City Council - Regular Meeting

Call the meeting in order. The Wilmington City Council would like to welcome all those who are here, all those who are watching us at home. Thank you for taking an interest in your government. At this time, I'd like to introduce Reverend Jody Greenwood, who is the pastor of the Church of the Servant, for the invocation and ask if everyone would remain standing afterwards for the Pledge of Allegiance.

We have a presentation this evening. I'd like to recognize Marilyn Cantarella, who is the chairperson of the Sister City Commission, proclamation naming September the 22nd, 2026, as Sister Cities International Day. Do we have it right there? Okay. Everybody come on down. We've got Sister Cities.

City of Wilmington, North Carolina proclamation reads, whereas in 2026, Sister Cities International is celebrating 70 years of promoting global citizenship and civic diplomacy, fostering cooperation among cities and communities worldwide and building international bridges that support peace. And whereas founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a presidential initiative on September the 11th, 1956, the organization aims to encourage community-led global relationships, fostering cultural understanding and reducing conflicts. And whereas Sister Cities International currently includes 400 U.S.

It was phenomenal. Thank you so much. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

Okay. Our next item of business is our consent agenda items one through eight. I have been notified by our city staff that we need to pull item C6 and C7 for some clarification. Other than that, what are the wishes of council excluding item C6 and C7? A motion to approve? I'm going to say we have a motion by Councilmember Andrews, second by Councilmember Lyle. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Item passes unanimously. I'll turn this over to our city manager, Ms. Hall.

Okay, very good. So do we have a motion to approve items C6 and C7? We have a motion to approve by Councilmember Andrews, seconded by Councilmember Quintana. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Item passes unanimously. Before we get to our public information, I'd like to ask if Council could waive the rules so that we could insert a letter that we will be sending to our federal delegation in Washington, which is Senator Tillis, Senator Budd, and Congressman Rausser. In respect to the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement, a

Any opposed? I didn't pass unanimously. And I'll get into the letter here in a second. But I also want to to mention that myself, Mayor Pro Tem Spears, and Councilmember Santagueta and city staff met with the Secretary of Transportation yesterday in Raleigh, had a very good meeting, a very cordial meeting, sharing the concerns of our community and the concerns that the citizens have shared with us in respect to this bridge and the impacts that this bridge will have in our downtown, but not only in our downtown, throughout our community because the amount of traffic that will be coming through

Any opposed? That item passes unanimously, and this letter now will become a record that we will now send to our federal delegation in Washington. Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. So our next item, this is our public information. We have ten speakers that have signed up to speak with us this evening. Each speaker will be allotted three minutes. The total public information segment is 30 minutes. The city clerk will be keeping a timer, so you'll see it there on the screen in front of you. And so our first speaker this evening is Miss or Seth Bliss, who is a non-city resident who will

You'll give that to the city clerk. Thank you, ma'am. Next speaker is Mary Pierce, who's a city resident, 19th South 10th Street, drop-in homeless day shelter.

Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Next speaker is Melissa Kowalski, who is a city resident who is also going to talk to us about living hope.

Next speaker is Jason Hsu, who is a city resident at Living Hope proposed location.

Thank you. Next speaker is Patrick Sheehan, who's a city resident, who's speaking to us about Living Hope Day Shelter.

CAN YOU MOVE OVER JUST A LITTLE BIT SO YOU CAN GET IN FRONT OF THE SPEAKER? THANK YOU, SIR. RIGHT HERE. THANK YOU.

Next speaker is Carrie Cruz, who is a non-city resident, but will be speaking to us about living Hope Day shelter locations.

We have our next speaker is Michael Camps, who's a non-city resident, who's also speaking to us about Living Hope Day Shelter.

Thank you. Next speaker is Joe Barrio, who is a city resident in regards to Wilmington's DSA efforts to increase benches at bus stops around town.

We have another speaker, Ty Ayo, who is a city resident in public transit. Is Ty Ayo here?

This concludes our public information segment. We did have Dr. Barnes. Oh, here he is. Dr. Barnes, come on up. Come on up. You're the last speaker tonight. Thank you, sir. And I apologize.

