[0:00] 26 Bermuda Run Town Council meeting to

[0:02] order. Want to recognize that we have a

[0:04] quorum with four council members here.

[0:06] Thank you all very much. And if you are

[0:09] able, please stand and join in the

[0:11] pledge of allegiance.

[0:14] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[0:17] United States of America,

[0:19] » To the republic for which it stands, one

[0:22] nation under God, indivisible, with

[0:26] liberty and justice for all.

[0:32] It is the intent of the town council to

[0:34] make solemn the proceedings of this

[0:36] meeting and the business brought before

[0:37] the governing board to offer the

[0:39] opportunity for a reflective moment of

[0:41] silence. Please join us in a moment of

[0:44] silence. Thank you.

[0:53] Thank you,

[0:55] Andrew. Um, code of ethics statement,

[0:58] please. Mr. Williams, our town attorney,

[1:00] is not here this evening. So,

[1:01] » Yep. Thank you, Madam Mayor. uh pursuant

[1:04] to North Carolina General Statute 168-86

[1:06] and 160D-109

[1:08] and the town of Bermuda code of ethics

[1:10] policy adopted on November 9th, 2010 and

[1:12] further endorsed on August 9th, 2022. I

[1:16] would ask each of you before you adopt

[1:17] the agenda if there is any actual

[1:20] potential or perceived conflicts of

[1:22] interest with respect to any matter on

[1:24] the proposed agenda which will come

[1:25] before you, the town council, for a vote

[1:27] at this meeting today. If so, please

[1:30] speak up and let the council know at

[1:32] this time before the agenda is adopted.

[1:38] » Okay. Uh the council has had an

[1:40] opportunity to review the agenda. Are

[1:42] there any revisions or do we have a

[1:43] motion to approve?

[1:46] » Motion to approve as submitted.

[1:48] » Okay. Any second?

[1:50] » Second.

[1:51] » All in favor?

[1:55] Unanimous. Thank you very much. And now,

[1:57] approval of the August 11th town council

[1:59] meeting minutes. The council has an

[2:01] opportunity to review the minutes. Are

[2:03] there any revisions or do we have a

[2:05] motion to approve?

[2:07] » Move to approve.

[2:08] » Second.

[2:09] » All in favor.

[2:12] Thank you very much. Um, welcome

[2:15] everyone. Uh, hope everybody had a good

[2:18] Labor Day. We have a really interesting

[2:20] agenda this meeting. Um, good to see

[2:22] some familiar faces in the crowd. And

[2:25] here are a few agenda highlights of

[2:27] what's coming up. We are extremely

[2:29] pleased to have Dr. Jonathan Brown of

[2:31] Davidson Davy Community College here.

[2:33] Dr. Brown is vice president for

[2:35] workforce and community engagement. More

[2:38] about Dr. Brown in a few minutes. Our

[2:41] action items include addressing a

[2:42] potential contract for the Bermuda Run

[2:45] East pedestrian pathways. I know there

[2:47] are a number of residents and council

[2:48] members who look forward to that

[2:50] discussion. and we'll hear updates from

[2:52] our town manager and hear from our

[2:54] council members about what they are

[2:56] hearing and learning. First, I have an

[2:59] important proclamation recognizing Smart

[3:02] Start Month here in Davy County. And I'

[3:04] I'd like to read it and then I'll just

[3:06] have a few specific comments.

[3:10] So, proclamation recognizing Smart Start

[3:13] Month. Whereas the nationally recognized

[3:17] Smart Start Network has worked for more

[3:20] than 30 years to ensure that young

[3:22] children enter school healthy, prepared,

[3:25] and ready to succeed. And whereas the

[3:27] first five years of life represent a

[3:30] critical period of development, shaping

[3:32] a child's brain architecture, and

[3:34] establishing the foundation for future

[3:36] cognitive, social, emotional,

[3:39] behavioral, and health outcomes. And

[3:42] whereas Senior Start of Davyy County

[3:44] supports young children, families, early

[3:47] childhood educators and child care

[3:49] providers through programs focused on

[3:51] early education, health and well-being,

[3:54] family support, and access to quality

[3:56] child care. And whereas through the

[3:58] Dolly Parton Imagination Library, Smart

[4:02] Started Davy County provides a new book

[4:04] each month to approximately 1600

[4:07] children. That's nearly reaching nearly

[4:10] 70% of Davy County children under the

[4:12] age of five and helping families foster

[4:15] a lifelong love of reading. And whereas

[4:17] Davy County is experiencing a critical

[4:20] shortage of child care and access to

[4:22] dependable highquality child care is

[4:24] essential not only to the well-being of

[4:26] children and families, but also to the

[4:28] ability of parents to participate in the

[4:30] workforce and to the continued strength

[4:33] of local employers, businesses, and the

[4:35] community's economy. And whereas the

[4:38] town of Bermuda Run recognizes early

[4:40] childhood educators and child care

[4:41] providers as the workforce behind the

[4:44] workforce and affirms that child care

[4:46] should be considered as a component of

[4:48] the town's strategic and comprehensive

[4:50] planning efforts. And whereas continued

[4:52] collaboration among local governments,

[4:54] businesses, educational institutions,

[4:57] nonprofit organizations, child care

[4:59] providers, and community members is

[5:01] necessary to raise awareness, connect

[5:04] families and resources, expand access to

[5:06] care, and create a stronger future for

[5:09] every child in Bermuda Run and

[5:11] throughout Davy County. Now therefore, I

[5:14] do hereby proclaim 2026 as Smart Start

[5:17] Month in the town of Bermudar Run and

[5:19] commend its observance to all residents.

[5:21] I also just wanted to note uh some of

[5:23] you may recall that we had Gina Taylor

[5:26] who's executive director of Smart Start

[5:28] here in June and she gave us a very u

[5:32] impassioned and and and statistical

[5:34] databased overview of the state in Judy

[5:36] County. And I just want to mention also

[5:38] that um Gina and her team were on a

[5:41] cover of the summer Davy Life magazine

[5:45] in a terrific story and hot off the

[5:47] presses, we just got this today. Davy

[5:49] Life fall has a cover story on Eagles

[5:52] Nest Preschool which recently opened at

[5:54] Brock Center and Gina's on the cover

[5:57] along with Bonita Finny from the county

[6:00] and um and other notaries. It's a really

[6:02] excellent read. And the founder and

[6:04] publisher of Davy Life, Wendy Horn, is

[6:07] in the audience today. So Wendy, thank

[6:09] you for everything you do. Greatly

[6:11] appreciate it. Um, so now, um, I'm

[6:15] extremely honored and pleased to

[6:17] introduce Dr. Jonathan Brown of DDCC. I

[6:20] honest believe that Dr. Brown and his

[6:22] team have some of the most interesting

[6:24] and important roles in our county, in

[6:26] particular related to serving learners.

[6:28] We talked about the word serving

[6:30] together on Friday and providing high

[6:32] quality education and training that

[6:34] supports businesses and economic

[6:35] development and they are a true partner

[6:37] here in Bermuda Run. So, Dr. Brown,

[6:40] » Thank you. Uh, madame mayor, council,

[6:43] please, uh, please, I want to thank you

[6:46] so much for giving me the opportunity to

[6:48] come speak with you tonight. uh as the

[6:50] mayor and I spoke, I'm very passionate

[6:51] about education, very passionate about

[6:53] the college, and I see such great things

[6:56] happening across both the counties that

[6:58] we serve, uh Davidson and Davy County,

[7:01] and uh I I see everything that goes into

[7:04] especially in our K12 systems. We work

[7:06] with four LEAs uh at the college, so uh

[7:09] everyone's a little bit different, but

[7:11] it's uh to see it all come together and

[7:13] everybody shooting for the same goals,

[7:15] it's uh very important to me. But again,

[7:18] thank you so much. And if I'm using some

[7:20] acronyms and some abbreviations uh that

[7:23] you don't know what they are because I'm

[7:24] in education, please stop me and I will

[7:26] explain it to you because we have a

[7:28] bunch in education.

