Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Bye.

Good evening. Welcome to the Pitt County Board of Commissioners meeting. I'll call our meeting to order, and we'll have roll call, please. If you would stand with me, and Commissioner Brown's going to provide our invocation, and then Commissioner Perkins-Williams will lead us in the pledge.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the people and the communities of Pitt County. We ask for your protection over our families, our schools, our businesses, our health care workers, first responders, and Lord, all that live here in the county. Grant wisdom, integrity, and humility to our leaders as they make decisions for the good of all. Please bring healing to where there is hurt and unity where there is division. Hope where there is uncertainty, Lord. Help us to serve one another with compassion and to seek justice. May Pitt County be a place where people flourish. We lay this at your feet, Lord. Amen.

and justice for all. You may be seated.

Thank you.

I'll entertain a motion to approve the agenda. Second. I have a motion and a second. Please vote. All right, Matt. I'm stuck over here. That's a yes. All right, thank you. Madam Manager, do we have any public addresses to the board?

You have a few signed up to speak, Mr. Chairman, if the attorney would read the statement.

Thank you, Madam Manager. Pitt County welcomes all comments on matters of public concern. Each speaker will be allowed up to three minutes to speak. A total of 30 minutes is set aside for public addresses to the board. Please state your name and address prior to speaking.

First up is Jeff Baer.

My name is Jeff Baer. I live at 115 Lakeview Drive and have been serving the Lake Glenwood Property Owners Association as the pond manager for the past 25 years. The Lake Glenwood Dam was constructed 60 years ago with three small 24 inch discharge pipes that are insufficient for the runoff caused by the approved development upstream of the lake. After Hurricane Floyd in 1999, the state installed an emergency overflow valve to prevent another like event. After the food line complex and Brittany Ridge extension was approved and completed, flooding increased dramatically. Hurricane Irene in 2011 flooded at least six homes. In 2013, the Walmart developer voluntarily installed three retention ponds to help excessive runoff into Lake Glenwood. Up to that point, the flooding was ongoing and extensive. A downpour of as little as one to two inches was enough for the lake to flood. The Walmart retention ponds drained directly into Lake Glenwood, essentially turning it from a recreational lake into a retention pond for the stormwater drainage system. Hurricane Matthew in 2016 activated the emergency spillway and overtopped the dam, not breaching it. The state inspector concluded that the dam structure withstood the storm and functioned in the way that it was designed to. I drained Lake Glenwood entirely before the storm, but the lake filled completely in three to four hours. I later discovered that the Walmart retention ponds had breached, causing the sudden flooding of the lake. In 2018, during Hurricane Florence, Walmart drained their retention ponds. As a result, the dam did not overtop and Eastern Pines Road was secured. I would recommend using this approach not for the if, but when the next hurricane strikes. If the dam is removed, where is all that water going to go in the next major storm? Lake Glenwood Apartments and the Willow Run Subdivision will be at risk with no capacity to handle that much stormwater runoff. The excessive stormwater runoff from this development has corroded all three 24-inch pipes under the dam. If the runoff had not been extensive, the pipes would not have corroded as rapidly moving water brings a higher and continuous supply of dissolved oxygen directly to the steel surface, fueling oxidation. Even though it was not built as such, Lake Glenwood has become a stormwater retention pond that retains stormwater runoff and allows for sediment and pollutants from that runoff to settle. It is an integral part of the stormwater management system for areas downstream. It's essentially an earthen stormwater levee, 20 feet high and 530 feet long. Taking it out creates an entire set of new problems at the new discharge point and downstream. You can walk across most parts of the lake. However, if you want to talk about liability, just imagine hurricane-strength stormwater runoff that would be created by rushing water coming through a gorge that would result by removing the dam. I also hear talk of remediation. The examples I've seen of this nationwide mostly involve restoring rivers, not a suburban lake that was constructed as a centerpiece for 100 homes. you would be removing a beautiful community asset and replacing it with an unusable eyesore and blight that would ruin the neighborhood and increase the tax value of Lakewood properties. The Lake Glenwood Homeowners Association has been asking for over two decades for help with this problem that was thrust upon us and we did not create. Please, let's do the right thing for the stormwater detention system, the Lake Glenwood subdivision, and surrounding communities. Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Michelle Gardner.

Good evening. I'm Michelle Gardner. I live at 1100 Josh Court here in Greenville. I wanted to speak on behalf of my family. On behalf of my family, I wanted to speak about passing the proposed changes to Highway 118 Cannon Price Road and Stokestown St. John's Road. Before leaving, our suite care texted in the family chat she was heading back home to Moorhead. At 2.32 p.m., some 25 minutes later, my phone went off to alert me of an accident. When I pulled up Kara's location, I knew exactly where she was. The intersection of Cannon Price Road and Highway 118 is a very dangerous spot. Looking to the right for oncoming traffic is hard without someone to help you. We know that Kara stopped due to an accident when they were younger. My daughters are very cautious drivers. Three of them were over 18 before they ever got their licenses. We may never know why Kara drifted in front of that log truck. It was just, as it is called, an accident. The driver tried very hard to avoid her. Images my husband saw at that scene of his daughter will forever haunt him. No parent should ever have to get the phone call or see their child in that state. I personally have been out to the intersection twice in the six months since our care bearer has been gone. It is a route we frequently would take to New Bern or the beach. Those times I have been out there, cars seldom stop at the stop signs, while many trucks are moving extremely fast down Highway 118. Following Kara's accident, within a week, there was another accident. We implore this body of commissioners to accept the proposal of these changes support them. This will never bring our feisty girl back to us. If we could prevent another family from getting a phone call or visit from a police officer to inform them of a loss, we strongly support these changes. We miss our girls so much, but we fight for her so that no one else has to experience this pain or heartbreak. Thank you.

Thank you.

Jonathan Cortez.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Jonathan and Carol is my fiance. My mother-in-law said most of what I wanted to say, but really, I just like to remind everybody that I think everybody understands that driving is inherently a risk. We're all risking our lives every time we go out to drive or we're behind the wheel. I'm sure most of everybody in this room, if not everybody in this room, drove to get here and I'm sure most people have been through almost accidents or things of that nature. My whole platform here today is just to get people to understand that even though we control what we can control, things still happen. Like my mother-in-law said, my fiance was a very careful driver due to the trauma that was caused by her earlier accident. And I always told her to control what she can control, control her speed, control when she stops, control her attitude behind the wheel. And her accident just goes to show that no matter how much control you think you are in, you can still get into an accident on the roads. I have been living in Greenville since 2017 when I started attending East Carolina University and have made it my second home. And I just wish that, or I just am here hoping that we can resolve this and pass these proposed changes so that the rural roads that we drive with or to in every day are a little bit safer and that nobody else has to suffer. We're not the only family who has suffered due to these intersections, and we just hope to be the last. So thank you for your time and attention. Thank you, sir.

