City Council - Regular Meeting

I would not do very well with that. Olive green died my beard. All right. Who's going to do the hill?

Okay, sounds good. I get picked for all sorts of things. Now call this regular meeting of the Jacksonville City Council to order. Uh I want to welcome everyone who's come out for the meeting tonight and also those who be watching it on the G10 uh television. We're going to begin the meeting tonight by having a pledge of allegiance standing for the pledge of allegiance led by council member Logan Sosa followed by the invocation. Please rise. 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.

Let us pray. Our most gracious heavenly father, we thank you for today. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to be here today as a community and as a city council so that they can make decisions that serve our citizens. Lord, we thank you for the many blessings that you bestow upon us each and every day. Uh for the blessings of yesterday, the presence of today, and the uh the hope of tomorrow. Lord, we ask that you be with the mayor and the council tonight and give them the wisdom to make decisions that benefit the entire community. Lord, we ask for your continued support for uh for our troops and for our youth. Lord, uh, two different challenges that that they go about in different ways and they have opportunities in front of them, Lord, but they all need your prayer and your support, uh, through the many things that they face today as our troops protect our country and our youth, provide for the future of uh, where we're going to be. Lord, thank you so much for your love. Thank you for the mercy that you give us, for the things we don't do so well, and thank you for your grace. In your name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Council, you've been provided a copy of the agenda for tonight's meeting. At this time, I'd entertain a motion to adopt the agenda. So moved. Second. I have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I.

All opposed. Next, we have our se first or first and only section of public comment for this evening. And before we do, I'm going to read the rules for public comment. Uh, it's now time for the public comment portion of the agenda. This is a time the council has set aside during each regular meeting to hear comments from the public. This is not not a question and answer session, but a time for you to express your views on city issues to the council. Each speaker who signed the public comment signup sheet may come to the podium when I call your name. So when you do come up, please state your name and address for the record to the clerk. You may speak for up to three minutes and when the timer at the podium and also displayed on the screen turns yellow, that is a signal that there is 30 seconds of time remaining and you may wish to begin wrapping up your comments. So with that said, the first person I'm going to call up is Clay Alexander. Which podium do you want?

Right here, sir. Right here, please. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, city council members, members of the city of Jacksonville. My name is Clayron Clay Alexander. I'm here to express my interest in a close good friend of mine and a large brother, James Xbrite Brown. I understand that y'all debating on changing a street name from Henderson Drive to James XY Brown Drive. I hope this comes true. I say that to say this. This is a military town. We named the street after Sergeant Major Huff. We named a park after a developer, Richard Ray. James X Brown is one of your own, one of our own. I'm from New Jersey. I'm in the military. He dedicated twothirds of his adult life to law enforcement in this town. It's fitting for us to recognize him in that matter.

He's 98 years old. I met Mr. Brown when we was entering the lodge back in 1989 and we've been friends ever since. But to honor a man that gave up so much of his life to this town is a blessing. And I pray that you find it in your hearts that you recognize this man and show his family what his service meant to this town. I'm on the the understanding that uh they read a proclamation in the capital in the Senate. Is that correct, sir?

I think there was a Yes. I believe the senator that brought that proclamation. Oh, yes. Gable. That was Mike Lazar. Wyatt Gable. He's a uh House of Representatives. Yes. Mike Lazar. No, Wyatt Gable. Wyatt Gable. Order of the long house North Carolina House of Representatives. Okay, sir. I stand correct. I know what you're talking about. Yes, sir.

I'm not going to take up too much of staff time and the committee's time, but I pray that uh that the committee find it in your hearts to honor a person that gave up so much of his life to all of us. Probably every one of us in here probably have a X Y Brown story. But um I say that to say this here. Oh yeah. If they decide to do that, and I pray that you do, you couldn't show his family or the city of Jacksonville how you honor your own. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for this time. May God bless you all. Mr. Alexander. Ma'am, I need your address, please, sir. 96 Artsdale Drive.

Okay. Thank you. You're quite welcome. Thank you, sir. Next, I have Mr. Lewis Molina.

