[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:39] To the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation,
[0:46] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[1:01] Again, thank you all for being here and joining us this afternoon. Do we have a motion to approve our agenda?
[1:08] So moved.
[1:09] All in favor?
[1:11] Aye.
[1:11] Any opposed?
[1:14] All right, approval of our consent agenda. Do we have a motion?
[1:21] All in favor?
[1:22] Aye.
[1:26] Thank you for being here.
[1:28] Okay so that brings us right to
[1:29] our special presentations this
[1:31] afternoon with us.
[1:32] We have got.
[1:33] Pender County joining us is
[1:35] going to talk us through the
[1:37] evaluation.
[1:39] Process and how that looks.
[1:41] And how that was done by
[1:43] Vincent valuations this year.
[1:45] So thank you for being here.
[1:46] Absolutely.
[1:46] And if you don't mind
[1:47] introducing yourself to the
[1:48] board.
[1:49] For those who don't know
[1:50] absolutely absolutely first off out of mayor commissioners thank y'all for
[1:54] having me here my name is Colby Sawyer I'm the new Pender County manager really
[1:59] excited to be able to be here and be in front of y'all and share some
[2:02] information the regularly scheduled presenter is feeling a little under the
[2:06] weather so y'all got to put up with me for just a little bit I'm gonna do the
[2:11] best I can to answer all of the really technical questions we do have
[2:14] some additional staff from Benson here who may be able to step in and I've
[2:18] also got some county staff here. They introduced themselves real quick if y'all stand up and
[2:23] introduce yourselves real quick.
[2:37] We thank y'all for having us. So the purpose of this
[2:40] presentation is really just to do a lot of good public education about this upcoming
[2:46] re-appraisal, the 2026 re-appraisal. Do you have the slides for this?
[2:53] We do, we should.
[2:54] You do?
[2:55] Yeah, it's just a moment.
[3:08] Perfect. And my clicker works.
[3:11] I'm also apologizing in advance. I'm on the backside of a little bit of a cough and
[3:17] so a little hoarse. I start coughing. I apologize. I will step away from the microphone.
[3:22] So, just a little bit about reappraisals in general.
[3:26] General statute 105286 requires the North Carolina County's reappraise at least once
[3:33] every eight years.
[3:35] Basically what the reappraisal process is, is a process in which we reset all of our
[3:41] real property values back to current market value as of January 1st in the reappraisal
[3:48] year.
[3:48] 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.
[4:00] 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,
[4:12] your tax value of a property is not likely to change between re-appraisals.
[4:18] And as it sits right now there are just under 55,000 parcels of real property in
[4:24] Pender County. So the county has has engaged Vincent to to do this re-appraisal
[4:31] and their tasks are to appraise all of the real property in the county to
[4:36] term in its fair market value, that is to find a statute.
[4:41] And true value is basically what
[4:48] we calculate market value
[4:49] at is what a willing and unencumbered, unstressed buyer
[4:55] and a willing, unencumbered, unstressed seller
[4:58] are willing to exchange a property for.
[5:01] That's basically the easiest way to tell it.
[5:03] Now there are a couple of things that we exempt,
[5:05] which I think are discussed in some later sessions and we'll talk about those as we
[5:10] get to them.
[5:11] Now, it's really important to note that the tax department does not set the market value
[5:16] for a property, a real property.
[5:19] The market itself does that.
[5:21] It's the tax department's job to try to calculate and determine what that real market
[5:26] value is.
[5:27] So they do that by analyzing trends, looking at sales, qualifying sales, across the
[5:34] study periods to figure out what what market value looks like. Now when we do
[5:41] these studies we do a mass appraisal. There's no way we could do, there's two
[5:48] kinds of appraisals, there's mass appraisal and fee-based appraisals.
[5:52] So you know if you were to sell a property or buy a property you would
[5:55] pay for an appraisal. It's just not practical to do that for 55,000
[5:59] parcels an appraisal for all of those, a fee-based appraisal. So we do
[6:03] utilize mass appraisal for those. It allows us to take a lot of things into
[6:06] account and I can't remember the specific number but I believe there's almost 250
[6:12] different tax neighborhoods in Pender County so it's only 200 different 250
[6:18] different areas that we are looking at in terms of calculating what the market
[6:23] looks like in this specific area. That's really important because there's
[6:29] often a misconception that market prices and changes over here affected over here.
[6:35] That's not necessarily the case.
[6:37] Each discreet area is looked at individually, so property prices in Topsill do not affect
[6:44] those in Atkinson or Bergall or anywhere else in the county, they affect those in Topsill.
[6:50] So the reappraisal process is relatively straightforward, but it is pretty involved.
[6:55] So the first part is data collection and field work.
[6:59] Going in, looking at these properties in the field, laying eyes on them, doing data collection.
[7:05] That's looking at qualifying sales. That's looking at MLS records.
[7:09] That's looking at any data source they can get their hands on.
[7:14] Delineating there's neighborhoods down and then using calculations to determine value of land and of building.
[7:21] Now, what's important in this coming up is our value review and our appeals, which we
[7:26] will be talking about a little bit later.
[7:29] This is what the process has looked like.
[7:36] So right now, the Vincent Valuations staff are re-appraising all of the information
[7:44] or taking a look at all of the information that they've been given, doing some spot
[7:48] checks to make sure that everything looks okay.
[7:51] The next step is there will be a final public presentation to the board of commissioners
[7:58] for Pender County, and then we will be mailing our value notices.
[8:03] Now, when you get that notice of value, that is our official record from the tax office
[8:10] saying, here is what we have assessed the tax value of your property be, the fair
[8:16] market value of your property to be.
[8:19] And then you have the right to appeal, which I said.
[8:23] We will talk about in just a few moments.
[8:25] Going back to this one for just a moment, it is our expectation
[8:29] that we will be disseminating the notices of value changes
[8:34] out probably the last week of March.
[8:37] That is the time that we want to make sure we got all of our data right.
[8:41] We want to make sure we've done as many spot checks as we can.
[8:44] we're targeting the last week of March to get those notices out. So there's a lot
[8:50] of different areas, a lot of different things that can involve, that are
[8:53] involved in an evaluation and in determining value. So again we're looking
[8:59] at typical sales, we're looking at those market areas, we're looking at property
[9:03] conditions. You know there's certain things though that we can't assess from
[9:06] the outside. We don't, our tax folks, our Vincent folks don't come in your
[9:10] house, they don't take a look around and take a bunch of pictures. So from
[9:13] In the outside, for example, we may not be able to tell whether you have a finished bonus
[9:18] room or not.
[9:19] We may not be able to tell if you have a second floor or a cathedral ceiling.
[9:23] We can't tell those things from the outside.
[9:25] That's why,
[9:28] especially if you did it without a permit, and so if you did it without a
[9:32] permit, that's a problem.
[9:34] Our code enforcement folks are going to see you, but that can be challenging because
[9:39] we can't tell exactly what is happening in every single house just from the outside.
[9:44] That's one of the reasons why we send the notices out as well.
[9:47] It gives you the ability to challenge it, to say, no, that's wrong.
[9:50] I don't have a second floor.
[9:52] It's just a vaulted ceiling or something of that effect.
[9:54] It's how we're able to help you appeal that value.
[10:00] We do mass appraisals because, like I mentioned earlier, it is just not feasible for us
[10:04] to do a fee-based appraisal on every single property in every single parcel in Pender
[10:09] County.
[10:09] Again, we're talking about almost 55,000 individual properties.
[10:13] This is a challenge that is shared across to most taxing jurisdictions.
[10:19] And so there are industry standard methods by which we do this, an all-kind of Department
[10:24] of Revenue.
[10:25] Other state and federal entities have developed these industry standards for those appraisals
[10:31] to use.
[10:31] So they're not just making it up as they go.
[10:34] They're using industry standards to do that appraisal.
[10:39] And then we take a look and we see how do we know that we've done it right.
[10:43] So we look at some various statistics to see how we've done.
[10:48] So one example is looking at assessed value versus sale price.
[10:52] If I assess a property to be worth $500,000 and it sells the next week for $501,000,
[11:00] then we've done a pretty good job of doing that assessment.
[11:03] And so we do those, again, those checks back to see how have we done,
[11:07] and making sure that we're as close,
[11:09] our ratio is as close as it can be.
[11:13] Some of the exemptions I talked about,
[11:16] we don't look at anything,
[11:18] we disqualify a sale that was a foreclosure,
[11:21] an auction, a short sale,
[11:24] if there's multiple parcels on a single deed,
[11:27] if it's an exchange from family member to family member,
[11:30] oftentimes family gets the friends and family discount
[11:33] or surcharge depending on how much your family likes you.
[11:37] So we don't look at those things and again like I said in broad terms we know
[11:43] that the market has changed in different ways in different parts of the
[11:46] county. We know that the market hasn't changed here in Bergall the same as it
[11:50] has in Surf City and in Hampstead and out on the western side of the county.
[11:56] Excuse me.
[11:59] So as we move on just a couple of slides we have in here I
[12:05] want to start off by saying we've pulled a couple properties that have
[12:10] We've had recent sales all within the last few months to show how the assessed values
[12:17] compared to sales values.
[12:18] Now, the last time we did a appraisal was in 2019, and there's a couple things to note
[12:24] about that 2019 appraisal.
[12:26] Number one, it was done right after Hurricane Florence.
[12:29] So when we look at those qualifying sales, a lot of sales of property happened immediately
[12:35] after Hurricane Florence.
[12:36] So they may have been artificially depressed to begin with.
[12:41] So there was also the whole COVID outbreak which changed the housing
[12:48] market significantly between 2019 and now I know I bought a house
[12:53] right before COVID and I really wish I still had it because I would
[12:56] be putting it on the market market today.
[12:59] So these are some various areas around the county and some various properties.
[13:04] So, here's an example of a house in the Topsul township.
[13:10] This was a 2018 built house.
[13:12] It was assessed at 451,000 in 2019 and sold in November at 965,000.
[13:18] So that was a 114% increase in value.
[13:23] Here's another in Topsul, a 2,451% increase between value and market.
[13:32] I will say we have pulled stark examples to show you what things could look like.
[13:38] Here's another in 1968 for 146% increase between 2019 and when the most current sale happened.
[13:48] We'll skip past.
[13:49] It's not just on the beach either.
[13:51] Here we have one assessed at 227 in 2019 sold for 414,000.
[13:57] So about an 82% increase, 120% increase, about 100% increase, and so on.
[14:07] Now here's an example of a parcel of a property in Burgalls built in 1978.
[14:11] It was assessed at just shy of 121,000.
[14:14] It sold in September for 263,000, so an increase of 118%.
[14:21] Here was another, was assessed at $91,000 and sold for $257,000, that's a 181% increase.
[14:29] Now, I will also say, the Vincent folks told me that this house had an incredible amount
[14:35] of renovation done on the inside and was made to look absolutely beautiful.
[14:39] There was a lot of upgrades done, which does account for a lot of the increase in the sale price.
[14:43] Here's another example in the Grady township. We're looking at 85% increase, 88,
[14:54] got Iraqi pulling, had 150%, 156% increase here.
