[2:02] Great, we got quorum here already, too. All right, Austin.

[2:06] All right. Mic is on.

[2:09] Okay, thank you. Thanks, Austin. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our

[2:14] August um PRNG board meeting. Going to meet call

[2:18] the meeting to order at 9:00 exactly. So, thank you all, welcome. And we also

[2:22] want to welcome Councilman Eck who'll be on our agenda for later today

[2:26] this morning. Um first up on the agenda is consider

[2:29] allowing remote participation. We are all in present.

[2:33] None needed, okay. Second item is the adoption of today's

[2:36] agenda as published. Take a motion to um adopt as published. All in favor?

[2:42] » Aye. >> Aye.

[2:43] » Aye. >> Motion passed.

[2:45] Next up is adoption of the previous meeting minutes that Austin has

[2:48] distributed from the July 14th, 2026 PRNG meeting. Um any questions? back. I

[2:55] guess the motion is to um pass the to adopt the meeting minutes as published.

[2:59] All in favor? >> Are you making that motion?

[3:00] » I make a motion to pass to make a motion to adopt. Making a motion to adopt the

[3:06] meeting minutes from July 14th, 2026. All in favor?

[3:10] » Aye. >> Okay, motion passed.

[3:13] Next up we have public comments, and I know this week we have a new process.

[3:17] Anything? >> We we do, but no one has signed up, so

[3:19] you're good to move on. >> Okay, so we'll move on. Moving quickly

[3:22] through the agenda. Uh first up is our presentation um public and private

[3:26] partnerships, and we have Councilman Eck here to present that to us.

[3:29] » Um I'm pulling it up right now. Give me 1 second.

[3:32] » Uh Thank you, board. I really appreciate

[3:35] the the time that that you're taking out to um

[3:38] hear a proposal that I've uh wanted really throw out for the board's

[3:43] consideration. Um

[3:46] and as we bring it up, there we go. Um

[3:50] I I just kind of cut to the One of the things I've I've noticed um

[3:54] since being on the board since, you know,

[3:57] December is the

[4:00] great potential that Marvin has to build public and private partnerships. I think

[4:04] it's a very wealthy town, to be quite frank. Um and a very generous area. And

[4:10] I think there are a lot of opportunities that we can use to

[4:16] tap into the the generosity and the willingness of individuals and companies

[4:21] to contribute to the improvement of Marvin. Um and what I was

[4:27] um thinking is that it would be a great place to begin to kind of tap into that

[4:32] potential. To work with the the planning board on

[4:37] the setting up, you know, some kind of a more formalized public-private

[4:41] partnership process where we could tap into,

[4:45] um like I said, the individuals and companies in and around Marvin um to

[4:50] improve Marvin. And the um Parks and Recreation Board looked

[4:54] like it was the most natural place for that because that's the kind of place

[4:57] where I I think there'd be the most interest

[4:59] from the public in, you know, contributing to improving Marvin. Um so,

[5:03] let me just kind of go through here.

[5:07] Um

[5:11] And and the the reason why I wanted to to do that is obviously is it helps keep

[5:17] our tax base down and it also provides an opportunity for the people

[5:21] who care most about a project to contribute to it. So, whether it's

[5:26] medians improvements or um go to the next slide.

[5:32] Um roundabouts or park infrastructure, I think it'd be a great opportunity for,

[5:38] you know, folks to contribute. I think what we what we really need is a way

[5:44] more, at least in my mind, a more formalized way of doing it.

[5:48] Because we'll have grants and then we'll we'll go around and we'll do interlocals

[5:52] and things like that, but really not tapping into the residents directly or

[5:56] or into the companies. And I think if we had a more centralized function,

[6:02] like maybe and I was going to say that like a 501c3

[6:06] ultimately, that could establish the relationships with the

[6:10] companies and the individuals and then prioritize specific projects for that

[6:15] public-private partnerships. >> I was going to throw in and just to kind

[6:21] of add to to what Tom said, you know, I

[6:24] think many of us have had children that have come up through Marvin Ridge High

[6:29] School and so forth and you know, one of the things that we've always seen there,

[6:34] you know, everybody has their their kids in one activity or another. But but I

[6:40] remember when my kids were doing it and doing cheerleading and theater. You

[6:45] know, you had a a vested interest of people, you know,

[6:49] but not only do they look to give their own money,

[6:53] but many of them are corporate executives, you know, that that

[6:57] you know, are looking for beneficial relationships with you know,

[7:03] their their local governments and things like that. So, you know, [clears throat]

[7:06] I think in some ways if if any of you folks have had

[7:10] experiences with the PTA or the booster club or things like that. Those are some

[7:16] of the skills and and and capabilities that you know, we think might also help

[7:21] translate, you know, to to helping to make Marvin a better place as well.

[7:26] » And I give you another example, too, is which and I'm not saying that this isn't

[7:31] necessarily true, but let's just say ballfields. You know, if we do a survey

[7:36] of all the residents in Marvin, most of the residents will say the ballfields is

[7:40] not a priority. But it's a big priority for a smaller percentage of folks. And I

[7:46] I I personally think we we'd benefit from it. Um and I'm

[7:51] thinking this would be an opportunity to you know, for those folks that really

[7:54] want, let's say, to have ball fields to you know, leverage um their passion by

[8:01] you know, reaching out to other folks who may be interested in you know,

[8:05] contributing to to creating them. So, I think it it long way of saying I think

[8:10] it it fills a void um that may not necessarily be you know, addressed by

[8:14] tax dollars. >> Yeah, and and we may tell talk a little

[8:18] bit more about this, but you know, we've been discussing the sport park and and

[8:23] something >> Fitness, please.

[8:25] Okay. >> fitness place

[8:26] » Right. The pickleball court. >> And

[8:28] you know, if you get a chance, you might go back

[8:31] to to our meeting yesterday and we did have some discussion about that and I'll

[8:34] share more about that later. But, one of the things that you know, you come to

[8:38] realize over time is that when opportunities present

[8:43] themselves you have to be in position often times,

[8:47] especially when you have grants that have matching things, you know,

[8:51] these type of things if you have a planned infrastructure in

[8:56] place um where where you know, you have different areas that you can tap and

[9:02] things like that it's a lot easier to react and respond to opportunities

[9:07] knowing that you have you know, this this underlying structure in place, too.

[9:12] So, part of this might be helping to kind of build that that infrastructure

[9:16] so that when we do have opportunities, we're we're better able to take

[9:20] advantage of them. >> Right. Yeah, yeah, locked and loaded for

[9:24] getting those grants. >> So, I I was just saying the grants has

[9:26] really been a big I mean, driver of so much of what we've had in our community

[9:29] already. I mean, and I don't know if some of the public grants we're

[9:32] receiving, are they allowed to have a matching grant from a corporate donor or

[9:35] does it always have to come from the too? Do we know that? Because um

[9:39] » Jill, Jill, do you do you have any feedback on that? You

[9:43] know, um

[9:44] » Yeah, as long as the village commits to a match, they don't care where we

[9:47] actually get it. So, in fact, there are times, for instance, with part F where

[9:52] we received a $500,000 grant. We had to match it 500,000. We actually matched it

[9:59] 250 because we received a grant to cover the other 250 of our match obligation.

[10:03] So, that's totally acceptable to most grant agencies, yeah.

[10:07] » And that's kind of stacking grants and so forth, but uh

[10:11] I I think the question was also coming from private resources. Uh are those

[10:16] typically acceptable, you know, to to help with matches and things like that

[10:20] as well? >> I believe so. We'd always have to check

[10:22] the fine print of any grant that we're agreeing to receive, but again, I think

[10:27] the grant agency only cares that we come to the table with our matching portion.

[10:32] I don't know that they care as much about where that match matching portion

[10:35] comes from, whether it's private, corporate, or a village-funded um

[10:40] payment through our own, you know, taxes or revenue sources.

[10:44] Okay. Thank

[10:47] » Um any other questions before I move on a

[10:50] little bit? Um so, kind of moving on to the division thing

[10:54] here, I think the the I I think there's a great opportunity there. And then the

[10:58] I think the next question is, well, our how would we go about operationalizing

[11:02] that and and realizing a a centralized way of obtaining commitments for,

[11:09] you know, improvements. And I I think the way to do that, and and this is

[11:13] what I've seen like in Charlotte, for example, the there they set up a 501c3

[11:19] like foundation that is the hub for those grants. And that's one of the

[11:24] things I think ultimately um the Village of Marvin could do, but

[11:29] uh you know, you got got walk before you run. It's like, can I get an idea of

[11:32] where we'd be able to, you know, tap into those resources and those matching

[11:36] funds from

[11:39] uh you know, the Marvin residents or adjoining companies and stuff like that.

[11:43] So, that that's kind of the way I I see it shaking out. And the reason again why

[11:47] I'm coming to, uh explain my vision thing to the um board is

[11:53] I think it would sit here and I'd you know, appreciate as a councilman I would

[11:57] definitely appreciate your feedback on it, but I also think it would be a good

[12:00] thing for the um parks board to consider exploring and

[12:05] carrying the water on ultimately. So.

[12:09] Any questions? >> Austin, this is is this appropriate now

[12:13] to then questions? Is there anything else on the presentation?

[12:16] » Uh it's it's all kind of in there. Um but it's and like as far as like the

[12:22] next steps, um you know, consider Yeah, basically I think it would be

[12:27] helpful to have a lot sort of an exploratory committee to see if anything

[12:29] I'm saying makes any sense at all. And if it doesn't, I'm perfectly happy to

[12:33] say, "Thank you for your efforts." Um

[12:36] but uh you know, I like I said, I think it presents a a unique opportunity or I

[12:40] think Marvin is in a unique situation where we can really, you know, do some

[12:44] of the stuff that isn't a priority for everyone, but is a big priority for

[12:48] some. >> Okay.

[12:50] » And and I don't know that it's specifically this board and its members,

[12:55] you know, the ones eventually driving it. It's just

[12:59] to what extent it, you know, almost kind of like Marsh kind of came out, you

[13:03] know, of of um you know, a need that was seen in the

[13:07] community. Um and and it kind of grew out of that

[13:11] way for, you know, environmental type, you know, concerns and things like that

[13:16] and wildlife and and and and those things. Um whereas this might be a

[13:22] little bit different, but um I I can say that my experience has been over the

[13:27] years that um I think I saw a pickleball called court

[13:32] on there and we've heard that before and you know, um

[13:36] we had one gentleman, you know, actually send us an email and say, "Listen, I'd

[13:41] be willing to pony up $4,000, you know, if it you know, thought." And once you

[13:46] think that there's one person like that in Marvin, then all of a sudden you

[13:51] think there may be 10 people like that, you know, or you know, that that one and

[13:56] that's just one example. Um but yeah, I think what Tom's talking about is more,

[14:02] um you know, having that discussion to see if it seems something relevant and

[14:08] we would even then, you know, just through talking about it, you might find

[14:12] someone in the community watches one of our meetings and then says, "You know

[14:16] what? Yeah, I'd be interested in in in doing that." Because we've also had, um

[14:21] you know, one of the things Marvin doesn't hear have and I mentioned this

[14:25] last night, uh we were talking about our land acquisition fund, you know, and you

[14:31] know, one thing Marvin doesn't have is its own

[14:35] little league, uh soccer, you know, athletics type things

[14:39] and we have an issue where we don't have a

[14:42] whole lot of land left for that and so forth, but if the opportunity were to be

[14:47] available for us, you want to be ready for that opportunity with real estate or

[14:51] things like that. Maybe there's a piece of property between us and Weddington or

[14:56] us and Waxhaw where interested people might not want to go all the way to

[15:01] WCWAA or Waxhaw Athletic Association, you

[15:05] know, Marvin just won eight state

[15:08] championships, you know, but we don't have our own youth leagues by and large

[15:14] really because we we we don't have the places to do them. So, I I I think you

[15:18] may find that as we investigate this, you know, we may see, you know, core

[15:24] folks within the community kind of come together. Might be made up of coaches

[15:28] and things like that, you know, that that have an interest.

[15:32] » Okay. So, I That's awesome.

[15:34] So, question Can we take questions now? Okay. Yeah, we'll feed back from anyone.

[15:38] I've got a few, but I'll let you all speak.

[15:40] » Um I was hoping you could talk a little bit more about the inter- the

[15:45] the legal setup of it, looking at this last side slide, and the interface

[15:50] between this board and whatever board is created, cuz they're not one in the

[15:53] same. We're just an advisory board. >> Right.

[15:56] » So, I mean, we can say, "Yeah, we're in favor of exploring this." But we It just

[16:00] everything we do goes back to council. So, clearly you're I mean, I can see,

[16:04] you know, independence from the village with its own important bylaws. What does

[16:07] that look like and how does it interface with us here?

[16:10] » Yeah, I'd say ultimately it would be I mean, the dream thing would be an

[16:14] independent 501c3 that would be, raising its own money and and getting its own

[16:19] contributors. Um

[16:21] that that I think that's probably a little ways down the road. I mean, it

[16:24] may not be as far as it seems to be, but from a legal standpoint, I would see

[16:28] that as being like an independent foundation that would make would

[16:31] ultimately make the matching grants. You know, the money would come in and out of

[16:35] that foundation as opposed to coming in.

[16:38] » money holding foundation, and then with regard to how that money gets dispersed,

[16:43] that then is up to recommendations of this board and approving of council.

[16:48] » I think that's what I was saying. >> Obviously, somebody has to say

[16:50] » Yes, we want this in our community. >> Well, I I think the dispersal actually,

[16:52] cuz if if it's going to be independent, the dispersals would have to come from

[16:55] the foundation. >> Well, yeah, but

[16:57] » They'd have to make the decision. But I think they would go

[16:59] » They can't just say, "Oh, we're going to build a soccer field here" if council

[17:02] doesn't want a soccer field there. So, there has to be some sort of

[17:06] interaction, obviously, and and I'm not asking for like the exact details, cuz

[17:10] obviously the document hasn't been drafted. I'm just trying to get a feel

[17:12] for what that that interaction is. I mean,

[17:15] the foundation holds the money. Council has to approve the project.

[17:21] I assume. >> Or or the council would go to the

[17:23] foundation or or parks would go to the foundation saying, "Hey, you know, we

[17:27] have >> Right.

[17:28] » a pickleball court or something that we're thinking about. Foundation, would

[17:31] you you know, is that a priority for you? Can you Can you match our grants?

[17:36] » I would also expect I mean, you know, with any 501(c)(3), you have to have a

[17:39] mission, right? And so, we're I feel like some of this might sound a little

[17:41] broad right now when I hear mixing of the roundabouts and roads with something

[17:45] such as a park or a greenway. So, there's some you know, maybe that's

[17:48] something that we'll do as an exploratory because if it's a foundation

[17:50] as you're raising funds, you know, there's two different expectations when

[17:53] someone is contributing to traffic but you know, mediation versus you know, the

[17:58] wildlife the the things that >> Yeah, it's a little bit of a chicken and

[18:01] the egg thing. It's like, "Okay, well, so what's your mission?" And your

[18:04] mission's kind of be I think a little bit determined on where you can get the

[18:07] money, you know, where where the money is.