Good afternoon, uh, the mayor and council members. I'm here to talk about a sidewalk on Henderson Drive. Uh, I've lived here since 1976 when there was only one hotel and maybe two or three gas stations. And this city has grown in leaps and bounds. Uh, council members, I hope you read this thing here real quickly, but my issue is safety. Uh, from the gas station of the the K gas station to the Jun Boulevard, there is no sidewalk on either side of the road. If you drive that area there, it used to be a roller coaster. The city patched it up here and there and it took maybe 10, 15 years before that strip got redone. But I'm more interested on the safety of pedestrians. Pedestrians dodge in and out of parked cars to the sidewalk. I mean to the road on either well one side and on the other side they got to kind of maneuver also. I think it's due time that the city put an issue about putting a sidewalk in that area. It's only a quarter of less than a quarter of a mile and it doesn't have to be on both sides just one side. Uh that's my issue. Thank you council members.

Thank you. your address. Your address? Oh, I'm sorry. I have it on the document, sir. Thank you. You have it? I have. Yes, sir. Thank you so much. Mr. Mr. Molina, if I could ask you one question here real quick. The area you're talking about is on Henderson, correct? Yes. And it's between Marine. He meant Marine Boulevard. Marine Boulevard. And we're join from the G from uh the K gas station to Marine Boulevard. Okay. If you go to the Mai that's thank you very much. Yes sir.

Next we have uh Mr. Juan Belt Train. Good evening, uh, Mr. Mayor, city council members, members of Jacksonville. Uh, I'd like to speak about the proposed first responder appreciation day that hosted by Oslo County Republicans Men's Club. My comments are not about partis partisanship. They're about fairness, consistency, and how our community chooses to recognize the men and women who serve Jacksonville and Enslow County every day. Our city already has a clear and reasonable president for support and appreciation events hosted by organizations with their own affiliations. The city has previously approved and helped promote the first responders breakfast hosted by the infant or PRA Catholic Church. That event is organized by a religious institution. Yet no one reasonably in inter interprets the city support as an endorsement of a particular faith. Instead is understood for what it actually is. A community expression of gratitude toward towards our first responders. The same principle should apply to our organization. Concerns has been raised by police and fire leadership that this lunchon is somehow political which is not simply because it's hosted by the Enslow County Republicans men's club. Respectfully, the reasoning rests on the idea known as guild by association. He assumes that the nature of the event is determined solely by the name of the host rather than by the actual purpose and conduct of the event itself. If we have set that reasoning as a standard, the consequences will be obvious and unreasonable. Any event hosted by a

church would automatically be treated as a religious promotion. An event hosted by a civic group with viewpoints will automatically be treated as advocacy. Yet our community have never operated that way because we recognize that organizations of many kinds can host events that simply to serve the public. The real question should be straightforward. What is the purpose of the event? Is the purpose is to thank and recognize our police officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, and other first responder. There's no campaigning, political rec recruitment or partisan messaging. that event stand on the exact same footing as others. Appreciation events already supported in this community. Public policy should be guided by consistent standards, not selective ones. When we treat similar events differently based solely on host on who hosts them, we move away from fairness and towards viewpoint discrimination whether intentional or not. At the end of the day, the discussion should be not about the identity of the host organization. It should be about the people being honored, the first responders who answer the call when our community need the most. Thank you very much, sir.

Sir, I need your address, please. I'm sorry. 33 330 Belot Court. Thank you. Carmen Spicer.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, council. I'd like to refer before I speak. I am Carmen Spicer. My address is 59 Kur Street, Jacksonville, 28540. Acts 9:11 talks about streets. It talks about representing a direct path of righteousness and divine guidance. So, I think that lines up tonight, this evening, why we're requesting a name change of Henderson Drive and Henderson Extension to Officer X Y Brown because he had a direct path. The Lord guided him to guide those children. See, he protected our children. We don't recall any accidents. You might know better than I do, Chief. or anything that happened. Here's a person that's well served. I'm told, I read a little bit that he might be the oldest officer, maybe the United States, I don't know. But, however, if we don't do it, then law enforcement because either way, he has earned his right to rename the street name. And we here tonight is just a few of us tonight that's supporting that and believe and I believe council thank you so much pro Tim uh Edwards I believe council is going to agree with me on this. So I thank you so much. I thank you for your time. I'm going to give somebody else some time too much but thank you in advance and I know we all believers think about Acts 911. This is a great time to think about this Lent season. Thank you so much. God bless you for all you do. Amen. Amen.

59 Kur Street, Madam Clerk.

George Wilson Fondon. Georgia. Georgia. Georgia. I'm sorry. Oh, that's a in.

