City Council - Regular Meeting

And everyone, I'd like to call our meeting to order. I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July, very significant and a milestone in the history of our country. So it's good to be here and good to see that you're here and healthy and part of our meeting this evening. I'm calling the meeting to order. As usual, we will start with our invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. Would you please stand? Commissioner Garner, may you pro tem.

Let us bow. Most gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity for us together here in fellowship with one another and in your love and guidance to work on the issues that affect our town. We thank you for the many blessings we have enjoyed for this town and continue to enjoy every day. We thank you for a beautiful summer and we know that you will bless us with whatever we need to get through it and rain as we get it. We ask that you grant us wisdom and discernment as we make decisions that are in the best interest of this town and in your sight. In your holy name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Thank you. Now we'll have our pledge.

Please join me in a 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.

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

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening. Good evening, board members. Tonight's town board meeting will be held both in person and live streamed on the town's YouTube channel and Facebook page. Tonight's meeting includes a public comment period and no 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 who appear in person to address the town board during the public comment period should provide their name and address on the green registration sheet by the podium before the public comment period begins. We ask all those wishing to address the town board during the public comment period 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 who 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 from clapping, making loud noises, and generally showing support or displeasure for comments made during the public comment period. Police Chief Smith will be asked to escort from the boardroom anyone not respecting the process, and it is the discretion of the mayor as presiding officer to continue the public comment period if the meeting protocol is not followed. This concludes the protocol for tonight's meeting.

Thank you very much, Town Manager Mitchell. Our next item is the approval of the June 16th, 2026 Town Board of Commissioner regular scheduled meeting, the minutes for approval. Do I hear a motion to approve the minutes for the June 16th meeting?

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion to approve the minutes of the June 16th, 2026 Town Board of Commissioners regular scheduled meeting. Second.

All those in favor of the motion, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you very much. The next item is item 4A, Recognition, Planning Department, 2026, Fuquay-Varina Citizens Planning Academy. More information about this agenda item will be presented by Planning Director Davidson.

Thank you so much. You're quite welcome. On June 25th, the Planning Department completed the inaugural Citizens Planning Academy. The program's goal was to provide basic understanding of the Planning Department's role in shaping Fuqua Arena's growth, and also to equip residents with tools to engage in projects and share knowledge within the community. Participants from across the town participated in a four-week course covering planning basics, long-range planning, current planning, and code compliance. They completed activities including a mock neighborhood meeting, a mock planning board meeting, identifying code compliance violations, and stepping into the shoes of planners to determine some development. The planning department is pleased to present, if you guys can stand up, the inaugural class of the 2026 Town of Fuquay-Varina Citizens Plan Academy to the Fuquay-Varina Town Board.

Wow.

Yes, yes, come on up.

Yes, great.

Yep, stand and face this way. Right in front of the board members.

Yeah.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much. We appreciate your interest in this process. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Glad you could come tonight. The next presentation is item 4B, recognition fire department officer promotions. More information about this agenda item will be presented by Fire Chief Jones. Chief Jones, hello.

Mayor, commissioners, managers, good evening.

Good evening.

Thank you for the opportunity tonight to introduce and officially recognize three leaders in the fire department. I've asked Division Chief Justin Revestal to join me up here tonight as we recognize these new leaders. Tonight is a special occasion for the firefighters standing beside me. We are not here this evening just to recognize career advancements, but to celebrate the growth of leaders from within our department dedicated to the safety and well-being of our community. The fire officers we are honoring tonight have consistently gone above and beyond demonstrating the skills, dedication, and leadership qualities necessary to take on the increased responsibilities. They have worked hard to get to this point in their careers, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for them. This evening, we celebrate the well-deserved promotions of Josh Sorrell and Martin Baxley to the rank of Fire Captain and Dustin Grimes to the rank of Division Fire Chief. And we look forward to the lasting impact they will have on the town and the department. We are incredibly grateful for the support of the families who have been instrumental in their success. And we are honored to have many of them joining us tonight for this special event. Each officer will have their new badge pinned by a family member or members tonight, making their promotions official. Gentlemen, as I call your name, please step to my right and have your well-deserved badge pinned. First up tonight, Fire Captain Josh Sorrell. Josh will be pinned by his wife, Amber. Josh joined our department in 2010, left in 2016 to pursue other career opportunities, but returned in 2019 when he realized this is the greatest job on earth. In his free time, Josh serves as the fire chief for the Buies Creek Volunteer Fire Department in Harnett County. Captain Sorrell has been assigned to ladder one on A shift, and he will lead a crew of three firefighters. Next up, Fire Captain Martin Baxley. And Martin will be pinned tonight by his wife, Caitlin, and son, Knox. Martin joined our department in 2018, hit the ground running, and has proven to be a valued member and leader in the department. In his free time, Martin serves as an assistant fire chief with the Spivey's Corner Volunteer Fire Department in Sampson County. Captain Batchelor has been assigned a ladder two on C-shift, and he will also lead a crew of three firefighters. Congratulations. And last but not least, Division Chief Dustin Grimes. Dustin will be pinned tonight by his wife Melanie and son Luke. Dustin joined the department as a full-time employee in 2005 after graduating from the fire department explorer program and has already proven to be a dependable member of our management team. Chief Grimes will manage the new training and professional development division in the fire department, ensuring all new and current firefighters are adequately trained and ready to serve the community. Congratulations, gentlemen, and we are incredibly proud, proud of your accomplishments and can't wait to see what the future holds for you. Mayor, commissioners, managers, thank you again for this opportunity tonight to introduce these leaders in our department. And we all look forward to big things from this group. Thank you.

Thank you. And we appreciate your courage and your commitment to the town of Fuqua Arenas. The public at large realizes how fortunate we are to have you in our department, in the community. and also the opportunity for you to take advantage of the promotional ladder that was created by the management and staff several years ago. I'm sure it's a motivator for you. We encourage you to keep on keeping on. This is a great day for you. And again, congratulations. Does any other, Commissioner has any words that you want to say?

