Well, good evening, everyone, and uh welcome to the uh Hampton City Council legislative session.

Uh, Madam Clerk, you call the roll, please.

Councilman Bowman, Vice Mayor Brown, President, Councilwoman Campbell, President, Councilwoman Theraby.

Present.

Councilwoman Harper, present.

Councilwoman Muggler, President Mayor Gray.

Present.

Um this evening, the invocation will be given by Councilwoman Harper, and then uh followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

So will you please stand and join us for vote?

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, which we have never seen.

Coming to you as acknowledgement of your power, Lord, grant our leaders discerning hearts to make wise decisions, encouraged to stand for what is right, and humility to serve the community.

We ask special blessings on our faith community, public safety and first responders.

Continue to bless our citizens, and may our work strengthen our community and bring hope to all who call this place home.

In your name we pray, amen.

So I have uh just brief comments on the mayor's comments this evening because uh given that I have several proclamations that we're going to present.

I'm gonna keep my comments brief.

Um, we had a session just before this, uh, we gathered in this legislative session.

We had a special ceremony at 5 30, recognizing the uh students who are graduating uh or students who are participating in our uh dual enrollment academy, the Ace Academy, the Academy of the Advanced College Experience.

And so this evening we had a brief celebration to recognize 69 students who are graduating from Virginia Peninsula Community College tomorrow, and they don't graduate from high school until June.

Sixty-nine students.

Now, before these sixty-nine, there was over two hundred that have already uh graduated from college before they graduate from high school, and that's just uh that's a remarkable accomplishment to be able to do that, and uh, we're very proud of them, and we're very proud of what our school division is uh doing with educating the kids in Hampton City schools.

Collectively, uh those students have saved their parents 730,457 should they go on to school.

That's how much they've saved in tuition fees, tuition and fees for their students.

And you know, if you're not familiar with the Ace Academy, it's uh at Phoebe's high school, and uh those kids don't leave school to go to the community college, they have their classes in school, and it doesn't cost them anything.

So uh that's uh yeah, we're pretty proud of that.

So congratulations to those 69 uh students who will graduate tomorrow from Virginia Peninsula Community College.

So with that, I am going to uh ask the clerk to read the uh protocol for the consent agenda.

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

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

Tonight, the consent agenda initiates amendments to the Hampton City Zoning Ordinance to update definitions and additional standards of uses for amusement centers and recreation facilities.

It vacates a portion of the city's interest in a permanent shared landscape, utility and drainage easement at 120 Saunders Road, and it amends chapter two of the City Code to update provisions regarding regarding design build and construction manager at risk procurement methods to comply with related amendments to the code of Virginia.

It approves a resolution outlining the project procedures for use of those procurement methods and approves resolutions authorizing the use of design build for gravity sewer replacement on Mellon Street and the use of construction manager at risk for a sanitary sewer for a spain replacement project.

We need a motion and a second.

Mr.

Mayor, move approval of tonight's consent agenda.

Second.

Okay, is there any further discussion?

All right, there being numbers you call a role, please.

Councilman Bowman, Vice Mayor Brown, Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Theraby.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Butler.

Aye.

Mayor Gray.

Aye.

Okay, so on the presentations, proclamations, and awards, I have several proclamations that I'm pleased to uh read this evening and read and present.

A number of proclamations and observances during the month of May, some of which have already been read or acknowledged at other events.

And so we'll only mention those this evening.

They are National Police Week, which we had a ceremony on that uh earlier this week on Monday, uh Nurses Week, and then Hampton Bike Month.

And so we're very appreciative of the work that our police officers do to keep us safe, that our nurses do to keep us healthy, and that our riders do to be able to enjoy the beautiful city that we have when they're out riding their bike.

So all of those have been read or presented at other uh ceremonies.

So the first one I have this evening is uh for recognizing the 100th anniversary of the women's club of Hampton, Virginia.

And whereas the women's club of Hampton was founded in 1926 through the vision and leadership of Mary Mahalla Molly Darling, when more than 100 women gathered in her home in Cedar Hall to establish an organization dedicated to the promotion of fine arts, education, and public welfare.

And whereas in its founding year, the club was admitted to the Virginia State Federations of Women's Club and the General Federation of Women's Club, aligning itself with one of the world's oldest and largest nonpartisan, non-denomination dominational women's volunteer service organizations devoted to education, civic responsibility, and community improvement.

And whereas for 100 years, the women's club of Hampton has made an enduring contribution to the cultural education and civic life in Hampton through support of the arts, preservation of local history, promotion of literacy, conservation initiatives, public health ex public health efforts, scholarships for local students, and sustained assistance to veterans, families in needs and nonprofits.

And whereas during the Great Depression, World War II, and the decades that followed, the club demonstrated extraordinary service by supporting war efforts, designating its clubhouse as the West End First Aid Station, hosting Red Cross and Civil Defense classes, and selling $23,000 in war bonds and stamps, aiding hospitals and veterans in providing educational and civic programs for the community.

And whereas since this inception, club members have shown long-standing commitment to veterans by providing entertainment and social programs, donating books, clothing, and personal items, supporting therapeutic and creative activities, sending cars and messages of appreciation nationwide, and contributing to the kindness initiatives at the local Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and donating $5,000 to the Chasing Zero Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about veterans and first responders' suicide and supporting mental health services.

And whereas the club's historic court clubhouse has served as a cornerstone of the community life by hosting senior programs, youth and school events, civic meetings, church services and weddings, scouting activities, and serving as a center for public health drives and charitable outreach.

And whereas the leadership of the Women's Club of Hampton has extended well beyond its membership, with many members serving in prominent roles within the General Federation of Women's Clubs, Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs, the General Assembly, City Council, and City School Board, and exemplifying the vital role of women in civic leadership and public service.

And whereas this year, 2026, marks the centennial anniversary of the women's club of Hampton and providing a meaningful opportunity to honor a century of volunteerism, fellowship, leadership, and unwavering dedication to the well-being of the Hampton community.

Now, therefore, I, James A.

Gray, mayor on behalf of the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, do hereby recognize the 100th anniversary of the women's club of Hampton, Virginia in the City of Hampton.

And I call upon all citizens to join me in recognizing and celebrating this remarkable achievement, enduring legacy of members, past and present, whose service has strengthened our city for 100 years, and witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Hampton, Virginia to be affixed this seventh day of June 2026, signed James A.

Gray Jr.

And I want to acknowledge that our fellow council members, so when I read that uh the women have served in prominent roles, such as the school board, the Hampton City Council, and the General Assembly, we have one of our own members right here on the desk with us, Councilwoman Martha Mugler, who is filled in on three of those roles at some point.

So congratulations.

So I am going to ask the members of the uh women's club uh to come down front and we'll present the proclamation and like the council members to join me.

I think that's a good one.

It's like hurting cannibal removes too much.

I bet you do this all the time.

Yeah, Phyllis, Phyllis.

Phyllis.

All right, everybody, not each other.

All right.

Okay.

Um the next proclamation uh, and these are going to be accepted by uh the same group, uh, proclaiming the month of May 2026 as Lupus Awareness Month in the city of Hampton, Virginia.

And whereas Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects an estimated one point five million Americans, causing inflammation and damage of various parts of the body, including skin, joints, kidneys, brain, heart, and lungs.

And whereas lupus disproportion disproportionately impacts women, particularly women of color, and often presents unpredictable symptoms such as fatigue, pain, organ involvement, and making diagnosis and treatment complex.

And whereas individuals living with lupus face significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges that impact their quality of life and employment overall and overall well-being.

And whereas the City of Hampton is grateful for all the organizations that work to address the gaps in services, providing emergency financial assistance, support groups, wellness outreach, and education and advocacy for individuals and families affected by LUPAS.

And whereas increasing awareness and education about LUPAS can lead to early diagnosis, improved care, and stronger community support for those affected.

So now, therefore, our James A.

Gray Jr.

Mayor on behalf of the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 is Lupus Awareness Month in the City of Hampton.

And I encourage all residents, healthcare professionals, community organizations, and advocates to raise awareness, support this those impacted, and work toward improved outcome for individuals living with loop with lupus.

And whereas the City of Hampton is grateful for all of the organizations that provide vital programs, resources, including support groups, education, wellness initiatives, and financial assistance to empower individuals living with fibromyalgia and improve their quality of life, and whereas raising awareness about fibromyalgia fosters understanding, reduces stigma, and promotes compassion within the Hampton community.

Now, therefore, I, James A.

Gray, Jr., Mayor, on behalf of the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as phymromyalgia awareness month in the city of Hampton, and I encourage all residents and organizations and healthcare providers to support awareness efforts, advocate for those affected, and help build a more informed and compassionate community.

And witness whereof, I've hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Hampton, Virginia to be affixed this 13th day of May 2026, signed James A.

Gray, Mayor.

And so accepting this proclamation is Miss Chastity Corbett with the Social Butterflies Foundation.

Is Ms.

Corbett here?

There we go.

Okay.

Next proclamation is proclaiming the month of May twenty twenty six as mental health awareness month in the City of Hampton, Virginia.

And whereas mental health is an essential component of overall health and well-being impacting how individuals think, feel, and act, and whereas mental health influences how individuals handle stress, relate to others, and make choices, and is critical at every stage of life from childhood through adulthood.

And whereas one in five individuals may experience a mental health condition in any given year and may go without support and services that they need.

And whereas early identification, intervention, and access to appropriate supports can significantly improve outcomes for individuals experiencing mental health challenges, and whereas schools, community schools, and communities play a vital role in promoting mental health wellness, reducing stigma, and ensuring that all individuals feel safe, supported, and valued.

And whereas it is important to foster environments that encourage open dialogue, compassion, and understanding around mental health.

And whereas increasing awareness and education helps reduce stigma and empowers individuals to seek help when needed, and whereas creating a community where everyone feels comfortable, reaching out to support reaching out for the support they deserve is crucial to ending the stigma around mental health and in and is and whereas ex access to support and ending the stigma is paramount importance.

