Town Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, call the meeting to order. It's uh Monday, December the 8th, 2025, 7 p.m. And I want to thank everyone for coming out. It's good to see everyone. Um let's stand for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance 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.

Okay. For our determination of quorum, it looks like everyone is here. Everyone is uh present and accounted for. Do we have any additions, uh, deletions, adoptions to the agenda? Other than I have one. Does anyone else have anything? What I'd like to do is move um 9C of the consent agenda. I'd like to move that out of the consent agenda so we can discuss it if need be. And I'm going to ask Karen Walter Karen Dwey to decide where she wants to put it. Go to a lot of pressure. Mayor

I think that's a discussion that I'll take advice for old business. Oh, old old business. Okay. Can we move it to um Can we move um 10 10B? Okay.

I'll make a motion we adopt the amended agenda. Okay. Uh all in favor?

Okay. It's unanimous. We have moved that to 10B. Uh any any any else? Um okay. All right, we're good. Um, the uh conflict of interest statement. In accordance to state government ethics act, it is the duty of every council member to avoid conflicts of interest. Does any council member have any known conflict of interest with respect to matters on the agenda? And if so, please identify the conflict and refrain from any participation in the matter involved. Any conflicts? Nope. No conflicts. Mayor and council member reports. Anyone want to go first?

I'll go ahead and get started. I'm going to take a little bit of liberty here and just read um a few prepared words that I have. Um I want to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude to my family for your patience, encouragement, and unwavering support throughout my term. to my three little girls that are here. I know that um sometimes that patient looked like waiting an hour in the grocery store while I spoke to a member of the community. So, thank you for that. I want to extend a sincere thanks to our dedicated town and support staff, Leslie, Kim, Greg, Debbie, Karen, and Karen. Your professionalism and commitment to this community are the steady foundation upon which so much of our town success is built. Jeff, I want to thank you especially for these past four years. It has been a humbling privilege to watch you lead, to witness your dedication firsthand and to learn from your example. Your guidance has been invaluable to me.

And to the council who will carry forward uh carry this work forward, I offer my um heartfelt best wishes. May wisdom, discernment, and a deep respect for the responsibility you hold guide your decisions on behalf of our town. Jeff.

Um, well, the first thing I'll start off with is we did have our uh November Wuma meeting, a Western Union Municipal Line meeting in Marvin. Uh, it went very well. I'll just say that during this kind of transition period, uh there will be a meeting or two before kind of probably settle out with with some of the positions. But uh the priorities that we identified for the next year for the group to focus on was number one ensuring that we're going to have another opportunity uh for our Union County legislative representatives to come down and have a meeting in the evening like we did this past past year in May uh for the public to come out and discuss with them um you know what's going on hopefully before the short session starts next April. Uh but we'll have to see about that. Uh secondly, having another meeting very similar to that where uh Brian Williams, the county uh manager, will come out and kind of a state of the county address to everybody, you know, to let us know what's going on there. and finally to continue the discussion of whether or not to u work as a group to engage a lobbyist on behalf of our municipalities here in the western part of the county uh with all the stuff that's going on up in Raleigh regarding changing zoning regulations and things like that. Um to finish I would just add my congratulations to Clayton and Ellen. Uh you have got an adventure coming up. So um I wish you all well. I wish the new council well in their in their terms and just kind of echoing what Brandon said. Uh you know you you'll you'll see that there are times when there's things that you you've got to really think about and and please uh be fair. That's all I would ask and uh that's all I've got.

Okay. Anyone else? So I anyone that watched the meeting last month, I was a month ahead of schedule, but I will just summarize what I had written last month and say that uh we really appreciate y'all's leadership and dedication to the town, everything you've done for the town. Myself and the town is indebted to indebted with gratitude to you. Um Jeff has done eight years of the board and eight years beyond that on the on the planning board. So, and then Brandon, thanks for your four years of service. We really appreciate it.

Okay. I want to thank uh the staff. They've done a wonderful job with town hall. It looks beautiful for Christmas and I really appreciate that. I want to thank Brandon and Jeff for their service these number of years and congratulate the incoming uh council people. I'm looking forward to working with them. And um with that, there's nothing to report on the road front that I have because with the state budget kind of semi in limbo, they still the DOT hadn't figured out what they're doing for us yet. But thank everybody for their future service and past service. Thank you.

And I want to say too, Brandon and Jeff, thank you for all that you've done over the years. You know, sitting up here uh is hard. You know, you're doing you're having to do homework. you're having you're catching grief from both sides and uh and it's hard and and and we all don't agree at times and but we you know we work together and we hammer out these things you know that we that's presented before us. So, I I just want to say thank you for your service to the town and everything you've done and uh and your hard work and what you've done. And it's uh and again, it is hard and uh it's not an easy thing having a bull's eye on your back all the time. And so, uh again, we we appreciate you and what you've done. So, thank you. Okay. Okay. We're going to move forward to the um um public comments. Okay, thank you Debbie. Before we start public comments, um Nita, this is the rules for public hearing and public comments. Um public comments are limited to four minutes. Public hearings uh are limited to three minutes. Comments are to be directed at the entire board and not individuals uh nor the public attending the the meeting. Uh, and I've said u numerous times, you know, once someone's making a comment and they turn that way, I'm going to stop you because the comments are directed to be directed up here and not back there at your neighbors. This is not a a podium to berate your neighbors. Uh, a designated spokesperson for the group of three or more may be allocated uh six minutes to speak. At least three members of the group must be present and names and addresses of the members present uh must be submitted to the town clerk before

the meeting begins. Other than pursuant to this rule, you may not give your time or another speaker to give that time to another speaker to increase your time that's allotted. You must be civil in your language and presentation and act within reasonable standards of courtesy. Use of slander, name calling, personal attacks or threatening speech or behavior is prohibited. The audience must maintain order and decorum in their conduct. Please refrain from any disruptive applause, comments, or disorderly speaking during the meeting. Disturbances will not be prohibited. The mayor or majority of the board may suspend these rules at the discretion. Failure to abide by these rules after receiving notice by the mayor may result in one termination of your comment period andor removal from the meeting. Okay. Uh Chad, come on up.

Good evening. Uh Chad Amarine, Eagle Road. Uh there were two things I would just wanted to mention tonight. Um the first is in regards to the bond release for Weddington Glenn. In the packet, the bond release form mentions as one of the checkboxes executed operation and maintenance agreement for the storm water recorded in the final plat. In our UDO D84C, it describes the maintenance agreement required for final plat. And in line three, it states the maintenance plan shall specify required insurance and all maintenance and operating costs and shall define means for funding the maintenance plan on an ongoing basis. Then in part five, it states, "In the event that the open space and associated common facilities are not maintained in accordance with the approved maintenance plan, the town may recover escrow or bond funds used for those. This is in regards to your open space and storm water areas." Um, after attending meetings and hearing Weddington Glenn residents at some points express their concerns, I'm asking the town to look at this and see if the maintenance agreement has been properly accorded and shared with the HOA so that they know what the plans and associated costs are. Based on this, I would ask that the council, like you did for Enclave, delay this for 30 days to allow this to be investigated and ensure that the HOA is well aware of the maintenance agreement and all their costs. Um, the second thing I just wanted to ask is if the council would consider updating the rules of procedure for public hearings to allow four minutes for public comments in a um as to match general public comments. In public hearings, you're often dealing with reasonzonings and residents may have a lot of points that they want to make at that point and it can al often be more detailed and time consuming to express that. So, I just wanted to see if you would consider changing that to four minutes to match general public comments. Thank you.