[18:09] » Also, but is the mission then to support to augment Marvin? I guess that's what

[18:12] I'm I'm kind of hearing this is to augment the taxpayers, you know, deficit

[18:15] or whatever I'm not saying deficit, but what we're saying is this is where we

[18:18] can't meet the needs of the community. We're But that's not a mission to me.

[18:21] That's just a funding source. That's a >> think the roundabouts and medians is

[18:24] just the landscaping beautification of >> Okay, I'm sorry. I I heard it. Okay,

[18:28] thank >> Yeah, I I noticed that this morning. I

[18:30] was looking at that. I mean, it's kind of a lightning rod. It's like, you know,

[18:33] let's talk about the landscaping. >> That that makes sense of where we found

[18:36] where we're tied back to. >> Well, and any any nonprofit foundation

[18:39] has the ability to restrict gifts. So, if a donor is

[18:44] very passionate about bringing pickleball to Marvin, they could

[18:48] grant a substantial amount of money and specifically state with their gift, "I'm

[18:52] restricting this money to only be used on pickleball." So, that the foundation

[18:56] couldn't then hand that money over to council for beautification of a median,

[19:00] right? So, um there's ways that donors can restrict what and so that

[19:07] they only support what's important for them through the foundation.

[19:12] » Cuz we really don't have any kind of mechanism for that today. Like, you

[19:14] know, we were we were talking about just last night we were talking about the

[19:18] um athletic court proposal that National Fitness Council had had thrown out. And

[19:24] I as much as

[19:27] the members here did vote for it. It and eventually we took a pass on it. Um but

[19:31] one of the things that struck me even though I voted for it, I'm like, that

[19:33] has a $240,000 price tag. That is pretty pricey.

[19:37] But and we may be able to get, you know, contributions from other municipalities,

[19:41] but we didn't know for sure. And if we could have had, let's let's say we had

[19:45] this 501c3 in place and we could have said, all right, well, we have a

[19:48] commitment from the 501c3 to pay 20 or 30 or 40,000 on it. That makes it a

[19:53] little bit easier. And it's a little more formalized as as opposed to

[19:57] um you know, having to kind of jumble around each time an opportunity comes up

[20:01] like John was saying. You need to be able to pounce on these grants.

[20:04] » Well, it's been that's been an issue in the past is we've been like, hey, it's

[20:07] totally in favor of this project. That's great. But um can we even afford the

[20:10] grant? >> Mhm. Yeah.

[20:11] » You know, I mean, we've got all this money

[20:13] » to look for the grant. Yeah. >> get reimbursed or we have to match and

[20:16] so there have been grants that we've potentially had to decline

[20:20] because we don't have that funding source in place. So, I think it's a

[20:22] brilliant idea. >> Yeah, and and and and that that is what

[20:26] we did last night, but part of it was we'd have to start spending

[20:31] you know, at least the 35,000 part of what we'd be quote matching

[20:37] within 60 days. >> Right.

[20:39] » You know, cuz there's often time limitations on these things that you

[20:42] have to respond and and stuff like that. And when you think about having to go

[20:47] through the budgeting process and you know, how we kind of have to lay out our

[20:52] priorities for a year. Even if something is in our capital improvement plan,

[20:57] it's not necessarily funded. So, then we have to, you know, take the time to have

[21:01] Jill work through [clears throat] and and and do those things. So,

[21:05] um you know, and and you know, part of it may also still be working with

[21:10] organizations like Habitat Builders and things like that on projects that are

[21:15] important to them, right? But we still have this funding structure in place

[21:19] that, you know, might also bring funds to the table for, you know, things that

[21:24] that that align with their interests there.

[21:27] » One of the things I could see this being helpful for is, you know, state statute

[21:32] is very clear on what I can and cannot spend

[21:37] your tax dollars on. And a lot of it is some of it is gray, but a lot of it is

[21:42] just wrapped around this concept of public use, right? So, for instance, we

[21:46] have neighborhoods that maybe have aging or dilapidated signs at their entrance,

[21:53] and they don't have the funds that they would need to replace those signs or

[21:58] beautify them or make them look good, but they feel like they don't want their

[22:01] neighborhood to be the eyesore in Marvin, right? So, obviously some of

[22:06] those neighborhoods have already reached out to us because of our outgoing grant

[22:10] um program that we just recently started,

[22:13] but it's a really tough gray area where we sort of have to decide, you know, are

[22:19] we spending taxpayer dollars to make one neighborhood sign look pretty, you know?

[22:25] And could someone argue that we're not using the funds for the public at large,

[22:30] we're just benefiting private owners of one neighborhood, right? So,

[22:33] that's where this type of stuff could come because

[22:37] there's probably people living in Marvin that obviously there are people that

[22:41] care about what Marvin looks like, that want to see these neighborhoods look

[22:44] beautiful because it just makes Marvin as a whole continue to be a wonderful,

[22:48] beautiful community. But if if the village can't legally spend

[22:53] taxpayer dollars on it, then a foundation like this would be able to

[22:57] meet that need and stay within the statute the statutes and authority. So,

[23:02] I think that would be another sort of helpful way that this foundation could

[23:07] help where there might be neighborhoods that have a surplus of funds or just in

[23:10] a private donor who's if it's only a few thousand dollars is

[23:14] willing to pay to bring this older neighborhood up to up to speed, so to

[23:19] speak. >> Right. And

[23:20] and speaking of taxes, um sorry, didn't mean to interrupt, but

[23:23] » No, I just wanted to mention my Rotary Club, we have a So, the club is a civic

[23:29] club and then we also set up a 501(c)(3) so that um

[23:34] we have members that are retired and they have to take their required minimum

[23:39] distributions and what they do is they donate it to the foundation. So, I'm

[23:44] sure we have a lot of residents that have to take their RMD and

[23:50] you know, need avenues to donate that. So, there's another source of funds that

[23:56] could come into to help cover. >> [snorts]

[24:00] » And that would be and that's tax deductible if it goes to

[24:03] a 501(c)(3), so it's kind of a win-win. >> Um

[24:07] we just had to set up separate board members for the club and the foundation,

[24:12] so but it it works out to keep things

[24:15] separate and then when we do our fundraisers

[24:18] then you know, they can donate to

[24:21] the foundation and I can send them a donation letter which is very helpful in

[24:25] getting donations. >> Yeah, to Jen's point, I definitely think

[24:30] we would have to be really careful how we set up the the working arrangement

[24:34] even if um I don't know if it would be a

[24:37] conflict of interest. I don't think so, but I would think maybe even

[24:40] somebody whether it's someone employed by the

[24:44] village or even a council member would probably want to potentially be a board

[24:48] member, but obviously would recuse themselves from certain votes and

[24:52] things, but there's got to be some synergy where we can't have a bunch of

[24:56] private residents pushing a ton of money in there to get their agenda pushed

[25:02] through a private foundation and councils over here going, "Well, wait a

[25:05] second. That really doesn't fit in with our strategic plan for the town or what

[25:10] we're trying to do." But, you're sort of circumventing that potentially by going

[25:14] through a private foundation. So, I do think there needs to be a synergy and we

[25:18] would need to iron out those details, but definitely a worthy um cause. And

[25:23] this is super common. A lot of municipalities have foundations,

[25:26] especially when they're looking to have a library or something like that. Um

[25:33] Yeah. So, I mean, I'm happy to reach out to other municipalities that have a

[25:38] foundation like this through my finance listserv and maybe even just have a

[25:42] conversation to ask, "What worked well for you? How did you get this off the

[25:46] ground? What are the pitfalls that we're unaware of that you kind of learned the

[25:50] hard way?" And maybe we can glean some really great feedback and um avoid some

[25:55] of those pitfalls as we get this launched if if that's what you all

[25:58] decide to help with. >> Thank you. You need a knowledgeable CPA

[26:01] to guide through some of that. >> Yeah, I mean, hopefully that's

[26:05] » Accounting. >> Hopefully somebody who's on the board of

[26:07] this foundation would have that background because they are going to

[26:10] need somebody and it can't be me to um run their books and um there's going to

[26:16] be reporting requirements and you know, um

[26:20] reconciliation of of their they're going to have to file their annual tax

[26:24] statements and all of that. So, they'll need somebody with a finance background

[26:28] to do it. Yeah. >> As I hear this and I and I think I like

[26:30] the concept makes sense where we find the funds. I'm very concerned about kind

[26:34] of the bandwidth in the of the community to to contribute because I guess we all

[26:37] know in the schools, usually when your children in schools or sports, that's

[26:40] where our residents put their effort. And I'd love to think that there's lots

[26:43] of folks who are going to show up and, you know, queue up to be in our board,

[26:46] but I am concerned. And there's also, again, a lot of folks because of their,

[26:50] you know, either their their work positions or their, you know,

[26:52] involvement in the community have other foundations that they're a part of. So,

[26:55] I'm not saying we're competing, but I do, you know, given this what do we

[26:59] have? 6,000 residents, the capacity of our community to step up and fill this

[27:02] board. I am That's just one question in my mind is do we have the

[27:07] people who will step up and consistently I mean, because running a board is time

[27:11] and we don't fill these seats too well often.

[27:14] So, that's >> You don't know until you try, right?

[27:16] » And I agree and that's why I think you're saying we do some exploratory I'm

[27:20] not and I'm not putting it down. I'm just saying when I hear that, I know how

[27:22] this community has worked. There's been a lot of focus on children and education

[27:25] and sports and I obviously it would be wonderful if folks come out and want to

[27:29] support this town as well. >> Yeah. Yeah, I totally agree, Christian.

[27:32] I I think one of the things like the first steps would be like reaching out

[27:36] to friends and family to figure out, you know, reaching out to your networks and

[27:39] see whether or not there might be an interest and, you know, really whether

[27:42] or not we're going to be able to deliver on anything. Cuz you raised a good point

[27:45] is you know, we're competing with we would

[27:48] be competing with a lot of other good causes. And it it is a pretty small

[27:53] community. We have a pretty small pool to draw from.

[27:55] » But I think that's what we're saying. Just, you know, you you

[27:58] signs on the field of Marvin Elementary are the same signs we'd want to have

[28:01] what in our park, you know, so that and but but all good. I mean, if those same,

[28:05] you know, groups have contributed, then maybe they just don't know there's an

[28:08] opportunity to contribute also in our village.

[28:10] » Well, I think the other benefit of this concept and it definitely would be in

[28:13] favor of of pursuing it is that in addition to our actual community, it

[28:17] gives us an opportunity to go beyond this community to get that funding.

[28:21] Because we're looking at corporate partnerships and civic communities. So,

[28:24] they don't have to be in Marvin to contribute to Marvin. They just need to

[28:26] have some sort of nexus here to make it worth their while.

[28:29] » Like right across the street. >> Yeah, yeah. When when when you think

[28:32] about it, you know, when we talk about joke about the the donut holes in Marvin

[28:37] and things like that. But, you know, I've always seen these are all members

[28:41] of our community that we go to church with, we go to school with, we, you

[28:45] know, >> Corporations and people

[28:47] » all sorts of things we work with, yeah, you know, on on a daily basis. So, you

[28:52] know, it's almost like you're looking at the opportunities here aren't just the

[28:56] 6,000, you know, citizens of Marvin that are in this, you

[29:01] know, 10 square mile area. It's it's really the 16,000,

[29:07] you know, residents of the community that are in this area because if it's

[29:11] focused to public service projects, it is things that you know,

[29:17] helping out their general community. >> And I wouldn't be surprised

[29:20] » without being the village of Marvin. >> They may not staff the board, but they

[29:23] may contribute to the funds. Am I right? That's what I was thinking more on the

[29:26] actual manpower. >> Or they could be on the board too

[29:28] because that would be a totally separate financing

[29:31] » So, just just for clarity on next steps, so you the board, you guys are going to

[29:35] talk amongst your own networks and see if there is general community interest.

[29:38] Tom, are you looking for any other action from them formally or are you

[29:42] planning to go to count take it take the idea to council next? Or

[29:45] » Uh I'd love to get feedback from parks. That's why I'm here today is to get your

[29:49] feedback and um you know, before we do anything with the

[29:52] council and I'd love to you know, come back the next meeting and see if you

[29:56] guys have any feedback or where we could go from there.

[30:00] » Okay. Everyone okay with putting this on the next agenda just to come back to it?

[30:03] » Yeah, if you're willing to wave for us to

[30:05] » Yeah. >> Think amongst Think amongst ourselves.

[30:08] » Well, yeah, I mean it could do it the next meeting when we talk about

[30:11] it's one of the hard parts of the way the calendar works for us now because

[30:15] we're not going to meet again until after this meeting.

[30:19] » We should change that. >> [laughter]

[30:21] » We're doing I'm having them change it for next year cuz council used to be

[30:24] second Tuesday, then y'all moved it to the front and they'd already adopted

[30:28] their schedule for the year, so >> Okay.

[30:30] » So, for next year they're going to move it to the second week.

[30:31] » Okay, cool. >> Yeah, that that'll make it a little bit

[30:34] easier. I mean, I think I mean, if you needed

[30:37] you needed a recommendation immediately, we could probably all chime in.

[30:40] » To do an exploratory. >> Yeah, to do an exploratory. Yeah, we're

[30:43] not officially committing, but um >> Yeah, I think we might need somebody to

[30:47] kind of take the point on doing the exploratory.

[30:50] » Do we have any Well, again, we could talk amongst

[30:52] ourselves unless somebody wants to >> depends on your time frame whether or

[30:55] not you can wait till the till the next agenda.

[30:59] » Yeah, no particular time frame. I just don't want to lose momentum on it cuz

[31:01] you know, if we set it too far out, then everybody kind of forgets about it.

[31:04] » all have If you all can make a consensus right now, you don't you don't have to

[31:07] discuss it again in a month if you're just giving consensus on exploring your

[31:10] networks. You could make that consensus right now.

[31:13] » Do we need to make a motion, Austin? >> So, just a quick point of clarification.

[31:19] Um

[31:21] you guys next month will actually meet before council. So, if you do meet on

[31:25] September 1st to If you want to discuss during your September meeting, council

[31:28] won't meet until actually the 14th. They're only doing one meeting that

[31:31] month, so this board could have another discussion before council has another

[31:35] regular meeting. So, you council have work session, they would meet, and then

[31:38] they would they you guys have your regular meeting, so if you do want to

[31:40] continue this conversation a month, that wouldn't be too bad on schedule.

[31:43] » That makes sense. Let's just um put it on the agenda for September and then

[31:47] continue. >> Okay.

[31:48] » We can do that. >> Um

[31:49] I don't know if this is closing this topic, and maybe this is coming up later

[31:52] in Jill's report because you did mention um

[31:55] the sportsplex being funded. >> share that as part of my council report.

