[0:00] 2020.

[2:24] » [music]

[2:28] [music]

[2:36] » Here

[2:41] [music]

[2:45] [music]

[2:50] we go.

[2:59] [music]

[3:51] » [music]

[4:08] [music]

[4:18] [music]

[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]

Surf City NC Council Meeting - February 3rd 2026 6:00 PM EST

Transcript