Evening again, everyone.

My name is Drippy Congo, President of Wilmington City Council.

On behalf of all of my colleagues here at Council, we just want to thank you all for joining us this evening.

Those of you who are in the chambers and everyone who is with us virtually.

Today is Thursday, April the 16th.

This time we are going to have our opening prayer from Akira Gernardo.

Heavenly Father, we have assembled to handle the affairs of our city.

As we do so, we ask for your guidance and understanding.

We pray that our city reaches a place of peace and safety.

Keep us out of harm's way and bless those who are in authority.

Let respect be key in all our endeavors.

Amen.

Amen.

Under God, indivisible with liberty and justice call.

At this time, our clerk will call the roll.

Councilman Owens.

Present.

Councilwoman Darby.

Present.

Councilwoman Oliver.

Present.

Councilwoman Harley.

Present.

Councilwoman Willower.

Councilwoman McCoy.

Yeah.

Councilman Johnson.

Present.

Councilman Field.

Councilwoman Bracey.

Councilwoman Cabrera.

Councilman Hackett.

Here.

Councilman Spadola.

President.

President Congo.

Here.

Nine present and four absent.

And now we will have the reading of the minutes from our previous meeting.

April 2nd, 2026.

City Council met in regular session with remote participation on the above date at 6 36 p.m.

Mr.

President.

I move that the minutes be accepted as written.

Second.

It's been properly moved and seconded that minutes be accepted as written on the question.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed.

Now we will have our committee reports.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are public safety committee met by anchor location and remote participation to who was referred substitute number one to ordinance number 26-018.

Entitled an ordinance to amend chapter two of the city code to establish an office of community safety.

Have given this ordinance careful review and recommend council vote on it at an upcoming council meeting.

Respectfully submitted those members of the public safety committee.

Those members present, Councilwoman McCoy, Councilwoman Bracey, Councilwoman Darby, Councilman Johnson, President Congo, absent with leave, Councilman Spadola, and Councilwoman Oliver.

I move that those minutes be uh be received, recorded and filed.

Second.

Second.

It's been properly moved and second.

The report be received recorded and filed on the question.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carried now.

April 16th, 2026.

Total investments 562 million, 568, 339.71 cents.

Total cash on hand, 19 million six hundred and two thousand seventy-five dollars and thirty-four cents.

Grand total five hundred and eighty-two million one hundred and seventy thousand four hundred and fifteen dollars and five cents.

Submitted City Treasurer Dwayne Sims.

Mr.

President, I move that the treasury report be received, recorded and filed.

Second.

Mr.

Property Moved and second to report be received, recorded and filed on the question.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carried.

I will accept the motion to move to accept all non-legislative business.

No motion.

Second.

It's been properly moved and seconded to accept all non-legislative business on the question.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carried.

At this time we do have some resolution recognitions.

Councilmember Darby.

Good evening, Wilmington.

Um, I don't know if Miss Ruth Ann is here.

Yes, if you can come up with me.

Um, so this resolution is to recognize the Lenape people of Delaware and their history and their story.

So I am going to read a resolution and then give Miss Ruf Ann a chance to speak.

Whereas, and sorry, I've been trying to practice my pronunciation for some of these words, so forgive me, all right.

Whereas it is the sense of city council to honor individuals and organizations who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and deserving of recognition and acknowledgement.

The Lenape tribe is one such community.

And whereas we begin by acknowledging with respect that we gather today in Lenape, Lenape Hoking, the traditional homeland of the Lenape Lanape people for tens of thousands of years.

And whereas, sometimes translated as original people, the Lenape were known as mediators and called the grandfathers by the entire Algonquine family tree of languages.

Whereas encompassing the Delaware River Basin, Lenape Hoking includes present day New Jersey, most of Delaware, the eastern parts of New York and Pennsylvania, it was home to 20K Lenape in three clans.

The Wolf Clan and the Mountain, the Wolf Clan and the Mountain speaking Moonsea dialect, Turtle Clang along the river speaking Unami and Turkey Clan by the Big Water speaking Una Lakh.

I don't know.

All right, sorry.

Whereas within the first hundred years of foreign contact, 80% of the Lenape had already died from violent conflict and disease.

And whereas, in spite of the famous peace treaty between William Penn and Lenape Chief Tamil Heen, at Shaka at Shaka Umak Sun, Shackamoxen, Europeans forced the Lenape westward and northward to Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario, where many Lenape descendants live today under the name of a British general, Thomas West, Lord De La Ware, now pronounced Delaware.

And whereas some Lenape never left.

Hiding in plain sight as keepers of the land, the Lenape Indian tribe of Delaware, based in Cheswall, Delaware, Natico, Lena, Lenape, Tribal Nation in Bridgeton, New Jersey, Raponpo, Lenape Nation, and Mawa, New Jersey, are three of the thriving Lenape communities today.

And whereas Council wish to honor the historical and ongoing presence of the Lenape and Natico of this land where we now live, work, and celebrate all our relations.

And I felt like this recognition was important.

And for them to still maintain their culture, their language, and who they are as people.

And I know for me as a city council person, I want to be able to and work with the administration, other council members to be able to honor them in regards to just you know being able to use um and re not rename, but recognize or reclaim the name of some of the rivers and the land and the locations throughout the city of Wilmington.

Even creating maybe a possible committee where the Native American individuals will be able to guide us and city council and administration on how we can properly honor their their history and their resilience.

So I want to give a chance for Miss Roof Ann Purchase to be able to speak.

Thank you very much.

You might be wondering why I got this privilege, but I actually have been studying the Lanape language for a very long time.

And I am a Montessori preschool teacher.

That's the bunny rabbit bag.

And I hope to have a Lenape language immersion school someday here in the heart of Lenape Hokink.

So I have big dreams, but very soon I would like to have a small piece of land here in the city of Wilmington that would be stewarded by the city of Wilmington alongside descendants of the original people and other Native Americans who've come to live here.

And even without you know identity cards, we all know so many of us have Native American blood in our veins, and we long to honor all our ancestors.

So we would like to have a small park where we would restore the original foods.

We would call it an edible food forest or a Lenape Forest Garden, and we would have a story circle with the four-direction paths where we would teach good citizenry through Lenape eyes.

I wore these red glasses to help me remember that we can see through the eyes of our most ancient ancestors of this beautiful land.

They knew this place was sacred.

They knew the rivers were sacred, and we can restore good citizenry to include all our relations.

That includes the trees we need to breathe.

We wouldn't be able to breathe on this planet if we didn't have plants.

And we want to restore honor for all our relations, including the beautiful rivers.

This is a river city.

How do we teach our young people to steward the natural world?

How do we teach our young people of all kinds?

And tourists, that this is a sacred place, and the original people still hold this place as sacred.

And I want to thank City Council.

In the past, you've participated with parks and recreation to have various functions that honor the original people.

But sometimes we want to have a little more academic rigor.

We want to make sure we're not misinforming the most misinformed people on this continent.

So we want to have high standards for academic rigor.

And we want to make sure we're passing on a good standard for the future.

And I brought with me this talking stick.

I don't know how many of you know, but part of the Lenape tradition is to use a talking stick, and we pass it from one to the other, and we consider it sacred.

If you are holding the talking stick, I have to listen to you because your words are meaningful, and you'll choose them carefully.

And you might wonder why is it covered with rabbit fur?

It's covered with rabbit fur to help me remember.

When I give this talking stick, we will remember that our words must be soft, that we must be diplomats.

This is the way of the Lenape.

And I hope you will learn to honor the Lenape more and more and all original people that come and stay in this beautiful city.

I thank you again.

And thank you so much.

Of course, thank you.

Does anyone have a question?

Or a thought.

Council member always thumbs up.

Um, Ruf, I just want to say thank you.

Um, I know this isn't the first time you've been to council, but also you go up and down the city educating the community.

So again, thank you for all the work that you do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Johnson.

Okay.

The uh partners in here team come on.

Thank you.

Sponsor uh councilmember Chris Johnson.

Whereas it's the sense of city council to honor individuals, organizations, and significant milestones that demonstrate outstanding achievement and are deserving of recognition and acknowledgement.

The program pairs trained clinicians with police officers to respond jointly to calls for service and conduct proactive outreach to individuals in need of health care interventions.

Whereas the Partners in Care team, since its inception, uh the team has provided services to a total of 839 individuals across the city of Wilmington.

And they demonstrate significant measurable impact on the well-being of residents.

During the first quarter of 2026 alone, the Partners in Care treated 162 individuals, including 96 new clients, and 66 returning clients.

Whereas the Wilmington Partners in Care program continues to exemplify compassion, professionalism, and dedication in supporting vulnerable populations and strengthening our community needs.

Also, anyone from the Partners and Care team would like to say a few words to the city.

But this is what I would like to say.

This is something that was uh frankly a dream of many of us on council.

Um I know Councilwoman McCoy, uh, we work together on this project, Councilwoman Harley, uh, Councilmember Darby, um, Councilmember Oliver.

And uh, you know, we've talked about this for a long time.

And it took us probably I don't know, four or five years to finally get not only the funding, but get the connection with Christianity care so that we can make this uh uh dream happen.

And so um this is just the beginning, at least that's how we see it on council.

Um, as you see, this is the small but very mighty staff, and we need to um increase their funding you know threefold so that they can have more um workers in the community because a lot of times where we're on city council, a lot of the calls we get all over from the north side to the east side, west side, most of them are problems that come within a realm of partners in care.

Most of them are dealing with the unhoused population or those suffering mental health crises, and the police uh just aren't equipped to deal with some of those issues by themselves.

So the fact that they can partner with partners in care is special.

So um all of us uh you know, my ask for you is to help us lobby the administration and state officials and federal officials for more funding for the city in Wilmington.

That's what we need.

We need critical funding for of course our housing needs, but this is probably the second most important program uh we we're doing as a city.

So I'm proud to have been a part of this, and I thank the team and other to say uh little Lieutenant Bozeman, if there's anything you can say from the community engagement side um about uh what your program is doing.

Well, Councilman Johnson, I appreciate the honor.

Um I just checked with our community ladies on today, and this outstanding team of individuals.

This has surpassed 880 unique individuals served as of this week.

Um I've been given the privilege to manage this team, and they're they're proving to us every day what can be accomplished if you just take a slightly different look at the way to do policing.

Right?

Our our team has accomplished all these things, they've achieved all these numbers and and given all this help to the city uh in 25 months without putting a single pair of handcuffs on a single person that our team has touched.

Um, these folks are in the park in the encampment every day, boots on the ground, connecting people with services, talking to people about their needs, and that's in addition to all the 9-1-1 calls that the co-responder teams handle in the field.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

Thank you for your work.

Hello to the city.

Hello, everyone.

Um, Kwanza Timmins, uh, the case manager of the of the team.

Uh, I just want to say that uh we enjoy um and we really love what we do.

Um, you know, we're out here uh interacting with people um and just trying to to improve outcomes and you know and improve people's lives.

Uh the most important thing is just our desire to help, um, and that we you know just truly care about the citizens of Wilmington uh and just people in general.

So just love to help people.

And I wanted to present this to you, of course, on behalf of the city of Wilmington.

Okay, so thank you for your work.

And again, uh it's budget time, so let's lobby for more funding.

