City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. This is Mayor Cyril Jefferson convening a regular meeting of the High Point City Council. Here with me on the dais, we have every member of council present, including Madam Clerk, Attorney, and Manager. Before we begin our meeting, we'll ask you all to join us for a moment of silence and Pledge of Allegiance. Amen.

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.

Prior to adopting our agenda for this evening, we're at a recognition of City of High Point professionals We're honored with the North Carolina Building Inspectors Association's highest recognition. Aside from that, that's the only additional item that we've got. Is there a motion to approve our agenda with that? So moved. Second. Second. Motion's made by Council Member Holmes, seconded by Council Member Johnson. Any discussion on that motion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against? The ayes have it, and that motion passes. First recognition, I'd like to invite up Chris Whaley and Mark Walker. As they come forward, you all mind celebrating them as they come forward? Thank you. So we're recognizing you gentlemen this evening because recently you won some really awesome awards, and we want to make sure everyone's aware of the great work that our employees do across the city of High Point. I also just want to take a moment and shout out last week, city of High Point had a milestone celebration, and it was so awesome to see the folks going across stage who were celebrating five years and 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, even some folks celebrating 25 and 30 years. And so we're so grateful for the work of our employees here at the city of High Point. We celebrate our managers five year milestone and we got her to commit another 50 years to the city of High Point. Pat, that was a joke.

All right.

The City of High Point proudly celebrates an extraordinary year of achievement as employees and their families were recognized with both of the highest honors presented by North Carolina Building Inspectors Association. During the association's 2026 annual conference, association award recipients, High Point professionals earned several of the association's most prestigious awards. Mark Walker, our inspections division manager, won district four inspector of the year, and the NCBIA Inspector of the Year, which is the association's second highest individual honor. These awards recognize exceptional professionalism, leadership, technical knowledge, and dedication to the code enforcement profession. Mark, thank you so much. And Chris Whaley, who is our inspection services director, won the President's Choice Award, that's a dedication to the association, and the Edison Hubert Johnson Award, which is the association's highest individual honor. The Edison Hubert Johnson Award recognizes a career of outstanding service, leadership, and excellence in the building inspection profession, named after the association's first president, represents the highest distinction an NCBIA member can receive. Thank you so much, Chris. In addition to these distinguished awards, Chris Whaley was nominated and sworn in to serve as Vice President of the North Carolina Building and Spectrum Association, reflecting the confidence and trust placed in his leadership by co-professionals from all across the state of North Carolina. Currently serves as a co-chair of the Education Committee and chair of the Public Relations Committee within the association. These recognitions highlight the City of High Point's continued commitment to excellence in code enforcement, professional development, and public service. The accomplishments of Chris Whaley and Mark Walker and their families demonstrate the City's longstanding leadership within North Carolina's building safety confessions and the City's commitment to the development community by ensuring members of the inspections department are the best in North Carolina. The city of High Point congratulates each recipient on these well-deserved honors. And we thank you for your continued dedication to protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the city of High Point and the state of North Carolina. Can we please celebrate them one more time? A little quick anecdote. When you go to school of government, so everyone up here who gets elected and all across the state of North Carolina, you get elected and within probably the first month or so of being in office, we have to go to school of government. And at School of Government, you sit down and they're taking you through a really long slide that you can imagine. And they show us this list of all the things that many of our governments are empowered and given authority to do. But there's only one thing that they say, if you show up to a council meeting and they don't do anything else, there's one thing that you absolutely have to do. It's the one thing that while you are in office, you cannot be negligent for. In fact, if you are negligent for it as an elected official, not only could you be sued, but you could go to prison for it. And they tell us that every time we go to school of government training, and I ask most folks if they know what that one thing is, folks will say public safety, they'll say economic development, they'll say water and sewer, they'll say all types of things. The truth is, we do all those things as a government to provide services because we want a quality of life for our residents. The only thing we absolutely have to do is building safety. It is the only thing that if we don't do it, then we are no longer doing our absolute duty according to the state of North Carolina. And so I say on behalf of all of City Council, thank you for keeping us out of jail, Chris. I want to invite up now Darren Schell with Cone Health, who is the Integrated Facility Planning Manager. for a very special recognition.

Thank you.

