Good evening, citizens of Portsmouth.

Individuals who are here meeting wanna take a moment to say welcome to our public work session and acknowledge our city manager, Mr.

Stephen Carter.

And of course our clerk is white.

Also want to thank all our city staff for being here today and supported this meeting.

And Madam Clerk, would you please call the room?

Yes, sir.

Miss Bryant, present.

Dr.

Dotson.

Here.

Mr.

Moody.

Here.

Miss Thomas.

Here.

Mr.

Tillage.

Here.

Mary Clever.

Here.

Mr.

Carter, sir.

Sir.

Good evening, everyone.

This evening.

Good to see everybody here this evening.

We have a couple of presentations for you.

The first one is uh traffic calming discussion.

We've installed um some traffic calming in our water view area, and that has kind of launched a new era in Portsmouth where everybody wants traffic calming.

So want to try to put some definition around how that process can work to ensure everybody has a fair opportunity to have their needs assessed and um some way to have it uh objectively uh reviewed.

Next will be um the presentation on the Portsmouth Program School Kepler Reserve Fund ordinance.

Uh that is something that uh we have to deal with this time of the year for this is a brand new ordinance that was adopted by council last December.

Just want to remind uh everybody of the uh the workings of the ordinance, how it works and and why it was necessary.

And finally we'll talk about uh some of the legislative initiatives.

But first we have uh our city engineer, Mr.

James Wright, he's gonna lead our discussion on traffic calming.

Ms.

Roy, whenever you're ready.

Good evening, Mayor.

Vice Mayor, member of the city council.

Um this evening I'm gonna lead discussion about traffic calming.

So um traffic calming is intended to slow traffic or residential streets without restricting access.

Um there's a difference between traffic control and traffic calming, although traffic control can provide some level of traffic calming.

Traffic control devices are signs which are intended to warn to advise their regulatory in nature.

Traffic calming is actually part of the design for the street.

Um they can be installed when the street is going in, or the street can be retrofitted.

Um have those devices installed.

Um perfect level traffic control devices to communicate while traffic calming measure once again is part of the design of the street.

Um resident speeding concerns that we typically receive are from your uh wider streets, the streets that are more straight in nature thing.

Um streets over in Cavalier Manor, you have some wider streets over there, um, the one that runs by the middle school.

Um Shenandoah and Waterview.

Um let's see, some of the streets in Old Town uh were wider, they could retrofit it.

Um streets and uh some in West Haven, um particular um thing Scott Street near uh the Walmart.

Um school zone speed enforcement has actually reduced speed and um had a significant impact in those residential areas where we have schools.

Um the typical requests that we usually see in those areas where for um additional signage, additional payment marking, um check to make sure that the flashers are working, are the flashers come properly, things like that.

Um citizens will typically call in requests for um stop signs um to help control speeding.

Um that stop signs are not intended to control speed.

Um one of the most frequent techniques that we need now is the um the watch for children's time.

We get about six to eight requests per year.

Some people have called to ask you that you see signs.

If you see a sign up that says child with autism or deaf child or something like that, that is not a sign that's been installed by the city.

There's no way for the driver to know what the condition of that child is.

So that's why the sign appropriate sign is watch for children.

And we typically get about three requests per year for some sort of speed pump, some sort of end pavement design.

So as I just mentioned, stop signs are not intended to control speed.

Traffic control devices indicate such to actually install a stop sign.

There's a specific type of engineering study that you have to do to make sure that that intersection meets all the warrants and that you're not doing any adverse harm to that intersection by installing that device.

And then you see a couple of things where stop signs have limited impact on actually impacting speed.

So there are a couple of types of traffic control, traffic calming measures.

They're non-intrusive measures.

You see up here, you see the uh the speed limit sign that actually lets you know what what speed you're traveling as you approach it.

Um you see in pavement markings with speed limit that you know what the actual speed limit is on that on that roadway.

You see uh a measure here where there's actually pavement marking to basically narrow the width of the actual roadway, um the width of a roadway actually actually serves to help decrease speed.

The wider the roadway, the more likely it is that someone wants to actually go faster.

So if you go into a neighborhood, you can do a road dive as you'll see in an example a little later on in Mount on Mount Bury and Port Norfolk, where um there's no additional signage to speak, no in pavement measures, but there's traffic calming done by just pavement marking alone.

Um and you see the the speed limit sign there with the additional increased fine.

Um these non-physical measures are low cost measures, they don't physically restrict driver movements, and um they have shown in the past and in various studies that they can actually reduce speed speeding by approximately five miles an hour.

Um and typically, if you're going to actually add an increased fine, like you see in that, it has to be a uh done by the body and has to get a lot of public support to actually increase the fine.

That's actually part of the uh traffic calling process.

So there are um horizontal, vertical, um physical measures that actually um either impact the horizontal, the the width of the road, or actually whether the road is narrowed or not.

So to the left um you see what they call a chicane.

Um they're mediums set at certain distances in the lower, right under that you see how it looks, it makes basically makes a road uh drive like an S pattern.

You see a mini roundabout, um, a raised crosswalk, a speed table up top, and a speed hump down bottom.

You see a bulb out or a um part where the end of the block is actually pushed, pushed out.

Um these geometric improvements, whether they're vertical or horizontal, they tend to have success in slowing speed, but they're more costly to implement, and they're typically permanent in nature.

Um vertical deflections, um, speed humps, um, raised intersections, um speed tables are typically least preferred by emergency services because of the impact on say you have an ambulance coming through or um fire truck coming through, they they hit that as they're either in route or leaving a call.

Um it could it could impact the equipment on the apparatus.

And if you're looking at typical costs, um, and this is without traffic control or mobilization, um, speed humps run between two and three thousand um speed table, anywhere from five thousand to ten thousand raised intersection, um could start right around twenty-five thousand on up, depending on how wide the intersection is.

Um, a chicane, which is those little median inserts, you see about 5,000 per, so about you typically do two or three.

So you're gonna get about 15,000 per block.

Um raised median or smaller, about 10,000.

Um curve extensions, um, depending on the the size of it, could range anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000.

That just gives you a little bit of the range where pavement markings are a lot less um, a lot less expensive.

Um signs are a lot less expensive.

Um the speed display signs are a little bit more pricey in the 10 to 12,000 dollar range per and another thing that I didn't mention on the not on the non in non-intrusive devices, um there they fall somewhere in between if you think of a community gateway, like in Bidawee Manor, um they have to the entrance monument, but that entrance monument is actually in pavement.

So that sort of discourages people from actually speeding through the neighborhood because you have to go around that monument before you actually get into the neighborhood.

So considerations for traffic calming.

So you have to define what is an eligible street.

Um you're looking at the type of street, um, you're looking at the amount of traffic on that street.

Uh typically it's on a residential on a residential street.

Um it may sometimes be on a collector roadway.

Um, and then there has to be some sort of documentation of that actually uh perceived speeding problem that's typically verified through an engineering study, and then what is the community involvement?

Is it um Miss Jones just calling and letting you know of the problem?

Is it the civic league?

Um, is it brought to you by some other entity that that noticed the problem and and brings it to the city to take a look at?

They're they're different levels than if you'll see at the last slide, different communities that have traffic calming programs, um look at it differently.

Um there's an evaluation process, um, looks at traffic, looks at speed, looks at the actual type of roadway, width of the roadway, um, visibility, um, there's accident data analysis, and all that goes into making some sort of determination about which measures are appropriate for that roadway and how you progress through those measures.

Um it's natural you start with least expensive and work your way on up through through that process, and then says at the bottom, what are those appropriate solutions?

So some of the uh terms that we use um in traffic calming when we're looking at a study.

So, what is the service area?

What is that area that is impacted by the speeding?

So you have the street in question, how far from that street are you looking to define that service area?

Is it the entire neighborhood?

Just a portion of the neighborhood, um, what is that service area?

What is the road raid geometry that's gonna um impact what measures you're gonna actually gonna be looking at for the roadway?

Um is it a really wide street?

Is it a narrow street?

Is it an offset street?

Um, those those things are gonna play into it.

What's the vehicle count per day?

So how many vehicles are traveling down this roadway per day?

Um then there's 85 percentile speed.

So your residential speed is in Virginia is 25 miles per hour.

Your 85 percentile speed, um, if you're looking at a situation, say um I'm in Aberley Manor and I'm looking at the 85 percentile speed and I do a speed study.

Um the results may show that 85% of the traffic on this road is doing 30 miles per hour.

So 30 miles per hour is your 85 percentile speed.

Then you're gonna look at your average speed.

So, what is the average speed of everybody during that study time on that area on the roadway?

So now you have the average speed, the 85 percentile speed, and the posted, the known residential speed.

Okay, uh if those if those speeds are without are above the the residential speed by a certain amount, different localities do a different some are eight miles per hour, some are 10 miles per hour.

If it's within that window, then you have a a problem that you need to address through some traffic calming measure.

However, there's another uh factor that you that you take a look at.

Say that the 85 percentile speed is not within that eight to ten mile an hour range, and the average speed is not within an eight to ten mile an hour range.

What is your maximum observed speed and how many people are are near that?

So if my 85 percentile speed is say 30 miles an hour, my average speed is 32 miles an hour.

My maximum observed speed is 50, and I have a number of incidents where folks are near that 50 miles an hour.

Well, I can't necessarily just use the 85 percentile speed and the average speed.

I also have to look at the map at that maximum observed speed because that's a problem.

And what you're what you're doing when you go to to install these traffic calming devices is to bring not only the 85 percentile average speed down, but those maximum observed speed somewhere down closer to the 85 percentile speed, if that makes sense.

So, how do you implement a traffic calming program?

Well, there's public education.

So with traffic calming, their pros, increased safety, livability, and enhanced conditions for pedestrian and cyclists.

But there's some also cons.

Um potential delays that impacts emergency emergency vehicles.

Um if you're putting a speed table, race intercession, um, traffic hump, whatever it is in payment, there's gonna be noise as cars go over that that that device.

And then there's public expectations.

Um what do what is the public expect when you install these measures?

Okay, how much is the speed going to decrease?

Well, the speed decreased on my street, but I live two streets over, and my speed's now all of a sudden shot up.

So during that public education piece, are you providing all that information to the residents so they're aware of what's about to happen once you go down this road?

Um then there's and then there's the cost.

So every measure that you install is going to have that initial cost, but then it's gonna have to maintenance cost.

So you're gonna have to maintain those signs, you're gonna have to maintain bulb outs, you're gonna have to maintain speed humps that so that they are continue to function as they are intended when they were installed.

Um again, the non-physical measures cost less than the ones that actually go physically in the road.

Um enforcement is traditionally the primary means for adjusting speeding problems, um, and it's the most effective means to address speeding problems.

So we do have a draft traffic calming policy, um, and it reflects some of those things you've seen in previous slides.

So eligibility.

Um looking primarily at residential streets, but we do have considerations for collector streets.

We also have a component that deals with the average on the road.

Um we're looking at an option to actually lower the residential speed limit in uh 2024 journal assembly passed a law that allows localities to drop the residential speed limit to no less than 15 miles per hour without without an engineering study.

So we have options to actually lower the speed limits in residential areas.

Um we have a threshold for petition 60% for initial measures, 75% for physical devices.

Um we have where we look at a defined defined service area as part of the engineering study that we do.

Um phases will look though from education to non-intrusive to enforcement, and then um there's physical devices, and prior to getting to that last component of physical devices, um, there's a review that's required by emergency service to determine what the impacts will be, potential impacts will be to their apparatus and and their service.

Um city funds, um, the first phases we're still sorting through when we get to that last phase of in pavement in roadway.

Um will the city fund or will there be some cost sharing with the neighborhoods?

And should residents not like it, want it to go away, then there's a component that the residents have to pay to have that removed.

Um, and then there's evaluation period after six months, twelve months, uh, with those metrics being as I mentioned before, looking at the 85 percentile speed, mean speed, and the maximum speed, seeing um how effective those devices are with bringing those uh measures down.

So, traffic calming in the city of Portsmouth.

Uh Scott Street up above with the with the speed limit sign that flashes back to you.

Um several areas have the watch for children's sign in school zones.

We see the uh speed limit signs.

Um this is uh water view, the recently installed speed table, and also the pavement measures that show stop ahead.

Um couple of spots here on uh Washington Street as you walk down to the left, you have the median um in the neighborhood as you get a little bit more into that transitional area.

You have mediums with parking actually in the middle and on the side.

You also have curve extensions a little bit further down on Washington, you have um angled parking um intended to actually reduce speed.

