[0:00] Uh, can I have a roll call please? Mayor? Pardon? Here. Vice mayor

[0:04] joiner. Here. Councillor harris? Here. Councillor ellis

[0:09] here. Councillor day here.

[0:14] I don't think she councilor. Ole

[0:20] ole here. Ole. Thank you. We

[0:24] have a quorum. Okay. Um,

[0:29] alright. Uh, sade, do you mind giving counselor stokes a phone call?

[0:35] yes.

[0:53] hello. Hi, councilor stokes. Hey.

[0:57] so this we're, the zoom hasn't started, but we are doing roll call and then we're

[1:01] gonna go into closed session. So I wanted to get your roll call.

[1:07] alright. Why is it not letting me join zoom

[1:11] so we have it in the back. He's working on getting you in the closed session.

[1:16] okay. Alright. So, councilor stokes.

[1:21] yes. Here we have a quorum. Okay.

[1:25] at this time, is there a motion to allow councilor stokes to participate remotely?

[1:29] I second. Alright. Motion's been made by councillor day and seconded

[1:34] by councilor ellis. Uh, councilor stokes. For the record, can you state,

[1:38] state where you're conducting the meeting from and why you're asking to participate

[1:42] remotely? I'm at home. I, I returned back

[1:46] home to help okay. At home for medical

[1:50] reasons. Okay. Alright. Roll call please.

[1:55] councillor harris? Yes. Mayor. Pardon? Yes.

[2:00] councilor ellis? Yes. Councilor day? Yes. Councillor

[2:05] oli? Yes. Vice mayor joiner? Yes.

[2:09] motion passes. Six to zero. Okay. Thank you. Alright.

[2:14] at this time is there a motion to go into close meeting under virginia code section 2.2

[2:19] dash 3 7 11 a three eight and 29

[2:23] to discuss the acquisition with disposition of real property, where

[2:27] a discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating

[2:32] strategy of the public body. The award of a public contract where discussion

[2:37] in an open session would adversely affect the city's bargaining position. And

[2:41] to consult with legal counsel regarding specific legal matters,

[2:45] real estate contract discussions, unsolicited offer on

[2:49] city owned real estate, and 2.2 dash 3 7 11

[2:54] a one to discuss and consider personnel matters including boarding commission

[2:58] appointments, city clerk contract, hrha and

[3:02] the beacon theater. Follow up on attorney review.

[3:07] second. Second. Okay. Um,

[3:13] one question. I, um, I just noticed this, um, mr. Bassett,

[3:17] um, um, to talk about your, um, evaluation.

[3:21] do we need to add that? No, it's in the, there's just a, there's just a, uh,

[3:26] comma missing. Okay. Alright. Alright. Uh, seeing

[3:30] no lights roll call please. Councilor harris? Yes.

[3:35] may I? Pardon? Yes. Councilor ellis? Yes. Councillor

[3:40] day? Yes. Councilor stokes? Yes. Councillor

[3:44] oli? Yes. Vice mayor joiner? Yes. Motion passes. Seven to

[3:49] zero. Okay. Okay.

[3:57] vice joiner. Is there any discussion?

[4:05] uh, counselor stokes on the phone? Okay.

[4:13] councilor harris? Yes. Mayor. Pardon?

[4:17] yes. Councillor ellis? Yes. Councillor day?

[4:21] yes. Councillor stokes. Yes. Councilor

[4:26] ley? Yes. Vice mayor joiner? Yes. Motion passes. Seven to

[4:30] zero. Okay. Uh, certification please. Certification

[4:35] pursuant to virginia code 2.2 dash 3 7 12

[4:39] d, were only public business matters. One. Lawfully exempted

[4:43] from open meeting requirements and two identified in this closed meeting.

[4:48] motion discussed in the closed meeting. Could you ask, uh, before we do up,

[4:52] can you ask, uh, councilor stokes to mute herself? 'cause we're getting a lot of feedback.

[4:56] councilor stokes, are you able to go on mute?

[5:05] I think so. Y'all hear me? Yes. So I'm gonna hang my phone up. We can't

[5:09] hear you on zoom, but you can't all that feedback.

[5:13] can you hear me? Yes. Yeah.

[5:17] can you hear me? Yes. Can, can you hear us? Hello?

[5:22] can you hear us? Can you hear now?

[5:28] councilor stokes? Can you hear us? Yeah. Okay.

[5:32] I can hear somebody. Okay. Oh, there

[5:36] you go. Alright. All right. I'm ready.

[5:41] councilor harris? Yes. Mayor I, pardon? Yes.

[5:45] counselor ellis? Yes. Councilor day? Yes.

[5:50] counselor stokes. Can you repeat the question? It's

[5:54] certification. Okay. Yes. Councilor

[5:58] oli? Yes. Vice mayor joiner? Yes.

[6:04] okay. Uh, at this time do we have a motion to appoint vice mayor joiner

[6:09] to the legislative committee and councilor oli to the crater

[6:13] planning district commission? Second. Second. So moved. Okay. Motion's

[6:17] been made by councilor stokes and seconded by, uh, councillor

[6:21] ellis. Is there any discussion seeing

[6:25] no lights roll call please. Councillor harris? Yes.

[6:30] mayor part? Yes. Councilor ellis? Yes. Councilor

[6:34] day? Yes. Councilor stokes? Yes.

[6:39] coun councilor ole? Yes. Vice mayor joiner?

[6:43] yes. Motion passes. Seven to zero. Okay. And,

[6:47] uh, before we get into our work session, uh, I'd like to, uh, introduce everybody

[6:52] to, um, our current counselor for ward seven. Um, ms.

[6:56] levia oli. Um, she comes from a background in,

[7:00] uh, hr and, um, health insurance and, uh, worked

[7:04] her way up, uh, the corporate ladder and, uh, has done exceptionally well. And we look very

[7:08] much forward to, uh, working with her, uh, during your time here. Thank

[7:12] you. Forward to learning a great deal.

[7:17] , did you want happy birthday? Yep. And then also, um,

[7:21] I'd also like to announce that I think it was his 93rd birthday. Is

[7:25] that right? Yes. Uh, a former, uh, member of city council

[7:29] and a former mayor, uh, mr. James patterson. Uh, it was his

[7:34] birthday yesterday, so we wish him a happy, healthy 93rd year

[7:38] and for many, many more. Hopefully we get him to that centurion level.

[7:43] alright. And at this time, we'll move right into our work sessions, uh, with our first

[7:48] one being from mr. Ward.

[7:54] good evening mayor by spay counsel. Um, actually, kelly davis, uh,

[7:59] deputy director of development will be presenting the your first two work sections.

[8:03] thank, thank you, kelly.

[8:15] all right. Thank you everyone. Can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. Yes. Great. Wonderful.

[8:19] alright. Our first work session for tonight is a zoning amendment request

[8:23] related to signage regulations in the city of hopewell

[8:28] zoning ordinance.

[8:35] uh, this is a brief agenda of the slide presentation. Primarily a

[8:39] background proposed changes to development standards and the b

[8:43] one district standards, and then staff recommendation. This

[8:47] zoning text amendment is proposed to clarify regulations

[8:52] in the sign ordinance and address existing inconsistencies between

[8:57] districts. But primarily it is proposed in response to requests

[9:01] that we have had from businesses and property owners for different sign,

[9:06] particularly in downtown, but also in other districts as well.

[9:10] think counsel has received some letters to this extent regarding

[9:14] the b one zoning district, and it has also come up as a result

[9:18] of a community meeting that we had with downtown

[9:22] property owners. With regards to the downtown design guidelines

[9:27] that are currently under development,

[9:31] um, I'm go moving through this briefly given the time today, but if there are any

[9:35] questions, I'll be happy to answer them. Uh, within the development

[9:39] standards section of the zoning ordinance, we are proposing changes to freestanding

[9:44] signs. The first change is to modify the sign area and

[9:48] height requirements in the b two, b three and b four

[9:53] zoning districts. The b three and b four are the most intensive

[9:58] districts that we have. And, um, the sign requirements in those districts

[10:02] are actually smaller than in b two, which is more of a neighborhood business district, like

[10:06] around broadway and, um, city point road. So

[10:10] we're making some changes to make those more consistent

[10:14] and appropriate for the districts. Uh, we've also

[10:18] had some requests along the oaklawn wood woodlawn one-way

[10:23] pair for, uh, an additional freestanding sign

[10:27] on those through lots. Council has approved some exceptions for that in the

[10:31] past, going ahead and codifying that. So if we get other businesses

[10:35] on through lots in the that corridor, we won't have to come to council for each

[10:39] of those requests. They would be subject to the same requirements as other freestanding

[10:43] signs. Um, we are also exempting small signs, four

[10:47] square feet or less from the requirement that, um, all freestanding

[10:52] signs be monument style. That's the style that looks like a

[10:56] box or a mo a monument. Um, there's an exam, two examples on this screen

[11:00] here before you basically allowing smaller signs that might be,

[11:04] um, just for a small

[11:09] business or a singular business that are smaller for wayfinding signage to be less,

[11:13] less, um, stringent requirements. There. Also,

[11:18] uh, adding additional standards for the base and

[11:22] foundation. We've had some questions as to those requirements in our

[11:26] ordinance, and so we're adding some clarifying language there. We are eliminating,

[11:31] uh, a requirement that is pretty stringent on height to width ratio,

[11:36] but instead of that, adding setbacks from the right of way to help

[11:40] drive some of the, the, um, height

[11:44] and width requirements in a different way.

[11:49] other proposed changes to general development standards for signage,

[11:54] we've started to see signs cover. This is an, this photo

[11:58] is an example where window signage covers the entire window.

[12:03] um, right now it was the, there's an exemption in the ordinance to

[12:07] exempt temporary window signs. This is really more of a

[12:11] permanent sign, so we're clarifying that that exemption, so they don't have to have a sign

[12:16] permit to have window signs, but they can only cover up

[12:20] to 25% window co, uh, 25% of the window.

[12:24] and that's really to help with public safety, being able to see into the building.

[12:28] um, and as for community appearance as well.

[12:33] and then the final change to development standards is modifying and clarifying

[12:37] the awning sign area requirements. There's some, um,

[12:42] existing potentially typos in the ordinance that are very difficult to interpret. And,

[12:46] um, so we've clarified and made that a more,

[12:51] um, made those restrictions more aligned with best practices

[12:55] for signage in the b one

[12:59] zoning district. That's our downtown zoning district, we are increasing

[13:04] the combined building signage or proposing to, these are all proposed changes

[13:08] to increase the combined building signage from 50 square,

[13:12] or I'm sorry, those are mixed up. Um, the from

[13:17] 50, the current is 50 and we would be proposing to increase it to 75

[13:21] square feet. Um, projecting signs also increasing

[13:26] slightly based off of the, the linear feet of building frontage.

[13:30] um, that's in these are specific inquiries that we have had

[13:34] from multiple property owners downtown for larger projecting signs,

[13:39] um, we're also making some changes to or proposing changes to freestanding

[13:43] signage. Um, the biggest change for freestanding signs,

[13:48] although the size is changing, um, is not requiring that

[13:52] monument style standard because we'll have the added a rb

[13:57] review. Um, and this is something that has come out of those community meetings,

[14:01] um, so that folks that want a smaller sign or a blade sign like

[14:05] or example in this photo here, uh, would be allowed

[14:09] to do that subject to a rp review. And then finally, we, we

[14:14] did add flags in the last zoning ordinance amendment, but we wanted to clarify that

[14:18] the flutter flags are not per permitted in downtown. And that was something

[14:22] that a rb had requested as well. And with that

[14:26] staff recommends approval as presented tonight. And planning commission has also

[14:30] recommended approval of this. And I'll stand ready to answer any questions.

[14:34] okay. Are there any questions for ms. Davis?

[14:40] okay. None. Alright. Thank you very much. Thank you.

[14:44] any question? Go ahead and bring up the next item.

[14:52] I guess there has to be a motion.

[15:02] it's for another day. Okay. Yeah.

[15:07] okay. Uh, moving on to work session number two.

[15:16] so we're okay? Yeah.

[15:25] are you prepared for me to start? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Mm-hmm .

[15:30] um, all right. So the second request is for zoning amendment

[15:34] for to allow urban agriculture in the city

[15:38] of hopewell. Again, the agenda for tonight briefly,

[15:43] and the background here is that the city of hopewell has initiated

[15:48] this. The planning commission initiated this request and directed

[15:52] staff to research how to allow urban agriculture

[15:56] here in the city of hopewell in a buyright manner. We've started to

[16:00] see some interest in this use throughout, um, in various parcels

[16:04] throughout the city. So we wanna, um, make sure that there's a pathway

[16:08] to do this legally. Uh, it is in compliance with the

[16:12] comprehensive plan to allow, uh, better

[16:16] access to fresh fruits and ve vegetables in the city. And so

[16:21] this was proposed as a way to do that.

[16:26] there are some challenges for urban agriculture that you all should be aware of as

[16:30] you review this ordinance. It is currently not allowed as a primary use.

[16:34] so if you see a community garden, it's an, it would be an accessory use. So we do

[16:38] allow you to have residential gardens or community gardens

[16:42] accessory to another use, but it currently is not allowed as a primary use.

[16:47] other issues are related to fencing, accessory

[16:51] structures, um, water and and electric service. Also,

[16:55] um, tied to, you can't have, if you don't have a legal use

[16:59] as well as enforcement. Um, primarily the current concern

[17:03] being that someone might fence a property for urban agriculture and

[17:08] actually try to use it for more of a junkyard condition. So we wanna make

[17:12] sure we're not allowing any nuisance conditions through this use.

[17:17] so the first, uh, we conducted a lot

[17:21] of research and actually didn't find very many good examples

[17:26] in virginia, but we did find a few and, uh, came up with

[17:30] the idea of adding what market garden, which you might also hear

[17:34] as referred to as an urban farm or commercial garden. So I

[17:38] won't re review read this whole definition to you, but the thing to

[17:42] know is that this will allow, um, cultivation of

[17:46] crops for sale or donation to public or nonprofit organizations.

[17:52] um, and it would also allow accessory educational activities

[17:57] and onsite sale and distribution.

[18:02] there's some additional definitions included in that you should be

[18:06] aware of as well, or that you will see in the packet, but

[18:10] I'm not gonna go into detail on these tonight. Um, the market garden

[18:14] use would be proposed for buyright in all

[18:19] business districts, and that is the b one, b two, b three, and b

[18:23] four districts. There are also

[18:27] some significant use standards associated with that. This is an

[18:31] amendment to the development standards to add a new section,

[18:35] uh, section h, which would have use standards for these two

[18:39] uses. Um, some of the, the use

[18:43] standards shown here would be approval of a plan when they come to get

[18:48] their business zoning approval. Uh, there's limits on the buildings

[18:52] and storage that can be on site, as well as onsite limits on onsite

[18:56] sales. We have some standards related to composting soil and

[19:00] mulch storage. Again, trying to prevent the accumulation of

[19:04] large amounts of these materials to the extent that that becomes

[19:08] the primary use over the actual farm. And then

[19:13] as well, we have included standards for maintenance and operations,

[19:17] um, including that you have to keep the site main well

[19:22] maintained and no exterior onsite equipment,

[19:26] tool storage, vehicle storage, et cetera.

[19:31] the second definition, or use that is being added to the

[19:36] ordinance is an urban agriculture indoor. This is

[19:40] a best practice that we are starting to see in zoning ordinances

[19:44] to allow folks to conduct urban agriculture in buildings.

[19:49] uh, this is proposed in all of the b districts and the

[19:53] m districts. And there are also

[19:57] some use standards proposed with this related to

[20:02] indoor uses, um, exterior storage, the

[20:06] keeping of animals, the control of odors, as well as in your

[20:10] commercial and mixed use districts requiring a portion of those, those

[20:14] spaces to still include the retail services for

[20:18] walk-in customers. So you keep that, that activated storefront.