Whereas military personnel and veterans continue to face a disproportionately high risk of suicide, with veterans nearly twice as likely to die by suicide as their civilian counterparts, more than 20 veterans and service members losing their lives to suicide each day in the United States. And whereas since 2001, more than 100,000 veterans have died by suicide, with post-9-11 veterans remaining among those at greatest risk, underscoring the urgent need for awareness, prevention, and support. And whereas stigma surrounding mental health, suicide, and seeking treatment continues to prevent many military personnel and veterans from accessing life-saving services and support, Whereas the suicide awareness and remembrance flag was created by United States Air Force veteran Kevin W. Hurdle in memory of his cousin, Senior Airman Robert McCray Dean, United States Air Force who died by suicide in 2016. And whereas the SAR flag serves as a powerful symbol of remembrance, of hope, and of the community's commitment to supporting veterans and military members by encouraging stigma-free access to mental health care and suicide prevention resources. And whereas September is recognized as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, providing an opportunity to raise awareness of the unique challenges faced by those who have served our nation to promote open dialogue, reduce stigma, and encourage access to mental health resources. And whereas the city of High Point proudly honors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our armed forces and is committed to supporting the well being of veterans, military personnel and their families while remembering those who have been lost to suicide. And therefore, I, Cyril Jefferson, Mayor of High Point, do hereby proclaim September 22nd, 2026 as Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day in the city of High Point and encourage all of our residents to honor the memory of those lost to suicide. support our veterans and service members, promote awareness of available mental health resources, help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health and seeking treatment, and recognize the SAR flag as a symbol of hope and remembrance. Can we please celebrate this awesome moment?

All right.

For our next recognition, I'm going to call up our Director of Libraries, Mary Sizemore. We're also going to invite up the Assistant Libraries Director, Jonathan Furr, members of the Library Board who are here with us, friends of the Library Board, and the Library Foundation Board. Do you all mind coming forward, please? And if you don't mind celebrating them as they come up y'all. I know we were together last week, or maybe the week before last, as y'all were opening, or reopening, the grand reopening of the newly renovated Teen Garage at the High Point Public Library. My son Royce is eight years old. My wife took him to see it. And he said, when I become a teenager, this is where he'll be. And my wife and I said, if he's at the library, then we'll know he did a good job. We'll know it. We'll know it. All right. Whereas libraries are foundational to education, imagination, and opportunity, offering everything from early literacy programs to digital tools that support lifelong learning and personal growth. Whereas libraries welcome all people, serving as inclusive and accessible community hubs that connect individuals across cultures, generations, and experiences. Whereas libraries curate collections and design programs that reflect the diversity of the populations they serve, ensuring equitable access to information, technology, and culture for all. And whereas libraries help individuals navigate life's challenges by providing trusted information, digital access, job search support, and connections to essential services. And whereas libraries continue to contribute to thriving local economies by equipping job seekers, entrepreneurs, students, and creators with tools and training to succeed. And whereas in times of both crisis and calm, libraries and their staff remain steadfast in supporting and strengthening their communities, and whereas library resources help households save money, reduce waste, and make sustainable choices, all through the simple power of a shared public good. Whereas a library card opens doors to endless possibilities from books and technology to lifelong learning and imagination. Libraries, librarians, and library workers across the country are joining together in celebration of library card sign-up month. With the 2026 theme, one library card hits all the right notes. Amen, somebody. Now, therefore, I, Cyril Jefferson, Mayor of the City of High Point, do hereby proclaim September 2026 as Library Card Sign-Up Month, and the City of High Point encourage all residents to hit the right note by signing up for a library card, I think mine expired, and exploring the many resources and opportunities and possibilities that it offers. Can we please celebrate this awesome occasion? We're going to do a picture, so I'm going to ask y'all to kind of spread out. This is the center, so if y'all don't mind coming down a little bit, that way we can spread out. I'm going to slide us down just a tad bit more, a tad bit more. If you've got your library card, hold it out. If you've got an extra one for me, let me have it. Here, I'm going to have you hold this for us, okay? Oh, you're so sweet. Look at that. Look at that, y'all. It's not expired. It's not expired.

Thank you all so much. Thank you. All right.

Once upon a time, I was a student at High Point University. And while being a student at High Point University, I had the privilege of serving in a really, really awesome program. It's called the Bonner Student Leadership Program. And in the Bonner Student Leadership Program at High Point University, you get the opportunity through, I think it's called work learning, technically. Is that what it's still called?

