City Council Zoning Meeting - Regular Meeting

Community, so you're working with people from all walks of life. I think being able to connect with the community and then some of those districts is really important. Not only just so we continue our expectation to lead the city, so that helps them grow as an officer and their personal development as well. So I can really encourage people, if you see something, say something and know that if you ever need us, we're always out there. CRU is always out there.

Hello, my name is Detective Harrington, and I serve with CMPD's Sexual Assault Unit. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness, educating our community, supporting survivors, and working to prevent sexual violence. Our detectives partner with organizations such as Safe Alliance, the Sexual Trauma Resource Center, local hospitals, and the District Attorney's Office to provide survivors with a trauma-informed, victim-centered approach. We know that coming forward after a sexual assault can feel overwhelming. Many survivors are unsure, hesitant, or simply trying to move forward in the best way they can. Our role is to meet you where you are, offering support, information, and guidance while pursuing justice for those who choose to move forward with a criminal investigation. CMPD is fortunate to have two full-time victim advocates who serve as the first point of contact for survivors.

My name is Kirsten Abbott, and I'm an advocate with CMPD's Sexual Assault Unit. The impact of sexual assault can be profound, and the criminal justice process may feel daunting on top of everything a survivor is already going through. As an advocate, I'm here to walk alongside survivors, explaining each step of the investigation and connecting them with resources, services, and ongoing support to try and lessen any burden that I can. If you have experienced a sexual assault, your safety comes first. Get to a safe place as soon as possible. If you decide to make a police report, you can call 911, visit any of CMPD's 13 division offices, or come to the law enforcement center. You can also go to any hospital emergency department for a medical evaluation or a sexual assault kit, and if you choose, hospital staff can contact law enforcement on your behalf if you are uncomfortable doing so yourself. In North Carolina, sexual assault exams are free and can also be completed anonymously if you're not ready to file a police report. Whatever you're feeling is valid. You're not alone. There are resources out there for you. We stand with survivors and we are here to support you in whatever way we can.

Hi, I'm Ryan Blaney, a third-generation race car driver. And we dedicate a lot of our time to going as fast as possible. But when my grandpa was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it was a very unexpected bump in the road for us. It's important to notice if older family members are acting differently, experiencing problems with their memory, or having trouble with routine tasks. Early detection of Alzheimer's can give your family time to explore support services, make a plan for the future, and access available treatments. If you or your family are noticing changes, it could be Alzheimer's. Talk about seeing a doctor together.

The bravest thing that my dad has done has been going back to school.

It wasn't when he first enlisted. It was when he found his first support group.

The bravest thing she did is when she asked for help.

Eyes forward. Don't drive distracted.

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Good evening, we will now call the meeting to order and why don't we start with having us Thanks. Well, first of all, thanks everyone for joining us You've got basically a full house in 267 and I know there are folks joining us online and we appreciate everyone taking the time to join us this evening and as usual we will start with introductions and we will go around the room starting with our clerk

Ariel Smith, League City Clerk.

Good afternoon. Victoria Watlington. I have the pleasure of serving you as a member at large. Joy Mayo, representing District 3, Charlotte City Council.

Dante Anderson, District 1.

Good evening, everyone. James Mitchell, Mayor Pro Tem. Good evening again. Rob Harrington, Mayor. Marcus Jones, City Manager.

Kimberly Owens, representing District 6.

Malcolm Graham, District 2. Ed Triggs, District 7. Good evening. LaWanda Mayfield, serving you at large.

thank you to everyone and we will typically we would start with with consent we're going to move that consent agenda we're going to move that to the the primary session in chambers and move directly to our action preview and for that I'd like to turn it over to the city manager to

Thank you, Mayor, members of council. Tonight we have one item on action preview, and that will be I-77 South Express Lanes project. And so, Mayor, if there aren't any questions of council, I'd like to turn it over to our team, the city attorney, our CFO, as well as our deputy city manager.

And just before we go there, and I'll just jump in briefly, just to sort of level set. So tonight we're taking an important step in ensuring that the city continues a clear, transparent process as we consider our role in the I-77 South expansion. This evening's presentation is intended to make sure that our community has a clear understanding of the key components of this project, especially those elements that directly intersect with the city's interests and responsibilities. You'll hear information related to the following. Providing a summary of significant activity related to the I-77 South project since the council's May action and subsequent state legislation enacted in early July. We'll share a factual foundation for the public council considers the city's position ahead of the Carpo vote on September 23rd. And finally, we'll provide an overview or staff will provide an overview of the legal framework for council's consideration of session law 2026-41. I'd also point out that we anticipate a public hearing and vote on an action item in this regard a week from today on Monday the 21st. And with that, I'll turn it over to our staff to walk us through the presentation.

I love this public test of my technological capabilities. Thanks. All right, we're doing a little bit of a tag team presentation this evening. We had planned to stay seated, but I could tell it was a little bit of the audience that wouldn't be able to see us. So please bear with us as we transition between speakers. So good evening, mayor, members of council, deputy city manager, Rebecca Hefner. I'm joined tonight by city attorney, Andrea Leslie-Fight and our CFO, Matt Hastet. As the Mayor stated, we have three primary objectives for tonight's presentation. We'll be providing a summary of significant activity related to the I-77 South project since Council's May action and the subsequent state legislation enacted in July. Our intention is to provide a common factual basis, both for the public and for council, as you consider the city's position ahead of the CRTPO vote on September 23rd. And we will be providing an overview of the legal framework and the new financial consequences established therein related to Session Law 2026-41. And I will note as I begin, that I started my new role in the city manager's office on May 11th. So this presentation is also a full recounting of everything we've done together since I joined the city manager's office. I do want to note that staff are not recommending a position tonight or advocating for a specific recommendation. Our goal is really to ensure that you are equipped with all of the information that you need to discuss and deliberate in preparation for a council action on the I-77 South Express lanes that's planned for next Monday, September 21st. So this timeline, this is the one where I can say, Rebecca's start date, May 11th. This timeline illustrates the activities that have occurred since city council voted to rescind support of the P3 funding mechanism on May 11th, including the new actions that have occurred and the new information and inputs that have been received. So significant actions. Yes.

Oh, and then I just, but I think it's... Someone's gone, but it's like really just like...

I'm sorry?

It has stopped. No, there was a phone that was vibrating and it was distracted until the council. I think we're good to go.

All right, let's go. So significant... I was in the zone, y'all. All right, let me... Let me regroup, okay. Significant actions, as you can see in the timeline, include the CRTPO vote on May 20th to rescind P3 support. Subsequently, NCDOT stopped work on the project. The subsequent state legislation that was passed July 7th, establishing new financial consequences for municipalities. Attorney Leslie Fite will share more about that in the presentation. Also in July, the Secretary of Transportation sent a letter to community stakeholders outlining up to $300 million in community investments if the project resumes. Throughout August and September both City Council at your TPD committee meeting and other regional partners in other forums held discussions really in response to the new state law. CRTPO has scheduled a vote for September 23rd to consider whether to reinstate support for the P3 funding mechanism and that has established your timeline. Throughout all of this time, staff worked at Council's direction to answer your questions, get clarity from NCDOT, and provide options to you for further exploration. In addition, the community continued to provide input both to you and to NCDOT. They engaged in conversations directly with the state and continued to communicate both support for and opposition to the project as planned. This project has a long history, one that I will not belabor here. I share a few slides of project overview, and I think I want to convey three kind of key points about the proposed project. The first, the project was proposed as two tolled express lanes, two lanes in each direction, along the 11 miles of Interstate 77 between the South Carolina state line and Uptown Charlotte. The primary stated objectives are to improve safety and travel reliability and manage congestion. And both CRTPO and City Council approved a public-private partnership as the funding and delivery mechanism for the managed lanes project in October 2024. So many stakeholders and concerns and questions that we received from you council members centered around the exploration of alternatives. Really the question of is this the best project? In response to that question, NCDOT did share an I-77 South alternatives analysis summary with city council in August. And most of the alternatives reviewed by NCDOT included managed lanes, and that was per the project definition in the State Transportation Improvement Plan, also known as the STIC. The no-build and transit options, the first two here on the list, were determined not feasible to meet the project objectives. Again, the managed congestion and improved safety and improved travel time reliability. However, the analysis does note that, well, it notes CATS, but in this case MPTA, transit vehicles would use the express lanes for free and then experience reliable travel time. So they've characterized the express lane as being able to function as a bus rabbit transit route. The remainder of the alternatives studied are essentially design alternatives. So NCDOT reviewed multiple at-grade widening options, an elevated option, a tunneling option, and a community connectivity option. In the resolution that City Council passed in May, you called for an independent alternatives analysis, and you asked for that to include multiple options beyond the managed lanes that would include multimodal, non-highway, and transportation demand management strategies. Staff explored this request, but ultimately determined there was not sufficient time to procure and complete a comprehensive and credible alternatives analysis in the current timeframe. So as we're going through the presentation tonight, I'm trying to highlight both the things that we know and the things that you've asked and we haven't been able to answer. Additional components of the project design create an opportunity for what NCDOT calls reconnecting the corridor. So I wanted to share a reflection on the TPD committee meeting in May 2026. City staff at that meeting provided an assessment of the proposed project and shared with you that the multimodal investments that are included in the project, plus additional community investment opportunities, advanced city goals related to safety, accessibility, connectivity, and transit access. So there's a lot on this slide, but bear with me here. This includes the base project design, which is the middle section here on bridges. 17 of 22 bridges and over or underpasses are proposed to be replaced as part of the project. and the reconnecting the corridor conceptual designs that NCDOT has proposed as part of the additional community investment, which are the bullets down at the bottom. So you can see this information on the bridges reshares the information that staff provided at your May TPD meeting. NCDOT, subsequent to that, developed six conceptual designs to reconnect the corridor where it was split when I-77 was initially constructed. And I know we have some engineers on team council here, but I did learn through this process that an engineering concept is a design that can be feasibly constructed. So these are opportunities that are feasible. So the concepts include cap structures, pedestrian and bicycle stitches, landscaped crossings, and the six concepts were developed in response to community input that was gathered through NCDOT's engagement process. Each concept addresses a specific location along the corridor that you can see here the variety of opportunities that have been identified at oaklawn west fifth street west trade street revolution park and remount road in addition to the long cap between west fifth street and west trade street and i'll also note i should have done this at the beginning i have included on all of the slides the information source for where the these details are gathered from for a couple of reasons. One, so that everyone can access those original sources, but also as a reminder that much of this presentation is sharing information that has been generated and shared by NCDOT. I will make it clear when I'm adding staff analysis into the mix. This slide shows the overall proposed investment in the corridor. So overall, NCDOT has proposed an investment up to $1 billion, which is comprised of up to $600 million of state transportation funding that is accessed because the project is funded as part of the STIP. Up to $100 million in what's called bonus allocation for other eligible roadway projects. The bonus allocation is part of the State Transportation Investments Law that provides additional funding for projects that are funded by tolling. And then the up to $300 million in additional community investment as outlined in Secretary Johnson's letter to the community. which we'll talk more about those components in a moment. As noted earlier, there was interest in an independent alternatives analysis, but insufficient time to procure such. And so at Council's request, staff are preparing an existing conditions analysis for you. This analysis is intended to update the baseline data related to the I-77 South Corridor, describe how the corridor is used today, and describe what travel demand is expected to be in the future. And I will tell you, staff are furiously working on this to get you something in this time frame. And the full draft report will be shared with you later this week in your packets. There's just a couple of items that key points I can pull out for you are all things that we would expect. First, I-77 connects a large and diverse set of communities, jobs, and destinations. It serves a mix of both local and regional travel needs. Trips on I-77 tend to be longer and connect destinations across a broader geography than trips on the nearby parallel arterials such as South Boulevard and South Tryon. One of the things the team is looking at is are there other opportunities to meet travel demand on parallel routes. They note that continued population and employment growth will increase demand for connections across the corridor. Right now, the corridor supports a range of trip purposes, so they're looking at origin and destination data. I'm just going to say to all my fellow data nerds on council, this is a really fascinating report that they're working on. taking a look at origins and destinations. I think it's going to be very useful to you as you deliberate. But there's really a range of trip purposes, work, school, shopping, other daily activities. And essentially, as many of us experience, traffic demand for I-77 far exceeds capacity both now and into the future. Staff are also taking a look under this bullet around community connections at the proposed multimodal improvements. They're doing some preliminary analysis on the bridge projects and potential associated roadway investments that could be funded through the bonus allocation. Their initial findings indicate that those projects do increase accessibility, neighborhood connectivity, safety, walking and biking access to adjacent neighborhoods. So I'm pleased that they're going to be able to get you something on that, or we will be able to get you something more on that later this week. But I wanted to give you a little bit of a sneak peek into what's coming. So at this point, I'd like to hand the presentation to City Attorney Leslie Fite and CFO Matt Hastet to review legislative provisions and related financial considerations.