Well, Mr. Mayor, it's always good to see one of my fellow classmates of class 2003. Oh, really? Yeah, so Fuqua does produce great things.

Anyone else? Again, thank you so much and congratulations. Thank you, Chief. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

I'll just say it. Ms. Merrill.

Thank you all. Thank you again. Thank you all so much. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, before we move forward, I also encourage our citizens to participate in the next class of the planning academy as well. So I just definitely encourage them. I think from what I've heard, the graduates had a great experience. So just we encourage new residents and people who want to get involved to participate in the next academy. I think the students will, the graduates will definitely appreciate that, right? See, they're shaking their heads, so we good.

Thank you, Commissioner Haynes. I agree. Thank you. Thank you so much. Now we'll move on to item 4C, presentation Turbo Creek and North Harnett Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant Construction Updates. More information about this agenda item will be presented by Public Utilities Director Wagner. Hey, how you doing, Mike?

Good evening, mayor. Good evening. Hopefully provide you a brief update of two of our projects we have going on. Okay. Hard to hard to believe it's almost been two months already since we went and visited Sanford. So I want to update you on some of our projects. I'm going to walk through the terrible creek wastewater treatment plant from the influent flow, the influent where it's coming into the plant. So on your on your left and highlighted in the presentation is location on the plant site and then on the right is assumed in image. The influence station really be adding a new bar screen and adding new pumps at that facility. You know that the design flow for peak flows has to be able to treat up to 18 million gallons a day. So we're permitted for 6 but an ionized event, a storm event, we have to be able to move that water through the plant and not be spilling it on the ground. The next location is biological nutrient removal tank number three. This tank is going to be able to handle a lot more flow than the other two tanks. This tank will hold almost two million gallons when it's completely full and in operation. We had a great project success through the late winter and early spring. The weather was very favorable for us, so we were able to get all that concrete poured and be ahead of schedule. We didn't know that it wasn't gonna rain at all, but we did conserve as much water as we could, and we actually used the effluent from the plant to be able to fill the tanks as opposed to potable water. After it goes through the biological nutrient removal process, it goes into the clarifiers. So we're expanding, we're adding a third clarifier. This is where the microorganisms settle out and the clean water goes over the weirs and the microorganisms either go back to the front of the buffet or they get wasted out and ultimately composted. Same thing, we were able to have a lot of success with the concrete pours over here and the water integrity test passed its first go around. After it goes through the clarifiers, it goes through filtration. So we're adding two sets of disc filters. Disc filters are very convenient. It allows us to filter a lot of flow in a very compact space. And after it goes through the disc filters, then it ultimately goes to the ultraviolet disinfection. next is the administration and maintenance building on site so once we finish completion and the permit is is done will be a 24 7 operation there so that means that there has to be somebody on site at any given time so we'll be able to you know have training in there at any given time there could be 15 people there so the existing building and operator room just wasn't large enough to handle that amount of people We've also in the process of converting the laboratory and the office space into a full blown laboratory where we can run both drinking water and wastewater samples at the plant. Just a quick refresher this was a design build project expanding the plant from 3 million gallons a day to 6 million gallons a day. Crowder construction is a contractor and Hazen swear is the designer says of the 5 million dollars in design about 64 million dollars in construction. We're currently under budget and ahead of schedule, so keep my fingers crossed that we finish the next six months that way. As I mentioned, we're completing the lab and maintenance building, rehabbing the basins that are existing. Some of that equipment is worn out, so we are replacing it. We have just finished installing the 42-inch effluent line, and over the next couple months, we will begin installing a 42-inch influent line, and that line will go under 401, so that we'll be able to handle all of our future flows. The existing pipe was undersized, but it was also in very poor condition, so it was a great opportunity for us to go ahead and do that now. In addition, we've been working with NCDOT, ultimately HL0006, new Lake Wheeler Extension will come through the plant site. So we're working with them to try to get a new driveway permit and just a stub out for sewer so we can take future flow through that location. Next I'm in a transfer over to the North heart regional wastewater treatment plant. This project is a 109 million dollar project of which we have 44 million dollars invested in this. We're expanding our capacity in the Cape Fear River Basin from 2.6 million gallons a day to 6 million gallons a day so That is our projected build out based on the current plan use plan ultimately density could could change that but we're on pace to have capacity in that basin for many years to come. I just the picture on the on the left or on the right, you know you can see the size of those basins compared to the crane that's in the basin. The people in there are working, so these are huge basins. This is a different process than what we do. These are sequencing-backed reactors, so they treat the waste stream a little bit differently. This project was a design-build project. It's currently on pace to complete in February of 2028. So just had an overview of the picture. There's a lot of new equipment on site, but we're slowly on pace and still on budget with this project. And I'm available for any questions you might have.

So on this project in Harnett County, this is a partnership and there are other partners that are contributing to this expansion. Is that correct?

That is correct. Yeah, we are direct partners with Harnett County, Harnett Regional Water, but Angera and Lillington also have capacity in this facility and they've contributed to, I think I said 109 million, but I have 111 million written down.

So before we do these expansions we have about six million total between terrible Creek and part of County on.

Well once once these expansions are complete will have a total of 12 million gallons in a treatment capacity, 6 in each base.

But today to 6 were basically double correct. And then the anger in Lillington and Harnett County they're going to expand 6 million gallons.

They have different levels of capacity that based on their agreements with Harnett County. I don't know those off the top of my head as it was somewhere around up like 1.5 million gallons a day for I think for Lillington and maybe a little less for Andrew.

I saw something that made me think On here you're showing that it's increasing from 7.5 million gallons a day to 16.5. Yes, sir, which is an increase of 9 million gallons and we've got about 3 million gallons. So that's where I was thinking. There's about 6.

Yes, hard hard account heart County has that we we're going to have the almost the largest amount of capacity in that facility in the heart of County and Andrew Linton. Yes.

