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To the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation,

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under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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Again, thank you all for being here and joining us this afternoon. Do we have a motion to approve our agenda?

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So moved.

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All in favor?

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Aye.

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Any opposed?

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All right, approval of our consent agenda. Do we have a motion?

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All in favor?

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Aye.

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Thank you for being here.

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Okay so that brings us right to

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our special presentations this

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afternoon with us.

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We have got.

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Pender County joining us is

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going to talk us through the

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evaluation.

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Process and how that looks.

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And how that was done by

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Vincent valuations this year.

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So thank you for being here.

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Absolutely.

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And if you don't mind

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introducing yourself to the

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board.

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For those who don't know

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absolutely absolutely first off out of mayor commissioners thank y'all for

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having me here my name is Colby Sawyer I'm the new Pender County manager really

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excited to be able to be here and be in front of y'all and share some

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information the regularly scheduled presenter is feeling a little under the

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weather so y'all got to put up with me for just a little bit I'm gonna do the

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best I can to answer all of the really technical questions we do have

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some additional staff from Benson here who may be able to step in and I've

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also got some county staff here. They introduced themselves real quick if y'all stand up and

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introduce yourselves real quick.

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We thank y'all for having us. So the purpose of this

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presentation is really just to do a lot of good public education about this upcoming

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re-appraisal, the 2026 re-appraisal. Do you have the slides for this?

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We do, we should.

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You do?

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Yeah, it's just a moment.

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Perfect. And my clicker works.

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I'm also apologizing in advance. I'm on the backside of a little bit of a cough and

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so a little hoarse. I start coughing. I apologize. I will step away from the microphone.

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So, just a little bit about reappraisals in general.

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General statute 105286 requires the North Carolina County's reappraise at least once

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every eight years.

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Basically what the reappraisal process is, is a process in which we reset all of our

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real property values back to current market value as of January 1st in the reappraisal

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year.

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So the idea is that reappraisal should distribute the burden of property tax across the county based on current market value for current future tax billing.

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And then it's really important to note that unless there's been some new construction, parcels have been combined or split or there's been some large physical change or structural change,

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your tax value of a property is not likely to change between re-appraisals.

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And as it sits right now there are just under 55,000 parcels of real property in

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Pender County. So the county has has engaged Vincent to to do this re-appraisal

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and their tasks are to appraise all of the real property in the county to

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term in its fair market value, that is to find a statute.

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And true value is basically what

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we calculate market value

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at is what a willing and unencumbered, unstressed buyer

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and a willing, unencumbered, unstressed seller

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are willing to exchange a property for.

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That's basically the easiest way to tell it.

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Now there are a couple of things that we exempt,

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which I think are discussed in some later sessions and we'll talk about those as we

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get to them.

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Now, it's really important to note that the tax department does not set the market value

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for a property, a real property.

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The market itself does that.

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It's the tax department's job to try to calculate and determine what that real market

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value is.

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So they do that by analyzing trends, looking at sales, qualifying sales, across the

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study periods to figure out what what market value looks like. Now when we do

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these studies we do a mass appraisal. There's no way we could do, there's two

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kinds of appraisals, there's mass appraisal and fee-based appraisals.

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So you know if you were to sell a property or buy a property you would

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pay for an appraisal. It's just not practical to do that for 55,000

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parcels an appraisal for all of those, a fee-based appraisal. So we do

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utilize mass appraisal for those. It allows us to take a lot of things into

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account and I can't remember the specific number but I believe there's almost 250

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different tax neighborhoods in Pender County so it's only 200 different 250

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different areas that we are looking at in terms of calculating what the market

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looks like in this specific area. That's really important because there's

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often a misconception that market prices and changes over here affected over here.

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That's not necessarily the case.

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Each discreet area is looked at individually, so property prices in Topsill do not affect

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those in Atkinson or Bergall or anywhere else in the county, they affect those in Topsill.

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So the reappraisal process is relatively straightforward, but it is pretty involved.

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So the first part is data collection and field work.

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Going in, looking at these properties in the field, laying eyes on them, doing data collection.

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That's looking at qualifying sales. That's looking at MLS records.

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That's looking at any data source they can get their hands on.

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Delineating there's neighborhoods down and then using calculations to determine value of land and of building.

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Now, what's important in this coming up is our value review and our appeals, which we

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will be talking about a little bit later.

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This is what the process has looked like.

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So right now, the Vincent Valuations staff are re-appraising all of the information

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or taking a look at all of the information that they've been given, doing some spot

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checks to make sure that everything looks okay.

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The next step is there will be a final public presentation to the board of commissioners

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for Pender County, and then we will be mailing our value notices.

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Now, when you get that notice of value, that is our official record from the tax office

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saying, here is what we have assessed the tax value of your property be, the fair

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market value of your property to be.

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And then you have the right to appeal, which I said.

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We will talk about in just a few moments.

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Going back to this one for just a moment, it is our expectation

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that we will be disseminating the notices of value changes

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out probably the last week of March.

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That is the time that we want to make sure we got all of our data right.

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We want to make sure we've done as many spot checks as we can.

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we're targeting the last week of March to get those notices out. So there's a lot

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of different areas, a lot of different things that can involve, that are

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involved in an evaluation and in determining value. So again we're looking

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at typical sales, we're looking at those market areas, we're looking at property

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conditions. You know there's certain things though that we can't assess from

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the outside. We don't, our tax folks, our Vincent folks don't come in your

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house, they don't take a look around and take a bunch of pictures. So from

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In the outside, for example, we may not be able to tell whether you have a finished bonus

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room or not.

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We may not be able to tell if you have a second floor or a cathedral ceiling.

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We can't tell those things from the outside.

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That's why,

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especially if you did it without a permit, and so if you did it without a

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permit, that's a problem.

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Our code enforcement folks are going to see you, but that can be challenging because

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we can't tell exactly what is happening in every single house just from the outside.

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That's one of the reasons why we send the notices out as well.

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It gives you the ability to challenge it, to say, no, that's wrong.

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I don't have a second floor.

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It's just a vaulted ceiling or something of that effect.

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It's how we're able to help you appeal that value.

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We do mass appraisals because, like I mentioned earlier, it is just not feasible for us

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to do a fee-based appraisal on every single property in every single parcel in Pender

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County.

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Again, we're talking about almost 55,000 individual properties.

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This is a challenge that is shared across to most taxing jurisdictions.

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And so there are industry standard methods by which we do this, an all-kind of Department

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of Revenue.

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Other state and federal entities have developed these industry standards for those appraisals

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to use.

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So they're not just making it up as they go.

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They're using industry standards to do that appraisal.

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And then we take a look and we see how do we know that we've done it right.

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So we look at some various statistics to see how we've done.

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So one example is looking at assessed value versus sale price.

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If I assess a property to be worth $500,000 and it sells the next week for $501,000,

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then we've done a pretty good job of doing that assessment.

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And so we do those, again, those checks back to see how have we done,

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and making sure that we're as close,

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our ratio is as close as it can be.

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Some of the exemptions I talked about,

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we don't look at anything,

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we disqualify a sale that was a foreclosure,

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an auction, a short sale,

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if there's multiple parcels on a single deed,

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if it's an exchange from family member to family member,

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oftentimes family gets the friends and family discount

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or surcharge depending on how much your family likes you.

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So we don't look at those things and again like I said in broad terms we know

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that the market has changed in different ways in different parts of the

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county. We know that the market hasn't changed here in Bergall the same as it

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has in Surf City and in Hampstead and out on the western side of the county.

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Excuse me.

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So as we move on just a couple of slides we have in here I

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want to start off by saying we've pulled a couple properties that have

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We've had recent sales all within the last few months to show how the assessed values

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compared to sales values.

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Now, the last time we did a appraisal was in 2019, and there's a couple things to note

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about that 2019 appraisal.

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Number one, it was done right after Hurricane Florence.

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So when we look at those qualifying sales, a lot of sales of property happened immediately

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after Hurricane Florence.

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So they may have been artificially depressed to begin with.

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So there was also the whole COVID outbreak which changed the housing

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market significantly between 2019 and now I know I bought a house

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right before COVID and I really wish I still had it because I would

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be putting it on the market market today.

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So these are some various areas around the county and some various properties.

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So, here's an example of a house in the Topsul township.

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This was a 2018 built house.

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It was assessed at 451,000 in 2019 and sold in November at 965,000.

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So that was a 114% increase in value.

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Here's another in Topsul, a 2,451% increase between value and market.

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I will say we have pulled stark examples to show you what things could look like.

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Here's another in 1968 for 146% increase between 2019 and when the most current sale happened.

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We'll skip past.

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It's not just on the beach either.

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Here we have one assessed at 227 in 2019 sold for 414,000.

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So about an 82% increase, 120% increase, about 100% increase, and so on.

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Now here's an example of a parcel of a property in Burgalls built in 1978.

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It was assessed at just shy of 121,000.

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It sold in September for 263,000, so an increase of 118%.

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Here was another, was assessed at $91,000 and sold for $257,000, that's a 181% increase.

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Now, I will also say, the Vincent folks told me that this house had an incredible amount

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of renovation done on the inside and was made to look absolutely beautiful.

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There was a lot of upgrades done, which does account for a lot of the increase in the sale price.

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Here's another example in the Grady township. We're looking at 85% increase, 88,

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got Iraqi pulling, had 150%, 156% increase here.

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But it's not just stick-boot homes that are seeing this. We're also seeing this in manufactured

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homes and there's a number of reasons for that. This manufactured home, $80,000 assessed value

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sold for 208th in the end of 2024, and so that's a 160% increase on that one. Here in

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Rocky Point, 223% increase on this manufactured home.

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So part of the reason that we are seeing these changes

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the way that we are, also we believe at least

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in the manufactured segment is for many people

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that is actually the only home that they can take.

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And so when that supply drops, demand stays the same,

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we know it's gonna drive our prices up a little bit.

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So we are seeing even significant increases in value

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within manufactured homes as well here's a 99% increase for example but we're

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seeing it commercial as well this food lion was assessed at two point two three

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million in nineteen and sold for six million in twenty twenty four a hundred

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sixty percent hundred sixty eight percent increase in that commercial and

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now that I look at that picture I can't tell if that's the one in Burgo

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or Rocky Point? Is that the burgallon? Okay.

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Here's an example of just a small

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commercial space in Rocky Point. 69% increase.

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86% increase down in Rocky

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Point on commercials. So I give you all this information about values to let

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you know that there's a good chance you are going to see if you own

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property in Pender County, you are going to see some increase in your property value.

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Now what is really important there, and this is very much for public information, is the

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appraised value and the tax rate and your tax bill are two entirely separate concepts.

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Your appraised value is nothing more than what we have assessed the fair market value

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of your property to be.

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The governing board of course sets the tax rate which in turn drives what

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people's tax bills are. Again the taxing jurisdictions within the county, so that

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is the county, the various municipalities, they set their tax rate based on their

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budget needs. And part of the way that part of the wisdom behind the way

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in North Carolina does this, this actually makes a lot of sense, is we do appraisals

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and we have those typically done by the spring, knowing that in North Carolina we're setting

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the tax rate going into effect in July and then of course folks are getting their tax

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bills in the fall.

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We schedule it that way so that jurisdictions have time to take a look at their values,

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use, take a look at their budget needs, and set an acceptable tax rate for that taxing

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jurisdiction. But it is really important to note that the final tax bill can't be determined

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until the final tax rate is set. But just to be incredibly clear, just because your

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property value, let's just say it increased by 100 percent, that does not mean your

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00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:40,240
tax bill is increasing by 100%.

242
00:18:40,940 --> 00:18:43,400
Taxing jurisdiction may decide to cut the tax rate in half.

243
00:18:44,780 --> 00:18:47,820
Property doubled in value, tax rate went in half, your tax bill is the same.

244
00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:53,040
So the property value and the tax bill are two separate concepts.

245
00:18:54,140 --> 00:18:58,600
But of course, as I mentioned earlier, we do have, we are doing a mass appraisal.

246
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We're doing it from a look on the outside of the property.

247
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We're doing it based on data and statistics.

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And we know people have more information about their properties that we do,

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which is why we have an appeals process.

250
00:19:12,460 --> 00:19:14,460
There are three steps in an appeal.

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They are review, compare, and then appeal if you see fit.

252
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So review.

253
00:19:20,300 --> 00:19:24,520
When you get that notice of value change, take a hard look at it.

254
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Look and see what it says.

255
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See that we have all of the information correct.

256
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We're dealing with computers here.

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So you may be in a three bedroom and we've calculated you at a four bedroom

258
00:19:36,020 --> 00:19:39,280
We may have calculated you at a two bedroom. I

259
00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:43,660
Leave it to someone's good judgment and good grace as to whether they want to correct us when they tell us

260
00:19:43,660 --> 00:19:49,680
Their property is is worth less than than it really is and then we have the compare tool. So

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We want to make it really easy for people to be able to look at the qualifying sales in their area

262
00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,060
that are comparable to their home, so they can make that comparison.

263
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Now again, this is not to the same level that a fee-based appraiser is going to be doing pulling comps,

264
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or a real estate broker is going to be looking at comps for a sale.

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00:20:11,540 --> 00:20:15,100
But we have created a tool where we are in the process of creating a tool at the county

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00:20:15,100 --> 00:20:18,380
where you can put in your information for your home,

267
00:20:18,540 --> 00:20:24,420
and it will pull up sales near you that match your home's characteristics.

268
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So, you can say I live in a four-bed, two-bath, 1,800 square feet, and it'll pull up the

269
00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,820
properties closest to you that are qualifying sales that match those characteristics.

270
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:39,640
So, you can compare those properties and their sale prices to yours.

271
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Now, once you've done that comparison, you have the opportunity to appeal.

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We're going to talk about the appeal process in specifics in just a little bit.

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But if

274
00:20:58,540 --> 00:21:03,520
you feel that you have an error, you can appeal the value.

275
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:10,040
When you do that, a member of the appraisal staff will be reaching out trying to get some more information from you.

276
00:21:10,140 --> 00:21:12,320
They'll complete an initial follow-up with you.

277
00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:22,000
They will take a look at all the information that you provide and see what they assess.

278
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:28,700
Now if you appeal and we say oh we did make a mistake you only have you have

279
00:21:28,700 --> 00:21:34,140
four bedrooms we thought you only had two. Your value post appeal may go up. It may

280
00:21:34,140 --> 00:21:39,420
stay the same. It may go down. Now there's a lot of different ways that you can

281
00:21:39,420 --> 00:21:42,940
provide information to help with that appeal. If you just say I think my

282
00:21:42,940 --> 00:21:47,400
value is too high and don't give any supporting documentation it makes it

283
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:53,040
really difficult to do that appeal but perhaps you just had the home appraised

284
00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:58,000
for some reason you were thinking about listing it. You chose not to and three

285
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:03,420
weeks ago you had an appraisal done and it came in significantly different. You

286
00:22:03,420 --> 00:22:09,120
can bring a copy of that appraisal to us. We may have you graded as a good

287
00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:14,060
condition and in all reality when you go inside it looks like the place has

288
00:22:14,060 --> 00:22:19,140
been on fire. Well the condition of the property changes the value. So you can

289
00:22:19,140 --> 00:22:24,520
bring us pictures and show this is what the inside of my house looks like. You

290
00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,580
can appeal based off of that and our folks will work with you to get that

291
00:22:28,580 --> 00:22:35,540
value, that tax value where it belongs. Now you can choose to either accept

292
00:22:35,540 --> 00:22:41,640
or deny the results of the appeal. If you choose to accept the results of

293
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:47,080
the appeal, then oftentimes we can make that change right there and off we go. If you choose

294
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:56,020
to deny, your case is put before the Board of Equalization and Review, the Board of ENR

295
00:22:56,020 --> 00:23:03,280
for short. So the Board of ENR convenes in March every year during appraisal years.

296
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:11,600
It lasts for a number of days, and you'll basically get a time and date to come before

297
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:13,320
them and give your case.

298
00:23:14,140 --> 00:23:19,940
The board of ENR will consider the case, will give you a value.

299
00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:26,120
You can choose to either accept the board of ENR's value, or if you disagree with that

300
00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:31,020
as well, you can also take it to Riley, you can take it to the property tax commission

301
00:23:31,020 --> 00:23:36,380
and go through the same process again, bring your evidence and a state body in Raleigh.

302
00:23:36,620 --> 00:23:37,540
We'll hear the case.

