[0:24] Britney.
[0:31] I come calling Britney from
Representative Troop 336 for the
[0:37] invocation, please.
>> Dear heavenly father, we pray that
[0:40] you'll be with all these folks from the
town of Wilsburg. Give them guidance to
[0:45] make the right decisions for our
community. And we pray that you'll bless
[0:49] everyone who's here. We ask all these
things in Jesus name. Never miss it.
[0:53] Amen.
[1:00] There you go.
[1:29] I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
[1:35] for which it stands. One nation under
God, indivisible with liberty and
[1:41] justice for all.
[1:58] Britney
[2:05] like to recognize these scouts. One
thing is they're resilient. This is
[2:09] another team and we were supposed to
have two other people and so they
[2:14] managed to do this all themselves. In
recognition, we want to present both of
[2:19] you with the full books for honor guard
patch. Thank you so much.
[2:27] » Take care.
[2:46] So are there any additions or deletions
to the agenda?
[2:51] There are just a few. Yes, sir.
>> So there is
[2:56] the item eight. budget amendment number
seven, general fund budget amendment
[3:01] number eight, water fund budget
amendment number three, general fund
[3:05] budget amendment number nine, and water
fund budget amendment number seven.
[3:10] There is also item L for the discussion
of installation of stop signs near
[3:15] Chestnut and B Street.
>> Do we have a motion to adopt the agenda?
[3:23] the agenda.
>> Mr. Mayor, I make a motion to accept the
[3:26] agenda as noted. Commissioner Parson, do
I have a second?
[3:30] » Second.
>> Thank you, Commissioner.
[3:34] Do we have any discussion?
If not, all in favor say I.
[3:40] » I. Thank you.
Any awards recognition? Chief,
[3:49] no other comment, Mr.
Sir, thank you.
[3:56] So, routine business.
[4:00] We have our consent agenda. Do I have a
motion to accept our consent agenda or
[4:06] is there anything that needs to be
taken?
[4:11] If not, do I have a motion to accept?
[4:18] » Thank you, Commissioner Bmer. A second.
>> I'll second.
[4:24] » All in favor say
>> I.
[4:27] » Thank you.
Managers report. Yes sir. Thank you. Um
[4:35] Black Station which was identified as
surplus property. We did obtain an
[4:41] appraisal on the property and it's in
the hands currently of development
[4:48] corporation to define interest in the
properties and so there has been some
[4:56] contacts made with some of the
interested prospects.
[5:01] They created a spec sheet all in the
package and this includes
[5:08] four parcels
and they have identified a price of
[5:13] $290,000
[5:17] as an asking price for again this will
be marketed as
[5:24] related.
Hopefully we'll have some
[5:30] information to you.
[5:39] » Just a curiosity question.
I know I've been in there and it's been
[5:45] around, but in the future there's some
still some train things that were left
[5:51] there.
[5:56] probably not worth anything just
question.
[6:04] » M Brooks, we have a report.
>> Good evening.
[6:10] I wanted to give you all an update on
the UDO. Um, as you know, we have been
[6:15] well, Robin Tatum, our land use
attorney, she has been reviewing the
[6:20] document and the goal is to be able to
get a draft by the end of May. Um, we
[6:26] have been in contact with her, Director
Campberman and I, and we're working
[6:30] towards getting that draft back from
her. U, but currently, Director
[6:34] Campberman and I are reviewing some
questions she had. She has some
[6:38] preliminary questions that we needed to
go through u mostly in the definition
[6:43] section, just trying to do some cleanup
before she's able to submit us that
[6:48] whole draft. So, I just want to let you
all know that it's in the works and
[6:52] still the deadline by the end of this
calendar year. Um, so hopefully by
[6:57] January 1st, 2027, it should be
completed. I think we're still on
[7:01] schedule to hit that deadline. So, and
by that we mean like adopted and already
[7:06] brought to you. So, you should be seeing
the full draft in the next few months.
[7:11] » I would like to point out,
Mr. Camp, I have had discussions about
[7:18] this fairly even workforce housing
effort.
[7:24] government
and we've also had some interest from
[7:28] developers working
189 to 230.
[7:35] So this is this is a thing that would
benefit our community. And so as part of
[7:39] the UDO, I know Joseph and I want to
discuss this together. I have notes from
[7:46] for our course out to on this,
but there's some interesting things that
[7:51] possibly could be involved in updating
our UDF that may bring us into the f
[7:59] present times. So
>> and there will definitely be time for
[8:03] that feedback. Right now we're still in
that preliminary phase, but it's it's
[8:09] exciting. We're making progress.
>> Mr. Mayor, if I may have a couple items,
[8:15] the joint water intake we did receive
the temporary construction from all the
[8:22] property owners. Uh the contracts,
[8:29] materials moving in and works. So
contract
[8:34] joint intake is a 630 project
and then the contract fee is 39 days. So
[8:42] things are progressing. So we're
starting to move there. Um for fire
[8:47] department
[8:51] contract in place
some contractors the contracts are being
[8:57] led with them.
Things are starting to progress there.
[9:02] We did have slight hold up on some tile,
but we're working through that. But
[9:10] again, thanks for addressing that.
Lastly, I'll mention
[9:15] I made reference to the possibility for
an ordinance that would involve the
[9:19] operation of parks in some areas of the
town. And this is very preliminary.
[9:26] haven't drafted an ordinance yet
[9:30] who has an ordinance in place. There's
several other towns and locations around
[9:35] us who have that. Uh so started to draft
an ordinance there
[9:43] offering your consideration.
