Board of Aldermen - Regular Meeting

Good evening, good evening everyone, and welcome to the Tuesday, 03/17/2026 meeting of the Carrboro Town Council. This is a regular business meeting this evening. And before we get into the heart of our agenda, I would like to welcome to the podium our illustrious Carrboro Poet Laureate, Doctor. Amanda Bennett. Come on, Doctor. Bennett.

Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Happy to be back. Happy St. Patrick's Day. So I'm

not wearing green, but we'll make it work.

So over the weekend, I actually had the honor of reading some of my poetry and being a panelist at the Women's History Month celebration at the Drakeford. And it made me think about how poetry is such an important tool for young women to learn how to use their voices especially in civic spaces like these. So I wanted to share tonight a poem by Audrey Urlaub. She is a high school student at Carrboro High. And her poem is called Open Your Hand.

So in a world where perfection is the goal, we become as permanent as our errors and as temporary as our success. Open your hand. Empty? Then here is mine, empty as well, but now intertwined with the solidarity of understanding. For we are a tapestry of everyone around us, woven by those who came before, mended by the stories of who we are, and remembered by the notions of who we hope to be.

We, the daughters of persistence, and a time when our mothers wrote their names and places history intended to leave blank. We, the daughters of dreamers who grew gardens in stubborn soil, watered with care like the gentle rain, steady enough to carve canyons into stone. So I ask, if our words are a bond, then why must we keep scars to prove we have struggled? Open your hand. Empty.

Again. Look closer. Veins forged by history, knuckles bruised by the cost of earning respect, and fingers aching for the comfort of reaching out. Because above all, we have learned that community is truly just another word for courage. Thank you.

Wow. Yes. Very good, Doctor. Bennett. Very good. We had a wonderful time at the Women's History Month event on Saturday. Doctor. Bennett, she read poetry, and she also was a part of the panel. It was a great time. We had young leaders there. I mean, it was really intergenerational. And that felt really good. So thank you so much. So I have a resolution, a couple of proclamations. I'll head to the podium.

So the first thing I want to do is I want to take this opportunity it's been a heavy day, you all to acknowledge the passing of one of our community members, Maybelle McClendon. Ms. McClendon is the mother of Anissa McClendon, who is a former police officer. And she is the sister of Ms. Helen.

Ms. Helen, I believe, works with our Parks and Rec department in a part time capacity. Ms. McClendon was a member of our Race and Equity Commission. She worked the polls during voting season. She retired from the state of North Carolina. She worked with Marion Cheek Jackson Center, CropWalk, St. Paul 5 Ks. It was a very long list of volunteerism for Ms. McClendon.

And I just can't tell you how shocked I was when I got the call this morning. But I do want us to take comfort in a life well lived, celebrate Ms. McClendon's journey, her character, and community impact with gratitude. And the best way we can do that is to honor her legacy. The homegoing services are incomplete, of course.

But I just ask that you keep this family in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult season. Miss May McClendon has passed from this world to the next. I do have a resolution that I will ask the council for approval. And I also have two proclamations. The resolution is for North Carolina governor Josh Stein to stop Duke Energy's expansion of fossil fuels and suppression of climate solutions.

Whereas prominent climatologist James Hansen reported in November 2025 that failures at the national and global level to address the urgent climate crisis have rendered it implausible to keep global warming under a critical threshold of two degrees Celsius. And whereas, the climate emergency is already heavily impacting North Carolinians, especially those most vulnerable through worsening storms, heat waves, catastrophic flooding events, and economic hardship, and is predicted to continue accelerating. And whereas, the state is headquarters to Duke Energy, one of the world's largest climate polluters, which plans to build more gas fired power generation than any other US corporation. And whereas, Duke Energy is also proposing to attempt to build more dangerous, failure prone, and experimental nuclear plants than any other US corporation, which, along with the gas expansion, would likely triple most customers' power bills. And whereas, Duke Energy continues to suppress feasible and inexpensive climate solutions, such as solar power paired with batteries, while much of the world is rapidly developing renewable energy.