Um this is Glen Sheila right there on Hartford with the mini median court street, and not Court Street, but County Street with parking introduced, and um at the very bottom is uh Mount Mount Vernon and Port Norfolk uh was a demonstration project where you introduce payment markings to actually slow speed.

So you have uh parking on both sides, bicycle lanes, and uh crosswalks introduced from Bayview down to High Street.

So these localities here have traffic calming programs.

Um they vary in nature, but they all typically have the same components.

Umport News and Chesapeake, um, they're initiated by um citizens.

Um they require petitions or letters of support from either the HOA or the Civic League.

Um typically they start off uh with the least impactful and progress through to uh enforcement and then to end pavement.

Um Virginia Beach is a combination of citizen and community driven.

Uh they target one street per neighborhood, um, starts with selective enforcement, uh progressive to increase fines and then moves to physical measures and requires petition.

Um Norfolk uh it's a little more uh advanced and a little more data-driven.

Um they actually have a speed reduction program and a safety action plan as you just recently um approved our safe streets for all action plan.

Um they have task force and prioritization for different measures for different areas actually as part of that plan, and those priority areas are programmed um or working to get programmed into their CIP, and that's how they address um traffic calming in Norfolk.

So for the discussion, and we're looking for general feedback for the I know you went through a lot uh with the information I just presented, but um how should Portsmouth approach approach the issue of traffic calming?

Um we address issues on a case-by-case basis, um, should we have a for what should we formalize our program?

Should our program mirror some of our our sister cities programs based on the conversation and some of the things you've seen here tonight, um looking for some feedback about how you think we should approach this issue.

Um I'm sorry, should I address you, Mr.

Carter on this?

It depends on what you're about to ask.

Okay, um, I'm glad to see it finally getting implemented.

I know that the water view neighborhood has been waiting since the 1960s, they've been complaining.

Um so I'm um I'm concerned that we have a procedure that citizens can understand how they can interact with this uh process.

So I'm glad to see it here.

I just want to see they know clearly how to interact with it.

Is there uh a form what letters are required?

What committee do they contact?

Um it is becoming an issue that I'm I'm glad we're addressing.

But how?

Right.

Well, that's what this policy would be all about is formalizing what that process would be.

What we're thinking right now is that um citizen uh engage us based on what they think they see in their neighborhood.

We go out, uh, do a traffic study, right?

Based on the traffic study, they will either pass or fail as far as you're eligible to have uh some type of speed coming based on the the traffic that we see versus hey this this is really a perceived problem and not a problem that we can measure.

Should we move further in the process?

There we're thinking there should be uh some engagement with the people that would be affected by uh meaning we're gonna if we think we're gonna put some speed tables on your street, then uh the the people in the neighborhood needs to determine whether or not they really want speed tables on their street.

You know, this and if they pass that muster, then we come back and then figure out which traffic common measure would actually work best in that neighborhood.

And one of the things we talked about also is we put speed tables on or whatever traffic common measure out.

And then that same group that said they did want it, and I say they don't want it.

All right, what's the mechanism to get rid of that?

And we're thinking that that should be funded by those that want it out versus uh of course right.

That that's that's kind of where we're thinking right now.

That that's not you know, formula reason we're bringing this forward is kind of get some ideas from this group as to what you think the process should be.

That's what we think the process should be, but we want your input before we formalize a pro uh policy.

I just know there's I just know there's a lot of frustrated neighborhoods out there, and they're gonna welcome us expedite in getting this process in place.

Right.

Thank you, sir.

Welcome.

Vice Mayor Moody.

Well, my thought uh on it is uh if there's not a problem, we don't need a remedy.

So I I like the case by case basis versus one size fits all.

Um I think there are neighborhoods that uh that that need it.

Uh uh I do support the need for a process on how they go about getting it.

I drive across the ones in uh Waterview twice a day.

And you can you can drive across them at twenty-five miles an hour and and you don't have to break and and it's not a huge bump.

Anything above that, I could see where you you probably wouldn't do it but one time.

Uh so I mean it doesn't uh I don't think it uh uh impedes traffic.

I I think it just uh makes you go to the speed limit and and not much above it, which to me it's serving its purpose.

Absolutely.

Uh but I do I do support uh a case by case basis with well defined uh procedures on how uh a community goes about uh uh getting it.

And I I like the petition thing.

I know some communities have civic leagues, but a lot of times civic leagues uh are are just a few people versus uh you know um a large sector that's gonna be affected by the uh uh by the traffic calming measures.

Um so that I mean that's my thoughts on it.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um so I think just listening to just some of the issues and that first question, how do we approach the issue?

One of my biggest concerns is uh citizens understanding whatever the process is right now, um, and not that not being equal.

So how did Waterview go about getting their traffic study requested and done versus some neighborhoods where you might not have that same civic engagement, but there is still a problem.

So how much falls on the I think we need to consider how much falls on the city to monitor incidences, any type of data or incidences, accidents, um calls, maybe even data from the police with speeding tickets, so that we are proactive and not just relying on the citizens to then request um a traffic study because that that's where you can you know face some in inequities for neighborhoods that again have civic engagement versus neighborhoods that don't.

And so that's something I would like us to consider.

I think you mentioned Norfolk had a uh a risk approach or um safe sectors, yes that they might have rated or some kind of way.

So Norfolk is part of their um safe streets for all action plan defined uh basically went out as part of that process, um, similar to our safe streets for action plan.

And that was one of the the things that came out of that was the the need for some sort of measure to provide um speed reduction for safety because a safe street for action plan is all about um zero accidents, zero deaths.

Right.

So it's pedestrians, cyclists, it's motorists.

It's looking at all of those aspects in the roadway and coming up with the best solution for all of those.

So what are the best solutions for on a road to basically make it safe for everyone?

So you have a wide road.

Um do you have a large residential point over where people walking up and down the road?

Do you need sidewalk?

Do you need crosswalks?

Um is it a transition where you're going from one area to another?

So do you need bike lanes?

Um so that is how they developed based on my observation, how they developed their program.

And then in 2024 with the general assembly allowing you to reduce the the residential speed limit, that's also now part of the program.

And so um I think their target speed reduction is from 25 to 20.

I don't know, and I haven't seen if you're considering any um areas for 15 miles an hour, but that is still an option, and that is your limit.

So you can go from 25 to 15, and that is once again without the need for an engineering school.

Okay.

Yeah, I I would propose that maybe we do a combination of like the city somehow being proactive of identifying where traffic site needs to be by what whatever whatever metric or measure we uh designate or you know from your department, Mr.

Right.

And also a way for citizens to request.

Like for example, I I mean you all are familiar with Crystal Lake, that is a speed trap, like, but they didn't know about the process.

Um there's another request from a citizen recently with Evergreen and Watts, or you know, I'm sure there's been re you know, some issues with speeding on Cedar Cedar um roads.

So there's I think there's just a way that we should combine or overlay like how we identify speed concern areas and we initiate studies versus how citizens initiate study.

And my other concern was that citizen petition requirement.

And you when you said 60 percent for initial initial measures or 75% for devices, do you mean 60 percent of the residents that live on the street or that 60 percent of the residents in that service area?

So the defined service area.

So if I'm on say Roosevelt.

Mm-hmm.

So and I'm looking at a specific block on Roosevelt.

So my service area is gonna be a few blocks this way and a few blocks this way.

Unless I'm in a smaller neighborhood, Cavalier Manor is large.

So if a smaller neighborhood say um like I'm off of uh West Norfolk Road and that neighborhood has Joanne.

Smaller neighborhood, so that whole neighborhood would be the service area because that's a smaller street.

That's a smaller um collection of streets.

So it's depending on the size of the neighborhood and then actually where that street sits.

So if the neighborhood is a mixture of like, let's not say all homeowners, homeowners are renters, is it need to be signed by the homeowners or just whoever lives there currently?

Like that that's a consideration too, because asking my opinion or so my opinion would be because it's a a problem that you're recognizing because you live there, it's the resident.

If I'm renting that place to someone, I don't live there.

I have no idea speed, what happens at night or whatever.

So I don't necessarily think that that person necessarily needs to be the one that signs a position because he's not experiencing he or she's not experiencing it every day.

As in the resident that's there sees it every day, they should be the one with the ability to sign that petition.

Okay, a street I'm thinking of, like Elm, for example.

That so someone would need to get 60% petition sign or 75% in that case of for a traffic study or initi initiating this traffic calming policy the way that we're thinking about this now.

So you're typically looking at either one or two blocks, so you say Elm, I'm not looking at the L stretch of Elm particular.

And the other thing is certain parts of Elm, while they have a residential component, aren't necessarily residential streets.

Okay.

So it's residential streets and some collectors.

Okay.

So it's any arterial roads, um, airline, Greenwood Drive, um, Frederick Boulevard wouldn't qualify for a traffic calming program.

Whole entirely different kind of study, whole entirely different kind of analysis to see what those impacts are of speeding on those streets versus a traffic calming program to look at specifically residential street streets and certain collectors.

Okay.

Well, I I'm done.

My only I guess in input is that whatever policy we do consider to whether we don't consider what, but always remember that there's neighborhoods that don't have as strong a civic engagement, and we have to make sure that just because they don't have citizens emailing us, knocking on you know, calling us, that that doesn't mean that there's not a problem.

So we have to somehow account for that, that as well.

That's my my input.

Thank you.

Council Newell.

So you have a floor.

Yeah, thanks, Mayor.

Uh so I agree with the comments that have been made so far.

Definitely think we need to have a process.

I think there should be some clear thresholds defined in that process.

So whether the threshold is uh how many people need to complain before you do a speed study.

Um what are the thresholds inside the speed study that would trigger either saying you don't have a problem or you do have a problem and and where you go from here?

Um whether it's civic league engagement or or petitions uh uh along the the street uh block uh uh again there should be some some prescribed definition so that we we we get more consistency because I think part of the reason that this is coming up is because we get the phone calls and the emails, and then the very next thing is you get the phone calls and the emails, and then you get the phone calls and the emails, and we're kind of all over the place in terms of uh how the process now gets initiated uh to even go take a look at the uh at the problem.

So um you know, I I appreciate that there's maybe some frustration out there that Waterview got something that nobody else got, but uh to councilman Dotson's point, Waterview has been frustrated with uh with speeding uh along the Shenandoah cut through for quite a long time and and have been waiting and promised by your predecessors to get something done.

Appreciate that we got something done finally um uh to help them out, uh but they're not the only ones out there that uh that are suffering the speed problem, so the more we can define how to how to initiate and what the thresholds are to pick action, the the better off I think we'll be in engaging uh our neighbors councilman tiled in councilman councilwoman Bright.

Thank you, Mayor.

So I I see that there's a need for such a policy or procedure.

The only concern that I have is with every neighborhood or every street, there's gonna be different levels of concern about how fast is too fast.

Uh one street might think 15 miles an hour is too fast, another street might think 35 miles an hour is too fast.

And so I see it becoming one of those things where every street in Portsmouth is gonna want something on their street.

So I think if we were to to develop similar to the Naufolk Safe Streets for All program, where the city takes the proactive approach of identifying what the high areas are um throughout the city based on maybe track uh traffic stops or based on um uh accident reports, and we do have these new cameras that we have out in certain areas, and I'm sure those can probably help identify some areas well on how we can um address those issues, but I think just having people do a uh request, I think that's gonna turn into uh can of worms.

Everybody's gonna want something on their street.

So we can maybe do to develop uh a strategic approach where we're going into the community city uh city led, similar to maybe rock the block where we're leading the program to identify these areas, and then to develop a working group to develop a strategy to address those.

I think we're I just think we're gonna open up a huge can of worms that we're not gonna be able to fulfill.

So I think you should councilwoman Brad.

Thanks, Mayor.

Thanks, Mr.

Wright.

Um a couple thoughts popping into my head while I listen to everybody's comments.

Um agree that we need a process, obviously, a process will help us with a lot of different problems, and this is one that's popping up.

Um do we have a safe streets for all action plan currently?

I know we just push that through.

So what is our plan look like, or will we what will we be using that funding for?

It's a number of measures and a number of um things to improve safety.

Um actually in that most of it focused on pedestrian safety and accidents.

Um I have to revisit the plan to see what it says with respect to to speeding, but it was mostly focused on um reducing accidents and making uh streets safer for pedestrians and then being more inclusive for all users.

Um the safe streets for all action plan uh needed to be uh done and adopted by the city so that um we could apply for funding for there.

So with now that we have the adopted plan, we can those um things identified in the plan that we want to um implement, uh move forward.

