Good evening everyone, and welcome to the june 10th, 2025 new board of alderman
e. The prayer tonight be coordinated by alderman prill. Yep.
uh, thank you, mayor. Um, pastor johnson, you arrived just
in time. Floor is your
all. I can say to god be the glory. Yeah.
I want to thank my beloved mond
for placing such trust in me to
give the opening prayer for this great meeting.
and, um, I'm just overwhelmed.
thank you, mayor and all for your present
here today. Tell me about his,
our almighty father in heaven. The, the
creator of heaven and earth. The giver of all good and
perfect gifts, the giver of life, health,
strength, and salvation. Right early
this morning, you didn't let us sleep
too late, early this morning, you reached
down from heaven with all power,
from heaven and earth. In your heads,
you touched us with your love, your compassion,
grace and mercy. You bless
us to look on
a brand new day, a day we never seen before.
you have been mighty, mighty, mighty good to us
in this day. Yes. You brought us over the
dangers, highways and bows to
this city. Council of the meeting.
one more day. One
more day. You brought us together.
we thank you, our father. Thank you lord
for one more alderman meeting.
we have come from the north, south, east, and
west to sit at table
in this historic meeting. Yes, we have
come out of love, respect for our city,
uh, leaders and citizen, all because we are
concerned about the health,
the wellbeing of our city and citizen.
our father. We come before you as an
empty picture before a full fountain.
look on us with your all. See and eyes.
remove every sin from within our heart
and soul. Fill us with all your
love, your joy, your peace,
your unity, that we might be all just like
you in this meeting. Our
father, give us your
peace and unity in this place
and in our hearts, all because we are determined
to do our best, to represent
you and to make a strong, positive
impression and difference in our city and in the lives
of all of our citizens.
in and throughout this meeting. To the end
of this meeting and to and
beyond, all I say to you today
is to god be the glory
for all the great things that you are to us.
all the great things that you have done for us. Yes. And
all the great things you will continue to do for us
as we continue to work together and serve you
as your people. In the mighty name of our risen savior, we offer this
prayer and redeem of the lord. Say amen. Amen. Amen.
amen. Thank pastor, if you're able to stand, please do so and pledge. Declare
our practice. I pledge allegiance
to the flag of the united states of america and
to the republic for which it stands. One nation, another
god, indivisible, with liberty and I justice all.
madam clerk, if you would please call the roll alderman
frill. Here. Alderman royal. Here. Alderman
aser. Here. Mayor odom. Here. Alderman kenzie. Here.
alderman vest. Present. Okay. Board item number three is to approve the agenda.
are there any changes you'd like to make?
if there's no changes, um, if
there's no changes, I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as his second.
I have a motion a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing
none. All those in favor say aye. A a aye. Any opposed? Agendas approved.
next is request and petition of citizens. Madam clerk.
thank you.
first up is nat crosby.
thank you. Thank you.
hey, y'all. Uh, good evening mayor and uh, board of aldermen.
my name is nat mckeller crosby and I'm a resident of ward
six, right here in newland. With the time I have, I would like to
share an opportunity with all of you. And this opportunity
is a viable and sustainable way to increase
revenue for this city. Allowing for the funding of pertinent projects
like storm water, drainage repair, safer roads for motorists, pedestrians
and bicyclists, necessary upgrades for our utilities
and our parks and recreation. A new fire station and
emergency response center, all while generating a true wealth
building economy right here in new this
opportunity is the chartering of a public bank, which
I've coined. The bank of new. A public bank is a financial
institution like any other. So the city can hold its deposits
that it usually gives to another institution in its own bank,
allowing the bank of newburn to leverage those deposits 10 to one.
and that means every 1 million that is deposited, you can put 10 million
to work for this city, borrowing the funds needed for
the infrastructure and other projects cited previously, and do so
without exorbitant fees and interest rates that are typical and hinder these types
of projects in the private markets.
now, the major difference of a public bank is that it has a legal
mandate to act in the interest of the community it serves.
and this is the part where it gets good for our citizens. The
bank of newburn would use its mandate to build a resilient economy,
providing low cost lending opportunities for families to cover
housing, education and transportation needs, as well
as support our local small businesses, whether that's a startup company or your local,
uh, favorite business looking to expand. Also,
there are a number of passionate and dedicated nonprofits here in town, working hard
to fill some of the gaps. The city could partner with the bank of new bern
to create and fund these organizations, meaning programs like youth
services, gun violence provision, uh, prevention and addiction support,
uplifting our community as a whole with the bank
of new bern. We would have the ability to take care of each other right here at home.
I'm hoping that you would consider this opportunity as a way to keep our hard earned dollars
right here in newbury. The go bonds if issued on the private
market, will over the life of the debt, cost the city a minimum of
$25 million. And that's just an interest payments alone.
not to mention the extra cost of underwriting and the direct cost of issuance
that will eat away at the principal amount of that debt. That interest and
fees that would be paid out could stay right here in new,
to increase our revenue and be put right back to work for us, our
citizens and our economy. Now, the process for chartering
a public bank begins with an application, um, with the office of the
commissioner of banks. And the requirements are outlined in the, uh, general
statutes chapter 53 c. And I will provide you all with
a preliminary feasibility report that will include more details in the applicable
laws and the process, as well as case studies, a timeline, a
timeline and monetization options. I urge you all
to have an open mind towards this fiscally responsible initiative
and an open heart for the prosperity this can bring to the people of new bern and
our economy. I thank you for your time, uh, and I
wish you all well. Thank you. Thank you. Next is soray
bliss.
my name is soraya bliss from ward one. For months I've worked to address concerns
regarding the historic preservation commission reaching out to offices
across the city and every member of the board of alderman. Thank you to those of
you who have responded. I have been advised that while the hpc board is
responsible for its actions, the alderman are accountable to provide oversight.
I respectfully request your leadership to address legal and public interest
concerns with the hpc. You've been provided a document detailing
some of these concerns, which will also be made available on the dear newburn
hpc facebook page. The hpcs issues extend beyond
ward one. Issues affect every ward one through six.
the hpc is paid for through the general fund. Taxpayers from
all wards share the cost of the hpc, including staff
legal fees and compliance, such as the maintenance of city buildings.
insurance companies calculate premiums using risk pools, not individual
wards. When repairs are costly, so are insurance premiums.
the hpcs conduct reflects on the city government as a whole.
the hpc still fails to comply with the 2021 state mandate
to update its enabling statutes. It illegally conducts closed committee
meetings. It neglects to maintain or share legally required documents.
it demonstrates a lack of understanding of its own governing rules. And it recently con
conducted a vote in a design review, uh, pardon me, in a
design review meeting and manipulated guidelines to achieve its
desired outcome. Moreover, the hpc has not adhered to
best practices engaged the public, or despite a devastating
hurricane made any guideline updates for 52 months. And that change
only addressed site planning compounding this, the hpc
asserts unchecked authority stating in its rules of procedure with
which it amends with zero oversight. That policies and rules
of procedure in this document supersede any rules or
procedure that may be referenced in the newburgh historic district guidelines
translation. We, the hbc get to make our own rules when we
want and how we want. And our rules are the ones that count the current
guidelines and practices. Beg legal questions are inconsistently enforced.
split the district to have and have nots, ignore sustainability and
resiliency and undermine the pc's very purpose, intent, and
goal. When confronted with concerns, the hpc
dismisses them saying, we have it under control. When press for
transparency and public engagement, they responded, put your concerns
in writing and maybe we'll even call you. I did exactly
as they asked. They publicly denied receiving documents and they
never did call. I urge the alderman who are accountable for hpc
oversight to direct the hpc to immediately establish a public inclusive
guideline work group with a mandate to deliver an actionable plan
for review by august 12th. Additionally, I request a moratorium
on guideline update discussions or proposals in regular
hpc meetings until the hpc demonstrates legal compliance
and competency for at least two full hpc meeting cycles.
resolving these issues requires no additional funding. Only your
decisive leadership should resources be perceived
as a barrier. I personally volunteer to coordinate all necessary
efforts for guideline updates, ensuring public involvement,
regulatory compliance, and tangible outcomes that benefit our community. Thank
you for your time and consideration. Thank you. Thank you.
next is carla crole.
good evening mayor, board of alderman. Thank you for, uh, hearing
my comments tonight. My name is carla prole and I am from ward six in the
city of new bern. I became aware,
uh, of the vacancy in the ward six alderman's position last summer.