[15:02] But it's not just stick-boot homes that are seeing this. We're also seeing this in manufactured
[15:06] homes and there's a number of reasons for that. This manufactured home, $80,000 assessed value
[15:12] sold for 208th in the end of 2024, and so that's a 160% increase on that one. Here in
[15:23] Rocky Point, 223% increase on this manufactured home.
[15:28] So part of the reason that we are seeing these changes
[15:32] the way that we are, also we believe at least
[15:36] in the manufactured segment is for many people
[15:39] that is actually the only home that they can take.
[15:41] And so when that supply drops, demand stays the same,
[15:47] we know it's gonna drive our prices up a little bit.
[15:49] So we are seeing even significant increases in value
[15:52] within manufactured homes as well here's a 99% increase for example but we're
[15:59] seeing it commercial as well this food lion was assessed at two point two three
[16:07] million in nineteen and sold for six million in twenty twenty four a hundred
[16:14] sixty percent hundred sixty eight percent increase in that commercial and
[16:18] now that I look at that picture I can't tell if that's the one in Burgo
[16:21] or Rocky Point? Is that the burgallon? Okay.
[16:27] Here's an example of just a small
[16:29] commercial space in Rocky Point. 69% increase.
[16:35] 86% increase down in Rocky
[16:37] Point on commercials. So I give you all this information about values to let
[16:44] you know that there's a good chance you are going to see if you own
[16:49] property in Pender County, you are going to see some increase in your property value.
[16:56] Now what is really important there, and this is very much for public information, is the
[17:03] appraised value and the tax rate and your tax bill are two entirely separate concepts.
[17:10] Your appraised value is nothing more than what we have assessed the fair market value
[17:15] of your property to be.
[17:16] The governing board of course sets the tax rate which in turn drives what
[17:22] people's tax bills are. Again the taxing jurisdictions within the county, so that
[17:29] is the county, the various municipalities, they set their tax rate based on their
[17:34] budget needs. And part of the way that part of the wisdom behind the way
[17:46] in North Carolina does this, this actually makes a lot of sense, is we do appraisals
[17:52] and we have those typically done by the spring, knowing that in North Carolina we're setting
[17:58] the tax rate going into effect in July and then of course folks are getting their tax
[18:04] bills in the fall.
[18:06] We schedule it that way so that jurisdictions have time to take a look at their values,
[18:11] use, take a look at their budget needs, and set an acceptable tax rate for that taxing
[18:18] jurisdiction. But it is really important to note that the final tax bill can't be determined
[18:24] until the final tax rate is set. But just to be incredibly clear, just because your
[18:34] property value, let's just say it increased by 100 percent, that does not mean your
[18:38] tax bill is increasing by 100%.
[18:40] Taxing jurisdiction may decide to cut the tax rate in half.
[18:44] Property doubled in value, tax rate went in half, your tax bill is the same.
[18:48] So the property value and the tax bill are two separate concepts.
[18:54] But of course, as I mentioned earlier, we do have, we are doing a mass appraisal.
[18:58] We're doing it from a look on the outside of the property.
[19:01] We're doing it based on data and statistics.
[19:03] And we know people have more information about their properties that we do,
[19:08] which is why we have an appeals process.
[19:12] There are three steps in an appeal.
[19:14] They are review, compare, and then appeal if you see fit.
[19:18] So review.
[19:20] When you get that notice of value change, take a hard look at it.
[19:24] Look and see what it says.
[19:26] See that we have all of the information correct.
[19:29] We're dealing with computers here.
[19:31] So you may be in a three bedroom and we've calculated you at a four bedroom
[19:36] We may have calculated you at a two bedroom. I
[19:39] Leave it to someone's good judgment and good grace as to whether they want to correct us when they tell us
[19:43] Their property is is worth less than than it really is and then we have the compare tool. So
[19:50] We want to make it really easy for people to be able to look at the qualifying sales in their area
[19:56] that are comparable to their home, so they can make that comparison.
[20:00] Now again, this is not to the same level that a fee-based appraiser is going to be doing pulling comps,
[20:06] or a real estate broker is going to be looking at comps for a sale.
[20:11] But we have created a tool where we are in the process of creating a tool at the county
[20:15] where you can put in your information for your home,
[20:18] and it will pull up sales near you that match your home's characteristics.
[20:24] So, you can say I live in a four-bed, two-bath, 1,800 square feet, and it'll pull up the
[20:30] properties closest to you that are qualifying sales that match those characteristics.
[20:35] So, you can compare those properties and their sale prices to yours.
[20:40] Now, once you've done that comparison, you have the opportunity to appeal.
[20:47] We're going to talk about the appeal process in specifics in just a little bit.
[20:52] But if
[20:58] you feel that you have an error, you can appeal the value.
[21:04] When you do that, a member of the appraisal staff will be reaching out trying to get some more information from you.
[21:10] They'll complete an initial follow-up with you.
[21:13] They will take a look at all the information that you provide and see what they assess.
[21:22] Now if you appeal and we say oh we did make a mistake you only have you have
[21:28] four bedrooms we thought you only had two. Your value post appeal may go up. It may
[21:34] stay the same. It may go down. Now there's a lot of different ways that you can
[21:39] provide information to help with that appeal. If you just say I think my
[21:42] value is too high and don't give any supporting documentation it makes it
[21:47] really difficult to do that appeal but perhaps you just had the home appraised
[21:53] for some reason you were thinking about listing it. You chose not to and three
[21:58] weeks ago you had an appraisal done and it came in significantly different. You
[22:03] can bring a copy of that appraisal to us. We may have you graded as a good
[22:09] condition and in all reality when you go inside it looks like the place has
[22:14] been on fire. Well the condition of the property changes the value. So you can
[22:19] bring us pictures and show this is what the inside of my house looks like. You
[22:24] can appeal based off of that and our folks will work with you to get that
[22:28] value, that tax value where it belongs. Now you can choose to either accept
[22:35] or deny the results of the appeal. If you choose to accept the results of
[22:41] the appeal, then oftentimes we can make that change right there and off we go. If you choose
[22:47] to deny, your case is put before the Board of Equalization and Review, the Board of ENR
[22:56] for short. So the Board of ENR convenes in March every year during appraisal years.
[23:03] It lasts for a number of days, and you'll basically get a time and date to come before
[23:11] them and give your case.
[23:14] The board of ENR will consider the case, will give you a value.
[23:20] You can choose to either accept the board of ENR's value, or if you disagree with that
[23:26] as well, you can also take it to Riley, you can take it to the property tax commission
[23:31] and go through the same process again, bring your evidence and a state body in Raleigh.
[23:36] We'll hear the case.
[23:41] Now what's really important to note in terms of value is that we have to make sure that
[23:48] when we are appealing a value we are appealing something that is in fact appealable.
[23:55] If you are concerned that your tax bill is going to increase and that is the only
[24:00] reason for your appeal, that's not going to be a successful appeal because we're not debating
[24:08] the value of your property. You're just concerned about the tax rate. If you want to appeal
[24:15] because you say, I don't get the level of services I think that I should get from the county
[24:21] or the town based on the amount that I pay, that's not the process here. This is appealing
[24:29] the actual value the only issue that our tax office can address is that appraised
[24:37] value the there was a question raised at another community meeting about the
[24:46] breakup or the geographic breakdown of the board of B and R so the board of B and
[24:52] R is appointed annually by the by the county commissioners it's actually on
[24:58] the next agenda, the Board of B&R is, is on the next agenda.
[25:02] We have five seats, five names were put forward
[25:05] and they range from the east to the west.
[25:08] So we do have geographic,
[25:11] we do have a wide geographic representation
[25:14] on that Board of B&R for the people
[25:16] who have put their names forward
[25:17] with an interest on being there.
[25:21] So again, end of March, 2026 is when reappraisal notices
[25:25] will be mailed. We actually need to update the slide. We intend to open the board of
[25:32] ENR on April the 13th. That is when we will start hearing cases. It is on April the 13th.
[25:39] That will last through until May the 15th. So that board itself will be open for, if
[25:47] I can do math, 33 days. Prior to that, between April 13th and the end of March,
[25:54] you have the chance to look at your information, compare the comparable sales,
[26:00] look at the condition of your property, and go ahead and start building that case for the appeal.
[26:07] Again, oftentimes you can go ahead and submit that ahead of the board of ENR coming into effect.
[26:12] A lot of times our tax folks can just fix that on the spot with you when you bring in your evidence
[26:17] and you can have a discussion with them. Oftentimes they can fix it right on the spot.
[26:21] And then, of course, after the budget is set, the tax rate is set, your first tax bill that
[26:27] is affected by the new value will be coming out.
[26:31] So again, those are our next steps.
[26:35] I'm not as good as Vincent is in explaining all of this, but I hope that has at least
[26:41] helped a little bit.
[26:42] I'm happy to take any questions from the committee.
[26:49] Oh, yes.
[26:49] Absolutely.
[26:50] Thank you, Meg.
[26:50] So, one of the other things that the county is doing this year is if we are holding one
[26:58] of these educational sessions at a location, we have committed to coming back and doing
[27:03] an in-person clinic to help people appeal their value if they need some help.
[27:08] And so, the appeal is actually done online, now we do have a paper form.
[27:14] Some people aren't comfortable doing things online, some people don't have reliable
[27:19] internet service at their homes. Some people don't have the ability to make it
[27:23] to burgall to come in person to the tax office to receive assistance so
[27:27] anywhere that we are giving one of these educational sessions will be
[27:30] scheduling time to come back out and actually have a clinic where we'll have
[27:34] tax office staff and Vincent staff one site to help people file their appeals
[27:39] and in many cases if they can come to an agreement get it resolved that same
[27:43] that.
[27:47] 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
[28:02] 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
[28:16] resident of good moral fiber. I don't mean to be glib but this is meant to be a
[28:24] group of community members who come to hear their community members, other
[28:30] community members and their neighbors when they are filing appeals. So there
[28:34] is no educational requirement. We don't require a background in appraisal. We
[28:38] don't require a you know a master's degree or anything like that. There's
[28:42] a short one day training the board all I think it's one day all board of E and R
[28:47] folks go to so they can really fully understand their jobs. With that you
[28:55] guys do vote on it the county commissioners and there's no prerequisite
[29:00] of any kind of training my concern would be how about if everyone is from
[29:05] the east side who doesn't know what the west side does could there be
[29:09] something for that in our state that we need to have a person from every group
[29:15] that can represent Pender County instead of one section of Pender County because
[29:20] it would be highly unfair if you get a lot of people from maybe the west side
[29:24] maybe don't go to that beach or from the east side to come to the west side
[29:30] and know what our value of what we really do could there be some kind of
[29:34] guidelines stating that it would be preferred if we have one or two individuals from certain
[29:42] sections of the county to be on that board. To me it would be fair.
[29:47] So not to speak on behalf of the board for that matter. I will say the applications
[29:53] for members that they have received a range from districts if and forgive me I'm coming
[30:00] At the top of my head here, I believe it's districts one, three, and five, so it is evenly
[30:05] spaced around the county. Now, I'll ask for, can we make that a requirement? I don't, the
[30:11] board of commissioners, that would be a discussion between the board.
