City Council - Regular Meeting

I would like to call to order the Concord City Council meeting of Thursday, February 12th, 2026. Uh, welcome everyone. It's good to see such a good crowd in the chambers tonight. If you would please stand and join me for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for our moment of silence afterwards.

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. Uh, first up on the agenda are presentations and first item.

Oh, yes. Thank you. Approval of the minutes. And you've all received copies of the January 6th, January 8th, and January 16th uh meeting. Does anyone have any additions or corrections to those minutes? Move to approve, Mayor. Okay, we have a motion by Terry, a second by Andy uh to approve the minutes as presented. Any discussion? All in favor, please say I.

All oppose? No. That motion passes. And now I will present the proclamation recognizing Black History Month. And I think we've got Mr. Clark here and perhaps some others. Please join me up front. I got this going on. Is it working? Yeah. And if you have any comments. Okay. This is whereas National Black History Month is an occasion to commemorate the countless contributions of African-Americans to enrich American life. And whereas this year's theme, a century of black history commemorations established by the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History. This year's theme explores the historical impact and evolution of celebrating black history, encouraging reflection on its role in shaping identity, fostering pride, and advancing equality. while also highlighting the ongoing struggle for inclusive historical recognition. And whereas American history brims with the stories of African-Americans who forever changed their communities and our country. And whereas National Black History Month is a call to every citizen to reflect on the contributions of African-Americans which are woven throughout American history. Now therefore, I, Stephen M. Morris, mayor, and the city council of the city of

Concord, do hereby offer this proclamation in honor of the month of February being recognized as National Black History Month. and would welcome you to make any comments if you have any. Mr. Clark, well, mayor, thank you so very much for and council for this proclamation of Black History Month. But I want to say on behalf of our community and Cabaris County and beyond for this proclamation and everything that's going forward, the things that uh has brought us this far. Great. And thank you so very much. Okay. Thank you.

Yes, sir. if you there's a copy for you. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Okay. Next item on our agenda is presentation of retirement plaque to Lieutenant John Wayne for over 28 years of service with the city of Concord. And if Mr. Wayne would come forward and if you have any family members you'd like to join you, I encourage them to come as well.

Okay. You know, you know, I I can't I have to, you know, this is a pretty special event and and and it's a serious one, but you know, some of the people that you got with you back there on the road, I'm

Don't say no names. I I think I won't say any names but might be better for them to stay back there. But anyway, couple couple of things about Lieutenant John Wayne. John Wayne has been a dedicated and valued member of the Concord Fire Department since his hiring on December 29th, 1997. Throughout his career, John has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to public service, professional growth, and teamwork. earning the respect and friendship of those who have the privilege to work alongside him. John's career profession reflects both his skill and dedication. He was promoted to firefighter 2 in October of 2001, senior firefighter in April of 2004, and fire specialist in July of 2010. Since May of 2015, he has served as a lieutenant, continuing to provide leadership and mentorship to those under his command. From his early days in the department, John has been an active and committed member of the urban search and rescue team, taking part in challenging training and responses that require specialized knowledge and teamwork. His extensive training and certifications highlight his dedication to preparedness and technical experience. Among his many qualifications are fire officer one and two driver operator pumps and aerial emergency vehicle driver. Basic rescue technician, technical rescuer, including water machinery and agricultural, confined space, trench ropes, structural

collapse and vehicle machinery rescue, general instructor one and two and hazardous materials level one and two. John also holds NIMS 100, 200, 700, and 800 certifications. Is a certified emergency medical technician, and earned an associate of applied science in fire protection technology from Central Piedmont Community College. John is well known around the department for his humor and one-of-a-kind comments. You might have some of those for us later that that keep those around him smiling no matter the situation. His goodnatured personality combined with his strong sense of responsibility and knowledge makes others enjoy working with and learning from. Outside of work, John enjoys spending time with his family, especially when they can be out fishing together. Whether on duty or off, he brings the same easygoing spirit and dependability that have defined his long and successful career. And I I think somebody told me that that you routinely are the one that clears the snow away from the firehouses as well.

I did a few little bit. Yeah, somebody's got to take the reign now. Well, I mean, certainly based on all of these things that I just read, it sounds like they're going to have to have five or six people to replace you. Uh, now they find somebody a lot taller than me to do it.

Yeah. Well, we have have a couple things for you. Of course, there's still time for you to change your mind if if Yeah. Well, th this is this is a plaque presented to John D. Wayne in recognition of over 28 years of faithful, loyal, and dedicated service to the city of Concord fire department dated February 1st, 2026. Congratulations. Thank you.

Yes. And we also have another item here which I think is very special and this is the Old North State Award. Uh and I'll read that for dedication and service beyond expectation and excellence to the great state of North Carolina. On behalf of the citizens of this state, I bestow upon John David Wayne the Old North State Award. Working together, we can make North Carolina the place of unlimited opportunity, a place where anyone who studies hard, works hard, and lives a life with high values can fulfill and even exceed their potential. This is signed by Governor Josh Stein. And the things that I just read, I think all apply to you. Congratulations.

Yes, sir.

