[0:00] Here we go.

[0:04] All right, everybody ready?

[0:09] » Good evening and welcome to the city

[0:10] council meeting of the city of Lenor for

[0:12] Tuesday, September the 1st, 2026. We

[0:16] welcome you here this evening. Thank you

[0:19] for coming out and those that will be

[0:20] joining us on our broadcast. Uh today is

[0:24] a very special day. September 1st uh

[0:27] eight 19 years ago the greatest football

[0:30] game in the world was won in Michigan.

[0:34] [laughter]

[0:35] At least I get to say that on it. But it

[0:38] was 19 years ago today and I was there.

[0:42] So it was a great time for sure to be

[0:45] for that. And also another special day

[0:47] on September 1st. this would have been

[0:49] my parents 88th wedding anniversary

[0:52] today. So, uh I wish they were here to c

[0:55] celebrate it, but uh anyway, I know they

[0:58] are uh in heaven together. So, that's

[1:01] great on that. So, thank you for that.

[1:04] As we go to our time of a moment of

[1:06] silence and our pledge of allegiance,

[1:07] please keep uh please keep our country

[1:10] and all the things that we have going

[1:11] on. There's all kind of uh deals out

[1:14] there right now that we're that we need

[1:17] to pray pray for and and uh and let

[1:20] people know that we're thinking about uh

[1:22] so many things and uh there's just so

[1:25] much that out there right now that's

[1:27] happening in our world. So please pray

[1:28] for uh our community and all the things

[1:31] that are happening uh that we that that

[1:34] we can uh certainly say good things

[1:36] about whenever we can. So please now

[1:39] join me for a moment of silence.

[2:16] Thank you. Please salute the flag. I

[2:19] pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[2:21] United States of America and to the

[2:23] republic for which it stands, one nation

[2:26] under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[2:29] justice for all.

[2:31] » Thank you.

[2:36] » Let's get started tonight. We do not

[2:38] have matters scheduled for public

[2:40] hearings this evening. So, we'll move on

[2:42] to our consent agenda items uh

[2:45] consisting of uh six items on here. Item

[2:49] A are the minutes of the city council

[2:51] meeting of Tuesday, August 18th, 2026.

[2:55] Item B are the minutes of the committee

[2:58] of the whole meeting of Tuesday, August

[3:01] 25th, 2026.

[3:03] Item C are the minutes of the closed

[3:05] session uh meeting of Tuesday, August

[3:08] 25th as reviewed by the city council,

[3:11] our city attorney, and the city manager.

[3:14] Item D is the capital project budget

[3:16] ordinance for Lenor High School campus

[3:19] capital project. This is phase one

[3:22] approval of a capital project budget

[3:25] ordinance to authorize [clears throat]

[3:27] activities for phase one of the

[3:28] renovations to the Lenor High School

[3:31] campus as we refer to it as the campus.

[3:34] The project will be funded by a rural

[3:36] transformation grant from North Carolina

[3:38] Commerce. two direct appropriations from

[3:41] the North Carolina General Assembly,

[3:44] community development block grant

[3:45] funding, private donations, local

[3:48] funding, and funds from the Lenor

[3:50] Tourism Development Authority. The

[3:53] recommendation to the city council is

[3:56] adopt this project budget ordinance for

[3:58] Lenor High School campus project phase

[4:00] one in the amount of 6,70,8854

[4:08] as submitted. Item E is this is an

[4:11] ordinance for amendments relating to

[4:13] chapter 9. This is the flood damage

[4:15] prevention of the Lenor code of

[4:17] ordinances. The amendments to the flood

[4:20] damage prevention ordinance come came

[4:22] before or come before the council for

[4:24] consideration following the first

[4:26] reading on June 16th, 2026 and the

[4:30] public hearing on August the 4th of

[4:32] 2026.

[4:34] Recommendation is approval of the

[4:35] ordinance amendments as submitted. And

[4:38] item F is a resolution. This is an

[4:40] amendment of the resolution accepting

[4:42] newly constructed extension on Prince

[4:45] William Drive for city maintenance GTE

[4:48] construction and realy has built 116 ft

[4:53] of Prince William Drive to the city

[4:55] street standard and the recommendation

[4:57] is the resolution be accepted as

[5:00] submitted. Those are items A through F

[5:02] of the consent agenda items and I will

[5:04] open it up for uh council for any uh

[5:08] discussion motion.

[5:10] And

[5:11] I don't know Hannah, did you have

[5:13] anything else you wanted to say to it at

[5:14] all? Or if you don't need to, that's

[5:17] fine.

