We'll go ahead and get started since it is one o'clock.

Uh first off, Mayor Pro Tem Harrison is absent and excused.

And we let it do it for the whole thing.

I know.

Every moment we will yeah, I mean, she will be absent and excused for a while, but uh definitely for today.

Uh and next we have the um Pledge of Allegiance.

So uh think it's here.

Pledge of allegiance.

And to the Republican one nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all.

Okay.

Uh do we have special awards?

None today.

Okay.

Then we have uh the consent agenda and nothing was pulled.

So do we have a motion?

Move to adopt the consent agenda.

Second.

Right.

Uh all in favor, aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay.

And that is unanimous.

Uh and next we have public comment.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council, uh, Rand Northam Communications Department.

Uh, two very quick announcements.

One uh for those who are speaking today.

If you would, when you get uh to the podium, please adjust the microphone so it's uh just in front of your mouth.

Um, and uh please don't turn to the side uh to try to address anyone else because uh we will not be able to hear you here in the chamber nor uh at home when people are watching either.

The other thing is uh as we've had before, we're still having a little bit of technical issue with the screens in the room.

They might go black, and then they will come back on just to ask that uh you give us patience.

Uh it will return, and we'll be back to the presentation.

Thank you.

Uh first up, we have Carrie Bennington.

Hello.

This project takes private property, an easement does not exist, a fact that took parks and wreck 11 months to admit misleading the public.

Option one B conflicts with North Carolina riparian buffer protections, as well as the city's own stated environmental policies.

We are not opposed to greenways.

We support connectivity and conservation.

What we oppose is a decision that sacrifices a group of homeowners and their safety, violates conservation commitments and environmental protections, and increases costs when less harmful alternatives exist.

To conclude, I have two personal statements.

Just yesterday I had to contact the Raleigh PD after a trespasser crossed the creek behind our home, entered our backyard while my son was playing basketball and used our private driveway to reach Six Forts Road.

His baby his behavior was alarming enough that my son felt unsafe and hurried inside.

Neighbors have shared similar incidents with you.

Creating a greenway in this location increases these encounters and makes an already concerning safety situation worse.

Finally, I'd like to thank Councilmember Christina Jones for taking time speak to recently to speak with my 18-year-old daughter, now a voting Raleigh resident, for a politics assignment for which she selected the Greenway topic.

I appreciate her willingness to engage directly with residents, and I thank her for voting no on placing a greenway in our backyards.

We respectfully ask the council to stop streamed option one B and choose a path that reflects Raleigh's values of fairness, transparency, fiscal responsibility.

Thank you.

Mama Kai Sanders.

Good afternoon.

It's another amazing day in paradise.

Happy Black History Month continues, and so does my message.

I want to start with why I'm experiencing the emotion of anger and why it manifested as the walk for peace came through Raleigh.

If you didn't don't understand what that means, um, you can check last week's video.

Um I'm angry um I'm angry because I finally learned the difference between a politician and a public servant.

Politicians rely on the ignorance of the public to get elected while public servants actively seek to educate the public to get elected.

I am angry because our local leadership created a declaration for Raleigh to have a day of peace when the decisions that are made sitting at this table rarely bring daily peace to the residents of the city.

I'm angry for the infant whose parents and three older siblings spent six months leaving the family shelter daily at seven in the morning.

That baby wasn't getting enough sleep or connection for her brain to develop properly.

The same is for her parents, siblings, and the other families whose numbers have exponentially grown because three years ago the City County homelessness task force didn't make it a priority to ask how, in order to create and implement trauma-informed solutions.

I'm also for angry for those who are informed, come here to get heard, and are ignored.

I'm angry about traffic, enough said.

And I'm especially angry that we've been fed this lie that we need to build to accommodate the rich so they'll stop renting that which was once affordable to those who are not as fortunate.

Trump is showing us, and we should now realize that when you cater to the most wealthy, you actually have to take away from the ones who need it most to do it.

And it then takes decades to fix.

Let's go back to Brother Malcolm.

I imagine that after his pilgrimage to Mecca and his incredible change, when he returned home, he was morally and spiritually obligated to live in peace in an era full of people who were not peaceful.

And yet Mecca made him seek to be a man of peace, since I imagine he was a man who was finally at peace with himself and the God he served.

So in my imagination, I believe that despite the threats on his life, he and Sister Betty Shabazz, his wife, tried to build a home life for their children that was a sanctuary, a place of peace and rest from the turmoil happening in the world.

I say all this to suggest that you cannot lead a city to peace when you're extreme when you're continuing continuously destroying the capacity for the residents to live in peace.

I invite you to decide whether you're going to be a politician or a public servant.

If this applies to you, it applies to you.

If it doesn't, it doesn't.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Taylor Stewart.

Hello.

When the city began its public engagement for the big branch greenway project, it presented the streamside segment 1B route in a way that misled the public into believing it would be a scenic greenway experience in a wooded setting where users could enjoy nature.

The city claimed to have a greenway construction easement that it does not have.

Also, with massive development happening to our north and west, this area, one of Raleigh's most flood-prone, will see more frequent and intense flooding.

Fast rising waters will pose safety risk for users and require costly ongoing maintenance, repairs, and trail closures.

Because the trail would run so close to the creek, the city must install safety railings.

And because it would run so close to our homes, the city plans to install privacy fencing just a few feet from the path.

Both will degrade the user experience, obscure views, and create a tunnel effect.

Instead of a peaceful greenway, users will feel confined walking on what looks and feels like a narrow sidewalk bordered by fencing and larger sewage manholes.

The city claimed this route is safer for users, but that statement leaves out important facts.

To access the trail, users must cross a dangerous stretch of Six Forks Road where the accident rate, according to the city's own traffic department, is 35 percent higher than any other comparable five-lane road in North Carolina, as well as cross a daycare entrance and plantation road before descending a long steep ramp into our backyards.

These are facts.

Raleigh's greenway system is something to be proud of, but moving forward with the streamside segment one B route would be a serious mistake, one that harms Big Branch Creek, creates a poor and unsafe experience for users, and leaves Anderson Farr's homeowners with permanent consequences.

Please do not move forward with this route.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Kimberly Williams Beth.

Can you hear me?

All right.

The City of Raleigh needs to stop providing a kind of sort of have a maybe major medical plan based on gender and age.

It creates civil liberty issues and gender and age discrimination.

As I've previously provided a packet to everyone, on August 23rd, 2024, a family walked into an OBGYN office and received the industry standard verification of benefits, which clearly stated that those maternity benefits, prenatal delivery and postnatal, were all covered.

They did what anyone should do.

They stayed a network, they got standard of care, they were prepared to part with the out-of-pocket maximum.

Much to their chagrin, they received a total bill worth of $22,000 and some change.

The issue here isn't clerical error.

It represents a significant legal and regulatory risk to the City of North Carolina.

Under North Carolina law, the doctrine of equitable estoppel applies when an agent like Blue Cross Blue Shield, your third-party administrator, provides incorrect information that a resident reasonably replies upon to their financial detriment.

Furthermore, the exclusion raises a regulatory red flag.

Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act prohibits pregnancy-based discrimination, and refusing to pay for prenatal delivery and postnatal care for females is exactly that.

You were c you cover all the other dependent care, but not prenatal delivery and postnatal.

The one way to ensure healthy babies and healthy taxpayers for the City of Raleigh.

No family should be expected to cross-reference.

A professional verification printout, a hundred-plus page document, and a 45-minute call to the insurance company to look for loopholes.

By the way, this exclusion is buried on page 4242, and there's one sentence on page 46.

If you don't deep research your AI and search it village village, search it well, you'll never know that there's an exclusion.

This family should not be caught between the disconnect between the city's poorly designed plan and its administrators' communications.

Because of this, because of the way the city of Raleigh is self-funded, Blue Cross Blue Shield cannot reverse this claim.

I received the final letter from them today refusing to reverse this claim.

They can only do it if the city of Raleigh taps into its existing claims reserves and puts into place an extra contractual agreement for this family's maternity bills to be covered as they expected.

I'm a professional health care advocate for this family.

When I took this case, I was assuming there was a simple clerical miserror.

I had no idea this would be the case.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Octavia Rainey.

Good evening.

I had one speech prepared, but I'm going to do something else.

I would like to offer my condolence to Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Reverend Jesse Jackson, I knew personally.

I worked on Reverend Jesse Jackson's campaign when he ran for president.

And I want everybody to know Bruce Leitner, he brought 10 of us together and say it.

Y'all are going to support Reverend Jesse Jackson.

I was the supervisor of the phone bank room.

And I will have to say working for Reverend Jesse Jackson was the greatest learning experience for me.

Because it was my first presidential campaign.

So I learned a lot from Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Reverend Jesse Jackson was also a keynote speaker at our graduation in 1978 from St.

Augustine's College.

And Rev and President Robinson, I really admire him.

He brought him here.

And it was such a tremendous experience.

Rev and Jesse Jackson, when he came to Raleigh, he would always call me.

And y'all know what my favorite subject was with him?

Fourth Ward.

And he gave me the greatest advice.

Now I also talked to him about College Park.

Now don't get me wrong.

I had to talk about College Park 2, but I talked about Fourth Ward, College Park, and Idaho.

And I never met a good listener.

To me, he was just like Dr.

Martin Luther King.

I just admire him.

I respect him so much.

This is just a sad day for me.

Because whenever he came to Raleigh, he always said, I tell you, I'm in Raleigh.

And I would say, Bruce, Bruce said, I know I told him to call you, because I know you got something to tell him.

But I just remember my experiences from one of the greatest leaders of them all.

And when he ran for president president, I was just so overwhelmed.

So I worked way beyond my hours at a phone bank supervisor.

Way over my hours.

He was a great man, and I hope the city do something to acknowledge him.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hanadi Ali.

My name is Hanati Ali.

I'm a Raleigh-born Palestinian American.

I lived in occupied Palestine for four to five years of my life.

I'm here today to ask the Raleigh City Council to finally take a stand against the terror state of Israel and stop aiding in defense and industry.

Logos Technologies based in Raleigh was acquired in 2022 by a subsidiary of Albate Systems of America, a major Israeli defense contractor.

Two, technology and research.

Israel firms utilize Research Triangle Park and local universities for research and development, collaborating with North Carolina Tech Sector.

Three, corporate presence, Red Hat, a major software company with a strong presence in Raleigh has employees and offices in Israel.

Four, community and solidarity, the Jewish Federation of Greater Raleigh organizes direct support, including events, funding, and solidarity missions to Israel.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Raleigh organizes direct support, including events, funding, and solidarity missions to Israel.

I'm sure many of you are looking at me and and asking, what a real unrealistic ask, but is it?

Compared to the Ukraine war and war, Reza has seen a higher rate of death per month, approximately 2,826 people per month.

And the Reza war civilians account for roughly 80% of the fatalities in Ukraine, about around 4%.

The number of children killed in Reza in the first few weeks of the conflict was 10 times higher than the number of children killed in the first year of the war in Ukraine.

If Russia was excluded and sanctioned, then by these measures should by these measures, so should Israel.

They should also be excluded and sanctioned.

It just doesn't make sense.

Is it just me looking at the world like it's absurd?

Is it just the pro-Palestinian people that think it's mind-boggling we continue to allow the Israel government to take steps towards the annexation of the occupied West Bank?

The most religious thing someone can do is stand up for the oppressed.

And if you're not religious, the most human thing you can do is stand up for the oppressed.

Are you to make me believe that somehow Zionist Israel is the oppressed party in this situation?

The government that has the most nukes.

Are the and they're not even monitored.

And here we are giving our money and weapons.

To me, this is so obviously another case of society that wants to take it all and not leave anything for the rest of us.

Anyone who construes this to be anti-Semitic, just don't.

And look at the facts on the ground.

This is humanity, not anti-Semitism.

In 1938, the Nazi regime initiated the widespread systematic confiscation of assets and property from Jewish citizens within Germany.

Was that right?

This ugly red party has not changed my mind about voting Green Party.

If anything, it has reinforced my mind before I run out of time.

My husband Brian McGuinness is a marine vet, and he served in the Iraq war as a gunner on an LEV between the years 2000 and 2004.

He is currently a Raleigh fireman running for the U.S.

Congress with the Green Party.

His platform is what everyone's platform should be based on.

No money from big corporations or impacts.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

I'm the daughter of Nazareth, and I'm indigenous to Palestine.

It's him it's in my DNA.

My husband is from Gaza.

And for the last two years, he lost more than 25 members of his family.

I'm here today because you cannot talk about local issues.

While our tax dollars of our residents are funding a genocide that physically deleting our families from existence.

If you want to know why I look like this land and why colonizers do not, ask the indigenous people of this country.

They know the face of a settler.

They know the face of someone whose roots are in the soil versus somebody who comes in a suitcase.

We are told the humanitarian pulses yet.

My husband's family is still starving in Gaza.

The real time we're told evacuation, yet Israel refuses to let the dying people to be evacuated and the displaced people to be back.

And if you wonder why leaders are so silent, look at what we are discovering in the light of the day.

They're abstinent files.

They are not just celebrity scandal.

They are a map of how power actually works.

We are seeing the evidence of blackmail machine that we're intelligent agencies and predators are operating hand in hand to compromise the very people who make our laws.

The link are becoming undeniable.

The same network they funded illegal settlement in the West Bank.

They facilitate facilitating the explosion of children.

We are governed by the class of people.

They don't serve us, they serve a foreign war machine and the secrets that keep them in power.

Not the foreign network of predators.

Screw Israel and Free Palestine.

Thank you.

Athena Vallin.

Sorry.

Hi, my name is Athena Wallen.

If you if you feel mildly annoyed every time that you see me, it's because I give off strong little sister energy.

I am a little sister to two older brothers, and I was raised by a very courageous Filipino woman.

And so that makes me very stubborn.