Thank you, DCM Hefner, Mayor, Members of Council. Session Law 2026-41 requires local governments to reimburse NCDOT for preliminary costs incurred by NCDOT. At this point, NCDOT has identified preliminary costs dating back to 2018 in the amount of $69,577,547.67. We'll talk a little bit more about that sum a little bit later in the presentation. Reimbursement is triggered in one of two ways first by taking a unilateral action to remove the project from the transportation improvement plan or to preventing the project from being delivered as originally programmed reimbursement would be based upon the weighted vote. The City of Charlotte holds 31% of the vote. The legislation also contemplates withholding Powell Bill funding and new STIP projects until the pre-development funds are repaid. The legislation would eliminate and does eliminate the need for NCDOT to pursue additional legal action in order to secure these funds. This legislation also exempts local governments who choose to vote to reinstate the project on or before October 5th, 2026. The CARTPO chair has scheduled a vote for September 23rd for members to consider whether to reinstate support for the P3 funding mechanism of the project. Per state legislation, the repayment provision is based on the weighted vote of those jurisdictions who vote to remove their support. Members voting to rescind support in May 20th of this year were Charlotte, Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mecklenburg County, Mint Hill, Monroe, and the MTC for a total of 47 weighted votes. Member jurisdictions have been discussing this and deliberating. Some have already signaled an intent to reinstate. City Council will have an opportunity to consider this in its next meeting scheduled for September 21st. The business item will be placed on Council's agenda for consideration and the RCA will be broken up into two parts. And please note that this RCA is tracking with the legislative language and is not intended to drive a particular outcome, but instead to match the legislative language IN THE BUDGET BILL. SO SPECIFICALLY ITEM 1 WOULD BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 43.27D OF SESSION LAW 2026-41 CONDUCT A VOTE ON WHETHER TO REINSTATE SUPPORT OF THE PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP P3 FOR THE I-77 SOUTH LANES EXPANSION PROJECT. and two, or item B, direct City Council's Carpo representative to cast a vote on behalf of the City of Charlotte on whether to reinstate support of the P3 at this Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization. Members of the public will have an opportunity to sign up to speak to the item with the clerk's office as is the standard practice after the agenda is published. Let's talk a little bit about the repayment provision. Session law 2026 41 does not direct or prohibit sources of funding for repayment. Limitations within the PAVE Act do likely prohibit using the funds for that purpose. PAVE Act funds are what we call use-restricted funds. In other words, they are limited to being used for costs associated with financing, constructing, operating, or maintaining road systems. The cleanest and most defensible path is to use unrestricted dollars for repayment as described by the PAVE Act. At this time, I will turn the floor over to our CFO to talk about what some of those options may entail.

Thank you, Andrea. Matt Hassett, CFO. Thank you, Mayor, Council, and City Manager for the opportunity today. And looking at the unrestricted funds, the primary source we're currently looking at is the Municipal Debt Service Fund, which is what is used to support our steady state debt model. And as Council members, we sort of broke that out into two steady state models as a part of this last budget, one being for transportation, which is primarily funded by the payback, which, as City Attorney Andrea Leslie-Fight just said, is not something that we should be looking at. So the other steady state model is our affordable housing and public facilities. So as of our FY 2025 financial statement, our fund balance and the municipal debt service fund that we could look for this was approximately $171 million with about 161 of that being sort of cash and cash equivalent. and much of that is restricted by either state statute or as a part of our equipment financing loan program. So we have approximately about $55 to $56 million that is available for appropriation. And I do want to say that's available for appropriation. That does not mean that it is free and clear. This means that it is not needed today or next year for the current sort of bond cycle, but it is programmed for future referendums to support the affordable housing program or a public facilities program. So as we reviewed this a moment ago, the total NCDOT reported expenses is approximately $69 million. The city's portion of that could be anywhere from about $59 million to $69 million. we're going to sort of walk through a little bit of sort of what some of those implications could be so sort of as i said the 55 or so million dollars that is available for appropriation essentially requires us to find another source for that money long term so we either have to raise revenue or cut expenses going forward so if we were to to repay that money and using sort of an approximate 60 million dollars this is sort of a round figure for for discussion today It would require us to raise property taxes in perpetuity, starting with the FY28 budget, approximately .1 penny. So that would generate about $2.35 million. So an alternative would be to reallocate approximately $2.35 million from the existing general fund or PAYGO revenue sources to refill the debt service bucket. Or to reduce expenses, we could look at reducing the affordable bond package. So going forward, the adopted steady state for city council was $100 million every other year with the bond package, starting in calendar year 2028. That would probably approximately be removed or lowered down to $92 million in perpetuity, or a public facility funding would go from about $45 million a year to $41 million a year. And one thing I do want to stress is that that is an approximation because steady state sort of debt modeling is always done as a point in time. And we don't know what interest rates will be next year. We don't know what revenue projections will be next year. So as we get into the next year's budget or future year's budget, that sort of adjustment could be a little bit up or down as many may sort of see that the Fed is considering a rate increase in just a couple weeks. No one had that on the table a year ago this time. Everyone was expecting rates to go down. We always have to be reactionary to where we are in the current environment. And obviously we can always do a combination of these. A couple of things I do just want to sort of point out as we're looking at this is there are some additional considerations that I think are important for city council. One of those is rating agency considerations. As our debt burden continues to grow as a city, one of the things that's very critical for us is our available fund balance. And that is our ability to just sort of remain liquid and meet our obligations. So any significant spend down of our fund balance would certainly require a conversation with the rating agencies. Now, this is a one-time expense and not for operating, so those are discussions that can be had. But any time you're spending down a fund balance to that level, it could generate questions. It also would restrict our ability to respond to an emergency perhaps. When we had the large South Park fire, we used some of the debt service fund balance to buy fire trucks that were immediately needed so that way we could address the community's need right away. So our ability to do some of those sort of quick responses would be restricted. And then one last one I wanted to just discuss without going too far into the weeds is the concept of a contingent liability. I know that we have some accountants on the council and Just sort of as an example, one of the things we do every year with our external auditor and our financial reporting team and our city attorney's offices look at any type of pending litigation or any of those types of things. So it may be a situation where we try to challenge this ruling. But if it is more likely than not that we still may have to pay it at some time, the external auditors may require us to actually expense this on our balance sheet before the end of the fiscal year, which means that we still may be in a position where our fund balance on paper has significantly dropped, so rating agency considerations will still be in consideration. We may have to look at doing things like property tax or adjusting to the steady state. Even if no dollars have actually gone out the door, from an actual accounting point of view, that money would now be restricted and not be eligible for any other use. So it would be the same as us having written sort of the check out the door. So we still may have to have some of those considerations. I think with that, Andrea, I think I'll turn it back to you.

Thank you, Mr. Hasted. The city would argue that NCDOT's expenses to CARPOS jurisdiction should only date back to 2024 with CARPOS adoption of the resolution supporting the P3. The city continues and will continue to explore all available legal remedies to address the legislation. There have been a number of questions in the community about how these funds would be paid in addition to could the city of Charlotte pay the penalty for another jurisdiction. Under North Carolina law, every expenditure of a city's funds must serve the public purpose. and two, be the primary benefit that flows to the city's own citizens. In other words, paying any sort of penalty or reimbursement for another jurisdiction's penalties or citizens would be a violation of the North Carolina Constitution. A city paying a fine for another municipality would be for the primary benefit of those citizens rather than the benefit of the citizens of Charlotte.

At this time, I will turn it back over to Rebecca. Musical presenters here. So City Attorney Leslie Fite and CFO Matt Hastet have shared some of the considerations if CRTPO... does not reinstate support for the P3. I'm gonna walk through just a couple of items related to what happens if CRTPO does reinstate support for the P3. So NCDOT will resume the project following the steps that they had outlined initially as part of the project schedule, but also in alignment with specific commitments that NCDOT has incorporated either into the RFQ for the project or committed to the community. So this slide illustrates some of those activities which include continuation of environmental analysis under the NEPA process. That's including evaluation of property and project level environmental impacts and also the associated mitigations that would be required either under NEPA or under other related federal requirements. So this is one that I can tell you I am very familiar with from my work in housing because we do this every time you make an investment in housing with federal dollars. NCDOT will also continue community engagement. And I'll note for you that NCDOT has committed to the requests that were made in City Council's May resolution. including collaboration with regional partners on community engagement and designating a community liaison within the city's community relations department. The RFP process would also resume and that includes multiple rounds of RFPs that are working towards a competitive design bid submission and each of those rounds would be inclusive of community input. And finally, incorporating commitments that have been made both within the draft RFP and by NCDOT since May, that includes the CRTPO priority terms, the additional community investments, and accountability. So this slide outlines the 15 priority terms designated with the CRTPO work group. They are codified in the request for qualifications from NCDOT, actually in appendix three, and also in the NCDOT indicative terms sheet. So these are all available as part of the procurement information. on NCDOT's website. The priority terms are guidelines for the implementation of the managed toll lanes, and they cover provisions such as toll rate caps and thresholds, free lane usage for transit and high occupancy vehicles, that's known as HOV3+, uh toll discounts for low-income residents emergency vehicle usage of express lanes for free some commercial truck regulations and small business outreach so you'll note that some of these items are a little bit different from the way that the tolls are currently operating on i-77 north It was a really important piece of the CRTPO working group and priority terms was to make sure that as a community we would be able to learn from what was done on I-77 North and ensure more transparency and accessibility on the managed lanes. As referenced earlier in the presentation, the project's funding and delivery model allows for up to $300 million in additional community investment. This commitment was made in a letter sent from NCDOT Secretary Johnson to community stakeholders on July 28th. In the letter, Secretary Johnson outlined opportunities to invest in the community under the pillars of economic mobility, neighborhood stability and housing, reconnecting the corridor, environment, health and green space, and quality of life. No specific projects were outlined in the letter, but NCDOT has identified a process for establishing community priorities if the project resumes. One of the primary concerns that we've heard from community and questions from council has been related to the enforceability of these commitments and accountability over the course of the project if it resumes. So I'll ask Attorney Leslie Fite to discuss the opportunities that exist for the city to partner with NCDOT to ensure accountability.

