City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the City Council meeting with the City of Lenoir for Tuesday, July the 28th, 2026. We welcome you here. It's been a fun and long July for a lot of things going on, but We're glad to be back. We couldn't be here last week. We had a lot of people gone, so we had to reschedule for tonight. Thank you for being with us as we do. As we normally do, we'll get started in just a minute with our moment of silence and our Pledge of Allegiance that we do in salute of our country. As we go to that, I do have several families that I want you to keep in your thoughts and prayers tonight. It's been a really hard time. couple of two weeks here for a lot of families in our our city and those that we know very well that have been involved with the city in many ways first i want to mention the uh daughter of our former council member ron stillwell phillate ron stillwell and cecilia stillwell emily stillwell warren 43 years old unfortunately passed away over the last 10 days and Raleigh, and we want to keep her and their family in our thoughts and prayers. Her brother, Seth, still well also here in Lenore and very active with our city in many different ways, but please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they move forward without Emily over the next little bit. Also, the John Blair, John, who is a member of our boards and very active in our city, also a fine family. They lost two members in the same week. John's younger brother, Christopher Blair, passed away early last week with some complications of some things that happened really sudden. And then his mother, during the same week, passed away as well. And we have really had the Blair family in our thoughts and prayers as they have had to deal with that too. Like that, it's so hard. But Chris and Kay, his mom, passed away later on in the week. I know that I'm sure it was a lot of heartbroken from losing Chris and other things, but we want to keep John, John's family, Ed Blair, former city attorney, is John's uncle and brother-in-law to Kay. So we want to keep the Blair family, please, in your thoughts and prayers. And also Jerry Church, former our manager in Granite Falls, good friend. The mother passed away also this past week. Mrs. Church, Rose Church, was 91 years old and was a fine citizen in our community for many years and well respected and loved by so many. She and her husband, Dwight, did a lot for this community. And then just yesterday, the day before, Gary Bentley, who has been well known in this community, Lenore Building Supply, and the Bentleys have been a part of Lenore for so many years, passed away. He lost his wife Lorraine about a month ago, and unfortunately, Gary passed on a day or two ago. So we want to keep all these families in your thoughts and prayers, if you will, please. And also, TJ Rohr's mom has had some surgery, and we want to keep TJ and your family and your mom in our thoughts and prayers as well. And lastly, I will mention Mr. Ben Willis. who got snake bit, unfortunately, over the last few weeks, about a week or 10 days ago, and didn't realize it, copperhead, and went home and didn't do anything, and unfortunately, the snake venom took over. and he had to go to the hospital for a day or so, a day and a half to be treated, but he's doing fine now. I told him, I called him on the phone the other day. I said, I hope you're just not crawling around in the car or anything and all that. So we had a little laugh. It wasn't funny at the time, but I know he was mowing grass and didn't see the snake, unfortunately.

So we are glad that he didn't. Yeah.