And it makes me very foolhardy when it comes to things like this Creek situation that we have in Raleigh.

And I understand that there are private residents who have property, but they are not the only ones affected by these creeks, and they should not be the only voices heard when managing these creeks.

I am advocating hard that we neutralize these utility systems, and it's going to take a lot of effort.

It's going to take a lot of conversation and it's going to take a lot of people changing minds.

But we need to.

This is a collaborative effort because these creeks are connected.

They meander through every neighborhood.

As I am trying to raise awareness for my neighborhood creek, I have to go through four different neighborhoods because we're all connected.

Downstream neighbors are impacted by upstream neighbors, downslope neighbors are impacted by upslope neighbors.

And if nobody is doing a single thing to maintain or try to mitigate the erosion situation, then everyone is affected.

And it doesn't matter if you're a property owner and you have the money to fight against the city about plans that take these systems and create connected utility systems with expected maintenance.

Because one neighborhood that has that energy, that has that money, that has that collaboration, doesn't exist in other neighborhoods.

Other neighborhoods are begging you to listen.

Other neighborhoods are already flooded.

Other neighborhoods have already existed through generations of flooding.

So when is it that we're going to collaborate and say everyone is affected?

These utility systems should not be split into individual private property ownership.

We need to be looking to create to create a larger margin of error.

And I use that in terms of thinking about creeks plus buffers equals a connected utility system.

And if we are able to find spaces in Raleigh where we're able to connect longer segments, then that brings greater efficacy to the maintenance, to the programs that already exist.

It creates awareness and education and things that we want to strive for.

Right now I am working really hard for my neighborhood just to get people excited about these critters that already exist.

And I keep showing you these pictures because they're the things that keep me going.

And this is natural education, and this is stuff that we could learn from.

Sorry.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Final speaker is Nikki W.

Good afternoon.

Today marks many things.

It is the homegrown of Reverend Jesse Jackson, Condolences family, Random As of Kindness A, and of course, Happy Black History Month.

Little fun fact.

Mamie Fifth Clark and Kenneth Clark were African Americans who conducted a doll study whose findings of how mental health is impacted by segregation, which influenced the ruling of Brown versus the Board of Education.

As for usual, I like to address the unhoused and how it's affected by mental health.

As you may or may not know, back in the 70s, the de-institutionalization movement was implemented.

It actually originated in Europe and was sold as a way to grant autonomy and a better quality of life for those with mental illness as opposed to the forced treatment and isolating asylums.

However, though more psychiatric drugs were available and more community-based organizations for people with these crises is there are severe provider shortages.

With a 73% decline in North Carolina since 2013, admissions have gone from 3,210 to 875, with a third being court-ordered.

In Wake County, 40% of the unhoused population suffer from mental illness, 19% from severe mental illness.

Deinstitutionalization has led to even broader equity gap for brown and black people, a huge increase in homelessness and incarceration and corruption in the aspect of stolen SSI funds by homelessness agencies or corrupt individuals.

More luckily, I observed an individual who was banned from a white flag shelter because she was disrupting the piece.

They said she could not say it enough.

She could say at another location of which she could not understand how to get to.

I rode over her with her to this location in which she would not debord the bus.

And it ended up with an issue with GO Raleigh.

A supervisor entered the bus and aggressively urged her to exit.

As she would not, uh decided to wait with her for 30 minutes or authority to show.

She then exited and urinated, hadn't urinated on the seat.

I urge RPD to take her tile heels for evaluation, as I had seen her in mental distress for about a week prior to that exact incident.

They sent her to Rex Hospital.

So now we have a mentally ill person who has nowhere to go, has nowhere to get there, and that's not fair.

So I asked the CD, what is it that you can do here locally to resolve these issues?

Because I assure you it's not the long one, and it's not the worst that's happened.

And I believe had I not been present, worse would have happened.

Let us remember that Jesus gave us a commandment to love him and love one another as we love ourselves.

And in doing so, I report my observation to you in the hopes that it will attest to the urgency to act.

I've heard rumor that Dorothy Dix was going to turn into a new set of condos, but I can hope that you can reopen it so it can become a haven for those grieving and mental health crises.

While I do think it's ideal that everyone should have autonomy.

Thank you.

All right, that concludes public comment.

Um we have no report from the planning commission.

So the next item is a special item.

External text change requests with Justin Rametta.

Afternoon, Mayor and Council Justin Ormado with planning and development.

Uh this is an external text change application.

Um it deals with the minimum lot size for um schools.

Uh it seeks to amend that minimum lot size requirement, which is currently 500 square feet per enrollee.

Um this is an external application filed filed by Moringstall law firm.

Um they are in attendance today if you'd like to hear from them or have questions for them.

Um but their application uh purports to increase flexibility for school siting and capacity in transit-rich and city growth areas.

So schools are held to a uh handful of use standards that you can see here on the screen.

The uh bolted underline second bullet is the standard in question that you can see there.

Um all schools have to be on a lot that is at least 500 square feet in size per enrolled pupil.

Um there is an exemption in the DX district in which there is no minimum uh area at all.

So that standard's been around for a while since the adoption of the UDO uh and prior to in the old zoning code um that exemption in DX was added around 2017 through another um external request.

Here's the applicant's proposed language.

So essentially they are uh asking to maintain the 500 square foot minimum minimum lot size per pupil, but expand the exemption that currently is enjoyed only in DX to lots that are both in a mixed-use district and also in either a city growth center or frequent transit area as designated in the comprehensive plan.

You see those areas here in the red crosshatch, our frequent transit areas, and the solid red are city growth centers.

So the state obviously has regulations for schools who don't have any analogous uh lot size requirement.

They do have some guidelines that you can see on the left side of the screen.

Um they do recommend sites anywhere from 10 to 30 plus uh acres, uh, depending on grade level.

Um again, these are guidelines, they're not mandates.

Uh, they also do note that uh urban sites or those using smart growth strategies can accommodate schools on smaller sites as well.

So that being said, we have uh a couple of options for you today moving forward.

Uh three of them on the screen.

I guess I'll start with option four, which would be you could do nothing and maintain status quo as it is.

Um again, the applicant has asked to maintain the minimum lot size requirement, but expand the exemption to mixed use districts that are also in uh frequent transit or city growth centers.

So that's option two.

You could authorize that request as submitted.

If you feel like that uh standard uh doesn't really achieve any policy goals and is not needed, you can opt to remove it.

That's option one and remove it altogether.

Um if you feel like the uh additional flexibility that the applicant is asking for needs some additional mitigation and controls, you could ask staff and the planning commission to work with the applicant to develop some of those as well.

That would be option three.

Just a reminder, you're not uh this is in a public hearing, you're not adopting any language today.

This is simply to vote to whether to um allow the text change to move forward through the process.

So whatever um if anything that you authorize today will go through uh planning commission, the public input process, and then eventually back to you for a public hearing.

So happy to answer any questions you have, and again the applicant is here as well.

All right.

Thank you.

Uh Counselor Silver.

Justin, just a clarification.

You mentioned expanded to mixed use areas as designated by policy.

You're not referring to in the zoning code areas that are zoned OX or RX or you know, I'm just trying to clarify CX.

This is relating to the comprehensive plan uh policy areas and not directly the current zoning of all the mixed use with the X designation, CX, RX, or OX.

It is.

It's both.

Oh, it's both.

It's both.

So the exemption would apply to sites that are both zoned, OX, CX, NX, and also in a city growth center or frequent transit area.

Um Go ahead.

Okay.

Yep, Councilor Branch and Patent, but we'll go patent first.

Okay.

Um maybe building on the same question.

Can you go to the map slide?

So we're just sorry.

So the dark red is where it's already there's already an exemption.

Dark red is DX zoning, yes.

And then the lighter red is anything in the lighter red that has an X in its zoning is where the new.

So the map doesn't have the the zoning districts on it, but yes.

Um either the the red crosshatch or the solid red area that is also a mixed-use district, not a residential district, um would have the exemption.

Okay.

The cross hatch or the solid red.

Correct.

The solid light red, yes.

Okay.

Got it.

I'll have some others in a minute.

Council Branch.

So um looking at this, I mean, for one, for me to support this, it would definitely have to be option three because this is for the applicant, but this opens to anyone that wants to do a school.

And when you talk about Ets and residential, I see the impact of traffic with a lot of our schools that are not part of the Way County public school system and the challenges that we're having.

Um I know two in my district that backup traffic, um, you know, especially one on Rock Croy Road, um, and it makes it very dangerous.

And you see people trying to dive traffic.

Um, and we just made improvements there to get traffic to go flow through.

So for me, um I would definitely need more conversation um between staff and the applicant and looking at ways to mitigate, you know, some of the traffic concerns, some of the other um impacts to residential communities before I could support this.

Other comments or uh back to counselors?

Yeah, I certainly support this going through the process.

Uh if you go back to the slide, always was confused by some of the state guidelines when we are running out of land that 20 and 30 acres, which includes fields, there could be sharing between schools, land is going to become more scarce, not just in Raleigh, but in Wake County, and so to explore uh other options, I think would be beneficial because then you're pressured with the potential of taking other property by eminent domain to build schools.

So I think having the option where it is appropriate for the older students to go more vertical and conserve land, but still provide the needed public education uh that we need.

I'm certainly open to uh authorizing this to continue with the text change, understanding that staff may have more comments, certainly uh Way County uh to weigh in on this to schools.

So I uh believe this is uh uh very beneficial conversation to have as we're seeing uh more land uh that is being absorbed and recognizing uh that as you could see for the 7 to 9 and 9 to 12, uh it's going to be a challenge for us to start finding 20 to 30 acres per school as we grow.

And so I think this would be a good option to explore.

Counselor Lambert Milton.

Um I will add that I support letting this go through the text change process.

Um I think I would choose option two, which would be to advance the applicant's request with the understanding that we may end up at option three, because when it goes through for public comment um and then to the planning commission and then to our staff, y'all may bring back additional conditions or mitigating controls anyway.

Um but I'm you know I think the intent of the request to provide more flexibility for schools to operate in transit-rich areas and city growth areas, I think that's really important.

Um I think about a lot of our historic school structures that are still standing that look like they're nestled into existing neighborhood areas and a lot of them have been repurposed for other uses, but you just be able to walk to your school and access things without having to fund buses and car rider pickup.

I think the idea is there would be limited traffic because maybe people can get there by other means.

And so I would be supportive of option two, with the understanding that we may end up at option three anyway.

Other comment or do we have a motion?

Uh Counselor Patton.

Yeah, I um a couple of thoughts.

One, I think we as this this body are not the arbiters of like how much space a student needs to learn.

Uh you know, I and so I had I had come into this thinking that we were maybe being more restrictive than Wake County Public Schools.

It sounds like we are not, based on further information that is provided.

Sounds like we are not.

And so that kind of solves that for me.

But so while we are not like the arbiters of how much space a student needs, for non-public schools, we are the last measure of how much space would could be allotted.

And then also I think we do have a role in ensuring compatibility between uses.

Um I am with Councilmember Branch on this one about option three to to meet the spirit of the request, but manage for compatibility cons uh issues.

I I would also ask, though, that during the engagement or going through the process that we engage um the appropriate Way County Public Schools staff to make sure that we're getting their their input on hopefully they'll find this to be mutually beneficial.

So that's right, Matt.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh yes, Counselor Silver.

Justin, how what role does staff play at this point?

Did you just process the text change to bring it forward to council, or did you do some level of due diligence of interacting uh with uh the firm who actually submitted this text change?

So um we have worked with the applicant.

The language that you have today is not exactly what was originally submitted.

It has been refined slightly.

Um we would continue to do that alongside the planning commission as it moved through the process if you authorized it to go forward.

I would agree with uh Councilmember Lambert Melton.

I would support option two, recognizing that there would be a lot of further discussion uh with staff and as this goes through the process with the planning commission and then back to a council.

Can I ask one question?

Yeah.

Um what is the true difference between option two and option three based on what I'm hearing from my fellow council members?

Option two would uh be you saying that you are okay with exactly what the applicant has requested and nothing nothing less, nothing more.

Uh option three would be you saying that you're okay with some additional level of flexibility being built into the code, but with some potential other mitigation measures that might help with things like um, you know, uh could be outdoor place base, uh residential compatibility between between schools and residential neighborhoods and that sort of thing.

Okay.

So basically option two is really as is with them hoping to look at flexibility based upon a target area.

But option three is trying to be more proactive and looking at possible impacts and trying to mitigate it ahead of time.

Is that my understanding correctly?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Thank you.

Yep, Council Jones.

Just to follow up on that, if we are going to include Wake County Public Schools and they have some thoughts in option two, would they be available would they be able to change, or because it's as is, we couldn't change it in option two, it would have to only be option three.

No, ultimately, again, this um nothing is being set in stone today.

You you know, there will be a public hearing for you eventually to vote on any language and and and and it could be tweaked at any time in the process between now and then, regardless of what uh what option you choose.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, uh sounds like we've got some mixed opinions, but ultimately, this is I said it sounds like there's a long way to go.

So um I welcome a motion and we'll I move that um move forward with the application with option three.

Uh okay.

Um in favor of the motion, aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Okay.

So was that a no and a no on option three.

Okay.

I'm fine with three.

Okay.

So that was a uh seven to one.

Sorry, six to one.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, next we have uh uh Sue Ellen Cologne uh boards and commissions bylaws.

Good afternoon, members of the council.

So Ellen Cologne with the Department of Community Engagement.

As a reminder, in August 2025, Council approved a new bylaws template to be used by boards and commissions after all pre-existing bylaws were considered repealed.

The liaison were presented with a new bylaws template and a new process of presenting these bylaws to council.

On January 20th, the first batch of bylaws and rules of procedures were presented to council for approval.

And today we are presenting you with that second batch.

To recap, the first batch of approved bylaws included bylaws for two advisory boards, the rules and the rules of procedures for a quasi-judicial uh commission, and all were approved.