And whereas, globally prominent climate scientist Doctor. Drew Schindel has urged North Carolina governor Josh Stein that it is really an emergency that we change course as quickly as possible. We really need to use all the levers we can to push Duke Energy away from this fossil fuel path. And whereas the town of Carrboro is suing Duke Energy Corporation, charging that its top executives have helped lead a nationwide conspiracy of climate deception for decades. And whereas Governor Stein should match Carrboro's courage for breaking through the deception and helping the public understand that North Carolina is on the wrong course and that Duke Energy must finally begin a genuine transition to clean energy if this state is ever going to help slow the climate crisis.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that we, the Carlborough Town Council, urge North Carolina governor Josh Stein to become a national climate champion by using every tool available to him to persuade or require Duke Energy executives to phase out deadly and dangerous fuel sources and transition to affordable, resilient, and renewable energy. Be it further resolved that we urge governor Stein, as an initial step, to lead the installation of solar and batteries to make critical public facilities resilient during outages and further require data centers to include maximum on-site renewables and battery storage to provide their own clean power when investing in new facilities. And this resolution is also being signed on to by businesses, organizations, and other elected officials. Council members, I need a motion and a second and a vote. So moved.

Thank you so much. Council Member Posada Orozco, second?

Seconded.

Thank you so much. Council Member, now it's been moved and properly seconded that we pass this resolution. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries seven-zero. The resolution has passed. Thank you, council members. The first proclamation I have is in recognition and celebration of Creek Week, which I believe starts on March 21. Whereas, streams, rivers, lakes, and other waterways hold significant public value, providing drinking water opportunities for recreation and places of inspiration and reflection.

And whereas, healthy waterways provide critical habitat, deliver essential ecosystem services, and sustain the rich biodiversity upon which all forms of life depend. And whereas, residents are being affected by climate crisis, directly experiencing extreme rain events, flooding, prolonged heat waves, droughts that also strain local water resources. And whereas, many communities are engaged in a continued struggle for environmental equality, fair access to natural resources, and meaningful participation in decision making processes. And whereas, in addition to Creek Week, awareness campaigns, beach sweeps, and other efforts that empower people to restore waterways have been ongoing since the 1960s. And whereas, governments affiliated with the North Carolina Clean Water Education Partnership worked together to celebrate and bring attention to local creeks and streams across the region.

And whereas, the town of Carrboro works in collaboration with partners, including county government, municipalities, institutions, businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations to support and sponsor Orange County Creek Week. And whereas the town of Carrboro invites residences to participate in events held throughout the region, as well as in the following locally held events, 03/21/2026, 11AM to 3PM. Creek Week kickoff at the Drakeford Library Complex. 03/28/2026, 10AM to noon, litter sweep at the Libba Cotton Bike Path. Now, therefore, I, Barbara M.

Fouche, mayor of the town of Carrboro, do hereby proclaim the fourth week in March as Creek Week in the town of Carrboro, North Carolina. I urge our residents to celebrate our waterways and commit to their stewardship this, the March 2026. And welcome Jeanette O'Connor. She is our Stormwater Advisory Commission chair. She will accept the proclamation and say a few words if she would like to. Welcome. Thank you so

much. Thank you.

Nobody told me I had to say words.

But on behalf of the Stormwater Commission, I do thank you because the more education we get out there, the better. So yes, thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you for being here. We appreciate it. The second proclamation is in very close proximity to the last one. It is to honor and recognize World Water Day.

Whereas about 70% of the Earth's fresh water exists as snow or ice, and whereas nearly 2,000,000,000 people rely on water from glaciers, snowmelt, and mountain runoff for drinking, agriculture, and energy production. And whereas as the planet gets hotter, our frozen world is shrinking, making the water cycle more unpredictable. And whereas, countless communities and ecosystems are at risk of devastation. For billions of people, meltwater flows are changing, causing floods, droughts, landslides, and sea level rise, and damaging ecosystems. And whereas, as we work together to mitigate and adapt to climate change, glacier preservation is a top priority and survival strategy.

And whereas, we must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow down glacier retreat, and we must manage meltwater more sustainably. And whereas saving our glaciers is a survival strategy for people and for the planet. Now, therefore, I, Barbara M. Fouche, mayor of the town of Carrboro, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim 03/22/2026, to be World Water Day in Carrboro, this the March 2026. And we have our Chief Sustainability Officer, Amy Armbruster, who will accept the proclamation and say a few words if she would like to. Hello, Amy.

Thank you so much.