Okay, cool. Thank you, Chad. Uh, Joyce Joyce plotter. Good evening. This is just a thank you. I want to thank all of you sitting at the table for your service over the years, but I especially want to thank Jeff and Brandon uh because this will be my last public opportunity to do that. And I want you to know uh personally how much I have appreciated your leadership uh your integrity, your professionalism, um your willingness to confer with me. You always were responsive when I would reach out uh to ask questions or discuss things. So I want to thank you both. Um it it has been a challenging few years and your dedication, your sacrifices have not gone unnoticed. Uh Jeff, I particularly want to thank you for your leadership of Wuma. I think that's an important um group and needs and our participation needs to continue. and I appreciate that you've you stood up and uh led our town in being an active participant in that. So, thank you both.

Thank you, Joyce. John John Shek.

Good evening. I'm going to apologize up front. I'm going to look down and just read off my comments. Okay? So, I'm not going to look up at you guys. Um, I'm John Shik. I live at 205 Door Knock Drive, um, directly behind the Weddington Glenn development. Um, this letter is being written regarding the bond release for Beachwood Homes pertaining to the aforementioned subdivision. Um, last spring we started to have persistent sediment and water flow issues that appeared to be caused by the grading work done by Beachwood homes in the field adjacent to our home. The silt fence in the field above our property and behind the homes, built by Beachwood, had fallen and remained that way for over two years with large soil piles and unmanaged weeds contributing to storm water and sediment flowing toward and onto our property during heavy rains. At that time, we contacted the town labella and Beachwood to find a remedy. Despite initial promises to fix the problems, such as by adding a culvert, stabilizing the field, and or correcting water flow, nothing was ever completed. This left us to do a huge amount of work on our side of the driveway easement in order to redirect and correct the storm water and clean up the sediment issues. Scott Morrison made out to discuss a settlement came out to discuss a settlement to help cover some of our costs to fix the property as a goodfaith gesture. No mention of a specific dollar value was given at that time, but we communicated that our preference over a lumpsum payout was a permanent fix to the field where the problems were coming from. After that, all mention of a settlement was dropped until months

later when Bob Cardos told us the amount they had initially proposed was going to be $10,000, but that he had been told we refused it. We have never been we have never been sent any legal documents officially offering us any compensation. It is hard to refuse refuse something you haven't formally been offered. and we would certainly accept the $10,000 to at least partially compensate us for work we've already performed. Why Why were we never presented with this formally? Is this offer still on the table and shouldn't it be signed off before the bond is released? We in good faith would like resolution to those questions in the next two months and request that the town attorney act as a mediator to complete the contract for final compensation. Once that is complete, the bond could be released. Beachwood continues to claim there was nothing wrong with the engineering of the field. Yet to date, it still hasn't been signed off. Why? Attempts as late as last week have been implemented to cover old sediment with hay. Sediment continues to wash into the culvert and onto our property, but so far at least the changes on our side are keeping it diverted away from the front of our property. Lastly, since this field will become the HOA's responsibility after the bond money is released, and since there is a third party, the cell phone tower, that complicates the situation, we again solicit that there should be a maintenance agreement in place codified by the town that clearly defines who should be responsible for maintaining each aspect of the easement going forward. For example, who is responsible for mitigating weeds and how often? And

more importantly, who is responsible for clearing the two culverts and dishes ditches and how often? In summary, we feel it would be appropriate to hold the bond until both the paperwork for a settlement is signed and a maintenance plan has been filed with the town. Okay. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, John. Appreciate it. Okay, that's all the uh uh public comments this time. We're going to move on and we'll come back to the subject here brief in in in a moment. Um public safety report. Deputy Ren, come on up. Or should I say Sergeant Ren, come on up, Serge. Come on. Congratulations, mayor. many council members is super intimidating. Uh so one of the big things that we really tried to focus on is thank you so much to the public. Uh tonight I really get to say thank you a lot. Not only just because the holidays, but you've shown a ton of love to us here lately. It hadn't gone unnoticed. Thank you. Congratulations are in order. Not only to you all, but to you all. Thank you so much for not only supporting us, but your continued support. We can't say thank you enough. That's also coming from the other deputies who just can't be here tonight. So we'll go ahead and start off with the multiple 911 hang-ups. So, we typically have around 40, but this this month or in the month of November, we had 59. Could be a continuation of uh what we looked at was a lot of sporting events within the area. Weddington High School once again was going for that state championship. Uh people putting it in their pockets next to their electronic hand warmers, setting off the SOS, things of that nature. So, that's where we saw a little bit of our spike. The Weddington High School football team is doing really well or was, and now the basketball team is doing really well. So that's where we've noticed a lot of our hang-ups. They're going to continue because people are going to get the new electronic device, the new watch, things of that nature. So we're we're we're going to see that spike in 91 hang-ups. So if you see us in your area, you're knocking on the door. That could be what it is. We did see a pretty good increase from 28 to 32 vehicle wrecks. That is to include with injuries. We had a pretty good one right in front of Lenny Stadler. We just happened to be running LAR operations over there. It was a larger truck. Uh attempted to hit the brakes. just didn't work out too well for him or the person that he slammed

into. Uh it was a pretty significant spill. We had Monroe hazmat team come out. They did a fantastic job. Um can't say thank you enough to those guys and that's the cooperation that we get. We also had Union County um environmental health come out. So they were able to take some soil samples and things of that nature just because it was five or more gallons of any type of fluid. Could be radiator fluid or anything of that nature. So I got some questions about that. That's what that was. No big spiel, no no nothing serious, but they still came out and did their evaluations and management. So, we typically had about 20 alarms. We went from 24 to 34. The reason that we saw the big spike of 34 was mainly because the inclement weather we've been having. If you notice, even tonight on this beautiful night, uh during storms, it's going to do different things to different people's neighborhoods to the to the power systems. If power's going to flicker, it could reset your CPI, your ADT systems. it's automatically going to send it out. Even though it's via Wi-Fi, we're still coming out. So, that's why we saw the big spike there. Business checks, we did step up from 44 last month to about 60 holiday season. We really want to try to be in the parking lots. Hopefully, the bad guys see us instead of your presence in the back trunk. Disturbances, we went from 8 to 13. Once again, that's mainly just because we want to get out there and let you call it in. Hey, let us know instead of you just saying the neighbors are fine. That's just Timmy and Susie again. Call us. It could be something else and that's what we encourage you to keep doing. Even though the numbers are going up, we're still responding. Domestic disturbances stayed around four. Lars and thefts still stayed around four. So, we're still seeing that same number. We're still working on those numbers about getting them down. Prevented patrols, that's us getting in your neighborhood. That's us saying hey to the kids. So, it wasn't just Halloween and us out there handing out the stickers and things of that nature. It's us staying in your area. Last month, we did 581. We went ahead and stepped up to 821, especially at night. Um, Christmas lights are beautiful, but that gives interior lighting, so that gives a bad guy a chance to look in a little bit

