City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, good evening everybody. It is 6 pm. This is August 12th. This is our regular monthly meeting for the month of August for the Town of Spencer Board of Oddman. So, thank you all for being here this evening. Uh we are officially called to order. We have all of our board members present this evening and Mr. Muhammad will start with our invocation.

Lord, we come to you with a clear heart and a clear mind with the town of Spencer, the residents first, the employees and staff. We thank you for the guidance, wisdom that you provide us. Be with us as we move forward with the betterment of this town this evening. In your name we pray. Amen. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance.

Ice to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right, board. You have before you the proposed agenda for this evening. Are there any additions or deletions to the agenda? Mr. Francis, anything that you know of that we need to add or delete?

Uh, nothing to add. We we may be expanding the scope of the time during your presentation regarding Chief Lanning as we as we heard earlier if that's okay. But no no additional items. Very good. All right. Forward hearing no additions or deletions. Is there a motion to adopt the agenda before you? So moved. Second.

Motion by Mayor Prom, second by Mr. Muhammad. All in favor? Right. All opposed. The agenda is set and we will move to recognitions this evening. We're going to start. I've got two recognitions and then Mayor Proim has a recognition and then uh the manager has two recognitions as well. So it's a night of recognitions. Um the first is I'd like to start by reading a proclamation uh by a dear uh friend of the towns and um an ambassador of the the town and our media coverage if you will over the years. Um we're very very grateful for the work that Elizabeth Sterilache has done uh for the Salsbury Post um for all of Rowan County, but in particular her um focus on the northern part of Rowan County and Spencer in particular. And so with that, we wanted to recognize her on her retirement uh to be able to share with her uh this evening a proclamation from the board. And I will read that to

And here she comes. Perfect. Perfect. Look at it's perfect timing. Good timing, Elizabeth. Would you like to know? Your timing is impeccable

because we are in the process of doing recognitions and the first recognition is for you. So I will read the proclamation uh from our board. Whereas Elizabeth Strerilache has served with exceptional dedication in the field of journalism for 40 years, beginning her remarkable journey at age 15 and continuing to shape public understanding through her reporting, editing, and leadership across decades and communities. And whereas Mrs. Mr. Latche has worked in every capacity from sole reporter to executive editor, always maintaining a steadfast commitment to integrity, accuracy, and compassion in her coverage. And whereas during her most recent years at the Salsbury Post, Mrs. Sterlatche faithfully reported on the community of Spencer, capturing its history, revitalization, challenges, and aspirations with clarity, fairness, and heartfelt engagement. And whereas Mrs. Mr. Latche has earned the deep trust and respect of our first responders, public officials, and citizens alike, having been recognized as a journalist who truly listens, understands, and honors the importance of every voice and every story. And whereas her thoughtful advocacy for the preservation of local journalism has reminded us of the critical role of the free press in sustaining community identity, transparency, and civic life. And whereas Mrs. Elizabeth Strilache will officially retire from her position as a journalist with the Salsbury Post on Tuesday, August 12th, 2025. And whereas the mayor and board of aldermen on behalf of the town of Spencer and its citizens wish to recognize and celebrate Mrs. Sterlatche for her years of faithful reporting, her profound civic contributions, and the enduring legacy she leaves within our town and across Rowan County. Now, therefore, I Jonathan D. Williams, by virtue of the authority

vested in me as mayor of the town of Spencer, and on behalf of the board of alderman and all of our citizens, you hereby express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to Elizabeth Sterlatche. We further proclaim that a copy of this proclamation be presented to Mrs. Sterlatche with heartfelt congratulations and best wishes for a joyful retirement filled with continued inspiration, peace, and fulfillment. [Applause] Thank you.

Now, what am I going to do? Am I I don't know. We're going to miss you. We're going to have to visit. Way too much committee. We'll sign her up before. We better thank you so much. Miss you guys. I may just come sit at the meetings just to keep up with I have to watch her go off. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. A pleasure. Thank you very much. Thank you all so very much for what makes me part of this family and I will tell you what I told if person comes behind me isn't getting it done and we will

I tell you you know in a world uh filled with social media and media of all sorts that has our heads spinning on a daily basis I think not knowing what to trust or which way to look um Elizabeth has been a uh a calming force in uh in all of that, especially for her coverage of local news and um frankly has restored my faith in the media. Um and with the stories that come out, it it she does a good job of restoring my faith in humanity a lot of days. So, thank you very much.

All right, the next recognition I would like to invite Chief Lanning forward. [Laughter] So, Chief, I've got no uh no plaque to hand out, but I I promise that's okay.

But I do want to take a moment to recognize you once again for a incredibly uh successful and amazing fire camp for our youth and our community uh that you recently held this summer. Um, I had uh the second child of mine get to go through it and he just absolutely loved it. Um, what you were doing for community engagement, you and your entire team for community engagement involving um, youth and the programming, the time that y'all spend at the local schools. Um it's something that we don't see that often uh in a lot of uh in a lot of communities and we're just so very very grateful for your leadership and for your team and uh everything that they put back into this community. Um you're an inspiration to us. Um and I know that you're an inspiration to many children in this community. Um and many of which uh hopefully will uh want to be firefighters with the town of Spencer one day. So, thank you very very much and be sure to please thank uh thank your team for the great work that they do.

Yeah. And and very appreciative for the support. U we couldn't do it without the support of our elected officials. That is for sure. Um y'all got us and and we do as much boots on the ground as work as we can. Um but and you you hit on it. It it's not me, it's our team. Um and I definitely couldn't do it alone. So, uh, we have a group of men and women that that fully support and buy into my vision of community involvement. So, I'm extremely grateful and thankful for that. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I I wanted to say too that uh congratulations on your scholarship from Civic Foundation. Yes.

And and to I guess just to add on to that that scholarship was for the public executive leadership academy that the school of government does. It's one of the top uh leadership programs that are available across our state and Chief Landing completed that last Friday. Two two intense weeks of uh exploring his leadership and taking it to the next level of a more of a community vision and uh really congratulate him on uh being part of that experience. Certainly appreciate his ability to uh be awarded the the scholarship from Civic and all they do to support what we do. But uh he's to be commended for uh completing that program for sure.

Thank you. So we'll rabbit trail for a second. Um so Elizabeth, I am personally extremely grateful. Um for not only your professionalism, but for your friendship. Um oftentimes I probably should not publicly say this, but trusting the press is hard. Um true. And so, and we actually talked about this earlier at the fire station. I hate you to retire. I support it. Please enjoy life. You and Jim enjoy it. Enjoy your time together. Um, but you will be greatly. Thank you.

So, the last thing, and I'm gonna get out of y'all's way for a little while. If I could have um and Duca come forward, please. I wanted to take this opportunity to formally introduce them to you as the board. Um I'm sure you've seen on social media uh and the press coverage that we did promote these two individuals. Um and I'm gonna attempt to give a reader digest version and if they want to elaborate um then obviously allow them to do so. Uh David Keyser was promoted to deputy chief. He began his fire service career in 2010 as a volunteer with the Leland Fire and Rescue Department. After returning to the region, he joined Salsbury Fire Department where he advanced to the rank of captain and served with distinction until December of 24. Throughout his career, he's earned a bachelor's degree from Fable State University and pursued graduate level coursework in training and development at North Carolina State University. Um, David is also a published contributor in firehouse and fire engineering magazines with recognized works on leadership and communication in the fire service. His commitment to training fitness, you can't tell, much better shape than me, uh, and continuous learning exemplifies the values we strive to promote within our organization. and Assistant Chief Duca. Um we're equally honored to promote him to the position of assistant fire chief. With a career spanning much outside of the state of North Carolina, but over 35 years, TJ is recognized throughout the fire service for his unwavering dedication to enhanced operational performance and advancing risk management practices. His diverse experience includes both volunteer and career service ranging small town to large urban fire agencies. His well-rounded background has equipped him with a deep understanding of the unique challenges that we face by departments of all sizes. And he currently serves as a risk uh or fire service risk management consultant and has worked extensively with fire departments and municipalities to improve operational safety, accountability, and leadership culture. So I am very honored to introduce both of them and look forward

to hopefully years of working alongside them. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys. Congratulations and uh we're thrilled to have you in the roles that we have you in now. And Chief, I'll I'll tell you, you just keep putting together an all-star team. So, thank you. Thank you.

All right, we will move on to our next recognition and I'll turn it over to Mayor Prom. Before I uh say something about our schools here in Spencer, I want to elaborate just a minute more on the fire and police department. Our uh both of these departments are so involved in our schools. We are blessed. As an example, uh last year on the last day of school at North Elementary, I had to be over there for some type of uh business from town to the school. And I looked outside and the fire truck was there and kids were running all through the water being shot out by the hoses and having a wonderful time. And I thought, boy, I bet you can't see this in too many places in America. But it was a really hot day and they were all just having a blast. and the staff walked through and it just made my heart feel really good. And our uh firemen and policemen go into the school and sit down and have lunch with the kids and they do it all the time. So, they're in there at all three schools.

Some even coach.