So as we continue to have this conversation about exploring accountability, there is an opportunity to explore an agreement with NCDOT that would memorialize the project commitments with an emphasis on reconnecting communities, including outlining and addressing the total funding commitment and funding sources, the schedule for making funds available, the entities responsible for project development and delivery, procedures for community participation and public review, addressing challenges created by connecting the quarter, incorporating projects and objectives that focus on improving access to daily needs such as jobs, education, healthcare, food, nature, nature and recreation and foster development and restoration. And of note, here the key would be to connect this framework as well as the community benefit plan to reconnecting communities, which is outlined under the Federal Highway Administration's reconnecting communities framework. The ultimate contract that would codify many of these commitments, particularly those related to the financial components, would be incorporated in the RFP and ultimately in the final contract with the developer.

Right, we're almost there. So one note about community input. So city council, we talked in August at the TPD committee about the potential for community engagement and again ultimately decided we were in quite a time crunch and did not move that forward. But you have received a lot of community input on this topic. So NCDOT collected and published summaries of the community feedback shared in their public meetings about the project last November. City staff have conducted a cursory review of constituent input that was shared during public forums earlier this year as well as in constituent correspondence. So in a quick review of that information, the feedback has been mostly opposed to the I-77 south toll lanes and the majority of the concerns expressed in those forums centered on toll affordability private toll operations, neighborhood harms, displacement risk, and state financial considerations and a perceived lack of a transparent public process. However, you have received comments supporting moving the project forward as well, and those messages emphasize worsening congestion, regional growth, available funding, the value of the express lanes, the risk of damaging Charlotte's relationship with NCDOT, and the opportunity for additional community benefit and investment. In addition, I will note many community stakeholders have provided input directly to NCDOT. including the community impact framework that was submitted by Reverend Mack of NAACP and Ricky Hall of the West Boulevard Neighborhood Association. There may be others that were submitted that I have not seen, and I'm sure if that's the case, I will find out about them shortly after this presentation. The Community Impact Framework asked City Council and CRTPO to preserve the project delivery path and establish a clear process for developing, evaluating, and tracking an attainable card or benefits package. So what staff plans to do is complete a summary of all of the community input that we have seen and that we can compile and share with you all later this week as you consider and deliberate. And this final slide just compares the information that is known and the information that is unknown or incomplete. So what has been provided or what's known includes the project preliminary design, alternatives reviewed, reconnecting the corridor concepts, the requirements of NEPA, including residential acquisition and relocation, the CARPO priority terms, the general outline of community benefits that could be available, and the range of financial consequences as well. Some of the things that are unknown, have not been studied, or are not yet known are a study of the specific alternatives to managed lanes, the marginal benefit of each segment, we've heard asked a couple of times, the measurable comparison of harms and benefits, And then what are the specific investment amounts and projects eligible for community benefit investment? So I want to thank you all for your time and your patience as we walked through this. Our goal is really to ensure that you all and the public have a comprehensive understanding of what has occurred. what new information is available, what's known versus what's unknown, and the potential legal, financial, and community implications of the decision that's before you next week. So with that, I'll turn it back to Mayor Harrington.

Thank you, staff, for that presentation and for putting all that into approximately 40 minutes. We have about 50 minutes, I'm being kind of generous, but about 50 minutes before we're scheduled to start our meeting in chambers for the rest of our business. I know several council members likely have questions. What I intend to do is to start to my left with Councilmember Owens. We'll go around. We'll come back around on the other side and go around. Mayor Pro Tem is asked to address it last. And in the interest of time, I'm asking if we can hold our comments and questions to somewhere between four and five minutes so that we're not too late getting down to folks who are waiting for us in chambers. So if we can try to hold to that time limit of four to five minutes, preferably four. That would be great so we can not have folks waiting in chambers Too long and I'll start with councilmember Owens if you have questions obviously feel free to pass if you don't have questions But I want to make sure that we're able to proceed orderly

Thank you, Mayor. Actually, I don't really have as many questions as I just want to sort of level set my understanding of what I've just heard. So I've spoken with a number of y'all previously about how every vote we take up here requires a leap of faith. and you know we take information as we' re given it by staff we bring our lived experiences and our ability without the ability to see the future we make the best decision we can and for me at least I always assume good intentions and good faith out of counter parties. And I just want to be very clear that this moment, the path that we've been on, the path that we've taken since the resolution and then the rescission, the path has really made it much harder for me to make that leap of faith. That assumption of good faith is harder for me to reconcile now. And just to put a finer point on it, quite simply, the Sawyer Amendment has not inspired in me a great deal of confidence. in a good faith partnership that we have with the state and that that is something that's that's really sitting with me. You know it makes phrases like I've just seen here where it says up to that makes that unacceptable to me it cannot be up to it has to be a defined amount. It makes me want to lean in even further than the slide that we just saw that goes through the CRTPO priority terms and it makes me want to shoehorn in as many additional elements of certainty as we can into what is now a contract process with a partner whose intentions seem cloudy at best. But still, I believe in staying at the table. I know that will be a frustration to many of the people who have told me they really want me to go with a rescission. This isn't easy, and I'm not where I am because I trust everything that's been said. but I am where I am because walking away surrenders our ability to shape this project and this is a project that's going to define West Charlotte for generations to come and doing nothing on this corridor leaves it I believe truly vulnerable to a cycle of harm that we have seen before and that these communities have already endured and I just simply can't in good conscience do that. um you know to be clear though being at the table for me doesn't mean i'm accepting this project as is um i want to fight for a better one uh some specific concrete things that i've shared with staff and with some of my colleagues you know and i've referred to it just now as trying to shoehorn it into the priority terms you know i do want to see a focused alternatives and design challenge i am truly hopeful that we do still have four we' ve had a number of times where we' ve had a number of times where we' ve had a number of counter parties still willing to bid on this project that are dithering on this has not caused us to lose the potential for a true competitive process to yield a better I'd like to see a reconnected corridor plan, the bridges and everything that we saw in here. I want to see that happen. I want to see some durable community assets. And for me, that comes down to accountability. And accountability is one of these slides, and I'm delighted to see it. But what we need is binding commitments with clear timelines, responsible parties, and real remedies. And I need independent monitoring. I need to believe that we still have a seat at this table as this goes forward, and community oversight committee. I need degrees of toll equity. I mean, there are a number of things that I think fit into the broad concepts that are there. But at the end of the day, this is really hard. And I feel this moment. I'm like Charlie with the football. And I really hope that the leap of faith that I'm letting myself take, based on conversations with the mayor, based on conversations with staff, based on conversations with our North Carolina legislation, our delegation rather, I am just really hopeful that this is a leap of faith that is worth it. Because, God love you, this is a hard one. This is not an easy corridor to manage and to fix because it has been wronged so many times, and this project has been so mismanaged. But I am willing to get back at the table, and I really appreciate the presentation, and I thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member Owens. Council Member Frank.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Over the last... Eight weeks, I guess, since July, I've been involved. And I don't have any questions, so I'm questioning out. But I've been meeting with a wide variety of stakeholders from the governor's office this legal team Senate leadership Just recently all the mayor's Directly or indirectly with the small count towns around us a number of community meetings and my district meetings and Councilmember males district and double ACP alliance members anyone who called about this issue I took the call in and gave some honest decision and My job is to protect the citizens of West Charlotte. And based on my conversations with a number of stakeholders, I believe the small towns, my rural communities, and others are likely are repositioning their votes in favor of moving the project forward. That is their right, their decision to do so. But if I told some of the mayors I'm not here to tell them what to do, and I'm not willing to pay their legal fees or any fines associated with their reversal, that is not Charlotte's responsibility. As the Chairman of the Budget Committee, I can tell the citizens that we don't have 60 or 70 million dollars laying around. I am not willing to raise taxes to pay that fee. I'm not willing to jeopardize bonds in our rating to do that. As a member of the State Senate for 10 years and chairman of the delegation for three, I clearly understand how Raleigh works. I believe the state budget provision requiring repayment is both unconstitutional and an affront to due process. It punishes an elected body for exercising its democracy and its authority on behalf of the constituents. That is damn wrong. I get it. I understand it. However, suing the state makes no sense either. We have a number of priorities as a city before state government that we have to get through over the next year and a half. For an example, we need to expand the HTA hospitality tax if we're going to do any economic development projects over the next two to three years. There's NCDOT projects throughout the city that are funded now and some are pending that we need their help. I am not willing to lose the airport. It's been the hallmark of our community for decades. We're better together as a city and a state and we have to work it out. A lawsuit poisons that relationship for sure and even if we win we lose. The better path for fighting the state is at the ballot box. We have to win elections. We cannot win in court. If the project moves forward, community benefits must be binding. Must be binding. Must be binding. Must be binding. Small business owners should be a part of this. It needs to be in writing. legally binding and any benefits paid at closing with the selected developer up front and writing signed by those who are in charge. Homeowners displaced by construction must be compensated at above fair market rate. Renters must be relocated to housing of equal or greater standard at no cost to them. small business owners must relocate and are entitled to full relocation expenses and business interruption must be compensated as well. All compensation must be paid at closing again, not a promise later. There's much talk about Secretary Johnson's letter about community benefits.

The truth of the matter is... Just to let you know, you're right at about five minutes. I'll take two more. Thank you. Everybody else is going to take two more.

I got you. This is the first time we've talked about this in weeks. Months. Months. Many of the points in Secretary Johnson's letter was outlined by the council in April and May. They aren't new. They were just reframed and redistributed, right? And so I agree that we should do all that, Mr. Mayor, and we should do it, and it should be binding. I believe that we should do the grocery stores, that we should ask for far greater than that. Far greater than that, for sure. We need a community advisory board. We need oversight. We need a commitment from the state. And we have to work to get there together. And so I will pause the rest of my remarks. Doesn't mean that I've made a decision, but I'm telling the community what it needs to know versus what it wants to hear. No one is going to get 100% of what they want. No one's going to get 100%. If we wait five years, the same issues that we're dealing with today will be there five years from now. The road will not be moved. The history will not change. The congestion will get worse. So this is a finding moment for our community, and we have to make the appropriate decisions. I'm certainly willing to listen more, talk more, but this is a tough decision, Councilman Mullins. And it's one that we must take seriously. And again, I understand both perspective as a council member and a former state senator and the issues that we have with our state. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Graham. Just an alert, we are going to break right at around 6.30. If we need to come back tonight to finish this because we're unable to work within time limits, we'll end up having to do that. But I do not want people waiting in the chamber for some period of time while we finish. So to the extent we can hold our time as requested, I think that will help with the public that's waiting in the chamber. Council Member Triggs.