more. Suspicious vehicles went up to 15 this month. So, the trespassing galls went up by one. So, the Google fiber and things of that nature, they should be out of your way. They should be out of your hair by now. So, we had two last month. Now, we've only had one. In the month of October, we answered, 195 calls for service. in the month of November or I'm sorry, October 1,95. In November it was 1,255. So, the sporting events and things of that nature brought in a pretty big population. Um, but not only the sporting events, but people coming in transient through other counties and things of that nature. So, we're seeing more vehicle wrecks, more traffic patterns and things of that nature. So, we're trying to get out there a little bit more. With the holiday season upon us, not only Amazon, if you are out shopping and you're coming home and you're like, I'm going to stop at the gas station real quick before I have to go home. Grab you a small little blanket, cover up those presents. You paid a lot for them. Uh, we're not seeing any smash and grabs. We're not seeing anything of that nature, but let's get ahead of that storm so we don't have to. Um, I know it sounds really weird, but I really want to hit this home. If you are not home, get a chance. There is a study shown that when you shut your blinds, look at the way that your panels are. The panels are facing up, it's more difficult for someone outside to look in. Christmas trees are absolutely beautiful. We get it. We know it. We love it. You paid a lot for your tree. You want to show it off. But we encourage you to maybe do it at night. If you do it at night, people can still see it from the road. Uh this may not be McDenville yet, but it's beautiful. But it's the small little things like that, the nuances that we can get ahead of the storm.

Flipping. So your blinds are up and even go to the outside of your house and say, "If I was a bad guy, how would I do this?" Another thing that we've been seeing is if they do do a smash and grab, we're contacting Meckberg County and Meckllinmberg County is seeing an influx of people grabbing um garage door openers. They're just driving around seeing if you live in the area, things of that nature. So you you never know when you you're even you know what, I'm not going to report it. They didn't even get anything. You know, new cars have the remotes already, things of that nature. But we'll go ahead and get ahead of that storm. So once again, thank you so much. I hope you get to enjoy your holidays and we appreciate all your help and support. Sergeant Ren, as as you heard, Deputy Ren is now Sergeant Ren. Got a promotion. And so this is your last meeting with us.

I hope not. Well, you're moving moving on. We'll be here in spirit. We never live we never actually leave weddings. So yeah. So where you tell us where you're going? Uh I am super fortunate and I kind of put in a little favors and called in some things. Uh our detention facility. So, um, unfortunately, I won't see anybody from one thing because nobody's coming to jail. Um, but yeah, no, I'm super super and thrilled and very excited and pulled some strings to get down there and, uh, get back to the jail. Well, we want to say thank you so much for all you No, sir. Thank you. Being here each time and uh, and just again all your service to the town. Oh, complete opposite. Thank you. Can

can we give him another hand? Thank you. Okay. Can I get a uh motion to approve the consent agenda as amended? Okay. Second. Okay. All in favor? Okay. It's unanimous.

Um we're going to go into old business. Uh the first one, the first item of old business is u an amendment. It's CZ 2025-03. It's the amendment for the subdivision. And we're going to open up for public hearing. And uh Debbie, public hearing is open. Do we have anyone who signed it for public hearing? Maybe Chad. I see Chad. Debbie. Cool. Thank you, Chad. Come on up. Um, good evening, Chadine, Eagle Road. In in regards to the adjustment for wells, I just wanted to point out a couple things of it's very uncommon for homes of this price point to be on wells and have public sewer. Wells have maintenance that many homeowners of this price point are not well informed on. It's too late for this project, but I would wonder if the council would consider changing the UDO in the future to match the requirement for public water to match those of major subdivisions. Right now, um major subdivisions greater than six in this ordinance of the requirements of whether you use well or um Union County water, it's uh greater than nine, which this development falls under. So, it complies with the UDO. Um, in addition, the county has steps in addition to gaining those easements. And in speaking with county managers, they have um they're reluctant to get involved in acquiring those easements if it's under the jurisdiction of a town. So based on that, I was just wondering if council would look into the steps that the county uses and see if those could be incorporated into our UDO that would assist in developments to work on the easement process so we don't have more of these situations of the developer already getting approved and then having to come back to the council to get an

adjustment like this. Okay, thank you. Cool. Thanks, Chad. Anybody else before we close? Um, public hearing. Okay, public hearing is closed. Um, I'm going to ask the um um Bob, can was anyone here from uh u Arcadia to discuss this? Come on up.

Hi, Jeremy. Hi there. Um, and the reason that you want to do this, can you explain the reason why you're sort of coming back?

Yeah, and for for one, uh, for what it's worth, also, we've built Arcadia homes. Some of you guys may be familiar with our with our company. We've built, uh, really hundreds of homes around the Charlotte region. Um, probably even more than a hundred in the Union County region. Um, and very very many of which have been on wells, but even very many have been on public sewer, but also well, there's a Sedville community not too far from here that is set up that way with public sewer and wellwater for the domestic water. And then I believe Walden at Providence is generally set up that same way where we've built a number of homes even recently and are going to be starting another one soon. So, you're right in that it is probably more common to have either both public sewer and public water, but certainly not something that we're unfamiliar with and um you're right in that it's important to educate clients about whatever maintenance might be required, but we we're intent on doing that. And so, the reason in this case um why we are seeking and what we're seeking is um the ability to have the option to either have uh well water for the domestic water or the public water. So, it's not a definitive decision at this point that we've made that we're going to go away from public water necessarily, but we think for the quite frankly financial viability of the community, there's uh quite possibly the need for um to to go with wellwater versus the public water. It is a pretty extreme expense um for the for the public water facilities. We are going above and beyond which we discussed in one of the prior meetings um for the I guess reclamation you might call it of the existing dam. Um so kind of above and beyond what would be required by the state but we anticipate that in the near future the state will probably require more resting requirements as far as the securing of that dam. So we're taking on those that expense and so one of the factors that we believed per the UDO that we would have the option to do was say perhaps

we'll do wellwater because our experience is that we can do that from a marketing standpoint. I don't think it's incredibly detrimental uh and we know how to how to do it frankly. So it's more of u again being still compliant with the UDO having the option to do one or the other. Gotcha. Okay. And I'm gonna ask Greg uh our our town planner can you uh speak into this as well? Right.

Thank you, members of council, mayor. Um, so as as Jeremy stated, the the matter at question here is the option to do well or public water. So, this ordinance, this subdivision has already been entitled legislatively by the Weddingington Town Council. This is not a large subdivision. It's nine lots give or take an existing lot that's already on the property. For what it's worth, there there is one on property that's already on wellwater and it will remain on wellwater. And there's another there's actually two houses on property, both of which have a well right now. And our intent will be to maintain both of those wells and really only add seven more.