I have been active in trying to be part of the process to rectify
that vacancy. Tonight I would like to ask the board how they
intend, what is their plan to,
to, to make an understanding of how their positions are interfering
with their shared interest that all citizens in new bern
deserve and are entitled to representation on this board.
when two parties are not able to come to terms, it's usually because they're, they
have different positions that are at odds. And the that difference of opinion
also makes it difficult for them to understand that they have shared interests at heart.
we do have a shared interest in shared governance, and indeed the charter
for the city states that it is your obligation and your duty
to ensure that all citizens are being represented.
six people applied for the seat. Nobody got interviewed.
um, there were three attempts to fill the appointment.
three of the members of the board never changed their vote. The
other three members of the board seemed open and willing to consider other candidates and
endorse under candidates. Meanwhile, the
constituents go without representation. This is not a good thing. There
is a lot going on. In fact, the mayor acknowledged that when he
said he wanted somebody who was ready to go on day one. That
was 314 days ago, day one. Indeed
during the main meeting when presented with 175
legitimate signatures from ward six residents, the,
the mayor stated that he wasn't gonna vote for anybody
indeed. He then went on to assure us that there was only four more meetings before the, the, the
election. In fact, between may 13th and when the next
alderman takes the seat, there will have been six regularly
scheduled monthly meetings. But beyond that, the alderman have
public hearings called meetings and so forth. The work
that you do far exceeds merely monthly meetings.
we then were told that we were trying to put our hands on the scale
of the election by pushing for darlene brown's candidacy.
and this was said even after
darlene's own words. In her letter to the board were read where
she said she was willing to fill the vacancy but would decline running
in the election in october. The city
attorney sometime ago advised the mayor that when there is a contentious
issue being debated, if the mayor wishes
to engage in the matter, he is to turn the gavel over to
the mayor pro tem. He did not rather,
he asserted his opinion forcefully and used the gavel to
quell dissent and threaten forcible removal
of the dissenters. And so because there was
a desire for somebody ready on day one, an incorrect
assessment of the number of meetings that were left, and a frankly
insulting remark that ward six representatives were tampering
with the election. Ward six now faces
the reality that we will have been without representation for 496
days. Perhaps we do not have a shared interest
in equal representation. What
is the thank you for your comments. Thank
you. Thank you.
next
good evening, board of alderman and mayor. Good evening. Can you hear me?
yes. Yes sir. I don't want to lecture you
'cause you are all grown adults and leaders elected
by constituents. But the journey
of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
these journeys that we all take are different journeys. So
we can't assume that each step is equal
for me to walk out my door as an african american black
man in this country, I may walk out my door
and be accused of something or an immigrant
may walk out their door and go to work, earn a decent pay,
obey all the rules, and be put in prison in
the next hour. Each step of us for this journey
of a thousand miles is different.
so true with a healthy democracy. It begins with
you, the board of aldermen, the first governing body for the
citizens of new bern, north carolina, where we are all citizens
and have the first step is to participate in your election.
each of you are elected and represents a certain constituency.
each of you were elected and not placed
by an autocratic government.
unfortunately, our government
here in new bern, north carolina and democracy is not healthy.
it is not healthy because there is a seat there
that has not, that's been vacant for 400
some days or will be for 400 some days.
so if we expect a healthy democracy for all citizens,
a diverse community, how is it that we can
start off with an unhealthy governing
the citizens and all of its citizens and ward six
have not been represented in this board of aldermen
and its first government body of new bern, north carolina.
the membership of you does not represent me as a
resident of new bern, north carolina. The
citizens have the opportunity to vote and
instead of working on how do we fill this seat,
now we are faced instead of why
we have not filled this seat. Instead of
resolving this miscarriage of democracy, you
are now complicit in an unhealthy governing
body. We have a vacant seat
in ward six, and whether it's one minute before
the time is up, or one day the principle still remains
the same, it is vacant. I charge each of
you to address this issue
and explaining to us why
you had the opportunity to share with us how now
you must share with us why. Thank you. Thank you.
next is jen zerbe.
good evening mayor, board of alderman. I'm jennifer sbe.
uh, so imagine you're a local restaurant, enjoying dinner. Um,
let me back up. So I'm requesting, um, a little
bit of an amendment to the noise ordinance, as some of you already know. So,
so imagine you're at a local restaurant enjoying dinner. Suddenly a door slam someone
laughs a little too loudly, nothing out of the ordinary, but under our current
current noise ordinance, that brief sound could result in
a violation unfairly penalizing the business. So
today I'm here to show you why this ordinance needs an an update to ensure fair enforcement
in an effort to establish an effective noise ordinance. The city of new bern
invested $10,000 to consult noise specialist. However, despite expert
recommendations, the adopted ordinance relies on peak noise readings rather than
averaging a method widely recognized as more balanced.
additionally, noise measurements aren't always taken at appropriate distances,
skewing results, which was recommended by the specialist
as well. So we proposed practical modifications
that maintain order while ensuring enforcement is accurate and fair for both businesses
and residents. Something I wanted to illustrate
was to show you a live sound meter reading. Um, the read 80 80
shows a way to do this. The current, um, decibel readers that
both the new bern police department as well as um, us have
aren't able to do it. Whereas they show you a low,
a high and the average reading the sound,
the display that I would've had, would've showed and it was so cool, um, to where
you could see the average. So if you clapped your hands, all of a sudden it went up to 80,
that would've been a violation. Um, so you would've seen how any little noise where
if you coughed or you clapped or the door slammed,
um, somebody shut a dumpster door, it would automatically spike
that reading and that caused us to garner
over $1,500 worth of time regardless. Um,
even though the overall sound remains steady and granted, I know that
we've had this conversation. I'm not asking for a lot,
I'm just asking for a con different face.
let me get back on track. Sorry. . Additionally, consider, um,
measurement location. In one case, a reading was taken directly outside
of business window instead of 25 feet away. As advised,
this led to an inaccurate assessment and an unnecessary type citation.
these flaws highlight why simple improvement such as average readings
and properly defining measurement locations are necessary. So our
proposal is straightforward and backed by recommendations. So we, we suggest
three key changes. First using three average readings
instead of peak measurements. The read r 80 80, as I stated earlier,
cal calculates these averages in ensuring accurate enforcement without
requiring multiple officers on site. Second, defining the measurement
location as half the distance between the complainant's residence and the source of
sound, or at least a hundred feet away. A practical compromise to
ensure readings reflect real impact. And third, clarifying the appeal
process which currently requires individuals to submit their case to the chief of police.
this makes this process more transparent, thus ensuring
fairness for all those facing citations. Updating this ordinance aligns
enforcement with expert recommendation. It ensures fairness and consistent measurement
practices and provides businesses and residents with an equitable way to
contest citations. The goal is not to weaken the noise regulations, but
to improve them so that enforcement is reasonable clear and just so
we're just asking the board to amend the ordinance to reflect expert recommendations,
establish fair enforcement guidelines and
thank you. Thank you. Next is steve.
good evening board. Uh, my name is steve skiffington. I'm a resident,
uh, newborn in ward ward three. And I'd like to speak to you about
a citywide town town hall. It's my understanding, and please
correct me if I'm wrong, that several months ago al been
aster and the mayor had agreed to hold a citywide town hall meeting.
can someone tell us when that has been scheduled for?
am I to assume it has not been scheduled? They
respond. You can only speak to them. I'm sorry. They
don't respond more. Right. Okay. Well it was just on the record
that that's what they said. So the question is,
we are asking not just me for a citywide town
hall meeting. Elections are coming up and people need to hear.
it's that simple. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, thank
you. Next is
al woman isha harris.
good evening. Members of the board mayor. Um, I'm just coming here because
you know, it's juneteenth week. Um, and I'm representing the committee
'cause they're actually on their way back from raleigh from picking up the,
um, john canoe commanders, the dignitaries. Um, but
we just wanted to let you guys know that the 11th, 12th, and 13th starts
the three day john canoe workshop. It is free. And cra terrace
from 10 to two. Please bring the children out. Adults, everybody. I'm making an
outfit. Um, friday 13th. Yes, it's a scary
day, but go to, um, craven arts council at 5:00 pm
it's art walk. It's beautiful, beautiful art. Then the 14th is
the parade and festival parade starts at 11 on the dot. If you
are in the parade, you better be lined up. 'cause ms. Sharon, let's go. That's
how she is. Festival is at 12 o'clock. We have an amazing
performance, a lot to do. So please show up and support your community.
it is for everybody. Um, and then go home, freshen up
and come back with the fireworks at 9:00 pm and then
community day is on the 17th, the first a hundred children
at the roller land. 4:00 pm get in there for free. Well,
we only have max a hundred people, food and everything. Um, and
then a lecture series through the cultural center.
um, charlotte rome. And then, um, stanley white. Please support,
um, our southpaw baseball. I love them. They're awesome. That is
on the 20th at 6:00 pm sankofa play is on the 20th
at seven 30. And the bonfire july, I
mean june 21st. That's at the beasley compound. 8:00 pm that is a
ticketed event. $10 online or at the event. And then
maafa, um, barbecue is on the 22nd. It is, um, at
6:00 pm down at the gazebo. It is open to everybody. Thank you.
thank you. Thank you.
okay, board next up is the consent agenda there. Wants the pleasure of the board on items five through 11.
mayor, I make a motion to approve the consent a agenda. Second.