And please feel free to make any comments you'd like and and introduce the folks you got up here with you. Well, I ain't used to talking in front of a microphone. I got a big enough mouth as it is. But, um, first of all, I'd like to thank God for giving me a great career. He kept me safe 28 years. So, thank God. Um, thank my family and friends. They supported me 28 years again with our hectic schedule that we work. Most of you know, 24 on, 48 off. So, you know, you gone a lot, these guys back here against the back wall. I love y'all. So, I'm going to miss you. But I will come around and be a thorn in your side. And this is my wife, Crystal. This is my dad, Tim. And my mom, Sandy, and the guy that we're not supposed to talk to back there, but Mr. Allan.

Okay. Congratulations. And and if you would please give council an opportunity to to talk to you and shake your hand.

Very good. Thank Thank you. Appreciate y'all being here. Thank you. Let's give John another round of applause. Next item on our agenda is our parks and recreation bond update.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Colin Jay, our assistant director, parks and recreation director to come up and provide the report to council this evening.

Okay. Good evening, mayor, members of council, Mr. Pain, Miss Kosinsky, Miss Jenkins. I'm happy to be here for the February update for our bonds for this month. I'll start off just with a quick update on our financial update. The only change from last month is our increase in investment earnings, which was roughly $100,858. Moving on to completed bond projects. So far, the two projects we've completed are Academy Gibson McKinnus Aquatic Center in Dorton Park. Uh one thing to add for Dorton Park is we did begin the tree uh installation this week that we were replacing trees that came down. So there's almost 400 trees that are starting to go in this week. So you'll see that over the the coming weeks for the replacement trees. Moving on to projects that are currently under construction. Uh start with Marvin Codwell Park. Construction continues. Uh since last month, the biggest change is all of our verticals are in place. If you look at the picture on your top right, you'll see the uh splash pad pad has also been poured, which is that white structure looks like a bean. Uh to the bottom left is our Optimus shelter. And then a few other shelters uh that you see also to the right is our amphitheater that has gone in. Um in addition to that, we'll start seeing some site furnishings and site landscaping going in in the next few weeks. Next up, Jim Ramser Park. So, construction continues here with continued storm drain installation from last month. Um once we see continued ground temperatures increase, we'll start with the parking lot uh retention system that's going to be underneath the parking lot. So, we'll see some additional changes there. uh still on schedule for completion for summer of 2027. And then moving on to our academy Gibson athletic fields. Uh biggest change here is we've actually seen the foundation slab go through for our storage room and restroom. The foundation for the turf has gone in and then we're actually going to have the turf installed. I'm sorry. The turf will be delivered uh the first week of March. So, we'll start seeing that come in uh to our belongings for beginning of March. And then we're presenting the uh turf that'll be there. And then also the

restroom storage facility. Um like I said, the slabs gone down and then the next will be the the next slab will go down for that facility in the next couple weeks. And moving on to next projects, uh the next project that we'll be bringing to bid will be Day Phillips Park. Uh right now we're in the final review phase in Excella and then waiting on final comments. Hoping to have that out to bid in March. Other projects that are in design right now are Academy Gibson skate park, pump track, sculpture garden. Uh we're anticipating updated plans and final estimates in March and plan to bid that uh later this summer. And then for Popular Tent Park, that project is being designed in-house, continue to work on with the uh construction for engineering project for the connection points for that park as well as the bidding for that will take place uh for next summer. That is a typo. It should not be summer 26 should be 27. And then for Hartzell Park, uh biggest change we've seen so far for that is the restroom building has been installed and is open. Uh which is that bottom picture on the right. Uh we are completing the development plans for that and hoping to bid that later this fall once we complete the athletic fields for academy so that we always have athletic fields available to the community. And then for Wilson Street Park, the only update really here is we have begun the grubbing phase for the pollinator garden and began some tree removal that were identified that trees that had to come down um that were deceased and coming down for the project for that. And then we'll look to do more projects or more aspects of that park next summer and we continue to do that inhouse as well with the engineering and planning department. So no updates right now for WW Flow and for Academy Recreation Center. Our timeline is also here as well, which has not changed since last month, but we'll continue to make changes to that if there are changes and then I'll be happy to answer any questions,

council. Any questions? Okay, thank you very much.

Okay, next up is our time for persons requesting to be heard for public comments. Um, I'll read our our rules on that very quickly. This portion of our meeting is our time to recognize persons requesting to be heard and provides an opportunity for anyone wishing to address the city council to do so. Each person will receive three minutes to address the council. This is a time of listening for the council. The subject will be noted and if it requires action or a request, the city manager will note as such and provide steps for any required response or afteraction. Uh please leave your contact information with the city clerk to facilitate communication and I think everybody that has signed up uh did that when when they signed up. So our first speaker is Joe Wilson. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of council, Mr. Payne, Miss Kchinsky, uh, Miss Jenkins. Uh, it's nice to be back. Wow, it's been a while. I know most of you, a couple new faces. I'm here, uh, I'm I'm working on a project with a citizen, Ruchek Meta. He has seven Shopright market fuel stations and sea stores in Concord. He's a lifelong resident, went to Concord High and he has invested, you know, in the city and we submitted uh for a redevelopment of an existing structure on the corner of Pittsville Road in US 29. Uh it was used to be a gates station. Okay. and he was going back with a sea store, the same number of pumps, very similar to what it is with the potential for a one bay automated