[7:31] So today I just wanted to share, you

[7:34] know, where we see growth happening

[7:36] here. um what this means for uh Bermuda

[7:40] Run, Davy County, and how we're

[7:42] positioning the college to support the

[7:45] community and the economy here. This is

[7:47] not going to be a simple uh update on

[7:50] enrollment. We will talk about that, but

[7:53] I'd like to frame this more as an update

[7:56] on workforce development, economic

[7:58] development, and how we affect the

[8:01] community that we serve.

[8:03] So, I always have to start with this

[8:05] picture because this is why we're in

[8:06] education at graduation. This is the

[8:09] best day uh every year for me. Uh and

[8:12] you see students cross that finish line.

[8:14] But everything we ultimately do does

[8:16] come back to our students and this helps

[8:18] us create opportunities for them. So,

[8:21] our mission is very simple at the

[8:23] college. Uh we want to provide pathways

[8:26] that lead to credentials, careers,

[8:28] transfer opportunities, and most

[8:30] importantly, economic mobility for all

[8:33] of our citizens. When our students

[8:35] succeed, our employers succeed, and then

[8:37] more importantly, our communities

[8:38] succeed.

[8:41] So, this first graph that you're looking

[8:43] at, this is kind of where we get all of

[8:46] our students from. And what's

[8:48] interesting, you know, we have 100

[8:50] counties in uh North Carolina. we're

[8:53] able to say that we ser every county in

[8:55] the state we have at least one student

[8:58] now predominantly you can see uh the

[9:01] most come from Davidson and Davy County

[9:03] and then our surrounding counties that

[9:05] touch us uh but that's a little uh

[9:08] interesting fact when I was looking at

[9:10] that um and you know what what does this

[9:13] mean for Davy County it means you know

[9:15] we're not limiting them to just one

[9:17] program uh you'll see me talk uh later

[9:20] on about some of the ways that We serve

[9:22] our students whether that's in our

[9:24] curriculum programs, our continuing

[9:26] education and when I say continuing

[9:28] education that is nonredit programs uh

[9:31] people are coming back uh usually

[9:34] they're in the workforce already and

[9:35] they're wanting to gain a credential to

[9:37] upskill to get a better job. And then we

[9:40] also serve what we call our basic

[9:42] skills. So, we serve students that come

[9:44] back that maybe didn't finish high

[9:45] school, uh, but they want to get a GED

[9:47] equivalent, and then we try to get them

[9:50] into a continuing education program or,

[9:52] uh, a curriculum program that we have.

[9:55] So, here are just some numbers. I'm not

[9:57] going to sit there and read them all,

[9:59] but I tried to break it down to kind of

[10:02] show you the impact that Davy County has

[10:04] on our college. And as you can see uh

[10:07] through our three main uh types as I

[10:10] said curriculum continuing education and

[10:12] our basic skills or college and career

[10:14] readiness uh that we serve and you can

[10:16] see the numbers uh that come from Davy

[10:19] County and what's interesting is in 2020

[10:22] when COVID hit we were one of three

[10:25] colleges and there's 58 community

[10:27] colleges in the state we were one of

[10:29] three that did not see a decline in

[10:31] enrollment. I wish I could give you the

[10:34] answer of why that is. Uh I'd like to

[10:37] think that we uh try to serve our

[10:38] communities and we have a good

[10:40] experience for people that come in the

[10:42] front door through our enrollment

[10:44] process and we have great recruiters. Um

[10:47] but what's been interesting, we have

[10:48] seen tremendous growth since 2020. Uh we

[10:51] are projecting uh this year I was

[10:53] looking at enrollment today uh probably

[10:55] another 9% increase uh in the springtime

[10:59] uh for our enrollment. So we continue to

[11:01] grow which is a great thing.

[11:04] And then just to compare go to last year

[11:07] 2526

[11:09] as you can see our numbers increased

[11:10] even more here in Davyy County too. Uh

[11:14] where you know at one point uh 4,000

[11:18] curriculum students but 761 uh were from

[11:21] Davyy and that was a 6% increase uh that

[11:24] we saw in our FTE which is full-time

[11:27] equivalency. So just so you know, um we

[11:31] receive funding from the state based on

[11:33] FTEES. So for every 512 hours of

[11:37] instruction, we receive one FTE, which

[11:39] is equivalent to X amount of dollars.

[11:43] That changes depending on what course or

[11:45] program you're in. Uh if it's a high

[11:47] cost program like a healthcare

[11:49] manufacturing, obviously we get more

[11:51] money per FT than we would at some of

[11:53] the other things.

[11:57] And this uh also is just a a graph here

[12:00] where you can see our dual enrollment

[12:01] over time. And why that is important

[12:03] because I am a big proponent of our

[12:05] career and college promise. This allows

[12:08] a high school student to come take

[12:10] classes with us while they're enrolled

[12:11] with their high school at no cost. Now

[12:15] they may have to pay for books and

[12:16] supplies and materials uh depending on

[12:19] what LEA we're working with, but here in

[12:20] Davyy they are responsible for that. Um,

[12:24] but the one thing I stress is the

[12:26] students that are coming to us, whether

[12:28] they're trying to go in a CTE, uh,

[12:30] career and technical pathway or a

[12:32] transferable pathway, they are saving

[12:35] money for mom and dad. And more

[12:37] importantly, they're going to get a

[12:39] credential. And I try to tell parents

[12:40] all the time, you didn't lose anything.

[12:43] They're never going to take that away

[12:44] from you. So, if I get it when I'm 16,

[12:47] 17, 18 years of age, I'm not going to

[12:49] lose that credential. So, um,

[12:52] tremendous, tremendous costs saving. I

[12:54] was telling the mayor on Friday, um, my

[12:57] daughter graduated a couple years ago. I

[12:59] tried to get her to take classes. When

[13:01] she became a junior, she wouldn't. She

[13:03] said, "I'm not going to work with you,

[13:04] daddy." And I said, "Okay." Uh, but I

[13:06] finally talked her into it her senior

[13:08] year, and she's out of state. Uh, she's

[13:10] she's, uh, in Kentucky, but they ended

[13:12] up taking like 12 hours of her stuff.

[13:15] So, the way I look at it, this 12 hours

[13:16] I don't have to pay for. Um, so it is

[13:19] very beneficial cuz people ask all the

[13:21] time who takes your credits. If it's an

[13:23] instate university, uh, we do have an

[13:26] agreement with them. As long as you make

[13:27] a C or above on that course, they have

[13:30] to take that credit. Okay. Um, but we've

[13:34] seen our private institutions here in

[13:36] the state. We have agreements with them

[13:38] and now it's going out of state where

[13:40] we're being recognized that that ninth

[13:43] and tth or that freshman and sophomore

[13:45] year level classes are being awarded

[13:47] credit at most of our universities.

[13:51] And this is just kind of a breakdown. As

[13:53] you can see, we have three early

[13:55] colleges uh that we serve. Uh one here

[13:58] in Moxel uh on our campus there, which

[14:01] we have 95 students, and then we have

[14:02] one on our main campus in uh

[14:05] Thomasville. and then Yak and Career

[14:07] Valley which is also in Lexington. Um

[14:10] and then as you can see the numbers of

[14:12] our CCP students have risen uh every

[14:15] year. We're waiting for our numbers this

[14:17] year but I would assume we're probably

[14:19] going to be pushing close to 300 just uh

[14:22] from Davy County High School

[14:26] in this program. I know most of you are

[14:28] very familiar with it. Ignite Davyy. I

[14:30] just wanted to show how what happens

[14:33] when a community invests in our young

[14:35] people and now we're really seeing the

[14:38] fruits of that labor and and what's

[14:39] that's doing for our students. As you

[14:42] can see the overall data right now we

[14:45] have over 549

[14:47] students that have participated in

[14:48] Ignite Davyy with over 300 diplomas,

[14:51] degrees, certificates that have been

[14:53] earned. Uh, and I want to say the

[14:55] outcomes, uh, especially if you go up to

[14:57] that second bullet, the fall outcomes,

[15:00] uh, out of the 140 students in last

[15:03] year's enrollment, 86% of them were

[15:05] successful and they at least earned a

[15:08] 3.0. And then we had 36 students that

[15:11] earned a 4.0. You'll also see that for

[15:14] Scythe Techmission there. The reason we

[15:16] do that with this program, if we don't

[15:18] offer that program at Davidson Davyy, we

[15:20] do allow those students to go there.

