OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Public Works Committee Meeting Summary – September 9, 2025

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, September 9, 2025
BodyWinston Salem, North Carolina
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, September 9, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:08:24

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Good afternoon.

0:02

And welcome to the September Public Works meeting.

0:05

I am Chairperson, Barbara Burke, and I would ask for the City Clerk to please call the roll.

0:15

Chairperson, Councilmember Burke.

0:19

Vice Chair, Councilmember Andrew Bowen.

0:22

Here.

0:22

Councilmember Clark.

0:24

Here.

0:24

Councilmember Taylor.

0:25

Present.

0:26

Thank you.

0:27

We have seven consent items, and I would ask council members, are there any items that you would like to have pulled?

0:35

Three and four, Madam Chair.

0:37

Thank you.

0:38

Councilmember Clark.

0:39

Is there a motion to approve the remainder of the consent items?

0:44

So moved.

0:45

Second.

0:48

A motion has been made and it has been second.

0:53

We'll have a voice vote.

0:55

All in favor, let us know by uh saying aye.

0:59

Aye.

1:00

It passes.

1:02

City clerk, would you re please read consent item three?

1:07

Item C three resolution monodernizing the Winston Salem Transit Authority's fair policy to establish a fair cap.

1:18

Thank you.

1:19

Councilmember Clark, you ask for this item to be pulled.

1:23

My question is how does the system know that you bought a ticket that morning and therefore is not going to charge you in the afternoon?

1:30

So great question, Councilmember Clark.

1:32

And good afternoon.

1:33

Madam Chair, members of the committee.

1:34

Catherine McClellan, answer your question.

1:36

With the launch of the new mobile platform, this is going to be a really an enabler for this type of treatment.

1:41

And in fact, the item really talks about how the ease of transaction with the mobile technology allows users to establish that fair cap or allows us to establish a fair cap.

1:50

Basically, the profile identifies when they load the bus by the tapping of the reader on the bus and identifies how many times that they have assigned that profile to credential on the bus as they has they passed through.

2:01

So essentially, no more than two times or two dollars.

2:04

Well any any any access on the bus past that will know that it's a free trip.

2:09

So every rider's got to have a card.

2:13

That that's the that's the uh moving towards this.

2:15

This is a the uh a tool to to incentivize that that mobile technology as we move towards a uh a fair list or a cashless uh trip.

2:24

Just curious, I would would have guessed most of your transactions are currently cash.

2:30

Well, right now, by and large, we don't we don't really accept anything but cash on the bus outside of the ticket that you get from the kiosk or at the transit center.

2:37

So that is correct.

2:38

That's why we have a lot of benefit into this technology when we move toward the mobile technology will allow us to establish that with the profile of the user.

2:46

It just incentivize them to download the application.

2:49

Okay.

2:51

Councilmember.

2:52

Excuse me.

2:53

I was gonna make a motion if you want to.

2:54

I have another question.

2:55

Oh, there are other questions.

2:56

Okay.

2:57

Councilmember Andrew Bowen.

2:59

Thank you, Madam Chair.

3:00

Uh so um you've already answered that when this will begin when when when we have the new uh UMO app, correct?

3:07

Um so but the the another question I have is is so when how will this costs pass the two dollars?

3:14

How will that be covered in our budget?

3:15

So that's a great question, Councilmember.

3:17

So right now, you know, at a $30 million budget, our fair revenue is about $900,000 to a million dollars, right?

3:23

And so one of the issues we have with current projections is to figure out how much of that we can expect year over year.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety██████████████████████████████████████████42%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████16%
Technology and Innovation███████████11%
Water And Wastewater Management██████6%
Intergovernmental Relations█████5%
Environmental Protection█████5%
Procedural█████5%
Public Engagement███3%
Fiscal Sustainability███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Public Works Committee Meeting – September 9, 2025

The Winston-Salem Public Works Committee met on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, from 2:00 PM to 3:06 PM, chaired by Council Member Barbara Hanes Burke. All four committee members were present (Burke, Andree-Bowen, Taylor, Clark), joined by Council Member A. Scippio. The agenda included seven consent items and four general agenda items. Items C-3 and C-4 were removed from the consent calendar for discussion, while the remaining consent items were approved. The committee received information reports and voted on several actions.