Now, therefore, I, James A.

Gray, mayor on behalf of City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, encourage all residents, businesses, schools, and community organizations to work collaboratively to reduce the stigma of mental illness and create a safe and supporting supportive environment for those open conversations about mental health.

It's the last one.

All right.

This is the final one.

Okay.

All right.

So this one is recognizing some of our very own public works employees.

Recognizing May 17th through the 23rd, 2026 as National Public Works Week in the City of Hampton.

And whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities, and services that are vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities and to public health, high quality of life, and the well-being of the people in Hampton, Virginia.

And whereas these infrastructure facilities, services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers, managers, employees at all levels of government and the private sector.

And whereas the public works professionals are responsible for rebuilding, improving and protecting our nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment, and solid waste systems, public buildings, and other structures and facilities that are essential for our citizens.

And whereas it is in the public's interest for the citizens, civic leaders, and the children of Hampton to gain knowledge of and maintain an ongoing interest in understanding the importance of public works and public works programs in their respective communities.

And whereas the year 2026 marks the sixty-sixth annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the American Public Works Association.

This year's theme is rooted in service, powered by community.

Now, therefore, I, James A.

Gray, Mayor, on behalf of the City of Hampton, City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, do hereby recognize the week of May 17th through the 23rd, 2026 as National Public Works Week in the City of Hampton.

And I urge all citizens to join with the representatives of the American Public Works Association and government agencies in activities, events, and ceremonies designed to pay tribute to our public works professionals, engineers, managers, and employees, and to recognize the substantial contributions they make to protecting our national health, safety, and quality of life.

Signed James A.

Gray, Mayor.

A lot of times we don't know.

So we want to give them a great shout out for just being there, being behind the scenes and doing a great job when they don't always get the uh accolades that uh some other employees do, but just understand that we uh appreciate what you do, grateful for your service and commitment to our community.

So I'm gonna come down with the presentation.

Oh, that's the camera broken.

Now we still have a meeting.

All right.

So we're about to see it.

Okay.

So we will now ask the clerk to read the title for the next agenda item.

Item number seven is 26-0136.

It's the FY20, 26th, 2027, community development block branch, CDBG, and Home Investment Partnerships Program, Home Annual Action Plan.

Alright, City Manager, would you introduce the next item?

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um we had had a presentation previously on this, and in keeping with HUD requirements, we have a final presentation, public hearing and vote this evening.

And I'm pleased to have our CDBG coordinator, Travis, make the presentation.

All right.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor Gray, Vice Mayor Brown, esteemed members of Council, City Manager Bunting.

My name is Travis Rash, and I'm here to present on the 2026 Annual Action Plan.

We presented the draft 2026 annual action plan at the April 8th council meeting.

Since that time, the city has received our final allocation amounts from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

So tonight I would like to share the updated budget and plan with City Council and members of the public.

So up on the screen, what we can see is the total allocation amount from HUD this year, one million three hundred eighty-nine thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven dollars.

The action plan outlines how this city will expend these resources, the community development block branch and the home investment partnerships program dollars.

Nine hundred four thousand nine hundred sixty-one is what we received from HUD for the community development block grant with forty thousand dollars of anticipated program income as well as four hundred and eighty-four thousand eight hundred and seventy-six dollars for home with fifty thousand dollars of anticipated program income.

This year's allocations reflect a seven thousand four hundred and sixty three dollar increase in CDBG and a slight reduction of four thousand two hundred and sixty-seven dollars in home funds.

The table above shows the C D BG allocation activity and goals.

The activities for proposed funding include housing services, housing programs, planning and administration, and code enforcement.

The increase in funding is reflected in the housing programs item there.

And the goals have been adjusted and refined for each activity accordingly.

Next, this table represents our home activity allocation and goals.

Again, the activities listed include homeowner rehabilitation, home buying assistance, community housing development organization funding dollars, and home administration.

The decrease in funding in the home was uh reflected in the homeowner rehabilitation line item, but I want to point out that the goal itself was not reduced.

Same goal that we had before.

We went through a public comment period that started on April 3rd of 2026 and ended on May 3rd.

The plan was made available online at all of the City of Hampton Public Libraries in the lobby of City Hall and in the lobby of the community development department.

A public hearing was held on April 8th.

At that public hearing, we did not receive comments from any citizens who were signed up to speak, but we did receive comments from council that included a desire to see more households assisted by these programs.

This is the annual action plan schedule timeline.

Important dates of note added on here.

We did have an informative briefing that was provided to the neighborhood commission on March 9th, and we also met with the planning commission on April 16th to provide an informative briefing.

Tonight we are asking for the adoption and approval, which will then uh cause the plan to be forwarded to HUD before the May 15th deadline.

I stand by as well as some of my esteemed colleagues in the back as well to help answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you.

Okay, any questions from uh council members from Mr.

Mr.

Rash, Councilwoman Hart.

Thank you so much for your presentation.

I do have a question in reference to the CDBG funds.

I don't know if you are aware, but the um secretary of hood has uh a plan to eliminate the CDBG program over 3.3 billion dollars in funds as well as the home investment partnerships program.

I believe that's over a billion dollars.

Um, and from what I understand, it's because they feel like the state should be doing that, and also they feel like not enough people have really taken advantage of the program to them.

You know that it's really not doing anything.

And so, um, is there a plan?

Do you all have a plan in place in case that does happen that that whole program is eliminated and the federal dollars with it?

That is a great question.

Um, I will probably have to defer a formal response to that question at this particular moment in time, but I can elaborate a little bit more on uh the process of the conversation around the uh potential elimination of those programs.

Uh it started uh last year as well in 2025.

The president's proposed budget did include you know the desire to remove the programs in their entirety and zero them out, and second verse, same as the first for 2026 uh dollars as well.

Um it's just a proposed budget, and a lot of those ultimate decisions are left to Congress in terms of the allocation.

Uh we did not see any uh change between uh the years of 2025 and 2026, regardless of that proposed budget.

Uh there are other opportunities out there for additional funding sources, but it would probably be a long ongoing conversation to replace it dollar for dollar.

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions, comments from council members?

All right, we need a motion and a second to approve the uh CDBG plan.

So moved second, second.

All right, Madam Clerk, you call the roll, please.

Councilman Bowman, Vice Mayor Brown, aye.

Councilwoman Campbell, aye.

Councilwoman Theraby, aye.

Councilwoman Harper, aye.

Councilwoman Muggler, aye.

Mayor Gray.

Aye.

All right, next item on the agenda are the public hearing items.

Uh so I'm asking 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 council from the center podium.

Each speaker is allowed three minutes.

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

All comments must be directed to the council.

Speakers may not yield their time to others.

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

And your first public hearing this evening is actually on items eight and nine, which are 26 0121, a rezoning application number 26 0121 by Adrian Mora to rezone approximately 0.09 acres at 42 18 Victoria Boulevard, LRSN 200 3764, from neighborhood commercial C1 District to multifamily residential MD4 district with conditions for multiple family dwelling units for multifamily dwelling units.

And 26-0122 is the use permit application by Adrian Mora to permit multifamily development at 4218 Victoria Boulevard, LRSN 200 3764.

All right, and uh so city manager want to introduce as far as IG.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor James Randolph, senior planner will be making this presentation tonight.

Good evening, honorable mayor, members of the city council, city manager, city attorney.

You do have two applications before you this evening, rezoning application number 26-0121 and the corresponding use permit application number 26-0122.

These are in reference to 4218 Victoria Boulevard.

The application is to rezone 0.09 acres from its current designation of neighborhood commercial C1 district to multiple dwelling MD4 district with proffers for multifamily development, and the use permit is to allow a multifamily dwelling.

This is a general location map showing the property as denoted by the red star.

It's just west of the downtown area.

This is a closer view of the property.

You can see it is at the corner of Victoria Boulevard and Shield Street.

And for reference, Darling Stadium is in the upper left corner and directly across the street north of the property is the Hampton Public Library.

The proposal is to renovate and convert the existing building into a multifamily dwelling.

There would be four one-bedroom, one bath apartments ranging in size from 576 square feet to 621 square feet.

Additionally, there are property improvements associated with the application.

This is a view of the current building standing on Victoria Boulevard.

Shield Street is on your left.

And as you can see, the brick facade in the front and the stucco facade along Shield Street.

This is a concept view of the property.

The buildings outlined in the yellow shade.

Brick paver walkways are denoted by the red, along with the green space and the on-street parking on Shield Street and Victoria Boulevard.

These are some proposed building elevations for the property, with particular attention to the elevation in the upper right.

That is the front elevation.

It would have an additional front porch added to the property, and that would be similar to the other residential properties along Victoria Boulevard.

These are the proposed floor plans.

There are two units on the lower floor and two on the upper floor.

The lower floor would be accessed directly from the Victoria Boulevard side as well as the Shield Street side.

The upper floor would have access through a new stairwell and landing on the side of the building.

This slide depicts the on-street parking availability in the vicinity as shown in the highlighted blue areas.

There are approximately 68 spaces available in the area, with 20 of those spaces being available on Shield Street.

This is a zoning map showing the current zoning and adjacent zoning parcels.

The future land use map does denote this area for medium density residential development.

Public policies, it is to promote and enhance the identity and scenic qualities of the city corridors and gateways, but more importantly, to encourage and maintain a diverse mix of housing types and values.

Additionally, this property is in the Kikatan Road Corridor Master Plan Area, which calls for key gateways such as the Victoria Boulevard Kikitan Road Gateway to redevelop or reuse underly underutilized commercial properties for new residences.

The proffered conditions include development standards for the setbacks, the building elevation shown earlier, as well as landscape design and materials.

The use permit conditions would require compliance with the rezoning.