I have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion? Hearing
none. Let's have a roll call sergeant with alderman frill. Alderman frill.
yes. Alderman royal. Yes. Alderman naer.
yes. Alderman kenzie. Yes. Alderman desk. Yes. Mayor
odom. Yes. Motion carries. Next up is item number 12, presentation by
the new bern underground railroad coalition. Mr. Hughes. Good
evening, mayor and alderman. At this time I'd like to ask ms. Roseanne wilson, president of the african
american heritage and cultural center to come up and make her presentation.
thank you. They told me there would be a
clicker here. So good evening. Um,
mayor odom, members of the board of waderman,
uh, my name is roseanne wilson and I am the president of the african
american heritage and culture center here in newberg. And
we are just 1 5 0 1 3 c
uh, nonprofit supporting the underground railroad,
um, of new bern coalition. Others
who are part of, uh, the coalition, either through membership or
support, are the historic dry association,
the climbers club of of new bern.
the, uh, historic, excuse me, uh, new bern historic society,
james city historic society. And I'm sure I've left
out somebody, oh, the king solomon lodge and tryon
palace. Um, you have in your packets copies of
some support letters from some of these organizations and also
from, um, new bern citizens as well.
so why are we here? What is our goal?
our goal is to, um,
require or not require, acquire recognition
of new bern waterfront at, uh,
as a national park service underground railroad
network to freedom site. That's a mouthful.
um, but that's what we, why we are here because we have been
working on an application to hopefully get that
designation. We are here to gain, um,
your support. Um, as, as city leaders,
we are not here asking for money. We are not
here asking for any kind of signage to go up, um,
in the, at the waterfront. The application
merely puts us literally on the map. You also
have a copy of that map in your folders, the map that
shows all the different areas in the united states and
several in north carolina, um, who have
this designation of being a network to
freedom site.
so a little bit about how this was established. Um, there was
a, a congressional act that was passed in 1998.
and through this, um, act, the national park service
created programs to recognize, promote, honor,
and preserve the history of resistance to
enslavement through escape and flight. I'm gonna say that again.
resistance to enslavement through escape and flight,
which is important. Even frederick douglas knew
when he wrote his narrative that he was trying to
dismantle this myth of the happy slave.
and so what the national park system was trying to do
was recognize the, um, underground
railroad so that people understood that,
you know, folks that were enslaved want did want to be
enslaved. The network
advances also the idea that all human beings embrace
the right to self-determination and freedom
from oppression.
the underground railroad, uh, new bern coalition, what have we been
doing? Well, I've already mentioned that it includes, um, members of
the community as well as members of several 5 0 1 3
c organizations that are focused on newburn history.
um, we've consulted with lisa jones, who is a name that you
all might know if you've ever been out to the washington, um,
waterfront underground railroad. She applied for,
um, this designation back in 2015,
I believe it was. And, um, so where she is in
washington has been designated and is on that map that
again, you have in your folder. Um, and,
and no, she did not get money for her little caboose that
she has the museum in, if you've ever been there. After she
got the designation, she used that knowledge
to raise money to actually open the museum that
she has there. We, um, have also been guided
by the national park service,
um, regional manager who they assign different people to
guide those who are applying, um,
to the, uh, organization and giving, giving them
guidance. So we actually had a zoom meeting a couple months ago with some
folks, and to be very honest, we weren't sure if they were still around or
not. Um, so a couple of weeks ago though, we reached
out, and this is, excuse me, this
is still happening. There is still someone there that, that we
have spoken to, and he's looking forward to our application.
um, in fact, we will be hopefully sending
a draft to him in another week or two, um, before the
deadline so they can read it and give us guidelines. So
this is still happening through the, um, national park service.
we also, uh, planned and, and had two
commu community meetings in april. 'cause we wanted
to foster a greater community collaboration and engagement.
and that, um, worked. Um, thus so many letters
that you have, and I think there's a couple more that you don't have.
so now why is this important for new bern? Well,
a couple of things. Um, it certainly contribute, would contribute
to the preservation and dissemination of the rich
history that we have here in new bern. Sometimes some
of that history is untold, um, in the african
american community. And we all, um,
in the coalition, and certainly in my organization, believe that
american history is, is everybody's history. It's not just african
american history, but we need to keep that in our minds. Keep looking
at that clock thinking, it's telling me when to stop mm-hmm . Um,
and also of course it would promote the development and, um,
growth of our tourism that, um, is something that's
very important to the city and will be recognized
nationally. Again, that map is a national
map of, uh, underground railroad network to freedom.
so, looking ahead, well, our plan is to, um,
submit the application by july 15th. Um,
our hope is that the application will be accepted
and that new bern will then be added to the national underground
railroad network to freedom website and their resources.
and, um, after that, then we will continue as a coalition
to, um, create and develop educational resources,
share stories, educate the public, and further our
re research. So again, I thank you
for your attention. We certainly look forward to your support
and wonder if you have any questions. Four, have questions.
what specifically are you asking of this board,
if anything, with regards to this project?
um, just support, um, I guess
a, I don't know, a letter of support, um, would be good that we could
add to our application or just knowing that, uh,
this is something that you think will be good for the city.
there's a, there's a couple options. Um, a letter, uh, could
be done relatively easy and quickly. Uh, the board could
sign the letter if you wanted a resolution, which has a little more
teeth to it, if you will. Mm-hmm . Uh, we could have one prepared if the board decided
to do that, and it could be on our next agenda, then the board could vote on it and then you could
use that as a resolution. So there's two options. Um, if you want to think about
it with the committee and decide, you can get back to us. Um, either way, I
think we can work with that timeline of getting you that information by july
the eighth, which is our next board meeting. Okay. That'd be great. Thank you so much.
any other questions? Any other questions? Your honor, thank you
very much. Have a good evening. You too. Thank you.
okay, next up is item number 13. Conduct a public hearing and consider adopting an ordinance
amending sections 15 15 1 29, basic definitions and
interpretations. And 1578 minor subdivision
approval of appendix a of land use ordinance for a change in minor subdivision.
ms. Ruth. Hi, good evening. Thank you. Evening. Uh, this
evening we have a series of three text amendments to present to the board. The first
one here, uh, is the two dissects that you just referenced and
simply stated, this is a request coming from the public to modify
the lot size and land acreage that qualifies as a minor
subdivision. So I wanna talk just for a moment and
give some context to what we mean when we talk about what a minor
subdivision is. The state and general statute says that we have
to afford people the ability and our ordinance to simply
subdivide a piece of land. What they do not do is tell us how
much land that can be and into what size pieces or how many we get to
decide that as a community and what's appropriate for us.
so typically a minor subdivision, um, is between three and
10 lots for a community our size and up to 10
acres of land. Anything within that window would be considered typical of a
minor subdivision. And to qualify to be a
minor subdivision, the resulting lot created from the parent
tract need to be of some, some criteria. So we can't
create a new street that cannot happen in a minor subdivision. It
can't require easements and it shouldn't require utility extensions.
so we're keeping this very simple. They are considered to be very simple,
either typically approved by a staff member, whereas in a major
subdivision, we would go through our whole process, through our
development review committee or our drc, where we bring in all of
our departments to look at all of those things that would be impacted like
utilities, like how a firetruck gets down the road, like how it gets water,
things like that. So when we talk about a minor subdivision, I want you just
to think of a rectangle and dividing it up into squares
and how many squares that would be because none of those other things
would be impacted. Typically this process is available because
somebody has a tractor land. Oftentimes it is used, uh, to create
conformities when there's multiple structures on one large lot. It's also
very often used when somebody wants to, uh, give
land to their children and they divide it into pieces like that.
it's a very simple explanation of what's being proposed tonight. Uh, currently
we allow a five acre tre to qualify as a minor subdivision
to be divided into four lots. So that falls into that typical window
that I just explained to you. And the proposed change that you're
being asked to consider is to change that threshold to allow a six acre
track to qualify as a minor subdivision. So adding an acre onto that
and to be subdivided, subdivided up into six lots.
this is not the entire text amendment. I'm not going to show you all
of the changes in all the text amendments that are being proposed tonight. In the spirit of
full transparency, that is all in your packet. I've included
these slides to just show you that big change of going from
five to six and from four to six here.
so a text amendment, and we haven't done too many of these, but we do have quite a few
coming through. The pipeline right now is processed the same way as
a zoning map amendment, which we typically call a rezoning. So
the way that that can be initiated is that staff can propose
a change to the ordinance. You as the elected body can propose a change to the
ordinance or the planning and zoning board can propose the
change to the ordinance. In most ordinances, there's
a process written out, just like is written in ours for how a citizen and tech
would request a map amendment or a rezoning. This exists
for a text amendment. While state law allows a citizen
to ask for a change through our text, our ordinance doesn't
expressly call out that process. So after discovering
that, we made sure that this process is going in our new ordinance and when
we get requests like this, they have been, um, sponsored by staff
such as this one is. And alderman royal asked a good question,
uh, last meeting on what is the citizen requested text amendment that's
supported by staff. That's why I took the time to explain this to you.
and so because that process is the same, I have up on here a recommendation
from the planning and zoning board, just like you see with a rezoning request
and also a statement of consistency that what is required for
the text change just like it is for a map change.
