City Council - Regular Meeting

familyfoundation.org and from the listeners  who support this NPR station. It's Morning   Edition on Radio IQ. I'm Jeff Boser. Maintaining  a viable blood supply is among the most essential   elements of the nation's health care system.  In addition to the work done by the Red Cross,   a regional nonprofit called the blood connection  recently began operations in Virginia serving   Curillian and SOA hospitals. Abby Stey wrote  about how blood is collected and distributed   on Cardinal News. She talked about it with Fred  Eckles. Abby, there is of course an enormous and   ongoing need for blood. As an example, you site  Rowan Oak's Curillian Clinic. Corillian Clinic in   2024 used almost 20,000 units of blood. A unit of  blood is about a pint. That's the amount a person   can donate in a single whole blood donation. That  means it might take 20,000 blood donations a year   to fill Curillion Clinic patients needs. So,  Curillion will continue to work with American   Red Cross, but their main blood supply will  come from this nonprofit organization called   the Blood Connection, which supplies blood  products to 130 hospitals across four states,   and they've just opened two new blood collection  centers, one in Rono, one in Vandal. It's their   first centers in Virginia. Now, your story  also illustrates the process of getting a unit   of blood from the donor to the recipient. And  it is not a simple thing. There's the medical   expertise such as the phabotamists who insert and  remove the needles from donors. Then nurses who   perform transfusions in various settings like  emergency rooms and cancer centers. Then there   are laboratory technicians who are conducting  tests on the blood to make sure it's free of   things like a tickborn disease called besia and  they're monitoring the blood supply. Then there   are the couriers. These are people who drive who  transport the blood from wherever it is donated   to processing centers where all that testing can  take place and then to hospitals where the blood   can be used. So in terms of infrastructure, we're  looking at collection centers, processing centers,  

storage centers, sometimes called blood banks,  and places where transfusions are conducted   like medical helicopters, emergency rooms, cancer  treatment centers. And all these forms of labor,   infrastructure, and regulation require significant  expertise and equipment that quickly adds up costs   that aren't immediately visible. And of course,  there is the time element. Blood has a short   shelf life. But blood cells has to be used within  42 days. Platelets for blood clotting have to be   used within 5 to 7 days. So within those tight  time windows, blood couriers are needed to take   that donated blood for testing and where it can  be processed into components. So these curries   are needed to transport blood that's been donated  in a collection center to processing centers. Then   from the processing centers to the sites where  will actually be transfused. Now you mentioned   cost and sometimes patients can be left wondering  what they're being charged for. Hospitals online   portals or there these things called chargem  files where patients are supposed to be able   to find costs are just not user friendly.  Sover's chargemaster file has over 11,000   rows and four different charges listed for  one unit of blood red blood cells. And those   were charges range from about $1,000 to $3,000.  And a 2023 study of 200 hospitals nationally,   the average charge to patients of one unit of red  blood cells was approximately $600. And then not   only are the hospital charges to patients lacking  transparency, but the blood collector's charges to   hospitals are also unclear. for example known at  the blood connection responded to requests for how   much they charge curillion for blood products. So  overall the distrust could come from the inherent   complexity of uh blood collection utilization  and transfusions plus the lack of transparency   about how much blood collectors charge hospitals  and then how much hospitals charge patients. Abby   Steady is a freelance writer. Her story about  blood donations and distribution was published  

on cardinalnews.org. org. Cardinal News is a  nonprofit independent online news organization   covering Southwest and Southside Virginia. Great  businesses understand that reputation matters.   That's why aligning with Radio IQ means more than  exposure. It's about association. When your name   is heard alongside award-winning journalism and  thoughtful cultural coverage, you're making a   statement about who you are and what you value.  The right audiences notice. The right partnerships   last. Explore corporate sponsorship by  emailing WVTF corporate supportvt.edu. Support for Radio YQ comes from Bay  Power Solutions. For more than 40 years,   helping keep universities, hospitals, and  regional businesses running when the power   goes out. From service and parts to emergency  backup systems. More at bay powersolutions.com.   and from Wordsprint serving Rowanoke and  the New River Valley with graphic design,   branding, and omni channel marketing  services. Wordsprint.com. 10° in Wise.   Blackburg and Rowan Oak have 15° Charlottesville  20. Richmond 20° mostly sunny today. Highs range   from 30 in Wise to 34 in Blackburg. Near  40 in Danville. Lows around 20 tonight,   but warmer tomorrow. Highs in the low 40s  for most, around 45 for Danville. It's 8:51. Would you bet that this artificial intelligence  balloon will soar even beyond the stratosphere?   Marketplace Morning Report is supported by Schwab.  Schwab knows that investors want control of their   financial future. That's why when it comes to  wealth management, Schwab is dedicated to giving   investors more choices. More at Schwab.com. by  GE. With GE key, Agentic AI and GE smart software,  

GE is at the forefront in Agentic procurement  orchestration and autonomous supply chains. I'm   David Branachio in Los Angeles. First, nervous  markets this morning. Silver, the commodity,   has lost nearly a quarter of its value over the  last 5 days, although there's a small bounce back   at the moment. Gold is up a sliver this morning  after its biggest one-day drop since the 1980s.   Marketplaces Nancy Marshall Gendzer is following  this. Part of the pullback from precious metals   is a reaction to President Trump's nomination of  Kevin Worsh as chair of the Federal Reserve. Worse   still has to be confirmed by the Senate. He's  already served on the Fed's board of governors.   And Worsh has a track record as an inflation  hawk. Reluctant to cut interest rates for fear   of kindling inflation. Worshist's nomination  strengthened the dollar and that made gold and   silver less attractive as a safe haven. Oil prices  also slid after President Trump said the US may be   able to make a deal with Iran, easing concerns  of a disruption in Iranian oil supplies. I'm   Nancy Marshall Gendzer for Marketplace stocks.  S&P futures are down 510en of a percent. NASDAQ   futures down 8/10en of a percent. In effect  now in five states, a ban on using food stamps   to buy sugary drinks and junk food. More than a  dozen other states have similar rules on the way.   Marketplaces Samantha Fields has an update.  People who get SNAP have always faced some   restrictions on what they can buy. One of the big  ones being no hot prepared foods. You can't use   your SNAP benefit for like a rotisserie chicken  at Costco, even though it's a really healthy and   efficient way to feed your family. Lily Roberts  at the Center for American Progress says these   new state restrictions are ostensibly about making  sure people spend their benefits on healthy foods.   But I will note that research suggests that  the way to get people to buy healthy food is to   give them additional benefits, not to restrict  what they spend. But increasingly, states are  

restricting what people can buy. Stephanie Johnson  at the National Grocerers Association says it's   proving complicated for retailers to implement.  The good example in Oklahoma is granola bars with   chocolate chips are in, but granola bars with  a chocolate drizzle are out. That's confusing   for store owners and for customers. And Johnson is  concerned about what could happen once USDA starts   enforcing the new rules. If a store accidentally  lets someone use SNAP to buy that chocolate   drizzled granola bar, on your first strike, you  get 30 days to correct. On your second strike,   you lose your SNAP license. That would be a big  hit both to stores, which often rely on SNAP   revenue, and to people in their communities who  use benefits to buy groceries. I'm Samantha Fields   for Marketplace Marketplace Morning Report is  supported by PaloAlto Networks. PaloAlto Networks   delivers what's next in cyber security innovation  to protect today's digital way of life. Learn more   at paloaltoworks.com and by the economist offering  global reporting and analysis on politics,   economics, and world affairs. More information at  economist.com. An estimated 80% of the rise of the   stock market last January through November came  from exuberance over artificial intelligence. But   even if the technology is the revolution promised,  these things are not linear. In the 1880s,   building railroads revolutionized the US economy.  But many early investors lost their shirts. From   25 years ago as well, but is AI now like the  dot boom then bust? Marketplac's Megan Mccardi   Corino reports from Silicon Valley. I'm on a busy  street in Menllo Park, California, looking for   some manholes. Paul Vixie is my guide. So, we're  just going out the street. We're just going out   the street real briefly. He's a vice president  at AWS Security, but back in the dotcom boom,  

he was an early internet innovator who helped  build fiber optic cable networks under these   manholes. Vixie and I were on that street for a  history lesson about this current AI boom with   billions being spent on huge powerful data centers  and whether it echoes the dot boom and eventual   bust. This is MFN. This is where I worked and this  one is RCN. I feel maybe we should move out of the   street. We did after dodging some cars. Back in  the early 2000s when those cables were being laid,   telecommunications companies were also spending  billions of dollars to build out fast and reliable   internet infrastructure, betting on bigger  returns. That was very much the feeling is we got   to do everything we can within the limits of the  law and the laws of physics because that's how the   winners and losers are going to sort themselves  out. And what were the results of that giant   building boom of fiber? A wave of bankruptcies.  The Federal Communications Commission estimated   that by 2007, about 23 of the 45 million miles of  fiber cables were still unused. But years later,   that fiber infrastructure supported streaming,  social media, and now AI. How would you describe   what you saw in terms of how we ended up with a,  you know, this fiber glut and does it relate to   our present world? We now have enough fiber that  anybody who wants to do something can do it. Uh,   and I think all of the investments that were made  have ultimately paid off even if you know some of   the companies represented on these manhole covers  had to go through bankruptcy on the way. Yeah.  

Even if in the short term it was too much than  they could recoup, ultimately we used it for all   kinds of things. Yes. So the future is effectively  unlimited for what can be done with information   with an information economy in the next 50 years.  And that's what today's AI companies are betting   a whole lot on. I'm Megan McCarti Corino for  Marketplace. And we try to resist too clever by   half marketing, but I will fail before you hear.  You know, Sweethearts, the heart-shaped candies   embossed with Valentiney lines like be mine.  This year, a darker turn with a nod to financial   insecurity. Sweethearts is mixing in hearts  that say things like split rent or share login   or carpool. What are they missing? My crew came  up with station, dodge taxes, work three gigs,   forego health coverage. Of course, nothing says  I love you more than live in mom's basement,   but that doesn't fit on a heart. I suppose the  sweethearts people call all of this love in   this economy. I'm David Bronachio of Marketplace  Morning Report. From APM American Public Media on the next fresh air, Ethan Hawk. He's been  nominated for an Oscar for his performance   in the film Blue Moon about lyricist Loren's  heart. In the streaming series The Lowdown,   he's a small-time investigative journalist  constantly getting into trouble. He'll   talk about his movies and his life from his  years as a teenage film star to today. Hope   you can join us. That's Fresh Air Monday  through Thursday at 2 p.m. on Radio IQ. You're listening to Radio IQ on WVTF Rono, WRIQ  Charles City, Richmond, WVTU Charlottesville,   WVTW Charlottesville, WVTR Marian, Wis FMYS,  WQIQ Spennsylvania, WIQUR Lexington, WHC Emory,  

HD3 of Wurv Richmond, and on 92.5 Richmond  and 94.9 Fredericksburg. RadioIQ, a listenerup   supported community service of Virginia Tech on  your smart speaker and online at radioiq.org. Welcome to NewsHour. It's live from the BBC World  Service in London. I'm Tim Franks. Israel allows   a limited reopening of the crossing point  between Gaza and Egypt. We'll hear from   two women. One who wants to leave Gaza, one who  wants to return. All All of my family is there.   I don't have anybody here. I can't raise  my children alone. I have to return back   to Gaza even if it is de. Also, damaging new  revelations about the links between a former   British government minister and the American  sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Why we should   get excited about the full dress rehearsal  for the forthcoming mission to the moon.   We have not been away from low Earth orbit  for over half a century, over 50 years. So,   it's our first return to deep space, you know,  since the Apollo era. And the Grammys breaks   new ground while taking on a familiar foe.  All those stories to come after the news. BBC News with Gavind Gil. Israel says the  Rafa border crossing between Gaza and Egypt,   the only gateway for Palestinians  to leave or enter the territory,   is now fully open. There are strict limits and  vetting for those being allowed in and out.   Many leaving are in urgent need of medical care.  From Jerusalem, Yoland Nell reports. This is the   Good morning everyone and welcome to our 9:00  a.m. informal session of Rono City Council and   our joint meeting with the Gun Violence Prevention  Commission. I'll ask our clerk first to call the   role for council and then I'll ask the secretary  to call the role for the commission. Vice Mayor  

Maguire here. Mr. Nash here. Mr. Vison here.  Miss Powers here. Mr. Hagen here. Miss Sanchez   Jones here. Mayor Cobb here. Quorum is present.  Okay. Secretary for the commission present. Okay.   Thanks, Josh. All right. Miss Cohen here. Miss  Campbell here. Miss Copel here. Miss Mr. Major,   Mr. Rose, Mr. Johnson present and Miss Cobalt  is on her way and will be here momentarily. All right. So, um do we know if Mr. Major  and Miss Hodgej are coming? I know that   uh Mr. Major is ill and I have not heard  anything. So, what I'm wondering is if we   have any commissioners on the perimeter  if you would like to come in, we can adjusting couple if you want to come here.  Uh I know Miss Cable's coming,   but Peter, maybe if you sit here,  I'll put Miss Keell over here. And if we need to shift, we can. Well, thank you all for being here this morning.  um want to extend my appreciation to the members   of the Gun Violence Prevention Commission. Um some  of whom have been at this for six years, some of   whom are newer, but all of whom are committed to  this work and the progress that we're making. And   um so thank you all for this time to be together.  We had a really excellent annual report shared   with us last fall and part of that report was  a request to have a joint meeting to talk about   what we can work on collectively going forward. So  we're going to do that through an overview of the  

progress we've made in terms of uh gun violence  reduction through some statistic sharing go over   some highlights from the uh report in the fall  and then look at directions and next steps. So,   thank you all again for being here and I'll  turn to our chair for the commission. Rabbi,   I think we were going to start with the police  report of the gun violence statistics. Would   you like to say any welcoming words first?  I'm going to do that after the police. Well,   okay. All right. So, we will first of all welcome  who's chief who's gonna lead us off. Whole team. Deputy Chief Pucket. Thank you. Good morning,  everyone. Uh, Captain Theo is going to go over   our year-end statistics for gun violence, and  then after he does that, I'm going to give a   comparison from 2022 through 2023 and 2024 through  2025. Welcome. Good morning. Good morning. Well,   some of you have seen this. Excuse me. I've  got a little bit of congestion trying to get   over here. Um, some uh this was presented to the  prevention commission in the January meeting. So,   some of you have seen this before. For those that  haven't, I gladly go over some of the highlights   of this report. So, this report uh is comparing  our gun violence statistics from year end 24 to   year end 25. Uh, and you will see uh in particular  our homicide numbers. So, we're down one between   24 and 25. Uh and then we're down seven aggravated  assaults uh with gun violence from 24 to 25. Our   domestic aggravated assaults stayed the same. Uh  and our suicide by gun uh was up by seven and 25,   excuse me. And in terms of their location, um it  was spread out between our zones. So zone one is  

southeast there was four. Zone two northeast  there were three. Zone three southwest there   were three. and zone 4 northwest there was  14. Now that is only for this year. So that   is just 2025. Uh same with the firearm suicides  by location as well. Uh and the incident times   as well. Uh you can see that majority of our  incidents occur in the evening or the overnight   hours which is a pretty standard pattern that we  see uh in regards to our gun violence overall.   Um, and then the, uh, demographics. I'm not going  to read all of those. You all can peruse those. In   terms of the offenders and the victims, um, still  overwhelmingly in line with kind of the national   average, uh, in terms of the majority of those  offenders and victims are males. Um, and in the   age bracket of the 22 to 39 as well. Uh and then  in the causes of the shooting incidents, if we   can determine what was the root cause for any of  these shooting incidents, uh based on the criminal   investigation, uh we tried to aggregate that into  some uh standard causes. So you have escalated   arguments, uh drug deals, robberies, interpersonal  violence, and unknown. So the escalated argument   generally is some type of uh verbal argument um  that has then escalates into the shooting. Your   interpersonal violence generally means that there  was some type of physical violence associated with   the incident before it escalated to a shooting. So  somebody was physically assaulted um with either   another weapon or you know a fist fight something  of that matter and then that escalated into the   shooting as well. So that's uh the difference in  those causes of shootings. Uh and then in terms of  

the case status and clearance rates, you'll see by  by uh by large we've cleared the majority of them.   We're at 72% clearance rate. Uh which is pretty  significantly above the national average for these   types of incidents. Um and your closed by arrest  means that somebody was arrested for the crime.   uh and your closed exception means that there was  an exceptional means that we knew who the offender   was, but for a variety of subcategories, uh that  offender was not prosecuted. So, there's about   six different subcategories that fall under that  closed exception overall category. Um case active,   so that's still being investigated. and then  case inactive. That is uh something that's been   investigated to its fullest and it has basically  run its course and we were not able to arrest   and or close it by exception. And that's it. Any  questions or prompt anything that I can help with? Well, that the uh the drug  deal we have there's nothing causes of uh of shooting incidents have a big  opioid problem. I would think that would be a   bigger issue. But so the again these are  just for 25. Um so the the comparison for   the year end in terms of the numbers on the top  left are both 25 and 24 but those are just 20   uh 25. So just to the best of our ability you  you do have several that have the unknown. So   in that circumstance, if we're if if there's not  a significant amount of evidence to be able to   um verify what the motive or cause was then then  we leave it under that unknown category. So there   is a possibility that some of those were were  included or or you know could could increase those  

numbers. We just not able to say definitively.  Yes sir. Other questions? I have a couple.   Um, so it seems to me that the clearance rates  are that that's a really good percentage and it's   probably an increase over previous years, which I  think is credit to our AR team and our real-time   crime center and some of the other efforts we're  taking. Um, is that is that accurate that it's   we're seeing an increase in the closed cases?  Uh, I do know for our our homicide numbers,   we closed all but one last year. Um, so we had  a 93% clearance ratio for our homicides, which   uh is um significantly higher nationwide. Um, and  and frankly is one of the best I've been a part of   and have seen in a long time. So and mayor, we um  we have been clearing the national average above   and beyond for the last two years. The national  average is below 50% and for the past two years   we've been 60% or above each year on violent  crime as a whole. Um, I know we've just begun   um, keeping statistics on suicides and that's  always concerning. We see an increase in suicides,   whatever the the cause is. Um, so so  thank you for for tracking those. Um, and I know it's it it's something that we're very  cautious in terms of talking about and reporting.   So, I'm aware of that sensitivity around that.  Um, are we are we seeing I'm going to answer my   own question probably. I I believe we are seeing  an increased rate of u mental health episodes and  

behavioral health concerns and I think that some  of that's getting manifested in the increased   suicide attempts and suicides. Are you all  able to speak to what you're seeing in terms of activity saying related to kind of the mental  health crisis and ways that we can continue to   be aware of that and work collaboratively  to address that as a community? Yes,   sir. I do I think the Marcus alert system  is we're in year two or three I believe.   Yes. Uh I think it's full fully two years  implemented now. Yeah. That's a co-responder   model that we have with Blue Ridge Behavioral  who actually goes out with officers to calls   who are experiencing mental health crisis  at the time and they try to intervene. Uh uh you know some instances mayor this year that  we've seen we've seen um some elderly commit   suicide. We've seen some people with chronic  disease commit suicide. There's there there's a   wide range. It's really hard to pinpoint the um  an exact reason because it varies for different   people and sometimes we just don't know what  that reason is. So, it's really hard to actually   come up with data to pinpoint, hey, this is  what we believe the suicides are calls from,   if that makes sense, without doing a deep study.  And thank you for the reminder about the uh the   Marcus Alert and the work that you all do in that  regard. That's that's an important partnership   that we have. The last question I have and  and we can probably talk about this in the   uh strategies going forward is that um it's  amazing to me and commendable that we've seen   such a significant reduction in the last couple  of years. Uh though we're still seeing a higher   rate in Northwest Rowan Oak and I know this is  a priority of of the commission and of council.  