Good evening, councilman's. My name is Georgia Wilson Fom 3118 Belmont Court Jacksonville. It's a privilege and an honor to stand before you all of you this evening as a little girl growing up here in Oslo County, Jacksonville all of my life and now I'm considered a senior and Mr. X Y certainly has been a pillar of strength and it would just be such a great honor while he's yet living

to see his name or to hear about his name being placed or being considered to be placed on a street someplace here in Jacksonville where he served faithfully. So let's do it for him. Let's do it for him. Thank you.

Thank you. Barbara Henderson. Good evening. My name is Barbara Henderson, 255 Country Club Road, Jacksonville, North Carolina. And I'm here for Mr. X Y Brown from the name of this uh discreet in his name because he uh done a great service here in Jacksonville, North Carolina. And I think he deserve it. That's all I have to say.

Thank you. Thank you, Miss Henderson. Monica Brown. Yes. His name is Yes. Carl. Are you coming too?

With Monica and Carl Brown. Our address is 2446 Saddle Ridge Drive, Midway Park, 28544. We are here um to just speak about Mr. X Y Brown um and him having the name um his name being for the Henderson Extension change. Um this is personal to us that Mr. XY um protected our child when he was at when she was at Belffork Elementary School. Um, we did, we were new to the area, but we saw the stat statueette of that man and nobody was crossing that street. Nobody was stopping and our child did not get injured or anything from the crosswalk. Um, so we definitely feel very strongly about that and we'll be excited if his name was to be um if the street name was to be changed. Anything else for

Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely.

Thank you for your time. Thanks for coming. Mary LP Morg to the mayor, council members, Jacksonville city members, also visitors. Good evening. I am Mary Louise Pearson Moore, 1013 Greenway Drive, Jacksonville, North Carolina 28546. Yes, ma'am. I am the president and founder of the Martin Luther King Keeping the Dream Alive Committee. And I want everyone here to know I am here for XY Brown changing the name on Henderson Drive for him because not only he was the very first officer that led the march for us and that was 20 years ago next year. So you see he really put a lot into what he was doing not only for the school but for anything that he was needed for. And I say to you all please please please rename that Henderson Drive after XY Brown. To God be the glory for all the good things he has done. Thank you.

Wilkins. Is there a last name Wilkins in the house? Octavia. Octavia. Octavia. Okay. Octavia Wilkins. I got it.

Pardon me. Octavia Ward Wilkins, PO Box 12731, Jacksonville, North Carolina 28546. Thank you. Um, thank you for just having the time to allow us to come up here and speak on behalf of my grandfather and my my family, the Brown family. We would just like for you to consider renaming Henderson Drive after my grandfather. Many people haven't made it to 68 years, but he took 68 years of his life to serve a community that he believes in. And not only did he serve the community that he believed in, but um when Mr. Ray did the prayer, he talked about um our youth and troops. And the youth is his love and a troop is what he was. He was a soldier in the army. And so those are two of his accolades, you know, putting together for his his name to be recognized. And as somebody mentioned, while he's still alive, I can remember him securing Skatew World, um being at Piggly Wiggly on Henderson, the Sed Street that we talking about, and for other areas. So, not only did he secure schools, but he secured local churches um on 17. He secured public events. And so while he's here to smell and receive his flowers, it would be an awesome thing for you to rename Henderson after him. The state recognized him on Monday and his family was able to be there to be a witness to such an honorable event. And so I thank God as I look around I'm like look at all the support. You know, I can only think of the words of my grandbaby. Wow, amazing. and she is his fifth generation. So to be able to see that and to serve a county that he so loves for 68 years, it would be an honor to my family, the

Brown family, to be able to see Henderson renamed after him. I call him grandpa or granddaddy or old man, and some may call him XY Brown, but he's Lieutenant XY Brown and I'm so proud to be a part of his family. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Okay. All right. Council, that concludes the public comment for this evening. So, now we have an option of the minutes from the March 3rd, 2026 workshop meeting and uh three consent items. Mr. Mayor, I move approval of the minutes and consent items as presented. Second. Any discussion hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I.

I.