Council Member Graham, I appreciate your remarks and your explanation of the difficulty here. My position has been hard, I was on CRTPO, I participated in the entire run up to this decision. Most of my motivation has been fear of having nothing in the end. So I accept that the opponents have driven a hard bargain so far, have drawn a lot of attention to things that NCDOT didn't pay enough attention to. We do have now a commitment from NCDOT that is different from before because it's a letter and it's in writing. For a long time, the problem was that all we had were conversations and everybody thought, well, what does that mean? And there was no number around the community benefits. And I told them myself, you can't hope that people will buy into community benefits if you don't say what they are. So the news in the letter was we got this number, 300 million. Now we're needing to look and see what does it mean? What kind of commitment can we get? What does it buy? But the concern I have here is that there is, I think, a lack of clarity as to whether what we're talking about is driving a harder bargain, going ahead but getting better terms, or there are some people who say, just say no. Don't do it. And that's the thing I'm afraid of. I think the need to do something along that corridor is critical. I think the opportunity for the communities along the corridor is substantial. And therefore, my position the whole time has not been to dispute in any way the shortcomings of NCDOT or the needs of West Charlotte. I just have in my mind this possibility that we end up with nothing. And we need to be clear, too. If we can't get there next week, then what comes after that? And that has also been, I think, part of the uncertainty in that there's another 90-day window in the bill. Does that mean that we have 90 days longer after that until it comes out of the stip in which we can still work on this? And my feeling about that is I'm not sure. I think it's possible that the bidders, if they see another no vote from CRTPO, will go, whoa. And there was some question as to whether CRTPO could get it done without Charlotte. That would be a bad result. The community in which the entire project is to take place doesn't support it. Really not a place you want to go. It's a tough one, and I understand that people are under pressure, and it's hard. I'm in a relatively fortunate position because nobody's looking to me, right? So I can be clear about what I want, but really what I want is simply that we get the benefit of this opportunity. That's it. And understand exactly... what the meaning is of what we do next week and not find ourselves in a position of being surprised that suddenly no one is talking to us anymore and the entire project has moved back five or ten years. So I hope we can figure this out in the coming week. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member Driggs. Council Member Mayfield.

Thank you. Excuse me. Thank you. Mayor Harrington. Thank you staff. So what I'm looking at is the level set. So public record agenda item number 15 October 14, 2024 where we had our 77 South express lanes project. The explanation, the project was initially identified in 2007. 2024-25-26 is a very different Charlotte than it was in 2007. But that was when it was adopted as a project for state funding by the Charlotte Regional Transportation Organization, CRTPO, and in 2014 as part of the region's plan for transportation investment to manage congestion increase safety support continue economic growth. Drop down 3 bullets that p3 delivery model is a long-term partnership in which ncdo t with select a private developer to design bill finance operator maintain a project under a design bill finance operate and maintain agreement. a p3 option is selected project development could continue as the comparative analysis indicates that the 600 million in state transportation improvement program the step funding is likely sufficient to fund any necessary public contribution for the project. NCDOT would work with CRTPO to define key objectives and priorities that would help perform initial key contract terms. If CRTPO votes to support a P3 delivery option, next steps would include CRTPO creates a working group consistent of CRTPO board members and their designees to partner with NCDOT to develop project objectives and priorities to inform indicative terms to be included in the RFQ, including applicable with participation goals in collaboration with the office of historically underutilized businesses in the department of administration for the state of North Carolina. Once NCDOT drafts the key terms, CRTPO will have 60 days to review prior to any public advertisement. CRTPO can resent support of the P3 at any point up until the NCDOT issues the RFQ. Now, one of our local papers, WFAE, did an article that was dated February 23rd, 2026, a master fuel bureaucratic bait and switch on I-77 toll lanes, in which this article, they note that our representative, Driggs, who's a 13-year council veteran, stated, As our one-point person on transportation, Councilmember Edwards reassured them that an upcoming vote will only be one small step. There will still be time to reverse course and back out. Here is what was said at October 14, 2024 meeting. If there's a moment when we feel that all of the parties are aligned and then I would come to Council and say, here is where we are. Now is the time we can decide whether or not we want to move ahead. We won't be under any obligation. Bear in mind, sometimes you can get these early votes and then later on you don't feel like you have a choice. threatening us with a lawsuit, kind of makes me feel like I don't have a choice. There's nothing to stop us in nine months from looking at whatever comes out of this process and just saying no, not going to do it. But the fine print of the I-77 proposal showed that Charlotte City Council wouldn't actually have that much or any flexibility to say no. But what was presented to council and the presentation was a conversation regarding having our representative move forward and vote to discuss what a p3 would look like I have clear concerns that once we voted and community reached out to us with multiple concerns. And let's not forget that some of our residents woke up to representatives from NCDOT literally walking through their yards, marking up their yards with no communication, no phone call, no community discussion. And that is what triggered a bigger conversation, but we were told we had the ability to go in and after that dude spoke for 10 minutes, I mess with you. The concern that I am identifying lays the foundation of me personally having absolutely no faith in the leadership that is coming out of this governor's office because it is his NCDOT. ncdot has not shown any effort to be a good partner. We need to make sure that we have facts and I am concerned that we just received a 20 plus minute presentation on the why Let's move forward with this and hope for the best. There is no hoping for the best with individuals that will turn around when we are representing our representatives and say, well, because of that, we're going to sue you and we're going to go back to 2018 and we are not going to give you a line-by-line accounting for how they have mismanaged funds.

Thank you, Council Member Mayfield.

Council Member Miswera-Iris. Thank you, Mayor. I think we all do share the same fundamental goal here, which is we do need to relieve congestion, make our roads safer, make this corridor safer, and protect working families and small businesses. And we also, I believe, share that commitment to ensuring that historical harms are not repeated and that the black community never again bears the burden of top-down decisions. But we find ourselves here once again. Me, my opposition to this project has never been about rejecting community benefits. Actually, it was quite the contrary. If you watch that May 11th meeting, we made it clear that we voted to resend this project because we thought there was an opportunity to go back to the table, to the drawing board, and make a fair project for the residents of that community. It wasn't for us to walk away from progress. It was to go back to the drawing board and get it right. If we're going to talk about community benefits that we just heard, I simply cannot believe that they should be vague promises or passing thoughts. When the RFP is issued, because it now very much seems like we're going to resend our recension, there has to be a signed, sealed, and delivered document that delivers those community benefits. It must explicitly require them from the bidders. An RFP that does not require it, what are we doing? $300 million that are going to soon disappear because inflation is going to go up, construction costs will go up. I don't know how many excuses my district and District 5 have heard about infrastructure projects that I've mentioned to you, Manager Jones, that have not been delivered in my district for 14 years. One example is Norland Road that now is being half completed because of rising costs. That is why I do believe that the state's penalty is so disheartening because we made it clear that night that we were trying to work in good faith. It is deeply unfortunate that local municipalities are being penalized simply for wanting a better project and continuing the conversation. This is a direct result of local leaders of our state legislature being pressured by corporate interests and state mandates for trying to protect their own residents. It undermines our local control and the democratic voice of our community. And it is frustrating that every single time one of us speaks up for our community and private interests are in disagreement with that, a provision in the state's budget or the omnibus bill or other bills, amendments are passed just to shut our voices. We were duly elected by the residents of Charlotte. to do our job. And it seems like we cannot do our job to protect our residents because then we are presented with an ultimatum. Either raise our taxes and burden our residents or pass the project. I may not support this project, but I do support this community. I do think it's time for Charlotte to wake up stand together go and vote in these elections because they matter and demand that are elected voices are respected in our own backyard and not bought by others. And it's just unfortunate that we're here. And I wish we were I wish we had. a good faith conversation with Raleigh and with folks that really wanted this project to be done instead of having a last-minute amendment done and passed in our state legislature, just like other things have been passed in our state legislature recently. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Johnson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We should all be clear that this all started because we represented we, the people. And it's said that it's a small vocal subset group that is opposed to the toll lanes. Mr. Manager, I'd like to see some poll of Charlotte citizens. If there's a way that we could do a survey either on our webpage where individuals could only vote once, if we could hear from public as a whole instead of the targeted poll that's been done, but the city has not asked how many citizens support this. This is not a small subset of people. I've not heard anyone other than the business community who supports it. Can I ask the attorney some questions? One of the slides, I want to understand that if we don't move forward, property taxes could be raised and there was some other, and affordable housing would be reduced. Is that correct? Okay.

Yes, that would be to basically replenish the funds that would be required to use to do the repayment. So we would have to essentially make those up in some way, either by raising revenues or reducing.

Okay, so this question is for the city attorney. City attorney, is this state law constitutional and legal?

Councilmember Johnson, as I stated in the slide, there are a number of concerns that we have with the legislation. We would preserve the right to defend the city regarding the legislation, but yes, there are a number of concerns.

Thank you. Can the state retroactively impose a nearly $70 million financial penalty for an action that was lawful when we took it?

Again, Councilmember Johnson, there are a number of defenses that we would reserve the right to raise regarding this legislation. Okay.

Were we contractually obligated to pay these penalties at the time that we voted?

There is no contract between the city of Charlotte and any of the developers or vendors associated with NCDOT related to this project that I'm aware of. Are we contractually obligated now? again, not that I'm aware of, we would engage in discovery and additional public records to determine if that is the case.

Okay. What responsibility does the state have to ensure that the community benefits are satisfied?

Could you repeat that question?

What responsibility does the state have to ensure that the community benefits are satisfied? The developers are responsible, I think, for completing them. What responsibility will the state have to ensure that they're completed?

At this time, there is no agreement or requirement by NCDOT. However, this process is still evolving and so the RFP would be the binding document and then a subsequent agreement would be drafted and signed.

to move forward. Thank you. So governments change transportation plans all the time. There was more than, I believe, more than $50 million was spent for the Matthews Silver Line extension, and then recently there was money spent for Wilmington when the planners or jurisdiction changed their mind. Why is 77 different? Does anyone know? Okay. That's fine. We'll just leave that out there. I'll skip some of them. I'll just say this. Our code of ethics requires us to faithfully perform our duties and responsibly exercise the public's trust. If Charlotte was never contractually obligated to pay these costs and legitimate constitutional and legal questions remain, don't we as leaders have an ethical responsibility as stewards of taxpayer dollars to challenge the $70 million demand before we pay $1?

Is that a question? Yes. The council has the authority and the right to direct its staff and its city attorney to move forward with any legal requirements that it would see fit to do. I will say this legislation is, as I alluded to in the presentation, there are a number of concerns. We will continue to explore those, including, as I mentioned, the 24... resolution that began the time period which Council would have expected to be responsible for funds.

Councilmember Johnson, just to let you know, we're right at about six minutes and we're almost at 6.15.

Okay. We don't have any cost or any, not cost, any dates for the $70 million. We approved this, or excuse me, rescinded this in 2024. These expenses go back to 2018. I don't know anyone on this council or anyone in this room that wouldn't challenge someone that says you owe money. money or $70 million for something you weren't contractually obligated to. I don't know. And then we've heard the words unconstitutional and illegal. Every one of us on this dais are here because someone challenged a lack of constitution and illegality, except for Councilmember Driggs. There's black, brown women. We're here. And our ancestors and leaders fought the state when things were unconstitutional and illegal. I think we as leaders have a responsibility. Yesterday, my pastor preached on the Scripture, 1 Corinthians 16.

We're at 6.15, so we've got 15 minutes left for the rest of the day.

And I know, I know, but this is... This is important. We waited months. This is so wrong that we haven't talked about this. So I'll concede, but I just think that we must carefully stand firm, be brave enough to ask tough questions, and be strong enough to protect our citizens who entrusted us with their tax dollars.

Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Johnson. Dr. Watlington.