and so the staff evaluation of this is that we do support this change. We
feel it's very minor. It retains all current standards, um, that we
currently have. So we're not changing anything other
than the size and the number of lots that can be created.
and we do feel like this does offer some opportunity for smaller scale
developments to occur without that intense review process of going through
the drc or the development review committee and having to go through
and have all of those departments look and evaluate
a project such as this when it's really unnecessary because
the criteria do not allow impacts to water, sewer, utilities,
or streets. Would that I stand before you
ready to answer any questions you may have. And I believe our applicant is also in
the room prepared to answer questions for you as well. Does the board have questions?
yes, I do. You've cited several scenarios
potentially for citizens to want this,
uh, amendment. Any of those fit the citizen
that initiated this request, I'm gonna let the applicant
answer that for you. I feel it's that that's an appropriate question for him. Thank
you, mr. Attorney. Do we need to have
the applicant do that now or under the public hearing? Um, the public
hearing would be great. Okay. So arm roy, when we open the public hearing,
the applicant can then come forward and answer. Thank you. Board. Have
any more questions for staff?
okay. At this time I will open a public hearing on item number 13. If you would like
to come forward, please do so at this time.
good evening board. I'm wendy card with newburn now.com. And I'm
here just to clarify a few things and I appreciate your time.
um, in march,
I can't remember the date, but in march the planning and zoning board,
uh, it was said that
the amendment was requested by the new
bern preservation foundation and that the president of that foundation
was in the audience to answer any questions.
they didn't. An attorney spoke on their behalf that
president was also a member of the historic preservation
commission, which is a quasi-judicial public body.
and I'm just, I'll get to my question in a little bit so
that that's what happened. And one of the planning and zoning board members
had took issue with the amendment not necessarily 'cause of the request,
which I'm not real clear about because I didn't have all the information
that was given to the board right prior.
so what was said in the public was the change was
being requested. So structures
would, could be conforming with the
law if the amendment was, was passed, they
needed that amendment. So it could be a conforming
structure. Um, so
I guess my question number one is what is your,
what's the policy for the conflict of interest for, uh, historic preservation
quasi-judicial commissioner to also be the president of the preservation
foundation? I kind of
see some, you know, if this comes before that preservation
commission, I just don't see how that is not
a conflict of interest and I'd like clarification. And who will
benefit from this change? Is it the public at large or just one
per one citizen to make their
structure conforming? And is that normally how we do
business is just to change the law to suit one person's or one
group's need. Uh, thank you very much. Thank you.
can we pause here with attorney davis to respond? Sure. If you'd like to ask him a question.
yes, ma'am. Um, lot, lots to unpack there. Um, first of all,
this has nothing to do with the historic preservation commission
at all. Um, the preservation foundation
owns some properties that you're going to hear about where this rule
would, if adopted, would apply to them and allow
them to subdivide their property into six
lots and avoid the expense of having to go through the
major subdivision process. If they had four
homes, they wouldn't be here because
the current rule allows four separate lots
to be divided as a matter of right through the minor subdivision process.
they have a unique situation, um, where they have six.
so that, that's the genesis of all of this. And I, and I wanna repeat again
this subtle but important notion. Every citizen
has a right to reach out to staff to reach out to the
planning and zoning board and to reach out to you to propose their
ideas. They have a right to do that. They do not have
a right to cause a text amendment to be initiated,
right? Just because someone asks doesn't mean that staff
or p and z or you agree. So this
is a situation where the preservation foundation approached
staff with their dilemma staff reviewed it, as jess mentioned,
concluded that the proposal made a lot of sense for the very simple
reasons that jess explained. The current rule allows
four lots to be divided as a matter of right out of a five
acre track. If it's on a public street and there is
no new sewer or water service required, and the
proposed rule would change the five acres to six acres and the
four lots to six, this has nothing to do with creating
a conformity. Right? This doesn't, this doesn't magically
fix someone's existing problem.
all it does is it creates an off ramp for a
minor subdivision to decrease the cost for developers
who want to divide a six acre parcel, um,
uh, into six lots. Does that make sense? Bottom
line, there is no conflict of interest. No, ma'am.
thank you. Good evening, sir. Go ahead.
uh, good evening, mayor and alderman. My name is eric remington. I'm with the law firm of
warden smith, and y'all have met me before. I'm here representing the
new bern preservation foundation. And, uh, as mr. Davis
said, uh, it was us that went to the staff and,
and brought this issue to their attention. Uh, because in this
ordinance, specifically within section 15 dash
78 e, the board of alderman had already created
an exception to the minor subdivision rule, which allowed
parcels that had more than two homes on them to
be subdivided, but it only allowed for the four.
and there's a very important parcel in town that has
buildings on it over off of pasture street that is owned by the preservation
foundation. And that parcel has on it what we
refer to as the six sisters. And they are six, uh, road buildings
there that are, that have been, they're on one lot right now and
they're essentially rented out, uh, as low income housing.
um, this exception, uh, that basically,
you know, uh, was created. The problem was that it did not allow
for a subdivision of the, that particular lot
to allow those six houses to remain in place and not
have to be able to not have to tear down, uh, some of those houses.
so what we did was we went to the, um, the staff and we talked
about that, and we talked about other ways of trying to, to, uh,
reached a goal that the preservation foundation was, and that is to
have each of these houses be an individual ownership.
and, um, these, again, these houses have historic significance.
um, they are, we believe that this is
consistent with the long range plans of new bern city, of new bern.
if, uh, you look at, uh, the consistency with those plans, the
city's urban design plan actually reflects this
property in the plan and talks about it. It is
a prominent feature in the city's urban design plan. The river
station neighborhood plan includes three images
of this property in it because that's how significant this, these
six sisters are to this, uh, area, uh, the river station area.
what the historic preservation this amendment would allow is for the
historic preservation, uh, foundation to then subdivide
this, these six, uh, homes. Instead of them being on one
lot and being essentially rental properties, they would be able to be in, in
individual ownership. And that would one, allow them to be
better treated and, and take care of rehabilitated. And it two
would increase the tax base for the of the city. Um, so we're asking the
board of alderman to approve this, uh, amendment, this tax amendment.
it, it's not going to create issues because as mr. Davis says,
uh, if there is some parcel out there that it's gotta meet all
the requirements, it's gotta have all houses that were built on it before 1953.
and I can tell you I have looked and I have not found another, uh, parcel
in town that this would uh, affect. So it, there
is, this is really, um, if somebody
has a lot out there that is six acres and they want to subdivide it,
they're gonna have to conform with all of the requirements. But
this would allow these six particular sub, you know, the subdivision
of this parcel into six lot. So we ask you to approve it
and I'm happy to answer any kind of questions that you have before, have any questions.
assuming that, um, this
amendment gets approved, and I don't know whether you can
answer this or whether it's a question more of a, a member
of the preservation foundation, um,
will the preservation foundation
be putting covenants and restrictions on each of these
homes, um, prior to their going
out or up for sale that a future owner
must comply with? That's, that's a good question. Uh,
alderman, um, I have with me, uh, president of, of the foundation,
uh, richard parson. And, um, I'll let him answer that question.
uh, but my understanding is yes, that's what the case will be.
thank you mr. Mayor. Board of alderman. Uh, yes,
mr. Peel, it is our intention to covenant all six of these
individually to be owner occupied and to
prohibit any major change to the exterior so that they will remain in their
basic historic fabric. But the, the goal is
to have individually owned owner occupied structures.
that that's what our covenant is intended to say is owner
occupied. And will the, the preservation
foundation, are you going to be making any improvements
to the structures prior to them being put on the market
for sale or will, um, that be up to the,
the new owners to, um, cover the cost
of any improvements? We have already have covenants on
70 properties downtown. Uh, many of those have passed
through our hands. And our, uh, usual way of acting is to
sell it as is with a preservation agreement
that it runs parallel with the covenant that the people agreed to,
uh, fix 'em up to a certain minimum standard. And then they're
allowed to go beyond that as much as they want to.
the, and, and as a previous conversation that you and
I have had, um,
as is part of, or the part of the covenants and restrictions,
uh, is that going to require the, the future property owners to
only use the rear property for parking? Not, not
out front. That is our intention. Yes, sir. That will
be part of the, to eliminate the confidence and restrictions, eliminate resident parking
on pastor street? Yes, sir. Okay.
nothing further, mayor, thank you. Any more questions from the board?
thank you. Is there anyone else from the public that would like to speak on this topic?
good evening. Just a general question for the attorney. In those, uh, behind the amendment,
would this only affect those, uh, partials as mentioned or would it affect any other
parties in the city?
this rule applies citywide to any property, six acres or less,
to be divided into five watts. What's getting us confused is that
in this particular specific case, there happens to be houses
built already and that makes it confusing. So this would affect
all housing. It it affect anyone who has any acreage,
six acres or less. This? Yes. Who checks the
boxes? You have a, you're on the street. Yes. No extensions of sewer or
water. This rule would apply to you if you currently have that acreage
instead of four lots. You could do six and fast track it through
the minor process. Gotcha. Thank you. Thank
anyone else?
