Town Council - Regular Meeting

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[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] I'd like to call the September 4th uh

Oakidge Town Council meeting to order. Uh the first order of business is invocation. We have the distinct pleasure of having several members of the Howardon family here and we also have Anthony Howton to give the invocation. So please stand as you're able. Let us pray. Dear heavenly father, we gather here tonight in your presence, grateful for the opportunity to serve this community and beyond. We thank you for all the blessings that you have bestowed upon us and all our families. Please grant our mayor, town council, staff, and citizens your wisdom, clarity, guidance to handle and address the matters before us. Help us to approach these matters and discussions with open minds and compassionate hearts, honoring every citizen's perspective. Inspire us to work together with integrity, justice, and deep commitment to the common good. May our decisions reflect your highest principles, fostering peace and prosperity for all. Also help us to remember all the men and women that have gone on before us that played a big part in to molding and making this community and town into what it is today. May we continue to build upon their legacies and to fill their shoes so that we can continue to pass these legacies on to our future generations. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Amen. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Next item is approval agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? So move. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I oppose. We also approval of the minutes of the August 7th meeting. Is there a motion to approve? I move that we approve the minutes of the August 7th, 2025 meeting. There a second. Second. All those uh any discussion? All those in favor say I. I.

Opposed? The eyes have it. I forgot to I.

Next we have resolution proclamation announcements. Um this is a proclamation honoring the life of Roger D. Howton. Whereas Roger D. Howton was born April 3rd, 1932, the son of Luther and Vera Howton. And where has he was a graduate of Oakidge Public School, Somerfield High School, and the Oakidge Military Academy, and whereas he served in the United States Army during the Korean War conflict, and whereas he was a valued and active charter member of Central Baptist Church, a local school board member of Oakidge Elementary and school advisory board member of Northwest High School, and a judge for the Guilford County Board of Elections. and where has he was involved in the efforts to incorporate Oakidge, served on the interimm town council, was elected in the f town's first election in 1999, and served a total of five terms. And whereas when he chose not to seek re-election in 2013, the town requested that the office of the governor of North Carolina bestow upon him the order of the longleaf pine, the state's highest civil civilian honor given for exemporary service. And whereas during his long and accomplished life, Roger D. Harton was a friend, mentor, and leader who exhibited character, strength, humility, and grace to those around him. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that I, with all the members of town council, do hereby offer our sincere condolences to the family of Roger D. How upon his passing and expressiation for his years of service to his town, community, and fellow man. In witness here, wherefore, I hereby set my hand and cause the seal of the town of Oakidge to be fixed this fourth day of September, 2025. Um, would any member of council like to offer any comments?

Yes, I'd love to. Um, I didn't know Roger as long as some of you did, but every time I saw him, he was so generous with the history of this town and for instance, also things like the history of his service to our country. He was such a kind and generous and intelligent and thoughtful man. I'm just so blessed to come after him in service to our community and so proud of the efforts that he and others including Gary Blackburn who's here tonight uh made to incorporate our town 27 years ago now. Uh that contribution is lasting and so I'm so grateful for it as I know everyone in Oakidge is. Thank you. Anyone else?

Yeah. Um, I knew Roger most of my life. Uh, what a great man. Um, we served and worshiped together at Central Baptist Church. Um, about the best that I can say is that, um, I wasn't worthy worthy to tie Roger's shoes. Um, I feel honored to be able to stand on his shoulders and continue on what he built in this town. I thank the family for sharing Roger with us. Yeah, I also had the privilege of serving with Roger on uh council. Um the one thing I always admired about him was he was always thinking about what he was going to vote. So up until the last minute when he was ready to vote, he was processing more information. And I think once or twice he walked in this room uh or the firehouse uh thinking he was going to vote one way and he ended up voting a different way because he got more information. Uh so that's one of the things I really admired about the man was he was he was always listening to other people and thinking about more information and he was always willing to think about things differently based upon the new information he learned. So I I really appreciate him and again as others have said it re the family I want to thank the family for for the fact that you you lent him to us for so long and we really appreciate that. Um with that I'd like to if you'd like to come up I'd like to present you with the proclamation and if you like some pictures otherwise I'll just hand it to you. Would you like to come up?

Did you want to say something? I'm sorry. No, no, I'm I'm a man of many words.

Yep. Yep. Thank you. [Applause] All right. I don't believe we have anyone from the sheriff's department, but the crime statistics are on the back table. Uh if you'd like to take a look at that. Um one of the things that I did stick out is they are seeing a little bit more uh checks being taken out of mailboxes. Uh so they encourage you to maybe not send put a check in the mailbox, maybe take it to the post office or you know use online services. That was one of the things they're pointing out people are uh stealing checks out of their mailboxes. Um, the next item is from the Oakidge Fire Department. Do we have someone from the fire department?

Good evening. My name is Mark Liberty, obviously with the Oakidge Fire Department. It's my first time, so just bear with me. Um, uh, let's see. So, calls for the month of December, we had 81 calls. Uh three, excuse me, were structure fires. We had 35 emergency medical responses, one um hazardous response, uh two hazardous material responses, uh two brush fires, uh one vehicle fire, uh 14 false alarm responses, and we had 23 other responses which included things like smoke scares, lockouts, animal rescues, etc. Um, and then also with um the uh fire season coming, uh just some uh September fire safety message. Just make sure we're checking smoke alarms. Um just uh check test all the alarms in your home. Replace batteries if needed. Um know your escape plan. U make sure everyone in the household is aware of that. Uh heating safety. Uh just space heaters and fireplaces. Uh with the weather starting to cool down, cooking safety and change of season checkup. And that is all I have for you guys today.

All right. Thank you so much. Yes, sir. Any questions? Thanks as always. All right. Next, we have uh two public hearings. Uh the first one is an amendment to section 386 863B of the code of ordinances regarding the distances for required water and sewer connections. Are you going to present that, Mr. Bruce?

Since uh Mr. Taylor could not join us this evening, I'll present the uh two text amendments. Uh the first um to section 30-863B of the code of ordinances uh regarding distances for required water and sewer connections. Um this text amend amendment establishes under what circumstances a new subdivision will be required to connect to the municipal water system. It's based on a sliding scale um that's based on the size of the development. Uh so the larger the proposed subdivision, the further we would ask the uh municipal water to be extended to it. Uh the text is identical to the ordinance that Stokesdale adopted many years ago for their system, which has served them well. Um and also offers predictability for de developers that would be working in both jurisdictions. Uh the Oakidge Planning and Zoning Board uh reviewed this text amendment and held a public hearing at their last meeting and unanimously recommend approval to town council. Okay, this is a public hearing which means there'll be 20 minutes for people to wish to speak in favor, 20 minutes for people to wish in opposition and if there is input from both sides. Then there will be five minutes period of rebuttal. So all we ask you to do is come up to the microphone, state your name and address uh and the floor will be yours. Again uh 20 minutes for people in favor. Okay. So ready Sandra. Uh all those wish to speak in favor of this uh please step forward, state your name and address and the floor is yours.

Good evening, council. Mr. Mayor, uh Spencer Sullivan, 7917 Quiet Place, Oakidge. Um I'm coming to you this evening to speak on behalf of the water advisory committee as well as myself personally. Um this text amendment comes as a unanimous recommendation from the water advisory committee. Uh the goals of the committee both short and long-term include developing growing the municipal water system uh in terms of both infrastructure and customers as effectively and costefficiently as possible. This text amendment requires new developments near existing municipal water manes to connect to the water system with the cost of extending the lines and piping to the homes borne by the developer. Uh this helps us realize both goals because the infrastructure is extended and the town will add to its customer base. Uh it's no secret that it's difficult to find potable water in Oakidge V wells. Um there's a cost associated with providing water to new homes. Our research shows that the well the cost associated with this text amendment are comparable to the cost of drilling individual wells for each home or providing a community well system. The advantage to developers is the municipal connection takes away the uncertainty of finding a suitable water source from an individual or community well. Both developers and builders much prefer a municipal water connection when it's available. Because of that, uh um in our meeting with developers two months ago, we discussed this amendment and they said they were fine with its provisions. Uh as as uh Mr. Bruce pointed out, this

this ordinance has been in place in Stokesdale for several years and both builders and developers are accustomed to working with its provisions and they love it. Uh so this our committee strongly recommends council to adopt this text amendment. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak in favor of this amendment? Seeing none, we close the period for people who wish to speak in favor. Uh now we have 20 minutes for people to wish to speak in opposition to this amendment. Anyone who wish to speak in opposition? Seeing none, we can close the period for public comment and open it up to councel either for discussion or for a motion to approve the amendment or deny. Either one. Which is your what is your pleasure? I move that we approve this text amendment. Is there a second? Second.

Uh Miss Schneider, you made the motion. The floor is yours to begin with.

Uh Mr. Sullivan made great points as former mayor, former council member and current chair of the water advisory committee. He's very knowledgeable and I've I've watched this uh amendment being discussed at the water committee. I also had a long discussion about water with uh Mayor Prom of Stokesdale on Saturday and this happened to come up come up and he said it was one of the best things they did. Now, it doesn't take effect until the water line is built. But he said once the water line in Stokesdale was built, having this this in their uh in their ordinances helped them enormously in terms of growing the water system sort of on its own. Um so I'm strongly in favor of it. Thank you,

Mr. Stone. Anything?

Yeah, it just piggybacking on the comment. This doesn't go into effect till we actually have water lines and such. So developments that go in now obviously are either going to have private wells or community wells um and not going to be forced to convert over to the town's water system, but um it will be available for them in the future um or as soon as it's available. So I I I don't see anything I don't see a downside to it. I I think that it's the right approach going forward. the fact that the water advisory committee and the planning and zoning board um both trusted um people's uh and they voted unanimously for it. So, I think it's a good deal for us.

Mr. Greon, I'm along with everybody else. Uh I'm going to approve it and I don't think I need to say anything else.

I just want to reinforce that um they're either going to have to drill wells already uh or they're going to have to put a community well in. So, uh, in lie of doing that, they just need to run the pipes to connect to, uh, municipal water. So, it should be relatively a wash costwise for the developers because they're either drilling wells, uh, as Mr. Spencer, uh, Mr. Sullivan pointed out. Um, there's always a risk that the well won't work. So, this takes away a lot of risk. So, it's it's a good idea. So, with that, any further discussion? If not, all those in favor say I. I. Opposed? Guys have it.

Will you be introducing the next item? the second uh public hearing. Um I know that uh there are four sections shown on the agenda. Um I would advise council to take them as one amendment and to have one motion to approve um or one motion to take action. The amendment uh is related to uh creating a new permitted use in the uh code of ordinances for an event center. Uh the event center as a use would be allowed by right in the general office medium intensity district, the general business district, the shopping center district and the public and institutional district. It will also be allowed with a special use permit uh which is a quasi judicial uh procedure in the agricultural and the RS40 residential districts. Um there are uh extra requirements uh for a special use request in the RS40 residential district. Uh and that would include primarily uh having access along a major thoroughfare um and also a minimum lot size of three acres. Uh the amendment also includes um standards for parking for event centers. Um it includes a definition and then it includes an additional number of development standards related to buffers, noise um and other um uh standards to reduce the impact on neighboring properties. Uh this has been uh discussed at the planning and zoning board several times and has been in actually in front of council. Um, this current version was heard by the Oakidge Planning and Zoning Board at their last meeting in which they voted unanimously to recommend approval uh to town council. Okay. Again, this is a public hearing, which means there's be 20 minutes for

people to speak in favor, 20 minutes to speak in opposition. Um, okay. We'll open up the public hearing. Anyone wish to speak in favor of this uh amendment? Uh state your name and address and the floor is yours.

Bill Grio with Land Solutions PO Box 347 Oakidge. Uh speaking in favor of this group of amendments this evening. I'd like to point out a couple things. one. Um, I've had multiple land owners approach me about an event space, which is what led to our proposing this text amendment, which was the easy part. Uh, Sean's not here this evening, but I know he had to work hard on this. I know the planning board uh worked hard on this, and I know a number of you folks worked hard on this outside of these public hearings. I think we've landed with uh a good end result here in allowing event center as a use along with all the other associated rules and stipulations and regulations and so forth and so on. So again, thanks to everyone uh for this one. This was a tough one and and the town did a lot of the heavy lifting on this versus me. Uh for any questions or comments, I'll be happy to address them.

Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak in favor? Seeing no one, we'll now open a 20-minut period for people who wish to speak in opposition. Anyone who wish to speak in opposition to this amendment hearing? None. We'll close the public comment section and uh turn it over to council either for a motion or discussion. What's your pleasure? Mr. Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion that we approve uh the event center text amendments as presented. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Stone, you made the motion. Your floor is yours.