Yeah. Some of them even coach. That's right. And they've cleaned up the baseball field. And I mean, the list just goes on and on. So, with that, I'm going to uh do my little spill on a welcome back to the schools. Everyone here in the town of Spencer would like to welcome another SCO school year 2526. Hard to believe. With a shout out all to all staff members and students of our Northran schools here in Spencer and of course Hanford Dole which is right outside of Spencer on the other side of 85. they feed in the North Rand, too. Today marks the end of day four in this new year. We support our students and staff in every possible way we can, and we encourage all of you to reach out and see how you can help or volunteer. Don't forget to join Child CPA. And you don't have to be a parent to join any of these things. You can join as a citizen and show up for events and meetings when you do join. Join the boosters club at the middle and high schools and help support athletics, band, and academic programs because the boosters club works in all of those programs. All programs are underfunded for needs and can use both financial and volunteer help. Support your child and all of our children here in our schools in any way you can. They are all our children. whether you have children in school or not and you can make a difference. Start now by being aware of our students safety on our roads, our sidewalks, parking lots, and school grounds. Keep them safe everywhere. Thank you very much. And remember, do not pass school buses to

have the thought sign out because some people have already done that. I've seen it on a news event. So, make sure you don't do that. That's that's a big no no. We appreciate everything you do for our kids. And if you uh want some ideas about things you can do and don't know how to contact the school, contact me and I'll get you the resources that you need to know. And I'm sure Linda Miller could help with that, too. Hey, thank you. Thank you, Mayor Param. All right, Mr. Transis, you have a a few recognitions to make as well.

Yes. Thank you very much, Mayor, members of the board. I would like Sky Allen to come to the lectern if she would, and we'll do our our first recognition. So, about four years ago, Sky joined us as a uh a bright young recent college grad uh and and the lead for North Carolina program. uh she was committing to a year of service uh and exploring what it means to work in local government and to be a sponge and to take on u things that we've that we spelled out and take on things that we couldn't have imagined and it it went amazingly. Uh but she really latched on to the idea of community building and um of creating uh public art as a way to enhance Spencer as a destination and and and really to enhance our quality of life. And it started with ghost sign restorations and it went on to creation of new new murals in town and and one of them even uh went so far as to uh bring the community together to share its its story about about our labor history which in itself was an amazing feat. Uh, and then through all that, uh, Scott dealt with, you know, uh, working through budgetary procedures and purchase orders and contracts and and all sorts of other things. But, but, uh, her two-year fellowship turned into a spark uh, was a spark that led her back to Chapel Hill to uh, complete the MPA at the School of Government, which I wholeheartedly was excited about. And she's now completed that. But while she was in graduate school, she continued to work with us as a as an intern and continue that work in the in the public art realm. Um Sky, I can't thank you enough for for what you accomplished uh in those roles over the

last four years. U we we hope that we can find a way to accommodate uh accommodate uh your continued leadership and your continued public service here in Spencer someday. We got to we got to uh we got to grow a little bit to be able to to to fit all that you can bring to a community. But we're really excited about uh what lies ahead for you and your public service and just certainly wanted to to thank you um for all that you did over the last four years. I think you got to to meet so many people in the community. I think a lot of folks in town are familiar with you and really appreciate all that you do. here as as our organization, as as staff, and as as the board, mayor and board. We certainly appreciate what you did for us. And uh I have a little something I want to I'm going to bring it to you. Um, this is a picture of the mural here on the side of the building that I hope you'll be able to display somewhere. [Applause] Yes, I I definitely want to thank all of you. My my time at Spencer was truly truly amazing. I started, as Peter said, I started with a one-year fellowship, which turned into two, which turned into two more years. I just kept coming back. Spencer really gave me the opportunity to grow and advance and really gave me the space to uh build on all the amazing things you were all already doing. And I

can't thank you enough for the support, the um the information, long talks, the real kindness that I think everyone here showed me as a as a young person just getting started in local government. and it really has inspired me to keep going and to pursue higher education and to keep going with local government. It's a big passion for me and you all gave me the space to really build on what was here and really give it the spotlight it deserves. Spencer is a wonderful, wonderful town and it has so much growing to do in the future and what it's done so far is just phenomenal and um I would love to come back to Spencer but until I do I will be watching and I will always keep Spencer in my heart. Thank you all very much. Thank you. [Applause]

So, y'all y'all will notice an article that's printed and this is uh on the N School of Government's NC Impact website. If you if you uh don't have it in front of you, you can look this up. Uh it's called the role of social capital in public art. and Sky wrote this article and it tells kind of the intellectual story about what public art means in the community and and and um I think it gives you a good glimpse of as to how Sky took this practical experience here and weaved it together with graduate school and um and how she was able to connect all those dots in a really interesting way. And so uh little reading for everyone, little homework assignment followup there. I wanted to make sure y'all had a copy of that as as well.

Thanks, Sky. Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure working with you and um I would say you've probably left the most colorful mark on our community that anybody ever has. So, thank you very very much um for the impact that you've had, not just visibly on our community, but um just with the the lives that you've touched and stories that you've brought out of people. Um, it's been been a pleasure getting to work with you. So, thank you for for all that you've done. And no graffiti. What's that? And no graffiti. And no graffiti.

All right, Mr. Francis, I believe you have another recognition.

Yes. If if Joel Taylor could come up and Heather Rosino with Spencer JC's. Uh Joel was recently recognized by the JC's for a very uh important award as part of their annual uh uh awards ceremony. And so Heather is going to talk about that. But I I just wanted to uh point out that you know this is a reflection of of Joel's work and that of our public works team as a whole for sure. But Joel is one and everybody knows that he works shouldertoshoulder with with his team to make sure Spencer is beautiful and safe and uh and you know his team does the things that a lot of folks uh don't want to do and and for that the community benefits and we certainly thank thank Joel for his efforts and thank the the Spencer JC's for for lifting up what he and his team uh do on a daily basis. So, every year the Spencer JC's hold a distinguished service awards banquet where we recognize outstanding teenagers, educators, um, senior citizens, public servants, and then a North Carolina outstanding representative. Um, we do try to tend to focus to Spencer. Um, however, this year we did broaden that up to Spencer, Davey, and Cabaris counties because we wanted to broaden that with the match of our membership. Um, we have members from Spencer to Denton to Moxville um that that want to come and be a part of Spencer and we honor that recognition and that that support from them. Um, so

with that being said, um, this year Joel Taylor was our award recipient. Um, and our people couldn't talk about his team enough. um his leadership, his dedication, his support is definitely not one that you can look down on. No offense planning. You never know, your time might be coming in the future. Um but, you know, it's it's definitely not something that this town couldn't live without. So, with that being said, Joel Taylor, congratulations on behalf of the JC. I thought we were gonna get a speech from Joel. [Laughter]

Joel, we'll we'll echo those sentiments. Uh, you know, and I think I I feel like we say it every every meeting that we have and we probably don't say it enough. Thank you for what your team does and your leadership of that team. Um, we consistently get lots of good feedback. um from community members about the work that you do and the service and going above and beyond and uh you're a true ambassador uh for what Spencer should be and what we're all about. So, thank you. All right. Uh, I'd also like to recognize Heather Rino because we have a new uh Spencer Spencer JC's uh member Heather Rino is the new presidentelect for the North Carolina JC's and she will take over on January 1st. So, she will be the 2026 uh JC's president for the state of North Carolina. So, great things are happening uh in Spencer. [Applause] All right. And with that, we will move to public comment. And we have three folks signed up for public comment this evening. And so I'll invite Heather back up here on behalf of the holiday caravan.

Never disappear. So, as a reminder, um, as we move into public comments, each speaker will have three minutes to speak. Um, and we do have a timer that we'll put up. Um, and so just as a reminder for those that are signed up, um, state your name and address for the record and, uh, we'll move forward. So, Heather,

hi again. Um, I'm representing on behalf of the parade this time. Um, we do have our event of the Spencer Street Dance that will be coming up on August 30th. Start time is 6 pm. End time is 10 pm and it will be in the new park. Um divided by four will be the band. Um so come out and enjoy. Um we have talked with the brick and mortars and they are going to remain open. Um and we encourage the community to support them with those efforts. We will also have a volunteer sign up um so people can sign up to help um at the parade the day of that event. Um parade is coming along great. Um we do already have some entries which we're extremely excited about. Um we officially have a website that I am extremely happy about. Um, so that will be posted on our Facebook page probably within the next upcoming days. Um, so I will be getting on there and updating that as well. And that parade is November 26th at 6:30ish. Um, we do we are aware that Salsbury is doing their parade. Um, so we are trying to accommodate start time-ish to help those participants get to the parade and not feel rushed. Um, we will have food vendors at the parade this year like we did last year. Um, and we are looking to cap it at about 124 entries. Um, we don't want it to be too terribly long because attention span of kids doesn't really last that long. like

and some of us adults, too. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so please come out and support because we're pretty excited. Good things coming. Awesome. Very good. Thank you. Thank you and the JC's and thanks to the holiday caravan uh group for She didn't hear me. Can you go ahead? No, you go ahead. I was gonna say, can you state the um title for the Facebook page again? Spencer's Holiday Caravan. Thank you. Yes. Yes. Anything else? Good. Thank you. Yes. All right. Um the next person signed up is Pam Pennix.