Thank you.

Oh, uh any county triple.

Uh uh councilmember McCoy.

Councilman, Councilmember McCoy.

Okay, thank you, President Congo.

I just want to say thank you so much, uh, Councilman Johnson for bringing partners in care here to receive that resolution.

I cannot believe it's been two years already having these great conversations.

I know I got Kwanza on speed now.

So just getting a chance to see all that you've done already for the city of Wilmington.

Please believe that we are advocating for you to get more funds because we know what you can do, and we know how much more you can uh affect the city, impact the city once you have more funding and are able to spread your wings.

So thanks again.

Thank you, Councilmember Oliver.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I just wanted to um thank the whole team, entire team for the outstanding work they do throughout the city, especially in the third district.

Um, whereas uh uh not uh overdoses and they're right there, and also mental illness.

Um, so I really appreciate the work they do in the northeast area on the east side.

Um keep up the good work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Harley.

Finance chair, councilwoman Harley, right?

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

Um President Congo and Councilmember Johnson.

But thank you, Councilmember Johnson, for presenting this resolution on tonight.

I just want to ditto the comments that have already been made in terms of our appreciation in terms of the great work that you're doing throughout the city of Wilmington, and I'm sure you spend a lot of time in the Fourth District, a downtown, um, the Christina Park, um, on the east side, possibly in Southbridge, but we do truly appreciate you, and as it has already been stated, we definitely are going to advocate for more funding because we know that there's a lot of great work that still needs to be done.

And again, thank you, congratulations on this resolution, and thank you, Councilmember Johnson.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Johnson.

All right, thank you.

Councilmember McCoy.

Thank you.

If I can please have the Vikings, I'm sorry, the Lady Vikings.

Yeah, come on up.

And also we accompanied by my council member.

You don't need me, do you?

You got this.

This way, this way, this way, yeah.

Y'all can come this way.

Y'all can come this way.

Keep going over the way up to this area, make certain everybody can fit.

All right.

All right.

See, I tried to fit in with the team tonight.

I knew who was coming.

You need to get some gear.

All right, so this is actually um the sponsors are both myself and uh councilman Hackett, but all of council want to say congratulations.

So we want to make certain that we recognize you.

This is a big deal.

I don't know when the last time that the uh the both the boys and the girls' championship actually fail, the the champions were actually here within the city of Wilmington, but this is a big deal for this season.

We want to make certain that we champion our kids today.

So whereas, in the sense of city council to honor individuals, organizations, and significant milestones that demonstrate outstanding achievement and deserve recognition and acknowledgement.

St.

Elizabeth School girls' basketball team, winners of the 2025-2026 DIAA, which is the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association, state championship title, merits such distinction.

Whereas the St.

Elizabeth High School girls' basketball team completed an outstanding 2025-2026 season defined by resilience, teamwork, and competitive excellence, finishing with an impressive overall record of 20 wins and five losses, and earning a place in the DIAA state champion.

I'm sorry, state tournament.

Whereas the Lady Vikings demonstrated their strength throughout the postseason, including a decisive semi-file uh semifinal victory over Ursuline Academy to advance to the championship game.

And on March 14, 2026, the DIAA girls' basketball state championship game was held at the University of Delaware's Bob Carpenter Center.

The game showcased the team's extraordinary resilience as the Vikings overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half to dominate in the fourth quarter.

The St.

Elizabeth Vikings defeated the Sanford Warriors by a score of 40 to 34 to claim the state championship title.

And whereas the team's victory marks its first state championship since 2021 and serves as a testament to the dedication to these student athletes and their dedicated coaching staff and the entire St.

Elizabeth School community.

The accomplishments of the St.

Elizabeth High School girls basketball team serve as an inspiration to young athletes across the city of Wilmington, demonstrating the value of perseverance, teamwork, and excellence.

Now I'm therefore be it resolved by the city of Wilmington that this council is pleased to recognize the St.

Elizabeth High School girls basketball team in their exceptional season, the 2025-2026 DIA Girls Basketball State Championship Victory.

Job well done.

Try to be as short as possible.

But this is this is great about the team, but I want to talk about the head coach for a second, uh Ty Taylor.

I met him when I was nine years old.

I became his quarterback.

Um and I'm just so proud of you.

You know, I just we go back so far.

Um I wouldn't be here without him today.

You know, he saved my life as a young African-American male living inside the city of Wilmington, trying to find out who I'm gonna be in life.

And uh he stood up and took all the time in the world to make sure that I was okay.

Um he coached me in football, he coached me in basketball.

Um, some of the girls behind me, they was at William Hick Sanderson Community Center, trying to figure out where they wanted to go in their next school.

And uh Ty was at the, you know, I don't know where he was at in his list, but I had to tell him, you know, that guy taught me everything that I know the hard work, the teamwork to be a leader, to show up for everybody that's showing up for you.

So when I watched you guys play, that's what you did every night.

Y'all showed up for each other.

A lot of people doubted y'all all the way throughout the whole season.

They said y'all wasn't gonna make it.

They said y'all wasn't gonna win.

What y'all kept doing?

Y'all kept fighting.

And that's one thing that Coach Ty will give you the fight.

Even when you don't know it's there, he somehow know how to find it and bring it out of you.

I don't know how he do it.

Um, but I just want to say you went through so much stuff in your life.

So to be here when a boys' basketball championship with AI and now when a girls' basketball championship with St.

E's is amazing.

And hopefully you're on your way to the Hall of Fame.

So thank you for being one of the friends.

But most importantly, thank you for being a mentor and a father figure that I didn't even know I needed.

So I appreciate you.

I love you dearly.

All right.

Come on, give me some love.

So we like to present this resolution to you, coach.

And we actually have some miniature ones for our uh for the your team, but we just want to give you that.

We want to give you an opportunity to say a few words.

Uh first of all, I'd like to thank Alex for the kind words.

Um great kid, great young man.

Every time I see him every day, just makes me proud.

Where he came from and where he used to be to what he is now.

It's not how you start is how you finish.

So it was Tom Well Invested, Tom Well Invested.

Um, first of all, I'd like to thank my coaching staff who believed in um my dream um helping these young girls be as successful as possible on and off the court.

Um, also like to thank these young ladies because they bought into everything that we tried to teach them this year.

Um, not just basketball lessons, but life lessons.

And I'm more really proud of the basketball opportunities, but at the same time, I'm more proud of their academic situation because our team GPA is at 3.65.

And that's more important than anything.

And lastly, um, but not leastly, I definitely like to thank all my parents because without none of you guys, none of this would be possible.

They showed up, they came on time every every game after every game.

The last minute Texas, our center for practices, they showed up, they complained, but they showed up, you know.

And without them, none of this would be possible.

So I see where these young ladies get their determination and their discipline from.

I appreciate all y'all.

I mean the uh the student athletes have anything to say.

Okay.

Um I want to say thank you to the staffs and all my teammates.

We definitely, it was a journey, guys.

It was really a journey.

And we definitely fought, we definitely pushed through everything that we've been through, the doubts, the what ifs, what if we can't do it.

It's just the hardships.

We really we pushed through.

And Coach Ty, I want to say thank you for you know, taking all of us in as we say, your daughters, or I call it pop-up ties.

So yeah.

So you really took us in and you made us all a family.

And like we're we're all sisters, even though I don't look like it, but we're all sisters.

We all fight for each other.

It's it's you can't, we all thick and thin.

We can't you can't get through us.

But thank you.

Thank you.

Uh, I just want to say thank you for honoring us here.

And again, our coaches, thank you for never putting your heads down because the score was like 10 to 1 at one point.

And I think a lot of people was getting a little scared, but they never got scared, and they kept telling us to stay together, and I'm glad we did because we got the win.

All right.

Councilmember Johnson.

I just want to say hats off to you, ladies.

So I'm a um Viking by marriage.

My wife is on the alumni board, and actually, her grandmother was the I think the first class at Signe's, um, way back when.

So I I've uh clunk grown close to the uh school, and uh even listening to your playoff games over the radio.

Um, it was evident, even though I wasn't watching the game, just how great your teamwork was.

Um, but the most important thing is the lessons you're learning as a lady.

And you know, you're you're lucky you're in a uh a hotbed of great female basketball legends, you know, between like um you know all the legends we have in Delaware.

You go right up the road, you have Dawn Staley, who's from this area as a model uh of how to be.

We're getting a WNBA team here uh soon and in the region.

So um really, you know, you you stand on the shoulders of great basketball legends.

So I appreciate the work you do.

You ladies are gonna do incredible in life, and however you can support the basketball program, please let us know.

Thank you.

Councilmember Owens.

Thank you.

Um, Council President.

Again, I just want to say congratulations to each and every one of you.

Um, y'all join an elite group of athletes who can say that they're state championship um here in Delaware.

Um, and y'all worked hard for that.

So again, cherish the moment that y'all accomplished this year.

Um, work hard even harder next year, and good luck.

Um, and for the seniors, uh, take this on drive um into college.

Are y'all are gonna do amazing things?

Yes.

Councilmember Harley.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

President.

First of all, I want to thank Councilmember McCoy and Councilmember Hackett for presenting this res resolution to these young ladies, which is well deserved.

Uh, first, I too want to say um to Ty and to your coach team.

Congratulations for putting in this hard work um as it relates to these uh young ladies and to the young ladies.

I just want to say that I celebrate with you on tonight with that teamwork that you uh shared and and your dedication, your perseverance because in life that's what it takes.

So I just want to encourage you to hold on to those principles to hold on to what it took for you to win this championship, and don't forget it because those principles can carry you throughout life.

And again, congratulations and thank you, Councilmember McCoy and Councilmember Hackett, and congratulations.

I would also like to congratulate you ladies.

Uh job well done.

For any of you who are moving on to college, just know that City Council does offer uh scholarships.

So please reach out to us if we can be of any financial assistance to any of you and to um pop up Ty.

Congratulations, man.

Job well done.

I can call him pop up because he actually used to babysit me when I was little.

We probably looked the same age, but he's a lot older than me.

Congratulations, man, to you and all your all your team.

So I would like to ask the team and their coaches if they will be able to join me up front, because we would like to be able to take a picture as a group before you guys leave.

Come in.

Do two lines, two lines.

Two rows.

Great job.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Also, in the way of other recognition resolutions from all of council, we would like to recognize the housing opportunities of Northern Delaware Incorporated on their 42nd annual prepare housing.

Also from all of council, like to recognize Sammy Congo on his eighty-eighth birthday from Councilmember Kabara.

She'd like to recognize Fred Comages on his DSBA award from also from Councilmember Kabara.

She would like to recognize the worldwide blood drive.

Sach the Earth from A to Z.

I would like to recognize Miss Faith Green on her 79th birthday.

And from Councilmember Harley, she would like to recognize Adam Landis.

Transitioning from Downtown Visions Board of Directors.

In the way of sympathy resolutions, Councilmember Harley would like to give a sympathy sympathy resolution to Curtis K.

Jackson Jr.

At this time we will move to public comment.

Once you're called forward, please remember to introduce yourself.

You will have three minutes.

Once you have around 30 seconds left, I will give you a friendly reminder to please wrap up your comments.

And please watch your step once you reach the podium.

First, we have Deacon Earl Tate.