Oh, she didn't want to say a few words. She did say a few. She said, thank you so much. And so that's all good. And at this time, I would like to invite Councilmember Frey to the podium for another proclamation, Transgender Day of Visibility. Councilmember Frey. Thank

you, Madam Mayor. Whereas Transgender Day of Visibility was started in 2009 by trans elder and activist Rachel Crandall Crocker in response to the lack of visibility for transgender people and the focus of that limited public attention on violence and cruelty against trans transgender people. And whereas Crandall Crocker aspired to create an occasion for the transgender community to come together in joy and celebration of their resilience and their living achievements. And whereas the transgender community includes all those whose gender does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth, including many non binary and third gender people. And whereas transgender people have existed in all human societies across time, including those which have welcomed them and those which did not have names for them.

And whereas there are at least one point six million transgender individuals in The United States, or around one point five percent of the population, according to a 2022 study from the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School, and whereas black, indigenous, and Latinx people are more likely to identify as transgender, according to the same study, and transgender people of color are at the forefront of movements for LGBTQ plus equality, and whereas the percentage of younger people identifying as transgender has increased as visibility provides them with examples of transgender adults living openly and achieving success in a wide variety of pursuits, And whereas ninety four percent of those who pursued a social or medical transition reported that they were more satisfied with their lives, according to the early insights report of the groundbreaking US trans survey conducted in 2022 by the National Center for Transgender Equality, and whereas transgender youths who have socially transitioned and are supported in their gender identity by their families have comparable mental health to the general population, according to research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2016, and whereas transgender people are well represented among the outstanding inventors, artists, scientists, and advocates of the twentieth and twenty first centuries, and whereas young transgender people are succeeding in fields as varied as chemistry, poetry, and politics, and whereas in the face of ignorance and oppression, transgender people continue to show the world that they not only exist, but persist and thrive, and whereas nothing the governments of The United States or of the state of North Carolina or the offices thereof attempt to do will change these facts, and whereas the town of Carrboro stands with, celebrates, and defends its transgender residents and employees and supports the mission of the International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that I well, us, but in the name of Barbara Fucci, mayor of the town of Carrboro, do hereby proclaim Tuesday, 03/31/2026, as Transgender Day of Visibility in the town of Carrboro. I ask all residents of Carrboro to celebrate our transgender community, to educate ourselves about the contributions of transgender people, and support our transgender community's efforts to achieve equity and full inclusion in our society. And be it further resolved that the transgender pride flag be flown at town hall from Friday, March 27 through Thursday, April 2 in honor of the holiday, this the March 2026.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Frey. I appreciate you reading that very important proclamation recognizing Transgender Day of Visibility. Thank you so much. And we are now down to the town manager's update. Town manager Tony, you have something?

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council. I just wanted to remind people to visit our website, carbrollnc.gov, for latest updates on events and activities, and to encourage you all to sign up for the Orange County Alert System. When we have extreme weather events, it's important to keep up to date on closings and emergency notices via the emergency alert system. Thank you.

Thank you so much for that, town manager Tony. I know my phones were buzzing and ringing and asking for confirmation and all kinds of things as we had that weather that passed through on yesterday. So very worthy to sign up for that Orange County alerts. We are now down to public comment period. And I'm getting the sheets. I have one person signed up. And I welcome Carol Kelly. Her subject matter is the TC dancers. Ms. Kelly, come on up.

Thank you very much. I love that you start with a poem. And today, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought really it would be nice to entreaty St. Patrick.

He banned the snakes from Ireland. But wouldn't it be wonderful if he could get rid of all those barriers to housing in Carrboro, or barriers to transgender individuals, or all that overuse of fossil fuel that you care so much about. And the one thing that I'm here about is I wish that he could get rid of broken friendships and help heal. Madam Mayor, council members, and also staff I've been here before with members of Triangle, country dancers, and others who rent from the Carrboro Community Center and have had their agreements breached. Having heard nothing, I come back to ask of you, who are you?

Who are you? Are you that progressive city that devotes council meetings to creating the kind of resolutions I just listened to? Again, protecting rights of transgender people, trying to get rid of overuse of fossil fuels. I know that you care so much about housing and making sure that people are protected from ICE agents. Are you that city who has courage and stands up to corporations?