[15:24] And then economic development, uh, you

[15:27] know, the mayor and I talked about this

[15:28] the other day. This is where if

[15:31] education and economic development, we

[15:34] just cannot operate uh separate. Uh, the

[15:37] days of that in my opinion are gone. So,

[15:41] you know, one of the most fundamental

[15:42] components of being uh competitive is

[15:46] not only what we have in our

[15:48] infrastructure, but our education

[15:50] system. So, when we're meeting with

[15:52] companies who come in all the time, it's

[15:54] very important that Davis Davyy wants to

[15:56] be at the table when we meet them

[15:57] because we want to make sure to explain

[15:59] to them what all we can offer for them.

[16:02] Yes, we can train students, but we also

[16:04] have programs, and you'll see me talk

[16:06] about it later, like customized

[16:07] training. Uh customized training is a

[16:10] light item that our general assembly

[16:11] puts in there for like $12.5 million a

[16:14] year. So, when a new company comes in

[16:16] and they get that incentive package,

[16:19] they come to us and regardless of what

[16:22] they want, whether it's leadership

[16:23] training, uh human resource development,

[16:26] etc., We set up a training program with

[16:28] them and that money is ran through us

[16:31] and we set up all the classes for these

[16:33] companies and the best part about it is

[16:35] it is zero cost to these companies that

[16:37] are coming. So, uh there's just a lot of

[16:40] really neat things uh that we do at the

[16:43] college. Uh when it comes to that,

[16:46] as I was saying, uh some of the uh

[16:49] companies that we work with here in

[16:51] Davyy, uh just a few um that we've had

[16:54] in the last three year or two to three

[16:56] years, uh SBA Home, they're new, as

[16:59] you'll see, most of them are

[17:00] manufactured. And and the reason I say

[17:03] that is because those line items and

[17:05] that money is strictly for manufacturing

[17:07] companies. Uh but those are the the

[17:10] companies that we've had some customized

[17:12] training projects with. We also partner

[17:15] with our public safety uh partners. Uh

[17:18] sheriff's department. Um so we served

[17:20] last year in 2025 21 classes. Uh we did

[17:24] start a detention officer program

[17:26] because some of the rules and

[17:27] regulations and laws had changed for

[17:29] them. So we were able to meet the need

[17:31] for Sheriff Hartman and his group. We're

[17:34] also very active in our fire and rescue

[17:36] training. As you can see there, 78

[17:38] classes, over 737 students uh trained

[17:42] and we still have more coming up. And

[17:44] then uh very very happy to announce that

[17:48] uh we have started uh we've had our our

[17:51] continuing education program here for

[17:53] EMS, but we have hired a full-time

[17:55] instructor at our Davyy campus uh to

[17:58] meet the needs of that. We also made a

[18:00] strategic million-dollar investment in

[18:03] equipment and supplies and materials to

[18:05] that program to bring it over here to

[18:07] the Davy campus. So, very excited about

[18:10] that.

[18:12] And some of our other opportunities that

[18:14] we have, you've heard me talk about

[18:15] curriculum to continuing ed. We've moved

[18:18] some programs from our curriculum side

[18:20] to our continuing ed. And you might say,

[18:21] well, why would you do that? Number one,

[18:24] we've learned that you don't have to

[18:26] have two years be employable. So, we

[18:29] want to take and pharmacy tech is

[18:31] probably the the biggest or the best

[18:33] example there that we have. Uh

[18:35] basically, they need one class to get a

[18:37] certification and they're employable and

[18:39] they don't have to go through two years

[18:41] of training to do that. Uh and then as

[18:43] you heard me talk before, our goal is to

[18:46] increase our basic skill students to get

[18:48] in our continuing ed programs and our

[18:51] curriculum programs. We also have uh

[18:54] workforce pale that has came uh to us.

[18:56] So this is a federally funded uh program

[18:59] where they can uh continuing education

[19:02] students can get that grant. It's only

[19:06] been for curriculum at the time. There

[19:07] are some restrictions and there are some

[19:09] guidelines. So we're working through it.

[19:11] Uh but right now we do have four

[19:13] programs that do qualify for that. Our

[19:15] nurse aid programs one and two truck

[19:17] driver training and central ser

[19:19] processing. Uh so we are applying with

[19:21] the state right now to get that underway

[19:24] this year. So very excited about those

[19:26] opportunities.

[19:28] Also want to mention how we serve this

[19:30] community too with the small business

[19:31] center. If you didn't know, it is

[19:33] actually right through that wall. Uh and

[19:36] we also teach our customized training

[19:38] and continuing ed classes right here at

[19:40] our satellite campus. Um so um you know

[19:44] we do a tremendous uh amount of stuff

[19:46] with that. Also, uh Monica Baleford is

[19:49] here with us tonight from the college.

[19:50] She, uh, is in charge of our community

[19:53] engagement. Uh, so she does a tremendous

[19:55] job working with, uh, our citizens here

[19:58] in David County.

[20:01] And now, uh, some of our projects that

[20:03] we have underway. Uh, this the first one

[20:06] here is our newest. We just broke ground

[20:08] in, uh, June for our public safety, um,

[20:13] facilities. that picture uh my left,

[20:16] your right, uh would be right across

[20:19] from the main campus. We have a track of

[20:21] land there of 165 acres. We've cleared

[20:25] 30 acres for this first phase. And then

[20:27] if you look uh at that picture on the

[20:30] road uh adjacent from the college across

[20:33] 2970, we have a track of land that it's

[20:37] not highlighted. I wish I would have

[20:39] highlighted it now. Uh but we also own

[20:41] 180 acres over there that that is all

[20:44] owned by our foundation. So as I was

[20:46] telling the mayor, we are land rich uh

[20:49] but facility poor when it comes to money

[20:51] because everything costs more. This

[20:53] project we estimated in 2020 was going

[20:56] to be around a $15 million project. Now

[20:58] come in about 34 million. So we've had

[21:01] to do some phasing uh with this. But in

[21:04] this first phase, as you'll see, uh this

[21:06] will be the entrance here. This will be

[21:08] a 50-yard 12lane indoor shooting range

[21:12] uh for our law enforcement. Uh we also

[21:14] do basic law enforcement training. So

[21:16] when students are coming in want to

[21:18] become deputies uh or officers, they are

[21:21] troopers, etc. They do go through that

[21:23] program. Uh so why is that important? A

[21:27] lot of people were like, "Oh, you're

[21:28] putting a firing range on a college." Uh

[21:30] well, we have law enforcement there.

[21:33] Also, we're always at the mercy of our

[21:36] local agencies. They do allow us to come

[21:38] shoot at their ranges. However, um we do

[21:41] like Davidson County, our sheriff's

[21:43] department, they don't allow us to come

[21:44] to their range. Uh so we're always, you

[21:48] know, I would say one lawyer away from

[21:50] probably saying, "Hey, you can't shoot

[21:52] there." So if we can't shoot, we don't

[21:54] have a program. Uh so we're really

[21:56] excited about that. This is also built

[21:58] as a multi-lex facility. This came about

[22:01] during COVID where we worked with the

[22:03] health department too uh to do uh mass

[22:06] vaccinations. So we will have in there

[22:08] opportunities that we can do those sort

[22:10] of things ultra cold storage uh for

[22:13] vaccinations. I hope we never have to go

[22:15] through that again but we have planned

[22:17] to make this as multiple multiflex as

[22:21] possible u for the community to use.

