Board of Aldermen - Special Meeting

All right. So, oh, that was loud. Um, to call to order the special session. I'm looking for my um I didn't have my uh agenda with me, which is a very small agenda. Let me get it real quick. No, it's not the agenda. Hang on. [snorts] Uh to call this. It's a special meeting. Oh, call the special meeting um to order. The idea of this meeting is to talk about what we think the key issues are for the town. Okay. Uh we are starting a strategic planning workshop discussion which everybody knows I tried to start six months ago. um talk about goals and then I think the difference in what we want to do in this one is is a little bit more simplistic which is in the past in the normal board meetings we don't really have we're not really supposed to have a give and take with everybody the [snorts] idea behind this one is to get public in input from you all because we're going to go to a um uh a it's not really a retreat we're driving to Newburn for a session about strategic planning to put together a plan and in the meantime we've also hired a financial person which is uh Mr. Carter who did all of our fin planning before to expedite that. So the idea today is to and Conniey's going to lead the discussion about what goals and strategy and things like that uh we should employ uh and then to get input from you and to remind everybody and I think Connie talked about this before is this is [clears throat] step one. The idea is to get input from you all number one and from the board and two is understand this is the start of a process. We're going to have another meeting and then we'll have planning workshops and budget meetings. So with that, I'm going to turn it over. Go ahead.

So just to be clear, the training that the board is going to next week is offered by the North Carolina League of Municipalities. So we're getting it's it's the first time the whole board's going to get strategic planning training in this structure. We've number of have done it before. So with that, Connie. All right, Ricky, would you put up the PowerPoint, please?

So, the purpose of this workshop is we are planning for our um municipal strategic planning session in Newburn next week. Getting some input from the uh from the citizens as well as the board. That way we are not spinning our wheels while we're up there or spending a lot of time just trying to think about okay what what are the pizza's here. Do you want to offer it to everybody that's here? [cough and clears throat] Yeah. Do you want to do that? That's for everybody. And my my wife ordered that to be delivered. So help help yourself if people would like some pizza while Yeah. There's pizza. This is this is very informal. Like Rick said

she's not paying for it. My wife paid for it. This is back and forth. So don't don't feel like you you know you're all part of this. Ricky, if you would go to the next one, please. And it's tofu. I know everybody likes tofu. [laughter]

Okay. So, like I said, uh to make the best use of our time and to also make sure that the facilitators up there that we're not asking them questions and stuff that we've already been over. Um and then when we are up there, um that's not going to be a budget session. And that's not going to be where we're figuring out everything for the town. It's really focusing on the priorities, planning for the future. Um when we're done up there, and like they said, that'll be two days next week. Um we will come back to the citizens. We'll have uh more meetings, figure out the strategic plan we want so that we can um go forward in the way that the that the town's people want us to go forward. We are represent we're just representatives. We're representing y'all. We're not, you know, whatever Connie wants isn't always the right thing. It's what y'all want. Um and then every year we should at budget time we should go through this um with the citizens and make any changes that we feel need.

Yeah, it's a living document. Next page please.

Okay. So when we get up there the first thing that they are going to do and I have gone over their agenda plus I've gone over the strategic plans that they've helped other municipalities make. Um I've gone over quite a few. Um, one of the first things that they want to do is have you make a vision statement and a mission statement. We already have we already have some. We could um we could fix them, change them, alter them in any way, but for right now, ours are pretty good, especially compared to I don't want to compared to anybody everybody else's, but they're not um like Surf City's mission is every day to make Surf City a better place to live and a better place to visit. That's theirs. Um, Pine Nol Shores their mission statement is it's the mission of the town of Pineol Shores to provide a concerted and friendly means of promoting health, safety, and social well-being by developing and implementing plans for the continuous improvement of the town and by encouraging the position of the residents of the town and community and utilizing best practice communication tools and fiscal responsibility policies.

Can I can I add something in in talking to this? I appreciate Connie putting this together. Um what she said to me, which I 100% agree with, we've got a mission and and and vision statement right there and and they're kind of the huggy things. Um the focus here is we've got the reval coming up. We've got a budget coming up and everything else is to f is to focus on the strategic plan on the dollars and things like that. We've also got a number of new aldermen and so that have been here for a couple of months. So rather than spending a day creating this type of stuff because this is going to be a document and that's and that's what Connie said to me look we [snorts] got to give the new people a chance to get their feet on the ground with this and get some more input but to focus on the stuff you know as I like to say the money issues which [clears throat] is the planning which is the strategic planning and where we're going to spend our money and what your priorities are versus just a mission statement. Is that fair?

Exactly. Yes. and uh there's nothing wrong especially when I've looked at I think I looked at like 14 different communities. Um our mission statement and our vision uh goes right in is set up the same way as as many municipalities. Ours is not bad. It was created in a strategic workshop, a strategic planning workshop by the board of alderman in in 2016. So, it is 10 years old, but it's still um it's still pretty good. North Topsil Beach will provide its residents and visitors an enhanced quality of life by protecting the natural environment and enhancing its tranquil beauty, maintaining a familyfriendly atmosphere, and providing recreational opportunities. And the vision is is follows along that same line. And I, you know, when you look at it, like Rick said, it is kind of huggy, but I feel like it is really good that we do follow um follow that. Our vision is the board of North Topsill Beach will work to preserve the natural beauty of the town in harmony with balance growth. As a diverse coastal community, North Topsale Beach will protect the shorelines and our natural habitat, enhance recreational amenities, manage sustainable development in according with an existing land use plans, provide high comp highly competent staff to ensure excellent customer service to citizens and visitors, and provide fiscal management of the town's funds. Those are all pretty good goals. Yep. Next, it please Ricky. [clears throat] So when we get to Newburn, we will be expected to follow basically an outline unless they do something different. This is how they've done it for years and looking at their uh and looking at their agenda, this is how it's going to be. So what we are going to be asked to do and

what we would like input from the citizens is we will be asked to look for about four or five focus areas to really look at. I threw out some on there just following what other coastal communities have used. Um [clears throat] we didn't we don't have like a thriving business area or other things that didn't pertain to us. No offense, Mark. [laughter]

Sorry, Mark. We have one little place. Uh, but I threw out some and these are none of these are set in stone. We will come back. We've got no growth in natural resources, infrastructure, organizational organizational e excellence, sta safe environ. Under each topic, we are supposed to come up with a couple objectives and then a couple initiatives. And again, today we're just stepping our toe in, putting out some ideas because once we get up to Newburn, they can help us fill them out more, flesh it all out, and we'll bring it back to y'all and see what needs to be changed um [clears throat] and how we want to move forward from there. Okay, next slide please, which is the last one, don't worry. So, I did not reinvent the wheel on this stuff. Um, like I said, I looked at so many different um so many different municipalities. They all have their little graphics and everything. So, I I stole a lot of their verbiage and their graphics. And this is just basically how it all comes down. It's a you have your mission statement, your focus areas, your objectives and goals, your initiatives and strategic actions, and then it just doesn't end there because you just can't say, "Oh, this would be good to do." We have to put them into place so that we can make sure that we can budget it and work handinhand with the town manager and her with the staff so that things can be implemented throughout the years.

