[0:00] Tuesday, September 8th. Lindsay, if you
will please do the roll call.
[0:03] » Mayor Logos
>> here.
[0:05] » Mayor Pro Tim Holland
>> here.
[0:06] » Commissioner Brownlow
>> here.
[0:08] » Commissioner Plum
>> here.
[0:09] » Commissioner Sanderson
>> here.
[0:10] » Commissioner Wooten
>> here.
[0:13] » Commissioner Brown, if you would please
lead us in prayer.
[0:16] » We'll bow our heads, please. Almighty
God, we thank you for the privilege of
[0:21] serving this community. We ask you to
give us the wisdom to separate our will
[0:25] from your will, Lord, and to we ask for
your wisdom to ask the [snorts]
[0:29] necessary questions and the humility to
listen to our citizens. Lord, we bless
[0:34] our residents. Uh we ask you to bless
our residents, the visitors, employees,
[0:38] first responders, and all who protect
this island and its waters and
[0:42] resources. And as September 11th
approaches, Lord, we help us remember
[0:46] those lost and honor those who answered
the call. guide us toward safety,
[0:51] stewardship, fairness, and the common
good. Amen.
[0:55] » Amen.
>> We can all stand for the pledge of
[0:57] allegiance.
[1:02] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to
[1:06] [clears throat] the republic for which
it stands, one nation under God,
[1:11] indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all.
[1:21] Okay, great. Now, if we can start out
with our public comment.
[1:25] » Doug Willis.
[1:36] » Hi, Doug.
>> Hey, good evening. Thank you. I want to
[1:40] start by saying I understand the main
goal behind the trolley service. Um,
[1:44] we'd all like traffic to be reduced on
the island, especially during the summer
[1:48] months, our busiest months. And I agree,
finding solutions to the vehicle
[1:52] congestion in the downtown area, is a
very worthwhile thing. Um, however, I
[1:58] also think that we need to take a very
honest look at the numbers. There
[2:02] approximately 40,000 to 50,000 people on
the island each week during the
[2:06] summertime. Um, the highest total we had
for the trolley that I saw was Memorial
[2:12] Day with 434 riders. If you put that
into perspective, we're talking 434 out
[2:18] of 40,000.
That's roughly one to one and a half% of
[2:23] the island's population that rode the
trolley during that weekend. Even that
[2:27] number be needs to be looked at
carefully because out of the 434 riders
[2:34] that doesn't mean there was 434 cars
that does on the road and many of those
[2:39] riders were couples or families
traveling together and and some may have
[2:44] only taken the trolley in one direction
rather than making a round trip. I'm
[2:48] going to look at the numbers. I'm not
sure when we looked at it if you counted
[2:52] a person on the trolley
as going and coming or it was just a
[2:57] single. I I didn't understand that
either way. So, I should have asked that
[3:01] a little bit more. But either way, in
addition, I didn't know how did we
[3:05] quantify if traffic was actually
reduced. I don't think we had anybody
[3:10] out there watching that to see if there
was less cars moving around or not. So I
[3:14] think the real question we have to ask
is how much traffic did we actually
[3:18] reduce in the downtown area utilizing
the 19 uh 1900075
[3:24] from the general taxpayer funds.
Also if the service is being used only
[3:29] by a a tiny fraction of the people on
the island while cost is being spread
[3:35] across the local residents including
residents who never used a trolley. I
[3:39] don't think it's unreasonable to
question whether this is the best use
[3:43] for that money.
I very much disagree with a statement
[3:49] from a board member that in the grand
scheme of having a $1.5 million budget
[3:54] that 19,075
is not a whole lot of money.
[3:58] I believe that money could make a
meaningful diff difference somewhere
[4:01] else such as towards uh beach access
ramps like we do for the upgrades
[4:06] improving accessibility
for serving our beaches and natural
[4:11] areas and other projects that benefit a
much larger community.
[4:15] I'm not opposed to the idea of a
trolley. If residents and visitors want
[4:19] to use the trolley, that's great. If it
can genuine gen genuine genuinely make a
[4:25] measurable difference in the traffic,
that's great, too. But we should be able
[4:29] to de demonstrate that that benefits
justifies the cost.
[4:36] Right now, funding a service being used
by a maximum of 1 to one and a half% of
[4:40] the population raises a very legitimate
question about priorities, at least in
[4:45] my opinion. If the board wants to
continue using the trolley, then I think
[4:50] we should explore ways for the service
to be funded by the people who actually
[4:54] use it, downtown businesses who would
benefit from it, donations and
[5:00] sponsorships rather than placing that
burden on the local residents.
[5:06] We all want the same thing, a better
island, less traffic, better
[5:09] accessibility, and preservation of the
place we call home. My concern simply is
[5:15] that 19,075
is a limited resource and we should put
[5:21] it somewhere to have the greatest
possible impact, not where it serves a
[5:25] small percentage of our community, the 1
to one and a half% that is dorn right
[5:29] now. Thank you.
>> Thank you, D.
[5:31] » Thank you. Thanks.
[5:37] » That was it. Okay. Okay. So, next on the
agenda is um the we heard you and the
[5:43] followup to prior public comments. Um
there's a print out in the box. Miss
[5:47] Carol Peoples was the only one that
spoke last month. So, um you can read
[5:51] our her dialogue there. Um Lindsay, if
you will ask for the conflict of
[5:55] interest.
>> Any conflict of interest? Mayor Logos,
[5:58] » no.
>> Mayor Pro Tim Holland,
[6:00] » no.
>> Commissioner Brownlow,
[6:01] » no conflict.
>> Commissioner Plum,
[6:03] » no. Commissioner Sanderson,
>> no.
[6:05] » Commissioner Wooden,
>> no. [clears throat]
[6:07] » Excuse me.
[6:10] Okay. May I ask for a motion to adopt
the agenda as written?
[6:14] » Moved.
>> All those in favor? I
[6:16] » I
>> Okay. Inter police chief Waters, if you
[6:22] will take the podium,
>> I missed something. Like I missed
[6:26] something.
[6:31] Well, good evening.
[6:34] I right now have the privilege of
introducing you to you our newest
[6:40] sergeant of the police department. His
name is Brian Propes. He comes uh he was
[6:45] employed with Kansas Police Department
from 1995 through 2016.
[6:50] He then moved here with his wife Monica
after she retired from Army after 34
[6:54] years of service. Brian wanted to move
here because they had vacation here for
[6:59] several years and was familiar familiar
with Emerald Isle ever since he was
[7:04] stationed at camp June while in the
Marine Corps. Brian became a part-time
[7:09] beach patrol officer in 2016 and then
later to full-time patrol officer.
[7:14] [snorts] Brian was moved into
investigation at a later time and did a
[7:18] fantastic job for us.
Brian is in the position of investigator
[7:22] for a period of seven years, but then he
Brian then uh wait a minute, wait a
[7:26] minute, hold on a second. Brian has been
married to Monica for 19 years with no
[7:30] children. Brian has been in law
enforcement for 30 years again. And we
[7:35] are fortunate to have Brian working for
the department and serving our great
[7:38] community. And uh I think it's 32 years
now you've been in law enforcement.
[7:43] » So what a great step up for him from a
patrol officer to a investigator
[7:47] [snorts]
and now to a sergeant. I like gave him a
[7:50] hand on that.
[7:55] » I think you said you wanted to sing a
song for us tonight. [laughter]
[7:59] » Maybe at the end.
>> Okay.
[8:10] So, next are the public announcements
and proclamations. Um, we don't have any
[8:15] proclamations tonight, but the public
announcements were streaming through as
[8:19] everyone got settled this this
afternoon. Um, some there was a few new
[8:23] ones that popped up. I just want to
share. Um, the beach driving season does
[8:28] begin September 15th. And then we have
more police educating the publics
[8:32] throughout the month. There's a planning
board meeting on Monday, September 28th.
[8:37] The fishing tournaments, the doll
fishing tournament on September 26th.
[8:42] And then a neighborhood watch meeting um
early October. Then the EI supper club
[8:49] on Tuesday, September 15th. I haven't
heard of that one before. Does anyone
[8:53] What is that?
[8:57] » It's a potluck supper held at the EMS
building.
[9:00] » You show up with potluck dinner.
>> Yeah.
[9:02] » Oh, that sounds fantastic. Okay, so
that's September 15th. All right, so we
[9:08] can move on to adoption of the consent
agenda.
[9:14] Make a motion to adopt the consent
agenda.
[9:16] » All those in favor?
>> I I
[9:19] » Okay.
>> All right. So, agenda item number 12 is
[9:24] regarding the beach nourishment project
that is
[9:28] that we'll be discussing tonight. Frank,
did you want to talk to us about that?
[9:32] » Yeah. Thank you, Mayor Logos. Uh
commissioners, um really pleased to be
[9:36] here tonight uh presenting this item to
you. I think uh ultimately if approved
[9:41] will be a nice improvement to the beach
in Emerald Isle as well as the other
[9:45] towns on Bogue Banks. Um the formal uh
actions for the board's consideration
[9:51] tonight. Uh first there's a resolution
authorizing a $4,24,750
[9:58] contribution from Emerald Isle to Carter
County and that's for 25% of the SAM
[10:03] placement costs for the proposed
nourishment project. There's a companion
[10:07] budget amendment uh also presented for
your consideration in the same amount
[10:11] that would appropriate those funds uh
formally in the future beach nourishment
[10:15] fund that we currently have. So, as you
can see on the screen uh before you
[10:20] tonight, uh the proposed beach
nourishment project would cover three
[10:24] distinct reaches in Emerald Isle. Uh
there's a grand total of about 4.4 miles
[10:29] of our nearly 12 miles of beach in
Emerald Isle. There are three areas. Uh
[10:34] the first area is between Pebble Beach
and Sea Oats Drive in western Emerald
[10:39] Isle. Uh there's also that's 6,800
linear feet. There's also a stretch from
[10:43] Elizabeth Street to Pier Point in
Central Emerald Isle about 7,500 linear
[10:47] feet. And then a segment in Eastern
Emerald Aele between 19th and 3rd.
