2024_06_03 Regular City Council

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[0:04] apologize for a bit of the delay we were
[0:06] in a special meeting prior to this um
[0:09] and I will also preface by saying as you
[0:11] may or may not be able to tell I am not
[0:14] in fact mayor Turner uh mayor Turner is
[0:17] still uh in the hospital uh I had an
[0:20] opportunity to visit with him uh Friday
[0:23] afternoon he's in good spirits uh he's
[0:26] uh up to dat on what's going on in the
[0:28] city and he appreciat everyone's uh well
[0:31] wishes and support and prayers he asks
[0:34] that you continue to keep him in his in
[0:36] your prayers and he's uh improving and
[0:40] uh looking to uh get back uh with us as
[0:43] soon as possible uh so um that's the
[0:46] latest update on that again you know
[0:49] thank you everyone for your thoughts and
[0:51] prayers uh for our mayor Richard Turner
[0:54] uh with that being said I'll turn it
[0:57] over to uh our sen manager to go AG
[1:00] thank you mayor for Tim hord and council
[1:02] members uh on your consent agenda you
[1:05] have 10 items for
[1:07] consideration item number one is um the
[1:12] meeting minutes from the special meeting
[1:14] from April the
[1:18] 29th uh the second item is the approval
[1:21] of the Clos session meeting minutes from
[1:23] April
[1:25] night and these will be uh passed around
[1:32] uh item number three is approval of
[1:34] special meeting minutes from May the
[1:39] 6 item number four is approval of
[1:42] regular meeting minutes from May
[1:46] 6 item number five is the uh
[1:50] Transportation Bond there's two
[1:52] resolutions uh one that authorizes the
[1:55] finance officer to apply to the local
[1:57] government commission and certain
[2:01] finance and item number two on that is a
[2:04] resolution dir publication noce intent
[2:06] to apply for the Lo commission so that's
[2:10] item number five for the upcoming
[2:13] Bond there is one correction um in your
[2:16] packets online is correctly but inside
[2:18] the packets there is U on one resolution
[2:23] the dollar sign was left out of 25
[2:25] million and so that has been included
[2:28] now online
[2:30] or the corrected reservation is here so
[2:33] when you sign it just make not of that
[2:36] item number six is um a budget amendment
[2:42] um for police attorney contract payments
[2:45] over the past several years um the city
[2:48] of Belmont contracts with the city of
[2:50] Gaston for um a police attorney um and
[2:54] the existing
[2:56] contract um or the one contract was from
[2:59] 17 to 2020 those for $10,000 a year um
[3:05] there was no contract between 2020 to
[3:07] present um and that total um
[3:12] $70,000
[3:14] um for this fiscal year uh we did have
[3:17] $10,000 budgeted so we've asked the
[3:20] police department to process that
[3:21] $10,000 payment uh which means that
[3:24] we're uh in back pay for $60,000 due to
[3:27] city of Gastonia not invoicing um the
[3:31] city of Belmont um at this time we are
[3:34] reviewing a new contract uh that will be
[3:37] KCK off this coming fiscal year and
[3:40] we're also uh negotiating the fee so
[3:43] just know
[3:45] that item number seven is approval of
[3:49] amendment um amending ordinance
[3:52] authorizing to sell possession and
[3:54] consumption of alcoholic beverages in
[3:56] Kevin lton park for the cers
[4:00] River Fest event this initial date was
[4:03] rained out so the makeup date is July
[4:06] 20th 2024 from 3
[4:10] p.m. item number eight is um requesting
[4:16] uh approval to close Main Street in
[4:18] conjunction with the city of B lot's
[4:20] annual Booth Fest for Saturday October
[4:24] 26th item number
[4:26] nine is an approval of to closing the
[4:30] Main Street and the S possession and
[4:32] consumption of alcoholic beverages for
[4:34] the 2024 Bavarian holiday festival that
[4:39] the Main Street dpda associations are
[4:41] working on this coming
[4:44] year and the last item is Surplus in two
[4:49] um fire department vehicles uh one being
[4:54] engine
[4:56] 433 and the second one being Surplus
[4:58] request
[5:02] 439 any questions thank you any
[5:05] questions on the consent
[5:09] agenda all right uh there being none
[5:12] then I guess we can go right into the
[5:14] regular meeting is that
[5:16] correct y all right well then we will uh
[5:20] call the regular uh June 2024 meeting in
[5:23] the Belmont city council to order um and
[5:27] at this time uh I will call on
[5:29] councilman Jason geld to give the
[5:33] invitation
[5:37] pleas heavenly father thank you for
[5:39] bringing us together for this important
[5:40] meeting to cond conduct business on
[5:42] behalf of the city and our citizens we
[5:44] ask for your guidance as we consider the
[5:46] matters before us tonight and thank you
[5:47] for the staff and others who spent time
[5:49] preparing presentations that we will
[5:51] hear and we certainly want to remember
[5:52] and ask for your healing power for mayor
[5:54] Turner and his continued recovery and
[5:56] pray for his return here with us as soon
[5:58] as he is able all us in your heavenly
[6:00] name
[6:02] amen councilman Alexs will lead us in
[6:04] the pledge of Alle please join me in the
[6:07] pledge ALG to of the United States of
[6:11] America to the for it stands one na God
[6:17] indivisible with liy and justice for
[6:23] all all right uh at this time I'll will
[6:26] entertain a motion to set the agenda mtion by Alex
[6:31] seconded by Jason all those in
[6:33] favor any opposed the agenda is set um
[6:38] at this time I'll entertain motion to
[6:41] approve the consent agenda motion to
[6:42] approve the consent agenda May by Al
[6:45] second is by Charlie all those in favor
[6:48] I oppos all right uh the consent agenda
[6:52] is
[6:53] approved uh that leads us to a public
[6:56] comment if we could uh that
[7:14] so uh public comment uh we have one
[7:18] person uh signed up for general public
[7:20] comment Julie
[7:25] Seligman um just yes please come up come
[7:28] up to the mic
[7:30] and uh just state your name uh and your
[7:33] address and then you have uh three
[7:35] minutes uh
[7:37] to hi my name is jul ligman I live at
[7:40] 112 Mark Twain Court we own 611 North
[7:44] Central Avenue in bont um I am
[7:48] requesting a date of Thanksgiving Day
[7:52] which will be November the 28 for the
[7:54] Thanksgiving
[7:55] 5K this will be the 13th year of this
[7:59] okay we put it on every year it's a
[8:01] donation run we give the money back into
[8:04] the community um over the past we've
[8:07] given it to C split the money between
[8:08] Catherine's house and S this year uh
[8:11] there will be a change in our donations
[8:14] because we are in search of one other
[8:16] charity to add oppos to Catherine's
[8:20] house um because we have given to them
[8:22] for the past 10
[8:25] years um so I am requesting their to be
[8:29] an
[8:30] application um fee to
[8:33] be not have to pay that or a donation
[8:37] from the city for for Johns up until
[8:40] last year in 2023 we have always
[8:42] received donation from the city of
[8:46] application number to be paid they've
[8:48] also donated the porter Johns to be put
[8:50] at the Lutheran church on Main
[8:53] Street usually two porta johns last year
[8:57] we paid for them that is an additional
[8:59] EXP that we there again all the money
[9:02] goes back into the community except for
[9:05] what it calls for police insurance and
[9:07] any expenses we have um so we are
[9:10] requesting that we're requesting the
[9:12] event approval for the event I have not
[9:15] buildt out the application yet because
[9:17] we're asking for that fee to be
[9:20] wiped um which it can happen tomorrow um
[9:24] does anybody have any questions about
[9:26] the event it's a longstanding event the
[9:29] city
[9:31] of last
[9:33] [Music]
[9:37] year yeah we we typically don't uh
[9:40] engage in back and forth but we can uh
[9:43] direct the appropriate staff member to
[9:45] get right I just want if you any
[9:48] questions yeah okay thank you thank you
[9:52] I'm assuming appropriate followup will
[9:54] be yes thank you thank you thank you
[9:59] um that is all we have for public
[10:03] comment
[10:04] today uh for that agenda item so with
[10:08] that being said we turn to uh item
[10:12] C2 which is uh Lake View Farms public
[10:15] hearing on petition requesting
[10:17] non-contiguous
[10:18] annexation we are already in public
[10:21] hearing on this item from last month it
[10:23] was continued to this month as we are
[10:26] about to learn there will be a request
[10:28] to continue it again
[10:30] uh but at this point uh our planning
[10:32] director Tiffany phoh will speak to
[10:37] that yes thank you and good evening city
[10:39] council um we have before you tonight
[10:43] consideration of the non-contiguous
[10:45] annexation for the lake be Farms
[10:47] properties there are four Parcels in
[10:49] total and following um the planning
[10:53] board meeting that was held in may we
[10:55] did receive a request from the applicant
[10:57] both for the annexation as well well as
[10:59] the conditional resoning um requesting a
[11:02] continuation or deferral of the um
[11:04] public hearing to a later date I believe
[11:07] that was December and so at this time I
[11:09] would ask um for your approval to turn
[11:13] over the floor to the applicant to allow
[11:17] them to present their request for your
[11:19] consideration that's alline thank you
[11:30] good evening Council my name is Margaret
[11:32] Pucket I am the VP of land for TriPoint
[11:34] homes I've had the opportunity to work
[11:37] with the city of Belmont in addition to
[11:40] individual council members over the last
[11:42] four and a half years on our project
[11:44] Lake View Farms we have worked
[11:46] tirelessly to come up with site plan um
[11:50] traffic improvements being our number
[11:52] one uh Focus over the course of a
[11:55] four-year period to try to come up with
[11:58] solutions for the city of Elan as we
[12:00] navigate through adding more homes to an
[12:04] already I would say crowded area with
[12:06] lots of congestion and what our team has
[12:09] done has has collaborated with Kim Ley
[12:12] horn your consultant on the traffic side
[12:14] in addition to our third party Mike um
[12:18] holder and ganet Fleming over that
[12:20] course of time we've come up with
[12:22] solutions to help not only offset our
[12:24] traffic with this project but also truly
[12:28] do above and beond
[12:29] what any other developer has offered to
[12:31] do in Belmont prior on I believe it was
[12:35] May 6 city council was presented a
[12:38] Withers ravanal sewer study which
[12:41] indicated very very U different results
[12:44] than what we had understood coming into
[12:47] our project over four years ago previous
[12:50] city council previous City staff um we were going with assumptions that
[12:56] sewer capacity was not a problem the the
[12:58] SE study that came out definitely
[13:00] indicated that there is a a concern and
[13:04] a problem with the Morgan brand Pump
[13:06] Station and the sewer line that runs
[13:09] parallel on South Point Road with that
[13:12] we went to planning board um 10 days
[13:15] later with very little information very
[13:18] little understanding of how we can help
[13:20] in the future how can we be part of a
[13:22] solution so I respectfully asked this
[13:25] evening that Council allows Tri Point
[13:28] Homes to defer six months to take us to
[13:31] December so that in the next six months
[13:33] we can collaborate like we have on our
[13:36] traffic improvements and the suggestions
[13:38] and the collaboration that we've
[13:40] completed and really we're ready to move
[13:43] forward on over the next six months so
[13:46] that we can be part of a solution not
[13:48] only on the traffic side but also on the
[13:51] sewer capacity and I want to formally
[13:54] ask that request but also be um open
[13:59] with providing Solutions we are ready to
[14:02] kind of roll up our sleeves and work
[14:03] with the city because we understand that
[14:06] there can be Solutions on the private
[14:08] side and the public side as we partner
[14:10] together so that is my request would be
[14:13] to defer this annexation and resoning to
[14:16] December when more information is
[14:18] available for us to make a better
[14:19] decision City
[14:22] about uh are you open for questions I am
[14:25] open for questions thank you Jim yes any
[14:28] questions for
[14:30] the
[14:33] um I don't think so we had a lot of on
[14:37] communication
[14:40] all
[14:42] appc prop you guys are making so that's
[14:44] been very help don't have any
[14:47] questions just in like to eror and
[14:50] transparency as well so just so I
[14:52] understand it for the continuations
[14:53] you're asking for additional six months
[14:55] we' got the sewer study it's not good
[14:57] traffic you have already proposed
[15:00] putting 3 to4 million in traffic
[15:01] improvements down South Point Road with
[15:04] this extension will this come with any
[15:06] further additional potential negotiation
[15:08] for additional Monies to the city to
[15:11] help with our Super Capacity concerns
[15:14] yes and Alex I don't I don't want to
[15:16] correct you but we believe that those
[15:17] traffic improvements were going to be
[15:19] upwards of 5 to S million of off-site
[15:22] traffic improvements that were on trip
[15:24] points dollar that we were willing and
[15:26] able to do not only from the right way
[15:29] that was needed but the actual work not
[15:31] only that but all of those conditions
[15:33] were to be completed prior to any
[15:36] certificant defy that would be released
[15:39] on our project and yes the goal would be
[15:41] in the next six months to collaborate
[15:43] with the city understand that sewer
[15:46] capacity study that was completed by
[15:48] ryther ravanel not to be um compared our
[15:51] goal is not to do a peer review or poke
[15:55] holes in the study it is to really truly
[15:57] collaborate with the city should you
