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

[0:01] Good evening. We'd like to call to order the city of Lexington City Council meeting. The date is September 14th, 2026. We usually
[0:12] begin our meetings with an indication and this evening we have an indication that's going to be delivered by Council Member Black.
[0:20] Let us pray. Our grace is Heavenly Father. We come to you this evening with grateful and thankful hearts.
[0:27] Where your blessings to us all, we ask that you would send us the spirit of wisdom, charity, and justice, as we liberate matters that affect our community and citizens.
[0:40] May we faithfully serve to promote the well-being of all persons. All these things we ask in Christ's holy name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you.
[0:50] And if you're able, please stand with us and join us in the pledge of allegiance.
[1:11] Thank
[1:19] you, Council. By now you should have had an opportunity to review your meeting agenda
[1:25] packet and just a couple of items of housekeeping here. I want to remind Council that we
[1:33] do have a conflict of interest statement here at the beginning of the meeting.
[1:37] That's it.
[1:37] You please take a moment to review the agenda.
[1:40] Council members are reminded of their duty to avoid conflicts of interest.
[1:44] At this time, does any member have an actual or potential conflict of interest with respect
[1:48] to any matter on the agenda?
[1:50] No, one, thank you very much.
[1:52] And then also wanted to share with anyone in attendance, anyone wishing to speak at the public
[1:58] comment period. There is a sign-in sheet at the front desk here. All public members wishing to
[2:05] speak during this public comment period should sign up to speak on sign-in sheet, and then we
[2:09] will read off your names as you decide to come forward during that particular time.
[2:17] Also, Council by now, you should have had an opportunity again to review the agenda. Are there
[2:24] Any suggested changes to the agenda, or do we have a motion to adopt the agenda as presented?
[2:31] So moved.
[2:32] So I got to move.
[2:32] We have a motion by Councilman Burke, a second by Councilman Myers, all those in favor
[2:36] say aye.
[2:38] Are there any opposed?
[2:39] Next item up is the approval of minutes.
[2:42] This will be the approval of minutes from the City Council Regular Meeting from August
[2:48] 24th, 2026, so are there any suggested revisions or additions to those meeting minutes at
[2:53] this time?
[2:55] Hearing none, do we have a motion then to adopt a meeting minutes from August 24th, 2026?
[3:01] So move.
[3:02] Second.
[3:03] Emotion of Mayor Pro 10 Watkins, a second by Councilman Welburn, all those who favor say aye.
[3:08] Are there any opposed?
[3:10] Excellent.
[3:10] Thank you.
[3:11] Next up on our agenda, we have presentations, Proclin, Proclin, Proclinations, and
[3:16] recognitions.
[3:17] I did have a recognition.
[3:18] I wanted to make this evening.
[3:20] We have Peyton Williams, who is from the city of Thomasville, and as if she doesn't have enough
[3:28] going on in Thomasville, she decided to come to Lexington and help us out with our meetings.
[3:33] She actually informed me that she's working on some graduate work and then she will be, I guess, evaluating
[3:41] how well I'm doing at Mayers and being a mayor and presiding over meetings.
[3:45] It's always good to have a healthy critic.
[3:47] but welcome, Peyton, glad you're glad you're here.
[3:51] Or Councilwoman Williams, right?
[3:53] Next up, we have a proclamation,
[3:57] and that's Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation,
[4:00] 2026, and who do we have here this evening
[4:03] that will be receiving the proclamation?
[4:09] We are from the Latino Association of Davidson County,
[4:12] receiving the proclamation and actually doing it in Spanish.
[4:16] We'll be Wendy Valtista, which is one of our members
[4:18] for the Latino Association of Davidson County.
[4:21] Awesome, so so can I read the English version first and then she's gonna read the the spent because I'm not gonna be able to do this
[4:28] The man's version. I might be able to do it in American Signaling, which that's about as good as I can do
[4:32] All right city of Lexington Proclamation, whereas Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated annually from September 15th through October 15th and honor of
[4:41] Hispanic cultural contributions
[4:43] The observation began in 1968 as a Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and
[4:50] And was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, and where asked September 15th is significant because of its anniversary of independence for Latin America.
[5:00] American countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
[5:06] Subsequently, Mexico, Chile, and Belize celebrate their independence days on September 16, 18th
[5:13] and 21st respectively. And whereas the city of Lexington looks forward to celebrating
[5:18] national Hispanic month to highlight the rich heritage, vibrant traditions, histories, food
[5:25] and music of people whose ancestry can be traced to the Caribbean Islands, Central America,
[5:31] Mexico, South America, and Spain. And we're as a city of Lexington proudly honors the achievements
[5:37] and heritage of Hispanic Americans and recognizes the organizations who support and involvement
[5:44] promote inclusion, cultural appreciation, and stronger community. And we're as Latinos are individuals
[5:51] who are descendants from Latin American countries and may speak a variety of different languages.
[5:57] Hispanics are individuals who speak Spanish and are descendants from Spanish-speaking countries,
[6:02] including Spain. And whereas recognizing and understanding that Hispanics are extremely
[6:07] entrepreneurial and play a vital role in our economy and our workforce. And whereas a city of
[6:13] Lexington is committed to recognizing Hispanic, Latino, and heritage as an important part of the
[6:20] and its strong inclusive community. And we're as in keeping with this year's national
[6:25] theme for 2026 together, we are more, represents a celebration of the history and heritage
[6:31] of Hispanic Americans and recognizes the significant strides of Hispanics in the economic,
[6:38] political, and social growth. Now therefore be it proclaim that I Jason Hayes
[6:43] Mayor of the City of Lexington, do hereby proclaim Friday, September 15th through Sunday,
[6:49] October 15, 2026 as Hispanic Heritage Month in the city of Lexington as an inclusive community
[6:56] and urged the observation of this month by increasing awareness of the valuable ways
[7:02] Hispanics have contributed to Lexington's prosperity this 14th day of September 2026.