[20:25] and with that, uh, I stand ready to answer any questions. Staff

[20:29] is recommending approval and planning commission also recommended approval. And

[20:33] I do just wanna note that the full ordinance as it's

[20:37] drafted for adoption for both this and the previous work session

[20:42] are included on your, um, on the dais as well

[20:46] as in the back for the public. Thank you. Alright.

[20:51] are there any, uh, questions or comments for ms. Davis? Uh, vice mayor joyner?

[20:55] yeah, I, I do have one comment and it just relates to the buildings. Just wanna

[20:59] make sure that, that we don't have a situation and I'm sure this, you

[21:03] know, you're writing the ordinance to make sure we don't have, but, you know, a hoop house

[21:07] that mm-hmm . That is in use for a little while, and then they say, oh, well I'm not interested

[21:12] in this anymore and it looks awful, and the plastic is torn and flying all

[21:16] around. I mean, I think there are examples of that along route five,

[21:20] along any virtually any corridor in the state where people,

[21:24] you know, get, they think they're gonna have a nursery or whatever, and it doesn't work out.

[21:28] and I'm just very concerned about in the city how it can go

[21:32] wrong. Okay. Yeah. Particularly for those temporary structures,

[21:37] it sounds like. Yes, yes. I'm very concerned. I will definitely take a look and make

[21:41] sure that we've addressed that or, um, look at an amendment. Yeah,

[21:45] I'd really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Mm-hmm . Thanks.

[21:49] yeah. Um, the only comment that I have is, um, I think this is exciting. Um,

[21:53] this is something actually, um, that I saw a lot of when I was, um,

[21:58] out of town and, um, you know, a lot of, uh,

[22:03] small towns on the west coast and it's, um, very popular.

[22:08] um, and I think, you know, having an ordinance that allows this, you know, that

[22:12] gives good defined parameters of which, you know, they can exercise. This, I think is gonna be

[22:16] an attractive draw, um, you know, for our city. But I do agree with,

[22:20] uh, vice mayor joiner that we need to make sure that, um, you know, when

[22:24] we allow this, that, um, that we make sure that it's, it's managed

[22:29] properly mm-hmm . Exactly. And I, I, I do support this. I think it's great.

[22:33] it's great. I'll also just note that we did meet with, uh,

[22:37] potential urban agriculture farms here in hopewell

[22:42] to help, you know, review this and make sure that we weren't missing anything. Okay.

[22:46] so we got some good feedback through that process as well. Appreciate that. Thank you so much, kelly. Thank you. Thank you.

[22:50] okay. Uh, any other comments or questions? Okay. Seeing

[22:54] none. Alright, we're gonna move on to number three. Uh, ms. Wilson,

[22:59] uh, with the executive summary for hrha.

[23:12] good evening to mayor, vice mayor, members of council. I'm lisa wilson with

[23:16] the hopewell redevelopment and housing authority. And on behalf of our board of commissioners,

[23:20] um, thank you for having us here this evening. Uh, for this brevity of time,

[23:24] we will be providing you with an overview of hr ha's operations,

[23:28] our vision, our strategic plan, and we will end it with some development

[23:33] updates. So I'll be doing the first part of the presentation, and

[23:37] the last part will be provided by our development consultant, mr.

[23:41] vars mccoy. And I do wanna say good evening to our commissioners,

[23:45] thankful for their support. And our general counsel is here, mr. Darius davenport

[23:49] as well. So, thank you again. Um, can

[23:53] she speak up please? Yes, I certainly can. Yes. So

[23:57] if we could go back to the, uh, other, the first slide. Thank you.

[24:02] so we'll start off with hr ha's vision. It's called vision 2030,

[24:07] and it was adopted back in 2013 by our commissioners. It

[24:11] was then revised in 2018. And it is basically the driver

[24:16] for what we do at hrha. Uh, our vision statement is to

[24:20] transform lives and communities by expanding access to housing

[24:24] and empowering our residents to thrive. And so we are working to

[24:28] achieve this vision. And we have some bullets summarized on the slide.

[24:33] uh, so we're seeking to redevelop our public housing. We are wanting

[24:37] to demolish in the obsolete units that we have. We're wanting to

[24:41] enhance our resident services, and we definitely want to try to expand

[24:45] any affordable housing opportunities in the city and even beyond.

[24:51] so, um, moving on to the, uh, next slide,

[24:56] uh, with vision 2030. That's basically the framework and guiding

[25:00] principle for our strategic plan, which we have summarized

[25:04] here. So this slide highlights our strategic plan

[25:09] and what we're seeking to do over the next five years. These are

[25:13] specific milestones that we're wanting to reach, and we are definitely excited

[25:17] about working towards them. As you can see on the slide, we are looking forward

[25:21] to adding additional units to our portfolio, increasing our

[25:26] resident services enrollment. And as new units come online, we are

[25:30] hoping to see some energy savings over the next, uh, couple of years

[25:34] as we do some sustainable measures and have energy

[25:38] efficient products, um, incorporated into our development. Um,

[25:43] with this, we also recognize the importance of financial stability,

[25:48] not just looking to hud for our funding, but trying to d diversify

[25:52] our revenue sources. And we definitely wanna make sure we're maintaining

[25:56] our reserves to keep ourselves solvent. And again, we're seeking opportunities

[26:00] to grow our footprint in development. So

[26:04] we go to the next slide. I'm gonna move on through, and, um, after we're finished,

[26:09] if you have any questions, we'll be happy to answer them if, if that's okay.

[26:13] alright. So this next slide, this is our operational snapshot.

[26:18] it provides an overview of the programs we currently administer, the

[26:22] number of residents we serve, and the cost to operate our,

[26:26] uh, organization. I will say that 82% of our operating

[26:31] budget is funded by hud. The remaining portion, we

[26:35] have some state funding, tenant revenue, and other miscellaneous, uh, revenue

[26:39] that helps to support our operations. Alright,

[26:44] moving on through. Yep. So this next

[26:48] slide provides examples of our capital projects. Hud requires

[26:52] every five years that we do what's called a physical needs assessment. And that's

[26:57] how we determine our capital funding, our capital, um,

[27:01] planning, what projects we're going to work on and how we prioritize them.

[27:06] so the assessment helps us identify what, um,

[27:10] requires replacement, what requires repair, and in the order that

[27:14] we do that. Uh, the good thing about this is every year

[27:19] we provide the pha plan and we make it available to the

[27:23] public where you can make comments and provide edits and really give input

[27:27] and feedback into our capital. Um, capital structuring,

[27:32] uh, some of the examples on the slide, we we're working on modernization of our units

[27:37] roof replacement as needed. Um, we are replacing appliances

[27:42] now with energy efficient appliances and we are very excited about

[27:47] the capital plans that we have for the housing authority. Alright,

[27:52] next slide. Thank you. So this is, uh, we wanted

[27:56] to share some photos of some of the units that we're working on.

[28:00] uh, what we're doing now is we are rehabbing our thomas rolfe

[28:05] and davisville apartments because we're committed to improving the quality

[28:09] of housing for our residents. Um, with me being here in this

[28:13] capacity, I'm very intentional about wanting to replace and rehab

[28:17] units with, uh, new appliances, new countertops, new cabinets,

[28:22] new flooring, new paint. Um, so every unit as we are,

[28:27] you know, ramping up our, uh, occupancy, every unit

[28:31] will be rehab to look like what we see here. And this is

[28:35] an actual unit in thomas roth. So we are very glad that we're able

[28:39] to, to do that. Alright. Um, the next slide.

[28:43] moving on down. So this is just a bit of information

[28:48] as it relates to our operations and maintenance. We have some time

[28:52] goals here for different, um, maintenance requests, different, um,

[28:56] service requests that come up from our residents. And what we're doing

[29:00] here is we're wanting to add systems and preventative

[29:05] maintenance measures so we can improve our efforts with our maintenance services

[29:10] and to improve, um, our upkeep with our aging units. Our

[29:14] units are, are quite old, right? Move on to

[29:18] the next slide. And I'm just about done. Uh, this next slide

[29:23] maybe, is there one before that one maybe?

[29:27] yeah, there we go. All right. So this slide here is just laying out

[29:31] some initiatives we have for communications, resident engagement.

[29:36] we do have some opportunity here. And these are just some things that we're planning to roll

[29:40] out to improve our way of conveying important information

[29:45] and to improve our engagement with our residents. We're really wanting

[29:49] to get feedback so we can see how we can better serve our communities.

[29:53] um, these are just some examples here. We're doing newsletters, we're working on

[29:58] doing, um, text alerts. We're wanting to reengage

[30:02] our resident advisory board, having, um, biweekly, bimonthly

[30:06] meetings. And hopefully we'll get some really good feedback, uh, about

[30:10] resident concerns so we can address them collectively. So that's what we're

[30:14] looking to do. And, uh, yep, this

[30:18] slide here, uh, this is just laying out our remediation

[30:23] plan for any health and safety concerns that we are

[30:27] running into on our properties. Um, this ties a

[30:31] bit to what we're calling black substance. If there's anything

[30:35] identified within the units, we do have a plan in place. We

[30:39] do have a dedicated funding source to address this within our thomas

[30:44] rolfe and davisville communities. So we're very glad that we do have, uh,

[30:48] those resources to address that concern. Then we're coming on

[30:52] down to the end. Uh, just wanted to, uh, let council know,

[30:56] um, some real time challenges that the housing authority contends

[31:00] with on a regular basis. Um, I do believe understanding the context

[31:05] and the climate we're in as a housing authority is paramount to our operations

[31:10] and it really informs our direction and strategic planning as we

[31:14] move forward. So with hud's ever changing regulations, political

[31:18] shifts, eroding funding, aging buildings, and

[31:22] resident and landlord needs, we're making every effort to be adaptable

[31:26] forward thinking. And we definitely wanna be aligned with our stakeholders

[31:31] as we move the agency forward. So we're committed to transforming

[31:36] housing and being the catalyst for improving our communities

[31:40] here in hopewell, and we're seeking to do that in hopewell and beyond.

[31:45] so I do wanna thank you, um, thank you for allowing me to

[31:49] provide that information to you. And actually that's the last

[31:53] bit of what I have for my part of the presentation.

[31:58] um, and if we go, probably have to go down quite a bit

[32:03] all the way down to our development section and I will turn it over to mr.

[32:07] mccourt. Yep. Right there. I'll turn it over to mr. Mccoy and then

[32:11] I'll come back if you have any questions you'd like to ask at that time too. Thank you.

[32:23] alright. Good evening everybody. Good evening. Evening. Um, picking up

[32:27] where ms. Wilson left off, um, been asked to just give a

[32:31] summary of the development efforts of hopewell redevelopment and housing authority.

[32:35] um, I'll first start off by just discussing

[32:40] the, the very kind of genesis of this. Uh, a few years ago

[32:44] started working with the housing authority and the first thing that was done was really to create

[32:48] this vision of, you know, talking about vision 2030 that was

[32:52] shared. And talk about what does that mean for development.

[32:56] um, there was an understanding years ago that, you know, hud was kind of moving

[33:01] in a direction that said there wasn't more public housing money

[33:05] coming, it, it just wasn't coming. And so with that being said, the housing authority

[33:09] began to redevelop its properties, uh, using

[33:13] other funding outside of hud to do that. Uh, most

[33:17] recently, uh, piper square, which was originally built

[33:22] in the late seventies, uh, was rehabbed, uh, what we call

[33:26] a substantial rehab. It was a $23 million project, uh, which

[33:31] resulted in completely new systems within those units. So new

[33:35] hvac, new, uh, plumbing, new fixtures, new flooring, uh,

[33:40] new lighting, you name it. Uh, top to bottom really, uh, working throughout

[33:44] the buildings as well as, uh, assigning a new, uh,

[33:48] exterior to the building so that, you know, those who were to drive through piper square

[33:52] today, uh, might not recognize it as it once stood.

[33:56] in fact, we often get asked, did we tear it down and rebuild it? Uh,

[34:00] we did not. Um, and so, you know,

[34:05] next on that, uh, this council would be familiar with, uh,

[34:09] the housing authority has also, uh, been working toward development

[34:14] of, uh, the rendezvous apartments, uh, which is located in the highland park,

[34:19] uh, highland area of the city, uh, near cavalier square. Um,

[34:23] this would be a 64 unit development. And it's currently,

[34:27] uh, in the pre-development phase, uh, much of its funding has

[34:31] been secured in just looking for that, uh, last piece of the puzzle

[34:36] to get that one started. Um, other development,

[34:40] uh, is really in the early stages, um,

[34:45] development, I'll say this, sometimes when we see new developments come online,

[34:50] um, it seems like it just kind of happens overnight, uh, the physical part of it.

[34:54] but the reality is most development takes about five to 12 years,

[34:59] uh, from concept to actual completion. And, um, you

[35:03] know, I think the work that the housing authority is doing,

[35:07] uh, is very similar to that. The, the piper square project, uh, is

[35:11] one that was began in, uh, 2018,

[35:16] if I'm not mistaken. And of course it was completed in 2024.

[35:21] so I always like to give people that lens to understand that there is a lot of

[35:25] work that's happening behind the scenes to bring those developments to fruition.

[35:30] um, unless I'll say this, that the, uh, this board

[35:34] also, um, looked at, uh, the city and,

[35:38] and really is always asking a question of, you know, how can, what the housing authority

[35:43] does work well with what the city has done. And, uh,

[35:47] one of those areas is in single family. Uh, the, the board has also been looking at

[35:51] how can the housing authority, uh, work within the single family side

[35:55] of things to bring more, uh, high quality, um,

[35:59] single family housing, you know, for sale housing, uh, to the

[36:03] city as well. Um, so yeah, I'll leave it at that and,

[36:09] okay. Okay. Um, let's see.

[36:14] uh, the first person that I have for a question is, uh, counselor stokes

[36:18] and then myself, um, then vice mayor joyner? Mm-hmm .

[36:22] okay.

[36:27] uh, ms. Stokes, if you're, yep. Okay. Uh, yeah, you're on mute.

[36:38] councilor stokes.

[36:44] oh, I'm sorry. There you go. And we, are we unmuted? Yes, you are unmuted now.

[36:50] they got new stuff up here. .

[36:54] I can raise my hand. Can you see me raise my hand? Uh,

[36:58] no ma'am. Not on that screen.

[37:02] that's what I was playing with. But at any rate, um,

[37:07] from the first presentation,

[37:12] um, what are the plans for the relocation

[37:18] of davis? That

[37:22] is, what is the timeline on the relocation of davisville?

[37:26] is there any plans for that community?

[37:34] yep. That is a great question. Councillor stokes and I will say,

[37:38] um, is to be determined

[37:42] the timeframe for when things will occur with davisville. Uh,

[37:46] we're doing things kind of in a sequence, so we're working on getting

[37:51] the rendezvous online, which we're very excited about that. Um, as mr. Mccoy

[37:55] alluded to, um, you know, we're working through some, uh, pre-development

[38:00] activities once we get the rendezvous online, that will

[38:04] give us the go ahead to begin looking at our plans for thomas

[38:09] rolfe and davisville. So I don't have a timeframe,

[38:13] uh, tonight for when that will occur, but we are

[38:17] planning to have a well, uh, well thought out, well planned,

[38:21] uh, relocation plan for the davisville residents,

[38:26] but I thought some years back that had already been put

[38:30] in place and what has caused this

[38:35] slow down with davisville thomas roth court

[38:39] and then to run it mm-hmm . Yep. So I don't,

[38:43] I mean, yi mean you just, you know, a direct answer because

[38:48] the timeframe on it and where we at now don't

[38:52] match. So make it make sense.

[38:57] okay. Alright. Let's see if I can try. So, um, as mr. Mccoy

[39:02] alluded to, when you're working on development projects, um,

[39:06] there are things that come along that you hadn't planned for. And,

[39:10] you know, you have a contingency plan where you, um, may

[39:14] have to change gears, the timeframe may change, some things may

[39:19] have delays. You may have to re redirect your focus,

[39:23] you may have to change what you had initially started to do. And it's just

[39:27] in the world of development that those are the things that we contend

[39:31] with as far as the timeframe for davisville and the relocation.