So just for clarification Andrew Lillington have contractual capacity. Harnett County has their own capacity and then it will be some excess capacity as growth continues that Harnett County can utilize in that point.

Just seeing this it appears to me that northern Harnett County is planning on growing.

is growing it's growing fast I mean it includes southern art you know our portion of southern Wake County as well so yeah yes a lot of a lot of homes a lot of activity thank you any other questions comments all right thank you so much appreciate it

At this time, we're gonna move to our public comment period, item five. At this time, the town clerk will call on individuals who 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 on any matter, not the subject of a scheduled public hearing. The public comment period is not a time for the town board to respond are engaged in back and forth conversation with the public. Those speaking are asked to begin by clearly stating your name and address for the public. Please limit your comments to three minutes so that all who wish to speak may be heard in a timely manner. Town Clerk Wilder, do we have anyone signed up for public comments?

Yes, we have four people.

OK.

Good evening. Good evening. Last month I appeared before this body along with several other neighbors to state our case for the parking issue in North Lake subdivision. I am here this evening to say thank you. to all of you for your attention and consideration in this complicated and charged issue. Your willingness to listen to all of us who spoke, each addressing different aspects of the impact of the high school student parking in our neighborhood is to be commended. I am proud of all of you as our community leaders as you applied the democratic process to the problem we presented. You listened to our concerns, conducted a meaningful and in-depth discussion, and came to a reasonable conclusion which I feel addresses the concerns of all of our neighbors, and most importantly, the safety of our children. In this day and age, it is refreshing to see that government here in Fuquay-Varina is clearly of the people, by the people, and for the people as it was meant to be. Finally, I'd like to extend my thanks to the Fuquay-Varina Police Department and all town staff members, back there, who worked so hard on solving this problem. I am proud, very proud, to be a resident of a community where everyone has a voice and where our leaders listen. Thank you all so very much.

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

Next we have David Adams.

Hello good evening. David Adams, a 2624 Broad Street and you wave arenas extraterritorial jurisdiction, OK. On the heels of the little recognition of the citizens planning Academy. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank the town of few wave arena. Thank miss Mister mayor Harris. Thank you commissioners town staff. And the planning department. for hosting such a wonderful event. And I personally appreciate extending that invitation to extraterritorial jurisdiction members, which allowed me to personally attend. And while I'm sure the entire planning department had a whole lot to do in preparation and execution of the event, I want to call out four individuals in particular, that being Planning Director Pam Davidson, Assistant Planning Director Elliot Ward, senior planner for long range planning, Alyssa Holman, and planner two for long range planning, Allison Wiley. Allison did a whole lot with the communication and emailing us and keeping us all straight on when we were gonna meet and where we were gonna meet and a follow up survey to boot. Each session that we attended was packed with so much information, everything from the history of city planning to specific Fuquay-Varina projects, many of which come before you. The presentation style from these individuals was both engaging and thought-provoking. And if I didn't know any better, I would really think that all four of them got their degrees in public education and teaching as opposed to urban and city planning. They really did do a wonderful job of keeping us engaged. And in fact, two of the nights, The Carolina Hurricanes were playing in playoff games on their road to the Stanley Cup, and you would have never known it. Nobody was looking at their watches. 8.30 would come. We didn't want to leave. We still wanted to have discussion and ask questions, and somebody would casually bring up that there was a hockey game on, and we had to break. If I had to sum up one fundamental theme that I personally got out of the academy, it would be this, and that is that city planning is a delicate balance between public governance and private property owner rights. And what I mean by that is if a landowner wants to develop his or her property he should be allowed to develop his or her property and he and she should receive assistance and guidance from the town's planning department in a manner that was most beneficial to the community and Contrary, if an individual desires to preserve or conserve their property, they should have the right to do that as well and should receive the same assistance in doing so.

I'm going to have to ask you to end there.

Okay, okay. In closing, I just wanted to say thank you on behalf. I don't speak on behalf of my fellow attendees, but we are most grateful, and I would encourage every citizen to try to attend a future Citizens Planning Academy. Thank you.

Thank you so very much for your feedback. I appreciate your comments. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, my name's Paul Meza. I reside at 744 Catherine Lake Court. You heard Mary start this public session off thanking the mayor and the commissioners and police officers for the diligent work that you did on the situation in North and South Lakes with the parking and with the issues with the student parkings. So I, too, just wanted to take a few minutes to say thank you for the job that you did. You listened. You thought rationally, came up with a lot of common sense solutions. And it's nice to be a part of a committee or an organization that does listen to its people. I think you did a great job. You came up with some common sense solutions, and I know it's still a work in progress, and we'll continue to watch it, and hopefully this will turn out to be a good decision for all. But again, I just wanted to say thank you very much for listening to us, taking actions. It's appreciated by a lot of us. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your comments. We appreciate your feedback. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Next is Tracy Goldman.