[15:59] move forward with a different engineer
[16:02] different partner our goal would be to
[16:04] partner with the city with some sort of
[16:07] fee and uh effort to help upgrade those
[16:11] sewer capacity constraints that exist
[16:14] today Al I just don't know what that
[16:16] could be today without understanding
[16:18] more about the study okay um I'll just
[16:22] ask a couple of questions um uh you have
[16:25] the Buy in and approval of the site
[16:27] owners to to make this Quest we do we
[16:30] were able to receive that uh unanimous
[16:33] approval from the 34 members of that LLC
[16:38] okay very good and um I just also you
[16:41] know want to be clear obviously should
[16:44] we agree to this you know that's no
[16:46] guarantee of anything you you could end
[16:48] up I mean I think you know what the
[16:50] result likely would be today but
[16:52] understand I could be right back up here
[16:53] in December to be told no so I
[16:56] understand and you know certainly you
[16:58] know more to Alex's point you know come
[17:01] December um we'd be interested to see
[17:04] what you know you you have uh you know
[17:09] uh up on offer in terms of collaboration
[17:12] that you know if if we just come back in
[17:14] six months exactly where we are now
[17:16] that's that's not sort of what we're um
[17:19] you know enthusiastic about our goal
[17:22] would be to work with Public Works um
[17:24] City management staff as well as really
[17:27] anybody who be involved in that sewer
[17:30] study whether Tran now or the third
[17:32] party that does get selected through the
[17:34] city's process but it would be our hope
[17:36] would be open collaboration similar to
[17:39] how we have worked with the traffic
[17:41] study kimley horn and our U third party
[17:44] engineer that we hired but my our goal
[17:46] would be truly to to understand how we
[17:49] can help and what contribution would be
[17:51] the most significant impact for the city
[17:54] I know I can't I can't say I'm going to
[17:57] pay for the whole line I wish I could
[17:59] but that's not something I can do but I
[18:01] know that there is probably a solution
[18:03] that we can be part
[18:06] of I mean I would say um you know I
[18:10] think there's benefits to both parties
[18:12] from from uh this continuance you know
[18:15] certainly you are looking for more
[18:17] information and ways to collaborate and
[18:19] I think we have from the city's
[18:21] perspective more information in December
[18:23] as well um you know those that that
[18:27] watch our meetings know that at our last
[18:29] Workshop we're going to be moving
[18:31] forward um with a bond referendum so we
[18:34] might have a better idea of what traffic
[18:36] improvements uh are going to be made in
[18:38] that area by then we might have a better
[18:40] idea hopefully we will of how much money
[18:43] we're we're looking at in terms of these
[18:45] capacity improvements and how much money
[18:47] we might have from different sources and
[18:49] how much money we might still need by
[18:50] that point so you know I think both
[18:53] sides would would come to the table at
[18:55] that point with a more complete picture
[18:58] of what's going
[19:00] yeah and not to get into the weeds but
[19:02] how I understand it as well there may be
[19:04] other areas uh improvement from what
[19:07] kind of like public feedback I think one
[19:09] was potentially the park being public
[19:11] private discussion still going on there
[19:14] so um again just want to hear out the
[19:16] transparency of what conversations have
[19:18] been had so far and I can I can add to
[19:21] those conversations and provide a little
[19:23] bit of color as again this project has
[19:25] been in the works for four and a half
[19:27] years um um and through the the 4 and a
[19:30] half year period there's been different
[19:32] council members there's been different
[19:33] city staff members and people being
[19:36] people all have very strong opinions
[19:38] about certain things that they're
[19:39] passionate about and I will say there
[19:41] were previous council members in
[19:43] addition to previous staff members that
[19:45] had certain feedback for us as we
[19:47] navigated through creating a site plan
[19:50] one of those items was actually that
[19:52] public park on the water providing
[19:54] access for Belmont residents who don't
[19:56] live on the water and at the time our
[19:59] team was very receptive to that idea
[20:02] however throughout the process
[20:04] especially sitting down in reflection
[20:05] points Clubhouse meeting with their HOA
[20:08] in addition to just hearing the feedback
[20:10] over the course of time there's there's
[20:13] a lot of resistance there for that in
[20:15] our community being a public park on the
[20:17] water so that is something that as I've
[20:20] heard more and more feedback safety
[20:22] being a very big concern traffic along
[20:24] unnecessary traffic along South Point
[20:26] Road has been a feedback item as well
[20:28] and Trio is willing to work with either
[20:31] City staff council members to provide
[20:34] different solutions but also to to help
[20:36] alleviate some of those concerns that
[20:37] are coming from the residents that are
[20:39] down further on this peninsula with that
[20:41] being that public park so Alex that was
[20:44] one thing that I wanted to bring up and
[20:45] say that is something we're still very
[20:47] much open to changing and are willing to
[20:50] do that as we hopefully get the
[20:51] opportunity to continue this
[20:54] conversation any further questions for
[20:56] the
[20:58] thank
[20:59] youor I question
[21:05] ask essentially happen between now and
[21:09] December so if that were to be the case
[21:12] then this would mix the project Al
[21:14] together um so that is something to
[21:16] think about with continuing this to
[21:20] December would it
[21:22] be now just so I understand because I
[21:26] think attorney looking into
[21:29] but it would be the project could not
[21:31] proceed until the moratorium is lifted
[21:35] correct which the moratorium would be
[21:36] lifted once the sewer line and Sewer
[21:39] capacity is upgraded and completed is
[21:42] that kind of a fair statement there
[21:45] parks maybe
[21:47] [Music]
[21:52] okay which the six months provides us
[21:55] additional time to get the moror
[21:59] support and once we get the legal on
[22:03] that the last thing I will say um as I
[22:06] stand up here tonight and it for Council
[22:09] and for for every Community member in
[22:11] the room uh the way I I think the the
[22:15] best way to look at what trio is willing
[22:17] to do whether it be traffic whether it
[22:19] be sewer is we're willing and able
[22:22] developer with private funding to be
[22:24] able to help offset costs that the city
[22:28] will have to incur either
[22:30] through council members can speak to it
[22:33] but either taxes
[22:35] bonds the the the reality is we're here
[22:38] and willing to work with the city to
[22:41] provide Solutions and we want to be part
[22:43] of it so our goal is is to do that um in
[22:46] the best way that we can well we thank
[22:49] you and I certainly Echo um councilman I
[22:52] was almost going to promot you to
[22:55] Congressman councilman uh rfel
[22:58] uh comments but you know no matter which
[23:01] way this goes we certainly appreciate
[23:02] your willingness to to work with us and
[23:04] it is um you know we're dealing with the
[23:08] constraints that we're dealing with and
[23:09] I think even members of the planning
[23:11] board uh who voted against the
[23:14] recommendation complimented you on the
[23:16] same uh uh willingness to work uh with
[23:20] us and and to try and collaborate your
[23:22] partner it certainly is uh a refreshing
[23:24] change from uh certain other uh
[23:27] applicants dealing with in the past year
[23:30] so um we'll we'll see I would just add
[23:33] too that I Road improvements and and
[23:36] obviously now the Ser water
[23:37] infrastructure especially on the look at
[23:39] the top of most all of our priority
[23:41] lists right now so I think I'm certainly
[23:43] not opposed to this um post moment
[23:45] because I always with S A on the side
[23:47] having more options than less so to your
[23:49] point you know having more information
[23:51] our fingertips as well as you guys um I
[23:53] think that's the
[23:55] sensible pathway here I don't disagree
[23:58] us to do our due diligence and again
[24:00] just reiterate this isn't approving the
[24:02] project nothing moves forward this is
[24:04] just extending six months thank you and
[24:08] with that being said I guess the
[24:09] appropriate uh motion would be to
[24:12] continue the hearing until the December
[24:14] 2nd 2024 council meeting I'll make a
[24:17] motion to continue the the uh discussion
[24:20] vote on the annexation until the
[24:22] December second ready me is there a
[24:24] second I'll second seconded by Alex all
[24:27] those in fav
[24:30] hosed all right we are the hearing is
[24:34] continued
[24:36] for uh that brings us to the uh related
[24:40] item of uh Za
[24:43] 20241 Lake View Farms a request to
[24:47] establish a conditional zoning District
[24:49] to allow for
[24:50] 385 home sites single family residential
[24:54] and town homes on 223 Acres we have this
[24:58] is not yet been um uh uh addressed the
[25:03] first time this is before us so we do
[25:05] need to go into public hearing and then
[25:07] continue the public hearing um because
[25:10] this is tied to obviously the annexation
[25:13] motion to go into public hearing for the
[25:15] Lake farms request as mentioned by Jim
[25:18] motion by Alex second seconded by
[25:20] Charlie all those in
[25:22] favor
[25:24] opposed unanimous we are now in public
[25:26] hearing
[25:29] this just stays open for well we need to
[25:32] continue i' like to make and remind me
[25:36] that date
[25:37] again December I'd like to make the
[25:40] motion to continue this public hearing
[25:42] till December
[25:43] 2 motion made by Alex seconded by Jason
[25:46] all those in
[25:48] favor oppose all right motion passes
[25:52] both hearings are continued until
[25:53] December 2nd and we shall see what we
[25:56] shall see at that time
[25:58] thank
[26:00] you all right um item number C4 is uh
[26:05] the fiscal year 2024 2025 budget uh at
[26:09] this time I will turn it over to the
[26:11] city manager for his budget message and
[26:14] then at that point uh after he finishes
[26:16] we'll go into the public hearing uh
[26:19] which has been noticed for the uh budget
[26:22] the upcoming so thank you may M Council p you have the B budget message
[26:30] you have attachment one which is the
[26:31] budget ordinance you have attachment two
[26:34] which is the approved Staffing
[26:36] attachment three which is the budget
[26:37] line items four which is the CIP general
[26:41] fund and the water sewer fund and
[26:43] attachment five is the Fe schedule um I
[26:46] do want to thank you all for your
[26:48] guidance over the past couple months as
[26:50] we've worked our way through this
[26:51] process um also want to thank the
[26:53] department heads who uh of course
[26:56] prepared their individual budgets and
[26:58] for uh Kevin Krauss assistant city
[27:00] manager and Jared FES Finance director
[27:03] for compiling all the data and um you
[27:07] know working for that process with staff
[27:09] um spent many hours on calculations
[27:12] spreadsheets um discussions internally
[27:16] um and so this budget does invest in the
[27:19] staff provides a high level of
[27:21] operational service and invest in the
[27:24] city's infrastructure I'm going to go
[27:25] through a few uh budget highlights just
[27:27] so
[27:28] um the public can see what is in the
[27:31] general fund water fund St water fund um
[27:36] so the total recommended budget is 33
[27:40] m991
[27:42] 183 across uh all three of those funds
[27:46] the budget recommends maintaining the
[27:48] current property tax rate at
[27:52] 455 for $100 value to support the
[27:55] general
[27:56] fund and the recommended bu does include
[27:59] uh water and sewer uh rate
[28:03] increases uh the general fund is
[28:07] 22,8
[28:09] 32,999 the water sore fund is
[28:13] 10,387
[28:15] 1884 the storm water fund is
[28:19] $77,200
[28:21] and that total is that 33
[28:24] m991
[28:26] 183 uh for the general fun high
[28:28] highlights um like I mentioned the
[28:30] budget proposes no property tax increase
[28:33] uh we are recommending uh seven new
[28:35] positions which are four police officers
[28:38] two firefighters and one planning
[28:41] technician there is a uh 2% cost of
[28:44] living
[28:45] adjustment as well as up to a 3% Merit
[28:48] for
[28:49] staff um funding is included to
[28:52] implement the recommend recommended uh
[28:55] salary study that was conducted this
[28:56] year uh our health insurance is
[28:59] experiencing a 2% increase this budget
[29:02] uh accomplish the payment for that uh
[29:04] the property and liability insurance
[29:06] premium uh is increasing approximately
[29:09] 17.5% this budget accomplishes
[29:13] that um the budget includes $1.6 million
[29:16] it's dedicated to our Capital
[29:18] Improvement plan for the general
[29:21] fund for the water and
[29:23] sewer um funds uh as you recall the
[29:26] water and sewer revenues um
[29:29] that were projected were not adequate to
[29:30] fund operating in capital um staff and
[29:35] our consultant presented a rate and
[29:36] structure adjustment and the recommended
[29:39] uh fee structure was approximately 99.5%
[29:43] increase we also um are restructuring U
[29:48] the water fixed charges by meter size
[29:50] we're increasing the price difference
[29:52] between volumetric rate tiers and we are
[29:54] eliminating the 2,000g fixed charge us
[29:58] for nonresidential
[29:59] customers uh those changes uh increased
[30:02] our annual revenue by approximately 1
[30:05] million
