Good evening, everyone.

I'm Alan Jones, Mayor of Winston Salem.

It's my pleasure to call to order this April 6th meeting of the Winston Salem City Council and ask the city clerk to call the roll, please.

Councilmember Joyner.

Present.

Councilmember Clark.

Here.

Councilmember Andrew Bowen.

Here.

Councilmember CPO.

Present.

Mayor Pro Time Adams.

Here.

Councilmember Taylor.

Present.

Councilmember Hall.

Present.

And Councilmember Burke.

Here.

Thank you very much.

Would you please join the City Council and me in a moment of silence?

Thank you.

Would you please join the City Council and meet in the Pledge of Allegiance?

That's what we needed.

Thank you.

Our Sergeant Arms tonight is Lieutenant Brian Ashley.

Lieutenant, thank you for being with us.

And our fire marshal is Michael Bowden.

Boatford, excuse me.

Bodford, excuse me.

I'll get it right in a minute there.

Thank you for being with us.

Before we get into the gist of the meeting, I want to recognize that we have a uh group of guests with us tonight, 30 students from the Steam and Reed program at the Union Community Development Corporation at Union Baptist Church.

Mrs.

Lashonda Miller, a Milner is Executive Director of Operations.

May I ask our guests to stand up.

This is a free program there at Union Baptist Church that's designed to incorporate and improve reading skills for all these students there.

So thank you all for being here.

I also want to recognize uh Councilmember Burke for a comment.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you to the students uh from the Union Baptist Church Steam and Re program.

Thank you so much for coming.

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of attending your graduation and celebration, and I want you to know I left there so inspired and so proud of you because I found out that during the 2025 school year, 126 scholars were served.

And even more impressive than that, 85% of the scholars showed measurable growth in math, and scholars from third through high school advanced across more than 600 academic skills.

So we need to give them a round of approval.

This kind of growth does not happen by accident.

Oh no.

This is the result of strong leadership.

Shout out to the visionary Bishop Sir Walter Mack and the executive director that the mayor has already mentioned, Miss LaShawn DeMilner.

These teachers, retired principals, curriculum coordinators, and educators who understand how to mirror the curriculum, just like the curriculum of the state of North Carolina.

So as a former educator, I can tell you firsthand what this means.

What you are doing, you are pouring into these students into the next generation, and it will change the trajectory of their future.

Thank you so much.

Scholars, we're proud of you.

Keep up the good work.

Y'all may be seated.

Tonight's uh meeting is being televised live on TV 13 and on the city's YouTube page, and it will be replayed on Wednesday at 9 a.m.

and again Wednesday night at 9 p.m.

Uh copies of our agendas as well as videos of previous meetings are always available online on the city's website, and just click on the watch meetings online option.

So now I'd like to recognize our city manager for his update.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Uh whole series of things to talk about tonight.

Um, one is just to remind council as you're will be looking at the first phase of the compensation uh package changes tonight.

We do have a contract with our vendor uh Evergreen that is is in the process of looking at our phase one of our three-year classification and compensation program.

Uh that's will be done uh in the next several months.

They're currently working on that uh gathering information to get that done, and then we'll be followed right behind it with a second phase that we also want to get completed by the end of next fiscal year.

So again, this is one piece that's on your agenda tonight, but just to re remind you that that's going to be followed up with reviews of all of the other staff members that we have.

The Winston Salem Transit Authority, or WISTA as we call them, in partnership with the uh with the City DOT is preparing the launch of UMO, UMO, which is a modern fair payment system designed to make public transportation easier, faster, and more connected for riders across the community.

Beginning on April the 13th, customers will be able to use the UMA mobility app or a reloadable smart card to pay fares, plan trips, and navigate the system with greater convenience and confidence.

With UMO, the writers will be able to pay fares directly from their smartphone or smart card, manage passes and track spending in real time, plan trips quickly using integrated trip planning tools.

And the riders are encouraged to download the uh app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play ahead of their launch day to explore the features and prepare for seamless transition.

Winston the city will provide ongoing hands-on support both at the transit center and in the community to ensure all riders feel confident using the new system.

And I know you've got a bit on transit on the agenda tonight as well.

Changing again, the Winston Salem Fairgrounds will host their second annual A second annual hockey game called Emergency Responders Credit Union Battle of the Badges, which is between the Winston Salem Fire Department and the Winston Salem Police Department, and it benefits four local nonprofit organizations.

The game is at the Fairgrounds Arena on Friday, April 17th, with doors opening at 6, followed by the game at 7.

