[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.

Board of Commissioners Meeting June 25

Transcript