Service. Okay, I'm messing it up, y'all.

It's when you're in college and you get a job at the university.

What's that called?

Service learning? Work study, thank you. The folks in college know it, not us, right? It's basically work study because you get the opportunity to go work, get paid, but you, through this awesome program, you're doing it in our community at various organizations and nonprofits. And I remember at the time, working with nonprofits like Macedonia and YWCA and so many other places. And we've got some awesome Bonner leaders here, y'all, folks who are working in our community and helping contribute to High Point's growth in the future. And so I'm going to ask every High Point University Bonner student leader, will you all please come forward so we can recognize y'all? Y'all, let's celebrate them as they come forward.

How are you? Good seeing y'all. How are y'all? How are y'all? Good seeing y'all. Hey, hey, hey. How are y'all? Good seeing y'all. How are you? Good, good, good. Good, good.

How are y'all? How are y'all? Good, good, good. How are you? I'm shaking all the hands.

Come on. Thank y'all. How are y'all? Nice, nice, nice. How are y'all? Hey. How are you doing? How are you? How are you? You know you're the only one who gave me your name. Really?

Everyone else just shook my hand and didn't say nothing. That's the point. All right, y'all. So we're going to do multiple rows. And the way we do it is that if you are a front row person, come to the front. I think you know what that means. If you are a back row person, go to the back. And everyone else is sort of filling in the middle of that, right? There you go. Ain't no shame.

I don't know.

I don't know. We might.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dr. Zimmerman, will you come on forward? is the director for the Bonner Leader Program at High Point University. We appreciate your service, sir. How's this team? Do we need to slide down?

All right, one, two, three. Perfect, one more. One, two, three. Awesome. Thank you all.

Now for this one, I'm going to ask all of council to come down to the floor. All of council, come down to the floor. All of council, come down to the floor. All of council, come down to the floor. It's not often I get to surprise folks and do something that's a little out of order. We've been doing recognitions and honors all night. And you all heard us talk about our veterans.

You heard us talk about our library folks. We talked about our inspections folks.

We talked about Bonner leaders. And I noticed that the person who makes our agenda very coincidentally left off one very, very, very important honor. And it's not every day that you get to frequent the same room as North Carolina's Clerk of the Year, y'all. It's not every day you get to do it. Now, she's probably frustrated for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, she didn't know I was going to do this. Secondly, we didn't add it to the agenda when we adopted it. So I'm taking a point of privilege here. And we're going to ask Sandra Keeney, High Point's City Clerk, North Carolina's Clerk of the Year, would you please come forward so we can recognize you?

Thank you, Sandy.

Now, the funny thing, the really funny thing was that Madam Manager and I took a trip down to Wilmington, North Carolina, where all the clerks across the state were doing their annual conference. They snuck us in the back door. I mean, I couldn't even park out front, y'all. I had to be really incognito. Just to come in the room and to see the look on Sandy's face when she saw us there and all her kids and her family. And Sandy, that was such a special moment in front of all your peers to be there for that. And that was really fun. So I'm glad we got to recognize the great work that you're doing, the great work of our inspectors, great work of Bonner leaders, veterans, and our library folks. So thank you all so much. All right. Next, we have public comment period. And for that, we're going to recognize the folks who have signed up. But if you didn't get a chance to sign up, we'll still let you speak. When you do speak, you'll come here to our podium. We'll ask that your comments be addressed to council. State your name and address for the record. And you have three minutes to speak on any topic of your choosing. First on our list is John Conrad.