And and so the note on Jeremy's point, uh he stated financial viability. That is no interest of the town of Weddington nor our staff. We don't care how much your project costs, but we do care if you comply with our code. And code states that if you have 10 or greater units, you should connect to public water. If you have less than 10 units, you do not have to connect to public water. The reason this is before you today is because their exhibit 2B and their ordinance stated that they would connect only to public water, Union County Water. Um, they would just like the option to connect to either war. They're not saying we're not going to use Union County water. They're saying because of the financial disabilities, we want the option to use wells in which it's proven on the site that there are existing properties that have utilized wells and existing properties they have developed that have utilized wells in the past. So, I don't want to over complicate this matter. Um, this is this is not a text amendment to our code. This is not an exception to our code. This is not a waiver of anything that they're doing. This is not a favor for them. This is saying that they didn't state that they were going to use wells in the ordinance that they approved that you guys approved. And so we are approving the ordinance. We're amending the ordinance that you guys approved to say they have the option now to use wells, which because of their low density and low lot count, they are able to do. So this is basically a clerical error. This is to say that because they're such a small subdivision, they said they weren't going to do it, but they are actually allowed to. And therefore, let's amend the ordinance to say that clearly they are allowed to utilize this this utility. I make a motion to amend the agreed on what what approving the

approve the amendment for what to approve CZ 2025- before we do that does any council members have any thoughts or comments you know discussion on this nothing okay so we can move move forward with uh the motion so I motion to approve the amendment of the CZ 20225-03 amendment for how do I say Arya Arya subdivision. Okay. All in favor. Okay. All right. Unanimous. Okay. So, we're good. Thank you guys. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Jeremy, we got do you

what? Yeah. and and we we did it with with uh the consistency statement there, right? Or do we need to get a motion to approve the Okay. Okay. Exactly. Can I get a motion to approve the consistency statement as approved or as stated in the packet? I make a motion to accept the statement of land use consistency in the package provided.

Okay. All right. All in favor? Okay. It's unanimous. Move forward. So, we we're good. All right. Okay. We're going to move on to the uh discussion of the release of the bond of uh uh PR PRF 9377177 for Wington Glenn subdivision in the amount of $41,27.50. Um but we have a council I'd like to have uh Bob can you speak into this? um if you don't mind and state your position and who you are if you don't mind.

My name is Bob Wilson FLLA Associates and I represent the town and engineering matters on development sites. Um we had a final inspection of the Weddingington Glenn subdivision on Tuesday afternoon to review some things that we had identified at previous inspections that still need to be addressed. uh based on the fact that the roads have been accepted by NC DOT I think back in April of this year. The water and sewer has been accepted by Union County Public Works I think in August of this year and our findings at the inspection in fact we actually got an opportunity to see the sand filter in operation because it rained that day and it was functioning properly. Uh we recommend release of the bond. We feel like they have fulfilled their obligations under the bond which was guaranteeing the road improvements and the stormware control measures. So those have been constructed to town standards and meet the requirements.

Okay. Does question does this what where you're still here uh any kind of runoff from this subdivision affect other properties like as in the Shek Sue was up earlier. There is runoff from the subdivision affects the shiks. Um the area is a uh a a grass field. It has been seated multiple times. Uh it has a very good stand of vegetation on it. Even with a stand of grass, there will be some sediment yield over time. Uh and this is just kind of what happens. So I feel that they have fulfilled their obligations under the erosion control ordinance to have this area stabilized and we actually looked at that as well.

Do do you feel in your mind if there's anything else that can be done to alleviate that problem or any kind of problem that may persist persist? Uh is has everything been been done? Everything has been done per code. I cannot speak to the matter uh between what Mr. Schik raised and Beachwood. That is a matter between two individual parties. Um I cannot speak to the history of that or discussions related to that. Any knowledge I have of is hearsay through emails I've seen. Okay. Um is there anyone here representing Beachwood? You want to come on up?

Sure. And again, state who who your your name and uh who you represent. Uh good evening. My name is Scott Morrison and I'm the director of land for Beachwood and uh I apologize. I wasn't extremely prepared to speak tonight. Sorry to catch you off guard.

That's okay. I'm ex extemporaneous. Um I agree with uh what Bob has just said about um our standing as it relates to the bond. Uh the bond very specifically covers uh the storm water uh control devices. I'm also sensitive to the other remarks that were made by Mr. Schik. Um this is not a uh unfortunately and I know you've been involved Mr. Mayor, you've been involved, Tom, Karen. The uh everybody's been involved and I think everybody's been involved because we all care that because we all care doesn't mean there's an easy an answer. The uh the facts are um Lebella has said that the activity on Beachwood property has not negatively affected the adjacent property, which happens to be where John and Barbara Shik live. The engineer of record, Isaac's engineering, has said through its analysis and its seal and signature that the pre-development and post-development discharge offsite of storm water is net zero. The US Army Corps of Engineers has been on site and they have said there is no impact from Beachwood's property onto the adjacent property. The North Carolina Department of Natural Resources has been there not provide comment. I believe action 9 or some similar news agency was called. I would love for there to be a problem that was obvious that we could say do this. But what came up before is just doing something isn't the right thing to do. And so when things were offered like put a ditch in or do this. Okay. to what requirement. State the

requirement so we can design the fix that the requirement needs. There is no requirement. The bond the bond re excuse me the bond release fulfills our obligation by the construction drawings that are approved and to the town and by extension to the state for all the various storm water requirements in the road. Bob was talking about the bond release is also what I'm using as the predecessor to the turnover of the HOA because I don't want to turn over an HOA to our residents if there's any unfinished work. And that's the reason that the HOA hasn't been turned over yet because we've been built out. We've we've been closed out for sales for some time. The HOA turnover is scheduled for later the mid part of January. The HOA budget is provisioned currently because I checked today uh for maintenance and all the various things that need to be done to make sure that the the various devices are maintained uh perpetually. Um, the operation and maintenance agreement that was brought up, uh, has been recorded, uh, has been signed and recorded, entered into everything else. I believe it was in December of either 2021 or 22. Actually looked at it today. Um, but I didn't think I would need it, frankly, tonight. Uh so all of our documentation is in order and we're ready to go uh to release the bond, turn the community over to the the uh homeowners, and that's really it.

Okay. Okay. I want to ask Greg to speak into this if you don't mind, Greg. May I May I sit down or shall I stay for a minute? Uh you can sit down if we need you. We'll call you back. Is that okay? Yes,

sir. Mr. Mr. Mayor. Yeah, this is uh for the release of the remainder of a bond for approximately $400,000. The initial bond was for $3 million and that money was released prior to me even working here. So 56 of the money was already gladly uh released by this council prior to my service of the town of Weddington. And there was no issues brought up at that time. Basically immediately when I started uh there were many issues that were raised in this community about Weddington Glenn and the money had already been released which is extremely frustrating. Uh I've spent more time on this property than I have anywhere else in Weddington by tfold. I have been in the field. I've been on the streets. I have walked the sidewalks. I've walked walked the culverts. I've been in the mud. I have been everywhere on this property for numerous hours because that is the right thing to do for the due diligence of our town and our taxpayers and the members of this community. Um there are numerous issues with the property that do not involve the town and do not involve taxpayers. If there are lawsuits or building controls or conditions of the siding, what have you, those are not things that involve the town of Weddington. What does involve us is the status of the roads, the sidewalks, the culverts, and the pipes. So, did they bond for what they were supposed to build? And uh through label's analysis of mine, they have built what they were supposed to build and what they were supposed to be bonded for. Um, does water run onto various properties? They do. Is it channeled the way it's supposed to?