[31:58] » have some questions on funding, but we'll get to cover that then. Okay.

[32:01] Thank you. Okay.

[32:04] » Great. >> Thank you.

[32:05] » Thank you, Tom. Appreciate your >> Thank you.

[32:08] » Good to see you, sir. >> Thank you.

[32:12] All right, next up on our presentations, we have unfinished business. Next up is

[32:17] discussion recommendation on trailhead signage. I know Austin has attached it

[32:21] um a mock-up of proposed signage. Just to

[32:25] kind of give background, we have been talking about the need to identify our

[32:28] trails and greenways in the Village of Marvin so folks know what they are

[32:31] accessing, as well as potentially providing information about any of our

[32:35] rules, restrictions, and and as things change and update, folks know, you know,

[32:40] what is out there. Did some research and I think everyone who's ever walked on a

[32:43] greenway has always seen some sort of a signage. In communities like our size,

[32:47] Davidson, Chapel Hill, they actually have signed ordinances within their

[32:50] parks and greenways stating how they want to have their greenways identified.

[32:55] Um so, it's you know, very common practice. I don't think there's any

[32:57] question that folks want to know where they are. The other reason too is as we

[33:00] invest time and effort from our public works staff to go and maintain these

[33:05] trails, we need to recognize the work that's being done and also have folks

[33:08] have a way to communicate back. If you're on a trail and you have a tree

[33:11] down, who do you communicate if you don't know what what you're on. So, I

[33:15] think there's good rationale for why we want to have signage. The question is

[33:18] » where you're where where it's not. >> It's not Well, that's true. Yes.

[33:22] » Because, you know, there are concerns Well, that's exactly it. There are

[33:25] concerns within the community that there are private trails that some some

[33:29] particular neighborhoods have and things like that. So.

[33:33] » Just a quick note on the signs. I took Christina's feedback, made a generalized

[33:37] sign. You are You guys already have signs on trails for

[33:41] no motor vehicles. So, this is just just to mark this is a trail and here's a

[33:45] link to our trail map. So. >> But this is this is where you're

[33:48] accessing. Is today the only place we have that signage is within Epperly

[33:52] Park. And so, that's of course when that was built and I think that was the Eagle

[33:54] Scout project or some Boy Scout project, which has been helpful. We're not

[33:58] talking about wayfinding with actual miles and and direction. It's really you

[34:02] are on a greenway. >> scout wants to take that on.

[34:04] » Exactly. That could be something in the future. Or even as we talked about

[34:07] sponsorship, I've seen trails in other communities where, you know, there might

[34:10] be a sign this trail is supported by and then we could put whoever our corporate

[34:14] sponsor is. But for now, you know, Austin and I were talking about keeping

[34:18] this generic because, you know, we want to have a consistency. So, that's why we

[34:21] just say trail access. We're not naming the trail. We're not putting an arrow to

[34:25] where you're going. It's really And then there's a familiarity. Folks will see

[34:28] this when they go to different parts of the community and now now I'm on a

[34:31] Marvin Greenway because this is what our signage looks like.

[34:34] » No, I like it. >> Any feedback, questions from what you

[34:36] see there? >> I liked

[34:40] the genericness of it. >> [laughter]

[34:42] » Yeah. >> I mean, we could have, you know, we

[34:44] could title the trails or or whatever, but um

[34:48] this just serves all purposes. >> As far as ordering, too, it's a little

[34:52] simpler, right? I mean, then we're not This arrow goes this way, this trail's

[34:55] name is >> yeah, I mean, it probably wouldn't kill

[34:57] us if it we, you know, had it had individual signs and and name to them,

[35:00] but it's kind of superfluous and

[35:03] » Mhm. >> easier to order in multiples if

[35:06] » Sure. Michael, you good?

[35:08] » How many signs would you be planning to put like in each park or trail?

[35:11] » I think at at a minimum, the key entrance point, correct, Austin? We're

[35:15] talking for >> for trail heads, so these should

[35:16] » Trail heads. >> These should be publicly accessible

[35:18] entrances. >> Mhm.

[35:19] » Um entrances that are on village easements.

[35:24] » Yeah. So, when you look

[35:25] » Not on the ones that are >> Right. So, there's an Amber Meadow trail

[35:28] that's going to cut off of Tom Short Road. Right now, there's just a vehicle

[35:31] sign, right? That that would be a where a sign would go.

[35:34] » And that's one entrance. That's that's one entrance.

[35:36] » a one entrance. I think that where we might have some managing the signs is

[35:39] like on the Marvin Loop because you can access it from multiple points off of

[35:43] Joe Carr Road and down here and so, we don't want to like clutter it too much

[35:47] with signs, but at least at kind of maybe one end or the other and in the

[35:50] middle point, so when folks are accessing it.

[35:53] » And and it's a process over time. >> Right. You can put them on

[35:57] » We don't have to, you know, put everything out at once. We're we're

[36:00] we're starting now. We're done We're we we would look to identify some of the

[36:05] main areas of need. Um and then, you know, as we budget, you know, a certain

[36:10] amount maybe each year or something like that. Um we we kind of fall into a a

[36:16] cadence where, you know, we we eventually do more of them and so forth.

[36:20] » we start small and then, I mean, minimum one entrance per, like you said, per

[36:24] trail or if there's a two entrances, then there's two.

[36:27] » These signs really only make sense at trail entrances.

[36:29] » Yes, cuz it says access. >> Quick side note, I know this board likes

[36:34] to do kind of projects throughout the year like signs here, signs there. In

[36:38] future future years we probably should start planning an intentional budget

[36:42] each year that way whenever you guys want to implement something we can make

[36:45] sure that we have it in the budget and then we're not looking for funds.

[36:48] » Yeah, and I was >> Yeah, and and and that's something just

[36:51] so you're aware cuz you folks haven't necessarily gone through our budgeting

[36:55] process. Um

[36:57] I as your PRG liaison, I would probably, you know, start having those

[37:02] conversations with

[37:05] um the rest of council when we do like our retreat in January usually like like

[37:10] the first or second week in January is where we even start kind of

[37:14] brainstorming the ideas, capital improvement projects that are either

[37:19] dedicated for the first year, three years, five years, 10 years down the

[37:23] road. Um you know, just so that we're looking at our overall financial

[37:28] picture. And then as we get into the budget

[37:30] season, you know, um

[37:34] you know, we expect while we may not be replacing Tyler with a PRG person, um we

[37:40] are still looking to fulfill that role with, you know, more of kind of a

[37:44] project manager. Um so that might be someone that we would work with to to,

[37:50] you know, make a recommendation to council maybe in February or something

[37:55] like that of, you know, these are the areas that we'd want to target and if we

[37:59] could get a certain amount in the budget for the for this and and so forth. But

[38:03] we we haven't been involved much in the budget process because we don't control

[38:07] any money. Um that's really, you know, up to the council to to decide.

[38:13] And yeah, and and and that I think that would be a a good thing, you know, for

[38:18] us to start doing kind kind of at Austin's

[38:21] behest and and probably Jill, of course, because anytime we find these little

[38:25] needs, Jill's the one that has to scramble around to see if there's

[38:29] pockets that are that are available to pull them.

[38:32] » And And if if And John, if I may, what we can also start doing is like during

[38:35] the CIP process when we're prioritizing trails, is just kind of bake some of

[38:40] this estimate for, you know, a sign or two, depending on which trail project it

[38:43] is, into that CIP estimate. Where um if we're looking to construct

[38:49] you know, for example, the Heritage Trail.

[38:51] » Um you know, where I don't I don't think those are as part of this site uh

[38:57] this plan right in front of us, but in short, it's like if we're building a

[39:01] trail or portion of a trail that year, type thing is maybe just go ahead and

[39:04] plan to have signage installed as part of that project as a whole. I mean, I

[39:07] think that's another way we can kind of start doing it where we stay on top of

[39:10] it with any new construction. >> Yeah, I talked to Austin a little bit

[39:13] about this um earlier this week, where I definitely uh maybe one of our fall PRG

[39:20] meetings, we'll put an agenda item for us to be thinking about next fiscal year

[39:26] and any potential wants or needs from this board, because what I would like to

[39:32] do is start planning ahead, put that in the CIP, present it to council in

[39:36] January, get their um backing behind it, and then be able to build it into the

[39:42] budget, versus now, where Austin will come to me and say, "Hey, PRG wants to

[39:46] do this." And then I say, "Where am I getting the money for that?" And we

[39:50] we're kind of putting the cart before the horse. So, um and that's not a

[39:54] criticism of y'all. That's just we have I don't think we've done a good job of

[39:57] really pulling you guys in early and in and saying like, "Hey, let's have

[40:03] conversations prior to budget season of what goals or needs this board has or

[40:08] can anticipate prior to to going out for funding." And so, that's going to be a

[40:12] priority for myself, but also hopefully the the new program manager, project

[40:18] manager coming in. >> you're telling us that now helps us

[40:20] start planning cuz January, that's perfect.

[40:22] » Yeah. >> And as far as these signs go, though,

[40:25] um if if this board wants to recommend

[40:28] approval of purchasing and installing these signs, that would then go to

[40:31] council. Council would make that final call. So, just know that what you're

[40:35] recommending approval of might not be final form. Or council may may choose

[40:39] not to do it. It just depends on what they want to do.

[40:42] » Okay. And then so this will come up at the next council meeting, the way the

[40:45] process works. Do we need to come and speak to any of this or can we help I

[40:48] mean I'm just wondering can we help provide more context? Obviously, John

[40:50] will, but is there anything else we can do from, you know, other examples of

[40:53] communities? I just feel like this has come back and forth so many times and

[40:56] I'm, you know, I don't I don't I feel like this has been a lot of effort from

[40:58] our Austin, but just as a community we I think well, I know that we all believe

[41:02] in this process. So, how do we >> Yeah, I I well, I think the fact and and

[41:06] and I do like the idea of us having these more generic trail signs because

[41:12] information can change and by referencing them like this specifically

[41:16] to the QR code, that gives us more flexibility in terms of being able to

[41:20] change things on the back side as >> literally move it around.

[41:23] » as they're needed. Yeah, absolutely. So, um

[41:27] you know, I I think, you know, it doesn't it doesn't hurt and, you know,

[41:31] Tom's very approachable, the other council people. So, you know, it it if

[41:36] you want to reach out and just express because, you know, we've had it both

[41:40] ways over the years. There's waves of times where people say,

[41:44] "Listen, I went to the website or this or it's confusing and I'm not sure where

[41:49] the trail is. I saw it on the website, but I went there and where do you park?"

[41:53] and, you know, stuff like that. And then, you know, we at one point I

[41:59] » [clears throat] >> I remember us talking about signs that

[42:01] actually had named signs for that and how long it was till

[42:06] the next trail head and things like that. And people were like, "Well, no,

[42:10] we don't want that much information, you know. So,

[42:14] it it it it's really trying to strike a balance. And I think from council's

[42:18] perspective, you know, when we're talking about just the costs of

[42:21] implementing these signs and so forth, the fact that they're more generic like

[42:26] that make makes you feel, you know, quite a bit better about, you know,

[42:30] buying 10 or 20 of these, you know, than if you're buying individual signs of

[42:36] things that information could change and and, you know, then you're chucking that

[42:41] sign out with the with the bathwater, you know.

[42:44] » They're about $45 each. >> $45 each, okay. And we have eight I

[42:49] mean, we have five trails that don't have signs.

[42:51] » So, you'd probably start off with 10 signs.

[42:54] » 10 because we have different access points like Marvin Loop and probably

[42:57] » You don't need them on the Marvin Loop. You really don't need them on the loop

[42:59] because the loop doesn't really have an entrance.

[43:01] You wouldn't You wouldn't put them at the park cuz you already have them. So,

[43:04] between Amber Meadows, Talamore, uh the Preserve Internal Trail,

[43:09] » Mhm. >> uh

[43:10] » Heritage. >> Heritage.

[43:12] » Mhm. I still believe somewhere on the Marvin

[43:14] Loop, I know we don't have an entrance, but it still feels funny not ever My

[43:17] only concern with Marvin Loop would be we never acknowledge that it's Marvin. I

[43:20] mean, I think many folks might just think it's Marvin Creek because it's

[43:23] surrounded by Marvin Creek. So, it This is also part of recognition and branding

[43:27] of our community assets. So, that would be a um

[43:30] » I might just want to maybe put a sign or two in the areas that aren't clearly

[43:34] sidewalks. >> Yes.

[43:35] » And and and the other thing though is when you're looking at these things,

[43:38] when Austin works with the vendor, I'm sure there's some sort of economies of

[43:42] scale where >> Not at not at this size. We had to

[43:45] purchase a lot more for >> Okay.

[43:47] Well, I I I was even thinking like 20 might be more than two.

[43:52] A better deal than two, you know, or something like that.

[43:55] » Okay, but 45 Do you have a question? >> Yeah, I was going to say, isn't there a

[43:59] entrance in Marvin Creek for the Marvin Loop?

[44:03] » There is when you come out of I think um >> Painted

[44:07] No, no, not Painted Woods. >> the one

[44:08] » It's a cul-de-sac, yeah. >> All right. Marvin

[44:09] » Yeah.

[44:16] Yeah, but but what you also understand is that

[44:20] any sidewalk is also essential for the Marvin Loop is also essentially a

[44:25] trailhead to to some degree because you know, the sidewalks are all public. So,

[44:32] we're talking about you know, it being public use as long as

[44:37] our Greenway like or the loop for instance

[44:42] is connected to a publicly maintained Village of Marvin sidewalk.

[44:47] That's that's essentially a connection there.

[44:49] » Well, the good thing with the signs is as the loop grows, we can just keep

[44:52] moving them out. You know, I mean I'm just saying there's there's there's room

[44:55] to put them. So, >> And

[44:57] and we've always talked about we don't want to inundate things too because

[45:01] that's certainly something that we don't want in Marvin is just a litter of

[45:04] signage, you know. >> I do need a motion I do need a motion

[45:07] from you all if you want to send this to council. So, you would need a motion to

[45:11] recommend approval of the trail access sign and to recommend installing the

[45:14] signs at Village Trail Heads. >> Okay, I make a motion. Do you want me to

[45:17] repeat that then? >> decide that.

[45:19] » So moved. All in favor? >> Aye.

[45:21] » Motion passed. >> I'll put that on council's next agenda.

[45:24] » Okay, and thank you again Austin. You have done a lot with signage for us in

[45:27] the past year and two.

[45:30] Appreciate that. Okay, next up we have the discussion of

[45:33] 2026 Arbor Day coming around the corner. Hunter.

[45:37] » All right. Um, so just want to have a brief discussion and kind of start

[45:40] getting some getting a game plan together for our

[45:43] Arbor Day event on Saturday, October 24th.