[22:24] This is kind of an overview of what

[22:26] phase one will look like. You've got

[22:28] the, like I said, the the range over

[22:30] there to your right in the middle. That

[22:32] will be a fivetory fire tower. Uh that

[22:36] will be gas uh prop fed. Uh so natural

[22:39] gas in there and then uh outdoor

[22:42] classroom. And then on the your far left

[22:46] uh will be a 16 uh00 ft uh class A burn

[22:50] building. So that's where you have your

[22:52] live fires uh where we would use

[22:54] gasoline, straw, everything to ignite

[22:56] it. Um, why is this important? Because

[22:59] we really don't have the facilities

[23:01] right now to support our law

[23:03] enforcement, our fire or our EMS. This

[23:06] will give us opportunities that we have

[23:07] not had in years. We do have a burn

[23:09] building here on our Davyy campus. It is

[23:12] older, dilapitated. This will give us a

[23:14] lot more um training exercises for them

[23:17] to to use.

[23:20] And then I know you all have heard about

[23:22] our Davy Health Science Building. So,

[23:24] we're really excited about that. I I

[23:27] wanted to have some renderings and

[23:28] drawings. We're just not there yet. Uh

[23:30] we're still in the design phase.

[23:32] However, um we do plan on probably

[23:36] breaking ground within the next year

[23:38] here. Uh and that will be obviously over

[23:40] at the hospital on that campus. So, uh

[23:43] just some great things and I think you

[23:45] know healthc care is huge. um our

[23:48] programs are full and because of this

[23:50] we're going to be able to add more

[23:52] programs uh have more students served

[23:55] and it's just a win-win for our

[23:57] communities.

[24:00] So, uh with that being said, I'll take

[24:03] questions

[24:05] or comments.

[24:08] Well, I' I'd like to say that uh I I

[24:11] really

[24:13] uh applaud you for your efforts and what

[24:15] you're doing for the community. I'm a

[24:18] alumni of a community college. I went to

[24:20] Cwell Community College

[24:21] » And had a great great experience there

[24:23] and uh was have always been impressed

[24:26] with the community college system, but I

[24:28] think you've taken things to a much

[24:30] higher level and uh I I I'm it, you

[24:34] know, does my heart good to see this

[24:36] type of work being done and it's so so

[24:39] important for the community. So, thank

[24:40] you for your efforts.

[24:41] » Thank you very much. And and I will just

[24:43] add one little thing and I didn't put

[24:45] this in the presentation, but I do want

[24:46] to brag on the college. every year we

[24:48] are uh we have our scoring metrics and

[24:51] how they rate us. Uh we are always in

[24:53] the top 5% of the 58 community colleges

[24:56] when it comes to that. So we're in

[24:58] really good shape when it comes to not

[24:59] only academically uh but enrollment uh

[25:02] and and things of that nature. So, uh,

[25:05] and also I'm I'm seeing more and more,

[25:08] um, you know, we push four-year college

[25:10] and universities forever, and that's for

[25:14] some people that's the right choice, but

[25:15] it's not the right choice for everybody.

[25:17] And we're seeing students come out with

[25:21] two years degree and, you know, they're

[25:23] making really good, really good money.

[25:25] And, uh, sometimes I think, wow, why did

[25:27] I go through all that school and then I

[25:29] probably could be doing this? But I

[25:32] enjoy what I do. So, uh, there's just a

[25:34] lot of opportunities there.

[25:35] » It's a great It's a great value. Great

[25:36] value.

[25:37] » Absolutely.

[25:38] » Dr. Brown, a question. I

[25:41] I'm I'm thoroughly impressed with how

[25:44] much uh your the community college for

[25:48] both counties is involved in some of

[25:51] these I I would reference them as higher

[25:54] skill types of programs such as health

[25:56] care, even law enforcement. Um do we

[26:00] have any does the college have any type

[26:03] of programs that involve continuing

[26:05] education for those who are already in

[26:08] that job force such as I know EMS have

[26:11] to have continuing education law

[26:13] enforcement all these is there a program

[26:15] there that that feeds into that into the

[26:18] college for

[26:19] » Absolutely everything that you just

[26:20] mentioned we we have all that upskilling

[26:23] for that credentiing as they go forward

[26:25] they have to you know have all so many

[26:27] hours of continuing ed.

[26:29] » So they don't have to go somewhere out

[26:31] of county or out of area to get that

[26:33] type of training they need. It's right

[26:35] here.

[26:35] » Public safety, not anymore. I I'll be

[26:38] honest, we were losing a lot of our u

[26:40] people were having to go down to Row and

[26:42] Cabaris uh because we just didn't have

[26:44] the facilities. Uh but with us uh

[26:47] investing in not only our uh Navy Health

[26:50] Science uh but our public safety, we're

[26:52] going to see

[26:54] our our community stay within our two

[26:57] counties. Now,

[26:58] » I don't want to put you on the spot, but

[27:00] how's how's the funding situation coming

[27:02] from the state these days?

[27:03] » Um, so we're we're actually pretty

[27:06] lucky. We we just passed uh it's called

[27:08] NC Propel. So, that is a strategic

[27:11] workforce alignment funding modeling

[27:13] system, which I'm still waiting to see

[27:16] how it all works, but it sounds great on

[27:18] paper. So, uh, we are always funded in

[27:21] the rears, which makes it tough when I

[27:23] have to budget and plan because I'm I'm

[27:26] basing this year on what we did last

[27:28] year. So, if I have huge growth,

[27:31] sometimes that's hard to then, oh, how

[27:34] do I how do I pay for this? Um but

[27:37] supposedly or with NC Propel we'll start

[27:40] seeing immediate funding especially for

[27:42] our high cost programs your healthc care

[27:45] your manufacturing your aviation things

[27:48] of that nature uh which are high demand

[27:50] jobs. Uh so it'll be interesting to see.

[27:54] They've they've been good to us. I I'll

[27:56] be honest we could always use more. Our

[27:58] biggest thing is, as I said before, when

[28:00] we go to we have a great idea and we

[28:03] have all this land and we want to build

[28:04] a facility, where do we get the money

[28:07] from? Um, we did receive an aotment for

[28:10] that public safety $15 million a lotment

[28:12] from the general assembly back in CO

[28:14] when uh we were going through COVID for

[28:16] that facility. Uh, the rest of it, we

[28:19] either talking with our legislators uh

[28:22] on the state, local, national, and uh

[28:26] grants. That's that's how we have to do

[28:28] it.

[28:29] » Well, thank you for what you're doing.

[28:30] It's it's important to our community.

[28:32] » I appreciate it.

[28:33] » Uh I I got a question. So selfishly, the

[28:36] the Davy Health Center, I know you're

[28:38] early on in in those stages there, but

[28:40] is there anything you can tell us about

[28:41] um like the general footprint, what kind

[28:43] of courses will be offered there? So, we

[28:46] will take uh pretty much all of our

[28:48] health care programs, what we would

[28:50] either offer currently now on the

[28:52] Moxville campus and everything that we

[28:54] offer on the Thomasville campus, it will

[28:57] all be housed there also. So, your

[29:00] nursing programs, so that goes

[29:02] everything from nurse aid to P& um

[29:06] a R I can't even remember all that.

[29:11] There you go. 80 and I need help.

[29:13] There's so many. and uh Central Sterile.

[29:16] Uh we've got Rad Tech now um that we

[29:19] just started a couple years ago. Um so

[29:23] it's endless. Our EMS will be over there

[29:25] too. Um just one one large facility.

[29:29] » One large facility right now. When I was

[29:32] talking to our facilities guy today, uh

[29:34] it's probably going to be uh a twotory

[29:37] footprint is what right now where

[29:39] they're at in that design phase. But as

[29:41] soon as we get some renderings and

[29:42] drawings, I'll be more than happy to

[29:44] share it with the council and let y'all

[29:46] take a look at it.

[29:47] » That's exciting. Thank you.

[29:48] » Yeah, absolutely.

[29:50] » Yeah. I mean, for me, Dr. Brown, I just

[29:51] want to say first, thanks for the

[29:52] presentation. Um, I think it's very

[29:54] informative. Um, and then, you know, I'd

[29:56] probably echo what what Marty mentioned.

