[snorts]
Yeah.
I can curious.
I'm glad.
Good evening everyone. Good evening. Welcome to this board of commissioners
meeting this August 11th for the town of Waxaw. Uh let's take a moment, catch our
breath. Uh we'll go ahead and start our evening with an invocation. We
have Joe Lapos who's Joe Leos is going to give us an invocation to kick off our
evening's activities. Thank you.
» Let's please bow our heads for the first invocation since 2019.
Heavenly Father and Lord of the universe, we honor and worship you for
amaz for your amazing love and grace that has been bestowed upon us.
» Thank you, Jesus. >> On behalf of many in Waxaw, we're sorry
for removing your presence from these proceedings. Thank you for being patient
and please accept our repentance and forgive us. Please honor and bless this
board and town staff for granting you permission to be present with us again
starting today. This is the hard part. Lord, help us to do as you taught and
forgive those who trespassed against us and forge ahead to make this a better
place to live for all. Thank you, >> God. We know elected officials swear
upon the Bible where it says in the beginning in Genesis that you mandated a
call to carefully steward all that you created. Help us all to do so. Remind us
that at the end of the Bible, it says in Revelation 11 that you would one day
return to judge both those who feared you and those who raged against you. For
some reason, of all things people do wrong, it stated that you would destroy
the destroyers of the earth and land. You knew long ago that greed would tempt
all men, especially those in power. So help us, dear God, to heed the warnings
to care for all the people and your land, too. So dear God, on this first
invocation in seven years, help these strong leaders to seek your wisdom and
your will in every decision that they make. And Lord, give Jim Black a fist
bump from all of us, too. I pray this in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.
» Amen. >> Amen.
Thank you very much, Joe. Congratulations on being the first
in some time. All righty. So, we will start our official opening ceremonies as
well with a pledge of allegiance. Please rise.
I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
» Thank you one and all. Are there any adjustments or amendments
to tonight's agenda? hearing none. Then can I get a motion to
approve tonight's agenda? >> So moved.
» All in favor? >> I
» I motion carries. Next up we have general public comments.
Uh we had some confusions with the signup sheets. So we have the public
comments a little mixed with the data center comments. So we will focus I will
call out those that signed up for the general public comments. Uh to kick us
off uh first on that list would be again Mr. Joe Leapos.
Hopefully you're not all tired of me yet. So, hey, first I want to thank
Mayor Murray and all five members of this board for being people who keep
your word. Shortly after the first election two and a half years ago, some
of us felt the need to challenge the moment of silence. I first recited Ben
Franklin's famous speech that resulted in Congress calling upon God before
every meeting. Why not ours? We asked. All three of you on the split board
attempted to bring it back. But shockingly, the former members who
touted their religion and quoted Bible verses were against it. It is no wonder
after the rejection of God that polarization reigned in these halls. It
is a perfect example of why it is important. We stood against the
destruction of land by developers who adopted a leave no trees behind
philosophy and how it all gentrified senior citizens and lower income
families. Some have argued saying the purpose of invocation is to promote a
specific religion or even procilitize. No, it is to create a purposeful
reminder of the vows sworn upon a Bible which holds the highest standard of
ethics and fairness. Over 7 billion copies of the Bible have been sold and
in this digital age, billions read it online. It is not a minority view to
include God in all things. Some ask what is the angst about developments
as if they are evil. In the first chapters of scripture, it says humans
were put here to steward the beautiful world God created. Building is not evil.
It is normal but need but it not need not be in a total destructive pattern
that takes no account for wildlife, trees and how it affects residents. I
mentioned Revelation 11 in the invocation. I don't know how that came
up, but God gave me some things to say and so I'm going to go with what he told
me to do. In Revelation 11, it because it's an important prophetic dialogue
that lays out how we will be graded for our mandate. The full text in Revelation
11 says, "The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in
heaven, saying, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of the Lord and
of his Christ. He shall reign forever and ever." and the 24 elders who sit on
their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped him. Next, it tells
of the final grade. The nations raged, but your wrath came with the time for
the dead to be judged. First for rewarding your servants and those who
fear your name, both small and great, and finally for destroying the
destroyers of the earth. We all have moments of rage for both
good and bad reasons. Without God's forgiveness and grace, we're all nothing
at all. But judgment is not ours. It is only God's. But why did he pinpoint
destroyers of the earth? What a sobering cry to the ultimate consequences of
humanity's downfall and the importance of stewardship. Oh, what a mandate this
board and the town engineers have on your shoulders. It is a big task, but
you all have writed our future by putting God in first place at these
proceedings to ensure his words and his guidance are followed. Now, may God and
his wisdom be with you all. Thank you. >> Thank you, Joe.
Next up, we have Father Benjamin Roberts.
I do hope those timers don't appear while I'm preaching.
I'm Father Benjamin Roberts. I'm a priest of the Dasis of Charlotte. I was
for the last 14 years the pastor of Our Lady of Lords in Monroe and on July 1st
assumed my new responsibility as the priest in charge of the Catholic
community of Waxaw. Uh I have been appointed to oversee the transition of
St. Matthew South Campus into its own parish over the next over the coming
probably year until we're officially declared a parish by the bishop of
Charlotte. And then I'm tasked with being the founding pastor. So uniting in
one way the already 3500 Catholic families that live in Waxaw
Weddington, Marvin and um Wesley Chapel along with some people who come over
from South Carolina. Uh so our intention of course will be to build a church and
many other things and since we are your neighbor literally right there I wanted
to come and introduce myself. Um I am a I was born in Charlotte. I grew up 20
minutes from here in Lancaster where my parents still live. I watched Waxaw grow
up. I fulfilled a childhood dream on July 4th. any kid in Lancaster wants to
uh as a part of their life goal to be part of the Fourth of July parade in
Waxaw. So I had the great privilege to do that. Again, I'm very happy to be
here. I look forward to working with you uh for us to be a presence of of
goodness, of hope, and of unity in this community.
» Thank you very much.
Uh let's see here. General, it says data in. Okay, the rest are data center
comments. Uh we will go ahead and leave those for our public hearing. Uh seeing
no other signups for general public comments, this concludes our general
public comments. Um any other commission response regarding public comments at
this point?
» All right, hearing none, I will add mine. Um,
one thing people don't generally remember is our pledge of allegiance.
Our pledge of allegiance states one nation under God. And the under God
wasn't there in the original draft of the pledge of allegiance. It was added
at an interesting time in our history. For those [snorts] that aren't aware, it
was added during the Cold War when Soviet communist when the communist
Soviet Union was basically growing and expanding both in power and in region.
And it was one of those things that the country at that time felt it was
necessary to add to our pledge to help distinguish the United States from our
communist adversaries. Under communism, i.e. socialism. God
must be removed from the psyche of man because without God that leaves man
searching to fill the void and man will then quickly latch on to a system or an
individual other than God. There's a very specific reason our
Declaration of Independence says endowed by our creator,
we have inalienable rights. Our creator was put there to remind us
that our rights for liberty and life and happiness come from God. They don't come
from an individual. They don't come from a system. They don't come from a from a
king. They don't come from an emperor. They don't come from a ruling party and
its party members. They come from God. And that's why I'm happy today to have
this invocation as part of our starting ceremony. I think it's a good addition
to remind us all that it is our creator that gave us life, gives us liberty, and
gives us our right to pursue happiness. And that's where those rights come from.
And we need to remember that they're not coming from people. They came from God.
and we get to exercise those here in this country. So, thank you. Well said.
All righty. Next up, we have the consent agenda. Can
I get a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda?
» So moved. >> All in favor?
» I. >> Motion carries. Uh we have one
particular item within the consent agenda that we will be reading this
evening. Our mayor promed will be reading our honor to the legacy of Mr.
Jim Black.
» I'd like to welcome his family tonight. Whereas the town of Waxon, North
Carolina pauses to look back and remember the remarkable life, vibrant
spirit, and lasting impact of longtime resident and community icon Jim Black.
And whereas Jim Black was a constant welcoming presence at every town
gathering and celebration, showing an unmatched dedication to his neighbors
and a deep love for Waxaw's community. And whereas with the rise of social
media, Jim stepped forward generously using his time and talent to capture the
smiles of M and milestones shared history of our citizens. And whereas his
photographs and posts did more than just document events. They connected
neighbors. They preserved memories, boosted local pride, and built a digital
scrapbook of our own town's growth. Whereas Jim was instantly recognizable
and beloved for his trademark optimism, warm personality pres and his signature
thumbs up pose that brought joy and reassurance to everyone he met. And
whereas while Jim Black has passed away, his legacy, cheerful spirit, and love
for Waxel will live on in the hearts of our community and the memories he left
behind. Now there therefore be it resolved that I, mayor of the town of
Waxaw, along with the town board of commissioners, and on behalf of all our
citizens, do hereby honor the life and legacy of Jim Black and express our
deepest gratitude for his years of service as Waxaw storyteller,
photographer, and friend. We call upon all residents to carry forward his
spirit of positivity and community pride.
In witness whereof, I hear I have here unto set my hand and cause the seal of
the town of Waxaw to be affixed this 11th day of August, 2026.
» Thank you very much to the black family. We mourn your loss. Thank you.
All righty. Next up, we have recognitions. Uh we have Miss Dena Parks
and Recck. We have a couple recognitions.
Good evening. I'm here tonight to recognize Miss
Robin. Um, Miss Robin started her journey here with the town in July 21 in
the finance department as the um, accounting technician. she quickly um
earned more responsibilities um and did a great job there but we kind
of stole her. So in August of 22 she became a part of the park and recck
department as the administrative assistant and then again did a great
role and now is the deputy administration. Over the last couple
years, Miss Robin has done a key role in our department um helping us with many
grants such as the Great Trail State grant, the Carolina Thread Trail grant,
and um and then also helped us with securing funds for the small trailer as
well. Um she's been a co-leader on that one. She's also been at the creation of
the Friends of Waxaw Parks and Trails from the beginning to now its nonprofit
status. So, she's all around helped in so many different ways in that form.
Also, Miss Robin helps out with our financial because that's always a
challenge with budget. Uh she's helps with our um year end um also with other
projects with the downtown project uh park project, the learning center
project, the rec pro uh rec farm project and the PCR um PSPR
building. So all these things logistically getting those finances
together which is totally appreciative. She handles our accounting um on
payables um receivables, the keeping up with the grants also with
purchasing. She coordinates with special event rentals which is a challenge at
sometimes and also does a percentage of rentals with the parks and facilities.
Also sponsor space. So, if you would like to sponsor one of our lovely spaces
in the parks or trails, she's um your person. And scout projects, you'll we
have presentation for two scouts coming up in just a few minutes. Again, a
wonderful um person to help us prolong our finances and also help us um to move
that that next spot. her dedication, organization, professionalism,
commitment um to ensuring the parks and wreck continues to serve our community
to its highest level. I want to say thank you, Miss Robin, um for serving
the last five years with the town of Waxaw. And please help me congratulate
her on this wonderful milestone.
[applause]
Here
you go. You want to say anything? >> I guess I could. Um, no. I just want to
thank my team, the town staff, my family. Honestly, like I love Waxaw, so
I want to give everything I can to it, but my team is what makes me smile and
happy every day. So, I really appreciate them, too. So, thank you very much.
You have one more, Miss Dina. Oh, Andrew's doing this one. Gotcha. Mr.
Andrew, how are you?
» Thank you for having us. Uh, we're here today to celebrate a major milestone for
our department and for our town. Chris Blanchard is officially making five
years with the town of Waxaw. Over the past five years, Chris has been an
absolute pillar for our team. Watching his growth has been incredible, stepping
up to become our park lead and taking on a full scope as the crew lead
responsibilities without missing a beat. Three years ago, Chris made history by
becoming the first recipient of the Sunny Splan Employee of the Year Award.
That award honors someone who uh who leads with integrity, exceeds
expectations, and brings a true attitude of gratitude to work. Qualities Chris
continues to model every single day. Beyond keeping our parks in top shape,
what really sets Chris apart is how he connects with people. He currently
mentors several of our team members, passing on his knowledge, work ethic,
and standards every single day. but his warmth exceeds well beyond our immediate
crew. Chris is easily one of the most welcoming people you'll ever meet.
Whether he's out in the parks or around town, he's always waving, smiling, and
saying hello to everyone, even people he's never met before. He makes our
entire department approachable and sets a fantastic standard for community
interaction. On a personal note, I couldn't ask for a
better partner in managing this team. Having Chris by my side to handle the
day-to-day operations, lead the crew, and keep everything running smoothly
makes a world of difference. He leads by example, earns the respect of everyone
around him, and truly makes Waxall a better, friendlier place. Chris, thank
you for five years of hard work, leadership, and dedication. We're
incredibly lucky to have you on the team, and I'm looking forward to many
more years of working with you together. Please join me in giving Chris a round
of applause.
Thank you guys. >> Thank you Chris.
All righty. Next up, we have Mr. Orion with our engineering department.