car wash that was high efficiency and very little water usage. Uh I was shocked when it did not receive approval at the previous meeting and I wanted to make certain that I came before you all to make sure you understood as well. I worked with the staff in engineering and and looked at why a few new much larger um facilities were approved and it appeared that they had utilized an option to to look at their allocation and reduce it from the the calculated allocation. So, we went back and I looked at the bills for a year for the other seven stores and in reality it was significantly less than the the application that we provided. Uh, and so we made a modification. We left the car wash in. This is an old station that's boarded up now and it's on a prominent corner on 29 and he's going to fix it and and then do it right and and bring it back. Uh, and I just want to make certain that you all understood that and that you were clear when you voted for that allocation. Uh, this isn't somebody coming in from out of town throwing up something. Uh, this is somebody that's lived here their whole life and they continue to invest. So, with that, if there are questions, I'll be happy to answer them, but I appreciate your consideration.

Thank you. Okay. Next is Norman McCulla. Welcome. Thank you.

Good evening everyone. Thank you for enabling me to speak at this time. I will begin by saying which I always say I love Concord. I really do. But I'm going to kiss my remarks. Keep it simple. Stupid. Okay. I got three bullet points. Number one, Mr. Warren C. Coleman. You all know Warren C. Coleman, right? If you don't know Warren C. Coleman, I'm not doing my job. Okay. So, Warren C. Coleman was the richest black man in recognition of Black History Month. Was the richest black man in America as of 1900. as of 1900. After that, Madame CJ Walker and various other people. But a man born, raised, lived, died right here in Concord, a son of Concord, was the richest black man in America. I will celebrate his legacy on the 18th. Channel 3 News came here. They interviewed me. Okay. So, I became a de facto spokesman for the town of Concord. De facto. So, I want to last but not least, thank you for putting back the plaque that was up for Mr. Coleman next to the Mexican restaurant. Somebody took it down.

Who that was, I don't know. And I don't care. All I care about is the fact that the plaque is there. So, if you go to the Mexican restaurant, check out the plant. Plus, there's a picture on the inside talking about Warren C. Coleman. We're going to be talking about Mr. Coleman. If you haven't spoken about him yet, you will. I spoke to the new owner of the mill that's being converted into 145 apartments and she's agreed to make a space inside the mill for Mr. Coleman. Please spread the word. Warren C. Coleman is the son of Concord and he needs to be recognized accordingly. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next speaker is Orlando Jacobs.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council. My name is Orlando Jacobs, often referred to as Orlando Jacobs 676 on all social media platforms. I came today because I was going to read something to you guys, but I want to speak from the heart. I am sure and I am aware that you are all aware of the recent death of a young lady by the name of Yahara or Yodara Hernandez Cortez. Her body was found inside or outside in the snow during that past winter storm that we had. One of the things that concerned me was the police chief and the police department released a statement in regards to alcohol prior to an actual toxicology report coming out. Over 300 million people have now have this image of this young lady as being an alcoholic and dying because of that. And I want you all in your capacity to urge the city manager to have a little bit different conversation with how we choose to proceed with information prior to it being put out to the public. And how we do that without the toxicology report regardless of how it came out. I personally as a citizen don't feel that information should have came out until afterwards. A second issue transpired where you have a lot of individuals in the community that we all are aware of who are undocumented. They are afraid to speak up about other crimes going on in the in the area because of their immigration status. I would like to encourage and challenge this board to have some type of discussion to figure out how individuals in this county who contribute to this county who have supported this county can have confidence in this county and reporting things without the fear of being removed. Now I am not speaking about sanctuaries. I'm speaking about common decency. Concord was founded by immigrants. It was founded because of disagreements and right now we have a disagreement with our own immigrants. So

I am asking this board with your leadership, someone who is well aware of what a disagreement can get. One of the reasons why I'm a huge fan of yours, we can start having these conversations. And another issue I want to bring up, no one's voice should be silenced. I hope that no one is being discouraged on this board to not do or step up or stand in for the undocumented people or anyone in general. If there is something wrong, regardless of a person's status and regardless of what your position is, you should be able to speak up on it without feeling like you're going to be prosecuted. Alvarez, thank you so much for being a voice for that community. I've heard nothing but support from individuals documented and undocumented on how you've reached out to the family and help them as they are trying to figure out how to bury their their daughter. With 20 seconds left, a group of us will be getting together to honor the young lady regardless of how she died. I hope a few of you will show up. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Kesha Sandage. How y'all doing? I wrote today, so my head's going to be down a little bit. I want to make sure I capture what I need to say. Uh, good evening. I want to thank you for your prior transparency regarding the amendment to personnel policy 510. Uh, the city demonstrate that when a concern is raised, the policy can be reviewed and revised as a result. Previously, the policy was amended to allow city employees to run for Cabaris County School Board after a request was made and brought before council. I'm respectfully asking that you apply that same willingness to reconsider the policy more broadly so that it helps everybody. Rather than maintaining an office specific exception, I ask that council consider adopting a standard that allows city employees to seek any partisan elected office with one clear exception, elected positions within city of Concord itself where a direct conflict of interest would unquestionably exist. This approach would remove selective carveouts, treat employees equitably, equitably, which all of us should want to do, and create a policy that is consistent, defensible, and easy to apply. You ain't got to worry about nobody taking y'all to court cuz y'all ain't being equitable. If council is willing to revise the policy once in response to a community concern, which is how this policy got changed in the first place, I am simply asking that you equally, willingly to consider a broader, more uniform revision now. So, that's a request. So, y'all should be going back to talk about that. Fairness and consistency strengthen public trust. I hope you will give this thoughtful consideration. And I know y'all know what I'm talking about because I sent you an email, got an email back and I