see none. Board I'd entertain a motion to close the public hearing if that's what you desire.
honor. Second. I have a motion to second to close the public hearing. Is there further
discussion on that? Hearing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye.
aye. Any opposed? Public hearing is now closed. What is the
pleasure of the board? On item number 13,
mayor, I'll make a motion, um, to
adopt an ordinance amending sections 15 dash 15 1 29,
basic definitions and interpretations and 15 dash 78
minor subdivision approval of appendix a of the land use ordinance
for a change in minor subdivision. Second. I have
a motion and a second. Is there further discussion?
hearing none. Let's have a roll call starting with alderman royal. Alderman
royal? Yes. Alderman aser. Yes. Alderman kenzie.
yes. Alderman best? Yes. Alderman frill. Yes.
mayor odom? Yes. Motion carries. Item number 14, conduct
a public hearing and consider adopting an ordinance amending sections 15 1 36 residential
districts established 1546 table of permissible uses
and 15 1 63 particular uses of appendix a
of the land use ordinance for flexibility in mobile food vendors.
ms. Ruth. Alright, thank you so much. And the sections you just described
are all connected to how we regulate food trucks. If we were
to say that very simply. So what we are asking for tonight
is a, uh, a change proposed to you that would allow mobile
food vendors also known more regularly as food trucks in
all of our zoning districts, rather than just our commercial zoning districts.
staff is in support of the proposed text amendment for the following
reasons. Um, it's retaining all of our regulations that apply
already to food trucks as temporary uses. It promotes a little more
flexibility on where we can use and allow food trucks. And
this is very consistent with planning trends throughout the country.
broadening accessibility for mobile food vending.
um, as in the last text amendment, I am required to tell you the planning and zoning
board has reviewed this. They did unanimously recommend
making this change and found it to be consistent with all of our
planning documents. Oops.
and with that I can answer any questions for you. Board have questions?
jessica, was this uh, amendment requested by
any entity in particular or is this just no, sir. This was a, an
administrative text amendment. We have a lot of public spaces that are
actually, uh, zoned residential and this makes
it, uh, them available for food trucks to go for special events.
jessica, I just have one question. I know. Um, currently,
regardless of the zoning or where it's located, we don't allow food trucks on public property unless
it's a special event. That will not change. That will not change. So this means that
a residential neighborhood, if this were to pass, you can't set up a food truck on
a public street? That is correct. Okay. It has to be on private property. Okay. Yes.
thank you. Any other questions?
hearing none. I will open the public hearing on item number 14. If anyone would like
to come forward and speak, please do so at this time,
hearing, make motion, public hearing. Second, have a motion and a second
to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion?
hearing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed?
okay. Public hearing is now closed. What is the pleasure of the board? On item number 14,
mayor, I make a motion to consider adopting an ordinance amending sections
15 dash 1 36 residential districts established
15 dash 46 table of permissible uses and
15 dash 1 63 particular uses of appendix
sale of the land use ordinance for flexibility in mobile food vendors.
second. I have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion?
hearing none. Let's have a roll call starting with alderman astor. Alderman astor.
yes. Alderman kenzie. Yes. Alderman best.
alderman prill. Yes. Alderman royal. Yes. Mayor
odom? Yes. Motion carries. Next up is item
number 15. Conduct a public hearing and consider adopting an ordinance amending
section 15 1 63 particular uses of article 11
supplemental use regulations of appendix a of the land use ordinance
to remove registration and separation requirements for short term rentals.
ms. Ru, thank you so much. This is an amendment that
is being requested for consistency with state law.
lemme get recalibrated here. This is an amendment to our section called
particular uses and this is the section of the ordinance that houses
our regulation on short term rentals. And a few years ago,
I believe it was in 2022, there was a case that came out of the city of wilmington
that made some determinations on what was and was not constitutional
when it came to regulating short term rentals. So what this
amendment that is for your consideration this evening would do
would remove our language and our short term rental law
that, uh, requires registration for short term rentals because that
has been found to be unconstitutional. And also remove the separation
requirements. We currently require that they're 250 feet apart and
that is no longer considered constitutional based on this case law.
no other changes to our short term rental requirements would occur.
it is simply streamlining our ordinance to be consistent with what
the courts have said is and is not allowable.
staff is recommending approval of this, um, due for that case law
consistency. And the planning and zoning board is recommending this unanimously
as well based on consistency, not only with our adopted plans, but with that
case board. Have questions for staff? Yes.
for the benefit of our public. What are some examples of short-term
rentals? It's typically, uh, homes that are rented as airbnbs
or bbos. However, in land use
language that we use fancy, we call 'em str or short term rentals.
thank you. Any other questions
further? Okay.
at this time we will open a public hearing on item number 15. If you would like to speak
regarding this item, please come forward at this time.
mayor, make a motion to close the public hearing. Second,
I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. Is there further discussion?
hearing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Public
hearing is now closed. What is the pleasure of the board? On item number 15,
I would like to make a motion to adopt an ordinance amending
section 15 1 6 3 particular
uses of article 11 supplemental use regulations
of appendix a of the land use ordinance to remove
registration and separation requirements of short
term rentals. Second, I have a motion
and a second. Is there further discussion? I
just had one comment or question. Uh, mr. Attorney, I know you've said oftentimes
that we don't necessarily want to be the one to set
the rules in the standard. Is this a situation where maybe
we were a little proactive ahead of the game and case law
came back and said what we did was basically incorrect? We were a great question, mary.
thank you. Um, our, um, our ordinance was consistent with
others statewide. Um, typically wilmington and asheville
are the ones that, uh, lead the charge in defending because there's no clear
rules as to what you can or can't do. Um, in this case,
the court came back and of the six or eight elements of our ordinance,
two of those, um, were struck. Since that decision, we've
obviously not enforced those two provisions and this just tidies up
so that we're all consistent. Maybe you may remember many years ago, same thing happened with group home
legislation. Um, you know, when you don't have the robust case
law, you do your best until the court tells you otherwise. Okay. Thank you.
is there any further discussion? Hearing none
unless have a roll call, sir, with alderman kenzie. Alderman kenzie? Yes.
alderman best? Yes. Alderman reel? Yes. Alderman royal?
yes. Alderman aser? Yes. Mayor odom? Yes.
motion carries. Next is item number 16. Consider a resolution
authorizing the municipal service district advisory committee to proceed with projects. Mr. Hughes
mayor on may 20th. The msd advisory committee met to discuss a variety
of projects and they came up with several recommendations to the governing board.
those projects include, uh, purchasing two downtown digital
kiosks that cost of $62,000, allocating
funds to the broad street parking for the river walk pier in the amount of $300,000
brick crosswalk project for eight, for eight locations downtown, namely
on p*****k street south front street, and then the half blocks of craven
and middle street at the amount of $750,000.
and, uh, stall center armrest on downtown benches. And
this is a phase. So the first phase is $15,000 purchase,
16 four foot benches to go, uh, on certain areas of
downtown that don't have benches. Amount of $20,000 and purchase eight
additional trash cans in the amount of $8,000. All of these would match the
existing trash cans and benches in the downtown if approved these funds
for these projects would come from the municipal service district fund. Happy to answer
any questions you may have or have questions.
mayor. I would just point out that I had reached out to, um, foster
and brenda earlier today. Um, the, the way that
the resolution had been worded, um, was
that they were being authorized to proceed with these
projects. But given the fact that the msd advisory committee
is only advisory in nature, um,
they recommend projects for the board's consideration
and if approved, then the city is the implementing
agency for these approved projects. So, um,
I ask that that resolution, um, be
reworded, which it was, um, just to make it clear that
the any approved project, um, will
be the city's responsibility to initiate n execute,
not the advisory committee. Okay.
any other comments?
it's pleasure of the board on item number 16.
now I'll make a motion to approve a resolution authorizing the
municipal service district. Well actually
not the advisory committee, I guess make a motion to approve
the recommended projects. From the municipal service district advisory
committee. Thank. Okay, I have a motion to second. Is there further discussion?
hearing none. Let's have a roll call starting with
alderman best? Alderman best, yes. Alderman prill.
yes. Alderman royal? Yes. Alderman asher? Yes. Alderman
kenzie? Yes. Mayor odom. Yes. And just to be clear, that is
to approve the updated resolution that was circulated to the board before the meeting.
is that? Yes sir. Very good, thank you. Okay, next
up is item number 17. Consider adopting orders authorizing 2025
general obligation bonds, ms. Ostrom.
okay, so over the past year we have been working towards seeking
voter approval for three bond separate general obligation bonds.
one was the $10 million for the sidewalk street and sidewalk improvements,
8 million for parks and recreation, and 6 million for storm water improvements.
at the last meeting, you authorized the submission of an application
to the local government commission for these proposed bonds. Part of that
process requires a notice of intent to file an application to be published
in the local paper. That notice was published in the sun journal on may 17th.
