[0:08] We got a very good presentation coming up.

[0:11] So, Mr. Mayor, members of the council at this time, mayor, your request, we're going to have, um, this come and present an overview of your company. But first it will be introduced by Emily Archer, our economic development director.

[0:23] Welcome, welcome. Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor and members of city council. Uh, it's my distinct pleasure to introduce the CEO of one of the top federal government contractors in the nation, located right here, CEO Ryan Ingold of Ads, which is headquartered here in Virginia Beach. Ryan joined us in 2010, beginning as a naval sales vertical manager and advancing to serve as executive vice president of market sales before being named CEO in June 2022. Great. Prior to beginning ads, Ryan served as a Naval Special Warfare Officer for the United States Navy from 1997 to 2005, and was awarded a Bronze Star with V for valorous actions during combat. After significant spinal cord injury in 2004 cut his military career short. Ryan successfully transitioned to a career in the defense industry, leading business and product development efforts at Earl energy LLC and Blackbird Technologies. Ryan has also worked with Exoskeleton Technology to support rehabilitation, mobility, mobility, and military applications. Has co-founded Trade Wind Technologies, a cybersecurity training company. Ryan earned his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Ryan, thank you for your service and thank you for being here today.

[1:43] Welcome, Ryan.

[1:45] Good afternoon. Thank you. Mayor Dyer, thank you for the invitation to come and talk about our amazing company headquartered right here in Virginia Beach. Thank you for that introduction. I think I need to add that, you know, people go, okay, Ron, you served in the Seal teams, I guess I did, I love serving. If I didn't get hurt, I believe I'd still be serving today. Uh, my service in the Seal teams is what brought me to Virginia Beach. Uh, but I want to highlight that my my spinal cord injury was a total recreational boating accident. People think it was combat related, so I'll never live this one down. But I was just back from Afghanistan. Uh, very, very busy. Dangerous deployment. A lot of activity, a lot of action. Come back home and I break my neck. My son would say it was parasailing instead of parasailing, but bad. Unfortunate injury on the Chesapeake Bay. I dislocated my C5 C6, paralyzed from the neck down. Made a recovery. No one would have expected a lot of time in the Richmond spinal cord injury VA, but a lengthy, lengthy recovery process that forced me to start a new career, which led to me serving in the defense industry. So CEO of Aids for four years, been at Aids for 15 years. Very unique Relationship with ads. Show of hands. Up until now, how many of you are familiar with ads? Some of you. All right. A lot of you know, says that dive shop, you know, formerly Atlantic Dive and Supply. Now we go buy ads. But I was a ads customer in 1998, fresh out of Seal training, checked into Seal team two and was told, hey, take this piece of paper. Go down to the attic space above Lynnhaven Dive Center off Great Neck Road and go get your wetsuit. So I was an Aids customer. A lot of my initial equipment when I was at Seal team two, where I had three deployments, I was actually deployed during nine over 11. A lot of my equipment came from ads. Then I went over to Naval Special Warfare Development Group. But damn that same thing going through and getting issued great equipment, equipment from all these different awesome manufacturers and ads behind the scenes supporting me. Fast forward, I have an injury and my naval career. I'm involved in different industry positions, and I work with a company where I get the opportunity to work with ads As a manufacturer, I was building hybrid, off grid hybrid power systems. Got to expose to ads and I was like, wow. Ads is doing a lot more than selling just diving equipment. Well, they're involved with everything. And I got to experience that value. And what Ads provides to manufacturers, give me access to key customers within the Marine Corps and educating me more on the procurement side of the defense industrial base and support in the military. So very cool, cool connection with ads. We have an internal theme called Keep Your Head Under the Boat. As many of you have seen, people going through Seal training have to carry that boat on their head. And I tell my entire team, our job is to make sure we're supporting our customers, keep our head under the boat for the customers we support, the manufacturers we support and supporting each other, our teammates.

[4:41] Lynn Haven Dive Center So many people still have that connection to ads. Even Secretary of the Navy Hong Cal talks about how he received his initial equipment from ads when he served in the EOD community. Our founder and chairman, Luke Hillier, created ads out of Lynn Haven Dive Center, where they recognized that so many active duty personnel were going to Lynn Haven Dive Center to get better equipment than they were being issued at their commands, trying to buy the latest and greatest and commercial products, equipment and technology that led to the idea to say, hey, let's create a business focus solely on supporting the warfighter to ensure they have the best equipment possible. And that's led to ads now evolving into one of the largest defense companies. Most people have never heard of. Headquartered right off Lynn Haven Parkway, with an expansion of warehouse taking place as well, so adds is growing. We have roughly 270 personnel headquartered here in Virginia Beach, where 492 employees total. And I'll highlight I do have a hard cap at not being able to go over 500, but that's not going to be the case forever. So I think in telling the story to Mayor Dyer, just highlighting what we're doing in the industry, how we're disruptive and how Aids is going to continue to grow. And we're on a trajectory to be able to exceed the right now government limitation of going over 500 employees. So technically, right now, Aids is the largest defense small business in the history of America. We're a multibillion dollar organization. We've delivered 7 billion in products, equipment and technology in the last 12 months. And we're doing that with under 500 personnel. There's nobody like us in the industry. So here I'll let you look at this and you have the slides in front of you. But we cover the full spectrum of products, equipment and technology that the warfighters use, the men and women in protecting our country and our freedom, what they use. And I will tell you, with all these different areas, there's a story behind what got us into every one of these areas and why Aids is now the leading UAS or drone provider to the military and the entire country, the largest provider of counter UAS technology to the military. All the FIFA stadiums, you saw the soccer games taking place. Did you see any drones landing on the field? Every single game. I was a little nervous to make sure that didn't happen. But all that counter US technology supporting even our our state level FIFA games was provided came through adds. So this full spectrum of products, equipment, technology that the warfighter needs. And you've noticed recently a significant demand for the adoption of non-traditional manufacturers, companies that don't traditionally focus on supporting the warfighter. We make it extremely easy for them to insert their products, their equipment, their technology into the ecosystem. We are a 289 person sales team calling on the military across the entire country and the globe. We have folks in Japan, Hawaii, Guam, across Europe, Africa and Centcom everywhere. Our customers are. We are supporting primarily our U.S. forces and our allies.

[7:50] So everyone's like, got it? Adds global impact across the board and supporting the warfighter. I want to highlight what we what we're doing here locally. So aides will transact with approximately 3000 companies annually. Those are about 450 core companies where we do a lot of our volume with helping them. Everything from sales, customer access to procurement support, leveraging rapid acquisition contracts to help them get their products to the to the warfighter quicker. But locally, there's more than 50 plus companies that work. A good amount of their business is with ads leveraging our team, our resources, our rapid procurement channels to get their products to the warfighter, totaling 175 million total revenue associated with those companies just in 2025 alone. And it's growing. So just think locally, you have this company that's spawned out of Lynnhaven Dive Center that's now having that kind of impact locally, along with the global impact of what will result this year, probably in 7.5 billion in. In orders from DOW and federal agencies.

[8:53] Mayor Dyer. You had a fun time at Warrior Expo, correct?

[8:55] Oh.

[8:56] You got to meet Rob Gronkowski USAA.

[9:00] In a candy store. Are you kidding? That's for my marine tie today.

[9:06] So our warrior Aids Warrior Expo was where I first experienced it as a manufacturer, showcasing my products on the show floor. Aids hosts the largest private industry defense tradeshow in the country right here in Virginia Beach. 1500 active duty government personnel, more than 350 companies all coming to Virginia Beach to access and give visibility and all the capabilities we can provide to our warfighters. So it's a great event. It really started with just five companies 25 years ago, and now it's evolved into what's now with the largest taking place right at the convention center. So great opportunity to put the spotlight on Virginia Beach and what we do and how we support the war fighters. You can see our global impact again, supporting primarily U.S. forces globally. Our sales reps are either in Virginia Beach or they're located where our customers are located. And we're supporting manufacturers across the country and supporting our allies.