We were teasing Reverend Perkins that he was praying for the snake, but anyway. But anyway, please keep all those in your thoughts and prayers. It's been a really hard several weeks for some families that we think a lot of in this community and will miss. So please now join me as we have our moment of silence and remain standing for our pledge. Thank you. Please salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. As we get started tonight, we do have, like I said earlier, it has been a great month, a long month as we have studied and honored our country for America 250. We started out with the 4th of July celebration. uh great things were happening there the city did a lot of things i want to thank everyone all of our staff who was so involved with doing things and putting things together we had flags all over town and our staff put them out and did a great job but i want to thank all of our staff brenda floyd and ashley smith who orchestrated a whole lot of that for the fourth of july and putting out the flags our our public works staff who did such a great job, and our maintenance people. In so many events, our fireworks display was, again, very well done, and everyone seemed to really enjoy that, and so just a lot of great events happened around the 4th. Right after that, we moved right into the Blackberry Festival and had so much going on there, a lot of planning, and again, thanks to Brenda and Ashley, all of our volunteer staff, all of our city staff, especially our public works, Duke Moore and his fine maintenance staff and all that they did, our police and fire chief Staines and Chief Wilson. Thank you for all that you guys did and had all the people there to keep everybody safe. It was a lot of work, but it turned out very well. We don't have the numbers yet. I talked to Brenda today exactly how many we had, but we think we had a tremendous crowd for the weekend for Blackberry Festival, as we always do. And then right after Blackberry, we were honored to have the America 250 Freedom 250 Mobile Museum came to Lenoir, and that was an enjoyable weekend that it was here. We had 1,735 people. that went through the museum. We were honored with that. There was only six of those in the whole United States, and we were blessed to get one. They had 20,000 applications for it, and somehow we lucked out. We were excited that it was here for the weekend, several weekends ago now, but it was great fun. I toured it. I was the first one in on Sunday, and Ike Perkins and I were the last ones out on Wednesday night. We saw it and enjoyed visiting with that and recalling our history and all the things that happened for the America 250. So I hope you had a chance to see that. It's still going to be around. It's moved to other locations down near Raleigh. One of them is right now, and there were only six, so they're all over the United States. So we'll see what happens with that. So anyway, we're excited about all the things there. This past weekend, quickly, one other thing. We did have a film crew was here from the North Carolina Main Street grant that we got. They were filming downtown Lenore on Saturday. And again, we had to go around. Brenda and Ashley and some others, some help, Cindy Day from the museum, had to get people to sign a release that they would be on the film site. And that was quite a job. But they filmed people walking on our streets, going into restaurants, going all over town. And they did a really good job. It was a lot of fun to be a part of that. So we thank them and thank you all for putting that together. And we hope we'll see that soon as it moves forward with that. I want to mention Sarah Ward again. Sarah was over at the Blackberry. I didn't mean to leave her out. She helped plan all the things and coordinate all the volunteer work that went on. So when you see people, thank them for what they do to be a part of our city of Lenore and all those that want to be a part of it. So we're excited about that. I think I've covered all my notes. Anyway, all that good thing. Last thing I'll say before we move on is, Chief Wilson, we've got a couple of new lieutenants. And if you would, I'd like for you to introduce these guys and let us know who they are.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We're fortunate to have them with us here tonight via no plan by me. And so they happen to be in the building. So I'll ask them to come up. And that's Lieutenant Derrick Brown and Lieutenant Brandon McLeod. So, Lieutenant Brandon McLeod, give you a little bit background about Lieutenant McLeod. He came to the Sea of Illinois and the Illinois Police Department in December of 2010. He served in the capacities of patrol officer, traffic officer, school resource officer, patrol corporal, patrol sergeant, criminal investigation sergeant, and then was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on July 7th of 2026. He possesses an associate's degree, his advanced law enforcement certificate, his school resource officer certificate, and traffic crash investigation certificate. So he has a lot of training in his background. Lieutenant Derrick Brown. He came to us in February 2012. He has a background as a patrol officer, a K-9 handler for several years, a patrol corporal, most recently a sergeant in our narcotics investigations unit, and now he's a lieutenant on patrol. He also holds an associate's degree and his advanced law enforcement certificate. Both of these officers, lieutenants, gentlemen, friends, brothers, they do an outstanding job not only for the police department but for the city of Illinois. Their tenure shows they're here, they're committed, they're loyal, and I can't speak enough about the contributions that they've given us over the time that they've been here. So promotions well-deserved, and we're excited to see where that takes them.

Thank you, guys, for your service and willingness to keep moving up in our department. Thank you for your leadership. We do really appreciate that very much. I failed one person to mention. Of course, the man who puts all our information out and takes all the pictures and is everywhere, Mr. Joshua Harris. Thank you for all that you've been doing for all these events that I just named a few minutes ago. Had you on here, but I had to go back and make sure I got that in. So thank you for that. All right, we'll move on then on our agenda to tonight. We have very special recognition as tonight we will honor our code compliance officer, Mr. Matt Bolick. He will be recognized for completing the certified zoning official through the North Carolina School of Government. Matt, Hannah, Williams, our planning director, is coming up and we'll let her handle that and introduce the fine family that Matt has as well.