There's there has been a lot of talk. This thing has been kicked around for a while now and um a lot of people involved in it. Uh planning and zoning um and Sean did a lot of work on this. Um the one big thing that that people that I spoke with um the the biggest deal was wait a minute you know if my next door neighbor wants to put an event center in RS40 it's allowed to do that and with the number of restrictions and the way that this is laid out um it does protect the individual property owner um I think one of the biggest things and I most people took a deep breath after they heard Unless you have three acres of land, you're not going to have an event center there. Uh you're going to have to to do a lot um to get a special use permit. So, it does protect those individual homeowners for uh privacy and peace of mind and peace and quiet. So, um I like the way that this was developed. It maybe took a little bit longer than some people um had expected or had desired, but we take our time on stuff and get it right. So, Mr. Greon,

no comments. M Schneider.

Yeah, I think this is this now has a lot of protections in it. And just to be clear for everyone here, this being able to have an event center would be allowed as they say by right, so automatically for several, you know, like business districts, including public and institutional, which I think of the military academy immediately with that. So I think that's a good thing. Um and the concern was with allowing it in residential and agricultural. I think there are now enough protections that you can't even apply unless you meet you have sufficient land, you have sufficient area for parking as defined in this these amendments. Um buffers. What else? um and road frontages on a um a major thoroughfare. So you can't have this back in a culde-sac in a neighborhood. So those are a lot of protections, but the ultimate protection is this is what's called a special use permit. So you don't get it automatically. You can meet all of these requirements, but it has to be granted by t the town council. So that offers the final protection where you know if you're one of the neighbors who has a good reason to object, you can come speak at a uh quasi judicial hearing on the matter. It would be quasi judicial, right? Um so council would have to make its decision based on facts. That's and evidence. That's the requirement of quasi judicial but they do get to make a decision and it is not automatic. So each individual application would be considered very carefully and I think that's a very important if not the most important

protection.

Uh hold on. Uh there's not much to add. I my main reason for being okay with this is as Mish Schneider pointed out that the special use permit is something that you would have to come to council for. You would have to make your case about why you want this. And if I'm correct, we we would be able to put restrictions in. It's not like we would be able to offer restrictions. Uh we not we would not just have to wait for them to offer them. We could actually say this is this is a restriction that council wants to add. So we have a lot of latitude. So, it's a high fairly high uh bar that you'd have to uh jump over to uh do it in the RS40 and agricultural uh district. So, that's why I'm I'm okay with this. If there's no further comments, all those in favor say I.

I oppose. The eyes have it. Next, we have the first section of public comments. Typic what we do is we like to call up any community organizations first and three minutes. state your name and address and you can talk about anything you like for three minutes.

Good evening all. Um my name is Angie Williams. I'm here on behalf of Oakidge Military Academy, 2317 Oakidge Road. Is that better? Okay. Um I'm not used to a microphone. I just yell at the academy. Um uh what I was coming to let you guys know or remind you was that on Saturday um in Bonner Fieldhouse, which is where the uh football field is at the academy, uh uh Congresswoman Virginia Fox will be coming for the service academy to speak. Um representatives from every branch of the service academy with the exception of the merchant marines will be present simply because we didn't have anybody that was confirmed for that. Um, but that begins at 9 uh on Saturday. You're welcome to call the academy if you need further information. I'm always available to help where I can. The other piece that I wanted to remind you guys of is that we are having homecoming on September 20th. So, this is our 2025 Bridge to the Ridge event. Um the academy has often stood as a um monument or kind of separate from the community as a whole for some time. And this is our way of inviting the community onto campus where you can actually see our cadets up close. You can see our buildings and the things that uh we are doing and improving as things go. Um our campus makes up the Oakidge Military Historic District as you well know and u most of our buildings are old. I mean the building that I work in was built in 1914. So there is constantly upkeep and upgrades that we have and we are making in order to stay current with the times not only for our academics but also for our our facilities and grounds. So again that's September 20th uh from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. we'll have a car and bike show. Um we'll have the cadet parade. We'll have a vendor fair. um a picnic

lunch and uh some games and things like that for the for the core and the community to to do. Uh one of the things that we are doing this year is a um airsoft competition like target practice for uh our alum, our kids, our community. Uh feel free to come. At 5:30 that evening, we are u meeting in Kernerville at uh an social shelter hour, I believe is what it's called. Um for an afterparty for um off-campus kind of way to to kind of socialize in a in a softer way, so to speak. Um but yeah, so I just wanted to invite you guys feel free to come out. We are still looking for vendors, sponsors, and I'm always always interested in donations. So feel free to hand it out. Thank you.

Thank you. Um, okay. Now we'll open up to comments from the public. Adrien, your hand went up first. Elementary. Oh, is I apologize. Oakidge Elementary, please. Thank you.

You survived first week.

We survived eight days. We're okay. Good evening. and I'm Chris Shandra, principal at Elkridge Elementary, and here with Melissa Wilson, our assistant principal. Um, just wanted to share some quick updates. Our state test scores have been released, so I'm proud to say that we are showing over 86% proficient. And EVOS growth just came out and Oakidge Elementary exceeded the growth status, which means that um, our students are making more than one year's growth. Um, and we are one of few schools that have exceeded two years in a row or more. So, we're extremely proud of that accomplishment here at Oakidge. Um, the second thing I wanted to share was our car rider line. Uh, we are doing well with our car rider line. Um, couldn't be more happier with it. Um, we are reminding parents each and every day to, you know, be mindful of, you know, in the neighborhood not blocking driveways or intersections. Um, and so we've been doing really well with that. Um, and as principal Shandra just shared, we are beyond thrilled and so proud of our students, our staff, um, and our partnership with this community with the success that our school has shown over the last school year. Um, one thing we would like to do is to invite you to come help us kick off our readathon um, which will um, serve where you would serve as a mystery guest reader in our classrooms. Um, so all you need to do is show up when your schedule allows and we will greet you at the front office, provide you with a selection of books, and we will escort you down to a classroom to be a mystery guest reader. Um, to our students, it is on Monday, September the 15th, and I have um some little invitations with contact information if you are interested and I can approach you to to pass those out.

Okay. Wonderful. We would love to have you um there. Thank you so much for your partnership. Thank you. Thank you. Excuse me. Sorry. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Sandra. Any other community organizations I may have missed? All right. Now, Adrien, you had your hand up first.

Adrien Echenrod, 5679 Timberway, Oakidge. Good evening. My name is Adrien Ekenrod, and my family and I are proud to call Oakidge home. I'm a husband, a father, and like many residents, I chose this town be I chose this town because of its small town spirit, its parks and trails, and the way neighbors look out for each other. I'm running for town council because I believe we can protect what makes Oakidge special while also preparing for the challenges and opportunities ahead. In my professional life, I serve as chief technology officer for a national investigations firm. I also work with companies that develop and train public safety agencies on advanced drone technology tools that can make emergency response faster, safer, and more effective. Just last Friday, I had the privilege of supporting a multi- agency training event right here in our area, which include our own Oakidge Fire Department. We brought together first responders from different departments, gave them hands-on experience with cutting edge drone systems, and showed them how these tools can provide instant eyes in the sky during emergencies, whether it's a missing person search, a fire, or a law enforcement situation. That's the kind of practical, forward-looking work I want to bring to town council. I believe in combining innovation with common sense, making sure we're prepared for the future while staying true to our roots. My background has taught me how to manage complex operations and multi-million dollar budgets, how to work across agencies and build consensus, and how to deliver results without losing sight of the people we serve. But more than that, I understand that leadership in a town like ours isn't just about policies and projects. It's about listening. It's about transparency. And it's about making decisions that reflect the values of the people who live here. Oakidge is more than a place on a map. It's a community we're all building together. And if I have the privilege to serve on town council, I will work every day to keep it safe, strong, and the kind of place that we are proud to pass on to the next generation. If you'd like to learn more about me, my background, and my vision for Oakidge, please visit adrienforidge.com. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh Lindseay Clark, I think I saw your hand next. Hello, Lindseay Clark. Uh, address is 6816 Koala Drive in Oakidge. Good evening, members of the council and fellow residents of Oakidge. My name is Lindseay Clark and I'm running for town council this November to bring a fresh perspective and positive changes to the way the council has made decisions in the past. With my engineering degree and experience as an engineer and project manager, I've built expertise in problem solving, collaboration, leadership, and efficient resource management. While living in Oakidge these past eight years and serving my community, in our schools, and on my HOA board, I've identified three areas of improvement that are the focus of my campaign and highlight how I would serve if elected. Fiscal responsibility, transparency, and respect for private property. I would curb the what I consider and many others reckless spending, promote transparency in all areas of town operations to build trust and prioritize responsiveness to residents concerns and priorities over special interests. I'd like to clarify that I'm not running for a council position to seek a political career. I'm running to give the voters an alternative. Uh you could consider me a political outsider that's in touch with the community and wants to serve the community's interests, not my own. On that note, I invite all voters to feel welcome to reach out to me with any questions, ideas, or just to have a chat. I appreciate your support. And on a final separate note, uh I just wanted to comment on the uh Heritage Farm Park plans that are proposed this evening. So based on my research that I've done into the topic, five years ago when the Heritage Farm Park survey was done, the results indicated that the top desired amenity that was not already present in Oakidge was a splash pad. It ranked over

all additions noted in today's proposed plan. Notably, pickle ball was not an option at that time. On this most recent survey, a splash pad was the top writing option in additional comments since there's not even listed as an amenity option to choose. So, just a note, I'd like the town council to consider why it is still absent from any proposed plans when determining whether or not to move forward with the proposed design as it's shown tonight. The space is there, just with some slight modifications. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak? Ty, I got you. Next.

Um, to the mayor, mayor proemp, and remaining council body, good evening. to the Oakidge town citizens. Good evening. Thank you guys so much for yielding time to allow me to speak and announce my candidacy for town council of Oakidge as well. Um I've been married to my wonderful wife Janelle Adams Lindsay. We should give you your

Yeah, my apologies. Uh 8874 Craravenwood Drive, Oakidge, North Carolina. So um I've been married to my wonderful wife Janelle Lindsay for 24 years. We have two wonderful children, Aaron and Joselyn Lindsay. Aaron 23, Joselyn 19. Most of my life has been spent growing up in the Northwest community. I attended Guilford Tech Technical Community College and transferred from there to North Carolina ENT. Um, specializing in obviously agriculture. Um, I'm dedicated to committed service in my community. I've been consistently involved in youth sports for over 30 years. I proudly serve as a member of Oakidge uh Rex. Um I serve on the board for the for the parks and wreck. Um as a business owner for more than 24 years, I have outstanding employees. And if they were here tonight, they'd probably be impressed that I said I have outstanding employees, but they are great people. Integrity has been my greatest lesson and a hallmark because not only has it shaped my character, but it's also helped me build my future. So, I have also identified areas of concern that I would address if I'm elected to town council. And by the way, citizens, you probably don't know a lot about me now, but you will. Um, I will continue to push my agenda and fight for your vote. Um, taxes, Oakidge Youth Association, and the town park. As far as taxes, I will work to diligently to control reckless spending, maintain current tax revenue, and I will oppose raising taxes on citizens of Oakidge. Again, I I own a small business, so I understand what it takes to manage um um you households, what it what it means to be able to provide. Uh so I do know that raising taxes on individuals could put

them in a bind and that bind could be financially uh which could lead to other issues in households as well. Oakidge Youth Association the greatest value added service the town receives in the world class is the worldclass youth program that's entirely managed by Oakidge youth association. I will work directly with Oakidge youth association to approve and enhance our working relationship. Orya's support for the town and families they serve has earned our respect and appre and we appreciate them as as a trusted partner. Therefore, we must do more uh to show our appreciation for Oakidge Youth Association. The town parks, we have beautiful parks here. I'll support the development of our town parks to be more inclusive and supportive of all families in Oakidge. I will ensure the development of our town parks reflect priorities of taxpayers and delivers on the community's expectations by incorporating inclusive features that serve citizens of all ages. Thank you so much.

There we go. I think I saw another hand in the back. You're perfect timing.

Excuse me. Michael Logan, 5202 Rambling Road. Thank y'all for what y'all do. I understand what you were doing sitting in those seats. And as a former board member, I've said I've always going to work with the schools and always provide information for the public about our schools. Um, as a shout out, Oakidge Elementary, they are rated an A last year and they are still rated an A this year. So, it is one of the top schools. Uh, a little bit on that performance. US News has them ranked 14th in the state. So, they are one of the top school, elementary schools in the state. Um, they're number two in the county. They're number two because they're not a specialty school. So they are just a open public school where the students within the attendance zone attend that school. They're not a magnet school. So for them to be second, that is great. Uh Louisville Northwest Middle, they were a B and they're still listed as a B, which is good. A B is good. Um their achievement did go up one point in the state. They are ranked 67th by US News and they are number two in the county. Also, Northwest High previously was rated an A and is still rated an A. So, they are doing well. I will say their performance did drop down five points, but it's still high enough where the school is still rated in A. Now, little note to that. I'd like to give a shout out to the early college at Guilford. And everybody knows Northwest area is my main focus. Now, Guilford College may not be within the Northwest

area, but it is the number one school in the state and the 31st ranked school in the nation. And why is it important to Northwest? Because 57 students from the Northwest area attend a school that is made up of 195 students. So, they are the largest group of students within an attendance zone attending that school. uh where would Northwest scores be if those students were within Northwest? Now, I always like to focus on charter schools and public schools equally. Now, with our charter schools, there's a lot of talk about them. Charter schools in Guilford County, the lowest charter school is above 42 of the public schools within Guilford County in the rankings. Now, I will say the five highest schools are within Guilford County schools that outperform the charter schools. So, always take that in mind when you're looking at schools for the public. That's all I have and thank y'all for what y'all are doing.

Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak? John.

Good evening, council. I'm John Browning, 8024 Lynville Road, Oakidge. I'm not running for office, but I would like it. Just seems just fitting to say a few more words about Roger Howardon between he and and Gary Blackburn set the tone. And like Councilman Stone said, you're all on the shoulders of the of the guys that that laid the foundation for what Oakidge is today. Um the more things change, the more they remain the same. Those early council members had some had some real tough issues to to navigate. Again, um the land that the president town parks on was not free. It was purchased from the Lynville family and at the time a lot of council members said that's too much money. We'll never afford that. We don't need that. But it's through Gary Blackburn and Roger and people like that. You saw the investment that made in the community and I really can't imagine Oakidge without the town park and now the Heritage Farm Park. So, and Rogers always impressed me. were on the fire department board together and spent a lot of time together on different boards. He's the most humble and kind and again his service is well documented, but he set the tone at meetings for being again he could respectfully disagree with somebody without getting personal and I just had always appreciated his tone of respect. Uh even if he disagreed with you, uh he could do so respectfully and and move on to the next uh topic. So anyway, I just felt like I needed to say that. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, John. Anyone else wish to speak? If not, we'll close that section for public comment and move to the manager's report. Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um several items for you this evening. The first are uh three um appointments or reappointments. Uh the first is to uh reappoint Patty Pasleroo to the planning and zoning board and the board of adjustment. Uh if if council pleasure, we can consider all three at once. Fine. I agree. Yes. Also, Phyllis Anders uh reappointed to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and Todd Hall's reappointment to the water advisory committee. Is there make uh is there a motion to approve these reappointments?

I move that we approve all three reappoints as described by the town manager. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Opposed?

Eyes have it. Uh the second item I'm going to uh ask um assistant town manager to present for us. Thank you council. Um this is a request to consider electronic advertising on the county website. In 2017, the state legislator legislature passed a local law which was SL2017210 to create a pilot program in which municipalities in Guilford County only could place advertising on the county website instead of in a newspaper of general circulation which is required in the general statutes. If you were around back then, um this was known as the Trudy Wade Law. Um, repres Ex excuse me,

time's up. It's all the time you have. Sorry, you're finished.

Um, Miss Wade was a representative on the county commission and went on to be a um, representative in the state house and she was not happy, I understand, with some of the coverage she got from the news and record. And so, as a result, she asked that some of the legal advertising be taken away from them. And um this is how that came about. That was in uh 2017 and it has been slow to catch on although the county has been doing this ever since then I believe. Um budgeting for legal ads is kind of difficult for staff because it's impossible to know in advance how many ads we're going to have to place and how complex they are. Sometimes they're extremely long. Sometimes they have to be run multiple times. Um, I did some research and since July 1st, 2024, every ad that we've run in the news and record costs an average of $580 and some of them have been well over a thousand. Um, and due to these factors, staff would like to recommend that um, you guys would place legal advertising on the county website at a cost of $10 per adowed by this um, local law. And there I included in the packet a few uh PowerPoint uh pages provided with Guilford County. In order to do this, first we would you we would staff would need to get um your okay to move ahead with this. We would need to schedule a public hearing which would be heard before planning and zoning as well as the town council because this does require a change to our development ordinance. and then you would be asked to approve an e-notice publication agreement with Guilford County.

All right. So, you're basically tonight all we're saying is that we want to go forward with a public hearing uh to that's correct to consider it. So, we wouldn't be approving it tonight. We just would say hey we're going to move forward uh it. So, uh council questions motion I move Go ahead. I move that we approve or recommend approval to move forward consideration to move forward I guess of electronic advertising on Guilford County website as described in Miss Smith's uh memo. Is there a second? Second, mayor. Sorry. Actually, um Councilwoman Schneider, I think I don't think a motion is required. I think just consensus from the Okay.

Okay. instruct staff to come back so that we don't have a confusion of approvals in the record because you will be asked to both amend the ordinances as the assistant town manager just said and then after you do that presumably then ask for a motion. Okay. So, so I should just say this is a good idea.

Exactly. But I wanted to comment mayor if I could briefly follow up. Uh I won't add exactly to the summary that uh Miss Smith provided but uh except to say it's accurate but the why didn't we adopt this sooner? We looked at this sooner. The reason is larger because of me. The bill was passed in late 2017. It was effective January 2018. The county put it on its books pretty much promptly. The bill purported to be a statewide bill limited to a pilot program in Guilford. It's still a pilot program in Guilford. It's never been expanded, but it was written as a statewide bill. The county takes the position this day. It's a local law. I disagree with that, but I've had it back and forth with them twice now about three years ago or so when we first looked at it. I think it was three years ago. And they had not amended the state statutes as the bill said to amend. It was like four or five parts of the statutes and I had concerns for the towns uh which I represent both Pleasant Garden and and as well as Oakidge, but this came up with Oakidge initially. Um, so I advised staff that we should be conservative about it and hopefully they get the statutes properly dealt with and then if I ever had to go into court to defend what is crucially important that we always have proper legal advertising for what we do that it was you could point to the statutes. They still haven't done that. So I went back and forth with the county again earlier this year. I am now satisfied that despite the way they have handled this or not handled it at the uh statutory level or codification level I should say

that with seven years experience in Guilford County, no challenges to any legal advertising that I'm aware of or that the county reported and with the county offering to do this still at considerably lower expense to the down. I mean, considerably lower. I mean, it's only gotten worse with the newspapers since this first went on that there is no good reason not to do it. Um, this the bill actually has two parts to it and we're we're doing the second part here. That's the recommendation to this to the council, which is to enter into an agreement, a contract with the county to use their website for the town's legal advertising. The first part of the bill allowed for advertising on the town's website, but you had to spend a year running costly ads telling the public how to access that, which doesn't avoid the expense to them. and we have a good relationship with the county. Otherwise, for other kinds of contracts, there's no reason not to do it as Miss Smith just outlined. So, that's a greater background. So, why didn't we do this or that's largely on me, but I feel comfortable that we're not in u a situation where we're going to be successfully challenged and if we ever were, the county would be in there with us defending it. So u I I do commend this effort and recommend it as well.

All right. So basically is there consensus that we move forward with this? I would like to yes Mr. Greon Schneider. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you though. If that's sufficient then you have a consensus to move forward. Uh any other manager business?

Uh just one other update for council uh to report that construction of the second phase of the veterans honor green is now complete um and pending a final inspection from the county. Uh next week we'll be removing caution tape and opening up the boardwalk to the public. Um and I'd just like to say that Parker Construction has done a fantastic job uh with the design provided by Revington Reeves uh landscape architecture. Um we did exceed the contingency uh by less than $2,000 uh which will be paid out of funds that were raised by the special events committee uh and not through the town's general fund. And I will note that that extra cost was mostly due to some additional landscaping and a tree removal that we requested the contractor do for us while they were on the site. Uh so wanted to report that and also to um let council know uh that uh we'll be removing the tape and the public will be able to enjoy that new amenity.

Excellent. Um one additional item I think we forgot to mention that Jim Harton isn't here tonight obviously, but he's uh not been well this week and so a shout out to him. He's probably watching on the live stream right now, but we miss him. Excellent. Uh, and the well at the farmhouse is working still. Yes. Okay, good. They only had to replace the control box. That's right. So, uh, okay. Next is consideration approval of the revised uh, water fee. Is that something you'd like to introduce, Mr. Bruce?

Uh, yes. Thank you. Um you have a u uh attached to the memo uh a proposal to update uh appendix A of the town of Oakidge water system rules and regulations which is the water fees and charges schedule. This is probably the third or so time that you've been asked to amend the schedule. Uh as we um um uh learn more about the fees and charges uh that we need to establish um as the water system comes online. Uh the following changes are recommended by the water advisory committee. First is to expand the base charge per month fee schedule to include larger meter sizes. We initially had only up to two inch meter sizes. Um anticipating that we would only have residential connections. Uh larger meter installations will be necessary when or if we connect to higher capacity commercial users. Um this proposed schedule is modeled after the Winston Salem and foresight fee and has been reviewed and also endorsed by Envirink. Uh it also establishes a wholesale rate that is 10% less than the retail rate. And thirdly amends the schedule to include commercial uses and to clarify that the same rates will apply to customers in the extr territorial jurisdiction. Um and as mentioned the water advisory committee reviewed and recommended approval of these proposed changes at their August 13th meeting.

Is there any discussion or a motion? I move that we approve the updated water fees and charges schedule as presented. Is there a second? Second. M Schneider, you made the motion. I think this is just another way that we're looking ahead. We have the possibility of uh including the shopping center area in our water system as as it grows and we're looking ahead and making those changes now because the primary goal is to serve residents and to build our customer base. Thanks, Mr. Greon. Uh no comments,

Mr. Stone. Yeah, as uh the town manager pointed out, we've already made a couple changes in this and this is just uh part of the process of getting to the point where we have water. So, it's uh it's a housekeeping matter. Yeah, I have nothing further to add to that. So, with the motion's been made and second, is there all those in favor say I? I oppose. The eyes have it.

Next, we have consideration approval of addendum to the field usage policy with the Oakidge Youth Association. Uh let's see. This uh I believe the main purpose of this is to um we when we first established it we missed out on dealing with camps and some other minor caution. Um, one question is, um, several and I apologize if I started talking first, but um, the insurance requirement um, do you have any background on why that was changed? Yeah, this is a um what we ask all of our u when we ask for uh certificates of insurance, we typically and this the standard business insurance now for liability uh is a million dollars per instant or per incident and $2 million in the aggregate. We just felt like we needed to clarify that in the policy. That's typically uh the coverage that we receive uh when we request it.

And it's it's a it's a standard policy. In what other areas have we done this? I mean, any contractor work working um on town property and any situation where we need liability insurance from the contractor or to add us to that coverage. That's what we request. Do we have any idea what the difference in premium might be between a right now the youth association has a million dollar policy uh and we're asking to go to 2 million and I don't know that we know what impact that actually has on them.

Um I might refer to Sam if you've got some comment on that. the ones I've seen in my practice and also in businesses I've got the 1 million to 2 million is negligible. This pretty much a standard now with inflation. Sounds bad to say this but a million dollars is not what it used to be but 2 million is what we're seeing more often. Uh the other thing is that I believe this is in the policy also for uh people renting or having uh for instance a farm park or uh events on park property. Uh that is the standard that is uh suggested and to a required by our insurer.

Okay. Uh I apologize they kind of opened it up for a free form but please ask questions. I've talked to uh Philip Southern and they just signed a new 10-year contract with Gulf County and it's a million dollars required by Guer County. Now, I don't know why we would be different. I guess more is better. Mr. Stone, any and we don't have to just on that thing. Any questions in general? Yeah. Uh, did anybody have conversations prior to putting the field uses policy and addendum together with the youth association? What's their position on this?

I I believe Mr. Greon, didn't you review it? No, I sent it to him a week ago Monday. So, so he's aware of it. I mean, he got it then, but they're already in their season. Yeah. Uh, they've already get done their registration. Maybe it doesn't cost much. I don't know what it costs. It's going to be

and I just want to go on record. I'd be fine with going back to a million until we find out what impact it had on youth association. So maybe next year we would put it up to two. So I'd be fine with with rolling that back to a million for now because we don't know what impact. We we didn't ask what the impact would be. I mean I have a feeling to Sam's point it probably is fairly trivial. It's not going to be thousands of dollars. It might be you know an incremental. But I I'd be since we didn't ask I'm I'd be okay with taking it taking it back to a million for this year. Yes. Question county. Guilford County is selfinsured.

They cover their employees, their liability, all of that. Guilford County is selfinsured. We are insured. Understand? But Guilford County Schools is making them put up a $1 million insurance policy or to them for liability. So that would be different. Yeah, I'm sorry. What did you say, Mr. Grezon? Ora is required to have a $1 million insurance policy, right, with the county. With the county doesn't come from the county, right? Their own insurance company. So, they're we're talking two different things. You're saying they're self-insured. They're self-insured, I would assume, for their employees, right? And they're selfinsured for losses of their property in excess of,

for instance, if it was a $2 million, Gilbert County would be on the hook for Mhm. But if it was three billion, well, I think I think if you really want to get to it, I think there is support for putting it back to 1 million. So, I don't know if we need to continue discussing it. You know, I think we have support to put it back to a million. So, that's fine. Other questions about the policy?

