City Council - Regular Meeting

Oh, so we can start. They just can't see us, okay. All right.

welcome I will officially call to order the Brevard City Council regular meeting of Monday October 5th and I just want to say how much I appreciate everybody coming we have almost a full house quite a lot of visitors a lot of the public and also welcome everybody that is watching us on the live stream so that is what local government is all about so it's great to see everybody I want to introduce the folks sitting up here. On my far right, we've got our city attorney, Mac McKellar. And we've got a little visitor looking in over there. Next to Mac, we've got Councilman Lauren Wise. Next to Laur

Amen. Pastor Andrew, would you tell us a little bit about your church?

We are so glad you are both here. Okay. I think we've got some more visitors here. Come on in, folks. Feel free to come in. We've got lots of seats in here. Come on in. Of course, there are seats in the front. Come on in. Okay. All right. Yep, just find a seat. Thank you all for coming. All right, with that, if everyone would stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Okay. Council, you've got the draft agenda. Are there any proposed changes to the agenda?

Okay, any other proposed changes? Do I have a motion to approve the agenda with the one modification?

The modified agenda is approved. Okay, so this is in consent. All right. Council, you've got the draft minutes of the September 21st, 2026 regular meeting. Are there any changes or corrections to the minutes? Do I have a motion to approve the minutes?

Minutes are approved. All right. We are going to move on to our proclamations tonight. And I'm happy to say we actually have four incredible proclamations. Folks, if you're here for city council, come on in. That's fine. Just come on in. We still got seats. Don't be bashful. All right. OK. And our first proclamation is for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. And I believe we've got representatives from SAFE here to come on up. OK. Good to see you, Sterling. All right. Proclamation number 2026, TAC 24, Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Whereas domestic violence impacts millions of individuals a

Well, thank you. We're so glad you're part of our community. All right, oh, our next one is Fire Prevention Month. Proclamation number 202625, Fire Prevention Month. Whereas the city of Brevard has been committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those living in and visiting Brevard, And whereas the 2026 Fire Prevention Week theme, quote, charge into fire safety, safe charging is a superpower, unquote, focuses on the everyday charging habits that can help reduce the risk of lithium ion battery fires and keep homes and communities safer. Whereas fire remains a serious public safety con

It absolutely is. You know, I was chatting before we walked in with the emergency room, emergency nurses, and I was saying, you know, you want to have emergency nurses, but hopefully never have emergencies. We want to have a fire department, but my goal is that we don't have any fires.

I mean, that's what we're all working for. But yeah, those batteries, I tell you, you know, that can be really tricky. Yep. So thank you. Fire away. All right. And our next one is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Now, I have done a proclamation for Breast Cancer Awareness Month ever since I've been here. And every month or every year I do it, I never have anybody come up here to be with me. So last week, I was at the Rural Health Symposium, which was talking about rural health all around Western North Carolina. And I ran into these incredible women from the free clinic in Hendersonville. And I m

That is a tremendous service, and we are so thankful that you are opening one day a week. We want you to expand that to five days a week. Yeah, we're just going to keep working on that. But I'm so glad you all came out here. It was great to run into you last week. And I'm sure we're going to get to that 120 mammogram number.

Oh, and where's the clinic in Transylvania going to be located?

Well, I'm sure we can work on this, and we can come up with some locations and help you out with that. So I'll get the staff, and we'll send you some suggestions.

of this Emergency Nurses Week. And we are very lucky to have a large representation from Transylvania Regional Hospital, Michelle Pilon, the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital is here. Lindsay Baker, Taylor Irack, and Tracy Rhodes. Did I get that right? Did I miss anybody?

Okay, all right. Proclamation number 2026, TAC 27, Emergency Nurses Week, October 11th through 17th, 2026. Whereas emergency nurses are often among the first people we turn to in moments of serious illness, injury, and uncertainty, providing skilled and compassionate care when it is needed most. Whereas emergency nursing requires the ability to quickly recognize life-threatening conditions, make critical decisions, and care for patients of every age and circumstance, often within minutes. Whereas the emergency nurses of Transylvania Regional Hospital serve Brevard and the surrounding community

All right, we are going to move on to public comments. And I will just say, for our visitors that came for their proclamations, you don't have to stay for our entire meeting if you don't want to. I understand if the different organizations that were here want to sort of discreetly leave at any time, you're welcome to do that. It's perfectly fine, because we're going to be here for a while. All right. All right, public comment. The public is invited to speak during public comment at this time on any topic unless it is a public hearing item on this agenda. And we have no public hearings tonight.