[9:47] If you don't mind out that looks like
the storm drains are getting ready to go
[9:52] in the fire department. Is there
anything that you want to report?
[9:56] » No. Well, we got the site's pretty much
level now. I mean, that's that's all the
[10:01] grade continues.
>> So, next will be the plumbing and
[10:04] electrical going in underground stuff
going in next and the builders for the
[10:08] new steel building.
[10:12] » Yes, sir.
[10:19] » Do you have any e issues from the board?
[10:28] old business.
[10:36] » So,
I'm so proud of the support from the
[10:42] board and to the town, the fire
department, the police department. I'm
[10:47] especially proud of Commissioner
Harland Homer and Epson. Tell us all how
[10:55] many phone calls you made to churches,
please.
[10:58] » 105.
>> 105.
[11:00] » Wow.
>> She's doing that to get the bells to
[11:03] ring all at one time. And find a lot of
churches don't have bells. U we have a
[11:10] full day plan. Uh the charters of
freedom. Well, I'm sorry. Let me back
[11:16] up. At 11 o'clock, we're going to show
the uh Washington, what's the name of
[11:21] that?
>> American Miracles.
[11:23] » American Miracle. And I've heard
everybody say it's wonderful. You can
[11:26] get it on Apple TV or at Liberty Theater
for free at 11:00 on 4th of July. We're
[11:34] having
at 2 o'clock the Charters of Freedom
[11:39] Memorial. And if you haven't been by the
books for a town hall, it's fabulous.
[11:45] It's the documents are going in now.
It's the Constitution, the Declaration
[11:50] of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and
the Civil Rights Act. Uh we're going to
[11:56] have a dedication there at 2:00 p.m. on
the 4th. And a lot of us are all
[12:02] involved in that. Um when we're leaving
Bay at 4:00, we're going to have a
[12:09] American 250 pageant at the museum, the
old courthouse and we're going to have
[12:18] George Washington proclaim or
proclaiming the Declaration of
[12:24] Independence and the parade will start
there soon after and Fred Costello and
[12:31] the his group have put together a
fabulous parade full of people and
[12:37] hopefully horses. That was the number
one people as for going to have horses
[12:41] at the end of the parade.
That's going to go from Wilsboro to
[12:49] North Wilsboro and then we're having the
meltdown at the farmers market at 5:00.
[12:58] We're going to have historical speakers
throughout the afternoon. We're going to
[13:02] have presentations for children and
games and things for them to play. They
[13:06] have ice creams and hot dogs and how
many? Six food trucks.
[13:12] » Eight.
>> Eight food trucks. So, plenty to eat
[13:14] there. A lot of good stuff going on. Uh
we're going to make an announcement
[13:19] about the North Holsboro train station
there and the uh the who owns it and we
[13:27] own it and we're going to make that
public and we're going to have a speaker
[13:31] there as well. And
we're going to follow that up with a the
[13:37] Wilks symphony as I'm calling it now
because
[13:43] I've got the tool pit and I'm going to
call it the symphony. I'm doing that
[13:46] because I'm hoping that we can continue
this. Uh we have 20ome people in our
[13:51] symphony orchestra that are going to
play
[13:55] full repertoire of his patriotic hymns
and veterans memorials and and the 1812
[14:03] overure and all that. And we have 20ome
people in choir that are going to sing
[14:07] along with it and they're going to play
that about 10:30 in the evening. So I'll
[14:12] leave anything out.
[14:16] » So thank you Andrew. Still and and this
man has been cutting things and
[14:22] gathering things and taking photo press
to put in. Tell them about your time
[14:26] cap. So, I'm doing uh with the group and
some people, we're doing a time capsule
[14:31] that'll be open in 50 years. And I took
a picture of every building in downtown
[14:36] North Wilsbor, every restaurant in North
Wilsboro. Went in and got their menus,
[14:41] either got to go menus or pictures of
the menus, every church in town, all the
[14:46] town properties and parks,
um all the gas stations because I didn't
[14:52] know if they'd be here in 50 years, uh
all the um grocery stores, retail
[14:58] stores, and other important buildings
like the hospital and different things.
[15:02] And we printed we're just doing like
traditional photos that are 4x6 and
[15:07] we're putting them in archival sleeves
so they don't stick together. Um so
[15:12] that'll have a lot of photos documented.
I've got patches from the police
[15:16] department, fire department, and some
things like that. I went to the speedway
[15:19] and took a bunch of pictures and they
donated some stuff to the Tommy Cap. So,
[15:22] I've got business cards from a lot of
businesses in town, uh, all sorts of
[15:27] brochures from the Chamber of Commerce,
um, different posters and things that
[15:32] are promoting stuff this year. And, um,
going to try to get some letters from
[15:37] the board and picture of the board. Um,
we're doing a thing at the 4th of July
[15:42] where kids can sign a constitution.
It'll go in there. Large entry got us a
[15:48] constitution with a feather pin. And we
made these cards where a kid say, um,
[15:52] this is my name. This is how old I am,
this is how old I'll be in 50 years,
[15:55] what I want to be when I grow up, and
we're going to put that in there. And,
[15:59] um, I think, uh, there's a few other
things like I for fun, I put a pack of
[16:04] baseball cards and basketball cards and,
um, just some other things. And Rain
[16:09] Stern Funeral Home is donating these two
plastic vault things that like an earn
[16:15] goes in that are airtight. And they're
donating a big vault that those And
[16:21] that's going to be the time capsule. And
um probably we're going to take all the
[16:25] documents and everything and seal it and
vacuum sealer packs so that we'll
[16:32] hopefully do well the next 50 years. And
we have a a like a granite stone on top
[16:38] with the town seal and when it should be
open. And we're going to have an event
[16:42] on Friday, October 9th. And we're not
exactly sure where it's going to be yet
[16:46] because we're still trying to decide
where to bury it. We're thinking about
[16:49] the fire department because We think
it'd be the safest place because it's
[16:52] such a new building. We don't know if
it'll quite be ready and we've got some
[16:56] other locations, but it's been way more
work than I thought it would be when I
[16:59] said I'll do this. But it's pretty cool
and I've met a lot of nice people.