[30:07] $60,000 and for FIS year 2425 the total
[30:10] recommended budget like I mentioned
[30:12] before is
[30:14] 10,387
[30:16] 1884 the storm water fund um is mainly
[30:21] uh flat which means uh very similar what
[30:23] it was last year in the revenues and
[30:26] expenditures we
[30:28] 39,2
[30:30] 183,000 funded in uh a few projects one
[30:34] is to replace the woodro Avenue culbert
[30:38] and uh West Westwood Drive and lest
[30:41] Drive Advantage
[30:42] improvements um for the capital
[30:44] Improvement uh highlights CIP highlights
[30:47] um our fiveyear total for the general
[30:49] fund is 23,
[30:51] 88,500 and we budg $1.6 million in this
[30:56] fiscal year for the general fund uh the
[30:59] total for the water and sewer fund is
[31:03] 159
[31:05] m461
[31:07] 646000
[31:09] $646 uh for this fiscal year 10.3
[31:12] million is budgeted with that $10
[31:15] million being um funded by the state
[31:18] Grant this past
[31:20] year so mayor council I appreciate your
[31:23] leadership to guidance this process and
[31:25] mayor Pro I turn about their we can hear
[31:28] he all right uh thank you miles uh so
[31:31] yes uh we are of course required to have
[31:33] a public hearing on the budget before
[31:36] approval the public hearing has been
[31:38] properly noticed uh so at this time I'll
[31:41] entertain a motion to go into public
[31:42] hearing motion to go in the public
[31:44] hearing second motion made by Alex
[31:46] seconded by Jason all those in
[31:49] favor any opposed we are now in public
[31:53] hearing uh no one has signed up for
[31:56] public comment um um unless there's
[31:59] anything that anyone feels needs to be
[32:02] discussed yeah just want to add one
[32:04] thing can you reiterate the date or the
[32:08] year last time the city of Belmont
[32:10] increased the water fees because again
[32:13] that was part of the discussion building
[32:15] the
[32:16] budget yes after staff did some research
[32:20] we determined that there was a increase
[32:23] I believe in
[32:26] 2019 um was the last time the increase
[32:29] was made for our rate um and over the
[32:32] past six year past six years uh that
[32:34] rate increase was
[32:37] 15 and then for the property
[32:40] taxes uh the pass two between the past
[32:44] two budget Cycles I believe it has
[32:47] accumulated to about a six cent decrease
[32:49] is that correct that's correct yes two
[32:51] years ago I think it was a 2cent
[32:53] decrease in the tax rate and then last
[32:55] fiscal year 4 tax and then this year we
[32:59] holding it
[33:01] with again I just wanted to reate those
[33:04] and I'll just clarify the one thing I
[33:06] think it was the study a comprehensive
[33:10] study hadn't been done since
[33:11] 2016 and then it's the but there wor
[33:14] like you said 15 cents worth of rate
[33:16] increases in like 2018 and 2019 but we
[33:20] have an increase in 2019 so no increase
[33:23] in 2019 again just to reate since then
[33:26] we've had hyperinflationary
[33:28] chemical cost labor cost everything has
[33:30] G up we treat this and cre our
[33:32] municipality right over there
[33:35] so
[33:39] that anything
[33:42] further all right and with that being
[33:44] said I'd entertain motion to come out of
[33:45] public hearing motion to come out of
[33:47] public hearing motion made by Alex
[33:49] seconded by Catherine all those in favor
[33:52] I opposed all right we out of public
[33:55] hearing which leads us to than the uh
[33:59] consider approval of an ordinance
[34:02] adopting the city of Belmont's fiscal
[34:04] year 2024
[34:06] 2025 I'll make the motion to consider
[34:09] the ordinance to adopt the cityel phal
[34:11] year 2042 budget as presented uh how
[34:14] about approving instead of just
[34:16] considering appr okay um all right Alex
[34:20] has made a motion to approve the
[34:21] ordinance second uh Jason is seconded
[34:23] all those in favor I any opposed
[34:28] all right we have adopted the budget
[34:30] ordinance uh congratulations to everyone
[34:32] who spent a lot of effort time these
[34:35] last few months to to this
[34:39] appoint all right well now that we've
[34:41] dealt with development on Peninsula and
[34:44] the city's uh budget for the upcoming
[34:46] fiscal year we come to the really
[34:49] important stuff wayf finding signs um I
[34:53] have I well I'm sure you do uh wa siging
[34:58] sign update design presentation and uh
[35:01] our city clerk Jamie Campbell will be
[35:04] handling this
[35:15] presentation the last couple
[35:18] hours okay
[35:20] so I actually was talking earlier and I
[35:25] was going to quickly just go through
[35:26] this I a lot of you were not on Council
[35:30] or haven't really gotten an update on
[35:32] our branding um because you weren't on
[35:34] Council during a time when it was
[35:36] updated so I was just going to go over a
[35:37] quick overview so you kind of understand
[35:39] the background of this so we went
[35:41] through a rebranding in 2020 and it was
[35:44] a year-long process it was we had um a
[35:48] lot of public engagement we had
[35:50] stakeholder engagement um we had a
[35:52] consultant that came in and did it um
[35:55] there were a lot of questions asked
[35:56] there was a survey that was done with
[35:59] the public and we have this Brandy guide
[36:03] if anybody wants to see it you give you
[36:05] a copy of it um but one thing that had
[36:09] happened prior to The Branding or the
[36:11] rebranding is they had done W finding
[36:13] signs typically your process is you go
[36:16] through a rebranding before you do
[36:17] something like that but they they felt
[36:19] like there was a need back in 2016 to
[36:22] implement these signs and so there were
[36:23] 33 of them fabricated around town um um
[36:28] and they were installed it there's it's
[36:31] actually amazing that there are 33 of
[36:33] them but they're all over um uh all the
[36:36] way down from the river all the way up
[36:38] to north bont um they have over time
[36:43] they are faded there's a lot of them
[36:45] that have been hit by cars there are
[36:48] some that are literally peeling off
[36:50] there are others that um a lot of them
[36:53] at this point because we've added Civic
[36:55] buildings like this building City Works
[36:58] City wreck um and made some changes um
[37:01] Middle School moved so the information
[37:03] on them is no longer accurate so it was
[37:06] that 22 out of the 33 had to be replaced
[37:09] now all 33 need to be replaced based on
[37:12] um just where in tear and information so
[37:15] we're to the point that we need to redo
[37:18] all of them and this is a time to kind
[37:21] of evaluate the look of them a little
[37:23] bit and so and I want to give everybody
[37:26] a um a little bit of background too in
[37:29] 2022 we had a discussion with Council
[37:32] and we went over there's there seem to
[37:34] be confusion as far as the old logo
[37:37] which is the school um there was people
[37:41] refer to that as the city seal that is
[37:43] actually not the city seal the city seal
[37:45] is a very corporate looking uh stamp
[37:48] that I put on a lot of documents that is
[37:50] a historical logo or the the original
[37:53] logo and then we have the new logo and
[37:55] in that conversation
[37:57] had with Council we wanted to make sure
[37:59] we were on the same page as far as staff
[38:01] is concerned as where that was going to
[38:03] be used and how we are going to use the
[38:05] new logo versus the old logo the
[38:07] direction at that time was that we would
[38:10] consider the old school as the historic
[38:14] Belmont logo that would be used in our
[38:16] historic district so that would be used
[38:18] in the downtown areas in the historic
[38:21] Belmont District so that is how we've
[38:23] been moving forward um so that's just a
[38:25] little bit of a background there
[38:28] um and again that conversation happened
[38:30] in August of 2022 so any questions I
[38:33] just wanted to kind of give you guys a
[38:35] background on that Council well you want
[38:39] to to that because I was a part of that
[38:41] conversation and I was one of the ones
[38:42] that's really kind of wants to hold VI
[38:44] to that the one in the middle there
[38:46] which does have the old logo on there
[38:48] council at the time had Express
[38:50] letterhead stuff like that we want to
[38:52] make sure that we're continuing to
[38:53] incorporate that because that's what
[38:55] people recognize that's what people who
[38:57] are front here kind of they see it and they check that our city signs have
[39:01] that some city streets have that little
[39:03] emblem on it so again that was why that
[39:06] conversation was happening and why we we
[39:08] kind of made kind of a bigger deal about
[39:10] that just kind
[39:12] of yes and so at that time when we were
[39:15] discussing letterhead and everything
[39:16] else that's when it was agreed that the
[39:18] school would be used in our historic
[39:20] district and yes you do see it on the
[39:23] side of the decorative uh street signs
[39:26] in the hisor
[39:30] is there a difference between the one on
[39:31] the far left and the one on the right
[39:33] the background the background so if you
[39:35] look so this one incorporates the one on
[39:38] the far right incorporates the old logo
[39:42] in the background as a
[39:44] ghosting um and so this is and this is
[39:47] on the current ones is the ghosting the
[39:49] old
[39:50] so because it's the historical logo we
[39:53] always want to make sure that we're
[39:54] representing it especially in something
[39:56] like this um because we do you know one
[39:59] of the conversations that we had when we
[40:01] were doing The Branding is we asked
[40:03] people is it really important what what
[40:05] what's really important to you for you
[40:06] for us to recognize in our logos or
[40:09] represented in our logos we ask people
[40:12] if the train or threads were in
[40:14] particular the train was not something
[40:16] that they felt like needed to be
[40:18] continue to be represented but the
[40:19] threads were and so that's why you see
[40:22] the representation of the different the
[40:24] different threads in the logo so again
[40:27] we received a lot of feedback from um
[40:30] our residents and our stakeholders in
[40:33] the process of redoing the branding so
[40:35] but at the same time it was also
[40:37] reiterated that we did not want to lose
[40:40] the importance of what what what has
[40:46] made so what are we doing we're just
[40:48] deciding which one we like well I think
[40:51] we're Jamie is just giving us some
[40:53] background at the moment I'm assuming
[40:55] you're leading into the ask so these are
[40:58] the three different designs so in order
[41:01] for us to move forward with replacing
[41:03] them we've got to decide on which design
[41:05] to move forward with and I will say we
[41:08] could and it wouldn't be out of the
[41:11] ordinary it' be a little different but
[41:13] we could use the going with what we said
[41:16] and what council directed us to we could
[41:19] use the middle one with the old logo the
[41:23] historic logo we could use that in the
[41:24] historic districts for any of the way
[41:26] finding signs that are in the historic
[41:28] districts because the bottom actually on
[41:31] some of those signs right here is
[41:34] slightly different on those and it says
[41:36] Historic downtown as well so it won't
[41:39] say many threads one community and on
[41:41] those particular signs it will stay
[41:43] Historic
[41:45] downtown to keep with what the current
[41:48] design
[41:50] is I like the middle one just for to
[41:54] have it all the same really
[42:05] the bottom just putting
[42:07] the wait you mean on the sign or just in
[42:11] general on
[42:13] the so Can I some backgr here too May
[42:17] Jim knows this as well so again council
[42:21] members I was part of this we tried to
[42:25] really tried to while we're changing the
[42:28] L to be quite and that was before my
[42:31] time certain council members that were
[42:33] on council at that time also we're not
[42:35] too sure who would have been a part of
[42:37] the reamp so for me agree with Captain I
[42:40] think the center one and I agree with
[42:42] Charlie we should stick with one we you
[42:45] know look right here look over here look
[42:47] on our pin right we don't need to change
[42:50] who we are we don't need in my opinion I
[42:52] don't need to offend anybody Rebrand
[42:55] bont is great as it is
[42:58] so that's why I've been very kind of
[43:00] hard on trying to keep the historic logo
[43:03] as opposed to moving forward but that's
[43:05] my
[43:06] opinion I I agree I don't understand we
[43:12] twoos and then in the background in the
[43:15] background do the new
[43:21] branding I'm with the middle one
[43:23] indefinitely like throughout I don't see
[43:28] you said in the
[43:32] hist yes so the the text at the bottom
[43:35] is slightly different so the tagline
[43:39] used to be city of Diversified textiles
[43:42] is what it was prior to the rebranding
[43:45] um the new tagline is the many threads
[43:47] one Community I would suggest that was
[43:51] probably yeah that was definely and that
[43:54] was part of the reason that we through
[43:57] the regranting process and it was voted
[43:59] and approved by Council in
[44:04] [Music]
[44:09] 2019o that's
[44:13] fine v motion to approve the center
[44:17] image for all
[44:21] signs seconded by Jason all those in
[44:25] favor
[44:29] all right so just to be
[44:31] clear because wow you're up here but so
[44:34] no one's
[44:34] [Music]
[44:36] there uh welcome yes so we approved the middle one featuring the historic uh
[44:44] logo with the the new one sort of in the background in the shadow we want
[44:50] that on all the signs uh in the historic
[44:53] district though the bottom component in
[44:56] blue will say histor down instead
[44:58] [Music]
[45:04] of Alex motion
[45:16] Jason you said that two years ago
[45:20] had uh no two years ago uh we had the