[7:11] City of Lexington, Proclapazia, considering that the Medellarency Spana is
[7:19] celebrated annually the 15th September, the 15th October, in honor of the contributions,
[7:25] the cultural distribution of the Spanish community. This commemoration began in 1968,
[7:34] as the name of the Spanish heritage. During the presidency of Lyndon Johnson,
[7:39] and was amplified by the President Ronald Rayan.
[7:44] Considering that the 15th September,
[7:47] it is a significant effect for commemorating
[7:50] the anniversary of the independence of the country
[7:52] of Latin America,
[7:55] of Costa Rica, the Guate Malah,
[7:58] Honduras, and Nicaragua.
[8:02] Possibly Mexico, Chile, and Belgium.
[8:06] Celebrating its respective days of independence,
[8:08] the 16th and 18th and 21st of September and considering that the city of Letsito
[8:16] is completed in celebrating the same as the Spanish de la Rensis Pana, to
[8:21] highlight the cultural wealth, the vibrant traditions, the history, the gastronomy and the
[8:29] music of the people who have passed through the days of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico,
[8:36] South America and Spain.
[8:41] And considering that the city of Eléxington,
[8:44] we recognize the sovereignty of the United States,
[8:49] and recognize the organizations whose support and participation
[8:53] promote the inclusion, the cultural value,
[8:58] and a stronger community.
[9:00] And considering that, the Latinos are people
[9:04] who are independent of Latin American countries
[9:07] and they can talk about a variety of different languages.
[9:10] The Spanish are people who speak Spanish,
[9:13] and are descendants of Spanish countries, including Spain.
[9:18] And considering what we know,
[9:21] and we understand that the Spanish people
[9:23] have a great spirit in learning,
[9:26] and in learning a little bit about our economy
[9:29] and our work.
[9:31] And considering what the city of Léxington
[9:34] This comprometida, with recognition of the Spanish and Latin,
[9:39] as a part of the city and its community,
[9:44] is inclusive.
[9:45] And considering that, according to the theme of 2016,
[9:50] we are the most celebrated history
[9:53] and the importance of the Spanish and the importance of advances.
[10:00] Comunidad Spana, al crecimiento económico, politico y social. Por lo tanto, se proclaima que yo, Jason Gays,
[10:11] al Calde, la Ciudad de Letzington, por medio de la presente, proclamó del viernes 15 septiembre, hasta
[10:18] el domingo 15 de octubre de 2016, el mes de la Derencia y Spana. En la Ciudad de Letzington,
[10:26] Reaffirmando nuestro compromiso de ser una comunidad inclusiva,
[10:31] e insto a toda la comunidad a conmemorar este mes,
[10:35] aumentando el conocimiento,
[10:37] el reconocimiento de las valiosas,
[10:40] contribuciones que los hispanos se han realizado
[10:43] a la prosperidad del éxito.
[10:46] Dados de 14 septiembre de 2016,
[10:50] al Calde Jason Gays.
[10:51] Muchas gracias.
[10:53] Vamos a hacer una descripción.
[11:36] We greatly appreciate this opportunity.
[11:38] He has been given a source by the City of Lexington.
[11:41] We're really excited for this Hispanic Heritage Month.
[11:44] We have a variety of different activities that,
[11:47] as the Latino Association of Davis and Kevin,
[11:49] we will have, including,
[11:50] a Miami Botana,
[11:52] we will be having a little bit of a night,
[11:54] which is for those of you that are not familiar with that
[11:56] as Mexican bingo.
[11:58] We'll be something very fun and entertaining to do
[12:01] Más bien, juntos, diferentes eventos que estamos haciendo
[12:04] la próxima vez.
[12:06] Vamos a seguir publicando eso en el web site.
[12:09] Así que, que todo lo que se puede hacer,
[12:11] no hay que ir con el desarrollo de la zona de la zona,
[12:12] es eso todo sobre que uno debe representar
[12:15] qué es que es un commun de que es una de las que es un autorismo y
[12:18] el reche de la zona porque no hay un
[12:19] gran país que se trata de nada, pero
[12:22] nosotros somos grandes.
[12:23] Amétera, ha sido esta oportunidad de haber
[12:26] pasado por ese caso de mayor y el
[12:29] y de la misma vez, también me voy a hacer esto en este momento.
[12:34] Yo no sé, es un poco de un poco de la vida,
[12:36] sin ser bien en la vida, pero de este lado,
[12:40] vamos a ser un retoque de la intención,
[12:43] y vamos a hacer que nos continue a hacer
[12:46] la relación de la relación que hemos tenido
[12:47] en el pasado de 10 a 15 años.
[12:50] Entonces, gracias a muchas gracias a la oportunidad
[12:52] y nos vamos a hacer una experiencia.
[12:54] Gracias.
[13:02] Y, Edily, ¿you also have a role in the city of Thomasville as well, isn't that correct?
[13:08] And what is your position there now, technically?
[13:13] Now, in the city of Thomasville, is economic mobility program manager?
[13:17] Economic mobility has been in place for a lot of years, but it has been within the
[13:22] different departments within a municipality.
[13:25] What it's been taking now is a lot of municipalities in part of a program that was funded
[13:30] a la ICMA, donde la city de Thomasville recibe el grante,
[13:35] a la comunidad de la comunidad de What is the Economic Mobility Office?
[13:38] What that means is making sure
[13:40] that you are looking at the different initiatives
[13:42] within the city, and outside the city,
[13:46] to make sure that the residents get connected
[13:47] to everything that they need.
