City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Thank you for being here to engage in the business for our town. Now we will, as usual, call the meeting to order. And first, we will have our invocation and pledge of allegiance. I have asked commissioner Brian Haynes to give us our invocation and commissioner Larry Smith, the pledge of allegiance. Let us please stand.

Let us pray. Gracious god, we thank you for this day god. We thank you for this beautiful weather that you gave us today father god. Father god, we thank you for being able to serve this amazing town that we all love so much, father god. Now, father god, we go in this meeting, we pray that all hearts and minds are clear, father god.

We pray as we go to make these decisions, father god, we know that you've charged us and you have asked us to be stewards of over the finance, father god, to be stewards over the facilities and everything we're given as well as stewards over all of our employees. So, god, we actually keep all our employees safe, father god. Not just today but every day they serve this amazing community, father god. We thank them for all they do and our god, we pray for this board as we go to make decisions tonight. Father god, we thank you for all of the citizens who've came out to show whether their support or this or displeasure stuff. Father God, we still thank them for that as well. So God, we just honor you and we give you all the praise in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

Please join me with pledge. 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.

You may be seated. Thank you. At this time, I will ask the town manager Adam Mitchell to review the meeting protocol for public participation as it relates to this meeting. Town manager Mitchell.

Thank you, mayor. Good evening. Good evening, board members. It's good to be with you tonight. Tonight's town board meeting is in person and live streamed on the town's YouTube channel and Facebook page. Tonight's meeting contains a public comment period and six scheduled public hearings. The public is invited to comment in person. When it is the appropriate time, Mayor Harris will call on those wishing to address the town board. All attendees that have appeared in person to address the town board during the public comment period should provide your name and address on the green registration sheet by the podium prior to the public comment period beginning. All attendees that have appeared in person to address the town board during a scheduled public hearing should provide your name and address on the white registration sheet prior to the public hearings beginning.

We ask all those wishing to address the town board either during the public comment period or a scheduled public hearing to begin their comments by clearly stating their name and address for the public record. The public is asked to keep all comments to three minutes so that all that wish to speak may be heard in a timely manner. To be respectful of those that may have different views on matters addressed by the town board, we ask that all in attendance respect the decorum of the meeting by refraining by clap, refraining from clapping, making loud noises, and generally showing support or displeasure for comments made during the public comment period or public hearings. Police chief Smith will be asked to escort from the boardroom anyone not respecting this process, and it is the discretion of mayor Harris as presiding officer to continue the public comment and or public hearing period if the meeting protocol is not followed. This concludes the protocol for tonight's meeting.

Mayor?

Thank you very much. The next item is item three a, approval of the minutes, the 04/21/2026 Town Board of Commissioners regular scheduled meeting. Do I hear a motion to approve those minutes?

Mayor, so moved.

Second. Second. It's been

moved and second that the minutes will be approved. All those in favor of the motion, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it.

The next item is item 4A, Proclamation of National Public Service Recognition Week. And I have here a proclamation that's dedicated to and it acknowledges public employees. Those of you who work in the public arena in any capacity, you know, sometimes it goes unnoticed, the selflessness it takes to work in the public arena. Certainly, sometimes the salaries are not that competitive and sometimes what you do, you touch people in several different ways, often times you're the front line of issues, all different kinds of issues as it relates to public service. So, this proclamation is going to acknowledge your service no matter what area you work in, what your experience has been, you've had a role to play possibly in touching somebody's life or either you've had some role to play in setting policy that indirectly or directly influences someone's life.

So, employees are to be valued and tonight I'd like to read this proclamation. Whereas the residents of Fuquay Varina, North Carolina rely on the dedicated service of public employees from various levels of government on a daily basis. And whereas, the skilled public servants of Fuquay Varina work diligently to deliver essential services, innovate solutions and ensure the responsible stewardship of public resources. And whereas, our public employees consistently rise to meet challenges, demonstrating resilience and a deep commitment to safeguarding and enriching the lives of all who call Fuquaive Arena home. Whereas, the public employees in Fuquaive Arena embody the highest standards of professionalism, embracing creativity, expertise, and a genuine desire to serve with excellence and compassion.

And, whereas, National Public Service Recognition Week has been celebrated annually during the May since 1985, providing an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate the invaluable contributions of government employees. Now therefore, I, William H. Harris, mayor of the town of Fuqua Varina, hereby proclaim the week of May 2026 as National Public Service Week and encourage all residents to join me in expressing our sincere gratitude and support for our exceptional public servants signed William H. Harris, mayor of the town of Fuquay Varina. Let's just give all of those who work in public service a round of applause.

Thank you so much. Thank you very much. And item 4B is a proclamation of National Police Week, May 10 through 05/16/2026. Law enforcement work is not easy work. Our law enforcement officers are trained.

They are the people who put their lives on the line to make us feel safe. If you read in the newspaper this past week, Fuquay Varina is the one of the top 10 safest communities in the Triangle area. A lot of that has been attributed to our outstanding police force. Their willingness to be continuously trained and be committed to lifelong learning and it's especially a joy to know that this week has been set aside to acknowledge our law enforcement officers, those men and women who put their lives on the line, sometimes when we even don't even know about it and the risk that they take every time that they put on uniform. So, this proclamation identifies and just reiterates how valuable our law enforcement officers and workers who are in law enforcement are to us as a society, particularly here in the town of Fuqua Varina.

So I'd like to read a proclamation to acknowledge that. Whereas the dedicated men and women of law enforcement in our community courageously serve and protect, often at great personal risk. And whereas these officers demonstrate unwavering commitment to justice, compassion for those in need, and humility in service to others. And whereas, National Police Week provides an opportunity to honor the memory of those law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, and to express gratitude to the families and loved ones who support them. And, whereas, we recognize the evolving role of modern policing and applaud the efforts of our officers to proactively prevent crime, build strong relationships within our diverse community and implement innovative strategies to enhance public safety.

And whereas, we acknowledge the complex challenges faced by law enforcement requiring courage, sound judgment and a commitment to de escalation, conflict resolution and providing vital support services to those in need. And whereas, during National Police Week, we expressed our deepest gratitude for the unwavering service, dedication, and sacrifice of all law enforcement officers who work every day to keep the town of Fuquay Varina safe and secure. Now, therefore, I, William H. Harris, mayor of the town of Fuquay Varina, do hereby proclaim May 2026, as National Police Week in the town of Fuquay Varina, and do publicly salute the dedicated service of our law enforcement officers and all those who serve communities across the nation. Will we please stand and give our officers an ovation, please.

Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Thank you. Our next item is item 4C, a presentation of a market study. More information about this agenda item will be presented by Human Resources Director, Moody and Matt Reeves.

Good evening.

Hi, how are you doing?

Fine. How are you? Great. Thank you guys for giving us the opportunity to speak tonight about the market study. The purpose of this agenda item is for the board to receive the presentation of the annual results. We have been working with Matt Reece since 2021 either doing a full and paid class study or doing a market study. You know we would like to remain competitive with our peers and you know we are a Dashmore so we have to keep up with that and so I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to Matt so he can go over his findings.

Thank you. Good evening.

Good evening. I had no idea I was so popular and there would be such a crowd. It's an exciting world of compensation. Let start things out bottom line we're looking at 241,000 that moves us we usually take comparisons at the entry level point and also actual average. The entry level points the primary driver so we're moving things to a 105% in terms of average comparison from where they are now at 103, that's the dash more that we're seeking for all classes to be at or above 100% of entry level pay at the market.

And then that adjusts us to 108 of actual average for comparison to the market. So let me just touch quickly on the process for you. So the purpose of this chart is to let you know that the employees did the heavy lifting. They're the ones that get to enjoy the 13 page questionnaire that's the basis for what we do. That was completed during the classification study that we did last year, but we use that information going forward into these market studies.

The next level that you see there is where we want to emphasize to you that we're using a job content method, which means that there is interpretation of the market into how Fuquay Varina sees that in their classification and pay system, right? It's not completely market based, it's looking at what are the relationships between jobs. Ultimately, that's all going to come together. We're going to reconcile those factors in your assignment of class to grades. Since we've been talking about grades, let's show you what that chart looks like.

This is really what we need to think about, right? All of the data points, all of the market, all of the classification is coming back into this chart. So really what we're saying is what needs to be assigned to what grade based on the market data, based on the classification, based on those internal relationships, right? So that's the operation that we have. Here's just a quick snapshot of the market for you, right?

What this is showing you is that we are still in odd times. Normally, you look at the chart to the left, you see that that relationship is about a three to one relationship in favor of employers of it being an employer market. You see where we inverted that relationship during the COVID pandemic and recession. And now we are in this place of somewhat stasis, right, that economists are referring to this as a low hire, low fire environment. So it's this one to one relationship.

So it seems to have stabled out for a while, but it's still not necessarily in the employee's favor. So it is a competitive market that continues to linger. When we look at those macro factors down to an individual class level, the first one we have for you here is firefighter. And so firefighter one at grade 15 with fifty seven two as the entry level point, you see is deemed at an adequate point, 103% in a ratio to the average. So the blue lines that you see going across there are the entry level points.

That's the primary point of comparison. We're trying to be at a 100 or above of the average line that you see. The gray lines are the actual average for those. Right? So if we that's the firefighter that shows there is no adjustment for firefighter.

We're not looking at any adjustment on those. Then for fire captain two, our first level of supervision of fire at grade 22, 85, eighty thousand five hundred and one hundred and six of the market you see is again where it needs to be. So no adjustments needed, you see the blue lines, you see the gray lines. Shifting to police, that's where we are for police officer one at grade 2,002, 60,004 being the market for that, and we're at 100% on that one as well. When we look at the first level of supervision, police sergeant, grade 3,004, 83.7, and 103% were where we need to be as well.

So all four of these classes and all of that occupational families are really not needing to have major adjustments in those. As we look in shifting now to a different area entirely, right, building codes and the inspector two being The poster child for that great eighteen sixty six thousand two hundred and ten percent of the market you have been strong in this one for a number of years and that is continuing the maintenance that you do on your plan that we're going to talk about that a little bit helps maintain that and Street equipment operator also so looking at some of the labor and trades areas in particular skilled labor and trades at grade twelve forty nine thousand one 'five of the market again no adjustments are need. What we're seeing here is the work that we've been doing over and over that you all have approved the maintenance that you're doing is paying off, That we're not having the big adjustments that we talked to you about when we first started meeting with you. Street maintenance worker changes that a little bit right so there are areas where we do want to tighten up on that.

Anything that's really below 45,000 we begin to see a lot of movement on lately some Street maintenance worker one moving from grade nine to 10 that showing you the movement that orange section. In the stack that showing you the adjustment from nine to 10 and then that's the forty four eight and a 104% of the market on that one as well. Custodian moving from grade six to eight similarly, showing you the orange adjustment that's needed for that area. So then, you see the ones that aren't moving, the majority of classes are not moving, we have a few that are in that. This is the methodology, the same methodology that we've been using for a number of years now.

If you are below the minimum, we're going to adjust you to the minimum for each grade that your class moves, the incumbent who would be above the new proposed minimum that you see down there at grade eight, if they're above the 40,006, then that's the 10% movement that they would get to their salary as well. That is capped at the control point of 105% of minimum. That's what the red bars are that are going across there. So we're going to leave that portion of the range of minimum of mid point 105 up to maximum for performance. Recommendations so that's the consistent methodology all of the employees who are moving in the study are moving based on this methodology that results in this that we've got.

202,000 for the general pay plan a 149 were looked at 36 are needing adjustment. Know you have a banded pay structure assistant directors and director seven of those 24 positions are needed that's a $40,000 adjustment that's needed to the 14 classes that you see that really are needing movement or less than a 52,000 in terms of where the average wages, it's those lower end of the band we see most of the movement on the IT group is moving some in the law enforcement support professionals group and then operations management are moving within that. So just want to kind of capsulate where we've been that we've done to pay in class We looking forward to the market study again for next year as well as we do want to touch on your Cola and merit implementation. So this is the history of that we are presuming that you're going to do a 3% which is proposed for the 2627 and then the one to three depending upon appraisal we don't really have a good fix yet on what the rest of the market is doing from what we have heard and what I can tell you anecdotally that seems to be in keeping with that.

