City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order the 05/14/2026 Concord City Council. Welcome, everyone. If you would, please stand and join me for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag Thank you. Okay, council members, we have three sets of minutes on the agenda tonight from April 7, April 9, and April 21.

Do I hear a motion to approve or are there corrections?

I'll move to approve, mayor.

Second member.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no. That motion passes. We are happy to have a number of members of the Youth Council with us tonight. If all of you would please stand, and I'm gonna ask somebody to bring you a microphone. And if you would please introduce yourself and let us know where you're from and if you've got any comments to make about Youth Council.

Hi, my name is Ashley Vendano. I'm a junior at Cox Mill High School in Concord. And I really like Youth Council. It really made me gain more leadership skills and I think it's a great program to join.

Hi, I'm Navedha Srinivasan. I'm a junior at Concord High School and yeah, same as Ashley. I really like Concord Youth Council. Think it's a really good opportunity to get involved in the local community and I've definitely met a lot

of people doing it. Yeah, I really like it.

Hi, my name is Nandana Govind. I'm a sophomore at Cox Mill High School. And yeah, Youth Council is such a great opportunity to meet new people and just make a lot of connections.

Hi, my name is Anupurni Poneabin, and I'm also a part of Cox Mill High School. I'm a sophomore, and I think that Youth Council has given me so many opportunities to give back to the community and meet so many new people.

Hi everyone, my name is Rishoka Suri. I'm a part of Youth Council. I'm a sophomore in Cox Mill High School and I think Youth Council is such a great opportunity to give back to my community and connect with different people.

My name is Kashri Jha. I'm a sophomore at Coxsville High School. And I think youth council is like a good way to like work in my community and just like meet new people overall.

Hi, I'm Elijah Preacher. I'm a sophomore at Concord High School. And I think youth council just is really helpful for just giving back to the community and making sure you can get like community service in and just learning what it means to like lead.

My name is Madison. My name is Madison Carlman. I'm a junior at Mount Pleasant High School.

My name is Grace Whitley. I'm a junior at Mount Pleasant High School and I think Youth Council is a very good organization. I've learned a lot of leadership skills and had many opportunities to give back to the community.

Hi, my name is Sachin Gopalakrishnan, I'm a sophomore at Lake Norman Charter High School. And I think Youth Council is a great way to make new friends and also have fun while also learning about leadership and gaining those skills.

Hi, my name is Sahasr Palugu and I'm a sophomore at Lake Norman Charter. I believe Concord Youth Council is a wonderful way to give back to my community and make new friends who share the same interests as me. Hi, my name is Twisha. I'm a junior at Coxmoor High School. And I believe that Concord Youth Council is a place to connect with other people and to have lifelong friendships.

Hi, my name is Joyce and I'm a junior at Coxmoor High School. And I think Concord Youth Council Council is a great way to give back to my community as well as make connections that will last a lifetime.

Hi, my name is Jaida Shashankar, I'm a junior at Coxsville High School and I think Concord Youth Council is a nice way for you to make new friends, be a part of a community, and help towards help towards creating passion projects and fundraisers.

Thank you all so much for being here. We We appreciate your involvement in Youth Council and hope you will see you back here again soon. Next on our agenda is departmental reports. And I think we have a Parks and Recreation Bond update from Sheila Lowry.

Good evening, mayor, members of council, mister Payne, miss Kolchinski, miss Jenkins. Tonight, I'll provide the bond update for May. First is the financial update. We have two updates on this. This financial plan or that you see on your screen, it includes the bid that is before you tonight for Dave Phillips Activity Center. And it also includes an increase to investment earnings. The bottom, will see the funding that's still available from the $60,000,000 Next, the two projects that we have completed, which is Dorton Park and the Academy Gibson McGinnis Aquatic Center. Projects under construction. First is Marvin Caldwell Park. Construction continues for this park.

The top two pictures, you'll see the amphitheater, the Robert Mathis Amphitheater. You'll see the stage area and the seating area. The bottom left, you will see the covered basketball courts. And to the right, you will see the new restroom building. And the turf is at the top of the splash pad. That'll be a part of the splash pad. Right now, currently, the playground is being installed, and over the next two weeks, you will start seeing the splash pad equipment being installed. Next is the J. E. Jim Ramsour Park.

Construction continues here. They continue with the boardwalk over the wetland area for the outlook or for the overlook. They continue with site grading and for infrastructure and storm drain installation. Next is the Academy Gibson athletic fields. Construction continues on the buildings.

The turf area is complete. The left picture, you will see the turf field and you can see the storage building in the distance. The bottom picture shows inside the storage building. The picture to the right shows the installation is complete for the back stop and the netting for the back stop. Next is the bid and the project that's before you tonight is the Dave Phillips Park.

Once, if council approves, we will move to the construction phase for this project. This project is planned to take twelve months for one year once we give them the notice to proceed. Next projects. These will be the next projects that come before council for final design approval to move to the bidding process. First up is the Academy Gibson Skatepark Pump Track Sculpture Garden.

This project is in final design phases for this, and staff is currently reviewing cost estimates. We anticipate sometime between June and July for final permitting and bringing it to council to approve final design, so we can move to the bidding stage for this project. The next one that will come before you to approve final design will be Hartsville Park. We are still in the final design phase for this. We anticipate sometime late summer, early fall to bring this back to council for approval for final design to move to the bidding phase for this project.

Projects that are also in design but not ready to come to council for final approval. First is the Poplar Tint Trailhead Park. We continue with internal design with this and coordination with NCDOT and Duke Power for their easement along this property for our internal design. Engineering is designing this project in house for cost savings for the project. Next is Wilson Street Park.

This project is also internal design, and we continue to coordinate that with various departments in the city to reduce the cost. Next is WW Flow. Staff continue to review the scope submitted by the firm McAdams, who will do the design for this park. Once we finalize the design scope, we'll move forward with design for this project. Next is the future park, which will be the last bond project, which will be the Academy Recreation Center.

This one, we hope to be in design in FY27. This project, we will do an RFQ, take it out to get responsible designers to do this for design. Schedule, nothing has changed on the schedule. We're still slated for as the schedule is, and every project currently is on target. And I'll be glad to answer any questions.

Okay, questions for Sheila?

Alright, thank you.

Alright, thank you. Okay, next up is persons requesting to be heard. I will point out to anybody here tonight, we do not have any public hearings scheduled tonight on any of the other items on the agenda. So this would be the only time to speak. If anybody needs to add their name to the list, they may do so.

And my sheet, and I will read our rules for public comments. 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. There will be a timer on the screen. 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 after action. I think all of you have left your contact information with the city clerk so we can facilitate future communication. And the first name on the list is Ryan Kenny.

All right. Good evening, everyone. My name is Ryan Kinney. I'm with New Branch Real Estate Advisors and I represent the sellers of the approximately 75 acre property at 4004 And 60 Weddington Road. As you likely know, the traditional way to sell a property is to put it on the market, find a buyer, and then approach the city for sewer allocation and for permitting.

For this property, we intentionally took an opposite approach. Before going to the market, we met with city council members to better understand the city's priorities to align them with the needs of Concord. From those discussions, we learned that executive level housing was a need, so we intentionally sought out builders capable of delivering that quality, which led us to Toll Brothers. It's also important to note that this property is currently zoned for eight units per acre of roughly 600 homes. But reflecting back on our discussions with City Council, we knew that lower density was important.

Toll Brothers listens to our direction and therefore the proposal for you tonight is 142 single family homes, a much lower density and more thoughtful approach to development. As a resident of Concord and one that lives less than one mile from this property, I drive past it every day and have a vested interest in the outcome that extends beyond my role as the owner's representative. I truly believe this will be a high quality addition to Concord and something that the community can be proud of. At this time, I'd like to introduce Margaret from Toll Brothers to speak more about the homes, the pricing, and the company's experience building luxury residential communities.

