[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.