sent an email back requesting a response and I didn't get one. So the transparency stopped with that first email and that's not what I hear many of you say on this DAS. You talk about transparency all the time, all the time. So I'm asking you to be transparent again. I'm also going to hold you accountable for that. I truly don't like coming up here. Even though many of you guys probably see my social media and I post all the time about me coming and talking to our elected officials, I truly would love to sit in my house and watch y'all do y'all jobs. I promise you if we do right by the public, which is why y'all all signed up, I hope. Anyway, I would never come and stand in front of this D because my heart is beating a thousand times a minute. I do not like to be up here, but I will come here every single darn day if I got to if we're not being equitably across all systems. Everybody deserves to be here. Lots of people are paying into this system and that's the reason why they are here. So, we need to continue and work to continue to be accountable to those people cuz those people pay for y'all stipens that you get to them the people y'all supposed to be working for. Thank y'all.

Thank you. Okay, I think that completes the everyone that has signed up to speak tonight. Uh so we will now move to public hearing. Um, our first item is to conduct a public hearing for case TA0525 to consider adopting an ordinance amending chapter 6 standards for exterior changes to buildings 6.2rations 2 fistrations, windows and doors and the approval needs list for the city of Concord historic handbook to address alternate window replacement materials. Uh staff approval for wood windows and alignment of language between the approvals need list and chapter six. Uh Kim came to us on Tuesday night at the work session uh and gave quite a bit of information. Is there anything additional you'd like to add to what I have read? Or council members, are there any questions that you would would have? Okay. Hearing none, uh we will open the public hearing. Um we do not have anybody that has signed up to speak on this issue. Uh but if there is somebody that would like to speak and has failed to sign up, uh I would welcome you to the podium at this time. If you would come to the microphone, we'll

not are you about this public for during public comment. Okay. I'm

Okay. Um, did you do you have anything, Leslie? Yeah. Okay. We're going to go ahead with this public hearing on this issue and then we'll address that. Okay. Okay. So, we have opened the public hearing and invited anybody that wants to speak on this case regarding revisions to the Concord Historic Handbook. Um, seeing no one uh wishing to speak for or against the issue, I'll close the public hearing. and council. At this time, I would entertain a motion to to adopt an ordinance amending chapter 6, standard for exterior changes to buildings. 6.2 fistrations, windows, and doors and the approval needs list of the city of Concord historic handbook. Okay, I'm I'm going to turn it to Valerie now to explain the technical part of that.

So, because you're adopting an ordinance, you have to adopt a statement of reason reasonleness and consistency. Um, you've seen this format before. The first two bullet points were adopted unanimously by HPC and by the planning and zoning commission and um are lean in favor of of adopting the ordinance. If you are um leaning towards not adopting the changes, the amendments, you would choose the first bullet point and the third bullet point. Thank you. Okay. So, the uh motion that I just read in addition, we need to approve this first

the second motion. The first motion is to adopt a statement of reasons and consistency. All right, mayor. I'll go ahead with that and move that we adopt this statement of consistency with the first two bullet points. I'll second that. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please say I. All oppose. No. That motion passes. Great. And the second step then is to um approve or or not approve the amendments. Okay. And so that was the motion that uh previously read. So at this time

I would entertain a motion to adopt an ordinance amending chapter six standards for exterior changes to buildings 6.2 fistrations, windows and doors and the approval needs list of the city of Concord historic handbook to adopt. And I'll second that, mayor. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please say I.

All oppose, no. That motion passes. Thank you. Uh, next up we have to conduct a public hearing pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes section 158-7.1 to consider granting a three-year 85% taxbased incentive economic development grant to Flyright Holdings Incorporated doing business as Flyight located at 7075 Aviation Boulevard Northwest Sweet A Concord, North Carolina 28027. The project will have an investment of approximately $9,500,000 in personal property. Uh this is another item that we discussed at the work session on Tuesday. I think both Gretchen and Samantha are here if anybody has any additional questions about this item. Okay. Seeing none, I will open the public hearing. I do not have anybody that has signed up to speak uh for or against um this um proposal, but I will open the opportunity for anybody that may have failed to sign up to come and speak. Now, seeing no one, uh we will close the public hearing. Um, council members, um, I would offer a, um, let's see this. Do we go ahead and do the motion to approve on this one tonight? Yeah. So, I would uh entertain a motion to offer a contract for a three-year 85% taxbased

economic development grant to Flyight Holdings Incorporated uh at the address previously mentioned. Mayor move we issue the contract. Second. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Okay. Hearing none. All in favor, please say I. All oppose? No. No.