Yeah, and I'll add that both Ryan and Margaret signed up here. If the buzzer goes off. I appreciate We're starting over with you. Yeah.

Alright, well that de stresses me a little bit. My name is Margaret Punkett. I'm the vice president of land acquisition for Toll Brothers in the Charlotte region. Thank you for having me here tonight. I'm happy to to share Toll Brothers plans for the property that Ryan discussed.

Ryan approached our company about six months ago to understand how we could develop the property that is at hand. And Toll Brothers has a vision as America's luxury homebuilder to design and build homes that will cater to the needs of the residents and newcomers to the city of Concord. The price points that we anticipate would meet the demands of this area per the market, and we believe that we can meet the executive housing that is needed desperately in this area. Toll Brothers delivers homes from price points all the way up to $2,500,000 in this market alone. But we deliver homes across the country from California to New York.

And our average price point as a company is $977,000 per home. And that's on average. We can deliver homes in this particular market that Ryan and I have been working on. We believe that we can deliver homes that are gonna be in the 800s and up, and we believe that that would be a great fit for the city of Concord.

Great. Thank Thank you you

very very much.

Okay. All right. Our next speaker is Rebecca Hannah Patton.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, council members. My name is Rebecca Patton and I've been a lifelong resident of Concord. We spoke last month about the possibility of an ICE detention center being located in Concord after a New York Times article identified Concord as a site included in the Homeland Security's plan to convert warehouses across the country into ICE detention centers. I realize you've heard nothing directly from them about their plans to purchase property here, but neither have the vast majority of other cities across the country who now have facilities owned by ICE in their communities.

These are large scale 1,500 to 10,000 bed detention facilities. One out of all the property owners and developers in Concord has said that they do not, at this moment, plan to sell their property to ICE. But that does not mean the other vacant warehouse properties in Concord and the surrounding areas are not fair game. Last month at the council meeting, our community presented a petition with the signatures of 800 citizens opposing a detention center here, and 28 people spoke and asked you to pass a formal resolution opposing an ICE detention center in our community. We pointed out that a 1,500 bed facility will have a long term negative impact on our infrastructure, straining our water resources, sewer systems, emergency services, hospitals, and increasing our taxes while removing taxable property from our roles.

We told you industrial warehouses are built for freight, not people. They lack the ventilation and fire suppression required for residential life. We told you that over seventy percent of those currently in ICE detention have no criminal convictions. And most of those who do have convictions only have minor offenses such as traffic violations. For the most part, our efforts have been ignored.

Tonight, in respect of your time, just a few of us are here to repeat our community's call for you to lead, to stand up and to speak out. That's what you were elected to do, chosen to do. It's time. The danger right now is complacency. The major the majority of communities that have stopped ICE detention centers from moving forward have had the support of their city's leadership.

Turning Concord into a hub for human warehousing creates a climate of fear for our Hispanic neighbors and inflicts permanent reputational damage on our city. Concord is a city of progress, commerce and community. We urge you to pass a formal resolution standing against this type of facility. Protect our infrastructure, our safety, and our future. Thank you.

Thank you. Next is Jamin Bryant Herron.

Are you?

Love and Peace, Mayor, City Council and the Greater Concord Community. Jayman Brian Herron, Cabarrus native born and raised. And as what was just spoken last month, many of us came before this council during public comment asking for you to pass a resolution against an ICE detention center, speaking to many concerns of our communities. Since then, the likelihood of an ICE detention center coming here appears to have dwindled. But as long as the federal government continues to operate the way it has, the possibility still exists.

More importantly, the fear created by ICE still exists and that fear must be addressed. Our Hispanic communities fear leaving their homes to live everyday lives. Many are not even comfortable coming here to City Hall to speak. Silence from the city has left communities feeling unsafe, uncertain, and unsupported. This is why we are asking for a resolution from our city to show we can stand together.

We understand our council feels powerless against federal government decisions. Our ask for resolution is not necessarily a statement against the federal government or ICE operations, but more so a statement to protect local decisions, resources, tax dollars, and overall our communities. Our community deserves safety, dignity, transparency, and protections. One councilman recognized these concerns when he stated, many of the actions of ICE have appeared to focus on persons of color in ways that are unchristian, immoral, and un American. No one in Concord wishes to witness such behavior or house persons wrongfully apprehended in Concord.

We appreciate those words and agree, but those words are hollow unless we are able to put a motion forward to have them included in a formal resolution. Now we need to take it a step further. I will propose this be concluded in the resolution. Whereas the city's 2030 land use plan and the Concorde Development Ordinance specifically designate industrial corridors for commerce, manufacturing and logistics. Environments engineered for heavy machinery and transit which are fundamentally unsustainable for safe human habitation or long term occupancy.

And whereas the conversion of industrial spaces into detention facilities is fundamentally incompatible with Concord's vision for an inclusive thriving city and contradicts the community's moral commitment to ensuring all individuals are treated with basic human respect. Whereas the city of Concord is committed to fostering a community that prioritize human dignity, the safety of all residents and the ethical use of its land and resources. Now therefore be it resolved. I urge this council to be proactive, not reactive. Pass a resolution against ICE detention centers giving clarity and direction to our communities and business owners.

Affirm support for immigrant communities. Uphold constitutional rights, transparency, and public safety for all residents. God bless you and thank you.

Okay. Next is Anne Lukitis.

Good evening, members of the City Council. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you briefly. My name is Ann Lakitis. I have lived in Cabarrus County for fifty years. My husband and I have raised our children here.

My daughter, five of my grandchildren were born in our local hospital. My work as a professional early childhood educators spans thirty years and much of it impacted Cabarrus County. This month, I came to the city council for the first time and listened to 30 very knowledgeable citizens talked at length about all the various concerns regarding the ICE detention center, and certainly provided a wealth of information. I think that it is an inhumane way to deal with immigrants. It is just inhumane to house people in such a facility.

And it really is reminiscent to me of the concentration camps that grew up in Europe in the 1930s. I think that a very important consideration for the city council is that there are major concerns that will have to be addressed by you if the government comes to you wanting to do this. And I think some of this has been explained very clearly, You know, that has to do with water, with sewage, with utilities, you know, with health concerns, with fire safety, with policing. And these will come to your door if in fact a threat becomes real. So it's I think it's good that you have been educated well by so many concerned and knowledgeable citizens, and it will be a crisis when it comes, and it will be, you know, on you.

So I just wanted to express these thoughts to you tonight, and I appreciate your listening. Thanks.

Thank you.

Next is Leslie Allison.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Leslie Allison, and I thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. I'm here to respectfully ask for consideration for a narrow adjustment to the current chicken ordinance that we have. My husband and I live on 0.38 acres, and our situation has shown how the current ordinance leaves no room for case by case consideration, even when a property is responsibly maintained. These photos show our current coop set up so council can see exactly how our hens are housed.

Feed and water are contained inside, and we have worked to maintain the space in a way that minimizes odor, pests, and outside impact. We have never had roosters on our property. This began after a complaint involving another nearby property where roosters were part of the concern. Although we did not have roosters, our property became part of that enforcement process. During our appeal, we provided all requested documentation, including medical documentation explaining the therapeutic benefit these tenants provide for my husband's PTSD diagnosis.

But ultimately, the denial came to one reason alone, that we are under one acre. I want to note that my original proposal submitted through text amendment was to request allowing up to 6¢ on properties of 0.25 acres and above. After hearing concerns during review, particularly around how many parcels that could potentially affect, I've wanted to update that proposal. My updated proposal is for lots between 0.35 acres and one acre with a permit requirement so that each property would still need to be individually reviewed upon approval. This would not change anything for residents under one acre.