[30:17] We received five applications.
[30:20] Is that correct, Brandon? It does make it easier to pay. Hopefully they're all from
[30:25] one side. That would be my concern.
[30:40] Yes sir that would be a decision by the
[30:50] board commissioners as to how they wanted to appoint those individuals and
[30:53] And again, I can say that the applications we receive, they do range from the east and
[30:58] the west, not necessarily every single district, but from the east and the west.
[31:03] 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.
[31:18] Mr. Sardar, quick question. When the contractor brings in his application for the permit,
[31:26] he has a $350,000 job he's doing. Do y'all use that number to begin with or did you have
[31:36] somebody else reassess it for tax purposes? Where's the starting point? At the $350?
[31:43] 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
[31:52] But my understanding and let me be very clear that I am not the the end-all be all expert on this area
[31:59] my understanding is you know the cost of
[32:03] construction if I'm doing a say
[32:05] $350,000 building project. We know that the house is not going to be valued exactly
[32:11] $350,000 and so if we're starting from new we're looking at the land value and
[32:17] then based on the specific factors of the house for bedroom to bath is brand new
[32:23] construction so we would expect it to be built average to good and then that is
[32:28] that is how the valuation is determined because I'm sure different areas I work
[32:34] in the East Side Waffle Area, 230 to 250 per square foot.
[32:41] You go up to the beach side, you end up 350 or higher per square foot.
[32:46] So there is a big difference from there to there.
[32:50] Yes, sir.
[32:51] And that's why we have those neighborhoods, for lack of a better term,
[32:55] those tax characteristic districts spread all over the county
[32:59] So what is happening price per square foot, price per value, price per land, per acre,
[33:06] for what is happening in Sarf City isn't affecting that same value in Bergdorf.
[33:11] This sounds fair.
[33:12] As long as we've got equal, you know what I'm saying.
[33:15] I believe the number is about 250 different character districts for lack of a better term
[33:20] around the county.
[33:21] Okay.
[33:22] Thank you.
[33:25] All right.
[33:25] Any more questions?
[33:29] All right.
[33:29] We appreciate you being here and presenting.
[33:32] Thank you very much.
[33:40] We're going to go over our employee recognitions at this time.
[34:00] Good afternoon, Mayor, members of the board.
[34:03] Della Matthews, who works in finance as well as the inspections department,
[34:08] she recently completed a law and admin course.
[34:13] 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.
[34:41] Wonderful.
[34:42] All right.
[34:43] Good job, Adella.
[34:43] All
[34:53] right.
[34:54] Is that all the recognitions we have at this time?
[34:57] It is.
[34:58] Okay.
[34:59] All right.
[34:59] All right.
[35:00] We'll put those to Adella.
[35:02] All right.
[35:03] Moving right along, bear with me, I'm going to read a proclamation as we show our support
[35:08] for the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, and as we celebrate throughout
[35:13] the year, especially coming up in February, week February 21st to the 28th, as we
[35:19] celebrate Morse Creek's role in that.
[35:24] 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.
[35:38] 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.
[35:48] And whereas the 250th anniversary, commonly known as America 250, encourages communities
[35:55] across the nation to honor the diverse people, cultures, stories, and events that have contributed
[36:00] to the American experience.
[36:02] And whereas recognizing this anniversary fosters historical awareness, civic pride, and community
[36:08] engagement while inspiring future generations to understand their role in preserving and
[36:12] strengthening our democracy.
[36:14] and whereas the Town of Bergo has a rich local history that contributes to the broader story of our nation
[36:19] and provides meaningful opportunities to educate residents and visitors through programs, events, and partnerships.
[36:26] Now therefore, it proclaimed that the Mayor and Board of Commissioners of the Town of Bergo
[36:30] do hereby express their support for the 250th anniversary of the United States of America
[36:35] and encourage residents, civic organizations, schools, businesses, and community partners
[36:40] to participate in commemorative, educational, cultural, and historical activities leading
[36:45] up to and throughout the year of 2026, and be it further proclaiming the Town of Virgal
[36:50] commits to promoting awareness of the historic anniversary and exploring opportunities to
[36:55] celebrate our shared past, present, and future as part of the America 250 commemoration.
[37:00] So we witness whereof.
[37:01] I'm here on TwoSet My Hand and calls the seal of the Town of Virgal to be affixed
[37:06] this 10th day of February 2026 in support of the 250th anniversary of the United States
[37:12] of America.
[37:13] So thank you, and we
[37:18] just encourage you to participate and support that way you can.
[37:22] So show your American pride throughout 2026.
[37:30] All right, without being said, we will go into our departmental updates.
[37:34] We'll begin back with our building inspections department.
[37:39] Sorry, Abby, you could have just stayed up.
[37:51] in building inspections. We got a lot of commercial jobs going on right now in the town. I'm sure
[37:59] y'all have seen out at the intersection of 53 and 117, there's new urgent care going up. They're
[38:04] already up to working on the interior finishes. About to start the brickwork.
[38:10] Opposite corner
[38:11] next to Advanced Auto, new dentist office going in. They've just started on the foundation of
[38:16] that, so it should start to see a build and take shape soon and always projects
[38:23] going on at the hospital, they're still working on the new heat and air
[38:26] condition system for the emergency department there. That should be wrapping
[38:31] up shortly and they've just finished a improvement of the exterior, new
[38:40] treatments on the brick and that type of thing. They've done a lot of projects
[38:44] there to improve our local hospital. The New Pender County Law Enforcement Center
[38:50] is moving right along. Sheriff's Office portion, they have scheduled that they
[38:55] want their above-sealing inspections later this week. I mean it's getting close
[38:58] to further than done in that area. The jail section is not far behind it.
[39:05] They're already working on upfitting the kitchen and everything in there.
[39:09] So it's really starting to take shape. And then the New Pender Health and
[39:13] human services building is essentially complete they just got to get their final
[39:17] inspections and that's what those are the major things that have been going on
[39:23] this month we've had a few single-family residences final out and that's pretty
[39:35] much what's going on any questions thank you for that big dance
[39:43] department
[39:43] Good
[39:54] evening, Tiffany Bird, finance officer. Finance has been busy with end of year W2s,
[40:00] 1099s, and other items that have to be done. We got all that finished. We held budget meetings
[40:07] January 14th and 15th with all the departments. That was myself, James and Kelly, and other
[40:15] than just being really active, working with all the grants. I'm pretty busy with
[40:21] Everything that's going on right now
[40:23] But everything's going good
[40:26] Any particular questions for finance at this time?
[40:31] Okay, and I will be seeing more Tiffany in our budget
[40:40] Good
[40:49] evening everyone
[40:50] Jonathan for that fire chief for town of burgall
[40:53] So during the month of January as you saw in your reports
[40:56] We responded to approximately 70 calls for service and also conducted about
[41:00] 420-ish hours of in-house fire training. We also had a few folks that went to weekend fire
[41:08] college down at Cape Fear, and then we continued to work through our Plimo Vent System, which
[41:13] was part of that AFG grant that we got funded. It's currently not in service just yet.
[41:19] Contractors working through a few things they've got to finish up on their end,
[41:23] but hopefully that'll be getting done here in the next couple of weeks. I'm supposed
[41:27] have a follow-up phone call with the head contact for them in the next couple
[41:32] of days. So hopefully that project will get continued on and then get finished up
[41:36] here in the next few weeks and then we can have that in service. The safer
[41:40] positions of course last month's meeting I was able to introduce those new
[41:44] employees which were part of the other federal grant we received. They've all
[41:49] now been on and on shift and stuff for approximately a month now. They've
[41:55] a tremendous asset in addition to our department particularly within the last couple weeks with
[42:00] some of the what I would call unfortunate weather because I'm not a big fan of the snow and the
[42:05] cold but they paid tremendous dividends having those extra personnel here to help staff apparatus
[42:13] and respond to calls especially with Pender EMS requesting that four-wheel drive apparatus
[42:17] respond on all EMS calls. We had enough staffing here to stand up approximately
[42:24] three four-wheel drive vehicles in case the need was there from Pender EMS
[42:29] for us to respond on that number of calls at one time, which is, you know, far
[42:34] greater benefit than what we've been able to provide previously due to
[42:37] limited staffing. So that's about the most update I've got for you right
[42:43] now. So does anybody have any questions?
[42:45] What was the dog's name, I forgot.
[42:47] I was going to say, if you went through this mention, how?
[42:50] Yes, ma'am.
[42:51] So, Mr. Tommy Lindsey, who I'm sure all y'all are very familiar with,
[42:56] of course, has approximately 45 years of service into the town of Bergoff
[43:00] as a volunteer with us.
[43:02] Mr. Tommy is a very, very big dog lover
[43:05] and has actually told me in the past that he'd always wanted to have a station dog.
[43:09] there was some debate about his name until Mr. Tommy looked at him and said
[43:16] his name's Halligan and it's Hal for short and so at that point there was a
[43:21] little bit more brief debate and I informed everybody that when the man
[43:25] that's given 45 years to this town says what the dog's name is that's what
[43:29] his name is so his name we call him Hal for short he has not ever met a
[43:34] stranger I was out taking him for a walk this afternoon and he saw a
[43:39] lady come across the street and he just automatically knew that that was supposed to be his friend
[43:43] and she was supposed to love on him so he started trying to take off running to her.
[43:48] So he is fitting in great, seems to be very well mannered especially for how young of
[43:56] a puppy he is.
[43:57] We do have a meeting scheduled later this week with a local group for some training
[44:02] that they've offered to provide and then we'll look to get that additional training
[44:05] and certification down the road for some of the services that we hope to be able to utilize
[44:10] them to provide, you know, for citizens, responders, all that kind of stuff.
[44:15] So he's fitting in great, learning quite well.
[44:19] In some cases he might be learning faster than the rest of us.
[44:22] So he's fitting in well.
[44:24] I think those people are aware, but I guess if you'll just tell a quick story on how
[44:28] you all ended up with him.
[44:29] Yes, ma'am.
[44:30] So Officer Rossi with Virgal PD found him.
[44:34] I believe she was out on a regular patrol and he was out
[44:38] loose, unattended loss.
[44:39] She found him, I believe, around some kind of a dumpster
[44:43] or something due to some of the cold weather.
[44:45] She had brought him up to town hall just to kind of keep
[44:48] him warm.
[44:49] We initially housed him overnight that first night.
[44:53] The town made announcements of, you know, this dog was
[44:56] located by a PD officer, you know, if you're the owner.
[45:00] We housed at the fire station overnight, so on and so forth. No owners made contact.
