City Council - Regular Meeting

We're gonna let Thomas take a picture. And then we'll get started. So good evening everyone. I'd like to welcome you to tonight's July 21st, 2026 City Council meeting and ask that you please silence all electronic devices. As we all check to make sure ours are. Okay. Councilmember Ian Baltudis is absent and is excused from tonight's meeting. At this time, I recognize Mayor Pro Tem Bob Ward for our invocation.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everyone. As we continue to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country, we are reminded and remain especially grateful for the many freedoms of our democracy. We ask as we proceed in our deliberations that we be respectful of each other's perspectives as we address the issues on tonight's agenda. We express our appreciation to our city employees for their hard work and dedication in their service to the city. We give a collective thank you to our citizens for supporting our city and its programs. We ask that our efforts be guided by clear insight and our decisions with impartiality. We ask that our actions be guided by the highest standards of ethics as we fulfill our responsibilities to our community. Thank you. Thank you.

And tonight's meeting is a special meeting. It is when we recognize Eagle Scouts. And so I want to recognize Isaac Young from Scouting America. He's the district executive for Alamance County. And as he comes forward, I'm going to share with you, as I shared, Councilmember Ian Baltudis is not here this evening, so he's unable to join us. He is an Eagle Scout, your fellow Eagle Scout, and this is traditionally one of his favorite meetings of the year, and he asked if I would share these brief remarks on his behalf. To our newest Eagle Scouts, I hope they can hear me. To our newest Eagle Scouts, I am deeply disappointed I cannot be with you tonight. Normally, I would be sitting up there in my uniform, eager to hear all about your projects and the unique experiences that led you to this rank. Achieving the rank of Eagle Scout is an incredible milestone, but I want to encourage you to view scouting as a lifelong endeavor. The lessons you have learned on this journey, preparedness, accountable leadership, and dedicated community service are values that our world needs now more than ever before. It is vital for young people to see these traits in action and I believe it is equally important for adults to continuously model this kind of cheerful service to our community. You have proven that you are willing to roll up your sleeves and do the hard work required to build a stronger hometown. I am incredibly proud of each of you and keep leading by example and congratulations on this outstanding achievement. And before you begin what you're gonna do, I'm gonna invite our council to come down and form something of a receiving arm here this evening so that we can congratulate the Eagle Scouts.

All right. Well, on behalf of scouting in the Alamance District, I want to thank Mayor Bennett and the City Council for continuing this tradition to recognize our Eagle Scouts. And I want to say, especially to our scouts in the room, that message and note from Mr. Valtutis is awesome. I can't tell you how cool it is to be able to see a fellow scout, an Eagle Scout sitting up in a chair like that, serving his community. And I want you guys to take that to heart and understand that it means a lot and what you can do in the future. So to get started, I'm going to go down the list. We're gonna start with Jonathan Mark Barringer. He's a member of Troop 4051 in the Alamance District of Scouting America. And for his community service project, he built benches at the Alamance Community College. Sidney David Dill, the member of Troop 144, Alamance District of Scouting America. And for his community service project, he constructed an outdoor vegetable pantry at Mount Zion Baptist Church. Jackson Strader Grimley is a member of Troop 4051, Alamance District of Scouting America, and for his community service project, he built benches for the Alamance Community College. Isaiah Thomas Raymond is a member of Troop 4039, Alamance District of Scouting America, and for his community service project, he created little libraries for Gibsonville Public Library. Hayden Thomas Reynolds is a member of Troop 144, Alamance District of Scouting America, and for his community service project, he constructed a pond hangout spot for Belmont Methodist Church. Damien Dalton-Rutzen is a member of Troop 64, Alamance District of Scouting America, and for his community service project, he built benches for campfires with alcovets.

Thank you.

Yeah, I believe, is it time for a picture?

Oh, yes.

Okay. One, two, three.

Congratulations and thank you to our Eagle Scouts and family members for coming. At this time, I would like to recognize City Clerk Beverly Smith for our Code of Ethics.

I ask if there are any potential conflicts

We have an addition to our consent agenda. That is item C, ratification of lease agreement with Town of Gibsonville for a surplus pump or fire truck. I need a motion and a second to approve the additions to the agenda.

Motion to approve the additions to the agenda. Second.

All in favor? Aye. And now we need a motion and second to adopt the agenda with the additions. So moved.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Our consent agenda for this evening. These items are typically non-controversial. So item A, to approve the reclassification of one pipe maintenance field supervisor one pay grade 212 to a pipe maintenance field supervisor two pay grade 213 in the water resources department effective the beginning of the next pay cycle. And item B, to adopt a resolution of award for the downtown streetscape phase one project, awarding a contract to Fred Smith Company and approve associated budget amendment 2027-03, authorizing the city manager and chief financial officer to execute the contract documents contingent upon final approval from the legal and finance department. And item C, to ratify the lease agreement between the city of Burlington and the town of Gibsonville executed by the city manager on July 17th, 2026 to lease a 2004 Ferrara Intruder II pumper fire truck on a month to month basis, not to exceed six months. We need a motion and a second to approve the foregoing consent agenda.

So moved. Second.