[29:59] Um, you know, I think it's very

[30:01] important that, um, high schoolers

[30:05] really look into this and try to take

[30:07] advantage of of getting some course

[30:09] credits early. Um, you know, I I

[30:11] actually did it when I was a a senior

[30:14] and then also through uh summer school

[30:16] and um you know, obviously was able to

[30:18] kind of stack up some credits, but it

[30:20] also, you know, selfishly on my my part,

[30:23] I probably had a little bit lighter

[30:24] schedule in college because I had so

[30:26] many credits, but uh you can really um

[30:29] get yourself a head start and I think uh

[30:32] it sounds like that um you know, the

[30:34] students and in Davey and Davidson are

[30:36] really taking advantage of it.

[30:38] appreciate all the efforts that the

[30:39] college is doing.

[30:40] » So, I just had a one question because I

[30:42] think your your role is so unique in

[30:44] terms of education, economic

[30:45] development, workforce development. Who

[30:47] are some of the strategic partners you

[30:48] work with across the county in order to

[30:51] get the results that you do?

[30:53] » Any and everybody I will say that if

[30:55] they want us at the table, we're there.

[30:57] But, uh, you know, we do work closely

[30:58] with Terry and his group. Uh, and I have

[31:02] our team, um, trying to get out and

[31:05] about really to meet with any of our

[31:07] organizations that we have here locally.

[31:08] How can we assist because we are a

[31:10] community college? And that's the one

[31:12] thing I expect from all my employees.

[31:14] We're going to treat you as a community.

[31:16] We have to work together. Uh, and if we

[31:18] don't know, we don't know, right? So um

[31:21] as things are coming uh you know forward

[31:24] that's where if we we can be on the on

[31:26] the front end of things it helps us with

[31:28] our planning uh our strategic uh

[31:31] movement of okay can we do this or can

[31:34] we not do this. Uh so you know I I told

[31:37] the mayor on Friday I try to I try not

[31:40] to use the word no a lot which gets me

[31:42] into trouble because I really want to

[31:44] help everybody. Um, but we'll try to

[31:48] find a way um, one way or another, we'll

[31:51] try to find a way to help our

[31:53] communities in any way we can.

[31:55] » Dr. Brown, thank you so much for being

[31:56] here. Monica, great to see you. Please

[31:58] pass on to your entire team our great

[31:59] gratitude and to be continued.

[32:02] » Thank you.

[32:03] » Um, now, uh, citizens comments.

[32:10] » Thank you.

[32:12] We have two people signed up. Um, Yep.

[32:15] And Andrew, would you like to say the

[32:18] the pre premise to the

[32:20] » For town council public comments um

[32:23] period rules, each speaker shall be

[32:24] allowed a total of three minutes to

[32:26] speak and shall immediately stop when

[32:27] their three minutes are up. Please state

[32:30] your name and address before speaking.

[32:32] Speaker shall address the council as a

[32:34] whole and shall not ask for any verbal

[32:36] exchange back and forth from the

[32:38] council. It is not the intent of the

[32:40] public comment period or to require the

[32:42] council to answer any impromptu

[32:44] questions. There shall be there shall be

[32:47] no discussion between the speaker and

[32:48] the audience. Your time will be

[32:50] displayed on the screen in front of you

[32:51] and we'll inform you when there are two

[32:53] minutes, one minute and 30 seconds

[32:55] remaining. And when your time is up

[32:57] » And I just wanted to mention everything

[32:59] that Andrew read is just standard

[33:00] practice of town council meetings uh

[33:02] does not indicate a lack of interest.

[33:04] Believe me, we are hearing and we are

[33:05] listening to you. So, our first citizens

[33:08] comment is from Dr. David Reese. Is that

[33:09] correct?

[33:13] » Come on up to the to the platform. Thank

[33:15] you. Thank you, doctor.

[33:17] » Um, I'm more used to being in a lab and

[33:20] having a bunch of students around over

[33:21] in the corner sweating that while I'm

[33:23] teaching them suture skills in the in

[33:25] the morg that they're not going to poke

[33:27] themselves. So, if I'm not as eloquent

[33:29] as you speaking in front of larger

[33:31] larger crowds, I'm I'm here this evening

[33:34] more of concern and not complain. And I

[33:38] timed this out for 2 minutes and 45

[33:40] seconds and I'm already knocking away

[33:42] the clock. Um, good evening, mayor and

[33:44] members of the town council. My name

[33:46] again is David Ree. Um, back in 2000, I

[33:50] actually rented a condo from you and

[33:52] your husband for about four months in

[33:54] between school. So that's when I first

[33:56] moved out to Bermuda Run 26 years ago.

[34:00] Um I now I'm at 154 Golf View. Uh I've

[34:04] got my mother at 295 Hollybrook. She's

[34:06] in Independent Living. I lived at 120

[34:09] Bent Street, which was the little castle

[34:11] looking house on top of the hill. Lived

[34:12] there for a while from 2000 to 2023 when

[34:16] I sold it when my father passed away. Uh

[34:18] I lived at 133 Tiffan for a while and I

[34:20] was at 245 Ivy Circle for about 10

[34:22] years. So, I've been in Bermuda Run for

[34:24] for quite a while. Um, when I first

[34:27] moved out to Bermuda Run, my daughter

[34:29] was four years old, my son was one. I

[34:31] sat in the yard as they played uh in

[34:33] order for them not to be close to the

[34:35] road. I'm an alumni of UNCC Chapel Hill,

[34:37] and I've actually got a case I've got to

[34:38] go do. That's why I'm at my scrubs now.

[34:40] Um, I went to Baylor and Houston. I also

[34:42] graduated from Harvard. I did my

[34:44] residency and clinicals through Wake

[34:45] Forest as well as UNCC Chapel Hill and

[34:48] over at Aireddarddale County at the

[34:50] hospital over there. I'm a deathcare

[34:52] practitioner. I'm a dual licensed which

[34:54] means that not only autopsies inbalming,

[34:57] medical examiner stuff like that. I'll

[34:59] also teach students uh suture skills and

[35:02] closing skills and carterization and

[35:04] things of this nature. Uh I'm board

[35:06] certified for autopsy and bombing as

[35:08] well as well as a licensed bereavement

[35:10] counselor death and dying. I know the

[35:13] results of speeding and hazardous roads

[35:16] much better than most people. Uh just in

[35:20] July I signed 83 death certificates. I

[35:22] have no idea what the the count is from

[35:24] August. Uh I'm concerned about the

[35:26] direction of Bermuda Run and our future.

[35:28] We're one of the most highly educated,

[35:30] prolific, astute communities in the

[35:32] state. Uh I checked to see if we had any

[35:35] roadway accidents that have occurred of

[35:37] the last 26 years that I've been a

[35:38] resident, and there were none that were

[35:40] substantial or or severe injury causing.

[35:44] I looked to see if there was a police

[35:46] campaign through the sheriff's

[35:47] department and there were no campaigns

[35:49] for Bermuda Run stop the speeders. U now

[35:53] we've installed many speed barriers on

[35:55] our roadways. Uh a couple of weeks ago I

[35:57] was having dinner with my mom over in

[35:58] the old folks home and there was a table

[36:01] sitting beside of us and they were

[36:02] talking about none of them took their

[36:05] Sunday afternoon drives because of the

[36:07] speed barriers. And I know it sounds

[36:08] inconsequential but let's think about it

[36:10] for a minute. The average resident now

[36:12] in Bermuda has to cross two to four

[36:14] barriers to go to the Harris ter store.

[36:16] 50% have to cross four barriers and 30%

[36:20] of the residents have to cross eight

[36:21] barriers in order to go to Harris ter

[36:24] and back. The American Disabilities

[36:26] Association would go ballistic knowing

[36:28] that there are no handicap accessible

[36:30] routes around these barriers in the

[36:32] event of a catastrophic event with a

[36:35] wheelchair, crutches, or anything of

[36:37] this nature. No one would be able to

[36:38] cross those and that is a hazard. The

[36:41] speed barricades have created tragic if

[36:43] not detrimental hazard for bicycle

[36:44] skateboards and especially the

[36:46] handicapped. I saw a young lady probably

[36:49] 10 11 years old wreck on her bicycle

[36:51] trying to go over one of the speed

[36:52] bumps. She scratched her wrist. She also

[36:55] scratched her leg a little bit. Hope

[36:56] luckily she wasn't injured. She did have

[36:58] a helmet on. Um the speed bump on

[37:01] Tiffan. I lived at 133 Tiffan for

[37:03] several years. There's a bump right

[37:05] there on the hill. The angle of that

[37:07] hill going up. That hill is the last

[37:09] thing in Bermuda Run that will not be

[37:13] iced over. It's always iced over. It's

[37:15] the last thing. Now, if someone is going

[37:17] up this hill in any kind of automobile

[37:19] or vehicle, as soon as they hit that

[37:21] bump, if they lose traction, the angle

[37:23] of that hill, they will slide backwards,

[37:25] go over sideways into the ravine.