All opposed. takes us to item number four for the evening and this is a public hearing on annexation. Uh James Pedrick is the trustee of 167.64 acres plus or minus and Mr. Massie will be presenting this item. Mayor and Councel, uh, on behalf of James Patrick, trustee, uh, Kimbley Horn has submitted a petition for voluntary annexation of a portion of one track of land totaling 167.64 acres that is contiguous to the current city boundaries. Uh, this is a voluntary annexation covered by state law. Uh the process uh is here on the screen is a little bit different for voluntary than I'm sorry for uh a contiguous annexation versus a a satellite annexation. So this is a contiguous annu an annexation. Uh we're now at the point of uh having the public hearing for the council to vote on the annexation. The property is located uh at the uh end of Williamsburg Plantation and abuts the 488 acres uh that that council annexed in January. Uh so it it is all contiguous to city limits. The developer proposes building 102 single family homes with an average value of $350,000 each. Uh the staff believes that annexation is in the best interest of the city and its residents. Uh it will grow the top property tax base uh and it

provides a positive cash flow uh of over a 5-year review period of about 2,600 plus,000. That's new tax revenue to the city over that period of time. Uh the staff believes it contributes to the city's economic development. It provides safe high level of city public service s and city services to the residents and it'll increase the housing availability in the city of Jacksonville. Staff recommends that council adopt the annexation ordinance as presented.

Question. It's it says on the agenda it's 192 single family homes versus 102. Um with that three thatund 488.63 uh acres that's being developed in Thornberg property and the city's uh uptown project. What kind of eventuality is there going to be as far as transportation routes in and out of those areas?

Well, that's all being coordinated and there is going to be provide there's going to be access established to the 400 acres from this particular parcel in addition to uh access through Williamsburg plantation. And I know that's kind of putting things out front, but you know, still with that that much to build out, there needs to be some kind of plan, you know, give us some idea what kind of what kind of cluster that's going to create back there. So

well as you know when required a traffic impact analysis will be completed and improvements identified that were are needed as a result of a development occurring and that and so that's like you said mayor we're a little early in the process but we do know that we need that connection uh heading up towards the 400 acres uh the connection into western extension and and that's something that's already accommodated with with this uh property annexation towards the So I take it they'll be contributors eventually to building that road out. Correct.

Well um what what they're legally responsible for. Exactly. Yeah. Yes, sir. They they don't cause the entire uh demand for the road. Some of it comes from the 400 acres, right, of what's being built there. But they they'll they'll be paying what's a prata share, so to speak, of improvements that are required to handle the traffic. I just want to make sure the city wasn't going to bear the whole financial responsibility of that. I defer to Anthony if he if he has any more expert expertise in that subject.

I have I have a question about that. Is is there going to be secondary accesses? I know there's going to be one through Williamsburg Plantation, but is there plans to do another access through there? Um, can our media friends turn on the annotation, please? What's important to know about this tract is it's kind of a what I would call a keystone for not only our project but also the Thornwood property that council considered in January. Let's try this. Can we get the uh prompter please? Annotation. Okay. So, the the city's property is Let's try that again. Ah, there we go. Anyways, I'll you my use my words. How about that? The blue property uh at the top of the of the U map here is the 400 acres.

Um the green property is um the Thornwood property which you know part parts of that has been uh annexed into the city. Is this working now folks? No. Yeah. Hey, there you go.

I can't control it though. So there we go. Still using words. So, if you see in the top right hand corner of the of the map where that kind of rectangle parcel is, it's a storm water pond that currently exists. And uh one of the requirements of the development for this as well as the thornwood is is that an additional connection will come from the striped parcel through that area back into the 400 acres. Now, that's very important for us, but it's also important for them because our development is not going to meet the city's remote access standards for police and fire, and neither is theirs unless that connection occurs. So, they've been working with the property owners of that blue piece right there that's circled. And we've been speaking with them all along about how to make that interconnectivity happen. Uh there will be off the screen here, which you can't see, more direct access out to West um excuse me, uh Williamsburg Parkway and then of course Gum Branch Road. and we're in the final throws of approving their TIA, which requires some pretty significant improvements, albeit not on day one, but as the development progresses, there's a series of incremental improvements that will have to be made there, as well as at other locations. So, we've got the traffic figured out to the best of our ability, and there's there's going to be a number of improvements made.

And it's beside the point. I mean, we welcome I'm sure we welcome them into the city as far as annexation is concerned, but just wanted to take a look at that whole thing considering we have a huge project that we're planning to try to do over the next few years. Well, and that's we don't want it to impact it negatively. Yes, sir. I didn't mean to talk over you there, but um it's very important to us as well as our emergency responders that we have that interconnectivity and that remote access because that's what keeps our response times where they need to be. So, there's no way to do a third connection in there somewhere.

