General Government Committee Meeting - September 9, 2025
General Government Committee Meeting - September 9, 2025
Note: The provided meeting date is September 9, 2025, but the official minutes indicate the meeting was held on Monday, September 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM. This summary uses the date from the instruction but notes the discrepancy.
The General Government Committee of the Winston-Salem City Council met to consider three agenda items and approve consent items. All votes were unanimous (4-0) to recommend approval to the full City Council. The meeting adjourned at 4:36 PM.
Consent Calendar
- C-1: Approval of the General Government Committee Summary of Minutes from August 11, 2025. Approved unanimously by voice vote.
Discussion Items
G-1: Resolution to Remove a City-Owned Parcel from Affordable Housing List and Authorize Sale to Triad Cultural Arts, Inc. for the Shotgun House Legacy Site
- Ben Rowe, Assistant City Manager, introduced the item. Abrea Armstrong, Executive Director of Triad Cultural Arts (TCA), provided a presentation on the Shotgun House Legacy Project. She stated that preservation of the shotgun house at 716 Humphrey Street is 95% complete, and the house has welcomed over 500 visitors since its February 2025 grand reopening.
- TCA requests the city-owned parcel (Lot 249, PIN 6835-61-0966) directly across from the shotgun house for parking and a gathering space, to support current programming and future development of a 15,000 sq. ft. Black History Museum and Cultural Center. The parcel is currently on the list of city-owned sites for affordable housing development but has not been bid on due to topographical and environmental challenges (adjacent to a Duke Power station and railroad tracks).
- The proposed terms: a 2-year option to purchase for $1, during which TCA must raise funds to construct an asphalt parking lot (estimated up to $87,000) and a gathering place. If funds are raised, the city will deed the land, and TCA will have one year to complete construction. If not built within one year, ownership reverts to the city and the parcel returns to the affordable housing list. Additional conditions require proper zoning (institutional), parking to meet UDO requirements, no city funds for development or maintenance, and no sale or sublease for profit.
- Council Member Anna Scippio questioned the timeline and whether extensions could be granted. Staff indicated they could negotiate an extension provision if directed. The committee approved the motion (4-0).
G-2: Resolution Amending Article II of the City Personnel Resolution – Competitive Market Range and Pay Grade Adjustments
- Dr. Kena Cofield, Director of Human Resources, presented the item. The amendment changes Section 30 to give the city manager authority to determine if market-based pay adjustments are warranted for current employees, rather than automatically granting a 5% increase. New hires would still go to the minimum of the pay range.
- The committee approved the motion (4-0) to recommend to City Council.
G-3: Resolution Authorizing a $2 Million Contribution to the Winston-Salem Foundation for an Affordable Housing Trust Fund
- City Manager Lee Pate introduced the item, noting it had been discussed the prior month. Budget Director Scott Tesh explained the funding sources: $750,000 from the rental rehab fund (which has approximately $820,000 remaining and will be closed out), $550,000 from general obligation bond balances (including leftover from the Acela project, neighborhood development in the East Ward, and the TURN program), and other project balances from the Southeast Gateway project (2006 certificates of participation). Total contributed is $2 million.
- Elaine Summerfield, Vice President of the Winston-Salem Foundation, described the public-private partnership. The foundation, in partnership with Self-Help Ventures, aims to leverage the city's $2 million to create a $40 million housing trust fund. She committed to providing periodic updates on fundraising progress.
- Council Member Barbara Hanes Burke expressed concern about taking funds from the TURN program (used for homeowner repairs) and the rental rehab fund. Chantel McCullam, Neighborhood Services Director, confirmed that the TURN program retains approximately $2 million (only ~$200,000 would be removed) and that the rental rehab fund is being closed due to inactivity. Both assured the committee that existing obligations are protected.
- Mayor Joines voiced strong support, noting the city's need for a housing trust fund, a goal pursued since 2013. Mayor Pro Tempore Adams emphasized that pulling idle funds from past allocations is a prudent use of resources. The committee approved the motion (4-0) to recommend to City Council.
Key Outcomes
- All three agenda items (G-1, G-2, G-3) received unanimous committee approval (4-0) and will be forwarded to the full City Council on October 6, 2025.
- The committee directed staff to consider negotiating an extension clause for the TCA property sale timeline if needed.
- The Winston-Salem Foundation will provide regular updates to the council on the housing trust fund fundraising status.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the uh meeting of the general government uh committee meeting uh with the clerk. Please call the role for the members of the committee, please. Chairperson, Mayor Pur Tim Adams. Here, Vice Chair, Councilmember Joyner. Present. Councilmember Burke here, and Councilmember Hall. Here. Thank you so much. Uh also uh, as many of you know, we have two parts to our agenda. We have the consent agenda, and we have the general agenda. And uh we have only one item on the consent of agenda, so and we're gonna do that by voice vote. So if someone would please uh make a motion. Move to approve item C1. A second. It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, like sign. Uh our next part of our agenda is a general, and we do have three items, and I will ask the clerk to go ahead and call the first item. Item G1 resolution removing a city-owned parcel from the list of city-owned sites for affordable housing development and authorizing the sale of that land to Triad Cultural Arts Inc. to support the shotgun house legacy site. Yes, uh, thank you, Mr. Rao. Good afternoon, Chairperson Adams, Mayor Joins, members of the City Council. In April 2023, the City Council authorized the sale of two shotgun houses located within Happy Hill to Triad Cultural Arts for one dollar to establish the shotgun house legacy site. In May of 2024, the city council authorized a contribution of 70,000 from occupy occupancy tax fund reserves to assist in the rehabilitation of one of those houses for the project. And then this past February, Tri-Cultural Arts held a grand reopening of the restored house at 716 Humphrey Street with over 100 members of the community attending the ribbon cutting ceremony. Staff from Tri-Cultural Arts has approached city staff about acquiring uh a city-owned parcel that's directly across the street from the shotgun house legacy site. It's marked uh lot number 249 uh on the map that's included with the uh council action. That parcel is part right currently part of the uh list of city-owned uh sites that have been designated for affordable housing development, but they're interested in acquiring that site to uh develop it for parking and for a gathering place uh to accommodate their current programming and tours of the site and also to support the next phase of the shotgun house legacy project. I'd like to introduce Bria Armstrong, the executive director of Tricultural Arts, who uh provide a brief presentation on on their request. Thank you. Wonderful, wonderful. Good afternoon, Miss Armstrong. Would you please provide your name and address for the record, please? Absolutely. Good evening. My name is Abrea Armstrong. I reside at 51 East Forest Street, right around the corner. And I also have our architect with us, Glenn. Hi, my name is Glenn Falk. Excellent. So I'm very grateful that we have the presentation in front of us, but uh City Council member, there's so many of you here. I'm so pleasantly surprised um at the number of you here, and so I just want to send first certainly greetings to you all to Mr. Mayor, um, and also a special thank you uh to Ben Rao for all of his help in getting us here. So, first, today is a great day, council. Today is a great day uh because we at Tri-Cultural Arts are finally able to present both updates on our current programming needs um and how to protect that previous investment that was mentioned, and also share an opportunity, a new opportunity for us to work together to continue to serve our city proudly. So last year, thank you, Glenn. I got a banana white, y'all coming up in the world. Um last year the city was generous enough to support the shotgun house preservation efforts with that 70,000 dollar gift.
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