[37:27] There's not a barricade there. So

[37:30] statistically out of all the streets

[37:32] that we had in Bermuda Run, if we had a

[37:35] 100% potential accident ratio of all of

[37:38] our streets, we now have 100%age

[37:43] chance of an accident at every single

[37:45] speed bump for one of the citizens,

[37:48] which in my opinion is it's

[37:51] astronomically different. It's the exact

[37:53] same thing as if you took the speed

[37:54] bumps out and yelling at someone that

[37:57] they could get injured. The same as if

[37:58] all of us went down to the soccer field

[38:01] and yelled at the the kids out there

[38:03] playing, "Don't run. Don't run. Don't

[38:04] run. You might get hurt." There hasn't

[38:06] been a situation to cause the

[38:08] detrimental impact that it now has on

[38:12] our neighborhood. Continuing with that,

[38:14] um,

[38:15] » And Dr. Reese, just a reminder, just

[38:17] just to look at just just to look at the

[38:19] time just to

[38:19] » Well, I'm I'm looking at the time and it

[38:21] says three minutes, so I don't know.

[38:22] » No, that's No, that's the three minutes

[38:24] is is up. So, just

[38:25] » Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Well, I'm

[38:28] not trying to rer I just want to

[38:29] » If I can just have one more quick little

[38:31] paragraph here. Um I'm taking advantage

[38:34] of the home values that we've been

[38:36] losing in our neighborhood and the home

[38:38] values in our area specifically. Um

[38:43] 216 Juniper was put on the market for

[38:46] 1.2 million. I just gave him an offer

[38:48] for 950,000. That's 22% less. And the

[38:52] reason why he's considering accepting my

[38:54] offer is because the home sales in

[38:57] Bermuda Run since the beginning of the

[38:59] summer has decreased more so than any

[39:01] other substantial neighborhood that is

[39:03] similar. There's there's a rental on

[39:06] Golf View that's been available since

[39:08] beginning of the summer that has not

[39:10] been taken and is absolutely perfect.

[39:12] There's also another place on Golf View

[39:15] that they've been having an open house

[39:17] almost every weekend for the last two

[39:20] months with no takers. The house values

[39:23] are dropping because there's a

[39:25] percentage of the community and I've

[39:27] spoken with three different real estate

[39:28] agents that have been asking their

[39:30] people that are wanting to buy homes to

[39:32] not look in Bermuda Run and go to

[39:34] Lewisville and other areas. And just one

[39:37] more quick word and then I'll get out of

[39:38] the way. Um,

[39:41] if you go up here to the section 8

[39:43] housing at the intersection and you can

[39:45] smell marijuana as you drive by. I can't

[39:47] anyway. I guess it's because I'm used to

[39:49] it from the students over at Way Forest

[39:51] too. But as you drive by, they don't

[39:54] have speed barricades. Clemens West does

[39:55] not have speed barricades. Buunav Vista,

[39:57] Oakidge, Pinehurst, all similar cities

[40:00] do not have the same type of barricades

[40:02] that we have. And when I asked chat GPT

[40:05] what political party would install speed

[40:06] bumps in Bermuda Run, North Carolina, it

[40:09] came back kind of comical. It said it

[40:11] came back 87% chance of a Democratic

[40:14] socialist party, 13% chance of a a

[40:18] Democrat party based on their history of

[40:20] serving a few special interests over the

[40:23] common good of the majority of the

[40:24] population. So I'm not complaining. I'm

[40:28] concerned about the the direction that

[40:31] Bermuda Run is heading for the future.

[40:33] » Thank you very much, doctor.

[40:34] » Thank you. Thank you so much. And I

[40:36] apologize, but I have to go to work now.

[40:37] » Okay. Thank you, doctor.

[40:39] » Thank you, sir.

[40:40] » And next, uh Doug Arman from Warwick.

[40:46] Doug Offman.

[40:50] » My name is Doug Arfman. I live at 120

[40:53] Warick Place. My family was one of the

[40:56] first buyer residents at Warwick back in

[41:00] 1986.

[41:02] I want to address three points about the

[41:04] speed bumps within the club, which has

[41:07] done just fine without them for all

[41:09] these years since 1971.

[41:12] First, all the properties on Bing Crosby

[41:15] Boulevard,

[41:17] uh, Warwick Place, Pemrook, St. George

[41:19] Place, Hamilton Court, River Hill, and

[41:22] Bermudar Run homes have to cross eight

[41:25] speed bumps round trip to get to and

[41:28] from the post office

[41:30] as do the complexes on Juniper, Fairway

[41:34] Villas, Spyglass Hill, the Lakes, and

[41:37] Golf View. In addition, James Way and

[41:41] the Highlands have to cross over 10.

[41:45] In my opinion, the total number of speed

[41:48] bumps is overkill.

[41:51] Second, the speed bump sign says 10

[41:54] miles per hour, but everybody has to

[41:56] come to a complete stop at each bump or

[42:00] run the risk of suspension damage. The

[42:04] bumps are just too big and obnoxious.

[42:08] Third, and most important, I am one of

[42:11] many cyclists who live in Bermuda Run.

[42:14] It is difficult to ride over the speed

[42:16] bumps. To avoid them, we have to ride in

[42:19] the gutter or on the grass. Both are

[42:23] dangerous. The contractor should have

[42:25] left 12 in on each side to allow cyclist

[42:30] safe passage.

[42:33] Cars will still have to slow down as

[42:35] intended. The town has looked into

[42:38] pedestrian pathways,

[42:41] which is a good thing, but has ignored

[42:43] the safety and pleasure of cyclists of

[42:45] all ages.

[42:48] FYI,

[42:49] the National Parkinson's

[42:52] Foundation has a charity ride in Bermuda

[42:54] Run on September 26th, which will

[42:57] attract 25 to 50 cyclists of all ages. I

[43:03] doubt this group will return considering

[43:05] the unfriendly speed bumps and safety

[43:08] concerns.

[43:10] I have three recommendations.

[43:12] Remove number one, remove half the speed

[43:15] bumps. I doubt the town would agree with

[43:18] that. Second, replace the existing speed

[43:21] bumps with less obtrusive ones.

[43:25] And third,

[43:27] at least show respect for cyclists

[43:30] and cut a 12-in path on each side of the

[43:34] speed bump. Thank you for your

[43:36] consideration.

[43:38] I would like to submit this write up for

[43:40] the record.

[43:41] » Thank you, Dr. Mr. Arman. Appreciate it

[43:43] very much.

[43:44] » Thank you.

[43:46] » Thank you. Appreciate the citizens

[43:48] comments today. Moving on with the

[43:50] agenda. Um,

[43:53] Mr. Mewell, I'll turn it over to you for

[43:55] our action item on Bermuda Run East

[43:57] pedestrian pathways contract

[44:00] negotiations.

[44:01] » Thank you, uh, Madame Mayor. Um, this is

[44:04] just to advise council that, um, we did

[44:08] put out the bid, uh, phases one and two

[44:11] of the Bermuda Run uh, Riverbend Drive

[44:15] uh, pedestrian pathway project. Um, we

[44:19] did receive three uh, bids for that

[44:21] project. Um the uh lowest bidder uh is

[44:25] MBI Builders LLC um with a bid amount of

[44:29] 1,990,224,00011.