Tracy Goulden I live at 1803 Lakeland drive here in Fuquay I've lived in Fuquay for 17 years and I have to say I absolutely love this town I think it's great place to live we have so much going for us a very special place we have. fantastic downtown award-winning main street program our art center is fantastic our police department is wonderful i've interacted with the fire department before they've been wonderful every department i've ever dealt with in this town has been wonderful think though I've noticed over the last few months some issues of communication and trust between the people of Fuqua and the board and I wanted to address that I wasn't able to be here last month to speak so I wanted to come this month and just say just a few things that I've noticed I think there was the recent issue of at the 4th of July fireworks and the parking issues. And I think the town's response to that was very disappointing. I think that it put the responsibility back on the people who needed the handicap parking and didn't really acknowledge that maybe the town had a miss on that with regard to blocking off parking spaces that should have possibly been for people who needed to park closer. I didn't know that we had dignitaries in Fuquay. I kind of like Fuquay for our humbleness. I always say I grew up in Green Bay, so I have low expectations for glamour, which is one of the things I love about Fuquay. so just maybe take a little more humble approach on something like that and really try to find a solution i know other people have spoken out before about the issues of handicap parking within town events and i think we need to take a hard look at that and really make sure that we're treating the people who need the close in parking in with the dignity that they deserve also i think it was disappointing to know that spaces were blocked off for town officials I think we're all citizens in this town, and unless you're actually handicapped, you probably shouldn't have a close-in parking spot. We're all equal, schlep your stuff half a mile like everyone else does in the extreme heat. Another thing that I've noticed with the regard to the communication and the trust is I think there have been some things, especially the very contentious issue of Hilltop Needmore Park, obviously very hot topic. I wanna say I sit on my own neighborhood HOA board, so I have full empathy. You cannot make everyone happy. You will never make everyone happy. Some people think there's a special place in heaven for people who sit on boards. Other people think it's a very different location that people who sit on boards are gonna end up at. um i hope it's heaven but um i think that some of the communication around that as a citizen it felt like it came out of nowhere of that suddenly it was being um presented that this was going to be happening that the you know how the name of the park got changed and preserve was taken off of it how this came up very quickly this has been very rushed and i know we're that there's going to be a vote tonight on choosing a contractor oh

I'm going to have to.

Thank you. Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. And overall, Fuqua is a great place. I can't say enough good things about it. And our name is funny, but we have a lot of charm.

Well, thank you. Thank you so much for your comments. We appreciate your feedback. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now we go to, give me a second here, just wanna make sure I'm on target. We don't have any items tabled from previous meetings, so we're going to item, public hearings. There are no public hearings tonight for the July 7th town board meeting. So we'll move on to the consent agenda. There are no consent agenda items for this evening. Item eight. So we move on to item nine and now 10. We'll move over onto administrative reports. item ten a consultant selection Hilltop need more town park parks recreation and cultural resources more information about this agenda item will be presented by parks and recreation director Cox good evening good evening board the purpose of this agenda item is consider the selection of the most qualified design build firm for the Hilltop need more town park project and authorize a town manager or designee to negotiate the scope and fee

Per North Carolina General Statute 143-64-31, town staff solicited a request for qualifications for design build consultants for the Hilltop-Newmoor Town Park project on April 27th and received seven RFQ responses from highly qualified design build firms on May 29th. Based on the scoring criteria established in the request for qualifications, two firms were invited to interview with the town on Tuesday, June 23rd. considering the entire evaluation process town staff determined that the team of balfour beatty mcadams and hh architecture to be the most qualified design build team to complete the hilltop need more town park project with bloom construction second under the qualifications-based selection process prescribed by north carolina general statutes The town is required to select the best qualified design build firm without respect to price and following the selection may attempt to negotiate a fair and reasonable price for the proposed scope of work. The qualifications and interview presentation submitted by Balfour Beatty as well as bloom construction demonstrated that both design build firms have extensive relevant experience and project familiarity and are well qualified to to perform the design and construction of Hilltop need more town Park. Balfour Beatty was identified as the most qualified design bill team based on their extensive experience with over 55 can bear comparable part projects. They also demonstrated significant staff availability for the project and a clear understanding of site-specific conditions, including dam remediation and rehabilitation. Management staff recommend that the town board designate Balfour Beatty as the best qualified design-build firm and designate Bloom Construction as the next best qualified firm. Upon selection, management and staff will work with Balfour Beatty to develop a scope of work and fee that aligns with Hilltop-Newmore Town Park project identified in the FY27 budget. If acceptable scope and fee terms cannot be reached with Balfour Beatty, town staff will move to negotiations with Bloom Construction. 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 and staff anticipate bringing a negotiated scope and fee with terms to a future town board meeting. Town funding for the Hilltop-Newmore Town Park project is included in the adopted FY27 budget of $10 million. The recommendation by motion is to designate Balfour Beatty as best qualified and preferred design-build firm and Bloom Construction as the next ranked preferred firm to perform the design and construction for the Hilltop-Neymoor Town Park project and authorize a town manager or designee to negotiate scope and fees subject to the town attorney review as to form. I'll be happy to answer any questions the board might have.

Thank you. Are there any questions? okay commissioner at got.

I wanted to ask a couple things. Obviously obviously this project contains a lot of different improvements or Hilltop need more Park but when I think about the section where the baseball fields are proposed to go that section I have wondered in the past about trying to get walking trail access to it from, there's a road that dead ends off of Lake Wheeler Road across from Brighton Ridge. I looked it up I think it's called Helen drive I'm assuming that is a public right away and I'm not asking that we necessarily what I'm wondering is if we can get a walking trail down Helen drive and try into Hilltop need more park in my thinking behind that is we've got a lot of residents in Brighton Ridge and I think it would be convenient for him to be able to access the park that way. I think that needs to be studied is that something that could be kind of added to this is at least if nothing else to study.

I think that's something we can definitely look at during the design process and see if there's an opportunity for pedestrian easement through that property.

Okay, absolutely I think that would be nice. I appreciate you know, of course at least the other thing that I just wanted to I if nothing else make note of the request for qualifications was put out by the town I think the last week of April correct and my memory of that is the prior week the we had a budget workshop where we were presented with the proposed budget that we've now adopted but part of that proposed budget that the board during the So that's why the next week this went out at least that's what we were you.

That is correct. There's a similar process we went through with the Fleming Lube Park improvements also.

Yes. And the Fleming Lube, now that request for proposal went out earlier because in earlier this year, January or February, we were told that we had won a grant for a little over $4 million to go toward that project. Correct. And so the town was preparing that likely we would, in our budget, contribute the remaining balance to do that project. and so pretty soon after we found out we had won that four million dollars the town then put out the request for proposal on fleming loop that's why that project's a little bit ahead of where we are with hilltop need more correct that's accurate yes i just wanted to make sure i was understanding and at least talk it through that's it

Also, Mr. Mayor, I think the selected best qualified and preferred design-build firm is a very quality firm. I've been to multiple projects they worked on from the town of Cary downtown to Gibson Park in Dorothy and Dix. I also went to, for memorials, I went to the Emanuel 9 Memorial in Charleston. So they've all worked on those projects. So we see that they can handle what's gonna be needed for this project. So I'm excited just to see what they're gonna come up with.