I mean, already on one acre or more. It would simply create a controlled path for certain smaller lots to be considered. I would also support an annual permit renewal fee if council felt that would help support oversight and accountability. A permit requirement means approval would not be automatic. Nearby communities already regulate backyard hens successfully through controlled standards.

And I'm not suggesting Concord copy another city entirely, but that there's other models that we can go against and see those examples that they have under one acre thresholds. A permit process addresses many of the concerns that often come up. It allows the city to review each property individually rather than applying a strict acreage line with no flexibility. And if complaints arise, the city already has authority to investigate and enforce standards just as it would with any other residential complaint. I'm not asking for an exception only for my family.

I'm asking council to consider whether a small controlled adjustment could help families like ours while keeping the same protections already in place. This is a narrow proposal built around limits, oversight, and existing city authority. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. Okay, next is Ingrid Nurse.

Good evening, everyone. All right. I am concerned about Cabarrus County debt. We should be spending responsibly. We do not need an ICE detention center. I am for the people of Cabarrus County receiving the best. Thank you.

Okay. Next is Justin

Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I'm Justin Lueder. I'm a resident of Kannapolis, but I'm the chair of the Black Political Caucus for Cabarrus County. And I did want to say, I want to start off with some good news. The good news is that Alligator Alcatraz is closing down. All right?

So that's the first one.

Apparently, the federal government is not very good at paying its bills. It owes Florida quite a bit of money. It's costing Florida a million dollars a day to maintain that facility. So we should keep that in mind if we ever consider opening up a similar facility in this county. America is very good at housing bodies. We have a long history of housing human beings. In fact, our most progressive state next to California is Massachusetts. They have a higher incarceration rate in Massachusetts than Iran. Keep that in mind. So we are very good at locking people up.

We also know that these ICE detention facilities are housing more and more immigrants that have not committed a crime. So we're no longer going after the worst of the worst if we ever were. We are going after people who have sought asylum in The US, which is a international right. You can go to any country and seek asylum. And we also arresting people that are participating in the legal process of becoming American citizens.

People with green cards, who have already gone through some stage of process, who are lawfully here are being detained and snatched off our streets. Last time I was here, we talked about the impact it's having on our classrooms, the children in our classrooms. I just ask that you continue to think about that. You continue to think about the impact it will have on us economically. You continue to think about the impact it will have on us as a city and the state of North Carolina.

And you also consider that, well, I believe in karma. And the things that we put out come back to haunt if we don't do right by others. We have a wonderful opportunity to pass a resolution saying that we are citizens of the future. We are citizens of the, international community and that we will stand not stand for incarcerating or wrongfully detaining people, without due process. That's not something this country was built on or it was, but it's not something that we should maintain. So I ask that you consider passing the resolution, resolving this matter for the public, and moving forward and being the great city that you are. Thank you.

Next is Austin Boyd.

Hello. Mayor Morris, members of council, thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening. I'm here on behalf of Johnson Development Associates and our pursuit of the sewer allocation that will be in your packet next month. Johnson Development is a family owned and capitalized developer based out of Spartanburg, South Carolina. We are currently under contract to purchase the 10.8 acre property at 4495 Global Avenue in the International Business Park.

This project will put into production one of the last available sites in the city's flagship master planned industrial park. Our plan is to speculatively develop a Class A rear loaded industrial building of less than 75,000 square feet. This product type is unique to the market and a differentiated offering from larger format multi tenant industrial buildings. There are very few options for a user in this size range that wants to be in a single tenant, fully securable facility. This type of user is usually a heavy investor in their workforce and the build out of their facility, And we're gonna work closely with Cabrera CDC to go out and recruit one of those users.

The proposed development is in alignment with the city's 2,030 land use plan, the strategic plan goal two of encouraging economic vitality through business expansion and job creation, and supports Cabrera CDC's strategic action plan, two explore and support speculative buildings and real estate development. All in all, we are excited to push this project forward. We believe it will be an asset to the city and drive economic opportunity. Thank you for your time this evening and in advance for your consideration.

Thank you. Okay, next is Carol Lacey.

Thank you for listening to me today. I came to speak about the ICE detention centers. And so I've only been here since 2018. And when I came, I said, I wanna join a church. And my son said to me, mother, you don't have to join a church. You can go to a different church every Sunday, and in ten years, you won't go to the same church. So this community is a community of religious people. Churches are full, people are dressed, it's a wonderful thing. So I want you to think about your heart. Last time I talked about your head and how much it would cost.

This is what it's gonna do, what I feel it'll do to people. Does our religion mean anything to us? Do we just go to church on Sunday and ignore the teachings during the week? We teach our children to love our neighbor, and they are watching us. Will we tell them to do what we say, not what we do?

I hope we're better than that. Years ago, I worked with a woman who had lived in Germany and she lived near Auschwitz. So I asked her, Hermie, didn't you see what was going on? She said, yes, but we had to protect ourselves. Who do we want to be? Do we want to protect ourselves, Or do we want to profess what we go to Sunday school and church to say? Do we love our neighbors as ourselves? Or just ignore it when our community treats people inhumanely? I thought about what could I say that is my feeling? And John Dunn expressed my feeling in No Man Is An Island.

Each man's death or harm diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you. Thank you.

Okay. Next is Scott Verner.

I'm Scott Verner. I will reintroduce myself as the former editor of the Concord Bureau, the Cabarrus County Bureau of the Charlotte Observer. And as such, I expressed a lot of opinions. Among them were people opinions trying to help the city understand its obligations to the less fortunate people that we have living in our midst. Here we are again.

Last month, we asked the City Council to adopt a resolution opposing the use of that huge warehouse on Wellington Road as a detention center for those people whom ICE seemingly indiscriminately arrests. This project is still in DHS's long term reengineering documents. That means it's a real local worry here. The 1,500 bed warehouse, and I hesitate to use the term warehouse when referring to human beings, there will be a long term impact on infrastructure, on sewer systems, emergency services, hospitals, and of course, water systems and of course, taxes. Because the water and sewer lines that you had extended to a couple of months ago are not gonna be sufficient because a warehouse is built for maybe a maximum at any one time of 150 employees.

Even that big a warehouse can operate with that few people. That's not a few. Now we're talking about putting up to 1,500 people in there. So that's gonna require replacing all the water and sewer systems. You know it as well as I do.

So ICE and DHS is relying on your silence to keep deals like this under the radar. Public pressure exposes secret processes. The truth is exposed by light. Resistance makes concord to the administration in ICE a toxic costly choice that creates a public record of please don't do this in our city. It's not a nasty thing to do to adopt a resolution.

It's not an ugly thing to do. It's a request. Please, we are opposed to this. We're happy with our city the way it is. So we want you to create an environment where a detention center like this is too costly, unpopular, and difficult for the federal government to undertake. We and everybody else who spoke last time and will speak tonight want a resolution opposing this project, and we ask for this council to take a public stance against it. We will all be grateful if you don't let the big bully bully the proud city of Concord. Thank you.

Okay. Next is Brendan O'Connor.

Hi, how are you all doing? My name is Brendan O'Connor. I have been in community and economic development for over fifteen years and I'm now back in school in a PhD program at UNC Charlotte. Appreciate you all's public service. It's not an easy place to be these days.

I hope you take it seriously. I'm speaking out around the detention center as well. On a basic level, what would you all do if masked men came for your family? This is what's happening on our streets, terrorizing our streets, our people with impunity. Federal data shows 73,000 people were being detained by ICE in jails across The US in January, a record high that's 84% higher than 2025.

So we're about to usher some of these folks into Concord in this building, if we don't do something about it. But the stories I think are really important. I heard one recently, it was a Haitian asylum seeker named Emmanuel Damas, who died in an ICE detention facility in Arizona just in March. Because according to his family and other detainees, he had a toothache that went untreated. He went to ask for help.