303
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:48,080
Now what's really important to note in terms of value is that we have to make sure that

304
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:54,960
when we are appealing a value we are appealing something that is in fact appealable.

305
00:23:55,800 --> 00:24:00,260
If you are concerned that your tax bill is going to increase and that is the only

306
00:24:00,260 --> 00:24:08,400
reason for your appeal, that's not going to be a successful appeal because we're not debating

307
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:15,640
the value of your property. You're just concerned about the tax rate. If you want to appeal

308
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:21,200
because you say, I don't get the level of services I think that I should get from the county

309
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:29,200
or the town based on the amount that I pay, that's not the process here. This is appealing

310
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:37,400
the actual value the only issue that our tax office can address is that appraised

311
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:45,340
value the there was a question raised at another community meeting about the

312
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:52,840
breakup or the geographic breakdown of the board of B and R so the board of B and

313
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:58,220
R is appointed annually by the by the county commissioners it's actually on

314
00:24:58,220 --> 00:25:01,640
the next agenda, the Board of B&R is, is on the next agenda.

315
00:25:02,300 --> 00:25:05,400
We have five seats, five names were put forward

316
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,460
and they range from the east to the west.

317
00:25:08,820 --> 00:25:10,600
So we do have geographic,

318
00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,800
we do have a wide geographic representation

319
00:25:14,420 --> 00:25:16,400
on that Board of B&R for the people

320
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:17,740
who have put their names forward

321
00:25:17,740 --> 00:25:19,640
with an interest on being there.

322
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,880
So again, end of March, 2026 is when reappraisal notices

323
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:32,620
will be mailed. We actually need to update the slide. We intend to open the board of

324
00:25:32,620 --> 00:25:39,300
ENR on April the 13th. That is when we will start hearing cases. It is on April the 13th.

325
00:25:39,300 --> 00:25:47,800
That will last through until May the 15th. So that board itself will be open for, if

326
00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:53,600
I can do math, 33 days. Prior to that, between April 13th and the end of March,

327
00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:59,980
you have the chance to look at your information, compare the comparable sales,

328
00:26:00,900 --> 00:26:06,580
look at the condition of your property, and go ahead and start building that case for the appeal.

329
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:11,860
Again, oftentimes you can go ahead and submit that ahead of the board of ENR coming into effect.

330
00:26:12,460 --> 00:26:17,380
A lot of times our tax folks can just fix that on the spot with you when you bring in your evidence

331
00:26:17,380 --> 00:26:21,120
and you can have a discussion with them. Oftentimes they can fix it right on the spot.

332
00:26:21,580 --> 00:26:27,080
And then, of course, after the budget is set, the tax rate is set, your first tax bill that

333
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,220
is affected by the new value will be coming out.

334
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,800
So again, those are our next steps.

335
00:26:35,780 --> 00:26:40,180
I'm not as good as Vincent is in explaining all of this, but I hope that has at least

336
00:26:41,100 --> 00:26:42,080
helped a little bit.

337
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:45,600
I'm happy to take any questions from the committee.

338
00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:49,580
Oh, yes.

339
00:26:49,740 --> 00:26:50,020
Absolutely.

340
00:26:50,220 --> 00:26:50,520
Thank you, Meg.

341
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:58,480
So, one of the other things that the county is doing this year is if we are holding one

342
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:03,520
of these educational sessions at a location, we have committed to coming back and doing

343
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,960
an in-person clinic to help people appeal their value if they need some help.

344
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:13,600
And so, the appeal is actually done online, now we do have a paper form.

345
00:27:14,180 --> 00:27:19,400
Some people aren't comfortable doing things online, some people don't have reliable

346
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:23,000
internet service at their homes. Some people don't have the ability to make it

347
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,180
to burgall to come in person to the tax office to receive assistance so

348
00:27:27,180 --> 00:27:30,680
anywhere that we are giving one of these educational sessions will be

349
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,200
scheduling time to come back out and actually have a clinic where we'll have

350
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:39,420
tax office staff and Vincent staff one site to help people file their appeals

351
00:27:39,900 --> 00:27:43,760
and in many cases if they can come to an agreement get it resolved that same

352
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:43,980
that.

353
00:27:47,960 --> 00:28:02,540
Your presentation and for being here. Thank you. Questions for Mr. Sawyer? You guys always know I have a question. Always. If you know me, you get to know me, I will have a question. Board of ENR, you stated that the Pender County Commissioners

354
00:28:02,540 --> 00:28:16,360
appoint the ENR individuals and they vote on them. What are the requirements that will be needed to be a candidate for the ENR? So my understanding is a Pender County

355
00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:24,520
resident of good moral fiber. I don't mean to be glib but this is meant to be a

356
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:30,480
group of community members who come to hear their community members, other

357
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:34,120
community members and their neighbors when they are filing appeals. So there

358
00:28:34,120 --> 00:28:38,480
is no educational requirement. We don't require a background in appraisal. We

359
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:42,880
don't require a you know a master's degree or anything like that. There's

360
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:47,340
a short one day training the board all I think it's one day all board of E and R

361
00:28:47,340 --> 00:28:53,880
folks go to so they can really fully understand their jobs. With that you

362
00:28:55,960 --> 00:29:00,720
guys do vote on it the county commissioners and there's no prerequisite

363
00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:05,960
of any kind of training my concern would be how about if everyone is from

364
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:09,920
the east side who doesn't know what the west side does could there be

365
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:15,060
something for that in our state that we need to have a person from every group

366
00:29:15,060 --> 00:29:20,440
that can represent Pender County instead of one section of Pender County because

367
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:24,580
it would be highly unfair if you get a lot of people from maybe the west side

368
00:29:24,580 --> 00:29:29,940
maybe don't go to that beach or from the east side to come to the west side

369
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:34,400
and know what our value of what we really do could there be some kind of

370
00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:41,480
guidelines stating that it would be preferred if we have one or two individuals from certain

371
00:29:42,860 --> 00:29:46,800
sections of the county to be on that board. To me it would be fair.

372
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:53,180
So not to speak on behalf of the board for that matter. I will say the applications

373
00:29:53,180 --> 00:29:59,820
for members that they have received a range from districts if and forgive me I'm coming

374
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:05,960
At the top of my head here, I believe it's districts one, three, and five, so it is evenly

375
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:11,660
spaced around the county. Now, I'll ask for, can we make that a requirement? I don't, the

376
00:30:11,660 --> 00:30:14,800
board of commissioners, that would be a discussion between the board.

377
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:19,080
We received five applications.

378
00:30:20,180 --> 00:30:25,460
Is that correct, Brandon? It does make it easier to pay. Hopefully they're all from

379
00:30:25,460 --> 00:30:27,220
one side. That would be my concern.

380
00:30:40,650 --> 00:30:50,350
Yes sir that would be a decision by the

381
00:30:50,350 --> 00:30:53,730
board commissioners as to how they wanted to appoint those individuals and

382
00:30:53,730 --> 00:30:58,730
And again, I can say that the applications we receive, they do range from the east and

383
00:30:58,730 --> 00:31:01,850
the west, not necessarily every single district, but from the east and the west.

384
00:31:03,410 --> 00:31:13,770
Well, hopefully every commission that represent our district would love to have one of their local individuals to be on that board to make sure that it's fair.

385
00:31:18,380 --> 00:31:25,600
Mr. Sardar, quick question. When the contractor brings in his application for the permit,

386
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:36,060
he has a $350,000 job he's doing. Do y'all use that number to begin with or did you have

387
00:31:36,060 --> 00:31:43,160
somebody else reassess it for tax purposes? Where's the starting point? At the $350?

388
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:52,380
So the contractor and this is maybe a question that Vincent can help with on the on the specifics if you if you wanted to address that but

389
00:31:52,380 --> 00:31:59,300
But my understanding and let me be very clear that I am not the the end-all be all expert on this area

390
00:31:59,300 --> 00:32:03,380
my understanding is you know the cost of

391
00:32:03,380 --> 00:32:05,520
construction if I'm doing a say

392
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:11,480
$350,000 building project. We know that the house is not going to be valued exactly

393
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:17,200
$350,000 and so if we're starting from new we're looking at the land value and

394
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:23,340
then based on the specific factors of the house for bedroom to bath is brand new

395
00:32:23,340 --> 00:32:28,880
construction so we would expect it to be built average to good and then that is

396
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:34,140
that is how the valuation is determined because I'm sure different areas I work

397
00:32:34,140 --> 00:32:40,460
in the East Side Waffle Area, 230 to 250 per square foot.

398
00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:46,200
You go up to the beach side, you end up 350 or higher per square foot.

399
00:32:46,380 --> 00:32:49,860
So there is a big difference from there to there.

400
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:51,040
Yes, sir.

401
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:55,260
And that's why we have those neighborhoods, for lack of a better term,

402
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:59,240
those tax characteristic districts spread all over the county

403
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:05,960
So what is happening price per square foot, price per value, price per land, per acre,

404
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:11,140
for what is happening in Sarf City isn't affecting that same value in Bergdorf.

405
00:33:11,420 --> 00:33:12,040
This sounds fair.

406
00:33:12,300 --> 00:33:15,400
As long as we've got equal, you know what I'm saying.

407
00:33:15,780 --> 00:33:20,960
I believe the number is about 250 different character districts for lack of a better term

408
00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:21,600
around the county.

409
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:22,200
Okay.

410
00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:22,780
Thank you.

411
00:33:25,300 --> 00:33:25,600
All right.

412
00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:26,200
Any more questions?

413
00:33:29,580 --> 00:33:29,820
All right.

414
00:33:29,860 --> 00:33:31,680
We appreciate you being here and presenting.

415
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:32,980
Thank you very much.

416
00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:44,360
We're going to go over our employee recognitions at this time.

417
00:34:00,420 --> 00:34:02,340
Good afternoon, Mayor, members of the board.

418
00:34:03,620 --> 00:34:08,340
Della Matthews, who works in finance as well as the inspections department,

419
00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:12,620
she recently completed a law and admin course.

420
00:34:13,620 --> 00:34:41,360
This is a required course for all building inspectors and in the future it will be required for permit technicians as there is going to be a standard for them in the future, not currently required, but she continues to go above and beyond and has completed that course past the exam and the knowledge she's gained in there will greatly help her in her day-to-day work because she will have achieved a greater understanding of the laws of permitting and inspections in the state.

421
00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:42,240
Wonderful.

422
00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:42,920
All right.

423
00:34:43,020 --> 00:34:43,580
Good job, Adella.

424
00:34:43,820 --> 00:34:44,040
All

425
00:34:53,930 --> 00:34:54,010
right.

426
00:34:54,110 --> 00:34:57,130
Is that all the recognitions we have at this time?

427
00:34:57,670 --> 00:34:58,150
It is.

428
00:34:58,530 --> 00:34:58,790
Okay.

429
00:34:59,050 --> 00:34:59,290
All right.

430
00:34:59,770 --> 00:35:00,490
All right.

431
00:35:00,590 --> 00:35:02,110
We'll put those to Adella.

432
00:35:02,390 --> 00:35:02,610
All right.

433
00:35:03,370 --> 00:35:08,370
Moving right along, bear with me, I'm going to read a proclamation as we show our support

434
00:35:08,370 --> 00:35:13,750
for the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, and as we celebrate throughout

435
00:35:13,750 --> 00:35:19,530
the year, especially coming up in February, week February 21st to the 28th, as we

436
00:35:19,530 --> 00:35:23,970
celebrate Morse Creek's role in that.

437
00:35:24,790 --> 00:35:37,330
All right, whereas the United States of America will commemorate the 250th anniversary of its founding in 2026, marking a quarter millennium since the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776.

438
00:35:38,270 --> 00:35:48,350
And whereas this historic milestone provides an opportunity to reflect upon the ideals of liberty, democracy, and civic responsibility that have shaped our nation and continue to guide its future.

439
00:35:48,350 --> 00:35:55,430
And whereas the 250th anniversary, commonly known as America 250, encourages communities

440
00:35:55,430 --> 00:36:00,630
across the nation to honor the diverse people, cultures, stories, and events that have contributed

441
00:36:00,630 --> 00:36:02,050
to the American experience.

442
00:36:02,690 --> 00:36:08,110
And whereas recognizing this anniversary fosters historical awareness, civic pride, and community

443
00:36:08,110 --> 00:36:12,710
engagement while inspiring future generations to understand their role in preserving and

444
00:36:12,710 --> 00:36:14,050
strengthening our democracy.

445
00:36:14,050 --> 00:36:19,750
and whereas the Town of Bergo has a rich local history that contributes to the broader story of our nation

446
00:36:19,750 --> 00:36:25,330
and provides meaningful opportunities to educate residents and visitors through programs, events, and partnerships.

447
00:36:26,230 --> 00:36:30,210
Now therefore, it proclaimed that the Mayor and Board of Commissioners of the Town of Bergo

448
00:36:30,210 --> 00:36:35,310
do hereby express their support for the 250th anniversary of the United States of America

449
00:36:35,310 --> 00:36:40,150
and encourage residents, civic organizations, schools, businesses, and community partners

450
00:36:40,150 --> 00:36:45,470
to participate in commemorative, educational, cultural, and historical activities leading

451
00:36:45,470 --> 00:36:50,350
up to and throughout the year of 2026, and be it further proclaiming the Town of Virgal

452
00:36:50,350 --> 00:36:55,290
commits to promoting awareness of the historic anniversary and exploring opportunities to

453
00:36:55,290 --> 00:37:00,190
celebrate our shared past, present, and future as part of the America 250 commemoration.

454
00:37:00,750 --> 00:37:01,790
So we witness whereof.

455
00:37:01,990 --> 00:37:06,610
I'm here on TwoSet My Hand and calls the seal of the Town of Virgal to be affixed

456
00:37:06,610 --> 00:37:12,250
this 10th day of February 2026 in support of the 250th anniversary of the United States

457
00:37:12,250 --> 00:37:12,730
of America.

458
00:37:13,730 --> 00:37:16,150
So thank you, and we

459
00:37:18,420 --> 00:37:22,240
just encourage you to participate and support that way you can.

460
00:37:22,460 --> 00:37:26,920
So show your American pride throughout 2026.

461
00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:34,080
All right, without being said, we will go into our departmental updates.

462
00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:37,320
We'll begin back with our building inspections department.

463
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:40,700
Sorry, Abby, you could have just stayed up.

464
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:59,360
in building inspections. We got a lot of commercial jobs going on right now in the town. I'm sure

465
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:04,900
y'all have seen out at the intersection of 53 and 117, there's new urgent care going up. They're

466
00:38:04,900 --> 00:38:08,420
already up to working on the interior finishes. About to start the brickwork.

467
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:11,280
Opposite corner

468
00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:16,640
next to Advanced Auto, new dentist office going in. They've just started on the foundation of

469
00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:23,100
that, so it should start to see a build and take shape soon and always projects

470
00:38:23,100 --> 00:38:26,880
going on at the hospital, they're still working on the new heat and air

471
00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:31,460
condition system for the emergency department there. That should be wrapping

472
00:38:31,460 --> 00:38:40,280
up shortly and they've just finished a improvement of the exterior, new

473
00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:44,600
treatments on the brick and that type of thing. They've done a lot of projects

474
00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:50,060
there to improve our local hospital. The New Pender County Law Enforcement Center

475
00:38:50,060 --> 00:38:55,660
is moving right along. Sheriff's Office portion, they have scheduled that they

476
00:38:55,660 --> 00:38:58,820
want their above-sealing inspections later this week. I mean it's getting close

477
00:38:58,820 --> 00:39:04,540
to further than done in that area. The jail section is not far behind it.

478
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:09,100
They're already working on upfitting the kitchen and everything in there.

479
00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:13,220
So it's really starting to take shape. And then the New Pender Health and

480
00:39:13,220 --> 00:39:17,100
human services building is essentially complete they just got to get their final

481
00:39:17,100 --> 00:39:23,060
inspections and that's what those are the major things that have been going on

482
00:39:23,060 --> 00:39:35,520
this month we've had a few single-family residences final out and that's pretty

483
00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:40,830
much what's going on any questions thank you for that big dance

484
00:39:43,450 --> 00:39:43,830
department

485
00:39:43,830 --> 00:39:44,870
Good

486
00:39:54,500 --> 00:40:00,820
evening, Tiffany Bird, finance officer. Finance has been busy with end of year W2s,

487
00:40:00,820 --> 00:40:07,780
1099s, and other items that have to be done. We got all that finished. We held budget meetings

488
00:40:07,780 --> 00:40:15,020
January 14th and 15th with all the departments. That was myself, James and Kelly, and other

489
00:40:15,020 --> 00:40:21,460
than just being really active, working with all the grants. I'm pretty busy with

490
00:40:21,460 --> 00:40:22,720
Everything that's going on right now

491
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:24,900
But everything's going good

492
00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:29,560
Any particular questions for finance at this time?