Um we can submit funding to have someone else pay um for those things that have been identified in the plan.

So that funding has been approved, and now we're ready to place it to problem areas.

Am I understand that current thing?

The plan has been approved.

The plan has been approved.

That allows you to apply for funding.

Okay, funding from the federal government.

Okay, understood.

Okay, thank you.

Um presumably we know a lot of the problem areas already from comments coming to us from police from I'm assuming Mr.

From comments coming to us from police, from I'm assuming Mr.

Ray, you travel all across the city, you probably know some of the hot spots.

Would would you say that you have an idea on it's a mixed bag?

Um of the um concerns that come in are specific to a certain issue.

Um as I mentioned, they'll um request additional steep speeds, a stop stop sign to help control the speed.

And then the next phrase they mentioned that people run in stop sign.

So we're not gonna go put another stop sign out to help you control intersection where people already aren't necessarily obeying the stop sign, so that's a different issue than a specific traffic calming issue.

Um in school zones have I mentioned that um could we get more payment markings?

Could we get more signage?

Are the flashers working?

Are the flashers timed appropriately?

Um now that there's speed enforcement, we don't get any of those anymore.

Um wider streets typically are the ones where um it's it's pretty much a raceway on certain times of day, especially if there's no parking on either side of the street.

It's posted as 25, it says it's 25, but looking around, I don't see any cops, so not necessarily gonna do 25.

Gonna go at a faster pace.

And so we know which streets are those wider ones.

It's typically, so if I'm going, so uh to take Waterview for example, one that you're familiar with, I'm coming from Churchland and I want to go to West Haven or Midtown.

Gonna come up Shenandoah, go down Caroline, then go whatever way I want to go to City Park.

Or I'm coming from uh one of those areas and I want to go to go to Churchland, I'll cut through and I'll go to that light right there to make the left to go to um Churchland.

Um since it was brought up, um, Waterview has had an issue for a while.

Um they actually had the PDC do a study um say back in the 80s or early 90s.

Um that study was actually focused around closing down the causeway, and um there were all kinds of implement implications as far as impacts to other roads, um configuration of other roads.

Um since that time they've had several speed studies um that were done that um came to the same conclusion that the actual 85 percentile speed and the mean speed weren't the issue.

It's that maximum observed speed is the issue and the high number of people with that maximum observed speed, way beyond that that basically your normal residential speed.

And you see a number of treatments there, you see pavement markings, you see other things that were implemented to you, and there's been enforcement by the sheriffs who've been enforced by police.

Um the speed tables and the raised intersection, they're pilot.

Um that you see um in the city actually came along as part of another project or CIP project, with exception of the um the project on Mount Vernon.

Um that was um I think that was a pilot as well, and uh there was some sort of grant funding for that particular project and may have actually been CDBG funds, but I'm not sure I have to go back and research my notes.

But specifically for in pavement traffic comment, we don't necessarily have the funding set aside whether operational or CIP for that at this point.

Um it comes along as part of another project, whether it's um as you saw county street, put some marking there as part of the downtown project, as you see other streets that are that are getting retrofitted as you the um the raise grant.

So um high street, it'll get bike lanes, it'll get parking, it'll get mediums and other things.

Um that's traffic calming.

Um that's a retrofit to a district to a street, but it's not funded specifically for traffic calming.

Just as you go through and implement all these other strategies and things as part of the project as part of the street, you end up the end result is traffic calming.

So it's part of the discussion is that which is that next piece, or well, down a little bit you say, funding and equity.

Um, how do you get to that component as you're looking at this overall program?

So one other question for you, Mr.

Ray or Mr.

Carter.

Obviously, this comes down to an extent to enforcement, which we've said with some other issues also.

So police response in neighborhoods, uh not just in Portsmouth, anywhere I'm imagining is difficult to have police in some of these pocket neighborhoods and and actually catch speeders as they go.

So what are the police tell have we engaged the police department in this conversation?

Do they are there some tips and tricks that we might not know about that they use to they do target it, targeted enforcement people power, they do do targeted enforcement.

Um a lot of times you'll see um the the stops at the speed limit signs with feedback.

Um we have the ones that are solar power that we install.

The police have the ones that are actually on the trailer um that you see out as you're going down the streets that flash the speed limit.

They can't issue tickets.

Um does not issue tickets, but it it does promote awareness of you may not realize you're going that fast until you see it pop up in front of you.

But take to your point, um, I go down that street and I okay, I see it.

Now all of a sudden I adjust my behavior, but I don't see that there's any enforcement.

Um there's a potential that I may revert back to not obeying the speed limit.

So they do do target, they can't be in the neighborhood all the time, but um they do go to these neighborhoods and do some target enforcement for a speed.

I know they've been in Cavalier Manor.

Um talking to some of the residents out there, and some uh someone PD, they've done targeted enforcement in Cavalier Manor, and some of the other neighborhoods they've done it in Waterview, but that only lasts for so long, and once people realize that the enforcement component is not necessarily there, but they have a tendency to revert back to bad behavior, and since the pandemic, speeding, um obeying traffic signs, obeying traffic lights, um in general, um driver behavior has gotten progressively worse, and it hasn't come back down since the pandemic.

Well, to your point with the school zones, I mean that was very effective when tickets went out for that.

Um don't want to take any more time.

So last point, I will always draw this back to communication.

This was extremely helpful, I think, for all of us to hear what the process is so far, what we have in place and um the pros and cons, which I think a lot of people are probably unaware of.

So the more we can communicate where we're going with this, I think, obviously the better.

Thank you.

You're welcome here.

I think the key is gonna be documentation on whether there is a problem.

You know, if you're out in your yard working or standing still, it's hard to determine how fast someone's going.

And the difference between 25 and 35, I dare say that uh the average person, me included, if you're standing still see a cargo by always seems like the speeding to me because I'm standing still.

Uh so uh I think the documentation is gonna be extremely important.

Or as Councilman uh Tillage said, uh, we better be prepared to uh have a lot of calming.

Everybody's neighborhood street is gonna want calming.

If if we don't really determine whether there is a problem or not.

And that that's that's gonna be the the key.

Um so hopefully we'll be able to do that uh uh on uh equitable basis as uh councilwoman Thomas said that uh uh you know is what's the process?

Who do I contact?

Uh I think they're speeding on my uh road.

Uh so who who do I contact?

What's the procedure?

Is it the petition uh or or what that that I'd like to see staff come back with those recommendations so we can hopefully uh further massage it uh before we uh dive into it.

So you have the floor.

Uh-huh.

One of the things that uh and you don't have to make a decision now, but I'm hearing certain versions of this.

One is hey, city, go study all this and tell us where you're supposed to be.

The other version is case by case, somebody comes and and we react that way.

Um different.

I've been other cities where we've enacted traffic coming in in the manner that we're talking about.

Neither one works as far as your citizens are concerned.

If if the city decides where it's gonna be, they're gonna be people that said, hey, why did you choose them and you didn't choose me?

If we allow people to choose their own, they're gonna be people that said, hey, well, I didn't get a chance.

So it's just gonna be a matter of which one we're willing to defend.

We've got to make a choice, and we're gonna be gonna have to defend one or the other.

The other thing that I would say to you is from my experience with this is Vic Mayor Mood is right.

It's going to proliferate.

Now, having said that, Mr.

Wright talked about this briefly.

There's no traffic coming budget.

What we've I've seen done before is there's a certain amount of money set aside.

There's a window of open.

Get your request in, make the studies, uh, and when the money's out, traffic comes and stops until the next budget year.

It's you you there will be a lot of requests, and there is no budget for it right now.

Okay, so those are considerations that we have to make.

But again, that that piece about how it's going to be operated.

I've seen both.

Neither one's neither one's gonna satisfy your citizens.

So it's just gonna be a matter of pick one and fight the bulletin with the rest.

And you make a valid point because I I do know I've gotten responses already from citizens over in Waterview, and they're not happy with what has been done.

And so it begs the question.

I mean, at what point you can't satisfy everybody.

If you want traffic calming, and we've done it to the degree that we're gonna do it, taking into consideration all those things, you know, it is going to be what it's gonna be.

And I think that the approach that we're taking is an appropriate approach.

I'm interested in in hearing what you guys bring back in and seeing that.

But but look, at the end of the day, safety is important.

Uh, we want to listen to our citizens, but also that you're not gonna please everybody.

Yes, and that's just the hard part of it.

I get calls repeatedly about people having issues with the traffic in their community, which we welcome, and we usually forward it to your department, sir, and you and your team take the appropriate action.

But having a policy in place and then being able to steer people in the direction that it needs to go is is a good thing.

Can I add one more thing?

You have the floor, sir.

Also, my experience says traffic calming only comes traffic on that street.

What normally happens is people find another street that they're going to drive on.

You know, so that's kind of where the proliferation comes from.

You put it on one street, detour to another street.

So now those people want it.

You put it on those streets, they detour to a different street.

Now those people want it.

That's kind of how that proliferation works.

Absolutely.

Well, thank you all for that conversation, and thank you, Mr.

Ray.

We'll look forward to getting some direction.

We'll do it as we go forward.

You have a floor, sir.

Uh the next one is about Portland Public Schools Capital Reserve Fund ordinance, and I will make that presentation myself, sir.

Maybe we need to take our honorary street naming thing.

Speed bumps, the name of the street, you know.

The other thing has to mention these mufflers that they got on on their cars nowadays, they be doing 30, and they sound like you've been doing a hundred miles an hour.

That's that's another issue of perception versus reality.

All right, our Pushman Public Schools Capital Reserve Fund Ordinance.

There you go.

Um in December of 2024, the city council passed a special ordinance that created the capital, the school capital reserve fund.

It's basically a savings account, of course, with public schools, but it's not like your regular checking account, it pays that pays everyday things.

This count is meant only for big projects that uh improve schools or fix emergencies.

Think of it as like a piggy bank that you don't that you can't open for snacks or for toys, uh, but you can only use it when you need something that's really important, like fixing your roof, buy a new car.

The schools may soon ask if they're if they have if they have leftover money from last year to put in this bank account.

So it's important that we just understand what the the rules of it is because some of us was around and some of us was not when that uh ordinance was enacted.

So this is just an oversight, overview really of what the ordinance is, what the mechanics of it is, how it works, and if it will affect us this year.

This particular ordinance was authorized under the Virginia State Code 22.1-100.

Again, we'll document this in on December 10, 2024.

But the real question is why we're talking about this tonight.

And there's uh three main reasons.

First, to remind council that the of what the ordinance says because it was passed last December, and you know how details fade over time.

So we just want to remind everybody what this is all about.

Second is to review the rules about how the money gets into the fund and how it comes out of the fund.

These rules make sure that the money is saved and spent in a way that is fair, legal, and useful for long-term projects.

And third, because we expect a ask soon from the school system.

Want to make sure that everybody's aware of what the process is, so nobody's unaware and start down or thinking that there's a different process in place.

There's actually that there's actually an established process this year, and we like to stay with that process where possible.

First of all, the source, the annual deposit limit, the overall cap, and any excess funds of what the ordinance allocates.

The money that we're talking about is only local funds appropriated by the city council that remains unspent.

It has nothing to do with any state funds that they may get or federal funds that they may get.

This is strictly only funds allocated by the city of Portsmouth from our general fund to the school system.

The annual deposit limit is seven million dollars.

The overall cap is 21 million dollars.

So how does that work?

In any one school year or any one year, that's necessarily a school year.

In any one year, the max that can be allocated to this capital fund is seven million dollars.

No matter how much is left over, the max that can be allocated to this particular fund is seven million dollars.

If in the course of allocating this money over time, that and it's not being spent down, the max that can't go into that account overall is 21 million dollars.

Now, that doesn't mean over the lifetime of this account, that just means the balance in that account can't get more than 21 million dollars.

That means we can allocate 7 million every year, but if they spend 7 million during the next course of the next year, then we can allocate another 7 million.

So that that has that's not a lifetime balance, this is just a current balance.

The current balance cannot exceed 21 million dollars.

Excess funds.

Anything above 7 million dollars, supposed to remain with the city, unless uh this council decide that they want to allocate more than $7 million.

The ordinance allows you to do that, but that is a choice that the council had to make.

If the council don't make it don't take any action in the ordinance, is what the ordinance is, and will and it will function in the way that that is designed.

How can it be used?

Emergency capital needs, it's not available for operational or what we're considered recurring costs.

Recurring costs are like maintenance things that that's supposed to happen all the time, uh just regular uh things that you would put in your normal operating budget, uh and the interest earned in this account remains in the fund and does not let me make sure that that does not count toward this the 21 million dollar limit.