» Good evening. I have uh Linda, our administrative assistant. Let me see
what she had prepared for me today. Oh, very good. Um Linda and our
engineering administrative assistant. Congratulations um for being with the
town for five years. Uh Linda is much more than administrative assistant. Um
she's the true heartbeat of our engineering team. Uh she kept keeps us
organized with her friendly spirit and she keeps things running smoothly.
Linda, we are lucky to have you on our team and celebrate with us today.
» Thank you.
» Good evening. [clears throat] Tonight we're here to recognize Sergeant Wall-E.
Uh he began his career in New York. Um retired from there, started his second
career here in Waxaw in 2019. Over the while the time he's been here, he's got
a thousand hours of law enforcement training. And we're recognizing him
tonight for earning his um North Carolina law enforcement advance
certificate. Wall-E. [clears throat]
» Yep. That's it. That's yours. Congratulations.
All right,
we have another one this evening. Um, Detective Howard, he began his law
enforcement career in 2012. Um over the years he's completed a thousand hours
over a thousand hours of training and North Carolina has recognized him with
his law enforcement advanced certificate also. Cory, thank you for your time
here. Thank you for your training.
» Thank you. >> Thank you, Lieutenant. Always good to
recognize the high standards of the Waxaw Police Department. Thanks again.
Uh, next up we have a couple very special presentations uh this evening or
recognitions this evening. Uh, Miss Robin, we have a couple Eagle Scouts in
the house.
Hello again. I'll introduce myself again even though I'm Robin Ver, deputy of
admin for parks and wreck and I'm here with Jeremy and Max and Laura. Um they
um Max has actually done our Eagle Scout project for the Town Creek Park
Pollinator Garden. So I always mess this up.
Next one. Or did I turn it off?
I always mess this up. Which one?
» Right button. All right. See, I told you I messed this up. That's fine. Um
anyway, so Max was actually a big part of wanting to do our revitalization of
the Town Creek Park Pollinator Garden, which actually was an Eagle Scout
project a couple years ago. Um you'll see top left, that's where we basically
started. So he pretty much started from scratch. He basically did the soil,
added some compost, did some new plants, and did a whole new walkway. You'll also
see that he added a bee habitat. He added a bench. That bench was actually
made from wood salvaged from the Serross cabin that unfortunately burned down at
our museum of the Waxaw. So that commemorative plaque is there. You'll
see that. It's a beautiful bench. You definitely should go check it out. And
he actually, you can see his group. They actually did a give a rock, take a rock
garden as well, um, and added the little library back. So that might actually be
a future Eagle Scout project soon, too. So he did a great job. his group did an
awesome job and we really appreciate all his hard work. Do you guys want to say
do you want to say anything? Okay. But thank you guys so much for all the hard
work. [applause]
» It's great to see a piece of that cabin live on for many many years as a bench.
» [applause]
» Miss Amy, we have another one. >> Good evening. I'm Amy Merrill, the
downtown park manager, and I've been working closely with Ben. Come on up.
And his mom, Sarah, and his dad, Todd.
Robin is the Boy Scout uh Eagle Scout project, but she let me take the reigns
with this after it was just a little bit of a process. So, that's why I'm taking
this on. I've worked with Ben actually. He did some cleanup at the park for us.
Um Oh, I guess I got this
about three years ago. he um contacted us and was interested in doing some
clean up around the park. So, I got to meet Ma Ben and his mom and he did a
great job then and we talked about his project which is the wind phone.
Um there's a QR code up there if you're interested in learning about the wind
phone, but we now have one at the downtown park. I mentioned it to Ben at
the time of the cleanup of the park and he ran with it. Three years later, here
we are. We now have the wind phone in the downtown park. It's basically a
place where you can send a message to a loved one or just talk to anybody who
will listen and then the wind will carry your message away.
Ben and his team did a great job. They worked great together. Um he was always
a go-getter and his parents and other Eagle Scouts were amazing. Here's some
more pictures. And actually tonight he put on the final
touches. Uh we don't have those pictures, but um I'm proud of Ben and he
did a great job and congratulations, Ben.
[applause]
I'd like to thank the town of Waxoff for allowing me to build the windphone in
their new or downtown park. I'd especially like to thank the Department
of Parks and Recreation with Mrs. Amy, Mrs. Robin and Mr. Jim for helping me to
see the process through and eventually complete the project. It wouldn't have
been possible without them. So, thank you.
[applause]
» [applause]
» And we have one more recognition this evening, Miss Brandy.
» Yes. Uh we just wanted to take a moment to recognize Michael who has spent the
past year serving as an intern for the town of Waxaw. Michael has been a
tremendous asset to our team, not just in the business development department.
He has jumped in wherever he is. he was needed, worked hard, learned a lot, and
became a valued part of our town family. It has been a pleasure working with him
and watching him grow over the past year. We are incredibly proud of him as
he takes this next step and heads off to college. Michael, we are going to miss
you having you around, but we are excited to see where life takes you.
Thank you for everything you have contributed to the town of Waxaw, and
please know that we will always consider you part of the family. Congratulations,
Michael, and best of luck in college.
[applause]
And for those of you who don't know Michael, uh,
which it's probably very few people, I almost forgot he wasn't an intern. and I
thought he worked here. He's been here so long, but uh we wish you the best of
luck and uh he's doing great things with his nonprofit, Action for Good. Look it
up. Um he's really giving back to the community along with the Eagle St. I
wanted to thank them as well. It's a great use of uh contributing to the town
park and that's really what community all is all about and when people think
of Waxaw, that's what they think of. So, thank you all.
» [applause]
» I've always been impressed with how Michael just seemed to pop up
everywhere. I don't know how many events I saw him, not just town events, but
just all around the county. So, he's been a real fixture. And I I just can't
imagine how much he's learned. And to know that he's taken that with him is is
going to be really cool. So, keep in touch, Mike.
All righty. Uh next up we would like to kick off our public hearing about the
imposing of a proposed moratorum on the construction and development of data
centers. Can I get a motion to open this public hearing?
» So moved. >> All in favor?
» I. >> This public hearing is now open. I'll
just kick it off by making one thing as clear as I could possibly make it. There
is not and has not been any discussions of or intentions to build a data center
within Waxaw or as far as I know on this side of the county. Um this is something
we're doing preemptively. uh you're seeing it in Charlotte at the state
level and many many other municipalities have discussed and taken on this topic
of imposing some kind of restrictions around data centers and a lot of those
restrictions have sort of started with a moratorum. The purpose of this moratorum
is to give us time to develop the law, time to write the LDC the way it needs
to be written to ensure our community is protected in the future. So this is not
something that's happening tomorrow. We don't have a a file filled with
applications looking for people desperate to build data centers. That's
not what has happened. This is us being proactive and preemptive with our
activities. So, anything else to add, Kevin, before we kick this off? All
righty. So, there's no formal presentation. Again, this is just a
moratorum to put a halt on things. So, we don't really have anything to present
in terms of what we think the law would be, what we think the law should look
like. And a part of this public hearing is going to be us getting the opinions
of the people. We're going to listen to y'all tonight, hear what you have to
say, and it will be part of our consideration as we draft and rewrite
some of the laws within the LDC, our land development code. So, we're going
to optimize the code a little bit and we're going to take to heart some of the
stuff you have to say. So, we'll get started by just calling off some of the
folks that have signed up for our public comments uh in this public hearing
regarding data centers. Not sure which one to start with. I'll start with this
one. Go ahead.
» Yes. >> Do do the
do the public comments after the summary of um what
» do you have a summary? >> Yes, we do.
» Yeah, we do. There is one. >> Who has the summary?
» Mr. Kevin, you have the summary.
» It was just There you go. >> I think you summarized it pretty well.
Mayor, there's not a whole lot else to it. Um, so this is for public hearing
for ordinance 202614, data centers and similar land uses. Um,
this is intended to address large data center related complexes that are
rapidly growing in North Carolina. Um, there are uh they do require large
amounts of land and there are significant concerns with their impacts.
Um, be it noise, heat, light, uh, lighting, utilities, etc.
Um the town's current LDC definitions for server farms are not really up to
date. They're not really designed um to locate these and mitigate their
potential impacts. The state is looking right now uh at a
couple different bills, few different bills to uh to find a good way to
address these, but we don't know what the outcome of that's going to be. And
really Waxaw is just kind of following along with about 30 other different
local jurisdictions in the state that is growing on a monthly basis um that have
passed either text amendments or local zoning uh local moratoriums uh to give
time to do that. And that kind of shows where we're at.
These are moratoriums. You can see the vast majority of them are for a 365day
moratorium. So that is the most common type that's done.
This will not ban data centers. What this would do would pause approvals of
new data centers, data processing facilities, cryptocurrency mining, and
other similar primary uses on properties within Waxaw's incorporated town limits
for 12 months. And as you mentioned, this will allow staff um and uh the
board uh to comply with any changes in state law that arise, to research actual
impacts of these land uses, to propose some changes, um and then to provide
time for public feedback and for the elected officials for y'all to hear
proposed changes and decide on the best course of action to take. Um so if
adopted tonight following this public hearing uh the moratorum would be in
effect until August 10th of next year or until the adoption of an amended land
use ordinance to address these uses or until further action ending or
continuing the moratorium by the board. Whichever one of those comes first.
» Any questions or comments from the board at this time? Please,
» mayor, members of the board, and residents, I want to offer a perspective
on this issue that begins with some personal responsibility. Before serving
on this board, I spent several years as a citizen volunteer on the Waxaw
Planning Board. In 2020, we undertook an extensive review that led to the Waxaw
Land L land development code as we know it today.
At that time, we understood server farms was a very different than what we are
discussing the campus-like data centers that are being built today. I did not
anticipate how rapidly the industry would change in 2021 when we reviewed
it. The scale at which data centers have amassed are completely different.
I own that responsible government. Government isn't about pretending old
decisions, anticipate every change that would follow. It is about recognizing
when circumstances have changed and beginning and being willing to
respond. Today's large-scale data centers can bring significant demands on
electricity, cooling, and other utility resources along with real questions
about infrastructure, noise, land use, and the compatibility with the
surrounding developments that we know and love as Waxaw today.
I also recognize that many of our residents are concerned. You've seen
what happens in other communities and are wondering what that would mean
for Waxaw as we consider this moratorum today.
Whether I was still serving on the planning board, sitting in the audience
as a resident or sitting here as a commissioner, my recommendation would be
the same. Place the temporary moratorum on this issue. The mortorium is a
commitment to do the work before we make a decision with any lasting consequences
for this community to clearly understand the infrastructure utility environmental
noise and land use implementations considered
and how it matches with our Waxaw long-term vision and determining what
standards and limitations fit our community.
There are also larger principles at stake here I want to be direct about
because I think it's important for the people in this room that haven't
followed as of lately what has been taking place with our greater state
government because local control matters. Last year, the state
legislator, our state legislation and
representatives passed Senate Bill 382. Buried inside it was a change that
stripped municipalities, including this very town like Waxaw, of its ability to
downzone property without its owner's consent. In plain terms, if a piece of
land is zoned for a use like a data center, which currently none are at this
time, and there are no applications before us, as the mayor has said, but
our residents deserve clear understanding to think about what it
means and what implementations would take
place. I encourage everyone in this room to
look up how your own representatives voted. And that's why I also support the
current legislation, House Bill 24, to restore that authority and downzoning
ability with your local municipal services. I believe we need to keep
pushing our state legislators to give that authority back. This is not being
anti-development or disregarding property owner rights. It's about a
balance. It's about making sure that people who live in the community and the
representatives they elect keep real voices in shaping the community's
future. When circumstances change, good government should have the humility to
acknowledge it, the responsibility to understand it and the courage to act
upon it. That is why this moratorum is reasonable and gives us the
opportunity to do just that work. And that's why I also encourage each of one
of you to go and understand the implementations that have taken place
with our state legislators and how we have been handcuffed by making actual
decisions that impact us to date. Thank you.
» Thank you, Commissioner Harris. Anyone else?
» Yeah, I just wanted to mention another bill that passed recently. um HB 162 um
it's unfortunately more top- down governance from our state government. It
handcuffs again local governments from uh regulating parking spaces for new
developments. So now statewide we can't regulate parking spaces
whatsoever on any new projects that come in. So the market will decide, but
potentially inadequate parking could be supplied and the burden to fall on
surrounding streets. So I certainly support your sentiments there,
Commissioner Ferris.
» I'm just going to say one last thing and very quickly because we want to get this
going. There's a lot of people here that want to talk, but um I would like to say
there is hope. So to thank Representative David Willis and Danarp.
They have proposed a bill uh H House Bill 170 that would bring that back. So
uh let's give credit where credit is due and we thank uh Deanarp and David Willis
for that and uh hopefully we get it done. So call on that. Ask him that ask
him that you want that passed. It's it's there. It's up there, but just got to
get it through. So, there is hope out there.
» Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? All righty. Well, let's go ahead and kick
off the public comments portion of this uh meeting. We'll start with EB withraw.
» Yes. >> No worries.
» Okay. Uh Ben Levenson. Levenson.
Do I have a time limit? Three minutes. Honorable members of the board, my name
is Benjamin Levenson and I'm speaking on behalf of Levvenia, a charitable group
across the Carolas and the United States focusing on environmental causes,
humanitarian actions, and striving to protect the people of the areas that we
are in. The time of action is now because when a data center comes, it
will already be too late. Today, you decide what kind of Waxaw you want. On
one hand, you can give us a Waxaw where you can go outside and breathe in the
fresh air, lay down on the well-watered grass, and look up at the stars with
your family and friends as wildlife roam through the trees and forests that tower
overhead. On the other, you have a waxaw filled with smog, where you cough every
time you step outside, where the stars are no longer visible at night, and
where water shortages run rampant as the trees are plowed and birds no longer
chirp. For one data center, Harvard School of Health estimates anywhere from
53 million to 93 million in health damages to the local population and 3.4
to 6.5 additional premature deaths every year. Currently, Waxaw has around 20,000
citizens. One data center can take up as much water as 50,000 citizens. Training
a single AI model can emit more than 626,000
lbs of carbon dioxide, equivalent to nearly five times the lifetime emissions
of the average American car, which includes the manufacturer of the car
itself. In 2024, the electricity generation for global data centers
produced approximately 182 million tons of CO2 emissions and was responsible for
560 billion lers of water consumption. In the wise words of act of Cass
Chufoon, British youth activist, when the last tree is cut down, the last fish
eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money.
I'm not only thinking about the waxaw of today, but I am thinking about the waxaw
of tomorrow and waxaw in 20 years. If you want to protect these people, serve
these people as you are supposed to as public servants, then you will pass this
moratorum and you will not allow companies to destroy what our ancestors
have spent the last h 100red years building. The people say no to data
centers. Thank you.
Next up, Courtney Moneymaker.
Okay, good evening everybody. And I'm really nervous to be here. I I'm here
because I have a three-year-old and 11-year-old and it's important to me
that they have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. I'm here also as a
care provider of adults with developmental and physical disabilities
for the last 15 years. more currently. Um, now I just work with scheduling care
providers and them. I'll bring that up because I just had to defend my job
against a proposal of an AI bot coming in and and doing the work for me. So
glad my company is sticking strong with us and was like, "No, we're not going to
do that." Thank you, Abound Health. Um, all right, back to why I'm here. Uh,
data centers are no good. I excuse the poor posters. They're made really fast.
But you can see people, clean air, and water are greater than data centers.
Just say no to data centers. We all remember that
uh slogan, just say no. It's all we have to do. We know that um
data centers take up our electricity. They are going to put a strain on our
grid. I don't know about most of you, um, but me [clears throat] and my
husband, we also are business owners here in town of Waxaw. We have a little
vintage store downtown going on almost five years. Um, but I just want to see
the future of Waxaw be greater. And I'm losing my train of thought.
Sorry, I'm not prepared. But, um, yes, back to the resources. We know that data
centers consume up to two million gallons of water per day. And um that's
too much. And it's because it evaporates. We're not It's not a return
cycle. It's nothing they're reusing. This is gone. This is gone. And um I
just drove back today from Chimney Rock, North Carolina. I don't know if any of
you have had a chance to go there since Helen back in 2024. This was my first
time. And to see the devastation and destruction
that water can cause was eye opening. Um, and I just don't
want to see the devastation and destruction that the lack of water is
going to cause. Um, so again, thank you for your time. Thank you all for your
consideration and voting for the band. Um, I say band 12 months would be great.
I ask of you to push for a band entirely forever. We [clears throat] never need
data centers. People are greater than data centers. Thank you so much for your
time and have a good night. [applause]
Thank you, Courtney. Uh Mr. Alan Previtt,
thank you for the opportunity to speak. I worked with Duke Energy, retired
engineer for 45 years. Had the opportunity to do a lot of the advanced
work and stuff that goes on that has gone on and it was a very good job.
That's why I stayed for 45 years. There are 97 data centers already in
North Carolina. You have to realize that's a lot of data
centers. Now, these are not necessarily what you would call massive data centers
like some of the ones that's being proposed. These are corporate data
centers more than anything else. Having to work with Duke, we had our own data
center. We had a redundant data center at Lake Norman up in Meuire and we al
saw had a separate another data center that was remote that was in Houston.
When you're running a utility, you have a franchise to serve and you have to get
system back up very quick. So you have an outage, it's very important that you
have the data to do it. Also, I have children that are physicians and also
have done research on various things and I will say this is that data centers
with a lot of data at the universities at various corporations, they provide a
lot of wealth of information to be able to do diagnostic techniques that are
there. So there's good things with data centers and there's bad things. You'll
see a lot of them on TV and in advertisements and stuff much more than
you're going to see in realistic everyday business. Now is Waxaw a good
fit for a data center? No, I don't think so.
First thing is we're talking about energy and electricity. I worked in the
high voltage section and the thing is is that you'll notice that most of the big
data centers are along transmission lines are very close to them. The data
center that's going up above Morris Chapel Road or right off Morris Chapel
Road, they're paying for the distrib the the system substation to be able to tap
a 230 line. We only have one delivery off of 230 line. They're basically what
we call transmission network. So all the distribution around here, none of that's
going to carry a uh data center of any size, especially the ones you read
about. The ones that are going in various other places, they are along
transmission lines. The one that was in Matthews, it's along a transmission
facility. What you see is a situation that those data centers are consuming a
trend a tremendous amount of power. And the thing is is that most people don't
realize what those numbers mean. But just to give you an idea, the data
center over at Matthews that was proposed was 600 megawws. That's half of
the output of one of the units at Meuire or Kataba. That's a lot of power. Okay.
the new ones that are being proposed and there's a energy tariff that Microsoft
has proposed to the not only the Duke but the North Carolina to be able to
increase the charge for energy. So that way there's a lot of proactive stuff
there and lot of companies more than willing to pay for the infrastructure to
be able to supply the energy for these things. The other problem is lack of
water right now. Everybody that's in here
probably gets your water might not know it from Lancaster County.
» Western part of Union County has very little surface water and very little
water to be able to use for water distribution systems.
» Thank you. >> It now comes from Lancaster County right
off of Rebound Road right off of Highway 5.
» Thank you. We're going to try to get everybody tonight. And they're currently
under a drought mandate, >> at least they were earlier in the week
or last week, >> which restricted use of water.
» Not enough of water that's going to be able to cool these things.
» Yep. We're going to try to hold everybody to three minutes so we can
give everybody a chance to see. >> So, thank you for
» those are two big things. You're not going to be able to supply it because we
don't have the infrastructure here to do it.
» Thank you.
» [applause] >> Uh, all righty. Next up, we have Sophia
Wang.
» Greetings to Mayor Robert Murray the third and the council members of the
Waxaw Town Hall. My name is Sophia Wong. I am a high school student and I have
lived in the Waxaw area for most of my life. To me, the case at hand today
isn't regarding the potential benefits of artificial intelligence. While the
argument of uh about the place of AI in our society is a useful one, it is not
relevant to the discussion at hand. Individuals living in Waxaw can use AI
regardless of the presence of a data center in our town. Instead, today's
town hall should spoke focus specifically on the effects of data
centers and the consequences of building one in the town of Waxaw. You might ask,
how might data centers affect me? Well, let's put it this way. The average Waxaw
household pays about $250 per month in electricity and water bills. And yet,
data centers affect all of us through the devastation they wreck on our power
grids and water supplies. By examining a report from the US Energy Information
Administration, we see that residential energy prices rose by 11.5%
in 2025 when compared to past years with the report noting data centers
specifically as a major contributor to this increase. Looking to the future,
researchers predict that they will skyrocket even further, increasing by up
to 40% by 2030. This means that what could have been a $250 monthly bill in
2025 might become a $350 bill in 2030, if not more, as a direct result of data
centers. Another Environmental Protection Agency estimate finds that a
data center could use up to 5 million gallons of water daily, the equivalent
of up to 16,000 American households. Now, while we might not have the exact
equivalent to the increase in bills this number may signal, we ask you council
members to think about the droughts we've had in the Carolinas. Earlier this
year, Union County Water enacted stage 2 water restrictions, requiring residents
reduce spray irrigation systems to twice a week and requested residents reduce
and reuse water for daily household tasks. In fact, data from this spring
breaks some records in North Carolinian history. According to meteorologist Amy
Wilmoff, 2026 is the dest year on record so far for the Raleigh Durham area. But
that's not all. Reports from Mansfield, Georgia site water literally turning
brown from data center sediment. Council members, this moratorium protects
residents of the town of Waxaw from encountering further unnecessary
droughts. It protects us from having to continue to ration our water. It
protects us from future environmental devastation in our own town. Council
members, you may hear arguments during this hearing claiming that a data center
will create new jobs in the Waxaw area. This argument is entirely untrue. Let me
repeat this claim now. While the construction of a data center might
require some temporary staffing, once built, this number decreases
dramatically. According to the official data cent's mapping website, an
averagesiz data center employs just about 15 to 35 people. Simply put, there
is no benefit a data center may provide to the town of Waxaw. As I close my
speech, I urge you, the elected officials of Waxaw, to instate this
moratorium on data centers. I am a student. I care about the issues around
me, and it scares me most when forces beyond my control threaten my
livelihood. I do not want to live in a world where rationing water becomes the
norm. I do not want to live in a world where my parents are overwhelmed by
utility bills. I do not want to raise my children in a world where all water is
tinted with sediments. I do not want my friends, family, neighbors, and
strangers who live in a world that was brought upon them against their wills.
Council members, you can protect us, our parents, and those who will come after
us by preventing this ecological calamity. I thank everyone here for your
time.
[applause]
» Thank you, Sophia. Well stated. Uh, we have Alinda Bowen.
» Hello. I don't have as much detailed notes as the others, but I thank you
that you all do. I just want to bring out Well, first I want to thank you that
you're taking advanced work to keep a data center from here. Want to remind
everybody we love little Waxaw, the clean air, the quiet,
the adequate water. But may I remind you, we've been in a drought now for
years. As a utility customer, my water bill keeps going up and up and up. Data
centers take massive amounts of water. But I think something that's been only
me, it has been mentioned, but not quite as often is the noise.
in these other small communities where they've moved in. They say it's
destroyed the community, the noise. Now, I don't want to live in Charlotte
because it's a noisy city. I live in Wagshaw, as someone mentioned. I can
hear the birds and, you know, it's it's pleasant, but the noise level, I don't
know how far out it goes from the data center, but everything I hear is it's
pretty bad. So, thank you for taking advance work and for doing the diligence
that we'll need to keep these sorts of things from our little community. Thank
you each.
[applause]
Thank you, Linda. Next up, James Withro.
» Hi, everyone. My name is James Wro. I'm here representing my parents Bruce and
Libby Wiro. I'm a cyber security expert. Yes, I said expert for the past four
years. I have audited data centers, Google, Oracle, Amazon, you name it.
Insight global. And there are two things that we really need to focus on. I do
agree with a moratorum. I would propose an entire ban and that's because there
are two types of data centers uh closed loop and open loop. Our friend here was
referring to closed loop. What that is is on premises data centers that do not
use the resources of a public community. Open open loop is what takes away from
our community resources and with no no financial restitution or uh really any
opposition when it comes down to it. It bleeds the community dry and then to
simply file bankruptcy and leave with destruction in the wake. And that's
really part of the problem here. the and we've gone from a society of uh people
over profit to profit over people. And I encourage a complete ban. I know that's
probably not realistic. Um but a lot of people here with the the data and and
the statistics, they've really taken uh taken the the wind out of my sales
without with my complete argument, but I would encourage the community to um
preserve the historical nature of this community. Uh and by having a data
center in in the area, it's not going to do that. You know, um it'll destroy the
community, it would completely um deplete the natural resources and uh the
the water seepage is also a big issue. My parents live on a farm pond. The
water table will have, you know, materials in it that have never been
seen before. And in addition to that, they're talking about new bacteria from
uh open openloop um data centers that have not been seen before that are
affecting communities uh far and wide. So, uh, you know, the problem that I see
in the whole profit over people is that these corporations that come in, uh,
they have the moral backbone of a jellyfish. Um, so they do not care. They
may come in and say that they want to propose a closed loop system. That is
not true. All of these Fortune 500 companies that I've gone and audited and
assessed for their cyber security programs, they have on premises data
centers because they don't deplete the natural resources around them. They are
closed loop. when you have open loop and it's colllocated in not an area around
their headquarter, they do not care about the land around it. They do not
care about the people around it as we have seen a lot of people uh bring those
statistics to the to the floor. Um so all I all I'm here to encourage is you
know a moratorum if not a complete ban uh preserving the you know preserving
the uh historical nature of this community and in addition um let's let's
swing the pendulum back to people over profit. I mean
why can't we get back to that? That's why we're in this situation in the first
place. Thank you.