The benefiting organizations are the Forsyth Humane Society, Special Olympics of Forsyth County, the Winston Salem Police Foundation, and the Winston Salem Professional Firefighters Association.

You can find the tickets at the Winston Salem Fairgrounds.com, and there's a variety of options depending on some add-ons for just a basic ticket for 10, or you can get special edition uh pucks, t shirts, or game jerseys.

Speaking of the Special Olympics, uh they the Winston Salem North Carolina Special Olympics for Scythe County Group announces their annual spring games, which will take place April 8th through the 10th this month from 10 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

each day at the JDL fast track located at 2505 Empire Drive here in Winston Salem.

The three-day celebration of athletic skill, courage, and community is organized as follows.

On April 8th, there will be the elementary school aged.

April 9th will be the middle school, and then on April 10th will be the high schoolers and adults.

Athletes are allowed to participate in one field event and one track event.

And additional inclusive programs will be offered for athletes of all ages and ability levels.

So we encourage people to come out and uh cheer on their favorite uh Special Olympic athletes.

The Winston Salem Police Department in spons in partnership with the Winston Salem Police Foundation and Modern Automotive is now accepting entries for the third annual Paint the PD High School mural contest.

The contest is designed to foster meaningful connections between youth, local youth, and law enforcement while bringing creativity and vibrancy to our Winston-Salem PD facilities.

This year students are invited to create an original mural design inspired by the police department's wise statement to secure the hope and well-being of our community.

A panel of police department personnel will review all submissions and select three finalists.

Finalist designs will be featured on social media where the public will vote to determine the overall winner.

The first place winner will receive a $3,000 prize and the opportunity to paint their mural at the police department district two office for public display.

So again, for those high school students, $3,000 prize.

In addition, the winter school will receive $1,000.

An additional thousand dollars will also be awarded and split between the second and third place finalists.

The contest is open to all Forsyth County students in grades nine through twelve who are in good academic standing.

They do not need to be enrolled in an art class to participate.

Thanks to the general sponsor of support of our contest sponsors, Modern Automotive, and the Winston Salem Police Foundation, all materials needed to complete the mural, including paint and brushes, will be provided.

The deadline for entries is April 30th of this year.

Designs may be submitted digitally or delivered in person to the Public Safety Center at 725 North Cherry Street here in Winston Salem.

Submissions should be of sufficient size and quality to clearly display design details.

And if they need more information, they're available on our website.

A few events to make sure you and the public are aware of.

On the Saturday, April 11th, from 9 to noon, Keep Winston Salem Beautiful is holding the greatest American cleanup as a part of the statewide America 250 initiative.

Volunteers are needed to clean up Winston-Salem and a variety of locations.

And some of those locations can be chosen by the volunteers or they can be assigned to specific areas.

And again, you can get more information on our website.

On Saturday, the following Saturday, the April the 18th, the Piemont Earth Day Fair will be held at the Winston Salem Fairgrounds starting at 10 a.m.

and going to 4 p.m.

That's always a well-attended event with lots of uh vendors and participants, so we encourage people to participate.

And then continue with this theme on Wednesday, the 22nd, a solar panel reveal event will be held at 10 p.m.

10 a.m.

I'm sorry, 10 a.m.

at Fire Station 3, 2995 North Liberty Street.

This is an expansion of our renewable energy use with solar panels and will be a wonderful way again to celebrate Earth Day.

And then the last event I'll mention is on Thursday, April 23rd.

The city will be hosting a city services expo and community conversation on service priorities.

This was uh placed on your calendars or adopted as a part of your calendar when you adopted for this year.

This is a town hall type meeting.

Uh again, it's approved as a part of the council's 26 calendar.

City departments will have tables and staff members on hand to educate the community about the various city services we provide to residents and answer questions residents may have about those services.

There will also be a brief presentation on the city's budget process and then some small group conversations where residents can share their thoughts on the services they'd like to see more of, what services they would like they would be willing to have less of, and what service they are content with as is.

Again, the City Services Expo and Community Conversation will be held from 6 to 9 p.m.

at the Fairgrounds Home and Garden Center on Thursday, April 23rd.

And more uh information on that can be also found on the website, and there will be additional flyers uh also passed out about that.

And with that, I'll stand ready to answer any additional questions.

Thank you, Ms.

Pate.

Any questions from Mr.

Pate?

Like you covered it very well.

Thank you.

So we know we have one honorarium tonight, and uh, Mayor Pro Tim Adams is going to read this proclamation and present it regarding child abuse prevention months.

Thank you.

Item H1, proclamation declaring April 2026 as Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Yes, official.

Yes, official.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the Council.