[39:36] um, I don't have a definitive timeframe tonight because

[39:40] we've had series of delays and certain things that have

[39:44] impacted our development activities. So we wanna make sure

[39:48] we have, um, some clear, a clear path forward

[39:53] with the timeframe for rendezvous and thomas rolfe.

[39:57] and then we will certainly, uh, consider davisville and the

[40:01] timeframe for that. So it will kind of happen in

[40:05] tandem. Like these things will be coordinated together, but, um,

[40:10] you know, we'll definitely come back when we do have a solid definitive timeframe.

[40:14] um, I'll definitely come back and I can relay that, but just to try to,

[40:19] uh, to try to land this plane. I will say that because we've

[40:23] had unexpected and different things occur with our other

[40:27] projects, our other development, it did have an impact on the timing

[40:32] for davisville. So do you have future plans

[40:37] of making sure that the members of this city council are kept

[40:41] abreast? Like maybe a 30 to 60 day report

[40:45] on where you at, where, where you are with the development

[40:49] of those plans? So we don't have to ask these questions years later? Yes,

[40:54] ma'am. Yes. When we had a different set of expectations, and I wasn't

[40:58] on council then, but I followed as a constituent,

[41:02] and it, it gives me great concern, the changes,

[41:06] um, and you're not being definitive with the changes, but

[41:11] if you could keep us in the loop, um,

[41:16] we would be on top of what is happening. So when the constituents,

[41:20] the constituency, particularly public housing residents and

[41:24] our tax paying people wanna know what's happening. I thought they

[41:28] planned to do this, I thought this was gonna happen by this date.

[41:32] if we have reports or some more communication

[41:37] from him, we'd be able to properly answer our constituents, ma'am.

[41:42] okay. Well thank you for that feedback. And I do agree that, um,

[41:46] there should be timely and relevant communication as relates to our

[41:50] project. So we're, we're committing to keep council apprised of our

[41:54] updates and definitely keep you all in the loop because we want to continue

[41:58] building our relationship with the city so we can work on some additional projects.

[42:03] so we will be very intentional about keeping council abreast

[42:07] of what, what's going on. So that's a fair, fair comment.

[42:11] and I am your liaison so I can keep them abbra. Yes, ma'am.

[42:16] thank you. Thank you. Um, so I have,

[42:20] uh, two questions. Um, the first one is, um, you talked

[42:24] a lot about, um, you have the public side, public housing side of

[42:28] y'all's mission, but there's another side of y'all's mission

[42:32] in attracting new development and new

[42:37] housing. Yes. You know, here in the city of hopewell. Um,

[42:41] so what are your plans to, uh, take advantage of the

[42:45] second part of y'all mission? Um, and the reason

[42:49] I'm asking is because, you know, right now we are, you know, continuing

[42:53] to, um, you know, focus a lot of our decision making on

[42:58] making sure that, um, we are doing things that are making us look better and

[43:02] better and better. Mm-hmm . For our bond rating, um, for the bond rating agencies.

[43:07] and the two of the biggest, um, factors in that is,

[43:11] you know, the city's overall value. So the value of all assets within

[43:15] the city. Um, and then also looking at, you know, the housing

[43:19] stock. And then it also looks at, you know, median household

[43:23] income. Uh, what are y'all's plans for

[43:28] addressing the new housing and development piece?

[43:32] yeah, so what we're wanting to do is, like I said, you know,

[43:36] we're working through some of these current, uh, projects, but we're wanting to do is

[43:40] really, um, engage the city. Um, since

[43:44] I've joined the housing authority in this capacity, um, I would like

[43:48] to have discussions, planning sessions, identify some areas

[43:53] within the city that could be really ripe for development and

[43:57] see, you know, how we could, um, put together a project and

[44:01] deal to bring in the new housing. Uh, we do have some ideas

[44:05] we've discussed with, um, our consultant, mr. Mccoy about,

[44:09] you know, some areas where we could, um, could really build up,

[44:13] um, some really nice projects, really nice developments. And it would include,

[44:17] um, mixed use, um, possibly some retail.

[44:22] um, but we do have plans and would like to, uh, discuss

[44:26] those because, um, you know, ultimately we would need the city or want

[44:31] the city's blessing to move forward in those areas. But we certainly

[44:35] are, um, wanting to be very intentional about

[44:39] bringing new housing, new development, um, to the city to help

[44:43] with the, the value and to help bring up the, the asset value

[44:47] and, um, just the appeal and just the overall, um,

[44:52] aesthetic of the city. So we're definitely wanting to do that. We

[44:57] do have some ideas, like I said, there are some, some potential,

[45:01] um, areas and locations that we would like to,

[45:05] uh, discuss with the city, um, you know, in the near future. So.

[45:10] okay. Um, mr. Rogers, can

[45:14] you get with ms. Wilson and let's get a joint meeting between the, um,

[45:18] the hrha board and, uh, city council so we can start talking about,

[45:23] um, you know, some of these developments and these projects? Absolutely.

[45:27] and let's shoot for, you know, october timeframe. Okay.

[45:32] um, no better time than the present. Alright. Um,

[45:36] then the next question that I have is, um, yeah, I know that you guys have

[45:40] talked here, you know, about these, um, these new projects you've talked about a little bit about

[45:44] the capital and the maintenance and improving operations. Um,

[45:49] and I know that there's, you know, public safety and there's security issues, um,

[45:53] you know, within, uh, the housing communities and then, um, you

[45:57] know, issues I think also with individuals living in units, um,

[46:02] that are not on leases. Um, have you guys looked at

[46:06] bringing in or, uh, researching or considering bringing in a turnaround specialist

[46:11] that helps us specialize in, in housing authorities,

[46:15] um, to help you guys implement, um, some, you know, best practices and

[46:19] help, you know, further y'all's mission? Yeah, that's a great question.

[46:23] um, mayor. Pardon? We are actually,

[46:28] we're actually, um, in the process of procuring and bringing on

[46:32] a third party who specializes in exactly what you described okay. Unit

[46:36] terms, supporting our maintenance and really having a dedicated

[46:40] resource to get our units online faster, better, and that

[46:45] kind of thing. So to answer your question, yes, we are. Okay. Mm-hmm . Have you guys already

[46:49] issued out that rfp or have you guys uh, spoken with the state on

[46:53] who's on like their pre-approval list? I have not. Okay. And I

[46:57] can certainly do that. Okay. Um, 'cause I think that that'll end up helping, saving you

[47:02] a lot of time and a lot of vetting, um, and working with the, the pre-approved

[47:06] list. Thank you for that. And then it also, they also have, you know, very

[47:10] high standards of quality that, you know, you guarantee

[47:15] that you're gonna get good quality work from these individuals. Yeah.

[47:19] duly noted. Um, the folks we were talking to, you know, we

[47:23] were just looking around to see, um, what kind of resources there are. Mm-hmm . This one

[47:27] company, um, they work, they currently work with about four other

[47:31] housing authorities. So we were looking at how to piggyback off of, um, you

[47:35] know, the existing contract with them. But I will certainly follow up, uh, with the state.

[47:40] um, that's eva, right. Uh, I'll

[47:44] certainly follow up on that. Um, okay. Thank you. Um,

[47:49] uh, hold on one second. Uh, counsel, it's my, go ahead.

[47:54] is my question period up or I can still question? You can,

[47:58] um, it's just, you'll be on your second round, so I have to let, uh, the other folks go first

[48:02] that have their hands. Oh, okay. Dear. Thank you. Yeah, no problem.

[48:07] uh, so next is vice mayor joyner and councillor day, and then councillor harris. Yeah.

[48:11] and then stokes. Okay. Ms. Wilson, thank you so much for

[48:15] your presentation. I do have a couple of questions going back to the communications

[48:19] plan that you had. Yes. Can we go back to that and look at it? Could we

[48:23] get to that slide? The communications one?

[48:31] that one right there? Mm-hmm . That one. Mm-hmm . How many of these things are

[48:35] in place right now? So right now, the first one

[48:40] we do have the newsletters. Right? Right. We do have the rad advisory

[48:44] board meetings, but they're only when we call them like, okay, we'll schedule that.

[48:48] you gonna set that up? Mm-hmm . How about the resident text alert system? Is that in place now?

[48:52] so we are working on that because, um, you know, we converted to a new erp,

[48:57] uh, it's called yardi uhhuh . And we are, we are still learning their, the

[49:01] functionality and we discovered that we have that functionality

[49:05] in our existing system. So, okay. We, we haven't done it yet, but we are certainly gonna,

[49:09] that's gonna be next on our, our list. And then we do work with food

[49:14] distribution. Um, there's a local organization that, um, you know, delivers food

[49:18] to our sites. Okay. And hrj website

[49:22] portal. We're working on our, uh, website and portal now. Okay. We did

[49:26] a fresh facelift of our website, and we're still working to improve

[49:30] the, the portal. Okay. Yeah, I, I just would just like to say, I think that that's,

[49:34] this piece is really important and I think probably leads

[49:38] to most of the customer complaints, quite frankly, the

[49:43] fact that people don't know what's going on or they, they hear they get misinformation,

[49:47] that kind of thing. So I think the sooner the, you and, and the commissioners

[49:51] can make sure that this all is in place and working would be very,

[49:55] you know, very beneficial to you. The other question that I had relates to,

[50:00] and, and, um, it might be, um, something from mr. Mccoy,

[50:04] um, with regard to the rendezvous, you mentioned that about 92%

[50:09] of the funding, you have about 92% of the funding ready, the other

[50:13] 8%. How, how, what kind of dollars are we talking? And

[50:17] do you have confidence that, do you have confidence that you're gonna get that,

[50:21] that other 8%? Yeah.

[50:26] uh, yeah. I have confidence in that. I'm real, real, real glad to see you back.

[50:30] I mean, you know, because I'm happy to be, we, you know, this would, we had hoped this was gonna

[50:35] be, as I'm sure y'all did, this would've already been built

[50:39] by now if there hadn't been, you know, some waves. But we're really glad to

[50:43] have you back working on the rendezvous. Yeah, I'm happy to be back. Thank you. Good, good.

[50:47] um, and yeah, I do, I I believe the, the rest of the, um, the last mile of

[50:51] funding is on its way. Okay. Um, we, we had some really promising,

[50:55] uh, pieces that we worked on. Right. Um, the planning commission or, or the, uh,

[50:59] district planning commission has been really good. And, um, we are

[51:03] on their list. They don't get funding every year. Yeah. Uh, but they work with virginia housing

[51:08] to get I cut you off. Yeah. Um, thank you mr. Bessette for this. Um, can

[51:12] I have a motion to extend the meeting until we complete the, uh,

[51:17] public hearing? Number four. I move second. Alright.

[51:22] move. Motion's been made by councilor, uh, day, or

[51:26] excuse me, vice mayor joiner, seconded by councilor day. Uh, any discussion?

[51:30] seeing no lights roll called police count? Councillor harris? Yes.

[51:35] mayor. Pardon? Yes. Councilor ellis? Yes. Councilor

[51:39] day? Yes. Councilor stokes? Yes.

[51:44] councilor ole? Yes. Vice mayor joiner? Yes. Motion

[51:48] passes. Seven to zero. Alright. Please catch mr. Set.

[51:52] thank you, mr. Such an exciting topic. , thank, but, but I do have still have one other

[51:56] question. Okay. Talk to, talk to us. You know, all your funding,

[52:01] most of your funding comes from hud. What are you hearing

[52:05] in terms of, you know, changes

[52:09] to funding? That would be, yeah, and that's my last, this is my last

[52:13] question. Sorry. Sorry for this. I'm sorry. Thank you.

[52:18] yeah, so it's real interesting. You know, we are watching things very closely

[52:23] and you know, the thing that I watch is what's called

[52:27] the, uh, you know, hud does a proration of the funding. So every year they'll say,

[52:31] hey, you're eligible for 5 million, but I look at the proration percent

[52:35] because that's the actual amount we get. And, um, I will say

[52:40] for public housing, our prorated amount, um,

[52:44] has, has decreased. Meaning they said, we'll get this amount, but the actual

[52:48] amount we get is much less. Okay. For our section eight and housing choice voucher,

[52:53] it has been funded 100%. So that lets me know

[52:57] there is a desire and a, a wishing to

[53:02] maintain our, you know, housing choice voucher rental program. Right. But not, whereas

[53:07] public housing. Yeah. Okay. That is not desirable and that's just the truth. Yeah. Okay.

[53:11] I really, I appreciate it. I think that's good for people to hear and understand what's going on. Thank

[53:15] you so much. We appreciate you coming and thanks for the commissioners to be here. We appreciate that. Thank

[53:20] you. Uh, councilor day harris, and then stokes. Aye.

[53:24] okay. Um, so I had a question about piper square. Are

[53:28] all the security cameras now working there? Um, I know at one time

[53:32] there were some that were not, and you know, this was being brought to me by constituents

[53:37] that were concerned that, you know, some of the crime may have been related to the

[53:41] fact that, you know, these security cameras were not working and,

[53:45] you know, if they, there were crime there that maybe having the cameras

[53:49] working, you know, might have led to finding out who was, you know, causing

[53:53] the crime. So I just wondered if all of those are now functioning that

[53:57] are there. Yeah, that's a great question. It was unfortunate. We had some incidents

[54:01] there, and at the time there were some cameras that were offline. We

[54:05] had some electrical issues. We, we learned that, um,

[54:10] during the redevelopment, um, parts of our project, some

[54:14] of the wires were cut. Okay. And we had to have them repaired. So we've since had those

[54:18] repaired. Um, out of all of the piper square cameras, there's

[54:22] one camera that is still offline. And we had the manufacturer,

[54:27] you know, you know how you cry, you know how they say the squeaky wheel, right?

[54:31] yep. So, you know, after my, uh, many months of crying and all of that,

[54:35] the manufacturer came to piper square and

[54:40] the camera was defective. Okay. So we had to get it replaced. So they're

[54:44] all working now though? Well, no, still waiting on the one camera.

[54:48] oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. So, but other than that, other than that one, if we

[54:52] were to pull it up, you'd be able to see, um, the majority of the

[54:57] property. So we did have an issue, but it's since, for the most part,

[55:01] been fixed. Okay. And my last question or question and

[55:05] comment, um, I think I do think that the resident advisory board is,

[55:09] is paramount because I do, you know, a lot of the, um, comments that

[55:13] I get, you know, are just feeling like they're not being heard sometimes by

[55:17] hrha. Um, when you have these meetings, are they on

[55:22] a saturday? Are they in the evening? Like, when are you doing these, you know, to make

[55:26] sure that, you know, people are able to attend and get there. And, because I just

[55:30] think that's a, a really important piece of this communication panel that you

[55:34] have here. Yeah, I agree. So with the resident advisory board,

[55:39] and a lot of these things are hud driven. Hud required, um, there

[55:43] is an application process that a resident, like there's a formal, you know, there's a form

[55:47] you have to fill out. Right. If you're interested. Um, and certainly, you know, any

[55:51] resident is welcome to join annoying. Most of the meetings

[55:55] we've had, they've been during the day, during the week, um, during our business hours.

[56:00] um, and the residents would, would meet and discuss, um, the issues that

[56:04] were on the agenda. Um, it's a formal meeting, you know, we had, we have minutes, we record

[56:08] it and all of that. But I agree, we, and that's why we're

[56:12] wanting to, um, you know, establish a regular

[56:17] meeting schedule so that, you know, we're hearing from the residents they're getting

[56:21] together and we're having some real engagement, um, so that

[56:25] we can, um, you know, keep their trust and, you know, have that comfort.

[56:30] so. Right. I do, I do think that's, you know, very important. Agreed.

[56:34] yeah. Thank you. Uh, councillor harris,

[56:39] ms. Wilson,

[56:43] what, what is, um, your concern about the problems

[56:48] that the residents are having in regard to

[56:52] recertification, recertification?