[45:47] First thing I kind of wanted to discuss is

[45:49] when I I would uh

[45:51] invite all you guys to attend if possible. We had a really good turnout

[45:55] last year and want to kind of like I said find a way to continue to grow this

[45:58] and grow the programming of the event. With that being said, last year we did

[46:03] it from 1 to 3. Um and I would just want to get some

[46:06] feedback from the board and if that's kind of a similar time frame we want to

[46:10] do. Uh essentially last year we did uh it we kind of coupled it with the

[46:14] plant exchange and um we did a kind of planting um

[46:20] educational uh

[46:22] type thing where uh Trees Union we planted a tree. Uh my plan this year is

[46:26] we we do something similar there again, but we might even plant a few more. Uh

[46:30] even uh with some of the baby trees we got. Um and so uh

[46:35] does any you know, does the board have any feedback? Does 1 to 3 sound good? Do

[46:38] we or do we want to look at um something earlier in the day, something longer? Uh

[46:44] just trying to get some initial guidance there um for this event.

[46:50] » I don't see any problem with the 1 to 3. I'm trying to it it kind of depends on

[46:55] what we're going to do. Like if we're going to plant 100 trees, which we still

[46:59] have, well, 99 anyway. Um that's a different gig than planting the

[47:05] one big one, right? They're little. Well, they're not that little, but um

[47:10] » Are you envisioning like a kickoff like hey, we all land like whatever you say

[47:13] you you rally folks and we all land in the park and then at 1:00 everyone

[47:16] disperses to plant their tree and comes back? I mean or are you saying

[47:19] » So completely random planting. >> Like a tree cleanup.

[47:23] » Right, like a like a trap. >> Well, no, you you have a flag where you

[47:26] want them to plant it, but I'm just saying are you thinking like this is the

[47:28] day where you get folks to come together and plant versus just assume they're

[47:31] going to do it on their own? >> Well, no, we have a lot of volunteer

[47:33] organizations that we can tap that I think would if we would get it on the

[47:36] schedule, they're ready to go. >> Yeah, that's kind of what I want to try

[47:39] to get some of this nailed down so we can reach out to uh you know, the state

[47:42] forestry service, uh Trees Union, um get Keith here with uh urban forester.

[47:48] Uh which a lot of them have these the states already in their calendar. I'm

[47:50] just trying to get the time has uh finalized. Um

[47:54] I know some of the uh additional programming that we talked about is

[47:56] potentially doing some trail walks uh with um I know Christina Cole and I have

[48:01] talked about that. And opportunity once again look at trees

[48:06] along our trails. I mean and other educational opportunities. I mean so if

[48:10] we want to stick and you know to that one to three again like I said that's

[48:13] completely fine. If we want to expand it this is kind of you know last year we

[48:17] were putting together this application for

[48:19] our tree Tree City USA. We kind of Christina Cole and Bob Nininger can't be

[48:24] very helpful with me and I with the initial planning of this and now that

[48:29] PRNG is our also the fact of tree board. You know this is something that I want

[48:33] like I said to you guys to help grow

[48:36] to grow the the event as in general but also grow you know these educational

[48:41] programs for our Tree City USA certification.

[48:45] So any I mean

[48:49] I mean I said the time I mean one to three do we want to stick with just one

[48:51] to three this year and then we or do or is that all good with everybody?

[48:57] » Well is it something where

[49:00] » [clears throat] >> it might be one to three which is the

[49:02] formal event but then people are dispersed from then to go do

[49:07] » Yeah. >> We could do some pre-work and we could

[49:09] do some after work if we needed to. So one to three is nice in the middle and

[49:13] we can work around it. >> Yeah we can advertise it from one to

[49:15] three.

[49:19] » I just just to add you had originally had us hold on the calendar for you

[49:25] eight to two. So we do have someone that is looking to rent the barn starting at

[49:30] three. >> Okay.

[49:31] » So whatever event you have if you could try to be at least no longer needing the

[49:36] barn by three that would be great or I can just move that renter out further.

[49:40] » We shouldn't need the barn um

[49:44] Yeah I mean we can do we want to look at doing from like 10 to 12?

[49:50] 10 to 12 and then that gives us a little leeway after if anybody wants to stay

[49:53] and maybe do a treat, you know, a trail walk and stuff.

[49:55] » Yes. >> Okay.

[49:57] » Yeah, so it's because of that. Yeah. >> Or 11 to 1.

[50:00] » 10 to 12. >> Yeah, will be the formal event.

[50:03] » No, that's that's what we're going to talk about right now. So, she just asked

[50:06] the question, um, are all those trees, and we're probably 120, let's say,

[50:11] because it was a hard survey. We have 120 trees of various sizes and types. We

[50:16] talked about Meadowlark, right? >> We we did. I and so my thought, this is

[50:21] just another thought, want to get you guys' feedback. Now, once again, it's

[50:23] going to really depend on, uh, turnout, is I do think there's a potential

[50:28] opportunity for residents that do come and participate, maybe of giving them a

[50:32] tree. Um,

[50:34] uh, now granted, if we have 99 people show up, I I mean, we're not be very

[50:38] impressed, but I I do plan on using some of those trees for some other, uh,

[50:42] plantings, uh, throughout the village, but, um, you know, I can look at, you

[50:47] know, further conversations with Trees Union and and Keith to see if if any

[50:50] other tree, cuz I plan on getting a larger size tree for the actual planning

[50:54] educational portion, um, similar to the one that we did last

[50:57] year, but we do have, like I said, those smaller baby trees that we potentially

[51:02] can look at giving giving some away, or we can do some type of raffle. I I don't

[51:05] know, we can that's >> When he says baby trees, some of them

[51:08] are >> Our talk Yeah, they're not Yeah, they're

[51:10] still good size, but they're

[51:13] » Some of them are this size. >> Yeah.

[51:15] » But kind of going back to what Evan was saying, I think Meadowlark was one maybe

[51:18] for this year with the, like you said, maybe a

[51:20] » a portion of it goes to the community, but should we target some of for this

[51:22] year the greenways where we have kind of spots? I mean, they've been on the loop

[51:26] kind of right out here. There's a lot of sun exposure, so would this be a

[51:28] thought? I mean, and the park, I mean, Christian, you have a better sense of

[51:31] where we could use them. I know we talked about HOAs also picking them up,

[51:35] but I feel like for now, we've got this surplus, we've got some greenways that

[51:38] have opportunities in parks. >> I would I would like to focus on trees

[51:42] that I know are going to get planted. Meaning, if you give them to somebody,

[51:46] giving means they they don't have any value. So, they're going to sit

[51:50] somewhere and maybe not get planted. So, I would prefer to focus on plants I know

[51:54] are going to get planted. So, in common areas of HOAs, if we kind of help direct

[51:59] that because also getting them planted properly, it's not hard. It's just

[52:04] really easy to do it wrong. >> And And maybe what we can do is offer,

[52:08] you know, if a resident or you know, if there's a member of an HOA that's there,

[52:11] we can offer Yeah, because I said it's giving it to them cuz I think if you I

[52:15] if they if we we are offering and they are interested in it, I'm hoping that

[52:19] means that they are interested in them planting it.

[52:22] And so, and then maybe we'll just set aside anywhere from like 20 to 30 and

[52:25] you and I can get together on just kind of giving those out.

[52:28] » The toughest ones. >> Yeah.

[52:31] And And so, and then yeah, so maybe what we

[52:35] can do is like I said, just keeping this high level and we'll get the more

[52:39] details for the September meeting. So, we'll do it from 10:00 to 2:00.

[52:43] We'll do one big tree educational planting.

[52:47] And I mean, we can also potentially do even a small tree like a smaller tree

[52:51] planting to show if there's any you know, from an educational standpoint,

[52:54] especially if we're giving some of them away. I think it'd be helpful to do.

[52:58] And then do some tree walk and or trail walks. And is there anything else that,

[53:04] you know, >> could do another plant exchange if

[53:05] people are interested in that. I think if we promote it more doesn't

[53:09] hurt, doesn't cost anything. >> But

[53:11] let me ask this. Um would it be

[53:15] helpful to plan something like our public works

[53:20] » [clears throat] >> team being available, you know, if we're

[53:23] trying to do a lot that day or something and providing when maybe we rent an

[53:29] auger or something like that that can that can help to

[53:34] » Well, the new the the new trees we're talking about are like,

[53:37] » We would need an auger for the big tree. >> big one, yeah.

[53:39] » Which last year one of our former council members dedicated his time and

[53:44] and dug that for us. I can reach out to him.

[53:46] » Okay. >> Um to see if he wants to do it.

[53:48] » that's what I was wondering. It might help it

[53:50] » Yeah. >> even not just that one, but if you know,

[53:54] for if we're 12 10:00 till 2:00 or 10:00

[53:58] till to noon, you know, if we have >> We all have our own goals that we want

[54:02] to do. >> We can send our volunteer groups out to

[54:04] those spots on the greenways. >> And we can like I said, we can kind of

[54:06] get some of those details planned out. I know Christina and I Good with

[54:10] Christina on that. And if we need the rain, I'll get to see

[54:14] if we have money. But I'll reach out to to Andy to see if he wants to also, you

[54:18] know, volunteer. >> tell I just spent two days this week

[54:21] digging out some fence posts and in our Cala

[54:25] Carolina clay and rock and cement, so that's that's why I'm thinking sometimes

[54:31] work smarter, not harder. >> Yeah.

[54:33] » The other thing to wrap around that is the possibility of doing a mulch day,

[54:38] which Matt and I have been talking about. I can get It's one of those

[54:41] things that I can get um volunteers to do really well is mulch.

[54:47] So, we can wrap that around that day, too, and really add some mulch to the

[54:51] trees that we already have, so that we get to the drip line instead of

[54:56] » the cone. >> whatever.

[54:57] » volcano >> Yeah, well, we don't have any volcanoes,

[54:59] but >> We don't, but I'm saying

[55:01] » But we could that that's another thing that we could add to that day. If you've

[55:04] already got people out, you know, most of the time people want

[55:09] to do a couple of hours of volunteer work if they can.

[55:12] » I said my goal my vision for this uh event over time is like where we do

[55:17] spend a full volunteer day like half day or something like that and we're

[55:21] planting trees at the park or or or at some village property.

[55:25] Um and uh because I know like Huntersville last year for their Arbor

[55:28] Day, they planted like like a hundred trees in one of their parks. Like And we

[55:31] have And we we walked it with um uh our the

[55:35] state forester when he came to give us all our lovely tree guides and stuff.

[55:40] But we have a lot of opportunity at the park that you know, to enhance the

[55:44] canopy out there, but still, you know, giving it having areas to to utilize if

[55:49] it's in the lawn, but it also help with maintenance from from our guys over

[55:52] time. And so that I mean that's something like we're going to be

[55:55] building out the next year is building out a planting plan that we can start

[55:58] Hey, this year we're going to plant X amount of trees based off of this and

[56:01] here's, you know, the general locations of what we're looking for. So Um this is

[56:06] just like I said second annual one and we're going to

[56:09] like I said my goal is to continue continue to have it grow and make it

[56:13] something special for the village. >> And and Matt did just share with me that

[56:17] we actually do have in-house an 8-in auger.

[56:21] » Okay, perfect. >> So

[56:25] » [laughter] >> I don't use public things for my own

[56:30] But uh >> The bigger tree we would have to either

[56:33] rent or >> Okay.

[56:34] » talk to the former council, but uh >> Cuz that was a big hole.

[56:38] » Yeah. >> But with the smaller ones we do have

[56:40] in-house auger and we can assist in any way possible.

[56:43] » No, that'll be perfect. Perfect. So I'm wondering what what would be like

[56:46] I said you'd be you'd throwing out some ideas next next meeting in September we

[56:50] can kind of finalize all the ideas. >> Yeah, I'll come with a more finalized

[56:52] plan. We're going to start Lucas is already putting together the banner and

[56:56] some advertising materials and at the September Council meeting

[57:00] Council will adopt their proclamation proclaiming uh

[57:04] » Which one? >> the 24th or the Yeah.

[57:06] » Do you need PR and D then to come up I mean I think we've tossed ideas the

[57:08] forest walking, the plant Do you want Do you want something from PR

[57:11] » Yeah, pick out some space at like where we think if we're going to add some to

[57:16] you know, some of our areas if you're out walking one of the trails and

[57:20] » I used to see them all the time. >> know, this is a perfect place for Let's

[57:22] let's start kind of mapping those out in our minds and come back.

[57:26] » Let me let me add this idea. If you're in a forested area and you want to add a

[57:30] tree, you are very limited as to what will live in there. They like sun. So,

[57:35] adding them out where we put the one last year,

[57:39] putting more out there, there's a lot more likelihood that it

[57:43] will survive than putting them in But, like I have to

[57:47] » And that's why I was thinking there might be areas along the Marvin Loop.

[57:52] » Or the edges of the edges of things cuz we do have

[57:54] » Or the trailheads, you know. >> We have redbuds and and dogwoods. Those

[57:59] are all ones that like the edges are inside the the the tree line a little

[58:04] bit. What I'll do is make a list of what we have.

[58:07] Uh we've only lost like two, I think.

[58:11] » Do we have any evergreen trees that >> We have We have some uh Eastern cedar.

[58:16] » Okay. >> Would you want to put those along

[58:20] Meadowlark? >> He's working on a plan over there.

[58:22] » Potentially to screen for the We can start like

[58:27] we can for anything Meadowlark and Heritage, we'll I'll hit on them when I

[58:30] get um in that update. Just >> Okay.

[58:33] » Keeping it separate, but yes, we I've got a plan for that, too.

[58:35] » But, what I'm going to do is get the volunteer organizations that I know get

[58:39] this on their calendar so they know show up and be ready to do something.

[58:44] » And then we'll have a plan of where they were going to plant. That's what we'll

[58:46] work through over the next month. >> Hunter has his marching orders, but we

[58:49] do for clarity, you guys have Someone said 10 to 12, someone said 10

[58:53] to 2. What's the time? >> 10 to 12. Right. And then we might

[58:57] extend it on either end of that. Just not

[59:01] officially. >> From 10 to 12, yeah.

[59:03] » is what we're advertising. That's what you need to worry about.

[59:05] » And and then when do you need to know the specifics of what we're going to be

[59:09] doing in addition to the planting if we're going to do with the forest walk

[59:12] or the um plant exchange? Because for public for for communication, Austin.

[59:16] » I think as long as we have that hashed out for September, then we can start

[59:19] kind of putting I think in our social media posts. We're going to be like come

[59:22] out, you know, for you know, tree planting educational um potentially, you

[59:26] know, take home a tree. Well, if like start kind of putting that in the in the

[59:30] like com- or in our thing.

[59:44] We'll do We'll do it the week of. Cuz I know we I do know we have the

[59:49] trick-or-treating in the park and so I'll just you we can get together cuz my

[59:53] thought is in that same area where we planted last year

[59:56] um and so as long as that's not being utilized for parking and we just rope it

[1:00:00] off for safety.