Um, I'm curious if we can maybe not now or maybe  now and later if we can talk about some specific   uh strategies and approaches we can take  to address the higher rate in Northwest. I just put that out there as maybe one of our  discussion items. Thank you. Other question? If you're okay with mayor, I'll explain the  uh the next charts real quick. Uh what you're   looking at is gun-related homicides and fatal  shootings or non-fatal shootings. And what we   did was we took 2022 and 2023 and compared them  to 2024 and 2025. The reason why we use this data   set is Chief Booth came in at the end of 2023  and that's when we started implementing some   changes departmentwide. Um those changes included  things like uh GVI um micro time hot policing   uh neighborhood oriented policing um and building  of the real-time crime center. So if you look   uh at your homicides comparison we had 39 for  the two years of 2022 and 23 compared to 19 for   24 and 25. That's a 51% reduction. And then  for your non-fatal shootings, we had 96 for   the previous two years and then 43 for the past  two years. That's a 55% reduction in non-related   uh or sorry, non-fatal shootings. Uh and overall,  something that we also want to point out for the   agency is it we've done this with a 46% reduction  of use and force this year. So, and we attribute   that to a lot of deescalation that techniques  and training that the chief has brought in. Um,   and with that being said, some of the other  strategies that we've done, uh, I'll explain   the neighborhood oriented policing. Um, that's  where we have looked at zone lieutenants and   we've given each lieutenant a sector of the  city to be responsible for along with captains  

have a problem area. So to your point uh for  Northwest Ronok, we've actually reassigned   uh one of the problem areas in Northwest Ronok  to our community response bureau captain. So we   expect more community outreach from that bureau  over there this year uh moving forward. The other   thing that we did was a real-time crime center.  And if you look at the infograph that you have   since its opening, we've it's assisted  with 38 arrest and 186 investigations. Have any questions? I'll be happy to answer them. Questions on this report? Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. I don't have so  much a question as I just wanted to say thank   you. I think this is really helpful information.  Um, we hear a lot. We know we still have a lot of   challenges, but I think this is really good data  to show that um we're trending at least in this   period that we're looking at in a positive  direction. And I just want to say thank you   to all of you, especially Chief Booth. Um some  of these statistics that you included in here,   I think are worth calling out, especially the no  officer involved shootings occurred since 2016.   Um overall police use of force decreased 46% um  compared to 2024. use of force incidents involving   black males decreased 32%, white males decreased  31%. Um, I'm sure there's a lot in these numbers,   but to me it just at a macro level  um indicates some positive um sort   of direction that we're headed in and also um  the tactics that you are employing. I really   appreciate your embrace of more community  policing, getting out in the neighborhoods   um and it seems to be working. So, thank  you very much, Chief. Vice Mayor, others,

Rabbi Cohen. First, um, I wanted to very much  thank, uh, Deputy Chief Pucket, who is now our   liaison from the city to the commission,  um, which I think is is just perfect and,   uh, we are so thrilled that that appointment was  made. And I want to thank Chief Booth who has been   a phenomenal partner to work with the Gun Violence  Prevention Commission. Um I also want to to thank   city council. Um those of you who have been on  council for a while remember that a few years ago   um the relationship between council and the  Gun Violence Prevention Commission was a little   touchy. Um so it's so nice to sit here um and to  feel support and to know that things are are going   well. Uh we requested this today for several  reasons. One uh we want to uh let you know how   we have restructured the commission and what we  see as moving forward where where our work will   go. Uh two, uh we all have some concern that when  a problem gets better that people have a tendency   to pay less attention to the problem both in terms  of finances and in terms of just direct attention.   Um and we fear and there is some good data for  this fear that if that were to happen in Rowan Oak   um that we would once again see an increase in  uh homicides and aggravated assaults and so we   have made such great progress um in the past few  years but I don't think uh that the response to   the progress should be to take our foot off the  gas pedal. U and I and I think that's very very  

important. Um, and finally, um, and, um, probably  what you're going to hear in several different   ways, uh, gun violence prevention, uh, both from  the level of intervention on the police side and   from the point of prevention, which we hope the  gun violence prevention commission can work in   that sphere the most, needs funds. It's simply not  possible to um put together a citywide program to   uh truly prevent gun violence without a budget  and without funding to make it happen. Um and I   know that this is probably uh the worst time  to come to city council and say to you all   uh that funding is important, but I'm going  to say it anyway. Um, so, uh, I'm going to,   uh, pass out to each of you. Um, and this is  slightly dated, but it is still very accurate. Um,   and if you would each take, I believe it's well,  Terry, I'll let you count. Um this is a study uh   that includes um probably the best evidencebased  um violence investigator by a name by a man by the   name of Thomas Apt um who I appreciate that Chief  Booth has put us on to and many on the commission   um have read his work particularly a book  called Bleeding Out which I recommend to   all of the council members to look at. It's a  it's an easy read and a very important read. Um,  

but he tells us and this article comes at it  from several different angles that every single   homicide in a city costs somewhere between 10  and $19 million to the city. and that putting $1   million into prevention prevents an equal number  of homicides. So, the return on the investment is   tremendous. The problem is that you don't see that  money up front. So, it is it is hard. But when you   think about all of the initial costs such as the  police investigation, hospitalization, the courts,   um, and then the lack of productivity, the  lack of tax income, the drop in house values,   the drop in taxes from that evaluation, um, the  mental health needs after such an issue. And you   do that even just nine times over in our city,  you are talking a tremendous amount of money,   likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars,  at least hundred million dollars. Now, you don't   see that loss in one year. It's over a period  of time. But in the year where we were having   23 or 24 homicides a year, the city was losing a  tremendous amount of money. And so I really want   to get us to the point of view of understanding  that even in these hard times that investing in   keeping our city uh safe through both prevention  and intervention um is the right financial and  

absolutely the right moral move. Um many of our uh  city council people were not on city council when   some of our commissioners were appointed to the  commission. And so I've asked the commissioners   who are here to take one or two minutes just to  introduce themselves and let you know who they are   because we are in need of two more commissioners.  And I want you to know who is on the commission so   you can think about what might be good additions.  Um, so Katherine, if we could start with you. Oh, Valerie, I'm sorry. Okay. Went through  looking at me and talking. Yeah. Good   morning. I'm Valerie Keell. I've been on the  commission for about a year now. In my job,   I work at Curillion Ron Memorial Hospital  as the violent injury recovery and support   program manager. And we work with individuals  who've been shot, stabbed, or assaulted.   We work with them at the bedside and then in  their homes and community for up to one year   afterwards to focus on their emotional recovery.  And so as part of the commission, what I've been   focusing focusing on is gunlock ambassadors and  that's identifying credible messengers in the   community who can reach out to their networks and  talk about the importance of firearm safety and   hand out gunlocks in the community. And  so that's a bit about I'm Josh Johnson,   the secretary. Uh I work for Ronic City Public  Schools. My job is youth development intervention   coordinator. And so I was a police officer  for 10 years, worked in neighborhood services,   city manager's office for a year. And now I work  at the community empowerment center uh over on   Douglas Avenue. And so my job is often the touch  point for programmings for external partners. Um   whether that's social emotional learning or  development or college exploration. And so   uh a lot of my job is either individual  interventions with students that may be  

struggling or two to uh students affectionately  call them like our temperature changers. You know,   depending on how they come in that day, they  change the temperature of a classroom or school.   And so I sit here kind of as a representation  uh for Renick City Schools as well. Social anxiety. My name is Jared Rose.  Um I was appointed to the commission veterans coming home from prison to jail.  Um yeah, I've been on the commission. that you are are are are a commission member  as well as um you know um so anyways um I'm   Katherine Cable um I actually started coming to  this um to city council and asking for um work   on gun violence prevention um when Sherman Lee  was first elected mayor So, um I've been working   at this a very very long time. Um I um I have a  wide variety of interests in this topic. Um I'm   very passionate about public health um but also  um and about a public health-based approach to   um gun violence prevention. And um I uh am  working specifically because of my long-standing   um interest in um the council uh excuse me in  um legal how how we can use um you know legal   avenues to um change the environment and improve  gun violence prevention um working specifically on   um tracking some of the gun violence prevention  legislation that's happening in Britain um and  

potentially with some interesting new legislation  that we can possibly put forward. for next year. My name is Brandy Campbell.  Professionally, I am a CPC,   a certified professional co medical billing, and  I specialize in ambulance psychology services. So,   I read a lot of the um first responders and  and what happens as as people, you know,   need the ambulance. But what brings me  to the commission is in my personal life.   I have lost two family members to gun one  by suicide in 2004 and my youngest brother that time heals all things. I'm a believer in  what you do with your time heals all things. So,   it's the healing for myself and for my community  that brings me to serve for the commission was just appointed and sworn in January 15th.  So, I'm looking forward to digging in. Um,   and we also have uh Reverend Amy Hodgej who's not  able to be here this morning. Um, and uh Reverend   Hodgej uh heads up our community engagement  committee. Um and uh Elliot uh or Elliott Major   um and uh Elliott has been on the commission  since its inception, but he let me know a few   weeks ago that his term is up as of April 1st  and he will not be renewing his term. So we will   uh need two two new commissioners. One to  uh replace Robert Lammore um who resigned   from the commission. um about a month ago and  one to replace Elliott, both of whom have been   uh really wonderful to have on the commission.  So, uh city council, we'd we'd very much like   you to think about that, to think about who  may be applying, um and to help us get the  

best people we can possibly get. Um in the past  few months, we have changed how the commission   worked. We used to be divided into three very  distinct segments of prevention, intervention,   and resolution. Meaning trying to prevent gun  violence, intervening when gun violence happened,   and responding after the violence occurred. Um,  that was a wonderful way to begin the commission.   it was really no longer fulfilling the really the  direction of what we saw as the commission. The   um police department um has done a  phenomenal job with the intervention piece   um is actively involved with uh working with  people afterwards through the through their reset   as is Fed Up. Um and we really saw ourselves  more on the prevention end of things. And   um so we divided uh each commissioner now  has a very specific role and will over time   create their own subcommittee to uh continue their  particular role in their particular program. And   each of them are going to tell you a little bit  about that. But just so you know what's coming,   um we have one committee that is involved in  suicide research and prevention. Uh one committee   which is following up and um enacting the gunlock  ambassadors program. um one that is uh with   uh Rono City Public Schools as liaison to letting  us know what is happening there and to uh taking  

back some suggestions or thoughts we may have to  the schools and seeing if they can be enacted. Um,   one committee is now looking at House, Virginia  House and Senate bills, working with gun violence,   looking at what is happening in Rono, and seeing  if we want to come to council and say to you,   look, these are great bills for other places in  the state, but what we see happening right here   may need something else. and and council, we would  like you to consider this as sending as part of   Ronuk's legislative agenda to the Virginia House  and Senate. Um, we have one committee that will be   uh continuing the planting peace program. We  have our um continuing community engagement   program. Uh and then we have a new committee  that will be looking at one block in Rono City   that has had significant problems with violence,  gun violence in particular, and looking and seeing   what does that block need? How do we raise that  one block out of this continual cycle of violence?   um what what would that cost? What services are  needed? And how could that become scalable year   after year? Um to slowly without, you know,  coming and saying, "Hey, we would love $50   million." Um and having city council look at  us like you don't know what's going on in the   city. Um but to say to you, look, let's do one  block at a time. let's fi let's fix up the city   and have a future for it. And so we have one  committee who's going to start investigating  

that. Um and then ultimately I hope that one of  our uh new commissioners will be responsible for   gathering everything that is happening in the  city working towards gun violence prevention,   intervention and response and putting it all  together because right now I know we uh have some   disperate groups that are doing great work but we  don't know exactly what they're doing and we don't   know if we're repeating their efforts and I think  it's important that we have a clearing house um to   know exactly what's happening and I think that's  a great role for the commission to carry. Um as   you saw um suicides uh in Reno City last year have  gone up significantly. Um and this is going to be   the committee or the subcommittee that uh Jared  Rose is going to head up. So I'm gonna ask Jared   to talk for a minute about that. So suicide is  something that's very near and dear to me. Uh   I've suffered with mental health and substance  challenges in my life. Also a veteran. We lose   22 veterans a day to suicide. Uh and this year as  I've seen the numbers climb up and up and up than to draw more attention to it. So this is very  new. We're still very much in the research phase.   Um, so I've gotten with Blige, Sheila, Lithco,  the people in the community who are already   doing suicide. Um, I've met with them, the  uh individuals doing suicide at the VA. Uh,   you know, we've met, we're we're  formulating a plan. Uh, everything   I've learned so far says we need to put time  and distance between thought and the weapon.   Uh, so what that looks like is, you know, having  family members hold guns for an individual who's  

going through something. Gun shops. You know,  right now I believe the gun shops charge,   you know, $20, whatever it is. Can we do that  for free? If somebody turns their gun into you,   um, I think they're very likely to turn it  into the police, but I think, you know, a   family member or uh, a gun shop, I think that's a  great start to put that time and distance between   the thought and the gun. um got some things uh  lined up for this year. Like I said, we're just   getting started with it. Very much still in the  research phase, but we will yeah look forward to just a another place to look at for suicide  prevention. Just um I would suggest getting   in touch with the rona diversity center.  A lot of LGBT folks um especially in our   current climate have more of those thoughts and  so it might be a good population to look at. Um, and the other thing I wanted to point out  on suicide is the uh the latest figures. And I   know I'm I'm doing a lot of this by money, and I  don't mean to reduce a human life to money. Um,   hopefully you all know me better than that,  but we're here asking for money, so I have   to reduce it to money. Um, the latest figure is  that each suicide um costs a city $1.3 million.   Um, in terms 97% of that is in  loss productivity and taxes. Um, I'm going to ask Valerie a couple to go next.  Um, she has taken over the gunlock ambassadors   program. Yeah, I spoke briefly about this. This  was an effort that was started about a year ago to   identify people in the community who can  serve as credible messengers to the rest   of the community about the importance of  firearm prevention. so they can talk to   their networks and spread the word on social  media about the importance of using gun locks  

and hand out gunlocks. And also another part of  our committee is designed to keep in memory some   of those that we've lost to gun violence  through annual um remembrance ceremonies.   So, if you know anybody who is interested  or who has a passion for firearm safety,   please let me know and pass that along.  Gunlock ambassadors. Yes. Thank you. Um,   how many ambassadors do we We've signed up  25. We have about 50 who are interested. Would you take just a second and talk about what the  procedure is to become a gunwalk ambassador? Yeah.   So, what we have up right now is just posters in  the libraries and in other community settings of a   um is it a UPC code or a QR code? Thank you.  a QR code to scan and it takes you to a page   where you sign up and say, "Yes, I'm interested in  becoming a Gunlock ambassador." And then I reach   out to them and say, "Hey, that's great. We're  very interested in working with you. Would you   please watch this video, this 20 minute video  to learn about some gun violence statistics,   information that you can share with people about  how to be safer with guns. And um then they take a   little quiz that shows that they acknowledge that  they have watched the video. And then I meet with   them to provide them with gunlocks and these  cards that we have that talk about how to use   gunlocks and as well as a $100 gift card to market  on Melrose to say thank you for participating and  

a bright orange shirt. Yes, I forgot about  the bright orange shirt. Thank you, Kathy. Who buys the gold locks? So far, we've gotten  them from the city, from their store of gunlocks,   but we'd like to be able to have some revenue  to be able to purchase those to provide them to   other community members wants to donate money  towards those gun locks. Is that something? I don't think the commission could. Um,  what is the status of our gunlock? Um,   I I know we've gotten several orders of these  through the years. We've had several orders. Um,   we were able to you utilize ARPA dollars for some.  I think we used I don't want to miss speak. Um,   but we have a plan for possibly additional gun  locks through the safer communities grant. Um,   but we we have right many left right now. Um,  unfortunately I think the police department used   to be able to get them free, but unfortunately  um we've been needing to pay for them. Um,   but we have there's a there's a contract and we  can get many as long as we have funding for them.   I would think that if if somebody  wanted to donate funds for gunlocks,   um any existing um nonprofit organization that  has a connection with the commission like Fed Up   um I believe they're 501c3 donation  could be made through them uh through   I think Blue Ridge Blue Ridge Behavioral  Health would probably be the best way. Um and uh financially that program is is still on  very good footing. Um we had hoped in the first  

year to have 50 ambassadors signed up um due to  it having some trouble getting off the ground. We   have 25. So we still have money for another  25. But it's a great program. And you know,   since we started giving out the gun locks,  we started with Reno City Public Schools,   and we initially gave them 8,000 gun locks um to  give out to parents who had come in and ask for   them. U we have not had a child in Rono City who  has been accidentally shot. Now, does one equal   the other? No way to know. Um but prior to that um  most it was a regular occurrence and it happened   every couple years. Um so we don't know that gun  locks you know necessarily have done that but we   do know that they are a wonderful preventative  measure. Um even on the suicide line if your gun   is locked and you have to go find that key and  get it in there's that more time in there. So,   um, eventually that program will need more money,  but not in the coming year. Um, I'm going to ask,   uh, Josh Johnson to highlight some of our CPS  as well. Yeah, thank you. So, um, several of   the presentations that I've, um, planned coming up  was one highlighting our Hazel Health, uh, which   is our free virtual mental and physical health for  our students. So, students can sign up for that,   um, with or without insurance. they can take those  sessions uh virtually on an iPad or a phone. They   can do it at the school and that's where we've  seen a lot of success is them taking those   sessions at the school. We've seen a lot reducing  the stigma of, you know, they don't want to talk   to the counselor that they're going to have to see  every single day, but they're more comfortable of,   you know, getting on a iPad and facetiming  with somebody and explaining some of that. So,  