[56:58] or are you receiving problem calls from people about

[57:02] your certification? Yeah, so, excuse me.

[57:07] that is a very good question. And for some folks, uh, recertification, that's

[57:12] just the process where our residents would, um, come in and provide us

[57:16] any updates to their, excuse me, to their income or their housing

[57:20] composition or anything like that to determine if there should be any changes in

[57:24] their rent or any of anything like that. It normally occurs on an annual

[57:28] basis. And we have had, uh, some things,

[57:33] some things to work through with the recertifications. It's tied to

[57:37] a couple things. Um, we've had transition staff, we've had

[57:41] turnover. We have the new system in place. So there's,

[57:45] um, you know, getting acquainted with the new system, getting

[57:50] our staff trained and retaining staff.

[57:54] um, and as a part of that, we've had some challenges with recertifications.

[57:58] and, um, you know, not to say I've been on an apology tour,

[58:02] but we've been making every effort to, to rectify and make it right.

[58:06] and that's, we've made some progress. Um, but, you know, we're still

[58:10] working to improve that. Well

[58:16] just want to comment, and I'm glad that you are seeking ways

[58:20] to try to, you know, to deal with that situation because,

[58:25] um, we tend to receive a lot of calls here at the council level

[58:29] in regards to recertification and other things in the, in the,

[58:33] uh, in the housing that you have now.

[58:38] and, um, and that's concern that, that

[58:42] I have myself in regards to the amount of conversation

[58:46] that I received about situations that you have in the housing right now.

[58:51] and, uh, one of them is the condition of the housing and

[58:55] there's quite a bit of comment about the condition of

[59:00] some of the housing that they're living in. And

[59:04] it's not a day that go, go back to the entire seven day week

[59:08] that I don't get a phone call from individuals outta housing talking about mold.

[59:16] and now I understand that, uh, there's been another visit

[59:21] with, uh, residents concerning mold

[59:26] in piper square, and I was wondering if you were aware

[59:31] of, uh, I just received a call just before this meeting tonight

[59:36] about mold in the buildings,

[59:40] the whole buildings from, uh, maintenance

[59:45] people. And so from our mainten, I'm sorry, from our maintenance staff

[59:49] yes. From the maintenance. And, uh, I was wondering if

[59:53] you were aware of it, you know, and I just wanted to make you aware of it,

[59:57] that that's the concern that's out there. And

[1:00:01] that's something I think that, you know, I think you're working to deal

[1:00:05] with it, you just said, I just think that we need to communicate

[1:00:09] a little bit better with the, uh, residents in

[1:00:14] regards to the fact that we are making an effort to get this thing fixed.

[1:00:19] because now you got individuals talking about health conditions and

[1:00:23] everything else that goes with if there is mold.

[1:00:28] and of course over there in pipe square you got a whole lot of mold experts.

[1:00:33] so mm-hmm. I just wanted to let you know that

[1:00:37] you do. And, uh, so I, I'm glad that

[1:00:41] you're on top of it. Yeah. Thank you for that feedback. Yeah.

[1:00:45] um, may I ask a question? Yes, sir. Ms. Wilson, you and I have, uh,

[1:00:49] worked on this situation and mm-hmm . Um,

[1:00:54] in particular, everything that's

[1:00:59] black in an apartment is

[1:01:03] not necessarily mold. You, you've had, uh, mold inspectors

[1:01:07] come out and, and, and, and in some of the

[1:01:12] apartments where they've looked in, uh, where people thought it was mold

[1:01:16] and it wasn't. Right. But let me ask

[1:01:20] throughout piper square or any of the areas,

[1:01:25] do you have retained a, um,

[1:01:29] a contractor that does regular

[1:01:33] inspection, uh, for mold because it is

[1:01:37] a health hazard for people who have respiratory problems?

[1:01:42] yeah, that's a, um, great question. And, you know, duly noted.

[1:01:46] so what we're doing, 'cause you know, we have piper square

[1:01:50] and then we have our public housing side, thomas roth davisville. So,

[1:01:55] um, understanding and knowing the issues in, in both

[1:01:59] sides, um, we're taking our courses of action for each

[1:02:03] one, you know, as we need to. What we are gearing up to do

[1:02:07] on the public housing side is we will be, um, procuring,

[1:02:12] um, someone to come in and do an inspection of all the units.

[1:02:16] um, and then we will look at any remediation plans for the

[1:02:20] public housing side, piper square, because it is a different,

[1:02:25] the, the funding and the structure is a bit different. So, um, we

[1:02:29] do have plans for piper square. Um,

[1:02:33] as of right now we're doing it on an as needed basis.

[1:02:37] so as we are made aware of the concerns, we immediately have someone

[1:02:42] come out and do testing. Um, but I do think it is a

[1:02:46] good idea to consider having some regular inspections,

[1:02:50] um, with these units. So we're looking into that. But I will say,

[1:02:55] um, because the, the funding is different, we do have to look at our budgetary,

[1:02:59] you know, our resources to see how we can best do that. But what I want council

[1:03:04] to know is that, um, it is very important to me, the health

[1:03:08] and safety of our residents. So, um, it is my hope

[1:03:12] that we will continue to show that we are concerned

[1:03:16] and want to get these issues addressed, um, as

[1:03:21] soon as we can, the best way we can. Um, so that our residents

[1:03:25] do, um, you know, they are afforded the health and safety,

[1:03:29] um, in their homes that they should have. So it's definitely our priority

[1:03:33] to do that.

[1:03:38] okay. Um, ms. Stokes, um,

[1:03:43] and I, I'd like to comment because I've experienced some,

[1:03:47] some, some discord on

[1:03:52] and, and I'm giving compliments

[1:03:56] to my fellow counselors 'cause you're asking some very good questions.

[1:04:01] but one of the things that concerned me is, yes, we have to do the

[1:04:05] inspections and we have to do all the things

[1:04:09] we are supposed to do, but you just can't bring

[1:04:13] in an out of town inspection company

[1:04:18] and expect me to allow a stranger in my house from ohio. That's

[1:04:22] not gonna happen. And there's protocol before you even get there

[1:04:26] that was not met at. Alright. And it,

[1:04:31] the residents just as, uh, councilor day touched upon,

[1:04:35] have the right to communication. Thus, the

[1:04:39] reason hud requires the resident council,

[1:04:43] resident council jumps it off public hearing and we know who's coming

[1:04:47] in our home, but I know you gotta catch up inspections, but

[1:04:52] you still gotta follow protocol and rules and respect

[1:04:57] public housing residence and anybody else, nobody's gonna let a

[1:05:01] stranger in their home for, I'm not from ohio on a

[1:05:06] two week notice or a 30 day notice. And that's not the rule.

[1:05:10] so there are things I know that has to be fixed before we can get

[1:05:14] to where we gotta get to and the residents feel comfortable with

[1:05:18] our leadership. Duly not, but thank you.

[1:05:23] and that's my comment. Okay. Thank you. Alright, well thank you ms. Wilson.

[1:05:28] thank you so much. Alright. And then, uh, mr. Rogers will

[1:05:32] be reaching out to you on getting that, uh, joint meeting together. Yes. Thank

[1:05:37] you. Uh, so,

[1:05:41] uh, in the interest of charles, uh, for, uh, number four,

[1:05:46] can you condense your, your presentation? We kind of know what's what

[1:05:50] about we kinda go , so, and, and, and I am

[1:05:54] just the sponsor. Mm-hmm . Pastor collier, this here okay. From city of refuge

[1:05:58] to do, to do it. And, uh, so I'm just setting up the okay,

[1:06:02] that's fine. Present presentation for him. That's whoever wants to do whoever does the presentation. Um,

[1:06:07] 'cause we're already at eight 15 and we haven't even gotten to the, to regular meeting. I'll be brief

[1:06:12] . Okay. It says every pastor before sermon starts. Right.

[1:06:16] pastor famous last words, . Just, just to, just

[1:06:20] to set this up, if you remember last city council meeting, I did a work session

[1:06:24] with a model from religious, uh, community services in, in new

[1:06:28] bern. When we came back from that trip, we have gone to,

[1:06:32] uh, community meetings, oc three, we've been to community center.

[1:06:37] and pastor callers and pastor boggs heard that presentation. They

[1:06:41] saw it and it resonated with them. And tonight, uh, they're here.

[1:06:45] um, he's here. Pastor boggs is on, uh, out of town. But, um, to

[1:06:49] talk about what, what they would like to propose similar in

[1:06:54] hopewell mm-hmm . If that's the end. Okay. I'll try to condense it as, as quick as possible.

[1:06:58] uh, thank you for allowing us to be here to, uh, make this, uh, brief, uh,

[1:07:02] you know, presentation before you obviously we're city of refuge, uh, hopewell. We run

[1:07:07] a, uh, recovery program for those that are struggling with addiction we've been in

[1:07:11] the city since 2018, and we've come before you

[1:07:15] to present a proposal that we have to deal with an ongoing issue

[1:07:19] in hopewell that's been addressed, that's been spoken of briefly, which is the homeless issue.

[1:07:24] so I'm trying to figure out how to move this, uh, move this cursor. Just

[1:07:28] tell me which one to hit. Just, just hit, hit this arrow right here. Okay. Here we go. Down.

[1:07:32] yep. Um, hope center missions and goals is to help

[1:07:36] to eradicate homelessness in hopewell. That's a, that is a, that is a quite

[1:07:41] the feat. Uh, you know, but, uh, you know, we have a great, uh, opportunity

[1:07:45] to try to, uh, uh, deal with the real issue here, and that is to arrest

[1:07:49] the slide into homelessness by, at risk population. We want to encourage

[1:07:53] those that are struggling with this issue, uh, to a place of upward

[1:07:58] mobility and to secure location for a point of entry where we can actually,

[1:08:02] uh, speak to them and, and deal with them, uh, at a personal level, level.

[1:08:06] and also to help to provide a personal shelter as needed.

[1:08:10] um, and I'm still not getting this thing piece

[1:08:15] I said, page down. Write this one. Okay, here we go.

[1:08:19] alright. Um, presently we're looking at, uh, our partners

[1:08:23] that help us to deal with this particular issue, which is obviously the police,

[1:08:28] the churches, uh, hospitals, district 19 hrha

[1:08:32] food pantry, and, uh, our local school system. And what we would do,

[1:08:36] we, we would, uh, gather clients information and, uh, assess their

[1:08:40] present needs and assign personal navigators to guide

[1:08:44] these individuals through the, the process. Uh, we would collect the information

[1:08:48] and report, uh, that data to, uh, those that are,

[1:08:53] uh, in, in a place that need to hear this information monthly. And we would

[1:08:57] maintain client files. Um, uh, our goal is for 25 and

[1:09:01] 26, is to provide an overnight shelter, evening meals and

[1:09:05] clothing, uh, to have a, a center and, uh, of an administrative facility

[1:09:10] present. We're looking at city of refuge, literally moving our entire operation

[1:09:14] to the second floor of the st. James, uh, church educational building. Uh,

[1:09:18] we would provide daily food and mail, uh, meal distribution, and provide,

[1:09:22] uh, that with assistance from our partners. And we would have a clothing consolidated

[1:09:27] and to a central facility where these individuals can get the necessary

[1:09:32] services that they need. Um, uh, what we would look at is developing,

[1:09:36] uh, something similar, I think that, uh, was, uh, was seen at newburn,

[1:09:40] which was develop these pods that would prevent an opportunity for

[1:09:45] these individuals to find the services that they need to help them, uh, gather

[1:09:49] that upward, upward mobility. Uh, mobility. Uh, first it'd

[1:09:53] be an education pod, uh, which, where they could pursue a ged, an eslf,

[1:09:58] uh, vsu schools, continuing education. There would be legal

[1:10:02] services pod, which would be, uh, pro bono legal support. There would be

[1:10:06] judicial process. Help many of our clients that we presently deal with, with the

[1:10:10] center, and many that are, uh, on the, you know, on the streets are dealing with legal

[1:10:14] issues and, uh, need some help there. There would be a housing pod, which would

[1:10:18] be landlord supportive housing and rapid rehousing, financial support,

[1:10:23] bankers, advisors, and financial classes. This is a goal. This isn't

[1:10:27] presently what's in place, but that would be what we would try to pursue. And then

[1:10:31] obviously, we would try to find an employment pod for job training, uh,

[1:10:36] research, uh, and finding employee, uh, partnerships presently,

[1:10:40] uh, the city of refuge with community partners, uh, are

[1:10:44] addressing the need of, of meals, uh, that, uh, we provide

[1:10:49] meals, uh, four times a week, and we have 14 plus local

[1:10:53] cong congregations and other partners that help to provide these meals. There

[1:10:57] are 35 to 40 individuals that we serve in these meals, nightly with,

[1:11:02] uh, you know, wholesome food, food that's been prepared. Uh, we have

[1:11:06] partners that we, uh, have alongside that are schools, employers,

[1:11:10] landlords, legal firms, banks, food pantries, and churches obviously, to

[1:11:14] help us to meet that need. We have volunteers and professional staff that are working

[1:11:18] together to help to provide these services. And what the benefit of

[1:11:23] this, uh, service is to reduce the homelessness, to strengthen the families,

[1:11:27] and to lower public cost. And, um, our startup requirements,

[1:11:31] and I'm trying to go as quickly as possible, is to, you know, if we get

[1:11:35] the facility that we need, is to, you know, have these set up requirements met to

[1:11:40] build, uh, you know, to have a rental, utilities, uh, shelter, beds,

[1:11:44] linens, appliances and furniture. Uh, again, continue to provide the

[1:11:48] food services and clothing, set up equipment, uh, support

[1:11:52] toolkits, and then obviously transportation to get these individuals from

[1:11:57] one location to another as needed. And ultimately,

[1:12:01] uh, what we hope to arrive at, which would be, you know,

[1:12:05] joining together with the city, with the community, with churches, with

[1:12:10] all of their entities, is to provide a process. 'cause that's really what

[1:12:14] we need. I know that there's a real major concern about, you know, how do

[1:12:18] we address this homeless issue without giving some type of

[1:12:22] solution in terms of what we can do for these individuals. There's really

[1:12:27] no hope of moving them unless you have some sort of process to provide

[1:12:31] for them. Now, I know there's a lot of different issues that we're dealing with, with this population.

[1:12:36] uh, we deal with a similar, uh, kind of scenario as we're dealing with people that

[1:12:40] are struggling with addiction. So, you know, we'd have to layer that. We'd

[1:12:44] have to get, you know, that financial support. Obviously, when you're trying to provide, provide

[1:12:49] services, there is a financial need there. Uh, we need the funding, the city

[1:12:53] partnerships, and again, partnerships with businesses and other locations. And, and

[1:12:57] we need to have a more permanent solution to the housing issue.

[1:13:02] not just providing shelter, but also providing a transitional

[1:13:06] option for these individuals to move from the shelter to a more permanent

[1:13:10] residential support system. Um, we don't know what that looks like. We

[1:13:14] have a projection, we have an idea, but this is, again, the beginning of the process.

[1:13:18] and, uh, it's a matter of working together. And I, I guess, set all

[1:13:23] of that to say this. We all want solutions, but solution does not

[1:13:27] come from one entity. That's what we've learned in the city of refuge.

[1:13:31] we need partners. We need people in the city working with us. We need

[1:13:35] private industry working with us. We need churches and faith-based organization

[1:13:40] working together collectively for the need of those that we're

[1:13:44] trying to serve. Now, ultimately, you all know that a rising tide

[1:13:48] rises all boats. And so if we can help these individuals find that,

[1:13:53] you know, the support that they're needed, uh, and some of 'em need mental help assistance,

[1:13:57] some of 'em need job training, some of them just need an opportunity

[1:14:01] to see that there is a hope beyond their present circumstances

[1:14:05] and situations. We believe there's a model there that if we pursue

[1:14:10] with the assistance of others coming alongside of us, that we

[1:14:14] can make a difference. Uh, you know, eradicating homelessness,

[1:14:19] that's a lofty goal, but we can start the process, and

[1:14:23] that's what we ultimately desire. And I know this council desires as well.