[5:26] » Will you be referring to item E, I

[5:28] think. Is that

[5:29] » Sure. Yes, I'm referring to item E, the

[5:31] flood flood damage prevention ordinance.

[5:34] Um, participation in the um NFIP flood

[5:39] plane um flood damage prevention

[5:41] ordinance. It is voluntary, but it

[5:43] enables cheaper flood insurance for your

[5:47] constituents um as well as disaster

[5:50] assistance um post events, post flooding

[5:53] events. And um our ordinance it must be

[5:57] approved by the state um which is why we

[5:59] typically adopt the model um which is

[6:02] provided by the state um and uh it's

[6:06] very similar to many communities around.

[6:09] So that's what I wanted to say.

[6:11] » Thank you.

[6:12] » Have any questions for me?

[6:13] » Any questions for Hannah? And that is

[6:15] Hannah is our uh planning director for

[6:18] the city. I didn't should have said that

[6:20] before, but anyway, thank you. And has

[6:22] been working on this part of it for that

[6:24] item E.

[6:26] » Okay, I'll go back to council. If you

[6:28] have any questions of Hannah, please ask

[6:29] now or not, I'll turn it over to you for

[6:32] any uh motion considering the consent

[6:35] agenda items as presented.

[6:37] » Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion

[6:39] that we approve the consent agenda items

[6:42] A through F as stated.

[6:44] » Okay. Have a motion from council member

[6:46] Stevens that we approve the consent

[6:48] agenda items uh A through F as

[6:50] presented. No other comments. All in

[6:53] favor, please say I.

[6:56] » All opposed.

[6:57] » Thank you.

[7:00] » Five. That's 50 tonight. So, we're

[7:02] missing uh two council members tonight

[7:04] that had some things that came up. Thank

[7:08] you for that.

[7:10] All right. We will now move to um on our

[7:13] agenda to request and petitions of any

[7:15] citizens. If there's anyone here that

[7:17] would like to address the council

[7:19] concerning uh anything uh that we're

[7:23] talking about tonight or anything else

[7:24] that you would like to consider, please

[7:26] come forward to the podium and give us

[7:27] your name and address and we will try to

[7:32] talk about it.

[7:36] Yes, sir.

[7:41] Hi there. I'm uh Josh Lammy, 112 Glendel

[7:44] Street, Lenor, North Carolina. I've

[7:46] lived here since 88. Um today, uh I just

[7:50] know we have a a fair amount of

[7:52] concerned uh residents, myself being one

[7:55] of them. I did see on the agenda today

[7:57] that you were doing an abatement at the

[7:59] address uh where the historic theater,

[8:01] the center Theater is located, which is

[8:03] a nationally registered historic

[8:05] building. I was just wondering, you

[8:07] know, what is the the the primary goal?

[8:10] What what is is that to be renovated

[8:13] hopefully or is it just to be demolished

[8:16] or do you have any plans for it or

[8:17] anything at all?

[8:22] » Yeah, we we do have it addressed that it

[8:24] will be coming up on the on the agenda

[8:26] and that will be discussed when we get

[8:28] to that that point.

[8:29] » Okay.

[8:29] » On that. So,

[8:32] » Okay.

[8:32] » Any other questions? Uh, not today.

[8:35] Thank you.

[8:35] » Okay. Thank you very much.

[8:38] Thank you. Anyone else that would like

[8:41] to address the council?

[8:44] [snorts]

[8:45] » Okay. Thank you. We'll move on. We do

[8:47] not have any reports of our boards and

[8:49] commissions. So, we'll move on to the

[8:51] report and recommendations of our city

[8:53] manager, Mr. Hildebrand.

[8:56] [snorts]

[8:56] » Mayor, council cut items for information

[8:58] this evening. You've got coming up this

[9:01] weekend. You've got the Carolina Tattoo

[9:02] and Arts Gathering will be held Friday,

[9:05] September 4th through Sunday, September

[9:07] 6th. That'll be held at the Harper Room

[9:10] and that's located at 10:16 Harper

[9:12] Avenue Northwest. Uh Monday, of course,

[9:14] is the Labor Day holiday. So, city

[9:17] office will be closed. Uh the economic

[9:19] development advisory committee will be

[9:20] meeting on Tuesday, September 8th at

[9:22] 8:15 a.m. and that's going to be held at

[9:24] the J Bore Hill Civic Center. Um then

[9:27] you have Lenora Business Advisory Board

[9:28] will meet on September 10th. That's

[9:30] Thursday at 6 o'clock, third floor city

[9:33] hall. Then coming up is the 40th annual

[9:35] sculptural celebration which will be

[9:36] held on Saturday, September 12th from 9

[9:38] to 4 at TH4 Hill Walking Park. Also,

[9:42] you've got a city county service

[9:43] committee meeting on Monday, September

[9:45] 14th, and that's going to be held at

[9:46] noon at J Horill Civic Center. Uh the

[9:49] planning board will meet on Monday,

[9:51] September 14th at 5:30 in these

[9:53] chambers. And lastly, the ABC board will

[9:55] meet on Thursday, September 17th at 2

[9:57] o'clock. That's items for information.