we've seen a lot of success there. We talked about  the numbers. Our number one and two groups are   seventh grade with the highest needs, referrals  and followthroughs as well as 12th grade. And so   when we talked about I know we've talked about  our community builder program targeting those   eighth grades and rising nth grades. We're seeing  a huge need in seventh grade and losing a lot of   attachment to sports and schools and identity  often loss of a family member. So that seventh   and 12th grades really where we're focusing  down on the Hazel Health. Uh we just got our   data back for our youth risk behavior survey.  And so that survey is the national data which   I'll present to our commission. Um we're seeing  really good numbers as far as actual connection   of us. So two years ago, we do it every two years.  Uh middle school and high school, middle school,   if they had planned or actually attempted suicide,  that number was about 3 or 4% for them actually   being connected to services, medication,  a provider. That number is now over 19%.   And so I think that's a large part of it, reducing  that stigma. Again, Hazel Health, getting that   connection there. Um, removing some of the  barriers of transportation, timing. Clearly,   some of the work that you all are doing in Blige,  uh, plays a large part of that in our suicide   risk assessment. It certainly helps is, you know,  when they have a plan, when they talking about it,   they're actually getting connected to services,  not just a phone number or followup, right? And   so removing some of those barriers. we've seen  a large increase in students that feel like   they matter to the community. Um that number  historically was below 50% for for our middle   and high schoolers. So half of our students walk  around feel like they don't have a connection to   their school community or outside the community. I  think that's a huge huge win and a huge indicator   of some of the success we've seen as well as  support that they feel like they get encouragement   from the schools. And so that's a lot of the  data that I'll present. they also have about   um sex use, drug use, um whether they've  witnessed um violence in their community. And  

so I'll present that as well and then highlight  our parent view app. Um so if you are a parent in   Reno City Schools, you can look up your students  grades, attendance, discipline directly, email a   teacher. Um often when I meet with students and  and parents, right, it's you know, especially   that middle school is what did you learn today?  It's like nothing, you know, it's like what did   you do today? Nothing. Or, you know, did you go  to every single class? Yes. You know, and it was   challenging as a parent to really challenge those  things, right? And so the parent view, you can   actually look up every pop quiz, every homework  assignment. You can directly email teachers   and advocate for your student about deadlines  and what's going on in the classroom. And so,   I really want to highlight those few programs for  the next few meetings. Um, because I think that's   where we get a lot of our bang for our buck  is some of those. And kind of I I talk a lot   about it, especially for little ones. If you've  seen like the Bright Wheel app with daycare,   like new parents, you're getting pictures. Oh,  they got a diaper change. You know, how great,   right? And so like these constant engagement with  schools. Often our parents lose that engagement   to the school and their connection to their  education. So, we're looking for more of those   opportunities for they can stay engaged with their  students education as well as we're doing a lot of   like family engagement, a lot of programming  at CEC. Again, tying those families back to   their education, back to their schools. And I  think we're going to see a lot of success there. um for um when I was looking at the and this was  a question I was going to ask later on but it   actually ties directly what you were just speaking  about when looking at the 2025 report it shows   that when it came to offenders of four of them  were juveniles and when it came to victims three   of them were juveniles as well and so I'm curious  when we have youth who are in our schools who are   um a perpetrator or a recipient of gun violence.  What is the the steps, the pro the protocol,  

the procedures that that happen to help make  sure they have those resources? Because we know,   you know, yeah, a lot of kids are struggling.  They're not fitting in. They're trying to find   their kind of niche, right? But when when you  go from that level of I'm trying to find my way,   so I'm acting out to I've fired a you know,  a firearm or I've been hit by a firearm. Um   what how do we handle those situations? Yeah,  thanks. So, I think obviously it really starts   at the hospital. I think your program and we've  talked about it with uh especially the GVI program   strengthens these relationships. And so, when you  have a student that's impacted by gun violence,   right? And so, we're removing some of these  requests for information so that Val and her   team can advocate for their student, right? We've  had some situations where, hey, this student is   in recovery. They need an iPad. They need or  uh school laptop, right? they can advocate for   their student. We also have a threat assessment.  So that's kind of required that is not kind of   required by law. And so that's administrators, law  enforcement, health providers, administrators talk   about the situation in the cases. Is it safe for  them to come back? Do they need to be homebound   in a virtual setting while they heal? Um and then  what that pathway forward looks like. Same with   suicide assessments is that re-entry projects or  process. So we are strengthening that re-entry   process. So typically it's meeting with a parent  and that student of hey what does it look like as   you come back? Are there still issues? Are there  still things lingering um conflict right that   hasn't been resolved from this incident. So we're  strengthening that what that looks like how to   keep that student safe in um as they enter back.  Um and then we offer obviously this the slew of   resources the Hazel Health Youth Intercept Crisis  One is it mentoring we can certainly do a better   job of strengthen that. Um, I know Dr. Poland  has been continuing to look at funding on uh the  

handle with care program. And so if you don't know  what handle with care, we have handle with care   for restraints, but also handle care is a police  notification system. So when the police run into   a student, whether they're directly impacted or  witnessed it, the schools will get a notification   of, hey, Adam handle with care. So the school  knows, they don't know the circumstances, but hey,   we need to check on Adam. Is he present? Does he  need anything? is he safe? And so I we're going to   look at funding to try to fund that program. But I  think those are some of the the layered approaches   that they're we're trying to take. You know, we  still have an obligation to educate the student.   Um sometimes that looks like virtual because there  are again conflict and and issues. Um often Noly   Taylor is is a place where they can continue to  receive education and kind of a modified hybrid   uh schedule. Um as well as Forest Park. That's  excellent because I think as we, you know,   as you all look into that, um, you know, those  juveniles become the under 25 on this category   list, then they become the 22 to 29. Um, which  is my age demographic. You know, I'm 26 and, um,   I've known several of the offenders and victims of  gun violence that happened in our area, especially   in Northwest. Um, so it's something that we really  have to get to our youth. Um because by the time   they become grown adults and they're grown men and  they're 26, 25, it's pretty hard to to hey, sit   down, let me talk to you, right? Like it's kind of  too late at that point in most cases until they're   in a courtroom or they're in a hospital and then  by that point the trauma, the incident has already   occurred. And we want to prevent that stuff as  best as possible. And so really talking with   our youth, I mean, hearing, you know, the 12th  graders, when you mentioned 12th graders earlier,   like they're about to be in the real world. Like  that's concerning for me. Um, so I'm glad to see  

that we're kind of re-evaluating how we interact  with them, capture them, help keep them, you know,   on the right track or get them off the wrong path  they may be on and put them on a more correct one.   So, thank you. And I appreciate, you know, I  presented at our new educators about about some   of the gun violence and gang things that we had  and had a a teacher that came up to me. It's like,   hey, I know we talk a lot about the family  directed impact or the the individual or   student that's directly impact. He's like, the  thing sometimes we often miss is like the kids in   the household and like Brandon McCall, if you've  ever heard his presentation, he talks about it.   His brother killed somebody. Everybody focused on  obviously the victim and putting services. He's   like, "Meanwhile, I was getting death threats,  right? I couldn't physically go to school because   my brother did something wasn't connected to me."  And so, I think Reset's doing an incredible job.   We had a meeting with Reset and youth gang  violence uh team with the city last week. Uh,   and it was super encouraging. I mean, it's, you  know, I know they're getting new leadership.   Terra is helping right now uh to keep the ship  afloat. But it's like I think that partnership   um is really exciting to see because it seems like  it's taken a new direction of wanting to work with   schools uh and advocate for our families and and  our students um to you know for better outcomes.   So I think that's going to be a really good  direction for that those two programs and reset's   been crushing it. So it's exciting. Can you speak  a little bit about um what training you might be   doing with the bullying and and you know what are  does that kind of fit into what you're also doing   with the suicide part? Yeah. And and I should have  had it up with me. So I know family services has   started a new programming with uh Janet Craighead.  So she does a lot of education the elementary   level. It's a lot about consent and bullying. Um,  we have several of our different programs that I   don't actually have in front of me, but we just  met about it talking about sex trafficking. Um,  

we've worked with uh a tree planted to focus  on uh young females and kind of strengthening   women empowerment, female empowerment, also  prevent preventing them from sex trafficking,   extortion. So, um, I can get you a list of some  of those bullying kind of curriculum and things   that we've talked about. I know DARE is still  doing a lot of programming and as much complaints   that people have had about DARE, if you look at  their curriculum, it's good curriculum. It's a   lot of CBT, right? Kind of those cognitive based  training where you're presented with a situation,   what are some protective factors, things that you  could do differently? Uh I know in Jada Smith or   uh Lamb, Sergeant Lamb has great program. Um,  and I've not seen that curriculum except for   the forward facing curriculum. But I think the  goal is to kind of get that implemented across   the division. That's middle school. Uh, and that's  gang resistance. But I know that material looks   good. At least from what I've seen that's publicly  facing. Yeah. So exciting. A lot of a lot of good   partnerships. Again, resetting the youth gang  program coming with some really good ideas that   we met with. And then S uh Sergeant Lamb being  now with the school as supervisor, I think. really ingrained uh in in our schools  and so I'm excited to see what she can   produce. Thank you for all your information.  It's very good. I'm glad to hear all this. No. Yep. No insurance. You can put insurance. You  don't have to put insurance. You're not required.   What about lunges? That's great. Speak on that  better than I can. Here, look at you. Can you   that that might be a better thing for you to  explain? So, I work at the CC where we have like  

um our EL services. Um we have two Afghan um  uh grants that have two staff members that   are helping with our resettled populations  um often from Afghanistan. Um, and we have,   uh, I think maybe three, um, uh, individuals  in our EL program that are helping. Um,   but you know, Corey Alder, I worked with  Cory Alder, who was our EL director for   for 13 years as well. I can certainly ask  about that, but it certainly I know we've   removed a lot of barriers with that and uh,  increased our EL uh, teacher population as well. Um um so um when we when we had our um our  community stakeholders event um one thing   that came up a lot um was uh a couple basic  questions um you know how are the guns getting   into our community and then also um what can we  do like why aren't parents basically people who   had been victimized or their family members had  been victimized um saying why aren't there being   why aren't people being held accountable for their  guns basically is how I would some would you say   that's fair yeah um so um and council Nash can say  no that's fair too he was there um so that that   would be um you know a lot of what we heard back  from our stakeholders and um in terms of uh you   guns coming into the community. One thing that um  is being worked on in the legislature right now   um is a lot of safe storage bills. Um so there are  several safe safe storage bills. Um one about gun,   you know, whether or not you're allowed to keep  guns in cars. Um, and so that bill, um, and if  

you look at the map of where guns are stolen out  of cars in Renault, this is actually something we   were highlighting is how much it over overlapped  with, um, basically where we see incidents of   gun violence. We also see a lot of guns being  stolen out of cars. And so, um, basically the law   changing so that you cannot store a gun in your  car unless you have a concealed carry permit. Um,   yeah. Um, so and this is HB um 110. Thank you um  from Councilman Nash. Um and then we also have   um uh bills that are more focused on parents and  storage in the home. Um and then um we have a bill   about schools notifying um parents basically about  um the need to store firearms and medications   um carefully uh not carefully um securely locked  up basically. Um so those are all bills that are   moving forward in the current general assembly.  Um and uh there was a lot of interest in those.   I think that the other disconnect that we  have is that our population doesn't really   fully understand um the process of the general  assembly and actually a lot this is um you know   something that uh I I've seen for a long time  but I you know still would like to work on   um and improve the situation is that people don't  understand that the city has very few levers and I   know that you know this but what I'm trying to  say is that the population still doesn't know   this and so it's very hard for them to know where  to advocate because they think, "Oh, we can come   to you and then and and you can change the gun  laws." And the truth is is that's not possible.   You have to advocate through the state to change  the gun laws and they have to advocate through the   state to change the gun laws. So, I really think  it's important to do like just basically a little   government education for our population so they  can be better at advocating for themselves even.  

Um, and so I know that Councilman Nash and I would  really like to um basically close that gap maybe   with a little help from um from uh uh Yeah. So  that's that is that fair? Is that good? Okay. All   right. All right. If there's any corrections, he's  going to make them. All right. I mean, you know,   the only thing I would add is, you know, we had  people who came and um the community stakeholders   meeting, you know, it was really enlightening  because it was kind of like everyone lowered   their guard and talked very openly. I mean even  our law enforcement uh officers who were there   very kind of candid in a very still professional  way you know of course because we have great law   enforcement officers here in the city but um and  we came to realization that you know people didn't   understand like hey we can't just like ban guns  right we can't just say hey no this is the law   like it's our way or the highway like they didn't  know what Dylan was and they didn't know in what   ways the city was limited and you know much of  our ability to govern has to come from the general   assembly. It has to come from a group of people  who don't live in your locality, but still get to   say kind of what happens in your locality. Um, and  so we're going to put together a way to help train   some of these folks um after the flip happens and  we have a good understanding of what bills are   kind of on the cusp of making it over um aren't  going to make it um kind of advocate and push our   citizens to help phone bank and call in um maybe  write some letters. I mean, we'll see exactly what   we'll do, but um really get them hands-on with the  process and then next year have a really robust   um legislative process where we are really,  as um as um Rabbi Cohen said earlier, really   hands-on with presenting the council some gun  legislation uh to put on our legislative agenda. And our most healing program, and I saved it for  last on purpose, um, is called Planting Peace. Um,  

and Brandy has just taken it over like an hour  ago, so she doesn't know a whole lot, but um,   I just want to give her a second to say a  few sentences about it. I'm really excited   working on this particular project. Excuse me.  A few years ago, my family and I, we uh saved   up and for Christmas, I gave my parents a tree in  honor of my brother and it's at Pedmont Park. So,   this program um the commission planted 10  trees last year, five in Perry Park and   five in Horton Park and nine have been dedicated.  So, that leaves one for this summer. And I also   understand that the city had also planted some  trees that are available to be dedicated. Um so,   we have some families that are interested. The  program kind of started with the idea that it   would go in me remembrance of unsolved cases  with the hope to bring information forward for   families that just have not received justice  or do not have any information about their   loved ones cases. We find that everyone wants a  tree planted for their family member. If you're   the family member with a loss, all you want is for  healing and remembrance. We spend a lot of time in   the grief world saying our loved ones names. Um,  so my brother Nicholas's tree is at Pedmont Park,   but everyone just wants to be their family  member to be remembered. So, we kind of need   to as a commission decide if we're going to keep  going with unsolved or if we're going to get   um grants or more money funding so that everyone  could have a tree or maybe we could talk about   um different murals or other ideas for planting  peace. But the idea that planting peace for   healing is so important for the grieving  community. Um I just can't stress it enough.   If you're the if you're the one I'm I'm so glad  to see the numbers trending down, but if you're   the one, that's all you can focus on is your loved  one. So healing comes with peace. Peace comes with  

healing. That comes with dedication and love  and a lot of hard work. So, um, if we can get,   you know, more trees planted, it's great that  we do this program in the summer because as,   um, temperatures rise, we see the heat  deserts, we see the increase in gun violence,   and it's just nice to bring the community  together in those times of need and in the heat and healing. We all want the same thing. On  that note, and I I just wanted to add um as   I was working with Reverend Harvey  on this program earlier this year,   we ran into this very uncomfortable place that I  want to let all of council know about. And that   was people calling to say, "I've lost a loved one.  Can I have a tree?" And are haveing to say all   of the trees have been accounted for. it is the  worst phone call you can have with somebody. Um,   so I'd like council to consider two things. One  is to make sure there is always funding available   for more trees. The dedication ceremony itself is  is very inexpensive. Um and uh or if if that is   really an issue, at least in the short term, there  are a number of trees in Smith Park that are not   dedicated. Um and I know that many many years ago  that was rolled out as people could pay, I think,   a few hundred dollars to have a tree dedicated  in a loved one for a loved one. And I um would   like council to consider the possibility that at  least some of those trees be set aside for victims   of gun violence. Um in wrapping up what we wanted  to present to you, um I just wanted to uh say two  

things. number one from our stakeholders meeting  um in Northwest which really was wonderful. Uh the   thing that came to mind for me the most was that  the most important position from a gun violence   point of view that we do not have in Rono City  that we need is a victim's advocate position.   Whether that be a part-time or a whole position,  I don't know. Um whether there is somebody with in   the city that could take on some of that, I don't  know. I just know that the the family members need   to have someone to turn to and it's not fair that  that should be Rono City Police Department or that   that should be the Commonwealth uh attorney's  department. That makes it very difficult for   many of these families. it's got to be somebody  who will advocate for them and help them work   through the system. Um I think that's one of our  major needs. Um and the second is um that I just,   you know, want to re-emphasize that putting  money into gun violence prevention saves the   city tremendous money on the other side. Um so  we may not see it up front. It's not something   that you know you see money come in from, but it's  something that you see money not lost from. And so   from a fiduciary responsibility, I think it's very  important. And I want to thank you so much because   I know this has been long. Thank you, Rabbi. This  has been really helpful. Uh very comprehensive.   Um and I again want to express my gratitude to  each of you for your commitment to this work.   Um, I just want to recap some things so that we  don't lose sight of them. First of all, we have to  

council, we have two new commissioners to appoint.  So, I think we've heard a good overview of what   expertise we currently have on the commission and  and who we might want to look for. We always say,   you know, you all are the experts on this. So, if  you are aware of people in the community that you   think would be good matches, please let us know  that. please encourage them to fill out an online   application and and list this as their number  one priority. Um, and we will do our best to   um to work with you to fill those appointments  because we want them to be effective and to do   this work for as long as they can. Second thing  is you you've made it clear about the need for   continued funding. I know that we've been blessed  and and I want to express gratitude to um several   administrations both governor um governors  Northam and Yncan as well as attorneys general   um Herring and Miaris. They have all been  consistent in providing financial support   to the city of Ronuk. Um and that has been  extremely helpful to us. to your point, we've   got to find ways to sustain that. I I know that  we've been recipients of the safer communities   grant and I don't know is that something that  we are eligible to receive if it's continued. Welcome our grants guru Ellen Ferguson. Good  morning, mayor, vice mayor, members of the   council, commissioners, Miss Turner. um we  will find out later on. Last year we found   out in late April, first part of May. Um and  so that's when we will find out again. However,   this year is the last year that we've been  told about. We haven't heard about renewals   and this year is only estimated at 1.5, which  is half of what we've been getting. That's so  