Consent Calendar

  • C-1: Approved a resolution to set a public hearing (October 20, 2025) for the voluntary annexation of about 30.46 acres at Wallburg Road, Hayes Drive, and Union Cross Road (4015 Wallburg Road – Front Street – Wallburg, LLC). Forwarded to City Council on September 15, 2025.
  • C-2: Approved a request for a public hearing (November 3, 2025) on a petition to close and abandon a portion of a 10-foot alley off Polo Road (Juventus Investments, LLC). Forwarded to City Council on October 6, 2025.
  • C-5: Approved resolutions and a budget ordinance amendment for Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Fiscal Year 2025 Section 5310 grants for enhanced mobility of seniors and individuals with disabilities. Forwarded to City Council on October 6, 2025.
  • C-6: Approved resolutions and a budget ordinance amendment for FTA Fiscal Year 2025 Section 5307 Job Access and Reverse Commute grants, including Fiscal Year 2020 American Rescue Plan Act funds. Forwarded to City Council on October 6, 2025.
  • C-7: Approved the summary of minutes from the August 12, 2025, Public Works Committee meeting.

Discussion Items

  • C-3 – WSTA Fare Cap Policy: Jeff Fansler (Transportation Director) presented a resolution to modernize Winston-Salem Transit Authority’s fare policy by establishing a daily fare cap of $2 using the new UMO mobile app. Council Member Clark asked how the system prevents double charging; Catherine McClellan explained that the app tracks rides via the user profile and caps fares after two boardings. Council Member Andree-Bowen inquired about revenue impacts; Fansler noted current fare revenue (~$900,000–$1 million on a $30 million budget) may increase by reducing abuse of free transfers and incentivizing app use. Council Member Scipio asked about monthly passes; staff replied that the $30 upfront cost is a barrier, and the daily cap lowers that barrier. The committee unanimously recommended approval.
  • C-4 – Traffic Signal at Meadowlark Drive: Jeff Fansler presented a supplemental agreement with American Lighting and Signalization of NC, LLC to install a traffic signal at Meadowlark Drive and Meadowlark Knoll Crossing. Council Member Clark questioned why the item referenced Reynolds Boulevard and Shorefield Drive; Fansler explained that funds were administratively moved from that existing contract to install the signal before school started. The committee unanimously recommended approval.
  • G-1 – Street Resurfacing Change Order: Keith Huff (Director of Field Operations) presented a change order to the resurfacing contract with APAC-Atlantic, Inc., Thompson-Arthur Division. The change adds $6,326,507.05 (including 20% contingency) to the existing $9 million contract for worst-condition streets identified by pavement study. APAC has been the only bidder on recent resurfacing projects and has met MWBE goals. The order extends the work to October 2026. Council Member Scipio asked about the timeline; Huff confirmed the main contract must be completed by October 2025, and change-order streets by October 2026. The committee approved unanimously.
  • G-2 – Lewisville Annexation Agreement: Karen Kesler (GIS Principal Planner) presented a request from the Town of Lewisville to reinstate its expired annexation agreement with Winston-Salem. Staff reported that all similar agreements (except Midway’s, which doesn’t affect Forsyth County) have lapsed. Lewisville’s agreement expired in 2023; reinstating it would define areas where Winston-Salem could annex upon property owner petition. No formal boundary has been proposed yet, but staff expects no issues using the previous boundary. Council Member Clark recommended continuing negotiations with other towns (Walkertown, Rural Hall, etc.). The committee took no vote; the item was for information and direction, and members agreed to proceed.
  • G-3 – Stormwater Infrastructure Update: Keith Huff provided a detailed update on stormwater infrastructure challenges. He noted that 10-year storms now occur multiple times per year due to changing rainfall patterns, overwhelming systems designed in the 1940s –1950s. Over 30 major repair projects citywide total more than $30 million and will take over 20 years with current resources. The city owns and maintains over 24,000 structures in public rights-of-way and on city properties. Private property drainage issues generate over 350 calls annually; the city lacks a program to address them because state law restricts spending public money on private property. Huff highlighted emergency projects: Canal Drive ($90,000, completed), Hawthorne Road at First Street ($3 million culvert replacement, ongoing, expected completion late December 2025), Ronolda Road near Buena Vista ($220,000, completed except sidewalks), Buttonwood Road (sole access for residents, $800,000, completed and under warranty), and Bathabra Road (completed). Staff is commissioning pipe inspections by Alpha and Omega to prioritize CIP projects and plans to secure on-call contractors for emergency repairs. Council Member Andree-Bowen praised the work and asked about the inspection timeline; Huff expects all reports within a month. Council Member Scipio raised concerns about landscaping companies blowing debris into streets clogging drains; Huff confirmed the city has code enforcement (Chapter 75) against illicit discharges but noted enforcement challenges. Council Member Burke thanked staff.