Good evening.

Good evening. I want to thank all of y'all and thank you for the time y'all taken and the progress of of sidewalks and the alley and I really appreciate everything y'all done in the alley um for two and a half to three hours a day means a lot to me and my business and I appreciate all the concern y'all done and thank you for everybody. I would like to leave this with you. Kindness doesn't need a stage. shows up in parking lots, late Texas, warm food, tired eyes, and people who pause just long enough to make someone else still see. It's everywhere. If you still know how to look, I would like to leave that with y'all and thank y'all so much for every

Thank you, Miss Penn. All right, next we'll invite Charles White forward. Well, I really don't know what to say. Um, I hadn't heard anything to make a statement or comment on. Um, just hearing that, I kind of feel like I know which direction everything went. I wasn't notified or asked or talked to about the alley or the walkway. So, I'm kind of surprised. So, no decisions been made. That's on our agenda for this evening.

Yeah. But I didn't know uh didn't hear it until I just heard that. So, I'm going to leave it at that and thank you for what y'all have done. And I hope I didn't say or do anything that would cause any conflict. Just wanted to be fair. And so, saying that, y'all have a good evening. Thank you for everything. Thank you. Thank you.

And I'll just say thank you to both of y'all for showing up tonight and for your comments. Appreciate it. It means a lot. building over there. I would like to say [Music] I kept calling everybody down there. [Music] lights on the house down. [Music] [Music] So my Thank you, Miss Phoenix. [Music]

All right. Well, that's board. I mean, I think uh it's great that we can sit up here and and congratulate and appreciate our staff, but I tell you, it means even more when the citizens and business owners do that. So, thank you, Miss Penn. All right. That is it for public comment this evening. We will move into our consent agenda. You have several items on the consent agenda. Is there any need to pull any items for additional discussion? And if not, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? I move to approve the consent agenda as as proposed. All right. Motion by Miss Sledge. Second.

Second by Miss Moody. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? All right. All opposed. And the consent agenda is approved this evening. All right. The next item is to consider adopting ordinance 25-15 that would amend the town's code of ordinances authorizing the creation of an encroachment agreement process for the use of sidewalks and alleyways. Or as a reminder, this is the public hearing that we heard about uh last two uh Thursday at our pre-agenda meeting. Mr. Blunt.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the board. Uh, I will go through the same slideshow you saw just Thursday night for the viewing public's purposes and then I have a few other comments to add to that. So, let me do this as quickly as I can and as articulately as I can. Uh, this whole issue started with a complaint about the use of that alleyway. Our code enforcement officer came to me and asked my opinion as he occasionally does about the existing language in our ordinance, what it meant, what he should do. And from there, we met with various people and found out it wasn't just a problem with the alleyway, that it was also concerns about the sidewalks. Um, before I get into the sidewalks, I want to remind you that we do have a system of alleyways throughout our community. They were platted years and years ago when the town was originally platted out uh at some time in the past. They were actually used for service vehicles to get to the rear of the homes and businesses in our community to deliver anything from coal to oil to milk. Uh they are not used that much now. They are public rightaways for the most part. They are not maintained by the town, but we do oversee authority of how they are used. Sidewalks uh and alleyways have primary purposes. Obviously, sidewalks the primary purpose is for people to walk on, to go from place to place so they don't have to walk out in the road. Alleyways, quite honestly, originally, as I said, were originally thought of as a way for vehicles to move behind vehicles, behind buildings to provide services. They're not used for that as much anymore, but they are used occasionally for rear access, for people to park in their backyards, for

businesses to access the rear of their buildings, and still for people to walk through those alleyways. Those are the primary purposes. The reason that we've looked at this ordinance so long and gone through so many steps is that there are alternative uses for those spaces. Uh these are the alleyways in the downtown core area. And you'll realize a little later in this presentation why I've given you this slide, but that shows you a grid of the alleyways in the downtown business district of our community. Other communities have taken advantage of their alleyways uh in various masonry ways. Uh two of those pictures are from Easy Street in Salsbury, which you probably will recognize. The others could be from anywhere from Asheville to Charleston to any old town that has alleyways in their urban district. These are our sidewalks in the downtown core area and these are the only sidewalks that are wide enough to actually be considered for alternative uses. Uh most of the other sidewalks throughout the town are anywhere from 3 feet to 5t wide and that's just really barely wide enough for people to walk on. I'll intersperse these slides with other places that have used their sidewalks and this was pointed out in the planning board meeting last night. These sidewalks are right much wider than ours. So, they have a lot more alternative uses they can use for their sidewalks. But it gives you an idea of how pleasant outdoor dining and outdoor uses of these spaces can be and what an amenity it can be to our downtown area. Uh, also landscaping and dividers. that that picture on the left shows you a divider system that may be necessary in some areas to actually demark the

difference between the walking space and the dining space. That's a possibility for some areas. Um some people have questioned whether we are going to regulate private businesses and we are not. Pasis also has a private patio area in front of their business. and they have tables and chairs there. This ordinance will have absolutely nothing to do with the operation of that. Spencer Deli and Fleming Street Bakery have dining set up in front of their stores like down the sidewalk here, but that is a private sidewalk. Those sidewalks are on private property. They are maintained by the private property owner. They are regulated by the private property owner. That private property owner makes the decision about whether he wants to allow them to do this. in episode outdoor range. We won't have anything to do with that. This is an old picture of Pinocchio's on Salsbury Avenue and they used to provide outdoor dining and occasionally when I was out riding my bicycle, I would stop by and have a cold beer and a few appetizers. Miss those good days. They don't do that anymore. Uh but this is an example of how outdoor dining could be arranged in front of their restaurant. And this is Roger Dogs. Uh, again, most of these are old pictures, so not exactly what's range now, but that gives you some idea. This is a little closer picture showing the square table or round table, I guess it is, with four chairs around it. As we got into this deeper and deeper, as you'll remember, I came back to you with a suggestion for a very simple text amendment that would give me as your zoning and subdivision administrator authority to um make these decisions. and you in your wisdom took that problem

off my back and said, "Let's write an ordinance that is more objective and has numbers in it and spacing and more direct language about how things can and can't be done. So, we've done that." In doing that, we also looked at your comprehensive land use plan and other planning documents and found that there were numerous mentions of creating a downtown cultural uh and arts district or an entertainment district as I started calling. So that sort of expanded our thinking from just solving a sidewalk problem or maybe an alleyway problem to taking this problem and making it a chance to improve the amenities in the downtown and actually improve our community. Uh one of the main tenants of that we've already accomplished, you've already accomplished a park is completed. Uh within that park, we have the main plaza building that has seating for outdoor eating and two picnic tables that are set up. The upper left hand green rectangle is the eating area in front of Salty Doll or Roger Dolls, excuse me. Salty Dolls is down. And then the other two were uh something we started thinking about and we'll talk a little more about it, but Fifth Street is wide enough that we could actually do some bumpouts and actually build more space for outdoor seating along that road. You give up a few parking spaces, but it also would help solve some of these problems. And again, some more pictures of outdoor eating spaces in other communities and outdoor landscaping. Those bumpouts don't have to be just seating space.

They can be landscape areas that make our downtown area more attractive. These are really big ones. Obviously, we can't do that on our small sidewalks, but if you did a bump out, maybe you could. Maybe you could. So, think big, execute small, and accomplish great things over time. Y'all are worldrenowned for that now. You've accomplished great things. So keep up that big thank you. In closing, let me say that u as a planner, we always wish we had a blank sheet to design something on and we never do. We always start with something that's already 90% complete. But in this case, what we've got as far as trying to create that entertainment district is the anchor tenant already in place, our park, and hopefully some landscaping in the rest of the parking area. You add to that a grid of alleyways and sidewalks in that downtown area that provide a perfect pedestrian walkway to all of these areas. You add to that existing buildings, many underutilized at this time. It could be evolved into an entertainment district type of use. And you've got some open spaces. One belongs to you, the old town hall building that at some point could be rebuilt into wonderful spaces for an entertainment district. And when I went out and took some pictures one day of the downtown area, I realized that we're well on our way to accomplishing these goals. Uh our landscaping ordinance required some of these new businesses to do a better than normal job of landscaping when they were built. So when you stroll around certain parts of the downtown area, it's pretty

nice looking space, pretty nice buildings. Looking at our new park, the landscaping will grow over the years. be a beautiful soft space in the heart downtown area. There's one of those beautiful picnic tables that I mentioned that people can come and eat at. Staff has been talking about the need for umbrellas on those to keep the sun off my bald head. And then I want to show you this picture. This is the fifth street side. And I didn't realize it till I actually was putting the slides in the slideshow that although there's some beautiful buildings along here, it's not a very pretty road. at least looking that direction. If you turn around, look the other direction, you'd be looking at our park. But it certainly makes you stop and wonder what it could look like in the future if we put some effort in the planning now and looked at the amenities that would attract new businesses to our community that would flesh this out as an entertainment district that we could all be proud of. So this fifth street improvements the next big thing for Spencer. That little corer right there could have as much impact as the new park sitting in front of this building. And now's the time to start planning for it. And what was a problem competing ideas of how an alleyway and sidewalk should be used could actually be transformed into a real benefit for our community if we take it in that direction. With that said, when I first took this to the planning board, they suggested two different things that we needed to do. One was relocate a garbage can. And I've explained to you about that. The other was to do away with the planners. And I told them in the meeting that I didn't think the board would support the idea of tearing out something that it took so long to get in our town. and it was thought about and planned out so well to try to improve the look of our