So if there is actually 21 million and whatever else because funds have been invested, we don't we don't want to allow them to just sit there, they'll be invested, so they will earn money as it earns money, the money that it earned don't count toward the cap of the 21 million.

Um capital projects or and we have a a school capital project list of those things that's actually listed on that list, so they can pick any one of those projects and move that project forward or accelerate the project if necessary and when they're funds that's that's there.

So they can pick any one of those projects and move that project forward or accelerate the project if necessary when they're requirements that's that's there.

Emergency capital items would be things like a new roof, um new uh AC, uh things that's not allowed, anything that's like day-to-day operating cost uh or salaries.

Dollars is not included as a capital cost.

When you're looking for capital costs, you're looking at things that have a long-term life, not a short-term life.

First of all, there's an um annual audit that must take place and these funds must be accounted for in that annual audit.

That audit is uh due on the 31st.

And if the audit that's not done, there are some triggers that will take place.

And one of those triggers is a notice from the city manager's office to the school system that you have not met the goals of the ordinance.

They have an opportunity to fix that and come into compliance, but they'll have to give a detailed uh I guess plan for how they're going to come back into a compliance.

And that plan has to also be approved.

What's the council's rule?

Approve things greater than um seven million dollars if this body so desires to do so.

Make sure that the things that we do approve meets the capital use only.

And if we get to the point where there is non-compliance, I will absolutely make sure that this board is aware of it that way uh when it comes time to reappropriate to do it, anything else that this ordinance governs any uh non-compliance will be considered as a factor for moving forward.

Um so if you do reappropriate, uh you have decisions over how that money is going to be reappropriated.

So, based on all this, why am I talking about this or what do we anticipate?

Uh anticipate that there would be a request for reallocation of funds, and if there is a request for reallocation of funds, uh the council need to determine whether it whether within or above the seven million dollar limit, how it's gonna be uh used and make sure that it's going to be used in a capital nature, and whether poor Smith Public Schools can get compliance standard because this is the first year of this ordinance.

Uh it's difficult for them to not be in compliance at this point.

So the only thing that you really have to worry about is the amount is and when if that amount exceeds seven million, how do you want to act based on that?

That's a quick overview of what that ordinance is all about.

Again, it was passed on December 10th last year, and I just wanted to bring it back to your attention, kind of remind you of what it is and how it will be executed based on the information that's in the ordinance.

You're welcome.

Yeah, thank you for the presentation, Carter.

Um help me understand uh where did the seven million and the 21 million uh how was that uh derived?

Based on conversation between myself and Dr.

Bracy.

We we agree that those are appropriate numbers for it.

Okay, so that was mutually agreed upon.

That was mutually agreed.

Okay, very good.

Councilman Hugo, sir, you have the floor.

Yeah, thanks, Mr.

Mayor.

And thanks for numbering the slides.

It depends.

Is this a good thing or bad thing?

Yes.

So my question is to the city attorney.

Is there anything in state code that is more definition than what we have here?

That's what we adopted it from.

It originated the authority originated from the state code.

Um it was a fairly new statute, so no, there's not much uh meat to it.

Um we can do a quick run and see if there's some case law that may have defined things a little bit better.

Generally it makes it a little more murky.

Yeah, but um it really is just the authority for us to hold to be have a holding pattern for what we want to do with this money that happens not only in our jurisdiction but in other jurisdictions.

So I think we're hit we hit the nail pretty closely to it.

Um there's probably no more sharpness we can get at this point, but if we do, we'll we'll still we'll do a report back if we find it.

Thank you.

Councilwoman McTonas, maybe you have the floor.

Okay, thank you.

Uh it's similar to Councilman Hugo's question.

Uh for the 22.1-100.

In here it says um something about school board will let me refer to the slide.

Hold on.

It's slide number six, and slide number seven.

So noncompliance triggers, yes, spending manager notice, remediation plan.

And then for council's role, it says that we will evaluate PPS compliance of reporting and auditing.

What what is that?

Um, like what are the compliance standards there?

The the compliance standards is first of all that it's used by uh use for uh project capital projects.

Okay, and that there's an audit due on the 31st of each year.

Yeah, auto must include this amount and must be turned in on time.

Okay, so their third party audit audit report triggered, like we get a copy of the case.

And yes, okay, and and that's that doesn't accelerate the process.

It's always due on the 31st.

This this has nothing to do with no audit dispute.

Okay.

This is just saying we needed in on time.

Okay.

So that would be the compliance piece that you're talking about.

Okay, thank you.

Councilwoman Brad, now you have the floor.

So remind me, Mr.

Manager, thank you, Mary.

Remind me, Mr.

Manager, since the budget process was a while ago now.

Let's say it feels like it wasn't um.

Let's say the school board has the school system has 10 million.

Okay, and seven of it according to this ordinance goes into the CIP fund.

Yes, ma'am.

That remaining three million, we have the option of also letting them transfer that in or not.

So if not it goes back into the general uh general fund.

Our okay, general fund, and then gets reappropriated in our for other that just become fund balance and we'll deal with it during the next budget budget.

Okay.

And that's what was that's what was happening before before we had this um where we didn't have a numbers.

If we ever we didn't have numbers and we didn't have a place to put it, so it was always going back to general fund.

What this allows is takes away the push and pull it's a savings account of sort of that's exactly what the statute calls it.

It's just a place to put it while we're figuring out how to delve it out.

So the school board's comfortable that the city's not spending it, and the city's comfortable that we know where it is.

Of course, it lays out expectations for both parties, which I'm grateful for you to recap this for us and remind us since it's new and certainly hope the school board will be receiving the same reminder since this is the first year.

It's it's helpful for all of us to go through that.

Um where does school fund CIP funding come from aside from this?

Aside from a general fund?

Aside from this particular fund.

So remind me when they come to us with their budget.

Yes, ma'am.

I'm sorry, I just don't remember how the CIP part of it fits.

Into the budget.

So they they bring us their budget and CIP.

The superintendent's needs is what it's called.

Right.

And what we're figuring out is how much of their budget is not being funded by the state or the federal.

How much are they looking for the city to fund?

Okay.

Okay.

So that's that's that's what we went through last year.

I mean in their CIP budget is a set aside things that they've identified as capital projects that they want to execute over the next few years.

Okay.

That's also out of our general fund.

I think what I'm working through in my head is if let's say that this fund is is maxed out, it's it's sitting comfortably at 21 plus the interest.

Okay.

Um, and they're looking at some massive projects down the road.

We have the option there to also designate more CIP funding.

If you over the course of you, this has nothing to do with the budgeting process.

This is what's left over after the budget has been done.

We've gone through the full year of spending and money that didn't get spent that we allocate to the school last year.

So we'll still be having a uh same process got to go through everything else.

This doesn't modify that process at all.

This only deals with if I allocated to you 80 million dollars, you spent 60.

What do we do with that other 20?

Okay, so it's setting those parameters.

Understand.

Thank you.

Yes, Mayor.

Any other questions?

Mr.

Carter.

Yes.

So we're about to follow up that's follow up Kitty's line of thought.

Um I know that the new negotiations you were having with the school is going to enter into this on the on the revenue sharing.

Do you have any update on when we're gonna start talking more about that process?

This will have any bearing on that.

That's as a separate and distinct process from allocating money.

This only deals with money that was allocated and wasn't spent.

So that this won't be that.

Okay.

However, uh we kind of took a high 80s on that over the summer.

Uh so we got to pick that process back up again.

Thank you.

It'll be dead.

Any other questions?

Mr.

Carter, thank you for the presentation, sir.

You're very welcome.

I'd be from the board.

Thank you.

Well, you have legislative initiatives.

Oh, forget about that.

Uh that's what's on the agenda.

You have the floor, sir.

All right.

I have a document that was created from meetings, uh, several meetings by our council liaison advice legislature legislative advisory committee.

Uh there's several things that we want to make sure that this board is aware of as far as what we think would be our legislative agenda for the upcoming year.

Uh, a copy of this document will be provided to each of the council members uh so that you have an opportunity to peruse it at your leisure and provide feedback.

Um the state legislative request issues are uh adding Portsmouth to the Virginia Code Section 15.2-2286.

That's specifically regarding limited or special use permit exceptions or use permits automatically expiring upon a change of ownership of the property, a change of possession, a change in operation of management, or the passage of a specific period that you designate.

Another issue is a line retired law enforcement officers to be excluded from temporary detention to be to be able to execute for the temporary detention orders and emergency custody orders.

Uh, we kind of get in our current uh enforcement guys tied up holding people that uh where they could be uh doing other things.

That's a request that we're uh signing on to.

We're also requesting uh legislation leg legislation creating a class two misdemeanor, believing firearms and an unlocked vehicle.

We're requesting legislation author authorizing trained special conservators of the peace and technicians to employ employed by localities to review and certify photo and video traffic violations.

We're also requesting legislation amending the current photo enforcement authority specifically for stoplighted and speed infractions to address the increase in business day reviews of uh violations.

Currently it's 15 days, and we're asking to expand that to 30 days.

Uh state public uh policy support statements.

Uh first one is support for law enforcement funding renewing the commitment to the 599 program, which provide vital financial assistance to local police departments, and we're also signing on to support granting authority to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority Bureau of Law Enforcement to act as the primary law enforcement entity for reporting purposes.

Uh also included it in the state package would be uh budget request for Prince Street Transmission Main Project Phase 1 and 2 16 million dollars, sanitary sewage pump station rehabilitation of 22 million dollars, and the Portsmouth homeless shelter uh total of that is 17 million dollars.

We currently have a nine million dollar gap funding gap.

That is it for uh those state things that we're uh looking to pursue.

However, there are a couple of uh federal initiatives that we're asking for.

Mr.

Carter, can I can I can I ask you a question about the uh the um the Portsmouth homeless shelter funding gap?

Yes.

And and I think I'll talk to you about this this week.

Uh can you just help bring us up the speed?

And and it's okay if you don't know right now, it could be in the report back, which you may need, but where we are in that process, because I know you're saying here we have a nine million funding gap, right?

Right.

So I assume that's nine million million funding in order to complete the project.

To complete the project.

That doesn't mean the project didn't start already.

We're moving along, yes sir.

But uh and it's in the design phase now.

But that that we're if we can get the money now, that means we don't have to kind of come up with money to to figure out how to make that happen.

But the project is moving along.

Thank you, sir.

Uh the uh the two items for uh the federal legislative request is a request request for a congressional study of payment in lieu of taxes program.

Uh absolutely we'll like to be able to expand that in our personal situations and an overpass grade separation federal fund to study addressing this matter in Portsmouth uh because of uh our train situation here.

Uh, how can we uh mitigate some of the impact of the trains in our in our local area?

That is it for those items that we have as a group determined was the right things to put on the on the table.

Uh absolute, we're asking that this body review those items again.

You get a copy of this document so that you have it for your own review.

Uh, but we'll need your feedback pretty soon if uh there's anything that needs to be modified.

And if I could add one thing, a really important program is the C B DG program.

Uh there's been some talk at the federal level that that they may want to get rid of that program.

I can tell you from talking to all of the other mayors in the country and being a part of the the U.S.

Conference of Mayors, we support supporting the C B DG program.

It hasn't been funded or increased funding in the last 40 years, which is that's not a good thing.

But as you know, C B DG funds do a lot in our local community to help us offset costs, particularly for our underserved citizens.

So that's critically important that you you ask people and we contact our representatives to make sure that you know our voice is heard on the CDPG.

Yes, sir.

That is absolutely very important.

Yes, in our local communities also.

Thank you.

Um I had a chance to look through this earlier, and um great work from the legislative committee um and Miss Sherry Neil.

Sherry Neil is putting this together and just always keeping us informed.

Um didn't see I I don't know how to I've never gone through this from beginning to end yet, but one thing I I think would be of interest for us to also push um in our legislative package.

Um we just recently had the Virginia mommy bus legislation pass um dedicating funds to the uh maternal health in Virginia, um maybe pushing for Portsmouth to have some of that funding allocated for maternal health.

We meet a lot of the statistics that are above state average to to kind of monitor and implement some programs, and I think Portsmouth would be a great site to push a pilot site to push for some of that funding that's from that uh Virginia from the Virginia mommy bus legislation.

Um I would I don't know how to phrase that in here, but that's something uh Ms.

Mill, we'll Ms.

Nill will look at that and see if there's a way we can kind of modify the language to get it appropriately fit.

Uh just maybe on my soapbox for a moment.