[10:02] Now, a couple other things I just want to highlight. I share this with our team all the time because I highlight the fact that I love serving. I came from Northern California and got accepted to the Naval Academy. I'm one of seven boys Rob, Ryan, Russ, Rory, Ricky. Ronnie, Rhett. My parents were like, that place is free. You should go there. I got in, I wanted to play football, I did track, I was like, Rudy. I actually Rudy probably got more football playing time than I did at the Naval Academy, but I fell in love with serving and then fell in love with shooting and striving to become a Navy Seal. I went through Seal training, checked in here. I love what I was doing, I love Virginia Beach. I love being by the water. Career cut short. Very frustrating to give, but I was optimistic throughout. I was paralyzed from the neck down. They said I'd never walk again. They thought I'd be in the VA up in Richmond, the Spinal Cord Injury Center, for nine months. I walked out in three and a half upper body. Took a while. I was kind of like T-Rex arms for a couple of years but made a recovery. Not expected, but I still have that chip in my shoulder that I had a career cut short. Aids has given me a home. I get to work with, amazing team where I feel like I still have the opportunity to serve. We are. We are a for profit business, right? I love to pay my employees, but I want you all to know I love to compete and it's truly hard to understand it. From where you all sit, what we do and how we're disruptive. We are the number 11 top US defense contractor on revenue, definitely not on margins. Just know as a tax payer we compete in single digit margins. Costco's average margins are 12 to 13% gross. We can do things and deliver capability to the warfighter at margins no other multibillion dollar company can touch. How we've been disruptive in this ecosystem is it's phenomenal. And I think our limitation on our headcount capacity has driven those efficiencies, forced us to be very lean. But just know that we compete for every single dollar we bring in, working with all the companies here locally and globally. So I share this with the team all the time. Our customers win when we compete, and Ads competes for every single dollar to ensure we're providing the best technology, best product, best capability at the best price as quickly as possible. We're always doing one of those three. Ideally, it's all those three. So I just want you all to know that because most of the time, our biggest competition is not all the other companies who we compete with, who I love to compete with. It's usually the legacy way of doing business and a process that's cost more and takes more time. So I just want to put stop that a little bit, because I got to share that with the mayor a few weeks ago, and I highlighted all the different things we're expanding into different growth areas that are high priorities within the ecosystem that we support. And also just acknowledge that Virginia Beach is pretty large or adds a large employer here in Virginia Beach, and we're on a path to continue to grow beyond 2030. 2031 I can highlight that we're not going to have the same headcount limitations we have right now, and my goal is to continue to ensure that we're as efficient as possible. And if and when I can go over that 500 headcount cap. And I know the rules better than anybody. And the, the, the flywheel is moving, but adds is going to be a significant presence through that time period and even greater presence as we're able to grow beyond that. So I love living in Virginia Beach. My family loves it here. I love supporting the local community. And honestly, we haven't done enough time engaging with the city. You know, I love sharing the story, you know, across the country with all of our customer base. But I appreciate the opportunity to highlight with you all what this great company is doing. spawning of a little dive shop off Great Neck Road, so that's all I have. If you all have any questions, happy to share more thoughts and talk more about ads. But yeah, turn it over.

[13:45] To you before I open it up. Like I said, I was a kid in a candy store going at the expo. It was fantastic. Two ballrooms full of updated equipment. And then you had a big conference. Ron Gronkowski was there. My wife met him and that was a good thing,

[14:04] a big fan of his. But the thing is, I really think when I met with you a couple of weeks before, you know, just in the briefing, you know, you didn't mention that they're also in the business. They're making prefabricated barracks and aircraft hangars, too. And you're talking about a very, very diversified group. But I think it's important now we have an actual mayors roundtable for defense contractors. I think we have over 70 defense. major defense contractors in the city of Virginia Beach right now. And this was one and then one of your subsidiaries. You know, I did the grand opening of their place the other day. Um, and defense industry is very, very key. But once again, when we hear about a company that started off in a dive shop and the opportunity that they stayed right here in Virginia Beach and went into a multi-billion dollar international. But it's not only that. It's the mission of what they do in making sure that our warfighters and right here in Virginia Beach, we're very proud of our military presence. You know, Navy, all branches and everything. But, you know, I just wanted to bring in Ryan to let folks know you were here. And, uh, I'd like to open up to any questions or concerns or comments. The.

[16:11] Great. Thank you.

[16:12] Okay. Anybody else? Hey, Ryan, I just want to thank you and your magnificent team and, uh, you know, keep it going. Keep it growing.

[16:22] Dave Henderson.

[16:23] Oh, Dave.

[16:25] Thank you so much.

[16:27] Thank you.

[16:28] So much.

[16:39] Thank you. Yeah.

[16:47] All right.

[16:52] Okay.

[16:53] Next up.

[17:36] You're very.