Unfortunately, because of the new river and the amount of wetlands in this area, I don't believe a third connection would be practical. I mean, if you want to do a rope bridge across the New River, maybe so, but I just don't think that's going to serve a good purpose. I don't think we're going to do that anyway. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Ron. There is there is going to be a connection to the thorn. Of course, now I can't draw on it either. There is going to be two connections. One to the blue at the top and then also to the green to provide some additional interconnectivity, okay, between the Thornwood and the Patriot property. And then both of those then connect to Williamsburg Parkway.

Again, like I said, it's not relevant to this discussion as far as annexation, but just wanted to know that, you know, because we have stake out there. Yes, sir. We've spent a lot of time on this up to this point. So, thank you. Thank you. All right. So, Ron, do you have anything else to add? No, sir. Okay. So, at this time, I'll recess the regular meeting and open up the public hearing in this matter. There's anyone present who wishes to speak to this this issue, please raise your hand. Do you see any hands? Nope. Okay. With that, I'll close the public hearing and reconvene a regular council meeting. Council, you being asked to approve the annexation ordinance.

Mayor Phillips, I move that the um the council approves the UDO text amendments as presented by staff. Okay. The annexation, right? Annex. Yes. You second. I'll second that. Okay. Any further discussion? Council hear none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. All opposed.

Okay. Let's see. Go down to number five. If I can get it up here. Let's see. This will be a public hearing on the unified development ordinance text amendment. This is amendment to article 4.3 accessory use standards and C special standards for certain accessory uses five food vendors and the FY26D schedule. Mr. Ryan King will be presenting this item. Ryan.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, mayor, council. Um, tonight before you you have the unified development ordinance text amendment as the mayor just described. Uh, to remind everybody, our development standards were introduced with the adoption of the unified development ordinance back in 2014, which was a replacement to the previous ordinances, the zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations, which dated back to the 70s. Uh, with the adoption of the unified development ordinance, there were um, development standards that were put in place to ensure and promote compatib compatibility standards between various uses. Uh based on information and guidance provided by the city attorney, planning staff has prepared this studio text amendment which proposes the uh amendments uh to article 4.3 use standards C specific standard for accessory certain accessory uses number five food vendors mobile as outlined in the staff report in attachment A. And additionally we are requesting a fee schedule amendment to the FY26 fee schedule as it relates to the mobile food vendors. Um, this change uh would specifically eliminate the 250 foot spacing requirement that is currently in the text. It would clarify one contradiction in the hours of operation components and it would eliminate the specific signage requirements for food vendors and it'll default to article 512. The mayor and council may remember a few weeks ago we consolidated items trying to move all the sign regulations into one section. This kind of follows the same components. We believe that this amendment supports the um uh let me come back to that. Some notable dates in history. You can find on page 74. Uh back in 2020, the food truck owners requested council consider making some amendments. They did that via an actual an actual application and that that was considered and adopted by the city council in January in 2021. And basically we've had that ordinance in

place since that time. Uh we have basically taken this to the planning advisory board. They recommended in favor of this amendment 3 to2. Uh they did that on March 9th. And with that being said, we believe that this amendment is consistent with the camel use plan policies 24 and 52, which states support city and county chambers of commerce in their efforts to promote entrepreneurial development and small business expansion and that there may be beneficial impacts on policies that support ongoing economic development opportunities activities. Um, we have advertised this amendment in accordance with the North Carolina General Statutes and um, we believe, like I said, that the this is consistent with the plan and um, be happy to answer any questions that you may have at this time. Um, and if the amendment is um, approved, we would also ask that you then follow suit with amending the fee schedule.

Any questions, Mr. King? I just have two questions. One is um they they're they're still restricted to locations based upon the the zoning. Is that correct? They would be limited to the industrial and the quarter commercial zones. Yes, sir. What about like parks and uh um you know dor festivals and things like that? There's there's other provisions for special events that that covers which is separate from this specific ordinance for somebody that wants to just open up to the general public on an individual track to land. So it wouldn't affect uh the food trucks that come to national night out and no impacts of that at all.

Okay. And the hours of operation are from basically it's it's going to be allowed to be open as the businesses open. So, if the business is closed, they wouldn't be able to open. And I believe there um there's there is a limitation though found in attachment A, which is um I believe it's 6:00 to 2:00 a.m. So, there's only a small window that they would not be able to be open provided the business is also open at the same time. Thank you. Any other questions? Ron, Ron, I know we talked in the planning board meeting that a few concerns was like, you know, the distance and everything. So, are you still doing is this a pilot or is this going to be the new rules? Because I know we talked about that.