[10:00] If there's any questions, I'll

[10:01] [clears throat] excuse me. Move on to

[10:02] items for council consideration.

[10:05] » Any questions? Mr. Hildbrand.

[10:08] » Okay. Thank you.

[10:09] » Your first item tonight for

[10:10] consideration is abatement ordinance for

[10:12] 507 Finley Avenue. Uh city staff

[10:15] requests adoption of an ordinance

[10:16] directing staff to abate uh the

[10:18] nonresidential structure for building

[10:20] violations by demolishing the structure.

[10:22] Again, that's at 507 Finley Avenue. Uh

[10:24] the subject structure is unsafe uh for

[10:27] any use and attempts to achieve owner

[10:28] abatement have been unsuccessful and

[10:31] that's before you tonight and plan

[10:32] director Williams is here and she can

[10:34] comment further. I think in your packet

[10:36] you've got photos of of the structure

[10:38] and and attempts that been made to go

[10:40] back and correct um the problems with

[10:43] that building.

[10:45] » Okay.

[10:46] » I'll try to answer questions or Miss

[10:47] Williams can as well.

[10:50] » All right. You just walls. Yeah,

[10:53] » It's mainly just walls left. Yes,

[10:54] » There's not much left.

[10:55] » It's It's open to the elements. Yes.

[10:59] » All right. You heard consideration for

[11:00] the abatement ordinance for 507 Finley

[11:03] Avenue. Any other discussion

[11:06] at all? And I'll entertain a motion

[11:09] whenever you're ready.

[11:11] » Mr. Mayor, I make a motion we um

[11:15] approve the abatement as presented.

[11:17] » Okay. Have a motion from council member

[11:19] Bill that we approve the abatement

[11:22] ordinance for 507 Finley Avenue as

[11:24] presented by city staff. No other

[11:27] questions or comments. All in favor,

[11:29] please say I.

[11:30] » I. All opposed.

[11:33] » Thank you, Mr. Hillbrand.

[11:35] » The next item before you is the

[11:38] ordinance to vacate and close uh 1011

[11:41] West Avenue Northwest. Uh planning staff

[11:44] request council adopt the vacate

[11:46] enclosure ordinance directing staff to

[11:48] abate the non-residential structure

[11:49] violations by vacating and uh securing

[11:52] the building located at 1011 West

[11:54] Avenue. Um the city over the last

[11:57] several months has met with the property

[11:59] owners attempted to to go back and get

[12:00] the building secured uh because it's

[12:02] unsafe and after a period of 90 days and

[12:05] with no corrective action uh they're

[12:07] requesting this ordinance be adopted

[12:09] this evening. I know planet director

[12:10] Williams can speak to that because she's

[12:12] worked on this for several months. Um

[12:14] but the intent is not to go back and and

[12:17] um demolish the building. The intent to

[12:19] go back and secure the building, make it

[12:21] safe, and hopefully in the next year,

[12:23] two years, month that work begins to go

[12:26] back and renovate and bring that

[12:27] building back into productive reuse. But

[12:29] I'll let Miss Williams speak to that the

[12:32] process so far.

[12:37] » Hey there. Um yes uh 1011 West Avenue um

[12:44] we are requesting this ordinance to

[12:46] vacate and close the building. Vacate

[12:48] and close means make sure that nobody is

[12:50] in there or staying in there and to

[12:52] close it so that no one can access it.

[12:54] Um it's also to make sure any immediate

[12:57] dangers over um public space, public

[13:00] sidewalk, uh anything that could harm

[13:03] the public by brushing up against it

[13:05] like broken glass. um make sure that all

[13:07] of those are secured. There have been

[13:10] attempts to close the building. We just

[13:12] want to make sure that everything is

[13:14] closed about it. And there appears to be

[13:16] a gap at the top that we want to make

[13:18] sure is secured and make sure that that

[13:20] marquee is also secure.

[13:23] Um if do you have any questions in

[13:25] particular about this property?

[13:28] » Questions?