Thank you, Dr. Barnes. Thank you very much. This concludes our public information segment. Mr. Joyner.

So I know that normally we don't jump into the topics that were brought up at public comment, but I think there's a pretty fundamental misunderstanding that should be resolved tonight while we have everybody in the room and the opportunity related to the procedure for the Living Hope Day shelter. So it seems that the request has been for council to take some action, but that's not procedurally something that's in front of us because this property was offered to be changed by right. So can we get somebody from planning to tell us where that process is and if somebody feels that they've not had

So I think it's important to highlight, they're not in the room. I don't think anybody from Living Hope is here. So in some ways we're talking about them without me in the room. But presumably they specifically chose this property because it was something that they thought they could achieve by right. They would not have to come to council for a rezoning and go through that process. I'm just assuming I've not had that conversation with them. Since they've chosen to do it by right, which does not come in front of council, what is the process for hearings or for neighbor notifications for the pe

Okay, so just to reiterate, the process moving forward would be to, if somebody has an objection to this, they would appeal to either the Board of Adjustment or they could file directly at New Hanover County Superior Court. Correct. Thank you.

And could you also share with us, to have standing, what is the definition so we understand that, so the people that are here tonight can hear that?

No, I just think that the folks that are here tonight that have concerns about this and significant concerns should be able to contact the city's attorney's office and ask for that specific definition so that in the event that you folks are hiring an attorney to fight this, you understand what the legal ramifications are and how to go about it. Just want to make sure everybody has that understanding. I think we've been very clear from the zoning perspective. We're also very clear that the city is not pursuing this. Living Day Hope is doing this on their own. And I know that they've been up at

Does anybody have any questions of Rachel? Thank you, Rachel. Do you have a quick question? Yes, we have. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jason.

Go ahead. The report's great, and I love the numbers. I love how we've exceeded the goals in so many areas as far as number of units. Were there any duplications in the first chart, page one and two, because some of them were affordable housing units and number of units? Were there any duplications, or those all unique numbers?

Okay, great. And the list in the very back of the investments in the community, those are from last fiscal year, not proposal for this year, right? Yes, correct. That is from last year. Got it. Thank you. Great job. Thank you.

This is a public hearing. I will open the public hearing at this time and ask if anyone in the public would like to speak on item PH1. Seeing none, are there any further questions from council? I will now close the public hearing and I will just say that no action will be taken at this time since we have to have a public hearing on the Capers report. Thank you. That brings us to our next item, which is item PH2, which is an ordinance directing the housing inspector to vacate, close, and repair or demolish a dwelling at 501 Swan Street as unfit for human habitation pursuant to Article 5, Chapte

Mr. Garnett, could you go back to the timeline? Yes. Yes, sir. You went through this pretty quickly. At any point during this time, had you spoken to the heirs or property owners at any point during this timeline?

All right. Very good. Thank you, sir. So at this time, I'd like to recognize the property owner. Come forward.

You made a comment that your sister also had heirs to this property. So you're the sole heir? Her children, right. Are you the sole heir? Yes. You're the sole heir, or you have sisters? Your sister's children are also heirs to the property.

Seven, eight, so there's eight heirs altogether. And you're trying to get them to turn over their interest to you as the sole owner.

Chair Jerry Cook I mean, the lot has value. So I don't want to think just because if the house were to be demolished, the lot does have value. Okay. So, Councilmember Clinton Quintana.

Good evening, ma'am. Good evening. So my first question is, do you currently live here? I live in DC. And have you contacted CFPUA, the water company?

And when was the last time you contacted CFPUA? Okay, do you know who you spoke with by chance?

And may I have your sister's name, please? My name? Your sister's name. Bernice James. I'm sorry, last name was? James. James? Mm-hm. Okay, thank you.

I was just going to ask, you said you're from the D.C. area? Yes. Where are the other heirs located?

Okay, staff, have we had any contact with the North Carolina residents?

We posted and- I mean, were you able to get in touch with them? Right. No. Okay, that's what I needed to know. Thank you.

All right, Council Member Quintana again, please.

Have you gotten any quotes on demolition by chance?