All in favor? Aye. And at this time we move into our public hearings. Um, we have a public, uh, item one, uh, let me recognize GIS administrator Andrew Shore. This is a public hearing, um, for city council to consider the renaming of poker street right of way by extending Meridian Avenue from the intersection of Meridian Avenue and short street.

evening mayor council as we discussed the work session a few weeks ago this is just to a public hearing for city initiated street renaming of the right-of-way of hooker street at the end of meridian and the intersection of short um we do have two duplicate hooker streets so this is just to clean up a duplicate by extending meridian to the northwest as you see on the hatch so with that would that request a public hearing for either okay and any questions before we move into public hearing

Okay, then at this time I'll open the floor for public comments on this item. And I'll ask you to please state your name and address for the record. Each speaker is asked to limit comments to five minutes. Is there anyone who wants to speak to this issue? Okay, then I'll entertain a motion to close the public hearing.

Motion to close. Second.

All in favor? Aye. And we need a motion and a second to adopt a resolution to rename a section of Hooker Street right of way by extending Meridian Avenue. Okay. And a second. All in favor?

Aye.

Okay. Item two, a public hearing has been scheduled for City Council to consider an application to rezone one parcel of land from the medium density residential and medium industrial zoning districts to the general business limited use zoning district addressed as 2936 Alamance Road and identified as Alamance County Tax ID number 120471. At this time, I recognize Director of Planning and Development Services, Jamie Lawson.

Good evening, Mayor and members of council. This item was discussed with you at your work session on July 6th earlier this month. This is a request to rezone the property that's highlighted in teal. It is currently zoned, split zoned between medium density residential and medium industrial. The property is just under five acres, a portion of the property to the rear. is kind of separated by the front portion due to some constraints. The applicant has requested to rezone the property to general business with a limited use. These are the uses that the applicant is currently seeking. So when an applicant comes in with a limited use rezoning, that means that they are seeking some of the uses that are allowed within a zoning district, but not all, and they highlight or identify which ones they are seeking. I will note that the uses that are underscored are uses that are currently permitted in the medium density residential zoning district. Planning and Zoning Commission heard this rezoning request at their meeting in June and recommended it unanimously. Staff is also recommending it as it being inconsistent with the current future land use designation, but consistent with the regional commercial future land use designation to the north. There are other items included in your packet if you have any questions pertaining to this. And I am available if you have any questions for me.

Okay, any questions? Okay, then at this time I'll open the floor for public comments on this item only, and I'll ask you to please state your name and address for the record. Each speaker is asked to limit comments to five minutes. I did have one person sign up, and that's Wendy Hedrick, and so you are welcome to come to the microphone first.

that one is good yep okay hi everyone good night my name is i am a resident of the staples at harris farm off of stowe street i live on 20 uh 2086 harris farm court in burlington north carolina i'm a resident of alamance county i have been my entire life i did live across the border for a bit in gibsonville recently moved back after the death of my husband to quiet what i thought was a very um pleasant neighborhood with a townhome where I don't have to maintain the yard. Found out recently that, I was unable to attend the meeting last month, but I found out recently about the request to rezone this to accommodate an animal veterinary clinic and or I don't know if they're gonna have a doggy daycare kind of thing there. I'm very concerned because, first of all, the Alamance Road stretch right across from Stowe Street comes out right across from where I believe the building is scheduled or planned for, what they're asking for. There are about 40 to 50 houses, so lots and lots of residents that we already have a great deal of trouble. We have a hard time getting out of Stowe Street to turn left. You have to pull up, you have to really look around the curve. It's a two-lane highway. It's not four lanes. It's not three lanes. It does not have a turning lane. People come flying from both directions. And you almost have to look both ways, look again, say a little prayer every time you pull out. Within two weeks ago, I saw a wreck at the intersection. So my first concern is to address the safety issues of it. If they accommodate a doggy daycare and they have people dropping off animals in the morning, picking them up. Now, I love animals. I'm a pet owner. I normally would love and have no problem with a veterinary clinic in my neighborhood. However, the traffic issues in this area, it just does not lend well to having that additional flow in and out of traffic. at that intersection. You're going to have to put a stoplight up. There's other measures you could take. But from my personal standpoint, first of all, I don't feel it's fair to encroach upon the Constitution gives us the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Well, you're looking at the happiness of all the neighbors who safely can get in and out of their neighborhood now, barely. and then you're looking at two people or however many people are going to own this veterinary clinic and you're trying to give them changing something that was already zoned to a different usage. So to me, you've got to go with the majority. You're a democracy, correct? It's all by vote. well more people live in that neighborhood and are going to be affected by the traffic and the things i guarantee you if it were your neighborhood you would not want you yourself be to be turning in and out of there it's very dangerous um it's just the road itself being a two-lane highway doesn't support commercial true commercial businesses where people need to pull in in and out of so i'm going to say that how many minutes do i have left is that my timer Okay, good, because I want to use every bit of the time I have. Because I'm highly opposed. And I come here with a good heart, saying I normally am not opposed to a veterinary clinic. I have no problem with, I love vets, I love my pets. As a resident of a community where a lot of the members, I know this from speaking with people at the community cookout, there are a lot of people opposed that could not be here tonight. It's a population of mostly over 55, not all, but there was one person under the age of 30 in our neighborhood, maybe a couple of grandkids, but there are children in that neighborhood too. We're all gonna be impacted by this. to satisfy the needs of two people so you've got to look at the amount of the good versus who's going to be affected if they can't and i'm a realtor in alamance county by the way so uh yes i may have some you know opposition based on that i know it's going to hurt my property value but that's not my genuine concern in this case it's just it's not a good spot to change that over I'm trying to think of anything else. So it was one way, why change it? the speed limit through there, well, they speed through there, we all know that, right? It's definitely an issue. And I just thank you for listening. I know some of us didn't get to come to the other meeting and my apologies that I couldn't be there because of work at the last meeting, but thank you for at least taking my voice and my viewpoint into consideration. I'll remember who votes for it and who votes against it. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. Hester. I did not acknowledge, I think the requesters for zoning change are here and I did not acknowledge them. So if you'd like to come forward.