Okay. That passes. Uh 6 to one. Great. Thank you. Um now we'll deviate a little bit from u from the agenda here. And it seems that I did not offer another opportunity. So if you have a presentation that you would like to come and make, you may do so now.

And if you would state state your name since I don't have you on. Sure. Yes. Dan Guieri. Okay.

Um yeah, thank thank you mayor and city council members for your time this evening. Uh just wanted to provide a quick uh project update for our render Weddington Ridge project here in the city of Concord. uh ahead of the first quarter uh sewer allocation meeting. Um let me go to the next slide here just to uh refamiliarize uh the the group here with our project. Uh it's located off Weddington Road off of the Britain Smith interchange with uh Interstate 85. Our project uh did start construction last month. Uh it's comprised of 297 apartments broken up into two phases. The first phase does have public sewer capacity secured. Uh it was secured back in 2020. Uh the second phase does not have public sewer capacity secured. Uh we've been applying for public sewer since 2021. Uh got to a point where we needed to start construction of the project. So we are constructing phase one and two right now. Uh we have engineered a private sewer system to serve phase two of the project and we are moving forward with construction of that private sewer system. Uh but in the meantime we would uh would love to connect to the public sewer system uh if possible. So just respectively requesting that you guys consider our project uh during this first quarter. Uh we've requested 16,875 gallons uh to serve phase two of the project. Thank you for your time.

Great. Thank you. Okay, we move back to the agenda now. Next up is u petitions and request. Uh first item is consider recognizing the mills at Rocky River Homeowners Association and the city's partnership for stronger neighborhoods program. Uh Ran talked to us about that uh on Tuesday. Uh, council, does anyone have any questions additional? Uh, if not, then I would entertain a motion to approve the acceptance of the mills at Rocky River Homeowners Association into the Partnership for Stronger Neighborhoods program.

I'll make that motion. Great. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion?

Okay. All in favor, please say I. All oppose. No. Uh that motion passes unanimously. Uh next up is consider a resolution of intent to schedule a public hearing on the matter of closing the rightway consist comprising of 85 acres near the intersection of Buridge Road Northeast and Old Salsbury Concord Road. Uh this again is an item we talked about on Tuesday. Uh does anybody have any uh questions or comments on that item? If not, I would u entertain a motion to set a public hearing for March 12th, 2026.

So move, mayor. Second, mayor. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I.

All oppose, no. That motion passes. Next item is consider a resolution of intent to schedule a public hearing on the matter of closing the rightway comprising of.774 acres north of the intersection of Buridge Road Northeast and Old Salsbury Concord Road. Uh as we talked about on Tuesday night, this is a second rideway on the same uh related to the same parcel. So any questions about that one? Okay. If not, I would entertain a motion to set a public hearing on that matter also on March 12th, 2026.

So move, mayor. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I.

All oppose? No. That motion passes. Uh, next up is consider adopting a resolution in support of the North Carolina DOT project to modify the intersections of Brutin Smith Boulevard with Weddington Road and Gateway Lane. Uh, Philip talked to us at length about that on Tuesday night as well. Uh, does anybody have any additional questions on that one? I think I probably do because it was really confusing, but I I think I got it figured out. Um, so if there are no additional questions, I would entertain a motion to adopt a resolution in support of the NC DOT project to modify the intersections of Brutin Smith Boulevard with Weddington Road and Gateway Lane.

May I move to support that project? Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any questions or discussion? Okay, all in favor, please say I. I.

I'll oppose. No. That motion passes unanimously. Next item is consider entering into an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation in order to construct a roundabout at Weddington Road and Rock Hill Church Road. Uh that is TIP project HL0178. Uh I think we talked about that on Tuesday and had discussed that one previously uh as well. Is there are there any questions? Okay. Hearing none, I would entertain a motion that city council enter into an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation in order to construct a roundabout at Weddington Road and Rock Hill Church Road, which will be TIP project HL0178.

Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Okay. All in favor, please say I. I.

All oppose? No. That motion passes. Uh, next up is consider authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute a contract with Birdsole Excavation and Construction in the amount of 1,284,81818 for the Farmwood Boulevard culvert replacement project. Um once again we had uh talked about that on Tuesday. Are there any additional questions? Okay. Then I would entertain a motion to authorize the city manager to negotiate and execute a contract with Burgil Excavation and Construction for the construction of the Farmwood Boulevard culvert replacement in the amount of 1,284,81818. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Uh, any discussion? All in favor, please say I.

I.

All oppose? No. That that motion passes. Um, next up is consider authorizing a contract amendment with Armstrong Glenn in the amount of $18,91650 for construction, administration, and project management for the Farmwood Boulevard culvert replacement project, which is related to the one we just passed and talked about on Tuesday night. Any questions on that item? Okay. Then I would entertain a motion to approve a contract amendment with Armstrong Glenn for construction administration and project management for the Farmwood Boulevard covert replacement project. Mayor

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please say I. I.