[17:04] And you won't mind as well as 50 years.
>> I still plan to be working every night.
[17:13] » And uh I want to say Sandra had the idea
um we've been meeting uh we have a group
[17:18] of people that meet every other
Wednesday basically since January to
[17:21] come up with ideas for America 250.
We've had the Daughters of American
[17:24] Revolution, had people from the library,
the Junior Auto Society, uh Fred from
[17:30] the Rotary Club that's putting on the
parade and all this stuff where people
[17:34] came together and it's been really fun.
We've made good friends with each other.
[17:38] Um, but I think a cool thing is Sandra
had a couple ideas. One was to paint the
[17:44] uh fire hydrants and they're banded now
in the art gallery. So, that's really
[17:49] cool. And she had an idea to have all
the churches ring their bells together
[17:53] at the at at the same time on July 4th.
And so, they're going to ring the bells
[17:58] at 4:00 when the parade starts. and she
did literally call over a hundred people
[18:03] trying to get it together and so far
she's had a handful of people that say
[18:07] they'll they'll do it. So if your church
has a bail and you would like to try to
[18:10] get to participate, talk to Sandra
Speaker.
[18:15] » Yeah.
[18:20] » All right. New business.
Mr.
[18:25] We have a public hearing.
>> Yes.
[18:29] » If you don't mind to go ahead and enter
us into the public hearing for item G.
[18:35] This is for an annexation on Jones Dancy
Street. This is the third time the board
[18:41] has heard this item. So I will be pretty
brief.
[18:50] We'll start with the the map.
on the next. So this is a parcel on Dant
[18:57] Street. The board of commissioners in
the last couple months agreed to be done
[19:02] to be done this property. The applicant
is here tonight. If you have any
[19:08] questions for them, but they would like
to build a believe a single family
[19:14] dwelling on this property and they would
like to connect to town utilities. So
[19:19] they have requested an annexation. They
met all the requirements of the town to
[19:24] be annexed in the town limits and this
is a continuous annexation. It is
[19:28] roughly 3/4 of a mile from IGA off of
Highway
[19:37] 18.
>> Yes,
[19:40] » it's in behind the CQ. It's sort of in
behind the CQ building.
[19:47] Would you like to speak
on your behalf?
[19:56] » No, he said he doesn't.
>> Does anybody else have any comments?
[20:04] If not, we'll close the public hearing
and I will ask for a motion to either
[20:13] approve or not approve.
[20:17] Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we
approve the annexation.
[20:21] Do I need to list the partial number for
Dylan?
[20:25] » Uh, if you can just approve the
ordinance 26-21.
[20:29] » Okay. I uh approve the uh I make a
motion to approve ordinance 20 26-21
[20:36] for annexation of the property stated in
the agenda.
[20:42] » Second. Any discussion
on Northsburg?
[20:47] » Yes. Welcome to North.
[20:52] » Thank you. Congratulations.
[21:06] » Program.
[21:12] Good evening, commissioners. Um, in your
agenda packet, you have the downtown
[21:17] Northsboro building improvement grant
program before you for consideration
[21:21] tonight. Um, this was developed to
encourage private investment in downtown
[21:27] by providing financial assistance in the
form of a grant for projects that would
[21:31] improve properties, activate vacant
spaces, and contribute to the overall
[21:36] economic vitality of downtown. Um, this
is something I've been working on for a
[21:41] while and I've been gauging the need in
our community. Um, and I've included
[21:46] that in my departmental report for over
a year now. Um, so this is the the
[21:54] guidelines and the application and the
draft of the rubric that are included in
[21:58] your packet. Uh, so the guidelines go
through the purpose, what the program
[22:02] goals are, eligibility criteria,
um, eligible which would include
[22:09] interior improvements like flooring
installation, fire suppression systems,
[22:15] plumbing, electric, excuse me,
electrical uh kitchen installation or
[22:18] buildout, roof replacement, HVAC
upgrades, and restroom facilities to
[22:22] name a few. Uh we list out ineligible
costs um and identify that the grant
[22:28] award amount would be up to $12,500.
It's a reimbursement grant of up of 60%
[22:35] of the total project cost up to that
amount. Um, and this would be reimbursed
[22:40] after the project is completed. We
included a little blip about historic
[22:45] tax credits so that property owners are
aware of that incentive
[22:49] and outlined what the application
process is.
[22:53] um which would be applications would be
accepted on a rolling basis starting
[22:58] July 1st and it would run similar to how
the facade grant program currently
[23:03] operates. So applicants would submit
their application and all the required
[23:07] documentation to the downtown local
partnership board. We would review um
[23:12] and we would consult with appropriate
staff for the projects and then this
[23:17] particular grant would have a rubric
which is included. The PA grant doesn't
[23:21] have a rubric. Um there's just certain
criteria that an applicant needs to
[23:26] meet. And then once the partnership
board approves the grant application,
[23:29] applicants would be required to sign a
grant agreement outlining the terms and
[23:34] conditions. Once the project is
completed, they would submit paid
[23:38] receipts or clear checks and we would
reimburse them for the eligible cost. I
[23:44] included the application for you and
then the scoring rubric which has um
[23:51] it's on point scale and applicants have
to have at least 60 points to be
[23:56] considered. And it has categories that
include economic impact, historic
[24:01] preservation, housing creation, property
activation, private investment,
[24:05] leverage, public safety, and then
overall community benefit. So, if
[24:09] adopted tonight, the program would
become effective July 1st, allowing us
[24:14] to begin accepting applications and
support projects in this upcoming fiscal
[24:19] year.