[13:49] And if there is initiative that they need to be put in place,
[13:52] you have the necessary partnerships in place
[13:55] to make sure that those are successful,
[13:57] so that your residents can thrive
[13:59] en el económico de este momento, que nos vamos a ver.
[14:02] Entonces, es una de las muy buenas experiencias.
[14:05] Yo le voy a hacer un archipenamiento de programas.
[14:08] Yo le voy a hacer un co-designo.
[14:10] Me voy a hacer un loto de líneas.
[14:11] Y me voy a dedicarse a los recedores recedores,
[14:13] porque a muchos de los personas no saben cómo
[14:16] y qué las personas no saben de qué las personas no saben.
[14:19] Y también, también,
[14:21] me voy a ver cómo recedense cómo recedense
[14:23] y cómo recedense de la información.
[14:24] Porque, como una espalda,
[14:26] Vamos a terminar elந juego aбmenas al canal de Reference.
[14:30] ¡Nos grudio. ¡Nos muchas gracias, pleased!
[14:35] All right, Council Next Step.
[14:37] We have publicly tell a public comment.
[14:39] This is last called to sign in
[14:42] and speak during public comment.
[14:44] If I could ask our city clerk to pull a list
[14:48] and see if we have anyone that has signed up to speak.
[14:54] We do not.
[14:55] Excellent, all right.
[14:56] We're not excellent.
[14:56] es lo importante, es lo importante.
[15:00] We don't have anyone who signed up to speak. But please know that anyone wishing to speak is available to speak during public comment. We encourage that in our community. So it just happens that no one was here tonight to do it, but that's okay. Next up, we have regular business. Council on that is on page 4 of your meeting agenda packet. This is a public hearing and amendment. Excuse me.
[15:30] Public hearing and amendment to the City's Unified Development
[15:33] Ordnance map for the rezoning of property from traditional neighborhood to
[15:41] district to business district identified as parcel 1-10445 by several
[15:48] 0sending an O3 by ordinance 033-2026.
[15:54] I have, looks like, is it Curtis Rogers that's going to be presenting and Mr. Monk this evening?
[16:00] So, welcome.
[16:16] Good evening, Council.
[16:17] It means Curtis Rogers and I'll be presenting the report for tonight.
[16:19] The city has received a zoning map and the application for parcel 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 4, 5 with
[16:27] 7, 0s, 3, located on the corner of Holly Grove Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard.
[16:34] The applicant and the property owner, Kirk W. Klenard, is requesting a rezoning from the property
[16:40] from traditional neighborhood to business district.
[16:45] There is no specific development
[16:47] proposed within this rezoning request, if approved, if approved, the property would accommodate
[16:53] a variety of commercial and hired entity or residential uses subject to the applicable
[16:57] development standards highlight an article for.
[17:03] And you may find in the attachments,
[17:05] so you will find that there are a list of the specific uses within the district. So if you would
[17:14] You have any questions please don't hesitate, but the proposed business district zoning would be also consistent with the surrounding land uses.
[17:24] To image to your left with the yellow would be the traditional neighborhood zoning district and the red is the business district.
[17:36] As you can tell, the proposed business district zoning would be consistent with the
[17:40] surrounding area with business district zoning to the west and traditional neighborhood district to the east.
[17:49] Regarding the consistency with the 22 or 22 land use plan, staff finds that the request is consistent with the plan's direction to support a variety of commercial and commercial and services.
[18:02] uses that meet the daily needs of residents while minimizing the negative impacts into the
[18:08] hungry community. The plan also encourages additional grocery stores, restaurants, retail,
[18:14] and entertainment opportunities, which are all located in the business district.
[18:19] Hello, Gipses.
[18:23] As for the next steps, first would be for finding or should consider the
[18:30] proposed zoning map amendment is consistent with the 2022 land use plan, which states that
[18:36] a variety of commercial and services that meet the daily needs of residents while not negatively
[18:42] impacting the community as a whole will be supported. As well as city council also either adopting
[18:49] or denying the ordinance before you. Happy to answer any questions you may have.
[18:56] Thank you. Excuse me, thank you, Mr. Rogers.
[18:58] Just had a couple of questions and council may as well.
[19:02] Is the applicant here this evening?
[19:03] I do not believe so.
[19:05] Okay, got it.
[19:06] I had noticed I'm looking and pulling the property card
[19:10] that at one point there had been a request
[19:14] to reason it to traditional neighborhood.
[19:17] And so, looked, reached out to our clerk
[19:19] to get some additional information.
[19:21] It seemed at one point, we had a different type of zoning.
[19:25] maybe two, three, four, et cetera for different types of businesses was wondering if we had
[19:32] any history on why there was a request to rezone it traditional neighborhood back in the
[19:38] 2007, 2007 timeframe and now there's a request to rezone it back to business, any background
[19:45] context or information on that.
[19:47] As far as background context on the reasoning for the rezoning, we don't know specific
[19:53] By the proper owner wanted to rezone it to traditional neighborhood.
[19:57] However, looking at their tax card, there was a...
[20:01] Substantial savings by doing so, by roughly almost $2,000 a year. So, it's safe to assume that's probably
[20:09] the reason why I don't want to say that is the reason. But now they are wanting to
[20:15] rezone it for more better marketability. They're trying to sell the property, which
[20:19] is a location that makes sense for it. It does, don't you? Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that.
[20:24] Council, additional questions that you have for our planning is owning staff.
[20:30] And I'm reading through the meeting agenda packet seems like it went through planning and
[20:34] zoning without any fanfare.
[20:38] It seems like.
[20:40] So Council, the suggested action here, first of all, is to receive the presentation,
[20:45] which we have done, and you an opportunity to ask questions, which we have done,
[20:49] and then to conduct an open, or open, a public hearing to receive input on the
[20:53] option of ordinance 033-2026 is Council comfortable with us moving forward with public hearing.