City of Weston Salem Proclamation from the Office of the Mayor, whereas in 2025 Child Protective Services agencies in Pasai County investigated 3,338 cases of child abuse and neglect, with 38% of victims under the age of five.

And whereas every child in Winston-Salem represents promise, potential, and the future of our community and the safety and well-being being of children are critical to the strength and prosperity of families, neighborhoods, and our entire region.

And whereas child abuse and neglect are preventable, and creating safe, stable, and nurturing environments for children requires awareness, education, and support for parents and caregivers throughout our county, and whereas child abuse can have a long-term psychological, emotional, and physical effects that have lasting consequences for victims of abuse.

And whereas protective factors such as parental resilience, knowledge of parenting, and child development, strong social connections, and access to support services, reduce the risk of abuse, and strengthens families.

And whereas effective child abuse prevention strategies succeed because of the partnerships created between child welfare, education, health care, community, faith-based organizations, businesses, and law enforcement agencies.

And whereas we acknowledge that we must work together as a community to increase awareness about child abuse and collectively advocate for the social, emotional, and well-being needs of children and families to thrive in safe, stable, and nurturing environments.

And whereas symbolic initiatives such as Pinwheel Gardens serve as visible reminders of our shared responsibility to nurture, protect, and support the children of Winston Salem and Fasai County, and encourage public engagement and prevention efforts.

Now, therefore, I, Jay Allen Joins, Mayor of the City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as child abuse prevention month given under my seal, hand and seal this sixth day of April 2026, signed Jay Allen Joins, Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

Um Elizabeth Miller, who is the CEO of the Parenting Path, is here to receive the proclamation.

Just wanted to make sure that you understand we as a community appreciate everything that you do, as well as all the collaborative partners in the community as well.

So if you'd like to say a few words, but thank you so very much for your thing.

Good evening.

Thank you so much, Mayor Pro Tem Adams.

Thank you so much, Mayor Joins and members of our City Council.

We appreciate your recognition of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month, and hope that we as a community can continue to collaborate to get more resources towards this really important cause.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Miller.

Mayor Pro Tim, thank you for doing that.

Um we're now return to our agenda.

The agenda is comprised of two parts the consent agenda and uh uh general agenda.

It's always the practice of the council to take the consent agenda as the first order of business.

Items on this agenda have been unanimously recommended by uh committee of the city council or are being uh recommended by established city procedure.

There will be no discussion of the items on this agenda unless the council member or so requests, in which time the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered individually.

Items not removed from the consent agenda will be enacted as one motion.

Are there any items you wish to pull tonight, Council members?

Seeing none, I'll entertain a motion.

Excuse me, Councilmember Jordan.

Oh, did you have an item?

Councilmember Jordan?

No.

Not from the consent agenda.

Okay.

Okay, motion to approve the consent agenda.

Move for approval of the consent agenda.

Second.

Second by Councilmember Taylor.

This will be a voice uh voice vote.

All those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed, no, and that is unanimous.

Thank you.

We now go to the general agenda, which uh includes a demolition hearing, multiple bond issuances for city improvements, uh a designation of a voting delegate for the North Carolina League of Municipalities annual vote, transit route changes, the uh implementation of a fire department salary market study.

We'll begin with the uh general agenda, which is the demolition hearing, uh, which is item G1, it is a public hearing, and anyone in the council chamber will be given opportunity to speak.

So item G1, please.

Item G1, public hearing and consideration of an ordinance, order in the demolition and removal of a structure located at 633, Mulberry Street, South Board, Committee of the Whole recommends approval.

Thank you.

Is there anyone in the council chairman who wishes to be heard on this proposed demolition?

Seeing no one, I declare the public hearing closed, I recognize uh Mayor Pro Tim Adams, the chairman of the General Government Committee.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'm going to go ahead and recognize Councilmember Joiner.

She's a member of the ward.

Thank you, Mayor.

Mayor Pro Tem.

Uh I would like to postpone voting on this for 30 days and have it come back to us on May 4th.

There's been some challenges with the uh the owner and with uh being clear about what needs to move forward.

So if we can hold this for another month.

There's a motion to uh table this.

Motion to table this until the May 4th.

May 4th meeting on Sir Second.

Second second.

Any discussion?

All those in favor of the motion, uh please say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed, no, and then we will table that to um the the fourth, I guess it is.

All right, now we've got uh a several items related to the issuance of uh general obligation bonds.

I'll ask our chief financial officer, Mr.

Latham uh to come forward and give us just a brief summary of the various items we're gonna be dealing with tonight.