And today we present to you with the second batch of updated rules of procedures.

It just happens that the remain that these three are statutory planning, land use, and quasi-judicial entities that operate under rules of procedures for approval.

Please know that these are not advisory board.

Therefore, the bylaws template does not apply.

Um and while these entities did use a standardized bylaws template that was um given to all uh boards and commissions, there may be some deviation from the original template, including the title from bylaws tool rules of procedures, because these are statutory.

We do ask for council approval of the following rules of procedures for the planning commission, the design review commission, and board of adjustment.

If there are any questions, I'm happy to answer that.

Um I have one I it's uh it might be a little bit of a wrench in the works, and we can certainly approve this and and move forward.

But um we have I've gotten some feedback from some of our boards and commissions and become aware that they don't have the rules of decorum and code of con or a code of conduct don't apply to uh how our commissioners interact with one another or how they interact with the public.

And so if I could just ask that we consider how that I I think it might be appropriate to consider how we fit those into the bylaws and move forward.

So I don't know.

It doesn't have to be today, but if I could ask for some follow-up on that.

So I was happy to still approve these today and keep it a separate item on rules of decorum or suggested sort of behavioral problem.

Um I see Counselor Ford.

I'm looking at Mr.

Raleigh.

I don't know if he wants to come and speak to this because he his facial expression says he's got some comments here.

He's expressing the other.

Good afternoon, Mayor.

Members of council, Evan Riley with the city manager's office.

I guess I got to work on my poker face in the back here before.

Um I I didn't have any um specific thoughts related to this.

I I am aware that there was uh interest in um including some rules of decorum for the boards.

Uh that is something that uh we can certainly take a look at, would be happy to do so uh as Sue Ellen noted, you did.

I think this would be six sets of bylaws now total that have been approved under this review process.

We can certainly look at some retroactive changes to the ones that have already been approved and going forward what we could uh institute as part of the ones that you will see in the future.

Council question.

Um while you're while you're here.

Uh yeah, council branch.

And looking to that, can you look and see if maybe that could be just a standard of cross boards and commissions?

Yes.

Instead of having to go back and redo bylaws.

That could just be something that override this uh sits over all boards and commissions.

If y'all could look into it from that standpoint, I think that may be helpful.

That's what we do.

I work with uh Mr.

Raleigh.

Community engagement.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh do we have a uh I move that we adopt uh the rules of procedures for approval uh for planning commission, design review commission, and board of adjustment.

All right.

Any other discussion?

All in favor, aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay.

Got it.

Thank you.

Okay.

The next we have got uh the report of the city manager.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

I have two items in my report today, but before I get to the report, I typically do this at the end.

I'm gonna do it at the beginning for the in the essence of time for some guests that we have here today.

You often hear of me speak of when I go to the large city executive forum.

We go twice a year, and those are the city managers from the largest cities in the country, population of 250 and above.

And so I often go and have the brag and rights to brag about Raleigh and all the wonderful things that we're doing.

And so today I have one of my colleagues from that group who heard what we've been saying about how great Raleigh is, and she and her husband decided to make an East Coast tour, and they started in Durham, and she came to the budget work session yesterday, and she even came back for the city council meeting today.

So I promised her that we would be better than it's going to be in Greensboro and in Charlotte when they go towards the latter part of the week.

So we have Cheryl Long and Al Lone.

She is the city manager in Cincinnati, Ohio, and just want to welcome her to Raleigh and thank her and her husband for spending time with us.

So yay.

Um hopefully hopefully they'll come back, right?

So they've been downtown, our husband's been taking pictures, going to r local restaurants and all the things.

So really is a great opportunity to kind of highlight and show off Raleigh to some guests.

And with that, the first item on the actual agenda is the customer experience program update.

You all will recall that we entered into some adventure a year or so ago to kind of look to look at how we could elevate the customer experience with customer service being one of our key priority goals internally for the organization.

And Karen Ray, we were able to convince her to roll over into the city manager's office.

I still think there's a couple of department heads is still a little angry at me for that.

But C Click Fix is no longer a functioning uh platform that allows us to kind of log and monitor and track the customer experience.

And so Karen Ray, single-handedly for the most part, came up with an idea and she's worked with departments to bring forward Ask Raleigh.

And so today she's gonna give us an update on that.

Thank you.

Um Mayor and City Council, thanks for having me today.

Karen Ray with the City Manager's office.

Um and it has been an adventure.

So um thank you.

And thanks for your patience.

I wanted to share an update with you today about Ask Raleigh.

Specifically, we'll cover some data that we've been getting out of the system, which has been wonderful.

And then also briefly provide an update on some other customer experience related initiatives.

So to set the context, um, the customer's role is to be our eyes and ears in the community.

They let us know when we have problems and where we have problems.

And our goal has been to make city services easier to access so we can deliver timely and consistent, consistent support.

When we make our services easier to access and we deliver consistently, we build trust with our customers and reduce duplication of effort for staff.

We have three primary connection points between staff and our customers.

Those would be online via Ask Raleigh by through the phone and then also in person.

And the focus with Ask Raleigh has been to improve our online access.

It's a great way for our customers to connect with us, and we know it's not perfect.

We're getting there.

Um so I just wanted to share a little bit of information with you.

So a service request is a trackable work item.

Think things like a pothole that needs to be filled, a tree that needs to be trimmed, a missing sign.

This work is tracked through completion, and then when we close the loop, we let the customer know that the issue has been resolved.

When a customer logs a service request through Ask Rolly, the data we collect benefits, informed decision making, and allows us to identify opportunities for process improvement, needed training, increased communication, and resource allocation.

So this is just a very simple snapshot of some of the data that we've been able to see.

This is open and closed requests since July 1st.

And this is again very simple, but we can also get more detailed information from the system, such as request type.

So this is a perfect example of where you can look at data and immediately see, ooh, we have a little problem possibly.

So shortly after Go Live, I noticed that we were getting a lot of public nuisance requests.

And I was like, why are we getting so many public nuisance requests?

But this is where the data was really wonderful.

The first thing was that we noticed that public nuisance had a really predominant location on our Ask Rolly main page.

So we've rectified that.

But the second thing was that our customers weren't familiar with how we categorize issues.

So what was a public nuisance to them was not what we call a public nuisance.

So we were spending a lot of time recategorizing, and that was taking longer than we wanted it to for issues to be, excuse me, for issues to be resolved.

So we've made some changes and we're continuing to update public nuisance so that we can get issues to the right place the first time.

When we get issues that are miscategorized, it takes additional time, it causes frustration, and oftentimes it leads to duplicate issues.

So then staff are having to go to the same place twice, and we want to try to prevent that.

Can you just define when it says public nuisance?

That's such a broad category with so many.

Which is one of the things that we really decided.

We went broad when we first went live, and then we looked at the data to see what types of things our customers were categorizing as public nuisances, and we've been able to break those down a little bit more and move some things around.

So where a customer may see a dead animal as a public nuisance, we had it categorized on its own.

So now we move that under public nuisance so that when they go in to see the categories, they see dead animal.

But then there's other things like there's a tree across the greenway.

That is absolutely a public nuisance.

However, we would see that as a tree request or a greenway request.

So we've just tried to make things a little bit easier.

We've added some additional questions that will help us route it better.

Um, and that seems to be helping us bring that number down.

Okay, thank you.

So our customers, as much as I'd love them all to give us smiley faces and say that they're satisfied, that's just not the reality of the world that we live in.

They want to know that when they come to us and they hand the issue off that we're gonna handle it and we're gonna let them know when it's resolved, and they want us to do that as fast as possible.

And that's something that we're trying to really work on.

Um, and since Go Live, we have received a lot of positive feedback, specifically around faster response times.

So our customers are very satisfied with that.

They're also appreciating the automated updates and they find the tool easy to use.

Now that doesn't mean that we haven't gotten improvement suggestions, which we have, um, and we are working through those where it makes sense.

We don't want to recreate a C click fix.

We want to take what we had and we want to make it better.

Um so we're trying to work with the public feedback to just create a balance.

So I wanted to share this lovely dashboard with you.

Hopefully, I'm gonna do it right.

If I do it wrong, Luke will correct me.

Um to create this dashboard.

It's great.

It is live on our website.

You are welcome to access it whenever you want to.

The public is able to access it.

But they pulled all of the data from Ask Rolly and basically created a snapshot for us to see where do we have issues.

And if you zoom in, it breaks it down further and further.

Wow.

And then you can even click on one of those bubbles and click browse features, and you can see what those issues are.

You can even drill into that issue, see the exact location, what the status is.

It was a street sign request, it's now closed.

Um, so you can see, you know, basic information.

We have had some requests to increase the information.

We're working to create a balance there.

Um we don't want to post everything, but we want to make sure that the information is meaningful enough that people feel like the issues are being resolved.

Um you can also search by uh status.

So if I just wanted to see new issues, I could click on new, and now I can see where the new issues are in the city.

I can select zip code, and I can see just what's happening in that zip code, and I can also search by category.

Transportation is always our big winner.

So they have lots and lots of issues.

But this has just been a really fun way for us to be able to visualize the data.

Sorry.

No offense, transportation.

You guys do an awesome job.

They they have really do get the most.

And I will say they have been such an amazing group to work with because that staff is very responsive.

They let me know if there's problems.

They let me know if there's things that they feel like we could be improving on.

And I like to believe through feedback that I received from that staff that this system is actually helping cut down on duplication for them, which is helping them to be able to address issues much faster.

Any questions about the data before yes.

Can you pull up first of all, thank you for all of this?

But can you pull up one of the um tickets like you just did?

Yep.

I just had a question about the Sure.

Do you want me to drill into one of the things?

Yeah, just pick one of the Okay.

The other one, and which we I won't find it again.

I saw the first response time is like the 13th, and then the closed at the 18th.

And this one says hours to resolve 14.

The other one was two days and it had like a thousand.

I thought it looked like it had like a thousand hours, and I was confused how it could be two days and still have a thousand hours to resolve it.

It could be.

So when we built the system, we knew that there are times when we are waiting on our customers to get us information.

And we didn't want to penalize staff for that.

So when something is in um awaiting information status, that is basically us having said to the customer, we need something from you.

And that could be a vendor, it could be an actual homeowner.

We pause it until we receive that information back.

Um it could be that we are waiting on uh an item to come in or whatever so that we can complete the works, but we didn't want our staff to be penalized when they're waiting on something that they really have no control over.

We do try to monitor those, though.

We don't want them to go too long.

That was something that happened with C ClickFix, and so myself and my lovely co-worker have been trying to make sure that we're following up with the departments if we see things are exceeding what we've sort of agreed to as a service level time frame.

Thank you so much.

Any other questions about the data?

Okay.

I just wanted to make sure that you knew that that was there.

All right, hold on.

Now I've got a thank you, Luke, for setting that up for me.

Um so I just want to touch base on a couple of other items related to customer experience.

So our next steps in improving the customer experience are going to be related to phones and in-person.

We are looking at a phone consolidation where it makes sense.

Um we are not gonna just send all the calls to 911.

That's not what we're gonna be doing.

Um but I do want you to, I want to not pick on, but I want to use parks and rec as an example.

They have a lot of phone numbers because they have a lot of centers, they have a lot of activities.

And it's tough sometimes for people to know exactly who to call.

So if we had one phone number and they could call that phone number and they could get to the right person and get their question answered without having to be transferred or call multiple numbers, that would just help the overall customer experience.

Also, parks is phenomenal.

They do a wonderful job.

Their customer service is top notch.

Um we plan to pilot an AI assisted phone routing tool, which will help us collect better information.

It will allow us to direct callers fast faster and correctly the first time that they call.

But because this is new technology to the city and it requires a lot of thoughtfulness in planning and preparation and as well as an opportunity for feedback as we're using the tool.

We want to make sure we leave room to make adjustments as we learn and we grow along with the tool.

And then we also plan to pilot a digital assistance tool or two to test public opinion of things like translation services, enhanced searching and information sharing.

We want to leverage both new and existing technology in combination with the data that we're collecting both from Ask Raleigh and the phones to be able to reduce the need for unnecessary or repeat requests for service assistance.

So moving forward, we continue to develop and work towards a fully rounded customer experience program.

We are anticipate finalizing enhancements to ask Raleigh later this year, and then we hope to have a consolidated phone system or phone solution in place for 2027.

Um it's optimistic, but we can we're we're moving.

We're we can do this.

Um and then we take our final step as we move into the new city hall, uh, where we will open our customer experience center on the first floor in 2027.

I'm very excited for that.

Um and every day I look out the window and I just think, man, it's gonna be so great when we're all in one building and that space is so beautiful.

But working through the last couple of years on this initiative, I've seen how great our teams are able to collaborate.

We're already making strides and improvements in the service delivery.

It's just going to continue to go up from here.

So I'm very excited about all of that and just wanted to provide that brief update, and I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

Great.

Thank you.

Counselor Silver.

Love this tool.

I have a feeling I may be a big user because I see a lot of things and I think it's better to go directly to Ask Raleigh.

So I think the lesson about the public nuisance is a very powerful one.

I know we often talk about the use of acronyms, but public jargon can be equally as complicated.

And I think a great lesson is to understand public nuisance from our perspective, but the public is viewing it as something else.

Seem like a lot.

How is a person navigate when they go in?

Because they're going to probably go through a few and saying, ah, I'm just picking this one.

How is the customer approaching the site?

And it does a box pull down to show the public nuisance options.

If you want to go to dead animals, I don't know if we saw that part, but I'll, you know, I'm definitely going to go and take a look at it.

But how's a person navigated to know they're picking the right choice, which helps them and helps staff?

That's a great question.

So there's a couple of options similar to other tools like this.

You're going to have drop-down options, and then you're also going to have a search bar that you can search in there as well.

And then when you get to the category that you think, there's a description at the top that will give you some more information.