Yeah. Um, I'd like for us to give some consideration to a couple others. One of them is um the very last one, youth association can be loaned to scoreboard remotes um and they have to be returned in the same condition. Um damages will result in $500 per device fee. What kind of remotes do we have that cost $500? That's the cost. Can you tell me where Oh, I see. I see. It's the cost of the remotes when when we had to replace one uh last year. That was the cost. specialized remotes that work with the scoreboard. So

So the actual So the remote control for a scoreboard costs $500. That's correct. These are proprietary remote controls. They're not like the universal remotes that we have for um uh for TVs and things like that. This is a a remote that goes with that sore scoreboard. It's unlikely that there are any kind of uh universal remotes for that scoreboard. So this if that's the case, it's $500. It's $500.

Yeah. If if that's fact, I I'll I trust the town manager on that. Um the other one and we've had this discussion in the past but I'd like to to raise it once again that um the way the new system is set up and it's listed here in the addendum is that uh the youth association is invoiced monthly and they submit their rosters and then they write a check to us for the full amount and then a week later or so we send a check to them. Um that's basically the rebate. Um it's just there's too many hands in it. Uh the more simple way to do this is just to allow the youth association to use their stipen or rebate, whatever you want to classify it, use that funding that was approved by parks and recck and by the town council um as a credit against their monthly charges. And then so I if it's uh and we've talked about in here about the estimates and everything if we estimate that it's you know or if they submit $3,000 and they have that money in their credits where the amount of money that we've already approved for them to spend then no money needs to change hands. it it's recognized that you have this amount of money uh to run the youth association or the youth sports program for the town of Oakidge and we just move forward.

The reason I I I I'm very adamant that that we need to break up to two is when we had the stipen it got lost. Uh, the analogy I give you is almost everyone in this room has a cell phone and almost everybody in this room probably got some kind of rebate or or or discount or something. And that rebate or discount was only visible on the very first month. You saw that on the first month and then it's gone. I mean, I pay my bill every month and I know there's a rebate in there, but I don't notice it. So, I think it's very important that the youth association always knows what they owe us from a field usage standpoint and then we give them back a rebate. So, the by doing it as two separate transactions, it never gets lost that they owe us $9,000 and that we're going to give them maybe $7,000 back so that every month it balances out. So the fact that they u uh do that that's why I'm I'm I'm I'm very much adamant that they has to be two separate because in the past now the other thing is I pushed this very hard was the current administration for the youth association doing a wonderful job but what about the next administration I want to always make sure that the youth association knows that they're paying for the fields and we're giving them a rebate and the rebate is $70 per Oakidge resident per sport per season. So we are doing something that no other town does. No other town does this kind of support. So I think it's only reasonable that they pay for their fields and then we give them a rebate as two separate transactions. So it's always very very clear how much they're paying for the fields and what the town's giving them because if it's just a credit, it gets lost. That's why I'm so adamant that they need to have it as two separate transactions. Um, so

I'm just curious what what should the turnaround time be? About a week. If it's two weeks, I mean, you know, like I said, if they can't that shouldn't cause I'm just curious. I'm I'm I'm saying what like what's the turnaround bill? They make their payment, it clears in one or two days. I'm just saying they pay it on time. What what would be an expect to return there? Maybe a couple of weeks. I mean, depending on the day that their payment comes in and then the day that we request Sam, you know, they only run checks once a week. So, you know, it could be a week, it could be a couple of weeks, two weeks. Yeah.

All right. But typically, it' be about a week probably. Probably. So, again, it's like I said, I Yeah. Go ahead. I'm sorry, Mr. Greon. Well, I mean, I know when Men Jim was talking about this, we talked about changing pretty quickly. Yeah. I mean, I think but I think they shouldn't have a problem paying for the fields if their finances are in good shape. That's the other thing is requires them to keep their finances in good shape. Again, they don't want us in their business. This this agreement gets them out gets us out of their business. All they have to do is pay their bills and we give them a rebate.

So, I don't Snider hasn't had a chance to speak. So specific to your comment, you can't predict what a future town council is going to do and you can't control what a future town council can do. So you're talking about putting a system in place that that you want to control into the future. You know, you can't do that. All you can do is say the here and now on that. So your your argument doesn't hold water. Uh none of these cost the town any extra money. Nothing at all. These are these are monies that parks and wreck has looked at and they've talked with the youth association about association about. They've approved. The town council has approved these. What this does do if we allow them to use the credit is it enhances the partnership between the youth association and and the town instead of a bully club or somehow uh putting upon them to prove some point about something that happened in the past. As you pointed out, youth association is being run very well. penalizing them um because of some packadillo that happened in the past needs to just go out the window. We need to focus on now.

Mer.

Um yeah, that I would like a chance to speak. We're supposed to take turns up here. Um look, we had long discussions about this and as each of you knows, this was not my favorite system for this for some of the reasons you state and also for some others. Um, but this is what we approved and now we're simply adding an addendum on to what we approved. I I do think I don't want us to get it is great sorry let me reform this. It is great to get the youth association's input and rather than in my opinion rather than putting this back to 1 million I would rather continue it if you really want to ask them but I do think that just as we set rules for developers we say well this is this is what we need in our town $2 million coverage makes sense insurance-wise to our finance officer and I'm sure it's not going to hurt if we go back to 1 million. But I do like the stand since it's the standard for all other park events. I I just wonder if someone else if something did happen might say, "Well, why did they not have to carry 2 million?" I would rather be evenhanded. So, I would prefer to do that. I do see there's a difference between the way Guilford County is insured and the way we are insured. But I do think we need to either move forward with this as it is because this is the system that we landed on. And if it's not perfect, we're going to find that out over the next year.

Well, I'm not going to support the increase in insurance because we just gave it to them a week ago, week and a half. That's just not enough time in my opinion. I'm not Okay. I like I said, I I there there is support to remove move back to a million for now. Um, other questions and comments. Otherwise, I'd like to ask for a motion to uh approve this.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve the updated fuel uses policy and addendum with the following revisions. Um, one to remove the $2 million insurance requirement and change it to the 1 million that has been discussed. and two to allow uh Oakidge Youth Association to use the uh rebate funding approved by parks and recck and the town council as a credit against monthly charges. Is there a second? Second, Mr. Stone. Any further discussion? I think we've discussed Mr. Greon, Mr. Schneider. I'm sorry, Mr. Gre. I'm sorry.

I'm torn between this because I was on the committee. Me and Jim, we're going to have a quick turnaround on moving money around. So that's the only reason I'd like for Jim to be here when we vote on this. We do need to do something because there's some outstanding invoices at the moment that if we don't do something, we're not going to be able to pay them. They've already done their July and they're entitled to u the rebate if if we put this in place because it was a camp. So right now so can we put it in place for 30 days or for the next meeting? Is that possible? Um, that's a question maybe to the question is is it possible to delay this for 30 days? No, put put it in place for 30 days.

30 days in place so they can get their rebates for so long. Come up at the next meeting when Jim Horton's here and we can all turn in it. Well, I guess what we can actually do is just just maybe put in place the u uh the the adjustment for camps. What comment? uh please have public comments. So my my preference would be based on what I'm hearing here, I'd rather just go ahead and vote on it tonight. If it fails two to two, then we can bring it up next week. If it passes, then it it passes. Well, I mean, we got to do something about that. All right. Okay. Well, it you guys have had a chance. Let's rotate it around. Then we come back if you want.

Again, I I don't think we should be rehashing the the basics of this agreement. So, I can't vote for that. Not because I'm not interested in possibly rethinking this, but speaking of having we we did tell the youth association that we're moving forward in a certain way and to now change it midstream. Uh I don't think that makes us look good because this is it may not be my favorite way, but it is a reasonable way to move forward. What are we really changing though? I mean, other than a quick turnaround payment, right? I mean, and I think Jim Harton was on board with that. Uh, you were in some of the meetings, right, Bill?

I mean, I'm not going to speak for him. Okay. Well, okay, then. Um, well, right now there is a motion on the table. It's been properly made and second. Um, unless it wants to be withdrawn, it has to be called. Uh, all those in favor say I. I. I. Those opposed? Nay. The motion fails. Um, I will make us uh another motion then. I will make a motion that we approve the uh addendum with the following change that the insurance is reduced from 2 million down to 1 million and the rest of it stays as is. Is there a second? Second.

Um discussion's been made. If anyone else wants to comment, fine. Uh but if not, uh all those in favor say I. I opposed. I All right. So, what I would suggest though is we at least pass something so that we can pay for the camp which is the for OI sponsored sports camp outside of the regular session. Each event will be eligible for a rebate in the amount of $5 per resident not to exceed actual expenses. I would suggest that we make that at least allow that to go forward so that we can pay them uh the rebate. They've they've done it and uh they provided us the roster. If that's a motion, I'll second that.

Okay. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Opposed? Eyes out. So, at least we can pay them for their August for the Is that enough?

Yeah. Rebate. Um, yes. I I I mean I will note that as monthly invoices are sent out by the town there'll be payable Oakidge Youth Association will need to pay on those invoices. And the way that the policy is currently written is that we don't rebate until the end of the year. So we we can't issue monthly rebates unless council approves a policy. the addendum that allows us to issue rebates monthly. Well, how are we paying for it before? Paying at the end of the year. We we'd be paying at the end of the year.

How about if uh a friendly amendment that we I'm sorry, now I'm getting confused. Uh approve the camp payment for 30 days and consider reconsider. Why don't we What about the idea? I thought it isn't a bad idea that was proposed that we approve this entire agreement for 30 days, which I don't like because that's bad policy, but it would get us out of this quagmire tonight. That's fine. We like So, so approve it for 30 days to withdraw your motion. Okay. So, I move that we approve this policy.

Well, it's already been voted on, but Oh, voted on and approved. So, uh, what's being proposed now? We're going to propose that we put the entire policy in place for 30 days and then when we have full council back, we would decide. Well, it was approved, but we didn't have a majority, right? Well, no, actually, well, the the one piece was approved. The kit Oh, the one piece was. So, in addition to approving that one piece, I would like to approve the rest of it for 30 days. How's that? I'll is that we can we do that? Second it. I'll second it.

I don't see how that's different from what was voted on before. And I would think Mayor Prom Stone would have to make effectively have to make this because Did we put a 30-day thing on the first one? Be count. We didn't put a 30-day. There weren't 30-day limits on any of the other motions. I understand that. I understand that. So, it's a different motion and we can vote on it with the 30-day limitation, durational limit, right? Well, obviously you can do that. So, all right. Yeah. It's not good policy, but we can do it. I'm all for it. All right. All those in favor say I. I.

Opposed. Oh yeah. Consideration approval Heritage Farm Park phase 2 master plan concept and design. Um I'm going to present uh Jim Ford's uh from McGill's presentation that he made to the parks and recreation advisory board. Uh we've spoken about this um and he I've reviewed this presentation with him. and he apologizes he can't be here

tonight. Um the presentation uh here's just a summary of the presentation. Uh few introductions. Uh we hired McGill Associates to do a uh public input meeting as well as to conduct a survey for uh the development of phase two of Heritage Farm Park. Uh we'll go over the results of the public input meeting as well as the survey and discuss the proposed conceptual layout and the opinion of probable cost. Uh a public input drop-in meeting was held on July 12th during a music in the park event. Um we had approximately 56 participants who stopped by uh the tent there to uh take a look at the visual preference survey and the map of Heritage Farm Park and to give their input to uh to Miguel. Uh here's an example of the uh visual preference survey that was presented during that drop-in session. Um there are 16 different types of amenities uh that were presented. Um and participants were asked to uh rank or or uh state their preference for what sorts of amenities they'd like to see as part of phase 2 at Heritage Farm Park. Uh we also shared the community survey both um the actual survey and also they handed out um those cards with a QR code that would direct folks to a virtual version uh of the survey. Uh from that uh visual preference survey at the drop-in session. Um what you see on the screen there are the number of votes that each of those uh amenities received. Uh, pickle ball uh got the uh most votes from the folks that stopped by the tent. Uh, water play was uh not not exactly um what was shown was not really a traditional splash pad,

although that was mentioned later. Um, this was more like a um just a water feature that you can uh kind of splash around in, but doesn't really not not really a a typical splash pad. Uh, a dog park. Interestingly enough, we already have one, but that that came in third. Um, sand volleyball and fitness trail stations were also uh popular um items. And our consultant pointed out that, you know, when you do these types of surveys in the middle of July, um the water features always get a lot of uh obviously folks are hot and they'd love what they'd like to see at the moment is something that um appeals to them and so that makes a lot of sense. But um there could be a bit of a bias in uh giving a survey in the middle of July for things that are going to cool people off. Um on the actual community survey which was live from June 25th until August 6th uh which is a total of six weeks uh we received 831 results from uh different households which represents 1785 individuals. Um here uh you get a a sense of um who responded. Um most folks um uh were within the town of Oakidge. Uh which is good. That's who we primarily wanted to hear from. Um and a a good number of folks that have been in town for more than 10 years. Um and they were asked what activities they currently participate in at Heritage Farm Park. And uh walking, no no surprise, was uh that's really the primary um activity at the park right now. Received a lot of um a lot of votes. Uh the playground, um running, playing sports, etc. all received a certain amount. Um, our consultant felt uh the following questions were uh important, especially as we consider applying for grants. Uh, making sure that we are um an accessible