[10:53] That's about 9,100 linear feet. These
are the areas that are proposed for
[10:57] nourishment as part of this project. The
reason that these areas were identified
[11:02] is because based on the annual beach
profile surveys that are conducted by
[11:07] the beach commission, these are the
areas in greatest need of nourishment in
[11:11] Emerald Isle. Um, as you may know,
there's a very robust data set probably
[11:15] over the last 25 years or more uh annual
beach profile surveys. We've probably
[11:20] got more data about our beach maybe than
any other beach in the United States in
[11:24] all honesty. So uh they do the annual
beach profile surveys uh not just
[11:28] Emerald Dile um Indian Beach Pel Shores
Atlantic Beach as well. [snorts] These
[11:32] are the areas that were identified as
most in need of survey. So if the board
[11:38] approves the actions tonight, we would
expect these areas to be nourished this
[11:42] coming winter uh between sometime
between November 15th and April 30th. Um
[11:47] in reality, it will not require that
entire period of time. They will be in
[11:53] Emerald Isle probably for about two
months or so doing that work and the
[11:56] exact schedule will depend on uh other
factors where they decide to go in terms
[12:01] of the other towns. They may choose to
do Atlantic Beach and Pineel Shores
[12:05] first. They may choose to do Emerald
Isle first. Some of those details are
[12:08] not yet worked out, but what would occur
is that it would be between November
[12:12] 15th and April 30th because that's the
authorized permit window when you're
[12:16] allowed to conduct beach nourishment
operations uh in North Carolina. The
[12:20] proposed project has uh a total of up to
1,139,600
[12:26] cubic yards of sand. Uh that basically
comes out to anywhere from 40 to 56
[12:31] cubic yards per linear foot in these
areas. Uh it's expected it would widen
[12:36] the dry sand beach by 75 to 100 ft. Uh
in those areas identified, um although
[12:43] the sand would only be placed on those
4.4 4 miles. Um, I would submit to you
[12:48] there are other benefits associated with
this. That sand will eventually migrate
[12:53] up and down the shoreline. Um, and it
will provide benefits. Some of that sand
[12:57] will blow into the dunes. Part of the
reason we've seen the significant dune
[13:00] growth in Emerald Isle is because of the
nourishment events that have happened in
[13:03] the past. So although your area may not
be included within the proposed project,
[13:08] there are significant communitywide
benefits associated with this as well.
[13:12] Um the good news is is that um there are
mechanisms in place so that permitting
[13:18] is already complete. Uh funding is
already available for the project. uh
[13:24] Carter County uh if ultimately the
county commissioners um approved the
[13:28] beach commission's recommendation uh
would award the project and they would
[13:33] fund 75% of the sand placement costs in
addition to the mobilization costs and
[13:38] some of the other ancillary costs
associated with the project. Uh they
[13:42] would fund 75% of the project for us and
for Atlantic Beach, Pineal Shores,
[13:47] Indian Beach. That leaves 25% of just
the sand placement cost for us. Again,
[13:52] it's at $4,24,750.
So, all in all, in Emerald Isle, the
[13:58] county would invest uh $16.8 million in
the SAM placement plus some portion of
[14:04] the mobilization and other project
related costs. In total, Carter County
[14:08] will be putting up more than $30 million
for the islandwide project. And every
[14:13] single penny of those funds is derived
from room occupancy tax revenues that
[14:18] are levied on short-term rentals uh
within really all of Carter County. Uh
[14:23] approximately 65% of the revenues come
out of Emerald Isle from the vacation
[14:27] rental industry here. Um so Carter
County has ample funds available to
[14:33] cover that contribution. And the good
news is that Emerald Isle has ample
[14:36] funds to cover that contribution. As of
this moment we have about $ 8.6 6
[14:41] million in the future beach nourishment
fund. This project would again require
[14:45] the 4.2 million uh that I mentioned.
That'll leave us with about 4.4 million.
[14:51] By the end of this fiscal year, we think
that will be somewhere around 5.6
[14:55] million. We typically add about a
million dollars a year to that fund. So,
[14:59] we're in good shape thankfully thanks to
prudent decisions by the current board
[15:03] and by previous boards. Uh so, we have
necessary funding available for these
[15:07] things.
Um the thing that I would point out to
[15:11] folks is that this is the result I think
of good government over many many years
[15:17] by many many people um many of whom
sitting in the seats that you're in
[15:20] tonight as well as in the other towns as
well as with the county as well as with
[15:24] the beach commission. We're at a point
now where beach nourishment is pretty
[15:28] well normalized and it's just one of the
services that we provide in addition to
[15:33] paving the streets, picking up the
trash, all of the various things that
[15:36] local government provides. And so the
fact that we're at this stage with beach
[15:40] nourishment right now, I think is really
indicative of good government in Emerald
[15:44] Isle and in Carter County and the other
towns over the last 25 years. So it's a
[15:49] good thing. Um it keeps the beach um in
great condition. uh provides that storm
[15:54] protection that we need when the
hurricanes come. Provides that u
[15:57] beautiful aesthetics as well as the
recreational benefits. Certainly
[16:01] provides habitat for the critters that
live out there on the beachrand. So um
[16:05] if you have any questions, I'm happy to
answer any questions that you may have.
[16:09] Again, the two items for your
consideration tonight, a resolution
[16:12] authorizing our 25% share and then the
budget amendment that formally
[16:16] appropriates those funds. If the board
approves these items tonight and if the
[16:21] other community's governing boards
approve similar items in the next couple
[16:25] of weeks, we expect that Carter County
would award the contract later this
[16:30] month. Again, work would occur this
winter at a time still yet to be
[16:34] determined. So, with that, happy to
answer any questions you may have.
[16:38] » Thank you, Frank. Um, Alicia, did you
want to start off with any comments or
[16:42] questions?
>> I have no questions. I I would like to
[16:47] reiterate the fact that although this is
normalized now and so many people have
[16:52] done such a good job of making sure that
that funding was in place from our
[16:59] legislators all the way down to the
local level as well as towns throughout
[17:05] the vote banks all the staff and the
elected officials and we just need to
[17:11] make sure we don't take that for
granted. That's a tremendous gift that
[17:16] um and it's a tremendous boost to our
economy because tourism is our economy
[17:25] and you heard it the tourism is paying
75%
[17:31] those those tourists their money spent
is paying 75% of that tap.
[17:37] » Yeah. One thing I neglected to note, um
the other 25% from the town that's
[17:42] derived primarily from the primary
benefit district property taxes that
[17:46] oceanfront and inlet front property
owners pay as well as a contribution
[17:50] from the general fund as well as
interest earnings in there. So um it's a
[17:54] very I think equitable um financing
plan.
[17:59] Yeah, I would add I was talking to a
neighbor who's in that primary benefit
[18:02] zone and he was saying how that part of
his taxes he was glad to pay because he
[18:07] saw the benefit and I say it a lot that
our greatest asset in this town is that
[18:12] beach. It's really the reason I know
it's the reason I'm here and it's
[18:14] probably the reason most people have u
come to live in this area. So anything
[18:19] we can do to protect it or enhance it or
nourish it or anything to the good I
[18:25] think um is a tremendous benefit to the
town and to all the visitors that we
[18:30] have. So I think this is as you said
Frank and you said it well this is a
[18:34] great orchestration of government at
multiple levels working for this common
[18:39] good and the results will be evident by
next calendar year. Rarely do you get to
[18:45] see something get enacted and and
accomplished so quickly. So kudos for
[18:50] everybody that's made this happen.
>> Thank you, Jay.
[18:54] » Yeah. Um thanks, mayor. Um the mayor and
I serve on the on the beach commission
[18:59] for the county and when it came to time
to vote on it and I was just looking at
[19:03] that that huge number. It's almost $40
million. And it was humbling to know
[19:08] that I was going to be participating in
that vote on how that money was going to
[19:12] be used. and uh and knowing that it's
going on on to our beaches and for
[19:17] Emerald Isle to be investing 4.2 million
and in return getting 16 million dollars
[19:24] worth of sand back. That's a great
investment of our tax dollars and uh and
[19:29] it's it's protecting probably one of our
our best uh hurricane defenses that we
[19:34] have is our beach shoreline. Um, this is
I consider it to be more of an
[19:37] investment because it's protecting a a
core coastal resiliency investment in uh
[19:44] in in our shoreline. Why are we picking
out these hot spots? The engineers
[19:48] picked them out. They are hot spots
because our our entire shoreline is only
[19:53] going to be as strong as our weakest
section of the beach. [clears throat]
[19:56] So, we need to fortify fortify those.
With that, uh the beach will reach
[20:00] equilibrium and the rest of the like
Frank said, it'll it'll balance itself
[20:04] out. Um, but this is a a great thing for
our beach, uh, for our our community. It
[20:10] helps keep our taxes low. It supports
our tourism. It maintains a recreational
[20:15] beach and hopefully it'll make a good
surf break out there too sometime after
[20:19] it adjusts. But but otherwise, it is a
uh it's a it's a great investment. I
[20:23] strongly support this project. Thank
>> Jason,
[20:28] » no further comment. Thank you. Great job
by all.
[20:31] » Chris, right? Um, I just second what
everyone else has said. Many times you
[20:35] hear people say this is the most
beautiful beach they've ever seen. So
[20:40] what we're doing here is testament to
that and [snorts] that's what keeps
[20:44] people visiting Emerald.
>> Yeah, there's a lot of data and a lot of
[20:47] studying that goes into this. Um it's
almost a foreign language the first
[20:52] couple times you hear it, but u but
there's a lot of thought and so I think
[20:56] it's definitely a good move. Can we ask
for the motions to move forward? I'll
[21:00] make a motion to adopt the resolution
authorizing town contribution Carter
[21:05] County for beach reour or beach
nourishment project.
[21:09] » Okay. All those in favor?
>> I
[21:11] » I
need one more motion.
[21:14] » Motion to adopt the budget amendment for
future beach nourishment fund.
[21:18] » Okay. All those in favor?
>> I
[21:20] » I
>> Thank you.
[21:24] » Okay. Great. So, agenda item number 13.
[clears throat] Um, this is regarding
[21:29] the police department contributions.
>> Excuse me.
[21:32] » Interim Chief Waters.
[21:39] » Again, thank you all so much u listening
to me tonight and uh for something that
[21:44] is I feel very passionate to those and
some may not be so passionate, but I
[21:50] believe by talking about this tonight is
going to be very beneficial to those in
[21:56] the future. and uh beneficial to us in
in the present.
[22:01] But I want to preface this for just a
second. And if I move around, that's
[22:05] just how I talk. Is that okay? So,
a lot of you know me, some of you don't
[22:12] know me.
I've been employed with the police
[22:16] department since 1984.
I was 10 years old when I started.