[17:36] Welcome. And good afternoon, City Council members. It's an honor to be here. I'm born and raised in Virginia, so it was certainly a pleasure to to get back from the mountains of Virginia to the coast here. So, um, you know, I was asked to basically give a kind of a neutral overview of, of how I see offshore mining. I think it's a quite contentious, uh, subject right now here at Virginia Beach and the coast. Um, but specifically the critical minerals associated with offshore mining and what Odyssey Marine Exploration has been proposing here. So, um, just by way of background, I did want to kind of talk about my background a little bit more. So I am a mining engineer. I'm a professor of practice at Virginia Tech. Uh, my background actually started in sand and gravel in Northern California, so I was out there many years ago. I moved away from Virginia when I was 19 to do that. Uh, then I worked in heavy mineral sands. So near Petersburg, my hometown, there's a heavy mineral sands operation that was previously owned by an Australian company. Now it's owned. Actually, a friend of mine had co-founded that company called Atlantic Strategic Minerals. So we're actively mining and processing heavy mineral sands in the state of Virginia, in the Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Stoney Creek area of Virginia. Right now, this is a little bit different in the sense that it's offshore. So it would be considered, you know, marine uh area. So basically what has happened is um, there's this proposed area of, of where there's been historic offshore exploration by the Virginia Department of Energy. So for the last 40 years, the Department of Energy has been collecting samples, uh, to try to better characterize offshore resources. And they've identified heavy mineral sands, heavy mineral sands, or basically, uh, titanium, zircon, monazite minerals that have weathered from the mountains and moved through rivers and streams and weather events to to be deposited on our beach. So you've actually probably seen them when you've walked the beach at Virginia Beach and other places, and they've also deposited offshore. And we'll go over some of the geology here with you this afternoon. But essentially this is the gray hatched area, the, the, you know, the hatched area offshore. They're quite far, actually, from Virginia Beach itself. But it represents, um, you know, an area of three to 6 to 4 miles offshore with a water depth of 15 to 300ft. Uh, Virginia Energy has collected over 600 samples of this area over the over the historical time period, about 40 years. And then again, uh, Odyssey Marine Exploration, which had put out an RFI, uh, is proposing additional exploration work to better understand what minerals are there and, and, um, you know, what, uh, what is the environmental quality that exists offshore today? So when we talk about critical minerals, you probably actually heard this quite a bit in the news today. There's a lot of bipartisan support to do exploration and characterization of critical minerals throughout the United States. And they're typically deemed critical because our overreliance on other countries throughout the world, primarily China in this case, who controls a monopoly of many of the different minerals that we're using for some of the high tech applications that were alluded to in the prior presentation with drones and other things, but their electric vehicles, you know, the motors that go with the electric vehicles, the battery materials in this specific case of titanium and zircon for titanium. You know, there's certainly a lot of aerospace applications for titanium. Uh, certainly even in the food industry, we use a lot of titanium. Um, you know, zircon has used a lot in the nuclear industry for foundries and other high tech industries. And then monazite is known as a source of, um, rare earth elements. So again, these these elements that are very useful in upgrading the the material properties of things like electric motors, uh, navigation systems for GPS, both for defense applications and high technology applications. So why now? So I think there's been a lot of questions from the public as to why. Why are we considering offshore mining or why are we considering critical minerals now, especially in the state of Virginia? Well, this isn't something that that just happened overnight. This has basically been the buildup of many years of a lot of the sourcing for these materials, from domestic sources to overseas sources. Not only that, there's there's been a lot of issues over the last decade or so with supply chain risk for a lot of our manufacturing here in the United States as, as some of the manufacturing, for example, for for cars that move from combustion based fuels to electric vehicles, it requires a different type of minerals to produce those those technologies and those equipments, cell phones, smartphones, things like that, same thing. So they're requiring different minerals. And most of those minerals are being sourced from other countries. And in some cases it's being used as a political tool to impact manufacturing here in the United States. So that's another thing that's kind of been playing out over the last decade plus, uh, what brought this particular project, I think, to the public concern is basically a federal process that was opened up with Boem. We received an unsolicited request in November of 2025 that was published the Virginia RFI in 2026 of June. So this past year, the public comment window was coming up very soon, I believe. Saturday. So August 22nd of this year. So I think that's the purpose of why we're speaking about it today. But the other thing that's also coincided with the work that I do at the university is a lot of this exploration, characterization, type work. So a lot of the technologies that we use today are far advanced. And what we would have used 40 or 50 years ago in the resource industry. So that's allowed us to identify these minerals in many cases as co products or byproducts of things that were already moving, like sand, for example, throughout the world and certainly throughout the United States in the state of Virginia. Uh, you know, one of the things I just wanted to leave you with today, it's certainly not my my role here to to convince you either way. But what has been proposed is exploration, not mining, right? So this is basically to do an evaluation of what those resources are offshore. Um, and then, you know, eventually that would be a whole different decision that needs to be made of whether mining or dredging would be allowed. Uh, what would expiration look like? So some type of ship based mapping would be on order, as well as desktop studies looking at the existing information provided by the Virginia Department of Energy. Uh, grab samples could be collected. This is geologists that I've actually done a lot of work with who retired from the Virginia Energy office, uh, using a clam shell sampler. So very minimally invasive, just picking up sand from the seafloor, seeing what minerals are in it, what could come later. So again, after after review of of what information is is there with these offshore um deposits, there would be permits. There would be approvals that would need to be decided on later. And certainly the processing method proposed would need to be reused. So as far as what I think you know, the city should ask for is transparent baseline studies. So what information is out there today? What information would be collected as part of this process, and making sure that monitoring studies are being done and the local people here are engaged in this process? Why offshore of Virginia? Of course, the geology, which I'll go over and highlight with you all this afternoon. There's ancient shorelines here that are underwater. They're also on the coast or on the beach. If you've seen black sand on the beach, that's titanium sand. Um, there's an existing resource base. So again, there's been a lot of studies over the last four decades on this topic. So there's existing information that has enticed a company to to want to do additional information gathering here. The strategic minerals. We'll talk about the titanium minerals again, the zircon and the possible rare earth bearing monazite that remain relevant for the strategic minerals investigations that we're doing across the country right now. I think a really important part as it pertains to Virginia Beach is the coastal resilience. Because we're talking about sand and you're you're typically sourcing sand from offshore to to use to replenish beaches. I think this is another important topic here. And then, you know, the other interesting thing here is, you know, there's great marine infrastructure in Virginia Beach and the surrounding area. But one of the questions that would need to be answered in the future is, where would any potential processing be located? Right. That's an important question for you all. So what are the heavy mineral stands of interest? I mentioned the titanium, the zircon and the rare earth. So again, these are our weathered sediments that have moved down from the mountains through millions of years and deposited by gravity here along the coast and also further Upshur, as I mentioned, around the like the Petersburg area of Virginia, for example, but very well known and understood sources of these specific critical minerals. And then you can see in this lower photo here you can see that black sand. That's the heavy mineral sands naturally deposited on the on the beach surface. The deposit model, as I mentioned. So you have this weathering of these very weather resistant minerals. But again, over a period of millions of years, they've moved into sand grain sizes, deposited, you know, along the beach, offshore from the beach. But because of their density, they tend to concentrate. So waves and currents actually naturally with gravity concentrate these into sometimes economic deposits, sometimes not. So that's another important distinction here. It very naturally concentrates itself in these beach sand environments. What might offshore exploration actually look like? So again as I mentioned, there would be plenty of desktop studies looking at existing information that was produced by the state of Virginia, identifying what other constraints there might be. Military areas, for example, that would need to be, uh, you know, occluded away from any potential future studies looking at fisheries, you know, shipwrecks, things like that. There could be other. You know, um, um, you know, things that we would need to avoid with part of this process. Geophysical studies would be done. So you could do things like bathymetric surveys, doing topography of the ocean floor, for example, seabed sampling. So again collecting samples, analyzing what's in those samples, looking at, you know, how far does that mineralization go into the sand below the laboratory work. So we obviously do a lot of this at Virginia Tech as well. This is one of of our research associates here looking at mineralogy, looking at different grain sizes and grain, uh, minerals to determine what's associated with those different particles. And then of course, very importantly, environmental baseline studies. So experts would look at the current situation offshore or in any type of resource investigation, uh, do an expert study of what's actually there. You know, what marine life, what fish would be associated in any particular area that would be investigated, water quality as well. So if resource recovery ever came later, what might that process look like? Again, we're kind of speculating here. But you know, heavy mineral sands are quite well understood. The processing for them is quite easy because it's very much a physical separation process. So Boem actually said that if dredging were to occur, the material would be likely collected using a hopper dredge. So something you would have similarly seen with sand movement in this area, particularly like the navigational channels and coastal protection dredging and then likely taking somewhere onshore for processing. Um, where that is, I don't know. I don't think anybody would know at this point. That would be something that engineers would study and decide later. And so what some of the key technical questions that could follow after that exploration phase that's been being decided now is where would the dredging actually occur? How deep, how often what fraction is returned as sand versus shipped as a heavy mineral sand concentrate for processing of the titanium zircon and potentially the monazite as well. Would that sand be able to be used for beach nourishment, and where would the processing, water handling and residue management actually occur? So I think it's really, you know, another thing you should consider as part of this is, you know, could a process like this where you're recovering a valuable mineral out of the sand, would this help offset the cost of some of the beach nourishment projects that may impact communities here? As far as the processing, it's quite straightforward. You may or may not have ever seen a spiral, but it's essentially like a slide that minerals move down with water. And just because of their density, those heavier, dense particles that titanium sand, the zircon sand and the monazite, because it's a denser particle, it moves out along that spiral. And we can make a very easy separation process with water. So very straightforward, very well understood that that plant could produce, you know, the enrichment of the titanium sands and the zircon sands that would be processed somewhere else, likely outside of the state of Virginia. Um, you know, as far as, you know, other materials that would be produced, obviously, sand. So the waste from this particular process would be that sand that may be a product for somebody else here that wants to do beach nourishment. Um, as far as questions for future processing, I think you should consider again, where would that plan actually be located? How much water would be used? How will the fines be managed? And can that sand be returned to where it was collected from? Or can it actually be beneficially used for restoration projects, for example? So these are a few examples that just pulled from the internet, some of Virginia Beach, but something that you're probably quite aware of and have seen some people like it, some people don't, but it's certainly a process of keeping beaches in a useful form. And so I think this is a real opportunity. I think I think, you know, for better or worse, people are used to seeing dredges offshore. This isn't anything new here. and they're widely being used for beach nourishment, for keeping channels deep and navigable. But this is an opportunity. I mean, being able to potentially offset the cost of these types of projects by, you know, having royalties or having some type of economic incentive to recover this sand and separating out the heavy mineral sands, the zircon and titanium sands is something I think that should be considered. And another thing I was asked is, you know, where has this been done in other locations in the United States or throughout the world? So there's there's a lot of international examples of where dredges and other, you know, large equipment is being used to recover heavy mineral sands. Certainly in Australia, North Stradbroke Island. So the company that was doing this, this type of work near Petersburg, has an island in the northern part of Australia, where they were using dredges to actually recover the heavy mineral sands there. Richards Bay in South Africa is also quite famous for heavy mineral sand recovery, The Namaqua Sands project in South Africa as well. And then something that might be a little bit more similar because it is offshore is diamond recovery off off the coast of Namibia. So these would be some other international examples that you could look at again with environmental impacts. Again, this would be studied as part of a process like this. We don't know everything today right. This would be part of experts coming in and doing these types of studies. But you know, potential downsides would be there could be additional traffic, additional boats offshore doing this type of work, some noise associated with that, you know, lights, different things like that. The geophysical surveys. There could be acoustic effects that would need to be studied, timing restrictions on where those studies would win and where they would actually occur, the sampling footprint and the exploration phase. This is very minimal. These are these are small, um, disturbances that are usually quite temporary in nature. Collecting sand, analyzing what's in that sand. The cultural resources I mentioned previously. You know, if there might be archaeological sites offshore that need to be studied, these would be documented as part of this process as well. Uh, shipwrecks, things like that. I think if you look at the history of the company that's making this application, they actually are quite famous for doing shipwreck exploration offshore. And then Dana's transparency, this is always important. So, you know, making sure that baseline studies are available and the maps and methods that are proposed are disseminated and available for public consumption. So I just put together a quick slide on some, you know, potential questions that you could ask here. Uh, you know, from the project stage and forward. So what is actually permitted now, what would require a separate approval later. So again, that recovery, that extraction later would be a whole different study, a whole different vote. Uh, the local baseline. So what environmental, tourism, fisheries, military, cultural and sediment baseline data already exists today. Public transparency will the maps method, sample results and monitoring data be released in a usable form? The design for dredging, if the extraction is actually proposed later, will. The location, depth, duration, seasonality, and plume limits be disclosed. The processing plan where would that material go? How would water and or fines be handled and who regulates it. And six benefit sharing. So those can those non valuable or in some cases very valuable sand actually be used to to support beach nourishment. And what direct local benefits or protections apply. And the bottom line here is a city doesn't have to decide whether to support mining or dredging for these minerals today. It should insist on a transparent evaluation before any future extraction decision is made. So, um, I'll leave it there, but I recently did a couple of podcasts. Some people might want to see some extra information where we talk about some of these minerals not knowing this would ever come up. But there is a podcast done by a geologist in Utah, and I was actually speaking at a Virginia geology conference a few months ago. So you can learn a little bit more about titanium zircon, what's happening in parallel throughout the United States right now via these podcasts. So I'll leave it there, but I think there is some time for questions. Thank you.

[35:20] And then.

[35:22] Um, thank you, mayor. Um, I have a lot to say about this topic. Um, and I'm very concerned about the impact of potential seabed mining off of our coast. Um, I do have a couple questions for you. And then at a future time when when others have had a chance to ask their questions, I'd like to make a request and share some additional information. Yeah, sure. Um, but first of all, thank you for coming here all the way from Blacksburg. And I understand from our conversation before the meeting that, you know, you're able to enjoy a couple days in Virginia Beach, and I'm really thrilled about that. And I appreciate you sharing your expertise and and perspective with us today. Um, but I have to say, I personally disagree with the with the recommendation that you made that we don't have to do anything today. Um, as a lifelong resident of Virginia Beach and as a person who, um, is aware of both the enjoyment that our residents and visitors take from our oceanfront and from the natural resources that the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean are, um, as well as, um, when considering which which wasn't included in your slides. Um, the impact of tourism, commercial and recreational fishing, uh, the Port of Virginia, maritime traffic, the offshore wind Turbines and supporting infrastructure. The activity at the of the US military, and that includes activity that we're aware of and activity that is classified and that we're not aware of, that we know is happening just off our off our coast. Um, the Wallops Wallops Island flight activity that occurs there. Um, and certainly the undersea communications infrastructure that's in place, um, that is connecting us with the with the globe digitally. Um, and is an industry sector that we've invested in fostering here. Uh, we don't know where that's going to take us in the future. So when, when I consider, um, the impact of seabed mining, even the exploration of it, um, in context of all those other uses in a very constrained area, I just don't, you know, I'm no, I'm not an engineer, but I just don't know how all those things fit. And none of those things, um, really even touch the impact of the ecology, the sea life, the environment, um, the incredible investments that have occurred in seabed restoration just off the Eastern shore. Um, and for all of those reasons, maybe I'll just jump to it. Uh, my recommendation and request, humble and respectful request of the council is that we have until August 27th 22nd to formally provide our feedback on behalf of the City of Virginia Beach to Bureau of Energy Management. Um, and so that's a very short window. I wish we would have an opportunity to take a vote or something like that. But we really wanted to get this briefing in. But but my request would be that we asked the city whether it would be the mayor or city manager or Manager, Mr. McKenzie, to express our opposition to seabed mining. I know there's more conversation that would have to occur there, but that's really what I'm going to. I see this as responsible stewardship, but I'm getting to a question. I promise you're fine. I see this as responsible stewardship of the resources that we've been blessed with in Virginia Beach, and in speaking with the people that I have the privilege to serve. I haven't met one person who thinks this is a good idea. Um, and that would have a positive impact on our on our community. There's questions about what would that activity look like? There's questions about, as you noted, where would that processing occur? There's questions about the compatibility with all the other uses. Um, and I don't think you have to be an engineer to know that, you know, sucking up sand off of the bottom of the sea, um, would have a detrimental impact on the environment, the ecology and and therefore quality of life. The sediment plumes that are associated with it. Um, and this council in previous years has taken a position in opposition to um, oil and gas exploration, even the exploration side of it. Um, as well as uranium mining in the western part of the state. I do recognize the, um.