493
00:40:31,500 --> 00:40:34,500
Okay, and I will be seeing more Tiffany in our budget

494
00:40:40,100 --> 00:40:40,620
Good

495
00:40:49,170 --> 00:40:50,090
evening everyone

496
00:40:50,790 --> 00:40:53,210
Jonathan for that fire chief for town of burgall

497
00:40:53,810 --> 00:40:56,370
So during the month of January as you saw in your reports

498
00:40:56,370 --> 00:41:00,650
We responded to approximately 70 calls for service and also conducted about

499
00:41:00,650 --> 00:41:08,630
420-ish hours of in-house fire training. We also had a few folks that went to weekend fire

500
00:41:08,630 --> 00:41:13,770
college down at Cape Fear, and then we continued to work through our Plimo Vent System, which

501
00:41:13,770 --> 00:41:19,550
was part of that AFG grant that we got funded. It's currently not in service just yet.

502
00:41:19,890 --> 00:41:23,350
Contractors working through a few things they've got to finish up on their end,

503
00:41:23,990 --> 00:41:27,430
but hopefully that'll be getting done here in the next couple of weeks. I'm supposed

504
00:41:27,430 --> 00:41:32,330
have a follow-up phone call with the head contact for them in the next couple

505
00:41:32,330 --> 00:41:36,790
of days. So hopefully that project will get continued on and then get finished up

506
00:41:36,790 --> 00:41:40,650
here in the next few weeks and then we can have that in service. The safer

507
00:41:40,650 --> 00:41:44,990
positions of course last month's meeting I was able to introduce those new

508
00:41:44,990 --> 00:41:49,110
employees which were part of the other federal grant we received. They've all

509
00:41:49,110 --> 00:41:55,190
now been on and on shift and stuff for approximately a month now. They've

510
00:41:55,190 --> 00:42:00,790
a tremendous asset in addition to our department particularly within the last couple weeks with

511
00:42:00,790 --> 00:42:05,530
some of the what I would call unfortunate weather because I'm not a big fan of the snow and the

512
00:42:05,530 --> 00:42:13,330
cold but they paid tremendous dividends having those extra personnel here to help staff apparatus

513
00:42:13,330 --> 00:42:17,930
and respond to calls especially with Pender EMS requesting that four-wheel drive apparatus

514
00:42:17,930 --> 00:42:24,850
respond on all EMS calls. We had enough staffing here to stand up approximately

515
00:42:24,850 --> 00:42:29,510
three four-wheel drive vehicles in case the need was there from Pender EMS

516
00:42:29,510 --> 00:42:34,590
for us to respond on that number of calls at one time, which is, you know, far

517
00:42:34,590 --> 00:42:37,530
greater benefit than what we've been able to provide previously due to

518
00:42:37,530 --> 00:42:43,030
limited staffing. So that's about the most update I've got for you right

519
00:42:43,030 --> 00:42:44,810
now. So does anybody have any questions?

520
00:42:45,410 --> 00:42:47,030
What was the dog's name, I forgot.

521
00:42:47,290 --> 00:42:49,830
I was going to say, if you went through this mention, how?

522
00:42:50,070 --> 00:42:50,830
Yes, ma'am.

523
00:42:51,090 --> 00:42:55,830
So, Mr. Tommy Lindsey, who I'm sure all y'all are very familiar with,

524
00:42:56,010 --> 00:43:00,450
of course, has approximately 45 years of service into the town of Bergoff

525
00:43:00,450 --> 00:43:01,650
as a volunteer with us.

526
00:43:02,610 --> 00:43:05,750
Mr. Tommy is a very, very big dog lover

527
00:43:05,750 --> 00:43:09,550
and has actually told me in the past that he'd always wanted to have a station dog.

528
00:43:09,550 --> 00:43:16,010
there was some debate about his name until Mr. Tommy looked at him and said

529
00:43:16,010 --> 00:43:21,570
his name's Halligan and it's Hal for short and so at that point there was a

530
00:43:21,570 --> 00:43:25,090
little bit more brief debate and I informed everybody that when the man

531
00:43:25,090 --> 00:43:29,470
that's given 45 years to this town says what the dog's name is that's what

532
00:43:29,470 --> 00:43:34,690
his name is so his name we call him Hal for short he has not ever met a

533
00:43:34,690 --> 00:43:39,110
stranger I was out taking him for a walk this afternoon and he saw a

534
00:43:39,110 --> 00:43:43,910
lady come across the street and he just automatically knew that that was supposed to be his friend

535
00:43:43,910 --> 00:43:47,250
and she was supposed to love on him so he started trying to take off running to her.

536
00:43:48,050 --> 00:43:56,230
So he is fitting in great, seems to be very well mannered especially for how young of

537
00:43:56,230 --> 00:43:57,010
a puppy he is.

538
00:43:57,130 --> 00:44:02,110
We do have a meeting scheduled later this week with a local group for some training

539
00:44:02,110 --> 00:44:05,770
that they've offered to provide and then we'll look to get that additional training

540
00:44:05,770 --> 00:44:10,170
and certification down the road for some of the services that we hope to be able to utilize

541
00:44:10,170 --> 00:44:15,470
them to provide, you know, for citizens, responders, all that kind of stuff.

542
00:44:15,790 --> 00:44:18,550
So he's fitting in great, learning quite well.

543
00:44:19,230 --> 00:44:22,030
In some cases he might be learning faster than the rest of us.

544
00:44:22,410 --> 00:44:23,890
So he's fitting in well.

545
00:44:24,090 --> 00:44:28,110
I think those people are aware, but I guess if you'll just tell a quick story on how

546
00:44:28,110 --> 00:44:29,330
you all ended up with him.

547
00:44:29,590 --> 00:44:30,170
Yes, ma'am.

548
00:44:30,170 --> 00:44:33,890
So Officer Rossi with Virgal PD found him.

549
00:44:34,030 --> 00:44:38,250
I believe she was out on a regular patrol and he was out

550
00:44:38,250 --> 00:44:39,730
loose, unattended loss.

551
00:44:39,990 --> 00:44:43,090
She found him, I believe, around some kind of a dumpster

552
00:44:43,090 --> 00:44:45,570
or something due to some of the cold weather.

553
00:44:45,690 --> 00:44:48,650
She had brought him up to town hall just to kind of keep

554
00:44:48,650 --> 00:44:49,110
him warm.

555
00:44:49,970 --> 00:44:52,690
We initially housed him overnight that first night.

556
00:44:53,170 --> 00:44:56,970
The town made announcements of, you know, this dog was

557
00:44:56,970 --> 00:44:59,670
located by a PD officer, you know, if you're the owner.

558
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:05,200
We housed at the fire station overnight, so on and so forth. No owners made contact.

559
00:45:05,620 --> 00:45:10,900
Chief Raul, when he come in the next morning, brought up that we needed to contact animal

560
00:45:10,900 --> 00:45:18,200
control for a required 72-hour hold. When the officers were there picking up how to go for

561
00:45:18,200 --> 00:45:22,420
a 72-hour hold, we were just having conversation and, you know, we told them about how it

562
00:45:22,420 --> 00:45:27,620
was kind of on our horizon to have a firehouse dog and develop one of those programs in

563
00:45:27,620 --> 00:45:33,240
the future, you know, over the next couple of years. And everybody had already

564
00:45:33,240 --> 00:45:36,500
fell in love with how and so I made mention that, you know, if the owners

565
00:45:36,500 --> 00:45:41,020
don't show up in the 72 hours, you know, we definitely like to be contacted

566
00:45:41,020 --> 00:45:44,440
and see if we could get approval to move forward with making how our

567
00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:49,520
firehouse dog when he got the animal shelter. They were made aware of that

568
00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:52,940
request and they immediately call me back within about five minutes of him

569
00:45:52,940 --> 00:45:57,980
getting an animal shelter. Um and they said we're gonna do you one better. Um

570
00:45:57,980 --> 00:46:00,520
they said we're gonna give him his vaccinations and we're gonna bring him

571
00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:05,900
back to you and y'all can foster him for the 72 hour hold. Um and basically if

572
00:46:05,900 --> 00:46:09,540
any owners come up, you know, obviously he would be returned. If no

573
00:46:09,540 --> 00:46:15,120
owners come up, um, then he would officially be adopted by, um, the

574
00:46:15,120 --> 00:46:19,060
burgall fire department. Uh, no owners came up within that 72 hour

575
00:46:19,060 --> 00:46:25,200
period despite posts being made and things like that by animal shelter, town, all that

576
00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:25,720
kind of stuff.

577
00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:34,300
And so we officially adopted him at that point, which from what we saw on Facebook with some

578
00:46:34,300 --> 00:46:40,000
of the town posts and stuff, there was a lot of people asking us to adopt him, even, you

579
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:44,060
know, not knowing that that was a process that was kind of in the works, you know,

580
00:46:44,100 --> 00:46:47,340
following all the appropriate steps and protocols and everything like that.

581
00:46:47,340 --> 00:47:01,060
And so since that time, once his, you know, since Officer Rossi picked him up, he's basically been with us ever since other than his brief little stay over at Doggie jail for about 15 minutes or so to get his vaccinations.

582
00:47:01,860 --> 00:47:04,140
Other than that, he's been with us ever since.

583
00:47:04,940 --> 00:47:11,600
Goes out a lot of times in the mornings with the crew while they're checking trucks to get used to the sound of the trucks running and stuff.

584
00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:16,240
I'm sure everybody's seen because it blew up much more and we anticipated he's

585
00:47:16,240 --> 00:47:21,880
going on his first firetruck ride. He really enjoyed that and has really gotten

586
00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:28,120
a lot of positive support and stuff from the community as well. We've had EMS

587
00:47:28,120 --> 00:47:32,420
crews stop by and ask if they can visit with him and pet him. Some of the

588
00:47:32,420 --> 00:47:36,780
PD officers other town staff will stop by you know throughout their work day

589
00:47:36,780 --> 00:47:40,480
when they just kind of need a little pick me up and they'll walk in and

590
00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:44,060
Hey, where's how and you know, of course, soon as he hears his name, he's excited.

591
00:47:44,180 --> 00:47:46,040
He comes out and knows somebody there should pet him.

592
00:47:46,860 --> 00:47:51,660
We've even had citizens come out to meet our crews when they're out doing

593
00:47:51,660 --> 00:47:54,560
routine tasks or even responding to calls during the snow.

594
00:47:54,760 --> 00:47:56,620
We had a crew that was clearing a vehicle in a ditch.

595
00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:01,120
And they said they had a lady come out running, waving them down.

596
00:48:01,240 --> 00:48:02,540
They thought something was wrong with her.

597
00:48:03,180 --> 00:48:04,860
They stopped, you know, said, Hey, ma'am, what's wrong?

598
00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:05,740
How can we help you?

599
00:48:05,820 --> 00:48:06,980
And she said, Oh, no, nothing's wrong.

600
00:48:07,100 --> 00:48:08,900
She said, uh, do you got how with you?

601
00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:10,180
She said, we wanted to meet how.

602
00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:20,020
And so, of course, the guys were like, you know, well, no, ma'am, we don't, he's back at the station, but he really has gotten a lot of positive support and feedback and stuff like that from the community.

603
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:32,300
We've even already had some other agencies within the county contacting me and asking me once we get him trained, would he be an available resource to assist with them as well?

604
00:48:32,820 --> 00:48:38,080
You know, if they have calls or they have responders or something like that, that need that kind of emotional support.

605
00:48:38,080 --> 00:48:44,960
and so it's it's been a I think it was a need maybe that maybe wasn't realized

606
00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:49,160
how big of a need it was and so it's one of those things that's just been a real

607
00:48:49,160 --> 00:48:59,100
blessing ma'am so the vet and animal shelter both list him as a lab mix and

608
00:48:59,100 --> 00:49:03,160
he's just as pretty as can be just as sweet as can be he does a little bit of

609
00:49:03,160 --> 00:49:07,220
puppy teeth and then stuff like that and he doesn't like the word no when

610
00:49:07,220 --> 00:49:10,600
you tell him no he'll kind of get back at you to let you know he doesn't like it

611
00:49:10,600 --> 00:49:34,700
but of course he listens so very good dog yes ma'am thank y'all

612
00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:59,820
I'm going to start off with the support metrics so there was a uptick in the amount of support

613
00:49:59,820 --> 00:50:05,080
requests for the month of January with approximately 65 IT support requests that were worked and

614
00:50:05,080 --> 00:50:05,980
completed for the month.

615
00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:11,660
Moving on to projects, just a couple of projects that we have going on that I wanted

616
00:50:11,660 --> 00:50:12,180
to note.

617
00:50:12,180 --> 00:50:17,800
I'm happy to say that we've just wrapped up on a project to replace our time clock system.

618
00:50:18,620 --> 00:50:23,340
This was a full replacement of the time tracking software as well as the physical time clocks

619
00:50:23,340 --> 00:50:24,160
that our employees use.

620
00:50:25,380 --> 00:50:31,440
This was a joint effort between IT, Finance, and the Human Resources Department and we

621
00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:37,000
spent weeks on evaluation, setup, and testing of the new system before going live just

622
00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:37,520
a week ago.

623
00:50:40,540 --> 00:50:44,900
We've also started working on a replacement for our mass notification system with a move

624
00:50:44,900 --> 00:50:49,420
toward an improved system that will allow for mass notifications not only to the public

625
00:50:49,420 --> 00:50:51,860
but also internal notifications for town staff.

626
00:50:52,760 --> 00:50:57,740
The newer system has some capability to hook into our social media platforms and our

627
00:50:57,740 --> 00:50:59,580
website for faster deployment of notifications.

628
00:51:00,440 --> 00:51:04,380
This project is about 50% completed at this point and should be wrapped up within

629
00:51:04,380 --> 00:51:05,080
the next two weeks.

630
00:51:06,340 --> 00:51:12,100
We have also started a project to implement C-Click Fix, which will provide a one-step

631
00:51:12,620 --> 00:51:17,440
tool to receive track and respond to resident service requests through our website.

632
00:51:20,100 --> 00:51:24,020
I'm also continuing to work on testing for an all-in-one solution that would replace

633
00:51:24,020 --> 00:51:28,860
our aging phones, access control systems, and camera systems, and be able to integrate

634
00:51:28,860 --> 00:51:33,940
those together with features that are improved for our staff's safety as well as the safety

635
00:51:33,940 --> 00:51:35,680
the safety of the public.

636
00:51:37,040 --> 00:51:38,940
The last thing I wanted to mention

637
00:51:39,860 --> 00:51:42,600
is that the United States Department of Justice

638
00:51:42,600 --> 00:51:47,620
has finalized a rule clarifying that municipal websites must

639
00:51:47,620 --> 00:51:50,560
be accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

640
00:51:51,540 --> 00:51:54,320
Municipalities serving less than 50,000 residents

641
00:51:54,320 --> 00:51:56,800
will need to comply with these guidelines in the rule

642
00:51:57,120 --> 00:52:00,980
by April 26 of 2027 in an effort

643
00:52:00,980 --> 00:52:05,140
to make sure that we effectively serve our residents I will be working with the

644
00:52:05,140 --> 00:52:09,460
town clerk to ensure that all current and future content on our website will

645
00:52:09,460 --> 00:52:12,140
meet those standards. What does that entail?

646
00:52:14,400 --> 00:52:15,620
There's there's various

647
00:52:15,620 --> 00:52:18,040
guidelines to it. It'll be like

648
00:52:21,940 --> 00:52:26,620
pictures will have once you hover over them you'll you'll be able to see a

649
00:52:26,620 --> 00:52:30,900
description and things like that so because they're not able to type in

650
00:52:30,900 --> 00:52:36,760
something they can find something yet. Yeah there's and we actually use our

651
00:52:36,760 --> 00:52:42,360
vendor that supplies our website that does the build out does build those

652
00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:48,420
websites with compliance in mind but it is a shared responsibility so any of

653
00:52:48,420 --> 00:52:51,100
the content they they can't really control the content that we put on

654
00:52:51,100 --> 00:52:54,840
there so any of the content like pictures and those types of articles

655
00:52:54,840 --> 00:52:59,420
and things like that. It is our responsibility to make sure that those

656
00:52:59,420 --> 00:53:08,580
are in compliance. I think it depends on color too. Yes. It has to be user-friendly and I mean a lot of just some

657
00:53:08,580 --> 00:53:14,640
some practical things. And it covers municipal websites as well as any

658
00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:22,780
mobile applications and things like that. Thank you. I have a question, Justin. You just mentioned something about the time clocks. Was something wrong about old time clocks?

