[0:00] 2020.
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[2:36] » Here
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[2:50] we go.
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[4:58] [clears throat]
>> Good afternoon and welcome to the town
[5:02] of Surf City Town Council meeting. I
want to call this meeting to order and
[5:07] ask Mr. Nathan Schwarz if he would come
up. He is the pastor at Chapel by the
[5:11] Bay. And then when he is done, Mr. Abel
Mart
[5:17] will come up and lead us with a pledge.
And he is from the um scout troop 234.
[5:23] Everyone please stand.
Let's pray together. Jesus, we're
[5:28] thankful that we have survived
snowageddon and we are grateful for the
[5:34] strength to shovel our driveways with
man-made tools. And we pray Lord a
[5:38] prayer of thanks for all those that are
out there working the roads and helping
[5:41] us keep safe. We pray for this meeting
Lord that your will will be done. Pray
[5:45] that we might be able to represent for
you uh that which is the very best of
[5:49] humanity. And thank you Lord for the
opportunity to live in such a great
[5:51] place, be part of such a great town. We
love you Lord. Jesus name we pray. Amen.
[5:56] Amen.
[6:07] To the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for it
[6:13] stands one nation under God indivisible
with liberty and justice for all.
[6:20] » Thank you Abel.
[6:29] Next on our before we start our agenda,
the beautifification enhancement
[6:33] committee gives out awards every month
to a business and home of the month and
[6:37] John Kowski is going to present those
folks. No one from the committee is here
[6:42] tonight. So,
>> do we have anybody from Margaritas here?
[6:48] » Okay.
>> But hey, you it is a great place. I was
[6:52] here yesterday and [laughter] usually a
couple days out of the week. So
[6:57] » uh so this is uh in recognition
Margaritas beautifification business of
[7:02] the month
that to them and then do we have anybody
[7:08] from 57 537 Montgomery Loop here
tonight?
[7:13] » Okay. So this is for them and this is
the home of the month beautifification.
[7:19] » Is that over in Salt Water? Yeah,
>> just saltwater familiar with it.
[7:25] » Saltwater landing.
>> Yeah,
[7:27] » saltwater landing.
>> How's that?
[7:30] » Depending depending on the weather
tomorrow, we will be at those locations
[7:34] taking photos. Um, and if it happens to
get cancelled, we will reschedule and
[7:40] take another photo.
Um, so at this time we have the agenda.
[7:47] Um, do I have a motion to amend the
agenda to remove item number one under
[7:52] new business?
Um, which is the Pender County tax
[7:56] reevaluation presentation. They had to
cancel tonight and they will Pinter
[8:03] County will be calling us to reschedu.
>> I'll make that motion. Mayor,
[8:08] » I'll second. I have a motion and a
second. All in favor say I.
[8:12] » I.
>> All oppose, same sign. Motion carries.
[8:16] So now do I have a motion to adopt the
agenda as amended?
[8:21] » I make a motion to adopt the agenda as
amended.
[8:24] » Second.
>> I have a motion and a second. All in
[8:27] favor say I.
>> All oppose. Same sign.
[8:30] » Motion carries.
Next item is the approval of the consent
[8:34] agenda. Do I have a motion to approve
the consent agenda?
[8:38] » Yes. I'll make a motion to approve the
consent agenda.
[8:41] » I'll second.
>> Thank you, Trudy.
[8:43] » Motion and a second. All in favor say I.
I
[8:46] » all oppose same sign. Motion carries. At
this time is public comments. Citizens
[8:53] have the opportunity to address the
council and Carla will
[8:59] call out the names on the list. We have
Jill Miranda.
[9:09] » Hi guys. Long time no see, huh?