» [applause]
» Thank you, James. Miss Carol Bulam.
» Good evening. I just want to preface this by saying the following points
touched upon are based on research pulled from scholarly studies and
government and public data sources. No AI was utilized. One of my primary
concerns involves the carrying out of proper sound studies. Will these
developers conduct a low frequency and infrasound assessment, not just a
standard A-weighted decibel reading? We don't want just the standard decibel
study that developers usually submit. Regular sound meters aren't built to
capture infrasound, the frequencies below 20 hertz, which are below the
normal limit of human hearing. I want to stress that high intensity and prolonged
exposure to these low frequencies can cause increased cortisol levels,
vertigo, nausea, ear pain, hypertension, and insomnia among other things.
Infrasound exposure influences multiple physiological systems including
cardiovascular, vestibular, and neural pathways. And when we have neighbors
with chronic pain, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases, this becomes a
public health concern. I also worry about the health of our community's
children and how prolonged exposure to this and the cent's pollutants would
affect their development. Another point for us to look into is what setback
distance from residential property would proposals require. Would they be based
on any acoustic modeling? Additionally, although studies on this are still in
their infancy, data centers are being found to raise the temperature in
surrounding areas by a few degrees. Data centers reject massive amounts of heat
associated with the energy they consume. A single relatively modest 36 megawatt
data center rejects heat equivalent to the electricity consumption of roughly
40,000 homes. Heat pollution from data centers can boost air temperatures in
downwind neighborhoods by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit. We can't deny that
there's an environmental impact here. As we have been experiencing longer heat
and dry spells if we allow these centers to infiltrate our areas, expect the
possibility of even hotter summers and higher Duke energy bills. And a side
note, most jobs created around data centers are rooted in the construction
of them, not their ongoing operations. So, no, the creation of these facilities
will not create any long-term local job booms. I strongly oppose the addition of
these data centers in our community. The negative environmental impacts far
outweigh any slight positives, if any, such facilities would bring. Thank you.
» [applause]
» Thank you, Carolyn. Uh, next up, I think this is Silip Wright.
Anyone? Mr. Miss Wright. >> Mr. Wright.
» Yes. Right. Sorry.
» I was going to politely back out tonight. Three or four of my major
concerns have already been addressed. That's fine. Some of you might recognize
me, some of you may not. Most of you probably don't. I used to work with town
of Waxaw quite a bit. Um, we still have a lot of projects that have never been
finished. We don't need anymore. Uh, or we're going to save the town we have
while we can. So, uh, data, no.
getting wax all finished, keeping the town going. Yes. Thank you very much.
» Thank you.
» Lastly, we have Patricia Jones.
» Everybody said most of um the same thoughts that I've had. copious amounts
of water, copious amounts of power, and they usually want some type of
subsidies, electrical bill hikes. Taxpayers pay for
that. So, it's basically corporate welfare is what it is. So, anyone
opposed to data centers, I would suggest you divest yourself from the people
behind this. That's Microsoft. That's Facebook. That's this small group
that's pushing AI powered economy. And that's all I
have to say. [applause]
Thank you very much. I appreciate the voice of the public and all of this is
definitely something we will be considering as we move forward in the
next year. Um figuring out what to put in our LDC regarding data centers. Um,
as far as looking for an allout ban, that's what we will be looking at as
well. I I guarantee you that.
» Madam Prom, what do you have? >> I I was just going to say I know a lot
of you mentioned a ban and um that would mean removing it from our LDC and right
now the state is not allowing us to do that. But like I said, HB1 170 and HB24
would reverse that at least for Union County. And we do have representatives
trying to push that through. So if that's what you want, it's we have to
leave it up to you. We can't we we're working with them. They're listening.
So you need to help us out there. If that's what you truly want, that's the
only thing we can ask you to do. Uh 170, HB 170. I just wrote them down.
I'm sorry. Um HP 170 and HB24. >> Can you guys make a social media post?
» Yeah, I'll post about it. Yeah, >> that sounds good.
» Mayor. >> All righty. Any other comments?
» Mayor, there is one comment that came in late. She would like to make it.
» Sure.
I was going to pass too because everybody's addressed it, but I first
want to just thank you all so much for taking the step forward to consider um
the potential of a ban and at least putting in place a moratorum. Like
everyone else has said here, as a resident of Waxaw,
I don't think it's hyperbole to say I'm terrified of what it may do to our
environment here, our quality of life of our neighbors. um whether it's in my
backyard or across town, the health impacts that we're starting
to see in other communities and of course the water. Union County has had
historically for a very long time with growth a difficulty with enough water,
right? We've been in bands forever. So, thank you so much for considering it and
I am one of the voices of I hope you can find a way to complete the
[clears throat] ban. Thank you, >> ma'am.
Hi, I just want to say one thing. Um, I asked back there if I could like also
say something. Um, so and they said you would ask if there are any other
speakers, but no one asked that yet. So, I thought I'd just come up here. Can I
No, >> that's fine.
» Can I say something? Okay. So, this is again like related to the the moratorum.
Um, I just wanted to voice what I thought about this. So,
» excuse me, ma'am. Would you state your name for the record, please, so we can
get it on record? Yes. Thanks. >> I'm Edva Ayah. I'm a student here in at
Marvin Ridge High School in Waxaw, North Carolina. And I'm speaking on the
moratorium because in the 16 17 years I've lived in Waxaw, I've like ever
since I was younger, I've seen this town change. Um
my father's actually a real estate agent, so he's been to a few of these.
I've been to a few of these and I've always like liked seeing how um the
board works and how people represent their opinions. So, I thought when I saw
this come up that I had to speak on it. Um with the rise of data centers, I
think this is an important topic. So, I wanted to say that Waxaw is a
historically nuanced city. The roots of our values of keeping from dramatic
change is deeply engraved in our community. Waxaw is known for our
sprawling neighborhoods, our growing number of businesses, and our focusing
on cultivating the spirit of a small town.
» [snorts] >> Um, for this I believe no height limit
on buildings or distance from residential property will capture
Waxaw's need for distance from the rising number of data centers. However,
in the 800 data centers constructed in the last year, over 60% were constructed
in smaller towns. Even as a town um even as a town passing this moratorum, we
cannot escape from the growing number of data centers.
will likely face data centers being constructed in nearby towns or nearby
cities. Charlotte recently passed a moratorum at the at the beginning of the
summer and as it approaches its end they have instructed a about 15 member
council to advise on decision-m for after the mortar's over and I really
hope that Waxo seeks to do the same. I believe that even if we keep data
centers from our homes from our businesses there will be data centers
surrounding us. So for the people for the businesses in here we try to make we
try to place these limits on here so even if it's around us we close to us we
do not see the effects as much. So thank you. Um I'm glad that this moratorum is
brought up. I'm glad to hear that there are people speaking on it. Thank you.
Thank you.
All righty. Uh, anything else from the board at this time?
» Please. >> Yeah, like the earlier speaker, I've
worked in IT for many years and one thing that has been consistent is that
uh, computers keep getting smaller and smaller. And so I think these large
footprint data centers are going to be obsolete one day. and we're going to be
left with a bunch of junk uh and a bunch of uh unusable land perhaps.
And I think part of the support that people some people have for these data
centers is the awe that they have for what AI can do. But
compute power is just a tool and that should always be subordinate to human
welfare and it needs to proceed in a way that is in balance with human welfare.
So thank you everybody who spoke up
Mr. Mayor please. Um simply put this is your town. It's also your home and I
really appreciate seeing everybody coming out here and using the process to
let your voice be heard. So, thank you very much. [applause]
All righty. Everybody's looking at me to speak. I
haven't spoken to >> No, you don't have to if you don't want
to. I I want to echo the sentiments of uh
Commissioner Don Dio that having everyone show up for occasions like
this. Uh I wish we could get together on more auspicious occasions, but for
something like this, it's really important that y'all show up and have
your voices heard. It's not cliche. Uh the just exactly what Dh Commissioner
Dulio said. It's uh really great to hear everybody um use the process, speak
their mind. Uh all of that is well said. Everybody was very articulate and very
uh well-versed in data center um
what what the pros and cons are and mostly the cons. Um,
we we take all your comments to heart and um I I think that if we do this with
a lot of thought and some help from uh the general general assembly,
we'll be able to protect what we have in Waxaw, what we all uh cherish. So, um,
thanks again for coming out and and really, uh, admire everybody's ability
to speak articulate on the subject matter.
» Well, thank you, commissioners. I appreciate the words uh to the people
and to each other. Uh, it's good collaboration. It's good input. Um,
one thing I'll add, I I hit a I I stumbled on a factoid several years ago
and as it relates to data centers, one of the things that we all need to be
mindful of is our own behavior and how they may or may not be contributing to
data centers. Uh, the factoid I picked up several years ago was that global
cloud services, oh, my music's on the cloud, my
picture's on the cloud. global cloud services consume as much
electricity as the nation of Japan. So just having these things
in our pockets at ready demand, it creates the demand for this type of
stuff. So think about how your behavior, your consumer choices impact some of
this stuff because it it does have an impact. I'll just throw that out there.
Um anyway um go ahead. Thank you. So without further ado, can I
get a motion to close this public hearing?
» So moved. >> All in favor?
» I >> I this public hearing is now closed.
Thank you again for all your input. Invaluable. Thank you.
All righty. Next up, we will go ahead and make a
decision regarding the adoption of ordinance 202614
imposing a proposed moratorium for data centers. Did we need to speak on this
from Kevin or are we ready to vote on this? You're good.
» You're good to go ahead. And >> the one question I had was uh since
we're doing the vote on the same night as the public hearing, do we need to
have any kind of action to suspend our rules?
» That was done in the work session. >> Yeah, we voted on that work session.
» Right. Okay. >> Yeah. And the main reason for doing it
is because we want to make sure we don't get caught
unprepared. So implementing this immediately I think is a key aspect of
making sure we don't get unprepared, >> right?
» We're not caught unprepared. So >> all righty. Can I get a motion to adopt
ordinance 202614 imposing a proposed moratorium on data
centers? >> So moved.
» All in favor? >> I.
» Any opposed? >> Hearing none. This motion carries.
» [applause] >> So stay tuned. There'll be some new
rules in the LDC. Um or a continuation. We'll we'll see what we can do. We'll be
work session this. We have a whole year to work on it. We'll be working with our
legal team. We'll be working with our state partners as well trying to come up
with something that really does protect the town and charm of Waxaw. Thank you.
All righty. Next up, you're very welcome. Uh, next up we have the CARPO
2026 fall project applications. Mr. James Kelly, come on down.
» Good evening. James Kelly, assistant town engineer with the town of Waxaw.
Um, tonight we are bringing this item back to the board for further
discussion. The ask this evening is to provide staff with direction on how the
board would like to proceed or not proceed uh with uh available funding uh
options and grant applications for the CRTPO.
So for those that are that may be unaware or may have missed the last uh
board workshop meeting, the CRTPO stands for the Charlotte Regional
Transportation Planning Organization and Waxall is a member of that organization.
The CRTPO receives direct attributable or DA funds to be allocated to member
jurisdictions uh projects based on a competitive basis and that annual fall
call is happening right around the corner here actually next week. So the
annual fall call consists of three primary items either new discretionary
transportation capital projects or supplemental fund requests for existing
CRTPO projects and new planning study projects such as feasibility studies.
Um, this fall call supports projects that improve the community's
transportation system across different project categories. Those including
highway, bicycle, and pedestrian, transit, air quality improvements, and
transportation planning. Um, we talked about this last time
during the board work session. Projects must meet these eligibility criterion.
uh those being federal aid eligibility being on the federal aid system map or
communicating or being deemed by NC DOT and the federal highway administration
that the project can be added to the federal aid system map. Furthermore, the
you must have an adopted plan uh that shows whatever improvements you want to
make. And of course, the eligible activities as a part of these grants are
uh projects such as planning projects which include feasibility studies,
corridor study projects, design projects, uh anything involving rideway
acquisition and construction. And furthermore, which is likely the easiest
one to meet is a it must have a simple problem and solution. projects must
address an identified need and provide a highly effective solution to the
transportation problem. Um, also municipalities and member jurisdictions
uh must have a minimum match committed to projects. That minimum match being
20%. Um, and as we'll go throughout this presentation, the board will learn that
that match is becoming more competitive and an increased local match is really
required to be competitive at the CRTPO level because you're competing with
other member jurisdictions including Charlotte, uh, Meckllinmberg counties
and Union County and Ayardell counties. So, as far as timeline, the reason why
we're asking this is because next week on August 17th, the fall call the fall
call opens for new projects and shortfalls on existing projects. So,
we're seeking your direction this evening on what path uh you would like
to take. And then our goal to staff is to bring this back to you uh by the end
of October before those applications are due for a final resolution um and
support for the projects that you submit or or or don't submit. Um, moving
forward from there, the process goes to the TCC, which stands for technical U
committee, the technical committee of CRTPO, which includes your CRTPO staff.