[22:22] [laughter]
[22:24] But I was born here. I was raised here
and I've worked here. This has [snorts]
[22:28] been my home away from home for many
years. I'm very passionate about
[22:33] Inortisle
and moving forward with
[22:39] with this topic I'm bringing up. Um,
it is a it's a tool that could be very
[22:46] helpful to the police department
for keeping our town safe and moving
[22:52] forward in the future with
>> suggestion. Anybody at home can hear
[22:56] what he's saying.
>> Excuse me. Chief Waters, do you mind
[23:00] grabbing the microphone?
>> I'm sorry.
[23:03] » How about that? That better?
>> Yeah.
[23:05] » All right. Okay.
I'm going to be speaking tonight about
[23:09] two different two different um programs
underneath our surveillance policy.
[23:16] This first one is called the E1 Police
Department UAS proposal
[23:22] unmanned aircraft system and let's just
go and call it a drone.
[23:28] It's a rapid deployment, search and
rescue scene documentation and major
[23:32] event overwatch. And I'm going to be
talking specifically about each thing
[23:37] about on this slide.
[23:41] Why does the Emerald Ale Police
Department need an unmanned aircraft
[23:44] system? Why? We live in a small
community. Why do we need it? I'm going
[23:49] to explain to you why. One of the
reasons for officer safety
[23:54] where we observe hazardous,
inaccessible, or uncertain areas being
[23:58] committed before committing our
personnel into a dire situation.
[24:04] It gives us faster response for searches
which cover the beaches, the inter
[24:08] coastal waterway, the bug sound
neighborhoods, the wooded areas and
[24:12] other large search areas efficiently.
It also brings us
[24:18] the supervisor real time overhead view
of developing
[24:23] incidents at and major events. Also, it
also gives us better documentation.
[24:29] Capture repet uh repeatable aerial
imagery for serious crashes,
[24:36] crime scenes, and postevent review.
So, the UAS will be a departmentwide
[24:42] tool supporting patrol, investigation,
supervision, emergency responses, and
[24:47] mutual aid to our neighboring
communities.
[24:51] What is this drone?
[24:56] » [clears throat]
>> and enterprise public safety
[24:58] capabilities in a compact platform that
can live in a patrol vehicle.
[25:04] Realistically,
they can can be deployed in less than 2
[25:09] minutes.
The takeoff weight is 2.7 lbs
[25:15] and with no wind, course we always have
a wind around here. The flight time is
[25:19] averaging around 49 minutes. It also has
a thermal sensor by 640 x 512.
[25:26] Now [snorts] the multi multi-ensor
payload is 48 megapixels
[25:31] for a wide angle camera 48 megapixels on
a medium telephoto camera and thermal im
[25:37] imaging
cuz the laser rangefinder
[25:41] what in the world we have a laser range
finder for it. Well determine about
[25:45] what's going on at the beach. How much
beach are we losing? That's that is a
[25:50] safety issue. Near infrared auxiliary
light which cannot light up at night
[25:54] time. If we have to go out to the water
for swimming in distress which we have
[25:58] people swimming out there at night. We
can uh actually light up that area as
[26:03] well.
[26:07] It is the highest the highest value uses
for the NY police department. There's
[26:11] three mission sets would provide
immediate operational value.
[26:17] Search and rescue.
missing or endangered persons,
[26:24] folks with Alzheimer's walking out of
their houses. I tell you a quick story
[26:29] on that. I had one in Dear Horn Dunes
one time. She came up missing. Family
[26:33] was hysterical.
We looked for her. We called in officers
[26:37] from all over the place trying to find
this lady. We finally found her. She was
[26:42] at Sheron Hotel in Let it Beach. She had
walked that far.
[26:48] If we had a drone, we would we picked
her up a whole lot quicker than 5 hours
[26:52] later.
[26:55] Beach shoreline inter coast waterway
sound searches have a boater in
[27:00] distress,
bo missing, we can assist with that as
[27:04] well.
Wood visibility areas, nighttime thermal
[27:10] searches. If we have another Alzheimer's
person or or child walk out of the house
[27:14] at night time,
they can look at by the heat sensory of
[27:19] that of that child or that person.
Water rescue reconnaissance.
[27:25] This drone is actually set up to where
we can pick up a flotation device, take
[27:30] it out and drop it off to a person in
distress.
[27:35] We also have uh payload that's payload
drop systems, highintensity spotlights
[27:41] for that and a loudspeaker PA system.
I know I talked to uh chief uh from the
[27:47] fire department. We had an incident
Saturday
[27:51] where we were called out. They were
called out to send out a jet ski to
[27:55] kayakers out there think they're in
trouble. So the fire department had to
[28:00] take their resources, deploy it onto the
beach strand, go out to the kayakers to
[28:04] find out they were okay.
If you had a drone, fly it out there.
[28:09] Are y'all guys okay?
And they fly back. They didn't they
[28:14] didn't take up the time of a fire
department personnel on on expanding
[28:19] that resource.
Same mapping and documentation. Serious
[28:24] traffic crashes. I would tell you we had
a head-on collision at the base of the
[28:29] bridge back in um about 12 years ago.
Head-on collision, a fatality.
[28:35] There was debris all over that area
around that bridge.
[28:41] We were told there was a child ejected
from the vehicle.
[28:47] So, we had to get people searching all
over the place up Marsh looking for a
[28:50] child. Fortunately, the child was not
there. Even though we found a car seat,
[28:55] the child was not in the car seat and
was not ejected.
[28:59] Evidence, vehicle positioning, 2D, 3D
model data collection to help recreate
[29:06] that crime, that crime scene or that
accident scene. Major event overwatch,
[29:11] large public events such as the St.
Patrick's Day festival. We have a large
[29:16] crowd showing it, people from all over
the place. So what that could get for us
[29:20] is an overview watch going up if there's
issue with personnel uh attending we can
[29:27] also go there and uh uh uh have officers
go in that area to assist in that
[29:33] matter. Command level resource
deployment. Again, expandable platform.
[29:38] Additional thirdparty accessories can
expand aircraft capabilities. Payload
[29:43] relief system, spotlights, loudspeakers
for committing instructions to missing
[29:48] or distressed persons.
[snorts]
[29:52] Another good thing about the drone
system is the same platform can also
[29:56] support storm damage assessment and
mutual aid to another agency if needed.
[30:02] We all have experienced a lot of issues
with hurricanes here. We have seen how
[30:06] much kind of devastation it causes.
Trees across roadway, power lines down.
[30:12] Instead of sending out deploying our
rescue out there to see if they can get
[30:17] there, you can deploy a drone to find
out if it's accessible. Is there
[30:22] somebody in need of EMS? How can they
get to them? We can find a better route
[30:27] to get to them. Accountability
and responsible use.
[30:34] Every system deployment will operate
under establishment legal training
[30:38] documentation and supervisory
safeguards.
[30:42] This is very important.
Anybody operating any of the officers
[30:47] operating
that drone would be trained and
[30:50] qualified through the part FAA part 107
certified program. also a 60-day flight
[30:57] and training quarterly training and
annual evaluation for that person that's
[31:01] piloting the drone.
[31:05] documentation every time that drone is
deployed
[31:10] it's called a CFS would be generated a
call for service
[31:14] it's documented
if there is a issue that port is needs
[31:21] to be done and OCA will be also
generated OCA is means originating case
[31:27] agency number which is assigned to that
case flight records will be implemented
[31:33] evidence for evidence procedures
authorized
[31:37] and lawful. It's authorized purpose.
It's also through the laws of FAA and
[31:40] North Carolina law and the ML police
department policy as well. There's also
[31:46] constitutional and privacy protections.
That is important. It's not there to
[31:52] infringe upon anybody's rights. It's
only there for safety, resources, and
[31:57] recoveries.
The oversight for this is always a
[32:02] supervisory involved. A supervisor will
oversee the process of this of this uh
[32:08] program
along with the coordinator which is the
[32:12] pilot the annual program review and
reporting person in charge final
[32:16] authority. With this there's always
greater capability of training oversight
[32:22] documentation and accountability built
into every deployment.
[32:27] Now
the unmanned drone also provides more
[32:31] than live video. It can also create
location based on data and document a
[32:36] record of each deployment.
Mapping documentation we already went
[32:40] over that about create detailed overhead
maps which can generate through
[32:45] something for the town of Eald.
Listen to this part. It is GIS capable.
[32:52] Every time that drone is deployed, it is
marked mapped where it is going and
[32:57] where it has returned.
The flight path history. It records
[33:02] where and when the drone flew. Records
the flight path at altitude, time and
[33:07] location. Flight data can be downloaded
and retained. Maintain as a central
[33:13] departmental record and also supports
afteraction review and accountability
[33:18] which is very important.
Documenting deployment. Each department
[33:23] will be signed again a call for service
record. Multiple flights can be
[33:27] documented underneath one CFS. An OA
will be attached to each one. Photos and
[33:33] video with evidentiary value will be
preserved in accordance with department
[33:38] evidence procedures. Flight records
identify
[33:43] the reporting person in charge and miss
mission.
[33:48] This this system
is is delicately
[33:54] overlooked,
overwatched by supervisors,
[33:58] by the administrative staff of the
department. There is strong policies in
[34:03] place.
[34:07] When I look at something like this, I
think about what a great tool this could
[34:10] be used for for the department,
especially had a child in distress, a
[34:14] missing person.
[34:17] I we could use this many many times,
but it's not going to be used for such
[34:23] things as code enforcement. It's not
going to be used for traffic
[34:26] enforcement. It's not used for such a
thing. It's it's used for [snorts]
[34:30] search and rescue, going out and helping
people at the time of need. I have a
[34:36] lady here tonight, Miss Nancy Fantel.
She's traveled all the way from
[34:40] Virginia. Uh she has been a big
contributor with this. Um, and I'd like
[34:45] for her to come and share her story.
[34:51] » This will be my easel. [snorts]
[35:09] Um, good evening everyone. Uh, madame
mayor, commissioners, and staff. My name
[35:15] is Nancy Frantel and I live in
Midlotheian, Virginia. However, I was
[35:20] born and raised in Durham, North
Carolina. For the past 33 years, my
[35:25] family held reunions at Emerald Isle.
And I'm going to start getting emotional
[35:29] because you're going to understand why
as I get through the rest of this story
[35:33] because it's a very powerful story. Um,
we rented cottages on Ocean Drive. I
[35:38] frequently returned for extra
relaxation. It's kind of my home away
[35:42] from home. I mentioned the period of
visits in order to establish standing.