[40:13] The necessity for rare earth minerals. And I'm not in a position to to know where they're available on the earth and where they're not. And I do know that as a country, we have to make sure those we have accessibility to those resources for national security and other economic reasons. Um, but I have a lot of concerns about it. Just want to note, in addition, that Accomack County, Northampton County, the town of Chincoteague and Ocean City, Maryland have all taken oppositional positions as well as the Virginia Space Port Authority. Uh, The marine. Virginia marine Resource Commission has expressed concern, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources has expressed opposition as well.

[40:58] I forgot my question.

[41:01] I forgot my question, but I don't know if you have any thoughts. Um, well, let me ask you a question. Why? So this is my question. In light of all that, why would we why would anyone pursue exploration if if, as I do, you believe that the mining would be incompatible with the with the, uh, with our quality of life and our economy and all the other uses that exist.

[41:27] So I appreciate.

[41:29] All the things that you said very much. So, um, I'm not here to sway you one way or the other. I'm basically just here to explain what heavy mineral sands are, what critical minerals are, how this might look like, how we separate things. These are very objective statements that I'm hopefully conveying to you all here today and those I might be watching online. Um, so I actually lead a large project across 11 states for Virginia Tech and other universities and through the US Department of Energy. This is all onshore, but it's quite similar, just on a much broader scale looking at characterization. So understanding what we have and where we have it. Um, I do see value in those types of exercises. Again, this never implies that anything would ever be recovered. But understanding what we have and what concentrations is knowledge. And I think knowledge is very useful. Right? Um, again, it's not up to me. It's, it's, it's I'm not leaning either way on this particular topic offshore or with this particular company and what they're proposing, I think. Um, I just wanted to make the distinction that what they are proposing is to try to get more information. And I think there's value in information, but it's certainly up to the people that live in this area to answer it.

[42:36] Thank you. Well, so I have two questions. The first is as a follow up. Um, but we're not talking about academic ecological mineral research on behalf of Virginia Tech for the purposes of science. The type of research that is being proposed is industrial research. For the purposes of getting to a place to know whether or not seabed mining could occur and be economically viable, is that correct?

[43:04] There is some distinction there, but I would say that whether it's, you know, funded by shareholders of one specific company or funded by the US Department of Energy or funded by my own pocketbook, because I want to do, you know, research for the university. I think I'm just making that distinction. That information is of some value. Those environmental baseline studies are of value. Um, whether it proceeds from this moment forward is really not my decision, or I don't have any say one way or the other to.

[43:34] To be specific about it. This particular proposal is being funded by industry being contemplated to be funded by industry.

[43:45] It could be whether it is or it isn't. I'm just saying that that information is useful in making sure the transparency of that information that's collected is also useful for local people here.

[43:56] But it's not scientific. Research for the purposes of science is for the purposes of industry. But that's a distinction that's important to me.

[44:05] But I would just make the distinction that, you know, all the information that they would collect would be reported to state and federal agencies, and that is of some national defense importance.

[44:15] Understood. Finally, um, I just want to be clear about our constraints and limitations. We are free to have an opinion, but we have no formal jurisdiction over this. So that jurisdiction ends the three mile. Uh, is that correct? Could you tell us a little bit about where state, local, federal waters intersect and that any position conveyed on the part of Virginia Beach or any other locality isn't an authorized imposition or or a denial. It's just simply an expression of a position. We have no formal jurisdiction in those waters. Is that. Is that accurate?

[44:52] I don't want to misspeak here because I'm certainly not an expert in this particular area. But but it's my understanding that this is an important commentary, period, as you all know.

[45:02] That's all it is. Comment. Yeah. We have no authority in this area. Jurisdiction. That's correct.

[45:12] Councilmember Mark and I were just speaking about that in concept and theory. We know you're probably right. We don't necessarily know the details of where it's at. We just generally kind of know. Virginia Beach stops at a certain space and the state kicks in, and then it's federal waters from there on.

[45:25] You certainly have no say so below mean low water. The state takes over at that point. But how the state and the federal government interact in that space on this issue, I would have to look at to tell you definitively.

[45:39] That's my understanding. And just finally, we may not have a formal jurisdictional authority, but we certainly have an interest. And that's simply what I'm expressing on behalf of the wonderful people I have the privilege to serve in Virginia Beach is is that interest? And and everyone I've spoken to, including representatives from other industries in the area, many of them I listed have expressed concern, even with the idea of exploration, because it inevitably would be designed to lead toward that mining. Mayor, I mentioned to you earlier, we do have a representative from Lynnhaven River now. His name is Dylan Mason. I would love to invite him, with your permission, to say a few words about his research. But I want to make sure that before I do that, I have the opportunity for, if any other questions or Q&A.

[46:30] First we go Hutch and then Josh.

[46:33] Thank you for being here. Um, one thing that, um, you struck me with a lot of. Same sentiment. Obviously, anybody that goes to do this and those, they're going to run into a lot of headwinds, no matter where they try to do it, right. I mean, that's the nature of this. Um, you did say something about the sand, though, and this might be a question for our staff, is, is that I don't want to say we're kind of highfalutin here, but, you know, we like our sand to have a pretty high standard, I believe. Right. Hasn't that caused us problems in the past? Like, just because it is sand doesn't necessarily mean we can use it on our beaches, right?

[47:09] It's not the beach quality. We could use it, but it doesn't have the aesthetic that we want in our at our beach. Right. Yeah. But it could it could be though, we don't know what it actually looks like down there. So like, you know.

[47:20] Yeah, I'm just saying it sounds like that could be something, but it very likely is not for us, is all, is it? And I know you weren't trying to say it one way or the other. I just was looking for some clarity on it. So, um. Yeah. And then obviously, just like we said, is that there would have to be a lot that goes into this to reassure a lot of fears before, um, before I think we bought in at all. But you definitely want to seek to understand. I get it. But, um. Yeah. I really appreciate the thorough briefing, though. That's excellent.

[47:51] You're welcome. Yeah, that's an honor.

[47:54] Thank you. Mayor. Um, thank you very much for your presentation and for making your time for us. Uh, and I like your tie, by the way. Um, I've got just two thoughts around this subject. Um, one is, I guess, uh, just theoretical, but, um, you know, I oftentimes tell my own kids why I go looking for something when you don't know what you might find. And if you find it, you might not like it. And it's kind of like doing exploratory surgery on a patient that doesn't have an illness or, um, busting down a wall in your house, you know, in search of termites or structural damage and and not and then not finding it. Um, so I just I'm weary of this, and I appreciate all of what you said. Um, environmental risks are of paramount concern to me. Um, and then, um, and then I guess the other the other thing is, is there's just a personal experience, and, I mean, it's completely coincidental. Um, I've just happened to be up on the Eastern Shore this past weekend, and we, my wife and I, uh, we took a boat cruise. Uh, well, actually, we took a boat, and we got dropped off, and it seemed like it was in the middle of the ocean. On the barrier islands, we left from watching Craig. Um, and we were there for about four hours. And and just there was there was nothing there. Nothing but shells and, um, just pristine coastline and an ever changing coastline to, uh, the gentleman who took us out there. Um, this tied to the Nature Conservancy and, uh, and I've got and I know the Nature Conservancy owns a lot of those barrier islands out there. Um, and they've been able to protect them. And, um, what they what they do for coastal resiliency and what they, what they do for our just natural ecological habitat. Um, I just I don't know if I want to go. I mean, and this is less for you. This is more for everybody else. But I just don't know if you don't know what you're digging for. And if you find something you don't like. I just, I don't know why we would mess with or allow or encourage or suggest that we should mess with something that is so fragile and delicate and ever changing and so critical to, um, you know, not not. Not just the habitat there, but but the way of life up there. Um, so so those are those are my kinds of thoughts around this issue. I'm glad that even if this does go forward, that it's just an exploration as opposed to a part of me feels like once you got one foot over the fence, like it's a lot easier to, you know, for, for, for the other foot to kind of fall on with it. So, um, I, I share each and every concern that Councilmember Bellucci just raised, uh, moments ago. And I just think we, you know, we got to tread carefully, and we just got to be careful when we when we go, when we go knocking down the drywall. If we don't like what we find behind it, I don't think there's much way to kind of control what what the outcome might be on the back side of that.

[51:38] Okay. Okay.