If you're not sure, there is always, and my friends in IT will say, please don't do this, but I'm going to do this.

There is a request not found.

And that will come to me or it will come to Jessica, and we will figure out who it belongs to, and then we will route it.

And at first I was I was a little nervous about that, but our customers are finding their way to the right place.

And so we're seeing fewer and fewer requests not found, which is wonderful.

Counselor Jones.

When we were talking about the AI and adding in that uh element to it and knowing that it'll be really fun and people ask questions, how have you guys looked into the impact on the environment that that would do for our data centers that are using the AI and helping translate all that information?

So I'm gonna phone a friend.

Uh Tia Reeves is here from IT.

And I would say that if she doesn't have the answer, we will get that back information back to you.

She may not be the right person.

Good afternoon, uh Tia Reeves Information Technology.

So yes, we have been working with our partners in, and I'm gonna probably phone a friend too uh with Megan, but we have been uh uh partnering with the sustainability office to make sure that that's uh forefront in all of our pilots as we evaluate uh AI tools uh and possible uh impacts to our environment.

But I'm gonna have her come in and kind of talk about because her office is taking the lead with helping us kind of explore what that looks like.

Hey there, Megan Anderson with sustainability.

Great question.

Yes, we've been looking at that very closely with IT.

They've been rolling out some trainings that Tia is leading that we're putting that into when folks are thinking about about AI in our own organization, we can do that smart from the beginning, knowing that there's impacts.

Um then we've been just doing some research and best practices along with our partners and are putting together some more information.

So if council would like more information on that in general, um obviously there isn't a lot that we can control.

We're looking at what we can control first, but it's something we're thinking about, and obviously in North Carolina, it's a hot spot for this issue too, and a lot of things around us are getting those kind of data centers as well.

So something that we're definitely talking about quite a bit and can share more information as counsel would like.

Yeah, I would love to see that breakdown, especially from what I'm hearing from community members is the water impact that that has and how much water is taken out of uh circulation because of data centers.

So I think as we are introducing a new tool that will increase that demand if there's any way for us to track and measure that so that we can make that you know I don't know about making it public, but making just sure that we know and we can make decisions with it.

I would very much appreciate that information.

Our Raleigh Water partners are definitely in the discussions with us as well.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Counselor Lambert Melton.

And then Counselor Putt.

Uh thank you for this.

I was just playing around on the website.

Okay.

I haven't been on there yet.

And I will say just my initial um interaction was I think people really liked C click fix because it was so simple.

Yes.

And one thing I noticed on here is it wasn't apparent to me how I submit a request where it says get started, it says view service catalog.

I almost feel like if that said submit request, and then when you get to that landing page, there's the different categories, but then under each one there's a link that just says view details.

I almost feel like that should also say submit a request.

So when you get there and you see I don't know, signs and signals, it's clear I I can submit my request for sign and signal.

So that's the only feedback I have.

Thank you for saying that.

Um we're actually working with our uh communications partners on that because we have we did that intentionally when we first launched, we launched as a beta.

Um we wanted to see, we wanted to make sure people knew how how to use the tool.

And so there was some simple information there.

But it's we're past that now, so we're working to take that down and then kind of redesign that page.

So it is much more oh, that's how I do it.

That's exactly where I go.

Yep.

Hi, good to hear from you.

Um I am curious.

So I work in customer service for my day job, and we have like the industry standard for my industry is like a 76% CSAT for a customer experience.

And then so we and based on the industry standard, then we have an internal standard.

I am curious that whether you have a set of internal standards, KPIs, and if you're willing to share what they are.

So I have them in my head for what I expect.

We have not rolled them out yet.

A lot of what we're trying to do is new because we are trying to work more collaboratively as one unit.

Many departments within the city are operating with their own KPIs.

Um specifically Raleigh Water has a call center.

They have a m a million KPIs that are all really wonderful.

And that for me, once we get the the phones consolidated and we make some additional changes to Ask Raleigh, that's when I feel like we can really start pushing down on some of those KPIs and making sure that we are targeting reasonable responses.

Um we do have service levels that are on, you know, for each category, and we're looking at some of those to see where we can make some adjustments because we took an average from staff knowing that we wanted to be able to back those down if we could.

So we're working slowly towards that.

Um my goal would be that we would have standard KPIs across the board.

Okay, cool.

Um and then with consideration for using AI for call routing, um, one thing I'll just offer is like it's probably the AI is reading itself, right?

You're probably gonna route it to read the website and and whatever.

But uh one thing we noticed is that if you have pages in draft, which I imagine exist in abundance, it can like sort of hallucinate on itself with like not know not realizing something's a draft.

Um and then of course sometimes residents just get uh really frustrated and want to get to a human straight away.

So if we make it not you, we want that Goldilocks amount of friction that if they can be self-served, then that's great, but not so much that they're like irate by the time they get to the human.

I I am the zero zero zero person when I call someone.

I know I break all the rules.

Um but that's something that I keep in the back of my mind is somebody you you want to have that human connection because you want to know that you're getting the right place.

But there's a lot of the calls that we get that are really simple and straightforward.

You know, what are the hours of operation, or what's the location of this, or when is my next trash collection?

Those are things that can really be handled automatically.

But the questions that I get on a basis, those definitely need to go to a human because it requires some actual thought and consideration.

Just curious about public records request and whether people kind of get crossed over that there's a different public records request.

Are the standards of response time similar or different?

Or you know, how do you align this portal or segregate it from public records?

So right now we are keeping it segregated.

We do notify customers when we see that they have an information request.

We do um provide the information for them to log that information request.

Uh we have had some conversations because there is a little bit of overlap, and um that's something that we're still having conversations about and looking to see where that might make sense.

And I was just gonna look and see if Robin's here and if she has anything she might want to.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Any other comments.

Well, great.

Thank you so much for your time.

Have a great afternoon.

Update.

Karen.

And the second item is uh hospitality tax competitive process update.

We have Evan Raleigh who serves as our lead person in the interlocal um conversations with Wake County.

Good afternoon again, Mayor, members of council, Evan Raleigh with the manager's office.

So I am here to present to you the recommendations from the review panel that reviewed all the proposals that we received for the FY26 competitive tax funding process.

Before I get into the presentation, I will just take a moment to acknowledge all of the individual organizations, groups that submitted proposals for review.

We had a record number, as I understand, there were 22 proposals that the group received to take a look at and make recommendations on.

Lots of hard work went into those proposals.

Obviously there were some that were not recommended, but I will say I think there was some element of merit to some extent with all of them.

It was a difficult process.

It was a lot of information that was requested of them, and just wanted to acknowledge every proposer and thank them for uh their submissions.

Also do want to also uh acknowledge the review panel members.

I'll I'll list them.

You'll see them on a slide later in the presentation.

This uh uh, as you will see, was a very deliberative process that demanded a lot, not only of the proposers, but also of the individuals that were tasked with reviewing all that material that uh we uh received.

So, and just a little note on this intro slide here, these are a couple of examples of projects here uh within the City of Raleigh that have received awards from previous competitive processes.

So I'm sure these uh will be familiar to you.

Um again, just the sampling of the Greg Museum over at NC State's campus marbles and the North Carolina Museum of Art have been previous recipients from from the process that I'm going to uh describe to you now.

Uh so before I get to the recommendations, we would there are a few uh background pieces of information that I will cover uh for those that may not be familiar, um, talk a little bit about the the hospitality tax fund itself, how it's set up, um, talk about the 23rd amendment to the interlocal agreement that uh set the stage for the competitive process that I'm gonna review with you.

Um, share a little history on the competitive process itself, uh talk about um the process that led to the recommendations that I will share with you, and then um present the uh the proposals and our our recommendations.

So again, just for context, uh the hospitality tax uh has been in existence for many, many years here in Wake County.

The State Legislature back in 91 uh approved uh the levying of a 6 percent tax on occupancy stays within the county and a 1 percent tax on prepared uh food and beverage sales, again, that's countywide.

Uh and the legislature dictated that those revenues could only be used to support projects that support these specific categories of um that you see listed there on the screen.

Um the governance model that was put in place when this count uh when this tax was enacted dictated that both the city and the county kind of jointly shared responsibility for uh oversight and and distribution of uh funds and revenues from the fund.

But I will say it is it is Wake County's tax.

Uh they collected, they they are sort of in the lead car between the two of us.

So talk a little bit about the the 23rd Amendment.

Um some of you may remember this well.

Uh the 23rd Amendment was executed back in the fall of 2023 by both the City Council and the County Commissioners, and it had some some really lofty goals uh associated with that specific amendment.

Um we were able to fund uh almost 750 million dollars worth of projects here uh just within the um confines of the City of Raleigh through that amendment.

You see uh this uh in addition to the $300 million that was committed to the Lenovo Center upgrade, uh that amendment also committed $387.5 million to the convention center expansion and the rehat Red Hat Relocation Project, committed up to $75 million for the hotel, which is now uh under construction and the Omni.

And it also set aside uh a modest amount of uh funding, 23 and a half million to support the small competitive project uh projects process.

So in just in terms of history, this competitive process has been run several times in the past.

It's been around for about 13 years or so.

Uh the first process occurred in 2013, and you can see the on the second second bullet there, the other years in which these competitive processes have been run.

There is an asterisk, unfortunately, beside the 2019 process.

As that was one that was envisioned, but ultimately had to be canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing impact to the revenues that were going to fund that process.

So unfortunately, that one did not happen, but you see the other uh three that happened uh in prior years.

And so this is actually something relatively, I think this is the first time that uh the city council may actually be seeing projects that have competed in this um pot.

Typically it is the county that is uh the the determiner, uh largely that's because the fund source that's set aside to fund these competitive processes falls to the county's um uh section of the model.

Um, but uh we uh made some changes that I'll talk about um on the in a in a future slide that has uh this year's round of competitive processes being jointly awarded by both UL and the county commissioners.

Uh and I didn't cover that last but so just another contextual piece there of information.

So from 2013 when the process first started to 2023, a total of 20.1 million dollars has been awarded as part of the process to you see 18 projects across uh 10 municipalities in Wake County.

So fast forwarding to this year's process, uh as I already mentioned, uh the 23rd Amendment set aside 23.5 million dollars to be awarded.

Uh and so as part of that agreement, this is how the that 23.5 million dollars was essentially divvied up.

So 8 million of that 23 and a half million dollar pot would be uh awarded to projects based solely on the vote from the county commissioners, and the remaining 15 and a half million would be jointly awarded by vote of both the county commissioners and the Raleigh City Council.

So uh today you are going to see those recommendations that are subject to that joint award.

This is just an overview of the process.

Again, as I mentioned at the outset, this was a very deliberate process, uh, very time-intensive, thoughtful.

Uh it was uh begun back in September is when the RFP uh and call was issued for proposals.

They were due.

We gave proposers about two months to put their projects together.

Uh the review team convened in November and worked through uh November and December reviewing hundreds and hundreds of pages of documentation.

Uh we had interviews with uh all of the applicants, all 20 20 or so.

Uh and so we are now here at the place where we're ready to make recommendations.

Uh I will say that the Board of Commissioners uh saw uh the recommendation.

All $23.5 million of recommendations at their meeting last night and uh approved that award.

And so we're at the final step uh with the presentation to you all.

So this just this slide gives you some uh sense of the minimum uh requirements that were uh kind of baseline eligibility criteria.

Uh won't go totally in depth, but but highlights there, obviously located within Wake County.

Uh they do have to be capital limit in nature within the permitted uses as the legislation uh defines.

Um there is a also a requirement that those interlocal funds be uh no more than 50 percent of the project.

Part of the goal is to use the interlocal funds to leverage investment from other entities, and uh we don't you know uh want to be the majority uh sort of stakeholder in the funding stream.

And and we there are no restrictions.

I I know that there were some questions throughout the process about what kinds of organizations could submit uh for this funding.

There is no uh restrictions, so we got uh proposals from public, private, and nonprofit entities.

This is a look at the uh evaluation criteria that was used to evaluate the proposals.

All of the proposers, it was uh a hundred-point scale, and if you look um left to right, top to bottom in that upper left-hand box, that was uh uh uh the kind of the highest um where the most number of points were allocated and sort of trails off as you get to the bottom right.

And so, again, these were the general criteria that the committee had in mind and was scoring upon when we looked at the uh the proposals.

So this uh it were the these were the individuals that were tasked with making the review.

Uh you can see it's uh fairly diverse.

We had representation from the county staff, we had representation from uh the City of Raleigh.

We also had uh community representation, a couple of representatives from some of the uh uh outlying uh municipalities, the arts, uh our CBB, hospitality alliance were all a part of um reviewing the proposals.

And here's a quick summary.

So as I said, we got 22 total proposals, which I understand was a record for this process.

Those 22 requests uh equaled out to about 75 and 75, 76 million dollars uh in asks.

I think uh the total projects were 300 plus million dollars uh worth of projects.

Uh they were very geographically dispersed, which was one of the goals.

Uh so uh there were projects proposed in uh I think if I got that number right, 10 of 12 municipalities.

And that's not to say that they were all municipally sponsored projects.

Again, as I said, uh the eligibility was open to all kinds of entities.

So some of these were, for example, nonprofit uh entities that just so happened to be in a specific place.

So uh lots of geographic dispersion.

They the requests were very uh I think it was perfectly split between existing facilities and new.

Uh and then you see on those those last two points, kind of the um delineation between uh projects that were focused on sports uh sports facilities versus those that fell into the arts or cultural uh sort of facilities category.

So here are the uh the organizations and entities that are being recommended uh to you for the joint award of 15 and a half million.

Uh I will not go into the details of all of these specific projects that was information that was included in the backup information to give you a sense of uh the nature of each of these projects and what the general requests were around.

Um again, $15.5 million of funding that is subject to uh the council's vote, commissioners vote for total of nine projects.

There is a uh a star, an asterisk right there with beside the town of Holly Springs.

