City Council - Regular Meeting

We are trying some new technology tonight. You see over here, that is a large microphone. It kind of picks up in all directions. And we currently do not have it dialed in to where it only listens this way. So those people listening at home will also be able to hear the gallery. So if you could, we just ask to try to keep it down tonight. We appreciate everybody being here. Don't want to dent any spirits. But just to let everyone know that that is what is there. And then we're working through that this meeting. So again, thank you. With that, I'll turn it over to Miles to go through the consent agenda.

Thank you, Mayor. Members of Council, tonight for consent agenda, you have 15 items. I do want to make note that there are various edits to the minutes that Councilman Heppert sent to us. So just know that those will be made before we actually approve the minutes online. And notice that our city clerk is not here tonight. This is the city manager, Kevin Krause, in place. So we'll do our best to take the minutes that we can. So the first item is the approval of the regular meeting minutes for June 1st and July 6th, 2026. The second item is approval of the city council workshop meeting minutes from July 1st 15th. I mean June 15th. Item B3 is the approval of a special meeting for July 16th, 2026. Item B4 is the approval of a closed session meeting minutes from July 6th, 2026. And the city clerk sent those out to last Friday for review. Item B5 is the approval of an ordinance authorizing the closing of Peel Street and the sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages during the 2026 Literary Festival. This item was corrected and has been published online, so the corrections that you saw The revised is that the literary fest will take place in the Lower Finn and the Upper Field so far on September 5th, 2026 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. And the request is to approve an ordinance authorizing the closure of Hill Street and the self-possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages during that event. Item B6 is to consider and approve the ordinance authorizing the closure of multiple streets on November 26, 2026. And the route is the typical route for annual Thanksgiving Day 5K. Item B7 is the approval of an ordinance to close Main Street for the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. That is for Monday, November 30th from 5 to 8 p.m. With the ordinance listing the time, the date, and the streets. Item B8 is the Consider and Approval of Ordinance to Close Multiple Streets on Tuesday, December 1st, 2026 for the Belmont Christmas Parade. And that Christmas parade will be, the street closures will be 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. There was a correction to the ordinance that has been corrected and now published online as well. Item B-9 is the fire equipment surplus request. This is from the fire department. Surplusing and unserviceable equipment is the self-contained breathing apparatus. We need to surplus that due to the reliability and service calls, and it's reached its end of its useful life. Item B10 is a public works equipment surplus request for the water and the wastewater treatment plant generators. So both of those are 40 years old. They have been replaced, so we need to surplus the generators at this time. Item B11 is a proposal to amend the City of Belmont Coordinates Check 93. And this is from the fire department, and it's related to open burning, Knox box requirements, and fireworks planning. If you recall, we had this on the April 6, 2026 City Council agenda. There was multiple suggested edits and corrections, so we made those edits. A few of those corrections also were included in the handout that I provided to you all. for chapter 93. And inside chapter 93, the corrections that you have not seen that is actually on your desk were not in the council packet. If you turn to chapter 93.11, we added the first sentence that says, no person or business entity may burn We added that or business entity in there. We included a comma and a space on chapter 93.11 and we removed the last sentence after tenants. It was on a leased or rented single family building property. So we removed that, we left it at tenants given that that was concerned about businesses downtown with the open burn permit and that they were allowed, given that it's commercially manufactured cooking or campfire equipment, exterior fireplace, or contained fire device. So there's several businesses downtown that have those things. So we wanted to make it clear that those were allowed downtown. And the rest of the edits, oh, there's one more edit on The Knox Box 93.15, Knox Box required.

And I'm looking for the correction there.