Absolutely. Thank you, Mayor. Tonight, we recognize Matt Bolick and his achievement in becoming a certified zoning official, which demonstrates his statewide competency and deep knowledge of North Carolina's development statutes. The certification reflects his hard work and dedication to this technical field. But, of course, Matt is not a stranger to mastery. His 15 years as a Lenore firefighter demonstrates that, as does his work with the Public Works Cemeteries Division. Matt has a long-standing commitment to public service in Lenoir. Matt quickly absorbs new skills. He was new to zoning and enforcement when he joined the planning department in early 2025, And just in the last six months, he's adapted to at least three major ordinance changes. He also has strong teamwork across departments, including coordination with police and fire departments. This certification reinforces what the city of Lenoir already sees daily, that Matt is committed to excellence and dedicated to continually working to improve and serve this community. So, congratulations, Matt, on your certification.

We do. We want to do it with counsel.

His family is also here tonight.

Yes, and Matthew, I want you to introduce your family too. We get to work with this nice lady all the time, but we are glad to see everybody.

This is Matt's family. His wife, Ashley Bolick, is also in public service in our county as the economic development director. And his sons, Luke right here and Eli. Wonderful.

Why don't you get a picture of his family together and then you want us to come down? Or we can stand up here either way.

Yeah, probably would be better, but yeah.

Okay. We'll do this, and you guys come back this way.

Come on in.

There we go. Come on. Cut, everybody.

One, two, three, cheese.

Thank you. Thank you, Matt.

Thank you, Matt, for what you're doing, and we appreciate your service in many ways. Firemen work for the public. utilities, public works, and now in the planning department. So we appreciate that very much. All right, we'll move on then to matters scheduled for public hearing this evening. Our first one on here is an ordinance amendment. This is for flood damage prevention. This will be the second reading. The Emergency Management Division of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety reissued the non-coastal model flood damage prevention ordinance in March of 2026. With more details, more compliance with FEMA slash National Flood Insurance Program and stronger enforcement mechanisms, our recommendation to the staff is consideration of the ordinance amendments relating to Chapter 9, that's flood damage prevention, of the Lenora Code of Ordinances as submitted. I will again recognize Hannah Williams, our Director of Planning, to come up and talk about this.

Sure. A few things on slides for you. Right so this is the city's revised flood damage prevention ordinance the revision stem from the state's non coastal model ordinance so North Carolina emergency management the floodplain branch coordinates with the National Flood Insurance Program the NFIP with North Carolina's local communities and This is just the list of why local communities regulate flood damage prevention and regulate floodplains. It protects people and property. It ensures that the insurance program and disaster assistance is available. It saves public dollars, reduces liability in lawsuits, and reduces future flood losses when things are built back flood-proof or elevated. So just a few highlights of the revisions to the model ordinance. There are a few more details on the elevation certificate criteria. It also details enforcement provisions a bit better. There's also an explicit prohibition of RVs in floodways, not the 100-year floodplain, but in the floodways, which are also known as the non-encroachment areas. It also provides more engineering standards for structural fill. It expands requirements for accessory structures and details floodway encroachment and letters of map revision timeline requirements. So I had one planned amendment proposed tonight, the model ordinance. Language on appeals conflicts with itself. If you look at page 17 of your packets, it's also page 13 of 17 of the ordinance, under administrative appeals, in the fourth paragraph down, it says that anyone receiving an NOV may appeal to the local elected governing body. And then in the next paragraph down, it states that all appeals shall be heard by the Board of Adjustment. I propose replacing the word local elected governing body in the fourth paragraph with Lenore Board of Adjustment. This is consistent with other development appeals, for example, appeals of zoning or housing go before the Board of Adjustment. So these revisions were reviewed and approved by the State Floodplain Manager of the Western Area, Terry Fox, and it came before you for a first reading on June 16th, and specifics were discussed at the Committee of the Whole on June 23rd. And I'm available for any questions on this ordinance that you may have. I would like to say I was notified before this meeting that the Caldwell Soil and Water Board has requested a 30-day pause on approving this ordinance, but we are still having the public hearing. That concludes my prepared comments, but if you have any questions for me, please let me know.