Okay. So, now that we know where we are, let's go back and look at um at our [clears throat] at our focus areas. How did everyone like growth and natural resources? Is that something that is is that how would you like that as part of your Why don't you define what you mean by each one of these as you go through? I think that would be helpful. [clears throat]

Okay, with your growth and natural resources, what we're talking about there is we're talking about our beach and we're also talking about our land use plans, making sure that everything coincides together. Our beach, of course, beach nourishment, dune pushes, anything like that. Um, how we want to go forward with each of those. Um the next one I have down is infrastructure which kind of dovetales but it's also with um anasa right

how which we're I feel like we've been moving along pretty well with that but our roads bike path anything like that buildings buildings [clears throat] all that organizational excellence that's that's your point would infrastructure also be the bike path because that's been raised okay yep um organizational excellence That's the way that the town's set up where we have a a manager le form of government. We have uh so we have the manager and her staff and we have the board and we have committees. So we want to make sure that we're um providing everything that the town would like

and and respecting there's [clears throat] statutory issues relating to the structure of our of our town as well. Um there's defined duties for the town manager that are that are established by statute and so respecting those type of things and getting people to understand what those things is a part of that too. Right. Yep. [clears throat]

And also making sure that we are communicating well with the citizens. Are there ways that we could be doing it better uh for safe and vi and vibrant healthy community and healthy community? That's pretty self-explanatory. It's a lot to do with the police, the fire rescue, how we're doing with that, um what they need, how we can help them, um what the citizens would like, anything else that you can think of that would um be part of that. And then of course our cultural resources and recreation. So we do have obviously a really great cultural resource in Ocean City. So we help them with the jazz festival. Could we do more? Could we help them more? Is there more that we need to do culturally? That's something that we should probably think about. Recreation is another one we need to get a parks and wreck up [clears throat] and going again. We have some fantastic um opportunities for the citizens and visitors. We have the the Halloween event, the Christmas event. Um we'll have we have hurricane forums and stuff. So, we just need to look at these things. Um is there anything that anybody else would like to add to that [clears throat] uh focus area to look at?

Let me just add a a couple of things here. The idea behind this and and Connie alluded to it a little bit is there's there's a two-step process in this. It's what's [clears throat] important to us and then it's what can we afford. And we're bringing in Doug Carter who actually our financial adviser will be with us in New Burn to give us some guidance on those things because you can [clears throat] have priorities but it may come down to what can you afford, what can we pay for and he is putting together a five-year forecast for us in terms of expenses, in terms of revenue and those type of things which will get tied back to these kind of issues. So, if we decide, oh, we'd want to build a um marina,

a marina, a roller coaster thing, we might say, well, that might be a somebody's idea of an issue, but it's going to be $10 million and it's a lower priority. That's what this process is about is how are we going to spend the money, but understanding what your priorities are, you know, is what where that starts. This is a meeting where you all have input. So, I know we're talking, but does anybody want to go to the podium and like share on those areas like what their [snorts] what they think some priorities might be? Yeah. So, just one question. Is that is that where you want to go with this? I've asked Connie to kind of run this. Yes. Exactly. This [clears throat] is this is the next step.

Yes. I don't want you guys to sit there and think, "Oh, we got to do it as formally as the regular board meeting." If you want to get on the record saying, "Hey, let's look at this." come up to the podium. Yeah, this is more brainstorming. So, if you if you can scroll down to the top of your list where it says uh for the infra infrastructure, don't forget Jones Enslow. So, Jones Enslow, Anasa, [clears throat] um Pluros, NCDOT. Okay. So, expand on that. When you [clears throat] say Jones Onslow, what particular areas of concern do you have there?

Uh the construction of power lines, one of the and also maintenance. Uh that would also tie into um the safe, vibrant, healthy community. If you're talking about uh making repairs after a storm to lines, things like that, uh you'll find that whenever you go through this, a lot of these are going to be like dovetailing with each other. But specifically, whenever you think about infrastructure, you're thinking about wire, water, sewer, electricity, roads, um and [clears throat] our relationship with NC DOT and trying to get projects done that are within the ride ofway. Um sidewalks, [clears throat] for example. crosswalks

cross I I would consider crosswalks more in the natural resources and the built built environments um and when we talk about growth and natural resources of course we're bounded on the um southern side by surf the surface city boundary and by the bridge and North Carolina general statutes needs fairy on the other side uh but there's also when you think about growth you may also to think about density and um you know of course that's where your zoning tools come into play. Uh organizational excellence uh please consider the [snorts] review and update of the plans that have already been done like the camel land use plan that was adopted as the comprehensive plan. Within that camel land use plan, there was also a survey done that was several years ago, but if if you did it again, chances are you'd get the same input from your citizenry as far as their priorities. So that might take, you know, that might be worth, you know, taking a glance at to see, you know, are are those still their concerns? Because there's like 10 pages in there of a survey response. Okay. Um say vibrant, healthy community. Um are we prepared for floods? our building uh go back to or organizational ex excellent uh building codes if I didn't say that already. Building codes UDO how well are we enforcing the standards that this board boards before you have adopted if we don't enforce them and it's just paper then let's skip on down to safe vibrant healthy communities. Okay. So, um, what do our citizens feel feel to be in a safe, vibrant, healthy community? We've got some examples on the national news where an 84 year old probably thought she was in a safe, vibrant, and

healthy community and today her family does not have that same thought. So, um, [clears throat]

it safe, vibrant, healthy communities, uh, cult uh cultural resources and recreation. Granted, uh Ocean City is the crown jewel, but what are some of the other cultural resources that we have? You have the OW with the world's premium oyster bed, right? So there's I think that we can think of we can think outside of the box and think of some other u cultural resources that we have that are specific to this island, this town and what we share with both uh Tops of Beach Surf City and Sneez Ferry as well as us being in the Keystone.