Um, and basically the staff helps to score these projects based upon the
adopted CRTPO discretionary grants program policy guide. The TCC then works
to develop a recommended project list based upon this criterion scoring
metrics and present that to the board at January u meeting for information and
then ultimately to request action come February of next year. Assuming that you
are awarded a grant application, we then must go through a STIP amendment process
or the state transportation improvement program amendment process in February
that is sent to DOT uh to complete in March and April. So that's the general
timing of the overall program. So as far as total active projects, uh the CRTPO
has over 121 active projects, three of those being with uh within Waxall. As
far as the CRTPO projects, those including the Kensington Drive
improvements, which is in the construction phase right now, um the
Broom Street improvements and Helms Road extension, which are both in design as
of right now. So, as far as funding availability for
this fiscal year, there's approximately 52 million in funds available spread
over various fiscal years. Um majority of those funds being of course in FY31.
So the further you get out from now, the more funding there is available.
There is a catch and um you have to abide by these award caps for the
various funding categories. So for planning projects um the maximum really
award is 500,000. Uh for highway projects is 25% of the available funds
of that 80% total. So 10.37 million and for non-highway projects 2.59 million
are those award caps per project funding category.
As I said before the local the typical 20% match is really no longer cutting it
when it comes to being competitive um except for planning projects. So
planning projects are are capped at that 20% so you get the most bang for your
buck with those planning projects. On highway projects, we're finding over the
past uh few years that those are ranging to over a 40% local match is required to
be competitive. Um and non-highway projects are averaging over 30% local
match to be competitive.
So the board discussed two primary projects during this workshop. So, we're
providing some more details and also incorporating the board's feedback and
really just doing a gut check to make sure that we're capturing uh what you
all are seeking or not seeking. Um for so, for example, in this category, the
planning category, it would be a corridor study for the Waxall Parkway
East. The estimated total cost of that study would be about 300,000. With that
said, um the match breakdown is an 8020 split. So, the town would only really be
responsible for 60,000. And I'll just note that's really funded over two
years. So about 30,000 per year. The remaining share, the remaining 240,000
will be funded by the state and federal folks.
Rationale for conducting an additional corridor study. You know, we have a we
have several critics out there. It's like why do we why do we study this
again? What's what's causing the the change? Well, there was a significant
change. Um there was a significant federal change um considering the
adjusted urban area boundary. So evaluating this project, considering
that updated boundary, uh it now allows for a new design speed instead of the
previously uh required 50 m per hour design speed. What this means is it
provides an opportunity to optimize the roadways horizontal and vertical
alignments with the potential to reduce or eliminate impacts to existing homes.
So this basically means that some of the alternatives that we could not consider
before due to restrictions, we could now consider because they're mathematically
possible. Um in addition, it would uh examine
multiple alignment alternatives while incorporating additional public and
stakeholder input to identify the most optimized corridor. So this includes
stakeholders uh regionally, locally, state level, and the federal level as
well. And from your discussion on the July 28th workshop, um some notable
points are that what we heard is that you're looking for about three to five
key corridor alternatives and you want to prioritize alignments that remain
solely within the town of Waxall's jurisdictional limits. Uh furthermore,
you want to minimize impacts to existing and established neighborhoods and avoid
alternatives that adversely affect historical downtown buildings as these
are non-starter uh options. In addition, uh the board noted to emphasize the
segment solely between uh Providence Road or NC16 and Waxall Indian Trail
Road uh while considering this as a future standalone project to improve
future funding uh competitiveness. Did we capture that accurately?
» Uh yes. >> Yeah. And just to for clarification too
that we want to ensure that that um Providence to Wax on Indian Trail isn't
really a part of this study. We kind of know that exists. We know where some of
the hiccups are. Um so we want something a little different.
» Great. Thank you. The other uh project that was brought
forth just because it is likely to score very well is the Kensington Drive
multi-use path project. Um there is a larger price tag on this one. The total
estimated project cost is estimated to be approximately $4.2 million. Um and
that's projected over the course of the project. So that is including
contingencies, that's including inflation factors, escalation factors,
that sort of thing. So it is an all-inclusive number. Um the downside is
the town of Waxaw local match would have to be $1.7 million. Um because we would
have to be at that 40% because the the state and federal cap on this is $2.59
million. So to make the numbers work there from a financial perspective, you
would you would have to be at that 40% local match. Um, I will note though that
if you choose to go forward with this project, majority of that funding,
approximately 1.3 million of the 1.7 is really not scheduled to be uh performed
until the construction phase which is estimated in fiscal year 2031. So this
I'll note that that 1.7 million will be funded over five years with the majority
of that being funded at the very end uh as a part of construction. So that's
something to consider. Overall project benefits. This extends
the already programmed Kensington Drive improvements or EB5950 that uh are
currently underway from Connells Point Avenue to Waxaw Marvin Road completing a
continuous uh pedestrian connection. In addition, this connects the Millbridge,
Quellin, Kuritan, and surrounding areas with a safer and more accessible
multi-use path and pedestrian bridge. Furthermore, it reconstructs the roadway
to address existing super elevation deficiencies while improving multimodal
connectivity. So what I mean by there is we get the question a lot of times is
why is that road segment posted 35 miles per hour or posted 25 excuse me and not
of 35 miles hour. Um it's because the when the roadway was built several years
ago um it has an inverse super elevation from what it should be or a bank in the
roadway. Uh so this project would address that ultimately allowing the
road to be adjusted to a posted 35 miles per hour condition. Furthermore, it
builds on a previous CRTPO application that scored competitively but fell just
below the funding threshold. And this next bit of information is just
information on what caused um that funding just below the threshold. So,
uh, we did submit, staff did submit, um, I think it was the 2023 fall call year,
a previous application for this project which fell just five points, uh, below
the funding threshold requirement. Um, the project did not have support
unfortunately, from the uh, former Quellen HOA leadership regarding
potential right-of-way needs uh, resulting in a loss of uh, about 10
application points from the project. So, we fel we fell just under the funding
threshold on that. I from what I'm hearing, it sounds like there may be a
change. Uh there there may be a desire for this project. Um from what I'm
hearing, which is for your discussion. So, with those points, the project would
have actually been competitive for funding during that cycle and it would
have been awarded uh during that cycle. Since the previous application,
obviously project costs have increased, underscoring the importance of strong
stakeholder support in order to have a competitive application.
And then of course, uh just some notes from the board discussion from July
28th, 2026. Um there were concerns regarding the overall project cost and
the required 40% uh local match, that $1.7 million. And um the board also
talked about considering the town's existing commitments that we already
have to several active capital projects and the potential award of an additional
safe streets and roads for all grant that's a potential later this year
November December timeline. Uh making funding capacity a key consideration.
The board also noted a need to weigh the project's transportation and
connectivity benefits against the town's current and anticipated financial
commitments. So, did we did we capture that information correctly?
Okay. So, that really leads to board
discussion on this. Staff is seeking feedback because we need to get moving
forward on an application or perhaps not an application. Um, but we've outlined a
few options for the board to discuss this evening. Option A being to proceed
with the Waxel port or Parkway East corridor study only. Option B proceeding
with the Kennington multi-use path only, C proceeding with both applications. D
proceeding with no applications or E proceeding with another eligible or
combination of eligible project applications. And um again, I'll just
note like I've noted before, a future resolution will come back to the board
at your October 13, 2026 BOC meeting if the board does decide to proceed with a
grant submission. So with that, happy to take any questions and turn it back over
to you all. >> And those resolutions, those would be
two individual resolutions, correct? Assuming we approve the pursuit of both
of these. >> Correct.
» Understood. So each project has its own resolution.
» Any questions or comments from the board? Sir,
» Mr. Ferris, >> James, uh, can you help me? Um, you said
the timing would be 2031 >> and how does that sequence with our
Helms Road extension west connecting into uh down over into Waxel Marvin?
What's the timing look like? >> That's a that's a great question. So,
um, it would the 2031 element would only really apply to the Kensington project
because the other project would only take about two years. Um, as to answer
your question though, um, the 20 the project for Helms Road extension is
programmed to be completed FY 2030. So it' be the year prior to when
construction funds for this project would be due.
» Got it. So if we were to consider this, the the Helms Road Extension West tie-in
uh, would be a relief valve [snorts] and function as a throughput while we
worked on the Kensington Road. it and I know that the sequencing of possible
closures or limitations of how that road would be reconstructed,
but we would have an ability to manage through that closure because of our
Helms Road extension west. >> Correct.
» For me, I think we need to work on Parkway East. It's been a discussion for
what I hear is like 30 or 40 years, a long time. And uh with the Helms Road
extension, uh my dream would to be to make that a
truck route if we could. I mean, it's being built for fire trucks and that
sort, so heavy or trucks if if they're diverted to 75 that way. It's not
eliminating all the traffic down 16, but it would help. And then if we can get um
Parkway East or not Parkway East, I would say 16 extension east. [laughter]
» I think that would make some sense and it would relieve in the short term some
of that traffic to get to Wesley Chapel and that sort of thing. So, um I think
I've been kind of saying this since I've been on the board. I'm sure you're tired
of hearing it, James. [laughter] >> No, you're you're absolutely correct.
One of the main things that we hear, especially from folks downtown, is the
the trucks, the noise from the trucks that come through and pass through,
which is why with the Helms Road extension, we are designing to
accommodate those truck movements. >> And so I guess um so you know, my vote
would be for the the Parkway East. Um it's less money. It's something that we
need and with all the SS4A mitigations, I think other traffic will
be alleviated with those improvements and we're we are going to be spending
money. Our match there is 20%. >> Correct. So, you're right. Assuming the
uh SS4A grant is awarded to the town, which knock on wood, let's hope it is,
um your match would only be 20%, which is a huge cost savings and projects that
would be more cost effective with that funding model versus versus something
like this, >> right? And and so I feel like Kensington
is getting addressed in in part. Uh we do hear complaints about the eastern
side and traffic diverting traffic that way. I think it just makes more sense to
do that and >> correct and
» try to put this to bed if we can. >> Yes. And I will note that also um
especially when you get further east like towards Cuthson or further west
towards the uh elementary school there along Kensington, the board always has
the option to explore uh options to uh adjust the speed limit for those
segments of Kensington Road because there is no uh super elevation effects
there. There are no super elevation effects there.
Is there a Kensington Drive alternative that doesn't include any road
improvements or alterations? >> There could be. So you could you could
limit the scope of the project. So you could
» and would that be just as eligible from a carpo standpoint or does that kind of
move it into a different category? Because I know SS4A we we focused a lot
on pedestrian and whatnot. What we found in the last application is that a
combination of both pedestrian and roadway to provide for that multimodal
element proved to be the most um the best option as far as scoring.
» You can limit the scope which will affect other elements which will improve
your cost effectiveness score for example, but it may hinder your
multimodal overall. Yeah, >> understood. Thank you,
» Commissioner Ferris.
I agree with your sentiment on where our prioritization needs to be. SS4A is very
important. It brings vital connectivity um and keeping that project prioritized.
But I disagree with any form of abandonment of the Kensington Drive. And
this is my reasoning. When NC16 widening may or may not come, it will force large
portions of the population to then seek alternative navigation which will then
push them either up towards Wax on Marvin and or further out towards 521
and to give our citizens the best logistical operations and and flow to
get to work from here, a suburb of South Charlotte, to get to work likely into
Charlotte or navigate to 485. We need to continue to find ways to openly discuss
that. Um I think that I understand the timing uh is not optimal uh at this
grant at this moment. It doesn't mean it might not be next year. Um but at the
same time, there are reasonablenesses to continue looking at how we can improve
Kensington for traffic flow and internal circulation within Waxaw. And I'm not
ready to give up on that. Yeah. Um I don't think that that right
it would stay on the list. Correct. >> Correct. So it is
» of our thing to things to do list. >> Right. It's always on your adopted
transportation plan. So that's that's always on your plan to submit and
something that the board may consider is um you know when it comes to scoring
maybe you only want to submit for design only or maybe you want to only submit
for right away and construction or construction only. That also improves
your score if you're able to progress the project to a point readiness for
construction. Um, in fact, it increases your score quite substantially if you
already have design and rightway complete before you approach CRTPO.
» Would would that be um an optionality before the end of this
deadline for submittal to rescope to maybe just say design and rightway?
» We could ask CRTPO that question. Uh, I don't know the question off the top of
my head, but I I think we that's something that we could ask if the board
wants to consider that option. >> I think it's reasonable to consider it
at a minimum.
» And the primary concern, it sounds like that we have a convergence of a lot of
project coming up in the next three to five years. Helms Road being obviously
the most substantial with over $4 million that will be owed. Um, is that
it sounds like that's the primary hesitation with jumping into the
Kensington Drive multi-use path and and redesign?