They gave him ibuprofen. He was there until his mouth was so swollen they had to send him to the hospital. And he was chained to the bed until his family insisted that they finally remove the chains and he died thirty minutes later because of septic shock according to the hospital. And on top of that, we call these ICE facilities, but I imagine some of you all know, but a lot of them are privately owned for profit companies like CoreCivic with cheap names that mask the reality of what's going on, that are literally making money on Wall Street. And Mr.

Damas is now dead. He was one of over 15 this year. Last year, thirty two died in detention facilities, marking a two decade high. And I say this with respect, but you all are inviting those deaths into Concord on your watch if you don't stand up and do what you can. Even if you can't block it, do what you can.

Because as many, like Doctor. King wrote in the letter to the Birmingham Jail years ago, that the moderates are just as much of a problem as folks who are clearly on the wrong side of history. So who will be watching the store? These facilities, who will be watching them if this comes into Concord? A last note that in March, some of the two offices in DHS that were supposed to be minding the store were cut from 147 staff to two.

So two twenty facilities now, one staff person for every 40. So again, will you all mind the store? We ask you to sign the resolution to stand against this.

Next is Cullen Knight.

Mister mayor, members of council, I should not be

here

today. None of us should be here today speaking about the same exact issue that we spoke about a month ago. A month ago, I and many others spoke to this council to urge you to pass a resolution, to do something, anything, to send a clear measure, to send a clear message that a concentration camp and let's make no mistake, that's what this is. A concentration camp is not welcome in Concord. In the intervening month, it is true that the chances of such a camp being built here have lessened.

But until the chance is zero, we must be vigilant, and the city council and city government needs to be active. The great abolitionist Frederick Douglass speaking in 1852 once said, at a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument is needed. I and others provided argumentation last month. I cannot think of what can be a more convincing argument than simply reading the testimony of people imprisoned by ICE, which is what I did last month, and the other moving arguments that were presented by other concerned neighbors last month. And yet here we are again.

This body has had a month and it has nothing to show for it. This is, to word it as diplomatically as I can, exceptionally disappointing. Where argumentation and a frank assessment of the facts has evidently somehow failed to sway this body into action, I will have to resort to the irony. Councilwoman Clay, your statement on the city council website states that your personal mission is to work hard for the city, work as hard for the city as you can. This body's inaction on a potential danger to our community does not align with this stated mission goal.

Councilwoman Stocks, you are involved in planning celebrations for the two most two of the most important holiday celebrations in our country, MLK junior day and Juneteenth. I will simply introduce a quotation from doctor King. There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal, and frankly that time is now. Councilwoman Santana, your biography on the city council's website highlights your strong passion for supporting vulnerable populations. I would hope that the irony of the council's silence on the matter of this concentration camp speaks for itself.

Councilman Crawford, your mission statement says that your goal is to make Concord known as the best as a best in class city to live, work, and play in. This goal is admirable, and I completely agree with it. And this goal is also antithetical to the presence of a concentration camp in our community. Councilwoman Hubbard, your mission statement says, we must be proactive and ensure the focus on quality of life, economic development, and civic pride. I fully agree.

Though the inaction of this body leads me to question if those are an actual mission statement or simply more flowery words. Councilman Sweatt, your mission statement notes that your your mission statement notes your admirable dedication to, quote, taking the lead on initiatives to enhance the overall livability of our historic city. I do not see how a concentration camp in Concord or an action on a concentration camp in Concord would enhance livability. Members of council, we are asking you to do a job which should have been done a month ago. The lack of action does not improve or inspire public trust and does not align with any of your stated values. I would strongly encourage you to do what you should have done a month ago and send a message of support to our community. Thank you.

Okay. Next is Keisha Sandage.

Thank you to those council members who have responded back to my emails inquiring about policy five ten. Just to give some background context because I've gotten a few questions about this policy. In 2023, the law changed with House Bill 88 to make the school board elections here in Cabarrus County partisan. And with that change, a member of our community, one member of our community came to your human resources director and brought up the need to change this policy. It was then taken by the city manager back to the council for approval.

The council had some conversations about it. There were many questions raised. And at the end of it, the city manager at that time asked the council to just approve the policy in the way it was written. One of the statements in that policy that is really concerning to me and does not show equitable practices across the policy is that it only allows for the city employees to now run for the Cabarrus County School Board only because it became partisan in twenty twenty four election. So just wanted to make sure you guys had some background information.

What I am asking of this council and what I've been asking for the last few months is to make the policy equitable across the board. Why is there a carve out for one partisan office over the others? I don't understand that and it doesn't make sense to me unless it was intentionally done for a staff or two. And if that is the case, that is not treating your employees equitably across the board. I do know that you have indicated to me this policy will come up.

I did hear it in your April 21 meeting. I did not find that meeting on YouTube where I can go back and reference everything that was said because I understood that it would be hurting your first work session, but apparently I heard that wrong. And it will be hurting your second work session, which should be this month. And I hope that that is the case. I do want you all to think about what this looks like on paper and at surface level to people who oftentimes don't get involved in politics because they have a job.

That's not fair. It's not fair to not be able to get involved in civic activities because you work. We want people to work. That's how we pay taxes to live in the places that we live in. I think it's also very disrespectful for those that had not responded to me. I think it's disrespectful that you don't talk to your constituents and then you don't respond back to your constituents. Many of you were elected by probably several people in this room and when they reach out to you and ask for things that are reasonable. I haven't been disrespectful in any of my requests, they should get a response back. It's the right thing to do. You sit up there and we pay for y'all.

Respond back to your constituents when they're asking you for a response. And definitely treat your employees equitable at all costs whenever you can. Thank you.

Next is Thomas

Good evening and thank you for the opportunity. I wanna speak briefly about community. My name is Thomas Monks, and I've lived in Concord for eleven years. And during that time, I've continued to be impressed by the kind of community that we've built together. We've invested millions in taxpayer dollars in our neighborhoods, in our small businesses, in each other, and in our collective futures.

We've worked hard to create a city that is thoughtful about growth, intentional about quality of life, and grounded in shared values, which is why I decided to stand with so many other members of this community tonight. I understand that policies have, and at the federal level have shifted with new leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, but regardless of who is in office, our responsibility here in Concord remains the same, to protect the long term well-being and character of our community. We should stand resolute in that responsibility. We call on our leaders to take a stand proactively and not sit by and wait. We know that the federal government can essentially do whatever they want.

They don't need your approval. To stand with this community that we all love, ask you to stand with this community that we all love. Many people in this room have spent years building momentum in Concord through investment, planning, civic engagement and community trust. We should not allow these gains or the resources and identity we've worked so hard to build to be pushed aside by a project that does not reflect the vision many residents have for our city. This is about more than one potential facility.

It's about the kind of community we want to continue becoming. I believe Concorde can and will continue to grow while still leading with humanity, responsibility, and common sense. And I urge you to keep those values at the center of your decision making. Thank you.

Okay, next is Philip Kerley.

Good evening, everyone.

I also wanna voice my opposition to any new detention facility in the city of Concord. I urge the city to issue a public statement that our community, its people, and its resources are not available for the inhumane detention and mass deportation of people from this country. But I can also be not alone in feeling that a culture of fear is damaging the collective psyche of our country. Not only is fear being weaponized to scare immigrants and dissolving collective trust in our government's institutions, it's fostering environment where fear of the other and the different motivates us more than recognizing our similarities and shared struggles. It's dissolving our faith in each other.