Thank you, Mayor. No issue there. I will keep to my five minutes as well. My name is Ryan Moffitt. I'm a lawyer at the Vernon Law Firm. It's a pleasure to be with you all this evening. I'm representing JMN Holdings LLC. That is an entity principled by Dr. Morgan Thomas and Mr. Aaron Clark, the husband and wife who own the entity, own the property, have purchased the property, and own and operate Plaza Vet Hospital, which has served Burlington for the last 35 years. Dr. Thomas has been the principal provider there for the last seven since 2019. It's a thriving business. It's a growing business. We want to see them supported. They have invested their own dollars in purchasing this land that they want to no longer lease their space. They want to own the property that they operate their business from and have identified this as a most suitable location to do that. Let me just begin by acknowledging Ms. Hedrick and certainly I'm sure others that are here to comment on the part of property owners in the area. That's a big part of this process, an important part of this process, one that my clients take very seriously, one that I take seriously with any request that I'm involved in before the city, and it is step number one, maybe step number two behind submitting an application is reaching out to those in the surrounding area, which we did. This was no exception. We sent letters out to every property owner within a 400-foot buffer. So we exceed, I think, even the notice buffer that the city observes. And invited each of those individuals to a meeting. That was back in May the 18th was when we held that. We had... I think eight folks attend and it was a good meeting. We heard... a lot of concerns that were related to traffic, both speed and turning movements, and some general feeling about the character of the area. We recognize and acknowledge that at least to the west of Highway 62 is largely residential. We're on the east side of 62, that's a state highway, and to the east of 62 is there's a lot of activity, and there's a lot of change happening, and there's gonna be even more change happening there, and it's gonna be commercial in nature, and it's gonna be industrial in nature. We've already got commercial uses to the north of us, and it is a substantially traveled through way. That's good for business. And my clients recognize that and again want to make that investment. This has not been done without due consideration and review. I've had a number of conversations with Jamie and her staff about this as we put together this request. Of course it's for a A veterinary clinic is the intended use. We identified other uses that are limited within the general business district and chose those intentionally. There's a diversity of uses within residential, institutional, industrial, and even agricultural that fit in this area based on what exists there and what we expect to exist in this area. So from a consistency and a compatibility standpoint, It certainly works. That all being said, again, getting back to some of the concerns you may hear, we're still here for those. I've followed up with Mike Nunn here at the city. I've followed up with Chuck Edwards at NCDOT. NCDOT has already done a study on the traffic speed of Highway 62 for that stretch of the corridor. I've followed up on that and requested additional study on signalization coordination to facilitate more convenient turn movements. And then from a design standpoint, when we get to that point, that's certainly something that my clients remain open to conversation and consideration for. So from a compatibility and from a land use standpoint, we're resolved that this is an appropriate use, not to minimize the position of folks that have different feelings about this. We're here to hear those out and to help those where we can support improvements. along those lines, but from a purely land use and zoning standpoint, and from the standpoint of really supporting what's been a wonderful service to the community and a good business, I think this is something that would benefit the city for my part. If there are questions or comments, I may ask for the opportunity to address things specifically, but otherwise, just appreciate your time and inspiration. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Was that invitation, that letter sent out in May of this year? Yes, ma'am. I didn't receive one and I'm a resident.

Okay.

What's your address? 2086 Harris Farm Court.

At this time, I'd like to continue with the public hearing, so if anyone else would like to speak to this issue, you can approach the microphone.

Yes.

I do ask that you state your name and address and know that you'll have five minutes.

Good evening. My name is Bruce Harris, Jr. My street address is 1088. By way of introduction, I'm a lifelong resident of Burlington. My parents purchased approximately 12 acres of land back in 1963 that is directly across the street from this subject property. And in 1965, two years later, they built their home there. I'm here not so much to oppose business going in. That's the good news. I'm here more so to address some significant traffic issues that exist today without any additional businesses or construction going on in that immediate area. is to reduce the speed limit, which is currently 45 miles per hour to 35 miles per hour. And that would take into account from Eric Lane, that's the street that runs right beside the Waffle House and the Hardee's. There's a stoplight there. And if you continue south on Alamance Road for approximately a half a mile, you'll come to a second stoplight, which is Grand Oaks Boulevard. That speed limit in there now is currently 45 miles per hour. If you make a right-hand turn off of Alamance Road onto Grand Oaks and go north, that speed limit is 35 miles per hour. And it's in a 100% residential area. Once you go approximately 250 yards north, it increases to 45 miles per hour. I personally don't know the reason for that, but I have some suspicions. And I bring that up for you folks to consider in your deliberations as to whether or not we're making a legitimate request that our speed limit be reduced. State DOT has already told me personally to go pound sand twice. They said they've done traffic studies that will indicate What I personally do not know or have access to is what I refer to as the near misses. What I mean by that is if you're coming down Stowe Street, come to a complete stop, and you want to make a left-hand turn onto Alamance Road, if you pull your car out and the traffic is clear both ways, and your front bumper hasn't even gotten across the center line, and a southbound vehicle comes flailing around that curve, that's what I call a near miss. And the only way to capture that is through electronic surveillance. And I don't know whether the state did that or not. I would love to know that and tell them how they made their decision. So that's my first request, is to consider reducing the speed limit from its current 45 to 35 miles per hour. Secondly, is to install a single round red flashing caution light. If you're coming south on Alamance Road, on the right-hand side, there's an orange triangle indicating a curb to the right. Just beyond that, there's a second warning sign indicating Stowe Street intersecting the T intersection with Alamance Road. if it would be possible to put just one round, red, flashing caution light on top of that sign. And the third is to synchronize two stoplights. The one stoplight that's at the intersection of Alamance Road and Eric Lane. That's right there by the bottle house. And the second stoplight is at the intersection of Alamance Road and Grand Oaks Boulevard. to make them both lights turn red or green at the same time to give all residents in that immediate area a window a narrow window you couldn't completely eliminate all traffic