[45:05] Chief Raul, when he come in the next morning, brought up that we needed to contact animal
[45:10] control for a required 72-hour hold. When the officers were there picking up how to go for
[45:18] a 72-hour hold, we were just having conversation and, you know, we told them about how it
[45:22] was kind of on our horizon to have a firehouse dog and develop one of those programs in
[45:27] the future, you know, over the next couple of years. And everybody had already
[45:33] fell in love with how and so I made mention that, you know, if the owners
[45:36] don't show up in the 72 hours, you know, we definitely like to be contacted
[45:41] and see if we could get approval to move forward with making how our
[45:44] firehouse dog when he got the animal shelter. They were made aware of that
[45:49] request and they immediately call me back within about five minutes of him
[45:52] getting an animal shelter. Um and they said we're gonna do you one better. Um
[45:57] they said we're gonna give him his vaccinations and we're gonna bring him
[46:00] back to you and y'all can foster him for the 72 hour hold. Um and basically if
[46:05] any owners come up, you know, obviously he would be returned. If no
[46:09] owners come up, um, then he would officially be adopted by, um, the
[46:15] burgall fire department. Uh, no owners came up within that 72 hour
[46:19] period despite posts being made and things like that by animal shelter, town, all that
[46:25] kind of stuff.
[46:26] And so we officially adopted him at that point, which from what we saw on Facebook with some
[46:34] of the town posts and stuff, there was a lot of people asking us to adopt him, even, you
[46:40] know, not knowing that that was a process that was kind of in the works, you know,
[46:44] following all the appropriate steps and protocols and everything like that.
[46:47] 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.
[47:01] Other than that, he's been with us ever since.
[47:04] 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.
[47:12] I'm sure everybody's seen because it blew up much more and we anticipated he's
[47:16] going on his first firetruck ride. He really enjoyed that and has really gotten
[47:21] a lot of positive support and stuff from the community as well. We've had EMS
[47:28] crews stop by and ask if they can visit with him and pet him. Some of the
[47:32] PD officers other town staff will stop by you know throughout their work day
[47:36] when they just kind of need a little pick me up and they'll walk in and
[47:40] Hey, where's how and you know, of course, soon as he hears his name, he's excited.
[47:44] He comes out and knows somebody there should pet him.
[47:46] We've even had citizens come out to meet our crews when they're out doing
[47:51] routine tasks or even responding to calls during the snow.
[47:54] We had a crew that was clearing a vehicle in a ditch.
[47:58] And they said they had a lady come out running, waving them down.
[48:01] They thought something was wrong with her.
[48:03] They stopped, you know, said, Hey, ma'am, what's wrong?
[48:04] How can we help you?
[48:05] And she said, Oh, no, nothing's wrong.
[48:07] She said, uh, do you got how with you?
[48:09] She said, we wanted to meet how.
[48:10] 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.
[48:20] 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?
[48:32] You know, if they have calls or they have responders or something like that, that need that kind of emotional support.
[48:38] and so it's it's been a I think it was a need maybe that maybe wasn't realized
[48:44] how big of a need it was and so it's one of those things that's just been a real
[48:49] blessing ma'am so the vet and animal shelter both list him as a lab mix and
[48:59] he's just as pretty as can be just as sweet as can be he does a little bit of
[49:03] puppy teeth and then stuff like that and he doesn't like the word no when
[49:07] you tell him no he'll kind of get back at you to let you know he doesn't like it
[49:10] but of course he listens so very good dog yes ma'am thank y'all
[49:52] I'm going to start off with the support metrics so there was a uptick in the amount of support
[49:59] requests for the month of January with approximately 65 IT support requests that were worked and
[50:05] completed for the month.
[50:07] Moving on to projects, just a couple of projects that we have going on that I wanted
[50:11] to note.
[50:12] I'm happy to say that we've just wrapped up on a project to replace our time clock system.
[50:18] This was a full replacement of the time tracking software as well as the physical time clocks
[50:23] that our employees use.
[50:25] This was a joint effort between IT, Finance, and the Human Resources Department and we
[50:31] spent weeks on evaluation, setup, and testing of the new system before going live just
[50:37] a week ago.
[50:40] We've also started working on a replacement for our mass notification system with a move
[50:44] toward an improved system that will allow for mass notifications not only to the public
[50:49] but also internal notifications for town staff.
[50:52] The newer system has some capability to hook into our social media platforms and our
[50:57] website for faster deployment of notifications.
[51:00] This project is about 50% completed at this point and should be wrapped up within
[51:04] the next two weeks.
[51:06] We have also started a project to implement C-Click Fix, which will provide a one-step
[51:12] tool to receive track and respond to resident service requests through our website.
[51:20] I'm also continuing to work on testing for an all-in-one solution that would replace
[51:24] our aging phones, access control systems, and camera systems, and be able to integrate
[51:28] those together with features that are improved for our staff's safety as well as the safety
[51:33] the safety of the public.
[51:37] The last thing I wanted to mention
[51:39] is that the United States Department of Justice
[51:42] has finalized a rule clarifying that municipal websites must
[51:47] be accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
[51:51] Municipalities serving less than 50,000 residents
[51:54] will need to comply with these guidelines in the rule
[51:57] by April 26 of 2027 in an effort
[52:00] to make sure that we effectively serve our residents I will be working with the
[52:05] town clerk to ensure that all current and future content on our website will
[52:09] meet those standards. What does that entail?
[52:14] There's there's various
[52:15] guidelines to it. It'll be like
[52:21] pictures will have once you hover over them you'll you'll be able to see a
[52:26] description and things like that so because they're not able to type in
[52:30] something they can find something yet. Yeah there's and we actually use our
[52:36] vendor that supplies our website that does the build out does build those
[52:42] websites with compliance in mind but it is a shared responsibility so any of
[52:48] the content they they can't really control the content that we put on
[52:51] there so any of the content like pictures and those types of articles
[52:54] and things like that. It is our responsibility to make sure that those
[52:59] 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
[53:08] some practical things. And it covers municipal websites as well as any
[53:14] 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?
[53:23] They were extremely aged.
[53:26] We had also some very negative feedback from supervisors and human resources and different
[53:34] departments.
[53:35] It wasn't very user friendly.
[53:38] Our time clocks, the physical time clocks were just very, very much aged needing to
[53:44] be replaced.
[53:45] so it was it was sort of all you know culmination of those things that led to
[53:52] looking at replacing that
[53:56] yeah every few years for the for the hardware the system
[54:06] you know they regularly would put out updates or most systems did so that
[54:12] depends on how well the system is like.
[54:15] But for us, we did see a value in moving to this.
[54:21] This was a system that was accepted
[54:25] by our financial software.
[54:27] It was actually the only system that was officially
[54:31] accepted by our financial software.
[54:35] And it seems to be, based on the feedback
[54:38] that I'm getting from people this week,
[54:41] It seems to be a lot faster, more responsive, easier to use.
[54:52] It's been a very good transition, I will say.
[54:57] So we're very, very pleased with that.
[54:59] Always looking to improve and it actually ended up being cheaper, believe it or not,
[55:07] than our current solution.
[55:08] And so that's always a positive, but especially when it goes above and beyond what we already
[55:15] had.
[55:18] Any further questions?
[55:19] Any questions?
[55:21] Thank you.
[55:21] All right.
[55:21] Thank you.
[55:23] All right.
[55:24] Jaina, is yours quick?
[55:27] Or?
[55:27] Okay.
[55:28] All right.
[55:28] So this time we will take our break for signing up for public comment if there are
[55:33] any.
[55:33] And we'll take a five or ten minute break and resume back shortly for that part of our meeting.
[56:01] Good afternoon.
[56:05] I'm glad you let's give me time to talk to you.
[56:09] I came here to talk to Donna.
[56:11] Subject is near and dear to my heart.
[56:14] I came here today to talk about the failure of the town of Burgall to protect its citizens.
[56:19] I'm talking about the for the. Just
[56:22] destruction of a rural
[56:23] agriculture community. Stony
[56:25] Ryan. And a hundred fifty year
[56:28] legacy of my family. It's named
[56:30] on that road.
[56:35] Lay all this at
[56:36] the feet of the planning
[56:37] department. Granted burglars
[56:39] has its own unified development
[56:40] ordinance but when it's
[56:42] definition of real agriculture
[56:44] so blatantly favors
[56:45] developments I must speak up.
[56:47] Burglars definition of real
[56:49] agriculture goes against
[56:50] that's based in North Carolina and Pender County's definition of rural agriculture.
[56:54] To continue to allow this definition to stand threatens all agricultural properties within
[56:59] Bergall Zoning District.
[57:01] Well-divided is just the start of a total destruction of the quaint town we all love.
[57:08] You're inviting all predatory developers that have the money to buy land and hire
[57:13] lawyers and destroy our web like.
[57:18] today. Another Leland Hamstead
[57:21] tomorrow. Is this really what
[57:23] we want. Also developed this
[57:25] size where I had a voting block
[57:26] that could change the politics
[57:27] of our community. This will
[57:29] overcrowd our schools rose and
[57:31] public utilities. And this is
[57:33] being done by zoning to a
[57:35] community that can't even
[57:38] vote for the legislative
[57:39] representatives. This may be
[57:41] the last maybe too late
[57:43] the state. But not too late to
[57:46] revise the idea to protect from
[57:47] future development. For you as
[57:50] commissioners. Realize how this
[57:52] planning department has failed
[57:53] the citizens and you as
[57:55] commissioners. To force you to
[57:57] vote. A development. That some
[58:01] of you opposed but because of
[58:02] the federal lawsuit. Forced to
[58:05] approve. Thank you. All right,
[58:14] Mr. Johnny Westbrook.
[58:26] My name is
[58:26] John Westbrook. I was born here 82 years ago. And I love this
[58:31] town. And that's why I'm here.
[58:36] I you can come home. Because I
[58:39] did 26 years ago. What I'm going to say today may upset
[58:43] some people and they do I'm sorry for it. But I wanted to
[58:47] come and congratulate you for working out that subdivision which was so highly charged against.
[58:55] I was against the original. 500 was just too much. But when they came back at half the
[59:02] size I felt that was the right thing to do. I was not allowed to testify because I didn't
[59:10] have any bearing evidently. You let me speak for 10 minutes as to why I shouldn't. But
[59:17] But I'm glad you did eventually. You got out of that, increased stormwater management.
[59:23] But the most important thing to me is our tax base.
[59:27] On a business in downtown it is dependent upon people coming in those doors.
[59:33] And if they don't, if we don't grow with the town, the town will deteriorate.
[59:38] One of the other things that will come is the size of the lodge will be larger.
[59:42] The houses will be a little bit more expensive.
[59:45] That might not be good for everybody.
[59:47] But it will be a higher quality.
[59:50] I know a lot of people were against the developer.
[59:52] We can't control who the developer is.
[59:56] But they built a quality, okay house.
[1:00:00] House. But our tax base is very important. And interesting, we talked about taxes before
[1:00:09] this started. The last time it was done, my taxes went up 300 percent for my house and
[1:00:17] my store. I peeled. They came back and said, Mr. Westbrook, you're right. They reduced
[1:00:24] used it to 200 percent instead of 300 percent. And I owned probably the largest single building
[1:00:30] in the town. And as I was telling them what my taxes are going to be, but if you want me
[1:00:36] to continue to be here, you need to keep our tax basis down. And by having more people
[1:00:44] come in, the quality of life will be retained. Actually, what will happen is our tax rate
[1:00:51] We'll go down, but the amount of tax we pay in comparison, I think, may actually help
[1:00:58] us out by approving it. It's coming, whether you're ready or not, and I thank you for considering
[1:01:06] the quality of our life, our tax base, and being able to say no when it's the right
[1:01:12] thing to say. So again, thank you for being here. I really appreciate what you've done.
