[0:06] Um just so you know I Emily and I were

[0:10] talking earlier and we and she was able

[0:12] to go back. We didn't have any

[0:16] truly virtual meetings during COVID. We

[0:19] So we're this is our go by moving

[0:21] forward. Um, so just little bit of uh

[0:27] just FYI, keep you might want to keep

[0:29] your mics muted until you're ready to

[0:31] talk. Um, especially if you're like me

[0:34] and have kids and dogs and cats running

[0:37] around the house. So, uh,

[0:39] » I can't I can't hear them.

[0:42] » I can hear them perfectly.

[0:47] Push your volume.

[0:55] on the top.

[0:56] » Honey, I've got it. It's just not.

[1:12] Hey guys, I at first I can see

[1:14] everybody, but now I can only see three

[1:16] people.

[1:18] Can you Well, I can hear you. I guess I

[1:20] can hear you.

[1:23] » Can you hear me now?

[1:25] » I can.

[1:26] » Okay, there you go.

[1:28] » Yes,

[1:29] I can. I'm good.

[1:37] » Whoever's Whoever's talking, Doris,

[1:40] ought to pop up on your screen, I would

[1:43] think.

[1:44] Well, you popped up and went out. You

[1:47] know, at one point I seen everybody, but

[1:50] now I'm just seeing I'm just seeing Miss

[1:53] Emily

[1:57] and then I don't see you.

[2:01] I don't even hear you right now.

[2:03] » Well, yeah. As long as you can hear,

[2:05] that's the best thing.

[2:07] » Yeah, I'm good. I'm good.

[2:31] Can y'all hear me? Okay.

[2:35] » If there's no I can I heard you.

[2:37] » Yes.

[2:37] » Yes, sir.

[2:38] » Loud and clear.

[2:40] » Okay.

[3:10] Okay,

[3:16] » That's the problem. It's on in there.

[3:18] Would you

[3:18] » That TV?

[3:19] » No. Would you turn the speaker off

[3:22] there?

[3:24] » Yes. Yeah.

[3:34] » Look at it.

[3:41] » Is it still all There we go.

[3:46] » Christie, it looks like you and Lisa

[3:48] have both gone somewhere nice to weather

[3:50] out the storm together.

[3:53] We are we are very excited about that.

[3:57] Y'all just let us know when the the

[3:59] roads are clear and we'll come back.

[4:19] » All right, folks. It is six o'clock. So,

[4:22] um, I'll call this meeting to order. Uh,

[4:26] and the city clerk will lead us in in

[4:29] invocation, please.

[4:32] » Let's pray everyone. Dear Lord, thank

[4:35] you for this day and thank you for

[4:36] keeping everyone safe during the storm.

[4:38] I pray for our street department and our

[4:40] first responders who are still working

[4:43] to uh keep the streets clear. And I pray

[4:45] that the council members make wise

[4:47] decisions for our community tonight. In

[4:49] your name we pray. Amen.

[4:52] Thank you, Emily. Okay. Uh during the

[4:55] pre-agenda, the city council removed

[4:58] items one and nine from the agenda. And

[5:01] because this is a virtual meeting, the

[5:03] three presentations have also been

[5:06] removed. So item 10, item 10 uh has now

[5:10] been removed due to new information that

[5:12] must be reviewed and item 11 was uh

[5:16] reviewed during the pre-aggenda meeting.

[5:18] So no decision and no decision is

[5:21] necessary. Is there a motion to adopt

[5:24] the amended agenda?

[5:27] » So move.

[5:29] » Okay. We have a first and a second. Is

[5:31] there any further discussion?

[5:36] Okay. Due to this being a virtual

[5:38] meeting, we will need to have a roll

[5:40] call vote. So if you will just vote uh I

[5:44] or no as I call your name. Council

[5:47] member David Jones,

[5:56] » Council Member Christy Feifer.

[5:58] » Hi.

[6:00] » Council member Doris Allison.

[6:03] » Hi.

[6:04] » Council member Amy Lton.

[6:07] » Hi.

[6:08] » Council member Tip Nicholson.

[6:11] » Hi.

[6:13] » Council member Lisa Pearson. I,

[6:17] » Council Member Trey Robertson.

[6:20] » I,

[6:21] » And Council Member James Presley,

[6:23] » I.