[51:43] Thank you again for your presentation. But two things struck me. Looking at people are looking for certain things. And you have shared with us all the different minerals. It's like there's gold out on the West. That same feeling of people wanting to look and see also, besides what they're looking at, I notice certain countries that you mentioned, maybe South Africa, because sometimes these areas people may not understand the impact of this that they're searching for. But the researchers know what's in there. They know what to do with the diamond. They know much about these others. But luckily for here, we are very much careful about our environment and the impact to others. So, you know, what Michael is saying is important. We really need to look at that. We really need to look at our wildlife. All of that. So in my opinion it looks nice, like nice shiny items. But, um.

[53:04] I'm not really interested in seeing us going through that process for this. Thank you.

[53:12] Thank you. Anybody else? But, you know, sir, I sincerely want to thank you for coming. Uh, be assured that this council is not immune to controversial subjects these days. Um, but that being said, there's two sides of the story, and I think you've really articulated, well a position. But but once again, I recently taught a course in international political economics and the fact this initiative is to do to international economics, but once again, it's in its infancy. Uh, it should, but the idea, like everything that we do, should be thoroughly discussed, vetted, look at the positives and negatives or Swot analysis. But the fact that you came here from UVA, but, you know, make sure that.

[54:03] You.

[54:05] Share your time.

[54:07] I do projects with UVA though. They're okay.

[54:10] Oh my.

[54:11] Goodness.

[54:12] Okay.

[54:13] From that college in Virginia. Um, no. But I'm just saying, you know, Virginia Tech has very renowned for engineering. And you know what? You really do. And, uh. But thank you so much for coming and enjoy your time here in Virginia Beach. Thank you.

[54:27] Thank you.

[54:28] No, thank you all. As you know, Virginia born and raised, uh, I'm very happy to be here. And thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts and hopefully provide different perspectives for you today. Thank you.

[54:39] And you did. Thank you. And you did it eloquently. Thank you.

[54:42] Thank you very much, Mike.

[54:43] Thank you mayor. As mentioned previously, we're also joined by Dylan Mason from Lynnhaven River now. Dylan wasn't originally scheduled as part of the informational briefing here, but I think in light of, um, some of the questions that that have been raised here at the table, I know he's prepared to say a few words about it from the perspective of the local initiatives that have been underway on this topic come up.

[55:16] Nothing like being on the spot, But.

[55:19] Welcome to our world.

[55:22] All right. Thank you so much, mayor. Council. Um. Doctor Bishop as well. Awesome presentation. Um, as Councilmember Luci mentioned, I'm Dylan Mason. I'm the public policy manager with Lynnhaven River now here in Virginia Beach. Uh, this proposal came on our radar in about November of 2025, when the unsolicited bid was sent through to Boem. Um, that just by virtue of it being an unsolicited bid and ending up with a proposed sort of leasing process starting two months ago was cause for concern immediately for us. So even though that this is an exploratory phase right now, what we're weighing is the possibility of opening up an entirely new extractive industry to waters that aren't really that far from Virginia Beach, and in an area that's 2700mi² wide or large. Something of note with that, too. We have had a lot of sand dredging and navigational dredging done around this country for about 70 years or so. The sand borrow areas that the federal government has managed for that 70 years are about 130mi². So we're looking at in the entirety of a 70 year sort of nourishment, sand barrow pit, offshore area. Um, taking a 2700 square mile block and potentially moving towards resource extraction if that sort of exploratory phase was to move forward. Um, being from the Eastern Shore originally and from Chincoteague Island over the past two months, I've spoke with hundreds of people from all sorts of different stakeholder groups, from commercial and recreational fishermen, all the way to local city councils, town councils. The concern has been resounding. These are communities that have livelihoods that are dependent on healthy waterways and healthy ecosystems. Um, as Councilmember Lucci also mentioned, and Councilman Schulman. These are very fragile ecosystems that are already sort of under threat from different sort of climate stressors. Issues with resilience and water quality stemming from agricultural runoff, adding another sort of untested, unproven, unprecedented industry to our waterways is something that I personally and Lynnhaven River now personally. As an organization, we do not support in any way, shape or form. And the conflicting use aspect, when you look at the the economics of this proposal is massive. The Virginia Space Port Authority, going on record within this first two month period, already with opposition, is sort of a resounding example of the level of economic exposure that is presented by this sort of industry. So I really appreciate all your time. Thank you for giving me a couple of minutes to speak.

[58:05] Thanks for your insight. Me over to help rounds out the conversation.

[58:09] Thank you. Awesome. Thank you so much, mayor.

[58:12] Um. And thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mason, for your insight. And, um, I think it's a really healthy discussion, but we have to put a we have to put a fine point on this. We have four days. Uh, I guess really three days. Um, in about 30 minutes. Three business days to express our position if we are going to. Um, as I mentioned before. Um, my request and my preference and that of those I've spoken to in the community is that we take the opportunity to lend our voice to those of our neighbors across the shore and on the eastern seaboard to express opposition. And I know we're not in a position to take a vote. So it's sort of a precarious thing. But, um, Mister Mayor and Mister Manager, I guess, you know, this will be an opportunity if anyone disagrees with that position to say so. Otherwise. Um, I just have to ask if there's any objection to the city of Virginia Beach taking that position and oppositional position to stand with our neighbors, to stand with the Bay, to stand with the ocean, to protect the wildlife and environment, ecology and economy that we hold so precious here at Virginia Beach.

[59:27] So we can't take a vote on it. But what we can do, if we can ask the mayor to write a letter.

[59:35] That I would be willing to do, I think that would be the clearest path. And I can say, you know, with an overwhelming consensus from the council, would that would that be okay? Mark. Yeah, let's let's go ahead and do that.

[59:49] All right. There we go.

[59:51] Thank you, Mr.

[59:57] Okay. With your permission, colleagues, I'm going to go ahead and get started with the council comments. You know, let's put it this way, folks. We all know that Uh, politics is a contact sport these days. Not for the faint of heart. And whether you look at Washington, Richmond, you look at any city or what's going on in this country, you know, the level of civility and dignity, you know, going on with communication is not really present. And, um, ultimately, I have the duty and responsibility of the guy with the gavel to make sure that when anybody comes to speak at our meeting, they are treated with respect and dignity. Whether they are for or against a pro or con opponent, opponent, whatever way you want to push it. When people come into our council chambers, they have to know that they're going to feel safe when they're at that podium. So unfortunately, we had a couple of meetings where, you know, civility was not the order of the day. And, you know, once again, as I mentioned, you know, we come up with some.

[1:01:17] Hot.

[1:01:18] Potato items from time to time where people get very emotional and, you know, um, and express their views. We want people to do that. But once again, it's, uh, what's going on now with social media and everything. You know, some people think that they have the right to come in and act inappropriately. And, uh, you know, once again, I think maintaining a decorum. And let me just say for a number of years I have known, you know, don't forget, I spoke to every mayor in the 757 over the weekend. Everyone has a strict speakers policy. And to be honest with you, until recently, I didn't think Virginia Beach would need But my friends, I really think right now we need one. And you know, once again, you know, we as elected officials, you know, we take the heat. We take the heat at the dais. We take the heat in the media. We take the heat in social media. You know, that's part of the deal. That's what we signed up for. But when people come to speak and want to give their time and their opinion, these opinions have to be valued. And we cannot have people coming here in fear of speaking, of being heckled and threatened and things of that nature. And all I'm asking for is mutual respect and dignity. So I had a meeting with the vice mayor, city attorney, uh, city clerk and everything, and but once again, I'm the guy with the gavel. I am the person that has to maintain order for everybody. You know, once again, you know, we as a collective.

[1:03:07] Body.

[1:03:07] We have order among ourselves. We have disagreement among ourselves, and we treat each other with respect and dignity. We have different opinions. And we had that on the final vote the other day. But we respect each other and then we move on because guess what? There's going to be more challenges coming. And when you think about it, every year we vote on literally thousands of ordinances, resolutions, and in this case, real estate things, most of which really don't, you know, come on the radar. But recently, a couple things have come on the radar. And, you know, we were subject to criticism, but that comes with the turf. It will be our duty going forward to do. You know, as Michael Belushi said, you know, give better explanations of things. But once again, you know, local government is complex and, you know, we have the duty going forward. But that being said, what are we going to do now? And I'm going to say we are in a position I am not and we should not tolerate, you know, you know, toxic environments in our in our chambers. So with that being said, I'm going to add an addendum which will take effect today to our thing. I will read the normal two things, but this is what I am going to include. Finally, I call upon all speakers and all persons in the chamber to be civil in their discussion and decorum, whatever views you hold and wish to express. The City Council wants to hear from you, and that means everyone. In order to ensure that all viewpoints and all persons are respected. Clapping, cheering, booing, speaking loudly or making other disruptive sounds while a speaker has the floor is not permitted. All speakers have equal right to be heard. Any member of the audience who interferes with the recognized speaker's time will be worn first, and if the disruptive behavior continues. Will be required to leave the chamber. Additionally, threats intimidation of others is prohibited at all times. I regret that I had to do this, but in all honesty, I had to. But once again, we're going to throw it open for discussion.

[1:07:15] Fortunately it was. It was a box with nothing in it. Fortunately, it was innocent. But there could have been something dangerous in that box. And I'll just let your mind think about it. So I'd like for us to consider adding to our to our policy that those kind of things cannot be brought up to the podium.