That is because that that project uh essentially fell into both buckets.

Uh there was not a a clean uh split between the 15 and a half and the 8 million, just the way the numbers worked.

So that that's a project that uh is is is uh coming out of essentially the county commissioner only award as well as the joint funding award.

That's that's the purpose, uh the meaning behind that asterisk.

So uh in terms of next steps, uh again, we are asking for council's approval on that slate of recommendations subject to those that are uh approval.

All of the entities that you just saw listed will be uh entering into agreements, funding agreements with the county that will get into the specific parameters of how those awards will take shape, disbursements, all the the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of the awards, and then uh there is a note.

Um not to be confused with the competitive process, the stakeholder review process is the next interlocal related topic uh that will be discussed publicly.

Um the 23rd Amendment required that the stakeholder review process occur no later than June 30th of this uh calendar year.

So that is the next touch point um aside from competitive processes.

So uh with that, uh I will be happy to answer any questions you have.

Yes, Councilor Lambert Melton.

In the agenda backup material, there's the full chart of all the projects and then ranked by scoring.

So the top 12 are recommended for funding.

Do the organizations receive feedback on their score and how they were ranked?

So I will say all of the uh organizations, whether they were recommended or not, uh did get a uh communication from us prior to uh this meeting.

So they were all made aware before the recommendations were made public.

Um we uh we haven't I'm not aware of any request uh for feedback.

Certainly uh I I do believe um my colleague uh at the County Michael James made the bulk of those calls to proposers.

Um fortunately I got basically all the happy calls.

So I know that there was some feedback that was uh requested in those conversations that was provided kind of over the phone, general sort of here's what the committee saw, here's you know, some some answers to some specific questions, but there's no there hasn't been any sort of formal um I'd say uh feedback uh presented.

But I know that as questions have come up, um, you know, we we've been happy to to answer those.

Okay.

Well, I suspect that uh we will probably be be the ones receiving the upset calls.

And so it would be helpful, I think, if there were some tangible feedback, like for example, some of these that are ranking I don't know, 70.4 on the score, team score.

I mean, that's a pretty precise measurement.

So I'm assuming there was some rubric.

Yeah.

And if that can be provided to the folks, that will give them transparency on why they were or were not recommended for funding.

I think that makes it a lot easier for us.

Then also if these organizations plan to submit for future requests, they may be able to know what types of projects to submit or how to make their project more viable for scoring.

So that would be my feedback.

Sure, certainly.

And I will say if there are any proposers uh that are listening in to this, certainly feel free.

Uh please spare our elected officials.

You're welcome to contact staff, and we are happy to provide that feedback so you don't have to take on that burden of speaking for the review panel.

We're happy to offer that.

Counselor Jones and then Councillor Branch.

Do you have any uh data about the revenue that is brought in from the entire county broken down by municipality or area so that the you know we see in our last and we as you talked about at the beginning, $700 million.

It went mainly to Raleigh.

So I understand why it's the flip this time, but I also want to be able to see be on honest with what who is actually bringing in the revenue, who's putting the heads in the beds and being able to say that.

So do we have that data?

We do, and I can speak to some of it.

Uh what is immediately coming to mind is the uh the um FY25 figures, at least on the occupancy tax side.

I am uh forgetting the pro prepared food and beverage figure.

Um it's lost on me, but I can say as far as total um total distribution on occupancy tasks in in the last fiscal year, about 63 percent of that was collected in the City of Raleigh.

Uh the with the remaining 37 percent collected with uh between the uh outly municipalities and unincorporated Wake County.

So uh in terms of dollar figures, that's about uh roughly 26 million dollars with the City of Raleigh, about 13.6 million uh from areas outside of Raleigh.

Again, that was just that one particular year uh for the prepared food and beverage side.

I can say it's uh I'm forgetting the specific figures, but it is uh Raleigh's share of that is slightly less.

It's 55-ish percent of the total take on a 40-ish, 40-plus million total uh collection for prepared food and beverage.

Great.

If it's possible to get that uh just information just to have to review for that same purposes of clarity and transparency, that would be appreciated.

Thank you.

So I understand money collected helps determine when amendments and competitive processes may occur.

Is there an idea when there may be a 24th amendment or the net competitive process?

Certainly.

So uh the 24th Amendment is going to very likely be inked here, probably at the conclusion of the stakeholder process that I spoke about having to uh run its course and take place by the end of June of this year.

I'd envision that at that point we would probably enter into uh the next the 24th ILA um amendment to the ILA.

I can't necessarily speak to uh what uh expenditure decisions will be made as far as a part of that process, simply because we are still in the process right now.

Um, and again, this is more kind of context.

There is a team of staff, uh city staff, county staff, a couple of representatives from uh the municipality, other municipalities, uh CVB and others who get together on a semi-regular basis to review the projections.

So every time we make uh an amendment, that amendment includes projections and revenue capture into the future.

So we we have a team that's always constantly monitoring where we are kind of, you know, uh quarter to quarter, year to year, how we're doing on the projections that we set out to kind of understand how much is you know available to cover not only the commitments that we've made, but what might be available for future distributions as well.

So we're in that process right now and uh just just recently had a meeting.

We will have another meeting before we sort of set the parameters on uh our ability to make commitments in that next ILA.

Okay.

Thank you.

Counselor Pott.

Hi.

And and where are we on the projections?

Because I know the the big award la last year or whatever was um based on an aggressive modeling of how tourism would continue.

Well, this might be a good time to phone a friend.

I am wondering if our wonderful First Lady of Finances Yes, she is, she's here.

Can come down and uh shirt.

I'm gonna Yes.

Come and give you two.

That was not an approved title in the class in Constance.

From now on.

Oh goodness.

Alison Bratcher, Finance Department.

Yeah, as Evan said, we are working very collaboratively with the county.

I think our next meeting is three to four weeks.

So typically that will come as a part of really the larger budget process.

So right now I don't really have any updated numbers to share.

Okay.

So don't.

You can't even give me a loose like on track with projections or slightly above or slightly.

Well, you know, this is another one of those taxes that is delayed, right?

So it'll be a couple weeks.

Understood.

Understood.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Then maybe back to you, Evan.

Some of these are actually.

Oh, thank you.

I did just get an update.

I uh I overshot the runway on PFB.

It's actually 45 percent of the overall tax.

So roughly just less than half.

So 63 percent occupancy in terms of Raleigh's contribution, 45 on PFB.

I knew it was lower.

Thank you, Alison.

Helpful.

My other question was in the backup where it has all the awards, some of um some of the projects get their full award, their full request.

Some get much less, which makes sense that we might be trying to like spread spread the love, or there are their project has some clear chunks that can be split.

And then some of them miss their requested amount by only like a thousand dollars.

So I'm curious if you can just elaborate a little bit on the Yeah, I'm happy to.

So there's a there was a lot that went into the specific um the committee's recommendations around specific awards.

I think what you're seeing in the variation on of the numbers is uh is a product of the total amount of available funding, just kind of how the numbers were.

But um you've also got to consider the nature of the things that were being requested in that proposal.

So while uh someone may have asked for let's just say five and a half million dollars, it could have been determined by the committee that four million of that was not worthy, didn't meet the standard, didn't for whatever reason.

And so we were, you know, a four million award, four million asked could have been a million uh ultimately been a million dollars because of that five million ask, here are the pieces that were most value add, here were the pieces that uh kind of uh thought were most worthwhile as part of the proposal.

Uh so that's a little bit of hopefully that gives you a little sort of understanding in terms of why there is so much variation uh from project to project.

And really, you know, everyone was unique, uh I will say.

And sorry, just one more follow-up.

So the the spirit of this tax is that the you know it's generated by hotel stays and dining out, and that the spirit of the taxes that it would fund projects that encourage more people to stay in hotels and dine out again.

Um on first review for me, some of these projects look like they would do that, and then some do not as clearly call out to me as like, oh yeah, that would generate someone staying in a hotel or that would cause someone to eat out.

So how did you factor that in?

Well, I will tell you that was and I'll go back to the criteria.

So I will say all the projects that you see recommended, uh, when you weighed out all the factors that you're seeing on the screen were determined to be um worthwhile.

Um certainly there are projects that probably one could argue will deliver more uh visitorship than others.

I I will say that uh in the committee's mind, none of the projects that you see won't have any impact on visitorship in some way or the other.

A lot of these is rec, you know, some of those was recognition that um enhancements to venues that they themselves have a history of generating significant tourism was it was, for example, a factor.

So, you know uh and I'll say a lot of material was provided.

Uh one of the things that all of the proposers had to submit was demand uh projections.

Trip we we we had a uh a calculator, I think that actually might have been provided by our CVB uh partners there that um required all of these projects to give us uh projections that basically you know look out into the future, what kind of chip generation, what kind of heads and beds, what kind of PFB revenue would be derived as a result of uh making an investment in the project.

And so uh we asked all you know, all of that that information of all the proposers, and that was something that was looked at really critically by all the members of the panel.

I just wanted to weigh in and say that um I've and Councillor Lambert Melton alluded to it.

I mean, there are some really disappointing folks that weren't funded, and I'll just I mean, of course, I have an affiliation uh in the past with Dix Park, but it's exploded onto the scene as one of the biggest tourist attractions, right?

We know more visitorship than Wright's second only to Riceville Beach.

And they haven't gotten a dollar of interlocal money, right?

And and and so they're not in here.

Um there's others too that could be really detrimental to their ability to even continue to ever happen.

So I just want to acknowledge that there is gonna be a lot of hurt and disappointment, and many of those people are in Raleigh.

Um, and so that is something we'll be uh dealing with with some of our folks.

And then um just a second on Councilor Pattons.

You know, the biggest concern is that we have uh a virtuous cycle here of reinvestment that really does result in hospitality stays.

And um I was heartened that I did talk to the hospitality industry for the most part.

I think they are supportive of these, but they, you know, I think there are some that clearly do not have huge impact.

Um so I just wanted to make those statements to say, you know, I think um the City of Raleigh again has been the beneficiary of a lot.

We generate a lot.

Um we did not do particularly well in this, and um just I want to acknowledge the disappointment by some in the community that have worked really hard, um, made a big impact on visitorship, and yet, you know, are not being supported by this funding stream.

In terms of the county, uh, since they met, I think yesterday, did they already see this list and what was their response?

How did they feel?

So they they they approved it on consent.

Uh so they had a work session where there was a lot of robust presentation.

I don't know that there was necessarily robust robust discussion.

Um, but uh they they have uh blessed it and approved it in its in its um the way it's presented.

Thank you.

I'm just gonna make a motion.

Yep.

Um I just moved to approve the recommendations.

Okay.

Uh all in favor, aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Thank you for serving on the committee and all the work.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Mayor and Council.

That concludes my report today.

All right.

Next, we have the report and recommendation of the Human Relations Commission, and we have Raquel Gill and Jamie Robinson uh who is the chair.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

Rakil Gill Economic and Social Advancement here today to introduce Ms.

Jamie Robinson, the chairperson for the Human Relations Commission.

She will be presenting the annual report for fiscal year 2025, the annual work plan for approval for fiscal year 2026.

She will also be presenting to you guys a letter requesting the re the amending of the youth membership requirement of the Raleigh Municipal Code.

I'll turn it over to Jamie.

Uh good afternoon, Mayor and members of City Council.

On behalf of the Raleigh Human Relations Commission, thank you for the opportunity to present our fiscal year 24-25 annual report and our proposed 25-26 annual work plan.

Today we respectfully request the council receive the uh fiscal year 25 annual report as information and approve the fiscal year 26 annual work plan and consider taking action on our request to amend Section 4-3003 as the Raleigh Municipal Code.

Excuse me.

The Raleigh Human Relations Commission serves in an advisory capacity to this council on matters related to human services and human relations.

Our charges rooted in promoting human dignity, equal opportunity, and harmony amongst Raleigh's diverse residents.

This includes advancing the general well-being of all residents without regard to race, color, creed, gender, age, sexual orientation, ability, or national origin.

This mission requires sustained engagement, research, listening, education, and uh policy-informed recommendations.

In fiscal 2025, uh the Commission focused on community outreach, education, and relationship building.

We prioritize strengthen strengthening trust within the community, ensuring disciplined stewardship of grant resources, listening directly to residents about emerging issues, and providing thoughtful actionable recommendations to council.

Our work reflects a long-term commitment to equity inclusion and community well-being.

The uh grants committee provided disciplined oversight and strategic alignment of funding opportunities, ensured fiscal stewardship, alignment with commission priorities, expanded partnerships, and stronger calibility.

Additionally, the council also convened a citywide National Day of Racial Healing event that fostered meaningful dialogue, strengthened partnerships, and advanced Raleigh's commitment to inclusion and belonging.

Let's see.

Our uh work plan overview for fiscal year 25-26.

The committee yeah, the community commission proposes a strategic work plan centered on four areas.

Promote community and cohesion, enhance community well-being and security, promote economic mobility and strengthen community engagement and policy.

Um these focused areas reflect community feedback in alignment with our brighter priorities.

So far this year, we have already held the Tools for School program, which we provided over close to $5,000 in backbacks and supplies for students and socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

We also just had our National Day of Racial Healing in January 2026.

Those of you that could attend, thank you very much.

We appreciate your attendance.

Let's see.

Additionally, we want to make a request uh on the youth membership amendment request.

Um commission respectfully seeks council guidance regarding section four-three thousand three of the Raleigh Municipal Code, which requires one commission member to be under the age of 21.

While we remain committed, oops, make sure I'm on the right.

Sorry, thank you.

While we remain committed to the youth engagement, revisiting this requirement would enhance operational flexibility and effectiveness.

We propose maintaining strong youth voice through structured outreach initiatives, initiatives, youth advisory roles, partnerships with schools, and youth serving organizations and youth-focused programming.