Okay, great. Any other comments? Do I hear a motion or a recommendation?

Mayor and I'm just to take an action on this. I move that we designate now for baby is the best qualified and preferred design bill from him and construction is the next ranked preferred firm to perform the designing stretch real top need more town park project as presented.

You heard the motion is moved and properly second. Is it any further discussion. What's your pleasure all in favor of the motion let it be known by saying aye. Any opposed. As has had the motion passes. Thank you. Now we move on to item. 11 a No, I'm sorry, 10B, Contract Award, Design, Build, Fleming Loop, Park, Turf, Renovation, Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources. Director Cox, again.

Thank you mayor, the purpose of this agenda item is consider an award of a contract with edifice construction for design build services for the Fleming Lou Park turf renovation project and authorize a town manager or designee to execute the contract at the May 4th town board meeting management staff recommended and the board selected edifice construction as the best qualified firm to serve as a design build consultant for the Fleming Lou Park turf renovation project and authorize a town manager or designee to negotiate the scope and fee. The proposed contract defines a pre-construction design scope of services. It includes topographical, environmental, and geotechnical surveys, conceptual and design development, cost estimating, construction documents, and an allowance for a site survey. at the conclusion of design services edifice construction will present the town with a gmp or guaranteed maximum price for review and authorization to proceed with construction the duration of pre-construction design services is expected to take six months the proposed fee for pre-construction design services is four hundred forty thousand seven hundred dollars which is consistent with industry norms for pre-construction design build services for public projects of similar scope Management staff recommend approval of the negotiated scope and fee agreement subject to the town attorney's review as to form. As a fiscal note, the $440,700 pre-construction services fee is included in FY27 adopted budget. The total project budget is $10,500,000, which includes $4,250,000 award from the Raleigh-Wake County Hospitality Grant. Tonight the recommendation by motion is to award a contract to edifice construction for the Fleming loop Park turf renovation project as presented this award is contingent upon the review by the town attorney and the execution of a funding agreement with Wake County and authorization for the town manager or there does he need to execute the contract on behalf of the town. Now we have to answer any questions aboard might have.

Any comments or questions.

Yes, Mister Mayor, just to can you speak to written Cox to one the phasing you know let the citizens know that all these the whole turf of all the fields will be happening at one time there's a phase and as well as just the long term benefits of turf fields and you know how that allows us to be able to use the fields more especially during

those are tough seasons on the grass that we have absolutely so we will work with that of his construction what's the construction documents are completed the GMP is awarded to identify phasing of the project we have no intention of taking Fleming Lou Park offline enclosing it Due to our youth athletic demands, we will most likely shut down the left-hand side of the park for a period of three months. They will repair and install the new turf, artificial turf, and then they will transition to the other side, fields four, five, six, and seven. The implementation of this tour for years. We've had challenges with drainage on the property. This will allow us to schedule more frequently when we have rain and high rain events. The drainage is going to be much better and we'll still be able to play on the turf and will reduce cancellations and rescheduling of practices or games.

And also this the edifice construction also worked on if I'm not mistaken the Hollis Springs fields there at the park too as well. They have, yes. I thought so.

Any other questions or comments from any board member?

Mister mayor, I move to award a contract to edifice construction for the plumbing loop park turf renovation project as presented and recommended subject to the town attorney's review and to form an execution of the capital funding agreement between the town and Wake County and authorize the town manager or his designee to execute the contract on the town's behalf.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor of the motion as stated, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

The next item, item 11, is other business. Item 11A, manager's report.

Thank you, Mayor. Just a few things to advise the board on this evening. As it pertains to our engineering department, the town's resurfacing project continues to make progress with streets identified through the town's pavement analysis currently being repaved and curb ramps upgraded for ADA compliance. Construction on the town's pedestrian crossing enhancement project is beginning this week and will provide crosswalk upgrade signage and a D a improvements at 4 priority locations. As it pertains are planning department, the planning department identified that 694 residential lots were created in fiscal year 26 the department is currently interviewing candidates to fill the current planner one position. Our new economic development director, Kelly Gordon, will start work next week and we look forward to welcoming Kelly to the community and to our team. And town staff will begin the interview process this week for the downtown development manager position in partnership with our partners at Fuqua Verena Downtown Association. Public utilities is currently reviewing applications for positions approved in the fiscal year 27 budget and will be working with HR to schedule interviews and the public works department filed the annual Powell bill certification on July 3rd. The town added 5.64 miles of new streets in fiscal year 26 bringing the total mileage to 188.4 miles of town streets. This mileage is used along with our population to determine the portion of the state's PAL bill allocation the town receives. As was mentioned earlier, we did have a fantastic Independence Day celebration event in our community. while it was not perfect it was all in all a great community event that was well attended i want to publicly thank jonathan trey and the parks and recreation department for all their hard work on planning the event and and putting it on the police department and the explorers the fire department the public works department the communications department and theresa for their involvement at the event i want to recognize and any other town employee for that matter that that was involved want to recognize them You may have heard the news today, but there was an announcement earlier today that the North Carolina DMV will be relocating from its location on South Fuquay Avenue. The current DMV space is no longer sufficient to the growth in not only Fuquay Verena, but Southern Wake County, the region, and frankly the state. You know for patrons to come visit DMV or the state today purchased 816 North Main Street Which is the former Walgreens property on on North Main Street This new space will allow DMV to provide a better experience for its patrons Expand services and make the facility both a driver's license and vehicle registration location Representative Perret is to be commended for her leadership on this matter and her commitment to ensuring that the DMV remains in Fuqua Arena. Additionally, I want to just provide the board and the public an update on the status of our interbasin transfer certificate application. The state budget was signed today by the governor and is now law. There was a moratorium provision in the state budget on innovation transfers from the Cape Fear River. However, there was an exclusion included in the state budget that provides that any innovation transfer certificate that was applied for prior to July 1 of 2026 can still go through the process of being heard by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission, which includes our application. Representative Perry in this instance is also to be commended. She worked very hard to protect the interest of Fuqua Verena and our investments to ensure that we get a fair shake in front of the state regulatory body on our interbasin transfer application. So I want to publicly thank her again for her efforts to work to help protect the town. In addition, there are some items on your agenda that I'll just quickly mention. Those include our annual ice cream social, which is scheduled for Sunday, July 19th from 4 to 6 p.m. Just hold off on moving forward on that. I'll just mention these for right now. There is no town board meeting on Tuesday, July 21st. And as is customary, we only have one meeting in the month of July. And we do have a coffee with a cop scheduled at Stick Boy Bakery on Wednesday, July 21st. that would be on Wednesday, August 5th from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. With that, Mr. Mayor, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you and the town board might have. There are a few other items I want to discuss, including a presentation real quickly from Mike Wagner on water conservation measures. But at this time, I'm happy to answer any questions the board might have.