Thank you.

Yeah, we'll do the public hearing before we leave.

All right, is there anyone at this time? We are in the public hearing. If you would like to address the council at this time, this is the time to do so concerning this ordinance amendments concerning the flood damage prevention. All right. I don't see anyone. Okay, I will close the public hearing and turn it over to the council. And I think the recommendation that you are making is for a 30-day extension to this.

Do you want to do a date certain? I could do. I'm trying to find a date for 30 days. You want to say September 1st. That's our next. That'll be our... Not the next, but to give 30 days.

To give a total of 30 days, certainly. Okay. So the public hearing could be closed at this time, and then action could be delayed 30 days?

Yeah, just table action until September 1st. Okay.

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to table the action until September 1st. Okay.

I have a motion from Council Member Stevens that we table the action concerning this until the meeting of September 1st, 2026. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed? Thank you.

Absolutely.

And we will take it up back then. All right, our next one is a special use permit. This is SUP 1-26 for 208 Polychem Court. A quasi-judicial hearing is to be held to consider a request to construct a 145-foot monopole wireless communication tower and associated ground equipment on a 2,500-square-foot leased Easement area of a subject property within the following eight conditions. Do you want to talk first, Mr. Rohrer, before I go to the conditions, or do you want me to read the conditions?

I do have some prepared statements. I'll go ahead and say it now. That'd be good. So, as folks may know, this is a quasi-judicial hearing. That is, this body has already made the political or legislative decision to say that if an applicant meets certain requirements in certain zones, that they are entitled to a special use permit. And so what that means is that the evidence, you're going to be acting as quasi-judicial, as somewhat of a judicial body. Because of that, the state law has specific procedures and rules regarding how this board must make its decision. Your discretion is limited. It's got to be based upon competent, relevant, and substantial evidence in the record. So anyone who testifies will have to actually be sworn because it's quasi-judicial. You're going to be taking evidence. It's not a popularity contest. The decision is constrained by the standards and the regulation. It's not, gee, I don't want you to do this because I don't like this, or I want you to do it because I do like it. There has to be evidence that they've met certain standards and have established certain facts. The meeting's open to the public, obviously. Everyone's welcome to watch. But the only folks who may testify or present evidence are parties with standing. That would be limited to the applicant, the local government, and staff, and individuals who can show they will suffer special damages. That's usually neighbors and those sorts of things who might either be in favor or opposed to it. Other individuals may serve as witnesses when called by the board. I don't know that they will have that. opinion testimony is limited to facts not opinions the only way you can hear an opinion on something is if someone qualifies as an expert so it have to be someone who's trained in the field and can offer certain things we've had that in issues about subdivisions about traffic and those sorts of things someone can't just stand up and say oh this would increase traffic or it wouldn't be a problem for traffic there need to be someone who's actually trained in traffic studies and has examined it Witnesses must swear or affirm that testimony. And this body has certain obligations that you have to meet. Again, because it's quasi-judicial, if you've ever gone to a court hearing, you wouldn't want the judge to have met with the opposing party or gone out to the site and looked things over, whatever it may be, and can't have a financial interest or a close relationship with an affected person. Does anyone on this body have a financial interest in this hearing or a close relationship with the applicant or any of the neighbors or anything like that? OK. They also have rights that there not be any ex parte communication. Have any of you spoken to the applicant or the neighbors or anything about this? Anyone picked up the phone like they would do in a legislative decision? They might call you and say, hey, I don't want you to rezone that property. In this case, has anyone reached out to you? No. Has anyone made any site visits, gone out and checked the property out on their own? You're not supposed to do that either. I think that's it. So we've got all that cleared up. And back to you, Your Honor. Thank you, sir. Yes, that's right. I like that.