Are you that city that's a leader, not only in North Carolina, but in our whole country? What other towns are doing these kind of resolutions and the actions that you are doing, Carrboro? That's the Carrboro that I think of, that I am so proud of, and I'm sure you all are proud to be a part of. Or are you a city that does not honor your agreement, that breaches contracts? Are you one that turns your back on old friends?

The community, one of them that I'm a part of, has been friends with Carrboro for years and years. And when you all had trouble affording the floor in the Century Center, we raised over $30,000 to pay for that. We're an old friend. Are you a city that repeatedly dismisses attempts to resolve issues face to face, that doesn't care about the reputation that you have carefully created and continue to create. What is that? 26 left? There are ways to resolve issues. Some go to court. I think that leads to an adversarial approach. Does it really solve anything?

Or there's public opinion. If media becomes involved, I also don't think that's in Carrboro's benefit. But when you care about a relationship, I think it's important to reach out, to talk to people directly. And I come here to appeal to your better angels and do the right thing. Honor your agreement. Don't alienate your supporters and the community. And I hope that you will reach out. Thank you for your time. And thank you for all that you do.

Thank you so much, Ms. Kelly, for those comments. Ms. Kelly is the only person I have signed up for public comment. Is there anyone else in the audience that would like to give public comment on any issue?

Council members, we are now down to the consent agenda. We have three items. We have the minutes, memorandum of understanding for the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness, and a resolution to authorize a contract for the FEMA Public Assistance Program grant management services. I don't believe council members want to pull any of these items. We can take care of this in a single motion. Council members.

I'd like to move the consent agenda.

Thank you so much. Second. All right. It's been moved and properly seconded that we move these three items on the consent agenda. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries seven-zero. We have approved our consent agenda. Town Manager Tony, we are down to the public hearing.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. The first item is a public hearing. This is a legislative public hearing on a land use ordinance amendment text amendment relating to the office residential mixed use zoning district. And Tina Moon will provide the presentation.

Thank you so much. Welcome, Tina.

Thank you. And thank you for the introduction. Great. Perfect.

Thanks so much.

Let's just I think the introduction covered the title slide, so we'll just jump right in. So a quick reminder of the legislative public hearing process. Because this is legislative, you have broad discretion. There's no swearing in. After the staff presentation and public hearing, I can come back up to the podium to help walk you through your action, if appropriate or if necessary. And so after you go through the consistency statement, then there'll be the second decision, which is the formal adoption of the ordinance as required by state statute.

Right. And while you're taking a break talking, let's open the public hearing. And we're hearing from staff at this moment.

Thank you. Okay. There is a couple of bullets in the staff report, a couple of links to the previous agenda items for the then Board of Aldermen as they talked about the creation of this new district. And what is shown on the screen outlined in dashed area is the actual Ormey District, to give you a sense of the area that we're talking about. And so this came about for the history buffs for discussions after a proposal came forward for a multi use project.

And the then council was interested in not just moving forward with multifamily, but looking at something that was a little bit more mixed use, and specifically that had some office components to it. And so they actually asked staff to come back a couple of times to put this new ordinance together. So both the text amendment to create a new district, and then subsequently a rezoning at that last meeting on June 20 to apply that new district to actual property. And for those of you that are familiar with the area, this this goes along the border of Chapel Hill Carparo, so along Merritt Mill Road. So this area includes the ready mix concrete site, Hunt Electric, and then there's a couple of residential properties still there on Merritt Mill.

So the full ordinance is included in your packet in Attachment C. This is just a paraphrase just to cover the general components that you find in an ordinance when you create a new district. And so there's a purpose statement. There's a section that speaks to applicability, permitting requirements, and then there's a series of standards. So as you look through this, you can see that the emphasis of creating this district was really upon mixed use, commercial uses, and the particulars related to that.

What it didn't include or didn't speak to clearly is what happens to those existing residential only uses. And so this was brought to light when applicants came to the town seeking to build an accessory dwelling use. And we found that we really didn't have sufficient criteria in the ordinance to allow that to move forward. And those folks are here in the audience. They came in after you brought in the sign in sheet.

So if they'd like to speak afterwards, they're here for that purpose. So in an effort to address this, staff put together a new subsection C. And this is pretty straightforward. This is a zoom in, the aerial view, so you can see me see if I can get the mouse to work. The three houses are about here.