[1:01:23] I conclude
[1:01:28] those who have signed up for our public forum and comment this afternoon at
[1:01:33] this time we will go into our public hearing without being said we will open our public
[1:01:39] hearing at this time and we'll have Ron from planning step forward.
[1:01:47] This is for a rezoning request, a consideration of a proposed rezoning request for about
[1:01:54] three point seven acres of land from an archway residential district with b2 along
[1:02:00] highway it's a highway business district located on the western side of
[1:02:06] 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
[1:02:16] you madam mayor members of the board this is a request to resume approximately
[1:02:22] 3.7 acres of land along NC Highway 53 from R20 residential district to a B2
[1:02:28] highway business district. Request applies to undeveloped parcels is owned by
[1:02:34] Mount Cavalry leadership development and represented by Mr. Henry Nader who is
[1:02:39] president of the audience. This is an aerial of the site as you can see on your
[1:02:42] screen. The site is currently zoned R20 with the conservation preservation
[1:02:47] overlay and you can see on the screen the proposed rezoning would
[1:02:51] change only the base zoning from B2. The CPO belay will remain in place continuing to restrict
[1:02:58] development and flood plain environmentally sensitive areas. The B2 district is intended for
[1:03:03] highway oriented commercial uses and is already established along the corridor. The property
[1:03:08] is adjacent to the existing B2 commercial land including nearby large-scale Walmart.
[1:03:16] Making this request is consistent with the surrounding zoning land use patterns although
[1:03:21] the parcel is slightly under the four acre minimum. It is part of the larger
[1:03:24] contiguous B2 area, which I mentioned before, which meets the intent of the
[1:03:28] ordinance. As you can see on the screen, there is a flood plain as well as
[1:03:34] floodway located on the western portion of the project. Any development within
[1:03:38] the floodway will have to go through regulations that work by the Bergall
[1:03:42] flood prevention ordinance. A development in the floodway itself will
[1:03:46] require a no rise certification from a licensed engineer. This is an aerial
[1:03:52] looking aerial in the middle and then looking east and west on each side. This
[1:03:58] is a straight rezoning with no specific use proposed at this time. Any future
[1:04:02] development would be subject to UDO standards, technical review committee,
[1:04:07] NCDOT access requirements, as well as flood regulations.
[1:04:12] Proposed the properties
[1:04:14] The categories in this land use category are intended to accommodate intense commercial
[1:04:17] development in areas where such growth is desirable, particularly a long major.
[1:04:23] Railway corridors, commercial corridors, etc.
[1:04:26] The category supports broad range of commercial and mixed uses, including large-scale retail
[1:04:32] auto-oriented businesses, hotels, shopping centers, etc.
[1:04:36] Developments in this expected are expected to follow enhanced design standards that
[1:04:41] promote connectivity, screen and landscaping, parking areas and improved
[1:04:46] building appearance and protect the environmentally sensitive areas. As a
[1:04:51] result, staff recommends approval to propose resigning. The proposed V2
[1:04:56] district is consistent with the town of Burgalls future land use map and aligns
[1:05:00] closely with the goals and policies outlined in the Burgall 2030
[1:05:05] comprehensive land use plan. In fact, the current proposal demonstrates a
[1:05:10] stronger alignment with the adopted vision objectives of the plan. It does
[1:05:15] any potential areas of concern or deviation. The rezoning request is
[1:05:20] reasonable and in the public interest because the proposal emphasizes
[1:05:24] commercial growth with higher intensity commercial uses along major
[1:05:28] transportation corridors like NC Highway 53. Focusing on development in
[1:05:33] areas with existing infrastructure reduces public cost and supports
[1:05:39] substantial growth while attracting appropriate business
[1:05:42] strengthens local economy and livability.
[1:05:47] That does conclude my presentation.
[1:05:50] The applicant is here answering questions.
[1:05:52] I'm also available for any questions you may have.
[1:05:55] Are you Henry?
[1:05:58] Henry, is there anything that you would like to say?
[1:06:00] It was for John.
[1:06:10] Good, thank you all very much for having me.
[1:06:13] I appreciate it.
[1:06:14] 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.
[1:06:28] 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,
[1:06:41] trade skills and college prep studies for at-risk youth primarily in Western
[1:06:48] Pender County and we are here to request your support of our you know attempt to
[1:06:58] rezone these two parcels to general business with 200 feet of frontage on
[1:07:05] highway 53 these lots are located on the highest traffic corridor in the
[1:07:11] town of Bergdorf. We're one door down from the largest retail operation in
[1:07:18] Western Pender County within 2,000 feet of over a dozen national brand retailers
[1:07:24] and quick-serve restaurants. The Bergdorf comprehensive future land use map
[1:07:30] designates these lots and surrounding parcels as a commercial growth zone
[1:07:36] where intensive commercial growth is desirable. The current R20 zoning is out
[1:07:44] of step with the evolving character of the Highway 53 corridor and the
[1:07:49] comprehensive land use plans vision for the future of the town of Bergdorf. We
[1:07:54] request these two lots be zoned to B2 to match the adjacent parcels to the
[1:08:01] and across the street. I think it makes sense for everybody.
[1:08:06] My question is to you, Mr. Henry,
[1:08:10] is that your company will be reselling to develop that
[1:08:14] with some commercial property, so do you have some commercial
[1:08:18] candidates in mind that's looking at that property? The reason why
[1:08:22] you can't ask that?
[1:08:24] The property's been listed for sale. It's okay. You don't have to answer that.
[1:08:30] Yeah, I was going to say that we do have an under contract currently.
[1:08:34] You do?
[1:08:35] Yes, we do.
[1:08:36] But I can't disclose who.
[1:08:39] Let's end the conversation.
[1:08:40] That is irrelevant to today's decision.
[1:08:43] Okay.
[1:08:44] Any questions in regards to the rezoning?
[1:08:49] We're at Henry River, Ron.
[1:08:53] All right.
[1:08:54] Well, if there is none, are we ready to move, to close this out, move to the,
[1:09:00] okay.
[1:09:01] All right, so we will close our public hearing.
[1:09:04] So the request is to rezone this, as stated,
[1:09:08] from a R20 to a B2.
[1:09:11] Do we have a motion to support the resolution?
[1:09:17] I'll make a motion.
[1:09:19] All in favor?
[1:09:21] Any opposed?
[1:09:24] OK.
[1:09:25] And do we have a motion to approve the ordinance?
[1:09:28] So it was a P2.
[1:09:30] All in favor?
[1:09:44] Okay,
[1:09:47] with that being said, that close that finishes out our public forum and our public
[1:09:50] hearing and we'll go back to our departmental updates.
[1:09:53] Thank you Henry for being here this evening.
[1:10:08] Hold on a moment.
[1:10:21] I mean I don't just know where he went to and you can't just leave like that brown are you
[1:10:32] going to check okay
[1:10:39] you may receive Jane
[1:10:43] Alex with Parks and Recreation Cody Cody's out
[1:10:48] at the director's conference this week so I'm just filling in a few updates from him
[1:10:53] programs wise we had our daddy daughter and mother son dances past weekend
[1:10:57] those are both sold out we're actually looking at increasing capacity in some
[1:11:01] way in the future we don't have any more programs for the rest of February but
[1:11:06] we're ramping up in March with all Arbor Day Mayers Gala all that kind of
[1:11:10] stuff just a reminder that the blueberry festivals pancake breakfast is this
[1:11:16] month February 21st at the fire department takeout will also be at
[1:11:21] fire department so there's not two locations just if y'all are marking your
[1:11:24] calendars for your families.
[1:11:27] It's okay I can hear you but I'm not sure if I can.
[1:11:31] Any questions about programs? Okay we are working on a mural project this was
[1:11:37] originally brought up by the beautification committee we just
[1:11:40] thought we would go ahead and put a mural in a park so we have one planned
[1:11:43] for Hankins Park more details to come a design will be presented to you
[1:11:48] guys at the next meeting. So David and Cody have been working on that. West Side Trail
[1:11:55] update. This is from Cody and there is a lot. So if you have any questions, you'll probably
[1:12:01] have to ask him. All encroachments have been signed with residents and finalized DOT has
[1:12:08] also improved the encroachment request for Penderley and Bridgers, which was a big one
[1:12:13] that we were waiting on, so that is done. Sidewalk work should be completed this
[1:12:17] week with contractors. Terry Spell Mechanical has been scheduled for the installation of
[1:12:23] the rapid flashing beacons. I think there's three or four locations for those. Crosswalk
[1:12:28] quotes have been approved and placed on the schedule for installation. Cody's working
[1:12:33] with landscaping to finish up cleaning and installing dirt and grass seed. And staff
[1:12:40] will be working to finish painting and installing signs along the trail. We have gotten some
[1:12:43] new maps and doing our stencils on the trail just to keep everyone informed where the trail is going
[1:12:50] and then the concerned resident on Hay Street with the landscaping that got removed that has all
[1:12:57] been worked out those items will be going back in in May so we've located them all it's just
[1:13:01] not the right time for them yet. Any questions? Does she know about that? She does know. Okay great
[1:13:10] I do have a question, I guess I'm really close to this thing on time, am I being good, let
[1:13:19] me look up, James, this might be a question because it's in line with Cody, on Hays Street
[1:13:28] the markings are the beacons, what are we going to do there for safety, it's just
[1:13:33] a follow up, you weren't part of that last time, so I just want to make sure it's
[1:13:39] on the record that we keep following up on the safety
[1:13:42] crossing over there at Hayes Street.
[1:13:44] They did a good job by communicating what you all
[1:13:47] did a great job by communicating with those two
[1:13:50] family, those two residents to get that resolved.
[1:13:53] Now my concern is it's just the safety because of cars
[1:13:56] parked too close up crossways with the kids going
[1:14:00] through you know, you want to give the kids
[1:14:02] opportunity to see the cars and you want the cars
[1:14:05] who's driving by have the opportunity to see the kids
[1:14:08] crossing so James is aware of speaking I just wanted to follow up on that correct
[1:14:14] and Cody has gotten quotes from the striping folks that are going to be
[1:14:18] doing all the crosswalks so that'll be done with with striping to delineate the
[1:14:23] crosswalk area as well as some safety zones on either side of the cross
[1:14:26] great. But I mean straight we just needed to. Address or. In the future. Yes.
[1:14:37] Any more
[1:14:38] questions for. Thank you for the update. All right planning department.
[1:14:55] We've been working
[1:14:56] on way finding project for quite a while. Right.
[1:15:00] And now we're in the process where we are doing encroachment agreements with NCDOT, which
[1:15:07] has proved to have been rather challenging, but Ms. Brie is working her way through that
[1:15:12] quite diligently. We're still working on a UDO rewrite we took this month off from planning
[1:15:19] board at kind of conflicts with the chamber meeting on the 20th, I believe, as well as
[1:15:26] it's going to give us a little bit more time to focus on the UD or rewrite.