It's dissolving our common humanity. And if we can only act out of fear, then these mass detention centers are the logical solution. We only need to look at the worst atrocities in modern human history to see where politics of fear will lead. But tonight, I'm inspired by the voices that have come before me and that I heard last month. Our community members are illuminating the moral path we should walk in spite of the challenges and in spite of the odds against them.

They are showing this council and the city how it should act and how it can lead. So I urge the council to follow the initiative of its residents and to act constructively. Reject fear, reject division. I urge the city to reject offers of cooperation with DHS to put any facilities here that may incarcerate more people. They cannot sneak past us. They cannot buy our complicity. This detention center is not hypothetical. It's not beyond our control. We have the power to build rather than destroy. Let's build a community and prevent a historic tragedy before it happens here. Thank you.

Okay, that concludes all the persons that have signed up to speak. Is there anybody that was missed? Okay, thank you. Okay, we move now to presentations of petitions and requests. Number one, consider authorizing the city manager to execute number one with Talbert, Bright and Ellington for the North Apron Roadway Project at Concord Pageant Regional Airport.

We heard from Airport Director Eric Pratt on this on Tuesday. Is there anyone that has any questions they would like to address on this one? If not, the recommendation is a motion to authorize the city manager to execute the amendment number one for $72,250 and to approve the budget amendment. And as was pointed out, this does not come from city funds, this is grant funded. Do I hear such a motion?

Mayor, I'll move to approve this.

I'll second that, Mayor.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no.

That motion passes. Item two is consider authorizing the city manager to execute change order number two for the North Apron Roadway project at Concord Pageant Regional Airport. Once again, we heard about this on Tuesday. The recommendation is a motion to authorize a city manager to execute change order number two for $229,415 and to approve the budget amendment that is attached. This is also grant funded.

Do I hear a motion? Okay, we have a motion and a second to accept the recommendation. Is there any discussion? Okay, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no. That motion passes. Next up is consider adopting a resolution authorizing an eminent domain action for property known as Lot 3 Of the RB Lee Subdivision. Valerie talked to us about that one regarding this condemnation for a sidewalk project. Are there any additional questions on that?

If not, the recommendation is a motion to adopt a resolution authorizing an eminent domain action for property known as Lot 3 Of the RB Lee Subdivision.

Okay,

we have a motion and a second. Is there a discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no. That motion passes. Next up is consider adopting an ordinance ordering the demolition of the structure located at 295 Lincoln Street Southwest, owned by Billy B. Smith SR Estate and Leitha P. Smith. Chief Hughes spoke to us about that item.

Are there any additional questions on that? If not, the recommendation is a motion to adopt an ordinance ordering the demolition of the structure located at 295 Lincoln Street Southwest, Concord, North Carolina. Do I hear a motion?

So moved, Mayor. I'll second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. All opposed, no. That motion passes.

Item five, consider adopting an ordinance ordering the demolition of the structure located at 241 Hilltop Avenue Southwest owned by James Grant and the James Grant Estate. Chief Hughes talked to us about that one as well. As I think we discussed on Tuesday, there have been multiple extensions on the order to repair. And so the recommendation is a motion to adopt an ordinance ordering the demolition of the structure located at 241 Hilltop Avenue Southwest Concord, North Carolina. Do I hear a motion?

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no.

That motion passes. Item six, Fred Womble talked with us about this item, consider adopting a resolution of intent in the matter of closing the right of way comprising of point two four two acres generally located between Travis Lane Northwest and Chadberry Drive Northwest. And of course he showed us maps of those properties on Tuesday. Are there any additional questions on that one? The recommendation is consider to pass a resolution of intent to set a public hearing on this matter for 06/11/2026.

Mayor, move to approve to set the public hearing as stated.

Thank you.

I'll second that, Mayor.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there discussion? Okay, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no.

That motion passes. Item seven, consider authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute a contract with Bolton and Mink Incorporated in the amount of $60,000 to complete the Downtown Concord parking management plan. Kaylee Caton talked with us about that item. Are there any additional questions? The recommendation is a motion to authorize the city manager to negotiate and execute a contract with Bolton and Mink Incorporated in the amount of $60,000 to complete the Downtown Concord parking management plan.

Do I hear a motion?

I'll make that motion please.

Okay,

we have a motion and a second. Is there a discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, please say no.

That motion passes unanimously. Next up is consider an appeal to a preliminary review of an application regarding a proposed amendment, Article 8.3.3 gs, keeping of chickens of the Concord Development Ordinance, also known as the CDO. We heard about that from Autumn James on Tuesday. Are there any additional questions? Have a So question from

to be clear, what are we set up or is the recommendation saying that we're asking staff to take a look at the application and come back to council. Is that

No, the request is for council, the request first went to the Planning and Zoning Board to request that the current ordinance be amended. Now it states that you can only have the chickens above an acre of land and they're wanting that to be reduced. The recommendation that you see here in the agenda, of course, the speaker earlier kinda changed that on the fly, so, but essentially they're wanting to house chickens on property less than an acre.

Okay, gotcha. Because this was an appeal from the Planning and Zoning Commission, which denied the text amendment, there's no text amendment on the table right now. So what the planning staff are asking is, do you all want them to go back and create a text amendment for your consideration?

Okay, understood.

And the alternative would be to uphold the decision Well planning and

Deny the appeal.

Or deny the appeal.

We're not it doesn't really work like that

Okay.

From a logistical plan. What the planning staff are asking is, do you want them to go and write a text amendment for chickens, yes or no? So forget the idea of appeal, you're not denying an appeal, you're giving direction to planning staff because something got denied at the Planning Commission level.

Okay. Council members, do you have questions for Valerie?

Yes, so Valerie, does that mean that tonight we're not voting on any acres, any

Correct. Okay. Planning staff is just asking, do you want them to go and write something to bring back to

you for your consideration? Got it. Got it. Thank you.

And a no vote means we are supporting the decision of planning and of the planning staff.

A no vote means that the current ordinance as written stands, and not going to go and try to write or bring anything back for you to look at.

And I'll give a little I'm sorry, Betty, were you going to say something? No, think. You sure? Okay. Just a little maybe context, because I don't remember when we adopted this. Do you remember?

May 2024.

Okay, May 2024. So some of you did not have the privilege of sitting through. We talked a long time about this. So I guess I want it to be known that this was actually, this is not the first round of this either, right, Kevin? It was denied. Remember, we had a long discussion. I think John and I, how many? Seven years ago?

Several. It's

been more than two.

And the first couple were denied completely. Four

or five?

Four. Okay. Because I know John and I have at least done three. And so I do think this last consideration, not this one, the first one that we did or second one or third or whatever it is, there was a lot of discussion around it. And then there was a lot of kind of movement that we made on it.

And so I'm just saying like, I feel very comfortable that we have done the due diligence on it and that what we have currently is kind of our, I think even you said it chief, like trying something is one thing, but then pulling it back is very difficult. I think I remember you saying that, that like, you can always make it less, I guess, in this case, but it's very difficult to go all the way and then pull something back, right? And I appreciated that. That's very similar to my, you say one no to something, you're saying yes to something else, right? Which you guys know is my favorite phrase.

So I'll just say me personally, I'm comfortable with where we're at and don't have an interest in entertaining, I guess, like you said, Valerie, you know, looking at it further. But just, I just wanted to give some context that this has been discussed for many, many years, so.

Councilman Sweatt, did you have a comment?

No, I was gonna, you know, ask if that was an informed promotion. I'm in agreement the same way. We did it at length. We did a tour of certain people's homes that had chickens on it and on the property, and as I said, it's at least come three times in my length on council and been denied it and was not something taken lightly. We researched very deeply for this.

Yeah. Betty?

I'm in support of not changing the current ordinance.

I'll second that.

That's a motion. That motion. That motion does not

Yes, that's

a motion.