All oppose. No. That motion passes. Uh, next up is consider approving a grant in the amount of $300,000 from the bond issuance fees collected in the conduit debt debt financing to STC Coleman Mill LLC. Uh, as we discussed on Tuesday night, this is basically a clerical error as close as we can determine. Uh, that was supposed to be a grant that was part of the proceeds of the city acting as a conduit for that financing uh, method uh, for the Coleman Mill project. Does anybody have any additional questions about that one? If not, uh, I would entertain a motion to approve a grant of $300,000 from the bond issuance fees collected in the conduit debt financing to STC Coleman Mill LLC.

So move, mayor. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I.

All oppose? No. That motion passes. Uh, next up is consider authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute a contract with QEI to supply two new SCADA servers, convert from OpenVMS to Windows operating systems, and upgrade to the latest SCADA software. Uh this is involved in the city's electric system. Uh I think Alex uh spoke to us on Tuesday and explained that this is to upgrade some um systems that have been in for a very long time and can no longer be supported. Uh does anyone have any questions on that?

Mayor, I don't have any questions. Just a comment. Um, I'm pretty sure all of us saw the article that Lloyd sent out and I believe this software played an important part in helping to plan and prepare and help staff prepare for um, storms such as the one that we had. So, I think updating it is very important so if we can continue to be effective in those plans and preparations. Great. Thank you. Very good points. Yes. Any other um comments or questions?

I just want to say thank you to Alex and his team. I would say the the preparedness but also anticipation of things that are going to happen are keeping the city, I guess, on track and just that we're sure that we're consistently making updates so that we're not further facing issues. So really that staff is amazing.

Great. Thank you. Okay. Any others? Uh, if not, I would entertain a motion to authorize the city manager to negotiate and execute a contract with QEI to supply two new SCADA servers, convert from OpenVS to Windows operating systems, and to upgrade the latest SCADA software in the amount of $135,19. I'll second that, please. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? If not, all in favor, please say I.

I.

All oppose? No. That motion passes. Uh, next up is considering a preliminary application from Dale Menulti. Uh this is to uh these property owners wish to connect to the Concord water uh service. Uh we talked about this uh Tuesday night as well. Does anybody have any additional questions? Uh if not, I would entertain a motion to accept the preliminary application uh for Mr. Menulti and have the owner proceed to the final application phase excluding annexation.

Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I.

All oppose? No. That motion passes. Uh, next item is considering uh, accepting a preliminary application from Cheryl McCannoli. This is on the same road as we talked about on Tuesday night. Any additional questions on that one? Okay. Then I would entertain a motion to accept the preliminary application for Cheryl Mcenulti and have the owner proceed to the final application phase excluding annexation. So

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I.

All oppose? No. That motion passes. Uh, next up is consider adopting the citizen in civility uh policy. Uh, we discussed this uh at length on Tuesday night. Um, is the city manager Payne presented that to us. Did you have any additional comments you'd like to to add or does anyone have any questions? Uh if not um I would entertain a motion let me get to to adopt the citizen in civility policy with an effective date of February 12th 2026

second.

Okay we have a motion and several seconds. Uh is there any discussion? Um I I I would just like to say that you know I I think that this this is an important document. Um you know we we hold our city employees to to a certain standard uh as to behavior which they do an excellent job at and and to request that same civility uh from people that they're dealing with. uh I think is is important. I think it it makes a statement about about our city. And I think I learned today that we're probably the first municipality in the state of North Carolina um to to have a formal policy. So, you know, I'm proud that we're doing this. Any any other discussion? So, I would like to ask um I know we heard a lot of the overview on Tuesday, but I think it's very important for people to hear a little bit more about what it is if they weren't here. Can our city manager just speak a little more on how that came about?

Yeah, I'm happy to go back through the comments that I provided on Tuesday if that's what you would like me to do. Okay. All right. So on Tuesday I did talk about the uh length of time that this policy took to put together and the amount of staff involvement uh that was included in that process. U and so I gave that context and background to kind of show council that uh there was a lot of staff that was involved. Every city employee had the opportunity at multiple points to weigh in on the policy development. So this really started back in March of 20 uh 2024 uh when we got the results from our employee survey. Uh those results were presented to the le at the leadership summit which is a meeting that we have annually of all of our city supervisors. So 200 225 give or take uh supervisors all gathered together to talk about leadership and those results were presented at that time. also came back from that meeting in May and June of 2024 and discussed it at our department head meeting or our senior staff level meeting um here with city staff. Uh a variety of discussions also with the assistant city managers about the feedback we were receiving. So I developed a volunteer employee work group to kind of take a deeper dive into the survey results in totality. That group met in November and December of 2024 and also January of 2025. Uh those workg groupoup uh discussions uh and thoughts were provided at the February 2025 department head meeting. Again, a time where our senior staff are together talking about uh decisions for the city. Uh from there, I emailed out to all city staff uh the workg group ideas and thoughts about uh that came from the survey itself. So again, we went back at the March department head meeting and discussed u uh again what we were uh wanting to accomplish. And so then from myself and the assistant city managers, we broke up the different um