[6:25] » So, the motion passed unanimously. Thank

[6:27] you so much. So, uh, the 2026 code of

[6:31] ethics and the front and center

[6:33] strategic plan. As always, the city

[6:35] council works to follow the code of

[6:37] ethics and the strategic plan. Um, we

[6:41] have removed uh the presentations and

[6:43] recognitions. We have removed these

[6:45] items from the agenda uh to have them

[6:48] present at the next meeting. So we'll

[6:50] hear from the two chiefs next next

[6:52] meeting.

[6:54] So uh city manager report now. Ron uh

[6:57] will be providing his report tonight.

[7:02] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh Emily, can you

[7:08] [cough and clears throat]

[7:08] we uh for those of you that have been on

[7:11] the council for a while, we we're moving

[7:13] this earlier in the meeting just to, you

[7:16] know, not have it as an add-on. Uh I'm

[7:19] going to try and make it a little

[7:20] shorter because of that. But some of

[7:22] these I think you really need to to hear

[7:24] as a group and ask me any questions that

[7:26] you might have.

[7:29] » [clears throat]

[7:29] » So, just to start, uh, Emily alluded to

[7:33] this in the invocation, like to thank

[7:35] everybody who's been working, um, you

[7:38] know, literally around the clock in some

[7:41] cases, uh, to handle the two winter

[7:44] storms that we've had. It's not very

[7:46] often that you get that you get uh, two

[7:49] plus inches of ice and then six to 10

[7:52] inches of snow depending on where you

[7:54] are. And uh you know it goes without

[7:57] saying we are not equipped for these

[7:59] types of storms. So everything that has

[8:02] been done I I really do appreciate um

[8:06] will tell you that [clears throat]

[8:09] you we are our streets department uh has

[8:12] been you know again working as as as

[8:14] much as they can. um when we have ice

[8:18] that's, you know, under under all of the

[8:21] uh under the snow, it's just almost

[8:23] impossible to get down to the pavement

[8:26] with the equipment that we have. Um the

[8:28] motor graater, we have one motor graater

[8:30] and it has been um it's been like the

[8:33] piece of equipment that's worked the

[8:35] best. Um but all everything else that we

[8:38] have, we have snow plows on our trucks,

[8:40] spreaders for salt and and sand. Um so

[8:44] they've done a great job. police, fire,

[8:48] um storm water crews, everybody that's

[8:50] been called in has just been done done a

[8:53] great job and we're doing the best we

[8:54] can. I know it's not perfect, but but

[8:57] we're really uh we're really trying.

[9:00] Next, please.

[9:04] So, going into the um construction

[9:06] projects, the terminal building is

[9:09] finished. Um and just as a reminder, our

[9:12] ribbon cutting is February 9th at 2

[9:14] o'clock.

[9:16] Next,

[9:20] we have several other airport projects I

[9:23] wanted to bring to your attention. Um,

[9:25] the airport apron expansion design. This

[9:29] is the the image that you have on your

[9:31] screen with the yellow the yellow lines

[9:34] on the kind of the left side. We're

[9:36] expanding out the FBO tarmac. Uh this is

[9:40] going to be this is going to allow us to

[9:41] build uh hanger spa or hangers in that

[9:44] area. Um and potentially if the

[9:46] Elizabeth City State project does come

[9:49] to fruition, then we will put them there

[9:52] as well. So design's 90% complete. Uh

[9:57] and then we will put that out for bids

[9:58] after uh after we get those the design

[10:01] done. the uh corporate development

[10:05] uh area. This is the one where we bid it

[10:08] three times uh for various reasons. And

[10:11] this will allow us to build um an apron

[10:15] and potentially at one point we were

[10:17] going to have a hanger there as well.

[10:19] But this is going to be our main area

[10:20] for expansion on the airport and it's uh

[10:24] down behind the Victory Air hanger, if

[10:27] you know where that is, going down the

[10:29] main taxi way on NASCAR Road.

[10:32] So bids were opened on uh January 22nd

[10:36] and that's been awarded to or will be

[10:38] awarded to uh Country Boy Landscaping

[10:41] who is the apparent uh responsive and or

[10:44] low responsive and responsible bidder.

[10:47] The third is a um

[10:51] this isn't the la the most updated one,

[10:54] Emily.