Tim Peden.

My name is Tim Peden. Address is 4883 Highway 903 South, Snow Hill. I don't live in Pitt County, but my business is here. My farm is here. One of the things I want to address you about is I want to thank Mr. Smith for being transparent and coming forward and what you disclosed. What I'm getting ready to tell you, I already know that you don't have no control over the sheriff. I was a deputy sheriff, canine handler. I worked under four sheriffs. And I was a canine handler under Matt Manning. Um, and I just want, I just want to say, do not let Paula dance, use this to make you feel guilty for funding. This didn't have to happen. There's many a times that we took our dogs in the public buildings in the office. The only place that we didn't take our dogs, if we were in court, they didn't go into corporate. But I mean, I'm an advocate. It really bothers me because one of the things that has gone through my head many times is if you had to leave the county, and you had to give your mileage to come back in the county, and then you go to the office, and you're sitting in an office, that office is like everything else. More than likely, somebody's going to ask you, how was your training this morning? And then it's going to click, oh, man, I left my dog. But no, that ain't happened. What they're telling us is what happened was he took lunch and he ate and he worked for four hours and he come back and his dog was dead. You know, I know this is going to be under investigation. Um, interviews I gave, I felt like that this situation should have been sent out for independent investigation and I'm glad that's being done. But one of the things I want to say to the county is do not let her use this as a, um, to get the public to think that you didn't fund because, um, that's not what happened. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Susan Cradle.

My name is Susan Cradle. I'm 1833 State Mill Road, Bethel. And ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I'd like to say thank you, each and every one of you, for your service. My husband and I have been here before. You've all been very, very helpful. And I'm aware it's not an easy job, and you can't please everyone. But you are appreciated. Just know that. And I realize also, like Tim, you don't have any control over the Sheriff's Office except for the budget. So I'm certainly aware of that. I spent 20 years in a clerk of court's office doing in the criminal courtroom, so I pretty much know a lot of the laws. And I understand when the sheriff says, well, you know, under the law we cannot do anything. I know the laws are ambiguous, and I hope that Representative Reeder can do something to help us about that. But you already know the story of K-9 Officer Chili. and she was allegedly forgotten by her handler and she perished because of his irresponsibility. This makes no sense to me. I own a German Shepherd and while she's riding with me in our vehicle and I stop, she whines and she tosses her tail and she is ready to get out just as soon as I am. There is no way, no way I would not know that dog was in there. And anyone who owns a working dog knows they always want to interact with their handler. I just find it very difficult to believe that Chili was forgotten. It makes no sense. But tonight's about accountability, transparency, public and public trust. Over 40 days passed before the public was even notified that this incident had happened. After there was no vet involved, no necropsy performed, no honored burial, nothing but unanswered questions. And the public has reacted to Chili's death with sorrow, and disappointment and an enormous demand for the truth. There has been no accountability. Why is Chili's handler still working? If he can't remember his partner is in a sweltering hot car, how can he ever be trusted in a life and death situation? Again, public trust is earned and through honesty, transparency, and accountability, not silence. And accountability not only protects the public, but it also protects the integrity of the badge. Where there is no accountability, there can be no justice. To close, I know each and every one of you are sorry, but your hands are tied. Thank you for listening, and rest in peace, K-9 Officer Chili. Your service mattered, your life mattered, and you will never be forgotten again.

Thank you, ma'am.

Lydia Nykak.

Good evening. My name is Lydia Nicot. I'm at 6038 Clark's Neck Road. I own the canine training kennel that's there on Clark's Neck Road. I'm pretty sure some of you know what happened there. I never imagined I would stand before you to tell you about the worst day of my life. On October 5th of 2024, I lost Bonnie and Clyde, my two Belgian Malinois. To some people, they were just dogs. To me, they were my family. Bonnie was my PTSD service dog. She helped me through my darkest moments of life. Clyde was her partner. They were highly trained, loyal and loved beyond words. In a matter of seconds, they were gone. No amount of time prepares you for watching the lives you cherish disappear. No amount of time heals the silence that follows when you come home and they're no longer there. The grief doesn't end after the headlines fade. It doesn't end when people stop talking about it. You live with it every single day. That is why I'm here tonight. I am also here because another canine dog, Canine Chili, lost his life and this community is hurting. Whether it's a beloved family companion or a law enforcement canine, every one of these animals depended on humans to protect them. When an animal dies in an incident involving government or law enforcement, The public deserves transparency, families deserve honesty, and our community deserves confidence that incident is investigated thoroughly and fairly. This is not about hatred, it's not about revenge, it's about accountability. Accountability protects everyone, the public, law enforcement officers who do the right thing, and the animals who cannot speak for themselves. I don't want another family member to stand where I'm standing today. I don't want another person. to experience the heartbreak that I carry every day. Please don't let these tragedies become just another headline. Let them become the reason we do better. Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, we have no further people signed up to speak.

Okay. Thank you all for those that came out to speak tonight. We'll move on to our public hearing, and I'll invite Kelly Andrews up to discuss Project Stratosphere.

Good evening, Chairman Smith, commissioners, Madam Manager. I'm here tonight in consideration of a grant application, management of the application, and an economic development incentive for Project Stratosphere, an existing industry, to facilitate their continued growth in Pitt County. we ask that you consider authorization for pick county to serve as the applicant and grant manager for the north carolina department of commerce building reuse grant the expected grant award is a hundred thousand dollars for project stratosphere to provide the required and we would provide the required five percent local grant match which would equal five thousand dollars not to exceed $5,000 and this would be continued upon their investment of approximately $580,000 for the upgrades to their existing facility in Pitt County and their creation of a minimum of 13 jobs above the Pitt County average salary over 18 months. Those will be created over 18 months. We ask that you approve us to apply for this grant, provide that 5% match, and authorize the chair to sign a resolution and execute an economic development agreement relating to this grant and require documentation for us to receive and disperse the funds as needed for the delivery of this grant to the existing industry to facilitate their expansion. Okay.

I'd like to make a motion to approve.

We need to open and close the public hearing.

Matt, do you need to read anything on that? I do not unless people are going to speak. As long as you open and close it.

Okay. I'll open up the public hearing. Is there anybody that would like to speak in favor? Anybody like to speak in favor? Okay. Anybody like to speak against? Okay. We'll close the public hearing. It was a pleasure to board.

Mr. Chairman, I'd like to offer a motion that we apply for the grant.

Second. We've got a motion. I hear a second. OK, we've got a motion and a second. Please vote. Matt? Hey, I messed up down here. PIO is going to switch out your base, I believe. All right, thank you. OK. Thank you so much. All right, thank you, Kelly. All right, Madam Manager, we'll move on to items for report.