I was surprised to find out that there's no place in Portsmouth for a young lady to actually deliver a baby.

Have to go to one of our assistant cities to do that.

And I think that is absolutely ridiculous for any community of our size not to have a local facility that can do that.

Working on that, sir.

Yeah, thanks, Mr.

Mayor.

So the cover sheet that you were given kind of outlines a schedule.

So what the legislative committee needs from you all is feedback between now and the first of October.

So if you if you can just write it down, two of what what you just said and send it to us, then we'll feed it into Ms.

And then we're gonna meet again the 9th of October.

Once we meet again after that, the point of that meeting is to fold in any comments that we get from you all between now and the end of the month.

And then latter part of October will pass this uh our legislative agenda along to our General Assembly reps.

Uh and uh and then ultimately schedule a joint session with them the latter part of November at our November meeting to go through the details of the and and the you know the final product basically.

Thank you.

Councilman Dodson, sir, you have a floor.

Um I I don't know where it got in the process, but the juvenile jail program I was under the understanding was gonna be part of this.

So we've got the money this year from the state that Louise so graciously got us to rehab one wing of our jail, but I thought we were gonna pursue a children's uh juvenile wing there also, and I thought that was gonna be and whether it got considered or not.

So there's more homework that needs to be done before we uh uh ask anybody outside the city for fiscal health.

I know we're just bleeding money with the juveniles right now, bleeding money out of it.

Um I also wanted I know that I spoke with some of the members of the committee earlier, but I wanted to express my opinion that I really would like to see the sunshine law modifications be considered at some future date so that we can communicate better as a uh group right now.

It only allows two of us to get together.

It'd be nice if we could have it the same as what state legislature has why we've been restricted and they haven't.

So I think you submitted that to the committee at the outset, and our conclusion was uh well I understand.

I just don't want to divorce my opinion.

Okay, yeah.

As long as you understand.

I got I got the understanding.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much and I'll also add to that some of the requests that were made uh to Councilman Hugo's point.

Um didn't go the route of the legislative agenda, but they were they're still being attended to through current state programs and grant programs.

Um not everything made it to that because of that.

There are alternative routes.

So thank you guys for doing the work.

Good job.

Okay, Mr.

Carter.

That concludes those items for this this evening this evening's agenda.

Did you want to re review the agenda for tonight's council meeting?

Okay, normally after but I can do it now.

Well, you can do it now.

Okay.

All right.

Uh there's several items that we have on the agenda this evening that will require uh your action, two resolutions, six ordinances, one's for the sale of property that's forced with owned in Suffolk to be used for a subfolk fire station, a port host community revitalization fund application uh for four hundred four hundred and eighty thousand dollars uh for state grant to renovate uh ED8 property on high street.

Summer foods uh service program reimbursement.

Uh look to accept 424,733,035 cents to rem reimburse as reimbursement for summer school meals provided to children in Portsmouth.

Stop the bid stop the bleed program grant.

That's acceptance of a 40,000 dollar grant to purchase and install Truma kits in city-owned buildings to reappropriate of a donation for PFRES.

It's our Portsmouth Fire and Rescue Group to real to reappropriate five thousand seven hundred dollar donation from the loan company uh into our fiscal year 26 budget for the fire department for fire department equipment.

Operation stop grant looking to accept $500,000 in Oprah abatement uh grant to expand the outreach harm reduction and treatment efforts.

Additional funding for uh IVE foster care.

That's acceptance of a 252,461 dollar uh grant in state foster care funding to cover expanded costs.

Finally, uh fiscal year 26 um VDH funding and service agreement uh approves the annual agreement between the Department of Public Health for funding and services uh for the city of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth Health Department.

Those are the items that's all speak for this evening.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Anyone have any questions for Mr.

Card?

Thank you.

I've got one for our city attorney actually.

Uh on these pass-through uh legislation here.

Okay, and I think I've asked this before, and you may have answered before.

And if you have, I apologize.

But uh, couldn't we approve these under one uh vote instead of having to do each individual vote on these items?

Uh please.

I think that is a better question.

I think we did this last time for the clerk of the court, the clerk of the of the council uh to address there's some um procedural concern about um the manner in which that would happen because remember um we have to give the public the ability to speak on a particular item.

I'm not talking about the ones tonight, I'm talking about the future ones.

Sure, sure, yeah.

So there's some logistical things that we have to consider.

And um uh Miss White and I put our heads together and toss it around, but um we can um you know put together a little note for you and report back on some options and what our concerns are on that on that point.

I hear a lot of say yes in my ear, but uh as always I want to give you the caveats because we have to consider obviously the citizens as well.

So yeah, I'd like to know why we can't uh do it and what can we do to make make it happen.

I think the bottom I will say we'll we'll flesh out that you really won't save yourself time because you have to make um you have to make opportunities for folks to be able to speak, and then there's a process for pulling those things out, and then there's a process, and so you I think you think you're gonna save yourself time, but you you may not.

So well, it's not only time, it's uh in pulling the things out.

Uh very seldom uh I don't recall anybody pulling an item out on a uh a grant that we're being recipient of.

That's because we're reading them out, but I guarantee you the minute we're like actually we're gonna just kind of globally you know approve these that you'll you're gonna see more of them.

But that's just my guess.

But and there was a time, and and uh our clerk uh read members have when some of these weren't even uh on the agenda uh uh going going back uh a number of years ago.

So uh just something to look into.

Yeah, we yeah, yeah.

Um yes, sir, thank you.

Councilman Tillage.

I just was I concur with vice mayor.

Um signs up a speech, we can pull it out of a block.

But um I I concur and third.

Okay, we'll we'll we'll get some information to report on it.

I think it's a good it's a good discussion to have, and we haven't heard the clerk weigh in on things, and I think it's good to get all opinions before a decision is made.

Absolutely the democratic process.

So that's what we'll be working on.

All right, so we'll take that under advisement.

Thank you, Mr.

Carter.

You're very welcome.

Thank you for your attention and your your engagement this evening.

Always appreciate that.

Yep.

Council, we do have a need to go into a closed session.

Before we do that, yes, sir.

I have a liaison report.

Okay, yeah, go ahead.

Lay uh lay liaison report.

So uh the the liaison reports from personnel committee.

Uh I'm gonna be sending a note to all of you regarding a uh discussion around a budget uh uh adjustment for the city assessor.

So the city assessor has a one-time need to rearrange the office space for the budgeted hiring that he has, and that uh that rearrangement is gonna over extend the budget line that was approved in the current budget.

So if you recall in the process of putting specific goals in place with our appointees, we told our appointees, please tell us things that you need the city council to do for you in order for you to be successful.

The assessor came back with this specific item uh as a need to adjust that budget line to accommodate that one-time ask.

So I'm gonna send you the details.

Bottom line is it's a $55,000 increase on that budget line to cover that one-time expense.

But I'll send you the details and then ask you for uh your input so we can provide some direction to the city manager on what to do about that budget line.

We good report.

Uh go go ahead, council.

So PPIC also met today, and one item that I found noteworthy was the cruise lines coming into our city.

And they were having some communication with uh making uh sites activities um available to them.

So uh hopefully that will improve with the American lines coming through if you all aren't familiar with that.

Uh it's nice to see some the activity picking up and a published list they had of the dates the ship will be in port from the future.

22 visits to the Portsmouth waterfront next year.

Yes to more or less this year and 22 next year.

Exciting time.

Very good.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um I had the pleasure of attending the PRHA meeting this week and just wanted to point out that they are hosting their first community day next month, so that is an initiative that they were excited about, so you can look out for some.

I'm sure they'll be marketing that.

Um they're also looking forward to our joint meeting in November where they're going to be bringing us the cooperative agreement that we have with them to discuss.

Um from social services, just making you aware that there are I'm sure you're already aware, but pointing out the fact that there are some changes at the federal and state level regarding funding for the SNAP program and the energy assistance programming.

Um, and so that might put pressure on localities to provide resources.

Um and so there's not really any information there, but our director did point out that that energy assistance programming as the weather changes could become urgent.

Um and we have been working to promote food pantries around the city.

I know lots of different community organizations have, so that's probably going to continue.

And lastly, I wanted to update everyone.

The groundbreaking for the new landing hotel at Rivers Casino Portsmouth will take place on October the 15th.

I believe the start time is 10 a.m.

And there will be a reception afterwards.

So looking forward to seeing uh all of my colleagues and anyone else who is invited at that monumental event.

Yes, absolutely.

That concludes our meeting, and now we do have a need for a closed meeting.

Please read the closed meeting motion.

I moved to go into a closed meeting a pursuant to Virginia Code Subsection 2.2-3711.

A7 for the purpose of consultation with legal counsel pertaining to actual litigation where such consultation in open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body specifically regarding the city of Portsmouth versus Griff's restaurant and sports lounge and JDF Holdings, LLC.

Uh that's uh Portsmouth Circuit Court case number CL 25001466-0.

And City of Portsmouth versus Swinson Restaurant Group and all Portsmouth Circuit uh court case number CL2501599-0.

And B, pursuant to Virginia Code Subsection 2.2-3711 A6 for the purpose of discussion of the investment of public funds where competition or bargaining is involved, where if made public initially, the financial interests of the governmental unit would be adversely affected, specifically regarding an unsolicited proposal received under the uh PPEA.

Second.

We have a motion in a second, Madam Clerk.

Would you call the work, please?

Yes, sir.

Ms.

Bryant, yes, Dr.

Dotson.

Yes, Mr.

Hugo.

Mr.

Moody.

Yes.

Ms.

Thomas.

Yes.

Mr.

Towers?

Yes.

Miracle Everett.

Yes.

We are in closed.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the city council meeting for the Portsmouth City Council.

I want to take a moment to welcome and thank all of you for coming to attend and listen to the work that we'll be getting done today.

Also, I want to acknowledge all of our city staff who is here with us in the audience.

In addition, I want to acknowledge our city manager, Mr.

Stephen Carter, our city attorney, Mrs.

Vonda, Graham Williams, and our city clerk, Miss Deborah White.

And of course, my colleagues on council.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

Thank you.

I would now ask my colleagues to please note your presence electronically.

Seven members of the city council are present.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

We have the meet the minutes of a called meeting on September 8, 2025, a called meeting on September 9th, 2025, a regular meeting on September 9th, 2025, and a called meeting on September 16, 2025.

Do we have a motion and a second?

Move adoption.

Please vote electronically.

The minutes are adopted seven zero.

Thank you, ma'am.

And madam clerk, would you please read the council rules?

Yes, sir.

Ladies and gentlemen, city council rules require a limit of up to five minutes to speak.

As you approach the speaker's podium, you will notice the timer.

At the beginning of your five minutes, you will see a green light.

Four minutes into your remarks, you will notice a yellow light.

At the end of five minutes, you will see a red light here beep.

And we ask that you conclude your comments at that time.

While speakers have an opportunity to address council on matters of public concern, all comments should be made in a manner that respects the seriousness of the forum and should not be made in a belligerent, sarcastic or demeaning fashion.

All remarks shall be directed to the city council as a body rather than to any particular member of City Council, staff, or the audience, and should be limited to matters that only the Portsmouth City Council can influence.

A speaker who fails to observe this base group decorum will be deemed out of order and not allowed to conclude his or her comments.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

We've now moved to the item city manager's report, item 25-271.

And madam clerk, would you please read the ordinance we are considering for this item?

An ordinance accepting additional 4E foster care funding in the amount of 252,461 dollars from the Virginia Department of Social Services and appropriating said amount in the FY 2026 Social Services Fund for use by DSS to pay foster care costs.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Council members, we are in need of a motion and a second.

Move for adoption.

Second, any additional discussion seeing none, please vote electronically.

This item is adopted 7-0.

Thank you, ma'am.

Our next item, item 25-272.

And madam clerk, would you please read the ordinance we are considering for this item?

An ordinance accepting funds in the amount of 424,733.

From the Virginia Department of Education and appropriating set amount in the FY 2026 grants fund to reimburse the city for the summer food service program.

Thank you, ma'am.

Council members, we do we're in need of a motion at a second.

Move adoption.

Second.

Any additional discussion on this item?

Seeing none, please vote electronically.

This item is adopted 70.

Item 25-273.

And madam clerk, could you read please read the ordinance that we're considering for this item?

An ordinance authorizing the sale of certain property located in the 800 block of Lake Kilby Road to the City of Suffolk for a price of 93,400 and appropriating the purchase price to the FY 2026 public utilities fund budget.

Thank you, ma'am.

Council members, we are in need of a motion and a second move adoption.

Second.