After a lot of discussion, it does. And so, uh, the matter at hand is, has Beachwood met the obligation of providing infrastructure to release $400,000? Uh, it's my opinion that they have. Is this a perfect project? No. Um, have we learned lessons from this project? Yes, we have particularly about how we interact with our community and how builders interact with our citizens. Um, but what we're obligated to do in this case is release one sixth of the money that we've already done. Uh, and through roads and infrastructure, they have done that um through numerous inspections and uh site work that has been completed by town staff and and Labella associates. And so, uh, I I do not see any reason not to release these funds. However, this is a cautionary tale about how we release funds in the future.

Gotcha. Okay. Uh, any council want to comment? I guess my question is the maintenance agreement evidently has been uh signed and filed. Do we have any idea is there any requirement from the town to ensure that the maintenance agreement is ability is funded or will be funded? I don't I don't know if that has anything to do with this or not. That's just my one concern is to make sure that this is funded to where it won't come back on the town if the HOA doesn't have the funds to maintain the the property.

It's going to be up to the HOA to fund it. So they will have annual like they have been um part of their HOA dues goes into a reserve fund for this purpose. This is seeking fund correct. Yeah. Yeah. That's I think what we call it in our ordinance. Yes. So yeah that's that and that will that will be a continuing obligation just like every other neighborhood that's got storm water as part of their dues. They will be contributing to these reserve funds. So that will be between the community and what uh Beachwood puts in initially to seed it. Right. Correct. And that's a contractual agreement between them effectively when they to turn it over. Transfer of ownership. So to turn it over, they have to have it funded to some reasonable degree. I say

corre correct. Yeah. Not they they've been funding it. And so whatever however that's been funded is what they'll get. Well, we know as of today, nothing's broken. So they're getting what is effectively brand new infrastructure that we signed off on on Tuesday. So they should have so they they should have plenty of time to continue increasing that yeah um syncing fund over time so that they to the and it'll be the HOA's decision on how much they believe that they need to maintain but they've been given the estimate of what it should take annually to and that that's I'm sure that's part of the documentation that flows with the transfer of of control of the patient.

Okay. Thank you Karen. Yeah, Mayor PM, if I may add to that, the in section D9 804, excuse me, D84, it talks about establishment of an HOA and funding that HOA and that primary trigger is the final flat process, basically the carving of those lots. So, that would be before lots are sold. You know, you have to have an HOA established, you have to have a maintenance fund, and so that would in this case be several years ago, uh, where that kind of agreement was made. I think a reference was 2022 um by the applicant uh discussing that process. That's when we you would look at that and then you know an HOA has been established for years but it's in maintenance of the developer and now we're at the stage where that HOA maintenance is now transferred to the people who own the homes and we'll maintain their community. And it's in my opinion, you know, it's it's better for the town to clear all the items in question now while the developer still owns it. So, we hold them accountable rather than to give it over to the HOA and then release the bonds. Because by releasing and stating on fact and on record that these maintenance items are in satisfactory condition, we're saying that, you know, homeowners, we're saying it's it's good and satisfactory condition today. you uh should have no worries about taking it over today.

Yeah. Thank you, Greg.

Right. Um yeah, and my concern is is just like what you said, Greg. I I don't want to leave the the homeowners the I'll say it like it's the new HOA, the residents, uh holding the bag in case there's something wrong. That's why I want to make sure we we've got everything covered uh with Beachwood and with with VA with LeBella. make sure, you know, all of our, you know, eyes are dotted and tees are crossed and uh and make sure that fund is uh seated and uh and there's enough there because uh I know um the town is not responsible for the the HOA. We're not responsible for homes and just the infrastructure and correct me if I'm wrong to to a certain degree. And uh and so I suggest uh and Scott, I want to have you come back just for one one more question here in a second because I want you to elaborate on something. Um uh it's it's when the HOA when the management is turned over to the HOA um in my opinion, the the HOA the new the residents of that board should be really working with you. And my question is going to be how to open up. And we got a lot of emails today. We read them all and we we we looked over everything. Um, how how is Beachwood going to work with the the the homeowners, the the new HOA for openness, transparency, laying it out there, you know, here's what we've we've got, you know, here's here's our numbers. Uh, again, I don't want them being left holding the bag and and not knowing what's going on. And I would suggest to the the homeowners, get involved. You know, a lot of times people will uh claim there's a lack of transparency when you can't do anymore. There's all kinds of transparency. They're just not involved. And I totally get that. So, from the from Beachwood's perspective, how can you work with them

better so they know what's going on? That does that make sense? I know I'm rambling on, but I just want you to

No, I I appreciate your comment and u so a few things. one um this is not my first HOA unfortunately. Okay. And so um in previous positions at other companies uh at one time I think I was the HOA president for some 11 HOAs where the declarant uh still was in the control period. And so the the process uh number one is not a just knock on the door, leave a bag of stuff and run. Uh it's it's not at all. Uh it is a deliberate time where the HOA management company in this case uh is managed by a woman named Diane Diana Kennedy with key management uh notifies the residents that hey this is coming. They've already been notified that this is uh forthcoming. And so kind of implicitly there's people that are kind of making their moves. They want to be on the board. And so when that first meeting happens, if it takes more than one meeting, it can't because it has to be a discussion. The budget is presented to them. And the budget is presented really as an educational like, hey, this is your budget. You you have HOA dues. It's a fixed amount. And we need to figure out how we can continue doing the same thing because ultimately this is going to be their decision. They can maintain the same level of landscape maintenance. uh uh or they can reduce it. Many times we find that they rebid the landscape contractor because they're like this is too much. I found out today when I was talking with Dina Kennedy uh that the some of the res that maybe as a a parting gift that we uh put in maybe bigger uh plant material at the front entrance. And I said I think we definitely can talk about that. I'm happy to do it, but just remember you'll be maintaining it,

right?

You know, and so there's there is that. Uh so currently the budget is am balances like all HOA budgets should uh to a net zero. You have 84,000 coming in and you spend 84,000. Now of 84,000 budget, not all of that is spent. Some of those are to the reserves that Karen was talking about. So currently there's some $23,000 in reserves. And I'm going off of memory. I emailed actually Greg our budget just also as a point of transparency something I've never done before in terms of sitting the town my HOA budget uh but so that's the seed money that 23,000 now for for the maintenance of storm water devices in my experience usually the maintenance is years down the road when something has to be overhauled meaning if there's a pond it has to be mucked out. You know, the uh but the but the general maintenance it it doesn't require a lot of maintenance. The sand felture is a pretty benign structure. It needs to be rad. Uh the wet pond has wetland plantings. They will some will die, some will live that would need to be but they're plantings. Uh so not there shouldn't be a lot of uh monthly maintenance for instance on the on the on the stormwater devices. the the other aspects of what happens during that turnover is they're given all the plans. So they get the signed construction documents that we all have and in those plans it shows the details. It shows what are the plant varieties. It shows all those things. It shows where their property is. It says to them, hey, this is a field. Be careful. Don't do anything. you know, remember you have neighbors uh that you may have unintended uh consequences if you change something in the field. Um, but it's your field and as long as you don't run

a foul of the uh the open space requirements and the and the you know the non-built upon area then you can do things and so that we turn over this this big file both in paper and electronically and then we're still there as they work with key management. We are unpaid consultants just to make sure that they don't do anything crazy. They can, but we would just say just be careful. This is what we found. Because we do find that many times um HOAs are like, "Oh, we're so glad that you're out of here. We're going to make all these changes." And the next thing you know, the reserves are gone. Uh there's no money. They have to do, you know, a capital assessment and it can just get really weird. We we we do work sincerely to make sure that doesn't happen. Oh, one final note,

and Greg and I exchanged emails today because he he gave me a little bit of a heads up that this was going to happen.