[1:00:07] Shouldn't >> You guys can have this conversation

[1:00:10] outside of the >> I shouldn't need anything from me but

[1:00:13] we'll talk.

[1:00:18] » Okay. Um, thank you Hunter for your leadership

[1:00:21] on this and exciting to have a next round of

[1:00:26] And I have 100 trees that just got >> Right.

[1:00:29] » And thank you to Troop 99 for watering those

[1:00:32] three times a week. Yes. Well, not lately.

[1:00:36] » Definitely needed it this year. >> Mother nature has been taking care of

[1:00:39] that the last couple of days but yeah. >> Okay.

[1:00:42] » Um, our next item up is for Hunter again. This is new business and we are

[1:00:46] talking the recap of the comprehensive plan Greenway Master Plan open house

[1:00:50] that was held last week. >> Yeah, so we um we had our open house uh

[1:00:55] I guess a week and a half ago now. Um, we had pretty good we had really good

[1:00:58] turnout. We had about I would say approximately 30-ish residents. Um, in

[1:01:04] short uh a lot of feedback received regarding um

[1:01:09] the new kind of the new way Came Worth kind of showing our conceptual trail map

[1:01:13] and the prioritization over short, mid, and

[1:01:16] long-term. Um I know both Christine has seen that and

[1:01:19] John. This uh all this will be provided to you guys at your September meeting.

[1:01:24] We should be getting a final draft. Staff should be getting a final draft

[1:01:27] sometime in the next week or two. I actually have a call with Kimley-Horn

[1:01:29] right after this meeting. And that final draft will come to to the

[1:01:34] PRNG board in September. Ultimately,

[1:01:38] I would say I have not received any type of formal like

[1:01:42] document of summarizing all the feedback, but based

[1:01:45] off of discussions I had with multiple

[1:01:48] residents, you had you know a mixture of opinions on certain projects and and

[1:01:53] prioritization. You had I would say a majority of of what I heard is once

[1:01:58] again focusing on trying to complete the loop. It would be priority number one.

[1:02:02] And then having you know any then future trails having you know connection or

[1:02:06] tying to the loop. And and that is kind of how we do have it

[1:02:11] you know prioritized in the current draft. There were other areas where

[1:02:17] you know some mapping of old from the old map into the new and

[1:02:22] getting those updated for clarification for any anybody in the public that's

[1:02:26] looking you know reading the document and there there's no kind of discrepancy

[1:02:30] there. So that's kind of been identified as well and and addressed to

[1:02:33] Kimley-Horn. We're also putting together one thing that our 2020

[1:02:36] plan lacked that our 2008 plan had was you know kind

[1:02:41] of differentiating where we already have easements and not. Once again, these

[1:02:46] these maps are conceptual. These they're they're showing routing between points A

[1:02:49] point A and point B. The goal is like you know if you have easements, great.

[1:02:53] But it's also you know to further conversations with community members if

[1:02:56] it's HOAs, private you know private property

[1:03:00] property owners, or future developments and trying to then you know build out

[1:03:03] your connectivity over time. And so I think overlapping it where we have

[1:03:08] easements is also kind of important to see where we from the prioritization

[1:03:13] standpoint. And so all that information was sent to Kimley-Horn last week. So,

[1:03:18] they'll be kind of incorporating that into the plan and and into their maps

[1:03:22] and recommendations as well. So, other than that, um once I get uh that

[1:03:28] information, I said I'll be sharing it with uh

[1:03:31] Christine and Christina for first kind of review and John, since you guys have

[1:03:34] been on that working group and then that final draft, Haley from Kimley-Horn will

[1:03:39] be to present as of right now tentatively should be your September

[1:03:41] meeting. >> So, Andrew, it's great 30 residents. Do

[1:03:45] we know kind of did they represent I don't know if we captured a broader

[1:03:48] range of neighbors or what was the >> I'll say so, this was um

[1:03:53] out of all the recent open houses, public engagement type events, I I would

[1:03:58] say I met maybe 12 to 14 new people, which was

[1:04:03] very that's why I was you know, I thought it was good turnout. I I spoke

[1:04:06] with a couple from Firethorn that I've never

[1:04:08] met. There was actually a couple here from the Heritage at Marvin, you know,

[1:04:11] newer residents. I spoke with resident in Carrefour Creek. Um I think another

[1:04:16] one from Innisbrook, Meadowlark, Preserve, Marvin Creek. I mean, so feel

[1:04:21] like there was a good representation. Um I would say

[1:04:24] » Oldenburg. There was that >> Yeah, there was a couple even though

[1:04:27] they're not in Marvin, I mean, from Oldenburg.

[1:04:30] So, uh you know, it was one of these things like I would say

[1:04:35] there wasn't anybody maybe from like Weddington Chase or any kind of you

[1:04:38] know, that side, but I still think we had a very good representation of of a

[1:04:42] lot of the subdivisions here around specifically around like the Marvin Loop

[1:04:45] and and the tying into there. So, um no, I I was I was happy to see that we had a

[1:04:51] really good turnout in that in that essence there.

[1:04:54] » Okay. And then just another question because you know, we Christina and I

[1:04:57] have seen the new maps. As you said, we're trying to was did you get a sense

[1:05:00] the folks could interpret them well? I mean, because this is kind of a kind of

[1:05:02] a litmus test of like if you look at it, does that make sense? What was the I I

[1:05:05] know I know you're capturing feedback, but just as a whole, was this okay?

[1:05:08] » It's You know, and And something that we've

[1:05:10] discussed with Kimley-Horn is trying to, you know,

[1:05:13] it's why I say it's conceptual, right? You know, it's one of these things that

[1:05:17] you hear that from some residents they don't want

[1:05:20] certain connections and and other stuff and and and I get it, you know, that's

[1:05:24] opinion that's incorporated into the plan.

[1:05:27] But the the biggest thing is especially from a Greenway map is having it all

[1:05:32] connected. That's kind of the goal of having a Greenway plan in your in and

[1:05:37] you want it all connected. Um and so like I know there's one uh

[1:05:42] for example, there's one on the conceptual plan that goes through

[1:05:45] Windham Hall Bridal Path through Canterfield that ties into Tollamore.

[1:05:50] Is that practical? Probably not. One because lack of easement, but two

[1:05:55] there's really not any great opportunities as specifically through

[1:05:58] Bridal Path and um uh Windham Hall. And so that's where

[1:06:02] like, you know, my conversation with Kimley Horn is looking at adding a

[1:06:06] uh just routing path along Rea Road to even though that's outside of Marvin

[1:06:11] Marvin's limits, it's still where we work with the Marvin Commons project.

[1:06:14] There's certain thing like it's somewhat already disconnected with how Marvin's

[1:06:17] laid out. But there is opportunity and I've had

[1:06:19] conversations with the county on this cuz there's some existing sidewalk

[1:06:23] outside of Hunter Oaks. Like there's a way to potentially still get

[1:06:26] connectivity from Rea Road all the way to Village Hall for example. And so kind

[1:06:32] of identifying those alternatives is something we we heard some feedback on.

[1:06:36] But you know, ultimately the biggest thing like yeah, this is a plan. It's

[1:06:41] somewhat of a wish list with somewhat also showing, you know, these

[1:06:44] expectations. These expectations were initially identified in our 2008 plan.

[1:06:49] And that's how we got certain trails or green or easements, you know,

[1:06:54] for example, the Preserve like cuz it aligned with that 2008 plan which was

[1:06:59] the adopted plan at the time. And so um

[1:07:02] you know, it I think I do think the way we've laid it out looks better now

[1:07:07] in regards to prioritization. Uh because the biggest thing is like even though

[1:07:12] we're showing it as a, you know, 10-year kind of horizon of of what we want to

[1:07:16] achieve, there's other factors that are obviously going to come up that are

[1:07:19] still funding up, you know, funding limitations, there's still potential

[1:07:22] easement acquisition that would be needed, but that at least gives staff

[1:07:27] PR&G and council kind of an outline of like, okay, if we're looking to do this

[1:07:30] trail in a 5-year plan, we know that, you know, easements are required or

[1:07:34] needed from a CIP standpoint and from a staffing standpoint, that's stuff that

[1:07:37] we can start working on and having those conversations if that's still the vision

[1:07:41] that we're trying to achieve.

[1:07:46] » I appreciate that, Hunter, and thank you

[1:07:47] for that. That's going to be the last open house,

[1:07:50] is that correct? To the last >> Correct. And and so the next steps is so

[1:07:54] once again, you got your your comp plan and your Greenway master plan, they're

[1:07:57] two separate projects. They go hand in hand, but they're still two separate

[1:08:01] projects cuz the Greenway master plan is an update to

[1:08:04] what's already, you know, an update to the 2020 plan which was an update to the

[1:08:07] 2008 plan. Um and building off of that. And so the

[1:08:11] next steps for that is, I guess I said tentatively, would be coming to PR&G for

[1:08:15] review and recommendation in September. It could be October, um

[1:08:19] but uh I would say October at the latest, but you guys will then review,

[1:08:22] provide a recommendation, and then it will go to council for adoption.

[1:08:27] The reason why it might be a month behind is cuz I am trying to,

[1:08:31] in a way, uh in this week conversation with Kimley-Horn because these are two

[1:08:34] separate plans. Um not trying to have them adopted at the

[1:08:39] same time to confuse people if that makes sense.

[1:08:41] Um I think uh so if

[1:08:45] Kimley-Horn gets me a draft for the comp plan overall like this week for me to

[1:08:50] review, then if potentially that will be on planning board in August and then

[1:08:53] council in September. Uh but at the same time, if they don't,

[1:08:57] then that might be September and then October and then and then and map master

[1:09:01] plan might be October and and November. Um, like I said, I'll get a better idea

[1:09:05] after our bi-weekly call here later today and I'll go from there. But, um

[1:09:10] but yeah, I think I think ultimately it's going to be a good product that's

[1:09:13] going to definitely going to be a a great resource and tool for the village

[1:09:15] on both ends.

[1:09:19] » All right, thank you. And thank you folks. I know we have folks in PRNG come

[1:09:22] out and support this, too. So, I'm glad to hear that you had good representation

[1:09:25] across the board. >> Yeah, no, I appreciate, um, you know,

[1:09:28] everybody that that attended and like I said

[1:09:30] keep on coming out and participating cuz that's we we want to hear everybody's

[1:09:34] opinions so we can incorporate it in as we do these projects.

[1:09:37] » Okay, thank you. Next item up is the discussion of the

[1:09:41] pension the bench the pen the bench and pergola really bench and pergola

[1:09:46] installation at Houston Ross Park. >> Before you guys start, I know Matt had

[1:09:50] an update he wanted to give today. Do you want to go ahead and do that, Matt?

[1:09:52] » Sure. Thank you. >> Um,

[1:09:54] public works update parks and maintenance, nothing new.

[1:09:59] Routine maintenance been performed. Uh, same with the greenways. Uh, the

[1:10:05] completed project is a new sign for Village Hall and Houston Ross Park out

[1:10:09] here. Uh

[1:10:11] big one I want to share is multiple repairs to the community garden fence at

[1:10:14] Marvin E. Odum Park and I do recommend us replacing that fence in the fall and

[1:10:20] the winter, 800 bucks for material.

[1:10:24] Uh >> The rabbits have figured it out now.

[1:10:26] » Yes, ma'am. And the new one that I quoted is the half-inch square.

[1:10:30] » Okay. >> So

[1:10:31] uh current projects pertaining to the

[1:10:35] inside installation for the uh where it got damaged out here.

[1:10:39] Also, the county water being hooked up for irrigation cuz the well is uh

[1:10:45] down, not being repaired. Uh

[1:10:48] upcoming projects, we got the mulch installation, we got uh the pergola

[1:10:52] building installation drainage repair here at Village Hall

[1:10:56] from where it was damaged for the equipment out here.

[1:10:59] Uh and then also of course the irrigation.

[1:11:03] Uh this is my big one with everything, safety. Uh we do got a piece of busted

[1:11:07] concrete at Marvin D Efird Park at the restrooms. It's getting a little worse.

[1:11:12] Uh gentleman's Johnny Mack's going to meet me this afternoon, give me a quote

[1:11:15] for that so I can bring that back. Uh

[1:11:19] public works also on safety. When you pull in the park

[1:11:22] uh where the trail comes out of the butterfly garden, that was very thick.

[1:11:27] We opened that up cuz we couldn't see people walking into the road out of the

[1:11:31] park out of the trail there. So now you see it's more open. You can see people

[1:11:35] coming out of it. Uh

[1:11:38] Public works continue to monitor sidewalks, trails, playground areas,

[1:11:41] trees, and other public facilities for potential hazards. The 2026 annual

[1:11:45] playground state inspection was performed and good for another year.

[1:11:51] Uh >> I didn't know that was a thing.

[1:11:54] » Yes, ma'am. >> Okay.

[1:11:55] » Makes sense. Yes, ma'am.

[1:11:58] And then the public works, we've completed 128 work orders since January

[1:12:03] 1st of 2026. This does not include our routine maintenance that we do on a

[1:12:07] daily basis. This is just extra stuff such as a door broke, a fence broke,

[1:12:12] stuff like that, you know. We've completed 128.

[1:12:15] Uh public works continue to routine uh routine maintenance inspection and

[1:12:19] repair repairs while prioritizing safety and maintaining the village's park,

[1:12:24] recreational facilities, and greenway systems.

[1:12:27] » And when he says safety, he means they they take care of the roundabouts and

[1:12:30] the edges of the roads. And so that means they're out there mowing and weed

[1:12:34] eating while >> Yeah.

[1:12:36] » you know. Yeah, it's it's a little scary.

[1:12:39] » Yes, I incorporated for us this year to start. If you see us out there now when

[1:12:43] we're doing the median, I'm behind the mower with the truck slowing traffic up

[1:12:48] coming behind us. And then I go to the roundabout, turn around, do the same

[1:12:51] thing, just a safety precaution. >> me on some of mine. Yeah, same thing.

[1:12:56] » That's good. >> Yeah. Yeah, thank you, Beth.

[1:12:57] » Just a quick note, I know we we we still got enough time. Once we get to reports

[1:13:02] and updates, I'd like to do trails and greenways first cuz Hunter's got a 10:30

[1:13:05] call to get to, so let's go ahead and uh do the do the bench and pergola

[1:13:08] discussion and then jump to trails and greenways report.

[1:13:11] » Okay. So, now we're doing bench and pergola.

[1:13:13] » All right. And I think I guess maybe maybe part of Matt's report, too, is

[1:13:15] that as I understand, the park has now been turned over to public works. Is

[1:13:18] that right? From >> Oh, yes. I'm sorry. We're not

[1:13:20] » No, that's kind of I know you were for >> We are maintaining that now.

[1:13:23] » You are maintaining that, too, so okay. >> Yeah, we are maintaining that now.