park and that we're providing features that are accessible to those that uh might not be um that have more difficulty in accessing uh amenities. Uh most people felt at a rate of 92% that the paths and park elements are very accessible. uh which is good. Um that was certainly what our goal is. Um um but again there are some folks that felt that we could make improvements in accessibility. Uh we also asked a question about um how important it is uh for um uh protecting the environment in ways such as using native plants, reducing water use, etc. Um nearly half of the respondents felt that that was very important. Um and you can see uh you know 95% felt that it was at least somewhat important. Um and these are the types of things that um regardless of of the community support for it always um are uh score well in terms of um making grant applications for uh state and federal dollars. Uh native plant landscaping. These are the types of things we do uh we try to do anyway. um came in as the most uh uh what folks felt was the most important environmentally friendly component to add to the park. Uh we asked uh and we we really wanted to tailor uh this question uh toward the elements that had been originally part of the Heritage Farm Park design plan. So we asked folks if they played pickle ball or basketball or tennis. Um and you can see the response rate there for for pickle ball is about 50%. Um and uh uh basketball I think came in right around 25% or so and tennis a little bit below that. There were rightin options as well and you can see that on the right hand side. uh that those were um

types of amenities that for the most part uh either we already have or weren't um that we didn't request specific input on. Um we also asked uh if it would be um appropriate to accommodate tournaments for any of the sports courts that we would be proposing. Um and that was a fairly even response rate. 43% did feel that yes, it would be appropriate to accommodate tournaments. Um and then you can see there uh on on the right by specific sport. So, you know, 30 31% or 96 responses uh came back that yeah, they they think that um when we think about providing pickle ball courts to do it in a way that would accommodate uh tournaments. And here is a uh here's a a more detailed question um in terms of asking folks uh whether their interest is high, moderate, low or no interest as it relates to very specific amenities at phase 2. Um and again you not a theme here that pickle ball courts is coming in higher than just about anything else. Um so 405 responses uh expressed high interest in uh in pickle ball courts. um adventure play uh ended up as number two and and later in the presentation you'll see some examples of of what what what that looks like. Um basketball courts came in at number three uh with 191 responses, outdoor fitness stations um and uh so on down the line. Tennis courts were uh number seven on the list with uh 20% uh of respondents who felt uh that they had high interest in that. Um there were

write in mentions and here's where we saw the splash pad and playground uh with 58 writein responses. It is difficult to know how much how many more responses we would have gotten for that had it been an actual um question. Uh one of the options that folks could choose uh all all we have is the data on on uh having it as a write in as a writin mention. Um and you can move on to the to the next slide. Uh so here's the uh the the concept plan based on the input that McGill received during the um session at Music in the Park and the survey and then the uh stakeholder meetings that were held individually and in pairs with town council members and staff. Um and and what you'll see is is remarkably similar to what our original master plan for the property showed. Um more detail however on the sports court area specifically the pickle ball and tennis court areas. So you can see uh where we had originally graded that pad for six tennis courts. Um the mix that have has been proposed are two tennis courts on the uh far side of the pad and then eight pickle ball courts um that are on the the side of the pad that's closest to the uh picnic shelter and playground. Um and then you can see kind of in between the court areas uh what they have proposed as uh shade structures. Um, and what uh and and a lot of the input that council has received during uh uh public comments over the last year or two has has noted how uh much of a social event uh pickle ball courts can be and um how important that it is to have areas for people to congregate whether they're waiting to play or whether they're just socializing. um

having those areas that are shaded um are something that our consultant highly recommended as an amenity that would be uh appreciated and would um add to the um experience of coming to uh the pickle ball courts at Heritage Farm Park. Um, you can also see in in dark uh gray um some new proposed sidewalk and and the one at the bottom of the screen um was in response to several comments we've received about access to the back field, multi-purpose field. Uh currently you have to walk through the front field to get to the back. Um so we've proposed a a concrete sidewalk to bypass that front field to go directly to the rear field. Um and the other element that um we feel is really important is uh additional parking. Um our parking lot, existing parking lot uh gets filled up um just with walkers and folks coming to the playground on on a nice day. Uh, so it was evident to McGill, I think it was evident to the parks and wreck board, it was evident to everyone that uh, anything that was proposed in addition to what's already at Heritage Farm Park was was going to need some extra parking. Um, and the idea here was obviously you want to keep it relatively close to uh, the new amenities. So, uh, there's a reasonably flat area, although it will require some grading, um, as you come in off Scoggins, uh, that we could accommodate 49 additional parking spaces and then a walkway, uh, up to the existing pathway. And the last feature is the proposed fitness stations, and they're sort of around the back uh, side of the path as you're um, as you're rounding the sports courts area. Um, here are some images. I think everybody knows what all these are. What is a a good sort of representative image

of of pickle ball so you get an idea of the size of those courts. Um and here are some examples of the shade structures. So the tensile shade structure those are fabric um uh structures uh and and what you see there is essentially what McGill has proposed as an idea. They can also be uh they can also be hard top like the one that's shown on the right and that's a a canal levered version of the shade structure. Any of these types of um installations would be appropriate uh for for the um pickle ball court area. Uh here are some examples of the adventure playground. Um and this is uh so our existing playground. um this this would be a more expensive type of installation than the existing playground that we have there. This is very um trends are in the direction of providing this type of playground. Um as you can see there I mean I I would certainly if I was 9 years old I would have a blast on something like this. But you can see how they're sort of um set in the trees. That's real um important for this design. uh there's no real appropriate place in the phase 2 area for this type of of uh of playground. However, you'll see later um on a later slide um as a future uh potential future uh phase uh a sites been identified that could accommodate this type of playground. Um, and here's just kind of a an overall um map of of Heritage Farm Park and the activity areas. Um, so the the area in green is what um the consultant identified as a potential phase three. Um, and that's the adventure play area

that's located in the trees at closer you get to uh Oakidge Road. Um and and what the real advantage there is that it ties into some of the neighborhoods that would have walkability to that location. Um and it's uh it it's in the trees which uh is great in terms of uh accommodating the the design. And then some of the other features that have been important to council since we began thinking about how to design Heritage Farm Park and that's the viewshed buffer along 150 keeping the open space agricultural and a natural um sort of meadow look um which it looks uh one wonderfully uh um bucolic now with the hay bales. Um it's be beautiful to see from 150 and from um the pathways. Um, and then you see uh the open space and existing drain field. This is a a a wet area. It's also where our septic area is. Um, and so there had been consideration in putting some of the sports courts in that part of the park. um in terms of uh of the natural features there I think it proposed more difficulties and that's why um McGill has proposed the sports courts to be where they had originally been slated which is up um toward the the top of the map there. Um, and the last two slides are the opinion of probable cost. Um, and uh, uh, Jim Ford has a has a a rounded number there. It's actually a little bit less than 1.8. On the next slide, you can see it broken down. Um, and and again, I really would would stress that

these numbers are the best guess that McGill has based on other projects that they have managed. These prices are highly variable depending on the um environment, the bidding environment, the number of contractors. Um there are all sorts of variables that go into this. This is intended to give council a planning tool um in terms of programming future investments just to give a ballpark of what it could cost to construct all of these elements. And this uh this list is exhaustive so it doesn't leave anything out. Um court lighting for instance um is included. Um also uh um the the concrete for for new sidewalks um landscaping um storm water and erosion control, etc. And and then also the the design uh and survey estimated costs. And again, I would remind council that we don't know what it's going to cost until the bids come in. But again, this is a planning tool meant to to help make those decisions. And I believe that's the that's the last slide. Um I would uh respectfully ask council I I spoke with uh chair of the co-chair of the parks and recck advisory board. Since Jim Ford was not able to be here, I um hope that um parks and w advisory board chair could also make some comments on the on the proposal. Sure.

Adrian Eron, 5679 Timberway, Oakidge, co-chair of parks and wreck. I don't think that was picking up. Sorry. Um happy to answer any questions. I couple call outs I just wanted to make. Um after the presentation we had um a lot of discussion of course uh with the uh parks rec board um couple call outs that in order for a part grant um you have to have three new elements. So that was important to us that we made sure we maintained that. So uh that state is a viable option. Um we discussed you know many of the the items a couple changes that we had from the presentation have already been represented here. Um that we had uh some planning as far as we know parking is definitely a big piece. Um so with the parking we would envision the need for actually more than what this has. Um a phase three would enable the parking to continue further out. Um so that was part of the the reasoning for the design. Um there was some talk of course uh with the splash pad and water feature as well. Um we talked quite a bit about that. Um there is several reasons why that doesn't show up here honestly. Um the uh adventure play u had more um comments on that as the ride in. We also felt that that fit the town's you know uh atmosphere a little better and the character of the town particularly how that can play right into some of the uh the wood area. Um, we did talk with that. Just for your information, um, the splash padwater feature can have a lot of variances. Um, we think I have a traditional splash pad, which some of the larger cities have, would probably not fit well with Oakidge. Um, those type of systems run anywhere from starting at about 200,000 to well over a million dollars was the quote from McGill. Uh, for that, um, drainway systems uh is one way to do it, which are the cheaper way. Uh the

recirculation systems are would be advised are better, but they're also a lot more expensive. Also, without having municipal water at the moment, um we didn't really feel that that was probably the best thing to try and put in the system right now. Uh as well as knowing what a splash pad is going to draw a lot of people. Um the looking at the existing splash pads are people are driving 30 minutes to them. um because they are very, you know, attention getters for crowds to come in from all around and we really didn't feel that we'd had the support of parking if if that was a feature that was bringing in people from all over. Um we talked about the the staffing needs. Um from what uh Brock was suggesting from this after listening to the presentation, um there really wasn't much thought um that they would need additional staff. Brock suggested possibly one more person uh might be needed was his recommendation as far as additional staffing. Uh we looked at um what kind of reoccurring costs might be associated with this. Um mostly with the the sports courts um and as far as also the uh the shade structures, those are looking at more of a a 10-year plan. So we don't have the the pricing of that. Um but uh needing to have some resurfacing or or repainting done uh probably on about a 10-year basis was also what we determined. Um I think those are my immediate callouts, but I'll be trying to answer any questions as well.

Okay. The courts, are they based on uh concrete or asphalt?

That's a great question. So th this um there we had some uh public comments and recommendations as far as the um uh what the pickle ball courts are made of. Um, this estimation has the um, more premium ones. I'm not sure which that was, but it was because they listed a couple different ones and this was the recommendation from several individuals who are active in the pickle ball community was the one that they said you need you need to have as well as was noted by multiples that you in order for it to be successful, you have to have each court individually fenced and these are, you know, low level fences for the balls so they don't go from one court to the other. So this quote does include that um which you added to the cost um but there are benches along it. There are um uh fencing all around each of the individual pickleball courts. So we were presented this in the more premium fashion. Um you certainly could lower the costs by changing some of those surfaces, but um the comments we were from the pickle ball community was those are very less desirable and they kind of wish those the areas that have that they don't even go to play on. So, we kind of felt there really wasn't much need for recommendation to recommend using a lower cost surface that no one's going to be satisfied with. It'd be better to try and change, you know, find the funds to make a a pickleball court that the community is going to enjoy.

So, what is it? Is it asphalt or concrete or is there something uh I'm I didn't get an answer that I I apologize. I'm don't have in my notes which was the exact one. I know it was the um and John and Ty were also in our meeting if do you remember the which exact one? We we asked that question and we never got an answer out of I believe it's a concrete base. I believe I believe you're right. Concrete base and there's going to be a surface put on top of it.

Right. But apparently it was it was it's what the pickle ball communicated pickle ball community advised us was the court of choice. I have a question. I I was there that night and I recall I think I recall um Jim Ford from McGill saying that another reason that uh water features like splash pads are difficult it would be difficult in Oakidge is because we're on septic we don't have sewer. Is that not the case? That is correct. Yeah. And since we don't have a water system right now that the the cost I mean even with the water system we don't have sewer. Correct. is what he

and that's why he said that the recirculation system would be the better way to go. But that is that's the type of system that pushed you at towards a million dollars and that's a million dollars for one single feature. And one other question, I don't know if you know this or Bill does. It looks like on this plan that we received that there are three shade structures, two in the middle of the courts and one next to it. Is is that true? cuz when we saw it before, it only had the one structure. That is correct. Right. Yeah. And and Mike, can you um go back to that one of the slides that show the um the layout? The layout. Yeah. A couple slides.

Yep. That's good. Um, yeah. And I think that what the parks and wreck board didn't like about the original layout was that they didn't want a picnic shelter type of structure that could compete with private rentals and and the sort of spread out separate ones were prepared.