community. But in talking to some of you individually and talking with other staff members, maybe there is a possibility to take out a few planters or as Joe Morris suggested, put tables on top of these planters, let people sit around, use that for the seating space. So again, there's various options there. We've got before you now an ordinance that addresses the sidewalks, the alternative uses of sidewalks and also the alternative uses of alleyways. Alleyways are included in this ordinance. Um, I showed you some suggestions from the planning board uh last night at the planning board meeting. They actually voted to recommend approval of this ordinance to you, but they also wanted to add one item. I think you have a copy of that in front of you. U it would be added as item 9402D8 which reads restaurant will provide a dedicated garbage receptacle in the outdoor dining area that will be available for disposal of eating related garbage. Restaurant staff will keep the area clean clear of trash and garbage and will empty the garbage receptacle as needed, but at least daily. That is their suggested addition to the ordinance as it was originally presented to you. You can accept that recommendation, reject that recommendation. Obviously, you can make any other changes that you might want to make. At your meeting Thursday, we discussed the differences in some distance of separation. Three feet for merchandise, 4 feet for restaurant chairs and tables.

Um, the mayor brought up a good question about ADA. Uh, and we looked it up to make sure we were right. ADA requires at least three feet. Actually, we can go a little less than that. If you do some other things, but three feet's the standard. So, as long as we maintain 3 ft clear, we're okay with ADA. So, that that and the planning board suggested addition along with the original text amendment that we gave you on Thursday is what we bring to you tonight. And I'll be glad to answer any questions. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Blunt. Board, any questions at this point?

I'd like to make a comment real fast. I appreciate what you and the committee have done because I think it's good that we put down some rules and regulations so everybody can understand instead of having your judgment on that thing. Uh, I'm hoping this will answer any problems. I'm excited about your ideas on history. I think that it has great possibilities and this probably will head off some problems in the future. So, thank you again for what you do. Thank you. And so, Mr. Blunt, can you confirm we have though updated we're showing four feet? 4 feet is the separation for

uh actually it's not separation. There's a clear path between the storefront and tables and chairs that are used for outdoor dining. What about for

merchandise? It would be three feet. And again, the thinking behind that is that the merchandise is a static display. It's it's not going to move. And therefore, you are guaranteed you're going to have that three-foot clearance. On the other hand, tables and chairs, people pull the chair out a little bit, sit down after they eat, they lean back and slide the chair out even farther. The concern is that if you made it three feet, then by the time somebody sat down, it would be reduced down to two and a half, two feet, which would not be acceptable. So, the the primary desire is to keep a three-foot clear space on on all of our sidewalks. And that's what the application process will be. The the restaurant owner will have to present a drawing showing measurements and how they are accomplishing the separation from the storefront to any tables, chairs or merchandise. So it it allows uh allows the manager or his designate to make some good decisions based on what's presented. uh and probably 100 things we haven't anticipated that will come up during that application process allows that person to make some some subject subjective decisions but most of it would be objective. So, a question related to that, I know, and we kind of brought it up on Thursday from the and I think we were bringing it up from the standpoint of confirming with ADA, but you know, we got to keep in mind ADA is the minimum requirement. Um and for the simplicity of ordinance enforcement, um for clarity, my recommendation would be board that we consider 4 feet for all of that for both the the businesses must maintain a clear

distance of four feet whether it's retail, whether it's restaurant. Uh it takes a lot of ambiguity out of it um and makes it very clear. The other that I want to keep in mind is if you've got a wheelchair passing and another person also trying to pass, 36 inches is going to be tight. Um, and so in our main area where we the main traffic in town, pedestrian traffic, um, having four feet I think is going to be much more beneficial to traffic flow through that corridor. But obviously that's the pleasure of the board and what you would prefer. I don't want to limit our businesses in and be, you know, making it more restrictive on one versus the other. Um, but I also think the consistency in that four feet is going to provide better traffic flow. If you desire desire as a board to make that change, it's paragraph C one is what designates three feet separation. So, you would just be changing that three to a four. you desire to do that, just make that notation in your motion.

What's the We kind of briefly got into this on Thursday. What is the the sidewalk? And I know we're talking about the the planner and what's outside the planter that, but but are there differences between fifth and fourth? Fifth primarily in in Salsbury Avenue because I mean having consistent makes sense. Four, I'm even more concerned about how that impacts Sbury Avenue. there there are differences in not only the width of the sidewall but the placement of the storefronts and the design of the storefronts in some cases. I I noticed yesterday one of the storefronts had built a ramp to get up into the store instead of having two steps and that ramp protrudes out into the sidewalk some distance. Uh so again the application process will require let's start from scratch. Primarily the sidewalk again is for walking. There shouldn't be anything out there. The person who wants to put something out there will have to submit a drawing as a part of an application showing where it will be placed and how placing it where they show it will maintain the 4ft walkway. If you change it to four foot on both of them, either a three-foot or a four foot depending on how you look at it. So that it's easy to get in your mind that that would just be a straight shot. It may meander a little bit depending on what the setbacks are here and where the planters are there. Uh to answer your question succinctly, yes, there are differences. Uh the sidewalk on Salsbury Avenue is I think two feet wider than the sidewalk on Fifth Street. And the sidewalk on Fourth Street, uh, in some places it's a parking area, so the sidewalk width is almost infinite,

but there's supposedly a sidewalk there. In other places, it's down to like 10 feet of cases also. So, each situation will be handled differently based on the actual measurements that are submitted as a part of the application process. the the manager or his design's uh goal and mission will be to maintain that clear pathway and if the submitted drawing does not maintain it then it will be rejected they won't be given a permit what is consistent through there is the distance between planters right and so as you start talking about that there is I think ample room at least on Salsbury Avenue on this end of this street to if retail needed to be put out between planters, right? It just would have to be pushed forward, but that's not necessarily a path of direct travel. And alleyways to to expand on that just a little bit, this ordinance affects alleyways exactly as it does sidewalks. If somebody has a desire to use an alleyway for an alternative use, they will have to create a drawing that shows how that use will work in that alleyway. and then it will be up to the manager or his design to determine whether that is an acceptable use. Uh if if an alleyway is actually used for car traffic on a regular basis then almost any alternative use would be rejected. If on the other hand the alleyway is not used for traffic then it's becomes a pedestrian pathway and the alternative use would be judged under that standard. uh if I were the designate at that point, I would go out and talk to the other property owners to make sure the proposed use of the alleyway was not going to obstruct them from access to

the rear of their property or the use of their property. So, that's when it's going to come down to doing a little more research than just what the numbers would tell you to make sure what's being proposed works. And that's true of almost any ordinance. We always have to to look at the big picture and and then go look at the little details to make sure everything works.

Yeah. I mean, and I've not measured it. I'm just I've asked a couple people. I'm just I'm concerned on Salt Avenue with and and also you got the light post in between the planners and the benches, which those are great. I'm concerned you're going to have halves and have nots on Salt Avenue where some can do this and some simply not be able to. that that would be the case anyway based on the width of the storefront. If somebody with a narrow storefront wants to do outdoor dining, it would spill into their neighbor's property, the ordinance allows for that, but you have to get permission of those surrounding properties to do that.

If one store owner that has a planter right in front of his store wants to do something, but there's not enough space, he could go to the neighboring property and say, "Hey, you mind if I put my table over here in front of your store?" as long as that neighboring property owner agreed to it along with the application process, we could approve it. So it's it's got some flexibility built into it in my mind. You can only take objective things so far. So I think yeah the other thing board we need to consider is first and foremost the reason for this ordinance is we want to support our businesses but first and foremost is we want to maintain accessibility throughout our town uh because that is the purpose of sidewalks is to allow people to get from one place to another. Um and so for reference 48 in is basically four sheets of paper put together right. So, we're talking 36 in versus 48. 48 is still not a lot of room, but it is enough room for multiple people to travel back and forth. I will point out, I mentioned that my original suggestion to you was just to give me the authority to make some decisions. That would have been a a one paragraph text amendment. You've got before you a four or five page text amendment. Somebody suggested that I read the Asheville ordinance on outdoor dining and I did this morning. It's 45 pages long.

We're not there yet, but someday we may have to modify. Um, Mr. Blunt. Yes, ma'am. Um, we've talked about the availability of the picnic tables in in the park and the picnic tables near the park or I guess actually in the park, too. Um, does this requirement about the garbage, how does that impact a restaurant owner with people going over to the park to eat their food?

There are trash cans on our side of the road at the park. So, if somebody eats there and wants to use the public trash can, we would certainly prefer that than them throwing it on the street or leaving it on the table.