But that brings us back to 02/1000 moving you from a 103 to a 105. I know you have a lot on your agenda. So if you have questions for me, I'm willing to take this.

Any questions?

I guess more of a statement, mister mayor, you just seeing that number for the quality of employees that we have working every day, know, that's nothing to us. You know, that's one of our biggest things as a board is making sure that we keep, you know, the quality of employees we do and we don't want lose any other municipality. Just being able to make this happen since I've been on the board since 2021 just to see that we've made those efforts and you hear it from the employees thanking you for, you know, you appreciate them enough to make sure you're focused on that and make sure because at the end of the day, cost of living keeps going up every year and they and we know that just as they know that. So, making sure that we give them, you know, their due through payment is is always amazing thing. I just applaud the board for sticking on this, you know, every year. So I I really appreciate that.

Thank you, commissioner Hayes. Any other comment? Okay. No action is required tonight. We received this as information. Thank you very much. Thank you. We really appreciate your presentation.

Thank you.

Item four d is presentation of the fiscal year twenty seven operating budget and five year operating and capital plan. More information about this agenda item will be presented by town manager Mitchell.

Thank you mayor. Be brief in my comments because we have a budget video that does the talking for our fiscal year twenty seven budget and five year plan. It gives the explanation for the proposed investments that are being recommended to the board. So I'll refrain from the four hour presentation that I gave you on April 23 at our budget workshop. The public will find that agreeable as well.

I'll just generally make the statement that the fiscal year twenty seven budget, the general fund totals 83, a little bit north of $83,000,000 in total for the general fund budget. The enterprise, utility enterprise budget is $47,000,000 just north of $47,000,000 Again on April 23, received the budget draft recommendation at budget workshop. The fiscal year recommended budget does incorporate a 37.8¢ property tax rate, which is a 2¢ property tax rate increase from prior year. The fiscal year twenty seven recommended budget incorporates a $1 increase monthly to the solid waste recycling debris collection fee. And the fiscal year twenty seven recommended budget incorporates a 15% base and volumetric water and sewer rate increase consistent with the previously adopted multi year utility rate model.

The town board will be asked to take action to schedule a budget public hearing for May 19 as required by state statute between May 5 tomorrow and May 19. The public will have the opportunity to review the budget on the town website as well as offer any input and or feedback via the Let's Talk FV platform. Instead of presenting the budget again in detail as I did on April 23, will present the budget video which highlights what is included in the recommended budget. Both the budget video and the detailed fiscal year twenty seven recommended budget will be made available for review on the town website beginning tomorrow. Again, the recommendation after watching the video this evening is to schedule a public hearing by motion on the town of Fuquay Varina fiscal year twenty seven budget for 05/19/2026.

And without any further ado, mayor, I'm gonna turn it over to the budget video. Here we go.

Fuquay Varina is thriving. We are building a future. Each year, the town's budget serves as the blueprint for turning our vision into reality both now and in the future. What is the budget? Well it's a plan, a responsibility, and a commitment to the people who call Fuquay Varina home.

This year's budget focuses on what matters most core services, necessary infrastructure, and protecting the quality of life that makes Fuquay Varina a unique and special community. We're taking a conservative approach prioritizing fiscal responsibility and making the difficult choices needed to align resources with our priorities. Because being good stewards of public funds isn't optional. It's essential. How is the town's budget assembled and how does the town get the funds to provide town services?

Our town's budget is built around two key funds, the general fund and the water and sewer enterprise fund. The water and sewer enterprise fund is self supported through customer and developer fees and is dedicated to maintaining and improving our vital water and wastewater infrastructure. Long term investments are a priority to ensure Fuquay Varina can meet future needs. The General Fund supports every day town services. The largest portion comes from property taxes funding essential services like police, fire, and street maintenance.

The next significant source is the distribution of sales tax subject to state distribution. Other taxes and fees contribute but are typically smaller and linked to specific programs like youth sports. User fees support services such as garbage and recycling collection. The town's five year plan anticipated a property tax rate increase in fiscal year twenty eight and fiscal year thirty, totaling 2.5 to fund four priority capital projects. Alternatively, this year's proposed budget includes a 2¢ property tax rate increase to fund those same projects with no property tax rate increase anticipated through fiscal year thirty one.

This strategic move allows cash funding of those priority projects and a reduction in debt financing saving the town millions over the next twenty years while also reducing the tax rate increase on citizens by half a cent. Based on the average assessed value for a home in Fuquay Varina, this property tax rate increase amounts to 7.67 per month. This increase will fund priority quality of life and public safety capital improvements, starting with renovations at South Park Community Center to create more space, better accessibility and an improved user experience for everyone. These improvements include expanded senior programming space, a larger updated fitness room and additional multi purpose spaces to meet growing community demand. A new park location at Kennevick Road Town Park will serve the community and provide much needed field inventory for our popular youth sports programs currently experiencing capacity issues in many age groups.

And Fleming Loop Park, a 4,250,000 Wake County grant will fund turf upgrades at the soccer fields and six new pickleball courts. The proposed increase will cover the necessary local match for this grant. The project enhances access, reduces maintenance, and creates additional opportunities for play and competition. The proposed tax increase would also fund a fifth fire station essential to keeping homeowner and commercial insurance rates low and maintaining a timely emergency response. To help cover the rising costs of providing garbage and recycling services we're adjusting the fee by $1 This allows us to continue offering reliable trash recycling and debris collection.

Beyond these projects, the budget focuses on maintaining and improving our existing town facilities and parks. These investments will allow us to continue providing the level of service our citizens expect and rely on. The Public Service Center is being expanded to accommodate existing and planned growth in the departments provide vital daily services to the citizens and businesses of the town. An enlarged police facility is being designed to meet the needs of today and tomorrow and continued investment in parks and recreation, meeting community demand for senior and recreational programs, providing every kid the opportunity to play and making the most of the spaces we already own. We will begin implementing elements of the Hilltop Needmore Town Park master plan which includes ball fields and an armed services memorial.

Continuing our commitment to vibrant public spaces, a new downtown event lawn will create opportunities for events, connection, and community serving as a temporary space until funding secured for the full Piney Woods Town Park master plan. We'll continue to invest in our police and fire personnel, providing them with the resources and training necessary to maintain Fuquaive Arena's reputation as one of the safest towns in North Carolina. We'll also invest in both essential equipment and our people to deliver excellent service for our growing community. Multi year transportation projects continue across town, improving safety, efficiency, and connectivity. Many are already underway.

Others are moving into construction or design. Investing in our community means maintaining what matters. This budget supports vital infrastructure repairs, sidewalks, streets, stormwater and greenways, demonstrating responsible and good stewardship of public funds. We're also making long term investments in water and wastewater infrastructure ensuring Fuquay Varina can responsibly meet future needs for clean, safe and reliable drinking water. A published and planned 15% utility rate increase supports this ongoing commitment with several multi year projects nearing completion over the next two years.

Other utility projects start this year. This budget reflects a simple goal, to improve the quality of life in Fuquaive Arena in a fiscally responsible way, one initiative at a time. Always striving to be a Dash Moore.

And with that Mr. Mayor, again, the recommendation this evening is for the town board to, by motion, schedule a public hearing on the town of Fuquay Varina fiscal year '27 budget for 05/19/2026. Happy to answer any questions that the board may have.

Any questions or comments from the board members? Thought it was very good, explained very well.

Thank

you. What the goals we have, thank you. Any other comments? If not, do I hear a motion to schedule a public hearing for 05/19/2026?

Mister mayor, I'll make a motion to schedule a public hearing on the town of Fuquay Marine of fiscal year twenty seven budget for 05/19/2026.

Do you

hear second?

It's been moved in second. All those in favor of the motion, let it be known by saying I. I. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you very much.

Thank you, mayor. Again, the the budget and budget video will go online beginning tomorrow morning and the public will have an opportunity to engage with us on Let's Talk FV between tomorrow and when we have our next town board meeting on May 19. Also just want to again recognize Katie Lum, our budget and fiscal strategy manager who's in the room tonight as well as our finance department, Mark Stevens, Nicole Stevens. Also Susan Weiss, our communications director. She was very instrumental in working to help put the budget video together that you saw this evening. I want to recognize those folks and any other town department director and staff that assisted on working on this budget process.

Alright, thank you. The next item of business is public comment At this time, the town clerk will call on individuals that are in attendance and have registered to address the town board prior to the meeting. The public comment period is a time for the public to address the town board about any matter that is not the subject of a scheduled public hearing. Those speaking are asked to begin by clearly stating your name and address for the public record. Please limit your comments to three minutes in order that all who wish to speak may be heard in a timely manner.

Town Clerk Wilder, do we have anyone sign up for public comments?

Yes. Kelly O'Brien.

Good evening.

Good evening. My

name is Kelly O'Brien and I live at 5733 Brushy Meadows Drive in Pukeway Varina and I'd like to address the proposed development within the Hilltop Nemoortown Park. I'm here specifically regarding the proposed addition of the ball fields, multi purpose fields in the parking within the remaining green space at the Hilltop Neemore Park. Residents of this town have already spoken on this issue. The bond that included similar development was voted down reflecting a clear preference to preserve the space as natural green space and not convert it into athletic facilities. Moving forward with the plans that closely resemble what was previously rejected raises serious concerns about how community input is being incorporated in decision making.

If circumstances have changed since that vote, then the community deserves a new transparent opportunity to weigh in. Hilltop Neymar Park is one of the few remaining natural spaces in Fuquay Varina where people of all ages can walk, observe wildlife, and enjoy a quieter environment. As our town continues to grow, spaces like this are not easily replaced, and once they're gone, they're gone. Developments of this scale also bring increased traffic congestion and infrastructure demands that need to be carefully considered. This is not about opposing growth.

It's about thoughtful growth in maintaining a balance between development and preservation. I'm asking you to either respect the outcome of the bond vote and preserve this space or provide a clear and transparent opportunity for the community to weigh in again before moving forward. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

Thank you very much. Appreciate your time. Thank you.

I need to speak before Keena I'm her colleague. My name is Wendy Douglas my address is 5005 handling the way. This past Saturday our church free could be quite arena Methodist Church hosted a housing stability summit to better understand the growing housing challenges in our community. Among the experts we invited to join us were two local leaders, Doctor. Latanya Agard, who is the executive director of the Coalition to End Homelessness, and Carrie Bashaw, who is the Executive Director of Brick Capital.

Both live here in Fuquay Varina and both are deeply committed to solutions in this space. What we learned was both eye opening and urgent. The median home price in Fuquay Varina is now $443,000 At the same time, wages have remained largely stagnant while the cost of living continues to rise. Today, the average family in our town is spending 35% of their income on housing. According to HUD, spending more than 30% means you are cost burdened.

That means the average family in Fuquay Varina is already financially strained just trying to keep a roof over their heads. And the problem is getting worse. In the nineteen fifty's, about 70% of new homes built were considered starter homes. Today, that number is less than 8%. In Wake County, a family must earn at least $70,000 to afford a modest two bedroom apartment.

So, we have to ask ourselves, who can afford to live here anymore? Our teachers, our police officers and firefighters, the barista who hands you your coffee, the people who make this community function, many of them can no longer afford to call it home. We believe that safe, stable, affording affordable housing is not a luxury. It's a basic human need. And as a community, we share a moral responsibility to address this. My colleague, Kina, will talk to you about common misconceptions and next steps.

Did she is she registered?

Yes. Tina T.

Good evening.