[35:48] I realize tonight is for the budget
amendments approval on the police
[35:52] department contributions. However, I'm
going to be proactive and ask that you
[35:57] approve the purchases when the time
arrives for all of the equipment
[36:01] requested and already funded for the
police department. I'm going to focus
[36:07] now on requesting the approval of the
drone. A recent donation was made to
[36:13] cover the full cost, and yes, that was
me. Thankful and humbled to be able to
[36:18] do it. I love police officers. I deal
with them all over the country. Um,
[36:23] please allow me to tell you a true story
to help you identify with my plea and my
[36:28] passion obviously about purchasing a
drone. One year ago during an excuse me,
[36:34] one year during an August reunion, say
I'm already just wait till I get to the
[36:40] end of the story. Um, my brother and I
left from the beach on a Hobie catamaran
[36:45] 16 for a short sale.
[36:52] You guys live at the beach, so you know
what a patter might look like, but maybe
[36:56] some people don't, especially the people
on the other side of the world who can
[37:00] watch this video. Um, it is, and this is
important for later. The mass height is
[37:08] 26 feet, 6 in, and the bow to stern is
only 16 feet. And it has a mesh like a
[37:15] trampoline. So it's not substantial
although it's legal. So um
[37:22] and where we left from this was it um
this picture is great because we left
[37:29] around here and we started sailing out
very
[37:36] um okayized
[37:43] the marine forecast was uneventful when
we left about 20 minutes into sailing A
[37:49] storm developed resulting in high waves,
high swells, winds, and heavy rain. We
[37:55] tried to turn the Hobie back to shore.
We're typically only gone like an hour
[38:00] and a half at most. Um, instead we
capsized.
[38:09] So, if you're familiar with the Hobie,
it has pontoons, it has two, and then
[38:13] there's the mesh in between. So, that
[38:20] Um, we tried the
[38:30] » I used to be a So, I'm very visual. Um,
with a a Hobieat there's a writing line.
[38:38] So, you try to upright the boat, which
is actually in this picture what the
[38:42] people are trying to do. They're leaning
back.
[38:46] So, this is how thick the rope is to try
to get up a very heavy boat. Doesn't
[38:51] work real well, especially when you've
got winds and sails, swells fighting
[38:56] against you.
Um, so we eventually kept trying and
[39:01] trying. It was ours by now. And we knew
family on shore would have called 911,
[39:07] but there was nothing. There was nothing
coming, nothing in the sc nowhere. And
[39:14] so eventually we turtled.
So those don't don't know because these
[39:19] are beach people. You probably know
upright sailboat capsized turtled and we
[39:25] were of course there's nothing you can
do after that point.
[39:32] Um the wind and the rain eventually
stopped. But you see where I'm headed
[39:36] with this about a drone purchase.
Um,
[39:43] my brother is an experienced sailor, but
when you've got a turtle boat and you've
[39:47] got current fighting against you,
there's nothing you can do. So, I'm a
[39:51] very strong Christian. I said it
quietly, but I prayed to our heavenly
[39:56] father and Lord Jesus and said, "Please
rescue us." Because I had two small
[40:00] children. I mean, we had all the family
on shore and we knew all the vacationers
[40:05] in the area were probably also
hysterical because these people had been
[40:09] gone for hours. And
um so I said a prayer, please rescue us.
[40:15] I'm a mother of two children. And I did
tell God, I'm a mother and I'm not dying
[40:20] today and I'm definitely not dying in
the ocean. So it's like just at least
[40:25] give me the chore. Um, and I'm going to
jump ahead a little bit, but if the
[40:29] police department had had a drone early
in, and I understand it can't fly in,
[40:34] you know, severe weather. I get that.
But when it did calm down, they could
[40:38] have sent the drone out and started a
grid. So,
[40:43] um,
and clearly a drone for other situations
[40:47] with rescuing, Jeff's already talked
about. They're obvious, but this is a
[40:52] real life example of why I could be here
and not trembling telling this story.
[40:59] Because what if it's somebody else?
[41:05] Eventually, a small speck off of the
side of the horizon started coming and
[41:13] we were going like this. And you got to
keep in mind we had our life vests but
[41:17] you you cannot see the trampoline. And
if this was the water, this is how much
[41:23] of us you could have seen.
That's it. And so eventually the boat
[41:30] came and it was a 40 43 foot fishing
charter that was coming in. They were
[41:36] last boat for the evening and or was
like, "Okay, thank you. Thank you,
[41:41] Lord." Well, the clincher is, and that's
my last piece, but I'm going to wait for
[41:47] that. Um,
[41:51] we knew family called 911. There's
obviously a very close coast guard
[41:55] station. In fact, the funny thing is,
not very funny now or even afterwards is
[42:00] when we first went out, there was a
Coast Guard boat, a small one, and the
[42:06] saying is they were so close, I could
have thrown them a sandwich. So that's
[42:10] how close they were, but we never saw a
Coast Guard after that. And in fact, the
[42:15] more I started researching this and I
called the Coast Guard, I wanted to
[42:19] foyer the records and they said, "Oh,
no. We we wouldn't have come to rescue
[42:24] you. That's not what we do." Now, I am
not bad mouthing the Coast Guard, but
[42:30] and I know they work very very hard, but
they were not coming. They were not
[42:35] coming. So the drone once again we get
to the drone. So talked to the boat
[42:42] captain and get on the boat. I went in
shore talked to him a couple days later
[42:47] and I said, "Thank you so much for
rescuing us and answering the 911 call."
[42:51] He said, "I didn't know about a 911
call. I didn't know about two people
[42:56] lost at sea."
>> Here's the punch.
[43:04] the name on the boat.
[43:11] That was the name on the boat. God heard
my prayer and I'm all for prayer, but a
[43:18] drone would have worked out really well.
So, thank you.
[43:23] » Thank you for sharing your story.
>> You're welcome.
[43:35] I am sure there's a lot of other stories
that could be shared. Um,
[43:40] but the drone is a very important piece
of tool that the police department could
[43:43] definitely utilize in the right way
in the right manner and I guarantee you
[43:50] this is that we do have a policy in
place and I believe it's a lot of you
[43:54] have received the policy on your uh on
your email. I actually brought some
[43:58] extras tonight. If you don't have one,
you're welcome to it.
[44:03] The uh another part of this
presentation had to talk about the
[44:09] automatic license plate reader.
Somebody said, "Jeff, are you crazy? All
[44:15] that stuff going out there about the
flock systems?" I said, "Yeah, I'm crazy
[44:19] sometimes." But uh this system here is
not a flock system.
[44:26] You'll pay attention to the the screens.
I'm going to show you what the
[44:30] difference is on the flock cameras
[snorts] versus the vericotta.
[44:35] The flock purpose built is uh to connect
local users
[44:40] to connect local users
to a massive searchable multi- agency
[44:47] network shared with thousands of law
enforcement all entries.
[44:52] capture data feeds into a collaborate
nationwide hot list and search
[44:58] ecosystem.
The ricotta
[45:04] keeps the data localized within the
deployed organization rather than
[45:08] sharing with the national database.
National play and video data remain
[45:15] confined to the specific organizations
private command dashboard. That's our
[45:20] dashboard.
>> [clears throat]
[45:25] » giving local administrators tighter
control over storage and excess
[45:30] boundaries.
Now the key technical and functional
[45:34] differences is this. The flock's primary
value propos proposition is its talons
[45:41] network which automatically shares
captured vehicle data with thousands and
[45:47] law enforcement agencies nationwide that
are on the network.
[45:53] This is what allows a controversial
vehicle tracking over a period of time
[45:58] and space.
Now the vericata operates on a closed
[46:04] siloed
architecture where the captured vehicle
[46:08] data is totally isolated.
Capture data belongs strictly to the
[46:13] organization that purchased the system.
There is no central interconnected
[46:18] national database and out of
jurisdiction. Police departments cannot
[46:22] log in or search a global ricotta pool
to track someone.
[46:30] data can only be shared if the local
administrator manually exports a
[46:34] specific clip after an incident occurs
and only for a legitimate law
[46:39] enforcement period.
[46:44] So the proposal for this is LPO
technology is an investigative tool not
[46:50] a standalone basis for law enforcement.
[46:55] The authorized uses are this used only
for law enforcement purposes under North
[47:00] Carolina law. The last complaint reader
data shall not be used for enforcement
[47:06] of traffic violations.
Shall not be
[47:11] used for enforcement of traffic
violations.
[47:15] Audits conducted annually.
I'll move that to monthly.
[47:21] [clears throat] investigative value may
assist with stolen vehicles,
[47:26] felony warrants, missing endangered
persons or criminal investigations. I
[47:31] keep on thinking about we get a lot of
calls of people with Alzheimer's or
[47:35] dementia walking out of their houses,
getting their vehicles and leaving and
[47:38] they're not seen for days.
That vehicle has entered into that
[47:42] system where we would receive alert say,
"Hey, that vehicle just came across the
[47:46] bridge going see if you can help them
out."
[47:51] LPR information supports investigations.
It is not by itself enforcement
[47:57] authority.
Therefore, you have to verify and
[48:01] document. Officers must verify any LPR
alert before taking enforcement action.
[48:09] We must verify before we do anything we
get alert on to. If it's a stolen
[48:13] vehicle, we have to verify that it is
still stolen before we act upon that
[48:18] alert. Historical searches require
legitimate purpose and documentation.
[48:25] Now the data not this is captured data
is confidential and subject to restrict
[48:31] retention limits in accordance to state
law.
[48:35] Assess search and sharing and
preservation are subject to audit and
[48:40] supervisory oversight. Now this
retention is held for 90 days. 90 days.
[48:47] I want y'all to see the bottom of this,
please. Misuse of this system will
[48:53] result in disciplinary action and
possible criminal liability.
[49:00] The safeguards that are in place, there
are six controls in place to prevent
[49:04] misuse.
Five already built into the software
[49:08] itself. So the rent policy is not in the
software, that's in the town of M1's
[49:13] policy.
The written policy is adopted policy
[49:16] defines permitted uses only prohibited
queries and disciplinary consequences.
[49:23] So therefore, anything that's taking
place is a case number and offense
[49:26] required. Software requires case number
and offense type before any query can be
[49:33] run. Every search is logged.