Are there any questions?
[24:23] » Couple questions. So there there will
not be any public hearing involved in
[24:27] this process.
>> Okay. So we will be approving this
[24:33] tonight.
[24:37] » You're hoping for approval or
disapprove. Okay.
[24:39] » And if there's any feedback or changes
that need to be made, then I can come
[24:43] back for approval.
>> My question would be and I will be
[24:46] totally transparent with this. I found
two buildings I think that fall into
[24:52] this and we've had one application for
the other program that was done years
[24:59] ago and so I know my wife is certainly
interested in taking part in this and I
[25:06] just want to be upfront and transparent
about that. Of course Mr. Palmer I think
[25:10] has a bill and maybe others. So just
want to make the public aware that
[25:15] that's going on and would fall under the
same guidelines and rubric that's a test
[25:21] of qualifications.
>> Anybody
[25:25] » I've got a few questions more just so
it'll kind of highlight some things for
[25:30] people to understand.
I don't want any buildings in downtown.
[25:36] » Okay.
>> Um so what's the amount and Is there a
[25:42] match?
>> Um the it's a 60%
[25:46] reimbursement up to $12,500.
>> Yeah, that's good. And um some examples
[25:52] of some things I know I ask you about.
One big thing that I think is important
[25:56] is it'll roof.
>> Yes.
[25:58] » A lot of our buildings
problems and things
[26:05] otherunities you looked at.
>> Yes, I I looked through several
[26:11] community um grant applications and
packets uh and they do they cover
[26:17] similar um improvements to properties.
Some communities have a specific roof
[26:23] grant um but most of them have just a
general building
[26:29] that needs a roof really.
>> Does some of these things would it apply
[26:34] to like upstairs res?
>> Yes.
[26:36] » How about like a building?
things like
[26:45] » I think that's it. Well, I appreciate
it. Think this is great and I hope the
[26:50] board
got a lot of buildings downtown that
[26:53] need some attention.
[27:01] You know, downtown is getting where that
if I'm a if I'm a business owner
[27:06] upstairs, I made an apartment above the
business to rent out to somebody.
[27:10] Can this grant be used for putting a a
fire alarm system in the building to
[27:15] notify the people upstairs that the
building is burning? Yes.
[27:18] » I mean,
>> that would be a good grant to put out
[27:20] there because I mean, right now, we
don't know. We're still having a hard
[27:24] time finding apartments. Sometime people
living in places all the time we didn't
[27:27] know they was there.
>> So maybe some way to notify them to get
[27:31] them out of that building quick enough
because these old buildings downtown,
[27:33] they burn quick when they start burning.
That would be a big plus that we ought
[27:37] to really push for the business owners
downtown.
[27:41] » Good com
[27:46] managers. I call him the AIG. He's not
listening to me, but he he uses his
[27:52] phone and photograph and can do a facade
upgrade on his phone. Spectac
[28:00] I'm telling the talent and think about
the hundreds of thousands of dollars
[28:05] that could save people and we're working
on some plans that maybe would work with
[28:11] the chamber or other groups downtown
that maybe could help us do some of
[28:16] that. So, we're making progress.
I think it's a good thing and I just
[28:21] want everybody to know that I want to be
part of it, too.
[28:26] » I think I think it's a great thing and
I'm curious if we approve it then. Do we
[28:31] go back into our budget?
>> So, I presented I presented this at the
[28:37] budget retreat. I didn't have I didn't
have this to present for approval at
[28:42] that point.
>> We were smart enough to give you the
[28:45] money.
[28:48] T one other thing. Is it is it only
available for buildings inside the CBD
[28:57] district?
>> Well, it's a little bit bigger than our
[28:59] CBD district. It's our historic
downtown. Yeah. So, there's the
[29:05] includes.
[29:08] » I got a couple more things. Um the money
is a pool of money. It's basically the
[29:14] same money we use for facade grants.
Correct.
[29:16] » Correct. So in the the past fiscal year
we had $20,000 set aside in our facade
[29:21] grant line item and in the next fiscal
year it will be 45,000 to include facade
[29:27] and
>> so grit
[29:32] as it was before.
>> Yes. And there's years that go by when
[29:35] the facade does we don't use.
>> Correct. I also just want to say I think
[29:41] this is important particularly for our
downtown because we have the only
[29:45] downtown that's like a real formal
downtown with many streets in in Wils
[29:51] County and I think that it's important
we take care of it because it's
[29:55] historical and it's telling what we've
got be very
[30:00] » okay
>> good
[30:02] » for a certain amount of time.
So, I'm going to do my best not to talk
[30:07] too long so we don't run out of more
storage.
[30:19] » Good evening, board. It's good to see
you all. Um, here tonight to talk about
[30:24] a build grant presentation that you guys
have had a little bit of time to
[30:27] marinate on. Um, I've sent an email out.