Yes, first up is your monthly financial report, Michael Hardy.

Good evening to the board. This is the June 2026 report. You can see it as 100% of the year. You can look down the line. You can see the revenues for general fund are 87%. The expenditure size is right at 89%. So you can see that the revenues and expenditures are almost a match. We actually have some additional revenues coming in that are still being collected from 2026 that will be booked. So our waste fund, you can see at 99.6%. The expenditures are at 99%. And then EMS fund, you can see it's right at 89.3%, while the expenditure side is 83.4%. So you can see the revenues are still outweighing the expenditures on the EMS fund. Are there any questions with this report?

Any questions for Michael? Okay, do I have a motion to approve that? So moved. Got a motion and a second. Please vote. That did not fix our problem. Okay. Uh, we'll move on by the manager.

Yes. Next up, um, is a due diligence update on the Lake Glenwood project. And if we get Michael Hardy stay in place, we also have Ken brand. I'm here this evening to share some information with you as you more or call it your last meeting. Um, we considered, um, the, um, estimate to repair the dam at Lake Glenwood. And the board had discussion and asked us to bring back additional information with regard to doing further due diligence on the financial aspects of this project. And so we have that information for you this evening. In your agenda package on pages eight and nine, you'll see some additional considerations and four alternatives for motions. But before we get to that point, I'd like to start with Michael Hardy providing an update on outside funding sources.

So if you look at the provided document, you'll see that this is a breakdown of what we have submitted to FEMA as far as the grant application process. You can see the total cost estimate up at the top is right at $2.771 million between the estimated construction costs and then the actual A&E for the engineering piece of the construction. You can see the breakdown, what the total share would be, the way the FEMA program works. is 75% covered with the 25% remaining to be committed by the applicant. So you can see the total cost for the federal shares at $2,078,000 with the county proposed federal or non-federal share Is it right at $692,000, which is right at that 25%. So you can see that total cost still equals that $2.771 million. The management cost is one item that they actually add in addition. That's a part of you have some administrative. You'll have administrative costs when you're doing FEMA grants typically. So that is capped at 5%. You can see that's at $138,000. So that brings that total proposed project request, or what we applied for with FEMA, is right at 2.910 million. So then once again, down below, you can see the construction cost estimated 75%, 2,078,000. You get 100% of the management cost, which is that 5% of the total construction or total project cost. And so you can see down at the bottom what your total federal share of the 2.9 million will be, which is 2.217 million, with the remaining estimated non-federal share, which is the county portion, at $692,000, which is, once again, that 25%. Obviously, that cost would change if this is just estimates. Are there any questions with this spreadsheet?

Any questions from Michael?

Thank you. And so, Mr. Chairman, this is a grant opportunity that was not made available to the board at our last meeting. This is something that Michael Hardy researched and discovered after our last meeting in furtherance of due diligence. This grant would require a letter of support to be submitted in order to complete an application process. And then from a timeline perspective, we should, within 30 to 45 days, get some better sense of where this is going on into the process. But it may take up to a year before there is an ultimate award for this funding. So from a due diligence perspective, if the board wanted to seek outside funds to assist in the cost of repairing Lake Glenwood, and this would only go towards the repair, these funds would not go towards decommissioning. It would go towards keeping the lake intact and repairing the dam. But your risk associated with doing this is the time delay. But your 25% would be close to the amount of money you have currently budgeted. that we thought would cover the project. The time delay may or may not result in an inflationary factor on the cost of the work to be done. But as Michael has just shown, you stand to bring in outside federal dollars of more than $2 million towards the cost of that project. So if you'll sort of hold that thought in terms of that due diligence, we can call up Ken Bran, to talk about additional due diligence that was performed since the last meeting. Relating to both, there was a question about what would the annual maintenance costs be and then what would be involved in an evaluation of decommissioning.

Good evening Chairman Smith, Commissioners, Madam Manager. So we've done some research and we've come up with decommissioning the Lake Glenwood Dam would require the preparation of engineered plans outlining the process for removal of the dam. The plans would include embankment removal, stream channel restoration design, and state permitting. sediment removal. The estimated cost for the engineering design, the state permitting, is approximately $95,000. Once the plans have been approved, the project will need to be advertised for competitive bids to determine exactly what the cost of decommissioning would be. We have no way of figuring that out until we see what the state would require for everything to be done for the embankment removal, a new stream channel design, what kind of Plants would have to be put back in there or anything like that. The maintenance of the dam, the estimated cost is approximately $12,000 annually. That includes Foster Lake and pond management at $529 per month. Loan maintenance would run around $300 per month to have the grass cut, everything cleaned up. We would also have to have a little money for reseeding damage for any grass areas on the berm. If it's the grass has gone, we've got to reseed it because that's gives a chance for the dirt to wash away in the dam to start failing. Rip rap replacement is needed maintenance of the riser valves in the pond maintenance of the spillway tow area down towards the road. So you're looking at approximately a thousand bucks a month. So about $12,000 a year for maintenance. Okay.

Um, and then in your packet, just to highlight some additional considerations as you direct the staff as to your next steps or your desire for next steps in discussion. Um, you heard previously, um, from the County attorney that there was $250,000 that was allocated to pick County. for water infrastructure repair. Um, we have learned that the scope and allowability for the use of that money has been broadened to any public purpose that has passed the Senate and was before the house today to be voted on today or tomorrow to be voted on. If that passes the House, then the $250,000 that was introduced to be given to Pitt County government from Representative Tim Reeder could be put towards this project as another funding source if you wanted to consider that. Secondly, just want the board to be aware as you're considering what to do next, that in addition to the dam repair, this project included the development of a public park. And for that park, we received a Park and Recreation Trust Fund grant for an all abilities playground. Those funds must be expended by October 2027. If the board desires to take the time to determine whether or not we can receive the brick federal grant, then We may need to reach out to determine if the scope of the project for these part of funds could be applied elsewhere. But I want you to know there's a risk that if they are not spent by October 2027, they might revert if an alternate scope is not approved. Also wanted to let you know the current efforts to mitigate the risk. Right. We know this is a high hazard dam and we know that it's under a notice of violation. And so if this board was considering an additional period of time to determine if a grant is awarded, I wanted you to know that we are continuing a contract with Foster Pond Management that continues to monitor water quality, erosion, integrity of the lake and the dam. We continue to have a partnership with the Eastern Pines Fire Department to assist in opening the spillway to lower the lake level as needed to mitigate any potential damage. And Randy Gentry in Emergency Management has explored partnerships on the provision of equipment necessary to lower the lake level in an emergency, pumps and otherwise, that will also mitigate the damage. over the course of this period of time. So all of those things would remain in place if there were a delay in the work to be done. And then finally wanted the board to be aware that Trader Construction, who was the only and lowest bidder in response to the repair has extended their bid price just until August 18th. And so part of the reasoning for bringing this back and the due diligence work getting done quicker than the 30 to 45 days that originally was suggested was so that we didn't miss an opportunity. If the board decided you wanted to go ahead and get this worked on under the current bid that's pending, it is good until August 18th. With that, staff is available to answer any other questions. And then I'll turn it back to you, Mr. Chairman, for any discussion and direction.