[1:13:26] » Yeah. Well, and I guess the bench and pergola

[1:13:29] is just kind of waiting cuz they got the the pond guy here

[1:13:33] that's, you know, kind of doing his thing. And as you can see, there's a lot

[1:13:37] going on with that. I I looked really cool when I saw the

[1:13:41] cisterns, I guess. They were all stacked up and getting ready to go, so I I think

[1:13:46] that'll be a very useful feature, you know, to help

[1:13:49] us with the water and and everything. Did Did I hear you mention, Matt, that

[1:13:53] the that the old well has been kind of declared dead at this

[1:13:58] point? >> Yes, sir. It was hit by lightning.

[1:14:01] » Uh so so is the well dead? Not No, no, no, no. Is it the water or is it just

[1:14:05] the pump? >> Yeah, the the well is uh

[1:14:08] has minimized gallons for in the past five three years, I think it was. It's

[1:14:13] went down five gallons per minute it's producing. That's cuz other wells in the

[1:14:16] area being drilled in that same vein. However, we was on the irrigation wasn't

[1:14:22] coming on, so we checked it. We was only getting five volts at the board. That's

[1:14:26] a 240 system. So, got to looking at it, it's been hit by lightning and fried. It

[1:14:31] was close to three grand to repair. And so, uh they just decided to go ahead

[1:14:36] and not repair that while we're doing the county water.

[1:14:40] » Got you. >> Okay.

[1:14:42] Okay. All righty. Thank you.

[1:14:46] Christina, you want to Well, I guess we were talking my maybe group. We were

[1:14:49] saying that so the pergola is going to be

[1:14:51] um it was purchased and it's going to be set up through your

[1:14:54] » Oh, it's it's sitting at the shed, right?

[1:14:56] » Okay. >> not built.

[1:14:57] » Right. >> We've got it constructed. We're just

[1:14:59] waiting for it to be cleared to put up over

[1:15:02] here. >> And then maybe you and I can exchange

[1:15:04] emails, but the the location has been defined, right? Do you remember?

[1:15:06] » So Well, here's a good question though. The location, does that change relative

[1:15:11] to the the drain that That's the drain that got kind of crushed and you're

[1:15:16] going to have to redo? >> The pergola is 16 ft long, 12 ft wide,

[1:15:20] and between where the trail entrance comes up to the new sidewalk and the

[1:15:25] not the drain, but the edge of the broken dirt from the drain is like 17

[1:15:30] ft. So, it'll fit right in there. >> So, does that make do

[1:15:34] » Uh probably easier to see it, but yes, you can Okay.

[1:15:36] » out and look, but but it's where we said we were going to put it.

[1:15:39] » Yeah. And so, the long side is up against the sidewalk.

[1:15:43] » Parallel with the sidewalk. It's long. >> up against Yeah, parallel to the

[1:15:46] » Okay. And then the benches and I think maybe that's maybe it's Jill's report.

[1:15:49] You You They're going to be ordered and placed.

[1:15:51] » I think she's ordered them. >> They've ordered, yes.

[1:15:53] » Yeah, so I ordered three benches. Two are going under the pergola. I ordered a

[1:15:58] third TBD. I know you guys wanted one kind of near or around the pond. Um so,

[1:16:05] I did order a third and then um I'll also be ordering

[1:16:11] uh I'm going to get with Matt on this, but

[1:16:13] I'll also be ordering some trash bins that match those

[1:16:17] that like the nice ones. Um but want to know how many Matt thinks we need and

[1:16:22] confirm that he's good with the ones I choose first, but yes, I There are dog

[1:16:26] waste stations planned. Again, I got to get with Matt on that because his guys

[1:16:31] can take care of that and that's what they do at the other park as well, but

[1:16:34] as far as where and how many, I'll defer to Matt for that decision cuz

[1:16:39] that really I I rely on his expertise.

[1:16:43] No, yeah. We don't need too many.

[1:16:53] I got three benches.

[1:17:02] Yeah, and that's okay.

[1:17:08] The benches will be in They'll be They'll be screwed into the ground.

[1:17:18] There There are like mounting installation kits that I'll get from

[1:17:21] Matt's team that really long screws that go deep into the ground.

[1:17:26] All right. So And we're not going to change our minds.

[1:17:31] » [laughter] >> Okay. So I think that's it for that,

[1:17:34] right? Uh Christina and I just have to change some emails. All right. Next up

[1:17:38] Did you want to change order? Okay, we're going to move up the Trails

[1:17:41] and Greenways report from Hunter. >> Okay. Um so last night council approved

[1:17:45] the quote for the construction the for the remaining portion of the Heritage at

[1:17:49] Marvin Trail. Um and so that that quote was for a 5-ft

[1:17:54] wide natural surface trail. Um it came in under our

[1:17:59] amount that we received for the fee in lieu.

[1:18:02] Same vendor that has pretty much that we always have worked with Blue Ridge Trail

[1:18:05] Works. So next steps on that is that I actually texted Scott this morning to

[1:18:10] let him know that that was approved and we'll get the contract executed as soon

[1:18:14] as our interim manager gets back from vacation next week.

[1:18:17] Um I will be basically he'll go out and flag the

[1:18:20] route. Um and as previously mentioned Jones Homes

[1:18:24] has already agreed that, you know, basically

[1:18:27] they plotted the easement kind of in the common open space, but that

[1:18:32] you know, completely open for us to go out and flag what we find what we think

[1:18:36] is the best route to limit any type of vegetation removal Um but also just you

[1:18:41] know with the existing topography and everything out there and any areas that

[1:18:44] we will need to relocate they've already agreed to

[1:18:47] to basically work with the village to get those properly easement that updated

[1:18:52] easement agreement executed so we'll go out and flag it

[1:18:57] then we're I think I've already talked with Christina Cole kind of walk it to

[1:18:59] identify any areas regarding potential screening needed I've also as they as

[1:19:05] the developers closing out on the development and to have their bond

[1:19:09] release and roads accepted we did a walk through last week for the to get their

[1:19:14] punchlist items one of those is also having some additional screening planted

[1:19:18] at the back of those lots that's in the common open space where they have the

[1:19:21] room and so so the goal of that is one putting putting some of that on the

[1:19:26] developer that will benefit the homes along that area to be screened with some

[1:19:30] evergreen screening they've done this if if you go into the heritage and you pull

[1:19:34] in and you look left and right you see some screening kind of already installed

[1:19:38] essentially on the left side they'll extend that all the way down

[1:19:41] and so uh that will hopefully help address with

[1:19:45] any type of concerns with some of those new residents along that trail easement

[1:19:49] and then I said where we can identify some opportunities to do some some

[1:19:53] plantings and it it may be with some of the plants that we have or we may have

[1:19:57] to see you know do some type of partnership and work with with the

[1:20:01] developer and and other things of trying to you know

[1:20:04] identify some plants that are going to grow in shade

[1:20:07] because you know luckily along the back end of those lots where the developer is

[1:20:13] going to be plant should be in the sun correct

[1:20:17] so and like I said over time that evergreen screening will will grow and

[1:20:20] and grow in and create the visual that they're trying to achieve but then where

[1:20:24] we can also find opportunities especially to kind of screen from maybe

[1:20:28] the metal arc road side Um, think that's where we can kind of identify some of

[1:20:32] those areas, too. >> Did you specify what size those

[1:20:34] screening trees need to be installed size?

[1:20:38] » I think our ordinance says they have to be a minimum

[1:20:41] Don't quote me on this. I'll confirm. Uh, it's a minimum either 12 or 15 ft or

[1:20:47] between 10 and 15 ft high and I think 4 in in diameter.

[1:20:51] » When they're installed? >> Yes.

[1:20:52] » Wow. Okay. >> It's 3 or 4 in in diameter and 10 to 15

[1:20:55] ft in height. >> That's that's a big tree.

[1:20:57] » Yeah. >> Hopefully they'll wait till fall.

[1:21:00] » That and I've I've requested that. Um, cuz they did already have a few few

[1:21:03] trees in their common areas that um,

[1:21:07] didn't make the the heat. Um, and so they they have those warranty. Those

[1:21:11] will be replaced as well as part of their process.

[1:21:13] » There's a lot of trees being replaced this time.

[1:21:15] Okay. >> So, that's good to

[1:21:16] » And then just just to kind of recap for folks who may not heard in past the

[1:21:20] whole distance of the Heritage Trail. And what's the the distance of the new

[1:21:23] the new part? Just the whole overall >> 1,300 to 1,500 linear ft.

[1:21:28] » Okay. Um, that's that's the entirety of the Heritage Trail or the new part?

[1:21:32] » just the new part. >> part is the

[1:21:33] » Yeah, I would have to get the total. Like I said, the

[1:21:35] » through the woods. >> Yeah. The um, the asphalt portion's

[1:21:39] already in and um, and they have benches installed along

[1:21:43] that as well. That was part of their original agreement. There's two more

[1:21:45] that they have to install, but they do have benches along

[1:21:48] that. Um, I do recall I think what one of the

[1:21:51] initial discussions here was potentially some low voltage lighting uh, maybe

[1:21:54] along the paved portion, but I don't I I know if I recall 3 years ago when that

[1:21:59] original committee you guys I know there was also some environmental concern with

[1:22:02] and so there's no lighting proposed along the Meadowlark side. Um, there's

[1:22:07] no lighting currently installed along the Newtown Road side, but that is

[1:22:10] something that you know, we can look at it if that's uh, something the village

[1:22:13] wants to do in the future, but um,

[1:22:16] but no, it'll like I said, that the asphalt paved portion looks good. Um, it

[1:22:20] gets utilized. This will kind of complete an internal loop and then, you

[1:22:24] know, long term the goal would be if we can get the loop extended,

[1:22:28] um, there or even potentially, uh, you know, opportunities to find

[1:22:32] additional connectivity for those residents to be connected to, you know,

[1:22:35] village hall, the park, and, uh, through some existing trails and some some

[1:22:38] smaller projects there. But, uh, but it's, you know, one step in the

[1:22:41] process and at least get them their amenity and then, you know, some in the

[1:22:45] future that we'll be looking at is if if if at all,

[1:22:48] um, if there's any type of amenities that the village wants to do on that 2

[1:22:51] and 1/4 acre, uh, that we that they dedicated for a park. I don't

[1:22:55] we can leave it wooded and that's a that's a conversation for a different

[1:22:58] time. Um, like so right now we don't have any plans.

[1:23:01] Uh, and and whatever would go there I think would be very low impact or low I

[1:23:05] mean cuz you don't have parking. It would have to be something that's like a

[1:23:07] walkable kind of passive type, uh, amenities. But, um,

[1:23:11] but yeah, we're we're moving forward and I would I would think,

[1:23:15] uh, depending on our trail builder's schedule that they would, uh, he would

[1:23:17] begin construction probably in October, November.

[1:23:20] Um, and that will also provide another opportunity to identify any gaps for

[1:23:23] screening that could be, uh, that we can do some plantings for.

[1:23:27] » And you'll let me know for a walk-through.

[1:23:29] » Yes. >> Of when they first look like they're

[1:23:31] done. Perfect. Thank you. All right. Any questions?

[1:23:35] » Thank you. >> Thank you, Andrew.

[1:23:37] » Thanks, Andrew. >> So,

[1:23:39] go back to Jill for the, uh, event planning report.

[1:23:43] Tonight. >> Hi. National Night Out tonight. Rain or

[1:23:47] shine, we're we're going for it. That's what

[1:23:52] that's what, um, the deputies wanted to do. And so, it's just too hard to

[1:23:58] reschedule fire, EMS, deputies, and all the things. We did it last year.

[1:24:03] This year they've decided we're going to pray to the rain gods to stay away. A

[1:24:07] little bit of rain's okay. It's not going to hurt anyone. We've put on

[1:24:10] social, bring your umbrellas and your slickers and come on out and have some

[1:24:13] fun with us. Um, I'm more worried about lightning and things like that, but

[1:24:18] we'll have to take shelter in the barn if that's happening and hopefully it

[1:24:21] doesn't. >> It will be memorable.

[1:24:23] » I mean, it it sure will. So, um Yeah, no, we're really excited. Um going

[1:24:30] to be spending a lot of time today running around getting food and things

[1:24:33] for it. I can't really buy that stuff in advance, but um the public works guys

[1:24:38] are going to head to Fire Thorn today and pick up the grill that they're

[1:24:41] letting us borrow. Um and really, honestly guys, I'm just

[1:24:44] going to be prepared on the fly to kind of make some decisions about shifting

[1:24:49] things around, relying on Matt and his expertise and his team. But, um

[1:24:55] like we might relocate the grill to the back side of the barn, you know, under

[1:24:59] the cover if if it's raining on on you guys, and might even

[1:25:04] um have to Normally, people just kind of

[1:25:07] get their food and they sit around the park or they use the picnic tables. If

[1:25:10] it's raining, we may have to set some tables up inside.

[1:25:13] So, we're just going to play it by ear and watch the weather and be um

[1:25:19] What's the word? Flexible. And

[1:25:22] positive at the same time. And positive. Yeah, we'll make it work.

[1:25:27] I mean, it is what it is. It's going to be fine.

[1:25:29] Um So, yeah, it The event starts at 5:00.

[1:25:32] We've We're asking all vendors um and everybody to be ready to go by 4:30 just

[1:25:36] in case we have some folks starting uh arriving early. I'm trying to overbuy

[1:25:41] this year cuz I'd rather have too much than have to run to Publix in the middle

[1:25:45] of it all, which we've had to do in previous years.

[1:25:49] » We did it three times last year. >> I know.

[1:25:52] » So, we don't danger that without this year is since it's raining, we might not

[1:25:55] have a lot of turnout. >> I know. So, that's that's the conundrum.

[1:25:58] But, um we're going to overbuy, you know, we can

[1:26:02] always return unopened packages of hot dogs or buns that we don't need. So, I'd

[1:26:06] rather buy too much and have to return some stuff or

[1:26:10] than than not have enough. So, that's kind of my my goal for today. Um and

[1:26:14] then after that, the next the next things we have coming up is

[1:26:18] » Sorry, go ahead. Two things on tonight's event. So, we do have the Young Men's

[1:26:21] Service League. Will they be the primary

[1:26:23] » Yeah, we have 10 volunteers coming from them between them and the moms. So,

[1:26:28] they're going to be serving residents again.

[1:26:30] » 10 of them? >> 10 total, yep.

[1:26:32] » That'll be good because sometimes they've had almost more than

[1:26:34] » Oh, yeah. There'll be like three guys standing. Do you have

[1:26:36] » Right. There's nothing wrong with too many volunteers, but that probably

[1:26:39] sounds like a better balance than >> Yeah, we talked about that. If if we

[1:26:42] have too many, there are some of them might go over and just keep an eye on

[1:26:45] the bounce house and make sure the kids aren't getting a little too wild and

[1:26:48] crazy. So, we'll we'll put them to work. >> Okay.