[1:07:39] You know, let me just say, you know, I went to Saint Louis University and from what I understand, a number of years ago that there was violence against the council members. And I think some lives are lost. Uh, you know, we live in a very dangerous, you know. You know, toxic environment. We live in a powder keg and environment where one spark. And I just think we're just taking the precautions. But when you think about it, we want everybody in the chamber, everybody in the chamber to feel safe. And I think that's why we're doing this. I'd like to hear some more comments. Hutch. And then Stacy.

[1:08:16] So.

[1:08:17] Vice Mayor, I was just going to offer maybe a slight, slight suggestion to what you're saying is, um, Clark, um, is is that when because somebody might have something that has something that pertains, like if they want to bring I don't want it to be like all or nothing with the like it might be something they want to show or it could be something. So maybe if they when they check in with the view, they get the box looked at or or maybe have or what are you shaking your head know for or having a person. Okay, Sergeant. Well then then have it. Yeah. Well yeah yeah I mean have it like because I don't. I don't. We had the one gentleman back, um, with, uh, Marlon Bey stuff. You know, he brought up the box with the asphalt in it, and I thought it was a very powerful, like, this is what we're digging up back here. You know, we're making this better, you know? So I think that's an example of where the. The picture was worth a thousand words. I mean, when I saw the big chunk of asphalt, I was like, oh, okay. Yeah, we definitely would probably not want that in our water. So you know what I mean? It could be, I don't know, maybe.

[1:09:19] It's I'll.

[1:09:20] Tell you what. As we discussed the possibility of making, uh, an adjustment to the ordinance, I think we could have a conversation, you know, you know, to find something out. But, you know, I think you make a point. But by the same token, um, like I said, we live in a crazy world. Uh, okay. We got Stacy and Michael, and then Josh, I had a.

[1:09:42] Friend.

[1:09:43] That came to speak in.

[1:09:46] Favor.

[1:09:46] Of.

[1:09:47] The golf.

[1:09:47] Course of.

[1:09:48] The.

[1:09:48] Drivers deal and.

[1:09:51] Didn't have any.

[1:09:52] Stake in the game, just thought it was the right thing to do. He works for an organization that is very supportive of affordable housing, and so he came to speak in favor of the proposal. And he was. His intent was to stay for the entire process, for the entire hearing. But he was so intimidated by the crowd that after he spoke, he left directly because he was fearful that at the end of this.

[1:10:23] This.

[1:10:24] This whole thing was going to erupt. And quite frankly, sitting on the dais, I know some of us had that same feeling that this thing could erupt any at any time. And that does not lead for open dialogue that we need to hear. There are many citizens Yeah, good natured, good intending people to come and speak out, either for project or against project that come for the right reasons. There's a small group that comes to disrupt. No matter what the topic is, no matter what the controversy is. They're coming to disrupt. And, you know, I think this will help to corral some of that. I do have a concern where it says that, um, all speakers have, uh, where we talk about, um, no clapping or sounds while the speaker has the floor, because most of this, a lot of this that goes on is between speakers. When the clerk is trying to call the next speaker that there they erupt. And that's when the comments come and the threats and the, um, the intimidation. So I would I would propose that we just make it during the entire course of the proceeding.

[1:11:48] I think, Mark, I think that might not be a bad idea because once again, it's like in between speakers and everything we can. I think we can modify them.

[1:11:57] Well, we also can hear who Amanda calls. Yeah, because they're making so much noise.

[1:12:01] We can't.

[1:12:41] Um.

[1:12:44] I, I think you can do that. I think as long as it's enforced strictly and even handedly. Uh, it's a it's a content neutral.

[1:13:00] Yeah.

[1:13:00] Uh, enforcement. Then I think you can do that. It will be hard, I think, to prohibit people from expressing support or, uh, disagreement, uh, in that transitional period. Uh, and so it's going to be it's going to make your job doubly hard because you're going to have to make sure that both sides get of an issue, get treated exactly the same. I will say that the addition of the last sentence, uh, to the policy was intended to impart address that concern. Uh, and that is to say, uh, you know, threats and intimidation of others is prohibited at all times in the chamber. But I if you want to go further, you can. But again, it's it's the devil's in the detail and how you enforce.

[1:13:55] That as.

[1:13:55] You have about this. Why don't we try this and see how it works out. And if it necessitates it, we can always modify it.

[1:14:04] Wouldn't have worked on Tuesday night.

[1:14:06] Yeah.

[1:14:07] Oh, that's the whole thing. But now we have, uh, you know, we also met with our police and, uh.

[1:14:13] We're going.

[1:14:14] As I never want to ask anybody to leave, but if somebody forces me to compel that, I'm going to. And people have to know that, uh, you know, I, like I said, I want to hear everybody. And a lot of times they come after me personally. Heavens knows.

[1:14:36] That. All right.

[1:14:37] But I'm just saying.

[1:14:38] I just.

[1:14:39] Think.

[1:14:40] The First Amendment is the same in Norfolk and Portsmouth and these other jurisdictions that have much tighter restrictions than we.

[1:14:45] Do.

[1:14:46] I understand that, but by the same token, you know, I got to get something on paper now. And, you know, we can modify this as we go forward depending on the situation. But be assured now that hey, listen, I don't want anybody to be escorted out. We'll ask them to leave first. And if they don't.

[1:15:08] Leave.

[1:15:09] Then we're going to have.

[1:15:10] To do that.

[1:15:11] But unfortunately, uh, you know, let's take the first step and.

[1:15:15] We'll go from there. Okay.

[1:16:50] Um, and I know she was threatened on her way out the door. And I also know that there were people who had to be escorted to their vehicles because they were in fear for their own personal safety. So, um, and, and I know folks will criticize us for even having this conversation. And what a shame that is. Um, but I also think it behooves us as council members.

[1:17:16] Not to misinform, um, and not to incite people. Um, with the with that misinformation in mind, because I think that gives them gas to come into chambers. Um, thinking as though they're speaking the truth when that isn't the case. So, um, those of us who are actually on social media and we see how things play out and we see how things are said and, and who they're said about. Um, we're all human beings. And just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

[1:18:00] Anybody else? You know, I think an important thing to remember, you know, you know, we want people come in and tell us things, but when we have a full gallery, you know, you know, we have actually got to think about what 455,000 people that live in Virginia Beach and doing the right thing for them, too. And, you know, people will come into our chamber with strong opinions, but we gotta but the thing is, we as a council have to see both sides. And sometimes you got to make those tough. What I call King Solomon decisions. But I'll tell you what. I think this will be at least the first step. And once again, we call it, you know, tough love in a way. But what can I tell you? I'm the guy with the gavel, and it's up to me to make sure that things are right. Thank you all. Anybody else for council comment, Michael? And then Mark.

[1:19:01] I'll defer to Mr. Whitman, but then come back to me.

[1:19:05] Thanks.

[1:19:06] I just want to congratulate Rehoboth Baptist Church. Mayor, thank you for coming and reading the proclamation. Rehoboth Baptist Church in historic SeaTac celebrated its 60th anniversary this past Sunday. Well attended service and appreciated Doctor James Allen and the person who gave the sermon, Pastor Keys. But thanks again, mayor, for coming.

[1:19:28] Okay, Michael.

[1:19:30] Thank you. Mayor. Um, last week, the city of Chesapeake unanimously adopted a registry, an animal cruelty registry, and that registry is authorized by state code um, to allow a municipality to share information about people who have been convicted of serious crimes against animals. And, um, I was interested in that. I wasn't aware that that was an option, but, um, I had been in touch with the with council member Nunes from Chesapeake, who was the, um, who initiated and led that initiative in Chesapeake, um, with some encouragement to contemplate whether or not that would be a good fit for Virginia Beach. Um, there are a variety of adopting agencies, of course, the city of Virginia Beach, um, animal shelter that's run by the city has, I think, a robust and comprehensive vetting policy, and big established organizations such as, for example, probably the SPCA has a vetting policy that would would hopefully be able to identify this as part of the adoption process. But there's a variety of other smaller adoption and rescue agencies that don't have access to that. That would benefit from the idea of identifying a potential risk situation for one of these rescue animals. I think we all agree that abuse, whether it's animal abuse or human abuse, is terrible, and any resources that we may be able to provide that would make it less likely for an animal or a human to find themselves in a situation like that. I think it's something we should explore and consider. I did reach out to Mr. Stiles and Mr. Duhaney and asked them to review for appropriateness. For what? The administration of a registry like that would look like, and whether or not it would be useful for Virginia Beach. Um, and I'm not asking you to comment on that now. I think we'll hear back in a, in a some reasonable amount of time on that this week. Okay. That's good. Um, but but I do think it presents a unique opportunity to further protect the animals. And these are, you know, those rescue animals in many cases have been through really horrific circumstances. And we certainly don't want to be in a position to put them in a in a situation where they find themselves or something like that would continue. And I think it's something worth looking at. So I'll just leave it at that. I'll look forward to having that conversation. Um, I have been in touch as well. Council Member Hutchinson, I ah, liaisons to the Animal Services Division. So I have been in touch with them and they are looking at it as well, I think, as part of this analysis. So there'll be more to come, but I want to drop that on your radar. You could Google it. You could search it. It's been widely reported, but if Virginia Beach added to that, it would begin to create a regional registry that would protect animals and families all across the region, potentially.

[1:22:41] Okay.

[1:22:42] Just to dovetail on that from Councilmember Verducci, is that, you know, we're not talking about a dog walking fine or something like that. This is heinous. Moving up to a felony level to where we're we're asking for this, a registry. We feel it'll be a good use, um, for us to help. Just just like I said, just in the most egregious harm of, like, Michael. And I've said, these are animals. You know, they don't have a lot of control. They get really brutalized if they are by someone. That person should probably never be allowed to have a pet again. An animal like that again. So. So, yeah. So, um, we just we just felt like it was a good first move in to help with the regionalism.