the next steps of this process require that the board approve
the introduction of the three bond orders and the adoption of the first reading
call for a public hearing to be held on july 8th. Designate
and authorize the filing of two required statements and authorize
the city clerk to file copies of the statements with the local government
commission and publish the bond orders and related notice of public hearing.
so you have a lot in your packet tonight and we're gonna take a moment to go through that.
the first, you should have the three bond orders.
um, the purpose description and amount on each bond is located
in section one of each bond order. The remainder of that
document contains the same general language for each bond order and it pledges to
the tax levy tax revenues to pay for the debt.
it states that the sworn statement of debt has been filed with the city clerk and is
available for public inspection. And the statement of disclosures will
be filed with the local government commission and posted to the city's website.
it also calls for the public hearing to be held at the next board meeting on july 8th.
and that bond order will take effect when approved by voters in october.
then you have the next two pages. In the public notice is the public notice
that we will be published in the sun journal. It includes three,
the three bond orders that we just reviewed. And in the last paragraph of section
four, it also provides the total of all three proposed bonds in
the amount of 24 million. The estimated interest
of all three bonds in the amount of 13,466,888
$880. That calculation consists of
the safe harbor rate of 5.344%, which is determined by
the local government commission for calculating estimated interest.
it's the highest rate charge for similar tax exempt debt for over the last 20 years.
it also provides the estimated property tax rate increase of 2.75 cents
per $100 of assessed valuation to pay for the debt of all three bond
orders if they were all passed. The next three pages
you will see the statement of disclosures. The
purpose of the statement is to provide transparency to voters about the potential
cost and financial implications of the geo bond referendum.
it is informing the public of what we are considering adopting in july
and requests their opinion that the next board meeting prior to adopting
it is filed with the local government commission and posted on the city's website.
this document breaks out each bond order and its respective
estimated interest and estimated property tax rate increase if
approved by the voters and is issued. The information provided includes
the streets and sidewalk bond for 10 million with estimated interest of $5,611,200
and an estimated tax rate increase of 1.51 cents per hundred dollars of
assessed valuation. The parks and rec bond in the amount of 8 million
with an estimated interest of $4,488,960
in the estimated tax rate increase of 75 cents. And
the storm water bond in the amount of 6 million with an estimated interest of $3,366,720
and an estimated tax rate increase of 49 cents per a hundred dollars of assessed value.
if all three bond orders were to be approved, the total estimated tax rate
increases $2 and 75 cents per a hundred dollars of assessed value.
the sworn statement of debt follows with the next two pages. This document is
required to be filed with the local government commission and reports to the city's current reports
on the city's current debt and author, any authorized bonds they have not been issued.
I'm officially submitting to the city clerk assigned copy of those of the sworn statement
of debt and the statement of disclosures. Lastly, the
following three pages consist of the bond referendum with with each ballot
question. As you can see, each one is voted on individually.
looking forward, we are planning on holding four meetings during the months of august and
september to educate our citizens and taxpayers provide information and answer
questions on, on these bonds. And, and tonight
our bond attorney john, my and with bol bond and dixon and ted cole
and the city's the city's financial consultant, davenport, are here to answer any questions
that you may have about what's presented to you tonight regarding the geo bonds.
the have questions.
kim? I have, I have a few. Uh, first off, can you tell us how much the total
interest would be on all three of the bonds if approved?
if it's based off of the safe harbor rate? Mm-hmm .
I have it right here.
it was $13,466,880.
okay. And 24 million is the total
for all three bonds referendums? Yes. Okay. Um,
I'm assuming that the language, uh, since we have consultants that have helped craft
these, um, say things like up to
this amount not to exceed, to make sure that we're protected in a
situation where a project starts and it costs more, we can't spend
but as much money as what was authorized. Correct? Correct. Okay.
and then the last one was taxi taxes are
levied. At what time of the process is
it when the projects start and the money is pulled? Um, I
know, I know it's not when the bond is approved, it's when the projects
start, but I'm just asking the timeframe. So for example, if
these just say all three of 'em were approved on october,
um, I'm sure some of these projects are somewhat shovel ready, some
will take some design and planning. I just wanna give the public the idea
of when they could potentially see a tax
increase for these projects. I don't think it would be all at once was my point.
okay. Good evening. Um, ted cole with davenport, the, uh,
the analysis that we've run for the potential tax increases,
assume that the, um, the new revenue through a
tax adjustment would be done as part of the fy 27 budget.
mm-hmm . Um, ultimately it could be done later, but it
may be at a higher total impact. This was
one of two approaches we analyzed and I think had shared with you all at some
point fy 27, the first budget following the vote.
and kim, thank you for that. And kim, uh, to clarify, you said
$2 in change for every a hundred dollars in valuation.
um, could you maybe give just a quick example of
what a average tax bill, if you were to have $300,000
in property value, what that would equate to? So
yes, I can. So we had, lemme just wanna get the right dollar amount.
it was $2 and 75 cents per a hundred dollars of assessed value. That's $27
and 50 cents for every a hundred thousand dollars of assessed value.
okay. Thank you.
does board have any other questions? Kim, can you break that out? So just
say for the instance, somebody owns a home that's $300,000 mm-hmm .
82 50 for 300,000. Okay.
or have any other questions? I do. Um, I might be
piggybacking off of what you had already asked, mayor.
um, but listening to the beginning of
the taxation, you said fiscal year 2027 mm-hmm
. And I, we know we said previously that
all the money would not be borrowed at the same time.
it would be staggered over the 20 year period, correct?
no, a four year, yeah. Period of borrowing fiscal 26
through 29. 26 through 29. Thank you. So
then looking at, let's say for the sidewalks, 10 million
at 0.0151 per year
over a span of how many years again?
well, we paid the debt back over a span of 20 years. Mm-hmm .
I'm not sure that I understand your question. The tax begins in 2027,
is that correct? Yes, that's correct. The estimates that we provided
for tax increases would be effective fy 27 if the
referendum's approved. Okay. And then the span would be for four
years? Is that what you said? The, if, if all three bond orders
were approved by the voters or bond questions, we would expect,
part of our planning work is that you would issue in fiscal year issue the
debt not all at once, but over a four year period every
time you issue the debt, we're assuming the payback is a
20 year term. Um, and that the
tax rate dedicated to the repayment of the debt would run for
the term of the debt.
I'm trying to follow you, you want me to say that
please. Okay. Repeat that. So, so there are three bond questions mm-hmm
. Those will be voted on separately. Um,
if they were to be approved, then the city would
with your approval or the, the board at that time. Right. The, the approval of the
bonds by the voters does not clear the path for issuing the
debt. It has to come back to the board each time you issue the debt. The
planning work that we've done with your staff assumes that we would issue
$2 million of bonds in fiscal 26 16,000,027,
2.8 and 28 and 3 million in 29th. So
by fiscal 29, the 24 million of bonds will
have been issued and the city will have received that money for
projects. Each of those four bond issues, 26, 27, 28, 29,
we've assumed the term of the debt. The repayment period
is a four is a 20 year term, which is pretty standard. It's like
a, having a 20 year mortgage. We're gonna repay that debt over 20
years. And as that new debt come,
debt service, annual debt service comes online, we've
calculated that we would need the equivalent of 2.75
pennies on the tax rate to make those payments and that
that revenue would need to be in place for the term of the debt.
thank you. I just want to simplified for the public so that
they could hear and get clarity. And I know that going forward we're
going to have some opportunities to engage the public also in
our public hearing that, uh, is scheduled for july 8th.
I just wanted simplified, so to make sure that our public understands
and can follow. Thank you.
okay. Any other questions?
if not, um, I would consider, um, listening
to a motion on item number 17. If
one would like to be made,
mayor will make a motion to and, and help me with
the wording that we are, um,
adopting the orders authorizing 2025
general vacation bonds. Is that accurate? Okay. So moved.
alright, we have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a
second. Is there further discussion on the motion?
hearing none, let's have a roll call. Starting. Hold one second. Hold one second, ma'am.
kim? Yes. Lets verified. There has to be a separate vote for each one.
you do all. Okay. Um,
let's have a roll call starting with alderman prill.
alderman frill. Yes. Alderman royal. Yes.
alderman astor. Yes. Alderman mckenzie. Yes. Alderman best?
no. Mayor odom. Yes. Motion carries.
moving on to item number 18. Consider adopting a resolution approving a memorandum
of understanding with the drug enforcement administration, chief gallagher.
thank you mayor ford. Um, I'm pleased to be here today,
um, to request an opportunity to participate with
the federal, uh, task force officer program with
the, uh, department of, uh, the drug enforcement agency.
the, uh, new bern police department for decades have been investigating
and trying to combat, uh, the spread
and the distribution of dangerous drugs in our community.
in 2024, uh, we saw an increase of
over 50% more drug arrests than
the previous year and almost 25% more drug arrests.