Role based permissions and sieges
[49:40] custom roles. permission limit search
capabilities and see this view required
[49:45] by NCIC alerts. NCIC is National Crime
Information Center which is based all
[49:52] over the United States. They're the
people that when you put in a stolen
[49:56] vehicle, a wanted vehicle or a vehicle
used in commission of felony, that tag
[50:00] number is put in that system and that
tag comes onto the island, it alerts us,
[50:06] but we have to verify before we do
anything.
[50:10] Supervisor and random audits. Supervisor
reviewed flag searches the same business
[50:17] day. We have to make sure it is legit.
Audits filter to the log by event type.
[50:26] Now alert recipient scope type. They
alert scope to certain camera sites.
[50:31] Alert scope to specific user groups. I
keep on saying users and entries.
[50:37] Not everybody has access to the LPR
software. Only the administrative staff
[50:43] of the Emil Police Department will
assign those folks to be able to assess
[50:49] this program. They have to log in and
they have to put in a password. That
[50:56] audit comes up. It tells me who's been
in there, what were they looking for, or
[51:01] what were they entering
and therefore it's audited every month.
[51:06] Retention and training. Retention is set
by state law and departmental policies.
[51:11] Annual training on authorized uses and
bias awareness descriptors.
[51:17] So the retention is held as well for 90
days. And again the audit is held once a
[51:23] month.
[51:26] So this is important.
All of it is important. But the
[51:31] department of policy is based on four
core principles.
[51:35] the legitimate need, the legal
authority, accountability, and privacy
[51:41] protection.
Now the goals for this is to ensure the
[51:45] technology remains a focused public
safety that does not allow for
[51:48] unrestricted monitoring to provide
officers with modern tools that can help
[51:54] improve public safety while placing
clear
[51:59] boundaries while placing these clear
boundaries around how those tools may be
[52:05] used
to respond more effectively to
[52:09] emergencies while maintaining
appropriate safeguards.
[52:12] to provide to protect individuals
constitutional rights and public trust.
[52:20] Folks, this is not the flock camera.
This is the fragata. This is a single
[52:23] use system. Now, I will tell you,
[clears throat]
[52:28] I've been made aware that Lamp Beach has
a Vicotta system. It's still in action.
[52:33] They going to be moving that Vicotta
camera system to the base of their
[52:37] bridge
having one down this bridge. If
[52:42] something happens,
seriously, we can put in that
[52:45] information and alerts go out. If any
one of those cars exit, then we know it.
[52:51] We have a timeline. Could we have used
that for when we had the homicide and
[52:56] arson case down here? Absolutely. It
would have cut the resources down to
[53:01] minimal. Very minimal. but we didn't
have it. It would have help with the
[53:05] evidentiary
procedures in court.
[53:10] With that being said, I know some of
y'all received a summary of
[53:18] the surveillance program.
[clears throat]
[53:22] The police department surveillance
technology policy establishes rules for
[53:26] the use of two law enforcement
technologies.
[53:31] the automatic license plate readers and
unmanned aircraft system which is called
[53:36] the drones.
Both technologies can improve public
[53:40] safety, increase officer safety, assist
criminal investigations,
[53:46] and allow officers to respond more
efficiently to certain instances. At the
[53:51] same time, the department recognizes
that these technologies have the
[53:55] potential to collect significant amounts
of information and must therefore be
[54:00] subject to clear limitations, oversight,
and accountability.
[54:05] We keep on hearing the word
accountability, and that's that's a
[54:08] fact. The proposed policy designed to
ensure that LPRs and drones are used
[54:14] only for legitimate
and lawful law enforcement purposes. and
[54:21] in compliance with North Carolina law,
federal law, constitutional protections,
[54:27] and applicable federal aviation
administration requirements.
[54:33] The policy also establishes specific
restrictions on use, limit access to
[54:39] authorized and trained personnel.
It also requires documentation for
[54:44] certain activities,
establish data retention and disclosure
[54:49] requirements. Provides for supervised
review and auditing [clears throat]
[54:55] and prohibits the use of the technology
for personal,
[54:58] discriminatory, retaliatory, and other
unauthorized
[55:03] purposes.
>> [clears throat]
[55:06] » The intent of this policy is to provide
the department with useful public safety
[55:11] tools while establishing a strong
safeguards to protect individual privacy
[55:18] and maintain
public trust.
[55:23] I'm not going to go through the whole
summary. Y'all have seen it.
[55:28] I'm just asking that um
we look more into this and moving
[55:34] forward for the purpose of the police
department having a good tool
[55:40] to betterment our opportunities to help
others.
[55:44] And I think just allowing the people to
know what we're doing would definitely
[55:48] help as well.
>> Thank you, Chief.
[55:53] » Thank you.
So, I have a feeling this discussion is
[55:57] probably going to take a bit. Um, it's a
lot of information. Do just remind that
[56:02] on the agenda tonight is the motion to
adopt the budget amendment for the
[56:07] general fund. It's not what we're
actually purchasing, but I know that's a
[56:11] hot topic as well. So, Roy, did you want
to start off in discussion?
[56:15] » Yeah, thanks, Mayor. Um, this uh this
topic just happens to be a particular
[56:20] sensitive issue for for me personally
and my family personally, but I'm not
[56:24] going to dwell on that as much as I got
the but I have to use that as an example
[56:30] of what can happen when uh when drones
are misused and your your constitutional
[56:36] privacy rights are uh are abused. Um,
but I had a number of phone calls,
[56:42] texts, and emails and uh and and I and
while I appreciate the the many benefits
[56:50] of a drone, um, and let me start by
saying also that I I I trust my life
[56:56] with with Chief Waters, I trust
everything our town manager, Frank Rush,
[57:00] tells me. Uh, I trust these two
gentlemen uh, adamantly. Uh, they're
[57:06] what they say. I they're men men of
their word and I I believe them
[57:10] absolutely 100%.
Um, however, there's some some people
[57:15] throughout this town that I was
contacted by and I guess they came to
[57:18] me. I don't know if they came to
everyone else too, but probably because
[57:22] of the the past experience what happened
with my with my family on this and uh
[57:27] and where the the town droned my my
family's property. Um, I mean, it was it
[57:34] was pretty pretty bad. Uh my my
daughter-in-law was breastfeeding the
[57:38] baby and the drone was flying around the
windows looking inside and it was the
[57:42] town drone.
Um, now I wish we had more time to look
[57:47] into this tonight because we were handed
this packet just today uh about the the
[57:54] new policy in place for drone use and
and uh and I able to talk with the chief
[57:59] today and stuff and I believe there are
some many many good benefits that that
[58:04] could be used from the drone. However,
um I'm not going to sit there and and go
[58:09] against the will of the people who who
contacted me and and asked me do not
[58:14] approve that for various reasons and it
was including the uh the will of the
[58:19] people, their the privacy, the
constitutional rights uh and and the
[58:23] misuse. They said we don't want that to
happen to us. What happened to you? And
[58:28] um and but I wish we had time to educate
people, educate me about it some more,
[58:34] my family about [clears throat] it some
more.
[58:36] Um, I I didn't even tell my family about
this coming up on the agenda tonight. I
[58:40] mean, my wife had a stroke last year at
a board meeting. So, um, I'm not not
[58:45] even going to didn't want to talk about
it with her. And so, I I feel that the
[58:50] the people that contact me probably
represent a lot of people in this town
[58:53] who just don't call and speak up. Um,
I I hear what the the chief was saying
[59:00] and and I I agree with him that there
there's some benefits to this, but uh I
[59:07] I I feel like I have to represent the
the people. They they were saying look
[59:11] the the verbal assurance is not a
safeguard because if that limitation is
[59:15] genuine, the policy should plainly and
unequivocally state that drones should
[59:19] not be used for code enforcement. Uh the
the policy has been upgraded. It still
[59:25] doesn't say it won't be used for code
enforcement, but there's catches and and
[59:28] and things in place now that weren't in
place before or that would be in place.
[59:34] Um
and uh and they said uh basically this
[59:38] is what their thoughts are. Our citizens
should be able to live in their homes
[59:42] and enjoy their private property without
concern that the town government may be
[59:45] watching or recording them from above or
peeping in their windows such as what
[59:48] happened to my family and they were
referring well they said your family.
[59:52] they and they feel that the benefits
don't outweigh the risk to the
[59:56] constitutional protections, personal
privacy, and public trust. Uh
[1:00:00] particularly given the town's prior
droning incident. Um and again we have
[1:00:05] uh different people in charge now for
myself but uh and so
[1:00:12] with that
I mean the county went so far at that
[1:00:16] time to even put it on the permit
application that you consented to have a
[1:00:21] have your property drone and
photographed in order to get a permit.
[1:00:25] And that that was just uh that's just
the propensity to abuse this uh
[1:00:31] technology is uh it's regretfully uh it
happened here. Um I wish it didn't.
[1:00:38] Believe me, I wish it didn't. And uh and
I uh
[1:00:45] and I wish I could uh vote both ways. Uh
but I have to uh the people who contact
[1:00:51] me voted for me and I'm going to
represent their their vote.
[1:00:55] And so that's that's where I stand on
this. Okay.
[1:00:59] » Thank you for that opportunity to speak,
mayor.
[1:01:02] » Anyone like to chime in next? Then we go
down the line.
[1:01:05] » I will. Um, Chief, you mentioned
Atlantic Beach has these systems. Do
[1:01:11] what other beach towns and what does the
county have?
[1:01:17] » I was told by the chief down Shore, they
actually have a ricotta system as well,
[1:01:22] but they just use it for data purposes.
In other words, as a timeline, if there
[1:01:26] was a crime committed, then go back,
pull up that timeline, and look at what
[1:01:29] vehicles went through there. This is
basically what we're looking at on the
[1:01:33] on the LPR system.
>> Do they have drones as well?
[1:01:37] » Not to my knowledge. The Morhead City
Police Department has a drone system.
[1:01:41] Actually, I think it's like a 50 or
$60,000 drone system. It's mounted on
[1:01:45] top of their station. They do crowd
overwatch. They do whatever. They have a
[1:01:50] crime scene
um that they deploy that as well. The
[1:01:54] Card County Sheriff's Office has a
couple of drones that have are in
[1:01:58] operation for when they have a subject
barricaded or whatever, they use it for
[1:02:02] that or whatever other needs they may
have. But yes, ma'am.
[1:02:07] » And I'm sure you don't know this and you
can get back to me.
[1:02:11] Based on those areas, the police and the
county having those systems, has there
[1:02:16] ever been reports of abuse?
>> No, ma'am. Not to my knowledge.
[1:02:21] » Okay.
[1:02:28] » Can I say something else? J,
>> I apologize.