That's correct. We we recommend it be moved where it is now um to also give that separation from the existing playground um to to try and space that out. Um, also we would anticipate uh future growth of that shade structure moving further down. Uh, so that gives the uh pickle ball players and and spectators areas to congregate that start driving the crowd away from the playground. And one final question. Um, the AV equipment for sound attenuation, that's sort of white noise to help with mitigating the sound from the pickle from the courts for the uh accessible playground. Where would that be placed?

That would be placed um I don't have a pointer. Um, if you're looking at the playground that kind of kidney shape um down towards this very bottom right uh pickle ball court, we also discussed putting a water feature there. Um, we were starting to get costconscious of the fact that this this keeps going up and up. Um, so we first kind of spoke of actually like a fountain or some type of water feature there um to give you that sound barrier um between that. Um, we kind of presented the more cost-effective option of doing it with auditory speakers. Um but uh in place of that you could go with a more costly method um but putting in an actual fountain or water feature there. But that's that's where it's focused. Um this sidewalk, the new sidewalk, the stretch that's coming down uh this way u parallel to the pickleball courts. That's where the sound feature would be um to mitigate the pickle ball sound uh to the um recreation area.

Thank you. And during the meeting we you guys had a really good meeting by the way. a lot of great questions. But during that meeting, one of the mitigating things that we could do at no cost is just move the tennis courts to the right, move the pickle ball to the left so that there is that distance buffer. And I believe that McGill was suggesting that, you know, plantings and such would do some burn would do the noise stuff. So, um I appreciate the fact that you guys are are thinking through but there is a cost factor involved here. Um

so

and and I will I we talked to Jim Ford about switching the flipping the pickle ball and tennis. His response was he he said he thought about that for a long time, but he felt like the noise difference in in you know moving it 15 or 20 feet probably wouldn't be that significant. And then you're in a situation where the primary and the more folks are going to be going to the pickle ball court. So you'd have more people walking through the tennis court area to get to the pickle ball area and it would make congre identifying areas for people to congregate just more difficult. Um he felt that having the tennis courts a little bit further away since it was a less intensive use and and people would be less likely to be congregating there. just from a flow perspective, it made a lot more sense to keep pickle ball on that side of the pad.

And and the other thing that was brought up by somebody at Parks and Wreck, which I totally agree with, we put noise makers in that playground. Yes, quite a lot of them.

We're not asking um the fire department to not turn their sirens on until they get to 150. One other call out um that I had in my notes that I I didn't mention that I wanted to bring up is just as a reminder um where you see these sports courts, it's just paint on concrete. So, it can be changed. It can be reconfigured. Um you know, right now we we kind of felt not doing the tennis as a multi-use. Um you know, but that certainly could be added later. They could be converted. Um there is um some feedback from both tennis and pickle ball about not enjoying multi-use because of the extra lines and the need for different netting and there's different heights between the nets of a tennis and pickleball court. So we felt it important to present uh to the town a dedicated pickle ball solution, a dedicated tennis solution. Um but these are all easily configurable as we as the town grows. Uh if this is developed, we see that there's a need for more pickle ball and less tennis. maybe we you we reline and you now it's one tennis court more pickle ball or any configuration that needs to be made. So it's just important to keep note that once you have that pad up it's just you know you know paint on the concrete.

Okay. Um Jim Ford said a good starting you can come up to the microphone. Jim John Browning 814 Limbo Road. Uh Jim Ford recommended eight courts. He said you could have a tournament with with that few courts. And again, we could probably use 20 courts, but he said eight would be a good start numbers wise on the pickle ball. And okay,

we tried to be very conscious with how many we put in versus what kind of parking because we know parking is definitely going to become an issue. And honestly, it needs more parking than we have here. Well, I mean, that's that's something I've been talking about recently is I I do believe separately from this, we need to put together uh either a study group or hire a consultant to look at our global parking issue across all parks. For sure.

Um because I I think we need to have some kind of global solution to the parking. Uh that's definitely something I think we need to look at. not not not on this one, but definitely because like you said the things the um one concern I have about tournaments is that with tournaments um I mean I realize that's not the primary reason for these the primary reason is for local residents but if we're going to have tournaments from time to time um have we really taken into consideration um the people that are waiting to play you know because there's going to be teams that are coming in and out and things like that. So, I have a little concern about that. Is there sufficient um gathering space and also is there sufficient watching space? Because if you're going to have a tournament, you're going to want to watch it. Uh and I would anticipate that at some point the youth association may uh decide to offer pickle ball uh as a sport. Uh and in that that's another case where parents are going to want to watch. So, I don't see a lot of uh ability for people to watch. Uh so that's one of my concerns. Uh so I I I I would say that maybe uh when we put it out for bid and design that they maybe take that into consideration and see what what accommodation they might be able to make to allow a little bit more uh audience audience capability. Um I think um I do believe the noise attenuation is important. uh this there are conflicting things in the existing park but I think it's just empathetic to say look what can we do to make a a child who has challenges in the world uh a little little little bit of a safer little area they do have to deal with all this stuff everywhere else so why not make this a little more of a safer space for them uh so I definitely would be very much in favor of some sort of attenuating or

shielding or something like that um the only other thing What was the other thing? Um, so I mean those are my concerns. Otherwise, I think it's a great plan. I just, like I said, I have my concerns about have we allowed enough space for the people that are going to be either waiting or watching. And like I said, if we're thinking that if this is as popular as everybody says it is, I I I got to imagine the youth association at some point is going to say, "Hey, let's have a pickle ball uh program." And right now there's almost no place for the parents to watch. Um, so that's that's that's that's a that's one thing. And to be honest, that's something that I only thought about like a little bit ago. Otherwise, I would have definitely raised it many days ago. It was just something that occurred to me within the last day. I think um you know that there's not enough space for people to watch um that kind of thing. So that would be one thing I would look at. Um otherwise, good plan. So, uh, other questions, comments, observations? Uh, what I think we now need to do is consider that we're we're we're we're proposing that we put this out for request for quote. Is that correct?

For the design. For the design. So, basically, we would be asking companies to come back and say, "This is what we propose it's going to cost to put together a design." Uh, one of the things we need to un take one thing we possibly want to consider is the company that would do this would be a similar company that would be able to handle sidewalks, right?

We the same the company that would tend to handle this design would probably be able to handle sidewalks too from a design standpoint. So, one of the suggestions staff had was that we might want to try to um present this to the design companies so that they would bid both the design for this and the design for sidewalks and that at some point we might be able to get some economies of scale from a design standpoint because right now there is no budget for the design for this. There is a budget for the sidewalks. Um now we can change that very easily but it just was a suggestion from staff that similar companies are probably going to propose would be bidding on both things. So uh we might want to consider at least making it so that staff has the flexibility to say hey would you also design our sidewalk for us and and see if it would give us some economies of scale since we I've budgeted to do the sidewalks this year. So that's something we're planning to do already. So, if we were to tag this together, we may may get a little bit of scale. I don't know if Bill wants to add a little more detail to that idea. And and we talked about this a little bit a few days ago. Another option could be to simply release separate RFQS for sidewalk design and for the design of phase 2. And um they they'd all be going to the same uh community of of civil engineers essentially. So we we might get we would likely get responses on both projects from the same firms. So if we select the same firm to do both projects, that's an also could be a situation where when we get to a negotiation on fees, we can say, you know, you're you're we're we're looking at awarding both contracts to to one firm. Um h how can you provide an economy of scale to do both projects?

And and like I said, we're not obligated to take anything when it comes back. We can not accept anything. So, it's not like we're obligating ourselves to do anything. Uh, but I just think that it may be the ability to get a little bit of economies of scale that might be available. So, you suggesting we take the what is a half million dollars in CIP uh for sidewalks and use them here? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We only have money in the budget for design. I understand. And what do we have budgeted for design? Can you remind me? We have $50,000 for design for sidewalks. So, we're only talking about design money right now. We're not talking about build money. So, we're only asking say, "Hey, how much would it cost you to design this?"

Do we have any money budgeted to design phase two of the park? No, I don't think we do, right? No, we don't. So, where would we draw that money from? You mean we'd use the sidewalk design money? No. Well, you you wouldn't have to. Certainly. You'd simply do a budget amendment. Okay. to accommodate whatever the fee from a design firm for phase two would be. Well, we don't know what it's going to cost design. So, we're just going to be putting it out for a request for quote. They're going to come back and say it's going to cost you X to do this design. And at that point, we have to decide, are we going to accept that bid? And then we'd have to do a budget amendment. Well, and as a reminder, this is a a slightly different process. It's a request for qualifications.

Oh, qualifications. And then the process is that council will select the most qualified firm and then at that point you negotiate the fee. Okay. Can we consider design build? They still have to hire an architect to approve off or a civil engineer to sign off on the project to make sure the drainage and all that stuff. But but design build we have to set the how much money we're going to spend. The the design build is an option. It's very it's more complex than the typical design bid build. there are that saves money.

I I would I if if that's something the council would like to consider, I would ask to have time to thoroughly research that process. The state statutes don't make it easy. Um and local governments are not um it's it's not a process that's used often. And so it's a process that I'm not familiar with and I'd certainly want to sit down with with Michael to to learn more about it and present a recommendation on that. But but if we were going to put it out for design build, wouldn't we have to have the money for the whole project?

Yes, because it would be one contract to do the design and build. That's correct. Ahead of time how much money we're going to spend. Well, how are we going to get that money? Can we direct finance committee to look into this to see can we even afford it? Well, what I'm saying is we're only asking for a design which will help us determine what it's really going to cost. All we're asking for right now is is a design. We're not ask we're not saying we're going to build it. And until we have the design, we can't decide if we have the money.

So, in other words, and we've seen this before, but I just want to clarify this mostly for people who are here. By getting it designed, we get more into the weeds. the designer would get more into the weeds on the cost and we would get something more accurate than this probable opinion of cost which is sort of drawn from experience like how much does this element typically cost and so the there can be quite a variation between those but even that would be a moment in time estimate and at that I'm sorry we can't direct part uh our finance committee and the finance director to see could we borrow $2 million at this point.

What I'm saying is we don't know what we have. So we we cannot do it. We we but what I'm saying is we don't have enough information to say hey finance committee can you come up with x amount of dollars because we don't have a design yet until we have a design. We really don't have a good handle on what it's going to cost. What so what's this if that's not a design? That's a concept. Okay. We don't have elevations. We don't have how much concrete's involved, that kind of stuff.

Okay. So, we have a design here and we don't need elevations because we know that it's flat, you know, that's already been brought up. We This has been compact, that it's graded, everything else. So, we have a design. You got to get rid of storm water irrig. But that goes back to the design build. Um, what's it going to take to move this forward? We've we've talked about it for 19 years. What's it going to take?

Well, the next step is to get a full design. And that's what we're talking about is that we want to go out and find firms that can do this. And then the firm's going to say, "This is how much it's going to cost to put the design together." Then we say, "Yep, you can do that." They're going to come back with a full set of architectural, civil engineering, uh, designs of how much concrete you need, where your drains need to be, where your parking lot goes, all that kind of stuff, so that we have plans that we can give to a builder and say, "Well, here, build it." Um, but until we have that design, we don't have much to go,

right? And I just want to Oh, go ahead. Sorry. Um there's a big difference between the kind of rough grading that's basically flat that we did uh as part of phase one and the kind of detailed grading and elevations. Uh yes. And uh storm water and erosion control. Is this not correct, Bill? That would be a a and and there's a lot like the parking lot. None of that's been done for the parking lot area, but certainly even for be drains inside the field and the courts even.

Yeah. Well, that's what I'm saying. It hasn't been done for the pickle ball and tennis courts except at a very rough level. Um, so as I understand it, you would have to get a detailed design with engineering and full plans and then the next step for this for the council would be to figure out where we're going to get the money. And we currently have a $2 million loan outstanding. And we have been informed, and I know this for a fact, that the local government commission has to approve any additional loans. And we've been informed that that would be pretty unlikely given like, you know, if you say it was 2 million and you want to borrow another 2 million, well, that's more than our entire operating budget, that would never be approved by the LGC. We had had a competitive bids in the past, we would have probably had the whole park with bill. But like I said, I what we're at right now is the next step is to authorize staff to go out for RFQ to request for qualifications. I

I think that is probably the the cleanest and fastest method. Design build in like the private world is one thing. It's more difficult and there's more strings and procedures to follow in local government to do design build. It's just a more complicated process. I think it's designed to ideally be faster, but it's a process that has much uncertainty in it. And I think that to Jim's point, to the mayor's point about not knowing how much it costs and not knowing what the budget is, you're simply going to be in an environment where change orders and and potentially significant change orders would be a part of the process of moving through the design build. We're familiar with the design, then bid, and then build to a separate contractor. I I think that's at the end of the day I think that's going to be faster and more cost-effective.

If there's no more discussion, is there a motion to authorize or a motion? I would go ahead. So, how long is this if we do design? How long before we move to the next phase? What what's this look like? If if council authorizes to um put an RFQ together, we can have an RFQ advertised in in two weeks

and then a propos proposals from engineering firms in front of council in two months, six months to do the design and then bid it out. I mean that's a a potential timeline. I hope we can use some local architects, engineers around here that's not 100 miles away, 150 and that's all entirely up to council when the proposals are reviewed. Somebody can get here in a half an hour if we got a problem.