I'll second that. Okay,

we have a motion and a second to provide feedback to staff that we do not want them to prepare a tax amendment making any changes. Is there discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no.

That motion passes unanimously. Next up is number nine, consider a municipal ordinance for declaring no parking along the full length of Corporate Drive Northwest. Philip Graham presented that item on Tuesday along with photographs and explanation. Does anyone have any additional questions? If not, the recommendation is a motion to approve adopting a municipal ordinance for declaring no parking along the full length of Corporate Drive Northwest.

Move for approval, mayor. Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there a discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, please say no.

That motion passes. Item 10, consider adopting a municipal ordinance for declaring no parking along the full length of Jacobs Crossing Boulevard Southwest. Philip also presented that item along with photographs and details. Any additional questions on that item? If not, then I would entertain a motion to approve adopting a municipal ordinance for declaring no parking along the full length of Jacobs Crossing Boulevard Southwest.

Okay,

we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. All opposed, please say no. That motion passes.

Number 11, consider adopting a resolution to sell 449 Cabarrus Avenue West to home buyers Anna Gonzalez and Andy Rodriguez for $306,500 Mary Carr talked to us about this item. Are there any additional questions on this one? If not, then I would entertain a motion to adopt a resolution to sell 449 Cabarrus Avenue West to home buyers Anna Gonzalez and Andy Rodriguez for $306,500

I make

a motion, mayor.

Okay. Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, please say no. That motion passes. Next up is item 12, consider authorizing the city manager to execute contract with neighboring concepts in the amount of 5 and $36,050 for architecture and engineering services for the Wilkinson Homes repositioning project. Mary Carr also spoke with us about that item. Are there additional questions on that one?

Mayor, I'd just like to add some context for the members of the Logan community that are here and have been somewhat involved with this process, that this is just the beginning. This is the first step in order to get this project off the ground. I just wanted to make that

clear. Thank you. Any additional questions or comments? Hearing none, I would entertain a motion to authorize the city manager to execute a contract with neighboring concepts in the amount of $536,050 for architecture and engineering services for the Wilkinson Homes repositioning project. So moved, Mayor.

I'll second the Mayor.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, please say no.

That motion passes. Next up is item 13, consider authorizing the city manager to negotiate execute a contract with Haas Contracting Incorporated for the construction of David Phillip Park in the amount of $3,566,559.2 And Rick Blatt talked with us about that project, and then Sheila mentioned it again in her report tonight. Are there additional questions? Okay, hearing none, I would entertain a motion to authorize the city manager to negotiate and execute a contract with HAS Contract Incorporated in the amount of $3,566,559.2 for the construction of David Phillip Park on Burridge Road.

Okay,

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

Aye.

All opposed, please say no. That motion passes. Item 14, Rick also talked with us about consider authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute a contract with Bionomic Services for the Cottle Creek Water Treatment Plant Lagoon sludge removal. Any additional questions on that one? If not, I would entertain a motion to authorize the city manager to negotiate and execute a contract with Bionomic Services Incorporated in the amount of $685,800.5 for the Cottle Creek Water Treatment Plant Lagoon Sludge Removal.

Okay,

we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, please say no. That motion passes. Item 15. We've removed the sludge, now we've got to dispose of the sludge. So that is, Rick talked to us about consider authorizing the city manager to negotiate and enter into an agreement with Republic Services Incorporated for the disposal of the Coventry Creek water treatment plant Lagoon's sludge. Any additional questions on that one?

If not, I would entertain a motion to authorize the city manager to enter into an agreement with Republic Services Incorporated for the disposal of the Cottle Creek water treatment plant, Lagoon Sludge, at $86 per ton to a maximum of 3,500 tons.

I'll second it to you, Mayor.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no.

That motion passes. Next up, Jackie presented to us consider accepting a preliminary application from Cary Custom Properties LLC, and this is to receive water service outside of the city limits at 4 Mary Circle. Any questions on that one? Then I would entertain a motion to accept the preliminary application and have the owner proceed to the final application phase excluding annexation. Okay, I have a motion and a second.

Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no. That motion passes.

Jackie also talked to us about consider accepting a preliminary application from Jake and Raz Management LLC. This is for a preliminary application to receive water service outside the city limits at 6299 Rocky River Road Concord. Any questions on that one? If not, I would entertain a motion to accept the preliminary application from Jake and Raz Management LLC and have the owner proceed to the final application phase excluding annexation. Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, please say no. That motion passes. And we move now to our consent agenda, which consists of items that have been previously discussed and of an ordinary nature. Do I hear a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? So moved, Mayor. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

All opposed, please say no. That motion passes unanimously. And we move now to advisory boards and partner reports. First up is the TAC committee. And welcome, Philip.

Sounds good. Alright. Good evening, Mayor, members of council, Ms. Payne, Ms. Skoljenski, Ms. Jenkins. That's correct. The staff level of the MPO met in March. The advisory board met in March and April and made 25 project modifications. That's become the norm in these meetings, it seems like, date changes.

The most important one though for Concord, for our group, was the Brut Smith project. Brut Smith sidewalk project was moved up in construction FY '29 with our toll credits. That municipal agreement for the change on that with the toll credits, I spoke with DOT staff today, We should be getting that any day now. So hopefully the next council meeting will have that for you all. We also hosted NCDOT's secretary, Daniel Johnson, at the April meeting.

We were the first NPO to host him across the state. He's met with all the divisions across DOT, but now is going to the NPOs. He gave a speech about his goals, or the department's goals with technology, innovation, workforce challenges, and so forth. I also, I presented to the group about our Poplarton And Harris Road project, the quadrant intersection that is under design. Had a number of questions from other municipalities on that as well as that progresses along.

And then, main other two, we had a funding swap for 3,800,000 of direct allocation funds. That's also become kind of an annual ask of NCDOT, moving funds to different buckets of money. Essentially, that moves into state trust fund dollars where we can use those in different ways. Really won't look any different on MPO side, more looks cleaner on the state side. And then lastly, they had mentioned about the union The division ten staff mentioned about Union Cemetery Road realignment being under construction now.

NJR's underway with that, and they'll keep giving us monthly reports. So that is that's all I had from the meeting. Okay.

Thank you. Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County.

Alright. Thank you, mayor. Jeff. Counsel, mister Payne,

mister You can

start off, mister mister Jenkins. Yeah. I'm gonna start off and then we'll let miss Hubbard finish up. So we've been extremely busy in three months. A lot of critical decisions, as you know, are sort of imminent here ahead of us. But a couple things to report. The the Muddy Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, which if you're unaware, generally serves the lower half of the county, the Midland area, some incorporated Commerz County areas as well. That plant has been rated at about 300,000 gallons per day, relatively small plant. About 50 to 60,000 capacity left. Midland was able to secure about $11,000,000 in state funding to allow us to go ahead and begin that project.

So those contracts have been let. It will be progressive design build similar similar to what we're doing at Rocky River. Wausauk has been very impressed with that delivery process. Seems to provide a really good a really good product and a really good on a really good schedule. So that expansion will take it from 300,000 gallons per day to 660,000 gallons per day.

One of the great things about that project is Wasek already holds a 1,000,000 gallon per day permit in hand, so that construction was really accelerated. We didn't have to go through that regulatory permitting process. The public hearing on the Waseck budget annual budget was last month. There were a few remaining items that some board members had questions on, that prevented us from from approving that budget. We expect that to to happen next week. And then we'll let miss Hubbard talk about our capacity exercise.

Yes. Jeff left the vest for me. We need an answer. I don't think he said it that way, but just as a reminder, we discussed at the April or was it March? March?