Uh, I don't think we could require the restaurant owner to come across clean up our property. We're allowing them to use it. We take the risk that somebody's not gonna use it. Well, if I go out there in the morning when I come to work and have a cup of coffee and donut and I leave my napkin laying on the table, the only person you can trust, that's me. You can't go fuss a store owner. You really can't fuss at the manager. I'm the guy that left the napkin. So, I don't think the use of our property would impact the private So, you heard that, Joel. If you find any trash out there whatsoever, it's Steve's fault. If it's not done,

right, board, any other questions? I did just want to make a quick comment that I think we've heard in this room and then from citizens in more private avenues the need for consideration and fairness. And so, I appreciate the extra work that you've put into this ordinance. Um because I think there's I'm sure everyone could think of a different use, but the primary way is we need people to be able to traverse. Um so I appreciate your extra work on this because I think we are trying to just accommodate everyone as fairly as possible.

It always surprises me that we can it surprised me what stirs up controversy. We build million-dollar industrial plants and have hardly a peak and then we do chickens and the rooms for and now it's sidewalks. So, live and learn the things you don't think of. All right, board. Any other questions or any other feedback?

I just think it's exciting that we're going to be moving towards, you know, public accessibility and public entertainment area. Um, I think that's really a a big thing for Spencer and I think sprucing up Fifth Street will be have to be a part of it and uh just going to have to, you know, maintain the standards and occasionally for special events or circumstances, maybe a little bit of flexibility, but so if they uh but if they had any uses for alleyways or anything, they would have to just draw a plan and get it approved.

Draw it and submit it with the permit application. And we did have one question about how quickly we would start enforcing this, whether we after y'all vote tonight, go out tomorrow and put on our police hats and force people to do this, that, and the other. We still got a long ways to go. We've got to create the permit application. We've got to get it all written up in papers as far as how we do it. And then the applicants will need to sit down with us one at a time and if need to be will go out there and measure it with and help them lay out the the layout to make it work. And you said that who will be the police on this thing is yet to be determined. Is that correct? Yes. No, it's it's a code enforcement issue. It's code enforcement. So press

the beauty of the code enforcement issue after we adopt this Yeah. is that he will be able to take out that submitted plan that comes with the application. And if they said they were going to put up, for example, two foot round tables and four chairs and they have a six foot round table. Yeah. Then he can say, "Hey, that's not right. You didn't follow your application." And it gives him the right within the language of the ordinance to either work with them to correct the problem or reject the permit and they have to take it away. So, It'll make it a lot easier for you. Okay.

All right. Board. So, you have a proposed text amendment before you to section 94.02 of the code of ordinances controlling alternate uses of sidewalks and alleyways. You have the proposed amendment in your packet. You also have a few uh changes to that as recommended by the planning board last night. um specifically the 94.02D.8 eight and then also to item three and then as we mentioned it's pleasure of the board if you want to stick in item C1 if you want to stick to the three feet or retail non non-rest retail or make it consistent to four feet across the board for restaurant and retail what is the pleasure of the I'm I move to adopt uh ordinance 2515 as presented with the addition of the um proposed text amendment sub um as forwarded by the planning board last night at their meeting. And um for consistency, make it 4 feet both for both retail as well as for dining.

Okay. Miss Sledge has a motion on the table uh for the text amendment uh also incorporating the planning board's recommendations from last night and a consistent 4ft clear space across the board um for restaurant and retail. Is there a second? Second. Second by Mr. Muhammad. Is there any further discussion on the matter at this point? Okay. Hearing none. There is a motion and a second. All those in favor. All right. All those opposed. All right. So that is 54. One against. Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Blunt. Thank you.

All right. We will move to consideration of adopting ordinance 25-16 that would amend chapter uh nine section 91.3 of the town's code of ordinances to make the keeping of chickens on residential lots a part of our normal regulations. Mr. Right. I was going to say this should be much easier, but since it has to do with chickens, I hesitate to say that.

Uh, as you remember, a little over a year ago, you adopted a pilot program to allow chickens to be kept on residential lots throughout the town of Spencer. That ordinance had size criteria as to how many chickens could be kept. It also had regulations as far as the enclosures and a big one had to do with fencing screening from adjacent properties. Uh that program had and I put it in the ordinance. I don't remember off the top of my head, but we had a number of applica had a number of contacts and I continue to have contacts probably on a monthly basis of people not only interested in keeping chickens on their lots, but people thinking about moving the Spencer and they want to check ahead of time to see if it's okay to keep chickens and they're making living decisions on where they can and can't keep chickens. So, I think it's good that you adopted this. uh we've had a number of people apply for the keeping of chickens and then a slightly smaller number of people who have actually started keeping chickens and I'm happy to say that there have been absolutely no complaints from any citizens that I'm aware of about the keeping of chickens. Most people are very excited about this as a program and feel that the people that have applied, gone to the trouble of applying and and meeting all of our requirements are doing a good job of keeping chickens without causing problem in the neighborhood. So, what we're asking of you tonight is a very simple thing uh to do a minor text amendment to that original ordinance that makes this a regular regulation. It's no longer a pilot program. that would remove the limit on how many permits I can issue in a year. The first program, I think, was capped at 12 and we didn't get that many applications, but we probably came fairly close. Uh, as we move forward and grow, we want it to be a standard

program that we work on. I will say that the fencing screening requirement is the one thing that has caused the most problems to some of the property owners. Uh it's it's a major expense to do that to keep a few chickens. It's the only way I've kept my wife from making me get chickens. So my vote is to leave it like it is. But uh as you might imagine, there are people that come to me and say, "We want to do this. My neighbors love the idea. They want to chip in and help buy the chickens and the coupe, but why do I need to put a fence between my property and theirs?" and they're happy about it. And the reason we have to do that is because it's written in orders. Uh we may come back to you at some future point to try to modify that a little bit to make it a little bit easier to do chickens without defensing the product, but not now. All I'm asking now is just to change this to a regular.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Blunt. Board, any questions on this?

I would like to make a comment. Um, the lady who I think started my wheels turning about this and and got us started talking about it um had a meeting tonight at her job and she said she would be very happy to come and speak about her success with the chickens had she not been otherwise um involved. But um she was she did say that she hoped to be able to keep the house that she has here even though she is buying another house in Salsbury and rehomed her chickens to someone out in the count further out in out of town. But thanked us for doing that so that she could have her chickens.

The people that had them think of them just like pets, just like a cat or dogs. Well, and and we've had a little bit of a situation since we first started this pilot. We've had a little bit of a change with our economy and the price of eggs that I think are making it maybe even more uh more intriguing to uh raise chickens. I'll make sure I'll make sure to tell Melanie that. Call your wife tonight. Tell me.

All right, board. Any other questions? I would just like to note that if I wasn't made aware by someone telling me, someone very close to my house is in the chicken program and after a year I still didn't I still wouldn't know that they have chickens in their yard. So um I know I was a big fan of this idea in the beginning and um as a neighbor of someone who's in it, I still stand by that. I haven't gotten any eggs though, which is a real bummer. Well, Steve, I appreciate your time um with the pilot program getting that up and going. I mean, I'm glad that we did that to to see how it would go, to see the interest in it um and also to kind of hear about the results and or maybe the lack of results um and lack of uh complaints, that sort of thing. So, all right, board. So, there's a proposed uh amendment before you. What is the pleasure of the board? I move to um adopt the changes as listed for ordinance 2516 uh to amend chapter 9 section 913 of the town's code of ordinances to allow for um a permanent program for keeping chickens.

Motion by Miss Sledge. Is there a second? Second. Second by Miss Moody. Any further discussion? All in favor? All right. All oppose. And that is approved. I do see Mr. Miller and Mrs. Miller eyeing one another. And I'm believing that Linda may be getting chickens. I wondered why she wanted to come to me. Now I know.

I I want to make it possible for Miss Blood to have chickens. I'll have you over for chicken dinner. just like blind. All right. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Blunt. Now, we'll move to our departmental reports and Mr. Blunt will give the planning department report. Thank you, sir. And as usual, you have my written report. I'll be glad to answer any questions. Thank you, sir. Board, any questions? Can you give us a progress report on Hawkins Town Road development and also our truck stop?

Uh, Hawkinstown Road, I've been watching carefully. They have continued to work on their infrastructure. Uh it is my understanding that they ran to a little bit of a approval process on the water line that they ran as far as SRU's approval on that and that it held up to some degree the moving ahead with construction. They can't build anything until they get that approved. So I think that's what's holding that from moving ahead quickly. uh the truck stop. Uh any day I've ridden by there, there's people out there working, but not many. And uh in talking to Salsbury Utilities, there again is some question. Uh if you'll remember, there were several other projects that were underway in that area and it was going to necessitate the installation of a sewer line and water line that would have actually uh run down next to the truck stop. And at some point they stopped their planning waiting for that line to be installed. And then the distribution center across the street slowed down progress on their project due to the economy and the sewer line didn't get installed. So there's again an approval step that the truck stop needs to do with Salsbury utilities to resolve how they're going to route their water and sewer since that main line's not going to be installed. At one point they actually had uh approached us on the possibility of doing a septic system.

