[0:13] Everybody's freaking out. I'm getting
blown up right now.
[0:30] call to order the city of Trinity City
Council meeting for December the 8th,
[0:35] 2025.
Want to welcome our guests and visitors.
[0:40] And
this time we're going to stand and
[0:44] pledge allegiance to the flag and then
Mr. Welurn will have the invocation
[0:53] to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it
[0:58] stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
[1:04] for all.
>> Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we're
[1:08] thankful for this time of year. We're
thankful for that rescue mission for a
[1:13] lost world that is called Christmas.
We're thankful for um the meaning way
[1:19] beyond gifts or family gatherings, but
that that uh true gift of hope that we
[1:25] have and peace and joy that we can
experience at Christmas. Lord, we ask
[1:32] that you guide us in the decisions we
make here in Trinity, that you bless our
[1:37] citizens, and that you protect us, Lord,
from any kind of evil forces that may
[1:43] affect this world. Lord give us strength
and courage and again hope for you Jesus
[1:49] name. Amen.
>> Amen.
[1:59] » Okay.
We have a amended agenda which everyone
[2:05] has. So I'll take a motion to approve
the amended agenda as it states.
[2:12] Motion we approve the amended agenda.
>> Second.
[2:16] » Okay, we have a first and a second. All
in favor?
[2:20] » Okay, thank you.
[2:27] Okay, public comment.
Have no one signed up for public
[2:32] comment. Is anyone have anything they'd
like to share with council?
[2:39] » Okay, public comment.
All right. Uh, number five is approval
[2:46] of consent consent agenda items. I'll
take a motion to approve the consent
[2:51] items.
>> I make a motion to approve consent
[2:55] agenda items.
>> I'll second it.
[2:57] » I have a second. All in favor?
[3:03] » Okay. Thank you.
And you'll take care of that thing,
[3:09] right, Bob?
>> Yes.
[3:12] expenses.
>> Uh, next on the agenda is the Randolph
[3:16] County Tourist Development Authority
with the annual report and I believe we
[3:21] have Annette with us tonight
[3:30] and we have some stuff in our book as
well
[3:35] like this too.
>> Yeah, we have that too.
[3:39] So, good evening. It is my pleasure to
present the Randolph County TDD TDA's
[3:44] annual report for 2024. I'm going to
highlight the significant economic and
[3:49] community impact of the tourism industry
in Randolph County. In 2024, the
[3:54] economic impact numbers, the tax savings
for the residents. Each Randolph County
[3:58] resident benefited from the tourism
industry and received a $9348
[4:03] tax savings in 2024. Our state tax
revenues totaled 8.6 million and our
[4:10] local tax revenues totaled 5.21 million.
Employment and payroll, the industry
[4:15] supported 1,164
direct tourism jobs and that was 44.83
[4:22] million in payroll income. Visitor
spending in Rolph County in 2024
[4:26] generated 199.86 million in visitor
spending, representing a strong 5.4 4
[4:33] increase from 2023.
In 2024, occupancy tax revenues and
[4:39] lodging performance is for our lodging.
Our lodging sector demonstrated robust
[4:44] growth in 2024. Our occupancy tax
revenues totaled 1,523,584
[4:52] and that's a 5.45 increase from 2023.
Remember that these taxes are collected
[4:58] from hotels and motel, bed and breakfast
ins, Airbnb properties, and campground
[5:04] structures.
The average occupancy was reported at
[5:08] 62% which is a 5.3 increase from 2023.
The average daily rate, which is ADR, on
[5:16] room rentals was $12841.
That's an increase of 2.1% from 2023.
[5:24] Revenues collected by Randolph County
averaged $84.13
[5:28] per room and that's a 10.7% increase
compared to 2023.
[5:34] The demand for hotels rooms increased
8.4% compared to 2023 and that's an
[5:40] overall revenues increase by 11%
compared to the prior year. Our
[5:45] strategic data collections allows us to
understand our audience and optimize
[5:49] marketing efforts. As we look at our
attractions, the visitations of the 32
[5:54] attractions surveyed, they reported
approximately 1,71,999
[6:00] visitors for the calendar year in 2024.