And so, we've all had a timeline, and it's been five years, right? Yes, it has. And there's not been much progress in five years, more of deterioration. Right. How much more time do you think you need where you will be able to either get your family on board or to make a decision to just demolish the property?

So did CFPUA not ask for some sort of a death certificate or anything?

I know some people. I know two people who have an end with CFPUA. I'm not promising anything, but I know they will have a conversation. I just wanted to ask what the timeline would be for you. With the water bill out of your way, you can make something happen.

And you have somebody here that can do all of those things?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. What I'm hearing is you'd like to demolish the property if you felt confident about the quotes. Is that a fair reflection of what you were saying about demolishing the building? Because I think, if I understand correctly, we can help her find someone

Okay. That's something for you to consider. Okay. That we can take care of that. The city could help you with that part of it.

Ma'am, do you by chance know who the occupants are on your property right now? Are you aware of who they are?

That is my understanding. I did receive a phone call regarding he has been somewhat violent by some neighbors with a knife. And that's why I'm asking if you knew who he was. But I would also advise you to be very careful when approaching your home. Okay, thank you. You're welcome.

Okay, anybody else? Chair Jerry Cook. Ma'am, just one more time. So your nieces and nephews that are also the heirs to this property, you've had some discussion about them or you getting the property or them feeding over the property because for you to be able to get a loan to fix this house is in pretty bad shape. you're going to need to be able to go get a loan. You're not going to be able to get a loan unless everybody's willing to sign off on that loan or the heirs. And so I've counted eight so far, and the house is in pretty bad shape. And I was going to ask staff, you had mentioned somet

Have we done any that we have done as a city?

But I think the complexity here is, and this is not unusual when we have air properties, is getting all the airs on the same page. And if you can't get on the same page, then the house is either going to fall down and it creates a hazard and Councilmember Quintana just mentioned to you, we have a homeless person sitting there and we understand that it is violent, so there is concern in the neighborhood and our responsibility as elected leaders to make sure that those neighborhoods are safe and if we have somebody that's staying in the house or living there without your permission, which puts y

You have a bill from CFPUA that was in your sister's name that's $10,000.

As of today. So we do have a number as to what the bill looks like. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Go ahead.

We haven't really had any kind of improvements made to the property. You have heirs that are, some are responsive, some are not responsive. You have somebody that lives here in Wilmington but is not really doing anything to maintain it. You're having to come all the way down from DC. So I guess I'm looking at it from this perspective. We're in a pretty tough spot here for you.

We also have a responsibility to protect the neighborhood to make certain that everything is secured. If we were to give you any more time, from my perspective, just to see something get done in some capacity, it would have to be short in duration. So we have an understanding that there's some movement But if there's no movement, whether it be 90 days or whatever it is, 30 days, 60 days, then I think that we're going to have to, at some point in time, bring it back if we want to give the additional time and make a decision because this is a pretty significant repair job. I mean, it's almost a

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just to add to your comments, since the house isn't vacant right now, and we would like to see it become a house again, we'd like to see it become a house, hopefully owned by you and your family, the quickest way to get there is to get the house down. So we want to support you in getting that demolition done, at least for my vote. I want to go ahead and get that moving forward so we can move that process to where you need it to be to be more functional for your family and for the community.

The water bill, it's $10,000 water bill. I don't know. That's in your sister's name. It's not in your name, but there could be a lien put on the property from the CFP UA. I'm not certain.

I can reach out. David Joyner and myself sit on CFP UA's board. I can reach out and have a conversation tomorrow. If you'll make sure that Ms. Penny, our clerk, has your contact information, I'll reach back out to you. But I'm not making any promises. I know. I understand.

So staff has recommended 90 days to give you 90 days to repair or to demolish, right? And so, I mean, there's no, There's no way that we can do a welfare check, a wellness check, or an update between now and then to make sure that something is done. But in 90 days, I believe if there's a significant positive change IN THIS SITUATION, THEN MAYBE I ADVOCATE FOR YOU NINETY MORE DAYS. YEAH, NINE MORE DAYS. DO YOU THINK THAT'S FAIR?