[1:14:27] so, uh, that's sort of in a nutshell, very quickly

[1:14:32] trying to be the honoring of your time. I'm willing to, you

[1:14:36] know, take any questions if you have any tonight. But thank you again for letting us

[1:14:40] present this to you tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Are

[1:14:44] there any questions for pastor collier? I just have comment. Mm-hmm

[1:14:48] . I'm just, I'm very excited about this. Like, I, I'm really, can they see me? My,

[1:14:52] I'm so excited to see something. You know, they got a raise hand button on they

[1:14:57] coming together now, so this is great. Agree. Uh,

[1:15:01] counselor stokes, did you have anything that you wanted to say? Oh, I,

[1:15:09] okay. Can y'all hear me? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yes.

[1:15:15] do you have any comments on, on this? I,

[1:15:20] I, I did. I didn't know whether I'm sitting here. ,

[1:15:24] I told you this new stuff over here, but, um, sitting there trying to,

[1:15:30] okay. Just let me know when I can speak now.

[1:15:35] now, yes. Okay. I'm,

[1:15:39] I'm impressed with what I've heard tonight. Um, I'm really

[1:15:43] impressed with the coordination of the different

[1:15:48] services and the landlords and the feeding and the,

[1:15:52] that's very impressive. Um, and so

[1:15:56] I just wanted to make that comment. Thank you, city of refuge for the work

[1:16:00] you've putting in, and, um, just looking forward to

[1:16:04] working with you and the different projects that you

[1:16:09] have planned for this. I, this is something I'm very interested in.

[1:16:14] thank you, councilor sta. Thank you. Alright. Thank you pastor callier so

[1:16:19] much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. Uh, our last one,

[1:16:23] uh, mr. Bassett.

[1:16:27] thank you, mr. Mayor. Uh, so what

[1:16:31] we have here is a proposed, um, it's

[1:16:35] kind of an omnibus ordinance that would

[1:16:40] bring together in our code of ordinances,

[1:16:44] uh, nuisance. Right now in our code, we only have

[1:16:49] nuisance, uh, for the purpose of grass and weeds. Uh, otherwise

[1:16:53] we don't have a public nuisance ordinance within the city of hopewell.

[1:16:58] um, and you know, as I was going to draft

[1:17:02] that for council's consideration, I noticed that

[1:17:06] there's this whole list of related items,

[1:17:11] uh, criminal blight, spotlight, derelict buildings, inoperable

[1:17:15] vehicles that are all, in many cases, uh,

[1:17:20] old using old fashioned language being unclear, but also

[1:17:24] just existing all over in the code of ordinances. And so

[1:17:28] this would, besides creating a nuisance ordinance beyond

[1:17:33] grass and weeds, it would modernize the other ones and bring them all

[1:17:37] together in the same place in the city code of ordinances. And the reason why

[1:17:42] you would want them to all be together is that these are

[1:17:47] all different ordinances, uh, tools

[1:17:51] that are used by and enforced by

[1:17:55] typically the same individuals. Like this is the building inspector and the, and

[1:17:59] the, um, and the zoning inspector. Um,

[1:18:04] and so that's why, you know, anyone looking for any

[1:18:08] of these, like if, if the zoning inspector's bringing a case in

[1:18:12] court, oftentimes what we're bringing is a case

[1:18:16] that has a little bit of zoning violation,

[1:18:21] a little bit of inoperable vehicles, a little bit of something else under this

[1:18:25] ordinance. So that's the reason to, to bring them all together. I will say

[1:18:29] with the nuisance ordinance as recommended

[1:18:34] here in this draft, it would give the ability

[1:18:38] for not only the director of public works

[1:18:43] zoning, but also the building official, the chief of police and the

[1:18:47] fireman to pursue nuisance uh, uh, enforcement

[1:18:51] where needed. Okay. Yeah. That was just the biggest thing that

[1:18:55] I just wanted to make sure, is that we are putting teeth in here where, you

[1:19:00] know, we haven't really had it in the past that, you know, we can remedy

[1:19:04] a lot of these issues that are chronic across the, the city. Yeah,

[1:19:08] absolutely. And I mean, public nuisance is a big tool that localities

[1:19:13] have mm-hmm . And, uh, it's, it's available to us here in the city

[1:19:17] of hope, while we just haven't taken advantage of it. Yeah. Great.

[1:19:22] thank you, mr. Bassett. Are there any questions for, uh, the city attorney? Mm-hmm.

[1:19:27] okay. Seeing no lights. Thank you. Alright, now we're gonna go into

[1:19:32] our regular meeting. I'm gonna go ahead and call this meeting to order.

[1:19:36] uh, have a roll call, please.

[1:19:41] mayor, I part, mayor I pardon? Here. Vice mayor joiner. Here.

[1:19:45] councilor harris. Here. Councilor ellis. Here. Councilor

[1:19:50] day. Here. Councilor stokes.

[1:19:54] here. Councilor oli. Here we have a

[1:19:58] quorum. Okay. At this time, uh, we'll have the prayer by pastor collier,

[1:20:03] uh, followed by the pledge of allegiance, by myself. Please rise.

[1:20:09] let's bow our heads. Father in heaven, we just come before you

[1:20:13] today in need of your guidance and your wisdom and direction. We

[1:20:18] thank you for the city council and for the work that they're putting in, lord, to help

[1:20:22] this city. We pray, god, grant them wisdom, grant 'em

[1:20:26] guidance and discernment on the things they should do. And upon those

[1:20:30] things, they should not. And I pray, god, that you would bring unity to this council,

[1:20:35] bring unity to this city so that those that they serve, god

[1:20:39] would be able to receive all that they have need of. We ask your blessings upon this time,

[1:20:43] and we ask it in christ name. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[1:20:48] a pledge flag of the united states of america

[1:20:53] and to the republic for which it stands, one nation

[1:20:57] under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[1:21:04] okay. Uh, is there a motion to amend the regular meeting agenda

[1:21:09] to move the city manager report, uh, to in front

[1:21:13] of the information presentation section? So moved. Second. Okay.

[1:21:17] uh, motions made by vice mayor joiner and seconded by councilor ellis. Is

[1:21:21] there any discussion? Seeing no lights? Roll call please.

[1:21:25] councilor harris? Yes. Mayor. Pardon? Yes. Councilor

[1:21:30] ellis? Yes. Councilor day? Yes. Councilor stoke?

[1:21:35] yes. Councilor oli? Yes. Vice mayor joiner? Yes.

[1:21:39] motion passes. Seven to zero. Okay. At this time, is there a motion to

[1:21:43] adopt the consent agenda? I'll second it.

[1:21:49] any discussion? Seeing none. Roll call please.

[1:21:55] councillor harris? Yes. May I part? Yes.

[1:21:59] councilor ellis. Yes. Councilor day? Yes. Councillor

[1:22:03] stokes. Yes. Councilor ole? Yes.

[1:22:08] vice mayor joiner? Yes. Motion passes. Seven to zero. Okay,

[1:22:12] mr. Rogers, the floor is yours. Okay. Chief

[1:22:16] taylor has his, uh, monthly report.

[1:22:23] good evening, mr. Mayor. Good afternoon, madam vice mayor,

[1:22:27] members of city council. I'm here to give you the september crime summary.

[1:22:32] and our first slide, uh, is, uh, crime stats. And these

[1:22:36] stats are through august the 31st. And,

[1:22:41] uh, uh, murder, rape, robing, aggravated assaults.

[1:22:45] um, we had 63 in 2024. We

[1:22:49] had 60 in this year, so forth. So we're minus three,

[1:22:53] which were violent crime right now with damn minus 5%.

[1:22:58] but let's go back to, uh, I wanna talk about the murders.

[1:23:03] and then you see in 2024, we have four. And

[1:23:08] on your slide tonight, it's showing five. But since this

[1:23:12] report was done, we had an additional homicide, which

[1:23:16] takes our total to six. And the

[1:23:21] 800 block of chestnut is still under investigation.

[1:23:26] uh, we're looking at, it was not a random act. Uh, we're getting all

[1:23:31] the facts together to hopefully we can, uh,

[1:23:35] bring whoever was responsible for justice. Uh,

[1:23:39] the recent, uh, homicide on raleigh street,

[1:23:43] uh, fortunately we was able to make an arrest

[1:23:47] in that incident within 24 hours of it, of it being reported.

[1:23:52] uh, so overall we have sex, but we have made tremendous

[1:23:56] strides and making arrest on the persons responsible

[1:24:01] for these homicides. The other, uh,

[1:24:05] one that I want to focus on was the robberies, where you see in 2024,

[1:24:09] we had three. In 2025 we had 12.

[1:24:13] and as I reported previously, these, uh, uh,

[1:24:18] there is no individual patterns or group or individuals. These are individual

[1:24:23] robberies that things are being stolen from bikes to

[1:24:27] phones. And we had an incident where a juvenile even, uh, stole

[1:24:31] a car from a neighbor, and he was caught and arrested for it. So we are, we are

[1:24:35] looking into these individual robberies, uh,

[1:24:39] and, um, doing what we can to, to solve 'em. Um,

[1:24:44] I'm here to report, you know, in the past the aggravated assaults had been going

[1:24:48] up, um, reported that we at a minus 22% in aggravated

[1:24:52] reports, aggravated assaults. I'm sorry. So that's good news.

[1:24:56] and going to, uh, arson, burglary, larson, motor vehicle thefts,

[1:25:01] um, property crime, I mean, at the

[1:25:05] total, uh, property crimes, uh, it was, uh,

[1:25:09] a total that we are down, uh, minus 26%,

[1:25:15] uh, arson, we had three, it still remains at three.

[1:25:19] reakfast we had 22 we're down 18 minus 18%. Uh,

[1:25:23] larcenies was 201 and twenty twenty four, a hundred and seventy four,

[1:25:28] and 2025, which is minus 12%. So we're minus 12%

[1:25:32] in, in also on the larcenies. And a good thing to report is

[1:25:36] the motor vehicle thefts. 'cause that was one of the major issues that we had in the past. And I'm

[1:25:41] happy to report that motor vehicle thefts overall are down minus 65%.

[1:25:46] uh, our property crime, crime total, uh, minus 23%

[1:25:50] and total major crime is minus 23%.

[1:26:00] moving on to my next slide, uh,

[1:26:04] the opiate overdoses. I'm still happy to report

[1:26:08] that since we started reporting these, uh, incidents and

[1:26:12] from 2020 through 2025 we're in the lowest,

[1:26:17] uh, opiate failed or non-fatal, uh, incidents that

[1:26:21] we, when we, we started reporting this. So that's a good thing.

[1:26:28] uh, verified shots fired. Uh, 2024, we

[1:26:33] had 33 and 2025, we had 39. As

[1:26:37] I continue to reiterate that, once we

[1:26:42] get these calls of verified shops fired, we go back in the area, we knock on

[1:26:46] doors, uh, the next day we do outdoor roll calls, uh, knock

[1:26:50] and try to get as much information we can from neighbors to find out who,

[1:26:55] uh, is responsible for them and also any forensic

[1:26:59] evidence that we can, uh, collect. So we, uh,

[1:27:04] always looking at how we can reduce these verified shot calls,

[1:27:13] our neighborhood watch meetings. Uh, I'm gonna want to talk about these because I want

[1:27:17] to talk about national night out. And I want to talk about, you know, we

[1:27:21] got, uh, we got city point, we got farmingdale, we got cobblestone, we got ,

[1:27:25] we got ward seven, uh, ward three, ward two, and ward four.

[1:27:29] and the reason why I mentioned these, 'cause I'm gonna talk about national night out because I want,

[1:27:34] 'cause we, we gonna have this at the community center, and I want to get the information out that all

[1:27:38] these groups that are, that I'm just reporting that they show up

[1:27:42] and we want to get the information out that they come out for national night of.

[1:27:47] and my next slide on hiring recruitment. Uh, currently we have 12 vacancies,

[1:27:52] uh, and two dispatch vacancies. The two dispatch vacancies was,

[1:27:56] uh, because we, uh, in, uh, increased staffing to increase it

[1:28:00] to two additional dispatch positions that we're trying to fill. Uh,

[1:28:05] four uncertified recruits are still in the academy. They started july the seventh,

[1:28:09] and they will be graduating december the 19th. Uh,

[1:28:14] hopefully we'll all forward will graduate. Uh, the group recruitment

[1:28:18] team will be going to bright point community college on september 17th,

[1:28:23] and they also will be going to virginia state university for safety there

[1:28:27] on september 17th as well. And under the background invest

[1:28:31] background investigation, we had 13 applicants, including one pre-certified

[1:28:37] and two dispatch applicants are in the process and all.

[1:28:41] officer 30th, we had a all day testing event that was held at credit academy.

[1:28:45] we had 12, uh, candidates that participated and five

[1:28:49] candidates passed.

[1:28:55] next slide.

[1:29:00] and then you can go to the next slide. Uh, downtown

[1:29:04] community engagement. Uh, we're continuing our foot patrols downtown. Our

[1:29:08] business checks downtown, uh, continue to interact with our ci

[1:29:13] citizens and business owners downtown. Uh, the beacon theater overtime, uh,

[1:29:17] that we had was scheduled for september the fifth. We're continuing traffic

[1:29:21] enforcement on east randolph road and, uh, also on app street. And that's

[1:29:26] continued by the police and sheriff's department. And, uh, bike patrols,

[1:29:30] uh, are scheduled. We had, uh, some scheduled for the month of september, but

[1:29:34] after this month, uh, we were discontinue the bike patrols because that

[1:29:38] was, uh, focused on the spring and summer months. And we will do bike

[1:29:42] patrols, uh, during special events and on special occasions

[1:29:46] until spring and summer.

[1:29:53] uh, community engagement officers, uh, we continue to have him, uh, attend

[1:29:57] the hr ha commissioner's meetings every monthly meetings that he, he attends

[1:30:02] and share information with hr ha staff, uh, national night

[1:30:06] out, back again, october 7th from 5:00 pm to eight. And

[1:30:10] we're gonna have it at the community center. Uh, the police department will

[1:30:14] be, uh, having the grill out. We'll be, uh, cooking hot dogs. Uh,

[1:30:18] we will have our booth set up. We'll be giving information, giveaways and,

[1:30:22] uh, other items there for our citizens.

[1:30:26] uh, also this, uh, event, uh, we

[1:30:31] are working on, uh, getting this out on facebook. Uh, we have a flyer out, uh,

[1:30:35] this week. And my focus is I'm

[1:30:39] want to get out, get with my community engagement officers to talk once

[1:30:43] again to the block captains to make sure they are

[1:30:47] inform of the date and time and, and get a gauge of how many,

[1:30:51] uh, citizens and their awards will be participated.

[1:30:56] and in, uh, with, in the beginning stage of a, a

[1:31:01] business watch group. And, uh, community engagement officer

[1:31:05] has been working with city staff and they started out in the west side of the city.

[1:31:09] and they, uh, went to the local, uh, hotels

[1:31:14] to discuss their concerns and partnership and

[1:31:18] communicating with, with the, uh, business districts in the west side.

[1:31:26] traffic concerns, uh, speed bumps. Um, mr. Mayor, you

[1:31:30] brought this up at our last city council meeting, I did some research and

[1:31:35] I also reached out to our public works director and our fire department

[1:31:39] director. And for the sake of time, I'm not gonna go into all the details, but, uh, the, from

[1:31:43] the public works standpoint, uh, they were not

[1:31:47] in favor of the speed bumps. And if we go to section 33 14

[1:31:52] obstructing the street with gate chains, et cetera, right now,

[1:31:56] as the ordinance read, we would have to pass a ordinance to authorize,

[1:32:01] uh, speed bumps in residential because it reads right now council may authorize

[1:32:05] speed bumps and parks, playgrounds, and other recreational areas.