thank you for your comments and you did name your three requests yes so thank you who else would like to speak on this issue if you would state your name and address and you get five minutes

native and live at 2933 Alamance Road directly across from the parking involved in the rezoning request. Our home was built in 1937 by John Black, a partner in the local hosiery mill and a distant uncle. My wife Kim and I have lived there for 20 years and it's the only home our team During that time, we've watched Burlington grow and worked alongside the Planning Commission, City Council, and developers to support thoughtful development that balances growth with respect for established neighborhoods. Our focus has always been on preserving the character of this community and protecting the safety of the families who live here. Both deserve careful consideration whenever a change in land use is proposed. While the intended use may appear limited today, zoning decisions have consequences beyond the immediate request. Once land is rezoned for commercial use, it can influence future development patterns and gradually reshape the surrounding area. That concern is especially relevant here because this parcel is situated between two lots that are currently zoned residential and it's directly across from residential zoning. In addition to the broader land use implications, there are important traffic and safety considerations associated with the location. Alamex Road has a posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour. That's clear, I think. Everyone's established that. It includes a blind curve approaching the site. In our 20 years, that curve has placed three cars in our front yard, and there's been one death across the road. The subject parcel contains less than 230 feet of road frontage and aligns closely with Stowe Street. That's the sole entrance and exit for our friends at the stables at Harris Farm. Given the site constraints, any business entrance would likely be located opposite Stowe Street, increasing turning movements and creating additional conflict points for vehicles entering and leaving the neighborhood. I want to be clear. Then my opposition is not directed at Dr. Thomas or her practice. My family holds her in high regard. She's a valued member of our community and a respected business owner. Our position is simply that this site is not well suited for commercial zoning. Because of the lasting implications of introducing commercial zoning into an area surrounded by residentially zoned property, along with the unresolved traffic and safety to maintain current zoning or at minimum defer a final decision to allow additional time for review and community input i sincerely appreciate your consideration i do have a small map of the

Are there other comments on this issue? If there are no other comments, then I will ask for a motion and a second to close the public hearing.

Mayor, if I could, let me ask a question. Mr. Selecki had requested time, quite frankly, to see if some opportunity for resolving this could be explored. Mr. Moffitt? Yeah, would you be willing or do you think it would be helpful to make bother with the?

So I will say I this was select is one of the group that I've been in contact with and I know well his concerns and he knows well our our intentions. We as well as Mr Harrison and I will say it's been great communication, polite communication, and candid, and that's the best, the most you can ask for. So thank y'all for that. To the extent that there are traffic concerns in this portion of Highway 62, I'm not convinced personally that the impact of this particular business and the intended use is going to appreciably, if at all, raise that risk to the extent that my clients need to be considering additional investment in this project. This is a small business. and they've worked really hard to get to this point. We're not talking about a large developer who in some cases enters these processes knowing that there may be a conversation and they may have to participate in some sense of relief to surrounding areas. That's not the circumstance we have here and to the extent that One of the good things about my job is I get to work with the folks in this building and I get to work with the folks at DOT and I can say, well, I'm happy to reach out to Mike Dunn or Chuck Edwards or, you know, having Mike Mills on the thing. He's owning a commission now. It's wonderful to vet those type of issues. I don't know that between my clients and I, we have a solution to traffic issues. When we get to the site design and review process, they've committed to having conversations about what the site looks like from a parking and traffic flow standpoint. But again, it's a narrow site and we're pretty well gonna have to do whatever traffic, DOT and the traffic department say we have to do from TRC review. All that being said, if you're all interested, we continue talking. We are always happy to do that.

Yeah, like I said, I've been around a long time. And I got a good idea of what, you know, what, you know, we hear traffic issues, you know, talked about all all the time, but the limitations on it, obviously, you know, because he's dealing with a state road, it's only so much you can do. And it's all and you, you know, well, because you've been in the business a long time, representing votes that, you know, it takes approval and, you know, you have to get their blessing, so to speak, and their approval. If I, is the council inclined to allow a little time to work on it some more? I mean, I'm open. If there's some way it can be worked out, you know, I mean, I would ask that that be explored. let me let me ask the remainder of the council members how you feel about it i mean you want to buy a little time table this and come back or do you want to go ahead and decide it i mean that's what we have a business to do here so i would um

Thank you. I would love to, not to put Mike Nunn on the spot, but just to ask you, you don't even have to stand up. If there is, I mean, if you can speak to this tonight, and if not, is there something that you can come back to, not just council, but to the community? I mean, everything that was named, was traffic. I didn't hear any other concern other than traffic. Okay.

Good evening.

Thank you. I didn't mean to put you on the spot.