[1:02:31] » No, you're good.
>> And I I told Rory this earlier today. I
[1:02:38] perfectly understand how you feel about
that, Roy. I really, really do. If that
[1:02:42] was me, I feel the same way. That's why
I work diligently and my staff has
[1:02:47] worked diligently to put parameters up,
safeguards up to keep that from ever
[1:02:52] happening again.
Is is everything foolproof? It's not.
[1:02:58] But we're striving to do the best we
can.
[1:03:02] And I assure you that on my watch, it's
not going to happen.
[1:03:07] But I just ask that the board just
consider this if we need to look at this
[1:03:11] moving forward and educating. That's
fine. I'm all about it.
[1:03:17] I'm all about it. And [snorts] I'll tell
you this. I've already set aside I ain't
[1:03:21] saying anything to Frank. I might get in
trouble later,
[1:03:25] but I've already set aside for September
the 15th for our police educating the
[1:03:31] public as a as a educational day for the
system I just talked about.
[1:03:38] Trying to help the people understand cuz
I understand some of them don't have the
[1:03:42] full picture. They don't have the all
the information and that'll be a grand
[1:03:46] opportunity for us to do so.
>> Thank you, sir.
[1:03:50] » Thank you. Uh excuse my turn.
>> Yeah. Uh two things real quick. I am
[1:03:55] going to leave. I have to meet a family
need. Um I hear all points u all points
[1:04:00] of view that have been verbally
expressed. Uh interested in hearing
[1:04:06] more. I won't share now which way I lean
one way or the other. But I have a
[1:04:10] fairly strong uh initial viewpoint. Uh
might surprise one or two people in the
[1:04:16] room and that's okay as well. Uh if
there is a police educating the public
[1:04:22] session on this particular matter
already in place, I think that's great.
[1:04:27] Um
if it doesn't have to happen tonight, I
[1:04:31] also think that's great. Uh
I look forward to hearing more
[1:04:37] viewpoints on one side of it or the
other. Uh
[1:04:43] it is a slippery slope one way or the
other. Uh, I've seen it go one way and
[1:04:49] the other and uh
I'm willing to listen to all different
[1:04:56] points of view,
left, right, up, down, in the middle,
[1:05:02] all that kind of stuff. I can tell you
right now, I wouldn't be prepared to
[1:05:05] make a decision on it tonight. I'm not
going to make a decision on it tonight.
[1:05:09] If my absence counts as a vote one way
or the other, then I'm okay with that. I
[1:05:12] do have somewhere I have to be. And um
if there's a an educational portion
[1:05:18] upcoming and it doesn't have to be
tonight, I'm happy to attend that
[1:05:22] educational portion on the 15th. I'm
happy to entertain and obviously sit in
[1:05:27] on a public hearing in the October
meeting, which I obviously will be here
[1:05:31] for. U
I don't feel prepared to make a call on
[1:05:35] it one way or the other tonight. I know
which way I lean, but I'd like some more
[1:05:39] information and I'd like to hear more
from the public on the matter. or I've
[1:05:43] had a couple of phone calls, but a
couple doesn't constitute
[1:05:48] enough in my opinion to make a call one
way the other regardless of which way I
[1:05:52] initially lean on it. So, uh, my
viewpoint is I'm happy to hear more. I'm
[1:05:58] happy to learn more. I'd be happy at the
next meeting to make a firm call on it
[1:06:03] one way or the other, whether my vote
changes things or not. And, um, I'm
[1:06:08] going to leave you with that. I wish you
all the best of luck with the uh
[1:06:12] committee uh procedures and appointments
and um wish you all have a great night.
[1:06:18] Thank you.
>> Thank you. [clears throat]
[1:06:23] » I know you want me to if I may please
f
[1:06:28] » first and foremost uh Mrs. friendel,
thank you for your generosity and for
[1:06:33] your intent with this and I'm very
grateful for you and all of your family
[1:06:38] that uh you had a very
>> just me. It was just me.
[1:06:42] » Okay. But the the outcome affected all
your family is my point. And I'm glad
[1:06:47] that you are all able to to continue
that and that it didn't end that day.
[1:06:54] » I I would have died that I left a lot
out. We were seven miles we were seven
[1:06:59] miles out from shore in the camp loun um
danger area and we would be dead
[1:07:06] kind of happy about the dance
part. Thank you very much.
[1:07:13] » Absolutely. And and thank you. Um
I know that we're we're only here to to
[1:07:20] vote on the budget amendment for this
tonight. that's what's on the agenda in
[1:07:27] front of us. I too have re received some
calls. Um I don't know what constitutes
[1:07:34] a lot. Um but I've received some calls
and very I' I've re received far less on
[1:07:41] the drone use than I have that of the
LPR. And I have a very thorough
[1:07:50] understanding of license plate readers
and the different types. I know the
[1:07:57] difference between the flock and what
we're looking at. But I can assure you
[1:08:01] that regardless of what was said here
tonight, the general public does not and
[1:08:06] they don't understand that they're
they're only buying into the national
[1:08:10] hype, which is it's all it's all over
the news all the time. Uh just this week
[1:08:17] I believe um New Hover County dismissed
their contract for the flock cameras
[1:08:25] simply because of what happened with the
m misuse by law enforcement in Brunswick
[1:08:31] County. So the the policy is great. I
applaud you for putting all the work
[1:08:37] into it, both of you, Frank and Jeff.
Um, I think it's great, but I'm not
[1:08:44] comfortable
and and it's below the threshold that we
[1:08:48] would have to approve the amount quite
honestly, but
[1:08:53] I I would I would love to see more
consideration given to public input and
[1:09:01] I appreciate what you're doing with the
September 15th police educating the
[1:09:06] public, but I'd also like to that's in
the in the morning. Um, I'd also like to
[1:09:11] see something done in the evenings and
then possibly something done on a
[1:09:17] Saturday so that it gives ample
opportunity for those who wish to be
[1:09:23] educated or share their input an
opportunity. Um,
[1:09:32] that's it.
>> All right. Well, I'd like to echo, thank
[1:09:37] you very much for the generous um gift
and I'm
[1:09:44] generally um skeptical of any kind of
passive surveillance. Um I worked in
[1:09:51] support of the intelligence community
for about 35 years. I've seen things go
[1:09:55] horribly wrong and I'm by nature
skeptical of all of that. And then I
[1:10:02] spent some time talking to the chief
about this and the boundaries that have
[1:10:06] been set up. And I
was not super happy with the draft of
[1:10:12] the policies that came out when the
package came out, but having seen the
[1:10:16] work that's been done since then and the
additional safeguards and and guard
[1:10:21] rails and all the rest of it, um, I feel
a little bit better about it. I don't
[1:10:26] think it's possible to leverage
technology that helps our officers and
[1:10:34] our first responders do their job super
much more efficiently and effectively.
[1:10:40] There's no guarantee that something
won't happen, but what you can do is
[1:10:44] absolutely minimize that, buy down the
risk of such an occurrence while getting
[1:10:49] all the benefits of the um technology. I
think the search and rescue use cases
[1:10:55] really sell themselves. Um, it could
really it can absolutely, as we've seen,
[1:11:00] save somebody's life. And if it saves
one person's life, that seems like a
[1:11:04] really big deal to me. And that offsets
some of the small risk of a potential
[1:11:10] incident. And I lived through what you
went through, Roy. like I I feel it, but
[1:11:17] I also don't want to have any kind of,
you know, past bad actions taint our
[1:11:23] ability to leverage technology as it
develops more and more year after year.
[1:11:29] So, um I am cautiously supportive of
these two programs, but I think it's
[1:11:36] critically important to get buy in and
education from the public. You know,
[1:11:41] when I woke up this part, one of the
hardest things about this job is to
[1:11:44] remain open-minded. And when I woke up
this morning, I was a reasonably firm no
[1:11:49] on either one of these technologies as
it would be implemented until I had the
[1:11:54] opportunity to have a conversation with
the folks that were actually going to be
[1:11:58] operating it and understanding what the
guard rails are and what the real risk
[1:12:04] profile is is not zero and everybody
needs to know that. But I think as
[1:12:08] Alicia pointed out and others, there's a
lot of anxiety among our community
[1:12:14] folks. What is this? Why are you going
to be watching my license? Why are you
[1:12:18] going to be reading my license plate? I
understand if I go to a parking lot, I
[1:12:23] consent for you to read my license
plate, but if I drive over the bridge,
[1:12:27] why do you need to know that I drove
over the bridge? Um, those kinds of
[1:12:32] things. And when you talk to the chief
and others about what it does it mean,
[1:12:38] it's like we might actually know that
you went over the bridge, but nobody's
[1:12:41] going to look to see that you went over
the bridge unless you got a body in the
[1:12:44] back of your car. There's some other
reason that they're looking for you. So,
[1:12:49] I'm a huge fan of
setting up some public engagement
[1:12:54] discussions. I think police educating
the public is a natural uh forum for
[1:12:59] that. Uh, I didn't think about it, but I
love the idea of morning, evening, and
[1:13:04] weekend to make it as accessible as
possible. I'd also, frank, like to open
[1:13:09] it up so that it's an informational
session, so as many of us as can attend
[1:13:14] will attend to be part of the discussion
and to hear the concerns of the people
[1:13:18] that show up to talk about it. Um, my
experience is somebody will come in and
[1:13:24] have an idea or a concern that none of
us had thought about yet and that will
[1:13:28] be the the best idea that came out of
this whole process. So, I'm a big fan of
[1:13:35] engaging the public. Again, I'm not
philosophically opposed to using these
[1:13:41] technologies to make our first
responders more efficient, effective,
[1:13:46] faster. Um, but I think we owe it to the
town that we serve to engage them more
[1:13:52] before we implement it. And you, to your
point, it's very gracious the amount of
[1:14:00] the gift. Um, but I think most important
is to maintain the public trust and I
[1:14:06] you can't really put a price tag on
that. So, I think that's the part we
[1:14:09] really need to get right before we
proceed with this.
[1:14:15] I'd like to add that I please don't take
my I I'm not against this concept. Um I
[1:14:24] I see value. However, I I I feel like
the public feels they've been a little
[1:14:31] blindsided with with the short notice on
it and and I'd really like to see all
[1:14:37] the information that's been shared with
us, shared with others who have voice
[1:14:41] those opinions and just make sure that
they all have an opportunity to share
[1:14:45] those thoughts.
>> Yep. Well said.