I I raised that because um that has been a  significant source of funding for us to do   a lot of things. Um, and that potentially  is a source where we could address some   of the requests potentially from the  Gun Violence Prevention Commission for for some of the items that you mentioned today.  I think it's also helpful to have an estimate on   the amount of funding that would be helpful  to sustain these programs. Um, excuse me.   because we have to take that into consideration  not only for the general budget of the city   um but for potential grants that are out there  and in addition to safer communities I know   we're always looking for external grants  uh whether it's through DCJS department   of criminal justice services which has been very  supportive of our work uh the burn is it the burn there are others so uh to the commission  as you become aware aware of grants. Um,   please get in direct contact with Helen. Um,  and she's incredible at helping us u not only   submit proposals for those but monitor them and  and sustain them to the degree. The third thing   that I heard was related to trees and assessing  do we have trees that could be available for use   in the planning piece program. And then lastly, um  the the clear call from the stakeholders meeting   about a victim's advocate position and whether  that's a city position. I think you raised a   good point that it's to have someone that can work  with PD, work with the family primarily, but also  

with PD and the Commonwealth attorney that can be  extremely helpful. So, uh, questions or concerns   or ideas to come before us today? Again, thank  you all for your time and your dedication to this   work and we appreciate you all. and we're going  to take a five minute recess. Um, but council,   if we we will come back to here where we are to do  the remainder of our morning session. Okay. Thank   you. Well, fivem minute recess. Also, one of the  things that's difficult to sort of sus out here,   but what I will say is there's there's talk in  the corridors that the Washington Post needs to   be self- sustaining, needs to stand on its own.  And that has been a source of debate within the   post for a while and of course outside of the post  as well because it was bought in 2013 by uh Jeff   Bezos the Amazon founder. Jeff Bezos obviously  a person of tremendous needs means excuse me and   could support the paper and you know subsidize  any losses for a really long time. At the same   time if you read Marty Baron's book collision of  power he's the former decorated executive editor   of the post. He his argument was the post needs  to be self- sustaining in case Bezos decides to   bail on the paper and leave it uh with someone  else. It needs to stand on its own instead of   um you know uh being subsidized. Um so the  why is difficult to determine but I think   that they're going back to that um back to that  rationale. And it it it is worth noting that   the past few years have been uh sort of enimical  to the Washington Post in terms of its business   model. Um it has really struggled lost hundreds  of millions of dollars over the past several years   um because of you know digital advertising hasn't  been roaring and the other problem is that after  

the first Trump presidency I think readership and  uh has really uh been tough to conjure up at the   post. Well, we should note that billionaires now  own key newspapers, not just the Washington Post,   but also the Los Angeles Times and the Boston  Globe. More than half of US Daily newspapers   are owned by just a few major parent companies.  So, Eric, place what's happening at the Post   within the wider context of this shifting and  consolidating media landscape. Yeah. Well, I mean,   it is consolidating. I mean like the newspaper  business is I mean like Gate House Guinet they   combine they have hundreds of newspapers. Um  there is Alden Media which is excuse me Alden   Global Capital which runs uh um you know media  news group which also has uh a great amount I   don't know the number right off the top of my  head but has a tremendous amount of newspapers.   they feel that it's easier to consolidate because  they can keep some their costs low because they   basically centralize a lot of the operations  of the newspapers meaning printing and and and   design and so on and so forth. So, uh the more  newspapers they get they get the more profitable   they feel they can be. Um so that's one one of the  things that's happening in the newspaper world.   At the same time, there's a glimmer of hope that  come from that comes from um the web. Basically,   digital only operations that also rely on  philanthropy um as well as advertising revenues   and subscription revenues um are starting to roar  uh in this business. They're starting to come up   and I do believe that one of the goals of people  in this industry is to reorient the public's the   way the public views newspapers. For the longest  time, uh, newspapers have been owned by fat cats   or for for a great deal of time, newspapers have  been owned by fats who make a lot of money off   newspapers. Well, that's not true anymore, um,  to a great extent. And I think that one of the  

one of the goals of newspaper executives all  over is to to to reorient people's views and   so that they think of the newspaper as sort of  like public media, like something that is worthy   of their philanthropic dollars, will worthy of  their donations. Um, so that's something that   is happening and it's one of the bright spots in  this industry and I think we'd be remiss if we   didn't point it out. Well, Eric, I mean, you you  spent a lot of your career inside the Washington   Post newsroom. You're at the New York Times now,  as we mentioned. Um, Post has seen an exodus of   long-term journalists in the past year. A lot  of big names. Even so, those journalists from   the Post are still putting out very impressive and  important coverage. Just one example, in August,   Douglas McMillan and Kurpatre Lydia Sidum  published an exclusive in-depth report revealing   IC's plans to double its detention space to more  than 107,000 beds. And that story reverberates   even today as we see ICE pursuing literal physical  warehouses next to train tracks in communities   around America to house migrants. I mean, a lot of  that reporting originated at the post. What does   this kind of prolonged workplace uncertainty, this  turmoil at a place like the Post do to reporters   and the work they're trying to produce every  day? Well, I'm I'm delighted that you bring up   the example and the point you make is 100% true.  The Post has really really excelled through this   past year, even as there as there's been a lot of  turmoil in the newsroom. Um, they've done scoop   after scoop after scoop. It's because they work  hard and also because The Post over the years   uh through its investment in local and national  news has I think developed something of a um   sort of a muscle memory between the the Washington  Post and the federal government that there's this   there's sort of a connection that they have and  people in the federal government uh view the Post  

as their hometown newspaper. I think they feel  comfortable sending tips the the way in the way of   the post and so that has been something that the  post continues to thrive on and to their credit.   Um I mean we could be here for the rest of this  program talking about the scoops that the post   has had over the over the past year. Um but to the  second half of your question, how does it affect   journalists? I think over the long term they just  get worn down by by some of the dysfunction and   there's been plenty of that since oh the past two  years um in particular Will Lewis started there   in 2024 and there have been a series of events  that have really sort of rocked the place. So I   think think there's a long-term fatigue uh that  sets in. I think some of the journalists start   looking for other opportunities or taking a buyout  if it's being offered. Um, but I don't think uh   critically that it affects their day-to-day work.  I think when there's a story and they get a tip,   journalists just they move, they go, they work  hard and they get the story out. Um, they have   a lot of energy so they can they can uh gossip  about problems in their workplace and produce   um scoops day in day out. So I think that would be  my answer to that question. It's a good one. We're   talking to Eric Wimple. He covers media for the  New York Times and we're hearing from you. Lauren   Marks emailed us. I'm listening to your show right  now and the Baltimore Banner deserves a shout out.   Our previous city newspaper was not doing true  investigative journalism, but the work the Banner   is doing is incredible. They have so many sections  and the stories are interesting. Real people are   writing them and I feel grateful our city has  such a good and reliable news source. Their   work increases curiosity and what could be better.  and Janelle in Ohio emails. I've been getting the   majority of my news from independent journalists,  YouTube news creators, and personal videos from   witnesses. However, I still keep an eye on leg  legacy media from both sides of the aisle so  

that I can be fully informed on what's being  promoted. I call it opposition research. Well,   we want to hear from you. Have you changed where  you're getting your news in recent years? If so,   tell us how. And if you have a local news source  that you rely on, tell us about it. Email us at 1a   wamu.org. Coming up, according to Pew, just over  half of Tik Tok users say they regularly get news   on the platform and younger adults are especially  likely to do so. What does the news look like in   that space? That's just ahead. I'm Jen White  and I'm Todd. This is 1A from WAMU and NPR. It resonates with you. A story  on Radio IQ that changed your   perspective. A conversation that helped  you understand the world better. And yes,   the organizations that made it all possible.  Corporate support isn't about shouting louder.   It's about being present in the moments  that matter to you. If your organization   wants to make its mark where it counts,  email us at corporate supportvt.edu. Support for radioq comes from Unitarian  Universalist Church of Rowanoke. Harnessing   the power of love to promote justice. Dedicated  to becoming a beacon of hope and harbor for all.   uuruano.org and from Garnell Music  Center in Hot Springs, Virginia,   whose Valentine Serenade Recital  with violinist Jennifer Curtis and   pianist Janette Fang is followed by a fourc  course plated dinner February 14th. Details  

at garnew.org. The people have questions like  what's up with the giant bruises on President   Trump's hands? Why are his legs so swollen? And  did he just fall asleep in a cabinet meeting?   How healthy is the president of the United States?  Easy question, complicated answer. That's coming   up on Today Explained. Today Explained comes  your way weekday afternoons at 7 on Radio IQ. Support for NPR comes from this station  and from your part-time controller   specializing in nonprofit accounting and  committed to supporting nonprofits with   financial management services such as  budgeting and forecasting ytc.com/npr. and from the Walton Family Foundation,   working to create access to opportunity  for people and communities by tackling   tough social and environmental problems. More  information is at waltonfamilyfoundation.org. This is 1A. I'm Jen White and I'm  Todd Willick. We're continuing our   conversation about the changing  media landscape, press freedom,   and what it all means for democracy.  We're here with Eric Wimple. He's the   media correspondent for the New York Times  and you can join the con. We'll talk later. Reconvening our our morning session for city  council. We're now going to shift to our   legislative committee meeting. And um don't know  that we have any of our city our other legislative   committee members know we typically have some  from the schools. Yes. Don't see don't see them.  

So do we need to call roll separately for the  legislative committee? All right. And I'll turn   it over to Vice Mayor McGuire who's our chair.  Mayor Y. Madam clerk, could you please call the   role? Mr. Hagen here. Uh, Miss Sanchez Jones here.  Mayor Cobb here. Mr. Nash here. Mr. Volison here.   Miss Powers here. Mr. Appel and Miss Trigg. Okay.  Thank you. And Chairman McGuire. Keep your Okay.   Thank you. A quorum is present. Um, I'm going to  give a couple of uh quick opening remarks. Um,   thank you. We have with us Preston Bryant with  Meguire Woods who is our lobbyist in Richmond. And   I'm just going to quickly say thank you to all of  the legislative committee members and um members   of the community um our delegate delegates and  our senator um and Preston Bryant for your work on   um getting us to where we are. And today I think  what we're going to hear is an overview of where   uh roughly we are um with our general assembly  session. And then Mr. Bryant was going to walk   over um our um some of our uh specific legislative  priorities. Um I think the session is in full   swing. There are about 2,000 plus bills introduced  and so rather than go through each one of those,   we were just going to focus on our legislative  priorities. Um before I kick it over to you,   Mr. Bryant, I need a motion and a second to  approve our minutes for November 3rd, 2025.   Second. Afraid we need to call a role on that.  Yes. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Could you please call   the role? Yes. Mr. Hagen, I. Miss Sanchez Jones,  hi. Mayor Cobb, hi. Mr. Nash, hi. Mr. Volison,   hi. Miss Powers, hi. And Chairman Maguire. I  motion passes. Um, so with that, I will turn   it over to you. Can you hear us, Preston? Yes.  Yes, Mr. Chair. Okay. All right. Well, Mr. Brian,   I'm going to turn it over to you to give us an  update on the general assembly and our legislative  

uh priorities for the year. Thank you, Mr. Chair  and members of the committee. Um it's an exciting   time in Richmond. Uh we have a new governor,  lieutenant governor, attorney general, and a newly   elected house. As we all know, uh they are off to  a quick start and Mr. Chair, as you alluded, there   are 2,362 bills between the House and Senate, uh,  not including, uh, resolutions or a couple hundred   resolutions. Um, so everybody is very busy. I will  say that we have had very good communications with   Delegate Rousul, Delegate McNamera, Senator  Sudterline, and their offices. They have been   really terrific to work with, and I appreciate  Miss Boore and Miss Karini being available. and   such good communications and uh Mr. McGuire and  Mr. Volison uh for your periodic uh questions   and and and guidance. So, thank you. Um may we  go to Can someone advance the slides for me? I can't see the screen. I'm sorry. Thank you very much. You can  just go to the next slide. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um this is the 60-day  session. We are on day 20, I think. Not that   we're counting. um they have until February 17th  for each house to um complete its own votes,   its own bills. And that uh budget day should  say Sunday, February 22. I apologize for that.  

Um noting this week uh Thursday is uh BML uh lobby  day. Um with that, I will proceed straight to the   next slide. I will proceed straight to the  um to the issues and I've structured the um presentation to reflect uh precisely um the   legislative agenda. Can you  go back to the housing page? I'm seeing a blank screen. And Preston, unfortunately, we don't have anything  on that slide. Oh, there is uh um there there is   on mine. So, I'll just tell you what's on it.  181. Yeah, House Bill 181, Delegate Rul's bill.   This was the city's affordable dwelling unit  program, adding the city of Ronic to the list.   Um they amended the bill um um to require the  Virginia Housing Development Authority to analyze   the efficacy of the program and to require that  it be reenacted next year. And the bill has passed   93 to five in the House. Um, it seemed that the  Homebuilders Association of Virginia had concerns   about the e efficacy of ADU programs and they  have suggested uh that House Bill 806 is perhaps   a better way to go. And House Bill 806 um actually  um um codifies what the city of Richmond is doing   regarding their industrial development authorities  and giving IDAs powers to issue bonds and loans  

for h for affordable housing projects. Um uh in  Richmond they note that uh there's been more than   2400 affordable dwelling units built in the last  four years. Of course, Richmond has a different   housing market than Ron Oak City. So, but that's  the way they're treating quite a number of these   ADU bills. Um, so we'll we'll see where that where  that goes. And I provided some information, I   think, to Mr. Volund on uh that that legislation.  Um, also, I'm sorry, Mr. Brown. I just wanted to   to make a comment on that um that legislation.  Um, while I I see why the Homebuilders Association   would have an issue with it as it is a carrot  more or sorry, more of a stick than a carrot, uh,   we've also done a lot of things here in the city  that make it easier for developers. Um, and so we   have to mix those two things. And I think one of  the issues that we're going to run up against here   in Ronoke, uh, yes, there's plenty of money in  Richmond to make 2400 units. there's not that much   money around Rono uh to be able to do that um and  to have those funds for those types of programs.   We've already created an affordable I'm sorry  workforce housing loan program and that program   has 2 million plus dollars in it and only seen one  uh developer use that program at this point. And   so uh my worry and the reason why we wanted this  legislation is that we need to have more teeth in   making developers uh build those affordable units.  Um we are working on the tools and incentives to   give them to help them with that but at some point  we have to be able to say you have to build these   units because the market is not going to um  willfully do that. And so that's what worries  

me about this uh their opposition to our bill.  But I also understand the IDA um you know we used   our economic development authority instead of the  industrial development authority. And I think that   you know it'll be interesting to see what Richmond  um to do more uh research into what Richmond is   doing and see if it really is a replicable model  uh for somewhere like Rona compared to Richmond.   Yes, sir. And the Andrew Clark who is  with the homebuilders has offered I've   spoken to Mr. Clark a couple of times and  he has offered to have a video call or or   such with Ron Oak leaders to discuss  uh this and their their position. So,   we can arrange that at a at a future date if you  would like. That's great. Thank you. Yes, sir. Um,   the second bill that's supposed to be on that  slide is Delegate Rasul's House Bill 474, which   was the real estate with delinquent taxes or leans  and the appointment of the special commissioner.   Increasing the value we proposed from 75,000  to 150,000. In a House Finance Subcommittee,   they reduced that cap from 150 to 125, noting that  um it's still since the last time it was raised,   it's still in line with um it still exceeds  the inflation rate, but they had a hesitancy   for doubling it. U so it was raised from one  from 75 to 125 125,000 and it passed out of   committee 22 to 0 with that amendment and it is  uh headed to the House floor. Um, next slide. Ah,   um, public safety. Uh, here again, uh, House Bill  11 with Delegate McNamera. They continued it to,   uh, carried it over till next year. We had  an amendment prepared. Uh, Miss Corini was  

very helpful to limit uh the amendment to uh to to  limit the the transport to no more than 50 miles,   which was akin to a temporary detention order  transport limit that's in a very nearby code   section. Um, else um someone could have to  take u um a patient, you know, across across   state arguably. Um, so that was a common common  amendment that was request that was requested.   Apparently um the um as I was told the sheriff's  association had some concerns about the bill.   Um but Delegate Willlet, who chairs the Health and  Human Services Committee, a very good delegate,   um spoke to Senator M de Delegate McNamera  and said that there is a broader um play uh   at work here um and that uh this would be taken  up in perhaps another another bill. And Delegate   McNamera was very kind and said that's that's  fine as long as the issue is taken care of. So,   we are still working with Delegate Willlet to see  exactly what the broader strategy might might be.   Um, Senate Bill 534, which is Senator Sudterines,  that has not been documented yet. The subcommittee   actually meets tomorrow at 4:00 and so I will be  working with Senator Sudterine today and tomorrow   in preparation for tomorrow's uh hearing. Uh, next  slide. Uh, no. Uh we had a discussion with Senator   Senator Delegate Rasul prior to the uh session.  Uh he chose not to introduce the legislation   um with the budget constraints that we all  know it was likely not to go forward. Plus   uh the Virginia Museum of Transportation seems  to have another lobbyist, Bill Elwood working   on this and there is some other strategy I'm  told. So, I have u I'm not sure what that is,  

but um you may want to check with uh Mindy Flynn  uh the trans the museum's executive director to   to better know that. Uh next slide. Um it's been  important to you um to restore the funding uh for   Virginia Tech Korean School of Medicine. I've  been working with the Koreans lobbyist here,   Mark Lawrence, who many of you may know. And  Governor Yncan included in his introduced budget   um uh funds to um put the medical school uh  expansion in what's called the 2026 capital   construction pool. So it's included in the capital  construction pool. A specific dollar amount is not   identified in uh the budget document uh because  that for procurement purposes they don't advertise   what uh what the amount is. Um but as long as  it stays in the budget, meaning nobody takes it   out of the construction pool, we should be okay.  Uh Mark Lawrence and Killian are very happy with   uh with the status of that at present. Um next  slide on your transportation section. Um there   was no budget amendment regarding uh downtown uh  Amtrak station. Um the city's economic development   officials may have more uh insight on this. And I  note that the Rono Regional Airport Commission is   leading on um those other two budget amendments.  You see that delegate Austin and Senator Head have   taken the lead there. There are these two these  four budget amendments. Um and we will know more.   They and the regional airport commission is  represented by the two capitals consulting.   Um and so we will know more when the House and  Senate report their respective uh versions of the  

of the budget. Um next slide. Um there are um the  legislative agenda expresses interest in a number   of these. Um I won't go through all the all the  bills. Um on the urban tree canopy, House Bill   549 is the operative one for Ron Oak. Um this  really expands local government's authority to   conserve and replace trees during the development  process. Uh most specifically it changes from 20   years down to 10 years the time period that um  certain tree canopies should be should be met.   So it's much more aggressive that it um expands  local government's authority to negotiate for a   quicker tree canopy to be um to be in place. Um on  the solar sighting, you can see there are quite a   number of solar sighting bills. I'll just speak  to a couple of them um that are most relevant.   Uh those that you see, there are several on small  portable solar generating devices. Um these are   so-called balcony solar, which is um kind of  a new technology that is really plug-in solar   truly. you plug it in um to your home and it u  it brings a certain amount of wattage um um to   your to your home or or structure. Um a bigger  uh initiative underway is the um House Bill 590   and its companion Senate Bill 382. Um this sets  up a internetbased platform u called for smart   solar permitting. It it allows contractors to get  permits and localities to process those permits   all in a internetbased system. Um the Department  of Energy, State Department of Energy administers  

the program. This is pretty new and it's meant  to facilitate u uh a much smoother permitting   process. Um it's pretty extensive piece of  legislation and we will see how it how it goes. I   don't think either has been docketed uh just yet.  The last that I will note is that you'll see there   are two bills on uh solar canopies and parking  areas. This bill actually passed last year. It was   vetoed by the governor. So, it's back this year.  It's a house bill and a senate bill. And it really   gives localities the authority to where there are  parking uh large parking surfaces u with more than   100 spaces. that allows you to enact an ordinance  that would require or work with developers to put   um a solar canopy over at least up to 50% of the  of the parking area. That bill again passed last   year but um uh was vetoed so it's back it's back  this year. Next slide. We're getting close to the   end. I promise Mr. here um on civil liberties,  you will see that the um constitutional amendment   um repealing the article regarding a prohibition  on uh same-sex persons marrying that bill   um the resolution rather uh delegate Sickls  has passed the House and passed the Senate.   The other two are really uh in route to passing  and headed to Governor Spanberger's desk um on the   legalization of cannabis. Um uh there is a 144  page bill that sets up um um a retail cannabis   uh market. Uh first it sets up the Virginia  Cannabis Control Authority, the governing body.  