As mentioned, we do have this information, so that's why I want to share it with you tonight. It's still up to you what you'd like to do. As was mentioned earlier, NCVOT and myself were asked to look at both safety, accident evaluation, and speed data. in this segment of 62. NCDOT did that. This is their maintained roadway. They did it by their standards and qualifications and data collection and all that. We looked at that information. It's important to point out that this is an NC highway. Although two lanes, and although it does have residential uses on it, this is, as mentioned in their report or their response, their key is to flow the traffic. The key word they use is to flow traffic through there. And that's what this NC Highway does. In their opinion, at 16,000 vehicles a day, they did not see, right now, any issues that they could improve or change. Not that there weren't any out there, but there are not comprehensive issues right now that they need to address. They also committed to looking at this as development occurs, as we have citywide. When we have concerns elsewhere, they will come in and look at that at that time. They are not in the stance of doing things before. from experience, so just understand that point. But they are aware of this. Clearly did their study, did their evaluation. There are issues there as with most in-seat routes around the city, but none that they identified that they would jump out there and make changes for. They did support anything that could be done. Signs was brought up. They do not install themselves the blinkers anymore. sort of changing the times, but there are things they can do that they are going to continue to look at just for that segment regardless. So that's just information for you to know. And then whatever development occurs out there, they commit to come back and look at things in the future. That's what we know at this point.

highway, right? We don't... Correct. That's not an NC highway route.

So that's really the key factor here that, depending on what side you're concerned about, this is an NC62 route. So it's certain standards that NCDOT wants this facility to maintain and stay at. It's not a residential or local street.

Thank you.

Thank you, Richard.

So that means having the speed reduced from 45 to 35 would be on DOT?

Well, they looked at that as well. They don't support that either because of that main reason. But if there are issues that come up, as I said, they do take those requests. But at this time, there's nothing they've found to do that that would support that.

I just want to mention the gentleman who gave us the three asks understood that it was not in our power to reduce from 45 to 35 on a DOT street, the main street, Alamance Road, because then you asked about the caution lights as well. Now, was that caution light to be placed before you turn onto left or right onto Alamance Road? Is that what you were stating?

I want to say it one more time, please.

The caution light. What area were you asking for the caution light to be placed?

Coming south on Alamance Road, there's an orange triangle sign. Actually, there's two of them. The first one indicates a curve to the right. And then the second one indicates where Stowe Street intersects with Alamance Road. And if I had my brothers, that's what I was referring to is to install one round red flashing caution light on that particular sign.

Which still falls on DOT.

And what I understood is that they do not do those anymore, but they are willing to consider other signage.

type of signage might be available?

In most cases it's hidden driveway head, slow down curve, congested area, things of that nature. It's a cautionary yellow and black labeled sign.

This may or may not mean anything, but the Village of Alamance put in these flashing lights When you cross Alamance Creek, I think the posted speed limit there is, I want to say it's 25 miles an hour. And that's, of course, Highway 62. And that will get your attention, those flashing lights. I don't know if something like that's doable in this situation or not. But anything that would lower the level of someone getting hurt or worse i do realize you know alamance road is not the easiest place to get in and out of that that is not to be you know in fact challenged in the in our planning and zoning meeting here a few weeks ago mr mike mills made a comment to that and his comment was i drive up and down alamance road frequently i don't see what the problem is and my response And that's what we're talking about here this evening.

Then the third thing he mentioned in the ask was having those lights synchronized. Yes, ma'am. Which I'm assuming.

And what I said is state.

And they're looking at that. Yes. Oh, they all are? That's under review.

Yes.

At least one out of three is under review. Are those lights off? Technically speaking, is that doable to get the lights synchronized?

Technically speaking, it should be.

Can be. That would give us a little bit of relief getting on to Alamandra. And one of them, if I may, I don't mean to be technical. In the here and the now, we're talking about the possibility of having one small business. What has not been mentioned this evening is There's another 50 unit townhouse development that's going right next door to us. Those folks are gonna have the same issue that we have, except in a different direction. And your thought process, please respectfully keep that in mind. And so. I could go on, but I won't.

Can I just make one point to that, to his last point? I really do not want to see my clients be adversely, their requests adversely affected when we're considering potential larger developments that may be coming in the future. So I just want to be careful with bringing that into the equation that we're considering.

I'm going to ask you to come to the microphone. Thank you. State your name and address and you can... Okay. It seems like you're trying to push the blame. Everybody's But the conjunction should be the city ought to mention something to the entities that say that they can only do this, that, and the other in reference to what's going on now. We can't forecast the future. You can't forecast the future. You don't know what's gonna happen down that road two months from now. But right now, the problem is this. Would you rather use people, use the city's facilities on recs and stuff down there? that could conceivably happen simply because you don't make a decision in the present time? Would you want to wait until 50 different people have near accidents or have accidents and you're using valuable police resources down there on a problem that could be solved today?

Thank you. Thank you.

our options could be because out of three asks, we've already, you know, we've already gave the information that those are DOT roads and we don't have the power to make any changes. Am I correct?

Yep. The issue is that you have a language request and you have an existing condition. So the existing conditions report is what's been shared as far as what the roadway's doing. So with the request for the land use, the rest of this development will go to the TRC, as you've heard many times. So all that issue is the secondary issue. But the roadways aren't CDOT. They will have to be involved on anything that's done now or in the future. They have certain standards, as we've experience before and we do have to go through them hand in hand um when developments come through or just when issues arise so yes they'll have to be sort of partnership but the third item as i mentioned the signal is being looked at and considered the signs is something that has been discussed that is possible as well not caution like the signage correct thank you um

Jamie, I wonder if you could describe for us the different colors on there. I mean, I'm sitting here looking. I can talk about them, but I have to go to the legend to talk about them. And I know that you can do that. So we have yellow is...