Thank you for joining us, Deacon Tate.

Appreciate you.

Greetings.

Tate, who's never late because he don't want to lose his pair of roller skates.

And I'm here, and I'm here to recognize this this year.

It's the year that we got to stand up and be heard.

We got to stand up and let our voices be heard.

Like to remind everyone on who's with us virtually to please meet your microphones.

I'm open back to my councilmember Oliver.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Sorry about that, Deacon Tate.

You may continue.

Okay.

This is the year.

This is the year that we got to let our voices be heard.

We we got it, we got a president in there that said he wasn't gonna start no war, and he already started a war, and and he's gonna be calling on a lot of our young men, our young men to go and fight this war, go and get killed and everything.

So this is the time when we should stand up and vote and vote and get him out of office because he's not doing nothing but but but but but making havoc.

But not only that in the city of Wilmington, we we got we we got to do something, do something about these streets because there's many, there's many uh people getting hit, not only the young people, but the old people too.

We we we need we need to put up, need to put up some some speed bumps, speed bumps like like on like on second and union, second and union, the slow down the traffic, to let the let them know, hey, what you're in the hurry to get to.

You're in a hurry to get nowhere, slow down, you're moving too fast.

You got to make the morning last.

And and also we we want we want our young people here to see the see the to see the grown-ups that be our age, to be our age, because we don't want them to be to be here now and gone tomorrow.

We want we want to see them here here to be our age.

And and also and also I like I like to say that say that this is this is the year, this is the year when when we all when we all need need to be need to be taking action, taking action and and when we when we all when we all need need to be need to be thinking, need to be thinking and working, working with the youth, because if we don't, the youth is going it's going haywire.

So we got so we got to we got to do it now because as I said, a mine is a terrible thing to waste.

Thank you.

Like to recognize Councilwoman Kabara.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Next we have Stacey Henry.

Thank you for joining us.

Please remember to introduce yourself, and when you have around 30 seconds left of your three minutes time frame, I will give you a friendly reminder.

And please watch your step once you reach the podium.

Good evening, City of Wilmington.

My name is Stacy Henry.

I am the president and founder of Delaware First Resilience Hub, and I have here with me Miss Stephanie, who is one of our members of our team.

The Delaware First Resilience Hub is pleased to invite you to our first annual extreme heat preparedness symposium, established in support of Delaware's inaugural heat awareness week, which was coordinated with our organization and a group of students from University of Delaware and Drexel University.

Our governor Matt Meyer has issued a proclamation declaring May 18th to May 22nd as Delaware Heat Awareness Week.

The goal for this symposium is to develop a resource which includes strategies, procedures for extreme heat events.

The symposium will be held Wednesday, April 29th at the Route 9 Library in Newcastle from 11 to 4 p.m.

We are inviting you to participate as we develop effective action plans for extreme heat preparedness.

Your voice is important as we convene with partner organizations, educators, business professionals, government leaders, and community stakeholders to collaborate and share collective ideas and resources to withstand the devastating effects of extreme heat conditions and what causes they have on our communities.

Again, extreme heat and other kinds of severe weather, weather conditions increasingly impact our communities.

Please feel free to forward this information on to any colleagues that may be interested.

I want to thank you again for your dedication and engagement to collaborate with us as we begin begin to build a more climate-ready, sustainable, and resilient extreme heat network across our home state of Delaware.

This is important.

We've experienced a little bit of a heat wave this week, and it's not summer yet.

We've been running cooling centers in Wilmington, and we need more.

Each person here on council has received the invitation in their inbox.

We urge you if you can come out, we need your voice.

We need your help to make sure we are prepared and not caught in a situation where we have to deal with our residents across the state with nowhere to go when we are experiencing heat waves.

Again, this poster will be posted on one of the websites in the city of Wilmington.

It has a link.

Thank you.

Next we have thank you for joining us, and please remember to introduce yourself.

Please watch your step.

This is the first time that I'm at a council mayor forum, whatever.

I'm not sure if this is the right platform, but I came here tonight to speak to Xanthia Oliver because I live in a third district.

Yes, she is.

I used to live in Delaware, but not in this area.

And I know the city has come a long way since 15, 20 years ago, but it's still a long way to go.

Where I live is just frightening on so many different levels.

There's so much stuff going on.

Open drug activity.

All these fireworks that they're shooting off, these bikes and motorcycles that ride through the street at 100 miles an hour, not caring about kids or animals or anything out going through the streets or whatever.

I need help.

I spoke to Tanya from I believe the mayor's office.

I've spent my my daughter Meishing has sent out emails from Matt Meyer, uh, the governor to the mayor's office.

We've sent she has probably 12 people on the strand.

We need more help.

We've asked for more police presence in the area.

Um not really happening.

Um we've asked for a lot of different things.

Um I think we we were told on one email that um some kind of uh not a task force, but something is being developed or something where there's gonna be more ice in certain communities.

I live in the area of uh between Clifford Brown Walk, Sherman, Sherman Street, uh Lumbar Street.

Um it's horrendous.

I am probably gonna get out of here because it's almost unbearable what goes on in the areas.

You so many people they they they come in the neighbor out of the neighborhoods and they sit on your step and understand now why all the laundering signs are in everybody's windows and gun signs and stuff get off the steps and all.

I understand that now because they just come in and they sit on your property, and then when you put the sign up, because I do, and they know don't come in front of my door with that, smoking the weed and doing all the stuff they do, they'll sit right next door just to be irritating.

So, like I said, Xanthia Oliver, I wanted to see if I could set up a meeting with her and whoever else that I could set up a meeting with, me and my family, um, because I have big concerns.

I'm totally not happy, I'm stressed out to the max.

I have never seen anything like this in all my 71 years on this earth in terms of the neighborhoods.

It's I could make a movie, and probably nobody will believe it.

So I want to know as a homeowner, as my daughter being a homeowner, um, what do we do in terms of protection?

What is what does city council have?

Is there any power to come from city council to do anything to help me and my family while we're here in the neighborhoods because we're paying tax dollars for these people to just I guess collect the check, EBT cars, whatever they're doing, and I'm not saying anything is wrong with it because some people need it, but it's so many people out on the street, they don't work, they just hang out all day long, smoke weed, drink, do drugs, sell, go up and down the alleys, whatever they're doing up and down the alleys or whatever, and hang out on the streets all day, every day.

All right, thank you.

We will make sure that council member Oliver gets your contact information if someone from staff can okay, all right.

Thank you.

We'll make sure that that uh councilmember Oliver contacts you.

All right, thank you.

Okay, all right, thank you.

Thank you.

Ruth Purchase, I believe she spoke earlier, Ruth Purchase, Madeline Bolden Johnson.

Yes, ma'am.

All right, thank you for joining us.

Please watch your step when you reach the podium.

Once you have around 30 seconds left, I will give you a friendly reminder to wrap up your public comment.

And please remember to introduce yourself.

My name is Madeline Bolden Johnson, born and raised in the city of Wilmington.

I understand the lady that came up previously before me.

I'm here for the same reason.

My father bought the house in 1935.

I was born and raised on that street.

My father wants that house to remain family.

However, there are menace in the neighborhood on 506, 508, Sherman and Lumbered.

Ex-convicts that are there selling drugs.

The lady didn't tell a lie, she didn't make it up.

And I'm here, I don't live on Sherman Street, but I own the property.

My father wants that to remain in the family, and what happens?

It turns into a drug dealing street.

Many of you sitting here now, your parents grew up on that street.

We as children played in that street, and can we do it now?

No.

And I like you, lady.

I looked for councilman Oliver to be here.

And I'm looking for her.

I will see her.

I've mentioned it to many of you, and I'm not gonna stop.

At Cheney, they called me Harriet Tudman.

And that's what I intend to be here.

I am not gonna see my family grow up in a neighborhood like that.

I want your support.

I'm requesting your report.

I have family that still own homes there on Sherman Street.

It's the 500 block.

And everybody that they take out of the ghetto, out of the uh, what is it?

Projects, they dump in Sherman Street, right there in the 500 block.

Women, people that are leaning on cars that don't belong to them.

We have a new neighbor, and I'm pleasant to thank you.

The lady that was previously up here.

We look for homeowners at eighty-eight years old.

I'm a tax paying citizen of this city, and I looked for councilwoman Oliver to be here tonight, but she's not, but I'll see her at a social.

At a social.

Right here.

And yes, my house is at the corner, and we have a sign that says, no laundering on our steps.

1935, my father bought that house.

I grew up on that street.

What are we gonna do about it, council members?

What can we do about it?

I just a relative of mine just renovated a house on Sherman Street, and we're looking for good neighbors, people that'll come in, sweep the front.

My daughter has to go out and sweep the front of our house all the time.

But you know when we'll see it.

See you all when it's time to vote.

I'm speaking from the hip.

You understand me?

And I'll stand up to any of you.

I grew how to fight on Sherman Street, and I want them all.

Understand that.

She was a fighter.

I'm a fighter.

And I want you to know I'm looking for each and every last one of you sitting here to support me to help me.

I understand there's a shortage of police officers, but they used to sit and park right there on that corner, and I don't see them anymore.

We need them.

The children are running in and out in the streets.

Somebody's gonna get hit.

The only time you'd have to say that there was a gun that somebody had before the police came.

I'm asking you.

I'm not gonna beg you.

I'm gonna wait for you, and I'm gonna wait a long time.

All right.

I appreciate you, and anyone that knows me knows that I'm not making it up.

This is real people.

You don't want them in your neighborhood.

Them same chippies is on Sherman Street in 506 and 508.

They don't belong there, they don't live there.

Please listen to me.

Do something about it.

Do something about it.

Those are public housings that are empty, Mr.

President.

Public housing, and they put anybody in there.

That's all I got to say.

And this ain't my first rodeo here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

There aren't any sign-ups for virtual public comment, right?

I wanted to give you my card.

Okay.

Okay.

So I want to talk to you.

At this time, we are going to move to legislative business.

Councilmember Harlan.

Thank you so much.

I know.

Mr.

President, I have an ordinance to present and call for the third and final reading.

I move.

I rescend that.

I move council dissolve into a committee of the whole for the purpose of holding two public hearings.

Second.

It's been moved and second that council dissolve into a committee of the whole for the purpose of holding a public hearing.

On the question.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carried.

May I ask the clerk to please read the two affidavits of publicate publication.

City of Delaware County of Newcastle, Wilmington News Journal, printed and published in the state of Delaware.

That the publication, a copy of which is attached here too, was published in said newspaper on the issued dates for one an ordinance to annex seven parcels of land and two a resolution approving an amendment to the city's comprehensive development plan regarding the annexed parcels to expand the city's corporate boundaries and add the parcels into the South Wilmington analysis area and designate them as mixed commercial light manufacturing on the future land use map.

This was notarized by Nicole Jacobs in the state of Wisconsin.

I move the planning commission report be made a part of the record.

Second it's been moved and second that the affidavit of publication be made a part of the record on the question.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carried.

Clerk, please read the planning commission report.

March 4th, 2026, dear Ms.

Granardo, attached to the city council's con for city council's consideration are planning city planning commission resolutions 2-26 and 3-2-6, along with the related Department of Land Use and Planning Reports at their March 3rd, 2026 meeting.