Um it has um a few uh things in there regarding  um local governments. So first it says no locality   can adopt any ordinance to affect the growing or  processing or possession or sale or transportation   or consumption or use of marijuana. But um you  may adopt ordinances um prohibiting its um its   use in parks and playgrounds and streets and  sidewalks and uh so and the bill does not allow   for such shops to be within you know a thousand ft  of schools and and other other places. So it does   um uh and localities also can adopt ordinances  regarding the distance between uh retail uh shops   and so you do have that authority. Um it does  not uh allow for any referenda on this. This   is a no referendum um um piece of legislation.  In terms of taxing um there there's a couple of   things going on here. One bill has an 8% state  sales tax and a three and a half percent local   tax. There's a separate bill by Senator Senator  Lucas that has a 12.625% state sales tax and an   only 3% local local tax. So I think the taxation  is a little bit in flux that piece but otherwise   um this bill is likely to pass and Governor  Spanberger has indicated support for setting up   the uh the framework. Um next slide. So so real  quick just before Yes sir. Uh I have a question   about the House bills uh 642 and SB542. Uh this  wouldn't allow a locality to basically opt in to   allow for sales into their um locality. This would  be just something which is blanket throughout the  

Commonwealth. That's my understanding. Uh there  were previous versions of this the last couple   years that allowed for uh localities to have an  authority to run a um um a referendum, excuse me.   Um, I do not think there is a referendum in this  bill. I think it's blanket authority um across the   across the state. It overrides local well there's  there's no referendum. That's my understanding.   Now, Virginia Municipal League has always  maintained support for a referendum, a local   option uh for this. I don't think that's the case  in uh either the House bill or the Senate bill. I have a question as well. So for the local  taxation, it was the difference of a half a   percentage between uh Senator Lucas's and the one  that's currently listed on the slide. One was 3.5   and the other was three. Yes, sir. I I failed  to put Senator Lucas's bill on there. Hers deals   only with taxation. But in the bills that on the  screen that set up the the framework and set up   the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, I believe  that that is set at 8% state tax and a 3.5% local   tax. Senator Lucas has a wholly separate bill that  only deals with taxation of marijuana sales and   that has, I believe, a state sales tax of 12.625.  625 overall and I think the 3% local tax that   might be included in the in the 12% 12.6%. That's  uh Senate Bill 826, Senator Lucas. So if one of   the other passes or both pass, there will have  to be kind of a conference committee to figure  

out exactly um um where the where the sales sales  tax ends up. Okay. Okay. And then one additional   question. Can you shine some light or add some  clarification? I was trying to follow along,   but I'm not a cannabis attorney like my colleagues  here. Um, can you speak to how they're going to   kind of take the social the social corrective  action approach with kind of prioritizing   uh the licensing and the retail sales for certain  areas that were impacted by overpolicing of   cannabis historically? Yes, sir. Um I I can't  answer that specifically. I would like to get   back with you on that. Um this is a 144 page  bill of fine print and I kind of zeroed in on   the kind of the local ordinance or the locality  um issues specifically, but I can go back and and   look at some of that and and get back through um  Miss Boore to answer your questions. All right,   that'd be great. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Um  yeah, the next slide please. Um reproductive   health care um uh constitutional amendment. This  bill, this resolution on reproductive health care   is is passing. Um House House and the Senate and  is on its way to Governor Spanberger's desk. And   uh the same for automatic restoration, post  incarceration of voting rights. Uh that is   also passing and headed to Governor Spanberger's  um desk. And um the next slide, the governance   uh this is a long-standing issue. I'm aware for  Ron Oak City Council. It's in your legislative   agenda, but there was no such bill introduced  this year. There was last year and it uh it it  

it failed. Uh next slide. Yep. Quick question  on that. I saw that there was a bill that would   allow localities to uh have the option again. Was  there any movement? I think it was House Bill and   I'm blanking on the name uh the number of it,  but it would basically allow for localities to   um have the option of going back to May if so  chose. Was there any movement further on that?   I think I will have to go. Yeah, I'll have  to research that and respond to Miss Boore. Sorry, I don't know. Oh, you're fine. I sprung it  on you. Y and I think this is my last slide. Um,   so Delegate Rousul has been a statewide leader  on this issue. Uh, the local 1% sales tax option   for school construction and renovation. His House  Bill 334 has already passed the House um on a 70   to 28 vote. Um it is it is the most favored bill  of those that are out there. His for example um   his is drawn to allow the use of new revenue to um  apply to uh pass construction projects and and the   debt. Um Senate Bill 66 and Senate Bill 607 do not  uh at at the current time permit that. There are   uh localities, for example, that do not have an  immediate construction or renovation project on   the on the horizon, near-term or midterm. Uh but  they may have completed construction projects and   issued debt in the past. Uh Delegate Rul's bill  under those circumstances would allow them to   use the current the the the new revenue,  sales tax revenue to apply to pass debt.   Um, Senator McPik's bill does not allow for  that, but he seems to be quite admittable  

to uh amending his bill to reflect delegate  rules. So, that would be maximally flexible for   uh for localities. Senator Lucas's bill is um  more restrictive. Um it it is u it's very bare   bones and it does not allow for uh new revenue to  be allowed to be u um apply to pass debt. We will   see what Senator Lucas does with her bill. None  of neither of the Senate neither of the Senate   bills has been docketed yet. Um so it'll be  interesting to see how they work that out.   But I'll underscore that um Delegate Rousul's  bill is the um is everybody's favorite bill   right now. It is the most comprehensive and  most inclusive and most flexible. Um and last   uh I've included there are seven House bills and  five Senate bills um on photo speed monitoring and   I know that is of interest to the city. I don't  know that it was in your legislative package,   but it might have been. Um, but I know this  is of keen interest to the to the city. Um,   I won't go through all of them. I'll note that  on the House side, it's um House Bill 994, um,   which in its companion, Senate Bill 84, that seem  to be the go-to uh, bills kind of comprehensive   approach. And these deal with what's called safety  red zones, quote unquote, and these are 45 miles   per hour or less pedestrian corridors. They deal  with school crossing zones and highway work zones   and high-risk speed zones. Um, and takes a fairly  comprehensive approach uh to it. Provides notices   and and and lots of things. Has some guard rails  uh in it. Um, House Bill 13:30, for example,  

only deals with pedestrian crosswalks. But  the one to keep your eye on, interestingly,   is Senate Bill 297 by Senator Peak of Lynchburg  and Bedford area. And this bill actually repeals   repeals law enforcement uh, agency's authority to  place and to operate speed enforcement cameras.   This is this bill actually passed out of uh in a  bipartisan vote. The Republicans and Democrats,   there's a unique coalition um on these photo speed  monitoring bills. Senate Bill 297, which repeals   it the authority actually passed on a bipartisan  vote out of the Senate Transportation Committee 8   to7. It is currently on the Senate floor and  it has gone by for the last couple of days,   meaning they just they've been delaying the vote  on it uh for for unknown reasons. Um but that's   the one to to keep your eye on. Again, there's a  there's a unique coalition of um um some who feel   that this is overreach and others who feel that it  opens up um opportunity for for abuse. um of um of   of certain demographics. Um so that's there's  a lot of discussion going on on photo speed   monitoring and we are keeping an an eye on it.  With that, Mr. Chair, I think I have um completed   my my report to you for for the moment. Thank  you, Mr. Bryant. Um while my colleagues think of   any final questions they may have, I wanted to ask  you and thank you again very much. That was really   helpful. I had two follow-up questions. One was on  uh if you have been made aware or in communication   with Delegate Rousul around the $600,000 budget  amendment related to downtown revitalization that   he's introduced. Um I just want to throw that out  there um as something that we are aware of and are  

supportive of and are in touch with his office. Um  and I know he's looking for more support on that.   Um and just wanted to make sure that was on your  radar. It is now. Yes, sir. Okay. Excellent. Well,   I'll follow up with you more on that. Um, and I  know that he introduced that I think last week.   So, it's relatively new. Um, and it seeks to  address uh a couple a few different um needs   and concerns related to down our downtown and um  immediate downtown and a downtown jacent area. Um,   and the other question was if you could  just kind of confirm for us. So, uh,   in Virginia we always get to vote at least once a  year, sometimes twice and sometimes thrice a year.   So, with the um constitutional amendments that  are that were moving forward on marriage equality,   reproductive freedom, and voting rights, if those  pass, those would be on our ballots in November,   I believe. Could you say anything about  the prospects of the redistricting effort   um that could result in Ronokers having to go to  the polls in April? Uh yes, sir. as you um I've   followed that as as you have and um there are  a number of bills dealing with this as you know   um there was Virginia legislature has had um  going on since 2024 I think a one session that's   actually never been adjourned. The there are some  circumstances where the legislature can have two   sessions going on independently. There's one that  was opened in 2024, kind of a special session,   and they never adjourned it. So, it technically  is still going on. Um, what I understand the   legislature did is they passed the constitutional  amendment on redistricting in the special session  

and counted that that was uh and then the the  they have this session going on. Um there was a   um Republican sued. They brought the lawsuit to  district court in Tasel County, a state court who   ruled uh on two of three accounts or three or four  counts in favor of the Republicans who challenged   uh that and it draws into question the April  vote. Um that is being appealed. uh do not   know uh how soon the appeals court may get to it.  Um but it go it draws at least for the moment the   I think the April vote is um in in in question.  Um but I believe the you're correct that the the   marriage amendment and the other constitutional  reproductive health freedom and those amendments   won't come up until on the vote until uh I think  until November. Thank you very much. I didn't   mean to put you on the spot with the redistricting  question because I know that's not in our agenda.   But um a lot of people have been asking about that  and so thank you for that update. We'll stay tuned   on whether or not uh that what happens with that  appeal and if we have uh that on our ballot in   April. Um I don't have any more questions. Does  anyone else for Mr. Bryant while we have him? Mr. Not a question, Mr. Bryant. Just uh to let  you know, there are several of us from council   coming up on local government day Thursday of  this week. So, we'll be in touch with you about   um specific visits and and who we need to be  connecting with that day. Yes, sir. I will   um work with the delegation to try to schedule  um meetings. Um you know, it's very difficult   as as you know, meetings can be can be set and  it can evaporate at the same time almost. But  

I'll work with Delegate Rul, Delegate McNamera,  and Senator Sudterline's offices to try to get   something scheduled likely for Thursday afternoon.  Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Bryant. We   really appreciate it. And uh our delegation will  see you in a few days. Thank you, Mr. Chair. All right. Um I do not know actually  I apologize colleagues if we have an   upcoming meeting scheduled for the legislative  committee. We do not. Um so is there any other   business before the legislative committee  today. All right. Well then I will call   this meeting of the legislative committee  adjourned. Thank you. Thank you vice mayor.   So, does anyone need a break before we get into  the rest of our business? All right, we will move   on then with u uh items that need action. There  are several resolutions and um motions. First of   all is an adoption of a resolution ratifying the  city manager's declaration of a local emergency   conferring emergency powers and the city manager  as director of emergency management. We have one   measure resolution and I'll entertain a motion  and second. So moved. Second. Second. Thank you,   council members Hagen and Sanchez Jones. Madam  clerk, will you please read the title paragraph?   A resolution conferring the city manager's  declaration of a local emergency. Conferring   emergency powers to the city manager as director  of emergency management. Authorizing the city   manager to make applications for federal and state  public assistance to deal with such emergency.   Designating a fiscal agent and an agent for  submission of financial information for the city  

and calling upon the federal and state governments  for assistance. So we are doing this retroactively   obviously uh but we need to confirm it. So any  discussion by councel just as a procedure is there   any possible uh like time where it would be done  before an emergency as far as I know that would   be no but I could be wrong. No, this is a normal  process because emergencies tend to come. Yeah,   that's why when council is not meeting and  this is the process set out by code by which   uh the city manager is enabled to go ahead after  the governor's declared state of emergency so   that we're entitled to the funds and then it  process is at the very next council meeting   you will adopt the resolution that Miss Karimi  drafted here. Thank you. Thank you. All right,   Madame Clerk, will you Oh, clarify with the um the  state of emergency that was declared in Virginia,   the federal government has already declared  a state of emergency as well. Correct. So   that SEMA would be engaged. Exactly. Okay.  Just wanted to check on that. Thanks. Well,   and I I uh at this point just as a matter of  um discussion, not discussion, but a statement,   I want to convey my gratitude to our city manager,  our emergency operations team, all of our street   crews, E911, first responders. Um they have been  um the recipients of I think a lot of unfair   um comments uh related to this unique storm. And  so I want them to hear from me and from us our   gratitude for their extraordinary work during this  time. Uh it's unprecedented really at every level.   And um thank you to to everyone who's been a part  of of seeing us through this very difficult time.  

So manager, if you could please uh pass that on  to all of our employees who've been involved in   this effort. I certainly will. Thank you. Thank  you. Madam Clerk, will you please call the role?   Vice Mayor Maguire. Hi, Mr. Nash. Hi, Mr. Volison.  Hi, Miss Powers. Hi, Mr. Hagen. Hi, Miss Sanchez   Jones. Hi, Mayor Cobb. I And the resolution is  adopted. Next item is an ordinance approving,   affirming, and ratifying the waving of parking  fees for city parking garages and on street   parking from January 24th through 30th due to  an incoming winter storm. We have one measure,   an ordinance, and I'll entertain a motion and  second. Move the ordinance. Second. Thank you.   Ellison and Powers. Madame clerk, will you please  read the title paragraph? An ordinance approving,   affirming, and ratifying the action taken  by the city manager declaring that a state   of local emergency exists throughout the city of  Rono and implementing that the parking fees for   city parking garages and on street parking are  waved for a period of time during the emergency.   authorizing the city manager to take any necessary  actions to accomplish waving parking fees for the   city parking garages and on street parking. Thank  you. Uh Miss Turner, is there anything you'd like   to add in terms of I I want to thank Council  Member Hagen for uh introducing this idea to   us and for your quick response. Is there anything  you'd like to share with us? Yeah, it was it was   a it was a great Thank you, uh Council Member  Hagen. Um and when I tell you the response that   we received from our residents um and from our  downtown um businesses was um was very good. So um   it was it was something that was needed. Um it was  something that we could move through quickly. Um a   special thanks to our parking um partners as well.  So it was it was good for the city. Thank you.  