over a four year period, we've been given this opportunity to partner with
the dea through the federal task force officer
program to leverage additional resources, training, and intelligence
and assign tfo would work out of the newburn police department's
narcotics office, and our focus would be,
um, on new bern,
uh, um, uh, or investigations within new bern. Now the task
force officer would also be responsible if needed, uh, by
the dea for regional investigations.
part of the, um, asset of this relationship
would be reimbursement for buy money and also additional
focus on investigations into vape shops and,
uh, their relationship with illegal contraband. We
currently have relationships with the federal government through
tfos with the fbi, the us marshal service
and the state of north carolina's commerce department
participation in this program would not remove any uniformed
officers from the operations division. This collateral assignment
would be, um, assigned to a plainclothes
detective who is currently in the narcotics unit.
um, and, uh, the reality is whether we have
a formal agreement with the dea or not, we've been working with the
dea, um, on drug investigations for years.
this would just benefit our agency greatly, um, because
of the formalized relationship would give us the additional resources, um,
to leverage, um, our investigations and hopefully have a bigger impact
on drug distributions in new bern. So I'm happy to answer any questions
regarding this relationship. Does the board have questions?
if not, may, I'd like to make the recommend, or excuse me, I'd like to make a motion that we
adopt a resolution approvement a mo you with the
drug enforcement administration. Second, I have
a motion to second is there further discussion. Chief,
you have me at vape shops. So let's
have a roll call starting with alderman roy alderman memorial?
yes. Alderman aser. Yes. Alderman kinzie.
yes. Alderman best? Yes. Alderman crell. Yes.
mayor oda? Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Next
up is considered, uh, adopting a resolution authorizing the
submission of an application for the 2025 bureau of justice assistant
bulletproof vest grant chief gallagher. Yes, this is very similar
to the, um, request that we make annually, um,
in order to, uh, sustain the, um, bulletproof
rest, uh, rotation and for new officers, um,
of 23 vests, that liability to the city is
$32,982 to participate
in this grant. And if we receive this grant, uh, our liability would be cut
in half to $16,491. This is
a, uh, 50 50 match and again, this is the exact language that
we've had for the past four years since I've been the chief here board.
have questions? There's no questions. I make a motion
to adopt the resolution authorizing the submission of an application for
the 2025 year of justice assistant bulletproof vest
grant. Second? Second. Second. We have a motion and a second. Is
there any further discussion? Hearing none once.
have a roll call sergeant with alderman asher. Alderman asher? Yes. Alderman
mckenzie? Yes. Alderman desk? Yes. Alderman frill. Yes.
alderman royal? Yes. Mayor odom? Yes. Motion carries. Thank you chief.
next up is item number 20. Consider doubting an ordinance for the demolition of 10
14 grace street. Ms. Ru.
good evening again. Staff is seeking an approval of an ordinance to demolish
the dwelling and accessory structure located at 10 14. Grace street
staff has sent the owner of record an initial minimum housing letter as is
required on january 9th, 2023, stating
that the dwelling and structures located at 10 14 grace street have deficiencies
constituting violations of our minimum housing code. Staff further attempted
to contact the owners via the us postal service and certified letters were sent
and returned and non-certified letters were delivered, but received no
response, no working contact information, phone numbers,
email addresses, or relatives were identified in our staff investigation.
so staff filed a complaint and a notice of hearing on september 16th, 2024
and neither of the defendants attended. The defendants, sorry,
attended the october 15th, 2024 hearing given
this on october 17th, 2024 in order of the billing inspector
was served to the owners to bring the dwelling back into compliance with minimum
housing standards established by chapter 38 of our city code with
an expiration date of december 16th, 2024.
to date, there has been no contact from the owners, no permits have been applied for,
and the dwelling and the accessory structure as well remain non-compliant.
both the complaint and the obi were published in the newspaper and posted on the dwelling
to ensure notification requirements were fulfilled. The demolition
estimate on this property from our public works department is $10,330.
this excludes asbestos testing and at this
point utility terminations have not yet been completed. I will
point out this property is in an ae flood zone and
if adopted would be eligible for cbbg funding for demolition.
given that mr. Easel is available this evening to provide
additional details or provide answers to questions you may have on this case.
does the board have questions?
I have one on the, um, demolition estimate and
that's a pretty specific number. Are you using that something by square foot or how'd you come
up with that number patrick? Correct. That comes from public works themselves. They have a
formal to do that. Okay. Um,
for those that have been on the board for any length of time, that that number seems to be quite
a bit higher than what we would typically see. Do you know, have we changed that calculation
recently? And it's mostly in tipping fees is what we'll see with that. Okay.
that was all the questions I have. Ms. Board have any, there's no more questions
by the board. I make a motion to adopt an ordinance for the
demolition of 10 14 grace street. Second. I
have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion on item number 20?
hearing none. We'll have a roll call starting with the alderman kenzie. Alderman kenzie?
yes. Alderman best? Yes. Alderman frill. Yes.
alderman royal? Yes. Alderman aster? Yes. Mayor odom?
yes. Motion carries. Moving on to item number 21. Consider adopting the
final budget ordinance amendment for fy 2025. Ms. Osland,
this budget ordinance allows for the final budget adjustments for fiscal year
25 to ensure sufficient budget for projected expenses and
alignment of revenues overall, the budget general
fund amendment includes an increase of 655,000 for health insurance
costs 104,000 for the replacement of the peg channel equipment,
which is part of the insurance claim. Reimbursement costs were partially
offset with reductions in budgets across several divisions with the largest being
320 through $20,000 for debt payments,
um, that was budgeted. But since we delayed financing the capital,
um, the debt payments will begin next fiscal year.
the result appropriates $430,000 from fund balance for the general
fund. The water fund reflects an increase of $350,000,
which includes an increase in health insurance, utility costs,
water meters, pipes and fittings, and $39,000
for the write off of skys sale tap fees due to bankruptcy and
an increase of 6,000 for inter fund transfers with reduction of
225,000 insured services charges. The result appropriates
$170,000 from fund balance. The
sewer fund reflects an increase of 80,000 for health insurance. $75,000
for the right off of sky sale tap fees, 15,000 for
inter fund transfers. These increases were offset by $170,000
for the reduction sheet services and no additional fund balance is appropriated.
the electric fund reflects an increase of 3,000,010
hold on, $10,000 for the increased cost
for purchase power and the amount of 2.7 million $400,000
for transformers, cables devices and an increase in overtime
salaries and health insurance. Cost of shared services and
inter fund transfers increased by 87,000 in debt consulting costs
by 89,000. The result of these adjustments appropriate 3,186,000
from electric funds fund balance. The
employee's benefit insurance fund reflects an increase of 2,287,000
for health insurance claims and the other in other post post-employment
benefits fund is amended to reflect the transfer of a hundred thousand dollars.
do you have any questions? Board have questions?
could you provide some clarity on the sky sale
bankruptcy that we're writing off, if you have any? Yeah. So
we received, um, the papers
for the bankruptcy for sky sale and we have to dismiss those bad debt charges.
so essentially we're writing them off. I have not personally seen it. It was with
um, scott and our council revenue person. So
who's filing bankruptcy? We're gonna have to ask the city attorney to
to answer that question. Marva, can you, can you give him, I'm just curious because
all I hear is every time a unit gets on the market in sky sale, it sells quickly.
so I'm curious on who filed bankruptcy and who still owes us money for tap
fees. I would've thought the tap fees would've been paid for a long time ago.
they unsecured debt kim? Hmm. Tap fees, unsecured
debt. It's just, it's um, amounts
that are owed and it goes to bad debt. Write off mr. Davis.
the question I had was about the sky sale bankruptcy. Yes sir.
the bankruptcy, um, removed. Was it 60 some thousand dollars of debt
for sewer t fees? Those were unsecured claims and in bankruptcy,
those unsecured claims go unpaid. I wanna say we might have gotten pennies on
a dollar. I don't remember what it was. 10 20 cents on a dollar for unsecured claims.
and this is, so it goes back 15, 10, 15 years. Okay. That was
my question. Listen, this is a long, long time ago. Okay. Yeah. Alright.
why did they owe us tap fees for 15 years?
they probably owed 'em 15 years ago and didn't pay 'em. That's why they filed eee. Exactly,
exactly. The project went upside down during the bust
around oh seven and um, and we, we received
about half of our te payments when they filed bankruptcy.
so the remaining balance was stripped.
okay. Any other questions from the board?
mayor, I'll make a motion to adopt the final budget ordinance amendment for fiscal
year 2025. Second. I
have a motion a second on item number 21. Is there further discussion?
hearing none? Let's have a roll call starting with alderman best? Alderman
best? Yes. Alderman creel? Yes. Alderman royal?
yes. Alderman ster? Yes. Alderman kenzie? Yes.
mayor o? Yes. Motion carries. Next up is
appointments. Does anyone have an appointment tonight? I do, sir.
alright, lemme get honor mckenzie first. Go ahead sir. Uh, I'm be
appointing uh, tim thompson
to the hpc. Okay. I
have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. I have a motion to second to,
I believe that's a reappointment of tim thompson. It is. Okay. Is any
further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye.
any opposed? Okay. Be reappointed. Is that all sir?