[45:25] conversation about where where to use
[45:28] what logo um but they they haven't been
[45:31] they have they were installed in 2016
[45:34] 2017 and since then they have been hit
[45:37] by we have one in the in the warehouse
[45:40] right now that has been hit by a car so
[45:41] it's got to be refabricated and so it's
[45:44] they've got they've gotten a lot of
[45:45] damage over the last years
[45:54] I the biggest thing is well it all
[45:57] started because the Middle School moved
[46:00] and a lot of them direct people to the
[46:02] old middle school so that's where the um
[46:05] initial conversation started and then
[46:06] with some budget constraints it just has
[46:08] been pushed back but there just to be
[46:11] clear uh so you know ex I meant to point
[46:14] this out but this is there is money for
[46:16] this endeavor in the current Year's
[46:18] budget so yes and most of honestly most
[46:21] of it's going to go towards materials
[46:27] repace the actual there's one um about
[46:31] ni that's peeling yes so they have so
[46:35] we're going to as much as we possibly
[46:37] can we're literally because they have
[46:39] stickers or they have a vinyl on them
[46:41] it's going to be peeled off and then
[46:43] we're going to save the actual like
[46:46] metal part of the signs and refurbish
[46:49] what we have and then that's just going
[46:51] to all of that is going to be replaced
[46:52] at one point in time we had talked about
[46:54] just doing the middle section but the
[46:56] other parts are so faded at this point
[46:59] that if you just replace the middle
[47:00] section the black on it is going to look
[47:02] a lot darker than the rest of it and
[47:04] it's they're just not going to look
[47:06] right and if we're taking because they
[47:07] actually physically have to be taken
[47:09] down in order to and they're they're
[47:11] taller than I am if you're standing so
[47:14] there it's a lot of work to take them
[47:16] down and do this work so yeah it's it's
[47:20] quite a job so did you have any other
[47:24] questions no that's I think I was just
[47:26] getting that making sure that we're not
[47:29] I thought you said we had repl two years
[47:31] no just Mak sure we weren spending money
[47:35] on this every two years no and so the
[47:38] conversation I have had with a sign
[47:39] company is making sure that we're using
[47:41] materials the most up-to-date materials
[47:44] that you know if we can prevent fading
[47:45] so we don't have to do this as often but
[47:49] unfortunately we've had some that
[47:51] literally get hit all the ones on 74
[47:53] tend to get hit quite often um and so
[47:56] those those ones the one that we
[47:58] currently have in the warehouse we're
[47:59] really hoping is going to be able to be
[48:01] salvaged but that just depends on when
[48:03] they get in there and see how it the new
[48:05] vinyl looks on it to see whether it will
[48:08] be able to be saved I do have a question
[48:10] yeah um on some of these are they going
[48:13] to be like room like we have a new thing
[48:15] that we want to add to it we can just
[48:16] add it to the existing or do we need to
[48:18] have a whole new one done so they're in
[48:20] sections um
[48:28] they're in three separate
[48:30] sections this is a section this is a
[48:33] section and this is a
[48:34] section the basically the white is a
[48:40] reflective material so when a car Shines
[48:43] on it at night you see the white more
[48:44] than anything else so the words pop out
[48:47] and then the black part is a vinyl
[48:49] overlay on top of that and so if we have
[48:54] changes in places or we wanted they they
[48:58] would be able to just peel this part off
[49:02] yeah peel the black off and replace the
[49:04] black and the hope is you know one of
[49:07] the biggest things that we were are ever
[49:08] going to do is the rec center you know
[49:11] we don't have a lot of those type of
[49:13] projects coming down and the Middle
[49:15] School moving those kind of things so
[49:18] we're keeping it very high level as far
[49:19] as what we're putting on them and so
[49:22] hopefully the goal is that that willon
[49:24] have to change
[49:27] because it doesn't have developments it
[49:28] doesn't you know Daniel stove botanical
[49:30] gardens isn't going anywhere you know so
[49:32] it's really looking at those key places
[49:35] around town that visitors are going to
[49:37] be headed to that that's what
[49:39] we're is there an option for adding a
[49:42] specific find for striking one of our
[49:43] way fire signs with your
[49:46] car sounds we' had a
[49:49] lot yeah I can't tell you how many have
[49:51] been had to been replaced or fixed over
[49:55] the years but
[49:58] if we know that that's the problem is
[50:00] that people won't tell us until someone
[50:02] drives by and says oh by the way your
[50:03] signs on the
[50:06] ground
[50:09] question go
[50:12] [Music]
[50:15] down all right uh very
[50:19] good got that taken care of so that
[50:22] leads us to
[50:24] C6 smart Grant author ation requests um
[50:28] and so uh here we have assistant city
[50:31] manager Kevin KRA thank you
[50:34] mayor um and Jim and I serve on the uh
[50:39] trolley board we are non voting members
[50:42] I they believe on that I'm here tonight
[50:45] to introduce Nancy is it Le one no it's
[50:49] good old lit
[50:51] L used to be a good old steart I looked
[50:54] up I thought sounds like Le sounded
[50:58] really
[50:59] unfortunate way off at that but I wanted
[51:01] to introduce her tonight she's going to
[51:03] represent the try board UNCC and talk a
[51:06] little bit about this grant that they're
[51:07] applying for and it would be of course a
[51:10] partnership cooperation with city of
[51:12] Belmont and um Rob Presley May is
[51:15] available here as well to answer any
[51:17] questions and I am as well to speak on
[51:20] behalf of the city if you have any
[51:22] questions thank you yes so hi everyone
[51:24] I'm good evening doing well um I'm an
[51:28] attorney in Charlotte and that's my kind
[51:31] of intro joke every time I get in thanks
[51:34] J every time don't have these big things
[51:37] in court but every time I get in front
[51:40] of a a judge because they do about the
[51:43] same thing you did Kevin so yeah um I
[51:46] live it to a for wood over in Glen old
[51:49] heel house paria um one of my neighbors
[51:52] but I and my husband are all on the
[51:55] trolley board um we have since we moved
[51:57] to Belmont in 2020 and this is um a
[52:00] little bit different than the trolley
[52:02] request that we've brought before the
[52:03] council in the past this really I'm
[52:05] going to narrow it down big picture it
[52:07] for you we are merely asking for
[52:10] permission or authority or I guess it's a little convoluted but in
[52:14] directing or asking the city to apply
[52:16] for a grant and it is called the smart
[52:18] Grant um we have told Kevin a little bit
[52:21] about it UNCC is our partner with the
[52:24] trolley um and this is really coming
[52:26] from from their faculty because they are
[52:28] handling the engineering and the
[52:30] technological side of this trolley
[52:33] development um and project so the
[52:35] request for today is merely for um
[52:39] approval uh for this city to apply for a
[52:42] grant which the funds would then come
[52:45] back to Belmont trolley and UNCC to put
[52:48] into the project so um I kind of have
[52:51] done a who what where when why feel free
[52:53] to interrupt me if you have questions as
[52:55] I go on but the US Department of
[52:57] Transportation is our who that's who
[52:59] administers this grant that's who runs
[53:00] it and oh let me Circle back to one of
[53:03] the more important things which is
[53:04] there's no funding match or funding
[53:06] share required um and I think that is
[53:07] really important especially on a budget
[53:09] night to discuss so the USC is who
[53:12] administers this grant political
[53:14] subdivisions of a state can apply so in
[53:17] terms of the limit on who can apply
[53:19] that's why Belmont trolley cannot apply
[53:20] for it that's why UNCC cannot apply for
[53:23] it it has to be essentially a city or
[53:25] other um entity like that so Belmont
[53:28] would have to be the applicant um but
[53:30] UNCC will handle the application and in
[53:33] fact I think that was one of the
[53:34] documents that y'all were provided um to
[53:37] look at tonight you got two documents
[53:39] one was a write up that the UNCC faculty
[53:42] put together regarding the actual
[53:44] technology and the project uh and the
[53:47] language that would go into the
[53:48] application the other one is the
[53:51] application um requests for funds and
[53:53] applications itself that's the who the
[53:57] what is what what is this smart stands
[54:00] for strengthening mobility and
[54:03] revolutionizing
[54:04] transportation so let me throw a big a
[54:07] bunch of big words at you um it aims to
[54:10] provide funds to conduct demonstration
[54:14] projects on Advanced Smart City or
[54:17] Community Technologies and systems to
[54:20] improve Transportation efficiency and
[54:22] safety I took that right from the
[54:24] obligation um but essentially what that
[54:26] means is it's a demonstration project
[54:27] it's trying to give money to uh States
[54:30] or political subdivisions of states to
[54:32] kind of run this new technology in the
[54:34] transportation sector so some of its key
[54:37] pillars are safety and reliability
[54:39] resiliency to climate change effects
[54:41] equity and access climate Partnerships
[54:44] bringing together infrastructure in the
[54:47] public um yada y yada and that is more
[54:50] or less exactly what the trolley project
[54:52] is trying to do when it's going to
[54:54] create this trolley facility
[54:56] have this new technology come and run
[54:59] these battery operated trolley carts
[55:01] revitalizing Old Railway through
[55:04] actually connections with the ncdot and
[55:06] USD where applicable uh and also trying
[55:10] to bring together Community right so we
[55:11] really think this is one of those grants
[55:13] that has fallen into our laps and just
[55:15] seems like a you know to use the formal
[55:17] word a dumb idea not to pursue um going
[55:21] back to a little bit more of the what
[55:22] there is $50 million available um and
[55:26] the anticip uh uh anticip anticipation
[55:30] of the usdot is that they would award
[55:32] approximately 30 GRS of up to $2 million
[55:38] per uh they expect a
[55:41] $250,000 minimum award but at the very
[55:44] least whether it's $250,000 all the way
[55:47] up to $2 million again that's money that
[55:49] can go toward this project there is no
[55:52] cost share so again really want to
[55:54] reiterate that also uses for the grant
[55:57] are extremely Broad and I'm going to
[56:00] again just read some of these and and as
[56:03] an attorney I know we always joke and I
[56:05] was laughing at part's answer of maybe
[56:07] earlier but there these are very broad
[56:09] terms and I would submit to your Honors
[56:11] that we can kind of do what we need to
[56:13] do with a lot of these um lot of these
[56:15] Grant uses so here are those broad terms
[56:17] I just mentioned planning feasibility
[56:21] analyses Revenue forecasting
[56:23] environmental review permitting
[56:26] preliminary engineering and design work
[56:29] systems development acquisition and
[56:32] Improvement to real property
[56:34] construction reconstruction
[56:37] Rehabilitation replacement environmental
[56:39] mitigation construction contingencies
[56:42] and acquisition of equipment so that's
[56:44] what we can do if we were awarded this
[56:46] money
[56:48] um so that's a great question UNCC and
[56:51] Belmont trolley as partners would have
[56:53] to come to a more formal agreement in
[56:55] terms of how we're going to use those
[56:56] funds um because they can either be used
[57:00] Charlie for work on the battery carts
[57:02] that are going underneath the trolley
[57:04] that but I know that we want some of it
[57:07] to be used for rehabilitation of the
[57:10] railway lines we want some of it to be
[57:12] used for improvement of the land upon
[57:14] which the trolley Barn facility is going
[57:16] to sit we want some of it to be used for
[57:18] really cleaning up and making where that
[57:20] rail trail is going to go right along
[57:22] there um accessible too and I think
[57:24] because they allow you to do
[57:26] improvements to construction or to the
[57:28] real property that all of that would
[57:29] fall into the permissible uses of the gr
[57:32] um I also think some of the other things
[57:34] we had talked about were systems
[57:37] development within the trolley Barn
[57:39] itself so working on how the trolley is
[57:43] going to be hosted inside the trolley
[57:45] Barn how we're going to pull it out um
[57:47] preparing The Rail lines modifying them
[57:50] acquiring them cleaning them up uh
[57:52] acquisition of equipment could be
[57:54] Trolley Stop equipment Greenway Railway
[57:56] equipment construction of the area and
[57:58] land land around it again I put benches
[58:01] safety features etc etc so that's the
[58:04] type of stuff we want to use it for
[58:07] um the win the reason we're here today
[58:10] is the application deadline is July 12th
[58:12] uh we literally got the call for the
[58:14] grant
[58:16] about two two weeks ago three weeks ago
[58:20] they they just released it and so this
[58:21] was the first city council meeting we
[58:23] could get on to get here and it's a
[58:25] really quick turnaround obviously um of
[58:28] course they don't tell you when they'll
[58:29] announce who gets the awards I would
[58:31] imagine it's the next day just kidding
[58:33] um so we'll hopefully get those quickly
[58:36] um and then within six months there's
[58:38] supposed to be a signed Grant agreement
[58:40] between the US Department of
[58:41] Transportation and the city if we were