Okay. We discussed the capacity issue and so our May meeting, which is next week, Jeff and I are uncertain of the number that you would like for us to take to the table so we can participate in discussion with the other municipal partners. So I don't know that if you have, I don't know, thoughts on that right now or how we get to that, but I don't feel that we, I mean, and you correct me if I'm wrong, I don't feel I have clarity from any of you guys as to where you want us to steer in that direction. And we need that by next Thursday at 05:00. Next Thursday.

Or tonight would be great too, whatever you guys wanna do. So or is there any you know, is there anything we, I haven't heard from anybody that there's anything remaining that you guys need from us, because I do think that was something that we really wanted to lean into of, is there additional information or whatever that might be?

Where did we I think we did this at one of our

last work sessions, am I correct in saying that?

Where did we end up with the 5% growth scenario and all that? What did that look like? I don't recall.

So we've been hovering at that $3,000,000 has been the place where we landed. Now admittedly, you know, we we did not factor in any true ups. Right? And and as we talk about gallons per day per bedroom and potentially trying to get an even lower number, right, that's probably smart because that true up will get smaller and smaller and smaller. But then again, you know, even at 3,000,000 that we've talked about the cost to the rate payers, and we have some strategies that we're looking through that that might help us help us have a better plan on implementing those those cost considerations.

But if we're happy at 3, I think that's a decent number to go back to the board with. You know, this is not a you will get an opportunity to make a final decision, And once we do that, we will be locked in to to the the the number as well as the cost, you know, for the for the life of that of that debt. So very important decision, but if if it's the board's pleasure to to stay at at the three, we'd be happy to to discuss that that is sort of our

Or an up to.

An up to three, right, because then we talked about our WSAC is gonna do, they're gonna take everybody's sort of preliminary numbers, put those together, and understand what our options are. Right? There's a chance that we put everybody's numbers together and we're at 4,250,000 and we really need to build four and a half or five or scale back to four. Right? So we'll have an opportunity to come back once they understand that order of magnitude to make a final final decision that will that will that will be locked in. So this is just a not a ballpark. We need better than a ballpark, but if three is where we are, then

would also know, obviously, next Thursday about what the other municipalities are

Hopefully.

Thinking, hopefully. Which depositions us anyway.

But it doesn't. I mean, I think the important thing that we need to remember is, I mean, as Jeff said, there could be a comeback that there is some massage in the total number. But part of the reason that we push these decisions to the municipal boards is I think it's really important we decide what Concord's growth is. Wassack does not, right? And so that was really one of the discussions that we had as a board and was the entire reason that once this capacity expansion came about of because we have to be the ones to enforce the rate, right?

And so we feel that decision should be solely in Concord. And so while I do understand what you're saying that we're tasked as a board to go back and one plus one has to equal two, and we may bring those back, I do really feel like it's really important that you guys are comfortable with what what decision that we do make, and an up to, I think, is fine. I will note that, we sat in the session I think, mayor, you sat in that session too on the capacity session at the league. And, you know, now this was towns that were considering consolidation. And it was a really fascinating conversation of one of the gentlemen that's been, I think he's with Parker Poe that has been doing this for years basically said, you guys need to get on board or you're going be forced to get on board, right?

So it was interesting to sit with smaller towns that were looking to go where we are and have the discussions that we're having. Now, I there was still no funding. The funding was a big part of the discussion of current rate payers. How do you pass that along? And there was a lot of impact fee discussions and things like that. But unfortunately, you, the mayor, I walked out of there with any great ideas that we could bring back. They're all having the same discussions, so.

Yeah, I will say that I think we need to continue to actively lobby our General Assembly members, looking at different options. I think there is benefit to sitting down with developers as well and explaining our situation because our current sewer allocation policy, which I think we do a good job at, is holding back a lot developers. And I think the answer to that is we have solutions, but they're not free. And talk about some of those options and the impact that it's having on them as well. I'm not sure how quickly we can put that together, but it sounds like we need to make a decision quicker than having

that Yeah, we'll kind have a little time. There's already been some questions about cost and how can we put that together. We've got a little time to do that. You know, I think right now we're just trying I like the up two, three if we have to back down a little bit collectively to get the number that we need to get at it. Sounds like maybe that's where we are.

Chad, I Oh.

Go ahead. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Did we tie that three to a percentage, a growth percentage rate?

Two or It's about two and a half. We look back ten years and we looked at what we did before the allocation process when things kinda tightened up, then we looked at what we've been doing since. Know, it's about two and fifty thousand to 300,000 gallons per year, which is really, when you think about it, you feel like you're giving out a lot more than that, but that's what the numbers are. So it's gonna go a lot further, and I'm glad that's a much smaller number than we thought it was gonna be.

I have a note here, and I don't I guess I don't do good with details on taking notes, but help me out. So I have a note, twenty years slash 3,000,000. Help

me.

So it would be 3,000,000 gallons per day in capacity that we would be asking for, and the debt service would be for twenty five years. So we would be responsible for that debt payment. It's not our debt. It's Wassa's debt that comes to us through an operational cost every month. But we would be locking in that twenty five year payment for that 3,000,000 gallons per day.

Jeff, question, remind me, and I'm going go back to Lori's question. So I know it's the 2.5, around the 3,000,000, that's where we landed last time and it seemed like lots of us were, I will say leaning towards the 3,000,000. That 2%, how is it compared to other municipalities around the state?

I think a lot of places would be thrilled to have two and a half percent growth. Right? It it and and, what was amazing when we looked at the numbers is that is where we've been tracking. We had some year, we had an eight or 9% year that really stuck out. We had some two percent. We had a high 1%. But over that ten years looking backwards, that's what we averaged over that time. So what we're suggesting looking forward is to continue that same average growth rate that we've seen. So not really not suppressing it artificially, but actually allowing for that same period of growth to occur. You know, if you did have a big year though, we've talked a little bit about this.

From a sewer allocation policy standpoint, if you gave a bunch away at one time, if you had 5% growth, right, that's gonna your sewer's not gonna go as far and we're gonna be back here again. If you were a little leaner or if economic conditions changed, you've got a lot of capacity that you paid for that you're not utilizing. That that would be probably equally as bad. So we feel good about that number. It's it's a real representation of where we've been going over the past ten years. It wasn't just a wasn't just a shot in the dark number, so we feel we feel good about it.

I'm afraid of getting more and not using it.

I agree. Okay. I agree.

I think I read an article today that Charlotte, which obviously impacts us, had more people become citizens the city every day than any other municipality in the Southeast.

Yeah, and to your point, if we go reasonable like we're proposing and we do run out, we can always build more, right? I mean, we don't wanna do that too incredibly soon, but going the other way around of going too big and too aggressive and being on the hook for those payments and the ratepayers having to pay that bill, and and not be able to utilize that flow for a long, long time would I think be a worse problem.

Will it be more expensive?

Will it be more expensive, Jeff, if we turn around and do the three and then say, hey. We need three more.

Yeah. Anything you do tomorrow is gonna be more than it is today. That seems to be the world we're in right now. You know, I you know, and also building bigger, it's cheaper per gallon, right? There's a million ways to dissect this to make it, but I think we've gotta make the best decision with what's in front of us right now with the planning horizon we're looking at.

And I think that's what has come together at that two and a half percent, that 3,000,000 total gets us to 2,040. You know, there's some true ups along the way that, you know, that will help out a little bit and give us a little extra. There's plenty available for economic development, so I think it accomplishes what our goals are without being ultra aggressive or putting unreasonable cost on our ratepayers as well.

And I think part of the exercise of looking at the growth rate was also we've heard a lot in the headlines on the street, whatever you want to call it, of like, since the capacity issue has come in, it's suppressed growth. And it actually does not show that, right? And actually, what it has done, and we don't use the word control, but it has actually directed the growth and has shaped our community through our policy. And so I think that's something to be really proud of, in my opinion, that we've continued that same growth rate. And so if that's a comfortable growth rate for everyone, then I do think the up to three feels like I would my personal opinion is I am not comfortable of anything above three.