This is the middle of a site plan with the landscaping, secure the appropriate building permits for the renovation, obtain the certificate of occupancy, and to comply with applicable laws as well as nullification and revocation.

A community meeting was held at the Little England Community Center.

Applicant and staff attended.

One member of the public did attend and indicated he does not support the application due to the limited on-street parking, especially during events.

It is consistent with the adopted policies of the Hampton Community Plan, the Keekinton Road Corridor Plan.

It diversifies housing opportunities in the area, it revitalizes the existing building and property and improves the overall image of the Victoria Boulevard Corridor.

In conclusion, the applicant will have an opportunity to present, followed by a public hearing.

Staff and planning commission do recommend approval of the rezoning application with seven proffered conditions.

Staff and planning commission do recommend approval of the use permit with six conditions.

And if there are any questions, I'd be pleased to address them.

Any questions from council members?

Okay.

Alright, thank you.

Thank you.

Applicant wish to speak.

All right.

Hey good afternoon, everyone.

Good evening.

My name is Adrian Mora.

I'm the owner of 4218 Victoria Boulevard.

I brought some pictures to show before and after that maybe can be handed down to you all.

I tried to send those pictures over to the development team so they could be included in the presentation, but that wasn't possible.

The goal is to restore this property and uh to make it a value valuable property for the community.

And this also lines up, I believe, with uh um the demand for bringing rental properties to the area.

Since I've uh owned this property, I've uh done a lot of uh improvements to it, mainly uh maintenance items such as uh power washing, cleaning, uh remove the trash, debris, uh, done the uh maintenance on the lawn, uh repair some exterior cracks on the stuggle walls, painted 80% of the building, uh repair the softheads, and actually today we got uh gutters installed, which is a big item.

Uh and uh we uh removed and reinstalled some of the papers that were there previously in a professional manner.

Uh we've also addressed some of the security concerns that were raised by some uh neighbors before there were some people that were breaking into the property and uh staying in there, and that meant they had to call the police and you know it was just uh a messy situation.

Uh so since I've installed cameras, the property feels way more secure, and we've since I've been there.

Uh we haven't had any issues.

Uh, in terms of the investment and the commitment, uh, this is uh not a short-term flip.

This is a personal project of mine.

It's actually the biggest project I've done uh so far.

Uh I'm doing it with my family as well, it's not just me, it's uh it's a family effort.

Um, and uh I've already invested $50,000.

That's uh my own money.

I don't have uh investors or I don't have uh people that help me to do this.

Uh so I am committed.

Uh I've hired an architect, I've got I've gotten surveys, I've done everything uh through the city development team, and uh I am uh willing to invest an additional $150,000 to complete this project, uh which, as uh Mr.

Randolph explained, is going to involve four one-bedroom apartments.

Uh they're gonna have high-quality finishes.

Uh, obviously, no windows, um, all the details on the outside are going to be taken care of.

Uh, front porch matching the neighborhood character and uh landscaping improvements as well.

Uh, in terms of the ownership, as I mentioned before, this is a personal project, and I intend to hold this property long term.

Uh, and uh I intend to manage this property as well, which is something that I'm going to be learning soon.

Um for the parking community.

We work closely with the city to make sure that uh we met the requirements.

Uh as it was uh shown before, we do meet the requirements.

We had the community meeting on April 2nd where I was asked to inform the neighbors within a quarter mile radius to make sure that everybody had an opportunity to speak up and mention uh and raise their concerns.

Uh excuse me.

And um I guess the last thing that I that I want to say is that uh even though this is a uh a project that was brought to my attention and I picked up on it because of uh profit, it's also a uh project where I find joy.

I find joy in rehabilitating properties that have been discarded.

This one in particular has been neglected for about 20 years, and if I'm not mistaken, uh I'm actually kind of new to the area, so I'm not really familiar with the cultural significance of this building, but it's been around uh around the area for a while.

It used to be a uh photography studio, and lately I think it was a dance studio uh for for the community.

Um and uh yeah, I just I want to fix it up.

I want to clean it up, I want to you know I want to make it better.

Um, and that's gonna help everybody.

I believe it's a win-win-win situation for everyone, and uh I wanted to thank uh Mr.

Donald Wibble, James uh Randolph, and the architect Barbara Grace for their patience.

And uh last but not least, thank you all for your time.

Thanks.

Any uh questions from council members for the applicant?

Okay, so just state your name again, Adrian Mora.

Okay.

Okay, thank you.

All right, this is a public hearing, and uh other than Mr.

Moore, there were no other speakers signed up uh to speak.

Uh so we'll close the public hearing on this item and uh call for a motion.

Thank you.

Mr.

Mayor, I move that city council approve rezoning application two six-0121 with seven proper conditions and use permit number six, I think two six-012 with six conditions as presented in the agenda package.

So, second, second.

All right, is there any further discussion?

All right, and then no further discussion.

And Madam Clerk, you call the road.

Councilman Bowman, Vice Mayor Brown, Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Theraby.

I councilwoman Harper, Councilwoman Mugler.

Aye, Mayor Gray.

Aye.

Item number 10 on your agenda is 26-0117.

It's a use permit application by West End Baptist Church to permit a daycare to commercial at 2413 Shell Road, LRSN 100232.

Mr.

Mayor, yeah.

City Planner Quinn Heinrich will be making the presentation tonight.

Uh good evening, uh, Mr.

Mayor, Mr.

Vice Mayor, members of council.

Uh, once again, my name is Quinn Heinrich, and tonight I'll be presenting use permit number 26-0117 on 2413 Shell Road.

It's an application by the West End Baptist Church to permit a daycare to commercial on a one-acre parcel on 2413 Shell Road within the premises of an existing religious facility.

This parcel is located in the southwest portion of Hampton between Pembroke Ave and Victoria Boulevard, as indicated by the Red Star.

And more specifically, it is at the corner of Shell Road and Quincy Street, and right across from Middleborough Terrace.

The area to the northwest, the parcel directly to the northwest is a is vacant.

All of the other parcels in this area are one-family and single-family homes.

The applicants are proposing a daycare that will initially consist of 18 children aged two and a half to five years old in two classrooms with two staff members.

The applicant anticipates that in the future they could potentially expand to up to 36 children and four staff members, making use of three additional rooms on site, but this application initially will be just for 18 children.

There will be an outdoor playground that they will construct with an 81 foot by 41 foot out.

Yeah, the playground will be 81 by 41 feet, enclosed by a six-foot chain-link fence.

And they will make use of the existing two parking spaces on site that total 62 parking spaces.

The proposal, this is the floor plan of the interior.

The daycare will be behind the main assembly hall of the church.

The this shows the two initial classrooms that will be used.

Classroom one will be for older children age 37 months to five years.

Classroom two will be for children aged 30 to 36 months.

That's to comply with the building code, which requires children of that age have an exterior door.

The future classrooms would be should the daycare expand, they will make use of those rooms.

To the bottom of the site, there's a dedicated daycare office, and there also will be two bathroom facilities.

This is a view of the exterior of the site.

There will be entrances on both sides of the proposed daycare along with an exit to the playground, which is shown in yellow.

We anticipate that most of the loading and unloading will be done on what's labeled as parking area two, which that allows through access to both Shell Road and Quincy Street, and that would allow for two-way circulation.

We do not anticipate any loading and unloading will be done on Shell Road or on Quincy Street.

This parcel is zoned one family residential, R9, as is most of the rest of the surrounding area, except for a portion that zoned neighborhood commercial.

R9 permits religious facilities by right and commercial daycares with a use permit.

The entire area is recommended as low density residential in the future land use map of the Hampton Community Plan.

The community plan also has some public policies that are relevant to the site, such as supporting opportunities for educational and cultural development and promoting access to various opportunities for youth and seniors, along with some policies relating to starting up small businesses and leveraging the impact of community facilities and pursuing community goals.

In summary, this project will improve child care and early education opportunities in the community.

It is compatible with the surrounding land uses, and it will have a very minimal impact on the neighborhood because it is making use of existing facilities, and it is less intensive than the religious facility that currently occupies the site.

It aligns with the community plan goals for improved education and community facilities throughout the city of Hampton.

It is so will support the adjacent residential neighborhood, especially young families, and it is in a very good location because it has access to Shell Road and is close to Victoria Boulevard and Pembroke Ave.

Staff is recommending 11 conditions as part of the use permit, which include requiring all loading and unloading to be done off the premises, which is the traffic circulation condition, additionally making sure the capacity does not exceed what the building code will allow, age of children capped at two and a half to five years, and then the applicant will be required to keep a ledger of all of the clients and children that participate in the daycare each day, among several other conditions.

The applicant held a community meeting at their church on March 17th, 2026.

There were 44 people in attendance.

There were a few questions asked on the qualifications of the staff members, along with what how many security cameras there were on site and how inspections would be conducted.

The applicant was able to answer all of those questions.

Five people spoke in support, and nobody spoke in opposition at the meeting.

The applicant is here and had is willing to present and answer any questions you have.

And after the public hearing, staff and planning commission both recommend approval of use permit number 26-0117, subject to the 11 conditions.

Thank you, and I'm available for any questions you may have.

All right.

Thank you, Mr.

Hyrick.

Any questions for Mr.

Hiring?

Okay, all right.

Thank you.

Uh the applicant here.

Did the applicant wish to speak or present?

I do have her on the list.

Good evening, Mayor Gray, members of the city council.

I am Pastor Bernisa Thomas, the executive pastor.

We are the West Him Baptist Church of Hampton.

We are respectfully requesting your approval of our use permit application for the establishment of our daycare center.

For more than 135 years, our church has faithfully served the Shell Road community through ministry, outreach, and community engagement.

As a longstanding community church, we remain deeply committed to supporting and strengthening the families within our neighborhood.

We purchased a dilapidated house on the corner of Quincy and Shale for $70,000 using only change that was collected from the members over the time span of two years.

We flipped that house and sold it for $211,000.