So, I had alluded to the planning board that when the changes were adopted by council in 2021 that it was a pilot program. Um, as with anything that we make a change to the unified development ordinance. Um, you know, it was the first time it was very very limited focused to within a building footprint and this basically opened it up to be within parking lots, but there was spacing and now basically we're asking that that spacing be removed and it just be limited to the quarter commercial and the industrial zone similar to restaurants and they said to get permission to be on those properties, right?

That is correct. That's one of the that's one of the standards. There's 18 standards that are in there. We're talking about eliminating two of them. So the other 16 would still apply and one of those is that land owner has to um approve that location. There's got to be adequate room for them to set up etc. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Right. Thank you. Thank you. With that, we'll recess the regular meeting and open up the public hearing on this matter. Is there anyone wishes to speak to this uh agenda item present? Please raise your hand. See any hands? With that, we'll close the public hearing and council, you're being asked to um consider the text amendment.

Mr. Mayor, I move that we approve the text amendment and the fee schedule amendment as presented. Second. Any other discussion hear? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I.

All oppose. Motion carries. Going on to number six and this will be for the voting delegates for the in North Carolina League of Municipalities annual conference is scheduled for May 5th through the 7th 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. There's uh four council members that will be attending. Mayor Pim Cindy Evers, Councilwoman Mickey Smith, Councilman Jerome Willingham, and Councilman Mike Yianro. With that, uh, we need to nominate a voting delegate and an alternate alternate voting delegate for this meeting.

Mr. Mayor, like to make a nomination for Mayor Pro Edwards as the voting delegate and Councilwoman Smith as the alternative. Okay. Second. Okay. Mayor Phillips, I move that the nominations be closed and the candidates accepted by acclamation. Is there a second to that? He second. I second it. Okay. All all in favor signify by saying I. I.

All opposed. Okay. So, we got that settled. Okay. So, I'm going to skip down to the reports if that's okay with everybody here. And uh we'll start I'll start with you, Mr. Sosa. Just happy to be here. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Hope everybody had a good day. Stay out of trouble. That's it.

Thank you. Um Councilwoman Smith is not be able to be here this evening. She's in DC attending another function. Uh but she and I both were able to attend a um early education and child care symposium that was held um for military host communities related to how it's impacting military communities um military personnel and also um just the state in general. It's a it's an issue that's facing you know whether you're an employer, your employees can't have child care, they can't make it to work as often. families are doing split shifts and all kinds of things and and children are being left in care that may or may not be meeting certain standards because it's the only option parents can find because of the shortage of spaces and qualified folks who will take the jobs in childare and early education. So, it was very informative. Um it's it's not a problem that will be solved quickly or with a silver bullet solution, but there are several programs being um tested, tried, and one of them was um Try Share is a program that's just been rolled out from a few pilot counties to all 100 in North Carolina, which allows employers for um to the it's try share. So the cost of child care is spread between the employer, the employee, and the state of North Carolina's grant for this. And so a family who's got a child in childare, which by the way may cost as much as some mortgages in this room. It's it's crazy what it's costing um can pay a third of what they would have had to come up with because the employer pitches in a third and the state pitches in a third. This we don't know how long this will be going on, but for now it's available. um that gives us access to funding for the challenge, but we still have to have spots available in care centers. So, it's it's a a multi complex multifaceted complex problem, but there are solutions being tested, being tried, everyone's looking at this and and realistically the model is not real sustainable because by the time you meet state mandates, you can't afford to pay your employees enough and you can't

parents can't afford for that care. So, they're kind of caught between a rock and a hard place. So, it was very informative. Um, the city's business, we care for all of our citizens. We don't, you know, the county is, you know, social services and human services and schools and and child care. So, that's really not our direct ma, you know, item of influence, but we want to be a good partner in this effort to find solutions for our citizens and our families and for, you know, military or otherwise. Everyone that has young children and we have a lot of those families here is is struggling with this issue to some level. So anyway, I don't have a great solution to purport, but uh the problem is being worked uh from every angle that we can work it. So hopefully we'll have good news forthcoming. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Dr. Washington.