That was an increase of 8.6% from 2023.
[6:08] So you may ask yourself, where are these
visitors coming from? The top states
[6:13] were North Carolina and Virginia, South
Carolina, Florida, Illinois, Ohio,
[6:18] Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, and
Wisconsin. Within those states of North
[6:23] Carolina, they were traveling from the
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill Triangle
[6:27] area, the Charlotte metro area, the
Pedmont Triand area, Hickory,
[6:32] Statesville, Salsbury, Fateville,
Lumberton, and Larnburgg.
[6:37] The collection of these details data
enables us to plan for strate strategic
[6:41] advertisement placement in the states
and regions and they are already
[6:45] visiting our area encouraging them to
return for additional visitor spending.
[6:50] The I7374 visitor center has a
partnership with North Carolina
[6:54] Department of Transportation at the
I7374 visitor centers and they are
[6:59] located in Sagrove. This provides
critical face-to-face visitor outreach.
[7:04] These buildings were built in 2009 and
we started running them in 2012. In
[7:09] 2024, our team assisted
133,827
[7:15] visitors and that is an increase of 22%
from 2023. Our visitor center staff
[7:21] handed out over 40,000 heart of North
Carolina travel guides, 30,000 NCDO
[7:26] depart uh transportation maps, and
28,450
[7:30] North Carolina travel guides. They
reached the guest registry at 2,933
[7:37] and that 23 additional guest
international guest registries and that
[7:42] was top countries of Canada, United
Kingdom and Italy. Moving on to the
[7:46] social media and website review. Our
social media presents expanded
[7:52] significantly in the total page reach.
The heart of North Carolina flagship
[7:56] account audience reach grew to an
impressive 543,863
[8:02] visitors through the targeted paid
content and digital influencers.
[8:06] Our dynamic website is the heart of our
making efforts. The website visits were
[8:12] 281,000 in 2024 with a total page view
of 1,326,325,
[8:20] demonstrating a highly encouraging user
experience. We refreshed our website in
[8:24] 2024 as well. The calendar of events
listing as a root source of information
[8:30] for advertising, social media content,
and media hosting. As we look at the
[8:35] 2024 public relations and social media
marketing efforts, we hosted 15 members
[8:40] of the media, including digital
influencers, editors, and freelance
[8:45] writers securing valuable placement. The
online placement was 85, and that was an
[8:50] estimated use of 4.87 87 million. Print
placement was 13 and that total
[8:56] circulation was 2.34 in million.
Television segments were 11. That was
[9:02] statewide and triangle triad markets.
Links below to the website were 15 and
[9:07] that was at the heart of North
Carolina.com.
[9:10] The most important number is 71 and this
number is the number of tourism partners
[9:14] and small businesses that we featured.
Posts from media were 147. shares of
[9:20] media stories was 18.2,000.
Instagram reels reached 446,000
[9:26] and the Tik Tok place was 5.9 million.
Some of the highlights based in Ashboro
[9:32] were the county miracles book released
in September of 2024. We partnered with
[9:37] North Carolina's top influencers and
Visit North Carolina to promote the
[9:41] Ashboro based novel by Nicholas Sparks.
Ashpeil Adventure Tour is where we
[9:47] invite influencers and their families
hosted in 2024 of April resulting in 28
[9:53] online broadcast social placements. The
visual advertisement in 2024 we executed
[10:00] over 150 advertisements that's print and
digital strategically pling markets in
[10:05] the triangle greater North Carolina,
Virginia and South Carolina. Our key
[10:09] partnerships were with the Triangle
Media Partners that was focusing on the
[10:14] Chapel Hill, Chadam, and Durham areas.