Good evening, Mayor joins, Mayor Pro Tim Adams and members of City Council.

Um this item comes before you to uh approve the final steps to issue two-thirds general obligation bonds in the amount of ten million four hundred and forty thousand dollars.

These are for projects previously authorized.

Many of the projects are are complete and well underway.

Um so at this time it is necessary to do the bond issuance.

Um in addition, we are asking for your approval to um refund our 2016 bonds on June the second if the rates are favorable.

As of today, uh rates are still fluctuating and there's a lot of volatility in the market.

So as of today, we would not do that.

But if if it improves by June, this just gives us the authority to do that.

Um the actions tonight include holding an individual public hearing on each bond order, and at the conclusion of each hearing, council would need to adopt each bond order individually and then adopt the final bond resolution to allow us to proceed.

Very good.

Any questions, Ms.

Lason?

All right, may we have item G2, please.

I mean G2A.

Item G2A, public hearing and consideration of bond order authorizing the issuance of not to exceed $6,612,190, general obligations, streets and sidewalks bonds of the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Thank you.

This is the public hearing.

Does anyone wish to be heard on this uh issuance of uh Sigma 1?

I'll declare the public hearing closed and recognize the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Councilmember Clark.

I move for approval of agenda item G2A, the general obligation streets and sidewalk bonds.

Is there a second?

Second.

Motion and second, any discussion.

And this will be a voice vote on all these bond items.

All those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed, no?

That's unanimous.

Thank you.

Item G2B.

Item G2B, public hearing and consideration of bond order authorizing the issuance of not to exceed 449,345, general obligation parks and recreation bonds of the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Thank you.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone in council chamber who wishes to be heard on this issuance of uh bonds?

C No one and declare the public hearing closed and again recognize Councilmember Clark.

I move for approval of agenda item G to B, the general obligation parks and recreation bonds.

Second.

Motion second by Councilmember Scipio.

Any discussion?

All those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed, no?

And that's unanimous.

Thank you.

Item uh G2C.

Item G2C.

Public hearing and consideration of bond order authorizing the issuance of not to exceed 247,865, general obligation public safety bonds of the City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone in council chamber who wishes to be heard on this issuance of bonds?

Seeing no one, I declare a public hearing closed.

Again, recognize Councilmember Clark.

I move for approval of agenda item G2C, the general obligation public safety bonds.

Second.

Second by Councilman Recipio.

Any discussion or questions?

On all those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed, no?

That's unanimous.

Thank you.

Item G2D.

Item G2D.

Public hearing and consideration of bond order authorizing the issuance of not to exceed 1,130,600.

General obligation public facilities bonds of the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone in the council chamber who wishes to be heard on this proposed issuance of bonds?

Seeing no one, I'll declare the public hearing closed.

Recognize Councilmember Clark.

I move for the approval of agenda item G2D, the general obligation public facility bonds.

Sir Second.

Second.

Second by Councilmember Scipio.

Any discussion?

All those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed, no?

That's unanimous.

Thank you.

Item G2E.

Item G2E.

Public hearing and consideration of bond order authorizing the issuance of not to exceed $2 million general obligation housing bonds of the City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Again, this is a public hearing.

Is anyone in council chamber who wishes to be heard on this bond issuance?

I declare the public hearing closed and recognize Councilmember Clark.

I move for the approval of agenda item G2E, the general obligation housing bonds.

Second.

Second by Mayor Proteum Adams.

Any discussion.

All right.

All those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

No.

And that is unanimous.

Thank you.

Item G2F.

Item G2F.

Public hearing and consideration of bond order authorizing the issuance of not to exceed $37,800,000 general obligation refunding bonds of the City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Thank you.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone in the Council Chamber who wishes to be heard on this issuance of uh $37,800 of general obligation refunding bonds?

Seeing no one, I declare the public hearing closed and again recognize Councilmember Clark.

And I do want to reiterate all the previous bonds for new bonds.

These are refinancing existing bonds.

Hopefully at a lower answer is right.

With that, I move for approval of agenda item G to F, the general obligation refunding bonds.

Is there a second?

Second.

Second by Councilmember Scipio.

Any discussion, questions?

If not, all in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed, no.

That's unanimous.

Thank you.

Item uh G 2G.

Item G2G resolution authorizing issuance of 2026 A taxable 2026 B general obligation and 2026 C general obligation refunding bonds.

Recognize Councilmember Clark.

I move for approval of agenda item G2G, the 2026A, 2026 B, and 2026 C bond issuances.

Second by Councilmember Scipio.

Any discussion.

Not we're going to vote on this one electronically.