This time I'm going to open up the public hearing and ask if anyone wants to speak on item PH2, if they'll please step to the microphone and give your name.

Yes. I spoke to you earlier and you just mentioned a criminal something.

You have to go to court to get a charge?

Well, that's a lot. I will say under all these circumstances, you seem to be an excellent neighbor. I'm trying to be a nice neighbor.

Let me just interject real quick. So one thing, if you want to, we do have a new workforce housing committee. You should talk to Council Member Celette Andrews. She would be excited to put you there. And the other thing is this. You extended an offer where you extended an offer to both us and to the heir. And I'm not quite sure. I don't think it works like that. We're going to try to work with her, but we're not going to try to work with you to work with her.

I mean, you could just pay her the water bill if you want to do that.

Then that means you're going to have some skin in the game, right? We're not naive. If you pay whatever bill or whatever expense that is required, you bought in, right?

And you don't want anything for a $10,000 check?

Madam Clerk, have you received any additional? Oh, I'm sorry, Councilmember Joyner.

Can I just ask Ms. Shields if you would please speak with Ms. Norma and find out if we can get a trespass order in place before she leaves town? That would be very helpful.

Can I ask one question real quick? Go ahead.

We have somebody that's staying in the house that's not a member of the family or the heirs, so that is a trespassing thing. Of course, she has no trespassing, I guess, posted?

Mr. Garnett, if no one's living in the structure and they're living in the carport, the carport could be demolished, then the trespasser would have nowhere to live.

Mr. Pickett, can I ask you another question, please? Yes. You made a comment that you had, I don't know if you have evidence of this or if you know of this, but you had made a comment that one of the heirs or two of the heirs had given permission to this individual to stay on the property. Is that?

Right now, you've heard it from a police officer?

Excuse me, ma'am. You're out of order. I'm asking city staff. This is an unusual situation. I've never seen it where somebody's living under the carport of the thing. We can secure that particular area. I would imagine that we secured the property to begin with.

Let's stop it right there because no one really knows, but I think the property needs to be secured. Obviously, the heirs don't have the means to be able to do that. I think for the security of the neighborhood, for everybody's security, first and foremost, it needs to be secured. That house is not inhabitable and neither is the carport. Let's make sure that we get that done. And that will put an end to that. And then the no trespassing signs will be up there. So we have to notify our police department that if somebody's trespassing on the property, there's some rights that somebody has to go

Ms. Stewart, you made a comment, because I was just asking our code enforcement folks here. You said that you did replace the roof because what I've been told from our- Yes, the roof was replaced by me, yes. How many years ago was that?

Reef usually lasts about 15 years, maybe 15 to 20, and we already have a hole in the roof where the water's coming in. So whoever did the work, no offense, no disrespect to anybody, but they obviously did a lousy job because we got a hole in the roof. It's pretty significant.

But you can't see daylight through the roof? Yes. Okay. Okay. And this is your son, Mr. Stewart? Yes, my son. Okay. And he's the one that kind of gave some orders to go ahead and board it up and all that. Would he have given any permission to this individual to live back there? Okay.

Fine. Thank you. I'm hearing it from the source. Our city manager has a comment. Ms. Hawke.

Thank you. Would that be a charge that we would take upon ourselves, Madam Clerk?

Well, if you tear the house down, I don't think you would have to put a fence around it. You'd have a vacant lot there. I don't think you'd have any concerns about that. But you do have a property right now that somebody's staying in or under, and it's causing some havoc. It's causing problems for you.

That's up to you, but whatever, if we give you the time, let's just say 90 days, which I think is gracious to see what can be done, and you did tear the garage down and get this person out of there, and then at some point in time, we're going to have to make a decision one way or the other, whether you come forward with a plan of action to say we're going to repair it or tear it down, but we're going to have to make some decision at some point in time.

Thank you, ma'am. Madam Clerk, have we received any additional comments, commentary on this?