Prior to the HOA turnover, we don't, as a matter of practice, do all the budget across the community. In this community, there's only 35 homeowners, but we have another community that has 215. there's too many cooks in the kitchen to manage an HOA budget if you have 215 cooks in it. When they and then when they get their their uh board together, uh they will decide how transparent they want to be on a daily basis. They may say, "Look, we're going to give you the monthly report just like the Clarant has been doing or they may do it a different way." Um Okay, but that's hopefully answered your question.

Yeah. Okay. Question for you. You mentioned the plings at the entrance. Was weren't there supposed to be some kind of plantings around the storm water pond too to sort of hide that? Was was that an hiding it? No, sir. Just uh there wetland plantings that are required and have been planted. Okay. So, those have already been done. Yes, sir. Okay. Yeah. Okay. In fact, the wetland pond has a trail around it. So, we're trying to draw attention to it. Okay. Gotcha. And so, you so you will commit to doing something nicer at the entrance like you mentioned. Okay.

Yeah. Um, Bob or Greg, any other comments that you guys would like to add to this? Okay. Um, council comments and and and I I will say too, just to reiterate what I said earlier, you know, the HOA needs to work closely with you guys to to sort of, you know, to get an understanding of the the workings where you're at financially, where the numbers are. Um and and uh and that's and we don't get involved in that as as a town just FYI. And so uh um yes. So that's my only point I would add is that uh we maintain that is built to standard at the time that we inspect it and that time we release the funds. Uh we explicitly do not maintain own operates address those issues. We ask that uh HOAs send us a maintenance report of those ponds every year to show that they're in good working order, but they are they are HOA responsibilities at that time.

Okay. Uh council, you any more comments or anything? I can get a motion to go in any direction. I make a motion to approve release bond PRF9377177 for Weddingington Clinton subdivision in the amount of $41,27.50. Okay. All in favor? Okay. All opposed. Okay. One opposed. Okay. All right. We have three in favor, one opposed. Okay. And uh the motion the motion passes. Okay. All right. Excused. We're good. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Um, okay. Item item 11. Um, the acceptance of the Union County Board of Elections official results uh for the municipal election November 4th, 2025. Can I get a motion to accept the uh um election? I make a motion to accept the Guinea County Board of Elections official results from the municipal election November 4, 2025.

Okay. All in favor? Okay. So, all in favor unanimous. So, we've accepted election results and um so we have item 12, special recognition of um district one council member Jeff Pierman and district uh three council member Brandon Howey. Is that something uh Miss Dwey you'd like to uh present?

We have a small token from the town of appreciation for all of your time and your effort and your energy and the time away from your families and and your general good humor. Thank you for everything you've done for the town, for the staff, and for for being who you are. Yes. And again, thank you. And small small tokens over there. bag. And if you have anything to add, but you guys already did, so we we sort of do, but I'll say again, thank you. Okay. Is that Debbie? Is that something you're going to present now?

Can you get by with it? Can we get them? Yes. Thank you. Okay. Uh we're going to move forward to the uh oaths of office. Okay. Go first.

You're up, Jim. I've got one. You got a sign.

I did mine just for Okay. Well, now I've messed it up. So, we'll just go this way. All right. Figure it out. Raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Jelle, I, Jelle, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support and maintain that I will support and maintain the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the state of North Carolina. and the Constitution and laws of the state of North Carolina, not inconsistent therewith, not inconsistent therewith. And that I will faithfully discharge discharge.

Cheers. All right. Uh your right hand. Okay. I Clayton Jones I Clayton Jones do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will maintain that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the state of North Carolina and the Constitution and laws of the state of North Carolina not inconsistent therewith

not inconsistent therewith and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of my office and that I will faithfully discharge towards the duties of my office. As council member, so help me God. As council member, so help me God.

N you're a good lefty. Can't read my right. I, Ellen, Mclofflin, I, Ellen F. Mclofflin, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support and maintain that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the state of North Carolina and the Constitution and laws of the state of North Carolina. not inconsistent therewith.

not inconsistent therewith. And that I will faithfully discharge the duties of my office. And I will faithfully discharge the duties of my office as council member. So help me God.

as council member. So help me God. Okay. Thank you. Okay. At this point, we're going to take a a small 10-minute recess and uh then we'll call we'll come back to order and with our new council members. So, we're going to recess at this time. So, we're just asking about

take a look. You're welcome. Well, you guys just keep doing what we need to do. Yes, sir. Jim, thank you. Yeah, God speed over the next couple years. Sure. Sure.

Thank you. Hey, Jeff. I have a gift in there for you guys, too. Nothing in there. So, pick it up. Okay. Okay, awesome.

I love it. Thank you.

Thank you. We don't need Bob anymore for anything. We're way out. Father

Are you going to do Awesome. on social media. Did they do like all to see like the kids were asking

I mean some of them like they were like we we spent we wasted so much of our lives. Yes. So that'll be really interesting. But when I saw that, I looked at Scott and I was like of all my not that the boys don't get in that trouble, but like the amount of trickery with So I like she like the boys I had to get because she was a baby. So I had to know when they would get out of practice. So she doesn't I mean she finds ways already like I saw sometimes I saw your Tik Tok on her channel and they're all boys like they're like babysitters whatever and Um,

so she still finds ways to do it when she doesn't have any idea.

I mean football. Well, and those were safe, right? Like you couldn't do anything. They're fine. They were texting. Okay, we're going to go ahead and start. We're going to go ahead and get started so we can uh so we can get out

and we can arrange seats. He's just sitting on the ankles. Let me get this out for you. These are tricky. It's kicking in. Here we go. He's got the photos. How long were you in hospital? Had surgery on Wednesday and came out Friday. Everybody has left. Yeah. So we

So we have a call to order termination of quorum. Looks like everyone's here, so we're all accounted for since we just had the swearing in. Um the consent agenda, uh the adoption of the 2026 council regular meeting schedule. Okay. Does everyone have that that schedule? Did everyone look at that? I saw in the package. Yes. Okay. You saw it in the package. Is everybody okay with that? I make a motion to accept the the uh meeting schedule as presented.

Okay. Uh all in favor to accept the schedule as presented. It's unanimous. Okay. Uh town hall holiday schedule. Did we all see that? Okay. Did I get a motion to accept? Motion to accept the holiday schedules presented. Okay. All in favor? Okay. Uh you're thinking about it or Oh, sorry. No. Yeah.