Uh in closing, we respectfully request that the council receive our fiscal year 2025 in a report as information and approve the fiscal year 2026 work plan and consider an action regarding proposed amendment Section 4-3003.

The Raleigh Human Relations Commission remains committed to advancing dignity, opportunity, and harmony across our city.

Thank you very much.

And I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you.

Yes.

So are you proposing eliminating the youth position because you're having a hard time getting somebody to serve in that capacity?

Correct.

We are very much.

Yep.

Um so in enhancing accessibility means and you list in the listing here, talks about structure outreach with and youth advisory roles and partnerships.

What's the plan to implement those items?

That is a great plan.

As you're familiar, we have just merged our commissions and we're still kind of working through some of the fine details of those plans.

So I wish I could provide you a better answer.

Um, as you know, we incorporated the Hispanic Immigrant Affairs Board.

Currently, right now, they're working through their bylaws, and once we get an amendment, hopefully, of the municipal code, we'll be able to think through how we can incorporate the functions of that particular role in the bylaws of HRC.

Oh, okay.

Council Johnson.

Just to stay on that for a second, I just like to offer some thoughts on it because I think for me it gives me a little heartburn to cut off a youth pro and understand that it's been difficult filling, and uh for that, I I do respect that.

Uh but we do have Raleigh Youth Council, so I know that there's already a a seated board that is their possibility to do a liaison role instead of a seated board, you know, is that possible?

We did that on Parks Board, we had a uh the Raleigh Youth Council Common Speak and everyone said that we still had every month to be part of it, even though it wasn't a seated position.

So I think there are options to do that.

But if you have other organizations, even having like a committee of of youth, because um I I don't want and I know you don't want either to lose that youth perspective, and and I just don't want this to look like we're trying to eliminate uh the youth participation.

And I, you know, I appreciate the feedback.

Uh is there a possibility of yeah, we can definitely look into that right now.

As you know, I've only been on the commission for two years.

Um we have had the youth role.

For sure I and I respect that uh the benefit for a parks board using the Raleigh youth council is that it was rotate that it could be rotated so it didn't have to be that same uh person it could uh change as the schedules of the students in high school who are on that board uh allowed and so I think that that might be an alternative if if that is done what would you use that seat for just an alter or a regular member is there a different specified category that you'd like to no I don't think so we we did we when we redid the bylaws we made sure not to kinda because we want I said we want to make sure that no one's excluded and if we make specific categories I feel like maybe a voice that needs to be heard at that moment could be dismissed and so we decided not to to kind of pigeonhole categories like that.

Understood thank you.

Yes.

So just to be clear this positions for youth someone 21 and under you're asking us to remove that position or that requirement.

That requirement yeah we want to keep the COVID so you want to keep that position you just want to remove that category for that selected position.

Yeah.

Yes.

That's that would be the request so that in the event that there is no one who is under that age of 21 to feel that role that it can be open or whatnot but there's still an option to have a youth slot there.

Okay.

Um to the council I was on council when we approved this in 2020 and the and the goal is to try to you know include the youth and if there was a plan, I will probably support that piece.

But I need more information of a plan of how we're going to include the youth before I can support that piece.

Again it then the the math is the five not not a perfect score.

So so if there's five that decide to remove it I understand.

But I know I can't support that piece without a plan of how youth will be engaged.

I know when we make other changes to the Human Relations Commission there was a plan in place of how that item could still be addressed.

So without the plan of seeing how this part can still be addressed, I'm not ready to support that part okay uh Lambert Melton and then Patton Yeah I mean I I would just say I I agree that it's important to have the youth voices, but it sounds like in practice it's just not happening because of what we're the chair is saying that they're not able to participate in this capacity.

And so I don't think removing the requirement removes a youth voice because there's no youth voice right now because this is not a a really good fit for someone 21 and under is what I'm hearing.

And so you know I would like to provide more opportunities to HRC to have diversity of opinion in the room and if there's a better way to capture youth voice I'm fine with doing that.

And you know maybe that's the next step we need to think about but I don't think we need to hold up on this because we're not really removing a youth voice because they can't keep the position filled and when they do the person's not actually able to participate.

And so it's kind of just there in title but not an actual impact.

And so I would be fine with removing it today and then seeing what else we can be doing to bolster our youth council or find other ways to connect particularly with this commission.

Yeah one wonder that I'm having is if you all can maybe you all deliberated this but if it moved from something like 21 to 26 like a 26 year old was was recently use youthful but may not be like have the same constraints you know the same like school scheduling but um might still be able to like meet the spirit of the seat to take a I I am of the age now where I think anything under 30 is youthful so um that's where we are now.

I think that's something that we could definitely maybe look into before we push the absolute removal maybe we could tweak the language where we could make it a certain age first and then if not available then we could elected some some kind of language like that maybe well let me just say first off I um thank you for the work plan and I also appreciate your leadership and this merger and all the work that has gone into that by both you and the Hispanic and immigration affairs.

And I guess I would uh just one comment yesterday we had a work session on budget and the youth budget session was the most well attended.

So it is interesting to say like if you've if you can kind of unlock the the key um and they said they had the highest level of of emoticons in their feedback.

Um it was anyway.

So I would just say maybe just hold off on that piece uh sounding like to me, and then figure out we know that there's youth voices out there that want to be heard.

Um maybe there's just a better way and we can learn from what we did in the budget session, or I know Christina Jones here, like you know, th there may be other tips before we take that step.

And I I just want to uh add when you say that it's you you're finding it hard.

I just want to remember that it's actually us because we're the ones that put them on you, right?

Or do you guys find do you guys nominate?

Do you have a nominating committee?

No, we don't.

And I think by finding it hard, I there was a point where we were struggling to meet quorum finding it hard because we didn't have everybody showing, and our particular youth person right now had soccer games on Thursday, so they could never attend and say that's what I meant by finding it hard.

Right.

No, and I I just wanted to be clear that as people are listening, it's not something that you were responsible for finding.

That is our responsibility.

And so um I I will take on that challenge.

Um I do think that there are alternates that in a liaison role that could give you more flexibility in that.

Um but I I just wanted to be clear that that that's us.

Right.

Okay.

Sounds like it's uh approving the work plan and maybe holding off on the um category for a bit and then us working with you so that it is not all on your shoulders.

Right.

Thank you.

All right.

One other thing.

Uh maybe that uh just charge this to my head if I'm the one forgetting.

But um I remember that we received communication from the HRC regarding the legacy grants.

Now there's a bit of confusion that they are called HRC grants, but you all actually don't opine on the legacy grant part and a desire for clarity.

Did that conversation get wrapped?

Did you all get that I am not sure of.

I can't get that for you.

Okay.

Yeah.

If if it it sounded like you all were asking for clarity from us, which I think if you have asked, we should provide it, but perhaps we already have, and I'm just forgetting.

Right.

So I'll make a motion to approve the work plan.

Second.

Okay.

Any other discussion?

All in favor, aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay.

Again, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Uh next we have matters scheduled for public hearing.

Uh and we have Bryce Abernathy from Housing and Community Development.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

Bryce Samarat with Housing and Code Enforcement.

Um first item I'm bringing you today is 700 Cooper Road.

Um this particular property.

Um due to complaints in like March of 2025, we went out and did an inspection.

Um it's air property.

There was about 14 heirs that are involved with it.

Um it's in pretty poor shape.

Uh a lot of nasty stuff on the inside.

The kitchen's been kind of removed.

Um it kind of is what it is.

There's a lot of bad stuff.

Um through the life of our case, it's at a point where it can stay on a vacant enclosed list for about a year.

Um that year ends up in about October of 2026.

If it's still in the state at that point, I'll I'll bring it back for a demolition ordinance.

Um in the meantime, it is still kind of open.

People are getting into it.

It's right down the street from a school.

Um I'm asking council today to adopt an unfit for human appetition ordinance that will help us facilitate going out and to board it up.

Um with all that being said, uh I don't think anybody signed up to speak today for this for this, but I did have a prospective buyer that called.

Well, we actually have somebody with a hand up, although you're correct.

We don't have anybody on the property.

Oh, okay.

Um I don't know how to handle that.

So so I told him, I said, well, you know, we're gonna move forward with what we have to do.

If he buys the property uh, you know, and in uh the right amount of time, he can go out and board it himself.

Okay.

But I think from a safety perspective, we need to move forward and board up.

Okay.

Counselor Silver.

Any speakers?

There's no one signed up.

There's uh somebody in the audience with their hand up, but I'm not I said procedurally not sure how to accommodate that.

Mayor uh certainly if the council is so inclined, you could uh have the speaker come up and ask the speaker a question and in the case of Ayr's property.

I don't know if the public knows what that means, but it's basically a property that has no clear title passed down from generation to generation, and so everyone who has claim has a share of that property.

Do we do any outreach to work with uh local um uh nonprofit legal entities to help figure out a path forward usually is to figure out how to incorporate, otherwise it just becomes complicated, or that's something that we do not intervene.

That's usually typically not something that we get into involved with.

Um to get good delivery on the case to get noticed to all these errors we do send that we send all the errors, the you know, the notice of violation and the repair order, but we also do a public advertisement to make sure that uh that's you know everybody's got the per the appropriate notification.

Thank you.

So I guess I can open the hearing and then um I'll ask um the attendee here if she wants to speak.

I don't know whether you're for or against.

I'm actually an heir.

Okay.

Oh, okay.

All right.

Well, let me go ahead and open the hearing on 700 Cooper Road, and then um if you want to come up and state your name and what your uh connection is, you know, with the property.

You just said you're an heir, so good afternoon, Mayor and board, council members.

I appreciate you affording me this opportunity.

My name is Cheryl Sauz, and I'm one of the heirs.

Um the question was asked about advocate and making certain that uh heirs know.

Um we did not know about this property and that we were heirs to the property until we started receiving notifications.

Um my father uh died approximately about 16 years ago.

So again, this was unknown to us immediately when I received the first notice.

I reached out to a family member that was an umtor to solicit some guidance in terms of how to resolve this.

Um she did some work.

Um the next step, I actually reached out to an attorney firm in Wake Forest by the name of Lauren Shockerfurt and turn and Turner.

Uh again, trying to be proactive to sort of resolve this thing, but again, like you said, it's air problem air property.

There are numerous people in involved, people that I haven't spoken to, don't even know where they are located.

Um we tried to initially I put an offer out.

Um didn't want to put a lot of money because I haven't even seen these pictures, but I had learned through the City of Raleigh and some correspondence that there was some, they said at first there were drug dealers, then they said it was homeless, um, they were going to go out to inspect the property, that they had been rent off the property.

I wanted to actually go to actually see the property and was recommended strongly not to attend because they were actually going out with the police.

So I per se, because of my concern for my safety, have not gone near the property.

If they are drug dealers and that type, I didn't want them to get my license plate or know where I live or reside.

So I've just sort of stayed away and just tried to work through the system.

And so my last conversation with my attorney was in December, where I said, what can we do?

My heirs, we were of the position that if we couldn't resolve it with the other heirs, that we just wanted to donate the property to the city or to the state and just be done with it.

We have recently received an offer.

And apparently the agent has made contact with the heirs.

We just recently, my heirs have signed off on the document.

There was some typos and some issues because I wanted to be compensated for my attorney fees in regards to this property.

And the document has been signed.

We're in the process of getting that to the realtor.

So I understand that it's close to the school.

My request is just to give us some time because we are working um to resolve it.

I do have in my possession, and so I was very excited to hear about the enhancements to the city's website where I actually sent a correspondent to the um City of Raleigh, the inspection area on June the 8th, introduced to myself, saying I had attorney.

I had spoken with the realtor, and as of today I have never received a response to the correspondent.

So again, I feel like we've acted in good faith.

I just need some additional time so that we can get this resolved.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilor Ford.

Before you step away, ma'am, how much time do you think you need?

As as whatever, I think they said that the interested buyer is here.

So whatever time he needs to bring this to a closure is all that I'm asking.

I mean, like I said, I have the signed document for my ears that we have signed it, have the contract for purchase, and ready to move forward with it.

For clarification, you said all the heirs, known heirs signed that document.

My heirs.

Which are the heirs of Marcellus Peary, my heirs.

Or my father's heirs.

Probably complicated.

Yeah, but it is.

Well, but my other question was would y'all be able to board it up in the interim until you can resolve the realities of transfer and time.

Definitely.

If we can get some time, I will definitely make certain.

I thought that it had already been boarded.

It it so if I may, because this is in my district and it's up the street for my daughter's school.

So I pass this every single day.

It's not boarded up, it's not secure.

Um my thing that I would love to see is what and this has nothing to do with my daughter, because I pick her up and drive her, so she's not up and down.

It's not a safety issue for me directly.

So there's no conflict for me dare directly, but for the other kids and for other people in the community, because it is so open and everything of that nature.

But for us, uh and correct me if I'm wrong, is a request to condemn it to make it as unfit, and that just means we can then go in and the city can board it up and get it secure, and then you all still have time to work through everything that you need to work through.

Um because we can give you, we can say, hey, we give you more time, you come back in 30 days, it's still not boarded up, and we have to go through that cycle all over again.

Yes, as long as I fully support securing the property, um, so that no one's injured.

Um if there are recommendations of who we can get to do that, I have no objections to that.

That would be an expense that would come off the top of the selling price.

Um I'm just saying I don't want it to be an action to take place that would compromise the sale, us trying to get this sale to the case.

Yeah, and I understand I do know the residents.

But definitely, yes, I definitely support boarding, securing it, what needs to take place to make that happen.

Yeah, and the residents in that area that they have a homeowners association, they've contacted me about this particular property as well and the issues and concerns with it.

So, no, I think on their behalf, who I represent as well, you know, we I think we need to go ahead and get us boarded up.

Okay.

Fine.

Yes, I think just as a point of clarification, you're talking about your heirs, but Bryce, maybe you can elaborate.

Is that the total number of heirs to the property?