OK. Any commission or discussion?

I have a question, Mr. Chairman. Let me get this straight. If we do apply for the grant, if we apply for the grant and we don't get it, we're back to ground zero.

Yes. Well, we've actually already have applied for the grant. Okay. And we've got confirmation of the submission from the state or NCDPS to FEMA. At this point, we're just waiting to hear next 30 days. We might hear some chatter whether we actually have a possibility of this being a FEMA grant. But it could be a... a little bit of time before you actually know, because with government, it could be slow as far as grant process.

And it's not a reimbursement, so if we decide to go ahead and fix it, say we voted to fix it, they would not reimburse us.

It's billed only. I would say yes, because not only the grant is around the way you procure the construction as well, so you have to take that into account. Now, the grant itself, if it were to be approved, it's all reimbursement. You'd have to pay for it first, then they reimburse, but that's being an approved grant.

And without doing the $95,000 that he was talking about, we can't tell how much the decommission of the dam will cost us because there are certain litigations that the state and the federal is requiring us for as far as stream litigation, replanning, and some other things like that.

That's correct. We'd have to have an engineered set of plans and know what we've got to do. And then once we have that, we could reach out and have some meeting and find out what the exact cost would be.

No further. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Any other commissioners? Commissioner Natalie?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you all for doing the due diligence. I have to say that, you know, you hate to move things and you hate to walk away from funds that have been allocated for, you know, kind of the cherry on top of this project. But from the beginning, I think this is – This is about stormwater resiliency. And the way that I see it, the FEMA mitigation grant, it's a really good opportunity to do what the intent was all along. It might delay the runway a little bit, but it does give us an opportunity to defray those costs as it relates to funding it. And I think that it would be... prudent to consider that. I think we'd like to do it fast, but sometimes doing it the right way means taking a little bit longer, being creative with funding sources. I think members of this board and we can reach out to our legislatures as well and seek letters of support as as a means on that grant application. And I just think that it would be a, um, I would be in favor of the second, second option for that reason. Um, and I think that, uh, you know, I think that'd be a good way to go.

Commissioner Madden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm not going to reiterate everything I said at the last meeting, but my position has not changed. I don't think we should be using county tax dollars to fix what was a private problem. We're opening the gate to setting a precedent here to do something that we don't generally do for private property. And one thing that I was suspicious of and believed, and we heard it confirmed tonight, is that development outside the Lake Glenwood area is putting pressure on this lake and is increasing the flow of water. And I think the developers and the people that own those properties need to be the one paying for the dam because it's not just Lake Glenwood's problem. It's a broader group of people. And I even had one homeowner out there tell me, that one of the developers had pledged a million dollars toward repairing this dam. I can't find anybody else that can confirm that, but apparently that was in some, according to the citizen that talked to me, was when they were negotiating trying to get the permits to do some construction out there. so i just i'm just opposed to taking on this as a county taxpayer problem because this this was not this was a private problem we didn't develop the lake and i think the best bet is to decommission it and put a waterway in so that any rain water can be moved on out and not held it back And the other point, one other thing is he mentioned about he has lowered the level of the lake completely. Because we had some conversation about fish. We had to mitigate fish. Well, what happened if there's fishing in the pond? How do you lower the lake completely? So that came up tonight. So I don't know. There's just too many questions. And I just don't think the taxpayers should be on the hook to pay for this. It's a private development problem, not a county problem. Thank you.

Any other commissioner comments?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I can't say that I disagree with what Commissioner Manning just said as far as taxpayers being on the hook. However, setting a precedent has already been done. It is not theirs. It is ours currently. And so I believe it's a public safety issue that this board is faced with. um as much as i would not have voted to receive this back then that's water under the bridge we unfortunately have it to deal with today so i i would like to know if there is an educated guess maybe of a dam or a lake that has been fixed that is comparable to this particular situation so we can have maybe some type of idea as to what decommissioning does look like is that an option

I honestly, I cannot without seeing a set of plans and we really cannot even begin. I mean, cause another, uh, lake that was decommissioned with the dam, the stream bed could be in a different con uh, condition might not be as much work needs to be done. There could be more work needed to be done here, less work. So, I mean, honestly, that would be a hard, hard number to try to even get close to.

I'm curious what staff would recommend at this point. This has been going on for a very long time. I hate to kick the can. I really do. And I also don't want to, from a liability perspective, have anything happen as we approach hurricane season. I have concern. over what has happened in the past with I've heard about Floyd and Michael and that road and the area. I also understand being good stewards of the dollar. I'm in between one and two, option one and two. I don't know what the right answer is. I'm thinking maybe, you know, do we go ahead and try to get the grant and then with some type of plan that immediately kicks in if we are denied the grant, even though it looks good? But I feel as though putting this down the road even further, it might not be the best route. I don't know. Those are some of my thoughts.

Commissioner Floyd Huggins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was about to say some of what Commissioner Brown said. I don't think we can give it back to the homeowners, I don't believe. So I think it's ours to keep. And we have to decide how we're going to keep it. And I believe that I think I would be in favor of the second option and, you know, apply for the grant. And I don't want, I wouldn't want us to miss out on some funding for the park, I believe that. Is that right, Madam Chair?

That's right.

Yes. So I wouldn't want us to miss out on that part. And, yes, I guess I was a part of that. board that decided to purchase it or take it on, so I'm still here. Again, as Commissioner Brown said, we don't need to keep kicking this can down the road. We're going to have to deal with it. And the sooner we deal with it, I think the better it will be, and I think it will have something to do with the cost of how we deal with it. So I'm kind of in favor of the second option.

mr chairman if i could clarify um based on what you just said in looking at me the risk to the park funds um you'll eliminate the risk to the park funds with alternative one you will um hopefully have an opportunity to repurpose or re-scope those funds under alternative two. Alternative two delays the project until you can complete the grant process.

Okay.

And alternative one does the work now, just for clarification.

Okay. I personally like the idea of going after the FEMA grant myself, but in saying that, let me jump back over. Commissioner McGlaw wants to make a comment.

These things must not work.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm in agreement with certainly applying for the grant. That sort of gave me a different perspective. But Commissioner Manning had a very valid point. You have to be very careful in terms of how you're spending the taxpayer's money. One of the things, and I'm jumping another subject, but one of the things, Ms. Manager and Chairman of the Board, I think that we need to consider we have a crisis in public housing. And it's something that I think that we certainly need to consider. investing in. It's critical that people don't have a place to live and can't afford where they're living now. So that's a concern of mine, but I think because of this grant and other things that I've heard tonight, I'm in favor of continuing to support this effort.