All right. Thank you. here is unanimous for the uh holiday schedule. Um the appointments uh the appointment of mayor promp uh that will be Tom Smith will continue on as mayor promp uh the appointment of the delegate and alternate to CRPTO. Uh I will continue on as the delegate to the CRPTO with uh Tom being the uh the backup or the alternate for that. Mayor, we need a vote on the mayor prom. Oh, we need to vote on each one of Okay. Mayor prom. All right. So, the mayor pro Tim. Uh, all in favor with Tom being mayor prot.

Okay. And it's unanimous. Okay. Well, except for Tom, I guess. He can vote for He can vote for myself. He can vote for himself. He can vote for himself. So, I guess it' be unanimous then, right? Okay. The appointment for a delegate and alternate to the CRPQO. I will continue to be the delegate with Tom being the alternate. Can I get a vote on that? Okay, it's unanimous. Just you do not need to vote on the others. Mayor Pro 10 is a statuto position. That's why they're required to vote. The rest of these do not

Oh, we don't need to vote on the rest of them. Okay. All right. Good. Thank you. Um Okay. Appointment of council members responsible council member responsible for opening um our mail. And uh that's that's going to be Ellen Mclofflin. uh council member uh reviewing bank statements and that's going to be Clayton Jones. Okay. Uh appointment of council members as check uh signatory and backup. Uh I will continue to be the the primary and Darcy will continue to be the backup for for the checks for the mount. Okay. Uh appointment of Western Union Municipal Alliance representative and alternate. Tom will be the primary, but Ellen is the back of Ellen Mclofflin is the back of our alternate. And I'd like for for them to both work that, you know, so just because it's an alternate, it still be be good for both of you to be there to add your input to represent the town. So if you could work together on that, that would be fantastic. So um uh so okay so moving on to the new business discussion of dates for town council work session retreat um dates

yeah the uh if you guys have thought about it was Janu it's th Thursday Friday either January February 29th or January 30th, Thursday, Friday, February 12th or 13th, Thursday, Friday, uh, February 19th or 20th. So, I will come right off the bat and say January does not work for me. It would have to be February. I'm better February, too. February is better. Okay. No conflicts with any date. So, whatever y'all choose is okay with me. February. I think it was 12th, 13th, 20th.

So, be February something. I'd prefer a Friday because of work schedule. Yeah, work schedule. But uh so it's a one day. Yeah. One day retreat. Yes, it is. Yeah. Uh Friday fe this February 13th in Darcy or Lukan. Friday the 13th. I'm superstitious. What could go wrong here? I don't. Yeah. Really? The 20th. We want to be a Friday. It's the week later. fishing on the 20th. You all want me there. Oh, so when Okay, so we All right. So, we can't do that. Do you have any problems with the 13th, Darcy?

Yeah, I'm looking real quick. I had it written down and I didn't grab it. Okay. And I just threw those out. If there's if the sixth or the se 27th work better, that's okay. I don't know. I mean, Thursdays are usually much worse than Fridays are the worst for me, but I there will be one Friday I'm not working. I just have to look. I can't log on right now. Should Can we go in and say Friday the 13th? You can.

Okay. Um, can we let's say Friday the 13th right now. And uh can you let us know by tomorrow? I can let you know tonight. Sure. Okay. And worst, what what time is the thing? 9 in the morning. We start early. Start at 9, go to about three and I'll work on Rolling Hills. Yeah. Okay. It was good over there last year. Yes. Yeah, it worked good. You want to Okay. Perhaps have an alternate date that if that doesn't work. Not if Fridays I mean, no. Because if Fridays are the only day that works, then I'm just gonna have to look on my schedule when I can log into it.

Okay. I I was planning on a January date on a Thursday or a Thursday and then you guys Yeah, I'm good. Messed that all up. I'm better. I'm good Thursday or Friday. It makes no differences. And I can make Thursday work. So I can we'll plan on the 13th and I'll let you know if I can't. Okay. Does that work with you guys? Well, all the days work for me. Okay. All right. So, it's either be the 12th or the 13th and y'all will settle it. Yeah. 12th or the 13th. Yeah. And that's up to Darcy. Whatever works. Okay. Um All right. So, we're going to move forward on this. Uh updates on town planner and county administrator.

Either one. That's my notes. Um CRTO sent that's not it sent the list of the um state transportation improvement plan and that had the forest law and P road roundabout and they are um in right ofway acquisition right now and they anticipate letting to bid for construction in 27 and I I know that's a little I thought the bid for construction they're gonna 27

yeah that's what it said Um, and I saw the same thing for Providence Road. Um, and the Ray Road rideway right now is in hold for the Duke easements, utility easements being marked and moved. So, you're saying that up there, the light that we approved three? No, this is the roundabout. Oh, the round. Okay. Okay. I was confused. Thank you. And I haven't heard anything about the light. Okay. No, I was wondering about if you hear anything, let us know about the light. Same question. When will we need to pay our money or what what obligation do we have? I have to go back and look. I think we may have been we may be done with that. They um I thought we'd paid some already. I wasn't sure.

And construction we don't have to owe anything for the construction cost because it was covered by a grant that some on that light. Yeah. No, the um roundabout. Roundabout. Is that what you were talking about? Yeah, the roundabout. Yes. So, no, I think we're all even on that. I need to Yeah. confirmed. But question, do I need to get sworn in as mayor pro Tim or is that okay? Just want to make sure before we quit. Got to make sure. Um

I I'd just like to add as far as development projects go. Uh I've heard from council members. Yeah, we'll have these up as a uh physical diagram starting next month. Get that restarted. We have a clear order of operations and clear order of uh applicants that we've received. Uh there was an item that was tabled last month that will return to you next month at the applicant's request. Um so this is off of Forest Lawn and then we have several other subdivision applications coming thereafter. So it will be a fairly busy kind of spring session. Uh and I'll keep you all uh very aware of those development projects as they're submitted for their final uh application and review for completeness. And then you know we discussed the bond at length today. We will continue to receive more bond requests for for multiple projects. We'll we'll keep you in detail of those as well.

Okay. Thank you. I have a question. The development on forest loan, is that Keystone? Correct. I thought they withdrew their application. That's correct. So

So if they withdrew it, why don't they have to reapply? So they uh did not state in the clearest methods u that they withdrew. Uh they stated that they would come back in an undetermined period of time and then shortly thereafter they stated we would like to come back now please which we told them you can get in the back of the line of applications but we will still consider your initial request because the project hasn't changed. my recollection of the town council meeting, it was stated on the record that they withdrew their application. They did not type it in the email. They said it on the phone. So they said it on the phone. Well, he said, "Yeah,

he said yes, we're withdrawing it." Yeah, we do not have we do not have a clear record. Um and because of that we are the tie goes to the developer on this I very much they're looking to come back next month perhaps there should be some form that is filled out to that would be you would expect an actual formal withdrawal but we did not get so well but for any either shifting or uh to another date or removal in the application.

And I don't want to get too in the weeds, but uh a withdrawal is important typically because it's saying, hey, if I withdraw early, I have more time to reapply later. You know, I would be able to reapply within six months, whereas if my practically was denied, I would have to wait a year. Um amendments to the general statute. Uh and Raleigh has made that kind of null and void. So that kind of thinking doesn't really apply anymore. If you're denied, you can immediately reapply.