All right. Any discussion by council? I didn't  know that was council member Hagens. idea. Well,   he is downtown resident and a special eye on  how that might be helpful. We have the gateless   system. I figured, you know, this is a way where  we could just do that. Um, and I wasn't sure. So,   yeah. Thank you. All right, Madam Clerk, please  call the role. Vice Mayor Maguire, hi. Mr. Nash,   hi. Mr. Vison, hi. Miss Powers, hi. Mr. Hagen,  hi. Miss Sanchez Jones, hi. Mayor Cobb. I and   the ordinance is adopted. Communication from my  office requesting that the council convene in a   closed meeting to discuss vacancies on certain  authorities, boards, commissions, and committees   appointed by the council pursuant to section  2.2-3711A1 code of Virginia as amended and a   listing of the vacancies we'll be considering are  included in the agenda. I'll entertain a motion   in a second, please. Moved. Second. Thank you.  Council members Hagen and Bison. Madame Clerk,   will you please call the role? Vice Mayor Maguire.  Hi. Mr. Nash. Hi. Mr. Volison. Hi. Miss Powers.   Hi. Mr. Hagen. Hi. Miss Sanchez Jones. And Mayor  Cobb. I. The motion is adopted. Communication from   the city attorney requesting that city council  convene in a closed meeting to consult with legal   counsel regarding a certain legal matter requiring  the provision of legal advice by the city attorney   involving the cooperation between governmental  agencies pursuant to section 2.2-3711A8 code   of Virginia as amended. Need a motion and second  please with the resolution. Thank you. Uh council   members Vol and Nash. Uh madame clerk will  you please call the role? Mayor McGuire. Hi,   Mr. Nash. Hi, Mr. Vison. Hi, Miss Powers. Hi, Mr.  Hagen. Hi, Miss Sanchez Jones. Hi, Mayor Cop. I  

And the motion is adopted. A communication from  the city attorney requesting that city council   convene in a closed meeting for the purpose  of discussing possible disposal of publicly   owned property in the central part of the city  of Ronoke, where discussion in an open meeting   would adversely affect the bargaining position  or negotiating strategy of the public body.   This is pursuant to section 2.2-3711 A3 code of  Virginia as amended. I need a motion and second,   please. I move the motion. Second. Thanks and  Sanchez Jones. Madam clerk, will you please call   the role? Mayor Magguire, I. Mr. Nash, hi. Mr.  Volison, hi. Miss Powers. Hi. Mr. Hagen. Hi. Miss   Sanchez Jones. Hi. Mayor Cobb. I. And the motion  is adopted. A communication from the city attorney   requesting that city council convene in a closed  meeting to consult with legal counsel regarding   a certain legal matter requiring the provision  of legal advice by the city attorney regarding   a real estate transaction in the southwest  part of the city pursuant to section 2.2-37118 code of Virginia as amended. Uh entertain a  motion and second second. Thank you council   members Powers and Bison. Madame clerk, will  you please call the role? Vice Mayor Maguire,   I Mr. Nash, hi. Mr. Volison, hi. Miss Powers, hi.  Mr. Hagen, hi. Miss Sanchez Jones, hi. Mayor Cobb,   I The motion is adopted. And one additional  walk-on uh that we received um request for   closed meeting. A city council convene in a  closed meeting for the purpose of discussing   possible disposal of publicly owned property in  the central part of the city where discussion   in an open meeting would adversely affect the  bargaining position or negotiating strategy of   the public body pursuant to section 2.2-3711  A3 code of Virginia as amended. Need a motion  

and second please. A move. Second. Thank you.  Council members Hagen and Bison. Madam clerk,   will you please call the role? Vice Mayor. Hi,  Mr. Nash. Hi, Mr. Bison. Hi, Miss Powers. Hi,   Mr. Hagen. Hi, Miss Sanchez Jones. Hi. And Mayor  Cobb. I And the motion is adopted. Thank you all   for those action items. Are there any additional  topics for discussion by members of council for   our consideration or any items listed on the  2:00 uh council docket requiring discussion   or clarification. Right. Then we will move into  our briefings and I'll call on our city manager   to introduce the first briefing. Thank you, Mr.  Mayor. Um at this time, I'd like to invite U.   Wayne Lewitch, planning manager to the podium. Uh  so city council, you've asked uh our planning team   to pursue input on three important council member  initiatives. These include a review of the 2024   zoning text amendments, the Evans Spring uh plan,  and the development of a new vape shop ordinance.   In addition to these council initiated efforts,  staff is also evaluating additional proposed   text amendments to the zoning code. when is here  this um today to provide an overview of this work   and outline the process for gathering input.  Good morning, Mr. Mayor, vice mayor, council,   city manager. Uh here today to talk about these  council member initiatives and our process so   far. I'm going to jump right in. Uh this really  all began this fall where we started this council   member initiative process. Um we begin with  one from council member Hagen that um initiated   a study on the reforming the 2024 zoning text  amendments. Um council put together a committee  

to discuss this and reported back to staff in  October gave us some ideas and we have since   um as I will talk about in a little bit started  going out to the public to discuss those potential   changes. Um we also had um council member Nash  who really started before August 2025 um wanting   a vape ordinance but formalized that with the  council member initiatives in August of 2025 and   uh began looking at a fee for vape shops but we've  since looked at pivoting to create regulations for   how we would handle vape and tobacco shops. Uh  and then in November 2025, Council Member Nash   um started a initiative to review and  potentially update the Evans Spring plan. And so I wanted to begin talking about the  residential zoning um changes that we made in   2024. Uh we have since we presented a study  to you last year of our the results of our   first year of changes. Um and we estimated that in  because of our changes we saw an additional 26 to   40 potential housing units. Uh really that number  would be based off of current plans more closer to   26 additional housing units. And I will say that  some of these have not been built and may not be   built. some we had a couple accessory dwelling  units um permitted but may not be built. Um what   we heard from council in regarding to going back  and looking at these zoning text amendments was   really to focus on uh four main areas. Um housing  density. We wanted to take a look at our numbers   to see if we were um requiring the right amount  of density in in particular zoning districts. We   wanted to look at setback in certain areas and  then also parking. We've heard a lot from the  

public about concerns about parking. Uh and  then we recognized we had established some   supplemental regulations for smaller apartment  buildings with the changes we made in 2024, but we   did not have any design standards for apartments  over eight units. And so as we talk about, we are   recommending that at this time. But when we looked  back at 2024, we really started from the city's   comprehensive plan which was adopted in 2020 where  we had a focus and a need for getting more missing   middle housing within our community. We have a lot  of single family uh throughout our neighborhoods.   We have a lot of larger apartment buildings  and although we have great examples of them,   uh we don't have a lot of the missing middle  housing. So that would be your duplexes,   your courtyard apartments, your small apartment  buildings. Uh we have a lot of those that exist   in our historic neighborhoods. Um but we  have since that time really forbidden them   with our zoning ordinance. And so that was an  effort that we wanted to change that in 2024. And so what we did is we really established  two different ways that housing density would   be determined in our zoning code. Um, we had our  traditional minimum lot area per dwelling unit.   Um, and we did tweak that in 2024. We reduced  those square footages per unit to allow more   units. Um, we also added a maximum dwelling  unit on a lot cap based off whether you are   an interior or a corner lot. And that's really  that last two rows in that chart there where it   talks about if you're on a corner lot in certain  residential zoning districts, you are allowed   um a certain number of units that it caps off at.  Likewise, if you're an interior lot, a slightly   lower number of units. And those two work together  handinand. Sometimes the cap will limit how much  

density can be on a lot. Sometimes the square  footage size of a lot will limit the density.   So, based off of what we heard um through  this uh council member initiative process,   um we initially have proposed changes as we go  out to the community of showing a uh increase in   the rear yard setback that had been dropped from  15t to 5t. We're now showing it at 10 feet. Um we   also have talked about parking requirements.  Uh we have added a uh we're proposing a one   uh spot per unit for apartment buildings. Um  this would actually be more than what we had   in the zoning code prior to our 2024 changes  where we had 6 spots per unit. Um, but we think   it's the right number and we think it's something  that's fair to ask for and we think it answers a   lot of what we're hearing from the public about  concerns for parking. Um, we also have proposed   some design standards for apartment buildings.  I mentioned that a little earlier. And we've   started to adjust the density, the square foot  per unit numbers, increasing those a little bit,   allowing a little less density within our  different uh residential zoning districts. We also are establishing some new uses. We are  um creating a vape and tobacco shop definition   in our zoning ordinance so we can regulate them.  We are modeling it after Richmond, Virginia,   which also established that use recently. Um, we  are uh not proposing that we establish it yet,   but we are starting to have the conversation  with the public about cannabis dispensaries   or what the state may call marijuana retail  facilities and where they might exist and  

how people where people feel comfortable with  those. Um, we also have um defined inpatient   mental health and substance abuse clinic. That  was a use that with our most recent changes   um was generally found within our regional  housing services definition and that encompasses   a lot. The regional housing services was really  more of a rescue mission type use and it just   so happened that the inpatient mental health  and substance abuse clinic that's where that   fit. So we wanted to create a separate use so we  could talk about those different uses separately.   Uh and then of course data centers um a big topic  across the state. Uh we did not currently have   that defined in our zoning code and we wanted to  do so. Um we do have some other updates uh for the   zoning use tables regarding restrictions on self-  storage uses. Uh we want to limit those. We don't   see them as the most efficient uh land uses. Um,  we also have a couple smaller tweaks like adding   office in our airport district. Um, supplemental  regulations for portable storage containers. Um,   removing the training facility for police fire or  emergency services and just using the police fire   emergency services land use that already exists.  Um, requires special exception for micro brewery   or micro distilleries abuing residential  districts. So, this is one where we had   uh currently we do require restaurants serving  alcohol to get a special exception if they   abut a residential district, but for some  reason when we established the micro brewery   and micro distillery definitions, we did not  require that if they abuted residential. So,   it seemed appropriate that we would also require  a special exception there. And then we had in   previous changes to our zoning ordinance taken  out junkyard and record yard alto together. Um  

which is not good practice to take a use  completely out. So we want to put it back   in the zoning code but still limit it to our  industrial districts where it's appropriate. Sure. When you uh speak to the restrictions on  self- storage units, could you give a little   detail as to what exactly do you mean and what are  those restrictions? you all see putting in place,   right? So, we're looking back at the zoning  districts and where those are appropriate and   limiting some of where those uh locations are.  Okay, last thing too. I know that um I think   all of us probably have gotten emails about it,  but there's a property where there's a a issue   of people complaining about portaotties being kept  in like the backyards of like neighborhoods and um   just something for you all to possibly look at.  You know, if there's a construction site on the   street and there's a port of Heidi there, that's  one thing. But if it's a neighborhood and there's   no construction and someone just for whatever  reason has a porta body in their backyard,   um I think that's something that  should be we'll take a look at that. And follow up on the the self storage. Basically,  what we're doing is it would require a special   exception permit in more areas. So it' be just a  little bit harder to to build those facilities. I   love it. I hate them. Same. And I'm sure there'll  be more questions, but I'm going to go ahead and   carry on. This next slide shows some just really  minor tweaks, just things that we would typically   do on an annual basis as we go back to the  zoning code and sort of make some some scrier   error changes or other just minor text changes  uh to uh street trees, outdoor lighting, homeay,  

um pre-application meeting, and produce stand.  Uh again, these are just minor things. I can go   into details if you like, but um the other items  we were asked to look at um was a a tree canopy   program. So, it had been mentioned from some of  our council members that um old growth trees are   important. So, we looked to try to see what we  were allowed to do in the state of Virginia and   we really are doing what we're allowed to do in  the state of Virginia. We were encouraged to see   mention of changes to the tree um or authority to  uh handle trees within the city that we saw in the   legislative agenda earlier. Um that may allow  us to um require uh canopy at a 10-year versus   20-year period, but otherwise we are sort of  maxed out on what we can require for tree canopy.   However, we are thinking and we are allowed to do  a heritage tree program and so we are going to be   reaching out to folks and our urban forestry folks  to see if that's something that's been considered   before if that's a possibility here um to allow us  to establish that heritage tree program. In which   case, if it was established, we might be able to  include that back within our zoning code and give   people credit for preserving heritage trees when  there's a development project. Um, the other one   that often gets mentioned to us and also got  mentioned in this process was tiny homes. Um,   we do certainly allow tiny homes within the city  of Reno. There are building code requirements and   zoning code requirements that they have to meet.  And in fact, we've made it a little bit easier for   tiny homes uh with our 2024 zoning code changes.  Um, we allowed for cottage court development um,  

which would be uh tiny homes or the like sort of  uh around a common green space on a property. So,   we've allowed it to be a little bit easier to be  done. We think that a lot of what needs to happen   with supporting tiny homes is really about  education and outreach for what is allowed.   Um, and then of course the big one that really  isn't a zoning code change, but we were also   asked to go back and look at the Evans spring  plan. So, we've been at our public meetings,   which I'm going to talk about in a moment. Um,  also engaging the public about the Evans Spring   Plan, providing some education and outreach on  what was passed, what that does offer, and then   trying to get comments from people on what they  think is next or what is missing from the plan. So, we we started out with a really ambitious  list of public meeting dates and of course it   snowed and so we've had to move some of these.  Um, so here on the slide uh is our updated   list. We did we were able to have our Belmont  Library and Raleigh Court Library meetings.   Um, but we did have to push the Melrose Library,  the main library, Williamson Road Library, and   the Gainesboro library meetings a week. In case of  Gainesboro, we've actually pushed it two weeks now   um because it keeps snowing, but we're hopeful  that the weather will improve and we'll be able to   um pull these meetings off and continue to gather  public input. We'll go to next steps and then   I'll open it up for if there's any questions.  Um, as we go forward, we're going to complete   those community engagement meetings. Um, continue  to talk with folks. So, we've offered ourselves   up for neighborhood association meetings. So, we  have several already calendared for February. Um,   we also plan to bring together meetings of  stakeholders. So, we have some folks that  

are interested in the residential zoning  changes that we made in 2024. We also have   the development community. Um we know with Evans  Spring we have property owners, we also have um   Friends of Evans Spring. So those are all groups  that we want to meet with to continue to gather   input. Um and then because we might make changes  to the zoning code that would decrease density,   um we do we are responsible to do a mailer out  to all the affected residential property owners,   which is fairly substantial. So, we have to do  a mailer and say how we are going to downzone   their property, what that looks like, provide some  information. Um, so that also will need to go out   in the next couple weeks. So, we will quickly try  to on this timeline um figure out exactly what our   changes are that we are recommending so we can  send that mailer out to everyone affected. Um,   we are looking for a planning commission hearing  date in March and then coming back to you all at   city council in April. And we also have a couple  initiating resolutions at the 2 pm session for you   all to approve to more formally kick this whole  process off. Are there any questions? Thank you,   Mr. Leftwitch. Uh, additional questions.  Uh, Mr. Hagen, just as we're looking at with   cannabis dispensaries, a recommendation,  I guess better term. Um I know that the   bills that have been proposed offer 300 uh  thereabouts uh licenses for sales as well as   uh requirements of certain amount from areas such  as schools, public parks, etc., etc. Um which the   way that it looks like it's written will allow  localities potentially lower that where it's not   necessarily a thousand feet or 2,000 feet  or whatever it is off the top of my head.  

Um I don't know how many areas of the city if at  their current rate where that where a thousand   feet from everything. So just something to be kind  of looking into and be aware of and especially   for if say anybody wanted to open a dispensary say  downtown uh where we have uh government buildings,   parks um technically the school administrative  building, a school etc. That might be something   where if we wanted to encourage that development  downtown just throwing that out there for   council and I know a perfect spot for that  place. That had not crossed my mind at all. And we're very early in the public input on  that. But we have heard generally people feel   more comfortable with a state regulated business  versus the vape and tobacco shops which are just   sort of proliferating all over the place. Uh, two  follow-up questions. Um, in the public meetings,   I've I've heard a couple of people say, and and I  I know I still am a little bit baffled by what the   different how the different residential districts  are defined. If that's something that you could um   in addition to how they're labeled number-wise,  if you could put just a brief definition or have   that available for folks as they're looking  at that, I think that would be helpful. Yeah,   I think one of the pieces of feedback we've seen  uh or heard is that and we are uh definitely going   forward making sure we have plenty of zoning maps  available so that when someone sees R5, R seven,   they're able to actually look and see well where  are we talking about? Um and and trying to define   them as as best we can um the differences  between those um is helpful for people too.   But I I think the map is really helpful as people  can see well what what is within my neighborhood  

where are the RM1 districts which allows a little  more density you know and able to see how they sit   generally around neighborhood center areas and  sort of strategically placed through the city   is helpful and then uh this may be connected  with the I don't it's different from homeay but   it's somewhat connected just the ongoing questions  related to un unregister registered uh short-term   rentals and Airbnbs and how we're navigating that.  I know there's a pretty significant list of them   that planning is working through. Um but I want  to make sure we're we're being um thoughtful and   um efficient in making sure that those are  appropriately registered and followed up   on. Right. And it is of course an enforcement  challenge. Uh we do we were given a list from   a member of the community that helped us sort of  start to look at some of them that they had found   and we're always looking for that and often we  are complaint driven in a way is how we sometimes   find these. Um but we you know so we will continue  to look at that going forward. Vice Mayor mayor.   Thank you Mr. Lewitch. I had a question about the  zoning um updates and I'm going to be attending   at least one of the um public meetings. Thank you  for putting all of those together. I haven't had a   chance to attend one yet, but I wanted to ask you  about a couple of the areas that you said you were   focusing on for um some changes. And I wanted  to ask one about density because it looks like   you're addressing only the minimum lot areas but  not proposing any changes to the maximum number   of units. Um and I just wanted to encourage you  to think about that. Some of us, I think all of   us have received um a proposal, a compromised  proposal that essentially cuts the density in  

half. Um I personally think that that is very fair  um and that it would still allow for the creation   of a lot of what you've described as the most  needed housing, the middle, missing middle of the   duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes um by right.  So I especially in most we have a lot of RM1 five   um and so I think that we could still accomplish  a lot of what we're saying we would like to do   um by accepting that compromise which I think  we have people on both sides. Some folks want   to leave it just as it is or think it's great.  Some people want to see the whole thing thrown   out and I appreciate the work that folks have put  into trying to find a meaningful compromise that   again I think is fair. The other piece of that  that I think um connects to that density, the   higher density concerns, I didn't see you mention  anything about the public notification, and I   think that's what a lot of people have a hard  time with is, you know, if in your neighborhood   you buy a home in a single family neighborhood  and you kind of know, you think you know what   kind of community you're living in, um under the  zoning amendments that were passed, you could wake   up and within a short period of time, all of the  houses on your block could be turned into up to   eight unit apartment buildings depending on the  neighborhood you live in or fourunit apartment   buildings with eight on the end or with some of  the combinations of lots that we've seen like in   um Crystal Spring, you know, you could be in a  single family home one day and then, you know,   a week later the whole block has been cleared and  there's a very large apartment building going up.   And I'm what I think is important to clarify is  it's not that that would be banned. It's just   what I think would be good is to restore what  was there before, especially within the RM2.   um the public notification requirements. I think  it was previously that any uh project 14 units or   larger had to go through um planning commission  and then come through council. I I think what  

you're referring to is RM2 uh in particular  that South Rono lot. There were limits before,   right? That on the corner number corner lot  maximum number of dwellings. It's currently no   limit. There were limits before the square foot  per unit would have been the limit and so for   example with RM2 I think you mentioned 14 I think  that's the number that would have previously been   allowed by right in that RM2 zone property  in South Reno that you're referring to and   so our changes allowed it more units um but still  yeah so they would have had to sought a reszoning   um to a higher density residential district  in order to do more than the 14 which would   have included a public hearing process. What I am  and I'm not the expert on it so apologies if I'm   mis if I'm conflating some of this but what I'm  suggesting is that I that the public notification   piece of basically large projects should have to  go through the planning commission I think and   come before council. Um so I would encourage you  all to consider that look at that. And then I also   again think that it's fair um to cut the density  um in half with regard to the maximum number of   units. I would recognize that that would leave  probably everyone still wanting a little bit more,   but sometimes I think that's the hallmark of  a good compromise. So, um thank you again for   your time and the presentation. And I will say  we begin with the square footage changes because   that's what was brought to us from council. But  we do recognize we've had a lot of conversation   with folks about the corner and interior lot  maximums and how we might change that going   forward. But we're still in the middle of the  public process. So we're still gathering that   input. So thank you others. Thank you for those  reminders and follow-up questions. All right.   And can I introduce my team real quick?  Yeah, please. I forgot to do so thus far,  