[58:43] awarded that and then the period of
[58:46] performance of the grant is 18 months
[58:48] after that during which the grant funds
[58:51] have to be quote fully liquidated so
[58:53] that's what we were looking at in terms
[58:55] of time
[58:57] uh why is the big question why not it's
[58:59] free money there's no cost share um you
[59:01] know the it's really just one of those
[59:04] things where UNCC um after we spoke with
[59:07] Kevin Kevin you correct me if I'm wrong
[59:09] um UNCC would come come in actually do
[59:12] the application portion and I can go
[59:14] into the details of the application if
[59:15] you want do the application portion
[59:19] itself Kevin would look over all of it
[59:22] and we would have to have the city be
[59:24] the one to sign it obviously um and so
[59:27] um I'm happy to answer questions about
[59:29] that I personally don't see a downside
[59:31] it is just it's just an application
[59:33] that's all we're here for today is to
[59:34] ask for this application it will benefit
[59:36] the city in terms of getting some of
[59:38] that construction Improvement of the
[59:39] real property and the railways and the
[59:42] all the area around the trolley Barn
[59:44] facility and then the first mile or so
[59:47] of the stops to get going um to come
[59:50] back to the application process it's
[59:52] kind of four steps we've got your
[59:53] standard Grant forms application federal
[59:56] assistance budget information for non-
[59:58] construction programs certification
[1:00:00] regarding lobbying then you have your
[1:00:02] what I'm calling the demographic portion
[1:00:04] of the application so lead applicant
[1:00:07] name address County in which the project
[1:00:09] will be located size of the city Etc
[1:00:12] then you've got the project narrative
[1:00:14] which is essentially the document that
[1:00:15] you've been provided outside
[1:00:20] of outside of this this is the big
[1:00:23] document that's the application packet
[1:00:25] but then you've got you've got something that looks like
[1:00:33] this and that would that would be the
[1:00:35] project narrative it would go into the
[1:00:37] application it's really more of what I
[1:00:38] call the subjective portion of the
[1:00:41] application and then the appendix which
[1:00:43] is going to be resume with the key
[1:00:45] individuals who I would imagine would be
[1:00:47] our two
[1:00:48] UNCC uh faculty contacts who have
[1:00:51] created this document as well as either
[1:00:54] Kevin Rob's someone like that from
[1:00:56] either the trolley or city or we could
[1:00:58] do one from each of the three UNCC
[1:01:01] City Belmont trolley um and then a
[1:01:04] summary budget has to go in there too
[1:01:06] and we would create that so I don't I'm
[1:01:08] hoping it won't be too much off Kevin's
[1:01:10] back but um if this is something the
[1:01:13] city would consider we would really
[1:01:15] appreciate it I think it would help us
[1:01:16] get a long way down the line of getting
[1:01:19] or continuing this momentum we've got in
[1:01:21] terms of our funding uh and again it
[1:01:23] just seems too good to pass up so I
[1:01:25] would love to any questions you'll have
[1:01:28] questions for ncy I this sorry I was
[1:01:32] just going to say I think this is
[1:01:33] awesome hopefully you guys will get some
[1:01:35] money but I did just want to make sure
[1:01:38] as far as the application goes I know
[1:01:39] that you said that even cc is going to
[1:01:42] fill this application out on behalf of
[1:01:44] the city and then Kevin is going to go
[1:01:46] is there any liability or any verbage
[1:01:48] that we should have an attorney look at
[1:01:50] as them applying for us as a
[1:01:52] municipality do we need to worry about
[1:01:54] any of that or should we maybe
[1:01:57] I mean they're not applying for us we're
[1:01:59] they're doing the application but we it
[1:02:02] would be the city obviously we want to
[1:02:05] you know review it
[1:02:08] that's I think it's we are the applicant
[1:02:11] and we would be responsible for how the
[1:02:13] money is spent um uh accepting it paying
[1:02:16] the
[1:02:17] vendors uh probably audited so there are
[1:02:20] things that we'll have to do but we're
[1:02:22] willing to take on that work um because
[1:02:24] they're doing the heavy lifting as far
[1:02:26] as applying for the grant and
[1:02:28] administering the grant but we will have
[1:02:30] to have oversight of course and the
[1:02:32] funds would flow through us so we would
[1:02:34] have to make sure that we verify that
[1:02:36] they've done the work before we make
[1:02:38] those payments and I'm sure we would be
[1:02:40] required also to do whatever's appli
[1:02:42] whatever's in the grant that they've
[1:02:44] applied for those are things we would
[1:02:46] have to make sure that they do right and
[1:02:48] we'd be more than willing to come to
[1:02:49] whichever meetings we need to to discuss
[1:02:51] what's been done with those funds what
[1:02:52] we would need and for what purposes Etc
[1:02:56] I don't I don't have any unlik you I
[1:02:58] don't see any reason not to pursue it
[1:02:59] and I think the scope of use for the
[1:03:01] funds is so broad like you said there's
[1:03:03] a number of things that it can be used
[1:03:04] for you you help just now with my other
[1:03:06] question which was what's the flow of
[1:03:07] funds look
[1:03:08] like funds come to the city we're going
[1:03:11] to be paying those vendors directly so
[1:03:13] we're not going to be working through
[1:03:15] trolley or UNCC it's we to I'm not sure
[1:03:18] if it's a reimbursable style or if they
[1:03:20] give us lump sum it's probably
[1:03:22] reimbursable as The Works performed so
[1:03:25] be the case that we would we would pay
[1:03:27] but we can work out in a third party
[1:03:29] agreement for anything that can be paid
[1:03:32] from UNCC so we're not floating the cash
[1:03:36] right and I wonder too um and this is
[1:03:38] the construction side of me coming out
[1:03:39] but if it could it is kind of like an
[1:03:41] owner owner's rip you know GC type
[1:03:43] relationship um but yeah we would have
[1:03:46] to look into that I know you and CC
[1:03:48] Shannon and tfue the professors and
[1:03:49] faculty over there have applied for this
[1:03:52] before they know some people who've done
[1:03:53] it so they unfortunately couldn't be
[1:03:55] here with tonight that they I'm sure
[1:03:57] would have some clarity on that as well
[1:04:00] they have
[1:04:01] sucess Kevin do they have
[1:04:04] success I don't either I I actually
[1:04:06] don't either I don't um they you know
[1:04:10] that's a great question I'm sorry I
[1:04:11] don't have the answer to that and
[1:04:12] there's actually this is I think like a
[1:04:14] phase one or I what they call stage one
[1:04:18] and so uh there's more money I think in
[1:04:21] stage two but only people who get stage
[1:04:25] one
[1:04:26] stage right oh there's a little bit less
[1:04:29] in stage two yeah but I mean we're still
[1:04:32] talking multi millions of dollars for
[1:04:34] the people who've already been granted
[1:04:35] and I want to say um I think it was 50
[1:04:39] million for this person I think it's 30
[1:04:40] million for the second go round have
[1:04:45] stage just out of curiosity does UNC
[1:04:48] work with any other municipalities to
[1:04:50] your knowledge on similar projects maybe
[1:04:52] not reactivating all Rail lines but just
[1:04:54] similar collaboration I'm not aware of
[1:04:56] any curious that's a good question
[1:04:59] because sort of you know and I was
[1:05:01] involved in a meeting with Kevin to sort
[1:05:03] of introduce this and a lot of the
[1:05:04] impetus from this is coming from UNCC
[1:05:07] and the professors they're familiar with
[1:05:08] this grant but you know certainly one of
[1:05:12] the things I like about this
[1:05:13] collaboration that I'm putting on my
[1:05:15] councilman hat is to try and get UNCC
[1:05:18] over here um you know maybe even one day
[1:05:21] having some sort of satellite campus or
[1:05:23] something because I think that would um
[1:05:25] I I'd really like to see that I think
[1:05:27] that would be good for um Economic
[1:05:30] Development and this I'm getting away
[1:05:32] from that point which again as a lawyer
[1:05:35] I to hit myself for that but UNCC we did
[1:05:38] just agree on a memor memorandum of
[1:05:41] understanding in M with them um we've
[1:05:42] been talking to their General Council
[1:05:44] over there and we've actually got it in
[1:05:45] final form so one of the them is the
[1:05:47] continued partnership and the
[1:05:48] development of UNCC in Gaston County and
[1:05:52] using this Belmont uh project and the
[1:05:55] rail Trail kind of what we're talking
[1:05:56] about as as a good starting
[1:06:00] point any other questions just just one
[1:06:03] just mil you good with this because
[1:06:05] again we're going to be using staff
[1:06:06] resources to any capability or anything
[1:06:09] like that I just want to make sure
[1:06:11] you're comfortable yes I'm comfortable
[1:06:13] with it but uh you will also have
[1:06:15] another chance to U look at the grant if
[1:06:18] we get awarded the grant Mak our grant
[1:06:21] policy this is the first step in now is
[1:06:23] that we bring it to you all it we can't
[1:06:26] apply for it and then if we get granted
[1:06:28] it bring it back to me before we sign
[1:06:30] that final docum so you'll see it twice
[1:06:35] if yeah this has been awesome I mean
[1:06:37] it's really cool to follow this there's
[1:06:39] been a lot of social media on the
[1:06:40] collaboration particularly try to
[1:06:43] getc I don't know did y see him on on
[1:06:46] the rails
[1:06:48] working it was really cool yeah they
[1:06:50] were out there working on it it's neat
[1:06:51] to see them it's hot
[1:06:56] that was no that
[1:07:03] was that would
[1:07:05] be no right on the railway right behind
[1:07:08] Primal it was cool
[1:07:10] yeah any other
[1:07:12] questions how long has this
[1:07:16] project so I have been involved for two
[1:07:18] years I think um on the board as well as
[1:07:21] my husband um and then I want to say the
[1:07:23] project has been going on for some 10
[1:07:25] years years or so Rob is he nodding
[1:07:27] behind me yes he's here for all the
[1:07:29] history I'm I'm the new person so um I
[1:07:32] do know that it was put aside at one
[1:07:34] point when there were other priorities
[1:07:35] of city council so we gladly stepped
[1:07:37] aside to let those come up and then in
[1:07:38] the past two years we've really hit the
[1:07:40] ground running and some of that you know
[1:07:42] I'm sure you'll heard it but you got got
[1:07:44] a good bit of money from the state you
[1:07:46] know got a good bit of donor money and
[1:07:48] uh we're finalizing our design drawings
[1:07:51] if they're not finalized right now yeah
[1:07:53] they're out for pricing right now
[1:07:56] I will Echo that I know that they did
[1:07:58] sort of stand down for for a while
[1:08:01] because um as I understand that there's
[1:08:04] in connection with the the rail line
[1:08:07] there's going to be a rail trail and
[1:08:09] there was some uh focus on on that and
[1:08:12] remember we have that c CAC CAC cramp
[1:08:16] from that so that was the focus for a
[1:08:19] while so they step back up about the
[1:08:22] time probably 2019 2020
[1:08:25] they start to be more active again they
[1:08:32] really
[1:08:34] makei yeah got good energy right now so
[1:08:38] trying to take advantage of it than
[1:08:41] youel timeline's Gonna Know sure well a
[1:08:45] lot of it'll depend on you guys you know
[1:08:46] once we get into the um design and we're
[1:08:49] going to get out for pricing we'll have
[1:08:50] to get all that finalized and then get
[1:08:52] our contractors in kind donations and
[1:08:54] stuff lined up but I think we're looking
[1:08:56] I mean you know construction projects um
[1:08:59] especially because the trolley Barn is
[1:09:01] probably going to be built with
[1:09:02] beautiful Timber Wood beans that look
[1:09:04] really awesome and so a lot of that is
[1:09:06] just making sure we can get those
[1:09:07] materials and supplies so I would assume
[1:09:10] I mean I think what do you think two
[1:09:11] years Rob once you break ground to get
[1:09:12] it all done if you don't mind I'll give
[1:09:15] you some
[1:09:19] details not quite as involved speaking
[1:09:21] the microphone so everyone in the TV
[1:09:24] Land
[1:09:26] so timeline we uh we we have uh site
[1:09:30] design which is coming to a conclusion
[1:09:33] we're having to use this complicated
[1:09:35] project rail Engineers civil engineers
[1:09:39] and then the Architects are all
[1:09:40] collaborating together the Civil work is
[1:09:43] getting close to being designed the rail
[1:09:45] Engineers have just about completed
[1:09:46] their work civil will take over the
[1:09:49] Architects have already preliminary
[1:09:50] designed the building we have gone two
[1:09:53] different directions we haven't figured
[1:09:54] out which is the right one yet one is
[1:09:57] building the structure out of steel and
[1:09:59] the other one's building it out of wood
[1:10:01] Timber we were Ling wood Timber from an
[1:10:03] Aesthetics and also a cul perspective at
[1:10:06] one point but some preliminary numbers
[1:10:07] came back and it was a lot higher than
[1:10:09] steel so now we're going simultaneous
[1:10:11] both paths to see which one would be
[1:10:13] best um cost of going up everything's
[1:10:16] more expensive and then I mean this this
[1:10:19] is a project I've been developing for 30
[1:10:22] years this is unlike anything I've ever
[1:10:24] done before I mean the amount of detail
[1:10:26] that has to be involved and then NC doot
[1:10:29] is involved the rail line is also a
[1:10:31] historical asset for the state so U
[1:10:34] shipo involved uh I mean it goes on and on then you throw in the fact
[1:10:38] that the city plans to do the same ride