[44:36] Um we have um verified or discussed

[44:40] their submitted numbers with our

[44:42] engineers. They are within 6% of their

[44:45] estimated um numbers for the project. Um

[44:50] what staff is asking um uh council to do

[44:54] is to allow staff to start that

[44:57] negotiation with NBI and to go ahead and

[45:01] u as part of that negotiation to execute

[45:03] that contract. So staff Brian and our

[45:07] engineers will go back to NBI talk to

[45:11] them because there there are a few

[45:12] numbers um that kind of jumped out to us

[45:15] um um that caused us just a little

[45:18] concern. just want to better understand

[45:19] what those numbers really mean or what

[45:21] they were thinking right there. Um and

[45:24] go there with that negotiation um with

[45:26] with the hopes of having something um

[45:29] signed in the next two to three weeks

[45:31] with MBI. Um obviously um you know um

[45:38] one would think that you have to take um

[45:41] the the lowest bidder um in a public

[45:44] type contract. That's not always the

[45:46] case. it's always the lowest responsible

[45:50] responsive bidder. So, um we need this

[45:53] authority um from council to allow staff

[45:56] to go ahead and start those discussions

[45:58] with NBI to do that. So, um it could be

[46:03] that when we uh move forward with NBI,

[46:06] it could be a situation that hey, we

[46:08] just don't feel comfortable with you,

[46:10] then we would go to the next highest

[46:12] bidder. and likewise um until we uh

[46:15] found the contract that was going to

[46:17] meet the town's needs uh for the

[46:20] project. So, but um from all intent

[46:23] purposes looking at what NBI um uh

[46:26] submitted and their numbers, I don't see

[46:28] that case happening, but there are a few

[46:30] numbers that we do want to discuss. So,

[46:32] that is the request by uh staff for

[46:34] council is just to give us the authority

[46:36] to start that execution negotiation and

[46:40] the execution of that contract.

[46:42] questions.

[46:43] » Uh two questions. Uh I know that we have

[46:46] funds set aside for this project.

[46:48] » That is correct.

[46:49] » And uh so are we al including the

[46:53] engineering cost on top of uh the uh uh

[46:57] the projected uh

[47:00] » Construction costs? Are we still in

[47:02] » We are still good.

[47:02] » Still good. Okay. U

[47:05] second question. Is there any u

[47:08] available information about the con the

[47:11] uh the contractors as far as their uh

[47:13] previous experience uh doing these types

[47:15] of projects?

[47:17] » They they have done uh public work. Uh

[47:19] when I say public work meaning they've

[47:21] they've worked for public institutions.

[47:24] » Okay.

[47:24] » So um um we feel a little bit

[47:27] comfortable about that.

[47:28] » Okay.

[47:28] » Um we just don't want some

[47:30] » But there's no red flags that you

[47:32] » Nothing so far that we've seen so far.

[47:34] But again, once we start these kind of

[47:36] conversations with them, that'll allow

[47:38] us just to kind of see where they're

[47:40] really at. Okay. With this,

[47:41] » Where are they based out of?

[47:42] » Uh they're in North Wilsboro.

[47:44] » Okay.

[47:45] » Uh the other you you had a contractor

[47:47] from Charlotte and the other PDC was in

[47:50] Greensboro.

[47:54] » The comments questions.

[47:58] I I assume you will continue to have the

[48:00] engineers of the consulting engineers

[48:02] available for you guys as you proceed

[48:05] through.

[48:06] » That is correct. Um and we've already

[48:07] we've already tentatively scheduled a

[48:10] date um uh set aside once once we wrap

[48:14] up tonight. We'll reach out to NBI, have

[48:17] them um as part of that meeting um

[48:19] sometime later this month um for that in

[48:23] that discussion.

[48:25] » Anything else?

[48:26] I make a motion to allow Mr. Mewell, Mr.

[48:29] Williams, and staff to um continue the

[48:32] negotiations for the contract.

[48:37] » Second.

[48:39] » Yeah. And amend that. Can I make an

[48:41] amendment uh to also sign and execute

[48:44] the agreement

[48:46] » Uh if agree at that time that they

[48:49] complete the negotiations? Is that you

[48:51] accept that amendment to your motion?

[48:53] » Accepted.

[48:54] » Okay. I second your motion.

[48:56] » All in favor?

[49:00] » Thank you.

[49:02] And is the blue heron trail a separate

[49:04] is on the agenda item. Is that a

[49:05] separate thing?

[49:07] » Excuse me. I'm sorry.

[49:08] » There's just an item here that says Blue

[49:10] Heron Trail Connection Project contract.

[49:12] » It is. It's same same.

[49:13] » Yeah. Okay. Just wanted to

[49:15] Yeah, it's that's the long name for for

[49:17] the project. So

[49:18] » Okay. Okay. Great.

[49:21] » Town manager comments. Uh just I'll be

[49:24] brief, Madame Mayor. Uh two um items.

[49:27] The uh find and fix sewer project. Um

[49:31] those bids will be back um uh the 17th

[49:35] um of September. Um a lot of interest

[49:38] into that. Um we just received the third

[49:41] addendum to that uh bid uh today. So a

[49:44] lot of activity with that. Um so a lot

[49:47] of times when you see addendums come

[49:49] from the engineer questions are being

[49:51] asked about the project they're having

[49:53] to address those um and send it out to

[49:56] all those biders. So um a lot of

[49:59] interest into this project. So um this

[50:02] will happen the 17th probably a real

[50:05] quick turnaround again on that scope of

[50:07] work too. Um so a lot of activity um in

[50:11] along streets, sewer lines um in uh

[50:16] Bermuda Run East. So um it's going to be

[50:18] a very busy fall

[50:20] spring um in east there. So looking

[50:23] forward to getting that. Um lastly, um

[50:27] the uh um the uh speed study that was

[50:32] done for Kenderton, um u the engineers

[50:35] did go back and um uh make assumptions

[50:39] on um I think Carson, you were the one

[50:41] who brought this up about the um uh

[50:45] number of golf carts. um they assumed

[50:48] that speeds that were less than 10 miles

[50:51] an hour or maybe was 15 miles an hour

[50:54] that those uh would account for golf

[50:57] carts for the most part um it didn't

[50:59] have any real significant impact um to

[51:02] the actual speed numbers there but they

[51:05] did do that um based on what they heard

[51:08] back um what the plan is is and I've

[51:12] talked with HOA leadership um is to u

[51:15] kind take the study, look at some of

[51:18] these key intersections um where we see

[51:21] the highest um average daily trip

[51:23] numbers at um and come up with a plan of

[51:27] of what from our toolbox what would fit

[51:31] the uh the best in those areas right

[51:33] there. Uh Mr. Genway is is um taking an

[51:37] extended vacation uh right now. So he

[51:39] will be back sometime in 1 of October.

[51:42] So we'll continue talking about that.

[51:44] But I think what we'll have for you um

[51:47] probably by the agenda meeting is a base

[51:50] budget um that we think we'll probably

[51:53] need to make those improvements um um

[51:56] for those traffic calming measures there

[51:59] at those key intersections right there.

[52:01] So, um I you know uh because this is uh

[52:04] not a funded um u project um that was

[52:08] included in the budget um the streets

[52:11] there in Kton um do qualify to use POW

[52:14] bill dollars. Um we do have a fund

[52:17] balance um savings for POW bill streets.

[52:20] So, um you'll see a budget amendment uh

[52:22] come from staff to allocate to um cover

[52:27] those first initial um expenditures

[52:30] there. Um I think and I think I've told

[52:33] council this is that we'll probably look

[52:36] at this um as we're wrapping up the um

[52:39] our sidewalk um repair project for

[52:41] Kendon. Um if you recall that was a

[52:44] four-year kind of project where we've

[52:46] allocated dollars each year to address

[52:48] sidewalks. I see that this will kind of

[52:51] continue transition to that that will

[52:54] put monies into a project to do those

[52:56] traffic calming uh measures right there.

[52:59] So, um but um um excited to be working

[53:02] with the HOA there. They're excited to u

[53:05] be looking at this and I think they they

[53:07] agree too um with update signage, you

[53:11] know, striping, things of that nature.