[1:32:12] my next slide was, uh, concerns from the fire chief that he's here. I'm

[1:32:16] not gonna read all the details, but his concerns was, uh, move

[1:32:20] with extreme caution, uh, concern about the response times

[1:32:25] and, uh, equipment, uh, worse maintenance issues.

[1:32:30] and we talked about, uh, he talked about some, uh, maybe some recommendations

[1:32:35] on narrowing the streets. And, um, once

[1:32:39] again, uh, the issue was response time and response time is

[1:32:43] critical. So that's a matter that, uh, city manager

[1:32:48] can discuss further, if so, desires with the directors and yeah.

[1:32:52] see, can we come together and, and, and make a decision? Yeah.

[1:32:59] uh, truck route. Uh, councilor harris, you brought that up at our

[1:33:03] last, uh, meeting and I looked into that. Sorry for the delay, sir.

[1:33:07] uh, the concern was the 18 wheeler utilizing the street as a cut through

[1:33:12] on, uh, reverend cw harris street. And what has

[1:33:16] happened. I worked with the director of public works and new signs have been

[1:33:20] posted on, uh, e on randolph road east and westbound

[1:33:24] at randolph road and reverend cw harris street. And if you look at it, I do have

[1:33:28] some photographs of the pictures on here. And also,

[1:33:32] uh, new signs were posted if you, on reverend curtis harris

[1:33:36] street for the businesses, uh, the power plant, the lawn care

[1:33:41] that if they making that left turn onto reverend cw harris street is

[1:33:45] sign is a sign that says no truck route. No, no through traffic there, no

[1:33:49] truck traffic. So they, they, they are informed that

[1:33:53] they can't make their left turn. They need to make the right and go down winston churchill.

[1:33:58] and also, we did post this on, uh, facebook, this

[1:34:02] updated information and my last slide on

[1:34:06] solutions, uh, about the speed bumps. My recommendation was amend

[1:34:10] the ordinance to allow speed bumps on city streets. Uh, if you

[1:34:14] so desire, uh, for currently or in the future considerations.

[1:34:19] uh, we, we'll be doing direct patrols in the location where speeding is reoccurring

[1:34:24] in enforce the speed limit. Uh, we are utilizing

[1:34:28] our speed trail with radar to show motors there. Speed to

[1:34:32] tell 'em they need to slow down. Uh, we we'll have,

[1:34:36] uh, several special operations will be held throughout the year, uh, focused

[1:34:40] on speeding violations and, and holding these

[1:34:45] speeders account. And our future goal, um,

[1:34:49] it's a goal is, uh, to have a traffic safety enforcement unit

[1:34:54] to enforce the traffic laws and, and educate the citizen, the hopewell.

[1:34:59] and lastly, we, we talked about ski speed cameras and

[1:35:03] unfortunately speed cameras, uh, on the virginia code, uh, only

[1:35:07] allowed in work zones or in high traffic fatality

[1:35:11] areas in, in the state. So unfortunately

[1:35:16] we won't be able to do move forward with speed cameras because against

[1:35:20] virginia code. That, uh, concludes my presentation and

[1:35:24] I'm here to answer any questions that you may have of me. Okay.

[1:35:29] uh, vice mayor joiner, and then myself. You just answered one of my questions 'cause

[1:35:33] I was asking about the, uh, traffic safety division, you know, the traffic division.

[1:35:37] that, that my question kind of goes back. Can, can you go back to

[1:35:41] the, um, I'm just confused about the vacancies and

[1:35:46] where we stand with the p you know, people that are in the pipeline and

[1:35:50] that kind of thing. Can you just, I mean, I, can you clarify for me?

[1:35:54] um, let's see. Okay. Right here. So we've

[1:35:58] got 12 sworn vacancies, but we've got four recruits. So if

[1:36:02] those four recruits come in, will they fill the 12? No, ma'am. No, no ma'am.

[1:36:06] okay. It's 12 current vacancies we have. Okay. So,

[1:36:11] okay. So the, but we, we've got people, we've got, um,

[1:36:16] folks that are in background checks and that kind of thing. Yes. Those could potentially fill

[1:36:20] that. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Alright. And, uh, we just had a, a final, uh,

[1:36:25] uh, meeting with one of our, uh, applicants and

[1:36:29] we will be offering him, uh, the, the job tomorrow.

[1:36:34] okay. And hopefully he'll he will accept. Okay. And, um, yeah,

[1:36:38] 'cause I, you know, petersburg is up to, they've, they're fully staffed now, or

[1:36:42] I think I saw some things there was fully staffed. I just would love to see us get a

[1:36:46] little bit above that 12. And I know you have the same goals. I mean, it's, it's not that we

[1:36:50] have different things we wanna get accomplished, I was just kind of confused about where we

[1:36:55] stood on the, you know, who was in the pipeline, who wasn't. Um,

[1:36:59] and, um, that's, that's basically it. Thank you so much. Thanks for, thanks

[1:37:03] for, and thank you for, um, you know, for following up

[1:37:08] in such a, in, in such a thorough manner with regard to the speed

[1:37:12] bumps and that sort of thing. I do have one thing that does relate to traffic and that

[1:37:16] is maplewood avenue. I thought we talked about

[1:37:20] a while back about making, you know, that a one way street

[1:37:24] and that kind of thing. You can barely, I could, I can barely get through.

[1:37:29] I mean, with a car and I don't know how a safety vehicle can get down there.

[1:37:33] we've talked about this, we have no, not made, there's nothing happening. There's

[1:37:37] been, I don't see any action being taken. Well, and I, that's maybe not your alleyway,

[1:37:42] but, well, uh, I, I, I want, we had a concerned

[1:37:46] citizen, a concern about the, uh, stop sign violation and the

[1:37:50] speeding. So that has been a focus for the last, uh,

[1:37:55] sub couple, about a week, week and a half. Well, I know, I know. Which, I know exactly which,

[1:37:59] I know which intersection you're talking about. And we are, thank you very much by the way. We have been focusing

[1:38:03] on that maplewood and, uh, brown avenue and also

[1:38:08] will, uh, those crepe myrtles. That, that, that on.

[1:38:12] uh, I think, I think, yeah, I think there might,

[1:38:16] I know either brown, cedar level, whatever. I know, but I think they, they had 'em cut back so we can see that

[1:38:20] stop sign a little bit better. Exactly. Exactly. You get that right on maplewood. Yeah. But the maplewood,

[1:38:24] you know, maplewood is just a real problem. Once you get with the parking on both sides, you just can't

[1:38:29] barely get a piece. We still, uh, are looking at that. We'll focus in on that. Alright.

[1:38:33] and we'll, working with public works on, appreciate that on some ideas and how we can

[1:38:37] make that treated better. I know. Thank you so much. I know it's a, it's, I know, it's a

[1:38:41] tough one. Thank you very much, chief. I appreciate it. I note that we will have that discussion

[1:38:45] internally okay. Okay. To try to sub down a solution. Thank

[1:38:49] you. Thank you so much. Um, first question that

[1:38:53] I have is, um, I understand the concerns, um, you know,

[1:38:58] from public works and from, uh, police, excuse me, from fire, um,

[1:39:02] about the speed bumps. Um, but what analysis was done to find out

[1:39:06] how these other localities, um, especially in northern virginia

[1:39:10] and the richmond, uh, pretty much, well richmond itself are

[1:39:14] putting these speed bumps or speed humps, whatever they're calling 'em these days. Um,

[1:39:19] and they're not impacting their response time, or

[1:39:23] is it really impacting their response time and they're accepting that risk?

[1:39:28] um, that that's a free for all for anyone? Um, well,

[1:39:32] I, I would've to do a little bit more research and work with the fire chief to get more, uh,

[1:39:36] information and get back with you unless, uh, fire chief

[1:39:41] can or public court can answer that. He's just excited that he has

[1:39:45] a question that's not waste. No, I'm good to stay in my seat. . Um,

[1:39:49] so speed, humps, speed tables, speed bumps, they all have different application

[1:39:53] mm-hmm . Right? Um, not every situation is the same. They don't have the

[1:39:57] same warrant. So, um, it's something that a traffic engineer can look into.

[1:40:02] they all represent compromises to response times for the

[1:40:06] fire chief, for police, um, that that's

[1:40:10] something for counsel to consider. Mm-hmm . Um, relative to speed bumps, they're

[1:40:14] probably the most abrupt, um, chief hits one, he's gonna know it, and then I'm

[1:40:18] gonna know it 'cause his truck's gonna be in my shop. So, um, and people

[1:40:22] will know it. They're loud. They're, they're meant, they do their job and they do it well. Um,

[1:40:27] the other problem with, um, traffic calming measures like that, they

[1:40:31] present challenges during snow, snow duty. Um, they tend to get ripped

[1:40:35] right off the asphalt from the get-go. Um, so they present maintenance and replacement

[1:40:40] challenges. Um, but that's what I know about traffic calming measures.

[1:40:44] um, chief, do you have anything else? Yeah,

[1:40:48] the only thing that I would add is that, you know, the nfpa, you know, the national standard on

[1:40:52] on that just absolutely, um, recommends that they're not used

[1:40:56] whatsoever, um, because of the impact. I mean, it's, there's been a number of studies done on

[1:41:00] the impact to response times, whether or not other jurisdictions have decided to ignore

[1:41:04] that data and, and choose instead to have those traffic calling measures. Apparently they, that's

[1:41:09] what they've decided to do. But the nfp standard, you know, forbids them to

[1:41:13] be used, uh, in regular streets, um, because of the impact to response times. And

[1:41:17] that is based on studies and data. So, um, I'd have to go back and get all that pulled

[1:41:21] all that for you from nfpa, but, but that definitely is the case. Um,

[1:41:25] and, and obviously, you know, the impact to our apparatus, you know, we've, we've

[1:41:30] had, um, axles come out from underneath an engine, uh, just because of the, the

[1:41:34] impact of all the railroad tracks that we have in the city and everything else. So this would just add

[1:41:38] to that problem that we have as far as just the, the, the, the condition. You know,

[1:41:42] certainly the railroad tracks are one of the, the most, uh, impactful, I guess to our apparatus.

[1:41:47] but this would just add something else that would again, you know, cause a maintenance issue

[1:41:51] and, and challenges for us. That's all I had to add. Okay. I just, I'd like

[1:41:55] to know, you know, how the, the other localities and, you know, and maybe what it is, is they're

[1:41:59] just accepting the risk, you know, I mean, that that's a perfectly legitimate,

[1:42:03] you know, um, argument or whatever that they're,

[1:42:07] or position that they're willing to take. But I would just be really curious to see, you know,

[1:42:11] especially, you know, alexandria, arlington, um, you know, richmond, what they've

[1:42:16] just done. Um, and either, you know, just

[1:42:20] accepting the risk or if it's something that they have found a way to work around it

[1:42:25] without compromising, uh, their response times. I mean, I, I just, I think it's

[1:42:29] worth, you know, the time to go through that level of analysis and research just

[1:42:33] to find out what they're doing. I agree. I think this would be a good question for,

[1:42:37] uh, the virginia municipal league. Mm-hmm . At the parole's board board

[1:42:41] to, to ask, uh, to pose the question and see what other communities

[1:42:46] are doing in state. Excellent. Yeah. So we will do that. Okay. Perfect. Thank you. Great. Um,

[1:42:50] other question is, I know on here we talked a little bit about speed cameras and I know that they're allowed

[1:42:55] to be put in school zones. Um, like what we have, um, can, you know, the localities

[1:43:00] designate more school zones, so if there is a well established,

[1:43:05] um, like a private school, like a western christian school

[1:43:09] or a broadway baptist that are on very, um, busy. Very,

[1:43:14] yeah, busy. Thank you. Busy visible high traffic roads, you

[1:43:18] know, can we create a school zone there and then allow

[1:43:22] for, you know, cameras to go in, because I mean, we have some, you know, a lot of issues,

[1:43:26] um, up and down 15th avenue, um, I think that's what a cut through on

[1:43:31] 17th or 20th, somewhere right there mm-hmm . Mm-hmm . And then of course, you know, on, on broadway.

[1:43:35] and, um, I know, you know, personally, you know, several folks that have

[1:43:39] had accidents, uh, where 15th and broadway come together and they're either shotgunning

[1:43:43] through 15th to go straight, or they're shotgunning broadway

[1:43:48] going straight through. Okay. Well, chief, I don't mean to steal your thunder,

[1:43:52] but I think I have an answer okay. For you, mr. Mayor. Um, so it doesn't matter whether

[1:43:56] it's a private or a public school mm-hmm . Uh, the restriction on the use of speed

[1:44:00] cameras is just to, it has to be a intersection

[1:44:04] that has a marked crosswalk and is within a thousand feet

[1:44:09] of a school property. Okay. Okay. So a private school

[1:44:13] is, yeah, a private school would, would be eligible. Okay.

[1:44:17] there, um, you know, me per, I would love for this to

[1:44:22] be brought back to city council. Absolutely. Um, and, you know, not just the,

[1:44:26] you know, for these two, but let's, I look in, you know, holistically across the city

[1:44:30] and, you know, see where, you know, there are schools that are in high traffic

[1:44:34] areas that we know have problems with speeding, and that we can, uh,

[1:44:38] you know, implement, uh, this. Okay. Excellent.

[1:44:42] and I think that'll give some, uh, cause of relief for some speeding issues for the fire

[1:44:46] chief and, uh, public works director,

[1:44:51] but not totally yet. I still wanna see the analysis. . Um,

[1:44:56] okay. Uh, anyone else have any, uh, questions?

[1:45:00] okay. See you. None. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, chief. You're welcome. May I, uh, couple

[1:45:04] of, couple of points mm-hmm . On the city manager's report, um,

[1:45:09] hopewell was, uh, very pleased to sponsor or host rather,

[1:45:13] a round table with senator warner on water

[1:45:17] and wastewater infrastructure needs in the region. Among those

[1:45:21] present, the mayors of richmond and petersburg, as well as

[1:45:26] leadership from chesterfield and henrico county, uh,

[1:45:30] congresswoman mcclellan, senator ed, and delegate coya,

[1:45:34] who were, uh, were present, uh, along with 50 plus other leaders

[1:45:38] and, and experts from around, uh, from the region. The

[1:45:42] principal discussion was, uh, the current state of water

[1:45:47] and wastewater infrastructure, uh, in the region, principally

[1:45:51] about hopewell, the hopewell water renewal. Uh,

[1:45:55] the senator suggested that leaders continue the discussion and,

[1:45:59] uh, come back within 60 days, uh, with, uh, some

[1:46:04] ideas of how we could work together to, uh, approach,

[1:46:08] uh, state and federal agencies for additional water

[1:46:13] resources. You and the vice mayor were, were present and part of that discussion. And,

[1:46:17] and, uh, since that meeting, the mayor has,

[1:46:21] um, uh, picked up on senator, uh, warner's, uh,

[1:46:25] suggestion and has in, uh, reached out to the other mayors

[1:46:30] and other leaders about, uh, coming together to explore

[1:46:35] our collective options as a region. And so, apparently,

[1:46:40] hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we will get together and, and see

[1:46:44] how far we can go with that. Yeah, we, um, our, uh, lobbyist

[1:46:49] firm, dbs, um, you know, they're taking the lead of, you know, coordinating and organizing,

[1:46:54] um, you know, these folks, these subject matter experts that are going to be,

[1:46:58] um, a part of this working group. Um, we've already got representatives, uh,

[1:47:02] from petersburg, uh, from prince george hopewell,

[1:47:07] um, let's see, colonial heights.

[1:47:11] no, no. Um, we, we did, we got a representative from the capital region,

[1:47:16] capital area regional military alliance, which, you know,

[1:47:20] represents, um, you know, some of fort lee's interests. Um, we've also got,

[1:47:24] um, some subject matter experts, uh, from the state, um, as well

[1:47:28] as from the private sector. Um, we got a lot of, uh,

[1:47:33] pe engineers, which is very exciting. Um, so, you know, they're

[1:47:37] working on getting their first meeting, which is going to be kind of like a organization, get to know you,

[1:47:41] uh, who you're gonna, you know, be working with. And then they're going to, you know, transition

[1:47:45] over, uh, into, you know, a lot of virtual meetings and coming

[1:47:49] up with those, uh, federal and state policy, um, proposals and recommendations

[1:47:54] that we can give to, uh, delegate coyer, uh, senator ad. And then also,

[1:47:58] um, more importantly, uh, senator warner and congresswoman mcclellan.