Okay, what's the pleasure of the board?

I did signal that I wanted to say something. My apologies. You're up. Thank you very much. I wasn't positive about this to begin with, what we are in this situation. So I think there was something said about a letter need to be done by the chairman. I'd like to make the motion that we instruct our chair to do that letter that is required by, I think somebody said the staff did it. I'd like to make the motion that we get on with that. I don't like belabeling something, so that's something we can do. I'd like to make that motion. If I can get a second that the chair write the letter that the staff needs.

Is that for option two?

Yes. That letter would only be required if you pursue alternative two.

Okay. So, well, I mean, I would say why don't you amend your motion and say let's move forward with option two, which would include signing the letter. Yes, ma'am.

I'd like to offer the motion that we take alternative two.

Second.

And move forward with the letter.

Okay. We have a motion and a second. Let's vote. Matt, I'm in favor that my machine's not working again. Okay. And I didn't look your way, Commissioner, because before the meeting you told me you weren't going to say a word tonight.

I didn't want to.

I knew that wasn't going to happen.

I didn't want us to keep on talking.

Okay. Madam Manager, we are back to you.

Yes, a short report for you this evening. Your next meeting dates August 17 and September 14 at 6 PM in this room. A reminder of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners annual conference August 20 to the 22 in Durham County for those commissioners who have signed up to attend. I'd like to allow a brief opportunity for reports for those who attended the National Association of Counties Conference in Orleans Parish if there's anyone on the board who attended who would like to make a brief report.

Any comments on the conference? Everybody jump at one time.

Yes, I have comments.

Okay, we'll let you go first.

Thank you. I'm glad you looked at me this time. I did. I'd like to say that in going to this conference, I made it a priority of my own to look for positive things for the residents who are aging out of farming and who wants to do something else with the land because their children are not coming back. And I did discover a one program and I have I thought it would be good to bring it up tonight at this time on the report that we give, since we go to these national meetings, that we give our farmers an opportunity to make a choice. on selecting ways that they can maintain their own land and make decisions about their own family inheritance. And I've shared that with the manager. And I'd like to see us take that route so that we can give our taxpaying farmers an opportunity to look at some alternatives other than losing what we are, food insecurity, by the way, losing our land away from those kind of things that can support families by looking at these programs that farmers make the decisions about or that the land owner and their family make these decisions. And I'd like to see us call for some kind of summit or whatever you call it, that they come in, all the farmers in Pitt County have that. Because once you dig a sand pit, the sand pit can't do anything but provide fish. why I like fishing and it is an edible food but I think if they know that there may be something out there better so let's give them a chance to look at it and let's create a summit for that that they can that we support their decision in looking at other options because these people are bringing other are bringing those opportunities to us. And we don't know anything else. But there are others. And we got it from, and I did get that from NACO, National Association of Counties. And I did give a copy of what I saw, which is different from sand pits and solar panels. I did give the manager and Gary And I think I gave the planner one. And he said it was out of his league, and he passed it on to the right person. And I'd like for us to pursue that as an alternative for our taxpayer and farmers.

Thank you, ma'am. Commissioner Donnelly, did you want to say a word?

Yes, just a couple words. I thought it was really timely, this national meeting, but a lot was made about data center development, integrated zoning and land use regulations, and the issue that's really wildfire across our country, that's federal and state preemption, local authority on those land making decisions and how it impacts our communities. Um, obviously counties are strongly advocating against these types of stripping of local power. Um, I just encourage our citizens to continue to advocate and Raleigh and in Washington that, that when zoning decisions are made and that when, um, decisions about how land is going to be utilized in and around localities, that that the people that have authority, if you believe this, the people that you vote into office are the ones that make those decisions because they're there to support you. When we cede that authority to the state or the federal level, your vote no longer matters as much. And I think it was pretty much a consensus across at the National Convention that this is a problem nationwide and the counties were fighting it. But, um, strongly encourage, um, our, if, if you care about local control about land use, um, on every front, um, please make sure that your state legislatures and your federal legislators, um, are hearing from you. Um, and I really am glad that we are undertaking our unified, um, land use regulations. I think there are a lot of things that counties that have gone there. have expressed similar concerns we have about preserving the agricultural nature of our community. When rooftops, former county commissioner Alex Albright said, you know, because when rooftop goes up, that's the terminal crop. But for a lot of development, when we lose our farmland, We don't get it back. And so in development of this unified regulation, there are a lot of good ideas tossed around. Some communities have said for every acre of development that you have to designate another five acres that are going to remain farmland. But not to say that we have to do anything like that, but I thought it was really good. These are issues that other communities are dealing with. We're wrestling with them right now with our strategic plan. And I was so glad that we had so many commissioners there to be in here So I think there will be a lot of good ideas that come forward with that. But that's my report.

Thank you, sir.

Commissioner Weaver? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I second. The young lady sat down there. We had a very good conversation with that meeting. Also, I sat in and listened to the data centers where you're for them or against them. There was a lot of pros and a lot of cons. But I will go back to agriculture. And one of the things is I spoke with Assistant County Manager PJ Andrews about that on the soil and water. And I think we can make a difference if we try to get some of the local farmers involved in this and try to save some of the farmland. One of the things that was spoken, and it goes back to what you were saying, Sheriff, actually, is if you get a developer who develops and buys farmland, they have to pay a certain percentage to put it away into a fund. that if something comes up like the dam project or something later on, we can use that. I'm not saying go out and say, OK, if you buy a farm and you develop it, you've got to pay us a million dollars to be able to develop it. But something in those lines, because those developers are developing farmland, and they keep right on doing it. And even though they say, well, we get tax money from it, some of the ramifications that come from that, like flooding, like our waterways we're not getting any benefit and we're the ones that have to come up and we are the ones that are paying for it when i think that they should take some burden on that property like that but again um i did um i did sit in on one of those meetings and and we met and with the county manager and we talked about it and that is one thing that um i would ask um again mr pj out there and i lay a lot on him to get up with some of the farmers and we try to have a group and get together to see if we can't set something aside where they can put it in a trust or something later on to go down to their families and let them benefit from that land. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, sir. Any other commissioner comments on the conference? Okay. Madam manager, we'll kick it back to you.

All right. And then I suppose as a followup to, um, your conference reports, I just want to recognize Mike Taylor. If he would stand, um, it on Friday evening of the conference, it was a pleasure and an honor, um, to see Michael receive on behalf of Pitt county government, the first place digital county surveys award. For our county, they are divided into categories by size. We have applied for this award for probably a dozen years, and we have always placed somewhere in the top ten. But this year was just absolutely incredible that we took home the first place award. It is it is truly a reflection of the team effort down in I.T. and working with department heads to be sure that Pitt County is secure and leading in information technology. So very appreciative of that. And then not on my report, but Mr. Chairman, if we could just recognize appreciate the partnership. We have Brandon Kraft in the audience this evening. Executive Director of PGV Airport. So I just want to recognize him.