Just just back to infrastructure just so people understand [clears throat] where where I've come out on this. I'm on the unwasa board too. [snorts] Okay. And two things, one is I've been pushing for let's not [clears throat] worry so much about growth as repairing the systems. And if you look around, you're going to see on the trucks are everywhere on the island right now. We're their big focus. [snorts] But it's also true with Jones and it's also true with the county. This issue about managed growth because you're building things with at $2, I'm sorry, at 2026 costs and when and we're going to do that on WASA to figure out if you build this infrastructure, what does it do to rates? [snorts and clears throat] All right. What are we able to do? And that's true on the electric side. That's true on the gas side or I'm sorry, on the water side and purus because none of that infrastructure is here. Okay. And the county is dealing with schools. And so I think the whole idea of managed growth and I don't know what that means, Deb. You're you're much more involved in that. But that is an issue that is trying to be addressed basically by every community around here, but in particular on WS is looking at it. I don't know because I'm not on Joan's board, but I can tell you the county is very focused on trying to figure that out because you can't build a house if you don't have the infrastructure to support it. So, [snorts]

also [clears throat] when you think about uh manage when you talk about managed growth, look at the impact that the housing demand and uh the construction community's response has done to the traffic in the roadways between [clears throat] here and or here in Jacksonville even, but you know, specifically Amsterd. So, every every single one of these you could take a piece of and write write a PhD dissertation on it depending on how indepth and how committed you are to to weaving your policies and including your policies uh in with each one of these items. But I think you make a really good point that um that I would like us to consider as part of this is cooperation with county. What other type of I'm going to use the wrong term shared services. what's out there where we can save our citizens money, where we can plan things together. And I can tell you, having spent a lot of time with Tim and the chairman and those people, they're very open to working with us and other communities to find out what we can do together because they've got, people don't realize, I think it's 84% of their budget is fixed by law. They have very little flexibility in their budget because of the school situation. And they're talking almost $400 million worth of schools that are going to have to be built going forward.

[snorts] So anyway, those are really good points to make, Deb. Thanks. Thank you, Deb. Also, with that infrastructure, we need to do the I don't know if it's Bright Speed uh that's doing the cable lines. I know beach access one, some citizens have pointed out to me there's like four lines run straight across there as a trip hazard. They're running them all the way down the sand. They're not burying them correctly. Um they're running them around vehicles and and people are cutting lines left and right. So, we need to be keep an eye on that as well. Okay, y'all please Fred Fontana 1866 New River Inlet. Uh [clears throat]

y'all mentioned a lot of it. The obviously the beach beach protection, the dunes protection. That's our bread and butter. That's got to be number one on anybody's list. Uh, but I heard Connie also mention enhancing recreational opportunities and this is where the bike way bike lanes come in. I mean, couple years ago when I was on the board, we met with DOT. They gave us a couple estimates. [clears throat] I think we were proceeding fairly well. Um, they had even approached KMA as far as getting uh seeing how far CAMA would allow the bike ways to go. Uh, we have not I'm sure Cameron put in a told DOT something. We have not seen what that response was. I think that's something uh the board needs to get an answer to. Um but um I don't want to see that dropped and and I'm glad to hear that several of you mentioned it because that's was it was appeared on I think on Deb's survey that in the U in the plan that she cited also talked about uh bike lanes. The other item that I haven't heard and I just thought about it now is AI and cyber security. Um, I know Anasa and Joed, I mean Joe Joe EMC are probably [clears throat] involved, but I think the town needs to make sure that we're we're in the loop because I think AI and cyber security is going to be a major major issue that needs to be at least identified and addressed in whatever strategic plan you come up with. Fred, taking along the bike lanes. I know that the town still owns some lots, too. And one of the things is I'd like to see, you know, us look at parks again because on the south side of town,

[clears throat] like we don't have any town parks at all. And so I think if we get a parks and wreck committee together again, we we need to look at what land we currently have. Is any of it available to make some like mini parks or something or a park course or something, you know? But while we're looking at bike lanes, I'd also I mean, even something as simple as mini mini golf. I mean, that's real popular in most tourist places. I know a lot of people, you know, don't think, you know, or a frisbee golf thing or something,

something along those lines that doesn't take up that much room and and it's something to consider. Well, I had on my list from from people back during the election that they want to look at a pickle ball converting one of the tennis

courts to pickle ball and I'm just saying that's we talked about parks and wreck um and Connie and I have talked about this a lot is the bark the bike lanes have to be on there. I know you want to be involved in that. So the [clears throat] bike lanes and all that kind of stuff and it goes back to Kip or Laura made a comment or maybe you did about Ocean City. Um, Kip is going to be making a presentation on Monday at the county meeting so that we can try to get that and get their support behind that as well. But that's the kind of cooperative stuff. I mean, look, my view on the county is all they can say is no, [snorts] right? And [clears throat] right now, they got a million and a half bucks going in the beach. They got $150,000 they give us for our beaches every year. Just keep it coming. I mean, we're, you know, every dollar we do that way is a dollar we don't have to get from the people that live here. So, Kim, did you want to add anything on Ocean City? [snorts]

[clears throat] I would like to hear from those of you that showed up for the meeting. You know, also while we're on parks and rec look at [clears throat] the dog park with the leash laws, you know, we have annual leash laws. So, a lot of people are looking for dog park. Yeah. And I would love to know that any of the land we have to be able to utilize it for our citizens, just not let it sit there. Well, not just that, but if you've got enough of it, you might be able to swap it for a bigger lot to be able to do those things. If you got five little ones, you might be able to get one big one out of it. Let's let him talk.

Okay. [clears throat] I'm Boyd Wright. I own property at 1409 1411 New River Road, and I was wondering what your decision was today on walk over 40. We weren't at the board meeting. Um, it was here was a beach crossover old 40. Yeah, that's the one we just approved. You did approve that. Okay, great. Because we wanted to But here's another thing. When you talk to the county,

uh, we have so many houses up there along that stretch and there's absolutely no reason why it's there's a no it's a passing zone and u it's it's amazing. It doesn't cost the county anything to point out that we have hundreds of people living on both that side of the road. All they have to do is change it to no passing. Let me let me tell you something I learned from going to county meetings. If you say roads, their response is we do not maintain roads. That's a state highway. They will do I mean you talk you might as well say poison in front of those people because they have so many people about these

abandoned roads that they want the county to take over and the county's like we don't have the money to take this stuff over. They won't touch roads. It's a good question for DOT and we've actually talked to them about this before. So [clears throat] it's a good point. Well, our neighbors were talking about going out and painting double lines down the road if you don't mind. No. Yeah. What I like is a little speed thing because if you do the flashing stuff, everybody slows down regardless. You know, you guys really ought to buy a um a speed camera along the road and and we have those. We have those up in Baltimore and not sure those are technically legal in North Carolina. Been talking about shooting the tires out, but I don't think that Well, then speed speed bumps. How about ones that'll fix the the tractors that are going down?

You know, on state roads, we can't do things. That's right. That's right. Thank you for your time. You're welcome. Did you have any other concerns or any other focus that they'd like the town to focus on? I'm not organized. I have a lot of other concerns. But, you know, you can write to us. You can email us or we'll be having more meetings. We've in touch with Deb. I I was very much in touch with Dan Tuman when he was here. Um and uh so I go a long way back. Uh but thank you. All right. Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm sorry. Oh, no. We got three of us. Yes, we're three of us. Perfect. [laughter]

Okay. You know, listening today to everything, I'm not sure that we have the right focus, but we'll be quick. Okay. Um, first of all, we are all residents of North Toppselo Beach. My name is Liz Beckingham. I live at Shipwatch Villas. I'm Kim Harold and I'm a resident of Shipwatch Villas.