And so this subsection, new subsection D, essentially says that for residential only uses, that they can change and that the changes would occur consistent to R3. And that aligns with what's in the remaining standards for the ORMU. So there's no question about down zoning. We spoke to the town attorney about that in advance just to make sure we weren't falling into that problem. So as a legislative decision, we look to the comprehensive plan for consistency.

Staff has identified a couple of goals and specific strategies that seem to make sense for this particular text amendment, allowing additional opportunities for accessory dwellings and other types of uses. And perhaps most important, strategy five, two, which is when we notice a gap in the ordinance or an area that needs clarification, to move forward and to make that administrative change. And similarly, that seems to make sense in terms of reasonableness and being in the public interest. And so with that, I will pause for the staff presentation and then come up afterwards if you're ready to move forward.

Thank you, Tina. I would now like to invite any members of the public to come up and give public comment, if you would like to at this time on this matter. No members of the public from the community or from the area? Okay. Council members, are there any questions?

Saw Council Member Merrill, I saw your question light, but it looked like you got that question answered I did. To your satisfaction. Anyone else? Comments or questions about this? Nobody. I say, Councilmember Palmer?

This wouldn't affect Knight's action, but I wondered if we could proactively look anywhere else in town at mixed use where this might apply.

We could certainly do that. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm sorry. When I got up, I missed it. Can you say that again? I'm sorry.

If we can look proactively at because given the introduction, this came about because there were particular folks who couldn't do what they wanted to do in a timely fashion. And we can't go back in time and fix that for these folks. But we can prevent something similar in the future if we make sure that as whether it's part of our UDO process or it's part of existing regular process that we identify any other parcels that might have a similar one: effect.

Okay. So you're talking about, I heard you use the word proactive. Yes. Proactively. Okay. Sounds good to me. Nobody else? All right. So what I will do is go ahead and close this public hearing. We still have a decision to make, council members. There is the resolution for consistency, which is attachment A, as well as the draft ordinance. And that is what we are being asked to pass if we're going to do it tonight, which I presume we are. Madam Mayor. Oh, Okay. Yes, Councilmember Frey.

Madam Mayor, if I may, I would like to move that we find attachment A, its contents are consistent with the comprehensive plan, that it is reasonable and in the public benefit, and

that we therefore approve this change.

Okay. You want to do both at the same time, or you prefer separate?

That was Attachment A, and so I'll add, if you like, I move that we

also adopt the revised ordinance as written in Attachment B.

Second. All right. So it's been moved and properly seconded that we adopt the resolution for consistency for this item as well as the draft ordinance in a single motion, no other questions or comments, council members? Looks like not. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries seven-zero. We're done. Thank you so much, Tina, and for those who came out from the community.

So now we have one information item. Town Manager?

Yes, one information item. This item is a general agenda for information only. This is an update just from our pillars. Sometimes you probably do see them quite a bit, but our Chief Sustainability Officer and our chief race and equity officer, just to provide you with some updates, high level. And then as we get closer to the end of the fiscal year, there'll be a full year report from these areas.

Welcome, Ms. Jones McNair, our Chief Race and Equity Officer.

Good evening. Before I begin, I want to take a few moments to again thank you all for your leadership and your support in this work. And, I'm just going to give my thank yous out in the beginning. I want to thank our town manager, town manager Toni, for her leadership and guidance. And certainly want to thank all the staff members that are operationalizing this work on a daily basis.

And, I cannot forget to recognize our community partners because they also help us work move this work forward. So, just want to get my thank yous out of the way. So, tonight, I'm going to be brief, but what I want to talk about is some key milestones in our journey, why this work continues to remain of an important nature, examples of the progress that we have made in 2025, our next step, which is one, at this point, because Carrboro is continuing to turn commitment into action as we advance this important work together. So, I've got a couple of slides that talk about some high level milestones through this process. In 2018, at that point, Board of Aldermen voted to move forward with this work, and we joined GEAR, Government Alliance on Race and Equity.

In 2020, two resolutions were adopted, One being the resolution to advance racial equity in law enforcement and public safety, and the second resolution dealt with reparations for black car burrow. In 2021, the racial equity commission and the community safety task force were established. In 2022, elected officials from the Orange County towns and the county came together to adopt the One Orange racial equity framework, which became a regional commitment of this working forward to advance racial equity. And, also, in that same year, our first comprehensive plan was adopted. In 2023, the council adopted our first race and equity action plan.