My big concern is that I don't want to cut short any public comment on it. And I noticed that their zoning sign disappeared. The AR the yellow zoning sign that was up there. I mean, I like the HMS. I'm not generally opposed to it. It will all be reused, but I I don't want the citizens to be cut out of the loop or the comment. It has to be they have to go through the whole notice process again. Okay. If that sign's not up there today, please let me know because

Well, I haven't driven by there today. It's been cold and I didn't go anywhere but Lowe's today. So, okay. And and Greg, can and if and you may have said this and forgive me if I you know missed it, but uh even the minor subdivisions, can you keep us start keeping us informed of where those are and what's in the process and that kind of thing even with the minor? Yeah. Yeah, we've got uh numerous projects under review with us in Labella right now. Uh we will we will get those online as they're apply for. Okay, cool. Thank you. Okay. Uh anything else? Is that good with you guys? um code enforcement report.

I'll just say it's in your packet. Um there are several kind of big cases that are underway right now um that have required additional enforcement mechanisms either posting on a door or sending notice of significant fines. Uh those are still underway. So uh we are aware of those. We have issued kind of our notice of violation, second, third, final violation of at least two issues. We're hoping to get those resolved as soon as possible, but um it's it's not been quiet. There there's two at least two significant issues going on. Okay.

Have one question that might go to one significant issue. I remember several months ago, I believe Craig, you reported that there was a unbuildable lot that needed to be cleaned up because it had a bunch of debris on it. And that the estimate was it was going to be about $6,000 to clean it up. Was That's accurate. Yes, sir. Uh, and because it's unbuildable, we're concerned that there's no way to force the land owner to clean it up at his expense or to if we if we pay to clean it up, if we pay to clean it up, putting a lean on the property isn't going to pay off. Do any good? Exactly.

But is there a way to perhaps take them to small claims court and have a court order them to clean it up? Yes. And we can also take them to court to collect. So, even if we do, we have we have um some summary abatement. Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to have a court order them to clean it up instead of us have to lay out our money? Depends how long they want to go through the process. But yeah, yes, it could be. I know small claims. We're not talking about going through district or superior court. We're talking about what should should be a relatively easy process in order to get we have to go to um district court to get the order of issued.

Okay. Um so it starts in district court and then it would be a matter the order would have order them to clean it up and if they didn't the remedy would usually be that we would clean it up. Um that that's usually what the judge would issue is town then has the right to abate it and lean the property. We would have to just fix that. Will you just clarify something for me? We can't just shortcut it through small claims court. We got to go through district court to get the orderment correct. All right. Okay. All right, it's all with code enforcement. Okay, update from the finance officer and tax collector and I'm going to we're going to swear you in before we go to public comment. Um,

Leslie is out today. Okay. Said she will give a six-month update next month and if you have any questions, shoot her an email and everything's in the packet.

Okay. All right. Good deal. All right. Transportation. I'll give that real quick and then we're going to swear in Tom. Uh, just an FYI. Just a couple couple things. The four 485 express lanes now uh DOT said, you know, December, as you see, they're still not open. Now they're saying February. So 485 South Charlotte, DOT is in February. We'll see. Uh hopefully that that will happen. Also, at the last CRPTO meeting, um it was standing room only. Um, a lot of people were there protesting the I77 South express lanes. As you know, there's 77 north and uh that was everybody feels and is an agreement that was totally messed up in various ways. Uh just just an example, the uh the the section between uh exit 23 and 25 uh around uh Huntersville is the worst bottleneck in North Carolina. And it's the 37th worst bottleneck in the whole United States.

So, and that's according to DOT. And so there's a lot of messed up stuff that went on with that road. Uh even from uh tolls being too expensive. So, uh, at the last CRPTO meeting, there was numerous people standing around the walls everywhere holding up signs, kill the project, that kind of thing. So, it it's it's it's it's a mess. Um, just to give you a little FYI, 77 South, there's over 150,000 cars a day that go up through there through South Charlotte. Um, and it gets gets higher as you go in towards downtown up to 172 to 181,000 cars a day. So, something has to be done. Um, so um, so but the DOT is saying that on average there's about 150,000 a day through there and the access is two and a half times the whole state average for that one section of 11 miles. So, it's it's a mess. So, uh, what CRPTO is working on right now is getting bids. When we did the 77 north, there was only one bid. They took the they took the one bid and we see what we got. So, they've been under a mandate. Now, it's like, we're going to have multiple bids or we're not going to move forward. You got to get multiple bids so we can see what we've got going on. And so, that's where that's at. And, uh, and so, uh, that 11 miles is estimated at $3.2 $2 billion dollar and it's crazy for 11 miles. It's the most expensive expensive project North Carolina has ever done and probably will do for a long time and the state will only allocate 600 million per project like that. So there's no way the state can afford to do it and especially with Helen uh all the money going up there and that's that's around four billion in itself. So uh it's it's it's it's crazy.

So, uh, so anyway, that's that's sort of my update for, um, transportation. Let's get you sworn in right quick before we end.

I'll stand right here. Is that what I need to sign? the wrong one. I, Tom Smith, I, Thomas J. Smith, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States. I will support and maintain the laws of the state of North Carolina, United States. And the constitution and laws of the state of North Carolina

and the constitutional laws of the state of North Carolina not inconsistent therewith not inconsistent therewith and that I will faithfully discharge not faithfully discharge the duties of my office the duties of my office as mayor prom as mayor prom. So help me God. So help me God. Thank you. That's very good. That's good. There you go.

Do good stuff to you. Thank you. Okay, as uh we move into closing council closing comments. Uh who wants to go first? What about one of you guys? Waiting first. Yes.

So, it is an honor to be here. Um and I look forward to um some exciting things ahead and look forward to working with all of you and town staff as well. So, um thank you for your warm welcome. Okay. Hard to top that. But, uh, I want to thank everyone, particularly the the town staff. Uh, communication with you thus far has been very helpful to kind of help me get up to speed. I appreciate that. And, uh, I'm looking forward to to working with the staff and other council members and Mayor Bell. Okay. Thank you, Clayton. Ellie,

uh, thanks to the staff for amazing Christmas decorations and the job you've done with all the developments this year and all the changes this year. We really appreciate it. And welcome to Ellen and Clayton. Thank you. It'll be fun. It'll be a blast. I

I want to welcome Ellen and Clayton as well. I want to thank the staff for the decorations for Christmas. We had a great uh Christmas tree lighting. Really appreciate it. I look forward to maybe having it in a better place in the future uh to where we have more room in a safer place. And I want to thank all the people who came out tonight uh for being here and wish everybody a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Okay. And I want to say I want to say thank you. Thank you for another opportunity to serve this great town. This election uh is a shared testament of the future of our town. preserving Weddington for all the reasons we moved here for. I'm deeply humbled by your support and aware of the responsibilities you have given me for the next term. This council and I, the previous council have accomplished a lot in the last two years and rest assure now with the present council sworn in council um uh we're no close to being finished and we have a lot to do. I ask that the residents continue to stay involved and reach out to your district council member whenever there's a thought, idea, or even a concern. Let's all continue to work together to make Weddington the kind of town with a class car character and value that we're all proud to call home. Again, thank you. And with that being said, um can I have a motion?

Make a motion to adjurnn. All in favor? All right. We're adjourned. Thank you guys for being here. So, I have some clarity on dates. How far