Okay. Are there any further questions from council? Okay, I'm gonna close the public hearing and ask for the wishes of council. We have a motion to approve by Councilmember Andrews, second by Mayor Pro Tem Spears, and the issue is to give the 90 days, is that correct? Yes. We'll give 90 days, and then we'll ask our city staff and code enforcement folks to come back to us to report to us what the situation is, okay? All right. All right. All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Item passes unanimously on first reading. Is there a motion to waive second readi

Okay, very good. Any questions for staff? Okay, whether or not this is council, we have a motion approved by Council Member Joyner. Second by Councilmember Clinton Quintana. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion please indicate by saying aye. Any opposed? I didn't pass unanimously on first reading. Is there a motion to waive second reading? Motion made by Councilmember Clinton Quintana, seconded by Councilmember Santaguida. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Any opposed? I'm passing unanimously on first as well as second reading. That brings us to item 02, which is an ordinance making supplemental appropriations of $395,000 for the local law enforcement bonus program. Again, I'd like to recognize City Manager, Ms. Hall. Ms. Hall.

Okay. Any questions from council? If not, what are the wishes of council in respect to the ordinance? We have a motion. Okay, we have a motion to approve by Council Member Manning, second by Council Member Santaguida. Question, Council Member Joyner.

I just wanted to ask for the public certification. This is supplemental money that we're giving to law enforcement as a bonus, and this money is coming from where?

And this, so this is a law enforcement office, or excuse me, a law enforcement bonus that is being given out statewide?

Okay. All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Item passes unanimously on first reading. Is there a motion to waive second reading? Motion made by Council Member Santaguida, seconded by Council Member Joyner. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? I pass unanimously on first as well as second reading. That brings us to our next item of business, which is a resolution which is accompanied by an ordinance. Item R3A is a resolution approving the renovations at Thalion Hall and to authorize the city

Are there any questions for Mr. Fernandez?

You've done a pretty good job in raising money, making this a reality. And it's something that I think our community has been looking forward to. And I applaud the team there. Y'all have done a phenomenal job.

Great relationship. And it's a it's a historic building. And I know there's gone through a lot over the years, including a fire and some when it was so dilapidated that I think the mayor's office at the time had collapsed. So I'm glad it didn't collapse while I was there. But anyway, it's it's a magnificent looking building. And I know you folks are going to take very good care of it. So, so Mary.

Yes. We have a question here from Council Member Santaguida.

Thank you. Thank you both for the great presentation. Two questions. First, I just want to clarify that this funding isn't, we're not pulling this funding from any other capital improvement projects. This is, we've found, what, 550,000 that was already dedicated to Thalian, and then now we have this additional that we're looking at. Yes. And then my second question is, what is the timeline for the completion of these projects? I guess particularly the Princess Portico.

And this came from... And I guess while you're pulling this up, I just want to clarify, these are all, like, these are critical projects that need to happen. None of these are nice to have.

And the longer we wait, the worse it gets and the more it costs. Yes. Okay, thank you.

No, I was just looking at the timeline for the projects that you're coming to us for tonight.

Yeah, I think I've got all this, but just to make sure. So the $550,000 is already allocated, and we're going to allocate the $2.95 million tonight, and that makes up the $3.5 million. So this will not come back to Council at any point?

I'm sorry. I think I missed the answer on the timeline question. Like I know that we need to start, but how long is it going to take to complete the portico improvements, um, updating the fire suppression system? What are we looking at in terms of timeline for, for all of the projects that we're looking to fund tonight?

OK, what are the what are the wishes of councilor in respect to the R3A, which is the resolution approving the renovations? We have a motion to approve Councilmember Lyle, second by Councilmember Andrews. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Item passes unanimously on first and only reading. Now we go to the ordinance, which is 03B, which is the ordinance appropriating two point nine hundred and nine million $50,000 for the building improvements at the end and all. We have a motion to approve by Councilmember Lyle, second by Councilmember Clint

Any opposed? I didn't pass unanimously on first reading. Is there a motion to waive second reading? Motion made by Councilmember Joyner, seconded by Councilmember Santa Guida. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That item passes unanimously on first as well as second reading. Congratulations. Off to the races you go. Thank you.