In 2024, the town worked with the One Orange Collaborative to develop a One Orange data dashboard, which had a dual purpose in mind, one being community transparency and the other helping with organizational decisions. And then, finally, the town of Carlborough was designated an all American city in 2025. And, the highlight for that wonderful award came from the commitment to community partnership, civic engagement, and inclusive decision making. So, each of these milestones definitely reflect progress, but what truly matters is how this work expands opportunities and strengthens our community. All of our residents should have access to resources and be able to participate in decisions that affect their lives.

It's become the foundation of everything that we do. Not only that, it builds strong community partnerships between town government, local governments and residents. And, finally, it also drives accountability because data is being collected, frameworks are being established and everything that we need to measure the progress and improve the outcomes for our community. So, this is a collage of snapshots that highlight our teams working alongside our community. And, as we continue to put equity into practice, we think about the efforts like the inclusive playground in Baldwin Park, and also hosting the town's first community hall town hall meeting for our residents.

Now, this is just a snapshot, but stay tuned. We will have a more comprehensive plan report for 2025, coming shortly. I want to take another look at some of the wins from a higher level perspective.

One

being onboarding of our new employees. And so, we have standardized that practice in terms of providing equity training as part of our onboarding process. And so, this way, all of our new employees are able to get an understanding of our equity commitments as well as our expectations. We also provide training opportunities for our current staff. Not only are they able to understand more of what equity could mean for us, but also how to apply it day to day.

Then, of course, we are steadily working through our racial equity assessment lenses, so as we take a look at our policies, practices, and procedures, and also a look at new initiatives. As we look at the reviews of our assessment lenses, our teams, our town teams, are able to carefully look at impacts, as well as opportunities. And also, how it shapes our programs, policies, and how they're being delivered and developed. And, of course, last year, we updated our pocket question practice to include climate action questions. This helps to keep us both on the forefront of the terms of our core priorities, front and center.

So, when you think about these structures that we have in place, the real assessment, the pocket questions, departments are able to share insights that will help with decision making. And so, we want to celebrate these successes, but we also want to look at how we can move forward. And, in 2026, we are working toward updating that racial equity action plan. The departments are wrapping up their real assessments, and after that, the evaluation and analysis that will come out of that will help guide and recommend moving forward in terms of our equitable practice in the community. And so, we're not only putting our we're not only just talking the talk, but we're trying to ensure that equity is part of our practice in terms of a day to day obligation.

And so, we will move forward with that report coming your way. And certainly, we want to begin an informal review of how to move forward. And so, that's my report. Any questions?

Thank you so much, Ms. Jones McNair, for the update. And the work continues, just realizing that the work is hard, but definitely worth it. And so we appreciate you leading in the position from the position that you're in and all that you do for our race equity work. We are very much appreciated.

I don't think I have any questions. Council members, any questions or comments for Ms. Jones McNear? I think she kind of covered everything. Oh, I did have did you mention about the REAP Race Equity Action Plan? Is there an update on that plan or anything coming there that's a plan that

That is our next step. Yes, that is our next step. We need to update the plan. The plan was good for about two, two and a half years. It laid the foundation of our history, what we would like to do, and we started with completing the REAL's. The departments needed an opportunity to evaluate their policies, practices and procedures. Now that that's wrapping up, we can do a more comprehensive plan in terms of what that will look like for the town of Carrboro, in terms of service delivery disparities and things of that nature.

Very good. Thank you for that response. And for anyone that's listening, we continue to do this work, even in the face of potential changes above our heads. But, you know, we're the town of Carrboro. Know, we'll pivot if we need to. Absolutely. But, certainly, we stand in this work on a daily basis. Did you have something else you wanted to say, Ms.

Jones? Yes. And so, that particular plan that we'll be working on, of course, staff will be very involved, but we're also trying to look at some partners that can help us draft that plan for your review and consideration. And, of course, community engagement. Absolutely, that will be in the forefront, as well.

Okay. Yeah, thank you so much. I don't think council members had any other questions or comments. They seem satisfied. So, thank you.

You're welcome.