Does this also puts it in good position to apply for a part F grant which could be several hundred,000 several hundred,000 that taxpayers varage don't have to pay. So, you know, taking a little extra time makes sense. Would we be able to would we have enough time to get it into next year in the March same time that we're going to apply for the other loan that and the partif application? Maybe this is what Yeah.

I mean any if we have the resources Yeah. I mean the concept plan that we have is enough to apply for part because part can include design costs as part of what's reimburseable. So we could apply with the information that we have now. Now, we still have to go through all of the um uh checklist items like holding the getting community support letters, making presentations at, you know, the Lions Club and the Kuanas and th those sorts of very time consuming uh processes. It's all about resources. I mean, if this is the priority of council, we can do it. But in terms of the resources that we have working on other projects, it it's

I have a question about that though. Partardiff is a reimburseable grant, right? So you can't really it would not behoove us to apply for it if we didn't have the funding in hand for the entire project. So, we would have to figure out where that funding is coming from because currently it it isn't in our capital uh improvement uh budget until 2030 or after. I also think it's likely that if we apply for part of in March and they make announcements in August, a year from now, um I'd be surprised if we were awarded a grant on the first pass simply because we got a grant several years ago for the first phase.

Um and I think a $500,000 grant is probably less likely. I see. So realistically, we might be looking at at a percentage of that in in two years. So you're not suggesting we wait two years. I'm I'm suggesting if you want a part F grant, that's probably the the reality. Moving at the speed of smell, where do you suggest we get that $10 million? I'm just curious if if we can't bar it. I mean, where we going to get it from? You want to raise taxes? Yeah. I mean, the only way we could move quickly is raise taxes. I don't think anybody wants to do that here. Project, but

yeah, the main goal right now, I think, is to get it shovel ready so that when it's shovel ready, we can then go into a more detailed discussion to can we can we afford it?

Um, you know, is it possible at that point maybe uh that we could potentially borrow money? Maybe. Um, I know there's some hurdles. Um but also um you know so I think it's I think the main thing is we need more information. We can't just shoot from the hip. Um and I think that's what we would do if we don't go through the full process of getting a a welllaidout design that's shovel ready. And then when it's shovel ready there's other grants we can apply for or we can step up and say hey how do we rearrange our money so we can do it. But I think until we have a complete design, these are just guesstimates. And you've beaten us up regularly because on the farmhouse that it was estimated to be this, it was estimated to be this. It was estimated to be this. It wasn't until we actually put it out for bid, we actually knew how much it was going to cost.

Still don't know how much it's going to cost. So the same thing is I'd make the same argument is let's wait until we have a complete set of of drawings and we're able to say this is exactly what we do. We can also look at those drawings and and figure out maybe there are some things we can drop off, but until we know what the total cost is, I don't know how we would we'd make any kind of decision on where we're going to get the money because we have no idea what it is. So, I I I I think we just need to go through the steps of getting a design.

Well, right. And I think that speaks to one of our strengths as a town is that we plan things very carefully and by developing the design, we would have, as uh the mayor has said, more information And I would say that, you know, this is what happens to projects. We had this in our 2024 CIP at $45,000 and we updated that in this year's CIP to $95,000. Then in my first conversation with Jim Ford, he said, well, you know, just on the back of the envelope, he said, you know, 1.3 million. And now we get the full preliminary opinion of probable cost and we're already at 1.8 million. This is unfortunately the inflationary effects that affected you know the Heritage Farm Park and the farmhouse are still at play in the construction and labor markets and things aren't getting cheaper and we were also told that you know obviously we would like to move ahead with this right away. If you wait it's going to cost more. That's a certainty. Now, we typically sock away $500,000 a year in our from uh our just conservative use of our budget monies. And although I think that's accounted for in our five-year capital improvement plan. So, it's a pickle, but think but more miraculous things have happened in in the past. And

I'm sorry, I laughed at your pickle. Your pickle. The pickle. Yeah, that's Sorry. That's okay. Um, so I think we Oh, Go ahead. Go ahead. No, I I'm I'm sorry. I'm starting to repeat myself, so go ahead.

Thomas Soul says that there are no solutions. There are only tradeoffs. And we're talking about doing things the way this town did them in the past. And we're going to have to do some tradeoffs here. Some things are going to have to come off. We're going to have to move some money around. But what we're talking about is once again moving at the speed of smell and the comment was made if it's the priority of council. It's the priority of the citizens. We've done we paid for a survey that everybody's seen and the citizens are the ones saying we want this and we're dragging our damn feet. I think a lot of citizens would look at this and say, I want you to do your due diligence to make sure that what you put in is going to stand the test of time. That 10, 20 years from now, these courts are still going to be usable and in good shape. They put courts in over Burr Mill and they're already talking about having to spend half a million dollars to fix them.

Okay, I'm going to I'm going to interrupt. I apologize, but we've that burmill thing has been thrown out so many times that I'm just going to go ahead and debunk it one more time. The burmill tennis courts were decommissioned almost 10 years ago. And then Greensboro said, "Pickle ball is growing so fast

that we've got to do something." and they hired Whan to come out there and resurface the old tennis court so that they could immediately get pickle ball going during the pandemic. And then after they were able to get their feet under them, then they've gone back and done the resurface. They did that because they had the the court ready process there and it was just a matter of resurfacing. So to point to Burr Mill and say, "Well, they did it wrong." You know, we didn't do nothing. They didn't do it wrong. They they used what they had to get the citizens what they had asked for. And as far as parking goes, Burr Mills pickle ball courts are a quarter of a mile from the parking area. And nobody seemed to mind that because they had pickle ball courts. Do you play pickle ball?

No, I do not. But I spoke to the commissioner that's in charge of the burm mill of the parks and wreck thing. They freely admitted that they rushed to get it done, but they also freely admitted that if they taken a little more time, they would have had courts that would last a lot longer. So, I understand there's there's all sorts of trade-offs they did there. But I'm saying is we don't need to make those trade-offs. we can take a little extra time, do our due diligence, put these things in properly so that they last, so that they have the ability to grow if we need them and things like that. I think we're we're we're now at the point though, the next step is we need a design. Yeah. Let's move on.

Can I make a motion? I'd like to make a motion that we instruct staff to uh put out an RFQ for the design of uh this the plan that we reviewed tonight. I'll second that. Mr. Snder, do you have anything you'd like to add? No, I I I think again it just makes sense. We do things the right way. When we when we can rush, we will rush. But this isn't the time to rush. This is the time to get a good design done. Mr. Greon, I don't want to beat it to death anymore. Let's move on. Mr. Stone, $900,000 for Reban would have already built this place. Um the

I am simply not going to stand for this. Mr. Let me finish. It's my turn and you can have another turn. Okay.

I I I I understand. um the moving at a snail's pace. We're we don't have hospitals. We don't have police. We don't have fire. We don't have a s sinkhole in the in the street. We can take the time to make sure we do this right. And when the time comes, spend a lot more time than we spend on the farmhouse making sure the citizens are okay with us spending $1.5 million, $1.2 2 million, $1.9 million. I think that's the biggest thing we need to be able to do is confidently present to the residents, hey guys, this is what it's going to cost to do this. Are you okay with it? And then we need to say if you're okay with it, this is what we have to do from a a standpoint of moving money around and make sure the citizens say, "Yep, you're okay with that." But if we just rush this, we're not we're going to make the same mistake I felt was made with the farmhouse. we didn't spend enough time letting the residents have their input. The decision could have been the same, but I think if residents had a lot more time to give input on something, uh they can get comfortable with it and they at least know what we're going to do. So that's why I think we need to have a solid shovel ready plan where we can say, "Hey, this is what we think it's going to cost." And then when we put it out for bid, they know it's going to cost that and they know where the money's coming from. Because right now, I don't think anyone knows where the money's coming from. So M Schneider, you wanted to add something else to say.

Yeah. Uh the figures that Mr. Stone keeps using and that the mayor does not object to, but I do because they're inaccurate, cover two projects. The farmhouse community center was $650,000 offset by $380,000 in outside grants that saved our coffers from having to pay that money. Our restroom that we built at Heritage Farm Park cost over $500,000. It did not preserve a historic structure, nor did it provide a community meeting space unless you consider going to the bathroom. That um then there was a separate project, the town park entrance master plan for 2 and a half acres. And if you conflate it with the farmhouse, you get these crazy numbers of the per square foot. No, that was for two and a half acres of sidewalks and landscaping. And I, as someone running for office and as a member of this town council, I always try to speak with honesty and integrity. So, I'm sorry I I was a little short with you, but we do this every single meeting. And I wish that the mayor would say, "This is, you know, let's just set this aside, Mr. Stone." And if he would set it aside, I would set it aside. But I am simply not going to stand for misinformation uh continuing to be shared.

As mayor, I hold no authority to tell a member of council what they can and cannot say. So while I would encourage them to uh as as Mr. Stone pointed out with the youth association, we should let the past be the past. So I would say he might want to take his own advice and let the past be the past, but it's up to him whether or not he wants to do that. So, I do not have the authority to say what a member of council does or doesn't want to say. Uh, and I also am not going to get in the middle of of arguing the numbers uh because you can you can present the numbers any way you like. Um, but uh like I said, that is where I am as far as that goes. So, if if Mr. Stone wants to continue to bring something up, that's fine. If M. Schneider if M Schneider wants to keep it, I would suggest we move forward though.

I want tonight. There is a motion on the table. It's been seconded. Any other further discussion? I. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. All right. Long enough. All right. We can turn our 30-minute meeting into two hours and a half. I understand. Financial report. Are you done yet, Sam? You make sure you put the timer on, Sam. Put that three minute timer on, Sam.

I could try to auction, but I can't guarantee it. Um, everyone should have got a copy of the financial uh finance officer's report and the financial statements last night. Um, on the financials, um, under the total assets, we got 2.875 million almost 2.876. um that you've got your normal report with the balance sheet. Um the uh detail with general fund and everything follows uh depository amounts at the banks on schedule one. Uh more detail on schedule two with the breakdown of income and expenses by each fund and the water equity fund or water enterprise fund, excuse me. the debt schedule on schedule four and then uh excuse me the water enterprise fund was last. The assets were ahead. So overall everything's on the standard. Um as we've had each month holding a strong position we're paying all the bills. Um the main thing is the activity. We're seeing um again strong collection activity from the county. Uh we received a wire transfer remitting 758,000 from August. Uh property taxes, motor vehicle property taxes of 12,638, total of 770,7848. This is all collections through August 31st. So we're seeing the surge that we saw again last year. Um so everything is really stable on that. For the month, we've had the sales tax and property tax, interest, planning, zoning fees, grant income, solid waste disposal tax,

uh veterans honor green donations, and park revenues. Um investments, we're still monitoring. We're watching interest rates. Uh supporting the staff grant compliance through the month. We're continuing to support ARPA reports, the CIP process, and work on the water system. Uh the main thing that we've been doing uh actually this week is the final audit fieldwork. It commenced on Tuesday morning. We had the manager and two uh staff members on site. Um all three were there again yesterday and senior staff was there today wrapping up some things. He came and visited Sandra. Uh looked at inventory of our water meters. They've done all the fraud analysis and interviews. um all the normal stuff that we do to have the quality audit. So all of that is underway. Um Derek left about 5:45 this afternoon from my office. Um so right now the remainder of the work will be done basically remotely. We I don't think they'll have to come back for anything. Um overall the last three days went really quite well. Um, so the other thing I had mentioned last month was the fire at Guilford Finance. Uh, they're still in temporary quarters. However, uh, their systems are up, their employees are up, everything that we need is being processed in a very timely fashion. So overall, all of that looks really well. Um, as we move forward, we'll still be supporting the audit. And one of the key things that they did ask in the fraud interview was detailed questions and compliance about the ARPA and the other grants. Um, and we, you know, we are in full compliance on all that. We've got all the records. In some cases, we're going to be storing some of those records for 11 years. Um, but we've got, uh, everything looking good right now. So, uh, mine overall it's

situation is normal. um normal collections, normal audit, and we're just rolling right along. Well, you mentioned the fire. They had one of the things staff is working on is a disaster recovery policy for our our operations so that if something did happen to this building, they'd be able to continue business as with fairly quickly. So, it's good. Thanks. Any questions to Sam? Uh is there a motion to accept the finance officer's report? So moved. Second. I'll second it. Uh, all any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. Thanks, Sam. As always. Thank you.

Uh, committee reports. Finance committee not reported. Water advisory committee. Any any comments, thanks for sticking it out.