Thank you, Mr. Perkins. Our next speaker is Teresa Nguyen.

That's all I need to say. Thank you. We heard you. All right, our next speaker is Nori LeBrun.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Brad Andrews.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Dee Dee Perkins.

Thank you, Ms. Perkins. Our next speaker is Jimmy Perkins.

Thank you, Mr. Perkins. Our next speaker is Tom Cape.

Thank you. All right, our next speaker is Beth Kramer.

Thank you, Ms. Kramer. Our next speaker is Tamika Hunter.

Thank you, Ms. Hunter. Our next speaker is Clark Lovelace.

Thank you, Mr. Lovelace. Our next speaker is Jeremy Owen.

Thank you, Mr. Owen. Our next speaker is Rodney Locks.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lox. Our next speaker is Nancy DePippo.

Thank you, Mr. Young. Our next speaker is James Beale.

Thank you, Mr. Veale. Our next speaker is Burton Hodges.

Thank you, Mr. Hodges. Our next speaker is Leslie Lagerman.

Thank you, Leslie. Our next speaker is Paul Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Our next speaker is Doug Powell.

Thank you, Mr. Powell. All right, that is everybody that has signed up for public comment. And before we move on to the rest of our agenda, I think we will take a five-minute break.

We are now on the consent and information agenda. The following items are on consent. One, ordinance declaring road closure for Veterans Day ceremony. Two, Minnie Brooks exemption to use waters engineering for two stream bank restorations. Three, finance summary 7-1-26 through 9-30-26. Four, finance and human resources committee meeting minutes August 24th of 26. Five, public safety committee meeting minutes August 24th of 26. And six, the item that we moved from new business, the appointment of ABC board member. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

Opposed? Consent is approved. Moving on to unfinished business. Our first item are the proposed amendments to the City of Brevard Unified Development Ordinance Chapters 2, 6, and 19, Building Height Regulations. And Emily Brewer, our senior planner, is going to present.

Council, do I have a motion regarding the proposed amendment?

Okay, we'll open it up for questions and comments. Mr. Baker.

All right. Council will call for a vote. All in favor? Opposed? Okay. Motion passes. Moving on to our second item, the proposed amendments to the City of Brevard Unified Development Ordinance Chapters 2, 8, 10, and 17, Removal of Off-Street Parking Minimum Requirements. And once again, we have Emily Brewer rocking us through it.

Council, do I have a motion concerning the proposed amendment? Oh, nobody wants to make a motion.

Thank you. I'll second. Okay. Well, we will open with Mr. Daniel. I have no questions. Mr. Baker.

Opposed? Motion passes. Okay. Our third item of unfinished business is the Carolina Avenue traffic calming project. $14,000 from Fund 82. And City Manager is going to walk us through this.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. Since, Council, you've got multiple choices here, we're going to open it up for discussion and questions first before I ask for a motion. And we will start with Mr. Lytle.

No, we discussed this at public safety meeting. I'd like to make sure that we place these in areas that aren't sort of overdoing bumps and having bumps too close to stop signs or intersections where they're going to slow down, but other than that, I trust that that'll be done. And other than that, I have no other questions. And I also think we should do the neighboring areas as well.

All right. All right, Council, I'm going to break this into two motions. First, do I have a motion to authorize staff to spend $14,000, up to $14,000 on speed humps for this project?

Any additional discussion on just the money? Okay. All in favor? Opposed? Okay. Now, council, does anyone want to make a motion concerning the placement of the speed bumps? You have multiple choices.

All right. We have a motion. Do I have a second? Do I have a second to that motion?

there's no second that motion dies do I have a different motion can I make a motion to to approve number two under actions placement of the four speed bumps with the caveat that we will study the feasibility of three speed bumps on Carolina Avenue first to see whether or not that makes sense. If not, leave it to the expertise of our folks to place four if they see that three won't work.

I would second that. And that includes the one speed hump on Washington and one on McMinn. Correct. Under option two.

Yes, all speed bumps, six speed bumps, not the Silverstein.