Randolph Hub, that's local community,
[10:19] Military Families Magazine, that's
targeting the North Carolina military
[10:22] market. And we expanded partnerships
with our state magazine, blending print,
[10:27] digital newsletter components, and new
social media reel produced by our
[10:33] production by our state. The new
outreach was the daily downforce by Eric
[10:37] Epstitz out to the groove his YouTube
channel. He has 150,000 subscribers.
[10:44] On the day of his visit, he and Thad
Moffett tooured took a tour of the zoo,
[10:49] visited Victory Junction, and finished
off the day at the race at Careway
[10:53] Speedway. On the creative content, the
50 fabulous finds in the heart of North
[10:58] Carolina booklet created to celebrate
the 50th anniversary of the North
[11:02] Carolina Zoo. And this was featured in
all nine municipalities.
[11:06] County miracles was a tour site posters
featuring quotes from another from the
[11:11] author Nicholas Sparks.
Our 2024 success is a statement to be
[11:17] collaborative spirit of our community.
Our marketing efforts are continually
[11:21] fueled by our nine municipalities and
the unique attributes they offer. The
[11:26] tourism partners are our true heroes
because the visitors experience they
[11:31] provide solidify our commitment to
hospitality. Their passion keeps us
[11:36] focused on being an affordable,
family-friendly destination
[11:39] strategically located in the heart of
North Carolina. So, I want to thank you
[11:43] for your time and if you have any
questions about our report, I'll be
[11:46] happy to answer them.
>> Any questions related?
[11:51] » Sounds like y'all doing a great job.
>> Well, thank you.
[11:54] » Thank you.
>> Keep it up. Thank you.
[11:55] » Thank you, ma'am.
>> Okay.
[12:02] Annual report. Mr. Rick Austin's going
to give us an update on how the Haven
[12:08] went, is going to be a record.
[12:14] » Good evening.
[12:18] Earlier this year in spring, y'all
awarded a contract to
[12:24] wall asphalt to do some resurfacing. In
that contract was 100% extension clause
[12:30] which y'all elected to exercise.
The first part of that contract you did
[12:36] Colonial Village, all of Colonial
Village subdivision.
[12:40] the with the money from the extension we
did we did Stone Gables, part of Siler
[12:47] Street, part of Bellwood, uh the first
block of Bordeaux and Chalet,
[12:56] um going into the Bellwood subdivision.
So, the front part of that subdivision
[13:01] got resurfaced.
Um,
[13:06] we did some curb replacement on Ser
Street because we saw that it was
[13:13] holding water that homeowners
association had had added it. It's a
[13:17] ribbon street and that's the only piece
of it's a small small piece of curb and
[13:22] gutter there that was holding water. We
replace that and the contractor
[13:28] had a lot of damage to the curb in stone
gables
[13:34] and he cleaned what he had sprayed with
asphalt and I cleaned what he hadn't so
[13:40] it all would match.
All right. And so between between the
[13:45] two resurfacing contracts and the little
bit of maintenance work, we spent close
[13:50] to half a million dollars on streets
this year. this calendar year.
[13:56] All right. When you're resurfacing,
you're always at the mercy of the
[14:02] trucks, the number of trucks. So, they
they come in in waves and then you got
[14:06] downtime until they can go to the plant
and refill and come back. So, I used my
[14:12] time during the three days that I was
here looking at the resurfacing to take
[14:17] and ride your streets and start working
on your
[14:21] street report that will the part of the
retreat.
[14:27] Okay. I saw I saw several streets that
could use crack porn and I found two
[14:35] pretty large places
that needed
[14:41] patching. When I say patching, I mean my
what I what I mean by patching is full
[14:48] depth reconstruction.
Okay? See, I'm digging out the street
[14:52] and I'm putting back as much asphalt as
the original specifications required as
[14:58] far as traffic strength.