[1:23:24] Everyone would just, you know, Schedule, you know, during a workshop, you know, presentation, as I was saying. Okay.

[1:23:53] Trust me when I say better you than me.

[1:23:56] We contribute to something.

[1:23:58] Okay.

[1:24:00] I'll just follow on. This wasn't my idea. It was actually. They've been trying to give me for, like, six years, and I kept saying no. And then they cornered my wife, and she gave it ambiguous. No, which they they took as a yes. And I had to talk her out of it, and I had to offer myself in exchange. So, um, it'll be a great time. It's all in support of Virginia musical theater. It's at the Sandler Center. Tickets are available online. If you want to come cheer me on or or or.

[1:24:34] So, we.

[1:24:34] Can move you there.

[1:24:35] You can do.

[1:24:36] There. He was for you.

[1:24:40] But yeah, I think the doors open at 630. It starts at seven and it'll be in its Saturday, August 22nd. Um, and and it'll be a forever for me. But it's only two hours.

[1:24:57] Right. Anybody else? Okay. How about consent agenda here?

[1:25:04] Um. Right. So, under ordinance resolutions, anybody have any issues with anything there? Nope.

[1:25:14] Ernie.

[1:25:16] Um, under planning number three, there's one speaker.

[1:25:21] So is that speaker?

[1:25:24] The speaker, sir? Yes.

[1:25:26] The speaker's in support. Yes. So and so.

[1:25:30] Okay. Um, anyway, this is district six is night number one. Alison. Sitar and Anthony. Sitar. District six.

[1:25:43] Speakers, please.

[1:25:45] That's the only speaker.

[1:25:47] Please.

[1:25:49] Uh, number two, 33rd Street, LLC.

[1:25:52] District six consent, please.

[1:25:58] Uh, number 4232 Jersey Avenue. District four.

[1:26:04] Approved.

[1:26:06] Number five, um. City view two. District four.

[1:26:11] Approved.

[1:26:13] I'm going to vote.

[1:26:21] Number six 1036 FP road LLC. District nine.

[1:26:27] Yes, madam. Vice mayor and council. Um, in the the staff report and the conditions that came out of planning. Um, there was a there's a fence for this bulk yard, uh, bulk storage yard. Um, there was no height. Maximum height specified. Uh, I went out there with, uh, community members and met with applicant and the owner, uh, in their attorney. And, uh, we had a conversation around just just making sure that the height was delineated in the the condition. So, um, around the table, there's, uh, just a red line, just adding that the fence enclosing the bulk storage yard shall not exceed a height of eight feet. So I would fine with that.

[1:27:15] Um, I'll say the amended version.

[1:27:17] To the amended version. Yes.

[1:27:32] That's it.

[1:27:36] Not on the consent agenda? That was only presented. But we have a we have a speaker. Speaker in support.

[1:27:51] No, it's just that I think this whole issue with the, uh, senior living facility is, is an important issue for us to be concerned about. And I was just hoping we were going to hear a little bit more about it, but we're not going to hear anything. I guess we won't.

[1:28:06] And you saw.

[1:28:10] I'm sorry.

[1:28:11] Yeah.

[1:28:11] I'm sorry.

[1:28:13] I just wanted to know more about this. Whether this senior living being constructed or not. And how?

[1:28:19] But I guess you're a no one. Number four, five, five. I mean, I had you down for five.

[1:28:25] Yeah. Pardon me.

[1:28:28] So if I could speak to number items two and three. This. We did approve of this project earlier last year. And this is actually better for I think the citizens we had a couple of meetings also better for the developer. So it is a senior living facility will remain one just taking away the food and the medical attention. No health services provided. It's just a senior living facility.

[1:28:52] I was concerned in reading this. You know, there was a lot of concern about being able to get across Pacific Avenue and so forth, and I was just hoping we were going to make sure we had some concern for that, because that's certainly an issue with the senior folks living in that area.

[1:29:09] And that will be addressed after be a part of the site plan approval on the project approval.

[1:29:15] Okay.

[1:29:16] You still know number five?

[1:29:17] Yes.

[1:29:19] Okay. All righty. The chair will entertain a motion to recess into a closed session. Pursuant to the exemption of open meetings law by section 2.23711, a Code of Virginia, as amended, for the following purpose. Legal matters, consultation with legal counsel, briefings, and staff members or consultants pertaining to the actual or probable litigation where such consultations or briefings in open space would adversely affect negotiating or litigating posture of the public body pursuant to the section 2.2371187.

[1:29:55] And that's Carolyn Tribble versus City of Virginia Beach public contract discussions or awards of public contract involving the expenditure of public funds and discussions of terms or scope of such contract, where discussion open session would adversely affect the bargaining position of negotiating strategy of the public body pursuant to section 2.237 and 11829. And Project Peacock. Peacock and then personnel matters discussions, considerations or interviews of prospective candidates for employment assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining or resignation of specific public officers, appointees or employees of any public body pursuant to section 2.2371181. And that's for appointments of boards, commissions, committees, authorities, agencies and appointees or have a motion.

[1:30:52] Second.

[1:30:55] A councillor Cummings. A councillor. Hamilton.

[1:31:03] A a.

[1:31:06] A.

[1:31:09] A a

[1:31:12] We are requesting to close.

[1:31:23] This meeting to order. And if we can stand up for the. If you're willing and able for the invocation.

[1:31:33] Heavenly father, you are always with us and beside us. Be with us this evening as we consider the affairs of our great city. Give us the patience to listen, the wisdom to decide, and the strength to act. Amen. And if we may ask for a moment of silence for all of those who have paid the ultimate price for our city and our nation.

[1:32:09] Okay. Pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance 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.

[1:32:29] Okay, madam clerk, do we have a roll call?

[1:32:34] Yes, Your Honor. All present, including Councilmember Rouse, who's absent tonight.

[1:32:37] I have a motion for the certification of the closed session.

[1:32:41] So moved.

[1:32:42] Second.

[1:32:49] The vote is open.

[1:32:51] There you go.

[1:32:58] Oh, Councilor Hutchinson, may I have your vote, please? I know you seconded it, but I need your vote. Thank you. Five out of 10 to 0. You've certified the closed session to be in accordance with a motion to recess.

[1:33:13] Okay. Uh, at this point, we're going to have a public hearing on the lease of property. Virginia Beach Farmers Market, building one space, ten K deli, LLC to be determined t k Deli and general Store buildings eight spaces, 23 and 24 to Wild Works of Whimsy, LLC, dba Southern Branch Nursery. Do we have any speakers?

[1:33:40] No speakers sir.

[1:33:42] Okay. At this point I am going to read the speakers. Um, and, you know, uh, you know, in lieu of, uh, you know, a couple things going on over the last couple of meetings, which will be discussed at length sometime in the future media future. I may have made some modifications to the speaker's statement. I want to remind everyone that the City Council speaker policy that allows certain representatives of groups to speak for ten minutes applies only to planning items. All other speakers, whether speaking individually or on behalf of a group, will have up to three minutes to speak on a single item. Speakers are reminded that comments during the formal portion of the meeting must be limited to the subject of the item that is being considered by the council at the time you are called. For items placed on the consent agenda. A speaker will have up to three minutes to address any single item. If a speaker wishes to address multiple consent items, the speaker will also have cumulative total of six minutes to address those items. Again, the speaker must limit his or her comments to the subject matter of the items they have signed up to address. And finally, I call upon all speakers and all persons in the chamber to be civil in their discussion and decorum. Whatever views you hold and wish to express. The City Council wants to hear from you in order to ensure all viewpoints and all persons are respected. Clapping, cheering, booing, speaking loudly or making other disruptive sounds while a speaker has the floor is not permitted. All speakers will have an equal right to be heard. Any member of the audience who interferes with a recognized speaker's time will be warned, and the disruptive behavior continues. Will be required to leave the chamber. Additionally, threats and intimidation of others is prohibited at all times.

[1:36:04] Okay.

[1:36:06] Consent agenda.

[1:36:08] Yes, Mr. Mayor. We're going to be pulling for the council under planning items two and three.

[1:36:14] Mayor, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we do have a speaker on one item per consent II three. We have one speaker.

[1:36:22] Okay. By all means.

[1:36:24] One.

[1:36:26] All right. Walter. Walter. Camp. Yes, Mr..

[1:36:32] Thank you, Mayor Dyer.

[1:36:33] Madam vice mayor, members of council. I don't want to belabor the item or the consent agenda, but I did want to bring to your attention two other things that are related that I don't think are going to arise in any other forum. And this way you can consider them because there's some time ahead as these regulations are being drafted. These two items can be considered at the same time instead of taking more time later. That's the only reason I rise to speak tonight. Back in 2017, the industry was different and City Council's view of the industry was different. Back in what was at November 7th of 2017, council had a meeting with the adopted ordinances with the intention to attract data centers to Virginia Beach. But at that time, hyperscalers and the kinds of things we see today really hadn't emerged the way that they're now affecting land use in Virginia. Some of the things enacted back in 2017 are still here, and it seems to me that they ought to be looked at at the same time as the zoning code, so that you get the results that you want. That everything is unified and aligned and speaks to one set of policy positions instead of discovering later. Oh, there's another piece over here that maybe we wanted to think about, but we didn't. Most specifically, on November 7th of 17, Council enacted an ordinance cutting the business property tax specifically on data centers by 90%. And that is just using a definition of data center, which is enacted in the code at a time when our other staff over in planning is searching for the right definition of data centers. It seems to me, since we have a definition that it ought to be aligned, changed, or whatever we're going to do ought to use the same words when we're talking about the same land use at the same time. Staff may want to consult with the Commissioner of the revenue about the taxation of data center property, and ensure that it's being handled again and in a line fashion. And then lastly, the Economic Development Department's website has a number of references to data centers, including just sort of blanket statements for Virginia Beach as a preferred location for data centers. I think things are more nuanced now, and it's probably time to look at the city's website and ensure that the messaging out there aligns with the policy positions that you're now considering. That's all I wanted to say about these items. Thank you.