I believe that the final sentence of, let's see the page here. Oh, it's fireworks. 93.30, fireworks. three sorry 3d we added the last sentence of that section by the city of Omaha fire departments we added that statement as well thank you for allowing me to go through those B 12 is the fee schedule update for the enterprise fund fees these proposed there's various removals of item provisions, and then we added a few things related to things that we were not doing currently, and things that we needed to do as far as like adding additional residential carts, residential recycling carts, and adding a non-residential solid waste fee per cart. So fee schedule now reflects that as well. Item B13 is approval of a reimbursement resolution And this is for the two fire trucks that we recently purchased. We need to reimburse ourselves once we get the loan from, once we go to the local government commission and obtain a loan, we can reimburse ourselves for the purchase of the fire trucks. And you can see that the $2.75 million includes Correction has been made to that ordinance as well. B14 is the fiscal year 26 budget amendment number 22. This is standard at the end of our fiscal year. We go through and have a final budget amendment that really cleans up various items throughout the budget for last fiscal year since we're in the audit process. So this proposed budget amendment recognizes $798,000 in surplus local option sales tax revenue within the general fund and appropriates the funds to support various departmental budget needs. It also includes budget neutral transfers within the water and sewer fund and the stormwater fund to address projected line item budget deficits. Finance department wanted to use the local option sales tax to go ahead and fund those items in the general fund but they we did have our revenues exceeded our budget not only in the local option sales tax but also in property taxes interest on investments utility franchise tax and solid waste fees the amount is estimated to be around three million dollars for that total of those so we're using 798 thousand dollars out of that three million dollar total that the finance director come to address those items. And then item B15 is fiscal year 2027. This is budget amendment number one, our current fiscal year. And that is to appropriate that amount from the general fund unassigned fund balance for our center city small area plan. And this is for when we brought Arcadis, the consultant, to council on July the 6th. And so we need to... budget that amount over what we had estimated what this project would cost throughout the budget uh process most of those times those are those are estimates and then when the actual proposal comes in if it's greater than what we had estimated then at that time it would need a budget amendment so that's what uh item b15 uh conscious here i'll turn it back over to you for anything thank you miles any questions on any of the content agenda items uh going back to the

in the sale of alcohol for the literary festival. I'm still a bit confused. I see whereas it added in the whereas clause that the literary festival will occur in the lower pavilion and the upper field, but in the main body of the ordinance, it still says that the sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages will occur on the upper field of Stowe Park, and the map still shows that the consumption area is the entirety of the Stowe Park. So is it meant to include the lower field as well, or the lower pavilion?

It is. The one that's published online that, I don't know if you've been online, but it does state that the littering has to take place in the lower pavilion and the upper pavilion.

Right. Yeah, and that's what it says in the whereas clause. If you look at the actual, now therefore be it ordained that the city council approves The sale possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the upper field of the stone park so should that reference be to the lower pavilion as well, yes, sir okay and I would. I guess my I think that and speed also ended because that's the actual operative provision of the ordinance. upper and lower brand.

Last year. to have alcohol in the lower pavilion area too, or was it not restricted like we do for a lot of events today? Yeah, I know it's usually blocked off.

It doesn't, it excludes it from the play place.

I know Cassidy's not here. My recollection is that last year there was something in the upper field and then everyone went and they went inside the middle school for some author engagement. And my understanding this year is that they're not doing that, but that the author engagement and readings are being done in the pavilion, I guess. And so maybe that's why they're requesting a little bit.

So I assume there will be signage at the play place kind of section around the fountain. that there's no alcoholic beverages out there. There will be something placed up by something. Yes, we can make that happen.

Yes, sir.

It stops at that sidewalk where you get to the fountain and it kind of runs down that sidewalk along towards Myrtle Street, which does not impact the playground.

So, I mean, as I understand it, it would basically be some of the people that sit on the healed with the beverage and listened to what's being read or performed. That's correct.

We can include that in the actual agreement.

So you'll make those amendments? Yes, sir. Good. Any other questions? All right. Well, if there are no other questions to the consent agenda, that will conclude our work session. I will home to remember the August 3rd, 2026 regular meeting of Belmont City Council. I believe this evening we have Pastor George Ragsdale with us to read us our invocations. So if you would come on up. And everyone, if you would stand with me for our invocations and remain standing for our invocations.

Let us pray. Gracious God, we give you thanks for this place we call home. city of Belmont, for its people, its neighborhoods, its history, its hope for the future. We pray tonight for all who serve our community, especially our first responders, those who place themselves in harm's way, and especially for our mayor and council. Grant them wisdom in their deliberations, patience in disagreement, courage in their decisions. Help them to listen deeply, speak truthfully, and seek only what is just and good. Keep before us all, especially those whose voices are easily overlooked, the young and the old, the struggling and the vulnerable, the silenced and the shut out. Teach us to be good neighbors to one another and faithful stewards of this community entrusted to our care. May the work done here tonight strengthen the common good and help Belmont become a place where all may flourish. In your holy name we pray.