Joanne Bedell and same shipwatch. And why we are here is because just recently we had our fire inspection and we failed. And Chad has been wonderful to us. He has been available to us. He has tried to explain things to us and he's been great. But the reality is we failed. And the thing is is that most of us have lived there for a number of years and many people even longer than us. And we had always been told that if we allowed 36 inches between the wall and whatever we had on the other side of the wall that we would be okay. That that was the state statute. Well, it appears that's not North Topsel Beach's ordinance. And in our hallways, they're approximately 20t long. They are 68 in wide. And then you come to the door that is 36 in wide. And so in the past, people have stored things there. They've had storage sheds. uh not sheds but you know storage things thing and surfboards and stuff like that but for the most part I think that it did allow for access into the the the condo itself but now we're being told essentially we have to remove everything and you can't imagine you can imagine what the the thing is a lot of people have decorated their halls a lot of people you know like surfers and stuff have hung their surfboards and now we're being told we need to take that all down anyway um when we looked at the state statues they're a a little bit more flexible than they are in North Topsel Beach. And we were wondering in to still maintain safety if we could maybe look at some flexibility by looking at the state statues to see if maybe we could allow some of these things. The other thing is is that this poses an a problem for us as the homeowners association to try and monitor all of this not only with people who live there but the renters, you know. And then they're we're asking now for you know if you are an owner renter you have to monitor if you use a um a

reality company they have to monitor you know it's just going to go on and on and over at the dunes next to us they already had this already done this and from what I know very little probably but just from people I know over there they say it's a nightmare. So anyway we were just kind of thinking that we want things to be safe. We want be, you know, the fire department to be able to get in there, the police, EMS, and everything else. But is there some flexibility there so that we could still allow residents and others to store their their surfboards, their chairs, and some of their equipment without imposing past 36 inches and maybe we even go to say 40 in or something like that. So anyway, that's why we're here.

So just go ahead. Oh, that does that does fall under our safe and vibrant communities and you've been working with Chad and I think that that is something that we could we could be looking at. I would kick it to Alice and Chad to come back and see if that's something. Oh yeah. Look at the thing I wouldn't want to do and I I would leave it to the professionals is we want to make sure there's no fire hazards to and the same [clears throat] thing you know we when you look at the ordinance it says no trash, no, you know, boxes and stuff like that. And we agree with all of that stuff. It's just that there's I think there's probably some balance there that we could reach that would keep people kind of happy and be able to store things, you know, outside and at the same time maintain a level of safety.

Well, I I'm going to comment on this [clears throat] a little bit. Extension of our home. Yeah, it is an extension of your home and boards and towns are coming under scrutiny for having um ordinances that are more stringent than the state ordinances. So, I think this also would be one that the town would have to take to our legal council as well to take a look at because there have been challenges at the state level now where towns are overreaching. So I think you bring up a good point, but I do think our legal counsel will have to advise.

Well, that's not getting the statuto the town can always be more restrictive and I think the fire chief because I know that's true of the beaches and when I talked to the camera people, their answer was that's the starting point. You can do more than that. And I think I would kick it to to Alice and the fire chief and and [clears throat] attorney to give us some advice on I don't think anybody's opposed to it. I just don't know enough about there's probably some reasonable balance that keeps everybody happy and right now does seem a little bit stringent and like I said, you know, it's going to cause it's causing problems already and it probably will continue. Okay, thank you. Is there much [cough] for your time? [clears throat] Oh, is there anything else? Is there any other focuses on the bike path? Yeah, I like [laughter] Okay, let let me put that down under there.

I want to keep my surfboard. I want to keep my being told I have to throw it away and [laughter] grab Fontana cuz he wants to get on the He's going to get on the uh parks and wreck thing because he is a pitbull in dealing with that kind of stuff and he was before. So, he's been a pitbull on me to make sure we start moving the bike path. Would the bike path also serve as a walking path? Could be. Oh, yeah. Okay. It's basically would be the way to bike. [laughter] Yeah. But the fact that you all showed up shows you have interest in the town. So, I would encourage you to come to the meetings or volunteer for one of the boards or something because we're always looking for people. Nice. Nice little nice little plug there.

That's right. And on on the bike path, and again, I'm in favor of of pursuing it. We've had But the funniest comment that I heard on the bike path, and I'm not kidding, it was somebody wrote in and says, "But if you put a bike path in, people ride their bikes on it." And I was like, "But they're already riding their bikes in the street." So, [snorts] you never know what comments you're going to get. But if you're in favor of that, and you are, make sure you let us know because there's it's a very interesting project. And that's a guy you can talk to back there. Well, you could be on the committee [clears throat] with Fred. That's right. Parks and Wreck is looking for people. So, here's the chairman right here. Okay.

So, it's been kind of it's been kind of a dormant committee, but it will be starting back up and we will be advertising it and it's not a doormat, [laughter] but really, you know, talk to your friends and neighbors because we want input. Yeah. We This isn't This isn't just our community. We're here to represent everyone now. It's afternoon. So, good afternoon Sam Ferrari 148 Seagull. Um,

I'm going to talk or ask in more generalities. I I think the the categories you have here are great from my past experience in doing these plans. I think getting early buy into ranking these to which one is the highest uh and then subcategorizing under because to get to the the budget you're going to need to basically rank these. So um our discussion before this six months ago right don't have it right or don't spend it if it's not a priority. Exactly.

Correct. So, a couple things. Uh, from only living here now about six months, um, the the beach, the beach, the beach, that's the asset that we have, and the safety to and from the beach, uh, the access points, uh, what I've noticed and trying to be a bike rider. Now I think I have a friend in Fred. So I didn't um it's you know it's important uh but it's dangerous living on the north end. You take your life in your hands until you get down to the sidewalk at the at the park and that's three miles from where I live. Um so I think that falls under that safe and vibrant um but I think as a group we need to determine what is that is it a multi-purpose path or you know what what are the regulations? What is camo? what are they going to allow? What aren't they going to allow? And then, you know, other public safety issues, safety of all the residents, access to the residents, um I've witnessed in my short six months, several emergency calls were um getting the paramedics up the stairs to somebody's house and then getting them down the stairs to an ambulance. Uh um it's critical to an aging population. So I think some of those assets that may need be attained even though I know we don't do transport um it's important for our paramedics that have to help in that and and do all of that. So um but I think um there are some other things with know most of the roads aren't ours but there are a few of the roads that are ours and under infrastructure I would urge that when we get to these general meetings after you go to your workshop and get the framework that you invite the county you invite uh the electric you invite Anwasa they're planning people to come so they

can tell tell us and we can meld into that plan

I actually have an invitation I've talked to the town to the county manager about having their planning director come down and talk to us again. Okay. [clears throat] And to have them present what they're talking because the other thing that's scary um this a couple of meetings ago, Enslow County, according to their planning people are at least 12,000 housing units short this year, which means the construction ain't stopping. Um and they've got real infrastructure problems as well. So I think and uh when you get him down here to talk about not just the stuff you're seeing that's like 10% of what's planned out there and and it's pretty amazing as to how much is going on but it's a very good like I [clears throat] said we kicked them one because I wanted to have this meeting first but we're going to get the planning director down here but for example like the bike path as they're building uh if you come up with a plan and you got a standard as they're building out lots make it a requirement they got to build their little segment it'll look like a hodge podge at the beginning, but eventually um you can fill it in for those existing. Um you can you can budget that and fill it in over time, but that's a pretty quick way. And there's also grants once you start one. There are a lot of grants if you got a a plan started to finish it.