That brings us to our next item of business, which is also a resolution accompanied by an ordinance. Item R4.A is a resolution accepting public streets and storm drainage facilities within Eastport, Swainway, and River Lights Dale Web Phases 4 and 5. And then item 04.B is an ordinance establishing a speed limit of 25 miles per hour on Swain's Way and 20 miles per hour on various streets in the River Lights development of Del Webb Phase 4 and 5 at this time. Again, I'd like to recognize the City Manager, Ms. Becky Hawke. Ms. Hawke.

Any questions of staff? If not, what are the wishes of council with respect to the resolution? We have a motion to approve by Councilmember Santa Guida, seconded by Councilmember Clinton-Mindana. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Any opposed? Item passes unanimously on first and only reading. And then item 04B, which is the ordinance establishing the speed limit of 25 miles per hour on Swain Way and 20 miles per hour on various streets in the River Lights development of Del Webb Phases 4 and 5. What are the wishes of council? We have a motion to approve by Councilmember Santaguida, second by Councilmember Andrews. Any further discussion?

Any opposed? Item passing unanimously on first reading. Is there a motion to waive second reading? Motion made by Councilmember Santa Guida, second by Councilmember Joyner. Any further discussion? I'll only pray for that motion. Please indicate by saying aye.

That brings us to our next item of business, which also has a resolution and an ordinance. Item R5A is a resolution authorizing city manager to enter into an agreement for the surface transportation block grant direct attributable funds within the North Carolina Department of Transportation in the amount of $2,681,347 for construction of the Kerr Avenue Trail project. And then item 0605B, sorry, is an ordinance making appropriations of $2,681,347 of direct attributable funds from the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program, better known as STBG-DA to the Kerr Avenue Trail Project. Again, I'

Any questions? Yes, Council Member Andrews.

Yeah, I was just kind of blown away by the 1.02 million for the utility relocation. Yes. More than the construction. It's a lot. So do we know what conflicts are driving that cost?

Yeah, yeah. It's sobering. It's expensive.

Not. What are the wishes of council in respect to the resolution? We have a motion approved by Councilmember Andrews, seconded by Councilmember Lyle. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Any opposed? Item passes unanimously. Announcement goes to the O5B, which is the ordinance appropriating the funding. What are the wishes of council? We have a motion approved by Councilmember Santaguida, seconded by Councilmember Andrews. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye.

Any opposed? Item passes unanimously on first reading. Is there a motion to waive second reading? Motion made by Council Member Andrews, seconded by Council Member Clinton Quintana. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Item passed unanimously on first as well as second reading. That brings us to our next item, which also has an ordinance and a resolution. Item 06A is the ordinance appropriating $1,635,684 for the purchase of 560 advanced security technologies mitigation barriers and seven transport trailers, which is the ordinanc

Tom, just real quick. So a portion of this is being purchased with MSD funding. And I do know that I think we have 13 events that the city sponsors. Some of them are like the Veterans Day Parade, Azalea Parade, a number of numerous ones. Some are one-day events. Some are multiple-day events. I know that when we have, let's just say, a road race like the triathlon or the marathon that terminates here at the park, and I think they use Greenfield Lake and what have you to run around a portion of that road race. Would we be able to use those in that location or would we be prohibited from using it

I just want to make certain that if we need them for the protection of the runners or whoever's involved, even though the race organizers are paying for it, we could use them.

Are the colors of these, what are they, green or yellow? Yellow.

We were thinking about maybe burnt orange or something, but that's okay. We'll go with that. I'm sorry, Tom. Quite all right, sir. Okay. I see what you got here. Okay. Okay. Good. Good. Okay.

Very good. We have a couple questions here. Councilmember Joyner.

This is, and the MSD portion is coming out of unassigned fund balance for the MSD. Yes, that's correct. What is, what's our current unassigned fund balance?

Thank you. So you answered my question about timeline. It looks like we're trying to have these in place for the events that we have toward the end of the year. My second question, I understand that I'm trying to think about how to phrase this. So I've seen at events and people have talked to me at events about we're currently using trash trucks and I think we get some fair amount of complaints with regard to that, just smell and look and feel. So this is going to replace the use of the trash trucks?

But this will be the first? Yes, yes. Okay, we're trying to limit the use of the trash trucks for this purpose. Absolutely. Okay, thank you.