Amen. All right, good morning. Join me in a 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. That's very sweet. All right, so we have some special recognition this evening and a... Proclamation as well, so I'm going to turn it over to Chief if you would come up here and join us. We always look forward to seeing Chief up here. I'm sure he looks forward to being up here as well. Thank you for joining us. What you got for us this evening? Thanks for breaking the ice, Mayor.

Good evening, Mayor, Council Members, City Manager, County Parks Wilson, and members of the community. Thank you for the opportunity to stand before you. tonight and for an important and proud moment for our department and for our city. This evening we welcome and formally swear in our newest police officers. Each of these individuals have completed a demanding process that required commitment, integrity, and a genuine desire to serve others. The oath that they take tonight is more than a formality. It is a promise to uphold the law, protect the rights of all people, and to serve this community with dignity and respect and fairness. That responsibility is not taken lightly, and I am confident these officers understand the trust in our community places in them. We'd also like to recognize the families and loved ones here tonight. Your support plays a critical role in the success and well-being of these officers. We are grateful for the sacrifices you make alongside them. On behalf of the police department, thank you to the mayor and council, your continued support of public safety and allowing us to share this moment with To our newest officers, welcome to the department. Serve with honor, lead with integrity, and never forget this badge represents service to others above yourself. So at this time, I want to start off by introducing each officer one at a time. I have them come stand up. So first is Officer Felix Ortega. Please welcome Officer Felix Ortega to the Belmont Police Department. was born in Angleton, Texas. He moved to North Carolina as a toddler and grew up in Gaston County. In 2018, he joined the U.S. Army as a AH-64 Apache attack helicopter mechanic at 23 years old. At that time, Officer Ortega served with the 617th Air Cavalry Squadron out of Fort Carson, Colorado and deployed to Iraq with the 117th Air Cavalry Squadron out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In 2025, Officer Ortega decided to end his time in the U.S. Army and begin his career in law enforcement. Officer Ortega enjoys spending time on the beach, as do I, or in the mountains with his wife, Monica, and his three boys, Damon, Elijah, and Cutter. So please welcome Officer Ortega. Welcome, Officer Logan Branham. Officer Logan Brandon to the Belmont Police Department. Brandon was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He began his law enforcement career at the Belmont Police Department in December of 2025. Before law enforcement, he attended the Belmont Abbey College from 2017 to 2022. Outside of his professional life, he enjoys hobbies of combat sports and croquet. He also spends most of his free time with his wife and his loved ones. Welcome, Officer Jose Renderos. Officer Renderos was born in El Salvador and was raised in Oakland, California. He began his law enforcement career in 2021 with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, still serving in the U.S. Army Reserve as a motor transport operator since 2017. Officer Renderos was raised by his mother and older brother and younger sister, who were both in the medical field. Officer Renderos came to the Belmont Police Department in April of 2026. He serves as a patrol officer for the Navy team. Again, a police officer to help others in need of change in someone else's life. Outside of his professional life, he's a diehard soccer fan. He enjoys spending time with his wife and her three dogs, being outdoors, playing soccer, going to church, and playing video games. So please welcome Officer Renderos.

Please welcome.

John Delaney, Officer John Delaney was born and raised in Mount Holly, where he also graduated from East Gaston High School. We won't hold that against you. Officer Delaney has served, my wife was there, so I'm sorry. I married you, I'm sorry. Not with Red Raiders, sorry. He has served as a law enforcement officer for the past six years, both for Lincolnville Police Department and Mount Holly Police Department before joining us at Belmont. Outside of his law enforcement, Officer Delaney enjoys spending time with his wife and his two-year-old son, with another one on the way. Officer Delaney is a passionate Carolina Panthers fan and enjoys watching NASCARs on Sunday. He has always had a passion for serving others and volunteers with non-profit organizations that currently focus on peer support and first responders. So please welcome Officer John Delaney.