» Yeah, I just think that we are are right now for me, I feel like we're focused
like this, right? And I think that we have two options here. Kensington is
being addressed, so it's not really being ignored. And I think that next
year maybe we could look at it, see where we are financially, see if we get
the SS4A grant and move slowly rather than hesitating on a vote tonight to get
an answer because then we have to wait and and that prevents you guys from
starting the process of writing the grant and doing what you need to do.
[snorts] >> I mean, that's just my feeling. I feel
like Kensington is getting addressed. It's not happening till 2031 anyway.
» The easy part's getting addressed, the straightaway,
» right? >> Just to Commissioner Ferris's point,
» you you drive Kensington Road uh west of Providence. And you notice
that it's almost it's almost necessary to fix that road because the banking is
inverted. It's kind of a joke. It's an embarrassment to the town that we
actually have to drive on a road that has inverted banking. It's crazy.
And it's 25. People are, you know, scratching and clawing at their face to
just drive faster down that road. We all get it.
» Just want to get home. >> But it it's almost necessary to fix that
road. But how necessary? I And to Commissioner Wedger's point, there's a
lot of stuff going on. There's a lot of stuff that's more necessary. I I do know
that to James point, we are going to incur a large
cost increase if we decide to do that project later. However, you know, but
back to the whole we've got a lot of projects going on right now and we have
to somehow fund these things. We can still drive on Kensington Road. We all
got to be safe about it. it that road will hold up if we keep the uh speed
limit low. Um my my [clears throat] we keep this on the list.
Let's do the Waxaw Parkway East corridor study and then I think sometime in the
very near future we give more thought to actually and it gives people in the
community some some time to think about it, give their input. How badly do we
want that road fix? To me, I'd love to have it fixed because, of course, I
drive it a lot and it's kind of embarrassing to be driving on a road
where you're like, who built this thing? It is just not right. So, um, anyway, I
I I agree with Commissioner Wedra's final assessment on on our priorities.
um really do agree with the commissioner Ferris's assessment as well as that it's
a necessary project, but um in in the in the interest of being fiscally
responsible, we probably should hold off on that Kensington uh road multi-use
path. Would it make sense then to request that we go ahead and proceed
with the corridor study in the application
and then maybe we rescope item B the Kensington Drive multi-use rescope that
to be just a design grant >> I think not so much the full boore
» could try to keep as many things on the boil as possible you know as you said
you know don't bring a complete halt to it but you know just keep the ball
rolling Yes, definitely keep it keep it percolating to use the mayor's word. If
if it can be evaluated to be more bite-size essentially at this moment um
to where it is design and right away I think it's reasonable to consider
» um even and I I'll go back to this. I do agree that there is a lot on our plate.
We are we are essentially using the pepro bosmol uh and to evaluate how we
can best deploy our resources in a meaningful way.
» Yeah. Um and it and but yet at the same time too I I would hate to um incur unne
unnecessary costs by maybe a two-year delay if the if the or even a a one-year
delay as we've seen uh inflation can creep and all of a sudden that project
now may be uh 10% more than necessary because we've delayed it a year. Um, so
that's why I wanted to bring up not, let me correct my words. I don't think
anybody here is abandoning that project. It's more of just how are we sequencing
it to use my earlier word. And if it could be evaluated to be rescoped, uh, I
think it's worth it. >> Yeah. When I moved here, nobody used
that road. Not often. >> And now it's getting used.
» Yeah. It gets used and it gets used by pedestrians as well. I mean, always
seeing people walk there. So, >> Right. which isn't safe in that area.
» I think for a large bite project like this, we need a little more time cuz our
town manager is being very helpful with helping us to wrap our heads around
long-term financial picture. And so maybe we need just a little more time
before we >> take this huge bite of the apple, you
know, >> another huge bite.
Um, so it it sounds like the board's then in agreement that we would proceed
with A as discussed at our work session. And then for item B, we will rescope
that to be a design only and not a full construction.
» Correct. We will we will ask that question. And I'll note that from a time
perspective, if you were to still if we still were able to grant the award from
CRTBO for design costs only, in this case, you don't lose any time.
» So, um that that's one thing to note. And it further gets you to the ultimate
goal, which is construction. So, the following year, um not only would you
not lose any time, but it also may give you a year to gut check everyone to make
sure that they do support the project and we don't have a repeat of the past
here. Um and then ultimately apply for uh really those construction dollars
because your rideway dollars, majority of the land Waxaw already owns.
» Yeah. >> Um so that's something else to consider
is really maybe you only want to apply for construction dollars the following
year which increases your scoring metric which can ultimately reduce your may
maybe your local match required as well. >> That sounds like a great approach.
» Thank you for the support on that James. I think that definitely breaks it down
into something bite-size that we're we can see progress continue but yet
» Exactly. Keep it moving >> and I'm glad we found a way to keep it
moving. I think that's most important and the fact that we've got kind of a a
smaller piece to chew makes it a lot easier to swallow as well. So
» great. >> Thank you.
» Thank you, Mr. Kelly. All righty. Next up, we have Allara. a consider the
approval for the interlocal agreement between the town of Waxaw and the Union
County. >> That's James.
» Actually, we got one, but anyway. Um, so yeah, this is for the
road replacement um to repair the roads as a result of all the water mane work.
» Take it away. >> Exciting news on this one. Folks may
have seen our message boards start going up uh this afternoon. Um but this this
is the proposed intersection improvements project at Waxaw Marvin
Road and uh Pine Oak Road and this is the final step before we start uh
construction. The action requested this evening from the board is to approve a
uh contract with the recommended contractor for this project and
authorize uh the town manager to execute said contract so that way we can we can
begin construction. So, for folks uh that don't know, here's some background
information. So, on July 22nd of this year, a formal bid opening was held for
the Waxaw Marvin and Pine Oak Road intersection improvements contract. The
town received a total of three bids with Widewaters Construction being identified
as the lowest responsible bidder from a total bid amount as well as from a lead
time on the traffic signal polls. And I'll get into that here momentarily. Um
the other two submitters were Litman Excavating and Construction and True
Rock Construction LLC with those bid amounts broken out there and lead times
for the metal poles there provided as well.
So project overview. Uh the project will realign this intersection to a 90°
angle. It will signalize the intersection at a traffic light there
which is important because of the existing sight distance issues that are
there today. Um, so that traffic signal will bring folks to a stop condition
where folks can then exit from Pine Oak Road, turn left, turn right without
having to worry about being t-boned at that intersection. Um, which we have
seen those types of crash histories along with a recorded fatality
unfortunately at this intersection as well. Um, in addition, DOT has required
us to add turn lanes at the intersection. This is just standard
procedure to uh help uh in th in those types of cases. Um so the existing site
distance issues will be or are to be addressed with a no turnon red condition
and the projected schedule of this project is assuming BOC approval this
evening uh will begin next Monday and then the project will take approximately
six to seven months from there uh for construction. I'll note that three to
four of those months, so really to up to December, uh, majority of the project
will be complete. The only remaining thing that we will be waiting on are
those lead time on the metal poles. And the reasoning for those metal poles is
rideway constraints at the intersection. So, we had to go with metal poles
because of rideway constraints. Um, I'll also note that those metal poles are
manufactured specifically and fabricated specifically for the design. So they are
that's why it takes so long to receive them is because they're manufactured
specifically for the design approved by DOT.
Folks may a big question for folks may be well what does the traffic control
plans look like? Uh I'll note that as a part of the planning process with this
staff worked to design a minimized impact to local traffic. So what does
that mean? We're going to first start by building a parallel roadway to the
existing roadway. So there will be construction barriers in place. The
roadway will operate normally and we'll build that parallel roadway. The second
phase of the traffic uh plan is to basically flip that and open up the new
roadway for folks to use while we correct the existing roadway and then
utilize lane closure. So there are no detours in this particular case, uh
which is good for folks. Um, with that said, drivers can still expect lane
closures during various times throughout the project, predominantly during
daytime hours. Um, I'll note that changeable message boards like you see
there to the right will be used to provide advanced warning ahead of the
worked zone. Um, and notices have already been provided to adjacent land
owners. Uh, we were required to provide them a 10-day advanced notice. So, that
has those notices have been sent out in anticipation uh for this evening. And
I'll just note this project serves as a vital infrastructure improvement ahead
of the upcoming Waxel Marvin bridge replacement project. So that bridge
replacement project is not a project done by the town. That is a project
that's currently scheduled for November of 2027 with the NC DOT. And that
project ent uh involves closing the Waxel Marvin Bridge. And in the interim,
if we don't have any solutions to where folks are going to go, uh they may have
some dangerous conditions uh if we don't mitigate ahead of time of that project.
So this really this project serves as a primary mitigation and infrastructure
improvement ahead of that upcoming project.
Here's what that final condition will look like. So as you can see, um you'll
have those turn lanes involved. You'll have that signalization. you'll have
that realignment uh of the intersection and we're working with DOT to finalize a
few things when it comes down to the traffic signal timing, the emphasis on
the no right turn there on red um as well to make sure that we're accounting
for that existing site distance issue that's that's there today.
So with that, I'll take any questions and then ask for uh direction for this
evening. >> Any questions from the board
hearing? None. Then could I get a motion to award the contract to Widewaters
Construction Incorporated for the Waxaw Marvin Road and Pine Oak Road
Intersection Improvements in the amount of $1,613,000
$511.64 and authorize the town manager to
execute said contract. >> So moved.
» All in favor? >> I.
» Any opposed? Hearing none, this motion carries. All right. Thank you.
» All righty. Now we have Miss Allora. Sorry,
I got that out of order.
All right. Good evening. Laura Balt Miscus, downtown and business
development director. Um, tonight I'm bringing forward the interlocal
agreement between the town of Waxaw and Union County related to the final
payment restoration associated with the downtown Castiron water main replacement
project. Uh, so I'll just give you a quick uh overview of why the agreement
is needed, how responsibilities and funding will work, and then the action
we're requesting from the board tonight. As you know, uh, Uni County has been
completing the cast iron water main replacement project throughout downtown.
Uh once that utility work is complete, the affected roadways will need final
milling and resurfacing. Uh through our coordination on the project, the town
and county determined that the town is best positioned to administer the final
paving work rather than having it included with the county's current
construction contract. So this agreement formalizes that arrangement. Uh the town
will manage the pavement restoration so that the work is completed to town
standards and while Union County will fund the eligible costs. It also gives
both organizations a clear framework for coordination as we move from utility
construction into final roadway res restoration.
Under the agreement, the town will competitively bid, award, and administer
the paving contract. Union County will reimburse the town for eligible paving
costs up to the not to exceed amount of $47,400.
The completed work will be inspected and approved by both the town and county.
The town will oversee construction and retain ownership of the completed
payment improvements, including administration of any applicable
warranties. The agreement also includes a contingency if bids come in above the
reimbursement reimbursement, excuse me, limit. In that case, the county may
terminate the agreement and complete the paving as part of its few future s uh
sewer project. Uh from a financial standpoint,
engineering's current estimated construction cost is approximately 300
and $300,000. The agreement establishes a not to exceed count county
reimbursement amount of $47,400. The important distinction is that the
town will administer the contract and payment process, but the el eligible
paving cost will be reimbured by Union County. The contractor will invoice the
town. The town will then submit reimbursement requests to the county and
that payment is tied to work that has been inspected and approved by both
agencies. With that, staff recommends approval of
the interlocal agreement between the town of Waxon Union County for
administration of the pavement restoration associated with the downtown
water main replacement project and authorization for the town manager to
execute the agreement and happy to answer any questions that you may have.
» Any questions from the board? >> All righty. Yes, Mr. Ferris.
» I do have a question and concern. Or Scott, maybe you might be able to
assist. Is there any reservation with the amount
of time that the uh trenching was open with the substrate? Um because I know
that the road was open for an extended period and it was heavily traversed on a
on a regular basis on where they were doing a large portion of their work.
» Yes. >> And has that been
um evaluated? >> Yes. And was the impetus for this
interlocal agreement? so that the town can administer the restoration of the
roadway to our standards and repair as those trenches and the open cuts unless
engineering has anything additional they would like to add. But
» so so basically we've recognized that there is the potential that damage has
occurred. >> Yes.
» And that the engineering team will be on site making sure that correct anything
gets repaired. >> Yes.
» Okay. >> Yeah. And in addition, uh, we did work
with the county to try to mitigate a lot of the issues. So, leading up to this
and the agreement really came out, >> why don't you guys manage making sure
that the final product meets your standards here in the town. So, I think
the staff has done a good job working with the the county staff who's been at
the table with us. So, we appreciate that.
» Thank you. Thank you both. >> Yeah, at the end of the day, I think
it's helpful that the county is just kind of letting us drive this so we know
the roads will be done to our standards. We trust our engineering team and our
inspectors and we know it'll be a good road when it's done.