Because from a legal perspective, I don't know that one set of heirs can manage the sale of a property if there's several known heirs.

I think I just want to clarify that.

I think that the individual that's interested in purchasing the property, a Mr.

Drewberry, I think from my understanding, he has secured all of the heirs with the exception to us.

It's my understanding.

But I I don't know that that's the case.

But again, I know that it's one of those situations where we're trying to get it resolved.

And if he's here or you know the representative or someone.

Mayor Council, I think uh what Mr.

Abernath, we don't have to go that far.

What he was requesting today was to secure the property.

And then what he said was in October, if it's still in the same shape, then he would be back.

So the action for today, I believe, would be to give them 30 days to secure the property.

If they do not, then authorize us to move forward with securing the property while they continue to work to try to resolve the sale transaction.

Yeah, because if you can secure before we get there, that's great.

Okay.

Thank you.

Yes.

So we can have a team out this week to just to secure that.

Um with the adoption of this ordin of the unfit for human habitation ordinance, if it becomes open at some point between now and October, we would be able to go back out there and resecure it.

Um without the ordinance, I'm not sure it would be we would be reaching out to heirs and who can board this, when can you board it?

That kind of thing.

All right.

So let me close the hearing and then um do you want to make the motion?

Yes, move for approval of staff recommendation.

Second.

Great.

All in favor, aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay.

All right.

Second item I'm bringing to you today is 3028 Old Birch Drive in Raleigh.

And this one is on the tail end of that one year.

It's been the life of the case has expired.

We're at the end of the one year.

This one will revolved around some complaints that raccoons were getting into the house.

And there is some pretty significant exterior damage that was going on.

Enough for us to try to reach out to the ownership and ask for access to the inside of the house because with with these with these kind of with this kind of damage, there's going to be some water damage on the inside.

Everybody's been notified.

She called.

I asked her about, you know, what was her intent with repairs or a deadline, and she couldn't really get she didn't really give me uh an answer to that.

Um I'm asking council to go ahead and adopt the 90-day repair demolish ordinance.

This will be kind of the last ditch effort to get them to do something to this house.

Um these uh exterior pictures were taken in to mid-2024.

So it's worse now.

Um duct work is open underneath the house is kind of a tunnel for whatever you find under there is gonna crawl up into the house.

Um at that time at this time when we did the inspection, there were some already some signs of some water damage on the ceiling in the bathroom.

I don't really see the picture of that in here, but um so there were already some some signs that there were some water getting in there.

So uh any questions?

Um, should I go ahead?

Um go ahead.

Um sorry if you said this.

Is it occupied?

No, vacant.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

I'm gonna go ahead and open the public hearing and close the public hearing.

Do you have a motion?

Move for approval.

Second.

Um all in favor of the motion.

Aye.

Aye approved.

All opposed?

Okay.

Right.

Last item it I have is um nuisance liens for nuisance abatement work that has been done on property.

Um if you would note 1807 Sutton Drive has been paid and will not be on the list here.

Um first property is 8229 Clearbook Drive.

Uh we worked with this owner for three months trying to get his grass mode.

Um, and uh, but essentially it was what you see, the it was high grass in the front yard.

There was some grass that was growing over the sidewalk and some trash and debris that was in the yard.

Um 1522 even made drive.

Uh this was a complaint, high grass.

Um the property is owned by a defunct HOA, so we've kind of been maintaining this area for a while now.

Um this is the 18th abatement over the past several years, and it comes out to almost 7,000.

Um 1227 Falls Church Road was just some really large piles of limbs kind of all over the yard.

Um I believe this the property owner lives out of the country, and we have been in contact with us, and he we we talked to him about it, and he said just go ahead and take care of it.

So 5149 Jeffries was another complaint, high grass and uh just trash and debris in the yard.

And uh 3216 Julian Drive, which is a pretty rough one.

Um we had uh RPD and acorns on site during that abatement.

Took two two two different trips, two trips to clean up what we could.

Um a lot of this stuff on this property is riddled with things that can be outside, so we kind of had to sift and choose and pull things out that we need to remove.

Um 900 Peyton Street was also a complaint, it was just high grass.

Um 1807 Sutton was paid, and 2132 Watkins was high grass and just some trash around the yard.

And 2915 Woods Place was high grass.

Um any questions?

I'd be happy to answer.

Council Brown.

So for the defunct HOA.

And this may be for the attorney's office.

What do we I don't ever see them becoming active?

So what are the next steps?

Because to keep going out and putting liens on something that you can't collect, you're not going to collect from what are our options?

So we talked to Councilmember Patton, I guess a little over a year ago, I guess, about this.

So typically what happens is it is a lien on the property, and then those liens are recouped if there's a sale.

The other um option that we can explore would be for the city to initiate a foreclosure proceeding.

Typically we don't do that.

And so it's fairly involved process, but we can certainly um look at the amount that's owed and evaluate whether that would be an option.

Okay, because my my concern is we're going to be out there every three months.

Absolutely.

Cutting the grass and putting liens on it and taking care of it, and there's no HOA like no one to hold accountable.

That's right.

Follow-up question to that.

I mean, if we foreclosed it.

If we were the only priority lien, we would own it, and then we're gonna have to maintain it.

Yes.

So I mean it doesn't even look like it's a marketable piece of property.

So like what is the we're gonna have to figure out some solution to this, right?

Can you put a picture back up on that one?

I think it's in Duke Easement.

Yeah, it looks like it's an easement.

That's what I was gonna say.

I thought I might remember power lines and stuff, so maybe we could get Duke Energy or whoever to pick it up.

Yeah, maybe we can move this forward, but maybe um Madam uh City Attorney, maybe if your office could try to figure out what we what we should do with this, because it's not like we could foreclose and then sell it.

It's uh yeah.

Yeah.

And one thing that we discussed is that often when there's unpaid liens, there's uh other unpaid uh fees owed like taxes, and so sometimes the count we can give the county a nudge.

So they'll perhaps an avenue you can explore.

All right.

Um we have the public hearing open for all these various public nuisance abatements minus 1807 Sutton, and then I am closing the public hearing as no one has signed up in for or against.

And is there a motion?

Aye.

Move to adopt the liens.

Second.

All right.

All in favor of the motion, aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

And then is there any specific recommendation or or direction on the defunct HOA that we need to do?

I move to authorize our city attorney's office to pursue additional measures.

Okay.

All in favor of that motion, aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

All right, now we have petition annexations.

Christopher Golden.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

I am Christopher Golden with Planning and Development.

And this is the first of five annexations that you have before you today.

Um this is AX3325, uh 4500 block of Lewisburg Road and 4428 James Road.

So this is uh neighborhood mixed use three stories.

Uh it's just a little under an acre.

It's uh zoned uh neighborhood mixed use, uh, three stories conditional use.

It was last rezoned in February of 2018.

Uh it's an unincorporated county pocket.

Uh currently it's a uh single family home on this property.

The owners are doing a recombination with all uh operate and owner-operated restaurant.

There's water and sewer to the site.

Uh, real quickly, you can see the site location.

It's there in an unincorporated pocket off of Lewisburg Road.

You can see it's in the area of annexation eligibility pretty far into uh into the city of Raleigh.

And you can see that site location on a zoom out, just a little bit northeast of that uh that uh turn off from Capitol Boulevard, and you can see the site location where there's scattered uses of single family homes, multifamily, and then some uh uh some commercial.

And you can see there that there is sewer to the site, and there is water in Lewisburg Road.

Uh current zoning, you can see that there as well, some varied uses, some varied zoning types that you see there.

Uh future and land use map shows that is neighborhood mixed use.

And there is uh it's fairly flat, there's no floodplain present, and there you can see the uh street view from that location.

Fairly well traveled road.

Uh if it is annexed today, it will be brought into the boundaries of Council District B.

More than happy to answer any questions you might have on that.

So thank you.

Questions.

Okay.

Uh go ahead.

I can open the public hearing and close the public hearing.

Move to adopt the annexation effective immediately.

Second.

All in favor of the motion, aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Nay.

And that passes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So the next annexation.

We have five today, so this is the second one.

Um that is AX 3625 at 5604 Kyle Drive.

Um various other addresses in the 6500, 6600 block of Buffalo Road.

Uh this is a larger scale development at 172 acres, just a little over from that.

Uh it is in an unincorporated county pocket that's hemmed in by uh the outer belt line of 540, as you can see there.

Um it has uh various rezonings on it, some mixed use, residential 10, uh, some uh commercial mixed use as well, and it's in a scenic highway overlay district.

Um I think I mentioned before it's in an unincorporated county pocket, so this fills in that area that's surrounded by uh planned communities, single family homes, and some mixed commute uh commercial uses.

Uh it's associated with a uh subdivision plan on that one.

There's water and sewer that goes through the site.

The owner is looking to develop 238 single family homes and 413 town homes.

Um a little bit about the site location.

You can see it there on a zoom out.

Um you can see the zoom out there, you can see where uh the city boundaries are in the darker gray, and you can see it's in an unincorporated county pocket.

Um the site location is fairly wooded at this point.

Um the homes will go in in within those boundaries.

Uh you can see that it is in within the eligibility uh the zone of annexation eligibility, very similar, very close in proximity to the last annexation that you approved.

Uh utility location, you can see sewer running through the site, and you can see it's pretty well utilited all around.

Uh current zoning, you can see the the various colors there showing mixed use, uh mixed zoning on those properties of commercial and residential.

And you can see the future land uh land use map corresponds with that.

Site uh topography site, topography, and floodplain.

Thank you.

I cannot say that, no matter what, one of these days.

Uh or maybe not.

Uh so uh you can see there's no uh real floodplain on the site, and you can see that site location there, it kind of looks familiar.

Uh and you can see that subdivision of site plan in review, and uh you can see the street view currently along Buffalo Road, I-540.

Um it's it's fairly well connected to transit.

If it's annexed today, it will also be brought into the boundaries of annexation or of the council district B.

Uh and if you have any questions, I'm here to answer them for you.

Okay.

We do have someone signed up on this one.

Um questions for Mr.

Golden.

You might need to phone a friend or take it, perhaps.

Um but this area is of great community interest for my residents.

Um 5401 built the street stub north of 540, and they know that there's some future connection crossing 540 onto this side, and then there's an interest in the um street extension on Spring Forest Road.

Can you speak to like when those will happen?

Who who bears the cost, who's responsible?

Yada yada.

I cannot.

Um hopefully one of uh my friends here in transportation might be able to answer.

I wasn't aware of that question, so I don't I don't have the information for you, but hopefully some folks here might be able to fill in some details.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Kenneth Rich with transportation.

So certainly a lot of as you see here, a lot of that infrastructure would be built associated with the subdivision itself.

Uh we are currently working with a developer to the south of this as it works to some of the infrastructure there on the southern part.

Uh as it relates to actually bridging over the belt line, that will be a coordinated effort between us and the Department of Transportation to kind of look at that.

Certainly will not be a small effort to get that bridge over.

But certainly what this infrastructure there starts to bring that into some more realization.

Okay.

And that partnership with NCDOT, do you think that's in a two-year time horizon or a 10-year or unknown?

I think it's unknown at this point.

Uh we can have those conversations with them and the regional MPO as it relates to programming as we look at future steps.

Okay.

Mostly my residents are like, is this going to connect right away?

And it sounds like the answer is no.

No, especially given the fact that we're going to be building a bridge over over in interstate.

Okay.

Cool.

Thank you.

Councilor Jones.

As I think about yesterday's conversation and previous conversations about these giant, you know, these large annexations.

What in terms of staffing?

Um, and I maybe this is a better question for especially for planning because of the permitting purposes.

Are there concerns in these big annexations that we don't have the staff to prov to be able to do it in a timely effective way?

Like is that what we were talking about yesterday when we said we're 30, you know, we're 30 planning or permitting staff short, is would that affect a project like this?

Sure, it would be part of a consideration as to how do we get to the right amount of number to meet the demand, but until it's actually built out to see what the service demands look like, we would not know exactly what that staff and model would look like.

Right.

And I I'm not asking for you to know the exact things, but when we bring up the concerns and we say because of all the annexations that we have, how do I connect that to these conversations as they're happening now?

Because I don't want to put a strain on on staff in the future that could have been discussed.

But I just want to make sure I'm uplifting that concern as we're talking about a very large annexation.

Sure.

Um continued growth will obviously require continued increase in staffing numbers to be able to meet the service delivery models and the standard of customer service that we um permit here and that we our citizens not only demand but expect and we kind of deliver it most of the time.

So sure, as we continue to grow, the city's staffing model is gonna have to continue to grow with it.

And uh the positive thing is it has a very nice and and healthy positive uh fiscal outlook over the next 10 years.

So it's not, it doesn't look bad.

Yeah, it's like two million dollars.

So it's it's good, but I just want to make sure that that's at least beginning to help that conversation you know, helping to cover that cost rather than being a hindrance, you know.

So thank you.

Great question.

All right, I'm gonna go ahead and open the hearing.

And uh Samarie Farmer.

Yeah.

Mayor Cowell, uh, members of Council Marie Farmer with Parker Powell.

I'm here on behalf of the applicant Meritage Homes and just available to answer any questions you may have.

Okay.

Anyone have questions for Ms.

Farmer or the applicant?

Yeah, I will I have questions.

Come on back, Marie.

Um as I mentioned, this is a this is a neighborhood of great community interest for my residents who live all around it.

Uh we've kind of addressed that the bridge over five you all will build up to 540 and the bridge will come later and be provided by government.

Um about the the tenure of the homes.

They obviously we can't regulate it, but they are always curious if there will be rental or um for sale units.

Can you speak to that?

Yes, so these will be all for sale, the single family and the townhouses.

Perfect.

Awesome.

And then can you speak to your s expected timeline for when you'll have new residents moving in?

Yes, absolutely.

Um so the project will be developed over five phases.