Any questions? All right, item 11b, water conservation stages. Stage two, Mike Wagner. Is that? Okay, great.

Good evening again, mayor and commissioners. I was just trying to update you on the status of our water shortage response plan and the current stages we're in. The city of Raleigh today got approval from their board of counsel to be able to enact their stage two restrictions at any given time over the next several weeks. So they do have a break as well. So they've given permission to the manager and utilities director to make that decision. Falls Falls Lake continues to drop 2 to 3% a week. It's down to somewhere around 60% water quality pool. So it is very dry up there. So most of our Water supply basin is in you know exceptional drought, which is the worst that can can be So we just want to prepare ourselves Raleigh has asked us to follow their stage 2 schedule to be It just you know walking beside them. So there are some some different uh requirements during their stage two and so we wanted to make make you aware of that currently we would have a reduced irrigation schedule in our stage two but all irrigation is prohibited in stage two as we move forward with Raleigh in the event that we move that direction. So that is the biggest thing. It's been the biggest communication issue we've had thus far. There is a lot of education. We're answering multiple phone calls every single day. I'm personally trying to call folks to make them aware that they are in violation to educate them. Irrigation continues to be our biggest issue. For Raleigh, it's about 15 million gallons a day of water that's being irrigated. For us, it's more like 250,000 gallons a day. But it is a big percentage of our water use.

So I think Mister mayor would I would just add to that if I can is that we are closely monitoring how our partners are addressing water conservation. As you know, the town is contractually obligated to mirror what Raleigh does if they'd have to go into added conservation measures or we could put our water supply in in in jeopardy and so we we will be closely working with our partners in Raleigh to make sure that if those measures are must go into place that is absolutely necessary. We don't want to do it if not necessary, but we also want to be mindful of the conditions that we find ourselves in and and do the right thing as well. So we'll be we'll be closely working with that and I'll keep the board and obviously the public will will keep them abreast of when and if those additional conservation measures have to take place.

Okay, all right. Any any further questions from I do if I could I could I just want to make sure that I understand I think I do understand.

You know as everyone else is going on following this closely, you're trying to keep you listen to all the talk about our water issues in this area. I've noticed that some of our neighbors have just gone to stage one. Obviously, we've been in stage one for a while, but my understanding of that, and I just hope that the public can understand this as well, is that we're contractually obligated with Raleigh because we do get a percentage of our water from Raleigh, and they're having to follow a little bit stricter guideline due to where they get their water from. because our other partners may not be getting it from Raleigh, so they're a little bit behind us as far as staging. Is that a correct assumption?

The water coming from Raleigh is coming from the Neuse River Basin. Right. A lot of our surrounding, you know, Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Harnett County, all that water is coming from the Cape Fear River Basin.

And they're just beginning to go to stage one now, is that correct?

Yeah, and they're really only going to stage one because the Army Corps of Engineers is just trying to make conservative. Okay.

But I want to make sure I have a clear understanding because people are asking me all the time and that our issue is that we also receive Raleigh from the Neuse River Basin, from Raleigh, and we need to follow their guidelines because we have a contract with them. It's kind of simple.

Correct. I mean, in addition to that, we have a permit to supply public water. North Carolina general statute says that we have to have a water shortage response plan that's approved by the state and then also approved by the board.

And they're not do have just a question because I don't understand what it is that this is some new stuff me what is subsurface irrigation.

Sometimes you may have like a soaker hose that that's buried underground and just kind of look at leeches in your flower beds, OK.

I just want to I didn't I never heard that point just wonder what all right, thank you.

The other questions of it this is very yes.

So you know it says that no action is required here, but Raleigh were to move into stage 2 would that require action on the board or have we already taken the boards already taken that action great to to authorize management to to implement this stage of conservation. Okay, thank you.

OK thank you I appreciate it.