Next.

Please welcome Officer Corey Blanton. He's originally from Shelby, North Carolina. He earned an associate's degree in general education from Fleetwood Community College. He spent four years and a half as a police officer in Shelby Police Department. Officer Blanton chose a career in law enforcement out of passion for public service and a desire to make a direct, positive impact every day. He was drawn to Beaumont Police Department because of his commitment to community-focused policing and the opportunity to bring his experience to such a strong, supportive team. Officer Blanton spends quality time with his family and friends and stays active in the gym, as always trying out new hobbies and experiences. He's honored to join the Belmont Police Department and looks forward to serving the community. Please welcome Officer Blanton. At this time, I'd like to advise the family members that it could just be the person that you pick to pin on your badge or your family to come up and do the badge swearing in. Tyler Graham's going to come up and actually read the oath. So at this time, if you just place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right, Tyler will tell you the rest of what to do.

Y'all can come on up and hold the Bible. Y'all can spread out. I'll say aye and then repeat your first and last name and then I'll finish up. Aye. Aye. Do solemnly swear that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution and laws of North Carolina, not inconsistent therewith, and that I will not be influenced in any manner on account of personal bias or prejudice, and that I will faithfully and impartially execute the duties of my office as a police officer for the city of Belmont, according to the best of my skills, abilities, and judgment. So help me God. I will. Congratulations.

Thank you.

We'll have you all come up here and appear in the middle.

What should we do, Kevin? Laurie usually does.

Look at this one.

All right.

Just smile and I'll get a few.

All right. You want to get in there, Chief? Yeah, let me get in there for one.

Before we move on, let me just ask, out of this full gallery that we have tonight, which is very exciting for us, but when we have people come to meetings, I get excited. There's just been this massive interest in municipal government.

Just wait. a little further in your career. I'm not sure you'll feel exactly the same way.

How many family members do we have over here? Thank you all. Thank you for coming.

Thank you for the sacrifice that you make.

We all appreciate it.

This crowd doesn't have pitchforks.

Give me one.

That's right. Thank you. Thank you all.

All right. We'll move this all to the new career. We have a proclamation tonight, and I believe we have a couple people here for the Farmers Market. Anyone here for that? Thank you again for coming. So let me read the proclamation and make it official here. So this is a proclamation recognizing National Farmers Market, whereas farmer markets provide vital economic opportunities for local farmers, growers, and producers, allowing them to sell fresh, locally grown products directly to customers, And whereas farmers markets strengthen the local economy of the city of Belmont by keeping dollars circulating within our community and supporting small business and entrepreneurs. And whereas farmers markets promote healthy eating habits by increasing access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious locally sourced foods for residents of all ages. And whereas farmers markets serve as vibrant community gathering places that foster connections between neighbors, farmers, and local makers while enhancing the quality of life in downtown Belmont. And whereas farmers markets support environmentally sustainable agricultural practices are reducing the distance food travels from farm to table and encouraging responsible land stewardship. And whereas the city of Belmont recognizes and appreciates the hard work and dedication of those farmers, producers, vendors, and volunteers who make our local farmers market possible each season. Now, therefore, I, Joe Jordan, mayor of the city of Belmont, North Carolina, along with Belmont City Council, Do hereby proclaim August 2nd through the 8th, 2026, as National Farmers Market Week in the City of Belmont. Encourage all citizens to visit the local farmers market, support local growers and producers, and celebrate the vital role farmers play in building a healthier, more connected community. A witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and call the seal of the City of Belmont, North Carolina, to be affixed this third day of August 2026. There's a lot of stuff going on.

They have a particularly good crop of peaches.

Yes. I got some yesterday. I haven't had a lot.

Okay, they're very good. Thanks.

It's also national watermelon. You should have suggested a proclamation. Feels like a misstopper. Well, you know that's odd because I did wear my watermelon socks. Well, there you go. All right. Well, that will wrap up our recognitions and acknowledgements. And so at this point, I will entertain a motion to accept the agenda. Motion to accept the agenda. Motion made by Alex. Second. Second by Jason. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Okay, the agenda is set. That will take us to approval of the consent agenda, and I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda.