So if you all those in favor of the motion, please vote yes.

Anyone opposed, vote no.

And that is unanimous.

Thank you, Councilmember Clark.

I wish I got paid by the motion.

Item G3.

Item G3, resolution regarding the appointment of a voting delegate to the North Carolina League of Municipalities 2026 Board of Directors.

Thank you.

Do have a resolution in there, Councilmember uh Mayor Proteum Adams, I think.

Yes.

I move for the approval of agenda item G three, the voting delegate resolution for the North Carolina Legal Municipalities.

There are a second.

Second.

Second by Councilmember Clark.

Any discussion.

Not all those in favor of the motion, please indicate by voting yes.

Anyone opposed, vote no.

That's unanimous.

Thank you.

Item G4.

Item G4.

Resolution approving the Winston-Salem Transit Authority Route Network changes.

Identified in the route study.

Committee of the whole recommends approval.

Mr.

Fan Sword is going to give us a brief summary of what we're doing here tonight.

Mr.

Fancer.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Excuse me.

Mayor Pro Tim, members of City Council, Jeff Fanzer, Director of Transportation.

City Council, you have uh seen this item many times taking back to your retreat in January.

And the item before you really is adoption of the proposed was the route network changes.

And we spent some time talking about those.

Uh 30-second summary of that is we're going to terminate some underperforming routes, and we're going to add those buses to our higher performing routes.

We spent a lot of time talking about that.

We're going to make a couple of geography changes on a few routes highlighted there at 8793 and 104, so we can increase the frequency on those routes to make those more attractive for riders.

Get those about 30 minute service.

And then we're going to introduce microtransit zones.

And so we're going to show the little bit of change in that in just a moment.

And then finally, you we're going to also introduce those two new cross-town routes, the West of X North and the West to X South, which is our first kind of non-downtown headed route that allows for access and supports other fixed routes in our network.

So avoids downtown connecting folks from where they live to where they may have employment.

You've seen this slide before, just summarizes what we just talked about.

It talks about how currently 70 percent of our of our routes come every hour.

And then a big change there is almost 70 percent is going to come every 30 minutes, and even some every 20 minutes.

So that's the key difference in our fixed route system.

It's really driving that frequency improvement.

And then, of course, again, highlighting those two cross-town routes with the X North and Wix with the X South.

Take special note to that microtransit zone in the northwest part of town because as if you recall, we spent some time talking with both both constituents that ride our bus, our buses and our our our member our riders, and then of course at a committee level where we had concerns about some areas of town that may be uh left unserved, and we'll talk about that just briefly in just a moment.

But a key slide here that you haven't seen before, one to take just a moment to summarize because in your packet, you'll see a lot of comments.

You'll see a lot of summary data from all the public outreach that we did.

I want to highlight the work that our our staff did, namely Kelly, really driving the engagement section of getting feedback on the bus where the riders actually ride, and then with all of our survey data.

And we summarize that, and it's in your packet, and you've heard us talk about that to set up several iterations.

But here you'll see the routes shown in blue there are our higher performing routes where basically service goes unchanged.

The orange routes are where we do show service changes.

And to summarize this real briefly, we give about 5,500 rides a day.

Having said all that, 90% of those riders are really unaffected, or their ride increases.

Their experience may be better, 90%.

Okay, or that the route may be going away.

We have introduced a number of new services where they can be serviced.

So it's just a small sample size, really that left without an option.

And we've tried to be intentional.

We talked early on about we cannot say yes to everyone, but we're trying to maximize the dollar value that we have and put buses where we can maximize those rides.

I think we've done that.

But having said all that, we did hear concern about the southeast part of town in a number of iterations, both on the bus, both in person at the TC when we had that all day event, and then at the committee level.

And so I wanted to kind of talk about that following those discussions where we we changed some of what we were recommending tonight to as we go into implementation, should this be adopted.

And this map looks a little different.

You notice in the south east part of town, we are recommending a microtransit zone to support those fixed route options, okay?

And that was something that we had analyzed early on with the route network.

We had identified some possible some possible uh geography areas that could support microtransit and then have microtransit support the fixed route.

And we're recommending that in the southeast part of town.

But to do that, we're gonna have to fund that.

And so working with the team, we went back to the the MPO where we knew there were some eligible dollars, and we had a conversation with the TPO staff about what that could look like.

And so I'm happy to say that we did apply, and of course, they're subject to, of course, approval tonight and of subsequent approvals by the TAC.

But we did submit a uh uh application for CMAC funding through the regional flexible funding program, which is administered by the planning organization uh here in our in our area.