Okay.

That's all that I have.

Awesome. Thank you. Next on the agenda was the detention center report that has been moved to next month. So you can mark through that. We'll move on to items for consent. I'm sorry, Madam Manager.

Actually moved to October.

October, okay.

That was on your agenda and remained on there at the time that you approved the agenda. But Kelly Harris and the Sheriff's Office asked that it be postponed until October.

Okay, great. Thank you so much. Next up is items for consent. Do I hear a motion to approve? Motion to approve. I have a motion and a second for items for consent. Please vote on that. All right. We will move on to items for decision. I'll invite Jonas and Chris Smith up for the proposed improvements to NC 118.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good evening, Madam Manager, members of the board. Tonight, we do have an item on your agenda for the NC Highway 118 corridor safety improvements. Tonight, just to set some expectations, we're going to review the safety concerns along that corridor, present the results of NCDOT safety evaluation of that corridor, and discuss the intersection improvements. and then in hopes of getting a resolution of support for this project. Just to provide a little bit of background as to why this item is coming before you, on January 23rd of this year, a fatal crash occurred at the intersection of 118 and Cannon Price Road. Following the accident, an email was received by the commissioners as well as myself asking requesting that the commissioners assist with improvements along this corridor from the family that you heard from tonight during public comments. NCDOT, since that time, has taken a look at this corridor through the North Carolina Department of Transportation's Regional Traffic and Safety and Mobility Office. They've conducted an evaluation of these intersections. Just to orient you a little bit about where this location is, it's just to the east of Grifton. about a mile before the Pitt Craven County line along Highway 118 and Cannon Price Road, as you can see on the map there. And now I have Mr. Chris Smith here from NCDOT who's going to provide some background on what NCDOT has done.

Thank you, Jonas. And thank you, Mr. Chairman. county manager and the board for allowing us to present this very important project. And we request a resolution of support so Division 2 can get our regional traffic safety and mobility office to submit the proposed safety project for scoring and hopefully get funding to design and build this project. With me tonight, I have Mr. Jeff Cabaniss. He's an embedded consultant with Division II. And Jeff was a former division engineer. And my name is, again, Chris Smith. I'm a Division II traffic engineer. Jeff will assist me with any questions that we might have on this.

Go on to the next slide.

Yes. Yes, thank you. Sorry about that, you all. Some background information. Our Regional Traffic Safety and Mobility Office initiated a comprehensive safety evaluation along NC Highway 118 corridor. Division 2, along with our Regional Traffic Safety and Mobility Office, reviewed areas such as crash history, turning movements, and safety improvement opportunities. Our study led us to investigate two areas along NC Highway 118, as indicated by the two stars on this slide. I'll begin with the first location, and that's at Highway 118 and Cannon-Price Road intersection. And it will also include Highway 118 and Boston-McLauren Road intersection. We had 19 crashes occur between May 1st, 2021, and April 30th, 2026. Out of these crashes, there were nine left turn crashes. And left turn crashes particularly involve a vehicle pulling out in front of or hitting the passenger side of another oncoming vehicle, such as like a T-bone or a broadside-type wreck. Next, we have three angle crashes, and angle crashes are basically when two vehicles impact each other in a non-parallel angle in the front end of both vehicles. And last, we have one fatal crash. Out of the 19 crashes that occurred, there was a total of 15 injuries, in which concludes one tragic loss of life. This next slide here is a collision diagram for the intersection of Cannon Price Road and Boss-McLohan Road with NC 118. The crash information that was shared on the previous slide came from this diagram. It shows the location, type, and number of wrecks. The next location we'll look at is Highway 118 intersection at Stokestown, St. John's Road. 11 crashes occurred between February 1st, 2021 and January 31st, 2026. Out of these crashes, there were five angled crashes, which resulted in five injury crashes. And out of the 11 crashes that occurred, there were nine total injuries. So some of these crashes had multiple injuries associated with them. Again, this is another collision diagram showing this intersection, which is NC 118 with Stoketown, St. John's Road, and Rock Road. The crash information that was shared on the previous slide came from this diagram. Again, it shows the location, type, and number of wrecks. Proposed improvements. Proposed to close the direct intersection of Cannon Price Road and NC 118 by installing a cul-de-sac. Next, redirect Cannon Price Road traffic to Stokestown, St. John's Road. And last, construct a roundabout at NC 118 and Stokestown, St. John's Road. This slide here shows the overall project. There's certain portions of this project that are not close together. So I put this on one slide so you can see how they all connected together. In this slide, both concept plan sheets, concept plan sheets one through two, are combined together so everyone can, again, see how the total design looks. The next two slides following this one will show the individual concept plan sheets so you can see more of the conceptual design. Concept plan sheet one is in the lower left corner, left-hand corner, and it shows the proposed roundabout at NC 118 in Stokestown and St. John's Road. The next concept plan that I'll show you is plan sheet two, and it's in the top right-hand corner. And it shows closing the direct intersection of Cannon Price Road and NC 118 and installing the cul-de-sac. This slide is concept plan sheet one. As I mentioned a while ago, we propose to remove and realign a section of VNC 118 and install a single lane roundabout to effectively address the crash types occurring at these intersections and improve safety for all users. And we look down at the roundabout. We actually have an example of one, and it's down on Nelson Road and River Road. And it's southeast from here, west of Vanceboro. It's about five miles away. Since this roundabout was installed, we haven't received any more recorded crashes. Next slide is concept plan sheet two. We propose to remove direct access from Cannon Price Road from NC 118 and install a cul-de-sac. Additionally, this plan will remove direct access from Boss McLawhorn Road to Cannon Price Road. This design will effectively address the crash types occurring at both intersections and improve safety for all users. And as you can, I don't know if it's hard to see on the screen, but we also plan on extending two existing driveways, and they're shown in green, outlined in green. And they'll be extended out to NC 118. But they'll be extended to the high side of the curve. So this will allow users of these driveways to get adequate sight distance when they pull out onto the road. Next steps. NCDOT will continue project development. Next, advanced design environmental review. and pursue project funding and develop schedule for construction. This concludes my presentation. Does anyone have any questions? Any commissioner questions?

Comment, Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. I've traveled that road relatively often. I have family down that way. Yes, sir. I've always noticed that the Cannon Price Road was always stayed broke up. There's a lot of truck, tractor, trailer traffic down there. And I just figured the Cannon Price Road just isn't substantial enough for that traffic to begin with. Right. So for multiple reasons, I think this is a good idea. Yes, sir. It will eliminate that. Thank you.