I will make a motion to approve with the amendments to B5 that we discussed.

Motion made by Jim. Second by Alex. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? I think the consent agenda is approved. And I'll move us right along to our very expensive agenda this evening. We do not have anyone for public comment, which is agenda C1, so that will move us along to our regular agenda item C2, Gateway Signs, joint project with Bellin Tourism, Bellin, and Monopole. And Monopole, you're up. That's me. Okay, all right. That's you.

Thank you. During the June 15th City Council workshop, we discussed the idea of a joint project with the TDA to design, fund, and construct gateway signs and various entry points throughout Beaumont. You all thought that was a good idea to participate in that, and you directed staff to propose a committee for that process and to bring back that proposed schedule. And so for the proposed committee membership, I've spoken with Daniel Bandele from the TDA, and he contacted Brandon Black, who is also a TDA member. They both agreed to serve on the committee. Jason Rumpel, he's a city council member and the TDA liaison, along with Mark Selinger, city council and TDA liaison, and Mia would serve as far as the city staff member. So that would be the proposed committee membership. And then we talked through and I thought through how long this process may take. So this is a proposed schedule only given that there's no funding in this fiscal year. We thought that it would probably extend the fiscal year to actually go through this process to design the actual gateway signs, bring them back to you all, bring it to the PDA for approval. And so the end of August, early September is really the kickoff when we would meet and talk about the schedule proposed and discuss engaging that design or whoever that may be september to october 2026 we would design which is the tda is going to fund the design portion of it in october to november 2026 we'd propose the design to both the tda and the city council in november 2026 we'd probably start talking about the sign locations November to December, propose the sign locations to the TDA and City Council. December to March, we would think through where those signs were and if they're on private property, secure any necessary easements in that discussion process with potential property owners. Through that process, there is going to be a lot of coordination with NCDOT, given that most roads around Belmont are NCDOT state-owned. So a lot of coordination would have to occur from March to June, 2027. In April through June 30th is our budget process. And so we would start talking about how much these projects, the number of locations, how much the signs would cost so that we could both bond in the DDA's budget and the city council budget for next fiscal year, fiscal year 27, 28. And then as our next fiscal year in July, 2027 begins, procure the design firm and for the contractor at that point and then throughout 27-28 it struck the signs with the completion date of june 30th 2028 and so that's how the schedule we thought would probably work out along with the proposed committee membership so this is just for you all to be informed to make sure that you've seen the committee membership and the timeline and if you have any questions concerns then feel free to speak now I believe so mayor I'll turn it back over to you. Thank you. Anybody have any questions?

I just wanted to make a note about the membership on the committee. Brandon Black, if you don't know, not only is he on Belmont's Tourism Development Authority, he's also on the Gaston County Tourism Authority. And Gaston County actually participated in a similar project with Mount Holly with funding at least one, I think they're the major entrance sign, gateway sign of Mount Holly. So there may be that potential as well to possibly partner with the county official of the TDA. Is that the one near Marcos?

No, he's talking about the one by the hospital.

Oh, okay.

You would know that.

I'm not sure which one they have on, but there are like two. One by the hospital plus the marquee sign as you enter Main Street near that Marcos. Okay.

Are you guys going to work with the Abbey meeting? Are you going to discuss that with the partnership?

As far as like a location, out by the Abbey was certainly one of the locations we talked about, but that will come back for everybody.

Do you have any questions? So, Miles, are you wanting us to vote to approve the committee as well as the timeline? Yes, sir.

Motion to approve as presented. All right. A motion by Alex, a motion by Charlie. All in favor?

All right. We can move right along. Let's see, man. So that will move us on to, let's see, other business. Let's start with Alex.

Really, I guess the biggest thing I have is congratulations to Miles, Kevin, Jared, and the team for working on the top of the stretch. Utility, solicitude, essentially. Unit assistance. Unit assistance. You know, that's been something a long time in the making, particularly, you know, Jared and Kevin stepping up with a lot of audits, his team, you know, getting us over, what, three in one year at one time, right? Is Jared over there? You know, you guys have done a lot. You've put in a lot of, like, guardrails to make sure that that doesn't happen again, but that we're successful in the future. And honestly, kudos to you guys. We should have never been there, but you guys fixed it. And I really appreciate all of the work you guys have done for that. So, thank you. That's all I have, Mary.