Um,
[9:14] as I said on my email that I sent to
you, I've been a little disappointed
[9:17] that there's not been any discussion
about the budget because, you know, it's
[9:22] coming up to be that time. And with all
the drama last year, I think it would be
[9:26] a really good idea if you guys held town
halls. And I know there's been
[9:30] discussion about whether that's feasible
or not. But I think with everything
[9:35] coming down the pike with the rivals and
the tax hike and trying to get that
[9:39] taken away and uh getting things back
into more normal money situation. That
[9:45] would be a good idea to be able to talk
to you, not just sit here and talk for
[9:49] three minutes and then go sit down and
hopefully make an impression. It would
[9:53] be nice to get some answers and it would
be nice to hear where you stand and why.
[9:57] And that's it. Um, and I think in the
meantime, I would like to challenge all
[10:02] of you members to look at the budget and
pick an item that you would like to trim
[10:08] or cut out. Not anything essential, but
things like the gentleman came last
[10:14] month and talked about the trash can
pulling in and out or for health care
[10:18] possibly moving over to the state's
program for the state employees. Uh what
[10:22] about changing insurance to the
parametric system which the um NCJUA
[10:28] kind of likes actually. Um also
um what was the other one I thought of?
[10:36] Oh, the parking. We could maybe get a
different parking company. Maybe they're
[10:40] when their contracts up, get a parking
company that would actually not take
[10:43] half the money and that would actually
enforce the fines. Those are just some
[10:47] things you could brainstorm, talk about
at the work sessions. You don't have to
[10:50] have consistent consensus on any of it.
But what I'm thinking is if you start
[10:55] brainstorming these things and you get
yourselves ready to start cutting, then
[11:00] people will take very seriously that
you're doing the best for this town that
[11:04] you can do. And that's all I have to
say. I appreciate it. Thank you.
[11:08] » Thank you, Jill Miranda. Um Kyle, don't
you have some dates on the budget that
[11:13] we have? How many meetings scheduled for
the budget?
[11:16] » We have several coming up. Our big one
uh is coming up March 13th. So uh
[11:21] department heads have until the end of
February to have their budget items um
[11:27] put in.
>> 19th,
[11:28] » excuse me.
>> Sorry, I think it's the 19th.
[11:30] » March 19th. Yeah. So that department
heads will have the till the end of
[11:33] February to um compile their budgets and
then that's when council will start
[11:38] reviewing the actual numbers. And again,
we don't have the
[11:43] um reassessment values from either
Pender nor Enso at this point. Um value
[11:49] of personal property, etc. Those are all
the inputs in regards to the revenues um
[11:54] tied to the budget. So absolutely, once
we get that, then we will start getting
[11:59] do our homework on it. Get
>> to work.
[12:03] Carla
Jeremy Sugars.
[12:11] Uh my name is Jeremy Sugarerts. I live
at 150 Cornell Lane in well Hstead. It's
[12:16] a surf city address. Um um I um was on
council for eight years mayor prompt. So
[12:22] I know where all the bodies are buried.
So any anything but the true answers I
[12:26] for sure will not know they were. So a
couple things. First of all, I implore
[12:29] you uh to not make any cuts on the
budget. I implore you to continue to do
[12:34] what you're doing because you guys are
doing the best you can do and I I know
[12:37] that. So, Madame Mayor, Mayor Prom,
Council, you guys are doing a great job
[12:42] with that and you guys do the best. You
pick through it. So, I want to tell you
[12:44] that uh uh somebody that's entrenched in
the community and around a lot of
[12:48] people, we want you to continue doing
what you're doing. I have three quick
[12:50] things. Number one is um I'd like to um
first of all say everybody here is doing
[12:54] a great job. I do want to ask uh a very
quick question if you don't mind uh from
[12:59] uh I probably have triple digits of
people in the community that have asked
[13:03] me about uh something that was uh Mr.
Plow ran on a tax repeal and um it was
[13:09] on his signs on his Facebook. It was on
his website and in fact the repeal says
[13:15] to repeal means to repeal law means
officially cancel, revoke or abolish it.
[13:19] And that was on the tax. That's what you
ran on as a as a that was your platform.