All righty then, without further ado, let's go ahead and get a motion to
approve the interlocal agreement between the town of Waxaw and Union County for
administering the pavement restoration of the downtown cast iron waterm
replacement project and authorize the town manager to execute said agreement.
» So moved. >> All in favor?
» I. >> Any opposed? hearing. None. This motion
carries. >> Thank you.
» Thank you, Aar. >> All righty. That concludes the
action-packed sequence of our meeting this evening. Uh, next up is leadership
reports. We'll go ahead and kick it off to our town manager, Scott Datson. What
do you got for us tonight?
» He snuck out on you.
[laughter] >> Qing the crew.
Mike, >> Commissioner Dio,
» he's gonna torture him. >> Commissioner Mike, I'm I'm holding the
ball out. >> Just look away there.
» Sorry about that delay. Um I need someone to be at my seat up there to uh
help with notes. Michael, if you please go up there.
back by popular. Can >> you handle the notes? Take some notes on
this, please. Thank you. [laughter] >> Just when you thought Just when you
thought you were out, they pull you back in.
» M Mike Michael's really uh to his credit done a really good job for us here. Um
he's had a level of enthusiasm that's been unmatched. He's been willing to do
whatever except to get his hands dirty. So, uh, when he comes back next summer,
he'll be working with public services in the ditches and cutting grass. So, um, I
told him if he's going to be in this business, he needs to know what every
single part does. So, next year, hands dirty. Got it. All
right. Take notes. Thank you. So, let's see. Um, this is the July closing
update. Um, number two, we'll have a third one when we officially close the
books books out. The purpose of the financial reports for the public to
understand is that these are unawited. These are management's view of the
inflows and outflows of dollars for the organization.
um year end for us though while it ended on June 30th we have uh remittances and
incumbrances that go on beyond that and then count back against books uh for
last fiscal year. So um as I promised the board uh we want to make sure that
we're keeping you up to date about where we are um in the closing of the books
and then everything gets turned over to the auditors once the staff uh takes the
final book closing. So, um again, this is the fiscal uh year
26, the last fiscal year. Um I've just gone through uh that we'll do this is
the second of three and we'll do another third one at at your September meeting
actually. Um
the financial dashboard update um the total operating revenues as of this time
are at about 97.4% of the total u adopted budget for that
year as amended. Um the revenues have come in at 97.4. The expenditures are at
93.7. So we get to the end of the year and it starts to tighten up. Uh total
cash and investments on hand is about 35 36 million.
Um most of our local revenues collection that's our property taxes have come in
from Union County and the state colle uh state collected revenues such as sales
tax, motor vehicle franchise, POW bill uh continue they're at about 89.1%
but they continue to lag. We still haven't received uh uh June yet on those
numbers. So uh on the next slide uh this just
gives you a bar graph version of where general revenues are. Um advalorum
exceeded our expectations. Sales tax continues to lag and we can uh we re we
believe that it will uh be below our expectations uh at the close of the year
as will franchise. Uh motor vehicle came in slightly ahead. Uh the other note is
building inspection has been down. Uh we talk about those when we talk about the
buildings report
on the general fund expenditures. Um our department heads have done a uh a very
good job of uh keeping those expenses at or below um those expenses. Um we're
going to note uh some of the monies that we moved on the next page. But one thing
I wanted to note, sanitation is above that note. And one of the reasons it is
um again it's a remittance uh issue when we get those invoices those kinds of
things but they adjust their contract in March. That's just the way our contract
works. So it doesn't coincide with our fiscal year. It's midyear
when those happen. So I think the board um when it adopted the current fiscal
year did a good job of getting ahead of that. So hopefully we won't hit that
lag. cash and investments. Um as we said we
have around uh um 37.6 million. Uh these are by fund balances. So general fund
has the largest amount. Um that is uh and 120 that is your undesated fund
balance. The rest are designated balances that are for those projects
andor categories only. The board uh actually did some work on that this past
year. But your general fund, that's your fund uh that uh stores your retained
earnings. Uh for those of you in use that term in business life, that's our
undesated fund bounds andor retained earnings.
So um we're still betting um that at the end of the year we'll be in positive u
numbers. Uh but it will be tight. So uh the board needs to understand that. We
did, I wanted to note on this, we did in this round of financials that uh is
actually part of your packet. Um we did start to make larger money moves over to
the CIP funds. Um but we waited to the end of the year to do that to make sure
operating and other obligations that we might have uh were met first. So um the
board actually directed 1.5 million out of retained earnings into reserve
positions and then uh in this current fiscal year um staff will have moved
about 2.5 million into those reserve positions as well.
There you can see the 1.5 it it says resolved because uh uh my computer and I
are having an argument about when I resolve it and when I don't resolve it
and the computer seems to win in the language department. Um but our cash
reporting format um uh we do have uh dollars in the bank. We are still
resolving issues. Now one of the things I think it's important for the board to
see as we go through our financials is that as we close out a year we have to
reconcile through journal entries and through other movements around the
financials to satisfy where the dollars need to be. That's management's
representation. The auditor then audits management's representation of those
numbers. So we'll continue to make journal entries even when the auditor
comes in. Then we work it out with the auditor where we could have moved it
here or done that or or moved it uh from one fund to another or from one account
to another. So we continue to reconcile that. We're giving you a a clearer
picture though uh how we make the sausage uh going through the end of the
fiscal year. So um what happens next is we'll do final adjustments on closing
entries and we'll say all incumbrances all remittances to the best of our
knowledge have been completed. Uh those financials will then be finally prepared
and turned over to the auditor and then we go through that process. Any
questions? >> Any questions from the board?
» I'm just so glad so many people stuck around to listen to the financials. This
is the exciting part of it. Um best part
» we do put so the public knows we do put our financials online. You can go to our
p web pages in administration and finance and we do put these reports on
in their full detail. So if you want more detail and you're a math geek and
you like it have at it have some fun with that. So there you
go. Um let's see. I think we have to go to the next one now.
Okay. So, this is the first actual uh official fiscal report for the new
fiscal year. So, that's the 2627 year. Um, and we'll go through that uh rather
quickly because not a a lot of exciting things have happened so far this year.
Um, there are two things to note. Number one, in the first part of our fiscal
year from an operations perspective, it's very little spending.
However, also at the beginning of the year, and you all may face this, the
larger bills come in. So, the one-time bills like uh paying debt or uh mortgage
for for the building. Um your insurance, we pay it all up front. Th those kinds
of things. So, we get a lot of that stuff up front. So cash flow starts to
become more important and for the next six months you'll hear me talk a lot
about cash flow dips where we are as a uh basic understanding the town does not
really receive its uh cash flow for the year until around December. We'll get
quarteries from the state on state uh dollars and some other things but we
don't have a real cash flow. That's why we keep more cash on hand than you might
normally keep. So, the other thing that I want you to
note in these reports um is that we're going to emphasize capital spending and
cash flow because those are big things in front of us. Um we'll have at least
three million going out the door in addition to what you would normally have
in capital in the first six months. So that's a larger number than we're
normally used to for cash flow. So we're going to talk a lot about that. Uh and
it's all on capital spending side. The second thing we've tried to do with your
financials is tie them to the board's uh goals and senior leadership has been
working on a strategy and tactics to achieve those goals. And so you're going
to see the drafts of those into the financials that we're trying to work
towards working towards your goals uh that you set back in February. Um this
is not a process you do once a year. Now we're going to make it every month and
we're going to try to tie back to those goals so the board has a better
performance idea about where we're at. Are we making the right decisions as we
move along? So these financials will start to reflect that. Again, they're
unodudited. So several goals that we have here I want to note. I want to be
very clear about this first one when it talks about the fiscal years of 27 to 31
CIP and it says a geo bond recommendation. It is staff's position
that we are recommending that the board consider a series of financing options.
We talked about it at our last meeting. We'll continue to talk about it. There's
not a decision in front of you yet on these things yet as the board works
through that. However, when it comes out here, what it's telling you is that $14
million over five years uh has a uh an effect on your cash position. That's
your savings account. That's how much you have um in your bank accounts. And
then it also has an effect on tax rates. It has an effect on operation cost and
your cash position. So, we want to keep that in front of you. But that is about
infrastructure. The majority of those costs are for infrastructure um for the
town. So uh for the public's uh edification, one of your first goals was
to make sure that we had sound infrastructure.
So that's why that sits there. Capital spending and cash flow focus. That's
part of your economic sustainability, making sure we have keep our financial
house in order. Costtoserve analysis. If you'll recall, we did a cost to serve
analysis that was internal. The board then directed to do more. So, two things
to report out on that. The county in my discussions with the county manager is
going to work towards a countywide uh cost to service. It's been part of a
request by several board members to include that kind of information in it.
It really requires the county to do that. They've actually been discussing
that and want to work that into theirs. That will be helpful. That means we
don't study it. They study it. then we can plug numbers and play. So, uh, but
we're continuing to do cost to serve analysis on things like um the the
future five years. We talked to you a lot about what the last five years were
like. Now, we want to start talking about the next five years and keep that
as a rolling conversation and making sure we understand how much it cost us
to serve in the operating lines. And then, uh, one of the things that you
folks worked on last time is moving forward with the police fleet financing.
I just want to report out that we told you 4.9, we got 4.65.
So, we're we're excited about that um that rate. That's uh saves you money.
So, we're we're looking forward to that. Um so, in our spending to cash flow,
this is just helping folks understand that the board for the next six months
or so, then you get right into budget, your goals, and then to budget again.
See, it never goes away, Daniel. It's it's just it's just part of that ongoing
conversation. I see the look on your face. You're excited about this. That's
great. But it's it's part of that. So, we are going to constantly talk about
where your financials are and that's always going to be in front of you. So,
I'm using uh I have two issues that we've tried to highlight in this report.
One is short-term. We're in a lull. So starting around August till about
December is our lowest cash point. We burn the most cash. We use the most
cash. We have ongoing outflows of of monies that happen on a monthly basis
just to maintain and keep the lights on and pay people and make sure policemen
are there to uh patrol and cars work and folks are out there cutting grass and
fixing sidewalks, all the things that we do, providing services throughout the
town. Uh but this is our lull. This is our low point. We collect the majority
of our taxes and the majority of our finances in December, January, and
February of any fiscal year. So we have a cash timing issue that we're paying
very close attention to right now. We're working with uh engineering and public
services on some outflow issues of that nature uh as they're coming to to you
now. And then we need and want to talk about more of that long-term uh uh CIP
financing um that the board will deal with. Remember the board has a plan.
We're going against the plan. We know actuals because you've adopted contracts
mostly on transportation issues. So um we'll talk about that more and talk
about what that means on your cash position. So that is in your report as
well. uh general fund revenues as you can see you know we've earned about
143,000 144,000 uh so far that's that's the lull
the outflow is 2.2 2 million. Now, that's a little higher than usual. We
did move money uh into CIP positions uh for um um certain things this year. So,
that reflects is reflected in that norm. Our normal outflow of cash is about 1.5
million a month, give or take.
So, your cash and investments again are still solid. Um, and we've earned about
$100,000 in income uh in in investment income. Now, that's going to become a
very important thing as you guys consider cash flow moving forward. The
money that you have in the bank creates around 1.2 million a year in incoming
income, which is about two cents on your tax
rate. So, the money you have, the money you have in the bank actually offsets
your cost structure. So, again, it's unuded. We're moving
forward with this. Uh the council at uh the board of commissioners, I'm sorry,
I've worked for councils, boards, several things over my career. Sorry to
call you a council member. I'll call you a commissioner from now on out. Um but
we'll continue the conversation at your work session and we it's going to carry
on for a while uh while the board digest it. And again, I'm always available a
phone call away or a visit away. I'm always happy to go through any of this
information with you oneon one if you if you need any additional uh have any
additional questions. So, those are the financial reports. Can
I answer any questions? >> Any questions from the board?
» Yeah, I certainly applaud the county board for doing a cost to serve study
countywide. That's excellent. As far as how our existing Waxaw cost to
serve study plugs in, uh, do we necessarily have to wait for
them to complete their study or can we just plug into some numbers for the
major costs at the county level such as per student and, you know, wastewater
costs, things like that. We can put some of those bigger headline numbers in and
that's about all we could do, but we'll be happy to do that. You'll hear a
development report from uh Kevin tonight. We've been honing in on a cost
to serve uh five-year scenario model uh that we'll be able to educate the board
with hopefully by September. So, uh we've been doing that analysis. We can
do headline numbers right now. We know the cost per student, for example,
that's published. uh we know what those water and sewer costs are uh headline
but uh until they finish finish we won't be able to plug anything from them other
than the headline numbers >> but we'll continue to do that you can do
that multiplied by a household that kind of thing
» u but we'll do the best we can with what we have um uh that we do know about
right now >> right yeah obviously it would be
perfected once the county is finished yeah
» but Um, in the meantime, if we could at least
have some kind of a um formula that, you know, and you could even uh look at
some previously approved developments and see how they shake out, you know,
but for the future if a development request comes up that staff would have a
formula to just plug everything into and get a, you know, pretty good idea of
what that cost to serve would be. >> Yeah, we've actually been playing with a
model inhouse uh to figure out the best model we can use and how it might work.