All right, we have a motion, we have a second. All in favor? Opposed? Motion is approved. Mr. Manager, you've got that? Yes, ma'am. All right, we are now going to move into new business. Our first item is the quarterly P-card report, and our finance director, Mr. Dean Luby, is going to present this.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Libby. And this is for information only. You're not asking for any action tonight. And we can expect to see these reports on a standard basis.

We'll open it up for questions. Mr. Wise.

I think we talked about this, as Councilwoman Holder said in our committee meeting, can't wait until you get a new system because I think there will be much better dashboards and much less manual work. Thank you for doing this. That's all I have.

All right. Thank you, Council. Thank you, Mr. Levy. And we look forward to the future reports. All right, we will move on to our next item, which is streamlining the process for updates to the traffic schedule. And City Manager is going to present this.

All right. Counsel, you've heard the manager's recommendation that the Committee approved. Do I have a motion to accept the Public Safety Committee's recommendation to streamline the traffic schedule process? Do I have a second? Second. All right. We'll open it for discussion. Mr. Baker.

Yeah, I think this is kind of the definition of cutting red tape. To be able to allow the public to come to our committee meetings and anything that's still on our consent agenda would be able to be spoken about in public comments for things like a stop sign a couple of weeks ago. I think... I think the efficiency that we gain outweighs a process that just slows down something that should, that staff should be able to make that decision along with the committee.

All right, we have a motion and a second. All in favor? Opposed? Good, motion passes. All right, we are moving on to our next item, which is the downtown master plan implementation and downtown advisory committee recommendation regarding the downtown circulation study. I believe city manager is gonna open this.

We'll get to questions maybe in a minute. All right. I understand now the vice chair of the downtown committee is going to speak.

Okay, council, you've got options. in terms of the action. You can approve the attached resolution affirming the DPDAC recommendation to ask that the one-way pair option be removed from the study. You can amend the text of the resolution and then approve it. You can table the item for further discussion or you could reject the DPDAC recommendation. Do I have a motion?

Okay, we'll open it for discussion. Ms. Holder.

Mr. Lytle? Yeah, thanks for all your work. Having read the study, I was left with more, a lot of questions that I did. I did submit to, I believe there's a questionnaire that went out to Heart of Brevard, I'm not on the Downtown Master Plan Committee, but it just seemed to me that the solution itself was the goal, right? That we started the experiment with the outcome. How can we make this outcome work? And then we worked backwards. And another thing that I think about is tonight is part of the study. because if economic impact is equally as important as efficiency of cars, tonight's part of t

All right, we have a motion and a second.

Well, the motion was to approve the resolution asking that the one-way pair be removed from consideration.

Okay. So, Ms. Holder, you made the motion. Would you like to amend your motion to... include removing the phrase asked that the option be removed from the scope of work so that way it would read that the one-way pair option be removed from further consideration period and then the rest of that sentence would be removed okay

Yeah, I'll second. All right. So we now have an amended resolution. that I think addresses the manager's concerns and addresses the impact of the statement, the scope of work and the requirements, so. Vicki, did you have a question on the motion? Consideration. Yeah. No. Right. So we're not changing the scope of work. No. Yeah. Okay. All right, we have a motion, an amended motion and second. All in favor?

Opposed? Motion passes. All right, we will move on to our last item of new business, which is discussion regarding proposed addition to the City of Brevard Code of Ordinances, Chapter 2, TAC 297, Reimbursement Agreements. And the city manager will present this.

Mr. Manager, I'm a little confused on what you're asking council to do tonight. It says no action requested, information discussion only, and that it's going to have a public hearing at our October 19th meeting. So you are not actually asking for any type of approval or vote tonight?

Okay. All right. Well, we will open it up for discussion, and we'll start with Mr. Daniels.

All right. No further action. I think you got the feedback you needed, Mr. Manager. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. All right. All right. That is the end of our new business. And we will move on to remarks and future agenda considerations. And we'll start with Mr. Lytle.

Mr. Manager. No, ma'am. Just a couple of quick things. It was great to see so many people coming out and speaking. It's always good to hear from the public. Lots of different topics. You know, we do take all of those comments even though we don't respond immediately. But we hear the comments and we often work on what you've brought up to us. But it was great to hear that. We also, last week, held one of our neighborhood town hall meetings over in Pisgah Forest that was very well attended. And I think that is another initiative that the city is going to be continuing because it's all about tran

Do you want to offer a prayer, Pamela? Thank you. Yeah, please do. Please, offer a prayer.