[1:14:48] » Yeah, I agree with that. I think with
with enough time that we Mike could put
[1:14:52] this community thing at rest with this
and uh because I I really enjoyed our
[1:14:57] talk today with the manager and with the
chief because um and I wish I had more
[1:15:01] time to read they updated the policy and
you know because I read the first one
[1:15:04] and had some concerns and they addressed
it immediately and and uh I wish I had
[1:15:08] more time to to look into it and and
because I I do uh I mean I make prayer
[1:15:14] based decisions but I also make informed
decisions and I haven't had a chance to
[1:15:18] fairly inform myself with this or uh and
and then to talk to my constituents
[1:15:24] about the new changes. So, it's not
really being fair to the town either
[1:15:28] that I haven't had a chance to talk to
them. So, uh
[1:15:33] I hope we could postpone this or somehow
or and because it is a generous gift and
[1:15:38] and I certainly I'm grateful for that.
>> Yeah, I I think obviously you all are um
[1:15:45] have a common theme in your comments
tonight. So, I think the appropriate
[1:15:48] thing for us to do would be to schedule
those public information, public
[1:15:52] listening sessions u and then bring this
back to you either at your October or
[1:15:56] your November meeting agenda. We'll try
to get everything set up over the next
[1:15:59] few weeks. If we don't quite make it for
October, we'll bring it back to you in
[1:16:02] November. And again, appreciate Miss
Frantel and the the generous donation um
[1:16:06] and hopefully we put the funds to good
use for the community, for the police
[1:16:10] department. So, unless somebody objects
to that approach, we'll absolutely
[1:16:13] proceed in the manner suggested. I make
a motion that this item be tabled for
[1:16:19] additional public input sessions to be
hosted by the police department and with
[1:16:26] the opportunity that their information
sessions in order for commissioners to
[1:16:31] attend because no action will be taken
on behalf of the boards and that it be
[1:16:37] brought back and just to give everyone
time to schedule everything and that
[1:16:42] we're not rushing it. Let's bring it
back in November, please.
[1:16:47] » All those in favor?
>> I
[1:16:50] » we will do that. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:16:59] » Yes.
>> Protocol is whatever.
[1:17:02] » You can come up. You can come up
[1:17:06] » regarding regarding the finances. Yes.
Because I make lots of donations. I'm
[1:17:10] very fortunate to do that. So, I'm
always very specific. So if for whatever
[1:17:14] reason, and I respect that, the drone
is, you know, a while, the money is
[1:17:19] still to go to the police department.
>> So it's not a matter of, oh my gosh, we
[1:17:23] have to deny the money. No, please don't
do that. So, [snorts] um,
[1:17:29] » and I don't want to offend anybody by
saying this, but since I'm a visitor,
[1:17:33] I'm not someone who lives here, my
understanding is the actual population
[1:17:37] of Emerald Isle is 4,200, something like
that. And I know you were voted. I know
[1:17:42] you respond to your constituents. I get
that. But what about the 30,000
[1:17:49] visitors that come and might have a
problem? I understand exactly, you know,
[1:17:55] with the issue, the personal. My son has
a drone and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, what
[1:17:59] are you going to do with it?" But he
hasn't he ran away so he just used it to
[1:18:04] try to find in a construction site tried
to find the dog. Um, but I get it. But
[1:18:08] please think big picture. You're talking
for 4,200 people. You're not talking on
[1:18:15] behalf of everybody else.
>> So that's that's one of the things I
[1:18:19] sure say.
>> Thank you. Should we um since she just
[1:18:25] explained to us that the donation does
not have to go towards this equipment?
[1:18:29] Should we go ahead and make a motion to
receive the funds?
[1:18:33] » Well, I think that we can receive the
funds without a motion. The motion in
[1:18:37] front of us is to approve a budget
amendment um to purchase the budget
[1:18:43] amendment. We purchase these.
>> Okay.
[1:18:46] » Am I correct?
>> Yeah. Yeah, you're you're correct. So
[1:18:49] essentially, in order to actually spend
the funds, there has to be a budget
[1:18:53] appropriation and particularly given the
sensitivity with these issues, I
[1:18:57] certainly don't want to spend those
funds without your consent for these
[1:19:00] items.
>> Okay, got it. Just wanted to be clear.
[1:19:02] Okay, thank you.
Okay. So, moving on to agenda item
[1:19:07] number 14. Um, this is regarding a
resolution to amend the rules of
[1:19:13] procedure regarding appointments to
advisory boards. Would you like to give
[1:19:18] us a quick recap?
>> Yeah. Um, briefly, the resolution uh, if
[1:19:22] adopted would amend rule 31 in your
rules of procedure that has to do with
[1:19:26] appointments to advisory boards,
committees, i.e. planning board, board
[1:19:30] of adjustment, uh, things of that
nature. Um this resolution [snorts]
[1:19:34] uh if adopted would do three things. One
is it would eliminate the current
[1:19:39] requirement for a roll call vote for
appointments. Uh it would replace uh
[1:19:44] that with a process where you could use
utili you could either utilize a motion
[1:19:50] um obviously followed by an affirmative
vote of majority of the board
[1:19:53] commissioners uh or a written ballot for
appointments. Practically speaking, we
[1:19:58] would recommend the use of the uh verbal
motion and then the formal vote um for
[1:20:04] one individual appointment. If you have
multiple vacancies and a large number of
[1:20:08] applicants, we would recommend the use
of the written ballot as we've done in
[1:20:12] some recent uh appointment processes. Um
and then finally, uh at at the May
[1:20:17] special meeting, uh the board authorized
the mayor to break a tie in the case of
[1:20:21] an appointment. There's language in the
proposed resolution that formalizes that
[1:20:25] so that that's clear the next time
there's an issue for the planning board,
[1:20:29] the board of adjustment, etc. would
apply to any appointment of the board.
[1:20:34] Um, if the board approves this, uh, it
would be in place immediately upon
[1:20:38] adoption. Um, it is something that is
not necessary. Um, the current process
[1:20:45] with the roll call votes is certainly
legal, acceptable, is effective, works.
[1:20:50] um at times it can become a little bit
confusing and a little bit burdensome.
[1:20:54] The intent behind the recommended
amendment is to make it simpler and
[1:20:58] clearer to people. One thing that I want
to make clear to the board and to the
[1:21:01] public is that there will always
regardless whether you change the policy
[1:21:06] or don't change the policy, there will
always be a record of who uh a
[1:21:11] particular individual voted for. So
whether that's a roll call vote, you'll
[1:21:14] know that Commissioner Plum voted for so
and so and Commissioner Wooten voted for
[1:21:18] so and so. If it's simply a motion, you
will know that Commissioner Sanderson
[1:21:23] and Commissioner Brownlow voted for so
and so. And certainly if it's a written
[1:21:27] ballot, your name will be on that.
That's a public record. We'll announce
[1:21:31] the results of the uh ballot process for
making appointments going forward. So
[1:21:35] it's all completely transparent. Uh it's
all completely known. It's a matter of
[1:21:39] public record. we have to inform people
how you voted on those kinds of
[1:21:43] procedures. So that would not change
regardless. So the intent behind this is
[1:21:47] to make it simpler and easier for you
all and for the public to understand and
[1:21:52] follow going forward. Um at the end of
the day, it's your policy. So it is your
[1:21:56] decision whether or not you think this
is the best way to go about these.
[1:21:59] Again, the intent is to hopefully make
it easier and smoother uh in the future.
[1:22:04] So I'm happy to answer any questions you
may have about this.
[1:22:06] » Thank you, Frank. Chris, would you like
to ask any questions?
[1:22:11] » I um I like what you've put together
here because I do feel like the roll
[1:22:15] call, especially when we have a lot of
appointments, gets very clunky and
[1:22:21] it's not clear at all what we're doing.
So, I think this simplifies the process
[1:22:25] and then we all know what's happening as
well as the public.
[1:22:31] Yeah, I think it would be great and I
don't recall having read this if it says
[1:22:37] or can it say that we p that we
either read the results of the ballot. I
[1:22:42] think the written ballot is a much more
efficient way to get it done a lot less
[1:22:47] confusing and more direct. But I also
want to be sensitive and make sure
[1:22:51] people know who voted for whom uh as
close to immediately after as possible.
[1:22:57] Um, so I think what you put together is
a great compromise as long as we make it
[1:23:01] easy for people to know who voted for
whom.
[1:23:05] » Absolutely.
[1:23:09] » Alicia, thoughts?
>> Have none.
[1:23:12] » Okay, Roy. Um, yeah, I I spoke with uh
Frank about it earlier today and uh the
[1:23:18] statute just requires that the uh
written ballot be signed uh by the board
[1:23:22] member that that voted and um as long as
that's uh done follow the the general
[1:23:27] statutes then I think it's a great idea.
>> Yeah, I think it would make the process
[1:23:32] a lot a lot easier for us. Um okay, can
we get a motion?
[1:23:39] Motion to adopt the resolution amending
rules and procedures regarding
[1:23:42] appointments to advisory board.
>> All those in favor?
[1:23:45] » I I
>> I
[1:23:47] » Okay.
All right. So, let's put this to action.
[1:23:52] We have some appointments to make
um for the let's see for two additional
[1:23:58] individ individuals for the bicycle and
pedestrian advisory committee.
[1:24:05] I make a motion to appoint Ken Ambrose
and Tom Bonds to terms on the bicycle
[1:24:10] pedestrian advisory committee that would
expired in expire in December 2028. Both
[1:24:17] are current members of the bicycle and
pedestrian committee who would like to
[1:24:21] continue.
>> All those in favor?
[1:24:23] » I.
>> Okay. And we have one more um
[1:24:27] appointment to make today. Um, we need
to appoint one individual to the Emerald
[1:24:31] Isle Parks and Wreck Association Board
of Directors to serve on the remainder
[1:24:36] of an unexpired term that expires in
[clears throat] August 2027.
[1:24:42] I would like to make a motion to adopt
to uh nominate Walter Dwayne McDougall
[1:24:49] to fill the unexpired term of the on the
Emerald Isle Parks and Recreation
[1:24:53] Association Incorporated Board of
Director that expired in August 2020.
[1:24:58] That expires in August 2027.
>> You said nominate. Do we have to say
[1:25:02] appoint? I think
>> Appoint. Make a motion to appoint.
[1:25:05] » Make a motion to appoint. Okay.
>> All those in favor? I I
[1:25:10] » Okay.