Mister mayor under other businesses, one other item I want to just share with the board all right and also. Shares public as well related to the downtown temporary event space concepts we if you as you recall in our fiscal year 27 budget we have a temporary measure to create an event space in downtown on the property that is eventually envisioned to become the Ponte Woods downtown Park. And so we are very close to issuing contracts for the demolition of some of the buildings that we have acquired in downtown. We'll be doing that in the coming weeks. We've already taken care of the asbestos and any remediation that is necessary before demolition can occur. so we wanted to begin thinking about what the downtown temporary event space might look like and so we put together some concepts that we're happy to share with the board today tonight and we can work to to refine these the whole goal is to not do a great deal or hardly any at least on the larger space of permanent uh structures because we know that eventually when we do the uh larger design for the piney woods park concept that that area may need to be modified and revisited so we don't want to have sacrificial uh investments into the property so we really want sort of a clean landscape that we can use for events like follow me to fuquay concerts and maybe some other partners are able to use as well until later on down the road when we're able to program it, we can do a larger project. And so one of the things we talked about at our budget workshop as we were discussing potentially programming funds in the budget is sort of making a nice plaza or entryway into this event space from the corner of Academy Street and North Main Street and so this right here is a just a concept rendering is not nothing has been designed with the idea in mind of relocating the follow me to Fuqua Verena concerts from the Centennial Square parking lot where they occur now and the Centennial Square Park where they occur now over to this location as you know the Centennial Square parking lot Centennial Square is going to be wrapped up in a larger downtown redevelopment project that we have a developer. Working to pursue and so that the event and others want to be relocated other places we can sometimes use of course the arena parking lot, but that may not always be conducive for every event said. This concept rendering establishes sort of a gateway entrance with some archways from the corner of Academy Street and North Main Street with a nice meandering walkway to the back of the property where the temporary event space will be held. And the vision here is that this walkway sort of be a community history walkway where we might put some of these community history raised marker signs that speak to the town's history and how it's changed over time from its beginnings. And so it could just be a nice nod and a nice way to ensure that our history is not forgotten before patrons may enter into this event space. And then of course, none of what is seen here are permanent structures. We currently rent the stage for our events. Restroom trailers are also rented. Food trucks are owned by food truck operators and they come in for our events. Vendor tents as well. The kids zone. None of those concepts there are necessarily permanent structures. They could be relocated to other areas in the future. Just as an understanding, this space provides about twice, if not a little more than twice the capacity for patrons than the current space provides. So that is one way where we could provide sort of a blank canvas and use this temporary event space while we are planning and continuing to plan for the larger Piney Woods Park concept and vision that's later down the road. Additionally, when we're not using it for town events, partners like the growers market, for example, could use this space. And this just is a concept rendering of how they may program this space with with tenants. Now, again, this is a concept rendering. It can be refined and better utilized. The goal is to make sure that we have space for other community partners that might wish to use this space or that we might wish or might want to use this space while also not putting permanent structures on the site again we want to limit permanent structures on the site until we're ready to make the larger investment for piney woods park so i wanted just to share uh share these concepts with you i don't necessarily need any feedback tonight unless you want to provide feedback but certainly as we're moving forward with the demolition of some of the structures that currently sit on the properties at the corner and begin Moving forward with our fiscal year 27 budget plans of a temporary event space, wanted to go ahead and show these to you so that you can begin thinking about them and give us any feedback in the near term, next few weeks or months. I'm happy to answer any questions the board might have, but wanted to go ahead and get these in front of you and the public as soon as possible.

Any questions? I know it's just a concept, but where would parking be for all of this, particularly if the, you know, next to Town Hall, you know, we have the mixed-use development underway?

Yeah, so we do have some parking that on other property that we own, downtown parking in general. I mean, we don't necessarily provide designated parking for the Follow Me to Fuqua concert. We rely on public to find some other spaces. We do have an agreement with Fidelity Bank for Follow Me to Fuqua concerts that people can park there, especially those that might have ADA accessible needs. And so between downtown parking, partnership with Fidelity Bank some existing parking that we have to the north of that that's how we use it perhaps even you know a parking arrangement with the Chamber of Commerce for events that are after hours that don't conflict with their with their parking needs could be a potential in the future as well thank you Now you'll recall when the pork came when the project across the street is fully developed it will include a yeah 100 space parking day said there will be some additional parking that will be generated by that.

The other questions.

All right, we still measure. Thank you for that update. Yes, sir. And again, we've got the events. I mentioned earlier the ice cream social July 19th from 4 to 6 no town board meeting July 21st coffee with the cop from 09.00AM to 10.00AM on August 5th. Thank you mayor.

You're quite welcome. Now we'll we'll move to town board member comments starting with commissioner Haynes.

Yes, Mister Mayor. Just being around towns, you know, thankful for seeing the continued efforts for our ADA sidewalk improvements, especially at the for wheelchair access on all of our sidewalks all going up around town has been good. I've heard some great thank yous from a lot of citizens about who are who have used those all the time. So they're thankful for those improvements from not having some little heels and little bumps to have to come off of especially the kids with the bikes and everything even though they want to jump and do wheelies and everything on them half the time um also um i want to thank the police department and try to stay in our home uh for our awesome car show slash block party bash i forgot what it was called but we had a great time We had fish, we had hot dogs, we had chips, and a bunch of amazing cars. I think it was when it got all the way up to I think it was about 60 classic cars all the way from the 30s all the way up to brand new Corvettes. So it was in motorcycles as well. So it was a great event. Thank you to the police department for all they did. And they had car seat safety and so many things. So thank each and every one of y'all for all y'all did for that event. It was great. It was enough shade for us. It actually, the park worked out perfect because it was enough shade for all of them outside of walking around to see the cars. Lastly, I want to keep my comments short. I just want to thank the staff. I know this heat has been rough for these last few weeks. And I know just talking to police department and the fire department, police department, what they have to wear every day, you know, talk to sanitation starting a little bit earlier hour earlier. So just to get the trash up every day, I just want to thank you all, because I know this heat has been rough on y'all, but y'all push through. And I know not just us, but I know the citizens are thankful for all y'all do every day to uh make fuqua arena what it is i just want to thank each and every one of y'all from streets to sanitation to everybody engineering everybody who's been out in the field in this heat so thank you all so much that's all mr mayor thank you so much commissioner adcock

Yes. When I got here tonight, I came up in the elevator with a young man that is a member of the Boy Scout troop that I was a member of. All right. And I believe his name is Cy. End up for us. I just wanted to say Cy is a life scout and he is here working on a merit badge and he's gonna get his Eagle Scout because he's only 13 years old and he's close. So I just wanted to recognize Cy for being here tonight.

Thank you. Hello. Thank you so much.