Thank you. Council Member Johnson, were you finished? Because I'm happy to yield a minute or two of my time if there was something else that you... You're good? Thank you. Thank you. Mine is relatively short. I mean, neighbors, this is a case study in what not to do. We have completely lost the plot. If we sit here today as government for regional planning, for improving the quality of life of our residents and our neighbors, we're in trouble. To be clear, the relationship with NCDOT is already soured. The relationship with the state legislature, already soured. Special interests abound. Our own neighbors have taken the legislature to or to have taken their interest to the legislature against their own neighbors we sit here today having this discussion because people we walk past and talk to and work with every day have chosen that their own interest is more important than operating in good faith and that's what that's a problem we're here because technical solutions and analysis have fallen short of the community inquiry the choice was made long ago and I absolutely understand and respect that we didn' t have necessarily all of the data and all of the computation power that we We've spent more time talking about punishments than we've talked about how to work together to deliver a solution that people can get behind and understand. To be very clear, as has been stated, community benefits are non-binding. We can talk all day long about how we want them to be binding, what we hope, what we expect. We don't have any leverage that we're willing to use. And as Driggs mentioned, this whole situation, frankly, and forgive me if I'm misinterpreting your words, but what I've heard and what I've heard all along This whole situation is driven by fear. Every choice we're making, we are driven by fear of what's going to happen to us, not what could be possible in terms of how we could deliver the best for our constituents. Fear and money. So I will say that I am extremely disheartened. And honestly, it makes me wonder if it's worth it to keep sitting at this dais. But I also know that if you're not at the table, you are on the menu. And let's be clear, even when we sit at the table, we are still on the menu. so at some point we' ve got to be willing to flip the table and in order to do that at this point I hope everybody that has been involved in this season says a wake-up call the system is rigged against you. You must vote you must register your loved ones all across the state to vote. Follow the money stay engaged because my hope and my aim is that we never end up in this type of situation again.

thank you doctor wilmington councilmember mayo.

thank you so I just want to kind of start we know that 8 of the 11 miles of this project run through district 3 and that means a significant portion of both the impacts and the potential benefits would be experienced by communities I represent so thinking of My concerns in May about community impact, engagement and accountability were real and I still believe they are valid. But we have more information now so I'm looking closely at what this project could actually deliver for these communities. My question is if this project moves forward what can we require it to leave behind for the communities that will live with it? I want residents to understand that we're not only talking about express lanes. As someone who lives in West Charlotte who sees this every day, I see people who are struggling to cross bridges. And that is something that I think is a positive about this project. Is it all perfect? No. But unless you are actually in West Charlotte and you are seeing your neighbors, struggle to cross a bridge something i see every day on my way to work on presley avenue i see a man in a motorized wheelchair crossing the bridge on presley avenue to go to south tryon and that is something very difficult to see So one thing I would ask everyone to do is to really make sure that you are looking at this project in totality. And that is something that I am very glad that staff has put together. I am hopeful that everyone will do their research because there are opportunities. Is this project great? Not completely, but there are opportunities and I hope that everyone will actually do the research and not just be so quick to condemn. So I do hope everyone will do that. It is public information that can be shared with everyone. Another opportunity that I think that we could potentially have with this is bus rapid transit. So I am a big proponent of multimodal transportation. Anyone who knows me, you can look up the money I've given to environmental nonprofits, not only my time, my treasure, but my talent. my entire career has been public service. So, Madam Attorney, that would be a question I would want to ask. What would it take for CATS and CDOT in the city to turn that opportunity into meaningful, reliable express bus or rapid bus rapid transit service for Southwest Charlotte and South Carolina residents? Because I want us to be mindful when we're talking about multimodal, this could provide some of that. So I want to make sure everyone has all of the information before making any type of decision. The other piece I want to talk about is enforcement. A commitment is only as good as the mechanisms behind me. I'm sure y'all have heard me say that for over a decade before joining council, I worked on my HOA as HOA president. We were able to keep corporate landlords from buying our homes. by working closely with our HOA attorney, understanding our CCRs and bylaws, and creating mechanisms to enforce them. So because of that, I was able to actually do that and have an affordable pathway to home ownership near the blue line, where someone could purchase a townhome for under $230,000. So I just want everyone to kind of understand anything that I do, I do with excellence. I can't speak for what anybody else does. But I make sure that all my T's are crossed and all that other stuff that goes into those things. So I'll just kind of... close that my standard hasn't changed. Y'all see that I'm just turning because I want to speak directly to you all. I have a big voice, so I don't necessarily have to be too close to the mic for people to hear me. But I want transportation investments that move people, not just in cars, but move people that reconnect neighborhoods. We know that this could be an opportunity that protect residents and create opportunity. Eight of the 11 miles run through District 3, and I want to make sure that when this project is finished, if it happens, I don't know. I have not made a decision one way or the other. But I think it's important as a leader. To be thoughtful to listen to all sides. So that you can make the most informed decision. Um. So those communities can point to things that have tangibly are better because of it, and that those benefits weren't simply a promise we made along the way. So as some of my colleagues have shared, this has been very challenging. And just appreciate everyone for being here.

Thank you, Council Member Mayo. I believe we're going to be able to get this done if we can be close to time limits on the last two. Council Member Henderson.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Council Member Mayo, for your level of involvement and engagement in representing your community here. This is not a good place for us to be, and I won't relitigate that for a variety of reasons. I also don't believe that this is the opportunity to point fingers at anyone who are our colleagues or have been a part of this process because it was clear that we didn't all have complete information or near complete information. And so we were doing the best that we could and we stepped on some landmines. And so now we have to deal with what we have in front of us. First and foremost, I have been clear eyed throughout this process and I've doubled down since that I wanted to hear directly from the community members that are directly impacted along this 11 mile corridor. Some of us have bigger voices than others. Some of us can project, but those that go to sleep and wake up proximate to this highway, who see it, smell it, touch it, and their lives are impacted by it. I want to hear directly from them. So I want to thank Reverend Mack and Ricky Hall and other community members for coming together and putting together the community impact framework and sitting down individually and sharing your thoughts because i think that's most impactful here the opportunity for us to hold feet to the fire to codify benefits really is seeing this language as it relates to the impact framework and other community benefit needs to be represented in the RFP and then further in the contract if this language is codified in the contract then by definition then those who win the contract have to deliver upon it and that's how we create this stickiness it's not another resolution it's not a superseding a potentially superseding document that would overlay it. It's having the language directly in the RFP and then in the contract. I also believe that, just from a negotiations perspective, throughout my entire life and my career for over 25 years, walking away from the negotiation table is never a tactic that you pull out immediately it is one of the very last tactics that you leverage and we' re coming back to the negotiation table but in that regard in a lot of respects we have lost some leverage and there's a ticking time clock on the leverage that we potentially have. From a municipal governance and operations perspective, as some of the staff has shared, our hands are being handcuffed here as we think about the options of how we can act Certainly raising taxes in perpetuity is something that the city has never taken a posture on, and there's risk associated with that relative to legislation that's in the General Assembly that would handcuff us from doing so. The future debt capacity conversation is also a financial risk when you consider the time value of money. and how we can exercise and best utilize those dollars today relative to years to come, as well as our overall triple A rating. And I have to say, as our financial office says all the time, We have a managed AAA rating. It's due to our management of our funds. And so looking at how we're cutting some of our priorities, potentially like affordable housing, investment in public safety, and other infrastructure needs as well over 150 people move to our region daily, would impact our municipal governance and operations. And lastly, in this bucket, I'll speak to the new STIP participation. So as a part of the state and that improvement plans, transportation improvement plans, there is a cadence to these steps that are built upon the municipal improvement plans and being negated from that process. furthers the tale of how we can address infrastructure and congestion. In my last portion of mayor, I'm at four minutes and 30 seconds, so I'm going to bring it on home here. But I want to say clearly that the west side has endured for decades. And that goes without saying, I grew up on the West Side and I grew up flanked by the original 77 and a landfill that we're still dealing with here in 2026. So we don't have to preach to the West Side communities. They know what they've been dealing with. And I believe that many of them feel, as I've spoken to some of them, that allowing continued pollution, congestion, and displaced congestion from the highway to spill over into these neighborhoods that flank I-77 would further impact underrepresented neighborhoods and certainly does nothing to address our safety. So the reality is we are, I believe, in a space where we're losing leverage and the potential for our residents to have the ability to insert their voice and shape their future relative to how this project is developed and the community benefits that they've worked so ardently on to see manifest in future years. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member Anderson. And Council Member Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. You know one thing about going last, everything else has been said and then now the Mayor reached over to me and said I have two minutes, so I'm going to make sure I try to keep it to a minute. One to two. One to two.

You don't use that 30 seconds.

So I'm down to a minute and 30 seconds. So can you go to the slide number 11, please? I want to start with there and why they bring up slide number 11. I'm just going to say I appreciate the community engagement. I appreciate People mention Reverend Mack and Ricky Hall and other community leaders who really help organize the community engagement. But city attorney for me, the language need to change a little bit because my support and my passion is about for the community benefits. and not having that language part of the request of city council I think does not bode well for me I don' t know how other council members feel but if we really want to support I-77 to me in my mind it' s about the community and I'm gonna go along just putting my voice out there as well it has to be binding I think in this community and all of us know it's been a serious trust factor involved in all this conversation and so we need to have language that really says what we're going to do what we want to accomplish for our citizens and we talk about the community benefits I think councilman Brooke Graham brought up there's three grocery stores I think districts one two and three we need and I think we should have a small business grant program for our small businesses. There's business district organizations, this city council said it's a priority that we need to help fund and be successful. We heard from the community more funding for anti-displacement as we're talking about due development. Recently, we started talking about how can we engage our youth more? To me, there's a youth some engagement we need to do and talk about as a community benefit for our teenagers. I would like to add to that. Doing nothing is not an option for me. We know we have a traffic problem and we know we are a growing city. The methods we got here I think has been troubling to all of us but as you talk about to take the 14th largest city and make sure it continues to grow and to grow in a way that we hope does not bring negative quality impact to our citizens. So I'm looking forward to supporting it, but for me, we need to spell out and bind the community benefits so our citizens will know and trust us what we're trying to deliver on.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Thank you, Council. I know there are folks waiting for us in the Chamber, and so I would ask that we move from here as quickly as we can to get to the Chamber and start the rest of the business meeting. Council Member Johnson.

There were lots of outstanding questions.

There were lots of outstanding questions.

There were lots of outstanding questions. We talked about legal binding RFPs or community benefits. That's not possible. So when are we going to follow up so people can hear responses to some of the things that we said? I talked to somebody from NCDOT. It's not even going to be in the RFP.

All right.

So we need facts.

There are lots of conversations with lots of different people on all sides. We will endeavor over the next short period of time to get as many answers as we can. But I also think that there are lots of folks in these conversations, and I think it's our responsibility to provide answers to those as best we can. I think we need to move now to downstairs, but we'll continue the discussion. all right good evening and we will call this meeting to order thank you all for joining us here in person and for those watching online for our september 14th business meeting now let us begin with introductions around the dais starting i'm going to actually break tradition and i'm going to start over here with council member johnson good evening i'm renee johnson and i'm honored to represent district 4.

Good evening. I'm J.D. Masueta-Arias, proudly representing the Eastside District 5.

Good evening. Luana Mayfield, serving you, Councilmember, as large. Ed Driggs, District 7.

Kimberly Owens, and I serve District 6.