No, nothing for me. So I know it's kind of weird to think about this now, but Halloween's coming up and we have this sort of brand new issue with Halloween. So I think I know the answer to this, but have we thought through the approach to particularly more film after Halloween at this point?

We have. We talked about that through the... should they be required to complete special event applications and all that? And so I don't think we've got a final determination on it quite yet, but I know that there was some thoughts that we would do something different this year, not going through the special event application for some of those neighborhoods that don't have an HOA like North Belmont or Pebble Creek. I believe that they have a,

an individual that would have to apply so we did talk through that i think we've got a plan we could finalize it and bring you all um information like an update through our our weekly council update okay yeah no yeah that'd be great because i i know that they're probably going to start soon so right you know that they start reaching out and be good to have um and the other thing i had i know at the uh the june meeting we talked about approaching the uh current owner of the Brady Field property about potentially acquiring that property just interested if there's been any happenings on that front there has been I don't know if you want to talk about it now or if you want to it's not appropriate to talk about it now we can put that on a future yeah let's do that it was a short conversation well maybe we it's appropriate to talk about this sort of thing in closed session Right? Awesome.

Not purchase, sale. You can't talk about purchase, but you can the sale.

Oh, OK. We could provide you all an update if you'd like to do that.

Why don't you do that at the workshop? What calls you're gonna be talking about city on the property?

Yeah at the workshop and this could just Okay One other thing I'm kind of open to the feedback on this one of the Things that the suggested At the convention was having a some reporting around fun balance and levels as part of these sort of regular reports that go out to the council. I know we do a really good job right now with sort of the revenue and expense side. I'd be interested to know if there, I mean, I'm interested in kind of just knowing what the fund balance looks like. That's kind of all I'm really interested in at this point. I've got, they provided some, there's other towns that are doing a very comprehensive reporting around this that I'm happy to share with staff if you'd like a little bit more kind of idea of like where my head is on this. I'm not necessarily asking for the same depth and comprehension that they are providing in some other towns, but I think that'd be good to have, particularly as we're kind of talking about pulling money out of fund balance and kind of rolling funds into fund balance. And I think it would help with some of the decision making as far as like how we're using that that asset just to kind of have at least a pulse check as part of the regular update that we get on the financial benefit.

Yes, when we do the quarterly financial update, we'll add that to the next one that comes up. Okay.

Great.

Jason.

I just want to say again, congratulations to our newly pinned officers, and we certainly thank them and their families for their service and sacrifice. One other thing that I had was, and I'm anxious to get you guys to is there's been some concern expressed recently about our board membership term But we do two rounds of interviews, April and October. And so we've got a situation with at least one, maybe a couple of our boards actually, thinking about it, where the term ends in June. You have, say, a member or two who are going off because it's the end of their term. They're not re-upping. And we don't have that interview until October. So you've got like a three or four month lag time we've got in the board seat. So I'm anxious to see what you guys might think about, you know, I would propose maybe we move to doing one long a single long interview session in April so that we don't have enough of that situation with empty board seats between the end of fiscal and the next round of interviews.

I think a longer interview meeting is going to be required anyway. Last time it was so fast. We didn't have time to really even ask anybody enough questions to know whether they were good or not. I would agree with you on that. I'm seeing the same thing. I'm trying to figure out exactly how to just follow in our timeline versus when members are rolling off on each of the boards. I would be very interested in getting something that's more cohesive across all of our boards so that maybe we can do it in one meeting. I'd prefer to do it in one if we can make that work. If we have to do two, we can certainly do two. At least before the end of fiscal year. So that we don't have that lag. I agree. Something we kind of talked about in the Main Street board is whether it's do we go through a nomination process in those lower boards? I'm just getting on here. so that they kind of give us a number of people that we can then interview, or remaining, kind of like letting them do the initial leg work and then letting us do the approval, or do we continue doing it the way we're doing it? I'm open to suggestions there as well. I think what all of us want to do is make sure we're putting in the best people for the position, and just historically, what we're seeing is somebody comes in for an interview, it's a quick back and forth event. We think, oh, this is perfect. They have the time to dedicate and all these things, and they get plugged in, and all of a sudden, they didn't have the time to dedicate to it. And so we've had some issues with that. So any suggestions you have, the council would have to alleviate that. I think everyone, even our board members, would be all ears to that. So I don't know that we're going to have an answer for that tonight, but something we definitely can. So we circle with the boards to kind of get that together. I like the one, just knock it out all on one night.