Yes, yellow is median and city residential. And then you have the red that's up top, general business. You've got medium industrial where the property is split zoned. The O&I is office and institutional. And then there are some conditional rezonings across the street where the stables at Harris Farm That's conditional rezoning where it says 959 and then there's some other conditional rezoning associated with the airport and other uses.

So the conditional rezoning 959 is for residential? Correct. And then the conditional rezoning in connection with the airport is industrial?

Some of them, yes. There's also a conditional industrial off of Hatchery Road on the south side that's not in conjunction with the airport. That's a separate one. So the labels that are on here indicate the different rezonings. And then the blue is office? And institutional.

Okay. I'm looking at the... blue and the pink, because I can see colors better than those little blue letters, encroaching on that yellow. I realize that this conditional request also changes another strip of that yellow. I guess at one time all of that was yellow.

um i probably i would not assume so um there the medium industrial zoning district um was translated from industrial zoning that was in place prior to 2019 so none of those areas have changed zoning wise significantly okay

That's helpful. I mean, I know that road. There's not a lot of residential on that side of the road.

It's interspersed, definitely. I would say it's a transitional area because of its proximity to the interstate. You've got a number of existing businesses north of Hatchery Road and definitely some to the south, primarily on the east side of Alamance Road.

Thank you. Other questions. And we never, we have not closed the public hearing. Um, so if, if you have comments that you want to make on the public hearing, then I asked you to come forward at this time. Comments. then I'll entertain a motion and a second to close the public hearing. All in favor? Aye. And council, I'm gonna ask you, what are your questions? What is on your mind in relation to this issue? Bob actually raised that question with us.

Yeah, I mean, I was, you know, really hopeful, you know, if there's some way that some of these things could be addressed, you know, allow a little time to do it, but it sounds like a lot of this may be out of our hands and be in the hands of the DOT more so than the city. I'm trying to grapple with what we could, you know, that's why.

What's the city's recommendations? Sir? What's the city's recommendations?

okay i need that we close the public hearing and i know you want to give input um so the city is recommending the plant zoning and planning p and z planning and zoning is recommending approval for this rezoning and that that board has discussed it and and so there with the city staff have made the recommendation to approve the rezoning so tonight we have the opportunity to have conversation about that and and make a decision moving forward

Council is trying to decide how we're going to move based off the planning and zoning planning and zoning board and the staff that has recommended. So now we're trying to decide. I keep in mind of those three asks that the gentleman asked, two of those things that he asked for, I know we have no power to change, right? So that only leaves us one more category and that's the synchronizing of the lights. because why i don't want to put it off for this business and not have the um you know hearing approved for them or the zone approved for them and they have to wait when in reality there's nothing that we could do so we're exploring to see if there in fact is something that we can do To to meet those needs, because, you know, safety is important that that's still street is still what's left because you're coming off elements road. Mr select key is before those streets. Is that correct? And then you have the turning, I'm assuming to the right into stone street. So, my last and final question in the 3 ask is. does the city of Burlington have anything, like do we have any provision to change or to make any updates with concern to the safety? Since the other two, we can't change.

Recommendation?

So actually we don't have the, we also do not have the power over the stoplights because it's NCDOT. But what you're asking is can we make some requests?

Well, I'm just asking about, yes, for as far as Stowe Street, because Stowe Street, the city of Rawlings and Dug on, that's what you turn off of Alamance Road. Am I correct, Jamie? Yes.

Say that one more time.

the um stowe street is a city a city road which they're concerned because most of them live either prior to getting to stone street or to the right of alamance so their concerns is turning into their community from alamance road and i'm saying does the city of burlington since we own stowe street Do we have a capacity to make any safety changes on that street? If we do not, and that's legal. Then, you know, I can't suggest to do anything and we have to go ahead and move forward with approving this. What I don't want to do is let's take another month off. And in reality, there's nothing we can do to make this process work for both the residents and the business owner. If that makes sense.

Or perhaps give us more time to deliberate, whether it be with these entities, like, and other public works groups, or with the owners. That would like to put the facility there, but just because planning is.

Right you are correct. Okay.

You guys still have the ability to say.

know we're going to choose the residents opinion or we're going to choose the business opinion or we're going to combine them both and represent the opinions of the community and i'm going to have to remind us we have closed the public comments i'm so sorry about that yeah i appreciate that um so yes council has um a decision to make um I also understood that any part of the business going forward has to go to the, thank you. And that will also take into consideration traffic flow and probably has, I mean, what does that, can you, in a nutshell, tell us what that process would look like?

So whenever there's an application for new business, brand new building, new site plan, there are requirements that need to be included as part of the application itself. You would be looking at a site plan that identifies where the building is located, how it meets the unified development ordinance, buffering, landscaping, parking requirements, things along that nature. As Mike mentioned, because this is a NCDOT roadway, they are part of our TRC Technical Review Committee site plan review, and they would provide feedback as part of their review process as well. The application could not get approved if the comments pertaining to NCDOT were not met.

Okay. So a conditional rezoning tonight does not mean that conversation about the project, road safety, all of the things that have been named, does not mean that that ends. It means that that has permission to go forward.

The rezoning request is purely for the uses. This type of rezoning, you're not looking at a particular site plan associated with anything. Right.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. Questions?

What are your thoughts, Councilman Smith?