Yes. Any other questions? What's the pleasure of the board?

Second. Second. Second.

OK. All right. So that we support this? Yes. Yes. OK. Please vote. Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate you all coming out tonight.

Thank you so much.

OK, Dawn, I'll invite you up for the rebranding project.

Good evening. Thank you for considering the rebrand proposal the board authorized on April 13th. The current Pitt County logo was adopted in August 2008. A vision mark is a graphic elements of the logo with the county's vision statement used as a tagline. Ours was retired with the adoption of our new strategic plan. Over the years, more than 30 logos have been created. While each one is special to its department, having been developed without brand guidelines has created a fragmented, multi-branded identity. Organizations typically choose to rebrand during strategic shifts when new business goals and priorities are being developed. It's the visual signal to residents and businesses that new opportunities and growth are happening. The refreshed brand unifies a workforce and shares a symbol and purpose. This rebrand model includes one primary logo mark and a vision mark that unifies all county departments and programs. Its modern design allows for flexible secondary lockups that will adopt to all platform and media sizes. It would be made available to the sheriff's office, but not a requirement. In this video produced by PAO, you'll see the anatomy of the logo elements come to life, their meaning explained, and the final logo revealed.

Every community has a story. A story shaped by its past and inspired by what's next. Our new brand is more than a logo. The bold P stands for Pitt County. Blue represents public service and our shared purpose. A gold leaf celebrates our agricultural roots and symbolizes the promise of every sunrise. Flowing curves honor our legacy. And a tea leaf bridges the blue emerging opportunities in education, healthcare, and industry. Every line, color, and shape tells one story. Pitt County, North Carolina. Community at heart, innovation in mind.

Melinda Hines, our digital marketing specialist and concept creator, will now answer questions and explain the extended version for public safety.

Good evening. Tonight I have the privilege of introducing a new visual identity that reflects who we are today, where we're headed, and our history. We wanted to create a brand that represents the vision of the strategic plan and our evolution, a mark that is impactful and has longevity, that reflects new opportunities, but also honors our legacy. Throughout the design process, every decision was intentional. The colors and typography were selected not only because they're vibrant and approachable, but because they also support modern accessibility standards. This also ensures that brands perform well across all media and communications. Dawn will also pass around a name badge featuring the branding, providing another example of how this identity can be applied. This brand also creates a strong foundation that can extend into specialized applications such as the public safety mark while remaining instantly recognizable as part of the unified county identity. This mark bridges the new identity and was inspired by the emergency management's one family logo. We also wanted a mark that was distinctive as a leader alongside the many organizations that make up our community. many of which have also recently rebranded. Every element of this mark has meaning, reflecting priorities that guide the county. The blue P grounds the design. It is a symbol of the values people expect from their local government and a shared vision that shapes our community. This also represents the county itself and our shared purpose for organizational excellence that is the foundation of everything we do. The flowing curves pay tribute to the current logo. It also echoes the movement and momentum that carries our county forward. The gold leaf celebrates where we come from honoring the agriculture heritage and land that shapes this community. The gold also is symbolic of North Carolina sunrises and that brings hope each day for prosperity and opportunities and is a reflection of the county's commitment to strive for community wellbeing. the teal leaf bridges heritage in our future, illustrating innovation through education, healthcare development and partnerships that together make our community stronger. This also highlights the commitment to balance development and economic vitality. In closing, our community is evolving. We are evolving. We should also have a visual that evolves. This brand reflects our journey honors where we have been represents who we are and supports where we're going. One County, many services, one trusted identity. Thank you for your time and the opportunity to share.

Thank you. Commissioners questions or comments. I think Dawn has a little bit more. You got a little more?

Yeah.

Go ahead. I'm sorry.

That's okay. The recommendation is implementation be phased strategically in this fiscal year as costs are already included in this year's budget. The savings from in-house brand strategy development are estimated between $100,000 and $200,000 based on the complexity of the rollout. With much of the work being completed in-house, the total estimate included in this year's budget is $100,000. If there are no questions, the recommendation in support of the investment in our strategic plan is the motion to approve a comprehensive rebrand and its components.

Thank you. Thank you, Dawn. Commissioner, questions, comments? Commissioner Nunley, you look like you want to go first.

I will. I just want to, first of all, thank PIO and staff. I think this is an indication when you've got quality people in-house, you don't need to go shop for consultants. you know, and, and you empower your internal departments and you, and you give, you know, and you, and you get, and you get what you get. Right. And so thank you, um, for, for the hard work that you're doing with this transition. Um, I really appreciate the vision and I can't wait to get my badge.

Any other commissioner comments?

Just, I just, I like the design. It's very impressive to me.

Thank you.

And I mean, I was around when the other one was installed. I like that one too, but this one's good.

Thank you.

I agree. I like it as well. Any commissioners on this side would like to make any comments? We have a motion to approve and a second. Please vote. All right, thank you, Dawn. Appreciate your and your staff's hard work on this.

Thank you very much.

All right, next up, Matt, with the legislative goals adoption. Mr. Chair, if you don't mind, I'll step down. I have a PowerPoint for this. Okay.