I like that. Okay. As we say, this is a special use permit. There are some conditions here, which I will go over right now before we have anyone who wants to speak. Approval of this special use permit request is only valid for the development of the proposed communications tower as shown on the submitted plans. Future modifications to allow for the co-location of additional service providers are allowed, provided such modifications do not increase the height of the tower or change the design of the tower to anything other than a monopole design. Number two, the applicant must maintain the minimum liability coverage required by Section 910.2 in full force and effect until such time as all above ground portions of the facility have been removed and all other conditions of the maintenance and removal agreement have been satisfied. Number three, all above ground portions of the communication tower must be removed within 90 days of the cessation of operations or the facility may be removed by the city as provided in the applicant's maintenance slash removal agreement by the city. the cost of removal will be recovered from the applicant's bond or other security. Number four, the applicant shall continue the $10,000 bond or other security until such time as the facility has been removed and all other requirements of its maintenance slash removal agreement have been satisfied. No advertising logo is permitted on the tower. The facility must remain an unmanned facility with occasional on-site checks for operational purposes by staff. Number seven is valid permits must be obtained for this project and all construction must meet the requirements of the City of Lenoir Code of Ordinances, the North Carolina State Building Code, the North Carolina State Fire Code, and any other federal, state, or local regulations that apply. Number eight, if a building permit has not been issued within 24 months of the adoption of the special use permit, the approval shall be considered null and void. Those are the conditions tied to it. As we say, we're still in the public hearing. If there's anyone who would like to address the council at this time, this is the time to do so. Please come forward and be sworn in. This is Matt Duchenne, our city planner. And you have to be sworn. If there's anybody else that is planning to speak, if you want to come down, we can swear you in as we're doing this. And then that will save us a little bit of time. Yeah, come on up.