Anybody else? Tom, thank you. I know you guys have been working on this for quite some time. And Ms. Hawker, I appreciate the public safety component of this because this is something that's been concerning to all of us. I know that there was unfortunately an accident in Raleigh about two years ago at the Holiday Parade, which was an accident where a car got through the barricades there and killed a young child. And I'm glad to see that we are, thank God we haven't had that happen here, but thank Thank goodness you guys jumped on this thing. So thank you very much. Appreciate it. So what are t

Any opposed? The item passes unanimously on first as well as second reading. That brings us to item R6B, which is the resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute the contract. What are the wishes of Council in respect to the resolution? We have a motion to approve by Councilmember Santaguida, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Spears. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. aye any opposed item passes unanimously that brings us to our final part of business tonight which is our reports item rp1 is a report of council's appointments committee for boards

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The Appointments to Boards, Commissions, and Committees Committee met on August 31st with myself as chair and Mayor Bill Sappo and Councilmember JC Lyle. We recommend the appointment of Lee Durham to the Downtown Parking Advisory Committee. He is the recommendation from the residents of Old Wilmington. Then to the Wilmington-New Hanover County Port, Waterway, and Beach Commission, we voted to remove a member due to lack of attendance and to appoint Matthew Ryan as the at-large member from the City of Wilmington. And finally, with the Sister City Commission, we are nominat

So we have a motion to approve by Council Member Andrews, second by Council Member Santagueta. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Any opposed? Item passes unanimously. This concludes our regular agenda. Are there any items to be brought forward from our city attorneys?

Madam Clerk? No, sir. Council Member Santagueta?

Thanks, Mr. Mayor. I know this isn't new news, but I did want to highlight the folks from the city that are going to be acknowledged as part of the 40 under 40 celebration in a few weeks. So Councilman David Joyner and one of our employees, Cannon Kennedy at the MLK Center. So congrats to you youngsters for all your great work in our community.

Today is the autumnal equinox for everyone who celebrates. Happy first day of fall, y'all. So it's the astronomical beginning of fall in the Northern hemisphere. So the days are approximately, today the day is approximately the same length as the night. But the good news is that the days are getting shorter. So we have fewer hours of sunlight. The temperatures are dropping. We're starting to feel that nice, crisp fall air. So get out and enjoy.

Yes, sir. I would just like to again thank the New Hanover County NAACP for awarding me with the Dr. Hubert A. Eaton Senior Community Service Award. Just thank you. Just great, great, great, great feeling and great and some of my colleagues and staff were in attendance. And even I drove my mother out of the house to accompany me for this event. And so, you know, it's just, I always loved September. September just has a special place in my heart. and and i just want to say uh for for the record that after today don't call me don't email me i'm going on vacation uh tomorrow at 4 30ish i'll see y

his birthday, maybe. Um, anyway, I, you know, 26th, right? It is. Thank you. Council member Andrews. Um, I'm picking because Mayor Pro Tem seems to catch a bad rep sometimes, but I wanted to make it a point to celebrate his birthday. He stole my thunder. I wasn't going to mention his birthday. but he stole my thunder because I was going to talk about his award. But anyway, happy September, everyone. And if you have a few minutes, join us in the room back there for a few cupcakes. Thank you.

I want to congratulate Brandon Sutton and Jenna Markowitz on their wedding this past week. Brandon is a fireman in our community and Jenna is my next door neighbor at work. And so congratulations to them.

And finally, I just I was able to, as well as Councilmember Andrews, attend the 100th anniversary of the municipal golf course. And there was over 100 golfers that were waiting in line to play golf. I had to do the ceremonial Drive.

Drive, but it didn't go that far. But anyway, yeah, because I had stage fright on that one. There was about 100 people there. But I do want to say to the city staff that maintains the course, it is right now as the number 10 course in America public golf courses in America. And you can imagine how many golf courses there are in the United States of America. Rate number 10 out of municipal courses. The folks out there do an outstanding job. And if you haven't seen the new clock that the Friends of Muni put on the grounds there, they're outstanding. I think if you go to most major golf tournamen