659
00:53:23,960 --> 00:53:25,560
They were extremely aged.

660
00:53:26,420 --> 00:53:34,540
We had also some very negative feedback from supervisors and human resources and different

661
00:53:34,540 --> 00:53:35,040
departments.

662
00:53:35,800 --> 00:53:36,800
It wasn't very user friendly.

663
00:53:38,260 --> 00:53:44,720
Our time clocks, the physical time clocks were just very, very much aged needing to

664
00:53:44,720 --> 00:53:45,380
be replaced.

665
00:53:45,380 --> 00:53:52,520
so it was it was sort of all you know culmination of those things that led to

666
00:53:52,520 --> 00:53:53,680
looking at replacing that

667
00:53:56,210 --> 00:54:06,010
yeah every few years for the for the hardware the system

668
00:54:06,010 --> 00:54:12,750
you know they regularly would put out updates or most systems did so that

669
00:54:12,750 --> 00:54:14,970
depends on how well the system is like.

670
00:54:15,310 --> 00:54:21,550
But for us, we did see a value in moving to this.

671
00:54:21,650 --> 00:54:25,390
This was a system that was accepted

672
00:54:25,390 --> 00:54:27,410
by our financial software.

673
00:54:27,850 --> 00:54:30,750
It was actually the only system that was officially

674
00:54:31,270 --> 00:54:33,650
accepted by our financial software.

675
00:54:35,990 --> 00:54:38,970
And it seems to be, based on the feedback

676
00:54:38,970 --> 00:54:41,930
that I'm getting from people this week,

677
00:54:41,930 --> 00:54:47,610
It seems to be a lot faster, more responsive, easier to use.

678
00:54:52,690 --> 00:54:56,190
It's been a very good transition, I will say.

679
00:54:57,590 --> 00:54:59,310
So we're very, very pleased with that.

680
00:54:59,590 --> 00:55:06,750
Always looking to improve and it actually ended up being cheaper, believe it or not,

681
00:55:07,050 --> 00:55:08,250
than our current solution.

682
00:55:08,250 --> 00:55:15,870
And so that's always a positive, but especially when it goes above and beyond what we already

683
00:55:15,870 --> 00:55:16,110
had.

684
00:55:18,730 --> 00:55:19,550
Any further questions?

685
00:55:19,910 --> 00:55:20,410
Any questions?

686
00:55:21,030 --> 00:55:21,530
Thank you.

687
00:55:21,550 --> 00:55:21,850
All right.

688
00:55:21,870 --> 00:55:22,730
Thank you.

689
00:55:23,010 --> 00:55:23,370
All right.

690
00:55:24,590 --> 00:55:26,130
Jaina, is yours quick?

691
00:55:27,230 --> 00:55:27,250
Or?

692
00:55:27,950 --> 00:55:28,430
Okay.

693
00:55:28,610 --> 00:55:28,790
All right.

694
00:55:28,890 --> 00:55:33,630
So this time we will take our break for signing up for public comment if there are

695
00:55:33,630 --> 00:55:33,970
any.

696
00:55:33,970 --> 00:55:41,330
And we'll take a five or ten minute break and resume back shortly for that part of our meeting.

697
00:56:01,940 --> 00:56:02,540
Good afternoon.

698
00:56:05,020 --> 00:56:08,280
I'm glad you let's give me time to talk to you.

699
00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:10,260
I came here to talk to Donna.

700
00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:13,340
Subject is near and dear to my heart.

701
00:56:14,340 --> 00:56:19,400
I came here today to talk about the failure of the town of Burgall to protect its citizens.

702
00:56:19,400 --> 00:56:22,000
I'm talking about the for the. Just

703
00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:23,380
destruction of a rural

704
00:56:23,380 --> 00:56:25,440
agriculture community. Stony

705
00:56:25,440 --> 00:56:28,040
Ryan. And a hundred fifty year

706
00:56:28,040 --> 00:56:30,180
legacy of my family. It's named

707
00:56:30,180 --> 00:56:30,880
on that road.

708
00:56:35,180 --> 00:56:36,300
Lay all this at

709
00:56:36,300 --> 00:56:37,200
the feet of the planning

710
00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:39,480
department. Granted burglars

711
00:56:39,480 --> 00:56:40,900
has its own unified development

712
00:56:40,900 --> 00:56:42,320
ordinance but when it's

713
00:56:42,320 --> 00:56:44,100
definition of real agriculture

714
00:56:44,100 --> 00:56:45,680
so blatantly favors

715
00:56:45,680 --> 00:56:47,160
developments I must speak up.

716
00:56:47,920 --> 00:56:49,320
Burglars definition of real

717
00:56:49,320 --> 00:56:50,400
agriculture goes against

718
00:56:50,400 --> 00:56:53,760
that's based in North Carolina and Pender County's definition of rural agriculture.

719
00:56:54,700 --> 00:56:59,820
To continue to allow this definition to stand threatens all agricultural properties within

720
00:56:59,820 --> 00:57:01,020
Bergall Zoning District.

721
00:57:01,780 --> 00:57:07,780
Well-divided is just the start of a total destruction of the quaint town we all love.

722
00:57:08,520 --> 00:57:13,540
You're inviting all predatory developers that have the money to buy land and hire

723
00:57:13,540 --> 00:57:15,700
lawyers and destroy our web like.

724
00:57:18,220 --> 00:57:21,360
today. Another Leland Hamstead

725
00:57:21,360 --> 00:57:23,080
tomorrow. Is this really what

726
00:57:23,080 --> 00:57:25,240
we want. Also developed this

727
00:57:25,240 --> 00:57:26,640
size where I had a voting block

728
00:57:26,640 --> 00:57:27,780
that could change the politics

729
00:57:27,780 --> 00:57:29,860
of our community. This will

730
00:57:29,860 --> 00:57:31,980
overcrowd our schools rose and

731
00:57:31,980 --> 00:57:33,780
public utilities. And this is

732
00:57:33,780 --> 00:57:35,720
being done by zoning to a

733
00:57:35,720 --> 00:57:38,080
community that can't even

734
00:57:38,080 --> 00:57:39,060
vote for the legislative

735
00:57:39,060 --> 00:57:41,940
representatives. This may be

736
00:57:41,940 --> 00:57:43,880
the last maybe too late

737
00:57:43,880 --> 00:57:46,060
the state. But not too late to

738
00:57:46,060 --> 00:57:47,660
revise the idea to protect from

739
00:57:47,660 --> 00:57:50,280
future development. For you as

740
00:57:50,280 --> 00:57:52,320
commissioners. Realize how this

741
00:57:52,320 --> 00:57:53,640
planning department has failed

742
00:57:53,640 --> 00:57:55,440
the citizens and you as

743
00:57:55,440 --> 00:57:57,320
commissioners. To force you to

744
00:57:57,320 --> 00:58:01,280
vote. A development. That some

745
00:58:01,280 --> 00:58:02,840
of you opposed but because of

746
00:58:02,840 --> 00:58:05,240
the federal lawsuit. Forced to

747
00:58:05,240 --> 00:58:10,620
approve. Thank you. All right,

748
00:58:14,150 --> 00:58:16,290
Mr. Johnny Westbrook.

749
00:58:26,470 --> 00:58:26,810
My name is

750
00:58:26,810 --> 00:58:31,230
John Westbrook. I was born here 82 years ago. And I love this

751
00:58:31,230 --> 00:58:33,650
town. And that's why I'm here.

752
00:58:36,310 --> 00:58:39,250
I you can come home. Because I

753
00:58:39,250 --> 00:58:43,610
did 26 years ago. What I'm going to say today may upset

754
00:58:43,610 --> 00:58:47,490
some people and they do I'm sorry for it. But I wanted to

755
00:58:47,490 --> 00:58:55,070
come and congratulate you for working out that subdivision which was so highly charged against.

756
00:58:55,930 --> 00:59:02,550
I was against the original. 500 was just too much. But when they came back at half the

757
00:59:02,550 --> 00:59:10,580
size I felt that was the right thing to do. I was not allowed to testify because I didn't

758
00:59:10,580 --> 00:59:17,000
have any bearing evidently. You let me speak for 10 minutes as to why I shouldn't. But

759
00:59:17,000 --> 00:59:22,180
But I'm glad you did eventually. You got out of that, increased stormwater management.

760
00:59:23,000 --> 00:59:26,340
But the most important thing to me is our tax base.

761
00:59:27,280 --> 00:59:32,000
On a business in downtown it is dependent upon people coming in those doors.

762
00:59:33,020 --> 00:59:37,980
And if they don't, if we don't grow with the town, the town will deteriorate.

763
00:59:38,700 --> 00:59:42,040
One of the other things that will come is the size of the lodge will be larger.

764
00:59:42,040 --> 00:59:44,540
The houses will be a little bit more expensive.

765
00:59:45,260 --> 00:59:46,920
That might not be good for everybody.

766
00:59:47,600 --> 00:59:49,040
But it will be a higher quality.

767
00:59:50,260 --> 00:59:52,240
I know a lot of people were against the developer.

768
00:59:52,540 --> 00:59:55,000
We can't control who the developer is.

769
00:59:56,360 --> 00:59:59,940
But they built a quality, okay house.

770
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:09,740
House. But our tax base is very important. And interesting, we talked about taxes before

771
01:00:09,740 --> 01:00:17,000
this started. The last time it was done, my taxes went up 300 percent for my house and

772
01:00:17,000 --> 01:00:24,020
my store. I peeled. They came back and said, Mr. Westbrook, you're right. They reduced

773
01:00:24,020 --> 01:00:30,360
used it to 200 percent instead of 300 percent. And I owned probably the largest single building

774
01:00:30,360 --> 01:00:36,460
in the town. And as I was telling them what my taxes are going to be, but if you want me

775
01:00:36,460 --> 01:00:44,220
to continue to be here, you need to keep our tax basis down. And by having more people

776
01:00:44,220 --> 01:00:51,580
come in, the quality of life will be retained. Actually, what will happen is our tax rate

777
01:00:51,580 --> 01:00:58,680
We'll go down, but the amount of tax we pay in comparison, I think, may actually help

778
01:00:58,680 --> 01:01:05,760
us out by approving it. It's coming, whether you're ready or not, and I thank you for considering

779
01:01:06,460 --> 01:01:12,760
the quality of our life, our tax base, and being able to say no when it's the right

780
01:01:12,760 --> 01:01:21,100
thing to say. So again, thank you for being here. I really appreciate what you've done.

781
01:01:23,880 --> 01:01:26,040
I conclude

782
01:01:28,570 --> 01:01:33,190
those who have signed up for our public forum and comment this afternoon at

783
01:01:33,190 --> 01:01:39,270
this time we will go into our public hearing without being said we will open our public

784
01:01:39,270 --> 01:01:46,630
hearing at this time and we'll have Ron from planning step forward.

785
01:01:47,230 --> 01:01:54,050
This is for a rezoning request, a consideration of a proposed rezoning request for about

786
01:01:54,050 --> 01:02:00,750
three point seven acres of land from an archway residential district with b2 along

787
01:02:00,750 --> 01:02:06,530
highway it's a highway business district located on the western side of

788
01:02:06,530 --> 01:02:16,890
North Carolina Highway 53 east so it's on the western side of North Carolina Highway 53 east and there's its pin number there all right so thank

789
01:02:16,890 --> 01:02:22,070
you madam mayor members of the board this is a request to resume approximately

790
01:02:22,070 --> 01:02:28,070
3.7 acres of land along NC Highway 53 from R20 residential district to a B2

791
01:02:28,070 --> 01:02:34,730
highway business district. Request applies to undeveloped parcels is owned by

792
01:02:34,730 --> 01:02:39,230
Mount Cavalry leadership development and represented by Mr. Henry Nader who is

793
01:02:39,230 --> 01:02:42,830
president of the audience. This is an aerial of the site as you can see on your

794
01:02:42,830 --> 01:02:47,050
screen. The site is currently zoned R20 with the conservation preservation

795
01:02:47,050 --> 01:02:51,510
overlay and you can see on the screen the proposed rezoning would

796
01:02:51,510 --> 01:02:58,470
change only the base zoning from B2. The CPO belay will remain in place continuing to restrict

797
01:02:58,470 --> 01:03:03,770
development and flood plain environmentally sensitive areas. The B2 district is intended for

798
01:03:03,770 --> 01:03:08,470
highway oriented commercial uses and is already established along the corridor. The property

799
01:03:08,470 --> 01:03:14,910
is adjacent to the existing B2 commercial land including nearby large-scale Walmart.

800
01:03:16,770 --> 01:03:21,090
Making this request is consistent with the surrounding zoning land use patterns although

801
01:03:21,090 --> 01:03:24,970
the parcel is slightly under the four acre minimum. It is part of the larger

802
01:03:24,970 --> 01:03:28,690
contiguous B2 area, which I mentioned before, which meets the intent of the

803
01:03:28,690 --> 01:03:34,410
ordinance. As you can see on the screen, there is a flood plain as well as

804
01:03:34,410 --> 01:03:38,590
floodway located on the western portion of the project. Any development within

805
01:03:38,590 --> 01:03:42,010
the floodway will have to go through regulations that work by the Bergall

806
01:03:42,010 --> 01:03:46,550
flood prevention ordinance. A development in the floodway itself will

807
01:03:46,550 --> 01:03:52,130
require a no rise certification from a licensed engineer. This is an aerial

808
01:03:52,130 --> 01:03:58,830
looking aerial in the middle and then looking east and west on each side. This

809
01:03:58,830 --> 01:04:02,990
is a straight rezoning with no specific use proposed at this time. Any future

810
01:04:02,990 --> 01:04:06,570
development would be subject to UDO standards, technical review committee,

811
01:04:07,250 --> 01:04:10,490
NCDOT access requirements, as well as flood regulations.

812
01:04:12,630 --> 01:04:14,190
Proposed the properties

813
01:04:14,190 --> 01:04:17,730
The categories in this land use category are intended to accommodate intense commercial

814
01:04:17,730 --> 01:04:22,450
development in areas where such growth is desirable, particularly a long major.

815
01:04:23,460 --> 01:04:26,310
Railway corridors, commercial corridors, etc.

816
01:04:26,610 --> 01:04:32,330
The category supports broad range of commercial and mixed uses, including large-scale retail

817
01:04:32,330 --> 01:04:36,010
auto-oriented businesses, hotels, shopping centers, etc.

818
01:04:36,570 --> 01:04:41,370
Developments in this expected are expected to follow enhanced design standards that

819
01:04:41,370 --> 01:04:46,270
promote connectivity, screen and landscaping, parking areas and improved

820
01:04:46,270 --> 01:04:51,570
building appearance and protect the environmentally sensitive areas. As a

821
01:04:51,570 --> 01:04:56,770
result, staff recommends approval to propose resigning. The proposed V2

822
01:04:56,770 --> 01:05:00,970
district is consistent with the town of Burgalls future land use map and aligns

823
01:05:00,970 --> 01:05:05,150
closely with the goals and policies outlined in the Burgall 2030

824
01:05:05,150 --> 01:05:10,250
comprehensive land use plan. In fact, the current proposal demonstrates a

825
01:05:10,250 --> 01:05:15,210
stronger alignment with the adopted vision objectives of the plan. It does

826
01:05:15,210 --> 01:05:20,650
any potential areas of concern or deviation. The rezoning request is

827
01:05:20,650 --> 01:05:24,150
reasonable and in the public interest because the proposal emphasizes

828
01:05:24,150 --> 01:05:28,270
commercial growth with higher intensity commercial uses along major

829
01:05:28,270 --> 01:05:33,670
transportation corridors like NC Highway 53. Focusing on development in

830
01:05:33,670 --> 01:05:39,270
areas with existing infrastructure reduces public cost and supports

831
01:05:39,270 --> 01:05:42,010
substantial growth while attracting appropriate business

832
01:05:42,010 --> 01:05:46,490
strengthens local economy and livability.

833
01:05:47,710 --> 01:05:49,490
That does conclude my presentation.

834
01:05:50,410 --> 01:05:52,130
The applicant is here answering questions.

835
01:05:52,370 --> 01:05:54,150
I'm also available for any questions you may have.