[1:10:41] away a thread Trail that's involved so
[1:10:44] it's it's you get a little bit further
[1:10:47] this way and then all of a sudden hold
[1:10:48] on come back a little bit because we got
[1:10:49] to go this way the ultimate answer to
[1:10:52] your question is is this our hope is
[1:10:55] construction first of the year
[1:10:58] 2025 and have uh a structure whatever
[1:11:02] that looks like I'll be calling Tiffany
[1:11:04] soon because we need to come in and sit
[1:11:05] down and talk through the uh structure
[1:11:08] but um the structure there's two two
[1:11:11] forms we could do we could take it uh
[1:11:13] all the way to finished air conditioned
[1:11:15] space inside or we could take it to more
[1:11:17] of a Pavilion in stage one and then come
[1:11:20] back and back fill because it's a
[1:11:21] freestanding structure come back and
[1:11:23] back fill condition later part of it's
[1:11:26] going to depend on budget we feel
[1:11:28] strongly and we've heard y all I know
[1:11:30] yall feel strongly getting these cars
[1:11:32] out of the warehouse and getting them
[1:11:33] out in the public view we think is very
[1:11:36] strong um it's important to us because
[1:11:38] we think the public momentum if you
[1:11:40] don't see it you don't know about it I
[1:11:42] people ask all the time yall still yall
[1:11:43] still doing that project if we get three
[1:11:46] cars out in the public view then all of
[1:11:48] a sudden I think a lot of that go away
[1:11:50] we still have some work that we're going
[1:11:52] through uh with do there still questions
[1:11:55] about how Street Crossings are handled
[1:11:58] and it's it's always interesting to me
[1:12:00] when I sit on a call with 20 Engineers
[1:12:03] half of them with the highway and half
[1:12:04] of them with the rail Division and and nobody seems to be in an agreement
[1:12:10] and then you get the highway guys who
[1:12:12] aren't in agreement and the rail guys
[1:12:13] who aren't in agreement so we're still
[1:12:14] working through that because we're going
[1:12:16] to cross leaving the station we're going
[1:12:18] to cross Kataba Street then we'll go
[1:12:21] down and go parallel in front of uh
[1:12:23] Sisters of Mercy and then ultimately
[1:12:25] we'll cross
[1:12:26] 74 then we'll cross
[1:12:29] 85 so we' see it as in three phases our
[1:12:32] goal right now is to get us up to 74 if
[1:12:35] we could get to 74 we feel like we've
[1:12:38] gotten a long way so that would be one
[1:12:40] Street crossing to Top Street which is
[1:12:42] an easy one to cross but what we're
[1:12:44] working through right now is when we go
[1:12:46] through these Crossings is it like a
[1:12:48] pedestrian where you poke the button and
[1:12:51] the light turn the light turns red and so part of this depends on the
[1:12:56] city's design of the thread Trail
[1:12:58] because you'll have to have pedestrian
[1:12:59] Crossings at every one of these streets
[1:13:01] as well otherwise people can't cross the
[1:13:03] street so we're still working through
[1:13:04] some nuances for us right now getting
[1:13:07] the structure built getting the cars out
[1:13:11] on the property and getting The Cars
[1:13:14] Moving on the track so we can continue
[1:13:16] the testing of the battery car uh is
[1:13:19] priority I'll say one more thing related
[1:13:23] UNCC this a big deal for them and and Jim mentioned the fact that that
[1:13:30] they have visions the engineering school
[1:13:32] has Visions they've even I've seen I've
[1:13:34] seen a request that's not going to go
[1:13:37] very far for $300 million doll to build
[1:13:39] an Engineering campus in Caston County
[1:13:41] centered around Rail and stem
[1:13:43] education Ain going anywhere anytime
[1:13:46] soon but you have to start somewhere and
[1:13:49] that's what's going on and the dean of
[1:13:50] the engineering school and a lot of the
[1:13:53] higher ups at UNCC they this is future
[1:13:56] technology um that's important and and
[1:14:00] if we can get this trolley continue to
[1:14:03] run and them have a lab within our
[1:14:05] trolley building that's one step closer
[1:14:07] to the next step which would be some
[1:14:09] form of an engineering facility that may
[1:14:12] grow into something bigger so you have
[1:14:13] to start somewhere they're just not
[1:14:15] going to come over here and plop down
[1:14:16] some big campus on in Gaston County but
[1:14:19] having a steak in the ground gets us a
[1:14:21] lot closer than we are without it I see
[1:14:24] that you guys recently modified the
[1:14:26] capacity for the trolley Barn as a venue
[1:14:29] space and maybe that kind of goes to
[1:14:30] your point about whether you pursue this
[1:14:32] in phases versus you know with an open
[1:14:35] air
[1:14:35] Pavilion design versus all en closed
[1:14:38] type facility no that we talking now as
[1:14:41] far as capacity as far as a meeting
[1:14:43] venue space there The Architects haven't
[1:14:46] been able to calculate that because we
[1:14:47] don't know what the final design is
[1:14:49] going to be the the the the Pavilion
[1:14:52] versus an enclosed structure is all
[1:14:55] finances sure the the state awarded us a
[1:14:58] million dollars and the state also said
[1:15:00] we want you to have it spent just like
[1:15:02] this grant we want you to have it spent
[1:15:03] by a certain day if and that
[1:15:07] is winter of 25 25 so um and we we can
[1:15:14] burn through a fast I mean I mean we
[1:15:17] could build no building burn through a
[1:15:19] million dollars because of all the rail
[1:15:21] work that has to be done all the site
[1:15:23] work that has to be done potential
[1:15:24] retain that has to be done our thinking
[1:15:26] right now is is that plan a is to build
[1:15:29] a full facility with heated and climate
[1:15:31] controlled space inside of it Plan B is
[1:15:34] to build the Pavilion which is the
[1:15:36] structure that would be exactly what
[1:15:38] we're ultimately going to have and get
[1:15:40] the cars out there and have decorative
[1:15:42] fencing around the Pavilion with the
[1:15:44] cars behind the fencing and then go back
[1:15:47] in round two and start to construct the
[1:15:49] walls the The Columns that that hold up
[1:15:51] the roof line they're the same whether
[1:15:54] we encl it you have to do the Pavilion
[1:15:56] before you can build the enclosed
[1:15:58] portion so if if we got to a point where
[1:16:01] we said uh let's build the Pavilion
[1:16:03] let's get that done as plan a then
[1:16:05] that's what we would do and continue to
[1:16:07] raise the money and go back and be able
[1:16:09] to retrofit and do the enclosed
[1:16:11] structure as far as capacity goes it
[1:16:14] depends because we did redesign the
[1:16:16] building we redesigned the building
[1:16:19] three we've done it three times the
[1:16:21] latest rendering is the one we're
[1:16:23] actually pursuing and that's the end up
[1:16:25] being the final product includes an
[1:16:27] indoor and an outdoor the indoor was the
[1:16:31] original design we added the outdoor
[1:16:33] because if there's an event this
[1:16:35] Saturday night that's a wedding or a
[1:16:37] corporate event we have to pull all
[1:16:39] three cars out to open up space if we
[1:16:42] pull the cars out I'm not driving over
[1:16:44] here at 12:30 1:00 in the morning to
[1:16:46] pull the cars back in so we would pull
[1:16:48] the cars out and leave them out for a
[1:16:51] day or two and then pull them back in or
[1:16:53] there may a series of through a whole
[1:16:55] weekend so we added that space But the
[1:16:58] beauty of it is is it gave us an indoor
[1:17:00] and an outdoor venue so a farmers market
[1:17:03] could occur on Saturday mornings
[1:17:05] outdoors with the cars indoors and a a
[1:17:08] wedding uh event could occur that night
[1:17:10] and have the cars outside and have the
[1:17:12] event inside so it gave us a lot more
[1:17:15] functionality by adding The Pavilion
[1:17:17] space we could have as many as 200 200
[1:17:20] plus people at an event indoor and
[1:17:22] outdoor as far as indoor event know if
[1:17:25] it's a standing room only type event no
[1:17:27] sit down dinner um you're probably
[1:17:30] looking at
[1:17:31] aund 100 or so people 125 people if it's
[1:17:35] a sit down dinner event it may be 75
[1:17:37] sure it depends on the type of event and
[1:17:41] we started working with
[1:17:44] um food and beverage uh vendors we we
[1:17:47] would contract B Proby would contract
[1:17:50] that out and I think I shared with you
[1:17:52] in a lunch meeting the s primary ongoing
[1:17:55] operations revenues for bont trolley
[1:17:57] comes from event uh
[1:18:00] fees or facility fees you're not
[1:18:03] dependent on the Riders right no no no that that's that's yeah that that's
[1:18:09] small change no there's enough projected
[1:18:12] event Revenue coming from the facility
[1:18:14] itself to be able to sustain neutrality
[1:18:16] in any given year and that's before we
[1:18:18] throw in ridership uh special events uh
[1:18:22] fundraising events ongoing
[1:18:25] which will continue to be a source of
[1:18:26] Revenue UNCC because they have all this
[1:18:29] staff and all this resources we would
[1:18:32] not know go to the the United States
[1:18:34] Department of Transportation and ask
[1:18:36] them for a grant UNCC does this UNCC
[1:18:40] thing has become it kind of happen stance but it has become a big
[1:18:46] deal between the stem education and the
[1:18:48] technology that's being employed to
[1:18:50] actually run these cars that's what's
[1:18:52] Peak a lot of the interest of not only
[1:18:54] officials but also Federal officials who
[1:18:57] know what we're up to there are there
[1:19:00] are people flying in from all over the
[1:19:02] world they had a group of about 20 uh
[1:19:05] folks out at UNC from Taiwan to look at
[1:19:09] the technology that's being developed
[1:19:11] for bont trol cars which is kind of
[1:19:14] amazing because what they're doing is
[1:19:16] revolutionary and it and it carries over
[1:19:18] into clean energy for actual trains and the trains that run on our tracks
[1:19:24] want to get away from fossil fuels coals
[1:19:27] and other things to power those
[1:19:33] cars think this ear was speaking but
[1:19:37] would Bebe future workshop with the new
[1:19:40] Council anding board or representatives
[1:19:43] of board if everyone's open to it we do
[1:19:45] have a lot of new faes here that aren't
[1:19:47] familiar with all the previous works and
[1:19:49] discussions that councils have had yeah
[1:19:51] that's fine I know we also I think um
[1:19:55] they they're supposed to come give us an
[1:19:57] update every year um but I
[1:20:02] mean for July I mean but I feel like if
[1:20:05] we're asking July they typically give it
[1:20:08] in July yeah but I don't know if we need
[1:20:10] to do that because we're you know based
[1:20:11] on what we're doing here um like I feel
[1:20:14] like we're getting an update right now I
[1:20:16] would be honest with you come into a
[1:20:18] workshop in a more relaxed environment
[1:20:21] and even something that I don't know if
[1:20:23] you can do an unofficial anybody that
[1:20:25] was interested in your group or staff
[1:20:27] that wanted to come and we kind of sit
[1:20:29] and and have more of a round T
[1:20:31] discussion Jim's privy too he hears all
[1:20:34] this at monthly meetings and Kevin does
[1:20:36] too and um but for you guys there's a
[1:20:40] lot going on and somebody mentioned
[1:20:41] earlier our Bo I'm still looking at rob
[1:20:44] you know I'm at every board meeting our
[1:20:46] board has our board has grown and we
[1:20:49] have new board members that are on the
[1:20:50] board we have one that is an executive
[1:20:52] for the aine and Western uh Carolina
[1:20:55] railroad which is a private short rail
[1:20:58] operator we've got some talented people
[1:21:01] uh on this board it's a robust group of
[1:21:03] people who are highly energetic we've
[1:21:05] got somebody from Duke Energy we've
[1:21:08] got Again full
[1:21:10] representation yeah so we we welcome you
[1:21:15] whatever I think that's something that
[1:21:17] would be appropriate future
[1:21:19] work well oh yeah yeah yeah but I'm just
[1:21:22] saying that that and I and we sort of
[1:21:24] gone a little bit uh a field you know
[1:21:28] but knowing that they typically come in
[1:21:31] July um to give us an update and they're
[1:21:33] here tonight I thought you know if there
[1:21:36] are additional questions you know we can
[1:21:39] just you know hear from them you know
[1:21:41] hear the answers tonight as opposed to
[1:21:45] you know coming back in a month and
[1:21:47] basically having the same conversation
[1:21:48] that's all I would say and and I don't
[1:21:50] want to take up yall time yall have weit
[1:21:52] finding signs to
[1:21:57] but uh and speaking of way finding signs
[1:21:59] we're going to need one for the Charley
[1:22:01] at some point too preference
[1:22:05] design it's really exciting and take the
[1:22:08] politics out of it uh it's really
[1:22:10] exciting and this is this is a big deal
[1:22:12] for Belmont uh and it will be for
[1:22:15] decades and decades to come uh it's an
[1:22:17] educational as well as event venue in
[1:22:20] downtown as well as the novelty of the
[1:22:23] cars and having the cars that we have I
[1:22:26] mean I don't think people realize but
[1:22:28] that's $2 million worth of cars
[1:22:31] sitting
[1:22:33] intin well it depends on who you ask um
[1:22:36] when I signed on 10 years ago when this
[1:22:38] was over a beer of good idea over a beer
[1:22:41] that later became a whole full-time job
[1:22:44] uh the goal was to get it to bman I mean
[1:22:46] our original Mission was is I kept
[1:22:50] seeing kids Traverse over the bridge
[1:22:52] trying to get to downtown bont like get
[1:22:54] these kids back and forth and the town
[1:22:56] out to Belmont ABY and so the idea was
[1:22:59] born I was involved with Charlotte