[53:14] um probably will have the the biggest

[53:15] impact there at first, but uh definitely

[53:18] want to look at some of those more key

[53:20] kind of intersections where we're seeing

[53:21] the highest amount of traffic volumes um

[53:24] kind of go in to the neighborhood. So,

[53:27] so that's all I have.

[53:29] » Any comments or questions for Andrew?

[53:33] » Um next on the agenda, town council

[53:35] comments, anything you're hearing,

[53:38] learning about?

[53:41] » Well, I'll go first. Um yeah, I do uh

[53:46] agree with some of the comments tonight.

[53:48] Uh especially I and I've had uh citizens

[53:52] ask me about uh the speed bumps and how

[53:55] it pertains to bicyclists and I I hope

[53:58] we be able to look at that and come up

[54:01] with a solution. I know that uh uh a

[54:04] lot, you know, there is a lot of bicycle

[54:05] traffic and and I can see where the

[54:07] speed bumps could be, you know, very

[54:10] detrimental to that activity and and so

[54:12] I hope we will be able to look at that

[54:14] and uh come up with something that would

[54:16] be uh a little better.

[54:19] » Yeah, that's uh that's all I have.

[54:23] » Anything else?

[54:26] I I'll I'd like to share with the

[54:28] council at least that I had a um a a

[54:32] really enjoyable meeting with the

[54:34] executive director and the state trails

[54:38] coordinator for the Yadkin Riverkeepers

[54:41] Association last week. It's a really

[54:43] strong organization. They have I was

[54:46] informed and and I'll try to bring more

[54:49] information to the council hopefully at

[54:51] our agenda meeting or sometime soon. But

[54:54] uh they have some available grant money

[54:58] that might be very opportune for us to

[55:01] uh the timing is good at least for us to

[55:04] participate in some of that to assist us

[55:06] with connecting some of even our Blue

[55:09] Heron trail with a potential

[55:12] uh walk along the river.

[55:14] Uh they've they more information that

[55:19] I'm waiting for the executive director,

[55:20] Edgar Miller, who's a delightful fellow,

[55:22] to send me uh an entire package related

[55:27] to that potential grant, and also about

[55:30] their community trails program, which

[55:34] actually applies to any community that

[55:36] is within six miles of the of the Yaken

[55:40] River Trail, which has been established.

[55:42] Uh so anyway, stay tuned with that and I

[55:44] will I'll provide more information as I

[55:46] get it. But it's uh especially given our

[55:48] recent conversation with the folks at

[55:50] Rise and with Fusion, I think there may

[55:53] be and this is an overused word, but

[55:55] there may be a little synergy here that

[55:57] uh that we might be able to take

[55:59] advantage of to the benefit of our of

[56:01] our greenways and our our bicycle and

[56:04] pedestrian pathways within the town. So

[56:07] thank you.

[56:08] » That was good. Good night.

[56:09] » I'll share more when I can. Okay, other

[56:12] comments.

[56:15] Okay, just uh have I have a couple of

[56:16] comments here. Um, first of all, I just

[56:19] want to remember that Friday is 911,

[56:21] which will be the 25th anniversary of

[56:23] the attack on our nation. And we must

[56:26] never forget as in past years, Windmock

[56:29] and the Advanced Fire Department will

[56:30] display a giant US flag on September

[56:34] 11th down near the barn near the uh flag

[56:37] plaza from 9 a.m. to 4 pm to honor the

[56:40] courage and sacrifice of our first

[56:42] responders. The town also will be

[56:44] displaying a wreath down at the flag

[56:46] plaza. And so for those who want to

[56:49] remember and honor and again we must

[56:52] never forget that evening on Friday 911

[56:54] there will be a freedom concert and

[56:56] vendor stroll of Bermuda Run Country

[56:58] Club. This patriotic event is open to

[57:01] the public um no cost. It'll feature

[57:03] music by Chasing Phoenix which I

[57:05] understand is a terrific band a straw

[57:08] vendor market. Um as I said open to the

[57:10] public. The vendor market starts at

[57:12] 5:00. Music begins at 6. So come on down

[57:14] and going up and enjoy that event. I

[57:17] think it should be another way to honor.

[57:20] Also on Saturday, Charity Classic golf

[57:23] tournament and I understand our town

[57:24] council will have a team uh right now

[57:26] who might be competing in the in the

[57:28] charity classic. Proceeds from this

[57:30] event will support the Heroes Center, an

[57:32] amazing nonprofit that supports

[57:34] veterans. So good luck and uh can't wait

[57:36] to celebrate with you. Like to make sure

[57:38] we have a picture from that event. Going

[57:39] to be exciting. And we are thrilled to

[57:42] announce that in October we are going to

[57:45] have a county fair on the town green.

[57:48] This is an inaugural event of its kind.

[57:50] Saturday, October 17th, 3:00 to 7:00

[57:52] p.m. You can see from the uh flyer here

[57:56] that we are going to have all sorts of

[57:57] fun and activities and food and markets

[57:59] and pumpkins and barbecues and cotton

[58:02] candy and um a dunk tank that benefits

[58:05] Habit for the Humanity and Humane

[58:07] Society. So, uh, Charlie, do you have

[58:09] any Charlie's kind of the architect

[58:10] behind this? Any any updates for, uh,

[58:13] what this event looks like?

[58:14] » Um, I think you you covered a lot of it

[58:16] there. Uh, most pretty much, everything

[58:18] on there I think will be free. Um, we

[58:20] have 16 vendors signed up for our little

[58:23] farmers market vendor area. So, you

[58:25] know, lots of produce and house plants

[58:27] and pottery, things like that. So,

[58:29] looking forward to that and had some

[58:30] pretty good interest in that already. We

[58:33] did actually were just able to confirm

[58:34] that full city are originally out of

[58:37] Durham. They have a tap house in

[58:38] Lexington. We'll be here serving harder.

[58:40] So, looking forward to that as well.

[58:43] » Can Can we make sure and get Councilman

[58:44] Tedar in the dunk tank?

[58:47] » Okay.

[58:49] » All in favor?

[58:50] » All in favor? Excellent. Let that be on

[58:53] the record. Excellent suggestion.

[58:55] » And Charlie, you're the one that

[58:56] arranged to make sure we have beer with

[58:58] donuts. Is that what I was?

[59:00] » You can take.

[59:02] » Okay. All right. Just checking.

[59:04] » Ducking beer.

[59:05] » Looks good.

[59:05] » Yeah. It should be a great event. Great

[59:07] event. Thanks again. Um and then uh just

[59:11] an update on our council speakers.

[59:13] Again, thank you Dr. Brown. Thank you

[59:15] for being here. Greatly appreciate it.

[59:17] Uh this event is recorded as you know.

[59:19] And in October, our community officer,

[59:21] Deputy Hobson, will be here with updates

[59:24] on safety issues ranging from ebikes and

[59:27] bicycling and golf carts and garage door

[59:29] access and a lot more. We'll also be

[59:31] recognizing fire prevention week and

[59:33] talk about that during that meeting. and

[59:36] scout troop 732 has been do making some

[59:39] wonderful contributions to the town.

[59:40] We'll be here and describe what they've

[59:42] been doing and we'll get to meet some of

[59:43] them. So, you won't want to miss that.

[59:45] In November, uh Donna Leman's, president

[59:48] of the Bermuda Run Garden Club. I think

[59:50] you know a few garden club members.

[59:52] » I do.

[59:53] » Uh we'll be here to talk about the

[59:54] 42-year history and incredible

[59:57] contributions to this organization. And

[59:59] then in December, we'll be celebrating

[1:00:00] Christmas in Bermuda Run. Um, you can

[1:00:03] find promotions for Bermuda Run in Baby

[1:00:06] Life magazine, also in Stroll Magazine.

[1:00:10] So, we're in really good shape. It

[1:00:12] should be an absolutely outstanding

[1:00:13] event. So, with that, do we have a

[1:00:16] motion to adjurnn?

[1:00:17] » Motion to adjurnn. Second.

[1:00:19] » All in favor?

[1:00:21] » Thank you, everybody.

September 8, 2026 Town Council Meeting

Transcript