So, I found I found um
[15:08] it's it's impossible to take and figure
out how much crack pouring you have that
[15:13] you can't measure them. If you painted
them, you might be able to measure them,
[15:17] but that would look awful. And then they
depend on how thick they are and how
[15:22] deep they are. So there's no way to come
up with a number. Last time that we did
[15:26] crack pour in Trinity,
I'm thinking that we did 10,000 pounds
[15:32] and we got most of the whole town. So
you probably need to do that again.
[15:38] And then you've got uh some patching
that needs to be done. And there may be
[15:45] a couple streets uh
I have found a couple streets that might
[15:51] that might fit the minimum for be to be
resurfaced. So all that'll be in the
[15:57] retreat.
Okay. Your streets are generally as good
[16:03] as anybody any you'll find in the state.
They're in excellent condition.
[16:09] Uh we're keeping them. There's a rating
system that's from zero to 100. Your
[16:16] city streets are all, I would think, are
all above 90.
[16:20] Um, you're keeping them where they're in
the the least cost to take and maintain
[16:26] and own. And you'll be able to continue
to do that because you get a lot of
[16:31] power bill money compared to your street
mileage because of the population
[16:36] component of the power bill equation.
Over time, you're going to get more
[16:42] miles and it will get harder and harder
and eventually
[16:49] maybe you'll get like Raleigh where
you've got a 15und a 50y year re
[16:55] resurfacing
cycle because the funding they have you
[16:59] can get around to all the city streets
in 50 years. And I'm high point I asked
[17:05] for and got laughed at want a 20ear
cycle. they were funding about a third
[17:10] of that to get. So I guess they had
about a 60 year cycle when I was there.
[17:15] So anyway, the people we had no
complaints or except that we had no
[17:22] unresolved complaints. Okay. [snorts]
And people seem very genuinely
[17:28] appreciative that city's out doing stuff
for them. So
[17:34] any questions?
>> You going to work? Do we going to do
[17:37] what you're talking about come next this
coming year or
[17:42] » I'm I'm gonna suggest that to you
>> January [clears throat] February.
[17:46] » Uh crack pouring is best done when the
pavement is cool and the cracks are
[17:51] open.
>> So
[17:53] » that's
January February.
[17:57] » I need I need to do it probably March,
April.
[18:00] » And that's before the new budget. It may
be before the new budget's approved. And
[18:05] I may ask you to go ahead and approve it
at retreat or
[18:10] » we'll work it out.
>> We'll work it out on that.
[18:13] » Any changes?
>> Crackorn is special in a way because you
[18:18] have a local contractor that's on the
state list.
[18:22] And last time if I add it to a
resurfacing contract, it's going to cost
[18:27] me $6 a pound. You do it by the pound.
He bid a $1.75,
[18:33] [clears throat]
>> but he did 10,000 pounds in two days.
[18:37] » Well, good.
>> He's a local It's a local guy, but it'll
[18:40] have to be done probably by
purchase order.
[18:46] » All right. Any questions for our
engineer?
[18:49] » Rick, does the city have any input on
what the state does?
[18:54] » Yes, if you if you take it. What do you
mean if I take it?
[19:00] » If
if you call them up, uh when I when I
[19:05] was with Lexington,
>> the city did a p a pavement maintenance
[19:11] survey of the whole town that rating
system.
[19:15] » Uhhuh.
>> And while I was there, it dropped from
[19:20] 72 to 68 because they didn't spend any
money for three or four years. And I
[19:25] thought they were going to run me out of
town because my had a failing grade. It
[19:29] was going to take it took a million
dollars to move that about
[19:35] I think maybe one point.
We had the numbers and the state does
[19:41] have system. They go they they have
their maintenance people go out and rate
[19:47] their system and it's complicated and
some of them they they booger it up.
[19:53] Okay. and we would take and interpose
our numbers over their numbers and say
[19:58] we want this done in Lexington
over this because we're we're seeing
[20:03] that this is in worse shape.
>> Yeah.