836
01:05:55,450 --> 01:05:56,810
Are you Henry?

837
01:05:58,490 --> 01:06:00,490
Henry, is there anything that you would like to say?

838
01:06:00,910 --> 01:06:03,090
It was for John.

839
01:06:10,620 --> 01:06:13,700
Good, thank you all very much for having me.

840
01:06:13,800 --> 01:06:14,560
I appreciate it.

841
01:06:14,560 --> 01:06:27,340
My name is Henry Nadeau, I'm the creative commercial properties for full service commercial real estate brokerage located here in Pender County where I was born and raised.

842
01:06:28,620 --> 01:06:41,700
We are here today on behalf of our clients, the Mount Cavalry Leadership Development Corporation, which is a local nonprofit working to provide career exploration opportunities,

843
01:06:41,700 --> 01:06:48,300
trade skills and college prep studies for at-risk youth primarily in Western

844
01:06:48,300 --> 01:06:58,780
Pender County and we are here to request your support of our you know attempt to

845
01:06:58,780 --> 01:07:05,740
rezone these two parcels to general business with 200 feet of frontage on

846
01:07:05,740 --> 01:07:11,060
highway 53 these lots are located on the highest traffic corridor in the

847
01:07:11,060 --> 01:07:18,100
town of Bergdorf. We're one door down from the largest retail operation in

848
01:07:18,100 --> 01:07:24,800
Western Pender County within 2,000 feet of over a dozen national brand retailers

849
01:07:24,800 --> 01:07:30,860
and quick-serve restaurants. The Bergdorf comprehensive future land use map

850
01:07:30,860 --> 01:07:36,600
designates these lots and surrounding parcels as a commercial growth zone

851
01:07:36,600 --> 01:07:44,420
where intensive commercial growth is desirable. The current R20 zoning is out

852
01:07:44,420 --> 01:07:49,700
of step with the evolving character of the Highway 53 corridor and the

853
01:07:49,700 --> 01:07:54,900
comprehensive land use plans vision for the future of the town of Bergdorf. We

854
01:07:54,900 --> 01:08:01,980
request these two lots be zoned to B2 to match the adjacent parcels to the

855
01:08:01,980 --> 01:08:05,900
and across the street. I think it makes sense for everybody.

856
01:08:06,780 --> 01:08:10,320
My question is to you, Mr. Henry,

857
01:08:10,600 --> 01:08:14,900
is that your company will be reselling to develop that

858
01:08:14,900 --> 01:08:17,580
with some commercial property, so do you have some commercial

859
01:08:18,580 --> 01:08:22,340
candidates in mind that's looking at that property? The reason why

860
01:08:22,340 --> 01:08:24,360
you can't ask that?

861
01:08:24,360 --> 01:08:29,080
The property's been listed for sale. It's okay. You don't have to answer that.

862
01:08:30,060 --> 01:08:34,200
Yeah, I was going to say that we do have an under contract currently.

863
01:08:34,740 --> 01:08:35,020
You do?

864
01:08:35,400 --> 01:08:36,180
Yes, we do.

865
01:08:36,900 --> 01:08:38,400
But I can't disclose who.

866
01:08:39,540 --> 01:08:40,580
Let's end the conversation.

867
01:08:40,860 --> 01:08:42,920
That is irrelevant to today's decision.

868
01:08:43,160 --> 01:08:43,540
Okay.

869
01:08:44,000 --> 01:08:47,080
Any questions in regards to the rezoning?

870
01:08:49,400 --> 01:08:50,920
We're at Henry River, Ron.

871
01:08:53,630 --> 01:08:53,950
All right.

872
01:08:54,050 --> 01:09:00,090
Well, if there is none, are we ready to move, to close this out, move to the,

873
01:09:00,830 --> 01:09:01,170
okay.

874
01:09:01,170 --> 01:09:02,770
All right, so we will close our public hearing.

875
01:09:04,510 --> 01:09:07,790
So the request is to rezone this, as stated,

876
01:09:08,550 --> 01:09:10,770
from a R20 to a B2.

877
01:09:11,650 --> 01:09:17,340
Do we have a motion to support the resolution?

878
01:09:17,740 --> 01:09:18,240
I'll make a motion.

879
01:09:19,520 --> 01:09:20,740
All in favor?

880
01:09:21,080 --> 01:09:22,580
Any opposed?

881
01:09:24,320 --> 01:09:24,680
OK.

882
01:09:25,680 --> 01:09:27,580
And do we have a motion to approve the ordinance?

883
01:09:28,480 --> 01:09:29,300
So it was a P2.

884
01:09:30,200 --> 01:09:30,920
All in favor?

885
01:09:44,570 --> 01:09:45,070
Okay,

886
01:09:47,110 --> 01:09:50,850
with that being said, that close that finishes out our public forum and our public

887
01:09:50,850 --> 01:09:53,830
hearing and we'll go back to our departmental updates.

888
01:09:53,990 --> 01:09:56,210
Thank you Henry for being here this evening.

889
01:10:08,920 --> 01:10:09,860
Hold on a moment.

890
01:10:21,270 --> 01:10:32,820
I mean I don't just know where he went to and you can't just leave like that brown are you

891
01:10:32,820 --> 01:10:35,300
going to check okay

892
01:10:39,810 --> 01:10:41,410
you may receive Jane

893
01:10:43,710 --> 01:10:48,270
Alex with Parks and Recreation Cody Cody's out

894
01:10:48,270 --> 01:10:51,750
at the director's conference this week so I'm just filling in a few updates from him

895
01:10:53,110 --> 01:10:57,050
programs wise we had our daddy daughter and mother son dances past weekend

896
01:10:57,050 --> 01:11:01,530
those are both sold out we're actually looking at increasing capacity in some

897
01:11:01,530 --> 01:11:06,510
way in the future we don't have any more programs for the rest of February but

898
01:11:06,510 --> 01:11:10,470
we're ramping up in March with all Arbor Day Mayers Gala all that kind of

899
01:11:10,470 --> 01:11:16,170
stuff just a reminder that the blueberry festivals pancake breakfast is this

900
01:11:16,170 --> 01:11:21,170
month February 21st at the fire department takeout will also be at

901
01:11:21,170 --> 01:11:24,250
fire department so there's not two locations just if y'all are marking your

902
01:11:24,250 --> 01:11:25,410
calendars for your families.

903
01:11:27,910 --> 01:11:30,330
It's okay I can hear you but I'm not sure if I can.

904
01:11:31,010 --> 01:11:37,450
Any questions about programs? Okay we are working on a mural project this was

905
01:11:37,450 --> 01:11:40,310
originally brought up by the beautification committee we just

906
01:11:40,310 --> 01:11:43,930
thought we would go ahead and put a mural in a park so we have one planned

907
01:11:43,930 --> 01:11:48,890
for Hankins Park more details to come a design will be presented to you

908
01:11:48,890 --> 01:11:55,390
guys at the next meeting. So David and Cody have been working on that. West Side Trail

909
01:11:55,390 --> 01:12:01,810
update. This is from Cody and there is a lot. So if you have any questions, you'll probably

910
01:12:01,810 --> 01:12:08,970
have to ask him. All encroachments have been signed with residents and finalized DOT has

911
01:12:08,970 --> 01:12:13,430
also improved the encroachment request for Penderley and Bridgers, which was a big one

912
01:12:13,430 --> 01:12:17,990
that we were waiting on, so that is done. Sidewalk work should be completed this

913
01:12:17,990 --> 01:12:23,090
week with contractors. Terry Spell Mechanical has been scheduled for the installation of

914
01:12:23,090 --> 01:12:28,590
the rapid flashing beacons. I think there's three or four locations for those. Crosswalk

915
01:12:28,590 --> 01:12:33,350
quotes have been approved and placed on the schedule for installation. Cody's working

916
01:12:33,350 --> 01:12:40,290
with landscaping to finish up cleaning and installing dirt and grass seed. And staff

917
01:12:40,290 --> 01:12:43,950
will be working to finish painting and installing signs along the trail. We have gotten some

918
01:12:43,950 --> 01:12:48,810
new maps and doing our stencils on the trail just to keep everyone informed where the trail is going

919
01:12:50,870 --> 01:12:57,590
and then the concerned resident on Hay Street with the landscaping that got removed that has all

920
01:12:57,590 --> 01:13:01,870
been worked out those items will be going back in in May so we've located them all it's just

921
01:13:01,870 --> 01:13:08,470
not the right time for them yet. Any questions? Does she know about that? She does know. Okay great

922
01:13:10,970 --> 01:13:19,390
I do have a question, I guess I'm really close to this thing on time, am I being good, let

923
01:13:19,390 --> 01:13:27,670
me look up, James, this might be a question because it's in line with Cody, on Hays Street

924
01:13:28,230 --> 01:13:33,330
the markings are the beacons, what are we going to do there for safety, it's just

925
01:13:33,330 --> 01:13:39,070
a follow up, you weren't part of that last time, so I just want to make sure it's

926
01:13:39,070 --> 01:13:42,170
on the record that we keep following up on the safety

927
01:13:42,170 --> 01:13:44,690
crossing over there at Hayes Street.

928
01:13:44,810 --> 01:13:47,130
They did a good job by communicating what you all

929
01:13:47,130 --> 01:13:49,730
did a great job by communicating with those two

930
01:13:50,230 --> 01:13:52,950
family, those two residents to get that resolved.

931
01:13:53,570 --> 01:13:56,470
Now my concern is it's just the safety because of cars

932
01:13:56,470 --> 01:14:00,250
parked too close up crossways with the kids going

933
01:14:00,250 --> 01:14:02,850
through you know, you want to give the kids

934
01:14:02,850 --> 01:14:05,370
opportunity to see the cars and you want the cars

935
01:14:05,370 --> 01:14:08,270
who's driving by have the opportunity to see the kids

936
01:14:08,270 --> 01:14:14,430
crossing so James is aware of speaking I just wanted to follow up on that correct

937
01:14:14,430 --> 01:14:18,150
and Cody has gotten quotes from the striping folks that are going to be

938
01:14:18,150 --> 01:14:23,290
doing all the crosswalks so that'll be done with with striping to delineate the

939
01:14:23,290 --> 01:14:26,750
crosswalk area as well as some safety zones on either side of the cross

940
01:14:26,750 --> 01:14:34,210
great. But I mean straight we just needed to. Address or. In the future. Yes.

941
01:14:37,310 --> 01:14:38,110
Any more

942
01:14:38,110 --> 01:14:45,610
questions for. Thank you for the update. All right planning department.

943
01:14:55,700 --> 01:14:56,600
We've been working

944
01:14:56,600 --> 01:14:59,960
on way finding project for quite a while. Right.

945
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:07,240
And now we're in the process where we are doing encroachment agreements with NCDOT, which

946
01:15:07,240 --> 01:15:12,660
has proved to have been rather challenging, but Ms. Brie is working her way through that

947
01:15:12,660 --> 01:15:19,580
quite diligently. We're still working on a UDO rewrite we took this month off from planning

948
01:15:19,580 --> 01:15:26,920
board at kind of conflicts with the chamber meeting on the 20th, I believe, as well as

949
01:15:26,920 --> 01:15:30,360
it's going to give us a little bit more time to focus on the UD or rewrite.

950
01:15:32,360 --> 01:15:36,480
Normal miscellaneous planning activities, which if you ever want to come over, we can

951
01:15:36,480 --> 01:15:40,960
show you any of the 300 random things that we do weekly.

952
01:15:41,660 --> 01:15:42,940
I'm happy to sit down with anybody.

953
01:15:44,260 --> 01:15:50,780
We've also had discussions with some future incoming developments or developments waiting

954
01:15:50,780 --> 01:15:52,520
on certain infrastructural components.

955
01:15:53,220 --> 01:15:54,460
Those are constantly going.

956
01:15:54,460 --> 01:15:59,480
We've met a few times about civic permitting extension.

957
01:15:59,740 --> 01:16:08,420
I think it's an extension to some of the existing software that we have in the town, which will be a good advancement for the town,

958
01:16:08,760 --> 01:16:17,160
as well as looking at some permitting tech training opportunities and the rezoning that we just had.

959
01:16:18,280 --> 01:16:23,680
Several things going on, but if you all need anything or have any questions, feel free to give me a call.

960
01:16:23,680 --> 01:16:28,220
So can you go over the UDO rewrite, or so we're doing the UDO rewrite?

961
01:16:28,580 --> 01:16:34,420
So it's a whole new UDO, it's based around the skeleton of another town's UDO.

962
01:16:34,940 --> 01:16:40,820
So what would, we would normally have to get a consultant to do and pay them anywhere

963
01:16:40,820 --> 01:16:42,800
between $50,000 to $150,000.

964
01:16:43,560 --> 01:16:48,920
We were able to do this in-house and over the course of the last 18 months probably,

965
01:16:49,320 --> 01:16:51,180
maybe a little last year or so.

966
01:16:52,520 --> 01:16:55,440
but just retrofitting that for the town,

967
01:16:55,680 --> 01:16:57,360
specifying it into the town needs,

968
01:16:57,960 --> 01:17:00,560
taking things like the use table

969
01:17:00,560 --> 01:17:03,340
which has a, it's tremendously detailed

970
01:17:03,740 --> 01:17:05,520
and making that more generalized

971
01:17:05,520 --> 01:17:06,920
which is more customer friendly.

972
01:17:09,860 --> 01:17:11,080
Yeah, some things like that.

973
01:17:11,080 --> 01:17:13,600
So ours was rather large and we were,

974
01:17:14,120 --> 01:17:15,380
yeah, it's shrinking it,

975
01:17:15,540 --> 01:17:17,240
but making it more user friendly.

976
01:17:17,560 --> 01:17:18,120
Condensing it down,

977
01:17:18,240 --> 01:17:20,440
making the UDO rather user friendly too.

978
01:17:21,360 --> 01:17:23,820
The current UDO is not user friendly.

979
01:17:24,000 --> 01:17:26,220
Almost everyone calls me and complains about it

980
01:17:26,220 --> 01:17:29,360
because there's a lot of general statute jargon

981
01:17:30,080 --> 01:17:31,280
that's been copied in there

982
01:17:31,280 --> 01:17:33,300
and it's very difficult to use or understand.

983
01:17:33,920 --> 01:17:35,440
It doesn't give you a lot of guidance.

984
01:17:36,120 --> 01:17:38,340
So, this should give you guidance.

985
01:17:38,560 --> 01:17:42,080
It's not gonna, it's not here to prevent development

986
01:17:42,080 --> 01:17:44,420
but it's here to create a smarter opportunity

987
01:17:44,420 --> 01:17:45,920
for development for property owners.

988
01:17:46,300 --> 01:17:46,720
That's correct.

989
01:17:47,320 --> 01:17:49,280
But we can't possibly,

990
01:17:49,280 --> 01:17:56,900
we're working out when it's done, when we'll be able to adopt it. Correct. Correct. That

991
01:17:56,900 --> 01:18:04,100
is hung up in some legislation. So when residents and folks you know. And I think what the hope

992
01:18:04,100 --> 01:18:08,660
is is by the time I take it through planning board to get them to approve it and then

993
01:18:08,660 --> 01:18:13,600
take it to you all we're hoping that that legislature will kind of be worth that situation

994
01:18:13,600 --> 01:18:22,280
So just kind of wanted him to explain where that sits and how that affects us when residents

995
01:18:22,280 --> 01:18:29,640
and developers reference our UDO and question maybe how things are done.

996
01:18:32,640 --> 01:18:34,000
Any questions for Ron?

997
01:18:37,720 --> 01:18:42,120
you just pointed out right there, and what Ron just pointed out, the gentleman, one of

998
01:18:42,120 --> 01:18:49,180
the gentlemen who spoke at the public comment about the UDO, our hands are tied, as Ron

999
01:18:49,180 --> 01:18:52,980
just pointed out, we cannot down zone because of that law that was passed at the end of

1000
01:18:52,980 --> 01:18:53,440
2024.

1001
01:18:54,440 --> 01:19:00,340
So, you know, even if we wanted to down zone in that area, we wouldn't have had the

1002
01:19:00,340 --> 01:19:01,260
ability to do it.

1003
01:19:01,260 --> 01:19:16,580
I think that's the public often times forgets that it's not your fault that you can't do those things general assemblies tied your hands because well developers donate a lot of money to political campaigns.

1004
01:19:17,240 --> 01:19:28,680
And I wish that we could have done this for that citizen to have heard but hopefully it will hear that but I'm glad you said that and I did I asked that to make sure that we can clear up and be transparent.