The planning commission voted to recommend the following measures to city council.

Resolution 2-26.

A proposal to amend the comprehensive development plan to support the annexation.

So at this time, Mr.

President.

I have an ordinance to present a call for the third and final reading.

Second.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded that the plan commission report be made a part of the record on the question.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carried.

This time we're gonna ask the planning department representatives to come forward with their report.

Thank you for joining us.

Good evening, Council President and members of the City Council.

My name is Abdur Rashid Daudu, Senior Planner 2 for the Department of Land Use and Planning.

I'm here to present ordinance 26027 for a proposed annexation and rezoning in South Wilmington, along with a supporting resolution for a comprehensive development plan amendment.

The subject parcels involve approximately 4.1 acres of land consisting of seven parcels located along South Walnut Street and Garches Lane.

These parcels are currently in unincorporated Newcastle County but are contiguous to the city or Wilmington boundaries.

To bring those parcels into the city, this proposed ordinance includes four primary components.

First, the formal annexation of the seven parcels into the city of Wilmington.

Second, the rezoning of the parcels from Newcastle County H1, that is the heavy HI, that is the heavy industrial zoning to the city of Wilmington light manufacturing zoning.

Third, an amendment to the city code, specifically chapter 2, section 231 to incorporate this area into council district 4.

To be precise, this adds census tract 154, block 1002 to the district.

And finally, the ordinance proposes making necessary updates to all applicable city maps to officially reflect this new corporate limit.

To provide some background, the annexation process was initiated by the property owners.

It began with an initial petition from the Riverfront Development Corporation for the development of an indoor track.

A second petition added two additional parcels to support that development.

Finally, a third petition by a separate property owner was submitted for an additional parcel.

And this resulted in the current seven parcel annexation area.

To ensure this proposal meets all legal standards, the department of land use and planning has evaluated the annexation through the lens of our state's mandated requirement.

The city's authority to annex territory is established under Title 22, sections 101 and 101A of the Delaware Code.

In reviewing annexation request, the city evaluates several key criteria.

And this includes petition submission, consistency with the comprehensive development plan, compatibility of land use zoning and um land use and zoning and the ability to provide municipal services.

As I mentioned earlier, the annexation process was initiated by the property owners through their formal petitions.

This means that the statutory requirements for petition submission has already been met.

Moving on to the statutory requirements, such as consistency with the comprehensive development plan and zoning compatibility.

Currently, dispersals are designated for manufacturing land use at the county level, and they are zoned as heavy industrial.

However, the city's comprehensive development plan already identifies the area adjacent to the subject parcels as mixed commercial slash light manufacturing land use.

Through ordinance 26027 and the related annexation actions, the city would expand its boundary to include dispersals and amend the future land use map to designate the area as mixed commercial slash light manufacturing.

This land use designation supports uses such as light manufacturing, wholesale, warehouses, assembly, tech services, and business parks.

Similarly, through this ordinance, the subject parcels are proposed to be rezoned from Newcastle County Heavy Industrial to the City's M1 light manufacturing.

As this classification is consistent with the future land use designation and aligns with surrounding city zoning.

The M1 district is intended to accommodate light manufacturing and fabrication.

While M1 is light manufacturing district, it also allows additional uses through the zoning board of adjustment approval, and this includes public assembly and commercial recreational uses.

Another essential statutory requirement is the municipal plan of services.

Title 22, Section 101, Subsection 3 of the Delaware Code stipulates that municipalities must provide plan of services, indicating the services they expect to provide to a newly annexed area.

In accordance with state requirement, the department conducted a comprehensive review with both city department and external service providers to confirm capacity for the annexation area.

Notably, beyond our internal coordination with Wilmington Police, Fire and Public Works, we have worked closely with county partners, especially Minquidal Fire Company to ensure seamless transfer of safety coverage.

Our review confirms that all systems from water and wastewater to sanitation and code enforcement have adequate capacity to serve dispersals with no major infrastructure upgrades required.

These findings are documented in the municipal annexation plan of services, which has been prepared and submitted to the Office of State Planning Coordination.

And they have also been provided to City Council through a separate transmitter.

Overall, this demonstrates that the city has the capacity to provide municipal services consistent with state requirements.

Beyond the statutory requirement, the department has also revealed the environmental conditions of the subject parcels.

The subject parcels are located within FEMA Zone AE, which represents the 1% annual chance floodplain, meaning any future developments will be subject to applicable floodplain regulations.

In addition to floodplain regulations, portions of the parcels are being evaluated through the departments of natural resources and environmental remediation and environmental review programs to identify any potential environmental concerns.

Environmental oversights with environmental oversight remains with Denver, and any required review or cleanup will be handled by the property owners in coordination with Denweg.

As such, annexation does not transfer environmental liability to the city.

When we look at the bigger picture, this process fit perfectly within the city's broader development strategy for South Wilmington.

The city's comprehensive development plan identifies this area as one where coordinated public investment, infrastructure improvement, and redevelopment efforts are intended to support economic opportunity.

The proposed annexation supports that vision by bringing the spurs into the city in a way that is consistent with the comprehensive development plan and its South Wilmington strategy.

In addition to the strategic benefits, there are clear fiscal benefits for the city.

The annexation would incorporate approximately 4.1 acres or seven parcels into the city's municipal tax base.

Based on current Newcastle County assessment records, the existing assessed value land only is approximately 1.54 million.

Upon annexation, the parcels will be subject to the city's municipal tax structure.

And this includes the city wage tax, which is currently assessed at 1.25% of gross income for individuals working or living in the city.

While these figures reflect existing pre-development conditions, there is potential for increased municipal revenues with future site development and employment activity.

Importantly, the city has confirmed that no major capital infrastructure investment will be required to serve the annexation area.

And beyond the fiscal and technical analysis, the department prioritized community engagement throughout the process.

We proactively proactively reached out to all surrounding property owners to inform them of the proposed annexation and even invited them to participate in the city planning commission's public hearing.

This notice was also published in the news journal to ensure full awareness, to ensure full public awareness.

Furthermore, during the city planning commission's formal hearing, the floor was open to the public.

And again, no objections were raised.

Most recently, the city council's community development and urban planning committee held its own public hearing and expressed their full support for the annexation.

This indicates this indicates that the proposal has moved through the required public transparency and review stages with no formal comments or objections placed on record.

The lack of community opposition combined with a favorable recommendation from the committee suggests that the proposal is viewed as a compatible addition to the South Wilmington area and to the city as a whole.

While this ordinance is specifically about annexation and not a specific development, one of the property owners has proposed a development concept for the annexation area, specifically an indoor track facility.

The concept includes approximately 94,000 square feet of indoor athletic space with sitting um for about 2,000 spectators along with local rooms and other supporting facilities.

This facility is intended to be a community serving recreational use.

And it is a type of use that could be accommodated within the M1 district, subject to zoning board of approval, zoning board of adjustment approval.

I would just emphasize again that the annexation and rezoning do not constitute approval or disapproval of any specific development.

All future projects would be subject to separate review and approvals through the city's development process.

Ultimately, the department's analysis finds that this annexation proposal is consistent with the city's comprehensive development plan and satisfies statutory requirements.

The proposed zoning aligns with the surrounding zoning pattern and represents a logical and contiguous extension of the city boundary.

The city has confirmed that municipal services can be extended to the subject parcels without capacity constraint and without the need for major infrastructure improvements.

In addition, the annexation proposal supports reinvestment in underutilized land and creates opportunities for compatible community serving recreational use within the M1 district.

Based on this findings, the department recommends the following.

Approval of ordinance 26027 to annex and rezone the proposed seven parcels from Newcastle County Heavy Industrial to City of Wilmington M1 light manufacturing.

Second, approval of the supporting resolution to amend the comprehensive development plan in support of the annexation.

Should the council recommend approval, the annexation proposal proceeds to the mayor's office for signature.

Following city and following city approval, the annexation proposal proceeds to Newcastle County for a similar legislative process.

And this includes County Council annexation ordinance introduction, planning board consideration, committee review, final reading, and county executive approval.

Finally, the annexation materials are submitted to the Office of State Planning Coordination for Review and Coordination in accordance with state law.

In conclusion, this ordinance and the accompanying resolution ensure that the subject parcels are properly integrated into the city's land use and zoning framework.

Our review confirms that the city is fully prepared to provide municipal services to the annexation area.

And importantly, our state that the annexation and rezoning do not constitute approval or disapproval of any development.

Thank you for your time.

I'm now happy to address any questions the council may have regarding the annexation.

Thank you.

Does anyone from council have any questions or comments?

Council Member Harley.

Yes.

First of all, I want to thank Mr.

Dowdu for that thorough uh presentation as it relates to what we are voting on tonight.

I will tell you that I've had uh numerous conversations with the department with the um RDC with as it relates to uh what is completely entirely happening here and not only did I feel comfortable with understanding that there are several different business owners that are working with the city of Wilmington, working with Newcastle County to um transition or annex um these properties into these particular areas.

They also meaning the uh planning department uh showed up at our seat up meeting this week to do the same presentation to make sure that council members understood and was able to ask any questions that they needed at that particular time based on uh the information that was shared and what are the possibilities.

I was also um satisfied with that in terms of the possibilities of whomever would be interested in some of these properties once they are annexed over into these particular areas.

I don't want to belabor the time, but I did want to underscore some of the the advantages for Wilmington, and one of the things that we have been talking about, we have been discussing is annexation.

And as we know, annexation is something that we do need in the city of Wilmington to be able to bring in more revenue.

So having said that, um, this uh transaction is potential for increased revenues if voted on with future development and employment.

There is no major capital infrastructure um investments required by the city.

Um it represents a logical and a continu contiguous um extension of the city boundary.

Um right there is sort of like some parcels are city, some are county, so they will all be contiguous and um it supports reinvestment of underutilized industrial land.

And I will tell you that there are individuals that are calling me asking and inquiring about land on South Market Street.

So I definitely feel as though this is a good move for the city of Wilmington.

That's all I have, Mr.

President.

All right, thank you, Council Woman Cavera.

Thank you.

I did want to underscore what council member Harley just said, which is what I was going to mention that as we're looking, you know, it's tough financial times ahead.

That uh one of the things that we would like to do is annex some of the Newcastle County land that's in the perimeter of the city, not just this, but even areas around Governor Prince uh Boulevard.

So this is a start.

Um this is a benefit to the city, and although this particular part of the hearing doesn't discuss details of what will go on that site, um, what we are privy to through the committee meeting.

Um, we know that what is proposed is going to be beneficial for the community as a whole, especially for our youth.

So I'm very much in support of this and would like to be added as a co-sponsor when we get to that point.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

See no other hands raised from anyone on council.

Does anyone from the public have any comment?

Anyone in council chambers?

Want to speak for or want to speak against WITN is anyone with us virtually who would like to give public comment?

All right, thank you.

Mr.

President, Mr.

President, I move council return to the regular order of business.

It's been moved and seconded that council return to the regular order of business.

Clerk, please read the committee report.

April 9th, 2026.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are community development and urban planning committee met by anchor location and remote participation.