Yeah. with that and and it would be approved if septic's not available. It would obviously take a fairly large septic drain field to handle a project of that type, but it is possible. But to to my knowledge, they are still moving ahead just uh more gradually than we would like to see it happen. Uh various Nundry other projects uh I continue to contact them usually on a monthly basis. They're all still excited about the projects. They haven't dropped them. They're just waiting for tenants to show up. The tenants will show up when the economy settles and uh basically it's the lenders are not lending money on big projects right now until they know what the long-term interest rates are going to be. So this the economy is slowing things down more than that. U we are seeing progress on the North Carolina Finishing Company site and the Fisher Lamb site as far as getting the brownfield study completed. that work has started now. Uh other grant money is becoming available to help finalize some of that. Uh we had meetings as late as this morning on that project, trying to move it ahead and solve some of the infrastructure problems on that one. Uh and we're hearing about bigger and bigger projects that are going to happen in this area. Uh they aren't to the point of making them public yet, but they're exciting things for our future. Okay. Thank you. Right. Any other questions?

I like your quotes. Um, one of them that I thought, you know, before you're a leader, success is all about growing yourself. But, um, and if you think you're leading, turn around, see if no one's following you. There's another one that's um, lead, lead me, follow me, or get the hell out of my way. So, that was General Patton. All right. Thank you, Mr. Blunt. Thank you very much. All right, next item is our code enforcement report.

Chief apologizes for having a previous commitment. So he sends I don't know what number three down the line. Lucky you.

You're just stuck with me. So sorry about it. All right. So uh you've had the uh code enforcement monthly report already provided to you. Uh, basically we had 45 new cases built in July by Preston, code forcement officer, 257 cases total in 2025 so far. Um, and he's doing a fantastic job, guys. He's he's at an 81% voluntary abatement clearance rate. So, that is uh a testament to his ability with that gift of gab that he's got to go out and uh and and talk to people and and really uh convince them to get their things in line. So, um, we do have a new case highlight for July 610 South Carolina Avenue. Got some pictures or something to pull up. So, here's kind of what it looked like before. It's got a um, uh, previously vacant. It's got a new owner now that is occupying that property. That's what it looked like before. Uh, so obviously a lot of work to be done there. And that's the same one. Well, there's been a lot of there's been a lot of work done to it. So, it's it's definitely uh definitely looking a lot better. We'll see if it's it's definitely not where it needs to be yet, but maybe that picture was

Yeah. So, he's he's trying his best to uh get it done week by week as he goes through it. So, uh very happy with that. Any questions on the code enforcement report? Any questions? All right, thank you. We'll move to the police department report.

All right, so uh had a great start to the new school year. Um a few bumps in the road with uh traffic issues and that kind of thing due to the eighth graders being up at the high school now. Some um logistical issues with uh SRO Padet and how that's kind of working itself out, you know. Um, it kind of brought in some things that we really didn't even think about. You know, now we have eighth graders at the high school that start at 7:30, so they start being dropped off at 10 after 7. And typically our SRO didn't have to be there until about 8:00. And so now he's covering for two different school times. And there's all kinds of things there that we are getting figured out as we go. And for a new SRO, it's been a little bit much on him, but we're we're getting through it. Um, but a good start to the new year. Um, we have increased our school checks. If you'll notice, uh, we've done 336 total in the month of July and that'll continue to go up. Um, especially throughout the day just to give the SRO's a little bit of, you know, a break if you will, just give them, you know, some some extra hands there. Uh, we're preparing for a really big national night out uh on October 7th. Got a lot of stuff going um for that. Doing some meetings and and that kind of thing weekly at just about. Uh, we had a total number of 2518 events. So, um, pretty good month and, um, I think that's pretty much it. He didn't tell me anything else to tell you guys. So, if you have any questions, we'll, you know, try our best to answer.

Thank you, sir. Board, any questions? What time start October 7? Um, I believe he said six, but I'll have to check with him. Could be 5:30. October. October 7th. This has nothing to do with the PD report. Are you still but has to do with you? I've seen you since I need to ask you this. You still the person to talk to about 8th Street Ballpark? So, uh I am just a guideway. Okay. Um I really don't do anything there with them. Um that's a whole another set of people that are kind of dealing with that. But I could maybe help you with some information.

Yeah, I'll follow up later. Thank you. Follow up with you. Thank you, sir. All right. Appreciate you. All right. Chief Lanning, Fire Department.

Good evening again. Good evening.

You have my prepared uh report before you. I do want to backtrack a little bit. Um, I completely forgot that I believe at the request of the board, we have a holiday video from camp when I was up here earlier. I completely forgot to display that. Um, but before we get to that, I just wanted to again hit that we did have 15 participants this year, which is our greatest participation thus far. And got a couple complaints from some kids that, hey, we need to start changing things up. So if anybody has any ideas of how to keep kids involved, we're all ears. Um but so we're going to work next year. Couple of them have been here all three years. So they're starting to get a little bored. Um getting better at some things year to year. Um but boredom nonetheless. Um and then the last thing is we are still exploring options for the surplus of the 1995 E1. We have a a lead that we feel is somewhat promising um through the community college, but they're waiting on the approval of the state budget. So before they will know what funds they have available. So just to update you um all on that. And Mike, if you will um play that video, please I'm not hide away. They say we don't want your broken parts. [Music] Run away. They say no, but I won't let them break me down to dust. I know that there's a place for us for we are glorious

when the sharpest words want to cut me down. I'm going to send a blood going to drown them out. I am brave. I am bruised. I am who I'm meant to be. This is me. So now cuz here I come and I'm launching to the beat I dr. I'm not scared to be seen. I make no apologies. This is me. [Music] Oh,

another round of points in my skin away. I won't let this shade. We are truthful.

That's what we bring down. I know that tomorrow [Applause] is one stand. I am I am from A to B. This is me. Here I go. And I'm watching to the beat. I'm not scared to be seen. I'm This is me. Oh, this is me. [Music] I'm going to send them. This is brave. This is proof. This is who I'm [Music]

like how everyone knew whose kid that was. I was like, "Oh, there she goes." [Music]

Yeah. So last year she was terrified and obviously we're on the fifth floor on the roof of the training tower. Um, you know, roughly 50 60 foot off the ground and we went down in tandem. She wanted to go down. She didn't want to do it by herself. So we both, you know, put our harnesses on and I connected her to me. We went down this year. She was very headstrong. Daddy, I'm doing it by myself. That was until she got to the ledge. So the one picture of me sitting there was trying to coach her and hey, you can do this. And so she did it the first time, a little hesitant, but by the second time we were on the u roof of the training tower talking about inverting, which is something we can do to for pickoffs. Um, and she was like, I'm doing it. And so she made it about she had about 20 foot left and I'm on the ground and I'm looking up and here she is. She's upside down. And so she very much did it. So proud dad moment. Um, the one thing I do want to say, Pam, I realized in uh the haste of creating this highlight video that I neglected to put both our group photo with Roger Dogs and Queso Salsa. Um, so again, I just want to mention that wasn't intentional. Um, but again, with many partnerships, um, Spencer Deli, Queso Salsa, and Roger Dogs, they were more than gracious to facilitate our group and ensure that our kids and staff were fed. So, very grateful for that. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next is uh Mr. Taylor, public works.

Yeah. Boring public works stuff after that. I'm sorry. We're ready for your video. Yeah. Where are you propelling from? Sorry. I need to create one of those. There's a piano on there's a piano on the street not far from my home so you can take pictures of that. Sure. We can or take a video of you playing that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or, you know, squishing it with a backo. Either way. Well, good evening again. Good evening.

So, uh, regular services, everything's running on schedule except for mowing. Of course, we're behind on mowing because it will not stop raining. So yeah, weird August weather for us this time. So just to remind the citizens though, please put all small debris in bags or sit it up on the curb because we have cleaned a lot of it out of storm drains recently. So um just make just a reminder to do that. Uh trash service will be running one day uh one day late uh the week of September 1st for Labor Day. Um that will alter trash service. So, we'll be running Tuesday through Friday. Um, and we'll double up and do bulkies on Friday. Um, now that we've switched and that'll be the next, uh, we have transitioned back to a four day trash route. Um, this is getting the guys to the landfill every day instead of waiting and have to go the next morning and then get late going and it just kind of snowballs. So, um, we have moved to a 4 day week. Everything seems to be going well. We may have to make some altercations, but I think we can do it in the same day. We don't have to change, but we're Sam and I are still working on routes, so we'll we'll get it narrowed down. Um the date for the fall month's giveaway has been set for October 4th. Um same rules apply, 7 till 12:00 that day and then um which you know every year falls on the same weekend trains in town. So anyway, but you can call ahead and reserve loads to be be delivered just like normal. You can call the ladies at town hall or myself. Either one. Send us emails. Uh we usually get everything. The um the older trash truck uh is back in service, fixed, back in service. So we got it back I think last week. It was down for two weeks having some repairs done to the tailgate. Um, these were scheduled last budget year, but we