[1:15:32] Normal miscellaneous planning activities, which if you ever want to come over, we can
[1:15:36] show you any of the 300 random things that we do weekly.
[1:15:41] I'm happy to sit down with anybody.
[1:15:44] We've also had discussions with some future incoming developments or developments waiting
[1:15:50] on certain infrastructural components.
[1:15:53] Those are constantly going.
[1:15:54] We've met a few times about civic permitting extension.
[1:15:59] 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,
[1:16:08] as well as looking at some permitting tech training opportunities and the rezoning that we just had.
[1:16:18] Several things going on, but if you all need anything or have any questions, feel free to give me a call.
[1:16:23] So can you go over the UDO rewrite, or so we're doing the UDO rewrite?
[1:16:28] So it's a whole new UDO, it's based around the skeleton of another town's UDO.
[1:16:34] So what would, we would normally have to get a consultant to do and pay them anywhere
[1:16:40] between $50,000 to $150,000.
[1:16:43] We were able to do this in-house and over the course of the last 18 months probably,
[1:16:49] maybe a little last year or so.
[1:16:52] but just retrofitting that for the town,
[1:16:55] specifying it into the town needs,
[1:16:57] taking things like the use table
[1:17:00] which has a, it's tremendously detailed
[1:17:03] and making that more generalized
[1:17:05] which is more customer friendly.
[1:17:09] Yeah, some things like that.
[1:17:11] So ours was rather large and we were,
[1:17:14] yeah, it's shrinking it,
[1:17:15] but making it more user friendly.
[1:17:17] Condensing it down,
[1:17:18] making the UDO rather user friendly too.
[1:17:21] The current UDO is not user friendly.
[1:17:24] Almost everyone calls me and complains about it
[1:17:26] because there's a lot of general statute jargon
[1:17:30] that's been copied in there
[1:17:31] and it's very difficult to use or understand.
[1:17:33] It doesn't give you a lot of guidance.
[1:17:36] So, this should give you guidance.
[1:17:38] It's not gonna, it's not here to prevent development
[1:17:42] but it's here to create a smarter opportunity
[1:17:44] for development for property owners.
[1:17:46] That's correct.
[1:17:47] But we can't possibly,
[1:17:49] we're working out when it's done, when we'll be able to adopt it. Correct. Correct. That
[1:17:56] is hung up in some legislation. So when residents and folks you know. And I think what the hope
[1:18:04] is is by the time I take it through planning board to get them to approve it and then
[1:18:08] take it to you all we're hoping that that legislature will kind of be worth that situation
[1:18:13] So just kind of wanted him to explain where that sits and how that affects us when residents
[1:18:22] and developers reference our UDO and question maybe how things are done.
[1:18:32] Any questions for Ron?
[1:18:37] you just pointed out right there, and what Ron just pointed out, the gentleman, one of
[1:18:42] the gentlemen who spoke at the public comment about the UDO, our hands are tied, as Ron
[1:18:49] just pointed out, we cannot down zone because of that law that was passed at the end of
[1:18:52] 2024.
[1:18:54] So, you know, even if we wanted to down zone in that area, we wouldn't have had the
[1:19:00] ability to do it.
[1:19:01] 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.
[1:19:17] 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.
[1:19:28] And I'm sorry, I missed that comment, I stepped out for personal reasons.
[1:19:32] 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.
[1:19:39] So again, we just want us to be transparent and make sure that we understood it.
[1:19:44] 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.
[1:19:57] And that's not not necessarily true. We guide development into a smart development pattern
[1:20:04] We do not take away from people's property rights
[1:20:08] You know one thing
[1:20:11] Because I'm a really not a big Facebook person and that's how I was speaking to the mayor
[1:20:19] Signed up what town of Bergall community of Bergall. I have like five different ones. I look at and those things
[1:20:26] to make your minds go crazy because some of the individuals that comment, I wish I would
[1:20:32] sit, I wish they would sit right here to look at some of the things and what you just explained
[1:20:38] would be nice to be put in a format maybe on the town of Berger or whatever so they can
[1:20:43] read that too.
[1:20:44] Sure.
[1:20:45] You know my shoulders are big enough, they can shoot out all they want but I did get
[1:20:49] educated more so on how this works to buy right and all that and that was the
[1:20:56] ignorance of my part, but throwing spaghetti on the wall to see if it'll work, you know,
[1:21:01] some things benefited. Well, it may and may not have benefited. But to educate the residents
[1:21:07] on the comment you just made, I kind of wish that could get posted because they can look
[1:21:13] at that also. And State won't, we are, our hands are tied. Good statement, we can
[1:21:22] only guide. We really can't do much else because of the laws that we have to be governed by.
[1:21:32] But maybe something like that can go on, because that's all I'm hearing now. And you know,
[1:21:38] I don't have, when the gentleman, I'm just itching when to tell him, you know, say something,
[1:21:44] but I know as learning to be up here, shut your darn mouth, just don't say anything,
[1:21:49] but posting something to make people feel better about or maybe hopefully
[1:21:55] different about how this board has to react to governing things or sit here to
[1:22:03] get educated you know every day is educational not come up here and sit down
[1:22:07] and read but maybe they need to be educated just as much so and we as the
[1:22:12] five or six members up here won't take as much heat.
[1:22:17] This is a question I'm going to ask.
[1:22:21] We still rise with House Bill 765, 765,
[1:22:25] and also Senate Bill 205, but those still
[1:22:29] have a little bit of a voice there.
[1:22:30] That's what we're referring to, yes.
[1:22:32] Yeah.
[1:22:33] Ron, is it possible that you can do a little article
[1:22:35] in our time newsletter?
[1:22:38] Sure.
[1:22:39] Stating something like that, just a few paragraphs.
[1:22:41] just to give some more clarity so we wouldn't take so much heat up here.
[1:22:47] Education is always good.
[1:22:50] Education, educating them.
[1:22:52] And I'm sure all of us, when we ran, we knew we were going to take heat on something sooner or later.
[1:22:56] But if we can help educate individuals, it would help us do our job a little bit easier, too, I think.
[1:23:04] With that, is it possible just to have a session set up here
[1:23:09] and invite the public to come in and educate them on this.
[1:23:13] Well, we spoke about that.
[1:23:15] I'm saying this about this, just a follow-up.
[1:23:17] Yeah, I agree.
[1:23:17] We spoke about that, and so we were
[1:23:18] going to have an open town hall that
[1:23:21] would have department heads like Ron and folks sitting up
[1:23:26] here to answer those questions.
[1:23:28] And I believe it's time, because we haven't held it yet,
[1:23:32] and it's heavy wood.
[1:23:33] And the thing is, some of the same people
[1:23:35] that would do all of that speaking or typing.
[1:23:42] You never see them in here.
[1:23:43] So, you know, it's like a spinning wheel.
[1:23:46] So we sit here and maybe we have seven people
[1:23:48] that's very concerned, but the ones who are spewing
[1:23:51] and they like to read and write, maybe they have opportunity
[1:23:54] to read an article that you put out.
[1:23:57] So, anyway, that's my two cents.
[1:24:02] I'll just have that somewhere.
[1:24:03] We'll work on that right next time, okay.
[1:24:07] Thank you very much.
[1:24:13] Good
[1:24:19] evening, Mayor, members of the board.
[1:24:22] My name is James Ralph, Chief of Police.
[1:24:25] In the month of January, I had Sergeant Padgett and Sergeant Kennedy.
[1:24:30] We sent them to a couple of classes.
[1:24:33] One was at Salemburg dealing with weathering the storm.
[1:24:37] it's basically a to keep officers from getting burnout to talk about the
[1:24:45] stresses of the job that we see every day taking care of our own you know we go
[1:24:50] to we go to bad calls we see things that most people don't have to see
[1:24:55] thankfully but it's a way for mental health for law enforcement and other
[1:24:59] first responders to be able to recognize the things that we do deal
[1:25:04] with a fact is we're all human beings at the end of the day and so it was a good
[1:25:08] class they they went to we're looking at bringing the instructor that taught that
[1:25:12] class she's close by she's in Anzlo County we're looking at bringing her
[1:25:17] here to do a class with all of our staff open it up to some other local
[1:25:22] agencies just to try to share that message but in addition to that they
[1:25:26] went to background investigations trying to get both of them through a
[1:25:29] course that way as we try to work to fill some of the positions that you know
[1:25:36] right now we've got one open position with the police department so somebody's
[1:25:40] got to run those backgrounds and be able to get those people hired whenever we
[1:25:43] whenever we get quality applicants back the first or the toward the end of
[1:25:50] January whenever we had the ice storm that weekend Saturday Sunday we had
[1:25:58] some staff that worked. I think by the time it was all said and done sixteen or
[1:26:02] seventeen days straight. It's not just the police department there was
[1:26:06] representatives from many of the many of the town offices. I know public works
[1:26:11] had people here. That that weekend and then the following week dealing with the
[1:26:15] snowstorm. Firehead extra personnel on staff we had extra personnel on staff
[1:26:21] and just want to kind of take a minute to recognize the other
[1:26:26] department heads that are in the room. That we all work together
[1:26:29] is first time we've had any kind of event since I've been the
[1:26:32] police chief and being in a EOC working with those folks, it
[1:26:37] couldn't have gone any better. Truthfully. Thankfully, we
[1:26:41] didn't have any major incidents. But just from our side of the
[1:26:47] house to everybody else. Thank you for the job that was
[1:26:49] done. We endured a lot of long nights and long days, but
[1:26:54] everybody got along our town I think excelled especially when it came to the
[1:27:00] streets getting opened back up some of the snow removal our guys are rocking it
[1:27:05] so thankful to be a part of that one thing I do want to share with the
[1:27:10] community as a as a whole February the 23rd the Pender County Sheriff's
[1:27:17] Office is hosting a canine it's called a urban tracking class so it's
[1:27:22] for something in a setting. Um. You don't have any information in your in
[1:27:28] your packets. I got this information a little bit later, but I'm going to get
[1:27:32] some information to the town clerk to try to get out on the electronic sign as
[1:27:36] well as in our newsletter. Um there's close to 50 canine teams coming in to
[1:27:42] the county for that training. It'll be lasting from the 23rd to the 25th.
[1:27:47] They'll be utilizing all portions of Pender County, but they're going to
[1:27:52] kind of a hub here in Bergall. They'll be doing some of the. We don't just do
[1:27:59] apprehension type work with canals. We also do a lot of lost persons. People with
[1:28:05] cognitive impairments. Children that may get lost. So they're going to be doing
[1:28:09] some of those type scenarios here in the downtown area. So you might end up
[1:28:16] see enough. There's been increased patrol presence a lot more. They have they
[1:28:21] have. And we're just trying to be a good steward. We've partnered with them. They
[1:28:26] will be having a dinner at the depot one of the nights, but wanted to try to get
[1:28:33] that word out to the citizens and the business owners that way that they
[1:28:37] It doesn't draw any extra alarm from anyone.
[1:28:40] So,
[1:28:43] with that, any questions?
[1:28:46] Thank you all for the job that you did do during this.
[1:28:51] Good job.
[1:28:52] Good job.