Mayor, members of City Council, Madam City Manager, thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is John Conrad. I live at 4136 Coachman's Court and I'm here representing the High Point Preservation Society. Some of us are called preservationists. I prefer visionaries, citizens who believe High Point can grow without unnecessarily destroying the valuable assets it already has. We are not opposed to progress or to improving City Hall. We are asking the city to consider a broader vision for the entire downtown property of First Baptist Church at 405 North Main Street. It could become an anchor for the entire entertainment district not an obstacle to it. Imagine the church brought back to life as an art center, performing venue, marketplace, a gathering place surrounded by restaurants, retail, residences, public spaces, and connections to the Greenway. Demolition costs money and permanently eliminates the architectural masterpiece that a community has as an asset. Adaptive reuse preserves that investment while creating an economic opportunity. Our preliminary comparison also suggests that improving and expanding the present city hall would cost substantially less than building either the radiance or embrace options. Before making an irreversible decision, citizens deserve a transparent comparison of the complete costs and benefits, including construction, parking, acquisition, demolition, relocation, operations, updating operations and technology, and potentially private investment. We respectfully ask Council to delay demolition and commission an independent adaptive reuse and economic feasibility study, bringing architects, developers, businesses, community representatives to the table and seek serious proposals for possible new uses or even divisions of that said property. Preservation and progress are not opposites. We are not asking High Point to stand still. We're asking our city to move forward and with enough vision to recognize the value of what it already has. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we have Gloria Halstead.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, City Council Members, and Madam City Manager. My name is Gloria Halstead. I live at 901 Johnson Street. I'm addressing you tonight in regard to the First Baptist Church property at North Main and Church. This property has a very strategic location in the Emerging Social District, also known as the Catalyst District. It fronts North Main Street, our living room, and it backs into the greenway it is adjacent to our sports stadium businesses across from this property on church avenue are thriving what happens with this property greatly impacts the businesses and recreational venues around it will the property provide synergy to those venues or will it be the site of a municipal building that closes at 5 o'clock and is not open on the weekends. That would not provide any vibrancy to the area at all. I hope that the City Council will explore and consider all feasible possibilities for this important property. What steps will the City Council take to enhance the lives of its citizens? Will the city council consider adaptive reuses of the property that could bring additional artistic venues to the city? The community impact of the city council's decision is enormous. Hopefully the city council will have the vision to make good decisions. The High Point Preservation Society has engaged partners for sacred places to come to High Point on September 29th. to explore possible adaptive uses for the First Baptist Church property. All city council members are invited as well as representatives from the city government. I don't know about you, but I would like to live in a city that has vibrant 52 weeks of the year and not just two weeks of the year. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next on our list is Sean McElroy.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, council, administration, thank you. My name is Sean McElroy, I live at 601 Saunders Place here in High Point. I've got a very unique situation. I'm going to be walking home tonight as the last bus left the Broad Avenue Terminal 15 minutes before this meeting began. I want to remind this council that driving is a privilege, not a right. The other night, we had a motorist in our neighborhood drive through the power pole at Davis Avenue and University. Wrapped it around the pole, took out power for myself and 67 of my neighbors. The reason that happened is because there is no power redundancy in that neighborhood. The redundancy I came to find actually existed in the projects that used to be there along Davis Avenue. And so we sat disconnected for more than six hours. And so the land is still sitting vacant from the public housing authority after being demolished. What was it? I believe it was four or five years ago. And I came to find further that there's seven parcels of land there. Now I did a little bit further research into the GIS and came to find that the city of High Point is sitting on over 900 parcels of land. And almost half of them are vacant. They're not being utilized. They're not even in your marked. We're already stressed as an economy. Let's get the land back to the people. Let's get it up for sale. Let's allow the people to rebuild High Point. Instead of giving potential homeowners $15,000 towards a down payment, let's give them a plot of land. Let them build their dreams. And that will allow the infrastructure to rebuild itself. I thank you.

Thank you. Next we have David Applegate.

Thank you, Mayor and City Council members. I'm new to this all. I was wanting to speak. My name is David Applegate. I live at 757 Celtic Crossing Drive in High Point. I recently retired, so I'm able to have more time to attend things like this. I was speaking on behalf of Ken Worms. who had a concern about the Fastenal rezoning issue and was reading through his letter to Kent, Britt Moore, and to the City Council about that and the decision to allow Fastenal to build a 12-story building there. He was mentioned in here about the original height of buildings was 45 feet, but this would make it close to 120 feet, and that backs up to residential areas. One of the things he also kind of questioned on here was why Steve Galante, planning manager for Greensboro, was working on the High Point P&Z commission. since he does he live in High Point and so outside influences instead of residents themselves. I understand that there was a very sparse meeting or turnout of residents in that community by Mr. Britt's letter. in response to Ken's concerns. But I just wanted to... make known some of the things he was concerned about and one of them was about how the failure of the council that tried to deal with the mill district and the results of that were another time where developers were using substandard and unapproved materials for a path the city created in a community on a SS line on their property. Mr. Shannon and other city officials admitted they failed to follow the city planning zoning ordinances and I just wanted to make people aware that we need to continue to be diligent to keep things, aesthetics in mind, not just monetary things with the aesthetics of the city, so it still continues to be a beautiful place where people will want to live. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next we have Louis Thibodeau.