finally got it worked into where we could get our schedule. We didn't want to be without the truck that long. Um, you never know. So, I'm always a little ler when that I don't have a backup, especially on that drive. Uh, side arm tractor. Um, we're going to fix it to start doing. They got the clutch in and it was running today. So hopefully by the first of the week we're going to be doing a lot of mowing um and trimming along streets, edges, ditches, that kind of stuff. So um it's just a little little bit of a pain to find parts where it's oldest tractor is. Um but we did narrow them down and got them taken care of. Um the uh I know we have a meeting tomorrow about the the park out here. Um, and we've got some good news about the coding to go on the splash pad. So, um, hopefully that will work out. And Ben and I are both in CPO training right now, which is certified pool operators training. Uh, we will finish on August 22nd when we take our exam. And then we can apply for our operational permit, which will allow us to actually run the splash bed. So, that's coming soon. Um just an update on the Chicken Springs Dam. Uh we did respond uh to DEEQ. Um I've had phone calls with them. Um and so we're going to schedule probably next week another inspection where we can actually be there and see what the delinquency and that kind of stuff because from the letter last time we received the letter this time we received nothing changed and we know we've done things to change. So, we just want to be on site with them and our engineer, you know, to to find out exactly what's going on. So, other than that, I'll answer any questions that you may have.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Board, any questions? Yes, Mr. Taylor, I just wanted to ask um know I spoke with some residents and parents of students at North Rowan Elementary and Middle right down Charles Street and they are asking, you know, in reference to students that are walkers, is there any way that sidewalks can be erected in certain areas for ensuring their safety? Okay, sidewalks that is in the works. Yeah. So, that is part of our EV5861 project with North Carolina DOT. And so, basically, we just need to uh to find

what is it? $8 million more. Got basically $4 million secured.

So, we've been working on on the feasibility study for kind of a paired down scope of the full alignment that gets you all the way through town to the river. And we focus this feasibility study on the stretch that starts at 7th Street and Whitehead and uh goes to uh down Whitehead to Oakwood to Charles Street and then to Highway 29. So we have uh we've gotten to that stage and now we're asking the what's next question about funding. We've been talking with various pieces of NC DOT, including in the last couple weeks. Um, and we've actually had a connection made with uh somebody in Raleigh who's in charge of the the entire state of TIP who has uh shared with us some some maybe promising interest

about how we could find additional funding to go towards that project. So that's kind of a a late breaking development that we, you know, we just continue to try to beat all bushes on how to how to find the funding necessary for that. So Mr. Muhammad, I think the response is that the town is working on it, but we've got to have partnership from the state. Absolutely. And and and I I believe that that was clear in reference to what Peter was stating. So DOT is involved as well. Great. Thank you. I have a question. Yes, sir. How do I lighten this on the chipper? This new chipper you were supposed to delivery is supposed to be the last week of August. So, we're looking at about two weeks.

Good. Um, well, I'm sorry. It's going into manufacturer that week. So, we'll probably see it the first or the second week of September. Good. That's and it's been the same ever since we put it in order. Nothing's changed. So, but here we're getting to the deadlines. It wouldn't surprise me to see some changes, but They're putting them out as fast as they can get them. And the one that we actually wanted, he did not have in stock and they had to go to order. So, we're waiting just like everybody else is waiting. Okay. But it'll be here soon. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Thanks, Jo. All right. This is Can Finance.

What's the map in this? Yeah, there was a that's uh you're it's colorcoded in the electronic packet and it shows the different days of the week the trash collection is shows the addition of the Thursday round. Gotcha. Good evening board. Good evening. Sorry I don't have a video for you. Um

we've been in training every morning with the new software. I'll get I'll get a video of them sitting there with their phones to their ears for you though. Just kidding. We won't do that. It's boring. Um, I wanted to let you know that yes, on August 1st, our training did begin for the Black Mountain software. We are in training from 10 to 12:30 every day throughout the month of August. There might be two days that are in the afternoon, but we have set our voicemails, our phones to voicemail during that time. And there is a message on voicemail during that time so that if um citizens call in during that time, they'll get a voicemail. We'll get the um return their call within that day. So they know that we're in training through the voicemail, but just want to let you know that. So our first payroll has went through our Black Mountain software and our first um accounts payable run has went through with the only problem is just some the different look support of um some of the forms that come out. So everything went pretty smooth with that. Um, the next payroll will be a true up for our police and fire. So, that's going to throw a little kink into things or we're going to learn a little bit more, I guess you could say, on a positive note. We'll learn more during that payroll. So, um, everything seems to be working well with it. Um, and then I really just with the finances, I mean, it's only the first month into the year. There was really no notes to put on there with the report. So, I gave you a finish up of um FY25 and um I was happy to report that our sales use tax was 4.38% over what it was in 2024. So, that was a a good a good thing to come out. Um our audit field work has begun. I've got a list of

things to turn in to them. They will be in in September to finish up that. Is there any questions about anything or any questions on finance? Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next is our library report. Mr. Ward,

good evening. Um, so this month was the end of the reading the summer reading program at the library. Um and librarian McCra had various local people come to speak about um places they were from. Um such as uh Sarah Fox came and spoke about the Fiji Islands. Um and then Chandra from Trinidad uh came and spoke to them and she wore a sari and um the children experienced some of the local food from that area as well. Um and then Alma from Queso Salsa uh actually came and read a Mexican version or Spanish Mexican version of Cinderella. Um and uh librarian Macau translated it for them and they uh made maracas with you know paper plates and dried beans and had Mexican cookies and then um Mrs. McCra actually covered France for the children. Um and they uh then later uh the next week um there was a recent graduate from um North Rory who spoke about the uh the Mung culture and um she wore handmade embroidered dress and um read the story to the kids that was about a young Vietnamese girl. Um and uh then the last one uh was about Ghana and Liberia. Um and the children

received pencils and bracelets with back animals. Um and in September, uh Pepper Basham is coming. Uh and she is quite popular with our local residents right now. her books are. Um, so she should be coming on September 16th to speak to patrons. Um, and then there is the statistics for the month. Um, and then, uh, sort of tying into that, uh, with the active living report that I I'm still working on knowing what all to include. Um the library AC unit actually uh has decided to die. Um and so uh Mr. Taylor and Mr. Francy's and Mrs. K and I are all trying to find a way to keep the library open and not um a sauna for any longer than necessary. Um, so we will keep you posted on that as it progresses. Um, and then with the parks and recreation board, uh, they met Yes. Nope, not yesterday, last week. Um, I was thinking it was the day before the pre-aggenda meeting. Um, and, uh, Vice Chair Dion Dixon, she has taken the lead with Race to the River for Spencer. And there was actually a meeting this morning for Creek week um where uh she was able to report on our progress with all of that. Um and then chair Pendergrass and myself will be attending the outdoor economy conference in September. Uh which that will be reimbursed by the

department of commerce because of our core strategic planning program. Um and then there was various other discussion. Um and artist Ka Franco has begun her work on the mural at 108 4th Street. Um, and I think those were Oh, the town park dedication ceremony is scheduled for uh national the same night as national night out on uh October 7th. All right. Thank you for questions on the We got to get this right. We're calling it the active living uh report going forward. All right. Thank you, Mrs. Ward. We'll move to Mr. Franis. Oh, think we're good. We'll move to town man to the town manager report. Mr. Franis.

Okay. So, I'm gonna invite Joe Morris to come. And uh you'll recall we've been waiting on a announcement from the governor about a a big grant for us and uh there's been an announcement made. So, I thought this would be a good time for Joe to share the good news.

Thank you. Uh so as town manager indicated, we had been on the lookout for a response on the North Carolina Great Trail State Program grant and we received a written notification from uh Secretary of Natural and Cultural Resources Pamela Catchwell on July 7th. Uh the amount that we were awarded was $460,000. uh that will be used in combination with uh privately contributed matching funds of uh from the Robertson Foundation uh Mr. Fred Stanback, uh the Carolina Thread Trail, and also Duke Energy Foundation, uh which totaled up to $230,000 in private funds that will be used as our match, which will provide a um a project total uh budget of $690,000. Our plan is to build um approximately 7,500 linear feet of trail within the most recently acquired 45 acres of the Standback Educational Forest and we will begin the process. They they actually notified us that we would hear uh from a representative from NC Parks before we start the process. Um, I imagine we'll have a a a year really of due diligence and design work and planning, bidding, that sort of thing. So, maybe a year from now, we'll be underway and be building trails. So, it'll take a little bit of time, but um we'll work as hard as we can to make that go faster if possible. And and just as a reminder, we had

previously gotten a $100,000 grant that required uh no match for the construction of the Blueway trail head. So those two projects actually will work well together to really create another access point uh into the forest on that side of town. And u and the due diligence is is winding down on on that project. that one will will start uh in the closer future most likely.

Um yeah, the the only thing that uh we've been we've gone through the um environmental review on the blue wig uh trail head with the state historic preservation office, army corp of engineer, uh the US fish and wildlife service and the department of environmental quality. and we have had um complete and total uh acceptance of all of our proposals. Uh we are lacking a um norise certification from the Rowan County Blood Plate Administrator, but I'm on it. So, we've got somebody that's helping us with that.

Mr. Mars, thanks so much.