Any additional discussion?

Seeing none, please vote electronically.

This item is adopted seven zero.

Item 25-274.

And madam clerk, would you please read the ordinance we are considering for this item?

An ordinance accepting a stop the bleed program grant in the amount of $40,000 from the Portsmouth General Hospital Foundation and appropriating said funds in the FY 2026 grants fund for use by the Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services to purchase and install 68 trauma kits in city-owned buildings.

Council members, we are in need of a motion and a second.

Move adoption.

Second.

Any additional discussion?

Seeing none, please vote electronically.

This item is adopted 7-0.

Next item, item 25-275.

And madam clerk, would you please read the ordinance we are considering for this item?

An earnest to reappropriate a donation in the amount of $5,700 by the DeLong Company Inc.

From the fund balance of the general fund to the FY 2026 general fund budget for use by the Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services.

Council members, we are in need of a motion and a second.

Move to adopt second.

Any additional discussion?

Seeing none, please vote electronically.

This item is adopted 70.

Thank you, ma'am.

Item 25-276.

And madam clerk, would you please read the ordinance we are considering for this item?

An orness accepting $500,000 of operation stop categorical aid from the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority and appropriating set amount in the FY 2026 Behavioral Health Care Service Fund Budget for the purpose of addressing opior use.

Council members, we are in need of a motion and a second.

Second.

Any additional discussion?

Seeing none, please vote electronically.

This item is adopted 70.

Item 25-277.

And madam clerk, could you please read the ordinance that we are considering for this item?

And excuse me, madam clerk.

Are we voting on this one or is this under the um resolution?

Because I don't see where it says electronic roll call on that one.

It's electronic.

Okay, very good.

So we will be voting on this item.

Yes.

An ordinance accepting adult recovery court funds in the amount of 167,000 dollars from the Office of Executive Secretary at the Supreme Court of Virginia and appropriating said amount in the FY 2026 Behavioral Health Care Service Fund for use for the Portsmouth Adult Recovery Court.

Thank you, ma'am.

Council members, we are in need of a motion and a second.

Move to adopt.

Any additional discussion?

Seeing none, please vote electronically.

Go ahead.

This item is adopted 70.

Yes, ma'am.

Item 25-278.

And madam clerk, would you please read the resolution we are considering for this item?

Okay.

A resolution authorizing the execution of the fiscal year 2026 agreement with the Virginia Department of Health for funding and services of the Portsmouth Health Department.

Thank you.

Council members.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

So moved.

We have a second.

Second.

Any additional discussion?

Seeing none, please vote electronically.

This item is adopted 70.

Item 25-279.

And madam clerk, would you please read the resolution we are considering for this item?

A resolution certifying the city of Portsmouth support of an application for a Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Port Host Community Revitalization Fund Grant in the amount of 480,000 in furtherance of the revitalization of 1117 through 1121 High Street for port related uses.

Thank you, ma'am.

Council members, we are in need of a motion and a second.

Move to adoption.

Second.

Any additional discussion on this item?

Seeing none, please vote electronically.

This item is adopted 70.

Thank you, ma'am.

And that concludes our city manager's report for this agenda.

We're now moving into new business.

Item 25-280 boards and commissions.

And Councilman Hugo, do we have any boards or commissions to report?

We do not uh this evening, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you, sir.

Next item, item 25-281.

Item submitted by council.

And madam clerk, would you please read the resolution we are considering for this item?

A resolution to approve the amended and restated FY 2026 FY 2027 community services performance contract for the Department of Behavioral Health Care Services.

Council members, we're in need of a motion and a second.

Move adoption.

Second.

Any additional discussion on this item?

Please vote electronically.

This item is adopted 7-0.

Thank you, ma'am.

To my colleagues on council.

Are there any more items to be submitted by council members?

Seeing none, then I do have an item to submit.

I would like to share with each of you in the audience today, and all of those who are joining us online.

Ladies and joint gentlemen, please join me in a moment of silence to remember the honorable Gloria Webb.

Miss Mayor Webb was the first female mayor in the city of Portsmouth.

And Gloria Webb served as a member of the Portsmouth City Council from 1980 to 1996.

During such time, she was appointed and then elected mayor from 1987 to 1996.

Mayor Webb served the Portsmouth citizens honorably during her tenure.

Our condolences to her family and friends on the news of her recent passing.

Funeral services are planned for October and they will be posted on our city website.

Please, at this time, we would ask that all of us participate in a moment of silence in remembrance of Mayor Gloria Webb.

Thank you.

Councilman Dotson, sir.

You have the floor.

Thank you, sir.

I wanted to ask if I could get some updates at the next meeting.

Um the city manager.

Uh first on the uh jail funding, the progress for the uh how that's progressing.

Uh secondly, on the gift card, if we could get an update on that.

And lastly, on the RFP for the Crawford Bay.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Councilwoman Bryant, ma'am, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I wanted to congratulate Portsmouth Public Schools today for receiving a grant of $15,000 from Amazon to support their robotics programming at all three high schools.

We had an opportunity to look at the robot at Churchland High School today.

Um, and certainly the kids in those programs are doing great work, um, which is a wonderful credit to our city as we attempt to build our STEM programming in Portsmouth.

Um, also want to keep in mind that we won't be meeting before High Street Fest, which is coming up up in October.

Um, it is a block party to take place on High Street to promote our downtown, which you all know.

Of course, we are looking to um increase foot traffic and redevelopment downtown, and so please come out and enjoy that festival on October 18th.

Um, lastly, we have many children in the audience tonight, and is always a pleasure to see young residents and citizens join us for our council meetings.

So thank you for coming.

I'd like to shout out my own three children who are here tonight to observe the process.

And um, thank you to all the mentors and the teachers who have launched this school year.

It's always a bit of a transition, but um, we see you and we are very appreciative for all that you're doing to keep our young people engaged.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Vice Mayor Moody, sir, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just a couple things for our city manager.

One, uh, an update on Cedar Lane manhole covers.

Uh there are still six uh that need addressing.

Um also uh on Brandon Lane.

Uh we have two locations where uh illegal dumping uh occurs on a really on a daily basis.

Uh I think uh the placement of uh no dumping signs and uh uh specifics on our uh illegal dumping uh ordinance would be good and would probably prevent that.

Thank you, Ms.

Manager.

Councilwoman Thomas, ma'am.

You have the floor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, one thing I wanted to just alert the citizens to.

We did have our joint meeting last was that last week with the Planning Commission, um, and some folks that went to visit Greenville, South Carolina to learn more about some of the possibilities of what we can do to develop our downtown area in Link District and just a lot of the development that'll be coming to Portsmouth soon.

We have two more meetings.

I don't have the the dates written down, so I was wondering uh Mr.

Carter if you could provide those dates if you have them to the public.

Um are those meeting dates open to the public.

We have two more debriefing dates, I believe.

The Brian uh from economic development mentioned from our debriefing sessions from Greenville.

I don't have it written in my book, but I wanted to make sure that the public was aware and had that on their calendars.

Mr.

Carter, sure, you have the floor.

Uh there will be more meetings, but we don't well have those dates set yet.

And as those meetings are scheduled, we'll make sure that they're available to the public.

Okay.

That might have been my misunderstanding.

I thought they mentioned it in their presentation before, but okay, thank you.

Just as long as the public knows those meetings are coming, and we want their input for the development ideas for downtown.

Yes, ma'am.

Those meetings have not been set yet.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Councilman Dodson, sir.

You have the floor.

I'm going to ask a question of legal Attorney Graham Williams.

Um, Councilman Dotson has um asked for asked for um thank you.

Um question from I received a message from one of our uh violence interrupters.

They wanted to know about the legality of their work on school property.

And could I get some feedback from you on that?

Um, are they violence interrupters through the Portsmouth Police Department?

Uh that's where the question comes up.

I'm not 100% sure how they've been, but I believe so, yes, ma'am.

If you could just direct them to contact me at my office, or you could share their information, I'll follow up with them directly.

Great, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

And the last thing I want to add under item submitted by council, uh, the Portsmouth City Council will be having their second retreat uh for this year, and it will take place in Newport News on October 3rd and 4th.

The purpose of the retreat is for our city leadership team and our city manager and staff is really to get together and share our continued vision for the city of Portsmouth and how we plan to get there.

Also, citizens are invited to participate in terms of coming to that retreat, and we would welcome anyone who wants to come and hear or sit in and listen to the discussion that will be taking place with your city council and other city leaders.

Next item, item 25-282, report on pending items.

And manager Carter, do you have a report on pending items?

Yes, sir, mayor.

Thank you very much.

Uh the there's a report back that has been made available to each of the council members.

That was information from the last council meeting.

If you have further questions or concerns, please let us know.

We'll make sure we get those that information to you.

Thank you.

And just to add, I'm not sure if I had mentioned the address to where the council retreat will be.

It will be posted on the city website.

So if you wish to come and witness the discussion, certainly go to our city website for more details.

We've now come to item 25-283, non-agenda speakers.

And madam clerk, would you please read the speaker's statement?

Yes, sir.

Ladies and gentlemen, city council rules require a limit of up to five minutes to speak.

As you approach the speaker's podium, you will notice a timer.

At the beginning of your five minutes, you will see a green light.

Four minutes into your remarks, you will notice a yellow light.

At the end of five minutes, you will see a red light and hear beat, and we ask that you conclude your comments at that time.

While speakers have an opportunity to address counsel on matters of public concern, all comments should be made in a manner that respects the seriousness of the forum and should not be made in a belligerent, sarcastic or demeaning fashion.

All remarks shall be directed to the city council as a body rather than any particular member of city council staff or the audience, and should be limited to matters that only the Portsmouth City Council can influence.

A speaker who fails to observe this basic rule of decorum will be deemed out of order and not allowed to conclude his or her comments.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

And our first speaker tonight is Mr.

Aaron Cody.

Mr.

Cody, sir, if you would come forward, state your name and address.

You will have five minutes.

Good evening, City Council.

Thank you for your service.

I am Aaron Cody, and my address is 2908 Tam Bark Lane.

The last time I spoke to you, I listed states, state parties, and localities using ranked choice voting.

This evening, I will describe six election examples.

In June, ranked choice voting was used in the Democratic primary election for New York City Mayor.

I misspoke in response to a question about this election two presentations ago.

I incorrectly said using ranked choice voting affected the outcome of the election.

It did not.

There were 11 candidates in the race.

The leading candidate in the round one results went on to win the election after the round three instant runoff with a majority of the votes, which is the election outcome I am advocating for when I ask you to adopt ranked choice voting for Portsmouth City Council elections.

In November 2022, ranked choice voting was used in the Alaska Senate race.

Using ranked choice voting did not affect the outcome.

There were four candidates in the race.

The leading candidate in the round one results went on to win the election after the round three instant runoff with again a majority of the votes, which is the election outcome I am advocating for when I ask you to adopt ranked choice voting for Portsmouth City Council elections.

In 2023, ranked choice voting was used in Arlington, which was the first Virginia locality to use the legal authority given two localities like Portsmouth.

Ranked choice voting was used in the Democratic County Board primary election.

In this election, using ranked choice voting did affect the outcome.

There were six candidates in the race for two seats.

The leading candidate in the round one results did go on to win the election after the round seven instant runoff.

The third place candidate in the round one results went on to win the election after the round four instant runoff.

These election results show the value of ranked choice voting and giving voters more choice without sacrificing majority representation by splitting the vote among similar candidates.

The success of this election led the county board members to unanimously approve ranked choice voting for all future county board primaries and to pilot the use of ranked choice voting in the 2024 general election.

In 2024, ranked choice voting was used in Arlington a second time for the Democratic County Board primary election.

Using ranked choice voting did not affect the outcome.

There were five candidates in the race.

The leading candidate in the round one results went on to win the election after the round four instant runoff with a majority of the votes, which, if you recall, is the election outcome I am advocating for when I ask you to adopt ranked choice voting for Portsmouth City Council elections.

Later in 2024, ranked choice voting was used in Arlington a third time for the county board general election.

Using ranked choice voting did not affect the outcome.

There were four candidates in the race.

The leading candidate in the round one results won the election in the first round with a majority of the votes, which, well, you know the rest.

In June, ranked choice voting was used in Charlottesville, the second Virginia locality to use the legal authority given to localities like Portsmouth.

Ranked choice voting was used for the Democratic County Board primary election.

Using ranked choice voting did not affect the outcome.

There were three candidates in the race for two seats.

The leading two candidates in the round one results won the election in the first round with you guessed it, a majority of the votes for each seat.