[13:23] I'd like to know where my check is and
so would the couple hundred other people
[13:26] that have talked to me. So we'd like to
have an answer on that. Uh people that
[13:29] are listening on uh YouTube here would
like to know that. So, it's important to
[13:34] me to find out where that is because you
can't say something that's not true
[13:37] without being held accountable for it.
That's first thing. Uh, second thing is
[13:41] I would like this council to consider uh
during public comment time for you to
[13:45] recognize the difference between uh
people that live in Surf City and do not
[13:50] live in Surf City. So, let me explain
that real quick. If I go down to the
[13:52] Wilmington City Council uh meeting and I
say, "I'm Jeremy Sugarle 150 Cornell in
[13:57] Hamstead and I don't like something
you're doing in the town of Wilmington."
[14:00] They probably will do not care. will
listen not listen to me. Um so I think
[14:04] it's important that you have this public
comment time do as you're doing but
[14:08] people that do live in the Hamstead
Holly Ridge ETJ they live that are not
[14:12] taxpayers they are identified as not
residents because you guys want to hear
[14:17] the taxpayers. That's what you that's
what you base your decisions on what
[14:20] your taxpayers tell you. That's why it's
it's concerning for you to make sure you
[14:24] make those right decisions. Uh and the
last thing is too I want to thank uh
[14:27] Kyle and the mayor, the council. Uh
we've uh had we had Surf City Live here
[14:32] for 5 years. It was fantastic. And um I
know you guys tried to get us to have it
[14:37] back again. Uh you kept that date for
us, but we've decided we've moved it to
[14:40] Holly Ridge uh for bigger numbers. So
we're uh that's going to be in November
[14:44] 7th. We're have 5,000 at that event, and
it's going to be an all day event. So,
[14:48] but we want to thank you for allowing us
to be here the last 5 years. Uh the
[14:52] participation, we had almost 3,000
people to see the Beach Boys, almost
[14:55] 3,000 people to see Craig Morgan and
Josh Turner. It was fantastic. That's
[14:58] great community support. Uh the
community loved it. Uh we sold out of
[15:02] sponsors every year. People were are in
line for that and uh we hate to leave to
[15:07] go there, but we've got a you know it it
enables us to be able to grow a little
[15:10] bit outside the box. So we just want to
say thank you for that opportunity. But
[15:13] thank you very much.
>> Thank you.
[15:15] » Thank you.
[15:19] » That's all.
[15:24] » Okay. Um no more public comments at this
time. Um there
[15:30] is no public hearings and under old
business is segment segment number seven
[15:35] of the multi-use path budget ordinance
amendment fund 55 and Cal Brewer will
[15:40] present.
>> Good evening madame mayor and fellow
[15:43] council and members of the public in the
audience and watching. Uh this is a
[15:48] followup to our work session item and
was inadvertently um left off uh was the
[15:54] last portion of the money transfer
process when when we budget for a
[15:59] specific project. So specifically this
is to cover uh the multi-use path
[16:05] segment that is uh going to be completed
in concert with the utility uh larger
[16:11] utility project uh for the sub aacquous
uh water line underneath the inner
[16:17] coastal and u what we'll do is then
replace the water line along Northshore
[16:22] Drive. utility contractors will complete
that work and leave the site um graded
[16:28] out for the multi-use path. Uh separate
from the utility funding um is uh how we
[16:35] will fund this um working through some
creative strategies. We did identify
[16:40] that um our accommodations tax fund can
fund this project. Um so that's monies
[16:47] that are generated through short-term
rentals. Um so at a price of um
[16:52] $664,216,
which is about half of what the original
[16:57] estimate was, uh we're asking to move
those funds from fund 21 accommodations
[17:02] tax over to our uh multi-use path
perpetual fund 55. So that is the u
[17:09] final action that would need to be uh
taken with this project. I can answer
[17:14] any questions if there are any.
Does any council members have any
[17:19] questions?
>> No, I do not.
[17:23] » Just want to applaud the council for
making that decision. Uh, in effect,
[17:27] we've saved the town 1.2 2 million out
of our taxes by one piggybacking
[17:33] uh the multi-use pass segment seven with
the um the sewer pro or the the
[17:38] waterline project, the water resilience
project and then using accommodations
[17:43] taxes to uh support the additional re uh
funding that we need to finish out that.