It will take around six to seven years for full build out.

Um and as soon as all of the necessary approvals are secured, Meritage is looking to start construction as soon as possible and looking at um move-ins uh first or first closings, I should say, taking place towards the end of the summer.

Thank you.

Yeah.

All right.

Uh we have no one in opposition, so I will close the hearing.

Is there a motion?

Move to adopt the annexation effective immediately.

Okay.

All in favor of the motion, aye.

All right.

All opposed, nay.

Right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Right.

Right, next petition annexation AX 4025.

All right.

Thank you.

2051 Dunn Road.

Uh this is residential 10 with uh in the urban shed uh urban watershed protection area for Richland Creek.

Um it is R 10 and it is 10.5 acres.

And uh the property owner is looking at constructing 60 town homes plus uh keeping a remaining uh single family home on that property.

Um there is approved subdivision on this that predates some of the policy changes that we have in effect now.

Um the surrounding uses are residential, uh some agricultural, and there is water and sewer to the site.

I'll go over that in just a moment.

Um so you can see uh here the site location, and you can see the zoom out.

It is in an unincorporated county pocket.

It's pretty well surrounded by uh single family homes in this area and townhomes.

You can see that the property is currently undeveloped, but you can see some roads stubbing into that area and pass uh passing the property, so it has road access, and you can see they're on the site zoom out.

Um you can see that in the area of annexation eligibility.

It's firmly in the center of what we in the planning department call the thumb of Raleigh.

Uh so it is eligible for annexation.

And uh you can see the utility location there as well.

There is water and done road, and there is a sizable amount of utilities in the subdivision just to the east.

You can see that it is there in the watershed area for uh watershed protection district for Richmond uh Creek.

And you can see that the future land use map on this is a moderate uh scale residential, site plane and topography, uh pretty flat, no floodplain present, and you can see the site is generally wooded.

Uh if it is annexed today, it'll come into the boundaries also of council district B.

And if you have any questions, I am here to answer them for you.

All right.

Questions for Mr.

Golden.

Okay.

Let me open the public hearing and close the public hearing.

Yeah.

For for anyone uh keeping the score, we're doing great on the tax revenue moderation on today's annexations.

The other one was 2.8.

This one also has a couple hundred thousand dollars it's adding to the tax base.

So with all that said, uh I'll move to adopt the annexation immediately.

Effective immediately.

Second.

All right.

All in favor of the motion, aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Unanimous.

Okay.

Then next we have petition annexation, AX 4325.

The last two.

A lot of annexations today.

So AX 4325, 813 Leesville Road.

This is pretty straightforward.

Zoned residential R4.

It has been uh zoned residential since it came into the city in the 1980s.

Uh it's one pre-existing single family home.

Uh currently is on uh uh served by water.

They're wanting to connect to sewer, which means they have to come into the city to do that.

They have to, or at least petition for annexation.

It's located in an unincorporated county pocket, a single packet uh pocket.

Um you can see the site here, generally surrounded by single family homes, some parkland and a school.

You can see the zoom out, it's pretty much in the middle of a of uh single family neighborhoods throughout and some townhomes.

It's uh firmly in that area of annexation eligibility in the northwest quadrant of the city.

And you can see the utility location.

Um you've got some water in uh in Leesville Road, and you've got uh some sewer right behind it, and also in Whorley, just to the north, uh northeast.

Uh current zoning is R4 with uh R 10 present just to the north, and you can see that zone for future land use shows as as moderate scale residential.

Uh no floodplain present, and you can see the view from above.

There's uh structures on the property, single family home, and there you can see that from the street.

Uh also uh obviously a single family home.

Um if it is annexed today, it will be brought into the boundaries of Council District E, the one that differs.

So if you have any questions, here to answer.

Okay.

Questions for Mr.

Golden.

Um I will open the hearing and close the hearing.

I move to approve petition annexation AX40 or 4325.

Second.

All right.

Effective.

Effective now.

Okay.

Now, right today.

Thank you.

All right.

Okay.

All in favor of the motion, aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay, and that passes.

Okay.

Next we've got uh petition annexation AX 4525.

Thank you.

And the last annexation uh of today.

So contiguous uh inside the ETJ.

It's uh 10720 Falls of Noose Road at Westcott Drive.

It's 5.88 acres.

Currently, it's an existing religious institution.

There's a church on the property.

Uh they're looking to uh expand, so that means they have to hook up to the uh city utility network currently on well and septic.

Uh so they're looking to hook up to water and sewer.

They're also in the uh uh what is the the Richland Creek Water Supply watershed, so zoned R4.

I think I mentioned uh they're uh just almost six acres.

You can see that the site there, it has a pretty small footprint on that lot, but uh the church is facing Falls of Noose Road.

Um it is there in the thumb, like I mentioned before, uh, in the area of annexation eligibility.

Uh you can see the utility location.

There's utilities connecting to the south, uh, water and sewer, and there's water and falls of noose road.

Uh so utilities pretty much all the way around.

You can see there it's at the edge of the uh of the watershed for Richland Creek.

Current zoning is also listed in there at R4.

And uh you can see the zoom out there, it's just on the edge of that nature preserve.

And you can see that the uh future land use for this is office and residential mixed use.

And you can see the site topography and floodplain, uh, which this map is probably not the best, but there's no floodplain present, but is at the edge of the Falls Lake watershed.

Um you can see the zoom out there.

Um you can see the property which is developed with a church in a parking lot, and I'll expand out from that.

And you can see the photo from the site, that's a street view.

If it's annexed today, it will be brought into the boundaries of Council District B, much like the others.

Um, and it has been in the city since 1986.

That's when it was last rezoned.

Any questions?

Questions for Mr.

Golden.

Okay, we do have one person signed up uh to speak.

So I'm opening the public hearing.

And is Mr.

Rod Gooch here?

Yes.

Yes, my name is Rod Gooch.

I'm here on behalf of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church here to answer any questions.

Okay.

Any questions for Mr.

Gooch, thank you for being here and I will close the public hearing.

Is there a motion?

Move to adopt the annexation effective immediately.

Second.

Okay.

All in favor of the motion.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay.

And that passes.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So, Mayor, it was brought to my attention yesterday that today wraps up the final round of presentations of annexations by Christopher Golden.

He is leaving and moving to Italy.

Moving to Italy next week.

So it's for it's it's it's roughly for the better part of this year.

I will be coming back, so it's not a goodbye, it's farewell.

But uh I will be back just taking some time and uh really uh glad to have this opportunity.

But with that, I will say thank you so much.

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve the people and the city of Raleigh.

I have learned so much.

I am honored.

I've worked with so many great people and had the experience of having not just annexations, but so many different impactful projects on the city of Raleigh, and it makes me really proud.

It makes me really proud, really bad with words in a public setting, especially when emotions are involved.

But I am I I am so proud to work with such a great group of dedicated people.

It's been amazing.

It's been an amazing ride.

Mr.

Golden, will you in Italy will you believe inside or outside of the ETJ?

I will be living outside of the ETJ, but firmly within Milan's city limits.

So yeah.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thanks, y'all.

We'll see you soon.

Thank you.

Nice place to be.

All right.

Uh next we have the report and recommendation of various committees, and the only item pending is in transportation and transit.

That's right.

And transportation and transit committee will meet on Thursday the 26th from 3 to 5 in Council Chambers, and our topic will be um Six Forks Road, revisiting the old bond project, and then um we will get some updates around transit to the to the area, to the North Hills area.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um next we have the report of the Mayor and City Council.

We'll start with Councillor Branch.

Um just I had the pleasure of being on the panel for the Black Mental Health Conference that was just held this past weekend at the um Marriott Crabtree.

Um we have a lot of good providers that are out here looking to serve.

Um the the executive director of the um National Association of Social Workers was in town.

He was there.

Um I think there's a lot of good feedback.

Acorns was present um there as well, and I think they made a lot of good contacts and will continue to work um to utilize those resources so we can better serve our residents here in Raleigh.

And other than that, everyone enjoyed the nice warmer weather and take care.

All right.

Our next District E community meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 11th at La Cusina Italian restaurant from 6 to 8 p.m.

Also, our decoding democracy book club will meet that same Saturday, which is March 14th.

And we're gonna do a limited 9:30 to 1030 at New World Cafe off Derley Road.

So we'll be moving into chapter one of the UDO.

So make sure to sign up on my website at ChristinaFerrale.com.

You'll be given a link to the Google drive that has all the materials needed for discussion.

We'll spend the next year or more studying the UDO and have guest speakers throughout the journey to help residents better understand the rules behind development in the city.

So I hope to see you there.

Great.

Uh I wanted to announce that the state of the city will be one month from tomorrow on March 18th at the City of Raleigh Museum at 5.30 p.m.

and more details to come, but uh hope to uh see some of you there.

No report.

Um good stuff we did through the consent agenda today.

We authorized staff to submit uh $500,000 grant to benefit the News River Park.

And we authorize a contract for the Cheswick Drive Bridge replacement, which will be benefit beneficial to those residents.

Um items of note for me.

One is that the discussion of the R line, the purpose and functionality of it, the success and health of it, I think has come in a conversation that's like flipped up but hasn't quite resolved.

And so I would like to authorize the Raleigh Transit Authority to uh through use of like an ad hoc task force or one of their existing standing committees to take this discussion up with the intention of making recommendations to the council about the future of the R line.

Um I think this would involve them discussing the like economic development that I think drove the initiation of it and asking whether economic development continues to be the purpose of it and thus maybe it needs to be treated with different monies, or alternately, if it's meant to be a fixed route line just like our other lines, then perhaps it's not quite meeting the brief there.

So I'd like to um empower them to have that conversation and bring us back recommendations and uh encourage any relevant stakeholders like the chamber or the visitors bureau to engage in that conversation as well.

Um so that's one.

And then um I wanted to get asked for a report from staff.

It I I remember a couple years back we we heard this in I think what was then, say Fibrant and Healthy Committee uh regarding litter and we heard how the responsibilities of litter were distributed across different agencies.

Um I think some of this could be recycled from that.

But I would just like a picture of how litter management works in pure cities across the country.

So how you know our city is mostly allowing it to fall to volunteers and nonprofits or our city's standing up divisions to do this, do public service campaigns, uh public service announcements work and have impact, like just kind of a a picture of how litter is generally uh managed because I continue to get uh attends that continues to be in the top five of um feedback I get from residents.

No report.

Uh so this past weekend um I had an opportunity to attend the uh memorial service for former mayor Tom Bradshaw was very well attended service and uh actually Gail and I held it down for the City of Raleigh.

And um it was kind of interesting to just hear some of the stories that were told about um Mayor Bradshaw and the in the city of Raleigh and how things have changed a lot, but in some ways how a lot of things have not necessarily changed.

So uh was happy to do that and see uh a lot of folks um from the past of the city.

Okay.

Thank you.

Next we have appointments.

Good afternoon.

Bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission, one regular vacancy, no nominations there, so that will be carried over.

Colin McCarville received seven votes, so it would be appointed.

Down to nominations, Human Relations Commission, requests for removal of members, a request has been submitted by the chair of the Human Relations Commission to remove nine board members.

As a reminder, City Code um allows advisory board chairpersons to submit such a request to the council after a member has been absent for three without being excused for three or more consecutive meetings.

The letter from the chair along with the tenants information was included in your agenda materials for reference.

If the council chose to uphold this request, no action would be needed to make replacements because the commission remains in a state of surplus following last year's action to merge with the Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs Board last year, um, also included in the agenda materials was a roster to provide a broader picture of the current slate of members.

Um and then a side note, after the agenda was published, we did receive a resignation from a member who happens to be one of the members that is requested to be removed.

So I'm fine with the move to adopt the removal request.

Second.

To approve the removal request.

Yes.

Yeah, second.

Okay.

Uh all in favor of the motion aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay.

All right.

Thank you.

All right.

And um as mentioned previously, we'll continue to bring back periodically a roster to kind of show where we're at with uh natural attrition and resignations.

Um next is Planning Commission, one regular vacancy, the term of Nicole Bennett is expiring.

She is not eligible for reappointment due to length of service, so this is now open for nominations.

Can I have a point of privilege real quick?

I just want to um thank Ms.

Bennett for her service to the um planning commission.

She was appointed by Councilmember Stewart during my first term.

I think she's done an exceptional job, including her role as chair, her prior role as chair.

I think it's going to be a huge void for us on that planning commission.

And I just want to thank her for her service and hopefully we can find someone as exceptionally qualified.

I got somebody here we go.

And the assistance.

I like to nominate Traishana Sanchez.

Okay.

So experienced, so wise.

So thank you, and uh, more to come.

All right, so that will be coming back on your next ballot.

Next Israeli Convention and Performing Arts Center's authority, one regular vacancy term of Chris Mutos is expiring, and he would like to be considered for reappointment.

Move for the reappointment of Mr.

Mantos.

All in favor of that motion, aye.

All opposed, nay.

Okay, so he is reappointed.

Lastly, substance use advisory commission, three regular vacancies.

Terms of two members are expiring.

That's Rihanna Flurry and Martin, excuse me, Woodard.

Um, both wish to be reappointed as mentioned, and then additionally, resignation has been received from Paul Killen.

So that's three there.

Move to reapprove Rihanna and Martin.

Second.

All in favor of that motion, aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay.

All right.

So that additional vacancy or that remaining vacancy will be coming back.

And that's all.

Report and recommendation of the city attorney.

No report today.

Report and recommendation of the city clerk.

In your agenda materials, you receive draft minutes from the February third regular session and the February tenth work sessions and public comment sessions.

Move for approval of the minutes.

All in favor of the motion, aye.

All opposed, nay.

Second.

All in favor of the motion, aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay.

We are in going into closed session.

Have nothing to report out, and the meeting is adjourned, or and we will reconvene with Wake County Commission at six PM tonight.

At Wake at the Wake County Justice Center.