but they're in the back here and I just wanted  to introduce them. But we have Katherine Gray   who's our principal Go ahead and stand up please.  Our principal planner. We have Philip Moore who's   our zoning administrator. We have Britney Gardner  who's our deputy zoning administrator and Colette   Bombgardner who's our planner three. And they've  all been fully engaged. And I don't see Emily   Clark here, but she's also been helping us a lot.  She's our board and commission specialist. But   they've all been fully engaged in these meetings.  It does take a village to pull all this off.   Um and but they've been very helpful in that and  they will be carrying this process forward. Um   is I will not be at the city um past next Monday.  I've taken another opportunity to work somewhere   else. So they'll be who will be here championing  these changes in the future. Well, Mr. Lifewish,   thank you for your work for the city. Um I  remember um the extraordinary work you and   the team did on the 2040 plan um which continues  to be a really great guide for us moving forward   and thank you to your team for all of your work.  We appreciate it. Great. Thank you, Mr. L. Thank   you. Right. Thank you very much. All right. Next,  I'm gonna call on um Deputy City Attorney Collins. Thought I saw you back there, David. For our  briefing on the code amend code amendment   regarding the transient occupancy tax. Welcome.  Good morning, Mayor Cobb, Vice Mayor McGuire,   members of council, and Miss Turner. With the  consent and approval of the commissioner of   revenue, we recommend that city council consider  adoption of an ordinance amending article 10,   chapter 32 of the city code to provide for  certain changes to the transient occupancy  

tax ordinance to bring it into alignment with  current state code provisions. The transient   occupancy tax is a tax levied at 8% of the total  amount paid for a room rental by a transient to   any hotel. A transient is defined as any person  renting a room for 90 days or less. And a hotel   is defined under city code ordinance as any place  of lodging, motel, etc. Um under city code the ter   um the person collecting the tax the hotel the  lashing provider is obligated to hold it in trust   for remittance to the city with the proliferation  of third parties facilitating hotel room rentals   for guests such as Airbnb and other platforms.  The general assembly has made changes to state   code to require these third parties now known as  accommodations intermediaries to collect addresses   of the providers, gross receipts and other  information including remittance of the tax and   uh send those in to the locality. The general  assembly in its most recent changes removed some   of the language that these platforms were using  as an argument that they did not have to comply   with with the statute. Um, importantly, the new  legislation um exempts accommodation providers   such as the the lodging providers, hotels, etc.  from having to remit the monthly tax in report   if the accommodation provider signs an annual  attestation attesting that its room sales are   facilitated by an accommodations intermediary.  The proposed amendments to the city's transit   occupancy ordinance make several amendments to  update the language to bring it consistent with  

the state code. for example, replacing hotel with  accommodations provider and the use of the the   term accommodations intermediaries. The amendment  set forth the obligations not only of the   accommodations intermediaries but the providers  as well and the exemptions that are applicable   to each. Adoption of this ordinance will bring  changes to ensure consistency and uniformity   with other localities who are similarly amending  their statutes in the same manner and ensure more   um consistent collection of the tax from these  accommodations intermediaries. Uh the proposed   ordinance is attached to the briefing memo for  your consideration and review. If there are no   objections, we plan to present this at council's  upcoming agenda meeting on February the 17th. Ryan   Lefountain, our commissioner of the revenue is  here with me today and we are happy to answer   any questions that you may have. Thank you, Mr.  Collins. Um, questions. M Sanchez Jones or Mr. La. Yes. Good morning. U does the city collect on  all the Airbnbs that are in the city? Are they   and how do if they don't collect it, how do they  enforce it if it's enforceable? Uh I'm not. So   what happens right now is Airbnb is the party  that's collecting all the t all the transient   occupancy tax right now and remitting it to the  city. As uh Council Member Powers may be aware,   uh they would previously just send us a check and  there wasn't really an audit way for us to audit   that detail. So, this allows us to identify,  well, state code already allows us to identify   who's operating where, but it doesn't allow us  to share that information with other uh bodies  

within the city. That was part of the compromise  to get this done. Um but what this is proposing   enables us to provide for uh accommodations  intermediaries to properly file with us and   to bring our code consistent with what state  code is and with what other localities are doing   uh including Salem Stanton and Charlottesville.  It's my understanding that a lot of people are   not listing their homes with Airbnb and they're  doing it on their own. Is could we do something   about it? I mean this is what we're tasked with  in the commissioner of the revenues office to   identify and locate such establishments and  ensure that uh tax is being appropriately   applied. I know there are other platforms  and this doesn't restrict to Airbnb. I mean   this is also including Verbbo and you know other  such platforms in addition to discovery that we   can be doing by looking on Facebook or looking on  Craigslist or looking on other other places where   people may be putting their uh places up. It is  worth noting and I think is important to note that   uh we have to be very careful as to how we're  delineating short-term rentals versus what a   normal rental property is. in normal rental  property. You know, if you're leasing to   uh a tenant, that's not subject to transient  occupancy. They're not transients and they're   not subject to business lensure. Um that was  uh abolished by state code quite some time ago.   You're welcome. Powers. I just want to say thank  you, Ryan. You've done a great job. We've worked   on this several years trying to identify how do we  correctly identify the difference between somebody   just renting a house or somebody renting it less  than 90 days. So I want to thank you for the   work that you've put in because it it really has  helped. Yes. Thank you. Questions? I think this  

addresses the the admissions the tax um question  of what I raised earlier about short-term rentals.   uh as opposed to the zoning but you know the  the correlation of them. I do have a question   um in the definition of accommodations here does  that the way it is and I I apologize this may be   the state language um that's being added does  this include everything that we would consider   a short-term rental or Airbnb or does that  need to be spelled out? So I would argue that   it covers such leng and that the language we have  covers that because it provides a whole listing   of locations where you could do it and then it  provides furnishes lodging to any transients   as here and after defined. That to me seems  to be pretty pretty clear and in its breath. Any other questions? So, this is just a briefing  today. Um, uh, this will be scheduled to be a part   of our agenda on the 17th of February. Is that  correct, Mr. Collins? That's correct, Mayor.   And no public hearing is required since we are  not raising any tax here. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next, I'll turn to our city manager  to introduce our our budget update briefing. Good morning, mayor, vice mayor, and members of  city council. Um, as we continue planning for   our FY2027 budget, uh, we will be continuing  to provide u budget briefings to you um until   the final budget is approved in March. Um, today  we will walk you through the capital improvement  

program, the city's capital improvement  program. The capital improvement program   or the CIP represents the city's planned  investment in major capital projects. The   CIP is funded primarily through the issuance of  debt which is supplemented by cash funding and   limited grant funding. When the current CIP was  revised in FY2526 budget development process,   the revisions were limited to adding projects  which prior commitments had already been made,   adding technology uh projects and including  funding mechanisms to address the backlog   of capital maintenance projects.  Also in FY2526 budget development,   council was advised of the need to do a  reccalibration of the CIP based on required   level of debt service. We reminded council of  this during the budget work session in November. Thank you. Um, as we've done um, additional  due diligence due diligence, excuse me,   on the required level of debt  service to fund the existing CIP,   it has been determined um, that we  cannot support the required level   of debt service. This has required us to  reconsider revisions to the current CIP. Today we'll focus on a number of  things. First, the basics of the   capital improvement program. Second, the CIP  as it was adopted by city council. Thirdly,   we'll suggest revisions to facilitate  the modeling of options available to   align required debt service with our financial  capacity. And lastly, our financial advisor,  

Stavenport, evaluated our financial status  and explored available options to align with   our financial capacity. And Mr. Rose will be here  today to present or is here today, excuse me, to   present to council this morning on those findings.  Right now, I'd like to turn it over to our our new   um CIP or capital improvement program manager,  um, Miss Katron. Miss Katron um was initially senior project analyst. Um, and um, we saw  the need for a capital improvement program   manager because we didn't really have a  a program manager that was watching and   working through our capital improvement  program. Um, and so this is a a valuable   tool for us as we move forward and we look  at our debt and we manage our debt. So,   uh, Miss Kaitlyn's going to give a really  really good overview of our of the capital   improvement program as a whole. um as well as um  our overall debt that we have for the city. So,   Miss Kaitron, welcome Miss Kaitron. Thank  you. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. All right. So, I'm going to start with  providing just an overview of the CIP. So,   the CIP is a five-year plan for our  capital investments. And typically,   those are the high dollar uh items such as  bridges, street, parks, and wrecks, technology,   and our equipment and fleet replacement. And those  projects are typically funded through debt, cash,   and where we can grants. Each year, the  council will endorse the five-year CIP and   then separately adopt a resolution  for the current year debt funding. So, just to walk through the CIP debt issuance  process, we start out with again council will  

adopt a resolution to endorse the 5-year  capital improvement plan in May of each   year at the time of the budget adoption.  Then after the start of the fiscal year,   we will hold a public hearing to receive public  uh public comments on issuing the current year   debt and then council will then adopt a  resolution to authorize that debt issuance. Then council will appropriate the debt  proceeds once we do issue the debt   um in order to spend on the identified  CIP projects and the finance staff will   work with our city's financial advisor which is  Davenport and they facilitate the debt issuance   activities the technical and the financial  aspect um of getting our debt instrument   issue that could be bonds it could be a line of  credit or it could be a bond anticipation note. So I want to turn to our city's debt management  policy as it correlates with our CIP. So our   policy helps us ensure that the city can take  on both current and future debt at the most   favorable interest rates possible. So the policy  also establishes how much can the city afford and   or how much we can carry and then also sets out  the responsibilities of our repayment strategies.   And this helps us put guard rails um in place  to avoid overextending ourselves and ensure   that our debt service remains manageable in  consideration of our annual operating budget. And another key component in all of this  is our long long-term capital planning,   which is where the CIP comes in. So, we  coordinate those projects for each year   um in anticipation of any debt borrowing  we would have to commit to. In this way,  

it reduces uncertainty and helps further support  a strong credit rating. And again, those credit   ratings directly influence our interest rates  that we receive. So the better our credit rating,   the lower the interest rate, which results  into uh recognizing cost savings for the city. So the debt policy sets forth certain debt  limits and you know as a locality we also   are subject to the Virginia Finance Public Act  which sets out those debt limitations as well.   However, we have our own self-imposed debt limits  that are a little bit more stringent in what the   state says we must do. Um, the first being that  our general obligation referred to as GEO debt   service cannot exceed 10% of our city and schools  combined general fund expenditures. And this cap   ensures that our debt payments will not place  again undue pressure on the operating budget.   Second, the policy states that the tax supported  debt cannot be any more than 4% of the assessed   real estate, personal property, and public  service corporation tax. So in essence,   we're tying our debt to the borrowing capacity  based on the size of her local tax base.   And then last, we structure our debt so 60% of  all outstanding taxup supported debt must be paid   off or retired within a 10-year time frame. Okay.  And I start looking at the numbers. So this graph   depicts the general fund existing permanent debt.  So what that means is it does not consider the   schools. It does not consider storm water. does  not consider parking, but what it does consider  

is the Burgland Center because we do subsidize the  Burgland Center debt. Um, the other item that is   excluded, and we will get to this in a moment,  is the bond anticipation notes that we have.   So with that being said, if you took a look at  the line for fiscal year 2027 and what this is   saying is the tax supported debt outstanding is  about 162 million. We're going to pay debt service   of approximately 18.5 million and we're going  to retire about 12.4 million of the debt. Um, so again, this is just laying out the  next fiscal years as we look at the CIP,   but we typically as a city, we aim to only  finance our debt over a 20-year period with   the exception of fleet. And we do finance debt  over a shorter period of time, about seven years. And really quickly, we'll look at Enterprise Fund,   and that's just storm water and parking fund.  Um, they are self-supporting in their debt,   meaning they whatever they get from their  fees and charges, they're able to repay   their own outstanding debt. And with that, I'll  pause for a second if you have any questions. All right. So, let's take a look at our current  CIP for fiscal year 26 through 2030. And this   is the CIP that you all endorsed last May. And  I'll there's a few slides. I'll go through it at   a high level just so you can get familiar what  those projects were. Again, we always provide   5 million to the schools. Um, if you recall, track  8, we have the adult detention center maintenance,  

which we provide a small amount of funding to each  fiscal year. We have Belmont branch expansion,   fire station number two on Williamson, uh,  downtown pedestrian bridge, Wina bridge,   which is wrapping up late summer this year.  We have three bridge projects. 13 streets   over southwest north southern line which is  grant funded. We have 13 street over tinker   superructure replacement in fiscal year 29.  That's also grant funded along with the bridge   or passenger over murray run replacement. And  then we have continuing uh replacement and   oper costs that we provide each year to curb  gutter and sidewalk both new and maintenance   um along with street paving, streetscape  improvements and traffic signal modernization. Going out, we have park maintenance, park  projects, the historic Fishburn mansion   restoration, Mil Mountain Star restoration  out in 20 fiscal year 2029 along with the   Richardson Whailing parking lot and Fallen  Park pool renovation out in fiscal year 2030.   And on this slide, I just wanted to note as  well the capital maintenance and replacement   projects which was tied to, if you remember,  the deferred maintenance line of credit that   was issued last last year. Um, a portion of  that we had included as receiving a whole   full 1% increase in the mills tax, but as  it turned out, we only got 1% increase. So   half of that went to operating and the  other half came to the uh CIP portion. And then getting through the technology  projects, we come up with the total tax  

supported projects for fiscal years 2026  through 20 fiscal year 2030 of 147 million.   And I want you to note in the red line where  it says bond issuance plan, that will be what   we would have thought our plan bond issuance  would have been for those five fiscal years   across. So it stays pretty stable at 32 million  for fiscal year 26, 32 million for fiscal year 27,   26 million for fiscal year 28. It goes up a  little bit in fiscal year 29 because we again   we added on the star rehabilitation as well as  the Whan renovation and we dropped it down in   fiscal year 2030 because we didn't fully load  projects with anticipating how much we possibly   could spend on the adult detention center. So  it dropped a little bit to about 17 million. Okay. So, I did want to move forward to the  deferred capital maintenance. I touched on   this briefly, but we did issue a $25 million ban  uh last year in order to address the backlog of   capital maintenance needs that we identified  in elevators, HVAC, mechanical, and electrical   replacements and upgrades. And until we convert  that ban or line of credit and turn it into   permanent financing, we will pay interest only  and we're going to use the revenue from the mills   tax increase 50% of course in order to pay down  the interest on that outstanding line of credit. And I'll pause right here again for any  questions before we move into the revised CIP. Miss Powers, have we drawn down any of  the 25 million yet? We have drawn down  

the bond issuance cost. So, we probably  have drawn down I would say 260,000,   but we have expended more and we  will draw those additional funds   down as well soon. Of the 25 million,  you've drawn down about 260,000. Yes. Mayor. Yes, Mr. I just want to add I sent  an email this weekend relative to um we have   expended about $1.8 million um towards um some  of the items that Mr. Katron just mentioned. So, I want to take a moment to talk about the  bond anticipation notes. So the the bonds the   these are called short-term for bands and they're  just short-term financing where it basically you   get the money quickly in order to start spending  on those projects and that's before you take the   time to go out and seek permanent financing. You  pay interest only until you turn it into permanent   financing. And currently the city has three bans.  the 2024 ban which was 57.5 million and we convert   that ban into permanent financing by December of  2026 or fiscal year 2027 and that ban is comprised   of 17.9 related to the fisc year 24 CIP projects  and then another 39.5 related to the fiscal year   2025 CIP projects. We also have the 2023 ban  which is 10.1 million and that's a taxable   revenue ban. We convert that ban to permanent  financing by April of 2028 which is fiscal  

year 2028 and it was issued for the economic  development authority and the Riverdale project.   Then last, we have the 2025 ban um line of  credit that we draw down on and we convert   that to permanent financing by August  of 2030 or fiscal year 31. And again,   we use that or using that for the identified  backlog of capital maintenance projects. You tell me um what months the interest payments  are due now. And I can't remember from I know   it was Is it still the same February, July, and  October? Is that uh Are you on all of the bands?   Uh we we can get that. Yeah, I can get that  information for you. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um before you move on, um I just want  want to state that back on this slide,   it's it's not unusual to use short-term  financing instruments such as the bond   anticipation notes and lines of  credit. And our financial advisors   um they provide us guidance um on  the appropriate instrument to use. So going back to the red line that we saw on the  previous slide where we had anticipated our bond   issuance of going across the fiscal years 27  to 30 and then including also for our 5-year   CIP planning purposes fiscal year 2031. So we  were originally looking at issuing a total of   147 million but in consideration of converting  the bands to permanent financing in fiscal year   27 we need to convert another 57.5 to permanent  financing in fiscal year 28 we need to convert  

to 10.1 million to permanent financing and  in the outyear fiscal 31 we need to convert   to 25 million ban to permanent financing. So  that change changes the landscape of the total   bond issuance amount that we had originally  planned for. So if you look at fiscal year 27,   we need to plan for 89.2 million of bond issuance.  And so we came concerned with the ability to   afford future years debt service on issuing that  magnitude of additional debt. So what we did was   we recalibrated and we broke down our CIP for  the fiscal year of 27 through fiscal year 31 by   removing previously programmed projects to arrive  at a what you would call a baseline CIP that just   keeps in place any and all projects that we had  prior commitments already in place for and we   also kept our technology projects there. So, with  that being said, we did engage with Davenport to   run some modeling for us to see what our debt  service would look like. Um, and so they're   going to speak to that in a moment, but the  projects that were removed are before you. So we   removed Belmont branch, fire station 2, MK bridge,  downtown pedestrian bridge, the park projects, the   historic Fishburn mansion, Morningside Park master  plan, Mil Mountain Star rehab, Richardson Whan,   and Fallen Park. So in totality, we reduced the  debt for those specific projects by 50.4 million. and left. That's what they're just the  revised CIP which excluded all of those  

projects just mentioned to arrive at um  like I just said the $50.4 million debt   reduction starting with fiscal year 27 we're  looking at for about 14 million going down. So just taking a look at all of those portions  together to get to our revised now what we would   believe would be our debt issuance. We start out  with what we had planned at the end of last year   fiscal year. We're converting those three  bands to permanent financing and then we're   further reducing the debt issuance by that  50.4 million that just mentioned. So again   alone for fiscal year 27 we're still looking  at a $75.4 for a million dollar bond issuance. So with that, so Mr. Mayor, yes, Mr. um before  we transition to um Mr. Rose's presentation,   just a couple things I want to state. Um  attempting to move forward with the original   plan debt and converting the bond anticipation  notes to permanent financing would be extremely   difficult and challenging for us. Um, additional  funding um should have been set aside each year in   anticipation of converting the bond anticipation  notes to permanent financing. At this point,   converting the 2024 ban of 57.5 million is what  is most challenging as we prepare for our FY2027   budget. So, I'd like to transition um if you  have some questions, we'll take those. Um if not   um right now I I would like to transition to  our financial advisor Mr. Rose. Um he has been   working with us um and evaluating our financial  status and he has provided us with some um some  