So who is referred ordinance number 26-027 entitled an ordinance to one annexed approximately 4.1 acres consisting of seven parcels of land being taxed parcel numbers 10-001 dot zero zero-017, 10-001.00-018, 10-001 dot 00-78, 10-001.00-021, 10-001.00-080, 10-001.00-081 and 10 president 001.00-082 into the city's corporate boundaries.

10-001 dot zero zero-018 10-001 dot zero zero dash seven eight ten zero zero one dot zero zero dash zero two one ten-zero zero one dot zero zero dash zero eight zero ten zero zero one dot zero zero dash zero eight one and ten I move zero zero one second dot zero zero dash zero eight two into the city's corporate boundaries to rezone the parcels from a zoning classification of Newcastle County H-1 heavy and or HIV industrial to a zoning classification of City of Wilmington M1 Light Manufacturing three amend chapter two of the city code regarding the boundaries of the fourth councilmanic district and four amend applicable city maps to add the annexed parcels into the city's corporate boundaries have given this ordinance careful review and recommend council vote on it at an upcoming council meeting respectfully submitted those members of the community development urban planning committee those members present councilwoman cabrera councilman hackett councilman owens president congo absent with leave councilwoman derby councilman field councilwoman mccoy and councilwoman will hour mr president i move the community report be received recorded and filed okay it's been moved and second that the findings be made a part of the record that the committee report be made made a part of the record on the question all in favor signify by saying aye any opposed motion carried clerk are there any findings yes april sixteenth twenty twenty six city council from uh elizabeth d power senior assistant city solicitor in closed please find a copy of the findings prepared in connection with Wilmington City Council City Council scheduled public hearing on April 16 2026 regarding the above reference annexation and zoning ordinance the findings supplement the record of the city planning commission and its report as well as the record of city council's public hearing and the law department advises their inclusion in the record as a means of complying with Delaware court decisions that involve zoning ordinances of county governments but the principles of which apply to the city council city of Wilmington as well in this instance the findings support the provisions of the ordinance the findings in the ordinance reflect the recommendations approved by the planning commission at its special meeting following its public hearing on March 3rd 2026.

I move the findings be made a part of the record second it's been moved and second that the findings be made a part of the record on the question all in favor signify by saying aye aye aye any opposed motion carried all right thank you we we appreciate your oh resolution okay thank you mr double does thank you i'm sorry one second i think you might need to come back to the podium for the resolution just okay all right thank you please do thanks all right um thank you council president the the result this resolution supports the annexation was just discussed by formally amending our comprehensive development plan womington 2028 a comprehensive plan for our city and communities specifically this resolution at the seventh parcels totaling approximately 4.1 acres into the South Wilmington analysis area of our corporate boundaries and designates this parcels as mixed commercial slash light manufacturing on the future land use map and finally this resolution authorizes confirming amendments to all related maps including the development strategy map to ensure our planning documents accurately reflect the city's new limits this amendment is a pure site for the annexation it ensures that the new territory is fully integrated into the city's long term vision for economic opportunity and coordinated development in South Wilmington the department has found this amendments to be consistent with the goals of Wilmington 2028 the department recommends approval of this resolution to provide the necessary planning framework for the annexation thank you thank you Mr President I have an ordinance to present a call for the third and final reading make sure there's no question just make sure there's no question just before we move

The department recommends approval of this resolution to provide the necessary planning framework for the annexation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

President, I have an ordinance to present a call for the third and final reading.

Make sure there's no question.

Just make sure there's no question.

And just before we move forward, are there any questions?

All right, thank you.

Councilmember Caber.

I did want to be added as a co-sponsor to both of these.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Harley.

Mr.

President, I have an ordinance to present and call for the third and final reading.

Ordinance number 26-027 and ordinance to one annex approximately 4.1 acres consisting of seven parcels of land being tax parcel numbers 10-001.00-017 10-001.00-018-001.00-078.

10-001.00-0210-001.00-080 10-001.00-081 and 10-001.00-082 into the city's corporate boundaries.

Two rezone the parcels of a from a zoning classification of Newcastle County H1, Heavy Industrial, to a zoning classification of City of Wilmington M1 Light Manufacturing.

Three, amend chapter two of the city code regarding the boundaries of the fourth councilmanic district, and four amend applicable city maps to add the annexed parcels into the city's corporate boundaries.

Mr.

President, I move that it be known as the enacting clause of the ordinance and call for the yay and a vote.

It's been properly moved and second that that be known as the enacting clause of the ordinance and call it for a yay or nay vote on the question.

Oh yes, Mr.

President.

Um my colleagues have pretty much heard all the details as it relates to this ordinance.

I'll just add uh briefly that this ordinance approves the annexation of approximately 4.1 acres, consisting of seven parcels of land located in South Wilmington.

In addition, this ordinance approves the amendment of the boundaries of the fourth councilmatic district set forth in city code section two-three one and all applicable city maps to add the parcels into the city's corporate boundaries.

And seeing no hands raised councilmember Oliver.

Oh, that's probably more ready to acknowledge.

I'm sorry.

Yes.

Clerk, please call for the roll.

Councilman Owens.

Yes.

Once we uh if you're in support, you have to state the reason why it is based on the findings.

Yes.

Councilwoman Darby.

Yes.

And I think it's a great idea.

I like the track facility coming.

It's indoor.

Yeah.

Councilwoman Oliver.

Yes, based on the findings.

Councilwoman Harley.

Yes, based on the findings.

Councilwoman Willower?

Yes, based on the findings.

Councilwoman McCoy.

Yes, based on the findings.

Councilman Johnson.

Yes, based on findings.

Councilwoman Bracey.

Yes, based on the findings.

Councilwoman Cabrera.

Yes, based on the findings.

Councilman Hackett?

Yes, based on the findings.

Councilman Spadola.

Yes, based on the findings.

President Congo.

Yes, based on the findings.

12 years and one absent.

Declared adopted.

Mr.

President, I have a resolution to present.

Resolution 26-034, agenda number 0218.

Whereas section 5-600 of Wilmington of the Wilmington City Charter provides them that modifications to the comprehensive development plan of the city of Wilmington may be recommended by the city's department of planning and development.

Second.

It's been partly moved and seconded that the resolution be received, recorded, filed, and adopted by yay or a vote on the question.

Oh, yes, Mr.

President.

This is pretty much again a companion piece to what we just heard.

Um as uh Mr.

Will do read as well.

I will just add that this resolution um approves an amendment to the city's comprehensive development plan entitled Wilmington 2028, um, a comprehensive plan for our city and communities to add the seven parcels of land um regarding the fiscal impact.

The Office of Management and Budget has reviewed this resolution, approving this amendment to the comprehensive plan to revise its maps to reflect the annexation of the parcels into the city's corporate boundaries and the rezoning of the parcels.

The fiscal impact of the annexation and rezoning of the parcels is included in ordinance number 26-027.

Thank you.

Seeing no hands raised, please call for the roll.

Councilman Owens.

Yes.

Councilwoman Darby?

Yes.

Councilwoman Oliver?

Yes.

Councilwoman Harley?

Yes.

Councilwoman Willower?

Yes.

Councilwoman McCoy?

Yes.

Councilman Johnson?

Yes.

Councilwoman Bracey?

Yes.

Councilwoman Cabrera?

Yes.

Councilman Hackett?

Yes.

Councilman Spadola.

Yes.

President Congo.

Yes.

12 years and one absent.

Declared adopted.

Mr.

President, I have my final ordinance to present and call for the third and final reading.

Oh, Mr.

President, I would like to make a motion for reconsideration.

Second.

It's been properly moved and seconded that there be a reconsideration of the ordinance.

All those in favor?

So note by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carried.

Clerk call for the roll.

Councilman Owens?

Yes.

Councilwoman Darby?

Yes.

Councilwoman Oliver?

Yes.

Councilwoman Harley?

Yes.

Councilwoman Willower?

Yes.

Councilwoman McCoy?

Yes.

Councilman Johnson?

Yes.

Councilwoman Bracey.

Yes.

Councilwoman Cabrera.

Yes.

Councilman Hackett?

Yes.

Councilman Spadola.

Yes.

President Congo.

Yes.

12 yes and one absent.

Declared adopted.

That's all I have, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Councilmember Owens.

Mr.

President, I have a resolution to present on your behalf.

Yes, thank you.

I am going to hold the first resolution.

Agenda number 0219.

Thank you.

Resolution 26-035.

Agenda number 0220.

Whereas Wilmington City Council recognizes that oversight and the council.

Second.

It's been public moved and second.

The resolution be received, recorded, filed, and adopted by a yay or nay vote on the question.

Yes, Mr.

President.

This is a resolution in support of the passage of uh HB 96.

Um again, all across America right now.

We are seeing the federal government overreach their power when it comes to our undocumented um community.

So this bill um would just create some safeguards and framework for a statewide tracking and reporting um to the federal immigration enforcement um when they have requests made to state agencies um requiring quarterly reports to the General Assembly, the governor and the Office of Legislative Services.

Um it also gives state leadership just a clear understanding of what's going on and what's being asked for.

Um I consider this a good transparency bill um and accountability bill as well, too.

Councilmember McCoy.

Yes, can I please be added as a co-sponsor council member willer?

Yes, I'd like to be added as a co-sponsor.

Councilmember Cabrera.

I too would like to be added as a co-sponsor.

Councilmember Harley.

I too would like to be added as a co-sponsor.

Councilmember Oliver.

Like to be added as a co-sponsor.

Councilmember Johnson.

I would like to be added as a co-sponsor.

Councilmember Hackett.

Yeah, I mean as a co-sponsor.

Councilmember Darby.

Just add it as a co-sponsor.

Councilmember Bracey.

Co-sponsor, please.

All right.

See no of the hands raised.

Councilmember Owens.

Can I be added as a co-sponsor too?

Thank you.

Definitely.

Clerk, please call for the roll.

Councilman Owens.

Yes.

Councilwoman Darby?

Yes.

Councilwoman Oliver.

Yes.

Councilwoman Harley?

Yes.

Councilwoman Willower.

Yes.

Councilwoman McCoy?

Yes.

Councilman Johnson?

Yes.

Councilwoman Bracey.

Yes.

Councilwoman Cabrera?

Yes.

Councilman Hackett?

Yes.

Councilman Spadola.

Yes.

President Congo.

Yes.

12 years and one absent.

Declared adopted.

Councilmember Darby.

Yes.

Um Mr.

President, I have an ordinance to present and call for the third and final reading.

Ordinance number 26-018.

Agenda number 0198.

An ordinance to amend chapter 2 of the city code to establish an office of community safety.

Mr.

President, I have a substitute to present in lieu of that ordinance.

Substitute number one to ordinance number 26-018.

Agenda number 0198 revision one.

An ordinance to amend chapter 2 of the city code to establish an office of community safety.

Mr.

President, I mean move that be known as the enacting clause of the substitute ordinance and call for a yay and a vote.

Second.

It's been properly moved and seconded that be known as the enacting clause of the substitute ordinance and call for a yay and they vote.

On the question.

Yeah, so um this piece of ordinance um adds a new section under chapter two to um um to establish a new office called the Office of Community Safety within the mayor's office.

So this Office of Community Safety will treat violence within the city as a public health concern and focus not only on violence intervention but on addressing underlying causes to violence in an effort to prevent it from happening.

Um so we had a press conference about this yesterday.

I feel like we've been talking about this a lot.

