Raleigh City Council Regular Meeting - March 4, 2025
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Raleigh City Council Regular Meeting - March 4, 2025
The Raleigh City Council met on March 4, 2025, in an afternoon session (1:00 PM) and proceeded into closed session before the evening session. The meeting covered consent agenda items, planning commission recommendations, special funding allocations, city manager reports, public hearings, committee reports, and appointments. Key actions included approval of funding for East College Park townhomes, a pilot program update on homelessness, convention center expansion phase 1 guaranteed maximum price, and updates to the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP).
Consent Calendar
- All consent agenda items except D4 (Carolina Pines Avenue Street Improvements Project) were approved unanimously. D4 was held for discussion at the next work session (March 11, 2025).
- Approved contracts for professional services, bids, and traffic schedule updates (see agenda for full list).
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were recorded during the afternoon session. Public hearings were scheduled for the evening session (7:00 PM) for items including street closing, annexation, and rezoning cases, but these were not transcribed.
Discussion Items
- Carolina Pines Avenue Street Improvements (D4): Councilmember Patton raised concerns about delays and scaling back the project, noting it was promised to the community as a first roadway redesign with a multi-use path. Engineering Services Director Byron Sanders explained that three bids came in at similar prices, about 24% over the engineer's estimate, and staff plan to re-advertise with a base bid and two alternates. Council voted to hold the item and discuss at the March 11 work session.
- Planning Commission Report: Four rezoning cases were recommended for public hearing on April 1, 2025: Z-38-24 (1400 Edwards Mill Road/Lenovo Center), Z-45-24 (Litchford Road), Z-46-24 (Pearl Road), and Z-49-24 (Pearl Road). Councilmember Harrison requested a Transportation and Transit Committee meeting on March 27 to discuss broader transportation issues in the area. Public hearings were scheduled unanimously.
- Council Contingency Items: Two allocations were approved: $5,500 for NC VIMES Women's Day event and funding for the 8th Annual Evolve Mentoring Summit to fill a funding gap. Both passed unanimously.
- East College Park Townhomes Site 4: Staff recommended $448,733 in CDBG funds for site improvements to support six townhomes for first-time homebuyers, with four reserved for low/moderate-income buyers. Councilmember Branch asked about oversight to avoid past errors; staff confirmed improvements. Approved unanimously.
- Bringing Neighbors Home Pilot Program Update: Housing staff presented results of the pilot: 45 households from the Good Street camp were enrolled and moved into housing, with two people reuniting with their children. The program cost $38,000-$98,000 per day to manage homelessness (equivalent to 2-5 years of rent). Councilmembers praised the work and asked about future budget inclusion; staff indicated a resource gap analysis will be presented later. No action taken.
- Convention Center Expansion Phase 1 GMP #1: Request to authorize the city manager to execute a construction services amendment with a guaranteed maximum price of $3,125,741. Councilmember Forte explained her no vote due to concerns about the closure of South Street, but recognized the project was moving forward. The motion passed with one no vote.
- Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) Annual Report: Staff presented the 2024 report, approving 14 construction projects (13 that met policy thresholds plus Bent Creek Drive due to high resident support), removing Quail Hollow Drive for alternative treatment, and approving the 2025 work plan list of 20 projects. Council also approved policy updates: (1) proactive speed limit reductions, (2) broadening multi-way stop evaluation to intersection safety, and (4) consolidating engagement into one continuous effort. Update (3) raising the speed threshold from 5 mph to 7 mph was debated but approved separately. Councilmember Patton requested a committee discussion on a holistic approach for Falls River Avenue, which has multiple sections on the list. The list was approved as presented.
- Public Hearing – 617 South Blunt Street: Continued from February 18; the owner had recently pulled permits for repairs. Council voted to proceed with demolition after hearing no further progress.
- Transportation and Transit Committee Report: Two items were recommended for budget notes: high crash intersections and pedestrian improvements at East Whitaker Mill Road and Atlantic Avenue. Approved unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda: Approved except D4 (held).