That's just my opinion.

You need a head nod tonight then to walk away

with it?

You could just tell us if we feel comfortable both we understand what your marching orders are, I think we're good.

I like three.

Up to three.

Up to three.

Like the two and a half part.

Okay.

And if that equals three, then I'm good with that. And I wish that's how my budget worked, that two and a half equaled three, but I can't seem to make that happen.

Understood.

You good, Betty? Okay. Did I give you what you need?

Yep. I think so.

Thank you. Alright.

Thank you. Okay, central line up.

Well, that's me. I was there. I'll just tell y'all the truth of the matter is I was hoping to attend by Zoom last night and then I was over at Concord Mills area for a ribbon cutting and I thought, well, okay, why not? I'll just go on and go. I won't stay long, get what I need to get and get out of there. I was one of the last to leave at 08:30. And so it was so informative. What they do is they work with counties, non counties in our area. And they bring delegates, as they call us, together to discuss what's happening in our city or our county. And everybody has the same problems all the time.

All of us are growing except Anson County. They have the opposite problem, which was very eye opening and what's happening there. But it's nice to know that we're not alone in trying to figure out infrastructure issues, school issues. Everybody in our area has that. And then, of course, Centralina on their own does so much to support all the municipalities and counties in this region.

They are implementing a new project coming up that's going to be data driven. And I sound like I know what I'm talking about, but that's probably about all I can tell you, called the INSPIRE program. And basically what it will do is it will give lots of data back to each municipality and county that's relevant to their area and then also give it to you how you are relevant to other counties. So like maybe how Union County might be relevant to Cabarrus or how Union might be relevant to Anson. So it was just a great informative meeting.

They had an open house to show all the things that they can do for us. And maybe that's why I stayed so long. I couldn't believe all they do. It was super interesting. So anyway, I won't bore you with any more of the details, but it was great. I enjoyed it. Appreciate the opportunity to go.

Thanks a Thank you. Okay, couple other items before we go to general comments. I think we've received a request from Cabarrus County or an invitation to host the next quarterly summit meeting here at City Hall. That would involve us feeding all the folks as the county normally does, as well as arranging for a program. Just wanted to get feedback from council if that's something that you're okay with that we would like to agree to.

Mayor, do you have a date?

July 1, six to 8PM.

That's

a So tough it's kinda getting close to a big holiday there, that's the date the county chose.

Lloyd, do you have a number of people we want to feed?

We don't

have to feed.

It all depends, it's hard to say sometimes. I mean, I've shown up and there's 20 people there, sometimes there's 40 people there.

And we they always ask for RSVPs. Yeah. Elected officials are not always real good at that.

Yeah. I can't remember, we hosted maybe a couple years ago. Leslie, do you remember? We hosted it in here. Do you remember a roundabout price for that?

Yeah. Probably.

Probably so.

Remember when we did it here.

Lori, is there no way to move that to the next week when, because that's officially July?

Not my meeting, not my party. I can't change it.

Okay, well who do we ask if we can change it?

The county. Whoever that is, right? I think that's something the county commissioner said, and I think that's their date. Mean, we can go back and ask them, but I don't know that they will.

Yeah, it's just that busy holiday week.

Yeah, another alternative is we could say we'd prefer to defer until after the election in November. It's totally up to you I

would just hate to invite people to our home and none of us are here. Right. So I just that date is not a great date

for me.

Yes, so am I hearing a no Not that it revolves

around me, but I just No, hearing more.

It's the next one?

Yeah. Yeah, we'll do another call.

Not the no, but just the no on the date, which again

No on the yeah, yeah, we'd prefer to wait till a later date. How's that sound? Okay, excellent. We will send that feedback there. Also, I think one of the items that we had talked about discussing at our second work session this month I've determined that there are three council members that have said they do not think they will be able to be here for that meeting.

One more, and we would lose a quorum. So I would propose I think the one item that we talked about discussing was the employees running for election, which we have no filings coming up anytime within the next year and a half that I'm aware of. So is it okay if we cancel that second work session and then we'll take up that matter the next month? And was there another item, Emma?

I was gonna, oh, I was just gonna say, Mayor, I believe it's a really important topic but with three being out, I think we're going to miss a bulk of the conversation but also the different perspectives that we need from everyone. I don't feel comfortable hosting it with three people, I mean, not being here without three people.

Yep, so is that consensus?

Yeah, my only thing is that I'm okay with it, but who's gonna notify Mrs. Sandage We because

thought we'd let you do.

I'll do it.

I'll reach out.

I've been corresponding with her, I'll do

it too.

Yeah, I can do it anyway.

Okay, all right. So we got that covered. Okay, those are all the items I have on my list. Next, we move to general comments by counsel of a non business nature. Will mention, Laurie had mentioned the ribbon cutting yesterday, that was for the freestanding emergency department.

That atrium is opening adjacent to the Embassy Suites there on Speedway Boulevard. Very nice facilities, gonna serve our citizens on that side of the county, city, as well as the number of visitors that we have there extremely well. Yesterday morning, I was honored to welcome the North Carolina Fire Chiefs Association out at the Embassy Suites. That's somewhere between six hundred and eight hundred people that are there. I think all the hotel rooms in the area are completely booked out, So, I think the average citizen does not realize how frequently that happens, that we host these statewide meetings that really bring a lot of dollars into our local economy.

As part of that Fire Chiefs Association meeting, they have a fundraiser for the Byrne Children's Hospital here in the state, and that consists of people rappelling off the roof of the Embassy Suites. What's it, 11 stories, Terry? 10? 11 stories? Yeah.

Yeah, so it was my distinct honor to be one of those people jumping off the roof today. And Marcella was there to witness that in person, which I'm not sure it's a good thing or not, but there were a number of videos that were taken, so I'm sure you'll see more about it. You'll find it very entertaining.

You really

jumped off the roof.

I really did, yeah. Yeah, and I warned John, I warned the mayor pro tem in advance that if I was not at the meeting and he had to preside, he would understand why. Yeah, yeah, it's a So, big does anybody else have any general comments?

I have a general comment. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of, and I'm actually a little bit embarrassed because I've served on the advisory committee for We Build for a little bit over a year, but yesterday was the first time that I was able to tour some of the properties. And I know materials and I'm gonna speak just from a materials perspective because I do come from big box retail, home improvement, Lowe's corporate, but to see a lot of the materials that was being used in a lot of these different apartments, these are high quality. So to be able to have affordable and workforce housing with superior material that other builders probably don't even use and will charge you a kidney for. I think it's honorable that the city has been involved and I can say I know Council Member Crawford has been very involved with We Build, Ms.

Clay as well, but to be giving dignity back to those that might not be able to fully afford a really ridiculously expensive home, like that brings me honor to be part of a city that contributes to projects like that. And I know it's so easy to sometimes get stuck in the negative, but yesterday probably made my whole week. And I really thank the council members that have been involved, Doctor. Patrick Graham. I mean, was trying to ask him, how can I get an apartment here?

And then he shared that our city manager asked the same thing about one of the favorite, he had a favorite unit, but that just goes to show how proud we are to continue supporting different initiatives like that and to have that here in the heart of our city and just to show people that we care about the conditions that they live in. That was, I had fun yesterday.

Okay, any other comments? Yes, sir.

I just wanna, like I speak on behalf of council, say thank you, Leslie, for making City Vision such a success. The hard work, the dedication, the preparations, the back and forth communication, we appreciate it.

Great. Yes,

any other comments? We do not have need of a closed session tonight. So if there's nothing else, I would entertain a motion to adjourn. I

have

a motion and a second. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no. We stand adjourned. Thank you.