Good evening, my name is Louis Thibodeau, I reside at 1242 Kensington Drive, High Point, North Carolina. Good evening city council and staff, and those that came to hear what's talked about tonight at the city council meeting. It's very important. First off, I want to pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for this day, and I thank you for this opportunity to come and But dear God, I lift all these up that on this city council, that dear God, you would give them your wisdom of how to help the whole city. Dear God, that they rely on you to give them wisdom and watch over them and keep them safe. In your son's name I do pray, amen. Genesis 1.1 says, In the beginning, God created. That's who I was praying to. God, that created everything. And it was brought up, there was a first thing that everybody on city council has to learn. Here's a second one. Don't forget the people that voted for you to be where you're at. Okay, I understand, I wasn't gonna speak tonight. I understand there was a curve ball thrown on property assessments this year. So you had to figure what you was gonna do. So you raised what you could and taxes went up on property values, the millage. Okay, I understand that, okay? You've got a year to think about it. Just like the man was mentioning about we got city properties that's just sitting vacant. Make them tax revenue. You know, you guys have a whole year to think about it. Please think about it. Pray about it if you're praying because I'll be praying for you. I know it's not easy decisions sometimes. I know that. I've sat on the board before for a city. That's all I ask. Thank you.

Next we have Caroline Buchanan.

My name is Caroline Buchanan and I live at 1451 Skeet Club Road. And I have a proposal and I am not looking for a decision today. I would just like to know who to talk to about my idea and maybe have a 30 minute meeting and discuss what details might work out this way. It's a kind of basic need that I want to address and it's hydration. I call it hydrate high point. I have a little handout for each of you to just look at it. I've done massage therapy for 35 years. I've worked with public health in lots of different respects. And I often see dehydration as a major malfunction in a lot of people. And we have to... clean the bacteria out of the water we have to put the chlorine in some kind of thing to make it not be dangerous but then it comes to the tap and nobody really cares to consume it from the tap it's sort of unpleasant we just don't even have to go to all the other things that it might be but it's unpleasant i'm proposing that with the public funds available from the city of high point that we could Kind of do like what Duke Power did when they bought all the light bulbs, and you could get light bulbs a little cheaper. Maybe that we could get water filters a little bit cheaper and offer them to the people that are members of the High Point City Water, I don't know what you call them, customers, and maybe have four months to pay for it or something like that where they could actually have a water filtration in their home. I think they need it at the shower head as well as the sink. And some people might want to go all the way to have a whole house filter. And we could, through mass purchasing, have that be not as expensive as it is for some people. And Hypo could even make money off of that as well. It could be a source of revenue. and employ a lot of plumbers to do it as well. For maybe apartment complexes that wouldn't choose to have it in their home, Maybe they could have an easy access point to go get bottled water from just around the corner from where their front door is. And I think we could have a healthier community. I think we could have less waste because everybody wouldn't be drinking water out of the bottles if they could get it from their tap, save them money, make it, I think it could be a win-win-win all the way across for health, for waste stream, for people being healthier and hydrated. That's my proposal. So if you could let me know, who would I ask who to talk to about a further meeting discussing maybe a pilot program for that? We'll look at your handout.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone who wishes to speak who did not get a chance to sign up? If so, you come forward and state your name and address for the record. You have three minutes to address counsel. Seeing none, I'll go ahead and close our public comment period and say thank you to everyone who took a chance to come and speak. We've got a consent agenda and we'll ask everyone on council to take a few minutes or a few moments there to review again what we have. When ready, we'll entertain a motion to approve our consent agenda. So moved. Second. Motion's been made by Councilman Andrews, seconded by Councilman Williams. Any discussion on the motion to approve our consent agenda? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against? The ayes have it, and that motion passes. Under general business, item 2026-314, the public hearing regarding a substantial amendment to our 2019-2020 annual action plan. Council has requested to conduct a public hearing. to receive public comment on a substantial amendment to that action plan to reallocate $452,154 CDBG coronavirus funds. I'll go ahead and open the public hearing and recognize Nina Wilson, our community development housing director.