uh items that came out of the survey and at the leadership summit in April of last year. Uh we did breakout groups on those topics and and I think one of the main things that came out of that was the need for us to address citizen in civility. Um understanding that we're all public servants. Uh but that doesn't mean that we sign up to be punching bags and to be disrespected uh and cursed at um by others. And so out of that, since that became one of the priorities that came forth from the supervisors from the city that were present, uh I developed an employee work group uh and there were 17 uh employees that volunteered to be a part of that work group and they represented most of the departments for the city. So the initial meeting for that work group of employees was June of 2025 at which I provided intent and the and the rationale for developing this policy. Uh the group met eight different times. I did not meet with them. I wanted them to have free flowing conversation about what they thought was best to develop in the policy. And in between those meetings, they were communicating with folks in their department about what they were talking about. Uh and so that information and feedback was brought back to the group when they met over those eight times. So the group presented that draft policy to me in October of this past year. Uh and then representatives from that work group presented at the November department head meeting to all of the senior leadership for the city. Uh we came back at the December department head meeting and discussed uh what had been what had been presented and provided some feedback. I then sent an email out to all city staff again uh in on December the 19th and asked them to review the draft policy and provide feedback directly to me on what they thought we missed, what was good, what was bad. And so that that uh feedback deadline was January of 20ou January the 9th, 2026. And so with that feedback, I met with the assistant city managers again, took that feedback and made some

changes uh and finalized the policy that you see that was in your agenda packet. Uh legal has reviewed the policy. Uh some overall general comments. You know, citizen incivility is a highly talked about issue across the United States. Um I for one have assisted the United UNCC school of government on multiple occasions with presentations to various groups on this topic. As I stated before, we are indeed public servants, but we're also human. While we're not perfect and make mistakes, there is no place, in my opinion, for disrespect or demeaning behavior towards staff from the public. We know we won't always agree, but there is an appropriate and constructive manner in which to have conversations. So, this evening, I humbly request council to consider the adoption of this policy to further enhance your support of the men and women who serve our community each day. Your approval sends a strong message to our staff of your support while also allowing us to act if inivil behavior occurs and continues. Some training has been developed by HR and more will be uh developed as well if you approve this policy. Furthermore, our sign shop will work to produce the signs that you saw on the last page of the policy and we will place them in highly trafficked areas uh by the public in various facilities. So again, I'd be happy to answer any questions that council may have about the proposal in front of you. Any additional questions? Okay, I will call on our parliamentarian to remind I think I already have a motion and a second

on the floor. Yeah. So, if there's no further discussion, we'll move to a vote. All in favor, please say I. I. All oppose? No. That motion passes unanimously. Okay, we move now to our consent agenda. Uh the consent agenda consists of uh a rather long list of routine uh items. Uh I have not heard from council on any of those uh that they have any questions or concerns. So I would entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented.

So move second. Okay, we have a motion and a couple of seconds. Is there any discussion hearing? None. All in favor, please say I. I. All oppose. No. That motion passes. Uh, and we now move to our reports. Uh, first up for those that have them, uh, our transportation advisory committee. I'll report on that, mayor.

I'm the individual. We did meet this past January. We're an adjunct to the TCC that Phil talks about on Thursday nights and some of the information is handed down to us and then we vote on it from there as a committee. Uh we had a couple wins for Concord on this. Uh the one thing that came out of it, we found out that the CI Union Cemetery realignment has been approved for construction. I understand the contract has actually been led up to I forget the name of the construction company. Lloyd filled me in on that or Philip would know the answer to that as well. what

NJR that's right and that construction will be underway here I hope pretty quickly so it's an easy project actually but that's going to u provide a number of things for us besides alleviating congestion a little bit on the what I call the five points area maybe it's six points I think where the EMS building is and all that that's a disaster up there and this will take some of the heat off of that plus it'll open up that 720 acres a little bit over on the grounds of conqueror which is the most important thing in my opinion from an EDC perspective the other thing is the project that's been on the books for a long long time since I was at the hotel. In fact, in fact, I think I was one of the ones that generated the idea for the project and that's sidewalks on Brutin Smith Boulevard that has been moved to to up two years. Uh that the rightway scenario for that is now 27, if I right, Philip, on that construction to begin at 29, which that's a ways down the road, but that's a big improvement from where it was. So, we appreciate that. And the other thing is Ryan Devalt, Councilman Ryan Devalt from Canapapolis was uh voted as our vice chair going forward. So that's it. That's my report.

Great. Thank you. Metropolitan Transit Committee Great. Thank you. Okay. Central Regional Council.