[10:55] » [clears throat]

[10:56] » So, the the last one uh is that I wanted

[10:59] to let you know that West Star, who took

[11:02] over the old Lowe's hanger, we received

[11:05] this last week a letter from the state

[11:08] saying that we were granted a $3 million

[11:10] or we we're going to be getting a $3

[11:12] million grant to assist them as an

[11:15] economic development project on building

[11:18] the the basically apron space and doing

[11:21] the horizontal work for their new hanger

[11:25] expansion which is going to accelerate

[11:27] that project. So that's a huge win for

[11:29] us.

[11:30] Next

[11:36] um the circuit 63 undergrounding. Um I

[11:40] would just disregard the words on this

[11:42] slide. Uh this is the undergrounding

[11:45] project in the valley stream area. Um

[11:48] what what we're doing out there is it's

[11:50] it's kind of a two-fold project, but

[11:53] it's the first of its kind that I'm

[11:54] aware of in Statesville.

[11:57] This area is notorious for outages, and

[12:01] our crews are out quite often when there

[12:04] are storms. So, we're taking we're we're

[12:06] we're taking the 4KV lines, upgrading to

[12:10] 23 KV, and taking them underground. So,

[12:14] this is the first one where we've been

[12:15] pro proactive on going underground.

[12:18] Hopefully, this is something we continue

[12:20] to do to help with our crews uh and the

[12:23] reliability. It is not cheap uh but for

[12:27] the overall long-term health of uh the

[12:30] system that this is something that we're

[12:32] trying to do in in strategic areas.

[12:35] Next,

[12:40] uh the police department. Um what I will

[12:43] tell you about that or and the parking

[12:45] deck the parking deck substantial

[12:47] completion is hopefully somewhere end of

[12:50] March early April. Uh so that is moving

[12:53] along. Both of these projects and really

[12:56] any of our construction projects are

[12:58] heavily dependent on the weather this

[13:00] time of year. So obviously the last week

[13:03] and a half has um has hurt their

[13:05] progress. Uh but hopefully we can stay

[13:08] with that time frame.

[13:10] police department. There's a lot of work

[13:13] going on inside and outside for that

[13:15] project. We're hoping that substantial

[13:17] completion on that one is in August of

[13:20] this year. Next,

[13:27] fire station 5. Um, y'all are well aware

[13:30] of this project. The roof's done. uh

[13:32] grading the grading contract has not

[13:35] been awarded yet to my knowledge but we

[13:38] do have the low bidder so that should

[13:40] happen any time and then interior work

[13:42] in in March we have you'll see at the

[13:46] end of this report we have done all the

[13:48] hiring uh for you can go ahead you can

[13:51] for that station so we have uh we are

[13:54] going to have I believe 15 more

[13:56] firefighters be pinned mayor uh in the

[13:59] in the next little bit so Um there there

[14:02] are a lot of new firefighters on the

[14:04] scene.

[14:06] Uh the waterline spline weather has been

[14:09] atrocious for this one. Uh this is the

[14:12] $23 million water project basically from

[14:14] the plant to Idol Memorial Gardens south

[14:17] of town. Um paving on Brookdale has

[14:21] finally been done. Uh we are going to be

[14:23] moving to Stockton Street uh very soon.

[14:27] Uh and then the next project or next

[14:29] part of the project is going to be um

[14:32] South Meeting Street uh moving from the

[14:35] railroad

[14:37] um to Amnony Hill Road if I'm not

[14:40] mistaken or no that's that's the US 21.

[14:43] Um but the South Meeting and US 21 are

[14:48] the two next areas that are going to be

[14:50] hit in earnest. And I'll remind you that

[14:53] when we're putting these lines in the in

[14:56] the ground, it's a multi-step process,

[14:58] which is what's taken us so long. You

[15:01] got the main line, which tears up the

[15:03] pavement. Eventually, you have uh feeder

[15:06] lines that have to be tied into it after

[15:08] DEEQ has come in, done pressure testing,

[15:11] and making sure it's all done correctly.

[15:14] Then finally, we can overlay and re

[15:16] repave. So, I I hate it, but it takes a

[15:20] long time and it's a multi-step process.