[1:23:00] trolley back in the 90s and U the idea
[1:23:03] was born and doot bought into it and so
[1:23:06] that's kind of how it started um that's
[1:23:09] still for me I mean a big part I just
[1:23:11] turned 57 I mean if this goes on a whole
[1:23:14] lot longer I
[1:23:15] mean I want to get it about my idea um
[1:23:19] now there are a lot of people including
[1:23:21] some County people state do people
[1:23:25] that if you talk to them they want to
[1:23:26] see this go to Gaston they want to see
[1:23:29] it go to Mount Holly they want to see it
[1:23:34] to I mean they really do um and they see
[1:23:37] this and and Gaston has more small towns
[1:23:40] than in the county in North Carolina and
[1:23:42] they're preserved historic downtowns
[1:23:45] which is awesome and so a lot of the
[1:23:47] state people that we've talk to
[1:23:48] including ncb2 board members they're
[1:23:51] seeing this as an alternative to you
[1:23:54] know the cats and the light rails and
[1:23:57] the the diesel trains they're seeing
[1:23:59] this as an alternative and so I
[1:24:01] personally I would love for Mount Holly
[1:24:04] to have a Mount Holly
[1:24:05] trolley and for Gastonia to have a
[1:24:08] Gastonia trolley and so that Belmont and
[1:24:12] Mount Holly or Gastonia there's a place
[1:24:15] somewhere where one stops and the other
[1:24:17] picks up so that onus is not on Belmont
[1:24:21] this is Belmont's trolleys are sitting
[1:24:23] outside this ism
[1:24:25] but let the other municipalities do the
[1:24:27] same and go through everything we've
[1:24:28] gone through with with help and gu yeah
[1:24:35] exactly
[1:24:42] you that parking lot if you go all that
[1:24:45] parking lot stay own it's owned by the
[1:24:47] NCD Rail and least by the city of
[1:24:50] Belmont or parking well the back of the
[1:24:52] parking lot's not part of that the back
[1:24:55] the lot the agreement that we're going
[1:24:57] to end up having is going to be what
[1:24:59] we've envisioned is a tri party
[1:25:00] agreement between the city of Belmont trolley and the state of North
[1:25:06] Carolina and that's generally what we've
[1:25:08] laid out in the past um the reason
[1:25:11] Belmont is included in that is is
[1:25:13] because well it was really two or
[1:25:15] three-fold but the main reason is is
[1:25:18] that our uh plan from the beginning has
[1:25:22] been to raise the money and build this
[1:25:24] fac facility and then donate the
[1:25:26] facility to the city of Belmont and
[1:25:29] Lease back the facility Belmont Proby
[1:25:31] would lease back the facility for a
[1:25:33] dollar a year and operate the majority
[1:25:36] of the facility I say the majority
[1:25:38] because we're including outdoor
[1:25:41] restrooms that could serve people that
[1:25:43] are on The Pedestrian Trail if we're closed and the building's closed
[1:25:48] the doors can be open on the outside so
[1:25:51] if the city decided to utilize those
[1:25:53] restrooms public restrooms another set
[1:25:55] of public restrooms in downtown then
[1:25:58] we'd look for the city to help with some
[1:25:59] security like off hours when we're not
[1:26:03] there but otherwise we're generally
[1:26:05] operating and maintaining the facility
[1:26:07] as part of our budget you can see where
[1:26:10] those lines are if you go right you know
[1:26:12] it's it's right there where the actual
[1:26:13] transition is and so just be cleaning up
[1:26:15] all that too and you know just to bring
[1:26:17] it back even to the Grant I believe the
[1:26:18] language of the grant would allow for us
[1:26:20] to get all that prepped out so and what
[1:26:23] Nancy didn't sh
[1:26:24] if it depends on how much if we if we
[1:26:27] were lucky enough to get rewarded money
[1:26:29] from the feds for this grant how we
[1:26:32] spend the money would really depend on
[1:26:34] how much did we get I mean there's a big
[1:26:36] difference between $250,000 and $2
[1:26:38] million but um in in our initial
[1:26:42] thinking UNCC is going to want some of
[1:26:45] that money to help equip their lab and
[1:26:47] what they're doing to to be able to run
[1:26:49] the trolleys but I'm envisioning that
[1:26:51] money using part of it for the ra work
[1:26:54] itself our efforts to raise the money
[1:26:57] we've been raising has been to build the
[1:26:58] building but there's still going to be a
[1:27:00] cost in improving certain portions of
[1:27:02] the rail infrastructure the
[1:27:06] rail it would go to
[1:27:10] Devol of the battery that goes under the
[1:27:13] trolley so it's still or or to do the
[1:27:16] systems development the systems
[1:27:18] development in the trolley Barn where
[1:27:20] the trolley pull into the barn which is
[1:27:22] over the rail line and able to do what
[1:27:25] they need to do with the rail so it's
[1:27:26] still been it's a we have this
[1:27:28] partnership with UNCC and so benefiting
[1:27:31] UNCC has been well let's go
[1:27:33] back it would go to infrastructure
[1:27:37] within the facility that would
[1:27:38] ultimately benefit because they have to
[1:27:40] have certain lab and Equipment space
[1:27:43] we're building a lab inside of the
[1:27:45] facility to keep these cars running
[1:27:48] requires that we in part keep the
[1:27:50] battery car running and the battery car
[1:27:53] doesn't go under it
[1:27:56] goes
[1:27:58] um at what point in the process since
[1:28:01] we're getting kind of a qual ey update
[1:28:02] tonight um what point in the process do
[1:28:04] you think you'll come to us with that
[1:28:06] lease agreement would that be once
[1:28:07] construction is complete of the barn or
[1:28:10] at some point prior to we're not even
[1:28:13] there would be we would put a tri party
[1:28:15] agreement together
[1:28:17] um U before the first day of
[1:28:20] construction okay uh if you want to know
[1:28:22] my estimated timeline in the next three
[1:28:25] to three four
[1:28:28] months there would need to be an
[1:28:30] agreement regardless because it's C
[1:28:33] City so they have to come not the
[1:28:36] portion of property
[1:28:37] that the back area right there you using
[1:28:41] no the portion we would be using is not
[1:28:43] subject to the lease that the city
[1:28:45] currently has within
[1:28:52] CD not
[1:28:56] no you need access from the city parking
[1:28:59] to get to the property
[1:29:02] right it's it's it's been
[1:29:05] envisioned this can be made easy because
[1:29:08] it's been envisioned that conceivably we
[1:29:10] would uh add that area back there to the
[1:29:13] city's current lease would be one option
[1:29:17] the other would be to have a concurrent
[1:29:18] lease our lease I don't know how long
[1:29:20] I've never seen the lease for the
[1:29:21] parking lot I don't know if the lease
[1:29:23] for the paring for 10 years or 20 years
[1:29:25] or 100 years but our lease for the
[1:29:27] trolley we're going to be pushing for is
[1:29:29] a 99e use
[1:29:35] agreement but it would be a lease
[1:29:37] agreement that would be we would
[1:29:39] ultimately see it as again a trip party
[1:29:41] agreement where potentially balmont is
[1:29:44] the tenant for the land balmont trolley
[1:29:48] builds the
[1:29:49] building donates the building so now the
[1:29:52] city has a least piece of a facility
[1:29:54] that they own that we lease back and we
[1:29:58] did this mostly because bont trolley
[1:30:00] doesn't need to own a building we we
[1:30:03] just need to operate you know what I
[1:30:04] mean that was an idea that was DED up
[1:30:08] now we could also go a whole different
[1:30:10] direction this is where we need to
[1:30:11] publica get some discussion in the next
[1:30:13] 60 to 90 days is how does this look and
[1:30:16] we're going to be calling you to sit
[1:30:18] down and have a preliminary meeting to
[1:30:19] begin discussing how do we out Aline
[1:30:21] this and and there's no we don't have
[1:30:24] any rigid set in stone idea we we've got
[1:30:27] ideas is what we've
[1:30:29] got it could take home many different
[1:30:32] forms and y'all may say well because of
[1:30:34] our Charter we can't do this or Parks
[1:30:36] May step in and go no yall aren't doing
[1:30:38] that or we can't do that so we we'll do
[1:30:41] end rounds workarounds or whatever it
[1:30:43] may be this is our gift of the city
[1:30:46] that's all this has ever been there's no gain in this for us other
[1:30:50] than we wanted this to happen and it
[1:30:53] kind of GRE over time I just wanted to
[1:30:55] get the kids
[1:30:57] across 85 to
[1:30:59] downtown it kind of took on safe way to
[1:31:01] get the bars back right or or or
[1:31:07] alternatively or alternatively they have
[1:31:10] a great theater arts program and and for
[1:31:13] Citizens what a great night it would be
[1:31:15] to buy a ticket and includes dinner at a
[1:31:17] restaurant a ride on the trolley and a
[1:31:19] ticket to the show come here eat dinner
[1:31:22] take the trolley out see a play and come
[1:31:24] back I mean that's the kind of thinking
[1:31:27] that you got it works both ways I've
[1:31:30] always said the only thing that
[1:31:31] separates only Belmont and Davidson
[1:31:34] North Carolina to me have almost
[1:31:37] identical similarities Historic downtown
[1:31:39] we on the river lake and uh we have a
[1:31:43] liberal art school the only difference
[1:31:45] is Davidson sits in the middle of town
[1:31:47] our sits on the other side of a highway
[1:31:49] well they had Steph Curry go to their fo
[1:31:52] School
[1:31:55] Jim you looking for a motion uh yeah
[1:31:58] sure um I'll make the motion to
[1:32:00] authorize the application for the stage one
[1:32:04] smart from the US Department transp all
[1:32:07] right captain second all those in favor
[1:32:11] I thank you this was the shortest city
[1:32:15] council meeting I'd ever been to I I
[1:32:17] just
[1:32:18] turned no I I mean the point was that I'm anticipating that you all were
[1:32:26] supposed to come next month as long as
[1:32:28] you're here this month might as well you
[1:32:31] and I and and we will happily sit down
[1:32:34] with I know you can't have more than two
[1:32:36] of you in the same room without a quorum
[1:32:38] so I'm happy to for some of the new
[1:32:40] council members if the two of you for
[1:32:42] example wanted to sit down for an hour and a half and kind of look at
[1:32:46] plans and see all that's going I'm happy
[1:32:48] to do that and for anybody that's been
[1:32:49] here I'm happy to give you a refresher
[1:32:52] and then miles have to call and I'm have
[1:32:55] to sit in his conference please Mo yeah but we are available we're happy to
[1:33:00] chk you thank
[1:33:03] you all righty um so let's see reports
[1:33:08] there are none um that brings us to
[1:33:12] other business let's start with Alex
[1:33:15] awesome thanks Jim first of all thank
[1:33:17] Manel I missed last council meeting of
[1:33:19] course we were on our way to the
[1:33:21] hospital went to hospital that night
[1:33:23] uced bel's one of Belmont's newest
[1:33:27] resents happy there conratulations
[1:33:31] Madan and pH both doing great so I
[1:33:34] appreciate that um just a couple of
[1:33:37] quick ones here I know we all received
[1:33:39] the email um just wanted to bring it out
[1:33:41] to um I think it's worth looking into
[1:33:44] maybe just the safety aspect of course
[1:33:46] is a big one but the quiet Zone in
[1:33:48] regards to the railroad in downtown
[1:33:50] Belmont that brought up by one of our
[1:33:52] residents interested to see if it's not
[1:33:55] safe obviously I don't think it's
[1:33:56] something we should proceed on but I
[1:33:58] think it's an interesting concept
[1:34:01] um not any urgency and and not that you
[1:34:05] know I'm assuming one way or the other
[1:34:06] but there was a conversation a couple
[1:34:08] years ago with the previous Fire Chief
[1:34:11] and and just kind of resurrected with me
[1:34:13] talking to a couple of residents near us
[1:34:15] in mlan I'd be curious if we had recent
[1:34:18] studies of fire hydrant water pressure
[1:34:20] studies out to the mlan area maybe
[1:34:23] Morgan's Branch just while we're doing
[1:34:25] some of the sewer um capacity look up I
[1:34:28] would be curious to see if we're
[1:34:29] adequate out there with the water
[1:34:31] pressure I'm sure we are um because
[1:34:33] that's where it was last time but I
[1:34:35] remember there was some conversation
[1:34:36] that we might kind of be on the edge
[1:34:38] there so I just be curious to look into
[1:34:40] that if the rest of the council's okay
[1:34:42] with that um I did not make the Friday
[1:34:44] Night Live but I heard it was very
[1:34:46] successful um again thank you to all
[1:34:48] staff volunteers uh Public Safety and uh
[1:34:51] public works for for all their hard work
[1:34:53] for that um and
[1:34:57] then outside of that I
[1:35:01] think I think that's
[1:35:03] it all right thank you Char nothing for
[1:35:06] me okay uh we're determined to to get
[1:35:10] back on track for a quick
[1:35:14] meeting I just have a few things and
[1:35:16] it's kind of the same thing you spoke on
[1:35:18] Alex first congratulations to you and
[1:35:19] Maddie on baby Fielding That's so
[1:35:21] exciting um please just to continue to
[1:35:24] pray for Richard um and Marie and their
[1:35:27] family with his healing um thank you Jim
[1:35:30] I wanted to thank you for stepping in
[1:35:31] and doing such a fantastic job you've
[1:35:33] been awesome and I appreciate all you've
[1:35:35] done while Richard's been gone so thank
[1:35:37] you to you and then um always thank you
[1:35:40] to our policemen firemen First
[1:35:42] Responders public works for what you do
[1:35:45] every day and for an awesome Friday
[1:35:48] Night Live um I was not there but I did
[1:35:51] hear it was great and I want to thank
[1:35:53] Phil summer and Cassidy um and I don't
[1:35:56] know if I said public works but we have
[1:35:58] the best Public Works ever I love those
[1:36:03] guys and I appreciate those guys so
[1:36:05] thank you to public works as well um but