We did that, and the only reason, I'm not opposed to it, but the reason why it spiraled the way it has, because we ran into instances, Jim, keep me honest, Mark, where you didn't get enough people to apply, so then you needed to keep it open. where you had people who couldn't make the night, so is it fair to only do one night versus two? You know, that's the pieces we ran into. But I do agree, it's gotten to the point where it's out of hand, where it just, you almost forget by the time you're, you know.

Yes, I think we could at least, we certainly went to two sessions for a reason, because it seemed like we were constantly scheduling interviews you know, five or six years ago. And so, you know, it was that council's, that council's instigation that let's just get it to two. Now it seems perhaps over time, board term expirations have drifted away from when we're having the interviews. So.

Well, I think most of them are aligned with the physical. Right. A lot more. Yeah. Maybe that's not the case with.

yeah i don't know for i had a project at one point to like align all the boards can we like maybe it's a recommendation for staff here's the timelines of every board this is like just a chart a gantt chart of some sort and then we we have that conversation on a workshop or something yeah and um but i do think

I mean, just having, you can't find out enough. These interviews are scheduled for like 10 minutes or five.

Yeah, we went way over last time and it was way too short anyway.

I mean, that's...

But maybe you do two rounds maybe in the months of April and May.

I still think it makes sense to do it twice. I mean, just because you're going to have circumstances change and you wouldn't want to wait a year then to like a point replacement if somebody moves or... or something but i mean we can certainly have like this is our primary inner i mean we could block off this is all we're going to do at this workshop or we're going to have a special meeting that's all we're going to do and then you know maybe half you know six months later if we need not 60 months because you don't want to wait till after the fiscal then you're in the same situation well but i'm saying like things happen that's well yeah that's like

April 15th.

Well, yeah, but I'm saying, all right, but then like we can't, what happens if somebody, all right, we have the interviews in April and somebody moves in June so that, then it's just vacant for like 10 months. You know, that's what I'm saying.

Well, that's, not to break you up there, but I mean, that's where my mind goes through the nomination. I have the committees nominate replacements and they can go like a six cycle where they can just be

Okay, we would still be careful.

Yeah, I think you risk becoming insular that that part of it is what about the people that move here and are, you know, want to get involved. How many times have we heard, well, I just moved here and I want to find a way to get involved. And I mean, even me when I first started. join the planning board. I didn't know anyone. I just read it on the website. I've been meaning to get involved and that would be a good thing suitable to my talents. I didn't know anyone. No one would have nominated me for the planning board.

Do we need to interview every single person who was on the page of that output? Screen the list?

It was the pre-req.

We could review the application and then decide who won.

Wouldn't that need to be done in an open thing?

Well, yeah, but I'm thinking that might cut down on the number. Because what happens is you get 10 people and then somebody can't make it, so then sometimes we hold up.

Yeah, I mean, another thing we could do, and we've sort of skirted around sort of unofficially the last couple times is You know previous counsels that we want to interview everyone it doesn't matter if you, you know, been a member for three years and are reapplying or whatever I mean. we don't necessarily have to interview people who are re-upping if we're comfortable that, well, that's a really good member. They want another three-year term. You know, oh, but they can't make it on such and such a date. You know, is it really – because, I mean, we've sort of honored that breach sometimes, but, you know, that seems to be a way we might be able to save time. And it's always been, do we really need to interview – this person, they've been a good member, and they want another term, and then we're always reminded, well, council insisted that you want to interview everyone. So maybe it's time to change that.