um

Okay, Matt. All right. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, Council. Tonight I'll be presenting on Special Use Permit 1-26 at 208 Polychem Court for a cell tower. So Special Use Permit 1-26, the applicant is Harmony Towers, which is Mark Roberts and his representation in the audience tonight. This is located at 208 Polychem Court, which is off of Industrial Court, which is off of Morganton Boulevard. What's proposed is a 145-foot-tall monopole communications tower, and this is located on property owned by Shocker Gupta, LLC. Here is the zoning map of the surrounding area of the property. As you can see, it's majority rural residential to the east and west, as well as some light industrial property directly south, as well as some single-family zoning of R12 and R20. And then here is the abutting property owner's map. These are all the properties that were notified. We haven't seen or heard much communication for the cell tower, but just for posterity's sake, this is all of the properties we notified. And then I will read the findings for the record. These are the staff findings that were submitted by the applicant. Number one, regarding height, yard, lot, and area requirements, the tower facility will comply with all height, yard, lot, and area requirements as shown on the attached site plan, specifically the tower height and setback requirements of sections 910.12 and 911.1. The proposed tower will be 145 feet tall, which is less than the maximum height of 165 feet prescribed by the ordinance. The tower will be set back at least 73.1 feet from adjacent property lines and 78.7 feet from a Polychem alloy building, which meets the required minimum of 50% of its height as from adjacent property lines and buildings. Number two, regarding driveways and proper ingress and egress for automobiles, the driveway to the tower will be a gravel driveway within a 30-foot access easement off of the existing parking lot at the Polychem alloy property. The tower will generate an average of one vehicle trip per month for maintenance via the existing driveway off Polychem Court. The driveway design will facilitate proper ingress and egress for authorized service vehicles. Number three, regarding off-street parking and loading areas, the tower facilities are passive unoccupied use which will only generate an average of one vehicle trip per month for maintenance. The monthly maintenance visit will not impact local streets or traffic. Aside from the proposed gravel driver for the tower, there will be no off-street parking or off-street loading associated with the tower facility. Number four, regarding the normal and orderly development and improvement of surrounding property, the tower facility is passive and occupied use with limited impacts to uses already developed in the district. The only interaction with surrounding properties is providing reliable wireless telecommunication services in the area. Number five, I wish this was larger, sorry about that. Regarding required screening and landscaping, the tower facility will be screened by the existing mature trees and vegetation surrounding the property. If the existing buffer is damaged, a new buffer meeting the section 712 buffer and screening standards will be required. Number six, regarding permitted signs and proposed exterior lighting, the tower facility will have minimal signage. Signs are typically affixed to the gate of the compound and provide site identification, emergency call numbers, and other information as required by the FCC. The tower facility will be designed in compliance with the city's requirements for exterior lighting. Exterior lighting will be limited to the minimum necessary for safe operation. Number seven, regarding the exterior architectural appearance and functional plan of any proposed building or structure, the buildings associated with the tower facility are limited to the enclosures for base station equipment that will be placed within the fence compound area. These enclosures typically have the appearance of a prefabricated construction trailer or weatherproof outdoor cabinets that are typical of similar utility installations. The type of building or enclosure is common in industrial settings, and therefore the appearance of this tower facility will be compatible with the general area. The tower facility will not cause a substantial depreciation in the property values in the immediate vicinity. Last, number eight, regarding the type size, hours of operations, location of the use upon the site, and intensity of the proposed special use, industrial properties are located to the north, west, and south, and undeveloped wood properties to the east. Its only interaction with surrounding properties is providing reliable wireless telecommunication services in the area. There are no activities associated with the site. They'll produce odor, vibration, heat glare, or traffic. All equipment and materials needed to operate the site will be located within the proposed fenced area at the base of the support structure. The only noise-generating equipment is the emergency backup generator, which will be limited to emergency purposes and occasional testing. The emergency generator is vital to provide service during power outages when communication is needed most. And then, of course, Mayor Gibbons already read these conditions. They're being submitted with the staff report for the record. I'm here for questions as well as the three representing Harmony Towers that testify as well.

Thank you, sir. Any questions of Matt at this time?

Sorry.

Okay. Thank you, sir. All right. Do you request that the staff report be accepted by this body for its consideration?

I do.

Good idea.

All right. That'll be included into the vote or whatever. Thank you. All right. Who would like to address next? We've already sworn you in. Just give us your name and address for our records, please.

Thank you. My name is Amy Schaefer. I'm a North Carolina attorney representing Harmony Towers. I also have with me tonight Mark Roberts, representative of Harmony and the applicant, and Mr. Cal Morgan, a certified North Carolina real estate appraiser. And Mr. James, I actually have to make a note to myself to say exactly what you said at the end. So I would like to also ask, before I forget, that the application, narrative, appraisal report, site plan, and all other documents provided become part of the record, please. Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you. With that, I would like to thank staff for working with us. This project went through a review by staff as well as the planning board who recommended approval. I have a presentation I am happy to share, but it basically says everything that staff already said reported so I am at the the will of the council as well as our experts here if you have any specific questions for for them we want to give you all the information you need but I don't want to take up more time than than is required thank you for that any questions council anyone here concern

Okay.

Thank you. I would like to note on staff's report condition two, they said that the driveway is going to be gravel. At the request of the property owner, the property owner requested that we pave that, and if there are no objections from staff when it goes through site plan review, we would just be asking to be allowed to pave that at the property owner's request. Okay.

All good. I think that would be permissible. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Anyone else that would like to address the council? You guys have anything you want to add to it? Okay. Thank you. All right. Anyone else that has not been sworn that would like to address the council concerning the public hearing? All right, seeing no one, I will close the public hearing and I'll turn it over to the council for any action, discussion, whatever you desire.

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to move that we approve the special use permit, SUP 126.

Thank you. Motion from Mayor Pro Tem Perkins that we approve the special use permit, SUP 1-26 for 208 Polychem Court.