You guys have also got in your agenda
[30:32] packet of staff report that kind of goes
over the um the details of the bill
[30:38] grant. Um so we're just going to dive
right in the bill to the bill grant
[30:42] summary. Bill grants bail bill stands
for veterans utilizing investments to
[30:46] leverage development is your wonderful
acronym for the day. It previously
[30:50] existed under Tiger and Ray's grants
under previous administrations. Um don't
[30:54] ask me to quote what that means because
I would not be able to tell you those
[30:58] acronyms. Um historically it's funded
service transportation projects. So
[31:03] you're talking active transportation,
you're talking greenways, you're talking
[31:06] uh sidewalks, things like that with
specific priority to active
[31:09] transportation in previous rounds. And
when I mean rounds, I'm talking
[31:12] administration rounds. Um previous
administrations have um have shown
[31:17] priority to this. The current
administration is showing priority to
[31:20] projects that reduce roadway fatalities,
i.e. traffic economic.
[31:24] So just a little bit about this grant.
It was established in 2009. So you're
[31:28] looking at two more years, it'll be 20
years that it has been funded. And it
[31:32] was originally established
under an annual appropriation act, but
[31:36] in 2021 it was authorized um in to be
something that is more like we don't
[31:43] really envision this grant going away.
We just envision it changing colors. So
[31:47] um so you know it's something that has
kind of withtood the administration's
[31:50] test of time just showing difference in
priorities.
[31:53] Um oops wrong thing. So objectives and
intent. There's two portions of this
[31:59] grant I'm going to focus on and that's
planning and implementation. So the goal
[32:02] is to obtain a planning build grant as a
joint application between the two towns.
[32:07] The big thing about this grant is that
it scores well when we have a joint
[32:11] application between two municipalities.
Um that's really honestly I would say
[32:14] without that you're probably better off
not going for it. Um upon completion of
[32:19] the planning build grants the idea would
be to use those planning documents which
[32:23] are shovel ready documents. You're
talking construction documents,
[32:26] environmental plans, feasibility
studies, signage plans, all those good
[32:29] things. And then go for the
implementation side of the build grant
[32:32] as a joint applicant or maybe a separate
applicant. Um, you know, obviously
[32:37] supporting our sister town
and Okay, there you go. Okay, continuing
[32:44] on to the objectives and the intent, the
estimated scope of deliverables for the
[32:47] planning of Bill Green. So, you guys had
a little bit of a breakdown of this in
[32:50] your agenda packet, the staff report in
the email I sent earlier. I'm going to
[32:53] briefly go over it and then I would
absolutely welcome feedback on this. So
[32:57] establish construction ready documents.
What I'm telling you is when we get
[33:00] these documents, the idea behind them is
they have costs in them and they have
[33:04] documents that we can then take to a
capital improvement grant and we can
[33:08] because without that they're going to
how much it's going to cost? How many
[33:11] linear feet are you doing? What's the
feasibility? How does the public feel
[33:13] about it? Things like that. So when we
come out of this grant, the idea would
[33:17] be a construction ready documents um
with an implementation strategy. And
[33:21] again, who's going to pay for it?
Grants, donations, things like that.
[33:26] Obviously, you know, maybe
appropriations for our general fund,
[33:28] things like that. But again, we kind of
need this in order to go for any kind of
[33:32] implementation of these projects. So,
the strategic implementation strategy is
[33:36] going to be Yaki River Greenway,
historic downtown Wilsboro's phase two
[33:40] of their development, North Wilsboro's
downtown river district master plan.
[33:45] Some additional deliverables would be a
maintenance, accessibility, and signage
[33:48] plan for the Aken River Greenway. So,
I'm a heavy greenway user. We love our
[33:52] greenways. We also love our parks. I
think one thing we're we would could use
[33:56] more of is consistency with
accessibility so people know what
[34:00] they're coming into when they come in if
they have accessibility needs. Signage
[34:04] plans, wayfinding is a big thing. Um,
consistency, especially in our
[34:08] greenways, is really important,
especially when it comes to emergency
[34:11] services and things like that. And then
a maintenance plan because, as much as
[34:15] I'd like to say this, 40 years from now,
I probably will not be around. And we
[34:18] want to make sure that this maintenance
plan is in place so that previous future
[34:24] planners and planning directors and
staff of the town have something that
[34:27] they can hang their hat on instead of
well who's in charge of maintaining this
[34:30] because you'd be surprised two decades
go by and people start forgetting those
[34:35] kind of things. So something that could
kind of withstand um staff's coming and
[34:39] going. Um and then the final thing as
part of this grant would be to have a
[34:44] project grants manager
procure with the grants funds to assist
[34:48] with the process. That does not mean
take this completely and run with it but
[34:52] provide a little bit of alleviation for
staff throughout that process. That is
[34:57] obviously the intent of the entirety of
the grant. Um
[35:02] there's projects in North Folks Road
Downtown River District master plan to
[35:05] kind of hone in on that would probably
score well or score the best. So I don't
[35:09] think we could do the entirety of the
plan, but we would we would pick what we
[35:13] feel like in with the grant writer is
just something that's going to score us
[35:16] well. Obviously that's the goal and I
think
[35:24] next slide for me
it's not. No, it's back. It's back.
[35:30] Okay. Some success stories. I'm going to
go over them very quickly. Barton
[35:34] County, Kansas got a $239,000
planning project for accessible public
[35:39] transportation master plan. Um, you got
Ward County, North Dakota. They got a $4
[35:45] million planning grant for growth um,
driving intermobile connector. Um,
[35:51] they are, you know, obviously that is
again back to that kind of active
[35:54] service transportation plan. Um, the
city of Homer, Alaska got a grant for
[35:59] $2,50,000.
It is also a planning project to plan
[36:04] and design a comprehensive network of
non-motorized infrastructure.