[21:01] Yes. Okay. Excellent. This point would like to open public hearing from input from the public
[21:08] on the adoption of ordinance 033-2026. Is there anyone from the public that would like to address
[21:15] Council during this public hearing period?
[21:22] Looks like we're having a hard time begging people to
[21:24] this evening. So anyway, with that, seeing no one hearing, no one, we will now close the public hearing.
[21:31] And then City Council has been presented by Mr. Rogers here, consider a motion to adopt
[21:38] the statement of consistency and reasonableness, which is as follows. The proposed zoning map
[21:43] amendments consistent with the 2022 land use plan, a variety of commercial and service uses
[21:50] that meet the daily needs of residents while not negatively impacting the community as a whole will be supported.
[21:56] Increase in the variety of grocery stores, restaurants, retail and entertainment offerings are encouraged.
[22:02] Is there a motion from City Council to adopt this statement of consistency and reasonableness?
[22:09] We have a motion by Councilwoman Class, second by Councilman Curry.
[22:13] All those in favor say aye.
[22:15] Are there any opposed?
[22:16] Next up is the consideration of Council to adopt or deny Ordinance 33-2026 to amend the Unified
[22:26] Development Ordinance Zoning Mount to rezone the subject property located on MLK Junior
[22:32] Boulevard, described by the Davidson County Tax Department as parcel number 11045 polo by
[22:40] 70 rows. Thank you, sir. And a three, from traditional neighborhood district to business district,
[22:46] is there a motion to adopt or deny?
[22:49] So moved to adopt. Thank you, sir. And we have a first. We have a second.
[22:53] We have a motion by Councilman Myers to adopt and in the second by Councilwoman class,
[23:01] all those in favor say aye. Are there any opposed?
[23:04] Excellent. Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate that very much.
[23:07] Are you all up on the next topic or no?
[23:10] No, sir.
[23:11] Okay, great.
[23:11] Thank you.
[23:12] Thank you, Mr. Rogers.
[23:13] Appreciate it.
[23:15] Next one is item 8.2, it's on page 7 of your meeting agenda packet, a city of Lexington's
[23:21] code of ordinance, ordinances for additions, chapter 8, article 3, division 3, related to
[23:28] temporary parking restrictions within special event areas by ordinance 034-2026.
[23:36] Good
[23:42] evening Mayor Council.
[23:43] Good evening.
[23:46] Rain before you tonight, a recommended amendment to the City of York City of Lexington
[23:49] Ordinances to have a temporary parking restriction that we don't have anything such
[23:55] as that right now.
[23:58] And the problem we're trying to solve is we have special event permits, oftentimes for public
[24:05] safety reasons we need to be able to secure the area better and keep certain vehicles
[24:11] out of there. And right now there's not a mechanism for us to do any type of enforcement.
[24:16] Now we'll say that this temporary parking enforcement runs, collaborates with a
[24:23] pre-special event permit. And it requires us to give at least 24 hour notice to post
[24:30] it there. We'll work with the street department to get those things posted.
[24:39] And we actually
[24:41] our intent is to try to get folks to move their cars before we tell them.
[24:46] So actually wrote that intent within there, but now it also allows us that should immediate needs have it gives us authority to tow cars.
[24:56] So that's really what it's about to help secure areas better.
[25:00] What do you do to tow cars in those areas that otherwise we don't necessarily have a clear kind of authority to do so?
[25:06] Got you. Are there questions for chief rummage related to this particular ordinance?
[25:12] So as an example, boom bash, right, when you put up barriers, trying to get cars out of mainstream before that event.
[25:22] So you would be posting signage that says that, yes, you need to move by this time.
[25:29] Yes, what would do would say, you know, 24 hour notice that this is the time that it begins,
[25:35] and this is how long it lasts for, and so what we would do in practicality is to start
[25:41] early-owned, so does it, the temporary parking period starts, is to start trying to find owners
[25:48] to get them to move to coars, and it's time to go on, and if we can't look at the owner or other
[25:54] circumstances may arise, we have the authority to tow it in the covered out way.
[26:02] Chief would this only apply to Main Street or could it potentially apply to side streets
[26:09] as well, depending upon whatever the special event is?
[26:12] It really could not just Main Street, it's within the boundaries of the special event.
[26:18] It doesn't mean it's automatic, it gives the Chief of Police the authority to designate
[26:23] toe as needed with special events.
[26:25] So, whatever the footprint is that we can look at it from a public safety scope and say where do we need to have these?
[26:32] Got you.
[26:35] Additional questions from Council.
[26:41] All right.
[26:42] The suggested action from staff here is for Council to consider a motion to adopt ordinance 34-2026.
[26:49] Related to Chapter 8, Article 3 Division 3 to establish temporary parking restrictions within special event areas.
[26:57] This is their emotion to adopt that ordinance.
[27:00] So move.
[27:02] We have a motion by Councilman Black, a second by Councilman Burke, all those in favor say
[27:06] I.
[27:07] Are there any opposed?
[27:08] There are none.
[27:09] Thank you, Chief.
[27:10] Appreciate it very much.
[27:11] Thank you.
[27:11] Council, next up, we have consent agenda.
[27:15] And as you well know, items that are placed on the consent agenda are items that
[27:21] have either been recommended by a city board or commission, they require a call for public
[27:26] or our routine non-controversial items.
[27:33] Consent agenda items can be enacted by one motion in one vote.
[27:37] There's also an opportunity to pull any item from the consent agenda,
[27:42] and this evening we have 14 different items on our consent agenda.
[27:48] Are there any items that council members would like
[27:51] removed for additional discussion this evening?