Good evening. My name is Keene Tee and I live at 2004 Blamewood Court, Fuquay Varina. And I was also a part of the housing summit this past weekend at Fuquay Varina United Methodist Church. And I think it's also important to challenge some common misconceptions about affordable housing. Most people experiencing housing instability did not choose it. Many are working families living paycheck to paycheck. One unexpected event, an illness, an injury, a car repair can trigger a crisis. Miss a paycheck or two and suddenly rent can't be paid. Eviction follows. And while safety nets exist, they are often overwhelmed.

Waiting lists are long, help does not always come in time. Preventing eviction is far less costly, both financially and socially, than dealing with its aftermath. Because eviction doesn't just mean losing a home, it damages credit, making future housing nearly impossible. It causes lasting emotional trauma for families, and for children, it often means changing schools, losing stability, and falling behind. As a teacher at Herbert Akins Elementary here in Fuquay, I have unfortunately seen firsthand how housing instability affects a child's ability to learn, to feel safe, and to thrive.

We are not here tonight because we have all of the answers. We are here because we believe this conversation must begin, and it must include all of us. And we're asking you, our Buquave Arena Town Council, to take the next step. We ask you we ask that you make affordable housing a clear and stated priority in your planning and development decisions, partner with local organizations and experts already doing this work to identify practical near term solutions, explore policies that support the development of smaller, more attainable homes and protect residents from displacement, and continue and commit to continuing this conversation a public transparent way so that our community could be part of the solution. The decisions made in this room will shape who gets to live in Fuquay Varina for many years ahead.

Will it remain a community where only some can afford to stay, or one where the people who serve, teach, protect, and sustain this town can also call it home? We urge you to act with intention, with urgency, and with the understanding that this issue is not going away. Our church has committed to be part of the solution and we stand ready to partner with you. Thank you for your time this evening.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Sherrie Ward.

Good evening.

Good evening.

My name is Sherry Ward, 4604 Springcrest Court in Fuquay Varina. I'm a long time park supporter and one of the administrators of the Hilltop Neemore Town Park and Preserve Advocacy Group. People in Southern Wake County and beyond have come together time and again to push for this land to be preserved. The most recent park bond that included ball fields in that location failed to pass. The voters spoke loud and clear on how they felt about the noise, traffic, and safety issues it would bring.

We were told the town would pursue another large attractive land for ball fields that would meet the town's needs. Instead, now a few years have passed and the town posted just last week a request for bid for construction of ball fields and more at Hilltop Neemore Park. Coincidentally, I also serve on the Fuquay Varina Parks Advisory Board. It's concerning that there was no mention of this the town's intentions for this construction during our last advisory board meeting on April 13, just two weeks prior to the request for bids. I'm sure that our town leaders value transparency and integrity and this was an oversight.

On that note, just before last fall's election, we asked every candidate on the advocacy group if they would like to convey any message regarding the Hilltop Needmore Town Park and the future of the advocacy group prior to the vote. The following are excerpts. Mayor Harris wrote, you and your members are to be commended for your interest in maintaining the quality and usefulness of such a beautiful park property. I'm committed to maintaining the natural beauty of the Hilltop Needmore Town Park and its open space. Commissioner Haynes wrote, Hilltop Neemore Town Park and Community Center is a shining example of how we can plan smartly for growth while protecting what makes Fuquavering a special.

I'll continue to prioritize parks, greenways, and open spaces as vital investments in our town's future. Commissioner Voran wrote, your group has quite a history of outreach in dealing with both Wake County and Fuquay Varina while advocating to protect the native flora and fauna of Hilltop Needmore Park. And for ours and for future generations. Nature preserves, parks, and green spaces serve as a much needed healthy community space for residents and visitors. They provide shade, a place to exercise, and an opportunity to disconnect natural beauty and a peace and calmness.

Thank you. This is what you have at Hilltop Needmore Town Park. It's a positive reflection on the town, its mayor, and the commissioners. Please do not bring ball fields, noise, and more traffic to Hilltop. You've been elected by the people who have spoken on this matter and use the privilege of guiding what the town staffs pursues. Please be the leaders this town needs. Thank you.

Thank you.

Jackie Kick?

Kathy. Hello. How did I get her last name? Kidd, okay. Thank you.

Just like it sounds.

Okay. How you doing?

Hi. Jackie Kick, 506 Oldwick Fuquay Arena. I'd like to also talk about the Hilltop Needmore Park and I do not live there so this is not about property taxes. This is about somebody who concerned about our environment, our green space, our access to have clean green parks for ourselves to enjoy, for our children to enjoy, for the future generations to enjoy. One only has to drive down Hilltop and old Honey Cut now to see what horror has already been done and devastation that has been laid in our community.

We can't just cut down all the trees. We can't destroy the environment that we have. It's our responsibility to be good stewards of this earth. A couple of years ago, you guys proposed, well not you guys, but it was proposed that we do a $60,000,000 bond to pay for this hilltop need more expansion. We said no.

We didn't want it. We assumed that because we vote for you people, you represent us, it's our taxpayer dollars that goes to fund these things that you were listening to us. If something has changed and that you think that people are supportive, then I would ask that you put it back towards the people so that we have a right to then express again our opinion and if we're wrong, then we can listen to the people who might have a different opinion but please allow us the opportunity to have a say so before you destroy a beautiful area for ballparks and parking. There are other places for ballparks. Parking, we don't need to have and destroy those beautiful trails.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Donald Magnum.

Good evening. I'm Donald Magnum. I live at 902 Holland Road in Fuquay.

How are you doing?

I'm a long time resident of Fuquay. My family came here in 1737 on a land grant from King George the second and most of us still live off Holland Road in that area. I operate a business on the corner of Holland and Pierfoy, Holland Font Produce and I don't really have a stake in the Hilltop or the Fleming Road pickleball courts that they're putting but what I am is a constitutionalist and this came to a vote in November just two and a half years ago and it was overwhelmingly defeated. The people have spoken and if it wants to become again, if there's other reasons to bring it again, then put it to a vote again. Let the people have a say.

The government is not the government. We're the boss. We do everything. The government is for the people, by the people. That's the constitution.

And I just I can't believe that the town manager would bring this to y'all bypassing the will of the people who already spoken. This was overwhelming. It's 59% against that bond that basically included the main parts of Hilltop and pickleball courts and over 95% of the bonds in North Carolina, that same election passed. This was a rarity and the people clearly spoke that they did not want this and I hope I hope that y'all y'all haven't done anything because I know it's a proposal before y'all but I hope you that y'all will nip it in the bud now and either put it back to the people or drop it. It's already been brought to us one time. Thank you so much.

Sounds perfect. Part of the decor, let me just remind you, we ask that you do not clap. We ask that you do that. Part of my role tonight is to make sure that we conduct the business of the town in a fair respectful way and we certainly want to respect each of you and your opinion and we ask the same as we conduct the business of the town. So, I ask you to refrain from loud clapping or any other kind of outburst. Thank you very much.

Next we have Stacey Larson.

Hi, good night or good

evening. My name is Stacy Larson, I live at 5405 Brushy Meadows Drive. I have a few things written down but I'm just going to talk from the heart. That park means a lot to me and I see the deer, I see the wildlife and it kills me to think that bringing ballparks and loud noise and lights and other things that are going to scare the wildlife that have no voice in this. That's something that's coming up for proposal to be done and it's going to take away all that these animals have no place to go anymore with the amount of construction that's being done and we own a construction company so it's kind of I don't know.

Coming from a place that. I guess is a double standard but. I think that there's a lot of places that could be repurposed rather than taking something that's so beautiful as that Park and making the wildlife have no place and no home to live in. We fought so hard to have that and now it's up for being taken away again from them and they can't speak so we have to speak for them. It's just not fair to them. It's not fair that they have no place to go so that's all I wanted to say.

Thank you very much.

Virginia Burkstone.

My name is Virginia Sharon Bergstrom you all know me as ginger. I have an address 8.29 East Cardinal Drive in the town of the way Varina and 7151SunsetLakeRoad in ETJ at Fuquay Varina. It's great to see all of you. Thank you for welcoming all of us tonight. Y'all are doing great. I'm so excited that you're all on that board right now. I miss seeing you. It's been a while. I got this cup today on the corner of East Academy Street from a potter who lives here in Fuquay Varina who was born here. He's about 35 years old And he made these for an event, posted them to what's up Fuqua Verena.

I've got a bunch of these cups that I made and I made too many. I'm making them available to the public. Love this town because in this town, crafting crafted, skilled, bright people reach out, get out of their silos, and they talk to each other via Facebook, via community, via this forum. Thanks everybody for making my points for me before I even stood up. I love it.

Because we have this incredibly intelligent group of people who come to live for better or for worse and migrate to Fuquay Varina. Last night I did a tour at the I'm in town because I had to do a tour, a history tour at the Smith Farms Goat Sanctuary, which is this really funny, funky, nonprofit organization trying to make agritourism a reality in Fuquay Varina by hooker by crook with goats, 50 of them. I think there's like 47 right now in the herd and there's one that's like as tall as me called Bo, you can see pictures of them on the internet. Anyway, in Charleston where I spend most of my time as you know, I live there and I have happened to have a, happened to be the seventh generation owner of 50 acres in the middle of Fugue Vereen in the donut hole of ETJ that is not yet incorporated. It's tricky for those of us in that donut hole, Charlie smiling because he knows.

And he understands that for ten years, I have advocated for a very simple, what feels simple to me, approach to thinking about town growth and it comes from the concept of equilibrium or trinity, if I draw it on a piece of paper. We have farm life, and before that, we had wildlife, and we also have human life living in Fuquay Varina. And equilibrium is what your and these guys' job and these beautiful people's jobs is hard to establish when you have prospectors and progress doing this every single day. Your job is to discern what's a prospector and what's progress. Right?

Mayor Bill? Miss

Bershorn, I'm to a ask you.

I got fifteen seconds.

Landed planes. Okay.

Okay. I got fifteen seconds. Alright. So the point is, as you're continuing this process and these people are asking for you to slow down and think about it, I want you to go back to your best fall plan that you had, which was water. You got out of your silo and you went to your neighbors outside of Fuquay Varina and you worked together to bring water for a long time to come here. And we need to think about the same tension of growth like we've thought about water and work beyond our borders with the 12 other older municipal brothers and sisters we have in this county to get creative.

Thank you very much.

Have a nice evening.

Appreciate Great

to see every single one of you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.

David Bunoski.

Well, gotta say that's a tough act to follow. My name is David Bunnoski. I live at 3450 Fontana Lake. My comments are in relation to the parking situation In North Lakes and generally the. Issues with the school proximity to school both with traffic and parking.

I had the opportunity today to interact with the your police force for the first time. They were out in front of my house enforcing a vehicle obstruction ordinance In response to residents calling and complaining about the parking situation. They were well represented your your force and your and the town. And they What I got from that interaction was that there is a public's there are continuing public safety hazards going on on those streets because of code changes to make the streets narrow, to make them more residential, cars have to slow down, parking is quite limited to maintain passage on those roads and the excessive parking by the students. In in the in the.

On the streets are. Increasing these public safety hazards that are only addressed when the residents call because you have you know you have finite resources. We all have to you have to protect and serve with finite resources So, and getting back to the basic problem, the the problem is the proximity of the school and the lack of resource planning to address the parking needs of all the, you know, participants at the school. And the streets, are residential and narrow, are not designed to be, you know, school a school parking lot. Okay?

And you've you're aware of this problem and but the public safety hazards continue to occur. So something needs to be done, and it has to be focused on the source of the problem, and that's the school, whether you implement a school zone or what have you. There are obviously other towns have done it. Holly Springs is a good example to start with.

We're gonna have to ask you to land the plane.

And I I encourage you to continue with this and please address the issue. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your comments. Thank you.

Kimberly Diaz.

Good afternoon. My name is Kimberly Diaz. I live at 1107 Bridal Mind Drive. I am the city's one and only state licensed wildlife rehabber. I am Wake County's only federally licensed bird rehabilitator and I am here today to speak about Hilltop Needmore.