[36:09] City of Mina, Arkansas got a planning
project to create an active
[36:13] transportation master street and ADA
transition plan. So, what you can see is
[36:16] kind of the common theme behind a lot of
these um grand recipients is that it is,
[36:22] you know, it's it's a plan to kind of
hopefully move it into the next phase,
[36:26] right? None of none of these in the
planning stage are are you're going to
[36:29] see food shovels in the ground. Um,
okay. Now, we're going to go over some
[36:33] pros. But before I do that, I'm going to
pull up something because I believe in
[36:37] your initial um staff report, I did give
you kind of a rough estimate on what
[36:42] we're shooting for from a uh from a
total like grant amount. Give me one
[36:50] second. I'm going to pull that up.
I don't think I included that.
[37:02] » Okay. So, the idea behind that is to
shoot for something, you know, in the in
[37:06] the in the recipient. Right now, we
roughly have $2 million dedicated for
[37:12] the active river greenway systemwide
feasibility study that I talked about
[37:16] ADA accessibility, signage, stuff like
that, maintenance plan. 850,000
[37:20] dedicated towards the historic downtown
Wilsboro engineering and design and
[37:24] construction documents, two million for
the North Wilsburg downtown and river
[37:29] district engineering and design
construction. You know, we have al got a
[37:32] very big scope of work that we have
compared to the downtown in Wilsboro and
[37:36] then $500,000
for a project manager. This is a very
[37:41] big political competitive grant, so
we're going to need someone because this
[37:44] is an multi-year grant. Um and then
$550,000 for maintenance, accessibility,
[37:49] and signage plans. So if you total all
that up, um you're looking at about um
[37:56] five almost $6 million. Um so, you know,
we're we're well within that range of
[38:01] what they would we're going to shoot
from the moon and see where we land. I
[38:04] do expect some of these numbers to be
altered and shifted and stuff, but that
[38:07] kind of gives you a good idea of the
breakdown of where we're where we're
[38:10] heading. So, the pros to applying for
this grant, it's a multi- town
[38:14] collaboration. Um there's no secret that
I used to work for Wilsboro. I work
[38:17] great with Wilsboro. I think they've got
some great things going. We've worked
[38:21] really well together with the Outdoor
Economy Group. I think there's pros to
[38:24] continue to work with both towns. When
both towns succeed, the Wolves County
[38:28] succeeds. So I think that's kind of a
given. The great thing about this is you
[38:33] come out with shovel ready planning
documents for some of the downtown river
[38:36] district projects. We don't have those
currently. We have a wonderful plan that
[38:39] you as the board um had the forethought
and wherewithal to go forward with that
[38:45] plan. Now we're ready to move forward
with some of the next steps.
[38:48] Greenway expansion expansion feasibility
and maintenance plan. These are and I
[38:53] can't really harbor enough how important
some of these are. A maintenance plan is
[38:56] really important. Um there is a
maintenance plan in place currently, but
[38:59] it's got a lot of dust on the shelf. Um
expansion of our greenway system, I
[39:03] think means healthcare north, which is
ultimately there. um downtown
[39:08] development in historic downtown Wsboro.
Again, if we can become a destination of
[39:12] both towns, we ultimately benefit
businesses and the residents of both
[39:15] towns. And then the number one I'm going
to hang my hat on is there's no grant
[39:19] match required. So, you know, this is
we're going for, you know, upwards of $5
[39:24] million. There is no grant match
required for this grant. Um and there is
[39:29] no grant match required for the capital
grants because we and you can go up to
[39:33] 25 million on the capital grant. We are
a rural town. we fall under those rule
[39:37] standards. So, there isn't a match.
Again, I don't know of a grant that
[39:41] gives you $25 million that doesn't have
a match. So, again, that's that's those
[39:45] are some pros to hang your hat on. Some
cons. Um, this will likely have to
[39:49] submit for this grant two plus times.
Um, I'm going to give you the grant cost
[39:55] in just a second, but what I do want to
hit home is that we do expect the
[39:59] resubmission costs to be cheaper than
the initial cost of the submission.
[40:03] However, I think it's really important
and reasonable that we look at this
[40:06] being something we submit to plus times
because I don't want to come back a year
[40:09] later and say we didn't get it and then
there'd not really be interest in
[40:12] resubmitting it because I do think that
we need to work towards it if we're
[40:15] going to commit to it. Um the two plus
submission again it's a political and
[40:20] highly competitive grant. So it's a
federal grant so it's nationwide. You
[40:24] are competing with other people. We did
that similar with our brownfields grant.
[40:28] We were the only one in North Carolina
to get the grant. So I think that's
[40:32] something to be proud of but it is
something that's political um planning
[40:37] staff capacity um you know with this
grant with EPA grant and our daily
[40:42] duties we would we'd be at capacity to
pursue grant through the grant process
[40:47] as well as the grant submission process.
It's just nature of force Kurt and I do
[40:52] our best to do it all but we can only do
so much. Um so you know that will tie us
[40:58] up through the grant process to pursue
other grants. Um, administration changes
[41:02] could benefit or be a detriment to
future submissions. I wish I had a
[41:05] crystal ball, but two years from now,
we've got a new wonderful new election.
[41:08] So, that could change their priorities.
Could be a pro, could be a con. Um, I'm
[41:13] not going to commit to either one
because I've been wrong before and I'll
[41:15] probably
So, you know, I think that's obviously
[41:18] something to um
think about. And then the grant may not
[41:22] score well under this current
administration. You know, our goal is to
[41:24] work with a grant writer who has a lot
of experience with federal grants and
[41:27] they're going to tell us, "Okay, hey
guys, I think under this current thing,
[41:30] we're going to try to curtail this to
best meet the what the grant wants."