[17:50] So, and it's an important segment. It
runs along the beach. So, I'm really
[17:54] proud the council was able to get
creative. Kyle, thanks for your help on
[17:57] that. And again, I think that's a step
in the right direction. It shows that
[18:01] fiscal responsibility is at the
forefront of what this council is uh is
[18:06] doing and intends to do going forward.
[18:10] » Thank you for your comments.
If there are any no other comments, um
[18:15] it is requested that the town council
consider approval of the budget
[18:19] ordinance amendment as presented. If so,
do I have a motion to do so?
[18:22] » I'm going to make that motion. Mayor,
>> and I'll second it.
[18:25] » A motion and a second. All in favor say
I.
[18:27] » I.
>> All oppose. Same sign. Motion carries.
[18:32] This time we will move into the
manager's report.
[18:36] » All right. Thank you again, Madame
Mayor. Got several um updates for you.
[18:40] Um we'll start off with the obvious uh
winter storm recap. Um, so as you know,
[18:46] the area saw a rare winter storm um
bringing approximately 10 inches of
[18:50] snowfall that probably could be
contested by by folks out there, but
[18:55] that was generally on average of what we
saw. Uh, coupled with extreme low
[18:59] temperatures uh created some issues for
the town, mainly traffic disruptions and
[19:04] utility services. The team remained
engaged throughout the event through
[19:08] daily coordination and forward public
messaging. I'd like to thank all those
[19:12] that contributed to keeping safe surf
city safe and to our residents for
[19:16] heeding the me heeding the messaging to
stay home and stay safe. We will move
[19:21] into an afteraction process uh to learn
based on the event like we do every uh
[19:27] emergency event.
Solid waste services a byproduct uh
[19:32] disruption from the storm. Um GFL will
resume operations tomorrow uh Wednesday,
[19:39] February 4th. Uh please be advised that
crews will be operating at a reduced
[19:44] speed based on impacts to secondary
roads. GFL will provide trash collection
[19:49] only uh for the remainder of this week.
They will begin with Monday's schedule
[19:54] routes and continue catching up
throughout the week. Um they've got uh
[19:58] several municipal cl uh clients in which
they are trying to um address uh with
[20:04] the delay here. So trash only uh right
now. So, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
[20:09] customers, um, so that's our entire
island and mainland. Um, please place
[20:14] your trash cart out, uh, and leave it
until it has been serviced. Don't bring
[20:18] it in if they have not gotten to you.
They are working, uh, that those routes.
[20:24] Recycling services will not be provided
this week and will will resume on your
[20:28] next regularly scheduled date. Any
overflow recycling may be placed in a
[20:33] cardboard box or paper bag next to your
cart for collection at that time. This
[20:37] is outside of our normal uh ordinance uh
allowances, but we do understand that
[20:43] you've got two weeks of recycling as
opposed to one. Um so I I did talk to
[20:47] our code enforcement and uh you know, we
took that note, but if you do have extra
[20:52] recycling, you can place it
appropriately next to your recycling bin
[20:55] and they will pick that up. Um and then
lastly, just thanking um our residents
[21:00] for their patience and understandings uh
as we work to resume our full service
[21:05] schedule.
The Roland Avenue stormwater project um
[21:11] is underway with significant progress
since our last meeting. Uh the
[21:15] contractor has excavated the area and
has formed and poured the concrete apron
[21:19] that will frame the pvious pavers and
infrastructure. While work is underway
[21:24] uh and the Roland Avenue parking lot is
closed, crews are working on some
[21:28] maintenance and upgrade projects at uh
access number 18, giving that a
[21:33] facelift.
Moving into our waterline resilience
[21:37] project that we had touched on with the
multi-use path project.