And we apply for a three-year pilot, which is the max we can do uh for this type of service.

And you can see there we apply for just over six million dollars, which requires that local match.

Now, having said all that, you'll notice that a couple things have to happen.

TAC is gonna have to take uh take action on this, and so we're gonna present this to the board and we're hopeful for support there because this is a large dollar ask for the TAC and the CMAC program.

And so we're gonna make sure that we we explain that but justify the need of all the conversations that we've had uh to date.

But then notice there in FY29, because this is a three-year pilot.

How much we requested in the application is not quite the amount available in the CMAC program, which means we're not gonna be able to fully fund the program for the three-year pilot.

So I want to just be real transparent with the with the council tonight is that in in the third year of this program, we're gonna have to make some policy decisions on how we continue this program or not and fund that accordingly.

And then even beyond that, because as I mentioned, it's a three-year pilot, and that funding goes away.

And so then there'll have to be some decisions that this council will have to make.

And staff will do our job working with the budget office to make those recommendations, but that just want to be real transparent tonight that moving forward in year three and beyond, we'll have to make some budget decisions about how we continue the microtransit, should you consider that and approve that tonight.

Uh but to be clear, uh we will we are recommending two microtransit zones, both northwest and southeast.

One key takeaway I want to highlight though, to make all this work with the integration with the funding with outreach and marketing, we are recommending a January launch for those two.

So we have talked about August.

We still plan to do August for all the fixed route changes, but January is a better time frame for staff.

This is a lot of work to change all at one time, and frankly, it just puts us in a better chance for success if we can say January for the microtransit.

So city council tonight we're asking for that consideration, an August go line for fixed route, and then a January go live for the microtransit options.

Um that let's talk about next steps.

TAC will consider those funding uh applications in May, so we'll be presenting that to the TAC for consideration in May.

If approved, then we'll we'll consider that successful and we'll move forward.

Uh service planning is well underway for that August launch for all fixed route changes, and then like as I mentioned, microtransit set to launch in January upon approval tonight.

A couple of those regions, we have to do those contract amendments with our provider.

We have to integrate with the UMO that you heard the city manager talk about tonight that's just about to go live.

A lot of integration work still to be done when you talk about these brand new types of service.

And then, of course, we got to market a little bit, targeting those microtransit elements and how they support the fixed route to make our riders aware of how microtransit can support in that area, but also connecting to the fixed route service.

We have to do our scheduling and optimizations to make sure that the routes overlap correctly to the minute so that you know when your bus is supposed to arrive at your stop, and then of course hire the operators and train those.

And then finally, to support all this, way back you still you still we're still buying buses, right?

We've had those successful bus war grant awards from USDOT, and we're expecting the first wave of those in May.

Really have been uh on our our partners uh with new flyer to get those in production, and we're expecting those uh in May to support these changes.

So, Council, all that a lot of information try to summarize it.

We've been working on this for a long time, and so I'm happy to take any questions, but this is a resolution uh to approve what is before you tonight.

Any questions?

Mayor uh Mayor Pro Tim?

Yes.

Thank you, Mr.

Fasler.

You and your department, you do you guys do a great job.

Um it comes to the ask getting to the TAC.

Right.

We don't foresee any issues.

I mean, do we the mayor and council member Clark and I need to be lobbying our other members on the committee to help them understand before, you know, a call or email that you know this what this is.

Mayor Pro Tem, I appreciate the question.

I think we're in good standing.

We've been real clearly communicating with the T uh TPO and Hunter and his team, and it looks like the funding that's available and the applicants that we receive that we have a strong chance to get that uh the full funding that we apply for with the amount that's available, which not quite all that we need, but we have uh a strong shot.

So we'll we'll take your vote, and I think that's be all we need.

The weighted vote, I think we can't.

Yeah, it is.

Um we were in DC uh on the hill uh last month, and we were already let's say we knew that the only there are two things that rolls to the top of the list for everybody that was there, just not Winston, and that was public safety and transportation.

Uh do we foresee that we now need to be working towards March of next year with our congressional and Senate uh representatives to help them understand and we build our case.

Uh we do a good job of building our case to go ahead and do that so we can get to the front of the line, maybe.

I think that's a great comment.

And in our legislative priorities from the department level, right, not the city level, we're gonna continue recommending that uh we we advocate for supporting uh public transit.

We all know that it is a large tax-based burden, and it only supports about 15 percent.

Uh the federal dollars only support about 15 percent of the overall cost of the transit fund.

So, to your point, we are largely underfunded in that perspective, and it is a local tax burden to fully fund that.