Well, I mean, I'll defer to Bob's ask for time, but we're confident that time at one month or two months, that's not going to change the safety or traffic concerns. We can universally agree to work diligently to fix those traffic concerns. That's the trap. Now we're faced with a zoning issue that has city support and they have an opinion, and then we have public input, and then we make a decision on this particular property request. That's timely and important to some folks who want to advance their business.

If you wanted to allow a little more time, I don't know. Mr. Moffitt, is there a time of consideration here as the world turns?

certainly use that time wisely if we need to take it. If only to flesh out this conversation and make sure everyone understands where the dynamics are versus a purely land use zoning question and a traffic question that will be reviewed when a project gets submitted or any number of the other intentionally selected uses, we'll use that time wisely and we're willing to give it that time if that's what you all would like. Good.

I haven't heard it there. I'd like to make a motion that we reopen the public hearing. And if the council approves that, then I'll make a motion to table that, you know, to allow a little time. So I'm going to put on the table, I'm going to make a motion we reopen the public hearing. There are some technical reasons I'm going this way to sort of save some advertising. So let me go and I'm going to make a motion to reopen the public hearing.

Second. And so is there a second? Yes. And all in favor? Aye. Yes.

And my second motion, I make a motion to table this and take another look at this and see what we can accomplish, you know, and what we cannot accomplish with understanding that the next meeting we will be making the position. So the motion, the short version of it is I make a motion to table this until the very next meeting of the city council. So two weeks. Well, actually, it'll be a month away now. So that should allow enough time to take a look at it. If a council would be willing to do that, like I said, motion to table it, take another look at it, see what we can do, can't do. I know Mr. Moffitt's going to make his efforts, and I know the people involved in it want to work toward it. I'd like to see what we could accomplish. If we can, then we'll make a decision at that time.

In essence, you're asking for a motion to continue the public hearing?

Yes, you got it.

Right, so August 18th. August 18th, okay. All in favor? then our public hearing is still open and we'll reconvene on August 8th. Thank you. Thank you all for your hard work. Council members as well as the community and staff. Thank you. Okay, let me see where we are on our agenda. That was item two. We have a new business item. City Council will consider adopting a resolution to support an application for, I'll just go ahead since I started, to the NC Commerce Building Reuse Grant Program for Alamance Foods and I recognize Economic Development Director Adam Schill.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. You said it perfectly. That's right. Council Member, it's great to be here this evening. I will keep this brief, but share some what I think is really positive news for the community. It's my pleasure to present to you the item. This would be asking for support of a resolution for an application on behalf of a project culture. So that represents Alamance Foods as they propose to invest $35 million into our community. and create 144 new jobs. Operating in Burlington in some form for more than 100 years, Alamance Foods has continued to be an industry leader in food and beverage production and one of our largest local employers. They have grown again and again. They have innovated again and again. From becoming one of the first producers of aerosol whipped cream in the late 1950s to adding flavored drinks, freeze pops, bottled water, Alamance Foods has long been a star in North Carolina's envied manufacturing sector. Just this year in February, they were at the People's House, the governor's executive mansion in Raleigh, to receive a governor's export award for growth in sales in international markets. And on the hills of that honor, they're expanding yet again. The investment in jobs I spoke of will happen at their 1040 Cedar Crest Drive facility, addressed in Graham, but within the corporate limits of Burlington. The jobs they are creating, the average annual salaries of those positions will be $55,852, which is above the current average wage in Alamance County, which is $52,486. So this new investment will expand an up-fit space to add a drinkable yogurt line and associated production and cold storage capability. Expanding production at the local facility helps ramp up the company's output, retain and grow its North Carolina workforce, and increases local investment without relocating operations outside of the state. If you have any questions or want more details about the New Drinkable Yogurt line or anything there, we have invited two company representatives here tonight. That is Hannah Kovarik, VP of Finance, Supply Chain, and Human Resources, and Sebastian Keen, managing partner of Keen and Company. Folks right back there. Again, What's before you tonight is to ask for your support in signing and executing a resolution that would be part of the application to the North Carolina Department of Commerce Building Reuse Grant Program. The City would agree to apply for up to $500,000 in funding. It does require a 5% local cash match. So that would be no more than $25,000, but viewed another way, the state is incentivizing local investment at the tune of 95% when we come in with the five. We also agreed to administer the grant. after we apply the final funding decision is made by the rural infrastructure authority their next meeting is august 20th and we're working to meet that deadline and just to finish up quickly i do want to thank hannah and sebastian who are here also michael littell our business retention and expansion manager who's worked really diligently to get the application together as well as kevin zostak at the alamance chamber of commerce part of the team kind of working all hands on deck to make this happen in a timely manner. Lastly, you may remember that Council submitted a similar resolution and application in December 2022 when Alamance Foods added 135 jobs at the Cedar Crest location and further evidence of them growing again and again. We thank you for your consideration and please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

I would love to offer for Hannah or Sebastian to share with us briefly about the product

What you're doing yeah, so really for us as we continue to expand recently within this actually February just to give a little bit of insight. We actually gained the McDonald's 37 business. So really for us very exciting on that. And that's more from the cold phone category. But most recently we really looked at what can we do to continue to innovate, bring more jobs to the community and ultimately more business. So within that. We had Costco Walmart ultimately knocking on her door saying we want another, we need a private label manufacturer on the drinkable yogurt. And within that, our R and D team worked diligently to ultimately deliver a formula within a month. Within that, we really would appreciate your support as we would love to continue to grow and innovate in North Carolina. And that's where this, diligent project because really really fast approach where ultimately our goal would be june of next year to ultimately be selling product and getting that to our consumers so really appreciate your support and we look forward to continuing to grow with the community thank you thank you absolutely just say thank you to the city of garlington for committing uh for considering this and we've looked uh we've enjoyed being partners thus far and continue to invest in the community and work together to grow our community in positive direction thank you

Thank you both. So we need a motion and a second to adopt a resolution to support an application to the North Carolina Commerce Building Reuse Grant Program for Alamance Foods Incorporated. Do I have a motion and a second?