[21:41] Uh town staff will be hosting a series
of meetings next week beginning with our
[21:46] Roland Avenue businesses on February
10th looking over here. Uh and
[21:50] Northshore residents on February 11th to
provide as much information as possible
[21:55] as we prepare for this major
infrastructure project. The selected
[21:59] contractor will be on hand to answer
questions about means and methods and
[22:03] staff will attempt to mitigate effects
as much as possible by pro providing
[22:07] up-to-date information on the progress
of the project. As a reminder, this is
[22:12] adding a water line underneath the inter
coastal waterway uh over to the island
[22:18] uh which will um greatly increase our
resilience. Um that original water line
[22:23] was placed in 1968. So, um, it's an
important project that that we get
[22:28] completed. We understand that there's
going to be impacts and we just want to
[22:31] make sure that we open those lines of
communication and and do everything that
[22:34] we can to mitigate those impacts.
[22:39] Um, let's see. Old Sellers Beach, uh,
storm water community meeting on March
[22:44] 7th. Um, staff, it is a Saturday. staff
will host residents of Old Settellers
[22:49] Beach or the canals uh to present
recommendations from the town's engineer
[22:54] on potential mitigation uh projects for
storm water management. The meeting will
[22:58] be held here at the municipal complex.
Staff are seeking input and buyin from
[23:03] the residents before programming any
potential improvements. Um it's
[23:07] important for us to provide uh a visual
of what that potentially would look like
[23:12] uh for storm water mitigation in that
area. the annual planning meeting. Uh so
[23:17] town council held their annual planning
meeting last week on Wednesday,
[23:21] Thursday, and Friday. I'd like to thank
the board for their participation and
[23:25] engagement. I'd also like to thank town
staff and committees for their
[23:28] presentations and input. The information
gathering and priority setting will help
[23:33] guide town staff in preparations for the
upcoming budget cycle, as well as
[23:37] thoughtful adjustments to the town
strategic plan.
[23:41] Um Friday we got a a little update on
our uh federal project uh beach project.
[23:46] So um the assistant secretary of the
army's office has completed their review
[23:50] of the chief's report which was
officially logged in their office in mid
[23:55] December. Uh there was some back and
forth between headquarters and the
[23:59] district on the report. This triggers
the delivery of the package to the
[24:03] Office of Management and Budget or OM uh
who has a 120day review period which
[24:08] would extend until midappril. Uh once OM
has approved, a clearance letter will be
[24:14] generated that confirms the project's
consistencies with the policies of the
[24:18] current administration. Um, as a
reminder, the funding for this project
[24:24] uh was uh derived out of the uh disaster
recovery assistance um in 2019 in which
[24:30] our current administration was in
office. Um so we would uh assume that um
[24:35] current administration will have
concurrence with uh the project. So um
[24:39] that is a little bit of good news. As
everybody knows, we've been kind of
[24:43] stuck in a lull with the assistant
secretary's office and and OM, but um
[24:49] Congressman Rouseer's office has been
working really hard on this. Um former
[24:53] Congressman McIntyre and his team have
been working hard on this, pushing every
[24:57] button we can push in in Washington DC.
um even though it seems like a a
[25:02] bureaucratic black hole sometimes, but
um a little bit of positive news and
[25:07] moving forward um that we can actually
hold on to. So with that, Madame Mayor,
[25:12] that is my report.
>> Thank you.
[25:15] » All right, we'll move on to our town
attorney, Brett Dims.
[25:18] » I have nothing to report, but happy to
answer any questions you may have.
[25:23] » All right, who wants to go first?
[25:29] And as always, I want to thank everybody
for coming out. This is a little bit
[25:32] different weeks. Real cold, still some
snow and ice. I hope everybody fared
[25:36] well. Uh it's not often we get this kind
of a [snorts]
[25:42] event. Uh
our I do agree with um our town manager.
[25:48] Our annual planning meeting I thought
went very well this week and I was
[25:52] excited to uh
reflect on what we've talked about this
[25:56] week. And I just want to thank everybody
for coming out. Thank you again.
[26:02] » Yeah, sure. Everybody looked at me.