We also rebuilt our 40-year-old church building for a total of $750,000 renovation.

Both of these projects have increased the property values of the existing homes in that Shale Road area.

Many of our members are present this evening as a demonstration of our collective commitment to continuing the important work of educating, nurturing, and caring for children in a safe, supportive, and value centered environment.

We also believe that the financial impact of this daycare center will be significant not only for the church, but also for the surrounding community and the parents of the students we will serve by providing accessible quality daycare.

We hope to support working families, contribute to local economic stability, and create opportunities that will positively benefit our community for years to come.

We appreciate your consideration and thank you for the opportunity to speak before you and to serve the children and families of our Hampton community.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Yeah, thank you.

Uh, I may have missed this in the presentation.

Uh, what are the ages of the children?

Two and a half to five.

Two five.

Two to five years old.

Two and a half to five, you said.

Yes.

Okay.

And what are the hours of operation?

I'm sorry.

Hours of operation.

Oh, 6 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

Five days a week.

Five days a week.

Okay, thank you.

Yes.

Councilwoman Campbell.

I just want to say thank you for providing this for the community.

Thank you.

Okay.

Any other questions for the applicant?

Okay, thank you, Pastor Williams.

All right.

This uh item requires a public hearing, so we're gonna open the public hearing and we have several people signed up to speak.

Um first of those is uh Donna Oney.

Good evening.

My name is Donna Oney, and I'm a member of Westland Baptist Church, but I am also a fire and life safety inspector in my day job.

Western is uniquely positioned to hold the daycare there.

We have done everything that we possibly could to make this possible.

We have inspected the building and it is ingrained in me to walk through the building on Sunday mornings and look to make sure that everything is safely where it's supposed to be.

The cameras, the fire extinguishers, all the fire and life safety is there for the children and the people who have to be inside the building on a daily basis.

We ask that you approve this for them because I am in a unique position to see that even in the community, as part of my job in the community is to go out and look at daycares and make sure that they're safe.

We need more daycares in the community because we young people are looking for for their children to be somewhere safe.

We need this daycare.

This community will be served by having a daycare in the community.

That is all I have to say.

Thank you.

Alright, thank you, Ms.

O'Neill.

Next speaker is Jamara Lassiter.

Good evening.

I just want to say I am support of this daycare.

I know it would be a big benefit to the community.

And our church is about change.

And just what I've heard tonight as far as giving people opportunity and opportunity for change.

You never know where you might be ending up.

So kids that will have their start at our daycare, they could be future council members or future mayors.

So I think it will definitely be a big benefit, and it will help the community as a whole.

Because our church recently, we just started a Cup Scout pack troop, and our young ones are in tennis tonight.

That's where they can see the process of how people come together for change.

And that's what I'm in support for.

All right.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, Ms.

Lass.

The next speaker is Shonda Moss.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council.

Thank you guys so much for allowing me the opportunity to speak before you.

I come before you as a member of West End Baptist Church.

Not only that, I am a nurse case manager, and my job is to find resources for people when I work with them and trying to get them back into the community and back into the workforce.

One of the challenges is that they don't have affordable daycare, and it's always a children preschool, right?

That um that need that extra assistance in the area.

70%, 70% of employees in our area say that they have a hard time of hiring, recruitment, and retention because of child care.

65% say they have people that are late to work because of child care.

And so, as a nurse case manager, I have 60% of the people that are in that area in those zip codes uh that we will be serving as well.

It's gonna be open to everyone, but 60% of my folks that I care for are in that area.

And guess what the number one thing is?

Child care.

So I hope that you are able to vote and approve this permit, and thank you so much for your time.

All right, thank you, Ms.

Moss.

Next speaker is DeAndra Williams.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members, and members of the Hampton community.

My name is DeAndra Williams, and I stand before you today not only as a member of West End, but also a mother of a two-year-old and a mental health professional who witnessed firsthand the urgent need for safe, affordable, and compassionate child care.

Hampton Roads is currently facing a child care crisis.

Reports across Virginia continue to show that families struggle to find affordable quality child care, and many centers have overwhelming wait lists, or the costs to put your child in to child care causes a financial burden on the family.

State data and regional reporting have highlighted that child care is unaffordable for the majority of Virginia families with young children, especially my son.

As a mother myself, I currently drive 20 miles twice a day, just so that my son can be cared for an environment that he feels safe.

That can be impacts my family's time, finances, and quality of life.

And I know I'm not alone.

Many parents throughout Hampton and surrounding areas are making impossible choices between employment, financial stability, and reliable child care.

As a mental health professional, I encounter families every week whose primary barrier is not lack of motivation, it's not lack of treatment or the lack of desire to improve their lives, it's lack of adequate child care.

Parents cannot consistently attend therapy, maintain employment, pursue education, or stabilize their household when they do not have dependable child care for their children.

This is why West End Baptist Church is uniquely positioned to answer the community need through the creation of this child care.

This is bigger than just child care.

This is about supporting working parents, strengthening families, improving mental health wellness, creating stability for children, and investing directly in the future of Hampton.

I respectfully ask this council to give West End Baptist Church the opportunity to serve our community in this capacity.

Our families need it, our children deserve it, and our community will be stronger because of it.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Okay, thank you, Ms.

Williams.

And that is the last speaker under this public hearing item.

So we're going to close the public hearing.

And I need a motion and a second.

Mr.

Mayor, move we approve you submit application 26-001.

I'm sorry, yeah, 0017 with 11 conditions as presented in the agenda package tonight.

A second.

All right.

We have a motion and a second.

Is there any further discussion?

Okay.

So I just want to add to this at least comments on this decision in this child care center.

You know, we have, we we know that uh licensed child care, quality of child care facilities in our communities.

There's a shortage of them.

There's a shortage of facilities that take care of infants.

There's a shortage of facilities that take care of kids with disabilities, there's a shortage of uh facilities that handle out-of-the-normal hours, the evening hours, and so child care is a huge issue in our community.

And we in our Office of Economic Empowerment and Family Resilience is uh led by Miss Dr.

Deanna Valentine.

And uh we have we have identified in our efforts to look at how we can kind of pave the way for families who live in poverty and who are part of the working poor, which makes up a significant percentage of our community.

Uh, when we look at the number one issue that they face in terms of being able to access training and work which improve their quality of life, is as uh the lady mentioned is child care.

And um, and so through our efforts to reach out to the community and uh one of our efforts is our Macedonian call, which is our bi-monthly gathering of uh faith leaders and city leaders and you know churches who come together to try to help us solve some of the most complex problems in our community and uh uh through uh seeing a presentation from Ms.

Ballantine at one of those meetings, uh West End Baptist Church and Pastor Thomas uh decided to jump into the child care space and uh and I think that's that's that's just very uh you know big of you to really want to you want to first of all help our community in that way, but then take on the responsibility of uh adding to the number of uh child care slots available in our community is gonna be a big help.

And so we appreciate you taking that leap uh, you know, at the request of uh our staff and what we're trying to do in supporting us in that way, supporting our community in that way, and so we thank you for doing that.

So with that, we have a motion and a second uh again.

Any further discussion from council members?

Uh, Madam Clerk, will you call the roll, please?

Councilman Bowman, Vice Mayor Brown, Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye, Councilwoman Ferry, aye, Councilwoman Harper, aye, Councilwoman Buckler, aye, Mayor Gray.

Aye.

The motion carries.

Item number 11 on your agenda this evening is 26-0123.

It's a use permit application by the Hamptons Beauty Academy and the Hamptons Head Spa and Wellness Sanctuary to allow a private school to operate at 15 South Hope Street, LRSN 12001357.

Mr.

Mayor and Council Members Chief Planner Donald, apparently not.

I'm sorry.

My note said that Donald Wupple would be doing the presentation.

My apologies.

Valerie, thank you.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Mayor Gray, Vice Mayor, Members of Council, City Manager, and City Attorney.

I am presenting use permit number 26-0123 in reference to the Hamptons head spa and Wellness sanctuary at 15 South Hope Street.

The application is for a use permit to authorize a private beauty school to operate within the same commercial space as an existing day spa in the Phoebus PH2 district.

Here's a location map showing the location indicated by the red star.

Here is another view of the property located on the corner of Mellon Street and South Hope Street.

And the proposal will encompass the entire second floor of the building, which is approximately 1500 square feet.

The classroom is approximately 500 square feet, and there should be 10 students and two employees.

The business hours of both entities are displayed here, and it is important to note that they will not function simultaneously.

Here is a view of the floor plan, the classroom shown in the shaded section, and the remainder of the floor encompasses the day spa.

Here's a street view of the location.

The red star indicates the door to the second floor.

Here's a zoning map that shows the property is in zoning district pH 2.

And a future land use map indicates that this area is zoned for mixed use.

The public policy has been found to be consistent with the Hampton community plan, particularly policies that support small and startup businesses.

In addition, staff also finds the proposal in alignment with the Phoebus Master Plan by supporting economic development, encouraging investment in existing commercial properties, and promoting activity with the commercial corridor.

Final analysis shows that the use is compatible with the Hampton Community Plan and Phoebus Master Plan.

The proposed location will not negatively impact surrounding properties, and it provides educational services to the community.

And there was a community meeting held on January the 27th.

Eight people were in attendance, and no one spoke in opposition.

In conclusion, the applicant is present and has the opportunity to present.

There will be a public hearing, and staff and planning commission both recommend approval of use permit number two six-0123, subject to eight conditions.

I'm available for any questions.

Okay, I'm sorry, I had Mr.

Whipple on the list, I didn't get your name.

Oh, I'm sorry, Valerie Taylor.

Ms.

Taylor, okay.

Any questions for Ms.

Taylor?

Okay, and the applicant is present.

Good evening.

My name is Chrissy Michelle, and alongside my husband Brandon Williams, we are the owners of the Hampton's Beauty Academy and the Hampton's Head Spot and Wellness Sanctuary located right here in Phoebus.