Well, we've actually we've actually started the process with the bike path. Actually, Fred was um a real mover and shaker with this um and we've paid our $100,000,

right? But it's also goes through so CAMA also has to approve everything. So the how the bike path would run at this point would be more of the share the road. It would not be its own dedicated path. It would be just like in the south. So the north part of the town and the south part of the town would be equal where it's a 4ft section on each side. I know that a lot of people that live in the north northern section of town saw the CA signs out last was it last year ago? Yeah, I was gonna say was it last? [clears throat]

Almost a year. Yeah, it's been about a year. Yeah, because we had so um so the ball is rolling on that albeit very slowly but if we can push it in um because yeah we've got dot and we've got kma right if I could just weigh in for a minute just to give an update if anyone's interested [snorts] that's

the dot which I've been in communication with um as you know we have a memorandum of understanding with the DOT where we started this project to do a bike lane. It's been under study. They've they have completed the environmental review as Connie mentioned there was CAM signs at one point. Um so they have finished that process. Um the numbers the current numbers that I have from them that um would be discussed at budget time is a little over $10 million

that is completely on us. They do not have any um they do not have any identified funding for this project. So it would be a complete reimbursement of the $10 million. So those numbers have all been um I have all that information that was being prepared for the budget um when we get to that. So it's at $10 million a little over 10 million. Right. go back to when we started this. It was a reservicing project that we were going to do the additions and they were talking Fred million.

It was it was like 3 million for our share because there [clears throat] was no right away and we were just going to pay for the 4ft width because they would have to resurface and they were going to pay for the resurfacing right and now Alice is telling us it's all on us if we want to do a correct yes. [snorts and clears throat] Are they not going to resurface new river? they um they have said that they have no identified funding at this time. Okay. So I don't want to take up too much. So this is Gohead.

Yeah. This is all information that you know I've been working on for for [clears throat] the budget. Um because this is something that the you know of course the board will need to um we we have been putting it in our budget each year for what they have been conveying to us what would be our share like Fred just mentioned it was in the $3 million range that was on our fiveyear plan the CIP plan that I I provided the board four years ago. Um that's been updated. Um it was at 3 million. Now we're going to be at um a little over 10 million. Okay,

Fred. So my my last my last comment um is really um how do you reach out to the citizens through this process? And um my past experiences is using surveys to like somebody said pickle ball courts before, list five or six recreation things, see what the majority of the people want because then you've got you've got the backing. So when you have to budget it or you know find a fund to do it, you have the support you send the clerk door to door the clerk door to [laughter] or three volunteers are

while we're on this bike lane and it seems to be such a big topic I would like to use a plug as far as safety. Uh I've talked with some other alderman. Um please remember to wear high visibility clothing if you can. Please know which side of the road to ride your bike, which side of the road to walk on. Uh it is a road. It is not a Virginia Beach Ocean Trail. Um please please be safe. We know there's rocks on the side of the road and you have to go over into the middle of the lane. Be aware of your surroundings and please try to minimize walking with the sun to your back or excuse me. So just be careful, guys. [clears throat]

You know, anybody else? I think the uh well, real real quickly, I'm going to say that Fred, you know, since Fred's been so big on this thing, we'll put your name on it, Fred, if you'll put it in. We'll we'll call it the Fred Fontana Parkway or Lane Bike Lane. Just need ahead.

Curtis 136 Seagull. Um, two major factors I think is we've glossed over a lot, we've talked about a lot is definitely in this planning meeting, we've got to find a way to say this is what our town roads look like on a map and this is a priority every year where we're going to fund each one of these roads in a 10-year period. Um, the snow did a lot of damage. Every water that goes across roads is cracking roads. We've got to address that as a top priority. And like Alice said, New River Island Road needs to be paved. Um, for everybody here, everybody should know this. DOT has a port hole, too, for potholes, for the bridges. Okay? It took nothing from me and some other people to put into Jason. And Jason came back and said, "Sorry, we ran out of material. We didn't get to the Peters Park, but we can't do it until it gets warm again." That's everybody in this room and everybody in this town can put that in and you and the squeaky wheel gets the thing. The more of us that Jason tends to say, "Hey, I've seen enough of them, Curtis." Fine. You know, I'm sorry. by that time the asphalt gets over here and he a long story goes along with it but that the other one I want to talk about too is we've talked about for two years Rusty Walker has other people has um there's a very very limited accesses to the beach in the north end there is no parking except for one and it's a very limited you still got to cross the road um we are a senior citizens living area and just in that area up there alone um there's over 30 senior citizens living in that area that have to walk. We just had a bad accident on folks the other day that took senior citizens for about a month to recuperate. She couldn't get to the beach and she has a golf cart, but she still couldn't get up to that

beach. So, we've got to look at options up there. We've got to find a place to have parking and maybe a bathroom. I think Dolphin Shores, if somebody would talk to them, maybe they would lease it for their tax they pay on every year. Um, Mr. Fischer at one time had been approached before he passed away to buy that in lot and make it into a parking area and it came down to a little argument and we wouldn't clean the lot, you know, was one of the agreements and he backed out of it. So, we we've got to start looking because like I said, we've got 16 brand new units plus the people on the other side. There's 30 people that we have got together and talked about this [snorts] at at at different times and we need we need that addressed because the beach is what we come here for. The beach is where we want to walk at uh not down the roads or something like that to get back. Um so we want we want to make sure that we look at the accesses up there, a parkable access, a bathroom access type. And we definitely need to have something that tells us this is what coastal and port and that is going to get paved this year and this much money in the budget. Next year we're going to look at paving these, you know, and it's going to take you 10 years probably to to get all the way down the island stuff. But we know it's got to be done. I mean, there's places that got potholes almost as big as this right here in different lanes down there. So those are two issues I think we need to look at for for people and longevity and the island and like we talked about this summer traffic's going to increase tremendously. Right? So those are two issues I wanted to make sure we address and look at in our future budget and stuff like that and planning.