So, uh that's still in production right now, but we can certainly consider that
and and how that might affect something. So,
» sounds good. Thanks. >> Any other questions
as well? >> Oh, yeah. Thank you. Um always good to
have a tap on the shoulder when you're up here. I thought it was the chief
coming after me for something, but it's nice to know I haven't done anything
wrong yet. Um, Kevin uh brought up a good point. Central, we had asked
Central Council of Governments if uh they would consider uh some cost to uh
service and data modeling from a more regional perspective that might be of a
help to all of us. and we were one of four towns that got selected across the
region to be part of that study. They also know how far we are with some of
our modeling and things like that. So, we're really looking forward to
participating in that uh with them and that'll be probably about a year-long
process. >> Yeah, it's about a year-long process to
get that together. Um the COG used to be a data center. Everybody then all of a
sudden thought they were a data center. Not the same kind of data center.
um but uh a centralized hub for data on the regional basis. Uh traffic movement
uh cost cost to serve, cost of roads, cost of schools, cost of water and
sewer, all those things that uh really have a regional uh regional
interconnection to them and they uh picked us to be part of that. So we're
excited to be part of that, too. So I think the board's going to start getting
a lot more uh robust information uh as we move through the year. Uh, but that
doesn't excuse you from reading everything I give you, all 500 pages,
Richard. So, um, and we're g we'll get those to you, but it's a process going
through this and I think, um, you all need to be part of that and and get that
language and how it moves together. You're part of a larger region and uh,
you play a role in that. So, and it affects you and you affect it. So, we'll
try to keep that together. >> Thank you. Thank you.
» Thank you. Next up, Miss Dina Sinszki,
parks and wreck. >> Sinsky.
» Good evening again. I'm your park and rec director, Miss Dina. I have Oopsie.
» I didn't do anything. Um, here tonight just give you an update
of all things park and wreck. One, look at these smiles. Isn't that awesome?
We've got some new public art at Kensington and um at Nesbet Park. If you
haven't seen it, please come by and um and look, drive, walk, all that good
jazz. But I want to give a special thank you to Miss Emily um the Kensington uh
principal Bernardo and his family came out and took some pictures with us and
Miss Melissa um and team. Uh we were out there really early in the morning um
painting this. Uh it was kind of spooky, but it was fun too. Got to do something
creative. So I just want to give a shout out to the team and more public art to
come. Give you an update on the action plan for the skate park. So we had a
great turnout. I wanted to um give you some updates on those numbers. Uh 17
participants online. um 214 on Flash Vote. So, if you haven't signed up for
Flash Vote, sign up so you can participate in these surveys because
they're awesome. Um also, we had over 50 participants in person at the many
feedback areas that we had in person to go to. Um, the consultant has all this
data now and they're swishing it up and going to bring it back to us in about a
month and then give us some renderings and the data that was collected for us
to get some eyes on some renderings and then after we give some more f public
feedback and then they'll come back um for us to finish out the plan.
Okay. I got a request to give you all a heads
up on what our partnerships um with Girls on the Run. So, if you're not
aware, we've been partnering with Girls on the Run for over 10 years. Um they
basically do a takeover of downtown. Um but the key components is the U Ginger
Snap Race. They go over all the um registration,
the participant management, the volunteers, um and then like the race
company and all that good jazz. The town does an incon sponsorship where we take
care of all the event setup, break up um breakdown, traffic control, signage,
detours, electrical signs, cones, barricades, and the public safety part
of it. Um the main uh departments involved is uh park and wreck, police,
fire, EMS, and the emergency management team. The heavy hitters um is mainly
park and wreck and police just because it's very hands-on to make sure that we
keep the citizens safe um during this time during the race. I just want to
give you all a heads up on what our participations is. And then it is event
season. We're in it. We're in it to win it. So, we got coming up um Bugs Life
that is August the 21st. And then we roll into Skate um night on September
the 4th. And then 911 Patriots Day is the 11th. And then the 18th is Jamat
Tracks. another one. We just had one last weekend. It was a great success.
Thanks for everybody coming out. But again, this is almost every weekend
until the end of December. So, we are in it. Mark your calendars. If you don't
have one of those handy dandy cards, we have them at town hall and all of our uh
parks and recck facilities. Please come and join us and be a part of the
community. Any questions?
» Questions from the board? >> No.
» Thank you. Thank you, Miss Dena. Another fun event season this year. It's
going to be good, Mr. Kevin. What do you got?
Okay. Um, I'm gonna keep this one pretty short. Um, this is the, uh, executive
summary. I believe you guys should have, um, the full version in your, you should
have received that as well. Um, goes into a little bit more detail. Um, as
Scott mentioned, not a lot going on right now. Um, however, we are trying to
kind of play around with this data and and and get something that's going to be
useful for us moving forward in several different ways. Um, I'll run through
this real quick. Um, we had 11 uh residential units that were permitted.
We're going to start putting that data in here for you as well. And for the
public, anybody watching, um, a unit can be permitted and can take several months
to a year more or sometimes never before it gets built. So, um, we try to
differentiate between that. We had 11 units that were permitted so far in 2026
through the first two quarters, the first six months. We had 29 total that
were built um that residential CO's units built. Um, so some of those are
going to have permits from the year before that are just now being
completed. Uh, we also had two non-residential structures completed.
Those are the first two that were COed. Um, new construction um for this year.
Um, 17.8 8 million. We're up to up to that so far in 26 and uh 1466
residential units that are in the pipeline and projected not yet permitted
or built. Most of that you'll see here is
relatively the same. Um our our pace right now on the residential side is
below the uh our 10-year quarterly average. Um significantly below that. Um
so we are in a a slump uh in terms of residential construction even though we
have a record number of units that have been approved. Um on the commercial side
uh we also have a vested pipeline that's several times this year's built total.
Um overall our our valuations of upfits and repairs which are all other permits
that we have that are not new construction. Um we're we're still um
kind of holding steady on that. Uh the one thing I wanted to do on here
for you um as we kind of continue to drill down on this a little bit um it's
it's one thing to look at uh what we've got that's been built. It's another
thing to kind of try to project out where we're going in the future. Um the
gray that you see on that chart right now, that's those are developer
projections from us talking with the developers, asking them what they expect
their built up their buildouts are going to be for the various projects. Um
there's a more detailed graph uh in your um in the the total packet uh the the
full document that you got. Um we took that we pulled it into this. Um it's a
little bit scary to look at. U but keep in mind things rarely ever built out
exactly like the um developers tell you they're going to or like people afraid
they're going to. Um we did a regression analysis
um for absorption rates of development. um going back really to the our some of
our earliest subdivisions in the 60s and 70s. So the line that you see there kind
of refle reflects that rate which is based on size which is based on um um
how long the average time on the different size um developments it took
to get to build out. And so we think it's probably a little bit more
reasonable that you would see around 289 to 300 um units um over kind of a max of
those over the next uh 3 to four years. Um we do have some other developments
that have been approved that will be coming into this that are not uh shown
here. So that could go up or down up or down a little bit, but we don't think
it's going to be that peak of 600 700 units there at the top.
Um
that's kind of reiterated here. The developer pipeline projects projects a
sharp rebound peaking around 684 units in 2028. That's nearly 100 units higher
than what we've ever hit. Um which was in 2018. Um but when the historically
calibrated model um we see that being uh substantially lower. Um the three
largest projects that we have right now, Emerson Park, Yarborough Farms, and
Adelina are size such a comparable developments historically took 12 to 17
years to build out. Uh I believe Milbridge
uh it's roughly 2100 units and I think it took around 19 years in total to
build out. Um more likely uh to be finishing in the late uh 2030s than by
2032. Um, smaller projects tend to have a little faster turnaround on those. Uh,
non-residentidential and upits and repairs. The, uh, vested pipeline, we've
got 991u, uh, square th,000 square feet. Um, so a substantial amount of, uh, new,
uh, non-residential construction that's in the pipeline.
Um, if it delivers similar pace to 2025, we would expect commercial and retail
and service are going to keep leading um, on construction. industrial uh is
still really underperforming. Um we haven't really had any of that built to
date um in the last uh eight or nine years there. Upfits and repairs, we
think those are going to stay steady at around 8.3 million a year uh in terms of
project valuations. And then again, we try to provide the
map with these as well, just to kind of see where some of the activity is. Um
your red are your two commercial buildings that were uh completed
totaling around 34,000 square feet. Um, your orange your town homes and your
yellow are single family detached. There was only six of those in total for this
quarter. We do expect that will be a little bit higher next quarter.
» All righty. Any questions from the board?
» Mr. Ferris, what do you have? >> Uh, a polite request. Um, with the map
that we're displayed here, the grade share areas, that is our our Waxaw town
limits. Yes, >> there are donut holes.
» There are donut holes. Yes. Yeah. >> And within those donut holes, uh,
residential and commercial development has occurred.
» Uh, yeah, I would believe so. Yeah. In some of them, yeah. Is there a
possibility that we could also look at the
that data uh possibly plugged in where available and how we look at also the
absorption rate >> u when thinking about that because that
will have a cost of serve an impact >> as commissioner Dant has point pointed
out those will have uh an impact on us as we travel and work on our roads
» and so just would love to be able to maybe as a supplemental possibly have
that included. >> Yeah. So, I I Yeah, I see what you're
saying there. Um I think um in terms of the um the development reports simply
because they're going to the county um and a lot of that data is going to the
county um we may not be able to get the same uh the same exact data that we
produce in some of these. I think long term and and looking at the impacts and
everything, especially when it comes to cost of service, uh we could do more of
a uh depending on what data we need for
that, we could do more of a u a service area, not a ETJ, but a kind of a little
bit larger area around that would include some areas outside as well, like
a you know, with something within a quarter mile and then all of those uh
doughnut holes as well, because those are going to have they're going to
impact the town. Um, so we could try to pull data from that as well. Sure.
» Would appreciate it. I know focusing focusing within our core and our limits,
but then a supplemental so we can understand how how those
» not ETJs that and those neighboring uh essentially donut holes or or impacts
and how we can we need to possibly evaluate adjustments.
» Yeah. Yeah. Kind of a like a sphere of influence kind of thing.
» Yes, sir. >> Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. We can do
that. >> Thank you.
» Cool. Thank you very much, Kevin. Uh coming up um on Octo August 25th uh at
6:30 p.m. in the town chambers, we will have our next work session. Not sure
what's on that agenda at this point, but it should be interesting nonetheless.
And then with that, can I get a motion to adjurnn?
» Can can comments?
» Oh, yeah. I just want to say one thing about the folks that showed up tonight.
Uh I want to thank everybody that showed up like we did before, but also um if
anybody was here or noticed the crowd, there was a lot of young people in the
crowd and I just want to uh pass along my thanks. I'm sure the rest of the
board is uh thankful for the community involvement, especially from our young
people. and uh some of them spoke very eloquently this evening and stuck around
for a really long time and it was really encouraging to see. And along with that
just want to give a special thanks to Michael
uh Kenna that he uh good luck to you on your endeavors at UNC Charlotte. Um I
know uh they're they're getting a great student and a great leader there. So,
um, uh, you've already raised the GPA there at that, uh, at that school. So,
um, and thank you for everything you did for the city. Uh, I'm not sure uh
how much uh, you know, being an intern, you don't get paid much or maybe not at
all. you were at everything and uh you know it was just you're
a great inspiration for the young people here and for even us old folks that you
know we think we do a lot but we can always do more. Um and good luck with
your uh your 501c3 your nonprofit that you manage. So
» I feel bad for your uh municipal government professor. That's all I'm
going to say. >> [laughter]
» to be a fly on that wall.
» Any other comments from the board? >> Yeah, for those who follow the board of
education, um, Commissioner Jim and Yani and I attended
a meeting last week because of concern and trying to understand why traffic
directors were removed from the Waxaw Elementary School. And uh at the board
meeting we saw that they turned down $3.8 million uh from the county and they
are saying that they need to save $200,000
by getting rid of these traffic directors. Um I just want to say for
everyone who's concerned about this that I'm hopeful that they might reverse that
decision for that particular school at least. Thank you.
Yeah, just to add to that, [clears throat] we did have a chance to
meet with them earlier this week, all parties involved, and they took the time
to listen. The school board took the time to listen uh to both the town
leadership, uh Mayor Promwedra and I were there along with our chief of
police as well as some of our traffic engineers as well as DOT. They were
there to basically recommend we reinstate these traffic um
traffic managers. um traffic directors. So hopefully
they'll change their mind. Um but at this point, all we can do is hope. We'll
see what decision they make in the future.
Any other comments? All righty then. Let's go ahead and get
a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to adjourn.
» All in favor? >> I.
» We are now adjourned. Thank you everybody. Have a good night.