I I I did just want to add and town
[1:25:14] attorney pointed out to me that um
because Jason departed the meeting, he
[1:25:17] will be counted as an affirmative vote
for every decision from that moment. So
[1:25:22] he voted to table it with you in terms
of the police donation and therefore
[1:25:27] voted to uh approve the resolution
amending the rule of procedure as well
[1:25:31] as the appointment. So we'll record him
as an affirmative vote. Does the board
[1:25:34] need to vote for the excused absence or
>> he was present so it's not a complete
[1:25:40] absence?
>> I remember when when uh Joy had her
[1:25:44] stroke and I had to leave in the middle
of the meeting. I don't know if the
[1:25:46] board had to
>> we excused you.
[1:25:50] » So I I don't know if we had to do that
similar for Jason or not.
[1:25:56] » I I I think you certainly could have but
obviously we did not. Yeah. Um,
[1:26:02] » can we retry that just to make sure it's
all legal?
[1:26:04] » Well, I think you know I think the
practical result is the same either way.
[1:26:08] I just wanted to simply point out to you
how it would be recorded in the official
[1:26:12] votes that it so for example the
resolution will show as a 50 vote as
[1:26:17] opposed to a 40 vote because of what our
language is and the rules of procedure.
[1:26:20] So I think the practical result is that
it won't change in the future. I think
[1:26:24] we certainly could excuse him if you all
would like to do that.
[1:26:28] » Okay.
[1:26:31] Okay. So, now we have comments from the
town staff.
[1:26:39] » No, Frank,
>> you have some comments.
[1:26:42] » Uh, ju just a few things. Um, uh, we're
currently soliciting bids for the 2026
[1:26:48] street resurfacing contract. And so,
public works director Joe Smith is
[1:26:52] working on securing bids for that. We
have a little under $200,000 available
[1:26:57] in the current year budget for that. We
think that that'll get us maybe 1.3 1.4
[1:27:02] miles. We're trying to structure the
package so that all the work is in a
[1:27:06] relatively close proximity in the hopes
of getting a better uh price tag on
[1:27:11] that. So, we expect to put that
recommendation on your agenda for
[1:27:14] October. Um, we also expect to bring you
um a resolution authorizing a grant
[1:27:22] application to the NC DOT for the
trolley service in the future. As I
[1:27:26] mentioned before, we've had some
encouraging conversations. We think
[1:27:28] we've got an excellent chance of
securing grant funding for that in the
[1:27:32] future. We'll also include kind of an
overall summary of the past year. I've
[1:27:35] got some wrership data in there, but we
can break it down in terms of the hours
[1:27:39] and so forth and maybe some potential
changes to it next year if funding is
[1:27:43] provided. I mean, I think the concerns
about um whether or not that's the best
[1:27:47] use of town funding certainly
understandable and reasonable and
[1:27:51] ultimately it's up to the five of you,
six of you to make that judgment as to
[1:27:55] where what we should spend our funds on,
but we're trying to minimize any burden
[1:27:58] on the town going forward. Um happy to
say that uh after probably three months
[1:28:05] longer than I thought, um FEMA has um
authorized construction to begin on Fire
[1:28:10] Station 2. We made that request back in
I think uh early May. Um so we expect to
[1:28:16] hopefully begin construction one day
next week. Um so hopefully we'll see
[1:28:20] some activity out there. The fire
department will relocate a few days
[1:28:23] before that to the temporary station on
24th Street. Um we also as wrapped up in
[1:28:29] that same transaction,
um we've got the federal government's
[1:28:33] blessing on providing the earlier $1.2
$2 million reimbursement um that
[1:28:39] initially requested probably about a
year and a half ago. We think um maybe
[1:28:44] up to 60 days to go through the rest of
the process with the state and we'll
[1:28:48] have those funds in hand. So that will
be a great uh boost to the town's uh
[1:28:51] cash balances.
Um the red pump station uh met with the
[1:28:56] contractor last week. I expect them to
begin work on the installation of that
[1:29:00] pipeline next week. So glad to see that
moving forward. Also really happy to let
[1:29:04] you know that we've filled one of the
two building inspector positions um with
[1:29:09] a very qualified individual with
previous municipal building inspector
[1:29:13] experience, good customer service ethic
and commitment. So um we still have one
[1:29:18] more position open. If anybody knows
anyone, please tell them to apply. The
[1:29:21] the ad is on the town's website. Lots of
other things in here. I'm happy to
[1:29:25] answer questions about these things or
really anything that's on your mind uh
[1:29:29] with regard to the town.
[1:29:34] It was very comprehensive. So, I
personally don't have any questions. Um,
[1:29:38] who would like to begin the around the
table comments? Alicia, do you want to
[1:29:42] begin tonight?
>> Just thank everyone for the in-depth
[1:29:46] discussions that we've we've had
tonight. Again, thanks to Mrs. French
[1:29:50] Tell for the generosity that that she
has offered the town. And um I I
[1:29:56] appreciate the dialogue among the board
to make sure that we're we're addressing
[1:30:01] this from every angle. I I don't believe
that there's anyone who's opposed to
[1:30:08] giving the police department or any
department the most beneficial tools for
[1:30:14] their needs. But sometimes we we've got
to address other issues as well. And
[1:30:21] it's a proven fact that policies are
incredible, but people who do bad things
[1:30:30] do bad things. It's not a policy that
does it, and it's not a piece of
[1:30:34] equipment that does it. It just happens.
And I'm sure none of those set out with
[1:30:39] that intention, but it's life. Thank
you.
[1:30:44] » Thank you, Jay.
>> Yes, I would agree, Alicia. And thank
[1:30:48] you everybody for the good conversation.
I know we'll end up in the right place
[1:30:53] and um we just need to make sure we do
it thoughtfully and to come to the best
[1:30:59] outcome for the most people. It's
unlikely that everyone will be happy,
[1:31:03] but we can see how close we can get. Um
Mr. Willis, thank you for your comments
[1:31:09] at the beginning of the meeting. I
agree. I am a proponent of the trolley
[1:31:14] in concept. I think it was worth doing
for the first year to prove the concept
[1:31:19] that it could be done, but I don't think
it's something that the town should be
[1:31:23] spending our own money and certainly not
taxpayer money on. And I think that
[1:31:27] Frank and others have been working hard
and Chris and and some others to line up
[1:31:33] funding other than uh taxpayer funding
to keep it going. And my hope is that
[1:31:38] we'll get the benefits that you
obviously know are possible without uh
[1:31:44] committing tax money that's paid by
people that don't ever even look at the
[1:31:48] trolley, much less ride it. So, thank
you for your interest and your comments.
[1:31:53] Um, the only other thing I want to put a
plug in again for the Emerald Fishing
[1:31:57] Tournament, the captain's meeting on the
25th and the tournament on the 26th of
[1:32:02] September. It's always a good time. If
you get a chance, if you don't fish at
[1:32:07] all, come by the weigh station in the
afternoon. It probably starts at three
[1:32:11] as I recall. Um it's always a good time
and you get to see people. And I
[1:32:17] remember last year I was amazed at the
number of fish that came in. So, um come
[1:32:23] on out if you can and support that great
cause. It raises money for scholarships
[1:32:27] for local kids. go
>> in and the private visal auction
[1:32:30] midnight before
>> because that's a big fundraiser
[1:32:33] » is yes that's a great point and that's
usually really good food there too
[1:32:39] » yes
>> that's all from me
[1:32:43] » all right um I'd like to praise and and
thank our our staff our volunteers and
[1:32:49] and our residents for supporting our
public safety and and our recreational
[1:32:53] uh department and the uh and I guess if
I take away anything from tonight. It's
[1:32:58] about um large commitments and and
important commitments like this just uh
[1:33:03] you know there's authority and
accountability that needs to be taken up
[1:33:07] and and then proceeding with that and um
and each month I try to recognize an
[1:33:16] important part of our town and uh you
know what it's admin's turn this time
[1:33:19] he's you guys do a great job you know
our manager our planner um even our
[1:33:24] legal counsel over there um uh you know
everybody Everybody in that in that
[1:33:28] department over there at town hall just
does a tremendous job and and we have
[1:33:32] the best commissioners notebooks ever
put together [laughter] and uh our
[1:33:37] finances are in order and everything and
and thank you Laura for all that. It's
[1:33:40] just uh we have a tremendous staff and I
applaud you guys for the work you do.
[1:33:44] Thank you.
>> Thank you Roy Chris.
[1:33:47] » Yeah. Um I just want to add that I don't
know if you all saw it yesterday but the
[1:33:52] traffic leaving here was insane. So, we
had an incredible summer. Um, and I just
[1:33:59] want to thank everyone that was a part
of that, all of our staff. Um, I don't
[1:34:04] think there were any major incidents.
I'm not aware of any. So, we had it was
[1:34:08] a good summer, good tourist season. Um,
not to belabor the drone topic, the
[1:34:14] camera topic, but when we have these
public sessions, please tell your
[1:34:18] friends, please tell our citizens, they
have to come out. We don't know what
[1:34:22] everyone's thinking if you don't come
out. So, please spread the word so we
[1:34:27] can make an informed decision. Thank
you.
[1:34:30] » Okay. It was great meeting everybody.
Um, we learned a lot. There was great
[1:34:34] discussions. Did you have something
else?
[1:34:36] » No, I'm sorry.
>> Raising your hand. Okay. Um, I just want
[1:34:39] to quickly thank the town for throwing a
day for kids. Um, last weekend I
[1:34:43] attended with my children. I volunteered
there and there were a ton of kids that
[1:34:47] came out and just really enjoyed all the
free time, playtime, and actually
[1:34:52] spending really good quality time with
their parents. So, it was a really nice
[1:34:55] event. Um, yeah, looking forward to the
fishing tournament later in September. I
[1:35:01] have, um, the Northakota Mayor's
Association fall meeting is, um, next
[1:35:07] week in Buffford, actually. So, I look
forward to going to that and I bet we'll
[1:35:11] be talking a lot about cameras. So, um,
it will be nice to hear other people's
[1:35:15] point of views. But, um, yeah. So, great
evening everybody.
[1:35:19] » Also, just a reminder.
>> Oh, you did mean to raise your hand.
[1:35:22] » I did. I I did because you um we all
need to be reminded um that September
[1:35:29] 11th is approaching us very quickly and
we just all need to be reminded to show
[1:35:36] our gratitude.
>> Yes. Thank you.
[1:35:38] » Motion to adjurnn.
>> All those in favor? I
[1:35:41] » I