Good evening, Mayor, Members of Council, and Madam Manager. The item you have before you is a proposed substantial amendment to our 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan to reallocate Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus, or CBG, CV funds from public facilities and community capacity building technical assistance to public services. This required amendment outlines the city's proposed reallocation of $452,154 in CDBG-CV funds to carry out eligible public service activities related to the effects of the pandemic or to enable resilience to the effects of the coronavirus in the future. The draft amendment has been made available for a 30-day public review and comment period that began on August 26, 2026. And in reallocating funding, proposed public services activity include rent and utility assistance or emergency assistance, as well as assistance to our local food pantries serving low and moderate income consumers. communities. The City of High Point originally received $1,141,357 in CDBG-CV funds. This was under the CARES Act or authorized under the CARES Act that was signed into law on March 27, 2020 to respond to the growing effects of the unprecedented public health crisis. I will be happy to answer any questions. The one thing that I would like to add is we do have many needs within our community. But when we look at public service activities, those are activities that within our department we can undertake rather quickly. We know that September 30th is the deadline for the expenditure of the CDBG-CV funds. And we are reallocating these funds, as you know, from the day center. Unfortunately, we're not able to get a project underway in time. And so the activities that we could do in the quickest manner and get them in the community within the quickest amount of time are those public service activities. They do require an environmental review process, but it is not as extensive as what might be required under public facilities or some of our other community development activities. Those are considered exempt activities, so basically it's a checklist that we have to do, and it can be done just within a matter of a couple days. So just in the interest of time, that is the reason staff is recommending these public service activities. We have not received any written comments at this point. However, I did present the amendment to the Citizens Advisory Council on August the 27th. There was general discussion in that there was agreement that these are the types of services that we do see most needed within the community when we sort of, I guess you would say, poll our organizations. They get tons of calls. about rent and utility assistance and we also hear from our organizations that the pantries are receiving less food or contributions and donations and so giving is down within the pantries and so they really need to be able to stock their shelves and funding is down so they can't purchase the meats and the fresh produce and vegetables that our families need. So these are the reasons that we are proposing to reallocate these funds to public service activities.

Thank you. Any questions for staff? Yes, Mr. Mayor, I have one. Nina, please remind us what happens to these funds if they're not allocated by September 30th.

We have not drawn them. They just will not be made available in the community. We'll lose them. The bottom line is we would lose them.

And as a reminder, especially for the young student population we have here tonight, that was funds that came out of the pandemic when most of them were in elementary or middle school, or close to it anyway. But they came with the requirement that they had to be dispersed or lost.

Yes, absolutely. By September 30th, we had six years to expend the funds, and so September 30th of this year is our deadline.

Any other questions from staff?

I would just say I think this is a great use of these funds. I mean, the calls to 211 utility assistance or rent assistance are always at the top, so it's a good use.

I'm sorry. I couldn't hear very well.

I'm just saying that's a good use of funds because utility and rental assistance is one of the 211 calls to United Way. Those are always at the top of the list.

Typically, our organizations have caps, just kind of depends, and then what they will do is maybe cobble some of their funding together so that they can meet the requirements. We don't actually require that the tenant or the homeowner have any percentage or amount of the funding, but they do work typically to provide anywhere from $500 to $1,000 in assistance per household.