Just to add to that, I've Alice has already talked to me about identifying the roads and trying to figure that's going to be in the in the strategic plan. good is because it's hard to know exactly what we have and don't have and and I think that's why she's she's been working on it. It's no different than the beach access thing. We found out, you know, what do we own and what don't we own? Um and without good surveys, it's been a problem. So, I know that she's on that issue, right? [snorts] [clears throat] Yes. our our actually our public works supervisor has been working um and talking to a consultant where we plan on engaging to do a full assessment because the intention was to because the town has never really addressed any roadways

um and we know that's a concern. So the intent was to have some type of assessment in place so that we can have that discussion at budget time and say we need to allocate um so much money per per year for the roadway repairs because that it just like you said hasn't been addressed. I say all of us are the age we live somewhere else and we've watched our roads in 10 years in front of our house and stuff deteriorate and if they don't have that cycle you know

and and you know this [clears throat] brings up a good point. There's there there's there's a twofold purpose of of these meetings. Uh one one is to find out what it is the community and the public want to [clears throat] where we can begin to to prioritize making plans for those things and where's the money coming from. That's that's number number one [clears throat] because we can't do everything that everybody wants to do. So we got to prioritize got to prioritize those things and then start saying what's it going to cost and then start putting together money for that. It may take several years to get to the point you want to go, but you got to start somewhere.

And and I think that that's very critical and that's one of the one of the one of the things that we've talked about as much as anything is the money and and part of our strategic planning is going to be okay, we've got the roads, we know the roads are carrying. We we need to start laying so much money aside each year so much each year towards roads. We need to put set so much more more money aside for infrastructure, water lines, different things that we have to do.

Beach [clears throat] and you know we're we're one thing like with the beach reourishment which is the one number one thing and you did say it is number one because without a beach north was nothing. So, but you know, we do have a fiveyear strategic plan that's in place now for the beach

and and which is we're in the middle of and and because phases phases five and four, they've already been been made engineered beaches. And so now we're talking about doing phases one, two, and three, the reaches up there. And and if we can get all those done, then we will have we will have engineered all those beaches. And that was part of our five-year plan and through grants and everything else to get that done. But right beside that, what we've not made much put much emphasis on is that we've also beach inlet sound advisory has also been developing a 30-year maintenance plan. So, so when we our engineers have not just been working on getting the beaches to where we want them to be, but then beyond that, we've got to maintain them. So, we're going to have to put aside so much money each year, and this isn't counting storms and hurricanes and all these things that come along. So, and and I think the same thing exists. We we realize that there's not been as much strategic planning as should have been.

Sure. It's been by the seat of the pants. And I know that well because I've done that a lot in my life. But so so all the things that y'all are talking about that we would like to have, we know that everybody would like to have them. We want to try to prioritize which ones need to be done first and and what can we do and start putting together some money to do that.

And so so the [clears throat] And all these ideas are great and and these are the kind of things we need to hear even though we know it because we need to know what the public what what's the priority for the public. We we know the priorities for the town. We we know we need to fix roads. We know we need to keep our water up. We know we need to keep our beach up. But all these other things, the only way we know these things sometimes is if somebody pushes us because the manager and all her team, they're they're [clears throat] busy all the time just trying to put fires out. Yeah. Well, the other thing to point out, we tal Allison and I've talked about this and I've talked to Larry about it. When you start doing longer term planning, if you want a grant, you're not getting it tomorrow.

So, if you're looking for money out there, it can take you years to get that money, which means you better start asking for it now if you need it three years from now. And that's all part if you don't do that planning, then what money do you have? And the answer is that's why and if you look at what Alice has been able to do since she's been town manager, look at Peter's Park. That was a disaster before she became manager here. The stuff [clears throat] that's been done. So, we've been she's been cleaning up the mess and and now it's time to say, look, you know, we've got a lot of projects in front of us. How much money do we have? What money can we access? All right. And what are our citizens priorities?

Also, um when you brought up the beach accesses, so that's something that we've been talking about. What? And in fact, Laura brought it up today as well. um property. We want to know where we have the excess properties, where we can build crossovers, do we have enough room for parking? That's right. When I think of the, you know, I I live right down by you. Exactly.

So, when I think of where there used to be public crossovers, there used to be one at the north end of the reef. There used to be one at the south end of the reef. There used to be one at the north end, a public one at the right across the fire hall. um at the north end of the St. Regis. So there's different in some cases, you know, they've been destroyed by by storms [clears throat] and and yeah, in other cases, we found out we did not own them or

they were uh different property owners had let the town use them but informally and then when they sold. But this is something that is a very high priority and something that we are definitely 100% looking into and that's that one I would like you know I don't know what committee if we needed one for that but you know the county owns some of the beach crossover exactly and so we've got to work with the county so that planned maintenance on those the county is looking at so they can't get decrepit and then it's a hazard before the county does something with their beach walkovers.

Well, that's we're talking about crosswalks. One and one and two is owned by the county, right? That should been somebody stood up said, "Oh, whoa, whoa, safety problem [clears throat] there." Just, you know, we've I've had a discussion with with them and so is Alice.

We're going to see if they're going to pay for those two crosswalks. That's They've got a million I don't know if people remember this from working with them. When Tim came in, we're talking to them. They're putting a million and a half dollars into stuff on the beach this year, which is cleaning up their because, you know, they haven't done a lot of maintenance on their stuff. [snorts] But again, [clears throat] this goes back to collaborative agreements and and relationship with them. You know, we want them to and and Tim talked about it when he came here a couple of months ago. We want this to be a partnership with them. And as I remind them, and my wife told me I was being rude when they were talking when David was doing a presentation about all the stuff going on the beach. I said, "You mean North Topsel Beach in the middle of his budget presentation? We're their beach, [snorts] okay? And they [clears throat] know it, okay? And so, you know, they they work with us, I think, very well. They're going to work with us even better in the future, but that's a partnership we need to keep developing because they've got the money. And I think in terms of their budget, certain revenues of theirs have to go into it's not called parks and recreation, Alice. It's called something else, right? The the fund that they use [snorts] for [clears throat] this, it's a different fund, but they have to use it for like amusement or whatever. It's it's basically that type of money. like some of our money has to go for the beach or has to go for those type of things. And so we we're going to be asking for as much of that as we can possibly get. And

but I want an easy place to see, you know, and [snorts] and I've [clears throat] been provided, but I want it easier like which ones are the counties, which ones are ours and plan maintenance because you do have to budget for these ahead of time to do the replacements. So, we want to make sure the county has a list, too, and that on a planned maintenance schedule, they're going to replace them just like we've been replacing ours. And so, you know, I think a lot of this is, you know, delayed maintenance that we need to be doing, but we've got to work with them to Rick's point so that they know we've got ours on a planned schedule and they can get theirs on a planned schedule and then we know when things are getting redone so everybody doesn't think we're not doing anything, you know, and so [clears throat] they have been responsive and our certainly our department has contracted out for rebuilds on some of the beach crossover, the dunes, but you know, letting people know that so that everybody knows they're going to be on a schedule to be done.