[1:48:03] uh, so this is very exciting stuff, um, very, very, uh, exciting.

[1:48:07] um, and it, like mr. Rogers said, it was a great, um,

[1:48:12] round table discussion that we had. Excellent. Um, and, you know, we

[1:48:16] got a lot of great compliments, um, forward, you know, the city putting their best

[1:48:20] foot forward and, um, you know, bringing a lot of these folks together. Um, so

[1:48:24] thank you, mr. Rogers, uh, and your, your staff for, you know, pulling

[1:48:28] this off and, uh, you know, really shine a good light on hopewell. Okay. Next

[1:48:32] point. Next week is our council retreat. Mm-hmm .

[1:48:37] and, uh, our executive assistant has been in contact with you

[1:48:41] to work out logistics. If there's anything remaining, feel

[1:48:45] free to call her. But we will start on monday

[1:48:50] at 11, um, am uh, at the hilton doubletree

[1:48:54] andn in and in williamsburg. So we've, we've been in contact with

[1:48:58] each of you about transportation arrangements,

[1:49:02] and, uh, you also have some assignments, at least

[1:49:06] one to read the book that we have given you, uh, which will be

[1:49:11] discussed as a part of our, our team building, uh, at, at the,

[1:49:17] it's a great book so far. Don't ruin the ending for me. I got 25% more to go.

[1:49:21] okay. It's a great read, this great book. Terrific. And, um, you guys have

[1:49:25] gotten, uh, councilor oli? The yes. The book? Yes. Excellent. Great.

[1:49:29] yes. Mm-hmm . Uh, council and directors have been invited to

[1:49:34] a senior leader's workshop for emergency preparedness,

[1:49:39] uh, training on september 23rd,

[1:49:43] uh, and by being hosted by fema and will be conducted

[1:49:47] by fema, uh, our emergency

[1:49:52] fema federal emergency management agency.

[1:49:56] um, and, uh, robert, uh, williams,

[1:50:00] our emergency, uh, preparedness coordinator, will reach out

[1:50:04] to council members to facilitate your registration if you have not done

[1:50:08] so already. I've done that already, and we would appreciate your, uh,

[1:50:12] uh, your participation. And for department directors,

[1:50:18] the message is, sign up plain

[1:50:22] and simple. Okay. Wanna see you there. Uh, and,

[1:50:26] um, I'll be there. And, uh, I, I think this is very important, uh,

[1:50:30] seminar, uh, with respect to national night out.

[1:50:34] um, it's always, uh, one of my favorite activities

[1:50:38] for a city to do, and I hope that, uh,

[1:50:43] uh, most of us can, can attend and be present. I

[1:50:47] will encourage department directors as well to, to show up

[1:50:51] and, and, uh, be present. Not much to do. Just be

[1:50:55] available, you know, we're not doing a dog and pony pony show or anything like

[1:50:59] that, but I think it's good for, for government to meet the citizens,

[1:51:04] at least on that night, and, and, uh, learn a lot about what's

[1:51:08] going on in the community and, and, uh, um,

[1:51:12] focus on one hope. Well, moving forward. So,

[1:51:16] uh, I hope you will attend. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:51:22] okay. Uh, moving on to, uh, information presentations. Uh,

[1:51:26] mr. Passeth, mr. Mayor,

[1:51:31] members of council, as you know, staff conducted a talent search for city clerk.

[1:51:35] the city received 79 applications,

[1:51:39] interviewed seven of those applicants, and shortlisted two of them for counsel

[1:51:44] to conduct interviews with one of those candidates. Uh, ms.

[1:51:48] michelle, alicia howard is here with us tonight for counsel's consideration for appointment.

[1:51:52] okay. Alright. At this time, do I have a motion,

[1:51:57] uh, to approve or to appoint, uh, ms. Va

[1:52:01] sheila howard to be the city clerk for the city of hopewell.

[1:52:05] so moved. Oh, man, you goes passed. Um, motion

[1:52:09] was made by vice mayor joiner and seconded by councilor day. Is there any

[1:52:13] discussion seeing no lights? Roll call, please.

[1:52:18] councilor harris? Yes. Mayor. Pardon? Yes. Councillor

[1:52:22] ellis? Yes. Councillor day? Yes. Councillor stokes.

[1:52:30] you're, you're muted. Councilor stokes.

[1:52:38] counselor ole? Yes. Vice mayor

[1:52:42] joyner? Yes. Alright. Motion passes. Six

[1:52:46] to zero. Congratulations ms. Howard, welcome to the team. Yes. And,

[1:52:50] uh, we look forward

[1:52:54] to having you up here on the d in two weeks. Yes. Looking forward to it.

[1:52:58] thank you all so much. All thank you. And I'm looking so forward to working with

[1:53:02] all of you. Thank you. Same here. Thanks. Same. Mm-hmm . Okay.

[1:53:08] moving on to, uh, communications from citizens. Um, madam

[1:53:12] clerk, do you mind reading the statement, please? A communication from

[1:53:16] citizens period limited in total time to 30 minutes is part of the order

[1:53:21] of business. At each regular council meeting, all persons addressing the

[1:53:25] council shall approach the microphone, give their name, and if they reside

[1:53:29] in, hopewell, their ward number and limit comments to three minutes.

[1:53:33] no one is permitted to speak on any item scheduled for consideration

[1:53:37] on the regular agenda of the meeting. All remarks presiding

[1:53:42] all remarks shall be addressed to the counsel as a body. Any

[1:53:46] questions must be asked through the presiding officer. Any person

[1:53:50] who makes personal impertinent abusive or slanderous

[1:53:55] statements or incites disorderly conduct and counsel chambers

[1:53:59] may be barred by the mayor from a further audience before council and removed,

[1:54:04] subject to appeal to a majority of council c rules, 4 0 5

[1:54:08] and 4 0 6. Okay. Uh, the only person that I

[1:54:12] have signed up for tonight is ms. April jones. Tyler,

[1:54:28] good evening. My name is april jones. Tyler, I'm in ward two.

[1:54:32] um, so first I would like to address you all with a question, um,

[1:54:37] of concern. So, uh, the first question is, uh,

[1:54:41] I've been trying to do a follow up, um, conversation with the city manager.

[1:54:45] um, unfortunately, uh, through the secretary, I'm unable to do a

[1:54:49] follow up. So, um, my question for you all tonight is, uh, what is the process

[1:54:54] to do a follow up when I contact the city manager's office?

[1:54:59] and, um, also, um, my issues

[1:55:03] that I would like to discuss tonight is with public housing. Um,

[1:55:08] so the first issue is I, me and my two children, um,

[1:55:13] ages are, uh, three and four. Sorry, I'm a little nervous. Um,

[1:55:18] three and four. Um, we have been moved into

[1:55:22] a home that was never inspected. Um, also my lease contract was

[1:55:26] breached. It was, um, the year dated 2024. I

[1:55:31] received a, um, tenants rights and responsibilities until the year of

[1:55:35] 2025. Um, their ified information on the calculation

[1:55:39] worksheet, all zeros. Um, I have passed

[1:55:43] cockroaches, spiders, paint, pulling off the wall as of today. Um, there's been water leaks,

[1:55:47] water leaks in my ceiling, no proper air ventilation, um,

[1:55:54] with me. Um, there's mold in mildew present. Um,

[1:55:58] in my bathroom, uh, my son's teacher, a nurse, uh,

[1:56:02] wrote a letter regarding webb's bug bikes on his arms. Other tenants have been faced with

[1:56:06] rats, ceiling falling on their couch. Similar issues. I'm also speaking up for other tenants as

[1:56:11] well. Um, I've been trapped in my screen door a total of

[1:56:15] six times. Um, to me this is a safety hazard. I have attended

[1:56:19] a total of four board meetings. Nothing resolved,

[1:56:23] um, to add, um, they will not provide me with

[1:56:27] my project based voucher information. Um, the recertification, they had me

[1:56:31] do, uh, required information from my kids. Daddy does not live with me. Um, also

[1:56:36] I requested for my recertification information, um,

[1:56:40] if I could have that in writing, that was refused to me by, um, the housing

[1:56:45] authority. Um, I'm supposed to be transferred. Um,

[1:56:49] and the housing authority will not provide me this information. I'm needing this information to, uh,

[1:56:53] provide to my gss worker. They need this in order to have me,

[1:56:58] um, transferred. And that's, um, that is all

[1:57:02] that I have to share with you all tonight. Thank you. Okay. Um, get

[1:57:06] our name? Yeah. We got your, your phone number here. Um, yes, sir. I'm gonna pass

[1:57:10] this along to mr. Rogers at the end of the meeting. And I'm gonna ask him, um,

[1:57:14] you know, to give you a call yes, sir. Or to have, uh, or to, you know, make sure

[1:57:18] that you know someone with, um, the hopewell redevelopment housing authority

[1:57:23] addresses all of your issues. Thank you. And I also, excuse me, I didn't mean to I'm sorry. Go

[1:57:27] ahead. I'm sorry. Um, and I also have other at tenant information. Um, if by

[1:57:31] any chance can I pass that along to him? Yes. As well. Mm-hmm . Um, because

[1:57:35] they're afraid of retaliation, so I told 'em I will, you know, speak up on their behalf as

[1:57:39] well tonight. Okay. Thank you much for your, thank you. Thank you.

[1:57:44] okay. Uh, that's all that I had signed up for tonight. Uh, moving

[1:57:49] on to our public hearings.

[1:57:53] point of order, mayor. Okay. I

[1:57:57] didn't get to vote regarding the clerk or make a discussion 'cause I had technical

[1:58:02] difficulties. What is the process?

[1:58:07] 'cause I don't want, I want my vote and

[1:58:11] comment recorded appropriately. Okay.

[1:58:15] I mean, you can make, and we can just add it to the record. When do

[1:58:19] I make it? Yeah, just go ahead and make it now.

[1:58:23] okay. Um, on the vote for the city clerk,

[1:58:28] my comment would've been, um,

[1:58:34] I did not like the due process that was done

[1:58:38] during the selection. Um, other city clerk,

[1:58:43] I think we should have considered more, uh,

[1:58:47] of the applications and

[1:58:51] given some preference to our tax paying residents.

[1:58:56] um, so my vote was no. Okay. And I wanted it

[1:59:00] recorded as such. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Mm-hmm . Um, and,

[1:59:04] uh, sade, please, uh, have my comment, uh, you know, added to

[1:59:09] the official minutes, um, that, you know, this process,

[1:59:13] uh, was a very thorough process in which we utilized our,

[1:59:17] um, staff and our subject matter experts, uh, to make sure that we

[1:59:21] were getting the best of the best. And, uh, we were not

[1:59:25] allowing any, uh, personal, uh, conflicts of interest, uh, to

[1:59:30] cloud our judgment. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay.

[1:59:35] uh, let's see here. Moving on. Um, well, we do have, uh, some

[1:59:39] folks sign up on public hearings. Did, uh, these, this is, uh,

[1:59:45] pauletta. Jarret. Yes, sir. Did you wanna talk during

[1:59:49] communications from citizens or the actual public hearing? Um,

[1:59:54] I'm gonna pass her right now and I apologize. I'll speak with you later. Um,

[1:59:58] jared's wife. Oh, okay. Okay. Mm-hmm . Okay.

[2:00:03] um,

[2:00:08] calm, I guess it's maybe commissioner jones harris,

[2:00:14] I think. Okay. They were hr check. Alright. Um,

[2:00:18] and then a mr. Michael mayo.

[2:00:23] okay. Did you wanna speak on the public hearing or communications from, or, or communications

[2:00:27] from citizens? Mr. Mayo's an applicant.

[2:00:32] oh, he's an applicant. Okay. Alright. Public hearing. Okay. Just wanna make sure. Alright.

[2:00:36] alright. We're gonna move back on to our public

[2:00:40] hearings now. Uh, madam clerk, will you please, uh, read the statement

[2:00:44] while mr. Rupert comes up to the mic?

[2:00:51] oh, I'm sorry. I'll read it for you since I got it here. Uh, each person

[2:00:55] addressing the counsel shall step to the microphone, give their name, locality

[2:00:59] and phone number, and limit, limit comments to three minutes or less.

[2:01:03] no person shall be permitted to address counsel a second time until all others have

[2:01:08] been heard once. And no one shall speak more than twice on any subject in any

[2:01:12] one meeting. All remarks shall be addressed to council as the body and not any member

[2:01:16] thereof. No person other than the council and the person

[2:01:21] having the floor shall enter into any discussion, either directly or through

[2:01:25] a member of council without permission of the mayor, uh, no

[2:01:29] question shall be asked of a council member, including the administration,

[2:01:33] except through the presiding officer, mr. Roofer,

[2:01:38] uh, mr. Mayor, vice mayor, members of council. Um, as you know,

[2:01:42] back in july, I brought to you a presentation about, uh, an

[2:01:46] increase in our, uh, ems fees. Um, as

[2:01:50] I discussed then, our ems fees are, are far behind all of our neighbors

[2:01:54] surrounding us. And, um, this would bring us, uh, uh,

[2:01:59] back into, uh, up to a, a level that would, um, allow us to

[2:02:03] get additional revenue, um, to support our operations in the fire department.

[2:02:07] um, basically, as you can see in our draft ordinance that, um,

[2:02:12] uh, the city attorney, uh, helped us draft, you can see that we're basically,

[2:02:17] um, increasing it to 135% of me medicare allowables.

[2:02:21] um, so that allows that rate to basically be adjusted each year as medicare

[2:02:25] adjusts their rate. Um, we also discussed, um, uh, some

[2:02:30] options for relief for our citizens. Uh, they can, uh, do an

[2:02:34] annual subscription for $69 that allow them to not see a bill from us if they

[2:02:38] are them or any of their household are transported, uh, on an ambulance. As

[2:02:42] well as, uh, some relief given to them as well if, uh,

[2:02:46] they apply for, um, uh, reduced rate. Uh, and that's based

[2:02:50] on the poverty level that's published every year also by, uh, health and human

[2:02:55] services. And so, uh, we, uh, that is what is presented

[2:02:59] tonight. Um, if you'd like, I can go back through that presentation or that's

[2:03:03] alright. Okay. Okay. Uh, we're gonna

[2:03:07] go ahead. Well first, uh, are there any questions for mr. Rupert or chief rupert before we

[2:03:11] open up the public hearing? Seeing no

[2:03:15] lights? Alright, I'm gonna go ahead and open up the public hearing. I do not have anyone signed

[2:03:20] up on this. Uh, is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak on this?

[2:03:25] no. Okay. Public hearing is now closed.

[2:03:30] uh, is there a motion, uh, to approve the fee change, uh,

[2:03:34] ordinance, uh, for fire ems as presented tonight? So, move.

[2:03:38] okay. Motions made by vice mayor joiner and seconded by councillor day. Is there any

[2:03:43] discussion? See no lights. Roll call please. Councill

[2:03:47] harris, may I pardon?

[2:03:51] yes. Councillor ellis? Yes. Councillor day? Yes.

[2:03:56] councillor stokes? Yes. Council oli?

[2:04:00] yes. Vice mayor joiner? Yes. Motion passes. Six to

[2:04:04] zero. Okay. Uh, moving

[2:04:08] on to public hearing number two. Uh, ms. English.

[2:04:21] good evening. Good evening. Evening. Janelle english, director of finance for the school

[2:04:26] division. I'm here for, um, dr. Hackney. Um, we

[2:04:30] have a public hearing tonight for a supplemental appropriation to amend the fiscal year

[2:04:34] 26 budget school's budget, um, by the amount of $778,650,

[2:04:41] which is additional state and local funding. Um,

[2:04:45] the school division's original budget was approved by city council on april 22nd, 2025.