I have uh, another appointment, a new appointment, uh,
place in marcus with uh, I think this
is john.
I don't wanna mess his name up. Schnee snead. Okay. I would,
I would think to the, um, hpc.
okay. And that's it. Alright.
sergeant mckenzie's made a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Second. I have a motion and a
second. Is there further discussion? Hearing none. All those
in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. He is
appointed. Is that all you had, sir? That's it. Okay. Alderman astro, I think you had
one. Uh, yes. Um, I would like to reappoint tim to, to
back tab tabak. Tabak tabak. Yeah. Thank you to
the board of adjustments. And I would also like
to, let's, let's do him first. Okay. So we have a motion to reappoint tim
tabak to the board of adjustments. Do we have a second? Second. Have a second. Is there further
discussion? Hearing none? All those in favor say aye. Aye.
any opposed? Okay. Mr. Tabak is reappointed now go ahead with your second one sir. Alright.
and the hpc mr. Jim bisbee is, um, no longer
able to be reappointed. So in his place I would like to appoint
ross bebe.
do we have a second to nomination? Second. Okay, we have a second. Is there further discussion?
hearing none? All those in favor say aye. A aye. Any opposed? Okay. Mr.
bebe is appointed. Anyone else have a appointment? Yes.
I would like to a motion to reappoint ms. Kathleen
marty to the board of adjustments she served previously.
she says she would love to serve another term.
okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second for ms. Marty? Second. I have a motion
to second to reappoint. Ms. Marty. Is there further discussion? Hearing
none. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ms. Marty is
reappointed. Anyone else?
okay, I'll move on to attorney's report. Uh, nothing before tonight. Mayor, city
manager's report if you have to update you on, um, our aquatic center
was scheduled to open, um, memorial weekend about three
days before that occurred. The pump malfunctioned. Um, unfortunately
the type of pump we have in a spoon pool is not when you can go out to a walmart
or a local pool supply company to replace. And so we have
had to work with a local pump company and they have had to skew,
literally scour the united states to find the parts and the motors to basically
rebuild this. So, um, staff has had conversations with them
this week. The, all of the parts are supposed to be in place tomorrow.
the pump company has, has told us that the pump should be, um,
put back together by friday. If that occurs, staff will install
the pump friday at some point. And the goal is for the aquatic center to be open on
saturday. So I want to let you know that, uh, the riverwalk fishing pier, we
had our grand opening on friday, may 23rd. Uh, staff was
still in the process of installing the lights. Those got turned on on may 28th.
and so the fishing pier has been active. We've had a lot of good comments from
the citizens and visitors. The fishing, uh, is available on the pier
24 7. Uh, and it is free to fish on the pier, so
I'm gonna let you know that. Uh, just a reminder, the employee appreciation election
will be on thursday, june 12th at the west river recreation center from 11 to one.
and also, uh, we've got 4th of july coming up. So just a reminder, city offices will
be closed on july 4th. The 4th of july celebration will occur at lawson
creek park. Events kickoff at 5:30 pm we'll have live music,
entertainment and fireworks will be held at promptly at nine 15.
that's all we have, sir. Okay. Next is new business alderman pri. Uh,
nothing tonight though. Alderman royal? Yes, mayor.
I would like to make a motion to reallocate,
uh, my remaining a rp funds for ward two
for the following projects. Number one,
a screening around the existing pump
station at the evergreen cemetery. Uh, it would
provide a wood fence and landscaping between the new shelter
and the retention pond at a cost of $10,000.
uh, the second item is to pave trent
street in the pembroke community at an estimated
cost of $50,000. Uh, the third
one is to contribute $10,000
towards the total cost of the restroom project
at henderson park. And the fourth one
is to contribute approximately $2,400
to the duffy field neighborhood sign. Uh, the total
proposed project is estimated at approximately $72,400.
okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion and a second.
is there further discussion?
um, since we're just given direction, a resolution's gonna have to come back to spend the funding
correctly. So we would take a no, I don't need a resolution, but
if we can repeat those amounts, I would appreciate it. The clerk can we, we
we've got, she you've got all the amounts? Yeah. Okay. So we good with, um,
a voice vote since we're not doing a resolution here? Mm-hmm . Okay, just minutes.
all those in favor say aye a aye. Any opposed? It's unanimous.
okay, thank you. Is that all you have, ma'am? That's all. Alright,
thank you. Harm master. Uh, yes ma'am. Um, first thing I,
I wanted to ask the city manager, do we have any, um,
update on removing the traffic out on landscape in
carolina colors by the school to make a turning lane for any people to go
into the school parking lot? We do not have an update, but I can get you one. We'll
send something out to the board tomorrow morning and let you know. Okay, great.
and also, um, as you know, with all this road construction that's taking
place over and on the james city side, um,
there's been a tremendous amount of traffic using old airport road and
they're coming up, uh, down to, to burna
way and making a left to go out that way or make it a right to go
out and continue down old airport road. Uh, as a result of that,
I would, I like to, um, use $6,000 of,
uh, a rp funds for the the electronic,
uh, flashing stop sign. We've had some issues
there. Uh, I've got several complaints of, um, people
actually running the, the, the stop sign through there. Talk to george
chows about it. And this was the solution that we come up with.
so I would like to ask the board to authorize, uh, not to exceed $6,000
in the electronic stop sign. So we have a motion. Do we have a second?
second. Wait a minute. Hold. I'm gonna ask, is that one? I think it was just
one, yeah, one sign. I'm sorry. Okay. We have a motion? We have a second.
any further discussion? Hearing none. All those in
favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.
anything else? Nothing. Thank you. Okay, all mckenzie, uh, tonight. Thank you allman.
best? Yes. Um, officer, do you have any idea when on tv
three would be back, back up and running? So with the budget amendment
that just occurred that you had just approved purchase order will be cut
tomorrow morning. Staff will order that, that those supplies, we'll,
we'll send that update out tomorrow. They'll give us an estimated eta on when that equipment will arrive.
so we'd like to say within the next few weeks we'll receive the equipment that our
it folks will put it all together, test it. So it would be great
if it, it would be great if it was by the july meeting. I don't know if that'll happen, but
I think definitely by the august meeting it'll be back up. Alright, thank you. But we'll give you an
update on that. Thank you so much. That's it. Okay. Um, just
one question, comment, request. Um, foster, I think you
had mentioned that you and maybe colleen, were gonna work on
some collateral to show what areas within the city is open
to fish. Um, there seems to be a lot of confusion, uh,
in the community about, uh, the only place to fish in the city
of new vern is the new fishing pier that we have. Um, some of you may have received
a, um, petition that was signed, uh, by a lot of folks that
are not in the city limits, but a lot of people not even in the state. Um,
and, and the, the petition was very well crafted
except it left out one integral part and that was the fact that we added a fishing gear.
so all it talked about was what we took away. It didn't talk about what we added. And as we all
know, there was a lot of places around the city that is open to the public for fishing.
um, and I think if we had a map, uh, to show those areas, it would be very beneficial.
we are, we're actually working with the public information officer and parks and recreation
who is going to be putting out a robust campaign. But, but just to cover that information
for you, mayor fishing is allowed anywhere where there's
water access at glen burnie park. It's, it's allowed at any of the three ponds
in martin marietta park at any locations around there, even in the canal
that goes out to new the noose river at lawson creek park. While we do have designated
areas, it's available at any part of the water or on along lawson
creek park as well as on the river walk on lawson creek park all the
way up to council bluff green. So there are several areas. The only
area that we do not allow fishing now is basically from,
I'm sorry, I made a mistake. Palace point commons is where it's allowed. We
do not allow fishing from council bluff green basically to,
uh, it stops at for simmons, uh, right there where the housing is.
you have not had the opportunity to fish at union point park.
you will not be able to fish. Um, basically from the convention center to the
railroad tracks. Um, the main reason
we have built a pier is to allow a better opportunity for those to
fish out in the water. Now I will tell you that, uh, based on
comments we have seen, we, we had a lot of issues with trash fishermen
not picking up, uh, bait, things like that. So it was a constant issue
with city staff having to go out on a daily basis to, to clean up
a, a lot of mess. We had a lot of complaints from adjoining residents and
so building the pier was a much better option. Uh, it,
it lets them focus on fishing on that pier itself and it also gives our
citizens and visitors an opportunity to go out on that pier. Enjoy nature
and sightseeing as well. Ms. Fishing, thank you for that. Do
we need a closed session? Uh, yes sir. A number of issues. Um, we need to a closed session
to discuss a personnel matter, so to 1 43, 13, 11 a six.
and we have several legal issues, uh, pursuant to 1 43 13 11 83.
do we have a motion to go into closed session? So moved. Mayor second.
I have a motion to second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing
none. All those in favor say aye. A aye. Any opposed? We're in
closed session.