And to to piggyback on the uh senior access, the mats are awesome. Yeah. Um I was giving out waters for Real Housewives of Topsel Island, and it was so heartwarming to see a 60-year-old lady take her 85-year-old mother out to the beach. So, uh if we have the budget in for that, I think we already are working on that, are we not? But we need to keep that on our uh game plan. I hope um just one last thing. I know budget wise and stuff like we've mentioned a long time ago. I think everybody great thought it's a great idea and we see major output from it is your information signs. Remember we talked about that we get one here and one there. I'm telling you it controls the people on the beach. It definitely does. I like the flashing lights. Well,

even if you put in But yeah, like like I said, you you have them up, you walk the beach, you see it happening. You take them down, you walk. The only bad part about that is I was talking they they only go by it so fast only see the two or three things instead of the 100 things that we need to I don't know that we need to put a pamphlet out for a lot of the and I'd like to an information sign at the south. I agree with you% just for the parking lot up here. put that like he's he's saying you give you enough time to see that and when you come on the island your your eyes are looking and you see that big sign and by the time you get to the parking lot you've read all five things. She she just wants to have a sign that says you're not in Surf City. The highest tax rates on the island. Is that what it is? [laughter]

You're leaving Surf City in your yard. Just for the record, I I think everybody knows this. We actually have the lowest tax rates on the island now by far because Toppsil and Surf City had huge increases in their property taxes this year. Don't thanks. Oh crap. Don't put the poor math on that. We don't know.

Real quick, I I've held my comments. I've been writing down a lot of what everybody said. So, I appreciate the feedback because that's exactly what we're here is to start this feedback this two week. Uh to give you again some of my background if you haven't heard. Um I I was with the Arlington County Police Department and and was dedicated to the strategic plan of the police department. Um at the time with a $58 million budget. Um so I'm familiar with public safety type items. Um so the uh uh safe, vibrant, healthy community, I'll be ready to jump all in. Today's just a kickoff meeting. So we want to encourage you to reach out to your neighbors, reach out to your homeowners associations. I'd like to come to one of your uh association meetings um just to [clears throat] be able to communicate. So at the end of the meeting,

come see me after the meeting. I'm going to get the date and we'll we'll talk. Um but it's all about guys already, didn't I? Yeah, because I was going to say it's you know, I'm always I'm always available for HOA stuff, too. So just, you know, I'm not trying to take his thunder. I'm just telling [clears throat] as you guys know, I've done those. So,

but but today is about the the priorities of our citizens and our residents. When we go to Newburn next week, we're going to learn a little bit better on how to build this out so that it makes sense, so that it can be used, that it's usable. Uh it'll also be who's accountable for it, right? Who's who's in charge of whatever initiative so that we can go to the chief, the interim chief, and say, "Hey, what's the status of this item in one of the uh focus areas?" We talked about Ocean City a lot. Yes, the jazz festival is the biggest event that we have here in the town. We, you know, we're doing more with the the Halloween parade and and you know, photos with Santa, pet photos with Santa, but um you know, I'm looking at ways of of trying to boost up the jazz festival. And I encourage anybody, I should have said it probably during the regular meeting, but I'll say it later. Um go out to the jazz festival, come out and listen to the music and and and feel the energy of of the citizens that that come to this. It brings uh strong economic growth for the county which is why that they partner with us to an extent and the town as well. The u and Carla if you're watching I'm sorry I didn't call you. She's the coordinator of the jazz festival. I meant to call her two days ago to kind of get some of her talking points.

Before you leave that mention again because everybody wasn't here on Monday you're going to be making some kind of presentation to the county. So Monday I'm speaking generally about Ocean City and and the much as I did during the regular meeting. Um one of the other things just to throw it out there is I've had discussions with Ken Chestnut who owns that lot as far as hosting other larger events uh there and he's all for it on a case- by case basis as long as it doesn't detract from the jazz festival. So if there comes a point that we can decide to host some sort of art festival or something or who knows what there are a lot of different options there. So, I think that builds into our cultural resources and recreation. Uh, constituents in in our neighborhood talked about and I I briefly kind of discussed it. We talked about Ocean Drive. Uh, obviously the flooding has kind of been addressed a little bit as far as mitigation for some of the flooding issues on some of the roads. And also um you know those of you that live right on beach dunes realize that that sand blows and and comes across the road and can really restrict access to especially passing vehicles much less large fire trucks, ambulances and stuff like that. But it becomes ca difficult to to try and accommodate that. But that again is stuff that has been brought to me already from my constituents as far as uh you know the infrastructure stuff like that. Um, and like I said, I'm looking forward to working with everybody and and providing what knowledge I have as far as uh a strate strategic plan. I think it's a great opportunity for us to map out a good future for the town.

Let's go around. Mark, you want to add anything? [clears throat] Biggest thing I want to add is uh thank everybody for coming out. That's it's been a long day for us and we can't do it without you and we're not here for us. We're here for you. So, thank you. I was gonna go to Larry first because if we can keep that short then you can have as much time as you want. You know I feel like Rodney Dangerfield in no respect [clears throat] and you earned it.

The the uh this is good. This is the first one of these that I've that I've actually been a part of even before I was on the board. But I think it's important and and and maybe we need to think about, you know, encouraging input, you know, whether people sending emails to us or whatever they're doing things that they think's got a priority. You know, we don't know what we can sit up here and think what we believe the priorities are what you want. But sometimes if you don't tell us, you know, we may be way off in left field, maybe what we want. So, anytime that you tell your friends and and and you know, send us send us information. Come to our meetings and tell us what it is that you think is important. I mean, we know what's important financially, but we don't always know what's you want recreationally and and safety wise and all those kind of things. So, the more that you more information you give us, the easier it's going to be for us to provide or try to provide what you'd like to have.

Connie, let's add to the list for parks and wreck. um additional um kayak launches as well, you know, because we only have a couple. Um yeah, and they're and the ones we have are pretty great. So, if we keep it on that and they don't need as much uh property as some like like a park. Yes. They don't need a full park. They are pretty darn good.

Yeah. So, I appreciate everybody who came out and those of you watching. Um, you know, certainly strategic planning is something every town should do. In addition, it can't happen without the citizens. So, we sit up here and we represent you, but you have to be able to talk to us and let us know what you want and come to the meetings. And I would encourage everybody to apply for those vacancies on the other boards as well. So, thank you for coming out and participating. Terry, [clears throat] I'm gonna let um Oh, you want to say something? Terry, did you bring cookies? Sorry.

I know, but I wasn't without pizza.