[15:22] Um hopefully come spring we won't have

[15:24] to fight the weather as much and and

[15:26] we'll be able to get this thing done. Um

[15:28] but it is at 53%

[15:31] um completion.

[15:33] » Hey Ron, can we ask questions as you go?

[15:35] » You can. Uh

[15:37] » Just quick question about Stockton

[15:38] Street. I drove down there recently and

[15:41] it's like an old logging road. Do you

[15:42] have an estimated date of when you're

[15:44] going to begin and when that'll be

[15:45] complete?

[15:46] Uh it should start any time. Um and I'm

[15:51] not sure when it's going to be complete.

[15:53] This the storm has really thrown that

[15:55] project off. Um one of the I think the

[15:58] intersection of Brookdale and Stockton

[16:00] is probably where they're going to start

[16:02] it because it's last time I looked it

[16:05] was still in really bad shape at the

[16:08] turn coming off of Brookdale onto

[16:10] Stockton.

[16:11] » Um but that's that is the next phase

[16:13] coming back in. I can get I can get more

[16:16] information from you uh or for you after

[16:18] the meeting and send that out.

[16:20] » That'd be great. Thank you.

[16:21] » Can you send it to me also? I'm getting

[16:23] tons of calls.

[16:24] » I I'll send it out to everybody.

[16:26] » Thank you.

[16:27] » You're welcome.

[16:30] Next,

[16:34] uh South Yadken uh pump station. This is

[16:37] our main uh our pump station uh bringing

[16:40] raw water in from the South Yadken.

[16:43] Years ago, it was our Statesville's

[16:45] primary source of water. Now, it's our

[16:47] secondary source with the um Kataba

[16:50] River being the first. It's been a long

[16:52] drawn out process, but we have finally

[16:55] gotten finished with the uh redoing the

[16:57] pump station. Um, in Bill Vaughn's

[17:00] terms, we have totally recapitalized uh

[17:03] the the pump station here or the pump in

[17:06] here. Um, close to a two $3 million

[17:09] project. Uh, and we're going to do a an

[17:12] unveiling at some point uh some point

[17:14] soon.

[17:16] Next,

[17:21] Emily, I'm going to skip this one if you

[17:23] don't mind, please.

[17:29] Okay. So, coming up, I mentioned earlier

[17:31] February 9th at 2, that's the ribbon

[17:33] cutting for the airport. And then our

[17:35] council retreat 19th and 20th of this

[17:37] month. We are going to start at city

[17:41] hall, go to Hickory to meet there and do

[17:44] the tour there. And then on the 20th, we

[17:47] will be back at our um at the

[17:50] Statesville airport. So, in the meeting

[17:52] room that you see right here.

[17:55] And we've got a we have an agenda that's

[17:57] pretty much completed. I'm going to send

[18:00] it out fairly soon just to get some

[18:02] thoughts on uh from you on it.

[18:06] [snorts] Next.

[18:11] Okay. Open positions. I'm going to

[18:13] probably end it after this one because

[18:15] we have a lot of filled positions. Um so

[18:19] we only have five here. So that's that's

[18:23] a huge deal for us. Uh we have uh been

[18:26] working to uh you know positions come

[18:29] and go when you have 550 plus employees.

[18:31] There's there's turnover. Um but uh one

[18:34] of these positions the transportation

[18:36] planner is new or new in this year's

[18:39] budget. So we have done very well

[18:41] filling these positions. And that's not

[18:44] to say they won't we won't have

[18:46] vacancies, but uh I feel really good

[18:49] sitting where we are right now with this

[18:52] next.

[18:56] And so I won't go through all of these

[18:58] because we have, I believe, four full

[19:00] slides of either promotions, transfers,

[19:04] um, new hires, or folks that have come

[19:07] back around to us. I would we we'll send

[19:10] this out as well. I I would and you can

[19:12] see this one on the website. Um, I'm

[19:15] really proud of everybody for getting

[19:16] these positions filled and I'm and I'm

[19:18] super proud of those that actually take

[19:20] the time to go after certifications

[19:23] uh and things of that nature and and for

[19:25] promotions

[19:27] and I'm glad to answer any questions

[19:29] that uh that you might have.

[19:35] Okay, no questions for Ron. No

[19:37] additional questions.

[19:40] Thank you so much, Ron.