So any lobbying efforts in that regard will certainly help our case.

Thank you.

Council Member Andre Bowen.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Uh Mr.

Fanzler, thank you very much for this.

Um, this is something I've been asking for and very excited to work with you on.

Um I was excited to see the microtransit coming online on the the northwest part of the town, but when I was going over this this past weekend and saw the the the new uh model going down to the southeast ward, I was I was ecstatic.

So thank you for um finding ways to make that happen and uh looking forward to uh three years or two, two years from however long it takes us to find the funding for that to make that work.

Uh my one question is um our during our our public comment in March.

Um there's a lot of uh comment around this for that you mentioned it for marketing about the changes coming up.

Um are we gonna have anything in in Spanish or in other languages that are impacting the writers that that are in who do not speak English?

Absolutely.

And we have a large uh Roth ship base that's also blind and visually impaired, and so we are also working to have literature available uh to cast our net there as well.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Mr.

Fansler, I'm so happy that we were able to work out something for the Southeast, because they look like they were just not going to be able to ride.

Um I have two questions.

The three-year pilot that you referenced, is that for both microtransit or just one?

Good question.

It is for we have one application for microtransit in Winston Salem.

It just happens to be two zones.

So to answer your question, it applies to both zones.

Both zones, okay.

And then um, your proposal is to make all of the changes for the fixed routes and implement them in August.

That's correct.

Correct.

That means that the routes that are being eliminated will be eliminated as of the end of July.

And if so, how are we going to be telling our writers about that change?

Well, I appreciate you bringing that up because I failed to mention um Route 97, which is the kind of Ranol Road kind of shadow on area, it will connect.

That is a higher importance route because of what it connects to.

We actually have worked the funding model to include that route for as long as we can, which we think we carry that through the end of the calendar year to bridge the gap.

Now, Route 108 will likely not be able to sustain that just because of the dollars.

Don't make sense.

We don't have the funding available for that.

So to your point, we will communicate that service termination and make our ridership uh base aware of what can support them, turn the calendar turn as the year calendar turns over.

Thank you.

I don't know whether you all have thought about it, but could we start to create some signs that can go out to these bus routes that are going to be changed or eliminated because you know everybody doesn't do social media or TV or our website?

So uh could we do that?

You know, put forth that effort with our uh marketing department.

Mayor Pro Tim, I appreciate that.

That's a good comment because yes, we can in both English and Spanish, and we'll do that at bus stops where folks are accessing the bus, and there's also a couple great spots on the buses where we can also advertise that.

So we'll work with the team to make sure they're in both areas.

Thank you.

Very good.

Thank you, Ms.

Fancy.

I recognize our chairman of our public works committee, Councilmember Burke.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I move for approval of agenda item G4, the WICTA Route Network Changes.

Okay.

Second I can by Councilmember Hall.

Any discussion?

This will be electronic.

All those in favor of the motion, please send the cake voting yes.

Anyone opposed, vote no.

And that is unanimous, thank you very much.

Item uh G five, please.

Item G five, consideration of items related to implementation of fire classification market study.

Committee of the whole recommends approval six to two.

Recognize Dr.

Keena uh Cofield Jones, who's our director of human resources for uh presentation on this, although we talked about it a lot already.

But uh Dr.

Jones, if you would please.

Good evening, Mayor and members of council.

Um, I'm going to briefly go through the timeline because you all have heard this a couple of times, so I just want to go through that timeline briefly to recap.

Uh, you had this item on the general government committee in December, and then we came back in March to the committee of the whole.

Also on the 323 meeting for public comment, there were no comments at that particular time.

And uh as a group, you all approved uh our recommendations to implement the record the recommendations the first full pay period of April.

I'm not going to go through every slide.

Um, I will just highlight a few things just um to not take up all of your time in hearing what you have already heard.

Uh the study was conducted by PTRC Piedmont Triad Regional Council.

It um this is their final the final study and recommendations.

The process was fair and equitable.

Also, um the city manager mentioned that the rest of the organization would be looked at starting this month, and then um phase one and then phase two completed by the end of the fiscal year, and then part three would be after that.

And as a result of this study, um, most of the well, everyone will receive at least a 4.32 percent increase in their salary, and this is in addition to the two percent for the merit that was um that was received in January of this year.

The components of the study, the salary range analysis, actual salary analysis, and the benefit survey, the findings um from our current pay scale was that it would take it takes longer for someone to reach the the top of the pay schedule.

Also, there were larger discrepancies in the salary ranges rather than the actuals um actual salaries.

Findings also included that Winston Salem's practice of recognizing military and education in a subclass system is unique, and we're about the only ones that do that.