1005
01:19:28,680 --> 01:19:32,180
And I'm sorry, I missed that comment, I stepped out for personal reasons.

1006
01:19:32,200 --> 01:19:39,120
It's okay, it's not that we didn't respond but just saying that you didn't get to go before public comment time.

1007
01:19:39,440 --> 01:19:44,760
So again, we just want us to be transparent and make sure that we understood it.

1008
01:19:44,760 --> 01:19:57,740
Sure, and anybody who has questions public or anyone, they're always welcome to reach out and I think a misconception through the public is that we control development.

1009
01:19:57,740 --> 01:20:03,640
And that's not not necessarily true. We guide development into a smart development pattern

1010
01:20:04,260 --> 01:20:07,340
We do not take away from people's property rights

1011
01:20:08,540 --> 01:20:10,280
You know one thing

1012
01:20:11,440 --> 01:20:18,040
Because I'm a really not a big Facebook person and that's how I was speaking to the mayor

1013
01:20:19,560 --> 01:20:26,620
Signed up what town of Bergall community of Bergall. I have like five different ones. I look at and those things

1014
01:20:26,620 --> 01:20:32,560
to make your minds go crazy because some of the individuals that comment, I wish I would

1015
01:20:32,560 --> 01:20:37,420
sit, I wish they would sit right here to look at some of the things and what you just explained

1016
01:20:38,040 --> 01:20:43,680
would be nice to be put in a format maybe on the town of Berger or whatever so they can

1017
01:20:43,680 --> 01:20:44,460
read that too.

1018
01:20:44,960 --> 01:20:45,020
Sure.

1019
01:20:45,080 --> 01:20:49,480
You know my shoulders are big enough, they can shoot out all they want but I did get

1020
01:20:49,480 --> 01:20:56,300
educated more so on how this works to buy right and all that and that was the

1021
01:20:56,300 --> 01:21:01,040
ignorance of my part, but throwing spaghetti on the wall to see if it'll work, you know,

1022
01:21:01,320 --> 01:21:07,820
some things benefited. Well, it may and may not have benefited. But to educate the residents

1023
01:21:07,820 --> 01:21:13,520
on the comment you just made, I kind of wish that could get posted because they can look

1024
01:21:13,520 --> 01:21:22,360
at that also. And State won't, we are, our hands are tied. Good statement, we can

1025
01:21:22,360 --> 01:21:31,340
only guide. We really can't do much else because of the laws that we have to be governed by.

1026
01:21:32,120 --> 01:21:38,380
But maybe something like that can go on, because that's all I'm hearing now. And you know,

1027
01:21:38,780 --> 01:21:44,220
I don't have, when the gentleman, I'm just itching when to tell him, you know, say something,

1028
01:21:44,380 --> 01:21:49,540
but I know as learning to be up here, shut your darn mouth, just don't say anything,

1029
01:21:49,540 --> 01:21:55,100
but posting something to make people feel better about or maybe hopefully

1030
01:21:55,100 --> 01:22:03,300
different about how this board has to react to governing things or sit here to

1031
01:22:03,300 --> 01:22:07,040
get educated you know every day is educational not come up here and sit down

1032
01:22:07,040 --> 01:22:12,400
and read but maybe they need to be educated just as much so and we as the

1033
01:22:12,400 --> 01:22:16,600
five or six members up here won't take as much heat.

1034
01:22:17,980 --> 01:22:19,760
This is a question I'm going to ask.

1035
01:22:21,200 --> 01:22:24,900
We still rise with House Bill 765, 765,

1036
01:22:25,600 --> 01:22:28,680
and also Senate Bill 205, but those still

1037
01:22:29,160 --> 01:22:30,140
have a little bit of a voice there.

1038
01:22:30,140 --> 01:22:31,900
That's what we're referring to, yes.

1039
01:22:32,460 --> 01:22:32,540
Yeah.

1040
01:22:33,180 --> 01:22:35,980
Ron, is it possible that you can do a little article

1041
01:22:35,980 --> 01:22:38,380
in our time newsletter?

1042
01:22:38,960 --> 01:22:39,220
Sure.

1043
01:22:39,360 --> 01:22:41,380
Stating something like that, just a few paragraphs.

1044
01:22:41,380 --> 01:22:45,240
just to give some more clarity so we wouldn't take so much heat up here.

1045
01:22:47,040 --> 01:22:48,460
Education is always good.

1046
01:22:50,320 --> 01:22:51,520
Education, educating them.

1047
01:22:52,020 --> 01:22:56,440
And I'm sure all of us, when we ran, we knew we were going to take heat on something sooner or later.

1048
01:22:56,940 --> 01:23:03,600
But if we can help educate individuals, it would help us do our job a little bit easier, too, I think.

1049
01:23:04,420 --> 01:23:09,200
With that, is it possible just to have a session set up here

1050
01:23:09,200 --> 01:23:13,860
and invite the public to come in and educate them on this.

1051
01:23:13,860 --> 01:23:15,120
Well, we spoke about that.

1052
01:23:15,380 --> 01:23:17,040
I'm saying this about this, just a follow-up.

1053
01:23:17,040 --> 01:23:17,580
Yeah, I agree.

1054
01:23:17,740 --> 01:23:18,920
We spoke about that, and so we were

1055
01:23:18,920 --> 01:23:21,840
going to have an open town hall that

1056
01:23:21,840 --> 01:23:26,780
would have department heads like Ron and folks sitting up

1057
01:23:26,780 --> 01:23:28,020
here to answer those questions.

1058
01:23:28,540 --> 01:23:32,580
And I believe it's time, because we haven't held it yet,

1059
01:23:32,680 --> 01:23:33,620
and it's heavy wood.

1060
01:23:33,620 --> 01:23:35,880
And the thing is, some of the same people

1061
01:23:35,880 --> 01:23:40,820
that would do all of that speaking or typing.

1062
01:23:42,060 --> 01:23:43,120
You never see them in here.

1063
01:23:43,820 --> 01:23:46,420
So, you know, it's like a spinning wheel.

1064
01:23:46,560 --> 01:23:48,600
So we sit here and maybe we have seven people

1065
01:23:48,600 --> 01:23:51,920
that's very concerned, but the ones who are spewing

1066
01:23:51,920 --> 01:23:54,820
and they like to read and write, maybe they have opportunity

1067
01:23:54,820 --> 01:23:57,540
to read an article that you put out.

1068
01:23:57,980 --> 01:24:01,360
So, anyway, that's my two cents.

1069
01:24:02,220 --> 01:24:03,380
I'll just have that somewhere.

1070
01:24:03,380 --> 01:24:06,280
We'll work on that right next time, okay.

1071
01:24:07,780 --> 01:24:08,640
Thank you very much.

1072
01:24:13,970 --> 01:24:13,970
Good

1073
01:24:19,470 --> 01:24:21,890
evening, Mayor, members of the board.

1074
01:24:22,630 --> 01:24:24,350
My name is James Ralph, Chief of Police.

1075
01:24:25,990 --> 01:24:30,270
In the month of January, I had Sergeant Padgett and Sergeant Kennedy.

1076
01:24:30,590 --> 01:24:32,010
We sent them to a couple of classes.

1077
01:24:33,110 --> 01:24:37,650
One was at Salemburg dealing with weathering the storm.

1078
01:24:37,650 --> 01:24:44,850
it's basically a to keep officers from getting burnout to talk about the

1079
01:24:45,410 --> 01:24:50,970
stresses of the job that we see every day taking care of our own you know we go

1080
01:24:50,970 --> 01:24:55,130
to we go to bad calls we see things that most people don't have to see

1081
01:24:55,130 --> 01:24:59,910
thankfully but it's a way for mental health for law enforcement and other

1082
01:24:59,910 --> 01:25:04,030
first responders to be able to recognize the things that we do deal

1083
01:25:04,030 --> 01:25:08,110
with a fact is we're all human beings at the end of the day and so it was a good

1084
01:25:08,110 --> 01:25:12,690
class they they went to we're looking at bringing the instructor that taught that

1085
01:25:12,690 --> 01:25:17,790
class she's close by she's in Anzlo County we're looking at bringing her

1086
01:25:17,790 --> 01:25:22,470
here to do a class with all of our staff open it up to some other local

1087
01:25:22,470 --> 01:25:26,710
agencies just to try to share that message but in addition to that they

1088
01:25:26,710 --> 01:25:29,610
went to background investigations trying to get both of them through a

1089
01:25:29,610 --> 01:25:36,090
course that way as we try to work to fill some of the positions that you know

1090
01:25:36,090 --> 01:25:40,390
right now we've got one open position with the police department so somebody's

1091
01:25:40,390 --> 01:25:43,890
got to run those backgrounds and be able to get those people hired whenever we

1092
01:25:43,890 --> 01:25:50,940
whenever we get quality applicants back the first or the toward the end of

1093
01:25:50,940 --> 01:25:58,140
January whenever we had the ice storm that weekend Saturday Sunday we had

1094
01:25:58,140 --> 01:26:02,180
some staff that worked. I think by the time it was all said and done sixteen or

1095
01:26:02,180 --> 01:26:05,700
seventeen days straight. It's not just the police department there was

1096
01:26:06,560 --> 01:26:11,000
representatives from many of the many of the town offices. I know public works

1097
01:26:11,000 --> 01:26:15,860
had people here. That that weekend and then the following week dealing with the

1098
01:26:15,860 --> 01:26:21,200
snowstorm. Firehead extra personnel on staff we had extra personnel on staff

1099
01:26:21,820 --> 01:26:26,040
and just want to kind of take a minute to recognize the other

1100
01:26:26,040 --> 01:26:29,860
department heads that are in the room. That we all work together

1101
01:26:29,860 --> 01:26:32,400
is first time we've had any kind of event since I've been the

1102
01:26:32,400 --> 01:26:37,540
police chief and being in a EOC working with those folks, it

1103
01:26:37,540 --> 01:26:41,160
couldn't have gone any better. Truthfully. Thankfully, we

1104
01:26:41,160 --> 01:26:47,260
didn't have any major incidents. But just from our side of the

1105
01:26:47,260 --> 01:26:49,640
house to everybody else. Thank you for the job that was

1106
01:26:49,640 --> 01:26:54,360
done. We endured a lot of long nights and long days, but

1107
01:26:54,360 --> 01:27:00,180
everybody got along our town I think excelled especially when it came to the

1108
01:27:00,180 --> 01:27:05,580
streets getting opened back up some of the snow removal our guys are rocking it

1109
01:27:05,580 --> 01:27:10,360
so thankful to be a part of that one thing I do want to share with the

1110
01:27:10,360 --> 01:27:17,220
community as a as a whole February the 23rd the Pender County Sheriff's

1111
01:27:17,220 --> 01:27:22,720
Office is hosting a canine it's called a urban tracking class so it's

1112
01:27:22,720 --> 01:27:28,020
for something in a setting. Um. You don't have any information in your in

1113
01:27:28,020 --> 01:27:32,340
your packets. I got this information a little bit later, but I'm going to get

1114
01:27:32,340 --> 01:27:36,860
some information to the town clerk to try to get out on the electronic sign as

1115
01:27:36,860 --> 01:27:42,420
well as in our newsletter. Um there's close to 50 canine teams coming in to

1116
01:27:42,420 --> 01:27:46,720
the county for that training. It'll be lasting from the 23rd to the 25th.

1117
01:27:47,420 --> 01:27:51,980
They'll be utilizing all portions of Pender County, but they're going to

1118
01:27:52,700 --> 01:27:59,740
kind of a hub here in Bergall. They'll be doing some of the. We don't just do

1119
01:27:59,740 --> 01:28:05,660
apprehension type work with canals. We also do a lot of lost persons. People with

1120
01:28:05,660 --> 01:28:09,880
cognitive impairments. Children that may get lost. So they're going to be doing

1121
01:28:09,880 --> 01:28:16,460
some of those type scenarios here in the downtown area. So you might end up

1122
01:28:16,460 --> 01:28:21,740
see enough. There's been increased patrol presence a lot more. They have they

1123
01:28:21,740 --> 01:28:26,420
have. And we're just trying to be a good steward. We've partnered with them. They

1124
01:28:26,420 --> 01:28:33,220
will be having a dinner at the depot one of the nights, but wanted to try to get

1125
01:28:33,220 --> 01:28:37,240
that word out to the citizens and the business owners that way that they

1126
01:28:37,240 --> 01:28:40,260
It doesn't draw any extra alarm from anyone.

1127
01:28:40,840 --> 01:28:40,840
So,

1128
01:28:43,250 --> 01:28:44,290
with that, any questions?

1129
01:28:46,510 --> 01:28:50,250
Thank you all for the job that you did do during this.

1130
01:28:51,030 --> 01:28:51,710
Good job.

1131
01:28:52,290 --> 01:28:53,470
Good job.

1132
01:28:54,010 --> 01:28:56,330
I couldn't even, I had to date out of my house.

1133
01:28:58,050 --> 01:29:02,510
I do have to say, I did enjoy the response that you gave me

1134
01:29:02,510 --> 01:29:04,130
whenever we checked with you.

1135
01:29:04,390 --> 01:29:06,930
He told us that he had plenty of snow available at his house

1136
01:29:06,930 --> 01:29:07,910
if anybody needs something.

1137
01:29:07,910 --> 01:29:15,390
Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. Public services, Chris.

1138
01:29:20,420 --> 01:29:21,440
Good evening, Madam

1139
01:29:21,440 --> 01:29:27,000
Mayor, members of the board, Chris Medlin, Public Services Director. For the month of

1140
01:29:27,000 --> 01:29:34,700
January, we repaired three water leaks, replaced two sewer taps that were given as issues

1141
01:29:34,700 --> 01:29:42,780
down at the main installed two water taps upgraded the side entrance to PD and

1142
01:29:42,780 --> 01:29:48,440
the front entrance to inspections today we started hanging up the hometown

1143
01:29:48,440 --> 01:29:53,480
hero banner some probably got half of them a little over half completed the

1144
01:29:53,480 --> 01:29:57,860
water main project on Fremont streets coming along well they've installed

1145
01:29:57,860 --> 01:29:59,880
a little over a thousand feet

1146
01:30:00,400 --> 01:30:06,100
And with the weather we had no longer and they've been at it, that's pretty good production.

1147
01:30:07,200 --> 01:30:13,180
Courthouse Avenue, the sidewalk there should resume. I talked to the contractor today. He

1148
01:30:13,180 --> 01:30:17,740
was hoping to be here today, but he didn't make it, so, but he should be back tomorrow.

1149
01:30:19,100 --> 01:30:23,900
And they were hoping to get it done by the end of this week at one side, but Ben, he

1150
01:30:23,900 --> 01:30:27,320
wasn't able to at the end today. I'll probably be the first next week.

1151
01:30:30,210 --> 01:30:30,910
I'll stand by

1152
01:30:30,910 --> 01:30:40,310
for any questions. You and I have already spoke prior to this. And I also, I spoke to Dustin

1153
01:30:40,310 --> 01:30:49,430
because there's pictures that were sent to me by a citizen and it is pertaining to an

1154
01:30:49,430 --> 01:30:54,490
area on West Bridges and North McCulloch Street.

1155
01:30:57,030 --> 01:30:59,350
The area looks like it was washed

1156
01:30:59,350 --> 01:31:06,450
out a little bit and I'm going to let you explain, you know, and that's the pictures.

1157
01:31:06,930 --> 01:31:11,250
You can actually see where it's just washed all out and we can look at it later on.

1158
01:31:11,470 --> 01:31:14,750
But explain what's going on and what we need to do to move forward on this.

1159
01:31:14,950 --> 01:31:15,450
Yes, sir.

1160
01:31:15,830 --> 01:31:17,130
Has this picture been sent to James?

1161
01:31:17,450 --> 01:31:19,230
No, I just learned how to.

1162
01:31:19,810 --> 01:31:23,750
This was sent to me today and I reviewed it just as I was coming in.

1163
01:31:23,750 --> 01:31:27,470
and dust and just inform me how I can send the presentations

1164
01:31:27,970 --> 01:31:31,030
and then move it forward, unless you wanna do it now.

1165
01:31:31,630 --> 01:31:33,030
That's fine, I just said that you'll send that.

1166
01:31:33,150 --> 01:31:34,090
Yeah, and I'll send them.

1167
01:31:34,350 --> 01:31:36,270
I'll try to get in as early as I can

1168
01:31:36,270 --> 01:31:38,230
so we can flash up on the board.