Um, but I really want to thank my council colleagues.

I know this has been a um exactly what we the direction we want it to go um as conversations about violence and violence prevention and intervention has always been um something that I think all of us have agreed on on city council since I've been on council for the last six years.

And um, so honestly, um I just want to you know get count my colleagues a time to comment.

Um and this is just codifying it.

This will make it permanent, and when we make something permanent, no matter who is mayor, um this will have to be um something um that is a priority for the city.

So thank you.

Councilmember McCoy.

Yes, can I please be added as a co-sponsor?

Councilmember Harley.

Oh, yes.

Um, I just want to say I will be in support um of this uh legislation ordinance.

Um I want to also thank um the mayor's office for um executing the uh executive order.

Um this sort of like ties up the whole process.

This is a long this is a journey that we've been on a long time coming, and I just want to say that I'm hoping that with this um ordinance that as I'm looking at um section one C two three and four, utilizing the data to um identify violence hot spots and directing resources to those areas, supporting community-based intervention programs, and basically um to do and to help and support what we heard tonight.

Um tonight really was you know, um, I guess it was very timely, and I just want to say that this here could definitely be a great support um as it relates to what we heard tonight because it was definitely very compelling, and I plan to support and I would like to be added as a co-sponsor.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Johnson.

Uh I'm I'm already co-sponsor on this piece, but uh it's something again.

I I commend um my colleague, Councilwoman Darby and other leadership for pressing us forward.

Uh and I think this this is helpful to go back in the history of the city.

Um, so if you go back uh to even the um Williams administration, uh there was a community safety director.

I was working in the law department at the time, and I remember working on projects.

We started cease violence woman.

We made a lot of good um, you know, that and that pro program had Darrell Chambers and we worked with a lot of uh individuals, and then the funding went away, and the progress went away.

So, you know, it is important for us to set a legacy because I was disappointed that we couldn't continue that project because there were a lot of people who are still around today who are part of the original cease violence.

So um I do agree with the placeholder.

I know there is a fiscal impact, 183,000.

That is uh a drop in a bucket, uh, considering the lives that's gonna save.

So um this needs to be uh I think figured into the final budget we get with council to put that placeholder in there for the 183, so all administration have to put it in there.

All right, thank you.

Councilmember Oliver.

Yeah, thank you, Mr.

President.

Um I would also like to be added as a co-sponsor.

Um I'm not going to repeat everything my council members stated, but um this is dear to our heart.

We all have been talking about the violence in the community as y'all heard tonight.

Um it's nonstop um in certain neighborhoods and across the city of Wilmington.

Um, so this is needed at me as a co-sponsor.

Thank you.

And saying no, the hands raised back to the sponsor.

Any closing comments?

Yeah, I just would like to add so that's the public is just aware, there will be we will start off with two positions.

So the first position would be a director of community safety, and then there would be a grant writer who will also be a part of this office to help with funds to keep the um keep the office to send to sustain the office.

But I do want to say that codifying it is the next step, but I think the conversation about more funding for this office has to happen.

Um, because we know that once there's two positions, the office of director and a grant writer, they're not gonna be on the ground doing the work, and that is the actual violence prevention and intervention is when you have people on the ground.

And if we don't have funding to pay the organizations who are doing the violence intervention and prevention work, there's not gonna be a lot of coordination on the ground with the office.

So I don't want to just create an office to create an office, but I know the next conversation is now how do we put more money into this so that the community-based organizations who are doing this work, we can actually coordinate them, but with no funding to coordinate, um, we're not gonna get far.

So we have to have a conversation.

I know we're in budget hearing, um, and I know that there's um other organizations who have reached out to talk about um this office and also like the scope and role of it.

Um, and those are conversations I think that are next.

But I just want to say thank you to my council colleagues again, the mayor administration, and let's do the vote.

Right, thank you.

Count clerk, please call for the rule.

Councilman Owens.

Yes.

Councilwoman Darby, yes.

Councilwoman Oliver, yes, councilwoman Harley, yes.

Councilwoman Willower?

Yes.

Councilwoman McCoy.

Yes.

Councilman Johnson?

Yes.

Councilwoman Bracey.

Yes.

Councilwoman Cabrera?

Yes.

Councilman Hackett.

Yes.

Councilman Spadola.

Yes.

President Congo.

Yes.

12 years and one absent.

Declared adopted.

Councilmember Willower.

Mr.

President, I have an ordinance to present and call for the first and second reading.

Ordinance number 26-028.

Agenda number 0221.

An ordinance to amend chapter two of the city code related to the functions of the Department of Real Estate and Housing, allowing the department to spend neighborhood stabilization funds as well as grant funds to assist in settling eviction proceedings.

First reading of the ordinance.

An ordinance to amend chapter two of the city code related to the functions of the department of real estate and housing, allowing the department to spend neighborhood stabilization funds as well as grant funds to assist in settling eviction proceedings.

Second reading of the ordinance.

Second it's been properly moved and second that be known as the first and second reading of the ordinance.

Mr.

President, I have an ordinance present and call for the first and second reading.

Ordinance number 26-029, agenda number 0222, an ordinance to amend chapter 8 of the city code to create a homeowner repair program.

Mr.

First reading of the ordinance.

Second reading of the ordinance.

Mr.

President, I move that be known as the first and second reading of the ordinance and refer to the community development and urban planning committee.

Second.

And second that be known as the first and second reading of the ordinance and refer to the community development and urban planning committee.

Mr.

President, I have an ordinance to present and call for the first and second reading.

Ordinance number 26-030, agenda number 0223, an ordinance to amend chapter 8 of the city code to create a vacant property rehabilitation assistance program.

First reading of the ordinance.

Second.

It's been properly moved and second, that being known as the first and second reading of the ordinance and referred to the community development and urban planning committee.

Councilmember Johnson.

Mr.

President, I have a uh a resolution to present.

Resolution 26-036, agenda number 0224.

Whereas on Tuesday, March 24th.

At this time, I move for the resolution to be received, recorded, and filed and adopted by a YayNA vote.

So again, it's been probably moved and second the resolution to be received, recorded, filed and adopted by a yay or nay vote on the question.

This resolution is being presented really in really uh urgent behest.

Um it was something that came up.

Um we have our trusted uh county executive, Marcus Henry, I think he's dealing with the difficult financial situation right now with the county.

Um, but there is a proposal right now for a 17.2 percent tax hike, um, which is uh uh on my I I'm not aware of uh the city ever doing that, the county.

Um that's just gonna be a crushing uh increase on all of our residents.

Um and uh it's unfortunate the county's in that position.

Um, but um, you know, I'm hopeful there's a better way to move forward.

And um, you know, the city we face many financial crisis.

Uh sometimes we had to tighten our belt, cut staff, uh um, you know, leave vacancies, and we've done that.

We did that during COVID.

Um, so I'm hoping there's a better way, and I hope I can my support from our um my colleagues that we have to voice.

Um, you know, we we we talk about you know the cities and we're not raising property taxes, you know.

We're doing our best.

But we have residents who are already being hit with the tax reassessment, which I know uh my my colleague uh uh councilwoman Will Lauer is on top of and helping lead the charge.

And so there's so many issues with the county right now, and then the 17.2 percent uh tax hike on top of that um because of the fiscal mess the county is in um is really unfair to our uh constituents.

So uh we just want to be a unified voice, and hopefully uh the county council hears us and uh will continue to work in uh making sure if there is a tax crease it tax increase is minimal and also continue to work on these reassessment issues Councilmember Harley.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

President.

I do want to thank Councilmember Johnson um for sponsoring this uh resolution, and um I would like to be added as a co-sponsor.

However, uh my support for this resolution is in no way a reflection of our new county executive, Marcus Henry.

For we know that he just got elected, and then I do believe a lot of what is happening is just a result of what has taken place within the county, probably within the last one, two, three, four years.

So I just wanted to make it clear and for it to be on the record that my support for this resolution is in no way um a reflection um on his uh leadership or his administration.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember McCoy.

Uh thank you.

I just want to make you aware that um I did speak to the sponsor, made him aware that uh tonight I will have to vote president, that this uh resolution does impact me directly as an employee of the county, so I'll be voting president tonight.

All right, thank you.

Councilmember Willower.

Yeah, thank you, Council President.

I wanted to thank Councilmember Johnson for bringing this forward.

I think it's really important, although county taxes are a small portion of everybody's tax bill here in the city.

A 17% increase is a big increase.

And when I look at the budget for Newcastle County, it seems like it might even be more like they have different tax rates for you know, unincorporated, Arden, Ardencroft, and Wilmington.

And it seems like they've shifted around kind of the tax system a little bit.

So City Wilmington residents might be facing a tax increase of even more than 17 percent, which seems to be an average across all the different categories.

So I think it's I think that the property tax reassessment um really harmed a lot of city residents because as we know from the report from Tyler Technologies, their assessments of city properties didn't meet city standards for accuracy.

So we have a lot of properties in the city of Wilmington that are assessed at higher than their value, and nothing has been done to correct that.

And I I do think that's the responsibility of the county that has the by state code, they're responsible for producing accurate assessments.

So you know, I I think that we need to keep as a city standing up for our residents and making sure that this that the county takes steps, takes appropriate steps to get these numbers to be accurate, and certainly doesn't pile on additional increases to people who in many cases are paying more than their fair share.

So please add me as a co-sponsor.

And I'm looking forward to working with um everybody to make sure that the underlying assessments equal the fair market value of every property in the city of Wilmington.

All right, thank you.

Councilmember Darby.

Yes, I would like to just be added as a co-sponsor.

Thank you.

Seeing no council member Owens.

Yes, I I have one question to the sponsor.

Has have you been in any communication with the county exec's office about this or any of the county council members about um your stance on this?

Yeah, uh so just to be honest, this is really early.

This just came up last week.

So uh we have not had those intense conversations.

I wanted to get this out before um there they wanted to budget um hearings themselves.

Um there's gonna be follow-up with county executive.

I know, or um discuss that with our chief of staff.

Um, again, I'm a supporter of the county executive, I believe, in the administration.

This is unfortunate um circumstance they're in.

Um so we're here as a city to help them navigate through this.

Follow up, Mr.

President.

Yes.

Um one, I would like to be added as a co-sponsor to this, but I think it's really important for us um to maybe even work with our other colleagues in different municipalities to come together um to voice, you know, our opposition to um such an increase like this, and and also sit down with our county colleagues as well, too, um, and discuss the potential extra weight that they're gonna put on our residents and and what residents across the county.

Um, I think that was one of the issues with reassessment.

The city and the county really wasn't speaking with one another, um, which led to such a uh a messed up reassessment for so many of us, um, especially the the residents, the the homeowners.

So again, I think we need to open up those lines of communication and sit down and talk with the county.

Um, but I also think you know, going forward, uh, we just have to do better when it comes to processes like this, and I know we've talked about reassessment numerous times.

Again, we cannot just keep pitting that that barrier, that weight on the backs of our our residential property owners.

So um please add me as a co-sponsor.

And um Marcus will be having a town hall on um May the 7th, Thursday, May the 7th.

I think we have a council meeting, but it's at Dell Tech.

Um, so maybe we could stop over there before we come here.

All right, thank you, Councilmember Spadola.