Does that include adopting the proposed findings of fact and conditions?

As a matter of fact, it does. We'll add that to your motion. Add that to the motion. And pave the driveway. That will be added as well. Okay, those will be added to that. Any other discussion, questions? If not, all in favor please say aye. Aye. All opposed? Aye. Thank you. That was unanimous. Thank you very much. Thank you all for being with us. We appreciate that very much. Matt, thank you for your report. Thank you all for your time. Thank you. Okay, we'll move on then to the next on our agenda is the consent agenda items. This consists of minutes of the city council meeting of Tuesday, June the 16th, 2026. Item B are the minutes of the Committee of the Whole meeting of Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026. And item C is the Lenoir Fire Department Foundation Stabilization Project Design Build vendor selection. Following a thorough review and evaluation of each state of qualifications, staff recommends entering into contract negotiations with GEO Specialties LLC to provide design build services for the Lenoir Fire Department Foundation stabilization project. GEO Specialties LLC qualification package demonstrated the firm's experience with the design-build-project-delivery method and experienced team with members offering specific pertinent areas of expertise, a thorough understanding of the project scope, and a suitable approach to project management and adequate quality control programs necessary to perform the work in a responsible manner. specialties is appropriately licensed and insured, has financial capability to undertake the project, and is in good legal standing as submitted. These are your items for the consent agenda A, B, C, and I'll turn it over to council for any question or motion when you're ready.

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion that we approve the consent agenda items A through C as presented.

have a motion from Councilmember Thomas that we approve the consent agenda items A through C as presented. No other question. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed. Thank you very much. Next on our agenda would be requesting petitions of any citizens. If there's anyone that tonight would like to address the council, this is the time to do so. Please come forward and give us your name and address or whatever, and we'll be glad to hear what you have to say. And I see no one rushing the council, so. I think we're okay.

This room sometimes brings that out.

Anyway, anything can happen. Okay, well, thank you for that. Well, since we see no one, we'll move on then. We do not have reports and boards of commissions this evening, so we'll move on to report and recommendations of the city manager, Mr. Hildebrand.

Mayor, council, tonight you have three items of information. First of all, your August calendar is in your packet. listing all the various committee meetings that are coming up during the next month. I would also note that 52nd Annual Harambee Festival is going to be held the week of August 8th through the 14th, and all those events are shown on our website. There's a flyer out there right now. They've got something every day and encourage folks to attend those events. And then I know also I think that Friday, August 15th, 8th. 7th. There's a tomato blast at the community garden. I think it's going to go back, celebrate, uh, Lenore service league and also couple more hospital foundation. So encourage folks to go out there. I think that, uh, Kay and Patrick Crouch will be out there with live music and very variety of demonstrations. And it's going to be held Friday, August 7th from 6 to 7 30 PM. I encourage folks to attend that as well.

That's not throwing tomatoes. That's a blast.

It depends if you show up or not. That's all for information. You have one item for information this evening, and I think Mr. Press would want to.

Yes, I would like to recuse myself from a vote on this next item since I am a resident of Wexford Village.

Okay. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to grant that.

I'd like to make a motion. Correct. Okay. A motion from Council Member Stevens that we allowed Mr. Presswood to be removed. Recused. Recused. I don't know if you have the power to do that. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed. Thank you. Okay.

Mayor, Council, we received a request from the Homeowners Association of Wexford Village. Wexford Village was developed in 1999, and they dedicated the streets of the city at that time. However, the guardhouse, which is located in that, I guess, plat they submitted to us, is located right in the center of the street. And so they're trying to go back and clean up. that property because right now they can't get insurance for that structure and they want to go back and ensure that also to maintain the structure and so working with Joe Delk the fourth he's developed a variety of documents for you to consider tonight one's a quick claim deed and the other is a release of easement from the city to Wexford Village And the conditions of that, we'd release the city public street easement over the guardhouse project, which you have a plat of that in your packet. We'd quick claim any right, title, interest that the city may have in that parcel. But we'd also reserve for the city any appropriate utility easements we have for water, sanitary, sewer, stormwater, electric, street lighting, telephone, et cetera, for that. So you have all those documents in your packet. I know the city attorney's been involved in that as well. And if you have anything to add that I think you authorized me to go back and execute those documents if you so see fit.