Good evening, everyone. James Mitchell, Mayor Pro Tem. Good evening again. Rob Harrington, Mayor.

Marcus Jones, City Manager.

Good evening, and happy Hispanic Heritage Month. Dante Anderson, District 1.

Good evening. I'm Victoria Watlington, and I have the pleasure of serving you as a member at large.

Good evening, Andrea Leslie-Fight, City Attorney.

Billy Tongs, Deputy City Clerk.

Thank you, everyone. We begin our meeting with an invocation, expression, or inspiration, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. The invocation is intended to solemnize our proceedings. We celebrate the religious diversity of our community, including those without a religious faith. Tonight, Councilmember Mayfield will give our invocation.

Thank you, Mayor. For those who choose to join me, I ask for you to either close your eyes or bow your head. First, I'm going to say thank you. Thank you to the Creator that has given us the opportunity to wake up this day, to choose to do good this day, to step into that yes that we may have given you oh so long ago. Father, Mother, God, Creator of all, I ask for you to guide us. As humans, we will falter. As elected officials, sometimes it feels like people forget that we are still human. Your guidance helps us stay grounded. No, we are not always going to agree on the how, but I do believe that those of us that are around this dais have a vision and a love for this city. There will be times when we disagree. Ultimately, I'm asking you to keep our hearts and our minds open, to hear the community, to research the information on our own, to take a stand one way or another and not attempt to walk the middle of the road. I am not asking for you to part the waters for us as Moses had once because the people kept denying your presence, kept not believing in your strength. It is because of the belief of your strength that I ask you to continue to guide us, to keep us focused on service, to keep us focused on you. This I ask in your son Jesus Christ's name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, Council Member Mayfield. Please stand and join in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. We will now move into the awards and recognition section of our agenda. And we have three proclamations being read this evening. The first proclamation is for bird safe awareness months. I'll turn it over to council member Owens.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm delighted to present on behalf of the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County a joint proclamation that reads as follows. Whereas bird populations are in steep decline across North America, with an estimated 2.9 billion breeding adults lost since 1970, and tens of millions of birds migrate across Mecklenburg County each spring and fall, and whereas most birds migrate at night using the stars, sun, and moon for navigation, and artificial city lights interfere with these signals, causing migratory birds to become disoriented, losing their migratory path, and subsequently colliding with buildings or becoming vulnerable to other urban threats. And whereas a 2019 study found that Charlotte is the 19th riskiest city for birds migrating at night, among the 125 largest cities in the country, And whereas the Charlotte City Council's vision states, quote, Charlotte will be a global leader in environmental sustainability, balancing economic growth with preserving our natural resources. And can join many other cities who have committed to turning out or dimming non-essential lights during migratory periods. such as Atlanta in 2017, Austin in 2022, Nashville also in 2022, Raleigh in 2021, Asheville in 2022, Cincinnati in 2018, Denver in 2018, and New York in 2021. And whereas turning out lights yields many rewards, including energy and cost savings, reduced light pollution and decreased CO2 emissions, as well as benefiting birds, pollinators and other beneficial insects, resulting in a healthier environment for us all, And whereas the Bird Safe Charlotte is supported by many community partners, including but not limited to Wing Haven, Mecklenburg Autobahn, Charlotte Wildlife Stewards, Discovery Place, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and now, therefore, we, Robert E. Harrington, Mayor of Charlotte, and Mark D. Jarrell, Chair of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, do hereby proclaim the periods of March through May September through November as bird safe awareness months and urge all residents and businesses to protect birds by turning out all non-essential lighting between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. during these peak migration periods and to update essential lighting to comply with the principles for responsible outdoor lighting witnessed and signed this day by Mayor Harrington and Chair Jarrell. I wish to just add to this that the delightful woman who first came to one of my coffees with Kimberly and is affectionately saved in my phone as the bird lady is here today and will be coming down on behalf of Wing Haven to accept this proclamation from our council. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Johnson. Our next proclamation is Concussion Awareness Month and will be read by you.

Thank you, Mayor. Before I read tonight's proclamation, I want to ask everyone a question. How many of you have ever suffered a concussion? Please raise your hand. Now, how many of you know someone who has suffered a concussion? Please raise your hand. Look around the room. A concussion is a brain injury, and you do not have to lose consciousness to have one. North Carolina shows that about one in four adults reported experiencing a head injury that's caused them to be knocked out or to lose consciousness. As the incoming chair of the North Carolina Brain Injury Advisory Council, this work is very important to me. For the past five years, Charlotte has held the largest Brain Injury Awareness Month recognition in North Carolina. And Mr. Tracy Suggs in Protect Your Skull has been a part of that effort. Tonight, we continue that work by recognizing Concussion Awareness Month. Awareness matters, prevention matters, and it's my honor to read tonight's proclamation. Whereas a concussion is a mild brain injury caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or body that can affect brain function. and symptoms may involve thinking, memory, balance, sleep, emotions, vision, concentration, and other aspects of daily life. And whereas concussions can happen to anyone through falls, motor vehicle crashes, workplace or recreational injuries, military service, interpersonal violence, sports, and other physical activities, and every suspected concussion deserves to be taken seriously. And whereas because concussion symptoms are not always immediately visible or recognized, public awareness, honest communication, appropriate evaluation, recovery, and support are important to protecting health and quality of life, and whereas National Concussion Awareness Day is observed on the third Friday of September, falling on September 18th in 2026, creating an opportunity to educate families, athletes, coaches, schools, employers, health professionals, and communities about concussion recognition and safer practices. And whereas Protect Your Skull Health and Safety, founded in 2013 together with brain injury organizations, advocates, survivors, families, educators, health professionals, and community leaders works to advance awareness, prevention, support, and a culture in which the injury may be invisible but the person is not. Now therefore, he, Robert Harrington, Mayor of Charlotte, do hereby proclaim September 26th as Concussion Awareness Month in Charlotte and encourage all residents to increase concussion awareness. Affected by brain injury, promote safer practices, use their voices, look out for one another, and remember that quality of life matters most. Thank you. Accepting this proclamation is Mr. Tracy Suggs of Protect Your Skull Organization. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Johnson. Our final proclamation for this evening is for Monarch Pledge Day, and I will read that proclamation, and I believe Mr. Alden Picard is here to receive it. Whereas the monarch butterfly is an iconic North American species whose multi-generational migration and metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly has captured the imagination of millions of Americans. And whereas both the western and eastern monarch populations have seen significant declines with less than 1% of the western monarch population remaining, while the eastern population has fallen by as much as 90%. whereas the city of Charlotte recognizes that human health ultimately depends on well-functioning ecosystems and that biodiverse regions can better support food production. healthy soil and air quality and can foster healthy connections between humans and wildlife. And whereas cities, towns, and counties play a critical role in saving the monarch butterfly, and on August 18th, I, Mayor Rob Harrington, signed the National Wildlife Federation Mayor's Monarch Pledge, committing the city of Charlotte to taking meaningful action to protect monarchs. And whereas the city of Charlotte, together with its residents, is advancing monarch and pollinator conservation by planting native milkweed and nectar plants throughout the community, and by installing and maintaining pollinator gardens at locations including Old City Hall, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Governance Center, Third Ward Gathering Garden, and the Tuckasegee Arboretum and Gardens, and other sites across the city. Now, therefore, I, Robert E. Harrington, Mayor of Charlotte, do hereby proclaim September 19th, 2026. as Mayor's Monarch Pledge Day in the City of Charlotte and encourage all residents to participate in community activities that support and celebrate monarch conservation. Witness my hand on the official seal of the City of Charlotte, Robert E. Harrington, Mayor, and we're doing these things just for little ones like that.

I think the mayor's up there, man.

Mr. Picker to Mr. Picard.

Are you getting a picture?

You remember those days, sir?

Yes, I do. We are going to move into our business agenda and we will start with consent items.

We'll start with consideration of consent agenda items before we take the vote. Are there any for comment or otherwise for separate vote? We will vote on the items not pulled first and then address any items that have been pulled for separate vote. May I have a motion to approve? Are there any that are being pulled? Council Member Mayfield.

Thank you. I will let item 16 pull for staff comment and separate vote. Okay.

Any others? The others. I believe we are right for a motion to approve item 17 through 46 on the consent agenda. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Any comments or discussion about the items that remain 17 through 46? All in favor say aye. Raise your hand. All opposed. Any opposed? Raise your hand. All right. That passes unanimously. Now for the items for the item for separate vote. Are there any comments on item number 16? Council Member Mayfield.

I think we have to do the motion first. So move to approve item A, B and C. Correct.

Yep.

That has been moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion there? Council Member Mayfield.

Thank you may I reached out to staff. This is our officer early intervention system. Please share exactly what this particular vote will be moving forward this evening.

Yes, ma'am. Number 16 is a contract to purchase software that helps CMPD proactively identify and address concerning behavior in officers that conflicts with CMPD's mission and core values. So for example, if a resident reported a concerning interaction with an officer, data from that interaction would be input and stored in this software system and analyze to help identify patterns and then those patterns of behavior help CMPD perform early intervention with the officer and assist in developing officer trainings.

Thank you, Mayor. I thought it was important for us to pull that out with all the conversations that we're having where it seems like we're giving more and more authority to law enforcement and it seems like the residents and everyday citizens seem to be losing autonomy and or authority. I thought this was a move in the right direction to make sure that we have a real process To help if there is, we pray that there would not be. But unfortunately, we have seen instances. So this will be a way for our residents and visitors if they are interacting with a law enforcement officer that is inappropriate, that we will be able to track that.

Thank you, Council Member Mayfield. Council Member Owens.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for lifting this up, Councilmember Mayfield. One of the reasons that I was pleased to see this poll is I too had some questions about it, but I went at it from a different angle. I think whenever I see the word data and whenever I see it being used in ways that perhaps are novel or something that we haven't yet done, I do just want to inquire and so I did have questions and those were answered to my satisfaction. But I also called the FOP and I called several officers to understand because a number of the problems I personally feel like we've got in Charlotte have come down to a lack of law enforcement. Some of our traffic safety is not being addressed in the ways that we all wish that it would be. Some of the juvenile justice issues that we're seeing in our community are because we are short officers. And so I was really loath to vote in favor of anything that would potentially be seen by officers as an overreach. And what I heard was absolutely to the contrary. They're very pleased with this. This really memorializes a way that they can track and the inputs that are really necessary from their interactions with the people. So I'm really excited about this and I'm much more comfortable voting for it now that I understand more about it. So thank you for doing that. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Owens. Are there other questions, comments about item number 16? We have a motion, a second. We've had discussion. All in favor of item 16, a motion. Raise your hand. Any opposed? All right. It passes. Thank you. That takes us to the remainder of our business section for this evening. Our first business item is for a donation of self-contained breathing apparatus. For item 10, which is in the binder, is there a motion to adopt a resolution authorizing the donation of self-contained breathing apparatus equipment to the Coliseum, hope I got that right, Gorge Fire and Rescue, and Rowan Cabarrus Community College? Move for approval. Second. Okay. Are there any questions, discussion on item number 10? It's been moved and seconded. All in favor of the motion on item number 10 as read, please raise your hand. Any opposed? All right, it passes. Thank you. Our next business item is for a governor's highway safety program grant for a traffic safety education campaign. This is item 11 in the agenda. to adopt a resolution is there a motion to adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a grant agreement and except for grant in the amount of a hundred and ten thousand dollars from the north carolina department of transportation governor's highway safety program For the development of a traffic safety education campaign for the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization Planning Area. And B, adopt a budget ordinance appropriating $110,000 from the North Carolina Department of Transportation to the General Grants Fund. Move to approve A and B. Second.