Okay. [laughter]
[26:05] » Um I I've had a lot of of we've had
several days to think about the planning
[26:10] uh retreat that or we called it a
retreat. It wasn't we were in here and
[26:13] there were three rows of chairs over
here for anyone to come and sit and
[26:17] watch and participate. We did greatly
appreciate the people who participated.
[26:21] I was grateful um the agenda supplied um
public comment time at the end of the
[26:26] day and and um and even the lunch hour
on Friday and um um I I think anybody
[26:33] who did show up um learned a whole lot.
I think that's really what it comes down
[26:37] to. Um I think any of us would say the
same thing about the job before we came
[26:43] into it. Um there's just so much to
learn. So, I'm thankful that we're
[26:47] providing more and more opportunities
for that to happen, for anybody to show
[26:50] up just as just as tonight. So, thank
you for being here and listening. Please
[26:54] always consult the minutes and the
website. Carla does a great job of
[26:58] documenting all that. Um, and it's all
there for you to um to read at your
[27:04] leisure. And uh I I think the meeting
went really well. I this was our first
[27:08] opportunity for the five of us who just
recently elected Andy and all that to be
[27:12] in the same room and really have a lot
of hard discussions and get everybody's
[27:16] thoughts and feelings on different
projects and things and what we are all
[27:19] passionate about. We're all passionate
about the city, but we can't do
[27:23] everything with the with the budget
dollars we have. So, we have to make
[27:25] some tough decisions. But, I thought the
conversations went really well.
[27:31] » Move to this side.
>> I'm good. Um,
[27:34] thank you all for coming tonight. Um, we
had our, as we've been saying, we've had
[27:38] our little retreat meeting for three
days. I was a little disappointed that
[27:42] the fact that three people showed up for
the total of three days. And I'd say the
[27:46] a
>> four, excuse me, four people showed up
[27:49] for the three days. And uh, I'd say that
average was about an hour for each
[27:53] person, maybe an hour and a half. But I
was expecting more people to show up
[27:57] because we had it here, which was one of
the things that
[28:01] uh, the citizens wanted. so uh they
could come close to coming to the
[28:05] meeting instead of having to drive all
the way to Wilmington. We had good
[28:08] representation from our town uh
directors and uh everything went very
[28:13] well. I think we uh scored pretty high
on the things that we were trying to do
[28:18] and uh thank you all for coming this
evening and I wish it was more than
[28:22] eight of you. But anyway,
>> Andy.
[28:28] » Oh well, nice to see folks coming. Um, I
want to reflect too on on uh our 3-day
[28:36] uh I guess I call it the budget kickoff
meeting in that it's the it's the
[28:41] cornerstone of where we are going and
what the vision is and and updating the
[28:47] u the strategic plan. It isn't a talk
about line items in the budget just yet.
[28:52] That comes in March. Um so I hope that
everyone's here. One of the things we
[28:57] did talk about, and I think we're going
to need a lot of community uh
[29:01] involvement and support, is what we want
to do with the downtown area in terms of
[29:06] the uh the new business district, the
ITC. Um without input from the town, uh
[29:12] it becomes very difficult for for us
here to to try to figure out what's
[29:17] what's what is it that people want. So,
I'm looking forward to the
[29:21] participation. The other thing is uh we
do have the uh system development fee
[29:27] discussion coming up in March. Uh that
is the uh cost associated with
[29:32] developing new infrastructure for sewer
and water. Uh and the question is how
[29:37] much burden uh should the town have with
regard to the costs for new development.
[29:43] So that that's an important discussion.
We need the folks uh to provide their
[29:47] input on that. Um, overall I I think uh
it would have been nice to have had more
[29:55] people at that meeting and I know it was
during the day and people work and
[29:59] things like that. Unfortunately, it
wasn't uh video videoed. Uh we will have
[30:04] minutes coming out probably within the
next week or two. I think
[30:09] » maybe it approved at the March meeting.