I'm a licensed beauty professional and educator, and our vision is to create a professional beauty and wellness environment, education environment focused on mentorship, entrepreneurship, career development, and community growth within Hampton.

One of our biggest goals is to provide accessible opportunities for individuals to build professional skills, create income opportunities, and pursue long-term careers within a beauty and wellness industry.

Our concept also incorporates wellness focused services in education reflecting on the growth direction, on the growing direction of modern beauty industry where professionalism, self-care, and overall client experience go hand in hand.

We've already made significant investment into the property, renovations, equipment, and overall development because we truly believe in the future of Phoebus in the Hampton community.

We also hope to contribute positively to continue revitalization of the area by creating a safe professional and community center environment.

Throughout this process, we work closely with planning and zoning as city guidance, making sure that we are committed to operating responsibly in compliance with all the city and state requirements.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

And Miss Taylor, any questions for the applicant?

I'm sorry, not Miss Taylor.

Williams.

Any questions?

Okay.

Thank you, Ms.

Williams.

All right.

This uh item uh requires a public hearing.

We're gonna open a public hearing, but there's no one signed up to speak, so we'll close the public hearing and uh call for a motion.

Mr.

Mayor.

I move that city council approve use permit 26-0123 with eight conditions as presented in the agenda package.

So second, second.

See any further discussion?

Maybe would you call the roll, please?

Councilman Bowman, Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Theraby.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Aye.

Mayor Gray.

Aye.

The next item on your agenda is item number 12, 26-0157.

It's a resolution authorizing the execution of a landfill lease agreement between the City of Hampton and USA Waste of Virginia Landfills Inc.

to lease and operate the city owned landfill lined at 100 North Park Lane, LRSN 50005, commonly known as the Bethel Landfill.

Mr.

Mayor and Council members, the city owns the property located at 100 North Park Lane, commonly referred to as the Bethel Landfill or simply the landfill, and more particularly described in the proposed landfill lease agreement attached to this resolution.

USA Waste of Virginia, also referred to as waste management, is the successor in interest to the Williams Corporation of Virginia, the original leasee of the land under a lease dated May 1st, 1986, and modified by amendment dated March 29, 1994, pursuant to which waste management currently operates the landfill.

According to its terms, the existing lease commenced on May 29th of 1986.

And therefore, in accordance with Virginia Code Section 15.2-2100, the existing lease will terminate by operation of law on May 29th, 2026.

The agreement, the agreement before you tonight is intended as a short-term operating lease, preserving the continuity of landfill operations while the parties evaluate and negotiate potential long-term options for the landfill.

Although the proposed agreement generally maintains the status quo, it incorporates some enhancements favorable to the city, including a requirement that waste management provide monthly operational reports, a provision allowing the city to conduct an annual audit of waste management's records to verify compliance with the lease, and a requirement that waste management send a hundred tons per day of commercial waste to the Hampton NASA steam plant.

The agreement will be for an initial one-year term with the option to renew for up to four additional one-year terms.

This matter was properly advertised in accordance with Virginia Code section 15.2-1800 and 15.2-2100 and city staff recommends approval of the resolution.

Thank you.

Okay, there's no presentation on this item.

Uh it does require public hearing, so we'll open a public hearing, but uh there are no speakers signed up on this item, so we'll close the public hearing and uh call for a motion.

Mr.

Mayor, I move city council approve item two six-0157.

Resolution authorizing execution of the landfill lease agreement between the city of Hampton and USA waste of Virginia landfills as presented in the agenda package.

Second.

All right, we have a motion and a second.

Is there any further discussion?

There being none, uh, would you call the roll, please?

Councilwoman Bowman, Vice Mayor Brown, aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Fairby.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Aye.

Mayor Gray.

Aye.

All right.

So, Madam Clerk, will you read the protocol for public comment?

Yes, sir.

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 by 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 remaining.

Then red when your 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 and yielding time is not allowed.

Audience must 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 the protocol may result in removal from the podium or meeting after a fair warning.

Thank you.

Okay, we have several people signed up to speak.

For those who are speaking for the first time, the uh timer and light is right here in the center of a council day.

Uh the green light comes on when you speak, the yellow light comes on when you have one minute left, red light comes on when you're done.

Uh, you have three minutes to speak.

If you wrote a five-minute speech, you still only get to three minutes to speak it.

Okay, so first speaker coming up this evening is Chair Alyssa Burke.

Good evening, guys.

I am here today to express my frustration, not just on my own behalf, but on behalf of my neighbors who have been pushed to the brink of blatant neglect and other disrespect shown by the patrons of Faroe's hookah bar and lounge.

Over the past few months, our neighborhood has been completely overwhelmed and flooded with an unseen number of cars that are not visitors or legitimate guests, but the patrons of this business because Faroe's lack the accountability to have proper accessible parking for their patrons.

This has resulted in damage to our properties, blocked driveways that we rely on every day.

Drucking drivers recklessly endangering our lives, trash littering our streets that we are responsible to clean up because we care about our neighborhood, noise levels that have shattered our peace by all times of day throughout the weekday, Monday through Sunday, with work being the next day and our children having school.

Law enforcement is already stretched too thin, and we refuse to add to their mounting list of complaints caused by the neglect of Farrell's hookah bar and lounge.

We deserve better, and the city we have complained and filed the appropriate petitions, yet the city refuses to grant us the right to manage our street as we see fit while continuously disregard our concerns and safety.

Enough is enough.

You say your say with mayor gray means it means something.

So prove it.

Show us you stand with the community.

City may managers, please grant us permit parking with strict towing enforcement to ensure our safety.

I am sure the unfortunate events that took place at places like Carmer, you wouldn't want to happen to our humble neighborhoods.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Burke.

Next speaker is Aaron Burke.

Hello, everyone.

I'm here to speak about Faro's hookah bar as well.

Um I've been out there on that block every day for the past three months myself personally to try and deter some of the nonsense that goes on.

I've broken up fist fights, I've picked up broken liquor bottles, I'll watch people urinate on my street in front of me and not care.

It's honestly ridiculous.

Those people don't belong over there.

They do nothing to the block.

I've probably uh thwarted at least two murders at this point, too.

Just by standing out there being ready to call the police at any point in time and also confronting the people that stand out there and ruin our neighborhood and our block.

I have three small children, all under the age of seven years old.

It's honestly too unsafe for them to stay in the room that they stay in now, so they have to stay in the room back with me and my wife because we don't know what's going to happen on that street every single time it happens.

I've come home in the middle of the day at four o'clock in the afternoon to my block completely flooded as they throw up uh actual day party in the middle of the day when everybody has to go to school and work the next morning.

It it doesn't stop and it needs to stop.

We've done everything we're supposed to do.

We pay our taxes, we mind our business, and that block has been quiet.

I've moved there when I um joined when I came here while I was stationed here in 2019 when I was in the Air Force still, and it's been a completely quiet block up until the past three or four months.

We are imploring you and begging you guys to do something about it before something worse happens.

All of this is happening because fair uh Karma Lounge and the other clubs that were closed down.

Now all of that foot traffic is being moved to our neighborhood where it doesn't need to be.

So we please we will ask you over and over again, and I'll come to every count city council meeting.

I need to until something is done because it's honestly ridiculous.

So please do something to help us.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Burke.

No clapping in the child chambers, no clapping, no clapping.

Next speaker is uh I have here Lenny Jr.

Lenny Jr.

Okay, uh next speaker is Riaz Miller.

Ladies and gentlemen of Hampton City Council, my name is Riaz Miller, and I am a resident and homeowner here in Hampton.

I have done everything expected of a responsible resident.

Okay.

My trailer and my family pays all our taxes.

Um our vehicles camper and trailers are all properly registered, inspected, and current on personal property uh taxes.

My wife and I own a business, and our children attend schools here full time here in Hampton.

Recently today, I received a toll notice on my vehicle, my trailer parked in front of my home on public street.

I resolved the issue with my vehicles immediately.

Um, however, I was informed that my trailer could not be parked out in front of my street, and it would be towed if it remains parked on the street for more than one hour per day.

I understand and respect the city's authority to regulate parking.

Virginia laws allow local governments to regulate parking and standing of standing of the vehicles on public streets.

I also understand that Hampton has ordinance related to recreational equipment and trailers, which is one-34 um 4B in that ordinance.

But my concern today is not simply about one trailer, it's about the fairness and consistency and the equal enforcement.

Ordinary homeowners with properly registered personal trailers appear to face enforcement.

If the city's goal is safety, accessibility, and uh neighborhood appearance, then resources of the city parking for personal property um for us residents should be provided.

I mean, because if we don't have the size properties to continue to hold our personal property, I mean, at least allow us to park it in front of our homes.

I mean, I'm asking for reasonable treatment.

Many Hampton residents do not have large driveway side yards or HOA storage areas.

Responsible homeowners should not feel punished simply for owning a trailer that is legally registered, taxed, and maintained.

And I respectfully ask council to consider one or more of the following, creating a reasonable grace period for residential trailer parking, allowing overnight residential street parking permit for these trailers, or other recreational vehicles.

Um, policy works best when they are practical, clearly communicated, and fairly enforced.

I choose Hampton as my home because I believe in this community and in participating constructively in local government.

I appreciate the work this council does, truly do.

And I hope my concerns can contribute to a balanced solution.

Time is up, Mr.

Miller.

All right, next speaker.

Uh Lenny Densmore, are you here?

Lenny Densmore.

Oh, excuse me, Mr.

Mr.

Riaz.

Uh we normally don't respond during the public comment period.

City manager addresses concerns and items that are brought up at the end of the public comment period.

So if you want to stay around and wait for that, we'll be able to perhaps address your your concern at that time.

Yes, sir.

All right.

Uh next speaker is Wanda Mitchell.

Good evening, Mayor Gray, Vice Mayor Brown, and Council members.