Second.

Second. All right, any discussion of A or B, or A and B and number 11? Hearing none, all in favor, please raise your hand. Any opposed? That passes. Our next business item is for an interlocal agreement with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for campus police. For item 12, is there a motion to adopt a resolution ratifying an interlocal agreement with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to extend the law enforcement authority of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte campus police? Is there a motion?

Second.

Second. Is there any discussion of this motion as read? Number 12. Council Member Masuera-Aries.

Thank you, Mayor. Could I have a staff member come in? Thank you so much.

CMPD.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council Members.

Thank you. Thank you for being here. I just want to clarify for the public what this is. Is this giving authority to campus police? Is it giving authority to CMPD? I know what it is, but just for the public's record.

So this measure basically extends the basic jurisdiction of the police force at UNCC. It allows them to actually perform actual police function outside the campus area for public safety and this is something that had been approved prior we look forward to it UNCC has a very capable and robust police department. Now with us some of you remember some of the crimes that have happened around campus especially in the mid nineties I can tell you as a young officer also working that police division where UNCC is located this is an absolute benefit to the citizens that live in and around the campus and certainly for the safety of the attendees. We have a huge commuter population that goes to UNCC.

Thank you. And would you also say that this is perhaps a form of early intervention so those students, their immediate contact in that extended jurisdiction isn't with CMPD directly, but it would be with campus police?

So it's both. They basically bolster our police force. They basically are a force multiplier being able to come out. Obviously, our officers go through campus as well, and it's patrolled heavily. However, this does give... the residents on campus there's a lot of off-campus housing as well and you know as the extension of the boundaries go the uncc officers are able to actually patrol these areas which would otherwise not be patrolled other than by the the officers from the university city division got it thank you so much i appreciate you're welcome thank you are there other questions or comments on the motion that's reflected in item 12.

Okay, there's been a motion and a second. We've had discussion. All in favor of the motion reflected in item 12, please raise your hand. Any opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Next business item is for a Metropolitan Planning Program grant municipal agreement. I'm going to read all of it. And please let me know if there's any objections, taking all of this at once. For item 13, is there a motion to, A, adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute a municipal agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to support transit planning activities for the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization? B, adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager or his designee to execute interlocal agreements with Iredell County Area Transportation System, Union County Transportation System and Mecklenburg County Transportation System to support transit planning activities for the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization. And C, adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager or his designee to execute interlocal agreements with Centralina Regional Council, the town of Cornelius, the town of Huntersville, and the city of Statesville to support transportation planning projects. Is there a motion?

So moved as to A, B, and C. Is there a second? Second.

Okay. Are there any discussion? Council Member Johnson.

Yes, I have a question. Thank you. So earlier tonight we were talking about money that potentially we owe NCDOT and there being a change in service level if we don't move forward with I-77. How does this tie into that?

Okay.

Good evening Bob cook with a planning department The the two really aren't connected most of these funds are directly attributed to CRT PO and then we sub allocate them to member jurisdictions the different Transit agencies in the region as well as the some cities and towns to execute their own transportation planning projects So they've already been approved and allocated.

Yes.

Yes, ma'am. They have I

Thank you.

Any further questions or comments? Thank you. Council Member Mayfield.

Thank you. Just a follow up. So we've identified that through CRTPO the funds have already been allocated but yet what we're asking tonight is to adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute the municipal agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Where does this conversation sit as we're in the process of transitioning to the MPTA and the winding down of CRTPO? I just want to make sure I'm understanding exactly what we are committing to as city when we have these two other bodies out here and what's the impact as we're talking about have an agreement with the central line of regional council, uh, Cornelius, Huntersville, Statesville. Help me understand how this ties in.

Sure. The, uh, the city serves as CRT PO is fiscal agent. So any monies that come, uh, through NCDOT actually are reside within the city of Charlotte. So in order for us to share those funds with the other cities and towns or central line, uh, the city has to enter into an interlocal agreement with those entities.

So we're basically the fiscal agent?

That's correct.

Thank you.

You're welcome. Any other questions or comments? There's been a motion and a second to approve the items as described in item number 13 in the agenda. All in favor, raise your hand. Any opposed? Yes. Thank you. Number 14 item on our agenda. is for the sale of city-owned land for affordable housing. For item 14, is there a motion, this is two-part, to A, adopt a resolution approving the sale of approximately 1.16 acres of city-owned property at 3924 and 3932 Freedom Drive. Parcel identification number 063-052-04 and 063-052-05 to Prosperity Freedom Drive LLC for $1 for the development of affordable for sale housing units. And B, authorize the city manager or his designee to negotiate and execute all documents necessary to complete the sale of the property. Is there a motion? So moved.

Second.

Second.

Discussion, and I see Council Member Mayfield's hand.

And Mayo. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. So as we're moving forward with this, one, I want us to consider that we do have limited city-owned land when we're talking about the ability of expanding land banking. and supporting trust, I have, oh, I was given the chance to get to the stage. I want us to take that into consideration. But for this, the proposal is for a minimum of 12 for sale residential townhomes. Do you by any chance know if these are gonna have a HOA? And if so, whether that is gonna be a monthly or annual fee? Because we have a project off of Ashley, that in theory was a really good project because the pricing of the town homes were in our 80 and below, but those same town homes had a $263 monthly HOA, which then makes it outside of the affordability. So do we have any commitments on what that would potentially look like?

Thank you, Warren Wooten, Housing and Neighborhood Services. I don't have that information in front of me, Council Member Mayfield. Because it's going to be subdivided and it will most likely require interior streets, it most likely will have an HOA.

So, manager and colleagues, I want us to step back and take into consideration when these projects come before us, if it's a townhome community and if there is a HOA and if that's a monthly HOA, What is that doing to the actual affordability when we were able to support a development, say under 300,000 for sale, but if you're paying 270 to 300 a month for HOA, that's doing honestly very little to nothing because townhomes don't necessarily come with a whole lot of amenities. Are we really achieving the goal that we've said in our language of creating affordability because that very well will be why that home goes into foreclosure if that HOA fee is not met and or that will be the challenge in their loan structure. is what that monthly HOA fee added to the actual cost of the sale price, the impact that that can have. So I just wanted us to have that as a consideration and ask the question for committee members of housing and neighborhood services for us to start looking at as we're discussing proposed language as we move into a new bond cycle and a new application year. what those applications could actually consist of, especially if we're identifying city on land that's out for RFP. Thank you, Ms. Wooten.

Okay. Council Member Mayo and then Council Member Johnson.

You want me to go? Thank you. You want me to go? You want to go last?

That doesn't matter.

This isn't my district. This is district two.

Okay. Yeah.

Okay. Hi, Warren. Sorry. Quick question. I guess I'm struggling a little bit thinking that this is worth almost a million dollars. This, you know, one point, whatever. to five acres and we're gonna sell it for a dollar. And I understand the importance of creating a pathway to affordable home ownership. I'm more worried about the 20-year affordability. Can you chat more about that? I just think if we're going to be, I mean, pretty much giving away such a valuable asset as land. I mean, you can't get that back. And we're only gonna keep it affordable for 20 years. I think, I personally feel like it's a missed opportunity for thinking through generational wealth. Can you chat about what your team is thinking and other options for this?

Sure. Thank you, Council Member Mayo. Homeownership is one of the more complex things that you all take under consideration, and we have to balance both economic mobility, social mobility, and affordability. And so you support a variety of strategies when you do that. There are strategies that are very high social and economic mobility, but they're naturally lower on the affordability scale. There are other strategies such as land banking that are high on the continuing affordability, but are lower on the social mobility. This is a strategy that this developer's playing that's kind of in the middle. And when we look at these projects, we look at bringing you a balance of options so that the various residents in your community have various options and how they want to pursue their next housing step. Some of them are okay with those longer affordability terms, and some of them are more capable of stepping into a project that might have a higher payment, but also has a more economic or social mobility.

I guess when I think about the homes or not, yeah, the grant that we have for home down payment assistance and things like that is a mechanism that we kind of use to, to help with revenue and to put back in the pot. Why did we not think of using something similar for this?

So, so absolutely. So that tool can also be used. You can stack some of our tools together to achieve a, greater affordability for our targeted residents. So yeah, there are multiple strategies in play here. This developer's not coming back and asking for additional funding, but the program is available for House Charlotte for down payment assistance. So it just gives a wide variety of options to households that are at various economic levels.

Thank you, Council Member Mayo. Council Member Johnson.

Thank you, Mayor. Has this project come before us for rezoning? Is this in conjunction with the rezoning?

It is not.

Not?

It is not.

So it's by right. Okay, so this is a new project with prosperity and...

It appeared before council about a year ago. Okay. It went through your land process. That's correct.

Say that last part again.

It appeared before you during your land process about a year ago where you approved this developer to work on this project. You're now seeing again because they've done their due diligence and they're prepared for the land transfer. So this is the second time that you're seeing this project.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. And who is the targeted consumer for this? Which AMI?

So you've got two AMIs, you've got households at 60% AMI, and you've got households at below 80% AMI.

So 60% and below 80%. What Council Member Mayfield is saying, and we really have to dig a little deeper, by the time you add the HOA fees... That's a different payment. So that's a whole different AMI. So I wonder if 60% AMI, including the HOA fees, are really going to be eligible to be financed for this.

I appreciate the question and I agree. Those fees are something to be concerned about because they seem to continue to get higher.

They do.

What I can share with you is that when underwriters and our affordable lending partners look at these deals, They look at the full payment, which includes those HOA fees. So they are not setting up your residents to fail. They're looking at all of the fees, including that HOA, when they're approving a payment.

So do we have that in writing? Because we are giving this land away for $1. We can't get it back. This is significant. So we hold the leverage. And $300 a month makes a huge difference between 60% and the 80% buyer. do we have that in writing that the HOA payment is included?

Council member Johnson, let me just, I'm going to let you continue if you want to, but I think there's likely to be a motion to refer to committee. Are you willing to?

Yeah, I'm just, yeah, we're going to, yeah, I'm just, we have that in writing.

So it wouldn't be in writing with the developer because it's part of the lender process. So it's part of the, the work that our buyers and the lenders go through when they're approving their financing and your buyers have a choice of lenders that they can go with.

That's fine. This is only 1.16 acres, right? But we definitely need, thank you, Mayor, for referring that because that's something we need to really nail down.

I think there's a motion. Thank you, Council Member Johnson.

Make a motion. Yes. Mayor, Council, I'd like to make a motion. We refer this to the Housing Neighborhood Committee. I think this is a great discussion, but I think there's questions around what policy need to be finalized, so I'd like to make that referral.

Any discussion on the motion to refer to Council? Council Member Drakes.

Just want to ask, is a delay at this point creating any hardship in terms of getting the transaction done?

Probably.

They're ready to start working on this property. The reason it's coming back in front of you is that they've gone through a due diligence process and they're ready to move forward. And so I have not heard from the developer one way or another, but I do know that the reason that you're seeing it tonight is that we have been working with them for a year and they've been going through due diligence on this project.

Any further? This project is well down the road. It was, this owning was approved. We've committed the land to the transaction. I think the discussion that is being suggested should take place prospectively and that we ought to see this one through rather than now interfere with it, frankly.