Thank you, Council President.

I'm going to support this as well, and just want to reiterate that my support for this resolution does not take away at all my unequivocal support and respect for county executive Henry.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Bracey.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I too am going to support this, and I agree with uh my colleagues who have said that um this is in no way uh directed at uh county executive Marcus Henry who inherited this issue, but I also want to um kind of go back to something that councilman Owen said that I think is something that we all need to be thinking about with the current uh state of our federal government and the the funding streams that are drying up.

This is not just uh local out issue, it's a state.

Um it's a county and a local municipality issue, and I think that there is gonna be a lot of conversations and some hard conversations around how do we continue to fund government when you know we were so heavily reliant on the pass throughs that came from the federal government that are now drying up.

So I think there's larger conversations and some hard conversations that need to be had amongst us as local at the local level at the county and at the state level to really understand how we address this and how we also balance the need for the tax base, but also the needs of our constituents.

So I will support this, but um this is in no way shape against the county council or the county executive.

They're in a uh a tough situation, the same as the city.

So we definitely understand.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Yes, I'm also going to support it just for our residents, but again, no no um no slight towards our county exec.

He was dealt with uh a heck of a hand.

So um back to the sponsor for any closing comments.

No further comments.

All right, clerk, please call for the role.

Councilman Owens, yes, councilwoman Darby, yes, councilwoman Oliver, Councilwoman Harley, yes, councilwoman Willower, yes, Councilwoman McCoy, present.

Councilman Johnson, yes, councilman Field.

Oh, sorry.

Councilwoman Bracey.

Yes.

Councilwoman Gabrera.

Yes.

Councilman Hackett.

Yes.

Councilman Spadola.

Yes.

President Congo.

Yes.

10 years, one present and two absent.

Declared adopted.

Councilmember Spadola.

Mr.

President, I have a resolution to present.

Resolution 26-037, agenda number 0225, whereas Wilmington City Council annually allocates a total of $25,000 to council's travel fund, which supports travel and professional development expenses.

And whereas in previous fiscal I move this resolution be received, recorded and filed and adopted by a Yay and Nav.

Second.

It's been properly properly moved and second the resolution B received, recorded, filed, and adopted by Yary Nay vote on the question.

Thank you, Council President.

I I bring this forward tonight uh simply to request that the council um puts back the $25,000, not as a separate travel fund, but distributes it evenly and equitably divided by 13.

So each council member has access to just under $2,000.

That if they want to use that for travel to conferences, they can, but there's many of us who can't travel because of family or work.

And this way the can council members who cannot travel are not penalized, and we can instead reinvest that money back into uh nonprofits and it and into scholarships.

Happy to take any questions.

Councilmember Bracy.

Thank you.

Um, so I uh I'm kind of torn.

I'm not gonna support this resolution, not because I don't, and this is nothing personal to my colleague, not because I don't support the idea, but I think this could have been an email or a phone call.

I think doing us doing resolutions to us just to doesn't make sense to me when we should be talking to each other and we should be communicating.

This is we're in budget, so we don't need to send resolutions to each other when we can call each other and talk through what we need to talk through to agree on this.

Because I actually like the idea, but I just don't like the idea of us having an internal discussion where we've used staff times to write up a resolution when we could have just called each other.

So only because of that, I'm not gonna support this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Oliver.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um, I won't be supporting it.

Um all the budget hands that I've been that I have attended, all the department heads have um increased their um travel city council for over 40, 50 years, have everybody doesn't travel.

I get it.

I only been in maybe two, but I'm not going to penalize council is a body as a whole, it's not one individual.

If you can't make it, you can't make it, you know.

Maybe maybe you go to trainings, maybe you do other things.

Everybody don't have to.

I mean, maybe you could take a class.

Everybody doesn't have to go to trainings, but I think it's unfair.

I know um Ted Fred Sears, Jim Baker, but a lot of things that he brought back, he still t gives me ideas.

We are a small state, so it's good to go and um find out what other people are doing.

I found out a lot of things about um the land banks, some of the historical markers.

I mean, you know, I don't I didn't get to go nowhere last year, but I know Harley and uh Maria and Tish brought back some good things.

So just because you don't get to go, it's not fair to try to penalize all of us, and I just think it's like I said, all the other departments I was I was uh made sure I paid attention, they are increasing their travels from the ideas that they are finding out when they go away.

So if a person don't want to go travel because they got family, just don't go.

I mean, I haven't been to every conference, but I don't knock the people who go and bring something back.

Thank you.

So for that reason, I won't be supported.

Thank you, Councilmember Johnson.

Uh I I have much to add.

Uh I I echo the sentiments of my colleagues.

Um, as finance chair, this was debated every year.

I know under the current finance chairs debate every year, but as our council president said, we're one council.

So for us, it's about the whole.

So when councilwoman Kerbera or Councilwoman Harley goes to a conference and councilwoman Bracey, I know and bails herself, they bring back knowledge to all of us.

So just because we can't travel, it's a help to all the council.

I kind of equate it to our food budget.

Um, those of you who know me probably know I probably don't eat 90% of the food.

Um, you know, usually I have my own protein shake, but we always have food because it's helping, you know, we're one council, right?

Everyone else should be comfortable, just like the food during the budget hearing.

So I'm all for the one council approach.

Um, I understand the the inkling behind this, but we all gotta be one body.

Thank you, Councilmember Darby.

Yes, um, I have a question for the sponsor.

So once is divide, this 25k is divided up amongst all 13 of us, and now it's a part of our discretionary funds.

So are we saying that we don't have a travel budget at all for anyone else to use it to travel?

And then when it goes back to each council person, um, and let's say I get that a thousand something dollar, 1900 um dollars into my bucket.

If I do want to travel, can I use my community support and discretionary funds to travel?

Councilmember Spadola.

Thank you, Council President.

Yes, Councilmember Darby, I to correct council member Oliver.

Nobody is being penalized by this.

It's really as it is right now, the people who can't travel are being penalized.

But this would just put the money into back into um the community support funds that people can tap into regardless of travel.

So anybody who wants to travel can still, they still get an extra two thousand dollars, just under two thousand dollars on top of it.

Uh, this would just make it more equitable and fair and honestly better for the uh citizens of Wilmington, so we can invest that money back into the nonprofits doing a lot of work here.

And just to speak to Councilmember Bracey's point, it was a conversation that I had with Councilmember Harley.

Uh, and I think Councilmember Owens was on that initial call.

And it was also in the survey, which I think is good, but it's also good to have these conversations not behind closed doors, but out in front of the public.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Kabara.

I also want to add that that budget is not necessarily just for council members.

There are times that staff members have gone to conferences, such as our policy advisor, our communications director, and there is much to learn.

And as we have put policies in place where you are requiring that when council members do travel, that they come back and they do a presentation.

Not sure if the staff does the same, but I'm sure that they're bringing back information.

And yes, not everyone might be able to get away or go to a conference, but there are ways that council members can also enhance their experience, as some council members have used those funds for educational purposes to learn.

Not everyone can go, but I think that valuable information is brought back when we see what other cities are grappling with the same situations that we're grappling here, and we're able to instead of reinventing the wheel, we're able to work together.

And I understand what council member Spadola is saying that if these funds are set aside, let's divide them evenly that way for those who can't go.

That's fine.

But it's not just council members.

So for it to be returned and for the $1,923 for council members to use and just discretionary funds, it's not just council members.

There is staff development that also takes place.

And I imagine that that $25,000 is included for our staff members who also travel to go away to conferences, whether local or whether there's travel involved.

Thank you.

I will not be supporting it.

Thank you.

I do want to allow Marshall to comment.

Just for a point of um clarification, a 25,000 is specifically for council members.

That number doesn't include the amount for staff.

All right, thank you.

Councilmember Willower.

I just had a clarifying question, just to follow up on Councilwoman Darby.

I guess I didn't know that our community support and discretionary funds could be spent on like travel.

Is that true?

And education for ourselves.

I didn't know that.

Yeah.

All right.

Is that is that true?

So it's already a part of it.

President, if I can respond, um, yes, that is true.

There is a policy um that's out there that's on our um city council um um website um that talks about the details as far as how the community support funds can be be utilized um and travel.

Um when we say travel, it's just not travel, it meant um it also includes our professional development, um, conferences, um, seminars.

If somebody wants to take something online, uh, you know, so it encompasses all of that.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hackett.

Yeah, I uh I thank you, Mr.

President.

I just want to say, you know, I think we have a streamlined budget process.

I think everybody submits the request that they want early before budget season goes, and then as council we vote on it uh to see if it's gonna move forward.

I think this was one of those items that did move forward.

Um, but everybody, you know, we all want different things when we want in the budget, and you know, some of those things don't happen, but we got to continue to move forward because we're not just one individual, you know, we're a whole team here.

Um, and the one thing I will say is as we continue to look at me and other holes, um, I think those are great opportunities for us to talk about topics like this as well.

I know sometimes we have legislation and different things um that go on to the meeting of the whole that kind of take away from just us just having point blank conversations about different things.

So, you know, hopefully we could look at that.

I know we last time we was in a budget meeting and we started to just our own council budget.

We just started to talk, and uh it was a great conversation to hear everybody's point of view about certain different things that took place uh in our council.

So thank you, Councilmember Owens.

Yes, thank you, uh Council President.

One, I I kind of just want to reset the conversation here.

This isn't taken away from anyone being able to travel.

And for the members who don't travel, um, who want to put that money, whether it's back in our districts or um supporting uh community organization that's losing funding from the federal government, um, and and we want to help them somehow somehow.

This is extra resources for that.

Um, and I think having the flexibility to use your discretionary fund for travel if you want to travel, if you have the ability to travel, is good.

Not all of us on this council have the ability to travel.

Um, and usually, and I'm speaking for myself right now.

When I do travel, it's for my day job, not for council, right?

Um, so I would never want to take that away, that opportunity away from my council colleagues to be able to travel.

But I think if we divide it evenly amongst us, it allows me more flexibility with how I spend my discretionary funds, whether it's investing in my civic associations, nonprofits that operate in the first district or whatsoever.

Um it just gives us that additional flexibility.

I don't say I don't see this as a hindrance.

Thank you, Councilmember Bracey, second round.

Thank you, Mr.

President, and I'll keep this uh pre-brief.

Again, my issue is not with us dividing up this 25,000.

I think that's fine.

If if everyone wants to, because I know it's not penalizing anything.

Like if I want to go to a conference, if uh councilwoman uh Willauer wants to take a class, like we should all have our opportunities for protect professional development as they are spelled out in our policy.

My challenge and my problem is that we have a this this completely supersedes the process that we put in place for our budget process with the finance chair, where we had our surveys, we did all this internal conversations, we had a list, we voted on the list, we did all these things.

So if every council member just decides they don't like the decision that's made uh through this process, then all of us are gonna be sitting here doing resolutions and talking on the floor about things that really don't pertain to benefit uh helping the city of Wilmington.

And so that's my only problem with this.

Um nothing against Councilman Spedola, nothing against anyone, and I actually agree with the idea.

I just think that, and even when you're saying, you know, we're talking about this, you know, um it's behind closed doors.

This is an internal budgeting process that we have established.