[2:04:50] and since then we've received an additional state grant in the amount of $40,650

[2:04:55] for a, um, it's a school security officer grant and we must

[2:04:59] carry over state and local funds that we've received in fiscal year 25

[2:05:04] that were reserved to provide a retention bonus to our employees in the amount of $738,000.

[2:05:10] so these funds will increase the total, um, school operating

[2:05:14] fund to $72,574,676.

[2:05:21] that's it. Okay. Alright. Are there any questions, uh, for ms. English

[2:05:25] before we open the public hearing? Seeing no lights?

[2:05:30] alright, we're gonna go ahead and open up a public hearing. Um,

[2:05:36] ms. Jart, this is your opportunity if you wanna speak. Well

[2:05:41] on this topic. I mean, like on the, on this topic? Yeah. On the

[2:05:46] school? Yeah. On the school system. No, I don't have, all my children are, are out of the house.

[2:05:50] okay. So this is my first time being here, so now I, I'm getting a feel of it. I'm

[2:05:54] gonna start being more visible, um, because I just

[2:05:58] need to be more visible. Okay. Alright. Thank you. Thank you. Mm-hmm .

[2:06:03] okay. Uh, I don't have anyone else signed up. Is there anyone the audience would like to speak on this

[2:06:07] public hearing? Okay. Seeing none,

[2:06:12] I'm go ahead and close the public hearing. Uh, is there a motion to

[2:06:16] approve the resolution to amend the fiscal year 2026 hopewell

[2:06:20] public school supplemental budget appropriation as presented tonight?

[2:06:25] so move, I'll second it. Uh, motions made by vice mayor joiner

[2:06:29] and seconded by myself. Any discussion? Seeing

[2:06:33] none. Roll call please. Mayor. Pardon? Yes. Councilor ellis?

[2:06:37] yes. Councillor day? Yes. Councillor stokes?

[2:06:41] yes. Councilor oli? Yes. Vice mayor joiner? Yes.

[2:06:45] motion passes. Six to zero. Okay. Moving on to public hearing

[2:06:49] number three.

[2:07:10] good evening again. Uh, tonight we have a conditional

[2:07:14] use permit request to construct single family dwelling on

[2:07:18] non-conforming lot actually consists of two, two parcels,

[2:07:23] excuse me. Uh, 0 1 3 1 5 9 5 and 0 1 3 1 6 0 0

[2:07:30] also identified, uh, or actually located on south 19th avenue.

[2:07:34] the applicant is vets housing llc. This property's located

[2:07:39] in ward five and zoned r two.

[2:07:44] uh, the nonconformities with this particular, uh, lot are both in the

[2:07:48] width and the total square footage. Uh, it's just smaller on both

[2:07:52] the applicant's proposing to build a one story single family dwelling. Three

[2:07:56] bedroom, two bath, 1,352 square foot.

[2:08:01] a single family home, oops, lemme

[2:08:05] back up. Just got some elevations here of

[2:08:09] what the proposed house will look like. Uh, front and rear,

[2:08:14] left and right. The applicant is proposing

[2:08:18] to construct, uh, this dwelling, which is larger than the average single family

[2:08:23] dwelling in that neighborhood. And that average size is 1075

[2:08:27] square feet. Applicant's proposing vinyl siding, uh, it's

[2:08:32] consistent with other homes in the neighborhood and as required by the

[2:08:36] ordinance, the dwelling will meet all district setbacks.

[2:08:41] staff is recommending approval of the conditional use permitt application with the following conditions

[2:08:46] that the two lots will be combined through the administrative re subdivision process.

[2:08:51] uh, 12 inch minimum eaves along all roof edges,

[2:08:56] uh, 20% tree canopy, driveway of asphalt

[2:09:01] or concrete brick or stone foundation on all four sides

[2:09:05] along with front foundation plantings. And essentially that the

[2:09:09] applicant will construct the home as presented to you. This evening

[2:09:14] planning commission, uh, agreed with staff's conditions.

[2:09:18] they recommended approval three to zero at their public hearing.

[2:09:23] uh, the department has not received any comments and no comments were

[2:09:28] presented at the planning commission, public hearing either. I'm

[2:09:32] available for any questions that you may have about this application and the applicant

[2:09:36] is also here this evening. Uh, mr. Mayo. Okay.

[2:09:41] are there any questions for, uh, mr. Ward before we open up the, uh,

[2:09:45] public hearing? Okay. Seeing none? Yes.

[2:09:49] oh, I'm sorry. Yes, ma'am. I pressed it twice. Sorry, because that didn't

[2:09:53] work. Okay. Am I done off? Hold it, that's what it is. Gotta hold it. Okay. Yeah. Can you hold

[2:09:57] it for me? Make sure it's working okay. Now it came up okay. Okay.

[2:10:01] I just pressed it. I didn't hold it. That's okay. Yeah, if it doesn't come, we'll just wave me down. New

[2:10:06] person. Sorry, , I apologize. Yep. Yes, ma'am.

[2:10:10] um, so I'm concerned about a real

[2:10:14] lack of privacy and room

[2:10:18] for the person who's gonna live in this house.

[2:10:22] I, I want them to be happy because when you buy a home, there's an expectation

[2:10:27] that you have some privacy, some safety,

[2:10:31] uh, security, and some room to entertain

[2:10:36] in your yard and not be interrupting other neighbors. I,

[2:10:40] I'm just trying to understand why we

[2:10:44] think this exception should be approved because of those reasons. That's

[2:10:48] why the rule is there to begin with, is to provide more space

[2:10:53] for people. So our ordinance allows

[2:10:57] for the construction of homes, single family homes on

[2:11:01] non-conforming lots. It's in our ordinance and it's a provision that,

[2:11:06] uh, states essentially you can construct a house on these

[2:11:10] somewhat smaller lots. They may not be as wide as the minimum standards or they

[2:11:14] may be, uh, not meeting the total square footage. And

[2:11:18] the ordinance allows to go through this process so that you as a

[2:11:22] city council can attach certain conditions to the approval. Um,

[2:11:27] these are, these conditions here that are listed at the end.

[2:11:31] um, everybody up here is probably really tired of seeing

[2:11:36] 'em 'cause they come through on every single application. Um, this is pretty

[2:11:40] much the standard that, uh, staff and, and I would assume counsel

[2:11:44] has agreed upon as, as preferred conditions for approval. So,

[2:11:49] um, I'm not sure if that really answered your question a

[2:11:53] hundred percent, but as the way staff

[2:11:57] perceives it is, as long as an applicant is meeting the requirements,

[2:12:02] we are going to recommend approval. And in this particular case,

[2:12:06] this applicant is meeting the requirements set forth in the orders,

[2:12:11] they're required to meet the district setbacks, even though it might be a little shorter or

[2:12:15] narrower a lot, they still have to meet setbacks.

[2:12:19] does that answer your question or?

[2:12:23] um, I'll, I'll do some more research and follow up as we have other

[2:12:28] issues. I personally, in my neighborhood and others,

[2:12:32] mcing houses just on,

[2:12:37] on very small postage lots. And I, I post to stamp lots

[2:12:41] and I, I'm not in favor of that as a whole. And

[2:12:45] we talk about it's, it could be a first home for,

[2:12:49] uh, a starter family home and this kind of thing. Mm-hmm

[2:12:53] . But they turn into to rental property almost

[2:12:57] always their rental property. They're not, it's not like we're

[2:13:02] housing somebody who has a hardship and, and couldn't otherwise afford

[2:13:06] a larger home or a larger space. We're turning it into rental property and,

[2:13:10] and I, I don't like the fact that we continuously do this.

[2:13:14] so, but thank you for explaining that you have some protocols that you've used

[2:13:18] in the past and that this meets the standard for your protocol.

[2:13:23] absolutely. And we can, we can discuss this further offline too, if, you know, at a later time if

[2:13:27] you'd like more information. I would. Absolutely. Okay. Are

[2:13:31] there any other questions or comments? Okay. I'm go

[2:13:35] ahead and open up the full hearing. Um, mr. Mayo.

[2:13:46] good evening. My name is michael mayo. I'm the director of vet's housing. Uh, what

[2:13:50] our mission is, is we aim to provide subsidized housing for

[2:13:54] our veterans and affordable housing for the public. And we believe this

[2:13:58] project will be, um, the perfect opportunity to provide, um, a single

[2:14:02] family home at an affordable price point for like a,

[2:14:07] a new family, um, or a, um, someone that's looking to

[2:14:11] retire and downsize. Um, this particular one, we are not looking to,

[2:14:15] um, rent out in any way. Um, we typically only rent, uh,

[2:14:19] our multifamily new construction projects 'cause we're able to capitalize on, on

[2:14:23] our, uh, scale, uh, to get the price down. Um,

[2:14:28] other than that though, we think this would be, you know, a great opportunity for a family to

[2:14:32] get a home at affordable price and for the city to collect additional

[2:14:36] revenue. Um, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer.

[2:14:40] okay. Uh, are there any questions for the applicant? Uh, yes ma'am.

[2:14:45] can you tell me more about your veteran program? 'cause I'm very pro veteran

[2:14:50] and so I'd like a little bit to know a little bit more about your veteran program

[2:14:54] that you're offering. Yeah, so we're, we've partnered with, um, housing

[2:14:58] redevelopment, you know, to, um, provide housing with their,

[2:15:03] you know, utilizing the, the hud vash program. So,

[2:15:07] um, we focus on with that program to capitalize on economies

[2:15:11] of scale. We typically will only do multifamily, um, so that we can get our price down

[2:15:15] to be able to afford to do it. Um, so on this one, since it's a single family home, just

[2:15:19] a single lot, we're just looking to provide an affordable home for people.

[2:15:26] okay. Uh, vice mayor jordan. Yeah, I guess my question is then

[2:15:30] your company name seems a little bit,

[2:15:35] so you really aren't focused on veterans at all? Not

[2:15:39] really. I, well we are, um, that is our focus

[2:15:43] on this particular lot. Um, we were able to get, you know, at a, um,

[2:15:47] really great price. Um, so we went ahead, we wanted to go ahead

[2:15:51] and develop it and, um, provide a, a nice home for someone. So, so, but you're

[2:15:55] not working directly with any veterans groups? I mean, like, so this, this

[2:15:59] house is not slated for a, a veteran to, you

[2:16:04] know, a veteran to purchase or anything like that. And your multi-family

[2:16:08] businesses, I mean, are, are you focused on, on

[2:16:12] veterans? I mean, what, what veterans group do you partner with? Well,

[2:16:16] we work with the, with the hud vash program. So they're the ones that provide the, the

[2:16:20] housing vouchers, um, for, for veterans. Okay. And we are fairly

[2:16:25] new. Our company just started this year, so we are up and coming, getting off the

[2:16:29] ground, but we did just secure, um, a five acre, um, development

[2:16:33] on the south side of richmond that we are gonna do all multifamily and provide

[2:16:38] I see. Solely to veterans. Okay.

[2:16:42] alright. Okay. Um, are there any other questions?

[2:16:48] all right. Seeing no lights. Thank you sir. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the

[2:16:52] audience, uh, that would like to speak on this public hearing tonight?

[2:16:57] none. Okay. I'm, go ahead and, uh, close the public hearing.

[2:17:01] um, I think, uh, yeah, out of respect for,

[2:17:05] uh, councilor ley for just starting, um, and if

[2:17:09] you're amenable to this, um, is everyone okay with just tabling this item?

[2:17:13] so then that way, you know, you could be, you know, spun up or you do your, I have questions

[2:17:18] too, research that you'd like to do and we can, uh, put it as our unfinished

[2:17:22] business item at the next meeting. Thank you. Okay. Anyone stay with that s yeah.

[2:17:26] yeah. Okay. Alright. Um, uh,

[2:17:31] mr. Bassett, do we need a motion for that or is that good enough?

[2:17:35] no, no. You don't need a motion to carry it over to another okay. Another meeting. Okay.

[2:17:40] alright. So we'll do that as our first time of unfinished business at the next

[2:17:44] meeting. Uh, public hearing number four,

[2:17:54] I need you to drive this one. Thank you. Uh,

[2:17:58] mayor, vice member members, members of council, thank you for this opportunity to speak on this public

[2:18:02] hearing. Um, I'm here tonight to, um,

[2:18:07] hold a public hearing for the sale of 6 33 epps street.

[2:18:12] and this is, uh, this is a conforming lot, but it's a

[2:18:16] little interesting story. So, uh, this is in b village.

[2:18:20] there was a, a house here in the past and

[2:18:24] through some circumstances that I'm not, uh, fully up to speed on

[2:18:28] what happened, I believe it was a blight situation. Based on some

[2:18:32] of the records I was able to find, the city acquired this lot, um,

[2:18:37] lot 6 3 2 a and they, um,

[2:18:42] they acquired this lot. And then also there's a, there's a right of way beside

[2:18:46] it that's shown here in this picture in your calf, in your, um, your,

[2:18:51] um, action form there, counsel action form and, uh,

[2:18:55] incorporated that in 2017, uh,

[2:19:00] into a larger, uh, property, this was done around the time

[2:19:05] that the stream restoration project was done. Mm-hmm . On riverside.

[2:19:09] and I believe that some of the acquisition of these lots was associated with that. Okay.

[2:19:14] so one of the things that we do in economic development and tourism is, is we try to

[2:19:18] find, um, land the city has in surplus that's not producing tax

[2:19:22] revenue. And we, and we, uh, open that up for people to

[2:19:26] purchase. This was, uh, actually an unsolicited offer. We, we were not

[2:19:30] advertising this, um, but, um, mr. Nathan davenport

[2:19:35] and his company, um, made us an unsolicited offer, which,

[2:19:39] um, we, um, reviewed, enclosed session and

[2:19:43] I'm here tonight to have the public hearing, uh, for the

[2:19:48] contract approval, uh, that you have in your package. Uh, this

[2:19:52] is for $13,000 and the applicant,

[2:19:56] um, who will be if, if approved tonight by this public hearing,

[2:20:01] uh, they will be working with the city attorney's office

[2:20:05] and planning and zoning essentially to reestablish that lot

[2:20:09] that you see there. That was, uh, incorporated in 2017

[2:20:14] into a larger parcel. His intent is to build

[2:20:18] a single family home for sale. And as I said, it, it

[2:20:22] will be a conforming lot basically as it was before 5,200

[2:20:27] square feet in b village at the end of up street. So, a little bit

[2:20:31] of a long story, but at the end of the day, what the city's gonna get is a house back on

[2:20:35] the lot, uh, that was torn down and a family in

[2:20:39] there paying taxes and eating at waves and

[2:20:44] getting coffee from the coffee shop. And there you go.

[2:20:48] so I'm, I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. Okay.

[2:20:52] are there any questions for, uh, mr. Bennett? Okay.

[2:20:56] seeing no lights when we go ahead and open up the public hearing,

[2:21:00] um, I don't have anyone signed up for this one. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak

[2:21:05] on this? Alright. Seeing none

[2:21:09] public hearing's now closed. Alright. Is there a motion to,

[2:21:13] um, approve the contract sale? Uh,

[2:21:17] parcel slash tax id number 0 6 6 0 6 2 5 2

[2:21:25] mfk properties llc as presented tonight.

[2:21:30] so move second. Alright. Motion's been made by vice mayor joiner and second by,

[2:21:34] uh, councilor ellis. Is there any discussion seeing no

[2:21:38] lights roll call please. Councillor harris? Yes. Mayor. Pardon?

[2:21:43] yes. Councillor ellis? Yes. Councillor day? Yes. Councillor

[2:21:47] stoke? Yes. Councillor oli? Yes.

[2:21:52] vice mayor joyner? Yes. Motion passes. Seven to zero.

[2:21:56] okay. With that our meeting automatically adjourns. Thank you very much.

Sep 09, 2025 City Council

Agenda

Transcript