>> Okay. So, you'll get a good rundown on
[30:13] on what we did, what we discussed. Um
and uh the one thing that did come out
[30:20] of that meeting that I thought was very
important is the recognition that
[30:24] engagement and uh and providing
information to the community and getting
[30:28] information from the community are key
to our success. Um we are here to
[30:34] listen. Uh and if if people can't you
know come and and and let us know they
[30:43] can contact any one of us through the
the the town website. Um I know most of
[30:49] us have our phone numbers personal phone
numbers posted uh emails.
[30:54] If you have an idea, uh you have a
concern, you have a question, reach out
[31:01] there. It's it's tough. The crystal ball
is no longer operable. So, uh we need we
[31:08] need people to to let us know. And uh
with that, I'll turn it over, I guess,
[31:15] Alicia. Um, we had I feel like we had a
great meeting for some of us being new
[31:21] like Andy and and some of us who I still
feel like I'm new because I haven't been
[31:25] here. This is my third planning meeting
in that regard. But, um, we cover a lot
[31:31] of information and it really is our one
opportunity out of the year to hear from
[31:36] all of our staff and all of our
committees and get like a good overall
[31:40] just update on what's going on in the
health of the community. And then it
[31:45] gives us the opportunity to figure out
what we see for the future of Surf City.
[31:50] And a lot of that is us reflecting back
on what we get get from the community,
[31:55] the information that you give us. So,
you know, keep in mind that the
[31:58] conversations that you have with us when
you see us, whether it's at church or at
[32:01] a restaurant or whatever, we do take
those thoughts and ideas back and that's
[32:05] the time that we actually discuss those
things and um give staff overall an idea
[32:11] of what we think is important. And
hopefully if we can afford to do
[32:14] something then that's something that we
try to make happen and sometimes we
[32:18] can't. So um otherwise thank you to
emergency services here Pender County,
[32:24] the
power companies, [laughter] the DOT,
[32:29] everybody that um came out and helped us
get through the snowstorm because it
[32:34] takes a lot and there's a lot of people
that were here working instead of being
[32:38] home with their family making sure that
they were okay. So, just thank you guys
[32:42] for for keeping us safe. That's it.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[32:47] » So, to those who um came out tonight, um
thank you for coming. Thank you for
[32:52] sharing your comments. All your comments
are are very much appreciated. Um this I
[32:57] want to call up James. James doesn't he
doesn't like for me to [laughter] do
[33:00] this. I gave him a warning and he he was
he's shaking his head at me, but you
[33:05] know, James James doesn't get much rec
recognition. This is James Horn. Give
[33:10] him a hand. Give James hand.
>> This is James [applause] Horn.
[33:13] » From advisory to warning.
>> Put more pressure on him. Put more
[33:16] pressure on him.
>> And he is our emergency operations
[33:21] command center director.
>> Like it. Um, so when when something goes
[33:26] sideways, James gets um
>> all all all the blame and all the calls
[33:31] and um but he he he organizes um what
what is getting ready to happen. He he
[33:40] keeps us all prepared. He wants you to
stay prepared. I mean, we're not used to
[33:45] um snow canes.
>> Um and I was just asking him what the
[33:48] name of the storm was, and I don't want
to pronounce it wrong. unofficially it's
[33:51] Giana but that's only from uh the
weather channel. There's no official
[33:56] name from the you know weather service
but
[33:59] » I mean surf city surf city can call it.
>> We can call it Giana if you would like.
[34:03] » Um but do you want to tell you want to
just say what what you've done over the
[34:07] last couple days? [laughter]
>> How have you spent your time?
[34:10] » What have you done over the last
>> Yeah. How have you spent your time?
[34:13] » I have worried worried sick myself
[laughter] over the past four days for
[34:17] our police officers, our firefighters
and our utility staff. Um, although I'm
[34:21] not directly responsible for them, uh, I
treat them kind of like my children. So,
[34:25] I have been pinging all the supervisors,
making sure everyone's made at home or,
[34:30] you know, whatever the case may be,
trying to help as much as possible. So,
[34:33] aside from that, I've been bothering
these folks with insistent emails,
[34:37] constantly coming in with all the
updates. I'm sure they they love that.