So if that's not working for you, then speak up and say, you know what, we should change the process, which I've already done, because I sent an email to the finance chair to say I don't like the way the pro I think there are ways that we can enhance the process.

My challenge only is by doing this and putting up a resolution and using staff time to come and sit on the council floor and talk about something that we've already talked about several times.

It's like this is defeats the purpose.

So that means if all 13 of us don't agree with something that we agree to do, then we're all just gonna be in here uh sending resolutions to each other.

And I think that's just not a good use of taxpayer time and dollars.

Have a committee of a whole, nobody comes.

So, you know, we're we're we're we're saying we want to talk, but then when we have the opportunity to talk, we don't show up.

So I just feel like we have to tighten up because we look crazy when we're out here talking about things that don't pertain to benefit benefiting the city of Wilmington because we're arguing about $1,900.

You know, divided it, are we gonna divide it or keep it in one pot?

Like that's something that should not have had we have to waste time on council floor talking about when we could call each other.

That's all I gotta say about this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Oliver for your second round.

I want to say we talked about $1,900 in the budget mic, so Mike can't hear you.

I just have to agree with Councilman Bracey.

Um this is the budget time.

Um call, I think, you know, um councilman Spadola should be in contact with Councilman Harley just to let him know how she feels.

The budget is what two uh two uh two one two million, and we talk about $1,900 on the floor.

You kidding me?

Talk to, you know, get over.

Thank you, Councilmember Johnson.

Uh I just once again um echo the sentiments similar to councilman Bracie and as former finance chair.

Uh I I wholeheartedly um and embrace the leadership of our um current finance chair is really respect of the process.

Um this didn't happen when I was chair, and I don't think this should be happening.

We shouldn't be this interfighting, and our vice chair is uh councilwoman Bracey.

We have to respect the process, and we have enough to worry about.

Like I said, I'm I'm I'm I'm focused on trying to get part uh funding for partners for care and CPSI other groups that has to be a priority.

So again, we got to stop this infighting and let's uh focus on moving the city forward.

Councilmember Harley.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

President.

Um, first of all, I wanted to say uh one thing.

I didn't come up with this process, but I do respect processes that we have all agreed upon.

Um for the most part, council member Bracey uh has said everything for the most part that I would say as it relates to us respecting the process, and I want to say that it wasn't one person or two or three individuals that decided that they didn't want to do this.

So there were seven council members or more that made a decision that they didn't think this was a great ideal.

So I I want to make sure that's on the record.

Um, and that I did not come up with this process.

I am always open um to have any kind of conversation with anybody as it relates to what they would like to put in a budget.

I think I probably have heard from one person or maybe two.

So I just wanted to make sure that if anyone um feels as though they want to have a conversation, let's have that conversation.

And there's no conversations going on behind closed doors, none whatsoever.

Everything that um myself and our uh chief financial officer and chief uh our chief of staff, it's always a a group um or our team effort.

So I just want to make sure that everyone knows there's no closed door meetings or conversations or anything like that, but I do respect the process that's in place.

Seven or more individuals decided they didn't want this, and not and not only that, I'm not supporting it because I want to encourage our council members to consider professional development.

You don't have to travel, they have a lot of online courses.

There's a number of courses and learning opportunities that can be taken without you ever getting on the bus, train, or plane.

That's all I have.

Thank you, Councilmember Willower.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I just want to say, you know, I I have kind of mixed feelings about this particular resolution, but I wanted to speak to the question that people have brought up that we shouldn't be talking about things like this.

And I just think I I kind of disagree with that.

I think that the budget is uh it's super important, it's one of the biggest parts of our job, and I don't think we have enough opportunities to talk together about what should be in the budget, what feedback we want to give back to the administration about what's in the budget.

And I would just like to you know put in my two cents that I think we need more opportunities for people for us to talk about these things.

I think like an online survey, it's okay, but I don't think it's sufficient, and I think council needs more opportunities to talk with each other about what should be our what we should be advocating for with the budget.

And so um I just wanted to put that on the record that I don't I don't think we have enough time to really work through our issues about what our priorities are as council, and maybe this isn't it, but we haven't had we haven't had a lot of discussion about what our priorities actually are together as council, and if we're supposed to be doing that in the context of an open meeting, like I I think we should have one council member Owens, yes.

Um again, I just discussion is very interesting right now.

We're literally going through budget hearings.

Um, and I know the vice chair, the chair, um, and a few of us are at every one of those meetings.

This again, we have 25,000 dollars a lot of for council travel right now.

That it's been there for a while.

There's only a few council members that travel, but if you look at it, $1,900 is not that much money.

Um so my question is, and it maybe this is a Marshall question, is what is the average spin per conference on average.

Point of order.

Can we stick to the resolution?

That's the question.

I mean, it is seriously.

Can we know?

Excuse me.

I'm talking to the president.

Y'all had your turn, and let me have mine.

I think this is I know this is a council meeting.

Some things you talk about privately, like we went off before, and I just think we just gone way too far out there, and then that is not let's stick to this resolution.

If you vote no, you vote no.

If you vote yes, you vote yes.

I don't think it's fair for us to just keep going on about this, and this ain't the time.

Yes, I do agree.

This is uh kind of germane to the to the legislation.

So thank you.

I will allow Michelle to respond.

Um the um the average conference particular, if you're doing um traveling, like with um going out of the state, um using like um airfares typically come to about 3200 that includes the cost of the um the conference to airfare, any type of registration, as well as we take in consideration any type of um uh mill allowance that the city um also includes in there.

All right, thank you.

And seeing no other hands raised, I will return back to the sponsor for any final comment.

Thank you, Council President.

Just to reiterate, this is not taking away uh anything from anyone.

They're still welcome to travel.

It's simply giving those who aren't traveling an opportunity to reinvest that money back into Wilmington nonprofits uh or students.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, Clerk.

Please call for the role.

Councilman Owens.

Yes, Councilwoman Darby.

No, Councilwoman Oliver, no, Councilwoman Harley.

No, Councilwoman Willower.

No, Councilwoman McCoy.

No, Councilman Johnson.

No, Councilwoman Bracey.

No.

Councilwoman Cabrera.

Yeah.

Councilman Hackett.

Yes.

Councilman Spadola.

Yes.

President Congo.

Yes.

Four years.

Eight nays and one absent.

I declare defeated.

This time we will move to petitions and communications.

May I be excuse, Ms.

President?

Yes, maybe excuse.

Councilmember Owens.

Yes.

Um, just wanted to flag on April the 25th is a busy day in the first district.

Um, first uh Alpha Kappa Alpha Incorporated uh Zeta Omega chapter in coordination with the Pearls of Hope Foundation will be doing a spring into recycling event.

It's a community shredded event at PS DuPont uh from 9 a.m.

to 12 noon.

Also on the same day at PS DuPont, Child Inc.

is hoping hosting their spring family resource fair from 11 a.m.

to 4 p.m.

Again, that's at P.S.

And then also uh if you're up early in the morning you want to clean the first district community cleanup, um join us.

We're meeting at the POW at 9 a.m.

We're gonna be cleaning the Market Street corridor um in East Lawn as well, too.

And then food from Mo Better Chicken um will be provided after.

Um so feel free to stop by that's it.

Thank you, Councilmember Darby.

I have no nothing.

Thanks.

Thank you, Councilmember Harley.

Yes, I just want to mention that the community cleanup is for the entire city of Wilmington, um, which is going to be on Saturday the 23rd.

And I just want to encourage all the council members to reach out to their civic association presidents to encourage them to get involved.

Um they can reach out to our constituent services if they need some supplies or some tools, but it is citywide.

The citywide cleanups, the community citywide cleanup is for all eight districts.

Thank you.

May I be excused, Mr.

President?

Yes, maybe excuse council member Rollauer.

Yeah, so I just wanted to say that there will be, you know, the city citywide cleanup is this weekend, and there are gonna be cleanups across the fifth district that are sponsored by uh different civic associations.

So anybody who lives in the fifth district, I hope you will get involved, come out, join your civic association in um those cleanups.

And if you have any questions about how to get in touch with your civic association, please reach out to me.

Thank you, Councilmember McCoy.

I have nothing uh this evening.

Thank you, Councilmember Johnson.

Uh nothing tonight, Mr.

Marlin.

Thank you, Councilmember Bracey.

Nothing tonight.

Thank you, Councilmember Cabrera.

Yes, I would like to remind everyone and invite them to come out tomorrow for the celebration of Earth and Arbor Day, which is taking place at the Cool Springs Reservoir.

It is running from 11 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

The theme is our power, our planet.

All right, thank you.

Councilman Johnson may be excused.

No, no, no, no.

Mr.

President, I I I apologize.

I I did have one letter I needed right into the record.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

One second.

Mr.

President.

Is it me?

Councilmember Johnson is going to have a letter read into the record by our clerk.

Sorry.

Yes, please.

Honorable Akira Granardo.

Our firm is pleased to submit this rezoning application concerning two parcels that are situated in the city of Wilmington in accordance with the rules and regulation of the City Planning Commission.

At this time, uh Mr.

President, I would like to refer this to the City Planning Commission.

The rezoning.

Okay, thank you.

All right.

Second.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember McCoy.

Yes, I'm so sorry.

Um, I did forget to mention uh that the Little League um baseball opening day is going to be on the 18th, which is going to be this Saturday, I believe.

Yes.

Um at 9 a.m.

Uh at the Loretta Walsh baseball field over at off of 18th Street near the uh Abicenio Stadium.

And then also the 25th is the same day as the cleanup.

It looks like uh Representative Josue Ortega is going to be doing a um big spring blessings.

And he's having something that day from 11 a.m.

to 3 p.m.

at Woodlawn Park, and he's asking everyone to come out.

All right, thank you.

Councilmember Owens.

Yes, I have one more event um happening next week, Tuesday the 21st at the Powell at 6 p.m.

Uh Energy Assistance Community Meeting.

All right, thank you.

Councilmember Hackett.

About time.

Um, I just want to be real quick.

We had a birthday this week.

You know, I like to do my birthday shout outs.

Happy birthday to Council Woman Bracey.

Happy birthday.

Big Aries, hold on, let me go ahead and do my thing.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to residence.

Happy birthday.

Happy birthday.

Happy birthday.

Happy birthday.

Councilmember Spadola.

Nothing tonight, Council President.

All right, thank you.

I would like to say um, just before we do close, just give a shout out and uh a huge thanks to our parliamentarian.

John, this is his last uh meeting with us.

He is point of order.

I just want to thank you, John, for all of your guidance that you have given us during during our council meetings.

I know sometimes we drive you crazy.

Uh but we we really appreciate you a little bit and we we we really appreciate you and um um best of luck with everything.

Thank you.

All right, you're welcome.

Oh wait, are you allowed to leave yet?

Am I still gonna go to court?

And uh again, I just want to thank everyone who joined us this evening virtually and in council chambers.

As always, you are always welcome to join us at all meetings and give public comment at our council meetings, which happen every first and third Thursday, and also our committee meetings, which happened throughout the month.

For any information or if we can help you with anything city related, please call us at our office at 3025 76 2140.

Get our number is 302576 2140.

With that, I will accept the motion to motion thirty.

Second day, everybody's in a hurry.

And second, everyone in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carried, meeting adjourned.

Thank you, everyone.