  • G-4 – WSTA Microtransit Overview: Kelly Garvin (Assistant Director of Transportation) presented an overview of microtransit as a potential tool to fill gaps left by network changes. She defined microtransit as on-demand, shared-ride, flexible-route service within a zone, using an app for booking. Unlike paratransit (which requires 24-hour advance booking and covers the whole city), microtransit can be same-day (averaging 20-minute wait) in a defined zone. Case studies: Wilson, NC switched from fixed-route to full microtransit; ridership increased, cost per passenger dropped, but operating cost rose and passengers per revenue hour fell (due to smaller vehicles). Charlotte’s microCats launched February 2025 in Huntersville, replaced four routes, saw early ridership increases but preliminary data. For Winston-Salem, staff proposed piloting microtransit in areas where routes have been removed or have low ridership and high low-income populations, connecting riders to faster fixed routes. Council Member Andree-Bowen expressed strong support, noting buses often run near-empty and microtransit would be more sustainable. Mayor Pro Tem Adams advocated for starting small with a prototype. Council Member Taylor supported the concept in theory, asked about costs; staff hopes to achieve budget neutrality by reallocating existing service hours, but noted hard decisions may be needed. Council Member Scipio asked about Wilson’s ridership increase; Garvin clarified that the reported numbers included paratransit. She also explained that microtransit zones would connect riders to faster fixed routes, not necessarily go downtown. The committee expressed unanimous support for staff to continue developing a pilot program. City Manager King also suggested a future tour of WSTA facilities.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Items (C-1, C-2, C-5, C-6, C-7): Approved unanimously. Forwarded to City Council on September 15 or October 6, 2025, as noted.
  • C-3 – Fare Cap Policy: Unanimously recommended approval (vote counted via electronic devices). Forwarded to City Council on October 6, 2025.
  • C-4 – Traffic Signal Agreement: Unanimously recommended approval. Forwarded to City Council on October 6, 2025.
  • G-1 – Resurfacing Change Order: Unanimously approved (4-0). Forwarded to City Council on October 6, 2025.
  • G-2 – Lewisville Annexation Agreement: Received as information; committee agreed to continue negotiations with Lewisville and other towns.
  • G-3 – Stormwater Update: Received as information; staff to continue pipe inspections, develop contractor lists, and present further updates.
  • G-4 – Microtransit Overview: Received as information; committee directed staff to move forward with developing a pilot program, aiming for budget neutrality. City Manager King will arrange a tour of WSTA facilities for council members.
  • Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 3:06 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon. And welcome to the September Public Works meeting. I am Chairperson, Barbara Burke, and I would ask for the City Clerk to please call the roll. Chairperson, Councilmember Burke. Vice Chair, Councilmember Andrew Bowen. Here. Councilmember Clark. Here. Councilmember Taylor. Present. Thank you. We have seven consent items, and I would ask council members, are there any items that you would like to have pulled? Three and four, Madam Chair. Thank you. Councilmember Clark. Is there a motion to approve the remainder of the consent items? So moved. Second. A motion has been made and it has been second. We'll have a voice vote. All in favor, let us know by uh saying aye. Aye. It passes. City clerk, would you re please read consent item three? Item C three resolution monodernizing the Winston Salem Transit Authority's fair policy to establish a fair cap. Thank you. Councilmember Clark, you ask for this item to be pulled. My question is how does the system know that you bought a ticket that morning and therefore is not going to charge you in the afternoon? So great question, Councilmember Clark. And good afternoon. Madam Chair, members of the committee. Catherine McClellan, answer your question. With the launch of the new mobile platform, this is going to be a really an enabler for this type of treatment. And in fact, the item really talks about how the ease of transaction with the mobile technology allows users to establish that fair cap or allows us to establish a fair cap. Basically, the profile identifies when they load the bus by the tapping of the reader on the bus and identifies how many times that they have assigned that profile to credential on the bus as they has they passed through. So essentially, no more than two times or two dollars. Well any any any access on the bus past that will know that it's a free trip. So every rider's got to have a card. That that's the that's the uh moving towards this. This is a the uh a tool to to incentivize that that mobile technology as we move towards a uh a fair list or a cashless uh trip. Just curious, I would would have guessed most of your transactions are currently cash. Well, right now, by and large, we don't we don't really accept anything but cash on the bus outside of the ticket that you get from the kiosk or at the transit center. So that is correct. That's why we have a lot of benefit into this technology when we move toward the mobile technology will allow us to establish that with the profile of the user. It just incentivize them to download the application. Okay. Councilmember. Excuse me. I was gonna make a motion if you want to. I have another question.

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