1169
01:31:38,470 --> 01:31:40,630
It's the second time I had an issue

1170
01:31:40,630 --> 01:31:43,910
and I, you know, technology, I'm not right there yet.

1171
01:31:44,430 --> 01:31:45,950
I need to have a dust in at my house.

1172
01:31:46,350 --> 01:31:46,730
Yes, sir.

1173
01:31:47,190 --> 01:31:50,570
So one of you has a picture of at that intersection

1174
01:31:50,570 --> 01:31:57,550
during the trail work. We had a citizen talk about his ditch wasn't draining. So

1175
01:31:57,550 --> 01:32:03,690
we investigated and there was actually a sewer line that was just about dead

1176
01:32:03,690 --> 01:32:09,690
center of the pipe crossing the road. So if any dirt got blown into it or

1177
01:32:09,690 --> 01:32:14,110
whatever, the ditch would not drain. So what we did was we built an

1178
01:32:14,110 --> 01:32:20,230
what they call an interference box. The sewer still runs through the box

1179
01:32:20,230 --> 01:32:26,410
But you could storm drain just inside so it's got a bigger area to get around the sewer line

1180
01:32:27,250 --> 01:32:34,450
So that was installed and that's we have a couple of other areas where we're going to get the contractor to come back and dress up

1181
01:32:34,450 --> 01:32:35,910
And that is one of them

1182
01:32:35,910 --> 01:32:40,230
because it's it's being washed out currently so

1183
01:32:41,050 --> 01:32:44,490
Chris they're going to build that area back up so that

1184
01:32:44,490 --> 01:32:46,410
We eliminate the wash out.

1185
01:32:46,650 --> 01:32:50,970
Yes, sir. We can get the dirt put back and get him to put some matting down like they did along the trail.

1186
01:32:52,310 --> 01:32:52,870
Stabilize it.

1187
01:32:52,870 --> 01:32:56,070
Yeah, unfortunately when you disrupt those areas it takes a while to...

1188
01:32:56,070 --> 01:32:56,770
Yes, ma'am.

1189
01:32:57,090 --> 01:33:01,350
So is that something you do in house or is that something we contract out?

1190
01:33:01,630 --> 01:33:04,810
That one, since the contractor was there, we had him do it there.

1191
01:33:05,670 --> 01:33:05,950
Oh, yeah.

1192
01:33:06,450 --> 01:33:08,950
It was part of the sidewalk trails.

1193
01:33:09,370 --> 01:33:09,490
Okay.

1194
01:33:09,710 --> 01:33:10,090
Which is why.

1195
01:33:10,090 --> 01:33:17,130
Yeah, and that the water main project you said on Fremont that is that station

1196
01:33:17,130 --> 01:33:25,730
fenced area, fenced area I think they're positioned there. Yes I understand they

1197
01:33:25,730 --> 01:33:31,370
have to be out of the week prior to the blueberry fence and they can come back

1198
01:33:31,370 --> 01:33:36,010
the week following. That's fine I know just we were all curious what it was at

1199
01:33:42,480 --> 01:33:46,920
And the last thing we spoke about the line is still located up here on Walker Street.

1200
01:33:47,200 --> 01:33:47,900
Yes, sir.

1201
01:33:48,500 --> 01:33:50,580
We report on it.

1202
01:33:50,860 --> 01:33:52,900
We said that was an AT&T line.

1203
01:33:53,460 --> 01:33:53,860
Is that right?

1204
01:33:53,860 --> 01:33:54,980
I believe that one is just right.

1205
01:33:54,980 --> 01:33:57,680
Yeah, we need to contact Joey on that.

1206
01:33:58,000 --> 01:33:58,120
Yes.

1207
01:33:58,420 --> 01:34:01,060
And it's just like the spectrum line there on Northwood.

1208
01:34:01,580 --> 01:34:02,680
I spoke to those individuals.

1209
01:34:03,000 --> 01:34:04,720
It's a deadline that's going right to the house.

1210
01:34:05,300 --> 01:34:07,120
You said the ambulance took it out before.

1211
01:34:07,480 --> 01:34:12,760
But that has been going on since September, October, and a spectrum.

1212
01:34:13,120 --> 01:34:18,300
I did give them a call and I think it went all the way to India or something.

1213
01:34:18,520 --> 01:34:20,300
I mean, you sit there forever to try to get.

1214
01:34:20,780 --> 01:34:21,260
Yes, sir.

1215
01:34:21,520 --> 01:34:24,740
We do call and report on them, but after that it's.

1216
01:34:28,450 --> 01:34:31,290
We'll use a contact.

1217
01:34:31,530 --> 01:34:34,810
We have to try to see if we can get that line picked up because it's been there

1218
01:34:34,810 --> 01:34:35,230
over too long.

1219
01:34:36,550 --> 01:34:37,090
Thank you.

1220
01:34:37,230 --> 01:34:37,610
Thank you.

1221
01:34:37,770 --> 01:34:38,250
Appreciate it.

1222
01:34:38,250 --> 01:34:39,070
Okay,

1223
01:34:43,240 --> 01:34:47,800
so that finishes out our departmental updates items from the manager.

1224
01:34:51,280 --> 01:34:59,380
So just a few updates. Again, town staff did absolutely excellent during the storm that we had.

1225
01:34:59,620 --> 01:35:02,920
I greatly appreciate all the work that they put in and the hours that they put in.

1226
01:35:05,320 --> 01:35:14,500
Like Chief Raul said, everything went as good as can be expected, especially with the amount of snow that we've had that we haven't seen in many, many years.

1227
01:35:14,500 --> 01:35:23,660
but Cruz did absolutely excellent, had a lot of phone calls and emails and messages, Facebook

1228
01:35:23,660 --> 01:35:30,260
commenting on how well Berghaal was situated with the cleanup efforts.

1229
01:35:32,180 --> 01:35:41,820
Speed limit reduction, I talked with NTDOT last meeting, the board approved to recommend

1230
01:35:41,820 --> 01:35:45,300
and speed limit reductions on West Bridger Street extension

1231
01:35:45,300 --> 01:35:47,740
and West Bridger Street.

1232
01:35:49,480 --> 01:35:52,860
So I've contacted and talked with Alan Hancock

1233
01:35:52,860 --> 01:35:55,420
about those proposals.

1234
01:35:56,160 --> 01:35:57,700
He's got to run those of the chain

1235
01:35:58,280 --> 01:36:00,680
to see how to do traffic studies

1236
01:36:00,680 --> 01:36:03,100
and see exactly whether it warrants

1237
01:36:03,100 --> 01:36:04,400
the speed limit reduction or not,

1238
01:36:04,560 --> 01:36:06,240
but it's in their court now.

1239
01:36:10,160 --> 01:36:16,140
The three-way and four-way stop sign intersections, and their consent agenda that ordinance was

1240
01:36:16,140 --> 01:36:22,640
officially approved, so public works will be working on removing those and doing some education

1241
01:36:22,640 --> 01:36:28,900
on the stop signs that will be removed at those four-way and three-way intersections.

1242
01:36:30,080 --> 01:36:32,660
We have been heavily working on the budget.

1243
01:36:33,500 --> 01:36:36,980
This is our extremely busy time when it comes to budget.

1244
01:36:37,460 --> 01:36:40,900
Our budget retreat is March 2nd and 3rd.

1245
01:36:40,900 --> 01:36:44,720
With the board, the first date is with all department heads

1246
01:36:44,720 --> 01:36:48,160
and some staff, as well as the commissioners.

1247
01:36:48,340 --> 01:36:52,420
And then the second day is just with the finance staff,

1248
01:36:52,800 --> 01:36:54,860
myself and the commissioners.

1249
01:36:55,500 --> 01:36:58,620
And then if we need to bring anybody out 10, we can at that point.

1250
01:36:58,860 --> 01:37:01,720
But we will go through the prioritization.

1251
01:37:02,080 --> 01:37:05,020
This is kicking off the budget process.

1252
01:37:05,180 --> 01:37:12,740
So this is really looking at the big picture and looking at the kind of where we stand

1253
01:37:13,840 --> 01:37:17,700
and then setting goals and objectives for the budget itself.

1254
01:37:18,380 --> 01:37:23,880
And then over the next couple of months, we will be working on the individual line item budget

1255
01:37:23,880 --> 01:37:29,340
that will be brought back to the board during work sessions to go over it more in detail

1256
01:37:29,340 --> 01:37:35,220
and approve those capital items and determine how to fund those items and all those requests.

1257
01:37:35,820 --> 01:37:44,920
So it is kind of a tedious long process, but it's pretty much the same year after year.

1258
01:37:45,540 --> 01:37:48,880
This year we do have the rebound going on, so that's going to throw a little bit

1259
01:37:48,880 --> 01:37:55,340
of uncertainty into things, but we'll work through those as they come about.

1260
01:37:56,940 --> 01:38:02,180
Non-profit funding applications are due by March 1st, so that was a process that we started

1261
01:38:02,180 --> 01:38:08,940
several years ago where non-profits had to apply to the town by March 1st of every year

1262
01:38:08,940 --> 01:38:14,700
in order to be considered for funding for the future budget year.

1263
01:38:14,700 --> 01:38:26,940
So, just a reminder that if you are no of any nonprofits or anybody that has normally requested funding, they need to get those in by March 1st.

1264
01:38:30,480 --> 01:38:36,540
Chris talked on the downtown and Courthouse Avenue project.

1265
01:38:37,280 --> 01:38:43,680
Mass Tech was doing boring, and they'll be doing some more boring tomorrow under the courthouse grounds

1266
01:38:43,680 --> 01:38:49,740
and tying in those pedestals there that will be removed from overhead and going to underground.

1267
01:38:50,840 --> 01:38:59,120
They also are going to be replacing the pole at the corner of Right Street and Wilmington Street,

1268
01:38:59,460 --> 01:39:04,660
right there beside Johnny Westbrook's store, so they'll be replacing that pole.

1269
01:39:06,600 --> 01:39:12,240
And then once they get that done, then they will be able to start removing the power lines

1270
01:39:12,240 --> 01:39:15,220
from down right street and down courthouse avenue.

1271
01:39:15,560 --> 01:39:19,460
So it's getting close to having those to be able to be removed.

1272
01:39:20,100 --> 01:39:25,300
Once the poles get removed, then we can go back and do the final sidewalk work.

1273
01:39:25,940 --> 01:39:29,320
But we don't want to do the sidewalk work with poles still there and then have to

1274
01:39:29,320 --> 01:39:31,140
patch where the poles work.

1275
01:39:31,420 --> 01:39:34,380
So we'll do that all in conjunction with that project.

1276
01:39:34,380 --> 01:39:40,460
to interrupt you a minute. So everything that's tagged with the orange is being removed. Correct?

1277
01:39:41,280 --> 01:39:43,920
It should be, yeah. Yes. So it's being removed.

1278
01:39:43,920 --> 01:39:48,680
How would that affect the stop light there in 2027 whenever it's coming?

1279
01:39:48,900 --> 01:39:52,520
It will not. They've worked in conjunction with that project.

1280
01:39:53,440 --> 01:39:59,260
And actually, if you look at the intersection here where they moved the poles back on

1281
01:39:59,260 --> 01:40:08,860
right street they moved them back north that was all for that but still they

1282
01:40:08,860 --> 01:40:15,060
gotta have somewhere near Johnny's building I think they're gonna go on the

1283
01:40:15,060 --> 01:40:19,780
courthouse side and they're gonna go on the Adams tire side okay so it'll be

1284
01:40:19,780 --> 01:40:27,420
across from each other and they'll be the black masked arms stop lights same

1285
01:40:27,420 --> 01:40:34,360
there as well as at Wilmington and Walker, they will be replaced with massed arms instead

1286
01:40:34,360 --> 01:40:36,020
of the power lines.

1287
01:40:38,260 --> 01:40:46,060
So getting in the short rows of that project, there's still quite

1288
01:40:46,060 --> 01:40:49,860
a bit that has to be done, especially with if there's any other utility companies that

1289
01:40:49,860 --> 01:40:55,340
are on those poles. Duke can get theirs off the poles, but then they have notified the

1290
01:40:55,340 --> 01:40:57,560
other utility companies, but trying to push them

1291
01:40:57,560 --> 01:41:01,900
to get their stock of polls can take some more time

1292
01:41:01,900 --> 01:41:04,860
in fighting, but we, Duke's done their part

1293
01:41:04,860 --> 01:41:07,520
in notifying them that they have to get off of their polls.

1294
01:41:08,060 --> 01:41:09,760
They do belong to Duke, so they ultimately

1295
01:41:09,760 --> 01:41:10,680
have control over them.

1296
01:41:13,600 --> 01:41:16,320
Water and sewer master plan, I've got a meeting

1297
01:41:16,320 --> 01:41:19,660
that'll be happening next week to go over the details.

1298
01:41:21,100 --> 01:41:23,420
Myself and Chris will be meeting with

1299
01:41:24,320 --> 01:41:33,300
W. K. Dixon on, sorry, McKim and Creed on that one, McKim and Creed on the water and

1300
01:41:33,300 --> 01:41:37,980
sewer master plan and see where they stand with all the surveying and the

1301
01:41:37,980 --> 01:41:43,560
beginning of the modeling side of things and then the water and or the

1302
01:41:43,560 --> 01:41:47,940
storm water master plan they've gotten the final surveys in everything's

1303
01:41:47,940 --> 01:41:51,020
wrapping up and they should have that final product here in the next couple

1304
01:41:51,020 --> 01:41:57,420
weeks we expect. So then that's when we can turn that that system that y'all have seen

1305
01:41:57,420 --> 01:42:03,560
the GIS system, we'll be able to turn that online and be able to look at the detailed data there.

1306
01:42:05,940 --> 01:42:07,820
I think that's all I've got at this point.

1307
01:42:08,980 --> 01:42:14,300
All right, any questions for James or any of those projects currently?

1308
01:42:16,260 --> 01:42:19,440
All right, Tarny, do you have anything for open?

1309
01:42:19,440 --> 01:42:22,000
not for open, but very, very short one for most.

1310
01:42:22,300 --> 01:42:23,760
Okay, all right, man, right along.

1311
01:42:25,180 --> 01:42:26,460
Item for the mayor and the board.

1312
01:42:26,840 --> 01:42:29,080
So item A, we talked about it,

1313
01:42:30,860 --> 01:42:34,200
maybe a resolution amending the suggested rules

1314
01:42:34,200 --> 01:42:35,500
of procedure for the town,

1315
01:42:35,860 --> 01:42:37,640
but we also spoke if we weren't comfortable with that,

1316
01:42:37,740 --> 01:42:42,080
we could bring that back in March for review.

1317
01:42:44,040 --> 01:42:45,640
What is the purpose of the board?

1318
01:42:45,740 --> 01:42:46,960
Were there any other recommendations?

1319
01:42:46,960 --> 01:42:49,060
Did we get time to review it?

1320
01:42:49,480 --> 01:42:56,480
Well, I did, and I pay attention to, I think, just the parasol board of those words.

1321
01:42:57,140 --> 01:43:00,080
So can we get those corrections to Kristen?

1322
01:43:00,900 --> 01:43:06,920
She then maybe identify those in red and bring it back to the March meeting for approval?

1323
01:43:07,280 --> 01:43:08,620
Yeah, I'm telling you that's sufficient.

1324
01:43:10,140 --> 01:43:15,060
I actually had them all highlighted already several weeks ago here,

1325
01:43:15,060 --> 01:43:17,380
and this is the new copy that I was making changes,

1326
01:43:18,000 --> 01:43:21,960
but what I'll do is I'll just highlight them more so

1327
01:43:23,260 --> 01:43:24,420
just give it to you.

1328
01:43:25,100 --> 01:43:27,220
You can type them up, work and review it.

1329
01:43:27,360 --> 01:43:30,180
I mean, just because I really know it may not be everything,

1330
01:43:30,580 --> 01:43:32,440
so give them a chance to.

1331
01:43:32,960 --> 01:43:35,740
Yeah, I'll compile what's suggested to be changed

1332
01:43:35,740 --> 01:43:37,840
and then we can bring it back,

1333
01:43:38,420 --> 01:43:43,640
make sure it's up to par and then we can adopt them.

1334
01:43:46,540 --> 01:43:50,700
All right, item D, we've got consideration of appointing two members to the Parks and

1335
01:43:50,700 --> 01:43:51,740
Rec Advisory Board.