[1:28:54] I couldn't even, I had to date out of my house.
[1:28:58] I do have to say, I did enjoy the response that you gave me
[1:29:02] whenever we checked with you.
[1:29:04] He told us that he had plenty of snow available at his house
[1:29:06] if anybody needs something.
[1:29:07] Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. Public services, Chris.
[1:29:20] Good evening, Madam
[1:29:21] Mayor, members of the board, Chris Medlin, Public Services Director. For the month of
[1:29:27] January, we repaired three water leaks, replaced two sewer taps that were given as issues
[1:29:34] down at the main installed two water taps upgraded the side entrance to PD and
[1:29:42] the front entrance to inspections today we started hanging up the hometown
[1:29:48] hero banner some probably got half of them a little over half completed the
[1:29:53] water main project on Fremont streets coming along well they've installed
[1:29:57] a little over a thousand feet
[1:30:00] And with the weather we had no longer and they've been at it, that's pretty good production.
[1:30:07] Courthouse Avenue, the sidewalk there should resume. I talked to the contractor today. He
[1:30:13] was hoping to be here today, but he didn't make it, so, but he should be back tomorrow.
[1:30:19] And they were hoping to get it done by the end of this week at one side, but Ben, he
[1:30:23] wasn't able to at the end today. I'll probably be the first next week.
[1:30:30] I'll stand by
[1:30:30] for any questions. You and I have already spoke prior to this. And I also, I spoke to Dustin
[1:30:40] because there's pictures that were sent to me by a citizen and it is pertaining to an
[1:30:49] area on West Bridges and North McCulloch Street.
[1:30:57] The area looks like it was washed
[1:30:59] out a little bit and I'm going to let you explain, you know, and that's the pictures.
[1:31:06] You can actually see where it's just washed all out and we can look at it later on.
[1:31:11] But explain what's going on and what we need to do to move forward on this.
[1:31:14] Yes, sir.
[1:31:15] Has this picture been sent to James?
[1:31:17] No, I just learned how to.
[1:31:19] This was sent to me today and I reviewed it just as I was coming in.
[1:31:23] and dust and just inform me how I can send the presentations
[1:31:27] and then move it forward, unless you wanna do it now.
[1:31:31] That's fine, I just said that you'll send that.
[1:31:33] Yeah, and I'll send them.
[1:31:34] I'll try to get in as early as I can
[1:31:36] so we can flash up on the board.
[1:31:38] It's the second time I had an issue
[1:31:40] and I, you know, technology, I'm not right there yet.
[1:31:44] I need to have a dust in at my house.
[1:31:46] Yes, sir.
[1:31:47] So one of you has a picture of at that intersection
[1:31:50] during the trail work. We had a citizen talk about his ditch wasn't draining. So
[1:31:57] we investigated and there was actually a sewer line that was just about dead
[1:32:03] center of the pipe crossing the road. So if any dirt got blown into it or
[1:32:09] whatever, the ditch would not drain. So what we did was we built an
[1:32:14] what they call an interference box. The sewer still runs through the box
[1:32:20] But you could storm drain just inside so it's got a bigger area to get around the sewer line
[1:32:27] 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
[1:32:34] And that is one of them
[1:32:35] because it's it's being washed out currently so
[1:32:41] Chris they're going to build that area back up so that
[1:32:44] We eliminate the wash out.
[1:32:46] Yes, sir. We can get the dirt put back and get him to put some matting down like they did along the trail.
[1:32:52] Stabilize it.
[1:32:52] Yeah, unfortunately when you disrupt those areas it takes a while to...
[1:32:56] Yes, ma'am.
[1:32:57] So is that something you do in house or is that something we contract out?
[1:33:01] That one, since the contractor was there, we had him do it there.
[1:33:05] Oh, yeah.
[1:33:06] It was part of the sidewalk trails.
[1:33:09] Okay.
[1:33:09] Which is why.
[1:33:10] Yeah, and that the water main project you said on Fremont that is that station
[1:33:17] fenced area, fenced area I think they're positioned there. Yes I understand they
[1:33:25] have to be out of the week prior to the blueberry fence and they can come back
[1:33:31] the week following. That's fine I know just we were all curious what it was at
[1:33:42] And the last thing we spoke about the line is still located up here on Walker Street.
[1:33:47] Yes, sir.
[1:33:48] We report on it.
[1:33:50] We said that was an AT&T line.
[1:33:53] Is that right?
[1:33:53] I believe that one is just right.
[1:33:54] Yeah, we need to contact Joey on that.
[1:33:58] Yes.
[1:33:58] And it's just like the spectrum line there on Northwood.
[1:34:01] I spoke to those individuals.
[1:34:03] It's a deadline that's going right to the house.
[1:34:05] You said the ambulance took it out before.
[1:34:07] But that has been going on since September, October, and a spectrum.
[1:34:13] I did give them a call and I think it went all the way to India or something.
[1:34:18] I mean, you sit there forever to try to get.
[1:34:20] Yes, sir.
[1:34:21] We do call and report on them, but after that it's.
[1:34:28] We'll use a contact.
[1:34:31] We have to try to see if we can get that line picked up because it's been there
[1:34:34] over too long.
[1:34:36] Thank you.
[1:34:37] Thank you.
[1:34:37] Appreciate it.
[1:34:38] Okay,
[1:34:43] so that finishes out our departmental updates items from the manager.
[1:34:51] So just a few updates. Again, town staff did absolutely excellent during the storm that we had.
[1:34:59] I greatly appreciate all the work that they put in and the hours that they put in.
[1:35:05] 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.
[1:35:14] but Cruz did absolutely excellent, had a lot of phone calls and emails and messages, Facebook
[1:35:23] commenting on how well Berghaal was situated with the cleanup efforts.
[1:35:32] Speed limit reduction, I talked with NTDOT last meeting, the board approved to recommend
[1:35:41] and speed limit reductions on West Bridger Street extension
[1:35:45] and West Bridger Street.
[1:35:49] So I've contacted and talked with Alan Hancock
[1:35:52] about those proposals.
[1:35:56] He's got to run those of the chain
[1:35:58] to see how to do traffic studies
[1:36:00] and see exactly whether it warrants
[1:36:03] the speed limit reduction or not,
[1:36:04] but it's in their court now.
[1:36:10] The three-way and four-way stop sign intersections, and their consent agenda that ordinance was
[1:36:16] officially approved, so public works will be working on removing those and doing some education
[1:36:22] on the stop signs that will be removed at those four-way and three-way intersections.
[1:36:30] We have been heavily working on the budget.
[1:36:33] This is our extremely busy time when it comes to budget.
[1:36:37] Our budget retreat is March 2nd and 3rd.
[1:36:40] With the board, the first date is with all department heads
[1:36:44] and some staff, as well as the commissioners.
[1:36:48] And then the second day is just with the finance staff,
[1:36:52] myself and the commissioners.
[1:36:55] And then if we need to bring anybody out 10, we can at that point.
[1:36:58] But we will go through the prioritization.
[1:37:02] This is kicking off the budget process.
[1:37:05] So this is really looking at the big picture and looking at the kind of where we stand
[1:37:13] and then setting goals and objectives for the budget itself.
[1:37:18] And then over the next couple of months, we will be working on the individual line item budget
[1:37:23] that will be brought back to the board during work sessions to go over it more in detail
[1:37:29] and approve those capital items and determine how to fund those items and all those requests.
[1:37:35] So it is kind of a tedious long process, but it's pretty much the same year after year.
[1:37:45] This year we do have the rebound going on, so that's going to throw a little bit
[1:37:48] of uncertainty into things, but we'll work through those as they come about.
[1:37:56] Non-profit funding applications are due by March 1st, so that was a process that we started
[1:38:02] several years ago where non-profits had to apply to the town by March 1st of every year
[1:38:08] in order to be considered for funding for the future budget year.
[1:38:14] 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.
[1:38:30] Chris talked on the downtown and Courthouse Avenue project.
[1:38:37] Mass Tech was doing boring, and they'll be doing some more boring tomorrow under the courthouse grounds
[1:38:43] and tying in those pedestals there that will be removed from overhead and going to underground.
[1:38:50] They also are going to be replacing the pole at the corner of Right Street and Wilmington Street,
[1:38:59] right there beside Johnny Westbrook's store, so they'll be replacing that pole.
[1:39:06] And then once they get that done, then they will be able to start removing the power lines
[1:39:12] from down right street and down courthouse avenue.
[1:39:15] So it's getting close to having those to be able to be removed.
[1:39:20] Once the poles get removed, then we can go back and do the final sidewalk work.
[1:39:25] But we don't want to do the sidewalk work with poles still there and then have to
[1:39:29] patch where the poles work.
[1:39:31] So we'll do that all in conjunction with that project.
[1:39:34] to interrupt you a minute. So everything that's tagged with the orange is being removed. Correct?
[1:39:41] It should be, yeah. Yes. So it's being removed.
[1:39:43] How would that affect the stop light there in 2027 whenever it's coming?
[1:39:48] It will not. They've worked in conjunction with that project.
[1:39:53] And actually, if you look at the intersection here where they moved the poles back on
[1:39:59] right street they moved them back north that was all for that but still they
[1:40:08] gotta have somewhere near Johnny's building I think they're gonna go on the
[1:40:15] courthouse side and they're gonna go on the Adams tire side okay so it'll be
[1:40:19] across from each other and they'll be the black masked arms stop lights same
[1:40:27] there as well as at Wilmington and Walker, they will be replaced with massed arms instead
[1:40:34] of the power lines.
[1:40:38] So getting in the short rows of that project, there's still quite
[1:40:46] a bit that has to be done, especially with if there's any other utility companies that
[1:40:49] are on those poles. Duke can get theirs off the poles, but then they have notified the
[1:40:55] other utility companies, but trying to push them
[1:40:57] to get their stock of polls can take some more time
[1:41:01] in fighting, but we, Duke's done their part
[1:41:04] in notifying them that they have to get off of their polls.
[1:41:08] They do belong to Duke, so they ultimately
[1:41:09] have control over them.
[1:41:13] Water and sewer master plan, I've got a meeting
[1:41:16] that'll be happening next week to go over the details.
[1:41:21] Myself and Chris will be meeting with
[1:41:24] W. K. Dixon on, sorry, McKim and Creed on that one, McKim and Creed on the water and
[1:41:33] sewer master plan and see where they stand with all the surveying and the
[1:41:37] beginning of the modeling side of things and then the water and or the
[1:41:43] storm water master plan they've gotten the final surveys in everything's
[1:41:47] wrapping up and they should have that final product here in the next couple
[1:41:51] weeks we expect. So then that's when we can turn that that system that y'all have seen
[1:41:57] the GIS system, we'll be able to turn that online and be able to look at the detailed data there.
[1:42:05] I think that's all I've got at this point.
[1:42:08] All right, any questions for James or any of those projects currently?
[1:42:16] All right, Tarny, do you have anything for open?
[1:42:19] not for open, but very, very short one for most.
[1:42:22] Okay, all right, man, right along.
[1:42:25] Item for the mayor and the board.