Thank you. the putting the application together and uh once again working your magic. Um I believe he's we've also applied for um an award through Central too. not a monetary award but yeah that reminded me of another thing we have applied just as a a recognition from C Central of Government uh in their quality of life category and we uh we actually um our application was written based on the capital campaign because of its unique nature and the fact that we as a community based on leadership of the board took a leap of faith and the staff was allowed to raise the funds necessary to close the funding gap and I felt like in my conversations with the town manager that was a unique thing that other communities might not be able to necessarily pull off. So, we did that. But I I should mention um we have an application uh currently re being reviewed for the parks and recreation trust fund for the forest center, the uh 4011 street property. Um the the trustees will meet a week from Friday, which is August 22nd. And so we will know by midafter afternoon uh whether that project is funded. So hopefully we'll have more good news. We'll see.

Thank you, Joe. All right, Mr. Frenzies, back to you. So, uh if there's any questions that you may have, I'm happy to answer them. All right, board. Any questions for the manager? Okay, hearing none, we will move to comments from the board and mayor and we will start with Mr. Miller this evening.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think tonight we've uh talked about all the staff and how well trained they are and I'm real proud of what they're doing as far as they go. I think that's a sign that uh we have a guy up on top leading and trying to point towards professionalism and I have to say he's doing a great job along with the the staff as well. I'd like to also point out I think Mrs. Ken and your wife Mr. Mrs. Franizes is working on a leadership program on their own. So I congratulate them as far as that goes. Real proud. I'm glad we got a really trained staff because sometimes I'm not sure if the board really needs them as far as that goes. But uh I am proud of and I wish more people would take uh insights in how how important these people are to our town because that is the most important thing in our town is to the people and I'm real proud of those people as far as it goes. And one last comment uh being a life member of Spencer JC's I'd like to put my two cents worth in about Labor Day. uh that used to be a big thing for the JC's and I'm glad they're bringing a few things back about the JC's and uh I encourage everybody to attend the street dance and uh should be a good time.

Thank you, Mr. Miller. Miss Smoody.

Um well, first I just want to thank everyone who joined us tonight. It's nice to see faces. Thank you for helping us move forward and contribute to the town. Um I wanted to acknowledge that this is National Black Business Month. We have some amazing businesses in Spencer, but specifically this month, we can focus on supporting and recognizing the contributions of blackowned businesses in Spencer, which is really important to our our history, but also our present and our future. Um and before we meet again in a regular meeting capacity, we will um on August 26 have Women's Equality Day, which commemorates the 1920 adoption of the 19th Amendment, which prohibited the the denial of the right to vote based on sex. Women's Equality Day serves as a reminder of the progress made and the work that still needs to be done. And um I think this is a really poignant time in our country to uh remember that day and just really proud to sit at this table and be a part of this community.

Thank you, this Mr. H.

Yeah, few things. Um I think all the recognitions today were really cool. We don't always have that many at one time. That was awesome. I think especially um it's nice to recognize a member of the media. Um to echo the mayor's comments. Uh, you know, it's it's we live in a world where you I grew up reading the newspaper and and you trusted members of the media and maybe you didn't agree with them, but you understood where they're coming from. And um I wish we could get back to that. So, so thank you for your efforts and um and yeah, I think um on the ordinance I I I I voted no, but I I do appreciate the efforts of staff and and I I um my vote no is primarily because I I just think we're rushing this a little bit, but but I I do think it will be helpful in the abstract and um and hopefully whatever issues may arise, we can we can work through them over time. So, Mr. Bon, I appreciate you putting all together. My my no is not a reflection of your work. Thank you, Mr. Al. Miss Sledge,

thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, I was trying to think of the things I want to talk about today. Um, one of the things I you mentioned something about fish and wildlife, and I I got a request from um someone today to sign on to um a support for wildlife crossings in the state of North Carolina. I've got to do a little bit more research on that before I before I decide. But I think about think about that tur tortoise that you helped to move from one place to the other across the street. So I don't know exactly what wildlife crossings they're talking about. Um I will be attending uh central council uh board of delegates meeting tomorrow. So I hope to bring back more information from that. Um Erin, um I want to thank you for mentioning women's equality day. That's through uh my work with business and professional women and through the er alliance. Um we have supported women's equality day for many many years and recognize it. Um, one of my heroes is Alice Paul, who actually wrote um, the Equal Rights Amendment. And um, I have her the biography and the button and I actually bought a t-shirt recently that says voting um, voting like a girl since 20 since 1920. So, um, thank you for mentioning that. Thank you, too, for the folks who decided to step up and run for reelection. I told Mr. how how much I appreciated his service on this board and his experience and his u knowledge that been a good part of it. I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to work with Miss Stanley. Um and I want to thank the two me board members who did fall to run again, Erin and Rashid, and look forward to having an opportunity to

work with you as well. So, it's important that we do that. Uh it's important that we be involved. It's important that we support the media, the local newspapers particularly. I said I will always have a subscription to a newspaper because the print is what keeps politicians honest. And so I appreciate the fact that uh you have done an excellent job of of keeping us honest here in North Rowan and uh we will miss you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Miss Sledge. Mr. Muhammad.

All right. First and foremost, I would like to thank the residents and business owners that attended the meeting here face to face with us and all that are viewing as well. We appreciate that. Those that came for public comment, you know, it's very important that we hear you all's feedback, be it good, great, and different in reference to moving forward with this town. Um the amount of recognitions that were given this evening was extraordinary, very outstanding. And one thing I can say is that we greatly appreciate all the work from the department head leadership and the staff and their service. And there's no good deed or great deed that goes that's unrecognized. So it's good to see the recognition that was given. And then also seeing that the youth in the community are aspiring to be firefighters and some look like they're repeat trainers, but that's a great thing because that that gives a positive outlook on growth for a later day. But um also too, I want to say I am honored to serve here in this town and I enjoy doing the work and I'm excited about the things that are coming and I hope that everyone has a blessed rest of the evening and well look forward look forward to having future conversations with staff and residents as well.

Thank you sir. Mayor P. Um, I was just sitting here thinking tonight, um, listening to all the comments on the board and hearing from area business people and citizens and I'm 76 years old and a lot of times 76 year old people dwell on the past, but you know, it amazes me that I am just as interested in the present and the future. And that's hard to do sometimes at 76 because I am excited about what is happening here in Spencer. And I hate I won't be alive to see all of but I'm hoping I can get some glimpses from heaven. That's where I'm planning on being. But u I'm just really excited about the cohesiveness and working together. I'm thrilled that we're going to have our two returning board members and Miss Stanley. I'm going to be so glad to have you up here. look forward to working with you. Very proud of all of our staff. Um, and I do want to go back one more time to the schools. Uh, some of you know Brian Alford. He's president of the boosters club at North Friend High School and does all kinds of things. Well, they had their opening scrimmage this past Friday and u my most of my family went and Mr. Alfred fed everybody in the stadium including the visiting team from Garinger Charlotte and uh the fans and at no charge and I just said Northand was such a class act because I guarantee you that does not happen very often. Um the team looked great from what I understand they scored eight our we scored eight touchdowns the other team scored none. So, I think we're headed for a good season. Opening game is not this Friday,

but next Friday at home on the uh 22nd against West Rowan. So, try to come out and support the team and the students, the players, cheerleaders, the band, the whole kitten kaboodleoodle. It'd be wonderful if you could. And finally, a big shout out again to uh Pinocchio's and Flemon's Bakery for Table Pin, which they did again last night. From what I understand, I wasn't able to come because of prior obligations, but I heard they had a great crowd and it was a huge success. And if you haven't been yet, you need to go to the next one. five to eight $10 cost or what you can pay all the way down to nothing. So it is not a forprofit thing. They're just trying to be sustaining and do this every month and bring the community together and you don't have to live in Spencer. So if you can come to that, bring your family and participate in that. Thanks,

Mayor Per. Where has our card gotten to? Raise your hand. Oh, thank you. So, um, in the interest of uh embarrassment like uh certain people like Mr. Miller like to do uh to me when it happens to be my birthday on a meeting night. It's not his birthday tonight, but it was on Sunday. And so uh I think we uh need to offer a happy birthday although it's a couple of days belated to our town manager Mr. Franis. Happy 42nd birthday to you sir. Thank you.

You uh you are about to join the club. You're catching up to me. The water's pretty good here in the 40s. I shared with the mayor I interviewed uh five years ago on my birthday. I was turning 37. That's when I first got to meet everyone in person for an inerson interview to be here. So, I can't believe that it's been five years. Uh, and the the gifts keep on coming. I really enjoy uh being a part of the team here. So, thank you. Good. I promise the embarrassment will keep on coming, too. So, should we go pull the balloons to his office?

Yeah. I I will say that our town staff did a wonderful job of redecorating his office. Uh, I believe Chief Lanning might have been responsible for that. Nice job. Just just remember that uh that may be repaid. Yeah, payback is in the future. It it's been very joyful. I appreciate it. Very good. Well, thanks for celebrating your birthday with uh with us here. All right, folks. That's all I have this evening unless there is a need to go into close session for any reason. Hearing none. Is there a motion to adjurnn? I see Mr. Muhammad's ready for it. I'm going to give it to him. Go for it.

So move. All right. Second motion. Uh motion by Mr. Muhammad, second by Mayor Prom. All in favor? All right. All opposed. We stand ajourned. Thank you all for coming.