Any other discussion or comment on the motion to refer to committee?

I'd like to make a substitute motion. All right, that we have exactly the conversation that is proposed, but that we do so prospectively and allow this transaction to complete As we've been working on it for a year.

Is there a second to the substitute motion?

Point of order. So the original motion was for this item on the agenda, right? Wasn't there a motion? So then council member Mitchell made a substitute motion. So that's a third substitute.

Although I believe this was not a substitute motion with a motion to refer.

Was a substitute motion to deal with.

So then we needed to vote on this first before council member Mitchell's motion.

Let me ask the city attorney if the last motion is in order.

There was no second anyway. I would draw the motion. I would draw it.

No second. Okay. So any further discussion on what is now the pending motion to refer to committee?

Okay. Mayor.

I just have a question. Council Member Adams.

No. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor, and I appreciate the motion to send to committee, but specifically what are we referring to committee relative to this project or this type of project? That's what I want to understand a little bit further.

Great. Mayor Pro Tem, I think it's your motion if you want to respond.

Councilman Madison, I don't want to do a scope creep, so I'm going to say just to this particular agenda item. Okay. Because I don't know how many of the opportunists will come before us, but I'm just saying particularly to agenda item 14 to refer to committee to really talking about more policy enhancement around. And I think you heard a lot of comments all from committee members about some other issues they'd like to discuss as well.

Okay. Specifically, germane to only this project. Yes, sir.

Yes, ma'am. Okay.

Right. That's... Just to follow up, Mayor, I understand that, and thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. My only question is, as I originally heard it, I thought it was going to be on the types of projects like this. which would lend itself to a policy discussion within committee. But if it is narrowly focused to one specific project, should it be referred to committee or should that be something that total council would address?

Mayor Pro Tem and then Council Member Mayfield. Okay.

So I'm going to look at the chair, and Mayor, if you don't mind, let the chair weigh in because it's our committee. But I think we heard a lot of conversation around it. So Madam Chair, I'm going to yield to you.

So, Mayor Pro Tem, thank you. The way I am interpreting this and plan on working with staff as well as committee is for this particular conversation that it is what I'm understanding is a referral back to the committee, but in committee, we have the ability to expand this conversation. Mainly, this will help us because staff is already working on pulling up a map to present to committee of current land that we have because we've been working to try to identify how many opportunities that we have like this and because this has come up tonight in the proposal for land that is owned in the area that has seen tremendous growth and that we know the proposed extension of light rail going up Wilkerson the impact that that's going to have a block three blocks near it. What I'm understanding is the referral is for this particular project, because this is the first one, but this then opens the door for committee to have a broader conversation of what is our expectation that we can present to full council on moving forward with city-owned land based on the goals that we are working on in Housing and Neighborhood Services Committee, because we are going beyond just housing, and really embracing the neighborhood services piece of our committee.

So what I understand the motion on the floor is a motion to refer what is reflected in item number 14 to committee, and it's that specific item committee will have whatever discussions the committee would have if that motion is successful. Council Member Anderson, do you have a follow-up? And then Council Member Graham. I'll let Council Member Graham speak. Council Member Graham.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor. So I just want to make sure that what we're trying to address in committee. So maybe Mr. Driggs is on something. This is so far down the road. Maybe we should just advance this and then we take the topic, the policy discussion to committee for any future opportunities like this. I'm not sure how long this would stay in committee. And I don't think it's probably, there might be not the right word, to use this as a guinea pig, right? I just don't know what we're trying to solve. It's a bigger question, I think, we're trying to solve, and I don't think this petition should be caught in that, notwithstanding the fact that I think you need to resolve it.

so i think what we have is a motion on the floor to refer the motion that is reflected in item number 13 to committee 14 14 sorry item number 14 to committee and i think we're ripe for a vote on the motion the second motion the motion to refer the subsidiary motion Call the question there. All in favor of the referral that's reflected, the referral of this item number 14 to committee, please raise your hand. All opposed. Okay, the motion fails four to six. Okay, now we have the underlying motion, the original motion, which is as reflected in item number 14. Is there any further discussion on item number 14? Move approval. Council Member Mayfield.

Thank you, Mayor. I do want to just remind my colleagues that we have $364,000 left in totality because of approvals that we identified earlier this year. with the reallocation of home ownership and the down payment assistance piece. Even with moving this forward and because this potentially, well, it definitely is eligible for housing assistance. That actual line item for home ownership, that 25 million, we exceeded and it is beyond zero. So we are looking at potentially a three, now three month was four month gap between today and the November election. And even at that, it is up to the community to approve the bonds. Thankfully, historically, the community has supported our transportation and housing bonds, but that is not guaranteed, especially with other language that's going to potentially be on the ballot. So once we have, uh, The supportive community of that $125 million, we started a different conversation. But even if this was to move forward and be completed in the next 90 days, we do not have funding in our down payment assistance bucket. That bucket is zeroed out. So I want us to be very clear that there's also an expectation that whenever we support something that, and we have previous projects that's already out there that we deferred. that we have to talk about. But I want us to be very clear that there is an expectation that when we approve something like this, especially opportunity for home ownership, there is going to be down payment assistance to be bundled to go along with whatever that is. So I just want to make sure that we have transparency in the fact that that line item was zeroed out because we approved a number of things. We have $364,000. We don't have enough in the budget right now to buy a single home in the city of Charlotte, much less to help with down payment assistance. So I just want to make sure that we have all of that on record as we have this vote.

I'm going to come to, thank you, Council Member Mayfield. I'm going to come to Council Member Mayo, and then if there is anyone else who has not been heard on this, feeling that, I will have Council Member Johnson with the last word on this, and we'll proceed to a vote. Council Member Mayo.

Thank you. I would just kind of make note to the housing and neighborhood services team, Dr. Stewart and Warren. There definitely seems to be a lot of conversation about this. I hope that we will talk more about this at an upcoming committee meeting about how we can be thoughtful of this rezoning already happened. And then now we're doing this transfer for a dollar. And I know that How this was appraised is different from the original conversation. So I did read that in here. It's almost a $200,000 difference. But just going forward, how can we try to get all that information in front of council in the front end instead of us having already made this decision with rezoning? And now this is coming back, and now we're having all these questions. So I'm hoping that this can be a lesson learned for all of us, including staff, about how we can better work together so that we're not necessarily having some of these questions now. And like Councilmember Drake said, I agree. I don't want to necessarily prolong the process for the builder and lose opportunity for homeowners who may be looking forward to this. So that is why I will be supporting it, even though I do have some hesitancy And I did note that on my social media this morning. I don't think a 20-year deal is the best that we could do. So I hope that that will be part of those conversations when it starts, when we're going through the rezoning in our housing committee meeting in the future. So thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Mayo. Council Member Johnson, then I think everyone who has asked to be heard on this will have been heard. Council Member Johnson, then we'll call the question.

Thank you. I like the idea of the motion and the referral to committee. So after this passes or we vote on it, because, again, it is only 1.16 acres and it is far into the process. So can we still have the referral to committee? Can you make that? A motion subsequent to this vote mayor pro tem or, or mayor, we can get that referred.

Yeah, I think, I think it'll be for the mayor to refer and happy to look at that, figure out exactly what, what it is that we're referring. I think this gives us the opportunity to do that. Um, and now we've had the question called folks have been heard all in favor of the motion that is reflected in item number 14. Please raise your hand. Any opposed. All right, it passes, which takes us to what I believe is our final business item for this evening. It's an upset bid process for city-owned property on Pegram Street. For item 15, is there a motion, this is three part, to A, adopt a resolution authorizing the upset bid process for an approximately 0.084 acre city-owned property located at 1726 Pegram Street, parcel identification number 081-166-32 for an initial bid amount of $175,000. B, direct the city clerk to cause a notice of the proposed sale to be published which shall describe the property, the amount, and terms of the offer, and the terms under which the offer may be upset. And C, if there are no qualifying upset bids received after the initial public notice, allow the city manager or his designee to negotiate and execute all documents necessary to complete the transaction. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Second. Any discussion, comments on this motion? All right. All in favor of the motion that I've read reflected in item 15, please raise your hand. Any opposed? It passes. Okay. I believe that takes us through our business agenda. Madam City Attorney Leslie Fite. Oh, actually, we've got the manager's report, which is a little bit out of order this evening. Manager's report. I'm sorry.

Recognizing manager. Sure. Thank you, Mayor and members of council. And I do believe we have three closed session items tonight. So we're going to be brief with the manager's report. One thing that's really important. as for us to stay on schedule with, stay on track with data centers. So we just have a brief, I think it's a two slide presentation from Allison Craig, deputy city manager to say where we are in this process. Good evening, Ms. Craig.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. I don't know if the slides can be pulled up, but I can speak from them even if they are not there. So we had previously communicated in the Transportation Planning and Development Committee that we would come before action preview tonight to talk about... update on data centers and y'all had another big topic tonight so I wanted to be very clear with council and with the community that we're going to come back on September 28th and have a more detailed presentation and what that presentation will be about is about a proposal to extend the moratorium. So just wanted to be clear about that. So staff came to the committee meeting on the 8th with some details about what work has been done to date, what additional work remains, and we recommended that council extend the moratorium past November 5th to give the community, the task force, council, and everyone some more time. In addition, staff some more time to evaluate some new things that we have learned. So the committee agreed with this. They voted out of committee to refer it to full council. And so we'll be back on the 28th. And the topics and the items that we'll cover on the 28th will be all the work completed to date, what additional work is needed to be done, and what the schedule and the timeline to complete that work will need to be. We'll provide you a schedule for a council vote prior to November 5th when the moratorium is currently set to expire. That will include a public hearing because per state statutes, if there is an extension longer than 61 days, it requires a public hearing, so we'll need to set that. And then we will provide a proposal for what an extension would look like and the time timeline that we think is necessary. So that really is a very brief update. Just wanted to, again, we'll be back on the 28th with a detailed presentation on those topics. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have, and we certainly will have time at that meeting for questions.

Questions? And I see Council Member Rowland's hand.

Thank you, Mayor, and I thank you for the presentation. I just want to lift up into the room and hope that this is part of your process as we consider a moratorium. Had some really intentional conversations on Labor Day with some of the trades who are very concerned about a continuation of the moratorium. And so I'm just hopeful that there are tradespeople voices that you're also taking into account as we look forward at this.

Yes, very much so. I think there's been some questions raised by the task force and the community about jobs, about just general economic development, whether there's incentives that we can provide to the data center industry to put in the measures that we want when we can't regulate them. And so I think there's definitely some conversations to be had in that area. And I believe that's one of the topics for one of the upcoming task force meetings very soon. So yes. Thank you. Absolutely.

Any other questions for Ms. Craig? I believe that's it for the manager's report. Thank you. City Attorney Leslie Fite, I understand that we will proceed to a closed session. Could you please read the motion to go into closed session?

Yes, Mayor. I'd be glad to. The motion is to go into closed session pursuant to NCGS 143-318.11a3 to preserve the attorney-client privilege. and A4 to discuss matters relating to the location or expansion of industries or other businesses in the area served by the public body.

Is there a motion in accordance with that?

So moved. Second.

All in favor, please raise your hand. Any opposed? All right. We will move to closed session. Thank you so much, everyone, for being here and staying with us. And good evening.

How far off?