[20:06] » Uh
and the biggest problem I had with that
[20:09] is they're so slow they would ask they
would ask in June city council would
[20:16] vote in July or August to make a send a
letter to them. and they send a letter
[20:20] to them requesting something be
resurfaced. They would include it up the
[20:26] ladder all the way to Raleigh and in
February or March of the next year
[20:31] commission would vote on the award and
the contracts that been written and then
[20:35] it would be the following August before
the work was done. So it be it take a
[20:40] year and people would get impatient with
me want to you said they were going to
[20:44] do this and why they done that Rick and
I'd say you know they ain't got to it.
[20:50] » So if we have a street that's really in
bad shape that's a DOT street we have to
[20:56] request that they take care of it.
>> You don't have to request it. They would
[21:02] they would use their judgment and do
what they felt like was in their best
[21:05] interest. what what I need to be
communicating to you
[21:08] » as a political body. If you take and
send them a letter saying we'd like this
[21:13] to happen, they will count that five or
six times over a homeowner calling up
[21:19] saying I wish.
>> Right.
[21:21] » Okay.
>> So if the city So like if you got a list
[21:26] together for us for the worst state
maintained roads in Trinity, we could
[21:31] send a letter on those.
>> Yeah, we could do that.
[21:36] passion.
>> Yeah.
[21:39] » Yeah. That's what that's the way we
would do it. We'd have a you'd have to
[21:42] pass a resolution.
>> Yeah.
[21:44] » And it would need to be
>> uh something that was within the scope
[21:50] of what they could budget.
You can't you can't ask that they
[21:55] resurface everything in town. They'd
laugh at you.
[21:57] » No, I know that.
>> You'd have to have to be a reasonable
[22:00] request.
And I'm not real sure
[22:03] » what the upper limit to a reasonable
request would be.
[22:07] » They always tell me they ain't got no
money. Yeah,
[22:10] » that's a bad answer for governor.
>> When you get them in public like I do
[22:13] sometimes with pop star and I show my
butt, somebody's on the phone going, "We
[22:19] found some reserve money."
>> Well, does is the state the same way as
[22:23] the city? They get power bill money.
>> They don't.
[22:26] » They get gas tax money direct state tax.
>> You're getting out of their out of their
[22:31] pool, out of their pile of money, and
they don't like it. But that's the way
[22:37] it is.
[22:48] system.
[22:56] So when it comes out of that
[23:01] street [clears throat]
[23:07] [clears throat]
[23:12] » Yeah.
[23:21] And that's no different.
>> They're the ones with the most traffic.
[23:31] » There's also this thing that they want
you to take them over. They don't want
[23:37] they don't want to maintain residential
streets inside of city limits. Right.
[23:42] » So,
>> they gonna let them get looking a little
[23:46] worse than the ones out in in the
county.
[23:49] » Yeah.
>> Because they feel like they are more
[23:52] their constituents.
>> Yeah.
[23:55] » If that makes sense to you.
>> Sure.
[23:58] » Thank you.
>> Okay. All minds clear.
[24:02] » Thank you guys.
>> Christmas. Hope to see y'all again in
[24:06] about another three or four months.
>> Yep.
[24:09] » All right.
We hope so.
[24:13] All right. Uh,
next is a utility regional meeting that
[24:18] the city manager and me and Mr. Walker
attended the other day.
[24:23] » That's right, Mayor. On Friday, the
three of us attended a countywide, all
[24:26] the municipalities in the county were
there about a a
[24:32] multi-billion dollar, it was with a B,
uh regional wastewater plant that would
[24:37] serve Guilford and Randolph County.
How Trinity fits in that, we're not
[24:44] quite sure yet. We just want to get that
in front of the council. There'll be
[24:49] more coming up in the out years. You
know, as you know, we our wastewater
[24:53] goes into two plants or we'll go into
two plants. Right now, we go all into
[24:56] Thomasville and then we'll also go into
High Point's West Side, but High Point
[25:01] is part of this regionalization.