[1:36:07] thank you guys for um a successful
[1:36:09] Friday Night Live that's all I got Jason
[1:36:13] um I would open my congratula councilman
[1:36:15] zs on the new arrival glad good that you
[1:36:18] and Maddie and feels are doing great um
[1:36:22] I wanted to also kind of to Planning and
[1:36:24] Zoning for laying out an aggressive
[1:36:26] Communications plan on the new um
[1:36:29] comprehensive plan use uh or L year
[1:36:32] something um for those that want to have
[1:36:35] a voice in this process you should be
[1:36:37] able to do do so through links on your
[1:36:39] water bill social media and at upcoming
[1:36:41] events over the summer uh I also want to
[1:36:44] thank everyone involved in the recent uh
[1:36:46] ker Boulevard dedication ceremony uh
[1:36:49] that was a tremendous success I don't
[1:36:51] know that it could have gone better um
[1:36:53] but want to thank our city manager um
[1:36:56] Phil and Cassidy and the staff from the
[1:36:58] dbda that helped organize a lot of that
[1:37:00] Public Works police fire all that you
[1:37:02] guys did that was a tremendous scene we
[1:37:04] got a lot of compliments from the
[1:37:05] Belmont High School class in 1964 they
[1:37:07] were extremely pleased with it so thank
[1:37:08] you all for that um also want to thank
[1:37:12] fire and police for the um escort that
[1:37:15] you guys gave to the women's soccer team
[1:37:17] to the state championship on Saturday uh
[1:37:20] from South Point that was a that was a
[1:37:21] really big stand I know they all
[1:37:22] appreciate that that was a good good
[1:37:24] thing um wanted to also thank Public
[1:37:27] Works um you guys have done some free
[1:37:29] remov on St part recently we had some
[1:37:31] citizens point out for some dead trees
[1:37:32] there so thank you for that and then
[1:37:34] lastly I know miles and I spoke about
[1:37:36] this recently I guess we have in August
[1:37:39] first week of August the Main Street
[1:37:41] director's conference coming to town um
[1:37:44] about 125 folks so under our staff is
[1:37:47] working in preparation for that to make
[1:37:48] sure we uh present a good U welcome to
[1:37:53] those folks
[1:37:54] so that's all I have thank you um so
[1:37:57] just uh several things on my end I also
[1:38:00] say congratulations to Alex and Maddie
[1:38:04] um we are looking forward to meeting
[1:38:07] Fielding one of our newest Bellmont
[1:38:09] residents
[1:38:14] right and um you know a number of you
[1:38:17] have mentioned different uh things and
[1:38:20] been going on and thanking Phil for his
[1:38:22] uh efforts and in connection with all
[1:38:24] the events going on and of course we
[1:38:26] know that uh our uh community
[1:38:28] development director Phil bin is uh
[1:38:31] going to be leaving us for another
[1:38:32] position and so we just want to thank
[1:38:34] him for everything he's done I mean even
[1:38:37] in the last month of updates we we've
[1:38:39] said his name so many times and you know
[1:38:41] just over so many years all the
[1:38:43] different things that that have been
[1:38:45] done and we're going to you know
[1:38:46] everyone's going to miss you and
[1:38:48] obviously very big shoes to fill so so
[1:38:50] to speak um and uh so we uh thank you
[1:38:54] for for all of your efforts and wish you
[1:38:57] uh best of luck uh going forward in your
[1:38:59] new job um so um let's see uh Jason
[1:39:05] mentioned our uh comprehensive landies
[1:39:08] Plan update we have a kickoff
[1:39:10] presentation at uh 6 o'clock on Thursday
[1:39:14] June 6th right here in the community
[1:39:17] room and then uh there will be open
[1:39:19] houses at various points throughout the
[1:39:21] day on Friday June 7th and even into uh
[1:39:26] Saturday morning June 8th again right
[1:39:28] here in the community room and there's
[1:39:30] even some of these uh cards uh available
[1:39:34] um for your benefit if you'd like to
[1:39:36] check that out and as Jason said that's
[1:39:39] just the beginning there's there's you
[1:39:40] know a number of events throughout the
[1:39:42] summer uh planned in this connection for
[1:39:45] public engagement um I would just like
[1:39:49] to briefly read a letter um you know we you know we've had several uh of uh
[1:39:56] several of us have mentioned Public
[1:39:58] Works and um you know what a good job uh
[1:40:01] our city staff does but we received a
[1:40:04] letter uh in regards to uh the storms
[1:40:08] that we had last month that that I just
[1:40:10] want to bring special attention because
[1:40:12] you know a lot of times it feels like
[1:40:13] the complaint department around here but
[1:40:16] uh when we get uh you know positive uh
[1:40:19] comments and praise we want to be sure
[1:40:21] to highlight that as well so a resident
[1:40:24] uh wrote a letter to us uh that said on
[1:40:27] May 8th a severe storm caused a tree to
[1:40:30] fall across the entrance to the ab Place
[1:40:32] Neighborhood posing a significant safety
[1:40:34] hazard to the residents electrical cable
[1:40:37] and Sport wires were intertwined with a
[1:40:38] debris obviously we were without power
[1:40:41] the only way in and out was a
[1:40:43] six-year-old asphalt semicircular
[1:40:45] driveway of an adjacent home a steady
[1:40:48] stream of vehicles utilize the emergency
[1:40:50] DeTour for the next 48 hours Duke power
[1:40:54] Crews came and left completing their
[1:40:56] jobs to restore power the next day May
[1:40:58] 9th leaving the tree and cable it was
[1:41:00] the next morning we were told we needed
[1:41:02] to contact galmont for the road clearing
[1:41:05] I am writing to express my sincere
[1:41:07] appreciation for the exceptional service
[1:41:09] provided by Jacob paor and his crew from
[1:41:12] the city of Belmont once the city was
[1:41:14] made aware of limited access and no fire
[1:41:16] or emergency access his team wasted no
[1:41:19] time springing into action their prompt
[1:41:22] arrival and effective coordination
[1:41:24] ensured that the tree was removed
[1:41:26] quickly and a safe passage rest stored
[1:41:29] their actions reflect positively on the
[1:41:31] city of Belmont I believe it is
[1:41:33] important to acknowledge and commend
[1:41:34] exceptional service when delivered and
[1:41:37] Jacob paor and his crew undoubtedly
[1:41:39] deserve recognition for their
[1:41:40] outstanding efforts their commitment to
[1:41:43] ensuring the safety and well-being of
[1:41:44] our community is commendable and greatly
[1:41:47] appreciated please convey my gratitude
[1:41:49] to Jacob and his team on behalf of the
[1:41:51] residents of Abby place in their
[1:41:53] contributions do not go unnoticed
[1:41:55] sincerely Alan Smith and so you know a
[1:41:58] lot of times when we have our meetings
[1:42:00] and things happen shortly thereafter and
[1:42:03] it's it's a big deal at the time but by
[1:42:05] the time the next meeting rolls around
[1:42:07] it seems like it was a lifetime ago and
[1:42:10] you know there was a lot of damage
[1:42:11] around the city in connection with that
[1:42:13] storm and the uh uh Public Works crew
[1:42:16] and everyone uh on City staff did a
[1:42:19] tremendous job and monitoring the the issues that came out of that storm
[1:42:24] responding to it getting the city
[1:42:26] cleaned up and uh all those issues
[1:42:29] resolved so you that's just one uh
[1:42:32] representative letter but you know I'm
[1:42:34] sure there are a lot of other instances
[1:42:36] of that um in connection with the storm
[1:42:40] um so we talked last time about the and
[1:42:45] we in connection with uh the first
[1:42:48] couple agenda items about the Morgan's
[1:42:50] Branch Pump Station improvements and
[1:42:52] potential more orium and we were going
[1:42:54] to follow up on that when we had the
[1:42:57] capacity study presented last month so I
[1:42:59] was just wanted to quick update on where
[1:43:02] we stood on some of those activities
[1:43:04] right so um the moratorium discussion
[1:43:07] will be held on July 1st that's what
[1:43:09] staff is working towards along with the
[1:43:11] city attorney's office is to have like a
[1:43:13] formal presentation on the first that
[1:43:15] kind of gives you the idea of what the
[1:43:17] moratorium is steps you going to take to
[1:43:20] go into it steps you going to take to go
[1:43:22] out of it and so that's going to be
[1:43:24] prepared for the first um meeting we
[1:43:28] also have um an RFQ out right now by our
[1:43:32] public works department to um retain an
[1:43:36] engineer uh RFQ is a request for
[1:43:38] qualifications um we have on call
[1:43:41] services for three engineers and one of
[1:43:44] them is Withers ravanel the other HDR
[1:43:47] and the others Garber Withers ranel
[1:43:50] actually did the S capacity study uh so
[1:43:53] that we decided to um send an RFQ out
[1:43:58] for uh other on call Engineers to
[1:44:00] provide uh their qualifications to us so
[1:44:03] that we can have a greater selection and
[1:44:05] choose an engineer to move forward the
[1:44:07] process uh so we just got finished
[1:44:10] revising that RFQ I imagine that it's
[1:44:12] out on the street J shaking his head so
[1:44:15] it's out now if probably stay out I
[1:44:16] think for a month and then um for couple
[1:44:19] weeks uh two weeks two weeks uh so it's
[1:44:23] going to be out for two weeks and then
[1:44:24] uh as typical what we do is receive the
[1:44:27] qualification packages and then
[1:44:29] internally we uh usually have like a a
[1:44:31] selection team that kind of goes through
[1:44:33] them and um at that point we'll get to
[1:44:36] uh select an engineer and then that
[1:44:39] engineering firm actually provides the
[1:44:41] proposal and so we'll have the proposal
[1:44:43] for the full design at that time once we
[1:44:47] get that proposal in then that's when we
[1:44:49] will come back to you all to say um
[1:44:51] here's how much engine calls to do uh
[1:44:54] this next phase of the study for the
[1:44:56] design work and that's when we'll
[1:44:59] rearrange our $10 million of our CIP
[1:45:03] projects so that's kind of where we are
[1:45:05] on the engineering side of it and the
[1:45:07] more side um question when you say on
[1:45:09] call Engineers what does that mean
[1:45:11] versus typical engineering firm that we
[1:45:13] do like civil work is that is that just
[1:45:16] they're available for special projects I
[1:45:17] guess that's correct they they typically
[1:45:19] have like a master Services agreement
[1:45:21] instead of like going to
[1:45:23] an engineer going to the RFQ process
[1:45:25] each time we have to hire somebody we've
[1:45:27] already done like uh all the due all the
[1:45:30] due dilig to have these firms that we
[1:45:32] can go directly to and say hey we got
[1:45:35] whatever the repair may be
[1:45:36] infrastructure you've already Ved them
[1:45:38] we've already Ved them so that's it's
[1:45:40] like an on call service which makes a
[1:45:41] whole lot equip for
[1:45:46] staff okay thank you uh and the North
[1:45:49] Belmont booster station where are we
[1:45:51] with that yes the North Belmont booster
[1:45:53] pump um station they've wrapped up
[1:45:56] construction I think they are going to
[1:45:58] be doing some U training startup and
[1:46:02] commissioning on June 11th and 12th so
[1:46:05] that's right around the corner what they
[1:46:07] plan to do is start it up to make sure
[1:46:08] everything works appropriately and then
[1:46:10] going turn it back off for a little
[1:46:11] while we have to have our ska system
[1:46:14] that communicates with it uh needs um to
[1:46:18] be bid out as well um the initial
[1:46:21] proposal that we receiv was over our
[1:46:24] internal threshold for just receiving
[1:46:26] like one bid so we have to consider
[1:46:29] whether we uh look at U some of the
[1:46:32] components of how that
[1:46:34] um how that proposal is prepared so we
[1:46:37] can send it out to get proposals um or
[1:46:40] whether we uh scale it back to um wait
[1:46:45] till we have a full system overhaul our
[1:46:47] skating system so um we're doing a
[1:46:49] little bit more work on the sca side of
[1:46:53] construction of the P station is is in
[1:46:56] place at this time great thank you I
[1:46:59] know it's been a
[1:47:03] long a couple just a couple quick
[1:47:05] housekeeping matters I think we all got
[1:47:07] an email earlier this afternoon about um
[1:47:11] the the draft of the the chronicle mural
[1:47:15] as it's envisioned um and so uh if we
[1:47:20] could uh get any comments might have
[1:47:24] back
[1:47:25] um uh pursuant to that email that would
[1:47:28] be great so I think it came in this
[1:47:30] afternoon my yes um so I know some of us
[1:47:34] wanted to to take a look at that and and
[1:47:36] review so um they have the I don't know
[1:47:39] what you call it the draft or the the
[1:47:42] sketch and so uh there'll be an
[1:47:44] opportunity to provide comments and I
[1:47:46] think Phil also said you get uh comments
[1:47:48] that other folks on the uh Main Street
[1:47:51] various committees have made um in
[1:47:54] relation to what's been presented so um
[1:47:57] also don't forget your blue sheets with
[1:48:00] the Clos session meeting minutes and
[1:48:02] return those to Jamie before you leave
[1:48:04] today and then last but not least um in
[1:48:08] terms of this month's Workshop um I was
[1:48:12] going to see if there were sufficient
[1:48:14] agenda items to justify having one yeah
[1:48:16] I think I misspoke this morning when I
[1:48:18] mentioned that we might could cancel the
[1:48:19] meeting um we're looking at something
[1:48:21] that we might haveing your attention uh
[1:48:24] for the Jun Workshop so I don't want to
[1:48:26] say it's canel quite yet I we do a
[1:48:28] little bit more research on the
[1:48:34] financial
[1:48:36] 17 I you know okay to be determined uh
[1:48:40] so that's all I have um if there's
[1:48:43] nothing else motion to motion
[1:48:46] [Music]
[1:48:47] to all those in favor