Any other questions? Is this a public hearing? Is there anyone who wishes to speak for or against this item? We're going to close the public hearing. And, Council, we're actually not going to vote on this tonight. As you heard, Ms. Wilson's state, there's a 30-day period in which we received comments. And seeing that it started August 26th, there's still a few more days that we have for that to be open. So we'll actually come back to this first meeting in October to either approve or deny it. So, Ms. Wilson, thank you so much. Thank you. Next item is item 2026-315, public hearing regarding the 2025 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report, otherwise known as CAPER. The council's request is to conduct a public hearing, approve the 2025 CAPER, and authorize the appropriate city officials. I'll go ahead and open the public hearing and recognize Ms. Wilson again.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The CAPER or the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report is, we like to say, sort of like our report card for the annual year, for the fiscal year or the program year. And what we basically do is outline what we have accomplished and what we've done with all of the funds that have come to our department. We are supported with federal funds, state funds, and local funds. And the priorities and goals that were addressed over the, and I do want to point out this is the 2025-2026 program year, and this report is required each year by HUD. So the priorities and goals that were identified in our five-year consolidated plan were for housing, homelessness, special needs, our community development priorities, which are basically non-housing needs, those are like those public service activities, as well as economic development priorities. And as a summary of the accomplishments that we were able to obtain last year, we were able to do 25 homeowner repair projects through our emergency repair and urgent repair program, also Operation In As Much. I will say that this past year we only did one Operation In As Much event, but this year we do have two budgeted. We do have one, of course, coming up on November 7th, and that's going to be in our Sherwood Village community right there at the Blair Golf Course. And then we also completed 12 homeowner, I'm sorry, home buyer assistance loans. 318 individuals received homeowner training through our home buyer education classes. 13 trainees graduated from our construction training program. Six community organizations and community groups were assisted with funds through the public services annual CDBG allocation, and two organizations were assisted through the CDBG-CV allocation, and that was for the winter shelter and white flag. And then we assisted 1,500 or filed 1,515 federal and state tax returns for those households that are earning, I want to say this year it was $59,000 or less for household income. And this is just a budget summary by funding source. We did have approximately $7.7 million available or resources made available within the community. And we expended $5.2 million of those dollars. You will see primarily the funding that we do still have available are those special allocations like the home funds that were allocated under the American Rescue Plan. So we do still have over a million dollars there. And then the CDBG-CV, my apologies, we do still have the CDBG-CV funds. So that's primarily where we have those funds remaining within our budget that were not expended. And again, these are the programs and activities that were undertaken, the maximum assistance that a household can receive through our emergency and urgent repairs, $25,000. This past year, for the down payment assistance and incentive, that maximum, of course, was $7,500, $10,000 in certain neighborhoods or targeted neighborhoods, which has been the Southside neighborhood. Of course, this year that has been increased. And then the public services activities, Our single family new construction over this past year, there were 10 new single family units that were constructed in the Southside community working with our nonprofit organizations. Also, the construction training program that I mentioned earlier that there were 13 graduates. the VITA program, Core City Revitalization, and this activity has most to do with, I would say, in-field, like property maintenance, lot maintenance. Also, if there's any acquisition, we were able to purchase 604 bail And as of right now, that property has been demolished. So when we look at sort of doing those, addressing some of the slumming and blighting things that are affecting the communities, we do that under our core city revitalization. And then multifamily rental, new construction. The property, of course, Walnut Ridge, that's on Ski Club, that's going to be made available to seniors. And then the project that's available, well, it's underway. They're actually doing a lot of the grading and everything. The flats at Old Winston, that's going to be 48 units for families. And the public review and comment period for the CAPER, we are required to have a 15-day public review and comment period. This has been available to the public since September the 9th. We are having our public hearing this evening, and we are required to submit this to HUD by September 28th. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Thank you. Any questions for staff?

Just to touch on the operation in as much. When people hear that, they're probably typically thinking that this is something connected with contractors in the city. If you have an organization that wants to participate, they can contact the city. and and be a part of it um one of the the powerful parts of what this does is um if they they have a neighborhood blitz they reach out to these people who are disabled elderly um maybe even legacy families who can't afford to fix their their homes to bring up bring things up to code you can connect with connect with nina and and um with this with the city and play a part in it. Your organization would be assigned to one home to do one item and then you have professionals in place that will help guide everybody and it's a safe environment. But it's powerful to see because what you have is if there's five homes that's repaired, you have 10 to 15 of them paying attention. And then you see like a ripple effect of these people joining in, fixing their own places and then And it has a long-lasting effect of it. So it's been going on for a number of years. They've taken the chance of allowing me to participate, and I haven't broken anything yet. So I promise you it's safe. I just wanted to share that part with you.

Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions from council for staff? OK. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone who wishes to speak for or against this item? Okay. We'll go ahead and close our public hearing, and I'll make a motion that we approve this item. Is there a second? Second. Second. Recognized by our mayor. Any discussion on that motion? Hearing none, all those in favor please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against? The ayes have it, and that motion passes.

Thank you.

Next item is item 2026-335, approval of an appointment to the Human Relations Commission. Council has requested to approve the appointment of Dr. Kimberly Crockett, to Human Relations Commission, term effective immediately and expiring November 1st, 2027. I can't remember whose appointment this is.