[1:26:50] » And some of them are also what like if public works has trash they want them to

[1:26:54] go around and pick up or anything. I mean, they're they're happy to do

[1:26:57] whatever they can. So, they don't all necessarily have to be standing at that

[1:27:00] table. >> And then I know of course

[1:27:03] PRNG's planning to be there, too. We had talked a bit about having a table set up

[1:27:06] around >> Yeah, we have a table for PRNG, we have

[1:27:08] a table for Union County Board of Elections, CRTPO will be there, Union

[1:27:12] County GOP will be there. Um Habitat Builders will have a table, the

[1:27:18] sheriff's deputies will have multiple tables.

[1:27:20] » Okay. >> So, lots of We'll have a face painter,

[1:27:23] bounce house, DJ, all the typical stuff. >> Are the tables in the barn or outside?

[1:27:27] » In. Mhm, in the barn.

[1:27:30] » That changes my >> Yeah, last year the deputies had their

[1:27:33] swag table outside, but that's cuz the weather was nice. That's probably going

[1:27:37] to be inside this year. So. >> That's cool. And are we going to post on

[1:27:42] social media that lots of this is inside?

[1:27:45] » Yeah, it already happened. So. Yeah.

[1:27:48] » Because that would make me come out more likely if I thought there was stuff

[1:27:52] going on in the barn. >> Yeah. Any other questions for me about

[1:27:56] tonight? >> What time do you need us there?

[1:27:59] » I would say 4:30-ish. >> Okay, I'll probably be there before that

[1:28:01] to set up Habitat Builders table and then I'll be

[1:28:04] working. >> Okay, perfect.

[1:28:06] Um and then next things after that is just going to be um

[1:28:11] we have a car show, but again, those are those are like self-sufficient. They

[1:28:16] don't really require much from me. I know Matt's team is involved. Then we

[1:28:20] have the ribbon cutting the next weekend. What's that? The last car show

[1:28:24] was in >> again?

[1:28:24] » The car show is the 17th of September. It's actually a British car show this

[1:28:29] time, so it's different than what we've had in the past.

[1:28:32] » 19th >> Um

[1:28:33] » September 19th. Saturday.

[1:28:36] » That's the night Are you sure? Yeah, 19th. Thank you. And then one week

[1:28:41] » month? >> September.

[1:28:43] September 19th. >> September 19th, yeah.

[1:28:46] » Yeah, that's a Saturday. Yeah, we already had the car show for

[1:28:49] for the most recent one was last month. It was in July. Um so the next one is

[1:28:53] this British car show, which is in September on the 19th, and then 1 week

[1:28:57] later is um our ribbon cutting here uh for Houston Ross Park.

[1:29:03] And um then we go straight into We're supposed to technically have

[1:29:08] another car show in October potentially, and then

[1:29:11] it's trick-or-treat and Arbor Day.

[1:29:15] So, busy. >> Trick-or-treat before the Arbor Day or

[1:29:17] no? Cuz >> That's the night before.

[1:29:19] » Okay. >> Yeah, so it happens on Friday night, and

[1:29:22] then Arbor Day is the next day. So, um I know Deb we've already

[1:29:26] discussed starting to work on vendors for trick-or-treat.

[1:29:31] And then um I'm going to put it on the next agenda for us to have a

[1:29:34] conversation about the tree lighting. There has been talk about making it like

[1:29:37] a Christmas vendor market. Um we just I think we need to put some

[1:29:42] conversations and some thought around that. I know um Mayor Pro Tem had

[1:29:46] offered to spearhead that herself if she had to

[1:29:51] because I don't necessarily have the capacity, and I don't know if we'll have

[1:29:54] someone in place. I'm really going to get with Lehman when

[1:29:58] he gets back from vacation that I can't I I like I need him to prioritize

[1:30:02] getting a job description together for this role and getting it posted and

[1:30:07] potentially getting someone hired because

[1:30:12] I honestly don't see the point if I'm if by the time we hire this person, I will

[1:30:16] have done 90% of the work for all of our events for this calendar year. It

[1:30:20] doesn't It's almost like what's the point? What are they going to do until

[1:30:24] spring, you know? So,

[1:30:25] » [laughter] >> I want to get them in here sooner rather

[1:30:27] than later. Um but yeah, so that's going to be a priority

[1:30:31] of mine. But I I'm I'm going to put it on our agenda cuz I do think we need to

[1:30:34] discuss some things. Like we're not going to be able to put all the vendors

[1:30:37] in the barn, or maybe we do and we move the tree and the actual event outside

[1:30:44] and the vendors are in the barn, or are the vendors outside and we continue to

[1:30:47] do what we do in the barn, but then it could be a cold night for those

[1:30:51] vendors. So, it would really feel like a Christmas market, but it's going to be

[1:30:54] chilly and we need to prepare for that sometimes.

[1:30:56] » all the weathers. >> All the weathers. Hot, we've had

[1:31:00] freezing. So, you just don't know what you're going to get.

[1:31:03] » And and just as an update, you know, normally it's the village manager that

[1:31:07] would be hiring for that that role and so forth. We have an interim manager,

[1:31:12] but um we we have made some pretty good progress in terms of initial interviews

[1:31:18] occurring, you know, things like that. >> For for for the actual manager's role.

[1:31:23] So, we're we're getting ready to move forward with some next steps on that and

[1:31:28] um you know,

[1:31:30] hopefully once we get that in the place and then some of the other dominoes

[1:31:34] also, you know, can can help to fall after that.

[1:31:37] » Yeah, but we should be able to use the interim to just at least get the job

[1:31:41] description and get it posted and start getting cuz we have to post it for a

[1:31:44] certain period of time and open it up for an application window. So, hopefully

[1:31:48] that part can happen and then um yeah, ideally the new village manager would be

[1:31:53] the one to hire that person. So, that's the goal. Any questions for me about

[1:31:58] anything? Any questions about the ribbon cutting

[1:32:01] or anything? >> Well, you've done a tremendous amount

[1:32:03] and obviously PR and G is here to help support the village too. So I mean we

[1:32:06] know not just showing up for these events, but you talk about these

[1:32:09] planning things. If there's something real specific and we amongst ourselves

[1:32:12] can talk about who may want to step in and maybe help with some more of the

[1:32:15] planning or even kind of evaluating the logistics for the Christmas market. So

[1:32:18] don't feel like you're alone. So most certainly if it helps delegate, you

[1:32:22] know, we've got folks here who can at least

[1:32:24] » Thank you. I know Deb's already offered to help with vendors for the

[1:32:28] trick-or-treat and the good news is we've done this for a few years, so we

[1:32:31] have a a good lead list of the past attendees.

[1:32:34] Um so we'll reach out to them first and invite them to come back and then

[1:32:38] um it's just a matter of promoting it and um

[1:32:42] you know, I don't in

[1:32:45] we probably should set a goal for how many vendors we want at trick-or-treat

[1:32:50] and it's it's nice for us to have a number, but then you know, really we

[1:32:54] should be bringing public works in into that discussion because they're the ones

[1:32:59] that have to figure out where to space them all on the the lawn and last year

[1:33:03] we had a pretty good number that we were able to just go all the way around the

[1:33:07] sort of the tree line and the outer edge. Um Matt was sort of saying if if

[1:33:12] we were to try to increase, we would possibly have to like snake vendors like

[1:33:16] this. So we had some in the middle of the lawn

[1:33:19] as well, but make it like a little right? That's what you said. So it's

[1:33:23] just something to think about if we want to go big and we want to get more,

[1:33:27] um then we can certainly do that. We just have to sort of think about that

[1:33:31] and make sure that we get with public works to to make it work properly.

[1:33:35] » Okay. But yeah, just an example of that or even like you know, even some of the

[1:33:38] legwork too. I know today you're saying you're running around. I mean I get

[1:33:40] myself to volunteer others, you know, as you think about that or as Halloween

[1:33:43] comes up because you are wearing multiple hats and we do have some

[1:33:46] capacity in this group too. I mean we many folks already put time in, but just

[1:33:50] to know that feel free to reach out and ask. I mean folks

[1:33:52] » I will. Thank you. Luckily the public works staff is awesome and I like um

[1:33:59] it's obviously Tyler's not here. Last year he was big enough to go and grab,

[1:34:04] you know, 10 cases of water and ice and all the

[1:34:08] things. So, public works will be helping with that today, thank god, because

[1:34:12] that's a lot for me. I can go get the hot dogs and the buns and the ice and

[1:34:15] the cookies and the chips, but the water is like a lot. So, um

[1:34:19] and they're going to drag out the big coolers and fill them with ice and and

[1:34:22] help out with that. So, um but no, thank you for the offer. I appreciate that. Um

[1:34:28] and we'll definitely take you up on that for for trick-or-treat or any other

[1:34:32] event that we have. >> And you mentioned Houston Ross that date

[1:34:34] just to confirm because last week we were last month we were talking about

[1:34:37] potentially looking at dates just to make sure everyone's aware we are

[1:34:39] sticking with the the 26th, yes, as as the opening. Okay. We've been cutting

[1:34:45] for Houston Ross Park. >> 9:26

[1:34:47] » 9:26, that Saturday afternoon. Again, can you just reiterate the times so we

[1:34:51] have that? >> So, it's 1:00 to 3:00. Um we'll have

[1:34:54] vendors here and set up by 12:30. DJ with the microphone and

[1:35:00] um we have a coffee cart person coming and a slushy person coming and there'll

[1:35:05] be some food charcuterie vendors. There'll be some things. Um

[1:35:09] » By vendors we're meaning we're providing that it's not the purchase that's to be

[1:35:12] had, correct? >> Um the yes, we are

[1:35:19] It's a good question. I don't really have a budget for this event, but I did

[1:35:25] I did Obviously, I was purchasing all of the

[1:35:28] food and all of that and the slushies. I'm pretty sure I'm paying for the

[1:35:31] coffee, too. Yeah, I think I'm paying for everything. Yeah.

[1:35:34] We'll pay for everything. I'm not expecting a huge turnout, so

[1:35:38] it's we can absorb it. >> Okay, so

[1:35:43] » Listen, I picked I picked a really great fall menu for that coffee cart, too.

[1:35:48] It's I'll show you what it is. I'll send it

[1:35:51] to you. >> Okay. And then when does three and then

[1:35:52] we'll have maybe next week next month we'll Oh, no. We'll have one more

[1:35:55] meeting. Is there like a time frame too? So, I assume at X time, you know, is

[1:35:59] Mayor Barbara speaking and who are the presenters of this too? Do we have a

[1:36:03] » Yeah, I had a I had a potential um program outlined that I thought I

[1:36:08] already shared with you guys. Maybe I didn't, but I thought I did. But yeah, I

[1:36:12] mean um that was sort of back when we weren't 100% sure who was running point

[1:36:17] on the event. Um so, maybe I'll be prepared to show that uh share that with

[1:36:21] you guys at your September 1st or whatever date that is that meeting. Um

[1:36:26] but yeah, I mean pretty much it's just opening remarks and

[1:36:30] the biggest thing is um I don't have direct access to the

[1:36:34] descendants, so I don't know what I don't know. I don't know if they want

[1:36:38] microphone time. I don't know if they have a speech prepared, so

[1:36:41] » So, I don't know we need to work with Angel because she's interfacing with

[1:36:43] them as well as the historical society. >> But I've I've built in time for that. I

[1:36:47] want to make sure that if any of them have comments or they have prepared

[1:36:50] statements that they can speak as well. So, and if in the absence of that

[1:36:54] there's an opportunity for Angel or someone on council to get up and say

[1:36:58] something. And then um the actual cutting and and then just music and

[1:37:03] refreshments after that. So, >> Just letting you guys know we're we're

[1:37:07] we're a little bit over time. >> Okay. Thank you. I just but I I'm glad

[1:37:10] because you spoke I thought you were going to jump in and say the signs are

[1:37:12] ready. Do we have a timeline on updates for those

[1:37:15] posts? Okay. But they will I mean I obviously

[1:37:18] between now and the 26th they'll be in place before

[1:37:21] » That's the goal is to to have them all installed by the ribbon

[1:37:25] cutting. >> Okay.

[1:37:27] All right. Anything else? Thank you Austin for the

[1:37:29] reminder. All right, we'll see you tonight. We'll

[1:37:33] be this afternoon.

[1:37:36] Tonight oh, I was going to come around 10:00 when we're cleaning up. I'm just

[1:37:39] kidding. >> Yeah, probably that would be very happy.

[1:37:41] » All right, let's last up is the village cannot last up but um the village

[1:37:45] council report, John. >> All right. Well, uh

[1:37:48] couple of things, some some that we've already talked touched on um

[1:37:52] as um Hunter reported on the Heritage at Marvin Trail, part of our consent agenda

[1:37:58] was uh the approval of Blue Ridge Trail Works to go ahead and um you know, we

[1:38:04] got that uh RFP submitted and approved now, so they're ready to move forward

[1:38:10] with that. Um the other uh item that um we discussed in depth is the Sport Court

[1:38:16] grant and uh you know, essentially Jill did a great job interfacing with the

[1:38:23] Fitness Foundation and we did receive this $35,000 grant. The discussion last

[1:38:29] night was whether about accepting it. Um in the end um that vote failed three to

[1:38:35] two. Um and and it wasn't so much that it

[1:38:38] failed because nobody thinks it's a good idea. Um just the way that kind of the

[1:38:43] calendar has rolled out um and and after our discussion last month, council last

[1:38:49] night was kind of faced with you know, we've got 60 days, you know, to to

[1:38:55] essentially provide them a purchase order for a

[1:38:59] for for a good chunk of the equipment that would be our match to the $35,000.

[1:39:05] Um but but there was a lot of conversation around

[1:39:09] whether or not, you know, right in front of public's there um and one council

[1:39:14] member had some concerns. There's two fitness,

[1:39:17] you know, um

[1:39:21] membership clubs that that are right in that plaza. Um how it could potentially

[1:39:26] affect them. Um and and there were conversations, well, it could be good

[1:39:31] and it could be bad. They might actually utilize it, you know, or something like

[1:39:34] that. So, there were some concerns around

[1:39:37] that. I I did ask the question because I didn't know if we had considered it and

[1:39:42] we hadn't really yet. Um might it be a better um spot where the the Heritage

[1:39:49] um um park that um we're wondering 2 and

[1:39:53] 1/2 acres there. Is that something, you know,

[1:39:55] potentially? Uh well,

[1:39:58] uh no parking. One thing that we did um

[1:40:02] well, kind of a separate issue. So, in the end, you know, and even one of

[1:40:06] the council members that said no, we're we're not really prepared for this. And

[1:40:10] you know, that's why um I thought it important when we were

[1:40:14] having those conversations about public private partnerships, things like that.