[13:30] Obviously, we we want to see this

[13:34] usable at some at some point and that's

[13:37] always been the goal of that, but it's

[13:39] got to be made safe at this point until

[13:43] we can get to that level is what

[13:46] » Yeah, absolutely. Um I believe everybody

[13:49] in Lenor wants to see productive use at

[13:51] this property, active use at this

[13:53] property. We believe that the building

[13:55] is an asset to downtown. Um it was part

[13:58] of the reason why the National Register

[14:00] Historic District was expanded in 2013.

[14:03] Uh this building kind of being an um you

[14:07] know pretty iconic to downtown Lenor and

[14:09] West Avenue. And um we just want to see

[14:14] uh want to make sure that it is safe. Um

[14:17] this ordinance does not prevent um

[14:19] repairs to the building. It doesn't

[14:21] prevent the owners from making repairs

[14:22] to the building. Doesn't m prevent

[14:24] transfer of the property. Um, so it's

[14:28] just step one in the right direction

[14:32] » To keep try to keep it safe as we can

[14:35] forbody.

[14:39] » All right. Any other questions for

[14:41] council?

[14:44] All right. I will turn it over to

[14:46] council for any if you have comments,

[14:49] questions, or whenever you're ready to

[14:50] for a motion on it.

[14:54] » Mr. Mayor, I I [clears throat] think as

[14:57] a longtime Lenor resident and having

[15:00] seen Star Wars in that theater for the

[15:02] first time and whenever it came out, I

[15:04] remember that quite vividly. Um, love to

[15:08] see this property and all of our

[15:10] properties in Uptown Lenor back into to

[15:13] service. That's really the goal of all

[15:15] of these ordinances is safety, but

[15:18] hopefully to get things back into

[15:19] service. Um, so this does allow some

[15:22] some time for the property owner to to

[15:25] find the the right path for the

[15:27] building. Um, so I make a motion that we

[15:31] approve the ordinance to vacate and

[15:33] close the property for safety reasons as

[15:37] much as anything else.

[15:38] » Okay.

[15:40] Thank you. Any other

[15:43] comments before we go to the motion?

[15:47] All right. We have a motion from council

[15:48] member Bill that we approve the

[15:50] ordinance to vacate and close for 1011

[15:53] West Avenue Northwest.

[15:55] As we hope it will continue to move

[15:57] forward from this, but uh we want to

[15:59] make it safe. So if nothing else, I'll

[16:02] call for the vote. All in favor, please

[16:04] say I. I.

[16:05] » I. All opposed.

[16:07] » Thank you. That carries unanimously.

[16:09] Thank you very much. Thank you, Hannah,

[16:11] for your work on this and your staff and

[16:14] for what's going on there.

[16:16] All right, we'll move on to uh report

[16:19] recommendations of our city attorney,

[16:20] Mr. War.

[16:21] » Nothing to report, sir.

[16:22] » Okay.

[16:24] And um I don't have anything from the

[16:27] mayor's office at this time to report.

[16:30] Like I say, we have a lot of good things

[16:32] coming up over the next few weeks and I

[16:35] hope it will come out and support them.

[16:37] U tattoo gathering. Uh I don't forget

[16:40] not what number we're on there that's

[16:42] been coming. It's been a quite a few. Uh

[16:45] but it's always a fun event in downtown

[16:47] Lenor and they enjoy being able to come

[16:49] here and be a part of it. So and then uh

[16:52] next weekend is the uh u

[16:57] council

[16:58] » Sculpture.

[16:58] » Sculpture fest. Thank you. Sculpture

[17:01] fest. So hope everyone can come out to

[17:03] that. That's always and that's been

[17:05] around for quite quite a number of

[17:07] years.

[17:08] » Huh?

[17:08] » 40

[17:09] » 40 That's right. 40 years. One more

[17:11] thing, Mayor Joe, is the uh Happy Valley

[17:14] the music festival's coming up this

[17:16] weekend.

[17:17] » Okay, that's right.

[17:18] » That's I think always a great event.

[17:20] » It is. That's another one that's been

[17:21] around for a long time. So, so that so a

[17:25] lot of lot of fun things happening in

[17:26] September.

[17:28] So, anyway, I hope everybody can get out

[17:30] and be a be a part of that any way they

[17:32] can.

[17:33] Any reports from any of our council

[17:35] members

[17:37] come up?

[17:39] Okay, seeing none,

[17:42] any of our staff, anything else you want

[17:44] to throw out while we're here?

[17:46] Thank you. If not, we stand ajourned.

Lenoir City Council Meeting 9/1/26

Transcript