Um I attended last night via Zoom. Um it's a long meeting. It was very informative. I think my takeaway is always um there's others other counties and and municipalities that that go there and and we have an opportunity to talk about the issues that are happening in our cities and and we're all facing the same thing. Um you know, it kind of makes me feel good. It's kind of like I don't feel like I'm in this boat by myself sometimes. um everybody in this area, Gaston County, Canapapolis, um Mint Hill, Matthews, all are represented there and talking about how growth is their, you know, their number one issue. Um too too much growth, too fast growth and what it's doing to their infrastructure and um and and what it's it's doing to their city services. I think my my biggest takeaway and one that I've actually talked about some today at work is um Matthews was represented and the gentleman that was there from Matthews was saying how Matthews is a service community to Charlotte and their firemen and their police officers that service the area um can't afford to live there. And I thought, you know, that's a real shame that they have to they're working there, but they can't can't afford to live there. They got to go somewhere else. And I I'm glad that Concord is not in that position that the people that serve our city can live here and that I hope we can always be a place where we can live and work, call this home. So, it's very informative, but that was the takeaway for me was that we're we're all facing the same challenges and issues.

Thank you. I I will also mention that Councilwoman um Santana and I attended a meeting at Central uh with uh state treasurer Bradiner uh which was extremely informative. talked about the responsibilities of their office um as well as the local government commission. Uh so we appreciate Central Lina putting that together as well as the director Geraldine Gardner facilitated our retreat this past weekend. So

I'll add that um several people were commenting that that meeting that you all attended with the state treasurer was one of the best most informative that they've ever had. It was it was it was very good. They they bring a lot of value. Yeah. Okay. Water and sewer authority of Cabaris County. Um I think we talked a lot about that this weekend. So I think you guys are full. I don't think Jeff and I have anything additional. We do have a meeting next week. So no additional updates.

Great. Thank you. Okay. Do we have a report from We Bill Concord? I meant to say something earlier to Mayor. I apologize. Patrick called me today. He has a family emergency that he could not attend tonight. So, there will be no report. He'll be here the next next meeting. Great. Thank you.

Okay. Uh Public Art Commission, no report. Uh and then Concord united has no report. And you know, as as we discussed um uh at the retreat in in the months going forward, we're going to rotate these reports. Um so we'll have them on a basis whether whether it be every other month, some of them might be semianually, but we we discuss that. I think you've got a schedule uh on that as well. Um and so at this time, we will move to general comments by council. Um, if anybody has anything, I have one item. Um, you know, we talked about this just just a little bit earlier, you know, about the the bad weather that we've gotten and u over the the past several weekends and uh Chris Miller from the Cabaris Compass uh wrote a very nice article that came out yesterday about about the job that the city did um which which was impressive. I don't know about the rest of you, but uh I certainly got a lot of phone calls, you know, and most most of those were just inquiries, you know, when are you going to scrape my street? Um you know, can you speed it up? Uh etc., you know, everybody would like to be first and um certainly we'd love to to make everybody first, but but they did an excellent job. Um and and it you know as was was pointed out I think uh city manager Payne talked about that about some of the exercises that they do earlier in the year to prepare for those occasions. Uh and so, you know, we we

very much appreciate uh what they did. And I mentioned u you get a lot of phone calls from people uh if they want you to speed it up or if they're unhappy about something, but then once they get satisfied, they usually don't call you back and let you know that, okay, I'm happy now. But I got this message from somebody today. I thought it was worth reading. Uh and it said, and I quote, "Just got to say, very impressed with the city after last couple of weekends. I thought there was no way we don't lose power and no way I'm going to be able to get out of my neighborhood for at least a week. Power never flickered and I didn't miss a day of work. I remember about 10 years ago, a similar storm put us out of school for two full weeks. We have come a long way. I think the prep and reaction was a product of good planning and work by our people. Please pass along the gratitude of a citizen who recognizes that and doesn't take it for granted, you know. So that that was that was really nice to hear. Uh that is a credit to to all the city of Concord employees and the hard work that they did and that. So thank you u for that. Mayor, if I might interject one one other comment. Um I ride by the Paliside Palisade water plant almost every day and um yesterday I rode by there and I I guess I noticed it a little bit differently yesterday than I had before. That is a very impressive upgrade. Um there are these I don't know all these technical things that go on over there, but there are these big huge tanks and they've been covered up in brick like in a brick structure. It's just beautiful. So, um I encourage you to go by and look

at that. I mean, it's very nice and I think you'll get excited about it. It's great to see our tax dollars at work and in such a way. So, um it's very impressive that upgrade. So, encourage you to go look at it. Great. Thank you. Actually had a a tour scheduled that facility which got snowed out. So, another another impact. Well, you certainly you certainly can. U Yes. Absolutely. Okay. Any other general comments? Uh if not, we do not have a need for a close session tonight. So, at this time, I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. So, move.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. All in favor, please say I.

All oppose, no. Uh that motion passes. uh just in the form we we are adjourned but a couple of announcements uh you know as we discussed you know we've made some some changes to our second work session uh and those will be kind of scheduled on an asne basis uh on Tuesday February 24th uh we will have the second work session here in these u chambers uh it's going to probably be two hours long and it will be sort of a a short course in planning, zoning, and land use. U so so hopefully um everybody will be able to to attend that. And then don't forget we have a photo immediately after this. So thank you all for being here anytime or twice.