I'm here today to speak for those who cannot vote, for those voices that will not be heard in this room, but for those who will suffer from the decisions that we all make, the wildlife that also call this place home. Having wildlife around is not just meaningful. It is essential to human survival. Wild birds alone provide in incredible amounts of benefits to us through seed dispersal, crop pollination, natural insect control, and maintenance of biodiversity. This is precisely why the majority of birds and their nests are protected under the Migratory Bird Act of 1918.

This includes any and all birds nests that have active babies or offspring in them and eggs. And they're and as of right now, baby season has already started, and it is in full swing in Fuquay. I have tons of animals in my care already. I'm glad everybody's laughing because they all know. And so, Hilltop Needmore Park And Preserve is a home of remarkable diversity an ecosystem and includes our national bird, Bald Eagles.

Continuing to remove mature trees and green spaces, especially this time of year is detrimental to the wildlife's livelihood and also to ours. Health healthy wildlife and supported green spaces increase our community's resilience against natural disasters, disease outbreaks, food shortages, and we allow nature to thrive, it begins to balance ecosystem without our help. Protecting wildlife is ultimately about protecting the resources and to sustain human life. Growth is inevitable and it is necessary, but how a town grows determines the success. Balance matters and it's extremely important.

Right now, this community has essentially two areas to enjoy. Carol Howard Park, which is around the corner from my home, and most of the trails are unfortunately still closed at this time and Hilltop Needmore. And now Hilltop Needmore is in the proposal obviously of adding the baseball fields that everyone has commented on already. I want to be clear, I'm not dismissing the value of sports or spaces for children to have activities or adult activities at all. They matter, the residents of this town though have spoken about Hilltop Needmore, we did vote on it and Hilltop Needmore is not the right location for this development.

We need spaces without playgrounds, Thank athletic you.

Thank you. Have a great one. Thank you so much. Appreciate your comment.

Ashley Manslund.

Name is Ashley Mansed. I live at 5608 Brushy Meadows Drive. Go. I'm here tonight representing the Hilltop Neymour Town Park and Preserve advocacy group. As many of you know, our group of now nearly 6,000 people has been involved for the last ten years in the creation and ongoing advocacy for this parkland.

We're here tonight because this decision once again to construct ball fields at Hilltop Meadmore Park feels like it is in bad faith. It's one that clearly goes against the voices of your constituents, the folks that voted against that $60,000,000 bond to send you a message loud and clear regarding what they value and it's not ball fields. It defies your own town surveys which ranked walking trails as number one and ball fields as last and number 24 on their list of priorities and it attempts to undo what was set in motion by mayor Massingale when he responded to public to a public outcry last last year or the year before by directing town staff to find an alternative location for the ball fields. And yet here we are again opening up a Pandora's box to discuss all the logistical flaws of this plan to bulldoze green space that is clearly coveted by town of Fuquay citizens. Flaws, for example, that include location, putting youth ball fields right next to busy soon to be four lane roads accident waiting to happen.

Children will chase balls, balls will hit cars, siblings will wander into near nearby speeding traffic. We can't wait for tragedy to happen. Our kids deserve safe fields, not ones that are bordered by danger. Next, that Armed Services Memorial itself is a wonderful idea, but memorial sites are always designed to stand alone. They are somber quiet places that service members go to pray and reflect.

Your proposed design sticks one right across the street from an elementary school, two noisy playgrounds and hundreds of screaming kids. On top of that, the Yellow Trail Pond is a bald eagle habitat. Also so so adding a parking lot and a memorial at a in the middle of a habitat will cause those eagle eagles to leave and not return. And I don't know many vets that want a memorial built at the expense of the eagle. So to honor them both, we owe them a better solution and a location, something like Library Park for example.

So commissioners, all eyes are on you right now and how you and and how you proceed. As of this morning, my social media posts about this matter have been viewed by over 22,000 people and shared nine over 90 times. If you are able to push this through, for the last twelve years that I have helped lead this effort, we have never once had an elected official oppose this park who was not burned for it and their career affected. And and that just shows the passion, the people's passion for it. So we ask you again, first, listen to the people and then direct staff because when all is said and done, staff gets to keep their jobs while you have to face the consequences of their advice at the polls.

Thank you very much. We appreciate your comments.

Good evening, mayor commissioners. My name is Lisa Ennis and I live at 501 Coldmore Drive in Fuquay and I'm here tonight because the hilltop need to need more town park and preserve is deeply important to me and to so many people in this community. I feel it's important to bring us back to the history that made this park possible. This land is a park today because ordinary residents including myself fought for it. When the Crooked Creek Golf Course closed, development was the easy path.

It would have been simple for the land to be sold off and build over, but people in this community stood up. We organized, we attended meetings, we wrote letters, we made phone calls, and we refused to let the land disappear. Because of that effort, Wake County made the extraordinary decision to give this property to the town of Fuquay Varina. That gift was not accidental, was not automatic, it was the direct result of people who cared enough to fight for open space, for nature, and for the preserve that would belong to everyone. That is why it's so important, that's why it's so painful to be here again years later having to defend the very thing we were told would be protected.

For those of us who lived through that first fight, this bonus feels very deja vu and not in a good way. It feels like the community's hard work and the trust placed in the town when this land was given to you is being forgotten. Your own parks and recreation master plan showed that ball fields were among the least requested amenities. Residents overwhelmingly asked for trails, natural areas, and passive recreation exactly what Hilltop Needmore already offers. And in 2023, when the Parks and Recreation Bond represented included ball fields at Hilltop Needmore, the voters said no.

Many of them spoke because they did not want the preserve turned into an active sports complex. The Blue Trail is one of the most loved features of the park, removing it would permanently destroy something that cannot be replaced. A quiet natural refuge that people use every single day for walking, running, bird watching, and simply breathing in the world that doesn't give us many quiet places anymore. I am asking you sincerely and respectfully to honor the history of this land, the wishes of the residents and the promises that were made when this property was entrusted to you, the members of this town. Hilltop Neemore is rare, it's irreplaceable, and once it is developed it's gone forever.

And I want to be honest, how each of you chooses to protect this park will guide how I vote in the future, and that's simply me being very transparent and how deeply this matters to me and many others who've stood up before this land once before and are prepared to stand up for it again. Thank you for listening and for considering the voices of those who have cared about Hilltop Needmore from the very beginning. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Lisa Perez.

Good evening. Hi. I'm Lisa Perez. I live at 5404 Greens Flag Lane, Butteway. I'm here to address the plans regarding the Hilltop Neymar ball fields. I'm speaking today on behalf of my neighbor who also lives in Fuquay. She's been a resident nearly thirty years of Wake County. Beth is a widow who survived being hit by a drunk driver. And because of her injuries, the Blue Trail is the only trail in this park that she can safely walk. It is also the most accessible trail for parents with strollers, for seniors, and for those in wheelchairs or with disabilities.

While indoor facilities have their place, they often come with a cost, and they never they can never replace the experience of being outside. Many in our community rely on this trail to breathe fresh air, to hear birds, and to find peace in nature. This space is not, excuse me, just a convenience, it is a necessity for physical and emotional well-being. Eliminating or rerouting the Blue Trail would disproportionately impact those who already face limitations. A replacement path that runs between the parked cars under direct sun without shade or safety is not an equal alternative.

It is a step backward. This trail offers something rare, quiet shade and a connection to nature. It is a place where people of all ages and abilities can coexist. It is also home to wildlife. Bald eagles have been seen here. If we remove this habitat, we are not just changing a park, we are erasing a part of what makes this community special. A year ago, there was a commitment to preserve this parkland. The community trusted that promise, and more recently, citizens spoke against it by voting down the $60,000,000 bond. The message is clear. We value this green space.

We are not against recreation or ball fields but they must be placed appropriately in locations that do not come at the expense of at the expense of nature. Please stop these plans before irreversible damage is done. Preserve the Blue Trail. Honor the commitment made to this community. We begin in prayer. Now, I ask you, would god call us to protect this place or destroy it? Thank you.

Thank you very much for your comments.

Patty Godwin.

You.

Patty good 12627 Brighten Block Drive Town of Fuquay. I come here tonight like many other people in support of the few few Quay Varuna Town Park And Preserve. Former mayor Byrne once and many times referred to as the Dorothea Dix of Southern Lake. And in honor of that town park reserve I wanted to share a little bit of recent history in case anybody missed this recent town proclamation. Whereas in 1872, J.

Sterling Morton of Nebraska proposed Arbor Day, a day to recognize the importance of planting and preserving trees, an initiative now celebrated across The United States, including North Carolina since 1967. And whereas trees are essential to our environment, providing oxygen, improving air quality, conserving water, which we know we need that, preserving soil and supporting wildlife, and whereas trees play a critical role in migrating climate change mitigating climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide and reducing the urban heat island effect. And whereas trees enhance property values, bolster economic vitality in our business areas and beautify our community. And whereas preserving our town's character and quality of life, our core values guiding the town of Fuquay Varina strategic planning and whereas Fuquay Varina proudly maintains Tree City USA status from the Arbor Day Foundation, demonstrating our commitment to planting, caring for, and celebrating trees. Now therefore, I, you, William H.

Harris, mayor of the town Fuquay Varina, do hereby proclaim 04/24/2026, as Arbor Day in Fuquay Varina, and call upon all citizens to celebrate and participate in this important observance. I truly hope that you consider that the legacy that you leave behind to this community and the quality of life are not built on a one day proclamation, but standing behind your words, standing behind the votes that were given by the citizens of this this community not that long ago, and to value the trees and the wildlife and everything that that park and preserve do provide to this community for generations to come. There are better places to put a ballpark. And I stay that as a former softball mom of over a decade, two children who were in Parks and Rec in this community. And sports are important to me too, but you cannot get back this once you tear it away.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Good evening.

Good evening. My name is Jill Munczik Bevier. I live at 831 Long Lake Drive on the cul de sac. I'm going to start by playing a short thirty second clip so you can hear what we experience on our street. Maybe I am.

Yeah. Oh, god. Sorry. Of course, this is what happens.

So if I can shut it off, I feel like that's all we hear. All right. Okay, now imagine this is what you wake up to every morning. You hear it again before lunch, right after lunch, one more time between 02:15 and 02:30, every weekday. Now imagine that you have an infant.

Or even if you don't, you're just trying to take a nap or focus on your job in peace. This clip is just a small window into the daily life of what it sounds like on our street. We really appreciate the time and effort the assistant manager, Matthews, has put into researching this and working toward a solution. And we agree with the idea that the community should help lead the way forward. What we've seen though is that when you try to solve this across hundreds of homes with very different levels of impact, it becomes difficult to land on something that reflects the reality on the ground.

If we try to solve every possible future problem today, we risk not solving the one right in front of us. So we're proposing something simple. What we believe is the most reasonable next step, start small. Move forward with the streets that are already impacted action. We understand the town isn't set up to manage ongoing scattered complaints throughout the year, and we don't want to create that either.

So instead, set a simple rhythm. Once a year, align with the school calendar, the HOA gathers input and partners with the town if anything needs to change. That gives us a way to act now without overreaching and adjust over time if needed. It's the most reasonable path forward. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We appreciate that. Appreciate your comments.

Gloria Hale.

Good evening.

Good evening. My name is Gloria Hale and I live at 2208 Bryland Court in Fuquay. I didn't have much time to prepare this because I was actually in a deposition all day. I'm a state employee.

Okay.

I want to speak about the town's plan to develop the ball fields and other things at the Hilltop Needmore Park. At the on the Blue Trail, I don't think this is a really good idea. There is so much traffic on Johnson Hilltop Needmore already and I think that this is just going to increase congestion, particularly during rush hour, you know, and also the extra noise. I don't personally live adjacent to the Blue Trail, but, you know, I feel for the neighbors that do live adjacent to the Blue Trail because, of course, there's going to have to be lights set up, you know, on those ball fields. So, there's going to be extra noise, there's going to be lights.