[1:39:05] Thank you ma'am.

[1:39:08] Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Under ordinances. Resolutions number one is the ordinance to amend City Code section 1644, 1646, 1651, 16-52, 1653 and 16-56 and add section 1651.1 regarding regarding workforce housing. Number two is a resolution to approve the 2026 Plan of Financing, with the Virginia Beach Development Authority not to exceed 175 million, and to approve certain document prepared in connection with such financing and authorize the execution and delivery of the same.

[1:39:55] Number three is a resolution to establish a moratorium on the issuance of permits related to any new data center, or for 12 months from the adoption of this resolution until the time the City Council takes final action on the ordinance regulating data center, whichever occurs first. Number four is the ordinance to authorize the temporary encroachments to a city owned drainage and utility assembly located along the sides and rear of 700 Greensboro Avenue regarding construction and maintain a vinyl bulkhead, return walls, and maintenance an existing timber bulkhead that's in district five. Number five is the ordinance to authorize the use of $75,000 from the Sandbridge Special Services Fund to creation of a Sandbridge Water Tower mural requested by Mayor Dyer and Council Member Henley. Number six is the ordinance to accept and approve.

[1:41:12] An appropriate $55,515 from the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant to the FY 2020 627 police operating budget regarding the purchase of narcotics and and and quinine. Planning session number one is Allison H. Shah and Anthony J. Shah for a street closure at 7.5 and 50ft, portion of an unnamed, unimproved 15 foot lane and the eastern 15 foot and 12.5ft. Unimproved portion of Holly road along the rear of and adjacent to 252 Bay Colony Drive. And that's a district six.

[1:42:06] Number four is 232 Jersey Avenue LLC for conditional use. Permit rate bulk storage yard at 233 and 241 Pennsylvania Avenue. That's in district four. Number five. And this will be with Mrs. Henley voting no. City view two, LLC for a conditional use permit rate. Many warehouses at a parcel at directly north of 20 Constitutional Drive. And that is in district four. Uh number six 1036 FP road LLC for conditional use permit re many warehouse and both storage at 36 Ferry Plantation Road, and that will be for the alternative version. And that's in district nine. And lastly, seven ordinance to amend City Zoning Ordinance Section 2120 102 and add section 2107 re workforce housing. Move for approval.

[1:43:12] I have a second.

[1:43:13] Second.

[1:43:14] Uh, mayor.

[1:43:15] That was Amelia Ross Hammond on the second.

[1:43:18] Mayor. I'm sorry, I have a just one clarifying question. Um, number two, planning number two. We only have one. We didn't have any speaker signed up for that one. So I believe that can be on consent.

[1:43:33] Okay, put that on consent. Number two on consent.

[1:43:35] Okay. Well. Um, number two is 33rd Street LLC for a street closure, approximately 3680ft².

[1:43:46] Improved portion of 33rd Street, directly adjacent to 3303. 3330 Pacific Avenue and 305 33rd Street. And that's in district six.

[1:44:01] Okay.

[1:44:02] Yep.

[1:44:03] Josh. Mister mayor. Would you mind if I just spoke briefly to item six on the alternative version, just for the benefit of the public? Yeah, go right ahead. Um, as part of the conditional use permit for bulk storage, part of this property, um, a fencing was allowed. The height of the fencing was not specified. So after meeting with the applicant, the owner, uh, in the neighborhood, um, we added a single sentence to the fence enclosing the bulk storage yard shall not exceed a height of eight feet. So that's the only change.

[1:44:38] Okay. Thank you. Any other questions or concerns? Okay, let's open the vote.

[1:44:47] I'm sorry. Who was the second?

[1:44:49] Amelia Ross Hammond.

[1:44:50] Thank you.

[1:44:54] The vote is open.

[1:44:59] So go ahead and close it.

[1:45:02] By a vote of 10 to 0. You have approved the consent agenda as read by Vice Mayor Wilson, noting Council Member Henley's vote on planning number five and planning number six, as amended.

[1:45:13] Okay. At this point, we'll hear a planning number three, 33rd Street LLC for modification of conditions, a special exemption up for alternative compliance rate, construct an 85 foot senior living facility at 3333

[1:45:32] 330 Pacific Avenue. 305 32nd Street property east of 3300 Pacific Avenue.

[1:45:45] Property west of 305 33rd Street.

[1:45:49] District six Betty Berdan, representing the applicant.

[1:45:53] Hello.

[1:45:54] Good evening. Mayor. Dyer. Vice mayor Wilson. Honorable council members. This item is on the consent agenda. Um, Brian Staub with Marland Development is here. Greg Mason, our architects here. And Dave Jasper will be sent along as apologies had a long, long ago planned trip out out of the area and couldn't be here tonight. Uh, Bob, who signed up to speak, is actually in favor. And that's the person who's signed up to speak. So I wasn't planning on boring you all with something that was on consent, and just let Bob come up and say what you'd like to say.

[1:46:29] Okay. Any questions for ID at all? Okay. How about a motion on this?

[1:46:34] Oh I'm sorry. We have one other speaker.

[1:46:36] Oh, one other speaker.

[1:46:37] Yeah. And he. But he's not opposed. He's a neighbor who's not opposed.

[1:46:41] Okay.

[1:46:41] Robert Fat of.

[1:46:42] It.

[1:46:48] Thank you, Mr.

[1:48:27] Well, a naysayer could say, well, you could go walk down Arctic to Laskin for dining and shopping, but then you have to cross 32nd Street to get the Alaskan. Another situation in these addressing, such as a four way stop to be able to cross successfully. In closing, I'm supportive of this project. However, it will take 2 or 3 years to complete and that is the same time frame you all heard about last week. From the farmhouse development to design and order a Hawk system, and it has taken over three years to install one at the Cavalier. I do not think we can wait that long for something to be done. Anything now will help. Mr. Brydon and his presentation to the Planning Commission agreed to cost sharing for infrastructure needed for this project. And all we are asking for is that this pedestrian safety civilization is specifically included in any infrastructure proffers with this development. Thank you.

[1:49:31] Thank you for coming.

[1:49:33] That's all the speakers, sir.

[1:49:35] Okay.

[1:49:37] Thank you, mayor. Thank you, Mr. Frederick, for your presentation there and for your involvement in this project. You bring a lot of design architectural skills to it. Um, this body, this council approved of this project unanimously a year ago. And since that time, this project has actually improved for the betterment of the community and the developer. It is senior housing. It's going from 12 storeys to 5 to 7 stories. Less parking. And, ladies and gentlemen, ten affordable housing units, which was not in the program before. So I do move for approval. I appreciate the community there, meeting with the developer and the developer meeting and listening to what the needs of the community are. And Stefanovic is right. We should be talking about crossing the safety of crossing Pacific Avenue after this project is done. So I move for approval. Thank you.

[1:50:29] Second.

[1:50:30] Second.

[1:50:31] Michael Baluchis second. Any other Discussion. Let's open the vote.

[1:50:38] One.

[1:50:52] The vote is open and we will adjust to, say, Council member. And Mr. Bellucci was the second.

[1:51:00] By a vote of 10 to 0. You've approved the application.

[1:51:05] Thank you very much. And I hope everybody has a wonderful Labor Day.

[1:51:08] Thank you. God bless you. Take care. Okay. Do we have any appointments?

[1:51:15] Yes, Mr. Mayor.

[1:52:03] Bond referendum is to appoint.

[1:52:08] Iceland.

[1:52:11] Jewess as a high school student. Iceland. Excuse me. Iceland. You was a high school student. Historic preservation committee. Two high school students, Sam Savino and Hattie Friedman.

[1:52:30] The housing advisory Board to reappoint William Parks. The Human Rights Commission to reappoint Arnell Custodio Custodio. The Oceana Land Use Committee to reappoint council member Robert. The Open Space Advisory Committee to appoint Lily Bowman and to reappoint Angela Green. Parks and Recreation Commission to reappoint Benjamin Messer, Catherine Moran, Myra Payne, and Eugene Taylor. Public library board to reappoint Charlotte Zito.

[1:53:19] The Tidewater South Services Youth Services Board, to reappoint Gregory Smith. The Cannabis Advisory Task force to appoint Dominique DeVos. DeVos, the Virginia Beach Community Development Corporation, to reappoint Christopher Brown and Robert Ewald to move for approval.

[1:53:45] Okay, okay.

[1:53:59] The vote is open.

[1:54:02] You gotta go.

[1:54:03] By a vote of 10 to 0. You have one of those read by Vice Mayor Wilson.

[1:54:07] Okay. And thank you. At any point, is there unfinished business? No business. Thank you all. We are adjourned.

City Council Meeting, 8/18/2026

Transcript