the 14th, Supernova SKA Festival was held at Fort Monroe with 39 bands and 11,420 in attendance.

Let me repeat that.

39 bands and 11,420 attended over this three-day period.

What a delightful festival.

Hope some of you attended.

Several months back, I approached the council on pursuing the something in the water festival once it was terminated on the South Side.

It's obvious with the results of the SKA festival.

And I encourage you to do so.

No downside, only multi-millions of dollars of direct and indirect revenue for Hampton to be generated.

Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That's all the speakers for the evening.

Ms.

Glass.

You have one item remaining on your agenda this evening.

Well, oh, I'm sorry, two, but the next one is number 725-0170.

It's an ordinance to amend and reenact the city code of the City of Hampton, Virginia by amending chapter 24 offenses miscellaneous, Article 1 in general, Section 24-50 to prohibit camping and storage on public property.

Thank you.

This item is going to be deferred.

Am I right?

This is a deferred item.

Okay.

It needs a motion.

The second.

Mr.

Vice Mayor, I motion that we uh defer uh ordinance number 25-0170 until a future date.

Is it a second?

Second.

Councilman Bowman.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Theraby.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Mayor Gray.

Okay.

Motion carries.

Now I ask Ms.

Glass to read the motion required for appointments.

You have one appointment on the agenda this evening.

And the motion is on the Hampton Animal Response Team Advisory Committee appoint Glenda Watson and Zachariah Brown to terms expiring on September 30, 2028.

Require the motion a second.

Second.

Councilman Bowman.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Fairby.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Muggler and Mayor Gray.

The motion carries.

Are there any reports by the Deputy City Manager or City Attorney of Staff?

And if not, um the is there any new business?

I'm sorry, um, Vice.

I just wanted to uh let Ms.

Scott know that um Quasi O'Bank, who's in the back of uh he's one of our assistant city managers in the back of the room there.

If you can get with him, um talk about uh the the proposal that you presented today, that'd be great.

Thank you very much.

Okay, hearing none, our meeting is adjourned.