You know, I see that as an issue for them. My understanding was that this whole issue of putting the ball fields there was off the table when the bond issue was voted down a few years ago. And there was an understanding that this would be taken off the table. To not do so undermines trust in our elected officials and also results in constituents feeling that their needs and desires are discounted. The park should be preserved in its entirety to not only ensure a peaceful place to go, to enjoy passive recreation and to de stress from our busy lives, but also to preserve wildlife habitat.

Where I live, you know, there's so much development going on in the town that wildlife has nowhere to go. And, frankly, a lot of it is ending up in people's backyards. I make jokes that my backyard is a wildlife preserve and I love seeing the deer, but they need, you know, wildlife needs to have a place to live and we are disturbing wildlife habitats and it's, you know, an ecosystem. It's not just about us. So I think that building the ball fields there really will affect the quality of life for our residents.

And just want to say thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. Sydney

Henderson.

Good evening.

Good evening. How are doing?

My name is Sydney Henderson. I live at 908 Oldwick Drive. You guys aren't going to guess what I'm here to talk about. It is the Hilltop Preserve. But before I do, I'd like to say to be in a room with Kimberly Diaz, thank you for everything that you do. And mister Mangum, thank you for the amazing collards. Every year, this man makes grows the most amazing collards in the world. So foolishly, I thought this fight was over. As a woman in my thirties, I thought we were done with the frat boy mentality of no means yes, and that after the Parks bond failed so spectacularly that we could all move on with our lives because I'm tired of this. I'm sure you guys are tired of hearing about it tonight.

I'm tired of having to talk about it. I don't have much prepared, so I'm gonna borrow the eloquent words of one miss Tyra Banks from her iconic run with America's Next Top Model. As I call to you today, Mayor Harris, I campaigned for you. I believed in you. I foolishly told people that with you, things would be different. And as Tyra yelled, I have never in my life wanted to yell at someone like this. When my mother yells at me, it is because she loves me. I was rooting for you, and we were all rooting for you. The people of Fuquay elected you because we are exhausted of foolishness like this. We wanted leadership to understand that no means no.

If you all want to focus on a park, focus on maintaining the ones we already have. Carol Howard Johnson Park is a beautiful park. It's falling apart. It's unsafe. As a single woman, you walk across and get stuck, and their trails are no longer able to be accessed. You can get if you're over there, you're over there by yourself. There's not an egress anymore where you can leave like you used to be able to. If you're trapped with someone, you're trapped. If you all wanna focus on a park, focus on that one. Put the money towards preparing what we already have instead of putting 18,000,000 towards bulldozing one of the last beautiful landscapes in this town. And I'm sure you all can look at me, I I can't play ball. Okay? You can tell, I'm not athletic. I understand it's important, I understand it's a revenue builder for the town. I'm asking you all to continue to look at other locations for this park. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

William Newman.

Good evening. Good evening. William Newman, 744 Appalachia Lake Drive in Fuquay. Also calling also coming in to discuss the parking situation, the North Lakes North Lakes, South Lakes. I understand that a number of proposals have been recommended and suggested, you know, restriction on parking, etcetera. You might get the opinion that we're all in the community of the singular mindset. We are not. Not all of us suggest or agree with the restriction on parking. You won't ordinarily hear the dissenting opinions. You hear one from one of them tonight.

A number of households, mine included, have multiple drivers, multiple vehicles. Some of us do shift work and we park on the streets as as necessary. One of the concerns is that if you put restrictions on parking, depending on how it's applied, how it's enforced, you will cast a wide net and end up writing citations to people who are parking there because they live there, they're parking in the street because they have multiple vehicles, three, four, five vehicles for that household. So I urge you to be cautious in considering restrictions on parking less than trying to solve one problem, you create new problems. If you must air, I suggest that the ordinances that are currently on record as far as parking, as far as how to park on a street, as far as, you know, blocking driveways, etcetera.

I suggest that the ordinances that are already there are sufficient to address the problem. And if you must air, I ask that the city council do nothing, nothing new. Keep things as they are. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

We have no one else.

No one else. Okay. We've heard a lot of comments tonight. Does any board member have any comments or responses to what we've heard? Somebody's.

Please silence your cellphone. Does anybody have any comments in responses to the what we've heard in the public hearing? Okay, no comments? Well, I guess I'll speak. First of all, each of you for your participation tonight and your engagement.

I know that this is a very passionate issue and I respect and I'm sure each board member respects your position and opinion. The history of this park, someone outlined, it goes back several years and initially, 143 acres were literally given to the town of Fuquay Marina and part of the commitment at that time was to make the best use of the property. And, so far, we have. We are faced with a situation wherein, because of the bond issue and it did not pass, we were forced to try to find other properties to build our recreation facilities, but economically, it just wouldn't work. We didn't have the, have the luck of finding the appropriate land that was within our budget.

So, were forced to consider and reconsider what initially was presented as an option. You know, this is a tough issue because when you look at the issue of who will be impacted, you know, we have to consider the children as well. Part of our commitment to quality of life is that we want to make sure that the children who come to our community have adequate recreation. I think they deserve that and the families who relocate here, they deserve that option as well. It's a tough issue because those of you who live at Hilltop Needmore Park, live in that area, it's a beautiful area.

I used to play golf there when it was Crooked Creek, I walked the trails, walked the, what what I would consider the Back nine, which is very, very beautiful as well. And, it's a beautiful place. However, our responsibility as an elected body is to all of the citizens of Fuquay Varina and that's both young and old in regards to I would appreciate it if you would allow me to finish. I respected your comments and I would appreciate if you would respect mine. And, that's the issue that we have to contend with here is how we're going to move forward and use tax dollars in the most appropriate way, address our quality of life which is part of our core mission and that's where we are and we have discussed it among the board and we welcomed your comments tonight and I'm sure that based on our comments and based on what we've heard from you tonight, we will have more conversation about how to best proceed with this very important issue.

Does anybody else have any comment? What is your

pleasure? Mayor, I think you stated it well. This is not this this seed is is not always an easy thing for, you know, for us to find the right solution and we are, you know, we you think we don't care. I would ask you to consider being part of the solution. All we hear on this issue is pretty much one voice but we still have to find places to serve the tax paying citizens of Fuquay Varina and still care for the wildlife and you think we don't do that.

We struggle with it every day just like you do. We're living in this community too. So, please give us a little grace here and if you've got any any solutions for how to manage this, we've tried to find land. We've tried to find some places to work, to to provide the things, and that bond issue was not solely about this park. There were other things in that bond issue and they were all defeated. So, please, if you have solutions to help us answer some of these these things that you brought up tonight present them.

Yep. Any other comments from any other board board members?

I'll just say I want to thank everyone for coming and voicing their comments. Know that this is a very important issue. I think as the mayor and the mayor pro tem. Had mentioned I think, you know, we will be, as the mayor said, looking for the best solution forward like that, you know, we take your comments very seriously. And, you know, personally I always ask, you know, people to come and speak to us in person instead of on social media and through those avenues, which can get toxic and, you know, everyone knows what Facebook is like sometimes. So thank you again for coming. And I think this discussion is not over clearly.

Any other comment?

No, appreciate everybody's comments up here tonight and you know what I hope is I hope that the public whatever decision is made, that they realize that we are going to give this considerable thought. And I think this board needs to have a consensus and I would hope that the citizens in the public would respect that.

And also mister mayor, you know, just listen to the comments definitely about wildlife, Tree City USA, which I was one of the big advocates for Tree City USA, which I've worked hard and been planting trees since Arbor Day all over town, which I do every year. I think one of the things you have to understand is, you know, I've heard many times that they find another location. One of the issues of that is if you find another location, trees will still have to come down. So that still causes wildlife to be affected. I understand you might not agree with me, but these are my thoughts.

Now I've sat here and listened to each and every of y'all and also read every email and everything. I don't disagree. I understand you, but I'm just speaking my thoughts and you should be able to respect that. But, you know, this is something we have talked about, went over. We've looked at, we've looked at so many properties to purchase.

Just looking at how we're gonna have to take infrastructure to these properties, which causes a lot more cost to the taxpayers. You know, one of our biggest responsibilities is to keep, you know, the other thing we hear all the time is we wanna keep our taxes low. Ways we have to do that is find these these different ways of making this happen, and it's not always the best decision at times, and it's not that we're not listening to you. It's not that we don't appreciate what you're saying. It's not we're not hearing you.

We're hearing you loud and clear. We we we understand that many of you are speaking about the bond, and we understand that as well. Just like Mayor Pro Tem said, there was other things that would affect it in that sixty million dollars bond. You know, we we we want to and I think everybody up here has definitely listened to citizens over and over again. I I can only speak for myself, but I'm constantly listening to citizens about every issue in town.

And if you follow me or listen to me or been around me, you understand it. When I say stuff and speak from the heart, I grew up in Fuquay Varina as many of us on this board have grew, so it's not like we don't have the part of Fuquay Varina. The Fuquay Varina that many of us grew up in is not the Fuquay we know now, and we understand it. The Fuquay when I came back to Fuquay is not the Fuquay of now, which I understand. But the same thing is we have to make these tough, difficult decisions. It's not that we're not hearing. We hear you loud and clear, but we also have to make decisions on the basis because at any day we serve the people of the town of Fuqua Everina. That means every citizen of town of Fuqua Everina. And that's how we oftentimes have to look at it. It doesn't make it easier for us, but we want to let you know that we hear you.

We understand we're trying to work and make the best compromise. And like you said, I heard many times balance. We're trying to balance this thing out. You know, we're trying to balance everything out to help. Please make everybody feel comfortable and make this quality of life decisions. And it's not always easy. So, you know, I just ask you as as mayor pro temps say give us some grace on this. Please make sure you know, just like us, we're always asking the facts. We want to know all the details and everything else because at any day, often we see stuff on social media and the facts are not always accurate. Please make sure all the facts are accurate and we have to do as well because I want.

I never want to speak something that's not accurate to you to make sure you know everybody understands because we're educating each other all the time. So I ask each and everyone y'all give us grace for working hard to make this work. We do still have quality of life issues. We're having to cut our young people from as being the parts and record advisory board chair for a long time. We've had to cap sports because we have no place for these kids to participate in sports. We're So hurting our kids at times too. So we're taking all this in. All this in, you know, and and we're trying to make it work. So please give us grace. We're working towards it.

You know, please respect us as we're doing this and we're going to respect you, you know, because we know you are our neighbors, your citizens and you grew up around of us and many of you seen many of us grow up. So just give us grace as we make these hard decisions because I think you know what we get out of it will will might not work for everybody, but we're having to do it to you know serve the greater body of the town of Fuqua Ring.

Thank you for those comments. Any other comment?

Mister mayor, I'll just briefly I think Commissioner Haynes hit a lot of points that I would have hit. Obviously, I've been on the board off and on. I was here when we did receive the land from Wake County. Know that we talked at that time about different uses that we could do with this land. I mean, we even discussed putting a fire department on one portion of the road frontage land at one point, but I think all of us became very proud of the park as it is.

The the walking trails and the preserving the the natural look, especially as you mentioned the the back nine. It's very beautiful back there but we also developed some of it across the street with the school. The course, Wake County had made that a part of their gifting the land to the town that they were going to build the school in that portion. That wasn't part of the gift and we built the adjacent property right beside it with the with the community center, community Center North with the included with the senior center. I'm very proud of our natural park and I think even if this moved forward in its current state, the majority of that park is preserved.

It's still like it is. I will be honest when we looked at this back in 2019. I the whole time we looked at it, I foresaw that we might end up having to develop the land along the road frontage as we run out of land. We have looked for other lands. Some people have suggested that we purchase other land. We have looked at other land. It would require us to grade land. It would require us to change the the trees. It was requires to change the land just like building a ball field anywhere. It would take a deconstruction of the land as it is right now.

So the cost of a ball field. This place is about the same here. The only difference here is we've got to add the additional cost of upwards over $10,000,000 or more to buy land to put on there. That's a that's a cost to our taxpayers and then we'd have to run infrastructure there. Of course, there's already infrastructure in place on the streets and all out of Hilltop, so that is a consideration.