Why don't we do what Alex said, which is have staff give us a list of how the roll-offs work, so we can at least get an idea of that. Then we can look at how many meetings are necessary. And I see where you're going, Jim, with the reasoning for the two. And maybe it can be

with the schedule yeah I certainly think the second one can be like truncated like short as needed like right maybe we won't even so can we possibly do that words get a good time frame we can yes sir you do have your your policy report policy does state that that it's April and October currently so that could be revised or whatever y'all I echo Alex's sentiments, congratulating Jared, Kevin, and everyone else for getting this off the unit assistance list. It seemed like that day would never come. I'm glad it has come. So congratulations to everyone in that regard. That's a great weight, I think, off a lot of people's shoulders. The only other thing, Mark mentioned Halloween being here before we know it, but you know what will be here even sooner? The start of another school year. And all the fun that that entails from pickup, drop off, and traffic. I think we have an update coming. Yes, I'm assuming our intrepid police force have been deep in thought and meetings to address the upcoming start of the new school year.

I'll be brief. As you were speaking about other business, I was actually sending Miles the plan of action, and he should be sending it to you really soon. It's all laid out. I won't spoil the name and stuff for you, so you'll get it very soon.

Can you tell us how we are on staffing for school, crossing guards, and things like that? We're in good shape there.

We're actually... With the five officers that we've recently sworn in, we're actually at full staff. Wow, congratulations. As you'll see with the plan that he'll send you, it's almost like all hands on deck like we do for the parade in July. So there's a lot of people going to be out there committed to the safety of the kids for the start of the school year for about two and a half weeks.

Thank you. And I'm sure everything will run smoothly and there will be no complaints whatsoever.

What I intended to say is you can't discuss the sale of the property unless it can be disclosed first.

Jim, if it's okay with y'all, we'll leave it up to the manager's discretion about adding that as a closed session or part of that report. It's still at the workshop.

Okay. All right. Jim, anything else from Jim? All right. So that leaves me. I have just a couple things that I do want to echo my colleagues. Tremendous work that was done by staff over the past year plus. I appreciate that and all the effort they'll put into that. Also, all of our newly sworn in officers, welcome to Belmont. Thank you for the sacrifices that you've made for us. Keep us safe and keep the city moving. All right, so with that, just a couple reminders. So as most of you know, there are a lot of things moving as far as planning goes for the city. So August 20th, mark your calendars, we have Planapalooza. And that is where we're going to have a lot of people from the community come in. We're going to be working on moving forward all of our small area plans. a lot of cons are moving, so if you have time, there's a lot of information out there online about Plant-a-Looza, but August 20th, go ahead and mark your calendars, keep an eye out for the information that's out there. Join us, this is your opportunity to be involved, so please take that. Also, if you would like to be in one of our focus groups for the update of the Land Development Code, The other planning activities we have going on, we have an application online that you can submit through the 7th of this month. So through August 7th, you can submit an application. And of the applications that are sent in, members will be asked to join. Council, I think, will make the appointments to who will be in the groups. But that will come from the application process. So if you are so inclined and you would like to be involved in our focus group, please make sure that you have that application in and what you can find online. by August 7th. So last thing, I did have a request and you guys can let me know. So as you're coming across the bridge, Wilkinson Bridge, into the town of Belmont, things are closing down in anticipation of the new bridge being built and everything that's going to kind of move around through there. Does the city of Belmont maintain those right-of-ways as far as cutting? I think we do.

I know in the past we've gone out there and cut them and put mulch down. I know the one you're talking about looks rough right now. So we have done that one in the past. The property that's now vacant across the street on Wilkinson, we've never gone over there and cut theirs, but given that it's pretty high grass now as well.

It's really bad. We deploy the goats. The goats. The goats. Yeah.

Yeah, that area's looking rough, so we can reach out to NCDOT to see if they can maintain their properties now that they own, and we'll also get our folks out and try to do the best we can. It's very dangerous for us to get out there in the middle of the road. I know we've done it in the past.

There was this one time we did a beautification project on those pet meat. A lot of planning and things, and the city did it. And I think they maintained it for a little while.

And I don't think we need to go in and mulch and all that. Just whatever can be done to cut down and spray it. I appreciate that. All right. Well, that's all for me. So if nothing else, I'll entertain a motion.