As a 34-year resident, taxpaying resident of Hampton and a 31-year educator, it concerns me very much that in our small community of Buckrow Village.

We have to contend with disruptive behavior, with drinking, with fighting coming from Pharaohs.

I've had my mailbox broken in front of my house.

I've had people pull into my driveway.

I've had my driveway blocked so that I couldn't get into it.

I've had my sleep disrupted on numerous occasions.

Officer Gomes and I are good buddies now.

When I call he just answers, hi Ms.

Mitchell.

I said they were at it again.

I need your help.

Not only am I an educator, but I'm a caretaker.

And the disruption of sleep in the middle of the night, the having to go outside and pick up bottles from my yard to clear up somebody else's trash is becoming unbearable.

I implore you to allow us to have permit parking or cut down the time at Pharaoh's, close them down.

It's creating havoc in our neighborhood.

And we just don't pay taxes for that.

I implore you to please give us your help.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you, Ms.

Mitchell.

Uh, next speaker is Jerry Ely.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members.

I'm here to address the new tax rate and uh see if uh possible to lower it.

Um accent that you consider that a burden that it places on the citizens of Hampton.

Also realizing that there's not a hundred percent participation and paying real estate taxes.

I know they're exemption, so they allow exemptions, but to me that is unfair for some to pay and observe the costs uh for others.

That's all I have to say.

All right, thank you, Mr.

Elya.

Next speaker is Leo Kudell.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and uh members of the city council.

Uh I was informed that you probably got some photos of uh area around my about 250 feet from my house.

Okay, um, it needs to be cleaned up, okay.

Uh it's going to be a problem with rodents and other vermin that's going to be inhabiting that area.

Uh uh the city on a side note has put up had put up two no trespassing signs.

One at the end of my driveway on a telephone pole, the second on a about 250 feet south of that location.

Uh I had, and within two weeks, both of them had been torn down, most likely by the people that were inhabiting that area back there.

Uh they were signed by a Bill Smith.

I'm not sure who he is or what, but he he was it was from the city of Hampton.

In fact, right in front of my about 20 feet from my end of my driveway, there's a large flat screen TV that somebody had dumped off right there.

Uh like I said, that area needs to be cleaned up before something uh we have problems with rodents and everything else through there.

All right, thank you for your attention, to this.

Okay, thank you, Ms.

Coodale.

Uh next speaker is Pate Peyton Jackson.

Peyton Jackson.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

This country is bankrupt, morally bankrupt, considering that taxes were meant to be temporary.

Yet in 2026, we have federal income tax, property tax, payroll tax, sales tax, business tax, fuel tax, food tax, car tax, all of the taxes, hotel tax if you own an Airbnb.

And on top of all of that, the majority of the states in this great nation have state tax.

Income tax was illegal, unconstitutional up until the constitution was changed.

But after all of the wars, by 1945, income tax became the primary revenue source for the federal government, and by the time I was born in the nineties, the tax code grew by thousands of pages.

Once a nation founded on escaping the abuse of taxation, now funds politicians, their salaries, their car notes, their vacations, their nonprofits, their mistresses, even.

Extorting housing and income for foolishness, while claiming that we have a housing or income or rental crisis is a bit ill-considered, but honestly, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Because while the average voter politically gangbangs repping red or blue just to defend their idols, politicians who seem to devoted to destruction.

Convincing half of the people, 51% of the turnout, that 10 to 1 is a fair map.

A complete waste of money.

Attempting to strip you away from your first amendment while literally attacking your second amendment, but honestly, it could be worse.

Changing a map is one thing, but suffice it to say, it doesn't matter if you're identify as Democrat or Republican, we have dumped T for less.

Changing a map is one thing, but if President Trump is successful in fixing our census, making sure that only U.S.

citizens are counted in the census.

But thank you for your time, Council.

You can go ahead and call your next speaker.

Next speaker's Jason Vance.

Yes, we all right.

Next speaker is Lucas Alridge.

Hello, good evening, Council.

Thank you for having me.

My name is Lucas Aldrich.

I'm here on behalf of the Clean Hands Initiative.

Essentially, it's a workforce development program for individuals who were previously incarcerated, might have been uh struggling to find jobs or any services or such things like that.

Um I apologize, I'm not really good with public speaking.

Um, but this man right here, Martez, he's the founder of Daddy Foundation, and thanks to him, he's allowed me to do a lot of good things with my life.

Um beforehand, I was kind of just bouncing around from job to job.

I was a server for Mr.

Boyle Buffalo Wild Wings, just kind of going place to place and I didn't really have a sense in life.

Um I I struggled a little bit with drug uh drug addiction as well.

Um, where it got to a point where after the first time it was a scary experience, but after multiple times, it just kind of I didn't feel scared about what happened when it did happen.

And being a part of his group, it's helped me out a lot in the long run.

Not just me, but a lot of the other guys as well.

You know, we're we're not just a group or a cohort.

You know, we we share a lot of experiences, you know, pain and a lot of things like that.

Um honestly, if it wasn't for some of them, I would still kind of feel outcasted a little bit because ever since getting released, there hasn't really been a group of people that in a good way I could bond with and share some of those things that we went through the good, the bad, the ugly, everything.

Um because you know, it's it you you kind of just get casted out there sometimes.

And you know, personally, I had a year where I didn't really have any guidance or anything, and it's just really I owe a lot to this guy.

I've only known him for a few months, but the amount of hard work, dedication, and everything he's done for us is amazing.

I mean, almost every day, job opportunities, helping us fill out for Medicaid, just any possible thing.

DARS, he told us about DARS recently, so he he's a wonderful man with a wonderful plan.

And I really hope that Clean Hands Initiative kind of gets a little bit more public and trying to make some good work with that.

I appreciate the time, y'all.

Sorry about that.

All right, thank you, Mr.

Aldridge.

Uh, next speaker is Torin Haney.

Torrin Haney.

Hi, my guy.

How you doing, man?

How you doing, counsel?

Um I got I'm a little gifted with my words, so I can speak a little bit better for Clean Hands Initiative.

Um I'm a father of six, just had my baby, what, on the 24th.

Um, my newest one.

I haven't worked in the last part of what, four or five, four or five years.

You know, I just do a lot of our jobs, you know, handyman work.

So anything that you could possibly do from electrician to just epoxy flooring, I'm done it all.

You know, but I met a man, Montez, you know.

Our first job was uh picking up after the um the Olympics, the running that they had, the Olympics that they had in uh Virginia Beach.

That was our first job, picking up uh trash on the side of the road in the state.

Cleaned up the whole Virginia Beach.

You know what I'm saying?

Small check.

$83.

That was the best $83 I ever had in my life.

You know what I'm saying?

Because it was good, hard, honest work, man.

And I brought that check home, gave it to my girl.

My next check, two days, $500.

Now I work in uh North of Scope, any of the arenas around here.

Montez put us in there, you know, so now I make 20, 25 to $30 an hour.

That's every day they call me in, you know, and they call us in all the time.

So now I can go home and take that check to my family.

So and that's that's the only opportunity I've been given.

You know what I'm saying?

So I mean, your boy knows me.

Your boy over there know me.

You know what I'm saying?

I'm from the other side of the courtroom.

But this program, man, ever since I got into it, I started change.

Like uh Lucas said, man, from anything that you need, Montez is gonna call you from the morning to the evening.

It's gonna make sure you got transport.

He's gonna make sure you got something that he's gonna make sure you got money in your pocket just to make sure you can do what you need to do.

And on to piggyback off that church with the uh with the um the uh thing for the babies, like that's that's gonna be well needed in our community, but that we can get more men, you know, coming out of incarceration and just coming out of depression and not being able to have these jobs and be there for their families and actually support them.

That's where a lot of the crime and domestic violence is coming from.

The men don't have any money.

So that's what we need.

Many jobs.

We want strong community, men need jobs.

So clean hands initiative.

Swing 30,000 hours.

Thank you, Mr.

Haney.

Well, I guess we'll hear from the man himself.

The next speaker is Matez Gurley.

All right, good evening, council, Mr.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Manager, and the rest of the council.

Uh my name is Martez Gurliel, and I just came to talk briefly about the clean hands initiative.

Uh, we've been going for almost 75 days now.

It's a 12-week, 90-day program, and we basically our goal is to reduce probation violations by 30% and to increase employment by 30%.

And out of my eight guys, we have seven still engaged and employed with no violations.

Um, they've been, like they said, they've been exposed to community resources, food pantries, clothing closets, mental health and substance use.

Uh, the focus is stabilization before workforce, because if a person's unstable, they um they take that to work and into traffic and into the community.

And so we stabilize everyone first, mental health assessments, just get a baseline so we can place people in a place where they need to be.

Um, and it's beyond a job, you know.

These guys, they got a little worked up.

Well, they they're they're genuine.

They just wanted a chance, a fair chance, um, an opportunity to do right.

And um, with community partners in place, we've opened up the door for that.

And we have a graduation coming up on May 29th at economic empowerment and family resiliency because they uh Deanna helped us host our first class.

So it's a Hampton initiative.

Um, so moving forward, want to move the jobs back to Hampton.

Um, right now they're in Norfolk Portsmouth and Virginia Beach for stage handing, but the ultimate mission is to keep the Hampton employees right here working and playing and standing, choosing Hampton.

Um, so I just I gave you all a little bit of information, uh invited you to the graduation, and also to consider some of my guys for public works.

Life Launch was started because um the city couldn't do business with Malon's project, which is a faith-based organization.

So we spun off, but the goal was to fill the hard-to-keep jobs.

I know it's a lot of churn, and with our retention program, personal development, honesty, integrity, responsibility, and empathy, and skills for higher.

And so with these personal development um in place in the 3060 90 day controls, we can guarantee a stable workforce that will reduce the churn and improve uh retention.

So I appreciate your time today.

We can all speak again at length.

It's good to see you all.

And uh, I just want to get a picture of y'all real quick one time, you know how to do it, man.