[41:34] Ultimately,
administrations change and that could
[41:38] change. Um, the grant submission date
and the reason why we're coming to you
[41:42] today is February 27th. And while that
seems a long way away, this is probably
[41:46] one of the hardest grants we will do.
So, we need time to plan. So, I want to
[41:49] have the wherewithal to come to you guys
and seek request because this is going
[41:53] to come we're going to be hitting ground
running if we get approval from this.
[41:57] Um, we would like to not find out until
July or June of 2027. So, you're looking
[42:01] into the new fiscal year of next year.
If we didn't get it, the goal would be
[42:05] to come back and request the money in
either this current this upcoming fiscal
[42:08] year or depending on when we find out it
could be the next fiscal year. um
[42:14] as of May in your um as you can see in
your grant packet. Um
[42:20] and and I I kind of touched in this to
kind of give a broad overview, but I
[42:24] have gone into more detail in your staff
report. We've got two grant partners
[42:28] that have put together proposals that
you'll find in your grant staff report.
[42:31] The Ferguson group and innovative
funding partners. Um
[42:36] they have given a price. The good news
is Wils After Economy work group has
[42:40] agreed to cost share a third of the
price and Wilsboro has agreed as their
[42:44] main meeting to pursue this grant not to
exceed 12,000 from their entity. So I
[42:49] think what we're we're asking from you
tonight is if you choose to go with this
[42:53] grant I will need a motion to not exceed
12,000 on the from our entity from grant
[42:59] services. So ultimately in total that
would be 36,000. we would not be going
[43:03] over that amount, but want to make sure
we have enough to be able to pursue
[43:06] those grant writing services for a grant
this size. Um, I have included those
[43:12] submissions in your packet and with that
being said, I'm going to turn it over to
[43:17] you guys. I know this is a decent amount
of information and I'm here to answer
[43:21] any questions.
Let me point out a couple of things if I
[43:25] may. When you talk about shovel
projects, think big or small. Recently,
[43:30] uh, we've been notified of crosswalk
improvements in the town that is coming
[43:36] from the DOT that's going to help
improve our traffic patterns and so
[43:41] forth. That's not going to cost us
anything, but this could help in the
[43:45] development of that. The river district
is most likely to expand with
[43:52] opportunities soon and hopefully will
include some areas around Memorial Park
[43:57] and the block 26. I think we need to
come up with a better name for the block
[44:03] 26 by the way. And then traffic calming
is something that this possible
[44:09] expansion, we've been working on some
things to redirect traffic,
[44:14] I'm sorry, redirect heavy truck traffic
off of Main Street. So that could
[44:19] possibly play into that. And then the
last thing, just I would like to applaud
[44:24] you for two things. Your leadership in
grant writing proposals that we've gone
[44:30] after lately for Memorial Park and
different greenway projects and and so
[44:36] you've been a real team leader in that.
So, thank you and if we're hurrying,
[44:41] we'll still make your wife happy by
getting you to her birthday.
[44:45] » I appreciate it. I will say that to give
you a brief breakdown of what that
[44:49] timeline looks like. Submission in
February. She's going to be happy to say
[44:53] that submission in February,
notification sometime in the summer,
[44:58] early fall of 2027. And you're looking
at probably running this five years,
[45:03] four to five years. So you're looking at
five plus years for this planning grant.
[45:07] » Essentially you're talking about 12,500.
>> Yeah.
[45:11] » We're going to say 12,000 for this
>> and then if we have to reapply it would
[45:14] be less than that.
>> Yeah. I don't guarantee
[45:18] » Yeah. Yeah.
>> We don't want to assume.
[45:24] » I'm open to Yeah. Any questions you
have. I just want to kind of break down
[45:27] what that's going to look like from a
timeline standpoint. Capacity and then
[45:29] cost
>> like you just said
[45:34] repeat that it's very rare to get an
opportunity of a grant of size and
[45:40] magnitude that doesn't require
a 50% match or at least anywhere from
[45:48] five to 50% match for so to me if you if
you're looking at going after it's it's
[45:56] the pain versus the gains and to me
$12,500
[46:02] investment potentially
[46:06] drop kick into the stratosphere starting
point for growth in the two towns
[46:12] together.
I don't see how you turn it down
[46:16] personally
>> and books for us cooperation. Well,
[46:21] books for far beyond the planning. It
started there but we're moving on all
[46:28] hands on deck with that. So,
>> do you want to clear it 12,000? So, when
[46:32] we make a motion
>> 12,000
[46:34] » not 12,500 yet.
>> I know that's a technicality, but I
[46:37] don't want to sign books for for another
$500.
[46:43] I've got a few questions.
>> Yes, sir.
[46:48] » So, when you say it will put the
planning department at capacity, what
[46:51] does that mean?
>> So, I've got an EPA brownfields grant
[46:54] that's currently in the works. You know,
I expect an RFQ to go out soon. Um, you
[46:59] know, I I think you are well aware of
all what we do. Um, I know from the
[47:02] planning side, things worse than I spend
a significant amount of time obviously
[47:06] helping the public. Um,
I'll be at capacity when it comes to
[47:10] grants. Are we going to have to hire
another planning person?
[47:15] » I don't I don't think so. I just think
that for grants for the next couple of
[47:18] years, this is tie us up.