1336
01:43:52,080 --> 01:43:56,840
At one point, we had some conversation about this about, I think, last meeting or so.

1337
01:43:57,040 --> 01:44:04,800
They met last night, I believe, or this week for their, this month's Parks and Rec

1338
01:44:04,800 --> 01:44:05,580
Advisory Board meeting.

1339
01:44:05,800 --> 01:44:08,540
I think they meet every three months or every couple of months, correct?

1340
01:44:09,220 --> 01:44:14,600
And so we were advertising these positions for a little while, but we've had three

1341
01:44:14,600 --> 01:44:20,220
applications that came in you have copies of those they're also dated upon

1342
01:44:20,220 --> 01:44:23,240
how they were received so

1343
01:44:26,790 --> 01:44:30,910
being those three applications I think two currently

1344
01:44:30,910 --> 01:44:38,630
are within city limits and one is in our ETJ which our do our rules do allow

1345
01:44:38,630 --> 01:44:46,690
ETJ we weren't fully I guess aware of that but it does allow the code of

1346
01:44:46,690 --> 01:44:58,650
Oh, actually the zip code 28425, that is a rule that many of us are fully aware of, but the zip code, not just the E.T.J. does allow for 28425.

1347
01:45:00,530 --> 01:45:03,490
So, that being said,

1348
01:45:08,620 --> 01:45:10,500
I mean, I appreciate the three applications.

1349
01:45:19,420 --> 01:45:24,380
She's in the ETJ, but the rule was allowing...

1350
01:45:24,380 --> 01:45:33,520
She says she's outside the ETJ. I'm sorry, you're right, ETJ, but she lives in...

1351
01:45:33,520 --> 01:45:34,420
Too fast.

1352
01:45:36,780 --> 01:45:44,240
So we do have two openings three applicants obviously we would be open to if Kristen I

1353
01:45:44,240 --> 01:45:48,080
guess if you can look at the regulations on adding a board member just having an eighth

1354
01:45:48,080 --> 01:45:51,860
board member we think they're all good applicants it will give us a little more flexibility

1355
01:45:51,860 --> 01:45:57,360
with we there's always nights that advisory board members can't come so we think they

1356
01:45:57,360 --> 01:46:01,000
would all be an asset so if that's if you guys want to a point three we are open

1357
01:46:01,000 --> 01:46:01,380
into that.

1358
01:46:01,920 --> 01:46:04,020
If this one doesn't only vote a lot.

1359
01:46:04,420 --> 01:46:04,960
They do not.

1360
01:46:05,080 --> 01:46:06,820
No, there's not really any financial decisions.

1361
01:46:07,420 --> 01:46:11,580
A lot of it's just like, please show your support for X project, and then they do.

1362
01:46:12,040 --> 01:46:12,720
Or ideas.

1363
01:46:13,280 --> 01:46:13,860
Ideas, yeah.

1364
01:46:13,960 --> 01:46:14,440
Yeah, things.

1365
01:46:14,660 --> 01:46:15,580
They give us a lot of feedback.

1366
01:46:16,060 --> 01:46:17,640
Things they like to see in the department.

1367
01:46:18,080 --> 01:46:18,100
Yeah.

1368
01:46:18,860 --> 01:46:22,060
So you're not working with a quorum or anything like that, so they just.

1369
01:46:22,180 --> 01:46:23,040
Yeah, not typically.

1370
01:46:23,780 --> 01:46:25,720
I mean, we do try to have a quorum.

1371
01:46:25,940 --> 01:46:29,620
It would up that quorum number to five instead of four.

1372
01:46:29,620 --> 01:46:33,640
but we do still think it would allow a little more flexibility for the current

1373
01:46:33,640 --> 01:46:39,560
members. How many current members do you have? We have it's currently a seven

1374
01:46:39,560 --> 01:46:42,900
member board we only have five sitting right now.

1375
01:46:46,090 --> 01:46:47,690
Yes yeah we just had two

1376
01:46:47,690 --> 01:46:49,210
resignations within the past month.

1377
01:46:51,940 --> 01:46:53,320
Or for years. Yeah.

1378
01:46:56,900 --> 01:47:07,280
What would we would just make that change up here if we wanted to make it an eight member board? Yeah I would just need to make a motion to amend the rules for that committee to allow that number of members.

1379
01:47:07,280 --> 01:47:11,660
first. First make that motion first and then we can just bring that back.

1380
01:47:14,460 --> 01:47:16,480
Okay, so we've

1381
01:47:16,480 --> 01:47:25,540
got a motion to make it an eight member. Okay, all in favor of that. Okay, that being said,

1382
01:47:25,640 --> 01:47:32,240
we've got three members. Miss Mary Kate linear. She's here with us in the audience.

1383
01:47:39,440 --> 01:47:46,560
I'm sorry about that, I mean I think they're great applicants as well so do we have a motion

1384
01:47:46,560 --> 01:47:47,940
to approve all three applicants?

1385
01:47:47,960 --> 01:47:48,260
Second.

1386
01:47:49,520 --> 01:47:50,400
All right, all in favor?

1387
01:47:50,740 --> 01:47:51,340
All right.

1388
01:47:51,420 --> 01:47:51,980
In it post.

1389
01:47:53,040 --> 01:47:53,380
All right.

1390
01:47:53,540 --> 01:47:56,980
We'll just make them all three aware and make them aware of the next meeting date.

1391
01:47:57,480 --> 01:47:57,880
All right.

1392
01:47:58,140 --> 01:48:01,340
Thank you for joining us and being a part of our Parks and Rec Board.

1393
01:48:01,340 --> 01:48:04,040
It's hyping your application, so we agree.

1394
01:48:04,340 --> 01:48:04,860
Yes.

1395
01:48:05,380 --> 01:48:05,600
The reading.

1396
01:48:06,180 --> 01:48:07,160
Okay, organized.

1397
01:48:07,740 --> 01:48:08,760
We appreciate that.

1398
01:48:09,640 --> 01:48:10,400
Oh, right.

1399
01:48:11,740 --> 01:48:12,300
Great.

1400
01:48:12,900 --> 01:48:14,060
We'll get back to Mike.

1401
01:48:14,080 --> 01:48:14,460
There you go.

1402
01:48:17,280 --> 01:48:18,520
Yeah, they won't have that problem.

1403
01:48:18,880 --> 01:48:19,440
All right.

1404
01:48:20,280 --> 01:48:24,260
Item C, consideration of appointing another member to the beautification committee.

1405
01:48:24,500 --> 01:48:30,400
So we had to open that up to add another committee member on that, a resident, because

1406
01:48:30,400 --> 01:48:37,940
a lot of staff and all select officials are on that board as well and so we wanted to

1407
01:48:37,940 --> 01:48:46,500
add that. So we've only had one application and this member is very,

1408
01:48:48,780 --> 01:48:50,380
he participates in

1409
01:48:50,380 --> 01:48:56,980
many things in town. We work with him quite often on various projects, but he does live

1410
01:48:56,980 --> 01:49:05,760
of, um, in the 28425 but well outside the ETJ. And I don't know that we have, um, the

1411
01:49:05,760 --> 01:49:12,920
Parks and Rec advisory board is allowing 28425. Right. So beautifications rules to state

1412
01:49:12,920 --> 01:49:19,540
town limits or ETJ. Yes. So do we, we want to keep the beautification committee within?

1413
01:49:19,680 --> 01:49:25,160
Yeah. Beautification membership is required for you to be a resident within the city

1414
01:49:25,160 --> 01:49:33,060
limits or E.J. Yeah. That's what I thought. So if we want to make it consistent for area of, you know,

1415
01:49:33,340 --> 01:49:40,120
do we want, right, do we want to keep it within city limits or are we okay with extending that to

1416
01:49:41,080 --> 01:49:45,880
28425? That's the long way out, but he is very active.

1417
01:49:50,220 --> 01:49:56,440
But I'm wondering if people want to be

1418
01:49:56,440 --> 01:50:01,180
interesting here because it's hard to feel positions already I don't think it's

1419
01:50:01,180 --> 01:50:08,020
good and this is a gentleman which we have gentlemen on this board but I think

1420
01:50:08,020 --> 01:50:13,760
it's great that guys can make pretty decisions to you know I like flowers we

1421
01:50:13,760 --> 01:50:18,840
need somebody to get in women straight so are we opposed to leaving this

1422
01:50:18,840 --> 01:50:26,540
application open any longer or we need to make this decision now that's I guess

1423
01:50:26,540 --> 01:50:33,560
There's a, I would recommend that we approve this application, but I know as we couldn't

1424
01:50:33,560 --> 01:50:38,900
recently have a meeting because we didn't have enough members able to attend last Friday.

1425
01:50:40,480 --> 01:50:44,780
This is another board that we could extend possibly.

1426
01:50:45,180 --> 01:50:52,700
Currently we only have two residents on the board, we're adding a third, we have,

1427
01:50:52,700 --> 01:50:55,780
We have someone that's very interested and that could make for

1428
01:51:01,680 --> 01:51:08,820
All right, so do we have a motion to allow for resident members on our beautification committee?

1429
01:51:10,140 --> 01:51:12,400
Okay, are we going to change that?

1430
01:51:13,100 --> 01:51:18,520
We're also including to change to the 28425 area code.

1431
01:51:18,640 --> 01:51:20,040
Okay, who made that motion? I'm sorry.

1432
01:51:20,240 --> 01:51:20,660
I did.

1433
01:51:22,500 --> 01:51:29,000
All in one motion all in favor all in one motion for that to correct the make sure

1434
01:51:31,040 --> 01:51:36,700
description right before going to a four member four member resident member and the

1435
01:51:36,700 --> 01:51:44,620
way to a fortified right all in favor I opposed okay all right that being said do

1436
01:51:44,620 --> 01:51:46,500
We have a motion to approve the applicant.

1437
01:51:46,780 --> 01:51:47,960
It's almost a move, second.

1438
01:51:48,700 --> 01:51:49,240
All in favor?

1439
01:51:49,580 --> 01:51:49,880
Aye.

1440
01:51:50,280 --> 01:51:50,840
Any opposed?

1441
01:52:05,110 --> 01:52:06,690
Item D, any other items?

1442
01:52:06,850 --> 01:52:08,550
I don't think I have anything other than, again,

1443
01:52:08,670 --> 01:52:12,290
thank you to our town staff for staying up late,

1444
01:52:12,470 --> 01:52:13,990
getting up early, spending the night here,

1445
01:52:14,110 --> 01:52:15,690
the weekend here, and making sure

1446
01:52:15,690 --> 01:52:17,430
that all the things in town work well

1447
01:52:17,430 --> 01:52:19,770
when the residents were taken care of,

1448
01:52:19,850 --> 01:52:20,710
as well as town staff.

1449
01:52:20,870 --> 01:52:22,510
So we thank you and applaud you for that.

1450
01:52:23,770 --> 01:52:27,450
I appreciate your commitment to being here.

1451
01:52:27,970 --> 01:52:28,230
All

1452
01:52:32,040 --> 01:52:32,220
right.

1453
01:52:32,340 --> 01:52:35,580
Mr. Pierceau, do you have any items that need to...

1454
01:52:35,580 --> 01:52:36,740
No, I spoke enough.

1455
01:52:37,820 --> 01:52:38,180
Okay.

1456
01:52:38,360 --> 01:52:38,640
All right.

1457
01:52:38,720 --> 01:52:39,160
Commissioner George?

1458
01:52:40,320 --> 01:52:40,500
No.

1459
01:52:41,900 --> 01:52:42,140
Yes.

1460
01:52:42,440 --> 01:52:46,040
I talked to Sarah Fulton after our meeting yesterday and she called me back this morning.

1461
01:52:47,720 --> 01:52:55,900
The county is in contract negotiations with the Verizon people to get on their

1462
01:52:55,900 --> 01:53:02,120
tower over here off of Wimbledon Street and they've had to go back and wait on

1463
01:53:02,120 --> 01:53:06,560
Verizon they got to sturdy up some things on that tower to get that antenna

1464
01:53:06,560 --> 01:53:11,760
installed but it is it's moving forward it's just in a little stall right now

1465
01:53:11,760 --> 01:53:17,440
so they get the engineering to sturdy that thing up a little bit more for that

1466
01:53:18,980 --> 01:53:20,600
So it is in the making.

1467
01:53:20,840 --> 01:53:24,480
Do we think that that one is going to be held?

1468
01:53:25,040 --> 01:53:26,140
Oh yeah, that's going to.

1469
01:53:26,620 --> 01:53:26,860
Okay.

1470
01:53:27,100 --> 01:53:29,240
That close to downtown area that's going to help cover.

1471
01:53:29,620 --> 01:53:29,980
Heck yeah.

1472
01:53:30,480 --> 01:53:31,440
I just want to make sure.

1473
01:53:31,960 --> 01:53:36,400
But she, I talked to her yesterday after noon and then she called me back this morning

1474
01:53:36,400 --> 01:53:40,260
and said that they're still working to get it done.

1475
01:53:40,520 --> 01:53:41,140
Okay, great.

1476
01:53:41,300 --> 01:53:44,440
So for public comment or for public knowledge, we know we need some better cell phone

1477
01:53:44,440 --> 01:53:51,060
service and we were getting time to address that so hang tight we're working working on

1478
01:53:51,060 --> 01:53:54,740
that with the county it's been in their court a little bit just going to be on their property

1479
01:53:55,440 --> 01:53:58,000
all right thank you for that anything else just

1480
01:54:01,170 --> 01:54:02,750
want to thank you for your work that you've done

1481
01:54:02,750 --> 01:54:10,440
doing the storm I thank you for your commitment and I'm truly grateful that you're an employee of the borough

1482
01:54:10,440 --> 01:54:13,180
Thank you.

1483
01:54:13,360 --> 01:54:13,660
All right.

1484
01:54:14,320 --> 01:54:14,820
Mr. Duffy?

1485
01:54:14,980 --> 01:54:15,420
Commissioner Duffy?

1486
01:54:15,920 --> 01:54:16,840
I'm just going to ditto.

1487
01:54:17,460 --> 01:54:18,300
We appreciate you guys.

1488
01:54:18,800 --> 01:54:18,880
I

1489
01:54:20,990 --> 01:54:24,050
don't think I have anything else that we haven't discussed already.

1490
01:54:24,410 --> 01:54:28,770
So that being said, do we have a motion to go into closed session?

1491
01:54:29,230 --> 01:54:30,690
Motion to go into closed session.

1492
01:54:30,910 --> 01:54:31,130
All right.

1493
01:54:31,230 --> 01:54:31,630
All in favor?

1494
01:54:32,290 --> 01:54:33,190
All right.

1495
01:54:33,490 --> 01:54:34,290
Any opposed?

1496
01:54:35,310 --> 01:54:35,690
All right.

1497
01:54:36,710 --> 01:54:37,630
Good evening.

1498
01:54:38,090 --> 01:54:38,950
Have a good evening, everyone.

1499
01:54:39,670 --> 01:54:40,330
Can I compete?

1500
01:54:40,590 --> 01:54:42,210
Staff, be careful.

1501
01:54:42,210 --> 01:54:43,990
and we'll take a few.

1502
01:54:47,290 --> 01:54:52,430
We need to take a vote before we dismiss or adjourn for the

1503
01:54:52,430 --> 01:55:01,130
evening to clarify or wrap up the Chamber of Commerce funding. I think the board

1504
01:55:01,130 --> 01:55:06,810
was in agreement to fund the chamber of twenty thousand dollars throughout

1505
01:55:06,810 --> 01:55:13,770
July 1st and we would reconsider their ask in the new budget for the 26 27

1506
01:55:13,770 --> 01:55:23,490
budget year. So with that being said, we need to take a vote. I need to because I am a member of the

1507
01:55:23,490 --> 01:55:32,750
Chamber. Okay. All right. Thank you for that. Do we have a motion to recuse? All in favor? Can you

1508
01:55:32,750 --> 01:55:39,570
post? All right. With that being said, Commissioner McDuffie has recused herself with that. Do we

1509
01:55:39,570 --> 01:55:50,330
have a motion to support that request. Second. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay, so

1510
01:55:50,330 --> 01:55:57,130
we'll move us forward with supporting the chamber and with that too that

1511
01:55:57,130 --> 01:56:05,550
finishes out our meeting and do we have a motion to adjourn? All in favor? All right.

1512
01:56:05,550 --> 01:56:10,230
Thank you, and we will, we have a lot of upcoming events,

1513
01:56:10,330 --> 01:56:12,510
so we will see each other a lot over the next couple of weeks.