Appreciate you. Next up, your counterpart here with the pillars. Our chief sustainability officer, welcome Amy.

Thank you.

Mr. John, I got you on three minutes. What did me?

No, I'm

just kidding.

Good evening, mayor. Good evening, council. Madam town manager Amy Armbruster, town manager's office and chief sustainability officer. In Carrboro, sustainability isn't just something that we do. It is who we are.

Race and equity and climate action are the guiding pillars for everything we achieve as a town requiring the expertise and dedication of every department. Recently, this council saw that integration and action through presentations on our greenhouse gas inventory, storm water management, and presentations from our fire and rescue and planning teams. At our next meeting, you'll hear from housing and community services about their essential contributions. But tonight, we take a moment to celebrate a few standout successes that demonstrates why Carrboro remains a leader in this movement. But before I begin, I'd like to note that none of this progress would be possible without the bold vision and steadfast support of this council.

Thank you. I also want to acknowledge the dozens of staff members across the whole organization whose daily dedication turns these high level goals into reality. While today's presentation cannot cover every initiative, it highlights a handful of remarkable achievements that exemplify our shared commitment to climate action. The town is a leader in mitigating climate emissions and building resilience to climate change. This start this work started well before 2017, but that was the year we adopted the first community climate action plan.

This plan was then integrated into the Carbara Connects comprehensive plan, and it focused our strategies around increasing the resilience of low income communities of color who are often disproportionately impacted by climate change. In 2024, the climate action team was formed to accelerate our progress. Two bold and ambitious goals drive this work. The 2030 goal targets an 80% reduction in climate emissions, community and municipal greenhouse gas emissions from twenty ten levels. And by 2042, when we have fully implemented the comprehensive plan, our community will achieve a resilient, equitable, and carbon neutral.

So when I talk about climate action priorities, I like to talk about them in three buckets. The first is to reduce municipal emissions caused by town buildings, operations, facilities. Our tools here are energy efficiency, renewable energy, electrification, and EVs. The second bucket is to reduce community emissions, again prioritizing low income communities of color. And the third bucket is to build community resilience.

This means protecting ourselves and our communities from harm by doing things like cooling down our streets by planting trees, building better, more energy efficient housing, and reducing the impacts of natural hazards such as flooding and extreme heat. Since Sebastian Provencio and Erin Kino on my team presented to you in January about our twenty twenty four greenhouse gas inventory and municipal climate action initiatives, we have added six e bikes to the town fleet for use by town employees. We have installed eight new EV chargers at town commons for fleet vehicles, And the new solar array on the roof of the Drakeford Library Complex has produced 14 megawatt hours of clean, green, renewable energy. That's the equivalent of driving about 22,000 miles in a gas powered car or charging your cell phone 760,000 times.

That's like a day.

The results are in for our twenty twenty five greenhouse gas inventory. Carrboro's 2025 inventory reflects the unexpected impacts of tropical storm Chantal. Overall, municipal emissions rose 5%. While the opening of the Drakeford Library complex and increased natural gas unit usage in the Century Center drove building emissions upward, the most notable shift occurred in our fleet vehicle emissions. For the first time since 2019, fleet emissions decreased.

However, this reduction is primarily the result of the operational disruptions caused by tropical storm Chantal. These resulted in the loss of many fleet vehicles and the closure of our public works facility. So while the data shows a lower carbon emissions for our fleet this year, it highlights the urgent need for our ongoing transition to a more resilient climate ready fleet and infrastructure. Celebrating wins in our community climate action, one of my favorite programs is the Green Neighborhood grant. In this year's grant cycle, we continued our emphasis on reaching neighborhoods and residents that this grant was designed to serve those low income communities of color.

In addition to traditional communication channels like our website, emails, and social media, we also put out yard signs in English and Spanish in key neighborhoods. We printed up posters, again in English and Spanish, and posted them in our town information centers and all across town. We also this year met one on one with key community groups like Rina, El Centro, and Empowerment Inc. To enlist their help to spread the word. We had a table at a Saturday's farmers market to reach even more neighbors.