>> Just for grants, not
[47:23] » Yeah. I mean, because because I because
I feel like it's my duty, you know,
[47:26] obviously we have other things to do in
the planning department outside of
[47:28] grants. And, you know, I want to make
sure it's clear that, you know, I don't
[47:31] want there to be a lapse in helping the
public with other things. So, that's
[47:35] where that capacity comes in.
>> Got a variety of questions here that are
[47:38] not in any particular order, but I'm
going to
[47:41] Yeah.
>> What what do you think our chances of
[47:43] getting?
>> So, I think that goes back to the two
[47:45] plus times. You know, um we can play a
game of where the administration's going
[47:49] to be two years from now, we will have a
new president. I mean, that's just
[47:51] that's the reality. So, you know, that
that could change things. If we're on
[47:55] our second submission and a new
president comes in board and we have to
[47:58] maybe curtail where that grant goes. I
mean, I I I can't see through a crystal
[48:02] ball, but I know one thing. We will have
a new president. I mean that's and they
[48:05] hire I'm going to butcher the the
department but they are in charge of the
[48:09] head of head of transportation over at
the federal government. So ultimately
[48:13] yes the transportation could change you
know under the B administration from
[48:16] what I know because I know quite a bit
about the race because we've been
[48:19] talking about this for a while. It was
very much active transportation heavy
[48:23] that that was that was one of the goals.
What what can we do to reduce
[48:26] environmental pollution caused by motor
vehicles? That is not the case with the
[48:30] new administration. However, they kind
of still go back to that active
[48:34] transportation, but it could change with
new administration. So, yeah. Um, I
[48:38] think there's I think we have a project
that bodess well for submission. I just
[48:42] can't tell you how many times it's going
to take to go for it. We have just been
[48:45] told by both grant writers that to
likely expect two plus submissions.
[48:49] » You said that it's political. Is there
anything we can do politically to try to
[48:53] help make it increase our chances?
>> Without confirming with our attorney,
[48:56] I'm going to say that yes, it's a
political grant. I'm not sure how much
[48:59] the town can can contribute to that, but
but yes, we do have senators and
[49:05] representatives that as long as it's
okay with the grant, I again I'm going
[49:08] to preface that. I don't want to do
anything that's going to put the talent
[49:11] in liability, but as long as we, you
know, is that something that's okay with
[49:14] the grant, again, I would defer to them
to be the ones I don't want to even use
[49:18] the word lobby, but
>> I was going to say, what about the
[49:20] lobby?
>> So, they're one of the people who would
[49:23] actually have a lobbying firm. I just
without seeing the nature of the federal
[49:27] grant. I know lobbying for an EPA grant
was a strict hard no. Um I don't think
[49:31] that's the case with this, but I don't
want to commit to something that's going
[49:35] to put us in.
>> What all does this lock us into? Like if
[49:37] we had somebody a developer come that
wanted to do something at block 46
[49:41] that's going to hold up any of that?
>> I don't think it's going to hold it up.
[49:44] I think it could show what we have plans
as far as visions. You know, of course,
[49:47] if we're using private property, we'd
have to get somebody to buy on to that,
[49:51] right? So, we're going to start with
some of our public property that we own.
[49:55] That would be priority number one
because you know, obviously we have
[49:57] control of that. Um, but then yes, there
could end up being a partnership where
[50:01] we we have easements or something to be
able to build some of this stuff.
[50:04] » So, if somebody approaches us while
we're applying for this, this is not
[50:06] going to affect that.
>> No, because I think I don't completely
[50:10] commit to it. I think this gives us the
ability to have a planning document. I
[50:13] still go back to we're probably going to
stick with a lot of public stuff because
[50:17] without, you know, consider we don't
want to be a co-op to develop, right? We
[50:20] want we want to work
>> already pass this.
[50:23] » Yeah, at their main meeting they did
agree to pursue the grants not to see
[50:26] 12,000 from their
>> um I've got one more question.
[50:32] » Can we get reimbured through this for
our downtown comprehensive plan for
[50:36] » I don't think we can get reimbured but
what I will say is is that
[50:39] » as part of that grant that's already in
place we will be hiring a brownfield
[50:43] grant manager. Is that
>> correct? So, the grants manager is going
[50:47] to we have a little bit of a switch in
and things to actually save us a little
[50:49] bit of money and it will save us time in
the long run so we don't have to go
[50:52] through um different RFQS processes.
We're going to combine the grants
[50:57] manager with a qualified environmental
professional. That way, we save a little
[51:01] bit of money and time, but yes, there
would be a grants manager. That person
[51:04] doesn't necessarily do everything. They
are making sure you're in line with all
[51:08] these wonderful bureaucratic federal
regulations,
[51:11] » but that will help lessen the workload
just a little.
[51:14] » Yes. The intention is to try to at least
make sure we're staying on top and
[51:18] things. It still requires staff to be
pretty.
[51:20] » And I guess my last question is kind of
an overall question, but you feel like
[51:23] that you can do this grant and just
other priorities the town has that we
[51:27] may need you for that could be also
important to us that are like a burden,
[51:31] you can still cover that.
>> I think that yeah, I think the goal
[51:34] would be to maintain capacity. You know,
I want to make sure we're serving more
[51:36] tools. I don't want this to become a
problem for my tools grow. I think just
[51:40] that grant from the grant standpoint
what ties. Okay. Any
[51:46] other discussion?
>> I entertain a motion to accept this
[51:54] grand application.
[51:57] » All I need is a motion to accept
pursuing that grant at a fee, not less
[52:02] than 12, not more than 12,000.
>> Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we
[52:08] approve pursuing the build grant for the
town of North Oakra not to exceed
[52:15] $12,000
expenditure. Thank you.