[19:42] Um, so on the consent agenda, all items

[19:46] were considered to be routine by the

[19:48] council and will be enacted by one

[19:50] motion. So consider approving the

[19:53] January 8, 2026 pre-agenda meeting

[19:56] minutes and the January 12th, 2026

[20:00] regular meeting minutes. Uh B is

[20:03] consider approving budget amendment

[20:06] 2026-12

[20:07] for the current sewer relocation

[20:10] project. AE services agreement. Um item

[20:15] C is consider approving budget amendment

[20:17] 2026-13

[20:19] to fund the city hydraulic water model

[20:22] update. Uh item D is consider approving

[20:26] the submission of application to the NC

[20:29] governor's crime commission for funding

[20:31] of two police officers uh police

[20:33] department salaries. Uh item E is

[20:36] consider approving an ordinance

[20:38] establishing a 25 mph speed zone on a

[20:42] portion of West Front Street at the

[20:44] request of the North Carolina DOT.

[20:47] Item F is consider approving the special

[20:50] use permit 2026-01

[20:54] which is the Winston Avenue town homes

[20:56] order. And uh item G uh is consider

[21:01] approving a resolution designated John

[21:04] Hatcher, grants manager, and Randall

[21:06] Moore, storm water program manager, the

[21:08] authorized primary and secondary agents

[21:11] to execute and file applications for the

[21:14] hazard mitigation grant program with NC

[21:17] Division of Emergency Management and

[21:19] FEMA for the Beauty Street South Drive

[21:23] culvert replacements and the Holland

[21:25] Drive culvert replacement.

[21:27] And uh item H is consider accepting the

[21:31] annual non-primary entitlement grant

[21:33] from the NC DOT AV aviation division in

[21:37] the amount of $150,000.

[21:41] Are there any items that the council

[21:43] would like to move back to the regular

[21:45] agenda?

[21:49] Hearing none, I will ask for a motion on

[21:52] the consent agenda. [snorts]

[21:54] » So moved. Do I have a second?

[21:56] » Second.

[21:58] » Any further discussion?

[22:02] » Okay. Once again, we will need to have a

[22:04] roll call vote, so we'll make this a

[22:07] little faster. Uh, Council Member Jones,

[22:10] » I.

[22:12] » Council member Feifer,

[22:14] » I.

[22:15] » Council member Allison,

[22:17] » I.

[22:18] » Council member Lton,

[22:21] » I. Council member member Nicholson.

[22:25] » I.

[22:26] » Council member Pearson.

[22:28] » I.

[22:29] » Council member Robertson.

[22:31] » I.

[22:32] » And council member Presley.

[22:34] » I.

[22:35] » Okay. The motion has passed unanimously.

[22:38] Thank you so much. So going to with the

[22:42] um

[22:44] with everything that we've already

[22:45] talked about. Uh we don't we don't have

[22:48] any advisory board meeting minutes.

[22:51] Uh, no other business.

[22:55] Um,

[22:58] is there if there is no other business,

[23:00] I will entertain a motion to adjurnn.

[23:03] » Some moved.

[23:04] » Second.

[23:05] » You don't have to be so happy about it.

[23:07] Uh, [laughter]

[23:09] » So okay. Any any further discussion?

[23:13] Okay. We will have a quick roll call

[23:15] vote now. Uh, Council Member Jones.

[23:23] H, I saw it. Yep. Thank you. Council

[23:26] member Feifer.

[23:27] » Hi.

[23:28] » Council member Allison.

[23:30] » Hi.

[23:31] » Council member Lton.

[23:32] » Hi.

[23:33] » Council member Nicholson.

[23:35] » I.

[23:36] » Council member Pearson.

[23:38] » I.

[23:39] » Council member Robertson.

[23:41] » I.

[23:42] » And Council Member Presley.

[23:44] » I.

[23:45] » Okay. The motion has passed unanimously.

[23:49] Thank you guys for a wonderful meeting.

[23:51] » Well done.

[23:52] » Everybody be safe.

[23:54] » Be safe.

[23:55] » Yeah. Back at you 20 record, Doug.

[23:59] » I know [laughter] that beats the first

[24:00] night.

[24:01] » Good job, Mr. Mayor. Thank you all. They

City Council - February 2nd, 2026 at 6 PM

Transcript