Um yes, Mayor Phillips. Um, Council Member Willingham, Council Member Smith, and myself represented the city of Jacksonville um, at the National League of Cities in Washington DC. And the two of them are still up in DC attending the conference and going to the Hill on tomorrow. But two of the thing two of the most overwhelming um items that was brought out throughout the conference um dealt with the lack of attainable housing and also with civility. So I'll start with the latter one first. Um the National League of Cities now has passed a new resolution that deals with civility, dignity, and respect in return in excuse me in response to local elected officials. Um we are starting to see um across the United States that there is language, there is behaviors that is um sometimes projected towards local elected officials and um the National League of Cities is encouraging us to continue to have those conversations with our constituents about those heartrelated matters that is um on their minds on that's pressing them about the different choices um that elected officials now are tasked with making in terms of resources, those quality of life issues that are affecting our citizens and how to have a very civilized a dignified and the civility within our communities. Also um one of the other issues that came up was about housing and I attended a housing solution um being used as an economic

tool and one of the strategies was to partner with developers in terms of moderate to low income and having housing development specifically build for those that particular income level um in terms of being able to um attract more firsttime home owners, individuals that's making a certain um income level um early professional individuals, bluecollar workers where your $300,000 homes are out of their economic level. But however, being able to um attract and put out for bids those developers that would be interested in building those homes of $100,000 to $150,000 to try to attract that population that finds their um their ability to be firsttime home owners impossible. But another question that I raised and I wanted to ask Mr. Massie about this. Um the secretary of war um the purse strings with the um the DIP program, the defense community infrastructure program. And one of the questions that I raised is whether or not within that pool of money um could the milit could the federal government partner with those public private relationships with municipalities that have military installations close to their cities be able to work with the municipalities developers and putting monies back into that housing program to attract housing for E5s and below if base housing is not available, but um those um service members are coming out into the cities

to find housing. If the federal government was willing to invest those dollars into those municipalities to help them to build affordable housing also for their military individuals. Did you get a response? Uh I was told that they will do the research and get back with me.

Yeah. Every year when the when the DIP program is announced, they open up for applications. There's a a specific set of things that they are looking to fund in that year. There hasn't been up to this point any opportunities for what you suggested, but that may be something that Department of War wants to consider uh you know offering DIP funding for. Okay. One of the challenges with the DC program is you know the time the time frame in which you have to complete

the the work to spend the money and also how quickly you have to get started you know on the project and that but you know there's parameters like that but we're certainly we always look uh you know at at what uh we might be able to to apply for when that announcement comes out. Certainly worth taking a look at. Yes, sir. Okay, that's my report, sir. Thank you, Mr. Unera.

Uh, first, I I know there was on the consent item, but the automatic aid agreements from the fire protection between Southwest and Pumpkin Center. You know, I think how important that is to think about how we're doing it regionally. And I commend Chief Tolman and his staff for uh hammering out those agreements which will uh improve public safety especially in in those areas where where they're close. I mean that's a more regional approach is is is an excellent way to make sure that uh that folks who who have emergencies are um attended to. as as Chief Tomlin has said uh numerous times, those seconds are are don't belong to us. They belong to the to the victims of these uh these injuries. And I and I applaud that effort. The other thing is after working 20 years with uh with Lieutenant Brown, it is it is fitting that we look at what we can do to honor him. Um, you know, we we've talked about a number of different things and I and I think it's it's incumbent on that. You know, a lot of people didn't realize he was a World War II veteran, uh, fought in World War II to, uh, to protect us and protected us for 68 years. Um, you know, I used to when I was in my office, he would come in and talk to me and the first thing he would say is, you know, I love those children. They're my children. and I got to make sure they're safe. And uh and that's just a testament and and you know some of the stories about him uh providing scholarships to folks that needed needed money to go to college to impact our community. Um those those permeated and I know the mayor could could tell you all kinds of stories

about about his kindness. Uh, one particular story for me was I walked outside one day toward Christmas time and I was uh I was talking to him and and looked in the back of his car and it was full to the brim of Christmas presents and I said, "Xy, what are you doing with those Christmas presents?" He said, "Those are for my kids." He said, "Kid, some kids will never have a a Christmas. These presents are for the kids." So, um it is fitting that we we look at what we can do to honor his honor his service, honor his commitment, and um and and make sure that our next generation understands what sacrifice is is truly about.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you.