Motion so approved.

Second?

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Thank you. thank you we come to the time in our meeting for public comments have one person who has signed up for public comments if you would state your name and address and then you have five minutes. Thank you. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. My name is Mike Barone. I live at 3032 Westport, McArlington. I'm here to talk about flock cameras. I'm concerned about the number of flock cameras, the growth of flock cameras in our community, respectfully recorded. from our community for the following reasons that I will outline throughout my talk here. I'm not going to get into how they were approved or paid for. I understand that they're fairly cheap, but there is the saying that if something is given away for it's very cheap, that's not the product. We are the product. I think we can kind of see that now with what's going on with the flock cameras. More importantly, my concern is of a dangerous trajectory. from being used for emergencies, going into crime fighting, and for lesser crimes, offenses, observation. Flock is being turned into an observation slash database, data collection tool, which I think is very dangerous. It goes against liberty and privacy that people deserve in this country, in this community. One of the big concerns is data security. I understand that FLOC is sold, that the data is retained for 30 days and then deleted. However, that has been proven to not be true. If you look recently at the case in Cleveland, there's side door access to all the FLOC data, right? And this is done with a data fusion center which collects all the FLOC camera data along with facial recognition. video collection, police reports, social media, gunshot detectors, et cetera, and this is all merged into a controlled database where they're using the data from these cameras to build these. This creates maps, habits, and movements of people as well as it's a de facto, I believe, GPS tracking device that infringes on the liberties So there's precedent where these are not being used for what they're being sold for. A flop, in my opinion, also reverses what I would call the traditional order of constitutional policing, where traditionally you gather a suspect, then there's probable cause, and then there's a warrant. Flop cameras have been proven to take this in the other direction, treating people more as suspects and innocent accountability impossible, in my opinion, and it will grow to be impossible. Once there's an error, but there have been proven to be several errors, there's a lot of finger pointing, as there's a lot of things, between the technology company, maybe the police, maybe the feds, as to who's at fault, and there's really no accountability there. But I believe it has proven to not be very forthcoming with how they treated the data and dealt with those type of situations. in my opinion, to generate algorithms that the public cannot use, cannot examine, or that the accused cannot examine, that can be used against the citizens of this country and this community. These algorithms industrialize prejudices, bias, and bad information, resulting in what I believe labels being treated as facts. In addition to many people being misread and improperly arrested, accused, et cetera, plot cameras can also pick up the MAC address on your phones as a tracker, also can pick up a Bluetooth signal to connect to tracking items, which this would be particularly troubling in the recent Supreme Court decision in U.S., Chatterjee versus U.S. where the Supreme Court confirmed that cell phone location is protected by the fourth amendment it's considered a search also flock data can be used in free form searches with multiple cameras for not just license plates but other characteristics clothing tattoos race etc all of these things in my opinion are fairly dangerous for the citizenry i don't think they belong in our community a couple examples if i have time I'm out of time.

Thank you for sharing with us tonight. Thanks for sharing your concerns with us.

You're welcome. Thank you for listening.

No one else has signed up for public comments so therefore we will close our public comment time. At this time I invite our City Council to make any comments and then I'll make a few announcements. Okay, okay. Okay, comments? okay um then i'll just make a few announcements um again i do appreciate when um residents of our community residents of our city come and share concerns and um and i know that our city staff hear those concerns and so i i won't be surprised if we hear more about that in the future um just a few things upcoming events that we have fourth friday concert is this coming friday july the 24th beginning at 5 30 the concert will take place at a new location in front of the food hall on front street um so that's kind of flipping things uh so come out to fourth friday's um on friday evening July the 29th is the Restoration Advisory Board, often known as RAB, meeting which will be held at Kernodle Senior Center and this is the group that is discussing Western Electric, the situation of Western Electric. August 4th is National Night Out. Residents, law enforcement agencies, civic groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations come together to celebrate National Night Out with a variety of events and activities such as block parties, cookouts, and visits from city staff, local police, and public safety. This is an opportunity to be in community with your neighbors. This is a good time to get out and see our city staff but also to see your neighbors. We have concerts in the park at City Park on Friday, August the 14th from 7 to 9. The next Burlington City Council work session will be held on Tuesday, August 17th at 5 p.m. with the City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 18th at 7 p.m. A special meeting will be held for a City Council retreat on August the 20th, 2026 and will be noticed accordingly. The Recreation Department hosted the annual USA Softball Senior Slow Pitch National Championship Tournament from July 14th to 19th at City Park, Springwood Park, and Fairchild Park. There were 77 teams from 12 states and over 1,200 players. So that's pretty amazing. Our Parks and Recreation and Parks does it again in a beautiful way. So it's really wonderful to have these senior softball players in the community this week. And some people went home really happy, I'm certain. But we are excited that they were in our city. I do not have other announcements. I am guessing, I'm just reading the room. I need a motion and a second to adjourn. All in favor? Aye. Thank you.