- Public Hearings Scheduled: April 1, 2025, for four rezoning cases (Z-38-24, Z-45-24, Z-46-24, Z-49-24).
- Council Contingency: Approved $5,500 for NC VIMES and funding for Evolve Mentoring Summit.
- East College Park Townhomes: Approved $448,733 CDBG site improvement funding.
- Convention Center Expansion: Approved GMP #1 of $3,125,741 (vote 7-1, with Forte opposed).
- NTMP: Approved 14 construction projects, 2025 work plan list, and policy updates (1,2,4) and (3) separately.
- Demolition: Approved for 617 South Blunt Street.
- Appointments: Brittany Bryan and James Thrasher to Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission; Adan Quesada to Design Review Commission; Tina Scott to Environmental Advisory Board; Tolulope Omokaye to Planning Commission; William McKinney to Raleigh Transit Authority. Other appointments and nominations noted.
- Closed Session: Entered closed session at end of afternoon session.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you for attending the City Council. We'll call the meeting to order and start off with a pledge of allegiance and Counselor Branch would you lead us. One nation under God. Liberty and justice for all. Next we have the consent agenda, and there was one item uh polled, and that was D four, which was the Carolina Pines Avenue Street Improvements Project. Um do we have a motion for the remaining items? Move for approval. Second. Okay. All in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. All right. And then for D four. Uh I know we're gonna have some additional commentary. I think next week. Okay. So we'll just hold it in. Yeah. I mean, you tell me how to proceed. I mean, I have a couple things on D four, and yeah, maybe just clarify. You're talking about the work session next Tuesday, that there's gonna be discussion on the Carolina Pines Improvement Project. Um yeah, I know there's just concerns that are coming from my residents about the delays here and wondering whether the bids that are being considered to be rejected maybe are still in the ballpark, perhaps, you know, of costs that might be appropriate at this time. I know costs have gone up a lot in the kind of inflationary environment we're in. But yeah, could you just clarify how we're gonna approach this? It sounds like next Tuesday we're gonna have a conversation. Sure. Uh good afternoon, everyone, Byron Sanders Engineering Services. Um we're gonna have two things. We will be coming before you all next week with a plan that not only talks about Carolina Pines, but a number of projects where we're working right now to uh bring things into budget, identify funding opportunities, that sort of thing. Uh specifically for Carolina Pines. Uh this rejection of the bid is really more of a step back to take steps forward. Uh, we did receive three bids with this recent readvertisement. Those bids were all in the same ballpark. So we've got a lot of confidence that the pricing is fair. Um however, that pricing is still uh in excess of our engineers' estimate. By about I think it's twenty four percent, somewhere around in there. Um so our plan is to uh reimagine the scope of the project uh and put it out, advertise it with a bid and two bid alternates. Um the base bid would be uh would carry the project from Lake Wheeler Road to about Henslow with some uh bid alternates that address one would address uh some storm drainage and other work on Henslow and carry the project from Henslow to approximately the railroad tracks, and the other bid alt would take it from the railroad tracks on to South Saunders Street. So really the plan is to uh and understanding the frustration. Uh really the plan is to try to build as much as we can with what we have and also have an idea of what those other pieces are going to cost. We may be able, depending on the base bids, how they come back, to be able to look at some of those other pieces in those bid alts. Uh the other thing that I think is important to mention is that we do have a 100 percent design completed. So we will have essentially a shovel ready project for the rest of it at the time that we can identify uh that funding. Yeah, I guess what I just want to say is if we're potentially going to shorten you know the amount of street that can be improved because of our current budget, then I don't want to lose sight of what has been promised to the taxpayer. This is through you know transportation bond funding, is it 2017? Yes. Yes. So I just have residents here that feel very um concerned that they've kind of gotten into last place maybe in these projects and are now losing out on some sections to be improved there. Um so I just want to kind of bring that to light for our conversation next Tuesday and clarify that we're not making a decision today about these bids.
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