[27:58] We're seeing in hearing none, do we have a motion then to approve the consent agenda?
[28:03] We have a motion by Council Moon Mars, a second by Councilwoman class, all those in favor say aye.
[28:12] Are there any opposed?
[28:14] Excellent.
[28:14] Consent agenda is approved.
[28:18] Next up, we have City Council discussion on our agenda.
[28:22] I had a few items here that I wanted to share with Council as well as the public.
[28:28] attended a Lexington Senior High School Achievement Celebration on September 4th, you may
[28:34] have read in the paper that the Senior High has moved to a B grade, which is a first time
[28:42] in a while, and one of the highest rank schools within the county. So I think they are
[28:49] third, I believe, which is great news to see that our city school system is moving in that
[28:56] manner. Also, along with Mayor Pro Tem Watkins, and I, we attended a Charles England Elementary
[29:03] first grade class of Courtney Barley and answered, got peppered with questions from first
[29:10] graders about what we do in government. And I thought we handled ourselves pretty well, didn't
[29:15] you? Thanks, though. And then also, just in the, it seems like we've got people from Thomasville
[29:22] coming here and and we got people from Lexington going to Thomasville because I was there on September
[29:26] the 11th at the Holly Hill remembers ceremony. This was 25 years later remembering those events
[29:35] of September the 11th. I know that our police chief was there. I don't know if anyone else was
[29:41] it was there or not but wanted to let you know that I attended and have remarks for that particular event
[29:47] was pleased to be part of it. Also wanted to let Council in public know that Manager Taylor and I
[29:54] attended the Mayor Manager breakfast this morning hosted by
[30:00] The town of Walberg, and then we had representatives from all cities within immunosuppalities within the county, as well as county commissioner attendance, and as well as Senator seed Jarves, who was also there this morning.
[30:15] I wanted to make council aware that on the 15th, which is actually tomorrow, from five to seven,
[30:23] be the 30th anniversary celebration of home solutions of Davidson County.
[30:28] That will be at the Davidson Davy Community College Riddling Conference Center.
[30:34] Again, that is from five p.m. to seven p.m. celebrating their 30th anniversary.
[30:39] And then we also miss city clerk have a Lexington Academy event tomorrow evening we do I had a, okay, great.
[30:49] So that from 530 to 530 to 7 was the time that I had and do we have a location for that?
[30:55] Yes, is it common on the green?
[30:57] Comments on the green for Lexington Academy, awesome.
[31:00] So if council, you can decide which one you would like to go to or you can go to both whatever
[31:07] to accommodate your schedules. I just want to make sure that you all knew.
[31:11] And then also on the 17th, we have a three year anniversary ribbon cutting
[31:15] for odd four upon Main Street, 17 South Maine.
[31:20] That's on the 17th at 11 a.m.
[31:23] That is being conducted by Uptown, Lexington.
[31:27] I also wanted to make Council aware,
[31:29] members of the public aware that the Chamber of Commerce is conducting the
[31:33] of community event at Sapona on the 22nd at 830 a.m. that is a breakfast and I have asked
[31:44] manager Taylor to deliver remarks on behalf of the city and to talk about our state of the
[31:52] community and hope that you all make plans to attend. With that that's all I had on my list or
[31:59] other items that council members have that they would like to bring up for discussion.
[32:05] I'd like to put on my quannas hat and invite everybody to the Davis County Fair
[32:10] next Monday. We start on the 21st and run through the 26th. We have brand new ride this year called
[32:16] the big drop and it takes you up 120 feet near and drops you. So we're excited about that.
[32:25] The other thing, I think there's going to be a bark bag just near the end of the rag.
[32:29] in the run, but they're padded inside, are you the test dummy for that?
[32:34] No, no, I will not be the test dummy.
[32:37] The only other thing is that this year for budgetary cutback reasons,
[32:42] we will only shoot fireworks Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
[32:46] We will not shoot fireworks Monday and Tuesday.
[32:48] So those residents, someone Greensboro Road who have pets,
[32:52] their dogs will not be crawling under the bed
[32:54] while we're shooting fireworks, but we're the second largest
[32:57] attended event in the county, so I hope you'll come out and join.
[33:01] It's clear.
[33:02] Thank you for bringing that to the council as well as the community's attention.
[33:07] It's been, how long has it been supporting the 46 years and I know that you all take the
[33:14] proceeds of that event and help young kids during the summer months and appreciate everything
[33:21] that you all do for our community.
[33:22] I'll see fund kitty camp, which is out on Ridge Road, which is the issue that we're a thousand
[33:29] experiences.
[33:30] Wow.
[33:30] It's a great deal.
[33:31] That's all.
[33:32] Please share our well wishes with the rest of the Kwanist team.
[33:36] Thank you.
[33:36] Thank you very much.
[33:37] Anything else Council?
[33:40] If not, the next item is our city managers report.
[33:43] Mr. Taylor.
[33:44] So at this time I have two staff members that will come forward, we have an information item we'd like to share with everyone.
[34:11] Good evening, everyone.
[34:13] Good evening.
[34:14] We're going to be going over our fire hydrant testing and maintenance program.
[34:19] I want to take an opportunity to update you all on the community on our hydrant testing.
[34:24] Tonight I walk through while we test every hydrant, how we schedule that testing across the city.
[34:30] what happens during the test, what residents should expect to do if they notice the discolored
[34:35] water.
[34:37] Now, this is a routine well established program, but I want to make sure that everyone
[34:41] understands why it matters and how we want it responsibly.
[34:45] This program is a partnership between the fire department, water resources department, and
[34:49] one of what I want to think our water resources staff would be in such great partners with
[34:52] this and this.
[34:54] And if you wouldn't mind just for the record, if you can state your name and the position
[34:58] within the organization both of you just so we can.