Mr. Chair, commissioners, legislative goals. So I can get this to work. Here we go. Legislative goals process. I'd kind of mentioned it in the legislative update over the last couple times. But again, just a brief recount of that. Every two years, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, excuse me, NCACC, engages in the process to determine legislative goals. And as I had stated before, this is important. They are continually advocating on county's behalf with the General Assembly in the short session and the long session. Even out of session, to advocate for counties, all 100 counties as a whole. So this process is important because it gets our voice out there for what they're advocating as well. So this process invites input from all county commissioners, county officials, and stakeholders. And then when we gather that and submit it, we'll do it in the form of a policy statement. It'll include background information on the impetus or the motivation of the proposal. So once we vote on that, once we determine what our legislative goals will be for the biennium, staff will gather all that information and be able to submit it when we submit the goals to NCACC. Timeline. I have briefly mentioned this as well, but on June 9th, I invited commissioners, officials, staff to submit their legislative goals. The deadline was initially August 17th. It's now been moved back. It's August 27th. That's the due date for us to submit the goals, but I thought it would be relevant and prudent to go ahead and address it tonight to give us time to submit those. Mid-September, NCACC will take those. They will give it to their steering committee, and that steering committee for each topic will vote on the goal proposals that they believe is relevant. and then they will send it to the legislative goals committee who will review it and make their recommendations. Those recommendations are submitted to the membership as a whole at the legislative goals conference which as you can see will be November 19th and 20th. At that point all 100 counties or the counties that are present will vote on it and your legislative goals for NCACC will be established. Just to recap, these are the top priority goals for NCACC in the 25-26 biennium. These were the top five. You can see there is a full list on NCACC's website that includes all of the goals and all of the priorities, but these were the top five that was voted. They are support teacher and classified school personnel, including increases in salaries. They were to seek legislation to repeal in North Carolina General Statute 105-275-45, and as you can see, what that was was a business personal property exclusion for solar equipment. So the solar panels, the solar boxes, there was an 80 percent exclusion on that business personal property, which again, that's revenue for counties as a property tax. It was to seek legislation to increase funding for farmland preservation initiatives. Also to seek legislation for funding to provide essential medical, mental health, substance use, and social services for persons held in the local detention facility. And lastly, it was to seek governmental funding to assist counties that have limited resources and to help them with the construction of critical facilities. Those were NCA CC's top goals, and these were our goals that we had submitted for the biennium in 25 and 26. As you can see, and we've gone over those extensively when we speak with our local delegation, but general revenue protection, oppose unfunded mandates, fully fund state responsibilities for public education, broadband, posting public notices electronically, water and sewer infrastructure, the Family Justice Center, authorized maintenance bonds for subdivision streets, county administration building and funding for replacement housing. And so again, as for submission this year, and these are some of the proposed legislative goals that have been sent back. So for planning, and we've heard about this, preserve local land use authority. I think that's prevalent in this time as you Heard whether it was from down zoning a year and a half, two years ago to the most recent one, which was the stormwater controls that limits the requirements of stormwater controls. Slowly but surely, local land use authority is starting to erode. And so trying to preserve that is big. Improved transportation and land use coordination. Support water and sewer infrastructure again. Address emerging land use issues. So again, data centers, solar farms, things that aren't necessarily, weren't prevalent five years ago but now are becoming more and more prevalent. Protect and enhance farmland preservation efforts and address homelessness and housing stability. For economic development, they submitted two. It was funding for site development and an investment in workforce innovation. Public health, the majority of theirs was funding, different aspects of local health departments, but one specifically that was mentioned by Director Wes Gray was the Nurse Family Partnership. That funding is slowly eroding, it's slowly being taken away, and it's vital to the public health and our local health department. A policy concern that was raised by public health is to raise the minimum age for tobacco and vape products to 21. And lastly, uh, tax submitted. It is just one bullet point, but it encompasses a whole host of issues that, um, counties are dealing with and revenue sources, but removing property tax exemption loopholes, um, as we've talked about one specific incidents is the affordable housing exemption. We were trying to get that passed. That again is where these private entities or private companies are having all of their property tax excluded because they are partnering with a nonprofit and they're allowing that under the current statute. Another one would be the constitutional amendment that's going to be on the ballot for the levy limit. So these are just things that could be proposed as legislative goals for Pitt County. These are a proposal that I came up with both with staff and then hearing from some commissioners as to what 2728 could be. Again, general revenue protection, oppose unfunded mandates. I think those are vital in every year. Of course, revenue protection, property taxes, that is how county government funds these services that you vote on and provide, so that is key. And as we talked about, some of these tax loopholes are starting to erode that revenue base, and so continuing to push for general revenue protection. Opposed unfunded mandates. If your revenue source is shrinking and you're getting more mandates on top of you and they're not being funded, that's another burden that's going to be placed on the county. So again, pushing for those. I think those are two relevant ones that every biennium should be on the legislative goals. Fully fund state responsibilities for public education. A large chunk of your budget is public education, covering, again, statutorily you're supposed to cover capital projects, but more and more we're covering personnel and operational costs. And so trying to push for more of the state's responsibility for public education. Seeking funding for our county administration building. Again, that's in the planning stages, but any funding that we can get for that would be vital for our county. Preserving land use, local authority for current and emerging land use issues. So that's kind of combining it together, both the eroding of whatever local authority we have, them taking that away, and then also as issues start to become more prevalent, allowing local land use authority because there's 100 counties. Each county is different. Each local land use should be different as well. Foster economic development and site readiness, and then funding for human services without eroding current tax revenue. The reason that qualifier is at the end is currently for the SNAP benefit program in the budget. A quarter of 2% of your sales tax is now going to go to pay for SNAP benefits. And then if your error rate is over a certain amount, you'll have to fund more. So this is trying to get funding for our public health, for our DSS, without taking other tax revenue to fund that. So those are just some proposals, but as you can see, any questions or directives, and then I've placed three motions. Adopt the goals as presented, adopt a modified list of goals, or direct the county attorney, and we can address on August 17th as the due date was pushed back to August 27th.

Mr. Chairman? Thank you, Matt. Any questions for Matt? If not, it was a pleasure to board.

So it depends.

I'd have to reread it, but I think it comes out of the 39, 42, and 46, but it would be a quarter percent of your first 2% of sales tax.

Any other questions? What's the pleasure to board? We've got a motion to approve. But here a second got a second. All right, please vote. Okay, thank you, Matt. Appreciate that. Madam Manager, you have number four. So I'll kick that back to you.

Yes, this is a reappointment to the Human Relations Commission, and it is recommended that Alex Joyner be appointed to a term that expires August 3rd, 2029.

Move to approve. Second.

We've got a motion and a second. Please vote. Okay, thank you so much. All right, we've come to the end here. I'll start with my right with Commissioner comments. Commissioner Brown. Okay, Commissioner Perkins-Williams?

No comment.

Okay. Commissioner Weaver?

No comment, sir.

And Commissioner McLaughlin? No comment. Commissioner Floyd-Huggins? No comment. Commissioner Natalie?

That's a record tonight. Commissioner Manning? I just want to say it's been nice to be with you all tonight, and I'm ready to go home.

OK. Thank you so much. I think we have a closed session to move into. Correct.

If I may read the basis briefly. It's been suggested this body go into closed session under the following grounds. One, to discuss a personnel matter under North Carolina General Statute 143.318.11 . Two, to consult with an attorney employed or retained by the public body in order to observe attorney-client privilege under North Carolina General Statute 143.318.11 , which privilege is hereby acknowledged. Three, to establish or instruct the public body's staff concerning the position to be taken by or on behalf of the public body for the acquisition of real property under North Carolina General Statute 143-318-1185. And finally, four, to prevent the disclosure of information that is not considered a public record under North Carolina General Statute 143-318-10.

Thank you, sir. I've got a motion. We will go into closed session. Second. Got a motion and a second. Please vote. Thank you all for coming out this evening. We'll be back in a little while. Move that item.

I will.

Thank you. We're ready.

We are back in open session.

And I would like to make a motion to approve the closed session minutes for July 13th.

Second. We've got a motion and a second to approve the minutes. Please vote. All right. Thank you so much. Do I have a motion to adjourn?

Second.

Got a motion and a second to adjourn. All right.

You better not vote no this time.

Okay. Thanks, guys.

Building families is the pursuit of places that promise stability, growth, and ample opportunity for the future.

One of the reasons that