available options. Um so I'd like to turn it over  to Mr. Rose. Okay. Thank you uh city manager,   Mr. Mayor, members of council. Again, pleasure to  be here. Um let me start before we even go into   um our presentation uh by making three important  statements. Um first um couldn't be here wouldn't   be able to present today without uh the  quality of your staff today and your support   uh support we've gotten. So really appreciate  that. I'm looking in front of me, behind me,   all around me. And so again, I just want to make  sure that uh uh y'all realize that. So, I can   only be here with their support. Um, second, um,  we're here today for educational purposes. This   is part of your process. There's no, uh, uh, I'm  asking anything specific that you do concrete. Uh,   but I do want to introduce some recommendations  and hopefully, uh, you can think through that over   the next couple of months. Um, and then again,  hopefully we'll move towards something like that.   Um, third though I want to make sure it's  clear to the citizens listening. Uh, and um,   Mr. Mr. Katronone talked about this, but I want  to underscore it. The Skiddy is in very strong   financial shape. Uh, but at the same time,  we do not have a limitless credit card, and   I think that's the way to to keep this in mind.  Um, we still have a very robust or you have a very   robust capital improvement program. You've done a  lot. You're planning on doing a lot. Uh but again   uh there is going to be as the city manager said  the need for additional dollars and we're going to   talk about uh how we believe you can incorporate a  lot of the things that are in now your revised CIP   uh in a very affordable way. So with all of that  um please interrupt me and stop me. I'm happy to  

uh answer any questions. You know if I can't  answer them today I will certainly get back   to you going through the city manager. So with  that said um let me go to um little background   here again for those uh in the audience I think  you all know this um we are and your independent   uh financial advisor your fiduciary if you would  and I think again uh a lot of what uh I'm talking   about here has been set up very aly just a few  moments ago uh by the city uh staff. So again,   we're looking at an overall multi-year plan. Um  and then so we'll move right into that existing   debt if you would. Um a couple important things  here. Um it was pointed out that you have a policy   that says you will pay off your debts principle  if you would in 10 years you'll pay at least 60%.   For those of you in the audience or just even  around here that are listening, think of it   if you're fortunate enough to have a mortgage on  your home, typically a 30-year mortgage. After 10   years, you've paid off about 25% of the principal.  The city though is going to pay off right now   about 75% of its debt in the next 10 years. That's  important because it puts you in a position to   be able to take on new debt in that 20-year time  frame. So, we're really in good shape, but again,   you have a lot of debt and you've issued a fair  amount of those bands. We're going to talk about   that. Um, one of the points here is when you look  at the overall payments, as it was just pointed   out, you are paying your debt down very rapidly  and that is very, very important. So again, uh we   like the trajectory of where you're going. And you  can see there, uh with the exception of a little  

bump up in 27, a little bit of 28, uh it goes  down nicely and allows us to layer in new debt.   That little bump up, if you would, from 27 and  28, we're going to make some recommendations in   a few minutes about how to shave a little bit of  that peak. uh because again I think it's a little   ownorous and we can do that very coste effectively  as well as layer in some new debt. So I'm going to   give you a little peak to that but again just want  you to see that visually. So the next page here   um again as it was spoken about there are three  bond anticipation notes in effect shortterm. You   may say why did we do that? Um, the reason we did  that and I made a presentation to a prior council   is that when we first got involved with the  city, um, you were facing a lot of unspent bond   proceeds. You were sitting on a lot of dollars,  was costing you a lot of money. And as a result,   we recommended more of a just in time approach.  We've done that over the last five or six years,   and it has actually saved us millions of dollars  of avoided interest. You were not spending prior   to the city manager coming on board. You were not  spending the proceeds as fast as you anticipated.   So it was sitting there costing you a lot.  We moved to this concept of moving to more   bond anticipation notes having the monies there  but paying not the full principle and interest.   And I had shown this previously. Some of you are  on council probably saved us well over 10 to 15   million dollars in doing that approach. I can get  that exact number. But I think the important thing   here is twofold. Number one, thanks to what  you did last year and has just talked about,  

um, you instituted that 1% meals tax and we have  used that half a percent towards the interest.   Having said that, when we show you going forward  this program, I'm going to talk about the impact   if we can get that half a percent for debt to  continue into the next several years because if   we can, it's going to make a big difference cash  flow-wise. So hopefully, but we didn't count it   and I'm going to talk about that as well. So, we  took a purposely I'll talk it about a conservative   uh almost a negative approach if you would to show  you worst case. So, I wanted to point that out.   In addition, that 2023 bond anticipation note  that was done for Riverdale, the whole concept   here has been that by 2028, hopefully there'll  be some things that will evolve at Riverdale and   that there will be hopefully some revenue sources  that could ultimately take care of what would be a   terming out of that. So, if you remember, that was  effectively $10 million that a prior council said,   let's raise, let's help get that project  started, but it really was in its infancy.   Still very young, of course, that project. So,  we'll see where that is. We've also treated that   as if there'll be no new revenues to come to  help that project. So, that's been in effect   layered in in the next couple of minutes. So  again trying to take a negative perspective   not because I want to be negative but I  think it's important to show worst case   most conservative case. In addition um what we've  also done like I said is we've incorporated doing   all 25 million that can always be slowed down if  we don't continue with that one half a percent.  

But we've said because you have so much deferred  maintenance, let's act as if that is going to   continue to be funded if you excuse me borrowed  but maybe not funded from that 1 half a percent.   So we'll talk about what these influences and  impacts are in the next couple of minutes. Okay.   Um I don't need to belabor this because again your  staff uh Miss Katron did a wonderful job I think   of laying out the CIP how it's evolved but we're  in sync with their numbers really we we we just of   course are uh been working very closely. So these  numbers will mirror those numbers. So we did a   couple of scenarios. Um, I would say that scenario  1A um and one and 2 A really are scenarios that   uh don't look at the big picture being strategic.  They just layer on debt if you would in a in a   typical way. Uh there's no creativity there.  There's no strategy there. But it gives us a   worst case if you would. So you can see that we do  everything relative to an equivalent penny impact.   And what you'll see here is if we just layer  on those pieces with no other revenue sources,   including that one half a percent not coming to  help, what we're going to need is the equivalent   of a little over two pennies here in this  upcoming budget. We'll need another three   plus pennies in the next year's budget. and then  again almost a penny in the 29 budget. So all told   the equivalent of about six and a half pennies.  Now having said that a couple of other points,   we purposely use an interest rate that has always  been higher than where the marketplace is. I build  

that conservativism in so that I can come back to  you instead of saying I've got some bad news for   you. I'd rather have some good news for you. But  nevertheless, that's based upon a 5% interest cost   fixed rate for 20 years. Right now, we're looking  at something below 4% fixed rate. So again,   we build that in. That's going to add a little  bit to that if you want to call it that pain.   Couple points here though. What we did for all  of these scenarios is to show you visually what   your colleagues just presented in terms of  verbally. this is that we meet the policies,   the debt policies that we have. That's one of the  reasons why from the rating agency standpoint,   we're highly rated. And just to give you a  sense of that quickly, we basically find with   Standard Empors and Moody's, the two prominent  rating agencies, we are basically in the double   A category a step away from AAA, which is the  highest we can be. We've never been AAA. We're at   our we're at highest ratings we've been with S&P  and Moody's right now but nevertheless um we're   really in very good shape and as said uh because  of that we borrow at very favorable interest   rates. So let's go on to 2A. If we were to do  a little bit of what we call shaving of the of   the peaks, being a little strategic, but not too  much, we can actually go from needing that 6 and   a half pennies roughly to about five pennies. And  this, but you'll notice though, we still need that   2.2 penny equivalent, roughly two cents in the  uh 27year. Okay. Go on. again policies are met.

So then we said to ourselves, okay, what can we  do? Particularly knowing that we're paying off 75%   of our debt in 10 years. Could we shave a little  bit of a peak in a year or two and basically not   extend the debt, but move it back a little bit,  three or four years? Um the quick answer is yes.   We found that we could basically restructure about  $3.5 million of debt that comes due by virtue of   some debt we did. I say you did back in 2015 2016.  So if we do that um this is what we're effectively   doing. We are shaving a little bit of that 27 28  peak and then what we're doing is layering it into   some subsequent years because our debt drops down  so significantly that basically provides us if you   would some critical cash flow relief. So I want  to give you a sense of what that means we do this.   So we then introduced two new scenarios, scenario  1B and scenario 2B. I think it really makes sense   that we recognize those B scenarios are with this  restructuring that we recommend which by the way   from a coste effective standpoint is a break even  to us because the way the interest rates work it's   not costing us money to do that. That's important  to point out. So if we do this though, what really   happens is you can see here on the far right hand  side instead of having especially scenario 2B   which is the one we recommend. The way we would do  this you'll notice that in 2027 instead of needing  

2.2 pennies we basically need less than a half  a penny. Given the way we do our interest rates   effectively we don't need anything. We basically  find that the debt service that was set up in   the 26 fiscal year can be basically the same for  the 27 fiscal year. We can do that. In addition,   we find that in 28 we need about two pennies,  a little over two pennies. Here's what I will   be asking of you and that is if you are able to  continue to continue to keep that one half of the   1% for debt service that 2.4 pennies effectively  goes away. So we are basically then able to   layer in this new debt that was just talked  about that roughly 147 million which is basically   terming out some of those notes and layering  some of the new debt and we basically will really   effectively look at perhaps something as little  as a half penny in 2029 which from my perspective   that's so far out two years really three years out  that from our perspective that could be a rounding   error because of the way that that works. And  just a little aside here um every penny that we   are talking about um basically is roughly  a $1.1 million. So if you think about it,   if we're at point6 or almost a half a penny,  that's probably about five $600,000 that we might   have to come up with. But again, I say that at  the same time, the interest rates that we've been   using historically have always been higher. And  so if our interest rates come even close to what  

we hope to see, we won't need those equivalent  costs. So effectively, we find by doing this,   we're able to in effect recalibrate everything.  But again, that will take the the half half cent   to continue for a few more years. Um, with that  said, um, let me just, uh, finish up here. Um,   as I said, I pointed that out on this page for  the meals tax. And then simply um what we would   be doing and we'll come back to you as we always  have is when we have the budget set um you can see   the new issuance if you would under this approach  has about that 9.6 6 million. That's a poperri of   projects that were just shown to you uh by Miss  Kaitron. As well as some fleet issuance, some fire   trucks terming out that 57 million ban. Um that  restructuring is about 3.5 million. That's not   new debt, but it's moving debt around so it gets  put in there. And then of course the schools get   their five million. So, all of that to say that  we would, with your blessing, be here sometime,   and I'll show you the schedule in a moment,  talking about an $82 million issuance as opposed   to one that would be higher than that because some  of those projects had been again taken out. So,   here's the schedule. Um, we know the budget will  get done uh sometime a little bit later here this   spring, of course. Um and then the thinking is  in June uh hold the appropriate public hearings   um and then we would sell the debt in July uh  with again uh the knowledge of what the budget  

looks like and then close come August. And that's  because again um we need to have those other bonds   paid off, those notes if you would in October.  So we build ourselves a little cushion. Um but   again I appreciate this. happy to go back and  answer any questions. Um I don't know if the   city manager wants to add anything um before  No, we just appreciate um Mr. Rose and working   with us diligently. Um I know that some of the the  projects that we're looking at um taking out our   I mean we we didn't do it in a vacuum. We looked  at it from an objective perspective um relative to   what we could and could not afford. Um, and I know  that they are um projects that are near and dear   to all of us. Um, and we are uh still looking to  see if there's anything that we can do, but um we   funding is really tight for us. And so we are um  we are will be recommending the um recommendation   of Mr. Rose and our financial advisors. You  Mr. Rose, Miss Turner. questions from council. I do have one question to ask. Yes, ma'am.  So, if the 1% sales tax passes for schools,   does that change anything on this for  us? So, um it it could um so what happens   is as we understand it and we've been  pretty close to this this legislation,   um it sounds like no matter what, whether it's  um Miss Lucas's Senate Senator Lucas's bill or   uh you know, Delegate Roul's bill, um it only  will be for new projects going forward. Now maybe   that changes and we hope it does but I'm assuming  that if it doesn't if it doesn't it will only work  

towards new debt to be issued for projects that uh  you know are are going forward. So that 5 million   uh again there's going to be a pathway down the  road potentially uh for for that um if it passes   but again for everyone's benefit as you know um it  will require all those bills require a referendum   by individual uh local governments. Um, and for  just benefit of everyone, maybe you know this,   um, just stop me, but there have been individually  nine different local governments that have had   this done and gone to the legislature. All nine  have passed. So, they it's it's been a great   track record and it's been bipartisan. U, but  the last two years the governor has vetoed it.   um our new governor has said that she will pass it  and so again it's going to change a little bit I   guess but the spirit of it she's made clear that  she is in favor of it. So I think a lot of folks   uh feel like this is coming. So should the  interest rates really hopefully drastically   come down with that change that we could um  refinance any of our debt that would help us   out in the future as well? it it it would. Um  once again, I being as conservative as I am,   I count none of that. Treat as if it's not going  to happen. Um but we've been here before. We stay   on top of all of that. Um one of the one of the  things we have though, the federal government did   something a few years ago where they said that you  cannot advance refund on a tax exempt basis for   effectively 10 years. I mean the call provision  which for all intents and purposes for most local   governments including ours is a is 10 years. So  from that perspective um you noticed I said we  

can restructure that 2015 and 16 that's 10 years.  So we're restructuring that if you would on a tax   exempt basis. So we're going to get the benefit  if you approve this of very good low tax exempt   rates. Um, if we were to try to do something, for  example, that may look attractive in 2018 or 2019   debt, we'd have to do taxable debt and that's not  nearly as attractive. So, we monitor all that. Uh,   every year new pieces come into happening. Um, but  again, from our perspective, um, your your debts   are at are at good low rates. It's a good good  and bad. Um but at the same time, uh like I said,   if we're able to lock in an interest rate closer  to 4% versus 5%, um that'll be another big win and   it'll be again it'll be reflected in less pressure  on the on the debt that I've shown. Thank you very   much for this. It is very well done. Thank you.  Well, your staff starts all this, so I appreciate   it. Thank you. Yes, sir. Um, when you're referring  to the uh penny increases that are needed,   does it matter which tax revenue source that is  from or just That's a great question. So, it it's   I use the I always use the term the equivalent  penny impact because it could come from any number   of sources that you as a council decide, but I  like to try to give it in a way that since you   all know your your real estate tax rate and every  penny gives about a million one little bit more,   but just go with me that way. I've always felt  like when presenting to to folks like yourself,   if I use the term the equivalent of a penny or two  or whatever it is, it's easier for folks to grasp  

the magnitude of it. So that's why we do that.  Yeah. Yes, sir. Vice Mayor Mayor, can I just ask   Thank you for the presentation. Yes, Vice Mayor.  Clarifying question to uh piggyback off of that.   So the recommendation to council is to raise the  real estate tax rate five to 6.5 cents over the   next five fiscal years. Not quite understanding  that correctly. Not not quite. It's it's saying   that if we do not do any of the strategic  structuring that we're recommending and we don't   get a better interest rate than what we're looking  at and we don't continue with that 1/ half,   we're going to need the equivalent of about five  pennies. That's really what we're saying. So would   you say the biggest takeaway recommendation for  us is the that we continue the meals tax increase   that we implemented on a temporary basis. I would.  Yes, sir. Thank you. I would. Now I know I'm not   elected so it's easy for me to say that but but  I would that's exactly I would think so. Yes sir.   I would say too, I mean, I'm just saying it  because it's, you know, a thought and I think   people should know, but when we're talking about  the mills tax and a sunset, I mean, I was against   a sunset to begin with because at any time, I said  we could always reduce it, change it, have our way   with it because we have the power to do so, and I  felt that it would get a lot of restaurant owners   and business owners hopes up that this that the  meals tax would sunset and revert back. Um, but   now we're looking at a situation where one, yes,  we need to keep it, but I think the options also   on the table, you know, we're talking about the  equivalent of a penny. I mean, we might have to   look at additional revenue sources. I'm not saying  that one in general at all, but I'm saying we're   going to look at additional revenue sources or  where the where to rep prioritize our our I mean,   I know Miss Turner and our team, you know, really  stripped this down to basically just things that  

revolve around public infrastructure and safety.  Um, so this I mean RCIP has been stripped down.   It's bare bones to the to the absolute necessities  that are relevant to keeping our citizens safe.   So I mean this thing has been completely just,  you know, sliced and diced as many ways as you   can slice it and dice it. So we're going to have  to have some real hard conversations in the back   room. Um, so that's just what I'll say. Well, uh,  thank you all for this. Um, there are a couple of   takeaways. Um though this this is heavy stuff  I there are a couple of takeaways that I think   are important for us to recap. First of all  u thanks for the to Kron to our our finance   department our our management budget department  for your hard work on this. These are not easy   things to approach. Miss Turner thank you for  your leadership on this. Um I want to reiterate   something that Mr. Rose said, Bren, I want  the public to hear this. Our city is in strong   financial position. Yes, sir. I'm going to repeat  that. Our city is in a strong financial position.   We are having to make some difficult decisions  in part because we don't have limitless credit.   uh we're uh being very proactive in reducing  that credit and that over the course of the   next 10 years we're scheduled to pay off 75% of  debt which I think is extraordinary. Um we're   faced with making some difficult decisions that  we have to decide do we find ways to increase   revenue and we're limited in how we can do that.  Uh so we have to look at our our taxes. Uh how do   we grow our tax base? Um, and as much as each of  us may be disappointed in some of these capital  

projects that we can't do right now, it doesn't  mean we won't do them. It means that they will be   delayed. Um, but hopefully some of these scenarios  will change and we'll be able to do those um,   sooner rather than later. Um, I just wanted  to reiterate some of those things. I really   appreciate the clarifying questions all of  us have asked. I think that's helpful and   and um encourage citizens who have questions  um to please let us know those questions. We're   continuing these budget conversations um through  through the next several months. Um today was the   focus on capital improvement projects. Um and  it was important for us to get this information   and we'll continue to receive these updates as we  go forward. Thank you, Mr. Davenport. Thank you,   Mr. Davenport. Mr. Rose, of changing your name.  He would be we we were founded 170 years ago. So   I may look old, but I'm not quite that old. Great.  Whatever you're doing, keep it up. Thank you,   Miss Katron. All right, so we are that  concludes, I believe, our briefings for   this morning. So we will be in recess uh for our  closed meetings until our 2 o'clock p.m. session. Who does it directly affect China?