These six examples when ranked choice voting was used demonstrate the main benefit of using ranked choice voting.

Electing candidates with a demonstrated majority of voter support.

In the fifth of the of the five of six samples, the outcome was not affected by the use of ranked choice voting.

In the one example, when the use of ranked choice voting did affect the outcome, it demonstrates one of the additional benefits.

Supporting increased voter choice without splitting the vote and risking representation without a demonstrated majority of support.

My next presentation will review the Portsmouth City Council's legal authority to adopt ranked choice voting for city council elections.

As always, I will be available after this meeting to answer questions and listen to comments.

Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is Mr.

Christopher Hines.

Sir, if you will come forward, state your name and address.

You will have five minutes.

Good evening, all.

Good evening.

My name is Christopher Hines.

Address is 119, Kingsgate Drive, Portsmouth, Virginia, 23701.

All right.

So like I said before, my name is Christopher Hines.

I'm the director of New Generation Marching Band.

I come before you today, not as just a concerned citizen, but as a voice of a program that's been changing lives quietly, persistently, and with little support for over three decades.

For 33 years, the New Generation Marching Band has been a beacon of hope, discipline, and opportunity for the youth of the city.

It is a program for talented kids with heart, with rhythm, and with drive.

Kids who would rather carry a drum than carry trauma.

Kids who find purpose and performance and unity in every uniform they put on.

But despite everything this man has done for Portsmouth, it has been chronically underfunded, overlooked by the leadership that should be challenged or championing.

Let me be clear.

This is not a hobby, it's a lifeline.

And for many, it's the only structured positive and safe outlet available in the city that continues to struggle, struggle with poverty and violence.

When these kids put down their instruments and their flagpoles, if there's no place to turn, they go back into the streets.

And we all know what the streets offer.

Not opportunity, despair, and no direction.

This band has sent hundreds of students to college.

Many the first in their families to go, has and has instilled discipline, leadership, and pride in young people who may have otherwise been statistics.

From these ranks have come professional athletes such as Daryl Tapp and medical professionals like Dr.

Tor Ross.

Proof that when you invest in the youth, the return on that investment is invaluable.

Yeah, here we are 33 years later, still begging for basic support, not for luxuries, not for frills, just the essentials that keep the rehearsals going to maintain instruments, to travel to performances, where these young people represent this city with pride and excellence.

Porsum can no longer afford to ignore the power of this program because when you support New Generation Marching Band, you're funny, you're not just funding music, you're funding the membership structure, education, and hope.

You're standing up and saying to these kids, we see you, we believe in you, and we're invested in your future.

Council members, I urge you, don't let another year go by.

This band will continue to do the city's work without the city support.

And we are truly serious about reducing crime, uplifting our youth, and restoring community pride.

This is the most effective and proven place to start.

Civil rights icon John Lewis.

He encouraged standing up the injustice through nonviolent action.

And Vice Mayor, you referred to me as a thug.

I never forgot that moment when we stood and blocked the tunnel traffic.

I took a screenshot of this tweet from July the 10th, 2016.

I waited on this opportunity.

I have not seen you face to face since.

Nobody but thugs.

Bill Moody.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you all.

Vice Mayor Moody, you have the floor.

You have the floor, sir.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, I've got to respond to that.

My comments were not that specific young man, but it was for the folks who shut down the tunnel, and really by doing so, endangered lives.

Uh, that's the main through affair, part of the interstate system.

A good friend of mine told me later that the word thug from my generation means something entirely different today.

After he told me that I also did a online apology that Mr.

Cody apparently uh missed.

But uh I just wanted to set the record straight on that.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is Joseph Kelly.

Mr.

Kelly, sir, if you would come forward, state your name and address.

You will have five minutes.

Good evening, City Council Mayor.

How are you doing tonight?

My name is Joseph Kelly.

Address is 27 Hobson Street.

Uh Chuxon, Old Chuckson, you know, his historic Tuxton.

Uh I came to put two things.

Well, I came for a couple of things, but I'm gonna get this out of the way.

I would like to thank two members of my community.

Like uh one's a police officer, one's this the code enforcer.

Uh Kenneth Johnson doing a remarkable job in my community.

He he makes sure he gets involved with everybody, make sure the codes are stood to standards, making sure everyone is taken care of.

And uh Officer Walter, he he does a really, really good job of coming to our meetings and getting involved.

Now, uh besides that, I want to say thank you to the city for the assistance that they gave me for as doing my festival, the Island Parks Music Festival was back in July.

I didn't get a chance back to get up here to say thank you guys, but I want to make sure to understand that the community needs your help, so that helps out a lot when the city get involved with the community for as these festivals, because these festivals, us as citizens are trying to raise money for our community so our kids could have a better place to live a better life.

Uh we they just did a festival last weekend.

I went to Saturday called Beats and Pedals, was downtown here.

It was a beautiful thing to see what the young lady did.

I think that's the name of Sabrina Mann.

She did a really good job.

They did a lot of things for people, and that I think that the city needs to get more involved in putting these community festivals out to the people so they know where to go.

Because I find out just through the internet.

I don't know from the city board that they actually put it out there like that.

But they were giving away food, health care, advice, all types of the the young man that just came up here, Mr.

Hines.

I want to say, yo, thank you, man, because they had talented kids out there.

These some super talented kids was out there performing.

And just to walk around and see those type of people in our community, we needed to be more structured.

Last and not least, I want to bring up the violence in this community.

Like it is getting ridiculous, man.

It is really getting crazy in Portsmouth.

That's too much violence.

I'm quite sure y'all heard about the the shooting that happened on uh Dahlia and uh Manley.

Like there was a camera there two weeks before that, three weeks before that, month before that was a camera sitting there.

That violence wasn't happening.

They moved the cameras, and guess what?

Someone get murdered.

Like we got to do better.

Like we I see that we have a civic lead uh leader.

Why are why are our civic league leaders are not getting together having meetings?

Trying to make the city look better.

Like we live in one city.

I don't know why I have to keep preaching this to everybody, but we only live in one city.

It's time for change.

There's gonna be a lot more kids.

If we just sit back and keep on doing things the way they do, it's gonna be a lot of more kids murdered in these streets.

And I mean, we need the we need the we need y'all help.

Like the only thing that could change that is if that the city start putting it down to where our leaders start a meeting.

I think if I had a good idea and you had a good idea, we discuss ideas together, we can come up with a great idea.

But we got to do something.

And I'm I'm I'm I'm here, you know.

I'm stuck in Portsmouth.

Now I'm not going nowhere.

I'm gonna stay until I go, so it's gonna be nice.

It's gonna be a nice place.

I want all kids to live a safe life.

So I'm just asking for y'all assistance as a city leaders to like let's get together and let's do something about change.

Let's meet with these people that's doing these festivals.

Let's make place make let's make Portsmouth a happy place to be in.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Councilman Hugel, sir, you have the floor.

Yeah, thanks, Mr.

Mayor.

Uh thanks, Mr.

Kelly, for uh for speaking up tonight.

I want to point you to the crime task force.

Uh the community engagement committee on the crime task force is interested in talking to people like you who have ideas on how to address uh some of the issues that we have that are leading to the gun violence.

So uh please visit the city website, uh track down the the uh crime and gun violence task force page uh and get in contact with the the uh community engagement team because they want to hear your ideas.

Thank you.

Councilman Dodson, sir, you have the floor.

You have the floor.

Yes, they're all yes.

There also is a civic league meeting where all the leaders do get together.

Mr.

Ray Smith runs that out at the Cavalier Manor location once a month.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker, Mr.

David House.

Mr.

House, you would come forward, state your name and address.

You will have five minutes.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council, City Manager.

My name is David Housing.

I live in Portsmouth, Virginia.

So I want to address a property that's in the West Haven section of Portsmouth.

So since May of 2023, this property has been has been cited 13 times with inspection and zoning violations.

The city just cites the property, closes the violations, and walks away.

This is not the exception.

This has become the norm.

I wrote to the city to the city council zoning inspection October 17th, 2022, October 14th, 2023, and you, our current council and city manager on August the 21st, 2024.

We you have uh you are our elected leaders who have the ability to direct others to make a change, but by allowing these violations to continue, it has failed the community and the neighborhood.

When meeting with the city manager, he asked that we give the city grace addressing issues, but waiting 35 months for the city to actually take action and allow uh and allow follow-through until the violation is is removed.

It stretches uh I think it stretches the limit of grace.

The remedy for ongoing issues can be found under state code title 48, which is nuisances.

Investigation of complaints by special grand jury when a complaint is made to the city court by any of any county or the corporation court of any city of this commonwealth by five or more citizens of any county, town, or uh city or town setting forth the existence of a public or common nuisance.

The court or judge thereof in vacation shall summon a special grand jury in the mode provided by the law to the next term of such court to specifically investigate such complaint.

The complaint can be mailed to the chief judge of the circuit court, uh Judge Brenda Sprite, P.O.

Box 1217, Portsmouth, Virginia 23705.

Citizens now have another tool in their toolbox that they can get issues addressed.

I keep saying that inspection and zoning are failing to do the job, and each time I come before you at a city council meeting, I continue to show you the examples to solidify my case.

I only have five minutes to voice my to have my voice be heard to identify repeated issues that are allowed to exist within the city.

I challenge you to come along with me, ride and see the issues firsthand.

I submit C click fixed tickets as you suggested.

Many are still open or have only been acknowledged and are just sitting in the queue for months.

They're just open and closed.

In this violation of the property, identify temporary fencing installation, tarps covering the fence, protect uh shielding debris, trash and debris, and other stuff on the property, and operative vehicles and parking on unimproved services.

Please look at the violations and the pictures provided uh provided, and you will see 31 months worth of pictures documented the continued violations.

I've done C click fix for zoning and uh inspections.

Zoning has still not answered mine after over a year.

If you go to page page four, the neighbor neighbor called complaining about uh regarding debris in the backyard, set up a meeting with them to take a look at the debris.

Six days later, the violation was closed.

If you look at the last the last two in March, I mean uh in February, they opened a violation, zoning violation, inspection violation, and closed them just over a month later.

If you look at the pictures starting on page one, you see how it's progressed from day from March 23, and it just keeps just keeps getting worse every day.

If you look on page, if you look on page six, remove all debris from the exterior of the property with emphasis, tarps covering fence, exercise equipment, privacy fence, car parts, scrap wood, scrap metal.

It's still there today.

Almost three years later, still there today.

If you go to page page nine, one violation was closed and another violation was opened the same day, citing the same exact violation.

Like I said, they keep opening and closing.

If you go to the to the last page, I just found this out today.

The last page is my C click fix.

Okay, I did a FOIA to Peter asking for all issues with this property from August 24 until uh August 25.

They failed to they failed to provide me with it with this stuff.

This is repeat day in, day out.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Mr.

Sergei O'Neill.

Sir, please come forward, state your name and address.

You will have five minutes.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of council.

My name is Sergei O'Neill.

I reside at 1420 Elm Avenue here in the city of Portsmouth.

You know, I come down here a lot, you know, to speak on various topics, especially those concerning the youth of this city.

Before you tonight, um Councilman Bryant, Councilwoman Bryant mentioned that there were a lot of youth in the audience.

Well, the some of the some of the youth in this audience belong to new generation Marching Warriors, a band that has been in this city for the last 33 years, 33 years.

So to make a case in point, I'm 38.

So I was five when this band was born.

I just started celebrating my 38th birthday on the 19th of this month.

So to see a band that has grown over 33 years, over 33 years in the city of Portsmouth.

That that is an amazing feat.

Given that 0.00 is actually come from the city's callers.

And let me make it perfectly clear when I say that.

We're not coming down here begging for city money.

Because at the end of the day, you have some very dedicated parents and staff members to my left in that back corner back there that make sacrifices every day to support hundreds of kids that come through this city.

That's not what we're coming here for.

We're coming here to rectify the situation.

Last this previous weekend, this band was supposed to perform at the beats and petals festival.

If I said that name wrong, charge it to my head, not my heart.

However, there was some confusion with access to the recreation center where the band equipment is stored.

And let me make it clear to Mr.

Mark Palmerchuk, our parts and rec director, because see he's answered the phone plenty of times when situations have occurred.

I'm almost quite certain he was unaware of what took place.

Because the last time was the situation, he got on the phone and made sure it was corrected.

So I'm quite sure he didn't know what was going on, but it shouldn't take all of that.

Let me also make something else perfectly clear.

Whoever is Mr.

Carter, whoever's running that center, you might need to get with Mr.

Palmerchuk and find out what's going on with their real MO is.