[35:00] Deputy Chief Marser-on, awesome.
[35:04] Water resources director, re-black. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you very much.
[35:11] So, I just to speak on it, why we test every 100. It's not merely just checking a box for us. The biggest overarching goal is so that we know at the fire department that when we have a hydrant, or when we have an incident, the hydrant works is readily maintained and serviceable.
[35:27] There's three areas that govern it predominantly, two of them, a regulatory and one of them is just the best practice.
[35:34] The first, of course, is the NC, our North Carolina Office of State Farm Marshal, sets the standard we follow.
[35:41] Our hydrant operating guidelines are built directly from their guidance.
[35:46] We document every flow test record in our record management system, so we can show accountability at any time.
[35:51] The second is the ISO classification.
[35:55] The 30% of our ISO score is made up of our water system.
[36:00] It comes from water supply, the hydrant conditions,
[36:04] documented test records, maintenance records.
[36:07] This rating is part of what ensures use of set property minimums
[36:09] for homeowners and businesses alike.
[36:12] So keeping our documentation current has a direct financial benefit
[36:16] to the residents and businesses within the city.
[36:20] The third of course is the water quality, flowing hydrants push a sediment and other materials
[36:27] that may settle in the mains out, which improve water quality city wide over time.
[36:31] This is why water resources are important with us as we do this program, it's not just the
[36:36] fire department.
[36:41] Over a ISO and in North Carolina office state farm capital state that every five years every
[36:48] hydrant has to be flow tested and to do that we break our 1315 hydrants into about 20% each year we test.
[36:58] Rather than try to test them all at once and taxing a certain the entire system or a large area all at once.
[37:04] We go through 20% and it's broken into four quarters.
[37:08] This allows us to play on crew time, water usage, and notifications section by sections.
[37:13] Instead of overwhelming any one part of the system and any given time.
[37:18] We divide the course the city into four zones and then we cover that we cover about 87 hydrants and week one of our testing which that's the area service by stations two three and four
[37:34] It's about 62 hydrants get tested, and zone two, and that's where the response system
[37:41] is just stations one, three and four, zone three, about 29 roughly hydrants are tested
[37:47] on week three, and that's covered by the stations two and four, and then zone four is
[37:53] certain areas, service bus stations one, two and four, and we cover about 79 hydrants.
[37:57] When we do that, each system's out of hydrant flood notification, we had began at at least
[38:02] The one shift in advance, we worked with water and came out with about a week in advance, gave
[38:07] them specific addresses, hydrant numbers, we would be testing that allows them to come
[38:12] to us and quickly locate any problems and to help us plan which way we're going to need
[38:17] to flow or which direction we need to start our testing so we're flowing in the direction
[38:20] of the mains.
[38:22] Looking ahead, we want to strengthen how we notify the public through our social media messaging,
[38:27] Web site messaging, earlier outreach to sensitive users like
[38:32] distilleries, restaurants, hospitals, laundry mats, a provide clear
[38:37] guidance for our residents and our businesses on what to do should they
[38:41] experience any problems of who to notify so that we can work through the
[38:44] problems.
[38:48] So what happens during a hydrant test? Well we open the hydrants, we
[38:53] flow them until clear. Sometimes we may be there longer, typically we, you can
[38:57] a hydrant for 15 minutes if it goes longer than that, we have water resources there to work with us on that.
[39:04] We will flow the hydrant, we will test it, we will record a static and a residual pressure.
[39:08] These help us in our calculations to determine how many gallons per minute the hydrant can flow.
[39:13] We chart those in our system.
[39:15] We know any deficiencies and damage and you maintain this items that need to be done so we can track those immediately and all the way through.
[39:25] 20% of the hydrants are repainted on an annual basis which helps ensure over
[39:30] course of five years that every hydrant has got a fresh coat of paint. It's
[39:33] maintained and we know it's serviceable. For like I said if we find an issue
[39:39] such as a missing cat low flow and a physical damage to the hydrant, we can
[39:44] we can note that work with water resources and get that remedied immediately.
[39:55] Okay so
[39:56] just to take kind of a little deeper dive on what
[40:00] When the fire department is flow testing out there, so when they arrive, they open up the hydrant to, again, take their tests.
[40:11] They're causing water that's generally flowing at a nice even pace to speed up, velocity is going to increase.
[40:19] And this has some benefits for us water quality generally goes up with this and can extend the life of our distribution system.
[40:31] And another real upside to this is that with the fire department, they can show increased
[40:38] flow, which improves the ISO rating, which translates to possibly decreased savings
[40:47] on the homeowners insurance premium, you know, citywide.
[40:53] And one kind of key takeaway once you take away from this is that these changes are
[40:59] temporary, expected, and a lot of times the fire department is able to kind of catch deficiencies
[41:08] before they become emergency. Some of these deficiencies could be things as partially or closed
[41:15] valve there at the hydrant or out in the system sometimes. When repairs are going on, valves got closed
[41:22] and they were forgotten and never got reopened could also show some degraded piping conditions.
[41:31] And another thing is if we see over a 20 PSI drop then we'd know something in the system.
[41:38] These would be looked at.
[41:44] Yes, a big show up when flowing fire flow tests and all that goes on is the possibility of discolored water.
[41:55] And generally you have natural sediment in a water main, so like I said earlier, it's just
[42:03] flowing at its constant flow.
[42:05] Those particles sediment kind of settle, but during flow tests and speed up, so it kind
[42:13] of puts like a washing machine as a good example, kind of stirs it up.
[42:17] So that's where the possibility of discolor water can be seen in the area and sometimes outside
[42:24] of that air just because it's kind of moved its way in the distribution system. Again,
[42:33] discolor water doesn't mean that the water is unsafe. It's just like I said, you get those
[42:38] nuts, natural particles that in basically we tell residents to flow into the water clears up.