So, we'll just see how it goes. I just
[25:06] want to get that in front of the council
because
[25:10] um if you wanted to build that plant to
start the construction, it's probably 12
[25:17] or 15 years out.
And if it's 1.3 billion today, what will
[25:22] it be 10 or 12 years?
Yeah. So, uh, that's that's the way the
[25:29] wastewater business is going. And unless
you have anything to mayor add to that,
[25:34] that's all I have. Mayor,
>> well, it's coming. Archdale is in it
[25:36] because Archdale feeds High Point. We
going to be feeding High Point.
[25:40] Thomasville won't be in it, but
we found out and we most of us realize
[25:46] that just like us partnering with the SH
if we regionalize that we don't
[25:53] everybody don't have to have all the
same equipment. So it makes the cost
[25:56] come way down even though it's going to
be very expensive.
[26:01] They're talking about Ram and who was up
farmers
[26:06] » Franklinvilleank.
>> You know, they're cost [clears throat]
[26:10] down the road is going to be $880
for a,000 gallons of stuff.
[26:16] » If they don't regionalize it then. So,
you can see
[26:22] if they regionalize you, what was it,
Robbie? Three threeund something dollars
[26:26] a thing. So,
>> I'm not sure what's going on in
[26:28] Franklinville. They got a mess.
>> Yeah. having a ramshore boat. But
[26:31] anyway, but it's going to come and we're
going to have to deal with it
[26:35] » however we have to do it.
>> Well, I think the goal right now trying
[26:39] to get started now is the goal is 2050.
>> That's correct.
[26:42] » So,
>> but I told the mayor and mayor pro Tim
[26:46] that I didn't have all the answers, but
25 years ago I was sitting in that room
[26:51] talking about the Paymont Tri Regional
Water Authority and it's up and running
[26:55] now. Yeah. So
>> I may I plan to be here 25 years from
[27:00] now but not sitting in that room.
>> Yeah.
[27:03] » Well,
>> you may be in New York.
[27:05] » Maybe some of us will be here.
>> But it's something we're going to have
[27:10] to deal with. And John just wanted to
make sure that the rest of you knew what
[27:14] we know. And they've done a study for
two or three years. And uh so the main
[27:20] thing is getting
communic getting the uh the whole
[27:25] operation for everybody to to join in
instead of
[27:30] half of them join and half of them don't
join.
[27:33] » And obviously I know the council knows
this but the folks on YouTube might know
[27:38] this. The more partners you have the
more federal support you'll have. More
[27:43] federal dollars and more state dollars.
If we all row our own boat, then a city
[27:49] like Trinity, you'll probably get not
much of anything.
[27:53] » We get all the cities. We had everybody
I was kind of surprised we had every
[27:57] city in Randolph County there. And uh so
if we all like John said, if we all get
[28:02] on that boat, then we got pulled
from the state and and the federal. So,
[28:10] all right. Well,
number nine says, "Merry Christmas.
[28:14] Happy New Year. City Hall be club is
December 24th, 25th, 26th, and January
[28:19] the 1st.
>> Y'all put me on an order at that
[28:22] meeting. Mayor, you and the mayor proed
to be through at 7:00 and at 6:58.
[28:30] » We have to drag it out for two two
minutes.
[28:33] » John, are we still looking at January
the 5th for Michael?
[28:36] » Yes.
>> And Michael Burrough, our incoming city
[28:40] manager, was there at that meeting. And
uh January 5th, watch your mail. And uh
[28:45] we'll be getting the invitation list out
too. And I spoke with Michael today to
[28:49] get his mom and dad's address and his
family and all that. Be a big day. So
[28:54] watch your email for the invitation.
>> We're going to do that here.
[28:58] » We'll do that in here. Yes.
>> Okay. Anything else from council for Mr.
[29:03] Walker does his job?
[29:08] » Motion we adjourn.
>> Second.
[29:10] » Second. All in favor?
I told Mama Michelle to come tonight.
[29:15] It's going to be less an hour and a
half.