The the other thing I wanted to I had we've had Mike Wagner speak several times to us today and I might get him to give me a little more information because he had told me are we I was talking with him about we've got a group at the Fuqua Verena high school is pretty participating in a national competition yeah and is the family career and community leadership conference and I wondered if Mike could come up and give a little information on that because in speaking with him he indicated he knew more than I did about it.

I had I had shared that my daughter is one of the individuals that at Fuqua Verena High School that was fortunate to travel this week up to Washington, D.C. for five days. So there are actually nine students, one male and eight females. They're mostly in teams, and each one was able to represent at the national conference because they won a competition with a presentation in Greensboro back in March. So for example, my daughter and her partner, they did a presentation on ways to help young parents address picky eaters, just helping with recipes and giving them the tools to try to get over that. So they they presented today and um we'll we'll ultimately find out on on friday if they win or not but yeah there were nine students from people in high school that made that trip up there that's great great that's great thank you thank you that's it mr mayor i just we've got we've got some pretty outstanding uh

young people in their bingles.

And yeah, yeah, okay, I want in our footsteps.

Thank you all so much commissioner Smith.

Yes sir, thank you Mr. Mayor, I'll be very brief. For the young man in the Boy Scouts who is already a Life Scout at age 13, I was 15 before I got my Life Scout, so you're way ahead of where I was, so congratulations on that. One thing I wanted to touch on tonight was seeing the Planning Academy graduates tonight. um i recall way back when i retired from the police department over 10 years ago now the town manager convinced me that i needed to come back and work for the town on a part-time basis and i went to the planning department working in code enforcement a little bit and what an education that was to work with our planners and start seeing just how they make it happen. I'd sit through planning board meetings like Chief Smith does and seen the presentations, but I got a chance to go into it and be in the meetings and see how they work, although they didn't let me do any planning. I was just there for code enforcement, but I learned so much, and to see that we got a bunch of citizens who joined in on this to learn more about the process really excited me, pretty interesting process obviously we know that we work with our planning form. But I just want to applaud the planning department for sponsoring that and our citizens who were interested in spending time with our folks and learning more about the planning process because it was an education for me when I was working down there and it was just so much to learn and I'm impressed that they're putting on a program and impressed with you guys for going to it. So I just want to throw that out there that I really enjoyed seeing the graduation, you know, being here and about the night and meeting the people. So thank you for that.

I think that's great.

It's all I've got, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Warren.

I just want to say my son Theo and I really enjoyed the July 4th celebration events. that was actually the first time i had been able to attend that and so i do want to thank you know all the town staff and the especially the police and the firefighters who were there you know assisting it was a big event and i know that you know we had some critiques of how it was handled and i i know the town is committed to doing a better job next year with parking in those situations But all in all, I think it was all smiles there. Everyone was having a great time. And I do also want to thank town management and staff for putting on the US soccer game. Unfortunately, there was a little disappointment with that last night. But it was, I think, a great addition to the whole event. So I really appreciate that. What else I think yeah, I think that's about what I want to say covered. Thank you.

OK. Thank you. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem Gardner.

I would just like to add my thanks about the July 4th celebration. That is one of my favorite celebrations that we do throughout the year because I feel like it is the most diverse and just a cross section of our whole community. coming together and finding something there for everybody and the addition of the World Cup, I just thought that was the greatest surprise and to look across that field and see so many families on their blankets and people watching that match that night, and then that one turned out better than last night's. But it just added so much, and all of the things, the special events that were added for the 250th celebration, those have just been really enjoyable. I think learning opportunities for our young people and just the atmosphere was so positive and really great. It was just, good job for, and so many staff members it takes to do something like that. But I loved that we had with that screen at one end of the park and the live music at the other end, it was just, it just felt like a really full experience and it was amazing, thank you.

Great, great, great comment.

Mr. Mayor, one more thing. It slipped my mind. I just want to recognize firefighter Tasia Maddox for her amazing job singing the national anthem. She did amazing. She really did. She really sung that. So I just want to recognize her. It slipped my mind in my comments. But she did an amazing job.

Well, that was worth remembering because it was an outstanding performance.

I think the band wanted her contact information. She was pretty excited about that.

They did. We need to get her name.

She's not available.

Well, thank you for your comments. I had a pretty busy time since our last meeting. Attended the swearing in of two new officers, police officers, which was excellent. And if I'm not mistaken, one of those officers had been in the police explorers program? Both of them had, which is great. I mean, that's just a great way, I think, to move an officer into full-time positions here at Fuqua Arena by getting them prepared where they can see the operations and then make the decision to enter into law enforcement. So I think we have two officers that are going to do very, very, very well. So thank you for inviting me to be a part of that. And then I had a new experience. I was interviewed by CBS 17 for their local matters series with, I forget his name now, but what was his name? Russ Bowen. Russ Bowen, which I thought was very good. So if you want to look at that interview, you can go to CBS 17 Local Matters for the town. Had an opportunity to attend the Metro Mayor's meeting, which is always exciting, and also attended the Fuquay-Varina Rotary's 50th year celebration. which was very exciting. The Rotary Club here in Fuqua Arena has been in existence for 50 years. And I know he's very humble, we have one of our commissioners who is now president of the Rotary, Commissioner Adcock, so congratulations.

Hopefully I'll get them through the 51st year. Thank you. I think a great job. Everybody appreciated you being there. Well, thank you.

For the celebration. It was good to be there and good to be a part of that organization for that night. I really appreciate it. And I think attended the chamber after hours. That's always interesting to do as well. So a very, very good few days, few weeks. And as I was told, some of the events will sort of slow down during the summer, which I can appreciate the break. But it was very good. Those are my comments. Mr. Manager, I know we have a closed session.

Yes, sir. It is recommended that the town board enter in closed session pursuant to North Carolina general statute one 43 3, 18, 11, a 3 attorney client privilege.

All right. Do I hear a motion to that effect?

So moved. Second.

All those in favor of the motion that we go into closed session, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. So we'll go into closed session. Thank you for your attendance this evening.