[42:50] That kind of leads to the last part in which the customers do if they notice discolor water
[42:57] first thing is avoid using hot water. Generally if this gets into hot water heater, it's
[43:05] just going to start crazy and then you're just adding more to it so we can suggest using
[43:11] cold water, run a cold water faucet until the water becomes clear. Check all your other
[43:17] cold water faucets throughout your residents. If it's a restaurant, whatever, just make
[43:24] you're clear all over. And if for some reason this discoloration remains after, you know,
[43:32] generally 5-10 minutes, you need a contact customer care. They'll put in a ticket. We'll
[43:39] get out there and we'll investigate and see what needs to be done. I know some people will
[43:44] like to contact someone directly, but if they contact customer care, we're able to track it
[43:51] a lot better. I'm going to turn it back over to Deputy Fire Chief to wrap it up.
[44:00] So moving forward, we've noted some ways to improve the process. This program already works,
[44:08] but we've seen opportunities to strengthen it. We want to get more consistent use of the
[44:12] hydrant work order boards that we have so that every issue we find in the field is track,
[44:17] a missing tag, and how to service hydrant, or anything in between, we work with our partners
[44:22] of water to get it corrected.
[44:27] We want to make sure that exact addressing and messaging is sent out earlier and we work
[44:33] hand in hand with our partners in the community to ensure that those higher risk areas,
[44:39] the distilleries, the restaurants, the hospitals or notephyde of the possible impacts earlier
[44:46] advanced so that we can plan and adjust to that.
[44:50] Like I said, we want to expand our public notification to be more proactive on our social
[44:54] media website, message in zone by zone, and earlier to reach.
[45:02] We're going to work hand in hand with water personnel, and we're going to believe we're going to extend the program for about two months, which gives us more time to take our time and pause when we start noticing issues.
[45:16] We're not so condensed to address any concerns or any technical issues that come up during that time.
[45:25] We'll work with water resources department to figure out the specific areas that are going to need additional flush and how long that flush is going to take.
[45:33] And, and work hand in hand with them to mitigate any issues that we find in the field.
[45:44] We're ready for questions.
[45:47] Are you ready for questions?
[45:49] Yes, sir.
[45:49] All right.
[45:51] You have one.
[45:51] Yeah, I have one.
[45:53] All right.
[45:53] I mean, I've gotten several complaints, since I don't see the council, about this colored
[46:00] water, and they had no idea that we were flushing the hydrants, and the information
[46:09] you just gave us about hot water heater, I bet you nobody knows that, and that makes sense,
[46:19] But I don't think anybody knows that or we're thinking about that.
[46:24] But we, like I said, they've flushed down around my house a couple of times.
[46:32] I never knew it.
[46:34] I never knew it.
[46:34] I never knew it was going home until I saw the brown water, and I probably took a shower.
[46:40] Not knowing that I shouldn't be using the hot water.
[46:43] I mean, can't a sign be put up beside of the hydrant or something that says this hydrant is going to be
[46:52] plus so and so, because I mean, most people drive right past the hydrants that are close to their house,
[47:00] but you know, a lot of people don't think about going on our website and looking for problems.
[47:04] I mean, this is, I just feel like we're not getting a word to the residents.
[47:12] when we're going to flush them and and and and repeat myself about to hop water.
[47:19] Um, I just think my need to be doing better job of notifying people.
[47:25] Some way or another I guess that's a statement not a question.
[47:30] No, that's yeah, that's that's that's perfectly, um, that's perfectly acceptable.
[47:35] Council Mars question.
[47:37] I had as a follow-up do do we, you know, I appreciate the fact that we're being proactive
[47:43] and determining what we want to do moving forward. Are there best practices and other municipalities
[47:55] that we're leveraging to improve the overall process or is this really been our own assessment
[48:06] of what we think the best process is? I realize each municipality is different and each
[48:12] municipality may have, you know, different water providers, etc, but are you confident that
[48:22] this communication and plan moving forward will handle some of the issues that Councilman
[48:31] Myers is bringing, bringing forward?
[48:34] Yes, so I've worked in several different municipalities.
[48:40] Unfortunately, this is, it happens everywhere, some places worse than others.
[48:46] There's no fail-safe to say 100% or never going to have discolored water.
[48:53] So internally, between meeting with water resources, the fire department, the assistant
[48:59] city managers and meeting with a couple of engineering firms, we feel like kind of this stuff
[49:07] that we just presented to you is going to be allow us a better opportunity, moving forward
[49:13] and understanding councilmires about the notification. There have been some talks about some
[49:19] signage, maybe putting, like, calling it at a fire hydrant, like a corner of a road or something
[49:26] to try to alert people, you know, we understand that it's not great to see this color
[49:34] water again, it's not unsafe, but, you know, people kind of get freaked out when they
[49:39] see it, but we are, like I said, working, we're going to slow down, where generally that
[49:45] testing would done over a month, going to provide two months, allow for two months, so again,
[49:51] if something arises, hey, we can pause, kind of get back to it and try to do the best
[49:57] by the residents of the Lexington Church.
[50:00] I think the findings, like I said, they wouldn't have to be at that. Now, the thought about that wouldn't have to be at the heart rate, but if it's like in my area, I live on a Glenwood Drive. I mean, if it was a sign of this, again, a Glenwood Drive that is going to be, and I'm true that's true, we're all of us live that there's, we can go into our house from some main road. And if the sign was on the main road, it would,
[50:31] I think you point to a really good one too, and that every citizen gets information in a different way.
[50:41] Some only will go to a website to try to get information, others wait for social media to be pushed to them.