I wasn't going to walk up in front. Just um something got me thinking with the safe and vibrant healthy community as someone having to call the fire department this past uh year. Um, I really realized how much we really depend on them and our police. And I know it's nice being in a small community where you may know people. And I think it's very important for us to the police department that we have and the people we have that as citizens we know who they are and they know us. May not know your name but recognize your face. And the same with the police. And I know we're trying to recruit people and get people to come here and employed. And I know um we've been working on getting people and getting salaries and everything like that. But I think keeping the people we have and and making them want to stay here and be part of our community is the best thing we can possibly do because without them our beaches, I mean with the people and we would all not be able to stay either. And I just think having to use them, it gave me another appreciation or a greater appreciation. And I think it has to be a focus of our town is that we need to keep they're the backbone and we need to keep them and not let them go. So I I want to keep our acting police chief. I want to keep everybody we have and I want them happy and to stay um because I think they do a fantastic job and we would have been really in trouble in June if it wasn't for the fire department. So that's all I wanted to say. Terry, to echo what you said as far as uh officer engagement. I can tell you when I wore the uniform and was out walking on the beach one day, not any enforcement action, just out smoozing with people. Um I actually had people

tell me, "Well, I don't think I've ever seen a cop get out of their car and talk to people." I agree. I think that's something that I'll expect from our new chief as far as getting out and being very personable so that there are, like you said, so that the the officers I think a lot of the officers we we know the the full-time people. We we see you around. Curtis, I ran into you one day when I was on patrol there and we chatted there at the beach access when you were walking with some some ladies. But, you know, it it's all about engagement and absolutely that'll be one of the definite things and not having%. And we've also talked about trying to do more outreach. You know, you got kiss a truck and stuff like that. So, I I think that's a good point. I think it's touch a truck, not kiss not kiss a truck.

I like kiss a truck better. The chief would not like kiss a truck. But you're you're exactly right on that because not only do we have the fire and the police, but during the uh and and all the first responders, but during the summertime, we also have the program with the the beach program. And those beach ambassadors, they're a pretty good pretty good, too. [clears throat] And I think that um it's easy to take for granted our public safety because they are I don't even know the words excuse their public [laughter] safety. They're invaluable. Invaluable. Yeah. All right. Go ahead, Laura. Real quick keep moving on. [laughter]

You know the one thing we Oh, wait a minute. It's my I get one turn. So the one thing that all of us that are older have to keep in mind too going into budget season, you know, is to not get freaked out over the amount of salaries it takes now because when we all started working, you know, the numbers were so different. And you do have to look at what other towns are paying, what people get paid for these jobs now. You know, I mean, I can remember starting as a GS5 back in 1982, making like 125. Like, you know, that's still good.

You know, the numbers don't equate anymore. So, when you guys see stuff in the budget and the numbers are higher or we're asking for even more, you're like, "Yeah, but I I worked for a lot less than that." It is a different world now. And so when we work budget, I think we've all got to keep in mind we don't come up with those numbers [clears throat] without doing surveys of what other people are getting paid. Right. And that that's a Alice does it every so go ahead. You got the microphone.

I just wanted to echo what Terry said. I had to call EMS on my husband at 4:00 in the morning a few weeks ago and I'm telling you what, they were wonderful. But not only that, you know, you talk about community and knowing people. When Chad was talking to us about the fire things, he mentioned some things to me about um chairlifts and lift assist things that I didn't know. And I remember thinking, "Oh my goodness, I have a community here that and that was really important to me." And maybe we ought to tell more people about things like that. And that's a good point because I remember I think I asked you about that one time like we'll change the batteries in people's fire, you know, [snorts and clears throat] and stuff like that. Stuff that I didn't know. So, let me let me go real quick. Anyway, I appreciate it.

All right. So, um thanks everybody. She's going to sum up. I just want to thank the three amigos for coming. [snorts] No, [laughter] everybody's they already went. So, no. So, thank you the three amigos for showing up and for volunteering for I don't know which committees you guys have decided to sign up for. [snorts] Um but just just let Alexis know. So, I'm going to turn over to Connie so we can get people out of here.

Okay. To sum it all up, um we are going it it looks like we stayed with those five different focus areas. Underneath the focus areas, I wrote down everything that everybody talked about. So, we have different objectives. So after we when we go to Newburn, we have our focus areas, we have our objectives, we'll put initiatives underneath that also because everybody can have good ideas, but unless we have initiatives to put it in place and of course a budget structure,

structure [clears throat] and budget and when it does and again this is not a budget workshop but it does go hand inand with it. We also realize that the uh uh the median age in our town is 62 and those who live here um those who live here there are a lot of people that are on fixed incomes. Now there's a lot of people that own property here that if if increases come up they can just raise their rent. Those of us who live here we have to figure out a way to pay for it. We are very cognizant of that fact. We do. You're not planning on renting out rooms now, are you? Is that what that's [laughter] about? You're trying to plug for that,

you know. Sorry. But uh so as the budget season comes, we are we really want to look out for everybody. However, we also want to make sure that we are hiring people that are good people. The cheapest people are not always the best people, but we have your best interest in heart. We really do. I'm not talking like a politician. I'm talking as a citizen who's lived here for 30 years. We care about you guys. And anytime, like Kip said, if you think of something, you get home, you talk to your friends, your neighbors, send it to the clerk. Send it.

We've got it's a we're trying to do the clerk. So, it's a central type of thing. So, if you send it to me, I'm going to send it to her anyway. [snorts] So, the best thing to do that way nothing's getting filled. So, even if it's just a simple comment or you got a paragraph, it doesn't matter. Please send it in because we really want to do what what you had your shot unless it's 30 seconds or less. No, I I just we had two citizens just walked in and you made the effort to come here. If you wanted to speak on the strategic plan, we're we're really just wrapping up, but I didn't want to exclude you or give you an opportunity to speak on the strategic plan if that's why you came today or put you on the spot. What we were doing was just trying to break. You don't have to. You can watch the recording.

We were here on another matter with the rejuvenation. They skipped our two houses for some reason. They did above us, below us. So, I wanted to talk to somebody, see if we can catch them after the meeting. Sure. Yes, sir. No problem. All right. Well, we were just kind of brainstorming about things uh that people would like to see in the town, what your priorities are. Do you want to talk about that or you just want to talk to somebody afterwards? Talk to somebody afterward. Okay. So, you don't like our program skipping people's houses we don't like. [laughter] Okay. No, now it's on the record of people going they have a we do not have a policy that skips houses because we don't like people.

So we have [clears throat] a motion to adjourn. [laughter] So we will come back and have another meeting um after we've gone to Newburn. It'll be much more uh put together and then we'll but that's still not going to be set in stone and we'll still take a lot of input. Okay. Motion to adjurnn. Do I have a second? Do I have a motion to adjurnn? I make the motion to adjurnn. And a second. Second. All in favor? We are returned.