David Lackey checked that out, so you know it was done correctly. He's the guy that handles that, doesn't he? Yeah, he and Joe worked together on that, and I think everything seems to be in order.

Yeah, it does seem to be in order, and appreciate the patience. It's taken, I think, many years to get to this point, but we're here now, and just glad that where we are with that. I appreciate Delk IV as well for his work on this. And I think the homeowners owners association presence here as well. But if you want to comment, you can, otherwise we'll let council proceed.

Any comment at all? Okay. Well, thank you for being here. We do appreciate that. All right. You've heard the recommendation from, um, uh, Mr. Hill brand for the, uh, Wexford village guard house, uh, I won't read all that again. It's quick claim deed, release of easement from the city and all those things that are there. We've got all that in the proper form, I'd say, for the motion. So I'll entertain a motion if you're in agreement with this.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion we approve the Wexford Village plan as submitted.

We have a motion from Council Member Beal that we approve the Wexford Village guardhouse information as presented tonight.

And that includes authorizing staff to execute whatever documents are necessary, doesn't it?

Yes, it is.

And the manager, I guess. Yeah, he's staff. Okay.

I'm staff, I am.

Okay. You've got the motion in the way it should be. All right. Any other discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed.

That would be 6-0 without Mr. Presswood's vote included in it. Thank you for that.

All right, we'll move on then to... I need a motion for Mr. Presswood to come back.

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion that Mr. Presswood be readmitted to the council proceedings.

Council Member Stevens makes a motion to reinstate Mr. Presswood back to the council tonight. Any questions? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Yes, sir. We appreciate you.

Welcome back.

All right. We'll move on then. Any recommendations of our city attorney other than we've heard you several times today? I'm just trying to earn my keep. There you go. There you go. Appreciate the work on that. I do have a recommendation from the mayor's office tonight for a board appointment. I would recommend that Emanuel Byers be appointed to the Lenore Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. This would be for an unexpired term through 2029. We announced this initially at our June 16th city meeting that this was under consideration, and tonight I would bring that to you for your approval. So entertain that, if you will, a motion to approve him when you're ready. Somebody.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve your recommendation for the appointment.

Thank you very much. Council Member Presswood makes a motion to approve Mr. Byers to the Parks and Recreation Board as presented. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed. Thank you for that. Also, I have one other just quick thing to say. There is a, was given this tonight, a celebration of American music for 250 years. This is featured in the Lenore Concert Band for Sunday, August the 2nd, 2026 at 3 in the afternoon at the American Legion Post 29, 401 Main Street, Lenore. They will have some patriotic music to enjoy for that. So I've heard them earlier this year. They did patriotic music and a lot of things. It was very good. And I would tell you, you would enjoy it if you become. It's free. So just come out if you want to enjoy some great patriotic music as we continue to celebrate America 250. That's right. Oh, yeah, we need to thank Council Member Beal for the Purple Squirrels group that played for us on July the 4th. We do appreciate that very much. And we also had the concert band was downtown as well. And they did a good job of that on the 4th. So thanks for all the patriotism that is going around. It's very contagious right now, so we need to keep it moving. So thank you for that. We appreciate it. I'll turn it over to any council members. Anything that anyone would like to add? I would recommend please attend the Harambee events. They are always very good. A lot of things. There's a game night one night. They kick it off with a picnic and all kind of things on the weekend. There's a recognition banquet. There is a... Senior night banquet on that and a lot of good events. The Harambee is the oldest festival in Caldwell County. And it's 50, what did we say, 52nd? 52nd. So you'll enjoy it if you take some time to come out and be a part of that. Nothing else to come before us tonight at all? We stand adjourned.