When we look at that, do we want to spend an additional $15,000,000 of taxpayer money to purchase other pieces of land? That's that's one of the things we have to look at. As as I think the others have alluded to. We have to look at the whole picture, so it's not an easy decision trying to weigh how much of this land do we preserve or how much more money do we spend to buy other land and then we gotta tear that land up and the people that live near it probably won't like it anymore than the people here liking the thoughts of animal ballpark close to their home. So those are the challenges that we're up against.

I'd never read that bond referendum. I was still in the board when the bond referendum fell as us saying that every single thing listed on there was useless that we weren't gonna build anymore pickleball courts, not gonna build anymore ballparks, not gonna build anymore walking trails. It's just I felt that the citizens told us find another way to do it other than putting the city in debt for $60,000,000 worth of bonds. And I think that's where we find ourselves now trying to figure out how do we meet the recreational needs of this community, a growing community that is one of the fastest growing communities on youth sports. We have a very aggressive youth sports program because we want to give every child whether they're a great ball player, a great soccer player, or just the entry level who will never go any higher than Little League.

We want to give them the opportunity to be able to play that sport. It takes ball fields, soccer fields for those things to happen. So it's a difficult decision. These are the times that the two years I was off the board that I enjoy not being on the board because you have to not make all these tough decisions knowing that you can make friends and neighbors happy and friends and neighbors mad. But it is what we signed up to do and I agree with Commissioner Haynes and the other Commissioners that spoke here.

Be patient with us. We gotta work this out figure out which way we're going to go and hopefully. All of us can figure a way to be happy with whatever we work out because it's not cheap either way you look at it. It costs land costs money. It costs discomfort to certain groups of citizens. These are hard decisions for us to make as we continue to grow and try to provide youth sports. So those are my comments for now. I've obviously I got a lot to digest. I've heard a lot of read on email. I'm sure at some point later trying to look at some of those comments. I have more comments, but that's top of my head comments for tonight. Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments from the board? What is your pleasure? Do we wanna we need this this this will be just information received.

This is your conversation after public comment. There is no required required action by the board if you don't wish to take any.

Any board member wish to take any action? If not, again, we'd like to thank you so much for your engagement and your participation. Thank you for your comments and your conduct. We certainly appreciate it so much. You can understand what we are struggling with here from the standpoint that we did listen, we hear you and we ask that you would give us some patience as we move through.

May not agree, we may disagree at some point, but one of the things that we want to drive home is we still we are a community and we believe in hearing and listening and we hope that as we move forward with the decision that we can come to some kind of consensus where people can move forward and be satisfied. Thank you very much.

Mister mayor. Yes sir. Real quick, I don't want to negate the fact that there were other comments being made for North Lakes and South Lakes.

Yes.

We are working on a community meeting for North Lakes and South Lakes to try to help address some of these issues that will be coming up soon.

Thank you.

As well as the I hate I couldn't make it to the the event that happened at the Methodist Church. It was just so much going on with the Fuqua Everina High School reunion and stuff, but we are also working to find some affordable housing, some ways to support affordable and attainable housing in the town of Fuqua Arena. Look at some options as well as addressing some of the homeless issues that are going on in town of Fuqua Arena. So I don't want those citizens that came and spoke about that to not think we didn't hear them as well in the midst of everything else.

Alright. Thank you very much. We're going to move on to item agenda 6A and then after that we will, I think I'm going call for a break.

Okay.

Alright, item 6A, there are no items tabled from the previous meeting for the 05/04/2026 town board meeting. Now we move to public hearings. Item seven a, voluntary annexation petition, Woodcrest Johnson Pond LLC, 5800 Johnson Pond Road, A N X 202603. More information about this agenda item will be presented by planning director Davidson.

Thank you.

Hello, ma'am.

I'm submitting the agenda abstract and supporting documents in the official records of the town. The purpose of this agenda item is to consider approving an annexation ordinance extending the corporate limits of the town of Fuquay Varina following receipt of a petition for voluntary annexation of property located at 5800 Johnson Pond Road owned by Woodcrest Johnson Pond LLC. The 9061 acre parcel is non contiguous to the town's corporate limits. Town water is available to serve property, and town sewer will be extended as part of the development. A fire flow test nearby resulted in adequate fire flow.

Town sanitation and recycling services are available to serve the property. At the 04/21/2026 meeting, the town clerk certified that the petition was sufficient and met the requirements prescribed by the North Carolina general statutes, and the town board adopted a resolution setting a public hearing for tonight's town board meeting. The present total value of the property being annexed is $673,562. The suggested motion tonight is to adopt the annexation ordinance to extend the corporate limits of the town of Fuquay Varina to include property owned by Woodcrest Johnson Pond LLC, ANX twenty twenty six zero three, and to approve the declaration of annexation agreement as presented and recommended. I'm available for any questions.

Any questions to Planning Director Davidson? The hearing is now open. Does anyone wish to speak in favor of the town code? Hold on. Sorry. The hearing is now open. Does anyone wish to speak in favor of the voluntary annexation petition? Does anyone wish to speak in opposition to the voluntary annexation petition? The hearing is now closed. Any discussion by the board?

Mister mayor, it's so moved. Second.

It's been moved and properly second that the voluntary annexation petition with Crest Johnson Pond LLC be approved. All those in favor of the motion, let it be known by saying

aye. Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Now we move to item seven b public hearings, town code amendment, town of Fuquay Varina land development ordinance LDO amendment number 31 c t a twenty twenty five zero five. More information about this agenda item will be presented by planning director Davidson.

Alright. Thanks. I'm submitting the agenda abstract and supporting documents into the official records of the town. The purpose of this agenda item is to consider a proposed text amendment to the town code ordinance is part nine land development ordinance amendment number 31 that addresses several areas of improvement. This amendment proposes a variety of streamlining and coordination opportunities.

I'm available to discuss any of the proposed changes you might have a question about, but here are the main highlights. As home based businesses and jobs are more popular today, the standards for what may or may not be allowed with a home occupation permit needed to be updated. This section now is more in line with our neighboring municipalities. It identifies specific prohibited uses, thereby creating a little more flexibility and allowing for a wider range of home occupations while clearly establishing standards and expectations to ensure the uses will not become a nuisance to neighbors. Article L, signs, now includes standards for temporary signs for commercial sales events, open houses, and civic organization events.

This category of signs do not require permits, but the amendment includes clear standards for the people posting them as well as code compliance for their enforcement. And the traffic impact analysis, or TIAs, are now going to be required with the first step of a project's development. Rezoning is added to site plan or subdivision plan submittal. This is an effort to get more information upfront on the impact a project may have and what steps the development could take to remedy those impacts. The town standards and specifications and construction details are also being updated in conjunction.

Adding rezoning to the TIA timing aligns the town standards with neighboring municipalities and facilitates discussion about traffic concerns during the public hearing process. Suggested motion tonight is to approve CTA twenty twenty five zero five amendment 31, an amendment to the town code ordinances part nine land development ordinance as presented and recommended by management and staff. The text amendment improves upon the land development ordinance and is reasonable in the best interest of the public for the reasons identified by management and staff. Available if anybody has any questions.

Thank you very much. Any questions or comments for planning director Davidson? I now declare the public hearing open. Does anyone wish to speak in favor of the town code amendment, land development ordinance amendment number 31? Does anyone wish to speak in opposition to the town code amendment land development ordinance amendment number 31?

The hearing is now closed. Any discussion by the board? What is the pleasure of the board?

Mister mayor, I move to approve CTA dash twenty twenty five dash zero five amendment number 31, an amendment to the town code of ordinances part nine land development ordinance as presented and recommended by management and staff.

Second.

It's removed the second that town code amendment, town of Fuquay Arena land development ordinance LDO amendment number 31 be approved. All those in favor of the motion, let it know be set by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. We're still continuing with public hearings. Item seven c, town code amendment, town of Fuquay Varina, 2040, community vision land use plan amendment number two, sixty CTA twenty twenty six zero one. More information about this agenda item will be presented by planning director, Davidson.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Submitting the agenda abstract and supporting documents into the official records of the town. The purpose of this agenda item is to consider a proposed text amendment to the 2040 Community Vision Land Use plan amendment to that addresses several areas of improvement. This amendment proposes to delineate between open space that has been relegated as part of a recorded subdivision and open space that was identified due to the presence of significant environmental features. As a subdivision requirement, the associated open space is non negotiable. On the other hand, since the GIS maps do not incorporate delineated wetlands or detailed flood studies, the open space boundaries can be modified if it can be demonstrated that areas are developable.

Along with this amended language, staff are proposing to adjust the land use categories on two specific parcels. The first, where the open space was applied too broadly and wetland delineation has shown that there is developable area in the center. And the second appears to have been in error. There's no environmental features. The suggested motion tonight is to approve CTA twenty twenty six zero one amendment number two, an amendment to the 2,040 community vision land use plan as presented and recommended by staff. The text amendment improves upon the land use plan and is reasonable and in the best interest of the public for the reasons identified by management and staff. I'm available if you have any questions.

The hearing is now open. Does anyone wish to speak in favor of the town code amendment twenty forty community vision land use plan amendment number two?

Virginia Bergstrom. Hello again. Hello, Virginia. I I will begin by saying that Pam,

I don't know what you

just did, but I think it was a good thing. Although, I didn't know you were gonna do it. I wanna speak in favor of what she just said because, yes, there's very much buildable land that she's just talked about that was called open space and made unbuildable by the land use plan that we opposed several years ago and we were not successful and now we're coming at once in a while organizations come around and change their mind. Ta da. So thank you.

Thank you and whoever else I have to thank, because taking care of land in Fuquay Varina and working through the process as a citizen is not for sissies friends. It's it's confusing. There's lots of acronyms. It's hard to follow. You have Zoom meetings and you have engineers and you spend a whole lot of money trying to negotiate and follow it all.

I've sent you my real comment that I didn't make earlier via text so you can read it because I can't say it in three minutes, because it unpacks more of what I'm trying to express. I wanna do the best I can possibly do for this town, and I think all of you know that. And with 50 acres in the middle of Fuquay Varina, I have come to you ten years ago and said, hey. I have this land. I need to make a plan.

Help me make a plan. And I was sent to an engineer and I designed the plan and then I was told no, you can't do that plan. And then I found a developer and another developer and another developer and a broker and a whole lot of other people and professionals and landscape architects And they all said, no, you can't do that plan because there's laws and because there's rules and there's regulations. And at the end of the day, everybody who I talked to in Fuquay Varina really likes the idea of wildlife, farm life, and human life Pioneering into something like an agrihood or an eco village or something that creates something more like our colonial roots at our particular piece of land that we now have being called usable, which is beautiful. It's the highest, most beautiful point in Fuquay Varina in terms of its elevation.

It should host 300 people in climate control as a special space. It should have greenways that take you from our creek all the way to the Legion, which Charlie and I have talked about before. And it's nothing but wildlife habitat that hasn't been touched in sixty four years or since 1964. And it's preserved, and I spend a lot of money to keep it that way. Like, every time something with a diesel engine crosses your property line, it's a $3,000 check.

Farming is expensive if you do it the way that an NC State tells you to do it and you follow the rules so that you can have integrity when you fill out that thing that says, please don't make me pay the full taxes on this because I'm deferring it because I'm doing forestry. So friends, I wrote you Marilyn. We should talk because I appreciate your words. We gotta find a way. Nothing is in stone yet. And I might upset some people by saying what I'm saying, but at the end of the day, I expect miracles. And I think all of you do too.

You have to land a plane.

I'm landing the plane.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for those comments. Does anyone wish to speak in opposition to the town code amendment 2,040 Community Vision Land Use Plan amendment number two? If not, the hearing is now closed. Any discussion by the board? What is the pleasure of the board? Motion to approve. Second. All those in favor of the motion to approve, let it be known by saying aye.

Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Item 7D Town Code Amendment, Town of Fuquay Varina 2,040 comprehensive transportation plan amendment number two, CTA twenty twenty six zero two. More information about this agenda item will be presented by planning director Davidson.

Thank you. I'm submitting the agenda abstract and supporting documents into the official record of the town. The purpose of this agenda item is to consider a proposed text amendment to the 2040 comprehensive transportation plan amendment number two that addresses several areas of improvement. This amendment addresses an edit in the documents along with a couple of edits to the map. East Academy Street has been adjusted to represent the future alignment through Academy Village that is currently under construction.

And the Donnybrook Road extension to NC 401 is shown as n d CDOT has constructed it as part of the complete 540 project, and a future collector road from Randstell Road to Lake Wheeler Road has been removed. Staff determined that adequate cross access is provided via surrounding connections. The suggested motion tonight is to approve CTA twenty twenty six-two amendment number two, an amendment to the 2040 comprehensive transportation plan as presented and recommended by staff. The text amendment improves upon the 2040 comprehensive transportation plan and is reasonable in the best interest of the public for the reasons identified by management and staff. I'm available if have any questions.

Any comments? Does anyone have any questions to Planning Director Davidson? If not, the hearing is now open. Does anyone wish to speak in favor of the Town Code Amendment 2,040 Comprehensive Transportation Plan Amendment number two? Does anyone wish to speak in opposition to the Town Code Amendment 2,040 Comprehensive Transportation Plan Amendment number two?

If not, the hearing is now closed. Any discussion by the board? And what is your pleasure?

Mister mayor, I make a motion to approve CTA twenty twenty six dash o two as presented and recommended. Or amendment number two to CTA twenty twenty six dash o two. Let me correct that.

Second. All those in favor of the motion, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you very much. Now we move to item 7E. We're still in public hearings. Zoning map amendment, Malden Watkins, surveying PA, 708 South Fuquay Avenue, E Z 202602. More information about this agenda item will be presented by planning director Davidson.

Thank you. I'm submitting the agenda abstract and supporting documents into the official record of the town. The purpose of this agenda item is to consider a requested zoning map amendment for a total of point four zero three acres located at 708 South Fuquay Avenue from the residential medium density zoning district to the town center residential zoning district. The requested zoning map amendment is consistent with the 2040 community vision land use plan and supports several of the land use plans policies and the proposed conditions will serve to ensure the proposed quadplex matches the scale and character of the surrounding neighborhood. On 04/20/2026, the planning board unanimously recommended approval with additional conditions related to architectural elements and facade modulation to break up the mass of the structure and to fit the character of the surrounding properties.

Before tonight's meeting, the petitioner submitted additional conditions that address antimonotony, scale, and character of the side facades in addition to the originally offered zoning conditions which address the front facade. The suggested motion tonight is to approve r e z twenty twenty six zero two, a zoning map amendment for 708 South Fuquay Avenue from the residential medium density zoning district to the town center residential zoning district as it is reasonable and in the best interest of the public for the reasons identified by management and staff.

Any questions to planning director Davidson? If not, the hearing is now open. Does anyone wish to speak in favor of the zoning map amendment?

Afternoon. Mayor Board Members, Wayne Mauldin with Mauldin Wacken Surveying at 139 North Main Street in fee quick.

Good evening, Wayne.

How are you all doing?

It's been a long one. Yeah. We put this rezoning petition that you have before you tonight together. As you have heard, it meets all the zoning requirements and land use classifications and all that stuff we've also been working with town staff since last November to get all these conditions worked out. I think we have got all that I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow with management and staff to to talk about some of em because there's several more of em coming this way. If you never got any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer. If not, thank you.

Alright. Great. Alright. The hearing is now open. Does anyone further wish to speak in favor of the zoning map amendment? You just did. Does anyone wish to speak in opposition to the zoning map amendment? Here it is now closed. Any discussion by the board or what is your pleasure? What is the pleasure of the board?

Chair Harris, I move that we approve REZ-twenty 20 six-two, a zoning map amendment for 708 South Fuqua Avenue from the residential medium density zoning district to the town center residential zoning district as it is reasonable and in the best interest of the public for the reasons identified by management and staff.

Second.

It's been moved and second. The motion, all those in favor of the motion, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Did you have a, I'm sorry, did you have a comment? Was just gonna

ask, is it a conditional rezoning?

It is.

Does that need to be in the motion? Or is it good? I just

Pam, do we need to amend the motion at all or is this clear?

So certain things like TCR and PUD, they come with inherent conditions in them. That plot plan specifically lists the conditions.

Okay. Well, while

I just entered my mind,

I thought,

so make sure that we understood it was had a lot of conditions with it. Thank you.

Thank you. Sorry Mayor. It's okay.

My vote is aye with everyone else on the motion.

Okay. Are we good everybody? Alright. Public still in public hearings. Item seven f, zoning map amendment, Malden Watkins surveying, PA 501 North Street and 904 Ransdale Road, REZ 202603. More information about this agenda item will be presented by planning director Davidson.

Last one tonight. I'm submitting the agenda abstract and supporting documents to the official record of the town. The purpose of this agenda item is to consider a requested zoning map amendment for a total of point six four three acres located at 501 North Street and 904 Ransdell Road from the residential low density zoning district to the town center zoning district. This requested zoning map amendment is consistent with the 2040 Community Vision Land Use Plan and supports several of the land use plans policies. The proposed conditions will serve to ensure the proposed lot matches the scale and character of the surrounding lots.

On the 04/20/2026, Planning Board unanimously recommended approval of the request. The suggested motion tonight is to approve REZ twenty twenty six-three, a zoning map amendment for 501 North Street and 904 Randstell Road from the residential low density zoning district to the town center residential zoning district as it is reasonable and in the best interest of the public for the reasons identified by management and staff.

Thank you. Thank you. The hearing is now open unless there are any questions. Does anyone wish to speak in favor of the zoning map amendment?

Mister mayor, Wayne Malden with Malden Walking Survey on 139 North Main Street here in Vicway. We also put the rezone industry looking at tonight together over on in Varina. If you're familiar with the intersection of North Street and Roussel is that's the that would have been doing all the road work the town's put in there. My client has bought the corner lot here recently and he owns several lots up and down that road to the join and we have room to put one more house in between two that he already owns. So, that's what we're asking for here tonight with the rezone. If you have any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer.

Any questions?

Thank you. Alright.

Does it does anyone wish to speak in opposition to the zoning map amendment? The hearing is now closed. Any discussion by the board?

Mister mayor make a motion to approve REZ twenty twenty six dash zero three as presented and recommended.

Here's a second.

Second.

All those in favor of the motion, let it be done by saying I. I. Any opposed, the ayes have it. Now we move to item eight, the consent agenda.

Mister mayor, I make a motion to approve items 8A through eight ks.

Items eight a through eight ks. Do I hear a second to that motion?

Second.

All those in favor of the approval of the consent agenda, let it be known by saying I.

I. I.

Any opposed? The ayes have it. Now, we're going to move to item 10 A, consultant selection, Fleming Loop Park, Park Recreation and Culture Resources. More information about this agenda item will be presented by Parks and Recreation Director Cox.

Good evening board. The purpose of this agenda item is to consider the selection the best qualified design build firm for the Fleming Loop Park project and authorize the town manager or designee to negotiate scope and fee. For North Carolina general statute one forty three sixty four thirty one, town staff solicited request for qualifications for design build consultants for the Fleming Loop Park project on February 23 and received eight RFQ responses from highly qualified design build firms. Based on the scoring criteria established in the request for qualifications, two firms were invited to interview with the town on April 21 and April 22. Considering the entire evaluation process, town staff determined the team of edifice construction and geo surfaces to be the most qualified design build team to complete the Fleming Loop Park project with JD Goodrum second.

Under the North Carolina, general statute qualifications based selection process prescribed, by North Carolina general statute, the town is required to select the best qualified design build team without respect to price, and following this selection may attempt to negotiate a fair and reasonable price for the proposed scope of work. The qualifications and interview presentation submitted by Edifice Construction as well as JD Goodrum demonstrated both design build firms have extensive relevant experience and project familiarity and are well qualified to perform the design and construction of Flemingloo Park. Edifice Construction and GeoSurfaces were identified as the most qualified design build firm based on their extensive experience with comparable projects including more than 300 synthetic field conversions. Edifice construction also demonstrated strong staff availability dedicated to the project and presented a clear understanding of the site specific conditions, including the existing storm water infrastructure. Management staff recommend the town board designate edifice construction as the best qualified design build firm and designate JD Goodrum as the next best qualified firm.

Upon selection, management staff will work with Edifice Construction to develop a scope of work and fee that aligns with the Fleming Loop Park project, project identified in FY twenty seven budget. If acceptable scope and fee terms cannot be reached with edifice construction, town management will move to negotiations with JD Goodrum. As a fiscal note, upon the town board selecting the best qualified firm, management staff will attempt to negotiate a fair and reasonable price consistent with industry norms. Town management staff anticipate bringing a negotiated scope and fee with terms to a future town board meeting. Town funding for the Fleming Loop Park project is included in the manager's recommended FY twenty seven budget of $6,250,000.

In addition, the town has been awarded funding of 4,250,000 from Raleigh Wake County hospitality, hospitality tax grant. The recommendation by motion is to designate the team of Edifice Construction and GeoSurfaces as the best qualified and preferred firm and JD Goodrum as the next rate preferred firm to perform the design and construction of Fleming Loop Park and authorize a town manager designee to negotiate scope and fee subject to the town attorney reviews to form. And I'll be happy to answer any questions the board might have.

Are there any questions of manager Cox?

So since the, know, the money has been allocated for FY 2027 and then of course the grant, seems like both these companies should, or I guess consultants should kind of understand kind of the order of magnitude costs that they have to work with. And so that's been discussed already. So we shouldn't expect any surprises out of these.

So when we put

the RFQ out for consultant selection, we were very clear with what the budget was for this project. We believe we should be able to stay within that anticipated budget that's been identified.

Thanks. I'll also just add from the responses, a number of the firms, including the two identified here, identified anticipated construction costs and they were in line with our budget budget estimates. That's before they get into full design, but what that tells us is that overwhelmingly most of the firms felt that the budget identified was on target.

Thank you. Any other comments? Do I hear a motion? Okay. I've heard a second on the motion.

All those in favor of the motion to designate the team of edifice construction and geo surfaces as the best qualified and preferred firm and JD Goodrum as the next ranked preferred firm to perform the design and construction of Fleming Loop Park and authorize a town manager or designee to negotiate scope and fee subject to the town attorney's review as to form. All those in favor of the motion, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Alright.

Item 10 B on call selection construction engineering and inspection services. More information about this agenda item will be presented by engineering director polling. How you doing?

Good evening mayor. Good evening town board members. I am submitting this agenda abstract and supporting documents into the official record of the town. The purpose of this agenda item is to consider the selection of the top three scoring firms and enter into a two year agreement with them for on call construction, engineering, and inspection services more commonly known as CEI services. So, on 02/16/2026, the town had issued a request for letters of interest for these services for a two year term.

CEI services are commonly used by NCDOT and municipalities to perform construction management and materials testing throughout the project cycle. The construction of forecoming projects requires specific construction administration requirements because they will be partially funded with Federal Highway Administration Funds through LAP grants. The use of federal funds requires the town to administer projects in accordance with NCDOT and federal standards. Furthermore, it necessitates the use of NCDOT approved, trained inspectors, and construction testing services. So, in preparation for these coming projects, the town solicited requests and we had received 11 letters.

Of those 11, we had three top scoring firms. The firms recommended to enter into an on call services agreement are ranked as number one JMT, number two GFT, and number three RK and K. Lot of acronyms. Town staff are familiar with each of the recommended CEI firms that have been previously on our last on call contract and we consider each of the firms to be highly qualified and will deliver a quality product. And so the motion tonight is to approve the selection of firms JMT, GFT, and RK and K for on call construction, engineering, and inspection services and authorize the town manager to enter into a two year on call CEI services agreement with recommended firms in the form of an agreement acceptable to the town attorney.