Because from what I understand, we have a certain individual who's operating that, who's now the recreation supervisor over there, or what they call the recreation specialist at that site that may have some ulterior motives.

And I'm not telling you nothing I don't know because see, guess what?

I was raised in that recreation center.

I can name about 10 recreation specialists that have come through neighborhood facilities.

How do I know?

Because I was there with them.

Over 2,000 plus hours of volunteer time in that recreation center.

You can look it up.

I'm not saying that to be threatening.

I'm not saying that the catch people off guard.

I'm catching it for what is real.

At the end of the day, this band contributes countless hours of time and attention to kids who have otherwise would have been either in one or two places, dead or in juvenile detention.

Because guess what?

We can call it for what we want, but we we're not, we don't have a very welcoming environment when it comes to our youth in this city because some are very quite few of them have decided to run chaos and confusion through you.

Chief Jenkins knows full well.

Sheriff Moore knows full well.

We're tired of catching the short end of the stick when it comes to our youth.

The parents of this city pay a lot to live here.

Some by choice, some by force.

And this damn time, I'm on the by choice standard.

But let it make let me make it perfectly clear.

I choose to contribute to new generation because I know the work that they do.

I choose to show up to meetings like this to let people know.

You can't sing a song and dance to everybody and think it's gonna be all good because that's not how it goes here.

So all I'm gonna ask is that our council is paying attention.

Our city manager is paying attention to support these youth groups that are coming to represent the city of Portsmouth in a very positive manner.

And last will my last ten seconds if the members of the new generation and those supporters would please stand.

So y'all can see that just what I'm talking about for the visual.

And this is not all of them.

Thank you all very much.

Thank you, sir.

And thank you all for coming.

Our next speaker is Mr.

House, Daniel House.

Sir, if you will come forward, state your name and address, you will have five minutes.

Good evening, Council members, mayor, vice mayor.

Um Daniel House, 114 Gillis Road.

So I'm here tonight because this property that's before you is uh 2301 Victory Boulevard.

It's got um plywood on the side of the brick building and plywood on the the basement access.

It actually it actually shows windows that either are missing or stay open.

So on page two, it's an email from the farmhouse.

What's happened on May 31st of last year?

Um an unfortunate vehicle ran into the building and caused structural damage.

So they reported it to the city, and on the 6th of June on page three of violation notice was cited.

It listed five things, and unfortunately, I'm not the best typist either, but on line four it says repair all damage to in or territory surfaces.

Okay, so but that's what you're sending out for violation notices.

But like I said, it's it it listed five conditions that needed to be fixed.

The next page is a final notice, and that's that's really of interest because the final notice is also addressed to the property owner, and it says, as a reminder, the violations are as follows in the red hyphenated box in the yellow, there's nothing listed.

You didn't list any violations that need to be corrected, and this is a final notice.

So then you go down to the next paragraph.

It says the owner agent uh tenant, you're required to correct these conditions as stated above.

You didn't list anything to fix.

So this is a final notice, and it says in the final notice that if violations are not corrected by this state, the matter will be referred to the Portsmouth General District Court.

How ironic.

So we go back and look.

If we go to the next page, the next page is the case activity sheet.

The case activity sheet shows five reinspections for for property maintenance, and then down further, there's a final reinspection in the yellow.

Okay, so we already we already showed and talked about those documents, but then you have six other reinspections by the city inspector, and what happens on the last day, the case is closed.

There's no action taken, the case is closed.

So from May 31st of last year till today, the structure is vacant, it's damaged, it has structural damage, and the city's taking absolutely no lead to get it fixed, other than to cite it, go back out 11 times and then close it.

That's our taxpayer dollars at work.

So then, like I said, there was there was five reinspections, and who holds the inspector accountable?

Somebody has to hold these inspectors accountable because this is my taxpayer money and everybody else's money, and they go out there and like my brother said, you open a case, you close the case.

Okay.

Something's got to be done.

So let's look at uh section 1731, 33.

It says the care and care of structure.

So anytime a building's closed, and he listed it as closed, it said the owner of the building, whether the same as or becomes vacant, shall securely close and lock.

And thereafter, continual.

Keep closed and locked all doors and windows.

And I showed you on on the first page, there's on that just that side of the building, there's six windows that have been open for months.

And then you go down to Section B foundations and walls shall be kept by the owner of the premises sound and free from defects and damage, maintained in accordance with the construction and repair standards of the building code.

That's your own city code, okay?

That your inspector's supposed to enforce, and they failed to enforce it.

So how are how am I to sit to have any relevance?

It's to is to what the inspectors actually do if they if you allow them to open a case, inspect it, close it without any action.

Something's got to be done.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is Mr.

Tony Goodwin.

Mr.

Goodwin, if you come forward, state your name and address.

You will have five minutes.

I reside in the parking section of the city and office in downtown as well, and also uh a retail store on High Street in downtown.

So I'm gonna break two cardinal rules that I usually have from standing at this podium and speaking, and that is simply I don't come up here to pound my own chest in most cases, and I don't um come up to advertise, but I am going to do that tonight.

Um based on this based on the discussion that you had, which was very good dialogue, very good discussion as far as the debriefing of the Greenville trip.

I think was exceptionally well.

It's something that we all need to know about in what is the best practices on making a city work and downtown work.

Going back to a little bit of history from what I've done.

I've I've been down here for now going on up to 30 some odd years.

25 years to this October is when I've moved back to my uh my hometown, my place of my birth, right here into uh Port Norfolk, and then again over into Parkview.

And I found that there was a real need for this city to be able to come out of the uh shadows and and get something done.

96 was a very big time.

Uh Mr.

Moody, you were here, and I know you witnessed everything that was going on in High Street in 1996 when probably uh 75 to 80 percent of the buildings were boarded up and and basically in disrepair.

And we've come a long way in just those 25 years or 30 years, actually.

So with that being said, I uh family business is real estate.

We do real estate and we try to do it as best as we possibly can with obviously a lot of restrictions and a lot of things that get in the way.

Life gets in the way a lot of times.

Um 15 years as being a licensed real estate agent and also just being actively involved in my community to see it being a better place.

I've represented it's old or leased uh over a half a million square feet of downtown proper.

That's fact.

I've done it, and I want to do more.

There's been a lot of obviously things that not always have sold, but I've obviously represented those, had the keys to the building.

I've at some point in time I've had a key to almost probably 60% of the buildings on high street at some point in time.

Um, but I want to say I want to do more, and I want to do more with you.

I want to do more with the synergy that we have going.

But sometimes it doesn't always work out.

I'd love to bring institutional knowledge to this process.

I hate to see us make mistakes that we've already made in the past because I was there with every one of those mistakes that were made.

So I I've sat down and I've spoken to a couple of you, obviously, one on one face to face, and I'm here to help put this together and keep it moving forward without again moving and backwards or getting stuck in the weeds when it comes to things that are sometimes a little bit difficult.

But what I really want to do, and that is my pounding the chest kind of thing that again I don't that's one of my cardinals' rules I don't want to do.

But I I have to say from the conversations that were had on last Tuesday evening, we decided in 2021 when I had a tenant leave the space of 304 High Street, which is the old grants department store.

COVID basically ravaged her business.

She didn't want to renew.

So I held on to it for a year, contemplating what do we do.

I told my 16-year-old daughter, I said, Do you want to open a business together?

We opened a business together called Market Street and General Store.

You've had that business on High Street now in November 20 or November 22nd of this year on High Street for three years.

When we heard the conversation about Mass General Store, what's ironic because I studied Mass General Store and its original location in Vela Cruz's North Carolina.

And then again, their annexed store, which is just a mile down the street.

And I studied every component of their business model to basically replicate exactly what they've done here on High Street in Old Town.

All the way down to the candy, the general goods.

We've adapted it to make a market.

We opened it and then two weekends for boom boom shootings downtown.

Everybody starts moving out.

Nobody wants to go out and do anything.

We took it in the shorts.

$10,000 worth of product down the tubes, and we just stopped the bleeding.

But we want to do more.

We want to make that a success.

Let us work with you.

Let us make a success.

And let's acknowledge the fact that businesses that have been down here really pushing the envelope and making things happen.

Let us be part of your solution.

Don't shut us out and don't think we're not doing the job you want us to do.

But I appreciate you for the time.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is Ms.

Nicole Adams.

Ms.

Adams, if you would come forward, state your name and address, you will have five minutes.

Nicole Adams.

Okay, we'll go to the next speaker.

Miss Bridget Toole.

Ms.

Toole, if you would come forward, state your name and address, you will have five minutes.

Good evening, it's an honor and could you please bring the microphone down?

Okay.

There you go.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

It's an honor and privilege to be here.

My name is Bridget Toole.

I live at 951 Green Street, Portsmouth, Virginia, 23704.

Um Elephant in the room, I want to mention about the blocking of the tunnel.

I'm one of the ones responsible, blocked it from the other side.

Um no criminal intent.

But when you don't have a voice in what happens to you in society, having a felony, not being able to get a job, wanting to work, wanting to be a law-abiding citizen, and you're shut out because of a charge.

But I come to you this evening on the behalf of myself and many others who have been in the incarceration system.

Many of us have been victims of trauma, victims of abuse.

We've been uh victims of crimes ourselves.

And when we feel like we have no protection, then we take matters in our own hands.

So what I wanted to ask is for those the city, for those of us who are dealing with that trauma, we have the Portsmouth behavioral health.

Can you make that available to all of those who've been formally caught incarcerated?

Because if we're not healed and whole on the inside, it's gonna result in two gun violence and theft and all of all of the above.

It's gonna blocking of the tunnel.

And I want to ask if you can go a step beyond that.

Once a lot of us who have been formally incarcerated, felonies, whatever, been completely healed.

I asked the city if you can open up your doors to jobs, jobs that don't deal with children, of course.

But there's plenty of janitorial jobs and things that could be done by people who have been formally incarcerated.

I have applied for a janitorial job, and because of that back for Portsmouth, and because of that background, I was turned down.

And I want to know how how much do I have to pay in order to be able to get a job, to be able to afford to buy housing, and which a criminal background check denies you the right to housing.

We have to deal with these issues because we're not gonna be able to stop the crime anywhere unless we truly give people a second chance.

If we don't, we're not gonna be able to stop the crime.

We can't uh go back and change what a lot of us did, but at least allow us to become repentant and feel like okay, I can change.

I can be a better person, I can give to my community.

And I've been on uh I've applied for so many private industry jobs.

And the funny thing is over five hundred companies on Wall Street can use felons as prison slave labor while they're incarcerated in private prisons.

But when a lot of us get out, we can't even get a job.

They won't even hire us.

It's okay to exploit us for our labor, but they won't hire us.

And I'm asking, I'm asking, you know, we got to Portsmouth City jail.

I was wondering if there's any way the city can formulate healing and rehabilitative programs for those who are incarcerated.

But I want to thank you for your time.

And again, it's an honor and a privilege to be here.

Thank you, ma'am.

Councilman Tillage, sir, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh Ms.

Toole, first of all, thank you for your uh your courage to come up and to speak on those issues.

Um the city, we do have a lot of programs in the city that are connected to rehabilitation and reentry.

But to your point, when you get to those programs, what's what's next?

The the job.

And so I know that's been a barrier for many people across all demographics, um, especially in such a locality such as ours.

And so what I would be interested in, and just to report back, uh, Mr.

Carter is um as a locality, our our current policy as a states to backgrounds, uh, but then also some possibilities within the code of Virginia that would allow certain positions to explore the option um to individuals who may have um backgrounds that may prohibit currently right now.

But I'm sure there are some jobs that may not require um those types of that may allow those types of uh individuals to uh partake in those types of jobs.

So if we can get a report back on that, I would appreciate that.

Thank you, Mayor.

Ms.

Toole, we do have a program in the city of Porchmont called Portsmouth at Works.

We can get you information, and I can tell you from talking to our director of economic development under which that program is is run, that they do provide training uh for those who are re-entering into normal life.

And in addition to that, I can vouch there are employers that will hire someone who has previously been incarcerated, and we work very hard to work with our citizens who deserve a second chance, and so we'll before you leave, we'll get you the information so you can contact that program and see if there's a starting point in which you can gain some training, additional skills, and perhaps that job that you are seeking.

Mr.

Carter, so you have the floor.

There's a young lady sitting to your left with her hand up.

If you give her your contact information, we'll make sure that you get the information that you need.

That concludes our agenda for this evening.

If there are no other concerns for the good of the order, this meeting is adjourned.

Drive safe, everyone.

Take care of the