[50:48] Other folks may see a sign on the side of the road and try to alert to them.
[50:52] Others may get a mailer with their utility bill, other folks get a text to alert them.
[50:58] I don't know how our systems kind of our communication systems integrate with each other in order to correspond with your four different zones.
[51:10] And that's that's for the experts to to figure out. I think we we just hear we hear brown water.
[51:20] Yeah, right.
[51:22] if I made the number of assistant city manager, we want to operate in a mode of continuous improvement.
[51:29] So part of what we do is we do have a lot of communication right now,
[51:33] but we also want to be able to meet exactly what you're talking about.
[51:36] Kind of have a funneled approach and say as a city,
[51:41] everyone that we are going to be having these testing,
[51:44] doing testing and doing some flow meter testing,
[51:47] but then zero right down into the street.
[51:49] So we're going to have, we've had discussions about possibly having a sign in any time we're
[51:53] fleshing and not just when it's, you know, for fire purposes, but fleshing because we're
[51:59] always improving and when we are fleshing lines, we are making improvements to our system,
[52:04] we're making sure those things happen and we can't guarantee that nothing will have like,
[52:08] those things won't happen, but we want to be able to communicate. We've also had some discussions
[52:12] with team, we do have a communications team within utilities, to talk about education opportunities,
[52:17] these, maybe even videos, or these sort of things.
[52:20] We've not determined an exact path,
[52:22] but even educational videos, emails,
[52:25] public service announcements in general,
[52:27] but that we can kind of pepper on a broad level
[52:30] that this is happening and then zero in on those zones
[52:33] and there's streets that are going to be for that particular zone
[52:37] and that week that's going to be highlighted
[52:39] that we can make sure that there's something present
[52:41] for those who are driving by, but there's also something
[52:43] more salient for those who are living and living
[52:46] in those areas to address those exact concerns.
[52:49] But we haven't developed exactly the communication plan
[52:52] because we do have we're able to move into that next year.
[52:55] But what we're showing today is that we see what we've been doing.
[53:00] We want to always, there's always room for improvement.
[53:02] And that's exactly what the Council Member Myers mentioned
[53:05] that we want to do.
[53:07] And it's not what we're going to do to get the word out
[53:09] to information out about the hot water.
[53:12] Yeah.
[53:13] That's good.
[53:14] That's an absolute we want to educate those of white people in the shower for you to see the brown water
[53:21] And I don't get so that's the best thing you ought to be doing
[53:25] I'll look question as well. I think what a
[53:29] Deputy chief think what I heard you say is it's a five-year cycle is that correct? Yes, sir. So so is it safe to assume then that I mean obviously there was you know
[53:41] An article written about
[53:44] businesses being impacted in a specific district and I appreciate your comments around
[53:49] distilleries and citeries, et cetera, is it safe to assume then that whatever a current's
[53:57] happened at that time would it be a year or two or three before that same area would be impacted or
[54:05] not necessarily?
[54:09] Yes, yes and no, without looking at the hydrangements, but yet typically that
[54:15] area won't be recycled again for another four years. Once we've touched that area in that zone,
[54:23] those higher use areas won't see us again for another five years. There is, of course,
[54:30] always the possibility of, well, we may have flow tested in this year. We've kind of made it.
[54:34] We still have to maintenance our hydrants. So we may have to touch the hydrant again, but not to
[54:38] flow that we saw. But yes, sir, it will stay on
[54:42] every rotation that this zone that will sit this year.
[54:45] We won't see that again for another four years.
[54:47] Got you. Thank you. Councilor, there are additional
[54:49] questions. I don't have a question. I just appreciate the
[54:53] information. Great presentation. Thank you for the detail.
[54:57] And it's not easy maintaining our system.
[55:00] I appreciate all the effort you go to to do that. Thank you for that. Thank you. It's really good presentation. Thank you very much.
[55:07] Thank you. Taylor.
[55:10] Well, of course, I want to thank all the staff of the work that they're doing, but I want to mention a couple of things.
[55:15] Planning Board and Human Relations Commission meetings will be held in the city center, Chambers, Room 1119.
[55:26] The next meeting for the Planning Board is September 21, 2021, at 6 p.m.
[55:34] So I know that there's been maybe some confusion about where the actual location is going to be.
[55:39] it will not be at the commas on the green, it will be here in the city center chamber,
[55:47] and also HRC, human relations, a committee will also meet in the same spot.
[55:56] And then next meeting is October 5, 2020, 6 p.m., so just want to make sure that everybody
[56:04] has that information. Thank you, sir. Anything else from your perspective?
[56:09] Thank you. I also wanted to make sure that that council in public was aware that our next city council meeting will be on September the 28 to make sure that everyone is aware of that.
[56:21] So council next up on the agenda is is a closed session and would like for council to provide a motion to enter a closed session to consult.
[56:31] And the attorney is allowed by North Carolina General Statue 143-318.1183.
[56:39] For the purpose of auto-trans LLC and Shams Tejava Adversa's Norfolk Southern Railway Company,
[56:48] North Carolina Railroad Company, and the city of Lexington.
[56:52] And this is case number 26CV002685-280 and an economic development matter as allowed by North
[57:04] Carolina General Statue 143-318.11A4 can have a motion from Council to Interclose Session.
[57:13] So move.
[57:13] Okay.
[57:14] We have a motion from Mayor Pro Tim Watkins a second from Councilman Myers, all those in favor
[57:20] say aye.
[57:21] opposed. We are now entering into closed session. Thank you.
[57:26] We're in the opposed. All right. Council, we are now in open session. There is no action
[57:31] to report coming out of closed session. Now, we need a motion for adjournment.
[57:37] So, move.
[57:38] Second.
[57:39] We are adjourned.
[57:41] We are.
[57:41] All right.