And I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Can you give me an example of a on call construction situation where they will be called in there?

So specifically for like concrete testing, there are certain tests that you have to do in the field. You get certified to test how much air is in the concrete, how much slump is in the concrete. So these are certified technicians that are testing the materials, maybe the density of the asphalt. They've been trained on a nuclear density gauge. We don't have those capabilities in house.

Yeah, okay. Alright. Thank you. Any other questions? Any other questions or comments? Alright. Do I hear a motion to approve the selection of the of the firms JMT, GFT, and RK and K?

So moved.

Second.

All those in favor of the motion, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. Matt, thank you so much. Appreciate it. And now we move to item 11A, manager's report.

Thank you, mayor. I'll try to run through these as quickly as possible. Pertaining to our engineering department on Thursday, April 30, the engineering department engaged with the community at two events. In the morning, staff met with high school juniors and seniors at the Willow Springs Career Fair, Career Trades Fair by showcasing engineering career paths. Later in the day, the team educated students and families at Lincoln Heights Elementary Tiger Fest about clean water and storm water pollution prevention.

So I wanna thank our engineering department for their outreach to youth in our community. I would also bring to your attention that the Witted Road roundabout has reached substantial completion. The contractor is cleaning up the site and will address any punch list items generated during the final walkthrough that was today with NCDOT. The project provides a safer much improved movement intersection if you'll recall. It's a good project.

As it pertains to our inspections department, the demolition of 138 is scheduled for this Wednesday, May 6. The planning department opened registration registration for the inaugural Planning Citizens Academy last Thursday. The 25 slots have been filled and there's already a wait list for that Citizens Academy. Wow. The public utilities director gave a presentation on water to third graders at Fuquay Varina Elementary School.

I think they're the only ones that really understand it. The town looks forward to working with the FVDA to hire the next downtown development manager. The job posting for this position closes on May 17. The town's currently interviewing for the director economic development director position and will begin the second round of candidate interviews for those who advance through that first round within the next couple of weeks. Duke Energy has installed two new street lights on Lawrence Street and has begun upgrading along Academy Street between Judd and Maine.

They expect to finish the work over the next one to two weeks. The art center hosted a wonderful corral concert this past weekend which capped off the season's concert series and the dance team complete completes its competitive season this upcoming weekend. The art center is currently offering summer classes and camps and supporting a large number of rentals. The mental health awareness event that our police department has been engaged in has been scheduled to Saturday, May 30 from 10AM to 2PM due to chilly weather and rain this past Saturday. The location will be at 3310 Gold Ring Road next to Target.

Additionally, the police department is wearing the green badge during the month of May in support of Mental Health Awareness Month in support of assisting those with mental health conditions and providing support and resources. The fire department celebrated the graduation of 10 participants from the twenty twenty six Citizens Fire Academy this past Tuesday, April 28 at Fire Station Number 4. The seven week Fire Academy program introduce participants to a truly interactive behind the scenes look at the fire department's operations and the firefighters who served there. And so we obviously want to thank friends, family and town officials who attended that special recognition event. As it pertains to the parks and recreation, we've sold out all of our summer camps.

Summer camps begin June 15 at the South Park Community Center and Hilltop Needmore Town Park Community Center. The nine week camp will consist of traditional summer camp activities like arts and crafts, sports and games, but will also include field trips to places like the Poe Center, berry picking, Dick's Park, the Lemur Center in Durham and Willow Oak Farms. Camp registration is sold out within the first hour and there's currently a wait list of 20 or more youth in our community for each location each week. Camps run until August 14. As it pertains to our finance department and communications department I mentioned earlier during the budget presentation, they've been working collaboratively on fiscal year twenty seven budget and five year plan messaging and the delivery of that messaging.

Also want to just mention as it pertains to our HR department, our HR department coordinated with the school of government to offer two one day classes titled Building Coaching Skills and we had a total of 48 employees go through the training. The Human Resources Department is also gearing up for the annual open enrollment with more information coming out in the next couple of weeks for our employees and all regular full time employees of the town have completed the annual safety training, which included blood borne pathogens, cyber security, spill prevention, by standard intervention, hazard communication and customer service. So a lot of training has been going on in the last few weeks. Since our last town board meeting, the chamber of commerce held its chamber senior services expo. Mayor Harris also was able to highlight the work that he is doing with the Mayor's Health Council there.

The Mayor also hosted the Mayor's Developer Roundtable, representatives of the development community, building and engineering community met at the Hilltop Needmore Town Park Clubhouse to discuss development in Fuquay Varina. It was a productive hour and a half and elected officials, town staff and invitees seemed to have gained a great deal from the conversation. Feedback was positive. The round table included presentations from Seth Palmer with the North Carolina League and the North Carolina Metro Mayors Coalition briefing on the proposed property tax constitutional amendment and from our assistant town manager, Jim Seymour on the town's pending interbasin transfer application. And since our last board meeting, we also had a fantastic Follow Me to Fuquay Varina concert with the band Crush to wrap up the spring concert series for Follow Me to Fuquay Varina.

So lots been happening since our last board meeting. All positive things coming out of our departments. I'd also just draw your attention to Coffee with the Cop at Dunkin' Donuts this Wednesday from 9AM to 10AM. Sorry, we do have one more Follow Me to Fuquay concert. I keep forgetting this one but Thursday, May 14, Heads Up Penny will be in our town, 06:30 to 09:30. We're excited to have that band. And with that, Mr. Mayor, that concludes my remarks for this evening. I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have or the board might have.

Any questions? Board members? Thank you so much.

Thank you.

We appreciate that. Now we will have our commissioner comments, town board member comments. Commissioner Haynes.

Yes sir, mayor. It's good. I'm it's too been too much going to even go down the list. I think probably while it's been to 2,030 events since our last town board meeting. Just thank all the organizations all the who have done so many amazing events going on. Thank you to our staff who has done put on some amazing events and and take care of us every day. That's I'm a keep it short and sweet today, mister mayor.

Well, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Commissioner Atkop.

I was just gonna make just some general comments. You know, we a lot of our job is balancing priorities and it can be very difficult when you are in a place that's growing like Fuquay Varina. I recently was looking at a curiosity of population numbers and North Carolina has a 100 counties. More than 25 of those counties, so more than a fourth of the counties in North Carolina have less than 25,000 people total population. Wake County Has consistently increased in population by 25,000 people every year for probably over a decade.

So this county grows by more than a quarter of the counties have total population and it happens every year I can remember it wasn't that long ago the big complaint or the biggest complaint that I would hear in Fuquay Varina. Was that we had too many starter home neighborhoods. People complained Because. I didn't think we were getting quality. And.

Times change pretty quick I think now it's The housing Most people agree is is too expensive. But back to the balanced priorities thing. We get burned up over. Trees to get cut down for development we get tore up over traffic.

And.

There is no easy solution to all these issues that we have. You just hope that you've got people that care about your community, that are willing to put some time and effort into really putting their best effort in coming up with the best solution. And Lord knows we're not perfect, but this board does I know does a very does the best that we know how to do. And. I'm proud of what this board has done for many years and I enjoy being part of it.

So, thank you very much.

Thank you very very much for those comments. Thank you. Commissioner Smith.

Thank you, mister mayor. Thank you, Commissioner Eckhart for this comment. Thank you I appreciate that. I'm going to be very brief tonight. Each week I try to think about each meeting how our town employees service, especially in light of the proclamation tonight that you made about public employees. I jumped on some good department heads last week with some great work they did and I appreciate it. I'm going to call out director Scott Clark tonight. Y'all saw him have to come help me with my computer. I have I struggle in that field and I call director Clark quite often. I know he hates to see my number light up on his phone.

So, thank you Scott for all you do for us. Because lord knows I need to have to call you often just to get this thing going again. So, thank you very much. I'm just amazed and we talked about it earlier when we talked about our our studies and our our on our town staff classifications and pay. We are blessed with some very talented staff.

And I'm just very proud of the town for working hard to keep those salaries up where we don't lose people. When I left the board before, I'm taking off now, I was gonna try to be brief. When I left the board before, somebody asked me what was one of my favorite things I got to do on the board. And one of my favorite things on my previous time with the board was when we, back when that gentleman first came with our HR department and made those presentations, and we made a very big swing at trying to get our employees pay up to the point that we would see turnover reduce. And I think that's one of the things I'm most proud of that I got to do at any time I was on the board because we got talented people with talented department heads.

And I'm just very proud of our staff and I that's why I try to call out somebody each week because I'm just proud of the job they do. So thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm gonna try to stop at that point because it's been a long night.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. Commissioner Vaughan.

Yeah, just want to thank the officers and town staff and management again for keeping an eye on the ball with the North Lakes parking issue. Of course, you know, we had comments tonight with folks coming in saying, imagine you had to live with this noise. Imagine you have to, you know, hear all that. And I do, I hear it because it's right outside my door. So, so I, and it looks like we are moving forward. We're on setting up a meeting with the community. And so I would just want the residents of North Lakes to feel assured that we are continuing to look at this issue.

May I approach him Garner.

It has Commissioner Haynes said it has been a very busy time and lots of exciting things going on and too many to enumerate but I would especially like to mention the chorale concert on Friday evening was just a big hit as it always is. They're both of their concerts during the year is such an addition and we have so many talented voices that give their time to that organization and their performances and I'm just really grateful for that. And then the other thing was the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Fuquaive Arena High

School in

1975 and I'm gonna remember that. I'm gonna try to say it every time because it it really is they they everybody wants to make a note that that is everybody's high school, the way it started, you know, at a time, at that time it was everybody's high school and it was the most amazing celebration on Saturday. I was to be there, to be present, and to celebrate all of the many things that were discussed in that time and mayor, you hit it out of the park with your remarks again at the end. I I'd like to have a copy of that. I mean, really it it was just just amazing.

So, he pointed out what responsibility we have to go forward honoring the legacy that that school has laid out for us and and how we, you know, how do we show that we, you know, what that we've really accepted that legacy and accepted responsibility to carry it forward and it is to see that there is true transformation going forward and there has been all these years. So it was an honor to be there.

Thank you. Thank

you. Mister mayor, one more thing. Can we, I definitely want to publicly recognize Mayor Pro Tem at the hundred year anniversary of the women's club. She was recognized as one of the distinguished members of the women's club. So, we definitely want to thank you for all you do because a lot of time people don't realize we do have, we do serve in other positions and other things outside of town board and this is something you will recognize for among all those amazing women. So, congratulations to you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. That was great. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Anything else?

That's

it. Well, I'd like to thank each of you tonight. We were faced with a very challenging situation, but I thought about this, we are building community it's building community moment by moment. And it's moments like this evening where we gave people the opportunity to express themselves even though they didn't agree with us or we may not have agreed with them, but we gave them a forum to express their concerns. And I hope that they felt inclusive in the community because they did have an opportunity, notwithstanding whether they agree with our actions or not, to express themselves and we in turn express ourselves.

And to me, that's how you build community. And it's an ongoing thing. I think there's no doubt that they could see tonight that what the intent of this board is to try to work something out where we can still sustain this idea of community. So, each of you ought to be commended for the comments that that you made tonight and I feel optimistic no matter what the outcome is that we can move past this and we'll continue to do what's best for the citizens of Fuquay Varina. That's our charge, to do what's best for all the citizens of Fuquay Varina and just really am grateful for each of your comments tonight.

I really appreciate it a lot. Those are my comments, mister manager. So do we have oh, the town manager Mitchell is recommending a closed session for this evening?

I'm sorry and I apologize, but I am recommending a closed session this evening pursuant to general statute one forty three three eighteen eleven a three, attorney client privilege and a five property acquisition.

Do I hear a motion? So moved.

Second.

Second. It's a move to properly second that we will go into closed session. But before that, we're going take a break. Alright. Thank you all for coming.