[1:42:26] So item A, we talked about it,
[1:42:30] maybe a resolution amending the suggested rules
[1:42:34] of procedure for the town,
[1:42:35] but we also spoke if we weren't comfortable with that,
[1:42:37] we could bring that back in March for review.
[1:42:44] What is the purpose of the board?
[1:42:45] Were there any other recommendations?
[1:42:46] Did we get time to review it?
[1:42:49] Well, I did, and I pay attention to, I think, just the parasol board of those words.
[1:42:57] So can we get those corrections to Kristen?
[1:43:00] She then maybe identify those in red and bring it back to the March meeting for approval?
[1:43:07] Yeah, I'm telling you that's sufficient.
[1:43:10] I actually had them all highlighted already several weeks ago here,
[1:43:15] and this is the new copy that I was making changes,
[1:43:18] but what I'll do is I'll just highlight them more so
[1:43:23] just give it to you.
[1:43:25] You can type them up, work and review it.
[1:43:27] I mean, just because I really know it may not be everything,
[1:43:30] so give them a chance to.
[1:43:32] Yeah, I'll compile what's suggested to be changed
[1:43:35] and then we can bring it back,
[1:43:38] make sure it's up to par and then we can adopt them.
[1:43:46] All right, item D, we've got consideration of appointing two members to the Parks and
[1:43:50] Rec Advisory Board.
[1:43:52] At one point, we had some conversation about this about, I think, last meeting or so.
[1:43:57] They met last night, I believe, or this week for their, this month's Parks and Rec
[1:44:04] Advisory Board meeting.
[1:44:05] I think they meet every three months or every couple of months, correct?
[1:44:09] And so we were advertising these positions for a little while, but we've had three
[1:44:14] applications that came in you have copies of those they're also dated upon
[1:44:20] how they were received so
[1:44:26] being those three applications I think two currently
[1:44:30] are within city limits and one is in our ETJ which our do our rules do allow
[1:44:38] ETJ we weren't fully I guess aware of that but it does allow the code of
[1:44:46] 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.
[1:45:00] So, that being said,
[1:45:08] I mean, I appreciate the three applications.
[1:45:19] She's in the ETJ, but the rule was allowing...
[1:45:24] She says she's outside the ETJ. I'm sorry, you're right, ETJ, but she lives in...
[1:45:33] Too fast.
[1:45:36] So we do have two openings three applicants obviously we would be open to if Kristen I
[1:45:44] guess if you can look at the regulations on adding a board member just having an eighth
[1:45:48] board member we think they're all good applicants it will give us a little more flexibility
[1:45:51] with we there's always nights that advisory board members can't come so we think they
[1:45:57] would all be an asset so if that's if you guys want to a point three we are open
[1:46:01] into that.
[1:46:01] If this one doesn't only vote a lot.
[1:46:04] They do not.
[1:46:05] No, there's not really any financial decisions.
[1:46:07] A lot of it's just like, please show your support for X project, and then they do.
[1:46:12] Or ideas.
[1:46:13] Ideas, yeah.
[1:46:13] Yeah, things.
[1:46:14] They give us a lot of feedback.
[1:46:16] Things they like to see in the department.
[1:46:18] Yeah.
[1:46:18] So you're not working with a quorum or anything like that, so they just.
[1:46:22] Yeah, not typically.
[1:46:23] I mean, we do try to have a quorum.
[1:46:25] It would up that quorum number to five instead of four.
[1:46:29] but we do still think it would allow a little more flexibility for the current
[1:46:33] members. How many current members do you have? We have it's currently a seven
[1:46:39] member board we only have five sitting right now.
[1:46:46] Yes yeah we just had two
[1:46:47] resignations within the past month.
[1:46:51] Or for years. Yeah.
[1:46:56] 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.
[1:47:07] first. First make that motion first and then we can just bring that back.
[1:47:14] Okay, so we've
[1:47:16] got a motion to make it an eight member. Okay, all in favor of that. Okay, that being said,
[1:47:25] we've got three members. Miss Mary Kate linear. She's here with us in the audience.
[1:47:39] I'm sorry about that, I mean I think they're great applicants as well so do we have a motion
[1:47:46] to approve all three applicants?
[1:47:47] Second.
[1:47:49] All right, all in favor?
[1:47:50] All right.
[1:47:51] In it post.
[1:47:53] All right.
[1:47:53] We'll just make them all three aware and make them aware of the next meeting date.
[1:47:57] All right.
[1:47:58] Thank you for joining us and being a part of our Parks and Rec Board.
[1:48:01] It's hyping your application, so we agree.
[1:48:04] Yes.
[1:48:05] The reading.
[1:48:06] Okay, organized.
[1:48:07] We appreciate that.
[1:48:09] Oh, right.
[1:48:11] Great.
[1:48:12] We'll get back to Mike.
[1:48:14] There you go.
[1:48:17] Yeah, they won't have that problem.
[1:48:18] All right.
[1:48:20] Item C, consideration of appointing another member to the beautification committee.
[1:48:24] So we had to open that up to add another committee member on that, a resident, because
[1:48:30] a lot of staff and all select officials are on that board as well and so we wanted to
[1:48:37] add that. So we've only had one application and this member is very,
[1:48:48] he participates in
[1:48:50] many things in town. We work with him quite often on various projects, but he does live
[1:48:56] of, um, in the 28425 but well outside the ETJ. And I don't know that we have, um, the
[1:49:05] Parks and Rec advisory board is allowing 28425. Right. So beautifications rules to state
[1:49:12] town limits or ETJ. Yes. So do we, we want to keep the beautification committee within?
[1:49:19] Yeah. Beautification membership is required for you to be a resident within the city
[1:49:25] limits or E.J. Yeah. That's what I thought. So if we want to make it consistent for area of, you know,
[1:49:33] do we want, right, do we want to keep it within city limits or are we okay with extending that to
[1:49:41] 28425? That's the long way out, but he is very active.
[1:49:50] But I'm wondering if people want to be
[1:49:56] interesting here because it's hard to feel positions already I don't think it's
[1:50:01] good and this is a gentleman which we have gentlemen on this board but I think
[1:50:08] it's great that guys can make pretty decisions to you know I like flowers we
[1:50:13] need somebody to get in women straight so are we opposed to leaving this
[1:50:18] application open any longer or we need to make this decision now that's I guess
[1:50:26] There's a, I would recommend that we approve this application, but I know as we couldn't
[1:50:33] recently have a meeting because we didn't have enough members able to attend last Friday.
[1:50:40] This is another board that we could extend possibly.
[1:50:45] Currently we only have two residents on the board, we're adding a third, we have,
[1:50:52] We have someone that's very interested and that could make for
[1:51:01] All right, so do we have a motion to allow for resident members on our beautification committee?
[1:51:10] Okay, are we going to change that?
[1:51:13] We're also including to change to the 28425 area code.
[1:51:18] Okay, who made that motion? I'm sorry.
[1:51:20] I did.
[1:51:22] All in one motion all in favor all in one motion for that to correct the make sure
[1:51:31] description right before going to a four member four member resident member and the
[1:51:36] way to a fortified right all in favor I opposed okay all right that being said do
[1:51:44] We have a motion to approve the applicant.
[1:51:46] It's almost a move, second.
[1:51:48] All in favor?
[1:51:49] Aye.
[1:51:50] Any opposed?
[1:52:05] Item D, any other items?
[1:52:06] I don't think I have anything other than, again,
[1:52:08] thank you to our town staff for staying up late,
[1:52:12] getting up early, spending the night here,
[1:52:14] the weekend here, and making sure
[1:52:15] that all the things in town work well
[1:52:17] when the residents were taken care of,
[1:52:19] as well as town staff.
[1:52:20] So we thank you and applaud you for that.
[1:52:23] I appreciate your commitment to being here.
[1:52:27] All
[1:52:32] right.
[1:52:32] Mr. Pierceau, do you have any items that need to...
[1:52:35] No, I spoke enough.
[1:52:37] Okay.
[1:52:38] All right.
[1:52:38] Commissioner George?
[1:52:40] No.
[1:52:41] Yes.
[1:52:42] I talked to Sarah Fulton after our meeting yesterday and she called me back this morning.
[1:52:47] The county is in contract negotiations with the Verizon people to get on their
[1:52:55] tower over here off of Wimbledon Street and they've had to go back and wait on
[1:53:02] Verizon they got to sturdy up some things on that tower to get that antenna
[1:53:06] installed but it is it's moving forward it's just in a little stall right now
[1:53:11] so they get the engineering to sturdy that thing up a little bit more for that
[1:53:18] So it is in the making.
[1:53:20] Do we think that that one is going to be held?
[1:53:25] Oh yeah, that's going to.
[1:53:26] Okay.
[1:53:27] That close to downtown area that's going to help cover.
[1:53:29] Heck yeah.
[1:53:30] I just want to make sure.
[1:53:31] But she, I talked to her yesterday after noon and then she called me back this morning
[1:53:36] and said that they're still working to get it done.
[1:53:40] Okay, great.
[1:53:41] So for public comment or for public knowledge, we know we need some better cell phone
[1:53:44] service and we were getting time to address that so hang tight we're working working on
[1:53:51] that with the county it's been in their court a little bit just going to be on their property
[1:53:55] all right thank you for that anything else just
[1:54:01] want to thank you for your work that you've done
[1:54:02] doing the storm I thank you for your commitment and I'm truly grateful that you're an employee of the borough
[1:54:10] Thank you.
[1:54:13] All right.
[1:54:14] Mr. Duffy?
[1:54:14] Commissioner Duffy?
[1:54:15] I'm just going to ditto.
[1:54:17] We appreciate you guys.
[1:54:18] I
[1:54:20] don't think I have anything else that we haven't discussed already.
[1:54:24] So that being said, do we have a motion to go into closed session?
[1:54:29] Motion to go into closed session.
[1:54:30] All right.
[1:54:31] All in favor?
[1:54:32] All right.
[1:54:33] Any opposed?
[1:54:35] All right.
[1:54:36] Good evening.
[1:54:38] Have a good evening, everyone.
[1:54:39] Can I compete?
[1:54:40] Staff, be careful.
[1:54:42] and we'll take a few.
[1:54:47] We need to take a vote before we dismiss or adjourn for the
[1:54:52] evening to clarify or wrap up the Chamber of Commerce funding. I think the board
[1:55:01] was in agreement to fund the chamber of twenty thousand dollars throughout
[1:55:06] July 1st and we would reconsider their ask in the new budget for the 26 27
[1:55:13] budget year. So with that being said, we need to take a vote. I need to because I am a member of the
[1:55:23] Chamber. Okay. All right. Thank you for that. Do we have a motion to recuse? All in favor? Can you
[1:55:32] post? All right. With that being said, Commissioner McDuffie has recused herself with that. Do we
[1:55:39] have a motion to support that request. Second. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay, so
[1:55:50] we'll move us forward with supporting the chamber and with that too that
[1:55:57] finishes out our meeting and do we have a motion to adjourn? All in favor? All right.
[1:56:05] Thank you, and we will, we have a lot of upcoming events,
[1:56:10] so we will see each other a lot over the next couple of weeks.