Also, our education incentive for associate and bachelor's degree was at least two times higher than the majority of our market peers.

We're at five and ten percent.

And then uh most employers administer educational attainment at the beginning of the hiring process, and some have a one-time payment for military.

For the market analysis, um, just briefly.

The average actual salaries for firefighter one was four percent below market, engineers were two percent below the actual market average, captains one percent below, and battalion chiefs five percent above um market averages.

Also, the current ranges at the minimum, we were between four and eleven percent below the market, with the recommended changes.

We will be between one percent above the market to five percent above the market at the range max.

The benefits survey, which we did um inform you that out of the 19 respondents, we had five to respond to the benefit survey, and those are listed there for your um perusal.

We have for our Winston Salem non competitive benefits that we not have a standalone bereavement policy.

We're the only ones that had a 60 mile residency requirement, and then the city does not contribute to 401k and 457 plans for non-law enforcement employees.

Where we were uh competitive, our employee employer monthly contributions for um our health plan, 401%.

I'm sorry, for 401A, 2% for employer contribution, our group life max is up to three times their salary, 529 college savings plan retention bonus, and then the tuition reimbursement, um, which we are at 42 percent above the market in that area.

The budget analysis, it would be um annualized cost of 1.96 million dollars for salary and benefits.

This represents a 4.4 percent increase to the total FY26 fire department staffing cost and individual increases range from 4.32 to 9.53 percent, and that is broken down by position, and then you can see the benefits and that can that totals 1.9 million dollars.

The proposed plan uh provides 5% between the pay grades, the maximum ranges are the maximum of the ranges are 55% higher than the minimums, and all of the current positions would stay in their grade with exception of battalion chief, they would move up one grade to 113 from 112.

An example for uh fire captains, their earning potential at the top of the screen, you'll see our current pay plan where we have broken down no degree with military associates and bachelors with military, and depending on where you fall, depends on what it is.

But the captain with a high school degree with or without military, the max earning potential is 104, 104,112.

In the new plan, the captain, the same scenario, the captain with a high school diploma, no military, the earning potential increases to 116,793.

The recommendations are that those certified fire employees would receive an increase to raise their salary to the minimum of the new pay pay grade or maintain their salary ratio within the midpoint of the range, and also to remove the subclass system for education and military, and then we would recommend the recommendation is to adjust education incentive to align with our with the majority of the market peers, which we our current rate or current incentive for associate's degree is five percent, the max for the bachelor's degree or higher is ten percent.

Um, the proposed is to reduce that by half or to adjust it by half, associate's degree two and a half percent, and uh bachelor's degree five percent, and this for current employees, they would maintain the five and ten percent, and any employee hired prior to July 6th of this year, would have until June 30th of 2032, in order to get the current rate at 5 and 10 percent.

After that, it would be the 2.5% and 5%.

This uh recommendation also remains above market average and adjusting the military and center from 5% to 3%, and then the residency requirement, we would uh visit that at a future date.

And so you have the financial impact 1.9 million dollars.

Um, you already know that this sets the precedent for our future class and comp studies, which have begun, and then the from the committee of the whole meeting, it the recommendation was to um implement this the first full pay period of April.

So with that, I'll take it.

Any questions from Dr.

Jones?

Customer Hall.

Thank you, Mary Joins.

Thank you, Dr.

Jones, for the presentation.

I do have a question going back, um, one or two slides about education with the percentage.

I think they have until June 30th for 2032 for anybody that is hired within this year.

Um, if they want to be able to get the five or ten percent, depending on what they are what degree they're going for, what level.

And although this is a part of fire that we're talking about tonight with the presentation, this will actually be something that is applied across the board to all city employees if adopted tonight.

I just need to get clarity for that.

Is that something that we're talking about for or does it just for fire?

This right now is just for fire.

It will be looked at in the studies that are starting now.

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions?

Thank you.

Uh I'd recognize Mayor Pro Tim if she's ready for a motion.

Yes.

Um, I move for approval of agenda item G five related to the fire classification market study implementation.

Thank you.

Second.

Second.

Councilmore Hall, any discussion.

If not, all those in favor of the motion, please indicate by voting yes.

Anyone opposed, vote no motion passes unanimous.

Thank you, Councilmembers, and thank you, uh, Dr.

Jones for the presentation.

That's all the items we have on our agenda.

Any uh comments from council members?

None.

I entertain a motion to adjourn.

So move.

Second, second by councilmember Burke.

All those in favor of the motion to adjourn, please say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

No.

We're adjourned.