[1:40:19] When we have opportunities like this or other things,

[1:40:23] it it it's important that we're ready for them sometimes, you know? And and

[1:40:27] and and you know, yeah, it it doesn't feel great when yay, we got $35,000, but

[1:40:34] no, we're we're we're not going to take advantage of that time.

[1:40:37] » They told me this quick on that. We Was it a matching I assume I'm What was the

[1:40:41] overall price? We were >> So,

[1:40:43] it it would have been matching, but then overall, even if we could get some

[1:40:47] sponsorships or other people to come in on it, the total cost was going to be

[1:40:52] about $205,000. >> Okay, which we don't have in

[1:40:55] » And and and that that we don't have budgeted stuff. So, you know, yes, there

[1:41:00] are were other areas that Joe could say, well, we might be able to pull from this

[1:41:05] and but with having to make that initial

[1:41:08] investment within the next 60 days of our match of $35,000 for equipment that

[1:41:16] then it's very hard to kind of back away from if if we can't put it all together.

[1:41:20] And it doesn't preclude us from from looking for this grant again or looking

[1:41:24] for other grants and things like that. But but I think it brings up an an

[1:41:28] important point, too, about being prepared. I know like the Heritage Park,

[1:41:34] you know, we've wondered, what do we do with that?

[1:41:36] We we We do want to start to have more of a

[1:41:40] vision of what we want to have available for some of these things.

[1:41:45] You know, and it doesn't need to be one vision. It could be multiple. But what

[1:41:49] are the acceptable uses for these things? You know, what

[1:41:53] when we do have an opportunity, bang, you know, we're ready and and and you

[1:41:58] know, we we at least have some thought already baked into it. So,

[1:42:03] you know, So, we didn't end up taking the the

[1:42:07] grant for the sport court. Many did think it was a very good idea.

[1:42:12] Some had concerns about the location. Some had concerns about the timing. But

[1:42:17] it is something that they would support in the future. It's just

[1:42:21] just a not now thing. Okay? We did also

[1:42:26] discuss and this is for, you know, kind of the

[1:42:31] benefit of Village Hall here, but also for the Heritage and District in

[1:42:35] general. And you were just talking about parking.

[1:42:39] We we did have a conversation and we are moving forward to have discussions about

[1:42:44] partnering with Zepsa as he develops Marvin Grove, which

[1:42:49] will be next door. That kind of in the front part of the

[1:42:54] woods here, we still own a 0.46 acre piece of property that's not part of the

[1:43:00] Village Hall Park right now. But if it were to be developed in

[1:43:05] conjunction with what he's doing because if if you've been back there, you know,

[1:43:10] the elevations get all kind of wonky and you know, there's storm water runoff

[1:43:16] that gets directed one way or the other based upon the the lay of the land.

[1:43:22] And [clears throat] the goals with doing this would be to to do a couple of

[1:43:25] things. Well, we're disturbing a lot of that land already

[1:43:29] as Zepsa has the right to do to develop their project.

[1:43:34] Essentially that little parcel would become landlocked forever. You know,

[1:43:40] um because we wouldn't be able to get another

[1:43:43] kind of cut off the roundabout or anything like that. Um so, you know, the

[1:43:48] discussion was around we could increase, you know, uh parking availability for

[1:43:54] when we have larger meetings and stuff which we've run into here at Village

[1:43:58] Hall already where people are parking out on the street in

[1:44:02] the road and stuff like that. Um so, we would be able to improve parking for us.

[1:44:08] We would be able it would be shared parking like all is in the Heritage

[1:44:12] District and with a new state ordinance that came out, we can't require minimum

[1:44:18] parking for any future commercial projects. They just don't allow us to do

[1:44:22] that anymore. So, any parking that is available is kind of take it when you

[1:44:27] can get it at this point because we can't

[1:44:30] force, you know, developers to to add that in the future. Um and then also

[1:44:35] from the stormwater perspective, there's some things that can be done to take

[1:44:39] that natural flow right now where it's currently kind of going down and

[1:44:43] sometimes adversely affecting folks like in the preserve and things like that. Um

[1:44:50] speaking with Hunter, there's things that we may be able to do that um can

[1:44:54] help alleviate that utilizing the retention pond that the um uh Marvin

[1:45:00] Grove is already kind of looking at incorporating there anyway. So, um we

[1:45:06] did talk about um it being a pervious type surface if we

[1:45:10] were to do something like that. Um we did talk about wanting to keep, you

[1:45:15] know, of course, as many larger trees and and kind of any buffering around it

[1:45:20] that that we would be able to do. Um and um you know, so, that you know, in

[1:45:27] speaking even for whatever we do end up doing with the Heritage Park,

[1:45:32] if it were fitness or something else, people would at least have a short walk

[1:45:36] with some parking available. So, >> That parking would also be, I guess,

[1:45:39] something picturing you would then walk down the Marvin Loop that cuts through

[1:45:42] the park, right? I mean, that's the logical way to go.

[1:45:44] » And well, probably because they're they're adjacent to each other, we

[1:45:48] probably will have a direct connection from that parking lot into Houston Ross

[1:45:52] Park. >> potentially in the Marvin Loop goes

[1:45:54] around park there if you want to get on the loop without having to park in the

[1:45:57] Village Hall. >> Yeah.

[1:45:59] » So, what you're saying, John, is when that's developed, it sounds like the

[1:46:02] village is going to partner with them. >> we we we directed staff to work with

[1:46:06] Zephyr because they were kind of getting ready to move forward with their final

[1:46:09] construction documents. And if they kind of did that, you know,

[1:46:14] you can imagine, you know, a lot of times that they'll get their elevations

[1:46:18] and then right at the property line, it could be like an 8-ft drop or, you know,

[1:46:23] something that would make it far more expensive and complicated to ever do

[1:46:28] anything in the future. >> So, we would still have to manage that.

[1:46:31] It's not there He's not going to develop that parking lot for us.

[1:46:34] » The that Well, we we may could The ownership will probably lie with us

[1:46:39] because um that that is the easiest way. It's we wouldn't want to be

[1:46:46] providing just free you know, something free to a private

[1:46:50] developer. You know, there there are guardrails around that in state

[1:46:54] statutes. But to coordinate with the mono project

[1:46:58] is is something that's totally doable. And and the access that it would be

[1:47:03] shared access just like everything is for the um

[1:47:06] for the um Heritage District. >> It would also be shared access for his

[1:47:12] property, too, right? >> Correct. Correct. Yeah.

[1:47:16] Um and then um the parking and

[1:47:21] Um >> the the last thing is just something

[1:47:23] that we kind of touched on. Jill brought this up from a finance perspective, but

[1:47:28] um, we have had over the years and we haven't used it because we've never had

[1:47:32] the right opportunity um, 250,000. 250?

[1:47:38] In the land acquisition. >> 350.

[1:47:40] » 350,000 dollars in a land acquisition and you

[1:47:44] know, PRG in the past has talked about well, you know, if a property and and

[1:47:50] there's not that many properties available around Marvin these days,

[1:47:54] especially even at 350,000 dollars, it's a pretty small property. Um, but but if

[1:48:01] in the event something, maybe it's between us and Waxhaw, Weddington, if

[1:48:06] something came up that could be good seed money at least for um, potentially

[1:48:12] acquiring. We've talked about sport youth sport leagues or something like

[1:48:16] that and you know, if it would ever make sense to partner partner with another

[1:48:20] municipality or something like that. So, we did have a conversation around that

[1:48:25] um, because we do have other competing needs. So, we have this in the budget

[1:48:29] each year. We haven't used it, so we've kind of rolled it over. Um, I hope I

[1:48:34] hope I'm portraying everything properly here, Jill. Um, you know, um, um, but I

[1:48:41] but I think council by and large, you know, understands that. If there are

[1:48:46] other priorities like roads or something where we definitely need the money

[1:48:50] » Okay. >> we could always reallocate those funds

[1:48:52] to >> reallocate it to another area. the park

[1:48:55] acquisition >> It's not allocated It's allocated to

[1:48:59] land acquisition. Whether public works might need something or

[1:49:04] if we had to pay for part of land acquisition for a roundabout or, you

[1:49:09] know, who >> Yeah, I mean, it's really going to

[1:49:10] depend on on council priorities and consensus and you know, um,

[1:49:17] this sort of came up in our strategy funding call when we were looking at how

[1:49:21] what funding pathways we might have for the fitness court. And I know there are

[1:49:24] some council members that feel like, you know, just because we need money for

[1:49:29] roads, they're they're not necessarily really pro, let's drain every other

[1:49:35] account and move everything to roads. Like they want to make sure cuz I cuz

[1:49:38] like we have a quite a substantial amount in greenways and trails, for

[1:49:41] instance, that we don't necessarily have a lot of trail

[1:49:45] projects anymore that that money would go to. So, um, but the the idea being,

[1:49:51] well, if it's already there and it's already been appropriated for parks and

[1:49:54] recs, let's leave it in parks and recs and um, and try to spend it in that

[1:49:59] area. But they can decide at any time to reallocate funds

[1:50:03] through a consensus. And so, we are going to talk about these funds a little

[1:50:07] bit more in January at the retreat and kind of figure out what makes most

[1:50:10] sense, where to shuffle things around. But, um, that's why I'm glad that we

[1:50:15] will have a chance to have a conversation in the fall as we're

[1:50:17] preparing the CIP for what we want to see happen, what you all want to see

[1:50:23] happen in parks and recreation for next fiscal year, so that I can advocate for

[1:50:28] that and advocate for those funds to stay in parks and rec for those various

[1:50:32] projects if council agrees and approves them in the CIP.

[1:50:36] » Yeah, and that kind of makes sense cuz we're getting the publication of the new

[1:50:38] parks and greenway plan, right? So, that's I mean, we've got the

[1:50:40] recommendations there, so that's the follow-up.

[1:50:42] » Perfect timing. >> That's pretty much it for me. I just

[1:50:45] wanted to keep you, uh, you know, and that's more of a tangential one, but

[1:50:49] because we've had those conversations about land acquisition, public private,

[1:50:54] you know, partnerships and things, and even kind of like what what Tom was

[1:50:58] talking about today, you know, um, it it's about being prepared. If we if

[1:51:03] we don't have a land acquisition fund, then

[1:51:07] an opportunity may pass you by just cuz you're not pre- not prepared for it,

[1:51:11] either, you know? So. >> Yeah, because then I would have to

[1:51:15] potentially wait for a council meeting to get approval to move money out of

[1:51:18] unassigned fund balance into land acquisition and then, you know, that

[1:51:21] delays everything. So, um a good news is they council is, you know, as John said,

[1:51:26] they are not saying no to the fitness court. They actually are very intrigued

[1:51:31] by it. It's just let's take some time and let's figure out maybe we delay a

[1:51:35] couple years because the Heritage Pocket Park is a better choice and I know some

[1:51:39] of them want it to be centrally located to that downtown area.

[1:51:44] Some of them want it to be walkable or bikeable. Um

[1:51:48] but I, you know, yes, parking is going to be a concern and some people are

[1:51:51] going to want to drive to that amenity and may not be able to. So, we'll keep

[1:51:54] flushing that out, but it's going to become a CIP project that um

[1:51:59] will get prioritized and/or funded as as we're ready to move forward.

[1:52:06] » That's it. Thanks, John. Good update. >> Thank you.

[1:52:09] » Last up, we have a review of action items, Austin.

[1:52:11] » Uh you guys will have the public-private partnerships back on your September

[1:52:15] agenda. I'm taking the trail head signs to council for their work session.

[1:52:20] Uh Jill is going to have a discussion for

[1:52:23] the tree lighting on the next meeting in September.

[1:52:26] And I have actually already followed up with the sign vendor for Houston Ross

[1:52:30] Park. I'm just waiting to hear back. >> Okay.

[1:52:33] And okay, so so our motions go into your action items like the

[1:52:37] motion we made on the sign. Is that's a >> motion?

[1:52:39] » No, no, we made we approved the signage to go to council. That's that's not an

[1:52:43] action item, right? Because it's >> No, I'm I'm taking it I'm just letting

[1:52:46] you know I'm taking that to council at the next next meeting.

[1:52:48] » Okay. Great. And then any ongoing action items

[1:52:52] on the list? >> Nothing's Nothing's urgent on there. Got

[1:52:55] some long-standing ones, but they're >> Okay.

[1:52:58] » more important things. >> All righty. Last up is our board member

[1:53:00] comments. Anyone have anything to make comment on?

[1:53:03] Deb? >> I have a comment.

[1:53:05] So, Stroll bound to or I'm sorry, Stroll

[1:53:10] Firethorn is a publication It's called Stroll Firethorn. It's a

[1:53:15] publication that gets mailed at Firethorn.

[1:53:19] And they would like to start featuring the village's events in their

[1:53:23] publication. They can also share it on their social media as well if you're

[1:53:27] interested. But they would like photos.

[1:53:32] » We don't have photographers at our events. It's just whatever photo

[1:53:35] » Whatever we take. Okay. >> I don't have

[1:53:38] » Yeah, they haven't done a good job is the long and short of it. Like we

[1:53:41] In the past we've taken pictures, but no one has had time after these events to

[1:53:45] like What are we doing with them? Who has them? Where are we storing them?

[1:53:49] It's something that we'd like to change moving forward.

[1:53:52] » I have taken them, too. >> Yeah, I have them. I have I I have sent

[1:53:56] them to people in the past, but then like sometimes pulling me will use She

[1:54:00] She would use them to do like a graphic to put on social or a newsletter, but

[1:54:04] then whatever happened with the originals after that I'm not really

[1:54:07] sure, but I thought about going through my files.

[1:54:12] » our new project manager can >> Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And and it's a

[1:54:17] it's a fun volunteer opportunity when people are like, "How can I help?" I'm

[1:54:20] like, "Run around and take pictures and then give them to us after."

[1:54:24] » [laughter] >> That's a good idea. Maybe something

[1:54:25] through the high school as well. But so Deb, but I think the main thing you're

[1:54:28] saying is the Firethorn would be willing to support publishing our events. Is

[1:54:32] » So, it's not through Firethorn.

[1:54:35] » No, whatever the Stroll um >> Right.

[1:54:37] » Okay. >> Right. So, you would just need to get

[1:54:39] the events calendar like Austin publishes and then you would just relay

[1:54:43] it to >> It's and it would just be more

[1:54:45] information sharing within the community. Another avenue.

[1:54:52] » All righty. Thanks, Deb. Anyone else have comments?

[1:54:55] For today? All right. Um Then that with that we will adjourn

[1:54:59] today's meeting. Look forward to seeing everyone this evening. Make a motion.

[1:55:03] I'll make a motion. Yeah, sorry. Just want to say we'll look forward to seeing

[1:55:05] everyone tonight at the night out, um, rain or shine, and that

[1:55:09] making a motion to adjourn today's meeting at 10:53. All in favor?

[1:55:13] » I. >> I.

[1:55:13] » Okay, motion passed. Thank you. Meeting adjourned.

Parks, Recreation, and Greenways Board Meeting

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