[34:41] Um, and just keeping keeping tabs with
our staff and making sure we've been,
[34:44] you know, meeting any unmet needs and
addressing what we needed to address.
[34:48] lots of public messaging. Um, our PIO
was was busy all weekend pushing out
[34:52] messaging, trying to get the the
information out to the people that we
[34:56] felt was relevant and timely. So,
>> you got it.
[34:59] » Did you? All of it. All of [laughter]
it.
[35:01] » So, yep. That's what I've been doing,
Madam Mayor.
[35:04] » Thank you so much, James.
>> But no, all of the credit lies with our
[35:07] with our frontline staff for sure. 100%.
Uh, you know, police, fire, and
[35:11] utilities. They worked throughout
throughout the event. No questions
[35:15] asked. So,
>> appreciate you. The applause goes to
[35:17] them for sure.
>> Thank you.
[35:20] » You're welcome.
>> So when we Yes, sir.
[35:24] » I didn't sign up to talk. I just want to
say
[35:26] » come on up. [laughter]
>> Can't let Jeremy
[35:33] [laughter]
>> No, I just wanted to say I know last
[35:36] time we had the snow some people
complained and uh but I tell you what, I
[35:41] know that Surf City does not own any
snow plows. if we owned them, they would
[35:46] rust out between the time we met, we
used them. But anyway, I think y'all did
[35:51] a great job getting the state, DOT, or
ever who got in here. The roads got
[35:56] cleaned in great time and so I think
y'all did a good job on that. I just
[36:02] wanted to let you know how I felt about
that.
[36:04] » Thank you very much. We don't get a lot
of thank you.
[36:07] » I know. Really appreciate that.
>> Appreciate it.
[36:10] » Yeah. So going into um our annual
meeting last week um one of the our main
[36:18] top topics was communication. So we were
all about education and communication.
[36:24] That was the two words that kept coming
up in every every segment that we hit
[36:30] was those two words. And so I hope that
you felt that you were well communicated
[36:35] with throughout the storm. Um and that
is going to be our goal to continue to
[36:40] to listen and to educate and
communicate. Um also during the the time
[36:47] of our three days um here we as a group
I think um learned the value of our
[36:56] employees
after each director got up and spoke. I
[37:00] was like can you tell me your years of
experience? And I think uh there was
[37:06] some that were um I mean what was
amazing to learn that I mean you got 15
[37:11] years 20 years 25 years over and over
from so many department heads and it's
[37:16] amazing to know that Surf City is
allowed
[37:21] to have such qualified employees. And
when I say it aloud, it's just amazing
[37:27] that they when they they come here, they
want to stay here and we want to keep
[37:30] them here. Um to to to make sure that we
run efficiently, we have to have valued
[37:37] employees that um that want to stay here
and work here. So, thank you all for
[37:42] everything that you do. Thank you for
for Carla and Kyle for and Amy um and
[37:49] Lydian that came from the school of
government that put together such a
[37:53] wellplanned retreat. I appreciate it
very much. Um and with that being said,
[37:58] I think that's all all that we have to
do. I did get a call from George Howard
[38:03] yesterday, but he hung up before I
answered it. He always calls me um
[38:09] because his sister's name is Teresa,
[laughter]
[38:12] but he immediately
realizes that he Oh my god, I've called
[38:18] Teresa, the mayor Teresa. I'm going to
hang up before she answers because he
[38:22] always does cuz I'll call him back. And
now I've learned not to call him back.
[38:25] If if it's a second call, I know to
answer. But um again, we appreciate you
[38:30] all being here tonight. And do I have a
motion to adjurnn?
[38:33] » I'll make that motion to adjurnn. Mayor,
>> I'll second.
[38:36] » All in favor say I. I.
>> All oppose. Same sign.
[38:40] » We are adjourned.
[38:47] [music]
[38:57] [music]