Um, I appreciate the city for real.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, Mr.

Gurley.

Uh next speaker is David Mangello.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, city council members.

My name is David Mangello, and I'm a resident, a father, and someone who believes in the values of community.

I want to speak tonight about something simple but very important.

What is the role of those in position of public authority?

At its core, government, government provides a service to its citizens, and one of the most valuable services is provided it provides is this a safe, stable environment where honest, hardworking people can live, raise their families, and contribute to their community without fare.

That is a product, that is what people rely on, but that only works if people entrusted with authority use that power responsibly.

Because when authority is used properly, it protects.

But when authority is misused or even perceived to be misused, it creates uncertainty, fear, and distrust.

And that affects not just one family, but the entire community.

That is why oversight matters.

That is why transparency matters.

That is why accountability matters.

If there are ever situations where individuals in positions of authority act outside of those expectations, the public has a right to know that those matters are taken seriously, reviewed carefully, and addressed appropriately.

Not for punishment for but for correction.

Not for conflict, but for trust.

So my request tonight is specific.

First, I am asking that the city ensure that any internal reviews of employees' conduct that are referenced publicly are documented and made available through the Freedom of Informations Act to the fullest extent allowed by law.

Second, I'm asking that the city clearly define and communicate a transparent pathway for citizens to raise concerns, request review, and receive meaningful responses when they believe authority has been misused.

That pathway should include clear points of contact, define timelines for response, and accountability for how concerns are evaluated and resolved.

Because without a clear process, people are left uncertain.

But with a clear process, people can trust that concerns will be handled fairly and appropriately.

When that trust exists, honest people can continue to live, work, and contribute to this community without fear.

And that is how strong communities are built.

Thank you for your time.

Aaron Weaver.

First, I want to thank Monica Mahark and the Habitat for Humanity for the incredible joint blitz this past Saturday.

When we agreed, when I say we, I'm talking about me and the Bidge Builders Association, my neighborhood community, uh, to be part of the partnership, it was to do exactly what happened.

Bring people together to serve the community.

Monica took that idea and blew it out the water.

Habitat believed in our community.

The council showed support.

City Manager Bunny was there, the uh Kurt Glass, she was there.

City employees, and more than a hundred volunteers showed up to put in the work.

That was what real partnership looks like.

I am forever grateful to all of you.

Next, I want to thank City Manager Bund and Chief Wyattman for providing the 2024-25 police reports related to homelessness.

This was the data that should have been provided at the from the beginning.

It tells the real story, it shows the homelessness related calls drop by 20 from 1,024 to 1,004 and from 2024 to 2025.

That matters because this council said an ordinance was temporary.

You always said six months.

You it would I want to be clear though, that is what I asked for.

I asked for that too.

Not because six months sounds good, but because a temporary ordinance should be held responsible, should be must be held so that the it'll be held responsible to the results.

So now the public deserves to know what exactly is being revisited, what does success look like, what does failure look like, and what data will decide whether the ordinance worked or did not work?

Because if policy is temporary, accountability must be permanent.

The data also show that locations, call types, and times.

Several council members have spoken to Miss Little on reference to stealth toilets.

We also noted the Mary Jackson uh community center had to be cleaned before the carnival this past Saturday.

So my question is simple.

When are we going to be placing stealth portable toilets in hot spot known hot spot areas as a temporary measure?

We already use similar restroom solutions in downtown Hampton.

If we know where our homeless community are consistently gathering, sanitation has to be part of the conversation.

That is public health.

Lastly, approximately 453 today, we learned that Governor Spanberger reportedly told the Senate majority leader she intends to veto the collective bargaining bill that Mayor Gray and several other uh mayors initially supported.

So my question is straightforward.

What happens to the money set aside in this year's budget for collective bargaining implementation?

Also, the public deserves to know that clarity and transparency are on that as well.

Now I know you may not have that numbers yet, but that needs to be known by the public.

And that's it.

244.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Weaver.

Next speaker is Joan Weaver.

Mayor, I waited my time tonight.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Miss Weaver.

Next speaker is Charles Brown.

All right.

Good evening, Mayor Gray, members of the city council, all those in attendance.

My name is Charles O'Brown.

I reside in Hampton, Virginia.

But I'm here speaking on behalf of new organization called the East End Coalition.

I've had the opportunity to meet with some of you already.

And I want to thank the city because we've in my role, I go to some other neighboring cities and talk to the city councils.

And although we don't live in New Jerusalem, so therefore there's always going to be issues.

I can say that compared to some of the neighboring cities is not as bad as it could be, although improvement is always needed.

That being said, I definitely want to thank the city, for example, for um the four million dollars for the living water project to address uh coastal resiliency.

Um that's one of the issues that we're looking to address and that we've been addressing.

We actually have a program coming up on the 22nd of this month that some of you all are already aware of uh at the White's Thomas Community Center from 9 to 2, and really talking about ways for um citizens of Hampton, the surrounding areas as well, but we're really focused on Hampton and making sure the citizens are aware of um environmental challenges, and thankfully the city is already doing some work to address that.

One slight criticism, we've also been addressing air quality, and we know that the landfill um plays a part in that, so I think it's kind of a mixed bag with the um resolution that the city voted on.

Of course, at the end of the day, we have to address waste, waste is gonna be an issue no matter what.

So I think it's just a matter of how we do that and how it affects um most vulnerable populations, if you will.

So overall, again, we want to extend that invitation.

We've had other events, but thanking the city for the work that has already been done and looking forward to work that we'll do in the future.

Thank you, and I yield my time.

Thank you, Mr.

Brown.

Uh the last speaker is Earl Miller.

Good evening, Mayor Greg.

Vice Mayor Brown.

I'm Earl Miller.

I've been here before.

You guys have seen me before.

I have here my uh cell phone.

Uh record and evidence of not only calling the uh police officers for the um issues that we have at Brianfield tennis courts.

Uh, before I go any further into that, I want to thank you all for the progress so far that we have had at Briarfield Tennis Park and the tennis courts.

We have new benches.

We have new equipment to deal with um the um players when they come out after a rain that they can clean up.

Um the uh temporary lighting, since we are waiting for lighting permanently to be either replaced or um courts of the five courts, courts four and five have no lighting at all when courts three, two and one two have lighting and the players are out there.

Uh some of the uh examples that I've had at the disrespect of the players that come out to use the courts uh range from people coming out there to walk their dogs while people are on the court and the dogs have to be restrained.

It's gone down now to females actually being harassed.

There is a new development that is happening.

I have pictures of it as well, where the Hampton Coliseum holds some type of costume, I don't know what you want to call it, anime or whatever, but they practice battles or they simulate battles that used to happen outside of our tennis courts that now happens on the tennis courts.

And it's amazing that some of our females have have had to address the people that are on the court saying, hey, why are you guys on the courts when you used to be over there?

And they have just been totally disrespected.

I have record of that.

Our parks are wrecks contact person goes by the name of JR.

I've never really quite known his full name.

Him and I have been uh talking and could uh even meeting sometimes out at Bradfield tennis courts.

He's had to cut off locks.

I've had to cut off locks, like I've said to you guys before.

I think there's some kind of homeless situation, but when we don't really have a grasp of that yet.

What we're trying to deal with now is the simple fact that some of those same non-tenis activities that are still on the courts, and he has said that city council has said right now, all we can do is call the police.

I've actually now had to call the police for the first time myself.

And unfortunately, they're saying unless signs are posted, there's nothing that they can do.

I kind of knew this was coming.

I've been preparing for sign material ever since I've known Vice Mayor Brown.

It's been on the Mr.

Miller.

All right, that is the uh final speaker for uh the public comment period.

Uh so I will turn it over to the city manager to respond to any of the comments.

So I will um be going over things in the order, starting with the beginning and sort of lumping relatively similar topics.

So I'm gonna start with the pharaohs.

Um I want to point out two people on the back of the room.

Uh, Kim Michael, who's the director of the community development department that does enforcement actions as it relates to use permits and licensing, and Master Patrol Officer Roush, who is the Hampton Police uh department's um code enforcement officer, basically.

I have been texting with them to find out what they knew about the things you all were sharing, and they report that they had not heard a lot of the things that you all said tonight.

The things that you said tonight are very concerning to us all.

I I haven't talked with council people, but I know them and I know it's concerning to them just as it's concerning to me and to those individuals I just pointed out.

They are hanging back if you all would like to go talk with them briefly so they can get a sense, a better sense of the timing and things of that nature.

Is it every day?

Is it certain days?

Some of you talked a little bit about that, but we want to get some additional details so we can try to make an immediate difference in your neighborhood because we don't think you should be suffering from the things that you report.

So wanted to be very clear about that.

But the two people I pointed out in the back, they're willing to stay back, you know, meet with you in the lobby or in one of our offices so that they can get what they need from you and to continue follow-up with you after tonight.

Okay.

Um, then in terms of the parking ordinance and the towing uh notice that Mr.

Miller brought up.

We looked at this several years ago through our neighborhood commission.

If you're not familiar with that, we have a neighborhood district system where the council points neighborhood district representatives for the city, and we have other relevant um departments such as police, um, public works, and others that work with that group to establish procedures for our neighborhoods to have clean, safe, and responsible neighborhoods.

There were a lot of concerns about large recreational vehicles and also large commercial vehicles that might be on public streets, causing problems for people to see as they're driving in the neighborhood, you know, having clear lines of sights and those kinds of things.

So we had a comprehensive examination.

I'm forgetting how long ago it is, probably on the order of four or five years, which is to say that we might be able to revisit that, but what is in the code right now is what we have to enforce.

And so that's probably why you received that tow notice.

But we hear you and I will discuss with council and staff when and if we want to revisit that ordinance and on what schedule we might be able to do that.

But what the main reason why it was there is not to keep people from using their properties, but rather because large vehicles on residential streets, particularly some of our streets that are smaller, inhibit safe trust safe driving for people, and put up obstacles for their visual cues in the neighborhood.