Yeah. Spencer Sullivan, 7917 Quiet Place, Oakidge. Uh, water advisory committee held its regular meeting on August 13th. You've already acted on two of the items from that meeting. Uh we thank you for approving the text amendment and the expanded water fee schedule. Uh with the construction of the tower underway and the contract for the water man awarded, the committee is focusing on the next steps to expand the municipal water system. Uh committee will be recommending that the town proceed with engineering the town core loop. That's the extension of the water man from the intersection of Lynville Road and Oakidge Road east to Highway 68 south on 68 to the intersection with Lynville Road and then north on Lynville back to that intersection. The committee's first priority will be to extend the line uh to 68 to serve Oakidge Commons. We should have a proposal ready for the council's consideration at your next meeting. Um, we finalized our initial marketing plans. Uh, the marketing brochure will be mailed out to our citizens in the next few weeks. Uh, we've set two open house dates uh for Thursday, November 13th from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, January 10th from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. uh for citizens to come and learn about our new water system and its advantages. The committee continues to work on a text amendment reducing the number of lots in a subdivision that require community well to be installed and on alternatives to that requirement that were suggested by developers at our meeting two months ago. There are concerns that their suggestions may be in violation of state statutes and so we're working with the town attorney to resolve those issues prior

to making a recommendation to council. As I said earlier, our goals are to build infrastructure and add customers as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible and community wells remain an important interim option in pursuing those goals. Any questions? My question, I just want to make sure if we go ahead with down to the commons, that money will be funded out of the water money that we've already got all out of the enterprise fund. I just want to make sure we don't have to borrow money. Yeah, it it would not impact operating budget of the town at all. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Uh HPC, I don't think they met. Okay. Planning and zoning,

I think we've covered their board of adjustment did not meet. Mountains and sea, uh I know they're making a lot of progress, you know. So, conservation easement committee, I think there didn't meet. Yeah. They're still kind of waiting for property owners and things like that to do things things in process. Special events.

You don't need any extra time tonight. You need extra time, Patty?

No, I do not. Okay. I don't think anybody wants any space. Anyway, Patty Damchowski, 7320 Hidden View Drive. Um, Veterans Honor Green construction, as Bill said, is complete on the boardwalk. And special thanks to Shannon Parker and Mark Reeves um for doing such an amazing job uh on the boardwalk. We'll have a special opening uh for the boardwalk on at the our Veterans Day ceremony. We continue to take orders for pavers and hope to have a fourth group ordered before November. Uh we need to have a minimum order of 20 pavers to send in an order. 911 ceremony uh ceremony will be held on Thursday, September 11th at the flag pole at the Oakidge Park at 10:00 a.m. We will place the blue spotlights under the flag and signage out this Sunday where will remain in place for one week. Please stop by during the week if if you're able to attend the ceremony. Veterans Day ceremony again will be November 11th at the Veterans Honor Green at 10:00. Our guest speaker will be Christian Castelli. Heritage Day, the special events committee will have a booth at the event and have a muffin baking contest. Rules and entry forms are available on the website. Uh farm host farmhouse open house. The parks and wreck advisory board has approved our request of having a table at the event and provide a handout on the committee's activities and hopefully to promote some interest in volunteering. We'll also ask if there's any other committees that would like to share the table to see if they can also get some um interest on other volunteers. Light up the night. We're gearing up for the light up the night activities. Lots of things going on behind the scenes. Uh we do have one one extra. At our last meeting, uh story time at the farmhouse. One of our

committee members suggested that we investigate providing quarterly story time for the kids and enlist our retirees to participate if interested. Uh we'll look into organizing this and creating a schedule and create activities. Thank you. And any questions? And actually there's a resident I forget her last name, but she's interested in possibly putting together some reading activities. Uh so I'll I'll get you to name. Thank you. We thought it was a good idea. Yeah. Okay. Uh where am I now? Uh tree board, they did meet. Yes, John.

We are uh John Browning, 8024 Lynville Road. Uh the tree committee did meet this morning. We're finalizing our plans for u heritage day uh September 27th, Saturday 10 to 4. Uh all kinds of tree related uh quizzes and door prizes. So we're looking forward to that. Thanks.

Thank you. Uh parks and wreck. Adrian Einrod, 5679 Timberace Way. Uh the parks and wreck met on August 21st in person and on Zoom. Uh the seasonal sports have started at the park. That includes the Heritage Farm Park field rentals. Uh the Heritage Farm Park warranty work will begin this fall as well. M the main callouts from that would be the seating and there are four new trees that will be replaced. Uh the veterans honor green uh phase two as I mentioned my notes is now complete. Um new park lights uh are being installed midepptember. Uh August 1st the tenants have moved into the new prop or the property on Lynville Road. Uh and for a farmhouse update uh AC unit has been raised and drain drainage work has been completed. I believe they're still needing the parking lot corrections to be completed though. Uh, Music in the Park for 2026 already has three new bands booked and these are new bands uh that have never been to Oakidge. Um, and without rehashing, we we heard the presentation from McGill. Um, and you know, had discussion about that and obviously that was presented to you tonight. Uh, reminder of some upcoming events. Uh, Ridgefest unfortunately was canceled tonight for the rain. Uh but we'll be uh tomorrow and Saturday as well uh with fireworks Saturday at 8:30 p.m. On September 28th is still our tenative farmhouse uh open house date. Uh the open house is scheduled to be from 2:00 to 5:00 pm uh with the first music on the lawn u featuring uh straight shot to coincide with that from 2 to 4 p.m. And October 11th we'll wrap up our music in the park 2025 uh featuring retro vinyl and that time changes from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. uh for daylight savings time.

Thank you. You uh we have a second public comic session uh if you'd like to speak. Um, 3 minutes. State your name and address and floor is yours.

Frank Carroll, 1389 for Scythe Road, Kernersville. Um, just one thing, one thing that I would ask the council is that if you look at, sounds like the farmhouse is almost done. Wonderful. Has the council and the staff considered doing any kind of a lessons learned on how we got from the beginning of the farmhouse to where we are now, why we got there, how we got there. And I think that that would be a useful exercise if you look at, you know, presented like a 1.7 1.8 million project at whatever it ends up coming at. How do you keep that project from getting into the same position as the farmhouse? Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else want to speak? I think Adrian, you had your hand up. And then Lindsay in the back 5679 Timberway. Um, just had a recommendation for council. Um, I certainly appreciate the lively debate. Uh, even though sometimes it can circle the drain. Um, so I have uh no no bones about myself uh sticking it out um through the later evenings. Um and if I did, I shouldn't be running for town council. Um but with that said, um our committees are made up of volunteers. Uh and they often, you know, will have to sit through all evening. So I would have a recommendation for two reasons. Um to consider moving the agenda to having the committee reports uh perhaps having them after um the committee organization reports. Um I think there'd be two benefits for that. U one is allows the uh volunteer committees who spend their volunteer time uh to go ahead and present that to town council um before the items that um you know typically are going to take up the bulk of the council's time for that evening. Uh the second part is as you can see the the room's thinning out. Um that places it forward when a lot of people that are coming for other events can hear the committee reports which I think would be more advantageous for the community. So, when there's a lot of people here filling this room, I think it'd be great for them to hear about the committees, learn more about the committees and help get more volunteers for the committees. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Clark.

Lindsey Clark, 6816 Koala Drive in Oakidge. Um, first, yeah, what uh Adrian just said, I actually do really agree with that. um because I feel bad as well with everyone kind of having to wait and sit here uh through that. Um that just makes sense. So great suggestion there. Um secondly, I would like to address because I brought up the splash pad earlier. Um I do appreciate the discussion that was had regarding the splash pad. One thing I would like to say uh and this is again not for me selfishly. It's just you know I got the results of the um park survey and saying that it was so highly rated. I just want to speak to those people that were pushing for a splash pad. I happen to agree just having young children myself as well. Um, but just wanted to kind of make that point. Um, we spoke about the long-term planning and kind of taking time to plan things out. One thing I do want to suggest is that when we're talking about planning out the park, we have this set amount of acreage, you know, front and center in the town that we don't really get another opportunity to have that. So, I hope that the council would kind of consider a long-term vision for that usage based on the survey results. Um, so I know we say that, oh, you know, we can't do a splash pad, can't do a splash pad, but it might be worth considering. Hey, you know, is it worth looking into reserving a certain spot for that in the future? Should that be feasible? Um, in which case, I think that adjacent to the playground would make sense. So, when we're doing the design of the park, I would just ask you to consider that maybe there could be a little rearranging of the sport courts to have kind of a an open space near the playground if that ever was an option in the future. Um, because, you know, we can't really rearrange once the sport courts are there. Um, so that's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else want to speak? Mr. Anders. Sam Andrews, 1829 Oakidge Road. Um, just two quick things. One, uh, thank you for honoring Roger. Very, very special man. Um, not only with everything that he's done, but the people he influenced, as Mike talked about it. Uh, this coming Monday at 7:30 will mark 45 years since he held a junior fireman's class. very near and dear to my heart because I was one of those. Roger held a variety of positions doing a lot of things with the fire department. Several of us in that class, corporate officers, now fire commissioners, members of the board of directors. None of us had a clue that that would happen 45 years ago. He touched a lot of us. He trained a lot of us and you know you saw Roger sitting here. My response with Roger I will always remember him in turnout gear with a red helmet teaching us training us and fighting fire leading from the front. Very influential man. And with that said one other thing I'd like to tell you. Roger helped bring the department forward as an officer, as chairman of the board. Um, if you were here around here on Thursday morning, you might have heard some sirens. You might have heard what sounded like a locomotive train coming down the road because there was train horns that went off. Uh, we took delivery on the new tanker, tanker 51. Um, they wanted to do

it with a little pizzazz. the uh uh dealer parked it up here at SECU, got it ready, and it came down the road. So, you're going to be seeing the truck looks different. It's gray and red. It's the first change in color we've had since ' 87. The truck is not in the fleet yet. It is here. We are still mounting stuff on it. And once we get everything mounted and uh uh ready, then we have to train everyone to drive and operate. So, it'll still be a few weeks before you'll actually see it running calls, but it is very uh distinguished uh with a different color, a different sound, and since it's over at station 51, if you look careful, you will see Marvin the Martian riding on the uh back door and on both sides. Uh he's the mascot over there. But it's a testimony to the people that came before that in my career, we've gone from repurposed, modified, homebuilt, military surplus trucks and the wonderful 54 that's still working to where we have modern wonderful equipment and that is also a legacy of Roger and all those that came before him. But uh we will have a proper formal where everybody can meet and greet on the truck once we get everything mounted and get the training done and get it ready to roll. We're going to have public event. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone who we wish to speak if not we mayor I'd like to point of privilege as a staff comment. I'd like to join everyone in remembering Roger Howardon as the great member of council and of this community that he was. And at 9:36 on this evening, I'd like to also remember that Roger Howton continues to hold the record for presiding over the shortest meeting of the Oakidge Council, which in my memory was 19 minutes. Yes. Thank you, Roger. You're here. We'll never have one of those.

Uh if there's no more public comment, we go to council comments. Mr. Greon, you know, my only comment is we're eight weeks away from the election. I encourage everybody to get out and vote and I'm going to leave it at that tonight. Mr. Stone,

uh, any town council member, whether they're running for reelection or not, any candidate that's running for town council and any citizen can look at the cost for Redmond. It's over $950,000. It's not disputable. All monies are taxpayer money. There's two projects. Fine. You want to call them two projects, but even past mayors have said we wouldn't do the degree of the entrance if Redmond wasn't there. More sidewalks, more concrete that wouldn't be needed. That wouldn't be wanted, except for the Redmond house. You can split them up if you want to, but we've spent actually over $960,000 on that corner and the costs are still coming. Please get out and vote.

Well done. Y Snider.

Well, I I appreciate Adrienne's good humor and calling our conversation lively, and I want to apologize especially to Mr. Stone who just tried to needle me again. But still, I want to apologize for getting a little too lively. Uh, I'm a little emotional tonight. My son is getting married this weekend, and all I want to do is get out of this meeting, so I should try harder, I suppose. Um, Mr. Carol, I think the idea of a lessons learned is a great one, but I would like to encourage us to wait until the farmhouse has been able to open. the through no fault of our own, the contractor is uh a year late in finishing it. I think that once we see what over 95% of respondents on the first survey that we took for the Heritage Farm Park in 200 I don't know what 19 or 18 or something like that uh wanted that house to be renovated for public use and I'd like and we had I think 80 people speak at different council meetings in favor of it and many people contacted us uh or that was a combined figure of people who contacted us. So, lots of people in this community want that. I'd like to see how it works out and like you, lessons learned are always important. So, I'd just like to wait till we see how it works in the community because I think it's going to be a great uh it's already a great addition to our park. Thank you.

Keep it short. Uh, as always, if you're able to donate blood, please do. Uh, I do want to iterate, if you're not registered to vote, please register to vote. If you are registered to vote, make sure you vote. Uh, we now are going to go into a close session to discuss a matter that's within the attorney client privilege by providing instructions to the town attorney about handling or setting claims, litigation, or other proceedings per NCG number nurse. Is there a motion to go into close session? So, move. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say I. I

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[Music] [Music] There a motion to come out of close session. So moved. There a second. Second. All those in favor say I. I. Is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved. There a second. Second. All those in favor say I.

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