You want to have any comments? I'm very happy to have volunteers on all of our boards and commissions, and I look forward to working with Dr. Crockett and representing Ward 5. You want to make the motion, too? Yes, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would like to make a motion to appoint Dr. Kimberly Crockett, founder, to the Human Relations Commission, term effective immediately and expiring on November 1, 2027.

Second.

Motion is made and seconded by Councilmember Johnson. Any discussion on that motion? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against? You guys have it. Dr. Crockett, thank you. Welcome to the commission. Appreciate your service. Next item is item 2026-336, approval of reappointments to High Point Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. Council has requested to approve the reappointments of Charity Bunting and Tiffany Sutherland to the High Point Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. Remind me, who's our liaison to the High Point Housing Authority? I don't know. Do you have any comments on this one, Councilman Johnson?

No, I actually spoke with the CEO, Angela, of the High Point Housing Authority in regards to these two people, and I've had the opportunity to attend some of the meetings, and so I am definitely for pushing them forward and reappointing them.

Okay, awesome. All right. Well, are you going to make that as a motion?

Yes, sir, I'll make that as a motion.

All right, is there a second? Second. Second, recognize the Council Member McKeever. Any discussion on that motion? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against? The ayes have it, and that motion passes. We've come to the end of our meeting. Before we adjourn, are there any announcements from the dais? I'll jump in first. Police Department Community Day is coming up this Saturday at Moorhead Recreation Center from 10 to 2. Did I get that right, Chief? Okay. You've not had the chance to go to our Police Department Community Day. It's a fantastic event, always a fun time. I encourage folks to go out there and celebrate and be a part of something fun there. Once you leave there, you can go and hang out in downtown if you want to for Stocktoberfest. Just make sure you don't drive afterwards because they'll go from Police Community Day to police pull you over and send you to jail day. Judges don't come in until Monday, so you'll be in real trouble. I can't believe y'all let me get away with stuff like this. You can hang out downtown. And then also, we're excited to welcome, on a serious note, state NAACP is having their state conference. So we'll have folks from all over the state of North Carolina coming into High Point this weekend. And we're excited to host them and grateful that they chose High Point for their location to do the event. Are there any other announcements from the dais?

Mr. Mayor, I got a... It's not really announced, but I had the chance to visit the 9-1-1 communication center today. I was very impressed with the staff and the setup. You don't really think about these things when you're down at 9-1-1, how all the magic happens. I saw it some other day. It was very impressive, and thank God for the 9-1-1 operators. Very impressive.

Great. Agreed 100%.

Yes, Mayor. Just over the course of the last week or so, we've seen the importance of our city staff and public servants. We had our recognition of the length of service, and I had the chance with Mayor Pro Tem to attend the pinning of our new firefighters. It's just awesome the work that you all do, the safety of our city, the vibrance of our city. You all contribute to that greatly, and so I just want to say thank you. As a point of personal privilege, I'd like to say happy 30th anniversary to my wife.

Okay. All right. Take that.

Don't follow us this weekend. We are not here. Wait, is it today? The 28th. Okay. I was going to say, man, you here on your 30th anniversary. Right. City business can wait, brother. This can wait. And any other announcements from the dais?

Well, I'm going to make an announcement because I don't think Council Member Moore is going to, but today's his wife's birthday.

That's right. That's right.

That's right.

Happy birthday, Karen Moore. Mm-hmm.

I'm looking here because I feel like I'm forgetting something. There's a brand new business opening in downtown, Smitty and Pearls, that opens up next week. So if you've been looking forward to that, that'll be fun. Washington Street Unity Festival will take place on the first Saturday in October, October 3rd. from 11 to 4. So if you get a chance to go on out to the Unity Festival, I think that'll be an awesome event. And then our next council meeting will take place on Monday, October 5th, 5.30 is when the regular meeting starts. If there's nothing else, we'll entertain a motion. Is there one to adjourn? Yes, we are going back into our closed session. And council, let's do five minutes. So 6.33, if that's okay. Motion to adjourn. Motion made by Council Member Holmes. Second. Second by Councilman Andrew. Any discussion on that? Motion to adjourn. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Against? The ayes have it. We are adjourned.