All right, Mr. Ray. Thank you, mayor. Before I go to my one city moment, I do want to give an update to council. Uh council had this discussion about naming rights at the last workshop. Uh council asked staff to deliver a report back. We just sent that report today. So for a lot of the citizens here today providing their input and their support for XY, the council hasn't had that report. I believe you received it today around 4:30. So, you haven't been able to review that. It could have even been 5:00 when you got it, mayor. So, uh that document's been received back to council. Now, um two weeks after we've had this discussion, some of the things that are included in there are are two requests actually, not just the one request, but for another naming request. Uh we talked about the history of Henderson. We also provided some documentation for the policy that the council has for naming of facilities or streets. and we entered into the information uh related back to NC DO's policies. So, council will be able to review that and then to give us some direction based on what we've submitted back to you. It is a longer document. So, hopefully we'll be able to review that and then have that discussion back uh coming to the council. Uh the challenge for council is uh just like you hear today and then back to Mr. Uniro's comments, greatness is seen from so many people in the community and that's where the value is. So, I just tell you that, mayor, because it leads right into to our one city moment is we're always given that opportunity to take the time to appreciate, but no other community that I've seen does it like we do it. We we end the meetings with this these opportunities to say thank you for so many different things in our community. So, you have that report in front of you. We'll look for direction back from council for an upcoming meeting to have any more discussion. Rolls right in. Uh we had our harmony

awards ceremony. This is a youth council initiative where our youth council comes together and they are able to review applications uh consider projects and then to award money some funding to support those projects. You'll see here they we had the uh the presentations and the decisions on March 12th. The high school students from schools all over Enslo County. So, Harmony program and our youth council is not just in Jacksonville, but it's all over the county. Uh, we're very excited to see the youthled projects. So, it's not just looking at our service providers in the community that have been doing this for years. These are youthled projects that engage with other youth. Um, the youth council selected two different awardees for 2026. They awarded $875 to the Aspire Reaching Beyond the Obvious for their empowerment day event, which is incredible in itself. And then $600, you'll see right here, to North Side High School for their studentto student care packages. As we've said earlier, uh the challenges that our youth go through each and every day, it's not just uh getting up and getting to school. It's not getting across the street and getting back across. There's so many challenges that our youth have to navigate in and around. So, for our youth council to be an active partner with our youth to appreciate what they're doing and support it, it it's an awesome opportunity for us. And I uh just go back to Pamela Trafton for being able to work throughout our youth council and help them recognize their peers. For the second year now, the Colorful Voices of Sisterhood hosted their second or their Queens Ball Gayla. They honored 15 women whose leadership, service, resilience, and commitment to uplifting others have made a lasting impact in

Enslo County. Of those 15, two are uh our partners, our city of Jacksonville partners. You're going to see Mayor Pro Tim Cindy Edwards there on the left hand side of the screen. She was awarded the public service excellence award. And then on the right side of the screen, you'll see Deputy Police Chief Ashley Weaver. She was awarded the Excellence in Public Safety Award. So, I I say to to both these women, uh your excellence has been appreciated from the county version, but it's also appreciated from our teams. Uh we love having you present. We love having you active and we appreciate the work that you do in and around Jacksonville and Enslo County. Hopefully they'll have a third Queens Ball gayla and that there will be plenty of others that will be recognized because I can guarantee you between last year's recognitions and this year's 15, there are many more people that deserve to be recognized in our community. And I'm very confident you will see these people next year. There's all the awardees. Welldeserved honor. Earlier today, the mayor had the opportunity to recognize William Lynn II of troop 9133 for his Eagle Scout project. It was an outstanding citizen award that the mayor gave to uh Mr. Lynn for exceptional service to the city of Jacksonville and completion of his e Eagle Scout project. I not being an Eagle Scout, I cannot appreciate the work that he put into the ridiculous number of badges that he's wearing. Word on the street is they don't just hand those out for showing up. You have to earn those. And so when I look at the hours here, he has 108 merit badges.

It took enough to get a name badge to work for the city. So I have this one, but he has 108 name badges pretty much. He's a member of two Explorer Post, has completed 226 and a half community service hours with 189 of those hours coming in the city of Jacksonville. So, pretty much he's a benefited employee of the city. Now, we haven't sent him a check yet, but the mayor did give him a recognition, and he completed his Eagle Scout project with the city's recreation and parks department, refurbishing a picnic shelter containing two restrooms and a maintenance building and snack bar at Northeast Creek Park. He led 15 scouts, leaders, and other adults in this endeavor. So, to uh to Eagle Scout William Lynn, we just say thank you and congratulations.

You're here. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, M. Welch. Anything? Nothing to report to. Thank you, Mr. Ray. Would you have somebody from staff speak with Mr. Molina at when we go about the sidewalk situation? We already handed a contract, but we'll make sure. Okay. All right. Thank you. All right. With that, I would entertain a motion to go into close session to discuss uh some land acquisition. So I'll second. So we got a motion second. All in favor signify by saying I. I. All oppose.