So there's a balance of the private property interest and the larger public use of a neighborhood that we have to manage.

And the ordinance that you referenced is the ordinance that we came up with at that time when we worked with our neighborhood commission.

On the real estate taxes, I know we had Mr.

Ely addressed that, and Ms.

Jackson seemed to be talking more about larger tax policies in the country.

We don't address federal and state issues here.

We focus on what we can do locally.

But the real estate tax is something that we do address here locally.

Each of the last four years up to this year, we have lowered the real estate tax rate.

We realize that assessments have gone up, but we have tried to lower the tax rate so that the actual impact on the average homeowner was no more than the cost of living as represented by consumer price index or resident income growth.

That said, this year we were not in the same position to lower the tax rate because our assessment growth was not as strong.

And we do want to provide salary increases for our police officers, our firefighters, our solid waste, and other public works workers, which we recognized earlier tonight.

And just as you might expect a salary increase from your employer, or if you happen to be drawing Social Security or pensions, you want a cost of living increase.

Our employees look for and expect that as well.

And because we're a service-oriented business, about 50% of our city budget is salaries, about 90% of the school budget is salaries.

So if we're providing for teachers and the other people I've talked about, it means you've got to have some growth in your revenue, and real estate is by far the largest source of that.

So we what I'm trying to say is we try to be very, very sensitive about that.

We lowered the tax rate 10 cents in four years.

We lowered our tax rate more aggressively than any other major city in our region.

This council always struggles and wants to lower more, but this year the budget that they're getting ready to consider simply did not permit that.

We will, I know Mr.

Kudeau, I think he left, but I want to acknowledge that we did receive the pictures and we will work with property owners and our city staff to figure out how we might be able to address that situation.

The pictures tell a thousand words, and it is really very bad, and we want to make sure we address that.

I have met with Mr.

El Gurley about the workforce initiative and shared that you know, once we met, we were pretty far into the budget process.

It may be a program that we can work.

Should we get the safer grant that we're hoping to get, as well as with some of our other workforce development initiatives, as he noted, he's already working with Miss Valentine.

Um I do plan to attend the May 29th graduation, and I know we were all invited to that as well.

But um, Mr.

Gurley, I do want to, I want to also acknowledge works with our our divergent program, and he's been very successful in helping young people as well as obviously um returning citizens and adults, and I want to personally congratulate the two young men who spoke about the transformation that you're making.

It's very inspirational.

So thank you for sharing your personal story with us tonight.

We do have a process of oversight.

Um, it does somewhat vary depending upon the department as the state sets out very specific procedures for police and fire officers.

They have their own internal review process that's defined versus other city employees.

However, we do not share the results of that with the public for various legal reasons that would take more time than tonight to describe.

I will be glad to talk with you separately if you would like at another time, Mr.

Mungillo.

I think I said that right.

As to Mr.

Weaver's uh comment about the budget and the collective bargaining issue, we did not budget anything this cycle for collective bargaining.

We were forecasting we would likely have to do that starting next year under the bill that was adopted.

But the bill that was adopted that the governor is now allegedly going to veto, had the first implementation date in 2028.

And since we were preparing a budget for this year that did not cover that year, we did not put any extra money in for collective bargaining implementation.

We were intending and will likely still do because I think this matter will come up again in the next General Assembly session if the governor vetoes to use our city attorney's office, our human resources, et cetera departments, as well as someone on my staff to start to explore how we might approach this, but that would not require additional funds because we would be using allocated staff time to do that.

So we're not going to be irresponsible and do nothing, but the manager's recommended budget before the council night did not include extra funding for collective bargaining.

And thank you for sharing the various kudos with other folks.

As far as the sanitation for homeless, that is something we're going to really need to explore.

This has come up before.

So I take your point, it is an important point that we think about, and since some of the issues we were dealing with had to deal with basic human functioning.

I understand the place from which that comes, and I'm willing to look at that, but I don't think I can commit tonight because it's a little bit more complicated than just setting them up.

We have to have proper security for them.

In fact, we have had vandalism in the ones that the restrooms that we have at Basic Parks, and we oftentimes have to lock them at night when we close the parks for that reason.

So we got to be very deliberate about that.

But it's something we will certainly look at.

I want to thank Mr.

Miller for acknowledging the work that is being done.

As far as the lights are concerned, just for the benefit of the public and the council.

We do have parts on order for the ones that are not working as well as money we anticipated using at the end of the year to make full updates to the lighting we've been having problems with.

But what's been put in place that Mr.

Miller mentioned is some light towers, so that we do have lighting there until those parts come in and we can do the full repair.

You may recall he mentioned uh the last time he spoke some cracks in the tennis court that had just been repaired.

Um we um had had them repaired, they were cracking, and we're holding the contractor responsible for that.

Uh the contractor was scheduled to fix that last Thursday, but the rain did not allow that to happen.

And the contractor is scheduled now to do the repairs and resurfacing of the problematic spots that they did not adequately uh take care of the last time they were there on May 20 and May 19th.

So that will be significantly improved.

And I saw that Mr.

Crenned in the back, our parks recreation and leisure services director pulled Mr.

Miller aside so they could talk further about some of the things going on with the courts being used by other parties and whatnot.

This is first I've heard about the anime groups or others using that, and we will certainly get with police to figure out what signage they might need to help out with the situation.

So I just wanted to acknowledge that as well.

I think I got everything, Mr.

Mayor.

If I if I missed something, it was an error of the head, not the heart.

All right.

Thank you for that.

Okay, so I think we uh move on to uh if I have myself on the agenda here, the appropriation.

Uh, uh well.

I'm sorry, I'm calling the city manager to introduce the budget items this evening.

Yes, Mr.

Mayor, thank you.

Um, we do have a set of items tonight, uh, one set of tax and fee ordinances, which are items 13 through 19 on your agenda, as well as the appropriation ordinances, which are items 20 through 36 that represent what council will need to act on to adopt the recommended budget for fiscal 27 as an official adopted budget.

Um, the I want to take just a moment to acknowledge the many people who helped put this budget together in our audience tonight.

We have most not not all, but most of the members of our budget team, and if you don't mind, I'd like to have them stand because it is a Herculan task to get the budget um completed, and I want to acknowledge their tireless um efforts and the great work that they've done.

I also want to thank the community because as you all know, but I want to say this for the record, we have an extensive community engagement process, starts with actually it's almost all year long.

We have a specific period called our value, but as people come up and raise things that they'd like to see in the budget or things, challenges they want us to fix as a community, that feeds into our beginning part of our budget process where we develop potential projects, potential revenue reductions, whatever the case may be that the public is asking for that we incorporate in a set of uh questions that we ask both the council and the community about what they value most.

And ever since we started that process, on the order of about 15 years ago, we find that we get a lot of public input and it it really minimizes a lot of the last-minute um requests and for amendments or changes in the budget because we try to align the managers and the staff's recommendation to council with that public input.

And if our residents were not so engaged in completing the surveys or coming out to the public engagement opportunities or sharing their thoughts and and public comment like we have this evening, I don't know that we would have a smooth of a budget process as we have.

So there's a big debt of gratitude to the public as well.

And then, of course, council, you all don't get to see all of this, but they spend a lot of time analyzing the budget.

We have um individual and pair meetings with them to answer their questions on the budget to make sure they have a thorough understanding of what the budget represents, and they really put a lot of energy and effort into it.

And so on behalf of the staff, we want to thank you.

But with that, um, I believe we have come to a place where the council believes that the budget that's been put forward does not need amendment, and if I am correct in that understanding, uh for the sake of efficiency, we would recommend that you take these up first as a group of tax and fee ordinances, those being items 13 through 19 for a vote, and then secondarily, um the group of appropriation ordinances, items 20 through 36 as a group.

Okay, so uh the first of those items is items 13 through 19, so uh tax and fee ordinances.

We have a motion, Mr.

Mayor.

I uh move approval, or I move that city council approve and adopt the tax and fee ordinances and resolution listed in the agenda as items 13 through 19, each as presented in the agenda package.

Is there a second?

Second.

Is there any discussion?

Councilwoman Campbell.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I just again want to reiterate um the the thanks to the budget team for all the hard work and for the city manager for trying to give us the best city around.

Uh I do think though that our tax rate can go down.

Mr.

Umley was um as the same comment that I received from quite a few people.

Um we're hitting the same people again and again.

So I just think we could go down a little bit more.

So um I will be voting no on this, but that's specifically is the reason why.

All right.

Any further discussion?

All right, Madam Clerk, you called Row.

Councilman Bowman, Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell, nay.

Councilwoman Farrabee.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Aye.

Mayor Gray.

Aye.

The motion carries.

All right.

And then the next night item is the appropriation ordinances, uh, items 20 through 36.

Uh, is there a motion on the appropriation ordinances?

Mr.

Mayor.

I move that City Council approve and adopt the appropriation ordinances listed in the agenda as items 20 through 36, each as presented in the agenda package.

Sir, second.

Second.

All right.

Is there any discussion?

All right.

There being none, Madam Clerk, you call to roll.

Councilman Bowman.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell?

Nay.

Councilwoman Farabee.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper?

Aye.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Aye.

Mayor Gray.

Aye.

The motion carries.

All right.

And then now I'll ask the clerk to read the motion required for appointments.

On the community policy and management team, CPMT, appoint John Delyn Holston to represent transitions family violence services, and appoint Angelique Shank as the City Manager's designee.

We need a motion and a second.

Move approval, Mr.

Mayor.

Second.

Aye.

We have a motion and second and for discussion.

Being none, all in favor, I'm sorry.

Madam Clerk, you call to roll.

Councilman Bowman.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Farrabee.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Aye.

Mayor Gray.

Aye.

All right.

Are there any other reports from the city manager, City Council, staff, or committees?

Is there any new business?

Alright, then being none, we are adjourned.