And in addition, thanks to the great question by mayor pro tem Posada Orozco last year, the online application used a software tool that could translate the application into over 100 languages. So I am so thrilled to report that out of our 11 applications in this 2026 grant cycle, 50% were from low income communities of color. New this year, we allowed neighborhoods to apply for the full $25,000 we had to grant. This year, as a result, over $100,000 in strong grant applications requested Green Neighborhood grant dollars. This reflects the community's passion for this work as well as the need for more community driven climate action.

Now I'd like to share a couple of stories about the great successes we're seeing as a result of our Green Neighborhoods grant. This is the Forest Court rain garden, and that beautiful lady in the plum dress is Lucretia Kinney. She joined with Corinne Powell after they noticed that after every storm, water would run downhill from the top of the neighborhood and cause horrible flooding. That water would sit in crawl spaces and cause humidity problems that could lead to mold. These residents' energy bills were astronomical, and yet their homes were still uncomfortable.

This grant was combined with federal $3.19 money to add underground pipe and build the rain garden. One neighbor said she could immediately feel the difference in her home. No standing water, lower humidity, more comfortable house, and lower energy bills. Plus, the water that fills the rain garden during a storm now slowly seeps into Bowling Creek, causing less erosion and water quality problems. Another great aspect of this project that I love is that high schoolers were trained by urban sustainability solutions and helped install the garden alongside residents.

This is Patrick Hyatt and Sandra So to. They live on Pleasant Drive. They push for the neighborhood to apply when they learned that Pleasant Drive is an urban heat island. That means that the temperature on this street can be up to nine degrees warmer on summer days than in surrounding neighborhoods with more trees and less asphalt. They were increasingly concerned about the number of trees dying or being removed around town.

And so they'd used the Green Neighborhood grant to plant 30 native trees. They chose a red maple for their yard because it had been on the property before they moved in and it had since died. As you can see, neighbors along Pleasant Drive, young and old, got in on the tree planting action. And lastly, our third bucket is building community resilience, the impacts of climate change. Much of the latter half of this year was spent recovering from tropical storm Chantal, which is a visible reminder of how important this work is to our community.

Climate change is no longer a far off threat. It became something that impacted our friends and our neighborhood. The response and recovery efforts by our fire and safety, police department, and public works teams were second to none. A couple of wins. This year, in its first year, the Drakeford proved to be an indispensable community asset.

It hosted the Recovery Assistance Center, as well as functioning as a cooling center. Another win is our heat action plan. The win here is that by working through emergency response protocols for extreme heat, Orange County Emergency Management reported that their response to this winter's very cold weather days also improved. I also want to give a shout out to our communications and engagement team for the amazing work that they do, getting the word out about these natural hazard events. Quickly, two other programs that I'm very excited to see happen this year.

We will be conducting a street tree inventory and developing an urban forestry master plan. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this year was the first year we began awarding storm water grants to our residents. And we did a lot of work this year on hazard mitigation and preparation. The EnoHA hazard mitigation plan was updated and adopted, a county wide THIRA was conducted, a county wide emergency operations plan was developed, and now the town of Carrboro is developing, excuse me, is updating our emergency operations plan. These plans help us respond to the impacts of climate change, which we know will continue to worsen as emissions continue.

That is why it is increasingly critical that Carrboro continues to aggressively aggressively invest in programs to achieve our ambitious climate action goals.

Thank you.

Rocket.

Thank you so much for that wonderful update. Certainly good news in the sustainability department as we continue our progress. Council members, any questions or comments for Amy? Everyone satisfied? Thumbs up. Everyone is happy. Thank you so much, Amy.

Very welcome.

Great update. Appreciate you and Anita. Thank you. Council members, we are at the end of our agenda. We have a couple of closed session items. So I need a motion from someone for us to move into closed session. So I moved. Seconded. All right. It's been moved and properly seconded that we go into closed session.

We have two items to consider qualifications, performance for an employee, and also acquisition of real property. So it's been moved and properly seconded that we go into closed session. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries seven-zero. If we could just get everyone to kind of move out of the council chambers at this time, unless you're part of the closed session, and take a few minutes, council members, if you need to, for water or bathroom.

Excuse me.

Me. I'm sorry, Mr. Joyner. Yes, you always help me. There will be a vote. There should be a vote for acquisition of real property.

And is that the one you would like to take up first?

We're to do that one first, and then we'll move to the other one, where there'll be no vote.

Thank you. Wanted to let them know so they can close-up.

Thank you for that.